Chapters Starlight joins the legion
Twilight stood on a cloud in front of Starlight, who was scowling at her, ready to break the scroll needed to travel back to the present.
"Starlight please! Don't do this!" Twilight begged Starlight to have mercy and not destroy the only thing that can fix things.
"Why not?! You destroyed and ruined everything that was important to me! So why shouldn't I do the same to you?!" Starlight barked at Twilight.
"Think about what you're doing! You saw what happens when you mess with things in the past. you are destroying the future by altering a pre-determined series of events that were destined to happen! Do you really want to potentially destroy Equestria over cutie marks?!" Twilight tried reasoning with Starlight who had gone completely mad.
"I only saw what you showed me! How could everything be destroyed over some ponies not becoming friends?! You are taking your ego to the highest point it can reach! And you don't deserve to keep your friends!" Starlight lashed out at the princess of friendship.
"It's not about my friends! It's about the fate of Equestria!" Twilight ensured Starlight, who simply gave a scoff and an eyeroll in response.
"Listen, I know how much it hurt to have your best friend leave you after getting his cutie mark, but that doesn't mean you should take away other's cutie marks! You should try to seek out new friends! Friends who wouldn't leave you after getting a cutie mark!" Twilight tried to reason with Starlight.
"There is no such pony, who would be so considerate to make room for other ponies destinies once they achieved theirs! Nopony will ever want to be my friend if they still have their cutie mark! And there is NO WAY I will EVER be yours!" Starlight declared, ensuring Twilight knows she will never accept her offer, and is ready to tear the scroll apart to ruin her future.
Twilight simply gave a sigh of disappointment. "I'm sorry I couldn't help you find a better path." She told Starlight, before teleporting the scroll to her before Starlight had any time to react, enough time while they were talking for Rainbow Dash to make the rainboom.
"What the-?!" Starlight was caught off guard by Twilight being transported back to the present, while Starlight was left in the past.
"NOOO!!!!" Is all Twilight heard as she was whisked back to the castle of friendship, seemingly never going to hear of Starlight again.
Meanwhile, Starlight stood there, completely baffled about how Twilight could have foiled her so easily, and is now stuck in the past permanently.
"This can't be happening! It can't be! I can't be stuck here forever!!! Can I?........." Starlight questioned as she looked over Cloudsdale, only to hear the voice of a filly approaching.
"Umm, can I help you ma'am?" A filly Rainbow Dash asked Starlight, who gasped and fled the scene in response.
"I don't belong here, I need to go into hiding........" Starlight said, as she used her magic to float her way back down to earth.
"You won't get away with this Twilight! I WILL find a way back, and you'll be sorry!" Starlight swore to herself, as she prepared to hide herself from this Equestria of the past........
Starlight joins the legion
Starlight waited outside the canterlot hallway, anxious as to what her punishment will be.
After a few minutes, Spike opened the door and motioned Starlight to come inside, to which she did.
"I know there's no excuse for what I did, but I want you all to know that I'm ready for whatever punishment you think is fair." Starlight told the mane seven in the Canterlot throne room.
"You still have a lot to learn about friendship, and it's not going to be easy. But, with proper time, and people who will help you. You will know the true magic of friendship." Twilight stated, as she looked to her friends.
"What are you saying?" Starlight asked the friendship princess.
"How would you like to become my student of friendship?" Twilight asked Starlight.
"What?! You want me to- do that, after everything I........ I........" Starlight promptly fainted.
"Too soon?" Twilight asked her friends, who gave her looks of "maybe?" or "ehh, I don't think so" to her.
"I think she'll love studying for you Twilight." Sunburst reassured the purple alicorn.
"I hope so." Twilight hoped.
"But whatever happens to her, I'll be there for her. Now, I better go, take her to her living quarters." Sunburst stated, as she dragged Starlight across the floor to her room.
Twilight simply chuckled, as she waved at Sunburst goodbye.
The end
Starlight joins the legion
Chapter 2. The beginning of the end
Four months later..........
Starlight was wearing a dark cloak, roaming the streets of ponyville. She made her way to a market around the corner, and threw some bits on the table.
"Hmm, I'm afraid that this mango costs thirty bits for purchase." The shopkeeper stated.
"What?! But that's all I have! Please, you have to lower the price!" Starlight begged the keeper to let her have the mango.
"I'm sorry ma'am, but rules are rules." The keeper simply stated, much to Starlight's chagrin.
Starlight looked at her stomach, which was growling. She wasn't going to survive much longer in the past if she had kept picking off the little bits off the ground. She contemplated what to do next, until suddenly she is taken by a dark swirl of magic. Leaving the shopkeeper shocked, but only until he takes the bits Starlight gave to him anyway.
Starlight found herself in a dark cave, surrounded by figures she recognized based off stories she heard in her youth.
"Lo-lord Tirek?! Queen Chrysalis?!" Starlight announced in shock at the presence of two infamous conquerors.
"Does nopony care about Cozy Glow?!" Cozy asked, disappointed Starlight didn't recognize her but the other two.
"Why did you summon us here?! What do you want?!" Chrysalis demanded Starlight for answers.
"But I didn't bring you here! I was brought here from many years ago from the past! Am I back in the present?......" Starlight beamed hopefully of the possibility of being back in her timeline.
"Time travel?! Whoever pulled you from THERE must have been somepony very powerful indeed." Chrysalis merely stated, before they all heard an evil laugh coming from the top of a rock, they looked up and saw the form of king Sombra, who looked down on them with a prideful grin.
"King Sombra! You have returned? Why did you bring us here?!" Chrysalis barked, as she and the others prepared for battle.
"He didn't." A voice stated from behind, they looked and saw an old ram who made his way to the table in the center, causing Sombra to disappear into black smoke as the ram placed his hoofs on the table.
"It was I. You may call me, GROGAR." The one who presented himself as such stated, earning several gasps from all the villains.
"THE Grogar?!" Chrysalis gasped in amazement.
"I thought you were a legend!" Tirek stated.
"Oh my...... You're-........ You're real......." Starlight couldn't believe her eyes, as she had only heard tales of Grogar and his villainy, but never thought she would see him in person. Causing her to be extremely terrified.
"I've heard of you!" Sombra out of nowhere said.
"Who?...." Cozy wondered, as she was just a child and never heard of Grogar before.
"I assure you, I am very real. And you have all been bought here as part of my plan to rid Equestria of Twilight Sparkle and her friends! Once and for all." "Grogar" stated, as he let out a menacing laugh that could make any creature quiver in fear.
"I am so sorry, but the name Grofar? That just doesn't ring any bells." Cozy said, unaware of who she was talking to.
"GROGAR!" The ancient ram of legend corrected, causing Cozy to fall back.
"I have been away far too long if my name no longer strikes fear in the heart of one so tiny!" "Grogar" spat, insulted that his name didn't mean anything to the little filly.
"Perhaps a demonstration of power is in order?" He said, as he took a ball of yellow energy from his collar and blew it at Tirek who devoured it, causing him to gain more power and grow a couple inches. He looked at his new biceps, and kissed one of them.
"Grogar is ancient and extremely powerful, the land that would become Equestria, was merely a collection of farms and pastures until he declared himself emperor of all he saw. I remember hearing tales of his tyranny when I was young." Tirek stated to the other villains in the room.
"I have also heard of the first emperor of Equestria. The 'father of monsters.'" Sombra added.
"I know of this rams evil, the monsters he created. The creatures who would take whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted. A dystopian fear soaked epoch of darkness in Equestria, it was madness." Starlight monologed in a hypnotic trance as if she were in some sort of bad dream.
"HAH! Until Gusty the great rose up and banished him." Chrysalis snickered to Starlight trying to lighten her up.
"That fool believed taking my bell would defeat me! But she only weakened me temporarily." "Grogar" stated.
"Um, Tirek is really old. No offense, you look great. But if he knew about you when he was young, we have super different ideas about what 'temporarily' means." Cozy added.
"SILENCE!" "Grogar" commanded, causing Cozy to fly into Tirek's beard.
"I've spent millennia gathering power, biding my time, waiting for the perfect opportunity to seize control of Equestria! And watching all of you. I've seen each of your humiliating defeats, at the hoofs of six puny ponies. And do you know why they've always bested you?" "Grogar" asked.
Sombra was about to speak, until he was interrupted. "Because they cheat!" Chrysalis accused.
"because they are annoyingly lucky." Tirek pouted.
"because they just don't know when to quit!" Starlight stated.
"I'm just a kid, so......" Cozy said.
"It is because they work together. Where one is weak, another is strong, and thus unified, they are a formidable force! But we shall use their own strategy to defeat them." "Grogar" stated, while giving a confident smirk.
"What are you suggesting?" Chrysalis said while pointing her hoof at him.
"I suggest nothing..... I DEMAND that you join me, and together, Equestria will be ours!" "Grogar" announced.
Starlight thought about this, she did want revenge on Twilight and her friends. But was it really worth it working with these egotistical power hungry lunatics? She just wanted everypony to be equal, she didn't want to rule Equestria.
"I don't do 'ours', I only do MINE!" Sombra roared at "Grogar", before teleporting to the table.
"I shall take back the crystal empire on my own! And I shall destroy anypony who gets in MY way!" Sombra announced while giving the most confident grin he can manage.
"Such confidence." "Grogar" amused.
"Go, TRY to take back your kingdom, I shall even send you there myself. If you prevail, you may keep it. However when you fail, you will submit to ME." "Grogar" declared to the prideful and arrogant king of crystals.
"And if I refuse this, DEAL?" Sombra challenged the father of monsters.
"Then I shall return you to the darkness from where you were summoned." "Grogar" threatened.
"Fine. But this is a waste of time, as I will crush those who defy me! I will defeat all who get in my way! I-" Sombra rambled on until he was whisked away by "Grogar's" magic.
Starlight thought about Sombra's demand to reclaim his empire on his own, then proceeded to jump at "Grogar" with her own demand.
"I want to go to! I don't want to work with creatures who want power for themselves! I have a vision of equality to maintain! Take me back to my village, and I will make sure Twilight and her stooges don't take it away from me this time!" Starlight growled at the one who presented himself as "Grogar".
"NO!" "Grogar" refused Starlight's demand.
"Why not?!" Starlight was baffled how "Grogar" would let Sombra leave, but not her.
"Because we need your power Starlight! Your magic is greater then any unicorn in Equestria, and we'll need it if we have any chance of defeating Twilight and her friends! Sombra can keep his kingdom of crystals for all I care, but I need your magic! IS, THAT, CLEAR?" "Grogar" growled at the stubborn unicorn, before motioning her to sit with the others.
Starlight, though reluctantly, ultimately did, but not before spitting at him in defiance. "Grogar", un phased, simply proceeded to leave the cave.
"I advise you all to learn to work together!" He said before walking away.
"Gee..... Working together sounds an awful lot like making friends, so........ You three are in luck because I know all about that!" Cozy stated as she sat on Tirek's shoulder, before he proceeded to flick her away.
"Heh, as if anypony knows more about making friends then I do." Starlight stated.
"What are you talking about?" Tirek questioned the cutie mark hating mare, as Cozy flew back to them annoyed at being tossed across the room.
"The key to friendship is equality, being equal among your peers eliminates any differences between you and them. Without differences, you and your friends will agree with everything. There will be no arguing, no fighting, no decisions that could lead to heartbreak. It's the true way to friendship." Starlight declared proudly, before Chrysalis laughed in her face.
"Please! True equality is unattainable! You may not have any special talents, but unicorns still have horns, pegasi still have wings, and earth ponies have none of those! The only way to truly be equal would be to remove all those extra limbs!" Chrysalis declared to the delusional unicorn.
"You know nothing about equality! What I in vision is fair and just! And you can't tell me otherwise!" Starlight snapped at the former queen of the changelings.
"Are you sure? Come on! You don't need to be equal to be friends, a little disagreement is what makes a friendship interesting! If you always agreed on everything, it would get pretty boring." Cozy said to Starlight.
"Ugh, you sound like Twilight." Starlight simply stated to the evil filly.
"I do not!" Cozy snapped at Starlight.
"Regardless, I'm not planning on working with any of you! I know what you all tried to do in the past, and I don't want any part of it! I don't want to rule Equestria like the rest of you, I just want everypony to be equal!" Starlight told the rest of the villains.
"If you remember correctly Grogar wants all of us to work together, and he isn't taking no for an answer. You don't have a choice in the matter, for you wouldn't want to face the wrath of the father of monsters would you?" Cozy stated, while giving Starlight intentionally adorable eye blinks.
Starlight could only groan in frustration with the other two.
"Believe me! I can get all four of us to be working together in no time! All we have to do is-" Cozy began to chit chat with her comrades.
three hours later.........
"Now me and Starlight will say something nice about Centaurs. Tirek, you say something nice about changelings. And Chrysalis, you say something nice about ponies!" Cozy told the other villains while holding hoofs and hands with them.
"NEVER!" Chrysalis snapped.
"Why you...." Starlight was ready to pick a fight with the ex changeling queen, until..........
"Let us hope the four of you will be enough for my plans." "Grogar" stated, causing the four of them to stop holding hoofs and hands.
"And what of King Sombra?" Chrysalis asked.
"Did he succeed?" Tirek added. To which "Grogar" gave a simple laugh, as he showed through his magic orb that Sombra was obliterated by the elements.
"I'd say he gambled, and lost! But at least he can serve as a warning to those who doubt continuing with my plans. Unless any of you have doubts." "Grogar" asked the four villains.
"Uh, not I." Tirek conformed.
"Nope!" Chrysalis followed.
"Who, me?" Starlight added, as she too was willing to stick around as long as she didn't have to face "Grogar's" wrath.
"I'm good!" Cozy finished.
"Then we shall join forces and work together to bring Equestria to its knees!" "Grogar" stated, as he began to laugh evily.
The others were reluctant, but they laughed a little bit with him to appease him.
Starlight laughed too, as in her mind she knew she couldn't stick with the ancient ram of legend. However, she had an idea. She knew she couldn't get to "Grogar", but maybe she could get her "partners" to see things her way. And with their help, spread her message to the rest of Equestria.
She knew she could get through to them, it was only a matter of time............
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............"
Starlight joins the legion
Chapter 4. The summer sun setback
Starlight hid in a corner within "Grogar's" cave, waiting for the all clear from Cozy Glow. Little be known to the rest of the villains, Starlight hid the bell in her hair after shrinking it down with her magic.
She had to keep the bell to herself, she couldn't risk any of her "teammates" stealing it for themselves.
"He's gone!" Cozy gave the all clear, which signaled Starlight and the others to come out of hiding.
"I don't trust him." Tirek stated.
"None of us do." Cozy assured.
"Which is why double crossing him with his own bell will be so satisfying........... Speaking of which, where did you hide the bell Starlight?" Chrysalis asked the unicorn.
"I've hidden it, somewhere Grogar can't find it. And I can assure you, before you find it, we need to figure out how to use it." Starlight explained to the other three.
Starlight had it all figured out. She knew she couldn't tell the others she hid it from them, as they are supposed to be a "team". But by telling them she hid it from "Grogar" so that "all of them" could use it against him, it was the perfect plan.
"Twilight Sparkle may be the worst, but she does know stuff. She once said the archives in Canterlot have a restricted area....." Cozy stated.
"Celestia and Luna love to horde information for themselves, if there's an answer it's there." Tirek explained.
"My triumphant return to Canterlot? I like the sound of that." Chrysalis beamed at the idea.
"Oh my gosh! Road trip!" Cozy exclaimed, as they prepared to travel to Canterlot for restricted information.
Meanwhile, Starlight couldn't help but grin to herself. The others had no idea she had the bell with her, and unbeknownst to them, she would keep it with her during their trip to Canterlot.
"You all shouldn't give your hoofs the trouble of walking there, my magic is strong enough to teleport us all there at once. But it's going to be in a place where we won't be seen, so try not to draw attention to the ponies." Starlight explained to the others, to which they all gave a nod in agreement as Starlight used the spell to teleport them to Canterlot.
The villains found themselves in a dark alleyway filled with barrels.
"Alright! Let's get into that cast-" Cozy was about to sneak in, until she was stopped by Chrysalis.
"Not yet! The sun is still up! Everypony is still awake! But it's almost sunset. We just need to wait until it's dark, then we can sneak into the castle." Chrysalis suggested to the other three villains.
"Aww! Do we have to?" Cozy whined to the ex queen.
"Yes, we better do what she says. It'd be easier to sneak in when everypony is asleep." Starlight agreed, to which they all nodded in agreement.
Later.......
"Why are so many ponies up in the middle of the night?" Tirek was baffled.
"It's that silly sun holiday." Cozy explained.
"Right........ I forgot about that........." Starlight pondered to herself, back in Sire's hollow they did celebrate the summer sun celebration, but she had spent so long building her community that she almost forgot it existed.
"How many holidays do you ponies have? No matter, getting into the castle won't be a problem." Chrysalis stated, seeing as how they'll just have to sneak in the hard way.
"Are you sure about that?" Tirek asked, as he pointed to the increased security of Canterlot. A bird was blown by one of the fans which Tirek caught in his hand, then flew away.
"Oh, those are new. But even so!" Chrysalis stated, as she changed into a pony guard and left to sneak into the castle.
"She's not going to make it." Starlight stated to the other two.
"Why not?" Tirek questioned.
"The guards have a special security measure that requires a magical badge to get in. Chrysalis can only replicate it's appearance, not it's magic." Starlight explained.
"How do you know that?" Cozy asked.
"I've infiltrated Canterlot before to get access to Starswirl's spell, I had to break in through the window......" Starlight explained.
"Yikes, that must've been painful..." Cozy "sympathized".
"Ehh, you get used to a little pain." Starlight simply stated.
"So..... It turns out they have increased security, this is going to be more challenging then I thought!" Chrysalis huffed, as she changed back into her original form.
However, they had to hide in front of the barrels, as company had arrived shortly.
"Could you not go popping us all over the place please?!" Rainbow Dash requested the spirit of chaos and disharmony.
"Time is of the essence. let's, go team!" Discord cheered as he manifested the clothing of a cheerleader as he waved his pom poms in the air.
"We need to know what we're doing before we go and do it." Fluttershy stated to her friends, as she and them held cards of things they need to prepare for the celebration.
"Pinkie, you and I are giving Braeburn and the appleloosa ponies some adjustments to the menu." Applejack instructed the pink party pony.
"Fluttershy and I are meeting the pegasi from Cludsdale, to give them changes to the weather." Rainbow Dash read her instructions.
"Spike, we're going to update the flaming sky firework unicorn troop with Twilight's new vision." Rarity told the baby dragon.
"And I'm supposed to...... 'Make sure Discord doesn't do anything Discordy?!' Well that's annoyingly specific!" Discord complained, as he and the others left to follow their instructions.
"Increased security, on a crowded holiday, with Twilight and her friends bumbling around? This is impossible...." Tirek stated.
"Oh no, this is perfect! We needed a distraction, and those ridiculous ponies just gave it to us! Now, do exactly as I tell you......" Chrysalis instructed her teammates, as she whispered in their ears what to do next.
"You want me to do what?!" Starlight quietly yelled, as Chrysalis shushed her not to draw attention to herself.
"We need someone to sneak into the Canterlot castle while the ponies are distracted, and you are the perfect choice!" Chrysalis stated to the mark despising mare.
"But why me? Cozy is small and nimble, can't she be the one to sneak in?" Starlight suggested.
"Cozy needs to get the pegasi to mess up the weather changes. You managed to sneak into there for Starswirl's spell, you can get the instructions for the bewitching bell." Chrysalis stated to Starlight.
".......... Fine, but it's not going to be easy." Starlight stated.
"Of course it won't, I wouldn't have picked you to do it if it were." Chrysalis replied, Starlight wasn't sure to take that as a compliment or an offense, but regardless, she went to sneak in.
Starlight's plan was working like a charm. She had gotten to the point where they trusted her to carry out their plans, now all that was left was to wait for the others to do their thing.
She cloaked herself using an invisibility spell, and stood in a bush, waiting for the right moment.
ZAP!
BOOM!
CRACK!
"What's going on over there?!" One of the guards shouted to the weather pony.
They all left their posts to investigate all the racket, which gave Starlight the opening she needed.
She crawled atop the castle using a sticky hoofs spell to climb the wall, then sliced a hole into the window using a blast from her horn.
Once inside, she snuck around the goose's while trying to find the library.
Once she did, she kept looking through the shelfs until she found what she's looking for.
"Ah ha!" She exclaimed, as she found the book on the bewitching bell, but it was locked. No matter, she used a spell to unlock it.
"Got it, now to bring it bac-" She stopped herself, as she thought if she should really let her "comrades" know she found it......
Then she thought to herself, she knew she couldn't trust them. They would no doubt try to steal it for themselves, like they would try to steal the bell. So she decided to do the unthinkable.........
Later.........
"It wasn't there?!" Chrysalis was furious, how could Starlight find nothing on the bewitching bell?
"There was just nothing on the bell! I guess the bell is just so ancient and mysterious, that not even the princesses have anything on it." Starlight told the former changeling queen.
"But we must know how to unlock it! How else are we going to use it's power to overthrow Grogar and take over Equestria?!" Chrysalis seethed through her teeth.
"We'll find another way to unlock it's power! There's only so many spells that can activate it, and we just need to find the right one." Tirek stated.
"Aww! That could take forever!" Cozy whined, as she didn't want to turn fifty seven by the time they activated the bell.
"So be it! We didn't get this far just to be denied by a lack of information! Mark my words, we WILL have the last laugh! Right Starlight?!" Chrysalis turned to Starlight for conformation.
"Of course we will! We just need to be patient, that's all." Starlight replied to the livid changeling.
"Meanwhile, we should get back to our posts before Grogar gets back." Cozy suggested the three villains, to which they started heading back.
Later......
"Sooooooo, did you find what you're looking for?" Cozy asked the evil ram.
"Once again, I've found success where you all find failure! I have located what I sought, and tomorrow I will set out to retrieve it! When I return, Equestria will finally be ours for the taking....." "Grogar" stated, as he left back to his quarters to prepare his mission, leaving the others to discuss their next plan.
Tirek could only groan in annoyance after "Grogar" left.
"Oh stop pouting." Chrysalis mocked Tirek.
"You knew you couldn't stay that buff, you had to return all the life force to those earth ponies so Grogar doesn't suspect anything!" Cozy gave an exposition to Tirek who already knows that.
"I don't have to like it!" Tirek stated as he dropped Cozy who was laying in his arms.
"Well I don't like that we worked so hard to destroy their party, they still pulled it off, AND we didn't get any information on the bell! But you don't see me complaining!" Cozy stated trying to give off as much a chipper vibe as possible.
"Listen, we have no time to waste! We have to master the bell before Grogar returns! Where did you hide the bell Starlight?!" Tirek pressured Starlight for information.
"I will get it for you all! It will only take a few hours, Grogar said he will get his item, TOMORROW. And before then, we will use the bell against him. I promise." Starlight assured the three.
"In the meantime, you know how easy it was to get all those earth ponies, unicorn and pegasi against each other? There's something to do while I'm searching for the bell." Starlight suggested the three villains.
"Believe me, Grogar will never know what hit him." Starlight stated to the three, while she left to go "search for the bell", leaving them to think about what Starlight suggested about causing a rift between the ponies.
"I can't believe they would all be so gullible." Starlight said, as she pulled the book out of her hair, which she shrunk with her magic.
"As IF I would share such important information with those greedy lunatics! Oh, someone will have the last laugh alright. and by tomorrow, Equestria will have no princesses, no winners, and no gods! Only, EQUALS........."
Starlight monologed to herself, as she grew back the bell and book to their normal sizes, ready to initiate the final stage of her plan...............
Starlight joins the legion
Chapter 5. The ending of the end part 1
Starlight woke up to the feeling of someone tapping her shoulder, she opened her eyes and saw the image of a green unicorn mare starring at her.
"Hmm? Oh, Chrysalis. You did your part riling the unicorns?" Starlight asked the changeling former queen.
"Indeed, and Cozy did her part freaking out the pegasi. Have you found the bell yet?!" Chrysalis interrogated Starlight as she changed back to her default form.
"I did! And I'm going to bring it to you all to activate before Grogar returns! I think I know how to get it to work...." Starlight stated.
"Really?" Chrysalis asked.
"Yes! But you need to wait with the others while I set it up. Trust me, very soon, Equestria will be ours......." Starlight "assured" Chrysalis, as she went back to join the others in waiting for the bell.
"Yes......... Our Utopia. You forget Chryssie, I don't want Equestria, I want equality! And I'm going to get it one way, OR ANOTHER." Starlight sweared, as she placed the bell on the table and read the pages from the book.
"Let's see....... Apparently, 'this artifact can steal any creatures magic. It holds that magic, until it is released by this spell.' Interesting.......... But of course, I'm going to hold the magic only temporarily. Once I defeat all the un-equals of Equestria, and it is in it's natural equal state, I will join them in equality by giving up my own cutie mark, something I should have done a long time ago........" Starlight gave off exposition to herself, as she blasted the bell with the spell.
The bell floated in the air, and with a ding ding ding, the magic was released from it's prison.
Starlight looked on as the bell emitted it's aura. And with a flash, it zapped Starlight, causing her to lose her vision momentarily.
When Starlight opened her eyes, she gazed at her shadow, and two wings emerged.
All Starlight could do was laugh maniacally, as she knew it was only a matter of time until cutie marks were no more........
"What is taking her so long?!" Cozy whined and complained to her two partners.
"Starlight said that she figured out how to get the bell working, and she will demonstrate it to us before Grogar returns." Chrysalis stated to the impatient bratty filly.
"Personally, I suggest we go find the bell ourselves! In case Starlight turns out to be more forgetful then we thought." Tirek suggested.
"And turn our back on one of our BFF's? Not even I'm that heartless!" Cozy lied through her teeth.
"Regardless, we're running out of time! Starlight better return with the bell soon, or we're going to have to take it from her, BY FORCE." Chrysalis stated.
"Oh, that won't be necessary, your majesty." Starlight said out of nowhere, from within the shadows. Until suddenly, she blasts the mean three with a shield spell, blocking any kind of magic they could use against it.
Then she flew up and revealed her new form, a more taller pony with a larger horn and wings. She then pulled out the bell with her magic.
"What the-?! Betrayal?! You said Equestria will be ours! How could you lie to us?!" Chrysalis was shocked and upset how Starlight could betray them so suddenly, especially when she thought they all agreed on the same goal.
"Yes well, villains do that once and a while. Hmm?" Starlight merely stated, before she activated the bell and drained the three of their magic.
She de-activated her shield, and Cozy dropped to the floor, Chrysalis fell on the ground, and Tirek shrunk back to his more elderly body.
"Oooh, what am I going to do with you three? Hmm......" Starlight pondered, as she walked across the room with the bell using her magic.
"Only Cozy has a cutie mark to give up, while Chrysalis and Tirek don't...... No matter, mark or no mark. You will learn the ways of being truly equal, when I take you to your reformation shack." Starlight stated.
"Re-reformation shack?......" Cozy asked, before Starlight gave her an evil smirk. Before proceeding to simply remove Cozy's cutie mark and replace it with an equal sign, no longer needing to remove the mark from their bodies outright.
Cozy just simply shrieked in response, before Starlight lifted the three villains with her magic and flew outside to her "Reformation shack."
"No! Not the reformation shack! I'll do anything! Please!" Cozy gave heartfelt pleas as Starlight tossed the pony, changeling and centaur into the shack and locked it.
"Oh no! There's no food or water here! We'll perish!" Chrysalis exclaimed dramatically, hoping Starlight would let them out.
"No you won't! There's a functioning sink and plenty of fruit for you to digest!" Starlight assured them, as the three troublemakers saw that indeed there was something for them to swallow, Cozy simply gave a bite to a banana.
"Well, even without my mark I can tell this tastes delicious!" Cozy simply exclaimed, as the other two groaned in frustration over this sudden betrayal.
"Choose Equality as your special talent." A voice on a speaker came up.
"Oh no." Chrysalis merely stated, as she knew that all three of them were in trouble.
Meanwhile, "Grogar" returned from his trip, and saw the shack outside his lair. He approached it, and overheard the speaker.
"Be your best, by never being your best." He overheard the speaker say.
"What the-?!" Is all "Grogar" had time to say, before he felt his magic being pulled away from him.
Starlight simply smiled sadistically, but her smile slowly faded when she saw "Grogar" take on a familiar shape, as he screamed and squirmed, he eventually fell to the ground.
When he opened his eyes, Discord looked up and saw Starlight's new body. And was shocked at this turn of events.
"What in Tartarus?......" Is all Starlight could say, as she soon realized what was really going on here.
Discord wasn't really thinking when he chose his next words.
"What are you staring- nope, never mind not going with that." Only for him to change his mind and instead run off to warn Twilight and the others, not willing to double down and insist he IS Grogar still after being betrayed.
"Discord was Grogar all this time?! Hmm..... Regardless, it's time to prepare Equestria's age of equality." Starlight stated, as she went back inside the lair to plan her next move.........
"Oh... This is not good... Not good at all..." Discord mumbled to himself, as he made his way to Canterlot, eager to tell twilight the bad news.
Twilight, however, was dealing with "pre-coronation nerves" as all the ponies in Canterlot keep giving her and her friends stink eyes and weird looks.
"Ow! My aching metatarsals! You know you forget how convenient snap travel is....." Discord muttered as he arrived to Canterlot.
"Did you just walk here? ON FOOT?" Spike was shocked and surprised to see Discord not use his magic for once.
"Yes, and I have a confession to make. You see, I might have made a tiny, little, small, insignificant mistake....... Something that might result in the end of individuality as we know it but a small mistake compared to-" Discord was about to continue until he was interrupted.
"WHAT?!" All si- I mean seven of the mane seven shouted upon hearing what Discord said.
"Well....... You remember that whole thing with king Sombra? That was because I kind of, sorta....... Accidentally........ Intentionally......... Brought him back?........" Discord revealed.
"But why?!" Twilight asked the lord of chaos.
"Well it seemed like a good idea at the time! Which is why I also bought back four other villains, but one of them managed to double cross the others and is now on the loose and is......... really upset at you for taking away her village so............... My bad." Discord sheepishly admitted.
"STARLIGHT GLIMMER IS BACK?!" Twilight gasped in shock of this horrifying news.
"Yeah........ Not my smartest move.........." Discord admitted.
"NO KIDDING!" Rainbow Dash told him straight.
meanwhile........
Chrysalis was trying to break down the door, but it was no use. She had no magic, and therefore couldn't change into a larger creature to bust it down, all the while the speaker continued to play messages of accepting the ways of equality.
"Oh, give it a rest will you? You've been at that for half an hour! You're not going to get it open." Tirek stated, while laying down on the floor. Meanwhile, Cozy Glow was simply eating some mango she picked off the table.
"Well we can't just sit here and do nothing! That scowl of a grub Starlight Glimmer betrayed us! And is now doing who knows what with that bell!" Chrysalis exclaimed.
"She's probably going to convince the ponies to accept equality to banish the wendigos." Cozy wildly guessed.
"What makes you think that?" Tirek asked the surprisingly intelligent filly.
"Since we spread distrust and hatred among the earth ponies, unicorn, and pegasi, it's only a matter of time before the wendigos return and try to move Equestria into a new ice age. I've learned about them in school, they come when ponies start to argue and cause disharmony between each other. Starlight will no doubt use this to her advantage to try and convince the ponies to embrace equality, as that will no doubt bring them "closer", and able to banish the wendigos. After that, she's practically won......" Cozy was able to guess exactly what Starlight's plan was, leaving the changeling and centaur to think about what they should do......
"We could try and convince Starlight that we 'conformed' to her ways of equality...." Tirek suggested.
"It will never work! She's too smart for that kind of trick........" Chrysalis admitted.
"I could try and convince her that I 'conformed'." Cozy suggested.
"What makes you think you can do it?" Chrysalis asked.
"You didn't get zapped with a spell that made you 'equal', I did. If I can convince Starlight that the spell has completely affected me, I could be able to escape and find help!" Cozy suggested to the group.
"And who exactly is going to help US?!" Tirek reminded the pegasus that they are notorious villains.
"Look, we need to find somepony or we're doomed! And do you really want to take that bet?" Cozy asked the two, to which they both sighed in agreement that they do need help.
"Good, now we just need to wait for Starlight to return and see if one of us is ready to 'conform'." Cozy stated.
Meanwhile........
"So, all of Discord's chaos magic is inside this bell.......... " Starlight pondered what to do with the magic inside the bell now that Discord's magic was inside it.
"I can't absorb any magic from it now, if Discord's magic were to infect me I'd lose my mind! Hmm....... I know! After I planted the seeds of equality in the poor, senile ponies minds, I'll invade Canterlot and make Discord tell me how to control his magic by FORCE. Then, using it's power I will capture Twilight and her friends and send them to be equalized. It's the perfect plan!" Starlight settled with that plan, before leaving with the bell to engage her mission until......
"Starlight! I'm ready to conform!" Cozy yelled out loud through the door.
"Hmm?" Starlight flew over to the shack and gently unlocked the door.
"Oh, golly Starlight! You were right! Being equal is way better then being empress of friendship! I don't want anything to do with superiority ever again!" Cozy said while making a pouty face.
"How can I trust you?......" Starlight asked the notoriously dishonest filly.
"I can tell you for a fact that the others don't want to be equal! They would rather become the rulers of Equestria and have all the power for themselves! You can punish them however you like! I just want to live the rest of my days living amongst pony kind equally!" Cozy stated, while giving an adorable smile.
"Hmm....... Very well, you may proceed to leave. I will be leaving to do.......... Errands." Starlight stated, she didn't want to tell Cozy what she had planned, as she didn't trust her not to tell anypony what she was up to. But just to be generous, she let Cozy out as long as she was telling the truth.
"Why thank you Starlight! Thank you thank you thank you! You won't regret it!" Cozy told Starlight, as she flew off to find somepony that could help her defeat Starlight.
"Right........." Starlight doubted if that was a good idea, but assumed she wouldn't be able to stop her seeing as she had no magic and was on her own.
Never the less, she flew off and proceeded to head to ponyville to in act her plan.
At Canterlot.............
"Let me get this straight...... You wanted to boost Twilight's confidence, so you bought back Starlight Glimmer to attack her?!" Luna interrogated Discord.
"Don't forget Chrysalis, Tirek, Cozy and Sombra!" Discord mentioned the other four villains he bought back.
"And while you united these villains, YOU pretended to be Grogar?!" Celestia was baffled about how Discord could have done something so horrendous without thinking it through.
"Discord, how could you do this to us?!" Fluttershy was saddened to hear what Discord did.
"I intended to prepare Twilight for anything, by putting her through an elaborate training program of wits, if anything had gotten too serious I would have snapped my fingers and sent them back to Tartarus, but Starlight seems to have caught me off guard..." Discord stated, as he snapped his fingers, which caused nothing to happen as he looked down saddened.....
"Is there anything else you'd like to tell us?!" Celestia lashed out at Discord.
"Would you like the good news, or the bad news?" Discord asked.
"What's the bad news?!" Luna demanded.
"All my magic is trapped in Grogar's bell." Discord stated.
"So, what's the good news?" Spike asked.
"Starlight Glimmer now has all of the real Grogar's magic." Discord answered.
"IN WHAT WORLD IS THAT GOOD NEWS?!" Rainbow Dash yelled and questioned Discord.
"Compared to me losing my powers anything else IS good news!" Discord stated.
"Twilight, Luna, we need to make a plan. Maybe it's not too late to stop this...... DISASTER from happening!" Celestia exclaimed.
"I......... I need some time to think first." Twilight exclaimed, clearly dealing with the revelation that Discord set up her success against Sombra.
"Twilight........ It doesn't matter if Discord set up your success's or not, we believe in you. And always have." Celestia comforted Twilight.
"Lean on your strengths, to counter your weaknesses." Luna stated.
"My strengths?" Twilight replied, as she saw all her friends standing before her, which gave her an idea.
"Right, Spike! Send a letter to Starswirl! Tell him we need the pillars to guard the boarders of Canterlot. If Starlight is coming for a fight, we'll have one waiting for her! And warn Cadance and Shinning Armor, they're our final line of defense if we fail. The ultimate battle for the fate of Equestria, is coming!" Twilight announced, as she flew up in the air and prepared all her friends for battle.
Meanwhile..........
Cozy Glow made her way to the crystal empire, seeing as how it was likely one of the only places where it wasn't known that she drained all the magic.
"Excuse me, do you mind if you could help-" Cozy asked an earth pony, only for them to turn away from her. The paranoia must have reached the crystal empire.
"Hello! Do you think you could take some time to-" She asked a unicorn, only to get the same result.
Cozy growled in anger, regretting that they ever trusted that destiny defying unicorn, until she bumped into a stranger with a blue coat.
"Oh! I'm so sorry little filly, are you ok?" The orange unicorn stallion sheepishly apologized.
"Ugh, I'm fine. But listen, we need your help! A mad alicorn is on the loose and is trying to make everypony the same!" Cozy explained to the stranger.
"Oh my! That is bad! But, what do you want me to do?" The stallion asked.
"She locked my friends in a shack that can only be unlocked through magic! Since your a unicorn, I was hopping you could unlock it for me?......" Cozy asked the stallion.
"Hmm, a door that can only be unlocked through magic?..... Fascinating........ I knew of a unicorn who could perform all kinds of spells like that but.......... I moved away from her when I got enrolled into Celestia's school for gifted unicorns......." The stallion said, sadly looking at the ground.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that mister. I'm sure she does miss you a whole lot....... But, maybe once you save my friends we could get her to help us! She sounds very useful, do you know where she lives?" Cozy asked the stallion.
"The last place I saw her was in our home town, sire's hollow. But it's a long way from here...." The unicorn stallion stated.
"Oh..... Well we haven't any time to lose! My poor friends are probably suffering in their poor room as we speak!" Cozy exaggerated.
"You're right! Where are they?" The orange unicorn asked.
"Follow me!" Cozy commanded as she flew towards their destination while the stallion followed.
Meanwhile, at the reformation shack..........
Chrysalis and Tirek were playing a game of go fish.............
".............. Got any nines?....." Chrysalis asked Tirek.
"Go fish." Tirek replied.
"What?! No way! You're cheating!" Chrysalis accused.
"Am I though?" Tirek denied, as he held a card with two nines behind his back.
Meanwhile, in ponyville.......
"Where is our food?!" One earth pony mare shouted, as she couldn't find any food in her home.
"Those darn unicorns and Pegasi stole it! They don't want us to live healthily and live!" One earth stallion stated.
"What are we going to do?!" One earth filly asked worriedly.
However, before anypony could respond, They heard roaring and shrieking coming from the sky. When they looked up, they saw three horse like creatures in ghostly white swirling around the clouds.
"Oh no! The wendigos are back! What do we do now?!" One mare gasped in shock.
"Oh my! All this fighting, and hatred amongst pony kind must have been what bought out the wendigos. If only there was a way to make it stop!....... Oh wait, THERE IS." Starlight Glimmer stated, as she arrived to the scene on her own two wings.
Multiple earth ponies whispered amongst themselves as they were standing in front of a new alicorn they've never seen before.
"Umm, excuse me miss.... Are you a princess?" One filly walked up to Starlight and asked.
"What? No! These wings are just temporary to help me get my message across wider, they helped me spread it to the unicorn and Pegasi after all." Starlight simply stated.
"What message?" One mare asked.
"Equality!" Starlight announced, causing everypony to chatter amongst themselves, confused as to what she meant.
"Think about it. Everypony has their own differences and opinions that lead them to disagree with one another, you argue and fight so much, that stuff like THIS happens." Starlight pointed out, as she pointed her hoof to the wendigos.
Starlight's words gave concern to the earth ponies, as they continued to chat over what she was going with.
"When you were living with the unicorn and Pegasi, you all had different talents and abilities that lead you to getting hurt one way or another. Especially when one friend gets a cutie mark that separates one friend from another, causing all kinds of heartbreak." Starlight went on.
"If we all, I don't know....... Gave up our cutie marks, and united all pony tribes in an equally balanced society, it could be enough to banish the wendigos permanently! Then we could live in a world where nopony would ever fight or argue or disagree again!" Starlight suggested, causing chatter amongst the earth ponies.
"I don't know........ What would princess Twilight think about that?" One filly asked Starlight.
"She just needs to see how perfect an equal society can be! But...... If you don't want to live peacefully, and would rather freeze into an ice cube by the wendigos....... I completely understand." Starlight merely commented, before she flew off to spread her message further.
This caused several chatter from the earth ponies, debating on whether they should take Starlight's words to heart.
In Canterlot........
"We've faced enemies of Equestria before, and we've always succeeded. That wouldn't be possible without all of you." twilight stated to all of her friends.
"You're welcome!" Discord simply commented.
"Dude, read the room." Spike told Discord to snap back to reality.
"So I ask for your help again today, in what is our biggest battle yet! All of Equestria is at stake. And I can't do this alone! But I'm not afraid, because with friendship as our armor, and teamwork as our power, nopony can ever bring us down!" Twilight claimed while raising her hoofs in the air.
THUD!
"Is that supposed to MEAN something?" Starlight asked as she barged into the room, with the pillars all defeated as she dropped them to the floor.
"Starlight?! You're-" Twilight was about to speak until Starlight finished her sentence.
"About to teach you a LESSON!" She yelled, as she zapped her with her magic, which caused Twilight to fall into her throne, badly hurt, which made her friends all gasp.
"Sorry, but I'm not here for your precious princess, I'm only here for YOU DISCORD." Starlight stated, as she zapped at Discord.
Meanwhile..........
"Well, I think it's time we waved the white flag. We're doomed." Tirek stated, while looking glum.
"NO! Cozy Glow WILL be back with help! We just need to be patient!" Chrysalis stated to the centaur.
"It's been three hours Chrysalis! Help isn't coming!" Tirek told Chrysalis. But just when it seemed that way, they heard the sound of the door knob turning.
"I'm back!" Cozy announced, as she bought back with her the unicorn who unlocked the door.
"Oh my! You're friends are Lord Tirek and Queen Chrysalis?!" The stallion was shocked to see how a filly could make friends with two infamous villains.
"Listen, they are weak, as they don't have any magic! We need your help taking down an even bigger threat right now!" Cozy stated to the unicorn.
"I see....... Well, I don't know what I can do, since all my time in the school for gifted unicorns is useless! I'm no magician, I'm just some nerd who looks at magic! Not actually practice it....." The stallion stated.
"Wait wait wait, what did you say your name was again?........." Cozy asked.
"Oh, I didn't actually give you my name...... But if you want it, it's Sunburst." Sunburst revealed to the filly.
"................. I think you may be of bigger help to us then you think." Cozy stated, as she looked back at her two friends with a smile.
At Canterlot.........
"You're coming with me!" Starlight demanded Discord, pulling at him with her magic.
"No he's not!" Twilight rebuked, as she too pulled at him with her magic.
"Umm.... Getting a little queasy here!" Discord stated, as he was tired of being pulled constantly by two alicorns.
Fortunately, Celestia and Luna both jumped out and blasted Starlight with their combined magic.
"Grr..... You'll pay for that!" Starlight threatened the two former princesses.
"Stand down Starlight Glimmer!" Celestia warned.
"No, never! Not after your 'faithful student' RUINED MY LIFE!" Starlight shouted, as she blasted at the princess of friendship.
Fortunately, she created a shield to protect herself before the blast could hit her.
"You leave us no choice Starlight!" Celestia stated to the titular alicorn, as she and Luna flew up to face her.
"What are you doing?!" Twilight was worried for her mentors.
Unfortunately, Starlight pulled out the bell and drained every last ounce of magic from the two alicorns, and they could only scream and squirm as they felt their magic being taken from them.
"NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!" Twilight yelled, as the two former princesses fell to the ground, and Starlight zapped equal signs on their cutie marks.
"So THIS is what I needed all along, the bell takes away all magic! And no more magic means no more talent!" Starlight monologed, mocking Twilight.
"That's what you think! NOW!" twilight called, as her friends leaped from behind the throne and attacked Starlight.
Rainbow Dash spined around Starlight and made her dizzy, surrounding her in a rainbow tornado.
While Pinkie Pie stuffed her into her party canon while she was dizzy, then blasted her into Fluttershy's bee hive.
Starlight screamed as multiple bees stunned her, then ran around with the bee hive still in her head.
"Let me get that for you darling." Rarity stated, as she wrapped a giant necklace around the hive and whipped it across the room, which sent Starlight falling with it.
Finally, Applejack whipped Starlight into the center of the room, smashing the bee hive on impact.
Starlight, now surrounded, grabbed the bell. As Twilight prepared to use her magic against her.
"ENOUGH!" Starlight shouted, as her magic sent them all flying into the walls.
Twilight's throne broke into a million pieces, which revealed Discord trying to hide from Starlight.
Starlight turned around, and with a smile, lifted Discord off the ground with her magic.
Twilight and her friends woke up to see the damage Starlight caused.
"Well it's been fun catching up, but I need to leave with the one person who can tell me how to properly use his magic." Starlight stated.
"You're not going to put us down that easily Starlight! We will not let you hurt anymore ponies!" Twilight stated to Starlight. But Starlight could only laugh, as she now realized that Twilight had no idea what was really going on with the ponies of Equestria.
"Didn't you all notice something was wrong in Equestria? My 'pals' were busy." Starlight stated, causing confusion amongst Twilight and her friends.
"Oh yes, it started as a whisper here, a rumor there, destroy some crops, cause some damage, turn pony against pony. Until the wendigos have returned! Meaning that the only thing that can save them, is equality between ponies." Starlight revealed her true plan, which caused all of the mane seven to gasp in shock.
"Hah ha ha! Yes! They all should have turned to equality while I kept you distracted! Now without further ado, I really must be going. Adieu!" Starlight bid, before she blasted the celling with her magic, causing it to collapse as she left with Discord.
The mane seven could only watch as Starlight blocked the only exit.
"Celestia! Luna! Please wake up! Please! You have to wake up now!" Twilight begged desperately for the two alicorns to wake up, but they didn't..................
To be continued.
Starlight joins the legion
Chapter 6. The ending of the end part 2
"Why won't you tell me how to use your magic?!" Starlight complained to Discord, who she held in a magic bubble inside "Grogar's" lair.
"I already told you! Locking someone up and forcing them to tell you what you want to hear isn't going to get them to cooperate! You might as well make them listen to extremely high pitched baby crying! Oh sure, THAT'LL get them to talk!" Discord literally talked about EVERYTHING but what Starlight wanted to hear, and it was getting on her nerves.
"If you won't tell me how to use chaos magic, then I will have no choice but to destroy....." Starlight proceeded to pull out some items from a bag she carried with her magic.
"Oh no........." Discord could only watch in horror as Starlight revealed,
"Your Tea set." Starlight stated with an evil grin on her face.
"No! Not our tea set! Fluttershy will be devastated!" Discord cried.
"Oops!" Starlight said, as she dropped one tea cup, breaking it into pieces.
"You heartless monster! That was Fluttershy's favorite!" Discord mourned Fluttershy's favorite tea cup.
"Now how, do I use chaos magic?" Starlight asked, as she pulled out another tea cup.
"I won't tell you!" Discord stated.
"Oops!" Starlight said as she broke another tea cup.
"Stop it! She'll be heartbroken!"
"Oops!"
"Wait! That one wasn't easy to get you know!"
"This can stop any time you like." Starlight simply stated, knowing she could do this until he was ready to talk.
"I'll never talk!" Discord stood his ground.
"Very well." Starlight stated, as she pulled out another cup.
"NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
At Canterlot.........
"Oh, Celestia, Luna, please don't go into the light!" Twilight begged the royal sisters to wake up, but they wouldn't move a muscle until.....
"Ugh....... Twilight?......." Celestia opened her eyes, along with Luna's, and Twilight hugged Celestia with all her passion.
"Oh thank goodness! You're alright! I was afraid I'd lose you!" Twilight told Celestia, as the rest of the mane seven helped Luna on her hooves.
"It's ok, I'm fine...... But........ My cutie mark......." Celestia said, as her equal sign began to emit a flash of energy, signaling that she was losing less individuality.
"We need to find Starlight and save Discord! Starlight's power comes from Grogar's bell, we just need to take it from her and remove her stolen magic! Hopefully that will reverse the effects she made on the sister's cutie marks." Twilight explained to her friends.
"But how are we going to get out of here?! The entrance is caved in! And it's not like even if we do get out of here we'll know where to find them!" Rainbow Dash told Twilight.
"They're in a giant skull shaped cave in the everfree!" A familiar young voice called out, they turned towards the caved in entrance and saw orange magic removing the rocks from the outside, there they saw the unmistakable forms of Cozy Glow, Queen Chrysalis, and Lord Tirek.
"YOU!" Twilight growled, as she and her friends prepared for battle.
"AAH! Same team! Same team!" Cozy waved her hoofs and called uncle.
"What?...." Twilight and her friends lowered their battle stances.
"We've all been betrayed by Starlight Glimmer, and now thanks to her. We are without magic. We are the only ones who know where Starlight's hideout is, you NEED us if you want any hope of finding her." Chrysalis told the ponies plus dragon.
"You can do whatever you want with us as soon as we get our magic back." Lord Tirek stated.
"After that, truce off." Cozy finished.
"I see........ And you said she's hiding where?" Twilight asked the three villains.
"In a cave down in the everfree, it's where Discord took us while guising as Grogar." Cozy explained.
"And, what's with the unicorn?" Rainbow asked.
"Oh, I'm Sunburst." Sunburst answered.
"Sunburst?..... Wait a minute........ You were Starlight's best friend before you moved away!" Twilight exclaimed.
"I was......... And I can't believe what she's done......... All this over my cutie mark?........." Sunburst questioned.
"It's not about your cutie mark, it's about you moving away. She thinks that because cutie marks are tied to destiny, that it only leads to heartbreak and friends being torn apart. You have to come with us and tell her that's not true!" Twilight explained to Sunburst.
"Well........... I'd do anything to unite with Starlight........... I just hope she'd listen to me......." Sunburst hopped.
"I'm sure she will......." Twilight assured.
"See? I told you he'd be useful!" Cozy assured the two other villains, to which they simply rolled their eyes.
At "Grogar's" lair..........
"That was the last tea cup in your set! WHAT, MAKES, YOU, TALK?!" Starlight demanded.
"Nothing, you can destroy as much as you like....... But I will never give you the answer!" Discord stated to Starlight, standing his ground to protect Equestria and his friends.
"Oh, stop with the hero act! You turned on your friends for lord Tirek! He told me!" Starlight stated to Discord.
"He lied to and used me! I'm not making the same mistake again! And I'm certainly not going to betray my friends for YOU, you deluded cretin!" Discord snapped.
"This 'CRETIN' can hurt you in 1,000 ways, and only with her bare hoofs! Choose your next words carefully....." Starlight threatened.
"You're right. Cretin is too polite, how about pathetic unicorn who spreads equality to compensate for the fact that deep down she's afraid she'll never reunite with her best friend, Sunburst?" Discord mocked Starlight with the smuggest grin he could pull, which made Starlight lower the shield and zap him with her magic, but Discord grabbed a rock and reflected the blast. It bounced off the walls until it blasted the rocks blocking the entrance, giving Discord room to escape.
"NO!" Starlight shouted, as Discord made a break for it out of the lair.
Meanwhile.......
"Come on! If we hurry, it won't be too late, Discord couldn't give Starlight the information she needed by now!" Fluttershy hoped Discord would be strong, until they saw the ponies of ponyville conversing with each other, they noticed how all the earth ponies, unicorn and Pegasi have stopped fighting.
"What's going on here?" Twilight asked a nearby pony.
"We have decided to put aside our differences and live in balance as equals!" The pony stated to Twilight.
"What? You can't do that! You have unique talents that make you special!" Twilight tried to get the ponies to see reason.
"But Starlight Glimmer said that being equal makes it so we won't fight or argue, or ever get into trouble again!" A filly told the princess of friendship.
"If being equal is really better for you, then what are THEY still doing here?" Tirek pointed above to the wendigos still freezing Equestria.
Numerous ponies were confused about why the wendigos were still present, as they thought that being equal would bring them closer and banish the wendigos forever. Starlight wouldn't lie to them, would she?....
"Listen, it is good to be close to other ponies, but being close doesn't mean giving up what makes you unique! It is true that things have been heated because of the differences between the different tribes, but being different is what brings us closer together!" Twilight stated.
The other ponies were confused about what Twilight meant.
"The reason I've come to love my friends is because I was intrigued about how different they were from me, I wanted to learn about their interests, their passions, and their dreams. I knew that is what drew me to them. I wouldn't have cared to like them for who they were if they were no different then me. And that is why the only way to banish the wendigos is to stand together as individuals!" Twilight gave off another astounding speech, to which all the ponies chatted amongst themselves.
"Is she right?"
"Princess Twilight's never been wrong before."
"Do you think we can get cider after this?"
"Way to go Sugarcube." Applejack praised her friend.
"You've done it again Twilight!" Pinkie congratulated her.
"That was awesome!" Rainbow hoofbumped Twilight.
"There isn't any time to lose! We need to find Discord before he gives away the secret to his magic!" Cozy Glow rushed the others to the everfree forest.
They ran and ran closer to the forest until they bumped into Discord.
"Discord!" Fluttershy exclaimed.
"Thank goodness I found you! Listen, there isn't much time! We need to get out of here before-" Discord was about to speak until,
"FOUND YOU!" Starlight roared at Discord, causing him to yelp in surprise.
"................... Sunburst?............" Starlight hesitated to speak.......
"Starlight?................." Sunburst called out to his BFF.
"What are you doing here.......... With them?............" Starlight questioned the orange unicorn.
"I came with them to find you, I heard about what you did and....... I can't believe it........ How could you?......." Sunburst was heartbroken to learn what Starlight did.......
"I......... I did it for you! It was that......... THING that took you away from me! We were happy together........ We were like two peas in a pod! Everything was fine until.............." Starlight was staggered......
"Until I got my cutie mark............" Sunburst finished her sentence.
"I created an entire community dedicating to getting rid of cutie marks! I thought that if I could stop marks from appearing on your flank, nopony would have to be apart." Starlight stated, with tears in her eyes.
"Starlight......... You're wrong........ A cutie mark isn't what separated us............ It was the community!" Sunburst claimed.
"The community?!" Starlight was baffled and confused.
"The community recognized my talent and took me away, I was so overjoyed in the moment that I didn't realize I might never see you again.............. Starlight......... If I had known............... I would have..........." Sunburst tried to find the right words.
"No............. You don't know that! You're only saying what they want you to say! They're differences have blinded you!" Starlight refused to accept the truth.
"No they didn't! This is coming from the heart! Starlight it doesn't have to be this way! You don't have to force ponies to be together!" Sunburst tried to get through to Starlight, who was in tears.
"This is getting good." Cozy simply stated, eating some popcorn she got from seemingly nowhere.
"You can come back, with me.......... I can show you that things can be better when we think like individuals!" Sunburst tried to talk to Starlight.
"No!" Starlight denied, who was in disbelief.
"Starlight, I know this isn't what you want. I know you believe that cutie marks aren't evil!" Sunburst stated.
"NO! It's what tore us apart! And now it's doing it again! It turned you against me! But I can save you! I can make sure that we never grow apart AGAIN!" Starlight commanded, as she blasted an energy wave at all of the ponies plus changeling plus centaur plus dragon plus Draconequus.
Starlight opened her eyes, and saw that they were gone, and began searching.
"We need to get the bell away from Starlight, It's our only hope." Twilight stated to the group.
"How are we going to do that?" Fluttershy asked.
"Some of us will distract Starlight while me and a few will grab the bell." Twilight planned with her group.
"Got it! I'll grab that bell in ten seconds-" Rainbow was about to speed in and grab the bell until-
"No Dash, you're the distraction. Me, Sunburst, Rarity, and Spike will take the bell." Twilight planned, to which Rainbow gave a shrug.
"Twilight, Twi-bright, where's the pony I want to fight?!" Starlight taunted while searching, until........
"SURPRISE ATTACK!" Pinkie shouted, as she, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Applejack charged and attacked.
Starlight, surprised blasted bolts at Rainbow Dash, who spined circles around her with Fluttershy.
Starlight, now dazed fired random bolts at the ponies.
"Step right up! Test your luck!" Pinkie announced, as she dressed up like a barker and dodged all of Starlight's blasts.
"missed me!" Pinkie taunted while laughing.
"Stand still!" Starlight shouted, trying to blast her to remove her cutie mark.
"Close! But no cherry chimichangas!" Pinkie taunted while attached to a prize wheel that rolled down the hill when Starlight blasted it.
"Thanks for playing!" Pinkie taunted as she appeared next to Starlight holding a plushie of her, to which she just blasted.
Pinkie then ran away from the scene.
"Wait a minute! I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING!" Starlight caught onto the mane seven's trick, as she caught Twilight and some of her friends and even Sunburst trying to take her bell.
She blasted Applejack's rope that was grabbing the bell, when Spike grabbed onto it and tried to take it away.
Starlight grabbed the bell with her magic, while Spike held on.
Then, Rarity, Sunburst and Twilight pulled the bell with their magic.
However, Starlight blasted them with a shockwave of magic that sent them tumbling backwards.
Starlight then pulled the bell back to her and grabbed the rest of the group with her magic over to where the rest went.
"That's the problem with individuality, you do your own thing when you act out the same plan, so it comes crashing down when you're personalities collide!" Starlight mocked the group, as she charged her blast to remove all the ponies cutie marks.
"Even if that were true, it still makes us who we are." Twilight stated, as she and the group huddled each other.
Starlight merely scoffed, as she fired her spell.
....................
"What happened, can I open my eyes?" Spike asked the group.
"I don't feel any different!" Pinkie stated,
The group opened their eyes, and saw a white magical shield that protected them from Starlight's magic.
"Way to go Twilight!" Applejack praised her friend.
"It's not me doing this!" Twilight stated, then she and the group looked behind them, and saw an army of ponies, changelings, yaks, griffons, hippogriffs, and dragons charging at Starlight with all they got.
The pegasi swooped in and spun around Starlight, confusing her.
Then the changelings ran down and turned themselves into duplicates of the mane six, as Starlight blasted them not knowing where the real ones were.
The yaks stomped their hoofs on the ground, making Starlight nauseous.
Then, the magic pulled Twilight and the group to where the leaders stood.
"The changelings won't fool her forever, and I don't how long the unicorns' shield will hold." Thorax explained to the group.
"Thorax? I don't understand, you came back to save us?....." Chrysalis questioned the changeling king.
"We heard you guys were in trouble, thanks to Ocellus and her friends. We were able to unite and stand against Starlight." Thorax explained to his ex queen.
"Exactly! Just because we've embraced friendship, it doesn't mean we can't stand up and act as a unite!" ocellus explained to the former changeling monarch.
"You really did all that, without having to be commanded to?" Chrysalis asked.
"I guess it was just to protect those we care about." Thorax told his mom, which made her smile a little.
"So, this is what friends do for each other?........." Tirek questioned the draconequus next to him.
"Indeed. You see Tirek, being friends may forbid you from doing whatever as you please, but being friends means that those friends will stand up for you. And protect you from whatever harm may come to you. No amount of magic can keep you from being alone." Discord explained to the elderly centaur.
"I never thought of it that way........." Tirek pondered.
"Wait. So, friends only do what you need, not what you WANT?" Cozy was confused by the message.
"You see Cozy, if you just take and take from your friends and give nothing in return, they wouldn't want to be your friend anymore. Friends are there for your best interests, not your best desires." Sandbar stated to the power hungry filly.
"Oh.......... Gee............" Cozy commented, as she placed her hoof on her chin.
"Well, with everycreature here to defend us things will be easy peasy!" Pinkie stated with a grin.
"It's just like you said the day we opened that school." Applejack commented.
"The more creatures who know about friendship, the safer we'll be." Spike stated, as Twilight looked back with a smile.
However, a changeling hit the shield. And Twilight looked back to see the Pegasi landing atop the shield from impact.
Eventually, the unicorns couldn't hold the shield any longer, and it collapsed.
They looked down, and saw Starlight blast away all the creatures with a giant shock wave, knocking them unconscious.
She stared at the army with an angry scowl before running over to attack the mane seven.
However, Twilight blasted a beam next to Starlight to stop her.
"ENOUGH! Because of you I almost lost my way! But everycreature here has reminded me of the true power of friendship. There will always be differences in the world, but differences are what bring us closer together! That's why the elements of harmony exist!" Twilight stated to Starlight, as Celestia, Luna, and the pillars teleported from Canterlot to the field the battle was held.
"The elements showed me and my friends how strong our friendship could be! Together we worked to bring harmony to Equestria! Harmony is what binds us together as friends! It's what makes us all special in our own way."
As Twilight continued her speech, Chrysalis's appreciation for her subject's concern for her leads to her wrapping in a cocoon, and emerging in a new form, as Rockhoof evolves from his colt form, to his stallion form after getting his magic back, all the while the mane seven, the pillars, and the young six lift into the air magically.
"Now I truly understand! The elements were just symbols! The real magic has always been right here! And the more who understand how powerful friendship is, the stronger we will all be! Together!" Twilight stated, as the mane seven, pillars, and young six blasted rainbows at Twilight, who made one giant rainbow blast above which banished the wendigos.
"Uh oh........." Is all Starlight could say, before the rainbow beam charged down at her and blasted her, removing all the magic from the bell away from her, as the bell deactivated, and fell to the ground.
Celestia, Luna, and Cozy Glow then got their equal signs removed, and had their proper cutie marks restored.
Starlight fell to the ground, and stared at her sides. Realizing that her wings were gone.
The mane seven, pillars, and young six came back to earth.
Sunburst approached Starlight, who was on her knees, and cowering from the massive army.......
"Starlight, please come back with me...... I miss you....." Sunburst begged Starlight to see reason.
"I........ I've done too much.......... You all hate me......" Starlight stated.
"I could never hate you Starlight......... Not even after all you did........." Sunburst told her.
"But all I did was hurt you and the others! I- What the?!" Starlight gasped, as a giant cupcake fell on her, which made Sunburst jump back, concerned for his friend.
Then, Pinkie revealed that she held the bell, and was shaking with magic.
"Pinkie! You took Discord's magic from the bell?! How do you feel?" Twilight asked her friend.
"Hmm, tingly, itchy, also like.........." Pinkie then grew massive, and stomped the ground.
"I COULD TURN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE INTO FROSTING!!!!!!" Pinkie became mad with chaos.
"Maybe I should......." Discord flew up, took the bell from Pinkie and drained her of the chaos.
"Waiter..... There's some chaos in my soup........." Pinkie was a little out of it from absorbing too much chaos magic.
Discord then activated the bell and got his chaos back, then proceeded to give Celestia, Luna, Cozy Glow, Chrysalis, and the pillars their magic back as well.
Starlight moved out from under the cupcake.
"There isn't a punishment WORTHY of all you've done!" Celestia roared at Starlight.
"No! No........ Your majesty.......... Let me handle it........." Sunburst assured the former princess.
"Are you sure about this Sunburst?" Celestia asked the orange unicorn.
"I'm positive, just...... Please........." Sunburst asked the sun alicorn for permission.
"Ok........." Celestia allowed Sunburst to carry out Starlight's punishment.
Sunburst offered his hoof to Starlight, who was baffled.
"After everything I've done to hurt you.............. To hurt your friends........... You still want to take me back?........" Starlight asked her best friend.
"Starlight.......... You were always my best friend......... I never forgot about you........... No cutie mark, could ever change that.............." Sunburst assured Starlight, as he held out his hoof for her.
After a brief pause, Starlight slowly, but surely............ Took Sunburst's hoof.
Sunburst then lifted Starlight out of the cupcake, and they hugged.
Twilight smiled with tears in her eyes.
"When I sent you to Ponyville, I had high hopes. When you became princess of friendship, I knew I made the right choice. But nothing could prepare me for how proud I am right now. Equestria is definitely in the right hooves. You are ready." Celestia stated, as she, Luna, and Discord bowed for the princess of friendship.
To be concluded, in the epilogue.......
