A necessary evil

A group of Changelings rested over a cliff. Around them, laid only enormous plains of grass under a shiny blue sky. The camp that had been settled contained numerous rattled tents, populated by tired and frowning Changelings who did their best to pass time.

Suddenly, the dark, winged, ponies jumped back in surprise as a crack in reality appeared out of thin air and from it, Hope jumped out.

With bared teeth and fallen eyebrows, her eyes immediately glued to the ground as her magic closed the portal once more. It was clear her objective had failed and in that moment, all hope had left her. Rabia was against the unicorn and her magic amounted to nothing compared to the frost demon.

"Hope?"

Lifting her gaze, she noticed one of the Changelings staring back at her. She didn't answer and instead looked around the area, suddenly releasing a sigh. Despair drowned the unicorn once more the moment she took noticed of the quite obvious lack of numbers from the Changeling force. Feeling as her heart sunk, Hope placed a hoof over her eyes in clear distress.

"How many left the camp?" She asked, not finding the strength to face the Changeling up front.

He, in turn, remained silent for a few seconds, before releasing a sigh of his own. "Half." He said. "Without our queen, the hive follows a single minded emotion and right now what they need is revenge against the frost demon."

"Oh Faust." The unicorn replied closing her eyes and realizing that an enormous quantity of Changelings just marched to their deaths at Canterlot.

The Changeling frowned, scoffing at the downed unicorn. "Did you really think they would stay after the queen died?" He asked, not getting an answer, nor he cared for one. "You are lucky we are even following you, crystal pony!" Same as before, Hope remained silent, only standing there with a hoof over her eyes. "The rest of us are loosing patience and if you don't show results, we will..."

"I know!" She yelled, gritting her teeth in anger. It was in moments like those Hope wished she had the strength, conviction and terrifying presence of beings like Chrysalis or Sombra. But she didn't and it showed, as almost every Changeling left looked as if they were about to jump on her any moment.

Having kept a certain quantity of the remaining Changeling hive was already a plus, though, especially when most of them now answered to Thorax. Regardless, her hopes of gaining strength through Rabia and the Umbrum had vanished and she was left with almost nothing until she could gain the knowledge she sought, knowledge of a being unknown to Equis.

She wasn't their queen, nor a Umbrum, but considering the stakes, Hope recognized her efforts had brought her and army of what was left of the once great Changeling empire. This sole idea brought her a little bit of comfort, though not enough to appease her fears. Regardless, She stared back at the Changeling in front of her with determination, then with a hint of anger, Hope spoke. "We still have a..."

"Dagger!" Another voice interrupted her, as the aforementioned Changeling left Hope behind to answer his call. The bug pony was floating above the ground, visibly shaking. "Something's coming."

Hope and Dagger looked at each other for a few moments before walking towards the cliff, overlooking an enormous green plain of grass and trees surrounding a rather plain-looking town.

Then their eyes widened.

An enormous black airship being carried by a purple Zeppelin, made its way to the ground, landing at the center of the small town in the distance.

"What is he doing here?" Asked Dagger to nopony in particular.

Hope turned to look at him, noticing the wariness on his expression and cleared her throat. "Who is he?"

Dagger turned to look at her, calm and collected but his eyes narrowed in precaution. "That's the Storm king, he's been conquering the other half of the planet," he explained, placing a hoof under his chin, ignoring Hope's reaction over his exaggeration in his claim, "but if we're positioned beyond those borders, then why..." Suddenly his eyes went wide. Almost like a plague, Dagger noticed the rather comical fact of weekly attacks and the obvious power "they" possessed. "The princesses!"

"What?" Asked Hope, confused further by her partner's panicked face.

The Changeling shook his head in disapproval. "He must have learned of the alicorn princesses and their magic! Now he's going there to reclaim them."

Hope cocked her head to the side, narrowing her eyes at the Changeling's words. "I though Tirek was the only magic vampire."

"The Storm king is not a magic vampire, but he does have an artifact that can absorb and channel magic of those he steals from."

Hope thought about that answer, that certain aspect making the mare peek her ears in interest. "What's the artifact called?"

"The staff of Sacanas, why?" Dagger replied, his eyes glued to the enormous zeppelin touching down.

The mare didn't answer until a few seconds passed. "What the frost demon used didn't seem like magic, but still..." Suddenly a new opportunity presented itself with the arrival of this Storm king and the so called staff of Sacanas. True, the chances were against her, but it was the only ace in the hole she had. Turning back to face Dagger, she spoke with new conviction. "We will follow them and once our spy returns, we will make a deal with Storm king."

Dagger almost choked, eyeing his companion with a panicked expression as if she had gone mad. "Are you crazy!? Do you have any idea what I've heard and seen about this guy!?"

"Is it any worse than the frost demon?" She retorted, smiling in victory as she saw Dagger contemplating her answer. The Changeling turned his haze back to the airship, from which several beasts were going out, all the while his mind raced through the implications of Hope's plan. If he was correct about her reaction towards the staff, then he knew she wanted to use it against the frost demon, still the Storm king was dangerous on his own.

In the end, if this beast was as powerful as to kill two of the strongest beings and seriously injuring Tirek to the brink of death, then the aforementioned king was the least of their problems.

Letting out a grunt and a deep sigh, Dagger looked back at Hope. "Fine, but don't let this go to waste." She said nothing and only smiled in return.

Knock knock!

The next day had come and Ponyville was peaceful, regardless of a certain tyrant living amongst them. Many saw the frost demon as somepony to be feared, others as a hero and for the unicorn that found herself at the entrance to the castle of friendship.

Prey.

"Good morning, Rarity." It wasn't long before the door opened, revealing Starlight who smiled at the sudden guest. The unicorn smiled in return.

"Morning Starlight." She greeted. "I'm sorry if I came in a wrong time but I'm about to head to the spa and I was wondering..."

Starlight chuckled, shaking her head in response with a knowing grin. "Don't worry about it, Rarity and yes, I'll tell Twilight."

Suddenly, a hoof stopped her. "Actually I didn't come for Twilight."

Starlight stood still on her tracks, looking at Rarity with a confused look. Then something made click and after that, a deadpan appeared on her features. "Seriously?"

The fashion pony scoffed. "I'm sure Frieza is the kind of being that actually cares about his looks." Starlight remained silent. "Skin like that does not stay that smooth without special treatment."

Starlight stared at her for a few seconds in silence, noticing her conviction. Suddenly with a roll of her eyes, the unicorn sighed. "I'll tell Frieza." She said, leaving behind a unicorn with a victory smile on her face.

It wasn't long before the familiar figure of the frost demon came into view, a hint of nervousness was visible regardless if his cool demeanour. "Morning, miss Rarity."

Rarity smiled back, seductively playing with her mane as she bathed her eyes at the emperor of evil, whose forehead released a single sweat drop. "Morning Frieza, how goes your day?"

"T- to tell you the truth, quite boring, but I guess that's about to change now, doesn't it?"

The unicorn gave a hearty nod, smirking at Frieza's visible nervousness hiding under the chill tone. "Indeed and since I have the slight suspicion you actually mind your looks, I thought 'what better way to greet Frieza than with one of my favorite pass times'?"

The frost demon chuckled, deciding to play along. "Key word in 'your' favorite pass times, miss Rarity."

The unicorn smiled sheepishly. "However, if you want to do something else..."

Laughing at the expense of the unicorn, Frieza dismissed the idea with his hand. "I'll be glad to come with you to the spa, miss Rarity." Suddenly, his expression turned thoughtful. "To tell you the truth, it's been a while since I shared on the practice."

Rarity chuckled at this. "Then we better head out now before you get too rusty."

"Lead the way then." Frieza said, motioning with his hand towards the street.

As the two disappeared into the street, a certain drake watched from his window, who sighed as he averted his eyes from them.

"Are you okay, Spike?" The smooth voice of Twilight caught his attention, as he turned to look at her.

"It's nothing, Twilight." He answered.

The alicorn princess knew that was not the case, especially after what they talked. As soon as she had time, Twilight had that conversation with Spike, which involved his crush on Rarity and the implications of that. Still, the young drake couldn't put it behind.

Suddenly, a chuckle was heard. Spike turned to look at Twilight who had a warm smile on her face. "You do know Frieza doesn't really feel that comfortable around, Rarity, right?"

He deadpanned. "Then why is he going with her?" He asked.

Twilight scratched the drake's head in affcetion. "Because one thing Frieza has in spades is that he's a gentlecolt and actually quite kind considering who he is."

The young drake grunted at this.

On her part, Twilight let out a sigh. "Not everything happens the way we want, you know that Spike?" She said. "And even if it doesn't, there's always a good reason, maybe you should consider that."

He growled, causing Twilight to chuckle as she embraced him gently, before turning around and leaving him alone to his thoughts.

The pair walked for a few seconds in silence, while Rarity tried to find her wording. She knew the frost demon would follow her conversations regardless of what she spoke about.

He was quite versed, something that Rarity adored, but for some reason his now known air of uncertainty and eerie vibes, blocked her thinking... that and she really really liked him. Suddenly, her expression brightened up, a question forming inside her mind. "Are all members of your species the same as you?"

The frost demon turned to look at her, thinking about her words. "That depends on the form we adopt." He answered. "For example, my father was always in what would be considered my second state."

"Is it similar to the one you have now, Frieza?"

"Not exactly, miss Rarity." He said. "Had you seen it, perhaps your first adjective would be barbaric."

The mare shuddered at this. "I'm quite comfortable with your current one, if I must say so myself, but," she stopped, eyeing the frost demon for a couple of moments, "I have to admit the golden one is quite exotic."

"It's currently my most powerful, miss Rarity." The frost demon replied, doing his best to ignore the mare's eyes practically violating him with tenacious hunger.

Making sure to not oversaturate Frieza, Rarity moved her mind over to another topic she had found interest in. "You have talked a lot about your father." She stated. "Is there any chance for us to meet him?"

Frieza chuckled at her words, remembering the events with the half monkey, Trunks. "I very much doubt it, miss Rarity, unless someone wished him back with the dragon balls."

"Wish him..." The mare was about to ask, when she realized what he meant. Lowering her ears, Rarity gave the frost demon an apologetic look. "I am so sorry, Frieza, I didn't mean to..."

The frost demon cut her off, raising a hand as he held a smile. "As much as I respect him, my father was a fool, miss Rarity and it cost him dearly." He said, noticing the horrified expression on the mare's face. "My family believes in power and the thought that if you're too weak to loose it, then you don't deserve it."

That certainly was... Something to the mare, who remained silent. She thought that was a horrifying way of seeing life, especially in regards to family, but then again, different species, different costumes. "Any other family member, Frieza?" She asked, trying to change the topic of the frost demon's father.

"Just one, miss Rarity." He said. "I also have a big brother." Casting one side glance, she could we the mare's expression and he instantly knew what she was going to ask. "And yes, he's still alive, although I have no idea where he currently resides."

The unicorn return her eyes to the road ahead, releasing the breath she was holding.

"How about you, miss Rarity? I recall you mentioning having a sister."

"Indeed I do, Frieza." She said. "Her name is Sweetie Belle."

Frieza mentally sighed... Deeply, doing his best not to punch the equine and send her to hell. I swear to Zeno sama, if I hear Fizzlepop Berrytwist next... He just couldn't understand what it was about that place that had the need to name its citizens in the most ridiculous way possible. Sure, he noticed the lack of real malice, even by what the planet considered the 'worst' villains in existence.

"We're here!"

The voice of Rarity caught his attention, as he stared into the place and felt a sudden rush of nervousness. As he had told the unicorn before, he wasn't stranger to similar practices, but the places where he did so, never looked so...

He couldn't even think of a word to describe it.

Suddenly he recalled the saying 'never judge a book by its cover', so maybe the actual relaxation process wouldn't be as idiotic as the place itself.

Before the pair entered the place, Frieza felt three extremely low ki signatures, but decided to dismiss them.

"Welcome to the Ponyville Day Spa, we..." The mare stopped, her voice bringing Frieza back to reality as he looked at the wide staring ponies.

Two mares. One was pink with blue mane and the other with the same colors but inversed. Frieza mentally wondered if they were something like twins.

"Oh, wow!" The pink coated one finally said, her eyes scanning Frieza from head to toe. "I never believed we would have the pleasure of serving the frost demon."

He chuckled. "There's always a first time for everything, miss..." He asked, extending his arm.

Taking hold of his, the pony was batting her eyelashes while giving him a seductive smile. "My name is Aloe and I'm dying to serve you." The mare purred seductively at the last words.

In truth, Frieza was not casanova. Hell! He didn't even care about such types of relationships as he considered them a waste of time and a distraction, but he had to admit that watching Rarity fuming in silence, made the little contact worthwhile.

Letting go of Aloe, Frieza greeted the other pony. "And I'm Lotus, such a pleasure frost demon."

"I take it you are here for special package." Asked Aloe, walking towards the counter as she opened her notebook.

Walking closer, Frieza cocked his head to the side. "To tell you truth, miss Aloe, I have no idea what the special package contains, nor how exactly I have to pay you."

The pony chuckled. "Don't worry about payment this time, frost demon, what kind of mares would we be if we didn't work hard to make you feel comfortable?" She answered. "And about the special package, it includes most of our beauty and relaxation areas, including a massage and a mud bath."

He placed a hand under his chin, deep in thought for a moment before looking back at his companion. "What do you think, miss Rarity."

"I think," she said, slight anger noticeable in her voice, as she approached the frost demon and violently wrapped her hoof around his arm, making him release a single sweat from his forehead, "we'll take whatever makes Frieza feel like new."

Neither Aloe nor Lotus noticed the unicorn trying to pee on her 'property' and simply smiled in agreement. "The special package it is, then." Said the pink coated mare as she left the stand and walked towards the entrance of the spa, looking back at the pair. "Please follow me."

In morbid anticipation, Frieza entered the enormous room and it was...

Exactly what he expected. A one room coated in hellish pink, but not as extravagant as the exterior nor the insufferable party pony. Immediately bored with such details, his eyes scanned the area, completely forgetting he still had Rarity glued to his arm. Suddenly, his sight landed on a familiar figure.

"Miss Fluttershy." He greeted, getting close to the pegasus who had a pair of cucumbers covering her eyes. "I did not expect to see you here."

The mare took a cucumber off her eye and smiled at the frost demon. "Hello Frieza, I could say the same about you." In a moment, her expression turned worried. "How are your wounds? Are you holding up?"

The frost demon chuckled, placing a hand over his chest. "My wounds are healed, miss Fluttershy." He said. "One of the many good things about my race is the ability of fast healing."

warmly smiling at him, her gaze turned to her other friend. "Hello Rarity." She greeted. "It was kind of you bringing Frieza here."

"Of course it was! I am inherently kind!" Answered Rarity, placing a hoof over her chest in a prideful manner.

Frieza chuckled at this, silently deciding to taunt his companion regardless of how dangerous the practice was. "Kind enough to secure me as a prize, miss Rarity?"

Upon hearing this, her face turned violently red, as Fluttershy gently laughed at her expense.

"Ahem!" She managed to mutter, trying to come up with something that could let her out of the situation. Thankfully for her, Aloe approached the pair.

"Your beds are ready, so we can start with the massage and..." She cocked her head in confusion. "Are you okay Rarity?"

"Yes!" She blurted out, before dragging Frieza away from the still giggling pegasus. "Let us get those massages started!"

Aloe just shrugged.

Much to Frieza's relief, Rarity was finally separated from him, as he positioned himself face down on the special bed, his head going out of a hole at its upper part. It wasn't long until he felt a pair of hooves on his back.

"You are quite tense, frost demon."

Frieza hummed loudly at this. "Surprising that you mention it, miss Aloe, I feel quite fine."

The mare chuckled at this. "The body never lies." She said. "Some say that it speaks what the mind doesn't." He didn't say anything back, letting time pass as the mare worked her way over his body.

At first, she found it confusing how she was going to work on a certain appendage on the frost demon's back, but as she made her way down his back, Aloe couldn't help but to find it hypnotic. "You have quite the beautiful tail, frost demon."

He chuckled. "I'm sure not many would agree with that." The true meaning behind those words went completely over Aloe's head, as she considered a simple fashion problem. Frieza, however, recalled the many beings whose necks he had snapped.

"There we go, frost demon, let loose those muscles." Frieza was surprised to hear this. Even subconsciously, knowing something is suffering under his foot brought him relaxation and now that the barriers were down, he began to truly enjoy the massage.

Soon enough, his eyes closed and his tail relaxed, feeling Aloe doing all the good work. "You have quite the hooves, miss Aloe." He said, hearing the giggles from the mare.

"Just the best pair in Ponyville."

The frost demon didn't answer back, loosing himself in the moment. And so, good part of the day went into the numerous routines inside the spa.

At first he was regretting setting foot in the place, but he had to admit it actually was quite pleasing, especially since he didn't have to bother commanding other morons to do their job. No, Aloe and Lotus knew what they were doing and so caught up he was in the moment, that he completely ignored the fact he had not strengthened his skin using his ki, which had left him vulnerable to still powerful attacks, but the frost demon couldn't lie to himself. It really wasn't such a bad day.

Then, as if they were seconds, a couple hours had passed.

Letting a peaceful sigh, Frieza rested his back against the seat, his arms extended to the sides, as he enjoyed the last part of the package as much as he could. Him, alongside Fluttershy and Rarity found themselves inside a sauna. The pegasus had decided to wait for her friends so she could join them.

"I take it you're enjoying this, aren't you Frieza?"

The frost demon opened his eyes to greet the owner of the voice. He smiled. "Quite much, miss Fluttershy and to be honest, I wouldn't mind coming with you another time."

"Of course you would enjoy it, Frieza." Said Rarity, her eyes closed in contempt. "You are a being of class and only those with class know the wonders of a good day in the spa."

The frost demon laughed at this. "One of the many good things my dear father left me and my brother."

Fluttershy stared at him, her curiosity spiked. "If you don't mind me asking, Frieza, what is your brother's name?"

"That big moron's name is Cooler."

Just outside the spa, over a cloud rested a certain Rainbow maned pegasus. She was sleeping peacefully until something forced her to wake up.

"Wow!" She yelled, looking around her as if she wanted to find something... cooler!

"AA-CHOO!" Out in space, millions of lightyears away from Equis, a figure resembling Frieza sat on the bridge of his ship, scratching his nose. "Damned space dust!"

Back at the spa, Fluttershy reached out and placed a hoof over the frost demon's shoulder. "Don't be like that with yourself Frieza." The aforementioned emperor of evil opened his eyes in confusion and stared blankly at the pegasus who held a warm smile. "It's okay if you think your brother's name is better than yours, but I still like Frieza."

"Uh?" Out of an extensive vocabulary, he simply had no other words to reply.

"So," started Fluttershy, "what is his name?"

The frost demon was on a complete loss for words and he found himself mentally slapping his forehead with so much force that he was almost sure it would be felt in the real world.

Without them noticing, Rarity looked between the two, until she started giggling. The shy mare looked at her friend and her ears fell. "Did I say something wrong?"

Composing herself, the unicorn turned to look at Fluttershy, shaking her head. "You did nothing wrong, darling." She said, noticing the pegasus letting out a sigh of relief. "I believe what Frieza means is that the name of his brother is actually Cooler."

Fluttershy stared blankly at her, her mind processing her friend's words... until it clicked.

"Oh..." She mouthed, her face going red in embarrasement as she looked back at the frost demon with a sheepish smile. Frieza stared at her for a few moments, before placing both hands behind his head and closed his eyes.

He smiled and let out a few chuckles.

Finally, the spa day had ended, as Fluttershy, Rarity and Frieza stepped out of the building. On his part, the frost demon placed both hands over his torso and moved his head to the sides, but nothing cracked.

In reality, he wasn't really expecting to.

"You look quite different." Turning back, he noticed Rarity looking at him, a smirk on her face.
The frost demon smiled in return. "I feel like I needed that, miss Rarity."

Looking at both, Futtershy grinned, spreading her wings as she prepared to take flight. "I'm sorry if I can't stay, but I have a few animals to tend to." She said, getting the attention of the pair. "It was a really nice day." With that said, Fluttershy looked at the frost demon. "Take care Frieza."

He simple nodded, watching as the pegasus took flight and left him alone with Rarity.

Looking back at the unicorn, the frost demon placed both hands behind his back. "Any other plans?"

"Not at all Frieza." She replied, shaking her head. "Right now I want to spend the rest of the day with my sister."

The emperor of evil extended his arm. "Would it bother you if I took you home, miss Rarity?"

The unicorn grinned in delight as she took hold of the frost demon's arm and smiled. "Not at all Frieza, if any, I get to
enjoy your company for a little longer."

As the pair walked off in the distance, a certain rainbow maned pegasus watched them go. Rainbow still didn't trust Frieza, not after showing past instances of extreme brutality. In her book, nopony who called themselves heroes, acted like that. No, those were decisions made by villain of the worst kind.

She always understood Twilght whenever she insists bad ponies can change, yet Rainbow wasn't sure how a being that has already killed, could change.

Regardless if her friends lowered their guards, she wouldn't and so, she decided to follow them, a stealthily as she could. Rainbow saw the pair talking amongst themselves and shortly after, arrive at Rarity's home, where Frieza dropped her friend and left towards Twilight's castle.

The walk had gone silent and peaceful, with Frieza not minding anypony as he made his way towards his destination. Regardless of the past few days, ponies still reacted in a varied way to his presence, with looks of either fear or friendliness.

Finally, the frost demon had arrived at his temporary home, the castle of friendship, where he stood by the door, waiting for something. Cocking her head to the side, Rainbow scratched her mane and blinked.

The frost demon wasn't there anymore.

"Wonderful clear skies, wouldn't you agree, miss Dash?"

Yelping in surprise, the pegasus placed a hoof over her chest, almost as if she tried to stop her heart from going out of her body. "Why did you do that!?" She demanded, noticing the annoyed expression on the frost demon.

Crossing both arms over his chest, he spoke. "I guess a better question is, why are you spying on me?" He had sensed her pathetically low ki following him since he left the spa.

The rainbow maned pegasus staggered a little before she could find the right words. "I was jus' curious."

The frost demon narrowed his eyes. "Curious about what, miss Dash?"
He already knew the answer, even if the retarded pegasus lacked any bravery to actually say it, still, he enjoyed toying with her.

"I-I..." She kept staggering, trying to avoid Frieza's gaze. "I just get curious when I'm bored and because of that, I start chasing ponies around!"

The frost demon couldn't help but to roll her eyes. In the end, he had quite a good day that it would just be a shame to be wasted on the stupid pegasus. Deeply sighing, Frieza softened his gaze. "Honestly, I could care less." With that, he turned around, levitating to the ground. "See you later, miss Dash."

Rainbow let out the breath she was holding.

Frieza, as much as he enjoyed the company of the equines, there was something about Rainbow Dash that made him angry, something that made him want to stamp her against the ground and squash her head with his feet. He figured there was no way to convince the others she could be sacrificed for the greater good. Frieza would just have to avoid her or passively insult her as much as he could.

The frost demon smiled at the second option. Like that, the gate of the castle closed, leaving Rainbow to thoughtfully retreat.