Meanwhile in Ponyville, a six hours earlier before Canterlot was attacked from within, a train stopped by at the Ponyville Train Station. As soon as the train let the passengers out, Luster Dawn and her friends appeared all tired and hungry after doing a hard day's work in trying to stop a group of diamond dogs from raiding a gem caravan en-route to Rarity's Manehattan Boutique. Despite feeling exhausted and groggy, Luster and her friends reached Ponyville only to realize it was already nightfall. Nevertheless, Luster's friends decided to chow down at Sugar Cube Corner. The moment they set hoof in the bakery, Pound Cake was seen at the counter going over the bits that are inside the register before he heard the bell ring, reminding him that more customers just showed up. Luster was the first to pick a sampler platter of cupcakes to share with her friends. The pink unicorn brought the platter up to Pound's counter before paying it with 8 bits. After Pound took the bits from Luster, the tan pegasus gave Luster the receipt before she took the platter with her.

"Enjoy your cupcakes, Luster." Pound said, cheerfully.

"Thank you so much, Pound." Luster replied.

The pink unicorn carried the platter all the way to the table where her friends are hanging out at. As Luster lowered the platter onto the table, the yak was the first to have 2 cupcakes while the kirin and the orange mane earth colt had one cupcake each. For Luster she ate one cupcake before the yak started cackling to himself. As for the black-grey feathered griffon, he was the last one to have one cupcake.

"Ya should see the look on diamond dog's face when me did yak smash on his back!!" The red, orange-haired yak snorted in amusement. "He sounded like a chihuahua making a screech as loud as a high-pitched xylophone!!"

Upon hearing what the yak just said, most of Luster's friends started laughing at themselves including her.

"Point taken, Vecron!!" The kirin giggled upon hearing what the yak just said. "When I charged at them as a Nirik, they all shrieked and started running like blind-crazy not wanting to challenge me to a fair fight!! I couldn't resist when they keep crashing into all those trees before they knocked themselves out!!!"

Luster started laughing her head off after what her Kirin friend just said in front of the group.

"It never gets old when making such funny noises!!" Luster snickered. "Anyway, thanks to Rubeth, we were able to save most of the diamonds from falling off that one cliff. You know, when the Diamond dogs are about to make it off with a gem crate while crossing that bridge in ghastly gorge."

"I couldn't agree more!!" Rubeth, the black griffon spoke in a positive tone. "At least we were able to escort the entire caravan to safety at Manehatten this afternoon."

"Say, Spring Light, how did you enjoy living in Ponyville so far?" Luster asked the green-haired kirin.

"I did my best not to get too angry. It was a little too easy for me to combust into a nirik in less than ten seconds flat." Spring Light told Luster. "I still did my best to attend Treehugger's meditation classes every Tuesdays and Thursdays just to keep my anger under control."

"What are you going to do once you head back to the Castle of Friendship, Luster?" Bright Vermillion asked the pink-orange haired unicorn.

"I'm going to send in another report to Queen Twilight about our successful attempt in our recent mission." Luster answered. "I hope she is still doing fine with managing the Council of Friendship in Canterlot."

"Well, I'm heading back to the School of Friendship!!" Bright announced. "I'll see you all in the morning!!"

After Bright got off his seat, he walked out of Sugar Cube Corner and disappeared into the night. As for Spring Light and Rubeth, they both said goodbye to Luster for now before they were the second to leave the bakery.

"Later everyone!!" Luster told the kirin, griffon, and the earth pony before turning her attention to Vecra. Without predicting the obivious, Luster sees Vecra making a huge burping noise after she gobbled up 3 more cupcakes from the sampler platter.

"Vecra!!!" Luster shouted, in a scolded manner.
"Sorry, Luster!!" Vecra said sheepishly as her cheeks started turning red in embarrassment. "Vecra never really had cupcakes in Yakyakistan for 15 years!!"

"Well, do mind your manners Vecra!!" Luster told the yak before she takes her leave from Sugar Cube Corner.

"See you tomorrow, Luster." Vecra waved her hoof while Luster heads out the door.

Into the night, Luster Dawn couldn't imagine how excited she was when she and her friends went out of Ponyville to deal with the problems at her mentor's request. Even though Luster has long way to go in order to achieve what Queen Twilight did, she still felt pretty confident in being true to herself and her friends in both Ponyville and in Canterlot. While taking the scenic way back to Twilight's old Castle, Luster started whistling through the peaceful night before reaching the doors of the Friendship Castle.

The moment Luster entered the castle, she couldn't help but feel a bit lonely here due to how big the structure really is. It's just like when Queen Twilight told her how daunting it was when she first moved here after Tirek's evil rampage all over Equestria. Nevertheless, Luster still needs to make herself feel at home. As soon as she went up the stairs and before heading to her bedroom, she was greeted by a friendly falcon who was standing on top of the handrails of the grand staircase.

It was already been 2 weeks since Luster first met the falcon when he was seen with a crippled wing. Thanks to Fluttershy's lectures, Luster did learned a thing or two on how to treat the poor regal bird of his injuries. After helping the falcon recover, Luster was about to send it away back into the wild. However, after three days of releasing it, the very same falcon that Luster met actually came back for her, considering that it was just as lonely as Luster was inside the Castle of Friendship. So, Luster decided to keep the falcon as her pet, therefore naming him Gillory. The moment Luster heard Gillory screech, she knew that it just wanted to say "hi."

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Gillory." Luster said as she smiled at the falcon.

Moving on, Luster went into her room with the falcon following her from behind, flying 5 feet above her head. As soon as Gillory went to his perch, which was next to the window, Luster went up to her desk to write another report to Queen Twilight. After she finished writing her report, Luster looked at the city of Canterlot from her window, just wishing that one day she would find her destiny in Canterlot. After that, Luster went to bed to rest up for the next morning.

As soon as the sun finally risen, Luster wakes up after hearing the rooster crowing from the Apple Farms. After getting a good stretch, Luster gets out of her bed to do her daily routine before meeting up with her friends in Ponyville. Before Luster could make breakfast inside the kitchen, she heard loud knocking coming from the front castle door. Unable to ignore the noise for one minute, Luster stopped making pancakes and headed to the castle entrance. As soon as Luster opened the door, an exhausted Spike appeared panting and sweating at the same time.

"Spike?!" Luster gasped upon seeing the dragon acting exhausted right in front of her. "Are you okay??"

"No I'm not, Luster!!" Spike said breathlessly. "Something horrible just happened back in Canterlot!!"

"What do you mean??" Luster said, having a big question floating above her head.

"Twilight was under heavy attack by unknown monsters that came from underneath the Canterlot Palace!!!"

"WHAT???!!!!" Luster gasped in shock.

"Most of the guards have been either massacred or possessed!!" Spike added in before handing out an old book to Luster. "Twilight wanted me to give you this just so that you might understand what you'll be up against in your next mission. Also, your friends may need to drop by so that they may follow up on what is happening back at Canterlot."

As Luster used her magic to retrieve the book from Spike, she levitated the book closer to her for a careful inspection. The book happens to be a red tome covered in dust and a few cracks on its hardcover. It had gold linings on its edges and a as soon as Luster wiped the dust off the tome, it revealed to have an orange-red pentagram on top of the book cover. The pentagram is shown to have star and three small circles inside a big orange circle. Inside the star, Luster sees a drawing of the face of some strange goat-like demon. At the bottom of the image, Luster sees that the title of the book is called, "The Demon World of Hell!"

After staring at the tome for a few seconds, Luster opened up the book to see what was written in its pages. Before Luster had a chance to read the ancient tome, she noticed that a sticky note was seen on the first page of the book. As Luster picked the note with her magic, she started reading it to herself.

"Luster, if you're reading this book, it mustn't fall under the wrong hands or else Equestria... No! Not just Equestria!! But rather, the entire world will be turned to a mass horror of death and destruction!!! Also, don't let any pony else other than you're trusted friends know about what is written in this book.

P.S: It happened right after I went back inside the palace after seeing the former Royal sisters and my friends leave that one of the Royal Guards came up to me and showed me this ancient tome that he found in Chrysalis' makeshift prison. When he read it first, he felt really frightened, making him believe that I need to be the one to keep this tome safe and out of reach. When me and Spike both read it together, we couldn't help but feel a frightful chill crawling up our spines. So, we stashed it away into the safe until the time came when we to give that book to someone that we can trust completely; like you Luster.

Just when Luster finished reading the sticky note, she flipped to the first page of the book and started reading it.

After Princess Celestia banished Nightmare Moon in the Castle of the Two Sisters, she faced another new kind of horror that came from the dark depths of Equestria itself, 30 years later. Of all the villains that Princess Celestia has to face on her own without her sister's aid, she faced most terrifying of them all which came from underneath Equestria. Down below the surface lies another dimension that is most terrifying then Tartarus itself. It is known as the Demon Realm. Without warning, millions of demonic creatures came out of the realm without showing any sign of mercy. Much to Celestia's horror, about 6 million of her ponies fell prey to the denizens of the Demon Realm, along with an entire platoon of her royal guard. During her fight with the demons of hell, Celestia came face-to-face with a sinister deity who happens to be the Dark Lord of Hell, their leader. Eventually, after losing so many innocent lives Celestia used the Elements of Harmony to drive away the Dark Lord and his minions, as well as sealing the bridge connection between Equestria and the Demon Realm but not before the Dark Lord leaving behind a relic key that is used to reopen the runic portals stationed all across the entire land of Equestria and beyond. It was known as the Talisman of Sin. Also, as long as the Elements of Harmony are intact, the gateway to the Demon Realm will remain closed for all eternity or so Celestia thought.

After reading a bit of the first pages of the book, the relic key came falling out of the book and onto the floor in front of Luster's hooves. As she used her magic to pick up the key, Luster sees that it was made out of bones; it had a small skull with curved horns jutting out from its side and pointing downwards. After looking very closely at the key and comparing it to the book, Luster confirmed that the key in her hooves right now is actually the Talisman of Sin. Feeling nervous about what will become of the situation that she is about to be in, Luster continued to read more on the "Demon World of Hell."

Even though Celestia defeated the Dark Lord, his evil essence is still taunting her claiming that one day he will return to the Land of Equestria vowing that he will corrupt the Ruler of Equestria to serve at his side as his one and only Queen of the Demons. After months of mental torment, Celestia could no longer bear the nightmares infecting her revolving around the Dark Lord despite being the ruler of Equestria for more than a thousand years prior. After the Elements of Harmony are destroyed by a resurrected King Sombra, it is only a matter of time before the Dark Lord will return to finish off where he started many moons ago.

As Luster turned to the next page of the book, she saw that ex-Princess Celestia just wrote down several stuff revolving around the villains and the Demon Realm.

Celestia's POV:
When I was put back in prison along with my sister, right after Twilight's friends and Spike escaped, I overhead Tirek saying something about conjuring up a magical fail-safe that might be useful if anything happens to them when they fail to conquer Equestria again. I didn't know what were they jabbering about but they all used their magic to summon forth a magic window that leads to a familiar dark world that neither my sister, or the pillars even knew of. But before I knew what was going on, I saw a familiar shadowy figure appear before Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow. It was the Dark Lord that I was forced to face off alone 300 years ago. I don't why, but for some reason, they already met him somewhere during their trek to retrieve the Bewitching Bell of Grogar and made a pact with him earlier. I couldn't help but feel horrified that there were other fiends and ponies that are actually in league with another villain that they would rely on, than rather a creature impersonating a tyrant. After I helped Luna and Discord imprison the three behind stone, I can't imagine myself being that stupid to realize that I actually made another mistake. However, I did my best not to tell Twilight about it. If she ever finds out about how they made a pact with the Dark Lord before their defeat, she probably will never forgive me. So, after the coronation, I secretly had one of the guards give Twilight and Spike this tome and the Talisman of Sin so that they can keep it safe from plain view. I wish I could've warned her about what they were planning but I just couldn't do it because she might get too overwhelmed in dealing with another threat that once existed hundreds of years ago. Instead, I just told Twilight not to read this book; anything but that.

After reading Celestia's POV, Luster turned to a few more pages only to see all sorts of demonic inscriptions that she couldn't understand. However, when she held the Talisman on top of the inscriptions, it started lighting up in a bright-red, ominous hue as it started shooting out a red beam at the tome. As the tome started flipping up pages by itself, it spewed out a huge red orb of magic. Sensing that it's a bad sign, Luster immediately lit up her horn and unleashed another spell to stop the book from doing anymore. After that, Luster put the book and the Talisman on the floor, 20 feet apart away from each other. As she took several deep breaths, Luster held the book back into her hooves before taking another look at the sticky note on its first page. When Luster flipped the note, she saw more of her mentor's writings.

One other thing, Luster. Don't let the contents get anywhere near the inscriptions inside this book. Last time it happened, a portal leading to an evil dimension appeared before me and a barrage of hideous tendrils tried to grab me by the wings and by the neck. It was not worth the risk.

From Queen Twilight Sparkle

As soon as she is finished with reading what was said in the sticky note and from the first few pages of the ancient tome, Luster turned towards Spike before saying anymore.

"What should I do, Spike?!"

"Well, Twilight did managed to send an order from her best engineers and weapon smiths to create new wargear to help you fight against the demons from underneath Canterlot weeks ago." Spike explained to Luster. "Thankfully, they're not stashed anywhere in the Palace."

"Where would they be?!" Luster asked Spike further.

"I'll show you. But first, we need to get your friends up here too." Spike added in. "You may need their help too in order for you to succeed in this new mission."

"I understand." Luster said, feeling anxious on what kind of creatures will be awaiting for her at the Canterlot Palace.

Several hours later, Luster went through all over Ponyville to gather her friends before taking the train to Canterlot. After making several rounds, Luster was able to get Vecra, Spring Light, Rubeth, and Bright to the Castle of Friendship, at Spike's request. After telling them what Spike just told her and while going over what she read in the tome earlier, Luster's friends felt a bit paranoid that they will be facing another new mission that is presumably more intense and more terrifying than anything they faced in Equestria.

"So you're saying that in our next friendship mission, we'll be facing a horde of demonic creatures that came from below the Equestrian surface?" Spring said, trying to summarize what Luster is elaborating.

"That and, if my theory is correct, this so-called Dark Lord might be going after Queen Twilight next in hopes of trying to corrupt her and using her powers against us as his new consort!!" Luster answered in a grim tone. "Well, we need to get ready as soon as possible before its too late!!"

"Vecra sense dangerous action!!! Vecra is going to enjoy!!!" The Red Yak grinned.

"Say Spike, where is this new war gear that you and Twilight stashed away?" Rubeth asked the teenage purple dragon.

"I'll show you guys. It's down at the armory basement below the castle. Follow me." Spike announced as he led Luster and her friends downstairs.

Without saying another word, Luster and her friends followed the Dragon Advisor from behind as he pulled out a torch and led them downstairs into the creepy darkness below the castle. Along the way, Luster's friends went in a single-file line not, not wanting to get lost. After a few minutes of walking through the dark underground castle hallways, Spike eventually led them to a dead end. Just when they think there is nothing to see, Spike lit up several torches that were hanging on the walls. When the torches started lighting up, Spike grabbed one torch that hasn't been lit yet. With just one downward pull, the walls in front of the dragon, Luster, and her friends started moving backwards and flew up to the ceiling. Much to Luster's surprise, she was the first to see a huge metal door with a DNA scanner next to its right. As soon as Spike approached the door, he placed his claw on the scanner. With just one beep, the door slowly opened up, unleashing a blind light upon Luster and her friends. After they covered their eyes with their hooves and claws for a few minutes, Spike went through the doorway first and into the room beyond it.

As soon as the blinding light faded away, Luster and her friends went inside the room only to all gasp in awe.
The room was revealed to be a very huge area where the floor is made out of white metal tiles and steel walls. In the middle of the room, there were five different sets of Praetor armor and helmets with clear-blue visors. They all have similar patterns that'll cover up their entire bodies from head to hoof, but with different features forged and adapted only for a certain type of creature. The first armor set was painted in black, customized to support the wings protruding from its back and had gauntlets that big enough to fit a creature's claws, which was meant for Rubeth. The second armor set was painted in orange, customized for a simple earth pony to wear, which is meant for Bright Vermillion. The third armor set was huge and bulky, painted in red; its helmet was seen to have big horns that good enough to put on a yak's head, considering that it is meant for Vecra. The fourth armor set had similar features to Bright's armor set, except that the helmet had a strange horn protruding on top of it and that it was all painted in dark-green. Seeing this, Spring confirmed that the fourth armor set was meant for her. The 5th armor set came with a helmet that has a pointed horn coming out of it; most of itself features are just as similar to Bright's armor except it was all painted in red with yellow linings, considering that it is forged just for Luster Dawn.

On their right, they see an array of weapons all racked up on the walls. There were combat shotguns, creepy sword grips, double-barrelled shotguns, assault rifles, and plasma guns. On her left, Luster sees an array of heavy-mounted weapons held on top of three large, metal tables: Chainguns, Rocket Launchers, Railguns, and a strange platform weapon loaded with an unstable green energy cells.

"GOOD GRAVY!!!" Luster exclaimed. "This is so amazing!!!"

"I know, right?!" Spike said. "One month after Twilight's coronation, she spent 10 weeks using all available research, crystals, and all sorts of forged metals to build all of these unique weapons and armor for the future generations of heroes before she stashed it all in this secret room v.i.a metal crates. I was there to unload all of it. She already told me not to let anypony or creature use any of this unless something bad happened back in Canterlot again."

"Well, this should be pretty interesting!!" Spring smirked.

"She also cast a spell on your armor sets, making them all fully adaptable to your natural abilities and talents." Spike announced. "Spring, why don't you try on your armor, give it a test drive."

Upon hearing what Spike just told the kirin, Spring went up to her armor rack and used her magic to put her helmet and armor on. As soon as she is done, Spring demonstrated how her armor functions. When she turned into a Nirik, the armor didn't get burned even by the slightest and that the color of the armor turned from dark-green to an obsidian black. After she turned back into a Kirin, Spring was surprised by her armor's after-effects.

"Wow, this armor is really good at handling my Nirik form." Spring said to herself in astonishment.

"So you see guys, these unique armor sets were only made just for you!!" Spike concluded. "They all have very high durability and can carry mounted weapons on your back."

"This looks great to use in our new mission!!" Bright said in excitement.

"Well, let's not stand around guys!!" Spike told Luster's group. "Gear up and head to Canterlot, I'll be meet you all there!!!"

After Spike flew off, Luster and her friends put their respective armor sets on and armed themselves with the weapons that were hanging on the racks and on top of the metal tables.

Author's Note

Since the names of Luster's friends haven't been officially confirmed, I decided to come up with names on my own.

Spring Light- Green-haired kirin with a beige body and a red horn (female)
Vecra - Red-furried Yak with orange curly hair (female)
Rubeth - Black-headed griffon with dark grey feathers (male)
Bright Vermillion- Earth Pony colt with an orange mane and pale brown body (male)