Explosions aren't as cool when you're in the blast radius.

A loud booming noise rocketed through the air and the ground shuddered and shook beneath Twilight’s hooves. Her head turned wildly this way and that trying to find the source. Other than ponies panicking in the streets she couldn't see much of interest.

She then heard the sound of thundering hooves as a full squad of guards ran through the street in pursuit of a blue cloaked figure. They passed awfully close by and she caught a glimpse of the stallion under the cowl. Considering what he had likely done, his determined expression was disturbing.

Against her better judgement, Twilight headed in the direction they came from.

A pillar of smoke was rising a short distance away, a large crowd murmuring in panic around a building reduced to rubble. Her guard escort twitched as if to help, but ultimately stayed in sight.

"Excuse me ma'am, do you know what happened?" Twilight asked a relatively calm member of the crowd.

"They say it was Nightmare Moon cultists," she said, distracted. "Nopony knows why though. It was just a pawn shop."

The mare looked at the destruction blankly, not even blinking as Twilight walked away.

Twilights mind was spinning. 'Cultists!?' She thought incredulously. This was either some kind of Changeling plot or Canterlot just got a whole lot more dangerous.

She did her best to find some higher ground, heading up a hill to get a better look at the damage. There was fire everywhere of a sickly green color, furniture had been torn apart and the walls were reduced to hunks of rock. She didn't see any bodies, so hopefully nopony got hurt. It was early morning, it was empty right?

With a worried expression, she turned away, trotting off to her previous destination. There wasn't much she could do about it now, and dwelling on it wouldn't help. She did clutch her necklace tighter, eyes darting left and right for signs of danger. This was becoming a real problem.

Trixie looked over the table from where she was manipulating a few rune etching tools. "You seem a little distracted, is everything alright?" Trixie had started easing up on the stage persona lately, something Twilight was grateful for.

"Just thinking about that explosion from earlier." Twilight muttered.

Trixie frowned. "Trixie heard about that, cultists huh?" She deftly etched a complicated pattern into a small stone square. Identical squares with different patterns littered the table. Twilight's doll sat in the center.

"I just wonder what they want, and if they have anything to do with the Changelings."

"Trixie has heard many rumours, but it's not like they have made a move yet." Trixie said thoughtfully. "The necklaces have gone off a few times, but it has been two weeks, Trixie doubts it will be something easy to see coming."

Twilight groaned. "That just makes me feel worse." She pressed her hooves to her face.

They sat in silence, nothing but the sound of stone slowly being cut filling the room. The soft candlelight and the smell of parchment slowly worked to calm Twilight's mind.

"So how many runes do you really need to make here?" Twilight asked.

Trixie hummed. "A lot more than Trixie's parents would, but Trixie is only a novice. Each one reinforces another, this means Trixie can make each function strong, but it requires a lot of functions to work."

"Wouldn't that be a good thing?"

Trixie waved her hoof in a so-so motion. "Fitting them all together is difficult, the more you have the more likely you'll trigger a cascade. Too many functions trying to execute at once causes a build up, then…" Trixie paused dramatically. "Boom!"

Twilight jumped at the sudden fireworks, throwing Trixie a glare.

Trixie just chuckled and went back to her etching. Twilight pulled out a book, pouting.

Vinyl tapped at the counter, startling the stallion standing behind it.

She looked at him with an intense expression.

"Uh, what do you need miss?" He asked uneasily.

She pointed a hoof at one of the flyers littering the wall.

"The… music competition?" He asked.

She nodded firmly, pointed at the flyer aggressively. Her horn lit up and a few slips of paper found their way into the table. She continued staring at him.

"O-okay… I'll uh… get right on that." He backed away slightly.

Vinyl nodded firmly before trotting to the door. She looked back for a moment, making a motion from her eyes to him. 'I'm watching you buddy.'

She left the now sweating stallion behind her.

Celestia was sitting in the throne room, flanked by her guards. She could be found here most days, but right now court was on hold to deal with this latest crisis. Celestia sat high above her little ponies as all but a few shuffled in place nervously.

"Status report." She commanded.

"Seven sites have been hit since yesterday, your highness," said a guard. "So far there have been no casualties but the property damage is proving catastrophic."

"And public opinion?"

A different pony spoke up, expression grim. "We're close to full blown rioting. More than a few ponies have left the city and a lot of merchants are adjusting their routes. Many of the more business minded nobles are also throwing a fit." He adjusted his bowtie.

Celestia's frown deepened. "I see… what measures are we taking to deal with this issue?"

A pony in a set of robes spoke up, his long beard trailing the ground. "I've set up a few detection clusters and have the guards sweeping the city with them. If we can't find the source before they strike again, we'll soon be able to."

A pony in a construction hat took over. "We've managed to clear most of the rubble from five of the sites. The damage has been mostly confined to businesses but aid has been requested for a few residences that were a little too close to the action."

Celestia leaned forward, looking at a stallion wearing a finely tailored suit. Are the royal coffers up to such demands?"

He adjusted his glasses. "I believe so your majesty. Things have been quieter than projected this year, so we're currently sitting at a surplus."

"Then see to it that it is done." Celestia leaned back in her throne, rubbing her temples gingerly. "Have we any word from the investigators?"

"Nothing conclusive, your highness," said the guard, disappointed. "We've combed the areas multiple times, but whatever incendiary device they're using was built to burn all evidence of itself. There is some magic residue but not enough to work with, so all we really know is that the explosives have a magical component."

Celestia turned towards a pony wearing shades. The mare was leaning on a briefcase and wore a neutral expression.

"Anything to report?"

"We haven't found any of them." The mare scowled, before her neutral expression snapped back in place. "However, a number of the stores had recently acquired magical artifacts. Some of them are quite powerful. Otherwise nothing of interest."

Celestia's frown deepened. "I see, send me a report when you find out more. You may now leave, my little ponies."

They slowly filed out as Celestia let out a sigh. An intense expression of concentration crossed her face. She turned to a nearby guard. "Court resumes in an hour."

The guard nodded before hurrying off.

Twilight needed more information. The Changelings were doing something, loyalists were about, and now the unrest in the streets was spreading to the castle.

She had seen the way the guards stood more stiffly, the servants rushing from room to room. Even the nobles were looking nervous. Well, the ones that weren't stomping around complaining about the situation. Ponies were in danger, and yet all some seemed to care about were a few lost bits. Twilight couldn't understand it.

"You know, I really shouldn't be doing this." The librarian narrowed his eyes.

Twilight looked back with a pleading expression.

He looked back with a straight face.

She was undeterred.

He let out a sigh.

"Yes, yes, yes!" The little filly bounced as the stallion placed his head in his hooves.

After a moment he stood up. "You tell no one." He looked at her seriously.

Twilight nodded vigorously, pressing a hoof to her chest. "You can count on me!"

The stallion took out a key and led her to one of the backrooms. Placing the key in the lock he looked away for a moment. "Wow, what is that over there? Some kind of distraction? Not in my library." He looked at her with a wink and then walked off.

Twilight rubbed her hooves together and grinned. She quickly turned the key, slipping it out and hurrying inside. Best not to get caught in here if she could help it. She wouldn't get in too much trouble, but questions would be asked and she wasn't in much of an answering mood.

The room was filled with books of all kinds, the sort that the general public wasn't even allowed to know about. Not the truly dangerous stuff of course, that was kept in a separate wing entirely. But a few of the more esoteric tomes that held things better left forgotten could be found here.

There might be more information on Changelings, but it was the loyalists, Twilight was more interested in. She had been listening to the rumors and murmurings. They were making a move, but nopony was actually surprised they were around.

As a student of the Princess of the sun, she was a prime target. Again her friends were in the crosshairs. Moon Dancer was especially on edge, and it was hurting Twilight to see the wary look and pensive expression when they were together.

The cafeteria was a lot quieter than usual. Ponies usually kept to their groups, but they seemed to almost huddle together these days. Wary looks were abound, and distrustful looks were rampant. Twilight was mostly unaffected, she already had problems before this and she trusted her friends.

Not to be cruel, but they had rejected her. She didn't owe them her worries.

She was still relieved when Trixie sat next to her without issue. "Being on edge like this is not good for you Twilight, take it from Trixie, nerves never help a performance."

"But it's getting worse," said Twilight quietly. "Everyday more and more explosions are going off, ponies are jumping out of buildings clutching important documents, The guards being led in circles, and I have no idea what the Changelings have managed."

"We can't let this get us down, it's smarter to stay calm and plan," replied Trixie. "You're good with plans Twilight."

"But even the Princess is worried," said Twilight in a near whisper. "I barely see her once a month and she's always so tense and closed off. If the Princess can't handle this, what can we do about it?"

"I'm not sure there's much we can do Twilight, Trixie thinks it's best we focus on keeping safe ourselves. You have the doll with you right?"

Twilight looked to her saddlebags, a plush purple foreleg poked out the side. "I take it with me everywhere. But you know it's only a last resort. If it doesn't work out…"

"Trixie worries too Twilight, but we can't afford to dwell on that. Trust Trixie, she knows all too well the dangers of such things." She looked off into the distance. "My parents are well informed. You know it's spreading."

Twilight nodded glumly. "Manehatten isn't doing well right now."

"It's practically been taken over, the guard at its finest."

"They're trying their best!" Twilight whispered frantically. Her brother wouldn't let her down if he could help it.

Trixie fixed her with an unreadable look before sighing. "Trixie knows, Trixie simply doesn't deal well with the protectors of this city failing at their job." She looked away. "Father used to tell Trixie stories of his time in the guard, back when they were a real force to be reckoned with."

"Your father was in the guard?"

Trixie nodded. "It's how Trixie knows as much as she does, Trixie's father has contacts among his old buddies. Though few can do anything right now."

They sat in silence for a while, eventually moving onto lighter topics.

Cadance walked with a skip in her step. Despite the drama and unrest, she had finally secured some time off. Time to see her favourite little filly in the world. Maybe take her mind off things for a while. But first she was off to see Fleur and Fancy Pants. A little surprise visit was in order.

She dodged the ponies in the street, a long time ago they used to part like a sea before her. But now they'd grown used to her, being out and about among the common ponies had made her lose a lot of her alicorn mystique. She would normally be fine with that, but more than a few stallions and even a couple mares had taken that as an invitation to hit on her.

Even if she didn't already have a special somepony, some of those individuals were extremely unpleasant. She was the Princess of love, for Celestia's sake she could tell what they really wanted from a mile away!

She pushed that from her mind for the moment, knocking on the door to her friends manor with their special little code. "Hey Fleur, you in there?" The wonder of magic meant Fleur would hear her from anywhere in the house as long as it was running. Unless she was asleep.

It was a little early in the day, and Cadance had called ahead to Fleur's manager to make sure she would be home.

That's why the lack of answer was a little disconcerting.

She knocked a few more times and waited. Finally, after weighing her options, she slipped out a key from her saddlebags and opened up the doors. Leaning in she called out quietly. "Fleur?"

The silence was eerie, not sure quite why, she crept further into the room without a sound.

She lit a simple perception adjustment spell. She might not have been interested in politics beyond her work as ambassador, but you would have to be living under a rock not to hear about all the buildings going up in flames.

The spell was simple, and highly illegal for just about anypony else to cast. If anypony looks at her with intention to hurt, they would start feeling a need to protect her instead. The emotional and ethical quandaries were not something Cadance had ever bothered to consider. She just knew it was allowed under her authority as Princess, and it was better than hurting anypony physically.

She crept through the house, the sound of her breathing loud in her ears. She nearly tripped on the carpet as she stopped outside Fleur's room. Looking down she could see the fabric was bunched up in places, and wildly off center from the hallway.

Now, much more cautious, she kept to the wall and leaned over towards the door, listening for any sound that might explain what's going on.

Fleur looked up with narrowed eyes at the monstrous creature standing above her. She might have been in a bad position but she was still angry it had the audacity to break into her home.

She tried screaming at it, but her voice was muffled by a makeshift gag. She shuddered as the thing spat more green slime at her, and she could feel it hardening as it made contact with the air.

She struggled, but was already battered and bruised from the earlier fight. She might have even come out on top if it hadn't ambushed her. She scowled heavily, her superiors wouldn't be happy about this and if she made it out of here she doubted her coworkers would ever let her live this down.

A green flash filled the room and a perfect replica of Fleur was standing in place of the creature. It looked at her with a cruel smirk. "Not so great after all are we? We heard you were one of the greatest agents the ponies had to offer, but it seems you're just as pathetic as the rest of these walking love sacs."

Fleur narrowed her eyes, trying to get her horn to spark.

The fake Fleur's smirk deepened. "It's a magically inert material, you aren't going anywhere, Fleur."

"You know, I think I'm going to enjoy this assignment. Looks like I'll be living the good life for a while, doubt I'll even have trouble getting information out of your precious agency. And Cadance, your dear little friend? Oh, she'll make a wonderful gift for the queen." The creature cackled in glee.

This only renewed Fleur's struggling, a look of fury overcoming her face. The creature laughed before turning around and heading to the door. "I'll let you stew here for a while. Maybe have some fun with that stallion of yours, hmm?"

With a mighty cry Fleur snapped her bonds, her expression furious. She rushed towards the creature. "You won't be doing anything to my friends!"

The Changeling had a moment to turn around in surprise before the door came flying in and crushed them against the wall.

"Huh?" Fleur remarked dumbly.

Cadance poked her head in. "Did I get them? I really hope this wasn't just some kind of weird roleplay."