Starlight joins the legion

Starlight woke up with an unusual headache, before realizing that she was sleeping on solid rock. It's been weeks and she still hadn't gotten used to sleeping on hard rock. She would have made the bed more to her liking, balanced and even, if only she had the right materials.

Naturally, she went to "Grogar" to request that she get the materials herself.

"I know you told me to stick with you and your gang, but I simply cannot rest under these conditions! I politely request that you let me head out to get the materials to make my bed more to my liking." Starlight requested "Grogar", trying to get on his good side.

"I scheduled a meeting in thirty minutes. If you can get the materials you need before then, then you may." "Grogar" stated.

But Starlight didn't have enough time, she needed the correct amount of focus and concentration to make sure that her bed was perfectly equal. So she left to go mingle with the others. But not without letting out a huge groan, frustrating "Grogar".

"I'm leaving, since it's impossible to accomplish the work I need to do here. I suggest the four of you come to some kind of accord!" "Grogar" told the other four villains.

And when I said "mingle with the others" earlier, I actually meant "argue and bicker with the others". Which made "Grogar" silence the others with his magic.

"I don't care how, but you must learn to work together! Only then can we accomplish what you so greatly desire: The defeat of Twilight Sparkle and her friends!" "Grogar" declared to the villains lower then him.

"Now, I'll be leaving to prepare for our meeting. But until then, you must learn to cooperate." "Grogar" said before removing the silence magic from the others, then leaving.

"Come on Starlight! You must have thought about working together by now!" Cozy asked Starlight, who was still in a bad mood for not being able to get the materials she needed.

"Oh sure..... I'd LOVE to work together, so long as Chrysalis doesn't devour it." Starlight teased the changeling.

"As much as I'd like to, I can't bear having to work with........... HIM." Chrysalis pointed a hoof at Tirek, who let out a huge sigh in response.

"You're not exactly easy to get along with either." Tirek replied in annoyance.

"Come on guys! This is the best way to get revenge on twilight and take over Equestria! If we stand together, they can't beat us!" Cozy tried to motivate the others.

"Except I don't want to rule Equestria, I want everypony to live equally! Including me!" Starlight corrected Cozy.

"And I'm sure you'll get a better chance if we work together! I mean, Grogar didn't say this had to be a permanent partnership." Cozy offered the equality obsessed unicorn.

"Hmm..... You might have a point there...." Starlight wondered.

"Well, no amount of encouragement is going to get me to cooperate with this unhygienic slob!" Chrysalis referred to Tirek again.

"Oh like you're any cleaner yourself, YOUR MAJESTY." Tirek snarked at Chrysalis, causing her to hiss at him.

"Guys cut it out! This isn't helping!" Cozy pouted at her two teammates.

"See, this wouldn't be happening if you were all equal." Starlight suggested to all three of the villains.

"Huh?" They all said in unison.

"When you learn to be equal amongst each other, you learn that working together is much simpler and easier, because there is nothing to disagree on. You have a better chance of achieving your goals when you learn to share ideals, motives AND goals." Starlight stated to her "teammates".

"Nice try Starlight, but you aren't going to brainwash us with your senile vision of perfection!" Chrysalis sneered at Starlight, who simply gave a shrug in response.

"Hey, it's just a suggestion. But go ahead, continue to fight and bicker like foals. I'm sure you'll all be working together in no time! And I'm POSITIVE Grogar will be pleased at such AMAZING progress you three have made.......... IF, you do make any, that is......" Starlight simply stated, before going back to her room. Leaving the others staring at each other in contemplation........

Two hours later..........

Starlight was staring at her dusty and filthy room, still upset that she didn't get the time to decorate it to her liking. She had found a way to kill time by practicing her magic for Twilight when they dual again, until she was interrupted by the tiny pitter patter of hoofs.

"Soooooooo..... How's it going?" Cozy asked Starlight who was still testing her magic.

"I'm PRACTICING." Starlight told the curious and deranged filly from tartarus.

"I can see that. But you'd have a much better chance at succeeding if you join me and the others in a team meeting!" Cozy offered Starlight.

"I'm a little busy, why don't you go join the others, and practice being equal like I suggested?" Starlight asked Cozy, trying to give her a push in the "right" direction.

"Listen, Grogar left me in charge and told me to watch out for tricks like that!" Cozy stated.

"No he didn't. I also know to watch out for tricks like that." Starlight echoed to Cozy, before resuming her magic practice, until a thought popped into her brain.

"Actually, a team meeting does sound like a good idea. As long as I can re-arrange a few things." Starlight stated to Cozy, who was a bit skeptical of her.

"What are you up to?......." Cozy asked Starlight while starring deadpan at her.

"Oh nothing! I just feel like with both you and me in charge, we have a better chance at making the other two cooperate! And besides, wouldn't it be nice to have an adult who knows what she's doing in charge?" Starlight asked Cozy, who groaned in annoyance by her statement of her age, but knew that she'd have a better chance of getting the others to do what she wanted with Starlight by her side.

"Oh, OK......... But I've got my eye on you." Cozy stated.

"Of course!" Starlight assured, before they left for the meeting. While Starlight sported a smug grin on her face hidden from Cozy........

Later, at the meeting.......

"Grogar wants us to work together to defeat our enemies, which means we need to trust each other." Cozy stated to her two other teammates, with Starlight by her side.

"If we are to trust one another, perhaps inform lord Tirek to STOP TRYING TO ABSORB MY ESSENCE!" Chrysalis demanded, as Tirek was indeed doing so until he stopped and spat out some of her magic onto his cupcake.

"I wasn't doing anything of the sort! How dare you!" Tirek lied through his teeth, as he pointed an accusatory hand at Chrysalis.

"'How dare I?!' Do you know to whom you are speaking?" Chrysalis threatened Tirek, before taking a bite of the cupcake with her own magic.

"How could I not? You tell your log every five minutes." Tirek stated, as Chrysalis defended the log he spoke of.

"I see you two have learned nothing from my suggestion earlier." Starlight pointed out.

"It's her fault she refuses to even listen to a word I say!" Tirek accused Chrysalis.

"You take that back! I'll have you know that as a queen I am an expert listener!" Chrysalis argued.

"This is why Grogar left me in charge." Cozy stated.

"NO, HE, DIDN'T!" Chrysalis, Tirek, and even Starlight said to Cozy before reassuming their original positions. This caused Cozy to groan in anger before she noticed the banner she made of all five of them together, which gave her an idea. She whispered to Starlight what to do next, who decided to just roll with it.

They both approached the table.......

"I think, I know, a way that we can grow. Time to try something new, something better." Cozy sang.

"No more, solo. Trust is the way to go, and all we need to do is work together." Starlight added.

"Ugh, please! No thanks! No way, I feel the need to say. I'm smarter, stronger! And I don't need you, three!" Tirek sung.

"Huh! 'Stronger'? Ok. I guess we'll downplay, how badly you got beaten till you can't see?" Chrysalis teased.

"It's time, we try a better way to be bad." Cozy and Starlight sang in unison.

"Do we really need a better way to be bad?" Chrysalis and Tirek followed.

"United as one." Starlight added.

"Teamwork? Please, what a fad." Chrysalis sung.

"Combined with all our strength, we'll go to any length. Once we have a better way to be bad." Cozy sung as she flew with her banner.

"Let's go, begin. This time we're gonna win." Starlight sang.

"The ice you're on is thin so watch what you say!" Chrysalis threatened.

"I know, you're in. I think I see a grin." Cozy sung.

"For all this pain and torture I swear you'll pay!" Tirek said as he strangled Cozy.

"This time, we've got a better way to be bad." Cozy and Starlight sung.

"Sounds like a long shot this better way to be bad." Chrysalis and Tirek sung.

"United as one, we'll make those ponies so sad." Starlight added.

"If we say OK would you just go away?" Tirek begged.

"Once we have a better way to be bad. We want to break their friendship, we want to make them weak." Cozy sung.

"You want revenge on Twilight, you want that huge physique. So let's increase our chances, by working as a team." Starlight sung.

"To crush our enemies to dust! And laugh as they all scream!" Cozy finished, as she and the others laughed maniacally.

"I think, I see a better way to be bad!" Tirek sang as he punched a plushie.

"Just put me in charge, make me queen! You'll be glad!" Chrysalis offered.

"No! I'm your mentor, I'm the best of us four!" Cozy declared.

"Then you'll see a better way to be bad!" All four sung in unison as they held each other spinning.

"Wait! This is my thing a better way to be bad!" Cozy sung in defiance.

"You shall do as I command! I will rule this triad!" Chrysalis declared.

"Hey! This was our song!" Cozy and Starlight sung.

"Sorry not any longer!" Chrysalis and Tirek added.

"A better way to be bad!" All four sung.

"Now you're making me mad!" Cozy sung.

"Won't the ponies be sad?" Tirek sung.

"That would make me so glad!" Chrysalis sung.

"Now we've got a better way to be bad!" All four sung, while they held dolls of the mane six while dancing.

......................................

"Hey! You stepped on my cue!" Cozy accused of Chrysalis, causing the other three to argue again seemingly learning nothing from their song.

"Guys! Guys! Please. We aren't getting anywhere by trying to one up each other, are we? If we all learn to just use our powers Equally, it will be easier for us to work together." Starlight stated to the three.

"Actually, I think individually using our separate abilities at the same time would make for a powerful combo to solve all our problems!" Cozy stepped in to suggest.

"Yes, because we've clearly seen how effective THAT is." Starlight retorted.

"We just need the proper motivation! We all want to get even with Twilight and her friends for ruining our plans! Right?" Cozy asked, to which they all nodded in agreement.

"So why don't we learn to work together so we have a better chance of achieving that goal?" Cozy offered.

"But when you learn to organize and plan your next move, it becomes easier to strategize and cooperate with others." Starlight argued.

"That doesn't necessarily translate to behaving like the same person like mindless zombies." Cozy teased Starlight.

"It's not behaving like zombies! It's about-" Starlight was about to explain, until she was interrupted.

"Listen! Let's just agree to disagree until we find something we can work with!" Chrysalis snapped.

"Chrysalis is right, Grogar will arrive any moment now. And we need to make sure we don't fail him, because that wouldn't be good for any of us." Tirek explained, which caused both Cozy and Starlight to cease their debate momentarily.

Eventually, they found "Grogar" arriving back to the lair to engage the meeting.

"I assume you have all learned to cooperate now while I was gone?" "Grogar" asked the four villains, to which they all nodded in agreement.

"Good. Now, I have located an object of power, and it occurs to me this is the perfect test. The four of you will work together to retrieve it. Against this item, those ponies won't stand a chance." "Grogar" claimed with a confident grin.

"I have come close to ruling Equestria several times, perhaps I should be the one to lead us!" Chrysalis offered "Grogar".

"I nearly drained all the magic from Equestria! That was good!" Cozy bragged after she pushed Chrysalis out of the way.

"I ABSORBED all the magic of Equestria! I could feel it flowing through my body as I grew!" Tirek stated after he pushed Cozy away.

Their competition for who should be in charge made them fight over it, and "Grogar" was just about to lose it until.......

"STOP!" Starlight commanded the three, to which they all immediately listened.

"Obviously Grogar wants us to work together, so why would he leave ANY of us in charge?" Starlight reasoned with the three.

"You're right." Tirek simply agreed.

"Of course" Chrysalis conformed.

"We're sorry." Cozy gave a "sincere" apology.

"Thank you Starlight, now... Your mission." "Grogar" proceeded with his task to give the four villains.

"Thousands of moons ago, the self righteous Gusty the great unable to best me face to face stole my bewitching bell, a talisman containing much of my own magic. The bell cannot be destroyed, so Gusty hit it in a place it has taken me millennia to discover. An enchanted cave high atop MT. Everhoof, protected by magical winds that prevent anypony from reaching it's peek. There the bell has remained, until now......" "Grogar" explained to the mean four, while showing them a demonstration through his magic.

"Scale MT. Everhoof! Bring me back, my, BELL." "Grogar" demanded the four.

"HAH HA! The ease of this task is laughable!" Chrysalis taunted.

"I'm warning you! The mountain is enchanted with magic that will blow away anyone who tries to go in alone! The only way to climb it is to work together! And this is your time to prove you can do that..." "Grogar" Stated to the four.

"Yes yes of course! Work together! We'll get right on it! Just one quick little question...... Where exactly is MTT. Everhoof?" Cozy asked "Grogar".

"Sigh... I shall teleport you all there myself, DON'T, FAIL ME." "Grogar" Demanded.

"Whatever you say mighty Grogar! I'm sure we'll be just like four peas in a pod after we've got the bell....." Starlight assured "Grogar", as she glanced over to her "Comrades."

"Good." Is all "Grogar" could say before he whisked them all to a rock next to the mountain. And when they all saw the mountain, they realized just how large and steep it really was.

"Well it sounded easy." Chrysalis defended her assumption earlier.

"Scale the mountain." Tirek said.

"Retrive Grogar's bell." Chrysalis added.

"Together! I drew up a detailed plan with several visual aids to show how we can....." Cozy tried talking until she noticed Tirek and Chrysalis were walking away.

"Where are you going?" Starlight asked the two.

"I think we all knew we were lying about working together." Chrysalis stated.

"Yes, one of us will be the one to get the bell, and when we come back we will lie to Grogar that we worked together." Tirek explained to Cozy and Starlight.

"You can't do that! What about my plan?" Cozy asked the two.

"Do you really want to work together with US?" Chrysalis merely stated before she and Tirek went their separate ways.

"Well, it looks like it's just you and me Cozy, aww who needs them? We'll get the bell ourselves and show just how much WE can work as a team! Right?" Starlight tried to nudge Cozy along.

"Ehh, you go on ahead." Cozy told Starlight.

"You too?......" Starlight asked, surprised. Usually Cozy is ecstatic to make them work together.

"Maybe when I'm waiting for them at the top, then they'll appreciate me!" Cozy suggested, before she tossed her plans into the wind and left to retrieve the bell.

"........... Sigh.......... Alone......... Again............." Starlight sighed, disappointed that it had to go like this..... Until she realized, this may not be such a bad thing after all....

thirty minutes later........

Starlight gathered her own supplies of fruit and water, enough to last a full day. She was prepared to wait to see if her assumption was correct, she traveled to the mountain to see the progress her three "teammates" were making......

She traveled to the left side of the mountain, and saw a Roc desperately trying to claw at the end of a rock on the mountain, only to be blown away by it's wind. This made Starlight smile with pride.

She then travelled to the right side, where she saw Cozy angrily trying to get a pony who lived in a shack to let her climb the mountain. Only for him to refuse whatever offer she made. This only made Starlight's smile bigger.

She looked everywhere for Tirek, but couldn't find him anywhere in the mountain. She made her way down, sneaked through some trees, and saw Tirek making some kind of campsite. This made Starlight beam with curiosity......

Eventually, she went back to the mountain, and spied Chrysalis leaving while changing into a snake trying to blend in with the trees.

Starlight then saw Cozy inside a giant snowball tumbling downwards into the forest with the snowball slowing melting by a nearby heat source.

She then used her magic to levitate herself above the trees as she watched Cozy enter Tirek's campsite out of breath.......

15 minutes later......

Clap, clap, clap.

The three villains were sitting by Tirek's campfire until they heard Starlight enter the area while clapping her hoofs slowly......

"I see you three have been getting along just swell....." Starlight commented.

"What's it to you?" Chrysalis interrogated Starlight.

"Oh nothing, maybe now you can use your skills to climb the mountain together?" Starlight offered the three.

"We were just about to! We nearly forgot about you before you came back to the campsite! Where were you?" Cozy asked Starlight.

"Oh, just........ Observing the mountain......" Starlight answered.

"......... Right.............. Anyway, we should get going now." Cozy stated.

The four villains left to climb the mountain, they reached the shack belonging to the pony with the bucket hat.

He exited his shack and saw the four villains, when Chrysalis turned into a Ophiotaurus and roared at the pony, causing an avalanche to fall on him.

The legion merely laughed as they climbed further up the mountain.

"I'm OK!" Rusty Bucket re-assured.

As they travelled across the mountain, Tirek came across some vines which he pulled and planned to use for later.

Cozy scouted ahead and pointed in the right direction.

They came across a fallen tree blocking the way, so Chrysalis turned into an ursa minor and lifted the tree out of the way.

While climbing the mountain, Cozy almost fell off, but Chrysalis caught her before she could fall.

They eventually came across a giant boulder blocking their way, so Starlight used her magic to lift it off the ground.

Signaling the others to cross, when they reached the other side Starlight cancelled her magic to put it back on the ground.

They eventually found a gap across the mountain, so Tirek used the vines he grabbed earlier, he attached it to a rock, and Cozy and Chrysalis tried to pull it to the other side, with Chrysalis turning into a Roc for extra momentum while holding onto Cozy.

Eventually, Cozy tied the vine to the rock on the other side and signaled the others to cross. Chrysalis turned into a monkey to grasp the vine while Tirek followed.

Starlight, though nervous, tried to grasp the vine with her hoofs. It wasn't easy, but eventually all four of them made it to the other side of the mountain.

They approached the cave storing the bewitching bell, leading Chrysalis to flying into the entrance, only to get knocked back by a magical force field protecting the entrance.

Tirek touched the shield, only to have his hand burnt.

"Can you absorb it?" Cozy asked the magic devouring Centaur.

"I can only absorb magic from living beings!" Tirek explained.

Cozy then looked at Chrysalis with an idea........

"Like, her?" Cozy suggested.

Chrysalis stepped back in defense.

"Betrayal!" She accused.

Starlight stepped back in shock, she worried that her plan wasn't working.

"Not betrayal, teamwork! If Tirek absorbs your energy, he might be strong enough to break through!" Cozy elaborated.

Starlight sighed in relief, satisfied her "partners" were still on the same team.

"And then?......" Chrysalis asked.

"Then...... He gives it back!" Cozy answered.

"I do?....." Tirek was genuinely confused, until Cozy nodded in conformation.

Starlight stayed quiet during this little talk, as she intended the three of them to work things out between themselves. If she had joined in and tried to encourage them on what to do, it would have given away what she was up to......

"How do I know you won't take my magic and leave me?" Chrysalis accused.

"Would we do that to you?...." Cozy tried to play innocent, only for Chrysalis to wave a hoof in reminder.

"Ok normally yes we would." Cozy admitted.

"Not me." Starlight added, causing the others to turn to her.

"It's true!" Starlight stated, she wasn't one to just leave someone for dead.

"I'll give you your magic back." Tirek reluctantly conformed.

".......... Do it." Chrysalis ultimately agreed to let Tirek absorb her magic, to which he did.

Chrysalis's eyes turned pale as her magic turned from green to orange. As Tirek grew larger, Chrysalis fell to the ground.

"So......... Much......... POWER!!!!" Tirek roared in excitement, as he kissed one of his biceps again.

Starlight could only groan in annoyance at Tirek's unimaginably huge ego, but knew it would all be worth it if she could get it to deflate once he knows how powerful working together could be.

"Welcome back BABY!" Tirek shouted as he blasted his magic at the force field, creating a small hole.

"It's not big enough for me!" Tirek exclaimed.

"Maybe not you!" Cozy shouted as she made her way inside the hole.

"Keep it open! Or I'll be trapped forever!" Cozy warned Tirek, before flying in to retrieve the bell.

"Would that be so terrible?" Chrysalis asked as she lied in the snow, weakened without her magic.

As Tirek laughed, Starlight was a bit concerned for Chrysalis as she began to wonder if she really did appreciate her company.

"Can't...... Hold......... Much, longer!!!" Tirek shouted, as he struggled to keep the hole open.

Starlight was worried, she knew she needed Cozy to stay with them in order for her plan to work. But she genuinely didn't want the poor filly to be trapped forever.

"HURRY!!!" Tirek shouted, trying to get Cozy to escape.

Ultimately, Cozy made it out of the cave into a pile of snow.

"Ta da!" Cozy exclaimed, as she held the bell in her hoofs.

"My magic......." Chrysalis weakly exclaimed.

Tirek looked at his bicep, before ultimately releasing Chrysalis's magic back to her, causing him to shrink to how he was before.

Chrysalis leaped in the air after getting back her magic.

Starlight could only sigh in relief, not only did Cozy make it out OK with the bell in her hoofs, but everything had gone according to her plan.

"I- I wasn't sure you were going to give it back...." Chrysalis stated.

"Neither was I! But working together seemed smarter then to continue fighting." Tirek admitted.

"When we helped each other it felt better somehow....." Cozy added.

"Exactly! Having others who will be there for you is pleasing, isn't it?....." Starlight commented.

"Indeed, when you use your power to help others......" Cozy said.

"You can accomplish great things. When you learn to put aside your differences and learn to act as one," Starlight began to spread her message to her "comrades"

"Wait a minute........" Chrysalis muttered under her breath.

"You can see just how nice it is to be e-" Starlight was about to finish her sentence until,

"NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!" Chrysalis roared at Starlight, causing the others to step back in shock.

"I know what you're trying to do Starlight Glimmer! You're not going to FOOL us into following your twisted brand of equality!" Chrysalis shouted at Starlight.

"Wha- me? Why I wouldn't I-...." Starlight tried to look for a good excuse.

"Hey! That's what you've been trying to do all this time! By planting the idea in our heads, and by us failing to get the bell on our own and succeeding doing it together, that's how you planned to convert us into your little society!" Cozy Glow caught on to Starlight's devious trick.

Starlight could only sigh in response, before nodding in agreement that that's what she planned to do.

"Clearly you can't be trusted." Tirek stated.

"Well it worked didn't it? You saw how powerful you are when you work together, none of us would have been able to do what we just did if we did it alone." Starlight commented.

"That is true......" Chrysalis admitted.

"Well Grogar wants us to work together, and like it or not it has to stay that way." Cozy stated to the others.

"She's right about us working together, but we are going to work together as individuals! Not as equals." Tirek demanded, causing Starlight to sigh and nod in agreement.

"But..... We can't trust Grogar. Once we do everything he wants of us, there's no doubt he'll get rid of us the first chance he gets." Starlight stated, catching on clearly that even their own leader can't be trusted, even though he was the one who made them work together in the first place.

"Grogar is too powerful, something MUST be done about that. Let Grogar think we're his loyal servants. In the meantime, we'll hatch our own plan...." Chrysalis schemed with the others.

"Oooooooo, I love a good backstabbing!" Cozy exclaimed with glee.

"After that, we can go back to trying to destroy each other!" Tirek exclaimed.

"Hmph, if you say so........." Starlight agreed, though....... Tirek's words gave her an idea for a new plan.......... Maybe she wouldn't listen to Tirek's idea of destroying each other, but Cozy's exclamations of backstabbing would definitely be involved.....

"In the meantime, what do we do with this?" Cozy asked the others while grasping the bell.

Later...............

"YOU FAILED TO RETRIEVE THE BELL?!" "Grogar" shouted in anger and disbelief.

"We're sorry O mighty Grogar!" Cozy "Apologized"

"We worked together as you asked!" Tirek stated.

"We just aren't as powerful as you." Chrysalis told "Grogar".

Meanwhile, Starlight simply bowed in compliance, not saying a word.

Frustrated, "Grogar" could only yell and blast the nearby wall in anger for their failure.

"Obviously! At least you finally did as you were told and worked together!" "Grogar" said, before he left the cave through the giant hole he made in frustration.

"of course!" Cozy assured.

"Whatever you command!" Tirek "complied".

"Forget about that old bell, you were right! We're so much more powerful, when we work as a team......" Chrysalis snickered, as she stared at the bell hidden behind a rock.

Starlight made sure "Grogar" was gone from the cave, and then proceeded to converse with her "allies".

"I'll take it to where he wouldn't know where to look. In the meantime, you all figure out how to activate it's magic." Starlight told the other villains, as they all went into their respective rooms to do just that.

Starlight then took the bell with her magic and went to her room.

"I tried to get you on the right path, I tried to be nice, But it seems anypony I could trust disappeared as soon as Twilight entered my village........ Oh sure..... We can work together for now........ But when the bell is activated....... You'll wish you chose equality over SELFISHNESS............"