1,000 years.

…

That was how long he had been gone, banished to the frozen north with King Sombra by me and my sister. He was a creature of pure evil, ruler of a kingdom that was a kingdom of evil, putting his subjects through pure murder, brutalities, torture and atrocities. Something had to have been done and for a creature who had a heart as black as night, he didn't deserve to be in existence.

Of course, like all that had been happening in a short period of time, he would make his return.

…

It all started like any other day in Canterlot, Luna and I, still recovering from our injuries fighting our traitorous minister of defense, Instant Justice, sat on our thrones doing our one hour signing of documents, bills, etc. Then all of a sudden, a guardspony came running into the throne room, getting our attention.

"News from Northern Equestria," he said, taking off his helmet and bowing to us. "Your highnesses."

"Yes?" I asked.

"I'm simply to tell you that he…has returned."

Our eyes both widened at the news we had gotten and I turned to the guards that were standing next to us.

"Notify Princess Cadence and Shining Armor," I ordered to the guards. "Tell the Crystal Empire to be on standby and have Princess Cadence come here at once!"

"Yes, your highness."

Acting on our orders, our guardsponies charged out of the throne room and once they were gone, I immediately began to write a scroll to Twilight, telling her and her friends to come to Canterlot right away.

"It was only a matter of time before he would return, sister," remarked Luna, worriedly. "The spell we placed on him and his kingdom would only be temporary."

"Of course, we knew it would be temporary, Luna," I replied as I sent the scroll away with our magic. "If King Sombra could return, then so could he."

A heavy sigh crept out of me when the thoughts of him returning kept coming back to me. Still coming to terms with being turned to stone at the Friendship Festival and forced to confront the betrayal of Instant Justice when he tried to exterminate not just Fizzlepop Berrytwist, but also drive an entire race of creatures to extinction.

"And knowing of his true power, sister," added Luna. "He could also bring King Sombra back from the dead. We may have to face that kind of possibility."

I didn't want to believe it, but I had no other choice in the matter. All that matters is that we immediately come together to figure what to do next.

…

Meanwhile, Twilight Sparkle sat in her office at the School of Friendship trying to finish grading her students' midterm exams when she couldn't help but become distracted by a picture of Fizzlepop on her desk.

"Hey Twilight," said a voice that belonged to her former pupil, Starlight Glimmer. "Thought I check in and see how you're doing with those midterms."

"Oh, uh, hey Starlight," stammered Twilight. "What's…what's going on?"

"Nothing, I was…I was…"

But being the snoopy mare that she was, Starlight noticed Twilight's eyes locked on the picture of Fizzlepop on her desk.

"You're still thinking about her, aren't you?" she wondered. "You still want Tempest to be your royal guard captain, right?"

"Well, yeah, of course I do. It's just that…I don't know, she should take the position. Why must she continue to hide like this?"

This made Starlight go into Guidance Counselor mode and immediately pulled up a chair, sitting down in front of Twilight's desk.

"Tempest isn't hiding, Twilight," she said. "You have to understand that she probably isn't the most popular pony in Equestria right now. Even after all is said and done, Tempest will always be a constant threat to Equestria, despite being redeemed."

Still, Twilight was in denial about the matter.

"But, being my royal guard captain…"

"It won't matter Twilight because nothing will change," Starlight interrupted, placing her hooves firmly on Twilight's desk. "Tempest committed war crimes and many felt that she should be punished harshly and firmly."

No matter what Starlight would say, Twilight would not believe that Tempest was forever going to be viewed as a war criminal. After all, in Twilight's mind, Tempest was merely a lost soul who was being led in the wrong direction.

"Because they don't see the truth, Starlight," sighed Twilight. "If they do see the truth about Tempest, then maybe, just maybe, their minds will change."

Starlight truly wanted to believe what Twilight was trying to say, but in her mind, that was easier said than done.

…

Just then, Twilight's dragon assistant, Spike, came flying into the office, his claws on his stomach thanks to the scroll I had sent to Twilight.

"Spike, what's wrong?" Twilight asked, but before the young dragon could respond, he belched out the scroll.

"It's…from Canterlot," Spike gasped, gasping for air. "From…Celestia."

Taking the scroll, Twilight unfolded it and read every single word I had written to her. After a few moments, she put the scroll down on her desk, her face filled with concern and worry.

"Starlight, can you and Spike run the school for a little bit?" she asked. "I need to go to Canterlot."

"Sure Twilight, what's going on?"

"Princess Celestia needs me and my friends in Canterlot right away. If what she says is true, then we're all in danger once again!"

Without saying another word, Starlight and Spike watched as Twilight dashed out of her office.

…

Just as quickly as I had sent the scroll to her, Twilight summoned her friends and came to Canterlot. Princess Cadence had also arrived on the scene, having also been summoned.

"We came as soon as we could, Celestia!" Twilight panted. "What's happening?"

"I thank you all for coming on such short notice," I said. "After 1,000 years, he has returned."

"Who?" wondered Applejack. "Most of the creatures that were around 1,000 years have already returned."

"This isn't just any other creature, Fair Applejack," said Luna. "This is the most feared, the most powerful and the most dangerous enemy Equestria has ever dealt with."

"Ooh, who could it be?" asked Pinkie Pie, who randomly pulled out a wallet and started going through pictures of various ponies that were inside it. "Uh, they all don't look like any we've met before."

"That's because whoever it is," I replied, stretching out my wings. "Is a creature that is by far the most dangerous enemy we have ever encountered, even worse than King Sombra."

…

Activating my horn, I cast a viewing spell to show all in attendance what I was talking about. With everypony watching, the screen produced a moving picture of me and Luna clad in battle armor standing outside the creature's kingdom.

"Coward," seethed Princess Luna to Celestia. "Look at him, hiding behind his castle, almost as if he knew we were coming. Why doesn't he come out and show himself?"

"Because that's what he is expecting us out of him," replied Celestia, drawing her spear out of her holster. "But, no matter what, his reign of terror ends tonight, sister!"

Looking back towards the armies that the two sisters had, both Celestia and Luna motioned for their armies to aim their horns at the castle. At that moment, both sisters activated a spell to enhance their royal Canterlot voices.

"EMPEROR GROGAR!" shouted Celestia. "THIS IS PRINCESS CELESTIA AND PRINCESS LUNA! WE DEMAND THAT YOU SURRENDER YOURSELF NOW! YOUR REIGN OF TERROR ENDS TONIGHT!"

"THERE IS NOWHERE LEFT TO HIDE WITHIN YOUR WALLS!" shouted Luna. "THOU CAN'T HIDE FROM JUSTICE FOREVER!"

The two sisters waited for any response, but they got nothing. Furthermore, their patience was limited as well as their respective army.

"WE HAVE ALREADY BANISHED YOUR FRIEND, KING SOMBRA," added Celestia, her horn charging with surging magic. "SURRENDER NOW IF YOU WISH TO AVOID THE SAME FATE!"

Both the sisters then directed their attention towards a tall tower within the castle where at that very moment, a faint glow could be seen. The glow was dark red and the glow surrounded two horns.

"YOU WISH THAT I SURRENDER TO YOU?" the two horned figure shouted. "TO YOU? TWO MARES THAT STAND IN THE WAY OF ME OBTAINING WHAT I DESIRE? THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY AND YOUR ALICORN MAGIC?"

"GROGAR, YOU WILL NEVER GET YOUR HOOVES ON EITHER!" Luna shouted back, directing her attention towards her forces. "READY YOUR HORNS AND FIRE!"

The soldiers aimed their weapons at the castle and on the orders of the royal sisters, fired beams of magic at the castle walls damaging them.

"Let's go, sister!" cried Celestia and both she and Luna activated teleportation spells that transported themselves into the castle.

Soon, they found themselves in a throne room where the tower was. Facing them was the creature with the two horns that glowed red who sat on a throne in front of a map of Equestria. The creature revealed himself to be a goat that had dark blue fur and wore a gold colored bell around his neck.

"You wish for me to surrender to you?" the goat asked, getting up and walking down towards the sisters. "That will not happen! Why don't you just spare yourselves the agony of defeat and surrender your magic to me?"

But, neither Celestia nor Luna was going to be giving in. They were more than willing to stop this enemy. Taking to the air and activating their horns, Celestia and Luna crossed their horns and together fired a blast of combined magic at Grogar, seemingly killing him in an explosion.

"Is that it?" asked Luna, but when the smoke cleared Grogar leapt into the air and butted Celestia in the chest sending her flying into the ceiling. Drawing her sword, Luna attempted to strike at Grogar only for him to activate a spell to send Luna plummeting to the hard floor below.

Rebounding, Celestia fired a blast of magic at Grogar, which he quickly dodged. The goat then proceeded to once again strike at Luna, but missed. Surrounding him, Celestia and Luna both charged at Grogar, letting out loud battle cries. The goat then proceeded to activate a barrier that sent the sisters back against the walls of the throne room. Luna was knocked out cold, but Celestia was still willing to fight. Before she could charge at him again, Grogar disappeared with yet another spell.

"Show yourself, coward!" Celestia screamed, but Grogar laughed loudly and evilly as he appeared.

"This is so amusing, I almost hate to see it end."

Taking her spear, Celestia stuck it into Grogar's chest, her patience running dangerously thin.

"It's over, Grogar," she snarled. "Yield!"

But, despite the fact that her spear was inside of him, Grogar was still laughing, managing to magically heal himself..

"So…much…HATRED!" he remarked. "You speak of cowardice and yet, you forget whose domain you are in?"

Snarling, Celestia took the butt of her spear and struck Grogar in the head. Nevertheless, the goat kept fighting.

"I care not what dark pacts you made!" she cried. "You will surrender yourself to me, now!"

"It seems like even the gods lack purity in their hearts…"

"SILENCE, YOU CUR!" Celestia screamed, firing a powerful blast of her magic at Grogar and for a moment, it seemed like she had vaporized him, but without warning, the blast bounced back and struck Celestia straight in the chest, sending her flying right back into the wall with a loud scream of pain, knocking her out cold. With Celestia out of commission, Grogar then proceeded to advance towards Luna, who was quickly coming around.

"Now, you shall suffer the same fate as your pathetic sister," said Grogar. "And then, your magic will be mine."

"Not if I have anything to say about it," said Luna, grabbing her sword and preparing to strike at Grogar. For a moment, the Princess of the Night and the demonic goat stared down at each other.

Raising her sword, Luna fired several blasts of magic swords at Grogar, only for them to be deflected right back at her. But Luna wasn't quick enough and were soon impaled by two of the swords into her side, her wounds spilling out drops of blood.

"You were saying?" laughed Grogar, grabbing Luna up with his magic by her flowing mane. "You scare me even less than your pathetic sister. Tell me, something, do you fear death?"

But Luna didn't answer him. Little did Grogar realize however that the sisters had one last trick up their sleeve.

"Yes," she coughed, trying to pretend to be fearing Grogar. "I fear death."

Grogar then grabbed Luna's sword, preparing to strike into her chest.

"Good, then I will try and make this as painful as possible," whispered Grogar. "Any last words?"

From down on the floor, Celestia struggled to get back up and could only watch helplessly as Luna was about to be killed.

"Spare my sister," Luna whispered. "But beware…"

Right away, Grogar realized that he was about to be tricked, but had no idea of how he was going to be tricked.

"Beware of what?"

"Beware…of the Asgardians."

Suddenly, with a strong flash of lightning, Grogar was knocked back onto his throne as he looked up to see a human male clothed in silver armor and wielding a silver hammer with a red cape flowing around his neck. Letting out a loud yell, the Asgardian raised his hammer high into the air and attempted to strike at Grogar. But, the goat activated a shield spell to deflect the blast. Charging, Grogar attempted to defend himself against the Asgardian, only to be beaten back by the human's hammer.

While the two sisters watched, the Asgardian threw his hammer down multiple times, striking down Grogar to the point where he felt himself weaken and collapse to the floor. Rising to their feet, Celestia and Luna glowed their horns with surging auras and pointed them right at the fallen goat.

"Emperor Grogar, in the name of Equestria," Celestia and Luna both bellowed in their Royal Canterlot Voices. "We hereby banish you and your dark kingdom from this land!"

With surging magic, we all watched as Grogar felt himself disappear from his earthly body and before anything else could be shown, the screen disappeared.

"Unbelievable!" gasped Rainbow Dash. "This guy is bad news!"

"And he has returned, Rainbow Dash," I cried. "As of this very moment, Equestria has declared war on Emperor Grogar and Tambeleon!"

A loud series of gasps filled the room upon hearing this declaration of war, a war that was going to forever change the history of not just ponies, but other creatures as well…