Suddenly Rainbow Dash jolted awake, letting out a loud shriek as she began frantically looking around the room. She was shocked and scared by what she’d just seen, the sudden change from peace to utter chaos, the death of everyone she knew and loved, the mysterious figure at the end, her own death. It was all so horrible. All so unbelievable.

“Oh… my… gosh…,” Rainbow said, seemingly out of breath, and still trying to process the vision she had just received, “…thank Celestia that was just a dream…”

It was about 6:37AM, meaning she still had about an hour before she needed to go off to the last minute practice sessions for the aerial stunt show she was to participate in.

She first tried laying back down on the bed, still panting heavily, and even sweating a tiny bit. She just needed a bit of time to relax after that.
*knock* *knock*

The sound came from the door to her room. They seemed hesitant. But she decided to try to ignore it for now, and went back to trying to relax. When that didn’t work, she decided to try focusing on the room around her, to distract herself from both the thoughts of the dream and the knocking.

It was a nice room. It had two sections, separated from each other with a dividing wall. One section contained an ice box; any utensils one could possibly need, although those weren’t very useful for Rainbow; some extra cabinets and drawers; and assorted other kitchen and dining related objects. The other section contained a medium sized bed; a small table, where she had set her saddle-bags; some book shelves, which had already had some books on them when she arrived, although none of them interested her; and the entrance to the bathroom.
*knock* *knock*
*knock* *knock*

The sound was a bit stronger this time, and came much less hesitantly than before.

“Just ignore it…” Rainbow thought, “It’s probable just your imagination…” She began her observations once more.
There was also a window next to the door, which led into the kitchen section of the room, with some colorful and finely detailed curtains hanging over them. The walls were a bright shade of white, with a bit of yellow mixed in by the looks of it; and on certain sections of the walls were tiny vents that kept a regular air flow through the complex of rooms.

“No…” she thought to herself as she further surveyed the room, “…Not working either…”

*knock* *knock*

“What is that!?” Rainbow thought as the sound came another time.

“Rainbow?” came the confused voice of Twilight, on the other side of the door to the room, “Um… Is everything alright? We heard you scream and… well…”

Rainbow, suddenly realizing that the noise was most likely real, got up and began walking to the door, thinking “Maybe this will help…” to herself as she did. But she hesitated. Once about half way to the door, she stopped dead in her tracks, feeling unable to move. “Yeah…” she said aloud, “I’m alright.”

“Oh. Okay…” came the reply.

Then there was silence.

“Well… I guess we’ll… see you soon,” came another reply.

The sound of Twilight slowly making her way away from the door was heard, followed by another long period of deep silence.

“Ugh!” Rainbow thought to herself as she made her way away from the door as well, “Why did I say that!?”

The voice echoed over and over again in her head as she ran the question back to herself. It did help distract her, but it bothered her to the point that it had just made the feeling worse, and it just kept going. She kept thinking the same things.
“If I had just… I dunno… talked with them all about it…” it repeated, “Then maybe it would be… better… somehow. Less to think about… less to hide…”

It was greatly frustrating her, to the point where she became tempted to do something about it in the real world, instead of just thinking. But what she had in mind was far too drastic.

“No…” she thought in response, “No, that would make this even worse.” She had always had trouble controlling herself when she got angry or frustrated, but had started to do better as of late and didn’t want to break that streak. “I just need to calm down… think of something… better.”

Suddenly thoughts of today’s events began circling through her head. More specifically, thoughts of the air show she’d be participating in later with the Wonderbolts, her favorite team of stunt flyers in Equestria, as well as its closest equivalent to an aerial combat team, and her long time idols. The thoughts started to calm her significantly. And soon she had gotten completely swept up in them all, completely forgetting about whatever dreams she may have had a short while ago.
It continued for a while, just her sitting there on the bed thinking about today’s events, day dreaming about all the wonderful things that would happen today. But it was short lived as she realized how much time had passed already.

“Oh no…” she thought, staring at the clock worriedly. It was 7:51AM, and she had to be at the practicing grounds to meet with the Wonderbolts at 8:00AM. She jumped up as quickly as possible, making sure to grab the short speech she was to give later that night and place it in the saddle-bag she was bringing, just in case she didn’t have a chance later to come back and get it, and raced out the door towards the Gala Stadium on the opposite side of the Gala grounds.
===================================-----------------------------------------

“So,” Applejack asked curiously, “what’d she say?”

“Nothing really…” Twilight responded, “Just told me she was fine. Never said a word after that.”

“Really?” Rarity wondered, “Why would she do that…?”

“Yeah!” Pinkie exclaimed, a slight amount of frustration apparent in her voice.

“She did sound… well… pretty scared…” Fluttershy added worriedly.

Twilight began thinking back to the recent events.
Not long ago the five ponies present had met up near the entrance to the temporary housing complex, which they were to reside in for the duration of the Gala festivities, to discuss their plans for the day. However the meeting had come to a sudden halt when they had over heard the sound of their friend Rainbow Dash screaming. It had been loud enough to hear through the walls of her room, which was at the top of the three story building, and had given them all a fright when they heard it.

“What was… that…?” Fluttershy had asked, still shaking from the fright.

“That sounded like…” Twilight had responded as the others remained dead silent. Soon after she had flown up to the walkway outside the room, and had begun knocking on the door.

“I knocked on the door for a while, not wanting to just barge in…” Twilight recalled, “Then, after a while, I tried to ask her if she was alright.”

“And we know the rest of the story,” Rarity finished.

“Yeah…”

The group went silent again as they stood there, wondering what exactly had happened. They all knew they heard Rainbow screaming, that much was for certain, but they couldn’t tell what had caused the event to start, and it was all too obvious that Rainbow was not going to talk yet.

“Well…” Twilight broke the silence, “I guess we should just go on with plans.”

“Right…” came the collective response.

Each of the five ponies had some role to play in today’s festivities. Rarity was to present some of the costumes she had completed for the theatrical performance, which she had sent in to Canterlot about two weeks ago for storage, and to assist in finishing up the rest; Twilight was working with the other three princesses, Celestia, Luna, and Cadence, to finish the organization of the official events and mapping the Gala’s schedule out as reference; Pinkie was helping with not only catering, but also in certain areas of entertainment for the attendees; Applejack was also helping out in catering for the Gala, as well as participating in the ground race in the Stadium later that day, which she would attend practice for at 2:00PM; and Fluttershy was to help tend to the many animals allowed to run and fly about the grounds, as well as possibly some of the foliage planted around. On top of all of that, each one of them was to give a short speech later, when the festivities were to come to a close. They had been written by the four princesses for that specific purpose, and had been sent to them by Celestia before they left for the train station yesterday. They all had busy days ahead of them, to say the very least.

Suddenly, Rainbow Dash went racing out the door above them, flying directly toward the Stadium. It surprised all of them, as they weren’t expecting it after not seeing her outside at all yet that day, and they began to wonder why she was in such a hurry.

“Um… Twi?” Applejack asked, “Wha’ do ya think got her so frantic?”

Twilight looked around, soon realizing what exactly had caused it. “Look what time it is!” she said, pointing one of her fore-hooves up.

The others looked to where Twilight pointed, toward one of the large clock towers that were strewn about the grounds. It read 7:53.

“Oh…” came the collective response.

Rarity gasped. “That reminds me, I need to be at the wardrobe center by 8:30!” Soon she was on her way as well, as it would be much longer for her than Rainbow Dash, seeing as she couldn’t fly, and that street traffic was beginning to pick up.

“And we need to get to the pastry shop!” Pinkie screamed to Applejack, before she ran off as well.

The clock had served as a nearly unwelcome reminder to all five of the ponies, as soon all had remembered they needed to be somewhere soon, and had sped off to there. It would be a long day, but well worth it in their eyes.

“Um… Hello…” Fluttershy said quietly as she made her way into the small Animal Care Clinic.

Not a sound was heard.

“Maybe I was supposed to meet her somewhere else,” Fluttershy thought to herself.

Suddenly, she heard a voice from behind her.

“Oh! Hello Fluttershy, I wasn’t expecting you to get here so early.”

Fluttershy jumped slightly from the sudden entrance. “Oh… Well… Hello to you too.” The mare speaking to her was named Crissy Flowery; she was colored with shades with shades of brown and gold, had bright eyes colored with a mix of red and orange, and wore a red hat with white spots covering its surface; her cutie mark was three lady bugs, all with four white spots covering them. The two had met a while ago at a nature festival, and had become quick friends.
“Heheh… Sorry if I scared you, I’ve had a tendency to do that a lot lately,” Crissy apologized.

Fluttershy smiled back at her.

“Alright, I’ll take that as a good sign. Now, were you able to look around the Grounds yet?”

“Well… No, not really, yet,” Fluttershy responded.

“Well you’re gonna need to know your way around if you want to keep track of all these animals. So, come on, I’ll give the tour real quick.”

The two ponies left the small building as began the tour of the grounds.

“This,” Crissy said as she led Fluttershy into the area, “is the grounds’ central plaza, where most of the shops and other accommodations are located. It’s also one of the main landmarks, as well as has one of the best views of some of the others, such as the four clock towers.”

Fluttershy looked up from the area to see the two of the clock towers off in the distance, as well as the other two when she looked in the opposite direction. Then, looking around the plaza, noticed all the different details she had missed on her first, brief visit to the area, such as the many smaller carts stationed outside the larger shops. They were selling smaller food and clothing items, painting portraits and/or landscapes, and playing music, either solo or in small groups; it added a lot of life to the town.

“Wow…” she said in amazement.

“I know, pretty impressive for just one year of work,” came the reply. Crissy paused as she looked to the next area of the grounds. “Alright, we unfortunately don’t have all day, better get going.”

Fluttershy nodded and followed to the next area.

Fluttershy was led all around the grounds, next stopping at the large park that had been put in place at the base of one of the many artificial water falls flowing off the surrounding wall; it was also one of many origin points for the small streams that flowed throughout the grounds. It was absolutely beautiful, with large trees scattered about, benches occasionally placed on the side of the many dirt paths leading throughout the park, white painted bridges built over the streams that found their way there, small bird fountains built in some places, and a large lake at the water fall’s base. And like the rest of the grounds, it was extremely large, especially when compared to the parks of other cities and towns in Equestria.

Then she was taken to one of the eight entrances to the wall’s tunnel system. They were closed until further notice, however explained that the tunnel system allowed anyone who entered extraordinary views of the grounds, as well as access to the top of the wall to overlook its entirety from an aerial perspective, and easy access back to the new train system through the lower levels.

Next on the list was the Gala Stadium, which she had gotten a quick look at yesterday evening when Cadence had brought them to speak with Celestia about the day’s plans. Aside from the multipurpose field and large seating arrangements, there wasn’t much else to see or do at the site, so it was the shortest of the stops on the tour.

After that was one of the four Clock Tower Plazas. They were much smaller and less decorated than the larger Central Plaza had been, and most of the space in the middle was taken up by the enormous clock tower located there; however the location was still filled with life as ponies walked around, in and out of the tower, played instruments on the benches outside, and did other miscellaneous things. Told her that the other three of them were built almost exactly the same, with the only real differences being created by the ponies there and what they did. Even still, it was a nice area to just relax for a bit, and to go up in the tower and get a great view of the surrounding buildings.

Finally, there was the observatory. It was a collection large, white, dome shaped buildings with slightly larger cylindrical bases of the same color. And a collecting of large cylinders of a slightly darker color protruded out of the top of the domes in multiple places. The interior was just as impressive as the exterior. It was nearly entirely hollow, with support beams clearly visible due to the bright lighting, and each dome had a long track going along its center with a hole in the center. The hole in the track was where the large cylinders that made up the telescopes pointed out of the domes. It looked like something straight off the Canterlot Castle, and was one of, if not the most amazing location Fluttershy had seen on the grounds.

Over the course of the tour, Fluttershy had been able to see most of her friends also getting a tour around the grounds. Pinkie Pie and Applejack had been being led around the grounds by Sugar Pie. She was a mare with a bright cot of mixed purple and pink, who had turquois hair, eyes of an only slightly different color, a yellow flower in her hair, and a purple frosted cupcake as a cutie mark. She was also another one of the assistants for the catering staff, whom had been able to look around earlier the previous day. And Rarity was being taken around by Fancy Pants, a bright white stallion of the higher social classes that was managing the wardrobe department for this year’s Gala. Even Discord could be seen about the grounds playing and being his usual goofy self. He had learned a lot over the few years Fluttershy and her friends had known him, and was really seeming to feel at home now, even at this large event. Rainbow and Twilight, contrarily, hadn’t been seen anywhere at all; however Fluttershy assumed that was because they had flight routine practice or administration duties to attend to respectively, although she wished she had gotten to see the two of them at least once.

Even so, the tour Crissy had provided Fluttershy was now over, and it was time to start the task she had been given. They had walked back to the small Animal Care Clinic, and upon arriving had grabbed a few smaller items from the interior that would aid in the current task.

“So,” Crissy asked, “Now that you know your way around, and have all the stuff you’ll need, how about we get started with this whole thing?”

“Um… Yeah, sure. We can do that,” Fluttershy responded.

“Alright. So, I’m gonna mainly be taking care of the plants around, although I won’t leave you do take care of all these animals alone. But, if you see any animals that need care, don’t hesitate.”

“Oh, alright, I can do that.”

“Great! I guess I’ll see you around.”

With that, the two left the small clinic to go start their job for the day, both eager to get started.

“Thanks for the tour Sugar Pie!” Pinkie Pie said excitedly upon arriving back at the bakery in the central plaza, “Wow… I never realized how weird it is to say your name ‘till now.”

“Hm?” Sugar Pie responded, slightly confused, “Why is tha—?” She paused, “Oh… right, that. Heheh.”

“Yeah, that!” Pinkie responded.

The two laughed a little at the sudden realization. Even Applejack joined in bit towards the end, having to repeat the names in her head a few times to fully understand what was so funny about the two.

“Hehe… well. Ah… I guess that’s why you’re the element of laughter…”

“Yeah…” Applejack responded, seeing as Pinkie was still unable to control herself, “Ya couldn’ even believe tha rest a’ what she got… hehehe…”

“It must be a great time hanging out with her.”

“Believe me, it is… it is.” Applejack looked over to Pinkie again, who was only just now gaining control of herself again. “Although… she can be a real… um…”

“Hoof-full?”

“Yeah… let’s stick wit’ that.”

The two of them chuckled a bit at the small exchange.

“So, Applejack?”

“Yeah?”

“How do… actually, never mind.”

The line confused the orange earth pony, but she didn’t want to press the matter further, especially now that Pinkie had finally calmed down enough to breathe again.

“Okay… okay…” Pinkie said, still panting, “I’m… I’m fine now… I think…”

“You think?” Sugar Pie asked in response.

“Yeah… yeah… I think…”

“Alright...” Applejack said, a hint of frustration present in her voice.

“Well, if she’s fine, should we get started?” Sugar Pie asked, obviously eager to get started on all the baking that would follow.

“Yes!” Pinkie responded, even more eagerly, “Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!”

“Alright, jus’ calm down Pinkie,” Applejack urged.

“I’m starting to see what you mean…” Sugar Pie stated. Suddenly, the clock towers outside in the town chimed; it was 10:00AM. “Oh no… We’re supposed to open the doors NOW! Oh… that tour must have taken longer than I thought… What’re we gonna do!?”

“Don’t worry,” Pinkie stated happily, “I think this will help give us time!” She proceeded to pull a large, light blue cannon out of seemingly nowhere, than firing it off a little too happily. “PARTY CANNONtm! Never leave home without it!”

Sugar Pie simply stared on in surprise and fright. “Wha? How? Where? Why? WHAT!?!”

“After a while, ya just stop asking questions…” Applejack reassured her, having seen the same reaction from a majority of other ponies who had just met Pinkie Pie on multiple occasions.

“How…?”

“I… jus’ don’t know Sugar Pie… I jus’ don’t know anymore…”

However the two gladly accepted it, seeing as it gave them time to make more of the many baked goods the store was supposed to sell before the ponies outside were going to get in. The three got to work quickly, all making their own specialties to display, as well as extras to sell at some point that day.

“Thank you so much, Fancy Pants, for the tour of the grounds,” Rarity said as the two stepped back into the wardrobe department room in the Gala Stadium. The room was a large, well lit, and extravagantly decorated one, with a massive selection of materials, mannequins, mirrors, tools, and everything else one would need to assemble a great piece of costuming.

“Don’t mention,” Fancy Pants responded, “It was the least I could do for you Rarity.”

“No, please, I really do appreciate it.”

“You are too kind. Now then, shall we discuss costuming plans?”

“Yes, let us.”

The two walked over to the many racks of clothing items that had been set up earlier that day and began shuffling through them.

“Ah, here are the few sets I’ve made,” Rarity stated upon finding the costumes she had finished on the rack, of which there were four, “I managed to just barely finish them up before I left. Do you like them?”

Fancy Pants inspected the sets of costumes, thoroughly looking over every detail of the pieces until he was satisfied with the investigation. “They’re lovely, Rarity,” he said upon completion, “However, I’m seeing a few minor things I’d like to see if you could change about them.”

“Oh, please, any improvements will be happily made.”

“Good. Now, for this one,” he pointed to the costume set to the far right, “I’d like to change the trimming, as well as some of the designs you’ve put in, to a lighter coloring. Something more… lively, I guess is what I’m looking for.”

“Okay. I’ll get started immediately. Shouldn’t take more than… maybe, ten minutes.”

“Actually, before you leave, I’d like to give the rest of my notes.”

“Alright.”

“For this second one,” he said, pointing to the set to the direct left of the first, “I only want to try to get a more fitting tie to go with the piece. This current one, it just doesn’t seem to fit the rest of the set as much as I know some of the ones we have in storage would.”

“Yes, unfortunately that is one of the disadvantages a smaller boutique such as mine has. I’d love to see what pieces you have here.”

“Finally, with this one,” he moved to the one on the far left, “I feel like adding a few extra decorative designs, specifically with in the middle and lower regions, would aid in giving this the ‘over extravagant’ feeling the stage directors are going for, although keep the coloring and overall decorative theme consistent.”

“Alright, I can do all of that. Although,” Rarity paused for a moment, “What about that one?” She pointed to the set to the direct right of the set Fancy Pants had just commented on, a suit that was to be worn by Fancy Pants himself in the performance that was to be put on. “That’s your costume.”

“Yes, why?” Fancy Pants replied.

“Well… don’t you want to change anything about it, even if it’s minor?”

“No. I feel it fits me perfectly as it is.”

“R-really?” Rarity was extremely happy now, although she attempted to maintain her composure as best she could.

“Yes. The coloring, the style, the small and barely noticeable, yet obviously meticulously designed details. It all comes together, at least as I see it. And, since this is to be my garb, I feel that my thoughts are all that matter on the subject of changes.”

“Well… thank you.”

“No problem, Rarity.” He paused as he looked over the other three costume sets one last time to finalize his thoughts. “Now, shall we go forward with those few changes I mentioned?”

“Yes, we shall. I assume I can help with the rest of the costume sets after these changes are complete for the performance?”

“That would be greatly appreciated, especially from a mare of your talent.”

Rarity was having a tough time containing her happiness now, but managed to do so despite this. Today was going to be a magnificent chance to truly display her skill in the field, and to the upper classes as well. It was a dream come true to her, and she wasn’t about to let it go to waste.

“Your majesty,” the guard stated plainly, “Twilight Sparkle is here.”

Celestia looked up from the many papers she and two of the other princesses, Luna and Cadence, had spread across the table. “Ah, good. Please, let her in.”

The guard nodded and proceeded to open the large door, behind which was standing Twilight Sparke, already dressed in her formal dress.

“Thank you,” she said to the guard as she stepped in.

“Hello, Twilight,” Celestia said happily, “I hope this morning has treated you well so far.”

“It has Prince—erm… I mean… Celestia,” Twilight responded, “Sorry, still trying to break that habit.”

Celestia chuckled slightly. “Yes, old habits really do die hard.”

“Didn’t you say that yesterday?”

“Yes, I did, and you just confirmed it.”

The two princesses laughed a bit at the exchange.

“So, what are we planning for today… Celestia? Anything that you would like to discuss before we finalize tonight’s schedule?”

Celestia’s face changed from happiness and excitement, to a dark, deep fear and worry.

“Celestia…? Is there… something wrong?”

“Um…” she could barely speak, “Actually, Twilight, there were… two things that I wished to touch on before we… wrote that up…”

“What were they…?”

Celestia paused, thinking on how to best word what she was about to say, and in what order to present the issues. Suddenly she calmed a small amount, and spoke again.

“Well, firstly. Twilight… your friends, why do they never seem to speak around me anymore?”

“Hm?” Twilight seemed slightly confused.

“What I mean is… Even Rainbow Dash barely speaks in my presence anymore, and it has been decreasing for all five of them ever since you all defeated Tirek. Yet they speak with you so casually, so I suspect it is not a rank issue. I’m just wondering… are they afraid of me?”

“What?! No, of course they’re not afraid of you.”

“Then why?”

“Truthfully, I don’t have an exact example. However, I suspect it would have to do more with greater respect, and thus greater conformity to rank differences.”

“How do suspect that?”

“Well, and they have told me things along these lines before, after the whole Tirek crisis they saw just how much danger being a princess can put one in, and grew to have much greater respect for those who were willing to take that position despite that, especially for you Celestia.”

“And… why especially for me?”

“Because you’ve so for the longest out of all of the princesses, and have done so after dealing with many great emotional losses as well. They’ve gotten to see you as a much stronger mare than they originally did, and even then it was very nearly overwhelming to think of for them.”

“And so this led to them growing to respect the customs of the difference in our social positions more, which include the lack of non-direct communication?”

“It’s only a theory, but it seems to me to be the most logical interpretation. But even so, I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that they don’t fear you, if that makes you feel better.”

“It does, truly. Thank you.” Celestia paused, and the fear and worry greatened yet again as she began speaking again. “And… the second thing…”

“What is it?”

“Do you remember… yesterday…? I told you that I had… had another…”

“Dream?” Twilight finished.

“Y-yes… dream… Well, I… I… had another and… it… it was…”

Celestia was beginning to seem like she could go into a panic attack at any moment now, which was something that never happened with her. Even in times of great crisis she had always maintained some semblance of composure and calmness to her; but now she seemed to be losing it.

“Celestia…” Twilight was starting to feel the fear and worry seeping into her now, “…what did you see…?”

“…”

“Celestia…?”

“Death, Twilight Sparkle… Fire… and death…”

Twilight stared on in horror at the princess that stood before her, who was now on the verge of tears.

“It was horrible… in every way possible…”

“But, wait,” Twilight urged, “Yesterday you said there was nothing threatening about it. And now you’re saying that it will cause death?!”

“Yes… I still don’t know exactly what happened. The view I had was… not optimal… it seemed to be that of an on-looker in the audience… directly out of that window.” Celestia pointed to the window, which had been closed. “But… it was terrible… I have already sent out Luna and Cadence to alert the whole of the Royal Guard to fortify the grounds tonight, as well as to gather the rest of the Wonderbolts that would not be present due to not performing to aid in dealing with any aerial threats that may be present.”

“But… wouldn’t it be best to just call off the Gala all together, to avoid the possibility of this going through the way you saw it.”

“No… this event… it was planned by one of evil intent… If I were to call it off, they’d likely attack sooner, before the evacuation could be complete, and then there would be no way to tell when they would come, nor any way to defend the Gala guests and participants. Or, if they allowed evacuation to be completed, they could attack Canterlot, and take even more helpless lives. If we go forward with it, we will know where and when, and will be prepared for it. Those things will be indispensable when dealing with… what I saw…”

Twilight was still visibly confused.

“Please, you must understand Twilight. I only ask you to aid in gathering the Equestrian forces, as well as in planning for defending against this dangerous being.”

“I… I…” Twilight sighed, “Alright, I’ll go help out in the planning. Do you think you’ll be able to handle scheduling alone?”

“If it is what is necessary, then I will make it so.”

The two were silent for a few moments, before Twilight simply turned, said “Goodbye… and good luck…”, and stepped out of the room. The events had disturbed all four princesses now, and had now made the coming night an event they were not looking forward to, but it was necessary to continue now. No stones were to be left unturned, and no detail left unprotected. The grounds, and surrounding area, were now going into a secret lock-down, one that the guests were to be kept from finding.

--To Be Continued--