The battles on both ends continued to rage, the armies of Equestria able to rout province after province from the two Unprepared Evils, the ancient site known as ‘pone-henge’ was nearing completion and the life-giving influence of the Crystal Heart not only meant that the land he conquered remained lush and fertile, but also the ‘life-giving’ aspect was influencing the nearby graveyards and cemeteries, all of these events were falling perfectly into The Cunning Evil’s plans.

What’s more, the ponies under The Corrupting Evil’s rule found the last event to be rather cheerful, as with The Necromantic Evil’s enhanced powers and kind nature, the raised ponies ended up returning with their minds intact, ancestors and close family alike were re-united from the undead magics. Even the Pegasi of Cloudsdale who had become wraiths in the mass-conversion were now less begrudging in their servitude now that The Corrupting Evil’s magics had drawn in the souls of their families to return as ghosts.

But The Preoccupied Evil was far too busy to receive the heartfelt praise nor the begrudging thanks that the ponies were giving to him, instead he was busy having the ghouls in the laboratory work on a very important project. You see the necropolis ritual and subsequent projection of The Corrupting Evil had opened up new information that no Fragment of Evil had discovered before, as when he took on that form, for the short moment he was able to feel, the body formed of Necrotic Energy was physical and it was still his. As the more intelligent of his siblings, that brought him to a major conclusion.

He was a spirit without a vessel, but that didn’t mean he was forced to remain such, and with such an increase in power that was not accessible to his game counterparts, he has the means to remedy such an issue.

This new body was only in the Prototype stages however, turns out it was difficult to piece together a humanoid skeleton and ensure it stays together without the necrotic powers holding it. The reason The Trying-Desperately-To-Make-An-Undead-House-Of-Cards Evil could not use necrotic energies to form the body was because the moment he did, a soul would move to inhabit the body, and he’d have to start all over again.

At this point The Still-Incorporeal Evil was getting pissed and unleashing curse upon curse, both the kind that Flurry Heart should not be hearing, and the kind that caused many of the passing zombies to turn into frogs, ducks, sheep and pigs for the rest of the day. Eventually he decided to stop and have a rest after he managed to turn half of his research division into a petting zoo.

It is at this time where we see The Corrupting Evil standing on a hill overlooking his territory, downtrodden at failing repeatedly at getting his body to stay in one piece. To be fair on him, having to create a skeletal body while keeping all the right bones in one place is difficult enough without having to deal with the issue of having no way to keep them in place without locking them via adhesive or using any form of necromancy so only you can control and possess it.

“Mr Evil? Are you okay?” The Contemplative Evil turned to see Cadence walking over to him, by the look of it, it seemed the Princess of Love needed some alone time as well. Her feathers were dishevelled, her eyes had bags under her eyes, and her body sagged as the Earth-Pony Strength granted by her Alicorn heritage had left her in her moment of fatigue.

“Are you?” The Concerned Evil asked as he saw the state she was in.

“Yes, the trials of being a mother to an Alicorn. It’s trouble enough to deal with foals when they have the powers of one tribe, but when Flurry is able to fly, cast mega-tier spells through tantrums and kick down walls if left alone too long…” she yawned, her exhaustion plain upon her muzzle.

“...come, sit.” he motions to a rock next to him. “I have been having my own troubles with control of powers… but in a different sense.”

“How so?”

“Remember how I became that Necro-Titan Evil?”

She groaned. “Seriously? First everypony in the dungeon and now you?”

“What? It’s a good name!” The Good-At-Picking-Names Evil defended. “Plus it fits, in a way, as it was more me than you’d expect.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean I could feel, Cadence, it was like I had a Corporeal body again. The sight, the sounds, the touch of the wind on my face, things you miss when you’re trapped for a thousand years only to be a ghostly apparition, if I hadn’t taken as much of the energy that I could when my essence was split I’d be trapped for a lot longer… maybe even eternally, leaving you at the mercy of my brothers.” he paused as the Princess of Love shuddered. “Exactly… the point being was that it meant I don’t need to recombine with the rest of my essence to be corporeal again, if I can get a body built for me, I can use that and finally get to move free, show my power!”

“That’s not so hard, right? Just make a golem using a skeleton, get the pieces, soulstone, carve in the runes then possess the empty soulstone and let the magic tie the body together.”

“Yes but-” The Poleaxed Evil stopped, then slowly turned towards the bright pink alicorn. “Come again?”

“That’s how golems are made here in Equestria, it’s too hard to get the pieces in the right place so the soulstones are designed to do that instead, only needing the right pieces in the area so it can reform on its own without any hassle.”

“...could you pardon me for a moment?” And with that, The Corrupting Evil poofed off to another hill at the edge of his territory.

Meanwhile, a perturbed Changeling Queen by the name of Chrysalis was in a nearby forest, her recent plan of making clones of the Mane Six had failed, but she felt a new power in this place, and was determined to-

“WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

...go get it later.

And with another poof, The Vented-Rage Evil appeared next to Cadence again.

“...you didn’t know that’s how Golems work, did you?” The Princess assumed.

“...yeah.” he confirmed. “I’ll be correcting this issue soon… sorry about that.”

“It’s no problem!”

There was a pause, but then The Corrupting Evil looked upset, and sighed. “Cadence?”

“Yes?”

“You understand that with the Chaotic and Ultimate Evils on the run, Celestia will come here… and it will be war, I will either kill her troops, or she will purge this city of all undead, innocent or not, are you…”

Cadence looked solemn for a moment, weighing the options, then looked at The Corrupting Evil with a decisive gaze. “Me and Shining made our choice when we pledged our allegiance to you, and we have seen the kindness and joy you have brought to these ponies. I understand the costs of war, so I shall not hold you in contempt for-”

“Cadence… speak to me.”

The words shook her out of that decisive look, and tears beaded her eyes. “I… I don’t want anypony to die, but that’s impossible… so I ask that you at least try and spare Twilight and her friends if they are forced into this.”

“Cadence, I promise their blood shall not be spilled if I can help it.”

She sniffled. “Th...thank you.”

With a mutual nod, since The Still-Incorporeal Evil could not give hugs yet, they left, Cadence back to her family, and The Corrupting Evil back to his lab.

“Alright… let’s get this right.”

{2 weeks later}

Celestia And Luna were not brimming with confidence, as they would have their soldiers believe. Despite their victories over the Ultimate and Chaotic Evils, they knew the reality that the Corrupting Evil was the one to retain the true mind. Comparing the Undead-Leading Evil to his Horde and Demon counterparts would be like comparing a pair of wild, stupid animals to an actual Dark General. Proof of this intellect was using the former living residents of the Crystal Empire to send false information, allowing him to remain relatively hidden as he began to regain strength and numbers. Another act that shows The Tactical Evil’s brilliance was how he both revealed himself on his own terms and overtook a major part of Equestria’s infrastructure in one fell swoop, thereby ensuring he was not taken by surprise from being discovered without his knowledge and destabilizing the power of the Equestrian government. These alone proved he was a tactical mindset, but then he had outed both the Ultimate and Chaotic Evils before they could grow too strong even if it would have allowed him to walk in.

This proved to Celestia that despite his intentions, he wanted Equestria under his control while the ponies were still alive and sane, and that was the red flag, a necromancer wanted the creatures he wanted to conquer alive.

This had thrown both princesses for a loop, which was only compounded by how it put into a new light his plans to ‘Take Luna as his Queen’. The Getting-Into-Their-Heads Evil had created brand new implications which worried Celestia and Flustered Luna, as it appeared this dark overlord was not as Tyrannical as was previously believed.

These were the thoughts as they marched alongside their armies to the border of the Undead territory, a massive wall of black crystal, carved into a true defensive structure with towers and battlements, stood upon the line as the gate opened like a sinister maw.

The Things, lumbering patchwork giants, marched in uniform order, each step shaking the ground as they carried a platform. Upon the platform stood three figures, two of them Deathbolts that flanked the centre being, and that is whom gave the Princesses pause.

With the other Evils, they only saw vengeful spectres, but before them stood a figure who was very much Tangible. Standing 8 feet tall, adorned in black armor with a necrotic green energy coming from him like a mist, the two Alicorns saw the being they had banished long ago, just as imposing as he was that Millennium ago, except now they did not have a trap nor the Elements for a cheap win. With a concealed grin, The Corrupting Evil raised his weapon in one hand, a greatsword with a size that would make a certain spiky haired hero green with envy, and rested it upon his plated shoulder.

“Celestia! Luna! What a pleasant surprise… did you miss me?”

Author's Note

behold! new chapter!

but we wanted more Timid-

I SAID NEW CHAPTER!! ENJOY IT!

though seriously I am having trouble with Timid Little Secrets, so sorry about the delays.