With the Storm King dispatched to attack Mount Aris, Emperor Grogar turned his attention towards a peace offering, a chance for his enemies to surrender willingly without any bloodshed. Of course, that wouldn't be the case.

Meanwhile, the news of the Changelings being attacked and massacred by Chrysalis and General Kuwaga sent shockwaves throughout Canterlot. In fact, everyone who was cocooned inside Equestria realized that Grogar and his allies were going to raise the bar even further than before. From inside the throne room, Celestia and Luna stood out the window overlooking the barrier's that covered their city, their home.

"I can't believe Thorax and the Changelings were attacked like that," sighed Celestia, removing her battle helmet.

"It is clear to me that this was done as a way to weaken us, Celestia," remarked Luna. "Maybe the situations with Sombra and Chrysalis were meant as a warning of what would happen. Perhaps we should have taken Dr. Strange's word…"

"No," interrupted Celestia in a firm voice. "No, we will not surrender in any way possible, Luna. The more Grogar weakens us and our allies, the more dangerous we and our allies become. We will fight and he will be defeated, him and all who ally themselves with him."

"Even Cozy Glow?"

"Yes, even Cozy Glow."

At that moment, Luna felt her stomach turn, realizing that a filly was possibly going to be killed. It didn't matter to Luna if this was a villain, Cozy Glow was still a filly and Luna had tremendous amounts of respect for fillies and colts. They looked up to her and Celestia like idols and even though they were evil, Luna still felt sympathy for them.

"Sister, I know you aren't going to like this," suggested Luna. "But, if Cozy Glow is captured, could we possibly…?"

"No," Celestia interrupted again. "I know what are you asking for Luna and the answer is no. Cozy Glow committed treason by stealing the magic in Equestria under Tirek's tutelage, so if she pays for her actions, she pays with her life if it comes to that."

Suddenly, they felt their palace shudder like an earthquake.

"Sister, what's happening?!" cried Luna, but Celestia, like a lie detector, guessed what was happening. The fountain next to their thrones spurted water which meant that someone was trying to contact them.

But it wasn't just any creature.

It was Emperor Grogar himself.

"Grogar," whispered Celestia, running over to the fountain as Princess Cadence came dashing into the throne room, joining her aunts by the surging fountain. Celestia felt her anger rise even further when she saw Grogar's smiling face in the water and her shouts reflected her rage. "Grogar, you despicable coward. How dare you show yourself through the waters of a fountain?"

"Is that all you are going to ask me after 1,000 years, Celestia?" remarked Grogar. "Not even a 'hello, how are you?' or something like that? Well, that is entirely typical of you and your pathetic sister."

"You cur!" cried Luna, her horn glowing with rage upon being called this. "What do you want with us?"

"Well, why don't you allow me to come to your throne room and I'll give you my answer."

The three alicorns felt their hearts sink as Grogar's face disappeared from the fountain. They were going to allow their most feared enemy to come inside the throne room.

"What do we do?" asked Cadence, worriedly looking over at her aunts.

"We bring him here," answered Celestia, reluctantly activating her horn and firing a spell at the fountain. A few moments later, the throne room shook even more as a portal formed out of the fountain.

Then, Grogar stepped out. His domineering figure intimidated the alicorns as he smiled evilly at them, sensing their magic that he so desired greatly with only the sounds of the Chaos Gauntlet piercing the marble floor.

"Greetings, my friends," he said. "Isn't anypony going to ask me how my trip was?"

"Get on with it, Grogar," barked Celestia, feeling her legs shake slightly. After 1,000 years, she and Luna were face to face with Grogar again. "What do you want?"

"Fine how you asked," laughed Grogar, as he slowly advanced towards them. "All right, ladies, this is your dilemma. You agree to turn over all of your alicorn magic to me along with the Elements of Harmony and I will spare any bloodshed. Or, in which case, you can refuse my offer in which case, we can all sit around and have a jolly time having this impasse."

…

At that moment, the rumblings of Grogar's arrival had alarmed the defenders of Canterlot. Steve and T'Challa noticed this and realized that there was an intruder.

"Did you feel that?" he asked the Wakandan king.

"I did feel that, Captain," answered T'Challa, nervously. "He's is here to bargain."

"Bargain what?"

Rather than answering, the two of them ran towards the castle determined to protect the princesses at all costs.

…

"I will never let you get away with this, Grogar," snarled Celestia, her horn glowing with rage as she fired a blast of her magic at Grogar, which he quickly deflected using the Chaos Gauntlet.

"Save your breath, Celestia as well as your firepower," retorted Grogar. "I'm giving the commands around here!"

Celestia snarled in response to this cowardly demand and dug in her heels.

"So then, what did you decide?" asked Grogar. "Tick tock, tick tock."

"If you want our magic," answered Celestia, snarling. "You will have to kill us for it."

"Very well then," remarked Grogar, realizing what was about to happen. "You have decided to do this the hard way, don't you? Then, so be it! We will come and lay waste to this proud domain you call home! Get ready for the ride of your lives!"

Laughing evilly and loudly, Grogar activated his powers and disappeared with a flash of lightning and a small explosion. The alicorns recoiled in horror at what just happened as Steve and T'Challa raced into the throne room.

"What happened here?" asked Steve, activating his shield as he raced in front of Luna, trying to protect her along with T'Challa, standing in front of Celestia.

"Emperor Grogar was just here offering us a chance to surrender," answered Celestia. "But we won't bow to him. We'll die protecting our subjects instead of surrendering."

With those words, Celestia donned her helmet once more, dedicating herself to fight against Grogar and his allies to the bitter end, by any means necessary.

…