The fog engulfed the whole of the town, forcing ponies to see the various parts of their mind and at least face, if not deal, with the presence of the pony in the mirror that they were trying to ignore. It would be a time not easily forgotten.

There was one sapient creature who was unaffected by it, and yet felt the strongest effect. The cube could feel that the happiness it had labored to create was fraying, bending, and in some places, outright inverting into other emotions it did not fully understand. Sorrow, regret, and other dark things came where it had left delight, pleasure, and overwhelming happiness.

What had happened? It surely wished to know. The greatest threats to its assembled utopia had been neutralized, or well on the way. Twilight had been shown love, and was happy. She was still happy. She still felt love, and she was the greatest threat. If she was happy and content, who was the engineer of this calamity?

Celestia? She was a great threat, but it had sent Big Mac to seduce and show her that her life could be so much happier than it was. She did not feel happy. Had Big Mac failed in his task? That must be where it all crashed down.

Where was Big Mac? It could feel him. He was unhappy. It was not a pure sadness. It was... complicated, so very many emotions swirling in an impenetrable mask. What had happened to him? Was this Celestia's doing?

It could feel a mote of anger. It was its creator. Its god, in a sense. Maybe father? Father worked. Of course he would be angry. All the hard work he had entrusted to his creation had been foiled. Maybe father would know what to do to fix this.

Discord tripped as he stomped through the fog, finding a strange, but familiar, cube had appeared right in front of where his foot had landed. "What--" He remembered what the cube was. "You!"

The cube wondered why Discord's anger was directed at it. It had done precisely what was asked of it.

"I didn't ask you to... wait, did you do all of this?" He waved a paw wildly through the foggy air.

It had.

"Why?"

The cube was quiet, not that it had made noise to begin with. Was it not created to find the pleasure within a pony, to draw it out and let them enjoy it?

Discord seemed to be able to hear the cube's silent musings. "Yes yes, but Fluttershy didn't like you, so I sent you away."

But it did make Fluttershy happy.

"About... that." He scowled at the cube with literal flames in his eyes. "What did you do to her? Be specific."

Nothing, directly. It had empowered somepony that she had already admired to step up and make an advance on her, which she had accepted. It was a happy ending! The cube was quite pleased that it had managed to find happiness in Fluttershy even after--

"Curse it all!" Discord hurled the rebellious box away, losing sight of it in the fog rapidly. It was only after it was gone that he realized that doing something about the cube, rather than hurling it, might have been wise.

The cube ceased to be there. Its mental adjustments were being undone, but physical alterations were more enduring. Perhaps that is where it should have focused? It decided this was the case, and suddenly it was beside a shaking Celestia.

Celestia snarled at her mental darkness. "Equestria has no need for a despot like you!"

Before Daybreaker could speak, the cube appeared in their mindspace just behind Daybreaker. Daybreaker blinked softly as her words were taken from her. "Oh, you might have a point there. But you know what else Equestria has no real 'need' for?"

Celestia drew back slightly, disarmed by the sudden attitude change. "What... is that?"

Daybreaker rose a clad hoof high, pointing at Celestia. "A princess! The ponies of Equestria govern themselves. Do you not wonder why they react so severely to your approach. You hate being separate and alone, don't you? We could do something about that, hmm?"

Celestia tilted her head slightly. "What madness are you speaking? Are you suggesting I force my subjects to accept me? That is a terr--"

"--No no, perish such petty thoughts." Daybreaker waved a hoof as if to clear bothersome smoke. "No, you wouldn't force your precious little ponies, so don't. You are the mistress of your own self, are you not? Set aside the size, put down the wings, or your horn, I care little which way it is. Be a regular pony, with your people instead of above them, hmm. Isn't that exactly what you've said you wanted?"

The cube's influence nibbled at Celestia. "Who would watch over them? Who would react if a great calamity befell my precious little ponies?"

"If you can go one way, why not the other." Daybreaker rolled her eyes. "Just take it back if you need to. What's the big deal, or are you really that much of a coward? Ugh, to think you technically are me, sickening." She spat into the ether beside her. "I'm showing you how to get what you want, and nopony gets hurt in the process. Is that not an ideal victory?"

Twilight could see fog. She could see it fading away slowly. The supply of herbs they had loaded the machine with had to be running out. The minty stinging in her lungs and nose was fading with it, leaving her to take an untroubled breath. "Princess? Zecora?"

"I am here, and renewed. My mind has finished its feud." Zecora leaned over and touched Twilight's snout with her own. "Are you well?"

"I'm alright." Twilight let out her breath in a gust. Why had she been worried for Zecora? The wise zebra was among the least likely to be crushed by her own thoughts. "Do you see Princess Celestia?"

"As far as I can tell, the princess is no longer in the spell." Zecora turned from Twilight and advanced into the fog, waving it away as she went.

"Princess!" Twilight trotted forward a her magic shone, warding away the fog. "Princess?"

She suddenly bumped into a pony. "Sorry, have you--" She trailed off, noticing she did not recognize the pony. The pegasus before her had light-pink fur, deeper pink-red mane and tail, and a bright sun across her rump for a cutie mark. "Who... are you?"

The pegasus mare sat up, shaking her head as if dizzy. "I'm... Sunny Days, nice to meet you, Princess Twilight Sparkle. I've come from so far away to find you."

Twilight jumped in surprise at that. "To find me?! Well, nice to meet you, Sunny. What can I... do for you? Have you seen Princess Celestia?"

Sunny gave a smile worthy of her name. "Oh, she said she had to go for a while, and to not look for her, and that she's fine."

Twilight crashed to her haunches. "W-what?"

Sunny flinched, seeing Twilight's expression of dismay. "She's fine, really. This just... took a lot out of her, and she's taking a little vacation. She has every confidence in you, Princess Twilight Sparkle, and her sister, of course, to keep things running straight."

Zecora emerged from the thinning fog. "Hello, new mare. All this fog must have been a scare. I am Zecora, friend of Twilight. We were working to make wrong into right."

Sunny bobbed her head at Zecora. "I can tell I'll like you, Zecora. You seem like a nice mare. I'm new here in Ponyville." She raised a hoof and set it at her own chest. "I don't have a place to stay yet."

Twilight's ears danced. "Oh, that's terrible. Would you like to stay at my castle until you find a more permanent abode?"

Zecora nodded in agreement. "Twilight's castle is quite safe. You may stay until you feel a chafe."

Sunny hopped in place. "That sounds wonderful! I'll go check it out right now. Thank you, both of you." She turned and cantered off towards the castle that wasn't even visible under the thinning fog.

Zecora leaned in towards Twilight. "I hope you are not fooled. That mare has once this land ruled."

Twilight swiveled one of her ears towards Zecora. "What happened to her? Was... Celestia, the princess, a mental barrier she worked past? What does this mean for Equestria?!" She began to breathe a bit too quickly. "This is bad..."

Zecora put an arm over Twilight's withers, drawing her close. "Be calm. She is safe. We know she is not some waif. We will work and find a cure, and she will surely endure. For now we should focus on the town. We should start by asking around."

"Right, right... We have to see how effective this is, and if that disaster is past, at least." She let out her breath in a forced gust of air, trying to control her breath. "Right... Zecora, you start with the west side of town, and I'll tackle the east. We'll meet back here--" She waved a hoof over the mostly-clear square. "--in half an hour, alright?"

They shared a nod, and trotted off with purpose in opposing directions to determine the extent of the damage and how well, or poorly, things had gone with the fog cover.

Sunny knocked on the door to the castle for it to open quickly, revealing the scaled face of Spike. "Oh, hello, little dragon. I'm Sunny Days, and Princess Twilight said I could stay here for a while."

"I'm Spike," corrected the little dragon before smiling. "Uh, welcome, Sunny." He stepped back and waved inside. "Did you run into her? She and Zecora were acting weird, so I stayed out of it."

"She seemed to be doing fine." Sunny stepped lightly into the castle and looked around. "It's so nice to meet you, Spike. I've heard good things about you."

Spike's fins lifted a moment. "You have?! I mean, of course." His stance became cocky. "Have you been to the Crystal Empire?"

"Oh, yes, I have. They made a nice statue of you up there, didn't they?" Sunny smiled gently as she sat down. "I didn't think I'd get to meet the real thing."

"It's a, uh, pleasure to meet you." Spike tipped a hat he wasn't wearing. "So, what are you here for? I mean, what brings you this way?"

"Oh, just looking around, being... me." Sunny nodded firmly. "Do you happen to have any tea, by chance?"

"Sure!" Spike turned on a single foot and began walking towards the kitchen. "I'll get some water going. Do you like a specific kind? There's a tea shop right in town that has almost every flavor known to pony. We don't have quite that many, but we have the basics covered."

Sunny trailed behind Spike. "Something smooth that'll pick you up?"

Spike nodded. "Twilight likes that kind of tea, so we have plenty of it." He hopped up onto a stool and quickly got a box out of a cupboard before he got the water going over a flame in a kettle. "Now, we wait, the hardest part."

Sunny giggled softly. "You are too kind. A little waiting won't hurt me," assured the once-princess. "What is your favorite drink?"

Spike looked perplexed at being asked. "Huh, mine? Nopony ever really... asked that before. Uh... I like a good fruit punch with a dusting of garnets." He patted his belly. "It's a bit of a treat, but mmm, perfect."

The cube was pleased. It had saved Celestia from her despair and now it felt happiness and joy in the pony. Perhaps that had been its mistake. Was it pushing too hard? Maybe it had been assuming too much. Discord had created it to seek out sexual satisfaction, but, it had seen, there were many paths towards happiness. It just had to learn how to better seek it, and match the pony to it in a way that the pony would not later regret.

Author's Note

Discord, you done goofed, again. What will we do with you?

1: The Cube uses its newfound knowledge on Mayor Mare to put a smile on that mare's face.
2: Twilight runs into a remorseful Big Mac and they team up to set things right.
3: Tree Hugger is faced with a liberated crowd that isn't interested in serving her anymore.
4: Zecora goes to Fluttershy's to check on her

Want this story updated faster? Want to get your own story written? Want to just support the author in his writing? Join the atreon!

Join my discord to chat!