Panting, Twilight gallops as fast as her legs could carry her down one of the mountain roads towards Canterlot Castle.

The concern caused by the urgency with which was packed the summons from Princesses Celestia and Luna had made her forget one more time that for the last couple of years of her life she now had wings on her back and now she could fly.

The Princess of Friendship corrected this detail once she noticed Spike's presence not so far behind, shortening the distance thanks to her recently acquired wings, sharing the same worried expression.

With a great push of her hind legs and a strong flap of her wings, Twilight takes a hasty flight.

So worried she was about what Princess Celestia might need that she didn't notice that outside of the drawbridge, which was usually lowered at this time of the day to grant unhindered entry into the castle, were her friends and the rest of the Elements of Harmony, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity and Applejack.

Seeing her coming, the guards guarding that entrance lower the bridge and raise the portcullis, allowing them access to the castle grounds.

Knowing that Twilight won't stop in her haste, they run after her, with Spike eventually catching up to them and following close behind.

Racing through the castle bailey, past many of the well-dressed high society ponies in attendance and several members of the patrolling Royal Guard, Applejack and Rarity seem the most focused of the group, aware of the seriousness of the situation; Rainbow Dash, flying, looks ready for action, while Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy look happy to be there now that the group has reunited.

"Oh, good. We're all here," the yellow pegasus that was Fluttershy was the first to speak up.

"So everypony got an urgent summons to the castle with no explanation?" asked the Princess of Friendship, without slowing down her hurried flight, looking around at her friends.

"Yup! I just love a good mysterious summons." Pinkie answers cheerfully and in high spirits, moving around, getting very close to Rainbow first and then to Fluttershy. "What's it about? Do you think it's a surprise party?" before returning to her place at the front of the race. "Hey! Why are we running?"

"Because something could be terribly wrong! Somepony turned bad? Another evil creature back for revenge?!" spitballs Twilight, on the verge of a panic attack.

"Don't you think you're being a little paranoid?" chimes in Applejack with all the blunt honesty she is well known for, fully intending to calm down her friend worries.

"Why else would the Princesses send scrolls in such a hurry?" refuted the purple Alicorn, her concern unwilling to wane.

"Good point. They know better than to make us worry." Rarity concedes, sharing some of her friend’s concern.

"Plus, I like it when you run so fast, the walls get all blurry!" Pinkie adds, watching as the buildings to her right have transformed into blurs in her eyes, her eyes ready to spin in a spiral, when she suddenly notices something she finds unusual. "Hey, have any of you noticed the abundance of guards all around? What's up with that?"

"Race ya!" Rainbow Dash challenges, ignoring Pinkie's words, speeding off, leaving the rest of her friends behind. Living up to her name, a rainbow trail can be seen on her flight path, being the first to enter the castle.

Having been notified of their arrival, and seeing the unstoppable stampede approaching at an alarming speed, the guards stationed at the entrance to the throne room open the double doors to the Elements of Harmony, who manage to stop not far from the dais where the thrones and governing bodies of the Kingdom of Equestria rest.

"Girls. Thank you so much for coming," Princess Celestia greeted them, the usual joy with which she always expressed herself could be felt, but not fully.

"What's wrong?! What can we do?!" Twilight asks worriedly, closing the distance, with the rest of the girls following suit.

"What was meant to be a moment of jubilation, as Equestria is currently enjoying its longest period of harmony in recent years, will sadly have to be postponed, as it seems a new danger looms at our doorstep," the white Alicorn Princess replied, the usual candor of her speech gone, replaced by cold seriousness.

"Oh, what are my ears picking up? Something chaotic and interesting that will put a stop to this long and boring tranquility around us is about to happen? And for a change, it wouldn't be of my doing!?" in a flash of light Discord, the Lord of Chaos, appeared out of nowhere flying over Twilight and her friends, excited by whatever seemed to happen.

"Oh, I knew it! I knew that I knew it!" Twilight began to pace from right to left, imagining what possible and horrible scenario was about to occur. "What is it? Don't tell me. The Darkness has escaped from Limbo and is back in Equestria, ready to plunge it back into darkness! Or —or something worse— has Grogar, the father of all monsters, found a way to regain his powers and is about to invade Equestria with an army of monsters! Or —or something even worse— like, like..."

"Twilight, darling, you might want to take a deep breath and calm down before your anxiety gets the best of you, and why not we let the Princess finish explaining herself, before jumping into more dreadful presuppositions?" placing a hoof on her shoulder, Rarity stopped her friend's uneasy pacing, bringing her some calm before turning her attention back to Princess Celestia with worried anticipation.

"Rarity is right, Twilight," Celestia thanked the unicorn seamstress for keeping the anxious Princess of Friendship in check, before addressing the rest of the attendees seriously, "But I think the job of explaining the current situation falls to my sister, since she was the protagonist of what you are about to hear." Stepping aside, the Sun Princess gave the Moon Princess room to speak.

"Thank you, sister." Luna said, but before she could start...

"Wait, wait! Let me get comfortable," Discord interrupted her, occupying a recliner chair he had conjured and a large bowl of popcorn which he proceeded to toss into her mouth, munching them noisily one by one. "Go on."

Directing a scowl at the impertinent Draconequus, Luna cleared her throat and went on to tell them what happened the night she faced an enemy she had never seen before, how she almost lost her life in the combat and, ultimately, how she triumph over her adversary not through sheer might, but by outwitting it.

"That was awesome!" Rainbow Dash said excitedly, throwing punches and kicks in mid-air, imagining herself taking part in a similar fight.

"If that's the case, then what's seem to be the problem, your highness? You kicked that vermin in the flank and out of our realm, isn't it? Or are you worried that creature might come back for another tussle?" Applejack added her share of thoughts.

"In a way," Luna replied. "You see, when I stood near the wound that connected the two Realms, from within it something reached out to me. It violated the sanctity of my being, first in an attempt to make me falter and fail to overcome my abominable adversary, then it attempted to blackmail me into taking its filthy offerings, and finally, when breaking or convincing me proved too much effort, it threatened me."

All the girls gasped in shock at the idea that something could threaten the princess, even Discord in his aloofness arched an eyebrow at that. He usually didn't care about the simple matters revolving around mere ponies, but something Luna had said 'tingle' something deeper inside him.

"But they weren't just threats of words. They were visions, terrible visions of what I fear is what is coming to Equestria," Luna continued.

"In these visions I saw a great darkness covering the entire land, reaching to the farthest borders of Equestria and far beyond. When I searched for the source of this darkness, I found it splitting into seven large shadows. Each one the silhouette of a terrible great beast. Each beast with a different face and a crown on its head. I witness, unable to move, as they raised their claws to the sky and thunderously stabbed the earth. Mountains being torn down, the trees of the forests rapidly withering and bursting into flames, ponds drying up and rivers overflowing out of their course, flooding the land. And as a result I witness unspeakable suffering spread across the land, no tribe nor creature safe in the world. And from the wound caused by those scratches, seven obelisks rose, from which a thick liquid with a sickeningly dry, sweet metallic scent flowed copiously until it formed a large, dark pool. And from this stain on the earth emerges the monster I fought in the Dream Realm, fully manifested in Equestria.

"And what this monster will do if it really comes to our world I can only fear, since it was at that moment that I could not bear it any longer and kicked off that menacing presence from my being, just in time to send it back to its horrifying dimension."

Coming from the Everfree Forest, a large, unnaturally dark shadow moves quickly in the direction of the capital city of Equestria, passing without difficulty or impediment through the streets and over the walls that are supposed to defend the Castle, undetected by the watchful eyes of the patrolling royal guards, unaware of the danger it carries with it.

Entering a perfect spot to hide among the shade of the dense foliage of trees and bushes in one of the internal gardens surrounding the main building, the shadow stops its advance. Three bodies rise from it, but it is not until they have all finished forming that the dark shadow covering them retracts to the one that was generating it that their characteristics become visible.

In the middle, the raven-faced one removes his gloved hands from the shoulders of his other two companions once his dark power recedes fully within him.

"Well, boys, the time to act is upon us," the one in the purple suit said, checking a watch with a chain that he had taken out of one of his jacket pockets. Appreciating his reflection in the watch glass, he straightened his hat on his head.

"The girls must not be too far behind us in their task, and time is of the essence," he continued once he deemed his appearance perfect, putting away his watch. "Wrath, while I do the heavy lifting, do your thing and keep the creatures within this castle distracted," he ordered his more beastly-looking associate, not bothering to look at him directly.

"You got it, Boss", growled the Sin identified as Wrath. He then took several deep breaths, each time his muscles swelled and his mane, horns, snout and tusks grew in length, his body glowing red, orange and yellow like a burning coal as his appearance became more beastly and savage, expelling hot steam from his body.

Once he deemed himself ready, Wrath leapt from the trees and with a shuddering roar, charged head first into the castle, getting inside by knocking down one of the building's walls, stampeded through the hallways.

"Greed, you know what to do. Keep an eye on everything and make sure Wrath doesn't get into trouble or ruin what we came here for."

With a nod, the imposing figure that was Greed sank into his shadow and was soon out of sight.

When everyone else in the vicinity was busy fleeing from the commotion caused by Wrath, the well-dressed Sin calmly walked inside one of the nearby buildings completely unimpeded.

Back in the throne room, Twilight and her friends exchanged anxious glances, trying to assimilate the clear and implicit threat of what they had just heard, fear creeping through their hearts.

The somber silence was resoundingly broken when Discord, unable to hold it in any longer, burst out laughing, and when he reformed again, he was twisting and writhing with laughter.

"Bua ha ha!" the draconequus laughed, wiping a fake tear from his eye. "Oh, Luna, I didn't know you had such an imagination."

"Are you calling me a liar?" Princess Luna asked, mad, ready to pounce on Discord.

"Not at all!" Discord defended himself, waving his hands, dismissing his momentary disrespect. "I just think you're worrying over nothing."

"I don't think calling what my sister saw as 'nothing' is a positive contribution to the conversation, much less dismissing it as a laughing matter, Discord," Celestia stepped in, her voice firm and steady.

"What I'm trying to say is that, you two, but especially you," Discord appeared between the two sisters, booping Luna on the tip of her nose before returning to float in front of them. "Have already let this threat do its work by letting it scare you."

A sign of realization flashed across the princesses' faces at the Lord of Chaos words.

"Look around you," he continued. "Right before you are the greatest forces of good at your disposal, you have nothing to fret about. Oh yes, and the Wielders of the Elements of Harmony as well, I guess. Everything will be fine."

"Discord's less than pleasant opinion aside," Twilight spoke up after giving an unamused look to the Draconequus who was laughing at his jab at her and her friends' expense. "He's right. We shouldn't be intimidated by any kind of threats, no matter how grim and cryptic they are. We have defeated many enemies! Love and friendship have allowed us to fend off multiple evil villains in the past who have threatened the peace we hold dear! As long as we stay together, there is no challenge that we cannot overcome, nor threat we cannot deal with it!"

"YAEH!" The rest of the group cheered, bringing a bit of lull and peace to Celestia and Luna's hearts.

Suddenly the throne room shook, the chandeliers on the ceiling swayed, its chains clinking, and the windows on the walls rattled, threatening to shatter at any second; all the good mood and calmness piled up instantly gone, a feeling of concern taking over.

"What was that?" Rarity asked, who along with Fluttershy both found it desirable to approach the rest of their more resilient friends.

In response, the doors to the throne room swung wide open and a guard ran in, bowing before the Diarchs.

"Your highnesses, I'm sorry for the interruption, but we have reports that a huge beast has invaded and is rampaging all over the castle grounds."

"A beast!? What kind of beast?" Luna asked, anxiety and dread well mixed in her words.

"An unidentified one, Princess," the guard replied, a little taken aback by Princess Luna's unexpected reaction, but soon regained his composure. "Some of the guards who have seen and faced it describe it as a raging bull, others as an wild manticore."

"Is anyone injured?" Celestia asked, her tone serious.

"Fortunately not, Princess; at least not seriously. The castle staff members have avoided the beast; the guards who have faced it have a few bumps and bruises, but the enchantments on the armor absorbed most of the damage."

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go stop her!" The Element of Loyalty encouraged the rest of her friends, ready to charge against this beast.

"Wait a minute, Rainbow Dash," Princess Celestia's voice stopped the rainbow pegasus in her tracks. "If this is nothing more than a mere wild animal that somehow managed to get into the castle, I'd rather the members of the royal guard take care of it."

"But Princess, we can't just stand here doing nothing. There must be something we can do about it?" Twilight protested, worry and haste clear on her face.

"I didn't mean to imply anything like that, Twilight," Celestia responded with a somewhat forced smile, but no less warm and proud. "As long as the situation doesn't get worse, while the guards are busy capturing or expeling this creature, what I'd like you to do —and this includes you, Discord— is to help keep safe and evacuate the castle staff and any other individual who may still be roaming the castle grounds. Once we're done discussing a few matters, my sister and I will join in the evacuation process."

"Great idea, princess!" Twilight cheered. "Girls, let's get ready and split up to keep any creature safe and out of harm's way!"

And with that, Twilight and the rest of the Elements of Harmony (followed by a bored and disinterested Discord) left the throne room and split up through the castle.

"Luna, what was that?" Celestia called out once they were alone, a hint of concern in her tone.

"What do you mean, sister?" Luna ask back, even though she already had an idea of what Celestia would say.

"Your outburst with Discord. We both know how difficult it is to deal with his carefree attitude and antics, and I can only imagine how your experience in the Dream Realm may have affected you, but it usually takes more effort on his part to rattle your composure".

Luna sighed. "I don't know, Celestia. It's true that I still can't consider myself fully recovered from what happened in the Dream Realm. It's just that... I suddenly felt a surge of anger when he downplayed my story and I could barely control it."

"Hrm..." Celestia mused, knowing that she herself throughout this conference It took more effort on her part to keep that particular emotion under control. Another slight jolt and the sound of a wall being torn down brought her out of that line of thought and what it might mean or entail.

"Well, sister, let's not waste any more time here and help with the evacuation."

And in a flash of light, both alicorns disappeared from the Throne Room.

Wrath ran with reckless abandon through the halls of Canterlot Castle, causing havoc wherever he went.

Seeing the terrified faces of these small, colorful creatures brought a smile to his face; watching them jump out of windows or turn around and run away in the opposite direction while he chased them would never stop being amusing for him.

Finding a pegasus in a maid's uniform in a closed corridor, Wrath charged at her after giving her a chance to recover from the shock of seeing him and scream and fly off. The pegasus managed to stay ahead of the wild beast pursuing her, veering left at a fork in the road.

Following her into the corridor, the avatar of the Sin of Wrath stops dead in his tracks as he sees ten large, strong stallions clad in royal guard armor blocking his path, the maid disappearing from view as she flies above them.

Seeing this, Wrath spins in place, swinging his head from side to side, making sure his horns shatter whatever adorns the walls. Lowering his head, he scratch the ground with his fore paws and, letting out a loud, savage bellow, he lashes out at his opponents.

At the leader's command, the stallions took up a wedge formation, with pointed spears jutting out from a shield wall. Upon contact, the small group of royal guardsponis were sent flying in various directions like pins hit by a speeding bowling ball.

Wrath, annoyed that he hadn't yet gotten a worthy challenge or heard a splash or seen the walls painted red as a result, decides to change places, continuing his stampede, ramming through multiple walls, in search of blowing some steam.

From outside the castle, atop one of its tallest towers, Greed watches with disdain the mindless destruction that Wrath was leaving in his wake, his eyes scanning the surroundings, attentive to any detail that could be of importance to them.

A cry for help catches his attention, managing to see an earth pony, a noble among his peers if his clothes were an indication of his social status, hanging from one of the curtains of a high window. It seems that to avoid becoming the splash that Wrath so desired to get, he thought (or maybe not) that jumping out the window was the safest path to survive, realizing too late that, from that height, such an action would lead to the same fateful end, with the difference that instead of being a splash on one of the walls inside the castle, it would end up being a splash in the garden.

Greed observes with mild interest as the curtain rips, unable to bear the extra weight, sending the screaming pony plummeting to its certain end. When all of a sudden and one second before impact, the dark Sin ends up seeing a blue streak pass by at high speed, saving the stallion from crashing to the ground.

With little surprise and curiosity, Greed witnesses how a group of several ponies worked together to undo Wrath's actions. Beside the rainbow-maned blue pegasus, he saw a pink pony moving around, helping to calm the startled creatures, making funny faces or handing out cupcakes or party balloons for that effect, escorting them to a safe route. Another one orange coated skillfully used a lasso and its prodigious strength to move and remove dangerous debris to make way for an easier and safer exit. A white unicorn, emanating an aura that irk him, used her magic to create ramps so that more ponies and other creatures in the high halls of the castle could safely descend, with this unicorn generously dusting off their clothes or magically mending them when such work was necessary.

A thunderous roar, undoubtedly coming from Wrath, followed by multiple screams of pain was heard coming from inside one of the corridors on the other side of the courtyard, capturing the attention of both ponies and Sin. For a moment Greed believed that Wrath had finally gotten what he wanted so much, when a pair of ponies clad in golden armor flew through a window.

This time, Greed thought, there is no way those ponies could be saved.

Suddenly, echoes of snapping fingers reverberate throughout the atrium and where those guards would meet a painful end, a pair of comfortable beds appeared, cushioning their fall.

Narrowing the bottomless pit that were his eyes at this display of outworldly magic, Greed focused his gaze on a pegasus with a yellow coat and pink mane who quickly gave the guards a concern check, letting out a sigh of relief upon discovering that they were bruised and unconscious, but alive.

And finally, to a serpentine chimerical figure who appeared next to her wearing a nurse costume, ready to assist the worried pegasus in administering care.

A shadow fell over Greed's already darkened countenance.

"I've seen more than enough. He needs to be made aware of this," Greed stated, then his body quickly submerged itself in his shadow and quickly leaves the scene.

Inside the castle, Twilight was leading the evacuation efforts, teleporting a group of colts and fillies and their teachers who were visiting the royal library facilities that day out of the building.

"Those seem to be the last ones," Twilight said to herself, wiping the sweat from her forehead. In truth, for her, teleporting that many ponies was no longer the exhausting task that it once had been, long before her life changed and facing power-hungry villains was an activity she had to do at least once a season.

Memories of how she ended up meeting her friends in Ponyville flooded her mind; how over the years they faced multiple trials and tribulations together that helped form, strengthen and solidify their bonds of friendship to this point, and how it had all started with a prophecy of an evil coming to Equestria... a prophecy not unlike the one Princess Luna had shared with them.

A feeling of worry crept into her heart again, the words used and the way Princess Luna presented this new prophesied threat made it feel a little more real and dangerous than anything they had faced so far.

Her musings were interrupted when a particular sound reaches her ears, one she is deeply familiar with and knows quite well; it is the sound of the pages of a book being turned.

"Is anyone there?" Twilight calls out, certain that the place should be completely empty by now.

Getting no response, the Princess of Friendship decided to follow the sound, determined to get to the bottom of this matter.

Going deeper and deeper into the library, passing through the empty, labyrinthine corridors made of shelves loaded with ancient tomes, these sounds lead her to a table where several books are found, some widely opened, others stacked in tall towers in a manner resembling how she usually has them when she is immersed in an intense study session. Hearing the sound of a quill scratching on paper confirms that someone is still in the library, behind those books.

Getting closer, Twilight's eyes snapped open as she saw who, or rather what, was behind those books.

A human!? Here in Equestria!?, she thinks out loud having identified him as such, letting out a barely audible gasp of surprise.

The "human" doesn't seem to have heard her, to deep in concentration reading through several books on different subjects, his eyes darting from one to the other, one hand turning the pages of one he's already read, while the other is busy writing with a golden quill on a piece of paper.

Twilight's excitement and curiosity at the presence of a human in Equestria compels her to investigate, making her forget about even what was going on outside and the original reason why she was there. Not wanting to scare or surprise him, she advances towards their encounter slowly and cautiously.

As she get closer, Twilight realizes that this human was, according to all the metrics that Rarity had painstakingly made her aware of —speaking specifically of the Rarity of the human world— a 'Beau Monsieur'. She stepped carefully around him, trying to get a clearer view of his face.

But as she aproach and gets a better look at his features, Twilight slows down, sensing that there was something strange with him.

That face, those eyes, that nose, those lips, I've never seen a human like that. She thought as a feeling of wrongness began to well up inside her.

The combination of those perfect features was too disturbing for her, even when speaking of a human.

"You know, Miss Sparkle, I've heard that spying on individuals is not a good thing to do," without stopping in his task, the Sin is the first of the two to speak.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Seeing herself caught and her train of thought abruptly derailed, Twilight, embarrassed, quickly stammers out an apology. "I was just very surprised to see someone like you here and because I saw that you were very busy and since we're in a library I didn't want to disturb you."

"Don't feel bad about it. You should take pride in your spying skills, they're very good," the 'human' praise her.

"I wasn't spying. And I don't think one should take pride in spying on someone. But more importantly, who... what are you?" asked Twilight, taking a step closer, regaining her composure, beginning to feel distrust of this... entity. It was already quite clear to her that she was not in the presence of a mere human.

"You may refer to me as Pride," the Sin introduced himself, finally rising from his seat, stopping in his writing, facing her with a cordial gesture of greeting. "And I was hoping to do some research alone. It seems Wrath isn't causing enough of a mess to draw all the attention and keep everyone busy, out of my way."

"Research? What kind of research?" Twilight asked, finally paying attention to the tomes that littered the table, taking a good look at books on history, medicine, anatomy, geography, the many species of creatures in Equestria, and many more. "And wait, are you responsible for the beast that's loose causing damage in the castle?"

As Pride slowly and predatorily closed the distance between them, Twilight took a step back, feeling unsafe. She waited with her breath withhold in her chest for him to make some movement. But before he could respond in any way, shape or form, a shadow swiftly crossed the entire library space, placing itself in the middle of the two.

Twilight's ears fell flat against her skull and a shiver cross everyone of her bones as she is suddenly overwhelmed by the pressure radiating from the figure rising from the shadow.

"Boss, there's something you need to know…" the imposing raven-headed creature began to speak, cutting off when it noticed Twilight's presence at its side. "Should I kill her?" were his next words, its deep voice sounding like an ill omen.

Hearing that threat, Twilight's eyes flew wide in horror. Swallowing dryly, all her instincts were telling her to run. But something about this creature's presence filled her with a sense of dread, freezing her in place as if heavy, icy iron chains had abruptly wrapped around her and held her in place.

She looked from the menacing, dark being to Pride, and what she saw made her skin crawl. His features, which at first seemed gentle and friendly, had transformed, twisted and distorted into something that could only be described as menacing and extremely dangerous. In his expression brimming with malice and sadism, Twilight could see the enjoyment of the fear she was the victim of and that he was seriously considering the other's proposition. Without an iota of doubt that if she didn't act soon, she would be killed, Twilight closed her eyes and ignited her horn, ready to cast a teleportation spell, to where, she will never know, since before she could calm her mind enough to manifest her magic, she heard Pride finally answer the other's question.

"No."

Startled, Twilight opened her eyes. In front of her, Pride was staring at her in amusement, his features softened to a less threatening level. When she looked in Greed's direction, she was confused to see him putting a glove back on one of his hands, not sure when or for what reason he might have removed it to begin with. A moment later, she felt a jolt of pain as she untense her wings back muscles. On the side facing the tall dark figure, Twilight carried a shallow slash that had barely cut the skin. It took her a second to understand what had happened. In the time she had closed her eyes, that bird-faced monster had lashed out at her with the clear intention of stabbing her. That creature had moved so fast that there would be no chance for her to get her spell out before its attack went deeper, deadly deeper.

"I already have all the necessary information I came here for. Go fetch Wrath and let's go back to our home base," Pride said very casually to Greed, picking up and folding the sheet of paper he had been writing on, putting it away in his jacket pocket.

"Something tells me we'll meet again," in what sounded more like a threat than the beginning of a cordial farewell, those were the last words Pride said to Twilight before he turned and walked away. "Until then, Ta-Da, little pony!"

Recovering from the overwhelming feeling of dread that had her pinned in place, Twilight catches a glimpse of a piece of the paper Pride had written on sticking out of his pocket, and taking advantage of being completely ignored and underestimated, she casts a simple, silent telekinetic spell, gaining possession of the sheet without any of the two sins noticing.

Meanwhile, many miles away, in the metropolitan city of Manehattan.

Multiple doctors and nurses and other members of the workforce of the city's Central Hospital are fleeing in terror from the imp forces that had unexpectedly invaded the building and taken possession of the facilities.

In the lobby, a magenta dragoness stood guard at the entrance, keeping anyone who wanted to enter at bay. She ignored the ponies and other creatures who eagerly and fearfully rushed towards the exit, seeking to escape the apparent chaos the imps were causing inside. Cover beneath her dress, a prominent claw stabs at the floor in exasperation. Being put in charge of this operation did not seem at all stimulating to her.

"Envy, please tell me we're done here," she said, fanning herself with her hand fan.

"The imps have told me all the necessary equipment it's already been loaded, Lust," the bird-headed, robed figure replied meekly.

"Good, that means we can go now... where's Gluttony?" Lust asked, looking around, seeing that the third member of her team was nowhere to be seen.

"She told me she wanted to taste some snacks before we left," Envy said in a tone that could be considered a whisper, cringing nervously, guessing what was coming.

Taking a deep breath, Lust closed her fan and stomped into the hospital hallways.

Briskly walking through the building's corridors, she ignored the rooms where the imps were causing havoc, breaking or throwing on the floor everything they could and eating everything that looked edible, and those in which ponies were cowering in fear. The fact that none of them had a spark inside them to make them consider having one passionate moment in the midst of so much danger annoyed her.

The loud sounds of chewing led her to a waiting room, where she found Gluttony, sitting on the floor, rubbing her belly and licking her lips.

"Gluttony," Lust called, a hint of reproach in her voice.

"What?" the huge yellow mass of fat asked, trying and failing to turn to avoid seeing Lust's reptilian form.

"Spit them out," she ordered curtly.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about," Gluttony stammered with a mixture of guilt and nervousness akin to a child who had been caught with one hand still in the cookie jar.

"You know how Pride feels about Doctors. He gave us strict orders not to hurt any of them. So either you spit them out right now, or you'll have to tell him why you disobeyed his orders," Lust concluded in a stern, cutting tone, making it clear that she wasn't going to prolong this discussion any further.

With a sigh of resignation, Gluttony stands up, putting all her weight on four of her chubby limbs. Producing unpleasant gagging noises, movements begin to occur in her lower part, her dewlap bulging as if it were a toad's throat. Opening her enormous mouth, Gluttony regurgitates a couple of doctors and nurses, who, covered in drool, look disgusted and, most definitely, traumatized by that experience. Among the spit bodies was also a pony skeleton.

"It's not what you think, Lust. That one over there is just a prop." Feeling Lust's burning, threatening gaze, ready to pierce a couple of holes in the back of her fat nape, Gluttony was quick to clarify.

Author's Note

Phew! This chapter took way longer to write than I imagined. I blame this on having to write so many characters in the scene.

As always, I hope you enjoy the story and any feedback is welcome.