In the throne room of Canterlot stood four unhappy figures. Each of them having their own reasons for being unhappy.

One stood in front of her throne as the ruler of Equestria who had ruled the land for over a thousand years. Princess Celestia was unhappy to see one of the figures before her as his presence always meant trouble. But that wasn’t the main reason for her bad mood. The figure before her, who was normally jovial, was showing an uncharacteristic frown. That usually happened when something somewhere took a serious and unfortunate turn.

The second unhappy figure stood near Celestia. Normally they would appear individually in the throne room for Day and Night Court respectively. Princess Luna would only appear alongside her sister in the throne room whenever a serious situation occurred. Seeing the two figures before her, Luna knew that they were about to receive some bad news.

The third unhappy figure was a frowning Draconequus who had received some terrible news from those he reported to. On a regular day, Discord would be causing little bits of chaos without being too disruptive since he agreed to his friends that he would keep the chaos to a minimum.

Today, however, was not one of those days.

Only Celestia, Luna, and Cadance were allowed to know about Discord’s other duty. A recent event had escalated an ongoing situation that had remained a small problem since the dawn of ponykind.

Standing next to Discord was a reindeer who the princesses had never met before. He had a red coat with a white undercoat. He also had a white beard that was eight inches in length. He also wore a red and white faux fur hat.

Santa was thankful to Discord for sending him, his wife and the workers who remained loyal to him to this world where he could set up shop and spread good cheer to the beings of this world. Him and his wife being transformed into reindeer was a surprise along with being given the ability to fly without wings and the elves being transformed into a larger and tougher variant of breezie.

“What news do you have that is so dire, Discord?” Celestia finally asked.

“Straight to the point, I see. Very well, I have just come back from an emergency meeting between representatives from the other pantheons of the other Tartarus worlds. It seems that recent events have really shaken the leaders of the pantheons.”

“What events are you talking about?”

“Earth was destroyed, prematurely I might add.”

“The same world that you sent Pinkie and those other ponies to?” Luna asked. Discord nodded.

Celestia rubbed a gilded hoof to her temple. “Let me get this straight, the world where you sent Pinkie Pie, Treehugger, Gilda Grimfeather, Octavia Melody, Vinyl Scratch and Moondancer was somehow destroyed? While the very reason you sent Pinkie to that world was because of a deranged madpony in her head that was threatening to get out and murder my precious ponies. Am I right to assume that Pinkie Pie is now dead as an indirect result of your actions?”

“No. Pinkie and her friends were off-world when the planet blew up.”

Celestia breathed a sigh of relief. “In that case, I believe this matter has gone too far. I will have you return Pinkie and the others to Equus immediately. I will find some way to deal with the madmare myself.”

“I’m afraid that I can’t do that, not anymore.”

“Why?” Celestia started grinding her teeth in frustration.

“Because some of the higher ups have taken notice of Pinkamena. And after the destruction of Earth, the pantheons are shaken up. The Heavenly Host is now being overworked to process the billions of newcomers that showed up all at once while Hell is most certain to profit from it. Possibly enough to launch an attack on Heaven in the near future. If Satan succeeds then the pantheons might be targeted at some point as well, including the one of this world.”

“What does Pinkamena have to do with this?”

“She and the Saints are in the best position to stop him. In other matters, with the pantheons shaken up, Zeus, Ra and Odin have unanimously agreed that they need the Tartarus gates fortified. Hades, Osiris and Hel are preparing their defenses in case Satan comes knocking. Any of them can handle The Devil himself, but there’s still one gate that is woefully undefended.”

“Ours,” Celestia finished.

Discord nodded. “With the threat of Hell on the horizon, the pantheon leaders have decided to bring up that old subject.”

“Our gate does not need an Underworld Deity!” Celestia snapped, slamming a hoof into the floor, shattering a tile. “We have gotten along without one since the dawn of ponykind and we don’t need one now.”

Discord sighed, “I’m afraid you’ve been outvoted on the matter. The vote was overwhelming enough that if you refuse to rectify that, they will send armies to occupy Equus to make sure that our gate remains secure. I doubt that one as powerful as you would have a chance against two storm gods and another sun god.”

Celestia ground her teeth again. “Who would they suggest to fill that role? Luna? Cadence? For their sakes, I hope they don’t intend to make me ascend Twilight just to guard that door for eternity.”

“Ho ho ho ho ho. Peace Celestia, there’s no need to raise your dander,” Santa assured “The other gods know that your closest subjects would be unsuited to the task. Your sister was once under consideration but that was withdrawn after she had that awful stuff removed from her by the Elements of Harmony. There is already a candidate under consideration by the other gods and they plan to use this situation as their test for her.”

The alabaster mare’s eyes widened in realization about who the candidate was. “They can’t seriously be considering her. Discord was bad enough, but if someone like her joined, it would disrupt the harmony that I painstakingly sewed into the hearts of my little ponies over centuries. Generations of work undone by the decisions of foreign pantheons across three other worlds.”

Luna pondered the situation while her sister was arguing with Discord and Santa. She knew that there was no point in arguing over a decision that none of the other pantheon leaders were going to back down from. She was uncertain whether or not the candidate would be worthy of the position, but they hardly had a choice in the matter at this point. To that end, there was only one thing she could do.

“I shall go along with their wishes.”

“What?!” Celestia nearly yelled in the Royal Canterlot Voice as she turned to her sister. It took all of her self-control to not reach that level.

“There is no use fighting their decision, sister. If calamity should befall our little ponies as a result, then we must handle the fallout as it comes. Besides, if this does end poorly, you can tell the other leaders that you told them so and rub it in their faces for the next millennium.”

Celestia took a deep calming breath, using the breathing technique that Cadance showed her. “Very well, but I shall keep an eye on her, and I shall be having a discussion about her role in Equestria.”

“Are you sure she is up to the task?” Luna asked. “Satan is an immortal being and cannot be killed by conventional means.”

“We’ll cross that bridge if we come to it, Luna.” Celestia turned back to Discord and Santa. “Is that all you have to report?” The two nodded. “Good, because right now, I need my comfort food.”

“Ho ho ho ho, mind if I join you?” Santa offered. “If I’m going to be staying in this world for a long time I should at least become acquainted with the world leaders. Plus, the missus is considering putting me on that diet of her so-called ‘diet cookies’ again.”

Celestia cringed at the thought of diet pastries before she did her best to crush that thought. She smiled, “You are welcome to join us, Santa Claus.” As the group of three headed toward the dining room, Celestia suddenly turned to Discord. “If you can behave yourself long enough, you are free to join us as well.”

“Thanks for the offer, but I’m gonna have to decline.” He snapped a talon and a hand mirror with the reflective side facing inside the frame appeared in his paw. “The situation needs to be monitored. I’m not the only one watching her progress at this point. Though if the situation does end favorably, we could see your Tirek problem and your gang problem both handled in one fell swoop.”

“I’m not worried about how she will deal with those problems if she does gain such power, but what she does with that power afterward,” Celestia stated.

Celestia, Luna, and Santa proceeded into the dining room, leaving Discord alone in the throne room. He didn’t stay for long as he snapped his paw and disappeared.

Author's Note

While this chapter was short, it was meant to set things up for the finale. Seems the pink psychopath may have more going on when she gets back aside from taking over street gangs.