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!