The Return of King Sombra

Chapters

The Queen Meets The King
The Bad Guys
One True Master
Day Out in Ponyville
The Presentation
The Guard
To Be Discorded
Gathering of Villains
Attack on Appleloosa
The Bad News
The Plan
The Rogue in Our Town
Who is Professor Screw?
Professor Screw Loose: Origins
A Sparkle of Love
A Shadow's Temptation
Motivations
Frenemies
United As One
Maniacs in Manehattan
Words From Beyond
The Sleepover
Confronting The Rogue
Grogar's Bewitching Bell

The Queen Meets The King

Somewhere in a deep dark forest, the woodland creatures were going about their business when a loud noise scared them.

“(Growl) Those stupid ponies!” Chrysalis yelled as she smashed a hole into a tree with her hoof. “I can never get them out of my head! Curse you, Twilight Sparkle! You and your stupid friends!” Chrysalis screamed as she used her magic to rip a tree out of the ground.

Then with one loud grunt, Chrysalis tossed the tree to the side, creating a loud crash. Chrysalis walked over to the tree and used her magic to pick up a stick and began to carve a very poor sketch of Starlight's face. Once the sketch was finished, Chrysalis chuckled to herself.

“(Chuckle) But of course, I haven't forgotten about you, Starlight Glimmer! I despise you the most out of everypony in all of Equestria! You stole everything from me! I ought to crush you!” Chrysalis yelled as she smashed her hoof against the sketch, destroying it. “Perhaps I ought to capture you and your friends, torture each of you individually, or maybe just maybe I could put all of you in a game of suffering! Perhaps I could just kill all of your friends right before your eyes!” Chrysalis yelled before something interrupted her evil plans.

Why don't you do that then, Chrysalis?

“Simple! Because the ponies are always so-HEY!!” Chrysalis yelled as she suddenly flared her wings and hissed loudly. “Who said that!?” Chrysalis hissed as she looked around, the strange and mysterious voice calling out again.

It would be so wonderful to watch those ponies suffer horrible fates, don't you agree, Chrysalis?

“Of course, I do! But who are you!? And where are you, mysterious one!? Show yourself, you coward!” Chrysalis yelled as she kept frantically looking around.

Heh, heh, heh, you really don't know who you're talking to, do you? I suppose that makes sense, since you can't see me...

“I said show yourself!” Chrysalis yelled as she began to fire beams of magic into the surrounding forest.

Don't waste your magic, Chrysalis. It's not a very wise for you to be doing...

“Grrr! Show yourself now or I will drain the love out of your body and leave you for the critters to feast on!” Chrysalis yelled.

DON'T YOU DARE THREATEN ME, CHRYSALIS!!!!

The voice was suddenly so loud that Chrysalis actually flinched in fear, now being much more terrified of this mysterious voice than before. With Chrysalis visibly scared, the voice began to chuckle again and assumed a gentler tone.

Forgive me, I don't take too kindly to being threatened, you see...

“Wh-Who are you?” Chrysalis asked again, very much terrified.

We will have plenty of time to exchange pleasantries, once you set me free...

“Huh? Set you free? And why would I do that?” Chrysalis asked, deciding to be a bit braver.

Quite simple, Chrysalis... if you set me free, I'll help you get what you want...

“And what is it that I want?” Chrysalis asked.

You wish for Twilight Sparkle and the rest of her friends to suffer... especially this Starlight Glimmer... am I correct?

“Hmph! You only know this because you must have overheard my ranting.” Chrysalis said as she turned around.

Oh no, I've known about your lust for revenge for quite some time now... ever since you were kicked out of your own hive...

“WHAT!? How do you know about this!? WHO ARE YOU!?” Chrysalis yelled as she hissed loudly.

Come set me free, and I'll tell you...

“Fine! Where can I find you?” Chrysalis asked.

Follow my voice... follow my voice... follow my voice.... follow my voice... follow my voice... follow my voice…

As the voice kept repeating this phrase over and over, Chrysalis could hear that it was starting to get quieter. Chrysalis walked forward a bit and the voice became louder. Observing this, Chrysalis followed the voice as best as she could. The voice took Chrysalis through a lot of thick brushes and twigs. It was rather painful and annoying, but Chrysalis pushed on, wanting to know just who the owner was of this terrifying yet mystical voice. Eventually, Chrysalis found herself standing at the entrance of a cave.

Yes, Chrysalis... inside the deep dark cave... that's where you'll find me...

Chrysalis chose not to respond to this statement as she confidently walked into the dark cave. The inside of the cave was very dark indeed. The further Chrysalis walked into the cave, the less light there was to help guide her. Soon, Chrysalis had to rely on her magic to light her way. The voice hadn't said a word since Chrysalis entered the cave, much to Chrysalis's relief. She'd rather not hear that menacing voice while she was inside an unknown place. Sadly however, the voice did return, startling Chrysalis so much her whole body flinched.

Just a bit further now Chrysalis... you're almost there...

Chrysalis scowled as she kept on walking through the cave. As Chrysalis kept walking, she saw that the cave walls started to become decked with dark crystals and jagged diamonds. The further she walked, the more menacing the cave began to look. After a few minutes of walking, Chrysalis stopped as she saw something that caught her eye. As Chrysalis was looking around the cave, she happened to look to her left and saw a large opening in the cave walls. Now this wouldn't normally be out of the ordinary, if it wasn't for the obvious stairs that led down deeper into the cave.

“Down there?” Chrysalis asked, just to be sure.

Yes... just go down the stairs... and you'll find me...

Chrysalis nodded slightly and then walked down the stairs. After a few short minutes of walking down the stairs, Chrysalis made it to a rather large open part of the cave. This part of the cave was almost like a small room, all be it with nothing in it. Chrysalis looked around and when she couldn't see any pony, she growled, thinking she had been tricked.

“Well, where are you!?” Chrysalis called.

Look down at your hooves...

“Huh? Oh, what is this?” Chrysalis asked as she looked to see that she had stopped right in front of a dark red horn, probably that of a unicorn.

Pick up the horn... take it outside of the cave... and then we will speak...

“Why would I do that? Where are you?” Chrysalis asked, not wanting to wait any longer.

Pick up the horn... take it outside the cave... and then we will speak...

“Ugh, fine!” Chrysalis said as she used her magic to pick up the horn and then made her way out of the cave.

As Chrysalis carried the horn, she thought about who this horn could possibly belong to. All she could say for sure was that this clearly belonged to a unicorn. Though it could have also belonged to an alicorn, then again, the horn was for one, way too short and she didn't know any alicorn with a red horn. Once Chrysalis made it back outside, the voice spoke once again.

Place the horn on the ground in front of you and then say the phrase, 'Shembaku, release'...

Chrysalis did as she was told, placing the horn on the ground, then stepping a few feet back as she repeated the words that the voice told her to say.

“Shembaku, release!” Chrysalis said.

Suddenly, the ground below Chrysalis started to shake very violently. The ground shook so hard that large cracks started appearing all over the place, almost as if the very land below Chrysalis's hooves was going to break open. The clouds above darkened until it looked as if it was the dead of night. Lightning and thunder struck the air as the winds howled in pain. As the ground continued to shake, Chrysalis looked on as she saw a few large chunks of dark crystals rise up from the ground from underneath the horn. Then the crystals started to cocoon the horn into a large crystal. Then from the ground, a dark cloud of fog started to rise and consume the crystal. Once the crystal was consumed by the fog, the crystal started to crack; from the cracks bright beams of light flew out from the crystal.

After multiple cracks appeared on the crystal, the crystal shook more violently than the ground and then, it exploded. From the crystal a large cloud of shadow and darkness flew out and into the sky above Chrysalis. As the cloud flew up into the air and then stood still for a few moments, Chrysalis saw something forming in the cloud, a face. A dark grey outline of a pony's face appeared in the cloud along with two large green eyes with red pupils and a bright purple shadow emitting from the eyes appeared. On top of where the pony's head would have been, a long dark yet bright red horn appeared. Then a large mouth with sharp teeth appeared and then a long and loud laugh could be heard from the cloud. As Chrysalis stared at the cloud, she suddenly realized who she had just set free.

“Wh-What? Is... is that?” Chrysalis asked as the cloud suddenly crashed down in front of her.

As the cloud of shadow started to clear away, Chrysalis's suspicions were proven to be correct as she could see a pony with a dark grey body with a black mane and tail. The pony wore armor as well as armor on its legs. The pony also wore a red royal cape as well as a dark crown. There was no question about it. This was King Sombra.

“(Evil chuckle) Yes... Yes.... YES.... I'm finally.... FREE! (Evil Laugh)” Sombra laughed as he shot a beam of his magic into the air, proclaiming his freedom.

“K-King Sombra?” Chrysalis asked as she was very shocked to see the unicorn tyrant.

“Ahhh, Queen Chrysalis... my greatest gratitude to you for freeing me from that place. I am in your debt.” Sombra said as he chuckled while turning to face Chrysalis.

“But... I had heard you were killed.” Chrysalis said. “How is it that you are alive?” Chrysalis asked as she was trying to understand how King Sombra was standing before her if he had apparently been killed.

“Perhaps I was killed, perhaps I wasn't. I am not sure myself. I was killed yes, but I wasn't dead. At the same time, I was.” Sombra said as he laughed to himself.

“So basically, you died.” Chrysalis said flatly.

“(Evil Chuckle) I suppose so.” Sombra said as he took a deep breath and then let it out. “I'll get right to the point then; we both want the same thing. Well, mostly the same thing. You mostly seek revenge on Starlight Glimmer, I want revenge against Twilight Sparkle.” Sombra said.

“I understand wanting revenge on those ponies but why is that you only want revenge on Twilight Sparkle? Wasn't it Princess Cadance who used the Crystal Heart's power to defeat you?” Chrysalis asked.

“(Evil Chuckle) I suppose you could say that, yes. You could also say that it was Twilight's wretched pet who brought the Crystal Heart to Cadance in the first place.” Sombra said before he suddenly stomped his hoof on the ground. “HOWEVER! Who was it that led the charge against me? Who was it that rallied the group to stand up against me? Whose destiny was it to defeat me? That's right, Twilight Sparkle. THAT is why I want revenge on her.” Sombra explained.

“Hmph, I suppose that does make sense. Hey, wait a minute! How did you know about me getting kicked out of my own hive?” Chrysalis asked.

“It's quite simple really... you see, while I was trapped in that strange place, I was able to watch over all of Equestria, though I mostly kept my eye on Twilight Sparkle.” Sombra explained. “It was during this time when I saw how you were able to capture Twilight and her friends, as well as Princesses Celestia and Luna, quite impressive if I do say so myself.”

“(Chuckle) Yes, it was quite an achievement. And very easy to do may I add.” Chrysalis said as she smiled with pride.

“Until you were defeated by this Starlight Glimmer, your changelings becoming creatures of beauty, and then you fled the scene instead of accepting friendship.” Sombra said.

“(Hiss) If not for Starlight Glimmer, Discord, that weird magician pony, and that traitor Thorax, I could have taken over all of Equestria. And I would rather DIE than accept any FRIENDSHIP!” Chrysalis yelled.

“(Evil Chuckle) Really? You'd accept death over friendship? Interesting... no matter. Come along now, Chrysalis, we have much to do.” Sombra said as he began to walk off towards the forest.

“Ha! What makes you think I'm going to just follow your orders? No thank you.” Chrysalis said as she turned away from Sombra, prepared to walk in the other direction.

“Oh, really?” Sombra asked as his eyes suddenly glowed with their green light and then a long skinny hand came out of Chrysalis's own shadow and grabbed her by the throat, choking her.

“(Choke, wheeze, gasp) H-Hey! (Choke) Let (Choke) me go!” Chrysalis begged as she was getting choked to death.

“I said.... Come with me, Chrysalis.... we have much to do.” Sombra said as he glared at Chrysalis.

“(Choke) Okay! (Choke) Fine! (Choke) I'll go!” Chrysalis gasped as the grip around her throat became tighter.

“(Evil Chuckle) What was that? I couldn’t hear you.” Sombra said with a sadistic grin.

“(Choke) I s-said (Choke) I'll go! (Choke) I'LL GO!” Chrysalis cried as the shadowy hand finally released its grip on Chrysalis's neck and went back into her shadow.

“(Evil Chuckle) Good, now come along Chrysalis.” Sombra said as he started to walk again, only to stop as he heard the sound of Chrysalis getting ready to use her magic. “Ah, ah, ah Chrysalis, I suggest you don't do whatever you plan on doing right now.... otherwise, I will make sure you die a very slow death.... trust me, being choked to death is a very slow and cruel way to leave this world (Evil Chuckle).” Sombra said as he continued walking.

“What... have I... done?” Chrysalis asked as she reluctantly followed Sombra into the forest.

Author's Note

King Sombra is free and back in Equestria... oh boy... Chrysalis has sure released a great evil back into the world. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading

The Bad Guys

It had been a few days since Sombra was set free. Since his release, Sombra and Chrysalis walked endlessly through the deep forest, stopping only a few times to rest. Chrysalis had insisted that flying would be a lot faster than walking, but Sombra didn’t want to hear it. Sombra had made it very clear that he would prefer that no pony saw him until he was ready to begin his plan, which he still shared no information about. Sombra stated that he could very easily use his magic to warp them to their destination, but he would instead rather give his legs a chance to move again. This annoyed Chrysalis quite a lot, but she knew better than to go against Sombra.

“How much longer do you insist on making us walk through this forest?” Chrysalis asked as she kicked a stone in her path.

“(Evil Chuckle) Patience, Chrysalis.” Sombra said as he kept walking. “We are nearly there, just a bit further now.”

“I still don't understand why you insist on laying low. So, what if somepony sees you? What's the big deal? If somepony sees you, we take them out.” Chrysalis said as she hoped Sombra would just give in already.

“And what if that pony escapes?” Sombra suggested. “I intend to keep my presence from Equestria a secret until my plan is ready.”

“Ah yes, a plan that you refuse to tell me ANYTHING about!” Chrysalis shouted.

“Patience Chrysalis, patience.” Sombra replied as they kept on walking.

Chrysalis just rolled her eyes as they continued their long walk. It would be about two more days until finally Sombra stopped and held his hoof up, signaling for Chrysalis to stop as well. Seeing this, Chrysalis stopped and stared with curiosity.

“Why have we stopped? Are we finally at our destination perhaps?” Chrysalis asked.

“(Evil Chuckle) This time, yes we are.” Sombra said as he looked back at Chrysalis with a serious look. “Now, stand back.” Sombra said as he stood on his back hooves and then slammed his front hooves on the ground.

When Sombra's front hooves hit the floor, the ground began to shake. Anticipating another earthquake to happen, Chrysalis hovered in the air so she wouldn't get hurt. Then, from the spot where Sombra hit the ground, crystals began to come out of the ground and then they started to make their way over to a decently open part of the forest a few feet away. When the crystals made it to the spot, they began to form a rather large circle in the ground and then the crystals started to rise up out of the ground. Then, a ton of crystals started to rise up and form into the shape of a jagged and creepy looking miniature castle, not much taller than the surrounding trees. When the castle was finished Sombra looked back at Chrysalis and stepped to the side.

“After you, Queen Chrysalis.” Sombra said as he motioned for Chrysalis.

For a moment, Chrysalis was impressed at how Sombra was able to do this, but then a rather annoying thought came to her head.

“That's pretty impressive but tell me WHY COULDN'T YOU HAVE DONE THIS BACK WHERE I FREED YOU?!” Chrysalis screamed as she was very mad at the time she might have wasted walking through the forest.

“We were too close to civilization. No pony will think of venturing this far into the forest. Just get inside the castle already.” Sombra said, starting to get annoyed with Chrysalis's attitude.

“Ugh! Fine!” Chrysalis said as she quickly walked past Sombra and into his castle, with Sombra following soon after.

The inside of the castle was nothing special really. As a matter of fact, there was barely anything inside the castle. Just a very large table with seats in the center of the castle. Behind the table, there was a large platform with two stairs that led to a throne, no doubt for Sombra to sit on. There were a few open doorways that led to some other rooms, a few of which led down into the ground. There were a few crystals that hung low from the ceiling or along the walls that glowed, providing suitable light throughout the castle.

“I know it’s not much but once I'm ready, I will make massive improvements to my castle. Besides, this is only my temporary castle. My permanent castle will be in the Crystal Empire, of course.” Sombra said.

“Hmph, whatever.” Chrysalis scoffed as she walked over to one of the chairs and sat down. “So, now that we're here will you please tell me about your 'great' plan?” Chrysalis asked.

“Not yet, we are lacking two certain creatures.” Sombra said.

“And who might they be?” Chrysalis asked.

“Wait here, I will get them.” Sombra said as his eyes glowed green and then he disappeared in a cloud of shadow.

Chrysalis said nothing as she just smacked her head on the table in front of her, then got up and decided to look around the castle.

Meanwhile....

Deep in the depths of Tartarus, there were the sounds of many monsters and animals trying to find any source of entertainment inside their cages. In one of these particular cages, Lord Tirek was making tally marks on the floor of his cage when he heard the voice of Cozy Glow from the cage next to his.

“Psst, Tirek.” Cozy Glow said, causing Tirek to groan.

“It is Lord Tirek and what is it now?” Tirek asked, wanting this conversation to end as quickly as possible.

“I just want to make sure you can see my ‘Best Friends’ rock sculpture from over there.” Cozy Glow said smiling her sweet innocent smile while pointing to her decent sculpture of the both of them.

“Ugh! Yes, I can see it just fine.” Tirek replied as he wanted to desperately to smack himself in the head.

“Sweet! It's really good, isn't it?” Cozy Glow asked.

“Sure, it's great, now will you just leave me alone already?” Tirek asked.

“But who else am I supposed to talk to?” Cozy Glow asked, putting on a pouty face.

“I don't know, why don't you use your sculpting talent to make yourself a friend to talk to instead of pestering me every five damn minutes!” Tirek said, turning fully to face her.

“Aww, are you still mad that I failed?” Cozy Glow asked innocently.

“Yes, I'm still mad that you failed! Though I should have expected that to happen, I mean look at you.” Tirek said.

“Hey! What's that supposed to mean! And what do you mean look at me? Look at you! You look like you're about to die of starvation!” Cozy Glow shot back.

“I am about to die of starvation!” Tirek shouted.

“Yeah, I can tell, I can see your ribs from here.” Cozy Glow said with a snort.

“Oh, you shut up! I can't stand being next to you anymore! All I want to do right now is get some peace and-!” Tirek yelled as he was cut off when a large shadow seemingly engulfed him and then warped him away.

“Huh? Tirek? Hey! Where'd you go!? Hey, you can't leave me here all alone! Tirek! Tirek! Where are-!?” Cozy Glow cried as she too was warped away by shadows.

As soon as both of the villains disappeared, Sombra appeared in between their cages.

“(Evil Chuckle) Quite a horrible place to keep those two. Still though, I will keep my eyes on this place. It could be good for storing prisoners.” Sombra said before he heard a loud roar.

Sombra looked ahead and saw the giant three-headed beast, Cerberus roaring loudly at him.

“(Evil Chuckle) Ahh... company.” Sombra said as he puffed out his chest with pride. “Come at me, beast!” Sombra challenged.

Cerberus roared loudly again and then charged at Sombra, ready to maul him and tear him up. But before Cerberus could make it to Sombra, Sombra's eyes glowed their green light and then suddenly three large crystals shot up out of the ground from underneath Cerberus. Cerberus stopped dead in his tracks as the three crystals completely impaled him through the stomach. Cerberus panted as blood started pouring from its wounds.

“(Evil Laugh) You tried, but you failed. Now do me a favor beast, die slowly.” Sombra said as he let out a long laugh. “I have a meeting to attend to.” Sombra said as he disappeared in a cloud of shadow.

Meanwhile....

Chrysalis had already explored the entire castle, which didn't take long as the castle wasn't very big to begin with. Chrysalis was walking out of the room that she decided would be hers when she heard a sound come from one of the flights of stairs on the opposite side of the castle. Chrysalis turned and saw the familiar sight of Lord Tirek and a not so familiar baby Pegasus.

“Quiet!” Tirek yelled at the same time as Cozy Glow.

“You!?” Cozy Glow yelled at the same time as Tirek.

Now being aware of their surroundings, Tirek and Cozy Glow looked around with wonder until a voice interrupted them.

“Lord Tirek?” Chrysalis asked out loud, trying to make sure she was in fact seeing what she was seeing.

“A changeling?” Tirek asked as he was taken aback by the sight of Chrysalis, before looking down to Cozy Glow, noting that Chrysalis had referred to him as Lord Tirek. “See, she gets it.” Tirek said while Cozy Glow just rolled her eyes.

“Chrysalis! Queen of the Changelings, or at least I will be when I'm restored to my rightful place!” Chrysalis yelled as she flew over to them and landed hard, making it clear she was a threat. “Why have you come here!? Have you come to fight me!?” Chrysalis yelled as her horn lit up with magic, ready to attack.

“Wahh!” Cozy Glow cried as she flapped her wings and then hid behind Tirek's leg. “Oh no, we didn't come here to fight you. We don't even know how we got here. (Gasp) We're you the one who freed us from Tartarus?” Cozy Glow asked with an excited face.

“Tartarus? I had no idea he was so powerful enough that he could actually enter Tartarus.” Chrysalis said with wide eyes.

“Who's he?” Cozy Glow asked before suddenly there was a loud laughter coming from where the throne was placed.

The trio looked up towards the throne and saw a large cloud of shadow moving around the throne before finally settling. As the cloud of shadow lifted, they all watched as King Sombra came into view, standing mighty and looking down upon them.

“King Sombra?” Tirek asked as he looked up to the king.

“Sombra? But how-?” Cozy Glow asked before she was cut off by Sombra.

“Yes, it is I, King Sombra at your service.” Sombra said as he laughed.

“So, you're the one who freed us from Tartarus?” Tirek asked, looking at Sombra suspiciously.

“Indeed, I was.” Sombra replied.

“But wait a minute, I thought you were killed.” Cozy Glow said.

“I suppose I was, but that doesn't matter right now. What does matter is that all of you are here now.” Sombra said with a chuckle.

“And why is that?” Tirek asked.

“Simple really, you are all required for my plan to work.” Sombra replied.

“Plan? What plan?” Cozy Glow asked.

“Yes, what plan?” Chrysalis asked, giving Sombra an annoyed look.

“I appreciate your patience Chrysalis, now it shall be rewarded. For you see, the reason I needed all of you here now, is that we all have a common desire. A common wish. We all want to seek our revenge against Twilight Sparkle and the rest of her pathetic friends.” Sombra said as he kept his eyes on the trio before him. “We have all been defeated by those ponies and I think it's time we did something about.... something's wrong.” Sombra said as he heard the sound of voices near the outside of the castle.

Sombra then quickly disappeared in a cloud of shadows as he went to investigate. As his cloud of shadow moved through the air, he spotted a group of about six unicorns walking together seemingly on some sort of adventure or something. Sombra thought of just taking them out but then he realized this could be useful, so he went back to the castle.

“So... what's it like to be a queen with no kingdom?” Cozy Glow asked, but before Chrysalis could respond, Sombra appeared next to Cozy Glow.

“It is Cozy Glow, correct?” Sombra asked.

“Wahh! Uh, I mean, yes, that's me.” Cozy Glow said nervously.

“Tell me, do you perhaps know how to lure ponies into a trap?” Sombra asked.

“As a matter of fact, I do!” Cozy Glow said with a smile.

“(Evil Chuckle) Good, then I have a job for you, come with me.” Sombra said.

“So, are you sure this is the right way?” a unicorn asked. “We've been in this forest almost all day.” The unicorn said as he dragged his hooves.

“Yes, I know this is the right way now will you please just-.” another unicorn said before he was cut off.

“Hey, shh! Listen.... do you hear that?” A female unicorn asked.

As the unicorns listened carefully, they heard what sounded like a filly crying.

“Somepony's in trouble! Come on let's go!” the unicorn said as the group ran to where they heard the noise coming from.

After a few moments, the group of unicorns made it to a clearing. One of them heard the sound of crying coming from one of the bushes so he walked over to the bush and used his magic to push the leaves to the side.

“Oh my gosh! Look!” he called to the others who came rushing over.

The unicorns all gasped when they saw Cozy Glow, crying in the bushes looking terrified and sad.

“It's a filly.” a unicorn said.

“Poor thing, she's all alone out here.” another one said.

“Hey there, what are you doing out here by yourself?” a unicorn asked as he held his hoof out.

“(Sniff, sniff) I.... was walking with my mommy.... and now I can't find her. Please help me find my mommy.” Cozy Glow cried as she hugged the unicorn’s leg.

“Don't worry little filly, we'll help you find your mommy.” a unicorn said.

“Oh, thank you! Thank you!” Cozy Glow cheered. “I think I know where she is but I'm too scared to look by myself.”

“You don't have to be afraid anymore, we'll go with you.” another unicorn said.

“Thank you all so much! I'm so glad that I met some really friendly ponies. Follow me, it's this way!” Cozy Glow said as she flew up and led the way.

After a bit of walking, Cozy Glow led the ponies to the castle. When they arrived, the unicorns were so surprised by the sight that they didn't see Cozy Glow smirk.

“I think my mommy's in there, but I'm too scared to go in there alone.” Cozy Glow said, making sure to keep her act up.

“Not to worry, we'll go look for her. You stay right here; we'll be back out before you know it.” a unicorn said as they made their way inside the castle.

“(Giggle) Oh, I don't think so.” Cozy Glow said before she sprung the trap. “Now, Tirek!” Cozy Glow shouted.

Before the ponies could do anything, Tirek jumped out of nowhere and landed right in front of them. Seeing Tirek, the ponies turned to flee but then saw Cozy Glow and Chrysalis blocking the exit, laughing at them. Then the ponies heard the laughter of King Sombra and turned to see him at his throne. Sombra's eyes then glowed green as he used his power to crystalize the ponies' hooves to the ground, preventing them from going anywhere. Then Tirek used his power to drain the ponies of their magic, returning him to his normal form. Once the ponies had their magic drained, Chrysalis flew in front of them and used her magic to suck out all of their love. Once their love was drained, Sombra used his power to crystallize the ponies completely before they were suddenly pulled underground, never to be seen again.

“Yes! We got them good!” Cozy Glow cheered as she smiled wickedly.

“Yessss, so delicious.” Chrysalis said as she savored the taste of the love she had just drained.

“Now this is more like it.” Tirek said as he flexed his muscles and gave them a kiss.

“(Evil Chuckle) Well done, now where were we? Ah yes, I think it is time we did something about our failures to take over Equestria. Think about it, how was it that Twilight and her friends were able to defeat all of us every single time? Any ideas?” Sombra asked.

“Because they all cheated!” Chrysalis shouted, stomping her hoof down.

“No, it’s because they are annoyingly lucky.” Tirek said, rolling his eyes at the memory of his defeat.

“Well, I'm just a kid so that explains why I was defeated.” Cozy Glow said with a smile.

“(Chuckle) Interesting answers, but WRONG!” Sombra yelled, slamming his hoof on the ground. “How can you all be so blind!? It's so obvious! They were able to defeat us because they worked together!”

“I suppose so.” Chrysalis said.

“Ehh, sure.” Tirek said.

“I think that makes sense.” Cozy Glow said.

“Yes, now listen well. The four of us will all work together and with our powers united, we will take down everypony in Equestria and no pony will be able to stop us. We will all conquer this world, under my command.” Sombra said.

There was a few moments of silence before Tirek, Chrysalis and Cozy Glow all broke out in laughter.

“What's so funny?” Sombra asked, not sensing any humor in anything he said.

“Ha! Under your command!? You really think we're just gonna agree to that!?” Tirek asked as he held his stomach.

“Yes! Why would we ever allow you to take command of us? What are we? Your slaves?” Chrysalis asked.

“Chrysalis.” Sombra said as he glared at her.

“Yeah! What they said! You're just a stupid villain! We'll never take orders from you!” Cozy Glow shouted as she stuck out her tongue at Sombra.

“What?” Sombra asked as he started to breathe heavily with rage.

“You might be a king, but you're not my king, King Sombra.” Tirek said mockingly.

“You really thought we were just going to willingly bow to you of all ponies? Please! I'd rather bow to a street rat than bow to you, Sombra!” Chrysalis shouted, no longer having any fear of Sombra and his power.

“Yeah! You're not the boss of any of us, and you never will be!” Cozy Glow yelled as the others started to laugh.

“Farewell, Sombra! Have fun on your little crusade against Twilight Sparkle!” Chrysalis said as she turned to leave.

“We'll take care of those ponies by ourselves! We don't need your fancy shadows or stupid rocks!” Tirek called as he also turned to leave.

“Bye-bye you dumb old timer!” Cozy Glow said as she also turned to leave.

If the three villains could have seen the look on Sombra’s face now, they all would have felt a massive chill run down their spines. Sombra’s whole body was shaking, his teeth were visible and grinding, his eyes were filled with rage. Now those three had really done it.

“ENOUGH!!!” Sombra yelled as he jumped down with a loud thud. “I've had it up to here with this nonsense! I ask for your allegiance, but it seems you will not give it to me! If that's the case, then I will take it from all of you!” Sombra yelled as he marched towards them.

“What is that supposed to mean, Sombra?” Chrysalis asked, turning back to face the angry king.

“I challenge all three of you for your loyalty and your allegiance, AT ONCE!!” Sombra roared.

“HA! You are a fool Sombra! To have given me back some of my power before deciding to face me in battle, my are you stupid!” Tirek laughed as he turned back around to face Sombra.

“I fought hard for my title as queen, and I will not give up that title so easily!” Chrysalis yelled as she flew up in the air next to Tirek.

“Yeah! Plus, there's no way you can defeat all three of us at once!” Cozy Glow shouted, flying in the air, and putting her hooves up as if she were in a boxing match.

“(Evil Chuckle) We shall see.” Sombra replied as all four of them prepared for battle.

“CHARGE!” Cozy Glow yelled as all three of them charged at Sombra.

Author's Note

It is common knowledge that villains will always betray one another. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, it is a lot of fun to write :)

One True Master

“What is that supposed to mean, Sombra?” Chrysalis asked, turning back to face the angry king.

“I challenge all three of you for your loyalty and your allegiance, AT ONCE!!” Sombra roared.

“HA! You are a fool Sombra! To have given me back some of my power before deciding to face me in battle, my are you stupid!” Tirek laughed as he turned back around to face Sombra.

“I fought hard for my title as queen, and I will not give up that title so easily!” Chrysalis yelled as she flew up in the air next to Tirek.

“Yeah! Plus, there's no way you can defeat all three of us at once!” Cozy Glow shouted, flying in the air, and putting her hooves up as if she were in a boxing match.

“(Evil Chuckle) We shall see.” Sombra replied as all four of them prepared for battle.

“CHARGE!” Cozy Glow yelled as all three of them charged at Sombra.

Sombra wasted no time as he fired a beam of magic at Cozy Glow, hitting her in the leg and causing her to crash on the ground. Sombra then jumped back as Chrysalis almost impaled him with her long horn. Chrysalis fired a beam of her own magic at Sombra, but he dodged it and fired a beam of his own magic at Tirek, hitting him in the face, temporarily stunning him. With Tirek stunned, Sombra focused his attention to Chrysalis who once again flew straight towards him. Sombra pounced back and the two locked horns, having an almost horn sword fight. However, with Sombra's horn being much smaller compared to Chrysalis's horn, Chrysalis had much more of an advantage in this duel. This wasn't a big problem however as Sombra kicked Chrysalis's leg to the side, causing her to lose her balance. Sombra jumped back and laughed as he used his magic to make his horn grow larger with crystals. Chrysalis hissed and flew back in, and the sword duel began again. As Sombra and Chrysalis engaged in their duel, Tirek had finally recovered from getting hit in the face. Tirek took aim and fired his beam of magic at the two dueling creatures. Sombra smiled at Chrysalis as he jumped into the shadows and disappeared. Chrysalis had no time to fly away, but she was able to dodge the blast, unfortunately the impact when the magic hit the wall behind her sent her flying into the wall on the other side of the castle.

Sombra reappeared next to where the beam had hit and quickly fired his magic at Tirek, who countered with his own magic. For a few moments, the two were locked in a magic duel as their beams of magic struggled to overpower the other. Tirek laughed as he watched Sombra struggle to hold him back. As Sombra continued to fight back, his ears were suddenly yanked back by Cozy Glow, who had recovered from getting hit. It was nothing that Sombra couldn't handle but it was rather annoying. As Cozy Glow was yanking Sombra's ears back, she turned and saw Chrysalis was about to attack. Seeing this, Cozy Glow flew out of range and waited for the inevitable. Sombra was suddenly hit in the side by Chrysalis's magic beam, causing him to lose his focus and allowing Tirek's magic to overpower him, causing Sombra to be hit and sent flying into the wall. As Sombra coughed, he looked up and saw the three of them staring down at him with smug looks on their faces.

“You really are a fool, King Sombra! Challenging all of us, what were you thinking!?” Tirek asked as he flexed.

“Say hello to the darkness that awaits you, Sombra.” Chrysalis said as her horn glowed with magic.

“Night, night, KingSombra!” Cozy Glow mocked as she rubbed her hooves together.

“Heh, heh, you are all quite formidable indeed. Now.... FACE YOUR FEARS!” Sombra yelled as his eyes glowed green while he stared into the eyes of Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow.

“NO!!” all three of them cried as they were suddenly plagued by their fears.

*Tirek's Fear Realm*

Tirek woke up inside of a huge cage, with his arms and legs chained down. It seemed that nothing else existed except for himself and the cage he was trapped in. So far this wasn't too scary, Tirek was only unable to move, that's all.

“Ha! You really think this is what scares me, Sombra? Not being able to move my body!? You insult me! When I wake up from whatever this is, I'll crush you! You hear me!?” Tirek yelled.

No reply, just pure silence, until...

“HEY TIREK!” a voice called.

“Huh? Who goes there? Where are-OH NO! NOT YOU!” Tirek cried as he saw the familiar pink pony, Pinkie Pie.

“Heya Tirek! How've you been!? Did you miss me?” Pinkie Pie asked as she bounced in the air.

“Oh, go away! You're such an annoying miscreant!” Tirek yelled.

“No, I'm not, I'm a super-duper fun party pony!” a voice said as another Pinkie Pie appeared next to Tirek.

“Gah! Where did you come from!?” Tirek cried.

“Hi Tirek!”

“Hey Tirek!”

“Over here Tirek!”

“No, over here Tirek!”

“No! NO!” Tirek cried as more and more Pinkie Pie's began to spawn into the surrounding void.

“Hey everypony, who's ready to party!?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“I AM! I AM!” all of the Pinkie Pie's replied as they all converged in on Tirek.

“No! NOOOOOOO!!” Tirek cried as one of the Pinkie Pie's took out a cake and brought it closer and closer to his face.

Just before Tirek’s face was smashed into the cake, all of the Pinkie Pie’s began to disappear one by one. When Tirek was left by himself, the cage he was in suddenly disappeared as well, leaving only the chains to keep Tirek in place. As Tirek tried to break free from the chains, he heard a familiar voice call out to him.

“Tirek… how could you let yourself fall like this?”

Tirek immediately recognized the voice as belonging to his younger brother, Scorpan.

“Scorpan!? My pathetic excuse of a brother! Where are you!?” Tirek asked, looking around to find Scorpan.

“Brother, why could you not see the harmony and peace in friendship?” Scorpan asked as he appeared before Tirek.

“Don’t you dare lecture me! You’re just a weak and pathetic coward! You have no right to judge me!” Tirek yelled as he tried to lunge at his brother, with the chains holding him back.

“I only wanted to help you see the good in Equestria. The ponies were willing to welcome us with open hooves as their allies.” Scorpan said.

“You think I care about that stuff!? All I care about is power!” Tirek yelled, glaring at his brother. “I should have just made the journey by myself. I would have conquered Equestria and become more powerful than anyone!”

“You call me pathetic, but it is you who are pathetic, brother!” Scorpan said, showing some real anger.

“Don’t try to act all big and tough now! The only time you’ve ever shown any backbone was when you betrayed me and told the princesses to capture me!” Tirek yelled.

“I did what was right!” Scorpan yelled as he shed a tear for his brother. “I have stood up for you and protected you from father long enough! Goodbye, brother!” Scorpan yelled as he disappeared.

“That’s right! Run away you coward! That’s all you’ll ever be!” Tirek yelled into the void of emptiness.

Just then, a huge figure suddenly appeared before Tirek. This figure had a very similar appearance to Tirek, but it wasn’t Tirek, this was King Vorak, Tirek’s father. King Vorak looked furious as his eyes glowed red with pure spiteful rage. King Vorak was holding a large sword in his hand, which he was gripping tightly and firmly.

“Father?” Tirek asked before he was smacked across the face.

“Do not speak to me! You are a traitor to your whole family and tribe!” King Vorak yelled.

“(Spit) You do not scare me, father.” Tirek said, spitting out the blood in his mouth.

“I knew you’d betray us all one day! Ever since you were born, I could see that look of hunger and lust for power in your eye!” King Vorak yelled.

“Oh really? Then why didn’t you do anything about it, father?” Tirek asked with a mocking grin.

“I should have strangled you when you came out of the womb!” King Vorak yelled as he smacked his son in the face again.

“Just you wait, father. One day, I will return to our homeland, and when I do, I will destroy everything and take over our kingdom! I will be unstoppable!” Tirek yelled.

“No, no you won’t.” King Vorak said as he started to use his own power to drain Tirek of all of his magic.

Once Tirek had been drained of all of his power, he went completely limp. Tirek tried to fight back, but he had nothing left to fight with. King Vorak then raised his sword up in the air. Tirek was terrified; not because he was about to be killed by his own father, but because he would never get the chance to prove himself to everyone in his kingdom. He would never get to take what was rightfully his or even get to payback his father for always belittling him.

“You are nothing! You’re a failure! You’re pathetic! You’ll never amount to anything! You’re just a weak pathetic mistake! That’s all you are, and that’s all you’ll ever be!” King Vorak yelled.

“NOOOO!!!!” Tirek yelled as King Vorak brought the sword down on him.

*Chrysalis's Fear Realm*

Chrysalis found herself falling into darkness until she landed on a soft grassy surface. When Chrysalis landed, she stood up and found herself in a field of beautiful flowers and plants. There were so many colors all around her that it was almost blinding. Chrysalis was definitely disgusted by this but not in any way afraid of this. Chrysalis scoffed at the idea that this was her worst fear, when she heard a very familiar voice of a traitor come from behind her.

“Hey there, Queen Chrysalis.” the voice of Thorax said from behind her.

“What!? (Gasp) YOU!” Chrysalis hissed as she turned around and glared at the changeling.

“It's so good to see you've arrived. We've all been waiting for you.” Thorax said with a cheery smile.

“We?” Chrysalis asked in confusion.

“That’s right. Come on out everyone! The queen is here!” Thorax called.

Suddenly, a bunch of beautiful changelings popped up out of the ground and smiled warmly at Chrysalis. The very sight of the reformed changelings disgusted Chrysalis to her very core.

“Traitors! All of you! I ought to kill every last one of you!” Chrysalis screamed as more and more changelings popped out.

“Aww don't talk like that, Chrysalis. Alright everyone, it's almost time! Let's show our queen some love!” Thorax said as all of the changelings began to make their way over to her.

“What!? No! Get away from me! Back off!” Chrysalis yelled as she fired beams of magic at the surrounding changelings.

Chrysalis was able to take down a few changelings, but because there were so many of them, it was impossible to take them all out. Not to mention that more and more of them kept popping up out of the ground. Soon enough, Chrysalis found herself being smothered by hugs. There were so many changelings hugging Chrysalis that she couldn't even break away from their grip. She tried to use magic but when she looked up at her horn, she saw it had been replaced by a beautiful flower. As Chrysalis kept getting smothered, the ground began to shake and then Thorax spoke up.

“It's time, he has arrived, keep the queen steady! He has arrived!” Thorax yelled.

Suddenly, the flowers surrounding Chrysalis all burned up in flames and the ground became hot like fire. No longer was Chrysalis in a field, she was now on a rocky terrain with lava and fire everywhere. The air was hot and uncomfortable. Smoke filled Chrysalis's lungs and smog attacked her eyes. Then, the ground opened up in front of Chrysalis and a huge dragon head came out of the ground. Chrysalis watched in horror as an enormous dragon fully emerged from the ground below. The dragon was at least ten times bigger than the palace of Canterlot itself. The dragon roared loudly and then looked down at Chrysalis. Then the dragon growled and opened its mouth. Chrysalis was horrified when she saw that the dragon was about to breathe its deadly fire. Chrysalis tried to break free, but the changelings were still holding her in place. Thorax gave Chrysalis one last smile as he faded away. The fire was about to come down.

“No! Stop! No! No! NOO!!!” Chrysalis screamed as the dragon finally breathed its fire.

Then, just before the fire could scorch Chrysalis’s flesh, everything around her disappeared, leaving Chrysalis in an empty void of nothingness. Chrysalis looked around, trying to see if she could find anything in this vast emptiness. Eventually, Chrysalis ended up hearing a faint voice call out to her.

“Chrysalis… Chrysalis… Chrysalis…”

“What!? Who’s there!?” Chrysalis yelled, trying to see where the mysterious voice was coming from.

A figure started to appear before Chrysalis, taking on a form very similar to Chrysalis. Whoever this was, was obscured by the darkness, so Chrysalis couldn’t see who this strange creature was. However, when the voice spoke again, Chrysalis’s eyes went wide as she recognized the voice.

“Chrysalis… you have failed the changelings… you have failed your hive… you have failed me…”

“M-Mother…?” Chrysalis asked as the previous changeling queen emerged from the darkness.

“After everything you fought for to become queen… the things I taught you… all of this… and you allowed the hive to be poisoned by friendship… how could you?”

“NO! It wasn’t my fault! It was the pony, Starlight Glimmer! She corrupted my subjects! She infected the hive!” Chrysalis yelled.

“DO NOT MAKE EXCUSES! You shouldn’t have become queen… you’ve let us all down… you’ve killed us all…”

As Chrysalis’s mother said this, a group of other female changelings started to appear behind her. These were Chrysalis’s sisters, and they were all looking at her with expressions of pure hatred and anger.

“No! NOO!!” Chrysalis screamed as the changelings flew straight towards her, ready to sink their fangs into Chrysalis.

*Cozy Glow's Fear Realm*

“AHHH!” Cozy Glow screamed as she too found herself falling into darkness.

Cozy Glow fell for quite a bit until she finally landed on a soft fluffy surface. When Cozy Glow landed, she got up and saw that she had landed on the clouds. Cozy Glow looked around and saw that there was nothing around her except the blue sky and an endless sea of clouds.

“Hello? Hello!? Anypony here!?” Cozy Glow asked, no answer.

Not getting a response, Cozy Glow shrugged and decided to see if she could find anypony around. Cozy Glow flew for a few minutes before she suddenly crashed into something. Cozy Glow shook her head and looked up to see a door. That was it, just a single closed door. Not seeing anything else to interact with, Cozy Glow gently pushed the door open all the way. Inside, Cozy saw a room with nothing in it. Cozy Glow cautiously flew inside the room and then heard the door behind her slam shut. Cozy Glow turned to go back outside but the door was gone. Cozy Glow was trapped in a room with nothing in it. Then, a voice from behind startled her.

“Cozy Glow is that you?” the voice of a deep stallion asked.

Cozy Glow froze with fear when she recognized who that voice belonged to. Taking a deep breath, Cozy Glow turned around and saw that there was now a small couch in the center of the room and a small table and chair near the back of the room. A Pegasus mare sat down in the small chair near the back of the room, sipping a cup of tea. On the couch, there was a large stallion Pegasus who was glaring at Cozy Glow, a newspaper on the ground next to him.

“Oh, um, h-hi d-daddy.” Cozy Glow said nervously as she waved to her father. “Y-Yeah, it's me, Cozy Glow. How are you and mom-.”

“SHUT UP! DO YOU WANT TO EXPLAIN THIS!?” Cozy's father yelled as he held up his newspaper with his wing.

On the front page of the paper, there was a picture of Cozy Glow and the article described all of her evil actions and how she was the one who almost got rid of all the magic in Equestria.

“Oh! Well, I.... I can explain!” Cozy Glow cried as she fell to the floor, terrified.

“DON'T EVEN TRY TO! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!? WHAT KIND OF MONSTER ARE YOU!?” Cozy's father yelled, making Cozy Glow shake in fear.

“B-But daddy, please! Let me explain! I was just-.”

“I SAID SHUT UP!!! YOU'RE A MONSTER! I HAVE NO DAUGHTER! NOW COME HERE YOU LITTLE MONSTER!” Cozy's father yelled as he got up and approached her.

“N-No! Wait! Please! I'm sorry! M-Mommy!” Cozy Glow cried, desperately crying out to her mother, who just turned away. “Please! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! S-Sombra! Sombra help me! Please!” Cozy Glow cried as her father raised his hoof in the air, ready to hit her.

*Back to Physical World*

“(Evil Laugh) Oh, such amazing fears! HYAH!” Sombra roared as he then used his magic to raise a bunch of crystals from the ground.

Sombra then threw all of the crystals at the trio, causing them all to slam into the wall behind them, knocking them all out of their nightmares. Tirek, Chrysalis and Cozy Glow were all shook by their fears, but they remembered what they had just been doing. Tirek and Chrysalis growled at Sombra, who stared back at them with a smug look. Cozy Glow, however, no longer had any fight left in her, she was too afraid to even move.

“You're going to pay for that!” Tirek yelled as he clenched his fists tightly.

“I hope you're ready to die, Sombra!” Chrysalis yelled as they both went back into battle.

“(Evil Chuckle) Come at me then!” Sombra yelled as he too went back into battle.

Tirek charged at Sombra and tried to punch him over and over. Sombra kept on jumping and weaving out of the way of every punch. Sombra jumped up and fired a beam of magic at Tirek's face, knocking him back a bit and stunning him. Chrysalis quickly flew to Sombra and swiped her horn at him. Sombra ducked under the swing and blasted Chrysalis in the chest with his magic, knocking her into the ceiling. Tirek managed to catch Sombra off guard as he grabbed him by his back hooves and then slammed him on the ground hard. Tirek laughed as he kept on slamming Sombra onto the ground. This lasted for a few moments before Sombra used his magic to summon a crystal and threw it at Tirek's face, causing Tirek to drop Sombra. Chrysalis didn't let Sombra rest as she landed on his back and wrapped her legs around his neck, trying to choke him. Sombra coughed as Chrysalis's grip tightened around his neck. Sombra then used his magic to summon a large wall of crystals behind him. Sombra then slammed himself into the wall, crushing Chrysalis against the wall. Chrysalis shrieked in pain as she released her grip and fell to the floor.

“Close one Chrysalis, very close.” Sombra said before he focused back to Tirek.

Tirek grabbed a piece of the castle wall and tossed it at Sombra. Sombra stopped the attack with his magic and then tossed it back to Tirek, trying to hit him in the face. Tirek did not let this happen as he merely just punched the crystal, smashing it to pieces. Two large orbs began to form on Tirek's hands and Sombra prepared himself as Tirek fired his magic at him. Sombra used his horn to fire two separate beams of magic at oncoming magic beams. For a few moments, the two beams of magic tried to overpower each other until Sombra's eyes glowed brightly. As Tirek was trying to overpower Sombra, he felt his legs get crystalized to the ground. Tirek looked down and saw Sombra had basically glued him to the ground. Tirek did not let this distract him as his magic quickly overpowered Sombra's. Sombra quickly jumped out of the way, preventing any damage from being done. Sombra smiled as he used his magic to make his horn larger with crystals, then he began to charge towards Tirek, ready to stab him. Tirek struggled to pull himself free but just before Sombra made it to him, Tirek managed to yank his legs out of the ground and then kicked Sombra in the face, sending him flying into the wall.

Sombra shook his head as he got back up, just before Chrysalis pounced on him. Sombra then found himself on his back with Chrysalis on top of him. Chrysalis then let out a loud his as her horn glowed, but before Chrysalis could use any magic, Sombra headbutted her hard in the face, causing her to fall over. Chrysalis quickly managed to recover as she tried to bite at Sombra, who just swatted her in the face with his hoof. Chrysalis wouldn't give up as she tried to impale Sombra with her horn. Sombra did not let this happen as he used his magic to stop her in her tracks and slam her head onto the ground. Sombra quickly looked back up and his eyes widened when he saw that Tirek was about to drain his magic. Sombra thought quickly as he grabbed Chrysalis and held her in front of him, causing Tirek to drain her of her own magic. After Tirek had his fill, Sombra threw Chrysalis to the side, she wasn't going to be a threat anymore. Tirek laughed as he grew with power and prepared to fire his deadly blast at Sombra.

“(Evil Laugh) Well, it was inevitable that those two would be defeated so easily! But you'll never defeat me, Sombra!” Tirek yelled as he fired his magic.

Sombra didn't have any time to dodge as the magic exploded, covering him in a cloud of smoke.

“YES! HA! HA! I WIN! YOU WERE A FOOL, SOMBRA! I WIN! I WIN! I WI-Huh!? Where'd you go!?” Tirek cried as he saw that Sombra's body was nowhere to be found.

“Watch your shadow!” Sombra's voice said from below Tirek.

Before Tirek could do anything Sombra jumped out of his shadow, appearing in his large cloud of shadow and smoke form. Sombra roared at Tirek and then pounced at him. Sombra wrapped himself around Tirek like a snake, still in his shadow form. As Tirek struggled to get Sombra off of his body, Sombra bit down on the side of Tirek's neck, causing him to yell in pain. As Sombra kept biting, he used his magic to make shadow hands pull Tirek's legs from underneath him, causing Tirek to fall onto his side. As soon as Tirek hit the ground, Sombra went back to his pony form and started to slam his armored hooves onto Tirek's face. Tirek was just about to attack again, but Sombra used his magic to summon a large crystal and then slammed it down onto Tirek's face so hard that it shattered to pieces. The impact from the slam caused Tirek to seemingly fall unconscious.

With Tirek out of the fight, Sombra stood up and turned around to face Cozy Glow, who had just sat against the wall, unable to move as she was still traumatized by her fears. Sombra glared at the filly as he started to menacingly walk towards her. When Sombra reached Cozy Glow, he used his magic to lift her in the air, holding her in front of his face, glaring into her eyes. Cozy Glow couldn't say anything as Sombra carried her over to where Tirek and Chrysalis were laying. Sombra then looked into Cozy Glow's eyes and raised his hoof.

“N-No! Please don't!” Cozy Glow begged, but it was no good.

Sombra punched Cozy Glow hard in the face, sending her crashing into wall, landing in between Chrysalis and Tirek. As Cozy Glow hit the floor, there was a loud crack.

“O-Ow! My wing!” Cozy Glow cried as she felt immense pain in her right wing.

Sombra just glared at the trio who were laid out on the ground, all defeated and exhausted from their fight. Sombra then yelled out loud as he used his magic to cause a bunch of shadowy hands to come out of the trio's shadows and hold them down to the ground. Sombra then made the hands wrap around their throats, choking all three of them. As the three creatures were being choked by their own shadows, Sombra snarled as he spoke down to them.

“I ought to kill all three of you right now! However, ... I am feeling a bit merciful at the moment. So, I will give all of you One. Last. Chance.” Sombra said as he walked over to Tirek. “Tirek, what was it that you said about me? That I'm a foolish king? You know, that really hurt me. However, I can forgive your little insults.... if you pledge your allegiance to me.... Well?” Sombra asked, waiting for an answer.

“(Choke) Y-Yeah... (Cough) S-Sure.” Tirek said, not really being interested in pledging allegiance to Sombra, despite the threat of being choked to death.

“What was that!?” Sombra asked as he tightened his grip, causing Tirek's entire body to writhe and squirm.

“(Choke) (Cough) Y-YES! (Cough) I WILL! I SWEAR!” Tirek gasped out, coughing heavily as his body was getting desperate for air.

Sombra said nothing as he merely loosened the grip on Tirek's neck before he walked over to Chrysalis.

“Chrysalis.... I ought to break you in half! Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you!” Sombra yelled as he stared into Chrysalis's eyes, tightening his grip.

“(Choke) Because... I will be loyal to you! (Cough) A-And if I fail you again (Cough) I will allow myself to be killed!” Chrysalis gasped.

“(Evil Chuckle) But what if I don't want to kill you for your failures?” Sombra asked.

“Then (Cough) you can.... torture me!” Chrysalis gasped.

“(Evil Chuckle) Oh, I will Chrysalis. I will drown you in your fears! I will plunge you into darkness! And then I will send you into death's cold embrace! It would be wise not to fail me from now on.... do you understand!?” Sombra yelled as he stomped his hoof right next to Chrysalis's face, making her flinch.

“Y-Yes!” Chrysalis cried.

Sombra, once again, said nothing as he moved back over to Cozy Glow.

“And you, Cozy Glow.” Sombra said as he glared down at the filly. “Your fear is quite intriguing, I must say. We wouldn't want to go tell your father what you've been up to, now would we?”

“(Choke) N-No! (Cough) I swear I'll always be loyal to you, King Sombra! (Cough) Just please don't tell my dad!” Cozy Glow begged as tears began to fall from her eyes.

“(Evil Chuckle) Good, because if you ever think about betraying me, I will make sure you spend the rest of your miserable life facing your father's wrath. Do I make myself clear?” Sombra asked.

“Y-Yes, King Sombra!” Cozy Glow cried.

“Good. It seems all three of you have learned your lesson.” Sombra said as he released the trio from their shadows. “Tirek, give Chrysalis back her magic, now.” Sombra ordered.

Tirek did not say a word or utter a single complaint as he did as he was told. Tirek quickly stood up and gave Chrysalis back her magic. Once Chrysalis's magic was restored, Sombra nodded and spoke up to the three.

“Very good, now.... bow to your master.... BOW TO YOUR MASTER!” Sombra yelled as Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow got up and bowed to Sombra.

“All hail, King Sombra! King of Equestria!” The three villains recited as Sombra laughed and laughed before he stopped laughing completely.

“I will give all of you a few days to think about your actions! I have important business to attend to.” Sombra said as he began to make his way towards the exit of the castle. “Oh, and if none of you are here when I get back, I will make your nightmares become a reality. Don't test me. Farewell (Evil Chuckle)!” Sombra said as he laughed and left the castle.

As Sombra left the castle, Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow all stared at each other. They were all terrified about who their master was and what he was capable of doing. Rather than focusing on the threat of Sombra, they all tried to focus on getting revenge on Twilight Sparkle and her friends. This made them feel a little better, though only a little bit.

Meanwhile...

Sombra had walked through the forest for quite a bit until he found a rather nice open area to enact his plan. Being satisfied with the sight, Sombra then wandered into the woods and collected some sticks with his magic. After Sombra had gotten enough sticks, he walked back over to the open area. Sombra then carefully laid out the sticks in a nice pile and then used his magic to light a fire. Once the fire roared nicely, Sombra used his magic to turn the fire into a shade of green, purple, and red. Then, Sombra spoke to the fire.

“I am here.” Sombra said as he stared into the fire.

I take it those three fools have agreed to be loyal to you

“Yes, they have all sworn loyalty to me. Everything is going according to plan.” Sombra said.

Good, you may have your fun, but don't forget who you're doing this for...

“Of course, I won't forget. Once my plan is finished, I will make sure everything is ready for your arrival.” Sombra said.

Wonderful, it makes me happy that you haven't lost sight of your true destiny... I know you will make me proud...

“Yes, I will make you proud.... just you wait.... mother....” Sombra said as he bowed to the fire.

Author's Note

As you all can see, Sombra is not messing around in this story. I hope you are all enjoying the story so far. Next chapter we will finally focus on what Twilight Sparkle has been up to. I hope you all enjoy, thank you for reading! :)

NOTE: As of 03/04/2024, I have updated this chapter and added a bit more to Tirek and Chrysalis's fear sequences

Day Out in Ponyville

Ponyville, The Next Morning...

Mornings were always so lovely in Ponyville. The sun shined brightly over the town, the birds sang their beautiful songs, ponies went about their daily lives with a cheery attitude. Twilight Sparkle was out and about taking a stroll through the streets of Ponyville. There wasn't much else to do that day anyway. School was out for break, there were no friendship problems to solve, and there was no books to read. Well, technically there was, but Spike had somehow managed to convince Twilight to take a break from reading and enjoy the day. Twilight was happily enjoying her stroll as she walked through the streets of Ponyville when she saw Rarity's boutique and decided to pay her a visit. Rarity was working on one of her dresses when the bells on her front door rang, notifying her that a customer had entered the boutique.

“Welcome to the Carousel Boutique, where everything is-oh, Twilight, what a surprise.” Rarity said, not expecting Twilight to show up.

“Hi Rarity, oh I see you're busy. I hope I'm not interrupting anything. I can come back later if-.”

“Oh, no not at all, darling.” Rarity said as she set her sewing materials on the table and walked over to Twilight, putting her hoof on her shoulder, guiding her inside the boutique. “It's nothing too important really. You're more than welcome here.” Rarity said.

“Thank you, Rarity. Wow, that's a really nice dress, who’s it for?” Twilight asked as she examined the dress on the table.

“Oh, this is one of Lyra's dresses. Bon Bon brought it in earlier today. Apparently, Lyra ripped it while doing an odd dance of some sort. Something about standing on her hind legs and doing some odd spinning motions with her front hooves or something.” Rarity explained.

“That's... interesting.” Twilight said, having an idea of what Lyra was trying to do.

Twilight had remembered a few of the students at Canterlot High doing a similar dance during the Fall Formal incident in the mirror world. She wasn't sure how Lyra knew the dance, but it was probably best not to question it.

“Yes, it is. Anyways, what can I help you with today?” Rarity asked.

“Oh, well I don't really need anything. I figured I'd pay you visit and see if you needed any help.” Twilight said.

“My how very kind of you, Twilight.” Rarity said. “Now that you mention it, there is something I could use your help with.” Rarity said as she smirked.

“Oh, well I'm more than happy to help you with whatever you need, Rarity.” Twilight said as she was prepared to assist her friend.

Sometime Later

“(Sigh) I should have known this was going to happen.” Twilight groaned as she was having her measurements taken while wearing a dress that Rarity had made her put on.

“Careful not to move too much, I'm almost done.” Rarity said as she continued to take Twilight's measurements.

“That's what you said like ten minutes ago.” Twilight said as she tried to keep her wings stretched out so Rarity could finish up.

“Now, now, darling, patience is a virtue.” Rarity replied, adjusting her glasses.

“So, uh, where's Opalescence?” Twilight asked, trying to find some way to entertain herself while her wings were getting very sore.

“Opal? Oh, don't worry about her darling. Fluttershy should be bringing her back today from her grooming.” Rarity replied, still focusing on the dress.

“That's good. Oh, speaking of today, are you going to see the presentation today, Rarity?” Twilight asked.

“Are you talking about the presentation that will be taking place at Doctor Whooves's lab this afternoon? Yes, I am, why do you ask?” Rarity asked, her eyebrow raising slightly.

“Well, I was wondering if you're curious about what new invention Doctor Whooves is going to be showing to the town.” Twilight said.

“While science and technology aren't my main interests, I will admit that I am very much curious about this new invention.” Rarity replied.

“I for one am very excited to see what the Doctor has in store for us! I mean, nearly every one of Doctor Whooves’s inventions has blown me away! They’re so fascinating and so scientifically creative! Well aside from his Psychic Paper. I'm not so sure what was so special about that one.” Twilight said.

“I heard that out of all the inventions the good Doctor has shown us, there is only one pony in all of Equestria that has ever seen what he calls his greatest invention of all time.” Rarity said.

“What?! His greatest invention of all time!? Who? Who’s the pony who saw it?!” Twilight asked, trying her best not to move or jolt out of shock.

“(Giggle) Who do you think, darling?” Rarity asked with a smirk. “Think about it, who is the one pony who, when she isn’t doing her job, is spending most of her time with the Doctor?”

“Hmmm…. (Gasp) Derpy! Derpy Hooves!” Twilight cried with the sudden realization.

“(Giggle) Yes, that's right, darling, but we can talk more on that subject another time. For now, though, I would like to ask, do you have any plans for tonight?” Rarity asked.

“Uh, no, I don't really have any plans. Why? Did you have something in mind?” Twilight asked.

“As a matter of fact, I do. I was wondering if you would like to have a sleepover tonight.” Rarity said.

“That sounds like a great idea! Of course, I'd like to have a sleepover, Rarity.” Twilight said happily.

“That's wonderful, darling. Of course, we will also invite the rest of our-.” Rarity said before Fluttershy entered the boutique.

“Hello, Rarity? Oh, hey girls.” Fluttershy said as she walked in the store, holding the handle of a small basket with her left wing.

“Hey Fluttershy, it's good to see you.” Twilight said, giving Fluttershy a smile.

“It's nice to see you as well, Twilight.” Fluttershy replied with a smile. “Oh, and I brought Opalescence back, Rarity.” Fluttershy said, setting the basket on the floor and gently removing the little blanket that covered it.

“(Meow) Finally home.” Opalescence meowed as she hopped out of the little basket.

“My, my Opal, you look so lovely.” Rarity said as Opalescence rubbed against Fluttershy's leg.

“(Meow) Yes, I know. Now if you will excuse me, it's time for my nap.” Opalescence meowed as she walked over to Rarity, rubbed against her leg for a moment, and then headed off to find a comfortable spot to take a nap.

“Thank you so much, Fluttershy. You know I would gladly take Opal to the groomers myself, but I always seem to have something keeping me busy.” Rarity said, giving Fluttershy an apologetic look.

“Oh, that's okay Rarity. I don't mind at all. It's nice to be able to help out one of my best friends.” Fluttershy said.

“(Giggle) It's no wonder you're the element of kindness. You truly are one of the kindest ponies in all of Equestria.” Rarity said.

“Aww, thank you Rarity.” Fluttershy replied.

“You actually came at the perfect time. You see, I was just asking Twilight if she wanted to have a slumber party tonight. Would you care to join us?” Rarity asked.

“Oh, that sounds wonderful! I’m more than happy to join you girls.” Fluttershy said as she flapped her wings with excitement. “Where are we having it?”

“Why don't we have it at my castle? I’m sure Spike and Starlight won’t mind. In fact, I bet they would be more than happy to join in. Well, maybe not Spike, but Starlight will be delighted to join us.” Twilight said.

“Then it's settled then. We'll have a girl’s night at Twilight's castle.” Rarity announced proudly.

“What time should we head over?” Fluttershy asked.

“Hmm, well are you going to the presentation today, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked.

“I am, and so are the others.” Fluttershy replied.

“That's perfect! Why don't we all head over to the castle after the presentation this afternoon?” Twilight suggested.

“I shouldn't have any more appointments today, so that is just fine with me.” Rarity said.

“I'm sure I can get Discord to help watch over the animals at the sanctuary while I'm gone.” Fluttershy said, causing the others to have worried looks on their faces.

“Uh, are you sure that's a good idea, Fluttershy? I know Discord isn't evil anymore but is it really smart to leave him in charge of the sanctuary?” Twilight asked.

“There's nothing to worry about, Twilight. I've put Discord in charge of my sanctuary before and everything worked out just fine. Besides, Discord promised that he wouldn't use any of his chaos magic on my sweet animals.” Fluttershy said.

“Well, if that's the case then, it sounds like we're all good with the plan.” Twilight said.

“Yes indeed, now stay still for just a moment, Twilight. I need to remove your dress.” Rarity said as she used her magic to remove the dress Twilight was wearing and placed it on the rack with the other dresses.

“(Sigh) Finally.” Twilight said as she flapped her wings a bit, letting them relax a bit. “Well, I better go find the others and tell them about our plan. Bye Rarity, bye Fluttershy.” Twilight said as she quickly left the boutique before Rarity could even think of fitting her for another dress.

“Twilight must be really excited for our sleepover.” Fluttershy said, noting how quickly her friend left the boutique.

“Indeed, she is. Oh, Fluttershy darling, could you help me with something?” Rarity asked.

“Of course. What do you need help with?” Fluttershy asked as she walked over to Rarity, unaware that she too was about to suffer the same fate Twilight had earlier.

Twilight's search for her friends eventually led her to the shopping area of Ponyville. There were lots of booths and stands open, selling their own unique items. As Twilight looked around the shopping area, she spotted Applejack standing by a cart filled with delicious looking apples. Twilight smiled as she made her way over to Applejack.

“Apples! Get your fresh apples here! Oh, howdy there, Twilight.” Applejack said as Twilight walked over to her.

“Hey, Applejack, how's business?” Twilight asked.

“Oh, it's going just dandy.” Applejack replied with a proud grin.

“That's great to hear. Where's Applebloom? Is she not helping you out today?” Twilight asked, looking around for Applejack's little sister.

“I'm on my own for today. Applebloom said that she and her other friends had some very important things to take care of. It ain't that big a deal, I can handle selling apples by myself.” Applejack said.

“(Giggle) Well, I'm sure those three fillies are putting their best effort in whatever it is they're working on.” Twilight said as they shared a laugh. “By the way, are you free tonight?”

“Hmm, I suppose I am. Got nothing planned really, why?” Applejack asked.

“Well, I was visiting Rarity earlier and she suggested that we have a slumber party tonight. Fluttershy was also there, and she agreed to come with us. Do you want to join us?” Twilight asked.

“Oh, I'll definitely be there. It's been too long since we last had ourselves a nice get together, what with the threats that keep showing up in Equestria and all.” Applejack said.

“Oh, that's fantastic! The plan is to head to the castle after the presentation. How's that sound?” Twilight asked.

“Fine by me. I can't wait.” Applejack said.

“Me neither! I'll see you at the presentation, I'm gonna find Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. Bye Applejack.” Twilight said as she began to walk away.

“Bye Twilight, see ya later!” Applejack said as she waved goodbye to her friend before going back to selling apples.

Twilight walked through the streets of Ponyville, searching for her friends. She had already checked Sugarcube Corner for Pinkie Pie, but Mr. Cake told her that Pinkie had left with Rainbow Dash for some fun. Twilight had to ask quite a few ponies on the whereabouts of her friends, but no pony knew where they were. As Twilight was about to go into one of the stores, she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. Twilight turned her head and saw Rainbow Dash, hiding around a corner, seemingly waiting for somepony while holding a pie. Twilight frowned and shook her head with disappointment. It seemed that Rainbow Dash was back to pulling her pranks again.

“Heh, heh, this is gonna be so good!” Rainbow Dash said as she grinned smugly.

“Hello, Rainbow Dash.” Twilight said, startling Rainbow Dash so much that she almost dropped the pie she was holding.

“Gah! Oh, uh, hey Twilight, what's up?” Rainbow Dash asked as she chuckled nervously.

“Oh, not much. How about you? What are YOU up to? You're not back to pranking ponies, are you?” Twilight asked.

“What? No! I was just uh.... a-about to eat this yummy pie.” Rainbow Dash said as she held out the pie in front of Twilight's face.

Twilight raised her eyebrow suspiciously. She knew for a fact that Rainbow Dash would never eat a pie in her life, considering the fact that she didn’t like them in the first place.

“Ugh! Fine! But seriously, what's wrong with an occasional prank? It's nothing like the cookie pandemic, I swear!” Rainbow Dash said.

“Rainbow Dash, I thought you promised to stop doing this.” Twilight said.

“I know, I know, but just hear me out, please?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“(Groan) Fine, what do you plan to do this time?” Twilight reluctantly asked.

“Heh, heh, well, I'm gonna pie Pinkie Pie!” Rainbow Dash proclaimed, once again holding the pie in front of Twilight's face.

“You're going to... pie... Pinkie Pie?” Twilight asked, tilting her head.

“Obviously I'm gonna smash this pie into her face, duh!” Rainbow Dash said.

“But won't that hurt her?” Twilight asked.

“Oh, come on, Twilight. Pinkie literally eats the wrappers with her cupcakes, she can punch through solid ground with her bare hooves, and you're asking me if a pie in the face will hurt her?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Uhh… yeah?” Twilight said, awkwardly shrugging her shoulders.

“HEY RAINBOW DASH!!” Pinkie Pie shouted as she popped out from around the corner, scaring both of her friends so much that Rainbow Dash accidentally tossed the pie at Twilight's face.

With Twilight getting pied in the face, Rainbow Dash tried hard to hold back her laughter, failing miserably as she fell to the floor, laughing so much that tears formed in her eyes. Twilight, meanwhile, was not amused in the slightest as pie residue dripped from her face.

“Oh hi, Twilight! Wow, I know you like pie and all, but I didn't know you enjoyed shoving your face into one.” Pinkie Pie said with a giggle.

“Yeah… it's such a joy.” Twilight said, as she shook off as much pie as she could, using her magic to deal with the rest.

“(Laughs) That was so funny! Sorry Twilight, I just can't stop!” Rainbow Dash said as she kept on laughing.

“(Giggle) So, what did you have to show me, Dashie?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Well, I was going to pie you in the face, but I guess you saw what happened to the pie I was going to use.” Rainbow Dash said, finally calming down.

“Oh! So, Twilight got pranked?! Oh, silly Twilight, that pie was for me.” Pinkie Pie said as she playfully nudged Twilight.

“Trust me Pinkie, I didn't want the pie in the first place.” Twilight said. “Anyway, what have you two been up to all morning?”

“We've been having lots of fun! Rainbow Dash has been pranking me all morning! You should have been with us earlier; it was so funny!” Pinkie Pie said.

“See, Twilight? I'm only pranking Pinkie Pie, she likes it.” Rainbow Dash said.

“Well, okay, if you say so.” Twilight said, kicking away some of the pie on the ground close to her hooves. “Despite the unwanted pie I received, I'm glad I found you two.”

“Really? Why? (Gasp) Do you want to join in on our pranking game!?” Pinkie Pie asked excitedly as she put on a wide smile.

“Not quite, I've been looking for you two all over town because we're having a sleepover at my castle tonight. I was wondering if you would like to join us.” Twilight said.

“Are you kidding!? I'll totally be there! You can bet on that!” Rainbow Dash said.

“That's great! What about you, Pinkie?” Twilight asked.

“Hmm, I don't know, let me check my schedule.” Pinkie Pie said as she pulled out a small little notepad from her mane and started to read it closely.

After a few short moments, Pinkie Pie put the notepad back into her mane and bounced happily with a big smile on her face.

“Yup! All free! I can't wait to go!” Pinkie Pie said happily.

“Well, you won't have to wait too long. The plan is to head to the castle after the presentation today. Is that okay for the both of you?” Twilight asked.

“You bet!” Rainbow Dash said.

“Hey! Why don't we go see the Doctor early? Maybe he'll let us have a peek at his invention!” Pinkie Pie suggested.

“I don't know about that, Pinkie. Doctor Whooves is probably very busy preparing his invention. It would be quite rude to just barge in.” Twilight said.

“Great idea Pinkie! Plus, I've got a serious question for our good Doctor! I'll get the others! See ya at the lab!” Rainbow Dash said as she flew away, not giving Twilight any chance to argue with her.

“Wait, Rainbow! (Sigh) I guess we're really doing this. Come on Pinkie, let's go.” Twilight said as they headed over to Doctor Whooves's lab.

“Off to see the Doctor! Off to see the Doctor! Off to see the Doctor! The Doctor of time!” Pinkie Pie sang as she bounced.

“Huh? Doctor of time?” Twilight said, very confused.

“Yep! That’s Doctor Whooves’s title! Well, at least that’s one of his titles. He’s got a lot if you read about who his character is based off.” Pinkie Pie said.

“What?” Twilight asked, not understanding a word that Pinkie had just said to her.

“Come on, Twilight! We’ve got to get to the Doctor!” Pinkie Pie said as she continued to sing her little song.

“Heh, classic Pinkie Pie.” Twilight said with a smile on her face as she rolled her eyes a bit.

A little while later, Twilight and Pinkie Pie arrived at Doctor Whooves’s laboratory, the rest of their friends showing up minutes later.

“Great, everypony is here.” Rainbow Dash said, doing a proud flip in the air.

“Rainbow, darling, I really don’t think this is an appropriate thing to be doing. Interrupting the good Doctor while he is busy is rather rude. I am sure we will have plenty of time to speak with him after the presentation.” Rarity said.

“Well, yeah I know that, but this is really important to me!” Rainbow Dash said.

“What is? Getting a chance to take a peek at the Doctor's invention before anypony else?” Applejack asked.

“That's what Pinkie Pie wants; I have to see him now! I've got a big question for him, and I can't wait any longer!” Rainbow Dash explained.

“Alright then. But if the Doctor is too busy to talk, we are leaving him alone until after the presentation, got it?” Twilight asked.

“Okie dokie lokie.” Pinkie Pie said with a cheery smile.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just go and knock on the door already, Twilight.” Rainbow Dash said as she pointed to the door.

“What? Why me? It was Pinkie Pie's idea.” Twilight protested.

“Please, Twilight? The presentation is gonna start soon.” Pinkie Pie said as she gave Twilight the puppy eyes.

“(Sigh) Fine.” Twilight said as she walked up to the door and knocked a couple times. “Hello? Doctor Whooves?”

For a few moments, there was no reply, until the sound of boxes shuffling could be heard from inside. Then, the voice of Doctor Whooves could be heard as he called out to the ponies.

“Come in!” Doctor Whooves called from inside the lab.

With that, Twilight and the rest of her friends walked inside the lab. They found Doctor Whooves, who was in the middle of organizing some boxes on his workbench. Hearing the door close, Doctor Whooves turned to face his guests with a friendly smile.

“Yes? Ah, Princess Twilight and the rest of your friends! What a wonderful surprise. What may I do for all of you mares today?” Doctor Whooves asked as he dusted himself off before going to have some tea he had prepared earlier.

Twilight was about to explain herself, but before she could even open her mouth to speak, Rainbow Dash had already spoken.

“I've got a question for you, Doctor!” Rainbow Dash said, pointing at the Doctor.

“Hmm? What is it that you would like to ask?” Doctor Whooves asked as he started to take another sip of his tea.

“Do you have a crush on Derpy Hooves?” Rainbow Dash asked, causing the Doctor to spit his tea out in surprise.

“(Spit) (Cough)Wh-What!?” Doctor Whooves cried.

“Ha! I knew it! You do have a crush on Derpy!” Rainbow Dash said as she pointed her hoof rather aggressively at the Doctor.

“W-Well, I-I…” Doctor Whooves stammered before Rarity and Applejack interrupted.

“Oh my! So, you do have a crush on our local mailpony.” Rarity said as she had a smug look on her face.

“Well, looky there, the good Doctor has a crush.” Applejack said as she grinned.

“Girls! Stop! You're being very rude to Doctor Whooves. As if bothering him while he was busy wasn't enough.” Fluttershy said, standing in front of Doctor Whooves, as if to shield him.

“Y-You're right, sorry Doc.” Rainbow Dash said as she rubbed the back of her head.

“Fluttershy is right, my sincerest apologies, Doctor Whooves.” Rarity said.

“Shoot, I'm sorry too, Doctor. We didn't mean to be so rude.” Applejack said.

“No, no, it's quite alright. No need for any apology. Erm, would you mares be kind enough to keep a secret for me?” Doctor Whooves asked nervously.

“Don't worry Doctor Whooves, we'll keep it all to ourselves.” Twilight said, giving him a reassuring smile.

“Thank you very much. Well then, y-yes, I do have a.... fascination for Miss Derpy.” Doctor Whooves confessed. “She's an amazing mare, truly. Not to mention we've already been on many adventures together. Yes, we've travelled all over the vast places of time and spa-I mean, vast places of Equestria. Derpy is a wonderful companion and assistant. I honestly can't imagine my life without her.”

“Aww! So cute!” Pinkie Pie said as she let out a squeal.

“(Chuckle) Y-Yes, well, was there anything else I could help you mares with?” Doctor Whooves asked.

“Well...” Twilight said as she turned to look at Pinkie Pie, who just nodded at her. “(Sigh) Well, we were wondering if maybe perhaps we could get a sneak peek at the invention you're going to be showing at the presentation today?” Twilight asked as she gave an awkward smile.

“Hmm, well... I'm not the biggest fan of early access if you know what I mean, but how can I possibly say no in this situation? I would be more than delighted to give you ponies a little demonstration of what I'm going to be presenting today. You all just wait right there, and I'll be right back.” Doctor Whooves said as he quickly made his way to the back of his lab, rounding a corner, disappearing from sight.

“Are you sure, Doctor? We can always just wait for the presentation.” Twilight suggested before Doctor Whooves called back out to her.

“No, no, it's alright, Princess. Just give me a few moments and I'll be right out.” Doctor Whooves said as he continued with whatever he was doing.

While Doctor Whooves was getting his invention ready, the Mane Six just looked around the lab from where they were standing. The lab was filled with lots of strange wonders and inventions, many of which were quite fascinating to the ponies. While Twilight was looking around, she spotted something in the far corner of the lab that caught her eye. From what Twilight could tell, it looked like a large blue box with a door that had an inscription on it. The inscription read, 'Tardis'. Twilight had no idea what the word Tardis meant, but she assumed it was some fancy word created by the Doctor.

Twilight wondered what this Tardis was and was about to ask the Doctor, but she was stopped when everypony heard the sound of metal clanks. From the pattern in which the sounds occurred, it was clear that it was similar to the sounds of footsteps, only more metal. However, the odd thing about these footsteps was that it sounded like only two metal hooves hitting the ground, not four. A few moments later, a long metal tentacle-like arm came out from around the corner. Then, the second arm came out from around the corner. The Mane Six looked up and saw Doctor Whooves, who was suspended in the air by the two long metal arms that acted like legs of some sort. The bottom two arms were connected to a special harness that Doctor Whooves wore. But there wasn't only two arms, there were four arms in total. The top two arms were just waving around, not doing anything; they too were attached to the harness.

“Tada!” Doctor Whooves said as he stretched out his hooves. “Presenting, my newest invention! I present to you, my Arms of Assistance!” Doctor Whooves said with a very interesting accent.

For a few moments, no pony said a word.

“Well, what do you think?” Doctor Whooves asked with a grin on his face.

Author's Note

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! It seems Doctor Whooves has a very interesting invention! Thank you for reading!

The Presentation

For a few moments, no pony said a word.

“Well, what do you think?” Doctor Whooves asked with a grin on his face.

Still, no pony uttered a single word. They were all completely frozen in shock at the strange sight before them. Pinkie Pie stayed still for a moment and then gasped in terror, before shouting,

“(Gasp) OH NO! IT'S DOCTOR OCTOPUS FROM SPIDER-MARE!!! RUN!!” Pinkie Pie screamed as she pointed aggressively at the Doctor before making a run for the door, not getting very far before Twilight stopped her with magic.

“Pinkie, I am pretty sure that Doctor Whooves is not Doctor Octopus from Spider-Mare. It's just a comic series. Plus, a couple of films. In any case, none of it is real.” Twilight said, trying to keep the pink pony under control.

“But what about the Mane-iac!? She was a comic book villain, and she was real!” Pinkie Pie said, trying to break out of Twilight's magical grip.

“Pinkie, you do realize that the only reason she was real was because we all got sucked into Spike's comic book, right?” Applejack asked.

“Ohhhh, yeah, you're right. Silly me.” Pinkie Pie said as she giggled at herself.

“So terribly sorry about that Doctor.” Twilight said, giving the Doctor an apologetic look.

“Oh, it's alright, no harm done.” Doctor Whooves said as he looked at his mechanical arms and chuckled a bit. “I suppose I don't really blame Miss Pie for her confusion. While these arms are very much similar to that of the arms built by this Doctor Octopus fellow, I can assure you, they are not the same.”

“You sure about that, Doc?” Rainbow Dash asked, giving the arms a suspicious look. “Cuz, they look exactly the same, the only difference is the pony who's wearing the arms.”

“Th-They don't have some sort of e-evil intelligence or any evil v-voices, do they?” Fluttershy asked as she hid behind Applejack.

“Evil voices? You mean like what happened in the second Spider-Mare film, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked as Fluttershy simply nodded, still cowering behind Applejack.

“Oh, no, nothing like that.” Doctor Whooves said as he chuckled. “In fact, my arms have no artificial intelligence of any kind. It's only me who's in control of them.”

“And how exactly are you controlling them there, arms?” Applejack asked, tilting her head in confusion.

“Well, with my mind of course. I will explain the process in further detail at the presentation.” Doctor Whooves said as the arms lowered him back to the ground. “But in the meantime, what do you ponies think of my new invention?”

“Quite impressive, if I do say so myself.” Rarity said.

“It's pretty cool, I guess.” Rainbow Dash said, still being wary of the arms.

“I think they're fantastic! I love them!” Pinkie Pie shouted, waving her hooves around, trying to mimic how the arms were freely moving.

“W-Well, as long as they aren't evil or anything, I suppose they're okay.” Fluttershy said, relaxing a bit.

“Mighty interesting invention there, Doctor.” Applejack said.

“This is quite the invention, Doctor. But I do have a serious question about these arms.” Twilight said.

“What is it? You may ask whatever you wish, Princess.” Doctor Whooves said.

“Well, please don't get offended or anything but you don’t have any sort of... obsession with these arms, do you?” Twilight asked, trying to muster an innocent smile.

“(Laughs) You have nothing to worry about, Princess. I created these arms for the sake of the citizens of Ponyville, not for myself. Much like the rest of my inventions, I created these arms to assist Ponyville.” Doctor Whooves replied.

“Well, that's good to hear.” Twilight said, relaxing a bit.

“Yes, well I'd love to chat more, but I think it's time you mares wait outside my lab, the presentation is scheduled to start very soon. I'd like to make some final preparations.” Doctor Whooves said.

“You're right, thank you so much for this, Doctor Whooves. Good luck with the presentation.” Twilight said.

“Thank you very much, I'll see you all again soon.” Doctor Whooves said as the Mane Six said their goodbyes and left the lab.

Sometime later...

It was finally time, everypony in Ponyville had gathered for the presentation and they were all waiting patiently outside Doctor Whooves's laboratory. A few moments later, Mayor Mare walked up onto a small stage that was placed right next to the entrance of the lab. As soon as the mayor stepped on the stage, everypony went silent, or continued to quietly whisper amongst themselves.

“Good afternoon everypony. As you are all aware, we are gathered here today to be amazed once again by one of Doctor Whooves's brilliant inventions. Nearly every invention that our good Doctor has created was built for the sake of helping everypony. I am sure today's invention will be no different. Now, I'm sure we're all excited to see what the Doctor has invented. I know I am! So, without further ado, I give you, Doctor Whooves!” Mayor Mare said as she pointed her hoof up towards the roof of the lab while everypony applauded and cheered.

For a few moments, there wasn't anything happening, but then the roof of the lab opened up like a hatch. From the opening, came two large mechanical tentacle-like arms. Doctor Whooves then appeared, being hoisted up by the arms, with the rest of the arms coming into view and carrying him down to the ground.

“Greetings my fellow citizens of Ponyville!” Doctor Whooves said as he smiled happily to the crowd.

As to be expected, a lot of the ponies in the crowd were quite intimidated by the sight of these mechanical arms and a few ponies even tried to make a run for it, but they stopped when they saw that the arms were not causing any harm. There was quite a bit of murmuring and chatting going on as everypony had their attention on the mechanical arms.

“Behold, my newest invention! My Arms of Assistance! Designed to assist ponies with tasks that they cannot do themselves.” Doctor Whooves said as he proudly presented the arms.

There were a lot of “ooh's” and “ah's” coming from the crowd as Doctor Whooves continued his speech.

“These arms you see are made of a very special kind of metal that makes them resistant to heat, magnetism, and they can even continue to function while underwater. The arms are controlled by my mind and are more than capable of assisting you in any way possible. I shall now give you a little demonstration of one of the ways these arms will be helpful to you. May my faithful companion and assistant please come forward.” Doctor Whooves said as he looked in the crowd for his assistant.

“Oh, that's me! That’s me!” Derpy said happily, before Rainbow Dash playfully nudged her.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Get up there, Derpy!” Rainbow Dash said as she gestured towards the stage.

“Okay!” Derpy said as she flew up and over to the Doctor. “Heya Doc! You needed me?” Derpy asked with a happy smile.

“(Chuckle) Yes, I do, my friend. Do you see the large sign above the entrance to my lab?” Doctor Whooves asked.

“I sure do, Doc!” Derpy said, pointing to the sign.

“Splendid! Now, Derpy, would you kindly remove a couple of the bolts holding the sign in place so it can dangle a bit?” Doctor Whooves asked.

“Sure thing, Doc!” Derpy said happily as she flew to the small space between the sign and the roof where there was enough room for her to yank out the bolts.

“Now, in a moment, the sign above my lab will fall to the side, then I will-.” but before Doctor Whooves could finish his sentence, there was a loud crash from behind him.

Doctor Whooves turned around and saw that his whole sign had fallen to the ground, it seemed that Derpy might have removed one too many bolts, causing the whole thing to fall.

“Well.... that wasn't exactly supposed to happen.” Doctor Whooves said with a nervous chuckle.

“Oh gosh! I'm so sorry Doctor, I didn't mean to do that.” Derpy said as she was very much upset with herself.

“No need to worry, Derpy. I am not mad with you, as a matter of fact, this actually makes things better for the demonstration.” Doctor Whooves said as he gave Derpy a comforting grin before continuing his presentation.

“I just don't know what went wrong.” Derpy said to herself.

“Now, you see that my sign has well, fallen off completely, yes?” Doctor Whooves asked the crowd as they all gave nods in response. “Naturally, I am not strong enough to lift the sign myself, and even if I was, how would I possibly be able to put the sign back up where it belongs? I can't exactly fly now, can I? What if nopony else is able to help me? Well, this is where the arms come in, observe.”

With that, the top two arms reached for the sides of the fallen sign and carefully lifted it up off the ground. With the sign being in a secure grip, the arms very gently placed the sign back in its correct place. Doctor Whooves then had the bottom two arms raise him in the air so he could get the bolts back in. One of the bottom arms snaked up to secure the sign and hold it in position, leaving one arm left to keep Doctor Whooves raised in the air. Now with three arms holding the sign, Doctor Whooves made one of the three arms grab a few of the bolts sitting on the roof and gently placed the bolts back, keeping the sign in place. Once all the bolts were secure, Doctor Whooves let go of the sign and backed away from it. The sign had been fixed. Seeing this amazing display, everypony cheered for the Doctor.

“Thank you all! Thank you very much!” Doctor Whooves said as the arms lowered him safely back to the ground.

“Yes, a brilliant demonstration, Doctor Whooves!” Mayor Mare said as she looked back to the crowd. “I'm sure we all have questions for the Doctor, so anypony with a question, please raise your hoof and I will call on you.”

A lot of hooves went up in the air. Doctor Whooves was pleased when he saw that so many ponies were interested in learning more about his invention.

“Hmm, why don't you have the first one, Princess.” Mayor Mare said as she pointed to Twilight, who had summoned a blank scroll and a quill, no doubt ready to write as much information as she could.

“Thank you, Mayor Mare. So, Doctor Whooves, you mentioned that you control the arms with your mind, would you mind explaining how you are able to do this?” Twilight asked.

“Ah, yes, brilliant question, Princess. But before I can answer that, please allow me to explain the process of putting on and removing these arms. Mayor?” Doctor Whooves asked, looking to Mayor Mare for permission.

Mayor Mare nodded with approval, allowing Doctor Whooves to continue his speech.

“Well, the harness I am wearing as you can see is wrapped around my chest and underbelly area. To remove the harness, I simply press this button on my right side, just behind my right shoulder.” Doctor Whooves said as he pressed the button.

This caused the arms to go limp and the harness to open up from the side in a way similar to that of opening a treasure chest or something. The crowd did take notice that as the harness came off, it appeared that Doctor Whooves felt a bit of pain. Doctor Whooves quickly shook it off as he continued.

“I'm sure you all can see the needles that are protruding out from inside the harness where my back would be. Well, this is how the arms are able to link with my mind. It is a bit painful at first, but I assure you, it is perfectly safe. Now, I will put the harness back on and then I will answer your question, Princess.” Doctor Whooves said as he secured himself in the harness and pressed the button again, causing the harness to close around him and the needles to dig into his back, causing him to wince. “The needles in the harness connect to my spinal cord, which in addition, connects the harness to my central nervous system as well. With the needles connected, I am able to control the arms as if they were one of my very own hooves.”

“Wow, that's very interesting. Thank you, Doctor.” Twilight said as she finished writing everything she needed to know.

“Hey, Doctor Whooves! I have a question! Is there some kind of intelligence in those arms? Like do they have a mind of their own?” Lyra asked.

“Lyra! You're supposed to wait to be called on before you go asking questions!” Bon Bon said, poking Lyra's side.

“Aww, but Bon Bon, I really want to know.” Lyra said.

“(Chuckle) There is no need to worry, my friends. I can assure you; my arms have no intelligence of any kind. The only part that could be considered an intelligence is their ability to automatically make their way to you if you summon them via this remote.” Doctor Whooves said as he used one of his arms to reach into a small pocket on his harness and pulled out a small remote. “If you need the arms to come to you, all you have to do is press this button and the arms will arrive shortly. Naturally you have to be within a certain range for this to work but I am hoping to expand the range as soon as possible.”

“Hey, Applejack, do you think we could get one of those arm thingies to help out at the farm? It would make things easier for us.” Applebloom whispered.

“Come on now, Applebloom, you heard what Doctor Whooves said. Them there, arms are meant for situations that require extra help. Using those arms for every basic thing would just be being lazy.” Applejack said.

“Aww horse apples.” Applebloom said as she kicked at the ground in disappointment.

For the next hour or so, ponies kept on asking many questions about these strange mechanical arms. The Doctor did bring up a few interesting features about the arms. Probably the most interesting, and most concerning feature about the arms was their apparent ability to produce a small burst of electricity from the center of each individual claw of the arms. Sort of like a taser. The arms also had sources of light that would be emitted from the center of their claws at night or in dark places. Also, despite the arms being made of rather strong materials, they were explained to be rather light and not so heavy to wear. Doctor Whooves also explained that these arms would be able to be used by earth ponies, Pegasi, and unicorns. For the pegasi, there were two openings on the upper sides of the harness, large enough for a Pegasus to fit their wings through comfortably.

“Does anypony have any more questions for the good Doctor?” Mayor Mare asked, as she looked around in the crowd. “No? Well in that case, that concludes today's presentation. Thank you very much Doctor Whooves. We all are very fascinated by your new invention, and we hope it will be of good use to everypony.”

“The pleasure was all mine, Mayor Mare. Thank you for coming everypony!” Doctor Whooves said as everypony applauded.

As everypony began to depart from the area, Doctor Whooves climbed back to the top of his lab and climbed in through the roof, closing it as he went inside. As the Doctor went back inside his lab, Derpy flew back down to the ground, hoovering slightly, looking back at the lab before being interrupted by Rainbow Dash tapping her on the shoulder.

“So, Derpy, saw you were making eyes at the Doctor during the presentation, what gives?” Rainbow Dash asked as she grinned.

“Wh-What!? Making eyes? I-I don't know what you're talking about!” Derpy said as she blushed furiously and shook her hooves in a defensive manner.

“(Laughs) Come on Derpy, I already know you have a crush on the Doctor. You told me remember?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“O-Oh, yeah, I forgot.” Derpy said as she giggled to herself.

“Seriously though, Derpy, you've had a thing for him since Twilight first came to Ponyville. When are you gonna tell him?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“W-Well, you see-.”

“Ah, there you are, Derpy. I was hoping I'd find you.” Doctor Whooves said, having emerged from his lab, free of the arms.

“Oh! H-Hi Doctor!” Derpy said as she quickly spun around.

“Hello Derpy, ah, Rainbow Dash, it's good to see-.”

“Sorry, love to chat but I got a sleepover to attend! See ya Doc! Good luck Derpy!” Rainbow Dash said as she quickly zipped away.

“Huh? Rainbow Dash, wait!” Derpy called, but Rainbow Dash was already gone.

“Oh, well, yes, I suppose that's important.” Doctor Whooves said, confused as to why Rainbow Dash had zipped away so fast.

“Well, Derpy, I'm feeling quite famished after all that talking. Would you care to accompany me to grab a bite to eat?” Doctor Whooves asked.

“(Gasp) Would I!?” Derpy cried as she smiled widely, before calming herself and chuckling nervously. “I-I mean, I'd love to, Doc.”

“Splendid. Come on, let us be off.” Doctor Whooves said as he began to walk away.

“Okay, Doc.” Derpy replied as she squealed to herself, before quickly flying next to the Doctor.

As Doctor Whooves and Derpy made their way towards one of the restaurants in Ponyville, a cloaked pony chuckled, hiding in the shadows as he watched the Doctor leave.

“Quite a brilliant invention Doctor. It would be quite a shame if somepony were to use it for bad things. Yes, that would be just horrible! What could ever be worse!? Oh, I know.... (Evil Chuckle) What if you were the one who used your own invention to harm others? Oh, that would be just dreadful! You better watch out, Doctor! You don't want to get.... Discorded or anything now, would you?” the cloaked pony said as he chuckled and walked away, no pony ever catching sight of him.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading this chapter! I can assure all of you that there is a reason that I spent quite a bit of time with introducing Doctor Whooves and the mechanical arms. Maybe you already get an idea, but who knows, we will see

For those of you who are missing Sombra right now, don't worry, half of next chapter will focus on Twilight and her friends having their sleepover, and the other half will see what Sombra is up to.

Thank you all for reading! I really appreciate it! See you all in the next chapter!

The Guard

Twilight slowly opened her eyes and looked around the room. Seeing that it was bright out, Twilight stood up and stretched out her hooves. Not too long after Twilight woke up, the rest of her friends also started to get up from their mats.

“Good morning, girls. How did you all sleep?” Twilight asked.

“Well, despite the storm and the creepy stories last night, I'd say we all slept pretty well.” Starlight said.

“Speaking of creepy stories, those were some pretty good ones. Of course, mine was the scariest.” Rainbow Dash said.

“I don't know about that one, Rainbow. If anything, I'd say Pinkie Pie had the most downright horrifying story out of all of us.” Applejack said before turning over to her pink friend. “Speaking of which, where in tarnation did you hear that nasty tale, Pinkie?”

“Yeah, I'm with AJ on that one. That story was so disturbing Pinkie Pie.” Rainbow Dash said, remembering the gruesome details about what happened to the poor little filly in Pinkie's story.

“You didn't come up with that story on your own, did you, Pinkie?” Twilight asked nervously as Pinkie Pie laughed.

“Oh, no, no, no, silly Twilight. I didn't make it up at all. I got the story of the Candy Mare from a site where you can find a bunch of spooky stories. People usually call them Creepypastas. I'm not sure why though; pasta isn't creepy. Also, I never realized how much creepypastas people make about us. There are some pretty spooky ones for sure.” Pinkie Pie explained, leaving her friends once again, very confused.

“What now?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Uhh... I think it's best to say, just classic Pinkie Pie.” Starlight said as they all nodded in agreement.

“I can show you girls later! But I'm also a bit hungry.” Pinkie Pie said as her stomach growled.

As if on cue, Spike walked into the room, wearing a chef's hat and a little apron.

“Good morning everypony. I hope you all had a good night's rest. Breakfast is just about to be finished.” Spike said as the girls wished him a good morning back.

“Thanks, Spike. We'll head on over right now. Come on girls.” Twilight said as they all began to make their way to the dining room.

Before Twilight left the room, she pulled Applejack to the side as the rest of the girls left.

“Oh, need something Twilight?” Applejack asked.

“Just wanted to thank you for last night. Your words really helped me a lot, Applejack.” Twilight said.

“Aw, think nothing of it, Twilight. It's what friends do. We always support each other.” Applejack replied as they smiled.

“Well, come on, don't want the others to eat everything before we get there.” Twilight said as the pair headed for the dining room.

Spike had prepared a delicious breakfast of pancakes for the girls as well as for himself. It wasn't long before all the pancakes were eaten and there was nothing, but empty plates left on the table. Once everypony had finished their breakfast, Spike gathered up all the plates and left to wash them. As the girls were talking, a scroll popped out in thin air and landed in front of Twilight.

“Huh? What's this?” Twilight asked as she lifted the scroll with her magic and opened it up. “It’s from Princess Cadance. I hope everything's okay”

“What does it say?” Fluttershy asked as Twilight read the letter out loud so her friends could hear.

Dear Twilight,

Firstly, everything is okay, there's no danger or anything

Shining Armor and I would like to discuss something with you

Of course, you are always welcome to bring your friends along with you

We would be more than delighted to see you and of course, Flurry Heart wants to see you as well

Let us know if you can make it, if not we can always do this another time

Love, Cadance

“Something to discuss with me? Wonder what it could be.” Twilight said.

“It does sound rather intriguing. What are you going to do, Twilight?” Rarity asked.

“Well, of course I'm gonna go! It must be super important because Cadance and Shining Armor want to do this face to face instead of just through letters! Plus, I get the chance to spend time with my big brother, my sister-in-law, and my favorite niece!” Twilight said happily as she flapped her wings in excitement.

“Um, isn't Flurry Heart your only niece?” Fluttershy asked, her question not quite reaching Twilight.

“So, what do you girls think? Anypony up for a trip to the Crystal Empire?” Twilight asked, hoping that her friends would be able to accompany her.

“Well, I got a few chores that need to be taken care of today, but I should be able to get them done this afternoon. I can arrange with my family to take care of the rest while I'm gone. Shouldn't be too much of a hassle.” Applejack said.

“I'm sure Discord won't mind taking care of my animals at the sanctuary for an extra day or two. But I should still check up on them and at least stay until this afternoon. That way my animals won't have to worry about me.” Fluttershy said.

“I got nothing planned for the next couple of days, so I'm good to go whenever you are, Twilight.” Rainbow Dash said.

“I will have to head to the boutique and recheck my schedule, but I am sure that I have no appointments or any orders due within the next couple of days.” Rarity said.

“I can go anytime! I'm sure the Cakes won't mind if I take a couple days off. They're really understanding.” Pinkie Pie said as she bounced up and down.

“That's great! What about you, Starlight? Wanna come?” Twilight asked.

“Thanks for the offer, Twilight, but I think it's best if somepony stays and keeps an eye on the castle. You know, just in case.” Starlight said.

“Oh, okay then. Spike?” Twilight asked as she saw Spike re-enter the room.

“Huh? What's up, Twilight?” Spike asked.

“Princess Cadance and Shining Armor have invited us all to the Crystal Empire. There's something they need to discuss with me. Do you wanna come with us?” Twilight asked.

“Sure, I'll come along. It's always nice to see the Crystal Empire. Plus, I'm sure the crystal ponies are missing me.” Spike said with a grin.

“(Chuckle) I'm sure they are, Spike. This is great! Let's all meet at the train station this afternoon.” Twilight said.

With that, Twilight's friends said their goodbyes and left the castle to take care of what they needed to take care of before the trip to the Crystal Empire. After her friends had left the castle, Twilight made sure to send a letter to Cadance, informing her that she would in fact be on her way very soon.

Meanwhile...

“Yes, this is wonderful! Twilight and her friends are coming to the Empire! She says they'll be here either tonight or sometime tomorrow.” Cadance said as she showed Shining Armor the letter Twilight had just sent.

“That's great! It'll be so nice to see Twily again. I know you missed your auntie Twilight a lot, right Flurry?” Shining Armor asked as he looked at their daughter who was sitting in her crib.

“Goo, goo.” Flurry Heart said as she clapped her hooves together and flapped her wings happily.

“Aww, so adorable! Our little bundle of joy.” Cadance said as she levitated Flurry Heart to her and held her, kissing her forehead.

As Cadance and Shining Armor smiled at their baby, they heard a knock at the door.

“Permission to enter?” A voice called from behind the door.

“Permission granted! Come in!” Shining Armor replied as the doors opened up, revealing Flash Sentry.

“Pardon the intrusion, but I have the results to the procedure.” Flash said.

“And? How did the procedure go?” Shining Armor asked.

“Unfortunately, sir, it wasn't successful. We didn't even leave a mark on the door.” Flash replied, looking rather disappointed.

“(Sigh) I thought with that new guard's ability, we would be able to get that door open. I guess not.” Shining Armor said.

“Do you think Twilight's magic will be able to open the door?” Cadance asked.

“I'm not sure. We can only hope so. Otherwise, I don't know how we're ever going to get that door open.” Shining Armor said.

“Captain Armor.” Flash said as he took off his helmet. “On behalf of the crew that was tasked with trying to break the door down, I sincerely apologize.”

“You tell the crew that they have nothing to apologize for. There is no reason for them to feel any sort of guilt.” Shining Armor said.

“That’s right, please let them know that we are not upset. I know that they did their best. Once you have given them our word, you may go back to your post.” Cadance said.

Flash Sentry gave a respectful bow to both of them, before he left the room. Once they were alone, Shining Armor and Cadance looked at each other.

“Do you think Twilight will be able to help us?” Shining Armor asked.

“I’m not sure, but I know she will do her best. She always does.” Cadance said.

“You’re right.” Shining Armor said as he wrapped his hoof around Cadance. “The sooner we get that door open, the sooner we finally find out what is in that room.”

Ponyville, a few hours later...

It was just after lunch, when Twilight and the rest of her friends had all arrived at the train station. Thankfully, none of Twilight's friends had to cancel for any reason. Everypony had taken care of what they had to take care of for the day. Applejack was able to work out a schedule with her family so that when she returned to Ponyville, everything would go back to normal at the farm. Rarity was quite surprised when she saw that she really had no appointments for the next few days. Of course, Discord was more than happy to assist Fluttershy more and keep a watchful eye over her sanctuary and to take care of the animals. Rainbow Dash claimed that she was free for the whole week and had nothing else going on. In reality, Rainbow Dash did have some weather work to do, but this wouldn't be the first time she bailed from work. At least she was being honest about not needing to do any Wonderbolt stuff. Pinkie Pie was able to convince the Cakes to give her just a couple of days off, which they agreed to, since it was Princess Cadance who invited the friends to the empire.

Starlight had come to the train station with the girls to see them off, as well as to assure Twilight that the castle was in good hooves. Soon, the friends boarded the train, and they all said their goodbyes, waving as the train departed for its destination. The train ride was fairly comfortable with only minimal bumps along the way. Twilight predicted that since they left Ponyville during the afternoon, that they would arrive at the Crystal Empire in the morning or early afternoon. During the ride, the friends entertained themselves with funny stories and simple party games. Since Pinkie Pie was there, a few of the games weren't quite so simple. A couple of them may have resulted in having to clean up confetti and apologize to fellow passengers for the mess. While she was having a pleasant time with her friends during the ride, Twilight couldn't help but wonder what Cadance and Shining Armor needed to talk with her about. Thankfully, Twilight had her friends there to help keep her calm.

“Hey, you're not still worried about the letter from Cadance, are you?” Spike asked, seeing how Twilight was in deep thought.

“Not really worried, more so just puzzled.” Twilight replied.

“I'm sure it's nothing to be concerned about, dear. Besides, if this was some sort of emergency, I am sure the letter Princess Cadance sent would have been much more dramatic.” Rarity said.

“Yeah! Like, 'Help Twilight! The Crystal Empire is under attack! Come save us! It's the end of the world!' Or something like that.” Pinkie Pie said, after doing a pretty accurate imitation of Cadance's voice.

“I reckon it's just some good old fashioned family meeting about Flurry Heart or something.” Applejack said.

“Yeah, you're all probably right. Thanks, everypony.” Twilight said, giving her friends a thankful smile.

“It will be so nice to see Flurry Heart again. She's one of the cutes fillies in all of Equestria.” Fluttershy said as she clapped her hooves together. “Oh, I wonder if she'll finally say her first words!”

“That would be the best thing ever!” Twilight said as she imagined Flurry Heart saying her first words.

For the rest of the ride, Twilight and her friends all thought about what the cutest possible thing was that Flurry Heart could say if she spoke her first words. Naturally, they all imagined Flurry Heart saying each of their names. Soon, the day had ended, and the night was approaching. The friends stayed up for just a little bit and then decided it was time to turn in for the night. That way they would be well rested for their meeting with Cadance the next day. That night, everypony had pleasant dreams and slept very nicely. There were no suspenseful feelings for Twilight that night.

Twilight and her friends woke up around the exact same time, each of them having slept peacefully. Twilight looked out the window and saw that they hadn't arrived yet, but they would very soon. Breakfast was served on the train, and it was decent enough to fill all of the hungry stomachs onboard the train. After a nice breakfast, the friends continued to talk and have a jolly good time for the remainder of the train ride. A short while later, the train finally came to a halt and blew its loud whistle. They had finally arrived at the Crystal Empire. Twilight and her friends exited the train and once everypony was accounted for, made their way to the Crystal Empire.

It wasn't long until the friends arrived at the gate to the Crystal Empire. As they arrived, they all stopped and took in the sight. The Crystal Empire was indeed a very beautiful place. The crystals glowed and shined beautifully with the help of the bright sunlight. The colors were so dazzling to look at that you could stare for literally hours if you wanted to. Of course, the crystal ponies themselves were very beautiful as well. The way they glowed was just so amazingly beautiful and glorious. Of course, their personality matched their beauty as well. The castle was always such a lovely sight as well. After admiring the lovely view, the friends finally began to make their way to the castle.

On their way to the castle, they were all swarmed by crystal ponies. Each happy to see the Mane Six of course, but they were all mostly there to see Spike the Brave. Spike, of course, loved the attention he was getting and enjoyed being praised as a hero. After a bit of being praised and bombarded with questions, Spike finally managed to leave the crowd and flew over to his friends, who had moved off to the side to avoid being trampled. After walking through the empire for a bit, the friends arrived at the castle. There, they were greeted by three guard ponies. The one in the front stepped up and spoke to them.

“Greetings! Princess Cadance and Captain Armor have been expecting you. Captain Armor apologizes for not being here to greet you personally, but he is attending important royal duties with the princess. You will find them up in the throne room.” The guard pony said before bowing to Twilight.

“Thank you very much. It's great to be back. Come on, everypony.” Twilight said as they made their way into the castle.

Before they could all get past the guards, one of the guards tapped Spike on the shoulder and began to start giving him praise and asking a lot of questions. Spike chuckled and told his friends that he would catch up in a second.

“(Exhale) It really is nice to see this place again.” Twilight said as they walked through the castle.

“I agree, it is quite nice to gaze upon the beauty of the Crystal Empire again.” Rarity said, admiring the décor and the crystal walls of the castle.

“This place sure is something.” Applejack said. “I'm glad we were able to save this place.”

“Yeah! We showed that good-for-nothing king what happens when you mess with us!” Rainbow Dash said, punching the air.

“And we were able to keep the empire safe once again during the Crystalling thing.” Fluttershy added.

“The Crystal Empire has for sure had a few troubles along the way, but together, we were able to keep this place safe.” Twilight said as they rounded a corner.

Since she wasn't looking where she was going, Twilight didn't have any time to stop herself as she walked right into somepony, falling back on the ground a bit.

“Oof! So sorry about that! Huh? Twilight?” Flash Sentry said as he shook his head and looked down at the princess.

“Oh, hey Flash Sentry.” Twilight said as they both shared a laugh, Flash helping Twilight back up on her hooves.

“(Chuckle) We really have to stop bumping into each other like that. It's becoming a tradition at this point.” Flash said as he laughed.

“You're right about that.” Twilight agreed as they shared a laugh.

It had been quite some time since Twilight had first gone to the mirror world and met the Flash Sentry from that world. The last time Twilight had managed to visit that world, she was able to spend some good time with Sunset Shimmer and the rest of her Canterlot High friends, including her counterpart. Of course, she also spent some time with that world’s Flash Sentry as well. Since they both knew they were from two separate worlds, they talked things over and eventually both agreed that it would be best to stay really good friends. Twilight remembered she was expecting to see Flash get really upset about it, but he took it very well and agreed that it was for the best. Of course, neither of them would ever forget the feelings they had for each other.

When it came to this Flash Sentry standing before her, Twilight was able to become really good friends with him. They shared the occasional joke and laugh with each other and were really good friends. It was quite easy just like the human Flash Sentry, this Flash was just as kind and nice as the other was. The two were almost the same, with a couple obvious differences. Once the two friends had stopped laughing, they straightened back up and Flash bowed respectfully to Twilight.

“Princess Cadance and Captain Armor await you in the throne room, Princess Twilight.” Flash said as he continued to bow.

“There's really no need to bow to me, Flash.” Twilight said as she chuckled.

“Well, you are a princess, so I have to show my respect.” Flash said.

“Thanks for that, Flash. It was nice to see you again.” Twilight said.

“You as well, Twilight. I'll take you all to the throne room.” Flash said as he led the girls and Spike, who had just returned, to the throne room.

A few minutes later, they had all arrived at the doors of the throne room and Flash Sentry opened the doors and spoke up.

“Presenting, Princess Twilight Sparkle and the rest of her friends!” Flash announced, allowing Twilight and her friends to pass.

“Twilight!” Cadance and Shining Armor said as they saw Twilight enter the room with her friends.

“Cadance! Shining Armor!” Twilight said as she flew over to them, first to Cadance before they began their little dance.

“Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!” Twilight and Cadance sang as they laughed and then gave each other a hug.

“It's so great to see you, Twilight!” Cadance said as she hugged Twilight.

“I'm so happy to see you too, Cadance!” Twilight said, hugging Cadance tightly, before she went to her brother. “It's great to see you too, B.B.B.F.F!” Twilight said, giving her big brother a big hug.

“Aww, it's great to see you too, Twily! I missed you!” Shining Armor said, hugging his little sister tightly.

“I missed you too!” Twilight said as they let each other go. “Where's Flurry Heart?” Twilight asked, looking around for her favorite niece.

“Oh, she's up in her room taking a nap. Our little one was so sleepy this morning. We can see her really soon.” Cadance said.

“Great! So, what did you guys want to talk about?” Twilight asked with a smile on her face.

Cadance and Shining Armor looked at each other for a moment and then looked back to Twilight, serious looks on their faces.

“(Sigh) We'll get right to the point.” Cadance said, as Shining Armor spoke up.

“Do you remember when King Sombra attacked the empire?” Shining Armor asked, the mention of the name causing everypony to perk up with interest and curiosity.

“Yeah, I do. Why?” Twilight asked as her friends started to get very curious about where this was going.

“Oh no! Is King Sombra back for revenge?” Fluttershy asked, wanting desperately to curl up into a ball.

“King Sombra!? He's back!? Oh no!” Spike cried as he held his head in a panic.

“King Sombra's back!? Where is he!? Tell us so we can kick his flank back into the icy ground!” Rainbow Dash said, putting her hooves up, ready for a fight.

“It's the end of the world! Run for your lives!!” Pinkie Pie cried as she started to run around in circles.

“What? Oh, no, no, King Sombra didn't come back for revenge.” Cadance said, making everypony calm down.

“Oh, okay. That's nice.” Pinkie Pie said as she giggled to herself.

“Twilight, do you remember when you went down to the room where you faced your greatest fear? Well, we were looking around down there recently, and we found something.” Cadance said.

“Huh? What did you find?” Twilight asked.

“We think it's better if we showed you rather than tell you.” Shining Armor said before nodding to Cadance.

Cadance nodded back and motioned for everypony to step back a bit. As soon as everypony was a safe enough distance away, Cadance closed her eyes and her horn lit up with its magic. All of a sudden, Cadance's horn no longer glowed its usual magic aura of a bright blue. Instead, Cadance's horn glowed a horrific shade of purple and black, her eyes opened up to reveal a solid green color with a purple mist spilling out from the sides of Cadance's eyes. Princess Cadance was using the dark magic of King Sombra, no doubt to open the pathway that led to the room of fear. Once the path had been opened up, Cadance fell to the side, but was caught by Shining Armor.

“Cadance! Are you okay!?” Twilight cried.

“Y-Yeah, don't worry about me, Twilight.” Cadance replied, very much in pain and exhausted.

“Flash Sentry! Stay here with Princess Cadance, I'll take the others down to the cavern!” Shining Armor ordered, with Flash immediately rushing to support Cadance, allowing her to rest a bit. “Alright, everypony follow me and stay close.” Shining Armor said as he led the group down the long flight of stairs.

Twilight and Spike hated having to go back down these stairs, knowing what awaited them at the bottom. The rest of Twilight's friends were very creeped out by the eeriness of the situation as they continued down the stairs. Eventually, they made it to the bottom and in front of them was the door that led to one's greatest fears. However, almost instantly everypony noticed that there was now a second door. This door looked as if it had been bashed and beaten repeatedly by blunt objects and sharp objects, as if in an attempt to break the door down. The most eye-catching thing about this new door was that there was an inscription on the door that read, 'Sombra'.

“Wait, is.... that?” Twilight asked, as Shining Armor filled in the blanks.

“King Sombra's room? Maybe, but we have no idea to be honest.” Shining Armor said.

“Don't know? What do you mean you don't know? Haven't you looked inside the room or anything?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“That's the thing; we can't get inside the room. The door is shut tight, and we can't get it to open.” Shining Armor replied.

“From the looks of it, y'all tried really hard to bust this here door down.” Applejack said, taking notice of how this door had clearly taken quite a beating.

“Oh, believe me, Applejack, we have tried very hard to bust this door down. We hit it, we burned it, we tried to pry it open, we even shot it with one of our cannons and still, nothing.” Shining Armor said.

“I beg your pardon, but did you say you tried to burn the door down?” Rarity asked. “That door looks to be made of wood and burning it did nothing?!”

“Exactly! After the door survived being burned and being shot with a cannon, we concluded that this door has to be protected by some sort of enchantment or something.” Shining Armor said.

“I’m guessing that you've already tried using magic to open the door, right?” Twilight asked.

“We've tried that plenty of times. Cadance and I tried a bunch to get this door open with our magic, but the door still didn't budge. Sunburst even came in to try every spell he knew and nothing he did worked. We even tried using dark magic to open the door and it still did nothing.” Shining Armor explained.

“How about trying to teleport into the room? Did you try that?” Twilight asked.

“Cadance and I tried that multiple times and we weren’t able to get through.” Shining Armor said, shaking his head. “That alone definitely proves that there is some sort of enchantment here preventing us from doing anything.”

“And you invited Twilight and the rest of us here because you wanted to see if maybe we could break the door down?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“That's right. I'm really sorry we didn't make that clear in the letter, Twily. Cadance and I just didn't want you to worry.” Shining Armor said.

“It's okay, Shining. We're happy to help out, right everypony?” Twilight asked.

“Right!” Her friends replied.

“Thanks a bunch, everypony! It means a lot to us. And if you can't get the door open, we understand if you-.” Shining Armor said before Rainbow Dash suddenly flew right past him and started to beat the door down with her hooves, as if she was fighting the fight of her life.

“Hyah! Hyah! Ya! Bam! Ya!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she kept on punching and kicking the door with all her might.

All the while, everypony else just kind of stared with confused looks as they watched Rainbow Dash eventually tire out from hitting the door for a good five minutes. Finally, Rainbow Dash stopped her assault and flew back to her spot next to Applejack, panting.

“(Pant, pant) No good. That door isn't being opened anytime soon.” Rainbow Dash said as she shook her hooves, each one a bit sore from all the punching and kicking.

“Alright here let me have a go.” Applejack said as she began to walk over to the door.

“If the door just survived my rainbow combo, what makes you think it's going to break down after one kick, AJ?” Rainbow Dash asked, trying her best to sound like she wasn't about to collapse from exhaustion.

“Well, for one, out of the six of us, I am the most powerful in terms of physical strength.” Applejack replied as she stood in front of the door, examining it for a good spot to kick it.

“I mean, she's not wrong.” Spike said, recalling the amount of trees Applejack would buck almost every day.

“Mmm, that's debatable.” Rainbow Dash said.

“Huh, really? If that's the case, why didn't you break the door down yourself, Rainbow?” Applejack asked, a smirk on her face and her eyebrow raised.

“Just do your thing and kick it already!” Rainbow Dash said, looking away from the farm pony.

“Alrighty then. Here goes... YARGH!” Applejack yelled as she turned around and gave the door the hardest kick she ever gave in her life.

As soon as Applejack kicked the door with her back hooves, there was a slight cracking sound, only it didn't come from the door....

“GAAAAHHH! My hooves!” Applejack cried as she fell to the floor, her friends gathering towards her.

“Applejack! Are you okay!?” Twilight cried.

“I told you that wasn't going to work! Now look what happened!” Rainbow Dash said as she tried to help Applejack stand back up.

“Are your hooves, okay? Are they broken?” Fluttershy asked as she assisted in helping Applejack stand.

“(Wince) I don't think so. They ain't broken but they're definitely not A-Okay either.” Applejack said as she winced a bit while trying to stand.

“Don't worry Applejack, I'm sure I can help make things better. Shining Armor, is there a place we can take Applejack for a moment, I need her to be laying on her side for this to work.” Rarity said.

“We can take her to a better spot than here, I'll carry her.” Shining Armor said, using his magic to levitate Applejack onto his back.

“I really don't think this is necessary. I'm fine, really.” Applejack said, but Rarity wasn't having it.

“Absolutely not! Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, come with me, I'll need your help.” Rarity said.

“You guys go take care of Applejack, the rest of us will stay here and get this door opened up.” Pinkie Pie said with a smile.

“Are you sure?” Shining Armor asked.

“We'll be okay, Shining. Please take care of Applejack.” Twilight replied.

With that, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Shining Armor ran up the stairs to get Applejack some help. Once they were gone, Twilight looked to Spike.

“Spike, do you think you can try to burn the door down using your fire? Maybe your fire is stronger.” Twilight suggested.

“I'll give it a go.” Spike replied as he took a deep breath and blasted his fire at the door, nothing. “No good. Sorry, Twilight.” Spike said, looking sad.

“It's okay Spike. It's not your fault.” Twilight said before Pinkie Pie spoke up.

“Stand aside, Twilight. Let Pinkie Pie, have a try.” Pinkie Pie as she put on a very serious face.

Pinkie Pie then pulled out a hard hat seemingly out of nowhere and placed it on her head before she carefully examined the door before her. Pinkie Pie walked up to the door and placed her hooves on it, feeling around as if she was looking for something. Pinkie Pie suddenly stopped and stepped back, nodding very slowly. Pinkie Pie then jumped up in the air, and somehow while she was in midair, straightened her body out. As she seemingly hovered midair, Pinkie Pie started to spin around like a top, only much faster. Then Pinkie Pie flew to the door and started to try and drill into it. After a good minute or so, Pinkie Pie stopped and landed back onto the ground, stepping back to examine her work. Aside from a bit of dents and chipping, the door remained closed.

“Wow, this door really is impossible to break down. No door has ever survived my drilling technique before.” Pinkie Pie said as she took off her hard hat and tossed it to the side.

“Pinkie... how did you... do that?” Twilight asked.

“Psst, Twilight.” Spike whispered. “It's Pinkie Pie, there's no point in asking or trying to figure out how that works.”

“I really thought my drilling technique would work. I guess not. Why don't you try next, Twilight. You're the main character, maybe your magic will work.” Pinkie Pie said, patting Twilight on the back.

“Main Character? What?” Twilight asked, very much confused by Pinkie Pie’s words.

“Go on, give it your all, Twilight!” Pinkie Pie said as she cheered for her friend.

Twilight decided to just go along with it as she stepped forward. Twilight took a deep breath and with all her might, pulled at the door hard with her magic. Twilight used every attack she knew and every spell she could think of. None of them worked. Twilight even tried to just teleport into the room, but that didn't work either. Seeing how nothing she did worked, Twilight sighed and turned back to Spike and Pinkie Pie.

“(Sigh) Well, we better head up and tell Cadance and Shining Armor that we weren't able to get the door open.” Twilight said, a bit disappointed.

“Yeah, and hopefully Rarity was able to help Applejack out.” Spike added.

With that, the trio of friends began to make their way up the stairs. As they walked up the stairs, Twilight couldn't help but wonder what was behind that door. The curiosity was definitely eating at her, after all, if this was in fact the room that belonged to King Sombra, it could very well hold some ancient artifacts or maybe even some magic spells that could be used to help other ponies. Maybe there were some secrets to King Sombra's power or maybe something to provide more information about this king that Twilight knew almost nothing about.

“Thanks a bunch, Rarity. I feel a whole lot better now.” Applejack said.

“It was no problem at all, darling. Hopefully you've learned not to try and buck enchanted objects from now on.” Rarity said.

“So, even your magic wasn't strong enough?” Shining Armor asked once Twilight had explained everything.

“The door didn't even budge. I even tried teleporting to the other side of it, but it was like the door wouldn't let me. I'm really sorry we weren't able to help Shining.” Twilight said as she and the rest of her friends lowered their heads.

“Hey now, it's okay. We know you all tried your best.” Shining Armor said, lifting Twilight's face to look back up to him.

“And it's not like this is urgent or anything. It's more so the curiosity that's making this seem like a big deal. On the bright side, we all still get to spend time together.” Cadance said. “Come on, why don't we all go see how Flurry Heart is doing?”

“Oh yes! May we go see her please?” Fluttershy asked as she flew over to Cadance.

“(Giggle) Of course, this way everypony.” Cadance said as they followed her to Flurry Heart's room.

As the group headed towards Flurry Heart's room, Cadance and Shining Armor talked about how much they loved their daughter and what they hoped her future would be like. Of course, the Mane Six were curious if Flurry had spoken her first words yet, which thankfully she hadn't yet. Though it was a bit puzzling how Flurry Heart was able to fly, use powerful spells, and even walk properly at her age, but she still wasn't able to talk. As they neared Flurry Heart's room, they rounded a corner and once again Twilight wasn't looking where she was going as she kept walking forward. As Twilight was laughing at a funny memory involving Flurry Heart, she crashed right into Flash Sentry again.

“Oof! I'm so sorry Flash. I really have to start looking where I'm going.” Twilight said as she took a step back.

“Heh, it’s no problem. You know, at this point we might as well start writing down how many times this happens.” Flash said as he chuckled a bit. “I’m guessing you’re all here to see Flurry Heart?”

“Yep, I’ve been missing my favorite niece.” Twilight said with a smile.

“Well, I’m sure she is excited to see you again. Please, go right ahead.” Flash said as he stepped to the side and extended his hoof outward, signaling them to pass.

As everypony entered the room to visit Flurry Heart, Flash resumed his duties and smiled to himself. It always was a joy to see Twilight Sparkle again.

To Be Discorded

“Forgive my interruption your majesty, but I have been to Ponyville, and I believe I have found a worthy candidate for your plan.” Professor Screw said.

“Hmph, very good. You will bring this candidate to me, and I will decide whether or not they are worthy of the task I will be giving to them.” Sombra said.

“I will have him here by tomorrow. Though just in case, I think it would be better if we met at my old lab. Would that be too much of an issue, your majesty?” Professor Screw asked.

“Fine. Your old lab, tomorrow. Go now, prepare your lab for visitors. Wouldn't want our candidate to have a bad first impression, now, would we?” Sombra asked as he grinned at the Professor.

“(Evil Chuckle) Of course not, your majesty. I will go now. It's good to have you back, I knew you wouldn't abandon me.” Professor Screw said as he bowed again before turning to leave.

“Professor. If the candidate is unworthy or a pathetic weakling, I'll kill you. I have no time for mistakes, do I make myself clear?” Sombra asked as he glared at the Professor.

“(Chuckle) I can assure you, oh king, he will not disappoint you.” Professor Screw said.

“He better not. Be gone now!” Sombra said as Professor Screw bowed one last time before using a dark spell that teleported him away. “(Evil Chuckle) Oh Princess, I hope you’re ready. I've got big plans for you. Sleep well tonight, it might be the last time you ever sleep peacefully.” Sombra said as he laughed into the night, his eyes glowing their green color as he faded into the shadows, disappearing.

Elsewhere...

Once Professor Screw had teleported himself to his desired location, he looked around and grinned. It always pleased him to gaze upon his old laboratory. The building was only one story but that didn't really matter all that much. If you looked at the lab from the outside now, you would easily describe it as a rundown old shack with no significance whatsoever. The doors, while appearing very weak, were actually very durable and strong. Besides, nopony could get in even if they wanted to. The doors had a magic spell put on them where only the Professor could open them. If you wanted to get inside, you needed to be a friend of the Professor. He would take your hoof print and place it on a paper, then he would enchant it and add the enchanted paper to the door's spell. Then to open the door, you had to touch the door with your hoof, basically let the door scan your hoof to see if you are allowed to enter.

“Even after a thousand years, you still stand here my precious.” Professor Screw said before taking a look at his doors. “Hmm, yes, we will have to adjust the size of these doors for the very near future. Door Enchantment, expand.” Professor Screw said, using his horn magic to hold his spell book open.

With the doors now increased in size, the Professor nodded in amusement and walked inside. Once inside, and the doors closed behind him, the Professor looked around and nodded his head. His lab was just the way he liked it. Ready to be used and all his essentials out and ready for experimentation. The lab held a lot of odd and strange looking tools and machines scattered all over. A whole bookshelf stood in disarray, with books on the floor and others seemingly forced onto the shelf. The lab was rather dusty and dirty but not unbearable, at least not to the Professor. On one of his workbenches, he had blueprints and papers laid out for examination. And of course, since some would describe the Professor as a mad doctor, he had a table specifically meant for keeping subjects strapped in and unable to break free from whatever cruel experiment was about to be performed on them.

The Professor then walked over to a small little table that had only one item on top. It was a glass bowl placed over a stand that held a single vial of a mysterious blue liquid that was oozing with bubbles and glowing particles from within. The vial was very important for the Professor's plan to assist King Sombra and he knew this would work. What it was, well, that wasn't important right now, but it would be very soon. After looking around his lab for a bit, the Professor began to set up everything he would need. Once everything was set, the Professor made sure to pack his spell book and then he used it to teleport himself away to his destination, Ponyville.

Meanwhile...

It was a quiet night in Ponyville, well aside from the small lightning storm. Mostly everypony was fast asleep, it was very late in the night after all. Therefore, nopony was around to see Professor Screw teleport into Ponyville. Once in Ponyville, the Professor looked around, making sure nopony was there to see him. After checking if the coast was clear, Professor Screw grinned as he began to make his way to where he needed to go, Doctor Whooves's Lab. It took a bit of time to make it there, since the Professor walked very slowly, not wanting to wake anypony up and ruin his plan. The Professor couldn't help but appreciate the simplicity of this nice little town. It was a very lovely spot and one he had frequently visited for the comfort. Just because he was sort of a mad scientist, that didn't mean he didn't enjoy going out for walks and enjoying a nice meal or a day at the park. It was a shame, as the Professor knew Sombra would order this place to be destroyed. Whatever his master wanted.

Finally, Professor Screw made it outside of Doctor Whooves's lab and he grinned at the sight of it. He knew from the very moment Doctor Whooves had started working on those mechanical arms, he was perfect for his greatest experiment. Doctor Whooves, with those arms could easily be of aid to Sombra and be a very dangerous enemy to the citizens of Ponyville or any other place in Equestria. Especially when the Professor had some upgrades and changes, he wanted to make to those arms. Seeing that the lights were on inside the lab made the Professor happy. The Professor wasted no time as he knocked on the door loudly but not loud enough to wake up the rest of the town.

“Huh? Who could that be at this hour of the night?” Doctor Whooves asked as he got up from his workbench and walked over to the door, not opening it as he called. “Who's out there, I say?”

“A friend.” Professor Screw replied from the other side of the door. “I could use your help, Doctor Whooves. It is rather urgent.”

“Very well then.” Doctor Whooves said as he opened the door, revealing a unicorn with a smug look on his face. “Oh? Who are you? I don't believe I've seen you around here before.”

“(Chuckle) That is because I am not from here, Doctor. Now, I believe... it's time to clock out, good Doctor.” Professor Screw said as he then used his magic to fire a beam of magic at the Doctor's chest, sending flying back into his workbench.

Seeing how he was under attack by some crazy unicorn, Doctor Whooves got up and grabbed one of his tools with his mouth, throwing it at the intruder. Professor Screw used his magic to throw it right back, hitting Doctor Whooves in the head. Professor Screw walked inside the lab and shut the door behind him. Doctor Whooves dodged another beam of magic and then ran to one of his tables and picked up his Sonic Screwdriver, which was attacked to a bracelet like thing. Doctor Whooves quickly got it on his hoof and fired a beam of light at the Professor, hitting him in the chest. The Professor was taken aback by this and simply used his magic to yank the Sonic Screwdriver away from the Doctor and then he charged at him, slamming him into a shelf and then throwing him across his lab, destroying a table of vials and equipment. As Doctor Whooves tried to get back up, Professor Screw ran over to him and placed a hypnotic spell on Doctor Whooves, putting him in a deep sleep before he could fight back, collapsing to the floor.

With the Doctor taken care of, it was time to find the arms. It didn't take long before the Professor spotted the massive mechanical arms hanging from a holder on the wall. Professor Screw marveled at the sight of these arms and how brilliant they were. He had to give the Doctor credit, he was very talented and an ingenious inventor.

“You four will be needed for our little experiment. I do hope you don't mind if I take you down.” Professor Screw said as he used his magic to first raise Doctor Whooves up on his feet and kept him steady while also using his magic to lift the arms off of the wall and brought them over to the Doctor, wrapping them around him and locking the harness in place on the Doctor's back.

Once the arms were secure on the Doctor's back, Professor Screw looked around the lab for a bit and eventually found the blueprints for the construction of the mechanical arms. Once he had those blueprints secured, he looked back at the lab and then to the Doctor.

“Sorry about the mess, Doc. We can take care of it later. But now, it's time you came with me. Come along, Doc, we have much to do.” Professor Screw said as he used his spell book to teleport himself and the Doctor out of the lab.

Professor Screw's Lab...

Professor Screw had successfully teleported himself and the Doctor back to his lab in one piece. The Professor turned to face the Doctor and used his magic to levitate him over to his worktable. The Professor laid the Doctor out on his stomach so that the arms were completely visible and available to work on. Then, he strapped the Doctor's hooves into place so that in the event of him waking up, he wouldn't be able to escape. With Doctor Whooves in perfect position, Professor Screw walked over to his workbench and gathered all of the tools he would need. Professor Screw brought his tools and the blueprints he stole over to the table and grinned at the arms.

“(Chuckle) It's time for your upgrade my mechanical friends. And as for you, Doctor (Chuckle) I hope you're ready because I've got a big surprise for you when you wake. Oh, yes, you will LOVE it! Mwahahahahaha!” Professor Screw said as he laughed and laughed, then coming in closer, it was time to get to work.

It was quite a few hours before Doctor Whooves finally woke up. When he did, he remembered nothing about his earlier scuffle with the Professor or anything. The only thing on Doctor Whooves's mind was why the surface beneath him was so cold. Doctor Whooves looked up and saw that he was in some sort of lab. His own maybe? No, it couldn't be, his lab was much cleaner and more organized, not to mention a lot more welcoming rather than haunting. There were cobwebs all over the place and dust was everywhere, it looked like this place was cleaned once every three months, barely. Shelves were full of old books and science equipment. There were some chemicals on a table, all colored with bright dangerous colors. The light above was barely lighting anything up and the bulb gave off the sound of old and about to break. It was like he was in a set of an old horror film.

Doctor Whooves decided that maybe he was just in a nightmare. No doubt caused by one of his many adventures with Derpy in the Tardis. As he started to wake up even more, Doctor Whooves felt something rather heavy on his back. Doctor Whooves decided that maybe it was just one of those really big blankets, so he decided to get up and inspect it. But as Doctor Whooves tried to stand up, he realized he couldn't move his hoofs. Doctor Whooves then realized he was strapped down to a rather large experimenting table. Before Doctor Whooves had a full-on panic attack, he looked back and saw that he was strapped to the harness with his mechanical arms. With the horror of what was going on, Doctor Whooves tried to break free of his restraints, but it was pointless, he was locked in tight. Then, he heard the sound of somepony laughing from the darkness.

“Who goes there!?” Doctor Whooves yelled, no response. “I say, who's there!? Show yourself!”

“(Chuckle) There's no need to be so loud, Doctor Whooves.” a familiar voice said.

“That voice... I know you! You're that maniac who attacked me in my lab! Release me now!” Doctor Whooves yelled.

“(Chuckle) Tell me, Doctor, how many worlds have you visited?” Professor Screw asked, stepping into view.

“Wh-What? What are you talking about?” Doctor Whooves asked, hoping to bluff his way out of the question.

“There's no need to hide the facts, Doctor. I am well aware of what your Tardis can do. Quite a brilliant invention if I do say so myself. The fact that you've created a machine that allows one to travel to different times, even other dimensions; very astonishing.” Professor Screw said.

“As much as I appreciate your words, I still would like to know... WHO ARE YOU!?” Doctor Whooves yelled, still trying to get out of the restraints that held him in place.

“(Chuckle) I suppose it is about time we introduce ourselves. I am Professor Screw Loose. As you can see, I am a unicorn, I am also a former crystal pony.” Professor Screw said.

“Crystal pony? It's hard to believe that one of the ponies from the Empire of Love could be this rude.” Doctor Whooves said.

“(Chuckle) I suppose you could say I was always the exception to my fellow ponies. Even before the Crystal Empire was banished.” Professor Screw said.

“Perhaps you should have stayed in banishment, Professor.” Doctor Whooves said.

“(Chuckle) Well, I have some news for you, my good Doctor. You see, I was never banished.” Professor Screw said with a smile.

“What? S-So, you've been-?”

“Alive since the Empire was banished? Yes, I have. I have lived for more than a thousand years.” Professor Screw replied.

“B-But how!?” Doctor Whooves asked.

“(Chuckle) You are very smart, and you have a big brain, Doctor. Why don't you use it right now.” Professor Screw suggested as Doctor Whooves thought for a moment.

“Dark magic?” Doctor Whooves asked.

“Bingo, Doctor. Of course, I needed help with the magic. Luckily, I had somepony very special help me with what I needed.” Professor Screw said.

“And who would that be?” Doctor Whooves asked.

“(Chuckle) You will find out soon enough. In the meantime, I'm sure you're wondering why I brought you here. It's quite simple, you are needed for a very special project. When I saw you show off those arms in Ponyville, I knew you were perfect for the job.” Professor Screw said.

“You like these arms so much? Why don't I show you what they can do!?” Doctor Whooves said, mentally ordering one of the arms to reach out and grab the Professor.

Doctor Whooves was confused when nothing happened at all. The arms didn't move. Doctor Whooves tried again, mentally commanding the arms to attack, once again nothing. Doctor Whooves couldn't understand why this wasn't working, especially when he could feel that the needles in the harness were connected to his body. Doctor Whooves knew it wasn't a good sign when the Professor started to chuckle once again.

“(Chuckle) What's wrong? Problems with your invention, Doctor?” Professor Screw asked, enjoying seeing the confusion on the Doctor's face. “While you were asleep, I took the liberty to make some adjustments to your arms. I installed a few new features to them, and one of those features was a good old fashioned remote control. With this, I can keep the arms turned off even if you are physically and mentally connected.” Professor Screw said, taking a remote off of the table next to him and showing it off to the Doctor.

“What!? What else did you do to my arms!?” Doctor Whooves asked, but before he could get an answer, they both saw a shadow rise out of the ground.

“Ahh, it appears my master has arrived.” Professor Screw said, taking a step back and grinned.

Once the shadow had fully risen, Doctor Whooves saw a menacing looking pony step out of the shadow. It didn’t take long for him to realize who this pony was. As King Sombra fully emerged, he looked over to the two ponies before him.

“Wh-What!? Y-You!? You're King Sombra, aren't you!?” Doctor Whooves cried, horrified at the sight of a pony who he thought was long gone.

“(Chuckle) Yes, that's right. I'm glad to see that my name still evokes fear in the hearts of ponies in Equestria. So, you're the famous Doctor Whooves that I saw while keeping my eye on Twilight. Why is he here, Professor?” Sombra asked, giving Professor Screw a very stern look of disappointment. “He better not be this candidate you had in mind.”

“Well, your majesty, he is in fact who I had in mind. Is there a problem?” Professor Screw asked.

Sombra didn't say a single word as he just stared into Professor Screw's eyes. After a very haunting moment of silence, Sombra's eyes glowed their bright green color. Suddenly, from Sombra's shadow, a long shadowy arm came out and grabbed Professor Screw by the throat and then slamming him into the wall, choking him.

“I ought to kill you, Professor....” Sombra said coldly as he watched the Professor choke and struggle to breathe.

“(Cough) W-Wait! (Cough) Your majesty! P-Please! (Cough) Allow me to explain! Let me explain! (Cough)!” Professor Screw said as he was finding it harder and harder to breathe.

Sombra didn't look very amused, but he relucted as he very mildly loosened his grip on the Professor's throat. It wasn't much, but it was enough so that at least the Professor wouldn't keep coughing or die.

“Explain...” Sombra said, making it clear that he was very close to losing his temper.

“(Gasp) Do you see the mechanical arms being worn by the Doctor?” Professor Screw asked, pointing a hoof towards the Doctor.

“What, do you think I'm blind or something? Of course, I see the arms! What about them?” Sombra asked.

“Well, our good Doctor here has created those incredible arms that have many capabilities. They are very durable; they are able to emit an electrical shock from the palm of each claw. They can lift very heavy objects and they can allow anypony to scale a tall building or mountain with relative ease. The arms are even able to function underwater.” Professor Screw explained.

“(Chuckle) So.... you think that just because an inventor from Ponyville created a pair of robot arms; that that's what makes him capable of working for me? DO YOU THINK THIS IS WHAT I ASKED FOR!?” Sombra yelled, retightening his grip.

“(Cough) E-Elaborate! (Cough) (Cough) Let me elaborate!” Professor Screw cried, gasping for air as Sombra once again loosened his grip. “I understand the mechanical arms may not look like much, but I have added my own features to the arms to make them more dangerous.”

“And what makes you think this Doctor will go along with my plan?” Sombra asked.

“Doctor, would you be so kind as to serve his majesty? And carry out all of his orders and help bring Equestria down to its feet?” Professor Screw asked.

“Never! I'd never serve some evil tyrant! If you thought I would simply go along with whatever sick plan you have for Equestria, then you have lost your mind!” Doctor Whooves yelled, trying once again to break free from the restraints.

“(Chuckle) That is very unfortunate for you, Doctor. But very excellent for me.” Professor Screw said, looking very pleased with the Doctor's response.

“How so, Professor?” Sombra asked.

“Well, you see your majesty, there is more to why I chose the Doctor. If you would please let me go so I can show what I had in mind?” Professor Screw asked.

Sombra said nothing as he let the Professor go. Once the Professor was free from that death grip, he walked over to the small little table that had the vial of the mysterious blue liquid. Professor Screw used his magic to lift the glass covering off of the table and placed it off to the side. The Professor then opened one of the drawers and took out a syringe, levitating it over to him.

“What is that!?” Doctor Whooves asked, not liking the sight of Professor Screw putting the blue liquid into the syringe.

“(Chuckle) What, this? Do not worry, Doctor. This will be my greatest creation yet. You see, my good Doctor, this substance contains the life essence of you, or should I say... a different you.” Professor Screw said.

“Another me? What are you talking about?” Doctor Whooves asked.

“(Chuckle) Yes, another you. Though, many refer to this version of you as Discorded Whooves.” Professor Screw said.

“Discorded Whooves?” Doctor Whooves asked.

“Yes, Discorded Whooves. He is a you from another world or rather other dimension I should say.” Professor Screw explained.

“Another dimension!? But then how were you able to get this 'Life Essence' from this Discorded Whooves fellow?” Doctor Whooves asked.

“(Chuckle) You're not the only one who has travelled through time and visited different worlds. I may not have a Tardis of my own, but I do have this.” Professor Screw said, levitating his spell book in front of the Doctor. “Dark magic has its uses, you see. With this book I was able to travel to other dimensions. I've seen many marvelous worlds. So many worlds breaking into nothingness. Worlds being erased out of existence by their own inhabitants.”

“Alright! I get it now! Get to the point!” Doctor Whooves yelled.

“(Chuckle) Now in terms of our Discorded Doctor, allow me to explain his backstory. Much like yourself, he is a time-lord and a keeper of time. But unlike yourself, this Doctor is not a pony. Well, he is now, but he wasn't always a pony. His true form is that of what I have heard is called, a human being. Humans, from what I have gathered, are a species that are very similar to us in many ways. However, they are unable to use magic, unable to fly, unable to get a cutie mark, and unable to accept anything that doesn't satisfy their wants. They are also built very much differently, as they stand on their back legs and are rather tall. These humans say they are the most advanced forms of life, but in reality, just like us, at the end of the day they are nothing but animals.” Professor Screw explained, before getting back to the Doctor.

“Where was I? Ah yes, this Doctor came from his world, searching for something to study. He found many things, even becoming a pony in the process of arriving at his Equestria. Then, let's just say, Discord messed with his head. He corrupted the Doctor and made him suffer mentally. From then on, the Doctor's world started to shatter. Everyday his world was always one step closer to breaking down forever. He tried many times to save his world; travelling throughout time in an effort to restore his world and to make sure that his family would have a better life in a world that was safe. Unfortunately for him, that never happened. He allowed his depression to turn him into a monster. He became known as rude, cruel, alcoholic, and womanizing asshole of a creature. Quite pathetic if you ask me. So, when I visited his world, I decided that a foolish creature like himself would be perfect to test my experiment on. So, I caught him off-guard, killed him, and took a sample of his blood and used it to manufacture a new essence of life. I enchanted his blood so that it can take over another body.”

“You don't mean...” Doctor Whooves said before Professor Screw confirmed his suspicions.

“Yes, when I inject you with this blood, Discorded Whooves will come back to life. He will live in your body. His mind will replace yours. His whole existence will replace your own. You will no longer exist. You will disappear from all planes of existence and there will be no come back for you. Well, that is so long as the blood remains in your body. If the blood was to somehow be removed, then perhaps the reverse would happen and Discorded Whooves would be the one who would be erased from existence. That is why, once I inject you, I will be implanting this little clog over the point of entrance. Just to ensure the blood doesn't spill out. Now, Doctor, it is time to check out.” Professor Screw said, laughing like a mad man as he approached the Doctor, placing the syringe in his own mouth, so he could jam the needle into Doctor Whooves's neck.

“No! NO! I WILL NOT BE TURNED! GET AWAY FROM ME! NO! HELP! GET AWAY!” Doctor Whooves yelled as he tried with all his might to escape this nightmare.

The Professor just laughed inside as he approached the Doctor and stood right next to him. Then, with the syringe secured in his mouth, he jammed the needle right into the side of the Doctor's neck. Doctor Whooves screamed in utter pain and horror as he felt the cold blue blood enter his bloodstream. A few seconds later, all the blood had been pumped into the Doctor's blood, not leaving a drop behind. However, Doctor Whooves managed to power through the pain and since the Professor's face was very close, he slammed his face into the Professor's face, sending back and even causing him to fall to the ground. This also caused the needle to be yanked out of Doctor Whooves's neck so fast that the blood start to spew out.

“NO!!” Professor Screw yelled as he grabbed a special little device with his magic and jammed it right over the open wound.

Whatever this device was, it dug right into the flesh of Doctor Whooves's neck and locked itself in place, keeping the blood from spewing out again. There was a little light on the top of the small device and once it had locked in place, the light glowed green. The device was secure and would do its job. Professor Screw was pleased with this, and he looked back to the Doctor. Then, he waved goodbye to him as the change started to happen.

“GAH!!! RRRRAAAGGHH!! NO! NO! NO! I! WON'T! BE! TURNED! NO! NO! NOOOOO!!!” Doctor Whooves yelled as his body started to change and morph itself.

Professor Screw and Sombra watched with amusement as Doctor Whooves shook violently on the table. His legs were kicking and spazing out like crazy. Then, something very strange started to happen to the Doctor's body. Before, Doctor Whooves fur was a very light brown, and his mane and tail were colored a chocolate brown. Now, his mane and tail started to become as black as the night sky and his body became a very hideous grey color like that of the stones. There was a horrible cracking sound as Doctor Whooves's front and back legs started to grow just a bit longer than before, like the bones were growing in length in the most painful way possible. Suddenly, there was a very loud ripping sound. Two very large tears appeared along Doctor Whooves's back, in the spot where Pegasi usually had their wings. Doctor Whooves screamed in immense pain as blood spewed out from his back like two bloody fountains. So much blood came out that even the ceiling was splattered with blood.

Once again, there was a horrible sound of bones cracking and twisting as something truly horrifying happened next. From the two open wounds on Doctor Whooves's back, two very scrawny bones came out through the two openings of the harness he was wearing. The skinny bones came up to a good distance and then they started to grow long finger like structures. It was now clear what was happening. Doctor Whooves was growing a pair of wings. As the wings started to grow their feathers and appear more normal looking, Doctor Whooves screamed in pain as each new individual feather grew in place. A few painful minutes later, and Doctor Whooves was now sporting a pair of grey wings. The wings then flared out on their own, shooting immense pain throughout the Doctor, causing him to scream in pain. Then, the Doctor started to cry tears; tears.... of blood. Then, small little sparks of electricity started to appear all over the Doctor's entire body. The Doctor shook in pain and after letting out one final scream, there was a little explosion. Sparks flew and smoke covered the whole lab. Silence....

Professor Screw waited patiently for a few moments before he walked through the smoke and stopped when he was sure he was standing right in front of the table. As the smoke cleared, the Professor could see the seemingly lifeless body of the Doctor. Terrified that his experiment had failed, and he had killed the Doctor, he called out in desperation.

“Doctor Whooves, or should I say Discorded Whooves... can you hear me?” Professor Screw asked.

There was silence for a few moments. Sombra was just about to inflict his rage onto the Professor when he heard a very weak response.

“Wha? Where am I?” the Doctor asked, blinking his eyes.

“What is your name?” Professor Screw asked.

“Doctor Whooves, but others call me... Discorded Whooves.” Discorded Whooves said.

“(Chuckle) Good to see you again, Doctor.” Professor Screw said, relieved that his experiment had worked.

“What? Who are? (Gasp) YOU! What are you doing here!? Where am I!?” Discorded Whooves yelled as he realized his situation.

“Easy, Doctor. You've been through quite a lot.” Professor Screw said, before Discorded Whooves snapped at him.

“YOU KILLED ME! HUH!? WHAT ARE THOSE!?” Discorded Whooves yelled as he looked and saw the four large mechanical arms on his back.

“Listen to me, Doctor. Yes, I did kill you, but right before you died, I took a sample of your blood and enchanted it so that I could in a way, bring you back to life.” Professor Screw explained, keeping the Doctor as calm as possible.

“I... I feel... different....” Discorded Whooves said as he took deep breaths.

“While I was able to bring you back to life, yes, I could only do so by injecting your blood into another pony's body. In the simplest of terms, you are living in somepony else's body. To be more specific, the body of an alternate you from another dimension.” Professor Screw explained.

“Wh-What? Another me? Th-That... That must be why I'm having these memories!” Discorded Whooves said as he shook his head.

“Yes, that's correct. However, please do not think that I brought you back to life because I like you. I for one, actually despise you, Doctor Whooves. You're a very pathetic pony, though then again, I think you and I know better. Because you're not really a pony, are you?” Professor Screw asked, smiling smugly at the Doctor.

“What? How do you know?” Discorded Whooves asked, terrified that this unicorn knew his secret.

“(Chuckle) I did some inspecting of your stuff after your death before I returned to my world. You really need to hide your secrets more carefully. Especially your notes recalling your life in that sad excuse of a world. But let's not get distracted here, Doctor. You are here to discuss a deal.” Professor Screw said.

“A deal? Why would I make a deal with the likes of you? You old hag.” Discorded Whooves said, smirking a bit at his own little insult.

“(Chuckle) I have no time for games, Doctor. The other you was already driving me mad enough. I'll get right to the point; your world is crumbling is it not?” Professor Screw asked.

“What do you care?” Discorded Whooves asked, clearly looking concerned.

“That's the thing, Doctor, I don't care. However, I do believe that there was a point in your life when you cared. Do you still care, Doctor?” Professor Screw asked.

“Piss off, will you? I'd rather be dead again rather than listen to this boring crap.” Discorded Whooves said.

“(Sigh) I didn't want it to come to this, but you've clearly left me no choice. Tell me, Doctor, what are your thoughts about miss Derpy Hooves?” Professor Screw asked as Discorded Whooves's eyes shot open, and he gritted his teeth.

“Don’t you dare say her name! I don’t want to hear about that stupid clumsy klutz!” Discorded Whooves yelled, glaring at Professor Screw with pure hatred in his eyes.

“My, my, it looks to me that you really have such a strong hatred for Miss Hooves.” Professor Screw said.

“Hate her!? I loathe her! That stupid, mentally screwed up bitch! All she had to do was listen to me! Is that so hard!?” Discorded Whooves yelled.

“Oh? She didn't listen to you. Why didn't she listen to you, Doctor?” Professor Screw asked.

“Because she is so stupid! Only I know what’s best for her! Why didn’t she stay away from me!? If she had, maybe my world wouldn’t have gone to shit! She’s so stupid! I hate her! I hate her!” Discorded Whooves yelled.

“Yet, there was a time when you loved her enough to be intimate with her and have two daughters with her.” Professor Screw said.

"Two mistakes! Two mistakes who I love only because they are my own flesh and blood! I can’t believe I stooped so low as to continue my generation with that klutz! My bloodline is forever tainted!” Discorded Whooves yelled, then putting on a disgusted face as he looked through Doctor Whooves's memories. “I can’t believe this Doctor was in love with her! I can’t let him make the same mistake I made! I can’t! I won’t! Oh, I hope you’re enjoying this! Did you bring me back to life just to remind me of that clumsy waste of space!?”

“(Chuckle) I assure you, Doctor, I did not bring you back to see how much you hate Derpy. Why you hate her so much, I can somewhat see. But you do care for your daughters, correct?” Professor Screw asked.

“I do.... what's it to you?” Discorded Whooves asked.

“Much like your world, this world is starting to crumble as well.” Professor Screw said.

“So what? I don't care! This isn't my world and what does that have to do with my daughters?” Discorded Whooves asked.

“Well, you should care. This world that you're in now; it's the primary dimension. If this world crumbles, so will every other world in existence.” Professor Screw said, looking back to Sombra, winking with a smug face.

Sombra chuckled to himself. He knew exactly what Professor Screw was up to. He knew that Professor Screw was making all of this up just to convince Discorded Whooves to join them. Sombra had of course suspected that Discorded Whooves never would have helped them in any kind of way. But, if just the right strings were pulled.... maybe, just maybe....

“No...” Discorded Whooves said, not seeing the smug look on the Professor's face.

“Yes... and if your world crumbled, it would mean the end of all life in your world, including that of your two daughters. I doubt you want that to happen.” Professor Screw said.

“Of course, I don't! I can't lose them! I won't let them die too!” Discorded Whooves yelled.

“And you won't have to... if you do something for us.” Professor Screw said.

“What do I have to do!? Tell me! I can't lose my daughters!” Discorded Whooves said, looking very desperate.

“(Chuckle) It's simple my friend, all you have to do is-.”

“Gah! My head! Argh! What's happening!?” Discorded Whooves yelled as he felt a huge pain in his head.

“Doctor, what's wrong!?” Professor Screw cried before Discorded Whooves instantly reverted back to looking like the normal Doctor Whooves once more. “What!? How!?”

“Y-You... won't... take.... my... mind.... from... me! GAAAAH!!!” Doctor Whooves yelled before he instantly reverted back to Discorded Whooves.

“What the heck!? What was that!?” Discorded Whooves cried as he regained control of himself.

“It seems since a small amount of your enchanted blood spilled out of the Doctor's neck when he struggled, it’s allowing him to still exist in your mind. But, since most of the blood did enter his bloodstream, you should be able to fight him off and regain control of your mind. You cannot allow the Doctor to regain control of his body. He has no care for the other worlds.” Professor Screw said.

“Then I won't let him! I won't let that weak inventor take control! I will save my world! I won't let anyone stop me!” Discorded Whooves yelled.

“(Chuckle) Very good. Now, as I was saying, all you need to do is pledge your allegiance to his majesty. You will serve him and obey his every command. You will assist us in destroying this world.” Professor Screw said before Discorded Whooves spoke up.

“How will destroying this world save it? We might as well just let this world die.” Discorded Whooves said.

“(Chuckle) I know it sounds strange, but if we destroy this world and rebuild it from scratch, we can stop the loop of destruction and save every world in existence.” Professor Screw explained.

“I see... doing something different in the time stream, such as starting anew, could indeed stop an endless cycle of chaos and destruction!” Discorded Whooves said as his face lit up with realization and a feeling of success. “If that is the case, then I will do whatever it takes to end the cycle of destruction! No matter what! Even if I have to end the lives of innocent ponies or any other creature! I won't let anyone stand in my way!”

“(Chuckle) I am pleased to see that you are willing to comply with his majesty's wishes. I will release you now and you will pledge your loyalty to the king.” Professor Screw said as he walked over to the table and released Discorded Whooves from his restraints.

As Discorded Whooves got off the table, he decided that before he pledged his loyalty to anyone, he needed to know the answer to something very important.

“Before I do so, tell me Professor, what are these arms for?” Discorded Whooves asked, gesturing to the four mechanical arms on his back.

“Ah, yes, those are what you will be using for your future assignments. You will use those mechanical arms to destroy this world and ensure the safety of life across all planes of existence. Stay still for a moment, you might feel a bit... weird.” Professor Screw said as he levitated a remote control to him and pressed the button.

For a few moments, nothing happened. Then, there was what sounded like an engine starting up or something and slowly, all four of the mechanical arms came to life and lifted themselves up, seemingly looking around the room. Then Discorded Whooves heard something in his head.

“Huh? What are these voices? Where are they coming from? (Gasp) The arms! Of course! You gave the arms an artificial intelligence!” Discorded Whooves said.

“(Chuckle) That is correct, Discorded Whooves. I suggest you tell the arms who is in control.” Professor Screw said.

“Of course, all of you! Listen to me!” Discorded Whooves said as the arms all moved to look at him. “Since I am the one who built you, you will obey my every command. This world is doomed to fall and break, we cannot let that happen. We will have to do some questionable things to achieve our end goal... peace. Will you help me achieve this and save all worlds?”

The arms looked at each other and nodded in agreement. Then the arms repeatedly opened and closed their claws, like mouths trying to speak. However, the only sounds that came from the arms were the sounds of metal clanking and screeching noises like that of some animal. Even though no one else could understand what the arms were saying, Discorded Whooves could hear them loud and clear in his head.

“Yes... yes... excellent. Of course, we will accomplish our goal. I assure all of you, we can do it.” Discorded Whooves said before he turned back to the two ponies standing before him. “From this moment onward, I pledge my eternal allegiance to King Sombra! I will obey your every command. Every wish will be carried out with absolute efficiency. I will never go against you. I will help save this world and every other world. Hail, King Sombra!” Discorded Whooves said as he bowed to his king, the arms also bowing as well.

“(Chuckle) Yes... YES!!!” Sombra exclaimed as all three of them laughed together.

As the three shared a laugh together, Discorded Whooves lifted himself up in the air with the bottom two arms and looked around the room and then at the two upper arms, which were at his level and waiting for their orders.

“(Chuckle) It is rather sad that I must destroy this world. But... whatever must be done, it shall be done. Watch out Equestria, the Doctor... is in....” Discorded Whooves said as he laughed and laughed, the arms opening and closing their claws, laughing with their master.

Author's Note

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! This chapter was definitely very mature and a bit dark but like I said, Sombra is not playing around this time. Thank you all again and I hope you are enjoying the story so far. Next chapter we will focus once again on the villains and a couple more will be added to Sombra's team! See you all in the next chapter!

Just to clarify, I do NOT own the character of Discorded Whooves in any way.

You can find and learn more about Discorded Whooves here:

https://askdiscordwhooves.tumblr.com/

Gathering of Villains

“Well then, Doc, if you truly are loyal to me now, you will have no problem completing a mission for me, correct?” Sombra asked, making sure to show the Doctor he was serious.

“I am ready to do as you command, master.” Discorded Whooves said as he lowered himself back to ground level.

“Good, but before I assign you your mission, I will elaborate on my plan for Equestria. Yes, the plan is to destroy Equestria, but Professor Screw left out a very important detail. This is not only for the sake of saving other worlds, but also for revenge. There is a pony here in Equestria who has ignited my flames of revenge. Princess Twilight Sparkle, I'm sure you know who she is.” Sombra said.

“I know of her, yes. From the memories of the Doctor and there is also a Twilight Sparkle in my world too. We were rather... close, I suppose you could say.” Discorded Whooves said with a smirk on his face.

“(Chuckle) Very interesting, unfortunately I don't care about your Twilight Sparkle. I am talking about my Twilight Sparkle. My Twilight Sparkle stole my victory! I will not let her get away with that! Twilight is our number one priority here!” Sombra yelled, stomping his hoof down on the floor.

“If you hate this Twilight so much, why don't we attack her first and then destroy the rest of Equestria?” Discorded Whooves asked.

“(Chuckle) Do me a favor Doc, why don't you use your brain and look into the Doctor's memories. Tell me, what do you see? Surely there is something in there that shows what Twilight Sparkle has already accomplished here.” Sombra said, not looking very happy.

Discorded Whooves did as he was told and looked into the memories of Doctor Whooves. He saw that Twilight had indeed done so much in this world. This Twilight had saved Equestria many times and defeated many enemies. She had accomplished so much in this world. Way more than his Twilight Sparkle ever had. Discorded Whooves was quite impressed by how successful this Twilight was compared to his. Once he had seen enough, Discorded Whooves looked back to Sombra and nodded.

“Yes, she has done a lot, hasn't she? As much as I despise Twilight Sparkle, I have a great amount of respect for her. She is a powerful mare and a very dangerous threat to my plans. She and the rest of her friends have defeated many powerful enemies. That is why rather than attack Twilight Sparkle head on, we will weaken her emotionally. By destroying and conquering the different regions of Equestria, we will emotionally damage her. She will see how she is failing to keep Equestria safe from harm. Once we have weakened her enough, that is when we strike and take her down.” Sombra explained.

“I see, so, what do you want me to do?” Discorded Whooves asked.

“As you are aware, I cannot do this alone. That is why I have gathered a couple of very powerful enemies of the Princess to assist me in my plans for Equestria. But, for my plan to fully work, I need more allies to keep Equestria in distress, while I work from the shadows. Therefore, for your first mission, you are to go and seek out more allies that are willing to join us in our vision for Equestria. Once you have recruited enough, you will bring them back to my base. Do you think you can do that, Doc?” Sombra asked.

“(Chuckle) I can do that. And based on the Doctor's memories, I already have a few individuals in mind. Though it might take me a few days to gather them all up and bring them back to your base, wherever that is.” Discorded Whooves said.

“Professor, the book please.” Sombra said as he kept his eye on the Doctor.

“Of course, your majesty.” Professor Screw said as he levitated the book over to Sombra, who then levitated it over to the Doctor.

“Huh? What's this?” Discorded Whooves asked as he took ahold of the book with the mechanical arms.

“This is a spell book filled with dark magic and spells. I created it myself shortly before I was banished. One of the spells you can use is a spell that can teleport you anywhere you can think of. All you have to do is think about the place you want to go, and it will take you there.” Sombra explained, taking the book back with his magic before turning to the Professor. “You stay here, Professor, I will be taking the Doctor to my castle. Plus, it will be good for him to meet his fellow partners. I will return when I need you.”

“Very well, your majesty.” Professor Screw said, bowing to his master.

With that, Sombra and Discorded Whooves teleported away from the lab in a cloud of dark magic. The Professor chuckled to himself as he was very pleased with the success of his experiment. He couldn't wait for what the future held for him.

Earlier...

Cozy Glow was happily humming to herself as she was just finishing putting up a banner, she had worked so hard on, despite it being rather late in the night. It was a large pink banner that had drawings of herself, King Sombra, Tirek, and Chrysalis on it. Cozy Glow was very pleased as she flew back a bit and saw how the banner looked hanging from the walls of the castle.

“(Sigh) Nothing says teamwork like an inspirational banner.” Cozy Glow said to herself, admiring her work.

Ever since Sombra had left, the trio of villains had accepted their roles as to serve King Sombra, or else suffer the consequences. Tirek and Chrysalis of course were not thrilled by the fact, but they knew they had no choice in the matter. Cozy Glow on the other hoof had actually come to appreciate her role. Plus, she figured that if she obeyed Sombra's every command, perhaps he would grant her a request. Cozy Glow had also put up another banner that read, 'Welcome Back, King Sombra' with a couple smiley faces. Cozy Glow had also taken the time to make the castle feel a bit homier, with lights and books and even a few pictures she had drawn and placed them on the walls.

“When King Sombra sees this, he'll realize that he at least has one pony he can rely on. Me!” Cozy Glow said with pride.

The only thing that concerned Cozy Glow was Tirek and Chrysalis. She knew that the only way they would all stay on Sombra's good side was if they learned to work together. From the look of it, they had absolutely no desire to work as a team. Cozy Glow wasn't too enthusiastic about it either, but she knew that sometimes you have to do things for the better, even if you don't like it. Since Sombra had left, there wasn't a lot of communication between the trio. Cozy Glow had been too busy making the place look a bit nicer, Tirek spent most of his time in his room working out and exercising using equipment he forged out of crystal, and Chrysalis spent pretty much all of her time in her room talking to some weird log-like thing. Cozy Glow knew that Sombra would return eventually, and she wanted the three of them to at least be able to get along to impress Sombra. After thinking it over a bit, Cozy Glow decided it was time to get the team together. With that, Cozy Glow flew in the direction of Tirek's room.

Tirek was in his room, on his back and lifting a massive weight as he stared at a picture of what he looked like when he absorbed all the magic in Equestria. Sort of like an inspiration to work harder. As Tirek concentrated on getting stronger and stronger, he heard the familiar sound of his friend.

“You're gonna have to exercise a LOT to get as big as you were when you absorbed the life force of all those ponies.” Cozy Glow said as she looked smugly at Tirek.

Tirek didn't say a word as he just gave Cozy Glow a mean look before going back to his exercise. Cozy Glow didn't quite get the message as she just flew up and landed on the weight he was lifting, positioning herself in a relaxing pose as she continued to speak to Tirek.

“Any who, King Sombra wants us all to work together. So, I've scheduled a team meeting! Doesn't that sound fun?” Cozy Glow asked as she looked down into Tirek's eyes, giving him a sweet yet creepy smile.

Once again, Tirek didn't say anything as he just glared at Cozy Glow, who once again, kept talking.

“And since King Sombra left me in charge-.” Cozy Glow started before Tirek quickly interrupted her.

“No, he didn't!” Tirek said, knowing for sure that Sombra never said any of this nonsense.

“(Giggle) Someone's a real grumpy guy today.” Cozy Glow said, playfully rubbing Tirek's forehead. “If we aren't meeting, I guess I could just stay and offer positive and inspiring-.”

“Fine! I'll join your meeting, just leave.” Tirek finally said, sitting up and pointing Cozy Glow in the direction of his door.

“See you soon!” Cozy Glow replied as she got up and flew away, with Tirek still glaring at her.

With Tirek's assurance that he would join the meeting, Cozy Glow hummed herself as she flew down to Chrysalis's room. Tirek was rather easy to convince, especially since they had spent a decent amount of time together. However, Chrysalis would probably be a bit more challenging to convince. In the couple of days, they had been together, they hardly said a word to each other. Still though, Cozy Glow held her head up high and made it to Chrysalis's room, not before hearing Chrysalis talk to... that log thing.

“It's been a few days now and King Sombra has done nothing! It's not healthy to hold onto all of this rage! I could lash out at any moment!” Chrysalis ranted before she heard the sound of that annoying little Pegasus.

“And how are you doing this fine-?” Cozy Glow asked before Chrysalis flew over to her and put her face right in front of hers, causing Cozy Glow to lean back quite a bit.

“HOW DO YOU THINK I'M DOING!? I'M READY TO EXACT MY REVENGE!” Chrysalis yelled before immediately turning back to her purple log. “See what I mean?” Chrysalis asked the log.

“Being cooped up with nothing to do is the worst! You know what you need? A team meeting!” Cozy Glow said as she flew in front of Chrysalis and put her hooves on the top of the log, smiling at the queen.

“I don't do meetings.” Chrysalis said as she got up and began to walk away, using her magic to take the log away from Cozy Glow.

“King Sombra left me in charge-.” Cozy Glow said before Chrysalis interrupted her.

“No, he didn't! And even if he did, Chrysalis obeys no one!” Chrysalis said, as she gave Cozy Glow a mean look.

“They'll be cupcakes.” Cozy Glow said, giving Chrysalis another smile.

After Cozy Glow announced the presence of cupcakes, Chrysalis's eyes widened for a very brief moment. Chrysalis looked to her purple log friend and then back to Cozy Glow with a look of interest on her face. Just because Chrysalis was an evil queen who had tried to take over twice now, that didn't mean she wasn't entitled to have some likes and dislikes of common things. But still, there should have been no way that Chrysalis would submit to this invitation just because of the presence of cupcakes. Chrysalis definitely had the will to resist these tasty treats, didn't she? Chrysalis wouldn't accept this.... right?

It was only a few minutes later when Cozy Glow, Tirek, and Chrysalis were all sitting at a table and enjoying some refreshments Cozy Glow had prepared, which also included the cupcakes. Cozy Glow finished her cupcake and flew over to a stack of boxes and stood at the top, calling out to the two villains below her.

“King Sombra wants us to work together to defeat our enemies. Which means, we need to trust each other.” Cozy Glow announced.

“If we are to trust one another, perhaps inform Lord Tirek to STOP TRYING TO ABSORB MY ESSENCE!” Chrysalis yelled as she watched Tirek fail to sneakily absorb her magic.

Having been caught trying to steal Chrysalis's magic, Tirek turned around quickly and spit out the absorbed magic onto a cupcake.

“(Spit) I wasn't doing anything of the sort! How dare you!” Tirek said, acting all innocent and pointing the finger at Chrysalis as if she had instigated all of this.

“How dare I!? Do you know to whom you are speaking?” Chrysalis asked as they both stared into each other's eyes, with Chrysalis eating the cupcake that had her spit up magic on it.

“(Scoffs) How could I not? You tell your log every five minutes!” Tirek said as Chrysalis quickly swallowed her cupcake and held her log close to her chest like a mother.

“(Sigh) This is why King Sombra left me in charge.” Cozy Glow said, not liking the behavior of these two.

“No. He. Didn't!” Tirek and Chrysalis yelled.

“UGH!” Cozy Glow groaned as she was starting to get very frustrated.

Just as she was about to unleash her rage on these two idiots, Cozy Glow caught sight of the banner she had made and put up not long ago. Seeing the drawn pictures of herself, King Sombra, Tirek, and Chrysalis gave her an idea. With the idea bright in her head she smiled smugly and flew over to the two villains. Sometimes, there was nothing a good song couldn't fix.

BETTER WAY TO BE BAD

[Cozy Glow]

I think I know, a way that we can grow

Time to try something new; something better

No more solo, trust is the way to go

And all we need to do is work together

[Lord Tirek]

Oh please!

No thanks, no way, I feel the need to say

I'm smarter, stronger, and I don't need you two

[Queen Chrysalis]

Ha!

Stronger? Okay, I guess we'll downplay

How bad you got your rear end handed to you

[Cozy Glow]

It's time to try a better way to be bad

[Lord Tirek and Queen Chrysalis]

Do we really need a better way to be bad?

[Cozy Glow]

United as one

[Queen Chrysalis]

Teamwork? Please, what a fad

[Cozy Glow]

Combine all our strength, we'll go to any length

Once we have a better way to be bad

Let's go begin, this time we're gonna win

[Queen Chrysalis]

The ice you're on is thin, so watch what you say

[Cozy Glow]

I know you're in, I think I see a grin

[Lord Tirek]

For all this pain and torture, I swear you'll pay

[Cozy Glow]

This time, we've got a better way to be bad

[Lord Tirek and Queen Chrysalis]

Sounds like a long shot, this 'better way' to be bad

[Cozy Glow]

United as one, we'll make those ponies so sad

[Lord Tirek]

If we say okay, would you just go away?

[Cozy Glow]

Once we have a better way to be bad

We want to break their friendship

We want to make them weak

You want revenge on Starlight

You want that huge physique

So, let's increase our chances

By working as a team

To crush our enemies to dust

And laugh as they all scream!

[All Three]

*Laughs*

[Lord Tirek]

I think I see a better way to be bad

[Queen Chrysalis]

Just put me in charge, make me queen, you'll be glad

[Cozy Glow]

No! Listen to me, I'm the best of us three

[All Three]

Then you'll see a better way to be bad

[Cozy Glow]

Wait!

This is my thing, a better way to be bad

[Queen Chrysalis]

You shall do as I command; I will rule this triad!

[Cozy Glow]

Hey! This my song!

[Lord Tirek and Queen Chrysalis]

Sorry, not any longer!

[All Three]

A better way to be bad

[Cozy Glow]

Now you're making me mad

[Lord Tirek]

Won't the ponies be sad?

[Queen Chrysalis]

That would make me so glad

[All Three]

Now we've got a better way to be baaaad!

“Hey! You stepped on my cue!” Cozy Glow said as she angrily pointed at Chrysalis.

After that, the trio proceeded to get into an argument over sound cues and when and when not to sing over somepony else's lines. As the trio argued, they heard the sound of hooves clapping against the floor. Hearing this, the trio instantly stopped their arguing and looked over to where the sound was coming from. Low and behold, there was King Sombra, applauding them with an amused grin on his face.

“(Chuckle) Very good, very good.” Sombra said, pleased that his presence once again put fear in the trio.

“Wah! K-King Sombra! Y-You're back!” Cozy Glow cried, wondering how long Sombra had been standing there for.

“Yes, I am back. Don't worry, I have nothing against singing. I just wasn't aware we were going to be singing.” Sombra said as he started to walk towards them.

“Hmph! Where have you been!? It's been a couple days now and you have given us nothing to do! I demand an explanation!” Chrysalis yelled as she stomped her hoof down.

Sombra said nothing as he just chuckled. Even if Sombra was going to say anything, he would have been cut off by Cozy Glow.

“Hey! Be nice to King Sombra! You're ruining his return back to our base! I even made a banner for him!” Cozy Glow yelled, angrily pointing at the banner she made for Sombra.

“Pfft! Do you really think that he cares about a stupid banner? He's an evil tyrant for Celestia's sake!” Tirek yelled as he tried not to laugh at Cozy Glow's foolishness to think Sombra would care about an art project.

“You're right, Tirek. I don't care. However, I do appreciate the gesture.” Sombra said.

“Ha, ha!” Cozy Glow laughed, sticking her tongue out at Tirek.

“Whatever, I don't care either.” Tirek said, crossing his arms.

“Enough. I'll get right to the point. Cozy Glow is very much correct about-.”

“Wait a minute! You mean you actually left her in charge!?” Tirek cried.

“And where did you get that bright idea from, Tirek?” Sombra asked, with a very obvious frown on his face.

“She said so!” Tirek and Chrysalis yelled, pointing furiously at Cozy Glow.

“Well, I can assure you, Cozy Glow is sadly mistaken. I said no such thing.” Sombra said as he stared at Cozy Glow, who just giggled like a filly who had been caught trying to steal a cookie from the cookie jar. “Moving on from that little mistake, Cozy Glow is right about one thing. The three of you definitely need to learn how to work together. (Chuckle) Yes, the three of you definitely need a better way to be bad.”

“Ha! See! What did I tell you guys?” Cozy Glow asked, acting with great pride.

“You be quiet! And you still haven't answered me, King Sombra! Why haven't we gotten any sort of task!?” Chrysalis asked.

“For starters, I can tell just by looking at the three of you, that on the inside, you aren't very enthusiastic about serving me. Well, except for one of you.” Sombra said, looking over to Cozy Glow. “That, we can work on later. But in order for my plan to work, the three of you must learn to work together as a team. That is the main reason why I haven't assigned you a mission. However, that has changed.”

“(Gasp) You mean you have a mission for us?” Cozy Glow asked excitedly, a gleam in her eyes.

“I do. But first, it is best I give you three a little history lesson.” Sombra said as he waited for their undivided attention. “Have you ever heard the tale of Grogar?” Sombra asked, causing Chrysalis and Tirek to gasp in shock and horror.

“Do you mean that Grogar?” Chrysalis asked.

“The evil emperor Grogar from the legends?” Tirek asked.

“(Chuckle) I assure you, Tirek, Grogar was no legend. He was as real as you and I.” Sombra said.

“Um... who's Grogar?” Cozy Glow asked, very much confused about who this Grogar was.

“Grogar was an ancient and extremely powerful goat or ram creature that lived many years ago. The Father of Monsters himself and Equestria's first emperor. You see, the land that would become Equestria was a mere collection of farms and pastures until Grogar declared himself emperor of all he saw.” Tirek explained. "Ah, I remember hearing all about his tyranny when I was young."

“Yes, that's right, Tirek. Grogar gave life to the foulest of creatures and allowed them to run wild, taking what they wanted and destroying the rest they didn't want. Grogar's reign was legendary. A reign of fear and complete darkness over the land of Equestria.” Sombra added.

“Yes, that is of course until Gusty the Great stood against him, stole his Bewitching Bell, and used it to banish him for all eternity.” Chrysalis said, laughing at the defeat of Grogar.

“(Sigh) Yes, that is unfortunately true. It seems even back then; ponies were able to stand against their enemies and defeat them.” Sombra said.

“So, Sombra, or I'm sorry, King Sombra, why are we talking about this Grogar anyway?” Tirek asked.

“I'm glad you asked Lord Tirek. The mission I have for you three revolves around the tale of Grogar. Your mission is.... to retrieve Grogar's Bewitching Bell.” Sombra said.

“WHAT!?” The trio cried.

“But how can we retrieve this bell? We don't even know where it is.” Chrysalis said.

“(Chuckle) That's right, Chrysalis. You don't know where the bell is, but I do.” Sombra said as he walked over to the table and then used his magic to create a whole map of what looked like Equestria. “This is a map depicting all of Equestria, I made it myself. We are right here, and the bell is over here.” Sombra said, pointing to the locations on the map.

“And how exactly do you know that the bell is there?” Tirek asked.

“During the days that I was absent from here, I used my magic to sense objects containing powerful sources of magic. Using this trick, I believe I have found it.” Sombra explained as he pointed to Mount Everhoof on the map. “It is there at the top of Mount Everhoof, that you will find the bell. However, legend states that Gusty placed powerful spells and enchantments so that the bell would be near impossible to retrieve. These spells would even prevent you from reaching the top of the mountain. This will not be easy.”

“So, in other words, you want us to go climb a mountain to get an old bell and bring it back here because you can't?” Chrysalis asked.

“Oh, I can get the bell, Chrysalis. I just want to see if the three of you can get the bell.” Sombra said, directly challenging Chrysalis. “If the three of you are able to bring the bell back here, then you will be graciously rewarded. But... if you don't bring the bell back... you will beg for death.” Sombra said, making that last part very clear to his subjects, causing all three of them to gulp out of fear.

“H-Ha! Retrieving this bell will be no problem! Even with the spells and whatever Gusty left behind.” Chrysalis laughed, calming down a bit from Sombra's statement.

“(Chuckle) I have faith that the three of you will not fail me. Oh, and if you do manage to retrieve the bell and choose to hide it from me, trust me, I will know. And if you do hide it from me... you will all die.” Sombra said, once again terrifying the trio. “Oh, by the way there's somepony else I'd like you three to meet.” Sombra said, gesturing towards the entrance of the castle.

Immediately after Sombra finished his sentence, the sound of metal clanking and metal footsteps could be heard coming from the castle's entrance. The trio were taken aback when they saw two long metal arms appear. The arms walked forward and once they were fully in view; the trio saw that there were four arms in total. The bottom two arms were acting like extended legs, carrying the body of a grey Pegasus. The top two arms were freely waving around, like a pair of snakes waiting to strike. While Chrysalis and Tirek had no idea who this pony was, Cozy Glow had an idea.

“Huh? Doctor Whooves? What are you doing here? And why are you grey and ugly now?” Cozy Glow asked as Discorded Whooves walked up right next to Sombra.

“(Chuckle) Yah!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he pointed his right hoof at Cozy Glow.

Then, the top right mechanical arm extended towards Cozy Glow so fast that no pony was able to see it coming. The arm shot out and grabbed ahold of Cozy Glow, the claw completely wrapped around Cozy Glow's small body.

“Gah! What's happening!? Help!” Cozy Glow cried as the arm brought her close to the Doctor.

Discorded Whooves chuckled and then raised his hoof up. This caused the top left arm claw to get completely enveloped with deadly sparks of electricity. Discorded Whooves laughed as he brought the left claw closer and closer to Cozy Glow, ready to electrocute her.

“ENOUGH!” Sombra yelled, causing the Doctor to look back at his master. “Put. Her. Down. Doc.”

Discorded Whooves looked back to Cozy Glow, who was very much terrified at her current situation. After a few moments, the left claw deactivated its electricity and Discorded Whooves chuckled at Cozy Glow.

“(Chuckle) Of course, master.” Discorded Whooves said as he suddenly threw Cozy Glow onto the floor hard with the arm holding her.

“I said, put her down. Not throw her down.” Sombra said.

“Sorry master, she slipped (Chuckle).” Discorded Whooves said as he showed no care whatsoever.

“Ow! Ugh! I liked you better when you were a boring old scientist who sometimes came to our school!” Cozy Glow said as she got up, still hurting a bit.

“Tirek, Chrysalis, Cozy Glow, this is Discorded Whooves. He is an alternate version of Doctor Whooves from another world. In simple terms, think of it as we put Discorded Whooves's mind into Doctor Whooves's body.” Sombra explained.

“Another world?” Chrysalis asked.

“Alternate version?” Cozy Glow asked.

“This just keeps on getting weirder and weirder. And I don't like it!” Tirek said, kicking some dust to the side.

“Discorded Whooves will be your new partner.” Sombra said.

“Please don't tell me we have to bring him with us to get the bell.” Cozy Glow groaned.

“I agree with the child. I have no interest in travelling with this Doctor. I don't like the way he looks at me.” Chrysalis said as she felt very uncomfortable due to Discorded Whooves's eyes that were filled with what looked like hunger.

“(Chuckle) You are very lovely yourself, Chrysalis.” Discorded Whooves said as he smirked at Chrysalis, causing her to hiss at him.

“No, he has a different mission that I am assigning him. He is tasked with recruiting some more individuals to join our cause. The more the merrier as they say.” Sombra said.

“Oh joy, more idiots to add to our little collection.” Tirek said.

“Yes, that is correct, Tirek. Well, Doc, now that you know how to use the spell book, you can use it to go and bring these new recruits back here. I am sure you will need all four of your mechanical arms so I will give you this saddlebag to keep the book in.” Sombra said as he placed the spell book into a bag he summoned and placed it around Discorded Whooves's neck.

“I will return very soon, master. Goodbye.” Discorded Whooves said as he used the spell book to teleport away.

“(Chuckle) I just hope you don't disappoint me like the Professor initially did. I am in no mood for more mistakes after all.” Sombra said to himself as he walked over to the table and stared down at the map he had made. “When Discorded Whooves returns, you three will leave to complete your mission. For now, wait here.”

With that, the trio joined Sombra and looked over the map he had made of Equestria.

Somewhere in Las Pegasus...

The streets of Las Pegasus were lit up with the brightest lights imaginable, even this late at night. There was a bunch of rides still in operation, parties only just getting started, ponies going wild and having the time of their lives. Loud music blared from large speakers and the sound of cheering roared through the streets. Las Pegasus truly was the most vibrant and wildest place in all of Equestria. Of course, some ponies wanted to go to bed or just get away from all the loud noise. This was very much the case for one unicorn pony who was just walking down an alley, heading towards the dumpsters to throw a couple bags of trash away.

“Ugh, dawn will be here in a few hours and still there are parties going on!? I should have moved to Appleloosa. (Sigh) I hate it here.” the unicorn said.

As the unicorn dumped the last bag of trash into the dumpster, he turned to leave and hopefully go get some sleep. Unless his boss wanted him to work overtime, which happened every other day. But before the unicorn could make it out of the dark alley, he was suddenly grabbed by a large metal claw from the shadows. The unicorn screamed as he was lifted off the air and yanked up towards the wall. The unicorn then saw Discorded Whooves, grinning at him before he started to use the three remaining arms to climb up the side of the building behind the dumpsters. The unicorn continued to scream, hoping somepony would hear his screams. A few ponies did hear his screams, but they assumed it was just a pony having a wild fun time. No pony was coming to his aid.

The unicorn continued to scream in fright as he was carried up the side of the very tall building. The fact that he was terrified of heights made it even worse. Soon, Discorded Whooves reached the top of the building and once he was at the top, he walked over to the edge of the building and held the unicorn up to his face. Discorded Whooves needed answers fast and he figured that this was the best way to get answers out of the unicorn.

“Who are you!? Why are you doing this!? Help!” The unicorn cried.

“The Flim Flam Brothers, where are they!?” Discorded Whooves asked as he shook the unicorn in the metal claw's grip.

“What!? Flim and Flam!? Why do you want to know!? Somepony help me for Celestia's sake!” the unicorn cried.

“Grr! Yah!!!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he extended the arm out that had the unicorn over the edge of the building. “Tell me where the Flim Flam Brothers are now! Unless you want the day staff to mop you off the pavement!” Discorded Whooves threatened as he shook the unicorn again, making sure he could see how high up he was.

“AAAAHHH!!!! O-Okay! I'll tell you! I'll tell you! Y-You can find them at their resort! Th-The Gladmane Resort! Over there! It's closed right now, but they own a room on the top floor! Y-You can't miss it! They're probably sleeping in there right now! I'm sure of it! I swear!” the unicorn cried desperately, pointing to the very large resort a few buildings over.

“Thanks for the tip. Now, it's time I took out the trash.” Discorded Whooves said as he smiled wickedly at the unicorn.

Before the unicorn could say anything else, the metal claw that was holding him in a vice-like grip squeezed even tighter around his body. The claw kept squeezing tighter and tighter until eventually there was a loud cracking sound and then the unicorn went limp, blood leaking from his mouth and nose. With the unicorn taken care of, Discorded Whooves looked down, aimed carefully and then dropped the unicorn. As if a cruel twist of fate, the unicorn's lifeless body fell into an open dumpster and once his body was inside, the impact caused the lid of the dumpster to shut. The trash had indeed been taken out.

Satisfied with what he had just done, Discorded Whooves looked over to where the resort was. Walking through the streets now would not be a good idea. The ponies below probably wouldn't react nicely to seeing a Pegasus walking through the streets with four large mechanical arms. Discorded Whooves knew that the safest way to get to this resort was to leap from building to building. Discorded Whooves studied the distance between the buildings and decided to go for it, looking to the arms before jumping.

“We haven't tried anything like this yet, but I am sure that you will be able to assist me with this. What do you think? Easy enough?” Discorded Whooves asked.

The top two arms looked at each other and then back to their master, opening and closing their claws, assuring their master that they would try their best and that they knew they could do it.

“(Chuckle) Excellent! Ready? YAAA!!” Discorded Whooves yelled as all four arms secured themselves on the roof and then with all their might bounced off the roof and leaped across, landing safely on the other building.

Once they had landed on the other building, the arms ran forward and leaped from building to building. Eventually, they reached the resort and climbed the small little tower on the top of the building until they reached a nice little building. The bottom two arms secured themselves on the walls, allowing Discorded Whooves to lean back and look inside the room from the very large glass window.

“Ah, would you look at that, the two con artists get a lovely view of all of Las Pegasus. And look, there they are now, sleeping peacefully in their beds. Well, shall we pay them a visit?” Discorded Whooves asked.

The top two arms nodded and agreed with their master's plan. With that, Discorded Whooves used the top two arms to smash through the glass and snatch the two brothers out of their beds. This, of course, woke the brothers up and they started to yell and panic as they found themselves in the clutches of two metal arms. Discorded Whooves then used the bottom two arms to scale the building and stood up on the roof, keeping the brothers dangling over the edge to wake them up.

“Hello Flim and Flam, my favorite pair of con artists.” Discorded Whooves said.

“Wah! What in the hay is going on!?” Flim cried as he screamed in terror.

“I say! Who are you!? Wait, aren't you that inventor we saw in Ponyville?” Flam asked as he looked at this maniac.

“I am, and I am not.” Discorded Whooves replied.

“What are you gonna do with us!?” Flim asked.

“Whatever I choose to do with the both of you depends entirely on how you answer this question. Tell me, Flim and Flam, what are your opinions on Applejack?” Discorded Whooves asked.

“Applejack? The farmer?” Flim asked.

“The same one who keeps ruining our plans at every turn!?” Flam asked.

“We hate her, I tell you! Hate her!” Flim said.

“Yeah! She's the worst thing since pineapples on pizza!” Flam replied.

“Hey, it's not that bad.” Flim said.

“Point is, we don't like her! We wish she would just go away or get out of our lives!” Flam yelled.

“(Chuckle) What if I offered you the chance to get rid of Applejack forever? Better yet, what if I told you that if you accept my deal, you could become incredibly rich?” Discorded Whooves asked, catching the attention of the two brothers.

“Get rid of Applejack forever?” Flim asked.

“Become incredibly rich?” Flam added.

“That's right. All you have to do is pledge your loyalty to my master and if you do that, I assure you, when our plan is complete, he will make you rich beyond your wildest dreams. Well, what do you say?” Discorded Whooves asked.

“We're in!” Flim and Flam both said in unison.

“(Chuckle) Splendid. Tell me, would you be willing to take a pony's life to achieve your desires?” Discorded Whooves asked.

“Uh...” Flam said, not sure about this kind of question.

“Erm... well, we're sure we can do other things.” Flim suggested, chuckling a bit out of fear.

“I'm sure my master will have a place for you. In the meantime, do you brothers happen to know by chance where I can find a minotaur who goes by the name of Iron Will?” Discorded Whooves asked.

“Iron Will? Oh yeah, the muscle guy! We know where he is!” Flim said.

“Muscle boy should be holding some sort of auction just on the outskirts of Baltimare.” Flam said.

“Well, come along then, we have work to do. Hang on.” Discorded Whooves said as he used the book to teleport themselves away.

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of Baltimare...

Just on the outskirts of Baltimare, there was a building that was set up as an auction sort of building. This auction house or whatever was being run by a very loud minotaur named Iron Will. Despite the rather late hours he was working today, he had one customer in his audience. Not that it was going very well, by all means.

“And you can learn all of Iron Will's secrets to being the assertive you for just four easy payments of-!” Iron Will yelled before the customer got up from his chair.

“UGH! That's it! I don't even know why I came here at this time of night! Forget this, I'm going home!” the stallion said as he began to leave the building.

“Wait! Stop! If you act now, Iron Will, will throw in this easy pocket horseshoe cleaner! Don't go!” Iron Will begged as the customer left the building, leaving Iron Will all by himself. “(Sigh) Iron Will just doesn't get it! It's like Iron Will has lost all of his charisma! Gah! Iron Will is losing it! Iron Will, will lose everything he worked for!” Iron Will yelled as he sat down on his stage and looked at the floor in sadness.

“It really is quite upsetting to see you like this, Iron Will.” a voice said.

“HUH!? Who goes there!? Show yourself or Iron Will, will have no choice but to smash you to the ground!” Iron Will yelled as he got up and looked around furiously.

“You really have been working hard haven't you, Iron Will? You are trying so hard to make Fluttershy proud of you. To show her that you could become a new minotaur, a better minotaur, a minotaur everypony could respect. Is that right?” the voice asked.

“Yes, it is! Iron Will promised Fluttershy and Iron Will, will keep his promise!” Iron Will proclaimed.

“Well, what if I told you.... that it was all a lie.” the voice said.

“WHAT!? NO! Fluttershy wouldn't lie to Iron Will! Fluttershy was the element of kindness!” Iron Will cried, horrified at this news.

“Sadly, my friend, it is true. Fluttershy wasn't very happy with how you treated her, so she devised a plan. A plan to set you up to fail. When you changed your ways, your business would be successful yes, but soon it would fail and then one day, you would die a poor sad old minotaur. And Fluttershy wouldn't even care.” the voice said.

“No! No! NO!! NOOO!!! After all Iron Will did!? Iron Will promised to change and this is how Fluttershy repays Iron Will!” Iron Will yelled, smashing his fist through the wall out of rage.

“Yes, I know, horrible.” The voice said.

“Iron Will thought that his change would make good business. That Iron Will could make father proud of Iron Will. Iron Will could be a good son! Iron Will just wants his respect back! Iron Will wants his charisma back!” Iron Will cried as he sat down on the floor, almost actually crying, before the voice spoke up again.

“What if I could help you get it back?” the voice asked.

“Why should Iron Will listen to you, mysterious voice!? You don't even speak in the third person like Iron Will does!” Iron Will protested.

“(Chuckle) You see, Iron Will, your charisma once came from fear. The fear that everypony used to have of minotaur's. Fear can be a form of respect, and you deserve it for all of your hard work. If you are willing to pledge your loyalty to my master, he will help you get that respect back.” Discorded Whooves said as he finally revealed himself by squeezing through the rather small doors, walking up to Iron Will, who was obviously taken aback by the sight.

“Trust him, Iron Will, this guy knows his stuff!” Flim said, emerging from behind Discorded Whooves.

“Yeah, listen to this guy, Muscle Boy.” Flam added, also emerging from behind the Doctor.

“Ah! The inventor and Iron Will's least favorite scam artists!” Iron Will yelled as he pointed to the trio who had entered his building.

“Hey, at least we actually make money! All you do is lower the prices until you give things away for free. No wonder you don't make any money.” Flam said, laughing a bit at the minotaur.

“Haha! Yeah! Just go our route and you'll make more than enough money to make your pops proud.” Flim said.

“Iron Will, will not be stupid enough to stoop so low as to scam! Iron Will is an honest worker! Unlike you two brothers who scam and lie!” Iron Will yelled.

“All of you, please stop!” Discorded Whooves yelled, slamming his top two arms onto the ground. “I can help you Iron Will if you join us. What do you say?”

“Will your master really be able to help Iron Will?” Iron Will asked.

“I promise you; he can help bring the respect back to you. Ponies will fear you and thus respect you once again.” Discorded Whooves said.

“In that case, Iron Will, will join!” Iron Will proclaimed as he stood up and flexed.

“(Chuckle) Excellent, come now, there is still one more who needs to join us.” Discorded Whooves said as Iron Will walked over to them. “Here we go.” Discorded Whooves said as they teleported away using the spell book, having a pretty good idea of where the final individual would be.

Meanwhile, just on the outskirts of Fillydelphia...

It had been a while since the Washouts were cancelled due to the close call with Scootaloo. Since then, the Washouts had disbanded completely, and they had pretty much been forgotten. One of the Washouts, Lightning Dust, had taken this quite hard. Ever since she lost the Washouts, Lightning Dust had been travelling throughout Equestria and spent most of her time visiting the local bars and clubs, drinking her misery away. As the days went on, Lightning Dust's hatred for Rainbow Dash grew and grew. Rainbow Dash had ruined her life twice now. First, Rainbow Dash got her kicked out of the Wonderbolts, and now she got her group cancelled. Lightning Dust wanted nothing but to give Rainbow Dash what she had coming to her. Lightning Dust would even go as far as to hurt Rainbow Dash, somedays she would even consider even killing Rainbow Dash. She hated her that much.

Lightning Dust was the last customer at one of the bars just on the outskirts of Fillydelphia. She just couldn't get herself to leave the bar, not because she was too drunk to do so, more so she just didn't want to leave. As the only other pony in the bar approached Lightning Dust to take her order, Lightning Dust spoke up.

“You know, I outraced Rainbow Dash at every turn!” Lightning Dust said, slamming her empty cider cup on the table she was sitting at. “I was the one who had the guts to do what needed to be done to win and she cared more about making friends! Why does a Wonderbolt even need any friends? I should be a Wonderbolt right now and Rainbow Dash should be the one sitting here!” Lightning Dust groaned as she ranted on and on.

“Yes, well Rainbow Dash is in fact not here. So, if you want to stay here, you're going to have to order something, miss.” the waitress said.

“(Groan) Another cider or a root beer, I don't care, just give me something!” Lightning Dust said as she slammed her face down on the table.

“Miss, are you sure you are, okay? Do you need a place to stay or something? No pony has ever stayed here this late. I'm genuinely concerned about your wellbeing.” the waitress said as she put her hoof on Lightning Dust's back.

“I'm fine! Just get me another root beer please.” Lightning Dust groaned, not lifting her head up at all.

“Um, okay then.” The waitress said before a voice spoke up from behind.

“That one's on me.” Discorded Whooves said as he entered the bar, shocking the waitress as she saw the large mechanical arms.

“Look, I don't care who you are, but you can't buy me off like that. I'm not that kind of mare. Go away!” Lightning Dust said, very much annoyed with how many stallions were trying to get her attention as of late.

“(Chuckle) We can discuss that another time, Lightning Dust.” Discorded Whooves said smugly as he walked over to her and stood across from her. “But for now, I have a deal for you.”

“(Sigh) Just go away before I call the-WAH!! What the hay!” Lightning Dust cried as she lifted her head up and leaned back in her seat, taken aback by the sight of this Pegasus with four large mechanical arms.

“(Chuckle) I can assure you, sweetheart. You're not dreaming.” Discorded Whooves said.

“Wait a minute, aren't you that Doctor Whooves guy I saw in Ponyville once?” Lightning Dust asked.

“In a way yes, in a way no. Now, I couldn't help but notice you really seem to have a hatred for Rainbow Dash, is that correct?” Discorded Whooves asked.

“You have no idea! I hate her so much! That rainbow bitch ruined my life, TWICE! She stole my dream! She ruined everything for me! I hate her so much! She always thinks she's better than me, well she's not! I hate Rainbow Dash more than anything in all of Equestria!” Lightning Dust yelled.

“I see, what if I told you that I could give you the chance to prove to all of Equestria that you are better than Rainbow Dash once and for all?” Discorded Whooves asked.

“Oh yeah, and how are you gonna do that?” Lightning Dust asked, her eyebrows raised, and her interest peaked.

“Quite simple really. By taking Rainbow Dash and those friends of hers down once for all. How does that sound to you, Lightning Dust?” Discorded Whooves asked as he grinned.

“I like the sound of it! Let's go!” Lightning Dust said as she was about to fly out of her seat before she was suddenly grabbed by one of the arms and pinned back to her seat. “H-Hey! What are you doing!?”

“We will accomplish what you desire, under one condition.” Discorded Whooves said, causing Lightning Dust to frown.

“You better not suggest anything funny or I'm gonna kick your ass.” Lightning Dust said.

“(Chuckle) Again, we can discuss that later. In the meantime, if you wish to achieve your goal, you must first be willing to pledge your undying loyalty to my master and obey his every command. If you do that, I assure you, he will make your dream become a reality, forever. Well, what do you say, Lightning Dust? Are you in or are you out?” Discorded Whooves asked.

“I don't care what I have to do! As long as I can teach Rainbow Dash a lesson! Heck yeah, I'm in!” Lightning Dust said.

“(Chuckle) Very good. Come along now, the others are waiting. But first...” Discorded Whooves said as he got up and walked over to the waitress, who was terrified. “No witnesses.” Discorded Whooves said as he grabbed the waitress with the top two arms and crushed her to death, tossing her body to the other side of the bar counter.

Lightning Dust was shocked and quite terrified at the murder she just witnessed. Sensing that Lightning Dust was taken aback by this, Discorded Whooves turned to face her, a very serious look on his face.

“You will have to do some interesting things for the master. You still in, Lightning Dust? Or do I have to find somepony else?” Discorded Whooves asked, raising the top two arms, and showing off their deadly claws.

“U-Uh, y-yeah! I-I'm still in!” Lightning Dust said, stepping back a bit.

“(Chuckle) Good, come along now. Allow me to introduce you to the others.” Discorded Whooves said as they left the bar and met the others.

“What the? Who in the hay are you guys?” Lightning Dust asked as she saw the two unicorns and one minotaur.

“The name's Flim.” Flim said.

“And I'm Flam.” Flam said.

“And we're the Flim Flam Brothers!” Flim and Flam said as they did a really stupid pose.

“Right...” Lightning Dust said.

“Iron Will is the name! Master sales minotaur and inspirational speaker when needed! Iron Will is the strongest in all of Equestria!” Iron Will proclaimed as he flexed.

“I see...” Lightning Dust said, already questioning the choice she made to join this group.

“All together now. It's time to meet the master.” Discorded Whooves said as they all grouped together and then teleported away.

King Sombra's Castle...

Back in the castle, Sombra and the trio of villains were patiently waiting for Discorded Whooves's return. Sombra was very curious as to who Discorded Whooves was going to come back with. Sombra hoped that it wouldn't be as bad as what the Professor did, bringing a common pony to be a new member. Tirek didn't care about the Doctor's mission, just so long as it didn't involve bringing anypony who was like Pinkie Pie. Chrysalis personally hoped that Discorded Whooves didn't come back at all. Cozy Glow didn't care about this at all as she just wanted to get to her mission already, even though they would probably find a place to camp and just sleep until morning. Not long afterwards, Discorded Whooves returned. The villains turned and saw Discorded Whooves along with the rest of the new members.

“I have returned, master. And as you can see, I've brought some new recruits to join us.” Discorded Whooves said as he introduced each new member. “Flim and Flam, brothers and expert con artists, Iron Will, powerful minotaur with a loud and confident voice, and lastly Lightning Dust, ex-Wonderbolt and fast flyer.”

Sombra said nothing as he just frowned and stepped forward a bit.

“I know they are just common folk, but I assure you, all four of them are willing to pledge their loyalty to you and do your bidding. They each have their motives and have agreed to join us.” Discorded Whooves said.

“I'll be the judge of that.” Sombra said as he stepped closer to the new members. “You two, step forward.” Sombra said, gesturing towards Flim and Flam.

Flim and Flam were shocked to see that this master of Discorded Whooves was none other than King Sombra, the evil unicorn tyrant who had once tried to take over the Crystal Empire but was thankfully defeated. After the initial shock, both brothers stepped forward a bit and even hugged each other out of fear.

“There is no shame for being afraid in my presence. Doc says that you two have a motive for joining our cause, what are your motives?” Sombra asked.

“W-We want to get rid of Applejack!” Flim said, shaking out of fear.

“Y-Yeah! A-And Discorded Whooves says y-you can help us with that.” Flam added.

“And also, that you c-could make us r-rich beyond our wildest dreams.” Flim finished.

“(Chuckle) So, you're both in it for the money?” Sombra asked, his eyebrow raised.

“N-Not just that! We also want to get rid of Applejack!” Flam said.

“I see, tell me, what are you willing to do for me in order to achieve these goals of yours?” Sombra asked.

“Uh, w-we'll do anything! We'll steal, lie, scam, sabotage, and all that stuff!” Flim replied quickly.

“Y-Yeah! We'll do that stuff! Though we aren't sure if we can kill anypony.” Flam said nervously.

“(Chuckle) That is no issue for me. I'm not asking you to be murderers. Now, based on how you answered my question, I will accept the both of you, move back and you, step forward.” Sombra said, gesturing to Iron Will, who stepped up and was also terrified to see the evil king. “Iron Will, was it? Tell me, what is your reason for wanting to join us?”

“Iron Will was betrayed by Fluttershy! Fluttershy tricked Iron Will into thinking change would save Iron Will's business! Whooves said that Fluttershy lied! Iron Will wants revenge! Iron Will also wants to be feared! Fear is another form of respect! Whooves said so! That is why Iron Will is here!” Iron Will said, trying his best not to show any fear.

“I see, you felt betrayed by somepony you trusted. Now you want to get revenge on that pony and make other ponies afraid of you because that will get your respect back? This is why you want to join?” Sombra asked.

“Yes! Whooves said that you can help Iron Will get his revenge and his respect back!” Iron Will said.

“(Chuckle) And I can, but first I must ask, what are you willing to do for me, Iron Will?” Sombra asked.

“Iron Will is willing to destroy, smash, break, and scare ponies for King Sombra! Iron Will doesn't care if he has to hurt somepony! Iron Will wants revenge and Iron Will wants it now!” Iron Will yelled.

“And what if you had to take the life of a pony? Would you be able to do that, Iron Will?” Sombra asked.

“Iron Will is not sure, Iron Will needs time to think about that.” Iron Will replied, a bit nervous about what Sombra had just asked.

“Very well, step back now. You, step forward.” Sombra said gesturing to Lightning Dust, who also was terrified as she stepped forward. “So, you're the same Lightning Dust that has some issues with Rainbow Dash, am I correct?”

“Y-Yes sir! I'm that Lightning Dust!” Lightning Dust said, trying to act as tough as she did when she was in the Wonderbolts training program.

“Your attempt to act tough is impressive, but I can see right through it. There is no shame for being afraid of me.” Sombra said.

“Yes sir! Sorry sir.” Lightning Dust replied, still trying to keep her composure.

“So, Lightning Dust, why are you here? What reason do you have to want to join us?” Sombra asked.

“It's Rainbow Dash!” Lightning Dust said, stomping her hoof on the ground. “She ruined my life twice now! She stole my dream from me! She took away my only friends! She took everything from me! Creep with the robot arms said that if I joined you, you could help me prove that I am better than Rainbow Dash and that I can get rid of her once and for all!”

“(Chuckle) I always knew you hated Rainbow Dash, but I didn't know there was this much hatred.” Sombra said.

“You have no idea!” Lightning Dust said.

“In that case, what are you willing to do for me, in order to make your dream come true?” Sombra asked.

“I'll do anything! I don't care! Just as long as you let me take care of Rainbow Dash!” Lightning Dust replied.

“If I asked you to take a life, what would you say?” Sombra asked.

“I already told you, sir! I don't care! I just want to make Rainbow Dash pay! I want to hurt her! I want to kill her! That's what she gets for stealing everything from me!” Lightning Dust yelled.

“I see, step back. Discorded Whooves, you are lucky that these new members aren't a disappointment to me. I accept them. Every creature! Gather around now! I trust that you all are willing to do your jobs as I say! To obey my commands and listen to my orders! Equestria will be ours soon! We will destroy all of Equestria and then we take out Twilight Sparkle! Once Twilight Sparkle is dead, I will grant all of you your rewards and wishes! Now, bow to your master!” Sombra yelled as all of his subjects bowed to him. “Good, now, Discorded Whooves, stay with your new members for now.”

“Yes, master.” Discorded Whooves replied.

“Now, Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow, you may leave now. Come back only when you have retrieved the bell. Otherwise, do not come back at all. Oh, and if you run into anypony along the way, kill them. Be gone with you now!” Sombra ordered.

With that, Tirek, Chrysalis and Cozy Glow got up and began to walk towards the entrance of the castle. Despite it being very late at night, they knew they had to do as they were told. Tirek walked past with no problem, but as Chrysalis walked past Sombra and the Doctor, she felt one of the mechanical arms grab ahold of one of her back legs. Chrysalis turned her head around fast and saw Discorded Whooves staring at her with that gross look again.

“Do make sure to come back, Chrysalis.” Discorded Whooves said, before Sombra used his magic to pry the claws open and free Chrysalis.

“I swear when this is all over, I will cocoon you and drain you of your precious life!” Chrysalis hissed as she bared her fangs and turned to quickly walk away to catch up with Tirek.

After Chrysalis walked past, Cozy Glow flew over next to Sombra and landed next to him, tapping his front leg.

“Hey, King Sombra.” Cozy Glow said as Sombra looked down at her.

“What is it, Cozy Glow?” Sombra asked.

“Don't you worry about a thing! We'll get that bell back and we will succeed with our plan! You can count on it!” Cozy Glow said, earning a chuckle from Sombra.

“(Chuckle) I hope so. Your loyalty to and devotion is pleasing to me.” Sombra said, patting Cozy Glow on the head. “Go now, bring the bell back and make me proud.” Sombra said, gesturing towards the entrance of the castle.

“Oh, I will!” Cozy Glow said as she happily flew away, catching up with Chrysalis and Tirek.

“(Chuckle) Very good.” Sombra said as he watched the trio leave the castle before turning back to his new members. “You all rest, your first mission will be assigned in the morning. Good night.” Sombra said as he sank into the shadows and left the castle.

“(Chuckle) I wonder, what part of Equestria needs to be saved first.” Discorded Whooves said as he chuckled.

Author's Note

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! This was a very interesting chapter to write and I am glad to have written it. In case any of you are wondering why I chose Lightning Dust, Flim, Flam, and Iron Will to be the new members, it is because something very similar happened in the comic story that is all about King Sombra's return, of course I just put my own little twist on it. Anyway hope you all enjoyed!

Also, in case anyone is wondering, the chapters To Be Discorded and Gathering of Villains both take place during the scene where Twilight and Applejack have their talk on the balcony near the end of The Guard chapter

*Just to clarify I do not own the song Better Way To Be Bad*

Attack on Appleloosa

As the sun rose over the land, so too, did Sombra rise to his feet after a decent night’s rest. After Sombra stretched out a bit, he walked over to his table map of Equestria. Sombra examined the map very closely, looking for the perfect place to be a test for his newest members. After looking over the map for a few minutes, Sombra made up his mind and then walked off to wake the others. Sombra headed to one of the new rooms in his little castle and walked inside, seeing Discorded Whooves, fast asleep and still wearing those mechanical arms. Even though Discorded Whooves was still sound asleep, the arms were very much awake and active, though not moving around too much as not to disturb their master. As Sombra approached the bed where Discorded Whooves was sleeping, all four arms immediately shot up and opened their claws, a strange metallic hissing sound coming from them, as a warning to back off.

“(Chuckle) There is no need for that. The Doctor and I are on friendly terms, I will not bring any harm to him. Now, wake him up.” Sombra ordered.

The arms all looked at each other and then spoke amongst themselves for a few moments before one of the arms started to poke Discorded Whooves until he finally woke up.

“(Yawn) What? What is it? Oh, King Sombra, what is the matter?” Discorded Whooves asked.

“Wake the others, it's time for your first mission as a team.” Sombra ordered before leaving the room and heading back to the map.

Discorded Whooves nodded as he allowed the arms to lift him up off the ground and then walk him to the rest of the rooms. It wasn't long until Discorded Whooves, Iron Will, Lightning Dust, Flim, and Flam arrived at the table map, tired but still ready to listen to Sombra's words.

“It seems that all of you are here now, very good. I will waste no time and get right to the point; I have a mission for all of you.” Sombra announced, causing all his new members to perk up. “This mission will serve as a test. A test to prove to me that you all belong here and are willing to do as I say. For your test, you are all to go to Appleloosa and show me what you can do.”

“Iron Will has a question for King!” Iron Will announced, raising his hand in the air.

“Speak.” Sombra replied.

“What does King mean by, 'show you what we can do'?” Iron Will asked.

“Simple, go to Appleloosa and attack it. Keep in mind however, I do not care whether you completely destroy Appleloosa or not. I only want to see what you are willing to do and what you can do. Show me your strengths, your powers, and your loyalty to me. I don't care if you kill anypony or not, just do as I ask. However, do make sure nopony escapes. You are all to remain at Appleloosa until the moon rises above Equestria. If you are all successful in proving yourselves to me, you will be rewarded. For anyone who does not impress me, you have two options. The first being you accept death, or you try and give me a good reason not to kill you. Do each of you understand?” Sombra asked.

“Yes, King Sombra.” they all answered, bowing their heads.

“(Chuckle) Very good. Discorded Whooves, I trust you still have the spell book, correct?” Sombra asked.

“Right here, master.” Discorded Whooves said as one of the arms reached into his saddlebag and pulled out the book.

“Good, you will use it to go to Appleloosa. You will all leave at once.” Sombra said.

“Yes, King Sombra.” They all said.

“And remember, I will be watching. I will know who is doing as they are told and who isn't. As a matter of fact, observe.” Sombra said as he turned around and then used his dark magic.

Using his dark magic, Sombra raised eight large separate crystals from the ground. The crystals were all a very dark crimson color, and each had a perfect image of each member of Sombra's team. This caused a great amount of curiosity to stir in Sombra's team members. Once the crystals were raised, Sombra turned back around to face them.

“As you can see, each crystal has one of your faces on it. These crystals represent your lives and when one of you dies, your crystal will shatter. So, please don't try to fake your death because I will know. Do you all understand?” Sombra asked.

“Yes, King Sombra.” They all replied.

“Good, now leave. Do not come back until the moon has risen.” Sombra ordered.

After each member gave a final bow, Discorded Whooves gathered all of the members up and then used the book to teleport away. Once they were gone, Sombra smiled and walked back to his map, using his magic to summon a very large crystal ball in the air. Through it, he was able to see his team. Now, it was time to sit back and watch.

Earlier, in Appleloosa...

The sun shone was bright and it was very hot in the town of Appleloosa. Thankfully, all the ponies who lived here had gotten used to the hot weather. Lots of work was being done and everypony was having a good time. Appleloosa was a pretty nice spot to visit, so long as you could take the heat. Appleloosa didn't get too many travelers, especially not from non-pony creatures. As the morning kept getting hotter and hotter, Appleloosa was about to have an interesting visitor. Just on the outskirts of town, an anthropomorphic cat by the name of Capper Dapperpaws, followed by an earth pony by the name of Dusty Trail, hitched to a small wagon, were just about to head into town when Capper stopped them.

“Alrighty, what's this wild west looking town called, Dusty?” Capper asked as he leaned against his buddy.

“This here is Appleloosa, a lovely little town out here in the desert. I reckon we'll have plenty of good business here.” Dusty replied.

“Thanks, amigo.” Capper said as he took his top hat off and wiped his brow. “Whew, it's so hot out here. I'll probably die of heatstroke before we get a good business going.”

“Well, why don't ya try not wearing that hat and cape? That's not a smart thing to be wearing out here, partner.” Dusty said.

“Now, now, amigo, we talked about this. This hat and cape are very special to me. They were given to me by the most generous pony I have ever met.” Capper said, remembering how Rarity had given him these things as a thanks for helping the Mane Six defeat the Storm King.

“Ya mean the same generous pony who ya tried to sell off that one time?” Dusty asked.

“Hey, that was the old me. The new Capper is much better than that, amigo.” Capper replied, grinning and giving a thumbs up to his friend.

“I can agree with ya on that, partner. It's been a mighty fun time travelling Equestria with ya.” Dusty said.

“Heh, heh, same to you, amigo. Well, I think we've chatted enough for now. Come on, let's go make some of those bits or whatever you pony folk call them.” Capper said as he put his hat back on and started to walk off.

“Right behind ya, partner.” Dusty said as he followed closely.

Soon, Capper and Dusty had rolled into town and began to try and sell whatever they carried in their wagon. They weren't selling anything too special, mainly just antiques and little trinkets, but they had sold a good amount before. A lot of the townsfolk were quite curious about where Capper had come from, as this was the first time, they ever had someone like him in town. Capper of course, was more than glad to dive into his life story and the time he helped save all of Equestria from the Storm King's wrath. Dusty did have to correct Capper every now and then as his buddy still had a bad habit of telling a few lies here and there. About twenty minutes had passed and they had sold a few trinkets from their wagon. A few minutes later, a bright yellow earth pony all decked up and dressed like a cowboy walked over to the wagon and introduced himself.

“Howdy there, partners, name's Braeburn! Welcome to Appleloosa! Who might y'all be!?” Braeburn asked, making sure to put on his best smile.

“Hey there, amigo. The name is Capper; Capper Dapperpaws, but Capper is just fine with me. I'm just your average sales-cat, and this here is my good buddy, Dusty Trail.” Capper said as he gestured to his friend.

“Howdy Braeburn, mighty nice to see ya again.” Dusty said, happy to see an old friend.

“Wait a minute, Dusty Trail? Well, I'll be! How ya been?” Braeburn asked as they bro hoofed.

“(Chuckle) I've been mighty fine. My travels are going quite well, and I've got something else to do to keep my journey interesting.” Dusty replied, gesturing to the wagon behind him.

“Hold on a minute, you know this here lad, Dusty?” Capper asked.

“I sure do, partner. I used to live here in Appleloosa. That is until I decided that I wanted to see all of Equestria and travel around. That's why I was wandering on my own before ya met me.” Dusty explained.

“Huh, it seems every day we find out something new about each other. So, Braeburn, what can we do for you? Anything catch your eye?” Capper asked, stepping back, and allowing Braeburn to see all of the items on their wagon.

“Oh, well I wasn't planning on buying anything, I more so wanted to greet y'all newcomers. It's kinda my thing. I guess ya could say it's a special talent of mine.” Braeburn said, proudly.

“Special talent? But from what I see, you have an apple for a cute mark. How does that represent being a formal greeter?” Capper asked, observing Braeburn's cutie mark.

“Heh, heh, this here is called a Cutie Mark, and we ponies can have many talents. Each of us just has that one talent that we are the best at.” Braeburn explained.

“I still don't quite understand these Cutie Marks, but I'll get there one day.” Capper said.

“Say, why don't we all catch up down at my place? It looks to me like one of y'all could do with some time out of the sun.” Braeburn said, noting how Capper was fanning himself with his hat.

“I think that sounds like a good idea. What do ya say, Capper? It does look like y'all could use a cool down right now.” Dusty said.

“(Sigh) Well, business isn't going as smoothly as I hoped it would go. Sure, I see no harm in ducking out of the sun for a few minutes. Lead the way, amigo.” Capper replied, putting his hat back.

“Alrighty then, come on y'all, follow me.” Braeburn said as the trio made their way to Braeburn's home, which was a bit on the opposite end of town.

The walk to Braeburn's home was quite nice. Seeing the friendly faces that lived here in Appleloosa brought a smile to both Capper and Dusty's faces. Dusty was happy to see his old home again and how much it had grown and developed since his departure. Capper was quite amused by how much of a wild west vibe this place was giving off. It was very intriguing to see and had a lot of charm to it. Soon, they arrived at Braeburn's home. It was a very simple little place, nothing too big but not too small. As they arrived, Capper helped Dusty remove the harness off his back and set up the wagon just outside the house, leaving it in a spot where it wouldn't get in the way of anypony. As Braeburn opened the door, he turned around and breathed a sigh of amusement.

“(Sigh) Quite the view, ain't it?” Braeburn asked as they all looked back in the direction they had walked from.

Capper and Dusty couldn't agree more with Braeburn. The view was indeed quite lovely. Since Braeburn's house was at the far end of town, almost past its borders, they could have a very decent view of the whole town of Appleloosa. Well, at least eighty-five percent of it, which was enough to make a nice view. After enjoying the view for a few moments, they all went inside and Braeburn sat them down at a table, prepping some nice refreshments for his guests.

“So, tell me,” Braeburn called as he started making some fresh apple juice. “How did y'all two meet?”

“Heh, heh, well first, I'd like to thank you for your generous hospitality. You're probably the third most generous pony I've met in all my life. After Rarity and Dusty here, of course. Hopefully I will meet a lot more for the rest of my lives.” Capper said.

“Lives? Don't ya mean, 'life'?” Braeburn asked.

“What, don't you know the old saying? That us cats have nine lives?” Capper asked.

“Uhh...” Braeburn said, not sure how to respond to this statement.

“(Laughs) Look at your face! (Laughs) Heh, I'm just messing with you, cowboy, us cats only got one life. That would be sweet though if we did have nine lives.” Capper said, imagining what it would be like to have nine lives.

Seeing how Capper was lost in thought as he usually was on occasion, Dusty just chuckled at his friend and decided to tell the story himself.

“I met Capper here about seven months ago. I was travelling Equestria like I said I would and one day I walked into a small little town, hoping to get something to eat and drink. The town was quite nice actually; small but filled to the brim with friendly ponies. While I was there, I learned that the little town used to have a bit of a messed-up past. Something about this unicorn by the name of Starlight Glimmer, who used her magic to steal all these townsfolk's Cutie Marks. All for something about equality. Though, thankfully Twilight Sparkle and her friends managed to save the town and even change Starlight's ways. Anyways, as I was leaving the little town, I ran into Capper here. He was trying to make a purchase for a new wagon, or something cause his gone done broke.” Dusty explained before Capper spoke up.

“Good old Bessie, I miss that little wagon... but yeah, I was doing that, and that's when Dusty here walked over and asked what I was up to. I told him that I was trying to buy myself a new wagon, but the only ones they had available were wagons that a pony could carry, not a small cat like me.” Capper said, then allowing Dusty to continue.

“That's right, I asked him then what he needed a wagon for and that's when he told me he was a travelling sales-cat. I felt mighty sorry for him because I knew that it must have been a pain carrying a wagon all over Equestria. So, I offered that he could use my wagon and that I would be more than happy to carry it for him.” Dusty explained as Capper decided to make the dramatic finish.

“And from then on, Dusty and I have been travelling amigos ever since. We travelled to many parts of Equestria, selling our trinkets and charming ponies with my stories of how I saved Equestria from the Storm King.” Capper said proudly, before Dusty intervened.

“Ya mean that y'all helped save Equestria from the Storm King.” Dusty corrected.

“(Sigh) You can never let me have my fun, can you?” Capper asked, facepalming himself while laughing a bit.

“(Chuckle) Can't have ya telling lies now, partner.” Dusty said.

“Well, I'm glad y'all became good friends. Travelling or doing anything alone can be quite upsetting. Well, here y'all go, fresh apple juice, hope ya like it.” Braeburn said as he served his guests their drinks.

“(Sip) Ahh, just as good as ya used to make back then, Braeburn.” Dusty said, enjoying the taste.

“Why thank ya, Dusty. Glad to see ya still like it.” Braeburn said.

“(Sip) Wow, this is really GOOD! Tell me, cowboy, are you related to Applejack at all or something?” Capper asked.

“Heh, heh, as a matter of fact, I sure am! I'm Applejack's cousin.” Braeburn said, grinning at his guests.

“That explains why this is so good! I remember Applejack served some of her family's apple juice at the celebration party for the Storm King's defeat. Let me tell you, that was some good stuff!” Capper said, downing his whole cup of apple juice in a few seconds. “Got anymore?”

“(Chuckles) Glad to see ya like it, Capper. I sure do have more, let me get y'all some.” Braeburn said as he walked back to the kitchen.

“Thanks, cowboy. In the meantime, let me tell you the story of how Dusty and I saved another town from destruction.” Capper said as he sat back in his chair, prepping himself to speak.

“(Sigh) Here we go again...” Dusty said as Capper began to proudly speak about his amazing tale.

As the trio of friends were happily conversing with each other, they had no idea that something horrible was about to happen...

A little while after Braeburn had welcomed Capper and Dusty into his home, just on the outskirts of Appleloosa, five individuals had arrived using the dark spell book's teleportation spell. The heat of the morning sun immediately hit the five members and they were taken aback by how hot it was. This didn't bother them for too long however, as Discorded Whooves lifted himself up in the air with the bottom two mechanical arms and then turned around to face his partners.

“Listen up, all of you!” Discorded Whooves called as they looked up at him. “We have arrived at the first site that we must save from Equestria's doom. Here's the plan, we will-.”

“And what do you think you're doing, Doc?” Lightning Dust interrupted, catching Discorded Whooves off guard. “Whoever put you in charge? I don't remember Sombra putting you in charge, do you guys?”

“Loud Pegasus is right! Iron Will does not remember King putting Whooves in charge of us!” Iron Will replied.

“Yeah! I think we all would have specifically remembered having somepony be put in charge of us!” Flam added.

“I agree with you, brother! Besides, even if you were in charge of us, you damaged our property! Why should we listen to you?” Flim asked, stomping his hoof down.

“(Chuckle) Yah!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he snatched up Flim by his front legs and lifted him in the air.

“Hey! Stop this! What are you-OW! HEY!” Flim yelled as his back legs were suddenly grabbed by another of the mechanical arms.

Discorded Whooves only grinned as he then started to try and rip Flim in half by pulling hard on Flim's front and back legs. Flim screamed in pain and once he realized what was going to happen to him, he immediately started to tell Discorded Whooves what he wanted to hear.

“OW! Okay! Okay! We'll listen to you! All of us! Promise!” Flim yelled as his legs were pulled on harder and harder.

“(Chuckle) Good.” Discorded Whooves said as he dropped Flim to the ground. “Now, what was I saying before I was rudely interrupted?” Discorded Whooves asked, looking at Lightning Dust and showing off his deadly arms.

“U-Uh, you had a plan! Yeah! A plan!” Lightning Dust said, not liking how Discorded Whooves was glaring at her, more specifically her wings.

“Ah, yes, that's right. Flim and Flam, you two use your magic to do some damage to the buildings, maybe toss a few ponies around while you're at it. Iron will, remember, you have to show your dominance. Make these ponies respect you. If they don't, kill them. No point in having anypony warn Twilight and her friends about us. Lightning Dust, I don't care what you do, just make sure nopony escapes. Everyone got it?” Discorded Whooves asked.

“Sure, whatever. Let's just get this over with, I want to take Rainbow Dash down already!” Lightning Dust said as she looked very eager to fly into action.

“We understand!” Flim and Flam said in unison.

Iron Will didn't say anything as he was deep in thought about actually killing a pony. Sensing Iron Will's doubt, Discorded Whooves walked over to him and let the arms lower him back to the ground.

“I can see that you are busy thinking right now, but there is something very important I must tell you, Iron Will.” Discorded Whooves said, snapping Iron Will out of his thoughts.

“Huh? What is it?” Iron Will asked.

“Last night when I met you, I sadly left out a rather big detail. You see, since Fluttershy is so famous now as one of the heroes of Equestria, she was able to spread news throughout the land. I recall, there was something she said about minotaurs, specifically you.” Discorded Whooves said, grinning smugly.

“Fluttershy betrayed Iron Will even more!? What did Fluttershy say!?” Iron Will asked, his anger starting to bubble and boil.

“Well, because of how rude and scary you were to her, she spread word throughout all of Equestria that minotaurs should never ever be trusted. That one day they would try and take over Equestria for their selfish greed and desires. She told everyone that you were dangerous and that you were just as bad, if not, worse than every minotaur out there. That is why no one respects you or takes you seriously anymore. It's quite simple, nobody cares about you.” Discorded Whooves said.

“Grrr! Iron Will shall do what he must! Iron Will shall make ponies fear him again! Iron Will won’t be tricked again! Iron Will hates ponies! All ponies will now suffer!” Iron Wil yelled as he smashed his fists together, steam blowing out of his nose as he suddenly became very angry.

“(Chuckle) Good, very good. Now, come along my friends. Let's give our Appleloosa friends a nice warm greeting. Wait for my signal, then attack.” Discorded Whooves said as they made their way towards town.

The ponies of Appleloosa were happily enjoying their morning when suddenly they heard the sound of metallic footsteps approaching from the town's entrance. This caused quite a few of the townsfolk to leave their homes or stop what they were doing to check out this strange sound. Soon, they saw what it was. The townsfolk gasped with shock and horror as they watched Discorded Whooves walk into town, carried by all four of his mechanical arms.

“Greetings to all of you, wonderful townsfolk of Appleloosa! I am pleased to meet each and every one of you.” Discorded Whooves announced before somepony from the crowd spoke up.

“And who might you be, stranger?” Sheriff Silverstar asked, stepping out in front of the crowd. “Not to be rude or anything, but ya don't look like a friendly face.”

“(Chuckle) Do not worry, Sheriff, I am not offended. Unfortunately, I am not here for pleasantries, I am here strictly for business.” Discorded Whooves said.

“Business? What kind of business? And what are them, arms for?” Sheriff Silverstar asked, eyeing the arms suspiciously.

“What? These arms? Why, there part of my business of course. Now, I only have one thing to say to you ponies. Prepare yourselves because the doctor is in... ATTACK!” Discorded Whooves yelled as the rest of his team revealed themselves.

Lightning Dust flew up from behind a building and flew straight into the crowd, managing to grab Sheriff Silverstar and tossed him in the air. As soon as the sheriff was in midair, Discorded Whooves grabbed the sheriff with one of his arms and threw him into the side of a building. With the sheriff knocked out, the attack began. The citizens of Appleloosa screamed in terror as they a bunch of them ran for cover. A couple ponies weren't so lucky as they were grabbed by the metal arms and slammed so hard onto the ground, they were killed by the impact. Lightning Dust flew over to a pony who was trying to climb through an open window, and she grabbed him and tossed him to the ground. Lightning Dust didn't stop there as she landed on the ground and started to punch the pony in the face with her hooves over and over until he was either dead or just stopped moving. With that taken care of, Lightning Dust flew back into the air and started diving down multiple times, swooping in to stop anypony from escaping or hiding from the attack.

Meanwhile, Flim and Flam had also just come out of hiding as they used their magic to try and destroy some of the surrounding buildings. Unfortunately, however, they realized that their magic was strong enough. The most they could do was just break a window. Since this wasn't working right, the brothers decided to just fire their magic at anypony they saw. Flim and Flam started going a bit wild as they started to feel like they were playing some sort of intense shooting game at a carnival or something. Soon, the Flim Flam Brothers were fully engaged with what they were doing and not even realize they were attacking real ponies. Thankfully no pony was being killed by Flim and Flam's magic, but it still hurt quite a bit, especially for the ponies that were hit in the head or anywhere above the neck. Some of the ponies were ducking for cover and even throwing stones at the Flim Flam Brothers, unfortunately, the two brothers were quite nimble and agile, able to dodge every rock thrown at them. This only added to the 'fun' Flim and Flam were having right now.

“On your left, brother!” Flam cried, with Flim ducking out of the way of a rock.

“Ha! Ha! Got you!” Flim cheered as he hit one of the ponies in the neck, causing her to fall to the ground in pain.

“Got one too, brother!” Flam cheered as he also shot a pony in the head. “I bet I'll get more points than you, brother!”

“Ha! Never!” Flim yelled as he fired his magic at a pony who was trying to save one of his friends. “This is so much fun!”

“You bet! And you know what makes it even better, brother!?” Flam asked as they both looked and grinned at each other.

“This will hurt Applejack! Payback!” Flim cheered as he jumped over a barrel that had been rolled towards them.

As the brothers kept on playing their little game, they had no clue that the longer this went on, the more powerful their magic got. Therefore, they were actually causing a lot more harm and damage than they were aware of. This was proven as when Flim shot a beam of his magic at a pony who dodged the attack, the magic beam was strong enough now to where it actually blew a door to pieces. One pony used his rope to try and tie the two brothers up, but as he did so, Flam fired a beam of magic at him, and the magic was so strong that it sent the pony flying back a long distance. The brothers managed to get out of the rope and went back to blasting in every direction they wanted to. Soon enough, houses and buildings were being severely damaged by the two brothers and a few ponies sustained very serious injuries, some unfortunately fatal.

As Flim and Flam continued their assault, they were both suddenly wrapped up tightly by a rope. As the two brothers were tied together, they looked and saw who had caught them. Sheriff Silverstar, who had finally woken up from behind knocked out cold, managed to sneak up on the two brothers and got them tied up in his rope. The sheriff was not too pleased when he looked at the two brothers.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here? Flim and Flam, eh? I don't know if anypony told y'all this or not, but you brothers have been on our most wanted list for quite some time now. You boys are in a heap of trouble.” Sheriff Silverstar said, spitting on the floor.

“What? Why are we on your most wanted list!?” Flim asked.

“Yeah! You can't just do that! We've never even been here before until today!” Flam added.

“That don't matter. Applejack done told me that Appleloosa should keep an eye out for two con artist vermin brothers, two unicorn who go by the names of Flim and Flam. Applejack said that I would be able to tell who y'all were from the moment I saw ya. Plus, she gave me pictures of y'alls faces just in case.” Sheriff Silverstar explained, pointing over to a billboard that had the two brothers' pictures up under the Most Wanted label.

“Grrr! Why does she always spread nasty rumors about us!” Flim yelled, gritting his teeth at the thought of Applejack spreading news about them.

“Because she's a rotten farmer, that's why! We'll show her!” Flam said, hoping that one day they would get a chance to face Applejack.

“Well, sorry to say boys, y'all ain't ever gonna see Applejack again. As a matter of fact, y'all boys ain't gonna see anything except the inside of a jail cell.” Sheriff Silverstar said.

“Ha! As if we'd let you take us to jail!” Flam laughed.

“Keep dreaming, sheriff!” Flim said as he used his magic to snap the rope, freeing themselves.

“Drat! You boys better not try anything funny now or else!” Sheriff Silverstar said as he started to slowly walk towards the brothers.

“Or else what, sheriff? You going to arrest us?” Flim asked, also walking slowly towards the sheriff, followed by Flam.

“You're gonna have to do a lot more than that to stop us!” Flam said.

“Heh, I guess you boys are gonna have to learn things the hard way.” Sheriff Silverstar said as they had a stand-off against each other.

After a few seconds of intense staring, both Flim and Flam opened fire on the sheriff, blasting their beams of magic at him. Sheriff Silverstar, however, saw this coming from a mile away as he successfully dodged both beams of magic fired. The two brothers did not stop however as they kept on firing over and over at him. Sheriff Silverstar then started to run in circles around the Flim Flam Brothers, using his surprising speed to avoid getting blasted. This running around in a circle trick was actually a very interesting strategic plan. The trick would allow one to get closer and closer to their opponent as they kept circling them, while the opponent would be too focused on their attacker and not so much on the fact that they would get closer and closer. Sheriff Silverstar kept the trick going until he was close enough and as soon as he was, he lunged forwards and slammed right into the two brothers, knocking all three of them down to the ground. Despite being dizzy from running in a circle, Sheriff Silverstar had plenty of time to recover as he had shoved the brothers hard enough to keep them on the ground.

Soon enough, all three of them were getting back up on their feet and ready to fight again. Sheriff Silverstar was quick to get back up as he grabbed Flim and threw him to the side, causing him to land inside of a barrel. Flam was quick to act, as he tried to use his magic to get his brother out, but Sheriff Silverstar was quick to stop that as he punched Flam in the face. Flam stumbled back a bit from the punch before he was grabbed by his right hoof and slammed onto the ground. Flam yelled in pain as his back hit the floor. Sheriff Silverstar was about to bring his hooves down on Flam's stomach, but Flam managed to roll out of the way just in time. Flam quickly got back up on his feet and kicked some dust into the sheriff's eyes, temporarily blinding him. Flam took this opportunity to get his brother out of the barrel, but as he did so he was once again picked up by the sheriff and thrown to the side, hitting a wall. Both brothers were definitely shocked at just how strong this sheriff was. If he had been any stronger, Flam's back could have been seriously broken or badly damaged.

Now that Flim was free from the barrel, he charged full speed towards the sheriff, who just kicked him in the face with his back legs. Flim was hit so hard in the face that his nose started to bleed pretty badly. Sheriff Silverstar wasted no time charging at Flim and ramming into him, slamming him into a wall. With Flim pinned by his body, Sheriff Silverstar started to repeatedly slam his body against Flim, really causing a lot of pain. As Sheriff Silverstar kept slamming into Flim, his whole body was suddenly encased by a magical aura. Flam had recovered from his injury and then lifted the sheriff a few inches off the ground, holding him still in the air. Flim took this opportunity to punch the sheriff in the stomach, chest, and face a good number of times before both brothers used their magic to slam the sheriff on the ground multiples times. Once the two brothers were satisfied, they both threw the sheriff into a wall, causing him to break one of his back legs. Sheriff Silverstar yelled in pain as he hit the wall and tried to stand back up, but due to his broken leg, he just couldn't. Flim and Flam laughed at each other as they slowly approached the injured sheriff. As the two brothers approached him, Sheriff Silverstar just gave them a determined grin, refusing to admit defeat.

“(Laughs) Nice try, but you can't defeat the ultimate duo of Flim and Flam!” Flim said as they both stood menacingly in front of the sheriff.

“You should have just stayed put, maybe this wouldn't have happened. But you just had to be the hero, right sheriff?” Flam asked.

“Heh, heh, of course I had to be. Appleloosa is my town. It will always be under my protection.” Sheriff Silverstar said, refusing to show any fear.

“Ha! Not anymore!” Flam yelled as he nudged Flim and pointed to the beams supporting the roof of the building the sheriff was under.

“Say hello to Applejack's parents for us, will you?” Flim asked as he nodded to his brother.

“Bye, bye, sheriff.” Flim and Flam said as they both blasted their magic towards the beams.

With the beams destroyed, the roof of the building came down and crashed right on top of Sheriff Silverstar, who, just before he was crushed, just looked at the brothers and smiled. The roof came down and then there was just silence after the crash. Flim and Flam waited for a few moments after the crash and then they walked over to the rubble, inspecting it for the sheriff. Almost immediately they saw the sheriff's hat sticking out from under some rubble, as well as his hoof. There was no movement, but there was now some sounds of groaning. Despite knowing that the sheriff was still alive, Flim and Flam knew he was gonna die soon anyway due to being crushed, so they just walked away, going back to their assault on Appleloosa.

Meanwhile, Lightning Dust was flying around in the air, scanning the town for anypony trying to escape from the destruction. As she was doing so, Lightning Dust was startled when a pie was launched into the air and just barely missed her. Quite taken aback by almost being hit by a pie, Lightning Dust looked down and saw that quite a few ponies had started to kick pies into the air, some even using large contraptions to fire the pies into the sky. Lightning Dust gritted her teeth as she then did her best to dodge and avoid every single pie that was launched at her. She had a few close calls but thankfully none of the pies hit her. Once Lightning Dust felt ready to attack, she flew down toward the oncoming pies, still making sure to avoid getting pied. Lightning Dust decided to first take out the attackers’ line of sight as she flew just a few inches off the ground and quickly flew back up, causing the dust and sand to fly up and temporarily blind the ponies. With that taken care of, Lightning Dust flew back down and using her incredible speed, flew straight into the pie throwing contraptions, destroying all of them in a single sweep.

Of course, flying that low towards the attackers did come with a price since as Lightning Dust was trying to fly back up and out of range, she found that her back leg had been caught by a rope. No sooner than Lightning Dust felt the rope wrap tightly around her leg, she was pulled back down to ground level with such force that she hit the floor in seconds. As Lightning Dust tried to pick herself up, she turned back and saw who had taken her down. Lightning Dust's eyes widened as she saw probably the biggest earth pony she had ever seen in her entire life. The stallion was huge and looked very strong and burly. However, the scariest thing about this stallion wasn't his immense size, it was the angry look he had on his face. The stallion with the angry look on his face was the once outlaw and now rodeo clown, Trouble Shoes.

“You messed with the wrong town!” Trouble Shoes said as he yanked the rope back, pulling Lightning Dust towards him.

As Lightning Dust was being pulled towards Trouble Shoes, she did everything she could to get out of the rope's grip, shaking her leg wildly and even trying to fly away, but Trouble Shoes was just too strong. Soon, Lightning Dust found herself right in front of the towering earth pony, who then raised his front hooves up in the air, as if he was about to crush her. Before that could happen, Lightning Dust quickly scooped up some sand with her wing and flung it into Trouble Shoes's face. This caused Trouble Shoes to step back a bit and yell as he tried to wipe the sand out of his eyes. However, by then Lightning Dust had already gotten the rope off of her leg and as soon as she was free, Lightning Dust shot up into the air, uppercutting Trouble Shoes in the process.

“Ha! Loser! Now it's my turn!” Lightning Dust yelled as she flew back down to Trouble Shoes was.

Lightning Dust was quick as she managed to grab Trouble Shoes's rope and then flew in circles around him, using his own rope to tie all four of his hooves up. This had Trouble Shoes a bit wobbly for a few seconds but since he was so strong, he broke free and was ready to get back into the fight. However, those few seconds was all Lightning Dust needed as she was already back and started to perform her fast and speedy combo. She hit Trouble Shoes in the face multiple times with her front hooves and even kicked him with her back hooves, all with such astonishing speed that Trouble Shoes couldn't even catch a break or find an opening to escape. Thankfully, Trouble Shoes did manage to escape this deadly combo as he rammed his head forward, knocking Lightning Dust back a bit.

“Who are you and why are you attacking Appleloosa!?” Trouble Shoes asked as he prepared for another one of Lightning Dust's combos.

“Name's Lightning Dust! As for why we're attacking this boring little place, none of your business! Ya!” Lightning Dust yelled as flew right back at him.

Trouble Shoes did not allow himself to be hit as he smacked Lightning Dust back using the side of his head. This time however, Lightning Dust was only briefly phased as she recovered very fast and gave Trouble Shoes a good kick in the face. Trouble Shoes shook off the kick as he raised his upper body in the air, as if to once again try and crush Lightning Dust again, but Lightning Dust dodged the attack and flew around behind him. Lightning Dust was about to grab Trouble Shoes by his tail, but he reacted quickly, kicking her with his leg. Trouble Shoes turned around fast and managed to bite down on Lightning Dust's tail, swinging her around a bit before throwing her into a wall. As Lightning Dust hit the wall and fell to the ground, she spotted a rather large apple on the ground next to her. As soon as she saw Trouble Shoes charging at her, Lightning Dust grabbed the apple with her wing and threw it at Trouble Shoes, hitting him in the nose. With her attack being successful, Lightning Dust flew over to Trouble Shoes's legs, preparing to bring the big guy down.

Lightning Dust first kicked as hard as she could at Trouble Shoes's front legs, causing them to buckle a bit. Then Lightning Dust uppercutted Trouble Shoes hard before she round house kicked him in the face and then bringing both of her front hooves down onto the top of Trouble Shoes's head, really causing some pain. Lightning Dust then flew up and then back down, slamming herself into Trouble Shoes's chest, pushing him back a bit. Lightning Dust repeated this strategy until Trouble Shoes was right in front of a certain building with a large sign. Once Trouble Shoes was in the perfect position, Lightning Dust repeated her strategy one last time before she decided it was time to finish the fight. Trouble Shoes tried to smack Lightning Dust again, but she was too fast as she dodged it and then kicked him really hard in the face. Lightning Dust then flew up towards the sign above Trouble Shoes and hit it so hard that the whole thing fell and landed right on top of Trouble Shoes. The sign was very large and very heavy, so when it landed on top of Trouble Shoes, he was crushed down, and he was out of the fight. Thankfully he wasn't dead or fatally injured, but he was definitely severely injured. With her opponent defeated, Lightning Dust laughed and flew away, getting back to her job.

During all of the chaos and destruction that was happening in the town, back at Braeburn's home, the trio of friends were having a joyous time amongst themselves. By now, they had gotten to know each other pretty well as they talked and drank fresh apple juice with each other. It was during one of their chats that Capper happened to glance towards one of the windows and saw something outside that caught his attention.

“Hey, cowboy, is there a celebration or something going on in town today?” Capper asked.

“Not that I'm aware of, why?” Braeburn asked as he tilted his head in confusion.

“Oh, then uh... what's that?” Capper asked as he pointed outside the window.

With that, all three of the friends looked outside the window and their mouths opened wide with horror. The town was in a devastating state of panic and destruction. Fires were blazing due to some of the damage being done to the town. Appleloosa was under attack.

“Sweet Flaming Tumbleweeds! What in tarnation is going on!?” Braeburn cried as he nearly flipped out of his chair.

“Appleloosa's under attack! We got to go do something!” Dusty cried as they got up from their chairs.

“What are we waiting for then!? Come on, amigos! Let's go!” Capper yelled as they all quickly ran out of the house.

As the trio of friends barged out of the house, Capper remembered something that would probably be very helpful in this situation he was about to be in. Capper stopped running rather suddenly, his paws digging into the ground below him as he stopped to look back at his wagon. He then ran back to his wagon and opened up a little compartment underneath the wagon. As he opened the compartment, a few items fell out. There was a belt with a sheath for a knife, a gun holster, a gun that was made by the Storm King's army, and a rather large hunting knife. Capper was very quick as he got the gear set up and made his way to join up with his friends. When they arrived at the scene of the disaster, they were all shocked by what they saw. Nearly the whole town of Appleloosa was being destroyed by a certain group of creatures. Braeburn instantly recognized the two brothers, Flim and Flam, but he had no idea who the others were.

“Dusty! Capper! Y'all two go and help the innocent, I've got myself some business with a pair of con artists!” Braeburn called as he ran towards the direction of the Flim Flam Brothers.

“Braeburn, wait! Oh, rotten tomatoes! Come on, partner! We can't let him go in there alone!” Dusty said as he chased after Braeburn.

“Right behind you, amigo-WOAH! WAAHH!” Capper yelled as he was suddenly grabbed and lifted up into the air by a metal claw.

“Huh!? NO! Capper!” Dusty cried before he saw something very bizarre. “What in the hay is that!?” Dusty cried as he saw Discorded Whooves, who had snatched Capper up from the side of the building.

“Hello there, partners, so nice to see you!” Discorded Whooves yelled as another one of the mechanical arms reached out and tried to grab Dusty.

Dusty was quick to react as he jumped back a bit and even kicked the arm away from him. Discorded Whooves did not give up as the arm kept trying to grab Dusty. As the arm kept trying to grab ahold of Dusty, Capper managed to take out his gun and took aim at Discorded Whooves. However, since Discorded Whooves was moving around quite a bit, it was very hard to properly take aim. Capper eventually took his shot and fired, missing his target, but at least managing to shoot one of the arms, not that it did anything. Luckily, the constant moving around gave Capper a chance to squeeze out of the arm's grip. Once Capper was free, he jumped onto the roof of the building and fired his gun again. However, even though the magical blast was definitely going to hit Discorded Whooves, one of the arms snaked around and blocked it, protecting him seemingly on its own. This caused Discorded Whooves to stop his attack on Dusty and shift his focus to Capper.

“Trying to take out the Doctor? Tsk, tsk, I don't think so! Come here, cat! Time to get declawed!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he started to chase Capper across the roof.

Capper ran and jumped all over the place, desperately trying to avoid getting caught once again by those deadly arms. After getting chased around the roof for a little bit, Capper eventually decided to go for it, and he waited for the chance to try out his plan. As soon as one of the arms missed him, he jumped onto the arm and climbed on it, making his way to Discorded Whooves. But before he could get to him, Capper was grabbed and flung off by another arm. Capper landed back on the roof and decided that there really was no way he could get past all four of those mechanical arms. Capper spent the remainder of the fight just dodging and jumping over each arm that tried to grab him. Discorded Whooves kept laughing and laughing as he enjoyed watching this cat try so hard to avoid being snatched up by the arms, it was just too much fun. However, it was so much fun that Discorded Whooves forgot that Capper wasn't alone.

On the ground, Dusty had tied about five large bricks together with one of his ropes. Once all the bricks were secured, Dusty lifted the bricks with the rope and swung them around in the air, taking aim at the mechanical armed freak. After Dusty gained the confidence he needed, he let the bricks fly and they flew fast into the air. No sooner, the bricks hit their target, hitting Discorded Whooves in the back so hard that he actually got knocked out, even the arms were startled. Discorded Whooves and the arms soon fell off the side of the rather tall building and crashed onto the floor. All of them were knocked out, cold. With the threat secured, Capper maneuvered his way back down to the ground and ran over to his friend.

“Hey! Thanks so much, amigo! I couldn't keep that up much longer.” Capper said, falling to the ground and panting like he had just run a marathon.

“Come on! We have to help Braeburn before he gets himself killed!” Dusty said, helping Capper up to his feet.

“Right! I'm sure he went that way!” Capper said as they ran off to find Braeburn. “I thought I'd seen it all! Now there's some crazy dude with robot arms! I don't think this day could get any worse!”

“Don't say that partner! Things always get worse when ya say that!” Dusty cried, before both of them stopped dead in their tracks as something flew right past them.

Dusty and Capper turned to see what just flew by them and what they saw horrified them. It was a barrel that had been thrown into a wall and inside the barrel was the bodies of two ponies, a mare, and a stallion and from the looks of it, they were very much dead. The two friends turned in the direction that the barrel had been thrown and they saw Iron Will destroying a house with his bare hands and generally causing mass destruction. Capper squinted his eyes and saw that there was still a family inside the house Iron Will was destroying. Seeing the two foals cry out in fear caused Capper to get very upset and determined.

“Amigo, you go help Braeburn! I'll take care of this bull!” Capper said as he pulled out his gun.

“Are ya crazy!? Y'all could get yourself killed!” Dusty yelled.

“Just go! I'll be fine! Promise!” Capper yelled as Dusty nodded before running off to find Braeburn. “Hey, Bull-Man!” Capper called as he fired his gun, hitting Iron Will in the back.

“OW!” Iron Will cried as he was hit in the back by some sort of magical blast. “WHO DID THAT!?” Iron Will yelled, looking around furiously before he was answered.

“That would be me... name's Capper. Capper Dapperpaws.” Capper replied, grinning to Iron Will who just roared in response.

“Iron Will, will crush you, cat!” Iron Will roared as he charged at Capper.

“Heh, heh, come at me then, Bull-Man!” Capper said as he motioned for Iron Will to charge him.

“Iron Will is not bull! Iron Will is minotaur!” Iron Will roared as he made it to Capper and raised his arms in the air.

Capper quickly shot Iron Will in the chest, but this did not deter Iron Will in the slightest as he still brought his arms down on Capper. Thankfully, Capper dodged the strong attack, put his gun back in its holster, and jumped up in the air, slashing Iron Will in the face with his claws. Iron Will roared with pain as he was scratched, before quickly trying to punch Capper, who dodged and weaved out of the way of every punch. Capper was very nimble and agile as he dodged all of the oncoming attacks, even acting smug as he put his hands behind his back while dodging This act of showing off really made Iron Will's blood boil as he roared again and tried to smash his head against Capper. As Iron Will shot his head forward, Capper jumped up above Iron Will and landed on his back, using his claws to dig in and keep himself locked onto Iron Will. Feeling those sharp claws dig into his back, Iron Will yelled, and tried to grab the annoying cat off of his back, but Capper was just out of reach. As Iron Will kept struggling, Capper reached into his belt and took out the knife and plunged it into Iron Will's shoulder, causing him to roar in pain. Fed up with Capper's nonsense, Iron Will started running backwards, hoping to crush Capper against the wall.

Capper thankfully knew this would happen as he took out the knife and jumped off of Iron Will just as he was about to get crushed, landing in front of Iron Will. Seeing that his plan hadn't worked, Iron Will growled as he tried to grab Capper by the throat. Capper of course, was able to dodge it, as once he ducked under Iron Will's hand, he grabbed a nearby rock off the floor and chucked it at Iron Will's chin. Iron Will shook it off as he tried to bash Capper to the ground like before. Capper just kept dodging and weaving until Iron Will got fed up and kicked some dust into Capper's face. This stunned Capper as he tried his best to quickly rid his eyes of the dust, but by then Iron Will had grabbed him and thrown him through a nearby window. Capper crashed through the window and landed hard on the ground and sliding into a couch. Capper tried hard to get up, thankful that he hadn't received any cuts from the glass window he had crashed into. It wasn't long until Iron Will busted through the wall and roared at him.

“Heh, just can't leave me alone, can you?” Capper asked.

“Iron Will, will not allow you to escape, cat! You will pay for hurting Iron Will!” Iron Will yelled.

“Listen, Bull-Boy, why don't you just calm down and we can talk about our problems. I can already tell you have a lot of problems.” Capper said, smirking a bit.

“Grrr! Iron Will is not bull!” Iron Will roared as he charged at Capper.

Iron Will made it to Capper and brought both his arms down on Capper, crushing him to the ground. Iron Will chuckled as he was pleased that he finally took care of Capper, but as he lifted his hands up and saw Capper was not there, he was shot in the face by Capper's gun. Iron Will yelled as he was shot and yelled once again as Capper quickly ran over to him and smacked him in the face with the butt of his gun. Capper repeated this a few times before Iron Will snapped out of it and smacked Capper away. Capper went flying across the room and hit the wall hard, causing him to drop his gun. As Capper was about to reach for his gun, he quickly jumped away to the other side as he was almost crushed by a table that was thrown at him. Iron Will charged at Capper once again, even leaping towards him, trying to land on top of him. Capper rolled out of the way and ran to get his gun. Iron Will got back up and quickly turned around to chase after Capper, who reacted quickly by shooting him in the face, causing Iron Will to fall on his face in front of Capper.

With Iron Will seemingly down, Capper tried to get away from him and out of the house. However, Iron Will woke up and grabbed Capper by the tail, causing him to shriek in pain. Iron Will threw Capper up at the ceiling and he hit the ceiling very hard. Luckily, Capper landed on the ceiling fan and avoided falling back into Iron Will's range. Iron Will, however, just jumped up and tore the ceiling fan down to the ground. Once that happened, Capper shot Iron Will in the neck and tried to run away, with Iron Will throwing a stool at Capper, launching him out of the house. As Capper was launched outside, Iron Will ran out of the house and over to him. Iron Will then tried to grab Capper by the throat once again, but Capper dodged it of course. However, this time Capper did not dodge the attack completely as he saw that Iron Will had managed to grab his top hat. Iron Will, being very frustrated that he had not grabbed Capper, tore the top hat into many pieces. Seeing the hat that Rarity had given him had just been torn to pieces, Capper's eyes narrowed, and his claws got sharper. Iron Will had just crossed the blood red line.

“Oh, you're gonna pay for that! MEOW!” Capper hissed as he pulled out his gun and fired at least ten shots at Iron Will's face.

Iron Will roared as he kept on getting shot over and over by Capper's gun until Capper then shot Iron Will's knees, causing him to fall down on his knees in front of Capper. With Iron Will down, Capper shot him in the face one last time before he ran over to Iron Will's right hand, taking his knife out. Then, with a meow of rage, Capper plunged the knife straight through the palm of Iron Will's right hand, causing him to roar in immense pain. Capper didn't stop as he yanked the knife out and plunged it through Iron Will's left palm. With two open wounds on the palms of Iron Will's hands, Capper shot him in the chest and then jumped up at his face, hanging on to one of Iron Will's horns. Capper then shot Iron Will in the face three more times from very close and then with all his might, smacked him in the face with his gun so hard that two teeth shot out of Iron Will's mouth. After the heavy smack, Iron Will fell back on the ground and was now out cold.

“(Pant, pant) Stay down.... (Gasp) Dusty! Cowboy!” Capper cried as he quickly ran off to find his friends.

Meanwhile, Dusty had just been sent flying into a wall after being blasted by Flim's magic. When the trio had gotten separated, Braeburn made a mad dash for the Flim Flam Brothers. He'd had enough of those two scheming brothers finding ways to annoy Applejack and keep scamming ponies with their cheap tricks. When Braeburn had reached the brothers, he was in for quite a painful surprise as he was hit by their powerful magic. The Flim Flam Brothers spent the rest of their time just blasting Braeburn with their magic and tossing him around like a ragdoll. This went on until Dusty had shown up and tackled Flim to the ground. This had given Braeburn a chance to recover and allowed him to run over to Flam and kick him hard with his back hooves. Flam was then slammed into a wall by Braeburn, would made sure not to give the unicorn any time to recover. Flam, however, managed to free himself by kicking out Braeburn's front hooves, causing him to trip. This gave Flam the chance to get away and then turn around and blast Braeburn with another magic beam.

Dusty had Flim pinned to the wall, but not for long as Flim managed to kick Dusty in the stomach and freed himself. Then, Flim blasted his magic at Dusty, sending him flying into a wall. Flim ran over to Dusty in an attempt to keep him down, but Dusty waited until Flim was a few feet from him and then he tossed some dust into Flim's eyes. With sand in his eyes, Flim was unable to do anything as Dusty got up and gave him a hard shove, making him stumble back. Dusty was about to try and pin Flim to the floor, but Flim started to frantically shoot magic everywhere, managing to unintentionally hit Dusty and once again causing him to hit a wall. Flim's eyes had been cleaned now and he was ready to take aim at Dusty. As Flim was about to blast Dusty, his focus was disrupted as his horn was shot by a magical blast. Flim turned his head and saw a Capper running towards him, firing another shot. Flim managed to counter the shot by blasting it with his own magic, causing a cloud of smoke to appear. From the smoke, Capper came out and smacked Flim in the face with his gun before running over to Dusty.

“Dusty! You alright!?” Capper asked, helping Dusty up to his feet.

“I'm fine, partner, thank Celestia ya got here just in time. Help me, will ya?” Dusty asked.

“Absolutely, amigo.” Capper replied as they both ran to Flim.

Flim fired two beams of magic at the oncoming attackers, but they both missed as Capper fired a shot at Flim's chest and Dusty rammed into Flim right afterwards. After getting slammed into by Dusty, Capper followed up by smacking Flim in the face with his gun twice and jumping back to let Dusty kick Flim with his back legs. The kick was so hard that Flim was sent flying into a wall. With Flim seemingly down for now, Dusty and Capper ran over to Braeburn, who was being tossed around by Flam. As Flam was enjoying tossing Braeburn around, Dusty grabbed ahold of him and threw him to the side, allowing Braeburn to land back on the ground.

“Hey, thanks a bunch, partners. I was starting to get a bit sick there.” Braeburn said, shaking his head a bit.

“Thank us later, Braeburn. We've got ourselves some vermin to get rid of.” Dusty said, seeing that Flam was starting to get back up.

The trio of friends ran over and made sure to finish Flam as quickly as they could. Braeburn rammed into Flam, pushing him back quite a bit before Capper shot Flam in the chest twice, allowing Dusty to run up and punch Flam so hard in the face he flew back and landed hard on the ground. Before they could celebrate, Braeburn was hit in the back by Flim, who had managed to get up after his loss. Dusty and Capper turned around fast and glared at the unicorn, who just laughed and fired more magic at them. Dusty and Capper were quick and agile as they dodged every beam and reached Flim, ready to attack him. Dusty punched Flim in the face and Capper jumped on Dusty's back, then off of his back and onto Flim's back. As Flim tried to shake Capper off of his back, Capper started to scratch Flim's back with his sharp claws. When Capper saw that Dusty was about to charge, he scratched Flim one more time before he leaped off of his back and let Dusty crash into Flim. Flim stumbled back and before he could do anything else, was kicked super hard in the face by Braeburn. After the kick, Braeburn slammed himself into Flim, pushing him into a wall. Once Flim hit the wall, Braeburn grabbed ahold of Flim and threw him over his shoulder, slamming him hard on the ground and then finishing it off with one last kick to Flim's side.

The trio quickly gathered up the two brothers and laid them against the side of a building, with Braeburn about to tie them up with his rope. But before they could be tied up, Flim and Flam started to chuckle at the trio. This made the trio a bit worried because they knew that it was never a good sign when you're about to capture somepony and then they start laughing.

“(Laughs) Go ahead and capture us, not like there's a jail for us to be locked in, in this town anyway!” Flim said as they were both tied up.

“Yeah! That's already been destroyed! Plus, this little town doesn't even have a sheriff anymore!” Flam added, causing Braeburn's eyes to widen with horror.

“No... WHERE'S SHERIFF SILVERSTAR!? WHAT DID Y'ALL DO WITH HIM!?” Braeburn yelled, slamming his hooves right next to the brothers' faces.

“Don't worry, last we checked he was still alive.” Flam said.

“If you hurry, maybe you'll get him out of the rubble we left him in.” Flim said.

“Over there, in front of that broken shop.” Flam said, gesturing towards a destroyed building.

“I swear if the sheriff is.... well... y'all will regret it! Come on, we got to save the sheriff!” Braeburn said as he ran off in the direction Flam pointed in, followed by Dusty and Capper.

“(Chuckle) Go ahead, save him.” Flim said, nodding to his brother.

“Yeah, it's too late anyway. Come on, brother, let's get back into it!” Flam said as he used his magic to tear apart the rope.

The trio of friends made it to the destroyed shop in a matter of seconds, with all of them looking for any signs of the sheriff. As they scanned the rubble, Capper saw something.

“There! I see a hoof!” Capper called, pointing over to a spot in the rubble where there was indeed a hoof sticking out.

“No! Sheriff!” Braeburn cried as they walked across the rubble.

“Help me lift this thing!” Dusty yelled as they worked together to lift a large pile of rubble off the sheriff.

“Oh, Sheriff Silverstar! No!” Braeburn cried as he saw the horrible state the sheriff was in.

“(Cough, cough) Braeburn... that you?” Sheriff Silverstar asked as he weakly opened his eyes and coughed.

“Yeah, it's me! But that don't matter! Come on, we're gonna get ya help!” Braeburn said as he attempted to pick up the sheriff before he stopped him.

“No! (Cough, cough) Don't waste your breath. (Cough) Go.... (Cough) to... Ponyville (Cough). Get... help... (Cough). Appleloosa... is under... your protection now... Sheriff.... Braeburn....” Sheriff Silverstar said as he smiled to Braeburn and took off his sheriff badge and put it on Braeburn's vest.

“Wh-What? Sh-Sheriff, what are ya saying!?” Braeburn cried.

“Take care... of.... Appleloosa... I know... you can....” Sheriff Silverstar said as he gave Braeburn one last look of confidence before he closed his eyes.

“Sheriff? Sheriff!? SHERIFF! NO!” Braeburn yelled as he started to cry at the death of Appleloosa's bravest sheriff.

“Braeburn, I'm mighty sorry... We'll bury the sheriff after we save the town. Come on, it's what Sheriff Silverstar would do.” Dusty said, patting Braeburn on the back.

“(Sniff) You're right, come on partners. We have to save what's left of Appleloosa, then we get to Ponyville. Come on!” Braeburn said as they ran off to try and save what was left.

As the trio ran through the town, they had seen Flim and Flam had escaped their capture and were back to terrorizing the town. The trio would have gone after them again, but Dusty had spotted Trouble Shoes pinned under a sign, so they went to help him. It took a great effort to free Trouble Shoes from his situation, but through their combined strength and teamwork, they managed to lift the heavy sign off of Trouble Shoes.

“Thanks, I'm sorry, I really tried to help, but that Pegasus was just too fast.” Trouble Shoes said, looking down in defeat.

“Don't worry about that right now, Trouble Shoes.” Braeburn said as he patted Trouble Shoes. “Can ya walk?”

“I think so...” Trouble Shoes said as he took a few steps.

It was painful but Trouble Shoes could manage.

“Good, round up what's left of the town and take them to our emergency bunker. Wait there until we return with help. It should be a day or two, can ya do that, Trouble Shoes?” Braeburn asked.

“Yes, I can. What about the attackers?” Trouble Shoes asked.

“Tell the town not to worry about them. Tell them that their priority right now is to get to safety. We'll handle the attackers. Now, go!” Braeburn said.

“I won't let you down!” Trouble Shoes said as he ran off to round up the survivors.

“Come on, partners! We have to save our-GAH!!” Braeburn cried as he was suddenly smacked in the face so hard that he was sent flying.

Dusty and Capper were horrified when they saw what just smacked Braeburn away; it was a mechanical arm. Discorded Whooves had finally recovered from getting hit by the stack of bricks and he was back and looked very, very angry.

“You're not saving ANYONE!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he jumped back on the ground, his top two arms reaching out to try and grab Dusty and Capper.

Dusty and Capper ran away from the mechanical arms and soon found themselves being chased by the mad doctor. Discorded Whooves started to get more frustrated as his arms just could not grab ahold of the two friends. As Discorded Whooves chased the duo, he stopped and used his arms to rip off a large billboard and threw it at the duo. Luckily, Discorded Whooves threw the billboard a little too hard as the billboard went flying above Dusty and Capper. The arms then grabbed a small wagon and threw it at Capper, who ran in the other direction, finding himself being separated from Dusty and now being chased by the very angry Discorded Whooves. Capper had no time to fire his gun or do anything as the arms gave Discorded Whooves incredible speed and agility. Capper could only jump and slide out of the way of the arms' grip. After running for a bit, Capper rounded a corner and was faced with a dead end. Before Capper could get out of the dangerous spot he was in, Discorded Whooves showed up and started to walk slowly towards him, the top two arms opening and closing, as if they were talking.

“(Chuckle) You're right, perhaps there is more than one way to skin a cat. Let's see, shall we? Yah!” Discorded Whooves said as both of the arms reached out and tried to grab Capper.

Since Capper didn't have much space to run around in, it wasn't long until he was grabbed by one of the arms and then lifted towards the Doctor.

“H-Hey! What's the deal!? You created these pretty awesome arms, and you use them to become a fictional character?” Capper asked, almost laughing out loud.

“(Chuckle) I see you're still in the mood for jokes. However, I am not.” Discorded Whooves said as the other arm snaked up right next to Capper and activated its electricity field. “Tell me, which would you prefer? Strangulation, electrocution, or brutalization?”

“Huh, tough decision here. We have strangulation, which is slow and very uncomfortable from what I hear. Then we have electrocution, which seems fast, but I'm told is very painful. Lastly, there's brutalization. The problem here is that could mean anything. Perhaps if you explained what kind of brutalization you had in mind for me, then I'd be able to give you an answer. Because right now, I'm feeling a bit stuck on this question.” Capper said, using his talent of talking to try and buy himself a bit of time.

“(Chuckle) SHUT UP!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he squeezed tighter. “Answer my question now! Or I'll answer it for you!”

“OW! Okay, okay! Stop! I got an answer!” Capper cried as the arm loosened its grip. “(Pant, pant) Okay, so, of the three very disturbing choices you gave me, I choose.... salvation.” Capper said with a smirk.

“Salvation!? That's not an option! Die! (Choke) GAH! H-Hey!” Discorded Whooves yelled as two ropes were quickly wrapped around his neck.

After seeing the ropes wrap around this mad pony's neck, Capper looked over and saw Dusty and Braeburn yank the ropes back with all their might and pull Discorded Whooves backwards, causing him to hit the back of his head on the edge of a roof so hard that he fell back to the ground and was once again seemingly out cold. With Discorded Whooves once again out for the count, the arm that was holding Capper let go and Capper was able to free himself as he ran over to his friends.

“Thanks, amigos. I knew my wits could keep the guy distracted long enough before-(Gasp) Cowboy! Your eye!” Capper cried as he pointed dramatically at Braeburn's face.

Braeburn didn't say anything as he knew what Capper had seen. When Braeburn was smacked by the mechanical arm earlier, one of the claws had given him a good scratch and even cut open his right eye, leaving Braeburn with a large nasty scratch across his face and leaving him half-blind. When the two got separated earlier, Dusty had gone back for Braeburn and found him with his eye cut and bleeding severely. Dusty managed to get some cloth and wrapped it around Braeburn, it wasn't very efficient, but it at least covered the wound and prevented any more bleeding.

“Don't y'all worry about my eye. We got to stop those Flim Flam Brothers and that crazy Pegasus flying around before they destroy what's left of Appleloosa!” Braeburn said as they prepared to leave.

But as the trio were about to leave to fight back against the remaining enemies, they all heard the sound of metal clanking and a whirring sound come from behind them. The trio turned around and saw something very scary. Even though Discorded Whooves was still knocked out, all four of the arms were still active and they lifted him up off the ground. As the bottom two arms kept their master suspended in the air, the top two arms looked at the trio and opened up their claws, ready to grab them.

“Huh, that's pretty sweet. You know, I think it's a good time to RUN!!” Capper yelled as they all ran for their lives.

As the trio ran away, the arms kept up the pursuit. After a good while of being chased by the arms, the trio managed to somehow get out of sight and lose the arms as they hid behind a building.

“Alright y'all, listen up. I know those arms are quite terrifying, but I'm sure if we work together, we can take out those arms and then save the town.” Braeburn said before they heard the sound of the arms getting closer to their hiding spot.

“No. We will only be wasting valuable time. Y'all two get yourselves to Ponyville as fast as y'all can!” Dusty said, causing Capper and Braeburn to perk up.

“What? Then what about y'all? Ya better come with us too, Dusty.” Braeburn said, very confused at this logic of Dusty not being part of the plan.

“Yeah, why would you not be coming with us anyway, amigo?” Capper asked.

“(Sigh) Well, if we all go, those arms and whatever else is attacking Appleloosa will follow us and maybe even stop us before we get to the train station. Somepony has to stay behind and keep them busy while the others escape.” Dusty explained.

“I guess that makes sense, but why-No... NO! Dusty, you can't! I'm not going to let you do something so stupid and heroic!” Capper yelled, grabbed Dusty by the sides of his face. “You'll die fighting those guys by yourself! We either fight them off together, or we all get out of town together!”

“Capper here is right! I ain't leaving ya, Dusty! Y'all are coming with us!” Braeburn agreed as the arms were getting closer.

“No, I ain't! And yes, y'all are leaving me! Y'all was a really good friend, Braeburn. I'm mighty thankful I met ya when I was a foal. Y'all made me feel appreciated and always was a fun time to hang with ya. As the new sheriff, y'all better keep Appleloosa safe and make sure that everypony here will be under your protection. I know y'all can do it because I believe in ya.” Dusty said, hugging Braeburn.

“Dusty, I... I reckon y'all were the best friend anypony could ask for. Y'all always did make the right yet outrageous choices in life. I'll miss ya.” Braeburn said as he hugged his friend tighter before Dusty walked over to Capper.

“Capper, it's been an honor to travel Equestria with ya, partner. Y'all have been the best travelling friend I ever had in my whole life. Y'all really made my life something special and interesting. I thank ya for that.” Dusty said as he gave Capper a big hug, causing Capper to tear up.

“Dusty, you can't do this man! What about our dream!? We were going to save up enough bits to own our own business one day! We'd be the most successful business in all of Equestria! I can't do that without you!” Capper yelled, trying not to start bawling.

“Yes, ya can. Y'all have a very special talent with words, Capper. If ya use that talent right, y'all can be the most successful business cat in all of Equestria. I know ya can do it, partner.” Dusty said.

Before any other words could be exchanged, the arms busted through the wall the trio were hiding behind. The trio yelled in shock as this happened and the mechanical arms looked down at them, ready to strike.

“Go! GO!” Dusty yelled as he grabbed Capper by his cape and threw him onto Braeburn's back. “Get to the station!”

“NO! DUSTY TRAIL! NO!!” Capper yelled as Braeburn took off running, with Capper on his back.

As Braeburn and Capper ran away, the arms were about to chase after them, when they were hit by a small rock. The arms turned around and saw Dusty, prepared to run in the opposite direction towards the destruction.

“Come on ya metal vermin! Get me!” Dusty yelled as he kicked some dust towards the arms and ran away.

The mechanical arms made a metallic hissing and screeching sound as they began to chase Dusty. Dusty ran and jumped over the destruction of town as he made sure he kept the arms fully distracted. Unfortunately, because he had spent nearly the whole morning running and jumping, Dusty was losing his speed, and he was soon snatched up by one of the top arms. As Dusty fought to escape the clutches of the arm, the arm brought him in front of Discorded Whooves, who was still unconscious. The other top arm activated a very small electrical field on one of its claws and gently touched Discorded Whooves, giving him a slight static shock that woke him up. As Discorded Whooves woke up, he looked in front of him and saw that the arms had successfully captured Dusty.

“You!” Discorded Whooves growled as he tightened his grip around Dusty. “Twice now, you have humiliated me! NO ONE HURTS ME! I'M THE DOCTOR! I AM THE LORD OF TIME!”

“(Cough, wheeze) Lord of Time.... heh, heh.... sounds mighty stupid to me, partner.” Dusty said as he just grinned at the Doctor's anger.

“You have no business being happy right now! I caught you! Your fate is in my claws now!” Discorded Whooves yelled.

“(Chuckles) I don't care what y'all do to me, I'm just making sure my friends get out of here.” Dusty said, causing Discorded Whooves's eyes to widen.

“WHAT!?” Discorded Whooves yelled as he turned back around and saw Braeburn and Capper run towards the town's borders. “GRRR!! NO! Thrice now! THRICE! I will not accept it! LIGHTNING DUST!!!!” Discorded Whooves yelled, getting the Pegasus's attention as she flew over to him.

“What!?” Lightning Dust asked, wondering what was so important.

“Stop those two! They can't be allowed to escape!” Discorded Whooves yelled, pointing his hoof in the direction of the two getaways.

“On it! They're not getting away!” Lightning Dust replied as she zipped away, chasing after the two getaways.

“And as for you!” Discorded Whooves said, glaring at Dusty. “You're coming with me.” Discorded Whooves said as he made his way to the big clock tower.

As Braeburn and Capper were making their escape, Capper happened to look back and saw a very angry looking Pegasus headed straight for them and gaining up on them pretty quickly.

“Hey! Cowboy! Scary Pegasus headed this way!” Capper called as Braeburn looked up behind him and saw Lightning Dust.

“And just where do you two think you're going!? Nopony leaves this town alive!” Lightning Dust yelled as she flew even faster.

“Oh shoot! This ain't good! This ain't good at all!” Braeburn yelled as he ran as fast as he could.

Despite Braeburn giving it his all and running as fast as his legs would carry him, he was no match for the speed of a skilled Pegasus. They both knew at this rate; Lightning Dust would catch up to them in a matter of seconds. Capper thought about using his gun, but because Braeburn was running so fast, he would be at risk of falling off. So, Capper decided to think really hard about what to do. Then, Capper saw that up ahead there was a metal trash can with the lid still on it, this gave Capper an idea.

“Cowboy! Lean to the left!” Capper yelled, pointing to his lift side.

“We're not gonna lose her like that!” Braeburn cried.

“I'm not trying to, head to the left, hurry!” Capper yelled as Braeburn did as he was told.

As Braeburn ran more towards the left side of the long road of town, Capper saw that Lightning Dust was getting closer and closer. Capper turned back around fast and saw the trash can just in their sights. Capper held on as tight as he could and reached out his left arm. As he did this, Braeburn looked back and had an idea of what Capper had planned, so he went to the left a bit more. With sweat dripping down the back of his neck, Capper yelled in determination and managed to successfully grab the trash can lid. Braeburn looked back and watched eagerly to see what Capper was going to do. With the lid now in his right hand, Capper took aim at Lightning Dust and after another yell of determination, flung the trash can lid, sending it flying like a boomerang and hitting Lightning Dust right in the face, causing her to fall and crash onto the ground.

“HA! HA! Now that there is what I call taking out the trash!” Braeburn cheered as he gained more speed

“Heh, you know it Cowboy, come on! We're out of here!” Capper said as they finally made it out of the town borders and headed for the station.

Meanwhile, as Discorded Whooves was climbing the big clock tower, Dusty looked out and smiled as he saw his two friends successfully get out of town.

“So long, partners...” Dusty said as he tipped his hat to his friends, knowing full well that they would bring help and that Equestria would be saved once again.

As soon as Discorded Whooves made it to the top of the tower he chuckled as he looked over to Dusty.

“(Chuckle) Take a good look at Appleloosa, not so much to see now is there?” Discorded Whooves asked, showing off the destruction.

“Y'all might have won today, but help will be here, and they'll stop you and the rest of your friends.” Dusty said, just glad that Trouble Shoes had gotten the remaining survivors out of town and to the bunker.

“(Chuckle) I highly doubt that. Your friends aren't going to get out of here alive, I assure you. Now I do apologize for what I am about to do, it's nothing personal, really. Just making sure my home will be saved.” Discorded Whooves said, earning a scoff from Dusty.

“So, I reckon all this killing and rude behavior is necessary for your home?” Dusty asked.

“No, but at least I can have fun and let out all of my rage and frustrations. Well, your appointment is over.” Discorded Whooves said as he brought Dusty close to his face and grinned. “Long live Sombra, King Sombra!”

With that, Discorded Whooves leaped off of the tall clocktower and landed on the ground hard. As he landed, he used the arm that was holding Dusty to smash him against the ground. As soon as Dusty's body hit the ground, there was a loud cracking and crushing sound coming from his body. Dusty had been crushed to death, but just before the life left him, he looked towards the sun and smiled.

“(Pant, pant) (Chuckle) No one will ever humiliate me like how you did again! RAH!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he chucked Dusty's body away, before he heard the Flim Flam Brothers call out to him.

“HEY! Doc! Over here!” Flim yelled from a short distance away.

“Come quick! Muscle boy is down!” Flam added as Discorded Whooves sighed and made his way over to the brothers, seeing Iron Will's unconscious body.

“Hmph, what happened here?” Discorded Whooves asked as one of the arms snaked over and grabbed Iron Will by the top of his head, lifting him up off the ground so Discorded Whooves could inspect the damage.

“Don't know, we just found him like this.” Flam said as both brothers back up a bit.

“Somepony really went to town on him, especially on his hands. Yeesh, those are some nasty looking wounds.” Flim said, as looked away in disgust at the sight of the knife holes in Iron Will's palms.

“I'm sure Sombra can do something about it.” Discorded Whooves said nonchalantly as he looked at the surrounding town, or what was left of it. “It would appear that our work is done here. Come on, let's get Lightning Dust and head back to base.” Discorded Whooves said as he began to walk in the direction Lightning Dust flew.

“Uh, aren't you forgetting something, Doc?” Flim asked, Discorded Whooves turning around to face him.

“What? Do the both of you want to be carried by my arms or something?” Discorded Whooves asked with an annoyed look on his face.

“What? No, that's not it. Don't you remember what King Sombra told us?” Flim asked.

“You know, not to come back until the moon was up in the sky?” Flam explained as he rubbed the back of his head. “Not sure if disobeying that pony's orders is a good idea.”

“Look around you, do you see anything else for us to do here?” Discorded Whooves asked, using his arms to gesture to the town.

“Uh... no?” Flam replied, not seeing much else to do aside from bringing down a few more buildings.

“Exactly, now let's go. Ah, Lightning Dust, good to see you back, albeit rather messed up in the face.” Discorded Whooves said, seeing how bloodied Lightning Dust's face, particularly her nose was due to being hit by a trash can lid.

“Shut up.” Lightning Dust replied as she wiped some of the blood off of her face.

“No matter, the two runaways have been dealt with, correct?” Discorded Whooves asked.

“(Spit) Idiots got away, I got hit in the face and crashed.” Lightning Dust replied, causing Discorded Whooves to snap.

“You let them get away!?” Discorded Whooves yelled as he dropped Iron Will on the floor and grabbed Lightning Dust with both of the top two arms.

“Ow! Let me go, you crazy lunatic!” Lightning Dust yelled as she tried to kick and fight her way out.

“I ought to break you in half. Do you have any idea what you've just done!? You had one damn job!! ONE!! You listen here, you reckless bitch! If Sombra doesn't kill you for this, I will!” Discorded Whooves said as he threw Lightning Dust to the floor. “That's the problem with you females, you just can never listen!!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he picked up Iron Will's body.

“Shut up already! We all screwed up here! Not just me!” Lightning Dust yelled as she recovered from being thrown.

“Should we try and chase after them?” Flim asked.

“It's too late now, let them go. We'll let Sombra decide what should be done.” Discorded Whooves said as he used the spell book in his saddle bag to teleport them all back to Sombra's castle.

Meanwhile...

Sombra was keeping a close eye on his new recruits when he saw them leave Appleloosa. As this happened, Sombra just chuckled and unsummoned the large crystal ball, waiting for his new members to return. Seconds later, Sombra heard the sound of dark magic and he turned to see his members. Each of them were a bit worried as when Sombra started walking towards them, he was grinning, appearing to be rather pleased. Before Sombra could say anything however, Discorded Whooves lowered himself back to all four hooves and stepped forward.

“I know we have returned a bit ahead of schedule, but I assure you, there was nothing else for us to do at Appleloosa, master.” Discorded Whooves said, hoping Sombra would understand.

“I can see that, yes. However, I gave all of you an order. My orders are to be followed, always.” Sombra said, narrowing his eyes to the Doctor. “But I can agree that there wasn't much else for you to do at that little town. More importantly, explain to me how all of you were injured by a small town of country ponies. That I would really like to hear.”

“They got lucky.” Discorded Whooves replied as he set Iron Will's body gently on the floor.

“Lucky? Yes, those ponies got so lucky in fact that they were able to take down a FULLY GROWN MINOTAUR!! But do you know what makes it worse? It was a CAT that took down a MINOTAUR!!” Sombra yelled, slamming his hoof down on the ground so hard, cracks appeared under his hoof. “At least you didn't let anypony escape.” Sombra said as he turned around to relax a little bit.

“That's not true, master. Lightning Dust allowed two individuals to escape. They are no doubt on their way to escape to Ponyville.” Discorded Whooves said, the room going dead silent.

For the next few moments, there was just complete silence. No one said a word or uttered a single sound. The only sound that could be heard was the sound of Sombra's heavy breathing, which expressed emotions of pure anger. Sombra's eyes then glowed their bright green color as he inflicted his wrath upon these failures. From below all five of the members, a large green void appeared and surrounded them. From the green void, many long and purple glowing vine-like things came out and wrapped themselves tightly around the throats of Discorded Whooves, Lightning Dust, Flim, and Flam. A few of the vines even grabbed ahold of the mechanical arms, making sure they wouldn't cause any trouble. The vines then lifted all four of the members off of the ground as Sombra turned to face them.

“All I have to do is tighten my grip just a bit more and all of your throats will be crushed. But what I do next depends on your answers to my question. Do the two rats that got away know about my return?” Sombra asked as he prepared his magic to kill all of his victims.

“No! (Cough) I didn't tell anyone about your return! (Cough) Well, I did mention you to one pony, but I killed him right after!” Discorded Whooves said, struggling to breathe.

“Good, you better have! What about the rest of you!?” Sombra yelled, turning his attention to Lightning Dust and the Flim Flam Brothers.

“We didn't say anything either! And neither did muscle boy!” Flim and Flam yelled out desperately.

“(Cough) I didn't tell anypony about you, I swear!” Lightning Dust yelled.

“Hmph.... congratulations, you all just avoided death.... barely.” Sombra said as he released them and ended his spell. “But do not celebrate, I am very disappointed in all of you. To make such a horrible mistake on your first mission while trying to give me a reason to believe that you belong here.” Sombra said as he then saw Iron Will was waking up.

“(Groan) What happened? Where am I?” Iron Will asked as he sat up.

“Rise and shine, Iron Will.” Sombra said as he used his magic to seal up Iron Will's wounds before Iron Will could have a freak out. “Took quite a beating, didn't you?”

“(Groan) CAT! Where is talking cat!?” Iron Will yelled before pain finally shot through him from his hands. “GAH! My hands!!”

“I will deal with that later, for now listen up all of you!” Sombra ordered as they all stood at attention. “Iron Will, that fact that you seemed so strong and durable when I first met you. Such a pathetic display you put on for me today. And to be defeated by a talking cat!? You have really disappointed me. I am only sparing you because I am sure you can put your rage to good use still.”

“(Sigh) Yes, King, sorry King.” Iron Will said, bowing his head as he tried to endure the pain.

“You better be. Now, Flim and Flam.” Sombra said as the two brothers perked up. “You started off very weak and laughably terrible, I never had much faith in either of you. However, you slightly improved yourselves during the attack on Appleloosa. I better see more improvements in the future, got it?”

“Yes, King Sombra! We will!” Flim and Flam yelled, bowing their heads in sync.

“Hmph, I'm sure that will happen. Lightning Dust!” Sombra yelled as Lightning Dust took a deep breath. “You act tough, you look tough, you say you're tough, but are you really? ARE YOU!?” Sombra yelled, causing the Pegasus to jolt in surprise, before regaining her composure and confidence.

“I am!” Lightning Dust said with confidence and a bit of fear.

“REALLY!? Because from what I saw, you failed to prevent two individuals from escaping! And why did you fail to catch them? Don't answer me, I'll answer for you. You were hit by a TRASH CAN LID! And what did you do afterwards!? You just laid there on the floor, holding your face in pain and when you finally got up, what did you do!? You didn't even try to chase the runaways! Where is the toughness in that!? TELL ME!” Sombra yelled, stomping both his front hooves on the ground.

“Yeah, I know I screwed up! I get it! And for the record, I am tough! Heck, I bet I'm tougher than all of these idiots combined!” Lightning Dust yelled, starting to get frustrated that she was the only one being yelled at like this.

“Oh, really!?” Sombra challenged, amused, and interested to see how much fight this Pegasus had in her.

“Yeah, really! If you think this is what's gonna break me down, well you're wrong! You hear me!? WRONG! So, stop chewing me out when everypony else here also makes mistakes! We all failed! Not just me! So, shut your mouth, you thousand-year-old donkey!” Lightning Dust yelled.

Everyone in the room, except for Sombra, gasped at how Lightning Dust had just spoken to him. How could she say something like that to somepony who literally only minutes ago, had all of them at his mercy. Suddenly realizing her fatal mistake, Lightning Dust's eyes widened with horror as she went from looking like a tough unbreakable mare, to a small and terrified filly. Lightning Dust disregarded all dignity as she fell forward and bowed furiously to Sombra, hopelessly begging for mercy that she probably wouldn't receive.

“I-I, I'm sorry, King Sombra! That was really stupid of me! Please, I beg for your mercy!” Lightning Dust pleaded, almost to the point of shedding tears, not caring what the others thought of her at this moment.

For a few moments the room was silent, aside from the muttering going on behind Lightning Dust. After a few more seconds of silence, Lightning Dust just accepted that she was done for and waited for death to take her. But death didn't come, what did come however was the sound of chuckling. Lightning Dust looked up and watched as Sombra went from chuckling to full on laughing his evil laugh.

“Mwahahahahaha!! Ah! Hahahaha!!” Sombra laughed before he suddenly went back to being serious. “You're very brave to say such words to me, Lightning Dust. I am very disappointed...”

“Yes, I know, King Sombra.” Lightning Dust said, putting her head back down.

“Disappointed that all your toughness and bravery just left you so quickly.” Sombra finished, causing Lightning Dust to look back up at him.

“Wh-What?” Lightning Dust asked.

“Get up, you've done enough bowing.” Sombra ordered as Lightning Dust obeyed. “I am aware that you're not the only one here who failed. Because you're right, all of you failed. All of you did make mistakes. However, the mistake you made was the most severe and dangerous. That was why I was the hardest on you. I never said you were the only one who failed me, did I?”

“No, King Sombra.” Lightning Dust replied, still trying to keep her composure.

“I respect your bravery. You've clearly shown me that you do belong here. You have the energy and the fight in you. However, I do hope you don't break that easily all the time, do you?” Sombra asked.

“No, not ever!” Lightning Dust replied.

“Good, keep that up and you might one day get to take out your anger and frustrations onto Rainbow Dash. Get back with the others.” Sombra ordered as Lightning Dust did as she was told. “Discorded Whooves, don't think you're safe for a second.”

“Of course not, master.” Discorded Whooves replied.

“Let's get the big one out of the way, I did not EVER say that YOU were in charge of ANY of them! Do you hear me!?” Sombra yelled.

“Yes, master.” Discorded Whooves said, not afraid one bit.

“You want to be a leader!? Fine, I will give you leadership over them, but that means you will be responsible for their failures in the future! You better be prepared for that.” Sombra said.

“Oh, I will.” Discorded Whooves replied.

“Hmph, we shall see about that. Also, you're not killing Lightning Dust. None of you are killing each other. Only I am allowed to take any of your lives unless I say otherwise.” Sombra said, making sure they all got the message. “It seems that all of you have impressed me enough to convince me that you should all be here. However, do not celebrate, I am still very disappointed in all of you. It's been quite the afternoon for you all, so do me a favor, get out of my sight! Go to your rooms and think about your failures!” Sombra yelled as they all bowed and started to leave, with Sombra heading to the entrance of his castle to get some fresh air and cool down a bit.

While Sombra was cooling down, Discorded Whooves had just arrived at his room and used one of his arms to close the door behind him, slamming it very hard so that it echoed. While during Sombra's yelling Discorded Whooves appeared to be calm and unafraid, he was actually very upset and furious for getting chewed out by Sombra. Discorded Whooves hated failing at anything and he was starting to get very stressed. After the arms gently lowered him back on his four legs, Discorded Whooves walked over to his bed and decided it was time for some de-stressing treatment. He used one of the bottom arms to remove the saddle bag off of him and tossed it across the room, the spell book falling out of the pouch. Discorded Whooves then climbed up onto his bed and laid down on his stomach before he muttered to the arms.

“Get me one of bottles, in the bag.” Discorded Whooves muttered as he pointed over to the saddlebag he had thrown.

In response, one of the top arms reached over to the bag and brought it back over to Discorded Whooves. The first arm held the bag up, the second top arm reached into the bag and pulled out one of the three bottles of liquor and wine Discorded Whooves had managed to steal from one of the bars at Appleloosa. The arm then held up the bottle as one of the bottom arms reached over and carefully pulled the cork out, the arm holding the bottle then bringing it close to Discorded Whooves's face. Discorded Whooves then started to chug the bottle as the arm the bottle for him. Once the entire bottle was finished, Discorded Whooves had the arms reach for the second bottle, then when that was finished, the third bottle. With all the wine and liquor drunk, Discorded Whooves pounded his face onto his pillow before the arms started to ask him questions.

“Huh? What do you mean did we do the right thing today? Of course, we did the right thing today. What's wrong? Something bugging you?” Discorded Whooves asked the arms as they replied to his question. “Look, ponies die all the time, that's nothing new.... I know we had to kill a few ponies here and there, but it's necessary.... Because if we don't, this world will crumble and mine will too!” Discorded Whooves yelled as the arms asked him more and more questions. “Cruel? I'll tell you what's cruel, spending a lifetime watching everyone you ever loved or cared about die off or see them succumb to the madness of a breaking reality... Of course, that's happened to me! Why do you think I even mentioned that!?” Discorded Whooves yelled. “Listen to me, I know we have to do some bad things here and there, but we are the good guys here! Don't you see, we're doing this to save the lives of future generations to come. That is why we are doing this. I care for the lives of these ponies. I may not show it in the best way, but I assure you I care....” Discorded Whooves said as he got off the bed.

Once Discorded Whooves was back on his feet, he reached around and pressed the button on his harness. This caused the harness to open up and the needles to come out of Discorded Whooves's back, causing him to wince a bit. Once he was free of the harness, Discorded Whooves walked to the door and looked back at the arms.

“You all stay here; I will be back later. I'm going to stretch my wings a bit.” Discorded Whooves said as the arms nodded and walked over to the bed.

Discorded Whooves left his room and headed for the entrance. However, Sombra was also coming back inside the castle at this very moment. When Sombra saw the Pegasus without the mechanical arms, he was confused.

“Hmm, those arms causing you too much back pain, Doctor?” Sombra asked.

“No, just want to be alone right now.” Discorded Whooves replied as he just walked right past him.

“Very well, don't get yourself killed.” Sombra replied as they went their separate ways.

Discorded Whooves didn't reply as he just kept on walking. He didn't walk for very long until he found a comfortable looking spot right in front of a small pond. Discorded Whooves walked over to the pond and sat down in front of it, trying to enjoy himself. For a few moments, Discorded Whooves took in the peace, but it didn't last long as he just shook his head out of frustration. Discorded Whooves then looked up and saw a bird flying above him. The bird seemed to be a bit of a clumsy flyer as it bumped into the same tree twice before flying away. Seeing how pathetic and clumsy this bird was, made Discorded Whooves think of a certain mare.

“That bird, so clumsy and idiotic, just like Derpy... GRRR!! RAH!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he smacked his hoof into the water, before standing up to glare at his surroundings. “If you hadn't been so stupid and just listened to what I said, I wouldn't be in this situation right now! You'd probably still be alive! Our daughters wouldn't have shut themselves away from the world! But no, you had to ruin everything! (Sigh) Just as stupid as whatever intelligence is in those arms. But why do the arms even care for the lives of ponies in the first place? Ha! As if I care for the lives of these animals. Please, they're just animals!” Discorded Whooves said before he heard a voice.

“Is that really what you think?” said a voice from seemingly nowhere.

“Huh? Who goes there!? Show yourself, I say! Show yourself now!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he looked around for the source of the voice.

“If that's how you feel, then why? Why do you bring harm to the ponies here?” the voice asked.

As Discorded Whooves looked angrily around for whoever was talking, he happened to look down at the pond in front of him when he saw something. It was his own reflection, or rather a reflection of his other self. Discorded Whooves was shocked to see that in the reflection on the pond's surface, he did not look like how he did now, instead the pond showed him looking like the normal Doctor Whooves.

“What!? You!? It can't be! I fought you off! Got rid of you! You should no longer exist!” Discorded Whooves yelled at the reflection of Doctor Whooves.

“You got rid of me only for that moment. Not all of your blood made it into my bloodstream. About three fourths of it did. That is why I am still here. It's why I will keep trying to stop you from hurting anypony else.” Doctor Whooves said.

“Shut up! I don't need you in my head anymore! Don't you dare think of slowing me down!” Discorded Whooves yelled.

“If you don't care for the lives of the ponies in this world, why even bother to try and save this world?” Doctor Whooves asked, ignoring Discorded Whooves's comment.

“Heh, you're smart, Doctor, you should know! You're right, I don't care for the ponies here, I don't even care for this world! What I do care about is my daughters! Amethyst Star and Dinky! They're all I've got left!” Discorded Whooves yelled.

“That does not excuse your actions of violence and disgusting behavior to the mares. How will those things help your daughters?” Doctor Whooves asked.

“I can do whatever I want! You've no right to judge me!” Discorded Whooves yelled.

“What of Derpy? Why do you not care for her as you do for your daughters?” Doctor Whooves asked.

“Because Derpy is a stupid klutz! She ruined everything! She doomed my world!” Discorded Whooves yelled.

“No, she didn't, you did! You doomed your world when you started to obsess and become paranoid! Your world's Discord may have affected your mind, but you still could control yourself! And how could you think these things about Derpy!? She's our most faithful companion! She means so much to us! We loved her!” Doctor Whooves yelled.

“That's right! I did love her! That is until I realized how stupid she was! She can't even listen to a single order! I told her to stay away, and she didn't! She just kept coming back!” Discorded Whooves yelled.

“Because she loved you and was scared for you! She only wanted to be there for you! She loved you so much! I've seen just how much your Derpy loved you! She was willing to take every beating you ever gave her! When she speculated that you were sleeping with other mares, she didn't let that stop her from loving you! She was willing to take anything and everything you threw at her because she loved you!” Doctor Whooves yelled.

“AND I DON'T CARE! SHE RUINED EVERYTHING! THAT'S WHY SHE'S DEAD!” Discorded Whooves yelled.

“WHY WOULD YOU LET HER DIE!?” Doctor Whooves yelled.

“USE YOUR BRAIN, DOCTOR! SEARCH MY MEMORIES! SEE HOW SHE DIED! THEN TRY TO TELL ME SHE ISN'T STUPID!” Discorded Whooves yelled.

“I DON'T WANT TO SEE IT! BUT I WILL IF I MUST!” Doctor Whooves yelled.

“Oh, I'm sure you'll enjoy seeing her stupidity!” Discorded Whooves yelled.

“I just can't believe you! You were such a brilliant creature with such amazing intelligence! Now look at you! You drink your sorrows away, only to dig your own grave of shame and failure! You treat mares as if they were just things for your own filthy pleasures and desires! You snap at everypony who tries to help you! You manipulate those who have problems for your own benefit! You lie to others just to get what you want! You kill ponies for the sake of satisfying your rage! And you abused the mare who had nothing but love for you! You're not saving your world! You're only saving yourself! It's a shame your daughters aren't here to see what you really are! You're a monster, Discorded Whooves! You're a failure and you always will be!” Doctor Whooves yelled.

“NO!!!!!!!!!!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he raised his hooves in the air and slammed down into the water, as if to crush the Doctor.

After Discorded Whooves bashed at the water for a good ten minutes, he finally stopped and looked at his reflection. He was relieved to see his reflection as his current self and not that weak Doctor. Seeing how Doctor Whooves was gone and there were no more voices, he chuckled.

“(Chuckle) Failure!? Ha! Just wait, Doctor! I'll find a way for us to become separate individuals and then I will kill you! This world and mine will have a hero! ME!!! I WON'T LET ANYONE STOP ME!!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he fell on his back and laughed his mad laugh as the sun continued to stay high in the sky above Equestria.

Author's Note

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! This chapter did go through a bit of changes before I finalized it. Initially, Braeburn, Sheriff Silverstar, and Trouble Shoes weren't going to be in this chapter. I decided to add them in because I figured that it would be nice to give those side characters a chance to shine, even if it didn't go too well for a few of them.

Next chapter will get back to Twilight's side and she and the rest of her friends will discover some of the horrible things Sombra has done. Thanks for the support!

The Bad News

After a good morning of hard work and studies, Twilight, along with Starlight, were on their way to meet up with the rest of their friends for a picnic. Since their recent return from the Crystal Empire, Starlight had heard some interesting things about the visit. The news about the mysterious door below the Crystal Empire was certainly a very interesting topic to think about. Aside from the mysterious door, Starlight was also rather curious about this Flash Sentry fellow that Rarity had mentioned to her. From what Rarity had told her, it seemed that Twilight and Flash had some history. Starlight wasn't one to be very interested in love or anything of the sorts, but since Twilight was involved, she couldn't help but be a bit curious.

“So, Twilight, about this Flash Sentry…” Starlight said, catching Twilight's attention as she turned to look at her.

“Flash Sentry? What about him?” Twilight asked, curious as to where this conversation would go.

“Well...” Starlight said, putting on a very curious smile. “Rarity told me that you two have some history. From the way she was talking, it seems like you two might be more than friends. So, tell me, what's the deal with you and Flash?” Starlight asked, putting on a sly smile.

“Wh-What? Oh no! Flash and I aren't like that at all, we're just really good friends.” Twilight said, as she was quite taken aback by what Starlight was implying.

“Really? Huh, that's not how Rarity made it sound. Are you sure there’s nothing going on between the two of you?” Starlight asked, playfully nudging Twilight.

“Yes, really. Come on, Starlight, you're starting to sound like Rarity during one of her gossip talks.” Twilight said, laughing a bit as she playfully nudged Starlight back.

“(Giggles) Alright, I believe you, Twilight.” Starlight said as they shared a laugh. “He seems like a nice guy though. From what I've heard, he was very friendly.”

“He certainly was. Flash is a really nice guy.” Twilight said as she smiled, remembering how nice he was as well as how nice his mirror world counterpart was to her.

“Heh, seems like this Flash might have the same charms that worked on you like the other Flash from that mirror world.” Starlight said, playfully nudging Twilight again.

“H-Huh? N-No! Not at all! Well, maybe, kind of? You know what, I don’t even know what you’re talking about.” Twilight said, trying not to have a panic attack.

“Yeah, I figured as much.” Starlight said as she then spotted the rest of their friends up ahead. “Well, I see the rest of the girls, come on, we don’t want to miss out on a lovely picnic.”

“Yeah, you're right, let’s go.” Twilight said as she trotted faster to the picnic, mainly to avoid having to be asked any more questions about Flash.

“Heh, right behind you.” Starlight replied as she quickly followed.

As Twilight and Starlight made their way over to where their friends were, they were greeted by smiles and laughs. Soon, everypony was having a wonderful time, enjoying each other's company. It wasn't long before Rarity had started to bring up Flash again, trying really hard to see if Twilight was hiding anything. After a bit of teasing, Rarity decided to let it go for now, but she wouldn't give up.

“This is quite a lovely picnic, I must say.” Rarity said as she took a sip of her tea.

“Yeah, it’s so nice and peaceful. I always enjoy being able to just relax and spend time with my friends.” Fluttershy added as she took a sip of her own tea.

“Yeah! Spending time with all of you is the best!” Pinkie Pie said as she started to gobble up some of the cupcakes she had brought.

“It really is, Pinkie. It really is.” Twilight said as she then exhaled a bit and then put on a more serious face. “I don’t want to ruin this moment or anything, but I just can’t stop thinking about that mysterious room back in the Crystal Empire.”

“I can’t stop thinking about how AJ and I’s attempts to break that door down literally did nothing!” Rainbow Dash said, tossing one of her cupcakes in the air, thankfully Pinkie Pie managed to catch it in her mouth.

“Heh, I’m with you on that one, Rainbow.” Applejack said, looking at her back hooves, which had been healed up. “I do wonder what is in that room.”

“If that room really does belong to King Sombra, I imagine that there’s nothing safe in there.” Starlight said.

“We’ll never know for sure unless we get inside. I just hope we can find a way to get in.” Twilight said.

“We could ask Princess Celestia and Princess Luna for help. Maybe their magic is strong enough to open the door.” Fluttershy said.

“That definitely is a good idea, Fluttershy.” Twilight said, trying to think about what could be behind the door. “With the room being enchanted with some sort of protection spell, I can only imagine that Sombra was trying to hide something he didn’t want anypony to find.”

“My only question is if that room is protected by a spell that seemingly no pony can open, why didn’t Sombra hide the Crystal Heart in there?” Rarity asked.

“That can only mean one of two things. Either there is some powerful evil artifact hidden in the room, or there is something hidden that is more precious than the Crystal Heart was.” Starlight said.

“What if it’s an evil version of the Crystal Heart!?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“I doubt that’s the case, Pinkie. If that was the case, I certainly would have read about some dark version of the Crystal Heart. But whatever it is we must-.”

“INCOMING!!” Spike's voice yelled from above.

“Huh? Wah! Everypony, duck!” Twilight yelled as she saw Derpy flying straight towards them at an astonishing speed with Spike on her back.

No sooner than Twilight and the rest of her friends jumped out of the way, when Derpy crash landed right into their picnic, destroying it. After the crash, Spike was accidentally thrown off Derpy's back when she quickly got up and ran over to Twilight, putting both her hooves on Twilight's shoulders.

“Twilight, you have to help me! Please!” Derpy cried as she shook Twilight a bit before she gently pushed Derpy off of her.

“Derpy, what's wrong?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, is everything okay, Derpy!?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“It's Doc! The Doctor, he's gone!” Derpy cried.

“WHAT!?” They all cried.

“I went to Doc's place to deliver the equipment he had ordered but I couldn't find him anywhere! I'm really worried, Princess Twilight!” Derpy said as she was on the verge of tears.

“Derpy was flying around trying to find you and I told her where you were. You really need to see this, Twilight. It's not good.” Spike added.

“Don't worry, we'll go check it out.” Twilight said, patting Derpy's shoulder.

“I'll go get the mayor! Just in case Doctor Whooves really is missing!” Starlight said as she ran off to find Mayor Mare.

“I'll go with Starlight. Two of us should make it easier to find Mayor Mare.” Spike said as he flew after Starlight.

“Good thinking, Spike! Come on everypony! Let's go!” Twilight said as the rest of the group made a mad dash towards Doctor Whooves's lab.

When they arrived at Doctor Whooves's lab, there was seemingly nothing wrong with the outside of the place. After not spotting any signs of damage towards the exterior of the lab, Twilight and the rest of her friends walked through the doors. As soon as they walked into the lab, they were hit by a feeling of worry.

“Oh no...” Twilight said as she saw clear signs of a struggle and damage. “Okay, everypony look around, see if you can find any clues as to what may have happened here.” Twilight said as they all began to look around the lab.

The lab certainly contained many tools of science and a lot of strange yet fascinating inventions. As everypony was looking around, Twilight spotted that blue box labeled 'Tardis' again. Twilight walked over to it and right as she was about to open the door, Rainbow Dash's voice stopped her.

“Hey everypony! We've got a really big problem!” Rainbow Dash yelled as everypony quickly rushed over to where she was.

“Rainbow, what's wro-Oh no...” Twilight said as she saw what Rainbow Dash was looking at.

“Yep, that's right! Gone! Those robotic arms are gone!” Rainbow Dash said as she glared at the spot where the arms should have been.

“Rainbow Dash! For Celestia's sake, focus on the main issue here! We came here to look for Doctor Whooves, not his metal arms!” Applejack said, punching Rainbow Dash's side.

“Ow! Hey, I know that! Don't you get it!? Doctor Whooves is missing and so are the metal arms. Coincidence? I don't think so!” Rainbow Dash said.

“Oh no! You don't think that our good Doctor has become Doc Ock, do you!?” Pinkie Pie cried, placing two hooves on the sides of her face.

“What? No, of course not! I'm just saying that something really sketchy is going on right now.” Rainbow Dash replied.

“Look, enough about the arms already. Like Applejack said, the arms aren't what matters right now. What matters is that Doctor Whooves has gone missing and it's clear that he didn't leave by choice.” Twilight said, gesturing to some of the damaged equipment and furniture in the lab.

“But why would anypony want to ponynap the Doctor? What did he do? Doctor Whooves never hurt anypony.” Fluttershy said.

“I think it's more a question of, 'What he can do'. Doctor Whooves is a brilliant inventor after all, no doubt somepony out there would want to use his genius for bad intentions.” Twilight said.

“Are you implying that we have a new villain to face off against?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Well, I'm not too sure about that, Pinkie. The only evidence we have is of the missing arms and the damaged furniture. No other clues as to where Doctor Whooves was taken or who even took him in the first place.” Twilight said.

“Hmm, Derpy, has the Doctor had any... suspicious customers or acquaintances come by recently?” Rarity asked, turning to Derpy, who was on the verge of tears.

“Um, n-no... at least, not that I know of...” Derpy said as she looked down to the floor, tears falling from her eyes. “(Sniff) Oh, Doc...”

“Hey Derpy, look at me.” Rainbow Dash said as she walked over to Derpy and lifted her chin up. “We will find him. I promise.”

“That's right. We'll make sure Doctor Whooves is okay and we'll bring him back to Ponyville.” Fluttershy added, placing her hoof on Derpy's shoulder.

“(Sniff) Oh thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You girls are the best!” Derpy cried as she pulled Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy in for a big hug. “I really hope you can find the Doctor.”

“Are you kidding? Of course, we'll find him, right Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked, turning to her friend.

“I give you my word, Derpy. We will find Doctor Whooves and bring him back safe and sound.” Twilight replied, giving Derpy an uplifting smile before going into deep thought. “Now, the question is, where do we look?” Twilight asked before Starlight suddenly teleported next to her.

“Girls! You have to come with me now!” Starlight yelled, startling the others a bit.

“Starlight, what's wrong?” Twilight asked.

“Spike and I were able to find the mayor, but before we could bring her here, she told us that there was something very important and concerning that you all need to see right now. Something about Braeburn as well as some odd cat fellow. They want to see all of us right now.” Starlight explained.

“Huh!? Braeburn!?” Applejack asked, her eyes widening with horror. “What's happened!? Is Braeburn alright!? Tell me, Starlight!” Applejack cried as she rushed over to Starlight.

“I don't know. Mayor Mare said that Braeburn wants to see all of us now.” Starlight said.

“Alright, everypony hold still!” Twilight said as she and Starlight used their magic to teleport all of them over to the town hall.

Meanwhile, Mayor Mare was pacing back and forth in front of the town hall, worried sick. She was taken by surprise when she saw a group of ponies suddenly appear right in front of her. She relaxed when she saw who they were.

“Oh, thank Celestia you're all here!” Mayor Mare said as she walked over to them.

“What's happened to my cousin!? Where is he!?” Applejack asked, looking around desperately for her cousin.

“He's inside, come on in all of you.” Mayor Mare said as they followed her inside the building.

As soon as they all entered the building, they were greeted by the sight of Spike and Braeburn. As soon as Applejack saw her cousin, she rushed over and hugged him, grateful that he was okay and seemingly unharmed.

“Thank Celestia, you're alright, Braeburn! I was mighty worried for you!” Applejack cried, hugging her cousin.

“(Chuckles) Of course I'm alright, Applejack. Well, mostly that is.” Braeburn said as he turned his head to completely face Applejack, causing her to gasp at the sight.

“What the!? Braeburn, your eye! What happened to ya!?” Applejack asked, seeing Braeburn's scarred face and bandaged right eye.

“I'll explain everything in a minute. Need to give my partner a few minutes to relax.” Braeburn said, gesturing to the other side of the room, where the Mane Six spotted a very familiar cat.

“C-Capper? Is that you?” Rarity asked, walking over to him before Capper suddenly shook himself out of thought and stood up to face her.

“Heh, heh, well if it isn't my good friend Rarity. It's a pleasure to see you once more.” Capper said, shaking Rarity's hoof before looking over to the others. “Well, would you look at that. The rest of your friends are here too. It's very nice to see all of you again, amigos.”

“Well, it's nice to see you too, Capper. But what are you doing here in Ponyville?” Rarity asked.

“(Sigh) I really wish I could say I was just visiting, but sadly that is not the case for me or for Cowboy over there.” Capper said, gesturing towards Braeburn.

“Wait a minute, you know my cousin, Capper?” Applejack asked, tilting her head a bit.

“Well, actually I only met him yesterday, but yes I know him.” Capper said as he walked over to Braeburn.

“That's right, but like Capper said, we ain't here for visiting reasons.” Braeburn said as he got up and took a deep breath before speaking up. “Ya see, we came here because Appleloosa has been attacked.” Braeburn said, causing everypony to gasp.

“Wh-What!? Appleloosa!? Attacked!?” Applejack cried before her eyes narrowed into a glare. “Who did it!? Who attacked Appleloosa!?”

“There was quite a few ruffians that attacked Appleloosa. But I know for sure that those lying Flim Flam brothers were involved with the attack.” Braeburn replied.

“WHAT!?” everypony cried.

“Flim and Flam were a part of this? But that... that can't be right. Flim and Flam might be a pair of rotten con artists, but they would never do something like this!” Applejack said, more so shocked rather than angry at this bizarre news.

“I don't what else to tell you, Applejack. It was Flim and Flam who were part of the attack. As for the others, I don't know who they were.” Braeburn said.

“Can you possibly describe the attackers? How many were there? What did they look like?” Twilight asked, stepping forward a bit.

“There was five of them in total. First, there were those rotten Flim Flam brothers that you seem to have a bit of history with Applejack. Then there was this really big and strong minotaur. Oh, and there was also this really angry Pegasus that was pretty fast but seemed kind of reckless.” Capper explained.

“M-Minotaur?” Fluttershy asked before she gasped, hoping that what she was thinking was wrong. “Capper, do you remember anything specific about this minotaur? Maybe he mentioned his name or something?”

“Oh, let me tell you sweetheart, that big guy said his name so many times that I still can't get it out of my head. He said his name was Iron Will. Weird name, right?” Capper asked with a slight chuckle before everypony gasped once again.

“N-No! It can't be... Iron Will wouldn't do something like that. H-He said he was going to change...” Fluttershy said, deeply saddened and horrified at the news that Iron Will had done something so terrible.

“Hold on a sec, you know that big rampaging bull?” Capper asked, his eyes widening with shock.

“Iron Will once taught me how to be assertive, although it may have gone a bit too far. But he wouldn't do this!” Fluttershy cried.

“I'm really sorry, sweetheart, I really wish I was wrong.” Capper said, patting Fluttershy on the back.

“Wait, Capper, you mentioned something about a fast but reckless Pegasus, right?” Rainbow Dash asked, stepping forward a bit.

“Yep, that's right. She was one angry pony; I'll tell you that. She tried to stop Cowboy and I from escaping but I threw a trash can lid at her. Sent her crashing down like a falling star.” Capper said, laughing a bit as he remembered hitting Lightning Dust in the face.

“What did she look like? Did you see her cutie mark?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“She was like a very light green color with a golden yellow mane and tail. As for her cutie mark, from what I could see, I briefly saw a lightning bolt and maybe a couple stars.” Capper explained, causing Rainbow Dash to scowl.

“Lightning Dust.” Rainbow Dash growled, gritting her teeth in anger.

“Lightning Dust? That's her name? (Chuckle) Well, I'll tell you one thing, Lightning sure did hit the Dust!” Capper said as he laughed at his little joke, making the others roll their eyes. “Sorry.” Capper said, rubbing the back of his head.

“First, she almost gets my friends seriously hurt, then she almost gets Scootaloo seriously hurt, and now she attacks Appleloosa? She just keeps getting worse and worse every day!” Rainbow Dash said, stomping her hoof on the ground.

“Wait a minute, Dashie.” Pinkie Pie said as she put a hoof over Rainbow Dash's shoulder. “We all know that Lightning Dust has done some pretty bad things, but do you really think she would do something this bad? I mean, the first two things she did were mainly out of her just being a reckless side character. Attacking a whole town isn't reckless, it's just wrong and evil!”

“Well... I guess you have a point, but still, it wouldn't surprise me if she was all in for attacking Appleloosa.” Rainbow Dash said.

“Capper, you said that there were five attackers in total. Can you tell us who the last one was that attacked Appleloosa?” Twilight asked as Capper and Braeburn looked at each other.

“Before Capper tells ya about this strange fella, ya need to know something, Princess Twilight. We are telling ya the honest truth and nothing but the truth.” Braeburn said, before nodding to Capper.

“Cowboy's right. Scouts Honor.” Capper said, placing one paw over his heart and the other in the air. “This last guy, he was like something out of a comic book or something. This creepy dude was attached to four of these huge mechanical robotic arms. He was a nightmare on eight legs if you count his hooves as well as the four robot arms.” Capper explained, once again making everypony's eyes widen with horror and realization.

“Capper, this pony with those four mechanical arms, what exactly did he look like?” Twilight asked, as the others looked at each other with worried faces.

“Geez, sounds like this guy has you all spooked.” Capper said before he went back to answering Twilight's question. “This pony was a stone-grey color with a black mane and tail. Had these really deep dark blue eyes that stared into your soul. Weirdo also had some sort of collar on with a green bowtie, odd clothing choice if you ask me. Oh, and he was a Pegasus.”

As soon as Capper mentioned that this pony was a Pegasus, everypony was suddenly very confused about this. Especially since the Doctor Whooves they knew was an earth pony and he was mostly a light brownish color, with his mane being a darker shade of brown.

“Wait, are you sure he was a Pegasus and not an earth pony?” Twilight asked.

“I mean, he had wings, so I assume so, yeah?” Capper replied, not sure how to further elaborate.

“Excuse me, Mr. Capper.” Derpy said as she walked over to him. “Did you see his cutie mark? Or did he say anything about who he was?”

“Well, he didn't give a name, but he did say something about being a doctor. As for his cutie mark, I think it was an hourglass.” Capper replied.

“N-No... it can't be... Doc...” Derpy said as she fell to the floor and fainted.

“Um, miss? You, okay?” Capper asked before Rainbow Dash flew over to him and pushed him down to the floor.

“You better not be joking right now you, hairball! Cause if you are, I'm gonna buck your teeth out with my hoof! You hear me!?” Rainbow Dash yelled, glaring deep into Capper's eyes before he glared back.

“Joking? JOKING!?” Capper yelled as he scratched Rainbow Dash in the face, causing her to yell a bit in pain. “I WATCHED A WHOLE TOWN GET DESTROYED! I WATCHED PONIES DIE! MY BEST FRIEND SACRIFICED HIMSELF SO BRAEBURN AND I COULD ESCAPE, AND YOU THINK I'M JOKING!?” Capper yelled as he hissed and took out his claws, ready to slash at Rainbow Dash again.

“CAPPER, NO!” Rarity yelled as she jumped in front of Rainbow Dash and used her magic to keep Capper still, preventing him from scratching anypony.

“Let... Me... Go!” Capper hissed as he tried to fight against Rarity's magic, tears of anger and sadness ready to fall from his eyes.

“Listen Capper, I am terribly sorry about what happened to your friend, but you had no right in doing what you just did. Yes, what Rainbow Dash said to you was just as wrong, but two wrongs don't make a right. It's clear to me that you are grieving, but you're not handling this grief properly. You're storing all of this grief, sadness, and anger inside of you. That's not good for you, darling.” Rarity said as Capper started to become less angry.

“It's... It’s not fair...” Capper said, on the verge of breaking down.

“I know it's not. You know, Fluttershy once said that the best way to deal with grief and sadness is to just let it all out. Go ahead, Capper, let it all out. All of your sadness and anger, just let it all out. It's okay. You have nothing to be ashamed of, darling.” Rarity said, giving Capper a warm and gentle smile.

With that, Rarity released Capper from her magic and for a moment he just stood there, looking into Rarity's eyes. Then tears started to fall from Capper's eyes and after relaxing his claws, he let out a loud sob as he threw himself at Rarity, hugging her tightly as he cried and wept for the loss of his best friend. Even though Capper was getting his tears into Rarity's mane, she didn't care as she just hugged him back, making sure to comfort him and assure him that everything was going to be okay. For a few minutes, no pony said anything as they let Capper let out all of his grief. When Capper finally stopped crying, he stepped back and wiped the tears off his face.

“(Sniff) Thank you... Rarity.” Capper said, trying his best to give a good smile.

“You're absolutely welcome.” Rarity replied, smiling back at him before Capper looked over to Rainbow Dash.

“H-Hey, Rainbow, I'm really sorry about what I did.” Capper said, looking down at his paws.

“It's okay, Capper, I had no idea that you lost your best friend in the attack. I shouldn't have been so cruel to you like that. I'm sorry for those things I said.” Rainbow Dash said, rubbing the back of her head.

“No, it's fine, I should have told you. Besides, you were just looking out for your friend's wellbeing. It’s what friends do, right? Look out for each other?” Capper asked.

“Yeah, that's right.” Rainbow Dash said, grinning at Capper, who grinned back.

“So, this Doctor, I’m guessing he's special to her?” Capper asked, gesturing towards Derpy, who was still unconscious.

“Very special.” Rainbow Dash replied.

“I see...” Capper said as he looked down.

“Gosh, you two have been through a lot.” Applejack said, before she noticed something on Braeburn's vest. “Hold on, Braeburn, ain't that Sheriff Silverstar's badge?” Applejack asked as Braeburn looked at the badge and then back at Applejack.

“(Sigh) Sheriff Silverstar is dead. He was crushed by a building and in his dying words, told me that I was now the new sheriff and that Appleloosa would be under my protection.” Braeburn said as he remembered the Sheriff's last words to him before he died.

“This is horrible...” Pinkie Pie said as she started to become less excited and happy, to just being sad.

“Braeburn, did... anypony else aside from y'all two survive?” Applejack asked, preparing herself for the worst.

“The town tried to put up a fight, but we lost a lot of ponies. However, we sent the survivors of the town to hide out in the secret bunker. They're still there now and they need help.” Braeburn explained.

“That's the main reason why Cowboy and I came here, we have to get those survivors away from that destroyed town and bring them somewhere safe so they can recover.” Capper added.

“Then there's no time to lose! Come on y'all! We're going to Appleloosa now!” Applejack said as they all nodded in agreement.

“We're coming too.” Capper said, standing next to Braeburn.

“Oh no, I don't think so.” Applejack said, standing in front of the two survivors. “You two are staying here, no point in y'all seeing whatever ya saw at Appleloosa again. Besides, from where I'm standing it looks like you both need to rest.”

“I'm Appleloosa's new sheriff, I'm not going to just sit here and abandon those ponies. I'm coming with whether you like it or not, Applejack.” Braeburn said, his voice filled with confidence with determination.

“I have to find my best friend, Dusty, and at least have the chance to say goodbye and give him a proper burial. Besides, if those bad guys show up again, you ponies will need all the help you can get.” Capper said, the same look in his eyes as Braeburn.

“(Sigh) Fine, but once we're done helping the survivors of Appleloosa, you both are coming right back and staying here to recover.” Applejack said.

“I'm alright with that.” Braeburn said as Capper nodded in agreement.

“Good, we're ready then.” Applejack said as she turned to Twilight for approval.

“Mayor Mare, can you watch over Derpy and make sure she’s, okay?” Twilight asked.

“Yes, of course. I'll take care of Derpy. You all just get to Appleloosa as fast as you can.” Mayor Mare said as she went over to Derpy.

“Also, please make sure that the doctors and nurses at the hospital are aware that they will be getting a lot of patients very soon. Please have them prepared.” Twilight said.

Mayor Mare gave Twilight a nod as she motioned for them to get going.

“Come on y'all! To the train station!” Applejack yelled as they all quickly left the building.

Not even ten seconds after the group left the town hall, Discord suddenly appeared right in front of them, causing everypony to stop in their tracks so as not to crash into him.

“Oh my, fancy seeing all of you here! It sure is nice when the gang is all together isn't it? Even when we have some extras in the group, but no matter! How is your fine day so far, ponies?” Discord asked as he used his magic to summon a comfortable couch with a little table on the side as he started to pour himself a glass of water from his fingers.

“(Sigh) Discord, we don't have time for your-.” Starlight began, before Fluttershy stepped forward, letting Starlight know that she would handle Discord.

“It's really nice to see you too, Discord, but we really have to get going. Something terrible has happened in Appleloosa and we have to help the survivors who are still there.” Fluttershy explained with her most gentle and calming voice.

“Really? Well, why didn't you say so earlier?” Discord asked as he snaked over to Fluttershy and picked her up suddenly. “Well, it was a joy seeing you all, but Fluttershy and I have a town to save.” Discord said as he was about to snap his fingers before Fluttershy spoke up.

“Um, Discord? I meant 'we' as in all of us...” Fluttershy said, pointing to her friends behind her.

“Pfft! Of course! That makes a bit more sense now. Though personally, my interpretation was better.” Discord said as he gently placed Fluttershy back on the ground. “I actually just remembered that I have something to do, but I will be more than happy to send you all to Appleloosa. When you're ready to come back, just call my name and I'll be there to bring you back. Good luck to you all!” Discord said as he snapped his fingers, causing the Mane Six, Starlight, Braeburn, and Capper to suddenly be teleported to Appleloosa.

A few seconds after being teleported, everypony found themselves in Appleloosa. The very moment they could see clearly, all their mouths were opened wide at the sight of the destruction of Appleloosa. Buildings were destroyed, some completely flattened and others still on fire. But the most horrifying thing they saw were the bodies. There was a lot of dead bodies of ponies all near the front of town and even towards the back. It was truly a massacre and a horrible sight for the eyes.

“N-No... it can't be...” Applejack said as Braeburn put a hoof on her shoulder.

“I know Applejack... I know…” Braeburn said he too was in great pain to see his home in such a horrible condition.

“Okay look... we have to stay focused. Let's all split up into groups. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, see if you can find any more survivors; Applejack, Braeburn, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie, go get the ponies from the safety bunker; Starlight, you and I will put out the fires and look for survivors as well. Capper, you're with us. Everypony meet back here when you're done.” Twilight said as everypony went off to do their assigned tasks.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flew all over Appleloosa, searching for any more possible survivors, or at least they were trying to. The two Pegasi were also trying their best to avoid looking at the gruesome display of the dead bodies of innocent ponies. While Fluttershy started to breathe very heavily, Rainbow Dash's teeth gritted as she was suddenly filled with rage. The fact that Lightning Dust had taken part in this horrible act was just insane. Sure, Lightning Dust was never a bright pony, but she never showed any signs of being so willing to actually kill other ponies, let alone an entire town of ponies. Attacking innocent ponies, sure, maybe Lightning Dust would do that. But killing innocent ponies? It was just so wrong. As Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy kept flying, Rainbow Dash suddenly dove down and landed on the roof of a house. Seeing this, Fluttershy quickly followed her friend. She could tell just by the way Dash landed on the roof, that she was enraged.

“Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy asked as she gently tapped Rainbow Dash's shoulder.

“It just doesn't make any sense!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she stomped her hoof on the ground. “Why would she do this!?”

“Who?” Fluttershy asked.

“What do you mean, who!? Lightning Dust, of course! I mean, yeah, she was a jerk and all, but this... this is just evil!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she flapped her wings aggressively.

“I know... I'm just as confused and upset as you are. Iron Will... he was a bit mean, but he would never do something like this...” Fluttershy said as she gently draped her wing across Rainbow Dash's back.

“(Sigh) Come on, there's no more survivors. Let's just head on back.” Rainbow Dash said as she stepped forward and took to the air, with Fluttershy following close behind her.

Meanwhile, Twilight, Starlight, and Capper were searching through the ruins of every destroyed building in Appleloosa. Seeing the bodies of dead ponies all over the place was a terrible sight. No pony had ever seen anything like this before. No villain or evil that had risen in Equestria, had ever crossed this line of actually committing mass murder and genocide. It was practically unheard of. Despite this, however, Twilight knew that something was seriously wrong. She knew that there had to be some logical reason as to why Doctor Whooves, Flim, Flam, Lightning Dust, and Iron Will would cross this line. There was no possible way that they just decided to go out and kill innocent ponies for no reason.

“Capper, did any of the attackers say why they were attacking Appleloosa?” Twilight asked, turning to her feline friend.

“Unless I missed something, I never heard any of those maniacs give any kind of explanation. They were like mindless monsters, just destroying everything in sight.” Capper replied.

“Did the attack looked… planned or anything?” Starlight asked.

“I can’t say for sure. But if it helps, I think I can safely say that this ‘Doctor’ was most likely the ringleader of the whole thing.” Capper said.

“Doctor Whooves as the leader? Well, I suppose that wouldn’t be too out of the question. He is the smartest and the one most likely to have any kind of control over the others.” Starlight said.

“Whether Doctor Whooves was the leader or not, that still doesn’t give us any kind of-Oh, gosh, oh gosh no.” Twilight said as she suddenly started to wobble and lose her balance.

Reacting quickly, Starlight rushed over to Twilight and kept her stable. Twilight then started coughing as if she had seen something that made her sick. As Starlight comforted Twilight, her eyes managed to land on what had made Twilight so sick. Not even inches away from them, was the body of a young mare with her throat slit in such a horrendous way that the slightest touch would cause her head to fall off of her body. Starlight quickly closed her eyes as she just helped Twilight move away from the body.

“(Cough) N-No, this is… this is just… oh Celestia…” Twilight said as she continued to cough, trying to hold in her disgust.

“I know, Twilight, this is just horrible. I’ve never seen something so gruesome.” Starlight said, also trying to hold in her sickness.

As Twilight kept coughing, she realized that Capper was gone. With the feeling of concern temporarily taking over, she stepped away from Starlight and looked around for her friend.

“Capper!? Capper where are you!?” Twilight cried, as she heard a response come from just down the road.

“Over here!” Capper called back.

Twilight and Starlight looked over to where Capper was standing. In front of him, was the body of an earth pony stallion. Even from where they were standing, it was clear that this pony had been crushed to death. Twilight had a feeling that this was probably Capper’s friend, but she wasn’t able to bring herself to see how badly damaged his body was.

“Starlight, go with Capper… I need a minute to recompose myself.” Twilight said as she sat down.

“Okay, just stay here, we’ll be right back.” Starlight said as she rushed over to Capper. “Oh my gosh…” Starlight said, seeing the horrible condition of Capper’s friend.

“Dusty…” Capper said, looking down at his deceased friend.

Dusty’s body was so horribly crushed that his stomach had literally burst open, his intestines and internal organs on display for all to see. His front legs were horribly broken, and his back legs had been torn off. Dusty’s face was probably the most haunting sight. Blood had dripped from his eyes and his eyes were still open, an expression of emptiness on his face. His lower jaw had been completely severed and was hanging loose.

Starlight knew that it wouldn’t do anypony any good to keep staring at Dusty’s body, so she gently tapped Capper on the shoulder.

“Capper, come on. Let’s head on back. We need to regroup and figure out what to do with the survivors… and the bodies.” Starlight said.

“(Sigh) Okay… let’s go.” Capper said as they turned to leave. “Rest in peace, old friend.” Capper said, looking back one last time at Dusty.

When Starlight and Capper walked back over to Twilight, she seemed to be doing slightly better as she wasn’t coughing or trying to vomit anymore. After confirming that there were no other survivors, they agreed to head back to the entrance of Appleloosa and wait for the others to finish up with their duties.

Applejack, Braeburn, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie were almost at the safety bunker. It had been very hard for them to actually make it through Appleloosa as somepony would have to stop to either vomit or fail to do so. Applejack was currently being hit with emotions of grief, disgust, and anger. As time went on, anger started to take over Applejack’s body as she had started to become more aggressive with every step she took. The final straw, however, was when they passed by the body of Sheriff Silverstar. The sight of his body made Applejack snap as she kicked the ground hard and let out a yell.

“AAAAARGHHH! WHY!? WHY!?” Applejack yelled as she ran over to a half-broken wall and started to bash her head in.

“Applejack! Stop!” Braeburn yelled as he rushed over to his cousin and tried to pull her away from the wall.

Applejack didn’t respond as she just kept on smashing her head against the wall, causing cuts and bruises to form on her forehead. Her hat had already fallen off, but not before getting covered with little splatters of Applejack’s blood. In a last-minute effort to prevent his cousin from seriously injuring herself any further, Braeburn wrapped his hooves around Applejack’s neck and pushed her up against the wall, keeping her still.

“Applejack, stop! I know you’re mad, I am too! But hurting yourself is not going to make things any better!” Braeburn yelled.

“Why did they do this!? Why!? Appleloosa is just a nice little town! There’s nothing here worth killing other ponies!” Applejack yelled, trying to get out of Braeburn’s grip.

“I don’t know why! If I knew I would have told ya! Now I don’t mean to sound like a heartless pony, but now ain’t the time to mourn. Those survivors need to know that they’re safe now.” Braeburn said.

“(Exhale) Braeburn, I swear… I swear on everything I stand for… I will find out why this happened… I will make everypony involved with this attack pay for what they did.” Applejack said.

“I’m sure you will. Now come on, we have a job to do.” Braeburn said.

“O-Okay… alright…” Applejack said as Braeburn gently moved away from her.

Once Applejack had calmed down, they all continued to make their way to the safety bunker. Pinkie Pie was probably the quietest she had ever been in her entire life as they passed by the bodies of the poor souls who had been killed. Her mane had deflated, and her pink was on the verge of fading away. The seriousness of the situation was really hitting her. The only thing that was preventing her from having a total breakdown, was the thought that at the very least, the ponies who had been killed could at least rest peacefully. They would never have to feel pain or suffering ever again. Pinkie soon found herself leaning against Rarity as they walked side by side each other. Tears had streamed down her face and onto Rarity’s coat and mane. This did nothing to bother Rarity as she didn’t care how dirty she got. All she cared about was getting the survivors to safety. Of course, Rarity did do her best to comfort Pinkie Pie as she herself was trying not to breakdown from the horrible sights.

Rarity knew that they had to remain strong so that when they reached the survivors, they could show them that they were going to be safe. She made a mental note that once they were back in Ponyville, she would use her connections and arrange for some of the best doctors to come to Ponyville to treat all the wounded. Of course, she would also arrange for therapists to be brought over. No doubt every survivor of Appleloosa would need them. She didn’t care how much it would cost; she would make it happen.

Sometime later, they arrived at the safety bunker. Braeburn told everypony to stay put as he went inside the bunker. Voices could be heard from within the bunker, though no pony could make out what the voices were saying. Eventually, Braeburn came out of the bunker, followed by the survivors of Appleloosa. Once everypony was outside, Applejack spoke up.

“Everypony listen! Everything is going to be okay. We’re going to get you all out of here.” Applejack said to the survivors.

“You will all be taken care of in Ponyville. We’ll have doctors ready for all of you.” Rarity added.

“That’s right. Now, as I’m sure y’all know by now, Braeburn is the new sheriff of Appleloosa. Braeburn, I think it’s best if you say a few words to them.” Applejack said as she allowed Braeburn to speak.

“Sheriff Silverstar fought hard to protect Appleloosa from those vermin. Before his death, he entrusted me to keep y’all safe. I promise everypony, I will do my best to protect y’all. We will get answers for the attack on our town. Those monsters will be punished.” Braeburn said, making sure to sound confident and reassuring to the survivors.

“Everypony follow me. We’ll get ya to safety.” Applejack said as she led the survivors to the entrance of Appleloosa.

As Applejack and Braeburn led the survivors back to the entrance of Appleloosa, she spotted the rest of her friends were all waiting for her. Once they met up with the others, Twilight nodded to Fluttershy. Fluttershy then called out for Discord and seconds later, he popped up out of nowhere.

“You rang Fluttershy?” Discord said slyly before he suddenly saw the destruction of Appleloosa. “Oh my, what happened here?”

“I’ll tell you later. But first can you please take these ponies to the hospital, Discord?” Fluttershy asked.

“O-Of course, I can. But what about you? Aren’t you going to come back to Ponyville?” Discord asked.

“We’ll be there soon. But we need to have a talk first.” Twilight said as she looked at her friends.

“Alright.” Discord said as he snapped his fingers, which summoned a portal to the entrance of the Ponyville Hospital. “Just head on in through here when you’re ready.”

Applejack and Braeburn looked back at the survivors and motioned for them to go to through the portal Discord had summoned. One by one, the survivors of Appleloosa stepped through the portal and were greeted by the sight of many doctors and nurses, all prepared to help as many ponies as they could. Once all the survivors, aside from Braeburn and Capper, had gone through the portal, Applejack turned to her cousin.

“Take care of the others and take care of yourself, okay?” Applejack said, giving Braeburn a hug.

“Don’t worry about me, Applejack. I’ll make sure everypony is safe.” Braeburn reassured her while hugging her back.

“Hey, Twilight, what are we going to do about, you know, the bodies?” Capper asked, his voice full of depression.

“Don’t worry I’ll have Discord do something about it.” Twilight replied.

“Did you find your friend, Capper?” Rainbow Dash asked as Capper merely gave a small nod in response.

“Capper, darling, if you ever need to talk or anything, please know that my door is always open.” Rarity said, smiling to Capper.

“Thanks, Rarity. Thank you everypony. I’m really glad we met. Thanks to the Storm King am I right?” Capper asked with an attempted laugh.

“Come on, partner, let’s join up with the others.” Braeburn said as he patted Capper on the back.

“Sure thing, Cowboy. See you later, amigos.” Capper said as he gave the ponies a wave and a weak smile.

Braeburn turned to look at Applejack one last time and after a few seconds of looking into each other’s eyes, nodded to her and gave her a confident smile. Braeburn then led Capper into the portal, and they made their way to the hospital. Once the two friends had left, Discord looked at the remaining ponies expectingly. Fluttershy took a step forward and gently tapped Discord with her hoof.

“We’ll be there in a minute. Can you help make sure everypony is accounted for?” Fluttershy asked.

“Of course, just come on through when you’re ready.” Discord said as he walked through the portal to do as Fluttershy asked him to.

“I’ll go help them. The medical ponies could use all the help they can get.” Starlight said to the others.

Twilight responded by giving Starlight a nod as she walked through the portal to help out in any way she could. Once Starlight was gone, the six ponies just looked at each other and stood around in silence for a little bit. Applejack was the first to break the silence as she took a single step towards Twilight.

“Twilight… I need ya to promise me something…” Applejack said as Twilight looked over to her.

“What is it?” Twilight asked as Applejack suddenly walked up to her and placed her hooves on Twilight’s shoulders, causing the princess’s wings to flare out a bit.

“P-Please… promise me… promise me that we will find out why this happened… that the vermin that did this will be punished... that this won’t ever happen again… P-Please Twilight… p-please promise me…” Applejack said, almost on the verge of breaking down.

“I give you my solemn vow, Applejack. We will find out what exactly happened and why it happened. I promise.” Twilight said, gently lowering Applejack’s hooves off of her shoulders.

“Thank you, Twilight. That means a lot…” Applejack said as she gave Twilight a smile of pure gratitude.

After another few minutes of silence, it was Twilight’s turn to break the silence as she took a couple deep breaths.

“(Sigh) Alright girls, I think we all understand the seriousness of the situation, right?” Twilight asked as her friends all nodded in response. “Something like this… it’s practically unheard of.”

“We should tell Princess Celestia and Princess Luna about this.” Fluttershy said.

“Trust me, Fluttershy, the first thing I’m doing is having Spike send them a letter about this. I’m not sure what they will do, but they have to know.” Twilight said.

“What about Cadance and Shining Armor? Should we tell them about Appleloosa too?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“I don’t mean to sound rude, but don’t Cadance and Shining Armor already have their hooves full dealing with that mysterious door?” Rarity asked.

“I’m pretty sure a stupid door can wait, Rarity. This is a case of literal genocide we’re talking about here.” Rainbow Dash said.

“Doctor Whooves, Lightning Dust, Iron Will, and those darn Flim Flam brothers, it just don’t make any sense. Why would they attack Appleloosa?” Applejack asked.

“I’m with you on that one, AJ. No offense or anything, but what exactly is so special about Appleloosa that would warrant this kind of attack? Why not someplace like Canterlot or Manehattan or heck, why not Ponyville?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“No offense taken, Rainbow. I actually agree with you on that. It just don’t add up.” Applejack said.

“Capper told me that he couldn’t see any kind of a motive for the attack. All he knows is that Doctor Whooves was most likely the leader of the group.” Twilight said.

“But even if Doctor Whooves was the leader, it still doesn’t explain why Doctor Whooves would do this or what even happened to him.” Fluttershy said.

“Yeah, and do you girls remember how Capper described the way Doctor Whooves looked now? That certainly doesn’t sound like the Doctor Whooves that I know.” Pinkie Pie said.

“You’re right, Pinkie. But from what Capper told us, this Pegasus that attacked Appleloosa with the mechanical arms still had the Doctor’s cutie mark. No pony can have the same cutie mark.” Twilight said.

“I for one, am very curious as to what is going on with the Doctor, but I am also very confused on the actions of his followers. Lightning Dust, Iron Will, and the Flim Flam brothers certainly weren’t good ponies before, but this is something they would never do.” Rarity said.

“Do you think they were all mind controlled or something?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“We can’t be sure, but it could very well be a possibility.” Twilight replied.

“But if they are being mind controlled, then who’s the one controlling them? It can’t be Doctor Whooves because he doesn’t have any magic and I don’t remember him inventing any sort of mind controlling device.” Rainbow Dash said.

“(Sigh) Unfortunately, girls, it seems this whole thing has left us with more questions than answers.” Twilight said, shaking her head a bit.

“What are we going to do, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked, looking at her friend.

“For now, I think it’s best if we head on back to Ponyville and see what the princesses say about this.” Twilight said looking at the mental state her friends were currently in. “I suggest you all take it easy and just head home for the rest of the day. This is new territory for us.”

Everypony agreed with Twilight’s proposal so one by one they started to walk towards the portal. Fluttershy was about to enter the portal herself when she turned to see Twilight was looking Appleloosa, barely moving a single muscle.

“Um, Twilight? Are you coming?” Fluttershy asked, getting the attention of the rest of her friends, who turned to see Twilight was not following.

“Y-Yeah, I’ll be there.” Twilight said, her voice barely audible to her friends.

“Come on, it ain’t safe to be here right now, Sugarcube.” Applejack said as she tapped Twilight’s shoulder.

“Girls… recently I’ve been having a really bad feeling that something is seriously wrong. I can’t put my hoof on it, but I have a feeling that something is coming, something dangerous. Let’s all be on our guard from now on.” Twilight said as her friends all nodded in response.

“Don’t worry Twilight, we’ve faced against some pretty intense villains and crazy events before. I know that as long as we stick together, we’ll get through whatever is coming.” Rainbow Dash said, giving Twilight a confident smile.

“Rainbow Dash is right, darling, no matter what happens, as long as we are together, everything will be okay.” Rarity said.

“Yeah, we’ll stand strong against any evil that stands in our way.” Pinkie Pie added.

“You’re right. Thank you, girls.” Twilight said, giving a very thankful smile to her friends.

“Come on now, let’s get back home. It’ll be better for all of us.” Applejack said.

“Right, let’s go.” Twilight said, nodding in the direction of the portal.

As all of Twilight’s friends started to make their way into the portal, Twilight gave one last look at Appleloosa. That unsettling feeling kept nagging at her that this horrific tragedy was only the beginning of something terrible. It really annoyed Twilight that she couldn’t tell what it was, but she knew that dwelling on it too much would only drive her insane. Twilight made a mental note to have Discord help with taking the dead bodies of ponies and having them placed in the Appleloosa Cemetery just on the outskirts of town. With that, Twilight walked through the portal as it shut behind her.

Meanwhile…

Little did Twilight know; she and her friends were being watched the entire time that they were in Appleloosa by Sombra through his crystal ball. The sight of how horrified and disgusted the ponies were at the destruction of Appleloosa put a big smile on Sombra’s face as he started to chuckle while he watched Twilight enter the portal.

“(Chuckle) Yes, princess… something is wrong… something is coming… Prepare yourself Twilight Sparkle… for this is my story… my path to victory is set in stone and your path to failure has already started… I hope you’re ready because I have so much planned for you… (Chuckle).”

The Plan

Almost immediately as Twilight returned to Ponyville from Appleloosa, she found Spike, who waiting just outside the Ponyville Hospital, pacing back and forth looking extremely worried. Seeing the poor dragon all worried made Twilight sigh out of sadness. She knew that she would probably have to explain what was going on. She couldn’t just not tell Spike the truth and even if she didn’t, he would definitely find out about it. Once Twilight exited the portal, Spike saw her and quickly rushed over to her.

“Twilight! There you are! I was so worried!” Spike said as he ran over and hugged Twilight’s front leg.

“It’s okay, Spike. There’s no reason to worry anymore, I’m right here.” Twilight said, giving Spike a comforting hug.

“What’s going? What happened in Appleloosa?” Spike asked, pointing to how busy the hospital was.

“(Sigh) Spike, come with me. We have something important to do.” Twilight said as she began to head in the direction of her castle.

“Huh? What are we going to do? And what happened in Appleloosa?” Spike asked, quickly following behind Twilight.

“I’ll tell you once we’re back at the castle.” Twilight responded as they both continued making their way back home.

As soon as Twilight and Spike had arrived at the castle, Twilight used her magic to teleport Spike and herself to her study room. Once there, Twilight shut the door to her study with her magic and then motioned for Spike to sit down.

“Twilight, what happened? You look so… scared.” Spike said, observing the distraught look on Twilight’s face.

“Spike, how much of our conversation did you hear when Braeburn and Capper were talking about Appleloosa?” Twilight asked.

“Well… not much.” Spike responded, scratching his head. “All I really heard was them saying that Appleloosa had been attacked. But before I could learn anything else, Mayor Mare told me to go outside.”

“Well, yes Appleloosa was attacked. But it wasn’t just a regular attack, it was… a massacre.” Twilight said.

“A massacre? Y-You mean ponies d-died in Appleloosa?” Spike asked, gulping a bit.

“Yes, Spike. A lot of ponies were killed. Thankfully some managed to survive by hiding out in the safety bunker. Those ponies that you saw going into the hospital were the survivors.” Twilight explained.

“B-But no pony has ever killed another pony in years!” Spike cried.

“I know, that’s why this is extremely serious, and we have to tell the princesses. Can you take a letter for me?” Twilight asked.

“O-Of course, I can, Twilight!” Spike said, pulling out a paper and quill, ready to write down whatever he needed to write. “Ready.”

“Okay, here it goes.” Twilight said as she told Spike what to write in the letter.

Dear Princesses, Celestia, Luna, and Cadance,

I am writing to each of you to inform you that something terrible has happened in Appleloosa

It was recently brought to my attention that a group of rogue villains have not only attacked Appleloosa, but they also killed a lot of ponies

Two survivors by the name of Braeburn and Capper managed to escape, and they brought us to Appleloosa to save the survivors

I have never in my life seen or heard of such a bloodshed

Right now, Ponyville is taking care of the survivors but naturally this is causing worry and fear to spread

I am deeply troubled as I have no idea what to do

I wish to ask the three of you, what can I do?

How can I help keep the peace and keep everypony calm during this horrific time?

I need your help

Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle

“Did you get all that, Spike?” Twilight asked, looking down at the busy dragon.

“Yep. Got it all written down.” Spike replied.

“Good. Send the letter please, Spike. One to each of the princesses.” Twilight said.

Spike wasted no time as he quickly sent the letter to each of the princesses in Equestria. Now all that was left to do was wait for a response.

Earlier…

In one of the hallways of the royal palace of Canterlot, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were walking side by side discussing a very important matter.

“Are you sure it is time, sister?” Luna asked, looking at her big sister.

“Yes, I am fairly certain that it is the perfect time. Twilight has proven herself worthy to take our place.” Celestia replied while nodding. “Do you perhaps feel that she is unworthy?”

“No, nothing of the sort, sister. While I agree that Twilight Sparkle has indeed proven her worthiness, I still think it might be a bit early for her.” Luna said.

As the two sisters were about to continue discussing the plans, they had for Twilight’s future role in Equestria, they were both surprised as a letter suddenly appeared before them and fell to the floor in front of their hooves.

“A letter from Twilight?” Luna asked as Celestia picked up the letter and opened it with her magic.

“It appears to be so.” Celestia said as she read the letter.

As Celestia read the letter that Twilight had sent, Luna could see that it was bad news as she watched Celestia’s facial expression slowly change to that of one full of worry and horror.

“Celestia, what is wrong? What has Twilight written that is making you look so afraid?” Luna asked.

“It… It can’t be…” Celestia said as she finished reading the letter.

“Sister, what is it? What has happened?” Luna asked, now starting to feel worried.

“There’s been an attack on the town of Appleloosa… but… Luna… ponies were… killed.” Celestia said as the two sisters locked eyes.

“K-Killed!? Celestia, tell us that you’re lying!” Luna cried, taking a step towards her sister.

“I’m not.” Celestia said with a very serious tone.

“LET US SEE THE LETTER!” Luna yelled in her Royal Canterlot Voice, surprising Celestia a bit as she levitated the letter over to her.

Luna snatched up the letter with her magic and began to read it thoroughly. Once she had finished reading, Luna’s wings flared a bit as she was horrified to see that Celestia was telling the truth.

“It cannot be, no pony has committed such a horrendous act in years. The mere thought of a pony even considering murdering somepony else has become nonexistent.” Luna said.

“I know, Luna. I know.” Celestia said.

“What are we going to do?” Luna asked.

“I think it is best if Twilight meets with us as well as Cadance to discuss this matter in more detail. We will have our meeting tomorrow.” Celestia said as she used her magic and summoned two pieces of paper and a single quill.

“Why tomorrow and not today? Would it not make more sense to discuss this serious matter now?” Luna asked.

“Twilight must remain in Ponyville for the rest of the day. She needs to be there to keep the town calm and reassured.” Celestia explained as she wrote two letters, one to Twilight and the other to Cadance.

Once Celestia had finished writing the two letters, she sent both of them off to the pony who was meant to receive them. With both letters sent, Celestia nodded to herself and turned to face her sister.

“Come sister, we must continue to tend to our royal duties.” Celestia said as she began to walk towards the royal throne room.

“I think it is best if we continue to hold our positions as the rulers of Equestria for a bit longer, Celestia.” Luna said as she followed her sister to the throne room.

“I think so too, Luna.” Celestia said.

Meanwhile, in Ponyville…

Twilight was pacing back and forth in her room, hoping that she would get some sort of response from the princesses soon. Thankfully though, her wish was granted moments later as a scroll suddenly popped up out of nowhere and landed on the floor. Spike walked over to the letter, picked it up, and handed it to Twilight.

“Here you go, Twilight.” Spike said as Twilight took the scroll from him with her magic.

“Thank you, Spike.” Twilight said as she opened up the scroll and began to read it.

My Dearest Twilight Sparkle,

On behalf of Luna and I, we are very grateful that you have informed us about this horrific attack

We are just as surprised and worried as you are, but as princesses of Equestria, we must remain strong

You are the Princess of Friendship; you are a beacon of hope for the citizens of Ponyville

I know you are very worried and afraid, but you must do your best to show Ponyville that you are there to keep them safe

Show no fear and keep the ponies’ spirits up with words of comfort and confidence

Remind the citizens of Ponyville that you are there for them and that you will always be willing to help

Remind them that they have somepony to look up to for protection

Regarding this attack, I believe it is best that we discuss what exactly happened in detail

Luna, and I will be coming to your castle in the morning

I see that you have also sent your letter to Cadance so I wrote her a letter to notify her of our meeting, I am sure she will be joining us as well

For now, get some rest and stay strong for Ponyville

Sincerely, Princess Celestia

“So, the princesses are coming here in the morning?” Spike asked.

“Sounds like it, yes Spike.” Twilight replied as she rolled up the scroll and put it to the side.

“So, what do we do now?” Spike asked.

“I’m going to the hospital to make sure everything is okay with the Appleloosa survivors. You can come with me if you want, or you can stay here.” Twilight said.

“I’m coming with you.” Spike said as he walked over to Twilight.

“Alright then, let’s go.” Twilight said as she and Spike headed out of the castle and towards the hospital.

Meanwhile, in King Sombra’s Castle…

Sombra watched through his crystal ball as Twilight and Spike left the castle. He had been enjoying watching Twilight worrying about what she saw in Appleloosa. However, Sombra’s amusement quickly faded when he saw Twilight send a letter to Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadance. Once Twilight had received a response from Celestia, Sombra scowled at first but then smiled as he had a wonderful idea.

“Already going to the princesses for help, Sparkle?” Sombra asked, his eyes narrowed at Twilight’s reflection in the crystal ball. “No matter, I can work with that. In fact, this actually makes things better for me. I should thank Princess Celestia for her genius plan to meet you in Ponyville.” Sombra said as he started to chuckle.

Once Sombra was finished chuckling, he turned over to look in the direction of the little room where Discorded Whooves was staying and smiled. Sombra walked over to the Doctor’s room and peeked inside the room. Discorded Whooves was asleep on his bed, clearly due to a heavy amount of alcohol consumption. It appeared that the mechanical arms were also in a dormant state, which was convenient. Chuckling at the sorry sight, Sombra walked over to the Doctor and used his magic to take the spell book from the Doctor’s saddlebag.

“(Chuckle) I hope you don’t, but I’ll be borrowing this, Doctor.” Sombra said as he left the room.

Once Sombra left Discorded Whooves’s room, he used his power to sink into the shadows and go to Professor Screw’s lab.

Meanwhile, in Professor Screw’s Lab…

Professor Screw was working on one of the projects Sombra had ordered him to work on and he was making very good progress. As Professor Screw was making some adjustments to his project, he felt somepony’s presence behind him. Once he got a good idea of who it was, he smiled.

“It is good to see you again, your majesty.” Professor Screw said as he turned around to face Sombra, who had now fully emerged from the shadows.

“Yes, it is good to see you as well, Professor. How are Iron Will’s gauntlets coming along?” Sombra asked, observing the tools and gears scattered all over the place.

“They are coming along quite well. I should have them finished very soon.” Professor Screw replied as he smiled to Sombra. “His majesty will pleased to hear that I have completed the other projects.” Professor Screw said, pointing over to the left side of the room.

“(Chuckle) Good, very good.” Sombra said as he looked over to where the Professor had pointed.

While Sombra had watched Discorded Whooves, Lightning Dust, Iron Will, and the Flim Flam brothers attack Appleloosa, he had sent a note to Professor Screw that he wanted him to work on providing a sort of protection for the team. The Professor had already crafted and designed special suits of armor for Lightning Dust, Flim, and Flam to wear for their next mission. The suits were similar in design to what the Royal Guards would wear, minus the helmets. Lightning Dust would however be given a helmet to wear. This helmet ironically shared a very similar design to the helmet Lightning Dust wore when she was in the Washouts.

For Iron Will, Sombra had requested the Professor to craft some large gauntlets from him to use since his hands had been severely wounded during the attack. Iron Will didn’t need any other kind of armor since with the gauntlets, he would already be too much of a menace to be stopped anyway.

Sombra also had the Professor work on designing eight special bracelets for each of Sombra’s team members. These bracelets would allow the wearer to have the ability to teleport to wherever they could think of, similar to how Discorded Whooves used the spell book to recruit the rest of the members. Of course, these bracelets still had to be enchanted to perform their purpose, but Sombra would take care of that.

“I am pleased with your progress, Professor.” Sombra said, giving him a slight nod.

“It pleases me that I am able to fulfil your wishes, your majesty.” Professor Screw said as he bowed to Sombra before standing back up. “I suspect that my progress is not the only reason why you are here now.”

“Your suspicions are correct, Professor.” Sombra said as he walked over to where the bracelets were stashed. “It is time to discuss… the plan.”

“The plan, your majesty?” Professor Screw repeated.

“Yes, the plan.” Sombra replied as he used his power to transfer the spell from the book into each of the bracelets. “The plan to take over Equestria.”

“In that case, I am ready, your majesty.” Professor Screw said, giving Sombra a nod of approval.

“(Chuckle) Good, now time to tell the others.” Sombra said with an evil smile.

Sombra took a deep breath and closed his eyes tightly. He then began to murmur a silent chant and then his eyes shot open as wide as they could open.

“Gather.” Sombra said, his eyes glowing their bright green color as he activated one of his special abilities.

The moment Sombra had opened his eyes, Professor Screw’s eyes rolled into the back of his head and then his eyes also glowed the same green color as Sombra’s eyes. Back in Sombra’s castle, Discorded Whooves, Lightning Dust, Iron Will, and the Flim Flam brothers’ eyes shot open, rolled into the back of their heads, and then glowed green. The same thing would also happen to Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow, who at this time were in the middle of one of the forests in Equestria.

Despite everyone being in mostly different places, when they were all able to see again, they found themselves in a dark empty void where there was nothing around but space and darkness. Everybody could see each other, although right away they noticed that they all looked strange. Their bodies were almost as black as the shadows, and they were almost translucent. Everybody was understandably confused by their current situation as they looked around at each other, trying to figure out exactly what was happening.

“Wah! What’s going on!?” Cozy Glow cried as she looked around at her surrondings.

“What is this!? Where are we?” Chrysalis asked as she too was frantically looking around.

“What are you three doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be out on a mission?” Discorded Whooves asked, looking at the terrible trio.

“We are on a mission! We should be asking what you losers are doing here!” Tirek snapped, pointing a finger aggressively at the others.

“Losers!? Trust me, buddy, we’re not losers!” Lightning Dust said, glaring at Tirek.

“Yeah, what she said!” Flim yelled, nodding at Lightning Dust’s statement.

“Yeah, and besides what have you three done? We’ve been putting in work!” Flam said.

“Oh, shut up! We’re doing something really important for King Sombra!” Cozy Glow yelled.

“Where are we!? Iron Will does not recognize this place! Why are we here!?” Iron Will yelled.

“That’s quite enough all of you.” Sombra said as he, along with Professor Screw, suddenly appeared at the head of the group. “Welcome to the Void.”

“The… Void?” Lightning Dust asked, tilting her head a bit.

“Yes, the Void. It’s a very special place in between the realms of time and space that only I can access unless I bring others with me, like I have done with you all right now.” Sombra explained.

“Freaky.” Lightning Dust said, both impressed and confused.

“Oh, hey King Sombra! I’m really happy to see you again! You’ll be glad to know that we are still doing what you told us to do!” Cozy Glow said cheerfully as she waved to Sombra.

“Very good. Tell me, have you made it to Mount Everhoof yet?” Sombra asked, looking over to the filly.

“Not yet, we’ve still got a long way to go until we get there. We probably would have been there by now if these two would stop complaining all the time.” Cozy Glow said, looking over to Tirek and Chrysalis with a frown.

“Don’t you dare try to pin this all on us, you little brat!” Chrysalis yelled as she hissed at Cozy Glow.

“Yeah! You complain just as much as we do! In fact, I’d say you complain even more than we do!” Tirek added, pointing down at the filly.

“No, I don’t!” Cozy Glow yelled.

“YES, YOU DO!” Tirek and Chrysalis yelled back.

“ENOUGH!” Sombra yelled, silencing all three of the villains while the others tried not to laugh out loud. “I did not bring you all here so I could listen to you argue amongst yourselves. I brought you all here because it is time that we all discussed our plan to take over Equestria.”

“Ah yes, the infamous plan that you still have told us nothing about.” Chrysalis said, rolling her eyes a bit.

“Do you want me to kill you? No? Then shut up and listen!” Sombra snapped as Chrysalis just turned her head away so she could mutter an insult, which Sombra heard but did nothing about.

“You really should be nicer to King Sombra.” Cozy Glow whispered.

“Quiet, you.” Chrysalis whispered back.

“Well, would you be so kind as to tell us the plan, master?” Discorded Whooves asked.

“Of course… as you all know, Twilight Sparkle and her friends have really been getting in our way a lot. They have repeatedly ruined our plans! Today, that is going to stop! No longer are we going to be stopped by those pathetic ponies! Today, we will take back what is rightfully ours! We will destroy anyone and anything that dares to stand in our way!” Sombra yelled as he was getting his whole group excited for what was to come.

“However, as much as we all want to put an end to Twilight Sparkle and her friends right now, we must wait. We cannot just walk up to her and try to take her down, no, no, that just won’t do. Before we take out Twilight Sparkle and her friends, we must ensure that when we attack, she will get no help from her allies. The Changelings, the Yaks, the Hippogriffs, the Dragons, the Griffons, we will take them all out!” Sombra yelled.

“Um, King Sombra? I have a question.” Cozy Glow said, hoping Sombra wouldn’t be so upset that she had interrupted him.

“Yes, Cozy Glow? What is your question?” Sombra asked, looking over at her.

“W-Well, I don’t mean to be rude or anything but, I doubt any of us could take them out by ourselves. So, how exactly are we going to take out the ponies’ allies?” Cozy Glow asked.

“That’s a good question and you make a good point, Cozy Glow. Yes, none of us, not even I can take on one group of their allies. It’s not a matter of strength, it’s a matter of numbers. Even if all of us went to attack one of the allies, we would be extremely outnumbered. However, that is why I sent you three to retrieve Grogar’s Bewitching Bell.” Sombra said.

“Wait, so that’s why you need us to get Grogar’s Bewitching Bell?” Tirek asked.

“Yes. Once we have the Grogar’s Bell in our possession, I will use its power to give each of us new powers and make us more of a threat to Equestria. This will ensure that we will stand a better chance at taking out the allies of the ponies.” Sombra explained.

“What about Discord? Surely if he found out we were trying to take over Equestria, he would try to stop us with his chaos magic.” Chrysalis said.

“Ah yes, Discord. It is a shame that he is no longer on our side, but that’s what happens when you allow yourself to be so shamefully defeated by ponies. However, there is no need to worry. I have something special planned for Discord.” Sombra said.

“And what would that be? Most of us know how powerful Discord can be. It would be nearly impossible to take him down with the powers that he has.” Discorded Whooves said.

“You’re absolutely correct, Doctor. Chrysalis, do you remember the time where you were unfortunately defeated thanks to the efforts of Starlight Glimmer, Trixie, Discord, and Thorax?” Sombra asked, looking over to the Changeling queen.

“Yes… what about it?” Chrysalis asked, feeling intense anger bubble up inside of her at the mere mention of not only Starlight Glimmer, but also of the time where she lost everything.

“Well, do you remember how difficult it was for Starlight Glimmer and her friends to get through your hive at first? Do you remember what made it so difficult for them?” Sombra asked.

“Of course, I do. It was the ancient dark stone that my throne was carved out of. It prevented everyone from using magic except for changeling magic. Any other magic would be completely nullified by-.” Chrysalis said before she suddenly paused and realized what Sombra was implying. “Wait, are you saying?”

“Yes, while that special throne of yours was indeed destroyed, the shards of your throne were not lost. They were only scattered across the land that your hive used to be in. Unfortunately, it appears that Star Swirl the Bearded has already collected some of these shards, however he missed some.” Sombra said as he turned to Professor Screw, who had taken a step forward.

“That is where I come in, you see.” Professor Screw said, catching everyone else’s attention. “His majesty has tasked me with retrieving the remaining shards of Queen Chrysalis’s throne so that I can make something special to take care of Discord’s unpredictable power.”

“What? Is this true, Sombra? Why would you send the Professor? He is not a changeling. If he gets too close to the shards of my throne, he will not be able to use his magic to collect them or even get back.” Chrysalis said.

“Yes, I am aware that he is not a changeling. I am also aware of the fact that the effects of your throne would cancel out any other kind of magic. However, my dark magic is powerful. Much like any other form of dark magic, it can do things that no other magic can do. Because of this, dark magic can still be used.” Sombra explained.

“What would we do if everypony in Equestria suddenly attacked us at once? Even if we had the power of Grogar’s Bell and took care of the allies, we could still be outnumbered and overpowered.” Discorded Whooves said.

“Again, that is a good point. That is why we will need an army to keep other ponies busy. I have my own army; however, they are trapped in a very complicated situation, and I cannot free them just yet. In the meantime, we will need to find a new army to use. Luckily, I know just who we need to talk to in order for us to get our very own army.” Sombra said with a smile.

“Who would we need to talk to?” Cozy Glow asked.

“Tempest Shadow.” Sombra replied.

“Huh? Tempest Shadow?” Cozy Glow repeated with a confused look on her face.

“Isn’t she that one unicorn with the broken horn who worked with that Storm King?” Chrysalis asked.

“Yes, that is her. When the Storm King was defeated, not all of his Storm Creatures were taken out. When they lost their master, the ones still remaining essentially became mindless beings. They just walked around with no master to tell them what to do. Tempest Shadow gathered up all the remaining Storm Creatures and took them to a safe place around the Caves of Conundrum.” Sombra explained.

“So what? Are we just going to walk up to this Tempest Shadow pony and ask if we can take the Storm Creatures and use them to take over Equestria?” Lightning Dust asked.

“No, I will go to Tempest Shadow and offer her a deal. If she accepts, we will get a new member for our little group. If she rejects the deal, then Equestria will be down one unicorn.” Sombra said.

“Why would we want a hornless unicorn on our side?” Flam asked.

“Yeah, if she doesn’t have a horn, what can she do?” Flim added, scratching his head at the thought of what a unicorn could do without their horn.

“(Chuckle) Trust me, you’d be surprised just how much that unicorn is capable of even without her magic. After all, she was able to take out Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadance in the blink of an eye.” Sombra said.

“What!? All three princesses!? Taken out like that!?” Flim cried, not sure if he could even begin to believe this claim.

“Honestly sounds kind of dumb if you ask me. No pony can take out three alicorns without at least struggling a little bit.” Flam said.

“Speaking of those three, what are we going to do about them? And of course, those stupid Pillars of Equestria or whatever they’re called.” Tirek said, rolling his eyes a bit.

“(Evil Chuckle) Don’t worry about the princesses. They won’t get in our way. We’ll make sure of it. As for the Pillars of Equestria, don’t worry they’ll be taken care of.” Sombra said as he chuckled.

“Oh yeah, those guys!” Cozy Glow said, remembering the stories she heard about the Pillars. “Whatever happened to them anyway?”

“That doesn’t matter. What does matter, is that even though they have disbanded since the defeat of the Pony of Shadows, they still meet up with each other once every month to discuss their lives and any problems that could require their help in Equestria.” Sombra said.

“Where do the Pillars meet?” Iron Will asked.

“I don’t know, however there is one pony who does know. The former Pony of Shadows himself, Stygian.” Sombra said.

“Stygian? Is that really his name? Because that sounds really stupid.” Lightning Dust said.

“I must admit that I am a bit confused, master. Why would this ‘Stygian’ be the only pony we could talk to in order to find out where the Pillars meet? Why not just track one of them down?” Discorded Whooves asked.

“I thought you were supposed to be smart, Doctor. Unlike the Pillars, Stygian no longer has the power to pose a threat to us. He is now nothing but an ordinary unicorn who became an author. He lives in Hollow Shades. That is where we will find him, that is where he will tell us where his friends meet up, and that is where he will die.” Sombra explained with grin.

“When are we going to go find Stygian?” Discorded Whooves asked.

“In time, Doctor, in time. Now, so far, I have told you about the things we need before we can begin our attack. We will need Grogar’s Bell, the shards of Chrysalis’s throne, and the Storm Creature army. However, there is one last thing we need.” Sombra said.

“And what is this last thing we need?” Chrysalis asked.

“The Staff of Sacanas.” Sombra replied.

“The Staff of Sacanas, you mean the one that the Storm King used during his attack on Equestria?” Tirek asked, remembering how he had heard tales of what that staff was capable of.

“Yes, that’s right.” Sombra replied with a nod.

“Look, Sombra, I know the Staff of Sacanas is extremely powerful and all, but why do we need it?” Tirek asked.

“I will explain shortly. But first, Discorded Whooves, do you still wish to be the leader of your little group?” Sombra asked, turning to face the Doctor.

“As a matter of fact, I would like that very much.” Discorded Whooves replied with a grin.

“I guess we don’t get a say in any of this.” Lightning Dust said, rolling her eyes and holding back the urge to smack herself in the head.

“Then from this day forward, you and the rest of your group will be called, The Rogue. You will all stick together unless I say otherwise, and you will carry out your missions as a team. Do I make myself clear?” Sombra asked.

“Yes, King Sombra.” The Rogue replied, nodding to Sombra.

“(Chuckle) Very good. Now, here’s how things are going to work. Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow, you three go and bring back Grogar’s Bewitching Bell.” Sombra said to the trio.

“Yes, King Sombra.” the terrible trio replied, nodding to their master.

“Professor Screw, once you have completed your tasks, you will go gather up the remaining shards of Chrysalis’s throne.” Sombra said.

“(Chuckle) But, of course, your majesty.” Professor Screw said with a grin.

“I will go find Tempest Shadow and see if I can work things out with her.” Sombra said.

“Excuse me, boss! Aren’t you forgetting about us?” Flim asked as he gestured to himself and the rest of the Rogue.

“(Chuckle) Of course not. You will have many more missions to carry out, however your main goal will be to go and retrieve the Staff of Sacanas.” Sombra said.

“Yes, King Sombra.” The Rogue replied.

“Hey! Aren’t you going to tell us what the staff will be used for!? Or you going to keep it a secret?” Tirek asked, crossing his arms.

“(Chuckle) Very well then. Listen up all of you, especially you, Discorded Whooves. The reason we need the Staff of Sacanas is because-.”

Meanwhile…

“Twilight? Twilight!?” Spike yelled as he shook Twilight’s to try to get her attention.

“H-Huh? O-Oh, I’m sorry, Spike. I just kind of zoned out there.” Twilight said as she shook her head a bit. “I guess I’m still a bit shocked at the events that have happened recently.”

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it, Twilight. This is going to take some time to get used to. I mean, something like this hasn’t happened in Equestria in years.” Spike said.

“Yeah… well come on, Spike. We still have to help out the rest of the patients in any way we can.” Twilight said.

“I’m right behind you, Twilight.” Spike said, giving Twilight a smile.

“Thanks, Spike. I’m so glad I can rely on you and the rest of my friends to be there for me.” Twilight said, smiling back to the purple dragon.

As the two friends shared a smile with each other, Twilight and Spike continued on with helping the survivors of Appleloosa in the hospital.

Meanwhile…

“Quite an evil plan, isn’t it, my friends?” Sombra asked as he and the rest of the group all shared evil smiles and laughs.

“(Chuckle) Oh yes, it’s so deliciously evil I can practically taste it!” Chrysalis said as she grinned.

“Those stupid ponies will never see it coming!” Tirek said as he and Chrysalis shared a glance and laughed.

“Yeah! We’ll show them who’s boss!” Cozy Glow added as she giggled and rubbed her hooves together.

“Oh, I cannot wait to see the looks on their faces!” Discorded Whooves said as he grinned.

“We’re definitely going to win now! Our plan is genius!” Lightning Dust said as she nodded to the others.

“(Evil Chuckle) Yes, it is a brilliant plan. Now, let us go over the plan. The first stage of the plan is preparation. We will all go collect the things we need for our attack. Then we move on to the next stage of the plan, taking out the allies. Once we have everything we need, I will assign everyone an ally of the ponies that they are going to ensure will not cause us any troubles. Then, we deal with the Pillars of Equestria, taking them out in the most efficient way possible once we get answers from Stygian. Leave Discord to the Professor and I, we will handle him. As for the princesses, we will take care of them really soon. Once we have the allies taken care of, we move on to the final stage of the plan. However, I will wait until we have completed the first two stages or our plan before we discuss the final stage. Does everyone understand?” Sombra asked.

“Yes, King Sombra.” Everyone said as they nodded their heads to him.

“(Evil Chuckle) Good… very good. Members of the Rogue, I have a new mission for you. I will give you the details once I return to the castle. In the meantime, I have something to discuss with you three.” Sombra said as he pointed over to Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow.

“Uh oh, are we in trouble?” Cozy Glow asked, wincing a little.

“No, I just need to have a word with you.” Sombra replied as he looked at the others. “The rest of you can go now. Dismissed.”

With that, Professor Screw and the Rogue all started to disappear from the Void. Once Sombra and the terrible trio were the only ones left in the Void, Sombra chuckled a bit as he looked at the three villains standing before him.

“So, what exactly do you need from us?” Chrysalis asked.

“I’ll get right to the point.” Sombra said, not breaking eye contact with any of them. “When we all first met, things didn’t go so well, now did they?”

Hearing this made each of the terrible trio flinch a little as they remembered their miserable attempt to try and overpower Sombra. They had all secretly hoped that Sombra would have forgotten about it by now, but they should have known better. Not knowing for sure if this was supposed to be a lead up to some sort of punishment, neither of the three said a word as they let Sombra continue with his speech.

“I understand that none of you were very willing to serve me.” Sombra said before he was interrupted by Cozy Glow.

“I-I’m willing to serve you!” Cozy Glow cried, still under the impression that they were all going to be punished.

“Yes, now you are willing to serve me. Things were quite different when we met.” Sombra said, shooting Cozy Glow a glance.

“(Sigh) If this is supposed to be you telling us that we are about to pay the price for what we did, just get on with it already. The wait is starting to kill me.” Tirek said.

“If you keep giving me attitude, the wait will not be what kills you, Tirek.” Sombra said, giving Tirek a cold stare.

“Point taken. Continue.” Tirek said, deciding to keep his mouth shut from then on unless he needed to speak.

“As I was saying, none of you were so eager or willing to serve me and I understand that. Since I’m most certainly positive that you three know this, you may be asking, why I am trusting the three of you with retrieving an object so powerful, it could kill me.” Sombra said.

The terrible trio looked at each other and together they tried to think of why they didn’t even consider that as an option. Grogar’s Bell was so powerful that even if they were going to betray Sombra and he knew about it, there wouldn’t be much he could do against the power of the bell.

“I told you before that once you brought the bell back, I would use it to give you brand new powers and abilities. However, I left something very important out. The real reason why I tasked you three with retrieving the bell, is because I have come to have respect for each of you. You all dared to try and overthrow me, and even though you failed, you still put up a good fight. And that is why when Equestria is taken over, the four of us will rule it… together.” Sombra said.

Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow were stunned when they heard this. Did Sombra really just say that all four of them were going to rule Equestria together? That didn’t make any sense, why would Sombra say something like that?

“Rule Equestria… together?” Chrysalis asked, taking a step forward.

“Like the four of us? You, me, Chrysalis, and Tirek?” Cozy Glow asked.

“Ruling over Equestria together… you… you can’t be serious, Sombra!” Tirek said, wondering if he was going crazy or something.

“Yes, the four of us together and I am serious.” Sombra said, smiling to the trio.

“But what about the whole ‘bow to your master’ thing?” Chrysalis asked, narrowing her eyes a bit. “From the way things have been recently, it seems you were going to be the one ruling Equestria.”

“(Chuckle) Yes, for now I am still the master of all of you. If we tried to work together as equals when we first met, we would have done nothing but argue or try to kill each other.” Sombra said.

“Come on, Sombra! You’re a villain, just like the rest of us! Don’t you just want Equestria for yourself?” Tirek asked.

“Of course, I want Equestria for myself. However, I am willing to share.” Sombra said.

“Really? Are you really willing to share? Because this sounds very familiar, like when I tricked Discord into working with me, only to throw him under the rug once I had everything I needed.” Tirek said, now narrowing his eyes at Sombra.

“(Chuckle) Ah yes, I remember watching that happen. What a cruel little trick to play on Discord, Tirek. Oh, I loved it!” Sombra said as he laughed at the memory of Discord being betrayed by Tirek. “However, unlike you, Tirek, I am being fully honest with all of you.”

“How can we trust you? For all we know, this could be one big, complicated lie!” Chrysalis hissed.

“You want proof? Fine, here’s your proof.” Sombra said as he used his magic to summon a scroll that appeared to be some sort of contract. “This scroll clearly states that once Equestria is ours, we will rule it together. We will all be equal in power, no one higher than the other.”

“But how would this even work?” Cozy Glow asked. “Are we going to stay in the same castle or something?”

“(Chuckle) Since Equestria will be ours, you can rule over whatever part of Equestria you want. However, the Crystal Empire is mine. The four of us will share Canterlot. You three can have the rest of Equestria if you want.” Sombra said as he gave a grin to the terrible trio. “The choice is yours. Either you can rule over Equestria with me, or you can continue to serve me until death takes you away.”

With the weight of the decision now being placed on the trio’s shoulders, they all looked at each other. Before any sort of group discussion could begin, Cozy Glow nodded to herself and flew over to the scroll and looked at it. After carefully rereading the contract in full detail a couple of times to make sure there were no catches of any kind, Cozy Glow looked up at Sombra and gave him a smile.

“King Sombra, when Equestria is finally ours, I hope to rule it with you!” Cozy Glow said as she placed her hoof on the bottom on the scroll, leaving her hoofprint behind. “Until that day comes, I will continue to be loyal to you, and even after we’ve taken over, I’ll always remember that you are my king.” Cozy Glow said as she bowed to Sombra.

Sombra smiled at this and chuckled as he reached out to pat Cozy Glow on the head. Sombra then motioned for Cozy Glow to head back to the others and then he looked at Tirek and Chrysalis expectedly. It was their turn to make their choice now.

Tirek and Chrysalis looked at each other and thought hard about this decision. Neither of them really wanted to share Equestria with someone else, but it was clear that Sombra would be giving them complete freedom to do whatever they wanted with Equestria, so long as no one tried to overthrow anyone else. It all sounded too good to be true. After a few moments of silence, Tirek and Chrysalis met each other’s gaze and nodded to each other.

Sombra chuckled as he watched Tirek and Chrysalis approach him. With one final nod to each other, Chrysalis spoke up first.

“I have decided that if this contract truly does say that we will all be equal rulers of Equestria, then I will take you up on the offer.” Chrysalis said as she pressed her hoof against the bottom of the scroll, leaving her hoofprint. “I cannot wait to be queen of my own kingdom again.” Chrysalis said as she grinned at Sombra.

“You’ve proposed something very interesting indeed, Sombra. Normally I like to do things alone, but I suppose there’s nothing wrong with a bit of sharing, now is there?” Tirek asked as he pressed his hand against the bottom of the scroll, leaving his handprint. “(Laughs) Oh, this is going to be fun!” Tirek said as he walked back to join the others.

“(Evil Chuckle) It most certainly is, Tirek.” Sombra said as he pressed his own hoof against the scroll, leaving his hoofprint. “I am pleased that we have all come to an agreement. I look forward to the day when Equestria belongs to us. In the meantime, you three continue your mission and bring back Grogar’s Bell.”

“Yes, King Sombra.” The terrible trio said as they bowed to him.

“(Evil Chuckle) Dismissed.” Sombra said, as Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow disappeared from the Void.

Once Sombra was left by himself inside the Void, he chuckled to himself. He was very pleased with what he had planned for Twilight and the rest of Equestria. As much as Sombra wanted to continue basking in the good feeling of how well his plan would go, he knew that he had to get everything ready. With a nod, Sombra exited the Void and found himself back in Professor Screw’s lab.

“I trust that everything went okay with those three, your majesty?” Professor Screw asked.

“Yes, everything went fine.” Sombra replied as he turned to see the Professor had finished with Iron Will’s gauntlets. “Come with me now, it is time we discussed things with the Rogue.” Sombra said as he levitated the book over to the Professor.

“Very well, your majesty. I will see you there.” Professor Screw said as he used the book to teleport himself back to Sombra’s castle.

“(Chuckle) Yes, you will.” Sombra said as he levitated the enchanted bracelets and the armor over to him and then used his power to sink into the shadows.

As soon as Sombra emerged from the shadows back to his castle, he looked over to see that the Professor was there, waiting for him. Sombra gave the Professor a slight nod, acknowledging his presence. Sombra then started to explain to the Professor about Twilight’s meeting with the other princesses in the morning and what he had in mind for the Mane Six. With the Professor understanding his task at hoof, Sombra then motioned for the Professor to follow him as they both made their way over to Sombra’s table map of Equestria.

“Members of the Rogue! Come here now!” Sombra shouted, making sure everyone had heard him.

Hearing Sombra’s loud and clear order, Discorded Whooves came out of his room and approached Sombra and the Professor, the mechanical arms carrying him over to them. Moments after Discorded Whooves had arrived, he was followed soon after by Lightning Dust, Iron Will, and the Flim Flam brothers. Once the entire Rogue had showed up, they all bowed to Sombra and awaited their orders.

“As I mentioned to you all earlier in the Void, I have another mission for you to complete. Just like the last mission, you will be attacking a different village in Equestria.” Sombra said.

“And which village are we going to attack this time?” Lightning Dust asked.

“Last time, you attacked Appleloosa. This time, you will be attacking Starlight Glimmer’s old village.” Sombra said as he pointed to the map where this village was located.

“That little village? It seems rather small and insignificant, master?” Discorded Whooves said.

“Yeah, why don’t you send us somewhere more recognizable?” Flim asked.

“Yeah! Like Manehattan or Applewood? Or even Baltimare?” Flam asked.

“I am aware that this village is a rather odd choice, however there is a very specific reason why I chose this little town.” Sombra said. “The reason I chose this village is because it goes along with what your purpose is. I’m sure you all remember what that purpose is, correct?”

“(Chuckle) Oh yes, master. We remember perfectly.” Discorded Whooves said as he and the rest of Rogue smiled to each other wicked grins on their faces.

“(Evil Chuckle) Good.” Sombra said before he used his magic to lift up the tools that the Professor had made. “These are for you.” Sombra said as he used his magic to place five of the eight bracelets onto the arms of the Rogue members.

“Huh? What are these for, King?” Iron Will asked.

“These bracelets I have given each of you hold a special power within them that will allow you to teleport wherever you can think of. Similar to the book I had given you, Doctor.” Sombra explained as he then levitated the armor over to the Rogue.

“Aww yeah! Now that’s what I’m talking about!” Lightning Dust said as she tried her helmet on.

“I say, this will certainly come in handy.” Flam said as he examined his armor.

“Most definitely, brother!” Flim added as he looked at his armor.

“Iron Will thinks that these gloves will do some damage!” Iron Will said as he put the gauntlets on and examined how they looked on him.

“Now that I have given you the tools you will need, it’s time to discuss the plan. You will go to the village and destroy it as much as you want. However, unlike the last time, you must keep a few ponies alive. Once you have finished the attack, you will remain there until Twilight Sparkle and her friends are convinced to come to the village.” Sombra said.

“How exactly are we going to lure Twilight Sparkle and her friends to the town?” Discorded Whooves asked.

“Simple, Twilight Sparkle is going to be having a meeting with the other three princesses in the morning. We will take advantage of this opportunity and send them a message to ensure that not only will Twilight Sparkle and her friends come to the village, but they will also come alone.” Sombra explained with a grin.

“But won’t the other princesses come with Twilight and her friends?” Lightning Dust asked.

“That’s where I come in.” Professor Screw said as he took a step forward. “I, Professor Screw will use a spell that will allow you to deliver a very personal message to Ponyville, telling them about the attack we will enact upon the village.” Professor Screw said as he pointed a hoof towards the Doctor.

“That’s right. You will make sure to tell the princesses as well as everypony else in Ponyville that only Twilight Sparkle and her friends are allowed to come to the village. You will tell them about your side of the plan and make sure that they are convinced to act quickly using the hostages you will take at the village.” Sombra said.

“(Chuckle) Oh this is going to be fun.” Discorded Whooves said as he rubbed his hooves together while the top two mechanical arms opened and closed repeatedly.

“You got that right, Doctor. Oh, I just can’t wait to get my hooves on Rainbow Dash! She’s gonna get it when I see her.” Lightning Dust said as she grinned with a wicked look in her eyes.

“I say brother, I sure can’t wait to see our good friend Applejack again.” Flim said as he nudged his brother.

“(Chuckle) Oh yes, she’s going to be in for quite the surprise, brother.” Flam said as he grinned at his brother.

“Iron Will is going to finally teach Fluttershy a lesson for betraying Iron Will!” Iron Will announced as he smashed his fists together, the metal of the gauntlets clanking loudly together.

“(Chuckle) From what I’m hearing, it seems that you are all so eager to get started on your next mission. If that is indeed the case, then go. Go to Starlight Glimmer’s old village! Terrorize and destroy it! Do whatever you want, but remember, we need hostages. Oh, and one last thing, Twilight Sparkle is mine. Anyone that kills her, will suffer for the rest of eternity, do I make myself clear?” Sombra asked, looking at each of the Rogue with serious eyes.

“Yes, King Sombra!” The Rogue answered.

“(Chuckle) Then go! Begone now! Complete your mission!” Sombra ordered as one by one, each member of the Rogue teleported away from the castle. “Well, what are you waiting for, Professor? Go with them.” Sombra said, looking at Professor Screw who was still standing next to him.

“Of course, your majesty. I will make sure that your orders are followed.” Professor Screw said as he used the book that he had placed into his saddlebag to teleport out of the castle.

Once Professor Screw was gone, Sombra grinned as he walked over to his table map of Equestria. Using his power, Sombra summoned a large crystal ball just above the map that allowed him to have a front row seat to the destruction of Starlight Glimmer’s village. Sombra laughed and chuckled as he was pleased that everything would go as planned. Soon, he would claim his victory.

Author's Note

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! There certainly was a lot to take in, especially with Sombra's plan. Next chapter will show the attack on Starlight Glimmer's village! Hope you enjoyed and thank you for the support!

The Rogue in Our Town

“Yes, King Sombra!” The Rogue answered.

“Of course, your majesty. I will make sure that your orders are followed.” Professor Screw said as he used the book that he had placed into his saddlebag to teleport out of the castle.

When Professor Screw teleported away from the castle, he quickly found himself in some rocky hills that was a good distance away from Starlight Glimmer’s old village. After taking in his surroundings, Professor Screw turned around and saw the Rogue standing nearby, watching the village from behind some rocks.

“You know, I am sure that there is no reason for us to be so cautious. We are a good distance away from the village.” Professor Screw said as he walked over to the Rogue. “Besides, it would appear that the evening will be arriving very soon.” Professor Screw said as he looked towards the sun.

“Yeah sure, whatever but get a load of this! It looks like a party is going on!” Lightning Dust said as she pointed towards the village.

Professor Screw rolled his eyes a bit as he got himself into a position where he could see the village. It was apparent that there was indeed a party going on, due to the number of colorful banners, bright balloons, numerous presents, and tasty treats. Judging by the writing on one of the banners in the village, it seemed that this party was being thrown for somepony by the name of Sugar Belle. Professor Screw had no idea who that was, but he didn’t really care. He was here to do his master’s work, not to celebrate some party.

“Yes, it is lovely. However, may I remind you that we are here on a mission.” Professor Screw said.

“Why are you even here, you old hag?” Lightning Dust asked.

“Yeah, I don’t remember you being part of the Rogue. Heck, I don’t even remember your name.” Flim said, laughing a bit.

“It’s Professor Screw Loose for your information.” Professor Screw said.

“Professor Screw Loose!? HA! What a ridiculous name!” Flam said as he laughed.

“Yeah! That’s such a dumbass name!” Lightning Dust said as she laughed along with Flim and Flam.

“Hush all of you! As much as I would like to make fun of the Professor, I think it is best we come up with a plan for our attack.” Discorded Whooves said as the mechanical arms lowered him to the ground.

“Iron Will says we attack now!” Iron Will said as he started to run towards the village, but he was stopped when one of the mechanical arms grabbed ahold of his leg and caused him to fall face first onto the ground. “OW! What was that for!?” Iron Will asked as he glared back at Discorded Whooves.

“You really are more brawns than brain, aren’t you, Iron Will?” Discorded Whooves asked as he used the arm still holding Iron Will’s leg to drag him back to the group. “We need to be smart about this. We will wait until nightfall and take them by surprise.” Discorded Whooves said as he let go of Iron Will’s leg.

“But they’re not even expecting us! We could literally attack them right now and we’d still be taking them by surprise.” Lightning Dust said.

“I’m sorry, do you have a better idea?” Discorded Whooves asked, turning to face Lightning Dust.

“Yeah! We attack now! Are you stupid or something!?” Lightning Dust yelled.

Discorded Whooves didn’t say anything as he just stared at Lightning Dust. Everyone else realized what Lightning Dust had just done and they backed away very slowly until they were a safe distance away from the Doctor. Then, before anyone could do anything else, one of the mechanical arms reached out and grabbed ahold of Lightning Dust, holding her in a way so that her wings and legs were practically useless.

“Ow! Hey! Let me go, you freak!” Lightning Dust yelled as she tried to fight her way out of the arm’s grip.

While Lightning Dust kept trying to break free, the arm that held her started to bring her closer to Discorded Whooves until she was right in front of him. Discorded Whooves grinned as he then turned Lightning Dust slightly at an angle so she could see that one of the other arms had opened its claws up to reveal a long blade come out of its palm. The arm’s blade came closer to Lightning Dust, causing her to wince as she was terrified that she was going to have her eyes poked out or something.

“Listen to me carefully, Lightning Dust. I’m in charge here, not you. Do try to remember that, will you?” Discorded Whooves said as he then used the blade to make a small scratch on Lightning Dust’s cheek.

Lightning Dust winced in pain as she felt the sharp spike cut her cheek. Then Discorded Whooves then brought Lightning Dust closer to him and then he licked the blood that dripped out of her cut. As he did this, Lightning Dust smacked her head against the Doctor’s. This only made him smile.

“(Chuckle) Now, are you going to listen from now on?” Discorded Whooves asked with a smug look on his face.

“Fuck you!” Lightning Dust yelled as she glared at him.

“(Chuckle) That sounds like fun, but we have things to do first.” Discorded Whooves said as he released Lightning Dust. “Now, as I was saying earlier, we will attack at night, catch the ponies off guard, and destroy the village.”

“So what? Are we just going to wait here until nighttime?” Flim asked.

“With absolutely nothing to do?” Flam added.

“That is exactly what we are going to do.” Discorded Whooves said as he motioned for everyone to come closer. “I’ve already thought of the strategy we will use to take down this village. Here’s the plan…”

A few hours later…

Night had fallen over Starlight Glimmer’s old village. Well, that’s what it used be called anyway. These days, if you asked the residents of this little village what the village name was, you would get different answers depending on the pony you asked. Some ponies would tell you that the village was now called, ‘Our Town’. Others would tell you that the village was called, ‘The Town with No Name’, and others would say it was still referred to as Starlight’s Village. Whatever the name the town went by didn’t really matter as there was something special going on that day.

Today was none other than Sugar Belle’s birthday and the residents of the town were throwing her a birthday party. The whole thing had been planned by Sugar Belle’s best friends, Double Diamond, Party Favor, and Night Glider. The party was a pleasant surprise as Sugar Belle was not expecting it at all, especially since her birthday was a week ago. Sometime in the late afternoon, she had returned to town after a lovely visit to Ponyville, where she had been spending some quality time with her very special somepony, Big Macintosh. It was when she had returned that she was surprised by a big birthday party. Party Favor explained that even though her birthday had already passed, he still wanted to throw her a party when she came back. This of course made Sugar Belle very happy as she was glad to have such wonderful friends.

The town was still having a wonderful time with the party as they sang, danced, laughed, and enjoyed tasty treats. Sugar Belle was helping herself to a delicious cupcake when she felt somepony tap her on the shoulder. Sugar Belle turned around to see her three best friends.

“Hey, Sugar Belle! Are you having fun?” Party Favor asked with a smile.

“(Giggle) I’m having a wonderful time, Party Favor.” Sugar Belle said with a cheerful smile. “But you all really didn’t have to go this far for me.”

“Are you kidding!? Of course, we did! Doing nice things for each other is what friends do.” Night Glider said.

“We were more than happy to do this for you, Sugar Belle. It would have made more sense to have done this on your actual birthday, but hey, this worked out perfectly!” Double Diamond said with a laugh.

“I guess you’re right. I was pretty busy in Ponyville.” Sugar Belle said.

“Heh, busy with what? Visiting Ponyville? Or spending time with that special stallion of yours?” Night Glider asked as she playfully nudged Sugar Belle.

“Wh-What? O-Oh, well…” Sugar Belle said as she giggled, her face turning red as a tomato.

“Alright, come on. Leave her alone, Night Glider.” Double Diamond said as he playfully shoved her.

“Hey, I never said I was against it or anything. Just a little bit of friendly teasing, that’s all.” Night Glider said as she jokingly put her hooves up in a defensive manner. “On that topic though, I’m happy for you. I haven’t talked to him much, granted because it seems like he hardly ever talks, but he’s good for you. He seems like a nice guy.”

“Oh, he is, Night Glider. He’s a wonderful stallion. He’s just so sweet and loving.” Sugar Belle said as images of Big Macintosh started popping up in her head.

“(Chuckle) I guess he is.” Double Diamond said as he turned to face the house where Starlight Glimmer used to live in. “It’s been a while since that whole thing with Starlight happened.”

“Yeah, it really has been. I wish she could come visit us more often.” Party Favor said.

“Well, she does have other things to attend to in Ponyville. But she definitely has never forgotten about us.” Sugar Belle said.

“Do you think she still feels guilty over what she did? I mean, she knows we forgave her and all, but that doesn’t mean all the guilt is gone.” Night Glider said.

“Maybe she does… I really hope not though.” Double Diamond said.

“(Gasp) I know, what if next time she visits, we throw her a big welcome back party!?” Party Favor asked.

“(Chuckle) You’ve been hanging around with Pinkie Pie too much.” Double Diamond said with a laugh.

“I think a party would be wonderful. It would certainly help cheer Starlight up and remind her that she’ll always be our friend.” Sugar Belle said.

“That sounds like a plan to me!” Night Glider said as they all nodded in agreement.

As the four friends continued to happily converse with each other, they heard what sounded like a firework being shot off into the air. The four friends turned around and saw that everypony was pointing up towards the sky. They watched as a bright red beam shot up into the sky and then exploded, creating what looked like a firework display.

“Wow! This is amazing!” Double Diamond said as he cheered with the rest of the ponies.

“Party Favor, you really didn’t have to bring fireworks for my party.” Sugar Belle said.

“Uh, well you see… I… didn’t.” Party Favor said, causing his friends to look at him with confused looks on their faces.

“Huh? What do you mean?” Sugar Belle asked.

“Hold on, if you’re not the one responsible for this show, then who is?” Night Glider asked.

“Hey, look! It seems like the fireworks are coming from the front end of the town. Let’s go find out what’s causing all of this.” Double Diamond said.

With that the friends nodded in agreement as they began walking to the front of the town. It was then that they saw what the cause of the fireworks was. At the entrance of the town, the friends saw a cloaked pony, with a hood over their head, most likely a unicorn since the beams that were being shot into the sky were coming from this pony. As the friends walked closer to the cloaked pony, Double Diamond spoke up.

“Um, hey, excuse me!” Double Diamond said, causing the cloaked pony to stop shooting beams into the sky.

“Yes?” the cloaked pony asked.

“We were just wondering, are you here celebrating Sugar Belle’s birthday with us, too? Is that what the fireworks were for?” Party Favor asked.

“No.” the cloaked pony replied.

“Look, bud, your firework show was cool and all, but what’s the mysterious get-up? And also, who are you?” Night Glider asked.

The cloaked pony only chuckled in response as he then used his magic to make his cloak disappear completely. Everypony was now able to see that the mysterious pony was indeed a unicorn. This unicorn had dark maroon colored fur, with a mane and tail that was as grey as stone. He had a ruffled up and messy mane, like that of a mad scientist. His cutie mark appeared to be a beaker with a black skull on it and his eyes were a jade green, filled with malice. It was Professor Screw.

“(Chuckle) Greetings! I wish to deliver a message to everypony! I come in peace, I mean you no harm, and you will all die.” Professor Screw said with a smile.

Hearing this, everypony in town was suddenly filled with mixed feelings of confusion, denial, and protective anger.

“What did you just say!?” Double Diamond asked, taking a threatening step forward.

“You better not be threatening us! Because if you are, you’re going to get hurt!” Night Glider yelled as she smacked her hooves together.

“Yeah! Leave now! You’re not welcome here!” Party Favor yelled.

“I think you should leave, mister. This is a peaceful town, and we don’t need any trouble.” Sugar Belle said.

“(Chuckle) You may not need any trouble, but you will get trouble anyway. Now!” Professor Screw yelled as suddenly five figures appeared in front of him.

The ponies were all shocked when they saw the five figures appear, especially when they saw Discorded Whooves with those four mechanical arms. Professor Screw then blasted a huge beam of magic into the air, as if he was shooting off one more firework. However, when the beam exploded, a huge magical bubble started to form around the entire village and a little bit of the surrounding area. Professor Screw had used a special spell to make sure that no pony would get in the village, and no pony would get out. Having a very bad feeling that things were about to get extremely ugly, Double Diamond turned around quickly to face the rest of the town.

“Get the children to safety, now!” Double Diamond yelled as they all heard somepony chuckle.

“(Chuckle) It’ too late for that. ATTACK!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he and the rest of the Rogue began their assault on the town.

Discorded Whooves was lifted up into the air by the bottom two mechanical arms, which then allowed him to run towards the ponies. Night Glider was about to fly towards the Doctor to try and attack him, but she was suddenly hit hard when Lightning Dust flew in and slammed into her, pushing her away from the action. Flim and Flam rushed in and started to fire beams of magic all over the place, causing everypony to scatter and make it very hard for any sort of teamwork to happen. Party Favor was hit in the chest by one of the Flim Flam Brother’s magic beams and he was sent crashing through a window. Iron Will ran ahead and jumped in the air, preparing to smash Sugar Belle into the ground with his gauntlets. Sugar Belle quickly moved out of the way and ran away from the angry minotaur.

Meanwhile, Double Diamond was busy trying to fend off and avoid being grabbed by Discorded Whooves’s mechanical arms. Discorded Whooves got more and more frustrated every time Double Diamond would dodge his attacks. Discorded Whooves then tried to grab the earth pony from both sides, but Double Diamond just jumped over the two arms and even did a backflip as he landed safely back on the ground.

“(Snarl) You’re an earth pony! How are you so agile!? RAHH!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he tried once again to grab Double Diamond.

“Lots of skiing, that’s how. You should really try it out sometime.” Double Diamond replied with a grin as he avoided another strike.

“Ha! Alright then, let’s see how you like this!” Discorded Whooves yelled as the top right arm opened up its claw.

Double Diamond was taken aback when he saw the whole claw of the arm suddenly become encased in electricity. The arm then slammed itself down onto the ground in front of Double Diamond, electrifying the small patch of land he had been standing on. Double Diamond had luckily managed to jump above the arm before the ground could electrocute him. However, Double Diamond had become so focused on dodging the claw and avoiding the electrified ground beneath him, that he forgot about Discorded Whooves. While Double Diamond was still in midair, the left arm reached out and grabbed ahold of him, keeping him above ground.

“Gotcha! Rah!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he pressed the electrified claw into Double Diamond’s side, delivering a painful shock to his body.

Double Diamond cried out in pain as he felt waves of electricity shoot through his whole body. He tried with all his might to break free of the arms’ grip, but the claws were clamped tightly around his torso. Discorded Whooves laughed maniacally as he continued to electrocute the earth pony. He would have completely electrocuted him to death, if he hadn’t been hit in the head by a small stone. Growling out of anger, Discorded Whooves stopped electrocuting Double Diamond and turned around to see who had hit him. Another earth pony by the name of Feather Bangs stood there, holding another stone in one hoof, and Double Diamond’s skis in the other.

“Put him down you monster!” Feather Bangs yelled as he threw the other stone at Discorded Whooves, hitting him in the cheek. “Double Diamond, catch!” Feather Bangs yelled as he tossed Double Diamond’s skis to him.

Double Diamond reached out with his front legs and was able to catch both of his skis. With Discorded Whooves still temporarily stunned from getting hit in the face by a rock, Double Diamond took his chance and smacked Discorded Whooves in the back of the head with his skis. This caused the Doctor to drop Double Diamond as he yelled in pain.

“Thanks, Feather Bangs! Now help me fight this freak!” Double Diamond said as he tossed one of his skis to the other pony.

“No problem, DD!” Feather Bangs said as they both held up their skis, ready to fight.

“RRAAAGHH!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he was lifted slightly higher into the air by the bottom two arms, with the top two opening and closing in a threatening manner.

While Double Diamond and Feather Bangs did their best to keep Discorded Whooves distracted from the rest of the village, the Flim Flam brothers were having a wonderful time as they were just firing beams of magic everywhere. Ponies scrambled all over the place as they tried to duck for cover and avoid getting hit. Flim then spotted a family of unicorns run into one of the houses. Flim smiled as he blasted multiple beams of magic at the house, eventually causing the house to explode, killing the family of unicorns. Flam was tackled by an earth pony stallion, but he was able to shove him off with his magic. Flam then grabbed ahold of the stallion with his magic and slammed him so hard onto the ground, the pony’s neck was snapped, killing him almost instantly.

“Look out, brother! Incoming from above!” Flim suddenly shouted as he pointed up towards the sky.

Flam looked up and spotted about four pegasi flying towards them. Thinking fast, the two brothers used their magic to create a small shield bubble around them, causing the pegasi that hit the shield to fly back and fall to the ground in pain. The two brothers grinned at each other as they started blasting the pegasi, preventing them from getting back up in the air. Two of the four pegasi were suddenly lifted up in the air by magic and then Flim and Flam slammed both of them into each other, the impact stunned them, and they were both killed when they were slammed into the ground, which broke their necks. The two remaining pegasi managed to get airborne as they tried to fly away to recover, but they were stopped by the Flim Flam brother’s magic. The brothers pulled the two pegasi down towards the ground, killing one of them on impact. The last Pegasus managed to survive however, and she flew straight towards Flim, hitting him in the face and knocking him over.

“No, brother! How dare you!” Flam yelled as he charged towards the Pegasus, while firing magic at her.

The Pegasus tried to fly away again but she was caught by Flim’s magic. Flim grinned at her as he then slammed her down towards his brother. Flam then jumped up and thanks to the efforts of his brother, he was able to stab the Pegasus with his horn. The Pegasus screamed in pain as she felt the horn stab her in the chest. Before she could do anything, Flam finished her off when he blasted magic into her, killing her while also getting her off of his horn.

“Whoops, didn’t mean to do that.” Flam said as he wiped the blood off his horn to prevent it from dripping onto his face.

“Forget it! We must follow our orders!” Flim yelled as he spotted a pair of earth ponies charging towards them.

“O-Of course, brother! YAH!” Flam yelled as the two brothers ran towards the oncoming earth ponies.

Meanwhile, Night Glider and Lightning Dust were still chasing each other in the air, flying all around the village as each tried to get an opening. As Night Glider was chasing after Lightning Dust, the rogue Pegasus suddenly did a fast backwards loop, allowing her to be right above Night Glider. Lightning Dust then slammed into Night Glider, causing her to smash through the roof of one of the few buildings in the village. Night Glider landed hard on a small table and before she could get back up, Lightning Dust began punching her in the face while she remained in the air. However, because Lightning Dust was so focused on her punches, she was given a painful surprise when Night Glider managed to kick her in the stomach. Night Glider tackled Lightning Dust out of the air as the two crashed through the window and onto the streets of the village. The two pegasi had rolled on the ground when they landed and Lightning Dust was able to recover quicker than Night Glider as she quickly jumped on top of her, pinning her down. Right as Lightning Dust was about to hit Night Glider again, she was suddenly struck in the back of the head by a beam of magic by Party Favor, knocking her helmet off.

“Get off of her!” Party Favor yelled as he fired another beam of magic, shooting Lightning Dust off of his friend.

As Lightning Dust was hit by Party Favor’s magic, Night Glider managed to get up and she landed a strong flying kick into Lightning Dust’s stomach, causing her to crash through another window of the same house they had just fought in.

“Thanks for the assist, Party Favor.” Night Glider said, nodding to her friend.

“It’s no problem. Now, come on! We have to stop the other bad guys before anypony else gets hurt!” Party Favor yelled, gesturing towards the rest of the Rogue that was still attacking the village.

“Got it! You go help Double Diamond and Feather Bangs! I’m gonna look for-GAH!” Night Glider yelled as she was suddenly hit in the back by a beam of magic.

Party Favor turned to see Flim and Flam, who were grinning at him before they started to fire beams of magic at him. Party Favor ran away, dodging every single magic beam that was fired off. As he ran, Party Favor spotted a small cart he could take cover behind. Party Favor quickly ducked behind the cart and then started to fire magic right back at the brothers.

Meanwhile, Sugar Belle was still running away from the angry Iron Will. She had no idea why he was seemingly only targeting her, but all she knew was that she needed to avoid his powerful attacks. Sugar Belle jumped through an open window and ducked behind the small couch that was in the room. Not even ten seconds later, Iron Will smashed through the wall of the house and roared down at her. Sugar Belle screamed as she desperately looked around the room for anything she could use as a weapon. She then spotted a small wooden stool on the other side of the couch. Iron Will then lunged forward as he tried to punch Sugar Belle into the ground. Sugar Belle managed to jump out of the way, and she quickly picked up the stool and threw it at Iron Will’s face, causing him to fall back in pain. Sugar Belle took her opportunity to run out of the building, but before she could get even a few feet away, Iron Will burst through the other wall, making the rest of the house crumble down.

“No pony runs from Iron Will!” Iron Will yelled as he picked up a huge plank of wood and was about to bring it down on Sugar Belle, but he was stopped when a Pegasus flew into him, kicking him in the face.

“Sugar Belle, go! Get the children, protect them! They’re in that house! Go!” the Pegasus yelled as he pointed towards the house across from them.

“Pegasus stopped Iron Will from getting revenge! Iron Will shall crush you now!” Iron Will yelled as he swung at the Pegasus.

Sugar Belle quickly ran in the direction of the building where the children were hiding in. As she was halfway there, she stopped suddenly when Lightning Dust flew up right in front of her. Sugar Belle stepped back a bit as the Pegasus looked down at her with a grin.

“And just where do you think you’re going!?” Lightning Dust asked as she took a swing at Sugar Belle.

Sugar Belle somehow managed to avoid getting hit in the face, but she knew speed was not one of her special talents. After narrowly avoiding a couple more punches, Sugar Belle’s luck ran out as Lightning Dust was finally able to land a blow to her chest. As Sugar Belle stumbled back a little from the punch, Lightning Dust did a backflip, allowing her to kick the unicorn in the chin and knocking her to the ground. Sugar Belle winced in pain as she rubbed her chin, which thankfully wasn’t broken, but was seriously hurting.

“Ha! You’re no match for somepony as fast as me!” Lightning Dust said as she laughed.

Sugar Belle wanted to run away, but she managed to get a peek past Lightning Dust, and she made eye contact with a young earth pony filly, who was looking out the window of the house with a worried look on her face. Seeing this poor filly so terrified woke something up inside of Sugar Belle. The sudden urge to protect those fillies and colts inside of that building was now stronger than ever. Perhaps it was motherly instinct; whatever it was, Sugar Belle was determined not to let anything bad happen to those children.

“Get out of my way!” Sugar Belle yelled as she caught Lightning Dust off guard by grabbing ahold of her back legs and tackling her to the ground.

“Ow! What the!?” Lightning Dust yelled as Sugar Belle scooped up some dust in her hooves and dumped it onto Lightning Dust’s face. “GAAAAH!!” Lightning Dust screamed as the dust got into her eyes.

Lightning Dust was able to shove Sugar Belle off of her as she tried desperately to rub the dust out of her eye. As soon as she did and was able to see again, the first thing she saw was Sugar Belle standing in front of her with her back leg in a bucking position. Then, with all the strength she could muster, Sugar Belle kicked Lightning Dust so hard that she flew back and crashed into a stack of boxes, breaking a couple of them in the process. With Lightning Dust down, Sugar Belle ran to the building and burst through the door.

“Everypony, come with me! I’ll take you somewhere you can hide!” Sugar Belle said as she began to lead the children out of the building.

However, before Sugar Belle and the children could even step a few feet from the building, Lightning Dust was already back up and stood in front of them.

“I don’t think so, birthday pony!” Lightning Dust said as she blocked their path.

“I told you to get out of my way!” Sugar Belle yelled as she tried to tackle Lightning Dust to the floor again, but the Pegasus flew out of range.

“That won’t work on me twice! YAH!” Lightning Dust yelled as she flew down, aiming for the children.

Sugar Belle turned around fast and was horrified as she knew she would not be fast enough to protect the children from Lightning Dust’s attack. Thankfully, before Lightning Dust could reach the children, she was suddenly tackled out of the air by Night Glider, who had arrived just in time.

“UGH! You again!? OW!” Lightning Dust yelled as Night Glider kicked her in the face.

“Go! Get the children to safety! I’ll hold her off!” Night Glider yelled as she continued to keep Lightning Dust busy.

Sugar Belle nodded to her friend and quickly motioned for the children to follow her. The children followed Sugar Belle as they ran through the street, doing their best to avoid the amount of destruction and chaos that was happening. Thankfully, they managed to reach their destination as Sugar Belle kicked down a door to one of the buildings. The children ran inside and as soon as the door was shut, Sugar Belle ran over to the back end of the room and found the small handle on the floor. Sugar Belle pulled open the small trap door and ushered the children down the small flight of stairs which led to one of the safety bunkers that every building had. Once all the children were accounted for, Sugar Belle walked back up the stairs and looked down at the children.

“All of you stay in here. Don’t come out unless one of us lets you out.” Sugar Belle said as she then shut the trap door, placing a small rug over it so that no pony would easily see the handle.

Once Sugar Belle was ready, she turned around and ran out of the door. She looked around at the destruction and quickly headed off to help anypony that needed immediate assistance.

“Bring it on, pesky Pegasus!” Iron Will shouted as he tried to smack the Pegasus that was attacking him out of the air.

The Pegasus that had saved Sugar Belle earlier was still doing his best to keep the minotaur distracted. The Pegasus was not making it easy as he was very fast and able to dodge all of Iron Will’s attacks with relative ease. Iron Will got more frustrated every time he was hit. Eventually, the Pegasus started to get tired as he kept fighting Iron Will. Seeing this, Iron Will waited for just the right moment and then he managed to grab the Pegasus by the leg and slammed him into the ground. The Pegasus yelled in pain as he hit the ground, but before he could try to get back up, Iron Will let out a roar as he raised his arms in the air and slammed them down onto the Pegasus, crushing him and killing him. Iron Will let out another roar as he proclaimed his victory, but he was cut short when he was hit in the chest by a beam of magic. Iron Will looked over to see who had hit him, only to find a group of about three unicorns, glaring at him.

“Unicorns want some too!? Iron Will shall give you some!” Iron Will shouted as he charged at the unicorns.

As Iron Will ran towards the unicorns, one of them used her magic to keep Iron Will’s legs from moving, which caused him to fall onto his face. The other two unicorns began blasting their magic at Iron Will as he managed to stand back up. The unicorn that had tripped Iron Will before tried to do so again, but Iron Will lunged forward and managed to crash into the unicorn, knocking the other two back. Iron Will grabbed the unicorn and despite her efforts to break out using her magic, she was killed when Iron Will slammed her face first into the ground. The two remaining unicorns looked on in horror as they saw Iron Will kill the other unicorn. Iron Will turned to look at them and he snarled at them. The two unicorns looked at each other and nodded as they stood their ground, ready to fight Iron Will. Iron Will let out another roar as he charged towards the unicorns.

The two unicorns started to fire magic at Iron Will, but it barely did anything as the minotaur continued to run towards them. The unicorns also began to run towards Iron Will and at the last second, they both slid underneath him, avoiding his attack. Once they had passed him, the unicorns used their magic to hold Iron Will’s hands in place. Iron Will roared as he struggled to fight against the magic being used against him. The two unicorns decided that they would just do their best to keep Iron Will still for as long as they could. This plan was quickly fumbled however when one of the unicorns was shot in the back by Flim, who had spotted the commotion while he was fighting. With one of his hands now free, Iron Will smashed his fist through the house next to him, picking up a piece of rubble and throwing it at the other unicorn. Iron Will ran towards the unicorns and managed to pick them both up. With one more roar, Iron Will slammed the two unicorns into the ground, killing them. With those two down, Iron Will ran into the street to join in with the rest of the fight.

Meanwhile, Double Diamond and Feather Bangs were still keeping Discorded Whooves busy. One of the mechanical arms tried to grab ahold of Double Diamond, but he was able to smack it away with the ski he had. Feather Bangs smacked away another arm that tried to grab him and then he grabbed ahold of the arm and tried to pull the Doctor down. This didn’t work however as one of the lower arms that kept Discorded Whooves suspended in the air, grabbed ahold of Feather Bangs, and tossed him to the side. The Doctor then focused all of his attention on Double Diamond, who was now temporarily on his own. Discorded Whooves kept only the bottom right arm on the ground to keep him raised in the air, while the other three arms were going to be used for combat.

“Let’s see if you can handle this!” Discorded Whooves yelled as all three of the arms reached out for Double Diamond.

Double Diamond reacted quickly as he dodged and avoided all three of the arms before smacking them away with his ski. Discorded Whooves growled as he sent the bottom left arm out to try and grab Double Diamond’s legs. Double Diamond jumped over the arm and managed to kick away another arm that tried to grab him. However, he was unable to avoid the third arm, which grabbed ahold of him. This caused Double Diamond to drop his ski as he was brought closer to the Doctor, all while struggling to break free. Discorded Whooves then allowed both bottom arms to stay on the ground, while still keeping the lower right arm up and facing behind him.

“You fought very well. However, it seems your time has passed!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he raised up the upper left arm and electrified it. “Time for some good old fashioned electroshock therapy!” Discorded Whooves said as he brought the electrified claw closer to Double Diamond.

However, before Discorded Whooves could electrocute Double Diamond again, they both heard the sound of somepony yelling from behind them. Feather Bangs had gotten back up and was now jumping in the air, ready to hit the Doctor on the back of the head with his ski. Double Diamond looked at the Doctor and smiled, however his smile quickly faded away when he saw the Doctor grin back at him.

“Feather Bangs! Look out!” Double Diamond yelled, but it was too late.

Discorded Whooves had anticipated something like that would happen, so he purposely kept one of the lower arms raised up and face behind him. That way, the mechanical arm would see if somepony was trying to get the jump on the Doctor. The lower right arm reached out and grabbed ahold of Feather Bangs. Discorded Whooves then threw Double Diamond into the side of a building, now turning his attention towards Feather Bangs.

“(Chuckle) Clever move, however, I saw it coming from a mile away.” Discorded Whooves said as he raised the upper right arm up.

Feather Bangs was horrified when he saw a huge spike pop out from the palm of the arm’s right claw. He tried with all his might to break free from the arm’s grip, but it was no use. Discorded Whooves chuckled one last time before he sent the arm to impale Feather Bangs in the chest. Feather Bangs closed his eyes, ready to be killed, however, he felt nothing. He opened his eyes and gasped as he saw the spike was only inches from his body. This confused the Doctor as he tried to get the arm to kill Feather Bangs, but the arm wouldn’t budge. Frustrated, Discorded Whooves looked at the arms and yelled at them.

“Grr! What are you doing!? Kill him!” Discorded Whooves yelled as the arms began to open and close their claws repeatedly. “Innocent!? We’ve had this discussion before! This is necessary! Now, KILL HIM!” Discorded Whooves yelled as the arms finally shot forward and stabbed Feather Bangs in the chest, piercing his heart.

“FEATHER BANGS!” Double Diamond yelled as he watched his friend get stabbed in the chest.

As soon as the blade pierced Feather Bangs’s heart, he coughed up blood and looked down at his chest where he had been stabbed. Feather Bangs then looked up at the Doctor with a look of confusion and horror. Discorded Whooves chuckled as he grabbed ahold of Feather Bangs’s head with the upper left arm and twisted his neck around, killing him instantly. With Feather Bangs now dead, Discorded Whooves threw the body at Double Diamond, who managed to dodge it.

“Now, it’s your turn.” Discorded Whooves said as he raised the upper two arms in the air.

While Discorded Whooves went after Double Diamond, Night Glider and Lightning Dust were still fighting in the air. Night Glider did her best to counter every attack the Lightning Dust used against her. Lightning Dust eventually managed to land a punch to Night Glider’s gut and then kicked her back. Night Glider recovered quickly as she landed two punches to Lightning Dust’s face. With Lightning Dust stunned from the face punches, Night Glider proceeded to kick her multiple times in the chest and then smacked her in the side of the head with a good punch. Lightning Dust managed to block another punch as she landed a sucker punch to Night Glider’s jaw. Lightning Dust then grabbed Night Glider, holding her arms and legs in place so she couldn’t struggle. Before Lightning Dust could do anything else, she was tackled by the last Pegasus of the town. This caused Night Glider to be freed from Lightning Dust’s grip as now there were two Pegasi against one.

Lightning Dust was then hit in the back by the other Pegasus, which caused her to fly forward and right in the way of Night Glider’s punch to her chest. The other Pegasus flew up behind Lightning Dust and held her arms behind her back. This allowed Night Glider to fly up to her and started punching her in the face over and over again. Eventually, Lightning Dust was able to free herself when she used the back of her head to smack the Pegasus in the face. This caused him to lose his grip on her and Lightning Dust kicked Night Glider in the face, sending her back a bit. Lightning Dust then flew around behind the Pegasus and grabbed him by the side of his head. As Night Glider managed to regain herself, she could only watch in horror as Lightning Dust snapped the Pegasus’s neck, killing him and allowing his body to fall to the ground. Night Glider screamed in anger as she flew straight towards Lightning Dust. Lightning Dust was tackled out of the air and as the two Pegasi fell to the ground, they continued to beat each other until they both landed on the roof of a building.

Night Glider got up quickly grabbed Lightning Dust’s leg, pulling her closer. Lightning Dust responded by kicking Night Glider in the face with her other leg. This caused Night Glider to cry out in pain as she let go of Lightning Dust, only to be headbutted hard by Lightning Dust. Night Glider managed to headbutt Lightning Dust back as she kicked her in the chest before punching her in the face. The two Pegasi continued to fight each other on the roof of the building until Lightning Dust flew up and tried to tackle Night Glider. Night Glider reacted quickly as she jumped up and right as Lightning Dust was underneath her, she smacked Lightning Dust right on the head with her hoof, causing her to hit her face on the roof of the building. With Lightning Dust hurt pretty badly, Night Glider flipped Lightning Dust over and placed her hoof against Lightning Dust’s throat.

“WHY!? Why are you all doing this!? What did we ever do to any of you!?” Night Glider screamed as she eased up on the amount of pressure, she had been applying to Lightning Dust’s neck.

“(Cough) We have our orders… (Cough) That’s why.” Lightning Dust gasped as she felt Night Glider’s hoof press harder against her throat.

Night Glider growled at this answer and was about to crush Lightning Dust’s throat, but she was stopped when a beam of magic hit her in the face. The beam had been fired by Flam, who had seen the whole thing from the streets. With Night Glider stunned, Lightning Dust flew over to her and grabbed her by the sides of her head. With a yell, Lightning Dust started to bash the back of Night Glider’s head onto the roof. This worked for a bit until Night Glider kicked Lightning Dust off of her. Night Glider flew over to Lightning Dust and started to punch her in the face as hard as she could. After a few good punches, Night Glider was finally able to overpower her opponent as she landed a strong roundhouse kick to Lightning Dust’s face, causing the Pegasus to fly off of the roof and land hard on the ground below. Night Glider knew that this would only keep Lightning Dust down for a little, but she would take this time to help out the rest of her friends.

Meanwhile, Discorded Whooves and Double Diamond were still fighting. Double Diamond had managed to retrieve one of his skis and used it to fend off against the mechanical arms. One of the arms tried to take the ski away, but Double Diamond jumped out of the way and jumped over the second arm that tried to grab him. Once he landed back on the ground, Double Diamond ran towards the Doctor and slid right underneath him. The arms tried to grab him, but they ended up smacking into each other and they even got tangled up.

“NO!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he tried to get the upper two arms to untangle themselves.

Double Diamond smiled as he knew this was his chance. He ran towards the Doctor and jumped up in the air before he landed on the back of the Doctor and started to smack him in the back of the head with his ski. One of the lower arms tried to grab Double Diamond, but he had jumped off of the Doctor and the arm ended up grabbing the Doctor by mistake. Double Diamond took this opportunity to charge towards the last arm that was keeping the Doctor in the air. With one good swing with his ski, the arm lost its balance and caused the Doctor to fall to the ground. Double Diamond was about to beat the Doctor down, but the arms had finally managed to untangle themselves and one of them electrified itself before slamming onto the ground in front of Double Diamond. With the ground electrified, Double Diamond started getting electrocuted, dropping his ski as he could not move a muscle. Discorded Whooves laughed at this as he raised himself up and then used the spike on one of the arms to stab Double Diamond’s back leg.

“GAH!” Double Diamond yelled as he felt the long spike pierce his flesh.

Once the electrocution had stopped, Double Diamond fell to the floor. His back leg was so badly hurt that he couldn’t stand on it anymore. As Double Diamond tried desperately to crawl away, he was grabbed by one of the arms and brought up into the air, facing the Doctor.

“(Chuckle) I’m impressed. You almost had me there. But I’ll always come out on top, my friend.” Discorded Whooves said as he looked at Double Diamond.

“(Grunt) Why are you doing this to us? Why kill all of these innocent ponies? We never did anything to you! We’ve never even met you!” Double Diamond yelled as he tried to break free.

“(Chuckle) It’s all part of the plan. We have our reasons. Reasons that none of you need to-GAH! WHAT THE!?” Discorded Whooves yelled as he was hit in the back of the head by Night Glider.

“Night Glider, no! He’s too dangerous!” Double Diamond cried.

“I’m not letting you die, Double Diamond! Let him go you maniac!” Night Glider yelled as she slammed into the Doctor.

As Night Glider started to fight Discorded Whooves, the Doctor proceeded to throw Double Diamond into the side of a building, which broke Double Diamond’s leg. With both of his back legs now being severely injured, Double Diamond could only watch in terror as Night Glider bravely fought the Doctor.

Night Glider acted quickly as she started punching Discorded Whooves in the face multiple times before she flew out of the way as one of the arms tried to grab her from below. The upper arms tried to reach her, but she was too high up and out of range. Discorded Whooves looked up at Night Glider and beckoned for her to come down and fight him. Night Glider responded by diving down towards the Doctor and narrowly avoided getting slashed by one of the claws. Night Glider was able to land an uppercut on the Doctor and she used her legs to kick him in the stomach, while also using the kick to launch her away from him. The arms then swiped and clawed at Night Glider while she kicked them away. Discorded Whooves then electrified the upper two arms, forcing Night Glider to change her strategy. Since she could no longer defend herself from the arms without hurting herself, Night Glider decided to try and evade them as much as possible, while also trying to get close to Discorded Whooves. The arms reached out and tried to grab Night Glider, but she flew under them and straight past the Doctor, before turning around and heading towards him. Discorded Whooves only laughed as one of the lower arms suddenly reached out and smacked Night Glider back.

Discorded Whooves turned around to face the Pegasus as he deactivated the electricity on his arms. Night Glider flew up and tried to double back around to tackle the Doctor from behind. This didn’t work as the arms lifted Discorded Whooves higher into the air, allowing him to avoid Night Glider’s attack. Discorded Whooves then picked up two boxes with his upper arms and tossed them at Night Glider, who dodged every single one. Night Glider managed to get close and kick the Doctor in the face before punching him in the chest. Discorded Whooves headbutted Night Glider, stunning her as one of the arms smacked her higher in the air, before grabbing her and throwing her back down to the ground. When Night Glider hit the floor, her wings were suddenly grabbed by each of the upper arms as they lifted her up. With her wings held in place, Night Glider could only struggle helplessly as Discorded Whooves grinned at her.

“You’re quite the reckless Pegasus. It’s time to be grounded, RAH!” Discorded Whooves yelled as the arms tore Night Glider’s wings off.

Night Glider screamed in pain as she felt her wings get ripped off of her body. Without her wings, Night Glider started to fall towards the ground, but she was caught by one of the arms. Discorded Whooves laughed at Night Glider before he threw her into Double Diamond, causing the two to slam into a wall and knocking Night Glider unconscious.

“Night Glider!” Double Diamond cried as he held Night Glider in his arms. “Y-You bastard!”

“Stay where you are! Or else I will kill everypony else in this village!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he turned to go and finish off whatever was left of the village.

“Celestia… please… help us…” Double Diamond said as he succumbed to his injuries and passed out next to Night Glider.

During Discorded Whooves’s battle against Double Diamond and Night Glider, the rest of the Rogue had almost taken down the rest of the village’s population. Eventually, the only ponies that were still fighting was Party Favor, Sugar Belle, an earth pony stallion, and two more unicorns. The five remaining fighters were now battling against Discorded Whooves, Lightning Dust, Iron Will, and the Flim Flam brothers. Despite their best efforts, the five remaining fighters knew that they wouldn’t last much longer against the Rogue.

Two of the remaining unicorns were having a magic duel with Flim and Flam, each side ducking behind boxes and other debris to try and protect themselves. For a while, no pony was getting hit by magic as they either missed or would hit something else. Party Favor had seen this and was about to run over to help the two unicorns, but he was cut off when Lightning Dust flew up in front of him with a small piece of wood in her hooves.

“Oh no you don’t!” Lightning Dust said as she threw the wood at Party Favor.

Party Favor quickly jumped out of the way, avoiding the wood that Lightning Dust had thrown at him. Party Favor then fired a beam of magic towards the Pegasus, but she dodged it and began to taunt him.

“Ha, ha! Whoop! Missed me! Nope! Missed me again! Epic fail! Ha!” Lightning Dust yelled as she continued to dodge every single beam of magic that Party Favor fired at her.

While Lightning Dust was keeping Party Favor busy, Iron Will charged towards Sugar Belle and the earth pony stallion, intending to crush them with his gauntlets. However, before Iron Will could reach them, the earth pony was suddenly grabbed by Discorded Whooves and thrown to the side, with the Doctor crawling after him. This left Sugar Belle alone with the dangerous minotaur. Sugar Belle ran towards one of the buildings and smashed through the window. Iron Will smashed through the wall seconds later, but he was hit in the face by a plate. Iron Will yelled out in pain as he rubbed his face, trying to feel for any glass on his face. Since the building they were both currently in was Sugar Belle’s bakery, she had a lot of ammo at her disposal. Sugar Belle wasted no time as she picked up two apple pies and threw them at Iron Will’s face. With his face covered with pie residue, Sugar Belle picked up another plate.

“RRAAGGH! How dare you throw pies at Iron Will! OW!!” Iron Will yelled as he was hit in the face by another plate.

“How dare I? How dare I!? How dare you attack our village!” Sugar Belle yelled as she grabbed a cloth from the countertop and threw it over Iron Will’s head, causing it to get tangled up by his horns.

“AH! Get it off! Get it off!” Iron Will yelled as he tried to tear the cloth off of his face.

“Here, let me, HELP YOU!” Sugar Belle yelled as she picked up a small stool with her magic, and threw it at Iron Will’s head, causing him to fall onto his back.

As Iron Will fell onto the floor, with the cloth still stuck on his head, Sugar Belle quickly ran back to her counter and grabbed a small display tray with her magic. Sugar Belle then started to bash Iron Will in the head over and over with the tray, making sure that he would really feel every single hit.

Meanwhile, Discorded Whooves was chasing down the earth pony stallion. The pony was pretty fast as he ran away from the Doctor, avoiding each of the mechanical arms. Eventually, Discorded Whooves got tired of chasing the stallion, so he used all four of his arms to launch himself into the air like a jumping spider. The stallion stopped and turned around, confused as to where the Doctor could have gone. His inner thoughts were quickly responded to when Discorded Whooves landed right behind him and used his upper right arm to pin the pony down to the ground. The stallion did his best to break free and push the arm off of his back, but his efforts were shattered when Discorded Whooves used a large spike on his upper left arm to stab the stallion in the back of the head, killing him instantly.

Discorded Whooves laughed at his little victory as he picked up the body of the earth pony and examined it. After tossing the body to the side, Discorded Whooves turned his attention to where Iron Will and Sugar Belle were having their little brawl inside the bakery. Discorded Whooves was rather curious to see how this simple unicorn would fare against the angry minotaur, so he decided to go and watch the fight from outside the building.

Meanwhile, Sugar Belle continued to hit Iron Will over the head with her display tray. That was until the tray had accidentally torn the cloth off of Iron Will’s horns. Iron Will shoved Sugar Belle away from him as he stood up and used whatever was left of the cloth to clean his face.

“GRRR! Bakery Pony humiliated Iron Will! Now Iron Will crush you!” Iron Will roared as he charged towards Sugar Belle.

Sugar Belle thought fast as she quickly grabbed a wooden spoon with her mouth and then dove underneath Iron Will. Sugar Belle was lucky to have avoided getting crushed, however she was devastated when she watched Iron Will smash right into the display case that Big Macintosh had fixed up and improved for her a while back, destroying it. Enraged by this, Sugar Belle chucked the spoon at Iron Will, hitting him in the face as he turned to face her. Iron Will shook the pain away quickly as he ran towards Sugar Belle, who leaped out of the building just in time. Iron Will followed quickly as he raised his fist in the air and brought it down towards Sugar Belle. Thankfully Iron Will had overshot his aim and barely missed his target, seemingly causing his gauntlet to be jammed into the ground. Sugar Belle took this opportunity to run up to Iron Will and started punching him in the face. Iron Will grinned as he suddenly pulled his fist out of the ground with relative ease before grabbing Sugar Belle.

“Got you!” Iron Will yelled as he clamped his fingers tightly around Sugar Belle’s body.

“NO! Let me go!” Sugar Belle yelled as she tried to break free from Iron Will’s grip.

“Now Iron Will shall crush you!” Iron Will yelled as he started to squeeze Sugar Belle with the intent of crushing her to death.

Sugar Belle was immediately hit with the feeling of her body being squeezed like the way a large snake would constrict its prey. She knew it was only a matter of time before she was crushed to death and there was nothing she could do. She wasn’t strong enough in terms of physical strength or magical strength to escape from the deadly grip of this monstrous minotaur. Sugar Belle’s head was suddenly filled with images of her whole life and her most precious memories. She knew the end was near and she closed her eyes, ready to accept death. However, before death could take her, Sugar Belle heard a voice.

“Iron Will! Let her go!” Discorded Whooves ordered as the arms carried him closer to the minotaur.

“What!? Why!?” Iron Will asked, just barely loosening his grip around Sugar Belle.

“This unicorn has just shown me that she is tough enough to take on a whole minotaur. Therefore, she will be one of our hostages.” Discorded Whooves said.

“But, but-.” Iron Will said before he was quickly brushed off.

“Take her to the other two and guard them, will you? Thank you.” Discorded Whooves said, pointing to where Double Diamond and Night Glider were still laying before he walked off to finish off the rest of the survivors.

“You are lucky that Doctor spared you! Iron Will was not going to.” Iron Will said as he glared into Sugar Belle’s eyes.

Sugar Belle said nothing as she looked on in horror as Discorded Whooves made his way to the others.

The two remaining unicorns were still blasting at the Flim Flam brothers, who made no effort to come out in the open. Eventually, one of the unicorns decided to draw the brothers out by running out into the open. As the unicorn did this however, she was quickly snatched up by one of the mechanical arms of the Doctor. The unicorn tried to fire her magic at the Doctor, but he had angled her in a position so that no matter how much she shot off her magic, she would never hit him. The other unicorn jumped out from his cover as he started to shoot his magic at the Doctor. However, none of the beams of magic hit him as the arms blocked every single beam. While Discorded Whooves was keeping the two unicorns busy, the Flim Flam brothers saw an opportunity to finish the unicorns off.

“Quick brother! Shoot the unicorn in the Doctor’s arm!” Flim yelled as he pointed to the unicorn trapped in the arm’s grip.

“Taking the shot!” Flam responded as he fired his most powerful beam of magic at the unicorn’s face.

When the unicorn was hit in the face by Flam’s magic, she nearly went unconscious due to the sheer power from the attack. However, before she could do anything else, the spike that was in the claw of the arm that held the unicorn suddenly shot out and impaled the unicorn through the stomach. The unicorn cried out as she felt the spike pierce her stomach and then her head was grabbed by a second arm. With a loud grunt, Discorded Whooves ripped the unicorn’s head off. While this was happening, the last unicorn was still hopelessly trying to shoot the Doctor with magic, he was suddenly being shot repeatedly by Flim and Flam, who saw that he was out in the open. After being hit multiple times by the brothers’ magic, the unicorn fell to the ground in pain. Discorded Whooves quickly took care of him as he tossed the headless body of the other unicorn off of his arm and used the spike from that same arm to stab the unicorn through the side of his head, killing him instantly.

Meanwhile, Party Favor was still battling against Lightning Dust, completely unaware that he was the last pony still fighting the Rogue off. While the two ponies continued to fight each other, Lightning Dust managed to catch sight of Discorded Whooves, slowly making his way over to them. Lightning Dust grinned as she knew he was going for a surprise attack, so she kept on fighting like nothing else was going on. Party Favor kept on blasting magic at the Pegasus, but she kept dodging every single one. Eventually Lightning Dust allowed herself to get shot as she fell to the ground, pretending to be seriously injured.

“You won’t be hurting anypony else anymore.” Party Favor said as he looked down at Lightning Dust.

“(Chuckle) I guess you’re right. After all, we’re already done here. GET HIM!” Lightning Dust yelled.

“Huh? Woah!” Party Favor yelled as he was suddenly grabbed by one of the mechanical arms.

When Party Favor was snatched up by one of the arms, he tried to break free, but the arm’s grip was too strong. Discorded Whooves chuckled as he brought Party Favor closer to him, prepared to taunt him. However, before any kind of taunts or insults could be said, Party Favor landed a direct hit of magic to Discorded Whooves’s face. The Doctor yelled in pain as he dropped Party Favor to the ground. Seeing the unicorn break free, Lightning Dust flew over to him and tackled him to the ground. Lightning Dust started punching Party Favor multiple times, but he was able to break out of the assault when he blasted Lightning Dust in the face with magic, throwing her off of him. Party Favor then pinned her down to the ground as he prepared to fire one more beam of magic into her face. However, before Party Favor could use his magic, he was grabbed by the top of his head by one of the mechanical arms.

With Party Favor locked into the grip of one of arms’ claws, Discorded Whooves began to squeeze, intending to crush the unicorn’s head in. As more and more pressure was applied to his head, Party Favor tried using his magic to push the claw off of his head. The pain that was starting to surge through Party Favor’s body was intense and he started to yell in desperation, trying with all of his might to break free, all while Discorded Whooves stared down at him with a grin. A few agonizing moments later, the claw around Party Favor’s head and horn tightened as hard as it could and then there was a mini explosion that sent Discorded Whooves stumbling back a bit and Party Favor fell to the floor. As Party Favor recovered from the blast, he stood up and felt immense pain in his head, specifically around his horn. Instinctively Party Favor started to feel his horn and the moment he did, he realized something terrible. His horn had been destroyed by the explosion. Now, only helpless sparks came out of Party Favor’s horn, or whatever was left of it.

Discorded Whooves chuckled as he walked over to Party Favor and picked him up with one of the arms. Once he had brought the hornless unicorn closer to him, he smiled in a psychotic way.

“(Chuckle) You know, I intended to kill you. But seeing that you are now a unicorn without a horn, I think I will keep you alive. That way, you will suffer for the rest of your miserable life. Come, your friends are waiting for you.” Discorded Whooves said as he carried a defeated Party Favor to where Double Diamond, Night Glider, and Sugar Belle were being watched over by Iron Will.

When Discorded Whooves reached the remaining ponies of the village, he tossed Party Favor on the ground in front of them. Party Favor hit the floor hard as he slid up next to his friends.

“(Chuckle) The whole gang is back together again.” Discorded Whooves said as he stared down at the surviving ponies.

“You monsters!” Double Diamond yelled as he tried to stand. “You’ll pay for what you have done here! GAH!” Double Diamond yelled as he was sent shot in the side by Flim’s magic.

“Oh, shut up, will you? You’ve already lost.” Flim said with a laugh.

“We may have lost, but you’ll all be sorry when Twilight and her friends hear about this! Especially Starlight!” Night Glider yelled as she winced in pain.

“Yeah! Just you all wait until they show up!” Sugar Belle yelled.

“Trust me, that’s exactly what we want.” Lightning Dust said as she kicked dust into Sugar Belle’s face.

“That was the whole point of this attack after all. You see, the plan was to attack this village, leave a couple ponies alive to use as hostages, and then use the hostages to lure Twilight and her friends here.” Flam explained.

“It doesn’t matter what your plan was! We’ll never trick Twilight and the others to walk into your trap!” Double Diamond yelled.

“(Chuckle) Oh, really?” Discorded Whooves asked as he brought one of the mechanical arms close to the ponies and made it open and shut in a threatening matter. “We will see about that. Why don’t you all tell me, are there any more survivors?”

“What do you think!? You’ve killed all of us! The whole town is dead! There are no more survivors!” Night Glider yelled.

“She’s lying. I saw that pony lead a group of fillies and colts into that building over there.” Lightning Dust said as she first pointed to Sugar Belle and then to the building where Sugar Belle had kept the children hidden.

“Oh? Is that true?” Discorded Whooves asked in a sadistic way.

“NO! You would never hurt those fillies and colts! You wouldn’t!” Sugar Belle cried.

“(Evil Chuckle) I would.” Discorded Whooves replied as he grinned at the ponies. “Unless you do exactly what we say.”

“Okay, fine! We’ll do whatever you want! Just don’t hurt the children!” Double Diamond yelled.

“(Evil Chuckle) Very good. Now, just to make sure our message is clear.” Discorded Whooves said as he suddenly stabbed Party Favor in the chest with the spike on his right arm.

“NO!” Everypony cried as Party Favor was suddenly stabbed.

“I’ve changed my mind about you. I think we can mange with three surviving members.” Discorded Whooves said as he pulled the spike out of Party Favor’s chest.

“Party Favor, no!” Sugar Belle cried as she held him in her hooves.

“Come on, buddy! Stay with us!” Double Diamond said as he tried to tend to Party Favor’s wound.

“(Cough) It’s… no use… I’m not gonna make it…” Party Favor said as he coughed up blood.

“You can’t die! Come on, stay strong!” Night Glider pleaded as she held onto Party Favor’s hoof.

“I’m… so glad… to have met you guys… I’m so happy that we… were… friends…” Party Favor said as he gave his best friends one last smile before finally succumbing to his wounds and died.

As Party Favor died in the arms of his best friends, everypony started to cry as they just held onto his body. The death of Party Favor, as well as the destruction of the town finally broke all of them. All of the anger and hatred that the ponies had for the Rogue was gone; replaced by sadness and helplessness. They had all failed to protect their home from these monsters. While the three remaining friends just cried in each other’s hooves, the Rogue turned their attention to Professor Screw, who was walking over to them.

“The attack is finished, yes?” Professor Screw asked as he looked at the Rogue.

“What does it look like? Of course, it is finished.” Discorded Whooves said as he gestured to the rest of the village.

“Very good. In that case, we will wait here until morning. When the time is right, I will cast a spell and you will deliver your message to the ponies of Ponyville.” Professor Screw said.

“(Chuckle) Oh those ponies are going to be in for a surprise.” Discorded Whooves said as he and the rest of Rogue all laughed together, each member excited for the next day when they would finally get to face off against the Mane Six.

Ponyville, The Next Morning…

Twilight was pacing back and forth once again as she was now waiting for the arrival of the Royal Sisters as well as Princess Cadance. Starlight watched as Twilight sat down and started to breathe heavily.

“Oh, I really hope the princesses get here soon.” Twilight said as Starlight walked up to her and placed a hoof on her shoulder.

“Don’t worry, Twilight. They’ll be here soon.” Starlight said, reassuring her friend.

“Thanks, Starlight. I’ve just been a bit on edge since yesterday, you know.” Twilight said as she calmed down a little.

“I understand. So, what exactly are you going to talk about with the princesses?” Starlight asked.

“Well, of course I’m going to tell them everything we saw in Appleloosa after it was attacked. But I’m also going to tell them about the ones responsible for the attack. It just doesn’t add up that they would be the ones to do something so horrible.” Twilight said.

“I can see what you mean. I may not have known them for long, but I can agree that no pony just does something evil for no reason. Even I had my reasons for doing those horrible things that I did before you reformed me.” Starlight said.

“Maybe the other princesses can help me find out what is-.” Twilight said before Spike poked his head into the room.

“Twilight, they’re here.” Spike said, catching the alicorn’s attention.

“Oh good, come on, let’s go.” Twilight said as they all went to greet the princesses.

At the entrance to Twilight’s castle, stood Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadance. Celestia and Luna had arrived in their royal carriages and Cadance had taken the train from the Crystal Empire to Ponyville. Twilight quickly opened up her doors with her magic and gestured for the princesses to come inside.

“I’m so glad you all came.” Twilight said.

“Of course, we did, Twilight.” Cadance said as she gave a smile to her sister-in-law. “I wish we could be seeing each other under friendly circumstances, but we have something very important to discuss.”

“That is right, Cadance.” Celestia said as she then turned to the royal guards who had come with her and Luna. “Guards, wait here until our meeting is finished. Make sure we are not disturbed.”

“Yes, Princess Celestia.” the four royal Canterlot guards said as they took their posts around the entrance to Twilight’s castle.

“The same order goes for you two.” Cadance said to the two royal guards who had accompanied her.

“Yes, Princess Cadance.” the two royal Crystal Empire guards said as they joined up with the Canterlot guards.

“I believe the room with the Cutie Map will be a good place to have our discussion.” Celestia said, turning back to Twilight.

“Oh, y-yes, of course! Right this way.” Twilight said as she led the princesses to the Cutie Map room.

As Celestia and Cadance entered the Cutie Map room, Luna turned back to face Starlight and Spike.

“We suggest that you remain out here. This is a matter between us princesses. We hope no offense is taken.” Luna said.

“Don’t worry, Princess Luna. We understand.” Starlight said.

“Yeah, no offense taken. We’ll wait here.” Spike added with a thumbs up.

Luna gave Starlight and Spike a nod and a smile as she walked into the room, using her magic to shut the door behind her. Twilight was sitting on her throne that had her cutie mark, Celestia sat across from her, and Cadance sat on the right side of the table. Luna took her spot across from Cadance. Once all the princesses were seated, Celestia spoke up.

“Now, Twilight, if you are ready, we would like to hear exactly what happened in Appleloosa.” Celestia said, looking at Twilight with a comforting yet serious look.

“We understand if this is difficult to talk about, but it is very important that we know everything about this tragic event.” Luna added, giving Twilight the same look that her sister had given her.

“There’s no need to rush, Twilight. Take your time if you have to, this is a safe place.” Cadance said, giving her a comforting smile.

Twilight nodded as she took a couple seconds to compose herself before taking a deep breath and then began to tell the princesses everything. She told them about the destruction of Appleloosa; the buildings and homes that were completely destroyed and practically beyond repair. She told them about the bodies. The bodies of many poor innocent townsponies who had been killed in the attack. The state that Twilight described some of the bodies was horrific. Ponies that had their heads cut off or smashed in by falling debris, legs being chopped off or crushed, stomachs being opened up with intestines and guts spilled out. It was far worse than the princesses could ever imagine.

Eventually, Cadance had to stop Twilight from going any further as she could tell Twilight was on the verge of either vomiting or suffering from a panic attack. While Cadance did her best to calm her sister-in-law down, Celestia and Luna looked at each other with very concerned looks. Once Twilight had calmed down, she then started to tell them about the villains responsible for these heinous acts. When Twilight mentioned who had attacked Appleloosa, the princesses were taken by surprise.

“So, you’re saying it was Doctor Whooves, Lightning Dust, Iron Will, and the Flim Flam brothers that attacked Appleloosa, Twilight?” Celestia asked, wondering if she had heard her correctly.

“Yes, Princess. At least according to what Braeburn and Capper told us.” Twilight replied.

“And this Doctor Whooves was acting as the leader of the attack?” Luna asked.

“That’s right.” Twilight said with a nod.

“Hold on, you mean the same Doctor Whooves that is in love with Derpy Hooves?” Cadance asked.

“Yes. Wait, how do you know that?” Twilight asked.

“I’m the Princess of Love, Twilight. During the few times I have seen or spoken to Doctor Whooves, I could feel the love he had for Derpy. But that’s not important right now. I’m not sure about the others, but it’s hard for me to believe that Doctor Whooves would do something like this.” Cadance said.

“That’s what I thought too. It just doesn’t add up. I can honestly say the same for the others that took part in the attack.” Twilight said.

“It is a rather drastic change in activity for these troublemakers. To go from being a simple nuisance to committing acts of murder is very concerning.” Luna said.

“It’s been eating away at me ever since I got back from Appleloosa. It got me thinking, what if there’s more to this whole story? I’m not one hundred percent sure about it yet, but I have a feeling that somepony else is behind all of this.” Twilight said.

“It is possible, yes. Even if these troublemakers aren’t being mind-controlled, ponies can still be manipulated to do horrible things. Tirek and Cozy Glow are locked up in Tartarus, however there is one villain who is still out there.” Celestia said.

“Queen Chrysalis.” Twilight said, catching onto what Celestia was implying.

“It would make the most sense. Chrysalis would want to get her revenge for losing her hive and her whole army.” Cadance said.

“True, but no pony has seen or heard from Chrysalis since she lost her hive. Where would we even begin to look?” Twilight asked.

“We are not sure, but when we return to Canterlot, we will send scouts to search Equestria to try and find Chrysalis.” Luna said.

“I’ll have Shining send some scouts as well. Equestria is massive and it will take some time, but sooner or later, Chrysalis will be found.” Cadance said.

“Of course, we will also make sure to search for these troublemakers that attacked Appleloosa. We can only hope that they don’t cause any more harm to Equestria before we find them.” Celestia said.

“Until things get better, I’ve arranged for the survivors of Appleloosa to stay in Ponyville. There’s plenty of rooms at the hotel and some ponies have even offered to let some of the survivors move in with them in guestrooms free of charge.” Twilight said.

“That is very good, Twilight. I am very proud to hear that you are doing your best to help these ponies during this time of panic. You really have come a long way since-.” Celestia said before the doors opened, revealing one of the guard ponies.

“Forgive me for the intrusion, your highnesses. But there are a group of ponies outside that need to speak with Princess Twilight Sparkle.” The guard said, bowing to the princesses.

“O-Oh, well can you please tell them that I’m kind of in the middle of an important meeting?” Twilight asked.

“They say it’s an emergency. I’m not sure what it is, but something is happening in the skies above Ponyville’s Town Hall.” The guard said.

“What!?” Twilight cried, her wings suddenly flaring.

“Guard, let the ponies in and then go gather up the other guards and make sure everypony is safe.” Celestia ordered as she stood from her seat.

“Yes, your highness.” the guard said as he bowed and quickly left the room.

No sooner did the guard leave the room than the sound of Rainbow Dash’s voice could be heard getting closer and louder.

“Twilight!” Rainbow Dash cried as she flew into the room, quickly followed by the rest of her friends. “You gotta come see this!”

“What’s going on, everypony? What’s happening?” Twilight asked.

“We don’t know for sure, but while you were having your meeting, something strange just started happening in the sky.” Applejack said.

“Yeah! At first, we thought it was just a simple mistake made on the Weather Team’s part or something. But then there was a lot of lightning and stuff showing up in the sky! It kind of looks like the work of twittermites but this is so much worse!” Pinkie Pie cried.

“Everypony is already gathered around the town hall, we’re terribly worried that something really bad is about to happen.” Rarity said.

“Twilight, we will continue this discussion later. For now, it is best if we investigate this matter.” Celestia said.

“Y-Yes! Of course! Come on, let’s go!” Twilight said as she and everypony else quickly left the castle and headed for town hall.

As everypony made their way to the town hall, Twilight saw what was causing so much panic. Right above the building, there were five orbs of lightning floating around in a circle, each one connected by strings of electricity. Sparks were bursting out from each orb, though thankfully no damage was being done to Ponyville. It seemed like the whole town was there as they stared up at the massive lightning orbs in the sky. Mayor Mare spotted Twilight and the rest of her friends approaching and quickly rushed over to them.

“Oh, thank goodness you’re here!” Mayor Mare said. “We have no idea what is happening, but it certainly does not look good.”

“Don’t worry Mayor Mare. We’ll figure out what is happening.” Twilight said as she turned to Celestia. “Princess, do you know what that is?”

“I can’t say that I do, Twilight. But one thing for sure, we cannot allow this phenomenon to stay here.” Celestia said.

“Why don’t we all use our magic on those orbs? Maybe all of our powers together can put a stop to this.” Cadance suggested.

“That could work. Very good idea, Cadance.” Luna said as she turned to everypony else. “Citizens! Stand back! Your Princesses of Equestria shall try and get rid of this problem that is plaguing Ponyville!” Luna shouted, using the Royal Canterlot Voice as everypony else stepped back.

The four princesses all gave each other a confirming nod as they stood together and faced the five orbs in the sky. One by one, each of the alicorns charged up their horns with magic and once they were ready, fired four beams of magic towards the orbs. As the princesses’ magic hit each of the orbs, there was a brief moment where the magic and the orbs seemed to be mixing together in a strange way before small waves of energy burst from the orbs. Whatever this energy was, it cancelled out the magic of the princesses.

“Wh-What!? What happened!?” Twilight cried, shocked that her magic, along with the other princesses’ magic had been cancelled out.

“Whatever those orbs are, it seems that our magic is ineffective against them.” Luna said as she rubbed at her horn.

“No matter, we will simply try again. Stand together!” Celestia said.

“Wait! Something is happening to the orbs! Look!” Cadance said as she pointed to the orbs.

Initially the five orbs had been floating in a circular motion, with small bursts of electricity shooting out from each one. Now, the speed at which the orbs were circling each other was getting faster and faster. Along with the increased speed of the orbs, it was also clear that the orbs were now getting closer and closer to each other. The closer the orbs got, the more powerful the bursts of electricity would become. Greatly concerned that the orbs would cause an explosion once they collided with each other, Celestia, Luna, and Cadance used their magic to create a large shield over the citizens of Ponyville.

When the orbs finally did collide with each other, they merged together, creating an even bigger orb. The orb started spinning around at an extremely high speed and more bursts of electricity started shooting out. The sound of electricity being charged up could be heard as it seemed an explosion was now imminent. The charging noise grew louder and louder. As soon as it seemed like the orb was about to explode, it did, however it wasn’t an explosion of lightning or anything dangerous. Instead, when the orb exploded, only a huge burst of light was emitted. Once the light had faded away, there was a huge image in the sky. It was like the way a projector would display an image on a school board. As the image started to become more visible, everypony could now see that the projection of a pony was being displayed in the sky.

For the first couple of moments, no pony could tell who this pony in the sky was. But when the sight of four long mechanical arms could be seen, everypony realized who this was.

“Oh my! Is that…?” Mayor Mare asked as she looked up at the pony in the sky.

“Don’t tell me that’s…” Applejack said as she took a step back.

“D-Doctor… Whooves?” Twilight asked as she was filled with surprise as Doctor Whooves looked down at the citizens of Ponyville and smiled, as if he could clearly see them.

“(Chuckle) Hello, Ponyville… miss me? GAHAHAHAHA AHAHAHA!” Discorded Whooves asked as he laughed at the ponies, all while everypony else had horrified looks on their faces.

Author's Note

The Rogue have really been causing a lot of trouble in Equestria! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I'm super excited to write the next chapter because Twilight and her friends are finally going to meet up with the villains! Hope to see you all in the next chapter!

Who is Professor Screw?

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Yaket Range…

Twilight found herself standing in the mountains of the Yaket Range. The wind blew furiously, and the snow fell heavily. A cold chill ran up Twilight’s spine as her body was suddenly exposed to the sudden shift in temperature. The snow that had already decorated the mountains was up to Twilight’s knees. Despite the extreme cold, Twilight looked around as she tried to find the Professor. Twilight panicked as she couldn’t find any signs of life on the mountain until she heard a chuckle come from behind her. Twilight turned around and watched as Professor Screw slowly began to come into view, almost as if he was materializing.

“I apologize I could not bring us somewhere warmer, but I’m sure that is not important to you.” Professor Screw said as he grinned at Twilight.

Even though the wind was howling so loudly, Professor Screw spoke in at a normal volume. Despite this, Twilight somehow still found herself able to hear every word he spoke.

“You told us that you’ve been alive for more than a thousand years!” Twilight yelled; the wind was so loud she could barely hear her own voice. “The only way that could be possible is if you didn’t disappear with the Crystal Empire! If that is true, how are you still alive!?”

“You’re quite right, Princess Twilight.” Professor Screw said with a nod. “By your logic, I should have died a long time ago. The reason I am still alive is because of King Sombra.”

“King Sombra!?” Twilight cried, shocked to hear the name of the evil tyrant.

“That’s right. A long time ago, during King Sombra’s first attempt to take over the Crystal Empire, he put a curse on me so that, in the simplest of terms, my aging process would pause until the Empire returned. Now that the Crystal Empire has returned, my aging process has resumed.” Professor Screw explained.

“But why would King Sombra put a curse on you!?” Twilight asked.

“Well, it wasn’t necessarily a curse, but it all depends on how you look at it. On one hoof, it’s a blessing to be able to live for over a thousand years. It gave me plenty of time to practice and experiment with dark magic. On the other hoof however, it can get quite lonely and dull being alive for so long.” Professor Screw said.

“That’s not what I asked you! Why did Sombra curse you!?” Twilight yelled, flaring her wings in anger.

“His majesty told me that it was necessary for the future.” Professor Screw replied.

“His majesty? Sounds like you were loyal to him!” Twilight yelled, pointing a hoof at him.

“(Chuckle) I suppose you could say that.” Professor Screw said.

“Why would you be loyal to somepony as evil as King Sombra!? You just said he put a curse on you!” Twilight cried.

“You could never understand, Princess Twilight! His majesty was the only one who understood me!” Professor Screw yelled, his demeanor changing to an angrier one before quickly reverting back to his calm and content attitude. “As much as I’d love to talk more about my past with you, I believe it is time we moved on to the field test.”

“Field test? What field test!?” Twilight asked suspiciously.

“A field test in which I get a taste of just how powerful you are. I waited for over a thousand years for my master’s return! Because of your leadership, my master is gone! Think of this as my revenge!” Professor Screw yelled as he fired a beam of magic at Twilight.

Twilight quickly took off into the air, avoiding the magic beam. With Twilight dodging the attack, Professor Screw fired another beam of magic, however this one wasn’t a single blast. Instead, it acted more like a laser beam as it followed Twilight around while she remained in the air. As Twilight kept flying away from the beam of magic, she decided to fire back with her own magic. Seeing that Twilight was about to shoot her magic at him, the Professor just grinned as he muttered something under his breath. Just as Twilight shot magic from her horn, the Professor’s body started to become encased in a coating of bright yellow light. As soon as Twilight’s magic hit Professor Screw in the side, her magic just bounced off of the Professor’s body.

“Huh!? What!?” Twilight cried, completely shocked by what just happened.

“(Chuckle) It won’t be that easy, Princess Twilight!” Professor Screw yelled as he amplified the strength of his magic.

As Twilight kept dodging the Professor’s magic, she thought about what kind of spell the Professor could have been using. She had an idea of which spell it was, but Twilight needed to be sure before she tried anything too risky. Twilight kept firing her magic, even though it never seemed to do any damage whatsoever. The Professor was confused by this as he had figured that Twilight would have been smarter than that. Nevertheless, Twilight and the Professor continued to engage in their magic duel.

Meanwhile, in Starlight Glimmer’s old village…

While Twilight and Professor Screw were battling in the mountains, the Mane Five were busy dealing with Discorded Whooves. Rarity fired a beam of magic at the Doctor, only for one of the mechanical arms to block it. Applejack charged ahead as she tried to grab onto one of the lower arms, however she was caught by one of the arms and then thrown right into Rarity. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flew in from the sides, but before they could reach the Doctor, the two upper arms reached out at the last second and grabbed ahold of both of them. Discorded Whooves activated the electricity field on the upper arms, electrocuting both of the pegasi before he tossed them to the ground. Pinkie Pie pulled a baby blue plastic egg out of her mane and threw it at the Doctor, causing it to explode, revealing the contents inside of the egg.

“Argh! What is this!?” Discorded Whooves yelled as he found himself coated in extremely sticky bubble gum.

With the Doctor distracted, Pinkie Pie jumped up and started punching him in the face while she somehow kept herself in midair. After a few good punches, Pinkie Pie pulled out a long rainbow-colored rope from her mane and lassoed up one of the upper arms. With the arm tied up, Pinkie Pie yanked the rope down and slammed the still electrified arm into the Doctor’s chest, electrocuting him with his own mechanical arm. Discorded Whooves yelled in pain as Pinkie Pie quickly jumped away from him. She didn’t get far however as one of the lower arms reached out and grabbed Pinkie Pie before throwing her to the side. Discorded Whooves was about to run over and finish Pinkie Pie off, but he was suddenly struck in the back of the head by Rainbow Dash.

Discorded Whooves turned around and tried to grab Rainbow Dash with one of the arms, but she was able to fly past it as she started kicking him in the face. After a few kicks, Rainbow Dash tried to fly off so she could perform another aerial attack, but her leg was grabbed by one of the arms and she was slammed down hard on the floor. Rainbow Dash was then lifted up into the air by her leg as the Doctor started to swing her around so fast that the speedster was actually starting to get dizzy. Just as the Doctor was about to slam Rainbow to the ground again, he was caught off guard when Fluttershy suddenly latched herself onto him, locking him in her Stare. Seeing this, Rainbow Dash managed to kick the arm, forcing it to let go of her leg as she flew in to try and press the button to release the Doctor from the harness. Before Rainbow Dash made it, Fluttershy was grabbed and thrown up into the air by one of the arms, allowing Discorded Whooves to turn around and smack Rainbow down to the ground with another arm.

Fluttershy managed to recover herself as she flew down towards the Doctor. One of the arms saw Fluttershy approaching, and they quickly alerted their master. Discorded Whooves looked up and sent two of the arms to try and grab Fluttershy, but she was able to dodge both of them as she backhoofed the Doctor in the face. Fluttershy tried to press the button, but she quickly flew away as she was almost grabbed by one of the arms. As Fluttershy stayed in the air, Rarity had gotten up and she fired a beam of magic at the Doctor, hitting his back. Discorded Whooves turned around and shifted his attention towards the unicorn. Meanwhile, Fluttershy flew in to try and press the button but one of the arms popped up in front of her and then a flash of bright light was suddenly emitted from the claw, temporarily blinding Fluttershy. This allowed the arm to grab ahold of Fluttershy and as Rarity fired another beam of magic, the arm quickly shoved Fluttershy in the way of Rarity’s magic, causing her to get hit instead of the Doctor. Rarity was horrified by what she had just done, though thankfully she didn’t use too much power in her magic. Discorded Whooves then threw Fluttershy down, causing her to slam right into Rainbow Dash, who was just about to get back into the fight.

As one of the arms reached out to grab Rarity, Applejack suddenly rushed in and jumped onto the arm, preventing it from grabbing her friend. The arm then started to try and shake Applejack off, but the farmer had a very good grip. While Applejack wrestled with one of the arms, Discorded Whooves tried to use the other upper arm to electrocute Applejack. Rarity stopped this from happening as she used her magic to hold back the arm. She then used her magic to slam the electrified arm into the Doctor’s chest, electrocuting him. While the Doctor was being electrocuted, Applejack leapt over and landed on his back. Once again, before the button was pressed, one of the lower arms reached up and grabbed ahold of Applejack before throwing her into Rarity. Having been electrocuted by his own arms twice now, Discorded Whooves decided that he wouldn’t use the electricity field anymore unless he was absolutely positive it would work and not backfire against him.

Just as Discorded Whooves was about to attack Applejack and Rarity, Pinkie Pie jumped on his back and electrocuted him with her joy buzzer. The surprise attack didn’t last long as one of the lower arms grabbed Pinkie Pie and threw her over to the rest of her friends. Seeing that the Mane Five had seemingly been defeated, Discorded Whooves started to chuckle a bit, relishing his victory.

“(Evil Chuckle) What? That’s it? HA! It was to be expected! With these arms and my intellect, I am unstoppable! Mwahahaha!” Discorded Whooves yelled

While Discorded Whooves continued to laugh, Applejack looked up at the four arms, and then thought up a plan on how to successfully get the Doctor out of the harness.

“Alright y’all, listen up; I’ve got a plan on how we can get Doctor Whooves away from those darn arms.” Applejack said.

“Well spit it out already, AJ. He’s not going to keep gloating forever.” Rainbow Dash said.

“Well as long as all four of those arms are moving around like a bunch of snakes, we ain’t gonna get near the harness. Here’s the plan; Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, you two keep the Doctor busy until I give the signal.” Applejack said to the two pegasi.

“Got it.” Rainbow Dash said with a firm nod.

“Um, okay.” Fluttershy said with a less enthusiastic nod.

“Rarity, I saw you hold back one of them arms with your magic, when I give the signal, you keep the top left arm as still as you can.” Applejack said.

“Of course, darling.” Rarity replied with a nod.

“Good, I’ll go get some more rope and I’ll lasso up the top right arm.” Applejack said before Pinkie Pie tossed her a bright green rope. “What the? Where’d y’all get this from?”

“So, what do I do, Applejack?” Pinkie Pie asked with a smile.

“Right… A-Anyway, Pinkie, do you think you can handle the two bottom arms?” Applejack asked.

“Oh, don’t you worry, Applejack! I’ll take care of it, no problem.” Pinkie Pie replied with a confident smile and a salute.

“Alrighty then.” Applejack said as she turned back to the pegasi. “Fluttershy, once we got all the arms out of the way, you use your Stare on the Doctor and Rainbow Dash, you get the Doctor out of that harness.”

“Whatever plan the five of you are making, it won’t work! YAH!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he sent one of the arms out to try and grab one of the ponies.

“Oh yeah!? We’ll see about that! Come on, Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she flew towards the Doctor, with Fluttershy following close behind her.

Meanwhile, back in the Yaket Range…

Nearly the entire time Twilight and Professor Screw had been battling. Twilight had stayed up in the air, putting a good amount of distance between herself and the Professor. By now, Twilight had fired almost every single long range magic attack she had at the Professor and none of the spells had any effect on him. After mentally gathering up the results from these tests, Twilight was able to confirm that her earlier suspicions were in fact correct. Now armed with a strategy, Twilight began to fly closer to the Professor, while still firing her magic at him.

“I can tell by the look in your eyes that you have a plan, Princess Twilight. Sorry to tell you, but it will not work against me!” Professor Screw said as he suddenly teleported up in the air right in front of Twilight.

Thinking fast, Twilight quickly placed a spell on herself that would nullify the effects of magic used against her. It was a good thing she did, as seconds later, Professor Screw blasted Twilight with a powerful lightning spell, electrocuting her and causing her to fall to the ground. As Twilight landed in the snow, her body still recovering from the electric shock, Professor Screw teleported himself a couple feet in front of her.

“What exactly was your plan, Princess Twilight? I could tell that you were up to something.” Professor Screw said as he looked down at the alicorn.

“(Exhale) I know what spell you’re using on yourself.” Twilight said as she lifted her head up to look at the Professor. “The Perfect Shield Spell. One of two very special defense spells created by Star Swirl the Bearded. The other being the Perfect Armor Spell. The Perfect Shield Spell grants the user almost near invulnerability against any attack that is magic based. The Perfect Armor Spell grants the user near invulnerability against any attack that requires physical contact.”

“(Chuckle) Well done. Tell me, how exactly did you figure it out?” Professor Screw asked.

“There are many different kinds of spells that can be used to defend oneself from magic attacks, but the Perfect Shield Spell can protect the user from almost every spell in existence. I just used every spell I had and when enough of them didn’t work, I was able to work out that it was the Perfect Shield Spell that you were using.” Twilight explained as she stood back up.

“(Chuckle) You are quite the pony, Princess Twilight. (Chuckle) I’m sure if his majesty was still around today, he’d most certainly want to meet you.” Professor Screw said.

“While the Perfect Shield and Perfect Armor spells are indeed very effective and useful in a battle, they both have two very notable drawbacks.” Twilight said, completely ignoring what the Professor had said.

“Oh, and what would those be?” Professor Screw asked, tilting his head in amusement.

“No pony can use both spells at the same time, not even Star Swirl. While it is not impossible, any attempt to use both spells at once will result in extreme physical pain as well as a severe risk of damaging one’s horn.” Twilight said.

“And what of the second drawback?” Professor Screw asked.

“Despite how powerful the Perfect Shield Spell is,” Twilight said before she suddenly teleported right in front of the Professor and punched him in the face, disabling his Perfect Shield Spell. “Any attack used against the caster that is non-magic based, will immediately cancel out the spell.” Twilight said as she fired a beam of magic at the Professor, causing him to fall on his side.

As the Professor fell down, Twilight flew over to him and lifted him up with her magic before tossing him into a deeper pile of snow. This didn’t keep the Professor trapped long however as he just used a fire spell to melt the snow away, freeing himself from the snowbank. The moment Professor Screw broke out of the snowbank, he was tackled to the ground by Twilight. Twilight only managed to get a single punch in before the Professor teleported above her and fired magic at her. Twilight quickly rolled out of the way and took off into the air before the attack hit her. Not even ten seconds after Twilight had escaped, the Professor fired another lightning spell at Twilight, hitting her in the back of the head and causing her to fall to the ground. As Twilight landed on the ground, she was hit in the side of the head by another magic attack, knocking her tiara off of her head.

“No!” Twilight cried as she saw Professor Screw teleport in front of her tiara.

“(Chuckle) Don’t mind if I do.” Professor Screw said as he picked up the tiara with his magic. “I believe this will make a fine trophy when I-Huh!? Where did you go!?” Professor Screw asked as he saw Twilight had disappeared.

While Professor Screw looked around for Twilight, he felt the ground below him shift a bit. The Professor looked down and was instantly uppercutted by Twilight, who had shot out of the ground after teleporting herself below the Professor. Twilight snatched her tiara away from the Professor and used a spell that would keep her tiara firmly planted on her head. Twilight then flew over and tackled the Professor, punching him in the face before she charged up a powerful spell and blasted her magic at the Professor, sending him flying back into the snow. With the Professor down, Twilight teleported herself over to him, placing a spell on him.

“It’s over, Professor, you can’t break out of this spell.” Twilight said as she looked down at the Professor.

“Heh, a paralyzing spell… clever.” Professor Screw said with a chuckle.

“You’ve clearly shown that you have an incredible knowledge of magic. Because of this, I refuse to believe that Doctor Whooves is in charge of the Rogue and not you.” Twilight said.

“Believe what you want Princess Twilight. But you’re right, I am much more powerful than Doctor Whooves could ever dream of being. Especially since I am the reason that he is the way he is now.” Professor Screw said with a smile.

“Wh-What!?” Twilight cried.

“Allow me to explain, as you are keenly aware, I am very talented with magic. I even have the power to travel to other worlds.” Professor Screw said.

“You have that kind of power? The power to travel to different universes?” Twilight asked, completely shocked by just how powerful this pony was.

“(Chuckle) Indeed I do. Using this power, I traveled to a different universe, found another Doctor Whooves, killed him, then captured his life essence, and then I planted the life essence into your, Doctor Whooves. He is trapped in his own body and in his place, the other Doctor Whooves has control.” Professor Screw explained.

“Tell me how to reverse this!” Twilight yelled.

“(Chuckle) Unfortunately, I believe we are out of time. I’ve gathered enough information from you, Princess Twilight. Let us return to your friends.” Professor Screw said as his horn lit up with magic before he and Twilight teleported away.

Meanwhile, back in Starlight Glimmer’s old village…

While Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were keeping Discorded Whooves and his mechanical arms distracted, the rest of the Mane Five waited for Applejack’s signal. Rainbow Dash had mostly been fighting off against the arms while Fluttershy stuck to dodging the arms. As soon as the Doctor and the arms were fully distracted and solely invested in Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, Applejack gave the signal.

“ALRIGHT Y’ALL! NOW!” Applejack yelled, as the ponies sprung their attack.

While Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy continued to keep Discorded Whooves’s attention on them, Applejack and Rarity ran to opposite sides of the Doctor. Applejack used the green rope that Pinkie Pie had given her and lassoed up the upper right arm. At the same time, Rarity used her magic to hold onto the upper left arm.

“Huh!? What the!?” Discorded Whooves yelled as he found both of his upper arms restricted.

Before the Doctor could do anything, Pinkie Pie bounced over to him and pulled out two more of the baby blue eggs, throwing them at the ground between the two lower arms. Seconds later, the eggs exploded, coating the lower arms in super sticky bubble gum, restricting their movements.

“What!? No!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he tried to move the arms.

With all four arms immobilized, Fluttershy flew over to the Doctor and caught him in her Stare, paralyzing him. Now with the Doctor unable to do anything, Rainbow Dash flew over and landed on his back, pressing the button on the harness. The harness then opened and Discorded Whooves almost fell to the ground, but Rainbow Dash grabbed ahold of him.

“You’re out of here, Doc!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she threw Discorded Whooves away from the arms and onto the ground.

With the Doctor out of the harness, the arms suddenly went completely limp and once the Mane Five released them, they fell to the floor. With the arms dealt with, the Mane Five rushed over to Discorded Whooves, who was wincing in pain after he had hit the floor hard. The Doctor coughed a couple times before he looked up at the Mane Five.

“It’s over, Doctor Whooves.” Rainbow Dash said as she looked down at him.

“(Cough) (Chuckle) Not bad, for a bunch of mares.” Discorded Whooves said.

“I think it’s time we had a talk, Doc.” Applejack said as she used the rope from earlier to tie up Discorded Whooves, preventing him flying away. “You told us that you’re a different Doctor Whooves from another world taking control of our Doctor Whooves’s body. What world did you come from?”

“Oh, trust me ladies, you don’t want to know.” Discorded Whooves said.

“As a matter of fact, we do want to know. I’m sure we’re all very curious as to what kind of world has ponies as wicked as you are.” Rarity said.

“Wicked!? Everything I ever did was all necessary to save my world!” Discorded Whooves yelled.

“Was killing all of those ponies in this village and Appleloosa necessary!? Was turning those guys into your murderous minions necessary!?” Rainbow Dash yelled, pointing towards the rest of the Rogue while holding back the urge to hit him.

“You could never understand; none of you could! You don’t know what I’ve been through! The things I’ve seen!” Discorded Whooves yelled.

“It don’t matter what you’ve been through, Doc. It ain’t an excuse to go around doing the things y’all have done.” Applejack said.

“Yeah! There’s no excuse for what you and the rest of the Sinister Six have been doing!” Pinkie Pie added before she noticed something she hadn’t seen before. “Huh? What’s that?”

The rest of the Mane Five looked to where Pinkie was pointing, and they saw what she had seen. Latched onto the right side of Discorded Whooves’s neck, was a small device with a blinking green light on its base that seemed to be hiding some kind of wound. Seeing what the ponies were looking at, Discorded Whooves freaked out.

“DON’T TOUCH THAT! GET AWAY FROM ME! ALL OF YOU!” Discorded Whooves yelled, his eyes filled with a mix of terror and fury.

While the Doctor was freaking out about the device on his neck, Fluttershy happened to glance back in the direction of the mechanical arms and when she did, she saw something that made her shudder. The arms were starting to move and get up entirely on their own, despite no pony being in the harness. The upper two arms used their long spikes to free the lower arms from the bubble gum. Once they were free, the upper two arms looked over at Fluttershy.

“U-Um, girls?” Fluttershy said as the arms started to make their way towards them.

“What is it, Doc? What are you hiding?” Pinkie Pie asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

“Girls?” Fluttershy said again, the arms getting much closer.

“NO! We’re done here!” Discorded Whooves yelled.

“GIRLS!” Fluttershy screamed as one of the upper arms activated its electricity field and raised itself up in the air.

After finally hearing Fluttershy’s voice, the ponies looked at her and they all screamed at the sight of the mechanical arms. The Mane Five quickly jumped out of the way, narrowly avoiding the electrified claws of the arms.

“(Evil Laughs) Yes! YES!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he laughed.

To the complete shock of the Mane Five, one of the arms reached down and sliced off the rope that Applejack had used to tie up the Doctor. Then, another arm picked up the Doctor and placed him into the harness, while another arm used one of its claws to press the button, securing the Doctor back into the harness. Discorded Whooves winced a bit as he felt the needles of the harness dig into his back, but he quickly shook the pain away as he was thrilled to be back with the arms. Discorded Whooves laughed and smiled wickedly at the ponies, all while the arms opened and closed their claws and swayed around.

“What!? B-But how!?” Rainbow Dash yelled.

“Y-You said that there was no artificial intelligence in the arms!” Fluttershy cried as she shivered at the sight of the arms swaying around like snakes.

“(Chuckle) Doctor Whooves may have said that, but I didn’t. The intelligence in these arms are fully programmed to protect their master at all costs.” Discorded Whooves said.

Just then, everypony heard the sound of a teleportation spell being used. The Mane Five turned around and saw that Twilight and Professor Screw had returned from wherever they went. Professor Screw quickly grabbed Twilight with his magic and tossed her over to where her friends were, while he teleported himself next to Discorded Whooves.

“Twilight! Are y’all okay?” Applejack asked as she helped Twilight up.

“Y-Yeah, I’m okay. I’m just glad you girls are okay.” Twilight said, giving her friends a smile.

“Twilight, you’re not going to believe this, but those arms are alive! They have their own intelligence!” Pinkie Pie cried as she grabbed the sides of Twilight’s face and shook her a bit.

“What? But Doctor Whooves said the arms had no intelligence.” Twilight said as she gently pushed Pinkie away from her.

“That’s right, they didn’t. Not until I got my hooves on them.” Professor Screw said, shifting the Mane Six’s attention towards him.

“So, not only are you the one responsible for why Doctor Whooves is evil, but you’re also the reason why the arms have become so dangerous?” Twilight asked, stepping forward a bit.

“Wait, you mean Professor Screw is behind all of this?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“This whole thing was an act of revenge against us for defeating King Sombra. Professor Screw must have been the one who abducted Doctor Whooves, somehow planted the essence of this other Doctor Whooves into ours, modified and tampered with the arms to make them more dangerous, gathered up the rest of the Rogue, and then planned to find the Staff of Sacanas and use it to conquer Equestria.” Twilight explained while Discorded Whooves and Professor Screw looked on in amusement.

“Hmm, she’s good.” Discorded Whooves said as he gave an amused nod.

“(Chuckle) Little does she know, she’s so close to the truth, yet so far away.” Professor Screw said with a smile.

“But your plan won’t work. Once we free the hostages, we’re going straight to the Storm King’s Castle to get the Staff of Sacanas before you do.” Twilight said.

“Oh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Professor Screw said, slowly shaking his head.

“Why not? What’s stopping us!?” Rainbow Dash challenged.

“If anypony even steps a single hoof on the Storm King’s Realm, I will make sure our hostage is killed. And I’m not talking about the hostages from this village.” Professor Screw replied.

“You have more hostages!? Where are they!? Tell us now!” Twilight yelled.

“(Chuckle) Glady, he’s right here!” Professor Screw yelled as he used some sort of spell on Discorded Whooves.

Whatever this spell was, it seemed to really mess with Discorded Whooves as he held the sides of his head, yelling in agony. The Mane Six stepped back a bit as they had not expected something like this to happen. While the Doctor was crying out in pain, he turned to look at the Professor with a confused look. Suddenly Discorded Whooves’s head started to shake and twitch violently and then after letting out another cry of pain, something unexpected happened. Discorded Whooves’s body instantly morphed into Doctor Whooves’s body. No longer was he a dark grey, black mane and tailed pegasus. Now, he was back to being an earth pony with the light brown coat and a dark brown mane and tail. Doctor Whooves looked towards the Mane Six and extended a hoof out towards them.

“Doctor Whooves!?” the Mane Six cried as they saw the pained and helpless look in the Doctor’s eyes.

“HELP ME!!! PLEASE! I… C-CAN’T… C-CONTROL… GAAAAAAHH!” Doctor Whooves yelled before he instantly morphed back into Discorded Whooves.

“GAAAH! (Growl) YOU INSOLENT FOOL!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he grabbed Professor Screw with one of the arms and threw him into a building.

Seconds after the Professor was thrown, Discorded Whooves turned back towards the Mane Six and charged at them on all four legs so fast, they had no time to get out of the way. All four of the arms reached out and swiped at the ponies, with the lower arms activating their electricity field. During the scuffle, one of the upper arms managed to grab ahold of Fluttershy, making sure to angle her in a way where she couldn’t use the Stare on the Doctor. The rest of the Mane Six tried to save Fluttershy but Discorded Whooves used the lower arms to launch himself back.

“Fluttershy! Don’t worry, we’ll get you out of there! WOAH!” Rainbow Dash yelled before the other upper arm brought out its long spike and held it against Fluttershy’s neck.

“(Evil Laugh) That’s right! Unless you want to watch Fluttershy get vivisected, I suggest you all stay put!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he shifted his attention back to the helpless pegasus. “Bye, bye, Fluttershy!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he pulled back the arm that threatened to slice Fluttershy’s neck, so he could really impale her.

As Fluttershy watched the arm snake back and prepare itself to stab her, tears fell from her eyes as she knew there was nothing she could do. Suddenly, an idea popped up in her head. It was a long shot, but it was all she had. Right as the arm was about to strike, Fluttershy took a deep breath and shouted:

“He’s not your master!” Fluttershy shouted, causing the arm to stop dead in its tracks.

“What!? What is going on!?” Discorded Whooves yelled as he tried to get the arm to move, but the arm wouldn’t budge.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Mane Six were completely in awe as to what had just happened.

“Did Fluttershy just… stop the arms from hurting her?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I think she did… but how?” Applejack asked.

“It’s the intelligence in the arms!” Pinkie Pie said with a bounce. “She’s trying to appeal to them!”

After not feeling anything sharp pierce her flesh, Fluttershy looked over to the arm, which seemed to be observing her curiously, as if it was trying to make sense of what she had said. Realizing that her idea might actually work, Fluttershy continued to speak to the arms.

“He told us that you were all programmed to protect your master, but he’s not your master! He’s lying to you, all of you!” Fluttershy said as she suddenly found herself being lowered to the ground.

“No! What are you doing!?” Discorded Whooves yelled as the arms were no longer listening to him as he too found himself being lowered to the ground.

With Fluttershy and Discorded Whooves safely on the ground, all four of the mechanical arms looked at Fluttershy, opening and closing their claws as if they were trying to communicate with her. Seeing this and being able to tell that the arms were still in their state of curiosity and confusion, Fluttershy knew her plan had worked.

“Doctor Whooves created you to help ponies, not to hurt them.” Fluttershy said as she then pointed to Discorded Whooves. “He’s not your creator! This Doctor Whooves is taking control of the real one! The pony who really created you!”

After hearing all the things that Fluttershy had told them, all four of the arms looked at each other and seemingly started to communicate with each other. While Fluttershy couldn’t understand what the arms were saying, Discorded Whooves sure did, and he was furious at what he was hearing.

“What do you think you’re saying!? You don’t listen to her! You listen to me!” Discorded Whooves yelled as the arms looked at him. “I created you! I’m your master! You do what I say!”

“Please, think about what you’ve done! You’re not helping anypony, you’re hurting everypony.” Fluttershy said, making sure not to come off like she was accusing the arms, more so gently them about the mistakes they were making.

“(Growl) Enough of this!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he tried to get one of the lower arms to grab Fluttershy. “What are you doing!? Kill her!”

While the arms refused to listen to the Doctor, Fluttershy took notice that the way they were moving around gave off impressions that they were extremely confused and upset by their actions.

“Don’t worry, it’s not too late to do the right thing. Yes, you’ve all done terrible things, but you can still help us make things better.” Fluttershy said, no longer afraid of the arms, and even giving them a warm comforting smile.

“NO! LISTEN HERE! YOU ALL OBEY ME!” Discorded Whooves yelled as all four arms slowly turned to look at him, accusing him and barraging him with questions. “WHAT!? You fools! She’s the one that’s lying to you! I told you; this is all for the greater good! I’m your master! Listen to me NOW!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he fought back with all of his mental strength to regain dominance over the arms.

As Discorded Whooves and the arms fought for dominance, one of the lower arms reached out and grabbed ahold of Fluttershy. However, instead of hurting Fluttershy, the arm threw her back to her friends, with Rarity catching her with her magic. The mechanical arm had done this because all four of them realized that it was too difficult to maintain control. The Doctor’s mind was just too strong for them to fight back forever.

While the mental battle continued between the arms and the Doctor, something happened that no pony saw coming. Sparks of electricity suddenly began bursting from the backside of the harness, just behind the Doctor’s neck. Waves of electricity flowed across his entire body as well as the entire lengths of the arms. Discorded Whooves and the arms were being electrocuted for almost a minute before the electrocution finally ended. Whatever this electrocution was, it had seemingly made the arms completely submit to their master and they no longer tried to fight back. The sound of chuckling could be heard and when the ponies turned to see who was chuckling, they saw Professor Screw, who was now wearing a typical scientist lab coat. He also appeared to be holding something with his magic, it was a small remote with a single button on it.

“There’s that old creep! Get him! Woah!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she was almost hit in the face by magic.

The ponies looked to where the magic had been fired from and that’s when they saw that Flim, Flam, Lightning Dust, and Iron Will were back up and ready to fight, despite their injuries they had sustained when fighting the Mane Six.

“Not so fast, ponies!” Flim yelled as he prepared to fire more magic at the ponies.

“You didn’t think we’d lose that easily, did you!? Why don’t you losers stay right where you are!” Lightning Dust yelled, doing her best to hide the pain she was in due to Twilight breaking her wing.

“(Chuckle) Glad to see that you are all back.” Professor Screw said as he then looked to Discorded Whooves. “Doctor Whooves built this remote as a way to summon the arms. However, since I added the artificial intelligence to the arms, every time I press this button, their programming will encounter a critical error and a strong electric pulse will be emitted, sending a painful shock to both the arms and the wearer. Think of it as a form of discipline for you and the arms.”

“You… I’ll kill you for this!” Discorded Whooves said as he raised the two upper arms in the air.

“(Chuckle) I’m sure you will.” Professor Screw replied.

“Enough! This your last chance, tell us where the hostages are now or else!” Twilight said, stomping her hoof down.

“Ha! Your threats do not scare us!” Flam yelled as he charged up his magic.

“Yeah! What are you going to do!? Turn us to stone!? Oh, please!” Flim said with a laugh.

“In order to do that, you’d have to keep us still! And you’d have to be pretty stupid to think we would just stand here and let you turn us to stone!” Lightning Dust yelled.

“They have a point, Princess! You’re all outmatched! I think it’s time we took care of all of you! Right here and now!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he prepared to give the order to attack.

“No.” Professor Screw said.

“What!?” Discorded Whooves asked, turning to look at the Professor.

“We’ve done what we needed to do, now it is time to return back to base. We are all in clear need of rest.” Professor Screw said.

“You’re not in charge here, you old fool! I am! And I say we-GAAAAHH!” Discorded Whooves yelled as the Professor electrocuted him again with the remote.

“We are leaving. Princess Twilight, the hostages are in the big building just at the end of town. You may take them to safety if you wish.” Professor Screw said, nodding towards the building where Starlight used to live.

“You’re dead, Professor, dead.” Discorded Whooves said as he glared at him.

“None of you are going anywhere!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she prepared to fight before Twilight blocked her path with her wing. “Twilight? What are you doing?”

“We’re letting them go.” Twilight said, keeping her eyes on the villains.

“What!? But Twilight, we-.” Rainbow Dash said before Twilight interrupted her.

“We’re letting them go.” Twilight repeated, still not taking her eyes off of the Rogue. “Wait! I have one more question for you, Professor!”

“Yes, Princess Twilight?” Professor Screw asked.

“Is Queen Chrysalis working with you?” Twilight asked, remembering her discussion she had with the princesses back in Ponyville.

“The changeling queen, (Chuckle) the Rogue does not associate with bugs that have failed to take over Equestria twice. She’s useless to us.” Professor Screw said before he suddenly remembered something. “Oh, here. You’ll be needing this.” Professor Screw said as he summoned something with his magic and tossed it towards Twilight, who caught it with her magic.

Twilight and her friends looked at the strange object the Professor had given them. It appeared to be some sort of crystal snow globe, however there was nothing inside the glass ball. The only thing in the ball was dark blue clouds that were moving around. There was an inscription on the underside of the crystal globe that read, Listen.

“What is this for!?” Twilight asked, making sure none of her friends touched it.

“Think of it as a way we can communicate with each other. Whenever we need to tell you ponies something, we will tell you through the crystal globe.” Professor Screw explained. “Well, it was good to meet you. Farewell. I hope to see you again soon, Pinkie Pie.” Professor Screw said, giving the party pony a grin before teleporting away.

After the Professor teleported, Discorded Whooves turned back to the Rogue, gesturing towards the enchanted bracelets they were wearing, giving them an approving nod. Seeing this, the Rogue nodded back to Discorded Whooves as they turned back to the Mane Six.

“Bye, bye, Applejack! Looks like we’ll be slipping away again!” Flim said as he teleported away using his bracelet.

“Sorry, Applejack. Better luck next time.” Flam said as he too teleported away using his bracelet.

“This isn’t over, Rainbow Dash. I’ll be back for you, and I will get my revenge!” Lightning Dust said as she teleported away with her bracelet.

Iron Will didn’t say anything as he only looked at Fluttershy for a few moments before he looked away from her, using his bracelet to teleport away. With all of the Rogue being gone, Discorded Whooves looked over to the Mane Six and chuckled.

“Goodbye, my little ponies. We’ll be seeing you again soon.” Discorded Whooves said as he used his bracelet to teleport away.

With the Rogue now gone, all that was left was the Mane Six, who were left standing in what was left of the village. Only the sound of the wind could be heard as the ponies just stood around, taking time to process everything they had been through since they arrived at the village. Rainbow Dash, frustrated that the Rogue had escaped, looked down at the floor and angrily stomped her hoof down.

“Ugh! They got away! I can’t believe we let them get away!” Rainbow Dash yelled, stomping another hoof down. “Why would you let them go, Twilight!? For all we know, they’re probably attacking another place in Equestria by now!”

“You think I wanted to let them go!? Of course, I didn’t! Why would I ever want the Rogue to escape!?” Twilight shouted before she took a deep breath to calm herself down, using her magic to put the crystal globe away. “(Exhale) Princess Celestia told us that the ponies the Rogue took hostage are our top priority.”

“(Sigh) You’re right, sorry Twi.” Rainbow Dash said as she shook her head, disappointed with how much she was losing control of her anger lately.

“It’s fine, Rainbow.” Twilight said before she looked over to the rest of her friends. “A lot has happened in such a short amount of time, girls. We need to talk about this once we’re back in Ponyville. For now, let’s get those hostages to safety.” Twilight said as she and the rest of her friends walked over to the building where the hostages were being kept.

When the ponies reached the building at the end of the village, Twilight motioned for the others to step back and keep their guard up just in case there was a trap set for them. Twilight used her magic to carefully open the door and soon as she did, the Mane Six were greeted by the sight of Double Diamond, Sugar Belle, and Night Glider, all of whom, except for Sugar Belle, had very serious injuries. The moment the three survivors laid eyes on the Mane Six, they were filled with relief and joy, despite their pain.

“Oh, thank goodness you all came!” Sugar Belle cried.

“See, what did I tell you? I knew they’d come for us.” Double Diamond said with a chuckle.

“Come on, we’re going to get you three out of here.” Twilight said as they all walked in to help the survivors.

As Double Diamond tried to stand so he could walk over to the Mane Six, he immediately fell to the side, with Twilight quickly grabbing him before he hit the floor. Double Diamond hissed in pain as he looked at his back legs, reminding himself of how injured he was. One of his back legs was broken, and the other had been stabbed by a metal spike. Seeing this, Twilight used her magic to lift him off the ground so she could carry him.

“Thanks, Princess Twilight.” Double Diamond said as he allowed himself to be carried by Twilight’s magic.

“Are y’all okay, Sugar Belle?” Applejack asked as she walked over to the unicorn.

“Oh, don’t worry about me, Applejack. I’m more worried about my friends and… the village.” Sugar Belle said.

“Don’t y’all worry, we’re gonna get you and your friends to safety. Heh, Big Mac is waiting for you.” Applejack said as she carefully led Sugar Belle out of the building.

“Night Glider… your wings…” Rainbow Dash said as she looked at the now flightless pegasus.

“Yeah…” Night Glider said, no emotion in her voice.

“D-Don’t you worry.” Fluttershy said as she walked over and placed a hoof gently on Night Glider’s shoulder. “The doctors in Ponyville will take really good care of you. They’ll make sure you’re going to be okay.”

“Yeah, she’s right. Trust me, I’ve been to the Ponyville hospital more times than I’d like to admit, but they always took care of me, and they’re going to take great care of you too.” Rainbow Dash said as she and Fluttershy helped Night Glider up to her feet.

Once all the three survivors were outside, Rarity tapped Twilight on the shoulder, gesturing for Twilight to let Rarity take care of Double Diamond. With a nod, Rarity held Double Diamond above the ground with her magic. Twilight then walked ahead of the group and turned around to face the group. Just as Twilight was about to say something, Sugar Belle spoke.

“Wait, there’s still some others!” Sugar Belle said as she pointed over to one of the few buildings not destroyed by the battle. “They’re in there.”

“Wait here.” Twilight said to the group as she flew over to the building Sugar Belle had pointed to.

When Twilight made it to the building and walked inside, she looked around for any signs of surviving ponies. Twilight then called out for anypony to respond to her, making it clear that she was there to help and was not going to cause any harm. After a few seconds of silence, Twilight heard what sounded like muffled voices coming from somewhere in the room. Eventually, Twilight’s eyes landed on a small rug in the middle of the room. Twilight lifted the rug up, revealing a small handle on the floor. Twilight gently opened the small trapdoor and as she did, she saw a small group of children who looked terrified.

“Don’t worry, everypony, it’s safe to come out now. My friends and I will take you to Ponyville; it will be safe there.” Twilight said as she gently ushered the children to follow her.

Twilight led the children out of the building and over to the rest of the group. Once everypony had been accounted for, Twilight reassured the survivors that they would be taken care of in Ponyville and that there was no longer anything to be afraid of. She promised that she and her friends would do everything they could to make sure that the Rogue would be punished for what they had done. Once Twilight had finished her speech, she looked over to Fluttershy and gave her a nod. Fluttershy nodded back as she called for Discord to bring them back to Ponyville. Seconds later, the Mane Six and the survivors were instantly teleported to Ponyville.

Once everypony had been teleported to Ponyville, they were immediately greeted by the sight of doctors and nurses, who were ready with basic first aid equipment and gurneys. Twilight and her friends then began to make sure that all of the survivors were being taken care of before they were taken to the hospital. As they were doing this, Starlight rushed over to them.

“(Gasp) Double Diamond! Sugar Belle! Night Glider!” Starlight cried as she ran over to her friends. “Oh, thank Celestia you’re all okay!” Starlight said to the children as they were being taken care of.

“Heh, it’s good to see you again, Starlight.” Double Diamond said as he was carefully placed onto a gurney.

“Wait… where’s Party Favor? Where are the others? Are they still in the village? Why didn’t they come with you?” Starlight asked as she looked around, hoping that the rest of the villagers would arrive soon.

“Starlight… there… are no others.” Night Glider said, looking down at the floor. “We’re all that’s left…”

“No… no… no! It can’t be! Oh, Celestia NO!!!!” Starlight cried as she broke down in tears.

Meanwhile, Big Mac had rushed over to make sure that Sugar Belle was okay.

“Sugar Belle! You’re okay!” Big Mac said as he gently wrapped his hooves around Sugar Belle and kissed her.

“Oh, Big Mac!” Sugar Belle cried as she too broke down in tears from the events she had survived, clinging desperately to Big Mac.

While the ponies from the village were being attended to, Twilight and her friends walked over to the princesses.

“The Rogue got away.” Twilight said with a sigh.

“I see. Well, don’t let that get you down, Twilight. You and your friends saved the hostages and that’s what matters.” Celestia said, lifting Twilight’s chin up a bit.

“Princess, we all need to talk.” Twilight said.

“I don’t doubt that one bit. Come, we’ll talk at your castle.” Celestia said as the Mane Six and the princesses headed to Twilight’s castle.

Once the ponies had gathered in the Cutie Map room, they all began to talk about everything they had learned from their arrival in the village and the fight with the Rogue. Applejack talked about how dangerous Flim and Flam had become, with Rarity backing up her claims. Rainbow Dash talked about how blood thirsty for revenge Lightning Dust had become. Fluttershy talked about how angry Iron Will was, but she also pointed out that it was clear that Iron Will had been lied to and manipulated. Twilight explained what the Rogue planned to do and that they were after the Staff of Sacanas. She also told the princesses that it appeared Chrysalis was not allied with the Rogue.

“(Sigh) It is clear that the Rogue are more of a threat than we gave them credit for.” Celestia said.

“Yes, and that’s not all. We’ve also found out why Doctor Whooves is the way he is now. Doctor Whooves has been turned evil by the leader of the Rogue. I wish it was that simple, but it is much more complicated.” Twilight said.

“The leader of the Rogue? We had thought that Doctor Whooves was the leader.” Luna said, tilting her head.

“That’s what I thought too, Princess, but we were wrong. From what I’ve gathered, Doctor Whooves is only the face of the Rogue, the true leader is a pony named Professor Screw Loose.” Twilight said.

“Professor Screw Loose?” Celestia asked, arching an eyebrow.

“Who is this, Professor Screw Loose?” Luna asked.

In response to the princesses’ questions, Twilight used a projection spell to display an image of Professor Screw on the Cutie Map. The three princesses looked up at the image of this unicorn, pondering who this was. Seeing that the princesses did not recognize this pony, Twilight explained everything she had learned about the Professor.

“Professor Screw is a crystal pony who is very skilled with his magic, particularly dark magic. He claims to have been alive for over a thousand years, ever since the Crystal Empire disappeared.” Twilight explained, bewildering the princesses.

“But that’s impossible. From the looks of it, Professor Screw is just a unicorn. Even for a crystal unicorn, the average unicorn can only live-.” Cadance said before Celestia quickly cut her off.

“Did the Professor explain how he was still alive?” Celestia asked, preventing Cadance from finishing her sentence.

“He said that on the day King Sombra was banished, Sombra put a curse on him that effectively stopped his aging until the day that the Crystal Empire and Sombra would return.” Twilight replied with a nod.

“The day King Sombra was… banished…” Luna said as she stepped back a bit as she was hit by memories of that fateful day. “N-No…”

“Luna? Luna, what’s wrong!? Luna!?” Celestia asked, her voice falling on deaf ears.

“Luna!? Are you okay!? Luna!?” Twilight cried, seeing how Luna looked so afraid.

“Luna!? Luna, talk to us! Luna!” Cadance cried as everypony in the room tried to reach out to the princess.

Unbeknownst to anypony in the room, the only voice Luna could hear was the voice of King Sombra, whispering the things he said to her that would inevitably plant seeds of doubt in her mind, leading to her downfall and the birth of Nightmare Moon, all those years ago…

Join me…

Think of how everypony sees you compared to your sister…

Join me…

Even if I was to be defeated… you’d eventually fall to your sister…

Join me…

Submit? Me? (Chuckle) Just like you submit to your sister?

Join me…

You’re strong, Luna… far more fit to rule… far more deserving of respect…

Join me…

I can give you the respect you deserve…

Join me…

Join me, Luna… Luna… Luna… Luna… Luna… Luna…

“Luna!? LUNA!?” Celestia shouted as Luna finally managed to snap out of her trance.

“Huh!? Wh-What!? O-Oh! Forgive me, I just… that day is… not a good memory for us.” Luna said, pretending like she didn’t just have a panic attack.

“Luna, you never told me what happened between you and King Sombra when I was temporarily taken down. What happened?” Celestia asked, her eyes and voice full of concern.

“I… I don’t… nothing happened. Please, continue what you were saying, Twilight Sparkle.” Luna said, purposefully avoiding eye contact with her sister.

“Luna, tell me, what happened.” Celestia said in a more serious tone.

“It was nothing, sister.” Luna said sternly.

“Luna.” Celestia said again, her voice full of suspicion.

“IT WAS NOTHING! LEAVE US ALONE, SISTER!” Luna yelled using the Royal Canterlot Voice.

“Celestia! Luna! Please, stop this!” Cadance cried, causing the two sisters to look at her. “Please, Equestria is already going through so much! The last thing we need is you two fighting!”

After hearing the words that came out of Cadance’s mouth, as well as the look of desperation and fear on her face, Celesia and Luna looked at each other and gave an understanding nod.

“Luna, we will talk about this sooner or later.” Celestia said, before turning back to Twilight.

“Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, what happened on the day you two banished King Sombra?” Twilight asked.

“(Sigh) Luna and I did indeed banish King Sombra like I told you, but it wasn’t easy.” Celestia said.

“Wasn’t easy!? What do you mean it wasn’t easy!? You two together would easily be able to defeat every villain that has ever messed with Equestria.” Rainbow Dash said.

“King Sombra was formidable. His power and dark magic was something that Luna and I had never experienced before. It still shocks us that he was able to hold his own against the two of us. The only reason we ended up winning the fight was because Luna was able to overpower him when I was injured. Once King Sombra was weakened, we used our combined powers to banish him.” Celestia explained.

“Well, it’s good that y’all were able to defeat that pony-enslaving tyrant and banish him.” Applejack said.

Hearing this, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna looked at each other and nodded. They really hadn’t told Twilight or her friends the whole story of what really happened in the Crystal Empire. It was probably time that they shed some light on the truth.

“King Sombra enslaving the crystal ponies is not the real reason we banished him.” Celestia said.

“It’s not? But if not for enslaving the crystal ponies, why did you banish King Sombra?” Rarity asked.

“(Sigh) The reason Luna and I banished King Sombra instead of imprisoning him, is because he killed Princess Amore.” Celestia said, the name of this princess confusing the Mane Six.

“Uh… are we supposed to know who that is?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Princess Amore was the ruler of the Crystal Empire for many years. She was a good friend of ours until King Sombra killed her.” Celestia said.

“How did you know she was killed?” Twilight asked.

“One of the crystal ponies, Radiant Hope, came to Canterlot and told us that Sombra had killed Princess Amore and planned to take her place.” Luna said.

“By the time we arrived at the Crystal Empire, King Sombra had completely taken over and enslaved all of the crystal ponies. That is when we fought him and banished him for a thousand years.” Celestia said, finishing the story.

After hearing all of this, the Mane Six took some time to process everything they had been told. The real reason for Sombra’s banishment, the death of Princess Amore, the crystal pony, Radiant Hope. Of all the things Twilight had heard, it was this Radiant Hope that really sparked her interest.

“Um, Princess Celestia, who was this, Radiant Hope?” Twilight asked.

“Radiant Hope was a crystal unicorn who was much like yourself in many ways, Twilight. She was always so eager and excited to learn everything she could about the world around her. She was sweet, kind, honest, loyal, generous, always brought a smile to everypony. In fact, I’d say she was an embodiment all of six of you put together.” Celestia said with a smile.

“She sounds like an amazing pony.” Twilight said, smiling back to Celestia.

“After King Sombra was banished and the Empire disappeared, we took Radiant Hope in, much like how I took you in to be my student, Twilight.” Celestia replied.

“So, if you took Radiant Hope in to be your student, then that means she was going to be a princess?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Yes, that was the plan.” Luna said before looking down with visible sadness. “Sadly however, that never came to be.”

“Why? What happened to her?” Twilight asked.

“As my sister said, we took her in so she could fulfil her destiny and become a princess. She stayed with us in Canterlot for a while, studying everything she needed to learn. But then one day, she left.” Luna explained.

“She left? Did she say why she was leaving?” Twilight asked.

“All she told us was that she wanted to find her own path. That’s all she said before she left. We haven’t seen or heard from her since then.” Celestia said before she decided it was time to go back to the problem at hoof. “Enough about the past. Tell us more about this Professor Screw. It sounds like he is a huge threat.”

“I haven’t seen all of his power, but I know he is very strong. He knows spells created by Star Swirl the Bearded, and he’s perfected them! He’s also the reason that Doctor Whooves is evil.” Twilight said.

“What did he do to Doctor Whooves?” Celestia asked.

“I wish I could say he just turned him evil with magic but there’s so much more to it.” Twilight said, shaking her head a bit. “Professor Screw has the power to travel to different dimensions. He traveled to a different universe where the Doctor was presumably evil. He killed this evil Doctor, somehow captured his life essence, and planted the essence in the good Doctor. This resulted in the good Doctor being trapped in his own body, while the evil Doctor took control of his body. That’s probably the reason that Doctor Whooves looks so different now, it’s because his body has changed to look like the body of the evil Doctor.”

“Oh my…” Celestia said, her eyes filled with shock and horror.

“An evil pony with the power to travel to other dimensions… this is not good.” Luna said.

“But why would Professor Screw form this group of villains and attack Equestria like this? And why would King Sombra put a curse on him specifically?” Cadance asked.

“That’s the thing, even though King Sombra cursed him, the Professor was loyal to him. From the way he spoke, it sounded like he practically worshiped King Sombra. As for why King Sombra cursed him, he said something about having plans for the future. The Professor formed the Rogue because he wants revenge against us for defeating King Sombra.” Twilight said.

“What? But that doesn’t make sense. Why would a crystal pony ever be loyal to King Sombra?” Cadance asked.

“He said something about King Sombra being the only pony who understood him. I don’t know anything else about him. The only thing I have left to offer about the Professor, is this.” Twilight said as she summoned the crystal globe she had been given and held it up with her magic.

“That is this, Twilight Sparkle?” Luna asked as she looked at the small object Twilight had summoned.

“I’m not sure really. Professor Screw gave this to me before he and the rest of the Rogue left. He said something about using it as a way to communicate with each other. Like I said, I have nothing else on the Professor. Which brings me to my next point; Cadance, have any of the crystal ponies mentioned anything about the Professor?” Twilight asked, looking to the Princess of Love.

“I can’t say that I’ve heard any of the crystal ponies talk about him. I didn’t even know who he was until you explained him to us. But I’m sure they must know who he is. How about you come to the-.” Cadance said before the crystal globe started to flash repeatedly. “Twilight, the globe! What’s happening to it!?”

Twilight only responded with a yelp as she suddenly dropped the crystal globe, letting slide to the middle of the Cutie Map. As the glove continued to flash, no pony moved or even tried to pick it up, fearful at what it could be doing. For safety, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna used their magic to form a magic bubble around the globe in case an explosion was about to occur. However, instead of an explosion, the face of a pony started to become visible in the globe. It didn’t take long for Twilight to realize who this was.

“Professor Screw!” Twilight said, making every pony gasp and focus their attention on the Professor’s face.

“Hello again, Princess Twilight. I was just checking in to ensure you that this crystal globe does indeed work.” Professor Screw said with a smile.

“Where are you!? Tell me now!” Twilight shouted.

“(Chuckle) You really think I would just simply give away the location of our hideout? You offend me, Princess Twilight.” Professor Screw said as he looked around to see the rest of the Mane Six and the princesses of Equestria. “Ah Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, how very nice to see you both. Oh? And you must be Princess Cadance.”

“Why would you be loyal to King Sombra!? He enslaved the crystal ponies and he even put a curse on you!” Cadance shouted at the globe, causing the Professor to look at Twilight with an unamused look on his face.

“So, you told them about that… you know, that technically is against the rules, however I will let it go this once. It won’t change anything in the long run.” Professor Screw said.

“How does thou know where the Staff of Sacanas is!? That information was kept under strict secrecy! Tell us now!” Luna demanded.

“I have nothing to say to you, Princess Luna.” Professor Screw said.

“It doesn’t matter. We will make sure that you and the Rogue don’t get your hooves on the staff.” Celestia said.

“Ah, ah, ah. Have you forgotten what the Doctor said? This little journey is meant solely for the Elements of Harmony. If anypony steps in to help them in any way, I will kill Doctor Whooves.” Professor Screw said with a very threating stare.

“You would just kill Doctor Whooves like that?” Twilight asked, shocked to hear what the Professor had said.

“Why not? According to you, I’m apparently the leader of the Rogue. Why would I need to keep the Doctor alive?” Professor Screw asked.

“What do you mean, apparently!? You said you were the leader!” Twilight yelled.

“I didn’t say that. You did. I told you that you could believe what you wanted to believe, nothing more. Stay alert Princess Twilight, we will be calling you soon. Ta, ta.” Professor Screw said as he disappeared from the crystal globe.

With the Professor gone, this left the ponies in awe as they looked around at each other.

“Well, what are we going to do now?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking at Twilight.

“(Sigh) I’m not sure. I think the only thing we can do is wait for the Rogue to contact us.” Twilight said as she turned to the princesses. “What are you all going to do?”

“Well, it seems we have no choice but to return to our kingdoms. As much as we want to do something about this situation, we simply cannot put the lives of innocent ponies at risk.” Luna answered.

While everypony seemed to have learned quite a bit about the Rogue, Twilight still felt the need to know more about the Professor. She wanted to know what had caused him to become this crazy scientist that would end up worshiping Equestria’s most evil tyrant. Cadance didn’t seem to know much or anything at all about the Professor, but maybe the crystal ponies knew something.

“Cadance, my friends and I are going with you back to the Crystal Empire.” Twilight said, shocking Cadance a bit.

“Oh no, no. Not so fast, Twilight.” Cadance said, holding a hoof up.

“But we need to find out more about Professor Screw. Surely some of the crystal ponies know something about him. I know it’s silly, but I really need to-.”

“Twilight, look at your friends. You’re all hurt, and you need rest.” Cadance said as she gestured towards the rest of the Mane Six.

Following Cadance’s gesture, Twilight looked at the rest of her friends. As her eyes landed on her friends, Twilight realized just how badly her friends had been hurt during their battle with the Rogue. Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity weren’t too badly injured, but they still had their share of bruises. Most of the injuries they had sustained was due to their battle with Doctor Whooves. Rainbow Dash and Applejack however, well, that was a different matter entirely. Applejack had sustained a lot of injuries from her fight with Flim and Flam. She had bruises all over her body from being shot at with magic multiple times. Her mouth had stopped bleeding and she very obviously tried to hide her injuries. Rainbow Dash had tons of bruises all over her body from her fight with Lightning Dust. Like Applejack, Rainbow Dash also tried to hide the fact that she was seriously injured.

Seeing how hurt all of her friends were made Twilight feel so terrible. She had completely neglected their wellbeing and had just tried to put them through even more struggles, all for the sake of finding out more about this mad crystal pony. Twilight placed a hoof over her mouth and almost shed tears by how negligent she had just become over her best friends.

“Oh my gosh, girls, I’m so sorry…” Twilight said as all of her friends immediately started trying to reassure her that they were okay.

“Oh no, no, it’s fine, Twilight! Really! You’re okay, Sugarcube!” Applejack said, still obviously trying to hide her injuries.

“Yeah! Look! I’m still smiling! We’re all okay! Look, Fluttershy’s okay, right Fluttershy!?” Pinkie Pie asked as she pulled Fluttershy close to her.

“Ow, Pinkie, my wing.” Fluttershy said, wincing a bit as Pinkie pulled her a little too hard.

“Whoopsie, sorry.” Pinkie Pie said, letting go of Fluttershy.

“It’s okay, and I’m okay too, Twilight. I promise.” Fluttershy said, giving Twilight her most comforting smile.

“Yes, we’re alright, Darling. Sure, some of us might be a bit hurt, but we’re all still here, aren’t we?” Rarity asked with a nervous laugh and smile.

“Don’t worry about us, Twilight! Look, I can still fly, and I can still kick ass!” Rainbow Dash said as she flew out of her throne and started punching the air.

“That’s quite enough. Princess Cadance is right; you all need your rest. In fact, I’m ordering all of you to stay in Ponyville and recover. Go home and rest, spend time with your families. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, you two will be checking yourselves into the hospital to make sure you haven’t sustained any critical injuries.” Celestia said with a concerned yet stern tone.

“Aw come on, seriously!? I hate hospitals! We’re not even that badly hurt!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed before Applejack managed to grab her tail and pull her back down.

“Rainbow, y’all need to stop being so stubborn.” Applejack said.

“Shouldn’t I be the one telling you that?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I don’t know, maybe.” Applejack replied.

“We’ll stay here and rest, I promise.” Twilight said to Celestia.

“You can come to the Crystal Empire tomorrow, but only if you’re friends are okay.” Cadance said as she walked over to Twilight.

“(Sigh) Okay.” Twilight said as Cadance placed a hoof on her shoulder.

“Twilight, it’s going to be okay.” Cadance said, giving her a loving smile.

“Thank you, Cadance.” Twilight said as she smiled back to her sister-in-law.

Despite the smile on Twilight’s face, the princess was having a mental struggle. So many thoughts and questions filled her head. The possible origins of Professor Screw, the whereabouts of the Rogue, the plan that the Rogue had in store for Equestria. But the one thing that really bugged Twilight, that feeling that something was wrong still wasn’t going away. In fact, it seemed like everyday it was getting stronger…

Author's Note

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! It was fun to wrap up the battle! Next Chapter we will check in with how the Rogue is doing after their fight with the Mane Six! King Sombra will also come back, I'm sure you've all missed him! We will also learn a bit more about the Professor! See you all in the next chapter! Thank you for the continued support!

Professor Screw Loose: Origins

Meanwhile, in King Sombra’s Castle…

“Stay alert Princess Twilight, we will be calling you soon. Ta, ta.” Professor Screw said as he deactivated the crystal globe.

As the Professor finished his talk with the ponies, he put the crystal globe away with his magic. As the Professor left his room in the castle, he walked over to the rest of the Rogue, who were just walking around or laying on the floor from their injuries. Flim and Flam were badly hurt from their scuffle with Applejack and Rarity. Iron Will had lots of bruises on his face from Rainbow Dash. Lightning Dust had also taken quite the beating from Rainbow Dash, as well as her wing being broken by Twilight. Discorded Whooves had also taken some hits when he fought nearly all of the Mane Six. Of course, Professor Screw had also attained his fair share of injuries, mainly from his battle with Twilight and his fight with Pinkie Pie.

Ahh… Pinkie Pie… Yes… soon, you will be mine… you will be my greatest experiment yet…

While Professor Screw continued to think of every possible experiment, he could put the pink party pony through, Discorded Whooves lowered himself to the ground and walked over to him, tapping him on the shoulder and snapping the Professor out of his thoughts. Feeling the hoof touch him, Professor Screw turned around to face the Doctor. However, before he could say anything, one of the mechanical arms grabbed ahold of him and slammed him down to the ground, keeping him pinned.

“Oof! Hey! Doctor, let go of me this instant!” Professor Screw yelled as he tried to shove the arm off of him.

Realizing that he wouldn’t be able to overpower the arm, Professor Screw attempted to use his magic to teleport away, but he was stopped when another arm reached out and pinched the tip of his horn, preventing his magic from working. Now completely trapped and unable to do anything, Discorded Whooves let out a chuckle. Meanwhile, the rest of the Rogue did nothing but watch, as they were too exhausted and too afraid to interfere with whatever was happening.

“You know, Professor, you pulled some pretty nasty stunts back there… (Chuckle) I certainly was not impressed.” Discorded Whooves said as he raised another of the arms up, bringing out its long spike, intending to stab the Professor.

“(Grunt) King Sombra will not be pleased if you kill me.” Professor Screw said as the arm’s grip became tighter and more painful.

“(Chuckle) Perhaps not, but King Sombra’s not here right now, is he?” Discorded Whooves asked with a cold stare. “I could just kill you right now and tell him that you were accidentally killed by those ponies.”

“And you really think that is going to fool me, Doctor?” Sombra asked as he emerged from the shadows, surprising the Rogue.

“What!? What are you doing here!?” Discorded Whooves asked.

“This is my castle, this is our base, why wouldn’t I be here?” Sombra asked.

“What about getting that Storm Creature army that we need for our plan? Shouldn’t you have been doing that?” Discorded Whooves asked.

“Let the Professor go… now.” Sombra ordered, completely ignoring the Doctor’s question.

“(Grunt) You got lucky, but he won’t always be around to protect you.” Discorded Whooves whispered into the Professor’s ear before releasing him.

“The rest of you, gather around. I have some words for you all.” Sombra said to the other members of the Rogue.

Once all of the Rogue had gathered together and awaited Sombra’s orders, Sombra nodded and then spoke.

“I watched the entire thing, from the moment you all arrived at the village, to when you returned back to base.” Sombra said as he saw most of the Rogue cringe in fear, terrified that they had failed. “You surprisingly did well enough.” Sombra said, shocking some of the Rogue.

“Wait, hold on. I enjoy being complimented and praised like everypony else, but we didn’t even kill any of those Mane Six or whatever.” Lightning Dust said.

“That was never the goal of this mission, Lightning Dust. However, I appreciate your willingness to admit your mistakes. Your task was to serve your purpose for the plan, and you did well. However,” Sombra said as he turned to look at Professor Screw and Discorded Whooves. “A couple of you have some explaining to do.”

“Don’t look at me! This old fool was the one who stepped out of line!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he pointed at the Professor. “You assigned me as the leader of the Rogue! Then this fool comes along and starts trying to act like he’s in charge!”

“I only did so because I wanted to give Princess Twilight the illusion that I was behind everything.” Professor Screw said.

“Fair enough, I suppose I can look over this little issue. However, there is something else that bothered me. Doctor, what exactly happened with your arms seemingly rebelling against you?” Sombra asked.

“I don’t know what happened! These damn arms just stopped working and then they turned on me after Fluttershy fed them lies!” Discorded Whooves yelled.

“I see, Professor, I trust there is something you can do to ensure this doesn’t happen again?” Sombra asked.

“As a matter of fact, there is. I actually had a back-up plan in case a problem with the intelligence of the arms occurred. It’s not finished yet, but I had worked on a special device that would take away the free will of the arms and they would only do as they were told.” Professor Screw said.

“That is very interesting. It’s also interesting that you didn’t think to install this little device of yours onto the arms when you modified them, Professor.” Sombra said, narrowing his eyes a bit.

“I was pressed for time, your majesty.” Professor Screw said as he caught spotted something out of the corner of his eye.

By some sheer dumb luck, Professor Screw happened to see that one of the arms had brought out its spike and was actually about to strike at either him or the Doctor. The arms had gotten their fight back and they were going to rebel once again. The Professor reacted quickly as he used his magic to take out the remote and pressed the button, electrocuting the arms as well as the Doctor.

Discorded Whooves screamed in pain as he was electrocuted for a good thirty seconds before the Professor finally ended the horrible pain. Once he had recovered and he no longer sensed any rebellious intent from the arms, Discorded Whooves attempted to use the arm with its spike out to kill the Professor. However, before he could, Sombra stopped the arm from going any further with his magic.

“Professor, explain yourself! NOW!” Sombra roared.

“The arms were trying to take control again, your majesty. I prevented that.” Professor Screw answered quickly.

“Like hell they did! I think the old fool has gone mad!” Discorded Whooves yelled.

“Enough! Professor, you will fix those arms as soon as we’re done here, understand?” Sombra asked.

“Yes, your majesty.” Professor Screw replied as he bowed to his king.

“Good, now back to business. Now that Twilight Sparkle and her friends are aware of the Rogue, it is time we commence forth with the rest of the plan. In the morning, I am going to find Tempest Shadow and I will offer her a deal. When I return, I will assign you all your next mission and then-.”

“No.” Iron Will suddenly said.

“…………What?” Sombra asked, slowly turning his head to face Iron Will.

As Sombra’s gaze landed on the minotaur, the rest of the Rogue stepped away from him, knowing that he was in big trouble.

“Iron Will, will not do this anymore! Fluttershy told Iron Will that Iron Will is being lied to! Iron Will is not going to hurt any more ponies! Iron Will is going home!” Iron Will said as he took off his gauntlets and threw them down on the floor in front of Sombra.

“Is that so? Doctor, restrain him.” Sombra said as Discorded Whooves ran up behind Iron Will and used all four arms to grab ahold of Iron Will’s arms and legs.

“HEY! Let Iron Will go!” Iron Will yelled as he fought to break out of the Doctor’s grip.

“You know, Iron Will, I don’t take too kindly to being betrayed. Just ask Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow. I would have trapped you in your worst fears like I did to them, however I am far beyond giving second chances to those who betray me.” Sombra said as he slowly but menacingly walked towards Iron Will. “I would just kill you, however instead I think I’m going to make an example out of you.” Sombra said as he turned his head to face the rest of the Rogue.

“Oh! D-Don’t worry boss! We’re not thinking of betraying you!” Flim quickly said as he saluted Sombra.

“Y-Yeah! Exactly what my brother said! We’re the Flim Flam Brothers, and we stick together!” Flam added, beads of sweat running down his neck.

“You won’t have any problems with me. I’m not stopping until Rainbow Dash is dealt with and even then, I’ll never stop until all of Equestria accepts that I am the greatest flier that ever lived!” Lightning Dust said as she gave Sombra a nervous grin.

“Hmph, somehow, I don’t believe any of you. You three can earn my trust again during your next mission. In the meantime, you will learn what happens to anypony that even thinks of betraying me.” Sombra said as he turned back to look at Iron Will. “Professor, is there something you can do to make Iron Will more… obedient?”

“But of course, your majesty. Although it may take a day or two.” Professor Screw replied.

“(Chuckle) That works just fine for me.” Sombra said before Iron Will shouted out, continuing to struggle.

“Let Iron Will go! Iron Will, will not-!” Iron Will yelled before Professor Screw used a sleeping spell to silence the minotaur.

“Hmph, now as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, tomorrow I will go to the Caves of Conundrum and discuss business with Tempest Shadow. You will all remain here and await my orders, understood?” Sombra asked.

“Yes, King Sombra.” The Rogue replied as they bowed to him.

“(Chuckle) Professor, tend to their wounds and make sure that they are ready for my return.” Sombra said, gesturing to the rest of the Rogue.

“Of course, your majesty.” Professor Screw replied with a bow.

“Good. I have things to attend to. Remember, all of you, do not fail me.” Sombra said, giving the Rogue a threatening gaze before vanishing into the shadows.

As soon as Sombra disappeared from the room, Discorded Whooves turned to face the Professor, the arms still keeping the unconscious Iron Will in their grip.

“Let me make something very clear to you, Professor. You’re not in charge, I am! You better not forget that, or else.” Discorded Whooves said, glaring at the Professor.

“If you say so, Doctor.” Professor Screw replied, not scared in the slightest by the Doctor’s threatening stare. “Now, if we’re done with the pointless threats, would you be so kind as to follow me to the lab? Iron Will is due for his experiment.”

“Fine.” Discorded Whooves said.

Professor Screw just nodded as he turned around and used his magic to summon a large portal that would lead to his laboratory. As the two exchanged another glance of hatred, Discorded Whooves walked through the portal, the arms carrying Iron Will’s body, keeping him raised in the air. Once the Doctor and the minotaur had walked into the portal, Professor Screw turned to the remaining Rogue members.

“Come along all of you.” Professor Screw said, gesturing for them to follow.

“Uhh? Yeah, I don’t know if you’re going deaf because you’re old or whatever, but King Sombra literally just told us to stay here.” Lightning Dust said, looking at the Professor like he was crazy, which he was.

“Would you like to remain with a crippled wing, Lightning Dust?” Professor Screw asked, picking Iron Will’s discarded gauntlets up with his magic.

“(Scoffs) Obviously not. But I also don’t want to find out what happens if we disobey King Sombra.” Lightning Dust said.

“His majesty tasked me with tending to your wounds. I intend to follow through on my master’s orders. Now, come along all of you. There’s no point in wasting any precious time.” Professor Screw said as he walked through the portal.

After Professor Screw had walked into the portal, Lightning Dust looked at her broken wing, took a deep breath, and walked through the portal as well. Only the Flim Flam brothers remained as they watched the pegasus go into the portal. The two brothers looked at each other and took a moment to think about their current situation.

“Brother, I think we may have gotten involved with something too much for us to handle.” Flam said before Flim jabbed him in the side.

“Shut up! You’re lucky the boss wasn’t here to hear you say that! And you and I both know that there is no leaving.” Flim said, looking around to make sure Sombra wasn’t lurking around the area. “Remember why we’re doing this. If we follow our orders, we’ll be rich beyond our wildest dreams! Applejack will finally pay for ruining our lives!”

“You’re right! Ever since that Friendship Journal or whatever that book was, came out, it was very difficult to get anypony to trust us.” Flam said, nodding in agreement.

“I didn’t want to bring this up, but you and I both know that book is the reason mother… disowned us.” Flim said.

“The day… we lost the love of the only family we had left…” Flam said, his mind filled with horrible memories of that horrible day.

“I know we agreed to forget about that, but when Applejack asked why we were doing all of this, the memories came back to me. I didn’t say anything because I knew how much that day hurt you, brother.” Flim said as he placed a hoof on his brother’s shoulders.

“Applejack will pay for taking our family away from us.” Flam said, as the two brothers shared a glance before walking into the portal themselves.

Professor Screw had been waiting patiently, wondering what was taking the Flim Flam brothers so long. He was just about to go check on them, when the two unicorns finally stepped through the portal, allowing the Professor to close it behind them.

“Well, you two took your time. What, you guys having trouble walking or something?” Lightning Dust asked.

“Ha! Of course, not you silly filly! We were just giving each other a good pep talk!” Flim said as he gave the pegasus a large grin. “Isn’t that right, brother?”

“Of course, it is, brother! A good pep talk always gets us back in the game!” Flam replied, giving Lightning Dust the same large grin.

“Pfft, yeah clearly.” Lightning Dust said as she rolled her eyes.

“If you three are finished with your little chat, I would like to get down to business.” Professor Screw said, getting the attention of the trio. “Excellent, Doctor, would you be so kind as to secure Iron Will on the table for me?”

“Do it yourself, you old fool.” Discorded Whooves said as he dropped Iron Will’s unconscious body onto the floor.

“Hmph, very well.” Professor Screw said as he walked over to the sleeping minotaur, placing the gauntlets off to the side.

Professor Screw lifted Iron Will up with his magic, levitating him over to the table where he had strapped Doctor Whooves to before turning him into Discorded Whooves. Professor Screw laid Iron Will onto the table, with his back facing upwards, before strapping the minotaur’s arms and legs down. With Iron Will safely secured, the Professor turned to face the others.

“As his majesty said, all of you are going to learn what happens to anypony who tries to betray him. Since Iron Will has so kindly offered himself up to be the example, the lesson can be taught.” Professor Screw said.

“Ugh! Can you stop talking like some over the top movie villain already!? It’s getting annoying!” Lightning Dust said as she put a hoof to her forehead in disappointment.

“What exactly are you going to do with the big guy?” Flim asked, pointing to Iron Will.

“I’m very glad you asked, Flim. I am going to build a special device that will rewire Iron Will’s brain that will effectively turn him into a mind slave, whose only purpose is to follow his orders. Since the device has to be attached to Iron Will’s brain, I will have to cut his head open. However, this won’t be any problem for me.” Professor Screw explained; the smile on his face making the rest of the Rogue extremely uncomfortable.

“Hold on, if you’re going to attach this device to his brain, wouldn’t that cause some serious brain damage?” Flam asked.

“If we’re lucky, yes.” Professor Screw replied.

“Okay, how are you even able to make some of this stuff!? I don’t remember Equestria having this kind of technology.” Lightning Dust said.

“Perhaps you are right about that. However, I have been to other worlds where the technology is much more advanced than you could’ve imagined. It truly is incredible just how far science and technology has become.” Professor Screw said.

“I don’t remember the Professor telling us that he can travel worlds, do you, brother?” Flim whispered to Flam.

“No, I don’t think so, brother. But if he did, we must have forgotten.” Flam whispered back.

“Now, as his majesty ordered, I will make sure you all are fixed up from our encounter with Princess Twilight and her friends, then I shall work on the device. In the morning I will begin Iron Will’s experiment.” Professor Screw said as he looked at the crippled pegasus. “Lightning Dust, I am most certain that you don’t wish to remain with one of your wings broken. Come, and I shall fix it for you.”

“What exactly are you gonna do? I’m not about to have some advanced tech stuff put on my wing, am I?” Lightning Dust asked, her broken wing ruffling a bit.

“(Chuckle) No, as I do not have the time to build anything of the sort right now. Instead, I will use a more… physical way to fix your wing.” Professor Screw said, beckoning her over with a hoof.

“Okay… sure…” Lightning Dust said as she cautiously stepped towards the Professor.

The closer Lightning Dust got to Professor Screw, the more uncomfortable she became, as the look he was giving her sent chills down her spine. Once Lightning Dust got close enough, the Professor reached out a hoof and touched her broken wing, causing it to instinctively flinch in pain.

“Ow! What the hay was that for!? Your eyes must be going bad or something because my wing is very obviously broken you idiot!” Lightning Dust yelled as she backed away from the Professor.

“My eyes are just fine. In order for me to fix your wing, I need to examine it and see just how broken it is. Unless of course, you want me to just forcefully fix your wing.” Professor Screw said, giving Lightning Dust a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

“Fine, just get it over with. And you better only be examining my wing and not trying anything stupid.” Lightning Dust said, narrowing her eyes to the Professor as she walked closer to him.

“(Chuckle) If you think I have some sort of infatuation with you, then you are gravely mistaken. I have higher standards than that.” Professor Screw said.

As Professor Screw examined Lightning Dust’s wing, he took note of the damage she had sustained. Every time the Professor would touch and prod at Lightning Dust’s wing, she would wince in pain. When Twilight broke her wing, she thankfully didn’t cause any severe or permanent injuries, however she had pulled the wing bone out of socket. Along with the bone being pulled, the wing had also been slightly twisted. This wouldn’t be too hard to fix, although it would be very painful for Lightning Dust; not that Professor Screw really cared or anything.

Once Professor Screw had finished his physical observation of the wing, he stepped back and cleared his throat, signaling for Lightning Dust’s attention.

“Well, your wing is not in any critical condition, and I can fix it. Naturally, the process will be slow and very painful for you. Now, if you would please lay down on that table over there and we can get started.” Professor Screw said as he gestured towards another worktable that had some restraints on it, clearly meant for a pony.

“Why would I do that?” Lightning Dust asked, her wings flaring a bit.

“Because I need to ensure that you don’t move around too much when I am fixing your wing, as doing so could cause further damage to the bone.” Professor Screw explained.

“Yeah, well how about you-.”

“Ugh! ENOUGH!” Discorded Whooves yelled as one of the arms grabbed Lightning Dust and lifted her up in the air.

“GAH! HEY! WHAT ARE YOU-OW!” Lightning Dust cried as the arm slammed her down onto the table, keeping her pinned in place.

“(Chuckle) You know, Lightning Dust, I must say you look rather… enticing in this position.” Discorded Whooves said as he creepily admired the way the arm was pinning the helpless pegasus to the table.

“LET GO OF ME, YOU FREAK! STOP! DON’T YOU DARE!” Lightning Dust screamed as Discorded Whooves started coming closer and closer to her, a look of hunger in his eyes.

In response to this very creepy situation, Flim and Flam were about to put a stop to what was happening, but when the Doctor had the two lower arms snap at them, the brothers had no choice but to stand there and hopelessly watch whatever was about to happen to their partner. As Discorded Whooves got closer, Lightning Dust was able to kick him with her back leg, which thankfully wasn’t being pinned by the arm. Discorded Whooves chuckled a bit, enjoying seeing the fear and anger in Lightning Dust’s eyes. He was about to continue his unwanted advances when the Professor cleared his throat.

“Doctor, what do you think you’re doing?” Professor Screw asked, his head tilted, and his eyebrow raised with curiosity.

“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m keeping this bitch still so you can carry on with fixing her wing.” Discorded Whooves replied, scowling at the Professor.

“That’s not what it looks like to me.” Professor Screw said.

“Whatever, just hurry up and get it over with so you can fix these traitorous arms! I don’t want these arms trying to mess things up again!” Discorded Whooves said.

“Let go of me! Or I’ll-!”

“Shut your mouth! If you say one more word, I will tear you, limb from limb and leave you for the maggots! GOT IT!?” Discorded Whooves yelled, giving Lightning Dust a death glare.

As much as Lightning Dust wanted to protest, she decided to just shut up and listen, even though she really didn’t want to. After all, if the Doctor killed her now, she wouldn’t be able to get her revenge on Rainbow Dash.

“Very well. Do try to stay as still is you can. This is going to hurt, a lot.” Professor Screw said as he started to use his magic to fix Lightning Dust’s wing.

The moment the Professor’s magic encased itself around Lightning Dust’s wing, she screamed in pain. She wasn’t sure what kind of method he was using but it was almost as if the Professor was purposefully going slow to make the pain last longer. This was exactly what Professor Screw was doing as he relished in hearing the screams of agony. After a very painful and unnecessary twenty minutes, Professor Screw finally popped Lightning Dust’s wings back into place.

After giving the pegasus a few seconds to recover, the Professor immediately started the process of untwisting the wing bone, making sure to take his time with it. After another egregious and unnecessary twenty minutes, the Professor had finally fixed Lightning Dust’s wing.

“There, all finished. You can let go of her now, Doctor.” Professor Screw said, nodding to the Doctor.

Despite what the Professor had just said, Discorded Whooves completely ignored him as he kept Lightning Dust pinned to the table, intending to continue his previous distasteful acts. Professor Screw really didn’t care what the Doctor clearly wanted to do to the pegasus, but he was in no mood to deal with it, and he knew he had a schedule to follow. He would not fail his king just because this mad Doctor wanted some… action.

“Doctor, we are on a tight schedule here, and I would appreciate it if you let Lightning Dust go so, I can continue with my work.” Professor Screw said.

“Fine.” Discorded Whooves said as he picked Lightning Dust up with the arm and gently lowered her to the ground.

With Lightning Dust back on the ground and free from the arms grasp, she turned to look at the Doctor. She was about to start shouting and insulting him, but she was stopped when she felt a hoof on her shoulder. Lightning Dust turned around to see who had stopped her from justly giving the Doctor a piece of her mind. It was then that she saw Flim and Flam looking at her with concerned expressions; their eyes giving her a visible warning, almost a plea, as to not try anything stupid. Lightning Dust was actually taken by surprise when she realized that these two unicorns were actually concerned for her safety, and she obliged to their visual pleas and kept her mouth shut.

“Now, who’s next?” Professor Screw asked as he looked at the Flim Flam brothers with a sinister grin.

Ponyville, the next morning…

It was only a mere five seconds after the sun had risen over Ponyville when all twenty of Twilight’s alarm clocks went off at once, waking the princess up almost immediately. As soon as her eyes opened, Twilight jumped out of the bed, accidentally throwing her blankets at the wall. The first thing Twilight did was rush over to where she had kept the crystal globe Professor Screw had given her. She checked it multiple times, tapping it, flipping it over, looking at it from every angle, desperately searching for any signs of recent activity. To Twilight’s relief there was nothing indicating that the Professor or anypony from the Rogue had tried to contact her while she had slept; for the little amount of sleep that she actually got.

“(Exhale) Okay, no word from the Professor or anypony else! That’s good, that’s good, very good! Excellent in fact!” Twilight said as she laughed like a crazy pony.

Ever since the previous day, when Professor Screw had spoken to her from the crystal globe, Twilight had been greatly on edge. Princess Celestia was able to help Twilight, reassuring her and reminding her that she needed to stay strong for the sake of her friends and Ponyville. When Twilight had calmed down, Celestia told her to only tell everything they had discussed in their meeting to Starlight, Spike, and Mayor Mare, as she didn’t want to cause Ponyville to stress over all of the details regarding the Rogue, especially Professor Screw and Doctor Whooves. Twilight didn’t quite agree with this as she didn’t want to lie or leave any important information out. To compromise, Luna suggested that Twilight only tell the citizens of Ponyville the bare minimum about the Rogue. Despite Luna’s demeanor, Twilight could tell that Luna secretly agreed with her.

As per Celestia and Luna’s advice, Twilight would only tell the citizens of Ponyville about Professor Screw Loose; simply describing him as a crystal unicorn mad scientist who had turned Doctor Whooves evil, as well as being the pony responsible for the actions of the Rogue. Naturally everypony had questions, especially Derpy, who pleaded with Twilight, asking how the Doctor could have been turned into such a cruel pony. Seeing the desperate look in Derpy’s eyes hurt Twilight as she lied, telling the distraught pegasus that she had no idea. Twilight’s answer caused Derpy to run off in tears and some ponies were suspicious that Twilight wasn’t telling them the whole truth. After seeing Derpy break down as well as the suspicious glances from the other ponies, Twilight knew she had to do something that she hated doing and almost never did; she would have to disobey Princess Celestia. When the time was right, Twilight planned to tell everypony the whole truth about the Rogue.

After Twilight had explained the half-truth of the situation, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna told the citizens of Ponyville that due to the threats given by the Rogue, they would have to go back to Canterlot. However, they assured the citizens that they would do everything they could to keep them safe. Celestia promised to have some of her royal guard stationed in Ponyville, as well as the other cities and towns in Equestria. In addition, Luna promised to have her own royal guard stationed with Celestia’s royal guard to keep them safe during the night. Cadance also promised to have Shining Armor send out some of their royal guards throughout Equestria. For the safety of the students, all four princesses agreed to send word out that the School of Friendship would be closed until the Rogue were taken care of.

As Twilight continued to look back at the events of the previous day, her ears perked up as she heard the sound of somepony calling her name from outside her room.

“Twilight? Twilight?” A voice called as Twilight’s bedroom door opened, revealing a tired and concerned looking Spike.

“Uh, Twilight, are you okay?” Spike asked as the purple alicorn slowly turned to look at him.

“Oh, don’t you worry about me! I’m perfectly fine!” Twilight said with a very creepy yet innocent smile.

“You… didn’t sleep last night, did you?” Spike asked, already knowing by the bags under Twilight’s eyes that she didn’t sleep.

“What? Pfft! What are you talking about? Of course, I slept.” Twilight said, rubbing her eyes as if trying to get rid of the very obvious bags under them.

Spike just kept staring at Twilight, waiting for the inevitable confession and admittance of the truth.

“(Sigh) Okay, you got me. But for the record, I did sleep… for about two or three hours.” Twilight said as she looked at herself in the mirror.

Twilight’s mane was all messy and in serious need of brushing, with loose ends sticking up nearly everywhere. The bags under her eyes were very noticeable and even the veins of her eyes were visible.

“Why did you stay up?” Spike asked, walking up next to Twilight.

“I was worried that if I fell asleep, Professor Screw or one of the other Rogue members would call to tell me something important. I didn’t want to risk not being awake in case that ever happened.” Twilight explained.

“So… did they call?” Spike asked as he examined the crystal globe.

“No, not that I know of… but for the sake of having a good state of mind, I’m just going to say that they didn’t.” Twilight said with a confident smile.

“Okay, well that’s good to hear.” Spike said with a smile. “So, uh, do you want me to make some breakfast?”

“You know what, Spike, I would very much appreciate that. If it’s not too much trouble or anything. I can always make something myself.” Twilight said before Spike started laughing. “What’s so funny?”

“(Laughs) And when was the last time you cooked something that was halfway decent or even edible?” Spike asked.

“Wha-Hey! My cooking’s not that bad!” Twilight said.

“Oh yeah? How many frying pans did we go through when you tried making fried eggs?” Spike asked.

“(Sigh) thirty-two.” Twilight admitted, looking away from Spike as he laughed some more. “Spike, can you just go make some breakfast, please?”

“(Laughs) Yeah, sure, no problem. I’ll get you when it’s ready.” Spike said as he left the room.

While Spike was preparing breakfast in the kitchen, Twilight took the time to fix herself up, brush her mane and wash up a little. Once she had finished, Twilight walked over to the crystal globe and put it away with her magic. With the crystal globe temporarily out of her way, Twilight nodded to herself. Twilight then looked over to her nightstand and placed her golden tiara with the Element of Magic on her head, using the spell she used on herself the previous day during her battle with Professor Screw. About ten minutes later, Spike had walked back in to tell her that breakfast was about to be finished. Twilight told Spike that she’d be there in a minute as she had forgotten to fix her bed up from her dramatic wake up. Once that was finished, Twilight left her room and headed to the dining room, where she saw Spike had prepared a delicious looking breakfast of pancakes and a couple pots of coffee.

Meanwhile, Starlight had finally left her room and was making her way to the dining room as well, drawn by the smell of Spike’s cooking. Starlight had awoken earlier than she would have preferred, mainly because of Twilight’s alarm system. Much like Twilight, Starlight also didn’t get much sleep. She had spent most of the night feeling nothing but guilt and sorrow over the events that had transpired in her old village. The fact that she hadn’t been able to do anything to help her friends just devastated her. Never before had Starlight felt so useless when she found out how many ponies had been killed by the Rogue in the village.

As Starlight entered the dining room, her thoughts were immediately put on hold as she watched Twilight down an entire pot of coffee in a very unbefitting manner of a princess. It was quite a bizarre sight, and Starlight couldn’t help but laugh a bit as she and Twilight’s eyes met.

“Oh! Starlight! Hi! Good morning! How did you sleep?” Twilight asked, placing the coffee pot down and wiping her mouth with a cloth.

“(Laughs) Much better than you did, it seems.” Starlight said as she sat down next to her.

“Starlight, I really hate asking this but, Sugar Belle, Double Diamond, and Night Glider… are they going to be, okay?” Twilight asked.

“(Sigh) Sugar Belle’s fine. Just a couple bruises. Double Diamond’s legs are in really bad shape, but the doctors say he’ll get better in time. Physically, Night Glider will be fine. Mentally however… it’s not good, Twilight.” Starlight said, looking at the alicorn with serious eyes.

“How bad is it?” Twilight asked.

“She hasn’t spoken since yesterday and she’s just depressed. Though, I guess I can understand why. For a pegasus to lose their wings and their ability to fly, it must be devastating for their psyche. She’ll be treated by a lot of psychologists.” Starlight explained.

“Starlight, I’m so sorry… if only we had known about the attack. We could have stopped it.” Twilight said, shaking her head in frustration.

“There was no way for any of us to know this was going to happen, Twilight. So… what was with all of those alarms?” Starlight asked, quickly changing the subject.

“Well, Cadance told me that I could go find out more about Professor Screw at the Crystal Empire today. I wanted to get up early so I could have more time to research everything I can about the Professor.” Twilight explained.

“Uh, you do know that it takes about a day to actually get to the Crystal Empire by train, right?” Starlight asked.

“I know that, but with a little help from Discord, we can be there in seconds.” Twilight said, pouring herself a cup of coffee, as if she hadn’t just drunk from the pot earlier.

“I’m honestly surprised Discord hasn’t been complaining about being used as a fast travel provider or something.” Spike said as he placed a plate of pancakes in front of Starlight. “He got pretty annoyed with Big Mac and I when we wanted him to speed up the process of baking a pie for Sugar Belle.”

“It’s probably because Fluttershy is the one asking him. After all, it’s pretty obvious that he has a huge soft spot for her. You should have seen how mad he got when he found out that Fluttershy was captured by the changelings.” Starlight said as she began eating her breakfast, while Spike sat down next to her with his own plate of pancakes.

As Twilight, Starlight, and Spike ate their breakfast, a sudden thought came to Starlight’s mind. She had recalled that very… interesting time when she had switched the cutie marks of the royal sisters, and how Twilight was easily able to teleport to her exact location.

“Wait, Twilight, can’t you just teleport yourself and the others to the Crystal Empire? I mean, you were able to teleport to Canterlot back when I had… accidentally switched Celestia and Luna’s cutie marks.” Starlight said.

“Well for one, Canterlot is much closer to Ponyville than the Crystal Empire is. I haven’t really had much time to increase the range for my teleportation spell. Not only that, but it would take a ton of magic for me to teleport all of my friends at once. I’m good with magic, but I still have plenty of room for improvement.” Twilight explained.

“Well, maybe I can help you with that. I can always give you some of my magic.” Starlight offered.

“Oh no, I couldn’t have you do that, Starlight.” Twilight said, holding her hooves up.

“It’s fine, don’t worry Twilight. I’ve got plenty of magic to spare and we both know that.” Starlight insisted.

“How about instead of giving me some of your magic, you just increase the strength of my teleportation spell? Is that possible?” Twilight asked.

“Well, yeah, I could just do that. But considering what you’re up against, it really wouldn’t hurt to have some extra magic.” Starlight said.

“I appreciate that, but I would really prefer if you just gave me a little power boost to my teleportation spell.” Twilight said.

“(Sigh) Alright, if you say so.” Starlight said as she prepared to use a spell before Spike spoke up.

“Hold on, wouldn’t this be considered helping Twilight? Which is what the Rogue told us not to do?” Spike asked worriedly.

“The way I see it, if the Rogue are fine with letting Discord help Twilight and her friends get around, then I’m pretty sure they won’t care if I give Twilight a little power boost.” Starlight said.

“Huh, I didn’t think of that. In that case, fire away!” Spike said as he sat back in his chair, waiting to see a huge spectacle of magic.

With that, Starlight looked over to Twilight to make sure she had the all-clear signal. As Twilight gave her a confirmative nod, Starlight nodded back as they both closed their eyes. After a few seconds, Twilight’s horn became encased by Starlight’s magic as the unicorn began the process of increasing Twilight’s teleportation ability. The spell only lasted for a few moments, but the job was complete. Seeing this, Spike slumped down in his chair, a bit disappointed.

“That’s it? Oh, I was expecting a bit more of a light show.” Spike said.

“Sorry to disappoint you, Spike. But hey, at least it worked. Right, Twilight?” Starlight asked.

“Well, I definitely feel like something has changed.” Twilight said as she rubbed her head a bit before letting out a yawn.

“Great! Well, let’s finish our breakfast and then you can get a bit more sleep before it’s time for you and your friends to head to the Crystal Empire.” Starlight said.

“More sleep? Oh no, no. I’ll be just fine.” Twilight said as she suddenly passed out, her head falling onto her plate of pancakes.

“Yeah, I figured that would happen sooner or later.” Starlight said with a giggle.

A couple hours later, Twilight woke up, seeing that she had been moved to her bedroom. Spike was in her room, reading one of his comic books when he heard Twilight wake up.

“Good morning again, Twilight. Feeling better?” Spike asked, placing his comic beside him.

“(Yawn) I guess I feel a little better. Still a bit tired, but not super tired anymore at least.” Twilight replied as she got out of bed. “Where’s Starlight?”

“She’s downstairs having breakfast with the rest of your friends.” Spike said.

“Wait, my friends are here? How long have they been here?” Twilight asked.

“Relax Twilight, they only got here like fifteen minutes ago. It’s not like you kept them waiting or anything.” Spike said.

“Oh, okay. Thank Celestia for that.” Twilight said.

“Yep. I made you some more breakfast since you didn’t exactly finish yours earlier. You can join your friends.” Spike said as he walked over to the door before Twilight called out to him.

“Spike. I’m really sorry for having you take care of me like this. It seems like that’s all I ever have you do. I’m sorry, Spike.” Twilight said.

“Twilight… look at me.” Spike said as he walked over to Twilight. “You have nothing to be sorry for. I may not say it all the time, but I am more than happy to take care of you. It’s because of you that I’m alive right now. It’s because of you that I got to meet so many amazing ponies and creatures. It’s because of you that I have a good life. You’re my family Twilight, and family takes care of each other. Don’t ever be sorry for that.” Spike said as he gave Twilight a hug.

“Oh, Spike, what did I ever do to deserve you?” Twilight asked as she hugged him back.

“You passed an important test by summoning a dragon egg.” Spike replied with a chuckle.

“I love you, Spike.” Twilight said.

“I love you too, Twilight.” Spike said as they continued to hug for a few moments before separating. “Well, come on, your friends are waiting.”

“(Giggle) Alright, let’s go.” Twilight said as the two made their way out of Twilight’s room and down to the dining room.

“Well, look who finally decided to wake up.” Rainbow Dash jokingly said as Twilight and Spike entered the dining room.

“Hey girls, I hope I didn’t keep you all waiting.” Twilight said, noticing that all of her friends had their Elements of Harmony equipped with them.

“Don’t y’all worry, Twilight. We ain’t been here for very long anyway.” Applejack said, beckoning her over.

“Starlight told us that you had woken yourself up a bit too early. That crystal globe must have really had you stressed. Are you alright now, darling?” Rarity asked, looking at her with a concerned expression.

“Oh yeah, don’t worry Rarity. I’m perfectly fine, all be it a bit tired, but fine otherwise.” Twilight replied with a smile as she sat down in her chair. “More importantly, how are you girls doing?”

“Oh, don’t worry about us, Twilight. Pretty much all of us are okay now. Even Rainbow Dash and Applejack.” Pinkie Pie said as she pointed over to the earth pony and pegasus.

“The doctors gave Rainbow and I some medicine to help with the pain and once we got some sleep, we were fine and dandy.” Applejack said.

“Well, I’m glad that you’re all okay.” Twilight said, sharing a smile with all of her friends.

“So, what’s the plan, Twi?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Thanks to Starlight, I should be able to teleport the six of us to the Crystal Empire. I figured that once we’re done here, we can go to the empire and find out anything we can about Professor Screw.” Twilight explained, before putting on a concerned look. “That is if you’re all okay with this, of course.”

“Are you kidding? Of course, we are! Right, girls?” Rainbow Dash said, asking the other mane six.

After getting positive responses from all of them, Rainbow Dash nodded and looked back over to Twilight.

“See, told you.” Rainbow Dash said with a smirk. “We’ll always be ready to help you, Twi.”

“Well in that case, let’s finish our food already! The Crystal Empire awaits us!” Pinkie Pie said as she scarfed down the rest of her food. “Once we find out what we need to know about the Professor, we can focus on taking down the rest of the Sinister Six!”

“Pinkie, we’re not going to call them the Sinister Six.” Twilight said.

“But why not? There’s six members on the Rogue, and one of them is basically Doctor Octopus.” Pinkie Pie said.

“Pinkie, I don’t care if Mysterio, Sand Mare, Electro, or any of the other Spider-Mare villains were part of the Rogue; we’re not calling them the Sinister Six.” Twilight said.

“Aww okay… but can I still call them that?” Pinkie Pie asked hopefully.

“(Sigh) Yes, Pinkie, you can call them whatever you want.” Twilight said, rolling her eyes a bit.

Hearing this, Pinkie Pie leaped from her seat with a happy cheer as the rest of her friends laughed at the whole situation. Once the eight friends had finished their breakfast, they all got up from their seats and the Mane Six prepared to go to the Crystal Empire.

“Okay, is everypony ready?” Twilight asked, as all of her friends nodded in response. “We’ll be back as soon as we can.” Twilight said to Starlight and Spike.

“Don’t worry about us, just go find out what you need to know about that Professor guy.” Spike said with a thumbs up.

“Try not to get distracted by that Flash Sentry this time.” Starlight said with a mischievous grin.

“Wh-What!?” Twilight cried as her wings flared while the rest of her friends did their best to hide their laughter.

“(Giggle) I’m just kidding, get out of here.” Starlight said.

“Right! Alright! Here it goes.” Twilight said as she took a deep breath before starting her teleportation spell.

After a few seconds of gathering as much magic as she needed, Twilight was finally able to teleport herself as well as all of her friends away. Once the Mane Six were gone, Starlight looked over to Spike.

“Well, come on, Spike. Let’s clean up a bit.” Starlight said as she began to clean up the plates before they both heard a knock at the door. “Huh? Who could that be?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll get it.” Spike said as she quickly headed to the door.

As Spike walked over to the castle doors, he wondered in his mind who could possibly be visiting Twilight’s castle at this time. His question was answered as he opened the door, his eyes landing on a blue unicorn wearing a long cape as well as an oddly shaped hat.

“Greetings young Spike! Is Starlight home? If so, please tell her that the Great and Powerful Trixie has arrived!” Trixie said as she tipped her signature hat at Spike.

“(Sigh) Oh boy…” Spike said as he shook his head.

The Crystal Empire…

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that she had successfully teleported herself, along with her friends, to the Crystal Empire safe and sound. Looking around, she saw that she had teleported everypony to the Crystal Empire’s train station. The few crystal ponies that happened to be close by were temporarily shocked, but their fear quickly went away when they saw it was just Twilight Sparkle and the rest of the Elements of Harmony.

“Phew, glad that worked out.” Twilight said as she swiped a hoof across her forehead.

“I wonder what would have happened if it didn’t work.” Pinkie Pie said, pondering the consequences of a failed teleportation spell.

“So, what’s the plan, Twilight?” Applejack asked as she walked over to her. “Are we just gonna ask everypony if they know anything about the Professor?”

“We could do that, but I was thinking first we should-.”

“Twilight? Twilight! Over here!” A mare’s voice called from the train that had just arrived in the station.

Twilight turned to see who had been calling to her. Twilight gasped, as she wasn’t expecting to see her parents, Twilight Velvet, and Night Light.

“Mom!? Dad!?” Twilight cried as she teleported herself to her parents and gave them a hug. “It’s so good to see you both!”

“(Giggle) It’s good to see you too, sweetheart.” Twilight Velvet said as the three parted from the hug.

“What are you two doing here?” Twilight asked.

“(Chuckle) We could ask you the same thing. Although since all of your friends are here with you, I’m guessing you’re all here regarding this Rogue or whatever they’ve called themselves.” Night Light said as he patted Twilight on the head.

“You two know about that?” Twilight asked, trying to remember if she had even told her parents

“That’s kind of the reason we’re here. Your brother sent us a letter telling us about what had happened in Appleloosa and that village where you met Starlight. He insisted that we both moved here until the Rogue were captured.” Twilight Velvet explained.

“We were just about to head over to the palace. Apparently, we’ll be staying in one of the spare rooms there.” Night Light said as he chuckled a bit. “Your mother and I insisted that we could just stay at the hotel in the Crystal Empire but (Chuckle) your brother wouldn’t hear it.”

“Why don’t you come with us? I’m sure your brother and Cadance would love to see you. Oh, and of course, Flurry Heart would be so happy to see you.” Twilight Velvet said.

“(Giggle) Of course! We were actually going to go the palace anyway, so this works perfectly. Come on, everypony, let’s go.” Twilight said as they all began to make their way to the Crystal Palace.

While everypony was walking through the streets of the Crystal Empire, Rarity suddenly remembered Starlight’s earlier teasing about Flash Sentry. She wasn’t sure if Twilight’s parents knew about him or not, but now was the perfect time to find out.

“Mrs. Velvet? Mr. Light?” Rarity said as the two unicorns turned to look at her.

“Yes, Rarity?” Twilight Velvet asked.

“Are you aware that your daughter has taken a bit of an interest in one of the guards’ ponies here in the Crystal Empire?” Rarity asked with a smile.

“What!? Rarity!” Twilight cried.

“Oh, has she now?” Twilight Velvet asked as she looked at her daughter.

“Who is it, Twilight? Who do I need to have a serious talk with?” Night Light asked.

“(Sigh) Dad, you don’t need to talk to anypony. Rarity’s just making things up.” Twilight said.

“Oh, I doubt that. I think that it’s a good thing you’ve found yourself a stallion, Twilight. It’s about time you gave me some grandchildren.” Twilight Velvet said.

“But Shining Armor already gave you a granddaughter.” Twilight said.

“Yes, and now it’s your turn to give me grandchildren.” Twilight Velvet replied with a smile.

“What? Mom, I don’t think that’s how this works.” Twilight said as she shook her head before her eyes landed on the Crystal Palace. “Look, here we are! It’s time to get serious. Let’s go.” Twilight said as she flew towards the entrance.

“There’s definitely a stallion she’s taken an interest in.” Night Light said, looking to his wife.

“Oh, absolutely. There’s no denying it.” Twilight Velvet said, nodding to her husband before looking to Rarity. “Thank you for telling us about this, Rarity.”

“(Giggle) But of course.” Rarity replied.

“Can you tell us who it is?” Night Light asked.

“Heh, look, if Twilight runs into him, which she probably will, you’ll know. Trust me.” Rainbow Dash said with a grin.

“(Chuckle) Alright, we’ll take your word for it. Come along now, everypony.” Night Light said as they followed Twilight to the entrance.

While all of this was happening, Cadance and Shining Armor were having a slightly heated debate over whether it was safe to send more of their guards throughout Equestria to protect its citizens from the Rogue. Despite how long the empire had been restored, there were not a lot of guards. Sixty guards’ ponies had been sent out already, leaving only fifteen guards in the empire.

“Cadance, I cannot let you do this. I can’t let you to send out any more of our guards.” Shining Armor said as he followed Cadance out of their throne room.

“Shining, the ponies of Equestria are in danger. They will need protection in case the Rogue show up to attack. You heard what happened in Appleloosa and in that village. We can’t let that happen again.” Cadance said.

“You think I want that to happen!? Cadance, it hurt me so much knowing that for two whole days, ponies were being killed! And what were we doing? Trying to open some stupid door that probably has nothing important behind it!” Shining Armor said as he stomped his hoof in frustration.

Cadance said nothing as Shining Armor took some time to calm himself down.

“Cadance, we’ve already sent sixty of our guards out. Sure, we still have thirty more guards, but only fifteen of them are fully trained. The rest are still in the training process. If we send out more guards, we’ll be left with almost no protection. If an army were to suddenly appear, or if the Rogue launched an ambush attack during the night, hundreds of lives would be lost before we’d even know what was happening. I don’t want to put the lives of the crystal ponies, my parents, you, or Flurry Heart at risk.” Shining Armor said.

“(Sigh) You’re right, I’m sorry Shining. I’m just so worried about the rest of Equestria. I don’t want any more ponies to die.” Cadance said as Shining Armor placed a hoof on her shoulder.

“The love and the worry you have for the ponies of Equestria is a good thing, Cadance. It’s what makes you an incredible princess. It’s one of the many things I love about you.” Shining Armor said as he gave her a loving smile.

“Oh. Shining…” Cadance said as the two shared a loving kiss.

As the two parted from their kiss, they were about to continue their earlier discussion, when they heard the palace doors open. With guests now arriving in the palace, Cadance and Shining Armor gave each other a nod and a look that said, ‘We will talk about this later’. One of the guards approached them, bowing to them before he spoke.

“Captain Armor, some ponies have arrived, your parents are among them.” The guard said.

“Excellent, let them in.” Shining Armor said as the guard bowed in response before heading back to the palace doors.

Moments later, Shining Armor saw his parents, as well as Twilight and her friends approaching them. Cadance had told him yesterday that they would be coming to the Crystal Empire, but neither of them had expected them to be here in the morning. Nevertheless, they were both happy to see their family and friends.

“Hello everypony. Welcome to the Crystal Empire.” Shining Armor said.

“(Chuckle) There he is!” Night Light said as he and Twilight Velvet rushed over to their son.

“Look at our baby boy.” Twilight Velvet said as she gave Shining Armor a hug and kiss.

“Ugh, mom.” Shining Armor said as he saw Cadance giggle a bit out of the corner of his eye.

“Ah, Cadance! So nice to see you!” Night Light said as he gave Cadance a hug.

“How’s everything been going with you and Shining? Oh, and how is my precious granddaughter, Flurry Heart?” Twilight Velvet asked as she hugged Cadance as well.

“(Giggle) It’s wonderful to see you two as well. Shinning and I have been doing great. Flurry Heart is just fine, still being a cute adorable little baby. She’s taking her nap right now.” Cadance said as she hugged her in-laws.

“Oh, that’s so good to hear! I can’t wait to see her!” Twilight Velvet said as she turned back to her son. “It was awfully thoughtful of you to have us move here with you, Shining. But we really didn’t need the luxury treatment.”

“I know, but I want you two to be safe. And Cadance and I would feel much better if you were close to us. After all, you’re both so important to us and not to mention you’re Flurry Heart’s grandparents.” Shining Armor said.

“You both really raised such a wonderful son.” Cadance said as she leaned up against her husband.

“(Chuckle) We certainly hope so. We’re both so glad that our son has somepony to keep him in check. I’ll never forget how troublesome your teenage years were, son.” Night Light said as he jokingly poked Shining Armor’s shoulder.

“Oh, come on, dad! I wasn’t that bad.” Shining Armor protested.

“Shining, you know you shouldn’t be lying. Especially not in front of your beloved wife.” Twilight Velvet said.

“Mom!” Shining Armor said as everypony shared a laugh.

“(Laughs) By the way, look who your mother and I ran into when we got off the train.” Night Light said as he gestured over to Twilight and her friends.

“Twily! It’s so good to see you again!” Shining Armor said as he and Cadance walked over to the Mane Six.

“You too, B.B.B.F.F.” Twilight said as she hugged her brother.

“And of course, it’s always nice to see all of you.” Shining Armor said as he gave a smile to the rest of the Mane Six. “Well, I hate to be the buzzkill here, but I’m pretty sure you’re all here on serious terms. Mom, dad, come with me. I’ll take you to the room you’ll be staying in. Cadance, you got this covered?”

“Yep, I’ll take care of things from here.” Cadance replied with a nod and a smile.

“Wait, Shining Armor.” Twilight called as her brother looked over to her. “Did anything come of that door you’ve been trying to open?”

“No, we called it off. Besides, there’s more serious stuff happening in Equestria right now. We’ll worry about it once the Rogue is dealt with.” Shining Armor replied.

“Oh okay.” Twilight replied with a nod.

“Well, it was nice to see you again, sweetheart. If you need us, you know where to find us.” Twilight Velvet said as she gave Twilight a hug and kiss.

“That’s right. Now, go and make us proud. You always do and always will.” Night Light said.

“Thanks mom and dad. I love you both.” Twilight said as she hugged her parents tightly.

“We love you too, sweetie.” Twilight Velvet said as she and Night Light began walking off with Shining Armor. “Oh Shining, there’s something you should know about your sister.” Twilight Velvet whispered.

“What’s that?” Shining Armor asked as he opened a door for his parents.

“(Chuckle) We’ll tell you once we’re out of sight from our princess.” Night Light said as the door closed behind the three ponies.

Once Shining Armor, Night Light, and Twilight Velvet had left, Cadance walked up to Twilight and gave her a hug.

“Come here you.” Cadance said as she hugged Twilight tightly.

“I’m so glad to see you, Cadance.” Twilight said.

“As am I, Twilight. Though I must admit you’re all here earlier than I expected. Are you all okay?” Cadance asked, looking at Twilight’s friends.

“Don’t y’all worry about us, Princess. We’re all much better now.” Applejack said with a smile.

“Yeah, even though I hate hospitals, they took care of us and let us know that we were totally fine.” Rainbow Dash added.

“We all got plenty of rest, just like you wanted us to, Princess Cadance.” Fluttershy said.

“Well, I’m so glad that you’re all okay. You certainly look much better compared to how hurt you all looked yesterday.” Cadance said, relieved that she couldn’t spot any serious injuries on any of the ponies. “Well, let’s not waste any time, shall we? You’re all here to see if you can learn more about Professor Screw?”

“Yep! That’s why we’re here!” Pinkie Pie replied with a bounce.

“I’m sorry to ask, Cadance, but were you able to find out anything?” Twilight asked.

“There’s no need to apologize, Twilight. Yesterday, Shining Armor and I asked the guards if they knew anything about the Professor. They told us that sometime before King Sombra took over the Crystal Empire, Professor Screw was arrested and thrown in the dungeon for serious crimes. However, when we asked the guards what crimes he had committed, they said they couldn’t say because it was too sickening to remember.” Cadance said.

“Well, considering how much he talked about experimenting, it must have been some sort of crazy messed up science project.” Pinkie Pie said.

“You know what, that reminds me. Pinkie, what in the hay is going on between you and the Professor?” Rainbow Dash asked. “If you ask me, I think he’s developed a weird obsession for you.”

“(Giggle) Well of course he has, silly! It was pretty obvious that he has a crush on me.” Pinkie Pie said.

“Pinkie, darling, considering how creepy and evil he is, I don’t think you should be happy that he's taken an… interest in you.” Rarity said.

“I never said I was happy about it. I’m just stating the facts.” Pinkie Pie said with a smile.

“Anyways, did the guards say anything else, Cadance?” Twilight asked.

“No, they didn’t know anything else. However, they said that if we wanted to learn more about the Professor, we could talk to Amethyst Maresbury.” Cadance said.

“Amethyst Maresbury, the librarian?” Twilight asked.

“Yes, apparently she knows more about Professor Screw than anypony else in the Crystal Empire.” Cadance replied.

“Well in that case, she’s our pony to go to.” Twilight said.

“Um, Twilight, do you really think it’s a good idea to ask her about the Professor? If the guards were too scared to talk about him, how would she react if we mentioned him to her?” Fluttershy asked.

“I see your point, Fluttershy, but she’s the only pony in the empire who can tell us about the Professor. We have to at least try. If she’s not comfortable talking about it, we’ll leave her alone. I promise.” Twilight assured her.

“There’s just one thing that I don’t get, Twilight. I get why you want to find out more about the Professor, but like, why all of a sudden has he become like your main focus or something?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“(Exhale) I guess I’m just trying to use it as a way to keep myself distracted from wondering when the Rogue is going to call us. I read that sometimes it’s best to yourself busy, so you don’t get overwhelmed by the stress of other things going on.” Twilight explained.

“Well come on then! Let’s go get what we need so we can focus on something else to distract us! Like how awesome I am!” Rainbow Dash said as she flew up and took off towards the entrance of the palace, only to come back a few seconds later laughing nervously. “Heh, so uh, which way is the library?”

Everypony just rolled their eyes and smiled.

“(Giggle) Follow me, everypony. I’ll take you to the library.” Cadance said as she led the Mane Six in the direction of the library.

Amethyst Maresbury was in the middle of tidying up some of the bookshelves, when she heard the doors open. She turned to see who had entered the library and she was pleased and a bit surprised to not only see Twilight and her friends, but also Princess Cadance. The earth pony mare finished with the bookshelves and walked over to the ponies.

“Princess Cadance and Princess Twilight, oh it’s so good to see you both. To what do I owe this honor having all of you here today?” Amethyst Maresbury asked as she bowed to the two princesses.

“Come now, Ms. Maresbury, there’s no need to bow, you know that.” Cadance said with a smile.

“Oh, but there is. You’re both royal princesses after all. And Cadance, you’re our beloved princess. All of us here in the Crystal Empire are very grateful that you and Captain Armor are watching over us. I’m sure that if Princess Amore were still with us, she’d be more than delighted knowing that we are in good hooves. So, what can I do for you ponies?” Amethyst Maresbury asked.

“Well, Ms. Maresbury, we were just wondering… w-we were wondering if you perhaps… um…” Twilight said, her words caught in her throat.

“What’s the matter, dear? Come now, I don’t bite.” Amethyst Maresbury said with a smile.

The joyful expression on Amethyst Maresbury’s face had made Twilight stop to think if this really was a good idea. The poor mare looked so happy, and Twilight really didn’t want to ruin her day. Eventually, Twilight managed to power through and finished her question.

“We were wondering if you ever knew a pony by the name of Professor Screw Loose.” Twilight said, cringing a bit as she prepared herself for whatever reaction she’d get.

Twilight’s question hadn’t caused any sort of loud outburst or any kind of extreme reaction, however everypony saw a look of fear spread across Amethyst Maresbury’s face at the mention of the Professor. After a few moments of silence, the old mare’s fearful expression changed to that of a serious one as she looked back up at Twilight.

“Why do you want to know?” Amethyst Maresbury asked.

“I’m so sorry, Ms. Maresbury. You see, this Professor Screw is part of the Rogue.” Twilight quickly said, hoping she hadn’t just crossed a line.

“The Rogue? The group that you and Captain Armor told us about?” Amethyst Maresbury asked, looking over at Cadance.

“Yes, that’s right, Ms. Maresbury. Professor Screw is one of them and from what Twilight and her friends have gathered, he is a very dangerous and powerful pony.” Cadance said.

“He told me that King Sombra cursed him to live over one thousand years, ever since the Crystal Empire disappeared. Cadance told us that the guards said you knew about him.” Twilight added.

“I see… That certainly explains how he’s even alive and causing problems with the Rogue. Sit down at that table, all of you.” Amethyst Maresbury said as she walked over to the entrance.

“Oh, miss, it’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it. We understand.” Fluttershy said as they all sat down at one of the large tables.

“No, no, dear, it’s quite alright.” Amethyst Maresbury said as she flipped her library’s open sign to close, before walking back to the rest of the ponies. “To answer your question, Princess Twilight, yes, I knew a pony named Screw Loose. What do you wish to know about him?” Amethyst Maresbury asked as she sat down across from Twilight.

“Well, everything, I guess. B-But like Fluttershy said, you really don’t have to tell us anything if you don’t want to.” Twilight said.

“Don’t worry, I will tell you everything I know.” Amethyst Maresbury said as everypony listened intently. “Screw wasn’t always the evil professor you see now…”

*Flashback: over a thousand years ago*

Screw Loose and I were neighbors, our families were close, and we often played together as fillies. He was quite the character, always smiling and cheerful. Rarely even cried or threw a fit. His mother was the pure definition of a loving and nurturing mother, what a sweet and loving mare she was. Screw’s father wasn’t too keen on showing his emotions, but he loved Screw very much. He really had such a loving family. Screw always did have a-.

Rainbow Dash: Let me guess, his parents were killed, which made him become a crazy villain? Pfft, cliché.

Twilight Sparkle: Rainbow Dash! Don’t interrupt her! I’m so sorry Ms. Maresbury, please continue.

Amythest Maresbury: (Giggle) It’s quite alright, dear. As I was saying:

Screw always did have a passion for science, he would never stop talking about how he would become a brilliant scientist one day and how his inventions would change not just the Crystal Empire, but all of Equestria. I always admired him for his determination. Our early foalhood went just about as normally as any other foal in Equestria. As we grew, so too did Screw’s knowledge and love for science. However, just as Screw’s love for science grew as we got older, so too did my love for him.

Pinkie Pie: Aww! That’s cute! Did you two go out together?

Twilight Sparkle: Pinkie, hush!

Amethyst Maresbury: No, no, it’s quite alright, Princess Twilight. And, yes, Screw and I did get together.

Pinkie Pie: Oooh! Tell us more!

Rainbow Dash: (Whisper) Why is she so interested in that specifically?

Applejack: (Whisper) Don’t look at me.

When we entered our teenage years, I asked Screw to be my very special somepony, as you all call it now, he accepted, and we became a couple for quite some time. Our parents happily accepted our relationship. (Giggle) I can still remember the times when my mother would ask when Screw was going to take my hoof in marriage. We were so happy together. In fact, we would have gotten married… if weren’t for… that day…

Pinkie Pie: What happened on that day?

Well, before I tell you that, I should tell you more about Screw first. When we were both little fillies, Screw was always so curious about the world around him; always so eager to learn. Because of this, he was quite intelligent for his age. At school, he was always at the top of his class. I’ll admit, I wasn’t really all that into the sciences and things to that nature, but I was always willing to listen and learn about it with Screw. As we got older, Screw had started to become less active and became more of a quiet pony. This unfortunately led Screw having a lot of run-ins with bullies who would pick on him, calling him a ‘shut-in nerd’. I wish I could say it was simple name calling and typical bully teasing, but there were times where the bullying got physical. Screw was never the type of pony to fight back when he was being picked on. There were times where Screw would be being hit, and he would just remain completely calm and take it. I, however, wouldn’t put up with Screw’s bullies. I put those ponies in their place many times.

Science was like therapy for Screw, especially his experiments. Whenever Screw was stressed or upset, he would go off and work on one of his countless science projects that he made himself. Screw had loved experimenting since we were fillies. When we were little, his first experiments were very simple, such as planting a flower or experimenting with watercolors and other things that fillies could do for fun. As we got older, his experiments would improve and get more complex. I always did enjoy watching Screw work on his experiments and projects. However, there were a couple that I never did like, mainly the dissections.

Fluttershy: D-Dissections? You mean like when you cut into a poor little animal?

Amethyst Maresbury: It seems we have the same opinion on the matter. I never could understand how one could cut open an animal so easily and call it a science.

At first, Screw respected my opinions on things like dissection and other similar experiments. However, a couple years after we had become a couple, he started to pressure me into understanding the process of these experiments. He seemed to get offended if anypony took a disinterest in one of his projects or about science in general. I never liked this new side of his personality.

“Come on, Amethyst, you’re just not understanding the bigger picture here.” Screw Loose said as he tried to pull Amethyst back to his experimenting table.

“Screw, I told you already, I don’t like these dissections and you know that. Why can’t you respect my opinion?” Amethyst asked.

“What’s the harm in it? The animal is already dead, it’s not like I killed it.” Screw Loose said.

“Well, I certainly hope you didn’t. But that’s not the issue here, Screw. Look, I understand science fascinates you, I completely respect that. But I don’t want to observe projects like these. They’re just gross.” Amethyst said.

“Gross? How dare you say something like that! Science is not gross! Science is a wonderful thing! If you can’t see that, then you can just leave!” Screw Loose suggested as he turned back to his experiment.

“Fine then, I will! Besides, I came here to spend time with you! Not your science projects!” Amethyst said as she stormed out of the room.

Despite how bitter Screw could be at times, I still loved him, and he still loved me. I wish I could say I was able to help him with his behavior, but unfortunately, it got worse. At the time, I didn’t blame Screw as something terrible had happened to him. Screw’s mother and father disappeared one day, and they were presumed to be dead. The loss of both his parents really hurt Screw. He became more bitter and fussier about pushing his love for science on others. Don’t get me wrong, he could still be kind and respectful like he’d always been, it’s just that his bad behavior and attitude got worse. A few months before Screw’s parents disappeared, Screw had also gotten his cutie mark. I’ll admit, when I first saw it, I was worried. I’m guessing that you have already seen Screw’s cutie mark.

Twilight Sparkle: Yes, a single beaker with a black skull on it.

Rainbow Dash: How does a pony, let alone a crystal pony, end up with a cutie mark that looks so evil? It’s like he was destined to be a crazy bad guy or something.

Amethyst Maresbury: That leads us back to Pinkie’s earlier question about that day. The day I lost my beloved Screw Loose…

It was a foggy night in the Crystal Empire. By this hour, most ponies were already inside, tucking their little ones into bed. The streets were relatively quiet apart from the occasional late-night walkers. Among them was Amethyst Maresbury, who was on her way to check on Screw Loose. She hadn’t spoken to him for the past week due to an argument they had. It was one of the few arguments they had that didn’t involve Screw’s experiments. Amethyst had decided that maybe she had gone too far during their last fight, and she wanted to apologize to her friend and make sure he was okay.

Along the way, some of the crystal ponies had advised Amethyst to head home as it wasn’t safe for any pony, especially a young mare, to walk out at night by themselves. It wasn’t always like this in the Crystal Empire, in fact it was never like this. However, things changed when recently eight ponies went missing. Despite this however, Amethyst was determined to check on her friend.

Since their fight, Screw hadn’t shown up to any of his classes and his professors were on the verge of failing him. Amethyst knew how much Screw’s studies meant to him and she didn’t want him to lose his chances at becoming a brilliant scientist.

Oh, Screw, I hope you’re okay…

After trotting through the streets of the Crystal Empire for some time, Amethyst finally arrived at Screw’s house. Ever since Screw’s parents had disappeared, the house seemed as if though it was losing its charm. Every time Amethyst had come over, the house gave off a really strange and uncomfortable atmosphere. Amethyst shook her head as she reached out a hoof and knocked on the door. When no pony answered the door after a couple moments, Amethyst knocked once again.

“Hello? Screw, it’s me, Amethyst Maresbury.” Amethyst said as she knocked again.

After waiting a couple more minutes, Amethyst decided to try and see if the door wa possibly unlocked. She pressed her hoof against the doorknob and as she did, the whole door suddenly glowed with a bright green aura. Amethyst instinctively backed away as the door mysteriously opened by itself with an eerie creaking sound. As the door opened, Amethyst didn’t see any sign of anypony having opened the door, which made the whole situation even more unsettling.

“Um, h-hello? Screw?” Amethyst said, once again getting no response. “I’m coming in.”

As Amethyst walked into the house, the door closed behind her, making her jump a bit.

“Hello!? Screw, if you’re trying to scare me, please stop it. It’s not funny… Screw?” Amethyst called, once again getting no reply.

Taking a deep breath, Amethyst somehow found the courage to keep venturing through the house. Since it was nighttime, the lights were obviously off, but there were lots of candles scattered throughout the house, each one of them lit with a dancing flame. The further Amethyst explored the house, the more terrified she became. What was scaring her the most wasn’t the dark, the mysterious door opening, or even the way the candles were seemingly organized. It was the eerie silence that really terrified Amethyst. The only sound that could be heard was the sound of her hoofs hitting the floor.

Amethyst continued to call out for Screw, but she never got a response, making her wonder if anypony was even home. Eventually, Amethyst found herself standing just outside of Screw’s bedroom door, which was closed. She couldn’t put her hoof on it, but Amethyst felt that just had to open this door. With another deep breath, Amethyst opened the door, which surprisingly wasn’t locked. With the door now open, Amethyst was immediately taken back by the sight of Screw’s room.

“What? What is all this?” Amethyst asked as she looked around the room.

Screw’s room looked so much more different and messier than the last time she had seen it. Empty beakers and flasks were scattered all over the floor, along with a concerning number of medical tools. One of the trash cans was nearly filled to the brim with potion recipes and pages from a notebook. The bookshelves were so stuffed with spell books that some of the books had begun to pile up on the floor. On Screw’s workbench, beakers and test tubes were neatly placed in a rack, each one containing a bright colored liquid. Notes of data and research were placed in a very organized fashion on one of Screw’s desks. On the walls, there were posters that depicted the anatomy of lots of different animals, ranging from small rodents to birds and even dogs. Near the corner of Screw’s room, was a large cauldron that was filled with a glowing green liquid, which was still bubbling and boiling. Next to the cauldron, there was a small desk, with two large gothic looking candles on top. There was something on the desk which had caught Amethyst’s interest.

With her mind solely focused on the object on the desk, Amethyst walked further into Screw’s room and over to the strange desk. When she reached the desk, Amethyst looked at the strange object and saw that it was a spell book. However, this was no ordinary spell book, the demonic and gothic designs on the cover of the book made it clear that this was a spell book of dark magic. Dark magic was strictly forbidden and practically nonexistent in the Crystal Empire. Seeing this book, along with everything else, made Amethyst extremely worried. She knew she had to leave and tell Princess Amore about this. However, before Amethyst could leave the room, something caught her eye.

On the wall beside the desk with the dark spell book, there was a picture frame that was slightly tilted to the side. As she examined the picture, Amethyst could see that it was a picture of herself along with Screw Loose and his family. The picture almost made Amethyst feel happy, but the rest of the room killed any good feelings that could have been there.

“(Sigh) I hope we can find your parents one day.” Amethyst said as she reached a hoof out towards the picture.

As Amethyst’s hoof touched the picture, it suddenly straightened itself and then a rumbling sound could be heard. Amethyst stepped away from the wall and watched in awe as a magical aura began to take the form of a door. A few seconds later, a door had completely materialized on the wall, and it opened up, revealing a flight of stairs. There was an inscription on the door that read, ‘Laboratory’. Amethyst figured that the source behind all of the creepy events was behind this door. One the one hoof, her mind was telling her to just leave and get help. But on the other hoof, she really wanted to know what was behind this door.

“Oh, Screw Loose… what are you up to?” Amethyst asked, as with one last boost of confidence, she walked through the door.

Just like when she first entered the house, as soon as Amethyst passed the door, it closed behind her, without the creaking. The walls on the sides of the stairs all had torches as if it was part of some ancient castle or something. The sounds of Amethyst’s hoof steps echoed as she walked down the stairs. As Amethyst continued to walk down the stairs, she started to hear sounds. She couldn’t quite put her hoof on it, but she could have sworn she was hearing the sounds of somepony talking. The further down Amethyst went, the more apparent it was that the voice was coming from none other than Screw Loose himself. Amethyst was relieved and she was just about to call out to him, when she stopped to actually listen to what Screw was saying.

“(Chuckle) I know, I know it hurts. But trust me, soon, you will go down in the history books as one of the greatest pieces of science.” Screw’s voice said.

After hearing this very odd line come from Screw, Amethyst suddenly found herself slowing down her pace, as to not make any noise. As Amethyst neared the bottom of the stairs, she heard what sounded like painful moaning and groaning noises. Along with these muffled sounds, she could also hear what sounded like squishing and snipping of some sort of chunky fleshy material. Amethyst was suddenly hit with a putrid smell of rotten meat. The sounds grew louder, and the smells became stronger. As soon as Amethyst reached the bottom of the stairs, she stopped. What she saw… would haunt her for the rest of her life…

At the bottom of the stairs, there was a huge open room, like a basement or safety bunker with torches and candles adorning the walls. The lights on the ceiling of the room were bright and made it seem like it was daytime. In the room, there were ten tables… and on seven of the tables… were the dead bodies of seven crystal ponies. All seven of the bodies were cut open, with their internal organs exposed to the harsh ceiling lights. Some of the organs and intestines were flayed out and on metal trays next to the tables. Some ponies were missing their legs, hooves, and some were even missing their heads. Some of them seemed to have been cut open, while others looked to have been ripped open with brute force. On the walls of the room, the dissected bodies of critters were nailed up. Birds, rodents, frogs, cats, dogs, and even a whole sheep.

What was really sickening was the fact that some of the body parts of a pony were forcefully attached to the body of another pony or even one of the critters. Bones were twisted in a way to connect to the bones of a different body part. Some organs had been placed into glass beakers with the strange glowing liquid like Amethyst had seen upstairs. At the end of each of the tables that had bodies on them, there were tags that labeled each body. After reading some of the tags, Amethyst realized that these were the bodies of the seven out of the ten ponies that had gone missing in the Crystal Empire. It wasn’t until Amethyst heard the sound of slicing that she looked ahead at the far end of the room, only to see somepony wearing a large black robe. On the wall in front of the robed pony, was the nailed up and dissected bodies of Screw Loose’s parents. Amethyst screamed at the sight, causing the pony to turn to look at her.

“(Chuckle) Hello, Amethyst…” Professor Screw said as he removed the robe, revealing his blood-soaked fur and mane.

“Sc-Screw L-Loose… what is this!? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?” Amethyst screamed.

“You know, it’s quite rude and not to mention against the law to break into somepony’s house. Not to mention that you’re interrupting me while I’m in the middle of an important experiment.” Professor Screw said, completely ignoring Amethyst’s question.

“Screw, it was you! You’re the reason all of those ponies went missing! Y-Your parents… Screw Loose, why!? WHY!?” Amethyst cried as tears fell from her eyes.

“I’ve finally figured it out, Amethyst.” Professor Screw said.

“F-Figured out… what?” Amethyst asked.

“What my cutie mark means. My special talent… it’s all so clear now.” Professor Screw said as he stepped to the side, revealing another table. “The dark side of scientific experimentation; Scientific Torture.”

As soon as Professor Screw moved out of the way, Amethyst screamed as she saw the body of the tenth pony that had gone missing. The stallion had also been flayed open and his stomach had been removed. However, it seemed like Professor Screw had taken the stomach of another pony and attached it to the body of the pony. The wings of a crystal pony pegasus had been surgically attached to his body as well as the horn of a crystal pony unicorn. His eyes were two different colors as neither of his eyes belonged to him. The worst part about this whole thing, that poor stallion was still alive.

“Help me… p-please…”

“(Evil Chuckle) My experiments, my purpose, my journey, it’s only just beginning…” Professor Screw said as he smiled at Amethyst.

I could no longer stand to be in the same room as him, so I ran. I ran out of the house, and I didn’t stop until I made it to the Crystal Palace. I told Princess Amore of everything I had seen. She rounded up a few of her guards, and they went to the house. She told me to stay in the palace and not to follow them, but I disobeyed. I’m not sure why I went back. I guess… I guess I was desperately trying to cling to whatever hope I had left for Screw Loose. I really wish I never went back to the house. Going back only confirmed that I had truly lost somepony who had been so special to me since I was a filly. I’m not sure exactly what happened when the princess confronted Screw Loose, but I think I have a good enough of an idea…

In a matter of minutes, Princess Amore and a few of her royal guards arrived at Screw Loose’s house. Deep down, Princess Amore really hoped that what Amethyst Maresbury had told her wasn’t true. This was the Crystal Empire, a kingdom that was all about love. The fact that any of the crystal ponies could’ve committed the deeds that this Screw Loose had been accused of, was just unfathomable. Despite the time of night, the appearance of the princess of the Crystal Empire caused a commotion and soon enough, ponies were leaving their homes to see what was going on.

“Guards, stay out here and don’t let any of our citizens get any closer to this house.” Princess Amore said to her guards.

“Yes, your highness.” The guards responded as they took their position, making sure that none of the other crystal ponies got too close.

“You two, with me.” Princess Amore said to her two personal royal guards.

“Yes, your highness.” The guards replied as they walked over to the door.

Princess Amore’s personal guards kicked the door of the house down and rushed inside, making sure it was safe. After getting the all-clear signal from her guards, Princess Amore walked into the house. It didn’t take long for them to find to entrance to Screw’s secret bunker. Princess Amore went down the stairs first, followed by her personal guards. As they walked down the stairs, they were hit by a horrible smell. The closer they got to the bottom; the more worried Princess Amore became that Amethyst Maresbury’s claims were indeed true. Eventually, Princess Amore and her guards made it to the bottom of the stairs and as soon as they saw what was at the bottom, their blood ran cold.

“O-Oh my… n-no…” Princess Amore said.

“What the?” one of the guards said.

“Stars above, it can’t be…” the other guard said.

The sight of the bodies terrified the princess as well as her guards. However, what scared them the most, was the fact that Professor Screw was still working on his experiment that was still alive. Hearing that he had company, Professor Screw turned around and grinned.

“Ah, Princess Amore, have you come to oversee the process of my newest experiment. (Evil Chuckle) I’m sorry, you just missed it.” Professor Screw said as he stepped to the side, revealing his newest experiment.

The crystal pony that had been horrifically turned into some sort of chimera hybrid like creature, actually got up from the table he had been strapped to. The stallion took a few steps forward and looked up at Princess Amore. Despite how horribly disfigured and mangled up his face was, the look in the stallion’s eyes shattered Princess Amore’s heart.

“P-Princess… help…” the stallion pleaded as he fell to the floor.

As soon as the stallion hit the floor, his whole body fell apart, leaving him a bloody mess. He was dead. After seeing his experiment die, Professor Screw just snorted.

“I guess he wasn’t as perfect as I thought he was. Oh well, back to the drawing board I suppose.” Professor Screw said as he laughed maniacally.

“S-SEIZE HIM!” Princess Amore ordered as her guards charged at the Professor.

“Get down on the ground, you maniac!” the first guard yelled as he and his partner pinned the Professor down.

As Professor Screw was getting pinned down, he attempted to use his magic to escape, however the second guard saw this coming.

“Oh no, you’re not getting out of this that easily!” the second guard yelled as he used a special spell to crystalize Professor Screw’s horn, preventing him from using any kind of magic. “What shall we do with him, your highness?”

“Take him outside, I do not wish to remain in this awful place any longer than I have to be.” Princess Amore said as she walked back up the stairs, with her guards following her and carrying the Professor with them.

As Princess Amore and her guards exited the house, they were greeted by a crowd of crystal ponies, with Amethyst Maresbury among them. The sight of the bloodied up and mad-looking crystal pony caused the crowd to panic and ask a bunch of questions. After some of the guards had managed to calm the ponies down, Princess Amore looked at the Professor, disgusted by his smile.

“Screw Loose, for your horrific crimes, you will face immediate incarceration. Guards, take him to the dungeon.” Princess Amore said.

“(Evil Chuckle) What? I don’t get a proper trial, princess?” Professor Screw asked with another sadistic smile.

“Unless you can change your ways, you will never see the outside of a dungeon again. Take him away.” Princess Amore said.

As the guards were taking the Professor away, his eyes landed on Amethyst. The look on her face was that of disgust, but more so sadness.

“So… you ratted me out, Amethyst?” Professor Screw asked.

“(Sniff) Screw… I… goodbye, Screw Loose.” Amethyst said as she turned to leave.

“(Chuckle) Oh, don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll see each other again.” Professor Screw said as he was taken away, laughing like the insane maniac that he had become.

*End Flashback*

“That was the day my beloved Screw Loose died, and Professor Screw was born.” Amethyst Maresbury said as she finished her story.

As Amethyst finished telling her story, everypony just sat there in complete and utter shock. Of all the different ideas they had about the Professor’s possible origins, the truth was far beyond anything they could have imagined. Twilight and her friends all looked at each other, having fully grasped just how sick Professor Screw really was.

“Sweet Celestia…” Twilight said, regretting that she had made this poor old mare tell this awful tale. “Oh, Ms. Maresbury! I’m so sorry! I never should have asked you about Professor Screw!”

“Princess Twilight, please, it’s okay. It’s a good thing you did. Because now all of you know just how dangerous Professor Screw is.” Amethyst Maresbury said as she placed a hoof on Twilight’s own. “Princess, you mentioned earlier that King Sombra had cursed Professor Screw, yes?”

“Y-Yes… I’m so sorry to ask but, do you know anything about that?” Twilight asked.

“Unfortunately, I don’t know why King Sombra would curse Professor Screw to live for so long. To be honest, I didn’t even know King Sombra cursed him to begin with. All I know is that Professor Screw remained in prison for years until King Sombra took over the Crystal Empire and broke him out.” Amethyst Maresbury said.

“Do you know why King Sombra had set the Professor free?” Twilight asked.

“I have no idea; none of us have a clue as to why King Sombra would set him free. All we knew was that Professor Screw was extremely loyal, obeying King Sombra’s every word. He was one of the only two ponies that King Sombra didn’t enslave. The other being a young unicorn mare named Radiant Hope, although I don’t know too much about her. When King Sombra took over the empire, Professor Screw would take the ponies who had become too weak to continue working and experiment on them. The ponies he took, we never saw them again.” Amethyst Maresbury said.

“Oh goodness me… I knew that the crystal ponies suffered greatly under King Sombra’s rule, but I had no idea that some of you were… oh Ms. Maresbury, I’m so sorry.” Cadance said.

“It’s alright, Princess Cadance. There’s no way you would have known. The day after Professor Screw was arrested, Princess Amore told all of us to try and forget about him and what he had done. His house was torn down the same day and his secret bunker was sealed off with a spell. Please understand, Princess Amore wasn’t trying to make us pretend that the incident never happened, she just didn’t want us to be tormented by the memories. We all agreed it was for the best.” Amethyst Maresbury said.

“It must have been really difficult to suppress those memories about Professor Screw.” Cadance said.

“It took time for all of us to move past it, but we eventually did. Most of the ponies that were around during the incident are gone now, I’m one of the few left that was there for it. The reason the guards knew about Professor Screw is because Princess Amore made a policy that every guard had to know about what happened. In order for them to help keep the peace and make sure that ponies were reminded not to talk about him. They were never to speak a word of the Professor unless asked by royalty, which is why they told you about me.” Amethyst Maresbury said.

“I… I see…” Cadance said.

“Yes, now, is there anything else I can help you with?” Amethyst Maresbury asked.

“No, that’s everything. Thank you so much for your time, Ms. Maresbury.” Twilight said as she walked over and hugged her. “I’m so sorry for making you remember those events.”

“Now, dear, I already told you, it’s perfectly fine. I’m just glad I was able to help all of you.” Amethyst Maresbury said.

“Thank you. Come on, everypony, let’s go.” Twilight said as they all got up to leave.

As Twilight, Cadance, and the rest of the Mane Six left the library, Amethyst Maresbury smiled and waved to the ponies. She just hoped that Twilight and her friends would be able to defeat the Rogue and stop Professor Screw from hurting anypony else.

Author's Note

Well, that was a pretty dark and crazy chapter... I hope you all enjoyed hearing the origins of Professor Screw Loose. I'm sure you all have questions like, what caused Professor Screw to snap and become this mad scientist? Why did King Sombra free him? What exactly happened when Flim and Flam were disowned by their mother? All of these questions will be answered soon enough...

Next chapter will be a more light-hearted sort of wholesome chapter, then after that, we will check back in with King Sombra, who I'm sure you all want to see execute the next step in his plan...

Thanks for reading! Thank you for the support!

A Sparkle of Love

Once Twilight, Cadance, and the rest of Mane Six had exited the library, they all stopped walking for a moment and just looked at each other. They were all horrified by what they learned about Professor Screw. Just thinking about what Amethyst Maresbury had described made some of them sick.

“Wow, I was not expecting any of that.” Rainbow Dash said.

“How could somepony just kill their parents like that!? It’s just so… cruel.” Applejack said.

“I for one just don’t understand why Professor Screw did that to his parents. Ms. Maresbury said that they were a very loving family.” Rarity said.

“Do you think maybe Professor Screw was being abused or mistreated by his parents? I mean, it does happen.” Fluttershy said.

“Well, I do see what you mean, Fluttershy. Growing up in a household with abusive parents can have a severe effect on anypony. But even if that were the case, I’m sure Ms. Maresbury would have said something about that.” Rarity said.

“Just because Ms. Maresbury didn’t see any abuse happening, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. A lot of times that kind of abuse goes unnoticed. It’s awful but it’s true.” Fluttershy said.

“Once again, you’re absolutely right, darling. However, I don’t think that is the case here. Considering that Professor Screw committed these horrible acts on ponies that weren’t his parents, it’s too cruel to have just been cause by domestic abuse. There has to be more.” Rarity said.

“You know what really confuses me? How in the hay is scientific torture or whatever Screw called it, his special talent? I mean, there’s no way that anypony’s special talent can be doing something bad.” Rainbow Dash said.

“And why do you say that, Rainbow Dash?” Cadance asked.

“Well, because that’s just not how cutie marks work.” Rainbow Dash replied.

“Cutie marks represent the special talent of a pony; what makes them truly special. While most ponies have special talents in what we consider to be good or normal, there are ponies out there whose special talent is something bad. I’m not sure if scientific torture is indeed what Professor Screw’s special talent is, but it sure does seem like it.” Cadance said.

“What I wanna know is how the Professor went from simple science projects to the dissecting and killing of innocent ponies and even the poor innocent defenseless critters! He really went from zero to a thousand like it was nothing!” Pinkie Pie said.

“From what Ms. Maresbury told us, I believe it was a case of a passion slowly becoming an obsession. For instance, think of the ponies that bully others. They start off small, with simple name calling or teasing. As time goes on, they start to go even further as they begin to enjoy the bullying. Name calling becomes harsh insults, teasing becomes harassment, the occasional push or shove becomes a punch or a beating. For Professor Screw, it started off with simple projects, but something pushed him to look into the darker side of his passion. Whatever it was, caused him to take his experiments further and further until eventually, he became obsessed with going deeper into the rabbit hole he dug himself.” Cadance said.

While Cadance was explaining her thoughts on the matter involving Professor Screw and his horrifying origins, Applejack looked over to Twilight. She hadn’t said anything since they left the library, and it seemed like she was in deep thought. Deeply concerned for her friend, Applejack walked up to Twilight and tapped her on the shoulder.

“Hey, Twilight, are y’all okay?” Applejack asked, snapping Twilight out of her thoughts.

“What? Oh, yeah, I’m okay.” Twilight said, still looking at the floor.

“Twilight, darling, are you sure? I know we just heard some pretty awful things about the Professor and-Twilight?” Rarity said as Twilight started to walk away from the group.

“I’m sorry everypony but I really need to be alone for a little while. You all just… do whatever. Spend some time in the Crystal Empire or something. I have to go.” Twilight said as she continued walking away.

“Twilight, wait! We’re supposed to stay together!” Pinkie Pie said as she tried to follow Twilight but was stopped by Cadance.

“It’s okay everypony, just let Twilight be alone for a bit. Come on, let’s all take a walk. It will help us feel better.” Cadance said.

“But Princess Cadance, we can’t just leave Twilight by herself.” Fluttershy said.

“I understand how you feel but trust me. I’ve known Twilight since she was a filly. I know when she needs to be left alone and this is one of those times.” Cadance said.

“Oh, okay…” Fluttershy said as they watched Twilight walk away.

Meanwhile in the Crystal Palace, a group of guards were having some pleasant conversation with each other. They didn’t usually get much time to have fun and talk casually, so they were taking advantage of what little time they did have. Among this group of guards, Flash Sentry was with them, having a nice time with his fellow guards’ ponies.

“And then I tell him, come back next week, am I right?” One of the crystal guard ponies named Emerald Strongwings asked as he and the other guards broke out into laughter.

“(Laughs) Oh yeah, you definitely got him!” another crystal guard named Iron Buster said as he laughed.

“Oh yeah, totally!” Flash Sentry said as he laughed a bit before he started coughing.

“Geez, Flash, it wasn’t that funny. I mean, you don’t gotta kill yourself over it.” Emerald said with a laugh.

“(Cough) (Cough) Well, I mean it was pretty funny.” Flash said.

“Heh, yeah, I guess it was. But really though, are you okay, buddy?” Emerald asked.

“(Cough) Yeah, I’m totally fine. I’m probably just not used to how chilly it can get up here.” Flash said.

“Pfft, yeah, if that was the case, you would have gotten sick when you first came here, buddy.” Emerald said.

“(Chuckle) I guess I’m just special.” Flash said with a shrug.

“Oh yeah, he’s definitely special. I mean the captain promotes him to corporal along with the rest of us, and he can’t even bother to stay at his post before he heads off to act like a Good Samaritan every five minutes.” A crystal guard named Steel Plate said.

“Hey, come on, Steel, you didn’t have to tell them all of that, bro.” Flash said.

“Buddy, it’s not my fault you keep walking away from your post to help out the crystal ponies.” Steel said.

“Yeah well, I can’t help it, you know? If I see somepony that needs help, I’ll always step in to help them. It’s just who I am.” Flash said.

“We know buddy.” Buster said as he patted Flash on the back. “Just take care of yourself, will you? The last thing we need is one of us getting sick and not being able to do their job.”

“Don’t worry about me guys, I’ll be fine.” Flash said.

“Welp looks like that’s all the time we got for today. Come on you guys, let’s get back to our posts.” Emerald said as he and the other guards headed off to their previously assigned positions.

As Flash Sentry was making his way to his post, he sighed as he took in the beauty of the Crystal Empire. Despite having been living in the Crystal Empire for a couple years now, Flash never got tired of the wonderous sights that the empire had to offer him. He could still remember the first time he ever saw the Crystal Empire when he got off the train from Canterlot. It was very beautiful indeed. Ever since Flash had been stationed here, he had always been so invested in learning all he could about the history of the Crystal Empire. He loved meeting all of the crystal ponies and getting to know most of them.

Being the first and only non-crystal pony to be a member of the Crystal Empire’s royal guard was a bit nerve wrecking at first, but Flash was welcomed with open hooves, and he almost immediately felt at home. Over time, Flash had gotten a bit of a reputation for being a Good Samaritan. Whenever somepony needed help, he would always step in to lend a hoof, even when he was supposed to be on guard duty. Whether it was helping a kind old mare cross the street, helping out with a broken wagon wheel, carrying something heavy for somepony, or chasing down the occasional thief or troublemaker, Flash was always eager to help. In fact, the main reason Flash was promoted to being a corporal was because of an extremely good deed he had done a while back.

About six and a half months earlier, the hospital of the Crystal Empire had collapsed, and a lot of ponies were trapped in the rubble. The guards had been ordered to save as many of the ponies as they could. The job was very dangerous since a fire had broken out when the hospital collapsed. Flash had flown in to try and rescue this older stallion, who was pinned by a large crystal. Flash didn’t wait for help to arrive as he was told that the stallion was very, very sick and he didn’t want him to die in the rubble. It took quite some time, but Flash was able to save the patient from the fire. For his heroic act, Flash had been promoted to the rank of corporal and his fellow guards praised him as a hero.

Life was perfect in the Crystal Empire for Flash. Well at least it was, until a couple months ago when Flash developed a bit of a cough. Flash wasn’t sure what had caused this cough, but it wasn’t fun to have. Sometimes there would be days when he didn’t cough at all, and then there would be days where he’d be coughing almost all day. If there was one bad habit that Flash had, aside from walking out on his posts, it would be that he would sometimes downplay the seriousness of certain situations just so no pony else would be worried. He had done just that with his cough.

When Princess Cadance and Shining Armor found out about Flash’s cough, they tried to get him to see the doctor, but Flash would always insist that it wasn’t that serious, and it was just allergies or something simple. Flash always figured that his body wasn’t used to being exposed to the colder environment of the Crystal Empire, which would explain his frequent coughing. This worked at first, but eventually when the coughing would keep coming back, Cadance placed a special spell on Flash that would prevent him from getting anypony else sick. Of course, she also made him see the doctor, but all he would end up doing was ask for simple cough medicine, which did help a bit.

After a couple minutes of walking, Flash finally made it to his post, and he took position on one of the upper baloneys of the Crystal Palace. As he looked out down at the Crystal Empire, he smiled as he took in the beautiful sights. While Flash was admiring the sights, his eyes caught sight of a familiar purple alicorn.

“Twilight? Huh, when did she get here?” Flash asked as he looked down at the princess.

After staring at Twilight for a couple of moments, Flash immediately picked up on the fact that she wasn’t being her usual happy self. Twilight looked very upset about something. Flash wanted to go down and talk to her, but he knew he couldn’t just up and abandon his post again. After all, he had promised Shining Armor that he would work on not doing that anymore.

Speaking of Shining Armor, the white unicorn stallion had just finished spending some time with his parents and his daughter. He was now just making sure everything was okay with the Crystal Palace before he would set off to see how things were going with Cadance and the Mane Six. While Shining Armor was walking through the Crystal Palace, he thought about what his parents had told him. Apparently, according to Rarity, Twilight seemed to have developed a crush on one of Shining Armor’s royal guards. When Shining Armor heard of this, his mind immediately went to the only guard in the Crystal Empire that Twilight would ever logically have an interest in, Flash Sentry. As Twilight’s older brother, Shining Armor knew that he had to see if these claims were true.

On the one hoof, Shining Armor was happy that his little sister was finally taking an interest in something that didn’t relate to books. Twilight was a young mare who was in her prime and while she didn’t need to have a special somepony, it would be nice for her to at least try finding somepony to share a special bond with. On the other hoof, he felt it was his responsibility to make sure that the pony Twilight would be interested in was a good pony and not a bad one.

If Flash Sentry really was the stallion that Twilight had taken an interest in, then that would be just fine. Flash was a respectful stallion and very honorable. He always had a kind heart and was always a joy to be around. Shining Armor felt that if anypony was worthy to be Twilight’s special somepony, it was Flash.

While Shining Armor continued to make his rounds, he came across one of his guards, Emerald Strongwings, who was standing by his post.

“Good morning, Emerald.” Shining Armor said as he approached him.

“Ah, good morning, Captain Armor.” Emerald replied with a bow.

“Do you know where Corporal Sentry is?” Shining Armor asked.

“(Chuckle) Well sir, if you’re lucky, you’ll find him on the upper west balcony. If he’s not there, check the market area. He’ll probably be out helping somepony.” Emerald replied with a chuckle.

“Heh, alright, thanks, Emerald.” Shining Armor said as he headed for the west balcony.

“No problem, sir.” Emerald replied as he resumed his duty.

While walking up the stairs, Shining Armor began to wonder if Flash was interested in Twilight as well. He never really paid attention when Flash and Twilight interacted, so if there were any visual clues that the two shared feelings for each other, Shining Armor had no idea. All Shining Armor knew was that the two would often quite literally bump into each other, and they would have small chats that seemed innocent enough.

Eventually, Shining Armor arrived at the doors which led to the upper west balcony. Using his magic, Shining Armor slowly opened the doors, making sure he didn’t make any noise. Admittingly, he had expected to find Flash once again absent from his post, but this time Flash was at his post, looking down towards the rest of the Crystal Empire. Shining Armor noticed that the pegasus seemed to be really invested in something as he was barely moving, his eyes fixed on something down below. For whatever reason, Shining Armor decided that he wouldn’t make his presence known to the young pegasus until he found out what he was looking at. Shining Armor slowly approached Flash until he was standing next to him.

“What are you looking at Flash?” Shining Armor thought as he looked over the balcony.

It only took a couple of seconds for Shining Armor to see what Flash had been so fixated on. It was Twilight, who was walking through the streets close by one of the crystal gardens. This confirmed that Flash had indeed taken an interest in Shining Armor’s sister. The first thing Shining Armor did was examine how Flash was looking at Twilight. The look in Flash’s eyes wasn’t that of an immature young colt thirsting for a mare but rather it was the look a polite gentlecolt would give to the mare he was in love with. Shining Armor was pleased at this and decided to make his presence known.

“The Crystal Empire really is a beautiful place, isn’t it?” Shining Armor asked, making the pegasus jump.

“Woah! U-Uh, I mean, Captain Armor, sir! I didn’t know you were there! Am I not at my assigned post!? I’m sorry, I thought that-!”

“At ease, corporal.” Shining Armor said, raising his hoof up.

“Yes sir.” Flash said, relaxing a bit before straightening himself up.

“You know Flash, I’m honestly surprised you’re even here right now. I figured you’d be down there doing your good deeds for the day.” Shining Armor said with a bit of a chuckle.

“Oh, heh, yeah… No sir, not today.” Flash said as he rubbed the back of his head nervously.

“Oh, relax, I’m just pulling your leg.” Shining Armor said as he went straight to the point. “So, what’ve you been looking at?”

“Oh, you know, sir. Just admiring the wonderful sights of the Crystal Empire.” Flash replied with an innocent smile.

“Wonderful sights of the Crystal Empire, huh? Is Twilight one of them?” Shining Armor asked, catching the pegasus off guard.

“Wh-What!? N-No sir! Not at all!” Flash said quickly.

“Come on Flash don’t waste a good lie on this. I think I have a pretty good idea what’s going on here. You like her, don’t you?” Shining Armor asked.

Flash gulped in response as he knew he was trapped. Sweat began running down his head as Flash struggled to think of what to say. The question caused Flash to really think about how he felt about Twilight.

When Flash had first arrived in the Crystal Empire, he was introduced to Princess Cadance and Shining Armor and given a quick tour of the palace. The day after his arrival, Flash would meet Twilight for the first time, when she had bumped into him. His first impression of her was that she seemed to be a respectable mare and of course, like all of the princesses of Equestria, she was quite pretty. After some ordeal involving Twilight’s crown by a unicorn named Sunset Shimmer, Flash and Twilight would become good friends. Whenever Twilight would visit the Crystal Empire for reasons that didn’t involve royal duties or world saving situations, she’d always seem to find time to talk with Flash. Granted, most of the time they would even see each other was because they would almost always bump into each other, which led to the two of them striking up a conversation.

That’s how it went in the beginning and the two continued to remain good friends. Whenever the two wouldn’t literally bump into each other to start a conversation, Twilight and Flash started to hang out a bit. Usually, their hangouts consisted of short walks or the occasional quick meal together, but it was enough to establish a good friendship. As time went on though, Flash started to look at Twilight differently. Of course, Flash saw Twilight as a very powerful and respected princess of Equestria just like everypony else. Eventually, Flash started to admire and appreciate Twilight more. He liked how full of knowledge she was, and he always found it enjoyable whenever he’d listen to Twilight’s speeches and occasional rambles about whatever topic she had her mind on. Twilight’s strength, sheer willpower, and her determination was somethin Flash really respected about her.

Twilight was no ordinary mare; she was a mare that had the power and knowledge to look after herself and fight for what was right. Flash always had a soft spot for those kinds of mares; mares that were strong and determined to live their lives to their fullest potential. Of course, Flash also began to take notice of how pretty Twilight was. The colors of her mane and tail really complimented her lovely lavender fur. Twilight’s smile always brightened up the room and lifted everypony’s spirits up. Her eyes were filled with a gentle and caring love, as well as a strong and determined will.

Twilight’s personality was also just so lovable. She was smart, yet still so eager to learn. She was caring and sweet, but when needed, she could act like a very good leader. She was confident but willing to accept help, most of the time at least. Her occasional awkwardness was also too cute not to love. All of this would eventually lead to Flash having feelings for the Princess of Friendship. Of course, out of respect for their friendship, Flash never acted upon his feelings. Flash wanted to tell her how he felt, but a part of him would always convince him that she was too good for him. After all, he was just a guard, and she was a princess of Equestria.

As Flash continued to think about his feelings for Twilight, he suddenly remembered where he was. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been stuck in his thoughts, but he knew he had to say something. However, Flash had already given Shining Armor an answer to his question.

“Yeah, I figured as much.” Shining Armor said with a chuckle.

“You’re not going to beat me up or anything now, are you sir?” Flash asked as he mentally prepared himself for what was to come.

“What? Flash, this isn’t some romance drama or anything, I’m not going to hurt you.” Shining Armor said.

“Oh, okay…” Flash said.

“So, how long have you liked her?” Shining Armor asked.

“A couple years now, sir.” Flash replied.

“Really? Well, why haven’t you told her anything yet?” Shining Armor asked before he chuckled a bit. “What? Were you scared of me finding out?”

“(Nervous Chuckle) Well, sort of, but that’s not it. I guess I didn’t want to ruin the friendship I had with her. Besides, she’s way out of my league anyway.” Flash said.

“Why do you say that?” Shining Armor asked.

“Because she’s a princess, and I’m just a guard.” Flash replied.

“And? Look at me, I was just a guard and I married Cadance when she was a princess. Why should that stop you?” Shining Armor asked.

“Well, as a royal guard of the Crystal Empire, I don’t really have too much time to socialize. I know I have a problem with abandoning my post to do good deeds, but I still understand what my job is. I don’t want to let you or Princess Cadance down. Besides, Twilight lives in Ponyville, so she’s not here that much anyway.” Flash explained.

“I see… You know Flash, I used to feel the same way when Cadance and I started dating. I knew how important my job was as a royal guard, but I didn’t let that stop me. Cadance and I took advantage of the little time we had to be together, and we made the most of it. Even if it was just small talk, it was enough for Cadance and me to keep our love for each other as strong as ever.” Shining Armor said as a thought popped up in Flash’s head.

“Captain Armor, how did you and Princess Cadance meet?” Flash asked.

“How did Cadance and I meet? We met in magic school when we were kids. We had the same class together. We got along very well, and we became really good friends. As we got older, I guess we just ended up catching feelings for each other. It was because of my relationship with Cadance that she became Twilight’s foal-sitter. We didn’t start dating right away Flash, it took time before we decided to try something more. You’re good friends with Twilight, right?” Shining Armor asked.

“Yes, I’d say so, sir.” Flash replied with a nod. “So, you’re not mad that I like her?”

“Of course not. If anything, I’m happy that you like her, Flash. I’ll admit, I had pretty much given up on Twilight finding a special somepony. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that Twilight needs to get with somepony, but it would be nice for her. You and I have been friends long enough for me to say that if there was anypony worthy of being with Twilight, you’d be one of them Flash.” Shining Armor said.

“Really, sir?” Flash asked.

“Absolutely. You’re a good pony Flash, and I know you’d treat her right.” Shining Armor said.

“I’d never do anything to hurt her, sir.” Flash said.

“And that is why you have my blessing, Flash.” Shining Armor said as he put a hoof on Flash’s shoulder.

“S-Sir, really?” Flash asked.

“Yes, you have my blessing. Now, I’m not telling you to shoot your shot with her right now or anything, but if you ever do and she says yes, if you do anything to hurt her or make her cry for any reason, not only will you lose your rank as corporal, but your face will also be meeting the floor once I’m done beating the ever-loving daylights out of you. Got it?” Shining Armor asked with a very serious look on his face.

“Y-Yes sir! O-Of course sir!” Flash replied with a salute.

“Good. Now, I think you and I can clearly see that Twilight is pretty upset about something.” Shining Armor said as they both looked down at the princess.

“Yes sir, I’m not sure what it is but she’s clearly not in good spirits.” Flash said.

“Well, what are you standing around for, soldier? Go and talk with her.” Shining Armor said.

“What? Me? But you’re her brother. Shouldn’t you be the one talking to her?” Flash asked.

“I would, but I have some paperwork to attend to. It seems the stuff has been piling up ever since this Rogue showed up in Equestria. I’ll get somepony to cover your post.” Shining Armor said as he turned to leave but stopped as he grinned. “Actually, you know what, I’m not giving you a choice.”

“Wait, what?” Flash asked.

“Flash Sentry, you go down there, find out what’s wrong with my little sister, and try to make her feel better. That’s an order. Do you understand?” Shining Armor asked with his captain’s voice.

“Yes sir!” Flash replied with another salute.

“Good, now get to it!” Shining Armor ordered, pointing to the door.

“Yes sir! Right away, sir!” Flash said as he quickly rushed off to do what he was told.

When Shining Armor was left alone on the balcony, he chuckled a bit at the thought of how terrified Flash had been when he found out that Twilight’s big brother knew about those special feelings. The thought of Twilight’s well-being immediately took over as Shining Armor sighed.

“Damn paperwork. Why can’t Equestria have one month of peace? I guess that’s part of the curse of living here. It’s a blessing to live in Equestria, but it’s also a curse. (Sigh) I hope things will be okay for you, Twily.” Shining Armor said to himself as he turned to head for his office.

Meanwhile, Twilight was still trying to wrap her head around everything Amethyst Maresbury had told her about Professor Screw and his origins. The fact that she had been so close to that sick monster of a pony just didn’t sit well with Twilight’s psyche. What really made Twilight sick was how calm Professor Screw was. He seemed completely unaffected by his past actions, like he didn’t brutally kill and torture a bunch of innocent ponies. Twilight didn’t even want to think of how many ponies Professor Screw could have killed during those one thousand years he was alive and waiting for King Sombra’s return.

What confused Twilight the most was why King Sombra even bothered with somepony as crazy as the Professor. If she remembered correctly, all King Sombra wanted was to take over the Crystal Empire, using the crystal ponies as slaves to dig up crystals that would give him more power. In what way, shape, or form, did that plan involve having some of those crystal ponies tortured and experimented on? Perhaps it was to bestow fear into the minds of the other slaves from rebelling or refusing to work? But couldn’t King Sombra just use his dark magic to plant fear into the slaves, forcing them to work harder? How did the Professor know King Sombra enough to be so loyal to him?

After more and more questions began popping up in Twilight’s head, she decided it would be best if she sat down before her legs gave out. Twilight spotted a small bench that was in front Mistmane’s Crystal Flower Garden, just perfect to sit down and rest for a bit. As Twilight sat down on the bench, she looked at the crystal flowers in front of her. The colors and the way the sun reflected off of the crystals was very beautiful. It was almost enough to make Twilight forget about the Rogue and everything else involving them. This didn’t last however as Twilight’s mind immediately reminded her about Professor Screw’s origins.

As Twilight continued to stress about everything that had been happening in Equestria for the past couple of days, she heard the sound of hooves approaching her. Twilight didn’t look up to see who it was until she heard the familiar voice of Flash Sentry.

“This really is one of the nicest spots in the Crystal Empire, wouldn’t you agree?” Flash asked, getting the young mare’s attention.

“Huh? Oh, hey Flash.” Twilight said as she gave him a smile.

“Hey, Twilight. May I?” Flash asked as he gestured to the spot next to Twilight.

“Go ahead.” Twilight responded as Flash sat next to her.

“I saw you earlier. You looked, well still look, really upset about something. Is it about the Rogue?” Flash asked.

“In a way yes. But more so about one of them; Professor Screw Loose.” Twilight said, looking back down at the flowers.

“Professor Screw Loose? Oh yeah, I heard about him.” Flash said.

“You know about him?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, but not a lot really. When I was transferred here, all the guards told me was his name, that he was a seriously messed up pony, and that I wasn’t supposed to talk about it.” Flash explained.

“Oh, I see.” Twilight said as she decided to try and move away from the topic of the Professor. “Flash, you said that you were transferred here. Now that I think about it, I don’t think you ever told me how you ended up here or even how you became a royal guard. Care to tell me?”

“Well, I could, but shouldn’t we talk about-?”

“Please, Flash. I really don’t want to think about the Professor or the Rogue right now.” Twilight said.

“Well, alright then. I guess a little fun fact about me, I actually used to be part of Princess Celestia’s royal guard in Canterlot.” Flash said.

“You were a royal guard in Canterlot? Flash, I grew up in Canterlot and I don’t remember ever seeing you there.” Twilight said as she tilted her head.

“Well, that’s probably because I was in training to be a guard most of the time, I was in Canterlot. So, I was mostly in the royal guard training camp. Which is probably why you never saw me.” Flash explained.

“How did you end up becoming a guard?” Twilight asked.

“Well, to be honest, as a kid I never wanted to be a guard. I wanted to be an explorer or something. I wanted to see the world. I lived in Canterlot for most of my life with my parents. My dad used to be in the royal guard, but he was forced to step down from his position after an incident involving the Griffins. They tore his right wing off and permanently crippled the other one.” Flash explained.

“Oh dear, well at least your father survived. So, what made you change your mind?” Twilight asked.

Flash didn’t say anything for a few moments as Twilight looked at him expectingly. His reasoning for becoming a guard was something he only told to ponies he really trusted.

“Our house caught fire one day when I was a juvenile. I don’t remember how the fire started but it happened very early in the morning. The house was falling apart from the inside. My parents threw me out of the window so I could be safe. They were about to get out of the house, but before they could, the rest of the house collapsed and crushed them. By the time help arrived, it was too late.” Flash said as he removed his helmet, placing it beside him.

“Oh, my Celestia, Flash, I… I’m so sorry.” Twilight said as she covered her mouth.

“When my parents died, I swore to them that I would dedicate my life to protecting Equestria; like my father had. I spoke to Princess Celestia and requested to become a royal guard. The princess accepted my request and I spent most of my young teenage years studying everything I needed to know about becoming a guard. When I was grown, I enlisted into the training program and eventually earned my position as a royal guard.” Flash explained.

“But if you trained to become a guard in Canterlot, how did you end up in the Crystal Empire?” Twilight asked.

“Well, the time I completed my training to be a royal guard, was some time after you and your friends defeated King Sombra. I overheard Princess Celestia and Princess Luna discussing how Captain Armor and Princess Cadance were doing well in restoring the Crystal Empire and they were working on getting their guards ready to protect the empire. I requested that I be transferred there because I still wanted to see the world. Also, I wanted to get away from Canterlot because it brought memories of the day my parents died. The princesses accepted my request, and I was transferred to the Crystal Empire.” Flash explained.

“I see… Flash, again, I’m really sorry about your parents. That must have been so horrible to go through.” Twilight said.

“It was pretty hard to carry on without my parents, but I was able to power through.” Flash said with a smile.

As Twilight and Flash shared a smile with each other, Twilight sensed that Flash was about to ask her how she was doing involving the Professor. Before that could happen, Twilight quickly looked for something to talk about. Twilight’s eyes soon landed on something on Flash’s chest plate. When Twilight had first met this Flash Sentry, he had a blue star symbol on the center of his chest plate. A few months ago, the chest plate’s symbol changed slightly. The blue star was still there, but it was now on a small dark blue shield. This new symbol was also on Flash’s helmet.

“Um, Flash, did your armor change or something? I don’t remember that shield and star being on your helmet or on the chest plate of your armor.” Twilight said, pointing to the symbol.

“Oh, well yeah. When I got promoted to corporal, I got some new armor.” Flash said as he looked at the symbol on his chest and helmet.

“You got promoted to the corporal rank? When?” Twilight asked.

“About six months ago.” Flash replied.

“Well, how did you get promoted? Come on Flash, tell me.” Twilight insisted, her eyes filled with curiosity.

“Well, about six months ago, the hospital here at the Crystal Empire collapsed and a fire broke out immediately afterwards. Captain Armor, your brother, along with some of his best guards, went into the hospital to save the trapped ponies before they were severely hurt. I, along with some other guards, were tasked with keeping the rest of the crystal ponies safe from the fire. We thought that we’d gotten everypony out of the hospital but one of the nurses said that there was still one patient trapped in the building. By then, the fire had gotten really bad, and the smoke made it really hard to see. Captain Armor was planning on how to safely get the patient out of the hospital, but I saw the patient’s family. They looked so terrified, and I didn’t want them to lose a family member. So, against the captain’s orders, I flew into the hospital. It took some time, but I eventually found the patient pinned under a large crystal. I almost got trapped myself and my mane nearly caught fire a few times, but I was able to save the patient from the fire.” Flash explained.

“Wow, Flash, that’s amazing!” Twilight said, amazed by Flash’s bravery and devotion to saving that patient.

“Your brother was upset that I didn’t follow my orders, but he was proud that I had done the right thing and saved that pony’s life. I was promoted to corporal the next day.” Flash said with a grin.

“I’m sure the family of that patient was very thankful to you.” Twilight said.

“Heh, yeah, they were. Sadly, the patient died a few weeks after the incident.” Flash said as he looked down at his helmet.

“Oh no, what happened?” Twilight asked.

“He was really sick at the time. I’m not sure what sickness he had, but from what I heard, it was a very serious disease.” Flash said.

“That’s so heartbreaking to hear. But at least you were able to save him from the fire.” Twilight said as she placed her hoof on Flash’s.

“Yeah, I’m glad that I was able to at least save him.” Flash said as he smiled at her. “Well enough about me, Twilight. What about this Professor Screw has gotten you so upset?”

“(Sigh) My friends and I spoke to Ms. Maresbury, the librarian. Cadance said that guards told her that if we wanted to learn about Professor Screw, Ms. Maresbury was the pony to go to.” Twilight explained.

Flash nodded in response as he listened attentively to Twilight.

“When Professor Screw and I first met, I already had a feeling that he was much more dangerous than he looked. (Sigh) I had no idea just how dangerous he really was. For starters, he’s apparently been alive for over a thousand years because King Sombra cursed him just before the Crystal Empire disappeared. I’m not sure why he did that, but it seems the Professor was extremely loyal to King Sombra.” Twilight explained.

“What did the Professor do for those thousand years he was alive?” Flash asked.

“He said that he practiced dark magic for those years while he waited for King Sombra’s return.” Twilight replied.

“Dark magic? I never would have guessed that a crystal pony would ever use that kind of magic.” Flash said.

“You think that’s bad? It gets worse, so much worse. While he was in the Crystal Empire, he not only practiced dark magic, he also… killed and tortured his parents.” Twilight said.

“WHAT!?” Flash cried, not expecting to hear something like that.

In response to Flash’s understandable outburst, Twilight began to tell him everything. She told him all about Professor Screw’s origins, from his foalhood all the way to his shocking downfall into madness. Twilight then began to ramble to Flash about everything involving the Rogue. From the moment she and her friends had learned of Appleloosa’s destruction, the sight of all of the ponies killed in Appleloosa, the discovery that Doctor Whooves had been turned evil, hearing about the destruction of Starlight Glimmer’s old village, seeing the destruction of the town, meeting the Rogue, battling the Rogue, all the way up to this very moment.

“I just don’t get it, everything was going so well a few days ago. Things were so peaceful! Then the Rogue showed up and things just went completely down the drain. I mean in the past, whenever we were dealing with something bad happening in Equestria, we’d be able to fix everything in a day or at most two days! But with the Rogue, we’re not even close to solving the problem! We don’t even know where the Rogue are! It’s all so much to take in and it’s only getting worse and worse!” Twilight rambled on as she turned to Flash, her eyes threatening to spill their tears.

“Twilight…”

“Flash, I’m scared. I’m scared that things will get even worse and there’s nothing we can do. All we can do is wait until the Rogue contacts us with this stupid crystal ball thing!” Twilight yelled as she summoned the crystal globe and shook it vigorously with her magic.

“Twilight, look at me.” Flash said as he held Twilight’s hoof. “It takes a lot of guts to admit that you’re scared and I’m really glad that you’re admitting it. But there’s nothing for you to be afraid of. Do you know why?”

Twilight only shook her head as she looked up at Flash.

“Because you’re Twilight Sparkle; you’re the Princess of Friendship. You and your friends have done so much for Equestria. You’ve all conquered threats that even the princesses themselves couldn’t defeat. You defeated Nightmare Moon and saved Princess Luna from her darkness. You stopped Discord from turning Equestria into his personal chaos playground or whatever he wanted to do. You were able to see through Queen Chrysalis’s tricks and even took on her entire army of Changelings. You saved the Crystal Empire from King Sombra and restored the empire to its former glory. You stopped the Everfree Forest from taking over Equestria. You fought Tirek and won, preventing him from completely taking over. You saved that village from Starlight’s corruption. You even saved Starlight Glimmer from herself. You defeated the Pony of Shadows and reformed him. You took on the Storm King and won, even making new allies and friends along the way. Should I go on?” Flash asked.

As Twilight took in everything Flash had told her, the urge to cry became even stronger.

“Twilight, I know this threat you’re facing now is more… serious… than the other threats you’ve gone against in the past, but it doesn’t matter because you and your friends will overcome it. You’ve never let Equestria down once before, at least not that I’m aware of and I know you never will.” Flash said.

“Flash… I… I can’t…” Twilight said, struggling to get her words out without breaking down.

“Twilight, I can tell you want to cry. But I can also tell that you’re holding back. Crying doesn’t make you weak, Twilight. Just let it all out, Twilight. It’s okay.” Flash said, giving her a warm smile.

At this, Twilight finally broke down as she hugged Flash and started to cry. Flash gently wrapped his hooves around Twilight, doing his best to comfort her as she cried about how terrified she was and that she didn’t want any more ponies to die. Little did the two ponies know, they had been being watched for some time now by the rest of Twilight’s friends as well as Princess Cadance.

After Twilight’s friends, especially Applejack and Fluttershy, had insisted that they check on Twilight to make sure she was okay, Cadance finally gave in and agreed that they could check on her.

After asking a couple of the locals, they were eventually led to the crystal gardens, where they found Twilight and Flash sitting on a bench together and talking about Professor Screw and the rest of the Rogue. Rainbow Dash had suggested they go over and see how Twilight was doing, but when Cadance saw how Twilight and Flash were connecting, she told everypony to keep quiet.

Being the Princess of Love, Cadance could tell that Flash had developed feelings for Twilight. She also could sense a love that was just starting to blossom inside of Twilight for Flash. Cadance was pleased that her sister-in-law was finally considering love and that she had chosen a good pony to love. And as the Princess of Love, Cadance was quite curious to see how this conversation between the two ponies would go. Cadance really appreciated how much Flash was really paying attention to what Twilight had to say, as well as the way he was comforting her.

By now, everypony was really invested in Twilight’s conversation with Flash, even Rainbow Dash, which was surprising to everypony, given that Rainbow Dash was never one to care about romance or anything.

“Move over AJ, I can’t see.” Rainbow Dash said as she tried to shove Applejack to the side.

“Can y’all stop pushing me? Just fly up. Also, since when did you care about love?” Applejack asked.

“I don’t, but this is Twilight we’re talking about here.” Rainbow Dash said.

“Would you two loudmouths please be quiet!? If either of you ruin this, I’ll force you to take part in my next fashion line, and yes it will involve a lot of fancy dress and make-up.” Rarity whispered.

“I’ll be right back girls, I’m gonna go find a camera.” Pinkie Pie whispered as she zipped away to find a camera in the Crystal Empire.

Twilight continued to cry in Flash’s hooves until she eventually had no more tears left to shed. Once she had stopped crying, Twilight just allowed herself to be held by Flash. After sitting in silence for a couple minutes, Twilight looked up at Flash and he looked down at her, allowing their eyes to meet each other. The look in Flash’s eyes gave off the same comforting and loving vibes of the Flash Sentry from the mirror world, causing Twilight to smile a bit.

“Heh, well, it looks like you’ve stopped crying.” Flash said.

“I’m sorry, I must’ve looked so pathetic crying like a little filly.” Twilight said as she rubbed her eyes.

“Not at all, Twilight. There’s nothing wrong with crying; you’re fine.” Flash said.

As Twilight continued to look at Flash, she found herself not wanting to leave from where she was. Aside from Night Light and Shining Armor, Flash had been the only other stallion that Twilight could actually open up to and discuss personal things with. Being so close to Flash made Twilight feel safe, like nothing bad could happen to her. Twilight began to feel this particular sense of happiness which she hadn’t felt since she was with the Flash Sentry of the mirror world.

Ever since Twilight’s first visit to the mirror world, she had always thought that the pony Flash Sentry was just as kind as the Flash Sentry from the mirror world and just as cute. Since then, that was all Twilight had really felt about Flash, or at least that’s what she thought. Now, Twilight didn’t know how to describe how she felt. At this, Twilight began to wonder if she was indeed feeling love for the Flash in front of her. Not wanting to let this continue to confuse her, Twilight decided to let her mind rest and let her emotions control the situation.

“Flash.” Twilight said as she gently placed a hoof on Flash’s face.

“Yeah?” Flash asked, not sure what else to do.

“Thank you… Thank you for being so kind to me. You’ve really helped me feel better about everything that’s been happening. I can’t remember the last time any stallion ever made me feel this way… you really are a kind pony...” Twilight said as she closed her eyes and began to bring her face closer to Flash.

“You’re welcome… Twilight…” Flash said as he too closed his eyes and brought his face closer to hers.

The faces of the two ponies inched closer and closer, their lips puckering and ready to kiss. In this moment, nothing else mattered, Equestria ceased to exist, and all troubles vanished. All that remained was Twilight and Flash. Their lips were so close touching when…

“HEYA GIRLS! I found a camera!” Pinkie Pie’s voice shouted from just around the corner.

This sudden outburst caused Twilight and Flash to immediately stop and their eyes opened up. Seeing how close their faces were and the fact that they been caught, Twilight instantly teleported away from Flash, which caused him to fall off of the bench they had been sitting on.

“(Giggles) Whoopsie.” Pinkie Pie said as she nervously giggled.

“Oh! Just look what you’ve done, Pinkie!” Rarity said as she glared at the pink pony. “You just had to go and shout things out like some delinquent!”

“I’m sorry Rarity, I didn’t mean to. I was just super excited to show you all this neat camera I found, see.” Pinkie Pie said as she held the camera out in front of Rarity innocently.

Rarity said nothing as she just smacked the camera out of Pinkie Pie’s hooves. Knowing full well their cover had been blown, Cadance and the Mane Six walked into view of the two flustered ponies.

“P-Pinkie! Rarity! E-Everypony!? What are you all doing here!?” Twilight cried as her wings flapped frantically.

“Well, we were looking for you, but Cadance here decided to spy on you.” Rainbow Dash said before Applejack jabbed her in the side. “Ow! What the hay, Applejack!”

“Now don’t y’all try to put all the blame on Cadance. You were spying too.” Applejack said.

“So were you!” Rainbow Dash snapped back.

“Alright enough you two! J-Just tell me, how long were you all watching for!?” Twilight asked.

“Um… maybe for more than five minutes?” Fluttershy said nervously.

“What!?” Twilight cried.

“Twilight, Twilight, calm down. It’s okay.” Cadance said, trying to calm her sister-in-law down.

“No! It’s not okay, Cadance! Friends don’t spy on each other!” Twilight said.

“But didn’t you spy on me for a bit when you were first trying to understand how my Pinkie Sense worked?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“That’s different. I was doing scientific research.” Twilight said.

“So, it’s okay to do scientific research on your friends, but it’s not okay to spy on them?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Okay, we’re getting off track here! Why in Equestria were you all just watching me?” Twilight asked.

“Our sincerest apologies, darling. We were just coming to check on you. But when we found you, we could see that you were… busy.” Rarity said.

“Well as you can see, I’m perfectly fine now.” Twilight said with a very unamused look on her face.

“You know Twilight, I must say, I’m very proud of you.” Cadance said with a smile.

“For what?” Twilight asked.

“(Giggle) Oh, come now, Twilight. I’m pretty sure you and I both know what I’m talking about.” Cadance said as gestured towards the pegasus behind Twilight.

Turning around, Twilight saw that Flash was still laying on the floor after being knocked off by Twilight’s teleportation spell.

“Oh, Flash, I’m so sorry! Here, let me help you up.” Twilight as she used her magic to lift Flash back up.

“(Nervous Chuckle) There’s no need to apologize, Twilight. I’ve been through wors-(Cough) (Cough).”

Hearing this loud and seemingly uncontrollable cough coming from Flash instantly made Twilight lose her feelings of embarrassment; instead, she now felt concerned.

“Flash… are you okay?” Twilight asked.

“(Cough) What? Oh y-yeah, don’t worry about me, I’m fine.” Flash said as he turned his head away from Twilight so he could spit on the ground. “Just a little cough, that’s all.”

“Flash, that didn’t sound like just a little cough.” Twilight said as she took a step towards him.

“Twilight it’s okay. Look, if you’re worried that I could have gotten you sick, you’re all good. Princess Cadance put a spell on me so that I wouldn’t get anypony else sick.” Flash explained with a confident grin.

“And you should know that the only reason I put that spell on you, was because we needed all guards on the ready since Flurry Heart was throwing a fit.” Cadance said as she walked over to him. “Flash Sentry, have you been to the doctor?”

“Y-Yes of course, Princess Cadance. I visited his office yesterday.” Flash replied.

“Doctor? Flash, what’s going on?” Twilight asked.

“Twilight, it’s nothing really.” Flash said as Cadance stepped closer, blocking Flash’s view of Twilight.

“If you could all excuse us for a moment.” Cadance said as she used her magic to create a large magic bubble around herself and Flash.

As Cadance created this magic bubble around herself and Flash, Twilight and the others found that they could not hear what the two were saying to each other. Twilight figured that Cadance was using a spell similar to the spell Twilight used back when she had been trying to reconnect with Moondancer in the Canterlot library.

“Flash, this has been going on for months now. Tell me, what is going on with you?” Cadance asked as she gave Flash a very serious look.

“Princess Cadance, I promise you, it’s really nothing too serious. Because I’m not a crystal pony, I’m just not used to the weather conditions of the Crystal Empire. I’m from Canterlot after all.” Flash said.

“In that case, what about me, Shining Armor, Flurry Heart, and Sunburst? We’re not crystal ponies either, so why aren’t we sick like you are?” Cadance asked.

“Well, you and Princess Flurry Heart are alicorns and Captain Armor and Sunburst are powerful unicorns. You all have lots of magic in your bodies that make you stronger than us pegasi.” Flash said.

“(Sigh) Flash, listen, as the Princess of Love, I am fully aware of how you and Twilight feel towards each other.” Cadance said, raising her hoof up before Flash could say anything. “As I’m sure you know, Twilight is going through some very difficult times because of the horrific events that have been occurring in Equestria these last couple of days. The last thing she needs is to know that somepony she really cares for is sick. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Princess Cadance.” Flash replied with a firm nod.

“Good. We will continue this discussion at another time. For now, promise me that you will figure out what is going on with you. We’re all worried about you, Flash.” Cadance said.

“I understand.” Flash said as Cadance gave him a smile.

While Cadance and Flash were talking to each other inside of the magic bubble, Rainbow Dash turned to Twilight and decided it would be a good opportunity to get a little teasing in.

“So, how was your little talk with Flash Sentry, huh?” Rainbow Dash asked with a snicker.

“(Sigh) It went well, Rainbow.” Twilight said as face hoofed herself.

“Hehe, I can tell. Because it looked like there was more than talking going on.” Rainbow Dash said.

“Rainbow, if you keep this up, I’ll use a spell on you that will permanently give you acrophobia and aerophobia.” Twilight said as she gave Rainbow Dash a look.

“Yeah, maybe explain what those are in non-egghead terms, please?” Rainbow Dash suggested with a mocking grin.

“You’ll be terrified of heights and flying forever.” Twilight replied.

“Okay! Okay! Relax, Twilight! It’s just a little friendly teasing!” Rainbow Dash said as she waved her hooves out defensively in front of her.

As Twilight continued to get lightly teased, Cadance and Flash had finished their conversation. The Mane Six turned their attention towards the two ponies as Cadance deactivated the magic bubble.

“Cadance, is everything okay?” Twilight asked.

“Yes, everything is fine, Twilight. Turns out Corporal Sentry here was lying to me about his supposed visit to the doctor yesterday, so I gave him a stern talking to.” Cadance said.

“Wait, what?” Flash asked.

“Flash, you can’t just lie to your princess. I can’t believe you.” Twilight said.

“I… I know, I just didn’t want her to worry, that’s all.” Flash said, deciding it was best to just go along with the flow.

“Flash, please promise me that you’ll take care of yourself.” Twilight said as she gave Flash a look of genuine care and concern.

“Don’t worry, I will, Twilight. Promise.” Flash said with a nod and a smile.

“Thank you, Flash.” Twilight said.

“Well, Flash, I believe you’ve had enough time to relax. Please go back to your post.” Cadance said.

“Yes, Princess Cadance.” Flash said as he bowed to her before turning to Twilight and her friends. “Well, it was very nice to see all of you again.”

As Twilight’s friends all said their goodbyes to Flash, he turned to look at Twilight. The two ponies looked at each other for a few moments before they awkwardly blushed.

“Well, goodbye Twilight. It was… nice to see you again too.” Flash said with a nervous chuckle.

“Yeah, you too.” Twilight said as she tried not to make her embarrassment anymore obvious than it already was. “Thank you for helping me.”

“Anytime, Twilight. It’s what friends do for each other.” Flash said as they shared a smile before Flash finally walked off to go back to his post.

“Now that that is taken care of, Twilight, how are you feeling?” Cadance asked as she walked over and patted Twilight on the head.

“I’m feeling okay. I’m still really worried about the Rogue, but I think I can manage.” Twilight answered.

“Why don’t we go and spend some time with your parents? Come along all of you. I’ll treat everypony to a nice meal.” Cadance said.

“Oh, but Cadance, you really don’t have to.” Twilight said.

“(Giggle) I know I don’t have to. But I insist.” Cadance said with a smile.

“Well in that case, thank you, Cadance.” Twilight said.

As Twilight and her friends began to follow Cadance back to the Crystal Palace, comforting as well as lightly teasing Twilight, Fluttershy stopped for a moment and looked back to where Twilight and Flash had been sitting earlier. Being an animal caretaker, Fluttershy knew that something wasn’t right with the pegasus. As Fluttershy approached the spot where Twilight and Flash had been, she spotted the area where Flash had spit. It was there that she was able to see that Flash had spit out a tiny bit of blood. This worried Fluttershy as she knew this was bad news. Then before Fluttershy could say or do anything else, she heard Pinkie Pie’s voice call out to her.

“Fluttershy! Come on, let’s go! We don’t want to leave you behind!” Pinkie Pie called as she eagerly waved Fluttershy over to her.

“Coming!” Fluttershy called back as she looked at the tiny drops of blood. “Oh dear…”

Author's Note

I'm finally back! Sorry about the wait! I hope you all enjoyed this wholesome chapter! It was fun to write this chapter as well as making the awkward and lovey dovey part with Twilight and Flash lol. Next chapter we will go back to Sombra! It's good to be back! Thank you all for the continued support!

A Shadow's Temptation

King Sombra’s Castle, the next morning…

The morning sun shone brightly across the beautiful land of Equestria. Everypony could agree that Equestria truly was a lovely place. However, not everywhere in Equestria was happy and peaceful. In one of Equestria’s forests, was a small castle, which harbored some of the evilest ponies and creatures imaginable.

Sombra greeted the morning with a dark chuckle as he knew that today was the day that he would continue to go through with his plan to take over Equestria. The next step on the list was to create himself and his team of villains their own army. Sombra had decided that his army would consist of the Storm Creatures that once belonged to the Storm King. They were big and strong, and they could deal some serious damage to the ponies of Equestria.

These days, the remaining Storm Creatures were being kept safely away from civilization in the Caves of Conundrum; being watched over by Tempest Shadow, a unicorn that used to work for the Storm King. This could prove to be an issue, but Sombra had already come up with two possible solutions to handle Tempest Shadow…

After thinking over his plan to deal with Tempest Shadow, Sombra decided it was time to let the Rogue know of his plan so he could set off for the Caves of Conundrum. Sombra walked over to the large table with the map of Equestria and with a smirk, slammed his hooves hard on the table, causing a loud banging sound to echo throughout the castle.

“Wake up, all of you! Come here now!” Sombra yelled, making sure his voice was loud enough for everypony to hear.

As expected, Sombra’s outburst had woken up the members of the Rogue that were still in the castle. One by one, they began to make their way to the table where Sombra was waiting for them. However, there were two things off about the Rogue: first, was that Discorded Whooves was not wearing the mechanical arms. The second, was that Iron Will and Professor Screw were nowhere to be seen. Sombra chuckled as he already had an idea as to where Iron Will and the Professor were, but he was rather curious as to why the Doctor did not have the arms with him.

“(Chuckle) So, Doctor, did you just forget your mechanical arms today? Or perhaps have realized that they make you look stupid?” Sombra asked with a mischievous grin.

“With all do respect, master, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t mock me.” Discorded Whooves said as he shot Sombra a look. “I would still have my arms if that old fool didn’t insist on taking his time with implanting this supposed device.”

“(Chuckle) Whatever you say. Speaking of the Professor, I’m sure you’ve all noticed that Iron Will is not present here with us.” Sombra said, gesturing to the spot where the minotaur usually stood during their meetings. “Frankly I could care less about what the Professor does to him. Just understand that it is not wise to betray me. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, King Sombra.” The Rogue responded.

“Good. Now, I am off to the Caves of Conundrum where the remaining Storm Creatures are being kept; safely guarded by Tempest Shadow. I will offer her a deal and if all goes well, not only will we have our own army, but we will also have a new member to add to our little group.” Sombra said as he chuckled. “You will all wait here until I return. If the Professor is finished with his duties by then, I will send you on your next mission. Any questions?”

“Yeah, I’ve got a question.” Lightning Dust said as she raised her hoof in the air. “I get that we’re going to use those Storm Creatures for our army or whatever, but how do you know they’ll listen to you or any of us for that matter?”

“(Chuckle) Don’t you worry, Lightning Dust. They will listen.” Sombra said with a grin.

“Shouldn’t we come with you, boss?” Flim asked as he adjusted his hat nervously. “Y-You know, just in case this Tempest Shadow doesn’t see eye to eye with you?”

“Are you implying that I cannot handle Tempest Shadow on my own, Flim?” Sombra asked with a cold stare.

“What!? N-No! Of course not! What I meant was-!” Flim said before Flam covered his mouth and spoke for him.

“What my brother is trying to say, is that you told us Tempest Shadow was able to take down three princesses of Equestria quite easily.” Flam said, hoping to appease Sombra. “If that is indeed true, then wouldn’t it be better if you had some back-up, boss?”

“(Chuckle) While your concern is appreciated, it is also unnecessary. I assure you; I can handle a hornless unicorn.” Sombra said as he prepared himself to leave. “Now, if there are no other questions, I’m leaving. Behave yourselves.”

“Yes, King Sombra.” The Rogue responded as Sombra vanished into the shadows.

Once Sombra was gone, the Rogue were finally able to relax a bit. With Flim and Flam being extremely relieved that the evil tyrant had finally left. After a few moments of silence, Discorded Whooves excused himself as he was going to rest while he waited for the arms to be finished. Once the Doctor left, Lightning Dust scoffed.

“Wow, you two are stupid.” Lightning Dust said as she looked at the Flim Flam Brothers like they were idiots.

“Hey now, what’s up with that, huh!?” Flam asked as he gave the pegasus a look.

“Yeah! Who are you to insult us like that!?” Flim added as he pointed a hoof aggressively towards the pegasus.

“I’m somepony who isn’t dumb enough to think that King Sombra can’t take care of a unicorn that can’t even use magic.” Lightning Dust replied.

“Hey, it was just a simple question!” Flim snapped as he slammed his hoof on the table.

“Yeah, a question that could have gotten you both killed or sent to be fixed like Iron Will.” Lightning Dust said.

The mentioning of Iron Will’s name sent a shiver down the spines of the Flim Flam Brothers. No pony knew exactly what kind of torture the minotaur was going through, but considering the Professor talked about cutting Iron Will’s head open, they knew it wasn’t going to be pretty. The three members of the Rogue didn’t speak another word to each other as they decided to head back to their rooms and await the return of King Sombra.

Meanwhile, in Professor Screw’s Lab…

While Sombra had told the Rogue that he was going to the Caves of Conundrum, he first wanted to see how progress was going with Professor Screw. As Sombra emerged from the shadows and into the Professor’s lab, the first thing he saw was Iron Will, who was now strapped to a large chair rather than the worktable he had been strapped to the previous day. Iron Will was seemingly unconscious, which was probably for the better considering that the top of his head had been completely cut off, revealing his exposed brain, which was pulsing in a gross way.

Next to Iron Will, Professor Screw was working on some sort of device that had a lot of wires coming out of it. Next to this device, there was a strange looking helmet that was designed to connect to the wired device the Professor was working on. Sensing Sombra’s presence, Professor Screw chuckled as he turned to great his king.

“(Chuckle) Ah, it pleases me to see you, my king.” Professor Screw said as he bowed to Sombra. “To what do I owe the pleasure of having you here?”

“I’ve come for a report on your progress with Iron Will as well as the device that will ensure that those mechanical arms don’t become an issue.” Sombra said as he walked over to the Professor.

“Well, as you can see, Iron Will’s procedure is not quite finished yet, however it should be finished later today. As for the arms…” Professor Screw said as he turned in the direction of the opposite end of the room.

Sombra followed the Professor’s gaze as his eyes landed on the mechanical arms, which were sprawled out on one of the worktables. Each arm was strapped to the table, ensuring that the arms would not cause any trouble. On the base of the harness, where the back of Discorded Whooves’s neck would be if he was wearing the arms, was a small device.

“I have completed installing the device on them.” Professor Screw said, finishing his earlier statement.

“Tell me about this new device.” Sombra said as he gestured to the new addition to the harness of the arms.

“Ah yes, I’ve taken the liberty of installing an inhibitor chip in the arms. I embedded a special code into the chip, rewiring the programming of the arms. In short, the chip will restrict the arms’ ability to function on their own accord. They will now fully listen to whoever is wearing the mechanism.” Professor Screw explained confidently. “There are still a few glitches present, but they shouldn’t be too much of an issue.”

Sombra’s initial amusement at the Professor’s progress immediately vanished as he heard Professor Screw mention these supposed glitches.

“What exactly are these glitches, Professor?” Sombra asked.

“Well, the intelligence in the arms is still present in their programming. Thus, the arms will still try to fight for control, but the inhibitor chip should keep them at bay. If not, I’ve worked out a solution of using this remote.” Professor Screw explained as he pulled out the remote that he used on the arms the previous day. “As I told Princess Twilight and her friends, this remote was designed to remotely call the arms to come to whoever pressed the button. However, since I added the intelligence to the arms, when the remote is used, it will cause a critical error to occur in the arms’ programming. This will result in a powerful shock to be emitted to both the arms and the one wearing the arms.”

“I see. And this will convince the arms to obey their orders?” Sombra asked.

“Correct. I will give the remote to the Doctor so he can use it whenever the arms try to fight his control.” Professor Screw said.

“Good. Carry on with your work.” Sombra said as he prepared to leave once again.

“Oh? But don’t you wish to know about Iron Will’s procedure?” Professor Screw asked curiously.

“I do not care what you do with him. Just make sure that when you’re finished, he will never even think about betraying me again. Do not fail me, Professor.” Sombra said as he once again vanished into the shadows.

“(Chuckle) I would never fail you, my king.” Professor Screw said as he watched Sombra sink into the shadows. “Now, Iron Will, where were we?” Professor Screw asked as he approached the sleeping minotaur with a huge sadistic grin on his face.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Bone-Dry Desert…

The Caves of Conundrum were located in the far south of Equestria, just past the Forbidden Jungle, in a harsh desert land known as the Bone-Dry Desert. This wasn’t the first place anypony would want to go and visit as the land was barren, seemingly devoid of any life. During the day, the harsh light from the hot sun covered the entire area, leaving almost no spot for shade and comfort. The desert sand would capture the sun’s heat and become scorching hot to the touch. When night came, the temperatures would drop severely, and the desert would become a winter wasteland. The animals that lived in this area had years to adapt to the harsh environment; any newcomers to the area were doomed to face the brutal weather conditions.

Somewhere off to the east of the Caves of Conundrum, if you were lucky enough to make it through the Bone-Dry Desert, you would find yourself arriving in a small desert town named Klugetown. Klugetown was one of the more… interesting places you could find beyond the borders of Equestria, mostly due to the strange folk that inhabited the town. Klugetowners primarily consisted of lizard-like creatures, pig-like creatures, fish-like creatures, turtle-like creatures, bird-like creatures, and other kinds of animals. Aside from the rather odd creatures that made up the town’s population, there was nothing else really notable about Klugetown.

It was in the Caves of Conundrum, where Tempest Shadow was staying. The unicorn had been staying here for quite sometime now. Ever since the fall of the Storm King, Tempest Shadow had spent most of her time traveling throughout Equestria, helping other ponies, and spreading the teachings of friendship that Twilight Sparkle had taught her. Whenever Tempest Shadow wasn’t traveling and spreading friendship to others, she would stay in the Caves of Conundrum, where she would keep watch over the Storm Creatures that remained from the Storm King’s attack. With their leader gone, they were no real threat anymore. They essentially became harmless animals with no purpose or motivation. Despite this however, Tempest Shadow and Twilight Sparkle agreed that for everypony’s safety, it would be best to move the Storm Creatures to a place where they couldn’t harm anypony.

Twilight and her friends all helped Tempest Shadow gather up the Storm Creatures that remained in Canterlot, where they would be safely transported to the Caves of Conundrum. However, there was also the issue of the other Storm Creatures that were still back in the Storm King’s Realm. Thankfully Tempest Shadow’s little friend, Grubber, agreed to use one of the Storm King’s airships to travel back to the Storm King’s Realm and gather up the remaining Storm Creatures.

At first, Tempest Shadow had been reluctant to leave them alone in the Caves of Conundrum without her supervision while she traveled throughout Equestria. Especially given the number of Storm Creatures left, which was well over two hundred. However, the Storm Creatures never tried to escape or even rebel against her. They stayed in the caves unless Tempest Shadow told them to leave.

Sometime ago, Tempest Shadow had decided that if she was able to confirm that the Storm Creatures would never snap or cause any harm and be able to live on their own, she would release them into the wild. At the end of the day, they were a living species just like every other animal that lived in Equestria. Overtime, Tempest Shadow had observed that the Storm Creatures would spend most of their time wandering around and communicating to each other, even though she couldn’t understand what they were saying. They would also get into little fights here and there, but they were more playful tussles rather than full on scuffles.

At this time, Tempest Shadow had just returned to the caves after making a quick trip to Klugetown, carrying a wagon of food and water for herself as well as the Storm Creatures. Even though these creatures had caused a lot of harm to the ponies of Equestria, Tempest Shadow didn’t think it would be fair to treat them like they were pure evil beasts. After all, they were created solely for the purpose of serving the Storm King. In their minds, they had no other reason to live other than obey their master’s orders.

As Tempest Shadow began to feed the Storm Creatures, she took notice of how the Storm Creatures always seemed to get eager and excited whenever it was their feeding time. It was rather amusing watching how they would gather around her or allow her to fill their large barrels of food and water. It wasn’t easy unloading the wagon or filling the Storm Creatures’ barrels since Tempest Shadow couldn’t use magic. However, she still managed to take care of herself as well as the Storm Creatures.

Meanwhile, off in the distance, Sombra had emerged from the shadows. The brutal heat from the sun did nothing to phase the king as he spotted the Caves of Conundrum in the distance.

“(Evil Chuckle) You certainly picked a good spot to keep those Storm Creatures, Tempest Shadow.” Sombra said as he looked at the surrounding desert sands. “No pony would ever think to look here. Which means… (Evil Chuckle) there will be no pony here to help you.”

After letting out another dark chuckle, Sombra began to slowly make his way towards the Caves of Conundrum, purposefully taking his time as he mentally prepared himself for whatever was about to occur between him and the hornless unicorn.

Back with Tempest Shadow, the unicorn was currently filling up one of the Storm Creatures’ barrels with food, consisting of fish and other meats that were sold at the markets in the shopping center of Klugetown.

“There you go. This should do.” Tempest Shadow said as she carefully placed some food into a barrel.

As the Storm Creatures continued to eat their food, Tempest Shadow sat back and wiped her brow before sitting down and enjoying some of the delicious hay meals that she had got from Klugetown.

“I’m confident that soon enough, you’ll all be ready to live out in the wild freely. Able to live your own lives without the shackles of having to serve somepony.” Tempest Shadow said to the Storm Creatures as they looked up at her curiously. “Yes, that would be very nice for all of you…”

As Tempest Shadow continued to watch over the Storm Creatures, she suddenly felt an odd disturbance; like something bad was about to happen. With this sense of danger getting stronger, Tempest Shadow decided to figure out what was going on. Tempest Shadow got up and as she was about to leave the creatures, she turned to look at them. Having noticed the unicorn’s distress, the Storm Creatures stopped eating as they all turned to look at her, confused as to why she looked uneasy.

“All of you stay here and don’t come out unless I say so.” Tempest Shadow said, her voice filled with concern. “I’ll be right back.”

Before leaving the cave, Tempest Shadow walked over to an old chest which contained her old uniform and armor that she used to wear back when she was still the Storm King’s lieutenant. Inside the chest, there was also a special utility belt which was built by Grubber as a parting gift for Tempest Shadow when they went their separate ways after the Storm King’s defeat. The belt was designed to be useful for tough situations in a battle. The belt had a multitude of gadgets on it, including a few smoke bombs, a couple stun pellets, and a single flashbang. Each gadget was designed to be held and easily equipped by a pony’s hoof.

Once Tempest Shadow had put her old uniform on and equipped her utility belt, she immediately headed for the entrance of the cave, ready to face whatever was causing her to feel so concerned.

By now a sandstorm had begun, making it very hard to see through the sand being kicked up by the wind. However, even with the poor visibility, Tempest Shadow didn’t back down as she kept walking ahead for a bit. She would have kept going if she hadn’t started to hear a peculiar sound. Even with the howling of the winds, Tempest Shadow was able to hear the sounds of footsteps coming towards her. The pace of the footsteps was slow and deliberate. The fact that anypony would be out here just calmly strolling through a sandstorm was quite unsettling.

As the sound of the footsteps became louder, something started to appear past the dusty winds of the sandstorm. In the storm, Tempest Shadow started to see a pair of glowing green eyes slowly come into view. These eyes were cold and looked menacing. Now, Tempest Shadow was certain that whoever this was had no good intentions. Putting on a straight and almost emotionless face, Tempest Shadow stood her ground as she watched the mysterious newcomer emerge from the storm.

In front of her, a dark menacing looking unicorn stallion stepped out into view, stopping once he and Tempest Shadow were in each other’s sights. The appearance of this unicorn immediately gave off bad vibes. The unicorn wore silver armor on his legs and neck, a royal looking red cape, and on top of his head, was a dark crown fit for an evil king. For a few moments, neither of the two ponies said anything as they just observed each other, with the dark unicorn chuckling.

“Who are you and why have you come here?” Tempest Shadow asked, keeping her posture straight and her voice steady.

“(Evil Chuckle) Hello, Tempest Shadow, I am King Sombra; the true ruler of the Crystal Empire and soon to be Equestria’s one true king.” Sombra said as he introduced himself with a grin.

For a single moment, Tempest Shadow’s eye twitched, not only shocked that Sombra knew her name, but the fact that it really was King Sombra standing before her. During that brief time Tempest Shadow had spent in Equestria with Twilight and her friends, she had learned a bit about their history as well as the big events that had taken place in Equestria. One of these events involved King Sombra returning after one thousand years as he tried to take over the Crystal Empire. Thankfully, Twilight and her friends were able to defeat him. But if that was true, then how was King Sombra here now?

Despite her initial shock, Tempest Shadow refused to show any signs of suspicion as she continued to question Sombra, hoping that she could buy herself time to figure out a strategy in case things went wrong.

“Why have you come here? If you haven’t noticed, this place is not exactly a welcoming environment.” Tempest Shadow said.

“Straight to business, I like that.” Sombra said as he let out another chuckle. “I know that you’ve been keeping watch over the remaining Storm Creatures from the Storm King’s army.”

“So, what if I am? What is it to you?” Tempest Shadow asked, hiding her confusion as to how Sombra even knew this.

“Well, if you must know… I was unfortunately defeated by a group of ponies led by Twilight Sparkle. Now, I’m back and I plan to get revenge on her as well as take over all of Equestria. To do that however, I am going to need to borrow those Storm Creatures for my army.” Sombra explained with a dark smile on his face.

“You’re a fool if you believe that I’m going to let you take these Storm Creatures.” Tempest Shadow said, narrowing her eyes at Sombra.

“(Evil Chuckle) I suppose you’re right… which is why I have a deal to offer you.” Sombra said.

“Out with it.” Tempest Shadow said, curious to hear how Sombra could possibly try to convince her to give him what he wanted.

“Give me the Storm Creatures, and in return you will not only be spared, but I will also offer you a position in my group as we take over Equestria and rule it together.” Sombra said with a grin.

“That’s it? What if I want more?” Tempest Shadow asked, egging Sombra on.

“(Evil Chuckle) What more could you want?” Sombra asked with a curious expression.

“My horn. My ability to use proper unicorn magic. Can you give me that?” Tempest Shadow asked, hoping to trick Sombra into thinking that she was actually considering his offer.

“Of course. With my powers and dark magic, I’m sure you’d have your horn restored in no time.” Sombra replied.

“Hmm…” Tempest Shadow said, making it look like she was pondering the decision. “And if I refuse this offer?”

“Then I kill you. Simple as that.” Sombra replied as his grin faded away, being replaced by a serious look.

After Sombra had said this, everything went quiet. Tempest Shadow and Sombra only looked into each other’s eyes as they waited for somepony to say something. Finally, after a few moments of tense silence, Tempest Shadow spoke up.

“You certainly know how to make an offering sound tempting, King Sombra.” Tempest Shadow began. “However, Twilight Sparkle is my friend. Anypony who is an enemy of Twilight, is an enemy of mine. I will not allow you to take these Storm Creatures from here. I’m giving you one chance to leave this place and consider giving up on your foolish plan to take over Equestria. Leave now, or there will be consequences.”

As Tempest Shadow said this, there was once again silence as no pony uttered a single word. Eventually, Sombra started to chuckle.

“(Evil Chuckle) I see… It’s rather unfortunate that we could not come to an agreement, Tempest Shadow. You’ve made your decision and now I shall make mine.” Sombra said as a dark aura began to emerge from his body.

Then, as if a switch had been flipped, Sombra suddenly morphed into a dark cloud of smoke and shadows, charging towards Tempest Shadow. Just before Sombra could reach her, Tempest Shadow lunged forward and did a flip kick, bucking Sombra right in the face and knocking him out of his shadow form. As Sombra hit the floor, he looked up at Tempest Shadow and grinned, he was pleasantly surprised that she’d actually landed a hit on him. Sombra then fired a beam of magic at Tempest Shadow, who used her incredible speed and agility to dodge it. This is what Sombra wanted however as when Tempest Shadow’s hooves landed on the floor, he used his magic to cause a shadowy hand to come out of the ground and fling Tempest Shadow into the air.

With Tempest Shadow airborne, Sombra leaped into the air, using his shadow form to fly up to her and tackled the unicorn out of the air and down towards the ground. After slamming Tempest Shadow to the ground, Sombra quickly jumped away from her. It was a good thing he did because if he hadn’t, he would have gotten kicked. As Tempest Shadow quickly got back on her hooves, Sombra tried to tackle her, but she was able to jump out of the way. Tempest Shadow then grabbed ahold of Sombra’s back leg and flung him into some nearby rocks. Sombra roared as he got back up, using his magic to lift the rocks out of the ground before throwing them at Tempest Shadow. Reacting fast, Tempest Shadow ran towards the oncoming rocks and jumped in between them. Tempest Shadow then used her power to summon one of her obsidian orbs, launching it at Sombra, who quickly dodged the attack.

“(Chuckle) I was wondering when you were going to try and use those fancy little orbs on me.” Sombra said with a grin. “The very same orbs that can turn a pony to stone.”

Tempest Shadow didn’t respond as she just charged forward, jumping into the air to perform another flip kick. The attack didn’t work as Sombra used his magic to keep Tempest Shadow suspended in the air. Using his telekinesis, Sombra threw Tempest Shadow to the side. However, as she was thrown, Tempest Shadow managed to reach one of her stun pellets and tossed it at Sombra. Thanks to her quickness, the pellet reached Sombra and exploded, causing Sombra to stumble a bit. With Sombra stunned, Tempest Shadow quickly ran towards Sombra, slamming into him and knocking him down on the floor.

Sombra tried to use his magic to hit Tempest Shadow, but she had already thrown one of her smoke bombs at him, clouding his visibility. Using the smoke as cover, Tempest Shadow blasted a burst of electricity from her broken horn at Sombra, shocking him. Tempest Shadow tried to use one of her obsidian orbs to turn Sombra to stone, however Sombra used his magic to raise a large stone from the ground, shielding him from the attack. Sombra then sunk into the shadows and jumped out from behind Tempest Shadow, blasting her in the back with magic. Tempest Shadow quickly got back up as she ran towards Sombra again. Sombra laughed as he fired a beam of magic at the oncoming unicorn, however, Tempest Shadow jumped to the side, avoiding the beam, and slamming into Sombra.

With Sombra stunned from the impact, Tempest Shadow began to repeatedly punch and kick Sombra over and over again. After getting in a few good hits, Tempest Shadow landed a powerful roundhouse kick on Sombra, knocking him to the floor. While Sombra was down, Tempest Shadow charged up another electric burst. Unfortunately, Sombra used his magic to summon a large crystal that shielded him from the blast. Because Tempest Shadow was so close to Sombra when she blasted her electrical burst, the impact caused her to fly back. Sombra grinned as he then telekinetically broke the crystal into smaller sharper pieces, sending them towards Tempest Shadow. Seeing the sharp crystal shards coming towards her, Tempest Shadow took a deep breath and then used her agility to kick away every single shard that came at her.

Sombra chuckled as he saw that even though Tempest Shadow had managed to kick away the crystal shards he’d thrown at her, it still caused her pain in her hooves. Even so, Sombra had to admit, he was impressed. Since he spent most of his time watching over Twilight and her other friends, Sombra went into this fight not really knowing too much of Tempest Shadow’s fighting strategy.

Once he saw Tempest Shadow shake off the pain in her hooves, Sombra stomped his hoof on the ground, causing large and long crystal spikes to come out of the ground in the direction of Tempest Shadow. Despite the pain in her hooves, Tempest Shadow charged ahead, using her agility and strength to leap over the crystal spikes and jump out of their way. After avoiding all of the spikes, Tempest Shadow leapt into the air and kicked another one of her smoke bombs at Sombra, covering him in a cloud of smoke. As Sombra tried to jump out of the smoke, Tempest Shadow landed right in front of him and kicked him in the chest. Sombra didn’t let this stun him however as he fired his magic at Tempest Shadow, causing her to fly back due to being so close to him when he had blasted her.

As Tempest Shadow quickly got back up after the blast, Sombra morphed back into his shadow form and charged towards her. Tempest Shadow also charged towards Sombra as she took out her flashbang. She was waiting for just the right moment when she was nearly inches from Sombra. When the chance came, Tempest Shadow threw her flashbang onto the ground right in front of Sombra, stopping him in his tracks as he was once again stunned. Once again, Tempest Shadow proceeded to punch and kick Sombra multiple times. After landing a kick to Sombra’s chest, Tempest Shadow immediately took out another stun pellet and slammed it in Sombra’s face, dealing some real damage. Sombra tried to teleport away but before he could, Tempest Shadow kicked his front hooves, causing him to fall to the ground.

Tempest Shadow refused to let Sombra even have a moment to recover as she kicked him in the face while he was down before yanking him back up and kicking him in the chest. After the kick, Sombra finally found a small opening as he headbutted Tempest Shadow in the face, knocking her back a bit. Sombra then landed a powerful swing, hitting Tempest Shadow hard in the face. The attack was so strong that a few of Tempest Shadow’s teeth flew out of her mouth. Sombra then lifted Tempest Shadow into the air with his magic before slamming her right back down to the floor. As Sombra walked over to Tempest Shadow so he could stomp on her neck, Tempest Shadow took another stun pellet and tossed it at Sombra’s chest, once again stunning him.

Tempest Shadow then blasted another one of her obsidian orbs at Sombra, but even though Sombra was stunned, he somehow managed to force his body to fall down, causing the orb to just barely miss him. While he was down, Sombra used his magic to make a shadow hand emerge from underneath Tempest Shadow, grabbing her by the throat and slamming her down. As Sombra stood back up, Tempest Shadow threw another smoke bomb down, surrounding herself in a cloud of smoke.

Sombra just scoffed as he waited for a few moments before using his magic to clear away the smoke, revealing that Tempest Shadow didn’t even move. Tempest Shadow and Sombra charged at each other once again and just as they were about to make contact, Tempest Shadow tried to swing at Sombra. However, Sombra had seen this coming as he quickly stopped and leaned back, avoiding Tempest Shadow’s swing. With Tempest Shadow being thrown out of balance by missing her attack, Sombra raised a large stone out of the ground behind Tempest Shadow. Sombra then slammed into Tempest Shadow, pinning her against the stone, with his hoof firmly pressed into her throat.

“(Evil Chuckle) You fought well. But you’re no match for me, Tempest Shadow.” Sombra said as he smiled at her.

“I’m not finished yet, tyrant!” Tempest Shadow yelled as she kicked Sombra in the stomach with her lower leg.

The attack hurt Sombra a lot as earlier when Tempest Shadow used that smoke bomb on herself, she used the smoke to hide her while she quickly placed her last stun pellet on her lower hoof. Stunned from the surprise stun pellet attack, Tempest Shadow shoved Sombra off of her and pounced on him, pinning him to the ground with her hoof firmly planted on his neck. Before Sombra could do anything else, Tempest Shadow blasted him with her most powerful burst of electricity. Sombra yelled in pain as he was being electrocuted by Tempest Shadow’s electrical attack. After electrocuting Sombra for a good thirty seconds, Tempest Shadow finally deactivated her horn’s power before stepping a few feet away from Sombra.

As Tempest Shadow backed off of Sombra, she looked down at him. Sombra looked absolutely drained and worn out from the fight. Tempest Shadow then summoned one of her obsidian orbs, ready to throw it at Sombra and turn him into stone forever. However, just as Tempest Shadow was about to throw her obsidian orb, she suddenly remembered back to when Twilight had saved her from the darkness that had consumed her and brought her back to the light. This caused Tempest Shadow to get rid of her obsidian orb as she decided to try and stop Sombra from continuing down this path that wouldn’t lead him anywhere.

“Why do you continue to lead yourself down this path of darkness?” Tempest Shadow asked as she looked down at Sombra. “You can be so much more than this.”

Hearing this, Sombra just looked up at Tempest Shadow and scoffed at her.

“(Chuckle) Are you really trying to reform me? You think you can change me with your empty words?” Sombra asked with a mocking grin.

“I know what it’s like to be on the path of darkness. I know it can seem like it is the right way, but it’s not. Following this path will only lead to your downfall.” Tempest Shadow said.

“You seem to be implying that I’ve even had a choice in the first place.” Sombra said as he suddenly glared at Tempest Shadow. “And are you saying that you can relate to me? You know nothing about what I’ve been through!”

“You’re right; I don’t know what you’ve been through. But I do know that you can’t let the past haunt you. You still have a choice. Whatever happened to you in the past doesn’t matter anymore. The only thing that matters now, is what you choose to do with your future.” Tempest Shadow said as she held out her hoof to Sombra.

As Sombra looked at Tempest Shadow’s extended hoof, his expression slowly started to soften, and he started to look like he was actually considering accepting Tempest Shadow’s words. After a few moments of silence, Sombra began to slowly nod as he looked down at the ground before he began speaking in a soft, even gentle, tone.

“You’re… You’re right.” Sombra began to say, as Tempest Shadow was filled with hope. “In that case… I choose THIS!” Sombra yelled as he suddenly got up and punched Tempest Shadow in the face.

Sombra didn’t give Tempest Shadow any time to recover as he headbutted her, breaking her nose. Sombra then kicked her hard in the chest before he grabbed Tempest Shadow by the sides of her head, forcing her to stare into his eyes.

“(Evil Chuckle) You think you could reform me!? Don’t make me laugh! Now, FACE YOUR FEARS!” Sombra yelled as his eyes glowed green, ready to trap Tempest Shadow with her fears.

“NO!” Tempest Shadow cried as she headbutted Sombra so hard in the face, that she ended up breaking his nose.

Sombra yelled out in pain as he let go of Tempest Shadow, his blood spewing out all over her face. Tempest Shadow didn’t care about this as she blasted Sombra with another powerful electrical burst from her horn. Tempest Shadow then kicked Sombra a couple of times in the face before she gave him one final kick to the chest, causing him to stumble back. Tempest Shadow then took out her obsidian orb and hurled it at Sombra, landing a direct hit and turning him to stone.

“(Pant) (Pant) It’s… over…” Tempest Shadow said as she turned to walk back to the caves.

“Is it really over… Tempest Shadow?”

A horrible chill shivered down Tempest Shadow’s spine as she heard the voice of Sombra come from behind her. She turned around fast to see that Sombra was indeed still reduced to a stone statue. For a few seconds, Tempest Shadow just stared at the statue of Sombra, confused and terrified as to where the voice could have come from. She got an answer soon enough as the head of the stone statue of Sombra slowly turned to look at her, its eyes glowed green and a malicious grin was plastered on its face. This couldn’t be happening; no pony had ever managed to power through the effects of Tempest Shadow’s obsidian orbs; it just wasn’t possible.

“Wh-What? But… h-how?” Tempest Shadow asked, her voice quivering with fear; her confidence completely shattered.

“(Evil Chuckle) You really thought you had escaped my power? (Evil Chuckle) Oh, I don’t think so. Now… Tempest Shadow… let’s see what you’re really afraid of…”

Tempest Shadow trembled as she realized that she had already been pulled into Sombra’s fear realm. Suddenly the stone statue of Sombra started to melt like ice cream on a hot summer day, turning into a muddy puddle on the ground. The skies above Tempest Shadow turned to dark storm clouds, with thunder and lightning blasting from above. Then Tempest Shadow heard the sound of a familiar laughter as something started to rise out of the puddle. Tempest Shadow watched in horror as the Storm King himself emerged from the puddle. The Storm King let out a mighty roar as he then looked down at Tempest Shadow, grinning at her.

“(Chuckle) Well hello there, Tempest. Fancy seeing you here.” The Storm King said as he bared his teeth at the unicorn.

“Y-You!? B-But… it can’t be! You were-!” Tempest Shadow stuttered out as the Storm King interrupted her.

“Turned to stone? Shattered to bits? Killed? You’re right, I was! But now, I’m back!” The Storm King yelled as he raised his hand in the air.

A bolt of lightning suddenly struck the Storm King’s hand, only it didn’t seem to cause him any sort of pain whatsoever. Instead, the Storm King seemingly took pleasure from getting struck by lightning. After the bolt of lightning had struck the Storm King, something appeared in his hand; it was the Staff of Sacanas. With his powerful weapon back in his possession, the Storm King laughed as he raised the staff high into the air as the thunder roared in alignment with his actions.

“No! I won’t let you harm Equestria again!” Tempest Shadow yelled as she sent an obsidian orb flying towards the Storm King.

However, when the orb hit the Storm King, not only did it not turn him to stone, but the orb had seemingly been absorbed by his body. Tempest Shadow was shocked to see this as her attack did absolutely nothing. The Storm King laughed as he looked back at the confused unicorn.

“(Laughs) You think that is going to work on me!? Not this time!” The Storm King yelled as he aimed his staff at Tempest Shadow.

Suddenly, five large bolts of lightning shot out of the staff and hit Tempest Shadow, electrocuting her badly. Tempest Shadow screamed in pain as she felt the bolts of lightning flow throughout her entire body. After the long and brutal electrocution was finished, Tempest Shadow fell to the floor.

“(Evil Chuckle) You know Tempest, as much as I’d love to keep playing this little game, I have to move on. But first, a little parting gift, from me to you. YAH!” The Storm King yelled as he fired a bright glowing beam of magic at Tempest Shadow.

As the magic beam hit Tempest Shadow, she screamed in pain. This was unlike any magic spell she’d ever seen before. Tempest Shadow suddenly began to shrink and even started to age back to when she was a filly. She could feel her bones getting smaller and she felt great pain as her legs became shorter. When Tempest Shadow was completely turned back into a filly, she looked up at the Storm King, who was smiling down at her with a nightmarish grin.

“(Evil Laugh) Look at you! So small and weak! I can’t believe there was a time I actually saw potential in you!” The Storm King yelled as he laughed at the small unicorn.

“I don’t care what happens to me! I won’t let you hurt anypony! I will stop you no matter what!” Tempest Shadow yelled up at the hulking creature before her.

“HA! You make me laugh! You could never-GAH!” The Storm King yelled as he suddenly gripped his chest.

Suddenly, the Storm King looked as if he was in a lot of pain. He started coughing violently so much to the point that even blood began to come out of his mouth. The Storm King dropped his staff and fell to his knees, clawing at his chest.

“GAHHH! WHAT’S HAPPENING TO ME!?” The Storm King cried as more and more blood began to pour out of his mouth and now his eyes.

Tempest Shadow could do nothing but watch as she saw that something was seemingly trying to come out of the Storm King’s chest. His coughing became more bloody and painful and the sounds he was making was so sickening. Then, the most shocking and horrifying thing happened. The Storm King let out one final roar of pain as the head of an Ursa Minor burst out of his chest. Tempest Shadow screamed as she watched the beast begin to claw and bite its way out of the Storm King, tearing him to shreds from the inside. Eventually, the Ursa Minor fully emerged from the Storm King’s body, causing him to fall back, dead and with a huge gaping hole in his chest.

Due to Tempest Shadow’s tragic incident when she was a filly, where an Ursa Minor attacked her and left her scarred and without a horn, Tempest Shadow had since developed a fear of Ursa Minors. Every time she saw or heard one of those monsters, her mind would force her to mentally relive those tragic moments and she would freeze. Now, here she was, trapped in Sombra’s fear realm, in the body of a filly, standing before a large Ursa Minor.

Tempest Shadow attempted to use her power, but she then found out that she was incapable of doing anything. The rest of her gear was gone, she could no longer summon any more of the obsidian orbs, and not a single spark would come out of her broken horn. Realizing that there was nothing she could do, tears began to pour from Tempest Shadow’s face as she slowly started to back away from the Ursa Minor. The beast growled at Tempest Shadow and began to slowly creep towards her.

“N-NO! STAY AWAY FROM ME! GET AWAY!” Tempest Shadow screamed as she continuously tried to use her powers, but to no avail.

The Ursa Minor roared at Tempest Shadow before it raised its claws high in the air, ready to swipe at her. As the beast’s claws came down, Tempest Shadow jumped out of the way just in time. However, this was only a temporary victory as the Ursa Minor swiped at Tempest Shadow again, this time slashing her across her side. Tempest Shadow screamed in pain as she felt the claws slice her flesh. The beast didn’t stop there as it then bit down on Tempest Shadow’s back legs, lifting her up in the air before throwing her into the sands. The bit was so powerful that Tempest Shadow could feel that the bones in her back legs were completely shattered. She couldn’t run away. Despite this, Tempest Shadow still tried to flee by crawling with her front legs.

Attracted to the smell of Tempest Shadow’s blood, the Ursa Minor rushed over to the helpless unicorn and slashed at her back, causing Tempest Shadow to cry out again in pain. The Ursa Minor then bit Tempest Shadow’s ear before tearing half of it off. Tempest Shadow let out another scream as she then felt the Ursa Minor slash at her back once again. The Ursa Minor then flipped Tempest Shadow onto her back, forcing her to look up at the beast which was now towering over her. As the beast roared at Tempest Shadow, she closed her eyes, bracing herself for death.

However, before the Ursa Minor could sink its teeth into Tempest Shadow’s face, she heard the sound of a familiar voice.

“Fizzlepop Berrytwist! How could you do this to us!?”

Hearing that this voice was the voice of Twilight Sparkle, Tempest Shadow immediately opened her eyes, only to immediately wish she hadn’t. The Ursa Minor was still towering over her, but its entire head had suddenly morphed into the head of Twilight Sparkle. Her face was all bloody and she looked like she had been brutally beaten for hours. Probably the most tragic thing about this Twilight, was the fact that she too was missing her horn.

“Tw-Twilight!?” Tempest Shadow cried as she stared into the alicorn’s eyes.

“You doomed all of us! Because you didn’t stop King Sombra, he’s destroyed all of Equestria!” Twilight yelled as she glared at Tempest Shadow.

“Wh-What!? N-No! Twilight, please!” Tempest Shadow cried before Twilight continued to yell at her.

“Because of you, all of my friends are dead! My brother, my mother, my father, they’re all dead! Everypony is dead! You’ve killed us all, Tempest Shadow!” Twilight screamed as her face suddenly morphed back to the head of the Ursa Minor.

“TWILIGHT! NOOO!!!!” Tempest Shadow screamed as the Ursa Minor reared its head back, ready to clamp its jaws around Tempest Shadow’s face.

Then, just as the Ursa Minor was about to deliver a fatal bite to the face, Tempest Shadow was suddenly struck in the face by Sombra’s armored hoof.

When Tempest Shadow was punched in the face by Sombra, she was knocked out of his realm of fear. It was then, that Tempest Shadow realized that everything she had just experienced was all in her head. But it felt so real, like it had really happened. Tempest Shadow could still feel pain in the places where the Ursa Minor had slashed and bit her.

Then before Tempest Shadow could do anything else, Sombra raised four crystal spikes from the ground and drove them right into Tempest Shadow’s hooves. Tempest Shadow screamed in pain as she felt the spikes pierce through her flesh, rendering her legs completely useless. Sombra then used his magic to crystalize whatever was left of Tempest Shadow’s horn, just to make sure she couldn’t use her electrical attacks anymore. Sombra then walked over to Tempest Shadow and pinned her down.

“(Evil Chuckle) My, what interesting fears you have, Tempest Shadow. Or should I say, Fizzlepop Berrytwist?” Sombra asked as he chuckled.

“NO! I WON’T LET YOU WIN!” Tempest Shadow screamed as she tried to use her power, once again to no avail.

“You’re not afraid of the Storm King, are you? No, you’re afraid of what he would do if he somehow managed to come back from the grave. As for the Ursa Minor… (Evil Chuckle) my, I never knew one could be so afraid of one of those creatures.” Sombra said as he grinned.

“You’ll never win! You will be stopped!” Tempest Shadow yelled as she spit in Sombra’s face.

“(Evil Chuckle) Are you sure about that? Because your fears told a different story. You’re afraid that I’m going to win. And when I do, you’ll know that it’s all your fault.” Sombra said.

“Twilight and her friends will stop you. They stopped you before and they’ll do it again; I know they will. Evil never lasts long here in Equestria.” Tempest Shadow said as she smiled confidently at Sombra, accepting the fact that it was almost over.

“(Evil Chuckle) Not this time, Tempest Shadow.” Sombra said as he grabbed the sides of her head with his hooves. “You fought well, Tempest Shadow. Even though Equestria will suffer slowly, I grant you a quick death.”

Tempest Shadow only continued to smile as she closed her eyes. This was it; this was the end. Even so, Tempest Shadow was happy. She was happy that she had met Twilight Sparkle and all of her friends. She knew that they would defeat King Sombra. After all, the magic of friendship could never be defeated. Tempest Shadow nodded to herself as she knew that everything would be okay. As they say here in Equestria:

“Friendship is Magic…”

Then, Sombra snapped Tempest Shadow’s neck…

As Tempest Shadow went completely limp in Sombra’s hooves, he chuckled. Then, his chuckles turned into a dark and victorious laughter. Sombra stepped away from Tempest Shadow’s body and looked down at her.

“(Evil Chuckle) A pity that you could not join us, Tempest Shadow. We would have loved to have you in our group.” Sombra said as he turned to look towards the entrance of the caves. “No matter, it’s time I collect what I came for.”

With that Sombra began to make his way over to the Caves of Conundrum. Once inside, Sombra was immediately greeted by the sight of all of the Storm Creatures that had been kept hidden away in these caves. Sombra chuckled, getting the attention of the Storm Creatures as they all turned to look at him. Based on the way Sombra looked and the fact that their caretaker, Tempest Shadow was not there, the Storm Creatures knew that something was wrong.

“Do not fret, Storm Creatures, you are all under my care now.” Sombra announced to them.

Hearing this and the way Sombra said it, told the Storm Creatures that something bad had happened to Tempest Shadow and Sombra was directly responsible. Sombra was surprised when some of the Storm Creatures started to show signs of aggression towards him. It looked like they were about to attack him. Sombra only grinned as he waited for one of them to strike.

Two of the Storm Creatures, which just so happened to be Tempest Shadow’s personal Storm Creature guards, suddenly leapt towards Sombra, ready to slash him with their claws. Sombra dodged and avoided their claws and used his magic to blast them both back down to the ground. Then, before the two Storm Creatures could get back up, Sombra used his magic to raise two long crystals out from underneath the Storm Creatures, impaling both of them and killing them. In response to this, the other Storm Creatures stumbled back and seemingly lost their will to fight.

“(Evil Chuckle) You’re all mine!” Sombra yelled as his eyes glowed green, capturing all of the Storm Creatures in his stare.

As Sombra used his power on the Storm Creatures, their eyes glowed green and they all immediately lost any urge to resist or fight against him. Sombra had placed all of the Storm Creatures under his control.

“(Evil Chuckle) All of you, listen up! Equestria’s time is almost up! You will all help me take over! When I give the order, you will all rise from the ground and attack everypony in your path! But do not kill any of them! Wait for my orders! Now, go! DIG! DIG UNDERGROUND AND SPREAD THROUGHOUT ALL OF EQUESTRIA!” Sombra roared as all of the Storm Creatures started to dig into the ground.

The Storm Creatures began to dig their way to every single major landmark and city in Equestria. They had split into groups, making sure that when they would rise, every group would have the same amount of Strom Creatures. Their brute strength allowed them to dig at such a fast speed that it would make even the Diamond Dogs green with jealousy. Once all of the Storm Creatures were gone, Sombra laughed as he looked at the dead bodies of the two Storm Creatures that tried to take him down.

“(Evil Chuckle) I’m sure with a little dark magic, the Professor can put you to good use. Yes… I’m sure of it.” Sombra said as he used his magic to warp the two bodies to Professor Screw’s lab.

Sombra then exited the cave and walked over to Tempest Shadow’s body. He looked down at her with an emotionless expression on his face. If there was one thing he had to admit, Tempest Shadow had skill and was not to be underestimated. Sombra would never forget the unicorn who had no horn, Tempest Shadow…

Author's Note

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! It was certainly dark and brutal! The fight Sombra had with Tempest Shadow was originally going to be shorter, but I decided that Tempest Shadow should give Sombra a bit of a struggle before she went down. Next chapter, Sombra will add some an extra step to his ultimate plan and then we will see what Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow have been up to. Thank you again for the support!

Motivations

Earlier, in Professor Screw’s Lab…

“Oh, but don’t you wish to know about Iron Will’s procedure?” Professor Screw asked curiously.

As Professor Screw walked over to Iron Will to continue the procedure, he thought that it would be more satisfying if Iron Will was awake and fully conscious for the process. That way, he could observe all of Iron Will’s reactions. With a sinister chuckle, Professor Screw used a small electricity spell, zapping Iron Will awake.

Iron Will woke up with a sudden jolt as he was zapped by Professor Screw’s magic. As soon as Iron Will was awake, he immediately felt a throbbing pain in his head. Iron Will tried to touch his head, but soon found that he was strapped to a chair. In front of Iron Will, there was a mirror which was hanging from the ceiling. Looking into the mirror allowed Iron Will to see a terrifying sight; the top part of his head had been completely removed, leaving his brain exposed.

“Huh!? Where is Iron Will!? What is going on!? Help!” Iron Will yelled as he tried to break free from the restraints.

“There is no need for such a fuss, Iron Will. You are perfectly safe.” Professor Screw said as Iron Will turned to look at him.

“You! Crazy scientist! What have you done to Iron Will!? Let Iron Will go!” Iron Will yelled as he continued to try and break free.

“(Chuckle) I’m afraid I cannot do that, Iron Will. You have betrayed King Sombra. His majesty does not approve of those who go against him.” Professor Screw said as he shook his head disapprovingly.

“Let Iron Will go now, or Iron Will is going to hurt you!” Iron Will yelled.

“(Chuckle) Oh, I don’t think so. The restraints around your body are strong enough to hold even the likes of an Ursa Major back. You will not be hurting anypony.” Professor Screw said as he used his magic to pick up a scalpel. “Now, his majesty did order me to… fix you, however, you still have a chance to correct your mistakes, Iron Will.”

“Get away from Iron Will!” Iron Will yelled as Professor Screw pointed the scalpel at him.

“I’m going to give you one last chance, Iron Will. You can either apologize to his majesty and swear your eternal loyalty to him, or you can sit here and suffer the consequences of betraying King Sombra.” Professor Screw said as he held the scalpel up next to his face and smiled. “So, what will it be Iron Will?”

“Iron Will is not going to be a part of this evil any longer! Iron Will would rather die than continue to do more harm to the ponies!” Iron Will yelled, huffing at the Professor.

“I see...” Professor Screw said as he slashed Iron Will across the cheek with the scalpel, causing the minotaur to yell out in pain.

After cutting Iron Will’s face with the scalpel, Professor Screw used his magic to summon a specially modified muzzle, placing it over Iron Will’s mouth, preventing him from speaking or even opening his mouth.

“In that case, it is time we begun your procedure.” Professor Screw said as he walked over to his worktable, pulling open a drawer.

Out of the drawer, Professor Screw pulled out a syringe which contained some strange glowing yellow liquid.

“This is substance will keep your adrenaline high and constant, ensuring that you will never lose consciousness, even due to blood loss. You will be awake for the entire process.” Professor Screw explained with a sinister grin.

Iron Will’s muffled screams echoed throughout the lab as Professor Screw injected him with the needle, driving the yellow liquid into Iron Will’s body. As Iron Will felt the substance flow through his bloodstream, Professor Screw walked over to his worktable and looked down at the device that he had been working on.

The device was a special type of mind controlling device that would essentially rewrite Iron Will’s brain to only listen to King Sombra, Professor Screw, and the rest of the Rogue. Next to the device was a helmet that had been heavily modified to clamp onto the head of the wearer. On the edges of the helmet were a bunch of screws that would dig into the sides of Iron Will’s head, ensuring that the helmet would never come off. These screws would also severely damaged Iron Will’s brain, taking away his motor functions and replacing them with the will to obey everyone who had authority over him. There were also some straps on the underside of the helmet, just in case. Back to the mind controlling device, on the top, there were a bunch of wires that were meant to connect to the modified helmet. When these wires were connected to the helmet, the mind controlling device would be fully functional and the only thing left to do would be to drive the screws into Iron Will’s brain.

Professor Screw attached the wires to the underside of the modified helmet and once the two were properly connected, he placed it on top of Iron Will’s head. Iron Will groaned and hissed in pain as he felt the cold metal touch his exposed brain.

“(Sadistic Chuckle) Now, you will never think about betraying his majesty again. Say goodbye to your freewill, Iron Will!” Professor Screw said as he levitated a hammer over from his worktable and drove the first screw into Iron Will’s brain.

Iron Will had struggled and fought with all of his might to free himself from this cruel torture. However as soon as the first screw impaled his brain, Iron Will immediately stopped struggling and went completely limp. Drool began to uncontrollably pour out of Iron Will’s mouth as he had essentially been lobotomized. Iron Will was gone…

Sometime later…

Professor Screw hummed to himself as he had finally finished securing the mind controlling device onto Iron Will’s head. After all the screws had been driven into Iron Will’s brain, the device had become fully operational and Iron Will was now completely stripped of his freewill, leaving only a husk of what used to be a boastful, loud, and strong minotaur.

“Iron Will, can you hear me?” Professor Screw asked as he poked the minotaur in the chest.

“Yes.” Iron Will responded dryly.

“Good. Tell me, what is your purpose?” Professor Screw asked, pleased with how things were looking.

“Iron Will lives to serve King Sombra. Iron Will listens to King Sombra, Professor, and Rogue.” Iron Will answered.

“(Chuckle) Good, very good.” Professor Screw said, pleased that the device had worked.

Then, before Professor Screw could ask any more questions to the mind-controlled minotaur, he heard two large objects suddenly appear in his lap and land on the floor behind him. Professor Screw turned around to see the dead bodies of two Storm Creatures. At first, the Professor was puzzled by this, however he had no time to come up with an explanation before Sombra emerged from the shadows.

“Ah, your majesty, you’ve returned. I trust everything went according to plan?” Professor Screw asked as he bowed to Sombra.

“Of course it did. Now, how is Iron Will’s procedure coming along?” Sombra asked.

“The operation was a success. My device has removed all of Iron Will’s freewill. He is now completely loyal to all of us. He will never betray you again, my king.” Professor Screw said as he stepped back to show off his work.

“(Chuckle) Good. Before we discuss anything else, I have a new job for you.” Sombra said.

“I await your instructions, my king.” Professor Screw said with a grin.

“First, do you have any duplicating spells in your spell book?” Sombra asked.

“I’ve got a few, yes. Why do you ask?” Professor Screw asked.

“I want you to create clones of these Storm Creatures.” Sombra said as he gestured to the two dead Storm Creatures.

“(Chuckle) I can do that. How many do you need?” Professor Screw asked.

“Enough to cause chaos and destruction to Ponyville and Canterlot. These new Storm Creatures will act as our crushing blow to those ponies. I want them to be stronger, faster, and tougher than the other Storm Creatures.” Sombra said.

“I will see that it is done, my king.” Professor Screw said as he bowed to Sombra again. “Shall I get to work on them now?”

“Not yet. First, we will reunite the Doctor with his mechanical arms. And of course, the Rogue will see what has become of Iron Will. Plus, there is something new that the Rogue will be tasked with.” Sombra said with a chuckle.

“(Chuckle) Yes, your majesty.” Professor Screw said as he walked over to the mechanical arms and held them up with his magic.

While the Professor took care of the arms, Sombra motioned for him to leave. With that, Professor Screw teleported back to the castle.

Earlier, in King Sombra’s Castle…

While Discorded Whooves was pacing back and forth while talking to himself, the rest of the Rogue were keeping to themselves for the most part. Lightning Dust was sitting at the large table with the map of Equestria on it. Flim and Flam were sitting across from her, not really saying anything. The three Rogue members remained silent for a few more minutes before Flim and Flam looked at each other and then at Lightning Dust.

Since Iron Will’s sudden betrayal, the two brothers were curious if Lightning Dust really hated Rainbow Dash so much to the point where she’d risk being killed or punished by Sombra if she ever failed any of her tasks. Because of what Applejack had done to them, Flim and Flam were more than willing to do whatever needed to be done in order to get their revenge. But what could Rainbow Dash possibly have done to consume Lightning Dust with so much rage and aggression? It couldn’t be as bad as what Applejack had done to the Flim Flam Brothers, could it?

“So, Lightning Dust, right?” Flim asked, getting the mare’s attention.

“Ugh, yeah? What do you want?” Lightning Dust asked, already annoyed by the presence of the two con artists.

“Well, we were just wondering, are you really willing to go through with the boss’s plan?” Flim asked.

“Yeah, even if it could mean death or whatever horrible fate has befallen on the big guy if we fail?” Flam added.

“What kind of question is that? Of course, I’m willing to go through with this whole thing! I don’t care what I have to do, just as long as I get to take out Rainbow Dash.” Lightning Dust answered, gritting her teeth at the mentioning of the cyan pegasus.

“What exactly did Rainbow Dash do to you? You see, when the Doctor recruited you, we weren’t there for the entire conversation.” Flam explained.

“Ever since we’ve been here, we’ve heard you say constantly that you despise Rainbow Dash. So, we want to know, why do you hate her so much?” Flim asked.

“Pfft, why do you care?” Lightning Dust asked, shooting an annoyed glance at the brothers.

“Well, we’re all in this nightmare together, aren’t we? We figured it would be best to know why we’re all sticking to this plan.” Flam said.

“(Sigh) Fine, whatever. There are two reasons why I hate Rainbow Dash so much.” Lightning Dust said as she adjusted her position in the seat. “A few years ago, I was accepted into the Wonderbolt Academy. All my life, all I ever wanted to do was become a Wonderbolt. They were my heroes when I was a filly. When I got accepted into the academy, I was so happy. All I had to do was pass the tests and I’d finally achieve my dream and make my dad proud.”

“Why only your pops? What about your mom?” Flim asked.

“My mom has been dead for years.” Lightning Dust said, actually sounding sad for the first time since she’d been here. “Now, shut up or I’m not going to finish my explanation.”

The Flim Flam Brothers nodded in response, agreeing to keep quiet and allow Lightning Dust to finish her story.

“I met Rainbow Dash on my first day at the academy. At the time, she wasn’t as famous as she is now, so I didn’t really know her. At first, she seemed pretty cool, and we hit it off almost immediately. We were both fast and strong fliers with tough attitudes. Because of that, we were put on a team together and we kicked major tail! Compared to us, all the other teams sucked! We had the best scores and were beating all of the academy records! Things were going so well…... until they showed up…” Lightning Dust said with venom in her voice.

Lightning Dust never forgot about the day that Rainbow Dash’s friends all showed up at the Wonderbolts training academy. There was no way she’d ever forget about it. Afterall it was one of the two times where Rainbow Dash had ruined her life. This was the day she had lost her dream of becoming a Wonderbolt.

“One day the Wonderbolts were having us clear the skies, rewarding each of us a point for every cloud we got rid of. While Rainbow Dash and I were making great progress, I came up with an idea to wipe the floor with the rest of our so-called ‘competition’. I decided to whip up a huge tornado so we could clear up all of the clouds and blow the other teams away! But things didn’t go as I had hoped they would go. We cleared the clouds up right away, but the tornado ended up being too strong to handle and Rainbow Dash and I ended up getting thrown out of it.” Lightning Dust said as she was interrupted once again.

“You were thrown out of a tornado? How in Equestria did you not permanently cripple yourself or even die for that matter?” Flam asked.

“Because I’m the best flier and the toughest mare in all of Equestria. That’s how.” Lightning Dust replied as she gave the brothers an annoyed look. “Anyway, after I bailed out, I saw off in the distance there was a hot air balloon with Rainbow Dash’s friends in it. The balloon ended up getting sucked into the tornado and the basket they were in broke. Rainbow Dash’s friends were falling, and Rainbow Dash swooped in and saved them using some clouds. I’ll admit, it was actually pretty cool how she was able to save her friends.”

*Flashback: Season 3, Episode 7; Wonderbolt Academy*

Rainbow Dash was in the middle of comforting her friends and making sure that they were all unharmed, when Lightning Dust emerged from the crowd of the rest of the Wonderbolt academy cadets.

“That… was… awesome!” Lightning Dust said as she shoved some of the cadets to the side.

“Awesome? My friends could’ve been smashed to pieces!” Rainbow Dash snapped, narrowing her eyes at Lightning Dust.

“Yeah, but they weren’t, right?” Lightning Dust asked nonchalantly as she zipped up into the air. “Can’t say the same for the clouds. We totally wiped them out with that tornado. The other cadets will have to be up there for days to bust as many as we did.” Lightning Dust said as she held her hoof out for a hoof bump.

Rainbow Dash just looked at Lightning Dust’s hoof in shock as she looked back up at the reckless pegasus, shooting her a mean look.

“A hoof bump, seriously?” Rainbow Dash asked as she pushed Lightning Dust’s hoof away. “You made me clip my wing, you sent half of our class into serious tailspins on the obstacle course, you unleashed a tornado that nearly demolished my friends!”

“Yeah, and?” Lightning Dust asked, not seeing what the issue was.

“And I get that you want to be the best; so, do I. But you’re going about it in a wrong way.” Rainbow Dash said.

“The Wonderbolts don’t seem to think so. Afterall, Spitfire did make me the leader and you, the wing pony.” Lightning Dust said, pointing a hoof at Rainbow Dash.

“(Sigh) You’re right. She did.” Rainbow Dash replied as she and Lightning Dust locked eyes with each other.

*End Flashback*

“It wasn’t long after that when Rainbow Dash reported me to Spitfire, the leader of the Wonderbolts. I was kicked out and told that I would never become a Wonderbolt so long as Princess Celestia continued to rule over Equestria.” Lightning Dust said, looking down at the ground with a sour expression. “That’s the first reason why I hate Rainbow Dash so much. She took away my dream of becoming a Wonderbolt. Everything I had worked so hard all of my life to achieve, Rainbow Dash stole it from me.”

“What’s the second reason?” Flim asked.

“A couple years after that, I eventually ran into some other pegasi that had been kicked out of the Wonderbolt academy just like me. I decided to form a group with these ponies, naming ourselves the Washouts. I was the leader, with my two new best friends, Rolling Thunder, and Short Fuse as my co-leaders.” Lightning Dust explained.

“The Washouts? You mean that group of aerial stunt performers that did all those crazy shows with the dangerous stunts?” Flam asked.

“Yeah, that was us. We were a huge hit and everypony who saw our shows became big fans of ours. Things were all going so well, until Rainbow Dash decided to show her face again.” Lightning Dust said, glaring as she thought about the memory of losing her team. “One day, we moved our show close to Ponyville. In no time at all, we had grown a pretty good fanbase in Ponyville. Rainbow Dash ended up coming to one of our shows and we ran into each other. Turns out the only reason she was there was because her little friend, Scootaloo, was a big fan of ours. She was a good kid and I appreciated that somepony actually looked up to me. Heck, she even started a fan club for me.”

Lightning Dust then went on to tell Flim and Flam the entire story of how she had recruited Scootaloo to join the Washouts as a special guest in their next big stunt.

“When I had Scootaloo join us, of course, Rainbow Dash tried to step in and get her to leave the Washouts. Too bad for her, Scootaloo wasn’t having it, and Rainbow Dash gave up. I was going to make that kid a star! Later, when it was time to get ready for the show, I decided that for Scootaloo’s debut, her stunt would be to ride a special scooter that had rocket boosters on the sides, as well as a big rocket to really give her some speed.” Lightning Dust said.

“Wait, you were going to have a filly ride a rocket powered scooter?” Flam asked.

“Yeah, isn’t that dangerous?” Flim added.

“Of course it’s dangerous. That’s kind of the whole point of the Washouts, we do dangerous stunts and tricks for ponies’ entertainment. Now I’ll admit, the rockets I used were untested, but hey, it was meant to add to the danger and excitement of the stunt. The kid tried to back out, but I managed to convince her to live up to expectations she set for herself when she became the president of my fan club. Things went according to plan after that… until suddenly they didn’t.” Lightning Dust said as she began to explain how Scootaloo’s stunt had gone wrong, ending with how she had been flung into the air by a rope attached to the rocket scooter.

“Hold on a moment, how did you survive that?” Flim asked curiously.

“Gee I don’t know, maybe it’s because I’m a pegasus and I can fly.” Lightning Dust said as she looked at Flim like he was the biggest idiot in all of Equestria. “Anyway, after that, word spread about the incident involving Scootaloo and the Washouts were forced to cancel all future shows. My Washout friends all left me, and I was all alone because of Rainbow Dash. Those are the reasons why I hate Rainbow Dash so much and why I’m willing to stay in this group. At this point I have nothing left to lose aside from my life. If I have to keep killing ponies in order to take out Rainbow Dash, so be it. I don’t care. The only thing I care about now is making sure that Rainbow Dash pays for ruining my life.”

As Lightning Dust finished her explanation of the root cause of her hatred for Rainbow Dash, the Flim Flam Brothers could sort of understand why Lightning Dust was so committed to making Rainbow Dash pay. From what they had just heard, Lightning Dust was just another pegasus who had dreams of becoming the best, and Rainbow Dash seemingly came out of nowhere and started to crush all of Lightning Dust’s dreams.

“So, now that I’ve told you my story, why don’t you two tell me yours?” Lightning Dust said to the two brothers. “Why are you two here and is it really worth sticking with this messed group that we’re in?”

“Well of course it’s worth it! Afterall, the boss promised us a huge reward of money if we get our jobs done!” Flam said proudly.

“What about Applejack? I thought you all wanted to get rid of her, just like I want to get rid of Rainbow Dash.” Lightning Dust said, raising her eyebrow.

“We do.” Flim said.

“Oh yeah? Why? What did she do to you?” Lightning Dust asked.

Flim and Flam turned to look at each other as they thought about how they should respond. They figured that since Lightning Dust had told them why she hated Rainbow Dash and why she was willing to stay in the Rogue, despite the risks of being severely punished for failing, it was only fair if they told her their reasons too.

“Well, much like how Rainbow Dash ruined your life, Applejack also ruined our lives. Ever since we first met her, Applejack has constantly been getting in the way of our business plans and ruining our careers. At first, we didn’t really let that stop us from continuing our lives. However, there was one thing the Applejack did that caused something bad to happen to us.” Flim said.

“Do you know about the Friendship Journal that was written and published by Applejack and the rest of her friends?” Flam asked.

“I’ve heard about it, but I’ve never actually read it. I’m not gonna waste any of my bits on some stupid book that tells everypony the adventures those six losers have had.” Lightning Dust said.

“Well, it was that very book that ruined our lives.” Flim said as the two brothers began to tell their story.

*Flashback: Sometime after Season 7, Episode 14; Fame and Misfortune*

Flim: A couple years ago, things were going quite well for us. We were still running the Gladmane resort and business was good. We had no knowledge about this Friendship Journal that had been published by Princess Twilight at the time. During the summer, we had made a lot of money and we decided to take a trip back home to tell our dear mother about our success.

Flam: It’s important for you to know a bit about our family before my brother continues. Despite what you may think, my brother and I did not grow up with riches. Quite the opposite in fact. Our family was very poor and every day we all struggled. I suppose you could say that we were dealing with poverty.

Flim: Yes, however it wasn’t always like this. Back when we were just little colts, our family was living a somewhat decent life. We weren’t rich but we certainly weren’t poor either. Father used to be a salespony for a little shop our family owned. Mother didn’t have a job; she just stayed home and took care of us. All of this changed, however, when father discovered the joys of gambling and conning. After that, our family started to do well financially. Mother did ask father how he had seemingly begun to bring in more money, but he never told her it was by gambling and conning.

Flam: Flim and I did end up finding out by accident when we stumbled across our father conning one of his customers. Father told us that while what he was doing was in a way, bad, it could bring happiness to our family. Father made us promise not to tell mother and we agreed to keep it a secret. Things were going well, until one day when father didn’t come home…

Flim: Turns out one of father’s scams had gone wrong and one thing led to another, and father was accidentally killed in a scuffle. He had been pushed onto the road and got run over by a heavy wagon. When the authorities came to our home, they told us about father and that apparently numerous reports had come in that he had been the biggest con artist in our little town. Mother was heartbroken and we lived in poverty ever since.

Flam: We spent most of our lives doing anything we could to make some money for our dear mother. Somehow, mother managed to keep us educated and once we were old enough to move out, we decided to dedicate our lives to helping our mother live a good life. We tried to make honest money by working different jobs, but no matter what we did, we just couldn’t make enough money.

Flim: It was then that we decided to follow in our father’s path and become con artists. Would you know it, we had started to make it big! We made good money and mother was happy. We soon moved out of our little town and began to travel throughout Equestria, making money using our incredible skills. Every time we’d make a big profit, we’d send some of it back to our mother.

Flam: Now, back to what my brother was saying earlier. We went back home to visit our mother and to bring her some of the profit that we had earned running our little business in Las Pegasus…

Flim and Flam were happily trotting along the road in their old hometown, carrying a large wagon behind them. It had been quite some time since they had last visited home. Soon, the two brothers spotted their family home off in the distance.

“Ah look brother! There is the house!” Flim said, pointing over to the house.

“Yes! Mother will be waiting for us! She said she really wanted to see us about something.” Flam replied with a smile. “Maybe she wants to congratulate us for landing a good job in Las Pegasus.”

“Maybe so! Come brother! Mother awaits!” Flim said as the two brothers quickened their pace.

After a few minutes, Flim and Flam arrived at their old house and knocked on the door. The doorknob was suddenly encased in a magical glow as the knob twisted, allowing the door to open. Excited to see their mother, Flim and Flam quickly picked up a bag of bits they had earned and headed inside the house.

“MOTHER! We’re back!” Flim and Flam exclaimed as they ran inside the house.

The Flim Flam Brothers were immediately taken aback as they saw their mother. She was sitting on the couch, wearing a black robe with her makeup seemingly ruined from crying. As she looked up to see her two sons, her mood immediately switched from being sad, to being extremely angry.

“HUSH! BOTH OF YOU!” Flim and Flam’s mother shouted, catching the brothers by surprise.

“Mother, what’s wrong?” Flim asked, adjusting his hat.

“What’s wrong!? WHAT’S WRONG!? THAT’S WHAT’S WRONG!” Their mother yelled as she pointed at the table in front of her.

On the small table in front of the couch, was a small book, which was the Friendship Journal that Twilight and her friends had published not too long ago. Pages had been torn out of the book and were left scattered on the table. When Flim and Flam looked to see what was on these pages, their spines shivered, and their blood ran cold. The pages that been torn out, were pages that depicted Flim and Flam and all of their scams and dishonest ways of getting money. All of these reports had been written by none other than Applejack.

“You rotten pair of thieving degenerates! How could you?!”

“M-Mother, please, let us explain.” Flam started before their mother cut him off.

“You’ve become just like your father! A lying, scamming, con artist! Is this where all of your money has come from!?”

“Mother, please, we were only trying to-!” Flim began to say before he too was cut off.

“I don’t want to hear it! All these years, you’ve both lied to me! I thought my sons were out there doing good things for Equestria! But I was wrong!”

“Mother, we only wanted to take care of you! We didn’t want you to live in poverty anymore! There was no other way!” Flim said, desperately trying to reach his mother.

“Take care of me!? You’ve given me money that is tainted with the sins of your father! You’ve scammed ponies and tricked them into giving you, their bits! You’ve both become a pair of greedy monsters! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE NOW!”

“Mother please no! Don’t say that! We were only trying to help you!” Flam pleaded as he fell at his mother’s hooves.

“I’m not your mother! I have no sons! You’re both dead to me! Just like your father! GET OUT! NEVER COME BACK! I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU CON ARTISTS AGAIN! GET OUT!”

“Mother! Please don’t do this to us!” Flam begged as he started to cry.

“GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!!!”

As Flam desperately tried to cling to his mother, Flim quickly pulled him off of her as she actually tried to break a vase over Flam’s head. They ran out of the house just as their mother had thrown something at them. Once the brothers had slammed the door shut, they just looked at each other, shocked and broken by what had just happened.

Flim: While we stood outside our home, mother opened her window and screamed to everypony that we were criminals and that we were harassing her. We were chased out of town and never came back. Since then, we have no idea what has become of our mother, but all we know is that she no longer cares for us. All we ever wanted was to help her and give her the life she deserved. It was a very painful moment in our lives, and we agreed to try and bury the memory so we could focus on our business. This worked for quite some time as we went back to our normal lives. The memory only came back to us when the crazy doctor recruited us and when we encountered Applejack at that village.

Flam: Because of what Applejack wrote in that book, we lost our mother. We were banned from ever returning to our hometown, under the penalty of being thrown in jail for our crimes. We tried to write to our mother, but she never responded to any of our letters. Of all the times Applejack ruined our lives, this was the moment where she had crossed the line with us. We can never go back home now. We can never see our beloved mother again. We will never have a family again. Because of Applejack, our mother disowned us and lost all the love for us…

*End Flashback*

“That is why we are here. Even if we have to do things that are too far for us, we will do it if it means that we can make Applejack pay for ruining our lives.” Flim said.

“Huh… well I can’t believe I’m saying this but, I’m sorry about that. Even when my dad found out about the things I had done, he just gave me a stern talk. He didn’t disown me.” Lightning Dust said, showing genuine sympathy for the Flim Flam Brothers. “I can see why you two hate Applejack so much now. I’d want her to pay too if she caused me to lose my family.”

“We’re glad we can all understand each other.” Flim said.

“That’s right. Afterall, we’re all in this together, whether we really like it or not.” Flam added.

As the three members of the Rogue shared a glance of approval and respect for each other, Discorded Whooves suddenly flew over to the table they were sitting at and landed on the opposite side of the three Rogue members. The Doctor looked completely insane and the smile he was giving didn’t help at all.

“What are you three talking about?” Discorded Whooves asked, peering into the eyes of the Rogue.

“Oh great, Doctor Creep is here.” Lightning Dust said as she rolled her eyes.

“Ah, hello there, Doctor. We were just explaining to each other why we’re all here and why we are willing to stay with the boss.” Flim responded as politely as he could.

“Ah, let me guess, your hatred for Rainbow Dash, and you two; your hatred for Applejack?” Discorded Whooves asked.

“And the ‘smartest pony in the room’ award goes to… Doctor Creep.” Lightning Dust said in the most sarcastic tone she could muster.

“(Evil Chuckle) You know, Lightning Dust, I don’t really appreciate the disrespect that you’ve been showing me since we all became the Rogue.” Discorded Whooves said as he leered at the pegasus.

“Well, I’m sorry, maybe I just don’t like getting constantly hit on by somepony who’s the equivalent of an insane maniac.” Lightning Dust snapped back.

“(Evil Chuckle) You will show me some respect, Lightning Dust. I am your leader after all.” Discorded Whooves said as he gave her a creepy grin. “You keep playing hard to get, but you’ll come around. Mares like you always do.”

Before Discorded Whooves could continue to make this whole situation very awkward and uncomfortable for everypony else, especially for Lightning Dust, Flim and Flam decided to see what the deal with this mad doctor was. Afterall, they really didn’t have a clue as to why he was in the Rogue or why he was willing to stay.

“Say, uh, Doc, why are you here?” Flam asked, hoping to steer the Doctor’s attention away from the very disturbed Lightning Dust.

“Yeah, I don’t think you’ve ever told us why you’re doing all of this.” Flim added, backing his brother up.

“Yeah, Doc, care to tell us your riveting tale?” Lightning Dust asked, scooting away from Discorded Whooves.

“(Chuckle) I suppose I could tell you a bit about myself. I won’t tell you everything, only the parts that I consider to be the most important for you to understand who I am and why I am here. How does that sound for you?” Discorded Whooves asked.

Flim, Flam, and Lightning Dust all nodded in response, giving the Doctor the all clear to begin his story.

“(Evil Chuckle) It’s important for you all to know that in the world I came from, Discord hadn’t been reformed by Fluttershy. He remained his evil self and wreaked havoc throughout Equestria. Everypony did everything they could to stop him, but no pony was able to defeat Discord. I tried to stop him as well, but things didn’t go so well for me. Discord caught me off guard and warped my mind, allowing me to become who I am today. Sure, at first it seemed like a horrible thing, but I soon realized that Discord had opened my eyes to the truth. He helped see that no matter what we did, we would never win. Discord would always find a way to come out on top and bring our world closer to crumbling and shattering forever.” Discorded Whooves explained.

“So, Discord still hasn’t been stopped in your world?” Flim asked.

“No, to this day he is still tormenting my world. I tried to use one of my brilliant inventions to travel back in time to stop him, but no matter what I did, Discord was always one step ahead of me. It began to drive me mad, and he tormented me. As if that wasn’t bad enough, I also had a family to take care of; my two daughters, Amethyst Star and Dinky, and my wife, Derpy Hooves, who I loathe with every fiber of my being.” Discorded Whooves said, growling at the mention of Derpy’s name.

“You had a wife? Pfft, yeah, sure.” Lightning Dust said, baffled at the thought that this creep actually found a mare to settle down with.

“Why did you hate your wife?” Flam asked.

“Because she is a stupid, pathetic, klutz of a mare! Every time I would try to save my world, she’d always get in my way! She’d always say that my way was wrong and that it wouldn’t save us. Like she knew any better! She just wouldn’t leave me alone!” Discorded Whooves shouted, banging his hoof on the table. “All I wanted was to save my world from crumbling! If my world is destroyed, I will die and I will lose my two daughters! Even though they have been tainted by their mother’s genes, they are still my own flesh and blood!”

“So, how did you end up here in our world?” Flim asked, not really bothered or surprised that this Doctor was from a different universe.

“Our good friend, Professor Screw somehow managed to come to my world. He attacked me and everything went black. When I regained consciousness, I was in the body of a different Doctor Whooves. Professor Screw told me that much like my world, this world is also going to start crumbling. Now normally I wouldn’t care about a world that isn’t my own. However, the Professor told me that this is the primary dimension. If this world is destroyed, all reality will follow. Professor Screw promised me that if we can destroy this world but rebuild it again, we can stop the endless cycle of destruction and my world will be saved.” Discorded Whooves explained.

“Destroy the world and rebuild it again? That’s ridiculous.” Lightning Dust said.

“(Chuckle) Oh Lightning Dust, you have so little knowledge about the universe.” Discorded Whooves said.

Then, before anypony could say anything else, Professor Screw suddenly teleported into the room. Behind him, held in his magic, was the mechanical arms.

“Greetings all of you, I am pleased to see that you’re all here.” Professor Screw said.

“Literally no pony missed you.” Lightning Dust muttered under her breath.

“Give me back my arms, Professor! I’ve waited long enough!” Discorded Whooves said, his wings flaring out at the sight of his mechanical arms.

“Very well, the arms are yours.” Professor Screw said as he dropped them to the floor.

Without hesitation, Discorded Whooves flew over to the arms and secured the harness before locking the arms into place. With his mind reconnected to the arms, the bottom two arms lifted the Doctor into the air as he relished the joy of having these mechanical arms back in his possession.

“Yes… YES! (Evil Laugh) I trust that you’ve fixed the issue with these arms?” Discorded Whooves asked.

“For the most part, yes. However, you will need this.” Professor Screw said as he tossed the special remote to the Doctor, who caught it using one of the upper arms. “I installed an inhibitor chip on the arms to prevent them from taking control. However, they can still fight your commands so you will use this remote to discipline the arms should they ever try to take control.”

“(Growl) You mean these arms will still try to defy me! You old fool!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he grabbed Professor Screw with one of the upper arms. “I should have known! You can never do anything right, can you!?”

As Professor Screw was snatched up by the mechanical arm, he didn’t even try to fight it. It did hurt as the metal claws gripped his body tightly, but the Professor didn’t care as he knew it would be over soon. The Professor was right, as before Discorded Whooves could hurt him or try to kill him, Sombra emerged from the shadows. Seeing the Doctor once again attempting to hurt the Professor annoyed Sombra as he was fed up with these childish games.

“ENOUGH!” Sombra yelled, his powerful voice echoing throughout the room. “Doctor, put him down, now.”

Startled by Sombra’s sudden appearance, Discorded Whooves glared at the Professor before he reluctantly released him.

“Now, if you’re all done messing around, I would appreciate if I had your undivided attention.” Sombra said, looking at the rest of the Rogue.

“Of course, boss! My brother and I are all ears!” Flim said as the two brothers bowed to Sombra.

“Yeah, what they said.” Lightning Dust said as she nodded to Sombra.

“Good. Now, as I’m sure you’re all wondering where Iron Will is. Well, these is no need wonder anymore, because he’s right here.” Sombra said as he used his magic to teleport Iron Will from Professor Screw’s lab to the castle.

When Iron Will was teleported into the same room as everypony else, the Rogue were able to see the state Iron Will was in. He had multiple cuts along his body, and he looked as if he had beaten by a blunt object. He was once again wearing his gauntlets, but that wasn’t the first thing that everypony noticed. For one, Iron Will moving around like he was totally brain dead, and on his head, he was wearing a strange looking metal helmet.

“As you can all see, Iron Will has been fixed. No longer will he try to go against me. In fact, he can no longer think for himself. His brain has been damaged enough to where we can properly order him around without any issues. Professor Screw has fitted him with a special device that controls his mind. The Iron Will that you all knew before is gone.” Sombra explained, presenting Iron Will like he was some incredible achievement.

“Oh… g-gosh…” Lightning Dust said, completely shocked at what Sombra was implying.

“H-Hey, Iron Will? Big guy? Can you hear me?” Flim asked as he walked up to the minotaur.

Iron Will didn’t respond as he just made a strange groaning sound, with drool spilling out of his mouth. Flim and Flam shuddered at the realization of what had happened to Iron Will.

“(Evil Chuckle) Let this be a lesson to the rest of you. If you aren’t going to do your jobs, either I will kill you, or I will make you do your jobs. Do you all understand?” Sombra asked, taking a menacing step towards them.

“Yes sir! You’re not going to get any complaints from me!” Lightning Dust said as she saluted to Sombra.

“Like we told you, boss. The Flim Flam Brothers will always stick together, and we’ll always obey your commands!” Flim said as he also saluted to Sombra.

“Whatever you want us to do, we’ll do it, boss!” Flam added as he too saluted Sombra.

“Your wish is my command, master.” Discorded Whooves said as he nodded to Sombra.

“(Evil Chuckle) That is very good, because I have a new mission for you all.” Sombra said.

“Good! I’ve been aching to get back out there and get my hooves dirty.” Discorded Whooves said as he rubbed his hooves together.

“For your next mission, you’re all going to Manehattan.” Sombra said.

“Oh Manehattan!? Sweet! I’ve always wanted to go there!” Lightning Dust said, excited that not only would she get to see the big city, but she’d also get to cause some mayhem.

“Manehattan!? Why that’s the perfect place for us to be, brother!” Flim said to Flam.

“(Laughs) You got that right, brother!” Flam replied.

“(Chuckle) While I’m sure you’re all excited about your mission, you should know that this time, your goal is different. Unlike your previous mission, your task is not to kill everypony. If you want to kill any ponies, go ahead, I don’t care. However, this is your mission.” Sombra said as he used his magic to project an image of an earth pony above the table map of Equestria.

The earth pony mare that Sombra had projected above the table, was white with a two-tone almost cyan mane and tail. The mare wore a white-bordered lavender sailor collar with a red tie and a tri-shade hairclip in the back of her mane. Her cutie mark was a lavender hat with a scarlet feather. This was Coco Pommel, the pony that had befriended Rarity in Manehattan sometime before Tirek had made his grand return.

“This is no ordinary pony. This is a special friend of one of Twilight Sparkle’s friends, Rarity. She runs a boutique in Manehattan. You will find her and use her as a hostage. When Twilight Sparkle and her friends arrive to save the day, go crazy, do whatever you want. Your first two missions were meant to announce your presence to Equestria. Now, you will show everypony how much of a menace you can all be. You make your own calls but remember what your purpose is as the Rogue.” Sombra said.

“Yes, King Sombra.” The Rogue answered.

“(Chuckle) Good. The day after tomorrow you will go to Manehattan. Professor, unless you finish the previous task, I have given you, you will not go with the rest of the Rogue. Now, I have some things to attend to.” Sombra said as he sunk into the shadows.

“I shall be on my way as well. I must complete a job for his majesty. Behave yourselves now.” Professor Screw said as he teleported back to his lab.

Once Sombra and the Professor had left the castle, the rest of the Rogue looked at each other, mischievous grins plastered on their faces.

“Oh boy! This is going to be so much fun!” Lightning Dust said as she rubbed her hooves together.

“Yes, Manehattan will be our playground to do as we please.” Discorded Whooves said as he opened and closed the claws of the arms.

“You know, I think we could do more than just hold a simple hostage. I’ve heard that the bank in Manehattan is one of the biggest and most loaded banks in all of Equestria!” Flam said with a greedy grin.

“You’re not seriously thinking about robbing a bank, are you? We’re not petty thieves you know.” Lightning Dust said as she felt all of the excitement drain out of her.

“Well, the boss did say we’re supposed to be total menaces, didn’t he? Plus, are you really going to say no to some free bits?” Flim asked.

“Yeah, and once this whole thing is over, you could use some of those bits to start up a new group of fliers or something.” Flam added with a grin.

“Eh, you’re right. I’m not gonna turn down free money. Plus, if this can annoy those idiot ponies, I’m all in.” Lightning Dust said.

“You got that right, Lightning Dust!” Flim said as he gave her a grin before turning to Iron Will. “What about you, big guy? Are you in?”

“Iron Will crush everything! Iron Will cause destruction!” Iron Will replied as he flexed his muscles before returning back to his idle state.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Flim said as he stepped away from the minotaur.

“(Evil Chuckle) Look out, Manehattan, here we come…” Discorded Whooves said as the Rogue all laughed.

Elsewhere…

Sombra had emerged from the shadows, finding himself in a small cave close by his little castle. After making sure no pony else was around or near the area, Sombra took a deep breath and closed his eyes. After a few seconds, Sombra’s eyes opened wide, glowing their bright green color.

“Gather.” Sombra said as he entered the Void.

Once Sombra was in the Void, he waited patiently for the arrival of what he considered to be his three greatest assets. Seconds later, the shadowy translucent forms of Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow all appeared in the Void. Understandably, the terrible trio were shocked to be back in this strange place as they hadn’t been expecting it.

“What? This place again?” Chrysalis said as she looked around at the emptiness of the Void.

“We’re back in the Void! That means… (Gasp) Hey King Sombra! It’s so good to see you!” Cozy Glow said as she looked over to Sombra.

“Ugh! Can you shut up!? You make me want to rip my own ears off!” Tirek said as he groaned.

“How about you shut up, you big oaf!” Cozy Glow snapped as glared at Tirek.

“I have a suggestion, why don’t you both shut up!?” Chrysalis yelled before Sombra began to chuckle, getting the trio’s attention.

“(Chuckle) Glad to see that you three are getting along nicely.” Sombra said before he put on a serious face. “Have you retrieved Grogar’s bell yet?”

“(Nervous Giggle) Well, not yet b-but we’re almost at Mount Everhoof!” Cozy Glow said, hoping Sombra wouldn’t be upset.

“Hmph, well you’re all certainly taking your time with it.” Sombra said as he shrugged. “No matter, I am pleased that you’re at least making some progress.”

“Well did you summon us just to check on your progress? Or did you need something else?” Tirek asked, wanting to get this meeting over with.

“As a matter of fact, Tirek, there is something else.” Sombra said. “I have something very important to tell each of you. However, I think I will wait until you have retrieved Grogar’s bell.”

“Aww but King Sombra, can’t you just tell us now if it’s really important?” Cozy Glow asked.

“I could tell you now, but I won’t.” Sombra replied with a laugh. “Go, scale Mount Everhoof, bring me back Grogar’s bell, and then we’ll talk.”

“(Laughs) The ease of this task is laughable.” Chrysalis said as she grinned confidently at Sombra.

“(Evil Chuckle) I’m sure it is. Dismissed.” Sombra said as Tirek and Chrysalis disappeared from the Void.

“King Sombra? If we manage to bring the bell back, can I ask you for a favor?” Cozy Glow asked nervously while still trying to look brave.

“A favor? (Chuckle) Retrieve the bell, then come ask me again.” Sombra replied.

“Okay! I promise, we’ll get that bell!” Cozy Glow said with a huge grin on her face.

“Very good. Dismissed.” Sombra said as Cozy Glow disappeared from the Void.

Once he was left alone in the Void, Sombra chuckled to himself. He had complete faith in the terrible trio, and he would gladly wait for their return with Grogar’s bell.

Meanwhile, in a forest near the bottom of Mount Everhoof…

Once Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow had left the Void and were back in the real world, they all looked at each other, nodding before they continued their journey to Mount Everhoof.

“If King Sombra thinks that this job will prove to be difficult for us, he is greatly mistaken. We’ll get that bell, no problem.” Tirek said as they walked through the forest.

“Yeah! Let’s go get that bell!” Cozy Glow said as she did a loop in the air.

“Climb a mountain and retrieve a bell that once belonged to a powerful monster? This will be easy.” Chrysalis said as they continued their walk to Mount Everhoof.

After some time of walking, the terrible trio arrived at a clearing. From there, they were able to see Mount Everhoof. The mountain was tall and looked very intimidating from a distance. The terrible trio just stared at the big mountain, realizing that they might have just jinxed themselves with how easy this task would truly be.

“Well, it sounded easy…” Chrysalis said as the three continued to stare up at the mountain.

It was pretty clear to the terrible trio now that this task would be anything but easy…

Author's Note

Well that was an interesting chapter, wasn't it? Iron Will has been turned into a mindless thug and the Rogue have learned why each of them are staying in this group. The next chapter will focus on Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow! It's about time they got to shine in the spotlight! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and thanks for the support! Happy Hearts and Hooves Day!

Frenemies

Meanwhile, in a forest near the bottom of Mount Everhoof…

Once Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow had left the Void and were back in the real world, they all looked at each other, nodding before they continued their journey to Mount Everhoof.

“If King Sombra thinks that this job will prove to be difficult for us, he is greatly mistaken. We’ll get that bell, no problem.” Tirek said as they walked through the forest.

“Yeah! Let’s go get that bell!” Cozy Glow said as she did a loop in the air.

“Climb a mountain and retrieve a bell that once belonged to a powerful monster? This will be easy.” Chrysalis said as they continued their walk to Mount Everhoof.

“Well, it sounded easy…” Chrysalis said as the three continued to stare up at the mountain.

It was pretty clear to the terrible trio now that this task would be anything but easy…

“Scale the mountain.” Tirek said with his arms crossed.

“Retrieve Grogar’s bell.” Chrysalis added, looking up at the mountain.

“Together!” Cozy Glow said as she happily held out a piece of paper with some sketches on it. “I drew up a detailed plan with several visual aids to show how we can… ditch each other and do it alone…”

While Cozy Glow had been informing Tirek and Chrysalis about her detailed plans that she wrote out for them, the two villains decided to just get away from the little pegasus filly before she talked their ears off. As the pair left Cozy Glow behind, going their own separate ways, Cozy Glow was a bit sad at first, but she quickly regained her composure and grinned.

“Maybe when I’m waiting for them at the top, then they’ll appreciate me.” Cozy Glow said as she tossed her plans away, letting them get taken by the wind.

Despite the cold wind that blew through the forest the terrible trio had been walking in for some time now, it didn’t bother Cozy Glow that much. Being a pegasus, her body was naturally more used to the colder winds. Plus, it also helped that she was wearing a small lavender winter coat with a lavender winter hat, which she had borrowed from a family the terrible trio had come across a couple days earlier.

Chrysalis had decided that since she had wings, it would only make sense for her to try and fly up to the top of Mount Everhoof. This was easier said than done, however, as the winds were so cold and so strong, that Chrysalis found herself struggling to fly any further. After trying to overpower the force of the winds and failing, Chrysalis spotted a suitable place to land so she could at least get closer to the mountain on hoof.

“Perfect.” Chrysalis thought to herself as she flew down towards the ground.

As Chrysalis landed safely on the ground and began to walk through the forest, a bunch of eyes started to peer at her from the nearby bushes and trees, watching her intently. Suddenly, a large shadowy form started to approach Chrysalis from behind, a pair of glowing red eyes gazing at the back of her head. The creature had tried to sneak up on Chrysalis, but she had sensed the creature’s presence almost immediately. Just before the creature could attack, Chrysalis turned around fast and hissed at the large shadow, causing it and every other creature in the area to flee in terror. Chrysalis wasn’t sure what had just tried to sneak up on her, but she didn’t care as she was proud of herself for managing to strike fear in the creatures of this forest.

“Ha! As if anything on this mountain is scarier than I!” Chrysalis said, laughing with pride as she turned and continued her walk towards the mountain.

Meanwhile, Tirek had reached another clearing, giving him a good view of Mount Everhoof. As he looked at the mountain, Tirek quickly took notice of the strong winds that blew throughout the land. Looking down, Tirek saw a small patch of dirt next to a small stream. Tirek scooped a handful of dirt and then blew the dirt from his hand, hoping to get an idea of just how strong the winds were. Tirek ended up getting more than an idea, as the dirt seemingly bounced off of the wind and hit him in the face.

“(Cough) (Spit) Oh yuck!” Tirek yelled as he spit out the dirt that had gotten into his mouth. “Yeah, nope. There’s no way either of those two are going to make it to the top. I guess I’ll just wait here for them to return.”

Tirek then figured that since it was inevitable that Chrysalis and Cozy Glow would come back after failing to reach the top of Mount Everhoof, he could at least make the wait more comfortable for himself. The area he was in had a nice clearing with a big log on the side, as well as a tree stump next to it. Seeing this, Tirek decided to construct a little camp. The first thing on Tirek’s mind was crafting a nice chair that he could sit on while waiting for the others to return.

Looking around, Tirek found plenty of useful materials that he could use to build his chair. Tirek found a couple of good-sized logs and brought them back to his camp. Then, Tirek grabbed some branches from the nearby trees, followed by some bushes and a bundle of leaves. Tirek then found some vines hanging from a tree and figured that they would come in handy. Once Tirek had brought all of the stuff he had collected back to his camp, he nodded to himself and then thought about what else he would need for the camp.

Meanwhile, Cozy Glow was making her way up the mountain, following a path which seemingly led to the top. The wind was strong and very cold as it blew across the land. Cozy Glow was very glad she had her winter coat and hat, otherwise this journey would have been miserable to get through.

Along the way to the top, Cozy Glow came across a strange building. This struck Cozy Glow as odd since she didn’t think anypony would want to live in these harsh conditions. Not really sure what to make of it, Cozy Glow decided to walk closer to the house. As Cozy Glow neared the house, the front door opened, and a tall earth pony came out. The pony had a salmon-colored body with a white mane and tail. He wore a cape, which was actually just an old torn up blanket that had been sewed a few times. On his head, he wore a rusty bucket which had an opening carved out of it to make it more like a helmet. In his hoof, the stallion was holding a wooden staff. This was Rusty Bucket, the mountain guardian of Mount Everhoof.

“Halt! Who goes there!?” Rusty Bucket shouted as he saw Cozy Glow coming towards him. “A pony? There ain’t been ponies around here in I don’t know how many moons!”

At first, Cozy Glow was taken aback by the fact that this old stallion was actually living on Mount Everhoof, but then she got an idea. Perhaps this old fool could prove to be useful and maybe help Cozy Glow reach the top of the mountain. Cozy Glow smirked for only a second before she put on the most innocent and pitiful act she could muster, even going teary eyed.

“(Sniffle) Oh golly good sir. I’m just a poor lost pony looking for help.” Cozy Glow said as she sat down and put on a pouty face, as if she were an injured puppy.

“Aww, don’t fret little filly. Old Rusty Bucket here at your service.” Rusty Bucket said he gave Cozy Glow a polite bow.

“I’m so glad I found you! I need help reaching the top of the mountain.” Cozy Glow said, beaming with joy.

“Ehh… No can do, ma’am.” Rusty Bucket said, shaking his head while holding a hoof up.

The moment Rusty Bucket had said this, Cozy Glow immediately dropped the innocent act. Her cute puppy face vanished, only to be replaced by a look of frustration and rage.

“WHY NOT!?” Cozy Glow screamed, already tired of this old pony.

As Cozy Glow screamed, the whole area shook due to the volume of her voice. Terrified that the little filly would cause an avalanche or a rockslide, Rusty Bucket quickly shushed her.

“Shh! Not so loud. This is avalanche territory.” Rusty Bucket said, gesturing to the mountainsides covered in snow. “I’m the guardian of this here, mountain. It’s my job to keep ponies from heading up. Nothing at the top but dangerous snow, dangerous ice, and dangerous wind. Basically, it’s dangerous.”

Cozy Glow wanted nothing more than to just keep shouting at this old sack of dirt, however since she wasn’t interested in being buried by an avalanche, she decided to try and work something out with the stallion.

“It must get lonely all by yourself. Maybe I can be your… friend?” Cozy Glow offered with another innocent smile.

“Oh, I’d love a friend.” Rusty Bucket said, touched by the cuteness of the filly.

“So now that we are friends, you can help me up the mountain.” Cozy Glow said.

“Hmm… a real friend wouldn’t ask me to do something I’m not supposed to do.” Rusty Bucket said as he pulled out a book and read it. “Says right here in the Journal of Friendship; written by Twilight Sparkle and her friends.”

If Cozy Glow wasn’t angry before, she definitely was now. Not only was this old pony not going to take her up to the top of Mount Everhoof, but somehow, he had even gotten a copy of that stupid Friendship Journal, even though he was basically a hermit. Cozy Glow could feel her rage bubbling up inside her, ready to boil over and she let it all out.

“Are. You. KIDDING MEEE!?” Cozy Glow screamed as she hovered in the air, her wings flapping furiously.

Cozy Glow’s screams were so loud that they echoed throughout the entire land. The entire mountain, as well as the surrounding land, shook in response to her sudden outburst. The filly’s screams could be heard from miles and miles away. It even scared some birds out of the trees in the nearby forest.

Rusty Bucket quickly shushed Cozy Glow again as he pointed in the direction back down the mountain. Not wanting to waste anymore of her time with this old pony, Cozy Glow decided to just turn around and leave. As Cozy Glow started to walk away, she turned back around to look at Rusty Bucket.

“I didn’t want to be friends anyway.” Cozy Glow said as she let out a huff before turning back around to continue walking away, leaving Rusty Bucket upset that he had lost his friend.

While Cozy Glow had been dealing with Rusty Bucket, Chrysalis was continuing to walk towards Mount Everhoof. By now, she had left that patch of forest behind and had started making her way through some snow-covered grounds. The cold didn’t really bother Chrysalis as she was more focused on reaching the top of Mount Everhoof. Along the way, Chrysalis did come across some more animals and creatures, but they wouldn’t dare approach her as the Changeling Queen had proven herself to be very intimidating.

Eventually, Chrysalis approached a lake that had been completely frozen over with ice. Chrysalis didn’t pay any attention to this as she just walked onto the ice. After taking only a couple steps, Chrysalis’s hooves started to slip and skid on the ice. When Chrysalis managed to catch her balance and keep herself steady, she thought of how she could safely cross this frozen lake. Sure, she could always just fly over it, but that would only result in the wind knocking her down. An idea popped into Chrysalis’s head as she grinned.

Chrysalis hovered a couple inches off the ground before using her powers to morph into a cragadile, crashing through the ice and into the water. Since the bodies of cragadiles were made of mostly solid rock and strong armor, Chrysalis was able to swim through the freezing water without any trouble. Once she had reached the end of the lake, Chrysalis burst out of the ice and walked onto shore. Looking up at the huge pile of boulders before her, Chrysalis knew that a cragadile wouldn’t be able to climb these rocks. With that in mind, Chrysalis then morphed into a mountain goat. Using the maneuverability and abilities of the mountain goat, Chrysalis was able to scale the boulders, making it to the top. Once she was past the boulders, Chrysalis morphed back into her changeling form, looking ahead at Mount Everhoof.

“Almost there.” Chrysalis said as she continued making her way to the mountain.

Meanwhile, shortly after Cozy Glow had walked away from Rusty Bucket, she ended up deciding that if he wasn’t going to help her get to the top of Mount Everhoof, she would go there on her own.

“Listen here! If you’re not going to show me how to get to the top of Mount Everhoof, then I’ll find a way myself!” Cozy Glow said as she pointed aggressively at Rusty Bucket.

“Well, go ahead then. Suit yourself.” Rusty Bucket said as he just stood and waited to see what Cozy Glow would try to do.

With that, Cozy Glow decided to fly over Rusty Bucket’s house and fly up to the summit of the mountain. However, before Cozy Glow could even make it past the stone chimney of the house, the strong winds knocked her out of the air, causing her to get thrown onto the ground, landing face first in a small pile of snow. Rusty Bucket just shook his head.

Next, Cozy Glow tried to go around Rusty Bucket’s house by climbing up a little snow hill. However, before Cozy Glow could even make it to the top of the tiny hill, she ended up falling into the snow and sliding all the way back down until she stopped right in front of Rusty Bucket.

“Nope, not that way neither.” Rusty Bucket said while Cozy Glow just gave him the side eye.

Next, Cozy Glow tried to sneak past Rusty Bucket by going around the other side of his house. Rusty Bucket already knew what she was doing but he didn’t care because he knew it wouldn’t work anyway. As Cozy Glow was creeping along the side of the house, Rusty Bucket stretched, his staff accidentally hitting the wall and causing a large pile of snow to land on top of Cozy Glow. Having had enough of being covered in snow, Cozy Glow’s face became so hot and red that she actually melted the snow she was in with her pure rage.

Cold and angry, Cozy Glow flew back around the house and landed in front of Rusty Bucket. She had had enough of this nonsense, and she was going to make sure he knew it.

“I TRIED BEING NICE!” Cozy Glow shouted, causing the whole area to shake once again.

“Shh, shh, shh, just calm down there, filly.” Rusty Bucket said, trying to prevent an avalanche from happening.

“You calm down!” Cozy Glow snapped, pointing a hoof at Rusty Bucket. “Ponies are supposed to do what I ask them to do! It’s like my thing, okay!?”

By now, the mountains had also had just about enough of Cozy Glow’s outbursts and screams. So, after Cozy Glow’s fit of rage, the mountain started to shake. Cozy Glow and Rusty Bucket looked up and saw that a large snowball was starting to roll down the mountain, coming straight towards them. Before anypony could do anything else, the giant snowball crashed right on top of Cozy Glow before rolling her back down the mountain. Rusty Bucket just watched as the rude filly was carried away by the snowball and then just shrugged as he went backside to warm himself up by the fire.

By now, Chrysalis had reached the top of another hill. At the top, she was able to see that Mount Everhoof was close enough to where she could fly across and reach it.

“Hmph, apparently I don’t need anypony else.” Chrysalis said to herself as she morphed into a large hawk.

Chrysalis then took off into the air and flew towards the mountain. As Chrysalis neared the mountain, the winds began to pick up and tried to push her back. Chrysalis fought as hard as she could to battle against the strong winds. After struggling for a bit, Chrysalis was so close to the mountain that her claws were practically scraping the snow on the mountainside. However, despite Chrysalis’s efforts, the wind was just too strong, and it pushed her all the way back to where she had initially taken off from. Chrysalis ended up getting slammed against a rock so hard that the impact forced her to change back to her changeling form.

Chrysalis let out a painful moan as she stood back up before kicking at some loose snow on the floor out of frustration.

“UGH! Stupid wind! I’m done!” Chrysalis hissed as she turned around and started to make her way back to where she had split off from the other two losers.

Sometime later…

For some time now, Tirek had already finished setting up camp and had even started a nice little campfire. By now, dusk had arrived, and the night would soon take over. Tirek had just returned back to camp with a couple of logs to keep the campfire burning. Just as he threw the logs into the fire, Tirek heard the sound of bushes rustling close by. Tirek kept his eyes on the bushes, getting ready in case a creature was about to jump out and attack him. The only ‘creature’ that ended up coming out of the bushes, was a drenched, freezing, and angry looking Cozy Glow. The moment Tirek laid his eyes on the miserable looking filly, he burst into laughter.

“(Growl) It’s not funny, Tirek!” Cozy Glow yelled as Tirek continued to laugh at her.

“Didn’t make it to the top?” Tirek asked in a mocking tone. “Surprise, surprise.”

“You didn’t make it to the top either.” Cozy Glow said with a smug look on her face.

“I didn’t try to.” Tirek replied.

“What!?” Cozy Glow cried, baffled at Tirek’s response.

“It took about five minutes to deduce that Sombra was right. This wasn’t going to be easy for any of us. So rather than subject myself to the elements, I decided to let you two face the danger, take what you learned, and use it to my advantage.” Tirek said, sitting down on the chair he had built while letting out another laugh.

“Hey! It’s King Sombra! Also, I put up with your ‘I’m smarter than you’ attitude in Tartarus, but I’m over it!” Cozy Glow snapped as she flew up to eye-level with Tirek.

“Oh yeah? Well, I’ve had enough of you trying to manipulate me with that ‘insincere syrupy sweetness’ of yours.” Tirek said while crossing his arms and looking at Cozy Glow with a smirk. “At least now we can see the real you.”

“This is not the real me! I’m cute and lovable!” Cozy Glow screamed as she gritted her teeth and glared daggers at Tirek.

“Pfft, no you’re not.” Tirek scoffed.

While the pair continued to argue, they were unaware that a male Ophiotaurus had been attracted to the area due to the sounds of Tirek and Cozy Glow’s arguing and was coming towards them from the tree line behind them.

“You think you’re cute and loveable? Oh please! You’re annoying and you snore.” Tirek said with a grin.

“I do not snore!” Cozy Glow shouted.

In response to this denial, Tirek laid his head on his crossed arms, pretending to be asleep and fake snoring, pointing at Cozy Glow as if he was showing her how she looked whenever she was asleep.

“Hmph! At least I don’t talk to my gram-gram in my sleep.” Cozy Glow said with a smug look on her face.

“Don’t you dare bring gram-gram into this!” Tirek shouted as he rushed over to Cozy Glow, pointing at her aggressively.

Just then, the Ophiotaurus that had been stalking them popped out and let out a mighty roar while waving its hooves around. After being initially surprised by the sudden arrival of this beast, Tirek and Cozy Glow instantly went back to hating each other.

“This is your fault!” Tirek and Cozy Glow shouted as they pointed at each other.

The Ophiotaurus let out another roar as it started to slowly slither closer to the two villains. As Tirek and Cozy Glow backed away from the beast, they heard the sound of another creature come from behind them. The two villains turned around and saw a female Ophiotaurus slither out into view. The female Ophiotaurus let out a low roar, which got the male Ophiotaurus’s attention. With the male now looking at her, the female batted her eyes at him in a flirtatious fashion. In response to this, the male immediately fell in love, with his eyes suddenly having large hearts in them. As the male Ophiotaurus slithered towards the female Ophiotaurus, with hearts coming out of his body, Cozy Glow knew this was their chance to get away.

“Quick, it’s distracted, let’s go!” Cozy Glow said, pointing Tirek in the direction they needed to go to get away from these beasts.

“Wait.” Tirek said, gesturing for Cozy Glow to stay put.

For some reason, Tirek had a strange feeling that this female Ophiotaurus showing up just in time to save him and Cozy Glow, just to supposedly find a mate, was too farfetched. This gut feeling ended up being right as the female Ophiotaurus suddenly roared at the male Ophiotaurus before morphing into Chrysalis, who had been in disguise the entire time. With the male Ophiotaurus being infatuated and filled with love, Chrysalis used her power to drain all of the love out of him, slurping it down like it was spaghetti. With love and energy drained from his body, the male Ophiotaurus fell to the floor, severely weakened.

“Mmm, so much love! I haven’t eaten this well in ages!” Chrysalis said as she flicked her forked tongue out.

“Ugh, that is so gross.” Cozy Glow said as she gagged a bit.

Once Chrysalis had finished enjoying the feeling of her hunger being temporarily satisfied, she turned to Tirek and Cozy Glow and gave them a mean look.

“Just so we’re clear, I didn’t save you because I like you. I did it because… because I…” Chrysalis said, struggling to finish that dreadful sentence.

“Need us?” Cozy Glow asked with a big smile on her face.

“(Snarl) Yes.” Chrysalis replied, upset that this was indeed true.

“Clearly, I was right to wait. Now tell me everything you learned today. Leave nothing out!” Tirek demanded.

With that, Cozy Glow and Chrysalis proceeded to tell Tirek everything they had encountered and learned about the obstacles and challenges waiting for them at Mount Everhoof. Chrysalis talked about the treacherous winds and weather conditions. Cozy Glow told them about her encounter with Rusty Bucket as well as the dangers of causing avalanches. After hearing about what Chrysalis and Cozy Glow had learned, Tirek wasn’t entirely sure what to make of it. The terrible trio knew that they would have just sit there and try to come up with a strategy to reach the top of Mount Everhoof.

A short while after the terrible trio had reunited at Tirek’s camp, they were now just sitting around the campfire. Well, most of them were at least. Tirek and Cozy Glow were by the fire, with Cozy Glow roasting a marshmallow. Chrysalis on the other hoof, had sealed the Ophiotaurus in a cocoon and was now crawling around the cocoon like a spider.

As Cozy Glow was roasting her marshmallow, she caught a glimpse of Chrysalis crawling around like a spider.

“Why are you doing that?” Cozy Glow asked, getting the changeling queen’s attention. “Didn’t you already drain it of love?”

“I always save a little for the next day.” Chrysalis replied as she flew back down, joining the others by the fire.

“You cocoon all of your… meals?” Cozy Glow asked, not really sure what else to call Chrysalis’s victims.

“Of course.” Chrysalis replied with a nod.

“So, when you pony napped Twilight and the others, you cocooned them?” Cozy Glow asked.

“Yes, until that foul Starlight Glimmer freed them, corrupted my subjects, and stole my hive!” Chrysalis said, gritting her teeth as she remembered what Starlight had done to her.

“Those ponies have weaknesses.” Tirek said, getting their attention. “I used that turncoat Discord; tricked him into helping me capture his so-called friends.”

“(Sigh) Discord was really something until friendship ruined him.” Chrysalis said.

“Yeah, he really was. At least from what I’ve heard about him.” Cozy Glow said as she ate her marshmallow. “Though, I’m sure of he was on our side, he’d just try to trick us into working for him instead of with him.”

“(Laughs) You should have seen Twilight’s face when her friends appeared in bubbles around me! She was all ‘Oh no! Oh, woe is me! Oh, please release my friends!’” Tirek said as he pretended to act like a terrified Twilight Sparkle while Chrysalis and Cozy Glow laughed.

“She’s so stressed out all the time!” Cozy Glow said as she laughed.

“When I posed as her now sister-in-law, Cadance, I thought she was going to implode!” Chrysalis said while Tirek and Cozy Glow laughed.

“I wish I could have seen her face when I nearly erased all the magic from Equestria.” Cozy Glow said as she thought about what kind of stupid face Twilight would put on.

“All magic was a little excessive, don’t you think?” Tirek asked, remembering how insane Cozy Glow’s big plan was.

“Meh, I think big.” Cozy Glow replied with a shrug. “Besides, it would have been worth it just to see Twilight and her friends bow down to me!” Cozy Glow said with a wide evil grin.

“Indeed, it would.” Tirek said as he tapped his fingers together. “Who wouldn’t love to see those prissy ponies realize they lost everything?”

An idea suddenly popped up in Chrysalis’s head as she then morphed into Twilight, speaking in a very deep non-Twilight like tone.

“I’m a pathetic pony princess! I made a detailed list of all the ways I’m a failure!” Chrysalis said, morphing back to her regular form while Tirek and Cozy Glow laughed.

“You know, working with you two may not be the worst thing.” Tirek said with a considerate shrug.

“Perhaps… as long as it’ll result in the complete destruction of our enemies.” Chrysalis said with a wicked grin.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Cozy Glow said with a dreamy look before turning back to Chrysalis. “Do the pathetic princess thing!”

In response to Cozy Glow’s request, Chrysalis happily morphed back into Twilight and began to put on a show for the other villains. Tirek and Cozy Glow laughed for the entire performance until Chrysalis was finally finished, and she joined in on the laughter. Perhaps this team up wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all…

After the terrible trio continued to make more jokes about the ponies, they eventually settled down and decided to just have some light conversations until they would decide to turn in for the night.

“Well since we’ve all agreed to work together on our mission, it would be smart to come up with a plan on how we’re going to get to the top of Mount Everhoof.” Tirek said.

“Yes, that would be most wise.” Chrysalis agreed.

“Yeah! Then once we have Grogar’s bell, we can bring it back to King Sombra and he’ll be so proud of us!” Cozy Glow said with a flap of her wings.

This caused Tirek and Chrysalis to turn and look at each other. Ever since Sombra had tasked them with retrieving Grogar’s bell, Cozy Glow had been acting like a suck up to Sombra, wanting to make him proud and being completely loyal to him. Tirek and Chrysalis weren’t sure where this sudden change of attitude came from, but they were quite curious to find out why the filly seemed to idolize Sombra so much.

“Cozy Glow, is it?” Chrysalis asked, looking at the filly.

“Yep, that’s me. What’s up?” Cozy Glow asked.

“Why are you so eager to please Sombra? As I recall, you didn’t care for him when we met him.” Chrysalis said.

For only a single moment, Cozy Glow had a look of worry on her face. She didn’t want to tell Tirek and Chrysalis the reason why she had fully devoted herself to being eternally loyal to Sombra. Cozy Glow quickly scoffed as if she had just been asked if she knew how to breathe.

“Well, duh, obviously because King Sombra is like super powerful and super smart.” Cozy Glow said, rolling her eyes a bit. “You heard his plan, he’s clearly smarter than all of us combined.”

“Yes, yes, Sombra is smart and powerful. But that still doesn’t explain why you’ve been acting so differently around him.” Tirek said.

“Gee, maybe I’m just trying to show my appreciation for the deal he offered us in that contract we all signed.” Cozy Glow said, scowling at Tirek.

“We all appreciate what Sombra’s contract will mean for all of us. But you don’t see us acting like a bunch of suck ups to him.” Chrysalis said, gesturing to herself and Tirek.

“I’m not acting like a suck up! Just drop it already, will you!?” Cozy Glow said as she crossed her arms.

“Come on, I’ve known you long enough to know that you’re hiding something.” Tirek said as he grinned, narrowing his eyes at the filly. “Why don’t you just drop the act and spill it already?”

“Why don’t you just shut up.” Cozy Glow said, growing more and more angry with these two villains.

“Child, if we are going to work together and one day rule over Equestria as equals, we should not be hiding any secrets from each other.” Chrysalis said as she also narrowed her eyes at Cozy Glow.

“I said, shut up.” Cozy Glow said, her rage about ready to burst.

“Not until you stop hiding whatever it is your hiding from us.” Chrysalis said.

“Spill it, Cozy. We’re waiting.” Tirek said.

Cozy Glow had had enough of this. She unleashed all of her anger as she exploded in a fit of rage.

“(Growl) FINE! IF YOU WANT TO KNOW SO BADLY, KING SOMBRA IS EVERYTHING TO ME! HE’S LIKE A FATHER TO ME! I WANT NOTHING BUT TO MAKE HIM PROUD! HE BELIEVES IN ME LIKE NO PONY ELSE EVER HAS!” Cozy Glow screamed; her eyes filled with pure rage.

This sudden outburst stunned Tirek and Chrysalis. They figured that Cozy Glow would have snapped, but they hadn’t been expecting her to say the things she had just said. Sombra was everything to her, and he was like a father to her? How could this be so? It just didn’t make any sense.

“And before you ask, what about my parents, MY PARENTS DIDN’T WANT ME! MY FATHER ALWAYS FOUND A REASON TO HIT ME AND MAKE ME FEEL LIKE GARBAGE! MY MOTHER DIDN’T CARE WHAT HAPPENED TO ME!” Cozy Glow screamed.

Tears actually started to fall from Cozy Glow’s eyes as she thought about her childhood. Cozy Glow’s father was an abusive stallion, who usually had a bottle of alcohol close with him whenever he wasn’t beating his daughter. Cozy Glow remembered every beating her father ever gave her, as well as his various reasons for doing so. From being a few minutes late back from school, not eating her dinner quick enough, talking too much, not learning to fly fast enough, to making the simplest of mistakes.

As for Cozy Glow’s mother, while she never hurt Cozy Glow, she never did anything to stop her father from beating her. There were even times where she would just stand there and watch as Cozy Glow was beaten for little to no reason. The only times when Cozy Glow’s mother would actually show any love to her, was when she would wipe up the blood and tend to the bruises Cozy Glow would sustain from her father’s beatings. Other than that, Cozy Glow’s mother barely even acknowledged Cozy Glow’s existence.

“Do you know what it’s like to be told that you were an accident!? THAT YOU WERE NEVER WANTED OR EVER LOVED!?” Cozy Glow asked.

Tirek and Chrysalis were speechless. They now understood how Cozy Glow had become such a nasty little filly. With a childhood like that, it was easy to see where Cozy Glow got her rage from. Despite the fact that they were evil, Tirek and Chrysalis actually found themselves feeling pity for the filly.

“KING SOMBRA HAS SHOWN ME MORE CARE THAN MY PARENTS EVER DID! THERE! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW!?” Cozy Glow screamed as she glared at the two villains.

Tirek was still at a loss for words, but Chrysalis had forced herself to try and say something.

“Child, I… I’m so-.”

“NO! Don’t you dare, Chrysalis! You have no right to say anything to me! You’ve never had to deal with anything painful! You were handed your role as queen!” Cozy Glow shouted.

When Chrysalis heard this, she lost all sympathy for Cozy Glow as she let out a long hiss, baring her teeth at the filly.

“(Hiss) How dare you! You know nothing about how changelings live!” Chrysalis shouted as she flared her wings. “Do you know what I had to do to get my title as queen!? I HAD TO KILL MY SISTERS AND MY MOTHER!”

Cozy Glow’s rage immediately vanished, and she was shocked by what she had just heard. Tirek nearly fell out of his chair when he heard Chrysalis’s statement. Now it was their turn to listen to Chrysalis’s outburst.

“Changelings do not simply pass down the title of queen! It has to be earned!” Chrysalis yelled as she explained the process.

For many moons now, the queens of the changelings would always be a member of royalty, whether it was a sister or a daughter of the current queen. Whenever the current queen decided to pass her title to another, she would host a large and sacred tradition. This tradition would involve the queen’s daughters or sisters gathering together and fighting to the death. Whoever was left still alive would have one final challenge to face before they would become queen. They would have to kill the current queen and only then would they be crowned as the new queen of the hive.

These rituals would always happen at different times, no one knew about what would happen during, and there was no backing down. If any changeling attempted to get out of the ritual or refused to fight, they would be killed. These rituals were very sacred to the changelings, and it was forbidden to speak of what occurred during these rituals until the day it happened. When Thorax had become the new leader of the changelings, he made sure that every changeling kept their mouths shut about these rituals, as he wanted to find new, more moral ways of electing a new leader.

Chrysalis still remembered when she was forced to partake in this sacred ritual. She wasn’t a child anymore, but she wasn’t fully grown yet either. The hive had been discovered by the griffons and they had launched an attack on the changelings. While the griffons did end up losing the battle and retreating, they had caused a lot of damage to the hive. Many changelings had been killed and Queen Fang, Chrysalis’s mother, had been severely injured, having her horn sliced off as well as one of her eyes being gouged out.

*Flashback: many years earlier*

Back then, I cared greatly for my mother and my sisters. I would have done anything to protect them. When we finally managed to force the griffons to retreat, we were all worried about the wellbeing of our queen. Due to the injuries, she had sustained during the battle, my mother called me and my sisters to her throne.

After Chrysalis and her sisters arrived in the throne room, they were greeted by a very odd sight. The entire hive had gathered around the throne and were just sitting, like they were waiting for something to happen. On the throne, Queen Fang sat in clear visible pain, blood still oozed from her wounds, despite being treated by their medical changelings. As Queen Fang’s eyes landed on her daughters, she gave them a small smile before turning completely serious.

“Daughters, we may have claimed victory over the attack by the griffons, but the cost was great. We have lost many of our loyal changelings and I have been greatly wounded. I fear that I am no longer fit to be queen, therefore, it is time for one of you to become the next queen of the hive.” Queen Fang said.

Keep in mind that neither I nor any of my sisters knew what had to happen in order for one of us to become the next queen. We all assumed that one of us would simply be chosen by our mother.

“Which of us shall become queen, mother?” Chrysalis asked.

In response to my question, mother called over a pair of changeling drones. They flew over to us and placed a variety of weapons before us. They didn’t say anything or even look at us. Once we had been given the weapons, they rejoined the rest of the crowd. That is when mother said:

“In order to decide who among you shall become the next queen, you must all fight to the death. Whoever manages to kill the others, shall be crowned as the new queen of the hive.” Queen Fang said.

As soon as Queen Fang said this, Chrysalis and her sisters froze in shock. Once they realized what their mother had just said to them, they all looked at each other with horrified looks on their faces. They had all grown up together and looked after each other as much as every sister would. They had sworn to protect each other and ensure that they all strived to defend their kingdom no matter what. All of this, just so they could kill each other so that one of them could have the chance to become queen.

“M-Mother… it can’t be so…” Chrysalis said, hoping that her mother was pulling a sick joke.

Following Chrysalis’s lead, the rest of her sisters also began to question their mother, asking if this was really the only way to become queen.

“Silence! In this ritual, I am not your mother, I am your queen! As your queen, I order you, fight to the death! Show me who among you is worthy to become queen!” Queen Fang barked.

As if a switch had been flipped, all of Chrysalis’s sisters picked up whatever weapon they could get their hooves on and started to slaughter each other. Chrysalis’s youngest sister was killed almost immediately as a spear was jabbed right through her chest. Eventually, after seeing that her sisters no longer cared about each other, Chrysalis picked up a spear of her own and began to defend herself against her sisters.

Eventually, it came down to just Chrysalis and her oldest sister, Paralysis, being the only two left standing. Chrysalis hadn’t killed any of her sisters during the entire fight, instead she had merely defended herself while the others just killed each other with no remorse. Now, Chrysalis knew she only had two options, kill her sister, or die. Paralysis wasted no time as she lunged towards Chrysalis, attempting to stab her with the spear she was given. Chrysalis had tried to talk her sister down, but it was clear that Paralysis had no intention of acting like family anymore. After a short scuffle, Chrysalis ended up winning the fight when she accidentally stabbed Paralysis in the throat, causing her to bleed out in seconds.

After Paralysis had died, Chrysalis was left standing there, forced to look at the corpses of her beloved sisters. She did it, she had won. The slaughter was over, or so she thought…

“Congratulations, Chrysalis. You are the last one standing and have proven yourself worthy. However, there is one more test that lies before you before you can become queen.” Queen Fang said.

“Wh-What do I have to do?” Chrysalis asked, worried at what the queen’s answer might be.

“In order for you to become queen, you must slay me.” Queen Fang said.

“Wh-What?” was all Chrysalis could manage to say.

“Strike me down and the crown will be yours.” Queen Fang added.

This couldn’t be happening. Chrysalis adored her mother and had always looked up to her since she could remember. All her life, all Chrysalis ever wanted to do was to be just like her mother and make her proud. Now, she had to… kill her mother…

“M-Mother… I… I can’t…” Chrysalis said, feeling her legs shake.

“You must, Chrysalis. It is your destiny.” Queen Fang said as she stood up from her throne.

“No! No, I won’t! You’re my mother! You raised me! All I ever wanted was to serve you and be loyal to you!” Chrysalis cried as she felt tears begin to build up.

“If you will not fight me, then you will die.” Queen Fang said as she suddenly hissed at Chrysalis.

Queen Fang then lunged out of her throne and towards Chrysalis, ready to sink her fangs into her neck. Chrysalis didn’t want to kill her mother, but she didn’t want to be killed by her mother either. Chrysalis decided that if she could just wear her mother down a bit, she could talk some sense into her. So, Chrysalis charged towards her mother with her spear ready to protect herself. However, before Chrysalis could do anything else, Queen Fang suddenly exposed her underside and impaled herself onto Chrysalis’s spear.

Blood splattered all over Chrysalis’s face as she watched her mother allow herself to be stabbed. Chrysalis immediately dropped the spear and attempted to pull it out from her mother’s stomach.

“Mother! No! No! No! NO!” Chrysalis screamed as she tried to stop the bleeding.

“Chrysalis… remember, changelings are strong, we will never be conquered, Equestria will belong to the changelings one day…” Queen Fang said as she coughed up blood.

Queen Fang then placed a hoof on Chrysalis’s face, giving her a small smile. Chrysalis could have even sworn that a tear had fallen from her mother’s eye.

“I am so proud of you… long live Queen Chrysalis…” Queen Fang said as she breathed her last breath before succumbing to her wounds and died in Chrysalis’s arms.

“Mother…” Chrysalis said.

Then, before Chrysalis could mourn the death of her mother, Queen Fang’s crown disappeared from her head and reappeared on Chrysalis’s head. Chrysalis reached up to touch the crown and as soon as she did, the crown glowed. Suddenly thorny vines shot out of the ground from underneath Chrysalis and started to wrap around her entire body. Chrysalis tried to free herself from the vines, but they were too strong. Soon, Chrysalis had been completely cocooned by the vines. From within the cocoon, the other changelings could hear the sounds of Chrysalis’s screams as she started undergoing the final step in this sacred ritual, metamorphosis.

As Chrysalis’s body was contorting and changing inside the cocoon, the surrounding changelings began to chant her name, over and over again. The cocoon then glowed a bright green color as it started to crack. Once the cocoon had cracked enough, it exploded with a burst of light. When the dust cleared, Chrysalis emerged in her new form. Her legs had grown longer, her wings had grown bigger and stronger, and she grew out the signature horn that every changeling queen had. Once Chrysalis had fully emerged from the cocoon, she let out a scream mixed with a roar.

When Chrysalis was done with her cry, she looked out at the surrounding changelings, who were all looking up at her with admiration. A single changeling drone stepped forward and raised his hoof up at her.

“All hail Chrysalis! Queen of the hive!” the changeling drone said as he bowed down to her.

“All hail Queen Chrysalis!” the other changelings said as they also bowed to her.

As Chrysalis looked at the sight of all the changelings bowing down to her, she looked back at the corpse of her mother. Something changed in that moment inside of Chrysalis. Chrysalis’s mournful face was soon replaced by a look of pure bliss and satisfaction. Chrysalis then flew up into the air and laughed.

“(Evil Laugh) Yes! YES!! LONG LIVE, QUEEN CHRYSALIS!” Chrysalis shouted as she laughed and laughed as a final tear streamed down her face.

*End Flashback*

“So, you see child, I was not simply handed my role as queen, I fought hard for it, and I earned it!” Chrysalis said as she glared at Cozy Glow.

“At least your mom actually cared about you!” Cozy Glow said as she glared back at the changeling.

“Well now I can see how you two became so deranged.” Tirek said, trying to lighten up the mood a bit and failing miserably.

The terrible trio sat in silence for a few minutes until Chrysalis and Cozy Glow managed to calm down. Tirek and Chrysalis noticed that Cozy Glow was trying very hard not to break down and cry. It was clear that talking about her parents had reopened a deep wound.

“Child… Cozy Glow.” Chrysalis said as she walked over and sat next to Cozy Glow.

“What do you want, Chrysalis?” Cozy Glow asked, wiping away the tears in her eyes.

“As I was saying earlier… I am sorry about your upbringing.” Chrysalis said, actually sounding sorry for the filly.

“You… You really mean it?” Cozy Glow asked, curiously looking up at the queen.

“Yes, I do.” Chrysalis replied with a firm nod. “I may be a wicked queen, but even I am disgusted with what your family put you through. I never even treated my subjects so harshly unless they truly deserved it.”

“Well… thank you…” Cozy Glow said as she looked down at the ground. “I’m also sorry that you had to… kill your family.”

“Please, there is no need to feel any sorrow for me. It was my duty in order to become queen.” Chrysalis said as Tirek cleared his throat.

“(Ahem) You know, it seems like we all have something in common, aside from us being evil of course.” Tirek said, getting the attention of the other two.

“And what would that be?” Chrysalis asked, raising an eyebrow at the centaur.

“You could say that the main reason the three of us are here right now, is because of our families.” Tirek said.

“(Scoffs) Like you had it any worse than me or Chrysalis.” Cozy Glow said as she shot Tirek a look.

“I never said I did. But unlike you two, my family betrayed me and got rid of me!” Tirek shouted.

Before Cozy Glow could make another wise remark, she then realized something. Despite the partnership she had with Tirek back when she had tried to erase all of the magic from Equestria, she never actually knew anything about Tirek’s story or why he was so obsessed with pony magic, or even how his family supposedly betrayed him. All she knew was that he and his brother Scorpan showed up to Equestria one day and then one thing led to another which resulted in Scorpan having Tirek defeated by Celestia and Luna. Cozy Glow had to admit, she was quite curious about how Tirek came to be.

“Tirek… what’s your deal? How did you end up becoming this big bad strong pony magic obsessed hothead?” Cozy Glow asked.

“Well, since we’re all sharing a bit about ourselves, I guess it’s only fair that I share my story as well.” Tirek said as he adjusted his seating position. “Alright you two, listen up.”

*Flashback: many years earlier*

A long, long time ago I was the prince of my homeland along with my pathetic little brother, Scorpan. My father and my mother, King Vorak and Queen Haydon, ruled over our land and kept our kingdom strong. We were all born with the ability to use magic, but like every other creature, we had to be taught how to use it. My brother and I were taught by Sendak the Elder, an old centaur who was very skilled with his power. From the day I first met him, I became fascinated by Sendak’s teachings, and I wanted to learn everything I could from him. Of course, my weak-minded little brother didn’t like Sendak and thought he was bad news. Originally, Sendak would hold his lessons within our kingdom walls, but he eventually moved out to the Nether Lands. Father didn’t like this change, but he never liked Sendak either, so I didn’t care.

One day, Tirek was making his way towards the Nether Lands to Sendak’s teaching grounds. He had got a letter earlier that day to meet him in private as he had something very important to discuss. This came as a surprise to Tirek as Sendak had recently left the area on a journey. While Tirek was making his way to Sendak’s place, Scorpan was chasing after him, trying to get Tirek to come back home so their father wouldn’t get angry with them. Tirek of course, refused to listen.

“But Tirek, you know what father said about visiting the Nether Lands.” Scorpan said as he flew after his brother, trying to get him to change his mind. “And mother will be summoning us for supper soon and-.”

“Then I suggest you go back hime to mommy.” Tirek said, turning around to glare at his brother. “I have more important things to attend to than supper.”

Seeing that there was no way of changing his brother's mind, Scorpan reluctantly followed Tirek into the Nether Lands. Eventually, they arrived at a cave, which was the entrance to Sendak’s quarters.

“Are we here?” Scorpan asked.

“Quiet!” Tirek snapped, tired of his brother being so annoying.

Tirek and Scorpan walked up to the opening of the cave and peered inside. Their eyes eventually landed on Sendak, who was seemingly draining some sort of magic from something that was inside of a cage. Whatever was in the cage was not clear to Tirek or Scorpan as the cage was covered by a sheet. After a couple seconds, Sendak stopped his magic and roared up to the entrance of the cave.

“Who goes there!?” Sendak roared, glaring up at the cave’s entrance before realizing who it was. “Tirek? Is that you?”

“Yes, master, it is me.” Tirek replied as he began to make his way down the stairs of the cave.

“Ah, my prodigy, I did not expect you here so soon.” Sendak said as he calmed down a bit, only to grow wary of something. “Hmm, I sense that you have not come here alone. Who is with you?”

“Only my pathetic younger brother, Scorpan, who frequently follows me wherever I go. He’s quite the nuisance, but he would never betray me.” Tirek said, gesturing up to Scorpan, who hadn’t entered the cave.

“Nevertheless, he must wait outside if you intend to enter my cave.” Sendak said, pointing up to the exit of the cave.

“As you wish.” Tirek replied as he headed back up to the entrance of the cave, coming face to face with his brother. “You, stay right here and don’t even think about interrupting us.”

“But why can’t I come with you, brother?” Scorpan asked, looking very concerned for his brother. “It’s Sendak the Elder, isn’t it? He’s finally returned. Rumor has it that he was gone for so long because he had journeyed to Equestria and-.”

Before Scorpan could say anything else, Tirek used his magic to cover Scorpan’s mouth, shutting him up.

“ENOUGH! I need you to stand out here and keep guard! And stop asking so many questions!” Tirek yelled as he turned around and headed inside the cave.

“You have taken care of your brother?” Sendak asked as Tirek reached the bottom of the cave.

“Yes, he will not get in our way, and he will not go against me.” Tirek responded with a nod.

“Hmm, I sense his fear of… and his devotion to you, Tirek.” Sendak said.

“Whatever, are the rumors true? Did you journey to Equestria, master?” Tirek asked as he walked over to the cage from earlier and attempted to lift the sheet up.

However, before Tirek could remove the sheet from the cage, Sendak sent a flame of magic at him, burning Tirek’s hand.

“Ouch!” Tirek cried as he flinched in pain from the burn.

“Don’t the creatures of this land have anything better to do than gossip about the whereabouts of an aging centaur like me!?” Sendak asked. “But to answer your question, yes, the rumors are true.”

“And you’ve brought something back from Equestria to show me?” Tirek asked, looking down at the cage.

“Young Tirek, it’s true that you are one of my lone allies in this land. And there’s no doubt you’ve got the gift of power. That a powerful magic is coursing through your veins.” Sendak said as he looked down at Tirek with appreciation. “However, I’m not so sure if you are ready for this.”

“(Growl) I am ready!” Tirek protested as he clenched his fists tightly. “Don’t you dare try to hold me back like my father does!”

“(Chuckle) I suppose I should know better than to try and dissuade you from your passions, Tirek.” Sendak said as he removed the sheet from the cage, revealing something that no creature in this land had ever seen before.

Inside the cage, there was a unicorn stallion from Equestria. The unicorn was a dark blue color, with a purple mane and tail. On his flank, there was a cutie mark which showed a strange looking planet with rings around it, as well as a single star above the planet.

“Is… Is that… I’ve only ever read of these creatures! I never dreamed that I would ever see one of them before my very eyes!” Tirek said as he stared at the unicorn in fascination, only to soon realize that it wasn’t moving. “Is it-?”

“Dead? No. I merely drugged it with a special elixir.” Sendak replied.

“What will you do with it?” Tirek asked.

“There is no magic in this entire world as strong as the magic within this unicorn.” Sendak began with a grin. “If I were able to extract and harness the magic of an Equestrian unicorn, why, I would be an unstoppable force!”

“You would be?” Tirek asked as he continued to stare at the unconscious pony.

“(Chuckle) Your emotions betray you, Tirek.” Sendak said as he shook his head a bit.

“What!? How so!?” Tirek asked, turning his attention to the old centaur.

“I can sense it within you. You want to harness the magic of this unicorn for yourself so that you may become an unstoppable force of nature.” Sendak said, looking straight into Tirek’s eyes. “However, you are too young and not yet capable of controlling unicorn magic.”

“Is that really what you think!? How dare you!” Tirek yelled.

Then, before Tirek could protest any more, they both heard the sounds of the castle bells ringing throughout the land.

“The castle bells…” Tirek said as he turned to look up at the exit of the cave.

“Yes, it would appear that our little visit is over.” Sendak said as he covered the cage back up with the sheet. “Have patience, young Tirek. Your time will come soon enough.”

Even though Tirek wanted to stay and argue with Sendak some more, he knew he really didn’t have a choice in the matter. So, with a huff, Tirek made his way back up the stairs and walked out of the cave, immediately being greeted by his worried brother.

“Brother, we must get back home immediately, or our parents will notice that we’re gone!” Scorpan said in a panic.

“Yes, I know.” Tirek replied as they made their way back to the castle.

“Is it true, Tirek? Did Sendak really travel to the lands of Equestria?” Scorpan asked.

“(Groan) Yes, brother, it is true. Now shut up and keep walking!” Tirek said, holding back the urge to smack his brother in the face.

After some time of walking, Tirek and Scorpan finally made it back to the castle, where they were greeted by the two guards keeping watch by the entrance. Scorpan was chewing on his own claws, extremely worried.

“Oh dear, we’re late! Father will know that we were outside the castle gates.” Scorpan said.

“I don’t care.” Tirek replied as they entered the castle.

I suppose it’s best if I told you a bit about my parents. My father, King Vorak, was as strict as they come. He had a tough attitude and was always serious, I barely remember him even smiling. We never got along, and I don’t think we ever would have. Father never believed in me, and he always found a reason to criticize me. I hated him and he knew it. My mother, Queen Haydon, on the other hand, well, she was a nurturing caring mother. Sure, she was much nicer to me than my father was, but I didn’t care. Besides, all she ever cared about was keeping up our appearances and keeping us all together as a family.

As Tirek and Scorpan entered the castle and approached the dining hall, they overheard the sounds of their parents talking to each other. Tirek stopped and kept himself hidden so he could listen in to what they were saying. Scorpan didn’t want to eavesdrop on his parents, but he had to admit, he was also curious as to what they were talking about.

“Tirek and Scorpan are late! They will be punished for this!” King Vorak barked in anger.

“Now Vorak, you’re always so quick to judge and imagine the worst of things.” Queen Haydon said as she tried to calm down her husband.

“Yes, and why shouldn’t I be? From the day Tirek was born, he has never behaved like a prince! Not once has he acted as a rightful heir to the throne! He’s always lurking out in the Nether Lands, more interested in that old hermit Sendak than what is taking place in his own kingdom!” King Vorak yelled.

“Tirek is gifted with magic. More so than anyone in the kingdom, even us.” Queen Haydon said. “You have never encouraged it, but instead you have tried to ignore it.”

“My dear, I sense a thirst for power in him.” King Vorak said, dropping his angry act and looking at his wife with concern. “He will one day use his gift of magic against me. I only hope that Scorpan’s devotion to Tirek will not lead him down the same path.”

Just then, Scorpan decided he had heard enough of what his father was saying so he flew out from where he was hiding and greeted his mother. Tirek also emerged from hiding and walked over to his father.

“Good evening, mother.” Scorpan said as he flew into his mother's embrace. “I am sorry that we are late.”

“There, there, it’s quite alright.” Queen Haydon said as she hugged her son tightly.

“So, you finally decided to grace us with your presence.” King Vorak said as he looked down sternly at Tirek.

“It would appear so, father.” Tirek said as he met his father’s stern gaze before they all sat down for dinner.

After dinner had been finished, Tirek and Scorpan went up to their room for the night. As the two brothers sat in their room, Tirek was holding a miniature wooden model of a unicorn he had carved, up with his magic. Tirek then looked over to his brother and decided to ask him a question.

“Why did you interrupt our parents when they were talking earlier?” Tirek asked, looking at his brother, who was staring at the fireplace in their room.

“I couldn’t bear to listen to father speaking so poorly of you any longer.” Scorpan replied as he turned to face Tirek. “Besides, we shouldn’t be snooping and eavesdropping on them in the first place.”

Tirek just scoffed as he threw the wooden model into the wall, shattering it to pieces, just barely missing Scorpan’s face. Scorpan’s eyes went wide as he felt the model zip right past his face.

“Brother, you are too sensitive. Without ‘snooping’ as you say, I would never know what our dear father really thinks about me.” Tirek said as he levitated the broken model over to him, examining it. “Hmph, I’m sure mother would never allow father to tell me how he really feels. After all, she’s so concerned with keeping up our appearances as well as keeping the family together.”

“What are you going to do?” Scorpan asked.

“I’m going to sleep. Goodnight, brother.” Tirek said as he climbed onto his bed and draped the covers over himself.

Little did my foolish brother know, I had other plans for that night. Once midnight came around, I decided to head back to the Nether Lands to Sendak’s little hideout. Of course, there were guards outside of our castle, so I had to get creative. I used my magic to create some fireworks in the sky, distracting the guards long enough for me to get away from the castle. Those idiot guards thought my little display was supposed to be some enemy attack, so while they tried to find out what was going on, I snuck away.

Soon enough, I had arrived at Sendak’s hideout. Luckily for me, the old fool was fast asleep. I had always looked up to Sendak since I was young, like he was someone who actually believed in me. However, when he said that I wasn’t ready or capable of controlling the magic of a unicorn, he crossed a line. He had become just like my good for nothing father, who never believed in me. If Sendak wasn’t going to give me what I wanted, I decided to just take it.

As Tirek looked over the sleeping form of Sendak, he scowled at him, feeling betrayed by the one creature he thought believed in him.

“Sleep well, Sendak, and stay put.” Tirek said as put a spell on Sendak which would immobilize him. “Now, for you.” Tirek said as he walked over to the cage with the unicorn.

Tirek removed the sheet covering the cage, exposing the unicorn, who was still unconscious.

“Your magic will be mine!” Tirek said as he concentrated all of his magic and power into draining the magic out of the unicorn, only to completely fail.

That was the first time I ever used that special power of mine to suck out the magic and life force from a pony. I wish I could say it went smoothly, but I guess luck just wasn’t on my side that day…

“What!? Why isn’t it working!?” Tirek shouted as he once again tried to drain the magic out of the unicorn.

Due to the commotion caused by Tirek using his special power, Sendak as well as the unicorn trapped in the cage ended up waking up. When Sendak awoke to see Tirek attempting to drain the magic out of the trapped unicorn, he was shocked.

“What!? T-Tirek!? Is that you!? What are you doing!?” Sendak cried as he tried to use his magic.

“What does it look like I’m doing, you old fool!? I’m taking what is rightfully mine!” Tirek shouted as he turned to Sendak.

“Tirek, you can’t! You’re not strong enough yet!” Sendak shouted before he was slapped hard in the face by Tirek.

“(Snarl) You sound just like my father! Doubting me and never having any faith in me! Well, I’ve had it!” Tirek shouted as he glared into Sendak’s eyes. “I’m done holding back! I’ll show you just how strong I am!”

“Set… me… free!” the unicorn said as he looked over to the two centaurs.

“(Evil Chuckle) I don’t think so, pony.” Tirek said as he gave the unicorn a sinister grin.

“TIREK! NO!!!” Sendak cried as he watched Tirek prepare to use his special power.

Once again, Tirek tried to drain the life force out of the unicorn, using more magic than he ever had in his whole life. Tirek didn’t care about anything else aside from absorbing more magic and power so he could show everyone in his kingdom that he was special and that he was not weak. Once he had this new power, he would show it to his father and earn some respect. Tirek fueled his power with all of the hatred and anger he felt for his father and Sendak’s betrayal.

Because Tirek had put in so much power and hatred into his magic, the spell ended up backfiring and an explosion occurred, causing the cage to break open and shelves and tables to fall everywhere in the hideout. Once of the heavy shelves ended up falling onto Sendak’s legs, pinning him to the ground.

“GAH! I’m trapped! What have you done!?” Sendak cried as he felt his legs get crushed by the shelf.

In the commotion, Tirek managed to snap himself out of his angered state, looking over at the one creature in his kingdom he thought believed in him. Seeing Sendak injured greatly caused Tirek to feel guilty for what he had just done.

“Sendak… I… I…” was all Tirek could manage to say as he looked at his master.

“Quick! Contain the unicorn before he escapes!” Sendak cried, pointing over behind Tirek.

Tirek turned around and spotted the unicorn fleeing from the cave, however that wasn’t what was concerning Tirek. The explosion had been so big that it burst out of the cave, meaning that the guards back at the castle surely saw it and would send troops over to investigate the scene. Tirek knew that he couldn’t get caught here.

“Don’t just stand there, you fool! Help me!” Sendak cried as he reached his hand out to Tirek.

“I… I’m sorry.” Tirek said as he began to leave the cave.

“What!? Where are you going!?” Sendak cried as he watched Tirek leave. “Tirek, come back! Tirek!? TIREK!!!”

Sendak’s cries could seemingly be heard for miles as Tirek just ran away and headed back to the castle. Eventually, Tirek was able to sneak back into his room and climbed into bed, pretending as if he had never left.

Early the next morning, Tirek was woken up by Scorpan, who barged into the room with an excited look on his face.

“Brother, you’re here! I thought for certain that you were out in the Nether Lands.” Scorpan said as Tirek rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

“(Groan) What makes you say that?” Tirek asked as he looked at his brother.

“Why, the explosion and brilliant flashes of light that occurred last night, of course!” Scorpan replied as he raised his hands in the air. “It came from the direction of Sendak’s place. When I came to tell you about, you weren’t here so I thought-.”

“I didn’t leave the castle last night. End of story.” Tirek said.

Just then, before the two brothers could say another word to each other, one of the guards came into the room with a stern look on his face.

“His highness, King Vorak has requested the presence of both of you immediately.” The guard said.

With that, Tirek and Scorpan followed the guard as he took them in the direction of the throne room. Along the way, Scorpan began biting his claws out of nervousness.

“Father must be very upset about something for him to summon us this early in the morning.” Scorpan said. “What do you think caused the explosion last night, brother?”

“(Sigh) I don’t know, Scorpan. I don’t know.” Tirek said, avoiding eye contact.

“Wh-What if he thinks you did it?” Scorpan asked worriedly.

“I don’t care what he thinks.” Tirek responded as they arrived at the throne room.

“King Vorak, the princes are here, as you requested.” The guard said as he bowed down to his king.

In the throne room, King Vorak was talking to some of the other members of the royal court. Queen Haydon was sitting at her throne, looking very worried. King Vorak didn’t acknowledge the guard’s statement as he continued to talk. It seemed that the unicorn had been discovered by the guards and he must have told the king why he was in their land.

“Sendak brought an Equestrian unicorn here against their will!? Is that old fool trying to start a war!?” King Vorak yelled as he stomped his hoof on the ground. “(Sigh) We will need to have an immediate damage control meeting with Princess Celestia.”

Tirek and Scorpan just looked at each other in response to what their father had said. Scorpan had no idea what was going on, while Tirek just kept his mouth shut.

“Prepare a delegation to escort the unicorn back to Equestria. I will lead the it personally. In my absence, Queen Haydon will be in charge. Guards, make sure that Sendak is sent to the mines. So long as I am king of this land, Sendak will never see the light of day again. Dismissed!” King Vorak yelled as the everyone in the room left, leaving only the king and queen, as well as Tirek and Scorpan. “Now you two, where were you last night?”

“Here in the castle, father.” Scorpan replied quickly.

“Yes, I was here with Scorpan all night. Right, Scorpan?” Tirek asked his brother.

Scorpan couldn’t respond as he just stuttered until King Vorak broke the awkward silence.

“Is that so? Well, I heard differently, Tirek. I heard that you played a part in the events of last night.” King Vorak said, narrowing his eyes to his son.

“Tirek, my son, please tell me that you would not betray us like that!” Queen Haydon pleaded, looking heartbroken.

“Well, what do you have to say for yourself?” King Vorak asked as he walked up to Tirek and looked down at him.

“I… don’t know what you’re talking about.” Tirek responded, meeting his father’s gaze.

“Tirek, until I return from Equestria, you are not to leave the castle grounds. In fact, you are not allowed to leave your chambers and I will have guards positioned there at all times. Dismissed!” King Vorak yelled as he turned around and stormed out of the throne room.

After King Vorak had left the room, the guard from earlier began to escort Tirek and Scorpan back to their rooms. Before they left, Queen Haydon put her hand on Tirek’s shoulder, turning him to face her.

“Tirek, why? Why did you do this?” Queen Haydon asked, looking worried for her son.

“(Scoffs) Don’t act like you care about me, mother.” Tirek said as he pulled away from his mother and left for his room.

Once Tirek was in his room, he walked out to the balcony attached to his room and looked down, watching his father depart for Equestria. As he watched, Tirek remembered the conversation he overheard his parents having the day before.

“You’re right, father. One day, I will overpower you. I will take this land for myself. Once that is done, it is I who will journey to Equestria and do what Sendak could not. One day… I will be an unstoppable force of nature… I will be, Lord Tirek!”

*End Flashback*

“So, you overthrew your dad and took over his kingdom?” Cozy Glow asked.

“I wish I did, but no.” Tirek said with a grunt.

“But I thought you said that you weren’t going to come to Equestria and take magic from ponies until after you took over your dad’s kingdom.” Cozy Glow said.

“That was the original plan, yes. But things changed.” Tirek said. “I was young and stupid, so I got tired of waiting and I managed to convince Scorpan to come with me to Equestria so we could steal the magic of the ponies.”

“And how did you do that? From what you’ve told us, your brother wasn’t exactly the invading and conquering type.” Chrysalis said.

“Easy, my brother was so scared of me and devoted to me, that I just had to say the right things and threaten him with pain.” Tirek replied.

“What happened then?” Cozy Glow asked.

“Well, we made it to Equestria, but my idiot brother ended up meeting that Star Swirl the Bearded pony and became infatuated by the ponies’ way of life. Scorpan tried to convince me to change my mind, but I wasn’t having it. The coward ended up telling the princesses and I was sent to Tartarus, while Scorpan just left me behind to rot!” Tirek said as he clenched his fists tightly.

“So, your brother really did just leave you.” Cozy Glow said as she rubbed her head. “Did you ever hear from him again?”

“No, but Princess Celestia gave me a letter that was written by my father. According to the letter, Scorpan told my parents everything and I was pretty much forbidden from ever returning home. To my father, I was dead to him.” Tirek said with a snarl. “Like I said, my family betrayed me and abandoned me.”

After Tirek had finished his story, the terrible trio once again just sat in silence. They took time to really take in what they had heard from each other. It was clear that each of them had either gone through something horrible or had been treated unjustly. They now understood why each of them were the way they were now. By sharing their pasts, the terrible trio began to have a mutual respect for one another.

“Well, I can see now why you look up to Sombra so much and why you are always so eager to impress him.” Chrysalis said as she looked at Cozy Glow. “He is like a caring father compared to the likes of your parents.”

“And I completely understand why you hate Starlight Glimmer so much.” Cozy Glow said as she looked at Chrysalis. “You were forced to do horrible things in order to claim your role as queen and because of Starlight, you lost everything that you fought so hard to achieve.”

“Yes, that is why I am willing to follow Sombra, so long as I can get my revenge on those pathetic ponies, especially Starlight Glimmer.” Chrysalis said with a hiss.

“I can also see why you’re so obsessed with gaining all this power. You want to show everyone back home what you’re truly capable of.” Cozy Glow said, turning to Tirek.

“Precisely. And if Sombra honors the deal he made with us, I will become strong enough to take what is rightfully mine! I’ll make my father’s fears come true!” Tirek said as a thought suddenly came to mind.

“Of course, King Sombra will honor the deal he made with us; we all signed the contract.” Cozy Glow said.

“Wait, what about you? What are you trying to get out of all this aside from Sombra’s approval?” Tirek asked.

Cozy Glow waited a few moments before she looked at the two villains with a serious expression.

“I want King Sombra to teach my parents a lesson for treating me the way they did. And once he’s done with that, I want him to kill them.” Cozy Glow said without a single stutter or hint of hesitation.

The filly’s response shocked Tirek and Chrysalis, but only for a moment. Considering what they knew now about Cozy Glow’s past, they didn’t blame her one bit for wishing death upon her parents.

“Well, I think we’ve finished our story time, why don’t we come up with a plan to reach the top of Mount Everhoof.” Tirek suggested to the others with a grin.

“(Evil Laugh) That sounds like a marvelous idea.” Chrysalis said with a flick of her tongue.

“Yeah! Tomorrow, we’ll reach the top of Mount Everhoof and Grogar’s bell will be ours!” Cozy Glow said.

With that, the terrible trio shared a laugh as they then formulated a plan on how they would reach the top of Mount Everhoof and retrieve Grogar’s Bewitching Bell…

Author's Note

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Half of it was basically the Frenemies episode from season 9, but I hope it was enjoyable! The terrible trio finally got some time to shine and we even learned a bit about their origins! Tirek's origin came pretty much from the comics and Chrysalis's origin I thought of myself. Over the past couple chapters we've learned the origins for why the villains are evil, but don't forget, they are still the villains in this story! Next chapter, the terrible trio will continue to try and retrieve Grogar's bell! Thank you for the support!

United As One

“Wh-Who is that?” Cozy Glow asked as she looked up at the creature that stood before them.

“It’s him… it’s Grogar…” Tirek said, shocking the other villains.

“What? Impossible!” Chrysalis said as she looked up at Grogar.

“Grogar…” was all Sombra could say; even he was shocked by Grogar’s sudden arrival.

Indeed, standing before the four villains was none other than Grogar himself, however there was something off about his appearance. Just as the legends depicted him, Grogar was tall, with an odd blue colored coat and a light greyish mane and tail; his large horns were a dark shade of blue. Around his torso, Grogar was wearing a strange red harness with bells around it. That is where things started to look different. Grogar’s eyes were a dark reddish color and there was a strange dark aura seeping out from his entire body. Also, he looked like he was more of a spirit than an actual living creature. Grogar continued to breathe heavily until he looked up into the skies of Equestria, reveling in the fact that he was finally free from his cursed bewitching bell.

“(Growl) (Dark Chuckle) I’m back… I’m free… I’M FREE!!” Grogar roared as he laughed, while all the other villains could do was stare in complete shock.

“Grogar? But that’s impossible! I saw his skeleton when I was in the cave.” Cozy Glow said.

“You what!?” Tirek asked, unsure if he had heard the filly correctly.

“It’s true! When I went in the cave, the bell was on this weird pedestal thing, and Grogar’s skeleton was in front of it.” Cozy Glow said.

Being alerted to the presence of the others, Grogar slowly looked down at the four villains and narrowed his eyes at them.

“Who among you was the one who set me free?” Grogar asked.

“How are you even alive!? I saw your body!” Cozy Glow shouted.

“That stupid Gusty the Great put a curse on my bell that would drain me of all my power if I tried to take it back.” Grogar replied before he let out a single huff. “Who are all of you?”

“Greetings, Grogar. I am King Sombra.” Sombra said as he stepped forward, introducing himself before gesturing to the others. “This is Lord Tirek, Queen Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow. I was the one who ordered these three to find your bell and take it.”

“(Huff) I’ve never heard of any of you.” Grogar said before narrowing his eyes on Sombra. “What could you possible want with my bell?”

“(Chuckle) Simple, I plan to take over all of Equestria with the help of these three. However, in order for us to conquer this land, we need the power that rests within your ancient bell.” Sombra explained.

“(Scoffs) And you think I’m just going to let you take my power from my bell?” Grogar asked. “Do you even know who I am!?”

“(Chuckle) Oh, I know who you are, Grogar. I just don’t care.” Sombra said with a grin.

When Sombra said this, there was a long silence. Tirek, Chrysalis and Cozy Glow were surprised how Sombra could say such a thing to this ancient and powerful creature. Grogar was none too happy about this as he just glared at Sombra, while Sombra just stared back at him with a confident grin on his face.

“You dare to mock me!?” Grogar yelled.

“Whether you are willing to share your power with us or not, I don’t care, but I am willing to make a deal with you.” Sombra said, completely ignoring Grogar’s statement.

“I don’t make deals with anyone!” Grogar yelled as his horns started to glow.

Then, in an instant, a beam of dark magic shot out from Grogar’s horns and hit Sombra right in the chest, sending him crashing into a nearby tree.

“King Sombra!” Cozy Glow cried as she watched Sombra get blasted by Grogar’s attack.

“Since you three were the ones who set me free, I will offer you a chance to live.” Grogar said, turning his attention to the terrible trio. “Kill King Sombra and serve me. If you do, you will all be spared when I conquer all of Equestria and beyond.”

“NO! We’ll never serve you, Grogar!” Cozy Glow screamed.

“You’d rather serve him and die than serve me and have a chance to live!? Sombra is nothing compared to me!” Grogar shouted.

“We don’t want to serve anyone! Not you, not Sombra, not any creature!” Chrysalis shouted back.

“Fine!” Grogar yelled as he used his magic to levitate his bell off the ground and placed it back on his harness.

With Grogar’s bell back in his possession, Grogar used some of the bell’s power to restore his body. Once his body had been mostly restored, Grogar used his magic to lift the terrible trio up into the air, preventing them from using any of their powers or from escaping.

“If you will not serve me! Then you will die!” Grogar yelled as he charged up another attack.

Just as Grogar was about to blast the terrible trio with his magic, Sombra suddenly came out from Grogar’s shadow in his shadow form, snatching the bell and flying away from him. Sombra then rushed over to the terrible trio and used his power to free them from Grogar’s magic.

“Take the bell and get out of here!” Sombra said as he handed the trio the bell. “I’ll keep Grogar busy.”

“King Sombra, no! Grogar is too powerful! We’re not leaving you!” Cozy Glow said.

“Yes, you are! Now go!” Sombra yelled.

“But-(Gasp) LOOK OUT!” Cozy Glow shouted as Grogar blasted another attack at them.

Sombra turned around and saw the deadly blast coming straight towards them. There was no time to properly dodge or even block the oncoming attack. Sombra knew there was only one thing to do. Just before they were all hit by Grogar’s attack, Sombra used his magic to throw the terrible trio to the side, saving them while he took the full hit from the attack, being sent flying into a huge rock.

When the terrible trio had been thrown clear from Grogar’s attack, they landed on the ground hard. Cozy Glow, who had been given the bell, hit the ground so hard that she actually got knocked out, sending the bell flying into the air. Luckily, Tirek managed to catch the bell before it hit the floor. With Sombra once again being seemingly dealt with, Grogar looked over to the terrible trio, glaring as he saw that they were now in possession of his bell.

“Give me back my BELL!!!” Grogar roared as he charged towards the terrible trio.

Just before Grogar reached the terrible trio, Sombra suddenly leapt out of Grogar’s shadow once again, blasting him in the chest with his magic. The surprise attack caused Grogar to stumble back and lose his balance a bit as he fell over.

“You want the bell? You’re going to have to get through me!” Sombra yelled as he turned his attention back to the other villains. “Go! Get out of here now!”

With that, Tirek and Chrysalis immediately scurried to get as far away from Grogar as possible. The duo almost left Cozy Glow behind but Tirek quickly scooped up the unconscious filly and carried her with him as he and Chrysalis ran away as quickly as they could.

“NO!!” Grogar yelled as he watched the terrible trio flee with his bell. “(Growl) You will regret getting in my way!”

“(Chuckle) I regret nothing. Equestria will be mine and you will not stop me!” Sombra yelled.

“Oh, we’ll see about that!” Grogar yelled as he fired a beam of magic at Sombra.

Sombra laughed as he quickly dove into the shadows, avoiding Grogar’s attack before jumping out from behind him and blasting him in the back. This angered Grogar as he used his power to raise a large stone from the ground, attempting to impale Sombra. The stone barely missed Sombra as he used his power to raise a bunch of small crystals from the ground. Taking aim, Sombra then sent all of the sharp crystals towards Grogar. These crystal shards didn’t do anything to oppose Grogar as he just used his magic to stop them midair, causing all of the crystals to fall to the floor and break.

“(Chuckle) Show off.” Sombra said as he looked at the many crystals which lay on the floor.

“Give up, King Sombra. You are no match for me! I am more powerful than you’ll ever be!” Grogar yelled.

“(Chuckle) Give up? Oh, I don’t think so!” Sombra yelled.

Sombra then morphed into his shadow form and tackled Grogar, biting down on his shoulder. Grogar roared in pain as he managed to shake Sombra off of him. Grogar used his magic to slam Sombra onto the ground multiple times. As he was getting slammed, Sombra waited for just the right moment and once Grogar slammed him onto the ground again, Sombra took his chance and dove into the shadows, escaping Grogar’s magic. Grogar looked around furiously for Sombra until a large crystal rose up out of the ground, launching Grogar into the air. While in midair, Sombra teleported above Grogar and fired a beam of magic at him, sending Grogar crashing to the ground. With Grogar down, Sombra quickly teleported to the ground in front of him. Then, with an evil grin, Sombra’s eyes glowed green.

“Now, Grogar, face your fears!” Sombra yelled.

As Sombra tried to trap Grogar in his worst fears, Grogar’s horns suddenly glowed a bright yellowish color, initiating some sort of spell which made Grogar’s eyes suddenly begin to glow that same bright yellow color. Whatever spell that Grogar had just used worked as it was able to cancel out Sombra’s power.

“What!?” Sombra said, shocked at how his power had done nothing to Grogar.

“(Dark Chuckle) You really think I’d succumb to your power so easily? I am GROGAR, EQUESTRIA’S EMPEROR AND THE FATHER OF MONSTERS!” Grogar roared as he summoned a dark orb in front of him.

Grogar’s horns then started to transfer a bunch of magic and energy to this floating orb, making it bigger and stronger with power. Grogar then sent the orb flying towards Sombra. Sombra fired a beam of his magic at the orb, attempting to destroy it before it reached him. However, Sombra’s power was not even close to being able to cancel out Grogar’s attack; he wasn’t even able to slow the orb down. Without any time to counter or dodge, Sombra was hit by the orb, causing his whole body to be encased with a black and yellow glowing essence. Whatever this was had temporarily drained Sombra of his stamina, causing him to fall to the floor.

With a grin, Grogar lifted Sombra up into the air with his magic and slammed him right back down to the ground. Sombra had hit the floor so hard, that the impact actually caused him to bounce back into the air. With Sombra back in the air, Grogar used his powerful legs to launch himself into the air until he was hovering above Sombra. Grogar then flipped in midair, smacking Sombra back down to the ground with his hoof. Grogar then teleported in front of Sombra, before ramming into him and slamming Sombra into a nearby tree. Sombra had hit the tree so hard that he actually went through it and crashed into another tree.

Grogar then charged towards Sombra, ready to trample him. Sombra saw the oncoming threat and at the last second, sank into the shadows. Grogar let out a frustrated roar as Sombra once again managed to avoid his attack.

“(Snarl) Coward! All you’re good at is hiding! Come on out and fight me!” Grogar roared as he looked around for Sombra. “You started this fight, and I’ll finish it!”

“(Evil Laugh) You sure do love to talk, don’t you Grogar?”

Grogar quickly turned around to where he had heard the voice, however, Sombra was nowhere to be seen. Sombra continued to taunt Grogar, his voice seemingly coming from all over the place.

“You may have taken over Equestria and appointed yourself as emperor once, but that was years ago…”

“Trust me, when I’m done with you, I’ll hunt down those three servants of yours and I’ll get my bell back!” Grogar yelled, still trying to pinpoint Sombra’s location. “And when I do, I’ll take over Equestria again!”

“(Evil Chuckle) You really think it will be that easy?”

“Of course, I do…” Grogar said as he secretly used his magic to figure out where Sombra was hiding. “And you’re not stopping me!”

Grogar then transferred a lot of power to his legs as he stomped onto the ground behind him. The sheer force of his hoof caused the ground to break and Sombra was shot out of the shadows. Never before had somepony managed to figure out how to deal with Sombra’s shadow methods. As soon as Sombra was exposed, Grogar blasted two beams of magic from his horns at Sombra, sending him flying into the trees. Grogar then tried to blast Sombra with another one of his powerful orbs, but before he could, a bunch of small crystals shot out of the ground and started flying at Grogar, stabbing him. Grogar roared in pain as he used a magical energy burst to shoot all of the crystals out of his body.

Sombra then jumped out of the shadows and blasted Grogar right in the face with his magic. However, Grogar just shook it off and rammed Sombra with his large horns. As Sombra fell back on the floor, Grogar attempted to pounce on him. In response, Sombra quickly raised up a large crystal from the ground, knocking Grogar back again. Sombra then raised up another crystal and smashed against the side of Grogar’s face. Sombra tried this attack again, but Grogar used another burst of magic to send Sombra flying back. Grogar then used the crystal Sombra was going to use, and threw it at Sombra, hitting him in the chest.

With Sombra hit twice, Grogar started to charge towards Sombra, once again trying to ram him into another rock or tree. Sombra stomped his hoof on the ground, raising up a bunch of large crystals to stop Grogar. However, Grogar was so strong that he just smashed through every crystal that Sombra summoned. Sombra tried to escape into the shadows, but Grogar caught him in a telekinetic grip and rammed into him, sending Sombra flying back again. Grogar then fired another orb at Sombra, but Sombra summoned a pair of shadow hands from the ground, holding Grogar down and causing him to miss his target. With Grogar temporarily pinned down, Sombra rushed over to him.

Before he got too close, Sombra stopped himself and decided to just play it safe. Using his magic, Sombra raised up another shadow hand and used it to choke Grogar. Just as Grogar’s throat was about to be crushed, Grogar used his magic to raise up a large stone from underneath Sombra, knocking him back and cancelling out his power. While Sombra was in the air, he teleported right in front of Grogar, using his magic to form a sword out of crystals. Sombra swung his crystal sword at Grogar, trying to cut his neck or anywhere on his face, but Grogar dodged every swipe before headbutting Sombra, causing him to drop his sword. Sombra and Grogar glared at each other before they charged towards each other to continue their fight.

Meanwhile…

While Sombra was having his intense fight with Grogar, Tirek and Chrysalis were running as fast as they could away from the battle, with Chrysalis flying alongside Tirek, who was carrying the unconscious Cozy Glow with him as well as Grogar’s bell. Cozy Glow began to stir in her state of unconsciousness as she slowly began to wake up. The last thing she remembered was Sombra saving them and taking the full blast from Grogar’s attack.

“King Sombra… Huh? HUH!? What’s going on!?” Cozy Glow asked as she woke up to being held by Tirek who was running with Chrysalis.

“Oh good, you’re alive! I was worried that I was carrying a dead body around. It’d take weeks for me to clean the scent off.” Tirek said as he continued running.

“Seriously! What’s going on!?” Cozy Glow asked again as she tried to wriggle free from Tirek’s grip.

“We’re escaping before Grogar tracks us down and takes us out! That’s what’s going on!” Chrysalis responded.

“WHAT!? But what about King Sombra!?” Cozy Glow cried.

“Sombra is taking care of Grogar!” Tirek replied.

“And we’re just going to leave him!? Grogar’s gonna kill him!” Cozy Glow cried.

“Good! Then we don’t need to worry about him killing us! We’ll have plenty of time to flee before Grogar finds us!” Chrysalis said.

“No! We have to go back! We have to help King Sombra!” Cozy Glow protested as she continued to struggle.

“And get killed by Sombra or Grogar!? Forget it! We’re not going back there!” Tirek said.

“(Grunt) You idiots!” Cozy Glow screamed as she bit down on Tirek’s finger, causing him to yell in pain, letting go of Cozy Glow.

Once Tirek had let her go, Cozy Glow quickly flew up and smacked Tirek in the face, causing him to drop the bell. Cozy Glow then snatched up the bell and flew back a bit. Tirek and Chrysalis immediately stopped running and turned around to face the filly who was now in possession of Grogar’s bell. Cozy Glow’s eyes were filled with rage and betrayal. The two villains knew that they were in serious danger right now because if Cozy Glow used the bell on them, there was nothing they could do. Tirek figured it was best to try and keep Cozy Glow calm and try to reason with her, just in case she somehow figured out how to use the bell. Chrysalis on the other hoof, was not in the mood to reason with anypony.

“Now, Cozy, listen here and just give us the be-.”

“NO! You listen! Both of you!” Cozy Glow screamed, cutting Tirek off. “King Sombra just saved us! And you’re just going to abandon him!?”

“Saved us!? Don’t be so naïve, child!” Chrysalis said, letting out a huff. “Sombra didn’t save us! All he did was protect Grogar’s bell from being destroyed!”

“If King Sombra only cared about the bell, then why did he move us out of the way and take the hit from Grogar’s attack?” Cozy Glow asked.

“Well obviously because… because… because…” Chrysalis said, going silent as she realized that she didn’t have an answer.

“Don’t you see? King Sombra did save us! He was telling the truth; he does believe in us, and he does need us! He was never going to betray us!” Cozy Glow said before she scowled at the two villains. “The only reason Sombra attacked us was because you two were being stupid and lashed out against him for no reason!”

After hearing this, Tirek and Chrysalis looked at each other. They didn’t want to admit it, but deep down they both knew that Cozy Glow was right. If Sombra really didn’t care about them, he would’ve just saved himself and fled with the bell, leaving them behind to deal with Grogar. Instead, Sombra gave them a chance to escape while he fought an ancient tyrant who was much stronger than he was.

“King Sombra made a deal with us, and we all signed that contract together! That contract promised us so much and you two are just gonna throw it all away!? UGH! You know what!? You two can just leave! I don’t even care anymore! Do what you want, but I’m going back to help King Sombra!” Cozy Glow said as she turned around to leave.

“What!? Are you crazy!? Grogar will kill you.” Tirek said, shocked that this little filly was really going back to challenge that monster.

“I don’t care. I’m not leaving Sombra.” Cozy Glow said before she turned back to look at him. “And don’t act like you care at all because I know you don’t. None of you do.”

“You’d really be willing to risk death by helping Sombra rather than have a chance to survive?” Chrysalis asked, causing Cozy Glow to stop.

“King Sombra believes in me, and I won’t let him down. Goodbye Tirek and goodbye Chrysalis.” Cozy Glow said as she began to fly away.

Once again, Tirek and Chrysalis just looked at each other as they watched the filly go. They took in everything that Cozy Glow had just told them, and it all started to make more sense.

“(Sigh) She’s right…” Chrysalis said, catching Tirek off guard.

“Huh?” Tirek asked, looking over to Chrysalis.

“She’s right.” Chrysalis said again. “If King Sombra didn’t care for us or have any need for us, he would have just killed us the moment we brought the bell to him. But he didn’t.”

“And Sombra really did seem like he wanted to work with us and rule Equestria together.” Tirek said as he thought back to when they had all signed the contract. “Everything in his contract was fair and would give us all equal power.”

“We’ve all tried to take over Equestria ourselves and none of us were successful.” Chrysalis added. “Even Sombra has failed once, but this time, he has a plan. A plan that… might actually work…”

“Chrysalis… are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Tirek asked, looking into the changeling’s eyes.

“I think I am… Tirek…” Chrysalis said as she stared back into Tirek’s eyes.

The two villains knew what they had to do. After giving each other a confirming nod, Tirek and Chrysalis quickly set off to catch up with Cozy Glow.

While Tirek and Chrysalis had been having their little revelation, Cozy Glow had stopped flying and was trying to figure out how to use the bell. She knew that Tirek and Chrysalis were right; there was no way that Cozy Glow would even stand a chance against Grogar. So Cozy Glow figured that if she could figure out how to transfer some of the power in the bell to her, she would be able to help Sombra. The only problem was, Cozy Glow didn’t know how to get the bell to work.

As Cozy Glow was still figuring out how to get the bell to work, she heard the sounds of hooves approaching and the sound of changeling wings flapping getting closer. When she heard the familiar voice of Tirek call out to her, Cozy Glow groaned.

“Cozy Glow! Wait!” Tirek called as he and Chrysalis approached the filly.

“(Groan) What do you want!?” Cozy Glow asked as she turned around and made sure that the two villains could see the bell. “Get away from me or I’ll use this bell on you!”

“(Chuckle) Come on Cozy Glow, we both that you don’t know how to use that bell.” Tirek said with an amused smirk on his face.

“Oh yeah!? Well, you don’t know that!” Cozy Glow snapped.

“Child, just stop with the act already. Honestly, it’s quite pathetic.” Chrysalis said as she shook her head slightly.

“(Grunt) Just leave me alone! And don’t try to stop me either or I’ll beat you both over the head with this instead!” Cozy Glow threatened as she swung the bell around.

“We’re not trying to stop you, child.” Chrysalis said, putting on a gentler tone.

“Wait… what?” Cozy Glow asked, unsure if she heard the changeling queen correctly.

“We’re coming with you.” Chrysalis said.

“You’re… coming with me?” Cozy Glow asked, still unsure if she was hearing things right. “But why?”

“You were right, Cozy Glow. We all would have been dead by now if Sombra hadn’t saved us.” Tirek said.

“And if Sombra didn’t need us, he wouldn’t have wasted his time with the likes of us.” Chrysalis added. “All of us have failed to take over Equestria, and I’ve even failed twice. Despite this, Sombra still chose the three of us to work with him.”

“How do I know you two aren’t just trying to trick me so you can take this bell for yourselves?” Cozy Glow asked suspiciously.

“Does it look like we’re lying right now?” Chrysalis asked. “Under normal circumstances, none of us would ever admit to being wrong.”

“That’s right and while we still may not like Sombra, we have respect for him. He’s come up with a plan to take over Equestria that not even I could have come up with.” Tirek said.

“If Sombra needs us to ensure that his plan will work, then we will follow him.” Chrysalis said as she looked up at her crown before looking back at Cozy Glow. “Sombra is giving us an opportunity to take back what is rightfully ours, and we’d be fools not to take him up on his offer.”

“So, you mean…?”

“Yes, we’re going to help King Sombra and make sure that his plan is a success. We will all rule Equestria together.” Chrysalis replied with a firm nod.

“From now on, we will work together and use teamwork to our advantage. But before we can do that, we have to save King Sombra from getting his flank kicked by that old ram.” Tirek said, looking back in the direction where Sombra was fighting Grogar, before turning back to face the others. “But as we all know, none of us are strong enough to take on Grogar. However, if we used the power in his bell, we might just stand a chance.”

“And even if we can’t overpower him, we don’t have to.” Chrysalis said with a grin, showing off her sharp teeth and fangs. “All we have to do is wait for my secret weapon to do its work.”

“Your secret weapon?” Cozy Glow asked, tilting her head.

“I’ll explain everything on the way, but first, we need to figure out how to use this bell.” Chrysalis said, looking at the bell.

“I think I might have an idea on how to use this thing.” Tirek said as he walked over to Cozy Glow. “Can I see the bell?”

Cozy Glow looked up at Tirek suspiciously. She was happy to hear that her partners were willing to follow Sombra in his plan to take over Equestria, but she didn’t know if she was completely ready to trust them. However, Cozy Glow knew that the more time they wasted, the more Sombra would suffer in his battle against Grogar. So, Cozy Glow swallowed her pride and handed Tirek the bell.

“Thank you.” Tirek said as he took the bell from Cozy Glow. “Now, despite how legendary this little bell has been made out to be, at the end of the day it’s still just a magic artifact, is it not?”

Chrysalis and Cozy Glow nodded, wondering where Tirek was going with this.

“Luckily for all of us, I happen to know a spell that can transfer magic from powerful artifacts. It’s really easy once you get the hang of it. Anyone can do it if they know how spells work.” Tirek said as he then held out his hands. “Take my hands.”

Hearing this, Chrysalis and Cozy Glow just looked up at Tirek like he was insane. Chrysalis was rather disgusted by this, and Cozy Glow was just skeptical and concerned about Tirek’s mental state. Seeing the confusion on their faces, Tirek rolled his eyes.

“(Sigh) So we can all be part of the spell.” Tirek elaborated before smirking a bit. “Unless you prefer, I take all the magic myself?”

“Our agreement is final; what we do, we do together.” Chrysalis said as she and Cozy Glow took ahold of Tirek’s hands. “Once we defeat Twilight Sparkle and the rest of those pathetic ponies, we will all rule Equestria together.”

“Let’s do this!” Cozy Glow said as she nodded to Tirek.

With that, Tirek used the spell on Grogar’s bell, which actually worked. Tirek sent some of his own magic into the bell, which caused the bell to start glowing. The bell began to slowly levitate into the air until it stopped at Tirek’s eyelevel. Then, the bell rotated so that the bottom part was facing the terrible trio. Suddenly, a black and yellow portal of magic opened up before shooting a beam of magic at the three villains, transferring power to them.

Once the bell had done its job, it slowly lowered itself back to the ground. Then, in a bright flash of light, the terrible trio began to change. The animals that were close by watched in horror as Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow became stronger physically and magically. The terrible trio laughed together as they knew it was time to see what they could do with their new powers.

Meanwhile…

“You can never beat me!” Grogar yelled as he threw Sombra into a large rock with his magic.

Sombra yelled in pain as he smashed into the large rock. Sombra had put up as much of a fight as he could, but he was nowhere near strong enough to defeat Grogar. Eventually, Sombra had just started sticking to dodging and evading all of the attacks.

“You’re just a pony! Of which, I have killed hundreds!” Grogar yelled as he pulled Sombra back towards him with his telekinesis.

As Grogar kept Sombra suspended in the air with his magic, he sent a powerful shock wave from his horns at Sombra, electrocuting him with an electric spell. Grogar relished the pain he was inflicting on Sombra as all he could do was yell in agony. After electrocuting Sombra for a good solid minute, Grogar finally stopped his spell. Steam was rising from Sombra’s body due to the painful shock therapy he just endured.

“(Dark Chuckle) You actually thought that you’d be able to defeat me? (Dark Chuckle) Not in this or any lifetime!” Grogar yelled as he headbutted Sombra, causing him to fly back into another large rock.

Sombra slammed into the rock hard, once again yelling in pain as he slowly slid to the floor. The impact was so great that it actually knocked Sombra’s crown off of his head. Sombra’s crown clanked as it hit the ground while Sombra struggled to get back up. Grogar just laughed as he slowly yet menacingly walked towards Sombra.

“(Dark Chuckle) I wish I could say you put up a good fight King Sombra, but I can’t.” Grogar said as he looked down at the wounded Sombra. “Once I’m done with you, no pony will believe you even existed.”

Sombra didn’t say anything as he just looked up at Grogar, who was preparing to finish him off with another attack.

“Goodbye, King Sombra!” Grogar yelled as he was about to blast Sombra.

Then, just before he could unleash his attack, Grogar felt a pair of sharp fangs pierce his left shoulder. Grogar roared in pain as he felt the fangs sink into his flesh. Sombra couldn’t see what had just attacked Grogar, but whatever it was, Grogar used his magic to throw it off of him.

“Hey Grogar!” A voice called as Grogar turned around to see who had called out to him.

It was then that Grogar was able to see Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow, only this time there were some very noticeable differences about them now.

Tirek looked mostly the same, but when Grogar took a closer look, he could see that Tirek was now bigger and his whole body was much more muscular than before. His horns were also longer and much sharper. Chrysalis also looked similar to how she always did, but her body had now become much more armored. Chrysalis now had a bright greenish armoring on her hooves and torso. Her wings had grown much larger, and they looked more wicked than ever. Her crown also grew bigger and slightly changed in its design. Chrysalis’s horn also grew slightly larger, and the tip of her horn was also bright green, as well as her eyes. Cozy Glow had ditched her winter attire, replacing it with a small sand colored chest plate and was now sporting a large horn on the top of her head and her wings had grown a bit bigger; Cozy Glow had been turned into an alicorn.

“Looking for this?” Cozy Glow asked as she held the bell up with her magic, revealing that she had used her new powers to make a necklace for the bell.

“What!? You used my bell!? But how!?” Grogar shouted as he saw the terrible trio in their new forms.

“(Laughs) Oh please! You’re not the only one who knows how to use powerful artifacts, Grogar.” Tirek said as he flexed his muscles at Grogar.

“I thought you said that you wouldn’t serve any creature! Why have you come back to save this tyrant!? Do you really want to be his slaves!?” Grogar shouted, pointing over to an exhausted Sombra.

“(Chuckle) This is not about serving any creature; this is about us ruling Equestria together.” Chrysalis said with a grin.

“Together? You can’t be serious! You really believe that he will willingly rule over Equestria with you three!?” Grogar asked.

“We weren’t so sure about it at first either, but now we’re looking at the big picture here. With Sombra’s plan, Equestria will be ours.” Tirek said.

“Yeah! And no pony hurts King Sombra! It’s because of him that we’re all going to rule Equestria one day!” Cozy Glow added with a flap of her wings.

While the terrible trio continued to taunt and bicker with Grogar, Sombra finally managed to look over to see the three villains in their new forms. This surprised Sombra as he didn’t think they would actually come back for him. Hearing the things that they were saying was almost unbelievable. After all, it wasn’t that long ago when Tirek and Chrysalis made it very clear that they didn’t trust him. Now, they were… defending him? What had changed?

“You are an obstacle that stands in our way, Grogar. The way we see it, the only way we can achieve our goals of ruling Equestria, is to get rid of you.” Chrysalis said, narrowing her eyes at Grogar.

“(Growl) You weak miscreants dare to threaten me!?” Grogar asked, letting out another huff.

“I don’t know, what does it sound like we’re doing?” Tirek asked with a mocking grin. “Are you alright in the head, Grogar? Maybe you’ve gotten stupider since you were last relevant to Equestria.”

“(Snarl) When I get my bell back, I’ll drain all of you of your power! I’ll reduce all of you to dust and bones!” Grogar shouted, stomping his hoof down.

“Aww is someone feeling a little angry?” Cozy Glow asked, putting on an overly sympathetic look on her face. “You want your bell back? Come and get it.”

“With pleasure!” Grogar yelled as he let out another mighty roar before making a beeline for Cozy Glow, who was holding his bell.

As Grogar charged towards the terrible trio, Tirek and Chrysalis nodded to each other and jumped out of the way just as Grogar was about to ram into Cozy Glow. The filly smirked as she teleported above him and tossed Grogar’s bell over to Tirek, who caught it and placed it around his neck as Grogar crashed into a tree. The crash barely fazed Grogar as he turned around to blast Cozy Glow with his magic, only for Chrysalis to suddenly jump onto his back, wrapping her hooves around Grogar’s neck. While Chrysalis was hanging onto Grogar, Tirek began to charge up a powerful attack. Tirek then fired his beam of magic, however before the attack could land its mark, Grogar’s horns glowed. Tirek’s attack was then absorbed by the horns and then shot back at him, hitting him right in the face and knocking him out.

With Tirek taken care of, Grogar proceeded to buck Chrysalis off of him, causing Chrysalis to hiss in pain as she landed hard on her back. Grogar turned around so he could crush Chrysalis with his hoof, but he was interrupted when Cozy Glow teleported on top of his head and started hitting him. As Cozy Glow was distracting Grogar, Chrysalis managed to get back up and lunged at him, only to be kicked in the face hard by Grogar’s back hoof. Grogar then grabbed ahold of Cozy Glow with his magic and levitated her in front of his face.

“You will pay for not only stealing my bell, but also for using it against me!” Grogar yelled as he started to squeeze Cozy Glow with his magic.

“(Grunt) I’m not… scared of you! You old… goat!” Cozy Glow said as she felt her entire body getting slowly crushed by Grogar’s magic.

“(Dark Chuckle) A pity that you will die so young.” Grogar said as he prepared to use a fire spell to burn Cozy Glow alive. “Any last words, filly?”

“Y-Yeah… just one… snake.” Cozy Glow said with a smirk.

“What?” Grogar asked before Chrysalis, who had morphed into a giant snake, suddenly slithered up and wrapped herself around Grogar’s neck.

In response to the sudden strangulation, Grogar ended up tossing Cozy Glow to the side before using his magic to throw Chrysalis off of him and onto the ground, forcing her out of her snake form. Grogar was about to burn Chrysalis with a fire spell when Tirek suddenly rejoined the fight, landing a solid punch to Grogar’s face. Grogar stumbled back from the punch before Tirek grabbed ahold of his horns and slammed him to the floor. With Grogar down, Chrysalis morphed into a giant spider and jumped on his face, using the tiny claws in her spider legs to keep herself secure. Despite her efforts, Grogar managed to shake Chrysalis off of his face, flinging her away. This was only a temporary relief however as Cozy Glow suddenly teleported in front of Grogar and started to blast magic beams at his face.

After getting blasted a few times by Cozy Glow’s magic, Grogar attempted to overpower her by using his own magic. His attempts were stopped when Tirek suddenly charged forward and bucked Grogar in the side with his two front hooves, causing Grogar to roll on the floor from the impact until he slammed into a large rock. Chrysalis then morphed into a cheetah and dashed towards Grogar, leaping into the air, and landing on his back. Grogar yelled in pain as he felt Chrysalis claw and bite at him. Cozy Glow flew in the air and started to circle around Grogar, firing beams of magic at him while Chrysalis continued her assault. Tirek was charging up another attack and blasted it at Grogar. Seeing the blast coming towards him, Grogar used a powerful burst of magic, blasting Chrysalis off of him and even causing Cozy Glow to get pushed back a bit in the air. Then just like before, Grogar absorbed Tirek’s attack and fired it right back at him. This time however, Cozy Glow teleported in front of Tirek and used her magic to create a large magic bubble around her and Tirek, shielding them from the attack.

Grogar was shocked that this little filly was actually able to use her alicorn magic so well, especially since she only just got her new powers quite recently. Grogar immediately shook this shock away however as he stomped his hoof on the ground, causing a large boulder to come out before hurling the boulder at the despicable duo. Cozy Glow flew towards the boulder and teleported past it before it hit her. Tirek used his incredible strength to punch the boulder with his fist so hard that the boulder broke into pieces. Cozy Glow was once again in the air and firing multiple beams of magic at him. While Cozy Glow was continuing her air assault on Grogar, Tirek ran towards them so he could help. Grogar stomped his hoof on the ground once again, this time causing large stone pillars to rise out of the ground, trapping Tirek in a rocky cage.

Cozy Glow stopped attacking as she tried to break Tirek out of his temporary imprisonment, however Grogar grabbed her with his magic and slammed her down to the ground. The impact probably would have killed Cozy Glow; thankfully at the last second, she used her magic bubble to break her lethal fall. Meanwhile, Tirek was about to use his magic to break out of his cage, but before he could, Grogar fired a wave of electricity at him. As Grogar was shocking Tirek, Chrysalis quickly crawled underneath Grogar and blasted her magic at his stomach. Grogar roared in pain and tried to crush Chrysalis under him, however Chrysalis saw this coming and teleported above him, blasting her magic at his back.

Chrysalis continued to fire her magic at Grogar’s back while Cozy Glow got up and fired her magic at Grogar’s side. Tirek had already recovered from his electrocution and had broken out of his imprisonment. While the other two villains were flying around Grogar to keep him distracted and unable to hit them, Tirek charged up his attack and this time, his attack actually hit Grogar. The blast caused Grogar to fly back as he landed on the floor, chipping a tooth. After recovering from the attack, Grogar huffed as he looked up at the terrible trio.

“(Evil Laugh) You really are all talk, Grogar.” Chrysalis said as she looked down at the injured ram. “With our new powers which came from your bell, you never stood a chance against us.”

“Face it, you old goat, you’re history. It was three against one fight; you weren’t defeating us anytime soon. Tirek, waste him.” Cozy Glow said with a smirk.

“(Evil Chuckle) Of course, Cozy.” Tirek said as he prepared to drain Grogar of his magic and life force.

“(Growl) NO! I will not be defeated by the likes of you three! NEVER!” Grogar roared as he unleashed a powerful burst of magic from his body, blasting the terrible trio away from him.

As the three villains were blasted away by Grogar’s attack, Grogar used his telekinesis to grab ahold of Cozy Glow and yanked her back towards him. Grogar then threw Cozy Glow high into the air, causing her to spin and flip uncontrollably, which made it impossible for her to regain control. Since Cozy Glow wouldn’t be an issue for a while, Grogar focused his attention on the other two villains. In an attempt to distract him, Tirek fired a beam of magic at Grogar so Chrysalis could fly up and help Cozy Glow. This plan didn’t work however as Grogar just blocked Tirek’s attack with a magic barrier and used his telekinesis to slam Chrysalis right back down to the ground.

Tirek used his magic to lift up two large boulders from the ground and threw them both at Grogar As expected, Grogar easily destroyed the boulders with his magic, but that was planned as Chrysalis flew right in front of Grogar and smacked him twice before firing magic at his face. Grogar let out a roar as he tried to swipe at Chrysalis with his large horns, but Chrysalis quickly morphed into a mouse. Due to her small size, Grogar missed, and Chrysalis scurried underneath him before morphing into an Ursa Minor, allowing her to throw Grogar off balance. Grogar tried to kick Chrysalis with his back hoof, but Chrysalis morphed into a hawk and quickly flew out of range. Chrysalis then began to swoop down and strike Grogar multiple times.

While Chrysalis was distracting Grogar, Tirek charged up another powerful magic blast. Grogar saw this out of the corner of his eye and grinned as he quickly came up with a plan. As Chrysalis continued to attack him, Tirek fired his magic blast at Grogar, which was exactly what Grogar wanted. Grogar then grabbed Chrysalis with his telekinesis, forcing her out of her hawk form and causing Tirek’s attack to hit her instead, sending her flying into a tree and falling to the ground in pain.

Tirek then charged at Grogar and punched him in the face and chest over and over, trying to knock him out. Grogar eventually managed to regain his composure as he fought back against Tirek, using a spell that made him more durable to Tirek’s punches. After taking a few more hits, Grogar headbutted Tirek, stunning him and giving Grogar a chance to bash him and blast him with small but painful spark spells. After a good short brawl, Grogar hit Tirek on the head with his hoof and pinned him down with his other leg pressed against Tirek’s neck. Grogar then used his shock wave to electrocute Tirek again.

With Tirek once again electrocuted, Grogar lifted Tirek in the air with his telekinesis. Grogar then took back the necklace with his bell and threw Tirek over next to Chrysalis, who was still on the floor in pain. Grogar chuckled as he placed his bell back on his harness. Just then, a beam of magic flew past Grogar’s face. Looking up, Grogar could see that Cozy Glow had finally managed to regain control and was now flying straight towards him, shooting multiple magic beams at him. Grogar only smirked as he blasted Cozy Glow with an electric spell, causing her to crash down, landing next to Tirek and Chrysalis.

Grogar then summoned the large black orb again and transferred magic to it, making the orb bigger and stronger with power. The terrible trio, despite being in pain, knew that they had to do something, or they’d be destroyed. Grogar then blasted the dark orb at the terrible trio. The three villains then all fired their beams of magic at the orb in an attempt to cancel out the attack and save themselves. However, despite all three of the villains using their power at once, it still wasn’t enough to overpower Grogar’s attack as the orb hit the terrible trio and temporarily drained them of their stamina and power.

“(Laughs) You really thought that you three could overpower me? Do you not know who I am!? I am Grogar! I ruled Equestria for years! My reign was legendary! I will rule Equestria! ME!” Grogar yelled with a stomp of his hoof.

“(Cough) (Cough) Would you just shut up already?” Tirek asked as he struggled to get back up. “And I thought Sombra talked too much.”

“Spare us your pitiful monologue, Grogar. If you’re going to kill us, just kill us.” Chrysalis said with a glare.

“(Grunt) Yeah, do it! We’re not scared of you or death!” Cozy Glow shouted as she tried to use her magic but failed.

“You wish to die? So be it!” Grogar yelled as he prepared to use his most powerful fire spell to burn the terrible trio to death.

As Grogar’s fire spell was almost ready to be unleashed, Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow looked at each other and then looked back at Grogar, as if they were expecting something to happen. Then, something did happen, but it wasn’t at all what the terrible trio were expecting. Just before Grogar could blast them with his fire spell, Sombra shot out of the shadows below Grogar, uppercutting him in a similar way to the attack that Twilight used during her fight with Professor Screw. After uppercutting Grogar, Sombra snatched the bell off of his harness and landed in front of the terrible trio, looking back at them for a couple seconds before turning back to face Grogar.

“Ha! You all still think that you’ll be able to defeat me!? Pathetic!” Grogar said with a huff.

“(Evil Chuckle) I suppose we’ll have to find out.” Sombra said as his eyes glowed.

Two large crystal spikes suddenly shot up from the ground, nearly impaling Grogar from below, but Grogar managed to jump back just in time.

“Use this to get your energy back!” Sombra said as he tossed the bell to the terrible trio. “Then get out of here!”

Before the terrible trio could protest, Sombra morphed into his shadow form and started to tackle Grogar, biting him all over. Using his telekinesis, Grogar threw Sombra off of him and forced him out of his shadow form. As Sombra landed on the floor, dropping the bell, Grogar pinned him down with one leg and prepared to crush him with the other leg.

“DIE!” Grogar yelled as he swung his hoof down at Sombra’s face.

Just before Sombra’s face was smashed in by Grogar’s hoof, Tirek jumped in and caught Grogar’s hoof, stopping him from killing Sombra.

“What are you doing!? I said to go!” Sombra shouted as he saw Tirek holding back Grogar’s hoof.

“And leave you to die? No way. How would we take over Equestria without you?” Tirek asked with a grin as he shoved Grogar off of Sombra. “You want to take over Equestria, Grogar? Well, you’ll have to get rid of me first.”

“And me.” Chrysalis said as she flew up beside Sombra and helped him back up.

“And me too!” Cozy Glow said as she flew above Sombra and placed his crown back on his head.

Sombra was still confused by the actions of the terrible trio, but he knew that this was not the time to think about that. Seeing that the three villains, especially Tirek and Chrysalis were really intending to aid him in the fight, Sombra grinned at Grogar as he began to chuckle.

“(Evil Chuckle) This is your last chance, Grogar. Either back down and make a deal with me or die.” Sombra said.

“(Dark Chuckle) I’d rather have some annoying incompetent fool take my place.” Grogar replied with a grin.

“(Evil Chuckle) Very well.” Sombra said as they all just stared at each for a few moments before Sombra said: “Kill him.”

With that, the four villains united as one to take on Grogar. Cozy Glow flew up in the air so she could attack Grogar from above while the others took him head on, since she was more at risk of being severely injured than the others due to her small size. Sombra dove into the shadows and jumped out from behind Grogar; when he had jumped out, Sombra raised about five crystal shards up from the ground and threw them at Grogar. Grogar roared in pain as he felt the shards stab him in the back. Tirek then ran up and punched Grogar twice in the face before kicking him hard in the chest, pushing him back a bit. Chrysalis then flew towards Grogar and smacked him in the face before blasting him with her magic, using the attack to push herself back a safe distance from Grogar.

Grogar then reared up on his back legs and brought his front hoofs down on the ground, causing the ground to shake. Three large stone pillars suddenly burst out from the ground, nearly impaling Sombra, Tirek, and Chrysalis, who managed to avoid the attack at the last second. Seeing that Grogar was solely focused on Sombra, Tirek, and Chrysalis, Cozy Glow teleported above Grogar and fired a beam of magic on the top of his head. Sombra was about to blast Grogar in the back, but Grogar kicked Sombra back with his back hoof. Tirek picked up one of the stone pillars and used it to whack Grogar around until Grogar eventually managed to push Tirek back with his magic. Chrysalis and Cozy Glow fired their beams of magic at Grogar, distracting him while Sombra got back up.

Sombra used his power to raise a bunch of small crystals from the ground, merging them together to create a large ball made out of crystals. Sombra then blasted the crystal ball at Grogar from behind, only for Grogar to turn around fast, catch the ball with his magic and then threw it at Chrysalis and Cozy Glow. Chrysalis managed to dodge the attack, but Cozy Glow’s leg got hit by the ball, causing her to spin and fall on the floor. Grogar then charged towards Tirek and rammed into him, knocking him down on the floor. Chrysalis then morphed into a lion and jumped on Grogar’s back, slashing and biting him. Grogar reared up on his back legs fast, causing Chrysalis to lose her grip and fall off. Sombra then teleported in front of Grogar and raised up a couple shadow hands, using them to grab onto Grogar’s horns before slamming him face first onto the floor.

As Grogar tried to stand back up, Tirek grabbed ahold of one of Grogar’s back legs, keeping it in a firm grip and even using his magic to inflict some serious pain so Grogar couldn’t get up. At the same time, Chrysalis morphed back into her lion form and jumped on top of Grogar, slashing and biting him again. Despite the pain in her leg, Cozy Glow flew up in the air and started to fire her magic down at Grogar, aiming primarily for his head and face. While the terrible trio were keeping Grogar down, Sombra chuckled as he formed two large spears out of crystals from the ground, intending to jab them through Grogar’s skull. Seeing this, Tirek got back up and planted his hooves on Grogar’s back legs, Chrysalis kept her lion claws nailed in Grogar’s back, and Cozy Glow hovered in the air just behind Sombra.

“(Evil Chuckle) It’s over, Grogar. You’ve lost.” Sombra said as he slowly lifted the crystal spears in the air.

“No.” Grogar said as he glared up at Sombra. “NEVER!”

Suddenly, Grogar used his power to emit a huge burst of energy from his body, blasting the four villains away from him. However, before they could get too far from him, Grogar caught all of the villains with his telekinesis and threw all of them towards a large log. Sombra hit the floor without sustaining any notable injuries aside from some scrapes and bruises. Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow on the other hoof, weren’t so lucky. When Chrysalis slammed into the log, she ended up breaking her two back legs. The impact from the blast as well as the force in which Tirek landed onto the ground caused him to break his left arm. Cozy Glow right wing broke as soon as she hit the floor.

With the terrible trio greatly wounded from the blast, Sombra lunged at Grogar, using his magic to raise a single crystal shard from the ground and throwing it at Grogar. Due to the speed, the shard flew right into Grogar’s left eye, causing him to roar in pain. Sombra attempted to throw another crystal shard into Grogar’s head, but Grogar stopped Sombra with his telekinesis before blasting two powerful beams of magic from his horns at Sombra, sending him flying back until he landed in front of the terrible trio. With the four villains defeated, Grogar chuckled as he slowly approached them.

“(Dark Chuckle) Like I said, pathetic. You four really thought that you could defeat me!? You were never going to win! Equestria will be mine!” Grogar yelled as he laughed.

As Grogar laughed and laughed about his victory over these four villains, he looked down and saw something that didn’t sit well with him. Despite being greatly injured with broken bones in their bodies, Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow were… grinning?

“Huh? What are you three smiling about!? Don’t you get it!? It’s over! You’ve lost!” Grogar yelled as he stomped his hoof.

Hearing this, Sombra turned to look at the terrible trio and saw that they were indeed smiling as they looked up at Grogar. This confused Sombra as he didn’t know what reason there was for them to seem so unconcerned with the fact that they were injured and had lost the fight.

“(Giggle) We were never trying to defeat you, Grogar.” Cozy Glow said with a grin.

“What?” Grogar asked, looking at the three villains with confusion and suspicion.

“You were right, Grogar. We were never going to overpower you, even with the four of us combined.” Tirek said as he looked over to Chrysalis.

“Which is why all we had to do was keep you busy until my secret weapon did its work.” Chrysalis said with a sly grin and a flick of her tongue. “And considering how long we have been fighting for, I believe the effects should kick in right about… now.”

Suddenly, Grogar felt a throbbing pain in his left shoulder. The pain was unlike anything he had ever felt in his entire life. The burning agony was quickly spreading throughout Grogar’s body like a wildfire. Then, Grogar felt a cold tingle in his spine, causing his entire body to shake uncontrollably. This was the last thing Grogar felt before he fell onto his side; Grogar’s entire body, aside from his face, was completely paralyzed.

“Gah! What!? What is this!? What happened to me!? Why can’t I move!?” Grogar yelled as he tried to get his body to move, before his eyes looked over to Chrysalis, who was laughing. “What did you do to me!?”

“(Evil Chuckle) Do you remember earlier when you were about to kill King Sombra and then you felt something bite into your left shoulder? That was me, and what is happening to you now is an effect of my secret weapon… venom.” Chrysalis said with another grin.

“What!? That’s impossible! Changelings don’t have venom!” Grogar roared as his body refused to listen to him.

“(Evil Chuckle) As a matter of fact, we do have venom. What do you think our fangs are for? They’re certainly not just for show.” Chrysalis replied as she bared her sharp fangs at Grogar.

“Chrysalis, do you… really have venom? Or is this a gift granted by Grogar’s Bewitching Bell?” Sombra asked as he looked at Chrysalis with shock.

“(Chuckle) I assure you, King Sombra, every changeling is capable of using venom; whether it be the drones, nursery changelings, guards, or the queen.” Chrysalis replied. “Changeling venom is very powerful as its effects can cause paralysis. We use this venom to subdue our targets if they are too much for us to handle. The effects of the venom can last for quite a few hours, depending on how much venom is injected into the target. Sure, the venom isn’t fatal by any means, but being paralyzed for hours can be a far worse fate to endure than death.”

“But why haven’t-!?”

“Why haven’t you heard of it? Well, Grogar, I didn’t call it my secret weapon for nothing. Changeling venom is meant to be kept hidden from others and is only to be used as a last resort. Now, I’m sure you’re wondering ‘Chrysalis, why not use it all the time?’, well I’ll tell you why.” Chrysalis said with a grin. “Despite how effective my venom is, it unfortunately comes with a few drawbacks. For one, the venom takes time to kick in depending on how big and powerful the target is. Also, the source of changeling venom comes from how much magic and energy we have stored in our bodies. Every time a changeling uses their venom, they are essentially draining themselves of their energy and strength. The overuse of venom can result in a changeling dying of starvation and shock due to sudden exhaustion, which is why the venom is only meant to be used as a last resort.”

“You… You mean…”

“(Chuckle) Yes, that’s right Grogar.” Chrysalis said with a slow nod and a wicked smile.

“You lost the fight before it even started.” Cozy Glow said with a smirk.

“Oh, and I forgot to mention, the venom also negates the target from using any magic whatsoever. Even some creature as powerful as you can’t use your magic while my venom is in your body.” Chrysalis added.

“It’s over now, Grogar. There’s nothing you can do to stop us! Sure, we could just leave you here to freeze to death, but I think for our sake, it would be better if we just took care of you now.” Tirek said as he held up Grogar’s bell and tossed it over to Sombra. “However, we think it’s best if he takes care of you.”

As Sombra caught the bell with his magic, he looked at it for a few seconds and then looked back at the terrible trio. Sombra was still upset about Tirek and Chrysalis’s rebellion earlier, but at the same time, he was still confused by this sudden change in attitude in the two villains. After giving it some thought, Sombra decided that he would deal with this once Grogar was out of the way.

“(Chuckle) Thank you, Tirek.” Sombra said as he nodded at the minotaur before walking over to Grogar. “You know, Grogar, I must say that you fought very well, and your powers are incredible. But… your time is up.”

“You are ancient history and I guarantee you that barely anyone in all of Equestria even knows your name.” Tirek said with a laugh. “It’s time we got rid of the old and made room for the new. (Chuckle) But don’t worry, we’ll take good care of Equestria.”

“While your power and abilities were more than impressive, you failed to understand that brute force and power alone is not going to allow you to accomplish anything.” Chrysalis said as she narrowed her eyes. “It is teamwork and intelligence that will allow us to achieve our goals and take Equestria for ourselves.”

“The four of us may have failed to take over Equestria by ourselves, but together, we’ll do more than you ever did!” Cozy Glow added with a sinister grin and a wave. “Bye-bye, Grogar.”

“No…”

“(Evil Chuckle) What was that you said to me earlier, Grogar?” Sombra asked as he glared into Grogar’s eyes. “Once I’m done with you, no pony will believe you even existed.”

Before Grogar could say anything else, Sombra used the power of the bell to drain Grogar of all of his strength, power, energy, and even his life force. Grogar roared as he felt everything get drained from his body. The rush of pure pain was even worse than the burning pain from Chrysalis’s venom. Grogar knew that it was over; it was only a matter of time before his soul was absorbed into his own bell and he’d be trapped again.

“No! NO! NOOOOOOOOO!!!” Grogar roared as his soul was finally absorbed into the bell, leaving only his skeleton behind once again; Grogar was gone.

With Grogar finally defeated, Sombra chuckled as he held the bell up with his magic, relishing in how much power he had with this bell. Sombra then remembered his current situation and turned to face the terrible trio. Sombra decided that now it was time to see what was going on here. As the evil tyrant turned to look at them, the terrible trio immediately bowed down to Sombra, even Chrysalis, who struggled to stand on her broken legs.

“Cozy Glow, come here.” Sombra ordered, nodding to the spot next to him.

Hearing that only she was called up worried Cozy Glow as she knew that Sombra was still understandably furious with Tirek and Chrysalis for their actions before Grogar showed up. She wanted to say something in their defense, but Cozy Glow decided it would be better if she just did what she was told. So, Cozy Glow got up and stood next to Sombra.

Sombra let out a small grunt of approval before slowly looking back at Tirek and Chrysalis. Nothing need to be said for everypony to sense the anger that Sombra was feeling towards the two villains.

“Tirek. Chrysalis.” Sombra began, getting their attention. “Explain yourselves and make it quick. Otherwise, I’ll make sure you suffer a fate worse than what Grogar just experienced.”

Tirek and Chrysalis just looked at each other for a few moments before they nodded. All they could do now was hope that Sombra would listen to them and just maybe give them another chance. Tirek cleared his throat as he went first.

“Look Sombra, I know we may have stepped over the line back there-.”

“Oh, you did more than step over the line, Tirek. You two refused to obey my orders and even dared to accuse me of trying to betray you.” Sombra said, his eyes locked onto Tirek and Chrysalis’s eyes.

“We know and that is why we came back to help you. Assuming that you would betray us even after all you’ve done for us was stupid. We went against you because we thought you were just using us; that you would betray us the moment we gave you Grogar’s bell. But Cozy Glow told us that if you really didn’t need us, you would have just saved yourself and let us be killed by Grogar.” Chrysalis said as she looked over at Cozy Glow.

“But you didn’t.” Tirek interjected, turning Sombra’s attention towards him. “You saved us and even took on Grogar, despite knowing that he was much more powerful than you. Not only that, but your plan to take over Equestria is actually brilliant. I’m sure that if we all play our cards right, everything will go as planned.”

“So, what are you two saying exactly?” Sombra asked, raising an eyebrow at the two villains.

“(Sigh) Sombra, we know that Chrysalis and I haven’t been the most loyal or respectful to you since we all met, but if you give us another chance, we promise to never go against you again.” Tirek said, placing his hand over his heart.

“We will follow your orders and make sure we stay in line. Never again will we be disloyal to you.” Chrysalis added as she lowered her head. “Forgive us and we swear, we will not rest until we have taken over Equestria.”

After hearing Tirek and Chrysalis’s apology and plea for mercy, Sombra just stared at them, not saying a single word. The silence was unbearable, and the tension was thick as only the sounds of the wind blowing and the leaves rustling in the breeze could be heard. Sombra’s eyes pierced into the souls of Tirek and Chrysalis like a knife cutting through butter.

After a few more seconds of dreadful silence passed, Cozy Glow looked up at Sombra’s face and horrified at what she saw. She could see that Sombra wasn’t pleased with Tirek and Chrysalis’s apology. Before, Cozy Glow wouldn’t have cared if Sombra just decided to kill these two villains, but now things were different. Cozy Glow felt that it wouldn’t be fair for them to be killed now when they really did want to follow Sombra. Making up her mind, Cozy Glow decided to stand up for the two villains.

“King Sombra, please don’t punish them.” Cozy Glow said as she tugged on Sombra’s cape to get his attention.

“Huh? What?” Sombra asked as he looked down at the filly with confusion before going back to being serious. “Cozy Glow, they betrayed me; they disobeyed me. I do not tolerate disloyalty whatsoever. Tirek and Chrysalis will be punished for their actions.”

“No!” Cozy Glow cried as she ran up in front of Tirek and Chrysalis, rearing up on her hind legs and spreading out her front legs as if she were trying to shield the villains from Sombra. “Don’t hurt them!”

“Cozy Glow, what do you think you’re doing?” Sombra asked as he narrowed his eyes down at the filly.

“King Sombra, please don’t hurt them!” Cozy Glow said again as she lowered herself back on all four hooves. “I know Tirek and Chrysalis disobeyed you and went against you, and I know that you don’t believe that they want to listen to you, but they really mean it this time!”

“Cozy Glow don’t stick your neck out for us like this! Chrysalis and I expected this to happen, just let it go!” Tirek said, not wanting Cozy Glow to suffer whatever Sombra had in store for them.

“Child! This is not worth it! Back down!” Chrysalis shouted, as she too didn’t want Cozy Glow to be punished for their mistakes.

“Cozy Glow, are you going against me too?” Sombra asked.

“King Sombra, I’ve been more loyal to you than anypony else has ever been! You believed in me like no pony else ever has! I would never lie to you or want to go against you! I swear they’re telling the truth! Please give them a chance! Please-!”

“Enough! Cozy Glow, if you insist on defying me, then you can join your fellow traitors. NOW!” Sombra roared.

“Yes, King Sombra.” Cozy Glow said as she walked over, standing next to Tirek and Chrysalis.

“You three have really disappointed me. Especially you, Cozy Glow. I had thought that I had at least one among you who would always be loyal and follow my orders. But I was wrong.” Sombra said as he picked up the bell with his magic. “Do me a favor all of you, stay still.”

Suddenly, shadow hands rose up from the ground and grabbed onto the terrible tiro, pinning them in place. It was then that Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow realized what Sombra was going to do to them. He was going to use Grogar’s bell to seal them away for all eternity. And since no pony would be able to take the bell from Sombra, the terrible trio knew that this was the end for them. As Sombra held up the bell and pointed it at them, Tirek felt something press up against his side. Looking down, Tirek saw that Cozy Glow was leaning against him, looking terrified. Chrysalis also took note of this and looked at Tirek, they too were both afraid of what was about to happen.

“(Evil Chuckle) Your newly gained powers will serve me well when I take them for my own. Farewell, my friends.” Sombra said with an evil grin.

As Grogar’s bell began to glow with its magical essence, the terrible trio looked at each other. A million thoughts were rushing through their heads as Sombra prepared to use the spell that he had used on Grogar only minutes ago. Tirek only regretted the fact that he would never get to get back at his father for always looking down on him. Chrysalis was ashamed that she never would get to take her revenge on Starlight Glimmer for ruining everything she had worked so hard to get in her life. Cozy Glow was afraid of death and upset that she never got to prove her worthiness to Sombra and that she would never get to rule with him or even teach her father a lesson for how he had treated her.

With the bell finally ready to do its job, the terrible trio looked at each other one last time before they closed their eyes and waited for death to take them away. Sombra then fired a large beam of magic from the bell at the terrible trio, engulfing them in a cloud of magic. Sombra laughed as he let the power of Grogar’s Bewitching Bell do its work. When the spell was finished, Sombra chuckled as he spoke.

“(Chuckle) That is much better, don’t you think?”

As the cloud of magic disappeared, there stood Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow, who were completely unharmed and still very much alive. Only now, all of their wounds had been fully healed and they had undergone a few changes. Similar to Chrysalis, Tirek also had been given armored plating on his body, mainly on his arms, legs, and chest. Something also felt different to Tirek about himself, but he didn’t know what it was. However, that wasn’t the biggest change Tirek had undergone as he was now sporting a pair of large powerful wings like a dragon on his back. Chrysalis had grown sharp claws on all four of her hooves and her tail had become longer and changed to look like a scorpion’s tail with a deadly stinger. Chrysalis could also feel that something else had changed about her. As for Cozy Glow, she didn’t go through any physical changes but much like the others, she could definitely feel that something was different about her.

“Wh-What? What is this?” Chrysalis asked as she examined the changes she had just undergone.

“Am I dreaming, or do I really have wings?” Tirek asked as he looked back at the large and wicked-looking wings on his back.

“W-We’re not… d-dead?” Cozy Glow asked as she looked around in confusion.

While the terrible trio were standing there, completely baffled by the fact that they weren’t dead, the sound of Sombra’s chuckles snapped them out of their confused state as they turned to look at him.

“(Evil Chuckle) (Evil Laugh) Did you all really think I was just going to kill you? (Evil Laugh) I would never do that. You three are too important to me to just get rid of.” Sombra said.

“So… you mean… you’re giving us another chance?” Chrysalis asked.

“Yes; One. Last. Chance. And if any of you even think about betraying me or defying me again, you will wish that Grogar killed me. Do I make myself clear?” Sombra asked, giving the terrible trio a cold and icy stare.

“Yes, King Sombra.” The terrible trio replied.

“(Evil Chuckle) Good. Now that we’ve settled our differences, I’m sure you’ve all noticed some changes about yourselves.” Sombra said as the terrible trio responded with nods. “Tirek, using Grogar’s bell, I have given you the ability to fly and I have also increased your knowledge of magic. You now have more spells at your disposal.”

“(Chuckle) Oh yeah, that’s what I’m talking about! I’ve never felt so powerful in all my life! This is even better than the time I nearly gained all of the magic in Equestria!” Tirek said as he flexed his muscles and admired his strong wings.

“Chrysalis, your new claws are sharp enough to dig into solid rock and your new tail is packed with very lethal venom.” Sombra said.

“Yes, I noticed. These will do nicely. I cannot wait to inflict as much pain as possible onto Starlight Glimmer and the rest of those pathetic ponies! Their suffering will be so satisfying.” Chrysalis said as she admired her new sharp claws and scorpion tail.

“Oh, and speaking of venom, no longer does the use of venom drain you of your energy or strength. You can now use your venom freely with no consequences.” Sombra added.

“(Wicked Chuckle) Yes… this will certainly come in handy… I’m more deadly than ever!” Chrysalis said as she laughed with glee.

“As for you, Cozy Glow.” Sombra said, looking over at the filly. “While you may not have undergone any physical changes like Tirek and Chrysalis did, I have increased your durability and stamina. I have also increased your knowledge of magic, much like I did for Tirek.”

“(Evil Giggle) Alright! Thank you so much, King Sombra! Now no pony will ever underestimate me just because I’m little!” Cozy Glow said as she clasped her hooves together.

“(Chuckle) I am pleased that you are all satisfied with your new powers and abilities.” Sombra said with a nod of approval.

“We are more than satisfied with our new powers, but there is something we need to ask you.” Chrysalis said.

“I’m listening.” Sombra replied.

“Before Grogar showed up and tried to destroy us, you said that you needed us. That without us, your plan would never work. Why are we so important to your plan?” Chrysalis asked.

Sombra didn’t give an answer to Chrysalis’s question immediately. Instead, he just looked at her for a few seconds and then let out a low chuckle.

“(Chuckle) Well, I suppose it’s time I told you all that important thing you’ve all been waiting so patiently to hear.” Sombra said as he took another pause before speaking again. “You three are my greatest assets. I have more faith in the three of you than anypony else who is working for me.”

“Even more than Professor What’s-His-Face?” Tirek asked curiously.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not, but Professor Screw is old. Yes, he might be very good with spells and has proven his usefulness on multiple occasions, but he is an old pony who doesn’t have a lot of time left in him. I imagine that in a few years, he will die of old age.” Sombra said, giving the terrible trio another grin. “You three on the other hoof, are still young, strong, and full of potential.”

“What about the Rogue?” Chrysalis asked.

“You remember my plan, don’t you? Once the Rogue fulfill their purpose, I don’t care what happens to them. I have no intention of allowing them to rule Equestria with us.” Sombra said as he frowned. “I mean, none of the members of the Rogue would even stand a chance against us. Not even the Doctor.”

“Good riddance, I never liked any of them.” Chrysalis said.

“With my power, I can easily just march over to the Crystal Empire and take it over in an instant. However, I cannot take over Equestria alone. That is why I brought you all into my plan.” Sombra said. “Because I know, that together, we will be unstoppable. With our powers combined, no pony would stand a chance against us. I believe in you because you proved to me that you can work together, and you can overcome even the deadliest of obstacles. That is why I rewarded you with new powers and abilities.”

“(Chuckle) You know what Sombra, I think I’m going to enjoy working with you.” Tirek said as he turned to the other villains. “It’s about time those stupid ponies got what was coming to them!”

“Yes, and with King Sombra in charge of the operation, no pony will be able to stop us!” Chrysalis added as she grinned wickedly. “Not Twilight Sparkle and her pathetic friends, not the royal sisters, not even that stupid love princess will be able to stop us from taking over!”

“With our new powers and abilities and with King Sombra as our leader, Equestria will be ours in no time! And then, we can all rule it together!” Cozy Glow said as she did a flip in the air.

“Until then, all hail King Sombra!” Tirek said as he kneeled down, bowing to Sombra.

“All hail King Sombra!” Chrysalis and Cozy Glow said as they too bowed before Sombra.

“(Evil Laugh) Oh, it’s good to have you three back on my side. Soon, Equestria will be ours!” Sombra said as all the villains laughed and laughed.

Author's Note

WOW! What a chapter! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Now all four of our primary villains are on the same page and will stick together until the end! With their new powers, Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow are now ready to take part in the next step of Sombra's big plan! Now for some explaining lol

So, I took a week break, but then I had to take another week off because I had my wisdom teeth removed, so I spent the second week recovering. This chapter was probably the one that so far, went through the most changes, a lot of things were cut out, and was by far the most difficult chapter for me to write. What made this chapter so difficult was definitely the conversations between Sombra and the terrible trio after the battle with Grogar, and the fight scenes with Grogar fighting the terrible trio and when Sombra joined in the fight; writing fight scenes were multiple characters are fighting one character is challenging for me. As I mentioned earlier, a lot of things were cut and changed about this chapter. I initially wasn't going to have the terrible trio gain their new forms until after the fight with Grogar, but that got changed. In my early drafts, Sombra and the terrible trio didn't separate and they fought Grogar together at the start. I also planned to have a villains sing a song at the end, but I'm not very good at writing songs sadly. The scene where Sombra interrogates Tirek and Chrysalis was going to be much darker, but I decided to tone it down. If you all have any questions, feel free to ask me!

Thank you all for continuing to support me and my story, it really means a lot to me! Next chapter will still focus on the villains, and then the next chapter, we will check up on Twilight and the others! Goodbye for now everypony and happy Easter!

Maniacs in Manehattan

Once all four the villains finally ended their fit of laughter, they took some time to calm down before looking over at Sombra.

“So, what are we going to do now, King Sombra?” Cozy Glow asked as she eagerly looked up at the king.

“Yeah, who are we going to use our new powers on?” Tirek added with as he smashed his fists together. “I’m just dying to see how much damage I can cause to those pathetic weaklings!”

“(Chuckle) I am pleased that you three are eager to move ahead with your part of the plan but first, the Rogue need to play their part.” Sombra said, raising his hoof slightly.

“I take it you have a new mission for them?” Chrysalis asked.

“As a matter of fact, I do. I’m sending them to Manehattan.” Sombra replied.

“Manehattan? But, why Manehattan?” Cozy Glow asked curiously. “Wouldn’t it make more sense to attack a city that wouldn’t draw as much attention?”

“Like I told you before, the Rogue know their purpose, and what better place to play their part than the biggest and most popular city in all of Equestria.” Sombra said with a grin as the other villains nodded in agreement.

“It’s too bad that we can’t go to Manehattan, but I’m sure you’ve got something special planned for us now that we’ve got Grogar’s bell.” Tirek said as he rubbed his hands together.

“(Chuckle) I do.” Sombra replied with a nod. “All will be explained when we return back to base. Come along now, we wouldn’t want to keep our partners waiting for too long now, would we?”

With that, Tirek, Chrysalis and Cozy Glow used their recently acquired enchanted bracelets to teleport themselves back to the castle. Sombra, however, didn’t immediately go back with the others. Instead, he stayed behind for a bit as he used his magic to levitate some broken sticks and twigs in front of him. Placing the sticks on the ground and lighting them on fire with his magic, that distinct green, purple, and red flame appeared before Sombra. Then, a voice spoke from the flames.

Sombra, what do you think you are doing?

“(Chuckle) Hello, mother…” Sombra replied, looking into the flames.

What are you thinking? Giving those three critters such power…

“(Chuckle) Don’t worry mother. Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow know their place. They will not be a problem. Everything will go according to plan…” Sombra said with a dark chuckle.

Meanwhile, in King Sombra’s Castle…

Inside the castle, the Rogue were just trying to pass the time while they waited for King Sombra to return. Iron Will didn’t really do anything as he just sat around making weird groaning noises. Flim and Flam would just talk to each other and occasionally stop Discorded Whooves from hitting on Lightning Dust. Speaking of the Doctor, he would spend his time talking to himself, bothering everypony else, and making unwanted advances towards Lightning Dust. As for the reckless speedster, she spent most of her time outside the castle, perfecting her flying and putting as much space between her and the creepy Doctor as possible.

At this time, the Rogue, minus Discorded Whooves, were just gathered around the table which had the large map of Equestria on it.

“Ugh! I’m so bored! When is King Sombra going to come back!?” Lightning Dust asked as she slammed her face down onto the table.

“I don’t know, but I can’t wait to get my hooves on all the money stowed away in the bank of Manehattan!” Flim said as he rubbed his hooves together.

“Yeah! With all those bits, we’ll be set for life!” Flam added with a sly grin.

“Pfft, yeah. You guys can focus on the bank, I just want to get out there and cause some chaos! I want that thrill and sense of action!” Lightning Dust said.

“Iron Will destroy big city!” Iron Will suddenly shouted, startling the other Rogue members.

“Yeah… that’s right, buddy.” Flim said, cringing a little at Iron Will’s current condition.

Then, before the Rogue could continue any sort of conversation, the terrible trio suddenly appeared in the castle. The members of the Rogue were shocked not only by the arrival the of terrible trio, but also by their new appearances. Cozy Glow was the first to speak after they had arrived back at the castle.

“Oh look, it’s the lazy freeloaders who just sit around and do nothing all day.” Cozy Glow said with a smirk

“Oh please! What have you done aside from going off on that little scavenger hunt for the last few days?” Lightning Dust asked, narrowing her eyes down at the filly.

“We were doing a very important job for your information! Also, whatever you morons have been doing, we could do it a hundred times better.” Tirek said as he crossed his arms over his chest before noticing Iron Will just blankly staring at him. “What are you looking at!? Huh!?”

Iron Will said nothing as he just continued to blankly stare at Tirek, not even reacting when Tirek walked over to him.

“What are you, deaf!? I asked you a question!” Tirek said as he jabbed Iron Will’s chest with his finger.

“Pfft, yeah sure. You guys were doing important stuff. Well, we’ve put in more work than any of you losers!” Lightning Dust said.

“Oh yeah? Well from what we’ve heard, all you’ve done is run around and scare a bunch of ponies. Doesn’t sound like work to me.” Cozy Glow said as she rolled her eyes.

“Why don’t you shut your little mouth before I buck out all your teeth!” Lightning Dust said as she stomped over to Cozy Glow, glaring down at the filly.

“You think I’m scared of you? You’re not even close to being scary. You’re just a stupid pegasus who failed at life twice. Stay losing.” Cozy Glow said with a grin, puffing out her chest to appear tough.

“Why you little!” Lightning Dust yelled as she raised her hoof to hit Cozy Glow, only to be held back by Flam’s magic. “Hey! Let me go! I’m gonna pound this little brat’s face into the dirt!”

“(Nervous Chuckle) Don’t mind her, she’s just a little bored of being cooped up in this castle for too long.” Flam said as he took note of the bizarre changes the terrible trio had undergone and didn’t want to cause any trouble. “So… did you guys get a makeover or something?”

“(Chuckle) Oh, we’ve gotten more than just a simple makeover.” Chrysalis said with a flick of her mane. “We’re new and improved. And we’re much stronger than all of you.”

The sound of Discorded Whooves’s laughter suddenly interrupted and startled the villains, ending their little scuffle. It wasn’t so much who the laughter came from, but rather where the laughter came from. Looking up, the villains saw that the Doctor was up on the ceiling, using the mechanical arms to crawl around like a spider.

“(Chuckle) You three might be stronger than us, sure.” Discorded Whooves said as he crawled down from the ceiling. “But physical strength alone won’t be enough. You need intelligence to accomplish your goals.”

“Ha! Please, you’re the only one in your little group that even has a brain. And that’s not saying much.” Chrysalis said, scowling a bit.

“Well, I certainly appreciate the compliment, Chrysalis. I for one, am glad to see that you’ve returned.” Discorded Whooves said as he gave Chrysalis a creepy smile.

“Say one more thing that even remotely annoys me, and I’ll shred you to bits!” Chrysalis snapped with a hiss.

“(Chuckle) I don’t think the master will allow you to do anything to me.” Discorded Whooves replied, still giving Chrysalis that creepy grin.

“In case you weren’t aware, Doctor, King Sombra isn’t here right now. There is nothing stopping me from ripping you apart.” Chrysalis said, baring her fangs at him.

“Hmph. You won’t even touch me. My arms will make sure you don’t get within an inch of my face.” Discorded Whooves said as he had the upper two arms open and close their claws.

“Why don’t you lose the arms and then try threatening me.” Chrysalis suggested as she took a step forward.

“That’s quite enough.” Sombra’s voice said as the evil tyrant stepped out of the shadows. “We do not have time for you all to sit around and bicker like children.”

“Yes, King Sombra.” The villains replied as they ceased their arguments and backed off of each other.

“Good, now where is the Professor?” Sombra asked as he looked around for Professor Screw Loose.

“He said something about having to complete a job for you, boss.” Flim replied.

“We haven’t seen him in two days, boss.” Flam added.

“I see… well no matter. Come, gather around all of you.” Sombra said as he walked over to his throne in front of the table map, while the rest of the villains took their seats, apart from Iron Will, who just stood around. “Thanks to the efforts of Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow, we now have this in our possession.” Sombra said as he placed Grogar’s bell onto the table.

With Grogar’s bell in view for the rest of the villains to see, the Rogue looked at the bell in astonishment. While none of them had much knowledge of Grogar, considering how much power was inside the bell according to Sombra, this had to be a huge advantage for the plan.

“With Grogar’s bell in our possession, we now have the power to move on with the next phase of my plan.” Sombra said as he turned to the Rogue. “I’m sure you’re all eager to be sent out on your next mission. Well, no longer do you have to wait. I’m sending you all to Manehattan.”

“Oh, my Celestia! YES! Finally! We’ve been dying to get back out there!” Lightning Dust said.

“(Chuckle) Yes, I’m sure you have been.” Sombra said as he nodded his head slightly towards Lightning Dust. “Before you go however, you must remember that while I am giving you the freedom to do whatever you wish, Coco Pommel must be taken hostage.”

“Oh, don’t worry master. We will make sure that this Coco Pommel is taken care of.” Discorded Whooves said as the arms snaked around in the air.

“That brings me to my next point. While you may have only attacked two areas in Equestria, you’ve all already made a name for yourselves. I am not aware as to how many ponies in Equestria know about you, but one thing’s for sure, you must not raise any alarms until you have secured Coco Pommel as a hostage. Only then, can you go all out on the city.” Sombra said.

“So, what are you saying, boss?” Flim asked as he raised his hoof. “That we should try not to stand out so much?”

“Exactly. If the citizens of Manehattan see you coming, they will all go in a panic, and you will have a much harder time capturing Coco Pommel.” Sombra explained.

“Boss, I don’t mean to question you or anything, but why do we need to hold this Coco Pommel hostage again?” Flam asked as he too raised his hoof.

“Yeah, couldn’t we just take any pony hostage?” Flim added nervously.

“Coco Pommel is a pony that has a good relationship with Twilight Sparkle and her friends, specifically with Rarity and Applejack. When the ponies see that Coco Pommel is in danger, they will rush to the rescue.” Sombra replied as he let out a chuckle. “So, while you could just take any pony hostage, this will provide a nice sense of urgency for the ponies.”

“But how exactly are we not supposed to draw any attention to ourselves? With the mad doctor over there with those robot arms, it’s not going to be easy to keep a low profile. Especially if the ponies in Manehattan already know who we are.” Lightning Dust said.

“Just leave the arms behind, duh.” Cozy Glow said with another eyeroll.

Before Sombra or anypony else could say anything, one of the mechanical arms shot out and grabbed ahold of Cozy Glow, its claws wrapping around Cozy Glow’s entire body and carrying her over to the Doctor. Cozy Glow tried to protest, but she was cut off when the claws around her squeezed tighter, preventing her from letting out a single sound.

“I’m never, and I mean never, going to abandon my arms. Do you hear me, little filly?” Discorded Whooves asked as he gave Cozy Glow a soul piercing glare.

In response to this sudden attack, the rest of the Rogue just stood frozen as they didn’t know what to do. Tirek and Chrysalis on the other hoof, prepared to use some of their new power on the Doctor. However, before that could happen, a shadowy vine shot out from the ground and wrapped itself around Discorded Whooves’s neck.

“Put. Her. Down. Doctor.” Sombra said as his eyes glowed green with malice.

Being unable to respond to Sombra due to the shadow vine around his neck, Discorded Whooves released Cozy Glow from the arm’s grip. The little filly quickly flew back and teleported between Tirek and Chrysalis before glaring at the Doctor.

“You’re a freaking psychopath! Why is he even here, King Sombra!? He’s insane!” Cozy Glow screamed as she stomped the ground.

“Doctor, whether you think so or not, without your arms, you do not pose much of a threat to Equestria.” Sombra said, raising his hoof up to keep Cozy Glow from rambling. “In order to raise as little suspicion as possible, I will place a spell on you which will allow you to make your arms turn invisible.”

Before Discorded Whooves could give any kind of consent, Sombra used his magic to place this special spell on the Doctor. Feeling this new sense of magic fill him, Discorded Whooves turned all four of his mechanical arms invisible with his mind. Then, using his mind, he turned the arms visible again.

“(Chuckle) Fascinating.” Discorded Whooves replied as he tested the invisibility ability a couple more times.

“Now, before you leave on your next mission, I will go get the crystal globe from Professor Screw and bring it back so you can use it to contact the ponies.” Sombra said as he prepared to teleport away.

“There is no need for that, master.” Discorded Whooves said, stopping Sombra before he could teleport. “When we awoke this morning, we found the crystal globe on this table. No doubt the Professor left it here for us to use.”

“(Chuckle) Excellent. In that case, you are all ready to go to Manehattan. Remember what your mission is and do not contact the ponies until you have captured Coco Pommel. You will all leave at once, except for you.” Sombra said as he looked over at the Doctor. “The rest of you, go.”

With that, Lightning Dust, Iron Will, Flim, and Flam all used their enchanted bracelets to teleport out of the base, leaving only Discorded Whooves behind with Sombra and the terrible trio.

“Doctor, I may have assigned you as the leader of the Rogue, but you will not attack another one of my loyal subjects ever again.” Sombra said, giving Discorded Whooves a look that he would never forget. “If you do, I will make sure you suffer more than you ever have in your pathetic life. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, master.” Discorded Whooves said.

“Good. Be gone now and do not fail me.” Sombra said.

“Do not worry, master. We will not fail you.” Discorded Whooves said as he used his enchanted bracelet to teleport away.

With the Rogue now gone, Sombra nodded to himself before he turned to face the terrible trio.

“As for you three.” Sombra said, getting the attention of the three remaining villains.

“What do we get to do, King Sombra!?” Cozy Glow asked excitedly with a flap of her wings.

“Now that the three of you have the power of Grogar’s bell, we can begin with the next phase of the plan; ensuring that the allies of the ponies do not come to their aid when we begin the attack on Equestria.” Sombra said.

“(Evil Chuckle) Yes. We will crush the allies of those stupid ponies and leave them defenseless!” Chrysalis said as the other two villains laughed with glee.

“Actually, we will not be destroying the allies of the ponies.” Sombra said, causing the terrible trio to look at him in confusion.

“What? What do you mean we will not destroy them?” Chrysalis asked.

“Yeah, we have all of this new power from Grogar’s bell, don’t we? Why not just wipe them all out?” Tirek asked.

“Don’t get ahead of yourselves, my friends. We may have the power of Grogar’s bell in our possession, but we are not gods. There are only four of us and even with the power we have, we still have the risk of being overwhelmed by our enemies. Therefore, instead of destroying the allies of the ponies, this will be our plan.” Sombra explained as he used his magic to project the images of six creatures above the table map.

The six creatures that were displayed above the table in the throne room of the base consisted of one dragon, one yak, one hippogriff, one griffon, one changeling, and one earth pony. These six creatures were none other than Smolder, Yona, Silverstream, Gallus, Ocellus, and Sandbar. While Tirek and Chrysalis had no idea who these creatures were, Cozy Glow was not happy to see the Young Six again.

“What!? Ugh! Not those stupid kids again!” Cozy Glow shouted as she stomped her hoof down.

“You know these… children, Cozy?” Tirek asked.

“Of course I do! Those little brats are the reason that my plan failed! I don’t know how they did it, but they were able to return all the magic in Equestria. I hate them with a passion!” Cozy Glow explained as her face went red with rage.

“Oh, well I guess that explains your little outburst.” Tirek said with a slight chuckle.

“King Sombra, what do these brats have to do with our plan to deal with Equestria’s allies?” Cozy Glow asked, ignoring Tirek’s remark.

“Simple, rather than run the risk of being overwhelmed by the allies, we will take these younglings hostage. With the younglings in captivity, we will use them to ensure that the allies don’t even consider helping the ponies when we attack.” Sombra explained.

“But why take these children hostage? Wouldn’t the allies get the message if we just captured their leaders?” Tirek asked.

“Once again, yes, we could just take the leaders hostage. However, they say that the worst thing anypony can experience, is the loss of a child.” Sombra replied as he and the rest of the villains chuckled.

“In that case, I say that we set off immediately and capture these little runts while the Rogue are busy with their little job.” Chrysalis said as she prepared to take flight.

“Not so fast, Chrysalis.” Sombra said, stopping Chrysalis from taking off. “We will set off once Twilight Sparkle and her friends find out about the Rogue’s presence in Manehattan.”

“What!? Again, we must wait!? You are doing this on purpose!” Chrysalis shouted.

“I still haven’t finished explaining the details of the plan and besides, I have some business to attend to with Professor Screw.” Sombra replied.

“Aww but King Sombra, we’re ready now!” Cozy Glow said.

“(Chuckle) Yes, I know, and I am glad. Have patience and soon, we will begin the next phase of the plan… together.” Sombra said as he prepared to leave.

“King Sombra, before you… fade away or whatever, what’s up with the minotaur? I don’t remember him being so… quiet.” Tirek said, remembering Iron Will’s very strange behavior.

For a few seconds, Sombra didn’t say anything or even move. The silence was short but felt like it went on for an eternity before Sombra finally spoke.

“Iron Will tried to betray me. He tried to leave the Rogue and go back home. So, I had Professor Screw forcibly make him into a loyal servant.” Sombra said, still facing away from the terrible trio. “Let’s just say Iron Will’s brain is a little… broken (Evil Chuckle).”

Hearing this and going off of Iron Will’s unusual behavior, the terrible trio looked at each other with wide eyes as they realized what had happened to the minotaur. Naturally this sparked a new sense of fear within the terrible trio.

“(Chuckle) There is no need to worry, my friends.” Sombra said, sensing the trio’s uneasiness and fear. “Nothing bad is going to happen to any of you… so long as you don’t try to betray me. But you wouldn’t do that to me, right?”

“Of course not! I would never even think about betraying you, King Sombra!” Cozy Glow shouted as she stood with confidence and obedience. “I would rather die than betray you.”

“You will not have any issues with me. I’ve already learned my lesson and I have no intention of losing out on my chance to exact my revenge against those stupid ponies. Especially Starlight Glimmer.” Chrysalis said, focusing on her hatred for Starlight rather than her fear of Sombra.

“I prefer to keep my brain the way it is, and I definitely don’t intend on dying anytime soon. Oh, and of course I don’t plan on betraying you either.” Tirek said, quickly correcting himself.

“(Chuckle) Good. Now, as I said earlier, I have business to attend to. Wait here for me. I will return shortly (Evil Chuckle).” Sombra said as he gave one last chuckle before disappearing into the shadows, leaving the terrible trio behind.

Meanwhile, in Manehattan…

After using his enchanted bracelet, Discorded Whooves found himself standing on the outskirts of Manehattan with the rest of the Rogue close by. The Rogue didn’t exchange any words as the Doctor walked over to them. The Rogue then looked down at the large city of Manehattan. The city was bustling with life and hundreds of ponies walking through the streets and taking taxis to get to their destinations quicker. Off in the distance, the Statue of Harmony stood tall and proudly over the city. However, the sights of this marvelous city wasn’t what the Rogue was here to see.

“Wow… Manehattan…” Lightning Dust said as she admired the sights. “I’ve always wanted to come here one day. And now I get to totally wreck the place!”

“Look brother! I can practically see the bank all the way from here!” Flim shouted as he pointed down at the city.

“Just think of how much money is in that bank and waiting for us!” Flam said as the two brothers grinned at each other.

As the members of the Rogue were mentally planning for the chaos that they would unleash upon Manehattan, the sound of the Doctor chuckling snapped them out of their gleeful thoughts.

“I’m sure that we all have plans for this city, but in case you’ve forgotten, we have a job to do first.” Discorded Whooves said.

“Yeah, we know.” Lightning Dust replied with an annoyed groan. “Thanks for killing our vibe.”

“Iron Will go! Iron Will destroy city!” Iron Will yelled as he prepared to charge down towards the city, only for one of the Doctor’s mechanical arms to stop him.

“Your brain might have been damaged, Iron Will, but I’m sure your ears work just fine. Stay put.” Discorded Whooves said, treating the minotaur like he was a pet.

“W-Well in that case, why don’t we go and find Coco Pommel so we can get on with the more exciting stuff.” Flam suggested, still uncomfortable with Iron Will’s condition.

“Yes! That’s a splendid idea, brother! Come, there’s no need to waste any more precious time.” Flim said as the two brothers began to walk down towards the city.

“So, you two know where Coco Pommel is?” Lightning Dust asked, stopping the brothers in their tracks.

“Well of course we do! Don’t you remember? The boss told us where we could find her.” Flam responded with a grin full of pride.

“That’s right, brother! The boss said that Coco Pommel runs a boutique in Manehattan.” Flim added as he gave the same grin.

“Great, and you two know where the boutique is?” Lightning Dust asked.

“Well… uh…” Flim said as he scratched the back of his head, chuckling nervously.

“What!? Seriously!? You didn’t think to ask King Sombra where the boutique was!? You’re both morons!” Lightning Dust yelled as she stomped her hoof down.

“Hey, you didn’t ask him either! So don’t go putting this all on us, you hear!?” Flam yelled as he stepped forward.

“If you’re all done acting like ignorant little children, I have a plan.” Discorded Whooves said, getting the Rogue’s attention. “All we have to do is simply go into the city and ask around for the location of Coco Pommel’s boutique.”

“Yeah, I get that King Sombra gave you the ability to turn your metal arms invisible, but how are we going to explain the brain-dead minotaur walking around with those metal gloves?” Lightning Dust asked, gesturing to Iron Will, who was standing still and emotionless.

“(Chuckle) Come now, sweetheart, it’s Manehattan. Do you know how many ponies dress up in ridiculous costumes and walk around the city?” Discorded Whooves asked with a grin that really ticked off Lightning Dust. “I have a feeling that we’ll blend right in with the rest of the degenerates that crowd the streets.”

“Pfft, whatever. Come on, let’s go.” Lightning Dust said as her wings flapped with impatience.

With that, Discorded Whooves used Sombra’s spell to turn his mechanical arms invisible, making sure to walk on his hooves while keeping the arms raised up straight so that they wouldn’t accidentally bump into anypony.

When the Rogue finally walked into the city, they made sure to keep their focus on locating Coco Pommel while also taking in the sights so they could see what they could use to cause some chaos later. One of the first things the Rogue noticed was that a new train system had been added in the city. This train ran above ground and was used to get ponies around the city faster. A lot of ponies were confused by Iron Will’s appearance but Flim and Flam, who were great talkers, explained that Iron Will was going to audition for a role in one of the upcoming plays in Manehattan, which just so happened to have a mad monster wreaking havoc in a big city.

At one point, the Rogue ended up passing by the bank of Manehattan. The mere sight of the bank filled Flim and Flam with so much greed and hunger for money. The brothers had to fight off the urge to just barge into the bank and start stealing all the money that they could. Of course, the Rogue were also harassed by many street actors and performers, but they didn’t pay them much attention.

Eventually, after asking multiple ponies for help with no good results, Discorded Whooves spotted a lone mare walking by herself. The mare was wearing a very beautiful dress, which told the Doctor that she was the pony to ask for the whereabouts of Coco Pommel. After all, only a boutique previously owned by Rarity would sell such a lovely dress. Discorded Whooves told the rest of the Rogue to stay put while he did the talking.

“Ahem, excuse me, madam.” Discorded Whooves said as he approached the mare.

“Oh, hello there. How may I help you?” the mare asked as she turned to look at him.

“(Chuckle) Well, I couldn’t help but notice the lovely dress that you have on.” Discorded Whooves said, giving the mare a grin. “I must ask, wherever did you find such a dress? I am sure my sister would like one of her own.”

“Oh, well that’s very nice of you to say, sir.” The mare responded with a smile. “I bought this dress over at Rarity for You; a fabulous boutique right here in Manehattan.”

“Rarity For You? That’s quite an interesting name. Might I ask, who owns this boutique?” Discorded Whooves asked.

“Well, the boutique was originally owned by Miss Rarity, a unicorn from Ponyville. But now, Coco Pommel runs the boutique.” The mare responded, still smiling politely.

“I see… would you happen to know where I can find this boutique?” Discorded Whooves asked.

“Of course, just continue walking down the street for about two blocks and then make a right. You’ll find it in no time.” The mare said as she pointed out the directions.

“(Chuckle) Thank you very much, madam.” Discorded Whooves said as the mare nodded politely and continued on her way, while the Doctor made his way back to the others. “Come along, we don’t want to keep Miss Pommel waiting.”

Meanwhile, at Rarity for You…

As another happy customer left the boutique, Coco Pommel breathed a sigh of relief as she was able to sell another dress without too much trouble. Ever since Rarity had put her in charge, Coco had gotten pretty used to running the boutique. Although she still occasionally got flustered as some of the ponies in Manehattan could be quite demanding.

“(Sigh) Perfect. Another successful sale.” Coco said as she wiped her forehead. “It sure is nice to keep this place up and running. Even if some ponies here are a little difficult to handle.”

Coco Pommel then started to adjust some of the dresses that were displayed around the boutique. As she did this, she caught a glimpse of a photo on the counter. It was a picture of Rarity and Coco standing in front of the boutique. This made Coco smile as she walked over to the picture and held it in her hooves.

“You’ve done so much for me, Rarity. Helping me finally break free from Suri, you and Applejack helping me with the Midsummer Theater Revival and giving me so many opportunities in my life.” Coco said as she looked around the boutique. “I just wish there was a way I could repay you. Being the salespony of this boutique just doesn’t seem like enough to repay your generosity.”

As Coco was continuing to ponder the ways in which she could properly repay Rarity for all her help, she heard the boutique’s doors open and the sound of customers entering the shop.

“Oh, customers.” Coco said as she placed the photo down and turned to see who had entered the boutique.

Coco was surprised to see that among the four customers that entered the boutique, not only were all of them male, but one of them was a minotaur. Coco had no idea who the grey pegasus or the minotaur was, but as she looked at the Flim Flam Brothers she thought she recognized them, but she couldn’t quite put her hoof on it. Shaking off the initial confusion, Coco put on her best smile and stepped towards the customers.

“Hello and welcome to Rarity for You, my name is Coco Pommel. How may I help you all today?” Coco asked.

“(Chuckle) So, you are Miss Coco Pommel?” Discorded Whooves asked with a grin.

“Yes, that is me. Do I know you?” Coco asked as she tilted her head, trying to think if she ever met this stallion.

“Oh, no. You don’t know me, but I know you.” Discorded Whooves said as he took a step towards her. “You see, my friends and I are in a little predicament, and we need your help.”

“My help? I… I suppose I could help. What do you need me to do?” Coco asked as she started to get a very strange feeling.

“(Chuckle) All you have to do is make a choice. You have two options.” Discorded Whooves said as Flim and Flam used their magic to close the blinds of the front windows, which made Coco concerned. “Either you can come quietly with us as our hostage, or we will take you away by force.”

“Excuse me!?” Coco cried, completely baffled by what she had just heard.

“You heard me. Now, what’s it going to be?” Discorded Whooves asked.

“I don’t know who you are or what you want with me, but I am not going to be anypony’s hostage! Get out of here right now or I will get the authorities involved!” Coco shouted.

“(Chuckle) So be it, Miss Pommel.” Discorded Whooves said as he revealed the four mechanical arms to her.

Coco Pommel was so shocked by the sight before her that she couldn’t even move. This allowed the Doctor to grab ahold of Coco using the upper right arm, holding her in a vicelike grip.

“LET ME GO! SOMEPONY HELP!” Coco screamed as she tried to break free.

“A fighter, huh? (Chuckle) Always so interesting to see a mare with some fight in her.” Discorded Whooves said as he took pleasure in watching Coco struggle. “Now, we are going to use you as bait to lure Twilight Sparkle and the rest of her friends here. When they arrive to save you, we will destroy them.”

“No! You monster!” Coco shouted as she continued to fight back.

“(Chuckle) Iron Will, trash the place.” Discorded Whooves said as he turned to the big minotaur.

“Iron Will destroy shop! Iron Will destroy everything!” Iron Will roared as he started to knock things over and smash everything in the boutique.

“NO!” Coco screamed as she watched Iron Will completely wreck the boutique.

“(Chuckle) Oh, yes.” Discorded Whooves said as he then slammed Coco against the ceiling, knocking her out. “Come now, Manehattan is waiting for us…”

Meanwhile, outside the boutique…

The whole time that Discorded Whooves and the other Rogues were dealing with Coco Pommel, Lightning Dust had been standing outside to make sure that no pony went in the boutique. She gave a few nasty glances at ponies who were passing by and shooed off a couple that attempted to enter the store.

As Lightning Dust was leaning against the wall, she felt the ground rumble and the sound of metallic footsteps coming from inside the store. Knowing what was about to happen, Lightning Dust quicky flew into the air, just as the front wall of the boutique was smashed open, causing a cloud of dust to cover the area. The ponies that were close by looked over and watched in shock as Discorded Whooves emerged from the dust. The sight of this strange pegasus being suspended in the air by these mechanical arms froze the ponies as Discorded Whooves smiled down at them.

“Hello Manehattan!” Discorded Whooves shouted, getting the attention of everypony in the area. “We are the Rogue, and Manehattan is now our playground! My advice for all of you, RUN!”

With that, the nearby ponies all began to scream and run away from the area. The sight of these ponies running in fear brought a smile to Discorded Whooves’s face. As the dust cleared, Iron Will and the Flim Flam Brothers walked out of the destroyed boutique and awaited instructions from the Doctor.

“(Chuckle) Look at them run. Like chickens ready to be slaughtered.” Discorded Whooves said with a sick twisted smile on his face.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, let’s just get on with it already! I’m itching for some chaos!” Lightning Dust said.

“You all make your way over to the bank; I have to take care of our hostage.” Discorded Whooves said as he shook the unconscious Coco in his metal arm.

“The bank!? Well, why didn’t you say so!?” Flim asked with a huge grin on his face.

“That bank and all the precious loot will be ours!” Flam added.

“Oh yeah! Now we’re talking!” Lightning Dust said she and the brothers ran in the direction of the bank.

“Iron Will destroy!” Iron Will roared as he ran after the rest of the Rogue.

Once Discorded Whooves was left alone, he let out a chuckle before going back inside the boutique. Looking around the shop, Discorded Whooves gathered up a few bundles of fabric and cloth, holding them with his hooves. Once he had collected enough materials, Discorded Whooves used his enchanted bracelet to teleport himself to the island where the Statue of Harmony stood.

On the island, a mother pony was attempting to take a picture of her family in front of the statue.

“Come on, sweetie, give me a big smile.” The mother said as she motioned for her daughter to smile.

“But mom I am smiling.” The filly replied with a small pout.

“(Chuckle) Come on, dear, give your mother the biggest smile ever.” The father said as he patted his daughter on the head.

“Alright, one… two… three…” the mother said as she held up the camera.

However, before the mother could take the picture, she noticed that her husband and her daughter had looks of shock and terror on their faces. Confused by their sudden change in attitude, the mother put the camera down to ask what was wrong. But before she could, she realized that her family wasn’t looking at her, they were looking behind her. At this revelation, the mother slowly turned around. As she did so, she came face to face with Discorded Whooves and his four mechanical arms, with Coco Pommel still in their grip.

“Boo.” Discorded Whooves said with a smirk on his face.

In response to hearing this, the family started to scream as they ran away. The screams and cries of the family got the attention of the other ponies who were on the island, causing them to also start panicking. Discorded Whooves laughed as he started to swipe his free upper mechanical arm at the frightened ponies, attempting to grab them or smack them down. As Discorded Whooves continued to terrorize the ponies, two police ponies ran up towards him.

“Police! Freeze, you maniac!” One of the police ponies shouted, causing Discorded Whooves to turn around and face the officers.

“The police? Heh.” Discorded Whooves said, not even remotely intimidated by their presence.

“Put the mare down and put your hooves in the air!” the second police pony shouted.

Discorded Whooves merely scoffed in response to the officer’s demand. Then with a loud grunt, Discorded Whooves used his free upper arm to grab onto a nearby bench before pulling it out of the ground and throwing it at the second police pony.

“No!” The first police pony cried as he watched his partner get crushed by the wooden bench.

“Don’t follow me!” Discorded Whooves said as he turned around and made his way towards the giant statue.

When Discorded Whooves made it to the base of the Statue of Harmony, he looked up towards the torch that the statue held proudly in its hooves. Discorded Whooves then used his free upper arm to test if the arms could safely climb up the statue without losing their grip. After confirming that the arms would have a secure grip, Discorded Whooves chuckled as he used the arm that was holding Coco Pommel to shock her, causing her to wake up.

“(Scream) What!? Where am I!?” Coco screamed as she looked around frantically before her eyes landed on Discorded Whooves. “(Gasp) You! Let me go right now!”

“(Chuckle) Oh come now, Miss Pommel, you’re about to have the experience of a lifetime. You should really be more grateful.” Discorded Whooves said.

“No! Let me go!” Coco screamed as she tried to break free from the arm’s grip.

Discorded Whooves only chuckled as he started to climb the Statue of Harmony using the mechanical arms. While the mad Doctor was scaling the statue, Coco continued to try and free herself from the grip of the mechanical arm that held her tightly. After a few dreadfully long minutes, they finally made it to the torch of the statue.

“We’re here. (Chuckle) YAH!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he slammed Coco against the flame of the torch.

Coco grunted in pain as she was slammed against the torch’s flame. Discorded Whooves then started to tie Coco to the flame using the fabrics and cloth he had stolen from the boutique with help from the mechanical arms. Once Coco was all tied up, Discorded Whooves climbed up to the top of the Statue of Harmony’s crown. Once he was at the top, Discorded Whooves looked down at the city of Manehattan. A feeling of pure satisfaction and pride flooded the Doctor as he felt like he was on top of the world; like nothing could stop him or ever slow him down.

“(Chuckle) Oh I’ve never felt so alive!” Discorded Whooves said as the four mechanical arms lifted him higher into the air. “Soon the city of Manehattan will fall to its knees! All will know the name of Discorded Whooves! (Evil Laugh)”

“You’ll never get away with this, you monster!” Coco shouted, interrupting the Doctor’s mad speech.

“(Chuckle) Oh, I think I will. You know, Miss Pommel, maybe we can work something out.” Discorded Whooves said with a sly smile as he crawled back down to Coco’s level. “I can let you go free… if…”

“If what?” Coco asked, not liking the sound of what the Doctor was saying.

“Oh, you know…” Discorded Whooves said as he brought his face very close to Coco’s face.

Finally realizing what this monster was implying, Coco let out a disgusted gasp as she proceeded to spit in the Doctor’s eye. In response to Coco’s actions, Discorded Whooves snarled as he headbutted Coco in the face, breaking her nose.

“Fine. Have it your way, you selfish bimbo. Besides, I have more important things to deal with right now.” Discorded Whooves said as he prepared to leave.

“Why are you doing this?” Coco asked as she spit away the blood that dripped from her nose.

“Because it’s all part of the plan. (Chuckle) Don’t worry, I’ll be back shortly. Wait here for me, will you?” Discorded Whooves asked with another sinister chuckle before he teleported away, leaving Coco behind to fear what was to come.

Meanwhile…

During the entire time that Discorded Whooves had teleported with Coco Pommel to the State of Harmony, the rest of the Rogue had been making their way to the bank of Manehattan. Along the way, they had decided to have some fun with the rest of the city while they headed to the bank. Ponies fled in terror as the Flim Flam Brothers fired their magic everywhere. Lightning Dust would swoop down from the sky and smash through windows of shops and cause chaos before quickly flying back into the streets.

“Take that!” Lightning Dust said as she kicked the window of a shop that sold jewelry, shattering the glass.

“My days! What have you done to my shop!?” The shopkeeper pony cried as she watched Lightning Dust break her front window.

“Sorry lady, but you’re shut down!” Lightning Dust said as she started breaking everything in the shop, causing all of the customers to run out screaming.

“You can’t do this! I ought to have you arrested!” the shopkeeper shouted.

“Ha! Not happening, lady!” Lightning Dust said as she scooped up some heavy jewelry and threw it at the shopkeeper, hitting her square in the face.

Lightning Dust laughed as she watched the shopkeeper fall unconscious. She then finished trashing the store before flying back out into the streets of Manehattan to continue causing chaos and destruction.

One couple tried to use one of the taxi ponies to get away but Iron Will jumped in the way and smacked the taxi pony away before crushing the cart with his fists. Iron Will then grabbed the remains of the cart and tossed it into the side of a building. Iron Will then ran towards a lamppost and ripped it out of the ground. With the lamppost, Iron Will swung it around violently, smacking a bunch of ponies who had gotten too close. To finish off, Iron Will threw the lamppost into the streets, causing a massive accident as a lot of taxi carts swerved and crashed into each other. Flam used his magic to lift a large trashcan up and threw it at a pony that was trying to deliver the mail. Flim tore a stop sign out of the ground with his magic and used it to bash a pair of ponies who tried to take him down. The brothers laughed as they continued to attack and scare all of the citizens.

“You can’t get away from us!” Flim yelled as he blasted a pony in the leg with his magic.

“Yeah! No pony can outrun the Flim Flam Brothers!” Flam added as he started blasting the windows of nearby apartment buildings with his magic.

Iron Will was chasing down a group of ponies that managed to get away from the traffic accident he had caused earlier. The ponies screamed in terror as the giant minotaur chased them down the streets. Eventually, Iron Will used his raw strength to leap into the air, landing right in front of the ponies. With their path blocked, Iron Will raised his arms in the air and smashed the ponies with his gauntlets. Iron Will then saw a pegasus was about to fly above him. Seeing this, Iron Will jumped up and smacked the pegasus down to the ground.

Meanwhile, at the bank…

At the bank of Manehattan, ponies were busy going about their day, whether it was making deposits or going over the boring financial information. As far as any pony was concerned, it was just another uneventful day at the bank. With how mundane things were going, the ponies in the bank had somehow managed to block out the muffled sounds of screams and panic coming from outside.

As one of the banker ponies was finalizing some financial business, he just so happened to look up at the front doors of the bank. As he did so, the banker’s eyes widened in horror as he saw a giant minotaur charging towards the bank. Before the banker could say anything, Iron Will busted through the bank’s doors. All the ponies turned around in shock as they saw this deranged-looking minotaur crash through the building. Once Iron Will was inside, he was quickly followed by Lightning Dust and the Flim Flam Brothers.

“Alright, everypony stay down!” Lightning Dust shouted as she hovered in the air, scowling at the terrified ponies.

“I suggest you listen to what she said! Otherwise, we might just set the big guy loose on all of you.” Flim said as he gestured to the rage filled Iron Will.

“Here’s how it’s going to work. We’re gonna take whatever we want and all of you are going to stay put. Got that? Good.” Flam said as he turned to Iron Will. “Hey, big guy! Open the safe!”

“Iron Will open safe! Break open safe!” Iron Will yelled as he started walking over to the front desk.

Using his gauntlets, Iron Will smashed the front desk, barely missing the banker working at the desk as he jumped out of the way. Iron Will then leapt towards the giant safe door and grabbed the sides of it. With all his might and a loud grunt, Iron Will ripped the safe door off of the wall and tossed it to the side, nearly crushing some bystander ponies. Satisfied with his work, Iron Will let out a howl as he raised his arms in the air.

With the safe door out of the way, Flim and Flam quickly dashed towards the vault. As they entered the vault, Flim and Flam slowly turned to look at each other, their eyes wide with glee and with huge greedy grins on their faces. The vault was filled with stacks upon stacks of gold bars, a plethora of silver bars, and tons of bags of bits. This was it; this was the moment Flim and Flam had been waiting for. They had actually done it. They had broken into the biggest bank in all of Equestria; the bank of Manehattan.

“Brother… we… we did it!” Flam said.

“The biggest bank in all of Equestria! All the loot… it’s finally ours!” Flim said.

“With all this cash, we’ll be set for life! We’ll never have to lift a hoof to work ever again!” Flam said.

“Oh, you know it! Come on, let’s grab everything we can!” Flim said.

However, just as Flim and Flam were about to start stealing all the bits they could take, their eyes suddenly rolled into the back of their heads while also glowing green at the exact same time. Moments later, the Flim Flam Brothers realized that they had been summoned back to the Void. Alongside the brothers, Lightning Dust, Iron Will, and Discorded Whooves had also been brought to the Void.

“What the? What happened?” Flim asked as he looked around.

“Yeah, where’s all the money!? It was all right in front of us!” Flam added.

“Would you two calm down!? We’re clearly back in this Void place or whatever it was called.” Lightning Dust said.

“In that case, that would mean that Sombra has summoned us.” Discorded Whooves said.

“And you would be right.” Sombra’s voice said, catching the Rogue off guard as he appeared in the Void. “I have seen your progress, and it would seem that you have successfully secured Coco Pommel as a hostage.”

“Well of course, we did, master. It was pathetically easy.” Discorded Whooves said with a chuckle.

“Very good. Now that you have taken Coco Pommel hostage, do not forget to inform Twilight Sparkle and the rest of the ponies of Coco’s capture once you’ve had your fun.” Sombra said.

“Don’t worry, master. We won’t forget.” Discorded Whooves said.

“Good.” Sombra said with an approving nod before turning to Flim and Flam. “It seems you two are having a good time.”

“Oh, you bet, boss! We’ve really hit the jackpot!” Flim said with an eager nod.

“Say boss, we get to keep all the bits we take, right?” Flam asked hopefully.

“Do what you want. As long as you all play your parts, I don’t care what you do.” Sombra said.

“Trust me, King Sombra. When Rainbow Dash and the other losers show up, we’ll mess them up.” Lightning Dust said.

“(Evil Chuckle) Good. I trust that you all won’t fail me. Dismissed.” Sombra said as he ended the meeting.

The members of the Rogue immediately disappeared from the Void and found themselves back where they originally were. Based on the fact that none of the ponies trapped in the bank had run off, it was clear that only seconds had passed. Pushing this fact aside, Flim and Flam shifted their attention back to the money in the bank’s vault.

“Now, where were we?” Flim asked as he and Flam looked at each other and grinned with greed.

“Would you two hurry up and grab what you need!?” Lightning Dust asked as she hovered in the air impatiently. “I want to get back out there!”

“Oh, just cool your jets, will you?” Flim said as he rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, this is a big achievement for us. Let us have our moment.” Flam added.

“Whatever. Just hurry up already!” Lightning Dust said with a scoff.

“Alright, alright.” Flim said as he waved a hoof at her.

Just as Flim and Flam picked up two bags of bits, they were all startled when Discorded Whooves suddenly teleported in the bank using his enchanted bracelet. This sudden appearance caused Flim and Flam to drop the bits they had just collected.

“Wah! Hey, you can’t just pop up out of nowhere like that!” Flim shouted as he and his brother turned around.

“Yeah! You made us drop our bits!” Flam added with a stomp.

“I don’t know if you all have short term memory loss or anything, but I believe King Sombra just told us that we have a job to do.” Discorded Whooves said.

“Yes, but I believe the boss said that we could have our fun first.” Flam said.

“And the boss also put me in charge here. Therefore, I make the calls here.” Discorded Whooves replied.

“Just because King Sombra put you in charge or whatever, that doesn’t mean that you can just order us around like slaves.” Lightning Dust said.

“Unfortunately for you, sweetheart. That is exactly what I can do.” Discorded Whooves said, giving her a creepy grin. “I’m going to send our friends over in Ponyville a little message. Wrap up your fun here and prepare yourselves for company.”

“Well why didn’t you say so!? I’m not gonna waste my time here anymore. Hey bull dude, come on!” Lightning Dust said as she quickly flew out of the bank.

“Iron Will destroy more! City must be destroyed!” Iron Will yelled as he followed Lightning Dust to cause more chaos.

As Lightning Dust and Iron Will left the bank, Discorded Whooves chuckled a bit before using his enchanted bracelet to teleport away, leaving the Flim Flam Brothers to continue indulging in stealing all the money they could.

Meanwhile, at the top of the Statue of Harmony…

Since her capture, Coco Pommel had desperately tried to free herself from the cloth and fabrics that Discorded Whooves used to tie her to the statue’s flame. Despite her efforts, Coco couldn’t free herself, which only made her feel weak and useless. Moments later, Coco’s negative thoughts were interrupted when Discorded Whooves suddenly teleported at the base of the statue’s flame.

“(Chuckle) Hello again, Miss Pommel.” Discorded Whooves said as he crawled towards her.

“(Gasp) You! No! Get away from me!” Coco cried as she continued to try and break free from her restraints.

“(Chuckle) Why even bother trying to escape? Even if by some miracle you managed to free yourself, where would you go?” Discorded Whooves asked as he gestured to where they were. “We’re hundreds of feet up in the air on top of the Statue of Harmony. You fall off the statue, you die.”

“What do you want from me!?” Coco screamed.

“Well, my dear Coco Pommel, it’s time for you to play your part.” Discorded Whooves said with a grin.

“What are you-? N-No… NO!” Coco cried as she realized what Discorded Whooves was talking about. “No! I won’t do it! I won’t be bait for my friends!”

“(Chuckle) Unfortunately for you, Miss Pommel, you don’t have a choice.” Discorded Whooves said as he inched closer and closer to Coco, chuckling sinisterly as his eyes pierced into Coco’s soul.

Author's Note

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Next time we will check in with Twilight and the other ponies!

It's good to be back! I had decided to take a break during the summer and I meant to come back in August, but college got in the way and I kept getting distracted. I appreciate all of you for continuing to support my story! It means a lot to me! Thank you for reading and I'll see you all in the next chapter!

Words From Beyond

Somewhere, beyond the realm and existence of Ponyville, where no physical life could ever even hope to exist, there was a force of darkness, floating through the realm. The darkness manifested itself into a shadow; a shadow of pure fear and terror. In the darkness, two large green eyes opened and there was a loud snarl. Then, the sound of menacing laughter could be heard as the voice in the darkness began to speak.

"I see........ you have finally arrived.... (Chuckle)..... good, very good. Yes, it is I, Sombra..... King Sombra.... I'm sure you have questions. I will not answer any... after all, why should I? But I suppose I could answer just one little question....... How am I alive? Well, it's quite simple really........ Yes, I may have been defeated at the Crystal Empire.... shattered like a glass bottle..... however, I never died.... You see, if you're going to kill a unicorn as powerful as me, you better do it right..... While I may have been physically killed, I was able to live on spiritually because of one simple thing....... my horn."

"Because my horn was never destroyed, I was able to keep my magic alive, thus keeping me alive..... I became one with Equestria, I merged with the atmosphere, I I became a part of life itself...... I've longed for my return for so long now...... during that time that I have been trapped, I have watched over a certain pony..... a pony who has grown with power since my defeat...... a pony who has been through many things...... a pony who has faced the many dangers of life...... a pony who is worthy to die by my hooves...... Yes...... Twilight Sparkle..... or should I say, Princess Twilight Sparkle....... (Evil Chuckle)....."

"You've grown so much since my defeat, Princess....... My have you been through a lot..... Defeating Tirek, befriending Starlight Glimmer, defeating Queen Chrysalis, taking out the Pony of Shadows, reforming Tempest Shadow, defeating the Storm King, and recently imprisoning Cozy Glow...... not to mention you are a unicorn no longer..... now, you are an alicorn.... Yes, you've had quite a fascinating life..... I wonder, what is it that keeps you going? What is it that gives you the power to fight off against the evil of Equestria..... You've caught my interest, Sparkle...... in fact, you've earned my respect...... anypony that earns my respect is something special indeed..... all the more of a reason to kill you....."

"(Evil Chuckle) I know what you're thinking Sparkle...... how could I possibly kill you? After all, now that you're an alicorn, you have been granted the gift of immortality..... quite troublesome if you ask me...... However..... there is still a way that I can kill you..... Alicorns can indeed be killed, quite easily as a matter of fact..... it just requires the right item...... a simple stone...... a stone that can resist magic..... a stone that can pierce through magic...... a stone that is quite common, yet rare...... Luckily, I know where to find such a stone....... unfortunately....... the source of the stones was destroyed a while back, but I watched the pieces get scattered..... I know where one of those pieces is..... all I need is one single speck of that stone, and your life is damned......"

"Now I know what you're wondering..... why am I after Twilight Sparkle and not Spike or Princess Cadance or anypony else? It is quite simple..... Yes, Spike may have been the one to bring the Crystal Heart to Cadance...... Princess Cadance may have been the one to use its power to defeat me...... but who was it that led the charge against me? That's right....... Twilight Sparkle..... it was her that led the charge..... it was her whose leadership resulted in my defeat.... it was her who damned my soul...... therefore, all credit goes to her..... I long to get my revenge on you, Princess Sparkle.... You were the one who killed me..... You were the one who took away my victory..... You were the one who stole everything from me..... and you will be the one to die at my hooves......"

"You really thought it was over just because I was dead? Did you really feel like it was safe just because of my defeat? Did you really think you would stop me just like all the others? Do you really think I'm just like the other 'villains' that have crossed your path? I was never given the time to bring my power down onto Equestria..... I was never given the chance.... I was never given the opportunity to enact my revenge..... All because of you..... Twilight Sparkle......"

"You are such an incredible pony, Princess..... A pony with so much potential..... A pony with such a bright future.... I will be the one to take everything from you.... just like you took everything from me..... I will crush you..... I will shatter you like glass..... I will overthrow your kingdom..... I will obliterate your school..... I will kill everypony you have ever loved..... I will be the one to finally kill the Princess of Friendship..... your legend will die at my hooves...... You and I, we are destined to be..... We are destined to die by each other's hooves..... You..... Are...... MINE....."

"I long to finally meet you properly Princess.... our battle will be legendary.... it will last for ages..... It will be our greatest moments in life..... I will rip out your heart..... I will crush your body to nothing..... I will break you..... You will fall dead at my hooves..... You will die..... Your reign..... is coming to a close..... Twilight Sparkle....."

"However, I cannot enact my revenge while I am trapped here..... but I don't need to worry about that..... there are two ponies coming to set me free.... one of them I will leave to endlessly wander and roam all of Equestria in her endless search to find me..... the other..... I will guide her to me.... She will set me free.... I feel like you have earned a second chance...... a second chance to get your revenge..... together...... I am sure we can finally be rid of those ponies..... Equestria.... Will...... Be..... Mine....."

"Come..... free me.... Chrysalis..... free me..... free me..... free me...... free me..... free me....."

King Sombra's words echoed throughout the vast empty void he was in. If you were with Sombra at that moment, your whole body would have shook due to the power in Sombra's voice. Despite being trapped in this strange realm, Sombra's voice was able to travel through to the outside world of Equestria. Now, it was only a matter of time. Sombra grinned as he waited to be set free. Soon, Equestria would be his.

The Sleepover

“So, Derpy, saw you were making eyes at the Doctor during the presentation, what gives?” Rainbow Dash asked as she grinned.

“Wh-What!? Making eyes? I-I don't know what you're talking about!” Derpy said as she blushed furiously and shook her hooves in a defensive manner.

“(Laughs) Come on Derpy, I already know you have a crush on the Doctor. You told me remember?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“O-Oh, yeah, I forgot.” Derpy said as she giggled to herself.

“Seriously though, Derpy, you've had a thing for him since Twilight first came to Ponyville. When are you gonna tell him?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“W-Well, you see-.”

“Ah, there you are, Derpy. I was hoping I'd find you.” Doctor Whooves said, having emerged from his lab, free of the arms.

“Oh! H-Hi Doctor!” Derpy said as she quickly spun around.

“Hello Derpy, ah, Rainbow Dash, it's good to see-.”

“Sorry, love to chat but I got a sleepover to attend! See ya Doc! Good luck Derpy!” Rainbow Dash said as she quickly zipped away.

“Huh? Rainbow Dash, wait!” Derpy called, but Rainbow Dash was already gone.

“Oh, well, yes, I suppose that's important.” Doctor Whooves said, confused as to why Rainbow Dash had zipped away so fast.

“Well, Derpy, I'm feeling quite famished after all that talking. Would you care to accompany me to grab a bite to eat?” Doctor Whooves asked.

“(Gasp) Would I!?” Derpy cried as she smiled widely, before calming herself and chuckling nervously. “I-I mean, I'd love to, Doc.”

“Splendid. Come on, let us be off.” Doctor Whooves said as he began to walk away.

“Okay, Doc.” Derpy replied as she squealed to herself, before quickly flying next to the Doctor.

As Doctor Whooves and Derpy made their way towards one of the restaurants in Ponyville, Rainbow Dash smiled as she watched her friend walk off with the Doctor.

“Hope it goes well for you Derpy.” Rainbow Dash said as she then flew over to her group of friends. “Alright! That was cool and all, but I'm ready for the sleepover!” Rainbow Dash said with excitement.

“Alright! The presentation is over. Now who's ready for that sleepover?” Twilight asked as she turned to her friends.

Naturally, Twilight got very positive and excited responses from her friends, aside from Spike.

“You girls can have your fun at the castle, but when we get back, I'm going to my room to read my comics or something.” Spike said.

“(Giggles) You do what makes you happy, Spike.” Twilight replied.

“Are you girls sure you want me to join? If you all just want it to be the six of you, I completely understand.” Starlight said before Applejack cut her off.

“Come on now, Sugarcube, of course you're gonna join us.” Applejack said as she put her hoof around Starlight's shoulder.

“Really?” Starlight asked.

“Of course, Starlight. You're our friend and this sleepover is for us to all have a good time together as friends.” Twilight replied.

“Thanks so much, it means a lot.” Starlight said.

“It's no problem at all, Starlight. Now come on everypony! Let's head to the castle!” Twilight said as they all made their way towards Twilight's castle, ready for a fun night.

It wasn't long before the friends finally arrived at the castle. By then the sun had already set and the sky was presenting its beautiful colors of sunset. The castle doors opened and everypony was ready for the night.

“Well, I'm going to my room now. You girls have fun!” Spike said as he waved goodbye to them, especially Rarity, before heading to his room.

“Alright! Now that Spike's gone up to his room, are you girls ready?” Twilight asked.

In response to Twilight's question, the girls all cheered and raised their hooves in the air.

“It's time for most amazing super-duper sleepover in the world!!” Pinkie Pie cheered as she ran off and instantly came back with her party cannon and aimed it at her friends.

“Woah! Pinkie what are you-?”

BOOOM!!!

“.... doing with that?” Twilight asked as she and everypony else was covered in confetti, except for Pinkie Pie of course.

“(Giggle) You girls look so silly! Who's ready to party!? I know I am! Woohoo!” Pinkie Pie shouted as she zipped past them and headed for the big open room, leaving her friends still covered in confetti.

“(Cough) Okay, now that we're all covered in confetti, let's go! We've got a big night ahead of us.” Twilight as they all followed the direction where Pinkie Pie had zipped off to.

With everypony gathered in the room they would be staying in, Twilight used her magic to summon seven mats, seven blankets and quite a few pillows. Once everything was set, the girls decided to talk a bit first about their day.

“And then, Twilight totally got hit right in the face with the pie!” Rainbow Dash said, hitting the floor with her hoof as she tried not to cry while laughing.

“Yeah! You should have seen the look on her face!” Pinkie Pie added as everypony except for Twilight laughed at the hilarious accident that had occurred earlier that day.

“Yes, it was very funny.” Twilight said, albeit with a sarcastic tone.

“Come on, Twilight, loosen up a bit! You know it was funny.” Rainbow Dash said.

“It would have been, if I didn't have to deal with pie residue still being in my mane.” Twilight said as she shook her head, bits of pie falling out.

“Oh relax, Twilight! Stop freaking out like Rarity does whenever she gets a smudge of dirt in her mane.” Rainbow Dash said.

“Excuse me!? I do not 'freak out' over getting dirt in my mane!” Rarity said with a scoff.

Everypony else in the room: ……..........

“What? Why are you all looking at me like that?” Rarity asked.

“Rarity, no offense, but freaking out is exactly what you do.” Starlight said.

“Hmph! How very rude!” Rarity said as everypony laughed. “Moving on, I couldn't help but notice that somepony seemed very eager to know about Doctor Whooves's feelings for our local mailpony. Care to explain, Rainbow Dash?”

“Huh? Oh yeah! Well, you see...” Rainbow Dash said, suddenly looking very worried.

“You alright, Rainbow? You look mighty worried.” Applejack said.

“Yeah, I'm fine, AJ. It's just, Derpy's been one of my best friends since I was a filly. She always used to get teased and bullied by everypony. I'd say she was the most bullied Pegasus in Cloudsdale, after Fluttershy.” Rainbow Dash said.

“It's true. Derpy and I were always the target of everypony's laughter and teasing. She took it better than me, but I could tell it still hurt her a lot. We were so happy to have you as our friend during those times, Rainbow Dash.” Fluttershy said as she smiled warmly to Rainbow Dash.

“Aww gee it was nothing, Flutters. I'm just glad that I was there to keep those bullies in check.” Rainbow Dash said as she grinned with pride before she went back to being serious. “Going back to Derpy, I really want things to go well with her and the Doctor. She's been through a lot, and I want her to be happy. It's why I was acting the way I was earlier.” Rainbow Dash explained.

“That's really sweet that you care so much for Derpy, Rainbow Dash.” Rarity said. “However, I for one think you have nothing to worry about. Besides, it's not like the Doctor has any negative feelings towards Derpy.”

“I agree with Rarity. I mean, as far as I know, Derpy's been working with Doctor Whooves for quite a while now. If he really didn't like having her around, he would've sent her away moons ago.” Twilight said.

“Yeah! And don't forget, he told us that he has a crush on Derpy too!” Pinkie Pie added, leaping off of her mat.

“Yeah, you're right. Thanks, girls.” Rainbow Dash said as she brightened back up and smiled to her friends.

“Anypony here know how long it’s been since we were last summoned by the map. It feels like it’s been an awful long time.” Applejack said.

“The map has been pretty quiet ever since the Storm King's invasion. But I’m sure we’ll get summoned soon.” Twilight replied.

“Hey, speaking of the Storm King's invasion, where were you, Starlight? We could have used your help.” Rainbow Dash said, looking over to Starlight, who had a visibly annoyed look on her face.

“(Sigh) I already told you, Trixie and I were captured by those monsters and locked up in a cage until you girls saved the day.” Starlight replied.

“I'm sorry we didn't get you out sooner, Starlight. We kind of had to flee before we got captured too.” Twilight said.

“It's fine, you did what you had to do.” Starlight said.

“Continuing the topic of the Storm King's invasion, have you heard much from Tempest Shadow since then, Twilight?” Rarity asked.

“I haven't really heard much from her sadly. The last time we spoke was right before she left Ponyville, shortly after we defeated the Storm King. She told me that she was going to help spread the magic of friendship throughout the land. But I'm sure she's doing okay.” Twilight said.

“Got that right. Tempest may not have a horn, but she's still one tough pony. I reckon she's doing just fine.” Applejack added.

“Tempest Shadow? Um, don't you mean, Fizzlepop Berrytwist?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Still hard to believe that's her real name. But in any case, I'm glad she changed her ways and joined us.” Twilight said, looking towards one of the windows and seeing that it was already dark out. “Well, I think it's about time we moved on to our activities. Fluttershy, why don't you pick our first activity for the night.” Twilight said, looking over to Fluttershy, catching the Pegasus off-guard.

“Oh, me? Well, um, why don't we braid each other's tails?” Fluttershy suggested.

“What an absolutely splendid idea, Fluttershy! Good thing I brought the essentials.” Rarity said as she levitated a small basket of make-up materials and brushes up for the others to see.

“Ugh! Come on! Really!?” Rainbow Dash cried, dreading what was to come.

For the next half hour or so, the mares spent their time braiding each other's tails, making them nice and pretty. Once everypony's tails had been nicely braided, Rarity insisted that they move on to doing each other's make up and then applying mud masks. This lasted for about an hour and a half before Starlight suggested they all play some games. For their first game, the girls decided to play a nice round of 20 Questions. Pinkie Pie managed to win as nopony was able to find out what she was thinking of. Twilight and Starlight came close to winning but they both managed to beat each other with their final questions. After the game, the girls moved on to playing a game of Never Have I Ever. This went about as good as anyone could have guessed; learning interesting things about your friends, getting some pretty embarrassing answers, and a few awkward glances exchanged between friends. Despite all that though, the game was still at least enjoyable and entertaining. After that, a few more games were played, including Truth or Dare and Would You Rather. Once all the games were played, the girls sat around for a bit, talking amongst themselves, before Pinkie Pie started talking about some movie that involved very… familiar characters.

“And that's why I think our movie should have gotten a sequel.” Pinkie Pie said as she finished her proud speech, leaving her friends in confusion.

“Pinkie, I get that you really enjoyed our adventure, but what do you mean by ‘our movie’?” Twilight asked.

“Oh? You don't know, Twilight? Well, we’ve got our main show of course, but then we had our big movie! You know, the one where we faced off against the Storm King. It was really good! I think it would have been amazing to get a second movie, don't you agree!?” Pinkie Pie asked, giving Twilight a wide and innocent smile.

“Uh.... girls? Back me up here?” Twilight asked as she awkwardly looked at the rest of her friends, all of them with equally confused looks on their faces.

“I think this is one of those moments where you all say that it’s just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie.” Starlight said.

“Yes, I say we just leave it and not speak of this again.” Rarity replied.

“Oh, hey Rarity, you got something on your face.” Pinkie Pie said as she pointed to Rarity.

“I do? Where? I don't feel any-pmff!” Rarity said before she was suddenly hit in the face by one of Pinkie Pie's pillows.

“It was my pillow, silly!” Pinkie Pie said as she laughed, not noticing Rarity slowing rising up like some sort of evil robot.

“Oh. It. Is. On. YA!!” Rarity said as she used her magic to throw a pillow at Pinkie Pie.

“Oh, no.” Fluttershy said as she knew what was about to go down.

For the next few moments, no pony said a word as they all locked eyes with each other. Everypony realized what had to be done.

“PILLOW FIGHT!” everypony shouted as they all started throwing pillows at each other.

What followed was a pillow fight that looked more like an all-out war to defend Equestria rather than a simple game. Alliances were made and teams were formed in a matter of seconds. Pillow forts were built very quickly and being destroyed just as fast as they were built. There was a ton of yelling and shouting, sounding like battle cries. When the forts were destroyed, the girls switched from long-range combat to close combat, using the pillows as if they were swords, spears, or shields. Soon, alliances were broken, and it was everypony for herself. While there was no blood shed during this war, there might as well have been a ton of it due to the intensity of the fight. Many lives were lost that day in Equestria, all deaths caused by soft fluffy pillows. It wasn't long until there was nopony left standing except for Fluttershy, who tried desperately to crawl to safety. However, she never made it to freedom as she went limp and closed her eyes. It was quite a massacre. The most brutal pillow fight in the history of Equestria. Or at least it would have been, as the girls soon got back up and laughed at how ridiculously intense their pillow fight had gotten. Once everypony had settled down from the pillow fight, they decided to have some snacks and relax a little before their next activity.

As the night grew darker, it was finally time for the last activity on the list, Scary Stories. Twilight helped get the mood set by shutting off the lights, with the only light source remaining being from a small little lamp she summoned in the middle of the room they were staying in. Before they started, Twilight pulled Fluttershy aside, asking her if she was okay with the scary stories. Fluttershy admitted that while she was a bit worried, she was willing to power through for her friends. Fluttershy then thanked Twilight for being very considerate of her. Twilight smiled warmly at this and led Fluttershy back to the group. It seemed that this night, everypony had a scary story in mind to tell. All except for Fluttershy and Starlight. As the stories were about to begin, there was a huge flash of lightning, signifying the start of the frightening tales.

Rainbow Dash was the first to go as she insisted, she had the best story out of everypony. Rainbow Dash then proceeded to tell a darker version of the story of the Headless Horse, explaining how the version she told at their annual sister sleepovers was a tamer and more kid appropriate story. Even though both stories had basically the same plot, there was still some pretty creepy things added to this new version. The Headless Horse for one, no longer was just a solid black pony without a head. This version still had the same body, but it wore a long dark cape, solidifying the fact that it had no head. The Headless Horse also wore a dark suit of armor, as he used to be a soldier before he died. Probably the most frightening change to this version of the Headless Horse was the fact that on its sides, two long creepy arms came out with sharp claws. One of its hands held a jack-o-lantern that had a scary and creepy looking face. In the other hand, a long sharp blade was held, no doubt used to cut the heads off of unsuspecting victims. The story neared its climax as the Headless Horse chased his final victim through the woods. There was an old rule to the tale, if you can cross the bridge of Sleepy Hollow, the ghost is through, the Headless Horse's power ends. So long as you don't look back, you're safe. The story ended as the Headless Horse decapitated his final victim, before running off into the night, waiting for when new victims would dare to enter his forest. No pony is safe, after all, any head will do.

Next, it was Applejack's turn to tell a story. Applejack did not disappoint as she told a very disturbing tale about a stallion who went by the name, Jeffery Hooves, AKA Jeff the Killer. This poor stallion had been bullied so much his whole life. One day, however, he managed to stand up to his bullies and talked them down. Unfortunately, this did not end well as the bullied threw some sort of acidic substance at Jeffery Hooves, permanently melting and scarring his face. His eyes would glow brightly in the dark and his teeth were as white as the clouds, leaving a horrific smile on his face. It didn't help when Jefferey carved a smile on his mouth as well. After all, he just wanted to be happy forever. His whole family was murdered one fateful night and Jeffery Hooves was nowhere to be found. Not long afterwards, the bullies who hurt Jeffery were found dead in their homes, each with a knife in their head and their throats slit. No pony ever saw Jeffery Hooves, until a small filly claimed that he broke into her house and watched her sleep. All the while, he was just waiting for her to wake up so he could properly greet her with a big smile. Jeff doesn't like rule breakers, and he hates it when you don't sleep at night. Follow the rules and go to bed on time, maybe you'll live to see, tomorrow.

It was now Rarity's turn to provide a scary story. Rarity told the tale of the Bloody Mare, a mother who had lost her precious colt and now sought revenge against those who she deemed unworthy of living. There wasn't all that much to her tale, but it was how to summon her that caught everypony's attention. They say, if you go in a dark room with a mirror and candles and call her same three times, she will come to you from the mirror. However, those who summon her have the chance to meet two very scary fates. If she catches you, she will bite and mess you up so badly that you will bleed out and die. If you manage to get away from her, she will leave a horrible scratch and bite mark on your face; a warning to never come back. The mirrors can hold dark and bloody secrets, do you dare to try your luck?

With Rarity's story finished, it was time for Twilight to tell her story. Twilight decided to go with a classic that at least everypony had heard once. It was the story of Slender Mane. The very tall and pure white pony with a black suit, who is said to lurk around the woods and forests in all of Equestria. Slender Mane would lurk around, searching for anypony who had lost their way in the woods. If he caught you, your fate was never known. You would simply just go missing as no bodies were ever recovered. Nopony knows where Slender Mane came from, but that didn't matter. What mattered was knowing how to run and how to hide should you ever cross paths with him. Slender Mane was known to have powers of magic, despite having no horn on his head. His magic can create dangerous illusions and even trick your mind into thinking you are safe from his power. Foals should be most careful as it seems they are Slender Mane's primary targets. Slender Mane lurks all the time and there is no time where he rests. The forests are always a dangerous place. Should you venture too far and come across a tall slender pony with long tentacles protruding from his back, best of luck to you. If Slender Mane sees you, run. Don't look back, don't stop, don't ever try to reason with him, just run. Cause if you don't, you too will disappear, just like the others who weren't so lucky.

Now that Twilight was finished with her story, it was time for Pinkie Pie to shine. Out of all the stories they had shared, Pinkie's story was by far the most disturbing and horrific. Pinkie Pie told the legend of the Candy Mare. The Candy Mare was an evil undead creature who lurked around every Nightmare Night, killing, and eating anything that either crosses her or dares to disrespect Nightmare Night. The Candy Mare wasn't always like this, however. She used to be a little filly named Pumpkin Patch. Pumpkin had a loving family and lived a fairly decent life. However, one day, Pumpkin and her father were visiting the big city, they met a candy shop owner by the name of Lemon Drop. Lemon Drop appeared friendly on the outside, but inside he was a sick and twisted monster. He managed to lure both Pumpkin and her father into his shop and then he attacked. Lemon Drop killed Pumpkin's father and then forced Pumpkin into a room where he forcefully fed her many of his experimental candies and sweets, including a soup that contained bits of her father. He tortured her and experimented on her until she finally died. Then one day, she rose up and had a horrible hunger for candy and sweets. Pumpkin killed Lemon Drop and fled. Now, they say every Nightmare Night, she lurks around and evokes her wrath on anypony she wants. Her body fused and adorned with candies and sweets and a hunger of great intensity. There are two ways to avoid being eaten by the Candy Mare, either you offer her all your treats and wish her a happy Nightmare Night, or you avoid her and always respect Nightmare Night at all costs. Nightmare Night is fun and joyful, but never forget the truth and the horrors behind it, unless you want to become a treat for the hunger of the Candy Mare. The song of Nightmare Night is horrifying if you really listen to the lyrics. It's the Candy Mare's favorite song, "Nightmare Night, what a fright, give us something sweet to BITE!"

A sudden flash of lightning and a roar of thunder made all the girls scream in terror as they hugged each other. A few moments later, they all laughed and did their best to calm themselves down. Once everypony had settled down, they decided it was time for bed. The girls all snuggled up under their warm blankets and bid each other a good night. As the lamp shut off, the girls began to drift off into a nice slumber. At the end of the day, they could all agree that this was the best sleepover ever!

Somewhere in Equestria, a few hours later...

The night air was chilly, and the wind howled as the moon rose and lit up the night sky. The creatures of the night came out of their hiding places and began to make their calls. At the edge of a cliff that looked over the land, King Sombra stood, watching the land, searching for anything that could interest him. As Sombra watched over the land, he heard the sound of a magic spell come from behind him. Sombra recognized this particular sound as this was no ordinary teleportation spell. Without turning his head at all, Sombra spoke to the cloaked pony behind him.

“There's only one pony in all of Equestria who has that book and knows how to use its powers.” Sombra said, awaiting the cloaked pony's response.

“(Chuckle) But of course, your majesty. You entrusted me with the book before your banishment after all.” the cloaked pony said as Sombra finally turned his head to face him.

“Professor Screw Loose, I take it? You're still alive?” Sombra asked, as the cloaked pony removed the hood from his head, revealing a unicorn horn.

“Yes, it is I, your majesty. And yes, I am still alive. The spell you placed on me was successful as you can see.” Professor Screw said as he bowed to Sombra.

“If you're here now, then it means you're still willing to do my bidding?” Sombra asked as he raised his eyebrow.

“I gave you my word, didn't I? I swore that I would serve you until death takes me away from this world.” Professor Screw said.

“Good that you still know your place. Now, straight to the point, I have work for you.” Sombra said as he turned his whole body to face the Professor. “Now that I am back, I wish to get my revenge against those who wronged me. Particularly, the Princess of Friendship herself, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Ah, the alicorn who lives in Ponyville, correct?” Professor Screw asked.

“Yes, that's the one. However, I'm not ready to reveal myself to her just yet. I want to see if I can break her slowly by causing destruction throughout Equestria. For this, I need somepony from Ponyville who knows everything there is to know about that little town. Somepony who is capable of working for me and ensuring that my orders are carried out. Somepony who can lead my future army against Equestria.” Sombra said before the Professor spoke up.

“Forgive me for my interruption your majesty, but I have been to Ponyville, and I believe I have found a worthy candidate for your plan.” Professor Screw said.

“Hmph, very good. You will bring this candidate to me, and I will decide whether or not they are worthy of the task I will be giving to them.” Sombra said.

“I will have him here by tomorrow. Though just in case, I think it would be better if we met at my old lab. Would that be too much of an issue, your majesty?” Professor Screw asked.

“Fine. Your old lab, tomorrow. Go now, prepare your lab for visitors. Wouldn't want our candidate to have a bad first impression, now, would we?” Sombra asked as he grinned at the Professor.

“(Evil Chuckle) Of course not, your majesty. I will go now. It's good to have you back, I knew you wouldn't abandon me.” Professor Screw said as he bowed again before turning to leave.

“Professor… if the candidate is unworthy or a pathetic weakling, I'll kill you. I have no time for mistakes, do I make myself clear?” Sombra asked as he glared at the Professor.

“(Chuckle) I can assure you, oh king, he will not disappoint you.” Professor Screw said.

Meanwhile...

It was very late and everypony was fast asleep in the small town of Ponyville. In Twilight's castle, everypony was sleeping nicely, well aside from Twilight, who was tossing and turning quite a bit in her sleep before she finally woke up. Twilight didn't recall having a nightmare of any kind, so she was a bit confused as to what woke her up like this. Still feeling a bit unsettled, Twilight decided to get some fresh air. Twilight very slowly got up and looked at her sleeping friends, all of whom were fast asleep, with Rainbow Dash snoring very loudly. Twilight made sure to be as quiet as possible as she slowly made her way across the circle of sleeping friends. Twilight was just about to get past her friends when suddenly there was a roar of thunder and a flash of lightning outside, causing Twilight to let out a yelp. Thankfully she was able to cover her mouth before she full on screamed, but she still definitely made a noise. Twilight stayed completely still as she looked at her friends, all of whom appeared to still be sleeping.

'Ugh! Stupid thunder! Why do you always have to have such bad timing?' Twilight thought to herself.

Twilight waited a few seconds and then slowly made her way to the stairs, still hoping that she hadn't disturbed any of her friends. However, as Twilight was walking up the stairs and nearing the top, she failed to see or hear that Applejack had woken up, no doubt due to her little yelp a few moments ago. Applejack shook her head slightly to try and wake herself up as she looked around to her friends, her eyes landing on the spot where Twilight should have been sleeping.

“Huh? Twilight?” Applejack whispered as she perked up, seeing her friend wasn't there.

Applejack was about to call out to Twilight, but she stopped when she heard footsteps heading up the stairs. Applejack looked over to the stairs and saw Twilight at the top of the stairs and walking away. Worried that something was wrong, Applejack slowly got up and began to quietly make her way to the stairs.

Meanwhile, Twilight was making her way through the halls of the castle. The sound of Twilight's footsteps echoed as she walked down the hall that would lead to the balcony. Before Twilight made it to the balcony, she looked over and saw that she was right next to Spike's room. Twilight carefully opened the door and peeked inside. Twilight was pleased as she saw Spike sleeping peacefully like a little baby. Twilight walked into the room and stood next to Spike's bed. Seeing that everything was okay, Twilight gently readjusted Spike's blanket and left the room, closing the door behind her. Once Spike's door was closed, Twilight continued walking until she finally made it to the balcony. As soon as she stepped outside, Twilight was hit by the chilly night air.

As Twilight looked over from her balcony, she felt a cold chill run down her spine. However, this chill wasn't caused by the night air, it was caused by a feeling of unsettlement. As Twilight shivered a bit, she tried to wonder what it was that had made her so worried. She was having one of those moments where she knew something was wrong, but she just couldn't put her hoof on it. Twilight had a very bad sensation that something just wasn't right in Equestria. Twilight tried to calm herself down as best as she could, but she just couldn't relax. She knew that something was coming. Twilight was so worried that she didn't even hear Applejack come up from behind her.

“Hey, Twilight.” Applejack said as she tapped Twilight on the shoulder, causing her to jolt.

“(Gasp) Sweet Celestia! You scared me, Applejack.” Twilight said as she relaxed a bit, that was just her friend.

“Mighty sorry, Twilight. Didn't mean to scare you.” Applejack said as she saw just how startled Twilight was.

“Don't worry about it, no harm done. But it's super late, what are you doing up, Applejack?” Twilight asked.

“I was gonna ask you the same thing. You alright, Sugarcube? You seem a bit jumpy.” Applejack said as she stood next to Twilight.

“(Sigh) Well, have you ever had one of those moments where you just know that something's wrong, but you can't tell what it is? That's pretty much what I'm feeling right now. I'm really worried, Applejack.” Twilight said as Applejack put her hoof around her Twilight's shoulder.

“Heya, Twi, it's okay. You've got nothing to worry about, Sugarcube. Cozy Glow and Tirek are still locked up in Tartarus, and Chrysalis hasn't been seen in ages.” Applejack said, trying to calm her friend down.

“Thanks Applejack, but it's not them I'm worried about. It's something else... I just don't know what.” Twilight said as she tried desperately to think of what was stressing her out.

“Hey now, look at me, Twilight.” Applejack said as Twilight looked into Applejack’s eyes. “Take a deep breath in... and let it out. Everything's gonna be okay. As far as I know, you have nothing to worry about. You're not alone. We're all here for you, remember that.”

“(Sigh) Thanks for being such a great friend, Applejack.” Twilight said as she hugged her.

“Aw it's no problem, Sugarcube. You can always count on me. Come on now, let's get some shut eye.” Applejack said as they smiled to each other.

“Right behind you.” Twilight said she followed close behind Applejack, unaware that somewhere in Equestria, a pair of glowing green eyes were glaring at her.

Author's Note

I hope you all enjoyed that chapter! Since I wrote this chapter around Halloween, I decided to add in the scary stories. Hope those were nice and creepy as well as fun little easter eggs to other amazing stories. We'll be meeting a couple new characters in the next chapter so look forward to that! Thank you all for reading, it means a lot! Thanks again and see you in the next chapter!

Confronting The Rogue

For the first couple of moments, no pony could tell who this pony in the sky was. But when the sight of four long mechanical arms could be seen, everypony realized who this was.

“Oh my! Is that…?” Mayor Mare asked as she looked up at the pony in the sky.

“Don’t tell me that’s…” Applejack said as she took a step back.

“D-Doctor… Whooves?” Twilight asked as she was filled with surprise as Doctor Whooves looked down at the citizens of Ponyville and smiled, as if he could clearly see them.

“(Chuckle) Hello, Ponyville… miss me? GAHAHAHAHA AHAHAHA!” Discorded Whooves asked as he laughed at the ponies, all while everypony else had horrified looks on their faces.

As Discorded Whooves continued to laugh while looking down at the ponies of Ponyville, most of the ponies began to freak out and talk amongst themselves as they tried to think about what was going on.

“Doctor Whooves!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she looked up at the Doctor.

“AHAHAHAHA! Yes, it is I, Doctor Whooves! I’m so pleased that you are all here today!” Discorded Whooves said.

“Doctor Whooves!? H-How are you-?” Twilight started before Discorded Whooves quickly interrupted her.

“How am I speaking to you in this very peculiar way? (Chuckle) It’s quite simple really. Magic does have its uses. But that’s not important right now.” Discorded Whooves said as Fluttershy spoke up.

“Where have you been, Doctor!? We’ve all been so worried about you!” Fluttershy said.

“Where have I been? (Scoffs) Oh, don’t act dumb, Fluttershy! You and your friends know exactly where I’ve been. Remember Appleloosa?” Discorded Whooves asked with an evil smile.

“So, it’s really true? You really were the one who led that attack on Appleloosa!?” Applejack yelled, feeling her blood boil as the Doctor seemingly took pleasure in admitting his crimes.

“(Chuckle) I sure was, Applejack.” Discorded Whooves replied with a sickening grin.

“(Growl) YOU MONSTER! YOU WILL PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID!” Applejack yelled as she tried to run towards the town hall but was stopped when Big Mac and Applebloom held her in place.

“Why!? Why did you do that!?” Twilight cried as she tried not to let her anger get the better of her.

“(Chuckle) Why, you ask? Well, it was all part of-.” Discorded Whooves began before he heard a familiar voice speak up from within the crowd of ponies.

“Doc! What happened to you, Doc!?” Derpy cried as she flew up above the crowd but was stopped from flying too close to the Doctor by Rainbow Dash.

“What? You….” Discorded Whooves said as he glared at Derpy, who looked back at him with eyes of sadness and horror.

“Doc! Everypony has been saying that you and other troublemakers attacked Appleloosa! That you even… killed ponies! Please, Doc! Please tell me it’s not true!” Derpy cried as she felt tears began to fall from her eyes.

“Grrr! SHUT UP!” Discorded Whooves shouted, his sudden outburst startling everypony. “Shut your damn mouth! You stupid, retarded klutz of a pony!”

“Wh-What?” Derpy asked, feeling as if somepony had just shoved a stake through her heart.

As Derpy took in the cruel words that Discorded Whooves had just used on her, she started to cry. She felt so… worthless; like she didn’t belong anywhere in Equestria, or even the world for that matter. Derpy’s wings lost the strength to keep her up in the air and she would have fallen to the ground if Fluttershy hadn’t flown up and kept her stable. The other ponies started to feel anger bubble up inside each of them. No pony insulted Derpy Hooves like that, it just wasn’t done. It would have been labeled as a crime if it was legally possible for Mayor Mare to make it a law.

“(Gasp) How dare you say those things to Derpy!” Fluttershy said as she comforted Derpy while glaring at the Doctor.

“(Growl) WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!? YOU KNOW WHAT, I DON’T CARE IF YOU’RE A CITIZEN OF PONYVILLE OR NOT! YOU’RE SO GOING TO GET IT WHEN WE FIND YOU, DOC!” Rainbow Dash screamed as she let out deep and angry breaths.

“You cruel, heartless monster! You have the audacity to say such horrible things to Derpy!? The very nerve!” Rarity yelled as she too glared up at the Doctor.

“YEAH! Derpy is one of the nicest, sweetest, and most innocent ponies in all Equestria! How could you, Doctor!? You really have gone crazy!” Pinkie Pie yelled as she held back the urge to throw a rock or something at the projection of Discorded Whooves.

“QUIET, ALL OF YOU!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he glared at the ponies below.

“You have no right to tell us what to do, Doctor Whooves!” Twilight yelled as she flared her wings in anger.

“Alright then, looks like I’ll need to use this!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he reached out with one the arms and grabbed ahold of somepony, pulling them into view.

The ponies watched with horror as Discorded Whooves pulled a terrified looking Sugar Belle into view, holding her firmly in the grip of one of the arms. From the crowd, there was one pony who was not only horrified, but also very furious. Big Mac was mortified when he saw Sugar Belle being held by the Doctor. He had felt great anger when Discorded Whooves admitted he was the one responsible for attacking Appleloosa, but now his anger was tripled.

“SUGAR BELLE!” Big Mac yelled as the two ponies’ eyes met.

“Big Mac! Help!” Sugar Belle cried as Discorded Whooves brought one of the arms’ claws closer to her throat.

“DON’T YOU DARE HURT HER!” Big Mac yelled as he stomped the floor with his hoof.

“YOU PUT SUGAR BELLE DOWN RIGHT NOW, DOCTOR!” Applejack yelled.

“Ohh? You know Applejack’s big brother?” Discorded Whooves asked as he turned Sugar Belle’s body so that she was now facing him.

“Let me go!” Sugar Belle yelled as she tried to break free with her magic, but to no avail.

“(Chuckle) Interesting. Now, if you don’t want me to kill this pony, then listen up!” Discorded Whooves yelled, as he tossed Sugar Belle out of view from the projection. “(Chuckle) Now, you should all know the attack on Appleloosa was just the beginning! We have big plans for Equestria! I’m sure you all know that when I say ‘we’ I am of course referring to Lightning Dust, the Flim Flam brothers, Iron Will, and myself.”

“Where are you cowards hiding at!? Tell us now!” Rainbow Dash yelled.

“(Chuckle) Oh you want to come see us? Then come to whatever’s left of Starlight Glimmer’s old village. We are all here, waiting for you.” Discorded Whooves said with a grin. “Oh, and by the way, you can refer to us as the Rogue from now on.”

“WHAT!? NO! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO THE VILLAGE!?” Starlight screamed as she glared into the Doctor’s eyes.

“(Chuckle) The same thing we did to Appleloosa. However, this time we have hostages.” Discorded Whooves said.

“You’re not going to get away with what you’ve done, Doctor Whooves. We’re all coming to ensure that each of you are punished for your crimes.” Celestia said as she took a step forward.

“(Chuckle) Oh I don’t think so, Princess Celestia. The only ponies that are going anywhere, are Twilight Sparkle, and the rest of her friends.” Discorded Whooves said as he pointed a hoof towards the Mane Six.

Twilight and her friends all looked at each other, each one trying to comprehend what the Doctor had just said.

“Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadance, you three go back to your kingdoms and stay there! Act as if nothing is wrong! The same goes for everypony else, including you, Starlight Glimmer! If anypony tries to help Twilight and her friends, then we kill the hostages!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he raised the two upper arms in a threatening manner.

“Why, Doctor Whooves!? Why are you doing this!? You were never like this before! What happened to you!?” Twilight asked as she tried to think of what possibly could have turned the kind and polite Doctor into this evil maniac.

“You want answers, Princess!? Come to the village! And if you and your friends aren’t here by nightfall, then I will kill the hostages! GAME ON!” Discorded Whooves yelled as the projection in the sky exploded with another flash of bright light.

As soon as the light cleared away, leaving the beautiful sky and clouds behind, the ponies of Ponyville began to panic a bit. Lots of ponies had questions and were greatly concerned about what Discorded Whooves and the rest of Rogue had planned for Equestria. With the commotion and panic, it was only a matter of time before things would quickly get out of hoof. Sensing the impending chaos, Twilight flew up in the air and shouted out.

“EVERYPONY” Twilight shouted, catching the attention of everypony in Ponyville. “Listen, I know that we have just received some horrible news, but this is not the time to lose control of ourselves!”

As Twilight was giving her speech of reassurance, Celestia and Luna looked at each other with very impressed and amused faces. Cadance had taken notice of this and was rather curious as to what could be on the Royal Sisters’ minds.

“Celestia, Luna, is everything okay?” Cadance whispered, leaning a bit closer to the two sisters.

“We are just pleased to see how good Twilight is at speaking like a protective princess.” Celestia replied.

“My sister and I have recently been discussing Twilight’s future as the next ruler of Equestria. Seeing her act in such a way reassures us that we will be making the right choice and that Equestria will be in good hooves.” Luna explained, making sure to keep her voice at a whisper.

“Wait, if Twilight is going to be the next ruler of Equestria, what does this mean for you two?” Cadance asked.

“We can discuss that at a later time, Cadance. For now, we must focus on what is currently happening.” Celestia said as the three princesses went back to focusing on Twilight’s speech.

“We may not have all the answers, but we at least know who has been behind these recent attacks in Equestria! As the Princess of Friendship, I promise all of you that my friends and I will stop these villains! We will bring them to justice for their crimes!” Twilight said as Celestia walked up to her.

“The six of you will leave at once. There is no reason to keep those poor ponies waiting any longer.” Celestia said firmly yet gently.

“What are you three going to do?” Twilight asked, turning to the other three princesses.

“We will remain here until you have all returned from the village.” Luna answered.

“Twilight, as much you and your friends may want to deal with the Rogue, your main goal should be to save the hostages. Even if the Rogue manage to escape, don’t bother chasing them down until the hostages are back in Ponyville.” Celestia said.

“Once all of you have returned with the hostages, we will do everything we can to locate the Rogue if they do escape.” Cadance added.

“For now, though, I think it is best that you and your friends go and get the Elements of Harmony. You might need them when facing the Rogue.” Celestia said.

“Thank you, Princess Celestia.” Twilight said as she turned to her friends. “Come on, girls! Let’s go get our elements!” Twilight said as she and the rest of her friends headed for the Tree of Harmony.

Sometime later, Twilight and the rest of her friends arrived back to the center of town, each one now wielding their respected Element of Harmony. The Mane Six were equipped with what they needed and were ready to confront the Rogue. Once the ponies had gathered around the town hall, Twilight turned to look at Fluttershy and gave her an approving nod. Fluttershy understood what Twilight wanted her to do. After giving Twilight an understanding nod, Fluttershy called for Discord. Seconds later, Discord popped out of nowhere as he looked down at Fluttershy.

“You called, Fluttershy?” Discord asked before he caught a glimpse of not only the entire population of Ponyville, but also the other royal princesses of Equestria being present. “What’s going on?” Discord asked as he looked at the surrounding ponies.

“Discord, we need you to take us Starlight’s old village. There’s been another attack and we need to save the ponies trapped there.” Fluttershy explained.

Without any side remark or utterance of a single joke, Discord grabbed at the empty air as if he was grabbing onto a giant zipper. Discord pulled the invisible zipper down, revealing a portal that led to Starlight’s village. With the portal open and ready for entrance, the Mane Six were now ready to go. That was until they heard Starlight’s voice. Twilight and her friends turned around and saw Starlight, Big Mac, and Derpy standing before them.

“Girls, I know I can’t come with you, and it hurts so much that I can’t do anything to help. But please, please save my friends, please.” Starlight pleaded as she looked at the Mane Six with a look of desperation and fear.

“Don’t worry, Starlight. I promise we’ll bring your friends back.” Twilight said, giving her friend a look of reassurance and concern.

“Applejack… like Starlight said, I am furious that I can’t do anything to help. So, all I ask is that you-.” Big Mac started before Applejack interrupted him.

“Don’t y’all worry, Big Mac. I’ll get her back and I swear, if Sugar Belle even has one scratch on her I’ll… I’ll… (Sigh) Look, I’ll get her back, I swear.” Applejack said as she nodded to her brother.

“Thank you, Applejack.” Big Mac replied as he took a deep breath of worry.

“(Sniff) Princess Twilight, p-please… Doc was never like this… please help him.” Derpy begged as she continued to cry.

“We’ll do everything we can, Derpy.” Twilight replied with a comforting look.

“We’ll figure out what’s wrong with the Doctor. And why’s he such a… such a…” Rainbow Dash said before Fluttershy stepped forward.

“We’ll do our best. I promise, Derpy.” Fluttershy said.

“Go now. Those ponies need you.” Celestia said as she gestured towards the portal.

“Girls, if this is so serious, why don’t I come with? I’m sure I can help out.” Discord offered.

“No, Discord. Doctor Whooves said that if anypony else tries to help us, he’ll kill the ponies he’s taken hostage. We need to do this alone.” Fluttershy said.

“(Sigh) Alright, go then.” Discord said as he stepped aside to allow room for the ponies to enter the portal.

After giving each other one final nod of approval and confirmation, Twilight and her friends walked into the portal, with Discord shutting the portal soon after they went in. As the Mane Six headed into the portal, a few of the citizens of Ponyville started to form a little group as they discussed the discovery of Doctor Whooves, now being an evil pony who had led the attack against two villages in Equestria. The group consisted of Lyra Heartstrings, Bon Bon, Octavia Melody, and Vinyl Scratch. There were meant to be more ponies in this little group, but there wasn’t really any time to gather the others.

“I can’t believe Doctor Whooves has turned evil!” Lyra cried.

“It’s just so hard to believe! We were all friends even before Twilight first came to Ponyville.” Bon Bon said.

“The very thought of the good Doctor becoming the monster that he is today is just… preposterous!” Octavia said.

“I agree with what Twilight was implying earlier before the Doctor left. Something definitely had to have happened to him.” Vinyl Scratch said.

“Oh, I just feel so horrible for Derpy. The very sight of her being insulted wounded me.” Octavia said, looking over to Derpy, who was standing in the crowd just staring at the floor.

“We’ve got to do something! We have to find out what happened to Doctor Whooves!” Lyra said with a determined expression on her face.

“Yeah, that’s not happening.” Vinyl Scratch said as she shook her head.

“What do you mean!? Doctor Whooves was our friend! We can’t just sit around and do nothing!” Bon Bon said.

“You heard what he said, if anypony tries to do anything, he’ll kill the hostages he has. As much as I want to do something, I don’t want to be the reason that somepony gets killed.” Vinyl Scratch said.

“Then what are we supposed to do!?” Lyra asked.

“We’ll do what we always do when something bad happens. Stay together and let Twilight and the others do their part to save Equestria. If anypony can put a stop to this, it’s them.” Octavia said.

“I sure hope so.” Bon Bon said as they all looked at each other.

Starlight Glimmer’s Old Village…

Once Twilight and the rest of her friends had walked through the portal, they found themselves standing at the entrance to Starlight’s old village. The very moment they were able to see clearly after stepping out from the portal, they were met with another disturbing sight.

“Oh no… no, no, no, no, no.” Twilight said as she and her friends laid eyes on the destruction of the village.

For the second time now, the Mane Six’s spirits were completely shattered as they saw the terrible condition of the village, or whatever was left of it. However, much like in Appleloosa, the most haunting sight of all… was the bodies. The bodies of innocent ponies scattered all over the streets of the village. Limbs decorated the streets of the village like holiday decorations from hell. Blood painted the walls of some of the buildings in the village as if done by a sadistic artist.

As the Mane Six stared at the horrific state of the village, Twilight shook her head to pull herself out of the trance she had been in. She knew that there was no time to take in the terrible sights. They needed to find the hostages as well as the villains responsible for this second attack.

“(Sigh) Come on girls, we need to find the hostages, now.” Twilight said as she started to trot into the village, her friends followed soon after.

Because Twilight had started walking first, she was already walking down the middle of the street of the village. Knowing that it wasn’t a good idea for anypony to be alone right now, Applejack quickly ran ahead until she caught up with Twilight, walking alongside her. Rarity and Pinkie Pie began walking down the left side of the village, while Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy walked along the right side of the village. The two pegasus friends stayed on the ground as they could not find the strength in themselves to fly. The carnage was much worse than what they had seen in Appleloosa, much, much worse. When the two pegasi looked down an alley between two buildings, Rainbow Dash quickly shut her eyes and turned away, while Fluttershy threw up. In this alley, the badly mutilated body of a pegasus was sprawled out on the ground before them. His body was horrifically twisted, his spine even popping out from his back. One of his wings was so badly broken that it was just barely clinging to the pegasus’s body. Blood had poured from the pegasus’s mouth and nose; his eyes were still open wide and bloodshot.

“O-Oh Celestia! Oh no! No!” Rainbow Dash said as her eyes suddenly landed on a pair of bloodied up pegasus wings.

When Fluttershy recovered from her sickness, she looked over and saw the wings that had freaked Rainbow Dash out so much. Fluttershy had no idea who these wings belonged to, but it was clear that they had been torn off with brute force, as the bone of each wing could be seen past the dried-up blood. Little did Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy know, these wings had once belonged to their friend, Night Glider.

“Fluttershy… this… this needs to stop!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she kicked a piece of wood that was on the ground.

“I… I know…” Fluttershy said as she tried not to look at anymore of the carnage.

“Listen to me, Fluttershy, when we find Doctor Whooves, don’t stop me. Because when I see him, I’m gonna give him a real beatdown. I’m gonna make him pay.” Rainbow Dash said with pure anger and hatred in her eyes.

“Rainbow…” Fluttershy said, feeling extremely concerned with Rainbow Dash’s intentions.

“I’m going to punch and kick him so hard that he’ll never be able to walk or even move ever again!” Rainbow Dash continued as she got more and more aggressive.

“Rainbow Dash.” Fluttershy said again, getting more and more terrified with her friend’s anger.

“I’ll make sure he suffers! I’ll make sure he die-!”

“Rainbow Dash, STOP!” Fluttershy said as she suddenly smacked Rainbow across the face with a hoof.

Rainbow Dash was caught off guard as she felt a hoof smack her in the face. The slap wasn’t strong enough to cause any bleeding, but it still hurt a lot. After recovering from the initial shock of the slap, Rainbow Dash shook her head and then looked over to Fluttershy, who was crying tears of sadness, with a look of anger in her eyes that sent a chill down Rainbow Dash’s spine.

“F-Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash asked as she kept a hoof over the spot where Fluttershy had hit her.

“Don’t you dare! Don’t you even think about stooping to their level! I know you’re mad and I am too! But that’s no reason to become a monster like them! Pull yourself together, Rainbow Dash!” Fluttershy yelled as Rainbow Dash was frozen still out of terror.

“I… I… Well, what do you want me to do then!? Give Doctor Whooves a friendly hug and then it all be better!?” Rainbow Dash asked, stepping forward a bit.

“I never said I was against punishing Doctor Whooves for what he’s done! What I am against, is one of my best friends becoming a killer just like the rest of the Rogue! You’re not the only one who’s hurting from all of this, Rainbow Dash! I’m just as angry and upset as you are! So, stop acting like you’re the only pony suffering!” Fluttershy said before she wiped away her tears and looked into her friend’s eyes. “And I thought I was going to be the one to break, not you. I guess I was wrong.”

For the next few moments, the two pegasi just stared at each other. Neither one could find the right words to say to the other. It wasn’t until a few seconds later, when Fluttershy’s expression suddenly changed from one of anger, to one of horror.

“O-Oh my goodness! R-Rainbow Dash, I’m so sorry!” Fluttershy said before Rainbow Dash held up her hoof.

“No. Fluttershy, don’t you dare apologize to me. I deserved every bit of that. I-I don’t know what came over me! I was just so angry! I’m… I’m fed up with all of this… chaos! I mean, the last worst thing to happen to Equestria was when Cozy Glow nearly took over the world! Now we’re dealing with… murder! It’s all happening so fast!” Rainbow Dash cried as she sat down and held the sides of her head with her hooves.

“I know… it’s… it’s… scary…” Fluttershy said as she sat down next to her friend.

“Thanks, Fluttershy. I’m glad to know that you’ll always be looking out for me.” Rainbow Dash said as she turned to smile at her friend.

“It’s the least I can do, Rainbow. After all, you looked out for me when we were younger. It’s only fair that we look after each other.” Fluttershy said, smiling back to Rainbow Dash before they shared a comforting hug.

“Well, come on, Fluttershy. We need to look for the hostages.” Rainbow Dash said as the two pegasi stood up.

“Rainbow Dash, it’s okay to be angry. But it’s not okay to let your anger control you.” Fluttershy said.

“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll do my best to keep myself under control. Come on.” Rainbow Dash said as they continued to walk down their side of the village.

While Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had their little conversation, Rarity and Pinkie Pie were also having a hard time dealing with the awful sights. They had come across the body of a pegasus that had a massive hole in her chest. It seemed that this pegasus had been shot with magic from extremely close range. A few feet away from the body, was the headless body of a unicorn. The unicorn’s head was a few inches away from the body, with an expression of confusion and fear. Rarity tripped over something and when she looked to see what it was, she quickly turned away, only to be met with a more horrible sight. Rarity had tripped over the front leg of an earth pony and when she turned her head away, she found the rest of his body; his other legs torn off and scattered around. Just ahead of them, there was another pegasus that was seemingly crushed to death by a building that had collapsed onto him. His face looked as if he was still crying out for help, even in death. Rarity was about to comment about how sickening the situation was, when she heard Pinkie Pie shout.

“(Gasp) Party Favor!” Pinkie Pie cried as she ran off towards one of the buildings.

“What? Party Favor!?” Rarity asked as she quickly chased after Pinkie Pie.

When Rarity finally caught up to Pinkie Pie, she saw what had made her so upset. On the ground, leaning against the front of a building, was the body of Party Favor. He had been fatally stabbed in the chest and his horn was gone. Rarity wasn’t sure what had happened to Party Favor’s horn, but all she knew was that it must have been extremely painful due to the amount of blood that had come out of the base of where Party Favor’s horn had once been.

“No! He was such a nice guy! Oh, why did this have to happen, Rarity!?” Pinkie Pie cried as she turned around and hugged Rarity.

“I… I don’t know, darling. I’m not sure if I can handle seeing these kinds of things much longer.” Rarity said as she held Pinkie Pie.

“We’re gonna stop the bad guys, right?” Pinkie Pie asked as she looked up into Rarity’s eyes.

“Of course, we are, darling. We’ve always come out on top before. It was never easy, but we managed to win in the end every time.” Rarity answered as Pinkie Pie let out a slight giggle.

“Well, defeating Nightmare Moon wasn’t that hard, it was actually pretty easy now that I think about it.” Pinkie Pie said, trying to lighten up the mood with a joke.

“(Giggle) Yes, I suppose it was a bit easier than the times we fought the other villains.” Rarity said as the two shared a quiet laugh that quickly faded away.

“Rarity, let’s make sure this never happens again.” Pinkie Pie said as the two separated from their hug.

“Don’t worry, darling. We’ll teach those ruffians a lesson for what they’ve done to Equestria.” Rarity said as the two friends nodded to each other.

Pinkie Pie and Raity continued their walk along their side of the village, searching for any signs of the hostages. They checked inside some buildings and found no hostages. The only thing they would find was more dead bodies. With every new body they found, the more anger they began to feel. The two ponies did their best to keep each other calm, but they both knew that when they saw the ones who were responsible for all of this, it would be very hard to hold back their anger. Pinkie Pie could feel herself start to breakdown even more the longer she went on. She decided that she would try her best to keep her spirits up by making jokes and keeping herself as sane as she could be, despite the gruesome situation she was in.

Twilight and Applejack were walking along the street of the village looking for hostages as well as any other possible survivors. Since the town was so small, the number of bodies they found told them that the chance of any other ponies being alive was slim to none. Applejack’s breathing got louder and heavier as they passed by more dead bodies, her anger visibly clear on her face. Twilight was silent and showed no signs of visible anger. However, Twilight was angry. Her anger was being kept inside of her and it only grew more intense. Eventually, Twilight and Applejack came across the body of Feather Bangs. From what they could tell, Feather Bangs had been stabbed in the chest and his head had been horribly twisted around in a full 180 degrees. It was a very disturbing sight to see.

“Oh my gosh… no…” Twilight said as she looked down at Feather Bangs’s lifeless corpse.

Applejack said nothing as she simply snorted out of anger at the sight. Twilight didn’t move as she just kept staring at the body. After glancing at her friend for a brief moment, Applejack turned her head and when she did, something caught her eye. It was one of the shops in this little town, a bakery to be exact. However, this was no ordinary bakery, this was Sugar Belle’s bakery. Hit with waves of fear and adrenaline, Applejack rushed over to the bakery. Her heart sunk when she saw the condition of the bakery.

The entire front wall of Sugar Belle’s bakery was completely destroyed. Plates and trays were scattered everywhere, with little shards sprinkled around the floor. The display case that Big Mac had built for Sugar Belle, according to Applebloom, was smashed. There were no bodies inside the bakery, only clear signs that a struggle had occurred. Applejack’s anger took over her body for a brief moment as she walked over to a wood plank that had fallen on the ground. With a loud yell, Applejack raised her front legs up in the air and smashed the plank to pieces. She would have done more damage, if not for the fact that she suddenly heard the sound of heavy breathing. However, it was not her own heavy breathing, it was Twilight’s. Applejack turned to look at Twilight and even though she couldn’t see her face, she could see that an ominous purple shadow was starting to emerge from the sides of Twilight’s eyes. Applejack panicked when she realized what this was. Twilight was starting to let dark magic, or the magic of King Sombra, take over her mind and body.

Twilight still didn’t move, apart from her chest puffing in and out due to her heavy breathing. While she had been staring at Feather Bangs’s body, the anger inside of her started to show itself. Her mind was suddenly filled with thoughts of revenge against Doctor Whooves and the rest of the Rogue. They would pay for what they did in Appleloosa and in this village. Twilight had become so focused on her thoughts of anger and revenge, that she didn’t notice the dark magic that was starting to take possession of her.

“Twilight? Twilight!” Applejack cried, snapping her back to reality.

Twilight shook her head as she felt Applejack’s hoof on her shoulder. As she was brought back, the dark magic quickly disappeared.

“H-Huh? Applejack?” Twilight asked as she looked at her friend.

“Thank Celestia, I was worried there for a second.” Applejack said, exhaling a bit out of relief.

“What? What happened?” Twilight asked.

“Well, from what I just saw, you looked like you were about to use King Sombra’s dark magic or something.” Applejack said.

“Wh-What? Dark magic? N-No, I wouldn’t…” Twilight said as she tried to think of how this dark magic even came over her.

“Twilight, it’s okay, I know how you feel. You’re just really angry. But as angry as we all might be, we can’t allow ourselves to let our anger get the better of us. Trust me, it ain’t a pretty sight.” Applejack said, feeling a bit surprised that she was the one telling Twilight this as she had figured it would have been the other way around.

“Thanks, Applejack.” Twilight said as the two friends shared a quick hug. “I think it’s time to confront the Rogue.”

Applejack nodded in response and Twilight turned in the direction of where her other friends were. Twilight and Applejack called out to the rest of their friends and motioned for them to come over. Rarity and Pinkie Pie heard the sounds of their friends calling, and they walked over to them quickly. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy followed soon afterwards. Aside from Applejack, no pony knew what Twilight had planned, but judging from the look on her face, things were about to get serious, if they hadn’t been already. Once the ponies had gathered around, Twilight spoke up.

“Girls, listen up. Get ready because we’re going to lure the Rogue out and confront them.” Twilight said with a serious expression on her face.

“But what about the hostages?” Fluttershy asked.

“Don’t y’all worry, Fluttershy. We’ll make the Rogue tell us where they’re keeping the hostages.” Applejack said.

“We’ll be going up against five dangerous villains. Despite this, we must stay together at all times. The Elements of Harmony won’t work unless the six of us are together.” Twilight said.

“Don’t worry about a thing, Twilight. There’s six of us and only five of them, we’ve got this.” Rainbow Dash said.

“Well, actually there’s going to be nine of them if you count Doctor Whooves’s mechanical arms.” Pinkie Pie said, still trying to keep her spirits up.

“Either way, we cannot let our guard down. We need to stay focused and not get overly confident.” Rarity said.

“Remember, Princess Celestia said that saving the hostages is our number one priority here. If the Rogue escapes, they escape. Now, is everypony ready?” Twilight asked as she looked at each of her friends.

“Ready.” They replied as they gave her an affirming nod.

Twilight nodded to each of her friends before they all turned to face down the street of the village. Then, after taking a deep breath, the Mane Six shouted out towards the village.

“DOCTOR WHOOVES!” Twilight yelled.

“Come out, Doctor! Stop hiding and get out here!” Applejack yelled.

“Get out here now! You four-armed maniac!” Rainbow Dash yelled.

“You told us to come to the village! We’re here, so come out!” Fluttershy yelled.

“Show yourself right now you coward!” Rarity yelled.

“Yeah! Come on out and fight us, Doc Ock!” Pinkie Pie yelled.

For a brief moment, there was silence. The shouts from the Mane Six echoed across the land. The Mane Six kept their eyes scanning over the entire village, looking for any signs of a surprise attack. Soon, the eyes of the Mane Six landed on the building where Starlight used to live in. They had a strong feeling that this was where the Doctor was hiding. Their suspicions were proven right seconds later as a mechanical arm smashed through the roof of the building. Following the first arm, a second mechanical arm smashed through the roof and both arms tightly clamped themselves on the edges of the roof. Two more arms came out and busted a large hole in the roof and then, once all four arms had a good grip on the roof, they began to lift somepony out of the building.

“Doctor Whooves.” Twilight said as she and her friends locked eyes with the Doctor.

When Discorded Whooves spotted the Mane Six, he chuckled as he gave them a friendly yet sadistic wave. The arms then slightly lowered him just above the roof of the building. Twilight realized what was about to happen and kept her eyes locked onto the Doctor.

“Stay together girls. Here he comes.” Twilight said.

Then, with a commanding yell from the Doctor, the arms launched themselves into the air like a jumping spider. Discorded Whooves came crashing down and landed right in front of the Mane Six. When the dust from the landing cleared away, the ponies finally were able to get a good look at him, as well as how… different he looked. The Mane Six knew that despite how much they just wanted to start fighting, they needed answers.

“(Chuckle) Hello, little ponies.” Discorded Whooves said as the bottom two arms raised him in the air.

“It’s just like Braeburn and Capper told us. He does look mighty different than what he used to look like.” Applejack said as she observed Discorded Whooves’s grey coat and black mane.

“You were always an earth pony, Doctor! How in the hay do you have wings!?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“(Chuckle) I’m new and improved, Dashie.” Discorded Whooves replied with a grin as the upper two arms snaked out as if they were showing pride.

“Hey! No pony calls Rainbow Dash Dashie except for me!” Pinkie Pie yelled with a scowl.

“(Chuckle) Do I look like somepony who cares? Because I don’t.” Discorded Whooves said.

“Doctor Whooves, why… why are you doing all of this!?” Twilight asked.

“Your world is crumbling, princess. Soon, all of Equestria will shatter and fall to darkest void of time and space. This has happened before, and it will happen again. Therefore, I’m going to speed the process up a little. I’m going to destroy all of Equestria and once everything is gone, I will rebuild Equestria in my own image! I will rule not just Equestria, but the whole world!” Discorded Whooves said as he laughed maniacally.

“That’s… That’s it!? World domination!? Are you serious!?” Rainbow Dash yelled.

“If this is indeed your plan, how are you going to destroy all of Equestria? You may have those arms and a couple helpers on your side, but you don’t have the power to take over Equestria!” Rarity yelled.

“(Chuckle) You’re quite right, Rarity. I don’t have the power to destroy and take over Equestria on my own. That is why the Rogue and I require a certain object of great power… the Staff of Sacanas.” Discorded Whooves said.

“The Staff of Sacanas!?” Everypony except for Twilight cried, shocked by the mentioning of the weapon used by the Storm King.

“If the Staff of Sacanas is what you need, then your plan will never work!” Twilight said.

“Oh? And why is that?” Discorded Whooves asked with an amused smirk on his face.

“Because I recently hid it somewhere safe! Somewhere that no pony would ever think to look!” Twilight said, smiling up at the Doctor.

“(Chuckle) Did you, now? I see… you didn’t happen to hide it inside the Storm King’s Castle, did you?” Discorded Whooves asked with a grin.

“Wh-What!? How did you know!?” Twilight cried as her wings flared out in a panic.

“Wait a minute, I thought you were keeping the staff in your castle.” Rainbow Dash said as she turned to look at Twilight.

“I was! But Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were worried that the power trapped in the staff couldn’t be contained forever. They decided it was best for everypony if we moved it somewhere where no pony could get hurt.” Twilight explained before Discorded Whooves interrupted her.

“That’s right, and you chose to keep the staff inside the Storm King’s Castle on the South Luna Ocean, just off the coast of the Slug Troll Swamp. (Chuckle) I must say that it was a very clever decision on your part. After all, the Storm King’s Realm has become nothing but an abandoned and forgotten island since the Storm King’s defeat. There is no longer any life left on that island and no pony would ever think to look there.” Discorded Whooves said with another chuckle.

“How do you know this!? No pony knew about this except for Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and me!” Twilight said.

“Why didn’t you tell us about this, darling? We all helped in defeating the Storm King.” Rarity said, tilting her head a bit.

“I wanted to tell you all, but I couldn’t. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna told me that it was to be kept a secret.” Twilight replied.

“To answer your question, Princess, I have a very special friend who’s been keeping a close eye on you and your friends for a long time.” Discorded Whooves said with another chuckle. “Once I have the Staff of Sacanas, I will be unstoppable! I will be like a god! I will destroy all of Equestria and I will rebuild it in my own image! I will save this pathetic world!”

“We won’t let that happen, Doctor Whooves! Stand together girls! It’s time!” Twilight yelled as the Mane Six prepared to use the Elements of Harmony.

“(Evil Laugh) Go ahead and try it!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he mockingly gestured for the ponies to hurry up.

The Mane Six wasted no time as they got into their battle formation and began to gather up the power to use their Elements. One by one, each Element activated its power and began to sync with the others. The power of the rainbow began to charge up and that’s when Discorded Whooves shouted out.

“NOW! GET THEM!” Discorded Whooves yelled to somepony behind him.

Then, just as the Mane Six were about to blast Discorded Whooves with the power of the Elements of Harmony, Lightning Dust flew out of the building where Discorded Whooves had just been inside of. Once she was up in the air, Lightning Dust flew straight towards the Mane Six and smacked right into Rainbow Dash, knocking her back and causing the ponies to lose their focus.

“OW! What the hay!? (Gasp) YOU!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she glared at the reckless pegasus.

“Ha! Ha! You wanna fight me, Rainbow Dash!? Then come and get me!” Lightning Dust yelled as she flew off.

“GRR! GET BACK HERE YOU!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she flew after Lightning Dust.

“Rainbow Dash! Come back!” Twilight cried as she watched Rainbow Dash fly after Lightning Dust.

“Gosh darn it, Rainbow! We’re supposed to stay together! Ya’ll can’t just -! GAH!” Applejack yelled as she was suddenly hit in the chest by a beam of magic.

“Applejack!” Twilight cried as she watched Applejack get shot back into a nearby barrel, causing it to break as she landed on it.

As soon as Applejack was able to recover from the impact, she looked up to where the magic had come from. Applejack’s rage skyrocketed as she laid eyes on Flim and Flam, who were standing on the roof of one of the buildings, waving down to her with taunting grins on their faces.

“Hello, Applejack!” Flim called out to her with a chuckle.

“Did you miss us!? Well let me say, we’ve certainly missed you!” Flam yelled with a laugh.

“(Growl) FLIM AND FLAM!!!” Applejack screamed as she ran towards the direction of the building where the con artists were at.

“Applejack! We must-(Scream)!!!” Rarity screamed as she was suddenly snatched up by one of the mechanical arms and then thrown through a broken window of one of the damaged buildings.

“Rarity, no!” Fluttershy cried as she watched her friend crash through the window before the sound of a roar could be heard from inside another building.

Suddenly, Iron Will busted through the wall of the building, causing whatever was left of the building to fall to the ground. Iron Will glared at the yellow pegasus as he let out a loud snarl and a roar.

“FLUTTERSHY! RAHHH!” Iron Will roared as he jumped into the air, raising his arms above his head, ready to crush the ponies to bits.

“Look out!” Pinkie Pie cried as she pointed towards the angry minotaur who was about to crush them.

Twilight was about to use a teleportation spell to get Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and herself out of range of Iron Will’s attack, but before she could, one of the lower mechanical arms grabbed her by the legs and slammed her headfirst onto the ground. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy quickly jumped out of the way, just barely avoiding Iron Will’s crushing blow. Once Iron Will had hit the ground, he lifted up his arms to see if he had crushed any of the ponies. When he saw that his attack had failed, he growled and looked up, seeing Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie on the ground in front of him.

“(Growl) FLUTTERSHY! IRON WILL CRUSH YOU!” Iron Will roared as he lifted one of his arms into the air and brought it down towards Fluttershy.

Fluttershy squealed as she quickly jumped back a bit, narrowly avoiding getting crushed. Iron Will didn’t give Fluttershy any time to get back on her feet as he kept trying to crush the pegasus with his gauntlets. Fluttershy could do nothing but scream and squeal as she kept crawling and occasionally jumping out of the way of Iron Will’s attacks. Pinkie Pie had managed to get back on her feet and when she saw the trouble that Fluttershy was in, she panicked.

“(Gasp) Fluttershy! Don’t worry, I’ll save you!” Pinkie Pie said as she ran off to help her friend.

However, before Pinkie Pie could do anything to help Fluttershy, her back leg was hit by a beam of magic, causing her to trip and slide on the ground. When Pinkie Pie turned to see who had hit her, she saw a cloaked pony, most likely a unicorn since he had just fired magic at her.

“Who are you supposed to be!? I don’t remember there being six bad guys who have been attacking Equestria.” Pinkie Pie said as she stood back up while pointing to the cloaked unicorn.

“Introductions can come later, Pinkie Pie. For now, business comes first.” The cloaked unicorn said.

“Huh? How do you know my name? (Gasp) Oh no! If you’re here, then that means… we’re dealing with the Sinister Six!” Pinkie Pie cried as the cloaked unicorn let out an amused chuckle.

“I see you’re still in the mood for jokes. If that’s the case, this will make my job much easier.” The cloaked unicorn said as he started firing multiple beams of magic at Pinkie Pie, who did her best to avoid every single blast.

While Pinkie Pie was fighting against the cloaked unicorn, Twilight finally managed to get back on her feet. As she was standing back up, she turned to see that she was on her own. She was about to call out to her friends when she heard the sound of metal clanking and the sound of somepony chuckling.

“(Chuckle) Looks like your attempt to defeat me using the Elements of Harmony has failed. What will you do now, Twilight?” Discorded Whooves asked, taunting Twilight as he gave her a mocking grin.

“Where are the hostages, Doctor Whooves!? Tell me!” Twilight yelled, glaring up at the Doctor.

“Oh, they’ll be just fine. Come now, let’s continue our little talk.” Discorded Whooves said with a beckoning hoof.

Twilight let out a yell as she fired a beam of magic at the Doctor. Before the magic could hit him, one of the upper arms reached out and blocked the attack. Discorded Whooves chuckled as the arm prevented Twilight’s magic from reaching him.

“HA! As if that would work so easily!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he laughed at Twilight’s failed attempt to use magic on him.

With her initial attack failing, Twilight quickly flew towards Discorded Whooves. Since the Doctor was too busy laughing, Twilight was able to catch him off guard as she flew right under the mechanical arm and started to punch the Doctor in the face. After getting hit in the face a couple times, Discorded Whooves used one of the lower arms to smack Twilight from below, sending her higher into the air. Twilight quickly shook off the attack and dove down towards the Doctor. Discorded Whooves laughed as one of the upper arms reached out and grabbed a hold of Twilight in a way that had her legs and wings pinned to her sides. Discorded Whooves grinned as he sent another arm to try and grab ahold of Twilight’s head. However, just before the arm could grab Twilight, she managed to teleport out of sight.

“What!? No!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he looked around for Twilight.

While Discorded Whooves was desperately looking all over the place, Twilight teleported in the air behind him. Twilight then fired another beam of magic straight at the Doctor’s head. One of the mechanical arms had seen Twilight appear behind their master and they warned him about the attack. Discorded Whooves turned around and as he did, he was immediately hit in the face by a beam of magic. This caused the Doctor to yell in pain as the arms stumbled back a bit, as if they felt their master’s pain. Discorded Whooves snarled as he sent one of the arms out to try and grab ahold of Twilight. Twilight teleported higher into the air, just out of the arm’s reach. Once she was out of range, Twilight began firing multiple beams of magic at the Doctor.

“(Growl) Damn magic!” Discorded Whooves said as he ducked, narrowly avoiding another hit.

Discorded Whooves then turned around and spotted something that could be useful. With a loud grunt, Discorded Whooves started making his way towards one of the nearby destroyed buildings, all while dodging Twilight’s magic. When he finally reached the wreckage, Discorded Whooves grabbed ahold of a large piece of a wall. Discorded Whooves then used the mechanical arms to rip the wood into two large pieces. He turned around and threw both pieces of wood at Twilight. Using her magic, Twilight blew up the first wood plank and then sent the second one flying right back at the Doctor. Discorded Whooves was hit in the chest, causing him to fall on his back. The arms tried to lift him back up, but before that could happen, Twilight teleported herself right in front of the Doctor. Twilight then started to punch Discorded Whooves in the face again, but her assault ended when she was grabbed by one of the arms and then flung away from the Doctor. As Twilight managed to recover herself in the air, she looked down and saw Discorded Whooves smile at her while the arms opened and closed their claws repeatedly in a threatening manner. Twilight let out another yell as she flew towards the Doctor.

While Twilight was fighting Discorded Whooves, Applejack was trying to find a way to get to the Flim Flam brothers, who were still holding their vantage point on the roof of one of the buildings. She had considered using her powerful legs to launch herself onto the roof, but every time she tried to, she would be forced to avoid getting hit with magic. After avoiding another attack from the Flim Flam brothers, Applejack looked up and glared at the two unicorns.

“(Growl) Cowards! Y’all get down here and face me!” Applejack yelled as she ducked, avoiding yet another attack.

“We’d love to, Applejack! But quite frankly the view is much nicer up here.” Flim said as he fired another beam of magic at the earth pony.

“Yeah! Not to mention the fact that it’s much more fun watching you run and hide!” Flam added as he too fired magic at Applejack.

“I’m gonna get ya for you two did in Appleloosa! RAH!” Applejack yelled as she quickly ran behind a barrel and then kicked it towards Flam.

The force of the kick was so powerful that the brothers didn’t have any time to counter the attack. Flam’s only option was to jump out of the way; however, he wasn’t fast enough as the barrel hit him in the chest, causing him to lose his balance and fall to the ground below. Flam let out a cry of pain as he landed hard on his side. Flam’s cry of pain soon turned into a cry of fear as he saw the rage-fueled Applejack rush towards him.

“(Scream) BROTHER! HELP ME!” Flam screamed as he backed up against the wall.

Applejack continued to charge towards Flam, intending to ram him into the wall with all her strength. However, she had become so focused on Flam, that she had completely forgotten about Flim. Before Applejack could reach Flam, Flim strategically fired a beam of magic at the ground right in front of Applejack’s front legs. The blast caused Applejack to lose her balance and fall forward, sliding until she stopped right in front of Flam. As Applejack tried to get up, she was kicked in the chin by Flam, causing her to fall onto her back. Flam then jumped on top of Applejack, pinning her down.

“Come on now, Applejack! Even the sheriff put up more of a fight than you!” Flam said as he grinned at her.

“GET OFF OF ME! YAH!” Applejack yelled as she managed to kick Flam in the stomach.

With Flam distracted by the pain of getting kicked, Applejack shoved Flam off of her using both of her back legs. As Flam was thrown off, Applejack quickly ran over to him, picked him up, and then threw him into the street of the village. Seeing his brother in danger, Flim quickly jumped off the roof and tossed Applejack to the side with his magic. Applejack quickly got up and glared at the two brothers who were now circling her.

“You can’t defeat the both of us, Applejack! You’re just one pony!” Flim said as he gave Applejack a taunting smile.

“Yeah! You should just surrender now and maybe we’ll convince the boss not to kill you.” Flam said.

“Surrender? Y’all really think I’m just gonna give up!? There’s something about me that I think you two just don’t understand yet.” Applejack said as she stared down her two attackers.

“Oh? And what would that be, Applejack?” Flim asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Please tell us! We’re just dying to know.” Flam added with a laugh.

“Y’all should’ve known by now, I never give up!” Applejack yelled as she lunged towards Flam, tackling him to the ground.

With Flam pinned to the ground, Applejack started to punch him hard in the face. Flim tried to grab Applejack so he could throw her off, but Applejack bucked him in the chest with her back leg. Flim cried out in pain as he was kicked hard in the chest. He looked over to Applejack and prepared to fire a beam of magic at her. Sensing the danger, Applejack grabbed ahold of Flam and tossed him towards his brother, causing him to get blasted by Flim’s magic. With Flam hit, Applejack charged towards Flim but before she got too close to him, she kicked some dust in his face, causing some of the dust to go into his eyes.

“GAH! MY EYES!” Flim yelled as he desperately tried to rub the dust out of his eyes while blasting magic all over the place in an attempt to hit Applejack.

With Flim being blinded by the dust, Applejack ran over and grabbed ahold of Flim’s front legs. Before she was hit by any magic, Applejack threw Flim over her, sending him crashing into Flam, who had just gotten up. The two brothers started to fire magic at Applejack as she charged towards them, dodging every attack. Applejack eventually reached the brothers as she grabbed them by their front legs and threw them back into the street. With the brothers still on the ground, Applejack charged towards them, however before she reached them, the two brothers quickly activated a shield bubble around both of them. When Applejack crashed into the magic bubble, she bounced back and landed on the ground. Before Applejack could get up, she started to get hit by multiple beams of magic as the two brothers shot her repeatedly. They were purposely firing weak shots of magic just so Applejack could feel pain.

“HA! See!? You can’t stop us!” Flim yelled as he continued shooting Applejack with magic.

“You put up a good fight, but at the end of the day, you’re just one pony!” Flam said as he also continued his assault.

Applejack cried out in pain as she was barraged with magic. She could tell that the brothers were going easy on her, just so she could suffer. Applejack refused to submit and let them win and she was determined to fight back. However, this was easier said than done. Every time Applejack would try to stand up, her legs would get shot at. Applejack started to feel the strength of the magic get stronger and stronger as time went on. The pain was becoming unbearable as Applejack continued to try and get back up. Eventually however, Applejack’s body gave out, the pain had been too much for even her to handle as she went limp. Seeing this, Flim and Flam laughed as they walked over to her.

“What’s wrong, Applejack? You done already?” Flim asked with a grin.

“Too bad, we were hoping you would last a little longer. I guess not.” Flam said as the two brothers grinned at each other, while Applejack hissed in pain.

“Wh-Why? Why would y’all do this!? Y’all were just… lying, thieving, con artists! Not killers! WHY!?” Applejack yelled with whatever strength she had left.

“Why? (Chuckle) Should we tell her, brother?” Flim asked, looking at Flam with a curious expression on his face.

“I don’t know… I don’t think she will like our answer.” Flam replied with a fake look of concern.

“Come now, brother, when has Applejack ever liked anything that we’ve said or done?” Flim asked with a snort.

“You’re absolutely right, brother.” Flam said he looked down at Applejack. “If you must know, Applejack, think of it as our way of getting revenge against you! Every time we try to live our lives and do what we do best, you always come around and screw everything up!”

“That’s right! And quite frankly, we’re tired of it! Also, we’ve been promised riches beyond our wildest dreams! You know us, we’d never turn down such an offer.” Flim added with a grin.

“That’s it? THAT’S IT!? Y’ALL KILLED PONIES! AND FOR WHAT!? MONEY!? PETTY REVENGE!?” Applejack yelled, more disgusted with their answer than angry.

“(Laughs) Well, what did you expect from us, Applejack!?” Flam asked.

“Yeah! You really need to understand that sometimes things just-GAH!” Flim yelled as he was suddenly hit by a beam of magic in the chest, causing him to fly back into a wall.

“What the!?” Flam yelled as he watched his brother get hit.

Applejack weakly turned her head to see who had attacked Flim. That’s when she saw Rarity, who had recovered from being thrown into a building by the Discorded Whooves. Rarity had a few bruises on her body, as well as a very angry look on her face.

“GET AWAY FROM HER!” Rarity screamed as she leaped forward, landing in front of Applejack while hitting Flam with her magic.

“Rarity? What are you doing?” Applejack asked as she found herself being levitated off of the ground by Rarity’s magic.

“Keeping you safe, darling, that’s what I’m doing. You’re clearly in no condition to fight these ruffians anymore. You rest up now while I deal with them.” Rarity said, not taking her eyes off of the brothers.

“No! You can’t!” Applejack tried to protest, but Rarity wasn’t having it.

“Applejack, you could have beat them quite easily. However, it seems that you’ve allowed your anger to take control of your actions. I assure you; I can keep them busy while you recover.” Rarity said in a gentler tone as she gave Applejack a confident smile.

“Ow, my head… H-Hey! This doesn’t concern you, fashionista!” Flim yelled as he pointed at Rarity.

“Yeah! This is between me, my brother, and Applejack! This is not your problem!” Flam added.

“Oh, it just became my problem!” Rarity said as she glared at the Flim Flam brothers, her horn igniting with magic. “You hurt Applejack or any other of my friends, then you deal with me!”

As Rarity engaged in battle with Flim and Flam, in the skies above the village, Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust continued to chase each other. Back at the Wonderbolt Academy, Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust’s speed was nearly identical. However, since then Rainbow Dash had gotten a bit faster, and Lightning Dust had gotten more agile. This made it almost impossible for either of them to gain the upper hoof. Every time Rainbow Dash would try to get in close, Lightning Dust would do some crazy flip or spin maneuver to avoid her attack. Eventually, Rainbow Dash managed to grab ahold of Lightning Dust’s tail. With a good grip on Lightning Dust’s tail, Rainbow Dash pulled back as hard as she could, stopping the reckless pegasus in her tracks.

“OW! My tail!” Lightning Dust screamed as she turned around, only to get punched in the face by Rainbow Dash.

“Take that! And that! And that! And that!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she punched Lightning Dust in the face over and over again.

After getting punched in the face a total of fifteen times, Lightning Dust was able to find an opening and kicked Rainbow Dash in the leg, throwing her off balance and allowing Lightning Dust enough time to sucker punch her in the face. Lightning Dust was about to punch Rainbow Dash again, but her punch was blocked by Rainbow Dash, who then kicked Lightning Dust in the stomach. With Lightning Dust stunned from the kick to the gut, Rainbow Dash flew away and then started to perform fast strike attacks on Lightning Dust, flying into her once and then flying off before going back in for another strike. As the endless assaults kept coming, Lightning Dust started to examine Rainbow Dash’s flight pattern, analyzing it carefully. Once she found the pattern, Lightning Dust allowed Rainbow Dash to hit her one last time, before she raised both her hooves up and brought them down hard onto Rainbow Dash’s head. This powerful blow to the head caused Rainbow Dash to lose control and start falling towards the ground.

“Now I’ve got you!” Lightning Dust yelled as she flew down after Rainbow Dash, going past her and flying up towards her from below.

Rainbow Dash managed to regain control of herself as she quickly dodged the attack at the last second. As Lightning Dust flew past her, Rainbow Dash flew up and grabbed Lightning Dust from behind, keeping her hooves by trapped in place. Lightning Dust struggled to break free until she finally slammed the back of her head into Rainbow Dash’s face, causing her to let go. Lightning Dust turned around and kicked Rainbow Dash hard in the stomach before landing an uppercut. As Lightning Dust went in for another punch, Rainbow Dash countered by blocking the punch and then sucker punching Lightning Dust in the face. The two pegasi then started to punch and kick each other; countering and dodging at equal speeds.

“I’ve been waiting for this for a long time, Rainbow Dash!” Lightning Dust said as she took a swing at Rainbow Dash, who ducked under the punch.

“Shut up!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she punched Lightning Dust in the face. “You killed ponies at Appleloosa and now in this village! Why would you do that!?”

“Heh, why? Obviously to get revenge on you!” Lightning Dust yelled as the two pegasi remained in the air, just glaring at each other.

“If you wanted revenge on me, why did you kill all of those innocent ponies!? What did they ever do to you!?” Rainbow Dash yelled, her breathing getting heavier the angrier she got.

“I had no choice! I have to listen to my boss! But he said if I did, then I’d get to kill you and prove to all of Equestria that I am better than you in every way!” Lightning Dust yelled.

“What!?” Rainbow Dash asked, disgusted by what she had just heard.

“You ruined my life! You crushed my dreams of becoming a Wonderbolt! And you’re the reason the Washouts are gone! You’ve taken everything from me! I have nothing!” Lightning Dust yelled as she kicked Rainbow Dash in the chest.

“Grr! SHUT UP! You nearly killed my friends! You almost…. Scootaloo could have… YOU COULD HAVE KILLED HER!” Rainbow Dash screamed.

“Yeah!? So, what!? Why is Scootaloo so important to you anyway!?” Lightning Dust asked.

“She’s like my-NO! SHE’S MY LITTLE SISTER! AND YOU ALMOST KILLED HER!” Rainbow Dash screamed as she punched Lightning Dust so hard in the face that at least three teeth came out of her mouth.

“(Spit) I sure did, and next time I see her, I’ll make sure I finish the job! That way you’ll know what it’s like to lose everything!” Lightning Dust yelled as she wiped some of the blood off of her mouth.

“NO!!” Rainbow Dash screamed as she tackled Lightning Dust, causing the two to wrestle and struggle against each other as they both fell towards the ground.

As the two pegasi fell to the ground, they never let go of each other as they kept headbutting and even biting at each other until eventually, they both landed on one of the buildings. The fall had really hurt both pegasi, but luckily neither sustained any serious injuries. Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust struggled to get up and soon they were both back on their feet and glaring into each other’s eyes. Rainbow Dash let out another yell as she lunged towards Lightning Dust, continuing their fight.

While Rainbow Dash continued fighting Lightning Dust, Pinkie Pie was bouncing and jumping all over the place as she was getting shot at by the cloaked unicorn. Pinkie jumped from roof to roof and wall to wall as she dodged all of the attacks. The cloaked unicorn was starting to get annoyed with how fast Pinkie Pie was. He started to watch how Pinkie Pie moved and once he found a pattern, the cloaked unicorn fired a beam of magic at the spot where Pinkie Pie was about to jump to. While she was in midair, Pinkie Pie somehow managed to stop herself in the air and leapt back to her previous spot.

“What!? How did you do that!?” the cloaked unicorn asked, trying to figure out how Pinkie Pie had literally stopped herself midair and seemingly used the air to jump back to her original position.

“That was a pretty clever move, mystery pony! But it’s not enough to stop Pinkie!” Pinkie Pie said with a cheerful, yet confident smile.

“In that case, take this!” the cloaked unicorn yelled as he started to fire more shots towards Pinkie Pie, who of course continued to dodge every single shot.

However, this was what the cloaked unicorn wanted to happen as now he had Pinkie Pie under the impression that he was just going to continue firing magic at her like an idiot. Once Pinkie was fully focused on avoiding the attacks, the cloaked unicorn teleported out of sight.

“Huh!? Hey! Where did you go?” Pinkie Pie asked as she looked around for the unicorn.

As Pinkie Pie looked around, her Pinkie Sense suddenly kicked in and she felt this incredible sense of danger coming from just behind her. Pinkie Pie quickly jumped up into the air, just as the unicorn teleported right behind her and fired a beam of magic at her, hitting her and causing her to fall to the ground. As Pinkie Pie landed on the ground, she looked up at the roof where the unicorn was standing, his jade green eyes glowing from the darkness of the hood he wore, looking down at her.

“(Chuckle) I must say, your unique abilities to defy the very laws of nature and gravity have amused me. I look forward to performing many experiments on you, Pinkie Pie.” The cloaked unicorn said as he teleported to the ground and started walking towards the party pony.

“(Gasp) Oh no! Please don’t do any scary science experiments on me!” Pinkie Pie cried as she covered her head with her hooves, until she suddenly looked back up. “Well actually, there is one experiment I wouldn’t mind getting.”

“Oh? And what would that be?” the cloaked unicorn asked, tilting his head a bit with curiosity.

“Electroshock therapy.” Pinkie Pie responded with a happy smile, as if she wasn’t talking to a pony that wanted to experiment on her.

“Really? And why is that?” the cloaked unicorn asked.

“Because when ponies get shocked, they make really funny noises, like this!” Pinkie Pie said as she suddenly jabbed her hoof into the unicorn’s chest with a joy buzzer. “(Giggle) The good old joy buzzer, works every time!” Pinkie Pie said as she looked over at the screen and gave the readers a wink and a smile.

The unicorn was certainly taken aback as he continued to get shocked by Pinkie’s joy buzzer. Eventually however, the unicorn managed to teleport away and behind Pinkie Pie, shooting her in the back with his magic.

“You know… I really am not amused by your little party tricks. I think my first experiment on you will be to test how loudly you can scream. Your voice is quite nice, so I’m curious to hear just how high your voice can go.” The cloaked unicorn said with another chuckle.

“Are you flirting with me? Aww gee, I’m flattered mister mystery pony, but I kind of already have somepony in mind. He’s super funny and nice, and he’s a party pony just like me!” Pinkie Pie asked as she pulled out what looked like a daisy. “I was going to give him this flower, it’s super pretty, right?” Pinkie Pie asked as soapy water suddenly shot out of the daisy and into the unicorn’s eyes.

Pinkie Pie laughed as the unicorn stumbled back while trying to wipe the soapy water out of his eyes. Pinkie Pie took the opportunity and pounced on the unicorn, landing on his back and wrapping her front hooves around his neck. The unicorn tried to teleport away, but every time he did, Pinkie Pie would still be on his back, practically hugging him.

“(Giggle) You’re not going to get rid of me that easily!” Pinkie Pie said as she reached into her mane and pulled out a party hat.

Before Pinkie Pie could do whatever, it was that she intended to do with the party hat, her Pinkie Sense kicked in again and she felt the need to get away from the unicorn as quickly as possible. The unicorn’s horn started to spark with a great surge of magic and a charging sound could be heard. Pinkie Pie quickly bounced off of the unicorn just in time as a huge burst of magic emitted from his body. Once Pinkie was off of the unicorn’s back, he turned to look at her.

“Enough! I’ve waited more than a thousand years and I’m not going to be made a fool by a mere earth pony! You want to party, Miss Pie!? Alright then, let us party!” the cloaked unicorn yelled as he fired another shot at Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie Pie grinned with confidence as she dodged the attack and continued to have as much fun as she could while fighting the cloaked unicorn. Little did she know however, this unicorn was now deadly serious.

“DIE FLUTTERSHY!” Iron Will yelled as he brought his fist down towards Fluttershy.

With a terrified squeal, Fluttershy quickly jumped out of the way before she was crushed. Even now, Fluttershy still hadn’t been able to get airborne; Iron Will was just too fast and he wouldn’t give her any time to escape. Soon Fluttershy found herself crawling up against the wall of one of the buildings. Iron Will roared as he tried to punch Fluttershy, but he missed, and his fist was stuck in the wall. Fluttershy knew that it would only be a matter of seconds before Iron Will managed to free himself.

“Iron Will! Why are you doing this!? Why are you trying to kill me!? I don’t understand!” Fluttershy cried as she finally managed to get off the ground.

“You tricked Iron Will! You said that if Iron Will changed, things would be better! YOU LIED! You only said that to make Iron Will fail!” Iron Will roared as he tore his hand out of the wall and swung at Fluttershy, who flew up higher, avoiding the attack.

“Why would I ever do that!?” Fluttershy asked, shocked by what she had heard.

“Whooves told me that you wished to get revenge on Iron Will for how Iron Will treated you!” Iron Will roared as he ripped out one of the supporting beams of the building.

“What!?” Fluttershy cried.

“Now, IRON WILL CRUSH YOU!” Iron Will roared as he started swinging the beam at Fluttershy.

The beam just barely missed Fluttershy as she flew to the side. Iron Will roared again as he started repeatedly trying to smack Fluttershy out of the air with the beam. After many failed swings, Fluttershy knew she had to snap Iron Will out of whatever trance he was in. She knew that she never had tried to set him up to fail. She helped change him so he could be better, not so he could fail. After avoiding another swing, Fluttershy flew up to Iron Will and then quickly used the Stare on him, freezing Iron Will in place.

“You listen to me, Iron Will! I never lied to you! And I would never set you up to fail!” Fluttershy said, keeping Iron Will locked in place.

“You… wouldn’t…?” Iron Will asked, completely trapped by the Stare.

“Of course not. Doctor Whooves is lying to you!” Fluttershy said.

“Whooves… lied to Iron Will?” Iron Will asked.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust were still beating the living daylights out of each other in the sky above the town. Not too long after they had crashed onto the roof of one of the buildings, they soon were back in the air. Lightning Dust had just landed a good punch to Rainbow Dash’s face. She laughed as she relished seeing the cyan pegasus in pain. However, Lightning Dust saw something going on in the town; Iron Will was seemingly being pep talked to by Fluttershy, and it appeared to be working. Lightning Dust roundhouse kicked Rainbow Dash in the face, keeping her busy as she flew down towards Fluttershy.

“Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash cried as she quickly flew after Lightning Dust.

“Yes! He lied to you! This isn’t who you are.” Fluttershy said, seeing that she was actually starting to get through to Iron Will.

“It’s not?” Iron Will asked.

“No, it’s not. You can be better. I know you-GAH!” Fluttershy said before Lightning Dust suddenly flew right into her and slammed her onto the ground.

Once Fluttershy had hit the ground, Lightning Dust didn’t lose her grip on the yellow pegasus as she pinned her down and raised her hoof to start punching her. Iron Will, who was no longer trapped by Fluttershy’s Stare, turned to see Lightning Dust was now punching Fluttershy repeatedly in the face. Iron Will thought about what Fluttershy had just told him, wondering if she was indeed telling him the truth. However, before he could even think of what to do, Iron Will heard the sound of somepony yelling from behind him. Iron Will turned around and was met with a punch to the face by Rainbow Dash.

With her first punch landing a direct hit to the minotaur’s face, Rainbow Dash didn’t give Iron Will a moment to rest or counter as she started unleashing her rainbow combo attack on his face. Rainbow Dash punched and kicked Iron Will in the face for a good thirty seconds, until she suddenly stopped her assault, pulled her right hoof back a bit and then punched Iron Will as hard as she could in the face, causing him to fall to the ground unconscious. With the angry minotaur out of the fight, for now at least, Rainbow Dash looked up to see Fluttershy doing her best and failing to avoid Lightning Dust’s punches and kicks.

As Fluttershy took another kick to her chest, she saw that Rainbow Dash had just taken down Iron Will. The two pegasi made eye contact and nodded to each other. Right as Fluttershy was about to take another punch to the face, Rainbow Dash flew over and tackled Lightning Dust to the ground. While Rainbow Dash was keeping Lightning Dust pinned to the floor, she looked over to Fluttershy.

“I’ve got this, Fluttershy! Go help the others!” Rainbow Dash yelled before Lightning Dust headbutted her, allowing herself to fly out of the cyan pegasus’s grip.

As Lightning Dust began to attack Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy felt something start to boil. The sight of her childhood friend getting beaten up by this cruel bully made her suddenly lose the shyness and the gentleness. Fluttershy was determined to make sure this bully never hurt anypony again. She wasn’t sure how long this anger would last or if she could ever muster up this kind of anger again, but that didn’t matter. All that mattered was stopping Lightning Dust from hurting one of her best friends.

“No!” Fluttershy said as she flew over and tackled Lightning Dust the ground, rolling around a bit before tossing her into a wall. “We’re fighting together, Rainbow Dash.”

Before Rainbow Dash could respond, Lightning Dust managed to get back up and she glared at the two pegasi. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy looked at each other and gave each other a confident grin. The two friends then turned back to face Lightning Dust.

“Bring it on, Lightning Dust.” Rainbow Dash said with a grin.

“Heh, with pleasure! YAH!” Lightning Dust yelled as she flew towards the two pegasi.

As Lightning Dust flew towards the two friends, she made it look like she was aiming for Fluttershy, but at the last second, she changed her course and managed to tackle Rainbow Dash out of the air and to the ground. As Lightning Dust was about to start punching Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy suddenly grabbed ahold of Lightning Dust’s legs, holding them back. This allowed Rainbow Dash to get up and start punching Lightning Dust while Fluttershy held her in place. After taking quite a few punches, Lightning Dust managed to smack Fluttershy in the face with the back of her head. Using her incredible speed, Lightning Dust turned around, grabbed Fluttershy, and pulled over so that she was right in front of her, resulting in Rainbow Dash accidentally hitting Fluttershy in the back of the head. With Fluttershy badly hurt and Rainbow Dash shocked at what she had just done, Lightning Dust took the opportunity to throw Fluttershy at Rainbow Dash, causing the two friends to fall to the ground.

Lightning Dust flew over to the pegasi and grabbed Fluttershy by the leg, tossing her to the side so she could focus on her primary target. Rainbow Dash quickly rolled out of the way, narrowly avoiding a stomp attack from Lightning Dust. Rainbow Dash then landed a punch to Lightning Dust’s side, stunning her for a bit. Lightning Dust quickly sidestepped out of the way and kicked Rainbow Dash in the chest before lifting her up into the air. Before Lightning Dust could do anything, Rainbow Dash headbutted her and then started to combo her. Somehow, Lightning Dust was able to break out of the attack and she backhoofed Rainbow Dash in the face. As the two pegasi started to combo each other, Fluttershy flew over to try and get the jump on Lightning Dust. However, she had seen this attack coming so Lightning Dust managed to kick Fluttershy back. Fluttershy didn’t give up though as she just shook off the pain and wrapped her hooves around Lightning Dust’s waist. With a little yell, Fluttershy pulled Lightning Dust away from Rainbow Dash and actually threw her onto the ground really hard.

This action and strength coming from Fluttershy certainly surprised Rainbow Dash, as she had never seen her friend fight like this before. However, this was no time to be surprised as Lightning Dust recovered and after muttering an insult, she flew up and tried to tackle Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash didn’t let that happen as she managed to intercept Lightning Dust, smacking her back to the ground. Fluttershy quickly flew over to the pegasus and tossed her back up into the air, where Rainbow Dash was waiting. Lightning Dust found herself caught in Rainbow Dash’s combo attack once again, only this time, Fluttershy had joined in. The two friends began tossing Lightning Dust back and forth to each other, making sure to hit her with what they had before throwing her back. Eventually, Lightning Dust managed to get an opening and flew up into the air, temporarily freeing herself from the double team attack.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy quickly flew after Lightning Dust, determined not to let her get away. Lightning Dust wasn’t able to get away fast enough as Rainbow Dash caught up to her and grabbed her leg before tossing her down to Fluttershy. However, Lightning Dust managed to recover midair, and she landed a powerful kick right on Fluttershy’s head, causing the yellow pegasus to fall to the ground. As soon as Fluttershy landed on her back, she closed her eyes as Lightning Dust landed on top of her, pinning her down so she could start beating her down. Just as Lightning Dust was about to hit the yellow pegasus, Fluttershy opened her eyes and caught Lightning Dust in her Stare. Lightning Dust was terrified when she found that she couldn’t move, and she tried her best to break free of whatever this was. While Lightning Dust continued to try and escape, Fluttershy saw Rainbow Dash approaching fast and she gave the reckless pegasus a grin. Lightning Dust was then tackled by Rainbow Dash, who slammed her up against a wall.

With Lightning Dust pinned, Rainbow Dash punched her hard in the face three times before she prepared a punch and landed a powerful uppercut, causing the back of Lightning Dust’s head to smack against the wall. Lightning Dust then fell to the ground, seemingly unconscious. With another member of the Rogue presumably taken out of the fight, Rainbow Dash looked over to Fluttershy gave her a grin.

“Nice one, Fluttershy! I didn’t know you had that in you.” Rainbow Dash said.

“Oh, well, um… I didn’t either. I was just so angry when I saw how much Lightning Dust was hurting you. I had to help my friend.” Fluttershy replied, rubbing her hooves together.

“Well, thanks for that. Now come on, we have to help the others! I’ll help Twilight and you help Pinkie Pie!” Rainbow Dash said as she suddenly flew off to help Twilight.

Fluttershy nodded as she flew over to help Pinkie Pie. However, neither of them had noticed when Lightning Dust’s eyes started to slowly open, and a small grin formed on her face.

Meanwhile, Twilight was still battling against Discorded Whooves and those annoying mechanical arms. She had quickly worked out that the safest way to fight the Doctor was to put a good distance between herself and the mad doctor. However, being far away from him meant it was much harder for Twilight to inflict any damage as the arms would counter and block every beam of magic she fired at the Doctor. Of course, Twilight had tried to pick up the Doctor and throw him to the ground with magic, but every time she did, the arms would catch the ground, keeping the Doctor from getting hurt. Eventually, Twilight decided to go for it, and she flew towards the Doctor. Discorded Whooves reached out and tried to grab Twilight with one of the arms, but she teleported behind him and fired a beam of magic at his back. As Discorded Whooves yelled in pain, one of the arms almost grabbed Twilight, but she managed to teleport above the Doctor. Twilight then flew down and tackled the Doctor to the ground. Before she could start hitting him, one of the arms grabbed Twilight’s leg and tossed her to the ground.

“I honestly expected more from you, Twilight Sparkle. You’re starting to disappoint me.” Discorded Whooves said as he looked down at Twilight.

“(Cough) You wouldn’t be saying that if you didn’t have those arms, Doctor Whooves.” Twilight said as she glared up at the Doctor.

“(Chuckle) You can just admit that you’re not as powerful as you think you are. There’s no shame in that.” Discorded Whooves said with a smile as the arms brought him closer to the princess.

As Discorded Whooves started getting closer to her, Twilight knew that she had to get rid of those arms. Then she remembered what the Doctor had said during the presentation.

To remove the harness, I simply press this button on my right side, just behind my right shoulder.

Twilight quickly looked at the harness and spotted the button. If she could get those arms off of the Doctor, she’d be able to take him down and stop the rest of the Rogue. With a new strategy fresh in her mind, Twilight began firing beams of magic at the Doctor. The upper arms shielded their master from the attack and Twilight took his opportunity to teleport herself onto the Doctor’s back. Twilight reached her hoof out for the button on the harness, however just as she was about press the button, one of the arms grabbed her, pinning her wings to her side. The arm snaked around and held Twilight out in front of the Doctor. Twilight was about to teleport away, when a second arm reached out, its claws pinched the tip of Twilight’s horn, cutting off her magic. Twilight hissed in pain as she felt the claws of the arm pinch her horn even harder.

“Trying to separate me from my mechanical arms, Twilight? (Chuckle) Not going to happen.” Discorded Whooves said, giving her a sadistic grin while he prepared to rip Twilight’s horn off.

Twilight screamed in pain as she felt the claws of the arm start to pull at her horn. Knowing that the Doctor intended to tear her horn off, she tried with all her might to use any kind of magic to break free.

“Don’t worry, Princess, the doctor knows best. Prepare to scream for-GAH!” Discorded Whooves yelled as Rainbow Dash suddenly smacked into him, causing him to drop Twilight.

As Twilight fell on the ground, she looked up and saw Rainbow Dash was punching the living daylights out of Discorded Whooves, all while quickly dodging the arms. After landing a powerful kick to the Doctor’s face, Rainbow Dash started to fly around in a circle, whipping up a large cloud of dust and once it was large enough and formed in the shape of a tornado, she kicked it towards the Doctor, temporarily trapping him in a mini tornado of dust.

“Thanks, Rainbow Dash, wait where’s Lightning Dust?” Twilight asked, looking around for the reckless pegasus that Rainbow Dash had chased after earlier.

“Don’t worry about her. Fluttershy and I took her down.” Rainbow Dash replied with a grin, unaware of the imminent danger she was about to be in.

“RAINBOW DASH! LOOK OUT!” Twilight cried as one of the arms came out of the tornado and reached out towards Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash quickly dodged the arm as she and Twilight watched Discorded Whooves break out of the tornado, destroying it. The Doctor chuckled as he looked down at the two friends. Twilight and Rainbow Dash prepared themselves to fight the Doctor but before they could, Twilight was suddenly tackled by Lightning Dust, who started to fly the princess up into the air and away from Rainbow Dash.

“Twilight! WOAH!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she tried to fly after her friend but was caught by one of the arms and yanked back towards the Doctor.

“I don’t think so! You’re stuck with me, Dashie! YAH!” Discorded Whooves yelled as one of the arms tried to grab the cyan pegasus.

Rainbow Dash kicked the arm that tried to grab her and then glared at the Doctor. She had waited for this moment and now he would pay for what he had done. Rainbow Dash flew straight towards the Doctor, avoiding each of the arms as she started to unleash her rainbow combo on him. This didn’t last long though as one of the arms grabbed Rainbow’s leg and tossed her over and away from the Doctor. Rainbow Dash was quickly able to recover in the air as she flew back towards the Doctor. Before she could reach him however, one of the upper arms reached out to swipe at her. Rainbow Dash stopped herself from getting too close as she just kicked the arm away. The second upper arm shot out and also tried to grab her, but just like the previous attempt, it failed as Rainbow Dash punched the arm away. Discorded Whooves laughed as he started engaging in a hoof to claw fight as both of the upper arms tried to hit Rainbow Dash, only for the pegasus to punch or kick them away from her.

Rainbow Dash of course had tried to get past the two upper arms and reach the Doctor, but the arms were so long and fast that she wasn’t able to get herself any closer. She had tried to fly around and attack the Doctor from behind, but the arms would rotate their master around so that he was always facing the pegasus. After fending off the arms a couple more times, Rainbow Dash decided to try something different. Rainbow Dash started to fly in circles super-fast around the Doctor, planning to fly in and attack him once he got dizzy from trying to follow her.

Discorded Whooves tried to follow Rainbow Dash with his eyes, but he soon found himself getting very dizzy. Before he could make himself even more dizzy, the arms started speaking to their master, suggesting a plan to catch the speedster.

“Yes, you’re right! Track her movements!” Discorded Whooves ordered as he was lowered to the floor by the bottom two arms.

With their master safely on the ground, all four of the arms activated their sensory systems that had been recently installed by Professor Screw inside the spot where light could be emitted from the center of each claw. The arms carefully examined and watched Rainbow Dash’s movements, calculating her exact speed, and determining the exact moment she would try to close in and attack the Doctor. Once the arms had finished their calculations, they alerted their master.

“Good. NOW!” Discorded Whooves yelled as one of the upper arms shot out, just as Rainbow Dash had tried to fly in to attack the Doctor.

Rainbow Dash let out a cry of pain as she was grabbed by one of the arms. Its three claws had caught the pegasus in a way that had pinned her front legs to her side and left her wings relatively useless. Discorded Whooves laughed as he watched Rainbow Dash struggle to break free. The arm started to bring Rainbow closer to the Doctor until she was only a few inches away from his face. She glared into Discorded Whooves’s eyes as he grinned at her.

“What is wrong with you, Doc!? You hurt all of us! You hurt Derpy!” Rainbow Dash said as she continued to struggle.

“(Chuckle) You seem to care a lot about that stupid klutz. Why is that?” Discorded Whooves asked.

“Call her another insulting name and I’ll buck your teeth out and make sure you end up in a hospital for a long time!” Rainbow Dash yelled.

“(Chuckle) Just stop caring about that clumsy mistake of a pony. Trust me, she’s worthless, pathetic, mentally stupid, and just a dumb klutzy bitch!” Discorded Whooves said.

“No. She’s. NOT!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she kicked the lower finger of the claw so hard that the claw actually let her go.

Once Rainbow Dash freed herself, she headbutted Discorded Whooves hard in the face. This gave her enough time to start punching him in the face, all while doing her best to avoid getting grabbed by the arms.

During the time Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were taking care of Lightning Dust, Rarity was taking care of Flim and Flam. The three unicorns took cover behind pieces of rubble and tried to shoot each other with magic. Eventually after a lot of blasting, Rarity decided to just go for it as she leapt out of cover and ran towards the two brothers. Flim and Flam immediately stood up and started to shoot their magic at the fashionista. Rarity was able to avoid getting hit by using a trick she had seen Shining Armor use during a very interesting Hearth’s Warming. As Rarity ran towards the brothers, she jumped up in the air and fired her magic down at the ground below her, giving herself a boost as she did a few flips in the air above Flim and Flam. As Rarity landed behind them, giving them a sly smile, Flim and Flam were completely flabbergasted by what they had just seen.

“What the hay!?” Flim yelled as his mouth hung open.

“How did she do that!?” Flam yelled as he held the sides of his head with his hooves.

“Here’s a little lesson for you boys; never underestimate a lady!” Rarity yelled as she fired her magic at Flim and then at Flam.

The two brothers fell back against a wall of a building and before they could get up, Rarity used her magic to pick up Flim and slam him right into his brother. The two brothers managed to stand, and they started opening fire on Rarity. Rarity reacted quickly as she started to run around the area, dodging and leaping out of the way of every magic beam shot at her. While Rarity was avoiding the magic of the two con artists, she gave them another sly smile.

“UGH! Shoot her, brother!” Flam yelled.

“I’m trying! She’s too fast!” Flim yelled back as he ducked, narrowly avoiding a blast of Rarity’s magic.

As Rarity kept running and dodging the magic attacks, she used her magic to pick up some rubble and dumped it on the brothers, burying them in debris. This didn’t last long as the brothers shot out of the rubble and continued firing their magic at Rarity. After some time of trying and failing to hit the white unicorn, Flam decided to fire his magic right in front of where Rarity was going to run. This worked as Rarity immediately screeched to a halt before she ran into Flam’s magic. Flim took this opportunity to fire a shot at Rarity, hitting her in the side. The impact caused Rarity to fall to her side hard, crying out in pain. Flim and Flam laughed as they quickly trotted over to her. Flim immediately secured Rarity by encasing her entire body in magic, holding her in his magical grip.

“We’ve got you now! You do the honors, brother.” Flim said as he looked at Flam.

“With pleasure, brother.” Flam said as he charged up a powerful beam of magic, ready for Flim to release his magic grip on Rarity so he could blast her.

However, just as the brothers were about to finish off Rarity, Flam was suddenly tackled from behind by Applejack, who had finally recovered from her previous scuffle with the brothers.

“No!” Flim yelled as he watched his brother get tackled to the ground by the very angry Applejack.

When Flim had turned his attention away from Rarity, he had failed to see that she was now charging up her own magic. As soon as Flim turned back to face Rarity, she unleashed a powerful light spell that temporarily blinded Flim, causing him to release Rarity. Now free, Rarity blasted her magic in Flim’s face, sending him flying back a bit.

Meanwhile, Applejack and Flam rolled around and wrestled with each other. Applejack made sure that she didn’t give Flam any time to use his magic and escape. Eventually, Flam found himself pinned face down, with Applejack on his back. Applejack then grabbed ahold of Flam’s head and started to slam it on the ground over and over again, the strength of each slam breaking Flam’s nose. Once Flam’s face was bloodied up, Applejack then picked Flam up by his waist and slammed him over her shoulder and onto the ground hard. Flam let out a yell as his body hit the hard floor. Applejack then jumped over his body and kicked him in the stomach. Applejack quickly looked around and spotted some rope hanging from one of the windows of a building. Applejack kicked some dust into Flam’s eyes and ran over to grab the rope.

Despite the pain he was feeling and the dust in his eyes, Flam managed to get back to his feet, only to have a rope get suddenly wrapped around all four of his legs. Applejack pulled back, causing Flam to fall on his side before she started to swing him around. After a few good swings, Applejack snapped at the rope, causing it to untie itself from Flam’s legs, causing Flam to get thrown through a window and slamming into the wall of the building. Applejack stared at the door to the building Flam had been thrown into and waited. Moments later, Flam shot the door down with his magic and stepped out of the house and looked up at Applejack. Flam took a couple steps towards Applejack, and then fell to the floor unconscious.

Satisfied with the fact that Flam probably wasn’t going to get back up anytime soon, Applejack turned to look at Rarity, who was still battling against Flim. The unicorn panicked as he saw Applejack running towards him. Rarity kept him distracted by firing her magic at him, allowing Applejack to slam into him and shove him to the floor. Flim managed to kick the farmer in the chin with his leg, buying him some time. However, this proved to be ineffective as he was suddenly picked up by Rarity’s magic. With a grunt, Rarity threw Flim to the side. Applejack and Rarity were about to gang up on Flim when Applejack saw something out of the corner of her eye. Applejack turned her head and saw that Rainbow Dash was in serious trouble.

“Rainbow Dash!” Applejack cried, getting Rarity’s attention as she looked over and saw what was about to happen to the pegasus.

“Go! Help Rainbow Dash! I’ll deal with him!” Rarity said as she saw Flim start to get ready to fire more magic at them.

“Thanks, Rarity! I’m coming, RD!” Applejack yelled as she picked up the rope and ran to Rainbow Dash’s rescue.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was really starting to struggle in her fight with Discorded Whooves. It was almost impossible to inflict any damage on him because of those arms. Rainbow Dash landed a kick to Discorded Whooves’s face and punched him in the face before one of the arms smacked her away from him. When Rainbow was smacked away, another arm reached out to try and grab her, but she managed to fly out of range. Once Rainbow Dash was ready, she flew down and landed a quick strike on the Doctor. However, as she tried to fly away, one of the upper arms managed to grab ahold of her leg and slammed her down to the floor. With the speedster landing hard on the ground, the claws of the upper two arms opened up and two long spikes came out. The arms then tried to stab Rainbow Dash, but she was able to crawl away and eventually got back in the air.

Rainbow Dash knew that trying to attack Discorded Whooves while the upper arms wielded those long and sharp spikes was too dangerous. After examining her options, Rainbow Dash decided to try and knock the Doctor off balance. Rainbow Dash flew around, purposely letting the arms attempt to swipe at her. With the arms locked in a routine, Rainbow Dash flew straight towards the lower left arm and kicked it out of place, expecting the Doctor to fall to the ground. However, the lower right arm’s grip prevented the arms from losing their balance. Seeing that her plan had failed, Rainbow Dash tried to fly away but she was grabbed by the lower left arm. The upper arms put their spikes away as Rainbow Dash was lifted up towards the Doctor. The arm that held Rainbow Dash activated its electricity field, electrocuting her. Rainbow Dash cried out in pain as she felt massive waves of electricity flow through her entire body. Discorded Whooves grinned as he activated the upper right arm’s electricity field and slammed the arm onto the ground, electrifying the patch of land he stood on. Discorded Whooves then lifted Rainbow Dash in the air and slammed her down, right onto the electrified floor, sending even more painful waves of electricity through Rainbow Dash’s body. Rainbow Dash screamed even louder as she felt more pain than she had ever felt in her life. Discorded Whooves then lifted Rainbow up in the air and threw her down on the ground.

Discorded Whooves laughed as he looked down at the injured Rainbow Dash. The cyan pegasus was so badly injured that she could barely move. Every time one of Rainbow’s wings even twitched, she felt a surge of electricity shock her. Discorded Whooves then ordered the two upper arms to grab Rainbow Dash’s wings and then they lifted her up off the ground, like they had done to Night Glider the previous day.

“(Chuckle) Now, Rainbow Dash, it’s time that you truly understand what it’s like to be an earth pony… permenately! HAHAHAHA!” Discorded Whooves said as he laughed, prepared to rip Rainbow Dash’s wings off.

Rainbow Dash’s energy had finally returned to her body, but it didn’t matter. She was trapped in the grip of the mechanical arms. Rainbow Dash cringed as she felt the arms twist at her wings a little. Then, just as the arms were about to tear her wings off, a rope was suddenly wrapped around Discorded Whooves’s neck. Applejack had arrived just in time as she yanked down hard on the rope, pulling Discorded Whooves down the ground and letting go of Rainbow Dash. The Doctor didn’t stay on the ground long however as one of the arms managed to cut the rope. That same arm grabbed ahold of Applejack and threw her up in the air. Rainbow Dash quickly flew over and caught her friend in the air, safely bringing her back to the ground.

“Applejack!? What are you doing here!?” Rainbow Dash cried, too shaken up by what almost happened to her to actually be thankful to her friend.

“What do y’all think I’m doing!? I’m saving your sorry flank!” Applejack replied.

Before the two friends could get into a pointless argument, they watched as Discorded Whooves propped himself back up and glared at the two of them before giving them a grin.

“Applejack and Rainbow Dash… you two always were the strongest in terms of physicality. Let’s see if the two of you can stop me!” Discorded Whooves said as he waved the arms around menacingly while the two friends looked at each other.

“You ready, RD?” Applejack asked, grinning at her friend.

“Heh, you bet I am, AJ. Let’s kick his ass.” Rainbow Dash said as they charged towards Discorded Whooves.

Pinkie Pie had also been starting to struggle in her fight with the cloaked unicorn. His attacks became stronger, and he became more strategic in his attacks. Soon, Pinkie Pie found herself only on the defense instead of the offense. Every time she tried to get close to the unicorn, he would teleport just a few feet away from her and hit her with powerful magic. The unicorn then caught Pinkie Pie in his magic grip and pulled her towards him. As Pinkie Pie tried to break free, the unicorn summoned a scalpel and held it directly under her chin, threatening to cut her neck.

“It has been fun, Pinkie Pie. But I believe play time is over. You have two choices, either you surrender yourself to me and become one of my new experiments, or I’ll just cut your beautiful neck open. What will it be?” the cloaked unicorn asked.

“Um… can I phone a friend?” Pinkie Pie asked with a giggle.

“Very funny, but no. Besides, you have no friends available to help you. You’re mine now, Pinkie Pie.” The cloaked unicorn said as he chuckled, unaware that Fluttershy was flying towards him.

“But what about Fluttershy?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“What are you talking about? OOF!” the cloaked unicorn said as he was suddenly tackled to the ground by Fluttershy.

Fluttershy and the unicorn rolled around the floor together for a bit until the unicorn caught Fluttershy in his magic and threw her over him and onto the ground. The unicorn quickly stood up and charged at her, preparing to blast her in the face with a very powerful incinerating spell. However, just as he was about to unleash his spell, Fluttershy looked up and caught the unicorn in her Stare, paralyzing him.

“Gah! N-No!” the cloaked unicorn yelled as he tried desperately to break out of Fluttershy’s Stare.

“Glitter dust!” Pinkie Pie yelled as she popped out in front of the unicorn with a small wooden bucket in her hooves before tossing the glitter into his face.

“GAHHHH! MY EYES!” the cloaked unicorn cried as he stepped back while painfully rubbing his eyes.

Before the unicorn could do anything else, Pinkie Pie bounced over to him and jabbed his front leg with her joy buzzer, giving him a really good shock. Once Pinkie had electrocuted the unicorn for a good thirty seconds, she pulled back and pulled something out of her mane.

“Here, hold this!” Pinkie Pie said as she placed a bomb in the unicorn’s hooves.

“Wh-What!?” The cloaked unicorn cried as he was still recovering from having glitter thrown at his face and then getting electrocuted by a joy buzzer.

“Fluttershy, duck!” Pinkie Pie cried as she ran towards the yellow pegasus.

“Huh? Woah!” Fluttershy squeaked as Pinkie Pie tackled her behind two wooden barrels.

The unicorn finally used his magic to get rid of the glitter that was in his eyes and when he did, he looked down at what he had been handed. A few ticking sounds could be heard from the bomb as the unicorn let out a disappointed grunt.

“Oh fu-BOOM!”

The bomb suddenly exploded, sending the unicorn flying into a wall of one of the few remaining buildings of the village. The bomb Pinkie Pie had handed the unicorn was not a real bomb as it had been filled with flour, sugar, and confetti. The unicorn coughed as he weakly stood back up and glared at Pinkie Pie.

“(Cough) (Cough) When I get my hooves on you, I’m going to make sure you suffer! I will take great pleasure in watching you scream from the many experiments I will perform on you!” the cloaked unicorn yelled before Fluttershy raised her hoof.

“Um, excuse me?” Fluttershy said, getting the unicorn’s attention.

“What!?” the cloaked unicorn asked, not wanting to hear from this pegasus.

Fluttershy didn’t say anything as she just pointed up above the unicorn. The unicorn looked up to see that the roof he was standing under was about to break and fall. Unamused, the unicorn looked over at Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy and gave them another disappointed look.

“(Sigh) Oh no-.” the cloaked unicorn said as the roof finally collapsed and fell down on him, burying him underneath the rubble.

“Hooray! We did it! Thanks for the help, Fluttershy! I couldn’t have done it without you!” Pinkie Pie said as she gave her a hug.

“O-Oh, um, you’re welcome, Pinkie. But did I really help you?” Fluttershy asked.

“Of course, you did, silly! If you hadn’t shown up, I would have been a goner! Now come on! Let’s go help our friends!” Pinkie Pie said as she ran off.

“Oh, okay! Wait for me!” Fluttershy said as she flew after Pinkie Pie.

Meanwhile, Rarity and Flim were just finishing their little magic duel. Flim had tried to overpower Rarity with his magic, but he had been too exhausted, not only from his battle with the fashionista, but also due to his earlier fight with Applejack. Flim started to throw some of the surrounding objects at Rarity, but she was able to blast each of them away with her magic. When it seemed that Flim was finally burned out from the fight, Rarity ran towards him and tackled him to the ground. After backhoofing Flim in the face a couple times, Rarity picked him up with her magic and threw her over to where Flam was still lying unconscious. Flim hit the ground hard and as he tried to get back up, he fell right next to his brother, passed out from exhaustion. Looking down at the two con artists, Rarity smiled with delight.

“Sorry boys, it looks like Rarity shall be taking this victory today.” Rarity said to the unconscious bodies of Flim and Flam.

“Heya, Rarity! Wow, looks like you really showed those two!” Pinkie Pie said as she and Fluttershy appeared beside her.

“I certainly did. Come along now, darlings. Rainbow Dash and Applejack need our help.” Rarity said as the three friends made their way over to Discorded Whooves.

Meanwhile Applejack and Rainbow Dash were battling against Discorded Whooves, and they were doing surprisingly better than they initially thought. They used their teamwork to gain the advantage over the Doctor. Every time Rainbow Dash would go in for a close ranged attack, Applejack would attack the lower arms, keeping them distracted and allowing Rainbow Dash to have less of a risk of getting grabbed. Eventually, Rainbow Dash managed to get past the upper arms and tackled the Doctor, punching him in the face and chest. While this happened, Applejack ran up from behind the Doctor and jumped up into the air, landing on Discorded Whooves’s back. The two friends kept their assault going for as long as they could until the upper arms grabbed them and tossed them to the ground. Discorded Whooves laughed as he looked down at the two friends.

“(Chuckle) You two put up a good fight, but there’s only two of you!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he laughed before he was shot in the back by a beam of magic. “What!? No!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he turned around to see Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy before he heard a familiar voice come from above him.

“Correction, there’s six of us.” Twilight said as she landed beside her friends, holding an injured Lightning Dust with her magic.

From what Discorded Whooves could see, Lightning Dust’s left wing was broken, and she had lots of bruises all over her body. Twilight then tossed Lightning Dust to the side. When she landed on the floor, she tried to get back up, but she was just too injured and exhausted as she fell back down. Discorded Whooves then looked around and saw the unconscious bodies of Lightning Dust, Flim, Flam, and Iron Will. Discorded Whooves turned to look at the Mane Six and gave them a glare.

“It’s over, Doctor Whooves. You’ve lost.” Twilight said.

Discorded Whooves kept glaring at the ponies, until he started to laugh like somepony had just said a funny joke. Hearing the mad doctor laugh made Rainbow Dash groan.

“Oh boy, it’s never a good sign when the bad guy loses everything and then they start laughing.” Rainbow Dash said.

“(Laughs) You all did very well. Though it looks like most of you took quite a beating in the process. I must admit I’m rather disappointed with the outcome. However, it seems like you haven’t dealt with all of my partners.” Discorded Whooves said.

The Mane Six suddenly heard the sound of rubble being broken and magic starting to charge up. They turned around and when they saw that the source of the sounds were coming from, Pinkie Pie’s eyes widened with fear and worry.

“Uh oh…” Pinkie Pie said.

Suddenly, a large beam of magic shot out of the rubble and the sound of a pony yelling could be heard from miles away. When the dust cleared, the ponies saw the cloaked unicorn was now back up, his jade green eyes glowing with malice as he glared at them. The unicorn then teleported away and right next to Discorded Whooves.

“THAT’S IT! I’M DONE! NO MORE GAMES!” the cloaked unicorn yelled as he ripped off his cloak, revealing himself to the ponies.

The Mane Six were then greeted by the sight of a unicorn with a dark maroon body, his mane and tail as grey as stone. He had a ruffled up and messy mane, like that of a mad scientist. His cutie mark was a beaker with a black skull on it and his eyes were a jade green, filled with malice.

“Huh? Who are you!?” Pinkie Pie asked as she pointed at the unicorn.

“(Chuckle) Greetings, ponies. My name is Professor Screw Loose. Don’t be fooled by my appearance. I am a very powerful crystal pony that knows many forms of dark magic.” Professor Screw said

“A crystal pony!?” the mane six cried as they were not expecting a pony from the empire of love to be one of the Rogue.

“How are you a crystal pony!? I thought the Crystal Empire was all about love!” Rainbow Dash cried.

“(Scoffs) You really think that just because the Crystal Empire is about love, that there aren’t any bad ponies in the bunch? HA! Wake up, pegasus, this is real life not some fairy tale!” Professor Screw yelled.

“(Giggle) Professor Screw Loose? That’s a funny name! But wait, if you’re a crystal pony, that means you were gone for over one thousand years! Have you always been evil or did somepony change you?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Actually, I’ve been in Equestria ever since the Empire disappeared.” Professor Screw said.

“Wait a minute! If y’all have been around since then, that means you’re-.” Applejack said before the Professor cut her off.

“Over one thousand years old? Yes, I am. To be more specific, I am exactly one thousand and fifty-four years old.” Professor Screw said.

“Wh-What!? But that’s impossible! How can you still be alive?” Twilight asked.

“You ask too many questions, Princess Twilight. Personally, I prefer to speak through my actions. Come, let us speak somewhere private.” Professor Screw said as his horn began to glow with magic.

Twilight suddenly found herself being encased entirely by Professor Screw’s magic. She tried to break out using her own magic, but the Professor’s magic was much stronger than hers. The Professor intended to take Twilight away from her friends to ensure that they couldn’t use the Elements of Harmony on the Doctor, just like before when the Rogue separated all of them from each other. Based on the Professor’s words and the look on his face, Twilight knew she only had seconds to tell her friends about the Doctor’s weakness.

“Twilight!” The rest of the Mane Six cried as Twilight was suddenly lifted up into the air.

“Girls! Don’t worry about me! Just get those arms away from the Doctor! There’s a button on the right side of his harness! Be careful!” Twilight yelled as she and the Professor suddenly teleported away.

As soon as Twilight and Professor Screw were teleported away from the village, the rest of the Mane Six looked over to Discorded Whooves. They weren’t sure how long Twilight was going to be gone for, but whatever it took, they knew they had to stop Discorded Whooves.

“(Chuckle) You think it’s going to be easy to separate me from these arms? Ha! I’d love to see each you try!” Discorded Whooves yelled.

“You really think you’re going to get away with what you’ve done!?” Applejack yelled, stomping her hoof on the ground.

“Of course, I am! I’m stronger than I ever was before!” Discorded Whooves replied with an evil laugh.

“What happened to you, Doctor!? You were never this cruel, evil, or rude!” Fluttershy cried.

“(Chuckle) I told you all before, I’m new and improved! You see, I am Doctor Whooves, but I am not the Doctor Whooves you knew and loved. My mind now controls his body! I will remain here in this new Equestria forever!” Discorded Whooves yelled with another evil laugh.

“What? Are you saying that you’re Doctor Whooves from another world?” Rarity asked.

“(Chuckle) Precisely.” Discorded Whooves replied.

“Whether you’re from another world or not, you’re still going to pay for what you’ve done!” Rainbow Dash yelled.

“HA! As if you five are going to be the ones to stop me!” Discorded Whooves replied as he then grinned sinisterly at the ponies. “Soon, the Staff of Sacanas will be mine! Equestria will fall to me!”

“Not gonna happen, Doc Ock! Not while we’re around!” Pinkie Pie yelled.

With that, the Mane Five charged ahead to fight against Discorded Whooves and take him down once and for all.

Author's Note

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! It took a while to write but it was a lot of fun! How do you all feel about these longer chapters? Should I try to make chapters shorter? Or just stick with what I'm doing? How do you all think I did writing the multiple fight scenes that were taking place at the same time in the chapter? Hopefully I did okay

Next chapter will focus on the aftermath of this chapter and we will even learn a bit about who Professor Screw is.

Thank you all for reading! Hope you all enjoyed, hope to see you in the next chapter!

Grogar's Bewitching Bell

The next day…

The next morning, Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow were all eager to get the day started. Last night, they had all worked together to come up with a plan to reach the top of Mount Everhoof. The planning took some time, but the terrible trio were satisfied with how their plan turned out.

As the terrible trio set off for the summit of Mount Everhoof, they all agreed that until they reached a specific spot, they would stay on the ground so the wind wouldn’t give them any trouble. From what they had discussed yesterday, the trio determined that the path Cozy Glow had taken would be the smartest path to take first. Besides, they had to take care of Rusty Bucket and do what Sombra had ordered them to do.

If you run into anypony along the way, kill them.

Following Cozy Glow’s lead, the terrible trio soon arrived at Rusty Bucket’s cabin. As they arrived, Rusty Bucket walked outside to see who had come to his home this time. The sight of Cozy Glow, as well as Tirek and Chrysalis shocked Rusty Bucket as he was not expecting to have more visitors.

“Hello again, mister.” Cozy Glow said as she grinned at Rusty Bucket.

“Huh? You again?” Rusty Bucket said as he looked at Tirek and Chrysalis. “And who might you two be?”

“(Chuckle) So, you’re the one who wouldn’t let Cozy Glow up the mountain. Is that right?” Tirek asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Um, yes, that would be me.” Rusty Bucket said, not liking where this was going.

“(Giggle) This your last chance, mister. Take us up the mountain or else.” Cozy Glow said as she narrowed her eyes at Rusty Bucket.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t. It’s too dangerous to go up to the summit of Mount Everhoof.” Rusty Bucket said firmly. “I’m afraid you three will have to turn back.”

“(Evil Giggle) I was hoping you’d say that.” Cozy Glow said.

Then, before Rusty Bucket could do anything else, Tirek began to drain all of the magic out of his body. Once Tirek’s spell was finished, Rusty Bucket collapsed onto the ground, utterly weakened. Chrysalis then used her magic to suck all of the love out of Rusty Bucket’s body, leaving him completely drained of his life force. The three villains laughed as Rusty Bucket tried to get back up.

“(Groan) Why… Why are you doing this?” Rusty Bucket asked, finding it difficult to even speak.

“Because we have a job to do. Here, I’ll get the door for you!” Tirek said as he picked up Rusty Bucket and threw him at his door, breaking it down.

As Rusty Bucket was thrown into his house from the front door, Chrysalis walked in after him. As Chrysalis entered the home, her eyes spotted something on a small wooden table close by the fireplace. It was a book, but not just any book, it was the Friendship Journal that Cozy Glow had mentioned the previous day. Looking at the book, then at Rusty Bucket, and then at the fireplace, Chrysalis grinned as a wicked idea came to her mind.

“You know what the worst part is about ponies like you who live alone?” Chrysalis asked as she brought her face closer to Rusty Bucket’s. “When you die, no pony will ever know.”

Chrysalis then picked up the Friendship Journal with her magic and tossed it into the fire. Once the book was completely engulfed by the flames, Chrysalis took the book out of the fireplace and then threw it down on the wooden floor of the house.

“No! What are you doing!? I’ll burn, help me!” Rusty Bucket cried as he saw that Chrysalis had started a fire in his house.

“(Evil Laugh) No.” Chrysalis replied with a sadistic grin.

“Please! I’ll take you all up the mountain, I promise! Just please get me out of here!” Rusty Bucket pleaded as he desperately tried to crawl away from the flames.

“Oh, I’m afraid it’s too late for that. You had your chance, and you didn’t take it. Farewell.” Chrysalis said as she picked up Rusty Bucket with her magic and threw him right into the heart of the fire.

Rusty Bucket screamed in pure agony as his body was instantly consumed by the roaring flames of the fire. Chrysalis grinned as she watched the pony struggle and writhe in pain. Eventually, the flames began to spread quickly throughout the wooden house, so Chrysalis quickly flew out of the house and rejoined the others.

“(Evil Giggle) Close the door.” Cozy Glow said with a sadistic grin.

With that, Chrysalis morphed into the female Ophiotaurus and let out a roar so loud, it caused the mountain to shake. Then, a huge amount of snow fell from the mountains, burying the entire house in snow and muffling the sounds of Rusty Bucket’s bloodcurdling screams as he was burning alive. With this little obstacle taken care of, the terrible trio laughed as they walked over the large pile of snow that covered the building. The villains were so busy laughing, that they didn’t hear the sounds of Rusty Bucket’s screams suddenly go silent; Rusty Bucket had finally succumbed to the blazing flames and was now dead.

As the terrible trio were making their way through some light forest to get to Mount Everhoof, they still continued to laugh over the disposal of Rusty Bucket.

“So, Cozy Glow, let’s just pretend that the old fool did decide to cooperate with us, would we have still finished him off?” Tirek asked, curious to hear the filly’s response.

“Well duh! Of course, we would still have taken him out. If we kept him alive, he would have told everypony about us. King Sombra said that no pony is supposed to know about us.” Cozy Glow said.

“Perhaps a fitting end for the fool would have been that once we reached the top of Mount Everhoof, we could just push him off the mountain and let him fall.” Chrysalis said with a flick of her tongue.

“(Laughs) Can you imagine the look on his face when we’d push him down the mountain? It would be hilarious!” Tirek said as the trio shared another laugh with each other.

While the terrible trio continued to laugh with each other, Tirek looked up and saw that there were some strong looking vines in the trees above him. Thinking that the vines could come in handy later, Tirek reached up and tore off a few of the vines, wrapping them around his shoulder.

Soon, the terrible trio came to split in the forest. One path looked easy to take seemingly led straight to Mount Everhoof, while the other path would take longer to reach the mountain. Not sure which path to take, the trio stopped to think of what to do. After looking over each of the paths, Cozy Glow flew up ahead, pointing in the direction of the path on the right.

“We’ll go this way. It’ll get us to Mount Everhoof quicker.” Cozy Glow said as the other villains walked over to her.

“How do you know that? You never made it this far.” Chrysalis said, looking at Cozy Glow with a raised eyebrow.

“Because I have a great sense of direction.” Cozy Glow answered with a grin.

“Do you though? Because if you did, you would have reached the top of Mount Everhoof yesterday.” Tirek said with a smug look.

“Really? Are we really going to do this now?” Cozy Glow asked with a very unamused look on her face.

“Hey, I’m just laying down the facts for you.” Tirek said, putting his hands up defensively.

“Yeah? Well, if you bring it up again, the next thing that’s going to be laying down is you when I knock you out with one kick.” Cozy Glow said as she scowled at Tirek.

“Oh please, you’re not even strong enough to break my finger.” Tirek said as he waved his finger at Cozy Glow.

“If you two are done acting like children, may I remind you that we have a job to do.” Chrysalis said as she shoved past the two villains.

“Hey, he started it!” Cozy Glow said as she pointed at Tirek.

“Maybe I did, but you were the one who overreacted like a child.” Tirek said.

“I am a child!” Cozy Glow said.

“Whatever, let’s just go already.” Chrysalis said as she made her way down the path, with Tirek and Cozy Glow following her.

Little did the terrible trio know, during that whole time, they were being watched by a pack of hungry snow wolves. The wolves had been stalking the trio for quite a while now and they were just waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. Unlike the forest creatures that had been stalking Chrysalis the previous day, these snow wolves were much stealthier and more efficient at staying quiet. Therefore, even Chrysalis couldn’t sense the oncoming threat in the tree line.

As the terrible trio continued to make their way through the forest, they soon spotted the edge of the forest up ahead. Excited to get out of the forest, Cozy Glow did a flip in the air as she eagerly pointed ahead.

“Come on you, guys! Let’s go!” Cozy Glow said as she once again flew up ahead of the others.

“You know, I thought we agreed that flying wasn’t a good idea until we reached the right place for it.” Chrysalis said.

“Pfft, relax, I’m only a few inches off the ground. The wind’s not going to take me down.” Cozy Glow said as she puffed out her chest with confidence.

Just then, as Cozy Glow’s back was turned, one of the snow wolves jumped out from the bushes and pounced on her, tackling her to the ground. Cozy Glow screamed as the wolf pinned her to the ground, trying to bite her neck. Before Chrysalis and Tirek could do anything to help Cozy Glow, the rest of the wolf pack emerged from the forest and began to circle the two villains. Tirek attempted to use his magic to scare the wolves away, but before he could, one of the wolves lunged forward and bit down on his forearm. Tirek cried out in pain as he felt the jaws of the wolf clamp tightly around him. Immediately after that, a couple more wolves leapt on top of Tirek, biting, and clawing at his back.

At the same time as Tirek was dealing with the wolves attacking him, Chrysalis was also being attacked. When the wolves first showed up, she had the idea to morph into a bigger creature to scare them off, but the wolves jumped her before she could use her power. The wolves were able to prevent Chrysalis from using her magic by biting her legs and one of them biting at her horn. Snow wolves were considered to be one of the more intelligent species of wolves in all of Equestria, and they were known to take down bigger creatures using their advantage in numbers.

During the scuffle, Tirek managed to get some of the wolves off of him by slamming himself against a tree, crushing two of the wolves. Tirek then kicked one of the wolves in the face, sending it flying back into a tree. The remaining wolves prepared to pounce on Tirek once again, but before they could, Tirek used his magic to lift the wolves up in the air and then he flung them all into the trees. With those wolves dealt with, Tirek began to use his magic to heal himself.

Meanwhile, Chrysalis was still dealing with the wolves on her end. The wolves did not make it easy for her as they repeatedly bit her legs, with the one wolf still biting on her horn. Eventually, Chrysalis managed to find an opening as she flew up into the air. This escape managed to get the wolves attacking Chrysalis’s legs off of her, but the wolf biting her horn was still on her. Despite the cold wind causing her wounds to sting, Chrysalis powered through and swung her head in a circular motion. This caused the wolf to lose its grip and fall to the ground. Now free, Chrysalis swooped back down and landed in front of the wolves.

“Let’s see how you creatures feel about this!” Chrysalis hissed as she used her magic to morph into a Timberwolf.

This was a smart move on Chrysalis’s part as Timberwolves were the only creatures that snow wolves wouldn’t dare to mess with. Seeing the changeling suddenly transform into a Timberwolf, the snow wolves all cowered in fear. Seeing the fear in their eyes, Chrysalis let out a mighty roar, causing all except for one wolf, to flee the area.

While Chrysalis and Tirek had been fending off the wolves, Cozy Glow was fighting for her life against the last wolf, keeping its deadly jaws away from her neck. The wolf was persistent and was clearly dead set on making Cozy Glow its next victim no matter what. Cozy Glow punched and kicked at the wolf with her hooves as she tried push it off of her. As the struggle continued, Cozy Glow knew that she would eventually tire out, so she had to get out of this situation soon. Just as Cozy Glow predicted, her legs gave out and the wolf was ready to deliver a fatal bite. However, just before that could happen, the wolf was lifted up by Tirek’s magic and then blasted off into the sky.

“Phew, that was a close one. Thanks, Tirek.” Cozy Glow said as she got up and dusted the snow off of her back.

“Don’t mention it. If we’re going to die, it’s going to be because of a pack of wolves.” Tirek said as he examined himself for any more wounds.

“Come along then, let’s get away from here before any more pesky creatures show up.” Chrysalis said as she began to walk ahead, wincing a bit due to her wounds.

“Wait.” Tirek said as he walked over to Chrysalis. “Stay still.”

With that, Tirek extended his hand and started using his magic to heal up Chrysalis’s wounds. Chrysalis was surprised that Tirek even bothered doing this for her. Although, it was most likely that Tirek just didn’t want to be slowed down by Chrysalis. Still, the gesture was somewhat appreciated.

“Thanks…” Chrysalis said when her wounds were healed.

“Don’t get the wrong idea. I only did that because I don’t need you slowing us down.” Tirek said as he shot Chrysalis a look.

“Pah! You’re the one who is going to slow us down since you can’t even fly.” Chrysalis said as the two glared at each other.

“Um, hello? Can you two please stop acting like kids so we can get the bell? Thank you.” Cozy Glow said with a smile as she led the way.

This caused Tirek and Chrysalis to look at each other and then glare at the filly as they followed her, continuing their journey to Mount Everhoof as they made sure to keep an eye out for any other creatures that lurked around the area.

Since the previous night when they had all shared their stories with each other, the terrible trio had gained a bit of respect for one another. Inside, they all felt a bit of pity for the other. Although, they indeed still hated each other, there was now more tolerance and respect between them. They now understood why they were serving Sombra and willing to accept the deal he offered them. While Cozy Glow had full faith that Sombra would honor the contract, Tirek and Chrysalis weren’t entirely sure. They didn’t think that Sombra would betray them or anything, but they couldn’t put it past him to one day just alter the deal so that he would end up getting more power over them.

After the incident with the snow wolves, the terrible trio had formulated a role system for their journey to Mount Everhoof. Cozy Glow would serve as the navigator due to her ‘great’ sense of direction; Chrysalis would use her abilities to morph into whatever form they needed her to be, and if a large threat were to show itself, Tirek would be the first to attack.

As the terrible trio were making their way up a hill, a large dead tree fell over, almost crushing the villains. With their path blocked, Chrysalis morphed into an Ursa Minor, picking up the tree and then throwing it down the hill.

“So, can you just turn into any animal? Or is there like a limit?” Cozy Glow asked as Chrysalis morphed back to her changeling form.

“We changelings can morph into any creature so long as we have either seen it or have a basic idea of their appearance.” Chrysalis replied.

“Huh, I got to admit, that is pretty cool!” Cozy Glow said.

“Yes, it’s cool or whatever. How long do you intend to ride on my back?” Tirek asked as he looked back at the filly.

“Until you admit that I’m a genius.” Cozy Glow said with a smile.

“Ha! I’d rather be locked in a cage with that dreadful pink party pony.” Tirek said as Cozy Glow stuck her tongue out at him.

“Hush, both of you!” Chrysalis hissed as the trio continued their journey.

After making it over the hill, the terrible trio arrived at the frozen lake that Chrysalis had run into the previous day. Overnight, the waters had once again frozen over with a thick sheet of ice. When they arrived, Tirek stuck a finger in his mouth and then held it up in the air to test how strong the winds were. After Tirek’s finger had completely frozen solid by the powerful icy winds, the trio concluded that flying over the river was a no-go.

“So, what do we do now?” Cozy Glow asked, still riding on Tirek’s back.

“Well, we’re definitely not getting over the river, that’s for sure.” Tirek said as he shook the ice off of his frozen finger.

“Step aside.” Chrysalis said as she stepped forward and morphed into an even bigger cragadile than before.

Once transformed, Chrysalis dove through the ice and then resurfaced, swimming back so she was close enough to the shore where Tirek and Cozy Glow were standing.

“Both of you, get on my back. I’ll get us across.” Chrysalis said as she did her best to stay still in the water.

“Hang on.” Tirek said to Cozy Glow. “If you fall in, I’m not freezing myself to save your sorry flank.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Cozy Glow said as she playfully poked Tirek. “But I know you’d save me.”

Tirek just rolled his eyes at this as he prepared to jump. Tirek knew he had to get the timing just right or else he’d fall in the freezing cold water. Due to the body shape of centaurs, Tirek wasn’t a great swimmer, and he wasn’t sure if Chrysalis would actually save him if he fell in. After a few seconds, Tirek carefully leapt safely onto Chrysalis’s back. With the two villains on her back, Chrysalis began to carefully swim across the lake, using the powerful jaws of the cragadile to break the ice that blocked her path.

It wasn’t long until the terrible trio managed to reach the other side of the frozen lake. As Chrysalis crawled out of the lake and back onto shore, Tirek and Cozy Glow jumped off of her back, allowing Chrysalis to morph back to her regular form. In front of the trio, was the huge pile of boulders all stacked up and forming a small mountain.

“Flying is still off-limits?” Cozy Glow asked.

“Yes, it will be safer to climb the rocks.” Chrysalis replied.

“In that case, get off me.” Tirek said as he reared back on his hind legs, knocking Cozy Glow off of his back.

“Ow! Hey! What was that for!?” Cozy Glow asked as she landed on her rump.

“I’m not going to carry you on my back while I climb up this pile of rocks.” Tirek said with his arms crossed. “I don’t need you making this harder than it already will be.”

“Are you saying that I’m heavy!?” Cozy Glow yelled as her face turned red with rage.

“Don’t look at me, you were the one eating marshmallows last night.” Tirek said as he shrugged.

“(Growl) I thought we were a team!” Cozy Glow yelled as she stomped her hooves on the ground.

“We are, but that doesn’t mean we have to be nice to each other.” Tirek said.

“Would you two just shut up already!? If you’re going to keep arguing every five minutes, I will just leave you both here!” Chrysalis hissed as she stomped her hoof. “Now, follow me.”

With that, the terrible trio began to climb up the large pile of rocks. Snow had covered all of the rocks, making the trip very slippery and difficult. Due to this, the trio decided to take their time climbing up the rocks so that they wouldn’t fall down. Thanks to having fingers and sharp claws, Tirek was able to climb up the rocks with relative ease. Chrysalis and Cozy Glow struggled a bit since they didn’t have any fingers or claws to help them. Chrysalis had considered just morphing into the mountain goat she had turned into yesterday so she could get ahead of the others.

Thankfully, Chrysalis didn’t do this as when they had reached the top, Cozy Glow ended up losing her grip.

“W-Woah! HELP ME!” Cozy Glow cried as she was about to fall down the hill.

“Got you!” Chrysalis shouted as she managed to catch Cozy Glow with her hoof just in time.

“(Gasp) (Pant) (Pant) C-Chrysalis… you… you saved me…” Cozy Glow said, looking up at the changeling.

“Of course, I did, now come on. We’re not finished yet.” Chrysalis said as she lifted Cozy Glow up and placed her safely on the ground.

After making it over the large pile of boulders, the terrible trio climbed up to the top of another large hill. At the top, they saw up ahead was Mount Everhoof. Chrysalis had tried to fly from this spot to reach the mountain yesterday, but the wind ended up knocking her back.

“So, this is the place?” Tirek asked the changeling queen.

“Yes.” Chrysalis replied with a nod. “Here, flying will be our best option. However, the wind will make it very challenging.”

“So, what are we going to do?” Cozy Glow asked. “It’s not like we can just stop the wind from blowing.”

“Well of course, we can’t. That’s why I brought these.” Tirek said as he removed the vines he had collected earlier from his shoulder and held them out to the others. “If we can’t fly across, we’ll just have to make ourselves a bridge we can use to reach the other side.”

“And how exactly are we going to do that?” Cozy Glow asked with a raised eyebrow. “Oh golly, please don’t tell me you’re going to try and lasso up those vines around one of the rocks on Mount Everhoof. Because that is never going to work.”

“Do I look like an idiot or something!? No, of course, that’s not what we’re going to do!” Tirek shouted. “Chrysalis here will transform into an animal that can fly really well through strong winds.”

“I told you, I already tried that, and it didn’t work.” Chrysalis said.

“You didn’t let me finish.” Tirek said as he gave her a look. “As I was saying, Chrysalis will turn into a strong bird or something, while I tie the vines around one of these rocks. Then, Cozy Glow will hold the other end of the vines and Chrysalis will fly as far as she can to the mountain. Just before the wind knocks her back, Chrysalis will throw Cozy Glow to the mountain, which will allow Cozy Glow to tie the vine around one of the rocks on Mount Everhoof. Then, Chrysalis and I will walk across the vine to get to the other side.”

After listening to Tirek’s plan, Chrysalis thought it was actually a pretty smart idea. Cozy Glow on the other hood, was taken aback by what she had just heard.

“Hang on! You want Chrysalis to throw me across this huge valley so I can hopefully make it to the mountain!?” Cozy Glow cried with a flap of her wings.

“That’s the idea.” Tirek replied.

“What if she misses!?” Cozy Glow asked.

“Then she misses.” Tirek replied with a shrug.

“You’re insane!” Cozy Glow shouted as she pointed at Tirek.

“Do you have a better idea? I’m all ears.” Tirek said as he waited for a response. “Yeah, I didn’t think so.”

“B-But are those vines even strong enough for this plan?” Cozy Glow asked.

In response to Cozy Glow’s question, Tirek placed a spell on the vines, which increased their durability and endurance.

“Now they are.” Tirek said with a grin as he tied one end of the vines around one of the nearby rocks.

“(Sigh) Fine, I trust you, Tirek.” Cozy Glow said as Tirek handed her the other end of the vines.

With that, Cozy Glow turned to Chrysalis and nodded to her, signaling the changeling queen that she was ready. In response, Chrysalis nodded back to Cozy Glow before morphing into the large hawk she had turned into yesterday. Chrysalis then held out her right talon, signaling Cozy Glow to come closer.

“Just please don’t squeeze me too hard or anything. I don’t want to be crushed.” Cozy Glow said.

“I will not hurt you unless I have to.” Chrysalis said with another nod.

Cozy Glow then walked forward, allowing Chrysalis’s hawk talons to wrap around her entire body. Once Cozy Glow was in a firm yet secure grip, Chrysalis took off into the air. Sure enough, the winds were still just as strong as ever. Chrysalis was only able to fly for a short time until she could sense that the wind would knock her back at any minute.

“Are you ready, child!?” Chrysalis asked as she fought as hard as she could against the wind.

“Ready!” Cozy Glow shouted back as she prepared herself to be thrown.

With a screech, Chrysalis flipped in the air, using the momentum from the flip to fling Cozy Glow as hard as she could. As soon as she threw Cozy Glow, Chrysalis was knocked back down by the wind as she slammed onto the ground next to Tirek. The two villains watched as Cozy Glow flew through the air. Cozy Glow screamed all the way until she finally reached Mount Everhoof. Not wanting to miss her chance, Cozy Glow managed to wrap the vine around one of the rocks on the mountain, tying it up tightly.

“Guys! I did it!” Cozy Glow shouted as she waved over to Tirek and Chrysalis.

“Wow, it actually worked.” Chrysalis said.

“Well of course, it did. I was the one who came up with the idea.” Tirek said as he grinned with pride.

Chrysalis merely rolled her eyes at this as she morphed into a monkey. Using the monkey’s fingers and firm grip, Chrysalis was able to crawl across the vine, which now connected the two mountains. After Chrysalis started making her way across the vine, Tirek also crawled across the vine, following close behind the changeling. Once the terrible trio had all made it to Mount Everhoof they all congratulated each other on the success of their plan.

Meanwhile…

What the terrible trio didn’t know was that ever since their meeting in the Void, Sombra had been watching them. When Cozy Glow had told him that they were almost at Mount Everhoof, Sombra had gotten curious to see how the three villains were working together. He watched as the trio went their separate ways in an attempt to reach the top of Mount Everhoof. Sombra had to admit that it was rather enjoyable watching each of the villains fail to reach Mount Everhoof. However, he also wanted Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow to work together.

When the terrible trio began to exchange their personal stories with each other, Sombra didn’t listen in as he decided that he didn’t want to know their stories, at least not yet. Although, based on the fears he had seen from them, Sombra already had a pretty good idea about the terrible trios’ pasts. The next day, Sombra watched as the three villains worked together to reach Mount Everhoof. When he saw their brilliant plan to actually reach Mount Everhoof, he was impressed.

“(Chuckle) Impressive… what a clever idea…” Sombra said as he continued to watch the terrible trio through the crystal ball.

Meanwhile…

After some time, the terrible trio finally made it to the top of Mount Everhoof. The journey to get here had not been easy, but it sure felt good to finally reach their destination. At the summit of Mount Everhoof, there was a large cave, which no doubt contained Grogar’s bell. Surrounding the entrance to the cave, was a strange looking field of magic and glowing lights.

“What is that?” Cozy Glow asked as she looked at the glowing magic lights.

“Probably just some magic barrier. No matter, it will not stop us.” Chrysalis said as she flew straight towards the cave’s entrance.

As soon as Chrysalis reached the magic field surrounding the cave’s entrance, she was instantly knocked back onto the ground, sliding in the snow until she stopped next to Tirek and Cozy Glow. This surprised the despicable duo as they just looked at each other. Tirek then stepped forward to see if the magic field was really that powerful. Reaching out his hand, Tirek touched the magic field, only to have his hand burned. It was clear now that this was a powerful magical deflector shield and there was no simple way of getting past it.

“Can you absorb it and make it go away?” Cozy Glow asked hopefully.

“I can only absorb magic from living things.” Tirek said as he thought of what to do next.

As Tirek tried to come up with a solution to this situation, Cozy Glow thought about what Tirek had just told her. Looking over at Chrysalis, an idea came into Cozy Glow’s mind.

“You mean like her?” Cozy Glow asked, gesturing to Chrysalis.

Hearing this, Chrysalis’s wings instantly flared out as she lowered herself slightly, preparing to attack the two villains.

“Betrayal! I should have known!” Chrysalis yelled as she hissed at the despicable duo.

“Not betrayal; teamwork.” Cozy Glow said reassuringly. “If Tirek absorbs your energy, he might be strong enough to break through the barrier.” Cozy Glow said as Tirek flexed his muscles at the thought of getting more power.

“And then?” Chrysalis asked.

“Then… he gives it back.” Cozy Glow said as she smiled.

“I do?” Tirek asked, being caught off guard.

“Yep.” Cozy Glow replied with a nod as Tirek scowled.

“How do I know you won’t just take my magic and leave me?” Chrysalis asked, raising an eyebrow at the two villains.

“Oh, come on, would we do that to you?” Cozy Glow asked innocently.

In response to this, Chrysalis’s eyes went wide as she wondered if Cozy Glow was actually being serious. The changeling queen then gestured to herself and then to the other two villains, with a questioning look on her face.

“Okay normally, yes, we would.” Cozy Glow admitted with a shrug.

“Fine, I’ll give you your magic back.” Tirek said reluctantly.

“Very well. Do it.” Chrysalis said as she prepared herself to be drained of her magic.

With that, Tirek stepped forward and began to absorb Chrysalis’s magic. As Chrysalis felt her magic get drained out of her, she almost immediately started to feel herself weaken. As Chrysalis grew weaker, Tirek only grew stronger. Due to the sheer amount of power, Tirek started to grow in size. Soon, he had completely absorbed all of Chrysalis’s magic. Chrysalis fell to the ground, so weak that she could barely keep her eyes open while she looked up at the powered-up Tirek.

“Yes! YES! So much POWER!” Tirek roared as he flexed his muscles before giving them a kiss.

“Ew, what that really necessary?” Cozy Glow asked, but Tirek just ignored her.

“Oh yeah! I’m back, baby!” Tirek yelled as he blasted a beam of magic at the magical barrier, causing a small hole to form.

Tirek had intended to make the hole large enough for him to easily pass through, however the power of this barrier was so strong that Tirek could barely make a hole big enough for even a fully grown pony to fit through.

“(Grunt) It’s not big enough for me!” Tirek yelled as he tried to break through the barrier.

“Maybe not for you!” Cozy Glow shouted as she flew straight through the hole before turning back to Tirek. “Keep it open for as long as you can, or I’ll be trapped forever!”

“(Groan) Would… that really be the worst thing that could happen right now?” Chrysalis weakly asked as Cozy Glow flew into the cave.

The entrance of the cave had been covered by dark shadows, which made it impossible to see inside or even distinguish how deep the cave was. Once Cozy Glow flew past the darkness of the cave’s entrance, she found herself standing in a huge chamber. If she didn’t know any better, Cozy Glow would have thought that she’d had just found an ancient temple.

“Woah… what is this place?” Cozy Glow asked as she looked all around the walls of the cave.

Brightly lit torches were aligned along the walls of the chamber, illuminating the cave, and exposing all of its secrets. Aside from the torches, there were also lots of pictures which decorated the cave’s walls. These pictures seemed to tell the story of Grogar and his rule over Equestria, eventually leading to his defeat by Gusty the Great. There was also some sort of ancient written language across the walls, not that Cozy Glow could read any of it. In the center of the chamber, there was a pedestal. And on this pedestal, was the very item that the terrible trio had been looking for; Grogar’s Bewitching Bell.

“(Gasp) There it is! Grogar’s Bewitching Bell! I found it!” Cozy Glow said as she clapped her hooves together.

As Cozy Glow began to walk towards the bell, she ended up stepping on something hard, which caused her to trip. Cozy Glow hit the ground, wincing a bit at the pain. As Cozy Glow tried to get back up, she looked to see what had tripped her, and she screamed. Cozy Glow had just tripped over the skeletal remains of Grogar, the father of monsters, and the first emperor of Equestria.

Ever since Grogar had been banished by Gusty the Great, no pony had any idea as to where he went. For a millennium, Grogar had just wandered throughout Equestria, slowly trying to regain his power so that he could one day set out to retrieve his bell and take back Equestria for himself.

Cozy Glow had no idea how it was even possible for Grogar to be dead. Based on the state of his body, it was clear that he had been dead for some time, but the cause of his death was impossible to know. Could a powerful creature such as Grogar have simply just starved to death or was done in by the harsh conditions of Mount Everhoof? Did another creature kill him?

What Cozy Glow didn’t know, was that Grogar had been killed by his very own bell. Years ago, when Grogar had regained enough of his strength, he journeyed to the top of Mount Everhoof and actually made it past the magic barrier. However, what Grogar didn’t know was that Gusty the Great had predicted that he would try to get his bell back. So, Gusty placed a failsafe spell that would activate if Grogar tried to get his hooves on the bell. As soon as Grogar touched the bell, the failsafe spell kicked in and started to drain all of his power, life force, and even his soul out of his body. Because of this, Grogar would just fall to the ground until he eventually died.

Cozy Glow’s thoughts were interrupted as she heard Tirek’s voice roar out from outside the cave.

“Can’t… Hold… Much… Longer!” Tirek yelled as he struggled to keep the hole open in the magical barrier.

With that, Cozy Glow completely disregarded Grogar’s body and swiped the bell from its pedestal. Then Cozy Glow flew as fast as she could back to the entrance of the cave.

“HURRY!” Tirek roared as he was about to lose his hold on the barrier.

Then, just before Tirek’s magic gave out, Cozy Glow blasted out from the hole in the barrier and crashed into a snowbank next to Chrysalis. Tirek and Chrysalis looked over to where Cozy Glow had crash landed and waited to see if she was okay and if she had gotten the bell. After a few seconds, Cozy Glow popped out of the snow, holding the bell up in the air.

“Tada!” Cozy Glow cheered as she proudly held out the bell to the others.

“T-Tirek… my magic… please…” Chrysalis said as she looked at Tirek, struggling to keep her head up.

Tirek looked down at the weakened changeling queen, and then he looked at how powerful he had become physically as well as magically. Deep down, he wanted to keep the magic he had gained to himself. However, something just wouldn’t let Tirek do what he wanted. So, with a barely noticeable nod, Tirek began to give Chrysalis her magic back.

Feeling her magic return, Chrysalis was finally able to stand back up. She stretched out her wings and shook her head a bit. It was then that Chrysalis realized that Tirek had actually given her back her magic, without even complaining once. This came as a shock to Chrysalis as she really hadn’t expected to get her magic back so easily.

“Tirek… I… I wasn’t sure you were actually going to give my magic back.” Chrysalis said as she looked up at Tirek with a confused yet appreciative expression.

“Neither was I.” Tirek said as he shrugged a bit with a confused expression on his face. “But working together seemed… smarter than continuing to fight with each other.”

“When we helped each other, it felt better somehow.” Cozy Glow said as she flew up to their level.

“I haven’t felt like this since before I lost my hive.” Chrysalis said as she stepped forward. “Having others who will be there for you is… pleasing.”

“All of these years… taking power from ponies…” Tirek said as he looked back on his past.

“When you used your power to help others,” Cozy Glow began as Chrysalis continued.

“Yes! It feels… (Gasp) NOOOO!!!” Chrysalis roared as she stomped her hoof on the ground.

Tirek and Cozy Glow were at first taken aback by Chrysalis’s bizarre outburst, but then they quickly realized why Chrysalis had gotten so furious. The way they had all been talking just now, it was like they were not only understanding the ways of the magic of friendship, but also embracing it.

“(Hiss) The magic of friendship is like a disease! An infection that spreads to those around you!” Chrysalis yelled as she snarled. “I watched it infect my hive. The very hive that I fought so hard to claim as my own! I will not let the magic of friendship infect me too!”

“Honestly.” Tirek added as he scowled. “I’d rather give up all of my powers forever rather than follow in the footsteps of my pathetic brother!”

“But King Sombra wanted us to work together, remember?” Cozy Glow asked the other two villains. “That’s why he sent us on this mission in the first place.”

“I don’t care what Sombra said! I will not allow myself to be corrupted by friendship!” Chrysalis yelled, stomping her hoof down again.

“It’s not friendship, it’s teamwork.” Cozy Glow said. “If anything, we’re frenemies; partners in crime.”

“Yes, partners in crime.” Chrysalis said with a grin.

“(Chuckle) Oh I like the sound of that!” Tirek said as he cracked his knuckles.

“Yeah! Together, no pony will be able to stop us!” Cozy Glow said as she grinned.

Then, before they could say anything else, three of the enchanted bracelets suddenly fell onto the floor in front of the villains.

“Huh? What are those?” Cozy Glow asked as she looked at one of the bracelets.

“Well obviously, those are bracelets.” Tirek said.

“Yeah, I know that, but where did they even come from?” Cozy Glow asked.

Just then, the terrible trios’ eyes all rolled into the back of their heads before their eyes started to glow that menacing green color. Soon enough, the terrible trio found themselves back in the Void.

“What!? Oh great, we’re back here again.” Chrysalis said as she looked around the Void.

“Ugh, it feels so weird whenever we get taken to this place. Like can we at least get some sort of warning first?” Tirek asked as he rubbed his head.

The sound of a deep and low laughter could be heard as the shadowy form of Sombra appeared before the terrible trio in the Void.

“(Chuckle) Greetings my friends.” Sombra said as he looked at the three villains.

“Sombra! Why have you summoned-!?”

“King Sombra! King Sombra! We did it!” Cozy Glow exclaimed, cutting off Chrysalis. “We got the bell!”

“Well, would you look at that, I knew you could do it.” Sombra said with a dark grin. “I believed in you three.”

“You… did?” Chrysalis asked, tilting her head a bit.

“Of course. I wouldn’t have tasked the three of you with retrieving the bell if I didn’t think you could do it.” Sombra said.

“Even if you didn’t believe in us, it’s not like you could have sent someone else to do it. You didn’t have your little Rogue at the time.” Tirek said, waving his hand at Sombra.

“I had Professor Screw; I could have sent him. But I didn’t, did I?” Sombra asked, narrowing his eyes at Tirek.

“No, you didn’t. But that doesn’t matter.” Tirek said, brushing off Sombra’s point. “If I recall, you promised to tell us something important once we got the bell.”

“(Chuckle) That’s funny because I never promised you anything.” Sombra said in a firm voice. “And as I recall, I said that once you brought me the bell, then we would talk.”

“Sombra, you know it will take us days to make it back to your little castle, why not just tell us now?” Chrysalis asked.

“Enough, I did not bring you all here to argue. I’m sure you’ve all seen the bracelets that appeared before you shortly before I summoned you to the Void, yes?” Sombra asked as the three villains nodded in response. “Good, those are very special bracelets that have been enchanted with dark magic. With them, you can teleport anywhere as long as you can visualize the location in your mind. Use these bracelets to return to your little camp that you made yesterday.”

“Wait, how do you know about that?” Tirek asked.

“Ever since our previous meeting, I’ve been watching your progress. But that’s not important right now. Go back to your camp, I’ll be waiting. Dismissed.” Sombra said as the terrible trio all disappeared from the Void.

After the three villains had left the Void, they stood there and looked at each other, stunned by their meeting with Sombra.

“Sombra has been… watching us this whole time!?” Chrysalis asked with a hiss.

“He better not have been listening in on our little talk we had last night!” Tirek yelled with a growl.

“Oh, would you two just stop making such a big fuss over this!? It’s not even that big of a deal!” Cozy Glow said.

“Not that big of a deal!? How would you feel if Sombra heard everything about your parents?” Tirek asked, looking down at the filly.

“I wouldn’t care! In fact, I hope he did hear what I said about them! It will motivate him to do that favor for me.” Cozy Glow said with a huff. “Also, show him some respect and call him King Sombra!”

“Respect!? Ha! You can keep being a loyal kiss up all you want! I’ve already had enough of Sombra ordering us around like we’re his slaves!” Tirek yelled.

“So, what!? Our talk last night meant nothing to you!? I thought we all came to an agreement to why we’re all going through with what King Sombra told us!” Cozy Glow shouted.

“We shared our stories, but we never said that we were accepting of Sombra’s terms!” Chrysalis yelled.

“What about the contract!? We all agreed to work together with King Sombra! You two even signed the contract willingly! Where did that attitude go, huh!?” Cozy Glow asked as she glared at the two villains.

“Ever since Sombra made us sign that contract of his, I’ve been thinking, King Sombra is very powerful and if he were to get his hooves on this bell, how do we know he won’t just use it against us?” Chrysalis asked, gesturing to Grogar’s bell.

“Sombra would never do that to us!” Cozy Glow screamed. “Didn’t you hear what he said!? He said he believed in us!”

“And you actually believe him? How do you know he’s not just using your past as a way to get into your head?” Tirek asked.

“NO! Sombra would never do that!” Cozy Glow screamed, on the brink of tears as she boiled with rage. “How about this! We’ll give King Sombra the bell, and if he betrays us, you can both kill me before Sombra kills us. If he doesn’t try to betray us, then you both will be just as loyal to him as I am.”

“Fine, I accept your little deal.” Tirek said as he and Cozy Glow glared into each other’s eyes.

“I too will accept the terms of this proposition. Come, we shouldn’t keep Sombra waiting for much longer or he’ll start asking questions.” Chrysalis said.

With that, the terrible trio all put their bracelets on and used them to teleport them back to their campsite.

When they arrived, the three villains were greeted by the sight of Sombra, who was facing the opposite direction, seemingly humming to himself. Sensing their presence, Sombra turned around to face the terrible trio.

“(Chuckle) Hello again, my friends.” Sombra said with a grin.

“Do not mock us, Sombra! We are not friends.” Chrysalis hissed, disgusted by hearing the word, ‘friend’.

“Very well, I am pleased to see that you’ve all returned safely.” Sombra said, looking over the three villains. “Now, where is the bell?”

“Right here.” Cozy Glow said as she picked up the bell and proudly presented it to Sombra. “See, just like I said.”

“(Chuckle) Very good. I am very proud of all of you.” Sombra said with an approving nod. “Cozy Glow, if you would please give me the bell.”

“Yes, King Sombra. What the!? Hey! Give that back!” Cozy Glow protested as Chrysalis used her magic to snatch the bell away from her before Tirek grabbed onto Cozy Glow. “Hey! Let me go!”

“Why should we give you the bell!?” Chrysalis hissed.

“Chrysalis, give me the bell.” Sombra said, his smile immediately vanishing into a stern frown.

“Why!? So, you can betray us!?” Chrysalis yelled, baring her fangs at Sombra.

“We’re not stupid, Sombra! This bell has so much power! What’s stopping you from using it against us!?” Tirek asked.

Sombra didn’t respond as he just glared at the terrible trio; this was the last straw for them. Then, without even blinking, Sombra used his magic to raise up three shadow hands from underneath the villains, grabbing each of them by the throat and lifting them up in the air. As the terrible trio were being strangled by the shadow hands, Sombra just continued to glare at them.

“I’ve offered you three the chance of a lifetime to rule Equestria and have given you more than enough second chances, and this is how you treat me!? Assuming that I would betray you!! Even after we signed the contract!?” Sombra yelled, tightening his grip around the necks of the villains.

As she was being strangled, Cozy Glow desperately tried to call out to Sombra, but the hand around her neck wouldn’t let her utter a single sound. Even though Cozy Glow was fully devoted to Sombra, he was so angry that he had completely forgotten about her loyalty to him.

“This plan will not work if you three aren’t going to play your part! Without you, I might as well just let Twilight Sparkle and her friends use their rainbow power to destroy me! Don’t you see, I need you three!!!” Sombra yelled.

While the terrible trio were being strangled, Chrysalis was starting to lose her grip on Grogar’s bell. Eventually, her magic was cut off and she dropped the bell. Due to the how far Chrysalis had been held in the air, the bell landed on the ground with a loud bang. The impact had caused something strange to happen to the bell. Beams of light started to seep out of the bell, causing Sombra and the other villains to turn their attention towards it. Suddenly, the bell started to shake and levitate off the ground. Then a huge burst of light blasted out of the bell, causing the terrible trio, who were directly above the bell, to be blown in Sombra’s direction, crashing into him.

The four villains completely disregarded the previous issue they just had with each other, instead focusing entirely on what had just happened with the bell. The sound of heavy breathing could be heard, confirming that something had just come out of the bell. Whatever it was, was covered by a cloud of dark mist and a strange red aura. Once the mist cleared away, the villains were now able to see what or rather who had just been released from the bell.

“Wh-Who is that?” Cozy Glow asked as she looked up at the creature that stood before them.

“It’s him… it’s Grogar…” Tirek said, shocking the other villains.

“What? Impossible!” Chrysalis said as she looked up at Grogar.

“Grogar…” was all Sombra could say; even he was shocked by Grogar’s sudden arrival.

“(Growl) (Dark Chuckle) I’m back… I’m free… I’M FREE!!” Grogar roared as he laughed, while all the other villains could do was stare in complete shock…

Author's Note

And we've reached the end of this chapter! I know, it's a pretty intense cliffhanger. What will happen next? Will Sombra and the other villains put aside their differences to deal with Grogar? Find out in the next chapter! Hope you all enjoyed and thank you for the continued support! It really is appreciated! :)

Note: I went back and forth deciding whether I would actually have Grogar show up in the story, and I decided to go for it. Don't worry though, Grogar is not going to be taking over Sombra's whole operation. I will make sure to treat Grogar with as much respect as I can for his role in the next chapter. Grogar's purpose for being in the story will be made clear next chapter.