Starswirl took a long draw on his pipe and allowed the fragrant smoke to burn in his throat for a moment before loosing the cloud. Those were some quality herbs. Yet another unexpected perk he was discovering up being the King's new advisor.

Oh, the stipend he had expected, as well as the access to the King's family's old texts and records, more food than he could eat, and a sizable tower in the keep to call his own. Who knew that the King's consort kept a private garden of exquisite herb, and right behind his (previously unoccupied) tower as well?

Another puff. Yes, after a rocky start with their first few performances, he and the girls had finally convinced enough ponies that their story became self-propagating. Soon, every pony from the lowliest beggar to the King himself (who had readopted his title since Discord could no longer punish him for doing so) knew of the heroic deeds of the two interspecied fillies. And their learned mentor.

With mounting pressure from the populace, the King had of course summoned them to his court to be praised and rewarded. Starswirl, for his great and worldly knowledge that put the King's current advisers to shame, was given a worthy wizard's tower and direct access to the King.

Cel and Lu, or Celestia and Luna as they were now known, were praised all the more as heroes. Their names were added to the register as a minor, landless noble house, though they asked only for rooms in Starswirl's tower. They were also bestowed the rank of "Knights of the Realm", a new title invented by the King to ensure their continued residence in and protection over his city.

Even with Discord defeated, the world was not empty of threats. Monsters lurked on the edges of the map, and having a pair of heroes on hoof would do well to ensure his city's survival and prosperity should another villain arise.

Starswirl reflected on this as his smoke drifted lazily out the tower window. It had been several weeks since then and a sense of normality had settled across the city. True, the world was fundamentally changed with the incarnation of chaos dead, but for most ponies life moved along as it always had. Bread still needed to be made and fermented spirits needed tending. Speaking of which...

He set down his pipe to finish off a bottle from the King's vintner. Another fine perk he'd discovered.

His meal tickets, such as they were, had been doing well for themselves in the recent times. Since 'Knight of the Realm' was such a new title, no one knew exactly what to do with it. So they were sent to train with the regular knights. Life on the streets had sharpened their reflexes and made them quick, at least enough to earn some begrudging respect from knights who had trained for years. Still, they did their best to avoid any sort of magic or flight training which was helped by a little misdirection magic (cleverly woven by Starswirl into a pair of amulets) so that nopony noticed their lower-than-average abilities.

The Guard was a different story. They did not take kindly to a couple of street rats, monster slayers or no, being added to the Knights so easily, as it was usually a once-a-year honor given to he very best the Guard had to offer. To make matters worse, while the Knights barely left the keep and central areas of the City, there were Guards who knew Celestia and Luna from when they were just Cel and Lu and were less than taken by their sudden change in fortune.

But Starswirl had plans, great plans, and a few disrespectful Guards were a minor issue in a long litany of more important problems to deal with. The first of which preyed on his mind.

There would always be dissenters. No matter how good he made himself and the alicorns look, there would always be a few ponies who refused to accept change or fought just for the sake of fighting. Maybe a mage who insisted that he could raise the sun with only a little boost, or a pegasus who refused to acknowledge the alicorns if they couldn't beat her in a race. Such ponies posed a problem to his plans and he needed a way to deal with them. Unfortunately, all the great mind magics had been lost with their creator during the fall of...

Starswirl grinned devilishly as a new plan came together, one that could kill two, no, three birds with one stone. Opening one of the many drawers in his desk, he collected a quill and ink.

It was time to draft a new prophecy.

King Mighty Ash was a wine-colored unicorn with the build of an earth pony. Which was definitely not due to a dalliance his Mother had definitely not had while his father was away at war over a territorial dispute.

Though not the brightest King, he was charismatic enough to form alliances and strong enough to back them up. He was also a firm believer that one should be rewarded based on their merits and accomplishments above all else. This had gained him the moniker 'uncorruptible' from the general populace and 'difficult to work with' from the noble factions.

When Starswirl approached him it was at his favorite time of the day: Second Lunch.

"Aha! Starswirl!" the King cheered across his overflowing plate, "Come, come! You're just in time for the third course."

Starswirl paused before grabbing a brimming chalice with his magic. "Maybe just a flagon or two."

The King chuckled. "I've never seen a pony who could put away drink like you do, Starswirl. Tell me, where does it all go?"

He emptied his cup in a single swig and replied. "Straight to my head and out my horn your majesty. Fine spirits truly are a form a magic in themselves."

That got a bellowing guffaw from the portly King. If he wasn't in a good mood before, then he certainly was now. Starswirl cleared his throat with another glass. "There is, unfortunately, a dire reason why I grace your table today."

"Oh fie, no business of state during mealtimes, Starswirl. Politics will sour the wine."

"I'm afraid that this is something that cannot wait. I have been watching the signs and I fear another prophecy is soon to pass."

The laughter stopped. Mighty Ash sat up straighter and shooed off the consorts that had been hanging about him like a swarm of flies. They left promptly, easily reading the mood. Politics and governance could always be postponed or delegated, but prophecies were another matter.

The mirth had gone from Ash's eyes, leaving steely little balls as sharp as flint. "Tell me of this prophecy."

Starswirl reached into his cloak and pulled forth an ancient seeming roll of parchment. The edges were cracked and yellowed and looked more like tree bark than proper paper. He unfurled it slowly, the scroll popping and crackling as he did, and set it on the hastily cleared table.

Strange characters of an unknown language graced the page, full of long and flowing lines like streamers caught in a breeze. The borders were filled with illustrations that were beautiful and horrifying in equal measure. Equine skeletons reeled in torment around the words, their faces frozen in anger or horror as they twisted and tangled with monsters made of fire and shadow. A wicked curved set of horns headlined the page, set around a pair of eyes that seemed to glare from the page. The room felt colder as the very paper itself seemed to radiate an aura of fear.

"Put it away," the King demanded after realizing how long he had been enraptured by the terrifying image. Starswirl dutifully rerolled the scroll and the oppressive air vanished. "Those words, you can read them?"

Starswirl nodded. "The tongue is ancient, but yes, I know their secrets."

"...and the prophecy?"

"The scroll tells of a monster, a tyrant ruler in his time, from days long forgotten by ponies. A master of dark magics who took cruel pleasure in inflicting his experiments on the inhabitants of his city. After decades of honing his craft, one of his spells went out of control, destroying both himself and most of the city. His dark magic permeated the land, so that nothing would ever grow, only decay and fester."

Ash nodded. "You speak of Tambelon, the Fallen City."

"You are well informed , my liege."

"Rumors and legends only. But you say it is real?"

"Not just real, but a growing threat. The scroll continues to say that Grogar had control over the magic of life and death, that he sealed his essence away as a last resort. That is why the dark force around the ruins never diminished. If the land is not cleansed of his remaining taint, then it will only grow and become a wellspring of dark magic that spawns demons and monsters the likes of which have not walked the surface world in generations."

"And you say that this has come to pass?"

"Not yet, but soon. I glimpsed a future in which the land is ruled not by ponies, but by shadows and living corpses. I have seen the city myself with a spell that lets my mind travel outside of my body at incredible speeds. The darkness is weak, but it is growing. It is imperative that we cleanse the land before the darkness becomes too powerful."

The King sat back in his seat in silent contemplation. "These are dark times we live in. As soon as one monster is defeated, another rises to take its place.

You are new to my court, but I value your counsel. In your first days here you routed out several corrupt ministers and your other advice seems to be beginning to bear fruit as well. If you say that this threat is grave, then I believe you."

He walked around the table, fur bristling and ready for action. "I'll send a full squadron of knights posthaste. With you guiding them, I am sure-"

"Unfortunately," Starswirl interrupted, "It seems fate has ordained that I shall not go on this mission."

Ash turned on him, confused. "But, you are the only one who knows the location of Tambelon. That aside, you are the most powerful wizard I have ever heard of. My knights may be strong and capable but surely your great magic is needed to purify the land?"

Starswirl carefully hid his pride at the praise and applied his well-practiced emotional mask #53, bitter regret. "As ironic as it seems, I appear to be too powerful. Even when I visited in spirit the darkness took notice and tried to consume me. If I were to go in pony, the whole power of the region would be focused on our group. We would be snuffed out like a candle." He added a tinge of optimism to his expression. "However, I can craft a talisman which, when placed at the source, will purify the land as fully as if I were there myself."

Mighty Ash nodded. "Make it so. A smaller contingent of knights then, prioritizing stealth and mobility over raw power. I believe I know just which knights to send on such a quest."

"Actually," Starswirl interrupted with a small smile, "I have an additional pair of knights in mind as well..."

Elsewhere in the keep, in the Knight's Dining Hall, Luna sneezed.

"Hey!" her sister cried from across the table, "Say it, don't spray it!"

"Sorry," she muttered and then returned to shoveling food in her mouth like someone was coming to take it away from her.

"Geezy peezy," a pink-coated knight to her left laughed, "Where's the fire, filly?"

"Can't help it." Luna managed between spoonfuls. "It's just so good!"

"It's just gruel," a gruff older knight with an off-yellow coat commented from her other side, "Cooky makes it by the barrel. Not much taste..." He lifted his spoon a a thick glob of gruel clung, gathered, and fell back into his bowl with less of a plop and more of a smack. He grimaced. "But lots of essences to balance the humors and revitalize the body."

"Guess you've never been really hungry before." Celestia commented. She too was eating the paste at an astounding pace, but at least she was trying fake having been raised with something akin to table manners. "The things we would have done to get ahold of some of this stuff back then..."

"Bah. If you like this, then you'll love marching hardtack. It's so tough and tasteless, I heard Cooky sells his leftovers to the stonemasons guild."

"I heard that, Mace!" A deep voice rumbled from the small windows that connected the kitchens to the dining hall.

"I meant you to, Cooky!" Mace called back over the noise of the hall. "What's the deal with this gruel?"

"What's wrong with it?" the voice like a mountain called back, "It's the same as it always is."

"And that's exactly what's wrong with it!" A chorus of laughs littered the chamber as more knights started to listen in to the dialogue. "You couldn't spring for some carrots? A bit of onion maybe? How about just some salt? I know the rock farmers just brought in their harvest so it's cheap now."

There was a pause as the hall waited for the cook's response. Finally, it came. "If you want it that badly, how about I take the coin for it out of your wages? Course, I'd have to buy enough for everypony here. What a generous colt you are."

The laughter only grew at Cooky's clever comeback. Mace grinned ruefully. He knew when he'd been beat. "Request withdrawn Cooky, I'll take the gruel as is."

Laughter continued to echo through the hall until it was punctuated by the sound of two empty bowls hitting the table and a pair of young voices calling "Seconds please!"

The hall dropped into immediate silence as all turned to look at their newest members. The pair pulled into themselves, suddenly unsure. Though they had managed to build some rapport with a few knights, they still worried that they might do something wrong or break some unknown rule that could reset their standing. Much like this very moment.

"Is... that not a thing you do?" Celestia asked nervously her eyes darted between those staring at her. "Starswirl always used to let us have seconds if we cleaned our plates and he didn't need the leftovers for any... thing..." She realized she was rambling and cut herself off.

The shocked silence continued to fill the hall like a flooding oubliette until something finally broke.

Cooky's booming guffaws filled the silence and overflowed it.

"Ha! In thirty years of cooking for the knights, the guards, and the castle staff, no one has ever asked me for seconds of gruel! You fillies come on up here! I'll feed you till you burst!"

Laughter filled the hall once more as all of the knights' level of respect for their youngest members went up a notch.

"You would send them?" Mighty Ash asked in shock, "They may be heroes, yes, but they are practically children!"

But Starswirl was adamant. Having the girls go with was the most important part of his current scheme after all. "Fate has much in store for them. This shall be the least of what they achieve, if all comes to pass as has been foretold. Until then, practical experience can only benefit them."

Mighty Ash hesitated. He had seen the demonstration of the hero's capabilities during one of their appearances in the City when they had been showing off their victory, and there was no denying their skills. He had seen the both of them teleport, soar like eagles, and bring life to plants better than his own gardeners could. Not to mention their defeat of Discord, a feat which the mind could scarcely comprehend.

And yet... some part of him could only see them as a pair of orphaned fillies, in way over their heads as they did their best to fill the roles destiny had prescribed them. Maybe it was because they reminded him of his daughter. She would have been just a year or so older than them.

But now was not the time for sentimentality. A shadow was on the horizon, and he had to put his city first.

"So be it. The heroes shall be a part of the questing party."

The idea of a ruined city usually comes with a certain set of expectations. Crumbling ruins which threaten to topple on unwary passersby. Putrid or petrified remains of creatures who died trying to escape. Weapons rusted to brittle orange skeletons like physical ghosts of a battle long forgotten.

Tambelon was worse.

It was worse because it had none of these things.

The wood and thatch had long rotted away, and time had pulled down a few unsteady structures, but by and large the buildings were wholly intact. There were no bloodied weapons scattered like ninepins. What few weapons there were were rusting peacefully on their racks and shelves, untouched. And there were no bodies. No skeletons contorted in agony from war, no piles of mass graves from disease. Aside from the rotting wood and general lack of upkeep, the city and houses within looked as though the occupants had simply vanished.

Carts composted in the middle of the street, their cargo long rotted to dirt. Washing basins in cellars squatted full of dishes and stagnant water that hadn't so much as rippled in years. Piles of slightly-more-colorful-than-usual dirt hinted at where richer ponies had once stood, the magical dyes from their garments standing the test of time better than the fabric itself had.

And then there was the miasma. It took the form of a dense fog that suffocated the city. No amount of wind, nor sun, nor pegasus magic could dispel it, and so it remained; choking out life and light, keeping the weeds and vines and the rest of the outside world at bay. It muffled sound, muted light, and dampened the hopes of any foolish or unlucky enough to enter.

It was into this miasma; this city of death, that four groups of knights had been dispatched. The journey there had taken six days and the mission, they hoped, would take less than one. No one wanted to try and make camp in such a dismal, soul-crushing place. Dark influences bled into the edges of the mind just from being there too long, causing an unnatural sense of paranoia, agitation, and fear.

Desiring to leave as quickly as equinely possible, the four pairs of knight had decided to split up. Whoever first found the nexus of dark magic was to light a signal flare with their magic. Even in such an all-dampening fog, their lightly enchanted armor was attuned to respond to such a flare and give a distance and direction.

Of those four teams, one was composed of veteran knights. At present time, this first team found themselves in what used to be the merchants quarter. They maintained a professional silence; they were warned that there could be monsters about. Each kept a firm grip on their weapon. They pointed things out to each other and communicated through mutually agreed upon gestures, borne of many years working together. Their minds were rigid, fixated on the task at hoof and stalwart against any intrusion of foreign influence. So it was the physical things which caught them unaware.

Cages. Cages and chains. Their occupants long absconded or worse, but the evidence of their conditions was as clear as it had been when the market was in use.

They had prepared themselves for mental assaults, but not ones like this. They huddled close together as they walked, breaking battle-ready stance as terror flooded the cracks in their armor.

Two of the teams were composed of younger knights. They were green as anything and had never seen true battle outside of their drills and sparring. But all four were highly skilled in combat, even without the practical experience. These two groups had chosen to loosely stick together, disagreeing with their elder's decision to split up. They wandered through low-class peasant districts, and their minds saw monsters around every corner. Half-fallen banners became pouncing ghouls, and every pile of rubble was a nuckelavee lying in wait. Though their bodies were strong and lean, their minds were weak and vulnerable. They too fell to panic and paranoia.

And then there was the last group, composed of two mares who were way too young to be out in the field and never would have been if it weren't for their special circumstances. They were the youngest of the knights and had received only the most basic of training. One might think that they would have caved before all the others. Or perhaps, that they could not even bring to bear the mental fortitude to enter the toppled city gates.

But sometimes, life itself can be a sort of training, especially when you grow up in the streets.

These two youngest knights literally skipped down the main street, singing into the miasma without a care in the world.

"Oh, a looting we will go~!
A looting we will go~!
Hi-ho the Merry-o,
A looting we will go~!"

Celestia picked up the next line as she held aloft a scroll. "Oh, I've got Starswirl's list~!"

"And I've his magic sack~!" Luna lifted a rough hemp bag that looked to be much deeper than it's outside dimensions implied.

Their voices joined back together for the finale.
"Cause he's promised to trade us lots of sweets,
For whatever we bring back!"

"Speaking of which," Luna said, cutting off their song (which was fine because they hadn't written any more verses anyway), "Could we go over his list again? I want to make sure I know what to look for."

Celestia rolled her eyes. "This is like the third time since we got here! How have you not memorized it already?"

"I remember it!" The smaller sister shot back defensively, "I just... want to be sure."

"Alright, fine. But only because it's you." They stopped walking and Celestia unrolled the scroll. "You want me to do the voice?"

"I very much want you to do the voice."

Celestia cleared her throat and began to read in a voice that might have sounded something like Starswirl if he had a bad head cold and was himself trying to do an impression of a whiny noble.

Celestial Star and Lunar Nova,

I am going to write this as simply as I can, so even you two can't mess it up.
While all the knights are stumbling around on the fool's errand I sent them on, I need you two to collect up anything and everything of value in that miserable shell of a city. The plunder bag I've sent with you is enchanted with featherweight spells, undetectable expansion charms, and an enchantment to remember who put each item in. So there shouldn't be any complaints about the bag being too heavy or too full or who found more items. If you do well, I will exchange the relics you bring back for various candies and rare treats. Whoever brings back more will get a special prize.

Following is a list of suggested items to search for, ranked from least to most desirable. Do not bring me garbage.

Common, but quality-made, household goods
Weapons of good quality
Precious metals (gold, aluminium, mithril, maudite, etc.)
Books, any quality
Objects imbued with small magic (trinkets, amulets, medallions)
Alchemy/Necromancy/Thaumaturgy/Legilimency paraphenalia* (see addendum)
Enchanted books or grimoires
Enchanted weapons

Addendum: Tambelon was a city known for its advanced mages, the greatest of them being Grogar himself. Many will have had private labs and places of study which should be filled with books, tools, equipment, and even notes. If you find one, empty the room into the bag. Even if you don't know what something is, put it in the bag. As a general rule of horn, wizards and thaumaturists prefer towers while necromancers and alchemists prefer underground lairs.

If you think something may be evil or cursed, make sure to grab that, but for the Creator's sake don't touch it with your bare hooves! Find a stick or something.

If you can find Grogar's secret inner sanctum, then you will both receive a very special secret reward.

Do not disappoint me.
Starswirl, Wizard of the Arcane

Luna struggled to hold in her giggles. "He- That's really not what he sounds like, you know."

Celestia shrugged and smiled."Close enough." She gestured to the sack that Luna carried slung over her back like a misshapen saddlebag. "That's not too heavy is it?"

She shook her head. "Feels as light as when we started. Even though it's got all the stuff from three lairs, and everything not nailed down from the merchants houses." She pressed her horn to the bag, activating a spell woven into its fibers. "You're up by fifty points after those last gems, but it's still a close game."

"Hm." Celestia continued to trot forward, her eyes darting across the street for anything that might glint in the light of her horn. It was only a simple light spell, but one of the very few spells she'd learned to cast, so she was quite proud of it. Without it, she never would have found those gems buried in the mulch of an old chest. "I'd better find something good if I want to keep that lead. You think we should head up to the big fortress?"

"What, the one decorated with skulls and unreadable runes?"

"They're not unreadable, you just can't read."

"Then they're unreadable."

She snorted in amusement. "Fine. Yes, that fortress."

"Sure. Doesn't seem to be much around here anyway." She kicked an old barrel which immediately collapsed into splinters. "Unless you really like wood pulp."

The pair took a side street, realigning themselves toward the castle at the center of the settlement. It was impossible to miss. Despite the ever-pervasive fog, the fortress (especially the horned sculpture at the top) could always be seen. Their path took them down curving side streets that seemed intentionally designed to create blind corners from which monsters and fiends could hide around.

"You know," Luna began as they took a shortcut through a hole in a wall. "I don't see what the big deal is about this place. A bit foggy, maybe, but not too bad honestly."

"I know, right!?" Her sister agreed enthusiastically, "Everypony talks like it's this horrible place, a living crypt possessed by the undead or something, but it's not bad. It's clean, it's dry, no rats to steal your food-"

"Bit lonely maybe..." Luna interjected.

"True, but that's a self-solving problem. It's still better than the alleys back home."

"Oh definitely. I'd take this over the alleys any day." She scrunched her muzzle contemplatively. "Food would be a problem. Hard to grow and nopony to steal it from."

"Good point. Besides," Celestia tapped a hoof on her armor, "It's not like we need to worry about it now anyway. Not with us having our own rooms. In a house. A real house for once."

"Not just a house," Luna grinned, "The King's castle. We're moving on up in the world, sister dear. Today, the King's castle. Tomorrow... uh..."

"Our own castle?"

"Pfft! Don't be silly. Like we'd ever have our own castle."

They continued on much in this manner, making light conversation and jokes in an atmosphere they felt completely comfortable in. Ten and change years living on the streets did wonders for a pony's constitution and fortitude. Near the steps of the imposing fortress, Luna made another find.

"Oh look, it's a bell!"

In fact it was. A simple cowbell. The strap was long gone, but the bell itself was in surprisingly good shape. Somewhat dented, to be sure, but that was the worst of it.

"No rust." Celestia pointed out. "Might be one of the fancy metals Starswirl wants. You going to put it in the bag?"

"No!" Luna gasped, "Can't you see? It looks just like the one I had when we were little!" She shook it and it made a familiar clanging sound.

"Except that yours was mostly rust and had a big hole in the side."

Luna rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean. And I'm keeping it." Clutching it under one wing, she turned and started up the stairs, the bell tolling mutedly with each step.

Celestia shrugged and followed after. It was no concern of hers whether her sister decided to keep it or not. On the contrary, it just meant Luna had more loot to find to make up the gap in score.

The inside of the fortress was just as dismal as the outside. Grogar had apparently been quite the fan of interior decorating, though he lacked the talent for it. Despite the significant effort put in to making the place seem grim and intimidating, it had pitifully little effect on the carefree explorers.

There were columns covered in horrifyingly exquisite carvings of monsters, each one of which had probably taken teams to carve and years off the life of the artists. Celestia and Luna just laughed at their silly faces and tried to make sillier ones.

Tapestries hung on the walls, where intricate needlework detailed the glorious conquests and achievements of Grogar, most of them bloody. Celestia ripped them down and stuffed them in the loot sack without a second thought. Even if Starswirl didn't want them she could cut them up and make ponchos for the cold winter months. Or unravel them and sell the thread back to the fashion guild. The habits of a lifetime of thrifty living died hard.

Decorative pots and urns decorated alcoves. They weren't particularly frightening, but Luna smashed them each with an overhead throw anyway.

"Lu!" her sister chastised. "Don't just go smashing things."

"But there could be gems inside!" She whined in response.

"Use some common sense." She held out the bag that had traded hooves at some point. "Put them in the sack intact. Then we can go through them at home and then sell the pots too."

Her sister's mouth contracted to a small 'o' of understanding and she began transporting the remaining pots into the bag. "See, that's why you're the smart one."

Celestia puffed up her chest with pride. "I know."

"And I'm the good-looking one."

The older sister stumbled at that, her pot almost missing the sack. "Wait, what? No, I'm the good-looking one."

"Oh?" her sister smirked, "I guess that makes me the smart one then."

"What- I- That's not how it works!"

"Have we tried this way yet?"

"Yes."

"How about that hallway?"

"There too."

"Did we-"

"Yes. We've looked everywhere. It's not here."

"Well it has to be somewhere!"

Several hours had passed and the young mares had effectively sacked Grogar's castle for all it was worth. Anything not nailed down was shoved in the bag. If Starswirl didn't want something, then they'd keep it or sell it themselves. And yet, they had yet to find Grogar's inner sanctum. The secret lair where he would have his experiments, kept his notes, and (hopefully) left other valuable loot behind. The castle had been searched high and low, it's halls and room stripped clean as they went. The others would be arriving soon. They'd all agreed to meet at the central fortress if no one had found the 'nexus of dark magic'. And so the sisters found themselves in the entrance hall, running out of time, options, and patience, as they double-checked that they had gone down every avenue.

"Did you check the kitchens?" Luna asked.

"I did." Celestia nodded. "Took all the cutlery. Did you check the guard posts?"

"Yep, and grabbed everything that wasn't rust or dust. No secret passages, hidden rooms, or even so much as a false-bottomed drawer. Face it, if he had a sanctum, it either got destroyed when he did or it wasn't in the fortress."

Silence fell between the two.

"Did you check that big fancy looking door?"

"That one?" There was only one door which fit that description. One at the end of the hall, ornately carved and bigger than all the others. "No, that seemed like an obvious spot for good loot, so I left it for you so you could catch up in points. Didn't you check it?"

"I left it for you for the same reason. I thought I was winning?"

Luna lowered her horn to the bag before her eyes widened in surprise. "It's a dead tie."

"So, just so we're clear," Celestia stated slowly, "We're currently tied and neither of us has gone in the very flashy door which now seems very likely to be Grogar's sanctum of loot?"

They were inside the room before they realized they'd moved. The magical wards and locks on the door had once been nigh-impregnable, but years of being leeched away without anyone to refresh the spell had left the door as vulnerable as any other.

It was a decidedly large room, seemingly too large given the size and arrangement of the rooms around it. Downward steps descended from each wall like an inverted step pyramid, creating an almost stadium-style seating around a platform at the center of the room.

In the center was a stone table large enough for an above-average sized pony to use for a bed. It was cut from a single block of obsidian and covered in runic markers in red and gold.

But what most caught the fillies' attention was what sat atop the table.

First was a jumbled up skeleton. The bones of some vaguely equine being stacked in a loose pile around a sword. And what a sword it was! Its wavy, black blade had a dull reddish gleam and the handle was encrusted with rubies like droplets of blood. If there had been anything worth looting the city for, it had to be this fancy, almost-definitely-enchanted weapon.

"Dibs!" Both sisters called out at exactly the same moment.

"I saw it first!"

"No, I did!"

"No, me!"

"I need it to get Starswirl's special treat!"

"You've had enough special treats as it is! I can't even see your ribs anymore."

"Well it doesn't matter who saw it first. What matters is who puts it in the bag."

There was the briefest of pauses and then the pair flung themselves down the stairs, a roiling ball of fur and feathers that occasionally yelled some variation of "Get off," "Let go", or "I saw it first."

They hit the lowest layer hard, bruising and scratching themselves up in the process.

Luna rose first, having advantageously landed on top, and half-stumbled her way toward the sword. Celestia saw this, realized that she wouldn't be able to cross the distance quickly enough and decided to cheat.

A golden glow surrounded the sword as it rose shakily and began to inch itself forward.

"Hey, no fair!" Luna cried as she grabbed hold of the handle. "Magic is cheating!"

"You're just mad, urf... that you didn't think of it first!" She pulled hard on her magic, twisting her head around like a fishing pole. Luna pulled back with all her might, rearing up on her hind legs so her forelegs could focus on pulling. Her wings flared out behind her instinctively for balance.

With a soft clang, the bell fell from where she'd been clutching it under her wing and bounced onto the bone pile. Meanwhile, the sword was trapped in a dangerous game of tug-of-war between the two inter-tribe sisters. Celestia's magic wasn't all that strong, but on the other side, neither was Luna.

Sensing a stalemate forming, Luna decided to shift her grip on the handle. At the same time, Celestia shifted how her magic was gripping the blade. The resulting twisting force sent the blade spinning in an unexpected direction.

"Ah!" The sword clattered to the floor as both ponies dropped it at once, startled as they were by the noise. Luna's hoof flew to her mouth as she winced in pain.

"I'm sorry!" Celestia bounded over to her sister's side, all thoughts of swords and rewards forgotten. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! My grip slipped! How bad is it?"

Luna removed her hoof, a small dribble of blood on her lip. "Ow... it's not deep. Just stings a bit."

Celestia sighed in relief. "That's good. I was worried." She grabbed the loot bag from where it had fallen and opened it. "Here. You can claim the sword since you got hurt."

"Alright!" Luna grinned, "That puts me in the lead. Though I'll probably share whatever the prize is with you anyway."

Celestia smiled slightly, "Yeah, I guess I would have as well."

Luna reached out to pick up the sword, but was suddenly distracted. "Oh! My bell! I think I dropped it somewhere."

"It's on the table," Celestia pointed out, "Nestled in the bones."

"Ew. Though it could be worse, I guess." She reached out to grab the bell, but as she did, a drop of blood fell from her injured hoof onto the pile of bones.

Immediately, the temperature of the room plummeted. A sourceless wind began to howl across the chamber as the sisters clung to each other in fright. The obsidian table started to glow in an unnatural crimson light, as did everything on it.

"My bell!" Luna cried as it too began to glow.

"Don't get close! It's not safe!"

"But I just got that bell and I do not want it getting cursed." With a quick tug from her horn, she pulled her trinket from the throbbing mass of energy. It resisted, the red glow sticking and stretching like gelatinous slime before it finally snapped and let her recover her prize.

Wind continued to howl as the glow intensified, forming a miniature whirlwind on the table. It picked up the bones and began to spin them about, rattling them against each other in a terrifying symphony. No, they weren't just rattling, they were reassembling! Joint by joint, a body began to take shape. As the final piece, a horned skull, connected to the rest, a brilliant red light flared from within its empty eye sockets and filled the room, blinding the two observers.

When their vision cleared, there was no longer a skeleton standing on the table.

A dark shaggy coat, coarse as a wire brush, covered a large body of rippling muscles. He was built wide and sturdily, like a mountain. Crooked and curling horns drew the gaze towards his horrible appearance. Mangled and crooked teeth gave him a predatory look, aided by his gaunt, still near-skeletal face that seemed locked in a permanent scowl.

Grogar, dark ruler of Tambelon, had returned.

"At last..." his voice was like the wind off a crypt, "After eons spent in the chasm between life and death, I make my return to the land of the living." His eyes were closed, as though he'd been without a body for so long that he'd forgotten that you need to open them to see.

"My loyal congregation," he continued. Celestia and Luna looked around. They were most definitely alone. "For generations you have waited. You have watched the signs and prepared the rites. You have spilled much blood and made countless sacrifices. And now, all your efforts have finally come to fruition."

He was really starting to get passionate, gesturing wildly and dramatically through his obviously rehearsed speech. He still had his eyes closed though.

Celestia leaned closer to her sister and whispered. "Do you know who that is?"

"No," Luna whispered back. "Do you?"

"No. I was hoping you did."

"...and now I, Grogar the Undying, shall lead you into a new age of blood!"

The sisters 'aah-ed' together in quiet realization. So this was Grogar. Grogar the conqueror. Grogar the torturer. Grogar the very powerful magic user.

...Grogar the pony who owned the castle they'd just stripped down to the flagstones.

"Should we run?" Luna whispered, even more quietly than before.

"Not a chance. In a big echoey room like this he'll hear us the moment we take a step."

"Well we can't fight him! Not unless you want to try throwing our lunch at him and hoping for another miracle."

"...I think we're going to have to bluff our way through."

"Sorry, I must have had some imminent fear of death in my ear. You want us to what?"

"Look, he's expecting worshipers, right? So we play the part, wait till he's distracted, then leg it back to the knights and let them handle him. That'll-"

"Shu-shu-shush!" Luna suddenly silenced her sister with a hoof, "Too late for a better plan. He's finishing up his speech."

"...and they shall forevermore fear the mighty name of Grogar the Undying and his loyal followers!" He finally opened his eyes, twin pits of red light. He then blinked owlishly as he noticed that his resurrection theater had rather a lot more free seating than he'd designed it for. "What is this?" he muttered to himself, "I thought there'd be more."

Finally, he noticed the two individuals still half-hiding behind a table. "You two." They both jumped at his voice. "Where are my acolytes? Who performed the sacred ritual? "

"Oh! Ah... that, that would be, ah, us." Celestia stammered awkwardly. "The acolytes, I mean. We are them, yes. Exactly."

Luna nodded along furiously.

Grogar hid his confusion well and maintained her royal bearing. "You? You are far too young to be acolytes. Even then, where are the others? The priests and cultists? The standard-bearers and..." Something changed in his eyes as he finally gave his two guests a closer look. They narrowed as a cruel smile eclipsed his face. He chuckled darkly. "Ah, now I understand."

"W-What?" Luna stammered, "What do you understand?"

"Both horns and wings, how unusual." He stepped down from the table. "You must be uniquely magical indeed. A fitting sacrifice to mark my return."

The girls' eyes widened. Sacrifice? This was not how the bluffing was supposed to go. "No, no, no." Celestia laughed breathlessly and awkwardly, "Definitely, definitely acolytes. Not sacrifices."

"It is far too late to reconsider," Grogar sneered, seeming to revel in their fear, "You should be honored. Your blood shall herald a new era." He picked up the sword from where it had fallen on the floor and whispered softly to it. "Drink, my heart. Drink and grow strong once more."

He opened his jaw, wider than it should have been able to and bellowed out a bleat that resounded like the screams of Tartarus.

And then he charged at them, both sword and horns primed to skewer.

"No! Please stop!" Luna wailed as she curled into a protective ball. As she moved, the bell still clutched in her hooves rang softly and briefly glowed red.

She waited for the inevitable pain, but none came. There was no rain of hooves, nor magic, nor steel. Worried but curious, she chanced to look up.

Grogar stood remarkably balanced on two legs mid-charge, completely still.

"What... magic.. is this?" he growled through a jaw locked in a snarl, "Release me!"

Celestia and Luna both blinked, likewise frozen in shock. After a moment they came to their senses and slowly stood up and moved out of the path of Grogar's charge. He remained still.

Feeling a strange surge of confidence, Luna poked him.

"Stop that, you ungrateful worm, and release me from this spell so that I may rain death upon you!" He demanded once more, showing he was still quite capable of making threats, if not much else. Aside from his voice (and presumingly, his tongue) he remained still as a statue.

Carefully, Celestia removed the sword from his grip. He did not resist. She turned to her sister once the weapon was safely removed. "What happened to him?" she asked, "Did you do something?"

Luna, her heart still racing in her chest, shook her head. "Not me, I just curled into a ball." *ding!* The bell was clutched against her chest, held so tightly that her staccato heartbeat managed to make it ring.

"Gah!" Grogar exclaimed as his body began to move again. All his previous speed returned as if he'd only been paused and he was flung into the wall. As he tried to stand up, he found himself once again unable to move. Only now, his body had contorted into a fetal position and was refusing to leave it.

His furious gaze scanned the room as the full brunt of his magical senses were brought into play to hunt down the source of this spell. He lingered on the would-be sacrifices for a moment before moving on. They had too little magic, remarkably little in fact. But then he caught sight of a glint of red power in one's grasp, a magic alarmingly similar to his own.

"That bell..." He scowled as the red light of his eyes surged and flared in anger. "You fools! What have you done to my phylactery!"

They stared at him blankly. Finally, Luna asked, "What's a filfactory?"

His anger blazed even hotter. Did these utter fools not even know what they had done? No, no one could be that dim. "You corrupted my ritual! What became of the sacred sword which was forged to house my soul?"

"You mean this sword?" Celestia held up the weapon she'd extracted from his frozen form earlier. Grogar held back a gasp as he looked at his treasure through his magic perception ability. It was empty. The runes and spell shapes were still there, perfectly primed and ready to contain his soul, but there was no soul to be found.

"You nitwits!" He roared, "You blumbering bobolynes! Do you have any idea what you've done? You've substituted a foal's toy for the finest weapon to ever be made! Now all it takes is a bell to command my very soul!"

"Wait," Luna interrupted, "Are you saying that as long as I have this bell, I have complete control over you?"

Grogar froze, through this time it was a fully natural reaction. For the first time in his long unlife, a trace of fear entered his eyes. "I should not have said that."

"And stop!" Ding-a-ling! "And go!" Ding-a-ling! "And stop!" Ding-a-ling! "And go!" Ding-a-ling!.

"Stop!" Ding! "Go!" Ding! "Stop!" Ding! "Go!" Ding! "Stop!" Ding! "Go!" Ding! "Stop!" Ding! "Go!" Ding!

"I demand that you cease this nonsense immediately!"

"And I demand", Luna mocked, "That you hop around like a drunken bunny rabbit!" Ding!

After some experimenting with their newly created unholy magic artifact, Luna and Celestia had discovered that any order given while ringing Luna's bell Grogar was bound to follow, even making his body move against his own will. A few early orders to "not attack them or bring harm to them in any shape or form" had left the pair rather cocky around the legendary necromancer. And also more than a little righteously indignant after he'd tried to kill them.

After having him unwillingly revealing the secret door to his sanctum beneath the obsidian slab, with her sister's go-ahead Celestia had headed down with the loot bag for a little shopping trip. Meanwhile, Luna was having fun with her new toy.

"Okay, okay," she managed between wheezing laughs, "You can stop now."

Grogar the Undying ceased prancing. His new body did not tire, but that didn't mean that these constant insults and indignities weren't stoking his anger into an impotent rage or grinding on his psyche like a millstone. It seemed he would receive a brief respite, however, as the sound off hoofsteps came up from his secret chamber.

"Heyo!" Celestia greeted as she returned, Starswirl's sack slung across her back.

"You sound pleased. I take it you found some good stuff?" her sister asked.

Celestia's smile looked like it was going to break her face. "Starswirl's going to have to found a candymaker's guild to trade in everything I collected."

"You... those were priceless relics!" Grogar yelled, actually concerned for something other than himself for once. "I spent lifetimes gathering and creating rare tomes and powerful artifacts, and you just threw them all in a sack like kittens!"

"It's a magic sack," Celestia clarified as she ignored his cruel metaphor. Words were all he had left and he was making the best of them.

"Oh! Oh! Celly, Celly!" Luna suddenly cried, hopping excitedly in place. "You've got to see this neat trick I found."

"Oh no, not this again." Grogar moaned.

She pointed the open end of the bell towards Grogar. "Return!" *Ding-a-ling!*

With a sigh, Grogar's body decomposed into red magical light which was quickly pulled into the bell like foam down a drain. The bell dinged once more when all of him had vanished within it.

"And come on back out!" *Ding-a-ling!* In a reverse of the previous effect, Grogar was back standing where he had been before. Luna grinned at her sister. "Easy transport and storage for today's filly on the go."

"When my legions hear of this," he growled, "You two will wish I had taken you as sacrifices earlier."

Luna blew a raspberry at him. "What legions? You're a myth! I hadn't even heard of you till last week!"

"By the way," Celestia cut in, "I found something really neat down there that I think I might keep." She reached into the bag and pulled out a curious piece of jewelry. It was a necklace of sorts; a long chain of golden discs set on a red strap.

"No!" Grogar suddenly shouted. "You leave that be! Don't you dare touch that! You're not for to even look at my finest creation!"

They ignored him, as they had become accustomed to doing. Luna stared at the jewelry. It felt as though something was drawing her to it. Fate, perhaps? Or maybe she just had a thing for shiny objects. "Can I have it?"

"What?" Celestia replied, "No, I just said I wanted it for me. Look how well it matches my coat."

"Aw, c'mon, please?" She pleaded, making beggar's eyes at her sister. It was mostly ineffective since they'd developed the technique together. "Oh! I know! I'll make you a deal. If you left me have it, then next time Starswirl sends us on one of these looting trips, which he's probably going to do seeing how successful this one was, then next time we find some really epic loot, you can have first pick.

Celestia pondered it for a moment. Truthfully, the eyes were working on her. Just a bit. "Hmmmm... alright, but don't think I'm going to forget about it this time! I learned that lesson after the watermelon incident."

Smiling, Luna donned her new accessory. As soon as it settled on her shoulders, one of the discs gleamed and her eyes lit up white.

"Luna? Lu!?" Celestia shook her in a panic for a few moments before the light faded and she blinked, her eyes back to normal.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." She assured. "The mantle just has an enchantment on it that tells the wearer everything they need to know about it."

"It has what?" Grogar yelled.

Luna pointed at him. "Also, he's a liar. He didn't make this, it's way older than he is."

"Well, what is it then?" Celestia asked, curious but also cautious about an object that could dump information into your mind.

"It's called the Mantle of Dreams," Luna explained, "It... uh... well, so look, I have all this knowledge now about what it is and how it works, but a lot of it's crazy advanced magical theory stuff. You know when Starswirl tries to explain how his spells work and uses all sorts of fancy words that he doesn't bother explaining and assumes we know? It's like I have a monologue of that stored in my head. I know it can 'fold the auric field to create ripples in the sub-ether', but I have no idea what that means."

"I spent years studying that!" Grogar continued, though no one was listening. "Years trying to decipher its secrets, and this whole time all I had to do was put it on?!"

"Does it actually do anything?" Celestia asked, "Cause having one of Starswirl's magic monologues stored in your head sounds more like a curse than anything else."

"Oh you bet it does!" She grinned again, "I'm pretty sure this'll let me go into ponies' dreams."

"Really!?" Celestia's eyes lit up as bright as her sister's. "Now I really wish I'd kept it for myself!"

Luna shoved her lightheartedly. "I'm sure the next one'll be just as good. Maybe it'll let you actually control the sun!"

"Ha! As if! Like I'd want that kind of responsibility."

"And dreams too! Imagine how far I could have expanded my empire with that kind of power! But instead of me, now some half-baked simpleton wields the power. It's not fair!"

"...You know Celly, I think I'd like to introduce you to a game I just invented."

"Oh? What's it called?"

"Grogar-ball."

"After the miasma cleared," Chain told her rapt audience of fellow knights, "We all headed to the temple at the center where the bright light had come from."

Nearly the whole regiment was listening, food long forgotten. Even the cooks and staff were neglecting their duties to hear the tale.

"Now we hadn't seen Celestia and Luna in hours, so naturally some of us started to fear the worst."

"You mean you did," Mace interrupted, "I never lost faith in them."

"Don't interrupt me," She scolded her partner, "And as I recall, you were the one complaining about how tedious it was going to be do drag a pair of litters home."

She continued as Mace wilted under the gaze of the collected listeners. "So anyway, we entered the temple. Horrible place. Monsters carved everywhere, brutal and austere without a speck of decoration. So we're checking the place out, going room by room, following protocol, when suddenly we start hearing these grunts and cries."

A gasp came from the crowd, at least those who hadn't heard the first two tellings.

"So we rush over and there's this enormous door fit for a king's throne room and it's hanging open. We go in, two-by-two, quiet-like. You know what we find in there?"

The crowd hushed. One scullery colt actually asked "What?"

"Grogar. The King of Death and Shades."

Another gasp, even from the ones who had heard the story before.

"He was just like all the legends described, only worse. His coat was dark as night and shifted when he moved like oily smoke. Massive curled horns bigger than a pony, with sharpened tips. He stood at least twice as tall as a normal pony and three times as wide. And he wasn't alone. You know who else was there?"

"Who?" the same colt asked before being shushed.

"The heroes that defeated Discord, Celestia and Luna."

"What happened next?"

She shook her head. "It was like nothing I'd ever seen. The battle raged across his resurrection chamber. Grogar shot blast after blast or arcane magical energy. More magic than I'd seen in my life!"

"What about the heroes? Did they shoot back?"

"That was the most impressive part. They didn't even need to. Every shot they dodged. Every single one. It was like he was incapable of hitting them no matter how hard he tried. And I know you're wondering, how did they defeat him if they didn't fight back?"

A few murmured in response, while those familiar with the story just smiled.

"Well I never said they didn't fight back, just that they didn't need to use magic." She smiled, a wild crazy grin that had earned her the battle nickname of 'The Mad Beserker'. "They beat Grogar, legendary sorcerer and wielder of death magic, with nothing more than blunt weapons."

"That's right!" she cried over the rising gasps and outbursts, "Not even swords! The younger wielded a standing candle holder, while the elder fought with a copper tapestry-holding rod. Each blow they struck sent him flying across the room towards the other who'd strike him again in perfect coordination. It was a jaw-dropping feat of skill, battle-tactics, and coordination."

She shook her head slowly, winding the excitement down for the really impactful part of her tale. Chain lowered her voice so everypony had to lean in to listen. "But the most awe-inspiring thing I saw that day, was not their incredible evasion, nor their strength and battle skill. It was their attitude. They laughed. Laughed as they fought him. Like it was all some sort of game! They weren't scared or intimidated in the slightest, just like the heroes from all the old stories!"

She sat back up, clearing her throat to finish off the tale. "After a time, once their victory seemed all the more certain, Mace announced our presence by cheering them on and taunting the monster. Very soon after that, they produced some sort of powerful spell and destroyed him utterly, leaving nothing but his evil red essence which soon too vanished."

The crowd was silent. No one knew how to react. They'd been saved from a monster no one had believed in, by a pair of fillies that some of them had also had their doubts about. They had seen the results of their fight with Discord, but not the battle itself. But this was different. There were multiple witnesses who attested to the heroic feats of the fillies.

As one, everypony in the hall craned their necks up to gaze at what glimpse of Starswirl's tower could be seen through the high windows. Somewhere in that tower, a pair of living legends were celebrating their victory.

Meanwhile, up in Starswirl's tower...

"You met who there!? What do you mean 'would I like to meet him'!?"

Author's Notes:

Why am I incapable of writing short chapters? This was supposed to be a third this length.