Twilight Sparkle took in a deep breath as she scanned the grassy plains of the park. She was expecting the arrival of the other Elements soon, since they had agreed on a picnic today, but naturally, Twilight had been the first to arrive.

"Spike, let's set up here by this tree," she said, pointing at the tree in question with a hoof.

"Okay, Twilight!" Spike called out as he placed the picnic basket on the grass.

Twilight used her levitation spell to spread the blanket below the tree, making sure each side was spread flat, with no wrinkles. Once this was done, she sat down and waited for her friends to arrive as Spike set up the plates and cutlery.

Applejack was the first pony that came up the hill, waving to Twilight in greeting. “Howdy Twilight! Ah brought some of Granny Smith’s apple pie fer us.”

Twilight smiled at the news, “That’s great, Applejack. I bet it's delicious!” Upon closer inspection, Twilight was able to make out a small carriage that was tethered to Applejack’s harness. “Need any help?”

Applejack only shook her head as she walked next to the picnic basket and unattached herself from the harness, “No thanks, Ah’ve got it.” To prove her point, she took the pies off of the carriage and placed them in a small pile in the middle of the picnic blanket.

Pinkie Pie was the next to arrive for the picnic. She was carrying a basket on her back. As she neared the top of the hill, a wonderful smell permeated the air.

"Hey Pinkie! What kind of cupcakes are those? They smell great," Twilight asked.

"I can't tell you, silly-filly. That would ruin the surprise. I wanted to try out a new flavor for today," Pinkie was bouncing up and down as she talked about the surprise.

A rainbow-coloured blur in the sky angled itself downwards with a cry of "Look out below!" The assembled ponies ducked as Rainbow Dash completely miscalculated her landing. She skidded for a moment on her hooves before her speed got the better of her and she fell face-first into the dirt.

Applejack chuckled. "Good job, Dash. Ah hope whatever ya brought didn't suffer fer that."

"I was supposed to bring something?" Asked Rainbow Dash, picking herself up and shaking dirt out of her mane.

"Yep!" said Pinkie, hopping over and displaying her cupcakes.

"Oh. Well, I forgot." She shrugged. "Hey, where are Fluttershy and Rarity? I'm so hungry I could eat a whole hay bale on my own!" said Rainbow Dash, glancing around for the ponies in question.

As if on cue, Rarity and Fluttershy made their appearance, walking towards the group.

"Sorry for being late, girls. Fluttershy and I lost track of time when making sandwiches," said Rarity, levitating a small basket off of Fluttershy's back.

"It's alright Rarity," Twilight replied. "Where's Duo?"

"Your pupil? He went with Sweetie Belle to Canterlot to shop for supplies," Rarity said before sitting on the blanket. "They wanted to be prepared for when their foal is born."

"Well if that's the case, let's start the picnic," Twilight replied as she too sat down.

"So Twilight," Applejack said as she started munching on a daisy sandwich. "How have Duo's studies been comin' along?"

Twilight levitated a sandwich of her own out of the basket before responding, "So far he has been reaching my expectations of him." She took a bite of her sandwich, and waited until she finished chewing before continuing. "He's progressing almost as fast as I did, which is very impressive."

"Is he going to become really good at magic, have no friends, and be forced to move away from everypony that they've ever known?" Pinkie asked.

Twilight opened her mouth to respond, but nothing came out. She did not know how to respond to such an accurate retelling of how she came to Ponyville. "I highly doubt that will happen, Pinkie Pie." She finally managed to say.

It was at that point Spike started coughing non-stop. After a few seconds of Spike's coughing fit, a scroll got spat out. Clearing his throat, Spike opened up the scroll and began reading.

"To my most faithful student, Twilight Sparkle

You, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Spike are to come to Canterlot as soon as possible. I will explain everything when you get here.

Sincerely, Princess Celestia"

Once Spike finished reading, Twilight levitated the scroll out of his hands. After reading it to herself a second time, she rolled It up and put it in her basket, "Well you heard what the letter said girls, it looks like we have to cut this picnic short."

"Oh dear, I hope it's nothing too bad," Fluttershy said worriedly.

Rainbow Dash walked up to Fluttershy and flashed a grin, "Don't worry about it Fluttershy, I'm sure it's nothing serious."

Spike started to cough once again, getting the attention of the girls. After a few seconds, he coughed up another scroll and began reading it.

"P.S. Pack up as much as you can, you will be staying in Canterlot for awhile. I already have your sleeping quarters prepared."

Twilight levitated the scroll out of Spike's hands once again and read it to herself. "Okay, this might be more serious than we thought," she said, obviously worried.

Princess Luna walked through the Everfree Forest, her eyes a mix of sadness and anger as she thought about the reason she was here in the first place. "Celestia has gone too far this time. Her love for that wretched serpent has clouded her judgement beyond saving." She sighed as he looked down, kicking a pebble with her forehoof before continuing her walk.

An hour passed before she finally came upon the old castle she used to live in. She looked up at it with a frown and a sigh. "My sister... no... that tyrant has to be stopped." She stamped a hoof on the dirt angrily before looking down sadly shortly after. "I can't do it on my own... but I have no choice."

“You don’t have to do this alone, my Princess," A voice had said from behind the trees. A stallion came into view, with a silver coat, bright silver eyes, and a mane as black as night that almost covered his right eye. On his flank, the image of a halberd was proudly displayed as his cutie mark.

"We are all here for you, Princess Luna." The entirety of Luna's bat pony night guard stepped out from the shadows, bowing their heads shortly after.

Princess Luna could not help but smile at her loyal troops. Now they stood a fighting chance at dethroning Princess Celestia. "Night Wish, and my night guard, I am glad you chose to side with me. Now come my loyal subjects, we have much work to do on this castle if we want it to be our base. Celestia needs to be stopped, so we need to have this place fully functional as quickly as possible." She turned around and started walking towards the old castle, her army following close behind.

The atmosphere on the train could only be described with one word, silence. Not even Pinkie Pie, whom was usually cheerful about everything, was talking. The mane six just took turns looking at each other with worry, then staring out the window in the same manner.

Eventually, Spike was the one who broke the silence. “So, what do you girls think happened that got Princess Celestia so worried?” When he got no response from them, he just sighed and went back to looking out the window. “Nice chat…”

At that point Pinkie Pie decided to try and lighten the mood. “Maybe she decided to send us off on a vacation? You know, as a thank you for saving Equestria!”

“Pinkie, ah highly doubt that is what the letter meant.” Applejack said with a frown.

Pinkie opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by the train whistle.

Twilight took a deep breath and hopped off the chair, watching as the other did the same. “I am sure everything will be fine girls, what’s the worst that could have happened?”

“I don’t know, maybe that?” Rainbow Dash said as she pointed a hoof towards the two groups of ponies on either side of the road, each group being held back by Celestia’s Royal Guards.

Twilight’s jaw dropped when she saw the display. “Okay, that’s new. Then again, there have always been protests.” She replied nervously. “Only this one is bigger… and has two opposing sides.”

“Bring back Princess Luna! Take down the Tyrant known as Celestia!” One of the sides shouted. Upon closer inspection, Twilight saw a few holding a banner with Princess Luna’s cutie mark on it.

“Long live Princess Celestia! Down with Princess Luna’s traitorous ways!” The other side shouted with added aggression. Twilight noticed that they too had a banner, only this one had Princess Celestia’s cutie mark emblazoned on it.

The six girls huddled close together when they saw two of the royal guards approach them.

“We are here to escort you to the castle.” One of the guards said as he stood to the left of the group, the other guard taking the right side.

Twilight lifted Spike onto her back as she led the group down the road. “What is going on here?” She asked one of the guards. Unfortunately, the guard’s response was just silence.

The rest of the walk went on as such, despite the shouting from the groups on either side.

Canterlot Castle, the home of the Royal Sisters and capital of Equestria. It’s halls were a pristine white lined with gold trim, and it’s doors within said halls were a lovely shade of gold and copper. As the group walked on, Twilight took notice of a few hallways being blocked off by Royal Guards.

“Why are the halls leading to the Night Court sealed off?” Twilight asked one of the guards escorting them, only to get silence once again. “Right…”

“Relax darling,” Rarity began. “Surely there is a good reason for this, and i am sure the Princess will tell us.”

Applejack said nothing as she thought about what was going on, an uneasy feeling settling in her stomach.

It did not take long for the group to reach the throne room, noticing that the throne for Princess Luna was gone.

“Princess Celestia, what happened to Princess Luna’s throne? Also, why is he here?” Twilight asked curiously.

Princess Celestia looked upon the Mane Six with caring eyes, which hid a deeper meaning behind them that nopony could see. “His name is Discord and he shall be treated with respect.” She scolded before clearing her throat. “Twilight Sparkle, i wish we could have met under better circumstances. However, something terrible has happened.” She said with a hint of sadness to her tone.

The Mane Six were taken back from the sudden outburst, none of them seeing her defend Discord in such a way before. Safe to say, Applejack and Rainbow Dash both now had the same uneasy feeling that the former felt earlier. However, the Mane Six leaned in the hear what the Princess had to say, their eyes wide with anticipation.

Princess Celestia took a deep breath before continuing. “It is with deep sadness, and regret to inform you that Princess Luna has turned against us, she has become a traitor to Equestria.”

Author's Note

Hey everypony, I am terribly sorry for the long wait. My writer's block has been relentless and my old crew has abandoned the project it seems like. So I am re-opening positions for people to take on a character to write as. If any of the old crew see this, they are more than welcomed to rejoin me on this project. Even if nopony wants to join, I will still do this story on my own. Send me a Private Message if you are interested!