Chapter 1: "The Battle of Tambeleon"
1,000 Years Ago in Equestria
…
"The dark landscapes of the land that surrounded the castle that was the kingdom of Tambeleon was nothing short of a representation of evil. All that matter was that the ruler inside this castle was usurped from his authority and reign.
Both him and his followers.
Those were the thoughts that went through the minds of Princess Celestia and her younger sister, Princess Luna. The two rulers of Equestria with their respective armies behind them held a look of determination on their faces that the sooner he was overthrown, the sooner the nightmare was over.
"Coward," seethed Princess Luna to Celestia. "Look at him, hiding behind his castle, almost as if he knew we were coming. Why doesn't he come out and show himself?"
"Because that's what he is expecting us out of him," replied Celestia, drawing her spear out of her holster. "But, no matter what, his reign of terror ends tonight, sister!"
Looking back towards the armies that the two sisters had, both Celestia and Luna motioned for their armies to aim their horns at the castle. At that moment, both sisters activated a spell to enhance their royal Canterlot voices.
"EMPEROR GROGAR!" shouted Celestia. "THIS IS PRINCESS CELESTIA AND PRINCESS LUNA! WE DEMAND THAT YOU SURRENDER YOURSELF NOW! YOUR REIGN OF TERROR ENDS TONIGHT!"
"THERE IS NOWHERE LEFT TO HIDE WITHIN YOUR WALLS!" shouted Luna. "THOU CAN'T HIDE FROM JUSTICE FOREVER!"
The two sisters waited for any response, but they got nothing. Furthermore, their patience was limited as well as their respective army.
"WE HAVE ALREADY BANISHED YOUR FRIEND, KING SOMBRA," added Celestia, her horn charging with surging magic. "SURRENDER NOW IF YOU WISH TO AVOID THE SAME FATE!"
Both the sisters then directed their attention towards a tall tower within the castle where at that very moment, a faint glow could be seen. The glow was dark red and the glow surrounded two horns.
"YOU WISH THAT I SURRENDER TO YOU?" the two horned figure shouted. "TO YOU? TWO MARES THAT STAND IN THE WAY OF ME OBTAINING WHAT I DESIRE? THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY AND YOUR ALICORN MAGIC?"
"GROGAR, YOU WILL NEVER GET YOUR HOOVES ON EITHER!" Luna shouted back, directing her attention towards her forces. "READY YOUR HORNS AND FIRE!"
The soldiers aimed their weapons at the castle and on the orders of the royal sisters, fired beams of magic at the castle walls damaging them.
"Let's go, sister!" cried Celestia and both she and Luna activated teleportation spells that transported themselves into the castle.
Soon, they found themselves in a throne room where the tower was. Facing them was the creature with the two horns that glowed red who sat on a throne in front of a map of Equestria. The creature revealed himself to be a goat that had dark blue fur and wore a gold colored bell around his neck.
"You wish for me to surrender to you?" the goat asked, getting up and walking down towards the sisters. "That will not happen! Why don't you just spare yourselves the agony of defeat and surrender your magic to me?"
But, neither Celestia nor Luna was going to be giving in. They were more than willing to stop this enemy. Taking to the air and activating their horns, Celestia and Luna crossed their horns and together fired a blast of combined magic at Grogar, seemingly killing him in an explosion.
"Is that it?" asked Luna, but when the smoke cleared Grogar leapt into the air and butted Celestia in the chest sending her flying into the ceiling. Drawing her sword, Luna attempted to strike at Grogar only for him to activate a spell to send Luna plummeting to the hard floor below.
Rebounding, Celestia fired a blast of magic at Grogar, which he quickly dodged. The goat then proceeded to once again strike at Luna, but missed. Surrounding him, Celestia and Luna both charged at Grogar, letting out loud battle cries. The goat then proceeded to activate a barrier that sent the sisters back against the walls of the throne room. Luna was knocked out cold, but Celestia was still willing to fight. Before she could charge at him again, Grogar disappeared with yet another spell.
"Show yourself, coward!" Celestia screamed, but Grogar laughed loudly and evilly as he appeared.
"This is so amusing, I almost hate to see it end."
Taking her spear, Celestia stuck it into Grogar's chest, her patience running dangerously thin.
"It's over, Grogar," she snarled. "Yield!"
But, despite the fact that her spear was inside of him, Grogar was still laughing, managing to magically heal himself..
"So…much…HATRED!" he remarked. "You speak of cowardice and yet, you forget whose domain you are in?"
Snarling, Celestia took the butt of her spear and struck Grogar in the head. Nevertheless, the goat kept fighting.
"I care not what dark pacts you made!" she cried. "You will surrender yourself to me, now!"
"It seems like even the gods lack purity in their hearts…"
"SILENCE, YOU CUR!" Celestia screamed, firing a powerful blast of her magic at Grogar and for a moment, it seemed like she had vaporized him, but without warning, the blast bounced back and struck Celestia straight in the chest, sending her flying right back into the wall with a loud scream of pain, knocking her out cold. With Celestia out of commission, Grogar then proceeded to advance towards Luna, who was quickly coming around.
"Now, you shall suffer the same fate as your pathetic sister," said Grogar. "And then, your magic will be mine."
"Not if I have anything to say about it," said Luna, grabbing her sword and preparing to strike at Grogar. For a moment, the Princess of the Night and the demonic goat stared down at each other.
Raising her sword, Luna fired several blasts of magic swords at Grogar, only for them to be deflected right back at her. But Luna wasn't quick enough and were soon impaled by two of the swords into her side, her wounds spilling out drops of blood.
"You were saying?" laughed Grogar, grabbing Luna up with his magic by her flowing mane. "You scare me even less than your pathetic sister. Tell me, something, do you fear death?"
But Luna didn't answer him. Little did Grogar realize however that the sisters had one last trick up their sleeve.
"Yes," she coughed, trying to pretend to be fearing Grogar. "I fear death."
Grogar then grabbed Luna's sword, preparing to strike into her chest.
"Good, then I will try and make this as painful as possible," whispered Grogar. "Any last words?"
From down on the floor, Celestia struggled to get back up and could only watch helplessly as Luna was about to be killed.
"Spare my sister," Luna whispered. "But beware…"
Right away, Grogar realized that he was about to be tricked, but had no idea of how he was going to be tricked.
"Beware of what?"
"Beware…of the Asgardians."
Suddenly, with a strong flash of lightning, Grogar was knocked back onto his throne as he looked up to see a human male clothed in silver armor and wielding a silver hammer with a red cape flowing around his neck. Letting out a loud yell, the Asgardian raised his hammer high into the air and attempted to strike at Grogar. But, the goat activated a shield spell to deflect the blast. Charging, Grogar attempted to defend himself against the Asgardian, only to be beaten back by the human's hammer.
While the two sisters watched, the Asgardian threw his hammer down multiple times, striking down Grogar to the point where he felt himself weaken and collapse to the floor.
"You will never get what you want," the Asgardian said as Grogar struggled to his feet. "In the name of Asgard and in the name of Equestria, you are under arrest."
At that moment, several pony soldiers charged into the throne room and surrounded Grogar, chaining him up while the Asgardian went over to the injured Luna.
"Thank you…" Luna groaned, trying to cast a spell to heal her wounds that were inflicted on her. "For agreeing to the plan, Thor."
"Are you hurt?"
"I'll be fine," groaned Luna as Celestia was helped to her feet by a few more guards. "We've captured Grogar...that's all that matters to us."
"Thor," Celestia called, weakly walking over to him. "Your timing was right."
"Well," chuckled Thor. "My kingdom and your kingdom have been allies for a long time. I certainly wasn't going to leave you to him. All that matters is that the plan was successful wasn't it?"
They all watched as Grogar was led to a cage and thrown into it. His cage led the parade of captured warriors that made up Tambeleon and with them watching, Celestia and Luna casted a spell that caused the entire kingdom of evil to disappear.
…
Later, they returned to Canterlot where Grogar was brought before the Canterlot High Court where he was immediately found guilty.
"Emperor Grogar," the chief justice said. "You have been condemned and convicted of crimes committed in the name of the law. It is the nature of this court, that you be sentenced to life imprisonment in Tartarus without the possibility of parole."
But, Grogar didn't look at the justices on the bench. He looked at the two royal sisters as well as Thor, growling menacingly.
"This isn't over," he cried out to them as he was led away from the courtroom. "One day, I will come back and that everything you own, everything you love, will be mine!"
The sisters nor the Asgardian said nothing for as far as they were concerned, Grogar was defeated once and for all. He and his minions were in Tartarus, his kingdom was banished. All of them could wonder, what else could happen?
…
Chapter 2: "Escaping from Tartarus"
1,000 years.
That was how long Grogar, Emperor of Tambeleon, was imprisoned in a cage within the confines of Tartarus. All he had for company was a collection of creatures that were also serving time in the prison for various crimes committed against Equestria and its allies.
But, he wasn't alone.
He had a fellow cellmate that sat in the cage next to him, another creature just like him with deadly ambitions.
"You know, in a way you're just like me," said Grogar's cloaked cellmate one day during his life imprisonment. "A creature who longs to make Equestria his own."
This caught Grogar's attention almost immediately.
"Why do you ask me?" asked Grogar. "And for that matter, how do you know who I am?
"Because I have heard a lot of stories about you, Emperor Grogar. How you longed to make Equestria a part of your kingdom, Tambeleon, with you as its leader. But, of course in order to do that, you have to get yourself out of here."
For the first time since his imprisonment, Grogar turned towards the cloaked creature and raised a suspicious eyebrow at him.
"Who are you?" he asked and the figure removed his hood to reveal a powerless centaur who was skinny all over.
"I am Lord…Tirek," answered the centaur. "Creature who longs to gain all of the magic in Equestria or at least I did until my brother, Scorpan, betrayed me to those…ponies."
"I take you are also a victim of these ponies, too," sighed Grogar, sitting next to Tirek. "Personally, I see ponies as nothing more than mere slaves that need a master…namely me. You may long for the magic of Equestria, but I long for turning their lives upside down with me as their lord and savior."
Grogar then looked down at his hooves and began to chuckle to himself. The more he looked at them, the more he began to grow ambitious at the thought of breaking out of his prison and finishing what he started.
"What amuses you?" asked Tirek. "And why do you look at your hooves, Emperor Grogar?"
"Because I can't just conquer these ponies so easily," remarked Grogar. "You see, there is a weapon that only I can wield, but it is only powered by two sources of power…the elements of harmony and alicorn magic."
To further prove his point, Grogar activated his horns and created a screen that showed a gold hoof glove with six holes in the shape of the Elements of Harmony. Tirek was astonished to see this.
"This is the Chaos Gauntlet," explained Grogar. "With the Elements of Harmony and all of the Alicorn Magic in Equestria, I can power this weapon and have the power to enslave half of life not just in Equestria, but all of the planet as well."
The two creatures of evil then looked over towards the three headed dog, Cerberus, and began to come up with a plan to escape their prisons.
"If you help me escape," said Tirek, smiling evilly. "I promise you to help you obtain the alicorn magic you so desire. There are only two princesses who wield such magic and together, their magic will prove you unstoppable."
Right then and there, a fast friendship was formed between goat and centaur. Now, came the matter in how to distract the guard dog long enough to escape.
…
Their chance came sooner than expected one night while the pony guards on duty were lax. Only a few guards were on duty.
"What are you doing?" asked Tirek, who watched as Grogar powered up his horns.
"I'm casting a spell to open the door and let the beast out," he replied. "I always find it good for your health to get some exercise."
Grogat then activated another spell, producing a ball to catch Cerberus' attention. Seeing the ball, the three heads became attracted to it and just as Grogar had planned, Cerberus ran through the gates after the ball. Unfortunately, this didn't stop the pony guards from noticing.
"Hey!" one of them cried. "What the…?"
Suddenly, he felt himself collapse to the floor and the other pony guards followed suit. With the guards out of commission, Grogar magically opened the lock to his cell and for the first time in a thousand years, he was freed. Once he was freed, Grogar did the same thing to Tirek's cell, opening the cell and letting him out.
"Free at last! Free at last!" laughed Grogar evilly, who then proceeded to scour the prison for his donkey warriors with Tirek going his own way, draining the magic out of the pony guards. "Come my warriors, the time has come for us to rise again!"
And opening their cages, the donkeys were let out and followed their emperor away from Tartarus. Once he had enough magic to get him out, Tirek followed suit.
"Let's go, we don't have much time!" Tirek cried and while the other prisoners watched, they all made their way through the gates and to freedom.
…
As they escaped, Grogar, his minions and Tirek, traveled farther and farther away from the prison trying to avoid detection from any guards that had not been affected.
"What will you do now?" asked Tirek.
"I shall return to my kingdom and retake my place," answered Grogar, who was beginning to get thoughts of Tirek being an ally to him. "What will you do?"
"I shall go around Equestria and steal magic until I have it all," the centaur answered, only to be silenced by Grogar. "Of course, the Alicorn magic will be yours for you to take."
"That's better, Tirek. But, I am beginning to get the sense that we might work well together. If you join me…"
"Thanks for your offer, Grogar," interrupted Tirek, holding his hand out to Grogar's face. "But, I work best alone. If I decide to join you, it will be by my own decision, not yours."
"Very well then," sighed Grogar. "But, I can assure you that you are always welcome in Tambeleon."
So, they said their goodbyes and activating a teleportation spell, Grogar and his donkey minions disappeared from Tirek's sight. Soon, they found themselves back in Tambeleon, just as it was the day that they were all captured and taken prisoner.
"My emperor," said a tall donkey, gasping. "We are back home!"
"Yes, we are back home, Lieutenant Bray," chuckled Grogar. "And very soon, we will resume our mission of making Equestria all our own."
Leaving his donkey platoon, Grogar then proceeded to teleport up to his throne room, still in the same condition it was when he was captured. His map was there, the objects that had been broken in the confrontation he had with the Royal Sisters and Thor were still in their places.
"Foolish mares," Grogar muttered as he picked the broken objects off of the floor. "They will all pay dearly for these atrocities. But, of course, I can't do this alone. If I do this alone, then I will suffer the same fate as before. No, I need allies. But whom shall I offer my hoof to?
He proceeded to look down at his map and tried to think of whom to recruit. If Tirek was a possible ally to take part in his quest, then who else would join Grogar? Those were questions that would be answered in due time.
…
But, their escape didn't go unnoticed. Not far from where his domain once stood, the pony who put Grogar and his minions away awoke from a sudden sleep in Canterlot.
"Sister are you all right?" cried Luna, flinging the door to her sister's bedroom wide open.
"I just had the most horrible dream!" cried Celestia.
"Why do you think I'm here?" asked Luna as Celestia climbed out of her bed. "You know that this wasn't a dream, but a vision."
"Yes, they have escaped from Tartarus. There is no time to waste, if my fears are true, our banishment of Tambeleon will be lifted and Tambeleon will return."
The two sisters looked out the window, wondering what to do now that Grogar had escaped. Of course, they didn't know Tirek had escaped as well, but they would soon find out in due time later on.
"Then, we have no time to waste, sister," said Luna. "Shall we reach out to the humans at S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
It didn't take long for Celestia to give an answer.
"Yes, we must contact the humans at S.H.I.E.L.D. at once," she said, taking a quill and parchment off of her desk and proceeding to write a note while Luna watched. "For if I know what he will do, Luna, war will soon come to Equestria!"
…
No sooner Celestia said those words did Grogar stand before his map and rising on his rear legs, he spread out his forelegs and cried out in a voice loud enough for all of his kingdom to hear.
"PRINCESS CELESTIA AND PRINCESS LUNA, HEAR ME! FOR I, EMPEROR GROGAR OF TAMBELEON, DECLARE WAR ON YOU AND YOUR PATHETIC KINGDOM OF EQUESTRIA!"
,,,
