Twilight was at a loss. What was happening in her once so peaceful Equestria?

Since the statues had disappeared from the royal gardens barely a week ago, reports steadily came in from all over. The first reports were only minor incidents. But they became worse with each day that passed.

Below Cloudsdale, on the hard forest ground, a pair of griffons had been found days prior. A well-known younger couple, with their wings tied behind their backs. The bodies were barely recognizable. They must have died immediately by the force of impact. At least, one could only hope they didn't suffer.

The perpetrator was found to be a jealous pegasus who had been rejected by one of the griffon victims and committed the atrocity out of resentment for the loving couple. Cold-blooded murder. But not just that, the dead body of the female was found to have been defiled as well.

Twilight was getting sick again.

And so it was of little wonder that the relations between the pegasi and griffons were currently heavily strained in Cloudsdale, with smaller incidents following still after in the sky city.

There were many reports similar to that, and they did not stop coming. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before the Windigos started reappearing.

Now, this newest report that had come in was especially personal to her.

There had been a gruesome incident involving the Pie sisters in Yakyakistan just the day before. Twilight couldn't believe what the letter, which Spike had handed her bare minutes ago, was saying.

Allegedly, one of the two sisters, Marble Pie, had been... - Twilight had to pause and read that line twice - ...sexually assaulted by multiple yaks on their farm.

In the events that followed suit, the other sister, Limestone Pie, had come to her aid and fought off the offending yaks, severely injuring them while doing so.

It was made clear in the report that all of the male yaks would never be able to conceive offspring of their own again. One of the yaks was so badly injured that he bled out on site before his wounds could be treated.

Twilight had to take another pause as she closed her eyes and held a hoof to her forehead, massaging her temple lightly in little circles.

"Twilight, are you okay?" Spike asked worried, himself visibly shaken as well by the written content.

Sitting on her throne, Twilight looked over at him with a forced smile. "I'm fine, Spike," she lied, almost whispering as she continued reading. Tears started to slowly form in her watery eyes.

Limestone Pie had been stoned to death by the yaks the same day following the event. Marble Pie was exiled and their rock farm re-possessed by order of Prince Rutherford.

Disgust and grief showed on Twilight's face. "Why? ...How?" she whimpered out. Tears started dropping on the paper in her hooves, slowly soaking it.

Spike came over to her and hugged her tightly with his muscular arms. "It's alright, Twilight, it's not your fault. You hear me?" Spike teared up himself at the sight of her broken posture. "I'm sure this was all just a tragic misunderstanding."

Was it, though? Did this new villain, Medley, have a connection to these current happenings? Luna never went into detail about the capabilities of Discord's spawn. Was he capable of influencing others? A shapeshifter like Discord was?

Discord... Fluttershy never would have wanted this to happen.

In the back of her mind, Twilight started to have doubts about Luna's involvement in all this. She had always been very vague about the origins of her knowledge of the former human. What was she hiding from her?

Nevertheless, they needed to find this 'Medley' and the rest of the villains fast. She wasn't sure if the four had teamed up or how they escaped their stone prison in the first place. But it didn't matter. They needed to stop them all before disharmony could spread further.

"How... how is Pinkie fairing?" Twilight asked barely audible while trying to sweep away her tears. "Where is Marble now?"

Spike looked down to the floor, searching for words. "Pinkie... is not well. I saw her very briefly this morning. Her mane is deflated and she is giving off a weird vibe. She has taken Marble in to comfort her together with Cheese Sandwich... but Pinkie will likely need some help herself in the coming days that follow."

The dragon looked up to Twilight before he continued. "She wants you to know, that she is stepping back from her position of Official Friendship Ambassador to the Yaks, effective immediately."

Twilight wasn't surprised, of course, it was to be expected, but it still hurt hearing it. It would be near impossible to find a replacement for Pinkie's position. This would surely complicate things even further with the yaks.

If there even could be a future with the yaks... It had been hard enough for the ponies to bond with them, even without such a gruesome act. Rarity had helped Pinkie in the past, due to her having less time with Little Cheese, but she heavily doubted that she'd take over the role now.

This was all getting out of hooves.

What was she going to do about the situation? Was this even a friendship problem anymore or something else entirely? She couldn't bring it over her to task Luster Dawn with this.

It was an issue beyond the capabilities and experience of the young student to handle on her own. Even Twilight didn't know what she should do, and she was the Princess of Friendship and co-ruler of Equestria.

A loud knock on the entrance gates filled the throne room.

"You may enter!" Twilight spoke out loud after composing herself. She still had a role to fill, after all. She needed to be strong for her ponies.

In came one of her loyal royal guards, a griffon named Gallus. He looked rather at odds with himself as he approached the throne. "Princess... Twilight, we have found the trio that escaped."

"At last, some good news!" Twilight said, with her mood visibly lifting a bit as she looked down at him expectantly.

"Tirek and Cozy Glow are no longer with us, I'm afraid," Gallus announced with a stern expression.

"What? Twilight exclaimed. "Did... did you use lethal force on them? You know that I have forbidden all acts of such unnecessary violence!" Twilight had lost her composure again and was visibly trembling now.

"No! That's not it!" Gallus answered hastily, upset by the accusation. "Cozy was already dead when we found them, buried by the other two it seemed."

Gallus had to look away from Twilight's unbelieving glare before he could continue. "Tirek... he... drew a dagger and cut his throat open right before us, the moment he knew he couldn't escape. He said he'd rather die by his own hands than go back to stone... There was nothing we could do to stop him."

Twilight only looked at him with a blank expression, processing the information she had just received from him.

Cozy Glow was dead. Presumably killed by the other two villains.

She had always felt terrible about how the royal sisters had handled her punishment. It was too much for a young little filly. Twilight had planned to free her in the upcoming months and to task Luster Dawn with her reformation. It would have worked, she was sure of that.

But she was too late... Another precious life was lost under her incompetent rule.

Twilight couldn't hold back the tears any longer and cried quietly, not minding how unbecoming it was for a royal like her to show such emotions to her subjects publicly.

Gallus and Spike just stood there and watched her cry, exchanging sad looks with each other in hope for some guidance.

"Do you want me to come back at a later time, Twilight?" Gallus finally asked after a while, not using her royal title.

Twilight tried to compose herself again and looked down at the Griffon. "No, please continue your report," she ordered, tears still flowing down her cheeks as she sat up straight on her throne again.

After waiting a few more moments to give her some time to breathe, Gallus continued his report. "Chrysalis is still alive. She was subdued without putting up any resistance from her side. However, she refuses to speak to us."

Twilight sighted. "Spike, take a letter and inform King Thorax about the situation. He shall decide what do to with her. We already have enough problems on our hooves as it is."

Spike nodded, a letter already in his hands, he wrote a few lines and sent it off with his fire. "Done."

"Is this a bad time?" asked a voice coming from the entrance. The gates were still left wide open after the griffon had entered prior.

"Luster? What are you doing here? I haven't called for you," Twilight said with a stern voice not answering the question that was asked.

"Well..." Luster started speaking, "I heard there is this new villain on the loose and I thought you might want to see me. You know, as your faithful student and so on? Surely, you'll need me to hunt him down, right?" Inappropriate excitement could be heard in Luster Dawn's voice.

"Luster..." Twilight looked at her in disapproval. "I know that you are fed up with my friendship lessons, but this problem is out of your league. Go back home, please."

Luster Dawn's face turned at the rejection. "Aw, come on! All I do is your lame lessons with the artificial friendships you forced on me. And now, when finally something exciting is happening, you want me to stand to the side and let you have all the fun? That's not fair!"

"What is the meaning of this?" Luna yelled out in her Royal Canterlot Voice while she walked into the throne room, closing up behind Luster, staring her down. "Do you think this is some sort of foal's play? Do what your tutor is telling you, and leave, this instant!"

Luna was visibly tired, as could be seen by the huge eyebags. She must have been lacking sleep, while she was out on the hunt for Medley.

Luster looked up to the taller Night Princess without fear. "Sheesh, calm down, Luna. I was only offering my help to Twilight."

A hoof with a metal shoe swung through the air hitting Luster Dawn on her forehead, leaving a laceration. "I will not tolerate your disrespect towards me, you fool!" Luna said in an almost terrifyingly calm manner.

The room stood silent. Nopony moved.

Luster Dawn was in a sort of shock as her vision started to blur by the blood that flooded down into her eyes. "Wah.?" was all she managed to say before she sat down.

"Luna!" Twilight exclaimed in shock. "Luster..." Twilight ran up to her student to magically close her wounds. "Luna, are you out of your mind?" she addressed her co-ruler, only to be looked down upon by a murderous glare.

"You all don't seem to understand what is to come to you," Luna said, still unnervingly calm about it all. "The dreamscape is filled with a sort of nightmare, I have never seen before. And trust my words, you don't want any of it in your waking world."

With a sigh, Luna turned around and walked out of the throne room again. "We will discuss our further proceedings in this matter later, Princess Twilight."

Silence filled the throne room again, only to be disturbed by the noise of an arriving letter that materialized out of thin air in front of Spike.

Spike looked over to Twilight, who was still holding Luster tight, to wait for her approval. Twilight gave him a tired nod.

"King Thorax wishes for Chrysalis to be transferred over to the Changeling Kingdom for the continuation of her punishment."

Author's Note

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmjWqEe06CI