Avengers: War for Equestria

With Sombra's horn in their hooves, Lieutenant Bray and the remains of his donkey platoon made their way towards an area of northern Equestria enshrouded by a dark fog. As they approached the fog, the fog suddenly broken apart revealing an empire similar to the Crystal Empire but instead of crystal, it was nothing but stone black.

"I hope the emperor is pleased with us," said a donkey warrior.

"He will be impressed, Private Jack," chuckled Lieutenant Bray, stepping into the kingdom. "We have gathered another of the allies his emperor is seeking to recruit in our quest for conquering Equestria. Perhaps there is no better creature to have on our side than a pony whose heart is black as nights."

He looked down and saw Sombra's horn in all it's glory as they approached a tall door, knocking on it.

"Who is it?" bellowed a bleating voice. "Who dares approach my throne?"

"It is I your excellency! Your faithful and loyal lieutenant bearing what you requested, the horn of King Sombra!"

"So, you have succeeded," chuckled the voice. "Very well then! Let me see it!"

Opening the doors, the donkeys entered the throne room similar to Canterlot's, but much more darker. On the throne sat a blue goat-like creature with gray backward horns and a bell that dangle around his neck. The goat chuckled as he saw the horn in the possession of his lieutenant and his warriors.

"Yes, yes!" laughed the goat, stepping down from the throne to look at the horn. "Ah, King Sombra, the true ruler of the Crystal Empire, whose spirit is embalmed in this one horn. Did you have trouble finding it?"

"A little bit, Emperor Grogar," answered Bray. "Starswirl the Bearded had it on him and well, we had…"

"It doesn't matter now, Lieutenant!" interrupted Grogar still looking at the horn. "All that matters is that its here with me. Starswirl was a fool, keeping this horn for himself in an effort to keep Sombra dead. But, he failed."

"I can assure, Grogar," said a raspy voice that belonged to a creature covered by a black cloak. "That Starswirl is strong willed and he will be seeking the horn. Then again, what good is he without his fellow pillars?"

The creature came forward and removed the hood over its head to reveal a very dark enemy of Equestria underneath it, the letter "M" branded on both sides of his face, one "M" upside down on his left and the other "M" on its proper position on the right side.

"It's no wonder I could recruit someone like you, Lord Tirek," remarked Grogar. "All that matter was taking Cerberus out of commission and allowing you to escape unharmed, thanks to me!"

"So, you say, Grogar," chuckled Tirek, taking the horn and placing it on the ground at Grogar's feet. "But, just remember that Sombra is also my friend."

"How could I forget? There is perhaps nopony more excited to see Sombra than you, Tirek."

"Well, then what are we waiting for?" said a female voice, who floated into the throne room. "Let's get on with it! I have a few ponies I am seeking revenge against as well trying to regain my throne from that traitor, Thorax!"

"As you say, Chrysalis," muttered Grogar and the goat swayed back and forth, trying to get the bell around his neck to ring. After a few moments, he managed to get the bell to ring loudly and then began to chant in a demonic voice as dark magic swirled around the horn. The magic continued to swirl around the horn and a few moments later, a loud roar came out from inside the tornado as the twister shrunk down to reveal a black coated unicorn with a long red cape and metallic armor on his forelegs along with a metal crown atop his head.

"I live!" cried King Sombra. "I LIVVVVE!"

"Welcome back to the land of the living, King Sombra," chuckled Chrysalis as Tirek ran over to hug his friend.

"My friend, I have missed you so much," laughed Tirek.

"I have missed you too, Tirek," remarked Sombra, evilly. "But, there is so much to ask of you all. Who has brought me back from the dead?"

"I am the creature who has brought you back to life, Sombra," said Grogar, walking over to him. "I am Emperor Grogar, the ruler of Tambeleon."

"So you say," replied Sombra, trotting around trying to get used to his surroundings. "So, all of this is Tambeleon? It's a shame I never heard of a kingdom such as this. It's a pity that we have never met, Grogar. We could have done so much together."

"That's because you were banished by the Royal Sisters as I was, Sombra. But, together, we can all overthrow them once and for all, avenging all of our misfortunes at the same time. All we need are several more allies and then, we will have enough power to conquer Equestria!"

He may had only been out for a few minutes, but Sombra was beginning to admire and share a mutual respect for Grogar. Still, he had a purpose of his own to fulfill and that was to take back what was once his.

"What do we do now?" asked Chrysalis, impatiently.

"We gather a few more allies and then we strike at Canterlot!" cried Grogar, trotting over to look at a map of Equestria and the other surrounding kingdoms. "In fact, let's see if we can pay our hot friend a visit and see if we can recruit him. Bray!"

"Yes, sire?"

"Go to Mount Ragnaros and see if Lavan is awake," ordered Grogar, turning to face Bray and his donkey force. "If he is, then bring him to me!"

Saluting him, Bray and his forces left Tambeleon once again heading for Mount Ragnaros.

…

Meanwhile, Princess Celestia immediately got to work in her office trying to summon Twilight and Princess Cadence to Canterlot.

"Sister, what's happening?" asked Luna, stepping into Celestia's office and yawning. "Are you certain that Grogar is back?"

"I'm very certain, Luna," answered Celestia, firmly writing a note to Twilight. "I could just feel it on my back that Tambeleon has returned at last."

"But that's impossible, Celestia! How could Tambeleon return? We both know that kingdom is nothing but darkness and evil."

"The spell we cast on it was only meant to last for 1,000 years, Luna!" replied Celestia, using her magic to send the note to Twilight. "Now, those 1,000 years are up, and he has returned. But, I can't let us be sidetracked again like we were with the Storm King! Have all our respective forces on standby, Luna. If Grogar does set foot in Canterlot, let alone any place in Equestria…"

Luna had every reason to believe just how scared her sister was. Not wanting to keep her sister frightened any further, Luna did as she was told and ordered her forces to take up positions around Canterlot.

"All of Canterlot is on alert as you requested, your highness," said one of Celestia's generals about an hour later. "Shall I send out a few patrols to cover a 20-mile radius?"

"Do so at once," she ordered and the general complied and left. However, she wasn't to be alone for very long as Luna stepped into Celestia's office.

"Cadence is on her way here to Canterlot as we speak, sister," she said. "We haven't heard anything from Princess Twilight, however, but there is something else that we both should know."

"What is it?"

"Starswirl was attacked by some donkey warriors and is now being treated at S.M.I.L.E. headquarters."

This made Celestia stop what she was doing and rise out of her chair.

"How is he?"

"He's all right, but he's hurt pretty badly," answered Luna. "Should we send Princess Twilight to S.M.I.L.E. to check on what's going on? Somepony should be here for Cadence when she arrives in little while."

Celestia thought about it for a moment, then she came to a decision.

"You have a point, sister," she remarked, quickly writing another notice to Twilight. "We'll have Twilight check on S.M.I.L.E. while we try to figure out what is going on here."

Suddenly, at that moment, the two sisters were interrupted by a swirling black portal and stepping out of the portal was a human male dressed in blue and wearing a red cape around his neck.

"Who are you?" asked Princess Luna as the human figure stepped forward towards them. "And what do you want?"

"Are you Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, two of the four alicorn rulers of Equestria?" asked the human.

"Y…y…yes, we are," stammered Princess Celestia. "And who may I ask are you?"

It didn't take long for the figure to respond to Celestia's question.

"I'm Dr. Stephen Strange and I have something important…in fact, of great importance, that I need to show you both."

…