It's Always The Quiet Ones.

"All right ponies! I trust you have a clear idea of what to do before we visit Rarity today. Don't know about you but I'm feeling pretty excited that we have a chance to show her how generous WE can be for a change."

Twilight smiled to all her friends, seated neatly around a recently conjured oak table.

Pinkie Pie's smile seemed to tear her face in two.

"Generosity Shemirosity, All Rarities gonna be thinking about is how much cake matron allows her to eat, she's gonna forget about her boo-boo's in no time!"

The little pink pony bounced nimbly into the air as Applejack cocked an eye at her.

"Are ya sure that's the diet for a recovering patient? A parties swell an all, but we don't wanna get Rarity over-excited, not as a first hospital trip."

Pinkie landed nimbly and placed a hoof to her head, apparently deep in thought.

Applejack was correct however. Rarity had sustained more than just an unflattering scar from the bomb blast five days previous.

Closer inspection had revealed two fractured legs (one foreleg, one back leg) in addition to one broken rib. Fortunately the damage to her lively hood was not as prominent; Sweetie bell had been out with friends when Carousel Boutique was partially destroyed, and the majority of Rarities fabrics were still relatively untouched on the boutiques second floor. Many finished dresses however were beyond ruin.

Doctor's estimated Rarities recovery to be two weeks minimum, but it would take her months to reproduce her lost stock. Despite of this the mood of the ponies, sitting in a ring around Twilight's 'all-natural' library was very light indeed, and for a blissful moment; the magic of friendship seemed to fill the room.

All the ponies present were sitting, except for Rainbow Dash who, somewhat agitated, was hovering barely off the wooden floor boards, landing, then just as quickly taking to the air again. Something was on her mind, but it quickly surfaced.

"Yeah, Twi, about Opal, I already got a couple my pegasus buds to sweep Equestria with me but we haven't found her yet... Or the other critters for that matter."

Despite her boyish manner, Rainbow Dash seemed genuinely concerned.

"We'll keep looking, but...I...well,... We may just need to wait for them to come back. Cloudsdale needs everyone on hand now its tornado season,... But if she was scared by the explosion, she'll just come back sooner or later anyway...right?"

A single bead of sweat formed on Twilight's forehead and slid down to her eyebrow.

"...Y...You bet RainbowDash, for all we know Opals back at the boutique right now playing her way through all those balls of yarn..."

Somewhere outside the room, a clock chimed, the sound ring out alone into the hushed room. Fluttershy whinnied under her breath, startled by the noise, but her flowing pink mane chose to fall in front of her face, and no pony was any the wiser. It was a silence that even Pinkie seemed to comprehend, perpetuated as it was by Twilight to keep an ever present, harsh reality, under hoof.

Twilight knew of course that Opal had been suddenly and violently blown apart by the bomb blast, and that she had been at the mercy of whatever sadistic militia had planned the terror attack on Ponyville for any number of days. She was a clever mare and it showed, but as she sat on the hard planks, the glow of the ethereal meeting table dancing on her locked jaw, her pre-conceived notion that the world was coated in sugar started to fall away.

"Well, great work every-pony!" the words seemed all too forced.

Twilight bounded up, hooves clutching to her day planner. A sharp nod toward the table caused it to vanish into thick blue smog that bled across the room.

Twilights eyes twitched in fractious unison as the four ponies were speechlessly driven out of the organic library, and through its bright door.

"'tyouagree?"

Pinkie, blissfully unaware of the vein that pulsed rhythmically in Twilights small forehead was about to answer her word for hurried word, right up until she noticed the red door slam in her face. Discovering themselves turned out on the doormat, Applejack was the first to speak up.

"Did Twilight seem a little...well...agitated to y'all?"

Pinkie Pie, Apple Jack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash turned to each other in search of an explanation, but no answer could be found within their blank expressions. None of them understood, as they trotted out toward the town, the full extent of what had taken place in the boutique bombing five days previous. Certainly an explosive blast had occurred, it had caused much damage and initial panic, but no one had 'witnessed' any casualties meaning that in their ignorance the missing pets scandal was never connected.

Twilight, through the gift and curse that was her own rationalism, knew differently however. She and Rarity had of course witnessed first hand that the love of Celestia's rule did not protect them from the death and damage, implemented by the unknown terrorist threat.

Twilight pressed a watering eye up against the view-hole in the door, and let her day planner fall to the floor. To her frantic brain, the partitioned binder spilt its contents in slow motion. Her lilac hooves trembled freely against the red wood, as she desperately tried to discern whether her friends were leaving for the day. For a moment, Twilight was forced to consider the implications of death in Equestria; the dark maze of questions and its minotaurs together drew out a small manic sigh from the mare.

Her frazzled mane, accompanied with twitching eyelids indicated that she too had not been sleeping well. Each time an attempt was made she had lapsed into a restless, haunted sleep, overwhelming her as if a wall of water. She only had the one dream now. Opal, snootily strutting through her bedroom window, introduced herself as Dr Death, clad whiskers to tail in a dapper black waistcoat and top hat. She paced around, complaining that she couldn't find her 'little pink friend', but when Twilight, half dreading the answer, asked Opal the name of her friend, she had only given Twilight 'Dr Death's smile.
To her great agitation, rows of teeth had split wider in the cats face, of which circled the circumference of Dr Death's small head until with a faint snap the two receding points joined, and the top half of Opal's head fell away like a zipper. Revealing the contents inside. Twilight knew she had to escape her own house, run away, out into the street and call for help but knew instinctively that if she touched anything, her cabinet, the stair banister, her own front door her body was liable to break, shatter as if the force had been applied to herself twenty-fold. Stricken with fear she had made her way carefully across the landing to the stairs.

The force of her own magic, that at this point she felt welling up inside her own horn, would have undoubtedly reduced her head to cinders, and Twilight was forced to tiptoe down the stairs, without the aid of magic, until she came to the front door.
'Such a fragile little mare', she had thought, 'How is it fair that an explosive-chemical blast should vaporise everything you've come to believe? That the forces of friendship and the shockwaves of a bomb should become as indistinctive from one another as 'push' is to 'pull'.'

The dream had violently ended when Twilight had extended a nervous hoof toward her red front door. She then fumbled at the latch, sobbing, when the warm red paint suddenly evaporated along with her face. At least that's what she had guessed before the fire had destroyed what was left of her eyes.

In reality Twilight now slid down the door, back knees pressed against her head. Her usual humble persona of 'the librarian's daughter' was being replaced with that of an obsessive compulsive. She was relying increasingly on an impulsive streak to distract her moment from moment, never allowing the bigger questions to eat at her for long.

"Oh... Celestia...please let us find our way through this unscathed..." she begged aloud to the significantly less than omnipotent god-figure.

Her small lilac figure and highlighted mane cast a shadow over her detective-girl's clipboard and recently purchased magnifying glass resting on an empty bookshelf. Whilst suppressing shudders Twilight tried with difficulty not to think of it as a metaphor.

"I'm sorry I let you go Opal...," she repeated to herself once more, hoping that somehow, someway she was getting through to the dead cat.

"I...I wanted to help you, I do now, I...just please forgive me, friendship is stronger than this. Even if you hate me, just please remember that..."

"You know you're gonna have to tell them sooner or later, don't you?"

Spike, the spiny green and purple dragon stood looking down at Twilight from a railed partition on the first floor. Whether it was the seriousness of his point or the relative height between the two of them, his small stature seemed at least a third greater than normal. Despite the gravity of events in days past, this new image suited Spike.

Twilight was more relieved than startled to know Spike had been eavesdropping. He had taken the news of Opals' death surprisingly well considering his young, impressionable age, to which Twilight would later put down to dragon fortitude.
"And you should know there's no way I can do that Spike..." Twilight fought back the croak in her voice, and tried to reroute enough thinking power to form a coherent argument.

"Every problem we've been through so far has been tackled through the powers that friendship bestows on us, on all of Equestria. If the others know how badly I represented friendship..."

Twilights' muzzle quivered; she made no movement to get up from the door mat.

"...we'll loose our only weapon."

Spike lost his train of thought as Twilight relapsed once again into tears. She had purposely gone without water to stop their flow, long enough to put on a brave front for her friends. Regardless of this measure they now came out freely, welling up from bloodshot, feminine eyes.

Any pony in Twilights' library would have been overcome by the scene, such was the intensity of Twilights' despair.

"Twilight..." Spikes' words were pained.

"DON'T!... Just...just leave me alone Spike..."

Burdened with guilt Twilight had had enough of being the linchpin to Equestrian peace. For now, the thought of living in this moment, letting self-pity wash over her was all too bittersweet to ignore. She pulled her back knees closer to her chest. How ridiculous it all seemed now that six ponies (young mares no less) had been in charge of law and order in Ponyville. How cruel it seemed for Celestia to extend Twilight's duties to the whole of Equestria whenever she saw fit, conveniently forgetting the ungodly amount of pressure it placed in their hooves.

Twilight hadn't given up on friendship, by no means was this true, but since a creature had paid the ultimate price under her care she was seriously starting to doubt the extent of its powers.

"Twilight?..." Spike called down again, more urgently this time.
Twilight balled up closer to the door, shutting out the sound of her friend's voice. The thought of whether she was the only person in Equestria to have experienced this level of suffering flickered through Twilight's mind.

Given the over-positive atmosphere of Equestria's population, it wouldn't have surprised her.
But it might have surprised Spike.

A groan issued from the small dragon. His pain couldn't be suppressed any longer.

"Twilight, I...I don't know if it was something I ate, the Cakes' marsh-muffin maybe, b..but I...I don't feel so good."

Spike doubled over as he spoke the words, spiny fingers clutching at his lime-green belly. His eyes were beginning to roll back, as if to see for himself the source of the intense stomach cramps.

Twilight looked up sharply, catching a glimpse of Spikes' contorted face and sweating forehead. Something was wrong. Twilight knew that indigestion was common for a baby dragon whose eyes took in more than his tummy, but this illness was often laughed off by Spike himself. As it was, he could barely speak through gritted teeth.

He placed a trembling foot on the topmost stair, and then stumbled, the cramp reaching its peak. Unrelenting gravity took over and Spike fell end to end like a rag doll, groaning louder all the while. Limbs sounded off against wood, hitting the hard oak with startling force. The whole scene seemed like it was happening in slow motion, even as Twilight ran the short distance to the curved steps, the small dragon was falling on parts he didn't know he had.

In real time, Twilight had scarcely become a streaky blur before she got to Spike who had landed awkwardly on the bare wood floor. She was part way startled to silence as she sat Spike up for he hadn't seemed to register the freshly forming bruises on his leathery hide. Instead he let out a strange guttural noise, changing to a wheeze then back to a gagging.

"Oh sweet Celestia!, what is it Spike, wh...What's wrong? C' mon, breath Spike BREATH!" was all Twilight managed to say over the noise that issued from Spikes' red raw throat.

Then, unexpectedly, a small popping sound, like a dying firework was heard as Spike finally inhaled. The result was immediate. A harsh black flame blew out from Spikes' throat, stretching at least fifteen feet into the ovular library. He was pinned back against the stairs, some smaller books falling from their shelves so terrific was the force generated, whilst by an awful twist of magical pyrotechnics, the flames light seemed to draw in all colour from the room.
Had Spike not been facing the ceiling the moment he had been stricken, Twilight Sparkle would most surely have died a gruesome, painful death.

The flares' brightness (or lack thereof) softened momentarily as a charred scroll knitted itself together from the smoke. It flew out from the fire that had itself disappeared, and fell hissing on the floor besides Twilight. Spike was the definition of unconscious; the un-tempered magic that had used him as a living conduit could have done the same and worse to older dragons. As it was however, Spike's breathing was shallow.

Even though the weight of the world seemed to be crushing down on Twilight's small shoulders the scroll, she knew, had to be inspected.

"Princess, what ever did you do to send this here?"
Twilight knew deep down that the fire-damaged roll of parchment was not holy in its origin. The waxen green insignia bore the imprint of a fully open bloodshot eye unlike any marking she had seen before. It levitated up, jittering at Twilights eye level the dim magic aura unfurled it.
Twilight's own eyes now matched the print on the wax seal.

MANE 6.
IF YOU ARE READING THIS YOU HAVE EVADED OUR GREETING 'MESSAGE' AND HAVE HAD SUFFICIENT TIME TO RECOVER FROM INJURIES. THIS, LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE, HAS BEEN PLANNED IN ADVANCE. DO NOT BE SO CONCEITED AS TO THINK IT WAS YOUR OWN CUNNING THAT ALLOWED YOU TO SURVIVE.
OUR DEMANDS ARE SIMPLE; THE ABDICATION OF CELESTIA AND THE ROYAL BLOODLINE, ALONG WITH YOUR OWN REMOVAL FROM EQUESTRIA.
FAILURE TO MEET THESE DEMANDS WILL BE MET WITH EXTREME FORCE. YOUR ANIMAL COMPANIONS WILL BE OUR INSTRUMENTS IN DELIVERING DEATH AND MISERY TO ALL THAT WALK ON FOUR HOOVES. YOUR CHILDREN SHALL BURN, YOUR SETTLEMENT SHALL BE LEVELLED, AND YOUR ATTEMPTS AT MAGIC, DISPELLED.
WE DO NOT FORGIVE.
WE DO NOT FORGET.
WE ARE LEGION.
SHIMMER OR DIE IN THE NEW ORDER OF 'MASQUERADE.'

How curious it is for friends of very different natures to think of common solutions to their suffering. Indeed this is true on both sides of 'The Plane'. If one were able to read the collective thoughts of the citizens of Ponyville that day they would have found a similar thread. Mother, father and child held a great belief in the powers of Celestia. Her silver framed picture was not an uncommon feature in an Equestrian citizens living room, snugly hung up over a clay fireplace.

It wasn't just because she was seen to raise the sun and moon that her reign had brought with it it's own unique brand of mysticism. The roles of Princess and God were so well fused together in the society of Ponyville that the grammar of colloquial speech was almost always skewed. 'God save my queen' was one such phrase that had not made sense in over one thousand years and counting, albeit besides any point. Celestia's rule was truly bizarre when compared to any human monarchy.

Part of this ''mysticism' had in itself been generated through the divine set of artefacts know as 'The Elements Of Harmony'. Yes there were the practical purposes of banishing demonic monsters and family members, but at times they were priceless propaganda. If you claim a leader is honest there's always some doubt about their capabilities, or intentions, or perhaps their competence. You claim a necklace embodies the essence of honesty and the whole world believes you. Ponyville had not overly panicked at the bombing because they knew that in a worst-case scenario these enchanted accessories could be wielded to restore law and order. As a failsafe, they were the ultimate weapons in holding back the forces of chaos.
What the naive mares and stallions hadn't bet on was whether the elements were already in use.

"You know, dearest Celestia, I really can't remember the last opportunity you and I had this much quality time together, And why on earth not!..."

Discord, master of madness, looked with cruel amusement into Celestia's tired eyes.
"...I mean ponies say that I'm messed up BUT YOU! Are little girls doing your dirty work now? You taught them well Celestia, exceptionally well, gave me a run for my money and that's no secret..."
He adopted a half-sincere lament.

"...And here I thought 'chocolate rain' was about as chaotic as you could get, but taking away the little dear's childhood, their innocence, thrusting them into the harsh role of secret police when they should be playing with their dollies? I feel dwarfed by you Celestia, hopelessly outmatched."

A steady stream of white light flowed out from Celestia's horn and into the shimmering necklaces, placed in a hexagonal configuration around Discord. The tiara was suspended lopsidedly by a piece of rope that hung from the centre, seemingly directing the sparkling haze into a crude form of containment field.

There was reason behind the slap-dash nature of the enchantment. If Discord could be awakened by fighting school girls, as he had been several months previous, the time it would take for him to escape his stony prison in the event of murder was only a few minutes. The sheer amount of chaos that was generated from Opals' death left very little time for the royal guards to form any counter-measures against Discord's escape. Despite the suggestions of moving Discord from the Canterlot statue garden to a more secure holding cell, what had resulted was a frantic rush to re-imprison the menagerie of creature parts as he quickly reverted from stone to flesh. It was only by a miracle that his escape had been foiled. An entire battalion of pegasus guards had to airlift Discord in his decaying prison through a naturally occurring cavern, depositing him in the deepest darkest room in the royal castle.

It was a massive piece of gothic architecture capped with dark oaken rafters no less than one hundred feet high. The gaunt structure was easily the oldest part of the castle.
"If you think your scare-tactics will get a rise out of me Discord you have seriously underestimated Equestrian Royalty. I have never forced those girls to do anything they... ***! "

The breath stuck in Celestia's throat and the rate of the energy steam faltered. The elements of harmony had enough residual magic to imprison most of Equestria's enemies, but without the Mane 6 to wield them Discord's insanity would soon have overwhelmed their defensive properties. Supremely powerful magic was the only alternative as a substitute for Twilight Sparkle and her friends, and even then the amplification effects were poor. In conclusion nothing could quite match the genuine elements of harmony that resided in the hearts of the six little mares. Celestia thought this as for the third time that the day, the last reserves of her magic was snatched up by the pulsing cage.

Discord floated toward the edge of his cell, drawn to the weakness he sensed in the tired princess.
"Come to think of it I remember you had another do-gooder squad half a millennia back, talkative bunch, not much to look at from a wardrobe aspect, and...why...they were about the same age as your newest additions, you cradle robber you! Tell me. What was it exactly that happened to them, Celestia? You have a better memory than I. I'm certain that, one day, they made a rather sudden career change..."

Celestia winced, teeth bared with exhaustion and anger.
"You turned them into sponge cake, as well you know."

Discord couldn't restrain himself, arching himself back a manic laugh exploded into the huge antechamber. When it seemed the sound was about to die completely the echo simply lowered an octave and continued on. Celestia did her best not to shiver.

"OH yes, now I remember,...and they were delicious. They may have seemed like humble cake at the time, but I assure you Celestia, 'slow-mo' and 'fizzle-pizzle' or whatever the hell their names were. They felt every. Last. Bite."
The alicorns horn spat out it's last few sparks, and with that the ritual was finished. Celestia knew full well she would have to complete it again a mere eight hours later, leaving her magically drained in the meanwhile.
"I learn from my mistakes Discord, the arrangement you see here will imprison you in these catacombs for the rest of time."
Discord's face elongated, the breath rushing out from his lungs.

"Not...t..the r..r..rest of TIME!" He stammered.

Inside the prison alarm clocks pushed themselves into existence, their hands a continuous blur of movement. Discord yanked at his own mismatched horns and thrust his head flat against the magical wall. Right up close to Celestia's bagged eyes.

"Oh my God, my Queen Celestia!, do not make my sentence indefinite, how now! I shall never again hear the sweet sting of pony laughter in my ears..."

Discord sobbed the last words, and then as more clocks filled the small space (grandfather clocks and pocket watches), his goatish body began to age rapidly, falling to the ground as little more than a pile of bones and dust.
For the shortest time the tall room, complete with gargoyles and sculpted moulding fell completely silent. Then the hands of every conjured clock stopped eerily at twelve their assorted alarms ringing out into the antechamber. The panelled door to a grandfather clock opened and Discord's flexible frame slunk out from it, completely unharmed.
"Oh wait, my mistake, that's a load of bull-honkey!"

Celestia's head rose from indignant pride as a snap of Discord's fingers sent the clocks back into limbo. He coiled up to the shimmering wall, legs crossed in the most casual fashion.

"Look, Celestia..." he began in an almost fatherly tone.

"...if you want to be a mediocre princess then you have to use your head a little more. When I say I can escape from this tipi you've set up, I don't mean I have to 'LITERALLY' escape from it. Though having said that..."
He tapped a pointed nail against the magical wall sending a ripple through the entire cage.
"...I'd give it a month. What I mean is that if not me it'll be another 'Discord' equivalent, and if not him, another one. You can't get rid of chaos Celestia, it's in you, it's most definitely in me, and it's in that pet of yours, the one you brought over from the 'other-plane'..."

Curiously, Celestia felt a need to defend the reluctant P.I.

"Frank Parkland has proven himself to be a reckless but very capable officer in the eyes of Equestrian law, and given his record I'd be careful what you say about him in confidence with me..."

Discord couldn't help but snigger, even if it was to disguise some slight anxiety.

"Please Celestia, if you give the thing a name you'll get attached to it. Besides, and here's the kicker, I'm not responsible for the little explosive present Rarity and Opal 'especially Opal' received the other day. Isn't that crazy! I'm on the edge of my seat as much as the rest of you scared little ermine,...only I brought pop-corn."

A small boom was heard at the other end of the enormous dungeon, along with a small rectangle of light heralding the arrival of a new figure. Celestia was grateful a distraction had occurred at this particular moment because (and perhaps it was due to the attraction that all polar opposites share); she was starting to take Discord's heckling to heart. An electric blue unicorn with business waistcoat and spectacles trotted urgently across the vast expanse of stone to join princess Celestia. By her side and out of breath the colt urgently tapped at a miniature crystal ball that he telekinetically lifted out of a pocket. The steady pulse of red light that glowed out of the clear quartz mirrored the thumping in Celestia's chest.

"Y...your highness,...the s...sending spell connected to the Royal messenger Spike the d...dragon. It's been intercepted by a d...dark m...magical energy. Unicorn diagnostics cannot discern anything about its source or how it got through the barriers of magical fortification."

Celestia had to will her body to retain its strength. She was in all ways a princess-leader of a nation and to let Discord see her cave under pressure would not have been ideal.

"Well well..." Discord purred.

"Right on cue..."

Celestia stood away from the patchwork menace and addressed the unicorn by rank then name. She nodded slowly as the pony completed its brief, methodically committing the details to memory and allowing for their speedy recollection. This was Celestia the tactician.

"Can I assume that whatever message was sent through, it is from the same terror group that organised the Boutique bombing?"

"Yes your majesty."

"...and that they have demanded to bring down my reign by force."
"Yes your majesty."

"Heaven's!..." It was said as a curse.

The bespectacled pony magically pulled the quartz sphere back into its breast pocket, trading it for a miniature clipboard.
"We were able to take down a copy of the message so please your majesty; it lists several threats including the burning of children as well as many following suicide bombings...performed by...the captured pets Princess."

Celestia was looking away from the pages of statistics, up into the dark rafters and the shadows beyond them. Her four hooves were spread apart, letting her beautiful white face grow all the brighter in the surrounding darkness.
"...care you to see it?"

Celestia shot a cruel gaze to her servant.

"It lists the destruction of our way of life doesn't it!, don't waste my time with any other trivia! This is a monarchy!, lest you've forgotten!...you know what must be done..."

She turned deliberately to match an unflinching gaze with Discord.

"...Order must be maintained, above everything else..."

There was a clatter of wood on stone as the messenger dropped his clipboard in fear. The ferocity of a Celestia scorned was not to be experienced first hand.

"***, ggkk, sorry, princess, right away,...only in addition Constable Parkland has once again requested full powers in ..."
"Give them to him."

The small pony's eyes filled the frames of his glasses, mouth gaping.

"Princess, that 'man' is a wild card,...even you can't recommend..."

But the fact that the princesses aqua mane was turning crimson meant that it was time to shut up.

"Order 001, I take it then Princess?" said the colt, tactfully changing the subject.

"Yes.." she confirmed…"effective as of immediately."

'Order, 001.' Celestia thought to herself sadly 'The evacuation of all Equestrian children to Canterlot castle…. How did I let it come to this…'

Celestia turned her gold tipped heels and cantered off toward the exit while Discord called out to her. Her business with the cosmic jester was done for now, she had a duty to protect the youngest and most breakable of her subjects.

"You just enjoy yourself while you can Celestia, because one day, everything you've worked so hard for, all the sacrifices you've gone through to make yourself queen of your own little checker board, all of its going to be for me."
Discord reclined into a bejewelled throne that melted up from the ground.

"...and when your music is done and the melody ends, Discord, lord tops, will demand play, play again...and then we'll see how much you enjoy being on this side of the padded walls..."
The blue attendant rushed on through the doorway but the princess lingered a little, held in place by the mysticism in Discord's threats.
" Just imagine it Celestia, the whole of Equestria will be one big, happy madhouse when I'm running the show, complete with hot and cold running butter. There'll be no law no ORDER, a world crammed full of laughter and fear where the ground beneath your feet could give way at any second. But it'll only be those that speak out which will be condemned as mad. A chaotic paradise, and you Celestia,...believe it or not,... will eventually grow to love my world more than any other, even if I have to replace every cog in your precious little head."

The door slammed shut plunging the cathedral like room into complete darkness that was except for two red slits that emanated the cruelty in Discord's brain.

'Even if I don't get to have any fun this time around...'

Discord thought to himself, preparing to slip into a crazed sleep

'...what could one 'man' creature do against all the hurt that was coming his way. Nothing... Well that would only be right if,...no, that was silly, no creature alive could...absolutely nothing..."

Discord was almost sure of it.