Deep within a cave located beyond the western border of Skyros, three ancient entities converse as they prepare for a ritual.
The first of them was carving runes on to the floor fully concentrated on his work, the second was observing the first, her eyes locked on to the patterns being carefully carved with a dagger as her glowing, spiraling horn hummed with cyan-colored energy. The third was hanging upside down from the ceiling as she watched the other two work, using the stinger at the end of her tail as an anchor.
An ibex mage, an alicorn, and a chimeric spirit.

"Are you absolutely sure about this, Midnight? Once we go through, we won't be able to return." Grogar asked as he held a crystal dagger in his telekinetic grasp.

"I am one hundred percent sure. What other choice do we have other than to rot in this cave for the rest of eternity? They have already found replacements for us, we are not allowed to cross the border, and Lady Faust herself has clearly forsaken us; they have forgotten us, we are not needed here anymore." answered Midnight, she was channeling a multitude of spells through her horn as she waited for Grogar to finish carving a rune.

"I know you're always so worried about your mo- I mean, beasts Grogster, but I'm sure whoever took your place is doing a great job taking care of them. It's been half a millennium, they're fine and they will always be fine." Cosmos commented as she dropped down from the cave's ceiling.
"Anyway, you done yet?"

Grogar shook his head and blew away bits of rock and dust from his work. "No, the runes required for this ritual to work are highly complex, I need to work carefully and delicately lest we get trapped between realms when we go through." he inspected the latest rune closely and after a moment, he continued on the next one. "I'm certain none of us wouldn't want that to happen now, would we?"

Cosmos sighed and lit her horns; a stack of books appeared in a puff of red-tinted smoke; she took one an began reading. "Okay, okay, take your time. I just really want to get out of this stinking cave, so boring..."

"At the rate we are going, you only need to wait approximately two more hours Cosmos; we will get out of this infernal cavern soon enough." assured Midnight, her eyes and mind were solely focused on the runes that Grogar had carved. Every time he carved a new one, she would prepare a spell for that specific rune. All of their work will finally pay off after five hundred revolutions of exile.

When Midnight first proposed the idea, her friends were reluctant, Cosmos and Grogar thought that they could still reason with the Council, that the three of them still had a purpose in their existence, that they only need one more chance to prove themselves to be worthy, that they were still deserving of their positions, that the three of them were possibly framed. But as time went on, the two of them began to realize that no matter what they did, no matter how they reasoned, the Council would not tolerate their presence in Skyros anymore.

That was when both of them had finally agreed with Midnight's plan, they would leave their own realm, Tellus, and begin anew in another world, where they can continue to exist peacefully until the end of time. They desire it more than anything else.

Slowly but surely, the three of them designed a ritual that allowed them to bend the fabric of reality in such a way that gave them the ability to create a portal to travel between two neighboring realms. The ritual required a collection of incredibly rare and hard to obtain objects: various crystals, magic-conducting metals, multidimensional elements, and the skull of an eldritch abomination.

The trio had spent the last five hundred revolutions travelling around Tellus to collect them, and all of that effort will finally come to fruition as they made the finishing touches on the giant magic array that they had agreed to carve in an area rich in ambient magic, which just so happens to be the cave they have been calling home ever since they were exiled.

Exactly two hours had passed, and the preparations for the runic network was finally complete just as Midnight had predicted, now all they need to do is to set up the trinkets and shatter the skull of an eldritch abomination at the central rune and channel their collective magic throughout the entire array.

Cosmos went to a carved-out chamber at the northern wall of the cave to retrieve a skull, when she entered, she was genuinely surprised by a sight that would have likely terrified the spine out of her if she wasn't an ancient being of extradimensional origin with the power to bend reality to her will.

The walls of the chamber were entirely covered by skulls of various shapes and sizes, all lined up on top of one another like bricks.

"Hey Middy, when you said we needed a skull from an abomination I thought you meant we only need one skull. What's up with... All of this?" she asked as she waved her hand across the chamber.

Horn still alight, Midnight followed her into the chamber and realized what she meant, "Ah yes, you see, when Grogar was away hunting for the skull, I discovered in Stargazer's Guide to Monster Hunting that a skull's shards may have a chance to dissolve into warped magic prematurely when they make contact with thaumium, preventing the array from interacting with them and channeling its magic," she explained, "so, after Grogar returned from his outing, I decided to collect more skulls just in case such an event occurs."

Cosmos looked at her friend with an eye ridge raised, "Wait, when did you get the time to do that?"

"Did you not realize my absence whenever a Bleeding Star event occurred on the third century of our exile?" countered Midnight.

Cosmos thought for a moment, facepalmed, and sighed, "Yeah, makes sense... I think I'm getting old."

Midnight chuckled at that remark, "My friend, you are not old, you are ancient."

"Heh, since when did you get a sense of humor?" Cosmos asked her friend with a smile as she took a couple of skulls from the wall and made her way back to the magic array, the two of them making quips to each other along the way.

When they returned to the array, they were greeted by Grogar, who was making the finishing touches on the runes of the array, "Ah, there you two are! I believe the runic network is truly complete now, all we need to do is to put the trinkets on their designated places and we can begin the ritual!" he told them excitedly, though there was something about his expression that betrayed his words.

Cosmos picked up on this and approached him slowly, "Hey, Grogar, you good buddy? You look kinda..." she moved her hands in a cycling motion, trying to find the right word.

"Concerned? Anxious? Stressed? Upset? Overwrought, perhaps?" he stated, finishing Cosmos' sentence.

"Yeah, those, what's up? Still thinking about your m- beasts?" she inquired.

Grogar frowned and heaved a sigh, "Yes, that, and well, it's just that... I still have my doubts about this plan," before his friends could say anything, he continued, "I know, I know, you're going to say, 'it's for the best, Grogar', 'they don't need us anymore, Grogar', or even 'this is the only choice we have, Grogar'. I know that, yes! I know that it's pretty much the only choice we have, and yet... It feels like we're discarding a significant part of our history," he pointed a forehoof towards his friends and then pointed upwards, "we have existed here, on Tellus, maintaining it, protecting it, and empowering it for eons, we are - or I suppose were - a part of this world's system, and to simply leave it in the blink of an eye... It feels wrong. I know it's necessary for our wellbeing, but it still feels wrong."

He lowered his hoof, sighed and rubbed his face, "I apologize, I simply had to get that off of my chest." he said, his voice muffled by his forelegs.

Midnight and Cosmos looked at each other for a moment, trying to figure out what to do.

They approached Grogar and pulled him into a group hug, Midnight used her dark wings to cover her friends in their embrace.

After a minute, Cosmos leaned back to ask him, "Feel better, big guy?"

"...Yes, thank you." He answered quietly.

Midnight leaned back as well and looked at him in the eye.

"It is natural to feel this way, Grogar. I will admit, I too am still quite fond of Tellus, this is the realm where we were created in, after all. However, we cannot stay here any longer; I have sensed a change upon the will of Existence. Since we have been stripped of our roles, it is likely that Existence itself will find and erase us if we were to persist within this realm." Midnight explained grimly.

Grogar nodded in understanding, "I see..." he replied.

"Worry not, my friend, once we enter this new world, we shall be able to begin from scratch, we will make a name for ourselves, we will create something better, something less chaotic than what we had before. Believe me when I say the possibilities are endless." Midnight stated proudly and released her friends from her wings, "Now, let us continue setting up, shall we?"

Grogar looked at his two friends and smiled genuinely, "Yes, let's get on with it."

The trio had placed the required trinkets on their respective locations upon the array, soon, they will be able leave Tellus for good.

They stood on their designated locations upon the array, creating a triangular shape.

Cosmos looked at the assembled array and then at Midnight, "So Captain, what do we do now?" she asked.

"First, we shall start with channeling our magic into the array," Midnight began explaining as her glowing horn sparked with magical energy, "and as we do that, somebeing will shatter the skull, hopefully we will get it on the first try."

The others nodded and began powering their own horns, Cosmos pointed a finger towards the skull and zapped it with her magic, the skull cracked and shattered, but the shards were kept from spreading by Grogar's aura.

Midnight nodded approvingly, "Good, now lower the shards carefully and continue to channel your magic into the array."

Grogar lowered the shards slowly, and as they made contact with the central rune, they started glowing various colors.

Midnight closed her eyes and released a beam of magic into the runes closest to her, Cosmos followed shortly and channeled her own magic using her hands as she touched nearby runes as well. Grogar followed last and used his verdigris-covered bell to power his own runes.

The three of them stood in silence, eyes closed, bodies rigid, minds focused on one thing and one thing only, getting out of this realm.

The glowing skull shards on the central rune began to shudder, at first it was subtle, almost unnoticeable, but slowly, they began floating one by one in a large ovoid shape; they began to spin faster and faster as more magic was channeled through the array.

In a bright, colorful flash, it finally formed, the portal to another world, it swirled with rainbow-colored light, sparks of energy arcing through the air and landing on the trinkets placed around it.

Stopping their magic, the three looked at it in awe, they finally did it, five hundred revolutions of hard work finally paid off.

Grogar took a step forward, "So, I suppose this is it, then..."

Midnight stepped forward as well, extending a horseshoe-clad hoof towards the portal, its surface warped as she made contact.

Cosmos, unable to contain her excitement anymore, dashed past Midnight into the portal whilst shouting, "Dibs on shotgun!"

Midnight and Grogar giggled at their friend's silly antics. After a moment passed, Midnight looked back at Grogar and smiled, "See you on the other side." she said, as she followed after Cosmos.

Grogar stepped closer to the portal and raised a hoof to step into it, he looked back at the cave that the three of them had spent the last half millennium in with a wistful expression, he took a deep breath and exhaled, "No other choice..." he muttered under his breath as he too stepped into the portal.

A few minutes passed and the portal eventually closed, the sound skull shards clattering against the floor being the last noise the cave will ever hear in a long time.

It was wonderful day in Ponyville, everything was as peaceful as the little town could get, everypony was going around minding their own business, working or perhaps just enjoying the day.

The same could be said for the general energy inside the new, giant, crystalline tree-castle that had emerged after Tirek's defeat by the Element Bearers.

The six of them, along with Spike, are now hanging out in the castle's throne room, sitting on each of their respective thrones as they discuss about what to fill the castle with. Princess Twilight Sparkle and Spike were busy writing down ideas that were being thrown around by their friends.

Spike stood up on his seat and got the rest's attention, "Alright everypony, I think we've written down all of the necessities we need for the castle, all we need to do now is to well, buy them."

"Alrighty then fellers, let's get to it!" exclaimed Applejack as she got off her seat.

Rainbow Dash took off and hovered over the doorway "Ugh, finally! I think my flanks are numb from all that sitting," she said as the others made their way.

"We should get an emergency party kit! You never know when you need to throw an emergency party!" said Pinkie Pie as she hopped alongside her friends.

"I highly doubt Twilight would need such a thing, darling. I believe she'll need a larger wardrobe for all of the outfits I'll be designing for her in the future; I wouldn't be surprised if she'll be invited to even more high-class gatherings after news spread about her new castle! A princess such as herself would always need to have an outfit ready for every occasion." countered Rarity, her mind going a mile a minute as she envisions multiple designs that would fit Twilight.

"Oh, I think a couple of bird houses would help the castle feel livelier," Fluttershy said, "um, if you're alright with that, Twilight..." she added meekly.

Twilight looked at her friends and smiled warmly, "Don't worry everypony, we'll figure out the specifics as we go. Now come on!"

As they made their way through the hallway to the front door, they heard the sound of thrumming magic, three somethings colliding with solid matter, as well as various words and sounds used to express pain coming from the throne room.

"What in tarnation?" Applejack muttered as she and the rest of the group look towards the throne room.
They all looked at each other and back at the room, to which they immediately ran back into.

Rainbow Dash was the first to enter and was so surprised by what she saw, she needed to land, "What the..."

As rest made their way back into the room, Twilight saw Rainbow Dash standing on the ground, eyes wide in shock.

Confused, she asked her, "Rainbow Dash, what's wrong? What happened?"

Rainbow stayed silent and pointed a hoof towards the table, getting even more confused, she looked back at her friends only to see them all wearing the same expression Rainbow has. She finally looked towards where Rainbow pointed and her jaw dropped.

On the table lay three beings, stacked atop one another. Above them was a swirling portal that slowly dissipated into thin air, as it did so, Twilight lowered her gaze back towards the creatures.

The topmost creature looked like a large goat, with a shaggy dark blue coat, large curling horns, shortly trimmed silver mane and tail, and a leather harness adorned with golden bells with odd symbols carved into them alongside one large bell in the center that was covered in patina. They were furiously wiping their eyes and muttering complaints.

The creature in the middle appeared to be of equine origin, they had a horn and wings, which meant they were likely an alicorn, though their horn grew in a spiral pattern and is covered by layer of cyan-colored energy that also surrounded their eyes like a pair of blue flaming glasses. They were squirming between the other two, trying to get out.

The last one at the bottom seemed chimeric, like a more symmetrical Discord; their body had an assortment of colors from red, to purple, to blue, with a pink neck and some green on their back and behind their head. They were looking directly at Twilight and her friends with their yellow slitted eyes and a confused and surprised look in their face.

"Um... Midnight?" the last creature said tentatively.

The six ponies and one dragon didn't know what to do, say, or think, so they continued to stare at the three odd beings in silence.

The two other beings stopped what they were doing when they heard their ally speak. The second, named Midnight, asked the third, "What did you say, Cosmos?"

The third creature, Cosmos, pointed towards the group with her free hand. Midnight followed it with her eyes and saw a group of small equines and a small draconic creature gawking at them.

She freed a wing and used it to nudge the first creature, when that didn't work, Cosmos used her tail to prick him.

"Gah! What was that for!?" the first asked his allies angrily.

"Grogar, I believe we have a bit of a conundrum." whispered Midnight.

"Conundrum? What conundru- oh." the first creature, now known as Grogar, cut off his own question when he saw a group of small creatures staring at them.

"Uh... We come in peace?" said Cosmos awkwardly, not knowing what to do next.

Author's Note

EEEEEEEE My first story! Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! I'm so excited to share this with all of you fellow users!

I always had this idea floating around in my mind ever since I started frequenting this site, I always love taking villains and twisting them into new characters, never thought I'd actually make this into an actual story but here we are! Heh...

If you want to share ideas on how this story should go, consider commenting!

Corrections and criticisms are more than welcome, I can't improve without those now can I?
Have a good existence!
:)

"Remembered forever, the land of Equestria"