> The Dusk of Troubled Views
>  by ScorchingFlamesInc
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: Votes and Cloaks
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The morning was almost like every other morning. Princess Twilight Sparkle raised the sun and everycreature got up to start their day.

However, there was one significant difference.

Three reformed villains were added to the mix.

Getting out of bed was dull for them. All that happened was Cozy getting out of bed and waking the other two reformed villains. Nopony even made a fuss. Cozy just told them to sit where they did last night when they played cards (and lost to Tirek every time).

The three villains sat in a circle in their room. In the same spots the were in last night when they were playing cards. They really didn't know what to do today. Especially since it was only yesterday when they reformed. 

They didn't know if many ponies would trust them after learning that they changed their evil ways.

"What did you want us to sit here for?" Tirek groggily asked, rubbing his eyes.

"To discuss what we're gonna do!" Cozy exclaimed. "We only reformed last night, so I just don't feel SAFE leaving the castle for the time being!"

"Why?" Chrysalis asked.

"Because, we've done SO much in the past to make ponies and other creatures think that our reformation was only a ploy!" Cozy said.

"But they can trust us. Right? Luster did. Princess Twilight did! Even Gallus did!" Chrysalis said.

"Let's see here..." began Tirek. "Chrysalis attacked Canterlot. Then, I almost destroyed Equestria by draining the whole place of magic. Soon, Chrysalis returned and captured some of the most important ponies. Eventually, Cozy Glow nearly got rid of every single ounce of magic using artifacts. Then the REAL kicker was when we spread rumors, destroyed Canterlot, NEARLY destroyed Twilight and her friends, and brought back the Windigos. So it really wouldn't be suprising if ALL of Equestria didn't trust us."

"Well, we HAVE to leave this place SOMETIME!!!!" Chrysalis said. "Maybe she already spread the news! After all, Princesses have their ways of spreading news, and usually, the ponies ALWAYS trust the Princess."

Cozy and Tirek looked at Chrysalis.

She immediatly caught on.

"Then again, there is that belief of trickery," she said.

"Ok. I have an idea. Let's all place a vote. Who wants to stay here and wait for somepony to convince us to leave?" asked Cozy.

All former villains lifted a hoof (or HAND in Tirek's case).

"Ok. We stay and wait for somepony to find us," Cozy said.

"And let's try to convince whoever finds us to teach us friendship in HERE!!! At least until we're comfortable with getting out," Tirek said optimistically.

"Agreed!" Chrysalis said.

And they all did hooves (and hand) in the middle before putting them back at their sides.

"Who's up for more cards?" Tirek asked, getting up.

"ME!!!!" Chrysalis and Cozy said.

"Ok... but prepare to lose to me every round like last time..." Tirek said, a mischevious grin on his face.


Meanwhile...


Deep in the grounds of Ponyville, where an unknown lair resides, a large group of ponies wearing hooded black cloaks sat in a large round table, with only one seat rendered empty. A door suddenly opened and another pony, a stallion, in a hooded black cloak walked in, his hooves clicking on the floor with every hoofstep.

The pony went to the empty seat and pulled out the chair before he sat down and cleared his throat.

"Greetings," he said in a deep voice. "I am Judgement Law, the leader of this group. And I thank you all for coming to this very important meeting. In case you didn't know, this meeting is centered around the release and so-called 'reformation' of Queen Chrysalis, Lord Tirek, and Cozy Glow, the same villains that drove us to form this cult to defend Equestria! The same villains that have laid seige on Equestria more than once in the past! The same villains that brought back the Windigos and nearly destroyed ALL of Equestria with the legendary Bewitching Bell!"

All ponies slapped their forehooves on the table and chanted "Hear, hear! Down with the threats! Down with the threats!" The cult repeating the chant two more times before Judgement held up his right forehoof to silence them.

"Now on to business! News from Princess Twilight Sparkle says that this student of hers, a unicorn named Luster Dawn, was sent by this... cutie map... to reform these three villains. And apparently it worked within two days! Just hearing that sentence gives the belief that it worked too well. It shouldn't take these villains only TWO days to reform! It is quite obvious they are trying to TRICK us! If these villains are capable of nearly destroying Equestria or its inhabitants MANY times in the past, they seem capable of LYING about their ways."

A hooded pony, a mare, raised her hoof.

"State your question," Judgement said.

"I have a question..." she said. "HOW could they have changed their appearences or physical features WiTHOUT magic?"

"It's simple: there was something in the forest that surrounded their campsite! According to the Princess, the forest they were in was even MORE dangerous than the Everfree because it replicated the powers of King Sombra! Only worse! So it probably was some sort of PLOY inflicted upon the pony that reformed them!"

"Well then, what do you suggest we do about them?"

"I say we try to show Equestria the TRUE colors of those FIENDS! Show this whole world that those VILLAINS have ALWAYS deserved to be imprisoned in stone! Show this place that the cutie map, Princess Twilight, and EVERYPONY else who sided with the villains were commiting MUTINY!!!! As for Princess Twilight, WE could defend her and tell her it wasn't her fault. Because it WASN'T! She and her guards were just manipulated by those pathetic FAKERS!!!"

"And if the plan doesn't work, what do we do? Destroy them?"

Judgement shook his head.

"No. That will be our last resort. We all have a decent amount of magic, that, when combined, could perform a powerful spell."

"What do you have in mind?"

All the hooded ponies could see Judgement Law's yellow teeth as he grinned.

"I have a few ideas..."
> Chapter 2: Apologies and Plots
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

CCCRRRRREEEEAK

"Hello?"

Headmare Starlight Glimmer creaked open the castle doors. She had heard the news that Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow reformed, but she wanted to see it for herself.

And maybe even share what it was like when SHE reformed. That is, if the reports were true.

Starlight stepped in, with a certain draconequis following her.

"I still don't see why you called me here," Discord said. 

"You've heard that Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy reformed, right?"

Suddenly, a second Discord wearing a papercolt costume appeared, stopping Starlight and the original Discord in her tracks. He started dancing around them with a grin on his face, holding a newspaper with his talon. 

"Extra, extra, read all about it!" he said, before stopping and throwing the paper at Discord, who caught it in midair (no chaos magic included).

Papercolt Discord then waved before vanishing.

Discord looked over the paper before saying, "Oh, I may have known at some level." The paper suddenly vanished.

"I was hoping that I could see if that was true," Starlight said.

"How would you know?" 

"You'll see."

It only took ten minutes, but Starlight and Discord soon found the door that led into the former villains' room.

"Hello?"

The three villains, who appeared to be playing a card game turned their gazes to Starlight. Chrysalis and Cozy ooked the most flustered. Not suprising, since they went against her the most. Chrysalis swore revenge on her. Later, Cozy held her captive to drain Equestrian magic.

"I just thought I'd check up on you to see if the reports were true," Starlight said, walking in. "I guess they were correct."

"So you believe we reformed?" Tirek asked.

"Yes."

Discord entered and stood next to Starlight.

Chrysalis and Cozy looked like they struggled to speak. Starlight could tell.

It only took a few seconds before Chrysalis finally decided to speak first.

"Starlight, we-"

"Don't," Starlight said. "Don't apologize."

"Huh?" asked Cozy.

"You don't need to apologize. Neither to me OR Discord. Yes, you attacked Canterlot. Yes, you soon returned, and when I defeated you, you swore revenge and loathed me for a long time. Yes, I've heard of the story where Tirek escaped Tartarus, stole power from ponies, and even convinced Discord to join him , only to betray him later. And yes, Cozy held me captive in order to drain every ounce of magic out of Equestria. And let's not forget that one attack on Canterlot where you all worked together and harnessed the powers of the Bewitching Bell. But you know what?"

Starlight stepped forward.

"I forgive you. All of you."

The villains smiled.

"Thank you." Cozy said.

Starlight turned her gaze to Discord.

"Oh, OK! I guess I forgive you all too!"

Starlight nodded and returned her gaze back to the villains.

"You know, I brought Discord here just in case you really WERE reformed. And since it it obvious, we can tell you how to get over your post-reformation guilt."

"I can understand Discord, but why YOU?" Tirek asked.

"Actually, come to think of it, before AND after Starlight reformed my hive, she would tell me things that implied that SHE was once evil," Chrysalis said.

"Yeah... she's correct," Starlight admitted, her face blushing out of embaressment. "I... DID do some PRETTY bad things in the past."

"Would you mind telling us?" Cozy asked.

"I would like to hear as well," Discord said. Suddenly, multiple Discord clones appeared in the room, staring at Starlight with intrest in her story. A few of the clones had popcorn with them.

Starlight seemed hectic (and kinda annoyed at Discord) for a few seconds, before she gave in.

"Ok. I GUESS I could tell you my story."

"SPLENDID!" Discord yelled.

She took a deep breath.

"Ok... here goes..."


Meanwhile...


The hooded ponies finally finished combining their magic to use a spell, allowing them to see different visions of the world Judgement Law had in mind.

"That place seems... interesting," a hooded stallion said. "Some of the creatures look EXACTLY like the ones at that OTHER place."

"Indeed," Judgement said. "But remember, THAT world and the one we SAW are different. For one thing, there is more misery and strife. Animals have lower intellegence, and there is absolutely NO magic!! And some the creatures in THAT world are more violent than the ones in the world we are more familiar with. And that is a GOOD thing. Because if any of them try to attack the villains, the creatures may be recruited due to their twisted nature."

"That seems likely."

Judgement nodded in agreement before he continued.

"However, while seeing the visions, I've recieved a rare magical surge that is somewhat... interesting."

"What is it?" asked the hooded stallion.

"Apparently, many of the dominant creatures in that world are AWARE of the villains' existance, along with the ponies that DEFEATED them."

"Is there something we could do about that?"

"Simple: We put them in a locked building. If anyone finds them, we can only hope it's someone who either HATES them, or doesn't know what they are."

"We can only hope..."

"Another thought popped up in my head as well..."

"What?"

"Those villains could of had the time to PRACTICE controlling their villainous urges while out in town. So no matter HOW hard we tried, they would just brush off our actions like NOTHING! So that's why I decided to turn the banishment plan to plan A!"

The hooded stallion put his hoof on his chin.

"You know... that doesn't sound like a bad idea. Plus, as you've implied, there is a decent population of those creatures that don't even KNOW what they're CAPABLE of!"

"Exactly," replied Judgement. "So here is the plan: we go into Ponyville, but try our best to hide in the shadows. At some poiny, we'll lure that trio somewhere hidden once they have nopony else to watch them. Once they are restrained, physically and magically, we combine our magic to send them to the world that we desire to send them to the place that I'd like to call..."

Judgement took a sip of his drink before finishing his sentence.

"... Planet Earth."
> Chapter 3: Freedom and Capture
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well..." Chrysalis said when Starlight finished her life story. "THOSE deeds were nearly bad enough to exceed MY standards."

"Yeah..." Starlight said. She didn't like explaining the story, but she had to tell the villains about it SOMETIME so they can understand the reformation process better.

"Well, I don't see the need for anyone to hear MY story. We ALL know what it is," Discord said, the multiple clones vanishing.

"So... what happened when Twilight took you in?" asked Cozy.

"I dealt with post-reformation. It was tough. I felt guilt, and an extreme amount of worry, ESPECIALLY when I was assigned to reunite with Sunburst at Flurry Heart's crystalling. But you know what? I overcame it, and became the pony I am today."

"Any suggestions on how WE can deal with it?" Tirek asked.

"Many residents have already heard about the news. They didn't seem angry or anything. If anything, even some of the School of Friendship students said that if you all really WERE reformed, they would be HAPPY to be your friends. So my advice? Give it a try. Go outside, and if you can, try to bond with somepony you think is right for you, as I have done once before. It may work."

Starlight looked at Discord and gave him the signal that it was time to leave. Discord nodded, snapped his talon, and vanished in a flash.

Starlight finally turned and headed for the exit, before looking back at the trio.

"Think about it, ok?"

With that, the unicorn left and closed the door, leaving the trio alone once again.

"Well..." began Cozy. "We DID all agree to wait until somepony convinced us to leave."

"Indeed," Tirek said. "We did things nearly as extreme as SHE did."

"But she wasn't turned to stone," Chrysalis said. "Then again, reformation got to her first. Considering that it was the only way to defeat her in the first place."

"Well, I think we should leave. We can't stay here forever," Cozy said, standing on all four hooves.

Tirek hesitated a bit before getting up as well.

Cozy and Tirek looked at Chrysalis.

Chrysalis closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and got up on her hooves.





The trip in town was going a lot better than they thought. Ponies and other creatures would smile and wave at the villains, with even the occasional greetings. A grey pegasus, whose eyes weren't facing correctly, even gave them coupons for a free movie night. Not out of fear, but out of being friendly.

"Thank you," Tirek said.

The pegasus nodded and then flew off.

"What movie should we go see with these?" questioned Chrysalis.

"We could figure out what they have when we get there," suggested Tirek.

"Can you believe that they are coming up with better quality moviemaking?" asked Cozy.
WHOOSH

Suddenly, a blurry figure rushed right by the villains into a very wide alley.

"Woah. That guy was fast," Tirek said.

BANG

"ACK!!" a stallion's voice said from the alley. 

"Golly, that guy seems to have gotten himself in a pickle," Cozy said.

"Hello? Can anypony hear me? I think I sprained something..." the voice said.

"Pulled something? THAT'S PERFECT!" Chrysalis said.

"HOW is an injury a GOOD thing?" asked Cozy.

"Because of FRIENDSHIP! One important thing about friendship is helping somepony in need. This stallion needs our help!" Chrysalis said.

"Of course! Good identification. How did you know that?" asked Tirek.

"I may have been reformed for a day. But changing my ways gave me a little more knowledge of friendship I never even had."

"Same for me," Cozy said.

"Me as well! Now let's help that stallion and figure out what he is running from," Tirek said.

The trio turned and walked to the alley, stopping to face the enterance.

The alley was dark, and had stacks of boxes and a dumpster. But the villains didn't really care about the creepy factor or unsanitary atmosphere.

Despite the obstacles and the size of the alley, the trio could see the injured stallion at the end, next to a knocked over garbage can.

The trio entered.

When they got closer and stopped in front of the stallion, they saw the was wearing a cloak. He appeared to be shuttering as well.

"Hey, it's ok. We're not here to hurt you," reassured Cozy. 

The stallion looked up at them. The ponies couldn't see his face. And Chrysalis felt that there was something... off about him.

"Can you try to stand?" asked Tirek.

The stallion weakly positioned himself to stand. He weakly lifted his body very slowly... before he quickly stood up straight and shot his gaze directly to the villains.

The villains saw a yellow glow under the hood, before they saw it envelop their eyesight as they felt themselves levitate off the ground. They also felt restrain on their bodies, giving them the realization that they were unable to move.

"Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow. We meet at last," the stallion said.

"Who are you?" Cozy asked.

"I am Judgement Law. And I am here with my cult to banish you away from here once and for all!"

"Cult?" asked Tirek.

The former villains suddenly felt their bodies turn around. There, they saw multiple hooded ponies appear from behind the boxes and dumpster. They then saw Judgement enter their view. He then turned to them to face them once more.

"Why are you doing this?" Chrysalis asked.

"Because your reformation is a TRICK!!!" Judgement said.

"Huh?" Cozy asked.

"While with Princess Twilight's student at that campsite, you all devised a PLAN to convince her that you REFORMED!!"

"How would we do that?" Tirek asked.

"Villains like YOU work in many ways!"

"Where are you gonna take us?" asked Cozy.

"As I've said, I'll BANISH you from this world!!!"

"Where?" questioned Chrysalis.

"A place where it is MORE likely for you to show your TRUE colors!!! With my magic combined with the rest of the cult, we can BANISH you to a place with more strife and zero magic!"

"Will WE have no magic?" asked Tirek.

"Oh, you WILL!!!!" Judgement said. "MAGIC SKILLS AT THE READY!!!!"

Suddenly, all of the cloaked ponies, including Judgement, lit up their horns, showing MANY different colors. It only took a few seconds for magic beams to shoot out of every cloaked pony except Judgement. The beams all reached Judgement, causing him to levitate and become engulfied in a yellow light.

Before anything else could be said, Judgement finally shot a beam of his own, straight to the mortified trio. 

Chrysalis, Cozy, and Tirek suddenly felt their bodies constricting. They started to feel like they were going to pass out.

The final thing they saw was the vile grin coming from Judgement Law.

And then everything went dark.
> Chapter 4: Sheds and Betrayals
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Everything went dark, before the darkness became accompanied by small streaks of light.

But the former villains were still awake.

Not even a second ago, they felt an overwhelming sense of unconsciousness. Now, they felt conscious once again.

"Where are we?" asked Cozy.

"I can't see a thing in here! I can only see small streaks of light!" exclaimed Tirek. 

"I can," Chrysalis said. "Changelings can see in the dark a bit better."

"So... where are we?" asked Cozy.

"Hmmmm..." Chrysalis pondered, turning her head to look around. "I'm pretty sure we're in some sort of shed. There are multiple items in here that may be sharp, so I suggest none of you move. I notice another major thing... the atmosphere looks different."

"How so?" asked Tirek.

"The walls and ground look... weird."

"Can you see the door?" asked Cozy. 

Chrysalis continues turning her head until she saw what she was looking for.

"AHA!! I found it."

"Are you able to get there? Maybe we can catch someponys attention," Cozy said.

"The door seems to be in reach. It doesn't have a handle, and I'm pretty sure it slides. I just need to.. extend my forehoof and..."

Chrysalis lifted her forehoof and extended it to the door. She tried to swipe it open. 

It didn't work, but the former villains could of sworn they heard a yelp from outside.

Chrysalis knocked on the door.

"Hello?" a voice said. It sounded male.

"Um, yes. Hello? Could you maybe help us out here?" Chrysalis called out.

"That depends. You sound VERY familiar. Are you GOOD or evil?"

"We're good! We promise!" Tirek called out.

"I'm still not convinced," the voice said.

"Ok. If we were evil, we would of blasted this shed with our magic to escape," Chrysalis pointed out.

"M-magic?" the the voice said. "WHERE ARE YOU FROM!?!?" 

Chrysalis suddenly realized what she said. No going back now.

"E-Equestria."

Nopony heard a reply. The only thing Chrysalis could hear was the sound of footsteps rapidly running away.

"What happened?" asked Cozy.

"I think he ran off," Chrysalis said.

"Great! Our only way of help GONE!!" Tirek said. "That leaves us with only ONE option."

"What?" asked Chrysalis.

"We use our magic to break out. Chrysalis could transform into something, escape this shed, and then let us go. Or we just blow it up."

"Now hold on!" Cozy said. "Let's give him a minute. Maybe he is coming to get a key or something. If the shed is locked, maybe Chrysalis could escape, but she would still have to destroy the shed first."

"The filly makes a point," Chrysalis said. "Since we are reformed, we should find it sensible to NOT destroy the shed unless the owners are fine with it. However, we may have no choice if he doesn't come back."

"Fine," said Tirek. "Give him five minutes."

It only took three for Chrysalis to hear footsteps coming back to the shed.

"Are you still there?" the voice asked.

"Yes," replied Chrysalis.

"Ok. Hold on."

The trio suddenly heard the door move, accompanied by the sound of a jangle. 

It only took them half a minute to hear a CLICK.

Cozy, Tirek, and Chrysalis suddenly saw the door slide open, and a bipedal creature they have never seen before stood there.

"OH JEEZ!!" he said, jumping backwards in suprise, along with taking a few steps back.

Understanding why he was alarmed, the former villains cautiously stepped out of the shed. Chrysalis was right! The way the world looked was so different.

The strange bipedal creature didn't even back away as the trio advanced closer. They was only a foot away from the bipedal creature when they stopped moving.

"Oh my gosh!" the creature shrieked. "It's you three!"

The former villains immediately expressed confusion.

"You know us?" asked Cozy.

"I'll explain later. This... is just crazy! Chrysalis, Cozy Glow, and Tirek, ALL facing me. And from the looks of it, possibly reformed. This day just got cooler!"

All three former villains gasped.

"How do you know our names?" asked Chrysalis.

"Uuuuuhhhh..." the creature uttered before violently shaking his head.

"I already said. I'll explain later. Feel free to come inside if you want."

The creature turned and walked away. The villains uneasily looked at each other. 

"Should we?" asked Cozy.

"He seemed more excited than angry when he said our names. I think we should give him a chance," Tirek said.

"Me as well," Chrysalis admitted.

Cozy nodded.

"Ok. Let's follow him and see what he knows about us."

With that, the villains followed the strange biped.





Princess Twilight Sparkle sat on her throne. Ever since the villains reformed, she had high hopes that they would learn friendship.

The doors opened and Gallus, the captain of the royal guard, stepped in to face the Princess.

"Your majesty..." Gallus said. "There is a stallion in a black cloak here to see you."

"Doesn't that mean he's a bad pony?"

"He told us that he was a friend. Even made a pinkie promise."

"Very well. Send him in."

Gallus bowed to Twilight before he turned, walked to the doors, opened them, and exited them. A moment later, they opened again, but a pony in a black cloak entered instead.

"Greetings, your highness," he said when he neared the throne. "I am Judgement Law."

"Hello, Judgement. Not to sound rude, but why are you wearing a black cloak?"

Judgement cleared his throat and put on a fake dramatic voice.

"Alas, it was the work of Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy. Those conniving villains." Judgement lifted a forehoof above his forehead. "They brutally attacked me and beat me senseless today... I am full of bruises and scars from them physically beating me!!!"

"I don't find that likely," chimed in Twilight. "I would of gotten news from the royal guards. I've seen the trio face to face! They seem to be truly unlikely to resume their actions."

Judgement Law quit using the fake voice.

"Oh, come ON Princess. Do you really expect to believe those LIARS!!! How would it be so EASY to reform them? Well, you  DON'T have to worry about them betraying you PRINCESS!! I've taken care of that."

"What do you mean?" Princess Twilight angrily said. She immediatly flew off her throne and landed in front of Judgement.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO THEM!?!?!" she demanded.

Judgement didn't even seem fazed.

"My, my, Princess! You seem to REALLY care about those villains! Almost as if you WANT them to win!"

"NO! I felt that they changed when we met up yesterday!!"

"Only a VILLAIN would lie! So that makes YOU a villain!!"

Judgement again put on his dramatic voice.

"I thought you were the element of MAGIC! The Princess of Friendship and EQUESTRIA!! Well then, I guess there is only ONE option!"

"What?!?" Twilight bitterly said.

Judgement chuckled before he replied in his serious, conniving voice.

"Treason."

Suddenly, Princess Twilight felt her whole body levitate in the air. She saw a yellow glow envelop her eyesight.

She tried to fight back, but she couldn't move. Her horn even glowed as an attempt to use magic, only for the glow to fade away, since her magic was useless.

"What... how..." she started.

"Earlier today, my cult combined our magic to banish those villains to another world! When they combined their magic and sent it to me, it didn't just banish the villains! It gave me the temporary power I needed to STEAL their magic before it was too late!!! So I did! I stole their magic!! Then, I told them I never needed them anymore, before teleporting away, leaving most of them POWERLESS unicorns! However, there were TWO cult members whom I've spared. Why? Because the three of us have secretly been plotting to ABANDON the other cult members for a LONG time!"

Twilight could see Judgement's yellow grin sketch on his face.

"Now, Princess, if you'll excuse me, I think it's time to assemble all of Equestria's residents for a very important... assembly."
> Chapter 5: Humans and Stone
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

When the former villains entered the creature's home and sat on the living room couch, they decided to ask him a few questions. The conversation between the trio and the creature lasted for about 30 minutes, but the trio learned a lot about this creature.

The creature decided to explain his life story first.

Apparently, his name was Leo. He is a young adult living on his own, and he's a human. He told them that the planet they were on is called Earth. However, for some odd reason, Leo decided to tell them that this wasn't the ONLY world with humans. Apparently, there was a SECOND human world that would turn ponies into humans, dragons into dogs, ect, when they would enter a magic mirror, which was located in Ponyville. As for the portal in THAT world, it would on a statue pedestal in front of a high school. He also decided to mention that one of Twilight's friends lived there. 

He then pointed out the differences between THAT world and this one. He said that the mirror world had magic, and humans would have more colors variants. As for this world, magic was NONEXISTANT and color ranges were lower. 

Due to the lack of magic, the sun and moon aren't moved by a magical being, and weather isn't manual. Instead, Earth orbits the Sun, the Moon orbits the Earth, and the weather is automatic. When the Sun sets and the Moon rises, or the other way around, it's due to the location the Earth and Moon is at. He calls it "gravity". He asked if the only signs of gravity in Equestria was the force that enabled them to stand on the ground. The trio nodded.

When Cozy asked how he knows about the mirror world and how he knew their names, he hesitantly told the trio that they existed on a TV show in his world. Although it was about Twilight and her friends, the trio would appear on episodes that broadcast their mischievous deeds.

When Tirek asked if the show broadcasted them reforming, he fell silent for a moment before he said, "No." 

The main focus of the show would be the adventures of Twilight in her friends, starting with when she moved to Ponyville, and ending with an showcasing the aftermath of their final defeat.

Leo then decided to be the next one asking questions. First, he asked who was ruling Equestria to get a better understanding of time zones. Chrysalis told him that Twilight was the ruler. 

Leo questioned what they are doing in this day and age, but Tirek pointed out that they reformed yesterday. Cozy immediately piped up and said that she secretly planned to ask Tirek and Chrysalis to help her earn her second cutie mark. She slightly rotated on the couch and pointed to her bare flank.

That drove Leo to ask how the trio reformed. Slight suspicion was in his voice.

Then, the trio told him the story, starting with when they were released from stone, and ending with when they returned to Canterlot. As the story continued, the former villains couldn't help but feel that their new human was hiding something.

Immediately when the story ended, he asked if they wanted to be his friend, and promised that he would teach them friendship lessons. Despite their suspicions of his secrets, the villains happily agreed.

Leo then left to make the trio salads and told them where his room was. That way, they can have somewhere to go if they wanted to explore.

They didn't even hesitate.

As the villains entered one by one, a few objects in his room diverted their attention away from the large book pile on the floor.

"He really IS a fan of Twilight and her friends!" Cozy said when she saw six small figurines of the Mane 6 on two books.

Tirek came over to see, while something on Leo's bed caught Chrysalis' attention. Tirek then saw two other figures on a metal plate attached to the wall.

"From the looks of it, he's a fan of ALL of Equestria."

Tirek moved the figurines off the books. The cover caught the trio's attention.

"The Elements of Harmony?"

Tirek picked up the book and scrolled through it.

"Wait... I think it's a guide book."

"Look! There's another one!" Cozy said, pointing at volume 2. She picked it up and opened it.

"It's another guidebook."

The two former villains then put down the books and turned to Chrysalis, who was looking in Leo's closet, and seemed to be levitating a stuffed animal. Tirek and Cozy saw that the plush Chrysalis was levitating was none other than... herself! Cozy and Tirek turned their heads and  then got a glimpse of the other contents in Leo's closet. Chrysalis wasn't the only Equestrian plush. They also managed to see Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash from all those years ago, along with what looked like Fluttershy as a bat.

Tirek and Cozy then looked back at Chrysalis.

"What could this mean?" she asked them, with sorrow and guilt in her voice. "Do you think he wanted to be our friends for who he was?"

"He seems like a good guy..." Cozy said. "Maybe he has that because he wanted a plush of you, but that was the only option."

"Maybe..." Chrysalis said. "I better talk to him just to be sure."

Tirek and Cozy got out of Chrysalis' way as she got off her bed. Cozy and Tirek looked at eachother, then continued to explore Leo's room.

Outside the room, Chrysalis made her way to Leo, who was in the middle of making their salads. She was still levitating the plush.

Leo looked up from the cutting board and saw the reformed changeling.

"I overheard you," Leo said.

"And?" asked Chrysalis.

"I got that because it was the only you I could get WITHOUT someone requesting to make it! Honestly, you were one of my favorite villains. Not for your deeds. Just probably because I favor you."

Chrysalis looked a bit flustered before she shook it off.

"Honestly, seeing the clip of you and the others getting turned to stone disappointed me. I WANTED you to reform. Although there were some upcoming continuations to the show you were on would probably reform you, I was just so... IMPATIENT!!! So, I took matters into my own hands."

"What did you do?"

Leo took a deep breath.

"You will find out tomorrow. Now, I'm gonna finish these salads. And when I do, I'm gonna try to find a place for you and the others to sleep. Maybe make the shed a little more... homey and safe."

"Ok."

She turned and went back to Leo's room, only to see Cozy Glow sitting down and examining what looked to be a latex mask with brown hair. Tirek was sitting down also and seemed to be holding a hockey mask.

"Uuuuuhhhh..." Chrysalis said.

"This guy must be a horror fanatic. Look at all of these masks!" Cozy said, lifting a hoof above her so Chrysalis could see what she meant.

The masks Tirek and Cozy had weren't the only ones. There were multiple other masks on the bookshelf.

"Ok then... anyway, did any of you hear the conversation between Leo and I?" Chrysalis said.

"Yeah, we did. I wonder what he will show us tomorrow" Tirek pondered.

"Me too," said Cozy. "In the mean time, we should eat the salads and then help Leo find a place for us to sleep,"

Chrysalis nodded and left the room, with Cozy and Tirek putting down the masks and getting on their hooves to follow suit.



Back in Equestria...



Everypony and every creature had no idea what was going on. They were all enjoying their day when multiple posters suddenly appeared all around Equestria. The posters apparently said that Princess Twilight wants them to meet up at the location where the final Summer Sun Celebration was held.

And it was required as well. Those that didn't show up would be punished severely!

As ponies, changelings, griffons, and others showed up, they couldn't help but wonder why Canterlot was surrounded by a yellow force field.

When the last creature showed up, the forcefield suddenly flashed.

"That's the last of them," a voice said.

"Perfect! Can they hear everything?" a second voice said.

"I'm sure of it," said the third.

"As long as they all hear what I say an do, everything will work out well!" the second voice erupted.

At the center of the audience, nopony was there. The curtains and statues were long gone, with a large wooden stand only in place.

It didn't even take a minute for a POOF to be heard. Suddenly, three cloaked ponies appeared on the stage.

"Greetings! I am Judgement Law! And I'm here to state an important announcement!"

A faint yellow glow emmited from his hood before a fourth pony appeared on stage: Princess Twilight. Multiple ponies and creatures gasped and murmured.

The ponies and creatures closer to the stage could highly tell that she looked different. Her mane and tail had no flow and she seemed weakened.

She was laying on her belly when she appeared. When she attempted to get up, however, a yellow glow surrounded her and held her to the ground. Judgement could see yellow flashes from a far distance away.

"Don't even try!" Judgement said "This magic dome prevents any escape, whether it's running away or teleporting! Besides... I only did what was right! She freed three vile villains from stone so her student could reform them! Sure, it seems like a success! But then they attacked me brutally! So I captured Princess Twilight and, with the combined magic of my helpers, STOLE her magic!"

More  murmers erupted. Judgement even heard a couple ponies say:

"They seem nice enough."

"They looked sorry."

"How could he be able to steal the Princess' magic?"

Judgement then erupted in an uproar again.

"DON'T BELIEVE THE LIES OF THOSE VILLAINS!!!!!! And as for my abilities, I HAVE MY SECRETS!!!"

Judgement then heard a voice from the audience. It sounded like it was a mare. A farmer.

"Pard'n me, Judgement, but even if you WERE right, aren't you goin' a BIT too harsh on the Princess?"

"You TELL him, AJ!" another mare voice said. THIS one seemed scratchy and rough.

"Well, well," Judgement said. "It looks like we have some DEFENDERS!!! Well, I can fix that RIGHT UP!!!"

Judgement again emmited a yellow glow from his head. But two ponies didn't appear on stage. Five poinies and a dragon did! And they all were familiar to Twilight.

"G-g-g-" she struggled to speak.

Judgement turned around.

"Awwww. Twilight, Spike, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity. TOGETHER AGAIN!!!"

Twilight's six friends slowly got on their hooves (and feet).

"Twilight... whats going on?" Spike asked.

"I'll tell you what's gonna happen!" Judgement said. "I'll give you all a punishment for SIDING with those villains!!"

POOF

Suddenly, Discord appeared.

"Hold up, JUDGEMENT!" the draconequis said. "Are you even aware of WHAT you're doing?"

"How so?" Judgement said, not even the slightest of fear in her voice.

"None of them did anything WRONG! And they have LIVES you know! Two examples: Pinkie has a kid of her own, and Fluttershy is living her BEST life with me!!!"

"You know... you're right," Judgement said.

A loof of relief washed over Discord, Spike, and the Mane 6.

"Which is why you'll be joining them!" Judgement said.

"What?" Discord said.

Suddenly, Discord lifted into the air in a yellow glow. Flutterhsy, Rarity, Rainbow, Pinkie, and Applejack all followed suit.

Next, Judgement levitated as his body immediatly glowed yellow. Finally, magical beams suddenly shot out of Discord and the five ponies.

Their screams didn't even give Judgement remorse.

When he finished, Discord and the 5 ponies fell to the ground. They all weakly got up.

"W-what are you g-gonna do now?" Fluttershy asked. Despite becoming less sensitive over the years, it was hard for her to keep composure.

"I'm gonna do the FUN part now!!!" Judgement said.

"I know fun when I see it..." Pinkie said. "And this doesn't sound like fun!"

Judgement lit up his horn.

"Can you at least tell my family I love them!" Pinkie screamed. Her large, ponytailed poofy mane started to deflat.

"I didn't even get to finish my latest designer line!" Rarity wimpered.

"You won't get away with this! You didn't get Luster! You didn't get Starlight! You didn't get the Crusaders!"

Judgement chuckled.

"Oh, I will. Since every single being is here, I will enslave your friends, and family too! They made the sorry mistake of coming here! AND WHEN THEY'RE GONE, ALL will fall to ME!!!"

Then, things took place.

All of this happened at the same time:

Twilight, Spike, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash all charged at Judgement. Rarity shielded herself from what was about to happen. Pinkie sat down, her mane fully deflating, as she was on the verge of tears. Discord rushed over and grabbed Fluttershy, hugging her in his embrace. She also seemed to be on the verge of tears.

When all of that happened at the same time, Judgement suddenly blasted a large beam at the 8 beings, covering Canterlot in a bright light.

When the light faded, all the ponies and creatures gasped.

Princess Twilight, along with the 7 friends on stage with her, have been turned to stone.

Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Spike, and Princess Twilight herself, were all lunging toward Judgement. But they were on their own seperate statues. Behind them, Pinkie was also in stone, mane deflated, and stone tears on her cheeks. Rarity still seemed to be cowering. The only statue with two beings was Discord and Fluttershy, as he continued hugging her. Just like Pinkie, Fluttershy had stone tears on her cheeks.

"There!" Judgement said. "Now, since all of you basically submit to Twilight, I WOULD turn all of you to stone. But actually, I'm gonna make sure that only ONE more pony gets turned to stone: Luster Dawn, the one who 'reformed' the villains! As for the rest of you, I shall drain your POWER with the help of my associates!!! AND WHEN THAT IS OVER, EQUESTRIA WILL FINALLY BE UNDER MY RULE!!!! ASSISTANTS, MAGIC AT THE READY!!!"

Judgement's two remaining cult members stepped forward.

And then, their bodies glowed yellow as they levitated into the air.

Unfourtunatly for Judgement, despite the fact that he wanted to turn Luster to stone, he couldn't. 

Why?

Because the star pupil of Princess Twilight Sparkle managed to escape at the last second.
> Chapter 6: Letters and Television
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It took a while, but I FINALLY managed to set up a place for the trio to sleep.

Oh, wait. I forgot.

Hello. I'm Leo. But some may know me as ScorchingFlamesInc. And I have three former MLP villains living in my house.

What?

You didn't expect ME to start telling the story, did you?

Anyway...

The place I chose for the former villains to reside in was... the shed I found them in. It's not too homey, but I couldn't think of any other place. So I settled on the former villains sleeping in there until we figure something out.

Getting it set up wasn't easy. Mostly because they needed room to sleep and NOT just stand. Due to that, we needed to move everything inside. Moving the items wasn't an issue since Tirek has strength and Chrysalis has magic.

It took about ten minutes to unload everything and put them in the desired spot.  

I collected some blankets, food, and books so they can adjust. I promised they could go in the house eventually when I figured things out.

The rest of my Saturday then carried on like normal, aside from the former villains residing in my home and doing whatever.

Today, I was supposed to leave the house. But I was quick enough to unlock the shed so the trio would be able to leave (they were still asleep). Then, I slid a note under the door as carefully as I could. 




Five minutes later...



Third person/creature POV




When the trio woke up, each of them were slightly dismayed to learn that their incident is actually reality.

Tirek was the one to notice the note on the ground. Chrysalis picked the note up and read it.

Hey, guys.
So, I'm gonna be gone for at least an hour after I wrote this... I'll explain later. 

The shed is unlocked. So are the doors to the house. I want you to go to my house and enter it. There is some toast and eggs on the counter.

After eating, on the couch, there is this a remote on the couch. In case you don't know what it is (you probably do), it is a small black box with buttons. I want you to point it to the BIGGER box, a TV, on the wall in front of the couch. Press the button that says "Netflix". When the TV shows five images, go to the one that has my name under it (if you don't know it, press the right arrow button). Press the button in the middle of the arrows. There, you will get multiple images. Use the arrow buttons to look for the one of Twilight and her friends, titled "My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic". Select the image, and press "Play season 1, episode 1". There, you will get to see the broadcasting of Twilight's adventures. If you want to take a break or review what you saw, press the two parallel vertical lines. When you want to keep seeing it, press the sideways triangle.

I hope this letter is useful. Yours truly,

Leo.


The trio uneasily looked at each other before going to the house. As promised, there was three plates of eggs and toast. After enjoying their meal, they went to the couch and saw a small black box with buttons, which must have been the remote.

Chrysalis and Cozy got on the couch while Tirek moved the table, picked up the remote, and sat on the floor in front of the couch.

As they followed the instructions on the letter, they were mesmerized when the five images appeared on the screen.

"Wow. This is more advanced stuff. Is this magic?" asked Tirek.

"Actually, there were projectors at the school of friendship," Cozy said. "This is probably more advanced stuff than that. You don't know because you were in Tartarus so long."

Tirek chuckled, embarrassed.

They resumed the instructions on the letter until they had their next reaction: the image of Twilight and her friends.

"Is this it?" Chrysalis asked.

"It's title is what was said in the letter. I think we found what we're looking for," replied Tirek.

A couple more button taps later, and for the first time ever, the trio got their first glimpse of Twilight's trip to Ponyville.







"Wow," Tirek said, pausing the show when season 1, episode 2, began.

"This is... something," Cozy said. "Do you think we could learn more about friendship through this... show?"

"Seems likely," Chrysalis said. "Luster told us that Twilight learned a lot about friendship in the past. Maybe we could hear some of those lessons."

"Well then, I see no reason to keep this paused," Tirek said. He then pressed the button that would resume the show.

Suddenly, the door burst open, causing Tirek to pause the show again.

It was Leo. And he seemed out of breath.

"You... you've got to...to hurry."

"What's wrong?" asked Cozy.

"Friends... coming over... don't know you're here... didn't get to tell them yet...!"
> Chapter 7: Differences and Friends
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

When I went into the house to warn the trio about my friends stopping by, they didn't hesitate. I grabbed the remote and shut off the television. 

Instead of leaving the garage door, we left via the FRONT door.

"Why THAT one?" asked Cozy.

"I'll explain later," I said.

The three of us got out of the house and darted to the shed. Despite the fact it would leave suspicions, I let the trio into the shed and then went in with them. I closed the door, but I couldn't lock it. Since, you know, I can only lock the shed from the outside. As long as nobody sees the missing lock, we should be fine.

I turned on the flashlight setting on my phone for some light.

"Who are your friends?" Chrysalis asked when I settled in.

I sat down, before the trio followed suit.

"Well..." I began. "Their names are Eddie and Dave. I met them in College."

"Do they know anything about us?" asked Cozy.

"Well... yes. But they're not fans of you like I am. They don't hate you, but they prefer to be interested in things unrelated to colorful ponies."

"Oh..."

"And I'd rather not start have them find out or anything," I continued.. "If I was younger, I'd tell them, but with a risk of consequence... not a chance.."

"Do you have trust issues with them or something?" asked Tirek.

"No..." I shook my head. "No I don't. If they were to find out, I'd rather have it be through warning them first."

"I see..." Chrysalis mumbled. "Onto another subject... how did that black box work?... That 'television'?..."

"That TV you saw was technology. I am aware that you had things like projectors, but that stuff wasn't as advanced as what we have today! We have devices that have video games, and respond to anything with the tap of a finger. As for food we eat... eat..."

My voice started to falter.

"Well? You can say it," Chrysalis said.

I finally said it.

"Meat."

Their expressions became a mixture of horrified, and the type that express the words "say WHAT?!?!" Strangely, Chrysalis finds it odd I eat meat too. I guess the "changelings eat meat" thing really is a myth. Either that, or her reformation made her against meat-eating.

"Don't worry, I won't eat you. I may not eat meat AGAIN after this..." I muttered. Whelp, goodbye bacon cheeseburgers with a side of fries. Goodbye chicken. Goodbye... BACON!!!

Anyway, they seemed to have calmed down after I said that last sentence.

"Well, I gotta go," I said getting up.

"Why?" asked Cozy.

"Didn't I just tell you my friends were going to be here?"

"Oh, yeah..."

"Wait... are you going to introduce your friends to us, or not?" asked Tirek. "You're kind of making the situation hard to read."

"I may tell them. I was probably overreacting because it was unexpected and I didn't want to cause chaos. But I may if I feel like it's safe."

"Very well..." Chrysalis said.

"Plus, if I did tell them, it would be a good time to mess with them. I'm the kind of guy who LOVES to mess with his friends. Anyways, I won't be long. They're just coming for a short visit."

With that, I got up, opened the shed door, and closed it. I placed on the lock in case someone got home and checked on it.

Then, I headed for the garage.

I opened the back door that was behind the garage. I entered, and my two friends were standing nearby next to my car.

While they were here, I might as well describe them.

Eddie's a tall man, somewhat around my weight, and he's one of those guys that enjoys being humorous, which I really dig. He's also a huge video game nerd, but he's not too interested in some of the stuff I like. We have middle ground though, and do it anyway, and we end up having a good time. Also, he's married (lucky guy).

Dave was five years older than us. He had scruffy stubble like what I had, but unlike me, he keeps it tidy. He's a laid-back kind of guy, which gets kind of annoying at times. He's also not as into screens as me or Eddie, but if there's something on TV, he'd watch it. 

Eddie, Dave, and I were all on good terms. They were already friends by the time I met them, but I was able to hit it off with both of them when we first met, which worked well. They also don't live too far, which was convenient.

My friends turned to look at me.

"THERE you are," Eddie said. "Judging from the door you were in, you snuck out without us. What's the big deal"

I scratched the back of my head and chuckled.

"Heh. No. Come on inside. Are you guys hungry, or anything?"

"I had lunch before I left, so no thanks," Eddie said.

"I could eat," Dave shrugged. "What do you have?"

"Not much," I replied. "Just some leftovers, soup, sandwich stuff, snacks... I need to go out to the store or something..."

"I'll take a look."

So I led my friends inside, and we settled down. Dave decided to help himself to some leftover lasagna, which I was fine with. Eddie filled us in on his growing family life, saying that his wife was going to have a baby, which was fun. He asked us for some name suggestions, which the three of us started playfully arguing and laughing about.

The whole time we chatted, I kept thinking about Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow. I knew they were fine, but I kept having this nagging feeling that I wanted to check on them. Maybe it was the fact that some favorite cartoon characters of mine were real now. Or maybe it was something else. Either way, it was pretty cool. I was also curious about how much they knew about Friendship... did they know enough, or were there maybe a few things I could teach them?

I probably doubt I'd teach them anything, but whether I teach them or not, it's safe to say that their fate is finally in good hooves.
> Chapter 8: Disguises and Discoveries
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The visit went on longer than expected, but it went well... but I had a close call.

"Hey, Leo, could I borrow your weed-whacker?" Eddie asked. "My old one finally busted after many years, and the missus is starting to give me a hard time about the grass along the house."

"Oh, um... sure!"

"Great! Let me go get it... could I see your key?"

I had to act. There was no way I was going to let Eddie and Dave find out like this. I got up.

"How about... I do it?" I said. "Just... sit down and enjoy yourself."

"Oh, sure! Of course..."

I smiled, went outside, got the key, and unlocked the shed.

"I take it your friends left?" Chrysalis asked.

"Not entirely. One of them needs something from the shed, so I'm getting it for him. Are you all doing okay?"

"The shed is cramped and musty, as always, but we're managing," Tirek replied.

"Great. Just hang in a little longer, okay? I'll be back..."

I shut the shed door, locked it, and returned to the house. Eddie and Dave didn't stick around for too much longer after that. Once I gave Eddie the weed whacker, we said our goodbyes, and they went on their way.

I returned to the shed.

"Okay..." I said after opening it. "Now they're gone."

"So... what now?" Cozy Glow asked.

"If I'm going to be honest, I'd rather not spend half of my days in a shed isolated from the world," Chrysalis spoke. "I would much rather take my chances and do something."

"I stand by that," Tirek agreed.

"Wait a minute, you guys, as much as I would like to help, there isn't much we can do. I mean... Chrysalis can transform into a disguise, sure, but... what about you two? Cozy Glow can't do magic, and Tirek?..."

"I know little to nothing about those kinds of spells," Tirek admitted.

"See? We really don't have much options here."

I noticed that Cozy Glow was thinking. I could also tell that she just got an idea. 

"What if..." Cozy started. "What if Chrysalis transferred some of her magic to us?"

"Carry on?..." Chrysalis said.

"I mean, it wouldn't be like with Tirek where it's converted to just power after all. Once it's transferred or split to us, we'll have some of the abilities. And considering how transformation is one of the primary changeling powers... we might be able to do it."

We thought about it.

"I suppose it's possible..." Chrysalis mumbled. "I've never caught up on much spell books for other spells, but I believe I may be able to successfully perform that spell."

"I'm willing to try it as well," said Tirek. "I doubt there's anything else that we can do."

"Well, if you're all willing to do it, then okay," I shrug. "I won't stop you."

"Alright then. I suggest you leave the shed. It could be dangerous, considering I've never tried it before."

I nodded, got up on my feet, and left she shed. I closed the door, but didn't lock it. I backed up, hoping for zero explosions.

And then, I could see a dim green glow emit from the shed as Chrysalis cast her spell.

It only took a minute for the green glow to fade.

Cautiously, I opened the shed door, and was relieved to see that the villains were okay. Chrysalis DID look a bit tired, though.

"How do you three feel?" I asked.

Cozy and Tirek said they felt a little funny. As I expected, Chrysalis admitted that she felt tired.

"So... are you two able to disguise yourselves now?" I asked.

"Let's check," Cozy said. "We'll try to disguise as you and see how that works."

"Ok," said Tirek. "Let's commence with the attempt in 3... 2... 1!"

Suddenly, green light enveloped Cozy and Tirek for a brief moment before it faded. When it DID fade, however, Tirek and Cozy were no longer there. Instead, two duplicates of.... ME... stood in their place.

"Wow!" Chrysalis said. "It WORKED!!!"

The two me's looked at each other before they looked at themselves and smiled. The me's then turned back into regular Cozy Glow and Tirek.

"Well, NOW you three can go out in town... as LONG as you all avoid detection," I said. "What do you have in mind for disguises?"

The trio looked at each other before they all glowed green again. When it faded, three people I have never seen before stood in place. We all knew that it was their disguises. The trio examined their new physiques.

Chrysalis' disguise was a tall, thin woman, with a face so pretty, not even male INFANTS would deny it. Her hair color remained the same, and the irises in her eyes were blue. She also sported red lipstick. For clothes, she wore a purple short-sleeve shirt, with a long peach skirt covering her legs. Her shoes were peach colored high heels. And despite the fact it was summer, she wore a fuzzy orange scarf, giving her that 'rich lady' vibe.

Tirek was about a foot taller than Chrysalis, and he appeared as a bodybuilder (obviously). His facial features looked so macho, I don't think women could resist him either. He had black hair on the top of his head, along with a short white beard under his chin. As for his eyes, they had black irises. For clothes, he wore a black tanktop, black sweatpants and grey sneakers. As soon as he saw his arms, he lifted one up and kissed it.

Cozy had the physique of a thin nine-year old girl with a VERY adorable face. Her hair was still a shade of sky blue and in curls. She still had the red irises, and she still had the freckles. As for her clothes, she wore a light-pink shirt and light blue jeans. Her shoes looked like one of those 'Twinkle Toes' sneakers.

"Wow..." I said, everyone looking at me as I broke the silence. "You all look like a VERY happy family, with an odd choice of hair and eye colors.

"Oh... should we change then?" asked Cozy.

"No. You don't have to. But don't be suprised when men stare at Chrysalis, when women stare at Tirek, or people start complimenting your cuteness," I said.

"We can take our chances," said Tirek. "As you said, we look like a family anyway. Maybe that could be how we disguise our everyday lives."

"Ok then. I guess the last things we need to choose for you are your names."

"Why?" asked Cozy.

"In case you haven't taken the hint, there are NO humans that have names like yours."

"Any ideas?" asked Chrysalis.

"Hmmmmm..." I pondered. "I GOT IT! Chrysalis, you can be Christine! Tirek, you can be Drake! Cozy, you can be Angel!"

The trio looked at each other again before they responded.

"I like it!" Chrysalis said.

"Seems suitable," Tirek said.

"I can accept a name like that," Cozy said.

"Perfect! We still have one more thing to do before we go out in town..." I said.

"What?" asked Cozy.

"Teaching you how to act in public. First things first: how you walk."



Back in Equestria



Judgement was enjoying being the new king. He hasn't even ruled Equestria for 24 hours. The thought of those petrified fools is like music to his... eyes?

Judgement sat in the throne, with two smaller thrones between them. In both thrones were the two hooded ponies that still worked for him.

Despite conquest, nopony decided to remove the cloaks. 

Not yet.

"You know..." the pony on Judgement's left said. "I wonder how the villains are doing."

"Me as well..." the one on Judgement's right said. "Could we check on them?"

"Very well," Judgement said.

He lit up his horn and a large yellow rectangle appeared in the cloaked ponies. Slowly, a projection started to form until...

"What are those creatures?" asked the left cloaked pony.

"Those must be the creatures that inhabit the world. But why do three of them look..." Judgement paused. "Wait. THOSE ARE THE VILLAINS!!! AAARRRRGH!!!"

Judgement slammed his left forehoof down. Nopony even flinched. They just continued watching Judgement.

"This is JUST great! We banished the villains to Earth, and they get helped by those who are WILLING TO HELP THEM!?!?! That WASN'T WHAT I WANTED!!!"

"Isn't it possible that those three creatures DON'T know who they are?" asked the right cloaked pony.

Judgement put his hoof on his chin before he shook his head.

"No. Something tells me those three other creatures know EXACTLY who they are!"

"What do we do? Should we leave them alone?!?!" the left cloaked pony asked.

"No," Judgement said. "Think about it: eventually the creatures will HELP the villains get back here! They will USE friendship to defeat us, and our plans will be DEMOLISHED!! Well, here's what I suggest: We OPEN a window to their world so we can come and go as we please! We LEARN about WHY the creatures are helping the villains! We LEARN about Earth more! And MAYBE even have TWO worlds to conquer if EVERYTHING goes right!!!"

"Sounds like a plan," the right cloaked pony said. "But what should we do first."

Judgement chuckled and rubbed his forehooves together.

"First things first: we activate the portal to Earth. THEN, we EXPOSE the villains to EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE CREATURES!!! Sure, it may result in the humans getting more allies! But it could result in EVEN more!"
> Chapter 9: Town and Parks
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It took 30 minutes.

30 stinkin' minutes to teach these three former villains the way of human life.

But it worked.

When the trio got it down, I went inside to grab some money. I figured that since we could go out into town now, we might as well make the most of it... get ice cream or something.

We still had to figure out how to make it seem less weird that a random family was following us. We just settled on the fact that this odd family were some new friends of mine.

The park wasn't far, but it took longer than five minutes due to the directions we took. I had to remind Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy to hold off from crossing the street until the cars stopped for them.

Finally though, we arrived at the park. Luckily, there was nobody else there, so that cancels out the 'weird looks' bit. Sort of. There were still cars around, but I doubt anyone would walk or drive by. Chrysalis and Tirek took a bench while Cozy went out to play on the playground equipment... we insisted that she did it. I sat on their bench at the right end.

We all watched Cozy Glow play around a little bit and enjoy her freedom.

I decided to ask them a question, so I could solve one of the show's bigger mysteries. "Has Cozy Glow told you two much about her backstory?"

Tirek shook his head.

"I don't think so," Chrysalis answered. "None of us even asked in the first place."

"Oh..."

We sat in silence for a bit longer.

"This... Earth... is pretty nice," Tirek said.

"Thanks. So I guess you two are enjoying the scenery so far?"

"It's different," said Chrysalis. "These buildings... the hoomans-"

"Humans."

"...the humans populating the world. The technology. There's so many differences... it feels out of place. But nice. I'm intrigued. It makes me sound like Twilight Sparkle when saying this, but I would like to know more."

"I'm interested too," Tirek admitted. 

"I see..."

For a while longer, the silence continued to carry on. We continued to watch Cozy Glow on the chair swing.

"She seems happy," I started. "Happy to be free. Not from stone or anything, but free from... herself."

"She is living like a normal filly," Tirek said. "And she seems happy that she saw the light when we got the chance."

I looked down.

"I need to be honest with you..." I started.

"What?" asked Chrysalis.

"Remember telling me the story of how you reformed? And I seemed very suspicious?"

"Yes..." Tirek said, unsure of where I was going.

"Well... I never thought that was how you changed. You see, for most of the people that love your show, they write these stories called 'fanfictions'. They center around many citizens of Equestria, but they never actually happened. When I saw you turn to stone, I wanted to find closure. Some sort of closure about you all reforming that I was satisfied with. I couldn't find much, so I did the most sensible thing I could: take matters into my own hands. So I wrote a story about a unicorn named Luster Dawn being sent by a map to reform you. I wrote another one too, but I can't remember it. I don't bother checking anyways, since I haven't checked on my stories for so long. Anyway, when you told me your story, every detail you said was incorporated into my writing. I thought an official comic or show would reform you. But no. My story showcased it instead. It's a very weird honor. Probably one of the weirdest things to ever happen to a guy. Anyway, if you thought I should have told you earlier, then that's on me."

I looked at Chrysalis and Tirek, who looked at each other. They then looked at me.

"You know... that's nice to hear. You must have truly wanted to see us change for the better," Chrysalis said.

"Yeah. And think about it. You could have the ability to predict our future!" Tirek chimed in.

I chuckled.

"Yeah... it sounds sensible, but I don't know. Let me just get one thing straight: I love to draw. A lot! Yeah, it's off-topic, but hear me out. Sometimes, I would make myself out to be a hero. Someone who was assigned to save the world! I know it won't happen, but the fact that you are here makes me feel SLIGHTLY special and lucky. But for all I know, if you continue to stick around, and people start to hear about your story... maybe you could change them too. Or, if your story simply spread, you'd make a good inspiration of sorts."

Tirek opened his mouth to speak, but then the sound of footsteps distracted him. We all looked at Cozy Glow

"That little merry-go-round... are any of you willing to push me on it?" she asked, as if it was the weirdest thing in the world to do so. "I think it would go faster if I had some help.

We looked at Tirek.

"Don't look at me!!" Tirek said. "I'm so strong, she could FLY off the blasted thing. No, not just her. The WHOLE merry-go-round would fly right off of whatever was holding it!"

I sighed.

"I guess I could do it..." I volunteered.

"Really?" Cozy asked.

"Sure, come on." 

I got off the bench and went to the merry-go-round. Cozy got on the thing and gripped the handles. She looked at me.

"Just try to hang on, ok?"

Cozy nodded.

I grabbed another handle with all of my might and then started running as fast as I was able to.

I felt the merry-go-round increase speed as my own speed increased.

And despite the spinning, I could see the smile on Cozy Glow's face.

Not that fake one she made when manipulating others.

A real one. And it warmed my heart. I don't know why or how, but it did. 

Then, I let go of the merry-go-round.
> Chapter 10: Rooms and Truth
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hmmm..." Judgement stood in the room of one of the three humans he saw with the villains. He had the door locked, and an invisibility spell cast. It wasn't easy, but it was at least easier than crossing over worlds.

As soon as he found the guidebooks, figures, and stuffed animals of the ponies (and Chrysalis), he gathered them all and disintegrated them. He continued examining the room. According to the pictures, the room belonged to the human that was giving the villains instructions.

Drawers of notebooks were slid out, and Judgement would look through the drawings in one of the notebooks. The first drawing he saw had a certain character: a character with a semicircle head with semicircle ears. On his face round eyes with black dots for pupils, a black dot for a nose, and a line for a mouth. One of the most significant features was the hair. It was done up in three spikes. His body didn't really matter much in detail to Judgement.

But then, when Judgement turned a page, he furrowed his brow.

Chuckling at a possible evil plan, he tears out the page and puts it in a satchel he brought.

He had everything he needed.

Judgement projects the current location of where the villains and humans were at. Apparently, they were inside of a restaurant with a tiled floor. Zooming the projection out, he saw the building they were in.

Finally ready to bring his plan into full swing, Judgement unlocks the door and opens it, before turning invisible and quietly materializing away.



Meanwhile...



"People here are nice," Cozy said. "I'm surprised they let us all sit in this huge booth!"

"Yeah," I said, nodding.

After we left the park, we all went to this restaurant. It wasn't a major one, mind you. It was one of those restaurants that served things like burgers, but also had deserts like ice cream.

When we arrived, I told us that as long as we were good friends with 'Christine', 'Drake', and 'Angel', we should be fine.

We all went in, explained our fake story, sat in a large booth, and all ordered drinks. Only Chrysalis and Cozy got water. The rest of us got sodas (Tirek wanted to try something new. He hasn't had soda before).

Now, I HATE lying. But since nonexistent cartoon characters are trapped on Earth, I had NO other choice. If they were caught, they would either get beaten by people who are against them, or they would get sent for studies.

Why would I think of that? It's simple: I read a lot of fanfictions!!!!

Anyway, after I replied to Cozy about her comment, we all picked up our menus. As we spoke, I felt relief that the place was kinda loud, otherwise it would raise suspicions.

"Wow..." Tirek said. "This is a LOT of stuff!"

"Keep in mind, most of this is meat," I said.

"You weren't kidding when you said you ate meat, then..." Chrysalis mumbled.

"It's fine. I'll just order a salad or something. If you come from a world of herbivores, it's best to NOT eat meat... *sigh*..." 

I didn't really want to eat meat in front of creatures from Equestria. It would seem kinda wrong.

"It's fine. Don't worry," Chrysalis said.

"No... I'll just get a salad and maybe some desert..." I said.

"It's nice that you're doing this for us," admired Chrysalis.

"Yeah. Gotta make my guests feel welcome, you know?" I shrug.

"Are we all gonna get the same salad or-" Cozy said. 

Oh yeah. There was more than one salad option.

Before any of us could answer, however, the waitress came over.

"Any decisions?" she politely asked.

I settled on a ceasar salad. Cozy and Tirek got the same. Chrysalis got a different salad.

"Maybe after this, we can get ice cream if I have left-over money."

"I tell you..." Tirek said, picking up a can of Coke he ordered. "These carbonated drinks are something else..."

"Yeah," I said. "Sure, it's fizzy once opened, but you get used to it."

"You know, we can't thank you enough for helping us get on our hoo- I mean- feet! It means a lot!" Chrysalis said.

"Shucks. It was nothing. Since you were reformed, it was easier to take you in," I said.

"What would you have done if we were still evil?" Cozy asked.

"Probably would have tried a way to teach you friendship WITHOUT someone getting killed! As a guy who wanted to see you reform, it's hard NOT to plan. Then again, I was one of those people that would always think weird things, such as how much I wanted a character from the show to come to Earth."

"What would make you think like that? Sure, it happened, but I'm curious," Tirek said.

"Just me being me," I shrugged. "It would be funny if my life became even MORE special after this!"

After saying that, I immediately realized what I did!

One of the most significant rules in Equestria is to NOT jinx yourself!

And I just did!

How?

Because suddenly, Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow flashed a mixture of green and yellow. As soon as the bright faded, they didn't look like humans anymore!

They looked like themselves (Not only that, but Tirek's size caused him to become stuck in between the table and the seat. The table slightly broke too)!

As soon as everyone's attention was caught by the flash, they all turned to us, catching their glimpses of the villains.

And for a brief moment, I could of sworn that I heard a sinister chuckle before everything fell into place!
> Chapter 11: Traps and Policemen
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The manager of the restaraunt made her way to the table. I half expected her to make her way to the phone.

"Leo..." she began. "What are those things?"

I expected to hear kids crying before I remembered there wasn't any children here.

I had to be honest. There was no way out of this.

"C-cartoon characters... from a show I watch..." I said.

"Cartoon... animals?" she asked.

Chrysalis shuffled on the table and straightened her body. I knew she wanted to attack. I held up my hand to give her the signal to back down. Reluctantly, she slouched down again.

"Y-yes they are. I admit it. I lied! But you know what? I had to! For their safety! These beings deserved my help to learn the good side of life, because theirs fell apart! Even if you wouldn't call the cops, I know that someone out there would!!! Just don't call them, let us go, and have everyone here promise this to keep this a secret! Do anything! Just keep them a secret from anyone else!"

Now, I wasn't sure the manager would call the cops. She was always nice to me, but I couldn't trust anyone! 

"Please," I begged.

I couldn't figure out what she was thinking, but I hoped that she would let us go.

"Ok... you can go," she sighed. 

"Thank you," I said. I took out most of my money and put it on the table. "Keep the change. A token of gratitude."

The trio strained to disguise themselves again. It took a few minutes until they did, before we all got off our seats.

"Should I pay for the table and seat?" I asked, pointing to the damage Tirek did.

"You're in hot water enough," the manager said. "I got it."

"Thank you again," I nod.

We made our way to the door and I put my hand on the handle.

I tried opening the door.

It didn't budge.

"Is this locked?" I asked.

"I don't think so..." said the manager. She walked over and examined the lock. She used her keys to make sure her suspicions were correct.

"Yep... the door is just fine..."

I tried again. It was still shut.

"A little help?"

Tirek walked over and tried opening the door. Nothing. He kicked it hard. Nothing. He even went back and charged at it. Nothing.

"You should be lucky the door didn't break. I already have to pay for the table," said the manager.

Tirek chuckled.

"Sorry..."

"Well this sucks! We're TRAPPED here!" Cozy Glow exclaimed.

"Couldn't you use magic to open this door?" I inquired.

"MAGIC?" the manager gasped in suprise.

"I thought you KNEW that!" Cozy wailed.

"I thought it was only an ability for you to transform!"

"PLEASE don't call the police!" I begged.

"Don't worry! Magic or not, I won't call the cops!"

Suddenly, a loud voice erupted in the building.

It wasn't inside though.

"THIS IS THE POLICE!!!!! SURRENDER THE CREATURES NOW!!!"

Everybody darted to the window they were closest to and looked outside. What I saw was a police car with two policemen! One had a megaphone.

"DID SOMEONE CALL THE POLICE!?!?!" Cozy fearfully quivered.

"If they did, we would hear!" Chrysalis burst.

"If nobody called, why are the POLICE even HERE!?!?!" I shrieked.



A few minutes ago in another state...



Two policemen sat on a bench near their car for their break, sipping cups of joe.

"I tell ya..." the one on the left side said. "It's nice to have a break every now and then, you know?"

"Yeah," the one on the right chuckled.

Suddenly, two cloaked unknown creatures appeared out of nowhere, startling the policemen.

"WHAT THE-" was all the left one could say before he and his partner were put in a trance and began glowing purple.

"So, what's the plan?" asked the cloaked pony who wasn't performing the spell.

"I thought you knew it," said the one performing the spell, his hood glowing purple.

"I like hearing it," the first one shrugged.

"Ok. The plan is that one of us inserts fake memories into the brains of these humans. The memories are of them being called to a special mission in another state. That mission is to go to the location those three former villains live in to track them down, which took a couple days. After we give them those fake memories, we send them to the restaurant those six fools are at!"

"Seems like it works. I like it!"

And with that, the cloaked ponies performed the spell, and teleported them to the restaurant.



*Restaurant, present time...*



"WE KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!!!" the other policeman shouted. "AND DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT DISGUISING YOURSELVES!!!!"

"How did they-" Chrysalis began. But she stopped.

I didn't know why. My body was so tense and angry. I wanted to hurt whoever called the cops. I even muttered it.

"I wanna get whoever called the cops... they deserve to go to hell those..."

Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to look and see that it was Chrysalis, who was next to me as we saw the police out side.

"Don't," Chrysalis said. "Don't make the same mistakes we made..."

Those words were all I needed to hear. I'm a good person. It wasn't like me to be like that. It's just that I cared about them.

"We have no other choice," said Tirek. "We can't stay and we can't run..."

"No... don't..." I hissed. I had no tears, but I felt broken.

Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy all left their spots and headed to the door. Nobody was in their way, so no one had to move. Chrysalis grabbed the door handle and FINALLY opened it, and then the trio went to the front of the police car. They did not turn back into themselves. The police gave orders to the trio before they entered the vehicle.

Then, the police drove off.

"Are you ok?" the manager asked.

I shook my head.

"No."
> Chapter 12: Messages and Calls
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I opened the door to my house and entered. I silently, trudged for the couch in front of the TV and sat down to face it.

"You know what might make me feel better..." I said to myself. "If I turned on My Little Pony."

I pressed the Netflix button, but then the TV suddenly started swarming with static and colors.

"Oh no..." I growled, pressing the button. "Dang TV's busted... I just paid for it!!!"

I continuously pressed the button until suddenly, a small ball of energy formed into view. It wasn't empty, though... the face of a unicorn stared back at me.

"What the-" I mumbled.

"Hello? Can somepony hear me?" the unicorn spoke.

"Luster Dawn?" I asked.

"Yes," she nodded, surprisingly not shocked that I knew her.

"HOW are you communicating with me? Don't you need to be EXTREMELY powerful or something to talk to me?" I replied.

"It's complicated... I know that I have to be powerful enough to communicate with you," Luster said. "But... in spite of my unicorn-level magic I tried attempting it anyway! And I was surprised it even worked! I think it's because the events that have happened have made it easy for me to access your home. Anyway, I figured that communication with your world was the only way to tell the trio that Equestria is in grave danger! You see, this pony named Judgement Law sent Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy to your world. After that, he took over Equestria by turning the Princess and some of her friends into stone! Only I managed to escape before he stole our magic!"

This seemed like an impossible stretch, but I ignored it.

"Hold up!" I exclaimed. "How could he do all that magic, and HOW did you know the trio was here?!?!"

"I don't know! He could be extremely powerful for no reason at all!!! And as for how I knew they were here, it took skill. I successfully spied on Judgement and his two helpers as they discovered that the trio was here. So I tried to spy on the trio with my own magic, which is another spell I didn't know I could do. Eventually, when I saw the trio was taken by the police, I decided to try to communicate with you three! When I saw that giant black rectangle on the wall, I figured I would communicate with you THERE since you made it seem like it was a machine. And while it worked, I wonder how it is even POSSIBLE!!!!"

"Wait, are you asking me for help?"

"Yes. Because I also overheard what Judgement planned to do! He was gonna make sure his comrades restrained the magic and flight on the trio, just like what Princess Twilight did when I reformed them. They have no hope! But with the most unlikely creatures to help them, Judgement won't notice a thing!

"How will I know where they are? And if they're far, how can I get there that fast?"

"I can figure out where the trio is and teleport you there. Are there any suggestions of what to do?"

"Hmmmmm..." I pondered. "I GOT IT!!!! How about I suggest some friends to help us out? I already know who I want, so with one phone call, I can get them here."

"Ok. Who do you suggest?" Luster asked.



Meanwhile...



The former villains were worried about where they were going. They were in a mysterious carriage that was flashing blue and red lights, heading to an unknown location.

"Where are you taking us? What is this thing?" Cozy finally asked.

"This is a police car, which is what we policemen drive. And as for where you're going, I don't exactly know," the policeman grabbing a circle thing replied. "Probably some sort of FBI station where you can get studied? I have one in mind, but it is VERY far from here."

BAM!!!!

A loud noise startled everyone in the police car, which started swerving and hobbling.

"Drat! The tire must be flat!" said the other policeman.

The police car went to the side of the road and stopped. The two policemen got out of the car and headed to the right side of the car. The trio turned their heads to see what the police were doing, but two seconds after they did, the policemen stood up, glowing purple, and appearing to be in a trance. They turned around, and the former villains could see a cloaked pony come out of the woods, a purple glow on his head.

"Well, now that you got what we wanted, it is time for the next step..." the pony mumbled. "But first..."

The purple glow on the pony got brighter, and suddenly, the trio started to feel weaker.

"There," the pony appeared to smirk, the glow on his horn dimming. "With your magic restrained, you can't escape, even if you wanted to. And you may be wondering WHY you three are still humans! Well, you'll see soon enough! Now as for you policemen, I want one of you to take out that device of yours."

The policeman on the left took out his phone.

"Now, I request one of you to tell me the PERFECT place to take these villains to!"

"There is this one lab in Quantaci, Virginia..." the policeman with the phone said, clearly dazed.

"EXCELLENT!!! Show me an image at once!"

The policeman tapped the device with his fingers for a few minutes until he showed the pony the image.

"Hm... I'll be right back..."

The pony vanished, and it left them all alone. There was a bit of a moment of silence.

"What's going on?" Cozy Glow whispered.

"I'm not so sure..." Tirek mumbled.

"This is bad... this is what it feels like... to feel like you're in a low position, while holding out hope that your friends or allies will help you..." Chrysalis whispered.

"Don't worry, Chrysalis, it will be all right," Tirek assured.

The next five to ten minutes carried on, nearly completely unspoken, but finally, the pony returned.

"I've found the perfect place. Get out of the car, you three. NOW!"

The trio hesitantly obeyed. Chrysalis opened the door and got out, followed by Tirek, and then Cozy Glow.

The pony increased the brightness on his horn, and it appeared as if two more cloaked ponies were coming out of the bushes, before everything around them fizzled with yellow. And then, the trio suddenly found themselves at a new unfamiliar location. 

They saw policemen were all outside, surrounding the car but the pony... or ponies... were gone, along with the cops they were already with. The police car was gone as well. Now, the three of them were all on a table, surrounded by people in suits.

The first one to speak was a tall and thin woman. She had black hair, a black formal suit, black sunglasses, and a wire coming out of her ear.

"Uuuuummm..." she started. "What's the meaning of this?"

The trio didn't know what to do. They tried to change back, but they were still humans! They weren't sure if they could turn back at all.

"Um... we can explain?" Cozy nervously smiled.

The trio suddenly began glowing green. Slowly, their forms changed. Their hands faded, extra appendages grew, along with other changes to their bodies.

Finally, when the green glow faded, the trio all felt their hooves touch the ground as the woman saw their true forms. Confusion was no longer on her face, but rather amusement.

"What... is even... going on?..." Chrysalis whispered.

"Well, well, well..." the woman smirked.
> Chapter 13: FBI and Actors
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The long halls of the building were uneasy for the trio. The woman, Agent Beck, led them down the hallway, with other agents following them.

"Now, we don't have any current cells here," Beck said. "So we'll have to lock you in one of the rooms with some of the men keeping watch."

"Will we have beds?" Chrysalis asked.

"You'll have to sleep on the floor until we get a mattress. It may not matter anyway. We're going to be testing you three 24/7. After all, you're not from here. And you three are different creatures! We need to learn."

"B-but-but Leo told us that there were already creatures like me out there. THEY just don't have magic like I do!" Cozy whimpered.

"EXACTLY! Child or not, a talking horse with wings and the ability to move clouds is SOMETHING we need to study."

"For what?" asked Tirek.

"For better knowledge of the world beyond ours!"

"You DO realize that if you perform any dangerous studies on us, you won't get the chance to study us more!" Chrysalis said.

"Perhaps..." A grin spread on the Beck's face. "But alive or not, we would learn about where you came from."

"And how do you propose we do that?!" Tirek asked. "Our magic has been locked by another pony from our world, and you can't physically remove magic! Why can't you just go after the pony who restrained our magic or mind-controlled those policemen? Are you aware that that pony has helpers that are doing this to conquer the world?!?! We weren't even aware of that until we were taken!!!!"

Beck stopped walking, so everyone else did too. She turned and faced the former villains.

"Oh, trust me. We WILL find a way. If there are more than one of you, we WILL find them. And maybe even use you as BAIT! Plus, I don't care if your magic is locked. All I need is proof! Something like lie-detector machines will do nicely! We will just need to set up a cozy interrogation room. The FBI force will make sure you try NO shenanigans! But where to get a lie-"

Suddenly, a POOF was heard and Beck turned around. There, she saw a very peculiar device on the floor. She walked over and picked it up.

"A lie detector machine? How..."

"Trust me!" Tirek exclaimed. "None of us did that! In fact, we should thank whoever brought that machine here! Now you have proof, and now you can let us go!"

Beck turned back around.

"Just because this appeared out of nowhere doesn't mean I'm satisfied. And if you keep acting like that, we would be happy to encourage you not to! Now, we should be close to the test room. When we enter, I will contact other agents, along with some guards."



Meanwhile...



The location I chose was behind the community center that was located 25 minutes away from my home town. It was large, so I doubted anyone would find us here. After I communicated with the people I knew I'd need the help of, all I had to do now was wait.

And soon enough, I saw two cars park, and Eddie and Dave both got out of their respective cars.

"You wanted to see us?" Eddie asked.

"Yes..." I nodded. "It's very important. And you're probably going to think I'm crazy. But please... just bear with me."

"O-Okay?" Dave stuttered.

I took a deep breath.

"So... yesterday... I found these creatures in my shed. Not just any creatures. Cartoon creatures from that show I used to be a fan of. Well... they got taken, and I need some help to get them back."

My friends blinked, and I already knew that this was a bad idea.

"I'm sorry... w-what?..." Eddie squeaked.

I nodded.

"Um... dude..." Dave put a hand on my shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine! Argh! I knew you would think I was crazy! Alright, hold on, hold on... Luster! Luster!!"

"This is crazy..." Eddie mumbled.

Eddie and Dave prepared to leave, but then...

"Hello?"

They paused and turned around. And that's when they saw her on the energy ball that appeared in front of me... Luster Dawn!

"Oookay?... How are you doing that?" Dave asked.

"I'm not!" I exclaimed. "This is real... watch!"

Luster, through the energy-orb, lit her horn, and some decently-sized rocks started floating up behind them. They turned around, and it was clear that they were speechless.

"Bu-wha-how-"

"Magic..." I smugly smiled.

"This is a dream... wake me up, Eddie..." Dave wailed.

"No guys... listen, listen... This is real. And I said it before, and I'll say it again... I need your help."

"And I said this before, and I'll say it again... this is crazy!" Eddie shrieked.

"I know it is, but... guys... we're friends. We never knew each other through childhood, but we still have each other's backs!"

Dave crossed his arms. "Since when?..."

"Since... um... well..."

"Leo, buddy..." Eddie started. "I don't know what's going on, if I'm dreaming, or if this even is real. But if this means that I can end whatever craziness I'm seeing, then... I guess I'll help."

"Me too..." Dave muttered, unsure.

"Wow, I convinced you guys that quick? That was easy... So, Luster, what do we do?"

"I've managed to track down their location... they're at some sort of interrogation building in... Quantaci, Virginia."

"Quan- but... that's so far away!" Eddie exclaimed. "Forget that..." 

"No, no, no... I can make it easy!" Luster insisted. "As long as you three get in one of your... vehicles... I can teleport you to that place. I need an image of it, though so I can have an idea on what to do."

"Already on it... let's see... hmmm... lemme see..." I held up my phone. "Let's try this."

"That may be it!" Luster beamed. 

"Alright guys, we'll get in my truck, and we'll get this show on the road!" I proclaimed.

"I can't believe I'm agreeing to this..." Dave huffed.

We all got into the truck, and Luster got ready to teleport us. Whatever happens next, I just hope that the former villains were holding out okay while waiting for us.
> Chapter 14: Plans and Studying
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

POOF!!!!

The three of us were suddenly outside of a very large building in a parking lot.

"Is this it?" asked Dave.

"I think so..." I said.

"So, what's the plan?" Eddie inquired.

"I already have it covered," I said. "Luster will give us disguises with fake ID's. When we show them off to those who are suspicious, they will fall under mind control."

"Seems complicated and impossible, for that matter..." Dave mumbled.

"I think it's a decent plan if she can pull it off, but couldn't Luster just mind-control the whole building and be done with it?" asked Eddie.

I shrugged.

"Wait. Couldn't she just save the trio instead of hiring US to do it?" 

"If she could, she would have done it already. But she contacted us for a reason. We need to go for it."

Nobody else said anything. Dave broke the brief silence.

"Ok. Let's call Luster."



Meanwhile...



A few minutes ago, when Beck found the room to keep the trio in, she got their names before getting down to business. 

First, she contacted a few squad leaders and other FBI agents, and instructed them to go to the testing room harboring the trio. She then gave them instructions to bring them any tool of their choice, so then it would be easier for the creatures to tell the truth. Then, she made a few calls.

As she made the calls, men started entering the room. 

Soon, everything was already in place. All three of them were sitting at the end of a large table with no chairs. Chrysalis was hooked up to the lie-detector machine. Multiple FBI men stared at them, unmoving. An agent, a blond-haired man, was standing on the side of the table facing the woman. He was watching the lie-detector machine.

Beck pulled out the chair that was on the other side of the table and sat down.

"Now..." she started. "I'm going to be asking you some questions. You will answer them. My comrade will watch this lie-detector machine attached to Chrysalis. One lie and I will ask again. And again. And again."

"You don't understand what is happening here!" Chrysalis said. "This cloaked pony that teleported us here is not like any we have seen! HE was one of the reasons we were here! And when we saw him and the OTHER cloaked ponies, we had a bad feeling RIGHT from the start!"

The lie-detector machine resumed going steady. The second agent looked at Beck and nodded.

"Well, I appreciate the honesty about what you assume is a 'threat'," Beck said. "But there are more of us than him. Even when his magic is extreme, with enough men, we could restrain him. Now, no more out-of place comments! I want only answers. Now then... first question... how does magic exist in your world?"

"It just does," said Chrysalis. "I don't know."

The second agent looked back at Beck and gave her the signal that Chrysalis was telling the truth.

"Is it possible to harvest magic WITHOUT using magic?" 

"No," replied Chrysalis.

Again, Beck got the signal that Chrysalis was being honest.

"Would you DARE use it for government purposes if you were able to?"

"Why should we?" Chrysalis hissed. "You refuse to understand, and only care about your benefits! Well, we don't care if you are a good community! We don't CARE if you offer currency to us!!! We don't care about ANYTHING having to do with you!"

Tears started forming in Chrysalis' eyes as she looked away for a brief moment, before returning her gaze to the agent.

"We used to be BITTER and EVIL!!! We wanted nothing more than REVENGE and POWER! Especially ME!!! But that changed! Now, all we want, is a GOOD life! A life we get to experience after we learned the power of friendship! We aren't who we used to be anymore! We want nothing more than a LIFE!! And whether we are good or evil, we would NEVER work for those who even TRY to take that happiness away from us! We never even got to make full amends with those we deceived! I never got to apologize to my former kingdom! Tirek never got to reconcile with his brother! And Cozy never even got the chance to search for the ONE POSSIBLE scrap of family she has left!!! And if you think that we would EVER work with MONSTERS like you, all we would do is laugh, and call you the former shadow of our past selves!!!"

Chrysalis finally finished talking, huffing and puffing greatly. Tirek put his arm around Chrysalis for comfort while tears came out of Cozy's eyes.

Beck looked at them in shock before she started to speak.

"W-wow. I-"

Suddenly, the agent flashed a very dim, but familiar, shade of yellow. As soon as the dim light faded, Beck lowered her head and closed her eyes.

"A-are you ok?" asked the second agent.

Beck raised her head.

"I'm fine. It's just... I feel that we have all the answers we need..." she replied.

"Huh?" asked the agent.

"It's not that. This changeling, if that is what you're called, insulted us. And yet, we work with the government and work to protect this country. So I think these three need to be taught some manners... I have someone I think they'd like to meet."

"Who?..." Tirek asked.

Beck smiled in a devious manner. In the short time they all knew her, something about the situation seemed unnatural.

And then the door burst open.
> Chapter 15: Agents and Dummies
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"STOP!!!" a voice said.

Everyone turned to the direction of the voice and saw a man wearing a suit and sunglasses. Like the two other agents in the room. He was a somewhat thin man with brown hair and a brown moustache, which seemed to be very neatly shaved and trimmed.

"Who are you?" Beck asked.

"Ah! Yes. I am Agent Bruncowski! We have been assigned from another FBI building to explore this wonderful place and teach a few lessons. So when we saw you in this room, we figured this would be a place to start."

"We? You have others with you?" asked the other agent.

"Yes I do..."

Agent Bruncowski walked into the room and two other agents followed. The first one that came in looked a bit scruffy with the facial hair, and he was a bit shorter than the other two. The second one was the tallest out of all of them, and he also had a moustache. 

Bruncowski motioned his hand to the blond-haired agent.

"This is Agent Gerald..." said Bruncowski.

Bruncowski motioned his hand to the other agent beside him.

"...And this is Agent Darryl."

"Well, it is nice that you are here to teach us stuff..." Beck said. "But we were doing something important."

"It wouldn't hurt to wait," Bruncowski replied.

The woman groaned. 

"Fine!" she huffed. "But make it quick!!!"

"Now, how about all of you surround this table?" asked Agent Bruncowski. "Leave some room for us."

The men scootched over to make room for the three new agents. Bruncowski cracked his knuckles.

"Now, I've been told by an anonymous source that you all haven't had your proper CPR training," said Bruncowski.

"Are you stupid?!" Beck spat. "Some of us have taken the proper training for that sort of thing."

"Some of you. You said some. Meanwhile, as this isn't medical related, some of you are bound to have not had that kind of modern training. Raise your hands if that is so."

Five men raised their hands.

"I see, I see... Well, gentlemen let's get our training equipment..." Bruncowski ordered. The three agents then left the room, before coming back holding items. Bruncowski held a dummy with no limbs while Gerald held three baseball bats. 

Bruncowski tossed the dummy to the ground, which landed on it's back.

"Now..." Bruncowski began. "We shall teach a little bit about CPR, and what to do if it doesn't work. Allow us to demonstrate..."

Bruncowski headed to the right side of dummy and kneeled down. He put his hands on the dummy's chest and started pumping his hands.

"Stay away from the light..." Bruncowski yelled. "DON'T LEAVE US!!!!"

Agent Bruncowski continued pumping his hands on the dummy for a few seconds.

"GERALD! DARRYL! HELP ME!!!"

Gerald and Darryl went over and both kneeled on the other side of the dummy. Darryl put his hands above Bruncowski's and Gerald put his hands above Darryl's. All three of them used their might to pump on the dummy's chest. It was enough for Chrysalis, Cozy Glow, and Tirek to all smile. 

"WE'RE LOSING HIM!!!" Darryl shrieked.

"NOT ON MY WATCH!" Bruncowski replied. "GET YOUR HANDS OUT OF THE WAY, BOYS!!!!!" 

Bruncowski clasped his hands together, brought them above this head, and then slammed them down on the dummy's chest. He did it a few times before Darryl took his turn. A few hits later, Gerald gave it a go.

It was starting to become a challenge for the reformed trio to not laugh.

After Gerald's fifth hit, he put his head on the dummy's chest.

"NO RESPONSE!!!" he screamed.

"WE'LL SEE ABOUT THAT!!!" Bruncowski shouted. 
He got up, went to the baseball bats, grabbed one, and went to the dummy.

"DON'T WORRY!!! WE'LL SAVE YOU! BACK AWAY, GUYS!!!!"

Gerald and Darryl got up and backed away. Bruncowski lifted his baseball bat, and then brought the bat down, hitting the dummy square in the chest. Again and again, he hit the dummy in the chest five more times, before he bent down, and screamed in the dummy's 'ear'.

"STAY AWAY FROM THE LIGHT!!! WE WON'T LOSE YOU!!!!! NOT TODAY!!!! GRAB A BAT!!!!"

Bruncowski got back up on his feet as Gerald and Darryl went and grabbed bats of their own. The two other agents went back to their spots, before Bruncowski backed away and nodded. Then, the three agents, started beating the dummy with their bats. A few times they missed, but they were so focused on 'saving it' to care.

"HIT HARDER!!!!! WE WILL NOT LOSE ANOTHER LIFE!!! WE WON'T!!!" Bruncowski screamed.

Small giggles were heard from Tirek, Cozy, and Chrysalis.

Ten more hits later, Brunkowski finally tossed his bat away.

"STOP HITTING!!! I HAVE ONE MORE IDEA!!!"

Gerald and Maverick followed his order, before Bruncowski went closer to the dummy, bent down, grabbed it's neck with both of his hands, and tilted it up halfway off the ground.

"HANG IN THERE!!!! YOU'RE ALMOST SAFE!!!!"

Bruncowski suddenly started slamming the dummy on the ground repeatedly.

It finally took 30 seconds for Beck to appropriately respond to the madness. She got up on her feet, and slammed her fist on the table, catching everyone's attention.

"ENOUGH!!!!" she screamed. "AGENT BRUNCOWSKI!!!! I don't know whether you three are two eggs short of a basket, or if this was some unscripted comedy show! Whatever the case, this does not qualify as CPR! I let this carry on long enough. Either you three leave, or we will force you!"

"What? No! I'm an agent. I even have my card to prove it. Here!"

Agent Bruncowski stood on his feet and kicked the dummy away. 

"Ok. I want everyone to see my card, so I can SHOW you that I am official FBI! However..."

Bruncowski pointed at Cozy, Chrysalis and Tirek.

"I want you three to look away. This is FBI info. None of your business."

They all obeyed.

Bruncowski reached into his pocket and pulled out an ID card. Quickly, he put it in the center of the table.

"Here it is," he said before quckly looking away. Daryyl and Gerald did the same.

"Why are you..." the woman began. But then something caught her attention. 

A golden orb suddenly manifested above the table. Nobody had any time to react, so when the light surrounding orb hit a high level, it caused everyone looking at it to pass out.

When the glow faded, Bruncowski, Gerald, Darryl, and the captive cartoon characters all opened their eyes and saw what had happened.

Bruncowski nodded to Gerald and Darryl before the three agents rushed over to their aid.

"What are you doing?" Cozy asked.

"Saving you guys," Bruncowski said. He then reached up to his moustache and peeled it off his face. At first, Cozy cringed before she realized the moustache was fake. As for Chrysalis and Tirek, they didn't cringe at all. They immediately caught on as soon as Bruncowski grabbed it.

As soon as Bruncowski peeled off his stache', he dropped it to the floor and took off his sunglasses, revealing his true face to everyone else in the room. The captives felt immediate joy.

It should have, of course, been obvious the whole time.

It was Leo.
> Chapter 16: Escape and Trucks
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hey guys," I said, first looking at Cozy, and then Chrysalis and Tirek.

"Leo?!?!" Chrysalis exclaimed, still in surprised shock. She immediately regained composure and cleared her throat.

"And let me guess..." she resumed. She pointed her hoof at Eddie.

"That's my friend, Eddie..." 

Eddie waved.

"And that is Dave."

Dave looked at Chrysalis and nodded.

"How did you all get here so quick and easy?" asked Tirek.

I told them about everything that happened when they were taken. I told them how I was contacted by Luster, but not even Luster herself knew how she was able to do that. I then explained that I decided to get help from my friends, then explained the process that happened after that... Luster teleported us here, along with my truck.

Then, I told them how the rest of the plan played out. Luster disguised us with a spell, and disguised our licenses as magic ID cards meant to put anyone who sees them in a trance. We also requested props. 

"Wow..." Chrysalis said when I finally finished. "That was an interesting story."

"I do wonder how Luster was able to perform such powerful spells," Tirek thought.

"As I've said before, she doesn't even know how she was able to pull it off!" I replied.

Suddenly, a small sound caught everyone's attention. Moaning.

We all faced the direction and saw the female agent moving a bit more that she should.

She was regaining composure.

"Should we-" Eddie started.

"Yeah!" I said.

And one by one, we all bolted out of the room. Chrysalis first. Then Tirek. Then Cozy, Dave, Eddie, and finally, me.

As soon as I exited the door, I heard a booming voice behind me.

"WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING!?!??!"

I picked up speed, and saw the others do so as well. I started to hear shouting, mainly from the woman.

"KEEP RUNNING!" I shriek.

Everyone else followed my instructions and picked up the pace.

Despite the weight, I caught up with everyone in a jiffy. But I wondered why Luster wasn't doing anything to help us.

Suddenly, a loud blaring alarm went off and the hallway suddenly started flashing red lights.

The agent set off the alarm!

We all continued barreling down the hallway, hoping to escape quick enough.

But finally, we approached the doors. I saw Tirek open it and hold it for everyone to get out.

"GO, GO, GO!!!" he said as we filed out the door one by one.

As soon as I got out, I heard Tirek follow. Dave was already near the truck

"OPEN THE TAILGATE AND GET IN!!!" I called out.

Dave opened the tailgate door, climbed on top of it, and started undoing the cover. Once he finished undoing the tailgate cover, Chrysalis got in. Once Cozy and I got there, I opened the back seat, and Cozy Glow flew inside. We waited for Tirek, who was already there, and he got into the tailgate. 

"Crouch down!" I ordered.

Tirek nodded and crouched down.

I tossed my keys over to Eddie. "GET IN THE FRONT SEATS AND GO!" 

My friends dashed into the truck, and it only took one sputter to start. The truck lurched forward, smoke and screeching emitting from the tires.

"EVERYBODY HOLD ON!" I heard Dave scream.

Tirek and I grabbed the side of the tailgate. Chrysalis held Cozy Glow close, and Tirek pulled Chrysalis even closer.

The car raced out of the driveway and started to back away. The agents just got out of the building by the time we turned a corner.

After that, there was nothing else.

My gaze left the back of the truck, and I looked down at the tailgate ground.

We were finally safe.



Back in Equestria...



Judgement Law smiled at the projection of what he saw. There, the former villains and their 6 human allies escaped the grasp of their government.

"I don't get it..." said the pony who always sits next to Judgement's left. "WHY would we help everyone foil our plans?!?"

"Yeah..." agreed the pony who always sat on the right of Judgement. "Everything would have went our way. WHY would you thwart the plan?"

Judgement just snickered. A yellow glow emitted from his head and suddenly, the three mysterious ponies weren't sitting on their thrones anymore. Instead, they sat in the Canterlot Garden, right in front of a new stone statue of a recently petrified pony.

"You see..." Judgement began. "Eventually, we would all get bored of this victory. We would want to experience the satisfaction of ruling. And we all know we can't just give Equestria back, no matter HOW powerful we are. So I figured... why rule ONE world so you can rule TWO?!!?"

"Wait..." started the left cloaked pony. "Couldn't you have just taken the humans BEFORE they rescued the villains?!?!"

"I wanted to see how devoted they would be... so I came up with a fake plan to allow them to escape with the villains. And these humans... especially the leader one... they have potential to be our one ticket."

"And the others?" asked the right cloaked pony. "Should we just have them destroyed again?"

"No..." Judgement said. "We need to steal their power. All we need to do is wait for the right time to go to Earth and confront our foes."

"Seems like a plan," said the left cloaked pony.

Judgement nodded before the three cloaked ponies returned their gazes to Luster Dawn, imprisoned in stone, with fear in her eyes.
> Chapter 17: Conversations and Fire
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The wheels continued rolling on the road as the car resumed driving on the road. My back was getting sore from crouching, but it was better this way.

We were all silent as the car drove on the road. We had no idea what to do next.

It took a while for one of us to finally speak up. 

"Leo..." Chrysalis started. "What happens now?"

I sighed.

"Before Luster teleported us into the building to save you, we made up a backup plan just in case she couldn't teleport us back. We decided to stop by somewhere once the driver started feeling tired."

"Not a bad idea," Tirek admired.

Another minute long silence.

"We didn't get to thank you for saving us, by the way," said Cozy.

"Well why WOULDN'T I save you?" I said. "I saved you because you're villains on a show. I wanted you to reform. And you did before you got here on Earth. But that's not the biggest reason I saved you. I did it because you're my friends."

Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy looked at me.

"Friends?" Cozy blinked.

"Of course. I thought you caught on already when you first got here."

"I... guess it's still shocking that you would call yourself our friend. Especially since you know about what we did," Tirek said,

"Well reformed or not, I would try to reform you in the most sincere way possible. Like what Luster did. And I'm not the only one who considers myself your friend. Dave and Eddie do... I think?"



*One hour later... third person view...*



The sun was finally on the verge of setting. The car continued going. We stopped at gas stations a few times either for food or bathroom breaks. Nothing more.

In the car, the two friends were having conversations of their own. 

"This is weird..." Dave mumbled. "You gonna bring this up to the Missus?"

"What do you think?..." Eddie rubbed his forehead with a free hand. "You?"

"HAH!... No..."

"Thought so..."

All of a sudden, the car jerked. Eddie felt the wheel move beneath his hands, and not in the direction it was going. The wheel jerked again, this time more severe.

"EDDIE!!!" Leo's voice called. "WHAT'S HAPPENING?!?!" 

"I DON'T KNOW!!! IT'S NOT ME!!!" Eddie shrieked..

Suddenly, the car jerked and swerved off the road... right into the open plains.

Screams of shock and terror were heard from both the front seats and the back tailgate. Everyone in the tailgate were all huddled together.

"HANG ON..." Leo screamed.

"WE'RE TRYING!!!" Chrysalis exclaimed.. Her head was arched up so her horn wouldn't stab anyone.

The car continued to swerve around the field for what seemed like forever. By then, it was clear that Eddie wasn't responsible.

But finally, the car stopped, and everyone's breathing was incredibly heavy.

"What the hay just happened?" Cozy squeaked.

"I don't know..." Leo said. "Maybe-"

But before anyone else could say anything, a yellow light illuminated the vehicle. When it was gone, the three former villains felt that their friends weren't with them. Despite the low amount of light, the former villains could still see that their suspicions were correct.

"ACK!!!" a few voices groaned..

"LET US GO!!!" Dave's voice yelled out.

"WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING?!?!?" Eddie barked.

"Getting what I want..." a very familiar sinister voice said.

"WHO THE HECK ARE YOU?!?!" Leo's voice said.

"I am Judgement Law. And I'm here to claim what's mine!!!"

Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow were engulfed in a yellow light, and they were lifted out of the tailgate. As soon as they were high enough, they could see the cloaked pony that they never thought they'd see again: Judgement. Behind him were Leo, Eddie, and Dave. They had clear yellow chains on their bodies, laying on the ground, and straining.

"Well, well, well... it's nice to see you again..." he smirked..

The former villains were shifted in the air to a straight line. Cozy on the right, Chrysalis on the middle, and Tirek on the left. They felt themselves levitate forward before Judgement spoke some more.

"Now let's make sure you don't escape..." the cloaked pony said.

Suddenly, the glow on his head got brighter and the former villains could suddenly see a wall of yellow fire appear behind the three trapped humans. They could see the wall extend before it curved and left their peripheral vison.

"This ring of fire will prevent any escape..." Judgement mumbled. Finally, the trio felt themselves lower down to the ground, before their hooves finally touched the grass. The yellow glow on Judgement's head faded.

"Now..." Judgement started. "You're coming with me... you and the humans..." Judgement's head glowed yellow again. "Or else one of you, human or not, would disintegrate."

The former villains each looked at each other before they looked back at Judgement.

"We have no magic..." Chrysalis explained. "And if it means that you won't harm our friends, we will come with you.  I just have one question..."

"Spill!" Judgement commanded.

"WHY are you doing this to us? At first, we thought you were against our reformation. But we soon learned that you even conquered Equestria. Turned Princes Twilight to stone and everything. WHY?!?!"

Judgement chuckled.

"I guess it's time you know who I really am..." Judgement said.

Suddenly, all of Judgement's body, except for the cloak, illuminated in a bright yellow glow. A few seconds after his body started glowing, the cloak on his body disintegrated, revealing the silhouette of a pony with a short mane and tail.

But then the silhouette started to change.

Judgement's body got shorter. His chest and muzzle expanded and his unicorn horn sunk into his head and two larger horns sprouted out. 

Finally, the transformation was complete. And Judgement's true form was someone that shocked and confused everyone (except for Dave and Eddie).

Cozy Glow was the one to utter his name.

"Grogar?"
> Chapter 18: Emperor and Kings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Everyone stared at the blue ram, who was facing the former villains with a grin on his face.

"I-I don't understand..." Chrysalis said. "You can't be here! It's just somepony else disguising themselves as Grogar again."

"WRONG!!!" said Grogar. "After the stunt that the draconequis pulled, I doubt that anypony or creature would disguise themselves as me once again."

Grogar pointed a forehoof at himself.

"THIS is the REAL mel!" he said.

"Draconequis?" Tirek said. "You mean Discord?"

"I would rather not speak his foolish name!" replied Grogar. "After he reformed, I started to consider him a disgrace to villainy!"

"Ok..." Cozy said. "Now I'm MORE confused. HOW do you know about Discord reforming and disguising as you? Was it your crystal ball or something?"

Grogar grinned.

"No, actually..." he said. "When I came back, I managed to get a little assistance..."

"From who?" asked Eddie from behind.

Suddenly, with a flash of purple on Grogar's right, along with a flash of blue on his left, the two remaining cloaked ponies appeared, obstructing the humans from view a little bit more.

"Show them," said Grogar.

Suddenly, the right cloaked pony started glowing purple while the other began glowing blue. Both of their cloaks disintegrated, revealing silhouettes of unicorns. Both has shaggy manes and tails.

But then they started to change.

The pony glowing purple started to grow, but only slightly. His shaggy mane and tail changed a little and even started to flow. A few bits of familiar clothing and armor appeared on his body. His purple magic aura around his horn started to have a green outline with black lightning coming out of it.

At the same time as the right pony, the left one changed as well. He started to stand on his forehooves and he got even bigger than the other one. Parts of his body expanded, while areas like the one surrounding his stomach stayed slim. He got more shaggy, his tail got longer, and a peculiar piece of headware appeared on his head, which was changing form. Everyone could see armor appear on his body as well. Three claws grew on his forehooves while two grew on his hind hooves.

Finally, when the transformation was finished, everypony could see that Grogars two henchmen were also familiar. Once again, everyone but Eddie and Dave gasped.

"King Sombra? The Storm King?" Leo sputtered. "What the hay is going on here?"

"Yeah..." Cozy said. "Wasn't the Storm King turned to stone and then destroyed? And when we last saw Sombra, he turned down the idea of working together with us, resulting in him being defeated again."

"I know how you brought Sombra back..." Leo began. Everyone their gazes to him, with the current villains only turning their heads to see him. "But HOW did you bring the STORM KING back? And HOW were you able to convince SOMBRA to WORK with you?"

Suddenly, the mouths of all the humans glowed black and yellow, signifying their lips were sealed shut.

"That's enough out of YOU humans..." Grogar said. "Very well. I WILL tell you the story. And when I am done, I have ONE more friend to introduce to you all..."

Everyone except Grogar's associates were confused.

"Wait. Did you capture LUSTER?" panicked Chrysalis.

"Yes I did..." Grogar said. The former villains hung their heads in sadness. 

"But that is not who I am talking about..." Grogar continued. "Nor am I talking about any other pony or creature that I held hostage. You will have to wait until I finish telling you the tale. The tale about how I came back."

Grogar cleared his throat.
> Chapter 19: Flashbacks and Plotting: Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

One month ago...



Grogar opened his eyes, the bright sunlight causing him to squint. Weakly, he got up on his hooves and turned his head in attempt to look around.

The light, combined with the squinting of his eyes, made it hard to see. But the ground Grogar felt was enough for the realization to set in.

He was free.

After being defeated by Gusty the Great, Grogar was sent to an area of the aether where nopony else has been. He was all alone. 

He didn't know how his freedom happened. If somepony released him, he would hear them speak to him any moment now. But there were no voices that he knew of.

Perhaps it was his banishment. After all, it can be possible for banishments or imprisonments to end on their own. It made the most sense in his perspective. 

Grogar decided to stick with that explanation.

Grogar stood where he was, only moving his head, until his eyes started getting used to the sunlight.

As soon as it was safe to fully open his eyes, Grogar finally got a sense of where he was.

He was on the border of a forest.

Where there WASN'T forest, there was grassland. Extending for many miles. There were no signs of life that he could see.

When Grogar took one look at the forest, he suddenly got a small surge of magic from his body.

Unfourtunatly, it wasn't a surge that gave him power, but rather, a surge that told him he was there.

This forest... was the same exact area he cursed all those centuries ago before his defeat by Gusty the Great.

What was the curse? 

It was similar to the powers of an umbrum. It would give anypony who was in that forest their worst fears.

However, unlike the umbrum, the fears given to those in the forest were even worse. The fears were more heartbreaking, and those who saw the fears would suffer even worse after what they see.

Grogar smiled at the memory. But now there was no time to waste! During banishment, he couldn't do much. His magic was restrainied during banishment after all. And even though he sensed the magic in the forest, he was still too weak to do anything by himself. He would have to find out what day it is all on his own.

Grogar turned to face the fields and started making his way.

It was gonna be a long day.



Thirty minutes later



Grogar continued making his way through the unusually large field. He felt his magic returning, but he decided to wait. He figured a plan would go better if he hid in the shadows most of the time. During his walk, he felt powerful enough to dawn a disguise of sorts, since he had the power do to so. All he did was turn into a pony, but he was only powerful enough to change the cutie mark. He had to stick with his own colors. For the cutie mark, he settled with a scroll. It would be best if he seemed like a pony affiliated with law. The bigger fake loyalty the better.

Finally though, after thirty minutes, a sign of life came into view. What looked to be a pony was sitting someplace with smaller creatures seated around her.

As Grogar got closer, he started getting a more vivid view of the pony. She seemed to be a butterscotch mare, with a pink mane and butterflies for a cutie mark. She seemed to be in her 40s, and jer mane seemed to be done up in some sort of a looped ponytail. The smaller creatures were all rodents. Mice, bunnies, you name it. He also noticed that she had what looked like picnic-items in front of her.

Grogar loathed the things ponies did. But if he was gonna figure out what to do for his plan of revenge, he would have to talk to this mare.

Finally, Grogar got close enough to the point where she noticed him.

"Oh... hello..." she said.

"Could you maybe help me find directions to the nearest town?" asked Grogar. "I'm sort of... lost."

The mare pointed straight ahead.

"Perfect!" Grogar said. 

Now step two.

"Oh my," Grogar said. "What a lovely picnic you set up."

"Thank you," the mare said. "Would you like to join? If... you want to that is."

Grogar despised ponies being nice. And he loathed picnics. He would rather have all his limbs severed than take PART in such a thing.

But he had to find out the news of today somehow. And besides, it wasn't like the mare would FORCE him to eat.

"Well..." Grogar began. "I don't feel all that hungry right now..."

Grogars voice started to strain as he continued.

"But... it wouldn't hurt... to sit and... chat..."

The mare gave him a 'what the hay' look before she regained composure.

"Oh. Ok."

"You see... I have a little... amnesia going on right now," Grogar lied. "So I am fuzzy on a bunch of things. Since you were the first pony I have encountered since it happened, I hoped that you would know a lot about today's era."

The mare got on her hooves and fully turned to Grogar.

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear about your amnesia. I bet that your friends and family are worried!"

"Indeed, I don't know if they are still out there yet. But I figured it would be best to refresh a few certain subjects on the matter before I reside in town. I don't want any help refreshing my memory for the time being."

"Well, if you say so..."

Grogar cleared his throat and sat down.

"Ok. First question..." he began. "WHO is the ruler of Equestria."

"Princess Twilight Sparkle," replied the mare, who sat down as well. "She ruled Equestria for around 20 years. She's even one of my best friends! In fact, she was one of the biggest reasons I overcame my shyness."

"Interesting..." Grogar tried his hardest to hide his resentment for friendship. "What caused her to take over the throne?"

"I can find a few reasons why... though I suppose the biggest reason was because she kept Equestria in perfect harmony. She wasn't alone though. Her other friends, including myself, helped her along the way. We stopped Nightmare Moon. She stopped Discord-"

"Wait!" Grogar interrupted. "Discord?"

"Yes. It started when he escaped his imprisonment in stone and started spreading chaos. He even nearly ended our friendship. But the six of us soon reconciled and defeated him by turning him back to stone. Believe it or not, we soon freed him, and I was assigned to reform him. It took a while, but it worked. In fact, I'm actually expecting him to show up for this picnic any minute now."

Grogar couldn't resist twitching his eye. Grogar was responsable for Discord's existance after all. He made Discord to be evil. But hearing that one of his own creations reformed and sided with the ponies... it was sickening.

"Are... you ok?" asked the mare.

"Oh I'm fine... I just don't see how you would give him a chance if he was sent to stone. Twice!"

"Well... he has made mistakes..." the mare began. "Two of them nearly ended Equestria. First, he joined with this centaur named Tirek. But Tirek soon betrayed him. The next one was even worse. Before Twilight's coronation, he disguised himself as this legendary ram called 'Grogar', and even grouped up some of the worst villains."

"What?!?!" Grogar exclaimed.

"It backfired though," the mare continued. "Apparently, the villains he grouped up were plotting behind his back, and even had this item called 'the Bewitching Bell'. It was a magic bell that once belonged to Grogar himself. So the villains activated it's power, and transferred the magic inside the bell to them, making them more powerful. Then, when Discord came back in his disguise, the villains drained his magic, revealing who he really was. Then things escalated. Pony groups were divided, Canterlot was in ruins, and even the windigos returned. But eventually, we all defeated the villains with the power of friendship. And for their punishment, they were turned to stone."

Grogar just stared at the mare in shock. He couldn't believe what he heard. First, Discord actually had the guts to pose as him. Then, some random villains used the Bewitching Bell to make themselves powerful and even took Discord's magic.

"Goodness..." the mare said. "I must've went off topic..."

"No, no... you're fine..." Grogar said. "In fact, I'm interested. Where is the Bewitching Bell?"

"I don't know... I think Discord has it."

"And what about the villains that used it?"

"Since they were turned to stone, they were brought to the Canterlot Garden."

Grogar nodded. He knew everything he needed to know, so he wanted to flee as soon as he could. Plus, he also wanted to leave before Discord arrived. He didn't want to face that disgrace of evil.

But then again, Discord had the bell.

Grogar decided to get it back from Discord later.

"Well, I think I know everything I need to know," Grogar said. "In fact, I feel my memories coming back already."

"Oh, that's wonderful!" the mare said. Grogar wasn't sure if her voice had uneasiness or not.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go into town. Need to find a place, you know?"

"Would you like me to help? I'm sure Discord wouldn't mind..."

"No. You go have your picnic. I wouldn't want to cause trouble."

"Oh..." the mare turned back to face the picnic equipment. "Well, if you insist."

"I do..." Grogar said. He got up and turned to face the direction that led to town.

"Farewell," Grogar said, before galloping off to town.

He didn't look back to see the mare again. He didn't look back to see if Discord showed up. All he cared about was planning.

First, he would see if the villains that used his bell were worthy of helping him. 

Next, he would see if there were any more villains worthy of assisting him. 

Soon, he would attempt to get his bell back. 

Finally, all he would have to do is bend into the crowd in some way, before finally spreading anarchy and take back what was his.

He vowed to himself that he wouldn't fail. 

He vowed that Equestria will be his again.
> Chapter 20: Flashbacks and Plotting: Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once Grogar was out of the mare's sight, he began the next phase of his plan. All he had to do was cast a spell on himself to turn into a flying mist of magic, and search Equestria for the Canterlot Garden.

He was lucky he had the ability to do that too. He knew that many things changed while he was gone, and he didn't want to go through all the trouble asking for directions. And even though he could mind-control ponies to give him directions, it would take longer than what he has in mind.

Grogar looked around to be sure he was safe, before he lit up his horn. Suddenly, his whole body lit up yellow before becoming transparent and misty.

Now that the transformation was out of the way, Grogar leaped off the ground and flew into the air at a fast speed.

Buildings and trees covered the land. Grogar could see living beings near those buildings.

Not all were ponies, which caught Grogar by surprise. There were dragons, griffons, and many other creatures too.

He would question it later.

With the speed he was going, it didn't take long for Grogar to find a large city. He would normally fly buy it, but a certain flag caught his eye.

Canterlot, home of the Princess

He found it. The city of Canterlot.

Grogar dove closer to the city and began to search for the garden.

It took even quicker to find the garden than the city.

The size of the garden convinced him that this was his destination.

Grogar dove in and turned back into his pony form. He looked at the words on the gate.

Canterlot Garden

"Bingo..." Grogar said to himself.

He walked in and lit his horn, hoping to find the signs of life he was looking for.

Much to Grogar's luck, for the third time today, it didn't take long for him to find what he wanted.

The yellow glow on his horn suddenly lit up, dimmed, lit up, and dimmed again.

As soon as he took notice, he started to search even harder, until he saw a statue that glowed a dim yellow.

Grogar did this magic many times. So as soon as he saw the glowing statue, he knew that he found the signs of life that he wanted to find.

The statue had three forms. A frightened filly, a cowering centaur, and a scowling changeling leaping at her prey.

Why there was a filly in stone, Grogar had no idea.

But he was about to find out.

Grogar lit up his horn and the glow around the stone statue intensified.

One by one, he saw the memories of each figure, and he suddenly gained an understanding of what they had done.

The changeling, Chrysalis, attacked Canterlot and crashed a wedding. The power of love cast her away. She soon returned, but was defeated again. Along with that second defeat, every single one of her changeling subjects reformed. She herself was offered friendship, before she declined and went away.

She also made clones of six ponies, one of them looking like the mare he met earlier. Only younger.

The centaur, Tirek, came with his brother to drain magic. His brother reformed, however, and Tired continued his ways. It resulted in his Tartarus imprisonment. Soon, he escaped and stole nearly every ounce of magic before his next defeat. Soon, he conspired with the filly to drain Equestrian magic, but that failed too. he even had to help seven of his foes escape Tartarus when they were trapped.

The filly, Cozy Glow, had an odd past. A past that led her to pretend to be a good pony, enroll in a school of friendship, and conspire with Tirek to drain magic. She herself was imprisoned after defeat.

What all these memories had in common was what happened next. Somecreature grouped up Chrysalis, Cozy, Tirek, and what looked like a shadowy unicorn. And who grouped them up?

Discord. Disguised as Grogar himself.

Grogar saw how everything else played out.

Sombra, the shadowy unicorn, set up to take over Equestria on his own, but he was soon defeated.

Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy were all sent to get Grogar's bell. They split up, but soon began working together. Aside from getting the bell, another significant thing in that memory was when they almost learned... friendship.

That disgusted Grogar. But he had to continue. He wanted to see how they got into stone.

And he did see the memory.

When the trio got the bell, they hid it from Discord. Soon, they activated it with a book, gave themselves the bell's magic, and then took Discord's magic and left it in the bell.

They almost took over. Ponies were divided and the windings themselves even came back.

He saw how a rainbow defeated the trio, taking away all the magic the bell gave them. The princesses couldn't think of a worthy punishment, but with the help of Discord, they turned the trio to stone.

He also saw a familiar face in the memories showcasing the many near conquests.

The butterscotch pegasus that he spoke with earlier. Only younger.

"The pegasus I spoke with earlier?" he muttered while watching the memories. "No wonder she knew so much..."

When Grogar finished watching the memories, he made his decision.

"You three seemed worthy..." he began. "Almost taking over Equestria many times and even using my bell. You all seem worthy to help me... however... I loathe friendship. And seeing you all nearly learn it convinced me that I should just leave you here. Sure, you denied friendship. Sure, you pretended to want it. But all of you almost learned it. And one of you wanted to use it for power. Sure, it was for evil. But I despise friendship. So... I'm just gonna leave you here. Oh, but don't worry..."

Grogar grinned.

"You all gave me a suggestion for an ally. And I'm sure to find more on my own..."

And with that, Grogar turned into his yellow-magic-mist form and flew off into the sky.
> Chapter 21: Flashbacks and Plotting: Part 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Grogar continued exploring modern Equestria in hopes to find an area to perform the first step of his plan. He couldn't find any suitible spots in Canterlot, so he left in search of another town. He knew there were mines all over the place. He's seen a few before, but with all the changes made all around Equestria, he wasn't sure if any of those caves were closed off, and he mostly forgot where they were. So that's why Grogar had to rely on luck. And if he couldn't find any, he could just make an area of his own.

The next city... or in this case town... that Grogar came across was smaller and seemed less modern. The only similarity with Canterlot that he could see was the variety of creatures and ponies that he could see. One of the most sickening features was a bulding that looked like it was made out of sugary treats.

Once again, he looked on with disgust and disapproval.

Just as Grogar was leaving the town in hopes to find another one, something caught his eye.

A cave.

Feeling confident, Grogar drifted town to the enterance and once again turned back into a physical form. This time, however, he transformed back into his regular form. He was sure nopony would be in that cave. And even if ponies DID go there, all Grogar had to do was hide.

Grogar grabbed a nearby stick and stepped into the cave, lighting up his horns to illuminate the area around him.

The cave walls were crawling with gems. There were also a few holes in the walls. Grogar assumed that those holes had gems in there before they were picked out.

The cave was big, but Grogar hoped to find an even larger area on where to perform his magic. Almost like a room. Otherwise, as he thought before, he could just use his magic to create a large area.

It only took a few minutes for Grogar to suddenly hear a voice, along with hoofsteps.

"Hey! I think I see something!" 

Quickly Grogar dropped the stick, turned into his mist form, and squeezed into the biggest hole he could see on the wall. As soon as Grogar went into his hiding spot, his yellow light faded. But the cave wasn't exactly pitch black. Grogar could see a light that was a pale shade of green. The light was heading in the opposite the direction he was going. Finally, three full-grown mares appeared.

The first was the one illuminating the light. Although she was wearing a helmet, Grogar had the feeling that she was a unicorn. Her long mane and tail were two shades of light purple, one shade lighter than the other. The color in her eyes were the same color as the light she was giving, her coat was white, and her cutie mark appeared to be a shield. The shield was three shades of pink that were way different from each other, and in the middle of that shield, was a microphone.

The second pony was an orange pegasus. However, the wings on this pegasus were oddly smaller than the average pegasus wings. They seemed to be even smaller than her hoof! She had an orange coat, her mane and tail were hot pink, and her eye color was purple. Oddly, her cutie mark was the same as the unicorns. Only this time, there was a lightning bolt instead of a microphone.

The third pony was an earth pony, who seemed to be wearing something around her neck. Also around her neck was a satchel filled with sparkling gems. She also had a giant bow perched on her head. Her coat was yellow, her mane was red, and the color in her eyes was orange. Once again, her cutie mark matched the same one the other two ponies have. Instead of a microphone or lightning bolt, there was an apple.

"Huh..." the pegasus said, her voice slightly rough. "I thought I saw a yellow light here... and heard hoofsteps..."

"This cave is full of shiny things..." the earth pony said in a faint farm-pony accent. "There were times when Ah' thought somepony else was here. But as it turned out, it was just another blue gem. Or dirt fallin' to the ground."

"Again, I apologize that we are spending our day off like this," the unicorn said, voice slightly sqeaky, but not much. "But as I've said before, Rarity is too busy to come here and search for these gems, and if we don't get them, she's gonna enter that phase where she eats ice cream until she feels better. And the last time she needed ice cream, the place she gets her ice-cream from ended up giving her a life-time ban."

"Wait, why was she banned again?" asked the pegasus.

"She ended up making a big scene when she saw somepony buying the last carton. They went in a tug-of-war with it and everything. Rarity won, but she accidentally threw the carton at the face of the stallion who sold it. Funniest thing was, as soon as it hit his face, Rarity took it back and immediatly began eating it. It took ten minutes for everypony to convince her to leave."

"Wow..." the earth pony said. "All that for a carton of ice-cream? With her age, Ah' thought she would of grown out of it by now..."

"...but instead, it got worse," the unicorn said. "But then I could see why. Since her work is basically expanding, everything is becoming more stressful and important. In my point of view, at least."

"Yeah..." the pegasus said. "I could see that. But you know what? I don't mind coming here to help you sister on our day off as long as I am with my best friends."

The three ponies then did a high-hoof together.

"YEAH!!!" they all screamed in unison.

Grogar had to resist gagging.

"Well honestly, Ah' think we have everything we need," said the earth pony. "And if we don't, we can just come back here."

"Sounds like a plan," said the pegasus.

And with that, the three mares galloped through the tunnel.

Once Grogar assumed they were gone, he left his hiding place and turned back into his regular form. He was lucky that they didn't take the stick he grabbed, and even luckier he wasn't found. Once again, he illuminated his horns, grabbed the stick, and continued walking down the long cave.



Five minutes later



It didn't take long for Grogar to finally find the area he was looking for: an area large enough to his liking. Like a room.

Now Grogar had to see if the dirt was soft. After he carved into it slightly with the stick, he came to the conclusion that he would stick with what he had. Grogar covered up his test-carve and began to carve the rune that was required for this task, while preparing for the spell at the same time. He had to channel a new area of magic for this to wark. As he continued drawing, the glow on his horns began turning blue. It didn't even take him thirty seconds to finish drawing.

Finally, when he finished, Grogar tossed the stick aside and immediatly cast a blue beam on the rune. The outlines of the rune suddenly glowed blue as well and dark shadows suddenly emerged. All Grogar could see from those shadows was a red horn and a set of green eyes emitting a purple aura. In just a few seconds, however, the shadows formed a very intimidating figure. It was a large black unicorn, with a grey coat and a flowing black mane. His horn was red, and he wore a few items that only a 'royal' pony would wear. Grogar smiled.

King Sombra has returned again.
> Chapter 22: Flashback and Plotting: Part 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once King Sombra opened his eyes for the first time after his third return, his eyes immediatly landed on Grogar.

"Well..." Sombra began. "I suppose you had the guts to give me another chance? As long as I submit to you?"

Grogar chuckled.

"Oh, the memories I saw are correct... you ARE stubborn!"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Sombra said. "Memories you saw? Correct? You're confusing me..." 

"Allow me to explain... but first... do you remember the day I brought you back and there were three other villains there?"

"Yes. There was a changeling, a centaur, and... a filly. Why a filly was there was confusing."

"She was evil. Like you," Grogar corrected. "But even though I brought you back... it actually WASN'T me that brought you back."

"What the hay are you talking about?"

"I wasn't the one who brought you back. Some creature DISGUISED himself as me and brought you back."

"You can't be serious."

"Oh, but I am."

"Ok. Then WHO was the creature that posed as you?"

"Discord."

"Discord? While it WOULD make sense, I have to ask... wasn't he reformed?"

"He was. I don't know why he did it. It could of been out of evil. Or it could of been out of an entirely different reason. I don't  know. But from what I heard, he is reformed as of now."

"Interesting... I have another question... HOW did you know who I was, where I was, and how to bring me back?"

"When I searched the memories of the villains Discord brought together, I learned about you. I learned about your defeat when the memories showed the villains watching your defeat in a crystal ball. As for HOW I knew you were in the aether, it was a lucky first guess. But I knew how to access the aether for a long time before my banishment."

"Speaking of the villains broght together... what happened anyway?"

Grogar then went on telling King Sombra about the events that transpired. He mentioned the Bewitching Bell, Discord being found out, and the whole entire battle that nearly ended everything. He finally finished with the punishment that befell the villains.

"Well..." Sombra said when the story was over. "That was an interesting tale."

"It was," replied Grogar. "But even though they nearly ended everything with my bell, I'm not letting them out of their prison."

"May I ask why?"

"They almost learned friendship. They did other things, but it was part of their plans. When they got my bell, they nearly learned of the error of their ways."

"Doesn't that seem unfair?"

"Oh, please. I'm Grogar. I can decide what is fair or not."

Sombra opened his mouth to say something, but then changed his mind.

"Now listen, Sombra. Discord may have let you do your own thing when he was disguised as me. But this time, I'm not giving you much of an option. Either you submit to me, or get sent back to the Aether. And besides..."

Grogar stepped closer to Sombra.

"... Isn't it better to have a chunk of Equestria then none at all? Better to conquer anything rather than suffering in the aether? Think about it."

King Sombra looked at Grogar. He looked down. He closed his eyes. Then, a second later, he looked back at Grogar and spoke up.

"I wouldn't want to get sent back again..." King Sombra said. "And you have a point. I may prefer to work alone and have everything to myself, but I suppose having a chunk of Equestria is better than suffering in the Aether..."

Grogar smiled.

"Good choice," he said.

"So..." Sombra said. "What do we do next?"

"What we need to do is a mixture of simple and complex..." said Grogar. "We need to disguise ourselves as regular ponies and try to figure out if there are any remaining foes that can join us. Ones that never nearly learned friendship after becoming villains."

"I guess that could work..." Sombra muttered. "Though I hate having to act normal, along with acting like I care about friendship."

"Trust me. I did it," Grogar said. "I met a mare and acted like I cared about her AND her kind. It was an abysmal experience I went through since returning. But it won't be hard. All we need to do is extract info from the first pony we see."

"The Orincess?" asked Sombra.

"Perhaps. We could try that. My disguise was a pony affiliated with law, and technically, the princess is law too. It would work if you went through that too."

"Well then I guess I can go into a law disguise too. But I could use your help for that."

"I can take care of it."

"Now what about the names?"

"I already have an idea!" Grogar said. "I will be Judgement Law, and you will be... um... Gavel... Bang?"

Grogar was the Father of Monsters, but he wasn't too well with pony names.

"Hm," Sombra said. "Works for me, I suppose."

"Now, I believe the Princess knows of the past in many ways. I assume she should know if there are any other villains that would seem suitable enough for our team."

Grogar nodded, turned into a yellow mist, and flew off. Sombra immediately followed.



A few minutes later...



Grogar and King Sombra both arrived in an alley. Although Sombra looked like himself when he materialized, Grogar was in his pony form.

"Ok... now hold still..." Grogar said.

And with that, Grogar lit up his horn, and a few seconds later, blasts a yellow beam at King Sombra.

With that, Sombra's whole body turned into the same color as Grogars beam. The figure of his body began to shrink, and his mane began to lose its flow. His kings attire seemed to disappear within his body. When the spell casting was over, Grogar could see Sombra's new look. Sombra was still in his dark grey coat and blackish mane. However, his horn was normal, he was smaller, his eyes were green, and he had a cutie mark with a gavel on it. His king attire was gone.

"Perfect!" Grogar exclaimed. "Now, we just need to convince the guards to let us see this 'Princess Twilight' that was spoken of to me. We can talk with her and try to see if she knows of any other villains that haven't reformed. No matter what their fate is, I believe I have a way to take care of it."

"Hold up, hold up... did you say Princess Twilight?" asked King Sombra.

"Yes. Why?" 

"She and her friends were the ones that defeated me!"

"I know. I can see memories of other villains watching a crystal ball, remember?"

"Oh... right..."

"When I saw the memories of the other villains, I saw stuff before them. They were always defeated by Twilight. And one defeat was before this Twilight even had wings! And judging from the memories, I have a feeling the other defeats I saw happened before she ruled Equestria as well.”

"Twilight ruling Equestria..." Sombra muttered. "Now I want to take over even more!"

"And we will get there, if we put this plan into action," Grogar replied. "So let's head on our way. I believe the area we landed at is close to the castle. I suggest we walk there since our method of transport could blow out cover."

With that, Grogar and Sombra walked out of the alley, meeting the sight of multiple ponies and creatures walking through the street.

Grogar looked both ways of the street before he saw a big structure. Judging from the size and way it was made, Grogar assumed that was the main part of the castle.

"We have a long journey ahead of us..."



Thirty minutes later...



The walk was shorter than they thought.

It only took thirty minutes for the base of the castle to appear. Sombra didn't even have to say anything for Grogar to know that they arrived.

"Well... here we are," King Sombra said.

But he said something anyway.

The base of the castle consisted of three guards, one of them talking to another pony. Two of the guards appeared to be white ponies standing still while a third guard, one that appeared to be a griffon, was talking to the pony. Although the armor made it hard to see the griffon entirely, the two disguised villains could see the feather color on his head being blue, with a few peach-colored spots. The pony he was talking to seemed to be a light shade of pink, with mane that was a darker shade of pink. Her poofy mane was done up in a big ponytail, and there were many childish things sticking out of it. Her cutie mark consisted of three balloons. As they came closer, Sombra stopped and put a hoof in front of Grogar, stopping him as well.

"What is it?" Grogar huffed.

"That pink pony..." Sombra said. "Wait... she was one of the ponies Twilight was with when I was defeated!"

Grogar looked at her.

"Come to think of it... I HAVE seen her in some of those memories I saw. Yes! Forget the Princess! If this pony has been associated with her a lot, I believe we have what we need. All we need to do is wait for the right opportunity..."

It didn't take long for the opportunity to come. A minute later, the pink mare turned away and began hopping to the direction Grogar and Sombra was. Once she was close enough, Grogar took the shot.

"Um... excuse me Miss..."

The pink mare turned to them. Oddly, even though she was bouncing like a child, she looked like she was in her 40s. The disguised duo decided to brush it off.

King Sombra decided to speak next.

"We were wondering-"

Immediately Sombra was cut off because the pink mare did another thing that only the oddest of ponies will do.

She jumped up in the air and gasped. While in midair, she posed as if she was about to run.

As if out of reflex, Grogar grabbed her with his magic. She's going to give him the information whether she likes it or not!

Despite that, however, Grogar tried his hardest to remain sincere, despite hating being sincere to ponies.

"Listen, we don't want you to be alarmed," Grogar said. "My name is Judgement Law and this is Gavel Bang. We promise we won't hurt you."

"Hurt me? I didn't think you were gonna hurt me," the pink mare said, speaking at an alarming rate. “The reason I went all *GAAAAASP* was because I noticed  you two were new! And so I wanted to give you a 'Welcome to Canterlot' surprise party!"

Grogar and Sombra expressed stunned looks due to the fact that a middle-aged mare was acting like a child. They snapped out of it pretty quickly.

"No, no... no parties," Grogar said, putting the pink mare down. "We..."

"We already had one a few days ago!" Sombra cut in.

"Ooohhh! Tell me it was Cheese Sandwich!" the pink mare said, suddenly jumping up and down rapidly. "Tell me it was my Cheesy Wheezy! Tell me that was why he was gone while I trained Lil' Cheese the arts of party-making!"

Grogar and Sombra looked at each other, once again with stunned looks. Again, they regained composure. Couldn't let an opportunity to lie go to waste.

"Yes. Yes, it was this... Cheese Sandwich!" Grogar said. 

The pink mare stopped jumping.

"Oh that Cheesy... I KNEW he loved me enough to do the parties I don't have time for..."

"Yeeaah..." King Sombra said. "But the poor colt accidentally got hit in the head and forgot the whole party even happened. But don't worry! Some of the party guests managed to bring him outside and send him on his way when he woke up. Sadly, that means he didn't even notice us when we left..."

"OH NO!!!" the pink mare exclaimed. "That means he forgot about the whole party that he threw! It must have been wonderful! Are you sure you don't want me to make it up for you?"

"No, the party was still... fun..." Grogar said. "And we wish him the best of luck."

The pink mare puzzled for a moment.

"Ok. As long as you are happy and wish Cheesy the best of luck, I'm happy."

And with that, the pink mare turned around and began bouncing away.

"Wait!" Grogar called out.

The pink mare stopped bouncing, turned around, and returned to the disguised villains.

"Yes?" she asked.

"We heard you are friends with Princess Twilight Sparkle..." Sombra said. "Is that true?"

"Oh, Twilight and I go way back. We bonded a lot, had a great time being friends, and we also defeated a bunch of meanies with our other friends. I was actually discussing the next time we would meet with her with the royal guards."

"Meanies, huh?" Grogar said. "Any chance you could list the names of those 'meanies' that nearly brought an end to all of Equestria in a powerful manner?"

The pink mare suddenly started speaking at an alarming rate again.

"Well, let's see. There was Nightmare Moon, Discord, Queen Chrysalis, King Sombra, Lord Tirek, Starlight Glimmer, the Pony of Shadows, Tempest Shadow, the Storm King, and Cozy Glow!"

Grogar and Sombra, for the third time, expressed stunned looks. And for the third time, they snapped out of it to resume questioning.

"Where do they stand today" asked King Sombra.

The pink mare resumed talking in a rapid manner.

"Well, Nightmare Moon turned back into Princess Luna a long time ago. Discord was turned back to stone, but he soon reformed. Starlight also reformed, and so did Tempest. The Pony of Shadows was sent to limbo again while Stygian, the unicorn that the shadows were corrupting, stayed by our side. King Sombra was sent to the Aether the last time we saw him. The Storm King was turned to stone, but he broke into many pieces. The pieces have been in many places, but now they are in a museum. And Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow, who worked together after we defeated them all a few times on other occasions, were also turned to stone, where they reside in the Canterlot Garden. Though Cozy Glow is a filly, but then again we don't know why she is evil, and we don't know why she worked with Chrysalis and Tirek."

Yet again Grogar and Sombra were stunned. However, this time they stayed stunned.

"Well, I better go," the pink mare said in a normal speed. "I'll tell Cheesy you said hi."

And so the pink mare turned and hopped away, leaving the two villains standing there in silence for a few seconds before they walked away out of the guards views. They walked around until they found another spot where they won't be discovered.

"Did you... get all that?" Sombra asked when they were finally out of view.

"Actually, I did!" replied Grogar. "You?" 

Sombra nodded.

"So... the only unreformed villains are Chrysalis, Tirek, Cozy Glow, and the Storm King," said Grogar. "I guess this Pony of Shadows counts since it was technically a separate being. And maybe that Nightmare Moon too."

"So... what should we do?" asked Sombra.

"Chrysalis, Cozy, and Tirek are off the list as I have mentioned a while ago. I suggest we bring back the Storm King. Whether we can somehow bring back the shadows or Nightmare Moon is uncertain to me. Maybe we can succeed. Maybe not. I feel like settling with the Storm King, however. At least for now."

"But bringing back the Storm King seems even harder than the Shadows or Nightmare Moon! How can we pull off resurrection?"

Grogar smiled.

"With the right magic, of course..."



Fifteen minutes later...



Luckily, the museum was not very far. But when they discovered they had to pay, Grogar and King Sombra walked a decent distance away and thought of a way to get in.

"Well, since we have to pay but we have no money, I'm pretty sure we know what to do next..." said Sombra.

"Indeed," replied Grogar. "We may not have money. But we have magic and wits. We will sneak to the side of the museum and see if there are any spots we can sneak in. Then if we find a window that is open, we then perform a spell where all the ponies in the museum fall into a temporary sleep. When ready, we enter the museum through the window and then look for the Storm King pieces.  And I think we could use some materials to make decoys of the pieces. If there is anything there, that is. Otherwise, we can enlarge a pebble or something."

"I would question how you know that there are materials, but I know what the answer would be..." Sombra said.

"Indeed..." Grogar said.

"Now to put this plan into action. But remember... there are a lot of windows on the side, so we must be careful to not look suspicious. If ponies see us, we can put them to sleep and make them forget they saw us."

King Sombra nodded. And with that, the duo ran to the side of the building. Nopony saw them. While Sombra began gathering up pebbles and enlarging them, Grogar searched for and immediately found a window that was open. His horn lit up and he blasted a small yellow beam into the museum. He looked in for a little longer before he turned away from the window.

"The ponies are asleep," Grogar proclaimed.

"And I think I enlarged enough pebbles to cast the spell to make the decoys," Sombra said.

"Excellent!"

Grogar turned into his smoke form and entered through the window. As soon as he turned back into his pony form, Sombra entered as well. Grogar waited for Sombra to return to his normal form and lift the rocks through the window without breaking it. A few minutes later, there was a large pile of enlarged boulders resting next to Sombra.

"Now stay here," Grogar instructed. "I'm gonna search for the pieces."

Sombra nodded and Grogar began exploring the museum.

There were many artifacts. Some Grogar recognized. Some were new. He knew that his bell wasn't there. The butterscotch mare did tell him Discord had it, after all.

As soon as Grogar turned the corner, he saw what he was looking for. There, in a large case in the wall with only a glass door blocking it, was a bunch of unique stone pieces clumped together. Grogar went closer and examined it better to see if he found who he was looking for. He read the title of the exam to confirm his hopes.

The Storm King.
> Chapter 23: Flashbacks and Plotting: Part 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Grogar didn't even bother to read the description that described the large stone pieces. He found what he was looking for! And he was pleased.

Lighting up his horn, the small lock on the glass door suddenly fumbled. It continued rattling until...

Click!

Grogar knew what happened: he unlocked he door! Shifting the glow from the lock to the whole entire door, Grogar easily slid the glass door open. Once that was done, the glow around the door faded and instead surrounded the stone pieces. Before Grogar took them out, though, he blasted a small yellow beam, causing yellow lines to be sketched on the perch the stone pieces were on. The lines lit up and the stone pieces were covered in a yellow glow. Finally, the stone pieces began to float out once by one, though Grogar didn't put them on the ground. As soon as the last pieces were out, Grogar saw a yellow projection of the pieces in their place. Grogar brought the pieces close together and made his way back, careful to not hit anything.

King Sombra was waiting for him. He sat next to the pile of enlarged pebbles, making sure none of them fall out of place or cause damage. As soon as Sombra saw Grogar, he got up.

"You found him," he said. 

"Yes I did," admitted Grogar. "I had to mark where the stone pieces were so we could get it right. We do need to cover up out hoofsteps. Though I doubt ponies will notice the slightest differences."

"True," Sombra said.

"Now, I need you to hold these pieces so I can make the replicas. Do you think you can handle it?"

"I think so."

The glow shifted from yellow to purple, Sombra's disguised unicorn aura. As for Grogar, his horns remained lit, the yellow glow enveloping the rocks. Suddenly, the pile lifts into the air and begins glowing orange. The orange on the rocks suddenly became brighter until it was obvious that they melted into a mountain of hot molten rocks. Grogar had to be careful!

The mountain of lava began to compress, getting rid of and creases or spaces, turning the molten rocks into one giant misshapen molten boulder. Once again, the lava compressed, turning the odd mountain shape into a rectangular block.

When the block was formed, the orange faded into many shades of grey and levitated slowly to the ground.

Grogar did it! He turned the pebbles into a giant rectangular block without causing damage.

"Now levitate the pieces next to this block so we can finish replicating!" ordered Grogar. "Make sure to space them out a little, and rotate them when instructed."

Sombra levitated the pieces next to the cube, spacing them out.

Yet again Grogar lit his horn and a yellow glow surrounded the block. Suddenly, cracks started to appear. Grogar knew a tiny detail gone wrong wouldn't be a big deal, but a major one would be catastrophic!

The front of the block began covering itself in cracks, before the whole front suddenly crumbled to the ground. Now the cube was mostly split in half, with only a few chunks of stone shaped like the pieces sticking out.

"Now flip the pieces so I can see the other side of them," instructed Grogar.

Again, King Sombra obeyed (moody, but not refusing). While he turned all the stone pieces, Grogar slightly sifted the block and rotated it. Once again, Grogar repeated the process. He hoped that this next time would be the last time he would chip at the stone.

Then, the back of the block chipped away and Grogar found himself levitating a bunch of stone pieces. They looked good so far. Just one more check...

"Rotate the pieces again," Grogar said.

Sombra did as was told and rotated the pieces. Grogar rotated the decoys.

"Hmmm..."

He thought for a brief moment before he reached a verdict.

"I think these decoys are passable," Grogar said. "Very minimal errors. But I doubt they will be noticed."

Grogar set the decoys on the ground.

"Sombra, you did well. Let me see the originals, please"

The green glow surrounding the pieces shifted to yellow as Grogar held the pieces in his grasp. It was time!

Grogar rotated the pieces a bit before he brought them together to see if they would fit. They didn't work the first time, so Grogar had to try again. A few more times, they didn't fit. But finally, on the fifth try, the pieces fit like a puzzle. Suddenly, the pieces began glowing orange for a few seconds, the pieces becoming molten rock, before they turned grey again. Only this time, the cracks were gone.

King Sombra decided to speak up.

"Are you sure turning him to lava for a period of time was a good-"

"Silence!" Grogar said, cutting Sombra off. "I know what I'm doing..."

Suddenly, the stone statue began glowing bright. Slowly, the grey stone color began fading and chipping away. Underneath was what Grogar wanted to see...

Flesh, fur, and life.

As the stone began fading, underneath were shades of white or black. Some spots even had tints of blue.

Finally, when all traces of stone were separated from the Storm King's body, the yellow aura around him faded and he fell to the floor. Not like a statue, but rather, something with life that hasn't been turned to stone.

Grogar and King Sombra stared at the Storm King's body for a few seconds. Not a word was spoken.

Then, the Storm King shot open his bright blue eyes.

Slowly, the Storm King attempted to get up on his hind legs, grunting as he did. Once he was fully up, his head an inch from the ceiling, he dusted himself off and got his first glimpse of the the disguised villains.

"Well..." he said. "I take it that you two ponies were the ones that freed me?"

"In a way," Grogar said. "Not to reform you or anything, though."

"Ugh," the Storm King muttered, rubbing his head. "How long was I in there?"

"For years," Grogar said. "You were also smashed up into little pieces."

"I was?"

"I thought you knew that," Sombra said.

"Hmmmm..." thought Grogar. "So you were either in stone sleep or you lost consciousness when you shattered into pieces."

"Well then, how am I even alive?" The Storm King asked. "How did you even bring me back?"

Grogar and King Sombra looked at each other and nodded before Grogar looked back at the Storm King.

"You will receive the answers you desire," Grogar said. "But first, you need to know who we really are."

Before the Storm King could respond, Grogar lit up his horn. The Storm King watched as Grogar and Sombra suddenly turned into yellow silhouettes. Slowly, the silhouettes changed. One appeared to grow in size. His horn grew and what looked like royal attire appeared. The other one shrank, and began to turn into the shape of a ram.

Finally, when the glow around the silhouettes faded, the Storm King suddenly saw the true forms of the ponies that rescued him. Or rather, pony with a flowing black mane and kings attire, and ram.

"It... it can't be!" the Storm King muttered. "The Father of M-Monsters?"

"In the flesh," Grogar said, relieved to be back into his original form.

The Storm King turned and pointed at King Sombra.

"And you are?" he asked.

Sombra seemed taken aback.

"You... haven't heard of me?" Sombra asked.

"No," replied the Storm King.

"You should know me! King Sombra! All powerful unicorn? Former and rightful ruler of the Crystal Empire?"

"Doesn't ring a bell."

"OH COME ON!!! I DESTROYED THE TREE OF HARMONY!!!!"

"The Tree of what?"

"Ok... the Tree of Harmony bit does make sense since you probably haven't heard of it. Plus, you were turned to stone and shattered into pieces before I destroyed it. BUT YOU SHOULD KNOW THE REST OF IT!!!"

"Nope. Not a clue."

"FINE! I AM KING SOMBRA!!! THE RIGHTFUL RULER OF THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE!!! PONIES SHALL FEAR ME WHEN I TAKE OVER AGAIN!!! I HARNESS THE MAGIC OF HATRED AND FEAR!!! I DESTROYED THE TREE OF HARMONY!!!"

King Sombra huffed after his short monologue.

"Better?" asked the Storm King.

"Very much..." replied Sombra.

"Well, I apologize that I don't know who you are..."

The Storm King turned to Grogar.

"But you... I KNOW who you are... Grogar! The legendary father of monsters!"

"Yes, yes..." Grogar said. "I have returned. And as of the moment, I am recruiting villains to join my team. King Sombra and I worked to bring you back from the fate that befell you, because I decided to recruit you as well."

"Well, I am honored."

"I guess it worth mentioning that Twilight Sparkle is now the new princess of Equestria," King Sombra pointed out.

The Storm King crossed his arms and scowled.

"She is, huh?" he muttered.

"Don't worry," Grogar said. "We WILL destroy Twilight Sparkle AND her friends. But before we do that, we need to retrieve one more ally..."

"Who?" asked King Sombra.

"Not who..." corrected Grogar. "What!"

"The Bewitching Bell?" exclaimed the Storm King. "Isn't that on the peak of Mount Everhoof?" 

"It WAS... but a mare told me that Discord had it."

"The Master of Chaos, eh?" the Storm King replied.

"Yes. In his realm."

"I'm pretty sure that you are powerful enough to go in there." said Sombra.

"Maybe. But it will take a lot of work to travel through realms. While Discord can do it in a breeze, it can make any powerful magic user, pony or not, extremely exhausted for a few hours."

"How are we gonna find his house?" The Storm King questioned. "From what I've heard, the chaos realm doesn't always do what you want."

"If we work together, it could work. But before we do this, we better take care of a couple things. Sombra, you clean this mess up while the Storm King tells me the story about how he almost took over Equestria."

"Me?" whined King Sombra. "Why me?"

"Because I already know your story. Not all of it, but a decent part. And I want to hear from the Storm King. Plus, even if you are or were a king, I love to be unreasonable."

King Sombra huffed and levitated the decoys to bring to the glass case.

"I'm starting to regret agreeing to this..." he muttered.



Minutes later



"...And that was how I got turned to stone, and apparently, shattered into pieces," the Storm King said, finishing his story.

King Sombra finished putting the decoys in the case and cleaning up the mess when the Storm King was halfway done with the story. It took him longer to put the decoy pieces in the right spot than to clean up the mess. Obviously so he could get it right.

"That was an interesting story," Grogar said. "Too bad this 'Tempest Shadow' betrayed you."

"To Tartarus with her!" the Storm King said. "Being an assistant to the legendary Father of Monsters is way better than leading a pony with a broken horn. Though I will miss being a leader..."

"You will get your share of minions when we take over Equestria!" Grogar promised. He turned his head to Sombra. "I take it that you finished your job?"

"About a while ago," King Sombra said.

"Excellent! Now we must go to the chaos realm and retrieve my bell!"

"You don't seriously believe we're opening the portal in here, do you?"

"Don't question me, Sombra. Chaos portals are not like black holes. It won't suck everything in. And as long as we put it in the right spot, we will be fine. Now, I suggest you two get behind me."

Grogar stepped forward so Sombra and the Storm King could have some room. After he turned his body a little bit, he began to mumble, his horns lighting up in the process.

King Sombra and the Storm King watched, high interest on both their faces.

Suddenly, Grogar's eyes shot open, blaring a bright yellow light.

Then, Grogar shot a small beam from his horns.

It only fired a few inches away from him when it stopped.

And then, the beam constricted, before finally opening up into a gaping portal as wide and as tall as the Storm King, leading into an indigo void.

As soon as the glow in his eyes dissipated, Grogar collapsed out of exhaustion.

"Grogar?" King Sombra said. "Are you ok?"

Grogar did nothing before he weakly opened his eyes and got on his hooves, not fully standing.

"I'm... fine..." he muttered. "Just... exhausted..."

Grogar took a deep breath and stood fully straight.

"But I am not here to rest. We are so close to retrieving all the elements of our plan! We will retrieve my bell and go from there. Although it may take a while to put our plan into action, we WILL end Twilight Sparkle and take over Equestria!"

"Indeed!" Sombra said.

"As soon as I knew my defeat was unavoidable, I began to wish for the day to exact my revenge!" the Storm King exclaimed.

"Perfect! Now, it will be hard. It's basically an endless void in there. So here's what we're going to do: Sombra and I will go through the realm with no issues. We enter first. As for the Storm King, we will carry him together. If any of us see a spot that we believe is Discord's home, we will stop there and search for the bell. Agree?"

King Sombra and the Storm King nodded.

"Good! Now let's go!"

Grogar turned into a yellow blob of smoke and flew into the portal. Then, King Sombra turned into his shadowy form and quickly entered the portal while the Storm King began making his way.

As soon as the Storm King reached the entrance and turned to face it, an arm of smoke shot out of Grogar's smoke form and grabbed the Storm King by the waist. After that, another arm of smoke shot out of Sombra's shadow form and grabbed the Storm King around the chest. And then, before he could even speak, the Storm King was pulled into the portal.

"GAH!" he yelped.

The Storm King then found himself being suspended over an endless void, with only two beings turned into smoke grabbing his torso supporting him. But a few seconds after being pulled in, he regained his composure.

And just in time for Grogar and Sombra to begin zooming through the chaos realm, carrying his body along with them.



*Ten minutes later*



"You know..." the Storm King said. "It's surprising that you two are able to hold me. My guess is your magic."

There was no reply. The Storm King knew that because Grogar and Sombra were... well... smoke.

The Storm King resumed scouting before something caught his eye.

"Hey! I think I see a house!"

Indeed, a house was coming into view. It seemed to be a dark shade of red, with a roof with a roof that was possibly the color of dandelions. It remained perched on a piece of floating land.

Immediately Grogar, Sombra and the Storm King began making their way down to the house. Due to his size and the fact that he was being carried, the Storm King was the first to land. Once he fully landed on the ground, Grogar and Sombra let him go. King Sombra and Grogar both landed at the same time, Sombra landing on the left side on the Storm King, and Grogar landing in front of his two allies. Once Grogar and Sombra landed, they turned back to normal.

Grogar turned to his allies.

"Ok, here's the plan..." Grogar said. "We will don our pony disguises just in case Discord is home. Even if he isn't we leave them on. We all go in, but if he ends up coming home if he isn't, then we try to hide. If he finds us, we pretend that we wound up here while sleeping."

"What if he realizes something is up?" asked Sombra.

"Then we flee as far away from Equestria as we can until we get the perfect plan."

"Well, since you have this all planned out, I don't see the point in waiting," the Storm King said.

"You are correct. I want to get my bell as soon as possible. Whatever happens, let me be the first to talk! Now before we go in, I have to do one last thing... disguise you both!"

The Storm King spread out his arms.

"Give it your all!" he said.

"I have to warn you, it tickles a little..." Sombra whispered.

Grogar lit up his horns. It only took a few seconds for him to blast the Storm King and King Sombra, turning their bodies into silhouettes, and morphing into the forms of ponies. Grogar's body morphed as well.

When the light faded, Sombra and Grogar watched the Storm King as he examined his new body.

"This feels weird..." he muttered.

"Probably because you're a bipedal creature," King Sombra replied.

"If I remember correctly, my name is Judgement Law," Grogar said.

"And I think I was Gavel Bang," recalled Sombra.

"What's my name?" asked the Storm King, no longer examining his body.

"Look, I'm not giving every one of us names!" Grogar barked. "You'll just remain unnamed."

"But what if they ask?"

"Then one of us can change the subject."

The Storm King just shrugged.

"Hey, you're the boss," he said.

"Yes I am," Grogar smirked. "Now then, to put this plan into action!"

Grogar turned around, went to the door, and knocked.

No answer.

Grogar knocked again.

"Hello?" he called out.

No reply.

"He's not home," Grogar said, only turning his head. "So let's make this quick! Once we get inside, we spread out. You two go together, and only separate if you need to hide. As for me, I go alone." 

Grogar turned back to the door, and with the lighting of his horn, enveloped the door handle in his own yellow aura. With a simple turn of the knob, the door opened. And with that, Grogar walked inside, not even looking back.

Discords house was, of course, chaotic for the three villains. There was furniture on the ceiling, a staircase leading to nowhere, and animals made out of food.

Grogar found a few cracks in the ceiling that leaked chocolate milk instead of water.

During that find, The Storm King and King Sombra found ducks with a few tomatoes for bodies, two cucumber slices for beaks, one blueberry for each eye, one banana for each wing, and legs made out of many grapes. Immediately after, they came across a closet door. When King Sombra opened it, it led to a bottomless pit of ice cream.

The chaotic search lasted for fifteen minutes until Grogar finally found what he was looking for.

There, perched on a shelf in a cotton-candy closet, was a small bell that was in one of the darkest shades of aqua blue, with cracks all around it, and an emblem in the middle.

The Bewitching Bell!

Grogar had it at last.

The bell glowed in Grogar's yellow aura as it levitated to him.

But as soon as Grogar felt triumph, he heard the door click.

Discord was home!

Knowing that it was made of cotton-candy, Grogar quickly dove into the closet, the cotton-candy acting as a cushon. And then, as quietly as he could, Grogar closed the door and opened a tiny hole in the cotton-candy door so he could see.

He wasn't sure if King Sombra or the Storm King were even hiding, but he knew it was likely. He couldn't hear their movements. The only movements he heard were the steps that came from the doorway. 

Suddenly, Grogar saw a shadow approach the wall he was staring at. The tall, slim, shadow.

And then he came into view.

Grogar saw Discord appear right in front of him! Discord wasn't looking at him. But Grogar knew what Discord was capable of. For all he knew, Discord knew that he was always there.

And then, for a couple seconds, Discord's body began shaking like a snake as he shivered. 

"I swear something wrong is going on here..." Discord muttered when he regained composure. "But I can't put my talon on it..."

And then Discord looked at the closet door.

Grogar's heart jumped. If Discord opened the door, all of his plans would be in ruins. Being caught by Discord wasn't an issue. Without the power of the bell or any other artifact, Grogar could still take Discord. Though Discord's chances of winning were slightly higher. But the bigger issue was that if Discord found him, even if he beat Discord, ponies would become suspicious sooner or later. he had to hide his tracks.

But Grogar didn't have much of a choice.

Discord bent closer to the door.

Grogar clutched the bell in his hooves.

Discord reached for the door with his talon.

Grogar held his breath...

And then Discord's eyes looked somewhere else.

Discord suddenly unbent his body, turned to his left, and smiled. Suddenly, a blue slip of paper floated to his lion paw and he grabbed it.

"There you are!" he said. "Now I can meet Fluttershy at the museum like we discussed at the picnic."

And with a snap of his talon, Discord vanished.

Grogar couldn't believe his luck. He actually managed to avoid the Master of Chaos! Slowly, Grogar opened the cotton-candy closet door and stepped out very slowly. Once he was certain he was in the clear, Grogar went to the exit at a normal walking speed and stood, facing away from the door.

Lighting up his horn, he sent a telekinetic message to his allies.

"Meet me at the door! Don't worry! I am safe!"

The light on his horn faded before Grogar began to wait for his allies.

The Storm King and King Sombra arrived not even thirty seconds later. Gasps escaped their lips as soon as they saw the bell.

"Wow! You actually found it!" exclaimed Sombra.

"OF COURSE I DID!" Grogar snapped. "I'm Grogar!" 

"Where was it?" asked the Storm King.

"In a closet made of cotton candy. I had to hide in it when Discord came here."

"I'm shocked that Discord didn't find us," Sombra said.

"So am I," Grogar said. "I wonder if he even knows. If so, we will be sure to have the bell ready and watch it at all times. Just in case he is playing with us. But since we retrieved what we needed, we finally have all the items we need! Now, here is what we will do to get out of this realm: all we have to do is activate my bell. It's obvious it can make it less hard to make a portal out of here, but I want to see if it will take us where we want to go."

"Do you remember how to turn it on?" asked the Storm King.

"I think so. Just let me try what I remember and hope for the best. Stay in here. I will do the process outside."

Grogar turned and went outside. And much to his approval, when he looked back, his allies stood where they were, talking.

Grogar wouldn't betray them. Not yet. Although he could just directly take over Equestria when he gets his bell to work, he wants to take it a bit slower. Although he doesn't know how, he knows for a fact that he will find a way.

Grogar closed the door to the house.

When Grogar was a good distance, he looked at his bell and closed his eyes. His horn suddenly began to glow before a blazing yellow beam with black lightning shot out and blasted the bell. Grogar saw the bell begin to levitate on it's own, escaping his magical grip. It floated for a minute as Grogar stood and grinned. But then the bell finally began to levitate down, light still glowing off its symbols. Grogar caught it by levitating it with his magic and headed back into the house. When he opened the door, King Sombra and the Storm King were looking at him.

"I take it that it worked?" asked Sombra.

"It did," Grogar replied. "Now, we just need to do one last thing... open the portal back to Equestria. Only it should lead wherever we want. With the power this has, there is a decent chance that it will work."

"Are you sure?" the Storm King asked.

"Don't question me. We will just need to test it out and see if it works."



*Minutes later*



It worked.

A yellow portal the size of a mirror suddenly opened up in front of a familiar structure...

...Grogar's lair.

One by one, the villains came out, still in their pony forms. First Grogar exited the portal and entered the structure. Then King Sombra. Then the Storm King.

When Grogar entered his lair, he went to the middle of the main room and watched as Sombra and the Storm King made their way to him and soon stood next to each other, facing the disguised ram.

"So... I have allies," Grogar said. "And we got the bell. All we need is a plan..."

"What?" the Storm King exclaimed. "We have power! We're NOT going to march into Equestria and take over?"

"Patience. It would be better if we went slow. Waited for the best opportunity. Besides, this would be the best time for us to get used to being back here again. Oh but don't worry. The plan will soon come..."




*The day the plan came... one month later*




The crystal ball gleamed in the air as Grogar stared at it, doing what he does every day: spying.

"Wonder what the Princess is doing now..." he muttered.

The crystal ball suddenly swirled with black fog before an image showed up. An image of Princess Twilight and a unicorn he's never seen before suddenly appeared on the crystal ball. But there was something else too. A very familiar statue.

The statue of the three villains that used his bell long ago!

"Luster... I think you have to help... them!" Princess Twilight said a few seconds after the image appeared on the crystal ball.

Seeing the image brought Grogar great interest. He watched as she talked with the unicorn. The princess then vanished for a moment before coming back with boxes and... camping items. And then after some more talking, the Princess suddenly casted what seemed to be a very large spell before she, the unicorn, and the statue suddenly vanished.

Grogar knew that the spell didn't make them perish. The conversation made it clear that the Princess was casting multiple spells. Apparently, some sort of map called this unicorn to actually reform these three villains.

Once the image on the crystal ball faded Grogar smiled a devious grin before he called out in a booming voice.

"MY ALLIES! GET OVER HERE RIGHT NOW!!!" 

It didn't take long for King Sombra and the Storm King to assemble and stand facing the pedestal Grogar stood on.

"Why did you call us?" Sombra said, slightly annoyed. "I was taking a very relaxing nap!"

"This is more important than a nap!" Grogar snapped. "My allies! I finally have a plan!"

"Finally!" Sombra's eyes rolled. "It's been a month since we returned! I'm glad you FINALLY thought of something!"

"What is this plan?" asked the Storm King.

"As of now, I have discovered that Princess Twilight Sparkle has sent a unicorn to reform three villains that were in stone. The ones that used my bell! So whether this unicorn succeeds or not, here is the plan: us three form a anti-villain cult with a bunch of other ponies! And then, when the time is right, we use the bell to drain the power of every single cult member except for us! Then we rise up against Princess Twilight and take over! We call over as much residents of Equestria as we can! We drain Twilight's magic along with the magic of her friends! We berate her! And then whatever we do next to her is up to me to decide! And then after that, we drain the magic of every single being around us! We make sure that nopony gets away!"

"This seems like a fine plan and all..." Sombra said. "But how are we gonna get so many ponies to join a cult? I mean, sure we can just tell them about Princess Twilight's plan! But from what we saw, these ponies know that whatever the Princess does is a right call!"

"That is why what we do next is simple..." replied Grogar. "Tonight, I'll sneak into the houses of ponies and brainwash them into believing we have been in this "cult" for a while!"

"Ok. That makes sense," Sombra admitted.

"Oh, and since we are in a cult..." Groger resumed. "I better make sure to steal some cloaks if I am able to find any."

"Why?" asked the Storm King.

"I don't know!" Grogar said, rolling his eyes. "Every cult member wears a cloak! But cloaks aside, I think I may have found the perfect plan to finally reclaim Equestria! For you! For ME! FOR ALL OF US!!! HAHAHAHAHA"

And with that, Grogar begin to laugh maniacally. Once Grogar started, King Sombra and the Storm King immediately joined in.



*Present day... Earth*



When Grogar finished telling his story, he didn't tell it at all. Instead, he cast a memory transference spell to all except Sombra and the Storm King. There, they would all see the most important events in the flashbacks that all led up to this moment. Those who saw the memories has glowing yellow eyes.

Finally, when the flashback ended with the mention of the plan, everyone's eyes returned to normal. The yellow flames still crackled in the field.

Cozy Glow, Chrysalis, and Tirek all stared at Grogar with disbelief.

"Y-you have the bell?!" muttered Chrysalis.

"He can't have the bell!" Dave erupted from behind Grogar. "I don't see no bell on him!"

"Dave, you don't understand what this guy is capable of!" Leo said. "He could be hiding it in a cloaking spell or something!"

Grogar turned around and faced Leo.

"Wow..." Grogar grinned. "You really do know a lot about me a lot... know what I am capable of... let's see if you are right!"

Grogar turned to Tirek and smirked before he suddenly motioned his hoof past his barrel. Suddenly, a very odd shape in a transparent color materialized on Grogar's collar. For a few seconds the yellow transparent color on the shape glowed a dim yellow light.

And then the transparent color on the shape faded. 

And in its place was the Bewitching Bell, hanging on Grogar's collar.
> Chapter 24: Bells and Stone
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Everyone who could see the Bewitching Bell stared at it. And those who couldn't see it tried too. Only Leo's friends didn't express shock like everyone else.

"This bell proved pretty useful you know..." Grogar finally said. "First, it did me a great favor when I drained the magic of all the former 'cult' members after we banished you three. It did even greater when it drained all the magic in Equestria!"

"Except for ours," King Sombra pointed out. 

"Yes, except for ours," Grogar muttered, rolling his eyes. "You see, what we did was trap every single pony and creature, magic or no magic, in a forcefield. We then turned Princess Twilight and her friends into stone before we drained everypony and everycreature else's magic. That Luster Dawn was lucky to escape. I don't know how she got out. The forcefield possibly closed before she got in. It was the next morning when we discovered she was out there. But before we did, we also found out that you three were under the care of these... humans. So we formulated a plan. When we finally caught Luster not long after, I decided to take advantage of her trustworthiness. So I spent half of my time lurking near the humans, using illusion magic to make it seem like she was communicating with you from Equestria! She was never helping you! It was just us!"

"And since you three are some of the only remaining creatures from Equestria that are not under our rule, all we need to do is take care of the three of you," said the Storm King. "And then we will drag these three humans with us, interrogate them, and then move our rule to this very planet. And then we will destroy both Equestria AND Earth!"

"You can't win," Tirek growled, pointing at Grogar.

"Did you even hear what we said?" Sombra scoffed. "We DID win! All traces of friendship and harmony are gone, that we know of. Anyone else that escaped like Luster will be found eventually!"

"And besides, your magic is restrained," Grogar said. "No magic can do you good. You can't even undo what we are about to do to you."

"What are you gonna do to them? Huh? Turn them to stone?" asked Leo,

Grogar turned to him and lit up his horns. All of the humans were suddenly covered in a yellow transparent cover that made them look like they were covered in shiny yellow plastic. Their facial expressions were frozen. 

Grogar grinned.

"This freezing spell should keep all of you quiet while I perform this little spell..." he said.

And then, Grogar turned. Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow began to glow yellow while lifting up into the air. 

When the three former villains looked at their bodies, they realized why. They were turning into yellow silhouettes.

When the former villains fully became silhouettes, with fear expressed on their faces, their bodies slowly began to change.

Tirek shrank back to his first form, with his body becoming weak and frail, and his horns shrinking to knubs.

Chrysalis' mane, tail, wings, and hoof suddenly became more weathered, silky, and/or covered in holes. Her horn grew out to be more jagged and the fuzz on her barrel and ears noticeably faded, along with her elytra. She also became slightly taller and thinner.

As for Cozy Glow, she more or less stayed the same. 

Finally, the silhouettes floated to the ground, landing on their hooves. Once they landed, the glow on Grogar's horns dimmed, and the three former villains turned into their physical forms again.

But different.

Tirek examined his body and saw that he was back in his first, and weakest, form.

Chrysalis also examined her body and realized that she looked like the way she did back when she was evil. With black chitin skin, long jagged horn, green carapace, and holes covering her mane, tail, hooves, and wings.

And as for Cozy Glow, she took one look at her flank. And there, on her flank, was a picture of a rook.

Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy all looked at Grogar.

"W-what did you do?" stuttered Tirek as he and his friends stood back up.

"Why, I used my magic to transform you back into the forms you've had before you were turned to stone," Grogar calmly said. "That way, you can all suffer the guilt you've endured and remember who you all used to be."

"If you think turning us back into our evil forms and appearances would plunge us into extreme guilt, you would be wrong," Chrysalis said. "It will take a lot more than that!"

"Well, I have just the method to do that in a way where you won't escape," replied Grogar.

He lit up his horns again. He was still smiling. Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy suddenly stood straight and froze in place, covered in the same yellow coat that surrounded the humans at the very moment. 

"Together forever..." he hissed, mocking a statement spoken to them long ago. "I can't think of anything you would want less!"

As soon as Grogar said that last word, three large beams blasted from his horns, one beam heading for each reformed villain.   

The three beams struck the three of them at the same time. And the same effects began to take place at the same time as well.

Once they were struck by the beams, the trio of reformed villains immediately realized that something was not right.

They began to examine their bodies. And each of them saw their bodies become covered in stone.

They didn't do much.

When Cozy fully turned to stone, she put her hooves on her cheeks. Just like the last time she turned to stone.

When Tirek fully turned to stone, he cowered, holding up his arms as if to shield himself. Just like the last time he turned to stone.

And Chrysalis lunged. Just like the last time she turned to stone. Only two differences: first, she didn't show rage, but fear like the other two. And instead of hissing, she screamed only one thing.

"NO!!!"

And with that, all three former villains levitated in the air for a brief moment before they floated together. When Cozy's tail and Chrysalis' wing touched Tirek, stone grew around those areas, fusing the reformed villains together. Just like last time they turned to stone.

And then, for the final touch, a stone pedestal grew beneath Tirek and the stone statue fell to the ground with a THUNK!!!

The three current villains stared at the statue and said nothing for a brief moment before Grogar did something. He and his allies turned around, before Grogar lit up his horns again, and blasted a beam to the wall of fire that still blazed behind the humans. When the beam hit the fire, it stopped, and the end of the beam suddenly grew. It transformed into large yellow strips, swirling into an even brighter yellow center that was way smaller, but still big. In the gaps between the yellow swirls, there was a black aura of magic.

It was a large portal. A portal the size of the Storm King.

The portal back to Equestria.

Grogar finally spoke, but didn't turn at all.

"We are going to bring these humans to Equestria with us so we can learn more about this place," he said. "After we imprison the humans, we will come back for the statue. As of now, those reformed villains are in stone sleep. But I plot to wake them soon, and then have Sombra force them to witness the flashbacks of their villainy for all eternity."

"*sigh*. I've been waiting for so long to show ponies... and other creatures I suppose... their fears," Sombra purred.

"You will when the time comes. At the moment, we will leave this portal open since no living being we know of will be near it. Well... aside from those three," reassured Grogar.

Then, the three humans levitated into the air as Grogar's horns continued glowing. One by one, they floated through the portal, avoiding harm from the fire... And as soon as the last human (Leo) passed through the portal, Grogar walked forward and stepped through. King Sombra followed. Then the Storm King.

And so, Chrysalis, Tirek and Cozy Glow, were now alone, trapped in stone once again.

Grogar has won.

Princess Twilight, her friends, and her star pupil have all been turned to stone. Nearly every other pony and creature has had their magic drained. Grogar has allies and even his bell. And the last current hope Equestria has is now gone. The humans have been brought to Equestria as prisoners and the three reformed villains are now trapped in stone again.

Now, the end of Equestria has begun. And the end of Earth will soon rise...
























Then, a large changeling and a gargoyle stepped through the large portal.
> Chapter 25: Changelings and Gargoyles
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

*The day of Princess Twilight's capture...*



Thorax sat on his throne in the center of the Changeling Kingdom. It was over 20 years ago since he had become king and Chrysalis was exiled. Sure, there were some missteps. But after Chrysalis and her allies were turned to stone, his kingdom had been in everlasting piece.

Until today.

As Thorax took in a large intake of air, a navy blue changeling flew to the front of the throne.

It was Pharnyx, Thorax's older brother. He has also been the kingdom's defender almost as long as Thorax has been king.

"Hey, bro," he began. "Lovely day, isn't it?"

"Peaceful," Thorax said. "I tell you, this past 20 years have been a breeze."

"You said it. Though I sometimes feel like there are still rogues out there just waiting for the right time to strike."

"Pharnyx, we have been in perfect harmony for 20 years. You're just being paranoid."

Pharnyx shrugged. "Hey, I'm just protecting my brother. Besides, if I was king and you had to guard, you would probably hide in a corner or something. No offense"

Thorax wasn't sure if that was true. Although he stood up against Chrysalis, became king, and even assisted Twilight in the battle against Chrysalis and her allies, he HAS had his moments of panic.

Thorax opened his mouth to reply, but then a magenta light appeared and a scroll suddenly plopped on the floor.

As if on cue, Pharnyx grabbed the scroll with his magic and opened it.

"What does it say?" asked Thorax.

Pharnyx mumbled a bit, before he finally told Thorax what the letter said.

"It's from Princess Twilight!" he said. "She says that all ponies and creatures in Equestria must meet at Canterlot around the main stage. If all seats are taken, we just surround the area like one big crowd. It is required that the leaders go there as well."

"Well if every being in Equestria, along with their leaders, must meet in Canterlot, then there could be something that can affect us!" Thorax squeaked, a little bit of panic in his voice.

Pharnyx took notice of that.

"Listen, as you said, Equestria has been in perfect harmony for years! I admit, I used to always be iffy whenever we were called for something. But that was years ago! So I suggest that we try to remain optimistic."

Thorax smiled and nodded.

"I guess I still need advice from you after all..." Thorax said.



*Meanwhile in the dragon lands...*



Scorpan's life was a complicated one. A long time ago, he and his brother Tirek came to Equestria to steal magic. But then friendship came into his life. And while it saved him, it did not save Tirek.

Around a month ago, Scorpan finally retired from whatever he was doing, and decided to explore all around Equestria and learn from it. He started with the areas ponies live in. He learned that Celestia and Luna are no longer princesses, but rather, a new alicorn named Twilight Sparkle.

He also learned of Tirek's fate.

Apparently, Tirek somewhat escaped Tartarus and joined forces with other vile villains. And when they were defeated, he and his allies got a punishment worse than Tartarus: imprisonment in stone.

When Scorpan first saw the statue, he felt shame. He knew that those worthy of imprisonment in stone were far from friendship. And although he learned exceptions were rarely made, Tirek and those who got second chances were not the same. Sometimes, the nightmares of his brother would haunt him at night.

As of the moment, Scorpan was walking around the dragon lands with the new Dragon Lord named Ember, whow as the daughter of former-Dragon Lord Torch. 

And while he expected today to go smooth, his expectations would soon be subverted.

"You dragons sure have an interesting way of life..." Scorpan mumbled, with his rough voice someone bearing a calming tone. "I admit, I have researched your ways before, but that was when there was no friendship. So I am glad that you let me visit this place today and see what it is like with friendship."

"I do admit that we sometimes forget about friendship, harmony, and all that stuff..." Ember said. "But it is easy for us to go back. All we need is a reminder."

"Interesting..." Scorpan scratched his chin..

The conversation between the Dragon Lord and the gargoyle was immediatly interrupted when a scroll suddenly appeared out of nowhere in a magenta light. Quickly Scorpan grabbed it, opened it, and began reading out loud.

"Attention all ponies and creatures of Equestria. I have an important announcement that could change everything. All living beings must come to the main stage in Canterlot. If there are no seats left, just stand. And if any of you have leaders, those leaders are required to come with you.


Best regards,

Princess Twilight Sparkle.


"Huh..." Ember said. "I... guess we should be going? From the sounds of it, this could be very important to us."

"I am interested, so I guess I could come too," Scorpan said. 

"Perfect! Just let me get the attention of the dragons and we will be on our way."



*Over an hour later... Thorax's POV*



All the changelings stood in the large crowd that surrounded the stage. Thorax stood on the edge of the crowd, thankfull for two things. Thankful that he was tall, and that he was able to see the stage. 

"I wonder what's taking so long..." he muttered.

"Well, there are other creatures," Pharnyx reminded him. "From the looks of it, we still have to wait for the dragons."

Thorax looked up and then turned his body 180 degrees. There weren't enough buildings to shield what he saw.

"Hey," Thorax said, turning to Pharnyx. "I think I see them a distance away."



*Meanwhile...*



Flying alongside Dragon Lord Ember, Scorpan flew in the sky, deep into thought. Just what would this assembly be about? Although he didn't know why, there were odd feelings embedded in his gut.

Canterlot was directly in view. But as Scorpan and the dragons flew over Canterlot, another thought entered his mind.

"Hey," he said loudly, turning his head to Ember. Ember looked at him as well.

"I'm going to take a little detour," finished Scorpan.

"Are you sure?" asked Ember.

"I just... need to see something."

"Well... alright." Ember turned her head straight again before she finished. "Suit yourself."

Scorpan nodded and flew down to take his detour.

Finally, he took notice that he found his destination and flew down, before he finally landed on where he was.

The entrance to the Canterlot Garden.

Scorpan moved forward to enter before he noticed something.

"Wait..."

He took a sniff of the air.

"Hmmm... this garden must be getting fumigated."

Suddenly, his eyes lit, and his entire body was covered in a golden aura.

"This should keep me safe..."

And with that, Scorpan entered the garden.



*Back to Thorax...*



Finally, the dragons made their way into the crowd surrounding the stage. Thorax noticed Ember in the distance and waved at her. Ember took notice and waved back. Thorax looked forward before his smile slightly faded. He turned back to his brother.

"Hey, Pharnyx? Do you think I have enough time to grab a quick drink before this assembly starts? Just a simple drink of water or something?"

"Uuummm... I don't know Thorax," said Pharnyx. "I'm not sure if there is a stand where you are able to get a free sippy cup..."

Thorax blushed.

"Pharnyx!" he whined.

"What? I'm kidding!" Pharnyx chuckled. "I'll go get a cup and fill it with water."

"No need too, Pharnyx," replied Thorax in a very kind tone. "I can do it myself."

Pharnyx shrugged."If you say so."

And so Thorax turned and galloped off.



*Back to Scorpan...*



Scorpan continued walking through the grass as he continued exploring the garden. But once he turned a corner, he paused.

There was supposed to be a statue there. A statue of a changeling, a filly, and his own brother. But instead, there was nothing!

"Did... they escape?" Scorpan muttered. "Will they cause chaos at the assembly? Or is the assembly about them?..."

Scorpan decided to check, and so he opened his wings and flew off.



*Thorax...*



Thorax barely walked for even a minute before he came across a well. Even luckier, there was a table of cups nearby.

"Huh... I didn't even walk for a minute and there is already a well and a table of cups..." Thorax said. "Well that was convenient."

Thorax then went through the process of lowering the bucket, scooping up some water, and reeling it back up. He then set it next to the well, used his magic to grab a cup, dunked the cup in the water bucket to fill it, and finally drank it.

Thorax turned his head to find a garbage can. Immediately he saw one. He threw the cup away, then left as soon as it got in.

He began to gallop his way to the crowd as they came into view. Pharnyx was waiting for him, a large space between him and another changeling.

But as soon as Thorax was halfway to the crowd, a giant transparent yellow wall of magic suddenly appeared.

As soon as Thorax saw it, his reflexes kicked in. He managed to stop himself in his tracks, skidding on the ground a little before he came to a complete stop. He saw Pharnyx express curiosity before tapping on the yellow wall. It made a clink sound.

Thorax looked up and saw that the wall extended into a dome. Once he saw this, he began to continue heading to the trapped crowd.

As Thorax made his way, Pharnyx put both his forehooves on the wall.

"Bro?" was all he said as soon as Thorax finally arrived and stood directly in front of him outside the dome.

Thorax put both his forehooves directly in front of his brothers on the dome.

"Pharnyx? What's going on?"

Pharnyx and Thorax suddenly heard loud speaking and they both looked at where the source was. Even though the stage was far from them, they could tell from the voice and the figure that this was not Princess Twilight.

Pharnyx and Thorax looked directly at each other again.

"I gotta do something!" Thorax said.

"Listen Thorax," Pharnyx said. "I don't know what is going on, but from what I can tell, this is something sinister! You need to get away from here as fast as you can. I don't know if there are any other living beings out there, but you need to get to them as fast as you can if there are any!"

"But Pharnyx-"

"GO! NOW!"

Thorax bit his lip and sighed, before he finally turned and ran off.

As for Pharnyx, he turned around to face the direction of the stage, prepared for any sinister thing to happen to the crowd.



*Scorpan*



When the dome came up, Scorpan stopped.

"What the-"

His flight slowed down as he advanced closer to the dome.

"Did... they do this?" he muttered. "Impossible... the dome is yellow..." 

As he got closer to the dome, he began to express uncertainty.

And then he looked down.

And he saw a familiar creature running. A changeling.

But not just any changeling. This one had all the features that a leader would have. He seemed to be taller and he had large horns.

Scorpan knew who this was. King Thorax of the changeling kingdom!

Scorpan quickly turned and flew after the running changeling. Once he was closer to the ground, he called out.

"HEY!"

Thorax stopped running and turned while Scorpan hovered to the ground.

"S-Scorpan!" stuttered the changeling king when Scorpan finally landed on the ground. "I haven't seen you since you visited the kingdom a week ago!"

"Yes, indeed!" Scorpan said. "But I must ask... are you running because of..." Scorpan turned and pointed at the forcefield. "...that?"

"It's terrible!" Thorax said, as Scorpan turned back to him. "I went to get a drink while I waited for Princess Twilight's assembly to start! But before I came back, a forcefield formed around the whole crowd and trapped everyone! Including my brother!"

"Brother..." Scorpan muttered.

"Excuse me?"

"Er... I mean..." Scorpan cleared his throat. "... I mean... that's terrible!"

"What are we gonna do?" asked Thorax.

"Hmmmm... Scorpan pondered. "Perhaps you could transform into a bird of sorts and watch what is happening on the stage!"

"Why me?"

"I only suggest this because I can get spotted easily and you have the ability to disguise yourself."

"Hmmmm..." Thorax tapped his hoof on his chin. "Oh, ok! I'll do it! Promise that you won't go anywhere?"

"I will be hiding here. Call my name when you return."

And so, Thorax engulfed himself in green flames. When the flames faded, in his place was a medium-sized bird. He nodded to Scorpan before he flew off to the dome.

Once Thorax got there, he made sure to find a good view of the stage to watch everything that was happening. But when he finally found a good view above the stage, what he saw with his enhanced eyesight made his stomach jump.

On the stage were nine ponies, a very familiar dragon, and a very familiar draconequis. Three of the ponies were in cloaks, so he couldn't tell who they were. But he could tell who the others were.

The six ponies were Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Ranbow Dash, and Princess Twilight Sparkle herself. The dragon on the stage was his first friend, Spike. And the draconequis on stage was obviously Discord.

Before he could fully understand what was happening, a bright yellow glow suddenly flashed from the stage. When the glow faded, Princess Twilight and her friends were suddenly beginning to turn grey. He saw Pinkie and Rarity stand in the back of the stage. He saw Discord embrace Fluttershy in his grip. And he saw Rainbow, Applejack, Twilight, and Spike all lunge at one of the cloaked ponies. 

And then they stood still, fully grey, and unmoving.

Thorax immediately understood what happened.

They turned them to stone... he thought.

He continued watching for a few more seconds, before something else happened.

The cloaked pony that Twilight, Rainbow, Applejack, and Spike lunged at began glowing yellow. And then, yellow beams shot out of every single being that had magic. The whole dome was suddenly filled with yellow beams all connected to a center.

Thorax couldn't believe his eyes! Almost every being with magic is being drained.

And then he noticed something else out of the corner of his eye.

Thorax turned his head, and in an area with less buildings, he saw a pony running from the dome.

Even from a distance he saw that the pony was a familiar hot pink color and had a golden mane and tail.

Thorax recognized her.

Luster Dawn. Twilight Sparkle's student.

Relieved that another magical being escaped the dome, he flew toward Luster as fast as he could.

As soon as he got to her, he began circling around her.

"What the hay?" exclaimed Luster.

Thorax, now bearing the attention of Luster, flew in front of her and engulfed himself in green flames. When the flames faded, he was once again in his true form.

"Thorax!"

Luster ran over and hugged the changeling king.

"How did you escape?" asked Luster when she and Thorax separated.

"That... dome... closed when I was getting a drink. You?"

"I ran late."

"Oh."

Luster's grin faded.

"All of that aside..." she began. "I feel like we need to figure out what the hay is happening! Do you think we're the only ones who are outside the dome?"

"Actually, Scorpan got out as well. I don't know how, but he did."

"Wait? Scorpan? I think I met him before when he visited Canterlot."

"And I met him too when he visited the kingdom. My guess is that he knows a lot about magic since he is technically Tirek's brother. Maybe we could figure out a way to stop whatever is happening."

"That's a good idea. Let's go!"

And then Thorax turned and galloped away. Luster followed suit.



*Ten minutes later...*



After a short run, Thorax finally slowed down when he came across the area he thought Scorpan was at. Luster ended up slowing down as well.

"I think he's here..." muttered Thorax. "Scorpan!"

Suddenly, a golden silhouette in the shape of a gargoyle fizzled into thin air. The golden glow fizzled for a moment before it became flesh and bone of Scorpan.

He looked at Luster.

"Luster Dawn..." he said.

Luster stepped forward and Scorpan shook her hoof.

"It is an honor to meet you again," she said.

"So how are we going to handle this?" asked Thorax.

"Well, since we are all united, maybe we could hide somewhere safe to get some sleep and then figure out what is going on tomorrow," Scorpan said.

Luster grinned.

"I have an idea. Villains hate sweet stuff. And obviously, we are facing a villain. So how about we hide in Sugarcube Corner?"

Thorax and Scorpan looked at each other.

"It seems a little over-exaggerated, but that could work..." said Scorpan. "But I don't think I have visited the town it is in before. Are you alright with projecting an image for me?"

"Of course!" 

Luster then closed her eyes and took a deep breath. A golden glow enveloped her horn. A couple seconds later, a large projection of a building appeared in front of the three. The building looked as if it was made of gingerbread, along with other things.

Thorax recognized it. As for Scorpan, it took a second for him to catch on as to why the building has that name.

"Oh, that's Sugarcube Corner," he exclaimed, pointing to the building. "Yeah, the name makes sense. Thank you."

Luster made the projection fade.

"Ok... so I guess we are all ready?" asked Thorax.

"I believe so," Scorpan said.



*Sugarcube Corner...*



Outside of Sugarcube Corner, a golden glow sparked. And when it faded, a pony, a gargoyle, and a changeling stood in that place.

Without a word spoken, Luster went into the building. Thorax followed. Scorpan followed as well, but he stopped when he got to the door.

"Scorpan?" asked Thorax.

"I'll stay outside," he said. "Somecreature needs to watch out for danger."

"Are you sure?" questioned Luster. She sounded unsure.

"Trust me," Scorpan replied.

Luster opened her mouth to speak. But then she changed her mind. She instead chose to say something else.

"If you get into any trouble, we will try our best to help," she said. 

"I doubt our sleep through the night will be disturbed," Scorpan reassured. He fizzled into a golden silhouette before the silhouette faded out of sight.

Luster stood for a moment before she closed the door.



*The next day...*



The door creaked when Thorax walked out, then Luster. The sky seemed extremely dreary. But there was no time to waste.

"Scorpan?" called out Thorax.

Suddenly, heavy steps were heard. Luster and Thorax turned their heads in the direction it was coming from. Scorpan then appeared as a golden silhouette before fizzling into his regular form.

The three then looked out into the streets of Ponyville.

They were empty.

"Weird..." Thorax said. "I thought the citizens of this town would at least be here in a dreary mood or doing slave work."

"The only good thing I see of this is that there will be no living being to end up calling us out..." Scorpan muttered before he gulped. "...I hope."

"Who do you think did this?" asked Luster.

"Well..." Scorpan began. "I would think it would be my brother and his allies, because when I visited the Canterlot Garden before the assembly, the statue was gone. But the forcefield was yellow."

"Plus, the magic I saw in the dome were yellow as well," added Thorax.

"And this all happened after the day they reformed..." Luster said.

Scorpan and Thorax glared at Luster.

"Excuse me?" questioned Scorpan.

"Oh yeah..." muttered Luster. "I didn't tell you... two days ago I was called by this map to solve a mission. That mission was to reform them. Long story short, it worked."

"Wait!" Thorax piped. "So... Chrysalis finally changed her ways? She finally accepted the true way of love?"

"And Tirek is embracing friendship instead of searching for power?" asked Scorpan.

"For the most part, yes," Luster said. "I saw it with my own eyes. I comforted them, taught them, and did a lot for them. And it was all worth it."

Scorpan and Thorax looked at each other and then back at Luster. 

"Thank you for the information, Luster," Scorpan smiled. "Now we know that this threat is something new. And I suppose we have another reason to end this... so those who were formerly our foes could live a life of friendship and make amends with us."

"So what should we do?" asked Thorax.

"Maybe we could spy on whoever is doing this in the throne room!" Luster suggested. "After all, whoever wants to take over Equestria always wants the throne room."

"Hmmm... that's not a bad idea," Thorax pondered. "We just need to find some windows that we can see in very well."

"There are actually a few of those in the throne room," replied Luster. "They were installed there last week. I suggest we search the outside of the building until we find a suitable window."

"Then that's where we're going," Scorpan proclaimed. "We teleport there, turn invisible or disguise ourselves, and we fly up. Luster, I can carry you. If you are fine with that, of course."

"I actually learned a spell where I can levitate myself," Luster replied. 

"Very well."

"But what if we actually end up getting caught?" asked Thorax.

"I would suggest we attack but... I also saw what happened in the dome," Luster thought. "They were taking magic. I don't know how, but they did. This battle relies on our smarts. If one of us ends up getting caught and the rest of us attack, it's all over! Those that aren't captured will have to escape back to Sugarcube Corner and hope they have enough information for a plan."

"I agree," said Scorpan. 

"Alright. Let's go!" Thorax said with determination.

Luster and Thorax went close to Scorpan. When they were close together, Scorpan glowed a golden light that covered his two allies.

No...

His two friends.

And in a flash, they were gone.



*Canterlot*



The three allies appeared in an area that was the closest to the main castle.

The area of Canterlot was oddly deserted.

"Weird... no living being is here either," Thorax said.

"Not for long," Scorpan said.

They all looked at each other before they nodded. Scorpan's body began glowing gold, along with Luster's before they disappeared out of sight. Then Thorax emitted green flames before turning into a ladybug and began to fly to the castle. Scorpan followed. And then Luster's body emitted an orange glow before her whole body became covered in her transparent magic aura, making her easier to see. Her body levitated off the ground and began heading to the building.

Once they got there one by one, Thorax, Scorpan, and Luster began scaling the building to find a perfect window.

It was easier for Luster, since she saw the windows herself. It took a little bit, but she managed to get a view of the throne room. She landed on the (thankfully large) ledge sticking out from under the window. She looked inside and saw that two cloaked ponies stood on each side of the throne. A third cloaked pony stood in the center right on top of it. 

But Luster saw something else out of the corner of her eye.

Luster turned her head and saw a yellow projection. She didn't see what was on it because it quickly faded.

She then focused on the discussion of the cloaked ponies. She couldn't hear it well, but she ended up gathering information about the whereabouts of Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy.

They weren't here in Equestria.

They were in another world.

Luster quietly gasped when she learned of this.

Scorpan and Thorax had their own reactions.

"Another world?..." whispered Scorpan when he learned of the information.

"But where?..." Thorax wondered when he learned of the information.

She listened a little more. She heard more snippets of the conversation, and how they planned to go to the world and sabotage everything.

But then she felt a tickle on her nose.

"ACHOO!"

Luster sneezed a very loud sneeze, some spit spraying on the window.

The cloaked ponies perked their heads up.

Luster felt her heart jump, but she didn't panic. She was invisible. And even though there was some spit-drops on the window, she wouldn't be seen.

The center cloaked pony turned into a glowing translucent yellow silhouette before it began to morph into a cloud of yellow smoke.

"What? But... how can it..." was all Luster managed to say.

The smoke began heading for the window.

"ACHOO!"

Luster sneezed again.

The smoke picked up its pace.

And then it stopped at the window.

Luster did nothing. She just stood still.

And then a yellow aura surround the window.

And then the window was torn out the wall and pulled inside.

Luster was running out of options. She had to stay still, or give herself away and escape.

"ACHOO!"

That was all it took for a tentacle to shoot out of the smoke and grab Luster around the barrel. Immediately she was pulled in. When the smoke was halfway to the ground, it let go of Luster. She landed right in the middle of the carpet.

And then when she looked up at the smoke, it blasted her with a yellow beam.

Suddenly, Luster felt like she was getting weaker. And weaker. And weaker.

And when the smoke was no longer blasting her, Luster was visible once again!

She weakly got up to her hooves, closed her eyes, and pointed her horn at the smoke.

Nothing happened.

Luster then realized what happened. She let out a big exhale of air.

"No... my magic..." she panted.

When looked up, the smoke was gone and the two other cloaked ponies were making their way to her.

Luster turned around, but then she saw the yellow smoke blocking the exit before turning back into the cloaked pony that was on the throne.

"Well, well, well..." he said, his voice indicating his gender. "Look at what we have here. Luster Dawn. The pupil of Princess Twilight Sparkle..."

Luster gulped. She didn't have a plan! But then she took a deep breath and exhaled.

"Oh yeah? Well despite not hearing much of what you said, I know enough that I'm pretty sure the former villains are in another place or even another world!"

The cloaked pony charged yellow in his horn, and blasted her. Her body started to cake in stone. She wanted to run, but it was no use... within' seconds, she was trapped in a stone prison. 

"Ok. Here's the plan..." the leader pony said. "I will teleport Luster to the garden.Then I will meet you back here. We will go from there."

The two cloaked ponies nodded. The leader then lit up his horn, a yellow glow emerging from it, before the three ponies and Luster vanished.

For Thorax, he watched the whole thing. When the ponies vanished, he flew back to Canterlot.'

Coincidentally, Scorpan did the same.



*A few minutes later... Sugarcube corner*



Thorax quickly turned back to himself when he returned to Sugarcube corner.

"SCORPAN?!?" he called out.

Suddenly, a thump was heard. And then Scorpan turned visible again.

"You saw and heard everything?!" he asked.

"Indeed." he said.

"What are we going to do?" asked Thorax.

"We only have one option..." Scorpan began. "We can't save Luster. That we know. And it may be too late to follow the villains to the world the former villains are trapped at. But we can stay where we were at the throne room, only this time we have a spell cast where we can mentally communicate. If one of the ponies return, we follow them and hope that they end up giving us an opportunity. If we make noise, we fly away as fast as we can to do so."

"Are you sure?" questioned Thorax. "What if they never give us an opportunity?"

"They will," Scorpan replied. "Just trust me."

Thorax said nothing for a moment. But then he sighed.

"Ok."



*Hours later...*



Thorax, in his ladybug form, stood on the shoulder of Scorpan, who was invisible. They've been waiting for hours.

And then a yellow flash took place in the room.

The three cloaked ponies from before suddenly appeared. Both Thorax and Scorpan listened closely, their hearing amplified to make it easier to hear.

"Now, my allies..." the one in the middle said. "Let us sit on the throne and watch how this plays out..."

Thorax and Scorpan suddenly saw a yellow glow emit from the middle-cloaked pony. Suddenly, a projection appeared in front of the cloaked ponies. On it was a strange object that neither Thorax or Scorpan have seen before. It kind of resembled a carriage. Only different.

"They escaped?" asked the cloaked pony on the left.

"All part of the plan..." said the lead cloaked pony. "Don't you remember?"

"I don't get it..." muttered the left cloaked pony. "WHY would we help everyone foil our plans?!?"

"Yeah..." the cloaked pony on the right said. "Everything would have went our way. WHY would you thwart our plan?"

Scorpan and Thorax could have sworn the leader chuckled. He then lit up his horn. And in a yellow flash, they were gone.

The two disguised allies didn't speak for a moment.

"How long until you think they return?" Thorax asked.

"If they return and it turns out they captured the former villains and/or those that helped them," Scorpan replied. "we will have to regroup. We will just have to hope they return empty-hooved..."

"What should we do with Luster?"

"We rescue her when we have the chance. Don't worry."

Thorax sighed.

"I'm sorry... I don't mean to worry. I still remember having to team up with other reformed friends to save Equestria. Only this time... the stakes are even higher."

"Hey. I haven't stopped any source of evil for over a thousand years! I myself am a bit worried as well."

"You? Worried? You always seem so calm and collective. Plus, you're always the one with the plans."

Scorpan chuckled. "Sometimes, the inner shell is different from the outer shell..."

Suddenly, a yellow flash brought their attention.

The three cloaked ponies were back!

"I have another plan..." the center cloaked pony said. "We just have to teleport to a spot near the path where our foes are going. Once we stop them in their tracks, we capture them. I will do the deed myself. Once I reveal my true form, you two join me and reveal yourselves as well. Then, we return here and then bring them downstairs. When we return, we will leave the portal open since we may need to take more than one trip. It won't be an issue since I doubt any living being will be near it. Understand?"

"You tend to get very detailed in your plans," said the cloaked pony on the right.

"That's because I think big," the leader said.

The right cloaked pony shrugged.

"Whatever you say, Grogar," he said.

"Grogar?" whispered Scorpan.

The middle cloaked pony nodded before he lit up his horn, and a yellow portal suddenly appeared in front of the throne. The lead cloaked pony walked through before his allies followed and the portal closed.

Thorax and Scorpan were silent for a moment.

"That can't be Grogar..." Scorpan said.

"Grogar?" questioned Thorax. "The Grogar whose bell had been used by Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow? THAT Grogar?"

"I'm afraid so..."

"I thought he was a ram."

"Grogar is powerful enough to disguise himself."

"What should we do?"

"Thorax, this is likely our chance to get the others. Grogar said that when his own allies return, they will leave the portal open in case they need to come back for the allies that haven't been brought here. Whether they have magic or not, we can rescue them. All we need to do is sneak into the throne room. I could stay invisible, and you could stay disguised so we could avoid detection."

Thorax put one of his ladybug legs on his chin.

"Hmmmm... well, I don't see any other option."

"Ok. Hang on kid."

Scorpan's body began to glow gold, the glow also encasing Thorax since he was nearby. A few seconds later, the duo was no longer at the windowsill, but rather, inside the throne room.

Scorpan begin walking to a corner next to the throne, still glowing orange so Thorax could see him.

Once Thorax was next to Scorpan in the corner, he turned off the orange glow.

And now... they wait.

They were unaware of what was going on at Earth. For the next five to ten minutes, they stood silent.

As of the moment, on Earth, the truck carrying the reformed villains and humans began to swerve into the field.

Scorpan and Thorax stood still.

Back on Earth, Grogar had the humans for hostages and was about to take the reformed villains as well.

Canterlot remained silent.

Grogar revealed his true identity.

Even Scorpan's breathing was light as he tried to keep as quiet as he could.

Grogar's allies came and revealed themselves as well.

The sun was slightly visible in a hole in the clouds.

Grogar presented his memories to everyone but his allies.

Dust slightly blew in the throne room.

Grogar turned the former villains back into the ways they looked when they were turned to stone.

Time felt like it was standing still.

Grogar turned the former villains to stone.

And then a yellow portal opened on the side of the throne room.

But a cloaked pony didn't walk out.

Instead, it was a blue ram. Above him he was carrying one of those odd creatures that Thorax and Scorpan saw in the projection.

Thorax and Scorpan watched Grogar as looks of shock appeared on their faces.

I knew it... Scorpan thought.

But then they looked at his collar.

There was a bell on it.

A glowing bell.

He has the bell? were the words that Thorax said in his head.

He has the bell! Impossible! exclaimed Scorpan in his mind.

As soon as Grogar turned the corner, two more beings walked out.

These two were also familiar to Thorax and Scorpan. The latest book of Equestrian history showcased the events of 20 years ago. Both Scorpan and Thorax have read that book. Two of the many villains that have been faced 20 years ago were King Sombra and the Storm King.

But King Sombra was banished to the aether and the Storm King was turned to stone and shattered to pieces.

So the fact that they both exited the portal was enough to make Scorpan cover his mouth before a gasp escaped his lips.

"How..." Thorax whispered very quietly. Luckily, King Sombra and Scorpan didn't notice.

Above King Sombra levitated another one of those creatures. And the Storm King held yet another one under his arms.

Finally, the two resurrected villains left the room and were out of sight.

Once Scorpan and Thorax felt safe, they moved to the front of the portal. Scorpan turned himself visible again and Thorax turned back into his regular form. They both faced each other as they took in what they just saw.

"I knew that Grogar was back..." began Scorpan. "But I didn't know he had the Bewitching Bell!"

"Sombra and the Storm King are alive?" pondered Thorax.

"This is worse than I thought... not only is Equestria under siege. But Equestria is under siege by three villains, one of them being the Father of Monsters! At this point, we should just... retreat. We have no chance against them!"

Thorax tilted his head.

"Scorpan, that doesn't sound like you."

"Well, what are you going to do about it? We are the only ones left. And even with the three reformed villains, we stand no chance."

"Weren't you the one that chose friendship over stealing magic? Weren't YOU the one that left your evil brother? The fact that somecreature like YOU has lost hope is just... SILLY! They may have more magic than us and an even bigger army, but we have friendship. You were NOT like this when the siege started, and only NOW you lose hope? I'm scared too, Scorpan. But it's better if we try than throw in the towel!"

Scorpan started at Thorax with no words.

"You know..." he finally said. "You're right. I'm just... shocked is all."

Thorax smiled and the duo looked into the portal.

"Now let's go to that other world," Scorpan said.

"And if the reformed villains are not there, we can search for them until we find them," mentioned Thorax.

And with no hesitation, the duo walked through the portal.

Their view swirled with yellow colors. But only for a moment. Suddenly, a whole new landscape and view entered their eyes as they finally exited the portal.

And immediately saw the statue that was facing them as they got out.

Thorax and Scorpan stopped in their tracks and just looked at it.

The statue looked the same as they last saw it. Cozy was cowering with fear. Tirek was hiding behind his arms. And Chrysalis was lunging toward her prey.

"Oh no!" Scorpan said. "Looks like we came just in time!"

Thorax and Scorpan ran closer to the statue and then stopped again right in front of it.

"You know, I find it odd that Chrysalis looks like the way she did before she reformed," pondered Thorax. "Maybe she doesn't like her new form and likes the original one better? And isn't it a coincidence that they are in their same positions as last time?"

"Yes, it is. But we need to stay focused," reminded Scorpan. "The fact that the reformed villains are in stone will make freeing them harder. But I may know a way to free them. I will tell you when I get back, if that is alright with you."

"No problem at all."

Scorpan turned to the statue and then closed his eyes. When he opened them, he lifted his arm, the hand becoming encased in a golden glow. The statue began to glow gold before it lifted off the ground.

"Uh, oh..." Thorax suddenly exclaimed. "I think I realized something..."

Scorpan turned his head to his ally.

"What is that?"

"Well, if we return, Grogar or one of his allies may be there and we will get caught. But if we stay and hide in a spot far from here, the portal back home might close and we will be stuck here. And even if Grogar opens a portal back home, it could be anywhere! And if Grogar tracks the reformed villains, he could find us!"

Scorpan said nothing. He stared at Thorax, looked at the statue, then looked back at Thorax.

"Hmmm..." he pondered. "You're right. We haven't thought this far!"

"Maybe I could turn into a ladybug again, head back to Equestria, and see if Grogar will return. If I don't see him in the areas I check, I will return and tell you that can head back. And if Grogar returns to the room right when we return..."

Thorax looked down and then back up.

"...then we risk it!"

Scorpan once again stared at Thorax with no words.

"Alright," he finally said. "We can try that and hope it plays out well."

Thorax smiled a bit before he became encased in green flames. When the flames faded, he was once again a ladybug.

Thorax flew in his place for a bit before he finally flew back through the portal.

Scorpan turned his body to fully face the portal. The statue was still floating in the air.

And nothing happened for a minute.

And then, a small ladybug finally flew out the portal before it became encased in green flames. And then, when the flames faded, Thorax stood in place facing Scorpan.

"As far as I know, we're all clear," he confirmed.

Scorpan just grinned and nodded before he walked to the portal, the statue following him as it levitated. As soon as Scorpan passed Thorax, the changeling king turned and walked beside the gargoyle as they made their way back home.

And the portal buzzed as Thorax and Scorpan entered the portal back home, the statue following close behind.
> Chapter 26: Windows and Freedom
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The portal in the Canterlot throne room buzzed as Thorax and Scorpan stepped out. The throne room was still empty, as Thorax had said. When Thorax and Scorpan were a good distance away from the portal, the statue appeared out of the potal as well.

"We better get out of here before Grogar returns," Thorax warned.

Scorpan looked around the room. 

"I think the windows in this room are big enough to fit us all..." he analyzed. "But we will need to make it so our tracks are hidden. By the time Grogar discovers the missing statue, we will need to be in a hidden place."

"You could detatch a window and then reattatch it when we escape."

"Perhaps..."

Scorpan set down the statue, faced a nearby window, and lifted his claw, which immediatly emitted a golden glow. An orange line began to sketch on the edge of the window. Slowly it dragged itself along the edge of the window, as if it was going to be carved out. A minute later, the window was removed from it's spot, a loud pop echoing in the room. The window levitated under the golden glow.

And then the hoofsteps came.

Quickly, Thorax and Scorpan snapped their heads to the hallway that led to the throne room. Despite the doors being ajar, they could hear the loud footsteps.

"Grogar..." Scorpan hissed bitterly.

"We better hurry!" warned Thorax. 

"You go first, I go next, then we get the statue," Scorpan ordered.

Thorax obeyed, opening his elytra, spreading out his wings, and then flying through the window and out of the room. As soon as Thorax buzzed out of the room, Scorpan quickly followed. He turned to face the open window that led inside the throne room, the statue still on the floor, and the window still levitating. The statue suddenly began to glow and lift off the ground as the golden glow on Scorpan's claw intensified.

Both Thorax and Scorpan got out of the way as the floating statue dashed out of the window. Scorpan then put the window back in it's place (luckily, it fit on the first attempt), and the line seperating the broken window from the wall suddenly shone bright. When the glowing finally stopped, the window looked untouched.

"We should bring this to Sugarcube Corner..." Thorax suggested.

"I was thinking the same thing," Scorpan admitted. "But how are we gonna hide myself from view? As we recall, I had to sleep outside due to my size.”

"Couldn't you just do what you did to the window? You tear a piece of wall off Sugarcube Corner that’s big enough for you to enter,” Thorax suggested. "You can't fit in the doorway. Neither can the statue. But the inside of the building is big enough to fit you.”

Scorpan lifted his non-glowing claw and opened his mouth to speak. Then he closed his mouth and lowered his claw.

Scorpan shrugged. 

"Well that seems to be the only option for me to hide with you..." he pondered, scratching his chin with the claw that wasn't glowing. He then lowered his claw halfway down, which immediatly began glowing anyway. "Very well."

And with a POOF, along with a burst of golden light, Scorpan and Thorax were gone, along with the statue.

The last thing they heard before vanishing was the sound of large doors opening inside the building.



Sugarcube Corner...



When Thorax and Scorpan arrived, Scorpan set down the statue in front of them. The duo turned to face each other.

"So..." Thorax began to say. "Should we free the former villains first or-"

"We enter the building first," Scorpan concluded.

Thorax watched as the gargoyle walked past him, and around the right corner of the building. Thorax trotted to an area where he could see what Scorpan was going.

Thorax watched as Scorpan groaned, holding out both of his very bright claws. The wall Scorpan faced was caked in another magnificent golden glow.

CRUNCH!!!

Scorpan's straining halted when the wall suddenly popped out of it's resting spot. Scorpan backed away, the wall floating further from the building as he did.

Scorpan turned his head to Thorax.

"Bring the statue inside!" the gargoyle ordered.

Immediatly Thorax did as he was told and galloped to the statue. Due to this being the first time he lifted it, Thorax's mind felt an immediate strain as he used his magic to pick up the heavy statue.

But luckily, he powered through.

Thorax walked at a normal pace, the statue following close behind. The changeling king turned the corner, and was the first to enter the humongous hole in the building. The statue entered second. When Thorax was a good distance from the area he entered, he levitated the statue of the former villains to the other side of the room. He set it down, a large gasp escaping his lips as he finally put down the ginormous weight he was carrying.

He set his gaze on the statue.

"Huh..." he muttered. "And here I thought I would be slower in bringing this statue in the building. I guess I power through better than I thought..."

The changeling king then turned around.

He saw Scorpan, who managed to make his way to the other side of the wall he was carrying. Now standing on the other side of the chunk of floating wall, Scorpan made his way into the building, his speed a little quicker than when Thorax entered the building with the statue. Scorpan had no need to crouch or crawl when he entered. Since the inside of the building was bigger than the doorway itself, Scorpan was still able to stand at his full height.

As soon as he entered the building, Scorpan turned around. The levitating chunk of wall suddenly retreated back to where Scorpan tore it out. The wall slid into the hole like a puzzle piece. And just like the window, the shaped line seperating the chunk of wall from the rest of the building began to glow bright.

And a few seconds later, the glowing subsided, and the wall was as good as new.

Scorpan stepped forward to stand beside Thorax, who turned around to face the statue. 

When the duo stood side-by-side, facing the statue, Scorpan spoke, still keeping his gaze on the statue.

"Well... now for the hard part. I suggest we back away. I will hold a shield for us since some pieces will head our way."

The duo backed away, and a golden shield materialized in front of him. 

"Ready?" said Thorax, turning his head toward his ally.

Scorpan looked at Thorax.

He nodded.

Scorpan then faced the statue, lifting up his claw once again. He felt the energy of his magic tingle around his flesh as his claws began to illuminate his signature golden glow.

Slowly, the statue began to coat itself in glowing white cracks. Some very tiny pieces even fell off, showing bits of flesh, fur, or hair.

But finally, the statue suddeny burst in a golden light, and chunks of stone flew in every which way, many pieces deflecting off the shield. Thorax shielded himself despite already being protected. Scorpan did the same, his claw now only illuminating a dimmer light to hold up the shield.

THUNK!!!

Thorax and Scorpan lowered their forehooves and looked at the source of the sound. And there, smushed to the base of the shield, was a black chitin muzzle connected to a changeling that Thorax knew all too well. Queen Chrysalis.

Scorpan looked at what remained of the statue, then turned his focus to the glimpse of a centaur laying behind the remaining pedestal. Tirek. And on that pedestal lay a filly. Cozy Glow.

And before the duo could speak, they heard the sounds of groaning coming from the three former villains. Thorax and Scorpan looked at Chrysalis, who was rubbing her head and then watched Tirek and Cozy do the same. 

Scorpan lowered the shield.

And, as if on cue, the trio of former villains stood up at the same time, groaning.

But Chrysalis was the first to fully lift her head and acknowledge their saviors. Or at least one of them. Her face was full of disbelief.

"Thorax?" she whispered.

Tirek turned his head to the left to see who had rescued them and Cozy lifted her head.

"Scorpan?..." Tirek uttered.

Cozy looked around to see if there was anything else.

Then she lowered her head.

"Oh..." she whimpered.

"But..." Tirek wheezed, trying to piece everything together. "...you came for us? How did you escape-"

"We weren't in range of the dome when it closed," explained Scorpan.

"Oh, so Luster was with you?" asked Chrysalis.

"Yes," replied Thorax. "But- wait. How did you know Luster escaped?"

"She communicated with us..." Cozy recounted, swirling her hoof on the stone pedestal while she sat on her flank. "She helped these creatures called humans save us when we thought our time was up."

"Long story," Chrysalis stated. "But unfortunately, her mission to save us along with the world was short-lived when we discovered she was turned to stone. By none other than Grogar, who apparently disguised himself as a pony, banished us here, and then usurped the Princess."

"We know," said Scorpan. "Though we had no idea that Luster was turned to... stone."

"We will save her," Thorax assured. "Along with the rest of Equestria."

"But how?" Cozy asked from the pedestal. "There's only six of us and Grogar has FAR more magic then us!"

"Well we have ONE thing he doesn't have..." Tirek chimed with a grin. "...friendship, and the ability to be annoyingly lucky!"

Scorpan chuckled.

"Wow..." he muttered. "You really have changed. I don't know how much, but you have."

Cozy hopped off her pedestal.

"Well trust us. We didn't look like this ten hours ago," Tirek claimed. "I was bigger, Chrysalis was different, and Cozy had no cutie mark."

"Hey Chrysalis, what was your metamorphosized form like?" Thorax questioned with curiosity.

"Indescribable," the former changeling queen gushed. "If we end up getting out of this alive, I will be happy to show you."

Thorax blinked.

"Wow. Who are you and what have you done with Chrysalis?" he teased.

Chrysalis laughed.

SLAM!!!

The five remaining hopes of Equestria snapped their heads to the door as it slammed open.

And a blue ram entered the doorway.

"Well, well, well..." Grogar sneered, his sinister smirk sending chills down everycreatures spines. "This little 'meeting' of yours is over!"

And the Bewitching Bell was glowing with undeniable rage.
> Chapter 27: Chase and Ransom
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Before Grogar could do anything, Scorpan quickly lifted his claw and the five allies disappeared in a flash of golden light.

But Grogar did nothing. He didn't frown, his face instead shifting to a monotone expression.

Instead, he turned and exited the building. King Sombra and the Storm King were waiting outside.

"I take it they escaped before you did much?" Sombra asked.

"Yes," replied Grogar.

"Then why are you so calm?" The Storm King inquired.

Grogar lit up his horns and disappeared in a yellow flash.

"So... don't tell us?" Sombra muttered.

And in a flash, Grogar reappeared holding his crystal ball.

"Oh right," Sombra groaned. “I forgot about that.”

Grogar examined the crystal ball until a large hallway appeared in the ball. And in that hallway stood the five foes that Grogar and his allies are up against. A metamorphosed changeling and a gargoyle were standing next to each other and facing an unreformed changeling, a centaur, and a filly.

"So..." the Storm King began to say. "Should we attack or-"

"No," Grogar cut off.

"Huh?" King Sombra and the Storm King both said, shocked and confused at the response from their leader.

"We wait," Grogar explained. "They may know us well, but every hero makes a slip-up or thinks they are safe. Just wait. Let them devise a plan or learn a little bit more about mine. Then we strike..."



*Canterlot Castle Hallway...*



"He found us," Tirek muttered. "He found us and he knows we're here!"

"Sure it lowers our chance of success," Cozy said.  "And... oh what the hay, I can't be optimistic!"

"Oh please," said Scorpan. "It had to happen at some point. He can't just find your missing statue and brush it off."

"I suppose that's true..." Chrysalis stated. "It's not like he's all..."

Chrysalis stopped herself.

"Chrysalis?" Tirek lifted a brow. "You were saying?"

"I... was thinking I would transform into Grogar," Chrysalis explained. "But... I couldn't."

"Wait..." Tirek scratched his chin and looked to Cozy. "Can you fly?"

Cozy Glow arched up her back and moved her wings. Nothing happened.

"That blasted Grogar!" Tirek exclaimed. "He took our magic!"

"Well that's just great..." Cozy huffed.

"Listen," Scorpan said. "Are we really going to lose hope because we don't have out magic?"

Everycreature looked at him.

"Maybe?" Cozy shrugged.

"Listen," Scorpan resumed. "You may not have your magic. But you still have friendship. And those who harness it have a greater chance of success."

Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy looked at each other. Then back at Scorpan.

"*sigh*... Your right," Chrysalis said. She chuckled. "We are still getting used to the 'reformed' side of things..."

"I agree with you too, brother," Tirek agreed.

"Me too," Cozy chimed in.

Scorpan smiled. "That's the spirit."

POOF!!!

A sound coming from behind Thorax and Scorpan prompted them to turn around.

But they were only halfway through turning around when two yellow beams struck them both.

Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy gasped when they saw what had just happened.

Ahead of the five allies stood Grogar, grinning.

Scorpan and Thorax looked back at Chrysalis, Cozy, and Tirek with fear as their bodies became covered in grey stone.

And then the three former villains turned and bolted down the hallway.

Grogar shot a magic beam at them, the beam whizzing past Thorax and Scorpan, fully stone, in the positions where they were looking back at the former villains they just saved.

The beam nearly hit Cozy.

She ducked as it whizzed past her, nearly grazing her mane. 

"You ok?" Chrysalis asked.

"Yeah. Yeah I'm ok," Cozy replied quickly.

They didn't look back at Grogar, who now had Sombra standing on his right and the Storm King on his left. Grogar levitated the statues of Scorpan and Thorax before he placed them behind him and his allies.

"Get them!" ordered Grogar.

"What about you?" Sombra questioned, looking at Grogar and lifting a brow.

"I'm going to make our new human guests feel welcome..." the ram sneered.

King Sombra rolled his eyes.

"Fine!" he gruffed, before he took off after his foes.

The Storm King took off after him.

Grogar just stood there, smiling and showing off his sinister yellow teeth.



*Canterlot Castle entrance...*



Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow ran out of the (thankfully open) entrance to the Canterlot Castle as fast as their legs could carry. 

"Whatdowedowhatdowedowhatdowedo..." Cozy mumbled, her tiny legs surprisingly letting her keep up with Tirek and Chrysalis.

"At this point, I'm not sure what to do anymore aside from running..." Tirek wheezed.

"We have no more options of where to hide either..." lamented Chrysalis. "Grogar found us. Twice. Obviously, he will do it again!"

They continued to run, getting exhausted once they ended up running through a dirt-covered road.
Neither of the former villains noticed the sinister black smoke speeding toward them, nor did they notice the Storm King.

It didn't take long for Chrysalis to freeze in midair, her body covered in a blue aura.

"CHRYSALIS!" Tirek shrieked. Immediately he and Cozy stopped running and turned around.

Chrysalis lifted up into the air, a black cloud of smoke and the Storm King both standing right behind her. The black cloud immediately shrank and dissipated, King Sombra standing in its place.

They noticed a blue glow on the Storm Kings claw.

"I thank Grogar for giving us some of the magic from his bell," the Storm King said with pride. "Now I don't need some dumb staff to perform magic."

"Something you don't have!" Sombra gloated. "So you can run. But at the cost of you never seeing this pathetic changeling again! But if you surrender, the chances of you three being destroyed together instead of alone will be higher."

"I bet they will run! Look at us! We are powerful magic beings! Even if they run, we will just catch them! This world is doomed! And only the three of you are left to help."

"It's a shame you nearly reformed on Everhoof... otherwise Grogar would have freed you three from stone before you reformed for real! Plus, you three DID manage to nearly end Equestria with the Bewitching Bell."

"And look at where you are now..." the Storm King chuckled, bringing Chrysalis close to him. "... at the weakest point you have ever been at."

Tirek and Cozy watched Chrysalis' eyelids shift to sadness and fear.

"If you don't make a decision, I would be happy to make you relive your past..." Sombra sneered, his eyes turning green and emitting a purple aura.

Tirek suddenly shifted his gaze to a stand on the side of the street. Then he looked down.

Tirek took a deep breath and lifted his skinny arms. His raspy voice spoke only two words.

"We surrender."
> Chapter 28: Powder and Crushes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"WHAT?" Cozy shrieked.

"You do?" the Storm King cocked an eyebrow.

Chrysalis just moved her gaze to the ground.

"That was quick..." King Sombra scoffed. "Why WOULD you give up so easily? Knowing how your story will end either way? Or just because you are weak?

"You want to know why?" Tirek began to walk toward his foes. Cozy stood where she was.

"What are you doing?" Cozy hissed.

Tirek didn't respond to her. Instead, he continued.

"If I have to be honest, I would rather have all of us go out together than one by one. Everything we went through taught me that we are meant to be friends. Meant to be a team. Almost like Princess Twilight. Just... with a rocky start and an even rockier past!"

When Tirek was directly in front of Sombra and the Storm King, he lowered himself as if to bow.

"And so, we surrender," he finished, his head low and his thin claws touching the dirt-covered ground.

King Sombra and the Storm King looked at each other, not noticing Tirek's skinny claws both grabbing mounds of dust.

And then when they looked back at Tirek, he threw the dust right at Sombra and the Storm King.

It was enough dust to get in their eyes, as Tirek had hoped.

"AH! MY EYES!" Sombra shrieked, both him and the Storm King twisting their heads away from Tirek.

The distraction given to the two 'kings' was enough for the blue glow on the Storm King's claw to fade. And when the glow on his claw faded, so did the glow surrounding Chrysalis. 

"AH-"

Chrysalis' yelp was cut off when Tirek immediatly caught her when she began to fall. Even though there would have been no inflicted damage if Tirek didn't catch Chrysalis.

Tirek went to Cozy Glow, carrying Chrysalis. He set the changeling down next to Cozy before he made his way to the nearby stand.

"What are you doing?" Chrysalis questioned.

Tirek paid no attention. Instead, he darted to a stand full of wicker baskets filled to the brim with different colored powders. Tirek went to the basket with the blue powder and immediatly scooped some up with his claw.

Tirek then ran back to Sombra and the Storm King, luckily still trying to get the dust out of their eyes. Tirek took a big intake of breath, his cheeks puffed out when he closed his mouth.

And then he threw the dust.

For a moment there was no effect. Chrysalis and Cozy stood there looking at each other, confused. King Sombra and the Storm King continued rubbing their eyes, and Tirek just stood there.

Chrysalis lifted her hoof and opened her mouth.

"Uh, Tirek-"

Tirek cut her off when he held his thin arm.

And then the movements of the Storm King and Sombra began to slow down.

And then they collapsed, Sombra collapsing first, and the Storm King's body landing on poor King Sombra.

Tirek smirked and turned around, Chrysalis and Cozy both looking at him partly confused, and partly suprised.

"What?" Tirek shrugged. "I noticed a stand that said 'magic powder' on the sign. I believed there was sleeping powder, so I took a risk. It was lucky that there was sleeping powder."

Chrysalis began to march toward Tirek.

"You know you scared us, right?" she scowled. "We both thought that was it for us."

"Well I could't tell you my plan. I had no time," Tirek rebutted. "And besides, they would get suspicious if I whispered my-"

But then Tirek was cut off when Chrysalis lept forward and embraced her hooves around him.

"But that doesn't stop me from showing gratitude!" Chrysalis exclaimed. "Thank you for not running!"

"Well, I mean... it was nothing," said Tirek. "Besides, we're friends. It's best to go out together. But I just thought we could take one more stretch in case we still have a chance of success!"

"Well, again... thank you!" Chrysalis smiled with gratitude, her hooves still wrapped around Tirek. "And the way you carried me... I found it oddly-"

But Chrysalis stopped speaking when she leaned back from Tirek, her hooves still touching his arms. Her eyes went wide and her mouth hung open.

Instead of a weak, frail version of her friend standing in a street in Canterlot covered in dust, her vision saw something else. Everything in her vision was colored pink except Tirek, who now had a different appearence. He appeared to be in his third form, the only difference being that he was still as tall as his first form. His fur was breezing in the wind and he had a necklace of roses.

"Chrysalis..." he began to say, his swooning voice making her heart flutter. "Any chance that, if we get out of this alive, we can go out on a... date, perhaps?"

"Uuuuhhh..." Chrysalis drawled. She shut her eyes and wildly shook her head in an attempt to clear her mind of... whatever she saw. She looked back at Tirek.

"W-what?" she stammered.

Her vision was now back to where it was, the landscape of Canterlot being dreary and empty, and Tirek now back in his first and weakest form.

"I said 'Are you ok? You're looking at me funny,'" Tirek said, lifting his brow.

"Oh I'm fine..." Chrysalis muttered, taking her hooves off of Tirek. "I just want to kiss you- I MEAN- think of a plan with you if there is the slightest chance Grogar won't suddenly appear and take us hostage."

Tirek slightly cocked his head.

Chrysalis, her cheeks slightly pink, looked at Cozy, who was giving her a smirk. She bounced her eyebrows, causing all of Chrysalis' face to turn completely pink. Apparently Cozy caught on to what Chrysalis was feeling as of the moment.

"A-anyway..." Chrysalis stuttered, still blushing. "Grogar's allies may be down, but we still have the actual threat himself. We have no magic. Our new human allies are held hostage and we are the only residents of Equestria who are still roaming free."

"Right!" Cozy exclaimed. "So in order for us to succeed, we need to be smart. And lucky for us, I have an idea. An idea that will only work if Grogar doesn't suddenly take us down. Though I have a feeling he is busy. Ok. Huddle up."

Chrysalis and Tirek huddled with Cozy, Chrysalis looking at Tirek and blushing as soon as they huddled.
> Chapter 29: Explanations and Screams
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ok... so I'm back to narrating? Ok then...

Anyway, just to get this out of the way, when Grogar used his magic to freeze us humans in place, it didn't make us unconsious. I knew because I could still see and hear everything. I just couldn't move and speak. So I pretty much watched helplessly as Grogar put the three former villains (back) in stone before carrying us humans into a portal that led to Equestria.

And I would have probably been excited. But since all hope in Equestria was lost and we were being kidnapped, my heart sank a little instead.

So when I felt Grogar move my body and set it into a chair in front of a table, I knew what was coming. I tried to move, but it pretty much felt like sleep paralysis to me.

But finally, when Grogar sat in the chair across from me and scooted closer to the table, the yellow aura faded from my eyes.

I tried to get up, but when I looked down, I noticed that most of my body was still covered in a yellow aura.

"Obviously, I could just threaten to disintegrate you if you tried anything, but this is much better..." Grogar smirked.

I looked back up at him. Some of me wanted to point out that he could just disintegrate me, but that means death. Though then again, this ram is unpredictable.

I really didn't know what to say.

"No questions?" Grogar snarked.

"Ok fine," I said, deciding to wing it. "What is the point of you interrogating me?"

"Many reasons," Grogar replied. "For one, the whole time I watched you, you seemed like the leader."

"I am no leader."

"Well, I figured I could explain to you a little about how I managed to pull the strings. Then I have something that I want to ask you about."

"Why would you explain your plan to me?"

"Well somecreature has to find out how I managed to work behind the curtains at some point," said Grogar. "Allow me to explain everything... you already are aware of my little 'Luster Dawn' scheme."

I lifted my brow. "Yes, of course I do. You pretended to be her via illusion magic."

"Exactly! Whenever she spoke to you, it wasn't her! It was me! Half of the time during my rule over Equestria, I spent some time at your planet... near you, casting those spells. I was there outside your home, and where you met your friends. I disguised you and your friends. And I made your vehicle go out of control.. And that female that interrogated your friends? She was under my control... meant to keep those three imprisoned, and maybe more."

"But why would you foil your own spell?" I inquired. "If you mind controlled the agent, WHY would you let us save the others?"

"I love to see fear," Grogar said. "We also knew about some of the locations on Earth due to this process... You may be wondering, how were your friends caught? I searched for a human all on their lonesome, and mind-controlled them to give me the name of authority in their town. They told me about the 'police' in your area, and I made him call them and lead them to where you were busted in the first place. Once they lead your friends out, an associate of mine stopped their journey, and he, along with my background help, brought them over to that 'FBI' area."

"You know Grogar..." I began to say. "It amazes me that despite your age, you somehow knew of places were creatures are studied, or knew about the police."

"You modern creatures are ignorant," Grogar snarked. "Equestria had law enforcement a long time ago, just not as strong as today. And when I studied modern Equestria, I learned of the police. And how I learned about places where foreign things I studied... well... I overheard a group of ponies talking about 'aliens'. So when I decided to listen in to figure out what aliens are since they were never discussed in my time, it turns out that aliens can be studied. So later I figured that if Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow weren't from Earth, they were aliens. So that's how I learned of the FBI center... a place where the former villains were imprisoned or maybe even nearly destroyed, and all the pieces fell in place."

"Sheesh," I muttered. "Of course you haven't heard about aliens. You're probably older than Celestia!"

"Perhaps..." Grogar said. 

His chair then scootched back and he hopped off the chair. 

"I think that's enough for now," he grinned. He lit up his horns and the drawing floated toward him.

"What are you gonna do with that?" I asked suspiciously. I knew Grogar was the Father of Monsters. So him getting an idea from a drawing meaning evil was bad news.

Grogar didn't respond. Instead, he turned and walked out the door.

"WAIT, WHERE ARE YOU GOING?" I yelled.

"Oh don't worry, I'll be back. And when you see me again, it will be the last time you see anything," Grogar promised.

"NO!" I screamed.

"Enjoy your last few minutes," Grogar hissed.

"PLEASE NO!" I shrieked.

And then Grogar slammed the door, leaving me all alone.
> Chapter 30: Power and Trickery
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow stood at the castle enterance, the unconsious bodies of Sombra and the Storm King laying nearby.

"So..." Chrysalis started. "We're really gonna do this?"

"I guess..." Tirek replied. "Though the fact that this surrounds our past actions kind of makes me a little uncomfortable."

"I'm not," Cozy said, her facial expression giving an obvious fake smile. "I'm fiiiine..."

Chrysalis and Tirek looked at the filly.

"Do you really feel comfortable with this?" asked Chrysalis, raising a brow.

"No, not really..." Cozy admitted, her smile fading and her eyes falling to the ground. "I'm a little uncomfortable as well."

"I admit to the discomfort..." said Chrysalis. Her cheeks suddenly became a slight pink. "N-not what I felt earlier... I mean... I didn't feel anything earlier... what I mean is discomfort for this plan..."

"Are you alright?" Tirek questioned, slightly tilting his head.

Chrysalis' blush remained.

"I'm fine!" Chrysalis waved a hoof. "I just feel discomfort for the plan. But I also know it is the only way for our chances of success to increase."

The trio looked back at the enterance.

"Chrysalis is right," spoke Tirek. "Even if it gives us discomfort, this is our only chance. We need to perform every movement at the correct time. And we need to make sure Grogar does what we need him to do. And we need the right reactions from him. If anything, we will be extremely lucky if this plan even works. And it may not. But even if this fails..."

Tirek paused. He looked at Chrysalis and Cozy, who turned their looks to him.

"...Even if this fails..." Tirek said again. "At least I get to fail with my friends."

Chrysalis and Cozy smiled.

And the unconsious body of King Sombra twitched.



Meanwhile...



Grogar's hooves clicked in the hallway as a smirk remained on his face. Now that he spoke with the so-called "leader" of the foreign creatures, he was going to gather the rest of the prisoners and transfer them to the dungeon. Then he would return to the interrogation room and transfer the already imprisoned human to the dungeon. When all six humans are together, he would turn them to stone and place it in the garden along with the other ponies and creatures that were turned to stone.

CREEEAAAAKKK

Grogar suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned his head in the direction of the sound. It sounded like it was from the enterance. Grogar knew because he was close to it.

"So..." he whispered. "Either my allies have returned or my foes are pathetic enough to face me..."

Grogar turned into a hallway on his left to make his way to the enterance. It only took him half a minute to arrive.

Although the hallway was dark, he still saw King Sombra and the Storm King, oddly stiff, and their facial expressions unmoving and sort of exaggerated.

In the middle of them was the filly Cozy Glow, sitting on her flank, and wirthing around in rope.

"Well, well, well... look what he have here..." Grogar scowled. "I see you got one, but where are the other two?"

"Chrysalis and Tirek got away," Cozy said, no longer wirthing in the ropes. 

"I didn't ask you, runt!" Grogar snapped.

Cozy rolled her eyes and continued speaking anyway.

"Your assistants chased us until we knocked them unconsious," she explained. "My pals and I then devised a plan on how to stop you. Unfourtunately, Sombra and the Storm King must have woken up earlier then we thought, because they suddenly grabbed me in their magic grip. Chrysalis and Tirek immediatly ran, but these two allies of yours decided to turn me in first."

Grogar laughed.

"Oh this is sad," he guffawed. "Your pathetic 'friends' actually abandoned you? I would feel bad, but... well... you know."

"You won't get away with this!" Cozy growled.

"I already have," Grogar spat. "Long ago! This would have been so much easier if you have proven yourselves to be twisted long ago! But just that little incident on Mount Everhoof was all I needed to know! Yeah! I know about that! I saw it in your memories! After seeing that, not even the stunt you pulled with the bell was enough to convince me that you three were worthy! And where did it put you three? Here! In my grasp! And now I get to watch the satisfying end of Equestria! In fact... let's celebrate! Sombra, Storm King, you did well! And as a reward, I will transfer some of the magic from my bell to you! A decent amount, at least."

"Really?" Cozy lifted a brow.

"And just what are you looking at me like that for, filly?!?" Grogar growled. "Where's the terror? The shock?"

"Oh I'm shocked all right," Cozy replied. "It's just... you're giving your allies magic. And yet there is a chance they may want to betray you in the future. But what about you? Why can't you celebrate even more and give yourself the same amount of magic you will give them?"

"Oh sure I'm giving my allies enough magic to make you an alicorn," said Grogar. "But they wouldn't dream of it. I could simply vaporize them even when I give them the magic I plan to give them. Besides, I thought you knew better since you used my bell yourself. Every moment of the day, I carry this bell with me, and every night when I go to bed and put it on a nightstand, I put a protection spell on it. I don't need to transfer magic to me in order to have it in my veins. I just need to wear the bell!"

"But some villains don't mind a change of pace," Cozy said. "Unless you're some sort of scared goat who is afraid of having extra magic even without some dumb bell."

Grogar reeled back at the last sentence.

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!?" he barked.

Cozy smirked.

"A scared goat," Cozy chuckled.

"I'LL SHOW YOU!!!" Grogar erupted. "Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to give some magic to myself anyway. Now listen! In order for me to do this, I will need you out of my way!"

Grogar's horns lit up and Cozy's vision was caked in a clear yellow as her body began to glow. Cozy then felt her body scootch away from Sombra and the Storm King and closer to the wall next to Sombra. When Cozy was near that wall, the glow around her body faded, and so did the glow on Grogar's horns.

Grogar then made his way to his allies. When he was directly in front of him, he turned his head to Cozy and smirked. Then Grogar turned around and backed away until he was directly between Sombra and the Storm King.

As for Cozy, she felt a hoof touch where her shoulder was. She turned her head to look behind her, smiled, and nodded.

Then everything fell into place.

The Bewitching Bell on Grogar's collar began to glow yellow as soon as Grogar lit his horns yet again. Without a single sound made, the bell was disconnected from the collar and was levitated a decent distance from Grogar and his allies. Grogar rotated the bell so then the glowing eye could face him.

Grogar smiled even wider. 

He didn't notice the ropes around Cozy Glow loosen as she continued to squirm in the ropes.

Grogar closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

The ropes covering Cozy fell to the ground.

Grogar blasted the bell.

Cozy stood on her hooves.

And then everything fell into place.

The bell rotated so then it's bottom was now facing the three current villains. A yellow swirl materialized and a loud chime escaped from the bell.

And then Cozy sprinted, her intended stopping point to be right in front of Grogar!

As soon as Cozy sprinted, two figures also sprinted out of the shadows. One, the figure of a centaur, was sprinting from the wall opposite from Cozy. The other, a figure of a changeling queen, was sprinting right behind Cozy!

Grogar couldn't hear a single hoofstep due to the loud sounds coming from the bell.

And he was too focused to notice what was going on in his peripheral vision.

And by the time he saw Cozy Glow, Chrysalis, and Tirek, it was too late.

Because when Cozy slid to a stop a few feet away from Grogar, Chrysalis ended her sprint a few feet from Sombra, and Tirek halted a few feet from the Storm King, they immediately jumped.

And the spot that Chrysalis, Cozy, and Tirek were, combined with them jumping, caused them to be right in the path of the bell, blocking the beam from striking Grogar and his assistants.

At the exact same time Cozy, Tirek, and Chrysalis jumped, a black beam fired from the bell.

When the reformed trio was in the middle of their jump, the beam struck them.

The three of them landed on the floor, the beam still attached to them. Their bodies began to strain.

For a moment, Grogar shielded his eyes due to the bright light.

And when the bright light faded, Grogar slowly unshielded his gaze.

He no longer saw the bell in the air. But he saw Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow, their eyes watching their bodies as they began to change.

Tirek's body expanded to it's second form, his horns growing, his body becoming more muscular, and the red on his skin becoming a more appropriate color.

For Chrysalis, her wings started to grow, becoming twice their original size by the time they were done. The top half of her horn became green, the bottom half regaining it's charcoal color. Her eyes also turned green, her slitted pupils being the only things that remained the same. Physical changes aside, green armor then began to materialize on her hooves, barrel, and back. A large, flat, green crown also materialized on her head, the crown extending down to her chin.

And as for Cozy Glow, her tiny pegasus wings began to grow even larger, and matching that of alicorn wings. At the same time, a horn began to grow out of her forehead. A vanilla-colored chestplate formed on her barrel.

And for the first time in a long time, Grogar sported a look that expressed his shock in the trickery that befallen him.

But the disbelief didn't last for long.

When the transformations were complete, Chrysalis immediatly blushed upon laying eyes on Tirek, causing Tirek to express confusion. Cozy looked at Tirek and then turned her head to see Chrysalis. Cozy snickered.

Then the sound of hooves slowly tapping on the ground caused Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow to turn.

"You've done it," said Grogar, tapping his hooves on the ground in a sarcastic manner.
> Chapter 31: Good and Evil: Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow all charged their horns.

"I've said it once, and I'll say it again..." Grogar said, his hoofs continuing to tap on the floor. "... you've done it! You've managed to trick me... and my associates."

As soon as Grogar finished speaking, the Storm King's body suddenly collapsed on the floor. Grogar turned his gaze to the  unconsious body. There, he finally saw the reason why the Storm King (and probably King Sombra) were so stiff. 

There, attatched to the back of the Storm King's body, was a large wooden pole. Attatching the pole to the Storm King was what appeared to be some sort of clay, that looked as if it was attatching the pole to his body. Connected to the wooden poles were four more poles. Two of the poles were attatched to his arms while the other two were attatched to his legs. Connected to the bottoms of the poles on the Storm King's legs were small wooden planks, which was how he must of been standing.

"It was convenient that we found all of those supplies," said Tirek, Grogar returning his gaze to the reformed trio.

"Otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to put this plan into action," Cozy piped.

"Indeed, you have succesfully managed to outsmart me..." Grogar sneered. "I guess I thought I could actually take care of you. And perhaps I still can. The amount of magic ejected from the bell was enough to make all three of you so powerful, the three of you combined is as powerful as me alone. So let's just see how well you three can hold up against me... HIYAH!!!"

Grogar suddenly lit his horns and fired a yellow and black beam, which began blazing directly to Cozy, Chrysalis, and Tirek.

But luckily, Tirek was first to react. An orange ball of magic appeared above his head, and immediatly an orange beam shot out and struck against Grogar's beam, struggling to push the beam away. Chrysalis was the next to fire, her green beam joining Tirek's orange beam in pushing back Grogar's yellow and black beam. But Tirek and Chrysalis' combined beam was still struggling on fighting Grogar's.

And then Cozy charged her horn and fired, streaks of red entering the orange and green beam as Cozy's magic combined with Chrysalis and Tirek's.

And now the beam being fired against Grogar's magic was no longer struggling.

The combined magic of Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow fought back Grogar's equally strong magic, both neither moving forward or being pushed back. But despite that, Chrysalis, Cozy, and Tirek came to the realization that the extreme amount of magic was pushing them back. They felt their hooves slide ever so slightly on the ground.

Grogar was being pushed back as well.

But finally, the reformed villains managed to stand their ground, no longer being pushed back. Grogar did the same.

And Cozy managed to hold back a jump when she felt something cold and metallic touch her back leg.

The raging battle lasted for seconds longer, before Grogar was able to guide the magic beam of his opponents. With a loud grunt and the flick of his head, the area where both beams met was curved to the wall, exploding on impact and leaving a gaping hole in the wall.

Both beams faded when the explosion happened. Grogar and the reformed trio looked at each other once more.

"If it has to be like this, I can do this all day," Grogar sneered, now walking closer to his foes.

"Us too," admitted Tirek.

"Oh please," Grogar snarked. "You three may be as powerful as me combined, but with one of you out of the way, it will make your defeat even more possible."

Grogar continued monologuing, and even began to pace, resulting in his attention diverting from Cozy Glow, who turned her head to look behind her. And that's when she saw what was brushing against her foreleg: the Bewitching Bell.

Cozy looked at Grogar, still pacing and speaking.

Cozy turned her head to face Chrysalis.

"A little question to help me remember..." whispered the filly. "How do you teleport?"

Chrysalis looked at Cozy.

"Simple..." the changeling whispered. "First, think of the place you want to be. Then, concetrate and imagine yourself there. Focus very hard... why do you ask?"

Cozy nudged her head to the side, instructing Chrysalis to peek at what was resting behind Cozy.

When Chrysalis saw the bell, she looked at Cozy with uncertainty. She nodded, lifted a hoof, and placed it on Cozy's back.

Cozy turned to Tirek.

"Tirek... I need you to grab on..." Cozy instructed. "Trust me."

Tirek cocked a brow, but he obeyed anyway. He lifted his clawed hand and set it behind Cozy's head, his hand touching Cozy's bright mane.

The closeness of Tirek's hand to Chrysalis' hoof earned another minor blush from Chrysalis.

"Um... Grogar..." Cozy called out, interrupting Grogar's monologue. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

Grogar squinted his eyes. And then the realization set in.

"MY BELL!!!"

Before Grogar could do anything, Cozy lifted her back hoof and placed it on the bell. At the same time she lit her horn, the rosy color illuminating greatly.

Grogar sent another blast.

But before it could hit Cozy, a large red spark envelloped her and her friends.

And in a flash, they were gone.

When he saw no ashes and no bell, Grogar stomped his hoof, gruffing loudly. But then he immediatly calmed down.

"You come at a disadvantage..." he muttered. "You make it your advantage."



*Canterlot streets...*



Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy stood in the place of a bright red glow that sparked in the street.

"Wow," Chrysalis said, removing her hoof from Cozy's back.. "Not bad for a teleportation spell. All of Twilight's problems would end faster if it was like this."

Cozy didn't acknowledge the compliment, but instead, looked at the bell that was trapped under her right rear hoof while Tirek removed his hand from her head.

Immediately Cozy's horn lit and the red glow covered the bell. The Bewitching Bell slid out from under the hoof, lifted over her rear, levitated forward, and was then lowered down until the face of the bell was directly in front of Cozy's. 

Cozy felt an odd chill when she stared at the eye of the bell. A chill she never felt before when seeing the bell. Perhaps reformation made her more iffy around evil artifacts. But no matter what, all possible reasons led to the same result... the feeling in Cozy Glow's stomach that the eye on the bell was staring deep into her soul. And the discomfort was sickening.

"Cozy?"

Cozy turned to Tirek, who seemed worried when speaking her name.

"Are you alright?" the centaur asked.

"Y-yeah..." Cozy stuttered. "I'm fine."

"Why did you bring us here?" Chrysalis questioned.

"Grogar will find us anyway," Cozy said. "I mean, he has that crystal ball. It was only luck that let us outsmart him."

"That doesn't answer my question," said Chrysalis.

"I just thought of it," replied Cozy. "No big reason."

"So now we have Grogar's bell..." Tirek muttered. "I mean, that's good! As long as we have it, he can't take or give more magic."

"I believe the magic of every being in Equestria is in this bell," Chrysalis stated.

"Speaking of which, where are they anyway?" Cozy wondered. "I mean, Grogar can't fit stone statues of every living being in a garden."

"Not unless he sent them away or imprisoned them somewhere else," Chrysalis said.

"So what do we do now?" asked Tirek.

Everycreature looked at the bell that Cozy still held in her magic.

They all had the same horrifying thought in their heads.

"I guess we... take the magic from the bell," whimpered Cozy, stepping forward and turning around to face her friends. The bell levitated next to her.

"I mean, it is the only way for our power to be greater then Grogar's," Chrysalis said.

"But then again, the fact that we are taking more power from the bell then what we got... doesn't that make you uncomfortable?" Tirek pointed out.

"I mean, when we took some power from the bell earlier, we were just fine," Cozy stated. 

Tirek and Chrysalis raised their brows.

"Ok maybe we were a little uncomfortable..." Cozy admitted. "But we had to do it."

"Well, we seem more hesitant than last time," said Tirek. "But just like last time, we have to do this."

"Ok, let's list the pros and cons of this..." Cozy suggested.

"Pros and cons?" Tirek cried. "Ok, fine. Pros: We have a better chance of defeating Grogar! Cons: This will give us great discomfort! Let's see here... it's still a tie!"



*Canterlot...*



Grogar made his way closer to the room he intended to go to. He smirked when the doorway was in sight.

The door creaked when it opened.

And Grogar laid his eyes on the human, still sitting on the chair, and still trapped in the spell that restricted any movement below his head.

The human lifted his head.

Grogar grinned.

"I may need you for just a little bit longer..." he said, chuckling.
> Chapter 32: Good and Evil: Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I mean, we're reformed," Chrysalis pointed out. "And we already took magic from the bell for the sake of Equestria! And in order for us to gain more power than Grogar and beat him, we need magic!"

"But at the same time, this will give us discomfort and guilt," Cozy continued. "Especially me. Do you remember how much I wanted magic from Grogar's bell? I wanted it even more then Tirek! And he was full of powerlust back then."

"I'd take offense to that, but you have a point," admitted Tirek.

No words were spoken for the next few seconds.

Cozy took a deep breath.

"We did it before and we were fine," she said. "And we're reformed. So what this gives us discomfort and guilt? Would we rather stay here and ponder our next move until Grogar captures us? Or would we rather take this magic and save Equestria. I mean, sure it's normal for reformed villains like us to feel guilt over our past. But at a time like this, "

Tirek and Chrysalis looked at each other.

"Cozy is right," Chrysalis said. "We do this, or we allow the end of Equestria and possibly Earth. And at times like this, we need to do what is right, even if it opens the mental door of guilt."

"Alright then... it's settled," declared Tirek. "We drain a little more magic from the bell, at least enough for our combined magic to be more powerful than Grogar's."

"But wait..." Cozy realized. "If he drained nearly all the magic from living beings, then whose will we get?" 

"It will have to be something we figure out depending on either how our magic works or who doesn't have magic by the time we return it," Chrysalis explained.

"Let's just get this over with..." Tirek said. 

Cozy returned to her spot between Tirek and Chrysalis, still using her magic to levitate her bell. When she was in her spot, the bell shifted to a spot where it was directly facing Cozy, but the magic beam that would be released would strike all three of the reformed villains.

"We remember the spell, right?" inquired Tirek. "I know I do."

"I remember as well," Chrysalis said.

"I remember too. Oh, hope I don't get Disord's magic if it's in there..." Cozy muttered.

Chrysalis and Tirek both charged their horns as Cozy lifted the bell higher that the air.

But then a yellow flash of light illuminated in the street, and an object suddenly appeared, landing on the ground with a THUD!!!!

"What's that?" Chrysalis queried.

Still using her magic to lift the bell, Cozy left her spot and walked over to the object on the floor.

A large rock with a note.

Cozy pulled off the note.

"What does it say?" questioned Tirek.

"Let me see..." Cozy muttered. "I know you have my bell. And I know it will be easier for you to beat me if you use the bell. Either you come to the Canterlot throne room and return it. Or else I'll destroy your human friends. And don't even give yourselves any power. I'm watching you."

"The humans!" Chrysalis yelped. "We forgot about them! And now Grogar has them!"

"We can't let Grogar hurt them!" Cozy declared. 

"But if we give him the bell, our chances of success are eliminated," Tirek said.

"Ok, how about this..." Chrysalis started. "We go to Grogar, as the letter instructs. Let me do the talking."

Cozy and Tirek looked at each other.

"Chrysalis..." Cozy began. "I may not have an idea of what you're thinking off... but you're our friend... so we trust you."

"Alright..." Tirek pounded his fists. "Let's go to the throne room and finally defeat this old goat," 

Tirek placed his clawed hand on Chrysalis' hoof, causing Chrysalis' confident face to slightly turn pink. Cozy went closer and placed her hoof on Tirek's hand.

"Let's do this..." Cozy smiled.

And so Chrysalis lit her horn and a green blast of light emitted in the room.



POOF!!!



When the bright flash was gone, Cozy, Tirek, and Chrysalis could see the dark walls of the throne room. And they heard the sound of struggling.

All three of them parted and Cozy turned around, all three of them seeing Grogar on the throne, his horns lit, and a crystal ball levitating next to his left side. Two humans were floating around and still frozen. And a third human levitated on the right side of Grogar, covered in a yellow glow, and struggling as if to break free.

"Well, well, well..." Grogar sneered while Leo struggled in his magical grip. "You three came here to make your choices. Though I am intrigued about why Chrysalis wants to do the talking."

"No need to be intrigued, Grogar," Chrysalis replied. "I just wanted to be the one to give our decision."

"Well you all need to agree on it first..." Grogar snarked.

"Ok then..." Chrysalis muttered. "Huddle!"

Tirek and Cozy huddled with Chrysalis.

"What I am about to do will seem surprising..." she muttered. "But I need you two to trust me. Just like with Tirek earlier, I'm prepared. Once you catch on to my plan, it's an all-out battle. Understand?"

Tirek and Cozy nodded.

The trio all turned to Grogar.

"We will give you this bell..." Chrysalis began. "In exchange for the humans."

"Good..." Grogar smirked. But the yellow glow surrounding Leo and the other humans didn't fade.

"Aren't you going to let him go?" inquired Chrysalis.

"Give me the bell first!" Grogar demanded.

"You want the bell?" Chrysalis remarked. Cozy's red magic covering the bell was suddenly replaced with a green glow as Chrysalis levitated the bell. Cozy shared a dumbfounded look, along with Tirek.

"You can have it..."

And with all of her strength, Chrysalis whipped her head to a nearby window, letting go of the bell.

With a CRASH, the bell burst through the window, the whole window shattering to pieces.

From a great height, the bell fell, before landing safely on a dirt ground, it's glowing face pointing up to the sky.

"NO!!!" Grogar shrieked. Immediately he scowled, lighting his horns and sending a blast of yellow and black light to Leo.

"AH!" Leo yelped. 

But Chrysalis was quicker, igniting her horn, and lighting a green shield right in front of Leo, blocking the beam.

For a few moments, the shield held up, before starting to shake and slightly crack. Again, Leo yelped.

But then an orange ball of magic appeared above Tirek's head, and an orange shield suddenly formed around the green one, creating a stronger shield.

"COZY!" Chrysalis screamed. "GO GET THE BELL!"

Doing as she was told, Cozy lifted her alicorn wings, and flew out the broken window as fast as she could.

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Grogar bellowed. He dimmed his horns, causing the magic beam he was firing to fade, and turned his head to Leo. He changed Leo's position, putting his hands at his waist and his feet together. Magic chains appeared around him, securing his arms to his torso.

As soon as Grogar flew out, the five frozen humans fell to the ground with a THUD!

Chrysalis flew over to the broken window and saw Cozy picking up the bell and beginning to run, before Grogar suddenly materialized right in front of her. Cozy blasts a beam right to Grogar's face before opening her wings and flying away. Grogar deflects the beam and grabs the bell with his magic, starting a tug-of-war with Cozy. Grogar lit his horns and blasts a beam that Cozy managed to dodge.

Chrysalis flew over to Tirek.

"We need to help her," Chrysalis said.

"Wait!" Leo yelped. "What about me?"

"It's too dangerous!" Tirek replied. "If we manage to defeat Grogar, we promise to return and free you and your friends."

Chrysalis went over and grabbed Tirek's arm, blushing yet again, but also ignoring it. With the light of Chrysalis' horn, the changeling and centaur were gone, leaving Leo the only conscious being in the room.

And Leo resumed writhing around to escape the chains.
> Chapter 33: Good and Evil: Part 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cozy groaned as her red magic aura surrounding the bell intertwined with Grogar's. Slowly, the red glow began to fade more into yellow.

"This will be easier for all of us... if you just... give me... the bell!" Grogar growled.

"Never!" Cozy strained.

A green spark suddenly flashed, earning Cozy and Grogar's attention. Chrysalis and Tirek suddenly stood next to Cozy, Chrysalis holding Tirek's harm and blushing.

"Need a little help?" Tirek asked. 

Cozy gave a reassured smile in response.

Chrysalis released Tirek's arm and they both lit their horns. a fraction of the yellow glow surrounding the bell was now replaced with a green and orange glow.

A yellow beam zapped out of Grogar's horns in an attempt to strike down at least one of his foes. But Chrysalis quickly reacted, lifting a green shield and deflecting the beam.

Grogar hissed and tugged at the bell harder, the yellow glow growing over the bell like fungus.

But then the trio of reformed villains tugged harder as well, the green, red, and orange glows covering half the bell once more.

The bell shook under pressure, and began to hum violently.

And then it bursted.

The combonation of magic and the back and forth tugging overwhelmed it, resulting in the bell appearing to burst in a white glow. The burst sent Grogar back, while Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy were also sent back in the opposite direction.

And the bell flew directly up into the air, spinning and twirling.

As soon as everycreature lifted their heads, the bell ceased its soar into the sky and began to plummit.

Cozy was the first to react, quickly leaping to her feet and flying. But Grogar quickly lit his horns, his yellow aura grabbing Cozy and tossing her aside. Cozy yelped before she rolled to a halt on the ground.

Grogar turned into a yellow mist moved to under the bells landing spot. But before the bell could land in the mist, Chrysalis leaped in the air, turning into a phoenix before she does. Using her phoenix wings, she tackles the bell, rolling on the ground. When she stops, she gets on her feet, turns to Grogar, and transforms back into her regular self, using her magic to lift the bell.

Grogar turns to normal as well, facing Chrysalis before a rock hits the back of his head. Enraged, he around to face Tirek, only for an orange beam to impact his face and send him flying to a pile of rocks.

"Would it be best for us to take more magic from the bell or drain Grogar's magic?" queried Tirek, running over to Chrysalis.	

"It would be best to drain him," Chrysalis suggested.

The sound of groaning suddenly caught Chrysalis and Tirek's attention. Both of them turned their heads to see Cozy limping toward them. The ribbon in her mane was slightly rippled, along with the one in her tail. And, unknowingly to her, a few pink feathers from her wings were on the ground behind her.

"Cozy!" Tirek exclaimed. He ran over to the filly. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine..." Cozy groaned. "Just a little bruise..."

A large yellow beam suddenly whizzed past Cozy and Tirek, nearly hitting them. Cozy yelped, and the trio of reformed fillains turned to see Grogar, his eyes completely yellow, and his teeth baring at them. Grogar unleashed another beam, which the trio successfully managed to dodge by jumping out of the way. The beam  burst upon impacting the wall of the castle, leaving a gaping hole in the building.

Chrysalis quickly grabbed the bell with her magic and sent a blast at Grogar. But all Grogar did was catch the beam with his own magic. Quickly the green beam faded into a yellow, before expanding.

"I... did not know he could do that..." Chrysalis muttered.

Swirling the converted beam into the air, Grogar then unleashed it directly at Chrysalis. Chrysalis quickly held up a shield, but the power of the beam pushed it back before both exploded in Chrysalis' face, causinh her to recoil to the castle wall. Her body impacted the wall with a CRACK, before she collapsed on the ground. The green glow around the bell faded, and the bell landed on the ground. But Cozy was quick to react, lighting her horn and grabbing the bell. Tirek and Cozy looked at Grogar, who sent another blast. Immediatly Cozy and Tirek lifted a shield, the red and orange shield blocking off the blast. The shield was large enough to protect Chrysalis as well.

Speaking of Chrysalis, as soon as the shield was lifted and deflecting Grogar's beam, Tirek and Cozy went over to the unconsious changeling. Tirek bent down and slightly lifted Chrysalis with his muscular arms.

"Chrysalis? Are you ok? Speak to me!" exclaimed Tirek, panic in his voice.

Slowly, Chrysalis opened her eyes.

"T-Tirek?" whispered Chrysalis, her eyes shooting open.

"Don't worry," Tirek said. "You're alright. Though without you I don't know how long we can hold this shield!"

Chrysalis said no words.

"Chrysalis?" Tirek said, confused at her sudden silence.

Oh what should I do? Chrysalis pondered in her head, starting to turn pink again. Should I hug him? Nuzzle him? Kiss him? Gah, why I am I thinking about kissing at a time like this?

"Maybe she's in shock or something?" Cozy shrugged.

"Uuuumm..." Chrysalis sputtered. "T-thank you. Again."

"Hey, your welcome." Tirek said.

Chrysalis lifted her head and saw the barrier of the shield, with Grogar's beam exploding against it.

Still in Tirek's arms, Chrysalis lit her horn. At first, nothing happened. But quickly Chrysalis' strength returned and the color green mixed into the shield, which started to crack beforehoof.

It only took a few seconds for Chrysalis to get back on her hooves.

"Do you think we could push the shield forward, almost like the opposite of what Grogar did to Chrysalis?" Cozy suggested, keeping the bell close to her. 

"Grogar only pushed my shield back because my magic is weaker than his," Chrysalis said. "But maybe we could try anyway. Though we will need to exert more power than what we usually do, even if it wears us out."

"And how about this: instead of stepping forward, we shove it forward using only our magic. so then Grogar has less time to react," Cozy suggested.

"Alright then..." Tirek began. "On the count of three... one... two... THREE!"

The straining Chrysalis, Cozy, and Tirek amplified as the glowing on their horns amplified. All three of them emmited large grunts as they exerted all magic they had, causing the shield to dash forward directly to Grogar. All Grogar did was widen his eyes, before the shield got close enough for the magic beam to burst right into his face, launching his body back. His body flew back a few inches from where he stood. When his body impacted the ground, he rolled back another inch before coming to a stop at a rock.



Leo's POV in the throne room



For the past few minutes, I've been struggling in these stupid chains. Sure, I can't do much, but I hate being all tied up in chains.

Oddly though, something happened.

Just as I was about to give up, the chains faded into nothing.

"Wow..." I muttered. "Lucky me."

I quickly ran to the broken window to see how Chrysalis, Cozy, and Tirek are holding up. Luckily, since the lower window was so big, I was able to look out.

Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow were making their way to something that was about a couple feet from there.

And they were making their way over to Grogar.

Although the ground they stood on was a far distance down, it appeared that they have defeated Grogar.

Not thinking, I ran out of the throne room, because I had a feeling that all of Equestria was finally saved.
> Chapter 34: Good and Evil: Part 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cozy Glow, Chrysalis, and Tirek stood over Grogar’s unconscious body.

"So..." Cozy started. "What should we do now?"

"Maybe we send him to Tartarus or turn him to stone or something?" suggested Tirek.

"We could banish him somewhere aside from Tartarus," Chrysalis said. "But it takes very complex magic to send him to someplace like the aether."

"How about this..." Cozy began. "We keep him asleep, free Princess Twilight, and let her decide what to do with him."

"Not a bad idea," Chrysalis agreed. "But we will need to cast a sleep spell to keep him unconsious longer."

But as soon as Chrysalis finished her sentence, Grogar's eyes shot open. Quickly, the reformed villains lit their horns But it was too late. Immediatly Grogar lit his horns, causing the reformed trio to become envelloped in his yellow glow. When Grogar's magic grabbed Cozy, the glow around her horn faded, and so did the glow on the bell. The bell landed on the ground, but Grogar paid no attention to it.

Instead, Grogar exerted his strength and tossed all three of his opponents away from him. All three of them thudded on the ground, inches from the already damaged wall. Grogar lifted his head, and a chunk of the wall making up the throne room started to rumble, the windows in the wall rattling. With the tug of Grogar's head, the wall and windows crumbled, the large chunks of the wall and large window shard falling down, its landing spot right above Tirek, Cozy, and Chrysalis.

Tirek lit his magic, the orange magic grabbing every piece of falling debris, intercepting their fall. Tirek got up on his hooves, meshed the large debris into a ball, and tossed it at Grogar.

Grogar lit his horns and simply blasted the large debris ball to pieces.

Chrysalis got on her hooves and galloped to Grogar, dodging every beam he blasted at her. When she was halfway to Grogar, she leaped in the air and transformed into a parasprite. She then began to zig-zag in multiple directions, making it hard for Grogar to hit her.

Tirek's eyes focused on the bell, before the centaur lifted it with his magic and watched the action, his magic charged just in case.

It was now Cozy's turn, the filly hopping on her hooves. She turned to her tail and pulled off the ribbon, causing the curl to unravel. When Cozy was certain Grogar couldn't see her, she teleported to a spot that was closer to Grogar.

She watched as Grogar whired around trying to catch Chrysalis.

And as soon as Grogar stopped for a breather, his backside facing Cozy, she reacted. She quickly brought the ribbon to Grogar's eyes, forcing his head up.

"GAH!" yelped Grogar.

As fast as she could, Cozy wrapped the ribbon around his head and quicky tied it into a knot. Grogar quickly shook his head.

"WHERE ARE YOU YOU LITTLE RUNT?!?" he bellowed, lighting his horns and disintegrating the ribbon. But as soon as Grogars eyes were no longer blindfolded, he was met with an orange beam impacting his right side, once again sending his body flying back a few inches. He landed on his left side, before staggering back on his hooves, lifting a shield to block off any more attacks.

"You three are the most persistent pests I have ever met," he hissed.

"Persistence is key," Cozy chirped.

"You wouldn't really disintegrate me..." Grogar growled. "Would you?"

"As reformed villains, we find destruction to be a bit too much, especially if it is from all three of us surrounding them," Chrysalis said. "So instead, if we end up defeating you, we put you to sleep, and let the princess figure out the rest."

Grogar grinned under his shield.

"Good luck with that..." he grinned.

And with a burst, he, along with his shield, vanished.

"Where did he go?" Tirek queried.

Suddenly, all three reformed villains froze in place, surrounded in a yellow glow. Just like what happened with Cozy earlier, Tirek's magic faded, resulting in the glow around the bell fading. The bell yet again fell to the ground.

The reformed villains were rotated to face a bush that Grogar easily stepped out of.

"I don't know why I could't have done that earlier..." the ram chuckled.

Grogar walked over to the bell and picked it up with his magic.

"I don't get why any of you didn't give up..." Grogar said, eyeing the bell. "Even with your power, I outsmarted you. You should've surrendered while you had the chance."

"It didn't hurt to try," Cozy strained. 

Grogar laughed.

"And yet you're still little persistent fools..." he growled. "Fools who try to save Equestria to prove that you've changed! T try and redeem yourselves. But you can't escape your past, no matter how hard you try. You will always have that memory of those you've deceived. No matter what!"

As Grogar spoke, nocreature noticed the bipedal creature watching them from around the corner of the building.



Leo's POV



It surprisingly didn't take long for me to find the exit needed. And it was a lucky guess for me to find out which direction to turn. But as soon as I zig-zagged my way out of the building and to a corner, I expected to see the reformed villains with Grogar in their grasp.

But instead, I saw the reformed trio held in the air by a yellow aura, and Grogar standing a few feet away from them, telling them on how they can't escape their past.

Now, some of me wanted to fight. But I was very well aware of my low power. And I'm not good at saving worlds, considering I've never done it before. So I decided to watch. 

When Grogar finished his monologue with the words "No matter what," the reformed villains looked crestfallen.

Grogar must have  gotten under their skin!

"Anyway, let's just get this over with..." Grogar loudly muttered, lifting something in the air. The Bewitching Bell!

Grogar lifted the bell above his head and rotated it so then it's end was facing the trio.

I immediatly knew what was gonna happen. But I couldn't risk anything. When it comes to dangerous situations, I am a chicken 50% of the time. And this was one of those times.

So I watched as the yellow and black beam shot out of the bell and struck the reformed villains. Although they strained instead of screamed, I still felt a great amount of guilt for them.

It didn't take long for the beam to fade, showing me Chrysalis, Cozy, and Tirek back to the ways they looked when they were turned to stone. Cozy was a pegasus. Tirek was in his first form. And Chrysalis was... well... Chrysalis.

"And now to secure this victory," Grogar bellowed. "Although there are no more perpetrators with magic, and my allies are sure to remain by my side, I'll just do what I nearly did earlier... celebrate by stealing an amount of magic from this bell! The same amount of magic equal to the amount of magic I have! It's sure to give me a more menacing look that a ruler should have, and it's not a bad idea to go through a change of pace!"

Grogar backed away and moved the bell so it could face him. I held my breath as he was directly across from me, only the way he was facing preventing him from seeing me.

He charged his horns and blasted the bell.

I took off my shoes.

And I started to run. My intended target was two or three inches from where he stood. As I ran, my socks made the impact of my feet on the ground a little bit quieter.

As soon as I was in front of Grogar, I jumped and lifted my hand. And as soon as I lifted my hand, I felt the sudden yet new impact of magic contact my body.



Third Person/Pony/Creature POV



For the second time tonight, an opponent of Grogar's has intercepted the magic from the bell, right at the moment Grogar was going to transfer the magic to himself. 

Leo strained as the magic began to enter his body.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?" Grogar bellowed. "AGAIN? OH NO... NOT THIS TIME!"

Grogar looked past the human so then the bell was in his sight. Lighting his horns, he blasted the bell again, deactivating the beam and sending the bell to the floor.

Grogar turned his eyes back to Leo, who was turning around to face him.

"You think you can pull the same move these three did earlier?" Grogar hissed. 

Leo opened his mouth to speak, but he only managed to utter a sound before he was interrupted.

"LEO!" Cozy screamed. "YOUR FEET!"

Grogar and Leo both looked at Leo's feet, only for Leo's expression to fall. His feet were covered in what appeared to be a dark yellow magic aura,  only the magic was translucent and built like a jelly-like material, so his feet couldn't be seen. A few pink feathers on the ground surrounding Leo shook before zipping over to himand absorbing into the translucent magict. As the feathers absorbed, the magic began to extend up his legs. 

"What's going on?!" Leo panicked. "This magic is crawling on my legs and I can't move them!"

"I don't know..." Grogar muttered from behind, causing Leo to turn back around. "But maybe this means I won't have to destroy you."

Leo struggled to move, as the last feather absorbed into the magic, which made its way up to Leo's waist. As soon as the last feather entered, the magic moved faster up his body.

In less then ten seconds, the magic was up to his neck.

"HELP ME-" was all he could say before the magic covered up his head. As soon as the last trace of his body was gone, he fell to the floor, completely covered in translucent yellow magic.

"Well, that was a dumb move for this creature..." Grogar chuckled. "I guess only beings from this dimension can handle magic."

Grogar lifted the magic-covered body of Leo and tossed it aside.

"Pathetic humans aside, I'm too excited for securing my victory to even take magic from the bell," said Grogar. "Let's just disintegrate you three so I can finally finish what I've started!"

Grogar lit his horns.

"I'll be nice enough to let you three say your goodbyes..." he sneered.

Chrysalis took a deep breath.

"When I was evil..." she began. "My goal was to feed on love. And everytime I was defeated, I wanted vengeance. But ever since we reformed, all I wanted was to live the life of not being evil, but rather, live a life of friendship with both of you."

"I wanted friendship for power," Cozy admitted. "But to be honest, it's more useful as magic. I see it now. Friendship as magic is better than friendship as power or vengeance."

"All this time I could have went with my brother," Tirek said. "And try to make Equestria a better place. And I guess I did go out and try to make it better. Just with a different set of beings I care about."

Cozy strained, lifting both of her hooves and extending them to Chrysalis and Tirek. Chrysalis extended her hoof and  put it on Cozy's left hoof, while Tirek grabbed her right hoof.

She looked at them both and smiled. "At least we tried to save the world... together! Because our friendship... IS MAGIC!!”

The trio suddenly blinked, their eyes suddenly glowing white after they did. When their eyes turned white, they appeared to be in a trance.

Immediatly after, Grogar fired the beam, victory in his eyes.

But then the yellow aura surrounding Tirek, Cozy, and Chrysalis turned into a bright white.

And it shot out a rainbow beam.

It collided with Grogar's beam, at first seeming like it was holding it back.

"What??!?" Grogar growled in disbelief.

The rainbow beam then began pushing back Grogar's beam.

"IT CAN'T BE POSSIBLE!" he screamed. "I STOLE ALL YOUR MAGIC! I'M THE MOST POWERFUL BEING THERE IS! I'M THE FATHER OF MONSTERS!!!"

The rainbow got closer.

"NO!"

Grogar couldn't do anything anymore.

"NO!!!"

The rainbow burst through the beam and completely enveloped his body.

"NOOOOOOOO!!!!"

And then everything went white.
> Chaptet 35: Aftermath and Reperations
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow were all lowered to the ground after the explosion that just occured. Their eyes were shut and they were unaware of the changes made to their bodies.

A second after they landed, they all opened their eyes. In place of where Grogar stood was nothing.

"Did we do it?" Chrysalis queried, not shifting her gaze.

The gasps of Cozy Glow and Tirek brought Chrysalis' attention to her friends. Chrysalis' mouth opened in shock. Cozy and Tirek, both looking different than a second ago, were looking at each other. A split second later, they looked back at Chrysalis.

Chrysalis looked at her own body and kept the same dumbfounded expression. She lifted her hoof, catching sight of the peach-colored hoof secured in blue chitin armor. 

Lifting her head, Chrysalis vanished for a brief moment. Cozy and Tirek looked at eachother in confusion before Chrysalis returned with a giant mirror. She held it out a good distance so then all three reformed villains could see what had become of them.

Tirek stood in his third form, horns reaching to the sky and body taller and more muscular than two days ago.

Cozy was yet again an alicorn. Her wings bigger, her long horn poking out of her mane, and the vanilla-colored item secured on her barrel. When Cozy looked at her flank, she didn't see a rook, but rather, she saw nothing.

Chrysalis was yet again metamorphosised, reclaiming her whole body parts, peach chitin, lime-colored tips of her mane and tail, orange fuzz on her barrel, and purple elytra and wings. However, she now had blue chitin armor on her hooves and a large flat blue crown, wrapping around her head and extending to her chin. Her eyes were nearly completely blue, the pupils being the only things that remained. And the tip of her horn was the same color as her eyes. But unlike with the bell, there was no armor on her back and barrel, and her wings, while still a bit bigger than normal, were far smaller than when she had the bell's power.

"How could this happen?" Cozy muttered looking up from her flank. "We had no power. We had friendship, but aside from that, we had no power."

"I think..." Tirek began. "When we defeated Grogar with the power of friendship, it clicked something in us. Friendship gave us this magic, as if... we've earned it, for finally completing the next step in learning its magic."

"I mean, it makes sense..." Chrysalis said. "We spent so long trying to take. But we never felt what it was like to earn. And honestly, it feels... satisfying."

"Yeah..." Cozy said. "Wait a minute! LEO!"

Everycreature turned their heads to where Grogar set Leo aside after supposingly being consumed with magic.

But they didn't see a human. They didn't even see an unconsious figure covered in magic. Instead, they saw something familiar, yet different.

The trio gasped and made their way to the unconsious body. They stopped, all three of them looming over the body.

"How could the bell turn a human like him into... that?" Tirek questioned. "It should of just amplified his appearence, not change his species entirely!"

"We should probably put him somewhere safe," Cozy suggested.



*Hiding spot in the Canterlot street...*



Chrysalis, Cozy, and Tirek stood behind one of the Canterlot buildings.Tirek held the bewitching bell in his hand. 

The trio had just finished setting Leo's body on the bed and placing a blanket over him.

"So now that that's out of the way..." Tirek began. "We just need to take care of the other humans, Grogar's allies, and then free the Princess and her friends."

"Indeed," Chrysalis agreed. "I advise we take care of Sombra and the Storm King first."

"Good idea," Cozy said. "Who knows how long until the sleep powder wears off?"

"Only one way to find out..." Tirek muttered. The trio lit their horns, and with three large sparks, they were no longer behind the building. Rather, they were now in the hallway where they last saw Sombra and the Storm King. But when they caught sight of the room, they gasped.

Instead of Sombra and the Storm King unconscious on the ground, the trio only saw wooden poles and planks scattered around the room.

"They got away!" Tirek exclaimed.

"Would it be best of one of us guard's Leo or something?" asked Cozy. "I just think it would be best if one of us watched him since Grogar's allies are now loose."

Chrysalis raised a hoof.

"I'll do it," she proclaimed. "If any of you two need anything, you'll know where to find me."

Tirek and Cozy Glow both nodded. Chrysalis then lit her horn, and with a blue spark, she was out of sight.

"It would be best if we gathered the other humans first," Tirek said. "Unfourtunatly, we may need to search the library in order to figure out how to free the humans from that stun spell. We also will need to look for a spell that will free Princess Twilight and her friends from stone."

"I'll go get the humans and carry them," Cozy volunteered. "I'll be sure to be careful with them and not hit them with anything while I look."

"If you say so," Tirek shrugged.

With the light of her horn and a POOF, Cozy was gone. Ten seconds later, she returned, carrying two frozen humans huddled together over her head.

"Alright," Tirek nodded. "Next stop: the Library!"

And with a red and orange spark, Cozy and Tirek were gone, along with the five humans Cozy held.

Back at the hiding spot, Chrysalis eyed Leo's body.

"Ok yes. I am watching over you because Sombra and the Storm King are loose," she said. "I can't really say if it's overreacting or not, but with the transformation that has occurred to you, I can't take any chances."

Leo, still unconscious, said nothing.

"Can I tell you a little secret?" Chrysalis asked. "During this chain of events that occurred the past hour, I maaaaaay have developed a crush on a certain centaur. It was decent at first, but when he changed to his third form after Grogar's defeat, I surprised myself when I didn't faint. Deep down, however, those feelings were amplified. Those big strong muscles..."

Chrysalis stopped herself. She then facehooved.

"I'm reformed and yet I STILL act crazy..." she muttered. "I mean, an unconscious body is a step up from a piece of wood but... ugh. I might need counseling if keep talking to things that are unconscious or not even alive."



*Canterlot Library...*



Tirek kept on scrolling through the books with his magic, the Bewitching Bell still in his hand.

He looked to Cozy.

"Anything?" he called out.

"I don't know why you're asking," Cozy said, the stiff humans floating beside her as she flipped through a book. "We haven't even been here for a minute."

"Just checking," Tirek muttered, rolling his eyes.

For the next few minutes, Tirek and Cozy continued scrolling through the books.

"Shouldn't we check on the stone statues to make sure they weren't taken?" asked Cozy.

"Good idea," Tirek replied. "Luckily, I know where the garden is. Be right back."

Tirek set the book down and vanished in an orange spark. Cozy looked down, scrolling through the book some more.

But when she picked up the next book and saw the table of contents, her eyes went wide. She flipped the pages to the intended chapter and smiled. 

"AHA!!" she bellowed.

Suddenly, Tirek reappeared. 

"Everything looks fine," said the centaur. "It's convenient that they haven't touched the statues. But then again, they could be plotting something or casting a spell from afar."

"Well you came back just in time," Cozy chirped. "I found a chapter in this book that can undo both the stun AND the stone spells!"

"Excellent!" Tirek replied. "We'll go to the garden. One of us reverses the stone spell while the other reverses the stun spell."

"I'll reverse the stun spell," Cozy volunteered.

"Then I'll reverse the stone spell," Tirek said. He held out his hand and took Cozy's hooves, while Cozy brought the humans close to her. Tirek lit his magic, and with an orange spark, they were gone.

Tirek and Cozy Glow reappeared in the Canterlot Garden.

"Now to find those statues!" Cozy proclaimed.

But then her attention was turned to Tirek when the centaur poked her back. Cozy looked up and saw Tirek lift a claw and point to a direction. Cozy looked. And there, in the garden, was a statue of Princess Twilight, lunging toward her enemy.

"Before you free the humans, I would like to see that book," Tirek offered.

Cozy obeyed, showing Tirek the page showcasing the spell required to undo the stone spell. Tirek looked over for a few seconds before he nodded.

"Thank you," he said. "You know what to do."

"I do. I'll just need a minute," Cozy explained, before she brought the book close to her, and began to read over the page. 

Tirek turned to Princess Twilight and lit his own magic as well. He closed his eyes and blasted a beam at the statue.

As for the stone statue Tirek blasted, it only took a second before Twilight lunged forward and landed on the ground in front of Tirek, letting out a large huff of air when she landed.

Twilight moaned, before weakly lifting her head.

"T-Tirek?" she muttered. "When did you get so big? What the hay happened? What's going-"

"If I may, your majesty," Tirek interrupted. "I would like to explain to you everything that has happened. Explain something like this."

Tirek stepped aside, allowing Twilight to see what was going on behind him. What occurred was Cozy Glow, who appeared to be an alicorn, levitating a creature new yet familiar. He was a bipedal creature, familiar to Twilight. Almost like from the mirror world. And yet he looked different. 

At first glance, he seemed stiff. But a second later, he twitched, and suddenly acted as if he got out of a trance.

"WHAT THE-" he bellowed. "Oh no... what is this place?!"

"W-what's going on?" Princess Twilight stuttered, rising to her hooves.

"It's a long story," Tirek said. "You see, a cloaked pony and his cult captured my friends and I, and banished us to this world called 'Earth', and probably turned you and your friends to stone. After these Earth creatures called 'humans' saved us from a big issue, we ended up encountering the pony again along with two of his accomplices. They turned out to be Grogar, who was leading King Sombra and the Storm King."

"What's going-" questioned the second human that Cozy freed.

"Shhh," Cozy hushed.

"Anyway..." Tirek continued. "We had our magic stolen and were briefly turned to stone before Thorax and Scorpan, who escaped Grogar's siege, freed us. Meanwhile, Grogar took the three humans that helped us, and brought them here. When Thorax and Scorpan freed us, those two ended up being turned to stone and Chrysalis, Cozy, and I had to run from Sombra and the Storm King. Luckily, we were able to outsmart them. We then outsmarted Grogar and stole some magic from his bell. After a large battle and a sacrifice from a human that escaped from Grogar, we lost all our magic again. Just when all seemed lost, we actually ended up using the power of friendship and defeated Grogar. And when our friendship defeated Grogar, it must have rewarded us with the same amount of power we had when we used the bell's power. And so here we are now, in the aftermath, in the process of repairing Grogar's damage."

"Interesting..." Twilight muttered, rubbing her chin with a hoof. "So you're saying that one of the humans sacrificed themselves?"

"Not the way you think," Cozy replied. "During our battle, as Tirek said, Grogar drained our magic once again. He was about to give it to himself, but then a human that escaped his grasp intercepted the beam. It transformed him."

"Into what?" Twilight raised her brow.

"Into..." Cozy spoke. "...You know. As of now, he is unconscious at a hiding spot. Chrysalis is watching over him because Sombra and the Storm King are still out there."

"Wait..." one of the humans piped. He looked at the other human and then at Cozy Glow and Tirek. "Was the one who sacrificed himself... Leo?"

Tirek and Cozy nodded.

"I can tell that we have a lot of questions," Princess Twilight said. "You humans have questions, and I have questions. So here's what we'll do... Tirek, you and I will free all the others imprisoned in stone. Cozy, I would like you to retrieve Chrysalis and the third unconscious human... if he is still a human, that is. If any of the Royal Guard are imprisoned here, which they might be, I will send them out to collect the rest of the imprisoned citizens and see. But just in case there are no guards, we'll have to go out and search for any missing guard. Once we send out enough guards, I would like to speak with you, Chrysalis, Cozy, and the five humans that are still conscious."

"That sounds like a plan," Cozy agreed.

"I'll just need to give you your magic back," Tirek said, lifting the Bewitching Bell and pointed it at Twilight.

"I would like that very much," the Princess smiled.

And so that was how Tirek, Cozy, and Princess Twilight Sparkle spent their next few minutes of the night, freeing Twilight's friends and subjects from the stone spell.
> Chapter 36: Meetings and Portals
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow sat at the end of a large rectangular table. On their left sat Leo's friends... Eddie and Dave. In the corner of the room behind Cozy Glow lied a bed, an unconscious body resting under a blanket. His face was facing the wall, but every living being in the room knew who he was. In fact, Sam and Josh's reactions were the same... their friend was now a-

CREEEAAK

The door just opened and Princess Twilight walked in, silencing any conversation that was occurring. She had a satchel around her barrel. Following behind her was Discord, the Bewitching Bell around his neck.

"Sorry that took longer than expected," the Princess said. "I wanted to collect a few books to figure out this human situation. But we should all be glad that there were ten imprisoned guards in the garden. Otherwise, it would've taken us even longer to start this meeting. As of now, they are searching for the rest of the citizens and Grogar's allies, who have escaped before they could be caught."

"I have a question," Eddie piped. "Why are we doing this meeting now instead of tomorrow when it's day?"

"In order for me to answer that, I will need a specific answer from you," Princess Twilight explained. "Where are you humans from?"

The two humans answered with "Earth."

"Interesting..." Twilight muttered. "So to answer the question asked to me earlier, I assigned this meeting now because of one thing: the ties between this world and yours."

Twilight opened the satchel and ruffled through it, before pulling out a book.

"According to this book, Equestria's magic is known for many things," explained Twilight. "One major thing about it that ponies rarely discuss is it's magical link to other worlds. Every week, when the stars shift, so does the link to a galaxy it's linked to. It ends the link. Once the link to the galaxy ends, another link begins and lasts for another week. It took ponies in  the olden days a very long time to understand this. I brought us all here with Discord so he could change your friend back and take you home. But I would first like to know what galaxy you humans are from."

"The Milky Way Galaxy," Dave replied.

"Interesting..." muttered Princess Twilight. "What day of the week is it?"

"Hmm... Monday or Tuesday," Cozy replied.

"Monday or Tuesday?" Princess Twilight turned to the clock on the wall. It read 11:52. "Well, we have about 10 minutes before the link to your galaxy closes. We should be lucky it hasn't closed already. But before we send you home, I would like to see your friend."

Twilight left her spot and began making her way to the corner, where Leo's body lied in a small bed.

Princess Twilight stopped in front of the bed and rolled over his body.

"Ok... so the powers of the bell transformed him into a unicorn, correct?" questioned the Princess.

"Lower the blankets," Cozy said.

Princess Twilight looked at Cozy with confusion, but then looked back at Leo. Lighting her horn, a large chunk of the blanket began to glow magenta. Slowly, Twilight pulled the blanket down. But when she pulled it down to Leo's flank. she gasped.

"See?" Tirek exclaimed.

"I mean, I guess it makes sense..." Twilight muttered. "The amount of magic Grogar planned to transfer to himself was probably large. Even if he didn't need it."

Princess Twilight turned to Discord. "Discord? You know what to do."

"Don't mind if I do," Discord chirped, lifting his talons and preparing to snap.

But then a brief coat of yellow covered his body.

And Discord was no longer moving, as stiff as a statue.

"Discord?" Twilight came closer to the draconequis. "D-Discord? Hello?"

Twilight lifted her hoof and waved it in front of Discord's face. 

"Discord, this isn't funny," Twilight spoke with impatience. "We have only ten minutes, or else the link that will bring these humans home will close! And then they will be trapped here for who knows HOW long, before the link will finally reopen."

Discord didn't move.

"Uuummm... Princess?" Chrysalis piped. "I don't think he's moving. For real!"

"Is it just me," Cozy whispered to Tirek and Chrysalis. "Or did Discord briefly glow yellow before freezing?"

Princess Twilight lifted her hoof and poked Discord. But when she poked him, his body fell over sideways, landing on the ground with a hard impact.

"Ok then... new plan!" Twilight announced. "We use the Bewitching Bell to drain Leo's magic, and then I'll turn him back into a human. Since the portal spell is thankfully in this book, Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy will work with me to open the portal. Easy as pie!"

"How will you know where to bring us back?" Eddie asked.

"I'll need a mental image of where you were last," Twilight explained. "Perhaps a simple memory search. Any volunteers?"

"How about you search Leo?" Dave piped. Eddie gave him a light elbow.

"I... guess we could do that," Princess Twilight shrugged.

With everybody ignoring the chance to volunteer, Twilight returned to Leo and lit her horn. She closed her eyes. When she reopened them, they were glowing bright white, and Leo's head was glowing magenta. 

Thirty seconds later, everything calmed down.

"Alright," Princess Twilight said, not turning around. "Here goes."

Twilight lit her horn and sent five magenta beams to the two humans. Both of them became encased in magenta balls of magic, symbols swirling around them.

Twilight faced Leo and took a deep breath.

She blasted him. The room went white.

When the light faded and all eyes returned to Leo, at least half of the room gasped, their eyes going wide.

Leo remained unchanged.

Princess Twilight, shocked at how the spell didn't work, tried again, repeating the process.

When the light cleared, Leo was still the same.

Twilight tried again. And again. 

"Uumm, Twilight?" Cozy said after the fourth attempt. "I don't think it will work... not after four times."

"The spell's not working?" Twilight muttered. "I don't understand. That was one of the spells I taught at my school."

"You taught kids how to transform living things?" Tirek lifted a brow.

"Don't worry, the changed organisms were changed back," Twilight replied. "Point aside, we'd search the library, but I did the spell the way I always did! Something is wrong."

Twilight took a deep breath, before completely turning around. She checked the clock.

The time was 11:56.

"I'm sorry..." Princess Twilight apologized. "But your friend can't go home. Even if we drained his magic, he's stuck like this. Either all of you stay here until the link reopens, or only he stays."

"But how will we explain this to people he knows?" Eddie queried.

"Hmmm..." Twilight pondered. She looked to her mane and lit her horn. The end quarter of the large, sparkly waving hair suddenly glowed magenta. A glowing line struck through the mane, cutting off a quarter of the hair.

Twilight brought her mane over to Leo's friends. The hair was longer waving, but still sparkling.

"As long as you have proof of what came from our world, the chances of others believing you is likely," Twilight explained. "You may also take this."

Twilight grabbed a nearby small potted plant and gave it to Sunni.

"I guess it means I can record us going through the portal?" Dave shrugged.

"You do you," Eddie patted Dave's shoulder.

"Come on," Twilight walked to the door. "Let's get you home."

Quickly everyone got up and left the room. Chrysalis, Tirek, Cozy, and Twilight quickly grouped together in a line. Each of them took a quick read through the spell before Twilight set the book aside.

Princess Twilight, Tirek, Cozy Glow, and Chrysalis all lit their horns.

They released a blast.

And a portal opened.

Dave, who took his phone out while leaving the room, pressed the record button on his phone.

Chrysalis, Tirek, Cozy, and Princess Twilight all turned around.

"Dave... Eddie... it's been fun," Chrysalis said. "Thank you for agreeing to help us."

"Will Leo ever return home?" asked Dave, holding Twilight's hair.

"Don't worry," Twilight promised. "As soon as the link reopens and we are able to turn him back, he will return home. We better hurry. Time is running out."

Chrysalis, Cozy, Twilight, and Tirek parted.

"Farewell, my friends," Cozy waved.

The two humans went forward to the portal, all saying goodbyes as they passed by.

Dave still held his phone as he exited the portal.

When the two humans left the portal, they were back to the last spot they were at on Earth. A large grass field, with a large ring of grass singed from the fire from earlier. And Leo's truck sat there, still where it was.

Dave turned off the recording.

"Now what?" Eddie questioned.

"We'll figure it out," Dave promised. 

"It's just sad that Leo can't go home for... probably a long time. All we can do is hope."

“I’ve had enough pony for one day...”

And the clock struck midnight.
> Chapter 37: Endings and Beginnings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Princess Twilight, Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow reentered the room after closing the portal, they noticed something different.

They noticed Discord, still mostly frozen, but his arm moving lower and his talons moving away from each other. They could see the tiniest glint of yellow.

"I don't like this..." Cozy muttered.

And finally, Discord briefly glowed yellow before landing on the floor in front of the Princess and reformed villains.

"Discord..." Twilight began.

"Wait!" Discord held up his lion paw. "Before you say anything, I don't know what happened. I was ready to send the humans home and transform the non-human back to a human, but then everything went dark!"

"Well whatever happened, the humans are now home, but Leo is still trapped here," Twilight said. "However, you seem sincere, and I know that you would never stall. So if you didn't freeze yourself, then what happened?"

"There can be only one explanation," Tirek frowned. "Grogar is still out there! When Discord froze and had his paw move, he was glowing yellow. The same yellow that belongs to Grogar!"

"Well then we'll be lucky if he doesn't attack my guards," said Twilight, turning to a window.

"He'll probably attack. Or if we're lucky, he'll hold off," Cozy proclaimed. "But knowing Grogar, he'll probably take this next plan slow."

"Well until then, you three will need to get settled," Princess Twilight suggested. "I believe in a few days, everything will be normal until Grogar attacks again."

"Wait," Chrysalis piped. "Before we go... we need to do something."



*Castle Hallway*



The stone crumbled before Thorax and Scorpan fell out of their stony prison. They looked up, immediatly catching sight of Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow. Next to Cozy stood Princess Twilight Sparkle herself.

"Wow," Thorax said, both him and Scorpan shocked at the current appearences of the reformed villains. "Chrysalis... you look... awesome!"

"We... actually wanted to make amends before we went home," Chrysalis said. "Thorax... I'm very, very sorry for the way I treated you all back then... and the way I thought of you. But now that I understand friendship, I don't want revenge. I want to learn about your ways."

"And I want to apologize to you as well, brother," Tirek admitted. "I thought you were a traitor. But you never betrayed me. You only did what you thought was right. And I wish I could take it all back."

Scorpan smiled.

"You already have."

Tirek smiled and went over to hug his brother.

Chrysalis looked at Thorax. All Thorax did in response was invite Chrysalis for a hug.

The former queen smiled and accepted.

Cozy just stared at her friends as they used hugs to finally make amends.

"Family..." the filly muttered in her lips.

"Cozy?" Princess Twilight called to gain Cozy's attention. "Are you OK?"

"Yeah!" Cozy replied with a false smile before she looked down and folded her ears down. "Just fine..."

Twilight looked at the filly with remorse.



*Grogar's Lair...*



Grogar continued staring at the crystal ball, King Sombra and the Storm King by his side.

"You didn't reply to my question earlier!" Sombra snarked. "Why did you freeze Discord and prevent Twilight's spell from turning the transformed human back into a human??"

Grogar slammed his hooves on the table.

"Do you want an answer?" he bellowed. "FINE! I froze Discord to stall. And I used my complex magic to prevent this 'Leo' from becoming a human again for one reason: I want a challenge. I would have won if it wasn't for him. But because he stalled, those three other pests figured out friendship! It's a relief I escaped at the last second before anything happened. So if Leo was able to outsmart me in his powerless form, let's see how determined he is in his powerful form! We'll let these fools frolic around for a while, but as soon as we reclaim my bell again, we'll show NO mercy!"

Grogar laughed evilly. Sombra and the Storm King looked at each other, before joining in.



*Twilight's Castle... the next morning*



Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow all sat at the table. Cozy no longer had her ribbon in her head. Instead of curls, her mane was now flat and slightly unkempt.

"So..." Tirek began. "What do we do now?"

"I don't know..." Cozy said. "Once 90% of the population in and out of Equestria return to their homes, we will have to start committing to learning friendship. And help Leo live his new life."

"20 years ago, we were vile villains," Chrysalis proclaimed. "We were the ones that brought upon one of the biggest battles in Equestrian history! When we used the Bewitching Bell and brought Equestria to peril all those years ago, the stakes were higher than they've ever been. And now it's 20 years later and Equestria was at high stakes again. But instead of causing it, we stopped it. Equestria was already different after Twilight became the princess of Equestria. But now that we're reformed and Leo is one of us now, it's only another difference between now and long ago. It made marks on history, but who knows what we'll do next?"

Indeed, Chrysalis had a point. Their reformation and Leo's transformation made very small marks. But they had no idea of the part they would play in the future.

Meanwhile, up in the bedroom where Leo rested, the transformed human finally opened his eyes. He had no idea that he would wake up not as a human... but as a male alicorn. 

And this was the moment where the next story began.




The End (Not)