Is all Hope Lost?

Outside of Zebrica, Spike, Discord, and Zecora were teleported to Mt. Aris, the home of the legendary Hippogriff race. Originally abandoned and the race turned into the hippodrome race, it was no longer an abandoned set of ruins, or a ghost town, for Hippogriffs were thriving in it once more. Since the Storm King no longer threatens their sacred home, Queen Novo, the ruler of both races, decided to shatter her pearl and everyone is given a piece so they can come and go into Mount Aris and Seaquestria whenever they please.

Many of the land-dwelling Hippogriffs were very happy to see Spike, for they recognized him on his journey with princess Twilight to free Equestria from the Storm King and Tempest Shadow (Before she turned back to the good side, of course.)

Not only that, but many Hippodromes were also happy to see Spike, and called him a noble hero. "Spike, how you doing?" said a familiar voice. They all looked and it was Princess Skystar, in her Hippogriff form. She was the infamous daughter of Queen Novo, who had a big part in saving Equestria from the evil Storm King, their longtime foe.

"Skystar!" Spike exclaimed in joy. She was seen hovering in the sky and landed down to greet them all. He then ran up to her for a hug. "Long time, no see."

"I know, right? It's been so long since we last saw eachother. How's Princess Twilight and her friends?"

Spike had a frown on his face again. “That’s kinda why we’re here, Sky.” He replied. “,h friends have been turned evil by the mare named Roseblood.”

“Roseblood?” Said Skystar in complete shock and horror. “I’ve heard of that mare. She is very feared among my kind.”

“Do you fear her more than the Storm King?” Asked Discord. “I wouldn’t blame you if you did.”

“She’s more powerful than him, can you blame me?”

“Of course not.” Said Zecora. “Roseblood and her followers and supporters are a wicket lot.” Then she walked up to the princess of the Hippogriffs. “Zecora at your service, and I am with a Spike to help collect help against Roseblood, my dearest.”

“Zecora, Hmm? I think I remember Twilight saying something about you before.”

“And I am-“

“Oh, there’s no need for an interruption, Discord.” Said a voice. It was Queen Novo innher hippogriff form. “We all know very well who you are.” Then she narrowed his eyes at him, clearly showing a sign that she doesn’t trust him one little bit.

Discord just raised an eyebrow at her. “Nice to see you too, flip-flop.” He replied.

“Grr! I told you never to call me that name!”

“Of course. I was only trying to have a little fun with you, flip-flop.” Then he began laughing hysterically st the top of his lungs like a hyena. “oh, that never gets old.” And he wiped a tear from his right eye.

“That does it, you little smart-Alec!” Queen Novo was about to hurt the Master of Chaos pretty badly but then, she was stopped by Zecora.

“Enough!!” Said Skystar. “Mom, please. They need your help.” And the princess gave her a puppy dog look on her face. “Spike and his friends helped us realize how important the surface was important to us.”

Queen Novo was silent, but she ultimately said to her, “Skystar, you realize that Discord, the master of chaos, is intruding our home and territory on Mt Aris, don’t you?”

“Forgive me, your majesty.” Spikes Said. “But Discord is a changed being. He’s no longer evil or mischievous. Well... he still is a little mischievous, but he’s a good guy now. He’s friends with Twilight and her gang.”

“We were friends, until Roseblood took them away from us.” Discord reminded.

Novo gasped, and her mouth was slightly agape hearing that name. “What... did you just say?” She asked. Novo sounded very afraid to have heard a name like that, like she had a past with her.

“Roseblood.” Zecora answered. “She has escaped from Tartarus, And she has begun her reign. If we do not stop her from taking over the world, it will possibly be Earth’s endgame.”

“You’re just joking with me.” Novo Said. “This is all a plot to get a reaction from me.”

“No mother,” Said Skystar. “It’s true.”

“How in the world can you tell, daughter?”

“I can tell because of how scared they all looked. Would they still come here if they were joking?”

“And besides,” Said Spike. “I am terrible at joking. You got believe me, your highness.”

Novo looked a little skeptical and didn’t really, believe a word he said. “Old friend,” Said Discord. “We desperately need your help to fight her and save our home. We’ll need all the stallion-power we need to defeat her, and saved our brainwashed friends.”

“Come with me to my palace.” Said Novo. She used one of the pearl pieces so that the three can turn into see creatures. Spike was back as a pufferfish dragon, Zecora still looked like a zebra, except that her lower body looked like a dolphin. Discord looked very unusual in his sea creature form, as he still had his random body parts attached to him, but he had a seal flipper on his left hind-leg, the right had a crab claw, and had a tail of a manatee.

“Ha! Look at you, Discord.” Spike Said. “You look ridiculous!”

“A fact I take great pride in.” Said the Master of Chaos. “Considering how tiny and puny you look, Spike.”

“Alright alright alright, come on. We’ll talk along the way to Seaquestria.” Said Novo. While swimming, she asked “Why can’t Celestia and Luna take care of her for you?”

“Because they have been brainwashed too, genius.” Said Discord sarcastically. "They fell easily to her magical mist of evil."

"Magical mist of evil?" Asked Skystar.

"I know it sounds wrong." said Spike. "But it's true. If you seen the sky going red up there, it means Roseblood has returned."

"Well, I am curious about why the sky looks so... wrong today." Said the queen. "But how can Princess Celestia and Luna, my old friends fall prey to her evilness and be brainwashed by her?"

"Apparently, Roseblood has been gathering the power she needed to try and come back from hell." Said Zecora. "Now that she's back, there is no telling what kind of horrible things I would tell."

"Look, it is bad enough we almost lost to the storm king a long time ago, but I don't want my own kind to be brought to extinction because of her."

"You helped us in our fight against the Storm king, well, your daughter did mostly, but we need help to defeat her. If we can gather a gigantic army, we might have a chance against her." Spike said. "You're our friends. If we helped you come back to the surface, you can help us with our problem, like you did against the Storm King."

"Has every pony in Equestria been brainwashed by her?" Asked Skystar

"Not all of them." Said Discord. "We have some who are resistant to her magic, but that's not important. A large percentage, somewhere around ninety or ninety-five percent of the pony population in Equestria have been affected and turned into her evil slaves."

Novo then asked "that does sound serious. Does it only work on ponies?"

"Apparently, yes." Said Zecora. "But other creatures like zebras, rhinos, elands, dragons, hippogriffs, hippodromes, and griffons are all unaffected by her spell, and you know the rest."

"Dragons?" Said Novo. "Of course I can trust you Spike, but other dragons are a different story, considering the fact that they spend most of their time sleeping on their nests of gold. No offense of course."

"That's more of a stereotype." Spike corrected her flatly. "You just haven't met my friend, Princess Ember yet."

"Ember?" Said Skystar.

"You know her?"

"Well we know of her." Said the Hippogriff queen. "And her father. Let me tell you, he is a nasty piece of work, that Torch."

"Well Ember is nothing like her dad." Spike reminded.

"Though she can still be as tough as nails, and a little stubborn at times." Said Discord.

"Shh! That's not helping!"

"Just saying."

"Well why not get all those dragons to attack Canterlot? I heard that dragons can be as big as a small mountain, and they can grow much larger than a pony would be like."

"It's not that simple." Zecora said. "I have read that she took down at least five dragons by herself with her magic. Extraordinary, yet tragic. And she can conjure many types of demons and monsters from the pits of hell. If you want to ask me how, then don't. Because I really cannot tell."

Novo didn't really say anything to that, but then she ultimately replied: "I do not want to be remembered as the queen who made an entire race go extinct by her, or her demons, or other vile creatures that serve her."

"You helped us in the battle of Canterlot." Said Spike. "You can help us again."

"He speaks wisely, your highness." Said Discord.

"Mom, please, they are our friends."

No I was a little reluctant, but she said "What's the plan?"

Spike, Discord, Zecora, and Skystar all smiled in hope, knowing she was willing to comply with this.