"War? Are you sure about that?" gasped Rarity as all of my faithful subjects coiled at the news I had just addressed to them. "Can't we just use the elements of harmony to blast him?"

"I'm afraid not, Rarity," I replied. "Grogar seeks the elements of harmony for his own personal gain along with, of course, our alicorn magic. But, we aren't going to let him get to them that easily."

Stepping down from my throne, I proceeded to lead Twilight and the others out of the throne room and down towards the library wing, for there was something that we could do to better combat Grogar.

"What are we doing here?" wondered Fluttershy as we made our way into the library.

"There is a book containing a history of Emperor Grogar," replied Luna and we made our way to a section of the library where I pulled out a black book with an emblem of a skull and crossbones that made some of the ponies react.

"Ugh, who wants to put that on a book?" gagged Rarity, shocked and appalled by what she saw. "Is this Emperor Grogar that devious to be treated in such a manner?"

But, I decided to ignore the remark and proceeded to open the book.

"It says here that Grogar would invade towns and villages throughout Equestria and force the inhabitants to look up to him as their lord and savior," said Twilight, looking into the book. "If they refused, he would kill them without mercy."

Twilight felt herself swallow nervously upon seeing this and looked back to her friends and Cadence.

"But, I don't understand," wondered Twilight. "Wasn't Instant Justice in the same manner?"

"Instant Justice was different, Twilight," I remarked. "He sought revenge for the death of his family during the Storm King's invasion. Grogar was born with the desire to make everypony and everycreature bow down to him."

"And now, he's back and possibly targeting the Crystal Empire," cried Cadence, feeling a shiver go down her spine.

"Then, you must prepare whatever forces you can muster," said Luna. "Furthermore, we must reach out to S.M.I.L.E. and have them monitor all of Grogar's movements."

During the time between the Storm King's Invasion and the events with Cozy Glow, we had reached out to the humans and with their help, founded an organization whose purpose was to monitor activities of those who would want to attack Equestria. Furthermore, they had a group of warriors that were capable of being valued allies to us.

"That's right," remarked Pinkie Pie. "You brought in those two legged creatures to help us defend Equestria. Not to criticize, but that's random of you, Princesses."

"Random, yes," said Luna. "But necessary, Pinkie Pie. We cannot deal with Grogar alone."

"But why? I mean, you are alicorns, aren't you? Can't you just banish him again?" asked Rainbow Dash, only to be nudged in the side by Applejack. "Or maybe get in touch with that weird dude with the hammer? Isn't he around?"

"That's not a bad idea, Celestia," suggested Twilight, who then proceeded to look through the pages of the book to find the section about the Asgardian who aided us in defeating Grogar the first time. "If he is still around, you should recruit him. What's his name again?"

"Thor, king of Asgard and a member of the group of warriors known as the Avengers."

"The Avengers?" wondered Twilight, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

…

Rather than answering her question, I activated a teleportation spell and soon, we all found ourselves in a highly advanced location with screens and devices that made strange noises. These devices were operated by both pony and human scientists wearing white coats. No sooner did we all teleport ourselves did a cat like creature that stood on two legs make his way over to us. He was dressed in a long black coat and had on an eye patch over his left eye.

"He looks like he's from Klugetown," whispered Rarity. "Wonder if he knows Capper?"

"Your highnesses," he said, bowing to us. "I wasn't expecting to see you all here. What can we do for you?"

"At ease, Commander Fury Swipes," said Luna, raising a hoof to motion him to his feet. "This is an informal visit."

"Well, since you put it that way, Princess Luna," chuckled Fury Swipes, nervously. "We have been monitoring strange activity near the Crystal Empire. He has returned."

"We are aware Commander Swipes," I said. "That's why we must reach out to the humans and have them get in touch with the Avengers. I understand that they have been dealing with the aftermath of Thanos' defeat."

Shrugging his shoulders, Fury went over to an agent who was sitting at a screen and typing on a series of buttons.

"Agent Heartstrings?" he asked the light green unicorn mare, causing her to turn her attention away from the screen. "Have we received any reports from Stark or Rogers?"

"Not that I am aware of, Commander Swipes," replied the unicorn. "But, as far as I'm concerned, they are probably focusing on the task of dealing with the aftermath of their situation."

Upon seeing us standing next to her commander, Agent Heartstrings got up and hastily bowed to us, much to our amusement.

"You can get up, Lyra," chuckled Twilight, acknowledging her old friend from Canterlot. "There is no need for that on the job."

"Sorry Twilight, but you are all princesses."

"Don't worry about it, Lyra," chuckled Luna. "Remember we were the ones who helped you and Sweetie Drops get jobs here when S.M.I.L.E. first opened."

Remembering those words, Lyra chuckled to herself and eased herself before turning her attention to Fury Swipes.

"Um, yes, Princess Luna," she stammered. "As for Stark and Rogers, we haven't been able to receive any reports from them. But, we have sent them the message about Grogar's return?"

"Wait, why should they know about this?" asked Pinkie Pie. "Don't they have some of their own cleaning up to do?"

"Stark and Rogers along with their factions have each agreed to monitor the activities here in Equestria," said Fury Swipes.

"Factions?"

"They had a riff between each other, but it is behind them now," answered Fury Swipes. "Furthermore, we have also gotten in touch with the Wakandian governments to send forces to us."

"Wakanda?" wondered Pinkie Pie, randomly pulling out a map of Equestria from her long curly mane. "Not anywhere here on Equestria."

"It's another human country," explained Lyra. "Its king is also a member of the Avengers, going by the name of the Black Panther."

True, there was a lot to consider and absorb, but at least the Avengers were more than willing to help.

…

Meanwhile, Fizzlepop Berrytwist, also known as Tempest Shadow, had been given a second chance. Acknowledging her past misgivings as the Storm King's second-in-command and chief bounty hunter, she was now living a life of redemption, putting her past behind her and moving forward, traveling all across Equestria to spread the truth of the Storm King's death and to share what she had learned about friendship, something that Tempest felt she had never had when her friends abandoned her as a filly.

…

However, all that Tempest had been through wasn't going to prepare her for the storm that she and her companions, Grubber the Hedgehog and Hannibal, the reformed dimwitted storm creature were about to go through along with the rest of Equestria.

…

A month after Tempest and her companions left Canterlot, the three former servants of the Storm King were in Somnambula doing their penance when Tempest found herself unable to sleep one night.

"Tempest," yawned Grubber as he and Hannibal stretched themselves on a large bed while Tempest looked out the window of their room in the town's inn. "You really should go to sleep. We have another…big day tomorrow."

"Yeah," added Hannibal. "Pony should sleep. Lot of travelling to do."

"Sorry guys," sighed Tempest, turning away from the window. "I don't know, it's just…I'm just having another one of those nights, I guess. Part of me is just saying that something big is going to happen."

"Something big?" wondered Grubber. "What do you mean, something big?"

Tempest didn't respond right away and instead sat on the edge of her bed, her back turned away from them.

"It's like this," Tempest tried to explain. "When I was a filly, before my accident with the Ursa Major, we were taught about this creature who wasn't a pony, but…"

"It's probably nothing big, Tempest. Let's go to sleep."

"No, Grubber, it is something big. I don't know, it's just that, whenever I sleep, the vision appears to me, saying that I should prepare myself for the fight ahead against him."

This made both Grubber and Hannibal raise their eyebrows in suspicion.

"The Storm King?" remarked Grubber. "But, he's dead, isn't he?"

"It isn't the Storm King," retorted Tempest. "The creature that I am seeing in my dreams is a creature that lived a thousand years ago and made even the princesses fear him. I don't know, but I keep having these visions where we're all fighting against this enemy, this creature who then proceeds to…"

Suddenly, Tempest felt her broken horn charge and she let out a small scream of pain, much to the concern of her companions.

"Tempest, Tempest what is it?" cried Grubber, rising to his small feet.

"It's…it's happening again!" groaned Tempest, briefly turning away as the surges grew stronger. "My horn, it acts up when I have…"

Suddenly, Tempest and her companions noticed a spinning gold circle appear and a human figure dressed in blue and wearing a red cape around his neck stepped into the room.

"Tempest Shadow?" the figure asked. "I'm Dr. Stephen Strange and I need you to come with me."

But, rather than obey right away, Tempest and her companions were nothing short of confused over what had just happened.

"Oh and congratulations on redeeming yourself," he remarked.

"I'm sorry, how do you know who I am?" Tempest asked. "And how do you know about my horn?"

"I know everything about every person and every creature," Dr. Strange replied, stepping into the portal. "And I especially know a lot about you, Tempest. Look, it's not overselling to say that the fate of all creatures is at stake."

"How do you know about all this?"

At that moment, another pony stepped through the portal, a slender gray pony with short black hair and also wearing another cape similar to Dr. Strange's.

"Tempest Shadow," the pony said. "I'm Chancellor Neighsay of the Equestrian Education Association and a current assistant to Dr. Strange. And we believe we know what is causing your horn to act the way it is."

Without saying another word, Tempest and her companions were led into the portal, being taken to wherever Dr. Strange and Chancellor Neighsay came from.

…

As we all prepared for the growing war ahead did a loud voice echo throughout Equestria:

"PRINCESS CELESTIA AND PRINCESS LUNA, HEAR ME! FOR I, EMPEROR GROGAR OF TAMBELEON, DECLARE WAR ON YOU AND YOUR PATHETIC KINGDOM OF EQUESTRIA!"