{"sf1_id":791168,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Equestrian Knights Ch 11. The Evil King Returns","author":"BluebloodFan91","words":4067,"posted_at":"2014-12-03T16:16:00.000Z","tags":["Adventure","Angel","Big Mac","Big Macintosh","Blueblood","Bunny","Character Development","Chrysalis","Clean","Death","Doctor Whooves","Equine","Fantasy","Flam","Flim","Friendship is magic","Griffin","Gryphon","Hoops","Horse","Humor","Iron Will","Jetset","King Sombra","Lightning Dust","MLP","Minotaur","My Little Pony","Pegasus","Plot Development","Pony","Queen chrysalis","Rabbit","Sombra","Starswirl","Starswirl the Bearded","Story Progression","Story Series","Suburban Knights","Trixie","Unicorn","Upper Crust","Zebra","Zecora","changeling","dumbbell","gilda","parody","score","surprise"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/791168-equestrian-knights-ch-11-the-evil-king-returns","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/791168","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=791168\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"\n Ch 11. The Evil King Returns\n\nIt took them the entire rest of the day to get back\nout of the forest, back to the field they had started at. The sun was\nbeginning to set by the time they arrived.\"I hate today,\" moaned Gilda.\"I need a stiff drink,\" groaned Jet Set.Iron Will looked around at the field they were in. \"So where is the blasted thing?\" he asked.\"It should be buried underneath that bolder,\" said Blueblood. He pointed over at a large bolder sitting in the field.\"Oh my gosh, a giant rock!\" said Hoops.Blueblood\nrolled his eyes and tried to lift the bolder with his magic. He quickly\ndiscovered that it was far too heavy for him to move.\"Here,\nlet me!\" Trixie suddenly pushed Blueblood out of the way. She gritted\nher teeth and pumped magic into her horn as she attempted to move the\nrock with her magic. Much to their joy, the bolder slowly lifted up off\nthe ground.\"You're doing it, Trixie!\" shouted Blueblood. \"Keep it up!\"Straining\nwith all her might to keep the bolder in the air, Trixie managed to\nmove the bolder a few hooves away from the spot it was on, and then let\nit fall to the ground with a thud. She cut off her magic and then\ncollapsed onto the ground, both physically and mentally exhausted.\"I did it!\" she muttered as she took deep breaths.\"Alright!\" everyone cheered.\"Way to go, Trixie!\" said Blueblood.Trixie grinned. \"Thanks. I think I'll just... rest here for a bit.\" She laid her head on the ground and just lay there.The rest of the group walked over to the spot where the bolder had been.\"I guess we start digging!\" said Dumbbell.\"Did anyone bring any shovels?\" asked Flam.They all shook their heads.Well\nI'm not waiting,\" said Blueblood. He got down on the ground and began\ndigging with his hooves. Everyone was shocked by this, but at this\npoint, Blueblood didn't care about getting dirt on his hooves anymore.\nNot when the object of his desires was so close to finally being in his\ngrasp.Everyone else quickly began digging in the ground with their hooves as well.After\ndigging down about a foot, Blueblood felt something hard against his\nhoof. He began digging around it, soon exposing something goblet shaped\nwrapped in a dirty cloth sheet.\"I think this is it!\" he exclaimed. \"I think we've found it!\"They\npulled the object out of the ground. Blueblood hastily unwrapped the\ncloth that was around it. They gasped as he pulled out a beautiful\ngolden goblet embedded with red gems, and held it up with his magic for\nthem all to see. The light from the setting sun reflected off its\nsurface.Blueblood grinned triumphantly and\nlooked at the others. \"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you... OUR SALVATION,\njust like I promised you.\"\"Wait,\" said Gilda. \"How do we know for sure this is the real thing?\"Blueblood glared at her. \"What else could it be?!\"\"We should test it, to see if it really works,\" said Flim. \"Does anyone have any water?\"\"I\ndo,\" said Trixie, now recovered from her exhaustion and on her hooves.\nShe levitated her canteen of water out of her backpack and gave it to\nBlueblood. He poured it into the goblet.The water immediately glowed bright pink for a few seconds, then looked normal again..\"Did you see that?\" said Hoops. \"It definitely did something!\"Blueblood went to take a drink from the goblet, but Upper Crust put her hoof up to stop him.\"Wait! What if it's booby trapped?! What if it will actually poison you or something?!\"Blueblood\nimmediately stopped. He supposed it was possible that Starswirl might\nhave put some sort of booby trap on it. \"Good point,\" he said. \"So how\ndo we make sure its not then?\"Gilda, quick as\nlightning, reached down into the grass and picked up a field mouse in\nher claws. \"Here, test it on this,\" she said. She made a cut in the\nmouse's side with one of her talons. It squealed in pain and squirmed to\nget away from her.Blueblood put the goblet over\nthe squirming mouse and poured a few drops of the water onto it.\nEveryone's eyes lit up as they saw the mouse's wound immediately heal\nup, not even leaving a scar.\"It works!\" exclaimed Gilda in astonishment, flinging the now immortal mouse away behind her. \"It actually works!\"\"WE'RE RICH!\" shouted Flam.Everyone let out a cheer.Suddenly\nthere was a flash of light behind Blueblood, and Starswirl the bearded\nappeared, a furious look on his face. Blueblood turned around and cried\nout in surprise as he saw the aged unicorn standing behind him.They all immediately started backing away from Starswirl.\"Hand over the goblet, now!\" said Starswirl, holding out his hoof.\"No!\" said Blueblood, putting the goblet behind himself.Starswirl didn't back down. \"Give it to me, or else I shall take it from you by force.\"\"Oh yeah? You and what army?\" said Dumbbell.Starswirl\nstepped to the side, revealing the rest of the guardians all standing\nbehind him. The six cloaked guardians, Angel the bunny, Zecora the\nzebra, and Big Macintosh, still dressed as Pyramid Head.The group shouted out in shock when they saw Starswirl's backup.\"Does that answer your question?\" said Starswirl.\"You're all going down!\" Angel shouted at them, pounding his little paws together threateningly.Score pointed at Angel. \"Hey, I just figured out the bunny's voice!\" he exclaimed. \"It's John DiMaggio!\"\"Not the time, Score,\" said Gilda.The group continued to back away from Starswirl and the Guardians.\"Any ideas?\" asked Trixie.\"Yeah,\" said Blueblood. \"RUUUUUUUUN!\"They took off running away from the guardians, Blueblood clutching the goblet tightly too his chest with his magic as he ran.\"After them!\" Starswirl shouted. \"Retrieve the Goblet!\"Starswirl and his guardians began chasing after our anti-heroes. They began hurling magic blasts at them.The\ngroup ducked their heads down to try to avoid the magic blasts. \"BACK\nINTO THE FOREST!\" shouted Lightning Dust as they ran. \"WE'LL LOOSE THEM\nIN THERE!\"They darted back into the Everfree Forest.Trixie stopped just before entering the forest, and idea suddenly crossing her mind, and turned around to face their pursuers.\"YOU SHALL NOT PASS!\" she shouted at them at the top of her lungs, stomping her hoof down against the ground.Just\nthen, a magic blast from one of the guardians shot her hat off her\nhead. Trixie screamed and turned tail and ran, picking her hat up off\nthe ground with her magic as she hurried to catch up with her\ncompatriots. The Guardians continued after them into the forest.Blueblood,\nTrixie, Flim, Flam, and Jet Set began shooting magic blasts back at the\nguardians from their horns a they ran through the forest. They kept\nducking behind trees as they ran, trying to avoid being hit by their\npursuers' own magical attacks. Those of them without horns couldn't\nreally do much to fight back, so they just did their best to not get\nhit.Trixie looked over in annoyance at the only\nother unicorn in their group who wasn't helping. \"Hey, Upper Crust,\ncould you maybe help us shoot at them!\" Trixie shouted at her as they\nran.Upper Crust shook her head, tears in her eyes. \"I'M NOT FIGHTING! I HATE VIOLENCE!\" she shouted back. \"I WANNA GO HOME!\"Trixie rolled her eyes and continued firing back at the guardians.Suddenly\nUpper Crust's tail got hit by an enemy's magic blast, slicing off most\nof her tail in an instant, leaving what remained of her tail blackened\nand singed. Upper Crust let out a blood-curdling scream as she looked\nback and saw what was left of her tail.\"MY TAIL! THEY RUINED MY BEAUTIFUL TAIL!\" she screamed. Then her face became red with rage. \"SONS OF BITCHES!\"In\nthat instant, she became so angry she literally burst into flames, her\neyes glowing bright white! She turned to face their attackers and\npointed her horn at them all. She screamed a wild battle cry as she\nbegan shooting rapid continuous magical blasts at the guardians.They\nsaw Big Macintosh get hit and he instantly went down, then one of the\ncloaked guardians met the same fate a second later. The rest of the\nguardians began panicking when they saw the crazy flaming mare firing at\nthem like nothing they had ever seen before!One\nby one, Upper Crust's magic blasts hit each of the guardians, and they\nall got knocked out. Finally, she blasted Starswirl with her magic, and\neven he was over powered by her none stop continuous blasts. After a few\nhits, was knocked to the ground on his side, unconscious.The\nflames covering Upper Crust dissipated and she returned to her normal\nself, staggering around on her hooves, apparently completely exhausted.The entire group stared wide-eyed at her in utter disbelief. \"HOLLY SHIT!\" they all shouted.Trixie\nwalked up to her and grabbed her by her shoulder, spinning her to face\nher. \"HOW THE HECK DID YOU DO THAT!?!\" she demanded.\"I have... no idea,\" Upper Crust said woozily. \"I was just... so angry.\" The mare then collapsed, falling to the ground.Jet Set hurried to her side.\"Are you alright, dear?\" he asked, grabbing her hoof in his.\"I... think so,\" she responded. \"But my beautiful tail is ruined.\"\"Don't\nworry, dear. It will grow back in time,\" said Jet Set, trying to\ncomfort her. \"And I have to admit, I've never been more turned on than I\nwas after I saw what you just did to them!\"Upper\nCrust grinned up at her husband. The two then brought their lips\ntogether and started making out right there on the ground.The others all looked at each other uncomfortably as the two unicorns were getting down right in front of them.\"Okay,\nthat's enough, you two!\" said Gilda, pulling Jet Set up off of Upper\nCrust. \"Save it for the bedroom, for crying out loud!\"\"Really,\" said everyone else in agreement.Blueblood\nlooked back down at their prize he was holding. The Goblet was safe in\ntheir possession, at last! \"Well, we've made it out alive, and we've got\nthe Goblet!\" said Blueblood triumphantly, holding the goblet up over\nhis head like a trophy.The group all cheered in their success.As\nthey stopped cheering for themselves, they suddenly heard the sound of\nslow clapping coming from nearby. They all looked where the sound was\ncoming from, and suddenly saw Surprise standing a few yards away,\nclapping her hooves slowly. She was looking at them with a sly smile on\nher face.\"Well done, everyone,\" she said, her voice no longer perky and bubbly, but instead cold and callous. \"Well done.\"\"Surprise? What are you doing here?\" asked Blueblood.\"You've\nall been a very big help to me,\" Surprise continued, completely\nignoring Blueblood's question. \"I must admit, I had my doubts from time\nto time that you'd actually be able to succeed, but you pulled through\nin the end.\"They all stared at Surprise in\nconcern. She wasn't acting like herself at all. This usually annoyingly\nhappy pony was suddenly acting very... dark.\"Surprise are you okay,\" asked Blueblood. \"You're acting very... unusual.\"\"Am\nI?\" Surprise let out a cold chuckle. She was really starting to scare\nBlueblood and most of the others now. \"Well, I have a little surprise\nfor you all?\" she said, her eyes suddenly flashing with a green glow.\nGreen flames suddenly erupted around Surprise.\"SURPRISE!\" they all shouted in terror.The\ngreen flames rose up her body, and as they did, the group noticed her\nbody was changing. White fur turned to pitch black shell, legs\nlengthened and there were holes through them, poofy blond tail turned to\ndull green strands, eyes turned green with slits, feathers became bug\nwings, and a long crooked horn sprouted from her forehead.The green flames faded, and where Surprise had just been, there now stood a grinning Changeling Queen.\"Surprise!\" the pitch-black creature said menacingly.The group all jumped back at the sudden appearance of the Changeling.\"Queen Chrysalis!\" shouted Blueblood, recognizing her instantly.Chrysalis laughed. \"That's right! It's me.\"\"Whoa! Super special awesome plot twist!\" exclaimed Hoops.\"What have you done with Surprise?\" demanded a fearful, yet angry Prince Blueblood.Chrysalis laughed. \"You fool. I've been Surprise this whole time!\"\"What?!\"\nBlueblood couldn't believe it. He'd known Surprise for years. She\ncouldn't be Chrysalis. \"That's impossible! What happened to the real\nSurprise then?\"\"Oh, my Changelings took her back\nto the hive for safe keeping. Couldn't have her showing up while I was\nimpersonating her, after all. And I think you'll also recognize...\"\nChrysalis then transformed again, taking the form of an elderly mare.Blueblood pointed an accusing hoof at her. \"That's the old beggar mare who gave me the map! THAT WAS YOU TOO?!\"Chrysalis\nchanged back to her Changeling Queen form. \"Correct! I gave you the\nmap, I set you up on this entire quest, and then I became Surprise to\nkeep an eye on your progress.\"\"But why?\" asked Blueblood.\"I\nneeded someone greedy and desperate and dumb enough to follow the map\nand find the Goblet for me, and you fit the bill perfectly, Blueblood.\"\"I\ndon't understand,\" said Trixie suddenly. \"Why would YOU want the Goblet\nof Life? You're already immortal, as long as you keep feeding on\nothers' love.\"Chrysalis laughed. \"Oh, I don't want it for myself. I need it for... someone else.\"Suddenly, a cold hissing whisper spoke from out of nowhere. \"Enough talk, Chrysalis. Get the Goblet!\" it said.\"Who said that?\" asked Upper Crust, looking around her for the source of the voice.Chrysalis's\nhorn glowed green as she used her magic and snatched the goblet of life\nright out of Blueblood's hooves. She levitated it over to herself.\"HEY!\" Blueblood shouted, his own horn glowing as he prepared to cast a counter spell.Chrysalis's\nhorn glowed again and she fired a blast of magic at all of them,\nsending the whole group flying backwards through the forest. They all\nlanded on their backs a dozen meters away.Chrysalis\nused her magic to make water appear in the goblet, which glowed pink\nagain for a few seconds as it enchanted the water. Smiling, she then\nlevitated something out from behind her. The group looked and saw that\nit was a dark, curved unicorn's horn. The group became horrified as they\nrecognized it as King Sombra's horn.\"STOP!\" shouted Blueblood, now realizing what she was about to do.\"Do it NOW!\" said the mysterious unknown voice again.Chrysalis\nput the goblet over the horn. \"The Dark Lord shall rise again!\" she\nsaid as she was about to pour the water in the goblet onto the horn.Realizing\nthis couldn't be allowed, Lightning Dust flared her wings and leaped at\nQueen Chrysalis, flying at her at lightning speed. Chrysalis barely\nmanaged to look up before Lightning Dust crashed into the Changeling\nQueen, knocking both the goblet and the horn out of her reach.\"NO!\" Chrysalis shouted.The group sighed with relief that Lightning Dust had stopped the Changeling.As\nthe goblet and the horn fell through the air, however, the water in the\ngoblet splashed out and, unbeknownst to any of them, a single drop of\nit made contact with the horn.The horn and the goblet fell to the ground with a clatter.\"HA!'\nLightning Dust shouted at Chrysalis as she flew up off of the\nChangeling Queen and hovered in the air. \"Stopped your evil plan,\nbitch!\"After a few seconds, they heard a\ncracking sound coming from Sombra's horn. They all looked over in time\nto see the little dark horn suddenly burst into a cloud of black smoke.Chrysalis grinned and looked up at Lightning Dust. \"You were saying?\"Everyone\nwatched in terror as the black smoke slowly took the shape of a pony.\nAfter a few moments, the black smoke cleared, revealing a large gray\nunicorn stallion with a black mane and tail, and a curved horn.He stood there, taking deep breaths for a few seconds, then he looked up at all of them, an evil grin appearing on his face.\"All hail King Sombra!\" he said triumphantly.They all stared at him, to terrified to do anything else.He\nbrought his hoof up over the goblet of life that was lying on the\nground in front of him and brought it down on it. The goblet shattered\ninto tiny pieces.\"Now only I can live forever,\" he said.Prince\nBlueblood was too terrified by Sombra to even really notice that the\nobject of which his entire quest had been for had just been destroyed.\nWith Sombra back, the entire world was in danger again!Sombra's horn glowed, and his personal crown, armor, and cape magically appeared upon his body.\"That's more like it,\" he said to himself.Chrysalis approached him. \"Alright, Sombra. I held up my end of the bargain, now you hold up yours.\"Sombra\nlooked at her. \"That's KING Sombra to you!\" he snapped. He then pointed\nhis horn at her. Before she could do anything, Sombra shot a blast of\ndark magic at her from his horn, sending the Changeling Queen flying\nthrough the air and slamming against a tree. She fell to the ground in a\nheap.\"And I no longer have any need of you, insect,\" Sombra said coldly. He then turned to face the group. \"As for all of you-\"\"SOMBRA!\"The\nevil King looked up into the air, just as Starswirl appeared out of\nnowhere, apparently having woken up from being knocked out, and tackled\nhim. The two unicorn stallions went rolling across the ground before\ncoming to a stop. Starswirl quickly got to his hooves and glared down at\nSombra, an angry look on his face.\"Starswirl!\"\nSombra smiled evilly at the old unicorn as he got up off the ground as\nwell. \"The years have not been kind to you, I see.\"\"Your reign of evil ends here, my young student,\" growled Starswirl.\"I am no longer your student!\" shouted Sombra angrily. \"When you kicked me out, I was but the learner. Now I am the master!\"\"Only a master of evil, Sombra,\" said Starswirl.With\nthat, the two unicorns attacked each other, each of them firing a\npowerful magic blast from their horns at each other. The beams from\ntheir horns collided with each other, sending bright sparks flying\neverywhere as the two beams of magical energy pushed against each other.\nBoth unicorns began pumping as much magic into their horns as they\ncould, trying to beat the other's magic.\"STARSWIRL!\"\ncame a shout nearby. Starswirl's guardians had all woken up as well and\nwere approaching the battle to aid their leader.Starswirl glanced over at them. \"STAY BACK!\" he shouted at them. \"You're no match for Sombra!\"The guardians all stopped where they were.\"Your powers are weak, old timer!\" Sombra mocked Starswirl. \"You should have stayed in your urn where you belong!\"\"You can't win, Sombra!\" growled Starswirl. \"If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful then you can possibly imagine!\"As\nthey watched the battle from the sidelines, Gilda leaned in next to\nLightning Dust and whispered to her, \"What's with all the Star Wars\nreferences on this show?\"Lightning Dust shrugged.\"THERE IS NO POWER IN DEATH, YOU FOOL!\" Sombra shouted at Starswirl.\"You still don't understand!\" said Starswirl. \"I do not fear death like you do!\"Sombra smirked. \"THEN YOU SHOULD BE EAGER TO MEET IT!\"Slowly,\nSombra's magic began overpowering Starswirl's. Starswirl's eyes widened\nin shock as his magic was pushed back by Sombra's. Sombra's magic soon\nforced Starswirl's back all the way and struck Starswirl right in his\nhead, sending the old unicorn flying backwards through the air and\nlanding flat on his back on the ground with a thud, his horn badly burnt\nand letting off black smoke.Starswirl groaned\nas he lay there. Sombra walked over to where he lay and levitated him up\nin the air in front of him with his magic.\"Time\nto do something I should have done centuries ago!\" Sombra said. He then\nmoved forward and stabbed Starswirl through his heart with his horn.\nUpper Crust and Trixie both screamed, and everyone else gasped in horror\nat the sight.Sombra let Starswirl's body slip off of his horn and fall to the ground.\"So weak!\" Sombra spat as he looked down at the dying unicorn at his hooves.Starswirl\nturned his head towards the group, who had all been watching the\nincident, to terrified to do anything else. \"It's up to you now,\" he\nmanaged to say to them before his eyes went dark, and he died.\"HE'S DEAD!?!?\" shouted Score in shock. \"I thought this was supposed to be a kids' story!\"Sombra turned his head to look at Starswirl's Guardians, who had all gotten to their hooves during the battle.One\nof the cloaked guardians then ripped his hood and mask off, revealing\nDoctor Whooves underneath. He looked at his fellow guardians. \"I don't\nknow about the rest of you, but buck this! I'm getting the heck out of\nhere!\" He turned tail and galloped away from the scene. He let out a\nwhistle, and suddenly there was a mechanical moaning sound, and a large\nblue box that had the words Police Box printed on it appeared in the\nforest out of thin air. The Doctor opened its door and hurried inside of\nit. The rest of the guardians all looked at each other, and then\nhurried after him, running into the blue box with him. The door on the\nbox closed and then the same mechanical moaning sound could be heard as\nthe blue box vanished the same way it had appeared.\"What\nthe heck?\" asked Flim. He turned to his brother. \"Did a blue box just\nappear, all of those guys clime inside it, and then disappear?\"\"Yes,\" said Flam.\"Good. I'm not crazy then,\" said Flim.Sombra turned to the group again. They all stood terrified under his gaze.\"As\nfor all of you...\" he sneered, his horn beginning to glow with dark\nmagic. But he never finished his sentence because just then, Queen\nChrysalis suddenly popped up behind Sombra without him noticing her. She\nthen stabbed him in his rump with a syringe filled with a violet\nliquid. Sombra cried out in surprise and pain.\"GAAAAAAAHHHHH!\" The dark glow around his horn faded due to this distraction.\"No\none has apparently ever taught you that Hell hath no fury like a female\nscorned,\" Chrysalis whispered into Sombra's ear. She then yanked the\nsyringe out of his rump, it now empty.Sombra fell to the ground. \"What have you done to me?\" he asked, still in pain from whatever Chrysalis had injected him with.\"I'm\nnot an idiot, Sombra,\" Chrysalis sneered. \"I suspected you might betray\nme, so I whipped up a little insurance policy just in case.\"\"What did you inject me with?\" demanded Sombra.\"Nothing much,\" said Chrysalis. \"Just a harmless little love potion.\"Sombra's eyes widened. \"Love potion?!\"Chrysalis\nsuddenly grabbed Sombra's head in her hooves and forced him to look\ninto her eyes. \"Tell me, Sombra,\" she said. \"Who do you love more than\nanything in the whole world?\" Her horn glowed green, and then Sombra's\neyes flashed with the same green glow.\"Why, you, my love,\" he said after a few seconds.Chrysalis grinned. \"And would you do anything for me?\"\"Of course I would, my love,\" he responded.\"Would you conquer the entire world for me?\"\"Anything for you, my love,\" he responded, kissing her hoof.Chrysalis\ngiggled. She could feel the great power she had lost before finally\nreturning to her as her body fed off of Sombra's new love for her.The group all watched the scene with a mix of horror and disgust.\"This is just wrong,\" said Hoops, making a gagging sound.\"SILENCE!\"\nSombra shouted at Hoops, firing a blast of magic at him with his horn.\nHoops leaped out of the way as the blast hit a tree behind him, which\nexploded into splinters.Chrysalis turned Sombra's head back to her with her hoof. \"Forget them,\" she said. \"We have a world to conquer together.\"Sombra\ngrinned back at her. \"You're right, my dear,\" he said. His horn began\nto glow again, and then the two of them disappeared in a flash of light\nas Sombra teleported them both away.The group was left standing there, dumbfounded at all they had just witnessed.\"Well, this is bad!\" said Hoops.\"That's an understatement!\" said Gilda.\"We should do something!\" said Jet Set. \"Shouldn't we?\"After a few silent seconds, Iron Will said, \"We should at least go to Canterlot and warn the Princesses about this!\"\"Right!\"\nsaid Blueblood. \"They can get the Element Bearers to use the Elements\nof Harmony to stop all this before it's too late! Come on! We have to\nhurry!\"Trixie then became depressed as what Blueblood had just said sunk in. \"Y-yeah,\" she said. 'And then they will get all the glory and fame again for saving the day,' she thought to herself enviously, letting out a sad sigh as she ran off with the others towards Ponyville.","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/791164-equestrian-knights-ch-10-a-visit-from-the-past.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/791181-equestrian-knights-ch-12-fall-of-canterlot.json"}