"INVADERS!" Midnight shouted as she flared her wings; her horn, wings, and hooves thrummed with immense cyan-colored magical energy, causing the surrounding area to vibrate with a low hum. She was charging up for an obliteration blast.

"Wha- Midnight! Wait!" Twilight shouted back as she tried to tackle the taller alicorn, though she was only able to nudge Midnight slightly.

Midnight looked down to the princess, who was desperately trying to pull one of her forelegs, "Princess, while I agree that a diplomatic approach would be preferable for many occasions, I highly doubt an invading force would be open for any forms of discussion!"

Twilight shook her head frantically, "No! No! They're not invaders, they're here to set up winter, Midnight!"

Midnight dimmed her magic ever so slightly, "Pardon? Set up... winter?" she turned to look at the cloud city, "It is a... mobile weather factory? Why is it so large? It is nearly equal to the size of an entire city sector."

Twilight pointed at the slowly advancing city of clouds, "That's Cloudsdale, it moves around Equestria to produce weather throughout the entire nation." she explained.

Midnight finally stopped her charge-up and raised an eyebrow, "Equestria only has one mobile weather factory? That seems terribly inefficient, princess."

Twilight tilted her head, "I take it Skyros has more than one?"

"Indeed, according to the archives, there are currently ten in active use. I do not see the benefit of only having one large factory, it would have a hard time distributing weather and aid in the change of seasons evenly throughout such a large nation." Midnight said as she and Twilight made their way back to the castle.

"Well, it's been that way for over a millennium, I guess ponies have just gotten used to the weather and seasons progressing that way." Twilight replied.

As they made their way through the hallway, they saw Cosmos wandering about and peeking into a few rooms as she passed. She seemed to be looking for something.

Cosmos saw the two alicorns enter and perked up, "Hey guys, have you seen Grogar around? I swear, that buck's stealthier than a purple urk."

"I believe he said that he wanted to explore the Everfree and capture schematics for new beasts. I remember he was particularly interested in getting the schematics for a hydra." Midnight told her.

Twilight turned to Midnight, "He shouldn't go there alone, it's dangerous!" she paused to think "Unless he finds his way into Thicket, but I don't know how they'd react to him."

"Ah, right, Thicket. The hidden kingdom within that forest, which you claim is ruled by this world's Aspen, yes?" Midnight asked.

Twilight nodded, "Yes, and you keep surprising me with the ponies and creatures you're related to. Trixie, Nightmare Moon, Starswirl the Bearded," she heard midnight sniff in amusement, "Adagio, and now King Aspen. Seriously! Next you'll say you're related to a Moon Creature!" she exclaimed.

"Jerome, the Weaver of Dreams, is a Nyx, or 'moon creature' as you said. He too, is one of my nineteen siblings." Midnight admitted.

Twilight sighed and facehoofed, "Of course he is..."

Midnight and Cosmos could only giggle at the princess' exasperation.

Deep within the Everfree Forest, Grogar was happily trotting along a small clearing among the dense foliage. So far, he has captured the schematics for a parasprite, a cockatrice, and a river serpent. What a nice fellow, that serpent was.

He continued onwards into the forest, his primary objective was collecting the schematics for a hydra, the number of experiments he could do with something that had four heads would be limitless! It will also help him in completing a special project he had in mind. Thanks to the help of a zebra, he knew where the location where they are usually found in. Unfortunately, he had been wandering about the boggier areas of the forest for the last two and a half hours with not even a single glimpse of a hydra. He was just about to move on to a different location when he heard the sound of snoring from a nearby cave.

Grogar slowly approached the entrance of the cave and peeked into its darkness, what he saw inside made his jaw drop.

"An Ursa Major..." he muttered under his breath, "but how?"

As far as he knew, Ursa Majors and other starbeasts only existed because of Midnight and himself, they did not occur naturally as they were meant to be used as crucible pullers in Nova power plants and as a type of sentinel for Midnight's Star Forge. How did one exist in Equestria without either of its creators being present in this world?

Grogar shook his head, 'Think about interdimensional discrepancies later, for now...' he casted a total silencing spell on himself, and slowly tip-hoofed his way inside, 'The schematics of a naturally occurring Ursa Major is far too valuable to ignore.' he thought to himself.

Slowly but surely, he approached the giant slumbering purple ursine. When he was close enough, he detached his bell and floated it up right next to the star symbol on its forehead. The bell turned its mouth towards the symbol and began to project a small yellow beam with wisps of black into it. Grogar then psychically activated the bell's scanning enchantment and waited for it to finish.

He kept taking glances at the sleeping Ursa's eyes as the bell continued scanning, 'Don't wake up, stay asleep, don't wake up, stay asleep...' he repeatedly begged in his mind. If a starbeast is taken out of its slumbering period forcefully, it will attempt to destroy any and all sources of disturbance within the immediate area, which could cause untold destruction to the local ecosystem if it were to happen.

The bell finally finished scanning and returned to its master, Grogar nodded in satisfaction before he turned around and made his way back towards the cave's entrance. Unfortunately, he didn't realize that the silencing spell he casted on himself rerouted its energy to the bell as he was putting all of his focus on speeding up the scanning process. He tripped slightly on a rock, which caused all the bells on his harness to jingle loudly and echo throughout the entire cave.

Grogar gasped and re-casted the silencing spell, he waited for a few moments to listen around the dim cave, 'Didn't wake it up... hopefully...' he took only a single step forwards when he felt something breathing heavily behind him.

"Ah feth..." he muttered, before spinning around and firing a temporary stasis blast at the Ursa.

Grogar activated his ram-warp enchantments and bolted out of the starbeast's territory, "It will wear off in an hour!" he yelled as he zoomed away, leaving a magical yellow and black contrail.

After he made sure he was far enough from the Ursa's territory, Grogar continued is expedition, 'I hope it went to sleep again right after.' he thought to himself.

'At least I acquired it.' Grogar added while tapping his bell.

He looked around the area and chose to walk in a random direction. If he did get lost, he could just shadow warp back to the archives and start over his trek.

He captured the schematics for a manticore, a pukwudgie, a cragadile and a lupine wood golem as he continued to tread deeper into the Everfree, the shrubbery seemed to become denser the further he went, and the primal magic in the area seemed to grow stronger and stronger.

Grogar had to conjure a sickle to cut through the ever-increasing foliage, this didn't seem to be normal, even for a forest with such high amounts of primal and wild magic, 'Almost as if it was done on purpose.' he mused.

He was about to blast away the suffocating shrubbery with an abyssal beam when he saw a glimpse of a clearing just ahead of him. Realizing this, he rushed out of the foliage and stopped right in front of a tall golden gate that was intricately designed. Beyond it, there appeared to be building and pathways that were built among and into the towering trees.

Grogar turned his gaze towards the base of the gate and approached it with curiosity.

"The princess told me of a kingdom here..." he muttered.

Grogar pushed the gate slightly only to realize it moved, 'Not locked?' he thought.

He looked around the area before shrugging and proceeded to open the gates. When he entered, he could only stare in awe at the sight that greeted him. Immensely tall trees towered above him, imbedded with ornate structures and spiraling staircases, each tree-building had pathways built between them for easy access, and the branches of the trees were decorated with magical lights that glowed a warm yellow. It reminded him of a less colorful and less rural Bridlewood.

"Incredible..." he said breathlessly.

Grogar followed along the main path. He looked this way and that, admiring the beauty and intricacy of the surrounding structures. He was able to see silhouettes of cervine creatures walking along the pathways among the trees, 'Inhabitants are supposedly referred to as the Deer, according to the princess.' he thought to himself.

He decided that he had enough, perhaps he could visit this location later with his friends, but for now, he needed to prioritize getting more schematics to create new beasts and for his special project. He discreetly made his way back to the gate, only to find two deer inspecting it, a stag and a fawn.

The fawn looked up to the armored stag, "Who do you think it could be, Blackthorn?" he asked.

The armored stag, Blackthorn, shook his head, "Well, it couldn't have been a pony, the hoofprints are cloven. Yet, they do not resemble ours. They're fairly large and almost goat-like." he explained while eyeing the ground near the gate.

Grogar took a sharp breath, "Better get this over with..." he mumbled.

He approached the two deer; he didn't realize how much he towered over them, so he hunched down his head to appear less threatening. Once he got close enough, he cleared his throat to get their attention.

Blackthorn and the fawn turned around to meet the being behind them, only to see a large blue goat with big curling horns smiling right at them.

Grogar waved a hoof, "Greetings! I am but a simple traveler who just so happened to stumble across your wonderful kingdom. I would like to apologize if I had caused concern. Your kingdom is just so beautiful that I simply had to look inside." he said.

Blackhorn snapped back to attention, "You! But how did you enter?! Did you break in?" he asked while pointing at Grogar accusingly.

Grogar shook his head, "I absolutely did not, officer. The gate was already unlocked, I simply pushed it open and went through."

Blackthorn put a hoof to his chin, "But then why..." he paused for moment before facehoofing, "Of course, Private Spruce..." he muttered in annoyance.

Grogar nodded and turned his gaze towards the gate, "Well, I'm sure you'll get that all sorted in due time. If you would excuse me, I'd like to get going." he said with a smile.

Blackthorn sighed, "Very well, please inform a nearby guard when you visit. While Thicket is in very good terms with Equestria, many of our citizens are not very used to meeting other creatures from beyond the Everfree Forest. Please keep that in mind."

Grogar nodded, "Will do officer, will do." he said as he made his way out.

As the towering goat disappeared into the Everfree's foliage, the fawn looked back at Blackthorn with a smile, "He seems nice." he commented.

Blackthorn nodded, "It seems so, Prince Bramble."

Grogar wandered around the forest for a bit longer, he was now in another bog environment, continuously striking the ground with magically charged hooves in hopes of calling out a hydra.

"Come!" STAMP "On!" STAMP "Just!" STAMP "Pop!" STAMP "Out!" STAMP "Already!" STAMP

Suddenly, clouds of green foul-smelling gas erupted from the surrounding wetlands, the ground shook and the water rippled. In a burst of muddy water, four reptilian heads emerged from the bog, looming over him and staring inquisitively.

Grogar jumped and laughed in celebration, "YES! HAHA! AT LAST!" he shouted.

The four heads looked at each other in confusion at the reaction of their potential meal before roaring and lunging at the joyful ibex.

Grogar stopped mid celebration to dodge the attack. As the offending head struck the ground, he jumped onto its snout and bit it with his tusks. The head roared in pain and started flailing to get the blue menace off. Grogar held on tight as he unlatched his bell and prepared a scanning spell. The bell floated about, constantly trying to follow its master as the head continued to thrash around.

Another head thought it had enough and tried to remove the pesky goat itself. It dashed forward at its flailing sibling and missed as Grogar leaped off of the first head in a blast of yellow energy and landed on the second's eyes. The ibex continued scanning as he casted a veil of Void around the second head. It panicked and bumped into the other three heads as it attempted to remove the veil.

Finishing the scan, Grogar continued on to the third head. He ram-warped horns first into it, stunning the head in the process. The other three tried to get him, but he held them off with an icosahedron-shaped shield of blue energy. The third head was trapped with ethereal rune-ridden magical rings that spun around its neck. Grogar then lunged at the fourth head, which was thankfully also the closest.

He latched on to its snout and started the scanning spell. The head roared and tried to scrape him off with the watery ground. Grogar ram-warped again and pushed the head away from the ground and into the other three, forcing them to slam into each other and knocking all four out.

As the fourth head fell unconscious, Grogar teleported himself to dry land and sighed contently. He finally got it, the schematics of a hydra.

'A fine addition to my collection' he thought to himself.

Midnight and Cosmos were spectating the ponies who were hard at work setting up winter. They were curious about the traditional ways Equestria used when setting up the weather and changing of seasons. Compared to Skyros, the process was definitely slower and required more effort from the citizens, but the ponies seem to enjoy it. Many of them doing their assigned tasks with bright smiles and cheery expressions. The two otherworlders were interested in joining and are now doing various tasks that Princess Twilight had directed them to do.

"This is pretty fun; we should do this every revolution!" Cosmos said happily, the clouds were swirling around her body as she dispersed them around the sky.

Midnight smiled, "Indeed, I also find this quite enjoyable. Not as enjoyable as tending to my stars, mind you, but still enjoyable."

"By the way, what do you think of the stars here? Apparently nobeing made them, the gases just sorta... got clumped together, last I checked." Cosmos asked.

Midnight looked at her friend, "The night sky of Equestria is peaceful. Or I suppose, stagnant, compared to the night sky of Tellus. It is not as full as the heavens that I have decorated. I can sense the stars; they are content with their existence. They do not actively 'speak' like mine; they do not yearn for activity and purpose. These stars are not magically charged enough to show color at the distance they are at. Which means that the Equestrians will be limited to very few magical enlightenments compared to Tellus.

"There are also no visible nebulae, star clusters, neighboring galaxies, or even the sight of errant stardust left from supernovae, only deep purple. Not even midnight purple, just a deep purple, which eventually fades into the darkness of Void. It makes the sky feel... desolate. Perhaps with permission from the diarchy, I could rebuild the Star Forge and decorate heavens once more. I hope they would enjoy it enough to even consider conquering it like the mortals of Skyros did." she explained.

Cosmos snickered, "Yeah, and you'd secretly sabotage them every step of the way."

Midnight huffed, "I will not allow them to just tarnish my creations with their feeble excuses for 'spaceships'! They need to be the perfect blend between powerful, beautiful, and functional. Not those messy scraps of metal and wires cobbled together with spit and halfhearted prayers!" she exclaimed.

"Heh, and then Time Turner's gonna complain because you're 'preventing advancements in technology'" Cosmos replied, copying Time Turner's accent.

The remark got a chuckle out of Midnight before she sighed, "If only they were just as understanding as Trixie..."

Cosmos nodded solemnly, "Yeah, I miss her. Wonder what she's like here."

The two of them were broken from their discussion when they heard sounds of energy discharges coming from the direction of Cloudsdale. The entire cloud city seemed to be rumbling and writhing.

"What the Hades..." Cosmos muttered as she stared at the mobile city.

"We must report to the princess. Something must have gone awry!" Midnight commanded as she and Cosmos teleported to the princess.

The two appeared in a flash of cyan light and puff red smoke right in front of Twilight, who was busy finishing up a nearby forested area with other ponies. Their sudden arrival shocked the young princess and caused her to jump and fall over.

"Maybe we should stop teleporting in front of other beings..." Cosmos commented.

"Apologies, princess. There is something wrong with Cloudsdale, perhaps malfunctioning machinery?" Midnight explained as she helped Twilight getting up.

"Malfunctioning?" Twilight turned her gaze towards the floating city. It was rumbling, there were arcs of electricity coursing around the cloud structures, and the wind in the surrounding area was blowing beyond the usual velocity.

Applejack heard their discussion and looked up at Cloudsdale, "What in the name of Celestia's goin' on up there?"

Twilight looked at the cloud city worriedly, "Prepare yourselves, everpony. Winter is coming!" she announced.

Grogar was making his way back into town when he saw the changes done to the surrounding landscape. He didn't realize winter was coming so soon, the Everfree didn't even look like it was going through autumn. He simply chalked it up to the forest's supposed abundance in primal and wild magic and continued his path back to the castle.

Suddenly, he heard a rumbling sound that came from the sky from the other side of Ponyville. He saw what appeared to be a supersized mobile weather factory going through some sort of meltdown.

'That's... not good.' he thought.

Immediately, as he was about to contact Midnight and Cosmos using his omni-tool, a massive snowball blasted its way out of a snow cloud production outlet. He saw two figures fly up to it, his friends!

Grogar immediately conjured magic wings made of concentrated void energy and teleported to where they are in the sky.

"What in the name of Oblivion is happening?!" he shouted.

Midnight lit her horns and the leylines in her wings before turning to Grogar, "Possible cloud production malfunction!" she yelled back.

"Guys, I hear something!" Cosmos said as she pointed to an odd equinoid shape on the snowball. She could hear a familiar voice yelling for help.

"AAAH!" Rainbow Dash shouted at the top of her lungs as held on to her pet tortoise, Tank, for dear life in the giant snowball.

Midnight, realizing she couldn't just disintegrate the snowball, changed her plans. She turned to Grogar, "When I dismantle the snow, catch her!"

Grogar nodded. Midnight rerouted her horn's energy to the leylines in her wings, she spread them wide and thrusted them towards the incoming snowball. A crescent-shaped wave of cyan energy launched itself from her wings and into the snowball. As it made contact, the surrounding snow was blown away back towards the sky, Cosmos caught the giant glob of snow by summoning a giant ethereal hand and compressed it into a small cube. Grogar caught Rainbow and Tank with void chains, which absorbed their momentum and left the pegasus and tortoise levitating beside him, tied up in black chains that radiated blue energy.

The three of them, along with a rather distraught looking pegasus and sleepy tortoise, landed near the cleared woodland area where the ponies were working. Rainbow's friends were the first to pop out of hiding.

Twilight approached Rainbow as Grogar released her from the chains, "Rainbow Dash! Are you alright?"

Rainbow sighed and hugged Tank closely, "No..." she muttered before flopping on the ground next to her tortoise sadly.

The ponies continued to prepare winter as usual. The six heroes of Equestria sorted out why Rainbow Dash tried to sabotage winter and helped her come to terms with Tank's hibernation period. Winter preparations eventually finished, and everypony were now enjoying everything the cold season had to offer. Excluding one ibex, who was cooped up in his personal chambers in the archives. He was carefully chiseling out what seemed to be a head of a donkey made out of a metallic jet-black crystal. After some more chiseling, he blew away the accumulated dust and leaned back to see his work.

Grogar smiled proudly at his realistic recreation of a donkey's head before turning at the various blueprints of runes and ritual circles plastered on a wall, as well as the black crystals that the schematics he collected were imprinted into.

"One step closer to bringing you back, Bray..." he muttered wistfully.

Author's Note

The Beastfather went hunting! Here we see Grogar's little adventure in the Everfree forest. He misses his first creation dearly.

Midnight almost destroyed Cloudsdale, imagine what would've happened if Twilight was too late...

These chapters will follow the order in which episodes air. So, one moment we're setting up winter, the next, we're in the middle of spring.

Next chapter : Cosmos LARPs with the CMC?

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"