Group Misery

by TheReaderAndWriter

Rating: teen
Tags: Comedy, Adventure
Length: 95323

Strange ponies with odd powers come to challenge the order in Canterlot from within the city's walls.

It is just a few weeks until an utmost important event is about to take place in Canterlot, and everyone in the castle is doing their hardest work in order to prepare it to perfection. Then, Celestia receives a warning that could not come at a worse time. A group of ponies with motives that are all about upsetting the order in the wonderful city have appeared. Who they are is a mystery, but Celestia has gathered those she finds trustworthy in order to make sure this group, this Group Misery, won't achieve their goal. Their goal of finding out everything there is about Celestia's oldest secret.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2013-01-11 01:20:07 UTC

The Messenger on the Throne

Every single day as a princess was filled with chores, duties and hard work. Even with all the help generously given to her by her followers, it was still an exhausting life Princess Celestia lived. This day was no different with everything she had to prepare for the coming weeks. Fortunately she was a pony that never quit and she loved her job. While it was certainly difficult, even for somepony as talented, experienced and wise such as herself, it was all clearly worth it as she would get to see the happy smiles of everyone around her. They smiled to her, greeted her, bowed down to her, not because she was regal, but because she made them feel safe. Spreading joy to so many ponies was its own reward, but she would have, a bit sheepishly even, admitted that she certainly enjoyed the endless respect she received every single day.

Which is why she was quite surprised once she returned to the throne room that afternoon.

On her throne, her throne, sat a slightly skinny, slightly tall earth pony in the most laid back manner possible. He was basically hanging his head over the side. He actually seemed a bit bored. His brown coat and slightly darker mane didn't fit the expression on his face when he saw the Princess in front of her. He sat up straight and adjusted the hat on his head ever so slightly.

Celestia was not amused at this display of disrespect, but he certainly was. She walked towards her throne.

"Princess Celestia. It's an honor to meet you. You are stunning, your coat is more white than snow, and your mane! Photos do not do you justice. At last. I've been waiting for you for, well, at least an hour," said the pony. The only thing unusual about his voice was how slick and oddly playful it seemed, despite the fact that he quite clearly had just showed disrespect against beloved royalty. Celestia only knew two things about this pony: that she wasn't fond of him, and that she had never seen him before.

"Who are you?" asked Celestia, slowly getting closer to her throne. Where are my guards, she thought to herself, giving a quick glance around the throne room after them.

"I am called 'Random'," said the stallion. He took off his hat and bowed to her. Princess Celestia didn't show shock at seeing a pair of antlers sticking up from the pony's head. They were disgusting in the way they simply didn't belong there.

"What are you?"

"Oh, me? I am a pony. Oh, the horns, right, right. They are just an accessory, don't mind them. Cool, no?" asked the pony and put his hat back on.

"They look ridiculous," said Celestia, actually with spite in her voice. The reason for the horns would have to wait, what the pony was doing in there undisturbed was a much more pressing issue. "Why are you sitting on my throne?" asked Celestia with a regal, domineering tone, rising up above the stallion as she finally walked up to him. Unfortunately, the pony wasn't impressed, or intimidated.

"Would you consider it amusing if I simply said, 'because I needed to sit'?" asked the pony with a small, confident smirk.

"Where are my guards?"

"Oh, them?" asked Random, looking around in the otherwise empty room. "I made a bet with them, if they lost they would take the day off. They lost." Celestia would have a serious talk with the guards and staff once this was over. For the moment she focused on dealing with this intruder.

"Get, off, my, throne," said the Princess, letting her face get closer to the pony with each word. She would not allow this to continue. Then the pony unexpectedly reached out his hoof towards her.

"Boop," he said, poking her muzzle, keeping himself from bursting out laughing.

"That's it!" yelled Celestia, making the glass windows in the throne room shake. "I will not allow this disrespect to continue any further!" She prepared a spell to teleport the pony further down into the castle, more specifically into the dungeons. Her guards would have to interrogate him themselves. To put it lightly, after a hard day's work, she was in no mood for games. There was a sudden flash in the room, and when Celestia looked down on the throne she was happy to see him gon-

"Having difficulties?" asked the pony, with an even wider smirk. There wasn't even a singed hair on his head, he was completely unaffected.

"How?" Celestia asked in disbelief. She simply tried levitating him, but he might as well have been part of the floor. She eventually tried to physically pick him up, but he wouldn't budge. Her hooves just slipped off him, feeling oddly powerless.

"Oh, you see, I can't be physically forced by another individual to do something I don't want to do," said Random. He explained in a calm, clear tone. "Well, I have answered plenty of questions for you, all of them quite honestly on top of it all. Why don't you go ahead and ask the one, actually important question?" asked the pony, politely. Celestia sighed, she just wanted to get rid of him.

"Why are you here?" she asked, finally letting up and playing his game. She walked away from him, moving towards the windows to get a bit of fresh air.

"Finally. Well, I am here, as a type of messenger. I am part of a group that will soon appear in Canterlot. We are after the Cesom." Those words made Princess Celestia stop in her tracks. She had at first just considered him to be an annoying but harmless trickster. The fact that he knew that name was an instant sign that his pony was, or at least represented, an incredible threat to the balance of Equestria, if not the entire world.

"How do you know about that?"

"We have a reliable source. Is it true it can stop some certain things from working?" Celestia didn't answer, she simply couldn't.

"Ah, my boss said that if you would keep quiet, it would be a confirmation. I choose to believe that. My associates will simply be thrilled!" said Random, smiling at the thought, or maybe Celestia's nervous look. "Well, I suppose I should properly introduce us as best as I'm allowed. We, are Group Misery. We are a small group, under ten. We have two goals. The first one is to get our hooves on Cesom. The second one is to make your rule end... by any means necessary."

"And why would you want to do that?" asked the Princess, suspicious. She took the threat seriously, but she had no fear to show. They were a threat by knowing Cesom, but there was no way that they would get it. She wouldn't allow it.

"Six years ago," the pony said with a suddenly solemn tone.

"What?"

"It happened six years ago, and it was your fault. Now, I should thank you for it - and I shall, thanks - but some ponies are not as happy with it as I am. Let's just say that most of us have a very good reason to see you get knocked off your throne. We don't so much want an Equestria governed by the citizens, rather than seeing anyone rule it but you."

"What happened six years ago?" asked the Princess. Random blinked, and then he scoffed at her, trying but failing to smile.

"You don't even remember. She doesn't even remember. The guys are not going to like hearing this," said Random and shook his head. "Well, anyway. I hope you read up on what you've so disrespectfully forgotten. It's the least you can do before Misery, my boss, comes to town and makes your entire world crumble. I should mention, 'entire world crumble', that was from Misery, not me. I'm not that poetic," added Random. He picked up a pocket watch from under his hat and gave it a quick look. "Oh, time's running out a bit. Anyway, here's what you need to know: Group Misery is coming to make life in Canterlot awful, we want to get Cesom, and we're going to make you suffer. Well, I'll see you soon enough, Princess. Farewell!" said Random and cheerly waved to her.

The very next second, Random disappeared, and in less than a second a white guard suddenly sat on the throne, looking shocked beyond belief.

"Princess! Thank goodness that you are safe! We were approached by somepony, and-"

"Guard, calm yourself. Please, are you alright?" She knew this wasn't a trick, there was no mistaking that this was one of her guards and not some sort of magical impostor.

"But, Princess! There is a-"

"Are you alright?" asked the Princess again, giving him a concerned look. The guard paused, and eventually nodded to her. "What a relief." She looked right into his eyes with a serious look on her face. "Now, what happened?" The guard took a deep breath.

"All of the squad was in here as usual, but then a pony wearing a hat entered without any escort. We did as we were trained to, and told him to stay put, but he kept walking towards the throne. We warned him he could face punishment if he did not stand down, but he didn't listen. We gave him a final warning."

"And then?"

"I don't know what happened. He just challenged us to apprehend him, and when we tried to, we just... we bounced off him. Then, the next moment, he told us all to go home and relax. Then something even stranger happened. We all did as he told. I was aware of what I was doing wasn't right, and I knew I was needed here, but I just couldn't do anything about it. It was like my mind and body was following orders. I could barely object! It wasn't as frightening when it happened to me as it is now, horrible, but at the time I felt oddly content with whatever I was doing. Before I left, he pulled me over and said that I would trade places with him at this particular time."

"So everyone else is unharmed?"

"To my knowledge, yes, Your Highness. They should have been forced to return to their homes just like I was. I fear for my family, I was in the middle of a quiet dinner, actually casually talking about this very event, like nothing was wrong. I must have disappeared into thin air. They are probably worried beyond belief."

"The pony was here just a moment ago, it's more than likely he and you did indeed switch places just now."

"That means he's with my family!" exclaimed the guard.

"And I will send a few guards to investigate, but this is utmost important. Did he say anything else?"

"N- no, Your Highness," said the guard, thinking carefully despite his worry.

"Well, I don't have time for small details at the moment. Guard, gather some ponies and make sure to search for and locate the guards that were sent away against their will. Also check in with your family. Find that pony, and bring him to justice for his intrusion and horrible disregard for other ponies' lives," said Celestia to her trusted servant.

"Yes, Your Highness. And what about you?"

"I have a letter to write, two, actually. For a start."

"Two whom, if I may ask, Your Highness?"

"My little pony?" asked Celestia gently, lowering her head to get down to his level.

"Yes?"

"Why are you still on my throne? Go get that intruder!"

***

In that moment, after a quick meal and pleasant conversation, along with a gentle warning to the nice family that they might need to reconsider taking a vacation away from Canterlot in the coming weeks, Random walked out of the building.

"Don't worry, the husband and father of this fine household will probably come along soon with hugs and kisses in relief. Have a nice day, Mrs. and young Sir," said Random and waved goodbye to the initially quite surprise wife and son of the guard. They were still a bit confused, but at least the pony had been more than approachable in explaining why the stallion of the house had suddenly disappeared.

***

Less than an hour later, in a not too quiet little town a day's journey away by train, a young mare was relaxing in her library, reading a book and talking about trivial little things with her assistant and old friend.

"So, you see, that's why the series gained such popularity. Because it had a broad, well-defined demographic, yet was so poorly made it attracted more intelligent readers. The demographic who lacked good taste was drawn in, more by the popularity than any quality, because they were too young to compare and evaluate it. It got even more publicity by how everyone else said it was terrible, so ponies got curious. And while I think it's a horribly written, poorly made and unoriginal not-so-romantic story, it's a fantastic modern horror story."

"Wait, what? Just because it involves magical bat ponies doesn't make it a horror story," said the assistant, reading a comic book. He was usually working hard, but just like her, he was on a well-deserved break. The relatively young, green and purple dragon poured himself a glass of orange juice as the mare turned his head toward him.

"Believe me, if you don't look at this in my way, you are probably going to loathe it."

"How are you supposed to look at it, then?" asked the dragon and drank the delicious juice.

"The writer wanted a romantic story where a young girl could feel like she was fought over by supernatural studs, but she failed horribly. If you instead look at it as a cautionary tale about how an inexperienced youth in passion gets picked out by someone older and dangerous and corrupts her to her core, it becomes cringe-worthy how much he's just manipulating her, toying with her, just so he can take her away from her family and friends. She's losing her very soul and becoming something that can't think for herself, and eventually becomes a monster slave. The wolf pony in this story is supposed to be a third wheel, but he can also be considered a healthy, respectable pony who wants the best for the mare. He's the better option."

"Wait, he assaults her in the next sequel and then falls in love with a foal, that's just creepy," said the dragon. Spike looked at the mare, Twilight Sparkle, with disbelief.

"Yes, because the bat pony has managed to corrupt him too, in a way. From start to finish, this series can be considered to be a bunch of ponies who are okay, to decent, whose lives are destroyed because of a single entity that enters their life. The father loses his beloved daughter, the proud wolf pony has became nothing but the horrible family's pet, and a once immature but normal girl has been cursed with an unlife, and she's so blinded and convinced it's a blessing. And there's nothing you can do about it as a reader, just look at her losing more and more of what makes her a pony. A good horror story without scares, because it can very well happen in real life. Who knows, Spike, there could be a pony on his way into our lives that will slowly just break us down and apart, and use us, and we will just happily say 'thank you', while being blind to the truth because of our weaknesses and passion. Young mares makes mistakes all the time, even horrible mistakes. I just hope this book won't accidentally push them to make some of those mistakes," said Twilight.

"That's... really dark," said Spike.

"You know, I've read some pretty awful stuff in my life, but this is the first time I've actually wanted to burn a book."

"I can help you with that," suggested Spike with a playful smile. Twilight laughed.

"No, no, even if it's badly done, we can't go to that level. That's even more wrong in a way. Anyway, this one goes in shelf alphabetized A."

"'A'?"

"Atrocious!" she said and with a gently wave of her horn, the unicorn made the book float up to a nearby shelf. Spike smiled, taking another sip of his juice. Then something happened to him. He always hated it when it came in times like that. He coughed up the juice as it almost slipped into his lungs as warm feeling gathered in his throat and stomach. A burst of energy escaped his mouth in the form of a green flame as he coughed. It swirled around and suddenly materialized into a paper scroll. It hovered for just a moment before falling down on the floor. Spike was still coughing up juice when Twilight picked it up and read it.

"What does it- ugh, what does it s- say?" he asked. It better have been important, since he had spilled his juice all over his comic book.

The more Twilight read from the letter the more curious she got. Usually when the Princess sent her pupil these types of messages they gave the distinct impression of being urgent, but this letter was different from many that had come before it. There was an hint of... uncertainty in how it was written. Still, the basic message was still familiar to her.

"Spike, do me a favor and get the rest of the girls to meet me at the train station," said Twilight, heading for her study up the library's stairs.

"What for?"

"Trouble in Equestria again. The Princess wants the Elements of Harmony in Canterlot."

"Oh, are you going to save Equestria, or should I just do it this time again?" asked Spike, oddly self-satisfied.

"Spike, right now I don't care what you did in the Crystal Empire, just drop it and go get our friends!" said Twilight with a strict voice. This was no time for jokes or smugness. The Princess needed them in Canterlot and Twilight wasn't going to make her wait. It was time to pack for the trip.

Capital Canterlot

Twilight Sparkle sat next to Spike on the moving train. She looked out the window at the familiar landscape passing by at a steady pace. The train's passengers were just a bit more talkative than usual, but she didn't pay too much attention to that fact. Twilight Sparkle wondered several other things. She was a bit surprised when she realized that she wasn't pondering on what their errand was regarding this whole affair, whatever it was. Instead, she was most curious about where most of her friends were, because they certainly weren't sitting next to her.

"I think Pinkie Pie started a dance party in the train's restaurant," said Spike, being on the same wavelength as her.

"Again?"

"Are you really surprised?"

"No," said Twilight simply, with a smile, taking a sip of her tea. Suddenly one of the staff on board walked up to Twilight Sparkle. Next to him stood a yellow mare with a long pink mane. She seemed terribly shy, and the staff member seemed quite annoyed.

"Miss Sparkle?"

"Y- Yes?"

"This mare says that she knows you, is that true?" asked the pony, glancing at the mare at his side with an unhappy look on his face.

"Yes, this is Fluttershy. She is my good friend," answered Twilight.

"She has brought an animal onto the train. On this particular train that is against the rules."

"I'm ever so sorry, but this-" Fluttershy whispered, unheard.

"Please, Sir, there is no reason to be upset with her. She is a caretaker. I assure you nothing bad will come of this."

"I'll let it slide this one time, mostly because I... I told you the same thing the first time you took this train. Hey, Spike, how are you?" the stallion added to the dragon a bit embarrassed.

"Hello, Loco," Spike said flatly, still a bit annoyed over that day.

"Thank you for being so understanding," said Twilight and apologetically bowed her head slightly at Loco.

"Actually, you'll have to do me a favor," said Loco, looking up at the roof. "Another mare says she knows you as well. She won't get off the roof, tell her to come inside at once," said Loco and then promptly left. He had work to do. Twilight sighed.

"Rainbow Dash," Twilight said and groaned. Fluttershy sat down next to Spike, for some reason holding a duck. "You just stay here and I'll go get her."

"Be careful," said Fluttershy very gently, as was her usual way of speaking.

Twilight got up and walked to the end of the cart. She opened the door between the carts and walked outside. She carefully climbed the ladder up to the roof. She immediately saw Rainbow Dash, with her cyan colored coat and rainbow-like mane. She called out the her but wasn't heard at first. Eventually Rainbow Dash turned around, smiling when she saw Twilight. She walked over, basically unaffected by the strong winds. As a pegasus, she was more than capable of handling it.

"Hey, Twilight. I thought it was that boring train guy. So, what's up?"

"Rainbow, would you get off the roof?"

"Why? I've been flying at ten times this speed. Just sitting here isn't exactly dangerous, not for me."

"If I get on Loco's bad side again, I can say goodbye to these train rides. The Canterlot officials won't allow me to use these for free if I keep getting in trouble on them. I'm just glad Pinkie Pie's not breaking any rules with her party, I think that's not against the rules anyway. In any case, you can probably get hurt out here. So come on, get inside."

"No, you can just be down there with Fluttershy and her goose, and let me feel the wind in my mane," said Rainbow Dash a bit stubbornly.

"Duck," said Twilight.

"Oh yeah, it was a duck Fluttershy had with her, what's that about?"

"She got it from a vet in Canterlot to keep while he was busy, she's taking the opportunity bringing it back. Anyway, duck."

"Yeah, why can't it ever be anything cool, like, a tiger?"

"Rainbow, duck."

"Yeah, I should stop wishing she had cooler animals, I know. You take what you get, but still."

"Duck."

"What's your probl-"

"For Celestia's sake, duck!" shouted Twilight and grabbed hold of Rainbow Dash, pulling her down to her. Just about two feet above, the top of a tunnel went by, almost knocking her head off. Once they had passed the dark tunnel, Rainbow Dash was breathing very quickly in small bursts.

"I think I'll go inside now," said Rainbow Dash while shivering slightly. Twilight rolled her eyes and climbed down the ladder, quickly returning inside to her seat with Rainbow Dash. She sat down and noticed Loco giving her an approving nod before he left the cart to continue his work. "Where's Applejack?" asked Rainbow Dash, sitting down on her seat and sighing deeply, trying to wind down after the initial shock. Twilight shook her head.

"I have no idea. None whatsoever. I don't know where Rarity is either."

"Isn't that Rarity right there?" asked Rainbow Dash and pointed towards the front of the cart. Twilight had to stand up, but it turned out to be true. Rarity was indeed sitting there at the end and was holding a conversation with three... crystal ponies? Their coats were shimmering in the light of the setting sun, although their crystal coat was slightly dimmed, most likely because they were so far away from their home.

"What are crystal ponies doing so far away from the Crystal Empire?" asked Twilight, curious.

"Well, you could just go over and ask them. Rarity certainly seems to be on the ball," said Spike who stood up on the seat to get a better view.

"I can't believe I didn't see them," said Twilight.

"I can't see over all these passengers' heads... I'm going over there to check it out," said Spike suddenly, jumping down on the floor. Before Twilight could grab him, he strolled over to them, getting to hear some of their conversation.

"I admit, seeing so many new things in such a short time is a bit overwhelming. While we've grown used to it during this trip, first seeing this locomotive was intimidating. Most practical, however. A a thousand years ago a journey to Equestria would have taken two months at least, and they would be dangerous trips. Now we can come and go as we please within a week, barely three days if you plan the trip well. The wonders of modern engineering," said the crystal stallion, taking a sip from his cup of tea. "Still, it's amazing how some things have stayed the same. This tea tastes just like it did a millennium ago. I mean that in the best sense possible."

"I can not wait to see some of those airships, they sound incredible," said the crystal mare right next to him.

"If what you're saying is true, I expect a large number of airships to fly in during this time. You will see more than enough of them during your visit," said Rarity. Spike noted that the white and purple mare eyed their crystal coats with admiration.

"Hey, Rarity. What's up?" asked Spike, a bit clumsily getting into the conversation. He didn't notice Rarity's slight annoyance at his entrance, but she still gave him a genuine smile when she spoke to him.

"Hello, Spike. I'm just having a lovely conversation with these fine ponies," said Rarity and drank some of her own tea. It was clear to everyone but Spike that she hoped he wouldn't mess something up. The reaction that Spike got was to her favor, however.

"By the Princess, an actual dragon! In our time, dragons had almost been completely wiped out by Ki- by Sombra. This is incredible," said the mare, putting down her cup of tea. The two stallions looked at him as well, fascinated. "I'm actually not up to date on the dragon population. How many are there now?"

"Celestia told me there's at least twenty thousand," said Spike, feeling a bit embarrassed by the attention from such strangers. He preferred the admiration from his close friends. The mare looked overjoyed at those news.

"That is wonderful. In my day, dragons only had five thousand of their kind in the world when they were at their peak, before Sombra. It is such a relief to hear they are stronger than ever. Intimidating creatures, but powerful and old. I've seen three of them in my life, including you, little fellow. Majestic," said the mare. "The first one was fully grown, thankfully respectable and kind, or I might have been in real trouble. The second one was a baby dragon, and that was recently when-"

"Amethyst, I knew I recognized him!" exclaimed the second stallion and pointed at Spike. He turned to his two friends. "This is the same dragon that helped the Princess save our empire! This is the Crystal Bearer," said the stallion, quite exited. Without missing a beat, the three crystal ponies stood up from their seats and bowed respectfully towards Spike. Spike couldn't stop himself from blushing.

"Well, it was its own reward, really. Although, it was easy, since I'm so awesome," said Spike and laughed a bit nervously. Why can't the rest of my friends be like this from time to time? he thought, trying not to squirm in childish embarrassment at all the attention, but he did enjoy it. Twilight came over.

"Come on, Spike, let the grown-ups have their little talk," said Twilight. Spike noticed that she was a bit strange in how she walked and moved. It was like she tried to be somewhat regal for once. She seemed to expect similar attention because he had received it. The crystal ponies stood up and returned to their seats.

"So, I'll just take him back now. I'm Twilight Sparkle, as you might know," said Twilight, a bit embarrassed herself. They exchanged looks with each other and then turned to Twilight.

"Never heard of you," said the crystal mare, returning to her tea and conversation with Rarity. Twilight returned with Spike, bothered by lack of attention for once in her life.

"You know, we must have saved Equestria at least three or four times. Why doesn't anyone ever even think about that? Why doesn't anypony ever remember that? I mean, shouldn't we at least get some recognition for it?" asked Twilight.

"I'm glad. I don't want all that attention," said Fluttershy.

"Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm not too fond of that either, it's just that it doesn't make sense that nopony ever says something like, 'Oh, what an honor, the Bearers of Harmony'. It's just odd, and that bothers me a bit," said Twilight.

As the train went through another tunnel, Twilight looked out through the window on the other side of the train. Once they exited the tunnel, Twilight saw their destination not too far away. The capital of Equestria: Canterlot. The majestic city, with its castle towering above, making the rest of it look almost like a castle itself. A town filled to the brim with ponies of the highest class. A town of families dating back to Equestria's founding. It was a town filled to the brim with history and knowledge.

"If it wasn't for Celestia and my family, I probably wouldn't ever come here anymore," said Twilight.

"Twilight?" asked Spike.

"It's just... I don't know. I just don't really like much of Canterlot, I mean, it's not like I dislike it or anything like that, but... I've only been in Ponyville a relatively short time of my life, and I still have more ties to it than I have to this city," said Twilight.

"I guess that's true. Your only friends here are the princesses. Not even Shining Armor, since he moved to the Crystal Empire. Does your parents count?" asked Spike.

"It wouldn't make much of a difference, really. Still, it will be nice to pay them a visit, unless Celestia's planning on sending us away again."

"I bet ten bits we'll be sent away to the ocean," said Rainbow Dash.

"I suppose I would, would bet to the kingdom of dragons, that would just be our luck. I don't want to actually bet, though," said Fluttershy, trying not to shake in fear at the prospect of that journey.

"I'll take your bet, Rainbow. I bet we'll stay in Canterlot," said Spike.

"Spike, you shouldn't gamble," said Twilight sternly. Spike nodded and looked down on the floor, but when Twilight wasn't looking he leaned over to Rainbow Dash, whispering about a sum of twelve bits instead of ten. At that moment, Rarity walked over to them, taking her seat.

"Those crystal ponies were apparently ambassadors. There is supposedly going to be something of an important meeting with government officials from all over the world. It sounded awfully boring, but oh, how they made for good conversation despite that."

"Certainly doesn't sound much fun. Hey. Sorry I was gone for a while, but I found a relative here on the train. I had stay for a chat myself," said a voice behind Twilight who turned around, finding Applejack standing behind her. The orange pony adjusted her hat as she sat down next to Rarity. "Pinkie wants to know why you all aren't at her party," said Applejack.

"It's not like we don't want to be, but we are too busy thinking about this whole thing Celestia wants us to do. We can't quite relax right now. Like, what is it?"

"Would it be ironic if she wanted you to be at a party of mine?" asked a voice right next to Twilight. Everypony jumped in shock. A shockingly pink pony seemed to have appeared from out of nowhere.

"Pinkie?! When did you get here?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"I've been here for the last five minutes. Wow, you're really easily distract- ooh, look, those ponies are all shimmery-shiny," said Pinkie Pie and pointed at the crystal ponies.

"Are you having fun at your party?" asked Rainbow Dash in a playful tone, clearly expecting the obvious answer.

"No. I'm not having any fun at all. And that's perfectly fine," said Pinkie Pie. Every single of her friends, and even some surrounding strangers that seemed to know her anyway, maybe by reputation, were starring at her in shock.

"Are you a changeling?" asked Spike.

"Not that I'm aware of, but that guy is," said Pinkie Pie, casually pointing at the pony behind her. The stallion turned around, completely calm, and simply gave them a simple 'hey, just a tourist, we changeling need vacations too, you know'.

"Wait, what?" said Spike flatly.

"Listen, could we just, pretend this never happened? I just want to relax. I have nothing to do with the Canterlot invasion a while back. I'm just a curious changeling on a vaca-"

"Boring! So, girls, are you wondering about what Celestia wants, too?" asked Pinkie Pie. Twilight turned to her.

"Yes, we all are in one way or another," said Twilight.

"There's a changeling on the train," stated Spike in slight worry.

"I made a bet we would be sent away to an ocean," mentioned Rainbow Dash, ignoring Spike, just like everyone else did.

"Like, maybe, just maybe this could be a big deal?" asked Spike in the background, looking at the supposed changeling just trying to ignore him and reading a newspaper.

"Oh, I counter-bet we're going to be sent to the moon. We can have moon adventures! On the moon!" said Pinkie Pie.

"Seriously? We're just going to ignore that there is a changeling on the train?" asked Spike. The changeling gently hit him with the newspaper. 'It's impolite to stare' was his words as he did so.

"You know, Pinkie, if we're going into outer space, maybe you could try getting back to your home planet?" asked Rainbow Dash. Pinkie Pie looked at her for a while, the gears clearly grinding in her head.

"I don't get it."

"Ugh, nevermind," said Rainbow Dash.

"I mean, it's just so obvious that we'll try to get back down here, so... hm, I'll have to think about this, I know there's a joke in here somewhere," said Pinkie Pie, looking a bit perplexed.

"I told you to- you know what? Forget it," said Rainbow Dash and rolled her eyes. She almost fell off her seat as the train suddenly shook a bit as it started to slow down. Before long, it came to a complete stop. Twilight Sparkle gave out a sigh of relief. After a long journey, they had finally arrived in Canterlot.

Friends and Family

A couple of guards saw Twilight Sparkle and her friends as they walked up to the front gate of the great royal castle. They were quick to let the pupil of the Princess inside. To Twilight's surprise they actually seemed relaxed enough to greet them as they walked past. That was not a good sign.

"Wow, this is worse than we thought," said Spike, who had obviously noticed it too.

"What? They seemed really nice," said Applejack. Spike thought about how he would best explain it as they walked through the garden towards one of the doors leading inside.

"Well, you haven't been here that much. Guards here are usually pretty strict, except for the less public positions, but, well, they are always strict at this gate. And, when they are so chatty there, that either means they are nervous and jumpy, or overworked and exhausted. This doesn't happen often."

"Oh, I see," said Applejack, looking back at the gate as it closed behind them.

***

As they walked through the large, open hallways and corridors of the castle, passing dozens of ancient paintings portraying the wise and worthy along with meaningful events in Canterlot's history, they heard something throughout the castle that none of them had heard earlier. It was Celestia, and she was groaning in frustration. They would have gone to the throne room like they usually did when they were summoned to this castle, but this time they might as well not have known where it was, as they simply could follow the sound of an annoyed Celestia.

As they entered the throne room, Celestia was surrounded by stacks of books and folders filled to the brim with old documents. She was reading through them at an impressive speed. The guards allowed the six ponies and Spike to approach the throne. Celestia didn't even realize they had arrived. One of the guards walked up to the throne and stood next to it. He very carefully started to speak to her.

"Your Highness, the-"

"What?" asked the Princess. The guard was a bit surprised, it was clear Celestia had never snapped like that before, not in front of him, and certainly not to him. "I apologize, I am simply under a lot of pressure at the moment," said Celestia and returned to her work. "What is it you wanted to say?"

"Twilight Sparkle and her friends have arrived in Canterlot," informed the guard.

"Please tell me when they arrive here, specifically."

"That's what I'm referring to," said the guard and gestured towards the visitors. Princess Celestia looked up from her work. She sighed, sounding tired, and put down the book she had been reading.

"I'm glad you girls are here. Equestria is in need of your aid, yet again."

"So, where are we going this time, Your Highness?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"You will not leave Canterlot until I say you can," answered the Princess. Spike held out his hand behind Twilight's back, and Rainbow Dash put some coins in it, defeated. Spike smirked.

"What threat requires the Elements of Harmony? We will be ready for anything! Is it an evil god? An ancient enemy? Another bunch of evil changelings?" asked Twilight Sparkle proudly, not hearing Spike saying 'What about that changeling on the train?' The Princess let out another sigh.

"This isn't exactly about the Elements of Harmony, this is about the seven of you. There are two things right now that, if they are going to collide, things could go very, very badly. I don't even think the Elements of Harmony will be necessary. Let me explain," said the Princess, standing up from her throne. She walked down to them and stood among them. "Yesterday, a strange pony entered the castle and talked about a team of sorts, I think. He called this team, 'Group Misery'. My magic had no effect on him, and while that isn't new, it is worth noting. He threatened Canterlot, and me. I believe that this group could pose a genuine threat to me, to all of us. Usually, I would deal with this myself, but they came at a bad time, as I expect is part of their plan."

"This wouldn't happen to have with that meeting of governments?" asked Rarity. Celestia nodded her head once.

"Yes. Me, and my servants, have been working hard planning this meeting to the letter for months. Over the next two weeks, delegates, ambassadors, kings, emperors, will all gather in Canterlot for a very important meeting. A single conflict during this meeting could cause outright war. Due to circumstances, canceling or postponing this meeting is simply impossible, and may in itself be considered Equestria declaring war. It's all very complex, politics can be so at times."

"But, why do you want us here, and not the Elements?" asked Applejack?

"Because, frankly, I'm understaffed. I need ponies and friends that I can trust around me. I want you to do your best to find this Group Misery, and make sure they can not interfere with this meeting. Basically, I want you to be ready for whatever I might need. If I want you to aid with the search for Group Misery, you will do so. If I want you to help or escort a government official, you will do so. I know you are very capable even without the Elements, and I want to know that you are here, ready to come at a moment's notice. You are not the only one I've asked to come, but you certainly were the first. Will you be ready to help me to fight Group Misery and protect the kingdom of Equestria?" asked Princess Celestia.

"Yes, Princess!" they all said with conviction.

"Fantastic. I expect your brother to arrive sometime this week, Twilight Sparkle."

"My brother is coming?" asked Twilight, her face lit up just thinking of seeing him again.

"I've also made contact with some other groups that might be useful. Still, I trust you will do fine on your own. Spike, you will receive daily reports directly from my guards, detailing their investigations into this Group Misery. Make sure you are always close to somepony here in case they need you all in an emergency," said Celestia. Spike did a resolute salute.

"Princess, what do you know about this Group Misery?" asked Twilight.

"Not. A. Single. Thing," said the Princess and groaned with that sound again. Hearing and seeing her being annoyed was so strange, almost wrong. She was usually so proud and regal. "I just, their apparent leader, Mrs. Misery, it feels like I've heard that name before, but I haven't, I'm sure of it. And the pony spoke about something that happened six years ago, but I don't know what he's referring to," said the Princess, going back to searching for answers in her books and records. "It is incredibly frustrating, it feels like it's just out of my reach. I haven't felt like that in a very long time," said Celestia.

"Who was this pony?" asked Spike.

"He called himself 'Random'. Tall, skinny, wore a hat, had antlers. Could simply not be touched," said Celestia. "Your first report will contain a more detailed description of him. If you see him, make sure you do not approach him. Instead follow him and find out whatever you can about him."

"Antlers?" asked Spike. Celestia shook her head.

"I was surprised as well. It is clearly due to his strange magic."

"Oh, so he's a unicorn!" said Spike.

"No. Except his horns and powers, he was a plain earth pony. I'm sure of it. I couldn't feel any magical aura from him. It was unsettling in a way once I realized it afterwards. Still, you know everything that I know about it now. Will you stay in the castle?"

"Actually, Princess, I would like to stay at my parents' home. If it is alright, I would like my friends to be there too," said Twilight. The Princess nodded.

"Of course, it might actually be better to have you outside the castle in case of an emergency. You would have the element of surprise coming from outside the castle. I will send you a key to the chamber where the Elements of Harmony lie hidden, but that will come later. Besides, I have a feeling they won't be needed. I'm just very glad that you are all here," said the Princess, nodding in appreciation. "Now, my dearest little ponies, you are dismissed."

"If you need us, you know where to find us," said Twilight. They bowed respectfully and turned around and left, leaving the Princess behind to go through her records.

***

Once they had reached the gardens, they all turned to look at each other.

"The Princess seemed a bit, off, didn't she?" asked Rarity.

"Changeling?" suggested Spike.

"Will you stop with that? No, it was definitely her, just... different. We've seen her angry, and serious, but not like this. She was so, so not princess like. What could the problem be? She was a bit too casual, right?" asked Twilight.

"Well, if she's not a changeling, then isn't it obvious?" asked Spike, making everyone turn their heads to face him. "She's scared. Believe me, I've seen her scared. I once fell off a tower here when I was a bit younger. I remember that she was a lot like she was in there for the rest of that day while I was in bed. But, she's a princess and gets threats all the time... she's never afraid of them. I, I get this weird impression that she's not telling us something," said Spike. Twilight shook her head.

"Even if that's true, we have to trust her judgment. It's not important. We have a job to do, and we will follow it through, isn't that right?" asked Twilight.

"That's right!" they all exclaimed, just as resolute as they had been inside.

"But for now, let's go and pay a visit to my mother and father!" said Twilight, already longing to see her beloved parents.

***

"You know, I don't think I've ever been to your house in Canterlot before," said Rainbow Dash as she gently flied next to Twilight as they walked on the path supposedly leading to her home. Twilight's family's house was closer to Canterlot's border, this meant more space and quiet than in the loud, crowded and busy streets of the center of the city. They passed by a beautiful large garden leading up to a large building that had a tower as part of the architecture. It was a very nice building, and Twilight had a few good memories of being in this garden, playing with her brother or having a picnic with her parents. Trees surrounded the area, and the many flowers around them filled the area with a familiar scent that reminded Twilight of home.

"Well, you know. Mom and Dad can get pretty busy. I almost never have time to met them myself," said Twilight. They walked on the gravel path leading up to the curved stairs leading up to the front door. As they took the first step on the stairs, the door opened. A pony holding a cane in his mouth walked out of it. He let the cane lean on him as he turned around and spoke to whoever was inside.

"Thank you very much for having me here, Velvet. I'm sorry about the mess with the vase," said the pony apologetically. His mane was purple, and his coat was of a darker blue shade. He was wearing sunglasses. It was likely the pony was blind. Twilight wondered why he was there, as she had never seen him before.

"It's quite alright, Mood. It was just an accident, that stuff cleans right out," said Twilight's mother's voice from inside the door. They said goodbye, Twilight Velvet closed the door just before she could catch a glimpse of her daughter and then the pony turned around to leave, bumping right into Spike. They both fell down, the pony losing his sunglasses as he did. Spike was quick to get up and retrieve the pony's sunglasses, fortunately they were not damaged.

"Sorry, Sir. I didn't mean to," said Spike. To Twilight's surprise, the pony opened his eyes and looked a bit disoriented at Spike. He wasn't blind after all.

"My eyes are sensitive to light, but it's alright-" and then the pony's and Spike's eyes met. "You're Spike, aren't you? The dragon who supposedly saved the Crystal Empire," said the pony with a slightly different tone of voice, it wasn't as much impressed, as it was merely stating a fact. Spike fiddled with his claws a bit, but couldn't help but to smile. "What a joke!" said the pony suddenly with a condescending tone. They looked at him surprised. The pony took his glasses from Spike and put them on. "You keep expecting ponies to thank you and love you for it, and when they do, you act like you're a great hero. Get real! The only thing you did to 'save' anything was pick up an old rock and fall out of a building! If it wouldn't have been for the real heroes, we would all be slaves at this moment. You were at the right place at the right time, and you weren't even very brave to begin with! And to add insult to injury, you have had art made in your name, and you haven't even objected to anything of it. There is a statue in the Crystal Empire of you as we speak, and when you heard about it you just gave a self-satisfied smirk. You really are greedy. You really are a dragon. To a lot of ponies, and even yourself, you're nothing but a big, ugly, selfish beast waiting to happen. Get out of my sight," said the pony disgusted and stormed past them. Spike looked shocked, he couldn't even turn around to look at the pony as he walked away.

"Hey, don't insult our friend!" said Rainbow Dash. The pony sighed and turned around, looking down at the ground.

"I'm, I'm sorry. I've, I've just had some things bottled up, and, and a lot of stuff has been happening lately. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said things like that," said the pony, receiving their cold stares.

"It- it's alright," said Spike, his voice slightly trembling. Rarity put her hoof on his shoulder. "It's, it feels true. It's true... I'm such, I'm such a fraud," said Spike, shivering, and then he broke out crying. Rarity gave him an affectionate hug to try to calm him down.

"I'm so sorry," said the pony and left with his head hanging low. It took a moment before Spike actually calmed down. He dried his tears and tried to keep his head high, which was difficult for him.

"Those words really hurt," said Spike after his tears had finally stopped.

"It's alright Spike, let's just forget it and go inside. Who knows, maybe Twilight's mother will have a tasty gem for you?" said Rarity. It made Spike smile a bit again. Twilight patted him on his shoulder and then proceeded to knock on the door. She opened before anyone could come to greet them.

"Mother, Father! I'm home!" said Twilight with a cheerful tone in the hallway. Two ponies rushed to the front door, one from the kitchen to the left, and one from the stairway to the right. Within seconds Twilight was embraced by her parents who didn't seem to want to let go of her.

"Our baby's home!" yelled her mother. Her striped white and indigo mane got all up in Twilight's face.

"It's been too quiet in this house!" yelled her father. Twilight could feel his horn poke her ear. She managed to push them away.

"Yes, yes, it's nice to be home. I've missed you. How have things been?" asked Twilight.

"Oh, just great. I'm fairly sure I've discovered a new star, I'm currently making a quadruple check to make sure it really is newly discovered. I'm thinking of calling it 'Coruscante Crepuscula'. I'm going to have to make sure it's properly written Latin, however. I'm an astronomer, not a translator," said the father.

"And I'm working on creating a way to make teleportation more effective and safe. Well, struggling might be a more proper way to describe it," said Velvet.

"So, these are your friends. Hello, I'm Night Sky. I'm Twilight Sparkle's father," said the stallion and walked up to everyone behind Twilight. "I'm sure Twilight's told you everything about me and her mother," said Night Sky, giving the young mares a smile.

"Well, not really," said Applejack.

"Oh, embarrassed about your parents, Twilight?" asked Night Sky teasingly.

"Of course not," said Twilight.

"To be fair, she's not big on talking about her family, like, at all. We didn't know she had a brother until a few days before we were invited to his wedding," said Rainbow Dash. Night Sky looked surprised, so did Velvet.

"Well, perhaps it never came up in conversation. What brings you all to Canterlot? It couldn't have been just for a friendly visit, not with such short notice," said Velvet.

"We're here to stop-"

"-by to make sure that this political meeting goes well. We're just a few helping hooves, just in case," said Twilight, interrupting Rainbow Dash.

"Er, yeah, and we'll just stay until it's over," said Rainbow Dash, clearly a bit confused at the interruption.

"Mother, Father, why don't you prepare some tea for our guests, it's been a long trip," said Twilight. They quickly went into the kitchen. Twilight turned around. "Girls, listen, try not to talk about this. I don't want to worry my parents over nothing. You should have seen them back when I told them about what we're sometimes asked to do. They don't really like that I have to go on these dangerous adventures, so let's not worry them about this one, alright? Not while I'm staying here," asked Twilight. Everyone quietly agreed to her request.

"Spike, since you have an extra, and the only, pair of hands, could you perhaps help us out with a few things?" asked Velvet.

"Coming, Mom!" said Spike taking a step forward, and immediately freezing in place. Everyone looked at him as his face started to go red. "I mean, um, Twilight's mom," added Spike quite embarrassed and continued into the kitchen a little too quickly, not wanting to stay around for what the girls were about to do. They couldn't stop giggling at it.

"Where did that come from?" asked Applejack.

"He was living here with me for a long time, I guess he just mimicked me a little by accident," said Twilight and chuckled, actually thinking it was rather precious.

"So, how's it been going in Ponyville, have you been taking good care of our daughter, Spike?" asked Night Sky playfully to Spike as they entered the kitchen.

"Yes, Sir," said Spike.

"I heard you saved her life, and the entire Crystal Empire a while back," said Night Sky. Twilight couldn't not notice how Spike tensed up as he was placing the plates on the table.

"That's... just a stupid rumor. I just picked up a stone," said Spike, holding one of the plates a little too tightly.

"Well, would you like some marmalade and toast, any of you? We have plenty of it after a fair late last week. Wasn't that just lovely, Velvet?" asked Night Sky.

"It sure was, too bad you couldn't come and visit then, Twilight. You would have loved it," said Velvet.

"Since the Crystal Empire, I've had my fill of fairs. Believe me," said Twilight and laughed. She walked over to Spike and hugged him with her front leg. "Are you okay, Spike?" whispered Twilight.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," said Spike and placed the rest of the plates.

***

The rest of the day was spent catching up and just talking to Velvet and Night Sky. It went by mostly as Twilight had expected it to go after they had been given Celestia's orders. Except for Spike getting his report from the guards, which he was careful not to let Velvet and Night Sky read, everything was fairly ordinary. Sure, Pinkie Pie suddenly gasped at dinner, saying 'Oh! Because some ponies think I'm so weird I could be from another planet! I get it!' but otherwise Twilight had a chance to relax. She missed her studies, but today's schedule was to hang out with friends and family, not a bad thing to fill up a time slot or ten. Once the sun had set, they were off to bed. Velvet had prepared several beds in Twilight's personal study and library, making it almost like a good old slumber party for her and her friends. Sure, they had talked and chatted long after midnight, but at last they all went to their sound sleep.

But then Twilight slowly woke up, hearing something from the open window she was sleeping next to. It was a familiar sound that she despised, and she knew she immediately had to do something to stop it. She silently got up and closed the window, but instead of going back to sleep, she had something else she needed to do. She left the room and went down the stairs, and after a short walk through a hallway she went up a different set of stairs, this one going further up than any other ones in the building. These stairs led to a special room, the astronomer's tower. She could see half of Canterlot from there, and all of the starry sky. It was always beautiful, no matter the weather. Tonight something was different about it though. This night there was a source of the awful sound. It was Spike sitting near the railing, looking out at the city, and he was crying.

"Spike, is that pony's words still bothering you?" asked Twilight carefully as she walked over to him and sat down next to him.

"No," said Spike, looking away, not wanting Twilight to see his tired and dripping eyes.

"Spike."

"...Yes."

"Spike, you shouldn't listen to him. Why does this bother you so much?" asked Twilight, making sure to give him a hug. He leaned towards her.

"You wouldn't understand," said Spike.

"Maybe not, but I'm smart. Try me. And even if you're right, talking about it might help. These things usually do," said Twilight. Spike looked up at her, without thinking he grabbed hold of her leg and held on tight, like a child clinging to something safe.

"Because this Crystal Empire-thing was... it was mine, okay? I mean, you have always been real heroes, and what have I been? I've been a fancy mail system. I'm a... butler. But then the Crystal Empire happened. Suddenly, ponies looked up to me like I really mattered. For once, I could feel like the hero of the story. I, I kept bragging about it because I wanted to keep feeling important. I wanted ponies to look up to me again, and again, and again. I kept doing it, despite knowing I didn't do much," said Spike, sighing deeply. Leaning on Twilight even more than before. "Feeling a bit proud over being the hero was a lot better than the shame of being the dragon that almost destroyed everything he loved. Better than being greedy, which I try not to be anymore. That pony, he was right, and that's what hurts. I let my greed take over, I should have been really humble, realizing I didn't do much. Instead, I kept being proud for nothing, lying to myself. Being greedy like that is for a dragon, and not a pony. I chose to be more like a pony, but this, this just reminded me... that I can never fully be a real pony in any way. It, it makes me afraid that I'll never be the pony hero, and instead just the dragon villain, like when you, me, and Shining Armor played when we were small," said Spike. "I sort of would have wanted to be the knight once."

"So Shining Armor would have been the dragon?"

"I sort of figured he could have been the princess," said Spike, and chuckled a bit. Twilight hugged him yet again.

"Spike, you're still very young, especially for a dragon, and even for a pony. I swear you will have your time to shine one day, for real, but for now, I'm just happy you are here, helping me out. And I'll admit, you really didn't do much in the Crystal Empire, but you know what? You were ready to," said Twilight and gave him a small kiss on his forehead. "I know a lot of ponies who would have fled so quickly they would have outrun a train, but when things got sour, you were there, and you were ready to fight. You risked your life to help not only me, but everyone else. So what if you just picked up a crystal? You did so because I couldn't. In my eyes, you are a hero, and no matter what you tell yourself, or what some stranger says, that won't change," said Twilight. She let out a laugh when she realized Spike had fallen asleep against her, but from the smile on his face, it was clear he had heard what he needed to hear. Twilight summoned forth a blanket from her own closet downstairs and wrapped it around them. It was a lovely night to watch the stars.

Solitary

That very night, somewhere deep within Canterlot's walls, somewhere dark and hidden, a mare was sitting quietly in what could basically be described as a hole. She looked up at the ceiling made from dirty ancient bricks. The damp, dark and enclosed space made her wish she could just get a room at a hotel or something similar, but in the end she didn't mind being down here, because at least here she wasn't alone. In the corner, a pony was leaning against a wall, with his back oddly enough. He was standing on his two hind legs with his eyes closed.

"Erase, would you please stop standing up like that? It freaks me out a little," said the young mare. She was essentially a teenager. She turned and twisted on her mattress to look at him properly. Her yellow long mane and gray coat had managed to be kept free of the filth in their current dwelling. If it wasn't for a spell keeping the smell away, she would have outright refused to stay in such a place. The faint light of the few candles there showed the stallion open his good eye to look at her.

"Solitary, I prefer to stand this way when I'm relaxing. It means I'm less open for attacks," said Erase.

"And you look ridiculous doing it, come on, stop it," the young mare pleaded, trying to sound cute to easier charm him into standing up on four hooves like a normal pony. The light green stallion scoffed at her request, the scar slicing diagonally over half his face made the gesture seem a bit more intimidating despite it's relatively tame nature. "Why does my best friend have to be such a jerk?" asked the mare and pouted.

"Because you don't have many others?" asked the stallion. Solitary did not like that comment one bit.

"If you're not careful, you'll never have any friends ever again," said Solitary playfully, yet oddly terrifying. Erase didn't like it when she made threats like that, mostly because she could easily follow through with them.

"Like the friends I get ever last anyway," said Erase and sighed. Solitary looked at his face, it had a heavy look of depression on it. Erase let his hoof touch his scar. He had once told her that getting that scar had almost made him blind on his right eye, but he had managed to make it out relatively unharmed.

"Hiltguard, I'm sorry," said Solitary.

"Solitary," he said quite sternly.

"Right, sorry, no names."

"Solitary, I must say, you have a terrible habit of forgetting that. It might spell doom for us all," said a third voice. Solitary rolled around to see whoever it was who entered the small opening in the brick wall. He was carrying a few bags with food and water, making both Solitary and Erase smile, her a bit more than him.

"Did you win this?" asked Erase.

"Of course not, I bought it," responded the pony.

"With what?" asked Erase.

"With... money I won," said the pony a bit sheepishly, making Solitary laugh. "Anyway, dig in! There's plenty of it for everypony. Hm, Rerry should be hungry now as well. Where is she?" asked the pony and looked around as everyone got seated at a makeshift table made out of old wooden crates.

"Right here," said a far too familiar voice from up above. Solitary looked up in shock as something swiftly crawled along the wall down from the darkness of the ceiling to the floor.

"How long have you been there?" asked Solitary to the, frankly gross, creature.

"For about a good hour now, didn't you notice her?" asked Erase, more surprised at Solitary than the creature crawling on the wall.

"Well, no. How are you, Rerry?" asked Solitary. She looked at a pony with a long yellow mane, and gray coat... in other words, herself. With a bright green light coming from an equally green flame, the mare disappeared into nothingness, and in her place sat a strange... insect. It had black exoskeleton, essentially being an armor in itself. It had fangs, and parts of its very body just seemed to be missing, like holes cut out by something. The two bright, blue, emotionless eyes never seemed to blink when Solitary wanted them to, making her uncomfortable. It wasn't so much that this creature, this changeling, this Rerry, was bad company, it was merely the fact that Solitary did not like insects. Seeing an insect that reminded her that much of a pony always felt so... uncanny.

"I can't complain. How are you, my Queen?" asked the changeling and looked at the pony that had brought the food, the male pony. Her voice tended to make buzzing and faint clicking sounds, sounding barely female.

"Rerry, stop calling me that. It's Random, and you know it," said Random, adjusting his hat a bit to protect him from the drops dripping down on them.

"I'm sorry, my Queen, but it is hard to stop."

"In any case, are you hungry, dear?" asked Random. Solitary noticed a faint show of emotion on the changeling's face, it was hard to see any such thing on it most of the time.

"Very much so, my Queen," said the creature. Random looked deeply into the changeling's eyes, and the proceeded to give it a, quite passionate, kiss, making Solitary flinch in disgust and even made Erase look away.

"That is just sick," said Erase.

"Yeah, bug, ew!" said Solitary.

"Not because of that, but because this is basically slavery."

"You don't really have a say in what's right when you're pretty soon going to be known as a terrorist, Erase," said Solitary.

"Hey, we do this because we have to! The Princess won't help us or listen to us, and I've learned that when things are tough, you have to help yourself," said Erase. He looked back at Random and Rerry that continued their kiss. Rerry eventually stopped, making Random sigh, he seemed a bit exhausted. "You make me sick, Random. Kidnapping a changeling and brainwashing it into-"

"Okay, Erase, this has gone on long enough. That thing I told you when I introduced you to Rerry? That I had bet on it to be my slave? That's not true. I just told you that to mess with your head," said Random. Rerry nodded her head.

"It's true, I'm technically his assistant, I can quit whenever I want to. I just don't want to. He made a bet with my old queen, that he would get a personal changeling to work for him as long as he treated him or her well. Then, he gave me my life back at once. I'm nopony's slave. He's my queen as long as I want him to be. And I want him to be, I get all the love to myself."

"Unless of course he forced you to say that," said Erase.

"Wow, you caught me," said Random teasingly.

"Whatever shall he do to me now, when you have uncovered him, Erase?" said the changeling, overly dramatic. Erase was getting fed up, Solitary could easily see that on his face.

"So what if I messed with your head a bit? I do that all the time just to play. You need to relax, pal," said Random, not realizing he had crossed a particular line. Erase suddenly swung his left front leg towards Random. It bounced away from him, like an impenetrable bubble was between them. Erase sat down again, holding something in what was supposed to be his left front hoof, but it wasn't a hoof, it was a purple and black talon, it wasn't as intimidating as what he was holding in it, however. It was a long, black, thin sword.

"I want you to know, that I'm so fed up with how you toy with me that I didn't warn you on purpose," said Erase with an angry voice. "I wouldn't have even if you could have been hurt. That's how annoyed I am at you right this moment," said Erase, giving Random a really cold stare that made even the untouchable Random a bit nervous.

"I can assure you Rerry is here by her own will. By the way, where are the others?" asked Random and looked around in the small room, like he expected to see somepony behind one of the pipes or boxes.

"Instrumental is out and showing Dot the stars. Also, our little secret weapon is out enjoying the night life. Our other friend is still out, learning stuff about the Bearers of Harmony," said Solitary.

"And Mrs. Misery?" asked Random.

"I'm right here," said yet another voice. They all turned, barely believing they hadn't noticed her. Solitary noticed that even Rerry and Erase was taken by surprise as their leader stepped out from the shadows, wearing her cloak to keep her dry. "He will be here in just a few seconds, I believe," said the mysterious mare. Like clockwork, another pony walked inside through the same hole Random had taken. The dark blue pony took off his glasses and tied a scarf around his eyes.

"Welcome back, Mood. How was the trip here in Canterlot?" asked Solitary.

"Enlightening, I'm afraid," said Mood, carefully going over to the table and sitting down, managing to avoid tripping.

"That bad, huh?" asked Solitary.

"I made a dragon cry," said the pony. Erase burst out with proud laughter.

"That's something worth bragging about, you made a dragon cry! I didn't even know they could do that!" said Erase, actually sounding jealous at the feat.

"It was a baby," said Mood, ashamed. Erase's proud face quickly vanished with a simple 'oh'. A simple 'ahem' from Mrs. Misery made everyone fall completely silent.

"Have you found out anything of value today?" asked Mrs. Misery to Mood.

"A few minor things, the most valuable I got from just a regular chat, however."

"Oh?"

"It seems that Shining Armor, captain of the royal guard and brother of one of the Bearers of Harmony, will be coming here soon to help to stop us," said Mood. Everypony recognized the name, and looked at each other with at least a bit of worry in their eyes, everyone except Mrs. Misery.

"I'm aware of his arrival. I know that he will come tomorrow," said Mrs. Misery. Solitary looked surprised.

"Tomorrow?! But, it should take a least three days to get from the Crystal Empire to here," said Solitary.

"I am aware of that. He will be breaking a number of records on his journey here."

"The captain of the royal guard. We can't have him here so early. He's much more capable than most of these guards, and if he's here, he might actually pose a serious threat to our plans," said Erase, gripping his sword tightly. "As much as I hate to say it, it might just be time for us to cross the final line in order to get to Cesom before it's too late. Would you want me to... to kill him, Mrs. Misery?" asked Erase, steeling himself for whatever task he would get.

"No. Death is such a barbarian measure, and it's too simple. We need to show them just what sort of pain that we can cause if they do not listen to us. Shining Armor, a soldier, a leader, a brother, a son, a husband, and if my sources are right, a soon-to-be father, will be an excellent example, an excellent way to help us show a taste of our power," said Mrs. Misery with a cunning smile. She turned her head towards a particular member of the group. "Solitary!" The young mare immediately sat up straight.

"Yes, Ma'am?"

"Are you strong enough to give him an extreme effect?" Solitary sighed, not liking it, but she knew it had to be done.

"I am. Shining Armor is about to wish he had never left his home to come here," said Solitary with determination in her voice.

***

Shining Armor felt a bit strange coming back to Canterlot after such a long time, he felt even more strange wearing his old uniform. It always took him by surprise whenever he thought about it, but he was not technically the captain of the royal guard anymore, not Celestia's royal guard in any case. Now he was the husband and protector of his wife, and that was to him the most important duty he had. Then he had received Celestia's letter. Now he was back there again. He couldn't wait to see his old friends and soldiers, he couldn't wait to see his family, but most of all, he couldn't wait to see his sister.

Being all alone on this early morning train felt far from ordinary for him, he was almost always around somepony, whether it was because he was a soldier in a platoon, or because he was a friend among friends. He thought back to the last few passengers that had left a few stations earlier, they had recognized him, and they had started a pleasant conversation. When they had introduced him to a particular rumor he found himself unable to not laugh at it. How in the world did a rumor that Cadance was pregnant start? he pondered. It was laughable, but Shining Armor learned something valuable when he caught himself a bit upset that the rumor wasn't true. Maybe... maybe it's time that the two of us have a talk about that? he thought, looking up at the train's roof as he whistled thinking about it. For a moment he actually tried keep himself from laughing in childish glee, he reminded himself of his sister in that moment. It will be great to see you again, Twily.

***

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Sir," said a mare that he had accidentally bumped into. She had just passed a corner, running towards the train that was about to take off. They were completely alone in the station, as it was still far too early in the morning. Shining Armor didn't expect ponies to arrive until at least a few hours later.

"It's alright, Miss, it was all my fault. Take care," said Shining Armor and waved to the mare as he kept walking through the station. He suddenly realized something, what is possible that the mare had been a pickpocket? Unlikely, but it was odd she was here so early. He made sure to check his bag and every little detail of his old uniform, but nothing was missing. He actually felt a bit ashamed afterwards for being suspicious.

He kept walking through the station, nothing had changed since he had been there last. The white stone walls and large windows made it look brighter even during the night. Seeing the light shine in from the early morning sun, casting it's red and golden light everywhere, made Shining Armor realize how much he had missed Canterlot. As beautiful as the Crystal Empire was, the fact that most of it was made from crystals made sights like these rare. The only bright sunlight that came to the Crystal Empire was more likely to make your eyes hurt from all the shimmering. It looked so beautiful and natural to him here. He smiled when he realized that this very moment had been the first time he had seen the station completely empty. It was so early the timetables for the trains hadn't even been put up yet. He wanted to get home to his parents, but he first had to get to the castle and report in.

***

Walking though Canterlot had never been so quiet. Shining Armor realized just how early he was. While going to report in at the castle wasn't going to be a problem, it would be rude to interrupt his parents this early. He didn't want to just spend the entire day in the usually busy streets of Canterlot, so he decided that once he was done at the castle he would sleep for a few hours at the barracks. Everything would be fine.

***

The castle was just as magnificent as Shining Armor remembered it. He had been there so much in the past that he could practically have been going through its hallways in his sleep. He was still a bit frustrated that nopony had put any guards at the outer gate, but at least he had managed to get in. Had they really let their standards sink so low since he had been there last? Just because it was early was no excuse. He thought about it when he entered the room where his visit would officially be written down. Of course, there was nopony there, so he had to file a paper and leave it on the desk. 'Addendum, I don't care how understaffed we are, guards are to be posted at the front gate at all times,' he made sure to write in big letters at the bottom of the page.

He strolled out of the room and went to the barracks. He usually didn't like the hard beds, but they were always warm, always available and always clean, what more could a guard ask for? He went inside, surprised there was nopony there. For once, he didn't need to sneak through the room trying to not wake some poor soul. He picked out a bed and jumped in, not bothering to put off his uniform, he was simply too tired after such a long trip. He pulled the covers over his head, and it didn't take long for him to fall asleep.

"Sir, I, I appreciate the... warm welcome, but, I have a wife," a voice echoed in his dreams. Shining Armor woke up, and rolled around, which made him suddenly fall out of the bed. It had been so sudden, and so loud, but he realized to his relief it was merely a dream. He looked outside, the shades still drawn, but it was clear that it was at least noon. Shining Armor picked up his bag and left the room. It was time to see his family.

***

Walking though Canterlot had never been so quiet and terrifying. It was in the middle of the day, which any other day would mean at least a hundred ponies in one's field of vision at once wherever you looked, sometimes even up. Yet not a single pony could be seen, nowhere, there was nothing. The streets were completely empty and silent. The quietness of the entire town was just so uncanny, like the entire area was just somehow dead. He could smell the faint aroma of dinners, both from restaurants and homes, but nopony was around to eat any of the food. It was just sort of there.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" asked Shining Armor. He actually missed the last time Canterlot had been this unfamiliar, while that had been a gigantic attack from changelings, at least it had been loud, busy and dangerous. He was a soldier, he was used to loud, busy and dangerous. This was just silent, empty and frightening. "Where did everyone go?" asked Shining Armor, looking around, just wanting to see anyone, anything. There wasn't even any flies to be seen in the air. Had the citizens been hurt? It could not have been a regular attack, there was no signs of violence anywhere. He feared for the worst. What about his family?

***

"Mother, Father?! Twilight!" yelled Shining Armor, banging on the front door. For every step he had taken on his way there, the more afraid of his family he got. He just wanted to see them safe. He had longed to see them ever since he had become a citizen of the Crystal Empire, he couldn't let them be hurt now, not when he was so close to see them. He tried to open the door, and to his relief it was unlocked, strange, he could have sworn that it had been- it didn't matter. It was obvious to him that he had just been stressed and mistaken. He walked into the familiar hallway. "Mother! Father! Are you here?! Twilight?!" He checked everywhere, the kitchen, the basement, the bathroom, the astronomy tower, but there wasn't anyone there. As far as he knew, the entire city of Canterlot was empty. He realized that he needed some help. He, or more specifically his wife, Princess Cadance, had prepared something in case he would find himself in trouble.

He removed the little shield on his uniform bearing both an emblem representing his family, and his wife's heritage. He closed his eyes and gently let his hoof follow the outline of the cool metal frame. He could feel the magical connection getting stronger, he didn't even need his horn for it to work. An object imbued with a very weak but effective teleportation spell, the magic sending away the tiny vibrations of the very air itself to be received in a crystal hanging around Cadance's slender neck.

"Cadence, something's wrong in Canterlot. I can't find anyone. Have you heard anything?" asked Shining Armor directly to the metal emblem. What he heard was just static and the winds of the arctic north. It was at that moment Shining Armor realized that this wasn't just happening in Canterlot. His wife would under no circumstances remove that necklace, there was simply no way, not while he was going away on a potentially dangerous mission. "Cadance, can you hear me!?" yelled Shining Armor. He was trained to deal with tough situations, so to his credit he at least didn't panic, but he couldn't stop himself from shivering. Everyone was gone, all the way to the Crystal Empire at least. His wife, his entire family, if not his entire civilization. He was all alone. He dropped the shield on the floor in shock. What had happened to them? Unless... it felt impossible, but it was very much just a possibility.

***

"Shining Armor? Shining Armor?! What's happening!? What's wrong?!" yelled Cadance's voice as loud as she could, her voice coming from the shield, she might as well have been standing right next to them. Twilight was holding her brother as tight as she could in a warm hug, but he didn't even seem to register her touch. Velvet picked up the shield.

"Princess Cadance, this is Twilight Velvet. Shining Armor is here, and he is physically fine, but he doesn't seem to either see or hear us," said Velvet into the shield. If not for the worrying situation, she would have been a bit proud that they were using one of her teleportation variations to speak to each other.

"Mrs. Velvet? Is that you? How is he? He seemed so upset. Is he alright?"

"Please, dear, you can call me Mom. Yes, as I said, Shining Armor seems to be perfectly healthy, just a bit stressed. There are at least ten ponies here who followed him. Mostly guards and a donut salespony," said Velvet. She calmly explained the situation as far as she understood it. Everyone was basically gathered in the kitchen with them, most looking at Shining Armor with worry in their eyes. Twilight was trying her best to catch his attention, she gently shook him, but to no effect. She yelled into his ear, but he wouldn't even feel the breeze of her breath. He seemed both depressed, but also in deep thought.

"What sort of powerful magic could remove all his senses?" asked Night Sky as he walked around his son. He kept his bravery by making his scientific curiosity take over. He was a pony who solved problems, and he stayed brave with that mindset. This was just another problem to be solved, even if a bit odd.

"Not senses, but complete recognition of everything alive. He doesn't see us ponies, or even Spike," said Velvet, thinking as hard as she could.

"This isn't just any old spell. It would be very, very difficult to even make a pony not see a specific thing, but another being, and all of them at the same time? Not even Celestia would be able to do something like that. There are too many variables to take into consideration. You would need to be able to think of at least 4000 things at once at the moment of casting the spell. Nothing in the world can do that. Heck, an age spell only requires 200," said Night Sky, talking with his wife in hopes of coming up with an explanation.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash, see that plate on the table? Sweep it off," said Velvet. Rainbow Dash just pushed it with her wing, and it promptly fell to the floor and loudly shattered into a dozen pieces.

"Hm, he doesn't seem to register anything made from us, even if it's just secondary. Leaving notes should not be possible," said Velvet.

"And remove immediate secondary contact? That's even more advanced. The tap is dripping, has been so for a while. Does that bother him?" asked Night Sky, trying to look into Night Sky's eyes, but there was no sign of him even hearing anything. Velvet walked up to her son. She lifted a knife from the table, and cut Shining Armor's outfit. No response.

"Spike, could you do me a favor and heat up this spoon?" asked Velvet and put down the knife, getting a spoon instead. Spike grabbed it and burnt it with his flames, making it glow. Velvet took it back with her magic. She did not like what she was about to do, but it was her duty as a mother. She could not allow anyone else to do it. She pushed the spoon against his front leg, making many ponies gasp. The faint smell of burnt fur could be sensed, making Velvet stop. She looked at her son, waiting for any sort of response, but there was nothing. "Sadly, that didn't work. He is completely cut off from any outside stimuli caused by other creatures. He won't even notice that we locked the doors and windows. His mind will just justify whatever happens around him somehow. He will either be forced to ignore it, or an excuse will be created. Right now my daughter is holding him, but he doesn't move. That's because his brain is telling him not to. His subconscious is working overtime to make every strange thing make sense in his head," said Velvet.

"Shining Armor... I'm going over there, with some luck I can make it in four days and-" said Cadance.

"Cadance, your ponies need you. Stay where you are. We'll find away to stop this, whatever it is," said Velvet.

"But-"

"Cadance. I know you are worried about my son and that you care about him, that's why I was so happy when you married him. But, it seems you have forgotten that no matter how much you love him, we're his family too, and we were here first. Listen to my words, carefully. We will find a way to cure him. As his mother, I give you my word that I won't stop until I've found a way to fix this," said Velvet. Night Sky walked over and Velvet gave him the shield. Night Sky didn't just say something else, he practically continued exactly what his wife was about to say.

"You might have married him, but you got us into your family too. And you might as well learn this now, because you will sooner or later. In this family you can always count on each other." Twilight Sparkle just knew what she needed to say, it just felt obvious, she had to say it. She took the shield from her father, and continued.

"As we have faith in you loving this family's son and my brother, we ask you to have the same faith in us as we find a way to help him," said Twilight. Cadance was quiet for a few seconds. Everyone in the room was looking at them.

"I- I- I really got the whole package, didn't I?" she asked, Twilight heard she laughed, through tears, possibly tears of both joy and sadness.

"Hey, everyone?" asked Shining Armor. Everyone turned to him in shock, everyone in the room went silent. Shining Armor was looking right ahead, with courage and determination in his eyes. "I, I don't know if you're here, or if I'm all alone, but if you are there, I want you to know I might have been affected by some sort of magic, I don't think it's an illusion, I think I just can't see or hear you. It's trying to make me think I'm all alone. At first I thought a gigantic disaster had happened, but that would leave some sort of trail. It can't be something that big, it just can't. That's impossible. In any way, I want to tell you not to worry. And I... Hm, I better note some of this down in case you are all out or something," said Shining Armor.

He took a piece of paper from above the fridge and lifted a pen from the table. He started scribbling and then put it on the fridge.

"I would read it, but he's sort of in the way," said Twilight, trying to look over his shoulder.

"In any case, since there seem to be at least physical traces left from ponies here, that means I might still be able to lead an investigation on this Group Misery, which is probably the reason this happened. I'll go to the castle right now, and I'll shout to catch the attention of some of my old friends and then write down what I've discovered on one of their black boards. I'm going to need some guards to protect me in case I get attacked, because I probably wouldn't even notice, huh? I will continue this examination until I've caught them. I'll show them the pride of the royal guard Shining Armor, the pony who will defeat his opposition even when he feels like he's in another world completely. This, this is nothing but a fun challenge!" he said with pride. He then proceeded to walk towards the door.

Night Sky pointed at all the guards that had followed him there in their worry.

"You, I want you to be his guards! Follow him every waking moment of every day! Get used to his schedule and protect him in danger. Never lose sight of him! If he gets hurt I'll pay you back with interest! Now follow him and help him in whatever way you can! If he's walking into battle, block his path to force his mind to reconsider. If he sits down to eat, you eat too! If he sleeps, you sleep! Whoever this Group Misery is, I won't rest until my son have their rumps so deeply into the castle dungeon they'll be able to start mining for diamonds! I won't rest, AND NEITHER WILL YOU! UNDERSTAND?!" shouted Night Sky with such gusto and willpower that every single one of the guards saluted him like it was instinct, and then quickly followed Shining Armor out of the door. The only one not a guard who had followed, Donut Joe, the donut salespony, was awkwardly standing there.

"Er, what about me?" asked Donut Joe, pointing at himself.

"Did I stutter? You're his friend too? Right! Be their chef if it need be! You owe him that much! NOW GO!"

"Sir, yes, Sir!" shouted Joe in fear and hurried after the guards who just sort of seemed to have accepted him into their ranks for the moment. Night Sky sighed.

"Twilight, dear, what does it say on his note?" asked Night Sky. Twilight picked it up and read it.

"It says what he just said. It also says that he will be thinking out loud a lot during his stay here. He will also make regular visits, so we should keep his bed clear for him to use. He will eat at the castle, clearly planning to eat straight out of the kitchen there, I assume."

"So my cooking isn't good for him, is it?" asked Spike.

"He wouldn't even see it," said Velvet.

"Oh, right."

"Hopefully he can eat leftovers and canned goods. He'll have plenty of food to eat, and if not, we can probably feed him ourselves," said Velvet.

"Seems my reports will be extended with whatever Shining Armor finds," said Spike. Twilight immediately shook her head, but her parents easily noticed both of these little details. Velvet looked at her daughter.

"So you're into this too, huh?" asked Velvet to her daughter who hesitated a while before nodding her head.

"Figures. Another dangerous adventure, like I didn't have enough to worry about. Well, let's try to keep our chins up."

"Thank you for supporting him, and me, so much... Mom," said Cadance. "Please, please find a way for him to get back to normal. It, it would be too terrible otherwise."

"We'll do everything we can."

"I, I might need to tell you something, to make you work even harder to help him. I wanted to tell him first, but you don't always get what you want."

"What is it, dear?" asked Night Sky, moving closer to the shield.

"Velvet, Night Sky... Mom, Dad, you're going to be grandparents."

He Said Six Years Ago

"That Shining Armor is walking around the castle talking to himself is very unfortunate indeed. It seems that Group Misery is an even more serious threat than I thought," said Celestia. She was still sitting on her throne, going through the many documents, as well as constantly talk to officials about the coming weeks. To describe her as being swamped with work didn't quite do it justice. "I tried to help him, but this is powerful magic. There simply isn't a way for me to change it. The source of this magic is the only way to set him free. You need to find the pony responsible. This is truly advanced magic. Not only does it take into account several advanced aspects of neurology, but it also does so while his mind is fully conscious. If it would have been the variant where he was asleep and experiencing an illusion, that I might have been able to solve," said the Princess to the six ponies in front of her, and Spike.

Next to the Princess stood another large and tall pony, but not quite as grand as Celestia. It was her younger sister, Princess Luna. Her dark blue coat and magically sparkling mane, looking like the night sky, was quite beautiful.

"How is your brother, Twilight Sparkle?" asked Luna, not being able to fully draw her attention away from her overworked sister.

"He's doing relatively well. I'm sorry that we didn't come to inform you ourselves, but we were quite busy. Me, my mother and my father have been working on at least trying to understand the basics of this magical spell, but it is far too difficult. I've sent a letter to be delivered to Zecora back home, but I just have this doubt that even she knows what it is. In any case, Shining Armor isn't doing badly. It's clear he feels alone, but I think he's more convinced than ever that it's just a spell," said Twilight.

"Yesterday's report mention that he actually seem to be able to detect some things, but they are usually so incredibly small and useless, not to mention unpredictable, that it won't help us. He's said it out loud a few times, anyway," said Spike and walked forth with a scroll in his claws that he read from.

"Like what?"

"Mostly food and drinks being there one moment, and not a few hours later. That's the most predictable one, they tried to make messages with the food, but it didn't work. He doesn't seem to be able to read it, just eat it."

"Strange that such a flaw would be in such powerful magic, perhaps its unavoidable for such mistakes to happen," said Luna.

"I'm sorry, Princess, but I don't think so. It's just, I mean, such a small, easily correctable mistake when there are much bigger and harder things? It just... it's, it's so unlikely. I just sort of get this impression that's actually intentional," said Twilight.

"You mean so he will less likely starve, that whoever did this to him wants him to be able to live," said Luna.

"I get that impression, yes," said Twilight.

"But, wait, he wouldn't starve, there's plenty of uncooked but edible food in Canterlot. And there's fruit and that stuff too. How does that make any sense?" asked Rainbow Dash. Celestia closed her eyes in thought for a moment.

"Perhaps the pony in question is too young to think things through, or too old to think clearly. In any case, it's a good thing he's able to feel more confident he's not truly alone. Less intelligent ponies would probably assume everyone else had disappeared. Still, being unable to act properly for the situation is a problem for him in the investigation, which I think is the main reason he was targeted. He might still be an asset. Where is he now?" asked Celestia.

"He's out, asking ponies questions," said Pinkie Pie. Both Princesses looked at each other, perplexed.

"But he can not... Please explain," said Luna.

"I think Shining Armor is expecting to have a bunch of guards with him now, which he has, plus Joe. He goes to some different places he thinks might have clues, and he asks questions there to several places, which he probably just sees as empty air, and the guards make sure to note down everything of value," said Twilight.

"They might actually have made some progress there. We do know one thing though. The guards are able to carry him with them. He usually acts like he's been planning to go wherever they put him all along, or something like that. It's like nothing strange has happened," said Spike, reading more of the report.

"To be able to fabricate entire thought processes, quite impressive," said Luna.

"With this effect, and that strange pony, Random, then it's possible this is a much more dangerous group than we expected. In any case, it doesn't matter. We must continue what we have been doing. Thank you for informing me yourselves, my little ponies," said Celestia and went back to her work.

"Sister, perhaps you should rest. You haven't slept for days, not even you are able to avoid the calling to dream," said Luna.

"I can't sleep. This whole thing he mentioned. Six years ago... so much happens in the world every single year, picking out a single thing is nearly impossible," said Celestia.

"All I know is that what Shining Armor is going through is like a curse! To think, to be all alone, that would make for the worst parties ever," said Pinkie Pie. Suddenly, Princess Celestia looked up at Pinkie Pie. Her stare was oddly vacant, it seemed like her mind was in the middle of connecting some really big dots. She suddenly stood up.

"That's it! I know who some of them are!" yelled Princess Celestia, filled with energy. She nearly pounced on one of the folders and went through it."No wonder I didn't find it, I kept this one as small as possible because... because of circumstances back then," said Celestia and took out a small piece of paper, it was old, and only had a few sentences on it. "If it wasn't for the fact that the council demand I archive most of what I do, I wouldn't even have written this note," said Celestia. She took it and was about to read it when she noticed her guards. "Please give us some privacy," she told them.

"Of course, Your Highness," they said and left the room, closing the doors behind them.

"What I'm about to tell you simply can not leave this room," she said, not waiting for a response from them. She put the note up to her eyes and read it. "Defeated the Cycle of Destruction," said Princess Celestia. "Expecting to see repercussions withing a few months." And that was it.

"The, what of what?" asked Applejack.

"The Cycle of Destruction. It was a large physical, barely sentient wheel that amassed the evil concepts of the world. It was created in an ancient ritual performed in secret. That was six years ago. It was evil, but managed to achieve very little harm while it existed."

"So, it was like King Sombra, but, just a wheel?" asked Rarity.

"Bet it had more personality," said Rainbow Dash, earning a hoofbumb from Spike.

"Who would be stupid enough to create an evil wheel in an ancient ritual?" asked Spike. Celestia sighed.

"It was me," she said. Spike groaned slightly and squirmed.

"What? I mean, um... What?" asked Luna and looked at her sister with surprise they rarely saw in her. They all looked on with great surprise at Celestia.

"It was a bit foolish to try, but the wheel was barely a danger to anyone. I had planned on creating it so that it would hold some of the world's evil in itself so that I could create better ways to weaken it. I... I did it because I had hoped to find a way to make you become Luna again, Sister, after you amassed your dark powers as Nightmare Moon. I knew you would be returning to Equestria, but I had no way to reach you." She walked back to her throne. "Alas, it actually managed to become a threat, and I had to destroy it. But it had gathered enough evil energy, and energy can't simply be destroyed. I managed to break the wheel into seven or eight pieces, I barely had time to count. I remember as the pieces turned to a dark substance, like ink on reality itself. It spread in several directions over Equestria."

"And, then what happened?" asked Spike.

"I knew that it would do whatever it could to survive, it needed something to hold it, or, like ink, it would dry out. I imagined that the pieces would find ways to ponies or sentient creatures, affecting them with their dark magic. I thought I would in a few months hear about ponies that had turned evil without warning, but that never came. I was worried at first, but I eventually just assumed it had simply died before it reached anyone. The raw essence of magic, especially evil magic, is a very rare thing to see, and it is extremely easy to mold, merely a thought is necessary. It seems that this magic has entered ponies, and have been molded into another type of magic, a rare type of magic: curses."

"What? That's impossible, they are just-"

"I assure, you, Twilight. Curses are quite real, but they are not so different from magic spells and rare. They can grab hold of a victim and last very long, unlike spells that are just a quick event. They can be incredibly advanced because they do not require a thought from a pony to function. They are instantly molded into whatever effect it will be used for, but unlike the flexibility of magical spells, you can not have more than one. Still, there is a way, and only one way to save Shining Armor from being forever alone. You need to make the pony, or creature, that cursed him, cancel its effect," said said Princess Celestia, finally taking a deep breath that evolved into a drawn out yawn.

"Okay, but I have some questions," said Applejack.

"I won't stop you from asking," said Celestia and looked down at them.

"How did you figure this out?"

"Random mentioned six years ago and he, despite being an earth pony, and whoever cursed Shining Armor had great powers, at first I assumed they had been given to them by some sort of powerful force, almost like, say, Discord. The thing that made this thing stand out, however, was the fact that they had a problem with me specifically. This is the only thing I've ever done that I think anypony can actually justifiably blame me for. Thank you for making me think about curses, Pinkie Pie," said Princess Celestia. Pinkie's face lit up and she bounced on the spot.

"But, this still leaves us with some questions," said Twilight.

"Yes. Three, in fact, at the least. We know there are two cursed ponies as they can not have more than one curse each, but are more in the group also cursed?" If so, what are their powers? They can be powerful or weak. The most worrying question, however, is how did they find out that it was me? How do they know I'm to blame? I made sure to keep this a secret for these six years, very much so.

"Maybe one of them has a curse that can make them see secrets?" suggested Fluttershy.

"Possible, but, how did they find each other in that case? And how did they find out about... Never mind. It's not important. What is important is that they are here now, and they have to be stopped," said Celestia. The ponies and dragon was about to loudly agree when Luna stepped in.

"Sister, this is still a very serious crime you have committed. You knew about the risks, and you ignored them to merely study evil in an effort to fight it. This is not what I expected from you," said Luna.

"I did what I felt was necessary. I knew you would be returning, and... and I wanted to see you. I wanted to help you."

"I know, but this does not excuse that you have potentially ruined the lives of at least two ponies," said Luna. Twilight realized this was the first time she had seen the Princess she looked up to so much actually emote shame.

"Wait, they get cool powers and they want to kick you off the throne or something? That doesn't make sense," said Rainbow Dash.

"Curses are also very often impossible to control. They usually happen to a victim whenever some sort of condition is met, such as hearing a particular word, or maybe even be touch by the pony carrying the curse. They have been given powers through evil magic, such powers often hurt if not used properly, and there is rarely a proper use for them. I can not simply remove the curses, neither can the Elements of Harmony. There is only... Never mind. In any case, they threaten order in Canterlot and Equestria such a short time before the meeting. That is enough to warrant punishment. I am willing to give them compensation now when I know who they are, perhaps that will be enough. I would rather avoid further conflict," said Celestia.

"Compensation? Is that truly everything you are willing to give up?" asked a voice somewhere in the room, from where was impossible to say.

"Random," said Celestia quite serious and stood up from her throne. Twilight looked around, trying to find the source of the sound.

"I've personally never suffered because of my particular curse, but I'm hardly the only one affected by your mistakes," said the voice again. "Tell me, Princess Celestia, can compensation get ponies their lives back? One of them is a pony that has been forced to push away his own beloved family and friends. Another is a pony that will never even be able to see her own family again. One can never do what she loves in front of others without harming them. One is a pony who's curse made him fight his best friend, and he almost lost his eye. Can you get them back what they have lost? Can you heal their wounds? Can you look a pure innocent pony in the eyes, explaining to her why nopony around her is ever happy?" asked the voice again. Luna walked down from next to Celestia and stood in between her and Twilight and her friends. Suddenly, she burst into green flames and disappeared. In her place stood a pony fitting Random's description.

"Random! Where's my sister?" asked Princess Celestia.

"Sleeping comfortably in her bed. Didn't you find it a bit odd Luna was up so far into the day? Your thoughts seem to be scattered. Did you enjoy my performance?" asked Random. Rainbow Dash flied at him, trying to kick him, but she somehow simply missed, hitting the floor instead.

"How can you transform like that?" asked Twilight.

"I have a particularly powerful curse. I used it to get the power to transform from a changeling, she'll be expecting it back later today. Want to know what my curse is?"

"I want you to leave, that's what I want," said Applejack. Twilight hushed her, this could be important.

"Why would you tell us your power?"

"Charming friend you have there, Twilight Sparkle. I'm telling you this because we want you to know that we are not afraid of you. We are confident, we might not be many, but we have strength and conviction. What I'm about to tell you is merely the tip of the iceberg. In any case. My curse fits me, as I am a gambler. My curse, is more like a power, therefore I like it. I am able to bet everything on a game. I can win entire concepts about anyone I want. I can get power, magic, friends, memories. I can get whatever I want, with a little luck. I live for the excitement, which is why I'm here now. Its limits annoys me, however, like that I can't affect other curses."

"Prove that's your power!" said Spike. At first, Twilight wanted to object to that idea, but she realized it might actually be a good thing, at least that way they would know if he was lying or not.

"Very well. I bet on a coin toss. If you win, I'll tell you where my group has been staying so far. If I win, I'll get a single memory from you," said Random. Spike stood tall, not afraid in the slightest.

"Go ahead! I don't know anything!" said Spike proudly.

"I got that impression, but I didn't want to assume," said Random. Spike took out a coin.

"I since I have a tail, I call tails," said Spike.

"Well, if you have a head you certainly aren't using it," said Random and waggled his pony tail from side to side. Spike flipped the coin and caught it as it went back down.

"Tails," said Spike, smiling confidently at Random.

"Interesting, but I don't accept defeat so easily when it comes to coins. Little Spike, would you kindly show me the other side of the coin?" asked Random, a wide smirk spreading across his face as Spike tensed up. "So, does the coin have a single tail, or a forked tongue?" said Random. Spike hesitated, but he turned the coin around, showing the duplicate side.

"You not-so-sneaky little cheat," said Random and smirked. He pointed at Spike with his hoof. "I know exactly what I want from you!" exclaimed Random. The young dragon tensed up, and then relaxed a bit. "Since you're a child, I went easy on you. I just took something you can easily get back within a day," said Random, holding something in his mouth, like a coin, which he swallowed. He then turned towards Celestia. "The only hope my friends have to get back a normal life, is Cesom. Mark my words, Celestia. We will get it, and we will punish you, unworthy ruler, for ruining the lives of some ponies for nothing! J'accuse!" said Random. He suddenly ran right past them and towards a window. He quickly opened it and and jumped out, sprouting a pair of insect wings in the process. Within moments, he was gone.

"Rainbow Dash! Follow him!" said Twilight.

"Yeah! Right! Of course!" said Rainbow Dash and flew out before they even had the time to blink.

"Are you alright?" asked Twilight to Spike, looking at him worryingly. He just looked at her.

"Of course, Twilight. I'm fine. I don't know what that guy took from me, but it couldn't have been important," said Spike.

"What were you thinking? You could have ended up in some horrible trouble!" said Rarity.

"Relax, I'm fine. I'm better than fine, in fact! Because, you see, everything went according to plan," said Spike with a wide smile on his face.

"What?" asked Pinkie Pie.

"You see, I believed him when he told us his powers, but we couldn't be sure. So I made sure to know he didn't lie. Now I know for sure. I know we will find out who all of them are soon enough, but for now I wanted to know what Random's powers could do, and if they had a weakness. So I cheated. Didn't you notice that I didn't lose right away when I cheated? He had to actually find out I was cheating. You can cheat with this guy as long as he doesn't find out!" said Spike.

"But we could have figured out who they were right there and then," said Twilight.

"I don't think so, I think they have already moved, and we would have just found their old, but for now useless hiding place. I'm sure he just tried to play me for a sucker," said Spike. Twilight sighed.

"I suppose that's possible. To be honest I'm just glad you're not hurt. I wonder if you really lost something. Hm, we better take a test just to make sure. Come on, Spike, let's make one," said Twilight, walking away, towards the door, actually excited to make a test herself for once. She would question him on everything he knew.

Rainbow Dash flew back in through the window.

"Sorry, girls, but he flew down and I lost him in the crowd after he transformed," said Rainbow Dash.

"It's alright, you tried your best. Spike, come on," said Twilight and kept walking. Spike didn't move, however. He just started to talk to Pinkie Pie. "Spike, come on," said Twilight again to the little dragon. He looked around in the room.

"Who's Spike?" he asked, scratching his head.

"What's your name?" asked Twilight, realizing just what had happened.

"It's... it's... I know it's... Woah," said the dragon who had forgotten his name.

"It's Spike," said Applejack and put her hoof on his shoulder.

"...-Y Wikey," added Rarity under her breath.

"Wait, my name is Spike? That's the dumbest name ever! Can't it be something cool, like, Drake, or Dragonan, or Scalerclaw?" asked Spike to them. Twilight stared at him for a moment.

"Your name is Spike. That's that," said Twilight and pointed at him.

"Ugh, fine!" Spike said. "It makes me sound like a dog," he added and huffed a weak green flame. Applejack walked up to Princess Celestia in the meanwhile.

"So, Princess, what's this Cesom he talked about?" Celestia looked at her.

"I don't have a freaking clue," answered Celestia. Twilight and Spike both noticed her particular use of language, and what it signified.

One Week Later

Just seven days later, no matter where you looked in the grand city of Canterlot you would always see somepony who was busy.

If you looked at the ponies with businesses, they prepared their shops and restaurants to be clean as could be and fully stocked. There would be some celebrations in the town, drawing tourists in. This meeting was not only going to be important in the long run, but also give a temporary boost to business.

If you looked at the guards, they were on strict schedules, not only to keep order in the city, but to also to try finding Group Misery, the only thing that could turn this entire affair into a disaster.

If you looked at Shining Armor and his troop, they were busy looking for clues. Out of all ponies in the city, they were the ones second closest to apprehend the group. They had found two old hideouts, but Group Misery seemed to always be one step ahead. Shining Armor was getting fed up with the solitude, but he would endure. He knew his friends and family was working just as hard as him. Whenever he let himself relax and spend his time at home, he often talked about trivial things, like his life in the Crystal Empire, or some details about his honeymoon with his wife. He always kept a shallow smile on his face when at his parents' home, despite feeling more lonely than ever.

If you looked at Twilight Sparkle's family, they were busy trying to understand the curse. Velvet was often discussing aspects of magic with Princess Cadence. Night Sky was making so many graphs detailing magical connections that might make up the curse that the entire astronomy tower, from floor to ceiling, was covered in paper. 'Just one more' was his motto in this time of hardships, and he repeated it every time he finished another graph.

If you looked at Princess Celestia and Luna, they were both taking up work to make sure the meeting would be a success. The first few delegates would be arriving in Canterlot that afternoon. Sure, some were technically already in the city, but this one would be the first 'official' arrival, making it very important. Princess Celestia would under no circumstance allow this Mrs. Misery to win. She knew the name sounded familiar, but she couldn't place it.

If you looked at Twilight Sparkle and her friends, they were working the most of all. They were working together with Shining Armor's team, coordinating their work. They searched high and low, but they hadn't even searched half of Canterlot at that point. Despite being raised there, Twilight had never found the city of Canterlot to be so foreign. It was less like she was exploring a town, and more like surviving out in the wilderness.

Today, they had finally some time to relax, not that anyone wanted to take some time off. It was an order from Princess Celestia. They were sitting at a table outside a famous café in the middle of the city, drinking several different kind of beverages, or in Spike's case, eating a crumpet. They were there to meet two ponies that were going to be assisting Celestia in the hunt for Misery. They would be informed about the current situation by Twilight. She supposed it was away for Celestia to welcome them to Canterlot. Ponies were constantly busily walking past the café.

"I want to get back to looking for Misery," said Rainbow Dash, drinking the last of her iced tea, basically resting her head on the table.

"I don't think we can actually find them," said Rarity.

"Hey, look on the bright side, we know where they are not," said Pinkie Pie and smiled.

"Unless they have gone back to a place we've already looked in," said Spike.

"Oh, right. Clearly these ponies are masters of strategy," said Pinkie Pie.

"Spike, did you get the report yesterday?" asked Fluttershy. Spike continued to eat his crumpet without answering before he suddenly jumped in his seat.

"Right, right, that's me. Yeah, I got it. Nothing new to report," said Spike.

"Too bad."

"If this keeps up, we're going to have to wait for them to make their move, and I hate waiting," said Rainbow Dash.

"Hopefully it won't come to that. Let's reconsider our strategy. Where do we find our clues?"

"In the really seedy places here, I didn't even know Canterlot had those," said Spike.

"I've noticed a pattern in the reports, and when we go to ask Shining Armor's group ourselves," said Twilight, looking trough some papers.

"And that is?"

"Look at this map," said Twilight and put out a map on the table. She started to make magical marks on it. "Here, here, here, and here, this one, this, another one, and these two," said Twilight Sparkle as she marked bits of the map. "This is every place we've found clues in, whether they are traces, or tips from ponies we've questioned. See anything wrong with this map?"

"Pinkie Pie's trying to eat it for some reason?" suggested Rainbow Dash. Twilight gave Pinkie Pie a glare, telling her to stop.

"Sorry, but I need the fiber," said Pinkie Pie and spat out the corner of the map.

"The thing is, that these points are too... look, they are in a pattern, a pretty exact grid-pattern. The odds of that happening is just so unlikely. Also, every single one of these spots only had a single pony or clue leading us further. Remember that bar? Despite there being so many ponies in there, only one of them said he knew anything. Just one."

"What are you saying?" asked Fluttershy.

"I'm saying that it's possible that Misery has been leaving fake trails. It's possible that we haven't gotten anywhere in the last week," said Twilight.

"But how did they know we would look there?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Maybe this grid is actually all over town? I mean, why plan for something so specific when you can just do everything at once?" asked Pinkie Pie.

"Hm, you know, maybe that's true? I say we go to a few places that would be in this grid, and if we find something there, we might know for sure," said Twilight.

"So? Everyone we've talked to have actually just been lying to us? Why?" asked Spike.

"Let's find out! Let's make a visit to one of these places on this grid-thing," said Rainbow Dash. They payed for what they had ordered and then hurried away from the place. They had all forgotten about the meeting with the two ponies. It wouldn't have mattered, this was too important.

***

It had taken less than an hour for them to reach a place that would in theory hold a false clue. And they had indeed found something. It had been an old order in an old warehouse, with a signature from a certain Random and an address. They ignored it, however, as it was not much more promising that previous clues. Just another false lead. They had then kept going to the next point in the grid. This time, it was another bar just like half a dozen they had visited during the week in search for Group Misery. It was in an alley, and the roofs above them blocked out much of the sunlight, making the entire place feel ominous, it was nothing new, most of the places they had visited had given a similar vibe.

"Rainbow Dash, could you wait out here with Spike?" asked Twilight.

"Oh, come on! You always make me wait outside!" said both Rainbow Dash and Spike in unison.

"Well, this here requires some tact, and Spike is too young to go in and out of bars all day," said Applejack.

"Just be patient, we won't be long," said Twilight. They walked inside the bar. Usually Canterlot could pride itself on class, but the only classy thing in this dump was the fireplace, and even that had frankly foul writing all over it. The building was old, and had a low roof. The walls made from old bricks and the floor from old wooden planks that made for a frankly uneven walking surface. There was only two windows, facing the street out front, but with the already poor light from outside and the degree of filth covering the glass, they might as well not have been there at all. The only thing that was even remotely pleasant about this bar was the fact that it the air was dry, which Twilight got the impression was a rare thing in there.

"Wow, this place is glummer than most others we've been in. New record holder, that deserves a price!" said Pinkie Pie with a smile and put up a diploma on one of the walls. 'Finest dump in business' was written on the diploma in golden cursive letters. It might have been a bit harsh from Pinkie Pie at first glance, but with everything else that was hanging or was written on the walls, such as swears, dirty paintings (in more than one way) and insults, the diploma was probably the highest compliment this particular establishment was due.

"Hey, not a lot of customers this time of day. Don't mess up the floor, I just cleaned it," said the bartender. Twilight had been out in the dirtiest streets in Canterlot just a few minutes ago, and she still got the distinct impression that walking on this floor with her muddy and dirty hooves actually made it cleaner.

"Okay, we get it, the place is a mess, get on with it!"

"So, do you want a drink... or?" asked the chubby red coated bartender. Twilight noticed he was missing a tooth, making a distinct slight whistling sound at the end of his sentences.

"Actually, we would want some information," said Twilight.

"Yeah, we heard that some strange pony has been in here recently," said Applejack, just like they had rehearsed. They were basically just making guesses.

"There's plenty of strange ponies that come in here. That one in particular," said the bartender and pointed at Pinkie Pie who was hanging up some party streamers to liven up the place.

"We're looking for a particular pony who likes to gamble," said Applejack, going over to the bar desk and leaning on it, clearly wishing that she hadn't touched the sticky wood, but she didn't react. She kept a straight face.

"Do you have any idea how little that narrows it down?"

"She's about my height and indigo," said Applejack. The bartender looked surprised.

"She?" Applejack leaned over the desk towards him. "Now, why would that surprise you? Did you expect me to describe someone else?" asked Applejack, smirking. The bartender looked at her, trying to not look nervous.

"It's just, I rarely hear of mares that gamble," said the bartender. The girls looked at each other, and then to the wall next to the bar. There was a large board there with different photos. Above the photos was a sign that read 'Our big winners' and at least half of the photographs depicted mares of varying ages playing and gambling in different games. Applejack turned to the stallion again.

"Your story is like your best drink: there's no way in heck I'm buying it. Tell us the truth, chubby!" demanded Applejack and smacked the bar desk with her hoof.

"Alright, the pony you are looking for was in here a while ago and he talked to some other ponies about a meeting in the airship harbor," said the bartender. Applejack bashed the desk again, this time with both her hooves.

"Don't lie to me! And don't do such a poor job of it too! We haven't said who we're looking for, so how would you know? Tell us the real truth! Who told you to lie to us!? Was it that Random-fella?" asked Applejack, clearly intimidating the stallion. He started to shake a bit, and then whistled loudly before diving behind the counter. Down the stairs five large stallions came rushing down. They were covered in leather.

"We don't want no trouble, but if you don't leave, there will be," said one of the stallions.

"Funny, I was about to say the same thing. Your numbers don't scare us," said Applejack. They readied themselves for a fight, even Fluttershy tried her best to look intimidating, which she failed spectacularly at.

"Oh, this is just a warning," said the stallion. He himself whistled and their numbers basically quadrupled as more ponies rushed down the stairs.

"Aha, well, maybe, maybe we should try another place," said Applejack, slowly backing away. They were brave, but not stupid. The door closed and one of the stallions stepped in front of it.

"I think you might have stepped over a line here. When you mess with the bull, you get the horns," said one of the large stallions. One of the less humongous ones pointed at the pony behind the bartender.

"He's the bull, by the way, in, in case that wasn't clear."

"Get them!" said the stallion in charge. They were surrounded, the ponies were closing in, Twilight was ready to get some bruises, and give a few as well, and then the fun started.

Twilight waved with her horn, making at least two of the ponies fall over by a sudden force. Applejack kicked one, who was knocked into a second, who was knocked into a third. Pinkie Pie and Rarity used streamers to tie a few one up with tidy knots Fluttershy was actually running around terrified, but still somehow managing to knock several of them over. Twilight created an expanding magical field, pushing several of the stallions away, creating some space to breathe. It didn't take long for them to get back into the chaos, however.

***

It didn't take long for the last stallion to fall. The bartender was still cowering behind the desk. Twilight walked over to the bartender and pulled him up with her magic.

"Who told you to give us fake clues?" asked Twilight.

"Please, I can't tell you. She'll, she'll kill me," said the bartender.

"She? So it was a she? Was her name Mrs. Misery?" asked Twilight, raising her eyebrow.

"Did she pay you to give false information?" asked Rarity, giving a mean glare towards him.

"N- No, of course not," said the bartender. Twilight rolled her eyes and started to shake him in the air. "Alright! Alright! She didn't tell me her name, but she gave me a list of ponies to lie to, and a lie to tell. She gave me plenty of bits to do so," said the pony, almost in a panic from all the shaking.

"Did she say anything else?" asked Twilight.

"No! Nothing! I swear, that's it. It was good money!"

"Where did she get the money from?! How much was it?!"

"The bag had a Mariam Mare mark on it! It was 3000 bits! That's all I know about it!" yelled the bartender. Twilight strong doubted she could get much more from the pony and released him. She walked out with her friends to the street.

"Well, this might be a better lead. Assuming everyone has been bribed, that's quite a lot of money."

"What's Mariam Mare?" asked Applejack.

"It's bank, sweetie," said Rarity. Fluttershy looked around them.

"Where is Rainbow Dash and Spike?" she asked, concerned.

"Hey girls. Did you find out anything?" asked Rainbow Dash, walking down the street towards them with Spike in tow. They each had an ice cream cone they were hungrily eating.

"Rainbow, where were you?" asked Rarity.

"Me and Spike went for ice cream. I mean, it's not like anything exciting ever happens out on these things anyway, right?"

Whitemane

"I can't believe I missed that!" said Rainbow Dash, groaning loudly in frustration while they were sitting at the café.

"It wasn't that exciting, Rainbow Dash. It could have been a lot more exciting. You'll have some excitement soon enough," said Pinkie Pie patting her on her back. They were back at the café, looking at the Mariam Mare Bank down the street. They were just taking a break from after the fight, they would soon return to duty.

"Doesn't it seem a bit excessive for somepony to bribe every seedy place in Canterlot to give us false info?" asked Spike.

"Well, yes, but whoever it is doesn't seem to take any chances. We'll be going in there, me and Rarity. You stay here and keep a look out for anything mysterious," said Twilight.

"Me? Why me, Twilight?" asked Rarity.

"Well, because honestly, you're better at dealing with banks than I am, Rarity," said Twilight.

"Oh, right. Well, shall we be off then?"

"Lead the way," said Twilight and got up from her seat.

***

Banks had always been a bit odd for Twilight. On one side, she loved the strict organization, but on the other, none of the ponies working there seemed to ever enjoy what they were doing. The Mariam Mare Bank was one of the oldest banks in Canterlot, but it didn't show. The halls were anything but old stone walls and pillars. This was a modern building, one where Rarity was more at home. The ceiling was ridiculously high, and the hallways were frankly too big and roomy. If they hadn't walked on big blue carpet they would probably have heard the faint echo of every step.

They entered one of the smaller rooms on the second floor through a large door. While they had visited a place too dirty not too long ago, this place actually seemed to be too clean. The dirtiest thing in this room were a few plastic plants in the corners.

"Do you have that order from Celestia?" asked Rarity as silently as she could.

"Yes, don't worry. With this we'll get to know everything," said Twilight. A young, gray pony in an expensive suit was sitting behind a desk, reading some very important looking documents. He looked up at them, adjusting his glasses. They were able to see half of Canterlot in the large window behind him.

"Can I help you?" he asked with a dry voice.

"Yes. I was just thinking, that, I sort of needed to well, check some-" Twilight  was basically stuttering, she wasn't quite sure how to talk in a situation like this. She didn't even like banks, fortunately, Rarity pounced to help her.

"Hello, good Sir. How are you? We're awfully sorry to disturb such an important pony as yourself, but we are here under direct order of the Princess. We believe that your bank has recently extracted a large sum of money to one of your clients and we are here to find out the name of that particular client," said Rarity.

"I can not simply give you such sensitive information without some sort of permit," said the pony. Twilight presented the permit Princess Celestia had sent them. The pony read it through carefully.

"Hm, yes, this does seem to be an official request by Princess Celestia. You are aware of the fact that if this turns out to be a forgery you might face up to twenty years in prison, correct?" asked the pony.

"Of course," said Twilight. The pony took out a paper from a drawer and started writing on it. He then handed it over to Twilight.

"Please sign here, here, here, and here," said the pony. Twilight quickly signed and the pony took it back, filing it away along with the permit. "There. Now. What is it you want to know about this client?"

"Could you perhaps tell us who she is?" asked Twilight Sparkle. The pony looked at her with a deadpan expression on his face.

"Could you perhaps give something a bit more, or, you know, actually substantial to go on?" asked the stallion.

"Right, the transaction was a minimum of 3000 bits," said Twilight Sparkle. The pony didn't change his expression, he just looked at her for about five seconds before he sighed and rubbed his hoof over his forehead.

"Ma'am. This is just not any bank. This is Mariam Mare. We deal with literally thousands of exchanges every day. 3000 bits might just be the most commonly 'large' sum extracted from our bank on a daily basis. This suit, costs 3000 bits. If you're going to want to find someone in our records, you will have to be much more specific than that. We know you are looking for somepony specific, but we will simply not allow you to look through every statement made here until you find the one you are looking for. I sincerely hope that wasn't your plan all along," said the pony, glaring at Twilight, ignoring Rarity's '3000? I could have done one for 300.'

"Of- of course not. I'm just wondering if... What has the largest transaction been recently?" asked Twilight.

"That is public information, fortunately. It was ten million bits. It was extracted by a griffin prince for charity. That is the largest amount in a single transaction this month. It's hardly a record breaker here at Mariam Mare" That clearly didn't help them at all.

"Well, then, um... oh! Has there been a large amount of 3000 bit transactions from the same client this month?"

"How do you mean?"

"As I said, has any pony extracted 3000 bits in large amounts," said Twilight. The pony thought about it for a bit, and then opened his drawing looking through it.

"Let's see... yes, here it is. Now that you mention it, usually, 3000 bit transactions only range in the tens from different ponies each day, but this month one pony extracted no less than a 100 of them at once. While not rare, it is specific enough that I will allow you to at least learn the client's name. You will have to then talk to the Princess' archiver to learn more. It is merely a way to make sure that Mariam Mare is not responsible for any unwanted outcome," said the young stallion and went through a few lists. "Ah, here it is. It was done in the name of someone with the Silver Whitemane. Wait, Whitemane? That sounds... familar," said the pony.

"Sir?"

"This is no business of mine, however. I'm merely doing my job. I will have to request you to leave. Of course, if this isn't the pony you are looking for you will require another permit to do more here. Have a good day," said the pony, putting the files back in the drawer.

They walked out of the room and continued towards the stairs leading out.

"So, what now?" asked Rarity.

"We'll be going to the castle. Let's see if can find out about this Silver Whitemane," said Twilight.

***

Without wasting time, they swiftly returned to the castle. Once they entered the main archive, Twilight accidentally bumped into somepony familiar, her brother. He still had that expression on his face like he was all alone. Joe walked up to Twilight and helped her up after falling over.

"Twilight Sparkle! We have just found out something awful, well, it was actually your bro who did, but, well, in any case. He noticed there was a pattern to all the places that had clues in them! They are all-"

"In a grid-pattern, yes, we know," said Twilight.

"Oh. So, you know we are back to square one?" asked one of the guards.

"We might not be, we were just on our way to the archive. We think we've found a real clue this time. Get my brother inside and we'll talk, but first we have to find the birth register," said Twilight.

***

"I found something!" yelled Rainbow Dash, holding up a book above her head in triumph. Every single pony in the room who had been searching though books to find this Whitemane immediately crowded around her. Rainbow Dash looked into the book. She stared to read some of the information. "Wait, this is just a book of baby names. Wow, that was a dud. Sorry guys!" said Rainbow Dash.

"I, I found something," said Fluttershy quietly, holding up a book of her own. To her despair, they all started to crowd around her instead. It was about old Canterlot families, and was more of a history book than an actual register, which surprised Twilight.

"I found a name here, in the back of the book. It was Whitemane, but, the actual pages have been covered with ink," said Fluttershy, showing the pages in question.

"Somepony has censored out these parts, it looks like some pretty official work too. Only the ponies of highest rank are allowed to do such a thing," said one of the guards.

"On the bottom it says 'For more information, please get permission to access... Celestia's private archive?'" said Fluttershy, surprised.

"Well, let's go ask her," said Twilight.

***

In the throne room, they were once again talking to the Princess, this time she was a bit more relaxed. Most of her work of the day had been taken care of. Once they mentioned the name 'Silver Whitemane' she got a bit more tense. She looked at them with a serious look on her face.

"Guards, will you-"

"Give you some privacy?" asked the nearest guard, immediately apologizing for stepping out of line.

"It's alright, but please," said Celestia. They immediately left the throne room. "To think that not one but two old ghosts in my history would come back at a time like this," said Celestia.

"Oh no, are we up against ghosts now, too?" asked Pinkie Pie.

"Princess, who is this stallion, this Silver Whitemane?"

"The Whitemanes. An old family. They were great at their peak, but even when they dwindled they were one of my greatest allies. Most of them had hearts as pure as snow. They were all very kind, and I remember them fondly... except one. That one. What I'm about to tell you is of utmost secrecy. It was something I decided that I simply didn't want the ponies of Equestria to hear. That one of the oldest and greatest families had ended with such a darkness. I cherish their memory too much for that. So I made sure that any mention of what happened was hidden. Only I know of it and an old guard who happened to be there at the moment. He actually helped save my life that day."

"That day?" asked Twilight.

"Let me explain. This all happened when you were all very young."

***

It was just about twenty years ago. Celestia, who had usually all the time in the world, suddenly found herself with very little time at all. She was running in the old, dried out sewers of Canterlot, the ones that hadn't seen use for at least half a century. Her light was the only thing that lit the way. Both in front of her and behind her were guards doing their best to keep up with their Princess in the damp darkness. They were following a wire that was on the dirty floor. They didn't have much time.

"Where is this leading, Captain?" asked Princess Celestia.

"I think this is leading towards the eastern part of old Canterlot, Your Higness," said the guard.

"This can't be," said Celestia, but she didn't hesitate. "Are you sure the wire simply can not be cut from down here?" asked Celestia.

"I'm sure, Princess. It would create a short circuit, making the explosives go off," said the guard. As he said that word, Princess Celestia saw a metal box stuck to the wall immediately to her right, there was another bomb, one of hundreds strewn across the old sewers. This was part of the foundation of Canterlot, if they would all explode at the same time. Her entire city would first collapse, and then fall off the very side of the mountain.

"We have four more minutes!" said one her soldiers. Four minutes, 240 seconds. If they couldn't stop this within 240 seconds everyone would die, and whoever did it would never be held responsible for what they had done.

They suddenly ran into a dead end, but it wasn't really the end of the line. The wire was suddenly going up. Celestia focused a blast of energy into the brick wall cutting off their path. It fell apart at the sudden force. They rushed into an old room, a basement. They saw a faint light at the top of a staircase. Celestia rushed up there and blew the door open.

She found herself in a very old, luxurious, familiar home. The tapestry was almost golden, the red carpets under her hooves incredibly soft. The windows were in several colors and created beautiful patterns. Celestia saw the wire, and she heard the faint sound of somepony crying. Celestia rushed out from the hallway and into the living room. In front of her she saw something that was nothing short of tragic.

On the old sofa, with a knife in his neck, there lied an earth stallion. He was middle aged. His coat was sandy and even in death it gave a strange impression of warmth. His mane was, as his namesake suggested, white as snow, with just some of the blood staining its otherwise pure color. Celestia had known him well. His eyes were wide open in death, and he was lying in a pained position not fitting for one that had been as noble as him. In front of him, holding his hoof, there was a little filly, crying. This wasn't the most worrisome thing in the room, however. On the table in front of the sofa, there was a mechanical box. It was tied to a clock, counting down until it would set off the explosions. There was less than one minute left.

"Guards! Stop the countdown!" ordered Celestia. Several of the guards removed the screaming filly from her dead father as they were forced to coldly ignore the stallion and focus on the detonator. One of the guards carefully opened up the box, showing the mechanical parts carefully put together within.

"This, this isn't magical machinery, this, this is scientific. Spells won't work," said one of the more intelligent ponies there. The captain of the group pushed aside the ponies before it. There was only forty more seconds on the timer.

"I took some basic classes in this when I was in college, sure, the teacher was a unicorn who didn't know his Watts from Amperes, but hey, I might be the most qualified pony here," said the captain.

"Are you... making jokes? We could all die!" Twenty seconds.

"If we're going to die I'd rather go out with a smile on my face," said the captain. He muttered to himself, trying to remember the most basic of rules from several years ago."This mechanism, leading to that, is that a magnetic surface? Yes, to set off the initial signal, which will probably travel in a tree shaped route towards the," was everything Celestia managed to hear. The little filly was yelling through her tears.

"Don't touch Daddy's project! He worked hard on it! You're ruining his hard work!" shouted the filly, clearly not understanding the situation, but then again, Celestia hardly did either. She never expected the dead stallion on the sofa, her old friend, to ever do something so horrible. Seven seconds.

"Give me a feather!" ordered the captain. Celestia pulled one from her wings and basically shot it at him. He grabbed it with his hoof and basically shoved it into the box. There was a ding from the clock, making everyone tense up at the sound.

For a few seconds, you could have heard a grain of salt hit the floor. Some of the guards fainted, having been pushed to their limits. But, since they were not dead, they seemed to have succeeded. Everyone lost their cool for a moment, even Celestia cheered. "IT'S NOT OVER YET!" yelled the captain, making everyone fall silent again. "The battery is still letting out a charge, and while I've stopped the electrical signal, the metal piece that's supposed to carry it is still pushing against the feather. We are literally a feather away from all dying. I need a unicorn to carefully remove the battery from this thing," said the captain.

Celestia had the steadiest magical ability. She walked up next to the captain and very carefully removed the two things he pointed at, making up some sort of chemical mixture that Celestia had to admit, she didn't understand.

"Now, don't do anything else until I'm done explaining. This is a tricky step," said the captain, managing to keep a cool head, despite the fact he was sweating so much it dripped from him. "This thing is clearly hooked up to a secondary charge, which will set off the explosions in case of excessive tampering. I noticed a fault in it, however. If I let the original method of the charge be set off without the battery, the secondary can't do anything. In other words, I need you to, when I say so, cut the wires between those two containers making up the battery," said the guard. Sweating more than ever.

"I will follow your command, Captain. Have no fear. I trust you," said Celestia and nodded.

"Let's just synchronize first, this is a split second thing, we can't make a mistake. Counting to three isn't going to cut it, too uncertain, not precise enough. I will make three 'ah' sounds. At the very start of the third 'ah', you cut the wire completely. Let's just test, before the actual thing. Say it when I do. Ah, ah."

"Ah!" they finished in unison.

"Good. Now for the real thing. If you have any last words, now might be the time," said the captain, looking at his trusted soldiers and friends. One of the newer guards poked his hoof at the floor a bit, before turning to one of the more experienced guards.

"I've never liked you," said the young pony spitefully without regrets.

"Time to start. Ready?" Celestia nodded gently, she was keeping a cool head. "Ah, ah."

"Ah!"

***

"Wow, that might have been a really exciting story if we didn't obviously already know how it ended," said Rainbow Dash.

"I'm not finished yet, keep listening," said Celestia.

***

"So, when I said I didn't like you, I didn't mean it totally like that," said the young guard sheepishly to the guard glaring at him. The captain was lying on the floor, exhausted. Ponies had already received orders to remove the now harmless boxes in the old sewers. This threat was officially over. Celestia was standing by the sofa, looking down on the dead stallion.

"Silver, what could possibly have pushed you to do this?" asked Celestia. She didn't shed a tear for him. She had in her youth cried plenty. She was used to the concept of death. She would always cherish the time they had spent together as good friends. She swept her hoof over his eyes, closing them. The smell of blood got on her hooves, but the Princess endured.

"What's wrong with Daddy!? Why isn't he waking up!?" yelled the little filly from the hallway. The guards tried to get the little filly outside, but she struggled to stay with her deceased father. She looked just like her father, but had her long mane in a ponytail.

"Get that filly out of here. We need to find out where he has the plans stored for this system. This could create some serious damage," said the captain, finally having the strength to get up again.

"Wait. Sweetie, does your father have a place where he's ever built something?" asked Celestia, walking up to the filly just as the guards were about to take her away.

"I, I think he works in his study sometimes," said the little filly.

"What's your name, little one?"

"It's, it's Merry," she said, sounding quite shy.

"Captain, would you help me? Lead the way, dear," asked Celestia. The filly seemed confused, but she did as the nice lady told her to. They walked up the stairs, and into a room filled with books, and on the floor, several mechanical tools, wires, and such. It certainly looked like a place to work on this.

"Daddy was in here all the time. He told me he was working, working on a project. You messed up his project! When he wakes up you're going to say you're sorry to him!" said the filly with an angry look in her eyes.

The captain carefully examined everything on the floor, as far as he knew, it was enough to create explosives, some of the books on the floor was about pyrotechnics. Despite all these evidence, there was just something wrong with this whole thing. There was something missing. He realized something that somepony with more modern experience could, but somepony as old as Celestia might not.

"Celestia, the bank statement from Mariam Mare. It was about gunpowder, right?" asked the captain.

"That's correct," said Celestia. The captain walked up to the door, passing by the filly and sensing something. He looked outside into the hallway and then whispered something in Celestia's ear. She didn't change her expression, but it was still clear that she was surprised. She nodded at a particular question from him. "Sweetie, are you sure that this is all your father's things?" asked Celestia. The filly nodded weakly, still a bit teary eyed.

"Well, I better check for schematics, think you could help me, Sweetie? Captain, thank you for all your hard work. I will see you later today when you give me your final report on this matter. Good day," said Celestia. The guard bowed and walked outside of the room, closing the door behind him.

Celestia and the little filly was alone in the room. Celestia trusted the guard completely, and his theory, while incredibly wild, if true, would in a strange way make sense. It was time to find out. Celestia turned her back towards Merry, looking through the documents on a nearby desk.

"I can't help but to wonder how your father built something like his project. His talent is agriculture. Did you know that? He's helped a lot of ponies. He and I were good friends, at least I thought we were, so why he would do this project without telling me is a bit-" There was a large bang on the door. Celestia turned around so quickly that lightning itself could be jealous of her, she focused a spell, aiming at the air. The filly was frozen in the middle of her leap, levitating, with a blade in her mouth, picked up from the floor. The door slowly opened and the captain was standing there, after peeking in through the keyhole.

"It turns out I was right. It was odd that the stallion didn't reek of gunpowder, but that the filly did," said the captain and closed the door.

"I almost can not believe it. A filly, his daughter, murdered him to make him seem guilty. Even I was fooled, I would have never expected Silver to have done something so terrible if the alternative wasn't so horrible. In twisted way, I'm relieved you were right. What do you have to say for yourself, Merry Whitemane?" asked Celestia, with cold rage in her voice.

The filly struggled in the magical grip, but she might as well have tried to move mountains with her mind. She started to laugh with the blade in her mouth, eventually dropping it so it fell, landing with the pointy end down. She laughed, and laughed, and laughed. It was sickening, the laugh of a filly, laughing completely sincerely at her murder of her own father.

"It would have been nothing short of beautiful. It would have been remembered forever. My father, my own father, bearing the Whitemane name, was a worthless farmer. Such dishonor, despicable. I would rather die than let the heritage and name of this family fade out into obscurity. I was even ready to die for it, I was so close, I could have gotten away, blaming it on him as the only survivor! But you had to figure it out, didn't you? You just had to figure it out! Didn't you?! You just had force me to stay behind trying to reset it!" Celestia barely heard the filly talking, she just looked on with disgust.

"This family... this family was a good one. Every single pony in it, from the first father to the last son were my friends! You've destroyed any honor the Whitemane bloodline had! If my anger didn't obscure everything else, I would be able to hear them turning in their graves. You will be punished for this, I swear. You could have been born yesterday, you could be so old you'd die tomorrow, I would still give you your punishment!" roared Celestia. This family's fate, made her shed a single tear. The filly just laughed mockingly.

"Well, what are you going to do, Princess? Who in this entire world, except for that stupid guard there, would even believe you? A filly, killing her father and almost destroying Canterlot all by herself? You couldn't even think of it a few minutes ago, why would anyone else want you to punish this?" asked the filly, suddenly pouting, creating a shockingly good facade of a young heartbroken filly. "I- Don't- Know- Why- She- Is- So- Mean!" Merry said, breathing heavily because of sudden tears.

Celestia realized she was right. Nopony would believe them, even if some ponies did, they might not even have allowed it. She remembered Silver, dead on the couch, having faced an undignified end at the hand of a monster he had created, a monster he had loved. She would not allow this pony to get away with that.

"Nopony has to know about any of this. I will make this act die out into obscurity. You will be sent to that new prison in the griffin kingdom."

"Ha! Even they have a court. You simply can't prove I have anything to do with this! I'm a genius, don't you think I know a thing or two about laws? I hid every trace of making the bombs! Your testimony isn't nearly enough, neither of you are!"

"She does have a point. There isn't enough evidence to put her into jail for murder or conspiring against the kingdom," said the captain. Celestia could have almost cursed in frustration. "But, remember that signed bank statement? We do have enough evidence to put her in jail for that. She forged her father's signature. It was that thing that allowed us to notice this thing to begin with. We have evidence her father haven't signed it, and with some of this new information, we can put her in jail, even despite her age," said the captain. "What was it that stallion said? 'For at least twenty years'?" Celestia looked at him, and then turned her attention back to Merry.

"I've never wanted to give somepony a raise so badly," said Celestia, feeling odd satisfaction at being able to put this monster in its place.

"You... fool! Do you think this is over? I made a simple mistake, but I'm barely six! I will come back, better than ever! I can't be held in prison forever. Mark my words, you old fucks, when I'm get my freedom back you will never have a moment to rest. I will return, and when I do, your life will be nothing but misery!"

"Shut up, you little brat," said the captain.

"Come on, Miss Merry. You have a train to catch, far away from here," said Celestia. The sooner she could remove this... thing from Canterlot, the sooner she might be able to get some rest. It had been a very tiring day.

***

"The last of the Whitemanes. A dark spot on their bright history, leaving me with a bad taste in my mouth. She was a terrible monster, brilliant but terrifying, especially for her age. Why she is like she is I will never understand, which is why she is so frightening. Ponies usually become evil because of a good reason, with her, there wasn't one. She is just an irrational being. And, it seems she has returned. I expected her first in another ten years, as her sentence had been extended, this is far too early. It seems she have broken out and somehow kept the news from me. At least she can't blow everything up this time. I made sure to enforce the very foundation of the entire city. You could drop the moon on this city now and it wouldn't budge, sure, it would be crushed, but it wouldn't collapse," said Celestia.

"Was she... Was she really that evil?"

"Worse. I was filled with anger, but my mind was very vivid. I didn't suffer from poor judgment. There has been ponies in history that has done less horrible things than her and been punished more severely. In my opinion, she got off easy. I caution you to be even more careful. I am certain that she is far worse than Random or whoever cursed Shining Armor. I fear for my citizens when I think of her being back in the city."

***

The sun was setting, which the young stallion could easily see from his office window. The bank pony looked out the window into the sunset, it was so calming after a stressful day of hard work. Whenever he was forced to disclose information about clients, he got nervous. He was so afraid that he would make a mistake and lose everything he had worked so hard for. Somepony opened the door and walked inside the room. The pony turned around in his rotating chair, sitting up straight.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am, but we're closing now. If you could just come back tomorrow."

"Actually, I'm just here to ask a few questions. Are you Vault Keeper?" asked the mare. She took off the hood hiding her face, showing a young face, quite beautiful. Her sandy coat gave an impression of warmth, especially in the golden sunlight. Her white long mane was hanging free. He wasn't particularly taken with her, frankly, the mare that had been in there earlier, the white and purple one, had been much more beautiful.

"Yes, that's right," said the pony.

"And your father is Vault Holder?" asked the mare. Her voice was oddly curious and yet calming.

"That's right."

"I was just at his office. He's grown quite a lot since I saw him the last time I was here personally. He was about your age when I saw him last."

"Oh, you've been here before?"

"A few times, yes. Not personally in a long time, however. It's funny, he and you did the exact same mistake at about the same time in their lives," said the mare and laughed a bit. Vault didn't understand.

"Who are you, if I may ask?"

"Well, your father said the same. I might as well tell you too. I'm Merry Whitemane, but I go by something else nowadays."

"Oh, you're the client, an old one, isn't that right?"

"Yes."

"I didn't know how to contact you, so I feel obliged to tell you now that somepony has been informed about your family's account. I was legally forced to. Mariam Mane Bank takes this very seriously."

"I know, I knew the moment they walked into the bank. This time it wasn't a mistake, but intentional. She should know now," said the pony fiddling with something attached to her front leg with some steady straps, it was something a bit foreign in design to Vault. He certainly had never seen something like that before.

"What's that?" asked Vault, curious as he always were in matters not related to the bank.

"A mechanical wonder, created by me. This world has never seen something like it. Do you know Gunther from the east? Who invented fireworks? I decided to name this contraption after that, since it relies on the same principle heavily. I've already showed your father it. Do you know what I call it?" asked Merry.

"No, what?" Merry pointed the end of the small elegant contraption at Vault.

"A gun."

The small explosion had been the last thing Vault would ever hear. Unlike his father who had been forced to suffer a bit at first, Vault essentially got to join him immediately. He didn't need to feel any pain as the small metal slug pierced his skull in between his eyes.

"I don't care who you are or what you do. Don't ever betray me. Say hi to your father from me." She covered the gun with he cloak and calmly turned away from the dead stallion. "Your move, Celestia."

Sword Dance

"I've never seen anything like it," said the older captain as he examined the body. The entire area was closed off this morning, in fact, for the first time in a century, the Mariam Mare Bank was fully unavailable to the public. A dozen guards were walking around, trying to find clues and documenting everything of interest on the crime scene. Murder was usually rare in Equestria, but these ponies were trained to cope with this horror. "I think this pony died immediately, look at his expression. He looks surprised, almost curious, it wasn't pained as his father's face," said the captain.

"This wound, it's too precise to be a sword, and too small to be a knife. Could it be one of the cursed ponies we've heard about?" asked the younger guard, trying not to get sick from the smell.

"Possible. We'll have to keep this investigation going, and report it to the castle. Celestia will probably want to read the report herself with this Group Misery we keep hearing about."

"Hm, I didn't expect this to happen to a banker. Usually banks are so dull," said the younger pony.

"Well, looks like this bank," said the pony, putting a pair of sunglasses on. "Just gained some interest."

***

"Yeah! Here comes the first airship!" shouted Pinkie Pie and pointed towards the distance. With speed impressive for its size, a gigantic airship was getting closer and closer to the Canterlot airship harbor. The harbor was on the edge of a cliff side, looking down over the edge was a sure way to get vertigo, as they were at the highest point still technically in Canterlot. The air was cool and fresh, and the view was to die for.

It anchored with graze, and with some hard work of the local workers and guards, it was pulled into the harbor where it was held down much more securely. This was just one of many that would be arriving during the day.

The path down was extended from the airship, and the first one to walk onto the steady harbor was a large griffin. His colors had started to grow a bit gray from old age, but most of his plumage was white. He actually seemed quite composed and regal. Princess Celestia walked up to him.

"King Pero, it's so good to see you again," said Celestia.

"Likewise, my dear Princess Celestia. You look as graceful and stunning as ever. Am I perhaps the first one here?" asked the griffin king. Twilight thought his voice was actually shockingly friendly. He reminded her more of her dear old grandfather than royalty.

"You are not. The ambassador of the west plains, a chief of a large tribe of buffalo, arrived yesterday."

"Well, at least I'm early. It's so nice to be back in Canterlot again, although, is it true what I hear about it? Is there really a group opposing your rule here right now?" asked King Pero.

"So you've heard. Yes, but as you know, I could not simply refuse to hold the meeting. Have no fear-"

"My dearest, I never have fear. I know you are doing your best to deal with them. Politics, oh how they tend to get in the way of things, am I right?"

"Indeed, King Pero. If I may ask, is your son, Prince Sky, here?"

"No, that boy is out adventuring with some strange ponies. Good ones, but strange. I frankly don't know where he is, but I do know he's having a good time," said King Pero. Some of his griffin guards walked down from the airship and walked with the two royals as they conversed about somewhat more trivial things than expected.

Twilight looked at them as they walked towards the castle.

"Wow, good thing one of the early ones is a friend," said Applejack.

"Yeah, King Pero's great. Funny, too," said Spike. Twilight turned to him.

"You've met him?"

"Yeah, not long after Shining Armor's wedding. I went with Celestia to the griffin kingdom, remember? To Pennaplume? Their capital?"

"You were gone?" asked Twilight. Spike glared at her.

"Oh, ha ha, very funny." Twilight gave him a playful smile. She turned and looked at Celestia and Pero one last time.

"Well, Celestia will be busy with taking care of all the guests that will be coming today. In the meantime, let's find this Mrs. Misery," said Twilight, she turned to Spike. "Spike, today you'll be staying here at the castle. You'll probably be needed here by the Princess, and we saw how dangerous things could get yesterday," said Twilight.

"Fine, whatever," said Spike and kicked at the ground a bit in disappointment.

***

Twilight and her friends had consulted some maps and staff in the castle. They decided to check out whatever thing that the old Whitemane family had owned at the time when Merry had lived in the city. While they had very little left in their name, as it was slowly dying from the memory of the populace, the things they did have just didn't seem very useful as hiding places.

"These guys are like rats, they are so hard to find," said Rainbow Dash, flying around her friends in circles, trying to keep herself occupied as they sat down in the quiet garden.

"Not if you ask nicely," said Fluttershy.

"I just don't think asking nicely is going to do much, Fluttershy," said Rainbow Dash.

"Hm, you know, after hearing Celestia's story, I realized that there might be an easy way for them to stay hidden and move through the city unseen," said Twilight Sparkle, drinking a cup of tea while examining the map. "I think they really are like rats," said Twilight, tapping on the map.

"Hm?" asked Fluttershy.

"I think they are hanging out in the old unused sewers. Think about it, an entire labyrinth system, which Mrs. Misery must have gotten very used to when she was a filly? It would make sense for them to hide there. Nopony would disturb them."

"Why haven't they already been checked? I mean, I would never go down there, but somepony else?" asked Rarity.

"Well, Celestia told us they have been sealed and blocked off," said Applejack.

"And since almost nopony even knows they are there, I didn't even know, they would make for a great hiding place," said Twilight Sparkle. "If they are as old as I think, they would be really roomy too, unlike modern sewers," said Twilight.

"Well, are we going down there?" asked Rainbow Dash. Rarity winced at the thought.

"Well, yes, but first we're going to need a proper map of them. From what I've gathered, they are really big. As some of them are designed to go out at the bottom of the cliff, we could in theory get lost all the way down into the core of the mountain."

"Well, the archive is just inside the castle from here. Let's go," said Applejack.

"Time to go and-"

"Twilight! Twilight! Emergency!" yelled Spike. They saw him come running at them with a scroll in his claw. He fell over as he ran, but quickly got up and kept going. He came up to them a bit out of breath.

"That bank pony, the one who told you about Whitemane, he was found dead this morning!" said Spike. Twilight looked at him shocked.

"Mrs. Misery," said Rainbow Dash, with an angry frown. Twilight tried not to think of what that meant, that she had put an innocent pony in mortal danger.

"Yes, and two other ponies, one of them was some guy in an old bar, but that's not everything! Look! This is a copy of a note that was found in his pocket!" said Spike, holding up the paper. Twilight grabbed it and started to read.

"As you have now come a step closer to stopping our cause despite your ignorance, we have been forced to punish you by punishing those you protect. Unless you give in to our demands, we will make a large amount of ponies suffer tonight," read Twilight, getting more worried with each sentence.

"A... a bomb?" asked Fluttershy.

"No, there's more to this," said Twilight. "As the citizens are not part of this conflict, they will eventually heal from this event, but tonight will be the worst night of their lives nonetheless," read Twilight. "Your move, Princess Celestia. Group Misery," she finished and gave Spike back the note.

"Thank Celestia she isn't going to commit mass murder," said Applejack.

"But, why wouldn't she?" asked Rainbow Dash. "I mean, she knows how to make a bomb, right? She didn't care about ponies when she was a filly, why would she care now? Why wouldn't she try to kill a lot of ponies? This might be a lie, right?"

"I don't know, but this is still not good. We have to find out what this is going to be and stop it before it starts," said Twilight.

"Of course, but where do we start?" asked Rarity.

"Maybe, maybe we should split up?" suggested Spike.

"Split up?"

"Yeah, one group goes into the sewers, the other tries to stop this thing," said Spike. Rarity immediately raised her hoof.

"I volunteer to not go into the sewers!" she said as quickly as possible.

"Well, maybe this is a good plan. Hm, maybe... yes. I think I have the basic plan. I will take my brother's group underground, and all of you will stay up here and try to stop this," said Twilight. They all looked at her.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. If we can't change our strategy, then we will never beat them," said Twilight. "I'll go to them right now and talk about it," said Twilight and stood up.

"Well, good luck!"

"'I'm sure everything will be fine," said Twilight, giving them a reassuring, friendly smile.

***

"What do you mean Shining Armor is gone?!" asked Twilight confused to Joe.

"That's just it! He just got up and left a few hours ago! We were all asleep, he's been on a very erratic schedule lately!" said Joe.

"I'm sure he'll come back soon enough," said a guard. Twilight sighed.

"Alright, well, maybe this is for the best if we're going underground. Are you all ready?"

"Yes, Ma'am," said the guards.

"Good, seems like I have some input here. Joe, stay here and wait for Shining Armor to get back while we go and explore the underground tunnels, alright?"

"Sure thing, Twilight," said Joe.

"Well, come on then, everypony. We have a hideout to find!" said Twilight, and then they were on their way. They didn't have time to waste today, they had a lot to do in a short amount of time.

***

And so did her friends. They had actually decided to split into groups themselves. Two pegasi could easily fly all over Canterlot and keep a look out for any trouble. About twenty of them at the same time could do even more. Of course, knowing about this threat, Celestia had ordered several trainees of the famous group, the Wonderbolts, to patrol over the city, keeping a lookout for any threat. They had looked for hours.

On the ground, meanwhile, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Applejack were doing their best to ask officials if they had noticed anything strange lately. None of them had.

"Come on you gals, think! I mean, where would a lot of ponies be in one place tonight?" asked Applejack.

"Hm, I don't know. Oh! I can ask that famous DJ! She's always in the know about these things. She's used to it, in fact, she going to hold a musical competition tonight! Thousands of ponies will be there! It's going to be great!" said Pinkie Pie.

They both simply stared at her with a shared expression that could only say 'seriously?'

"Ooh," expressed Pinkie Pie as she realized this could very well be what they had been looking for.

***

Beneath them, in the dark tunnels leading here, there, everywhere under Canterlot, Twilight and the troop of guards were quietly and carefully searching for Group Misery's hideout. They made sure not to lose each other in the impenetrable darkness. They busy streets of Canterlot could not be heard from above. It was silent and cold down there. The atmosphere was quite heavy.

"Twilight Sparkle, we've been looking for hours. These tunnels seem pretty empty so far. How much of them have we covered?"

"Oh just about thirty percent, give or take," said Twilight. The guard groaned. "A bit casual, aren't we?"

"Well, technically we are off duty, especially since we are helping a civilian. We have the right to be a bit relaxed. This hasn't been an easy week, you know. We love your brother, but this week he has been a bit much, even for us," said the guard. Twilight heard the grunting from some of the other guards, agreeing with her.

Suddenly, they heard a voice echoing in the dark tunnels.

"Twilight! Help me!" screamed a familiar voice. "Twily!" Her brother was in trouble.

"Shining Armor!" yelled Twilight. She didn't know why he was down there, but she frankly didn't care. They started to run even deeper into the tunnels.

***

About two hours later, Random could hear the excited sounds of the ponies as the sun was setting. He was in one of Canterlot's newly built buildings, a stadium, for the night equipped with modern sound equipment for the concert. He could notice a few guards in the crowd, looking far less enthusiastic about this night. They realized this could be the spot of the group's punishment of Celestia through her ponies, but they couldn't be sure.

Random was sure it was the uncertainty that made Celestia simply not cancel the event. If she did, it would mean she was intimidated by them, something she, as a ruler, could not show her ponies. She didn't want Group Misery to get attention. She thought she could still take care of this in the shadows. Typical, thought Random. The group was done with hiding in the shadows, however. Now, they would go on the offensive. Only a few in the city knew their name, that was about to change this night.

Random looked down at the huge crowd, from the rafter of the huge empty stage below. The curtains were still drawn. He could spot the stage that would remain unused for the night on the other side. It wasn't that the staff members who had planned and set this up weren't intent on using it, it was more due to the fact that they couldn't, because Group Misery had other plans.

"There you are, Random. How is it looking up here?" asked Solitary, after having climbed up to him.

"All things considering, pretty good. There are three similar things happening around the city due to the first delegates having arrived. Otherwise this would have been a pretty obvious choice, no?"

"Do you think she will be able to do it?" asked Solitary.

"I have no doubt. She knows she has to. They have to know just how awful our powers can be. Celestia needs to know," said Random.

"It sucks that we have to do this, doesn't it?" asked Solitary.

"Yes. Think of it this way, they suffer for a single night so that everyone won't suffer for their entire lives. We are doing them a favor in a way. It's only partially our fault. If Celestia would just see reason," said Random.

"These poor ponies are in for a wild night," said Solitary, looking at all the ponies down there.

"Let's get out of here before we are caught in the middle," said Random.

They both climbed back down backstage. Random looked at a group of ponies sitting down, being unable to walk anywhere due to being tied up in sturdy ropes. They looked at him with contempt in their eyes. The two ponies at the front glared especially rebelliously at their captors.

"Relax, Miss Vinyl, Miss Octavia. Tonight's entertainment will be taken care of." They heard a signal, telling them the show was about to start. "Oh dear. It seems we've got to run like hay," said Random and galloped towards the back exit. They needed to get to a safe minimum distance as soon as possible.

***

"Shining Armor!" yelled Twilight in the dark tunnels.

"Twilight, wait!" yelled the guard behind her. She turned around. "We're missing somepony. We have to go back and look for him," he yelled.

"But my brother is-"

"I know! But I can't leave one of my soldiers behind just like that!" said the guard.

"Where did he even go?"

***

The guard couldn't believe his luck, there he was, right in front of him.

"Shining Armor, there you are! Your sister is going to be so relieved!" said the young guard. Sure, he was lost in the gigantic labyrinth, but they would have to solve one problem at a time. Shining Armor turned to face him.

"I'm glad to see you. I thought I'd never get to see another pony in my entire life," said Shining Armor and smiled.

"You're- you're cured! I can't wait to see your sister's face," said the guard and laughed in relief.

"Neither can I. Wait, you could be- What is the code phrase now after we created it after my wedding day?"

"It's, it's 'Both in dusk and dawn'," said the guard, confused.

"Good, what a relief. I think there might be a changeling down here," said Shining Armor. Looking around, always mindful of any possible shadow that could hold a threat.

"Like we didn't have enough problems," said the guard.

"My thoughts exactly," said Shining Armor. Walking past the guard. Then Shining Armor pounced on the guard, a pair of icy blue otherworldly eyes and fangs the last thing the guard saw before being consumed by the darkness. "Now for the rest of them," said the changeling, giving what seemed like a wicked smile in Shining Armor's friendly face.

***

The show was starting. The curtains were pushed aside, and where over a thousand ponies had expected to see either Vinyl Scratch or Octavia, they instead saw another pony. The mare in question had a bright blue coat and a yellow mane. The two colors almost seemed to overlap into each other. She was wearing a black newsboy cap on top of her head. She was a bit skinny, and seemed pretty physically weak. She was standing in front of the microphone, having something on her back. Rarity and Applejack was up on the upper parts of the stadium, looking down at all the commotion below.

"Is that mare supposed to be here?" asked Rarity.

"Not that I know of- You don't think...?"

"Oh no."

"Hello, everypony! Are you ready to party?! Vinyl certainly is, and so is Octavia! But every great thing needs a start! Tonight being no different! I am here tonight to be the opening act of this magical time of music and rhythm. Tonight your heartbeats will be one with music!" shouted the mare with energy. She suddenly swung the large thing on her back to the front and in less than a second set it up on the stage. It was an electronic keyboard. They weren't a popular choice of instrument in Equestria, but they weren't unwanted either.

"Come on! Hurry!" yelled Applejack to Rarity.

"I'm going as fast as I can!" Rarity shouted back to Applejack. They were constantly getting closer to the stage.

"I am called Instrumental! Fillies and gentlecolts, get ready to party your faces off! Because I'm about to lay down some fresh beats!" shouted Instrumental. She lifted her hooves up above her head, seeing Applejack and Rarity almost at the stage. She almost smashed her hooves on the keys, activating her curse. She smiled as they were already too late.

***

"That's not my brother! It's a changeling!" yelled Twilight and shot a magical beam at Shining Armor. He was immediately thrown into a nearby wall, and the magic stripped away the shape of the changeling, returning it to its old form.

"How did you know?" hissed the changeling towards Twilight, fleeing into the shadows.

"I didn't have to know Cadance well enough to realize something was wrong. Don't you think I wouldn't recognize my own brother?" yelled Twilight after the changeling.

"It doesn't matter! Do you think I'm the worst thing down here?! You're already doomed!" yelled the changeling. The uncanny sounds its movement made still echoing in the dark tunnels.

They all suddenly jumped nervously when the missing guard was limping out from around a corner.

"That's him alright, we would have seen the green light," said Twilight.

"I'm alright, I was hit by that bug and knocked out. I can't believe it fooled me."

"You just had to tell it the codeword, didn't you?" asked the guard leader.

"Hey, it tricked me! I was just happy to see Shining Armor!" said the young guard.

"It doesn't matter, look what we've found," said Twilight, nodding at a hole in the wall. Inside, there were a few candlelights still burning.

"We've found them?"

"Where they were, anyway. They aren't here now," said Twilight, walking inside. The guards quickly filled the little room. There was a few beds there, a makeshift table. Some old food and water bottles. And a note on the table. "What's this?" asked Twilight as she walked over. It just had two words on it.

'Above you.'

Something big and heavy crashed down on the table in front of Twilight who ducked and jumped back when something almost cut her head off. There was a stallion in a light green color standing on what was left of the table. He was standing on his two hind legs. He only had one hoof, the other one was a dark talon, holding a long thin dark blade. He had a scar over his eye.

"Hey, you!" yelled the guard leading the others. The pony turned his attention to him immediately and pounced towards the guard, swinging the sword mid-jump. The stallion was hit by the sword, but everyone looked on with surprise along with shock. There was just a red marking on every bit of the area he had been hit in. Suddenly, the sword started to tick like a clock, and the guard fell down, asleep.

"My codename is Erase. My curse forces me to always hold this blade. Whoever refers to me by anything but a name I have accepted will be attacked. I can not control that. Once somepony has been cut, I have to be forced to drop the blade within five minutes, or the damage that should have been done will take place," said the stallion.

"Why are you telling us about that?" asked Twilight to the pony. The pony looked at her, with a solemn look.

"Because I want you to know who I am. I'm dangerous. The first attack was a show of power... I don't want to hurt you more than I need to," said the stallion, looking directly into Twilight's eyes. "Please, just leave," said the stallion, it was like he pleaded them to get to safety.

"Yeah right, drop the sword, you jerk!" yelled a guard. Erase jumped up into the air with surprising force and cut the pony. Would the sword have been solid, it was clear from the red mark that the guard would have been decapitated. Twilight was ready to fight.

"Give up! Erase!" yelled Twilight.

"I can not. What we are doing is far too important, both to us, and everypony else," said Erase. He cut down two guards in one slice. Even more of them fell asleep.

"Wake up!" yelled another guard to his friends.

"Let them sleep. They feel pain if they wake up before the time is up," said Erase, looking at his sword. There was some sort of information displayed, the face of a clock, made from darkness, ticking down.

"We won't give up, Erase," said Twilight, lowering her horn, ready to fight the threat.

"Neither will Group Misery. If you have chosen death, I will comply," said Erase, jumping towards Twilight with the ferocity of an animal, ready to cut.

***

"What's going on!?" yelled Applejack to Rarity. They were right up there at the edge of the stage, but they couldn't climb up. Their bodies only did one thing in this atmosphere, they danced. Instrumental was up on the stage, making music, and they danced. In fact, they couldn't stop. They couldn't move from their spot, they just stood there and danced. Nopony around them seemed to have noticed the effect yet, as they still believed they dance to Instrumental's music. To them, this was still a concert. The electrical sounds of the keyboard did sound nice, but the situation clearly wasn't. Applejack realized the fear the ponies would face once they realized they simply couldn't stop. In fact, she started to see a few faces looking down on their hooves, and then showing fear and yelling and screaming, the sound died out from all the chaos and screaming and cheering and music however.

"Our only hope is Pinkie Pie!" said Rarity.

"What makes you say that? Rainbow Dash is still out there, right?" asked Applejack. In her sweaty dancing, Rarity managed to nod upwards. Applejack managed to look up, barely, as her head had a tendency to bob up and down to the beat. Rainbow Dash was dancing and flying up in the air, as was plenty of pegasi. She was the only one of them who seemed to realize anything though. "Okay, we're doomed," said Applejack.

***

Pinkie Pie was actually aware of the situation, more aware than she usually was. She was up in the VIP booth, looking down at all the ponies dancing through the sound proof glass. Usually, she would have gone down there quicker than Rainbow Dash could fly, but she recognized a bad party atmosphere when she saw one. Not nearly enough ponies were smiling. And that mare playing the keyboard wasn't supposed to be there.

"It is clear to me this pony can force others to dance when she exposes them to her own rhythmical sounds. What a terrible curse! Dancing shouldn't be forced! You should dance because of happiness, not dark magic! That's just so, darkish!" said Pinkie Pie.

"Well, what can you do from here?" asked a random mare who Pinkie Pie had inadvertently clued in to what was going on.

"Hm... I think I have a plan. Get me a pair of earplugs and a drum set! Also, cupcakes, because I'm hungry!" said Pinkie Pie, motioning for the bunch of ponies in there to get to work. "Oh, this is going to be fun," said Pinkie Pie, rubbing her hooves together with an evil grin on her face.

"Miss Pie, what are you going to do?" asked a stallion there.

"What do you do if a party is getting dull? You crash it and make it better!"

***

Back down in the sewers, things were not going well at all. All the guards had been defeated and Twilight was exhausted, too exhausted to struggle. Erase was above her, holding her down, his sword just inches away from her eye. He was aiming. The ticking was getting louder, there wasn't much time to save the guards.

"Farewell, Twilight Sparkle. You fought well," said Erase, getting ready to shove his sword into her eye socket.

Suddenly, the wall behind them both collapsed in a loud bang. Erase was pushed back by the force of the explosion. Twilight got up and was about to attack Erase with her magic, but then the entire room was filled with a bright purple mist. It made all momentum in the room stop, making them unable to move, even by gravity. Erase was stuck in the air. Twilight managed to see to the side of her. In the hole in the wall, stood somepony familiar.

"Freeze! I know that somepony has to be in here!" yelled Shining Armor, walking inside. He pumped into Erase who was gently pushed aside by the excess force. Shining Armor turned around.

"Guards, seize whoever is here and gather any evidence I can't see," said Shining Armor, thinking he had his guards with him. He walked over to the broken table, looking at the piece of paper from Erase. He looked up, but saw nothing of course. Twilight focused on a counter spell, and within ten seconds could move freely as well. "Ah, here we go. Bank statements from the same bank I saw those money bags from. Yes, this is clearly the place. Makes sense too. If Merry Whitemane is the perpetrator, then this place makes sense. Hopefully she is here. If she is, grab her, guards!"

How in the world Shining Armor had found a trail of clues leading here, and giving him the right information, Twilight would never know. But for now, she twisted the dark blade from Erase's talon with her own magic. He dropped it. Immediately the sound of a ticking clock stopped and the sword magically appeared in his grip again. The guards started to wake up. They were outside the magical mist.

"Good morning, oh, did we win?" asked the guard. Twilight put Erase to sleep with a simple spell, easy to use since he was finally fully still.

"Yeah, yeah. We won," said Twilight, taking a deep breath.

"Good work, soldiers!" said Shining Armor, giving a salute. Twilight looked at him, and then she burst out laughing in relief.

***

Basically all of the dancers had realized what was going on at that point, some screamed, others cried, all were terrified.

"I just want to say that Celestia has the power to make you stop. All she needs to do is give in to Group Misery's demands!" yelled Instrumental into the microphone, still playing her music. "I can go on for days! Can you?! Isn't your hooves already starting to hurt just a little?" she asked, keeping up the rhythm. She then allowed herself to add vocals to the beat.

Dawn to dusk, we dance and sing, turning to husks, giving in!

A night of terror, a night without sleep!

A hurtful memory, running deep!

Can you feel the music!? Can you feel the pain!?

The dance will never end, not in snow, hail or rain!

The dance will never end!

Then several lights on the other side of the stadium lit up, turning towards the other stage. Applejack could see several ponies with earplugs operating the lights and machinery. Something was up. The curtains of the other stage was pulled apart. Applejack could see a few musical ponies there. Octavia on the left side, with a violin. Vinyl Scratch on the right, with an electric guitar, and Pinkie Pie in the middle, with a drum set. They were all wearing earplugs. They started nodding their heads to the music, but, how did they know the rhythm without hearing the song? Of course, to the vibrations the dancers caused.

They started to add their own beats to the music, they had become part of the performance. They removed their earplugs, ready to fight in their own way. Pinkie Pie started to sing into the microphone.

Dawn to dusk, we dance and sing, having fun, but it's just a fling!

A night of dancing, a night without sleep!

A joyful memory, running deep!

Can you feel the music!? Can you feel the beat?!

The dance will have to end, we will perform this feat!

The fun will never end!

Applejack found herself to actually dance less when she focused on Pinkie Pie's music, she thought she understood. If they danced to something else but Instrumental's music, they could move. Instrumental was clearly not going to let them take back the night so easily, however. She was hitting the keys more serious than ever. It was on.

A fool can face me, but they won't be free!

This battle is being fought, removing every other thought!

Whoever you are, you can not win! Beating me in music is a deadly sin!

Can you feel the music!? Can you feel the pain!?

The dance will never end, not in snow, hail or rain!

Applejack saw Pinkie Pie's confident face. She wasn't afraid, in fact, she seemed to be enjoyed herself more than ever.

I am a fool, you see, my friends will all be free!

This battle is being fought, removing every other thought!

I am Pinkie Pie, and I will win! Try to beat me, I'll just sing!

Can you feel the music!? Can you feel the beat?!

The dance will have to end, we will perform this feat!

They both was about to get a lot louder. Applejack could almost stop dancing as long as she just focused on Pinkie Pie. She started to dance her way over to the side of Instrumental's stage.

Who do you think I am?

I'll show you that I can... beat you this very night!

I will definitely set things right!

This music will set... us... all... free!

"Show's over, Instrumental," said Applejack backstage. Finally getting enough control of her body to stop dancing, instead jacking out the electrical wire hooked up to the loudspeakers. The only sound left in the stadium was from the other stage, the winners, and of course, the cheering of relieved ponies who could finally stop dancing. Obviously, now when they all faced Pinkie Pie's stage, they simply didn't want to stop anymore.

What Have You Done?

"Hello, Instrumental," said Erase in a bored tone.

"Mhmh," mumbled Instrumental through the muzzle keeping her from singing.

"Did they manage to capture you too?" asked Erase. Instrumental just glared at him and gave a sarcastic sounding mumbling. The guards pushed Instrumental into the cell opposite to Erase. Normally, they would have put them together, but the curse would potentially be harmful for the mare if she was with him.

The dungeon they were in was clean and dry. The stone and steel walls were designed to hold a dragon, so they certainly wouldn't be able to break out of there. The light shining in through the small windows near the ceiling actually managed to brighten up the dungeon quite a bit. There were plenty of plants outside of the cells, making the place a bit fragrant. Inside the cells there was only a bed and a facility to relieve oneself in, but at least behind a wooden panel for privacy.

Case in point, it wasn't your typical dungeon. While it was a place for punishment by imprisonment, ponies were to be treated well there. After all, the castle staff were no barbarians.

There wasn't a lot of prisoners there, in fact, Erase and Instrumental were the only ones in cells. That didn't mean they were alone. Twilight Sparkle and her friends were there, as well as Princess Celestia.

"I don't have a lot of time with you this morning, so I expect you to keep this short," said Celestia. Erase scoffed.

"Of course you don't. Celestia, never has time with the little ponies," said Erase.

"Hey, watch your mouth!" said Rainbow Dash.

"And why would I? Because she's royalty? Not to me, not to us. Not anymore," said Erase and glared at the princess with cold eyes.

"I know why you are angry with me, and I'm sorry. I never intended this to happen to you," said Celestia. Erase looked at her with some surprise on his face.

"You're sorry? You're sorry. YOU'RE SORRY!?" roared Erase, making Instrumental tremble in her cell. "Do you have any idea what pain you've caused us!? Do you have any idea what our curses have forced us to do?! If we go seven days without using our curses, we will use them anyway. We can't stop it! Every week I have to strike at a creature, praying it will miss. Instrumental is a music lover who can't ever perform, she can't ever make ponies happy again!"

"She tried to torture ponies!" yelled Applejack.

"Yes. And she is receiving punishment for it as we speak," said Erase.

"What are you-"

"I've tried to kill your friend. And I'm in a prison, being punished for what I have done. Group Misery will all receive both punishment and praise once this whole matter is over. If a pony does something wrong, they are punished! This is a very basic fact! All of us expect to be in prison for what we have done by the end of all this! This is a small price to pay to finally get rid of our curses!" yelled Erase.

"What are you-?"

"If you do wrong, you are punished. So tell me, Celestia. When you created and destroyed the Cycle of Destruction, inflicting a curse on seven innocent ponies that destroyed lives, where you punished?" asked Erase. Celestia looked at him, from the look in her eyes, he had hit somewhat of a nerve.

"I-"

"Instrumental just want to be appreciated for her art. She can never do so without forcing ponies to dance. It's a tame curse, but you know how much it still hurts her? She's one of the lucky ones," said Erase, nodding in Instrumental's direction.

Instrumental just looked at the floor, trying not to cry. Erase continued.

"My curse, I remember when I got it. It was the same day I got this scar. Suddenly, a black blot on existence, it pounced at me, like an animal. It burrowed into my chest causing pain so horrible I am literally incapable of describing it. I could feel it changing inside me, being molded into something based on me. Me, the warrior who always demanded at least some respect. My best friend, he was like a brother to me. He witnessed as my hoof twisted and turned into a talon, a sword erupting from my very flesh and forever being grabbed by this horrible mutation. He lost his composure for the one time in his life. You know what he addressed me as? He said 'Are you alright, my friend?' That sealed his fate. Without being able to stop, I attacked. He was fit, so he blocked. He said 'What are you doing, friend?' I attacked again. He blocked, asking the same thing again, I struck. In self-defense, he attacked me. Almost destroying my eye in the process. 'Stop it, friend'... And then I struck him. He fell asleep, I woke him up, telling him I was sorry," said Erase. Twilight saw the stallion starting to weep from his good eye. "I was so sorry, and so afraid. The ticking kept going, and going, and going. I knew it meant disaster. I couldn't stop it, I couldn't. And then, the timer reached zero. In front of my eyes, his heart was pierced. He was my closest friend. The one pony I'd even dare to call 'family'. And this cursed made me kill him."

There was a silence in the dungeon. Fluttershy had to walk outside, she couldn't take listening to him any more.

"Can you bring him back, Celestia? Can you undo the damage I've caused because I couldn't stand being alone? It didn't matter how well I explained things, somepony would always slip up. If I didn't kill the friends I had, I forced myself to push them away. Years I've been living, knowing that whenever I get close to somepony I might strike them down. Can you give me back those years? Can you? Can you give back the lives of forest animals and ponies that I've suddenly been unable to stop cutting down?! I remember every single face! And I see them every, single, night! I've managed to keep that number down to three ponies, and at least a hundred innocent animals. Can you undo that? Answer me!"

"Don't, don't avoid the-"

"What am I avoiding, exactly?"

"You're-"

"Twilight Sparkle. Your brother is all alone in the world right now, isn't that terrible? Well, with a little luck he might be able to find Solitary and get back to normal. Her powers usually just apply to the closest, most dear ones, or something a bit more specific. She charged up her curse to make Shining Armor all alone. She won't be able to do something like that for a long time now."

"Why did you do that to him?!" shouted Twilight Sparkle.

"Because we knew he would get in the way of our goal. He managed to find our hideout even when being all alone in the world. That's impressive. The point is, that making him be cut off from the world was a necessity. Do you know what wasn't a necessity? How about Solitary being forever unable to see her own family and friends again? She is constantly affected by her own curse! She can't control it. She wouldn't have any friends if it wasn't for Mrs. Misery! She has two loving parents, two younger sisters and a little brother. She might have passed by them a thousand times in the last year, and she wouldn't know! She suffers, her family suffers! She's been alone for years before finding us! Can you give those years back!? Can any of you?!"

"Maybe you should just forgive the Princess and move on! Stop hurting everypony and yourselves!" said Twilight.

"If we move on, we will be alone forever and so many ponies would be hurt. Do you know Mood? I think you do. Whenever he looks somepony in the eyes, he says something that is true, and hurtful. It always causes tears, no matter what. Even if he was blind, just being too long with somepony makes him say it anyway!"

"Wait, what did you say?" asked Spike. Erase looked at him, and smirked. "I knew you would know who I was talking about," said Erase. Spike suddenly jumped on the spot he was standing, grabbing his head and panicking.

"Spike?" said Twilight.

"Twilight! Remember when we got here the first day?! That pony at your house, his name was Mood! And he made me cry!" yelled Spike.

"He was one of them? But that would mean- They know where I live. Mom! Dad!" said Twilight turning towards the exit.

"When you get back we'll be discussing business, I believe!" shouted Erase after her.

***

"Mom! Dad!" yelled Twilight and banged on the door to her home, but to her horror it opened as it had been slightly ajar. She ran inside, and to her relief she saw her mother and father in the kitchen together. They were eating breakfast. He was reading the newspaper while Velvet was making toast with delicious orange marmalade.

"Thank Celestia you two are alright!" said Twilight and almost collapsed against the wall. She had galloped the entire way from the castle to her home, fearing the worst. This was such a relief to her. She laughed at how silly her worry seemed to be now when they were safe.

She looked at the breakfast in front of her, and she realized she was quite hungry after all the adventuring and danger last night. She went over to the table and sat down.

"I just loved this marmalade," said Velvet, taking a bite of the toast.

"It is very nice, but, Mother, Father. I have something really serious to talk to you about. You're going to have to live in the castle. They know you are here!" said Twilight. The door burst open again. Twilight turned around, seeing Applejack and Rainbow Dash running inside. The rest had probably fallen behind.

"Hello, you two. How's the hunt for Group Misery going?" asked Velvet to them.

"Welcome back," said Night Sky.

"It's going fine, I think," said Applejack.

"Would you like to have some breakfast?" asked Velvet.

"What's going fine? Oh, the hunt for Group Misery, no doubt. Would you like some breakfast?" asked Night Sky.

"Wait, what?" asked Twilight.

"Wait. Velvet, Night Sky, are you alright?" asked Rainbow Dash.

Both parents looked at Rainbow Dash confused and looked around.

"Where's Velvet?"

"Where's Night Sky?"

"Oh no," said Twilight. Applejack ran up to Twilight and held her, showing them her.

"Here! Who is this?" asked Applejack.

"Are you making fun of me?" asked Night Sky.

"It's too late," said Twilight in shock. Applejack dropped Twilight.

"Listen here, you tw- You. You've been affected by the same thing Shining Armor is currently suffering of," said Applejack. They looked at her.

"But, I can see you," said the parents at once.

"Yes, but, turns out Shining Armor has a strong version of it. You have the weaker version, meaning you can't see your own kin," said Applejack.

"Are, are you saying that I can't even see my family?" asked Velvet and Night Sky at once, sharing the same worried voice.

"Yes. Velvet, Night Sky is right there. Night Sky, Velvet is right there. And both of you, Twilight is right here," said Applejack and gestured towards their respective seats.

"Lucky that we can at least talk to you. That's something," said Rainbow Dash. Twilight didn't say anything, she really wanted to shout at Rainbow Dash for not realizing that a conversation through a third party wasn't good enough when it came to her parents, but she knew better than to put blame on her friend.

"Have anyone been here today?" asked Rainbow Dash to them both. They both started talking at once. "Wait, hang on, one at time! Velvet, you first."

"Only one. It was a young mare, she said she was here because she wanted an autograph from Twilight, a Bearer of Harmony. You weren't home, so I asked her to leave and come home later."

"Did she touch you in any way?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"We did shake hooves right before she left," said Velvet.

"Okay. Night Sky, you?"

"There was only one who stopped by today. She was a young pony. A cute little thing. She came by a little early, I think. She handed me the mail and shook my hoof," said Night Sky.

"Great. Well, we better get you two a room in the castle. We can't have you here now, it's too unsafe," said Rainbow Dash.

"Right, you'll be coming with us," said Applejack. They both looked at them, and then got up.

"Alright, Twilight, if you're still there, everything will be alright," said Night Sky.

"Sweetie, I know this must be a bit frightening to you, just hang in there and everything will be fine, you'll see," said Velvet.

"Take care of my parents, girls. I've got to have a chat with Erase," said Twilight, getting up from the table. She ate her toast and walked out of the house with a determined look in her eyes.

***

"Erase!" yelled Twilight as she entered the dungeon.

"I trust you saw everything you needed to. We decided to be ready with this, just in case you managed to catch one of us. Mrs. Misery thought you might, so she planned ahead. Personally I consider her to be good at that. So, how is it going to be?" asked Erase. Twilight glared at him with barely contained anger.

"Do you seriously think I would allow you to leave this cell even if I could?" asked Twilight.

"Integrity. I admire that. But you misunderstand. We don't want freedom."

"Get me my parents back! Get me my brother back!" yelled Twilight.

"We are willing to do that. On one condition."

"And what would that be?" asked Twilight, sounding spiteful. She hadn't noticed until now that Erase sometimes turned his head a bit to mainly looking at the one he spoke to with his good eye, but it had never been clearer as he gave her a very serious look with it.

"Tell us everything we want to know about Cesom, let us use it, and then punish Celestia for her disregard for our fates and what she has done. If you do that, then we will gladly hand ourselves in. We are ready to discuss the exact nature of the punishment, even."

"What is this Cesom? I heard Random talk about it too,"

"I frankly think you should ask Celestia about that. Now leave me, return when you are ready to talk about this more. I need a nap," said Erase and turned around on his bed, facing away from Twilight.

"This isn't over," said Twilight as she walked out of the dungeon. Erase didn't answer.

The Oldest Artifact

Twilight found Celestia in the gardens. She was keeping several documents afloat around her, and she payed close attention to each and everyone of them.

Through the main gate several carts were slowly passing through, filled to the brim with all sorts of wares. Twilight understood those were the last supplies required for the rest of the delegates and other important guests. The last of them would come in two days. Then they would 'mingle' a bit, events, parties, such and such, until finally they would have the meeting this entire thing was all about. While Twilight couldn't say she had seen many others but that griffin king, she had heard from several sources that eight more had arrived since King Pero had, at least three were from the Crystal Kingdom. This was merely a trivial number compared to all who would be there in just two days.

Twilight walked up and stood next to Celestia and looked at the carts as they passed by and were unloaded.

"These are late. I'm investigating them to make sure this isn't part of Mrs. Misery's plan. Poisoning the food, that would be disastrous. Still, we're more than ready for most things she could do. They could attack with small army and they wouldn't get inside the outer wall," said Princess Celestia.

"The guards look a bit tired," said Twilight, noticing the guards looking over the carts as they slowly entered. They just seemed to struggle keeping their eyelids from closing, standing less than upright as they performed their duty. She just said it in order to get into the conversation a bit more smoothly.

"They might have been pushed a bit harder than what they are used to. They have to endure, as these matters are far too important," said Celestia.

"Well. I'm sure they'll be able to get some rest once this is all over," said Twilight. Celestia turned towards her for a moment, while still keeping a watchful eye on the carts.

"Twilight Sparkle. I heard about your family. I'm sorry. I know how it is to be so close, yet so far away from those you love," said Celestia, wrapping her wing around her pupil in a caring gesture.

"I talked to Erase," said Twilight.

"Did he inform you of his group? Or did he merely shout at you?" asked Celestia.

"He said that they planned for this."

"Just like last time Mrs. Misery was in Canterlot. One of her strengths is planning. If she's like when she was just Merry, then she is still a genius, but physically weak. I think even Spike would be able to defeat her in combat, easily. But despite what weaknesses she might have, it's her intellect that makes her such a threat. I've faced so many evils during my long life, but while Mrs. Misery is hardly the most dangerous one, she does have one quality that sets her apart," said Celestia.

"What's that?"

"She is an earth pony. The only thing truly special about her is her family's name. Yet she has gotten closer to destroying Canterlot, and me, than most others. She's cold. King Sombra had powerful unicorn magic and didn't hesitate to kill, and yet I've gotten the impression over the years that this simple pony could cause so much more destruction and suffering than he ever could have."

"Where... did you send her?" asked Twilight.

"To Ocka. It's a griffin prison in the middle of the ocean between our kingdoms, while most inmates are griffins, a few of them are indeed ponies. We still have shared responsibility of that building. It holds griffins and ponies that would make creatures in Tartarus shiver in fear. For about four years after I imprisoned her there, I received reports of how the child was doing. In just a year after she was put there, half the inmates begged for us to incorporate some sort of death penalty. Not for her, but for them. The rest were simply trying to appease her. I hope she does not have a curse herself, because if she does, it would add another level of unpredictability to her. She has enough of those,"  said Celestia.

Twilight looked at her mentor, she was noting down some things on a document with a still serious look on her face. Twilight realized she wouldn't get a better opportunity to ask, so she decided to just get it over with.

"Celestia, what is Cesom?" asked Twilight Sparkle. Celestia stopped writing, and she then turned her head to look at Twilight.

"It's nothing. It's just a distraction from Group Misery. They just want you to look for something you think is important, no biggie."

"Celestia. You have misled and tricked ponies at times, but that's part of why we like you. You are not a good liar, though," said Twilight Sparkle. Celestia looked at her, and then sighed.

"I avoid lying. A ruler should not have to use deceit to lead. It is no wonder it is not one of my strengths. Perhaps... perhaps this secret should be shared with at least one. We must return to my private chambers to discuss this, Twilight. While Group Misery seem to know worryingly much about it, there is a small chance they have kept it to themselves. As long as nopony knows, I will intend to keep this a secret. Come with me."

***

They had walked inside the castle and seemed to constantly head upstairs until they came to a long large hallway with a door at the very end. As they got closer to Celestia's private room, Celestia turned her head back to Twilight.

"I hope you realize how much this means that I'm entrusting this to you, Twilight. This is my oldest, and now, only secret. Not even my beloved sister knows about this. What you are about to hear from me can never be uttered by you as long as Group Misery keeps this a secret as well. Not to your friends, not to Spike, not even back to me. Do you understand?"

"Yes," said Twilight and nodded respectfully. Celestia opened the door to her private room.

Twilight had never been in there before, and she was surprised at how small it was. She had expected a large room with so many books it would have made the official Canterlot library seem like a notepad in comparison. Her bedroom back home in Ponyville was actually larger. This room was round, there was only a single bookshelf in there and a fireplace, illuminating the purple walls. The big windows had their large red shades drawn. The ceiling was pretty high. There was a desk near the windows, but it didn't seem like it had been used much. In the middle of the room there was a big couch in front of the fireplace.

"Please, sit," said Celestia, closing the door using her magic. Twilight felt a distinct subtle force, a magical aura expanding from the Princess, and it settled along the walls. Twilight realized her mentor had made the room completely soundproof.

Twilight sat down on the sofa, almost sinking into it, it was so smooth, so soft. She could have fallen asleep there and then. Celestia sat down next to her, and turned her attention to her after a heavy sigh.

"Before I begin, did Erase say anything about Cesom?" asked Celestia.

"Just that Group Misery was willing to cure my brother and parents if you'd tell them everything they wanted to know about it... and receive punishment for this whole Cycle of Destruction mess. He said they would hand themselves in," said Twilight. Celestia sighed again.

"I'm sorry, Twilight Sparkle. But even if they had your entire family's lives in their hooves, I have to coldly say that I would let them die," said Celestia.

"How can you possibly say that?"

"It would have pained me beyond comprehension, but I would not have made that decision without reason. I'm about to tell you what Cesom is."

"So, what is it?"

"Cesom, is a very old, very powerful magical artifact, or, perhaps it is an anti-magical artifact. I don't even know. I know that it is far older than me. It predates me by an untold number of ages. It is so old and eternal that not even history can manage to keep it in memory. There are all knowing beings that simply does not know what it is, or, perhaps they are just afraid to speak of it. There are no longer any books, ancient tomes, stone writing or legends that mention it. Cesom is so old it makes the Elements of Harmony feel modern by comparison."

"Fascinating," said Twilight Sparkle.

"Its name technically originally came from the little information I managed to learn when even I was very young. It also describes its terrible effect well. Its current name was coined by Luna when she wasn't even able to form coherent thoughts in complete infancy. I read out the translation of the name in our current tongue, and she shortened it, laughing, unknowing of its power. Cesom: Cessation of Magic."

"What?" asked Twilight, not sure she had heard it right.

"Cessation of Magic. Cesom is an artifact that can completely, and permanently, remove magic from the very fabric of our universe."

Twilight just wasn't sure what to make of this, she tried to get her head around it, but it just didn't make sense to her. A universe without magic just seemed like an impossibility in every regard.

"Cesom can have a limited effect. It can make a single pony lose her magic, it can make a nation lose its magic. It can make all magic become nothing but a soon-to-be distant memory," continued Celestia. "Our entire society, almost all societies in this world depends on magic. If magic would disappear, we would face complete collapse. Unicorns would merely be those marked by a reminder of the catastrophe. Magic would become a ponytale. I would be forced to watch Equestria crumble, my natural longevity be seen as something unnatural and foreign. I would be worshiped like a god, or hunted like a demon. Neither option tempting for me."

"That's, that's horrifying," said Twilight, still trying to just comprehend what it would do to her world.

"And it's not even the worst thing," said Celestia to her.

"What could possibly be worse?"

"Twilight, any astronomer in this world knows that both the position of our sun and our speed relative to it have to be affected by magic. It logically should be further away. Did you know that I don't have to raise the sun or make it set?" asked Celestia.

"What? No, I always thought..."

"Twilight, the sun moving is a natural phenomenon."

"But, then why would you-?"

"Because if I let it work as it should, our winters would be longer and our summers shorter, essentially making our control of the weather and seasons mean nothing. A sudden change like that will not mean the extinction of every life on the planet, its stronger than that, but it would mean the death of millions upon millions of individuals all over the world, desperately trying to adjust to a longer winter. Fighting for food and warmth. Complete destruction and chaos, civilizations in ruin, so much sorrow it would make Discord himself weep. That is just what would happen if I would let the sun proceed its task on its own, returning everything to its natural state, which would take two months if I started to work on that this instant. If Cesom would be activated right this moment, and take away my magic, the consequences would be so horrible you can't even begin to properly imagine it. The closeness of the sun would draw in our planet towards it," explained Princess Celestia.

"W- what would happen?"

"Within roughly forty agonizing days, we would quickly drift towards our sun. It would get hotter and hotter, on the twentieth day plants would start to burst into flames. On the thirtieth day entire chunks of the world's crust would be ripped apart. On the last days, whatever few ponies managed to survive in the deepest darkest and coolest caverns would scream in agony as the very mountain surrounding them melted, swallowing their bodies up in a fiery inferno of pain and despair. And that's how our world would end," said Celestia.

It felt like her very words were hanging in the air.

"I will not talk about Cesom, because if anypony irresponsible or outright malevolent knew about it, then it could mean the complete annihilation of us all. Everyone knowing that a way to end us all existing, that's just too cruel. And since only I know where it is, if other kingdoms and empires knew about it, then they could consider it an even bigger shift of power to Equestria. That in itself could cause conflict."

"Wait, so, if you would die? Then our-?"

"No, no. I have a magical spell within my very aura that would return the sun to its natural place without danger to us if I would perish without a successor. The long winters would still happen, but rather harsh living conditions and wounds that would eventually heal than complete destruction. Only Cesom could mean we all die," said Celestia.

"But, then why haven't you destroyed Cesom?" asked Twilight.

"Twilight, nothing but the power of a god could even make a dent in this artifact. Don't you think I have tried? No, instead I protect it and keep it safe from those who would use it for their own gain or evil goals. So, Twilight Sparkle, considering just how horrifying Mrs. Misery is, would you be willing to give her Cesom in exchange for your parents?" asked Celestia.

Twilight frankly hesitated for a moment, but in the end she had a duty to her mentor, the ponies of Canterlot, Equestria, and the civilizations of the world.

"No. I couldn't be that selfish," said Twilight, looking down on the floor with slight grief in her voice. Princess Celestia looked down on her, and then rubbed her neck affectionately, motherly, against hers.

"The fact that such a decision hurts you so much, but that you are still willing to make sacrifices, is just one of the many reasons I chose you as my pupil, Twilight. As you now know this secret, I expect you to keep it safe, and keep Mrs. Misery and her group from getting their hooves on it. Whatever fault I may have, they can not get it. While I'm not sure if I would let them be affected by Cesom to remove their curse even without Mrs. Misery as their leader, I do know they won't learn anything about it while I'm in charge with her at the head of the pack."

"But, what is Cesom? What does it look like? Where is it?" asked Twilight.

"Sorry, Twilight, but this is the one thing you won't get to learn," said Celestia. "Only if I would no longer be head ruler of Equestria would that information part from me," She got up from the sofa, releasing the spell. "We're done here, Twilight. If Random didn't already seem to know, I would have told you to wipe your own memories if he tried to gamble you for them about this," said Celestia. It was clear that even uttering the name of the artifact was taboo now.

"We'll get Group Misery. Don't worry. When we're done with them, they won't even know what they are looking for," said Twilight with pride in her voice. Letting down Celestia was unacceptable. But, she had started to form a plan. Her next step was to talk to Erase again, immediately.

***

"So, the prize pupil returns. Did Celestia reconsider? For the sake of her ponies, I hope she has. There has been enough suffering," said Erase.

"Well, I might, might just give you some information. But first, I want something from you," said Twilight.

"And what would that be?" asked Erase coldly.

"Tell me where I can find Mrs. Misery, you jerk," said Twilight.

In what seemed like less than a second, Erase leaped from his bed, making a stabbing motion towards Twilight. His talon went in between the bars with its sword in a firm grasp. He aimed between her eyes as his leg reached out with the blade from his cell. Twilight didn't more, or even blink, as the sword stopped merely an inch from her eye. She had already calculated his maximum reach. Erase eventually pulled back his cursed blade, glaring at her.

"Don't toy with me, Twilight Sparkle. This curse is not for your amusement," said Erase.

"Tell me where she is hiding, and you might get what you want," said Twilight.

"I am not fond of Mrs. Misery, but I have vowed to help her until the pony responsible for our suffering gets her proper punishment. The only way I would tell you where she was, would be if she told me to," said Erase coldly.

"Heh, you're off your game, Erase. What's the matter, tired from last night? You, Erase, if anypony should have noticed," said Twilight Sparkle. She gave a mischievous smile, as she was suddenly covered in green bright flames, transforming back into a changeling. "Anyway, I'm here for an update with you two," said the changeling with her voice.

"Rerry? Huh, didn't expect you here. When did you transform into her?"

"I copied her aura when she left the castle to see her parents. This castle has bad security against changelings as they need to focus on bigger things. Not much has changed since I was here a while back, really."

"So what do you want to say, friend?" asked Erase. Instrumental mumbled some inaudible question from the other cell. "Are we going to break out sooner rather than later?" asked Erase.

"No. As her backup plan for you was to get you in jail, we go this path now and follow it. We do as planned. I'm just here to tell you to change one thing," said Rerry.

"And that is?"

"Tell her exactly where Mrs. Misery is. I think Twilight Sparkle has been deemed to be a threat. She is to be broken down by Mood, or Random, I think it will be her choice. Worst case scenario: she dies."

"I don't like it, but with everything else, it will be necessary. All to fulfill our goal, to heal, and stop and punish Celestia," said Erase.

"I'll see you in a few days. I'll say hello to my queen for you," said Rerry and then walked out from the dungeon, no doubt intending to steal someone else's form to get out unseen.

***

Merely less than a minute went by before Twilight Sparkle, the real Twilight, returned to the dungeon.

"So, the prize pupil returns. Did Celestia reconsider? For the sake of her ponies, I hope she has. There has been enough suffering," said Blade. The conversation continued eerily similarly like the one before it, right up to a certain familiar point.

"Tell me where she is hiding, and you might get what you want," said Twilight. Erase looked at her coldly for a few seconds, before he sighed and stepped back from almost piercing her eyeball.

"Fine, but what you give us better be worth it," said Erase.

"I'll give you something first after I find her," lied Twilight.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," said Erase and gave her a cold smile.

***

After receiving the information from Erase, Twilight was about to leave to find her friends so they could hurry to Mrs. Misery to capture her, if the information was indeed true. As she got to the door, a pony just passed through it, bumping into Twilight.

"Oh, so sorry, Miss. Wait, Twilight Sparkle? Oh my goodness! What an honor!" said the young mare.

"Oh?"

"A Bearer of Harmony in front of me, so graceful. Now, if you'll excuse me, I wanted to check out the freaky pony with the sword, I heard he had a talon," said the mare.

"Well, alright, just be careful. Make sure to not get close, he could very well hurt you," said Twilight, hurrying outside. She had to hurry, because if what Erase said was true, then Mrs. Misery was just about to leave her new hiding place. She couldn't let this opportunity slip away.

The young mare saw Twilight slip out the door and close it. Perfect.

"Hey, Erase. Hey, Instrumental," said Solitary.

"What are you doing here?"

"Me? Oh, Mrs. Misery also needed Twilight Sparkle to not be able to talk to her friends."

"Well, obviously, but what are you doing here? In the castle? With guards and Celestia on the prowl?"

"I slipped in with the carts they loaded today. Celestia was expecting something sneaky like poisoned food, so I could basically just slip right in. They didn't even bother checking the ponies after the head guy Random made a bet with gave them the revised list. These guards are too tired, just like Misery said. I better get back before they notice, though," said Solitary. "This is just a friendly visit. How are you, Erase?"

"Better than Instrumental, that's certain," said Erase. Solitary walked up to the bars and leaned on them, looking at him, with an odd amount of interest.

"You know, Erase, once this whole thing is over, and you aren't a danger to everypony around you, then maybe you and I can... share a cell?" asked Solitary. Usually she was charming, but her attempts at seduction were quite poor. Partly due to inexperience and partly because when it came to acting romantic she was awful. Erase sighed.

"Solitary. I'm not a very romantic stallion, and I'm too old for you."

"I'm legally an adult," said Solitary and pouted.

"You're a child. No written law will make me see you differently until you prove me wrong with maturity. Even then, I do not think I'm right for you. Still, you are a good friend," said Erase. Solitary sighed with disappointment.

"Just my luck with stallions. If I can see them they are either too old, too insecure or too crazy."

"Where is Dot? You didn't leave her with Misery, did you?"

"She's with our secret weapon right now," said Solitary, which made Instrumental mumble in unpleasant surprise.

"Him? Is he really capable of taking care of Dot?"

"Hey, he might not be loyal, but he's the only one who can safely take care of her right now," said Solitary.

"I suppose that's true," said Erase.

"I wonder how much he knows about us?" said Solitary.

"Oh, he knows enough with us being in all the papers. He's simply staying because he is greedy. He's not like Dot," said Erase.

"That guy... It's almost hard to think that we have somepony with such an unbelievable curse on our team."

"His power does stand out, to say the least," said Erase.

"I just hope Y doesn't try to leave before the big day. By the way, when is the meeting?" asked Solitary.

"In roughly four days, but I hear something similar but slightly less official will take place in just two," answered Erase.

"Thanks. Well, Erase, Instrumental. I'll be going now. I'll see you soon," said Solitary and walked towards the door. It was time she got out of there. However, when she got close to the door, she bumped into somepony that went through it. He was all alone, and he looked very familiar.

"Sorry, dude," said Solitary and kept walking, and as the pony started to ask her questions she started to run in a bit of a panic. She needed to get away from the castle before he connected the dots. She wasn't fearing punishment from Mrs. Misery for this mistake. At this stage, there simply wasn't anything that that stallion could have done to stop them. She rounded a corner, and left the stallion behind.

***

The stallion looked at the pony who had disappeared.

"Hey! Wait! What's your name? Who are you?!" yelled the stallion. He was still so very shocked at seeing her that he didn't have the composure to think about what it meant, and then it hit him. He looked inside the cell to see Erase and Instrumental, who both looked at him a bit uncomfortably. The stallion didn't have a care in the world about them. He ran into the corridor, basically prancing and laughing. He passed a couple of guards, and he just gave a wide smile as he turned his head. "Hey guys! Great to see you again!" said the stallion.

"Wait, what?!" exclaimed the guards together.

"That's right! Shining Armor is back!" yelled Shining Armor in joy. He couldn't wait to see everypony again, finally. Most of all, he missed his sister, no, that wasn't true, there was one other pony he missed more. "I better contact Cadance!" said Shining Armor oddly loudly to himself. He realized he was so used to thinking loudly to update the guards he had assumed was around him that he did it on a reflex by that point. He took his shield from his, by this point, tattered, dirty uniform, and activated it.

"Velvet? Is that you? Have you figured out a way to help my husband?" asked Cadance worrying through the magical item.

"Even better," said Shining Armor. He was still prancing through the hallways, happy as possibly could be. He turned quite a few heads on his way. Some burst into tears of joy as he greeted them, actually greeted them.

"Shining Armor! My love! I've been so worried! Do you have any idea how much grief you've given your family?! They've been worried sick about you with this whole quest of yours to catch Group Misery," said Cadance, both happy and annoyed at the same time.

"I've longed to hear your voice. You have no idea, no idea at all. Finally that nightmare is behind me. It's time for me to get an update from somepony in the castle, oh, how I love to say that! Do you know if anything new happened this week?" asked Shining Armor. There was a bit of silence from the other end. "Cadance?"

"Well, there is this one thing you might want to know about..."

"What is it?" asked Shining Armor.

At the other end of the hallway, two guards could see Shining Armor oddly prancing towards them in the distance. They both observed him falling over flat on his face, quickly getting up again simply to shout:

"WHAT?!"

Terrible Truths and Loathsome Lies

"Well, Sir, I trust you will tell them as soon as you find them. I need to get there. Send some guards," said Twilight to the first guard she had managed  to find in the castle. No matter where she had looked in the castle, she simply hadn't been able to find any of her friends. Not even Celestia. While it was certain she would have found them had she just kept searching, she simply did not have the time. Group Misery would move from their current hiding place in less than half an hour. Barely enough time to get to her destination. She needed a bit of luck, and certainly plenty of speed.

"This sounds quite serious. Do not fear, Twilight Sparkle. Hurry towards our enemy, and I shall ensure you receive help!" said the guard and bowed his head.

"Thanks. Guess I'll get to take the role of the scout. I'll see them soon," said Twilight. While she was disappointed she had been unable to find her friends, or even the princesses, she felt much more confident in going ahead while she knew help would arrive sooner rather than later.

***

The guard watched Twilight Sparkle running towards the corridor that would lead her out of the castle. He gave a sad smile and walked away. That he had essentially allowed a pony to be doomed weighed a bit heavy on him, but his instincts just made him feel oddly proud with himself. Fooling ponies just seemed to give him this natural high, a small amount of euphoria.

"Seriously, these ponies never learn. No wonder they fear us changelings if they can't even adapt to us," said Rerry in the guard's voice. "Goodbye, Twilight Sparkle."

***

Twilight took a taxi cart to get to the other end of town as quickly as possible. She felt oddly alone, but she just had to take this opportunity to bring the whole of Group Misery to justice. Eventually the taxi stopped at the intended destination. She had only learned the address, but he was surprised once she realized that the taxi hadn't gotten it wrong. Twilight had expected an old abandoned warehouse, or some sort of entrance to the sewers again, but that certainly wasn't the case. She found herself in front of a massive and very eloquent house. Incredibly luxurious, in the middle of the city, right in front of whoever would dare to watch.

"This, this can't be right," said Twilight. To think that Mrs. Misery would be in there, how would it even be possible? On the brick wall surrounding the house, there was even several wanted posters with detailed illustrations of the known members of Group Misery they had seen so far. Which at this point was Random, Mood, Erase, Instrumental and a changeling without a known name. Twilight wasn't even sure they had names. In any case, even though they had two in the dungeon, they had decided to put up the posters of them anyway, since somepony might have recognized them from some point. Any information would be deemed important.

"Ma'am, I assure you, I haven't gotten an address wrong in my life, well, except that one time that sort of resulted in the complete destruction of an entire ancient kingdom," said the pony pulling the taxi. He looked away with a dramatic face, and equally dramatic gesture. "Never again!"

Twilight shook her head and looked at the building again. She couldn't stop being surprised that none of the ponies that often walked past the building everyday had noticed anything. Then she remembered it was likely that Group Misery had only recently moved into the building. Somepony was bound to see or notice something strange eventually, it just seemed like Twilight would be the one to make them do just that.

She paid the taxi pony and then entered through the front gate. As the high brick wall separated all the ponies outside from the oddly small garden surrounding the building, she very quickly felt more secluded. There was only a small gravel path up to the front door. Through the large windows in the building Twilight wasn't able to see much of interest, just the incredibly expensive furniture. Ininitially, Twilight had gotten the impression that this was the Whitemane's old estate, but she realized that couldn't possibly be the case. That would be the least safe place for Mrs. Misery to hide, no, this had to be some random building.

In any case, Twilight wasn't about to just burst in through the front door. She was going to sneak around, peeking in through the windows, and see if anypony was still in there.

She was just about to step off the gravel path when the front door opened.

"Miss Twilight Sparkle. We have been expecting you," said a thin pony, standing at the front door. Twilight didn't recognize him.

"Who, who are you?" asked Twilight, ready to use her magic offensively.

"I'm the owner of this estate. I'm currently enslaved by the strange powers from Sir Random. I'm forced to comply with his orders for the rest of the day. While I may appear calm, I assure you, I'm screaming in terror inside," said the pony far too calmly. He was wearing a suit, making him look like a servant. A pony walked out from behind him and sat stood next to him in the door frame. It was Random.

"Hello, Twilight. How nice of you to come along. How about you come inside and I'll, well, this guy, will make you some tea," said Random in an overly friendly tone.

"There is something seriously wrong with you ponies," said Twilight.

"Like you wouldn't believe. Still, Mrs. Misery wants to have a little chat with you. You only have right now to decide, otherwise she will leave again," said Random, adjusting his hat. Twilight caught a glimpse of the strange antlers.

Twilight seriously considered using magic offensively, but there was a problem: the pony that was already there. Twilight had in a way allowed three ponies to die, and while she couldn't feel guilt for something that the monster Mrs. Misery had done, she couldn't just allow it to happen again. In fact, with a hostage, Twilight realized she didn't have much of a choice.

"I'll peacefully come inside, if you let that pony, and everyone else you might have gotten trapped, go," said Twilight. Random shook his head like he was pretending to disappointed.

"Ah, ah, ah. It can't be that easy. You might attack as soon as he's free and off the hook. Let's make a bet to make it official. I bet you that you can't be in here without attacking us once everyone, which is actually just this one pony, goes free. If you lose, I get your soul. If you win, you get away unharmed by me," said Random with a coy smile. Twilight widened her eyes in shock, but she did notice that he didn't mention anything about fleeing in case things got bad in a hurry. One teleportation spell, and she would get out without so much as a scratch.

"I'll agree if you let him go first," said Twilight. Random suddenly opened his mouth and stuck something out from his mouth, getting a hold of it with his teeth. It looked like a poker chip. He bit down on it, which made it fall apart like it was made from fine sand. Suddenly, the pony next to him screamed and ran away, out through the gate.

"I'll give us twenty minutes before he calms himself down enough to actually contact a guard or two. Come inside," said Random, walking inside calmly. As Twilight got inside the luxurious home, she hoped that the guards were not far behind her, they had to be quite close.

Twilight cautiously followed Random through the hallway, leading her deeply into the large building. Random opened a door, leading into a windowless room. The only source of light was a fireplace, and in front of this fireplace a pony was calmly sitting in a very well crafted chair with the back at an angle towards them , drinking tea. Twilight could only see part of her silhouette.

"If I wasn't terrified of her, I would so totally say she looked like a cliche villain right now," whispered Random to Twilight like it was gossip between friends. While Twilight hated to agree with Random, she couldn't help but to feel that despite this whole unoriginal attempt at intimidation, Misery was somehow able to pull it off. Twilight was definitely getting uncomfortable when Misery turned to face her.

Misery had clear blue eyes, very attentive, very sharp, and her very look made Twilight feel like she was being eyed upon by a predatory animal. Those eyes, it was like she was trying to find a place on Twilight's neck, where she could tear it to shreds with her own teeth in a fit of primitive and unstoppable rage.

"Hello, Twilight Sparkle. So we meet at last," said Misery.

"Merry," said Twilight, not even allowing herself to blink as she stared at Misery. Random turned towards Misery.

"Merry?" he said in disbelief. Mrs. Misery gave Random a stare that made him take a step back, looking nervous.

"How did you know I was coming?" asked Twilight.

"Simple, Twilight Sparkle: I told Erase to tell you. Random, go get Mood and come in when it's time. I want absolute privacy until that time. I should not have to tell you that."

"Yes, Mrs. Misery," said Random and left the room. Twilight was surprised at herself once she realized that she had rather have him stay in there with them. She just didn't want to be left alone with those eyes staring at her, they didn't even blink. When were the guards coming?

"So, Twilight Sparkle. The Princess' top student and prized pupil. A pony so young yet with little to prove. Always hungry for knowledge, just for the sake of knowledge. We are both quite alike, except of course, I don't really see you as an equal, in any way." Twilight immediately got sick of her attitude.

"If you told him to lead me here, you must have something to say," said Twilight. Misery took a sip of her tea, and then tossed it into the fireplace with force. The tea quickly evaporating in the flames.

"I do have a statement to make, but this doesn't involve telling you anything. Still, we're alone, and I do want to say a few things to you. This is not me doing something significant, this is not me saying a thing that changes anything in any way. What I'm about to say is actually... remarkably pointless."

"What is it?" asked Twilight.

"Don't you wonder why these ponies are ready to kill? Don't you wonder why they are so ready to risk everything? It's not because they don't have something to lose. They do. Some have families, some have friends, even the ones worst off have each other thanks to me. Erase and Solitary seem a bit fond of each other for example, though I doubt they would readily admit it to anyone. So, while this curse is terrible, why would ponies that are really quite amicable in other circumstances be so horrible to you and your pony friends?" asked Misery to Twilight.

"What are you talking about?"

"Twilight. They have two things they want, but they plan on achieving three. They want Cesom to get rid of their curse, they want to punish Celestia. And they are fighting and risking so much to stop the Cycle of Destruction from returning," said Misery.

"What?!"

"They have been told that the Cycle of Destruction will come back, cursing thousands upon thousands upon thousands of ponies! They know the pain of curses, and they will do anything to spare all others from that. Fighting to stop this isn't what they want, but they feel like its the most necessary."

"But, but, why are they, why are they not working with the Princess in that case?"

"Because they think that the Princess is actually filled with lies, an evil monarch, unworthy of anything, just deserving of punishment."

"That's not true!" yelled Twilight defensively. Misery gestured with her front legs, up towards the roof, with joy.

"Of course it isn't! But they come from so far away, they don't know Princess Celestia! They had only heard her name before I came to help them! They think she only thinks of herself and is merely keeping ponies happy so she can keep her power and throne!"

"How could they think that?!"

"Because those are the lies I told them. Princess Celestia could probably save them with Cesom if they merely asked without me with them, but they won't trust her because of what I've told them for years! They are loyal to me, and despise her for a dozen things she has never even done! All they know of her is that she's the pony that caused them years of pain. There is no return of the Cycle of Destruction! That was just another lie! I told them Celestia is waiting for the Cycle to return, and that it will give her power she craves after she saw it the first time. They think Celestia is fighting against them with tooth and nail to protect the Cycle of Destruction. They think Cesom can destroy this 'coming' Cycle."

"But why?" Asked Twilight with just a hint of fury in her voice. She was considering losing the bet to attack Misery, but she couldn't risk it.

"Why, what? I need their powers to get my revenge on Celestia. That's obvious. Ask me a good question instead."

"Why, why.. why are you telling me this?" asked Twilight.

"Oh, as I said, this is pointless. This is just me playing. It's entertaining to me to see your expression hearing this. You hearing any of this changes absolutely nothing."

"But you wanted to make a statement, was that it?" asked Twilight.

"Not to you, and here I thought you were intelligent. Stupid girl. I'm going to make a statement to Celestia. You see, once she comes here to see her precious prize pupil, broken and mentally destroyed beyond comprehension, then I'll get the joy of seeing her fall apart," said Misery.

Twilight looked at a grandfather clock near the wall, ticking away as the moment painfully continued undisturbed.

"What's the matter? Are the guards not coming as soon as you would have wanted?" asked Misery, clearly having noticed her concerned look. Twilight just turned to look at her again, with worry in her voice.

"What did you do?"

"A better question would be 'What didn't you do?' You really should have told more than one guard," said Misery, smiling with a sadistic grin. "I didn't expect for a changeling to so easily be made part of my plans. Did you know Rerry, the changeling, just joined a month ago. And to think, I thought it would actually hinder my plans," said Misery and laughed. Twilight just looked at her in shock. She had not expected anything like this. Everything about the situation had just turned around completely. Unable to attack, unable to get help, holding a powerful secret. There was only one thing she could do: flee.

Twilight focused on a spot out in the garden, nopony would be there, that would be safe for a teleportation. She focused her energy into her horn, shaping, molding the power into something solid, magical and familiar. Creating a line for her very being to follow throughout the vast cosmos between where she was and where she wanted to go. She would be out of there in less than a fraction of a second. She gathered her magical energy, did all the calculations necessary, and then just let the energy flow freely from her horn, releasing a small part of her aura to change the very fabric of space in an instant.

And nothing. Nothing happened. She didn't teleport, her magic was not changed inside her aura, her being. She didn't traverse any universal space. She was just standing there, looking into Misery's eyes.

"It appears you are having difficulties escaping. Do you want to know why?" asked Misery, still with that evil, yet subtle, grin.

"This is impossible! How are you doing this!?" asked Twilight and kept trying, but time after time nothing happened.

"Me? I'm not doing anything. You overestimate me, which, I admit, few ponies have done. The fact that you can not use magic at all is because you lost a bet to Random," said Misery.

"I didn't lose any bet! I haven't attacked!" said Twilight.

"I meant the other bet. You see, when you were at the door, you and Random actually bet three times. The first time, he bet on a simple game, for the pony's freedom, and if you lost you would give up your ability to teleport. He had an innocent pony at risk, how could you refuse? You lost. The second time, he bet on another game, if you won he would give back your powers and free the pony. If you lost, you would give him a memory. You lost, and he took the memory of you two playing games since you arrived. So now you are completely defenseless and at my mercy," said Misery. Chuckling at the power she had over Twilight's fate.

"I hadn't even considered," said Twilight. In hindsight she realized she should have always been ready for the risk of tampered memories, ever since Spike had forgotten his name.

"So, Twilight. I give you three choices. Either, you let me kill you as you can't actually fight back, or you will make another bet with Random where you might lose your freedom, to become my servant forever, or you face Mood's power at its more horrifying state," said Misery.

"Random seems like my best option," said Twilight.

"Not a good idea, really. I would have you play poker with him. He is very good at that game," said Misery. She was idly fiddling with some sort of contraption strapped to her foreleg, it looked mechanical.

"Fine, you sick, sick mare. I'll take on Mood's power," said Twilight.

"Wonderful. Oh, and don't bother trying telling him what I told you. He would most likely dismiss whatever you said as a lie," said Misery. She walked over to the closed door and opened it. Random and Mood were standing and waiting patiently outside. Twilight certainly recognized Mood from the first day she had been there. "Mood," said Misery simply.

Mood stepped in, and Misery closed the door. Mood took off his glasses and opened his eyes, trying very hard to keep looking at the floor.

"I'm, I'm ready, Mrs. Misery," said Mood.

"Good. You see, Twilight. Mood has unfortunately been cursed to have the ability to, in the most basic sense, break down a ponies mental, emotional, and psychological defenses. It doesn't matter who you are, when he's not trying, his words will always ring true, and they will always make the victim burst into tears. That's the boring aspect. The really interesting part is when he charges his curse, as some ponies can do. He can essentially make you collapse completely. Nopony has ever gotten out of it, they just, just end up catatonic. Do it."

Mood looked up and before Twilight could look away he met her gaze. She should have tried to tell him about Misery's lie when she had the chance. His very expression seemed to change like he was forced into being cold and unemotional.

"Twilight. You once told Spike that you would never send him away. That was the truth you spoke, but it does not reflect the future. Today, you are there to nourish him. Someday, perhaps sooner than you expect, Spike will not only leave you forever, because as it is in his instincts, he will actively push you away from him. One day you will wake up, just to find your home oddly quiet and empty. You will miss him, you will want to nourish him again. But he will not write, he will not care, and in time, he won't even remember. He is a baby. Babies grow up. And he is just a dragon, dragons are just barely above animals. One day, how he sees you will be twisted from his current love, to hate at how you made a proud member of a proud but brutal race a slave of a pony. He will reject you, he will want to kill you. And when you are lying on the ground, bloody, beaten, and an inch from death. You will look up at him, such a strong creature he has become, and you will, with both pride and shame, tell him you love him. And then he will rip you to shreds, devouring you, not even caring, because in the end, you are there to nourish him. And you will be happy for it." Mood finished, looking into Twilight's eyes.

It, it had just struck her, no matter how much she had steeled herself, the words rang so terribly true. It was uncanny. She felt like somepony had forced a stake into her heart.

"That's not true," said Twilight, unable to not start weeping. "That's a lie!" yelled Twilight.

"Possibly. But it's a necessary step for this:" said Mood. His eyes almost tensed up, he started to weep blood. He uttered something that was barely sounds, but Twilight felt her sadness suddenly envelop her like a cold blanket. She felt like she was falling through the floor, hitting an ocean of icy water. She couldn't breathe, the surface she was standing on was getting uneven. She couldn't stand. She tensed up, and then she collapsed on the floor. Twilight Sparkle was gone.

There was only one question to be asked, one vital question. But it was a simple one: where had she gone?

Dreamland

Twilight both felt like she had fallen for hours, and yet seconds. Time felt so strange. It felt like she was in a dream.

"Twilight Sparkle, can you face your fears and griefs?" asked a familiar voice. Twilight stirred, falling through the endless cold void.

"What? Huh?" asked Twilight like she had just woken up from a rest two days long. She suddenly felt like she plummeted into the cold endless ocean, breaking its surface, yet she didn't sink.

She was lying, disoriented, but physically unharmed on a surface covered with shallow water. There was a slight mist surrounding her, but nothing so thick she couldn't see. She looked around her, above, around, far away, there was nothing but a empty void, white, with just a slight tint of violet colors, fading the more they got from the endless horizon. The water had the color of wet cement, but was still clear. It was so cold it made her shiver slightly. She managed to find her balance and stand up, feeling instantly dry everywhere except for her hooves still in the water.

"Where, where am I?" asked Twilight to herself. That voice she had heard, was that real? Was she imagining things? She suddenly remembered Mrs. Misery and Mood, how she had gotten here. "Those, those... jerks! I'll get back and stop them," said Twilight. She tried to teleport, but even if she would have known where she was, her magic didn't work. It wasn't like before where she did have magic but was unable to use it to get away. Here it was more that she didn't have magic at all. It was a foreign feeling, like something inside her was missing, like a second beating heart that had almost always been there had simply disappeared, only being noticeable once gone. She had never felt a complete absence of magical energy as a unicorn, and she believed that few unicorns ever had.

"Oh, Twilight, I'm afraid that is beyond what even you can do," said a voice from behind her. She quickly turned around. She saw who had talked, but she couldn't believe it, how in the world had he gotten there? Where was she, even?

"Spike?!"

Her old yet young friend was looking at her with some curiosity, balancing from claws to heel where he stood.

"Oh no, that would be silly. I'm not Spike," said Spike and looked at her with interest.

"What are you talking about? What's going on!"

"Twilight, I look like Spike, I sound like Spike, I talk like Spike and I'm just as great and handsome, but I'm not Spike," said Spike.

"How did you get here? Wait, did Mood somehow get you when he made you cr-"

"I'm not Spike, you dumb... eh, dumb girl!" said the little dragon.

"What?"

"Listen, I'll start with the simple thing. This isn't a real place. You are inside your own brain right now, or mind, or mental place, or... You're in your own brain, alright?!" exclaimed Spike. He looked around. "Huh, I expected it to be smaller. Still, it's plenty empty, though," said Spike.

"But, wait. So, this is just me, being inside my own mind?"

"Yes, Mood basically used his curse at max power, making you shut down from emotional turmoil that was fueled by intricate signals from his cursed eyes that your brain took up in its moment of weakness. His curse can do some serious damage to your sense of self. You're currently in a coma, either in that house, or in a hospital, or the castle, since Mrs. Misery couldn't stay there long after you managed to set that pony free.

"I, I think I see... wait, then who are you?" asked Twilight Sparkle.

"As your brain has basically shut down, I'm one of the few parts of your personality that is remote enough to be basically untouched by this whole emotional psychological stuff, yet big enough to take a form that can think and talk. I'm basically parts of you that you can't really relate with or understand. As far as you feel, I'm not part of your self-image. In here I take on a personality. That I exist, and, that you exist, is your brain trying to set itself right."

"Then, what are you?" asked Twilight. Spike gave a cheerful smile.

"I'm your acceptance, Twilight!"

"What?"

"Maybe I should just call myself Mr. Exposition or something? Twilight, you have a problem. You almost never accept stuff. Math problem not making sense? 'No, I'll solve it!' Pinkie-sense? 'I'll get it with science, there has to be an explanation!' Late with a friendship report? 'I'll work myself to death if I have to!' That's you, by the way. Although, I'm still you, I have all your memories after all. Did I just burn myself?" asked Spike sounding comically confused.

"Hey, I accept stuff."

"No you don't," said Spike.

"I do."

"No, you don't."

"Do too!"

"Nope"

"Yes! I do!"

"Twilight?"

"Yes?"

"How are you not noticing a pattern here?!" yelled Spike. Twilight just shrugged off what he said and looked around.

"So, why are you in the form of Spike?"

"He has a tendency to just relax and let things run its course. He accepts stuff readily," said Spike and sat down in the water.

"What am I going to do now?"

"Well, you're going to have to traverse your subconscious in order to find your fears and sorrows and destroy them. Sure, they won't really go away, but your brain will forget about them as it tries to sort itself out right now. They take up unnecessary space, and just like in real life, they are self-destructive, in other words, they sabotage you by existing," said Spike.

"Sound easy enough," said Twilight.

"It's not, trust me. All ponies that Mood have done this to has been beaten by them, or in some cases even joined them, making sure they never wake up from their coma. Possibly dying of starvation," said Spike.

"Wait, how do you even know about this?"

"Twilight, I'm using your brain just like you are. Don't forget that your brain is basically shut down right now. It's barely only doing breathing and heart pumping. It doesn't observe the world in any way. You are at the lowest still conscious level, your brain works faster down here, and since it doesn't have many distractions it's basically an already capable calculating machine turned into super calculating machine. I don't 'know' these things. I just used your brain for what would take you a whole year in the real world to come to super logical conclusions in what seems like seconds."

"That's... Wow, I knew I had a good brain, but not this good!" said Twilight with a bit of proud glee.

"Well, you need to get to beating your fears and sorrows and such. Some are basically just like me, parts of your mind that are big, but not really you as you see yourself. Sort of like how a good meal is on a plate. Sure, you need the food to eat, and you need the plate to not make a mess, but you wouldn't eat the plate, would you?"

"I don't think that's a good metaphor, Spike, or... Yeah, Spike will do."

"I'm lazy, so sue me," said Spike with a dry expression.

"Well, since you know so much, where should I start?" asked Twilight, looking around at the large void. It was so oddly silent, uncannily silent.

"Well, where do you think we should go?" asked Spike and looked around, just as lost as she was.

"To be honest, I don't know," said Twilight.

"Well, then we're in trouble. Hm, what do you think Celestia would say right now?" asked Spike. Twilight turned to face him.

"Wouldn't you know that?"

"I do. But, hey, where's the fun in that? I can't do anything in here to get you out. Only you can do that," said Spike.

"Fine. Well, I suppose Princess Celestia would tell me to follow my heart or something. I think I'd prefer a map," said Twilight.

"Well, what does your heart say, then?" Twilight thought about it for a few seconds, then she closed her eyes. She listened in the darkness and stillness. To her disappointment, but hardly her surprise, there was nothing in the void. She kept trying, despite feeling rather silly just standing there. After all, nothing could be- And there, in the darkness, she heard a single drop fall into the water. "Wow! Great work, Twilight!" said Spike.

Twilight opened her eyes. She was still standing in clear, slightly gray water, but there was something around her. It was familiar.

It was Ponyville.

The fog made the otherwise colorful and inviting old buildings seem foreign, and the completely flat surface of the shallow water that everything was placed on was just not right compared to the subtle bumps and hills that accompanied the wonderful landscape she was so familiar with. It was almost like the real thing, but it was still so uncanny, so different.

"It's, um, kind of creepy here," said Spike.

"Did you hear that dripping sound?" asked Twilight and turned to Spike.

"What? No. I didn't hear anything," said Spike.

"Well, I'm sure I heard something, this way," said Twilight. Spike followed her as she started to walk through Ponyville. The water never made any large sounds no matter how much they splashed around in it. In fact, every sound they made had this unfamiliar tendency to just quickly die out.

"So, Spike, since you know more than me here, what is the first thing I'm going to have to face?" asked Twilight.

"I, I know, but I don't want to tell you," said Spike, squirming a bit. "In fact, I'm not sure I even can," said Spike.

"Huh?"

"You must understand, Twilight, that you and I basically think on different levels of the brain. If I sort of, transfer too much of my thought process to you, as we are still part of the same brain, then your brain might just stop working altogether. I can basically predict the future, but I can't really give you any spoilers," said Spike.

"Predict the future?"

"Believe me, Twilight, a pony's brain, any brain, can do things you couldn't even dream of, but only during the right circumstances," said Spike. Twilight didn't like how Spike started to sound so contemplative and thorough. It just didn't feel like Spike when he did that. "I hope you get this is stuff that is far beyond what much of science has found out about. Hey, congratulations, you learned stuff nopony else does! Still, at least I can explain this to you, that's something," said Spike with a cheerful smile to her.

"Twilight, come here," said a distant voice suddenly in the silence. It was both quiet and clear, and quite ominous due to a faint echo that lingered in the void just long enough for one to notice it before it disappeared. Their attention was immediately drawn to the voice. It came from deeper inside Ponyville. Twilight was sure it was coming from her library. It seemed like that general direction. It could indeed have been beyond her library, but she sort of wanted to go there anyway. It was just who she was, she was drawn to libraries.

"And that's probably what you need to defeat," said Spike a bit worried.

"Well, we can't hesitate. I need to get back to the real world and stop Mrs. Misery! I have to tell everypony about her lies," said Twilight.

"True, but one thing at a time," said Spike.

"Let's go!" said Twilight and ran towards her home with Spike quickly following her. It didn't take long for her to get there, and when she did she knew that had to be the place. The water was being pushed away from the large tree and the colors of the tree simply just stood out from the lifeless surroundings. The tree simply looked like the genuine article.

Twilight left the cool water behind her as she stepped out on the soft, warm grass surrounding the old oak. She walked towards the front door. She was sure she could hear something from within. She instantly recognized it as rain. She reached out her hoof towards the door but then Spike grabbed it and stopped her.

"Twilight, I just need to tell you something. I can follow you in there, but I can't help you. But, I can tell you how you can defeat those you meet. You need to first figure out what they represent in you, and, well, that's it. Don't think they won't do their best to stop you, though. Also, don't jump to conclusions. This place can be deceiving in unexpected ways. Good luck," said Spike, sounding quite worried. Twilight nudged him affectionately.

"I'll be alright," said Twilight. Then she opened the door.

***

"Spike, I can't let you go in here! I, I can't see you like that," said Rarity through the door. She was blocking it, making sure he couldn't get inside. She looked over at the bed where Twilight was surrounded by the rest of her friends and her brother. Shining Armor looked surprisingly calm, but Rarity recognized a worried sibling when she saw one. Shining Armor might have shown a strong facade, but he was definitely quite shocked. Twilight just lied there on the bed, barely breathing with her eyes closed. A tear rarely ran down her cheek, but not one of them cried, but they might as well have. It would have made Rarity feel better if she could have just let it all out without having to appear weak. Of course, she wouldn't have been weak, and none of them would have thought so. If anyone of them would have started to cry, the rest would have swiftly followed.

"Rarity, please, just, let me in. Twilight, she's... she's like my sister. I, I want to be there with her," said Spike. Rarity felt heartbroken when she heard a weak sigh through the door. He banged his fist on the door from the other side one last time. "Please just let me see her. I'll do anything," said Spike.

"Rarity. Let him inside," said Shining Armor, looking over at her. Rarity couldn't say no to that voice as it was so stable and decisive.

Rarity stopped blocking the door and Spike slipped inside so quickly she could barely see him. He had reached the bed by the time Rarity had started to walk after him. Spike had to stand on the tip of his claws in order to reach up to the side of the bed. Rarity walked up next to him and gave him a comforting hug from behind. She then sat down next to him. Her eyes went to Twilight, and then she noticed that all her friends, including Shining Armor, looked at Spike in surprise. Rarity glanced at his face, and she too was not prepared for what she saw.

If Shining Armor could be described as being relatively stable, then Spike could only be described as rock-solid. The weakness his voice had conveyed when he had been standing outside could simply not be seen in Spike's face. He just glared at some point in the air as he reached out and grabbed Twilight's hoof.

"Spike, are you alright?" asked Shining Armor.

"Yeah. I'm fine," said Spike as he took another look at Twilight. His voice sounded so shockingly sincere. Despite the unexplained coma of the one pony in his life that could be seen as his family, he seemed calm.

"But, Spike," said Shining Armor. Spike shook his head.

"No, Shining Armor. I'm fine. I know this isn't good, but to be honest, I, I just don't think this is a big deal," said Spike. They all looked at him in surprise. "I'm not afraid. Twilight is strong, she'll be alright. I just know it. You'll see, she'll be up and ready to fight back Misery by this time tomorrow."

"You're really not worried, are you?" asked Fluttershy.

"I'm not really that young, you know. I'm old enough to know that when things get tough, you need to get tougher. I'll stay with Twilight tonight. She'll want to have someone she knows around when she wakes up," said Spike and gently held her hoof.

"I'll stay too," said Shining Armor. Spike turned to him.

"No, Shining Armor. You're needed, now more than ever. You have a duty. I'll take care of Twilight, and you get Group Misery," said Spike. Shining Armor looked at him for a moment, with surprise in his eyes.

"You're absolutely right. In fact, I need to get back on duty. I'm needed. Thank you, Spike. Take good care of her," said Shining Armor. After a few moments of hesitation, not wanting to leave his sister's side, he finally did.

"You'll see. She'll be alright," said Spike and looked up at his friends. Rarity started to cry, and soon the rest of the ponies followed. Spike hugged Rarity, trying to comfort her the best he could. He took another look at Twilight. It wasn't a lie. Spike knew that she would be alright. She had to be.

***

In a burst of adrenaline, Twilight jumped out of the way of yet another attack. It had been one of many since she had opened the door to her library. The very next moment after entering the library she had been attacked. Whatever this place was, it certainly didn't look like her home. It was more like a gigantic archaic stone library, but on fire. Everywhere she turned, there were scorching hot flames. Her very eyeballs almost felt dried out in this heat. Just walking on the stone floor hurt her hooves, but she endured.

"You can't run forever, Twilight Sparkle," said a familiar voice. Twilight didn't turn to look at her attacker, she just kept running. She hadn't expected this, not in a million years. She jumped around a corner just as another attack was launched. The very place she had been in previously was simply incinerated by a wave of flames of such temperature it made the stone floor melt beneath it. Twilight kept running. The line of sight to her attacker had been broken, so Twilight thought she might have been able to hide, catch her breath for once.

"This is insane," said Twilight to herself. She looked behind her, the light from her enemy was shining brightly as it got nearer the corner. Twilight grabbed Spike and hid behind another corner. She was sweating more than she ever had, and every single drop sizzled as it hit the floor.

"This fire's so hot that even your view of Spike is getting burnt," said Spike to her, frenetically waving his arm to get rid of a piece of fire refusing to die out.

Twilight wanted to just catch another glimpse of the attacker, but she wasn't stupid. She couldn't peek out around the corner. This short moment of silence was so far her only chance to guess just what this enemy represented. It only used fire and heat to attack. It was even partially wreathed in flames. Could it be anger? Twilight's heart was pumping rapidly in her chest. The initial shock of seeing the form the enemy had taken had quickly been swept away by the mere danger it posed.

"It's okay, it's walked into a hallway," said Spike, peeking around the corner.

"I thought you said you couldn't help me?" said Twilight.

"Hey, I can't fight or even give you a hint about what your enemy represents, but this is neither," said Spike.

Twilight basically had to dance to be able to think and avoid the pain from the fiery hot floor. What could this creature be representing? Anger? Hate? It was likely, but, still, it just felt like something was wrong. Her enemy took upon itself a form that no matter how you would look at the original, you would never see this type of hate. It didn't make sense. Spike being acceptance made sense, this thing being anger, did not.

"Twilight Sparkle!" roared a voice. It was again, so familiar, but just so wrong. It was burning with contempt, echoing with power. It was Celestia's voice. Around another corner the Princess passed, seeing both of them with her ruby red eyes. Her mane was made from a fire so hot it was whiter than her fur. Her hooves were wreathed in flames that almost seemed to claw out towards Twilight and Spike. She was still wearing her jewelry but it was constantly dripping, parts of it seemingly constantly melting from the heat. She was untouched of course.

By just being in direct line of sight of Celestia, Twilight could feel the heat from her directly. It was like being in front of lava, but perhaps that would have been cooler. Twilight was about to run away when the path behind her was blocked by even more flames, burning her by their presence alone rather than touch. Twilight could only turn around to face her enemy.

"Twilight Sparkle. Who am I?" asked Celestia. She showed her fangs and hissed towards Twilight as she slowly walked towards her. She was more like an animal than a pony. Twilight thought about the question. Celestia wasn't ever anger, but fire might be. She hesitated, but made a decision.

"You're, you're, you're my ange-"

"Twilight, if you tell her the wrong thing, you'll never get to wake up and be stuck in here with her forever," said Spike, pulling at her mane. Twilight looked at him and then back to Celestia. The hot air coming off her was starting to hurt Twilight as she got ever closer. At this rate, Twilight would be destroyed before Celestia even managed to touch her. Twilight didn't dare to look Celestia in the eyes. It was almost like when the real Princess Celestia was cross with her. Twilight could never manage to look her in the eyes when she was yelling, sounding cold, glaring. Still, that was never because of anger. It was always simply dis-

"You're my disappointment!" yelled Twilight in a moment of clarity. The fires immediately died out. The aspect of Twilight in front of her just looked at her. She silently nodded. The air was cool and pleasant. The library was untouched by any previous damage. The fires might as well never have existed. Without the heat and fire, the beautiful architecture just seem to stand out to Twilight. The rows upon rows of books seemed so inviting to her.

"You are correct, Twilight Sparkle. I am the part of you that is disappointment," said Celestia. She sounded more like the original, and as she spoke, more and more of her just started to look like like the real Princess Celestia. At the same time, she was fading away in an almost gray fog. "You are always so hard on yourself, and you expect everyone else to be too. You need to be able to accept your mistakes and move on, not focus on them and letting them hurt you. Learn from them, but do not let them poison your happiness," said Celestia, and then with a smile, she disappeared, fading away forever.

"Wow. Good job. Now, we need to keep going," said Spike.

"I wonder who the next one is going to be," said Twilight.

"I think the next one is actually the last," said Spike.

"What?"

"I just, I just get that impression."

"Only two? I expected more," said Twilight and started to walk around the gigantic library. She was sure she heard that dripping sound again. It was somewhere around here. She just knew it. Spike just made sure to keep up with her. Finding her way back to the front door was basically impossible in this enormous maze of books and documents. Twilight was tempted to read something, but she couldn't waste any time. She was on top of it all under the impression that reading these documents were a bad idea. It was just a feeling in the back of her mind. She didn't want to take any risks.

After what felt like hours walking through the library, she eventually found something of interest. That shallow water had returned again. It was slowly seeping along the floor. Twilight basically followed the current. By doing that she eventually found something that stood out in the labyrinth. It was a flight of stone stairs going right into the gigantic stone wall. Twilight couldn't even see the top from where she was standing. The light from the gigantic room she was in couldn't reach far up there. The water was pouring down the steps. She started to climb the stairs. Spike got up on her back and sat quietly on top of her as they got higher and higher up.

"What do you think is up there?" asked Spike.

"Well, so far I have no idea. Wait, do you hear that?" asked Twilight. It wasn't the stream of water that made the sound, or that faint dripping ahead. It was someone crying.

"I do. Doesn't sound good," said Spike.

The further up Twilight got, the darker it got. Twilight was not afraid of either darkness or the danger she would undoubtedly face ahead. Still, it eventually got so dark that the only thing visible was an endless white line behind her, where the large room was. The water was still steadily flowing around her hooves.

Then she saw something up ahead. Just the faintest of blue light shining down at the top of the stairs, like a star in the darkness. She had to keep climbing the stairs for a long while longer, but finally, she reached an opening.

She stepped out from the darkness and into yet another type of void. Both the water and sky were dark blue, like it was night. This water was oddly warm, it had a strange scent that reminded her of an ocean breeze. There was no fog in this void and while it seemed as endless as the first one had been, this was a bit less empty.

Ahead of Twilight there was a square shaped platform on top of a pillar with a spiraling staircase leading up to it. Twilight turned around when the faint sound of the flowing water stopped. The entrance had completely disappeared. She turned towards the pillar. There was a light shining down towards the pillar. Twilight could hear the crying coming from up there.

Twilight started to hurry towards the pillar. It didn't take too long for her to finally reach it and walk up the stairs. As she neared the top, she slowed down. She was carefully going forward one step at at time, ready for any incoming danger. What could this next challenge be? With that crying in mind, the first and only impression Twilight got was sadness.

She was just around the corner to the top. Just a few steps more and she would see whoever it was. She braced herself and jumped up the last few steps. She had not expected what she saw. Lying on a flat stone floor, there was a pony. It was weeping and sobbing. She was keeping her eyes closed, not wanting to look upon the void. The tears never seemed to stop, and it flowed off the platform into the endless pool below, being made of nothing but tears. Twilight looked upon none other than herself, just being there, wrapped up in a pathetic weak pose and continuing to cry.

"Who are you? Are you me, or are you supposed to be a changeling?" asked Twilight. The other her's eyes sprung open. She focused her stare at Twilight and Spike.

"Go away!" the other Twilight roared with anger and despair. Twilight and Spike were both violently pushed off the platform and fell down to land in the shallow water. Twilight was a bit roughed up but otherwise fine. She looked up at her other self, expecting an attack, but no such thing came. Whatever that thing was, it just stayed up there to continue her crying.

"Looks like I was right. This really is the last fight," said Spike. He jumped off Twilight.

"Spike, are you sure that's my enemy?" asked Twilight Sparkle.

"Of course. She attacked you, didn't she?" asked Spike while looking up at the platform.

"Well, yes, but this, this is different. She's, she's just a crying pony, and she's me. Can I really just attack that?"

"She's the enemy, Twilight! You have to attack! Tell that monster what aspect of you she is," said Spike and turned his head towards her with a determined look on his face.

"Right, let's go," Twilight said, walking towards the path up to the other her. She thought it through very carefully, she had almost made a mistake already. She couldn't let it happen again. As she got closer to the path up, she turned to Spike who was walking along with her. She stopped to face him, a bit unsure about what to guess. "I'm not sure of what she is. As you said: things can be deceiving," said Twilight Sparkle, thinking of all the possibilities as well as she possibly could.

"Come on! She's sadness, just tell her that already!" yelled Spike impatiently and pointed towards the platform. She certainly didn't like it when he was so impatient, and she was about to start to walk upwards when she realized something and faced Spike again.

"Spike, didn't you yourself say specifically that you couldn't help me?" asked Twilight. Spike slowly turned around towards her. He looked at her with a face that told Twilight everything she needed. It was obvious that Spike was desperately trying to come up with an excuse. "Spike, have you been lying to me?" asked Twilight. Spike looked at the water at his feet, kicking the water like a guilty child. Then he stopped with the kicking and simply started to chuckle. The chuckling turned to laughter, loud laughter that echoed back from the endless distance.

"Damn it, I thought I could have made you do it. Well, you can't have everything I want, I guess," said Spike and finally stopped laughing.

"What do you want?" asked Twilight.

"To be the one to destroy you, and hurt you, and hurt you, and hurt you. Forever. That is the purpose of us in here. You see, Twilight, you didn't need to destroy any of us to be able to leave. The way out is actually right in here. The fact that Celestia was in the way was just bad luck. There are more than a dozen of us in here. We all want to be the one to destroy you. We would fight each other for it if we could. They actually started to run towards where you landed the moment you came into your own mind. Had you waited for just a few more minutes, they all would have attacked you at once. I expect at least some of them to take the form of King Sombra, Discord and Nightmare Moon. They are probably very disappointed that they can't reach you in here. Here, you are all mine," said Spike.

Twilight probably would have been devastated any other week, but with all the recent hardships courtesy of Group Misery, with the curses, deceit and danger, Twilight wasn't even moved by this situation.

"How dare you look like Spike. He's my friend. You're insulting him by merely existing. Get out of my sight," said Twilight. The insulting being just chuckled and looked at her. For some reason, the more Twilight looked at him in this new light, the more his irises just seemed to be that of a hungry reptilian animal.

"I suppose I should tell you some truths. I can indeed think very well, and I'm the second to last challenge you will face. And since I'm an aspect, as you have seen, the only way to defeat me is by guessing my nature. So, Twilight, who am I? My nature certainly isn't acceptance," said the imitation of Spike and chuckled again. That sound was getting on Twilight's nerves.

"Well, you sure aren't 'planning', since, after all, you got me to seal you and me in a room together, when Spike is very small and punchable. Believe me, when I was a filly, I figured that out quite well when we argued," said Twilight with a certain degree of anger in her voice.

"Oh, right, about that. You probably think I'm the weakest one in your entire mind, don't you? Well, Twilight, there's something you should know," said Spike. He closed his green eyes with a content smile. When he opened his eyes they were red and he was giving her a wide terrifying smile, showing off just too many fangs. He started to grow and change very quickly and dramatically. "I'm actually the worst one!" yelled the fully grown dragon. His purple scales turning black and yellow. Once he had reached his full size, he stared at Twilight. His eyes were so large Twilight could have easily fit inside them and the monster wouldn't even have noticed.

"So, Twilight Sparkle, what am I?" asked the monster with Spike's voice, shockingly matured and deep. Twilight couldn't do anything in her current state, so she just ran.

Deceit, anger, resentment, greed, come on, he has to be one, Twilight thought as she was trying to do the impossible: outrun a dragon. No matter what she thought about, the same moment of clarity that she had gotten with Celestia just didn't come along.

The dragon hadn't moved since Twilight had started running away and she had managed to get quite a distance between the two. Then he simply took one step, and he was already next to her. His size was incredible. He raised his claw and focused his reptilian eyes on her.

"It's time to lose all hope, Twilight Sparkle. I will devour you. We will never be apart," said the monster and struck towards her. Twilight jumped out of the way, looking up at him. He took a deep breath.

"Darn. Fire."

Dark green flames erupted from its gaping maw. There was simply no way to dodge it. Twilight just decided to fall over down into the water, letting it cover her. To her surprise, she suddenly didn't feel a surface to lie upon. Instead she fell down into a cool, bottomless ocean. The enemy was standing right above her like on an invisible floor, she swam to get behind him as far as she could before she needed to get up for air. The moment she breached the surface, the dragon heard her and turned around quickly, focusing his stare on her yet again.

Twilight took another breath and went under again. It was safer down there, and in the stillness of the cold water, she was able to think a bit. Not that it mattered. She still couldn't figure out what this cheap imitation of Spike was.

"Twilight," said Spike's voice. It wasn't the monster who spoke, it was someone far, far away. It echoed all around her. Spike, is that you?

***

It was night in the hospital wing. The only light in the dark silence came from the moon shining down through the large windows and a single candlelight next to Twilight's bed. Spike was sitting on a chair, watching over Twilight. The rest of her friends were still working hard far into the late hours to find whoever had done this to her. He was still holding her hoof.

"Twilight, I hope you'll be better soon. The report says that Random's been spotted in the southern parts of Canterlot. Shining Armor is doing well, but we could really need you. Not, not just because we need your help. We just want you to be here... I want you to be here," said Spike and sighed. "I've finally been having some doubts the last few hours, you know? Like you won't wake up, ever, but... I have to keep hoping, right? Well, I've never been good at accepting things. I, I wonder, if I have to accept the risk that you might never... No, that's not going to happen. I love you like a sister, Twilight. Don't make me wait too long, okay? You get better, alright? Because if you don't, then I don't think I'll ever get away from right here at your side," said Spike and chuckled. "One day, I think I'll have to accept that I just can't be with you anymore. But I refuse to do that anytime soon," said Spike. He stood up on his chair, leaned over and kissed Twilight lovingly on her forehead. "Just come back to us, please. I need you, and I think, that I always will," said Spike. He was quite tired, he almost nodded off as he sat back down on his chair. He couldn't fall asleep just yet. He just had to be up a bit longer. She would open her eyes any minute now.

***

Twilight had felt something gently touch her forehead.

"I will be back, Spike, and thank you," said Twilight. She resurfaced and climbed up, without doubt in her mind. That deceitful monster of hers was as good as beaten. She turned to the monster who pounced towards her with those crazy evil eyes glaring at her.

"You told me a half-truth, but you aren't my acceptance. You are my lack of acceptance!" said Twilight calmly as the dragon was about to hit her. His enormous heavy body made contact, but it didn't crush her. It just passed right through her like it was air.

"No! I was supposed to win this! I was supposed to get what I wanted! I was supposed to be your pain forever! It's my nature!" yelled the dragon in anger, trying to claw Twilight but unable to even scratch her. He was beginning to shrink down to Spike's real size and color. His eyes were still red like rubies, and he cried like a child.

When he finally resembled Spike enough, he started to fade away into mist. He ran up to Twilight and just desperately banged his fists towards her. "I was supposed, to be able to be with you forever," said Spike weakly. Twilight understood what this was. It was a remnant of Mood's power. The idea that Twilight and Spike would drift apart and turn for the worse.

The image of Spike was just angrily keeping up with trying to hurt her in vain. More and more of him faded away, he felt like he was just going to vanish into nothingness, and he was afraid. Suddenly, he felt something he didn't expect, something he would never have thought possible. Twilight Sparkle was embracing him with a simple but loving hug. It was so different for a negative emotional part of her own mind such as himself. It was the only thing he had felt here that wasn't cold like the water or burning hot like scorching fires. This was the first time he had felt a comforting warmth. It was... nice. He broke down completely, crying openly, like a baby, grabbing Twilight and holding her, not wanting to let go.

"I know that you are the part of me that fears change. It's true, I've never liked change, and I've always struggled against it. But, if we can't deal with change, then we can't deal with life. Life is filled with changes. I can't change that, and even if I could it wouldn't be right. All I know is that when Spike one day grows up and doesn't need me anymore, I will just give him a hug, holding him close to me, and say a single thing," said Twilight.

"What?" asked Spike, looking up at her, still crying. His eyes started to turn emerald green.

"'I love you'. Then I will accept that he's leaving," said Twilight.

"And then I know he'll say 'I love you too'. And here I thought you only thought about yourself. That Mood is just a filthy liar. I know Spike would never hurt you," said Spike and hugged her. He looked up at Twilight one last time as the rest of him started to fade away into smoke. "Twilight, I was the second to last. The last one is in this room, but this place can deceive. I know you will find the part of you that you don't see in yourself. Just ask yourself one question: 'Why is that other Twilight crying?'"

Twilight felt his face push into her fur one last time for warmth, and then he was gone. She was alone.

She walked back up the stairs to see her copy. The other Twilight was still crying, in a weak position on her floor.

"Who are you, then?" asked Twilight, thinking out loud. Why is that other Twilight crying? It was a good question. Being her sadness or grief seemed to make sense, but it was just too obvious. "Twilight, why are you crying?" asked Twilight very gently to the little pony. This time she didn't lash out at her.

"Somepony told me that Spike would be taken away from me. And that Spike would hurt me one day," said the other Twilight. It was very quiet, barely audible over the crying. She just had this feeling she was missing something. There was a bigger picture to all of this. This Twilight was crying because of what Mood had done. Why was this Twilight, and not herself, crying about it?

'His curse can do some serious damage to your sense of self'.

'I'm still you, I have all your memories after all'.

'This place can be deceiving in unexpected ways'.

'And here I thought you only thought about yourself'.

And that's when Twilight figured it out. No wonder so many ponies had never been able to wake from Mood's curse at full power. Even if they would have been able to find this place, which was itself unlikely, they needed to be able to connect the dots that Twilight wouldn't even have been able to do if it wouldn't have been for her mental image of Spike just subtly giving her hints. Even negative aspects of a pony that were self-destructive still had just this little push to get one out of the gutter. The Spike in here had been no exceptions. Thank Celestia that Twilight was intelligent enough.

"Twilight Sparkle. I now know what you are," said Twilight to her copy. The pony didn't acknowledge her presence. "The truth is, that you are not an aspect of me at all. You are the real Twilight Sparkle. And I am an aspect of you. I am not Twilight Sparkle. I am something she would hardly think that she had. I am your ego!" yelled Twilight out into the endless void.

There was a deep sound coming from far way in the distance. It was like a drum. There was suddenly a light in the distance. It colored the sky in warmer colors as the light rose at the very horizon. The dark blue turned to pink and then red and then orange. It was so much like a wonderful sunrise. Suddenly, the water beneath her became solid like glass. Then there was that drum again. It was so loud. It made the very glass shatter beneath them. Twilight could see herself fade away into a fog. She closed her eyes, and when she opened them they felt quite watery. She was lying on the platform, watching a ghost of herself slowly fade away with a proud and content smile on her face. She had beaten Mood's curse.

The platform beneath her shattered and she fell down into the void. The sun was still shining into her face, too brightly, but it was so warm and comforting. It was such a beautiful dawn. To her horror the light started to dim, but she didn't want it to. It was just too wonderful to be lost. She had to reach out and grab it, it was right there. She started to feel so tired. It was right there, the star was right there, she just needed to reach out and grab hold.

"Just come back, Twilight." It was Spike's voice. "Please just come back. You're supposed to be here with us. Please just wake up. I'm here."

***

Twilight slowly opened her eyes, feeling drowsy, hungry and exhausted. She was holding out her hoof towards a large window on the other side of the room. Outside you could see the sun slowly rising, shining its radiant warmth into the room.

"Twilight... TWILIGHT!" yelled Spike in complete and utter joy and jumped up into the bed and embraced her. Twilight hugged him back.

"I just followed your voice, Spike. You really helped me out," said Twilight, not wanting to let him go. Eventually, though, she reluctantly did release him. She suddenly saw somepony a bit off to the side. That pony had just entered the hospital wing. He was staring at Twilight Sparkle, and Twilight was staring at him because he stared.

"Twilight... TWILY!" yelled Shining Armor and ran towards the bed, embracing Twilight, and Spike just sort of happened to get caught in the moment. The three shared a long hug. After all their troubles and hardships, they were together again. All three of them couldn't stop themselves from crying out of joy. Not the scholar, not the assistant, not the captain. And none of them wanted to.

***

"Mrs. Misery! I just heard the news from our bug Rerry! Twilight Sparkle has woken up from Mood's charged curse!" exclaimed Solitary as she rushed in through the door into her room in their current hideout. "And she's somehow stopped my own curse at the same time!" Something like that had never happened before, and certainly not at the same time. Mrs. Misery just sat relaxed in her chair, looking out at the sun as it was still rising up from above the horizon. She calmly turned to Solitary, giving her a unmoved gentle smile.

"It won't make a difference," she said, bored with the news. She was instead eagerly awaiting for the next few days. Mood, Instrumental, Solitary, Erase, Random, Y, Rerry, Dot, her enemies. All the pieces were almost in their proper places. Now she only needed to wait.

The Full Assembly

More than half of the day Twilight had woken up in had passed and it had felt like such wasted time. The first problem was that Twilight Sparkle was pretty much forced by doctors, friends, and even Princess Celestia to stay in bed for all that time. She tremendously appreciated that they were worried, but she didn't want to leave all the work to them. She wanted to help them. Spike stayed at her side for all that time and didn't even stop hanging around her even when he was told to by others. Twilight got the impression he was guarding her.

Once Twilight had gotten up she had taken Princess Celestia towards the dungeon where Erase and Instrumental were still being kept. They both looked up at them when they entered. Twilight explained exactly what had happened the day before, and no matter how much she insisted it was the truth, they simply would not believe her.

"Don't you dare to lie about Mrs. Misery. I may not like her methods, but since it's about stopping you, we don't have any other choice," said Erase.

"Celestia might as well be a saint! Misery on the other hoof, do you know that she's kill-"

"Killed her own father? Almost destroyed this city? Yes. I do. We all do. Don't you think she hasn't been honest with us? It was a moment of being young and unstable. Sins of her past that she is trying to atone for by stopping the Cycle's return."

"She's using you! How can you believe such garbage?" asked Twilight.

"How about when we were both cast out and removed ourselves from the world we loved, she came to us without fear?" asked Erase. He got up and walked towards the bars closer to them. "She has shown us nothing but compassion. She has taken care of us, told us about how you ruined our lives, and shown us how to use our curses in the best possible way to save everypony else. If it wasn't for her, all of us would be completely alone. You've felt the complete isolation and loneliness in your past, haven't you, Twilight Sparkle? From what I've heard, you were not bothered by being all alone. Do you have any idea how hurtful it is to actually crave friends and yet being forced to push everything away from you? You have gained friends, Twilight Sparkle. What we've gained is much, much deeper than that. You've merely shared adventures. We've shared pain. There are no stronger bonds to be forged than those gained together in misery." He suddenly took a swing with his sword towards her. Celestia grabbed her and dodged the blade as it almost struck her neck. "So don't you dare tell me she's lying," said Erase and gave her an extremely cold and serious stare. Instrumental just looked on with similar contempt.

***

"Celestia. If you can ease their suffering with the artifact, maybe they would listen to you? To us?" asked Twilight as they walked through the corridors towards the throne room.

"Twilight. I simply can't. If I did, they would learn everything there they needed to know. End their allegiance to Mrs. Misery, find her and end this struggle, and I might be able to reconsider. I don't want these ponies to be hurt any more than you do, but for now they have made their choice," said Celestia.

"As terrible as some of these ponies can be, their pain, they are just as much victims as we are. I want to help them," said Twilight Sparkle.

"Twilight, you will help everyone, but only if you will stop Mrs. Misery. If she actually manages to defeat us, if she wins, then all of us are beyond help," said Princess Celestia. "But, it's admirable that you want to reach out to those in need. Be careful, while that is a sign of a kind leader it can also be an exploitable weakness. They will use that against you if they do not believe it to be sincere. As Misery is leading them, none of them will believe you when you say 'I want to help you'." said Celestia.

"I will be careful Princess."

"Good. Now, go meet with your friends. And please be careful."

"Of course," said Twilight. She bowed and turned around to leave.

"Oh, and Twilight?"

"Yes?" Twilight turned around.

"Erase is wrong. I believe that the bond you share with your friends is much deeper and much stronger than theirs are. I just don't want that comment to get to you."

"It won't, Princess. Thank you," said Twilight and then left. She was a day behind on what was going on. She needed to get back into action.

***

When Twilight entered the archive where all of her friends and her brother was gathered, she was instantly greeted with a very warm welcome. They had already hugged her lovingly in the morning, yet they just kept showering her with affection. Twilight understood that they must have been quite worried. She would have been just as worried if not much more if she would have found one of them in a coma.

"Twily, we have made a few sketches of Misery and Mood from your description. Which one of these are most accurate?" asked Shining Armor, making about a dozen sketches float in the air facing her. Twilight could have picked anyone of them. They were very accurate, Misery and Mood would get a harder time hiding in the city for sure. She pointed at a random one in the Mood pile, and then picked out the sketch of Misery that looked the most evil.

As she got up to the table they were gathered around, she noticed a third sketch of a gray and yellow mare along with the two of Misery and Mood.

"Who's that?" asked Twilight.

"From the information we've gathered, I think that's Solitary. The pony who cursed me, and is making our parents unable to see us," said Shining Armor.

"That's a pretty detailed drawing of her. Did we get a good witness?"

"Yeah, me. I bumped into her here in the castle. Her curse seems to be applied and removed by touch. I'm disappointed in myself for not realizing she was part of Group Misery. I was just so happy that I wasn't alone anymore. I would have apprehended her immediately otherwise."

"I've been out for a day. Have we learned anything new?" asked Twilight. Spike jumped up and stood up on a bench next to the table. He started to inform her.

"Well, this is the situation as we understand it. We think there are eight in Group Misery. From what you've told us, and some other factors, we are almost a hundred percent sure that one of them is a changeling. The rest are Mood, Instrumental, Solitary, Erase, Random, and Mrs. Misery herself," said Spike, obviously trying to sound formal and important.

"Wait, those are only seven," said Twilight.

"Look at the initials of all who are ponies and not Mrs. Misery: M. I. S. E. R. We think there's somepony with a name starting with a 'y'."

"We talked to the Princess when she had the time, and she said that Misery might very well enjoy naming her group after her in more ways than one."

"She did certainly seem to have a big ego when I met her," said Twilight Sparkle.

"We are a bit worried about this... this 'Y'. Whatever he or she's called," said Applejack. Shining Armor turned towards Twilight, talking with a quite serious tone.

"Yes. You see, Twilight, now when we know more about what these ponies can do, a lot of strange stories that we didn't think were true or even relevant before now seem to fit perfectly. A pony being able to make you cry, and suddenly talking about things he shouldn't know. A pony forcing you to dance yourself into exhaustion. One making you alone. Another holding a cursed sword. One being able to bet anything from you. All of these can in some way be applied to some otherwise crazy stories from inside and outside Canterlot the recent months that only just now make sense. But we have absolutely nothing at all that could be seen as another curse. If this Y exists, then they are keeping him a secret. As somepony that has been part of two military forces both in Equestria and the Crystal Empire, I can tell you that this whole thing remind me of a secret weapon. Who knows what sort of destructive power this pony can hold? I just think it's really disturbing. Frankly, I hope this Y doesn't even exist."

"We have to assume that he does," said Spike.

"Spike's right. Misery has had the upper hoof so far with her plans and secrets. We have to assume the worst with her to at least make sure she can't surprise us any more," said Twilight.

"We also have to assume she will try to attack this meeting in the coming days. We will do everything we can to make sure she won't be able to slip through, but we have to prepare for the worst. Still, that responsibility mostly lies with us guards," said Shining Armor.

"Right. I, I realize that at this point we're just repeating ourselves, but, do we know anything about where they are?" asked Twilight.

"No. A few squads are on it as usual," answered Shining Armor.

"Then what can we do?" asked Twilight. Shining Armor thought through it carefully, but in the end he couldn't come up with any ideas.

"Well, at this point all you can do is either walk out into the huge city and look around at random places, or stay in the castle and help with the guests," said Shining Armor.

"I call looking in the city," said Rainbow Dash in a slight panic and instantly left the room by flying out an open window. Twilight just stared as Rainbow Dash tried to get as far away as possible.

"That was a bit odd," said Twilight.

"She doesn't really like hanging out with some of those guys. These delegates and royals can be so posh," said Spike.

"You should have seen some of them yesterday. They basically insulted Rainbow Dash right to her face," said Fluttershy.

"Credit where it's due, that our dear Rainbow was able to keep a cool head was certainly admirable," said Rarity. Everypony but Twilight nodded their heads silently in agreement.

"Are some of them really that bad?" asked Twilight.

"Yes, and since this is such an important event, if you talk back to some of them you risk starting a major conflict. There was a large feast yesterday. I had to attend, and let me tell you, the tension in that room was nothing short of ridiculously extreme," said Shining Armor and shook his head. "You could have dropped a needle on the floor and everyone would have heard it."

"Although, that King Pero is really relaxed. He's the only one of them that is. I like him, he's a funny guy," said Pinkie Pie.

"Well, let's go and help out in the castle. I really need to just do something productive. Just sitting around and not getting anywhere is just so aggravating," said Twilight.

"Very well. I have work to do myself. By the way, tomorrow the last of the delegates will have arrived. There will be a ceremony tomorrow, an official one. You are all invited there. I'm begging you all to go. We guards will be working our butts off to keep security tight. We need some ponies right in the middle of it, to keep an eye out for anything mysterious. You girls would be great for that," said Shining Armor.

"Oh dear, looks like I'm going to have to prepare some of our dresses for the occasion. When is the party? asked Rarity.

Pinkie Pie seemed a bit more exited than usual.

"Oh boy, a party tomorrow!"

"Pinkie, for you this is going to be a boring party of high class," said Shining Armor.

"Oh, well then I can-"

"And you can't try to make it more lively. I heard about the first time you were at the Grand Galloping Gala."

"I can-"

"Pinkie. There are royals and delegates there that simply won't like you. If you try to force them to, then you can actually create a war. I need you to be responsible, and calm for once. Please, please be calm. Perhaps you could just not come at all?" begged Shining Armor.

"Fine. But I will be there. I have never turned down an invitation to a party and I'm not about to do that now."

***

The rest of that day had been spent doing simple chores preparing for the party the following day. Twilight had gone through several records and documents in order to make sure the guests were seated in such a way to avoid fights to break out. Some of these ponies and beings were already in minor conflicts. It was up to her and some planners in the castle to avoid making these conflict escalate. Sure, peace was possible, but their goal was not so much peace as it was to keep everything stable. Looking through the work the planners had already done she had eventually found a zebra and a pony from beyond Equestria's shores that if they would be seated together could have meant outright war.

From what Twilight could have gathered, about one fourth of all the attending were from parts of the world that simply had not been as blessed as Equestria. Twilight was well aware the world could be a very dangerous place, all the world's cheery atmosphere could do nothing to truly hide the changelings, malicious spirits and danger, but Equestria had the luxury of a strong ruler, a strong defense against evil and danger. Other places did not, and as a result their inhabitants were hardened, stronger but also colder. Not incapable of love, but trained by their very lives in a hostile environment to strike first. This meeting had the fortune of being in Equestria, encouraging harmony and peace, but Equestria had the misfortune of having this meeting in it, encouraging something far more dangerous. Still, it had been outside of Celestia's control, and even if it wouldn't have been, canceling now would be nothing short of disaster. Getting them all to come, and then the day before telling them all to go home would essentially make every kingdom, nation, empire and tribe in the world give Equestria the evil eye.

Twilight had hardly been the only one working hard to make sure everything would go according to plan. Everyone did their best to make it all the best it could possibly be. From the youngest cadet to the oldest Princess, not one rested. Not the castle, not the city, not Group Misery. The following day would without a doubt be the start of something. At this point they all had no other choice but to be ready for it. As Celestia finally allowed herself to rest that evening, she took one last glance out the window before shutting her eyes.

"Your move, Misery."

***

And so the first official day had arrived. Twilight struggled that afternoon to get into her fanciest dress. She didn't like to be extravagant in anything except presenting her knowledge and skill in magic, and only then to her friends, but she understood that being a bit extravagant might have been necessary for this evening's party. The dress she wore had been a wonderful gift from Rarity. It matched her slightly darker shades of purple very well. It was designed to look like the beautiful night sky, something it did quite well. All of her friends wore similar dresses, each designed to fit the wearers personality. All made by Rarity, all wonderful pieces of art.

Twilight adjusted something slightly large and cumbersome underneath her dress. It was a golden tiara with a jewel atop it that looked just like her cutie mark. It was one of the Elements of Harmony. They all had one hidden under their dresses, ready to be equipped in case of an emergency that called for their use. Unfortunately, the Elements were there to protect against threats unrelated to Group Misery. Celestia had assure them that the Elements simply would not work against something as simple as ponies, even cursed ones. That did not stop Twilight and the girls from being ready for whatever development the evening would unfold.

***

When Twilight was finally ready to step out of the dressing room with her friends, they were wearing their dresses like suits of armor. They were ready. Ready for excitement. Ready for danger. Ready for duty.

***

But they were not ready for just how uneventful a slow start the evening would be. They entered one of the largest ball rooms in the entire castle. As they entered the room that was beautiful and of a high class even compared to the rest of Canterlot, Shining Armor pulled Twilight aside by the side of the large door.

"Twilight, I'm glad you're here. Thanks again for all the work you girls did. It helped us out more than you know," said her brother. He was wearing his finest uniform, more suitable for a night of festivities than the protection of a soldier.

"I'm just glad to help. I just got here, how does things look?" asked Twilight, looking around. There were plenty of delegates and such entering through the same large door she herself had gone through. The room, despite its size, was almost filled to the brim already. Outside the large windows allowing a look into the gardens several silhouettes could be spotted.

"So far we haven't been able to notice anything out of the ordinary," said Shining Armor.

"How about changelings?"

"We have detection spells being cast by unicorns along the walls. If there is a changeling here, we will know about it," said Shining Armor.

Twilight made sure to make a mental note of her surroundings. To the right, there were a few doors leading directly into a large hall filled with tables. That would be where they would all dine this evening. To the left, there was a door leading directly out into the garden. In between, towards the back of the room, there were two thrones set up. Celestia and Luna were sitting by each others side. Looking down on all the guests. Twilight noticed her mentors expression. It was lacking in any distinct expression. She looked attentive, and yet very calm. She was almost oddly cold, especially since she would usually be the first to give a warm kind smile. She looked very regal. From her very expressive posture, it was clear she needed to look as regal and impressive as possible in front of these guests.

"If anything happens, find me," whispered Twilight to her brother.

"You got it, Twilight. Oh, and Sis?"

"Yes?"

"You look absolutely great in that dress. And, heh, There are a lot of outstanding stallions in here. If you catch my drift?"

"Brother!" said Twilight and laughed at the thought.

"Hey, I'm just saying Mom and Dad would be very happy if they would be able to get to go to more than one wedding this year," said Shining Armor and chuckled at how embarrassed he had made her.

"Hey, I think they'll get plenty happy with getting a grandchild. Wait, you did, know about that, didn't you?"

"Heard about it the day before yesterday," said Shining Armor. His smile faded away pretty quickly and he eventually just looked at the guests slowly entering the room. "I, um, I haven't thought about it that much. I've been sort of busy, with, with work," said Shining Armor.

"Shining Armor, what's wrong?" asked Twilight.

"It's just, this changes everything. I'm going to be a father Twilight, a father. Me! I mean, just two years ago I was a bachelor, and now I'm married to a princess, and live in an ancient formerly lost kingdom, and, and now I'm going to be called 'Dad'. I've thought about this, and I've actually sort of enjoyed the idea. But, I wasn't prepared for it this early. I wanted this, but now when it's staring me in the face, I'm just not sure if I'm ready," said Shining Armor.

"Shining Armor, you'll do great," said Twilight and got a bit closer, hugging him.

"But I might not, and, and if I make big mistakes, I'll change a life, a life for the worse. What if I can't give enough love to the foal? What if I give too much? He might become spoiled rotten since he'll be royalty. I don't want that, Twily."

"He?" asked Twilight a bit dryly.

"I'm sure it will be a colt, why wouldn't it be?" said Shining Armor. He squirmed a bit in his tight uniform. "What if I get wounded in my service as a guard? Will I be able to play with him? What if I die on duty? I don't want my colt to grow up without a father, Twilight," said Shining Armor. He showed something Twilight rarely saw in him with that uniform. He showed doubt. He hugged Twilight back pretty hard, making the Element of Harmony under her dress poke her in the side. "What if I'm not a good father to him? Twilight, I'm scared." Twilight just let him hug her as long as he needed to until she eventually took a deep breath.

"Shining Armor. I don't know what the future hold, but I do know, without a doubt that you will be a fantastic dad."

"How could you possibly tell?"

"Because despite that you have many fears about this, they are all about what could happen to your child. Even before the foal is born, you put it before yourself. That is the sign of a good dad," said Twilight to her beloved brother. She quickly felt her brother relax, and eventually they let go of each other.

"Thanks a lot, Twily. That helped," said Shining Armor.

"Hey, you're my brother. I'd be just terrible otherwise," said Twilight. They looked at each other for a short moment before they both started to snicker slightly. They had to force themselves to stop when a few of the ponies around them turned their heads with quite stern looks. This wasn't the time or the place for any significant amount of affection or joy. This meeting was clearly all business.

"We'll talk later," said Shining Armor and then swiftly left to tend to his job of keeping the security up and running.

Twilight walked over to Rarity and Applejack who were both standing by a table, holding a friendly conversation with each other.

"Hey, Twilight. What did you brother say?" asked Applejack.

"Nothing important that we need to focus on. Have you notice anything weird so far?" asked Twilight.

"You mean besides the fact that everypony, sorry, everyone here looks like they've been smelling something foul the whole time they've been here?"

"No, but I did overhear that two royals are missing from a prince over there," said Rarity.

"What? You don't suppose it's Misery's work?" asked Applejack.

"I don't think so. These two aren't even really expected to come as far as I'm aware of," said Rarity.

"What, why?" asked Twilight.

"I hear they announced that they would come only two weeks in advance to this night. All I know is that they are described as rather wild and unpredictable," said Rarity.

"That could mean that they are on Misery's side, trying to infiltrate," said Twilight.

"Ssh! Twilight, saying such things about anyone here is not very wise. Keep such suspicions to yourself. They would not allow anyone in here if they had reason to suspect them to be on Misery's side. But, perhaps, it would be safer if these were on Misery's side as far as I'm aware of," said Rarity.

"That is quite the astute opinion, Miss Rarity," said a gentle voice. A fairly large stallion had walked up behind Rarity who immediately turned around. She frowned when she saw who it was. Twilight had only heard about this pony from reputation and gossip from Rarity. It was Prince Blueblood. This unicorn was a distant nephew of the Princess, apparently. His coat was white as snow and his horn was quite well cared for. He was wearing a white tuxedo even whiter than his coat, and both complemented his golden wavy mane quite well.

"Hello, Prince Blueblood," said Rarity with a deadpan voice. She might as well have talked to air, at least that would have given a more caring tone in her voice.

"I see you still hold slight resentment towards me, but I hold no grudge," said Blueblood.

"It's not so much resentment as simply a reminder that life can be filled with disappointments," said Rarity. Suddenly, King Pero walked in between them, telling Prince Blueblood that he got 'burned'. All four of them looked at the griffin king as he basically danced through the party, without a care in the world, before they returned to their conversation unaffected by the sudden comment.

"Well, while I cannot say that I am a humble pony, I can say that how frank you were back then forced me to think about my life a bit. I have rarely done things I regret, but I do regret that I took your company that night for granted. For that, I offer you my sincere apology," said Prince Blueblood and bowed respectfully towards Rarity. She looked down on him for a short moment before rolling her eyes.

"I'm not buying it," said Rarity, deadpan. Blueblood immediately stopped bowing.

"Oh, come on! I said I'm sorry, I mean that!" said Blueblood a lot less formal.

"You do, do you?" asked Rarity. Blueblood nodded. "Then, to show me you are really sincere about this, could you perhaps tell me more about these two royals that are supposed to come along?"

"Certainly. They are both-"

"Oh, better idea! Eat an apple fritter my friend Applejack made," said Rarity. "Or as you would call it 'common carnival fare', was it not?" asked Rarity. Blueblood raised an eyebrow at that request.

"You're still cross about that?"

"I forgave him the same night he said that, Rarity," Applejack pointed out to her friend.

"I did not. You did a lot of less-than-dignified things in how you handled me that night. But worst of all, you insulted something my friend takes great pride in. I want you to eat one, and apologize to her," said Rarity, quite adamant in her voice and expression.

Blueblood looked around a bit unsure until he leaned closed to Rarity.

"Do I have to?"

To that, Rarity simply nodded.

"Fine, I'll eat one tomorrow morning. I would eat one now, but I doubt that you would have one ready for consumption right here and n-"

"Apple fritter?" asked Pinkie Pie, holding out one of Applejacks fritters towards Blueblood. It was still warm and freshly baked. Rarity gave a subtle smirk when she noticed how Blueblood winced at the smell slightly, despite the fact its aroma could make one's mouth water. The way he grimaced made them forget to ask were Pinkie Pie had gotten the apple fritter.

"Well? Go on," said Rarity. Blueblood looked at her, and he gulped nervously. He seemed to have also swallowed his pride. He just scoffed down on the apple fritter, just doing his best to eat it as quickly as he possibly could.

"I hope that tasted just dandy, fine Sir," said Applejack. Twilight had to keep herself from laughing. Both Rarity and Applejack seemed to be enjoying themselves a lot more than anyone else there. Blueblood gasped for air, hunched over.

"It was delicious, Ma'am," said Blueblood sickly.

"Thank you, Prince Blueblood. I appreciate the effort. We both do. You are forgiven. Now, perhaps you could tell us about these two royals," said Rarity.

"If, if you wish. Now, you most likely do not notice it, but this whole room is quite tense for these rulers, delegates and ambassadors. Anything can set off a turn of events that could lead to disaster. These two are apparently likely to cause such conflict. Unfortunately, I know nothing of them except for the fact that they should arrive any moment now," said Blueblood.

"I wonder who they are," said Pinkie Pie. From behind her, King Pero walked up.

"Oh, there you are, Miss Pie. Would you keep an old fool company this night? I could use a laugh or two," said King Pero and reached out his claw towards Pinkie Pie who accepted it and went along with it. She had that particular face that told Twilight that a party was on its way.

"Pinkie, no!" said Twilight and followed to stop them, but Blueblood stopped her with her hoof.

"Twilight Sparkle, it's alright," said Blueblood.

"How can you say that? Pinkie Pie might cause real trouble here," said Twilight to Blueblood.

"Don't worry, as long as she's with King Pero, no one here will dare to oppose anything she does."

"Why?"

"He might not look like it, but King Pero is one of the most dangerous ones here. His griffin kingdom has military might that dwarfs that of everyone else, even us. There are only two here that they would not dare to cross and he's one of them. None here will even dare to tell him to stop. He's so powerful that the rules of this meeting simply does not apply. I'm just relieved he's of such high moral and good spirit."

"Who's the other one?" asked Applejack.

"My aunt, of course," said Blueblood. He looked uncharacteristically worried. "But, the difference between the two, is that if anyone here would be forced to enter war because of politics, tradition, their own subjects, or just general insanity, Equestria would most likely not have the strength to fight back and win. Unlike King Pero who would completely annihilate entire regimes that threatened his land and subjects. He is ruthless when anything threatens the land he loves. Fortunately, he is not a bully. His very presence is a good reason I doubt outright war will start. They would not want to get on his bad side."

"Good thing he's a friend of Celestia's, then," said Applejack.

"Like you wouldn't believe," said Blueblood. Suddenly, there was a trumpet sounding somewhere in the room. "It appears that at least one of the regents have arrived," said Blueblood, looking over towards the entrance. A pony butler walked briskly through a path that the guests had created out of curtsey rather than willingness. Most of them looked at the servant with certain disdain.

The servant got to the middle of the road and cleared his throat. Twilight noticed that he was sweating too much. He looked terrified.

"Announcing, the arrival of the, um, esteemed Prince Scalerclaw of the Smaragdus clan with his escort. And the queen of the changeling hive in the badlands, Queen Chrysalis," said the butler and gestured towards the door where two large figures were standing.

Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Blueblood, every single one in the room except for Celestia and Pero just simply dropped their jaws as the two figures walked inside. Queen Chrysalis, a changeling, was much larger than her own subjects and much more intimidating. She still looked quite a lot like a larger, slimmer version of her little black insects, but more regal. Her body was black as coal, yet it was shimmering. Her very appearance just reminded Twilight of something that was decaying. Her mane was moving as she walked, but subtly too much, like it had a life on its own. Her crows could be an accessory, but it could very well have been part of her very body. Her pupils were just slits, glancing over everyone there with a terrifying green gaze. She, as well as the other walked up to the butler who was standing looking at Celestia. He seemed to fight every instinct in his body to simply flee.

"What's she doing here?" asked Applejack.

"Should we do something?" asked Rarity. Twilight looked towards the other side of the room where Shining Armor was glaring at the guest with contempt. It hadn't really been that long since this queen had crashed his wedding in the most horrible manner possible, after all. Shining Armor was the only one with bravery in his eyes, everypony else except for Twilight and her friends just looked at the two guests with extreme fear peeking out under their formal facade. Their eyes in particular, no matter their nature, displayed nothing short of terror.

"You are excused," said Chrysalis to the butler who could not have gotten out of there any quicker. Twilight looked at the other figure. It was a very thin figure, shrouded in a brown, oddly simple cloak. It was still slightly taller than Chrysalis. It was impossible to see anything under the cloak except that this creature walked atop two legs, which was odd enough. It was holding a large bag with a strap over its shoulder.

"Welcome, honored guests," said Celestia, more to everyone than just those two in front of her.

"It's nice to be back in Canterlot again," said Chrysalis. Her very voice seemed to almost slither like a snake, it made Twilight uncomfortable.

"Oh, sweet Celestia, not that one," said Blueblood, shivering.

"I did not get a response when I sent you a message, so I decided to come either way," said Chrysalis.

"I see. I hope it is for an important cause."

"I was essentially forced. The other hives' queens were not happy with my overzealous visit last time. They deem that peace is preferable than what I attempted. Bureaucratic fools, but who am I to question them all? I essentially came here to apologize," said Chrysalis.

"I am not about to turn down an apology. Even if it is you. I was not fully aware there were other hives of changelings. Still, they are correct. Peace is always the preferable alternative," said Celestia.

"How big of you," said Chrysalis, clearly insincere. Still, the very gesture would have to be enough, even if it was not meant with all of her heart, if she even had one.

"And how about you, Thinfang? Why do you deem to honor us with the Smaragdus presence?" asked Celestia.

"Thinfang? Wasn't his name Scalercla-?" asked Twilight but was interrupted by the front leg of King Pero in front of her. He was standing next to her, with a very serious look on his face unlike anything he had shown thus far.

The tall creature put down the bag on the floor and opened it as he started to talk.

"Our father deemed it necessary for the Prince to learn of the ways of your kinds when it comes to this," said the creature with a sharp voice.

"And the Prince did not object?" asked Celestia. She sounded quite calm.

"A bit, but he's not about to talk back to our father," said the creature. Twilight saw a yellow scaled claw stick out from under the robe as it gently hit the bag on the side. He also pulled back the hood of the robe. Twilight saw to her surprise that it was a yellow dragon with some really sharp features. He was standing up completely straight, and it was obvious he had a tail under that robe.

Suddenly, something popped out from the inside of the bag. It looked around and yawned and stretched before it leaped up on the head of the creature that had awakened it where it calmly settled. It looked around with curiosity. This little creature surprised Twilight even more. It was a little colt, no bigger than anypony his age. His coat was of a slightly dimmed white color and his mane was a fiery red. He looked really cheery.

"Hi, everyone!" yelled the little colt with a voice just as cheerful as his smile.

"Who the hell are you?" asked Chrysalis, looking up with a look of disbelief on her face.

"Big mistake," whispered King Pero next to Twilight.

In less than a second, the dragon beneath the colt shot out with his clenched fist and punched the changeling Queen right in her face without even changing his posture. She was literally blown across the room and hit a pillar. She was both hurt and disoriented, but managed to get up again. The dragon who had attacked did not do anything else, but the little colt told the queen, with a voice like he was talking down to a mischievous child:

"If you disrespect the Prince of the Smaragdus clan, you disrespect our father: King Smaragdus. We get that you're new to this whole thing, but I'll warn you just this once. If you talk like that again, our clan will go to war against your entire hive," said the colt.

"Get that queen some medical aid," said Celestia to one of her servants who quickly complied. They respectfully led the confused queen away from the dragon and colt. Not one of the royals and delegates even looked twice as the changeling was being led away to be cared for. They just stared at the pair with that same level of fear. Twilight realized they had not even cared about the changeling, their fears had been about that dragon and pony.

"What was that?" asked Twilight. Blueblood, still shivering, leaned over to her.

"That colt is the adopted son of King Smaragdus, the king of the dragons. It's not really a proper title, but it's the closest one we have that is accurate. His family is the largest and most organized, that just means it actually is organized, out of all the dragons in the world. You know how I said nopony here would dare cross Celestia and King Pero? That stands for this one most of all. Not even King Pero would dare to go against king Smaragdus, or this son of his: Prince Scalerclaw. I think the dragon under him is his older brother. A lesser prince, second in command of Scalerclaw."

"Wait, I'm confused, why would a dragon king name a pony colt his heir?" asked Twilight.

"Because dragons like ambition, and they express that with fighting and winning. It's simply so that this little colt has beaten the three other heirs in combat," said King Pero.

"They must have been baby dragons, then."

"No, that dragon Thinfang, he's the youngest dragon prince. That pony there is far more dangerous than he seems," said Pero, looking serious. "He is not afraid to declare war with anyone here, and no one could beat them if he did."

Party Panic

Just half an hour after the arrival of not one, but two parties that could ignite a war, Misery had gotten the news.

"Are you serious?" asked Misery to Random.

"Yes, Mrs. Misery. Scalerclaw and the changeling queen both arrived just recently."

"This is not good, not in the slightest," said Misery. For the first time she actually felt nervous. He could easily ruin her plans if he started the wrong war, if he said the wrong things. That prince was too unpredictable.

"We need a way to deal with him at once. Random, I need you for this."

"Me? Are you sure?"

"Yes. You need to get in there, and get them both to leave. That they are there now might already have done some irrevocable damage. Hurry, and they are not to be hurt unless it would benefit us, understand?"

"Yes, Mrs. Misery. But, what about this Chrysalis?" asked Random.

"She might actually be of use."

"There is a problem. She will be able to find Rerry simply by her presence."

"Then we have two choices. Getting rid of that queen or getting rid of your changeling." Random didn't like that particular word choice.

"Rerry is on our side but that queen is not. I will get rid of both these royals. I'll get on it as quickly as I possibly can. Oh, this is going to be so much fun," said Random with an excited smile. Beneath his calm facade, he was quite relieved Rerry would stay.

***

Twilight had almost forgotten that she was supposed to be on the lookout for anything related to Group Misery as she kept glancing over at the young colt talking to the dragon. She was sitting down at a table with her friends all gathered for the moment.

"What a strange pon-" Rainbow Dash was about to say when Blueblood basically shoved a piece of cake into her mouth.

"Ssh, quiet. They do not take that sort of talk lightly, and it's very possible the older one can hear you," said Blueblood. The little colt turned towards them suddenly and quickly trotted over, with his dragon brother in tow, like a parent being dragged by an enthusiastic child.

"He can't hear you, but I can," said the little colt as he stood up on his hind legs to reach the top of the table. Blueblood tried not to shake in his seat, Twilight, however, was much more relaxed.

"Hey, Prince Scalerclaw, it's very nice to meet you," said Twilight Sparkle.

"Hey, nice lady. It's nice to meet you too," said the colt. Twilight noticed how frizzy and uncombed his mane was. He was actually a bit dirty, they both were.

"Want some cake, Your Highness?" asked Pinkie Pie, holding out a plate with a piece of chocolate cake.

"Hey, thanks!" said the colt. He chomped down on the cake, and the plate, eating it with ease. Twilight winced at the sounds, it looked painful, yet he seemed unaffected.

"How are you...?" Twilight let her question trail off as she didn't want to be rudely pointing out some sort of flaw in the pony. Thinfang, realizing her confusion, pointed at his brother.

"Scalerclaw has been imbued with the magic of dragons by our father. It makes it possible for him to be more like a proper dragon," said Thinfang with a proud voice, looking at Twilight with his pointed thin snout. His eyes were bright red, yet he didn't look very intimidating. What he could do was the only reason Twilight worried about their presence.

"Oh, I see, how interesting. I have a dragon friend, and he's sort of been taught magic of ponies," said Twilight. It sounded interesting to her, so without thinking she started to talk about it.

"Yes, I thought I smelled a dragon on you," said Thinfang. Twilight raised her eyebrow at the comment, but didn't say anything.

"Mm! That was some good cake!" said Scalerclaw.

"I'm glad you like it," said Pinkie Pie.

"I rarely get cake at home in my cave. Mostly gemstones, and those are still way better," said Scalerclaw. Twilight was surprised, this little pony seemed harmless for all the nervous looks he was getting from those around him.

"Don't underestimate," said King Pero, who walked up to their table, clearly recognizing her expression. "Hello, Prince Scalerclaw. How is the clan?"

"It's okay, I guess. We've had it pretty boring for a while."

"I've noticed that you have not started any wars since you've arrived," said King Pero.

"Dad says that our clan should try to be nicer. I get why and all that, but it's boring. I mean, I want a good fight for once," said Scalerclaw. He reached out and simply took Twilight's cake from right under her spoon to eat it. Twilight decided not to stop him. Dragons were greedy by nature, and as he had apparently been raised by them, telling him 'no' seemed like a bad idea.

"Excuse me, but if I may ask, most dragons I've seen have matured fully when they are of your age, why are you still so...?"

"Young? Our father makes all of us go through very difficult exercises in order to quell our greed. A dragon that grows to full adulthood with time instead of greed as a catalyst can become much more powerful. With that said, we still take what we want, just not all the time," said Thinfang.

"Ooh, I want this!" said Scalerclaw, reaching out his hoof towards Pinkie Pie's dress as she offered him another piece of cake. He pulled out something very valuable from beneath it, her Element of Laughter.

"Prince Scalerclaw, that is not really just something you can tak-" Both Scalerclaw and Thinfang gave Twilight such a cold, deadly look that she instinctively feared for her life. She looked over to Princess Celestia in slight panic. The Princess was already watching, but she shook her head with an expression like she was in pain. At that moment Twilight realized to her horror that they would never get to see that Element ever again, that had been her impression in any case.

"Sorry, that's already mine," said another voice. Someone just grabbed the necklace from out of Scalerclaw's hoof. The entire party just halted with a single quiet sound of everyone holding their breath in unison. Spike was holding the Element in his claw like it was something worthless.

"That's mine, dragon. Give it back, or I'll start a war with your homeland," said Scalerclaw.

"Sorry, but this is already part of my hoard. It's been that for months now as well as the entire set. You can't just take it from me, dragon rules," said Spike. It sounded more like he was on a playground than on a grand political meeting. Scalerclaw glared at him for a moment. "Still, since you're a prince, I figured you'd want my gift to you instead. It's an ocean sapphire. A big one. Want it?" asked Spike and held out a big, round shimmering blue stone. Scalerclaw's eyes were drawn to it, and Twilight even noticed a bit of drool as he watched the beautiful gem.

"Okay, but no backsies!" said Scalerclaw and grabbed the gem, quite greedily looking at its smooth surface. At the acceptance of the gift the entire party resumed its rhythm. Disaster averted. Both Scalerclaw and Thinfang left the table to look for something else to take, no doubt. Twilight hugged Spike as he gave Pinkie Pie back her Element.

"Spike, that was fantastic. Why did you have a sapphire?"

"Oh, that was a gift to them from my vault here. When I heard there was another dragon my age in the castle, I wanted to get to know him. I didn't expect him to be a pony, though," said Spike. Twilight leaned in closer to him, lowering her voice so Scalerclaw wouldn't hear.

"I didn't know that was a dragon rule," said Twilight.

"Neither did I. What was everyone so worried about?" asked Spike a bit curious as he looked around the party.

***

Not too far away, Random were sitting at a table in his convincing disguise, eating a slice of a delicious cake. He had been nervous there for a moment. If that little dragon baby had done that differently, their plans could have all gone to waste. He knew that Scalerclaw too eagerly agreed with the dragon doctrine that war was a way for a clan to show their strength and ambition. If he would have gotten even the slightest chance to start a war, he would have. Random had the difficult assignment of making sure that didn't happen. His very presence was slowly but surely derailing their plans. He needed to get them right back on track. His first order was to get Scalerclaw and his brother escort to leave.

They are drawing away the attention from Celestia. We can't have that. Celestia needs to be seen as the villain, not them, thought Random to himself. He observed his surroundings. He needed to make a bet with them, but he was quite aware of the fact that the phrase 'I bet you' probably had some rather large alarm bells to them at this point, especially in here. He needed to be a bit subtle for once in his life. It would be hard to approach them unseen, especially since basically everyone was looking at the little prince.

"Oh, joy," he said dryly and took another bite of the cake, looking over at both Scalerclaw and the Bearers of Harmony. With so many guards patrolling the area it would be impossible for him to say anything that sounded suspicious to Scalerclaw. He needed a distraction to get rid of the guards, fortunately, Mrs. Misery had prepared such.

A single guard walked up to Random. "Sir, everything has been prepared per your instructions," said the single guard. Random had been lucky to win against that guard, gaining his complete allegiance, but only for a day at most.

"Very good. You know the next step. After that, go home and rest," said Random, not even looking at the guard. The guard went towards the exit. He would return in ten minutes, and head straight for Shining Armor.

***

"Captain," said the guard as he approached Shining Armor.

"Technically, I'm not a captain here anymore, but what is it?"

"This note arrived, it seems quite urgent," said the guard, holding out a piece of paper. Shining Armor took the folded note and opened it, reading it quickly. It was a short message on it. Shining Armor wasted no time and instead walked over to Celestia. He whispered the nature of the message into her ear.

"A bomb?" whispered Celestia.

"Yes, that's what it said," said Shining Armor.

"From whom? Did it say it was from Misery?"

"It just said 'The flaw with the secondary charge has been taken care of this time.'"

"So it is her. Find that bomb and take care of it, quietly. We can't allow a panic here. We also can't simply just end the party, maybe if Scalerclaw hadn't been here, but that's not the case."

"But, we don't have any qualified to disarm it, I hear Misery doesn't use the magic type."

"Your sister can do it, get her at once. Find the bomb whatever it takes," said Celestia.

"Of course, Your Highness," said Shining Armor and bowed to her.

***

Twilight saw her brother approach her with a bit of haste in his steps. He whispered everything she needed to know.

"I was afraid something like this would happen. But why does she want me to deal with it?"

"I don't know, just trust her."

"I do, but, what do we know?"

"Nothing. I've put half of the guards on the job of finding it. We're searching everywhere in this part of the castle. We're simply ignoring every other part of the castle, since they are basically empty," said Shining Armor. Twilight had noticed that a few guards had seemingly disappeared from the room.

"Girls, let's look for it around here."

"Where?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Everywhere. Rainbow, look in all things that are high up in here. Try to be subtle. Applejack, check the garden.  Fluttershy, fly up and check the floor above, we can't allow the ceiling to collapse on top of us. Myself, Rarity, Spike and Pinkie Pie will check everything in here. Go, go, go!" said Twilight. They instantly got to work.

"There isn't anything beneath this room, right?" asked Spike.

"No, nothing. Don't worry about that," said Twilight.

Pinkie Pie was meanwhile peeking under every table cloth she possibly could. She looked everywhere under anything. Tables, carpets, plates, cakes, guests. Fortunately, they still remembered her with King Pero.

"Spike, do you smell anything odd?" asked Rarity.

"No, nothing," said Spike.

"Spike, come on, let's check the nearby kitchen," said Twilight.

"Right, thanks for including me in this," said Spike.

"Oh, well, maybe I shouldn't let a child look for a-"

"No time! Let's go!" said Spike and dragged Twilight after him, much like Scalerclaw had pulled Thinfang along.

***

Random smirked as he drank a glass of fine wine. He could see most of the Bearers of Harmony either leaving or being distracted. There were still too many guards in the vicinity, but Random was already on top of that little problem. His controlled guard had suddenly returned, holding another note written by Misery. When the second note reached Celestia, her face almost made Random chuckle. The message had been quite simple. 'There are actually two bombs.'

Celestia summoned Shining Armor, who immediately had to tell even more of his guards to look for it. There were less than ten guards left in the end. They were too busy looking over the guests or checking for changelings. It was time. Random made his move. He put down the glass and adjusted his tuxedo slightly. He looked at the guards casting detection magic. It was pointless. Random had not used changeling powers to transform, he had simply bet another pony for his looks. Besides, even if he had used a changeling transformation, there was no way they could trust their powers with the Chrysalis so close.

Suddenly a band started playing on a stage, it was an admirable performance, and at just the right time as well. As the lights dimmed to give the girls an easier time to search undetected for the two bombs, it also allowed Random to approach the young prince undetected as everyone's eyes were drawn to the stage. It would have been difficult with too many guards, but here it was easy.

Random walked up to Thinfang and Scalerclaw. The little prince looked at Random a bit curious. He sniffed him.

"Who are you?" asked Scalerclaw, sounding suspicious.

"My name is Risk."

"What a dumb name," said Scalerclaw and went back to eating his cake.

"Are you having fun, Prince?" asked Random.

"Sort of. The food is good. Not so much fun, though," said Scalerclaw.

"Well, maybe I can help you with that?" asked Random nonchalantly. Thinfang eyed Random somewhat threateningly.

"Well, how?" asked Scalerclaw.

"Well, I usually bet things, exciting stuff. Perhaps you'd like to make one with me in a game," said Random.

"What game?" asked Scalerclaw, interested. It was most fortunate that this little brat was so young, so curious.

"Well, see this glass? If I put it here like so, and put this card on top, and in turn put this bit on top of the card. I'll make a bet with you. The game is that you must get the coin in the glass without touching the card or glass. If you win, I'll give you an emerald. If I win, you have to do me a favor," said Random.

"What favor?"

"Nothing overly difficult," said Random and smiled.

"Brother, don't do it, it can't be done," said Thinfang but Scalerclaw raised his hoof, silencing him at once.

"I'll agree to this bet," said Scalerclaw. Random smiled subtly, children were so impulsive, and this one in particular went headfirst into anything without thought.

"There is a time limit of thirty seconds. Begin," said Random.

Scalerclaw looked at the glass, card and coin, and then he took a deep breath. He gently exhaled, and spewed out a thin bright green flame, burning the card in an instant. Both the burnt card and the coin fell down into the glass. Random leaned back from the heat and surprise, he hadn't expected that.

"I win! I want an emerald!" said Scalerclaw cheerfully. Random begrudgingly searched his pockets and took out a relatively small green gem that the little colt immediately snatched from him and gobbled up with a sickening crunching sound that made Random wince.

"Tasty, well, that was fun. Got anything more?" asked the Prince. Random looked at the bit in the glass, and he got an idea.

"Well, yes, I do. Let's fill up the glass," said Random and poured some wine into it so it was on the verge of spilling over. He opened up a pouch and put a bunch of bits on the table.

"We each take turns to put as many bits as we want into the glass. The first one to spill the glass over looses. Same stakes as before."

"Okay," said Scalerclaw.

"I'll start, with four coins," said Random. He picked them up and very carefully put them down into the glass. He could see the wine ever so slightly rise.

"I'll just put in one," said Scaleclaw. Random noticed that he was a lot less careful when he did it. He simply did not have much grace, to be expected of a dragon, or a pony raised as one.

"Two."

"Three!"

"One."

"Hm... Two," said Scalerclaw. The wine was very near its breaking point. Random was a bit nervous. This child could actually beat him. He was shaking with excitement. This was more like it, he just loved it when the stakes were high. He could not be allowed to fail. He only had another gem on him. There was very little else he could bet. He was very carefully, very steadily holding the single coin above the surface of the wine. He could do it, he was sure of it.

Unfortunately, he was sweating, and a single drop landed right on the edge of the glass. The volume of the drop was not enough to cause a spill, but the surface tension it created between the inner and outer part of the glass certainly was. Random sighed in defeat as a line of the wine started to run down along the curved shape of the glass.

"You lost! Pay up!" said Scalerclaw.

Damn it, thought Random as he handed over his last gem. He needed to get rid of them somehow. If they even so much as caused a commotion and then decided to stay, they would not be able to learn about Cesom.

"Your Highness. This is exciting, how about another game?" asked Random.

"Oh, like what?" asked Scalerclaw.

"A flip of a coin. I bet you that if I win, you will both do me a favor."

"And if you lose?" asked Thinfang.

"Then, I will give you my entire life," said Random. This was important, but he needed to do it. He was nervous, but also overjoyed. He loved this, he loved these moments, where everything was hanging on a thread. He probably could have done this differently, but at this stage he simply didn't want to. He was a gambler by heart. He lived for this.

The two brothers smirked to each other, and Scalerclaw nodded his head in agreement.

"I call heads, because I'm so smart," said Scalerclaw and smiled.

"Very well. Everything or nothing," said Random and flipped the coin high up in the air. He caught it and put it on the table. He took a deep breath, and pulled back his hoof. Tails.

"Oh, that's stupid! I wanted to win! Where are you from? I'll declare war on your-"

"The favor you both shall do is to immediately return home and not start any other wars for a year," said Random. They both suddenly tensed up, and then promptly got off their chairs, and without a word, without a gesture, without even a look, they simply left. Random let out a sigh in relief. Suddenly something peeked up from under the table. It was that pony, Pinkie Pie. Random tensed up. Had she heard them?

"Hey, you haven't heard something ticking, have you?" asked Pinkie Pie. Random subtly sighed in relief.

"No, I haven't."

"Okie dokie," said the pony and returned to under the table cloth. Random took a look under, but she was gone.

"And ponies say I'm strange," said Random and rolled his eyes.

***

"Have you found anything?" asked Twilight over in the corner. Her friends and her brother was there with her. They just happened to have gotten together, so Twilight took the opportunity to get an update on the situation.

"Nothing."

"Nada."

"Nope."

"What they said."

"I found a quarter!" said Spike, quite joyful, holding up his find for all to see. They all glared at his joy, except Pinkie Pie that shared his enthusiasm.

"We have to keep looking. There could only be minutes left, seconds!" said Shining Armor. They separated again to continue their search.

***

Random couldn't help himself when he smirked over their panicky searching. Keep looking, look all over. You will never find anything, he thought to himself. Still, he did not have time to enjoy himself. His target had entered the room.

The changeling queen walked inside the room. She seemed to have gotten back with nothing but a few bruises. Random was surprised she had the courage to get back in the room, as she certainly couldn't have known that Scalerclaw had left. In fact, that she was brave enough to return to this town after that whole mess she had created not too long ago was either quite courageous or incredibly foolish. Still, she couldn't have picked a better time to get back into Canterlot peacefully. After all, Celestia or her subjects causing conflict with a guest would have been looked down upon.

So it was a shame he had to get her to leave. While aggravating Celestia would have helped in their plans, it was relieving that Rerry would get to stay with him. So how would he get rid of Chrysalis? What game could he play with her? He looked over at the stage. The performance was almost over. Once it was, it would be a difficult for him to get to the large changeling and not be noticed. As much as he wanted to enjoy himself, as much as he wanted the thrill of risk, he didn't have a lot of time.

He rolled his eyes and approached the the Queen.

"Hey, your Holey-ness. That was quite a nice feat back there, being punched in the face. Is your face swollen from it or are you just usually this pudgy?" asked Random. Chrysalis was taken aback by the sheer nerve. She hissed towards him, showing sharp fangs.

"You're probably a pushover not being able to take a hit like that. I bet you anything you couldn't hit me in the face even half as hard. How does that sound?" said Random. The performance was almost done, before long it would no longer be dark. He needed to get this done quickly.

"I'll take that bet," said Chrysalis and immediately tried to strike. Random just leaned towards her with his face up front. The black hoof didn't even get an inch close to him. It just stopped in front of him. Chrysalis looked at him in surprise.

"You lose. I want you to go back home to your hive at once," said Random.

Just like with the dragon and colt, Chrysalis just turned around and left without saying a word. And that was that. Random was finished for the day. Their plan was back on track. The next step of their plan was going to take place the day after tomorrow. He was about to leave through the same door the changeling had gone through when he noticed the Bearers of Harmony searching through the room in a slight panic. For all they knew, they could only have seconds to live. He wanted them to at least be able to enjoy the night at least little bit.

Random wrote down something on a piece of paper and waited for Twilight Sparkle to rush past him. At that time he flicked the piece of paper into her face and then quickly left the party.

***

Twilight Sparkle removed the piece of paper from her face. She looked for whoever had tossed it, but was unable to pick anyone out in the crowd and darkness. Twilight read the note in the light of her horn, and she was surprised.

"Can, can I trust this?" asked Twilight Sparkle. She hurried over to Princess Celestia.

"Princess, a third message. This one is supposedly from Random. I think he might be in here."

"We've already assumed he's had something to do with this and are looking for him. What does it say?"

"It says that there isn't actually any bombs." Celestia looked surprised at these news.

"Assuming that is the truth, why would they distract us with- Where is Prince Scalerclaw and Chrysalis?" asked Celestia as light returned to the room. Several of the guests seemed to have noticed their absence as well.

"Do you think they are hurt, dearest Sister?" asked Luna.

"I'm not sure. Get me information from the guards at the castle entrance."

***

The only information anyone had gotten from any of the two unexpected guests was that they were going home. They had said so much themselves whenever anyone had inquired about it.

"That's Random, alright," said Spike. They all except Celestia and Luna had gathered at a table to talk. There was a sense of lingering doubt in the air. A whole half hour had passed since Twilight  had gotten the note, yet nothing had been found by any guard. No bomb, no threat, no Random, nothing.

"But why would they want that young Prince Scalerclaw and... the other one, to leave?" asked Rarity.

"Hm I don't know. It seemed like a perfect opportunity for them to create some real unrest. So, if they needed them to leave, why? Would Group Misery's- I mean, would Mrs. Misery's plan on getting revenge on Princess Celestia not work?" said Twilight. In the back of her mind she thought about how this behavior could be connected to Cesom, but if there was one, she was unable to find it. Why wouldn't they want wars to start? Did Mrs. Misery just want to get to Celestia and Celestia alone? But then why would she have done so many terrible things to so many? It didn't make any sense. Twilight was fearing that there was something more to this.

"Princess Celestia, and everyone else here, seems rather relieved that Scalerclaw left. So there is that at least," said Shining Armor.

"True. Maybe we should just be happy that they are gone," said Fluttershy.

"Maybe. Still, I don't like it. There is just something here we're missing, I know it," said Twilight.

Rest

Describing the day after the party as uneventful was apt. Twilight was simply too tired to do anything significant. After all the stressful running around they had all partaken in the previous night, doing anything besides just lying down and resting felt like a horrible chore. Even Twilight was all out of energy. The only ones who could still keep going was of course Pinkie Pie.

Twilight and Spike were both with her parents in their new temporary quarters in the castle. They were still basically oblivious to them, so they had Fluttershy there that was ready to act as a way to communicate. She was sitting in the small kitchen making idle conversation with Velvet and Night Sky. It was about noon and the silence and calm of the day made them feel even more drowsy. On top of it all, today was quite warm and a gentle breeze flowed in through a large open window.

"Twilight, maybe we should go to the game, just to be safe?" asked Spike to her while she was lying on her couch.

"Spike, there are literally two hundred guards at the stadium. They've kept it guarded since that cursed concert with Instrumental. There is no way anyone there will be in any danger. Let Celestia just entertain her guests with their little pegasus game. I just want to be ready for the next night," said Twilight, turning over on her side with her back against him.

"Right. After all, they've decided to move up the meeting," said Spike.

"Wait, what?!" exclaimed Twilight and instantly sat up.

"Didn't you hear? A majority of the guests voted that the meeting would be held tomorrow. A bit earlier than usual, isn't it? Or am I confused about the calendar?"

"I didn't expect it to start tomorrow. Wait, why the sudden change in schedule? Was it because of Scalerclaw?"

"Nah, apparently a lot of them had thought about it together way ahead of time," said Spike and shrugged.

"Poor Princess Celestia, poor planners. They've spent so much time on this, and now they are forced to change everything so quickly. They must be really disappointed," said Fluttershy from out in the kitchen.

"Dear, it always sound so strange when you talk to Twilight like that," said Velvet. Before Fluttershy could respond, Night Sky folded his newspaper and put it on the table.

"By the way, what do you want for dinner, Twilight?" asked Night Sky with a slightly too loud voice into the house.

"Anything works for me," said Twilight to Fluttershy.

"Any dish with hay would be nice," said Fluttershy, seizing the opportunity. Twilight didn't mind. She had earned it by merely being there to speak with them.

"Oh, is my husband cooking dinner? I'm glad that this curse doesn't seem to be able to expand. It's nice that we can make new friends. Hm, maybe I should make something for me as well," said Velvet.

"Wait for that until Night Sky is done with his. Do you want to read the newspaper?" asked Fluttershy and reached for the folded newspaper. Velvet jumped in her seat when Fluttershy grabbed it.

"I don't like it when you just make things appear like that," said Velvet and took the newspaper from her.

"I don't like it when you just make things disappear like that," said Night Sky, looking at the spot the newspaper had last been seen at. Twilight couldn't help but to laugh.

"What's so funny?" asked Spike.

"Nothing, really. It's just they way they talk without each other around," said Twilight. She sighed and lied back down onto the couch, looking up at the ceiling.

"We've just got to stop their curses. I'll find this Solitary," said Twilight.

"Twilight, do you think that, well, that Group Misery will try to do something tomorrow?" asked Spike, a bit worried.

"You know what? I'm sure of it. Whatever one would do tomorrow would have a bigger impact than on any other day. Tomorrow just have to go well. I don't want to think what could happen if things went bad with all of those important leaders and figureheads there," said Twilight.

"Why are you resting then? We should be out there! Trying to get them! Not in here just being lazy," said Spike.

"Spike, all the guards are doing their best to find them. I just don't think I will be able to help much. I need to be well rested and ready for tomorrow. I have a bad feeling about it."

"Well, okay. I just hope that this isn't a mistake," said Spike, a bit worried. He suddenly belched out a green flame that materialized into an opened letter. "Oh, it's the answer from Zecora about the curse... Okay. Without the rhyming it basically says 'Sorry, can't help you. Also, I didn't know curses were real. That was a surprise.' Hm, bummer," said Spike, tossing the letter aside.

"I didn't know what I expected," said Twilight, unable to hide the slight disappointment in her voice.

***

Erase was walking through an old forest. Having to use the strange dark blade as a type of crutch. He was constantly just trying to let go of it, he just wanted it gone. He didn't want to hurt anyone else. In this moment he was absolutely terrified beneath a calm exterior. It had been exactly a week since his last moment of compulsive aggression. He could imagine an urge in his mind, almost emanating from his horrifying unnatural talon. Whoever he saw next would without a doubt suffer.

So many... so many had suffered. How many had it been? How many animals? He didn't know. He had lost count. He would never be able to forget those two ponies he had struck down. A close friend and a complete stranger. The death of both affected him tremendously. He was sweating. He prayed that whatever creature he would find would be small, insignificant.

"I curse you, terrible blade. If you would just allow me to take my own li-" He never finished that sentence as he heard a rustling sound in the bushes of the old forest.

"Please flee! I will hurt you otherwise! Don't get near me!" yelled Erase, moving away his gaze, hoping it would stop whatever might occur.

"It's alright, don't worry. You're not alone. We're here to help you," said a young voice. Erase was taken aback by the kindness in her voice. He had not heard such a sweet and genuine voice in quite some time, not after he had been branded as an abomination by many of the ponies surrounding the forest. The pony there had a long yellow mane and a gray coat of fur. She looked at him with a kind look. She was young, barely of age.

"Who are you?" asked Erase. Something was wrong, a train of thought could be felt in the back of his head. This was not how it had happened that day.

"I'm called Solitary. I'm here with somepony who really wants to help you, us," said the pony.

"I'm, my name is Hiltguard."

"That's such a cute name. But, we usually have codenames so we won't be too easy to find. That's what Misery says anyway," said Solitary. Then, without warning, Hiltguard was forced to attack the young mare before he was supposed to ask who Misery was. He struck, but there was no temporary effect, no curse, he merely cut her with his sharp, deadly blade. Blood sprayed everywhere, coloring the forest redder than any dusk or autumn would.

HIltguard grasped her body as she fell.

"Solitary, no! Please, I didn't mean it! Solitary! SOLITARY!"

***

"Don't leave me!" exclaimed Erase with a gasp as he woke up from his nightmare. He was still in the dungeon in Canterlot Castle. The lack of light shining in from the small windows was enough to know it was night.

In the cell on the other side Instrumental's interest was peaked. She mumbled a question towards him. She had still not fallen asleep and was wide awake.

"It was nothing, a nightmare. It was just about the first time I met Solitary," said Erase.

Instrumental just mumbled something to him from her cell.

"I don't love her. She is merely my best friend," said Erase. He lied down on his bed. "Get to sleep. Tomorrow will be a challenging day," said Erase, closing his eyes.

***

Celestia was very tired, despite the fact that she had the endurance to stay up for days at a time. She desperately wanted to go to sleep, but she still had an entire stack of papers to write. Twenty written pages to the archives, forty to different governments, another five to the ponies helping with this year's budget.

She sighed. Today's game at the stadium had been a bit of a failure. It turned out that one of the pegasi in the game had been using performance enhancing chemicals. Of course, this had been discovered mere moments after Celestia had made a bet, for the sake of entertaining King Pero, on that pegasus' team. Some of the more aggressive guests had accused Celestia of cheating for the sake of winning money, ignoring the fact that the sum involved was quite small compared to any riches she had stored in her personal vault and that it had been King Pero who approached her about betting. Before she tried to explain this rumor had spun out of control, instantly worsening how some of her guests saw her.

On top of it all, this had apparently been a mean little prank on her by Group Misery. The pegasus had been approached by somepony, who it was clear from the description that it had been Random, and he had lost a bet to cheat in any way possible. King Pero later admitted that another pony had approached him and suggested the bet, just for the fun of it.

To Celestia's shock, this pony's description matched that of Mrs. Misery. She had been right there, in the booth with them. By the way Celestia had been seated, she must have literally been less than meter away, right behind her. It had given a clear message. That she could have snuffed out her life there and then. This aggravated Celestia to no end. She was not afraid of that mare, however. She would not give her the satisfaction.

So, what about the guards that were tasked to guard the stadium and look for ponies matching, amongst others, her description? A small entrance in a more secluded back alley, where only two guards had been present, they had both been found with some sort of precise wound between their eyes. It had been clear they had died instantly. It was just like those ponies that had been murdered in that bank. Celestia had heard of that murder and had assumed it was Misery even before she had gotten the note warning of Instrumental, but even if there would have been any doubt, this would have removed that as well.

Princess Celestia wondered about what curse could have made such wounds. Perhaps it had been the power of this rumored other pony. This 'Y'. It didn't matter. Whatever threat was in store, she would handle it. She always had.

Still, she was tired. So very, very tired. She was unsure if it had merely been this meeting she had spent so long to prepare that was causing her stress, or if it was in fact Mrs. Misery. Whatever the cause, it made her do something she had never done in roughly a century. It made her fall asleep on top of her desk, with work still unfinished.

***

Surprisingly close to where Celestia was soundly asleep, Random was lying down in a cozy, warm bed. Next to him, there was a creature with a cold body, embracing him lovingly.

"My queen?" asked Rerry.

"Yes?" asked Random. He kept himself from groaning as he heard that particular title.

"Do you think that we will survive, or succeed, tomorrow?"

"If everything goes according to plan, then hopefully. So much is riding on this, after all. Still, that's what makes it so exciting to me. Tomorrow, all of Misery's plans will bear fruit, or we will see if she is simply just even more lucky than I am. Maybe she both needs to be smart and lucky for this to work. This will be the only way for us to learn everything we need about Cesom," said Random. He sighed, giving Rerry an impression of melancholy. She didn't need to be smart to know what was troubling him.

"I think you are quite noble to be giving up your power, my queen. I know you enjoy it," said Rerry.

"I think I could keep it if I really wanted to, but perhaps I've overused it. I think it's time that I just stop. Maybe I should stop risking everything and start thinking about settling down. Maybe on a warm, nice farm," said Random.

"That is a nice dream. Is... is there anypony in that dream?"

"Like you have to ask," said Random and kissed her on her forehead. It was cold, slimy, even. Random didn't care.

"My quee... Random, why do you love me?" Rerry asked, looking into his eyes.

"Despite the fact that we have a lot in common? Despite that we have the same tastes? Despite the fact that you never lie to me, despite it being in your nature? I think it's because you are the only one I know that truly understands me."

"What do you mean?" Random held her head carefully in a hug, stroking her gently.

"You are the only one I know who truly knows the same joy that I do. The joy of risking everything for anything. You love the thrill of transforming and just being there in place of someone else, knowing that you could be found out any moment."

"I like that, but not that I have to lie to do it."

"We all do things we are not proud of. Especially us," said Random. The room fell silent for a few seconds.

"I'm so lucky to have found you, Random," said Rerry.

"I have always been lucky, but to be honest, finding a kindred spirit in this world as a gambler was a stroke of luck not even I could have expected," said Random, holding her even closer.

"Random, I won't be mad if you don't want to tell me, but, what is your real name?" asked Rerry.

"I'm so surprised you haven't asked before. You've known me for two years," said Random.

"I've been too afraid, with Misery always there. That's why I didn't want to join Group Misery until not so long ago."

"It's Chance. My real name is Chance."

"I like your name, I hate your horns, though," said Rerry. Random laughed.

"I'll remove them if you want me to," said Random.

"Will you?" Random just closed his eyes. The horns faded away, and he spit out a little token. He just crushed it in his hooves, it faded away as grains like fine sand.

"Better?"

"Much, Chance," said Rerry. She looked up at him. "You're more normal without those. I like that. Hey, Chance, if you want to, I could probably put a bit of effort into it, and transform into a beautiful mare not based on anypony," said Rerry.

"Don't, don't ever do that," said Chance.

"Why not?"

"Because I love you for who you are, not for what you could look like. Rerry, you will never have to lie to me. I promise you that," said Chance. Rerry looked up at his face from his warm embrace. She felt comfortable there, safe and cared for. That was certainly something she never got to experience back at her old hive.

"Chance, I'm hungry," said Rerry, trying her best to sound and look seductive as a pony would, she still hadn't completely grasped it. Chance chuckled a bit to himself.

"If this relationship grows deeper, and I do so pray it will, I certainly hope that won't have to be our little euphemism for everything," said Chance and kissed her, making her both buzz and laugh. He loved her just as much as she loved him. Chance was happy he could still love, despite the ponies that had been in some way hurt by his abilities. He hoped they could one day forgive him, as he was merely trying to ensure the success of them defeating the Cycle of Destruction. Still, he could love. It was more than could be said for Misery. Out of all the ponies in their group, Chance was the only one who could find it in his heart to doubt Misery, despite all the help and support she had readily given them. It was merely in his nature to second guess bluffs. He wondered if Misery was planning something she wasn't telling them. He doubted that it mattered. Cesom was the only way for Chance's friends to get normal lives and happiness. He had already found his, he was hugging it right in that moment. It wouldn't be fair if they couldn't get the same chance at happiness.

***

While their reasons might have been different, and their knowledge of what would happen the following day was vague for most, many of those still awake at that late hour, all over Canterlot, from houses, to hotels, to castles, essentially said the same thing at the same time.

"Tomorrow is going to be a big day."

Breaking Point

Twilight and her friends were summoned to Celestia's personal quarters roughly an hour before the meeting would take place. It was in the middle of the afternoon. The sun would set in about three hours. They passed Luna as they walked through the corridors.

"You're up early, Princess," said Applejack. The Princess' otherwise flowing mane seemed oddly still today.

"Yes, you see, Applejack, with the meeting being pushed forward, there was simply no time to have it after the sunset. I admit that I feel slightly tired, but I will endure for the sake of my sister. Have you seen her today? She seems to be exhausted. I'm worried about her," said Luna.

"I'm sure it isn't that bad," said Fluttershy.

***

To Fluttershy's credit, it wasn't that bad. It was worse. At least Luna's mane was still flowing. Celestia's mane was just sort of hanging still and straight. It did not look very fitting. As horrible it felt to Twilight to think it, Celestia didn't look regal. Her mane, other than being still for the first time in a long while, was also uncombed and had faded in color slightly. Her eyes looked so tired, but at least they were not bloodshot. He coat didn't look quite as radiant as it usually did. She wasn't wearing her tiara or golden jewelry. She looked oddly like a normal pony. Remove either the wings or the horn and she could have passed for one of her slightly larger subjects. That just felt incredibly wrong to Twilight.

"Princess, are you alright?" asked Twilight worryingly.

"Yes, Twilight, I'm fine. I have some work to do before this meeting, so I'm a bit stressed," said Celestia.

"Then, we better get this done so you can get back to work. I know how that feels," said Rarity. Celestia nodded.

"Yes. I just wanted to tell you that you should prepare for the meeting and have the Elements ready. There, I think that would be it," said Celestia. They all gave her an odd look. That was oddly pointless. They would have done that anyway.

"Princess, is there something else you wanted to say?" asked Twilight to her mentor.

"N-no. No, nothing," said Celestia. "Thank you for coming, you are dismissed. Enjoy the parts of the meeting you will be allowed to attend," said Celestia.

They hesitated slightly but eventually turned around and walked back towards the door.

"Twilight?" asked Celestia as she was about to leave. Twilight turned around.

"Yes, Princess?" Celestia looked at her, with a somewhat defeated look.

"Please help me with this paperwork," pleaded Celestia. She sounded far too desperate. Twilight didn't like it. Celestia was just supposed to always be regal, composed, proud.

"Of course I will," said Twilight. She turned towards her friends. "Go and get the things ready for today. I'll stay here," said Twilight. They did as she said and left them alone.

Twilight went over to the desk, quickly looking over all the papers. While some of this was unfamiliar and difficult, she still managed to quickly grasp the basic idea of what she was required to do. As she was about to start, she felt Celestia hug her from behind, startling her at first.

"I'm so happy you're here, Twilight Sparkle. Sometimes, I don't know what I would do without you. You've really grown a lot these last years, haven't you?"

"Princess?"

"You've become so much more independent and strong. You've found strength in both yourself and others. You've learned so much. I'm proud of you. I'm rarely truly afraid, and even when I am, I hide it. It hasn't been so hard to keep my fear hidden in a long time as when I saw you in a coma because of Misery. I feared that I had lost you far too early."

"It's alright, Princess."

"I know but I'm still just so frustrated that Misery's tried to make my life, well, miserable. To think she's almost succeeded twice is..." She didn't finish her sentence.

"Well, Princess. You're tired. Get another hour of sleep and I'll deal with this paperwork," said Twilight. She was worried that her mentor seemed to be so sleep deprived, but she knew she would get out of this low soon enough. None was stronger and more composed than her. She would be better than ever after a bit of sleep. She let go of Twilight and did as she said. Walking over to her large bed and falling asleep very quickly. Twilight had never seen her like that, she slept like a foal.

Twilight would have never expected herself to actually be the responsible one out of them both. She wasn't sure she liked having to be more stable than her mentor. She liked having the role of the sensible one, but not when it meant having to take that role from none other than her teacher.

"Ha ha. All of my friends have had a bit of a crazy moment, I suppose you would have one sooner or later," said Twilight, peeking back at Celestia resting silently. She had never looked more vulnerable, but at the same time never as endearing. But did that moment have to come today of all days? she thought and looked up worryingly at a clock. Not too long until the meeting. Twilight focused on her work at hand. Chasing a dangerous group was difficult, but this, this she could do.

***

Twilight had managed to finish the work just ten minutes before she needed to get ready. She had woken up Celestia around fifteen minutes before the meeting. While they both would need to stress in order to get ready, they still had enough time. The slight bit of rest had even managed to return some luster to the tired Princess. Her mane was flowing again, albeit not as lively as usual. Twilight was worried about her when she left the room, but she was confident in her mentor's abilities. After all, it was just about getting ready for a party.

Once Twilight returned to her own living quarters Rarity and Pinkie Pie wasted absolutely no time in getting her ready. The unicorn's grace and the pony's knack for parties complemented each other very well in order for Twilight to get ready in every necessary regard.

In record time, she found herself to be ready for the meeting. It would start as a bit festive, and then move on to something much more like a conference. It was important that there was at least some sense of camaraderie before the negotiations about the world's future would start.

***

"I just hope nothing goes wrong. I just hope Misery will decide to do whatever she's planning on some other day. That would be sweet," said Rainbow Dash.

Twilight agreed as they were walking through the corridors, wearing their fancy dresses. When comparing the party a few days ago to this day, that whole night seemed like it had merely been a warmup for this. They would be ready for everything. With Random on their side, Group Misery was unpredictable. He could have won the allegiance of anyone, he could have retrieved any information. At least his name fitted him. They joined several other ponies who were moving towards the room where the meeting would be held. It was to be held in the exact same place the party had been in. At least they knew the area well after running around so much in it.

"What's the schedule for tonight?" asked Spike. He was wearing a green pendant and an adorable little cape in order to appear more impressive himself. It actually just managed to look like he was wearing a security blanket.

"Well," said Twilight, thinking through what she had read the day before. "The first half hour is just waiting and talking before the food will be served. Then after roughly one and a half hour there will be a slight break. Everyone who is not a royal or delegate will leave the room to allow the royals to speak to each other while being seated at the dinner table."

"So, the guards that they have with them will also leave?" asked Rarity.

"Yes. Personally I think that might not be such a good thing. They feel safer with their personal guards around. Still, this meeting and what is discussed is usually kept confidential, just in case. So we are not allowed in there," said Twilight.

"Imagine what mysteries they must speak of, what secrets they must share!" said Rarity with a wishful gaze.

"What budgets they must decide!" said Rainbow Dash in a friendly mocking imitation. Rarity was less than amused at first, but she eventually chuckled.

"I have to admit, that was a good one," said Rarity and gave her friend a smile.

They reached the entrance to the room and walked inside. It certainly had a less festive atmosphere than the last time they had been there. Not just because of the lack of tables, food and drinks, but also because of the somber tone of all those that had already arrived. They were not enjoying themselves and it was clear why. They didn't allow themselves to. The only exception to this was King Pero who quickly approached Pinkie Pie as she entered.

"Pinkie Pie, my friend. You look lovely. Perhaps we could give some life to this dull party. What do you say?" asked King Pero. At first, Pinkie Pie got a smile on her face, but her friends gave her a stern look. She bowed her head in defeat.

"I'm sorry, Your Highness, but I have my duties to keep my mind on," said Pinkie Pie. King Pero looked disappointed, but understanding.

"It's alright. Hopefully the night will still be enjoyable. I certainly hope it will be so for you and your friends," said King Pero and then left.

As he walked away, Spike pulled at Pinkie's mane.

"I think he likes you," whispered Spike.

"Of course he likes me, silly, otherwise we wouldn't be friends."

"I mean, like, like like you, like, do you get what I, like, mean?" said Spike.

"If you ever use so many 'likes' in a sentence again, I will ground you for a week," said Twilight annoyed.

"Don't be silly, silly, silliness like that is just silly. He's just a new friend, silly."

"Stop it," said Twilight with a stern voice.

Spike looked around the entire room, he seemed a bit surprised.

"There's no music or band playing tonight. So, no entertainment?" asked Spike.

"Not really. Somepony will sing the hosting kingdom's national anthem as is tradition, but that's about it," said Twilight.

"Cool. Who?"

"I hear it's a filly."

"Why not a professional singer?"

"It's probably good to have a filly there. It might make them remember that their choices will affect future generations," said Twilight.

"Oh yeah... Wow, that's deep," said Spike.

"Not really," said Rainbow Dash.

Twilight looked around the room, taking note of everyone who had arrived. This event had essentially started, if a bit slow, merely fifteen seconds ago. Something was wrong.

"Where is Princess Celestia?" asked Twilight. They all did a quick scan in the room, but only Luna could be found, and when they asked her she didn't know either.

"Hm, should I go check?" asked Spike.

"I think that would be for the best," said Twilight.

"Right, on my way," said Spike and quickly left the room.

"There is no reason to act in haste, she only technically have to appear before the guests are served. I would not be surprised if she is merely taking the opportunity to sleep in," said Luna. She looked around the guests who seemed to have noticed the Princess' absence. "Still, this does not reflect well on our hospitality," said Luna.

***

Once Spike had returned, he could confirm that Celestia was in fact still resting. Twilight's fears were initially put at rest. They had been pretty silly fears. Even in a tired state, Celestia was still basically untouchable, surely. On top of it all she had guards to keep her safe.

That fear quickly became something else that they all shared, including Luna. The food had been served, and hundreds of expressions, unquestionably frowns, seemed to often be drawn towards the one empty seat. Twilight glanced over towards the clock. She was fifteen minutes late. Those had been some agonizing minutes. Fortunately they reached an end as Princess Celestia rushed in through the entrance. Twilight had seen her put on her tiara just before she had entered. He mane was flowing better, but she still looked far from radiant.

"My honored guests, I apologize for being late. I hope you have enjoyed yourself in my absence," said Celestia.

"Princess Celestia, I believe I speak for everyone when I say that we do not take kindly to such behavior," said a pony, supposedly from a distant land. "It does not reflect well upon you, or Equestria," said the pony with a slightly condescending tone. Twilight could see several other guests nodding their heads in agreement.

"Yes, I am aware of that, but I have been preoccupied by important matters," said Celestia.

"And, pray tell, what would that be? What could be so important that you are unable to fulfill your duties to the world?" asked the pony.

"What I do in my own kingdom is unfortunately none of your concern unless it involves the home you represent," said Celestia. Twilight noticed some whispers in the room.

"But it has clearly been allowed to negatively affect this meeting, has it not? Does that not mean that it is indeed of our concern?"

"It is-"

"Perhaps the rumors are true? That this villainous band of criminals, this 'Group Misery' has indeed pushed you to your limits."

"That is simply not-"

"I myself question your ability to rule a kingdom when a team of merely seven ponies give you so much trouble," said the pony. Twilight did not enjoy the increase in whispers.

"They have little-"

"Perhaps the-"

"Will you at least be a gentlecolt and let the lady talk?" exclaimed Spike suddenly to the pony. Twilight suddenly tensed up. Such an outburst was far too dangerous in this room. The pony looked over at Spike, raising his eyebrow. He might as well have said 'How dare you?'

"And, who are you?" asked the pony.

"My name is Spike. I'm the dragon who saved the Crystal Empire," said Spike, managing to sound confident due to his best effort. He might no longer have believed that claim himself, but it was certainly an impressive thing to say. Twilight noticed a few familiar crystal ponies waving to Spike with reverence.

"Ah, yes, I believe I've heard of you. Very well, Princess, what was it that you were going to say?" asked the pony. It was less of a question and more of a way to humor the child.

Celestia sighed in what must have been relief. She looked over at Spike with a grateful look. While his outburst was inappropriate, and could have caused a lot of trouble, at least he had yet again proven his loyalty.

"While it would be a lie to say that I have not been concerned with this group of criminals, saying that they are the reason for me being tired from working hard is hardly accurate. They are merely the straw that broke the camel's back."

"I take slight offense to that, but please do go on," said a camel among the guests, apologetically raising his hoof to point it out.

"I have worked very hard to make sure that this meeting could have gone as well as it possibly could have, with or without interference from anyone. I have merely done my best to ensure that your stay would be effective and comfortable. It is the struggle to entertain that tears on me, nothing else. If I have not been able to live up to your standards, then I sincerely apologize. But, let us not forget that these meetings are always very charged, no matter who is designated to host them. I have seen others be better hosts, and I have seen some be worse. I just implore you to let whatever hostility you have with me, or indeed among you, be put aside just for the moment so that we today can focus on what is most important to us," said Celestia.

"Our subjects and their happiness," said King Pero. Celestia gave him a subtle nod with a kind smile.

There was a silence for a short moment.

"I hope we can all come to an agreeable decision," said Celestia. "But for now, let us simply dine in peace."

***

At the same time, in the dungeon, Erase was counting the seconds as they passed. It wasn't long until they would start. Today would decide a lot of things, so much was certain.

***

Eventually, the meals had been eaten, the drinks had been enjoyed and the part of the evening dedicated to be a good host had reached an end. Twilight and her friends were essentially forced to leave the room, along with plenty of other guards. Celestia observed them leave. She was feeling somewhat tense. Out of all the days and events that these meetings involved, this one was always the one guaranteed to create the most unrest.

She could see her pupil toss a worried look over her shoulder before the doors closed. Celestia took a deep breath.

"And to officially mark the beginning of our meeting, a filly born in Equestria is here to sing our anthem," said an announcer. Everyone's eyes were drawn towards the stage. The announcer gestured towards the side of the stage, but nopony came out from there. The announcer looked confused. "Please give me a moment," said the the announcer and walked over to the side he had gestured towards. Celestia could hear him whisper. The acoustics of the room and the silence of the guests made it relatively easy to hear what was being said. "It's alright, little Miss. There's nothing to be afraid of. Do you want me to stay next to you when you sing?" asked the announcer with a caring, almost fatherly voice.

"Okay," said a young voice. The announcer walked back out on stage with a little filly, with a blue coat and white mane. She still hadn't gotten her cutie mark. He led the filly up to the front of the stage. Everyone was looking at her, clearly making her feel uneasy. She looked up at the friendly announcer.

"Go on, dear," said the announcer. The filly took a slow step forward. She was blushing.

"H- Hello. My, my name is Dot, and I'm here to sing our anthem," said little Dot, scraping her hooves at the wooden stage floor in hesitation.

***

"It's time," said Erase. Instrumental sighed in relief. Erase got out of his bed. He held the sword above him. None other than Mrs. Misery had taught him how to do this, as she had for all of those who could use their powers in an extreme way. Mood, Solitary, Instrumental, maybe even Y.

"Unleash the beast!" roared Erase, and then he brought down the sword and stabbed himself right in his heart. Usually, his blade couldn't even touch him, but her certainly felt it now. The pain he felt was nothing short of horrifying, his mind was struggling to even understand it as it enveloped him. Still, compared to what he had felt the day he had gotten this curse, everything else just seemed numb in comparison. He pulled out his sword, and from the wound something was clawing its way out, a dark mist, in the same color as his talon. It searched its way up his body, up to his claw, and then it settled. Within seconds his entire body was enveloped, he could not see through the cold fog. Then he felt like he was struck by lightning as new nerves were formed and connected to his own. The darkness took on a solid form, and he was able to perceive the world again. It was already over, and his body was stronger than it had ever been. His heart had healed within seconds. Not even a drop of blood had touched the floor.

Covered in skin more resembling a black and indigo armor, it's very texture like that of razors, he walked up to the bars keeping him prisoner. His face felt thicker and longer and he had no mane or tail. It was like he was wearing a mask on his long face, like it was a part of him, with a second set of big fangs in front of his normal teeth. His eyes were like that of a reptile. Any sane pony would have taken one look at him, and instantly labeled him as an evil. Not too far from the truth. Still, he had no plans on killing anyone as long as they kept out of his way.

"Time to get out of this place," said Erase. He focused on the second talon now in place of his front hoof. A mist extended from it, and he grasped that. He was holding two dark blades. He took one look on the bars and then cut them with all of his strength. They might as well have been made of air as he cleanly removed them from their place. They fell to the floor with a clang.

He continued out of his cell and up to Instrumental's. With a quick cut she was free, and then with another cut she could finally speak again.

"Thank you, Erase. You have no idea how much this thing has bugged me," said Instrumental and tossed the broken equipment on the ground. They moved towards the entrance.

"I wonder if Celestia would rather start a war than telling us about Cesom," said Erase.

"We're about to find out," said Instrumental.

Erase opened the door to the hallway. Immediately two tired guards turned around, both had wings, and seemed ready to use them as blades. One of them looked upon Erase with such horror on his face that Erase was sure he would just turn around and flee.

"Alarm! The prisoners have escaped!" yelled the other guard, clearly more composed. Withing seconds, they were surrounded.

"Take care of the guards, Instrumental," said Erase. He closed his eyes and covered his ears.

"Alright!" said Instrumental. She pounced towards the group of guards, sliding on the stone floor until she was in the middle. She spun around, and stopped in a dancing pose. "Feel the grove!" she exclaimed. From somewhere indeterminable, music that could only be described as groovy could be heard. Instrumental just did a few steps to the beat of the music, and every single guard immediately dropped whatever weapon they had as they started to dance, following her steps exactly. Even when she was done and the music faded, they couldn't stop dancing.

"What have you done to us?!" yelled one of the guards.

"I used my curse's extreme setting! You fellows won't be able to stop dancing for six hours straight! I'm sorry, but try to enjoy it!" said Instrumental and winked towards them. She carefully nudged Erase.

"I'm done, Erase. Let's keep going," said Instrumental.

"Nicely done," said Erase.

"I'll keep doing it until we've reached our goal. That is the one perk to having a curse that can be charged infinitely!" said Instrumental as they ran away from the dancing guards.

"You seem somewhat excited," said Erase.

"Of course! Tonight's the night our lives might get normal again! And I've been in that cell for days! It's time to party!" said Instrumental.

Another group of guards blocked their paths, holding out spears and bows, ready to be used.

"Again! Let's dance, boys!"

***

Twilight and her friends did like most others there: they waited outside of the room for the meeting to end. Something that Twilight found to be amusing and possibly even ironic was that they all, everyone that were there to protect their leaders and royalty, got along swimmingly. They were all so much more lenient without anyone of power around.

Twilight had easily struck up conversation with a zebra and griffin, both scholars. Rainbow Dash was bragging to at least five different guards about her accomplishments, and then it was their turn to impress her. Fluttershy was petting an otherwise vicious guard dog. Applejack was serving up some of her refreshments to everyone. Rarity was admiring the traditional yet stunning vests of a griffin captain. Pinkie Pie was just being Pinkie Pie, putting a smile on everyone's faces. Spike and Shining Armor were off to the side and talked to each other. The way they all tried to enjoy the moment was their way to ignore the implications of whatever could happen.

Then they all heard something unsettling from inside the room. It was loud voices.

"I can't believe they are fighting," said a griffin guard.

"I'm surprised they've started so early," said a pony.

"Should we do something?" asked Twilight.

"We are not allowed. We can only disturb them if there is physical violence," said Shining Armor.

Like on cue, something big struck the door from within. Twilight used her magic to open the large door. What they saw inside was nothing short of shocking.

Everyone in there. Every single one was yelling at each other with angry voices and hateful looks. Celestia hadn't lost her cool, but her eyes were piercing. Luna was shouting so loudly that it hurt their ears. A few griffins were fighting each other physically. In the corner, a little filly was crying at all the violence and yelling, weakly telling them to stop.

"Spike, go get that filly out of here," said Twilight. Spike immediately did as she told him. Twilight turned towards all of the fighting individuals and then turned back to all of the guards who were just staring in shock at all the aggression. "Well, what are you waiting for?! Hold back your respective leaders!" said Twilight.

Within minutes, they barely managed to keep their respective leaders and mentors back from clawing each others' eyes out. They still yelled, despite their subjects' best efforts.

"Celestia, sometimes I just despise the way you deal with your problems! Are you never going to tackle it head on?!" yelled King Pero.

"You are such a barbarian, Pero!" yelled Celestia. King Pero slammed his fist on the table.

"That's it! Celestia, I don't care what power you have over the sun! I declare w-"

"STOP IT!" shouted a voice that just didn't belong there. Twilight had heard that voice many times before, but she didn't expect to hear it here, now. It was Cadance's voice, but it didn't come from Shining Armor's shield. Twilight turned around. Right behind her, Princess Cadance was standing.

Why Oh Y

Her pink and purple coat was for once more radiant than that of Celestia's, it would have been even if it didn't have the glimmer of a crystal. She was skinny, beautiful. She was smaller than Luna, but her very presence made Twilight feel safe. She didn't have time to hug her surprised husband.

"Cadance, what are you doing here?" asked Twilight. "And, and why are you crystal like?"

"I represent the Crystal Empire, I just used a spell to make me look the part for the moment," mentioned Cadance. "The needs of the many outweighs the needs of the few. I had to temporarily leave the Crystal Empire to come here. I figured that your need was greater than that of my ponies. I suppose that I was right," said Cadance. She looked upon all of them. "What are you doing? This is not the gracefulness I expect from you. I expect you to talk about your differences, but not for you to actually fight, not use such hate," said Cadance.

"Why did you suddenly start to fight?" asked Shining Armor. They all still exchanged some murdering looks, but Twilight noticed some sense of remorse.

"It got out of hand a bit too quickly, I suppose," said King Pero reluctantly, leaning back in his chair with a sigh.

"It didn't start out well to begin with, there was some tension," said a pony at the table.

"It grew, and then it just sort of reached a breaking point when my glass broke when I was drinking water. Everything among us just exploded," said King Pero, looking at his glass.

"You're fighting because of a broken glass?" said Twilight.

"It's more than that," said the griffin king.

"No, it's not. I understand that you are all very stressed, afraid, but no matter your differences, you are all more alike than you would like to admit. We are all merely too proud for our own good," said Cadance.

"Some of us are more proud than others," said the same pony who had criticized Celestia, glancing over at Celestia and Pero.

"And yet I all heard is that you have no pride," said Celestia with a biting remark. A fight broke out again.

"Cease this at once!" yelled Cadance. Their voices died down again. Twilight looked at her old foalsitter with nothing but awe. To think that she had become something so much like a proper leader, a proper princess, to put all of these great leaders in their places without even so much as a moment of fear. Wow, I have the best role models, Twilight thought, concealing her glee. Cadance didn't even need to use her spells to incite caring and love. She only needed her words.

***

Mrs. Misery was watching their drama from not too far away. That new alicorn infuriated her, not by her interference but just by her guts to try to hinder her plans. It didn't matter, Dot and Y had both done exactly what they had needed to do. It had been perfect. She could see the anger whenever someone looked over at Celestia. The next and final move was Y's. Everything had come down to this moment. Equestria's own laws would betray Celestia there and now. They would know everything. Years of planning, dozens upon dozens of different plans made and removed just for this moment. Getting Mood for breaking down opponents and getting little bits of information; Instrumental to torture the citizens and obstacles; Solitary to get rid of those opposing their plans; Erase for pure strength;  Random to get whatever she wanted whenever she needed; and of course, Y, for his strategic placement and making sure the goblet overflowed; little Dot, to put some fuel on the fire; and that disgusting changeling, for her practical ability to impersonate.

"Come on, Y, this is the one thing I need you for. Do it," said Misery.

***

"This does not make sense for any of you! Have you all been put under a curse?" asked Cadance, not really meaning it. And that's when Twilight realized it.

"A curse... Maybe you all really have been put under a curse," said Twilight.

"But, who could have done it?" asked Spike.

"A curse? What's that?" asked the little filly. Twilight turned to her.

"What's your name, little girl?" asked Twilight.

"My name is Dot," said the little filly, a bit shy, frankly afraid.

"I'm Twilight. Do you know anyone calling herself Misery?"

"No, Twilight," said Dot.

"What about Merry?" asked Twilight. Dot nodded.

"Miss Merry is really nice. She made me sing, but then all got mad," said Dot.

"You're in Group Misery!?" exclaimed Shining Armor.

"Don't yell at a foal, you jerk!" yelled Spike to Shining Armor, they both looked at each other like they were old enemies.

"Fighting, she makes ponies fight," said Twilight.

"But, we haven't heard her sing," said Shining Armor.

"But we have all looked at her at the same time. I feel a bit of anger in the air when we look at her," said Cadance.

"What are you talking about?" asked Dot, afraid that everyone was looking at her like that. Suddenly somepony slammed his hoof on the table.

"So it's actually is true!" yelled that pony who had criticized Celestia.

"What?" asked a griffin.

"The Cycle of Destruction!" yelled the pony. He was green with a yellow mane, he was slightly pudgy and was wearing a nice black suit.

"What does that old tale have to do with anything?" asked King Pero.

"I thought the rumors that I've heard were so incredible they couldn't possibly be true, but this might prove it. Celestia, the pony who supposedly tortured ponies by making them dance. This little filly. They are both really cursed, aren't they?"

"Yes," said Celestia. She was clearly wondering how that pony had managed to hear about the Cycle of Destruction.

"Is it really true that you've put a curse on this young girl because you summoned the Cycle?" asked the pony. There was an outburst of whispers in the group. Twilight noticed that there was no more fighting, it seemed that knowing about Dot's curse was enough to dispel it.

"Of course she would not, you fool!" said Luna, standing up with her front hooves on the table. "My sister is of utmost wisdom, she would not do something so foolish!"

"Is that so?" asked the pony aggressively.

"Yes!"

"Then why do I not hear a denial from Celestia?" There was a sudden silence in the room. Heads turned towards Celestia who just stared into the floor with a frightful look. She had never looked so afraid.

"I didn't intend for anypony to be hurt," said Celestia, turning away her face. The pony stared at her with contempt. Many just looked on with disbelief.

"None here would ever consider doing something like that. At least tell me you did it to protect the world through some strange requirement," said the pony.

"It was..."

"Yes? Tell us! How important was that!?"

"I tried to figure out a way to save my sister," said Celestia. Luna gasped with a face of complete shock.

"Save your sister, yes, the pony who wanders the dreams of her subjects without consent, the very same pony who not too long ago almost destroyed us all with an eternal night that would have destroyed our crops. I have heard enough," said the pony. With determination, he stood up from his seat.

"This can't be good," said Spike.

"My honored fellow delegates, my royals and ambassadors. I fear that the star controlling our star has burnt out. Everything so far, from the trivial to the substantial, have slowly made me come to a conclusion that I believe that most of you will share. Celestia is not fit to lead Equestria."

"What is he talking about?" asked Twilight. Celestia looked at the pony with fear.

"Considering the impact that Equestria has over all of our fates, I would deem it to be a very grave injustice to us all to leave the ruling of this land to someone who has not even been able to contain a single criminal organization of merely nine members. A group that just now managed to create unrest because one of their members sneaked in, through security that she guaranteed us would keep us safe. Her negligence and selfishness have at once point endangered us all with the summoning of the Cycle of Destruction, and has caused evil to be cast upon a filly. If she would have been competent, her ponies would not have suffered because of that cursed musically talented mare. Not even the most inexperienced of you would do such grave mistakes. With that in mind, I call upon the members of us to create a temporary world council to vote on the Forced Royalty Abdication act of 274."

"Oh no," gasped Cadance silently.

"What?" asked Spike.

"He's trying to force Celestia to step down from the throne, if there is a majority vote and she doesn't comply, she will have effectively declared war on the entire world," said Twilight with fear in her voice.

"What, they can't do that! I didn't even know of it!" said Spike.

"It's supposed to stop tyrants from rising to power, it was made 274, the year after King Sombra refused to stop his terrible reign of the Crystal Empire. Most of it is written with him in mind. It's more than a thousand years old, it's outdated, but the procedure to change it hasn't come up because there hasn't been anything like Sombra for so long, to actually vote on it for this...," said Cadance.

"I implore you all to vote with wisdom, taking these transgressions into account. Is such a pony really one we want to rule this kingdom?"

"They can't honestly... Wait, what happens if she loses the vote?" asked Spike.

"Then she will immediately, in front of this council, name her successor and crown him or her. I suppose that would be Luna, but considering her history they might object to that and vote against it," said Cadance.

"But, Luna is a princess of Equestria as well," said Fluttershy.

"She isn't the head royal, and Equestria needs one," said Twilight.

Everyone around the table looked at Celestia. King Pero sighed deeply, sounding tired.

"The voting commences. Everyone of us, those in favor of her abdication raise your arm, hoof, or other extremity. Those opposed, do nothing," said King Pero. Hoof after hand after talon slowly raised towards the ceiling. Twilight counted them, and her face lost a bit of color, even her fur did.

"A majority, with merely a few more in favor of forcing abdication. Celestia. Decide your successor. You can choose anyone you think fits the criteria of a ruler," said King Pero. Celestia looked horrified, defeated, scared. Many looked worried at this sudden change. The only pony smiling was the pony that had started the vote. If they would have known him to be Y, the last member of Group Misery, he would have been tossed out there before he even would have started anything. Still, the law was the law, and it was too late now.

"Why did you vote against me, Pero?" Celestia said with a hurt look.

"Decide. Your. Successor," said King Pero with a strained voice. Twilight noticed that he was keeping himself from crying. Celestia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Twilight just knew her choice would be either Luna or Cadance. How, or even if that would work considering Cadance already was a ruler of the Crystal Empire was uncertain.

"I choose Twilight Sparkle."

Sunset

Every single one who knew Twilight Sparkle just dropped their jaw hearing the words coming out from Celestia's mouth. Even the ones who didn't know her personally were still surprised. There was not a single face not looking at Celestia, not being absolutely confounded. In her hiding place, even Misery was taken aback. Twilight was sure she must have misheard.

"Her?" asked Misery from where she was sitting.

"Her?" asked Luna to her sister.

"Her?" asked Twilight's friends.

"M- Me?"

"Yes. I choose Twilight. She is young and inexperienced, but she is also well taught, intelligent, kind. She knows more than a lot of you do." She gave Twilight a very telling look. "She knows a lot more." This was more than just her believing in Twilight, this was about Twilight knowing about Cesom. Twilight recalled something Celestia had said.

'Only if I would no longer be head ruler of Equestria would that information part from me.'

Twilight was going to be told where to find Cesom.

"I know we can expect several mistakes from her side, but she will have the advice of both Princess Luna and Princess Cadance. She will also be tutored in leadership by my best scholars. I trust that she will be a decent leader within merely two years," said Celestia.

"Couldn't I just get advice from Celestia?" asked Twilight. She was swept up in the moment, she noticed her own body was shaking in fear of the risk of all this impending responsibility, not even she would be able to enjoy all of that. This was more than just studies, this was about ponies' lives.

"The law makes that impossible. In fact, it us forbidden for Celestia to even get close to you or any of your associates. You will most likely never be allowed to see her again," said King Pero.

Twilight's entire world just sort of crumbled around her.

"But, but why?"

"It is to make sure she is unable to manipulate you," said King Pero. "It's a safety precaution."

"But she wouldn't-"

"Twilight Sparkle. Just drop it," said Celestia. Twilight looked at her. She looked back with a very stern look. "This vote is final. It is like it is written in the old laws. Everyone here has voted, and the vote is final once cast. You have to stop complaining."

"Yes, Princess," said Twilight, almost like it was a reflex. She tried to hide how hurt she felt from that harsh tone.

"Twilight Sparkle, come here," said Celestia.

After a short moment of hesitation, Twilight approached Princess Celestia. She used her magic to remove her tiara. It was a symbol of her as a ruler. She didn't wait to start it.

"Twilight Sparkle. I wish this could have been something of a celebration, that this day could have been marked by something great and wonderful. Frankly, it would have been nice if this day hadn't arrived at all. But we are here now, and it is my duty to appoint you my successor. I am still very proud of you, Princess Twilight," said Celestia and gently placed the golden tiara on Twilight's trembling head. She wasn't prepared for this.

"It has been done. Guards, seize Citizen Celestia," said King Pero, doing his best to keep his voice steady.

Some griffin guards started to approach Celestia who quickly leaned closer to Twilight. She whispered something very important into her ear.

"It is beneath the foundation of Canterlot. When you think you've hit rock bottom, dig a little deeper," she whispered as silently as she could. As she was pulled back, away from her, Twilight only managed to see a melancholy smile.

"Princess..."

"That's not a title fit for me," said Celestia as she was being escorted off the premises. Twilight could not hear any inflation in her voice. "I suppose Erase was right. When you do something wrong, you are indeed punished," said Celestia. Twilight could see a single tear fall from her cheek.

"Please, don't take her away from me! Please!" yelled Twilight.

"Guards, restrain the new Princess," said King Pero, himself openly weeping.

***

While that tragic drama was happening before her eyes, Misery was smiling like she never had before. Celestia had been disgraced before her eyes, she had managed to break her. Still, she was not even close to finished with her revenge. She knew everything she needed to do just that. Reading lips had never been such a dangerous skill. Misery jumped down from the tree onto the garden grounds. The sun was slowly setting in the distance.

"Mrs. Misery. Have your plan succeeded?" asked Erase as both he and Instrumental approached her.

"It has. Your curses will soon be lifted. Celestia has been disgraced and will be punished," said Misery.

"I'm glad," said Solitary sneaking up behind a bush.

"We've done it. After all of our struggles, we've finally done it," said Mood, crying from joy. Walking up to them disguised as a guard.

"Not yet, my dear Mood," said Random. He was carried in by Rerry from above.

"Right, we still need to actually find Cesom," said Solitary, looking at Erase. "Wow, Erase, you look really ferocious, haven't seen this in a couple of years," said Solitary.

"Fortunately, it was of little use except escaping."

"Speaking of which, what about Y?" asked Random.

"Y has done his part, and he did it well. He's so typically greedy. He'll do anything for money. Let's go, we need to get down into the old sewers," said Misery. Instrumental grabbed her.

"Wait, what about Dot?" asked Instrumental.

"She was found out. With a little luck, they will realize she is innocent and let her go home to her foster parents," said Misery.

"B- but, what about her curse? She deserves to not have her parents fight each other every time they both look at her at once! She deserves to be happy! She didn't even know! She's not part of Group Misery, she's just a manipulated innocent girl," said Instrumental. Misery turned towards her with little patience.

"Instrumental, don't worry. I will make sure her curse is cancelled out as well, now will you hurry? There isn't much time. Soon everyone will know we are here," said Misery.

"Why are we all here, by the way?" asked Rerry.

"I thought that Cesom would be in the castle, so I planned ahead. I was wrong, however," said Misery. "Come on, at least once we get away we might not have to worry about them going down into the sewers with us. Once they realize what I've done, it will be too late to do anything about it," said Misery and turned around towards the safest exit.

***

Twilight was still standing exactly where she had been standing when Celestia had left. She was in shock. Her friends hugged her in an attempt to comfort her, but nothing helped. Had this been Misery's plan? Getting Celestia step down by force? How would that have helped her with finding Cesom. It didn't matter, she was too hurt to really think on anything except her sadness for Celestia's departure, and the fact that those terrible, awful, despicable nine members of Group Misery had been able t-

"Nine?" said Twilight.

"Twilight?" asked Fluttershy through her tears in worry. Twilight started to think, there was just something wrong with that way she was thinking. She repeated it out loud to herself.

"Misery, Mood, Instrumental, Solitary, Erase, Random, Dot, the changeling. Those are the members we know about without a doubt. So why do I think it is nine members? There are only eight, right?" asked Twilight. Because they thought there was a Y somewhere? No, that's not the reason. It was just a possibility, not outright confirmed. That's when Twilight realized something. All the pieces of the puzzle had finally fallen into place. She stopped crying and instantly turned towards the pony who had started the vote and pointed at him.

"Guards! Seize that pony!" ordered Twilight, surprised her first act as a ruler had come so quickly. Shining Armor followed his sister's command and quickly apprehended the pony without a moment's thought.

"What is the meaning of this!?" exclaimed the pony.

"That is a very good question, Princess Twilight Sparkle," said King Pero.

"I noticed it just now. We have confirmed eight members of Group Misery, with this little filly here," said Twilight.

"But I don't know what that is!" yelled the filly in fear.

"However, remember what this pony himself said whenever he mentioned Group Misery. At first, he said it was seven, but when Dot was introduced, he suddenly said it was nine. So who was that extra pony he counted by mistake?" asked Twilight Sparkle.

"I don't know what you're-"

"Silence! It makes sense, if Misery knew Celestia had to... say farewell like she did, then it would have suited Misery's plan and gotten revenge on her. You are the one who instigated the vote, in fact, you've made everyone feel negatively about her even before the meeting started! You are Y, aren't you?" asked Twilight Sparkle. The pony looked up in shock.

"How do you know my codename?" he asked with fear.

"Wait, your name is actually Y?" asked Twilight. The pony's irises shrunk in terror and he started to immediately sweat. There was even more whispers from all of those around her.

"I- I mean- Um..."

"Because that was just our nickname for you. Tell me everything, Y," said Twilight Sparkle.

"Damn it."

"Now!"

"I... I want to be payed, that's what I do, I'm work for hire. I was just payed to do a job, nothing else," said Y.

"You just forced me to make a young mare say goodbye to her beloved mentor and my friend. Here's a good price you can accept: I won't cut up your neck and eat your head," said King Pero with such a terrible voice and posture that Y made a sound like that of a mouse.

"I- I, I just did what Misery told me to do, use my position and power to make this meeting go badly," said the pony, backing away from King Pero.

"What is your curse?" asked Twilight.

"I just make things that hold liquids break, that's it! Nothing sinister!" said Y. "Just look!" said Y and waved his hoof towards the table. More than a dozen glasses just broke, splashing water everywhere. "It's harmless! I just put it to use to incite the fight after Dot used her own curse. She can't control it," said Y.

"What are everyone talking about?! Will you tell me?! I want my mommy," said the filly. Spike walked up to her.

"Hey, Dot, come with me. I'll tell you everything," said Spike and reached out his claw to her. She hesitated before accepting it. He gently pulled her along.

"She doesn't know anything about this, she's as innocent as you can be. I've talked to her before, but I did so disguised."

"What are your plans for figuring out what Celestia told me?" asked Twilight Sparkle.

"We- We- I, we should..."

"Spit it out!"

"But she will-"

"That's nothing compared to what I will do to you unless you tell me!" yelled Twilight. "This is important! Who knows what that maniac will do!?"

"Hey, Mrs. Misery is a grand-"

"SHUT UP ABOUT HER AND TELL ME!"

***

The rest of Group Misery was getting closer every moment. It must have been at least an hour. The sound of water was everywhere. They were deep beneath Canterlot, deeper than she ever had been before. Still, she felt nostalgic in this wet cold darkness. It reminded her of her youth.

"I had never expected something so powerful to be beneath Canterlot," said Misery.

"Where did you think it would be then?" asked Solitary.

"I expected on the other side of Equestria. Still, it makes sense. Celestia wants to be close to Cesom at all times, so that's why she decided to found Canterlot here, despite the fact it's on the side of a mountain. Considering the castle is the oldest structure, it seems reasonable Celestia made that first, and the city grew around that as time went on. I think it must have been quite amusing once she must have realized that her little vacation home had turned into the capitol of a kingdom," said Misery and chuckled, sounding ominous.

"These sewers are so big," said Solitary, looking around them. It was true. These sewers were actually abnormally large. The tunnel's curved brick ceiling was about as high as the ceiling in the castle's corridors. The water next to their little walkway was steadily flowing forward.

"I am certain these are not really sewers at this stage, but rather part of a magical system to clean the water before it flows out into the river at the foot of the mountain. It is possible it is so large because Celestia wanted to easily travel here, if she needed to reach Cesom," said Misery.

While the green light from Rerry lit up well, there was something ahead in the curved tunnel: a few glimpses of blue light. Eventually Rerry ceased with her magic. They walked right up to an edge, looking out over something old, impressive and splendid.

"Woah," said Random.

The room they were gazing into could have easily fit more than thirty of Celestia's throne rooms inside it. It was completely circular, every little bit of the walls made from gray stone bricks, older than Canterlot itself, yet holding up an entire mountain without even a crack to show for it. Large parts of the walls were covered in green vines, clinging and growing every which way they could. The large hole in the shape of an old doorway they were standing in was just one of at least twenty spread randomly in the walls. Each and everyone of them had water flowing from them in large quantities, creating beautiful waterfalls that fell down at least a hundred meters until they hit the bottom, an underground lake with crystal clear water. In the middle of this incredible sight, there was a large platform, roughly cut out from the sturdy mountain rock resting on a gigantic pillar. In the ceiling there was something magnificent. It was the largest ocean sapphire anyone had seen, ever. It was as large as a house, flawlessly cut, and it was clearly enchanted as a coldly blue light with a warm radiance shone, lighting it all up like it was day.

"Impressive, I admit," said Misery.

"Is that Cesom?" asked Solitary and pointed upwards towards the sapphire.

"No, stupid girl. That is merely a fancy light bulb," said Misery and pointed towards the large rock platform. "That is our next stop. Cesom is even further down. We aren't even close to the old abandoned gem mines, and I doubt they are even near Cesom. We need to use that old magical elevator." In the middle of the platform was a large circle made completely out of metal. It was large enough to fit a house on it. It appeared to not be connected to anything, it was merely floating.

"We need to get down there, though," said Solitary, looking down. It was a very large drop. Solitary felt something slightly sharp in her sides. She looked up and saw Erase hold her in his strong grip, it stung slightly, but that wasn't what she was having a problem with. "Erase, what are you doooooiiing!?" she yelled in a panic when Erase jumped with her. His strength could have handled thrice the weight in that form. He landed, easily managing to dampen her from taking damage in the fall. He was very gentle, considering his strength.

"There, we're down," said Erase.

"Wonderful. You are such an jerk! You could have hurt me, you idiot...ic dumb pony, Erase," said Solitary.

"Nice save, if you don't mind me saying," said Erase. Solitary laughed nervously.

.

"Just warn me next time," said Solitary and put her hoof on his dark shoulder, both as a kind gesture and as a way to cancel out the curse she had accidentally left on him. Suddenly Rerry floated down with Mood and Random, tumbling as they hit the solid, wet surface, splashing plenty of puddles on their way. Misery used some sort of mechanical tool to create a line that she and Instrumental slid down.

"Hm, if I patented this, I could make a lot of money," said Misery, laughing to herself over how silly that thought was at this late stage.

"So, how do we go down?" asked Random.

"I think we are only required to stand on the platform and tell it what to do," said Misery.

"MISERY!" yelled another voice so one could not even hear the waterfalls. They all looked up in surprise. Twilight Sparkle was standing up there on one of the ledges, looking down on them with a fierce look on her face. She was holding Y in a magical grip right next to her.

"Ah, if it isn't the new Princess. How are you, Your Highness?" asked Misery, making a mocking welcoming gesture towards them.

"Quiet. I'll get Celestia back on the throne even if it kills me," said Twilight Sparkle with determination.

"So, Y, you could not keep your mouth shut, after all. You've endangered us all. Were you not aware of the Cycle's return? Of all the harm it could cause?" said Misery, giving him a cold look.

"Sorry, Mrs. Misery, they had a really nice price. You know, letting me live," said Y and laughed a bit sheepishly. Misery did not look even remotely amused. She turned to the other ones.

"Considering he seems to place his own well being over that of everypony else in the kingdom, and you on top of that, I've come to realize I need to inform him of something quite awful," said Misery. She pointed her hoof towards him. "Y, our agreement was not just over money. They might let you live, but I won't," said Misery.

There was an explosion in the room that echoed and lingered. Twilight dropped Y from surprise. He look shocked, he felt on his chest, there was blood. His eyes started to blur, and then he fell. He fell right down towards the lake beneath them, hitting the wall as he went, smearing it with even more blood before he hit the surface of the water, dead.

"What the hell was that, Misery?!" yelled Random in shock. Even Erase hadn't been rendered insensitive to violence enough to not stare in horror.

"I... I'm so sorry, but I was just so sickened, he didn't even seem to care that ponies could both be curse and die with the Cycle's return. After such a long time, after everything we've gone through, and he didn't even seem to respect any of you. I just couldn't allow him to live. Would any of you have talked if you were in his situation?" asked Misery.

"Of course not but-"

"There you go," said Misery. "I will pay for this later, no doubt, but for now let us focus on Cesom," said Misery and looked at Twilight, years of servitude helping them regain trust in her in an instant as they remembered their goal. Twilight was still in slight terror, but she didn't go into a panic after witnessing a death. Her heart helped her stay strong, because this was just too important. She just knew it. She focused her eyes on Misery again. Her intellect didn't even have time to be curious about that weapon on her leg.

"I won't let you reach your goal," said Twilight Sparkle.

"'Won't let me reach my goal'? Are you insane? Twilight Sparkle, there are seven of us, each and everyone could defeat you with ease. What do you have? A new useless title and some magic you've never used as a weapon? You might as well attack us with a dinner fork, at least that has a pointy end to it. You do know the pointy end is used for stabbing, right?" asked Misery, never having sounded so condescending. She was impatient.

"What I have? I have something that you don't have, something that even Celestia herself didn't have. I have absolute, unmoving, unquestionable trust in my friends," said Twilight Sparkle.

"We know what Cesom is," said Applejack, appearing in another one of the holes.

"Why? Because she told us," said Fluttershy, appearing in another.

"We know you can't be allowed to use it," said Rainbow Dash, keeping up the pattern.

"Why? Because you're a lying dangerous psychopath," said Pinkie Pie.

"We will stand by Twilight as she opposes you," said Rarity. The next one would be Shining Armor, they needed a strong warrior on their side now.

"Why? Because we're her friends!" exclaimed Spike, proudly keeping his pose with folded arms as he looked down on them.

"Spikey?!" shouted Rarity in surprise.

"Spike?! What are you doing here?! Where's Shining Armor?!" yelled Twilight.

"He's going to be a dad, and he was a bit unsure about leaving Cadance when she was in that stupid meeting, so I filled in for him down here. He didn't mind," said Spike. Twilight glared at him for a moment. "If I can't get Celestia to become head princess again, I'm going to make sure my brother get demoted so far down the chain of command he might as well be down here with us! My sister-in-law is a princess and so am I right now, I can totally do that!" said Twilight angry.

"Hey, this is important stuff, about our home town! I will defend it, I don't care how old I am or how dangerous this is. I'm a dragon, I'm supposed to be noble and proud!" said Spike.

"What a bunch of idiots," said Misery and walked off towards the platform. She turned towards Erase. "Erase, stay here and make sure as few as possible can follow us," said Misery. Erase bowed to her.

"Yes, Mrs. Misery. I will protect you all," said Erase, turning towards the seven intruders. He walked off the platform as Misery walked onto it. She stomped her hoof on it, and it started to go down, deeper into the mountain. Erase got up on his hind legs, producing a second sword to go with the first one. He showed his teeth to intimidate in his form, hissing. "If you all want to pass, you must first defeat me!" yelled Erase.

"Not it," said Spike.

"Not it," was said about six times in all. Spike, Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, but Rainbow Dash never said anything.

"I'll take you on, Erase!" said Rainbow Dash with no fear and pointed her wing at him.

"The boldness of a warrior, but without the wisdom. Still, that spirit is not seen often when faced with a monstrosity as me. Very well, Rainbow Dash. I will take you on first."

"Why didn't she pick Instrumental? She could have stopped us all at a time," said Pinkie Pie.

"Actually, not possible. The echoes in here would interfere with the beat, making it hard to dance to anything," said Erase. "Don't threat, she will surely be ready for you down there if you manage to get passed me," said Erase.

"Rainbow Dash," said Twilight and gave her a telling look.

"Gotcha!" said Rainbow Dash and flew out into the room. "Come at me, bro!" Without much choice, Erase pounced with speed and strength. He was already right next to her high up in the air. Rainbow Dash just barely managed to not get cut with a quick roll in the air. "Okay, you're more nimble than I thought you'd be," said Rainbow as she circled him. Still, she had managed to force him to get away from the hole.

Twilight was already down there, having teleported them all. She focused in order for them to hover, gently and slowly going down the huge vertical tunnel, down into the darkest depths.

"Good luck, Rainbow!" they all shouted with confidence.

Random Chance

"Can't this thing go any faster?!" yelled Solitary.

"We're currently beneath ocean level and going down into the depths of the earth, traveling to places unseen by mortal eyes in darkness and extreme pressures, and you want this thing to go faster?" asked Random.

"Well, yeah," said Solitary.

"No need, we're slowing down. We've almost reached the bottom," said Misery. It merely took a few seconds for them to reach the bottom. It lead out into a very large cave system, filled with orange gems glowing like the one above them had a few moments ago. They led the way forward. There were plenty of dark shimmering crystals imbedded into the walls themselves. It was quite dark outside that of the gems' magical reach.

Misery looked up and saw the gentle shine of magic as Twilight Sparkle slowly descended towards them.

"Hurry." They all started to run forward, the path was at a slight downwards angle, making them run even faster among the gray and black stone. At one point, they heard their pursuers land and running after them. They still had a head start. Misery saw a spot ahead, the very mountain had split, creating a path they would follow. It was quite tight, not easy for more than one to get into at a time. "Mood, Random, stay at this point and stop them from following us as much as you can," said Misery.

"Alright."

"Of course," said Random and turned to Rerry. "Be careful," said Random and gave her a concerned look.

"Always," responded Rerry, smiling.

Both Random and Mood stay behind, blocking the path after the rest had gone inside.

"Just try to get past us!" said Random.

"Um, yeah," said Mood with somewhat less enthusiasm. Random made sure Mood was close to him as the mares and dragon reached them and struck. None of them even managed to connect to Random. Their momentum was just sort of clumsily being redirected. Spike just sort of punched the ground, making him hold his fist and jump around from the pain. They all looked at Mood's hooves, avoiding his dangerous gaze.

"Give it up and let us pass, Random," said Twilight.

"I can not. Too much is at stake," he responded.

"The Cycle isn't going to return, Random. Misery is lying to you," said Twilight.

"Lies," said Mood, focusing specifically on her, trying to catch a glimpse of her eyes.

"I don't really care that much about Misery, but she has shown my friends respect and kindness. That's why I follow her, but I admit, something about her rubs me the wrong way," said Random. Mood turned towards him, not looking directly at his face.

"If it wasn't for her, I don't think I would even have hope of getting to see my family again. I can get them back, I know it," said Mood.

"She's just using your abilities to get back at Celestia. She doesn't care about anyone! You saw what he did to Y!" said Spike.

"Liar!" yelled Mood. Not being able to keep himself away, he ran directly towards Spike, in a fit of rage trying to use his curse at full strength to make him comatose.

Applejack jumped in between them, getting ready to kick him in his face.

"Don't!" yelled Random, jumping towards the shy one, Fluttershy. He grabbed her and held her down against her will. They wouldn't even manage to get close. Applejack stopped her kicking in the last moment, giving Mood a chance to strike. Suddenly, Spike jumped in front of Applejack and pounced towards Mood's face, grabbing it and holding on as tight as he could, blinding him.

"Go!" yelled Spike.

"But Fluttershy-"

"Just go!" yelled Fluttershy from Random's tight grip. Twilight looked at the gap, the path ahead. She didn't want to leave either of them, but she couldn't let that maniac continue any further ahead. Cesom was her responsibility now, and she absolutely could not let such power fall in the grip of such a maniac.

"We'll come back for you later, don't get hurt, that's an order from a princess!" said Twilight.

"Okay, Princess!" yelled Spike unsteadily as Mood was desperately trying to get Spike off. Random looked on with disappointment in himself as the four remaining mares rushed past them and slipped into the crack.

"At least we stopped two of them, for now. You just had to lose your cool, did you not?" asked Random towards Mood that was still struggling like a maniac with the little dragon.

"Let Fluttershy go!" yelled Spike.

"Let Mood go!" Random yelled back.

"Okay, this isn't going anywhere really quick. How about this? Let's bet about something!" yelled Spike. Random looked up at him. Now he was interested.

"A bet? What should we bet about?"

"If you win, we both get to go on without any trouble. If you win, then, then..."

"These are high stakes we're talking about, don't forget that," said Random with a cunning look.

"I bet you a gem."

"Higher."

"All gems I'll ever get."

"Higher!"

"My eternal servitude!"

"HIGHER!"

"My soul!"

"Oh yes, that should do nicely. Would you like us to play it over a game of poker? The old hold 'em. Do you agree to these terms?"

"Only if you get off Fluttershy, and Mood can't interfere with us," said Spike. Random looked down on Fluttershy.

"You are also part of the terms, do you agree to only pass on if Spike wins against me?" asked Random.

"I... I..."

"Fluttershy," said Spike. She looked up at him. "Everything will be alright." He spoke with a mature, confident voice, so unlike his usual demeanor. Fluttershy found herself getting a bit of courage just looking at him.

"I accept," said Fluttershy. Random immediately let her go. Spike in turn let go of Mood. They both just stood up. Mood caught eyes of Fluttershy.

"I can still take you out," said Mood, starting to walk towards her.

"Fluttershy, run!" yelled Spike. He didn't need to tell her twice. She ran off deeper into the dark cave system towards the left, into the darkness. At least that would help her against Mood. Mood raced after her, he was used to being blind, so this darkness would not hinder him much. Before Spike knew it, they were gone.

Random turned towards Spike, taking something out from under his hat. A deck of playing cards. He walked over to a bunch of rocks, looking quite serviceable as a table and chairs. He placed the deck on the large flat surface. He glanced at Spike with a confident, excited smile.

"Let's play."

***

For once in her life, Fluttershy was happy that she was deep underground enveloped in darkness. Her adrenaline kept her from panicking from fear in this black void. It actually helped with the fear in general. Still, she was trembling in horror, just focusing on not tripping down into some sort of spiky pit in the dark. She used her wing to follow along the cave wall. It was moist down there, and very cold. She was sure she would have seen her own breath if she could have actually seen.

Still, despite all of this, at least that Mood couldn't see in the dark. That was a huge plus.

"Do you think you can hide from me? Even in the darkness, my eyes are my only strength," said Mood, his voice echoing in the vast cave system. He could have been far off, or right next to her. Suddenly, over towards the left, two wide beams of red light started to shine brightly. Fluttershy could see two bright round pieces, shining like terrible dying stars in the vast void. "Fluttershy, is it? My eyes can only work if I see the victim. I despise this curse, but even I admire its tenacity," said Mood. Fluttershy noticed a tone of sadness in his voice.

He was not looking at her, but the crimson illumination would make her easy to spot if it so much as glanced at her. She instantly hid behind a large piece of stone just as the beams were shining towards her, barely managing to get behind in time.

"I... I just want to tell you that I'm sorry about this. I don't actually want to hurt you, or anyone, but if I could just get to gaze into my wife's eyes without causing her to cry the entire day. If I could just get to see my two dearest daughters without making them hate me... I just want that." Fluttershy started to hear faint sound of crying. "I'll spend two lifetimes in a prison in the griffin kingdom for just a single moment telling them I love them, while getting to gaze into their eyes without causing pain. I hope you understand how important this is to me," said Mood.

Fluttershy focused on not listening, it had to just be a lie to freak her out. Nothing else, she had to assume it was. Just a lie. He was only lying... Maybe? Still, Fluttershy wouldn't let that stop her.

She thought about different ways she could defeat him. She could sneak around and hit him from behind with a rock, that could work. A direct attack straight from the front would not be a good idea. Even though she underestimated her own strength, Mood was simply bigger and stronger than her. She wondered to herself how she could use her wings in the best possible way.

The sound of steps echoing in the cave got ever closer. Fluttershy quietly sneaked away from the incoming red light, going ever deeper into the mountain. For now, all she could do was staying away from him.

***

"You do know how to play this game, right?" asked Random as he let Spike shuffle the cards.

"Of course I know hot to play it... enough," said Spike as he put down the shuffled deck on the stone.

"Well, here is the one thing you would probably want to know about it: it's my best game," said Random, getting ready to hand out the cards as the dealer this first round.

"Wait, we don't have any chips," said Spike, looking around the table.

"I thought about using our memories, materializing them as chips with my power, but rocks will do just fine. Things are bad enough without one of us forgetting how to go to the bathroom, don't you think?" asked Random and gathered up some small pebbles from the ground.

"Well, let's see. Here is your share. Fifty each should do. Please count them," said Random, himself counting them and dividing them up in five tens. Spike did the same. "Great. Let's begin. I'm the dealer, so I put out two rocks as the Big Blind," said Random, putting two small stones in the middle.

"And I put out one, right?"

"Yes, good," said Random, dealing them both their cards. Spike was a bit nervous when he took up his cards, but he certainly didn't show it. He glanced at them. He had started out well, a queen and an eight, at least, he thought that was good.

"Are you in?" asked Random. Spike put a second rock on the 'table'.

"Yeah." Random placed the first three cards. Spike's heart jumped when he saw not one, but two queens. So lucky! Okay, just play it cool. Don't go all in, that would be too obvious, Spike thought to himself.

"Oh, wait, the minimum wager is one stone, right?" asked Random, sounding oddly much like Spike had expected himself to sound, like a child that had played for the first time.

"Uh, sure," said Spike. Random's face lit up.

"Alright, one stone it is," said Random cheerily. Spike tossed in the wager and looked at the other card on the table, it was just a two. Was he so confident about a two? Wait, did he have a queen himself? That thought made Spike a little nervous.

"So, do you call or fold?" asked Spike.

"Call, call," said Random, tossing in a rock.

"And I think that's enough for now," said Spike. Random nodded and placed the fourth card. It was the ace of hearts.

"Right... hm..." Spike tried to sound hesitant. If he would have been an adult, it would have been impossible to pull it off like that, but he was a child. They could be like that sometimes, hopefully Random knew that and underestimated him. "I... think that I'm going to wager nothi- no, one rock," said Spike, placing his bet.

"Okay... I... I'll call that, and I'll raise you another stone," said Random.

"And I'll call that," said Spike.

Random placed the last card on the table. It was an eight. Spike had a full house. He was in a good spot. In fact, the pot was relatively big enough to be profitable to take home. He gave a devilish grin on purpose.

"You know, I'm having a good feeling on this. I'll wager a whole five rocks," said Spike, putting them into the pot.

"All in," said Random, pushing all of his little rocks into the pot. Whatever even slightly childish mannerism with him was gone. He was dead serious.

"What? So early."

"I love a good gamble, so, Spike, all in, or not?" asked Random. Spike considered it. He did have a full house, with three queens and a pair of eights. The odds were in his favor... yet that stare from Random was creeping him out. He struggled, looking at that big, juicy pot. He could almost hear his instincts yelling at him. Take it, take it! But he couldn't risk it. He had to win slowly, carefully. He couldn't risk everything on just a whim.

"I... I... I fold," said Spike. Random took all of the pot this round. As Spike picked up the cards and started shuffling them with a disappointed look on his face, Random caught his eye with a mischievous grin.

"Let me guess. You had a queen, and an eight," said Random.

"What? I, no, I... How did you know that? Are you cheating?!" said Spike.

"I could cheat, but I won't. It was easy to deduce. You kept a good poker-face when you saw the two queens, but your eyes lit up like fireworks when you saw the eight. I didn't need to see that though. Spike, a word of advice, since you are so young. You think that the cards are the weapons in this battle, but in reality, the weapons are us, each other. I've kept a close eye on you, and you have two tells that allow me to see when you have a good hand. I won't tell you what those are, of course," said Random.

"So... what did you have, then?" asked Spike. Random smiled at him, showing him his cards just to humor him. Two aces.

"I would have beaten your full house with my own. Face it, kid, you're up against a lucky gambler."

***

Fluttershy had lost track of him, he had just suddenly disappeared around a corner. She was sure she could hear a waterfall nearby. It had the positive side effect of hiding the echo of her steps. She found her way around the corner, and she was suddenly bathed in a bright red light.

"There you are!"

Fluttershy just closed her eyes and turned away. When she started to run with him behind her, she opened her eyes. His eyes were the only thing that allowed her to see where she was going. His constant movement made the lights shake heavily when they didn't flicker as dust got in them. Fluttershy could hear the waterfall ahead. She kept fleeing, passing a corner where she heard the waterfall next to her. She could not hear the water hitting any bottom, so it was likely it was falling down into a chasm.

Fluttershy jumped into the waterfall, passing the icy water and hitting the wall on the other side. She spread her wings and gently flapped them to stay afloat. She was dripping water, but at least she had a place to hide. She could see the pony coming past the corner, stopping in his tracks. Fluttershy could see why. The chasm was bigger than she had thought. The entire side of the tunnel she had been running through was basically open to a gigantic hole. The waterfall was just slight to the side the large round chasm.

As he walked carefully on the slippery wet edge trying to find Fluttershy somewhere in the large empty void. She could see his stare sweeping over the large cave, passing by the waterfall, its red beams being obscured and distorted by the water that had been falling there for a thousand years. He paused, looking at the waterfall, before turning around and going back again. The light could be seen in the tunnel, slowly moving away until it eventually disappeared completely into darkness. Fluttershy took a deep breath and then flew around the waterfall, moving towards the ledge of the tunnel. She landed.

Mood grabbed her and opened his red glowing eyes, looking at her neck. He thrust her body up against the wet stone wall, turning her around to face him. Fluttershy closed her eyes, trying to turn away.

"I will break you!" yelled Mood. He grabbed her head and forced her to face him. He bit her in her leg, causing pain and making her open her eyes in a reflex. All she could see was a pair of glowing red circles staring into her eyes. "This is the end, Fluttershy." His expression changed into something solemn, his eyes relaxing as he looked at her. She knew it was coming. First he would make her cry, and then he would put her into a coma. How she would find her real self was unknown, but she didn't think she would manage to get back to reality.

"Fluttershy. You are a very kind pony, you care about everyone, and you could forgive anything, yet you are tortured by the fact that..."

And that was the moment the battle between them had been decided.

***

Celestia was slowly walking through the mountain range, getting up there to look down on her old town. She looked out over the kingdom she once had been able to call her own. She had heard that Twilight had disappeared, no doubt either by Mrs. Misery or to defeat her. Celestia wanted to go there, but she couldn't return to Canterlot. Doing so would be considered an act of treason and war. She simply needed to have faith in her little friends, and she did.

***

To say it was going badly for Spike was a bit of an understatement. He only had 12 pebbles left. He was also nervous about Fluttershy, she still had not returned.

"Well, do you call or not?" asked Random after having placed his own wager. The cards were an ace, a four, a five, a seven and a king. Spike looked at him with uncertainty. His cards were quite low and he didn't even have a pair. Spike just hit his head on the stone table, lying there, looking down towards the stone floor. He coughed, letting out a bit of green flame.

"Sorry, it's all this dust," said Spike, focusing on what lied beneath him.

"Your two tells if you have good cards aren't showing, and your seventh tell, if you have bad cards, are. I'm guessing you don't have good cards," said Random.

"I- I call!" said Spike and stood up in his seat in defiance.

"Great. So if you lose this round, you have three rocks left. At least things are going well," said Random, putting down and showing his cards. "Two pairs," said Random.

"What horrible luck," said Spike and put down his own two cards. All he had was a three and a two, in other words, he had a "Straight. I'll take that," said Spike and grabbed the pot. Finally getting some stuff back. He looked at the surprised Random. "Random, I figured out what my tells were in the sixth round. I've just focused on finding your tell," said Spike with confidence. "This game is about to come to an end. I guarantee it," said Spike. He slid all the cards over to himself to shuffle them, but he dropped them on the ground. "Sorry, sorry, give me a second," said Spike. He bowed down to pick up the cards, but the dust was getting in his snout. He sneezed a green flame. "I hate being in this cave so much," said Spike, picking up the cards and properly shuffling them this time.

"Alright. You're Big Blind," said Random.

"Right."

Once all five cards were placed, Spike was getting ready. He had a strategy that would be put into effect any second. This round looked nice. There was an ace, a king, a four, a two and a ten. Spike had an ace and a four. Random bet a slight amount, which Spike raised, which made Random go all in. He was probably planning on intimidation, he made it an all or nothing, possibly to make it more exciting to him, but it was very possible he had a good hand like in the beginning of the game. Spike was quite nervous. He felt some pressure welling up in his gut. He coughed out another flame.

"You ponies are lucky your aren't so sensitive to dust like us dragons," said Spike.

"Right. Well, time to show our cards, this is it.  I love these moments. Everything or nothing."

"It has to be everything, it just has to be," said Spike. They both showed their cards.

Again, there was an ace, a king, a four, a two and a ten on the table. Random had an ace and a ten. And of course, Spike only had...

"Two aces, making three of a kind. I win, Random," said Spike. Random looked at him, and then the card, and then him, and then the card. His eyes widening a little each time. He leaned back in his seat, falling back as there was nothing to lean on. He got up, and kept looking at Spike. He cracked a smile, and then laughed, he laughed heartily, with glee.

"Wow, that was exciting! Ha ha! Great job! Fantastic! I don't know how you did it, but you did!" said Random.

"Skill," said Spike with a smirk. Random looked at him, smirking friendly.

"Spike, I know you cheated again," said Random. Spike didn't even change his expression, but he did freeze in place.

"Um, what."

"Relax, Spike, I admit defeat. You win. You have guts, and I enjoyed this anyway. It wasn't even close to dull. Although, if I may ask, how did you cheat? That's the only thing I can't figure out. How did you change that four into another ace?"

"How did you...?"

"I looked into the reflection of your eyes. I have an eye for detail. You did have tells, but I didn't need them. So, how did you do it?" asked Random.

"That's my little secret," said Spike, standing up.

"Come on, tell me before you move on," said Random and gently bumped his shoulder.

"No way, dude. Now, where's Fluttershy?" asked Spike, looking around.

"I'm here," said Fluttershy. Spike and Random turned towards her voice. She walked out of the darkness with tears of sympathy in her eyes, with somepony following her from behind.

"Mood? What's the matter? I expected you to be knocked out at least," said Random, surprised. Mood was bawling his eyes out, his tears dripping more than the water from Fluttershy.

"Random, Misery's been lying to us!" yelled Mood.

"He was going to use his, his extreme power on me, and then..."

"This is what the curse made me say to her: 'Fluttershy. You are a very kind pony, you care about everyone, and you could forgive anything, yet you are tortured by the fact that we, the ponies in Group Misery has been so deceived by Mrs. Misery that we believe any and every lie she feeds us. You know we are terrible ponies, and you would still give your life to save anyone of us, but you can't, because there is nothing you can say that will make us see the truth'," said Mood, crying even harder.

"And you're sure that's the truth?" asked Random.

"My curse can tell lies, but I know if they are," said Mood.

"Mood, tell them what else your curse made you say, please. It's important," said Fluttershy. Mood wiped his tears and turned towards Random.

"Random, it also made me say this: 'It is just so very sad that we are actively helping a monster that would use Cesom to create complete chaos in the world, and use it kill and destroy everything.'"

Spike's eyes widened. He instantly turned towards the path ahead. He needed to hurry and catch up to Twilight. This was not only bad, it was absolutely terrible. It really was the worst possible scenario.

"I'm coming with you!" yelled Random when Spike ran forward. Random was filled with fear. His friends, his beloved, in the company of that maniac.

"Me too!" said Mood and Fluttershy, running after them.

***

Celestia was looking at the moon as it was rising up over the horizon. She breathed in the cool night air as she looked down on the letter she had received. She couldn't help but to be a little proud, oddly enough. Oh, Spike, I raised you better than to cheat at a card game, she said, chuckling like a mother at the shenanigans of her child. The letter read as such:

'Dear Princess Celestia, I'm in a tight spot right now, gambling a possible maniac for the fate of Canterlot and my friends, with my immortal soul at stake. Could you help me out? Take the card that comes with this letter and in exactly one minute, send it back to me. I might send you a replacement at the same time. Don't do anything else then, okay? Anyway, how are you? I miss you, I hope you're well and that I'll get to meet you soon. I'll send you some letters anyway, okay? It's not like they can monitor me every moment of my life, right? I just know there has to be a way to get you back on the throne where you belong. Anyway, I really miss you, did I mention that? Sometimes I wish you were my real mom. Did I really write that just now? Wow, I'm writing super fast. The guy is looking at me right now and I'm just here writing on the floor. I'm nervous. I'm serious, I'm writing like ten words a second at least. Oh, crud, I've got to go now. Your loyal subject son assistant friend, Spike.'

"Good luck, little Spike," said Celestia. She held the single, simple little four of hearts in the air in front of her. "What a lovely souvenir."

Confrontation

Twilight, Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie had been galloping for quite some time. The deeper they got the darker it became. Eventually, the only thing they could follow was a light at the end of the tunnel. They kept running towards the bright, wonderful light.

When they reached it, they entered through a small round entrance, opening up into a larger but less divided system. They stopped for two reasons. The first one was seeing two ponies standing ahead of them, guarding an entrance. It was Solitary and Instrumental. The second reason for their sudden stop was the fact that every inch, every possible surface except for the floor in this cave, was completely covered in gems of every conceivable color, sparkling in their beauty. There was an excess of yellow stones in the walls, being lit by magic. It gave the cave a clear golden hue.

"It's about time you got here," said Instrumental.

"Do you have, like, any idea how long we've had to wait for you?" asked Solitary.

"Give it up, you two! None of you will get to even touch Cesom," said Twilight. She looked at the path beyond the two mares, Misery and that changeling must have kept going.

Twilight suddenly heard something from behind. She turned around just in time to see another Solitary jump towards her, reaching out her hoof to touch Twilight. It was clear from the surprised look on the other three that Solitary had already cursed them. Twilight teleported out of the way, appearing a bit off to the side.

"Twilight, I can't see anypony, not even those two," said Applejack, backing away from any potential danger, but focusing her stare on Solitary.

"I can specify the one you will see, after all... except myself," said Solitary. The pony next to Instrumental turned back into a changeling. Twilight saw Instrumental getting ready to sing, but Twilight was already on it. She cast a spell towards Instrumental, giving her a serious case of tongue-twister. She couldn't speak.

"I won't fall for that trick, Solitary, in fact..." said Twilight, focusing her magic. She teleported Solitary right in between the three affected. They touched Solitary, who was then cast aside by Twilight's magic. "There, done and done," said Twilight.

"Instrumental, go for the extreme!" yelled Solitary. Instrumental nodded and ran towards them. Pinkie Pie jumped ahead and tripped Instrumental just as she was about to dance.

"Ha! We already heard about that from the guards! There will be no dancing today except for the party afterwards!" said Pinkie Pie. Instrumental started to bang her hooves against the stone floor in a quick rhythm. Twilight immediately used her magic to keep her completely still.

From her side, Twilight suddenly saw Applejack run towards her and pounce. She was baring and showing fangs with a his. The real Applejack came in from the side, kicking her very hard. She was launched towards the path ahead, the cave that continued deeply into the mountain.

"Rerry! Go! Warn Mrs. Misery!" yelled Solitary.

"But what about-"

"Now!" Rerry turned around and flew into the dark cave, away from their pursuers.

"Rarity, keep holding Instrumental dow- Rarity!" yelled Twilight. Rarity sprung to attention, having been quite distracted from all the gems around her.

"Right, I got it," said Rarity, using her own magic to keep Instrumental silent.

"Applejack, keep Solitary here. I'm going after those two!" said Twilight.

"Right, er, Princess," said Applejack, keeping Solitary in place. Twilight stopped using her magic and ran ahead. Misery would not get away with this.

***

Several moments ago, right up at the lift that led down into the mountains, Rainbow and Erase had been ready to fight for their lives. Erase stared threateningly at Rainbow Dash.

"Do not think that you are safe up there because you are merely airborne. So typical of pegasi. Staying up there in a futile attempt to stay out of my reach," said Erase.

"Whatever, hotshot," said Rainbow. Erase made a gigantic leap, leaving marks in the floor beneath him as he jumped towards Rainbow Dash. She dodged him, gracefully and quickly making a spin out of the way.

Erase continued until he hit the wall. He lodged the sword into the stone, making him slide down the surface until he stopped. That sword was certainly sharp against things not living.

"If you would show me a little more respect, you might live longer."

"Whatever you say, dude," said Rainbow Dash, already flying out of the way as Erase jumped again. Of course, he missed. "Oh, and guess what, you idiot?" He jumped off the platform, up towards her.

"Would you just-"

"I might be a pegasus..." said Rainbow Dash, suddenly flying towards him from above. Erase was about to strike, but then she collided with him, headbutting him. He was forced down immediately, hitting the platform again with considerable force. "But I'm not afraid to get up close and personal," she finished, landing on the same platform as him. "So, come at me, bro."

Erase struck against her. But while Erase had speed, strength and experience in fighting, Rainbow Dash had even more speed and strength than he did, something that greatly surprised him. He hadn't managed to even hit her wit his blades, but that was because she focused on them. He managed  to kick her in the leg, making her jump back with help from her large wings to get away from the next deadly slice of his blades. This distance she put between them did not give her much time to breathe. Erase was already running after her on his two hind legs, holding his two swords, ready to strike again.

The pain in Rainbow Dash's leg was not so terrible, and she easily pushed past it as she dodged the two swords by stepping back, finding an opening at last, and striking him on his chin from beneath.

"Ah, swords, nature's knives," she said in a mocking tone. Erase looked down on her after the strike, with rage in his eyes.

"You are stronger than me. You are faster than me. But I will still win, because I can endure much more than you can!" said Erase. He struck the platform beneath him with his sword, and then with his sword embedded into the stone, pushed it upwards with such force that a dozen small stones shattered, hitting Rainbow Dash all over, like in her eyes.

Rainbow Dash was blinded, she backed away, flapping her wings to get away. She suddenly felt a pain, such incredible pain. It quickly started to numb, as she suddenly felt incredibly tired. In a fraction of a second she realized everything she had to as she could hear a ticking. She was falling asleep, if she did so now, he would easily be able to kill her. She needed a way to wake up, she couldn't allow herself to just fade away, basically letting him win.

Rainbow Dash fell asleep, but in the best way possible. She fell backwards, down, over the edge. She was falling. The sensation of the fall and the pure length of the drop made her wake up. As she did so, she felt pain from her back where the sword had struck her. The area was red, and she was sure she could hear a ticking in her head. With every heartbeat, with every tick, a pain flowed out from the area out into the rest of her. Fighting trough the pain, she managed to level out, flying up before she hit the water. This pain was quite unlike the one in her leg, this one was agonizing, but she still endured. She couldn't let him win.

"You have roughly sixty seconds to get me to drop these swords, and let me tell you that my grip never lets go while I'm in this form, " said Erase. Rainbow Dash thought it over, she would not be able to hurt him enough at it was, and even if she could, she was simply too distracted by the pain to effectively fight him. She needed a different strategy. Still, the pain was difficult to think through, so was all of the noise these waterfalls around them made.

"The water," said Rainbow Dash, looking around herself. That was it, that was exactly what she needed to win. She flied up, and up, further and further. Erase looked up at her, but Rainbow Dash didn't look back. She started to fly along the round walls, she flied as fast as she could. "It just has to be a small one, a small but powerful one," said Rainbow Dash.

"What are you doing? Have you gone mad?" asked Erase.

"Maybe, just wait and see," said Rainbow Dash.

"Sorry, but I will not," said Erase. He jumped towards the spot she would be in next. Rainbow Dash managed to dodge without slowing down. She kept going faster and faster. She looked inwards at the center of the room. She just needed to go faster and faster. She dodged Erase as he came again, not allowing her to stay safe for her remaining seconds.

"Faster. Faster. Faster!" yelled Rainbow Dash. Outside, with winds and different heats everywhere, this maneuver would have been impossible alone, but in here, in this enclosed round area, it was not only possible, but easy.

She saw the first sign it was working, small drops from the pouring waterfalls were starting to gather towards the middle. She needed to be faster.

Second by second, a wind started to pick up speed inside the circular gigantic room. Erase kept following her with his lethal leaps. The wind got stronger and stronger. It actually reached such a strength that Rainbow Dash's mane was being pulled towards the middle of the room, rather than back from the speed of her flight.

"Wait, are you doing?!" yelled Erase.

"Faster, faster, faster, not much time, faster!" said Rainbow Dash. Suddenly, the winds reached such a point that the water started to pour directly into a single point. The winds made the water starting to take a form, it looked like a small tornado. The first step was basically done. Now she just needed to keep going.

"Stop it, cease this at once!" yelled Erase, he could no longer attack. The winds had gotten too strong. He had to hang on to some of the vines, otherwise he would be sucked into the little tornado. "How are you doing this? This shouldn't be possible! What are you?!" he roared towards Rainbow Dash. He was powerless, but as long as he could keep his grip on the vines he would win within merely twenty seconds.

"I'm a weather mare, you loser."

Against his will, Erase leaped towards her, but the very moment he let go of the sturdy vines he was sucked into the middle, like a leaf in a storm. When he reached the middle, he was spinning so quickly his body felt like it was being torn apart, but that wasn't the biggest problem. In this center of incredible wings and water, he simply couldn't breathe. He just tried to endure it as long as he could, he kept an iron grip on both his blades. Just a few more moments and her back would be cut up beyond help. Just a few more moments. Tick, tock. He had to endure, and he would win. His mind started to drift from the lack of oxygen, and in his last lucid moments he found himself thinking of Solitary.

As Erase lost consciousness, Rainbow Dash swooped in towards him. He still did not drop the swords. She had less than five seconds. She kicked his talons as hard as she could, hurting herself in the process. With merely two seconds to spare, he finally let them go. In an instant, the pain and the red mark disappeared. The ticking had stopped.

It took just a few seconds for the little tornado to die out, basically tossing Erase away from the platform, towards the water below. He tumbled in the air, unable to wake up. He was just about to fall down towards his death when Rainbow Dash grabbed his leg.

"Darn, you're heavy," said Rainbow Dash as she pulled him up to the platform again. She left him lying on the stone, moving a fair bit away from him to sit down and rest. To create such a feat, a miniature tornado, while easy to do, still left her exhausted. Still, she had won. She looked down at the platform just a moment with a sigh. When she looked up, Erase was back on his hooves, looking at her. "Crud, already?!" she yelled, getting up, ready to fight again.

And then something strange happened. Erase just sat down in front of her.

"This is pointless now. You win, Rainbow Dash," he said. He leaned forward, bowing in respect.

"Wait, what?"

"My job was to keep you from following Misery. I only managed to stall one out of seven. Quite pathetic, but you beat me, and at this point so much time must have passed that either Misery is soon going to succeed, or we have lost." Erase turned back into a relatively normal stallion. The change was instant, so quick Rainbow Dash's eyes couldn't even register it. From a battle to the death, all that was in there now was two ponies, talking to each other, listening to the waterfalls around them. It actually allowed Rainbow Dash to calm down.

"Erase, Misery has been lying to you. There is no return of the Cycle," said Rainbow Dash.

"Why do you all insist that? It can't be true," said Erase.

"Why couldn't it?"

"Because that would mean our lives for the past years... have been for absolutely nothing. It would mean so much has been wasted. Do you have any idea how much time and effort she has-"

"She needed you to trust her in order to use you. You might be bad, you've done bad things, but you're still nothing like her. She is far worse."

"I still can't believe you. It would be too terrifying to even consider it," said Erase.

"You're stubborn, but so am I. Let me show you she's lying to you," said Rainbow Dash.

"She wouldn't lie to us," said Erase.

"But she was willing to kill Y. She's a murderer. She always has been. At least let me try to show you she's a liar too." She looked down into the giant hole in the platform. "In any case, I need to go help my friends. You can either stay here, or for once trust someone else and come along," said Rainbow Dash, looking at him.

Erase looked at her, and then the entrance. He was seriously considering it.

"You do realize that if I get a reason to attack you, I will do so without a moment's thought."

"Hey, right back at ya."

***

The surface Rerry was running on had started to become even. She suddenly saw very carefully crafted stairs going downwards. She flied down all the steps. In front of her there were several bright red cloths, creating a sort of wall. To her left the stairs continued. She run down them, realizing she was running in a circle. She could hear Misery on the other side of the red, old fabric. She finally reached an opening, allowing her to run inside the big round empty room.

It was significantly smaller than the first entrance in the sewers, but still quite spacious. It was rather empty, the only thins in there was herself and Misery. The glassy black floor was covered in different marks and straight lines, creating an intricate pattern. The high ceiling was covered in the same red curtains that flowed down, creating the walls. It was oddly warm in there, and despite the fact that there was no visible source of light, it was still bathed in a warm brightness.

"Misery. They've beaten everyone. We don't have much time," said Rerry, looking behind her, being ready for when they would arrive.

"Be silent. I'm figuring out the necessary command to use this," said Misery.

"This?"

"This is Cesom. This black object we are currently standing on is Cesom. Quite fascinating, I expected it to be larger. The angle of the edge lead me to believe it takes up some sort of precise shape, perhaps a icosidodecahedron," said Misery. Rerry just looked confused.

"A what?"

"Let's just say it is a cube with more sides," said Misery in a condescending tone, Rerry's lack of knowledge just annoyed Misery.

"What are we going to d-"

"I told you to be quiet!" shouted Misery. Rerry immediately stopped talking, not wanting to see the wrath of her leader. It was frightening, even when she directed it at someone else.

Misery could not read the inscriptions on top of the massive object, but she knew what she needed to say.

"Misery!" yelled Twilight. Both of them turned around to see Twilight standing in the opening. She walked inside, using her magic to close the entrance behind her.

"You never give up, do you? Rerry, if you please," said Misery, hardly giving Twilight any attention. Rerry showed her fangs, and like an animal she tried to strike Twilight. Instead, Twilight merely forced the changeling to be held up in the air. It struggled as it did so. Twilight didn't focus on Rerry anymore than she had to. Misery was a much bigger threat with her mysterious weapon, and her intent to use Cesom.

At Rerry's swift defeat, Misery swooped around, aiming her gun towards Twilight who immediately moved Rerry in front of her. It was a mistake, and she should have realized that, but with the sudden threat of death in front of her she didn't have time to think. She didn't have time to figure out where to teleport, she didn't have the focus to create a forcefield so quickly.

"Don't, or Rerry will-"

Bang. Twilight dropped Rerry, she was hit, somewhere, all Twilight could see was a nasty wound and a lot of dark red blood.

"Why, Mrs. Misery? Why?" asked Rerry, hissing pathetically in front of her leader.

"Why? Because I've always considered you to be disgusting. You and your kind belong on the ground, dead and crushed like the insects you are," said Misery coldly. "At this point, I have nothing to gain from you. I sincerely hope you never considered yourself part of Group Misery."

Twilight started to focus on creating a protective forcefield, it would take a while, but maybe it would help her. The moment her magic started to give its distinctive sound, Misery pointed the gun towards Twilight again.

"Don't." Twilight was forced to cease it immediately.

"After everything I did for you..."

"Silence, insect. I allowed you to work with us because you had useful abilities and because Random requested it, nothing more. And now, Twilight, for you," said Misery, pointing her gun towards Twilight's head.

"But what are you going to do with Cesom? Take away magic from Equestria, the griffin kingdom? Some targets? Hold ponies hostage?"

"No. I'm going to use it on only one pony."

"And who is that?"

"Celestia," said Misery. Twilight's face was filled with shock and fear. It had gone from bad, to worse, to the absolute worst. She couldn't have known about it, this severe effect. Twilight had to stop her, right now. She only hoped Misery would not assume her to be lying.

"Misery, if you do that, then the entire-"

"Then the entire world will be destroyed, I know," said Misery with a wicked smile. "We will all plummet directly into the sun itself. Our futile existence in the cosmos coming to an abrupt but inevitable end. And I will be the one to do so."

"But why would you do such a thing?! What reason could you possibly have for that?!"

"Because I realized at a very young age that everything must come to an end. Nopony can stop that. It's impossible, and you might as well not even try. I understood that was true for the world itself. My family would die out, inevitable. Its memory would fade forever, inevitable. Any accomplishment eventually meaning nothing, not even in the long term cause and effect. Do you have any idea how infuriating that was to me? So, since everything is merely a candle slowly burning until it goes out, I decided to make it glow twice as bright for half as long. I failed. But now, I have the power to make all things burn... much faster than merely twice. Everything is pointless, Twilight Sparkle. I am merely the one with the glory to make the decision to end it all," said Misery.

Twilight just stared at the insane mare. She was truly a monster, and to Twilight there was no rhyme nor reason behind those words. She was just deranged. She needed to be stopped, but Twilight couldn't do much with that weapon pointed at her.

"But, what about the ponies you've manipulated, don't they mean anything to you?"

"Of course not. They are merely tools for me to use. They've frankly sickened me these past years, shallowing every single lie I've fed them. Such stupidity, such 'trust', is something I'll never understand. It almost made me get away with destroying Canterlot in my youth. It has allowed me to use them for my own goals."

Twilight sighed, looked over at the poor changeling Rerry. She was gasping for air, dealing with the pain. Both of being shot, and being betrayed.

"Fine. But, since you are doing this whole thing, could you tell me one more thing?" asked Twilight. Misery shrugged.

"Why not? The end will be the end, and I'm in no rush since I merely need to speak the words in here to win. Besides, as my role is the villain, I might as well indulge in a few clichés, I think I've earned it, and it might give us both some closure. What is it you want to know?"

"How did you know about Cesom to begin with?"

"It was all thanks to Princess Celestia, and the real Cycle of Destruction. You see, Twilight, about six years ago, I was just sitting in my cell, planning possible ways to get my revenge on Princess Celestia, and that's when it happened. Celestia destroyed Cesom, splitting it into eight pieces that flew all which way."

"Wait, I thought it was seven. Are you cursed too? That's just what I need," said Twilight and sighed.

"No, but your not too far from the truth. This is what happened: those pieces did not all go and curse somepony at once. The eight one contained the Cycle's mind, and it went straight to somepony who could sustain it outside its body. That was me. It came to me in my sleep, whispering all it knew. It offered to make a deal, allow me to host it, and I would get all the ancient knowledge I wanted," said Misery.

"Are you... a host to the Cycle?"

"The story isn't over yet. I asked it specifically for all of Celestia's secrets, something I could use against her. And then it told me about Cesom. I was overjoyed. I knew I could use it to destroy everything. The Cycle, on the exact same day it bonded to me, was horrified at all the destruction I craved. It objected to me, keeping the location of Cesom hidden. I knew enough to get to it myself, eventually. It was of no more use, so I killed it, snuffed out it in my mind. It screamed, but it did not do so for long. It was easy, it should not have entered me. I decided to escape, after... ensuring that the warden would not contact Celestia about it. After that was done, I wandered far away lands in search of the rest of my team."

"And I assume the Cycle told you where to find them?"

"No, the pieces did all not scatter, not in the end. I had all the pieces, and once I found everypony I could use, I made the piece find them all."

"It... it was you, not Celestia."

"They were cursed because of you. So much pain, and you used them," said Rerry weakly. She closed her eyes and drifted away. It was unclear if she was dead or alive. Misery barely even took time to notice of it.

"Celestia merely almost destroyed the Cycle, I made the pieces find hosts personally. I just had to tell them I had heard 'rumors' and that I had been 'searching' for them. They bought each and every lie. It was rather amusing. So, I've told you everything. Is that enough? Is it too little? Did you expect something more interesting?" asked Misery. Twilight glared at her for a moment before she burst out laughing.

"Oh, this is so rich," said Twilight through her laughter.

"What is so funny?"

"Because I've finally outsmarted you," said Twilight, just seconds away from teleporting to safety. Misery didn't waste any more time, she quickly and accurately aimed at Twilight's forehead, and she fired.

Darkest Hour

While Twilight had managed to stall Misery, the fact of the matter was that, in this fraction of a second, a metal slug was heading straight towards her forehead. She didn't have enough time to even register the sudden great explosion from the gun's muzzle, Twilight barely even had a clearly defined thought in her head. There was this one thread in her head, the start of realizing just how hopeless the situation had become with just a single strike.

Still, if she would have fully understood the fact that she was less then a tenth of a second away from swift death, then she still would not have mourned her fate. She had managed to at least remove a threat that Misery could use against her friends. At this point, she had to entrust everything to them. She just hoped they would not miss her too much.

And that was the moment Twilight noticed something right in front of her eyes.

A huge clang was heard in the room, and Twilight heard two things zoom past her head.

"Just in time," said Erase, landing on the floor in front of her. He had jumped right over Twilight, placing his sword in front of her, cutting the bullet in two, diverging it in such a way to not harm her. He was still in that dark cursed form. Twilight's ear stung a bit, but when she checked, it was unharmed. She realized that half of the bullet had grazed her, but she was alright. She was alive. Erase looked up at Misery. "So... it is indeed true."

"You heard, did you?" asked Misery, unamused.

"Yes. We all did," said Erase. Twilight had been aware of their presence, because she knew they simply had to catch up with her, but when nopony had come to her aid, she had managed to figure out what her friends had tried to do. Misery had told her, and them, everything important herself. Twilight removed the fabric concealing the entrance, and behind it, all of her friends were standing, and Mood, Instrumental, Solitary and Random. The moment Random saw Rerry, he rushed towards her with actual fear on his face, bowing down, unsure what to do. He was in complete shock. Fluttershy ran up to them, examining Rerry herself.

"How could you?" asked Instrumental with such spite in her voice. She was trembling with anger.

"I thought it was too much with Y, but now you hurt Rerry as well?! And you did all of this to us! I haven't been able to see my family because of you! I hate you! I hate you!" yelled Solitary, tears running down her cheeks.

"Misery, our goal has been to punish the pony that caused us to be cursed. What you have done is indeed much more terrifying than anything we could muster on our own. Prepare to be punished for your crimes, either by my blade, or by the law. The choice is yours."

"This is my choice," said Misery, taking a single step backwards. Twilight realized to her horror that she was standing in the middle of Cesom. She raised her front legs above her heads. "Enneh nårf igam senneh at! Adyl ta gid rellafeb gaj. Cesom, anniraksräh snelos argeseb cho aksräheb!" As she spoke those words, the lines in the large stone suddenly glowed, they flashed with a white light before everything turned silent.

"In retrospect, we probably should just have had her killed before she could act," said Erase, calmly, looking directly at Misery who was still pointing her gun towards them. The only reason Erase, despite his skill with a sword, had managed to cut a bullet was that he had known where Misery had aimed, and that he had been very, very lucky. He would hardly be able to perform such a feat again, and he doubted that even his thick armor-like skin would be able to withstand such a weapon. Misery would have planned for such an event.

"Did, did it stop working?" asked Fluttershy.

"No, it is merely taking its time," said Misery. Suddenly, a hole appeared in the roof right above the center where Misery stood, stone had simply vanished into thin air. Twilight could feel a cool draft from above. In the blink of an eye, whatever light was in the room vanished, and the only source of light was a beam, coming from far above, from the full moon itself.

"I have a bad feeling about this," said Random, holding Rerry carefully in a worrying embrace.

Again, the lines and complex patterns on Cesom's surface started to glow, pulsing. A subtle sound started to noticeably become apparent, like a tone in the back of their heads. Twilight's throat felt dry and she had some trouble standing up straight. The light started to gather in a single place on Cesom, the center.  Misery made sure to not stand there.

"We need to stop-"

The room was bathed in a golden and white light. In less than a second, it converged into a single point beneath Random, and then it slowly started to reach towards the sky.

"It's a beam! It will try to get to the Princess!" yelled Twilight. "If that happens, we all die!"

"It's too late! Even touching this will result in your demise!" yelled Misery, her white mane flowing in the strong winds.

"I won't let you win, Merry!" yelled Random, suddenly sprinting towards the center, leaping towards it. As he got above it, the light shot out towards the sky, but it could not even touch him. His very presence reflected away the light, stopping it from leaving the chamber. Instead its powerful energy was wildly and randomly split, constantly moving in smaller beams towards the upper walls. They set fire to the red curtains surrounding them.

"Get away from there!" yelled Misery. She shot towards him, but of course, it merely missed, hitting the ground.

"Cursing me was a big mistake on your part, Merry," said Random with a strained voice, he sounded like he was in pain, and the sheer force towards his body, as resilient as the curse made him, slowly made him being pushed upwards. Twilight knew they had to find a way to stop it before he was completely pushed aside.

Misery suddenly seemed to struggle with her weapon. She seemed to have no more ammunition for it.

"Rainbow Dash! Get her!" yelled Twilight.

"Right!"

In less than a second, Misery was tackled by Rainbow Dash. Twilight ran up to her, her horn glowing, emitting dangerously hot energy. She put it right up to Misery's neck.

"Tell us how to stop it! Tell us how to stop it, now!" ordered Twilight. Misery merely laughed.

"I don't even know how. I only know one or two commands, both to destroy the world. But even if I did know a way to let you live, you would never be able to make me talk. Within a few minutes, Celestia will have lost her powers, and I will have won."

"Tell us, you insane wacko!" yelled Spike, in a fit of desperation he punched her in her face, believing her to lie. It was not a lie, but none of them believed it. Misery started to bleed a slight bit, but she smiled at him.

"You are a dragon, are you not? What's more terrifying? That not even your hide will protect you against the sun's heat? Or that you and your kin will actually be able to survive on its surface, slowly starving and suffocating as your home is melting and burning around you? Tell me, if you will," said Misery, giving him a frightening grin.

"We only have one hope left. Mood," said Erase oddly serene, looking back at Mood who had not even moved from the entrance. He was just staring down on the floor. "Mood! Help us!" ordered Erase.

"What can he do?" asked Spike.

"Not much, but unless any of you can read minds, then he's our only chance. Mood, come on." It was clear that Mood was in shock.

"We've wasted so much for so little. We've hurt so many, and not one bit of it justifiable. We're monsters... I can't, I can't use these eyes ever again, they are the worst of me. I thought I had someone who understood, a way to finally make my family laugh again, all taken from me," said Mood, a bit distant, as he looked up at them, he was crying. Erase was the only one not looking away, he looked right into his eyes, but without fear.

"Grieve later, my friend. Right now, we need you to take the first step to make amends," said Erase.

"'Make amends', Erase? What could you possibly do to make amends of the poor ponies you've killed, or even murdered? It was for nothing. You can't see yourself in the mirror anymore, can you? You don't even dare to call yourself Hiltguard, anymore, do you?! Hiltguard would never have reached such desperation, and you are not him, anymore. If you do not believe our curses represents darkness in our hearts, then look no further than at yourself as you are now. You are not Hiltguard the Warrior, anymore, are you?! You've turned into Erase the Beast! She's turned you, and all of us, into monsters!" yelled Mood, ignoring the fires that started to spread in the red curtains.

Erase just looked at him with determination. He seemed to refuse to weep, but just like with everypony else, he would could do nothing to stop the tears in his face. He did not divert his eyes from Mood, however.

"Mood, she has done a lot to hurt us. She has tricked us to hurt others, but this is no time to cry over it. If we truly regret what we have done, it is our duty to stop this. It is merely a first step, but an important one. Please, help us. Just use your power one more time," said Erase. "I will personally cut out your eyes and tongue so you can be with your family, if you wish me to. I will do whatever it takes for you to use them, just, this, one, more, time. Be brave."

Mood didn't move.

"Okay, how about using it for payback?" asked Spike. Mood immediately walked up to Misery who looked away with an expression of rare dread.

"I will break you, in half if I need to. You will not hurt my family through me or anything else, ever again," said Mood with ferocity, finally getting out of his shocked state. Spike grabbed Misery's head and forced her to look at Mood, but she kept her eyes closed.

"Could you hurry up! I'm about to fall off!" yelled Random.

"The odds of it working are slim! Just because you might get tidbits of information doesn't mean-" Misery started, but she was rudely interrupted.

"Shut up and open your eyes!" yelled Applejack, pulling her lids open. Misery found herself looking directly into Mood's crying eyes.

"Atulsva, Cesom," said Mood. Random suddenly fell down on the ground, as the beam immediately ceased to shine. Within moments, the surface's glow receded back into the giant black obsidian shape. The opening above them ceased to exist, returning back to nothing but stone. Twilight let out a simply huge sigh of relief. It seemed like the danger was over.

"You think that's enough to make me cry? Instead you make me laugh. I can always-"

"Reslennabröf aråv trob at cho vläjs gid atniröf, Cesom," said Mood. Suddenly, Twilight heard a sound in the room. It came from beneath them. It was a single crack where they stood.

"What did you do?" asked Misery in terror.

"I think... I destroyed it," said Mood. Twilight just stared at him, almost in utter disbelief. If only Celestia could have been there, because the very hope of Cesom's destruction would have made her very happy. Suddenly, the crack started to expand, but it was quite slow, and the cracks were small. It seemed to pose no threat to them.

"Are you sure you really just destroyed it? Doesn't seem like a big crack," said Rainbow Dash. Then, with a loud noise like broken glass, the entire thing was covered in cracks in an instant.

"No! NO!" yelled Misery.

"Misery, it's over," said Mood.

"I won't let it end! I've worked too hard for this day!" yelled Misery. As her captors were busy in the moment, worrying about the cracks, she suddenly punched those holding her down and got away from them. She managed to get to the center again, and she pulled out something beneath her cloak. Twilight recognized it from some old schematics a guard had showed her a few days prior. It was a bomb.

"Don't!" yelled Twilight. Misery pushed a button, and Twilight could hear a ticking.

"Whatever energy is in this ancient artifact can change the universe itself! If I can hurt it now, maybe I can at least make the extreme energy release take down the mountain, maybe the entire world!" yelled Misery. Twilight noticed a single tear run down her cheek in her desperation.

They all hurried to approach her, but Misery held up the bomb, the threat enough to stop them in their tracks.

"Don't, a second push of this button and we're all going to die down here. I prefer to survive, and do better next time, just in case my plan fail again. Still, I won't hesitate to send you all straight to hell. I imagine it can't be much further down than were we are right now," said Misery. "One minute left before this explodes," said Misery. The cracks beneath them started to get more severe, and the fires around them started to make it all a little too warm for comfort.

"Hey, Merry," said Twilight. Misery looked over at her.

"What, Twilight Sparkle?" Twilight just smirked, and then she teleported from her sight, revealing the pony right behind her: Mood, who was staring right at Misery. Misery's second to last thought in this reality was 'She used him on me, the irony'. She fell over, dropping the bomb who landed safely beside her.

"I don't know what your inner demons are, but I honestly hope you never get away from them," said Twilight, looking down on the unmoving body. Suddenly, light started to shine in between the cracks, and suddenly, every cursed pony there was enveloped in light.

"What's happening?!" shouted Instrumental. They all asked themselves the same thing, but they received their answer when Erase suddenly started to shrink and return to his normal colors. His black armor simply fading away like a dark stain on reality being washed away. His talons were turned to hooves, and his swords dropped to the ground, shattering into a thousand pieces, and then disappearing in black smoke.

For a moment, Erase could only look upon his hooves, his actual hooves. He looked so shocked, unsure, but eventually a new emotion could be seen in his face: happiness.

In a very short amount of time, all at once, most of them explored the implications of it.

"Spike," said Random. Spike was on the same wavelength, and punched Random in his side. He didn't miss, his fist was not pushed aside. Random was actually bruised.

"It works! I can be punched! Hurray!" yelled Random.

"They are gone! Our curses are gone!" yelled Solitary. She proceeded to hug Erase, who blushed at the sudden embrace.

"Hey, jerk," said Rainbow Dash to him. He looked up at her. "Ha, made you look."

"I, I can see you in the eyes, I can... But how is this possible?" asked Mood.

"Maybe you told Cesom to take away your curses?" asked Twilight.

"Hello!? There's a bomb in here with us!?" yelled Fluttershy from over at Rerry's side.

"Right," said Twilight, just a tad too calmly. "Run!" she yelled, in a distinctly more panicky voice.

"Help me with Rerry, please!" yelled Random, running up to the changeling.

"I got her!" yelled Twilight.

"What about Misery?" asked Fluttershy, unsure about what to do.

"I'm more worried about the bomb," said Rarity.

"It should go off any second now. Do you think it could destroy the foundation of Canterlot? Or worse?" asked Erase.

"I don't think it could work this deep down into the mountain, and I doubt anyone would create Cesom so it could destroy anything like that. If that was true, these huge cracks would have blown it up already. Come on, we have to leave now!" said Twilight. She was about to grab Misery when the cracks suddenly greatly expanded, Misery fell inside the dark stone, outside Twilight's reach. She started to run towards the crack to get her, but Erase stopped her.

"There's no time, Twilight Sparkle, just leave her!" said Erase.

"I can't just leave a pony to die!"

"But can you risk the wellbeing of all of your friends?" asked Erase, looking into her eyes. Twilight didn't like it, in fact, she hated it, but there was a certain amount of truth in his words.

"She'll probably be fine if she's a ghost," said Pinkie Pie in the background. Twilight didn't hear anything.

"Damn it, no time! Just run!" yelled Twilight. As they left the room, averting their faces from the intense flames, Twilight thought that perhaps this had turned out for the better. With an ego as hers, Misery might never have been able to return from the curse like Twilight had. And Twilight doubted that Misery would enjoy the rest of her life trapped in a cell.

"I've almost forgotten how it's like to run on all four hooves," said Erase, sounding oddly blissful, considering the fact their lives were once again in danger.

***

Misery found herself in an endless gray void, her hooves touched no water, just an empty dry wasteland, cracked by the lack of moisture. All was so darkly gray.

"Where am I? What did you do, Mood?!" yelled Misery with anger in her voice. It echoed, but quickly fading out. She heard something behind her, she turned around with her gun at the ready, taking aim, forgetting she had run out of bullets. What she saw made her unable to fire.

"Merry, it is so nice to see you again," said the stallion in front of her.

"Not possible, I- I killed you! I felt you fade away myself!" shouted Misery.

"It's alright, everything will be alright," said the stallion.

"You can't be him, you can't be my father!" yelled Misery in anger. The sandy stallion with the white mane walked closer to her. He reached out her hooves and embraced Misery, she had not felt a hug in a very long time.

"I forgive you, Merry. I love you, my dearest daughter," said Silver.

"Stop it! I killed you!"

"And I forgive you for it. I am a bit disappointed in you, but hey, every father has to go through the rough times," said Silver.

"Stop it! STOP IT! I hate you!"

"As a father that loves you, I want you to know that you are an aspect of yourself right now. You are your own ego. Goodbye," said Silver, smiling as Misery fell through the ground, down into darkness. She fell and she fell, for what seemed like a very long time. She was very confused at what was happening. And then she opened her eyes.

She found herself in the very heart of Cesom, surrounded by stone constantly shattering and breaking. The fires above was her only light source. In the light, she saw something fall down right next to her. It was her own bomb. The little clock on the side showed that there was still time. Three seconds.

Her last thought in this reality was 'Curse you, Twilight Sparkle, you little fu-'. As always, the foolish mare only blamed anyone and everyone but herself.

***

The group had just gotten outside of the room as they heard, and felt, an explosion from Cesom's chamber.

"Don't stop, just run!" yelled Twilight.

"Everything is coming down on top of us!" yelled Spike who was riding on Erase's back. Indeed, the very top of the tunnel was breaking apart, cracks everywhere, the sound of a mountain giving in echoing in the endless cave.

"Just keep going! I did not come so far just to die!" yelled Solitary.

"Come on, just past the next room!" yelled Twilight, still carrying the changeling.

"Hang in there, Rerry, please don't die, not now," said Random.

"C-chance," she whispered, barely audible in the collapsing tunnel.

As they reached the exit, Erase got behind them and basically pushed them all ahead by running as fast as he could. They leaped out into the open, and sturdy cave just as the tunnel collapsed completely. They landed on the ground, breathing heavily, the adrenaline easing the pain of any injury, their beating hearts making them unable to properly hear, but they were fine, mostly, at least.

***

"Someone, somewhere, I don't know who, hates me with a passion," said Erase, Solitary helping him walk by letting him lean towards her.

"Erase, I'm so sorry," said Solitary.

"It's alright, don't worry about it. I am just happy to finally be rid of the curse. Exchanging one bad leg for another means little to me as long as nopony but myself is hurt," said Erase. Twilight looked back at them as they walked through the caverns, they were almost at the elevator up. Spike was still shaking on Twilight's back, Erase had asked him for something so innocent, and it had turned out to be something so gruesome.

"Erase, you could have told Spike about what you were planning on doing with the fire," said Twilight.

"I was bleeding too much and I needed to close the wound. Spike, be proud, your flames saved my life," said Erase, looking back at his hind leg, or rather, his lack of one. The entire limb had been completely crushed under a large boulder. There had been blood everywhere. The pain of both the crushing and the fire necessary to close the wound of the amputated limb had been so terrible Erase had fainted, three times, but he was slowly recovering from the shock. The gruesome view was something he didn't particularly enjoy seeing.

"I guess... that you're going to need a lot of help from now on," said Solitary.

"I'm handicapped, not helpless. You don't need to do anything."

"But I want to."

"I don't nee- I don't deserve you!"

"Hiltguard, I love you!" she burst out. There was a sudden silence as the two ponies stopped. The others had to get up to save Rerry, so they kept going.

"Solitary, I... You're too young, too inexperienced, too... too good for me."

"We both know we've done terrible things. I'm not too good for anyone."

"But you have merely caused ponies to be lonely, and even that have been tearing you apart. I've killed."

"Because you thought you had too, because you were forced! I know you have a bad side, Hiltguard, but that's not why I love you. I love you because of all the good in you, I've seen some of it, and I know from your pain alone that you have plenty more good to share. Please share it with me," said Solitary.

"Solitary, I-"

"My name is Sheila Shield, Hiltguard. And I love you."

"I... I love you too, but-"

"No buts. Hiltguard, I'm far too aware how it is to be all alone in the world. I know you of all ponies know that feeling well. I never want to be alone again. I'm asking you to at least try. If you are not good for me, we will see that, and I will respect your decision then and let us just be friends, but I will not accept you deciding what is right or not before we've even given it a chance," said Sheila.

"I-"

"Just a chance. Let's share a cell or something, let us have some good talks, where I don't have to be afraid of calling you 'friend', 'chum', or... 'sweetie'."

"Get going you two, you're falling behind," said Applejack. She leaned closer to Twilight. "They, are going into a cell, aren't they?" she whispered.

"They have to be punished in some way, right?" said Twilight just as quietly.

"We will all willingly be put into a prison, Twilight. But, considering I helped save the world with using my body as a shield, I have some demands," said Random.

"What are they?" asked Twilight. If she, or anyone, would allow his demands to be met was all about what they were.

"Dot go free and return to her parents. She has had nothing to do with this. She's more innocent than you. The second is that Rerry goes free if she choses to. She has merely followed my orders. It's in changeling nature. I love her, I don't want to see her starve inside a cell. Also, please let Mood meet his family at least once. Just for a single day." He sounded calm, yet it was like he was pleading,

"We'll see, I think," said Twilight.

"For what little it's worth, I'm sorry, we all are, but mostly me. I didn't quite trust her, but my friends were happy in her care, so I never actually confirmed any suspicions. I wonder how many lives she has taken without our knowledge," said Random, walking closer to the levitating Rerry.

"I just happy this is all over," said Spike.

"It's not quite over yet. What about Celestia?" asked Twilight.

"This is so not fair. I mean, Y was in Group Misery, that vote shouldn't count," said Spike, looking down at the ground.

"Wait... What if it doesn't?" asked Fluttershy, getting her hopes up.

"No, the vote counts. What matters is not who started the vote, but the tally," said Random, dashing her hopes swiftly.

"Why?"

"It's a loophole that Misery made sure to exploit. To me, it makes sense now that one of us 'just happened' to be a politician who could get into the meeting. Since the vote was originally designed to get tyrants off the throne, it was deemed that if the vote had started, by, say, a bunch of villages pleading with the council to hold it, then it would be followed through. That's what happens when you write laws with poor wording in it, somepony will find a way to exploit it."

"There... there just have to be a way to get Celestia back on the throne," said Twilight.

"If there is one, nopony will have seen it coming, and you would end up making a lot of ponies angry," said Random.

"If only you would have kept your curse," said Twilight. Random couldn't help but to laugh at that notion.

"Yeah, I suppose. I think I would have used my powers on them ahead of time, but we didn't want to risk being found out too soon. Maybe that would have been useful to you."

"Hm... There has to be a loophole. I've read about the law... Just let me think," said Twilight.

"Please wait, just focus on Rerry, I beg you," said Random. Twilight saw the elevator in the distance, they would soon be out of here. And then, they would head for the castle.

***

Twilight left Rerry in the hospital wing to be taken cared of by some medical ponies, if they could help her with her wounds since she was a changeling was far from certain, but for the moment it was everything Twilight and her friends could do. Erase was also left there, to get proper care for his removed limb.

As they had said, they had willingly entered the dungeon, all of them. Random had asked to be with Rerry, and Solitary had asked to be with Erase, but Twilight had to deny them that until she was sure what to do. For the moment, she had to think of a way to get Celestia back on the throne. Random accepted it, not happy, but understanding. Solitary did so too.

So, she walked through the corridors, quietly reciting the law surrounding the vote to herself. Since it was an old law, it was quite likely there was something overlooked by the ponies and rulers of olden times. Something, something...

"I'm missing something. 'As a member of the royals or delegates initiate voting the vote can be passed once all present at the meeting vote'. I keep... I keep getting back to that, there is something... Wait." What had Celestia said? She had used different words describing that part of the law.

'Everyone here has voted, and the vote is final once cast.'

Then Twilight's eyes widened. "I've got it!" she yelled, turning towards her friends.

"What?"

"Let's see, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten... Yes, there are enough, but they might not listen to me... Still, it's a chance," said Twilight to herself.

"Princess, what are you doing?" asked Applejack. Twilight just shook her head.

"Technically, I'm not a princess yet, or maybe ever," said Twilight. "Come on! We need to get to the meeting right away."

"It's way past midnight, they are probably not even-"

"Then I'll force them to get there! They have not finished something they started!" said Twilight, filled with hope. There was still a slim chance, they could get Celestia back in charge.

"What?"

"The vote isn't over yet! The law says that 'everyone present' is supposed to vote before it's over, not just the delegates and royals. We, Cadance, Shining Armor and every other guard there can still vote. We can tip the scale!"

"Come on, then! Let's go!" yelled Rainbow Dash and flew ahead.

***

As they reached the meeting room, the delegates were about to leave.

"Not so fast, everyone!" shouted Twilight, trying to sound like she was in command. Most turned to her, surprised. Some didn't listen to her. They had no real reason to. As far as they knew, their obligations were done for the day.

"What is it?"

"I need every single one of you back in that room at once. We have not finished our business there," said Twilight. She turned towards Shining Armor.

"Shining Armor, find a guard and tell him to go find Celestia and bring her here," said Twilight. King Pero walked up to her and her brother.

"Impossible, Princess Twilight. As we've said you are not-"

"King Pero, the vote isn't over yet," said Twilight. This made all of those on their way to their rooms stop in their tracks.

"What do you mean?" asked Pero.

"The law states that everyone present must vote before it is decided, not everyone just in the meeting. There were plenty present that haven't voted yet. Me included," said Twilight. Pero stared at her a bit funny for a short moment, before his eyes widened in shock.

"That's correct! Celestia is still technically a ruler. Her crowning of you isn't valid under these circumstances," said Pero, hopeful. He grabbed the tiara on Twilight's head and turned to everyone there. "Come on, everyone, back in, we have a vote to finish!" he basically commanded to the tired group. "Yes, your guards too, everyone who was there must be so again," said King Pero before turning back to Twilight. "What about this Y fellow?"

"He's dead."

"Oh well, we know what he voted on anyway," said Pero.

"Your Majesty, if I may ask. You are Celestia's friend, but you voted against her, why?" King Pero sighed.

"Because her transgressions were too big for me to overlook. My position as king essentially forced me to try to punish Celestia for summoning the Circle of Destruction. Otherwise my kingdom could suffer greatly for it in the long run. But..." He turned towards his own guards. "You, I would just like to say that I have absolutely nothing against you voting for Princess Celestia to stay in charge here," said King Pero, not so subtly hinting of what he wanted them to do. "After all, it's not like the opinion of a few guards can properly reflect an entire kingdom," said King Pero, grinning to them. That was good, sure, it was only about three votes, but still, every vote would count. They could very well lose again if every other guard voted against her.

"Can't we try to, like, butter them up?" asked Spike, looking at the unsure guards.

"No, don't. They could just see it like that, and then they might vote against her because of spite," said Cadance. "It's best to just respect their opinion. I get the impression that lack of respect has been a problem these past few days. Let's not make it worse," said Cadance.

"At least some of the guards are on Celestia's side. Thank goodness for old broken laws," said Spike.

"Let's hope for the best. Princess Luna, I'll make sure to inform you about what has happened, but for now, everything is fine. Misery is defeated. We won't have to worry about her anymore. We won."

Sunrise

They were all seated, Twilight was just there, staring at the tiara in front of her. It represented all of her fears and hopes. The burden of being a monarch, or the joy of an old friend returning to them, return to her. She looked around at all the ones gathered there. For once, those charged with guarding the royals were the ones to make an important decision. Twilight didn't like the look on their faces. Those who had already voted were not allowed to change their vote at this stage. It was all up to these unknown visitors from foreign lands.

"As before, those of you that want Celestia off the throne, you raise your hoof, or, hand, or whatever, I'm tired," said Pero. Twilight stood up on her seat.

"I know I have no real authority here, but, could I perhaps say something?" asked Twilight. King Pero smiled at her.

"Of course you can," said King Pero. Several tired royals groaned. It was quite late, after all. Luna was the only one there who could have been described as alert, no surprise there.

Twilight took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. She felt a need to be composed, how she acted now could change everything in ways she couldn't even imagine.

"Thank you all for being so patient. Before we begin, I want to tell you something very important. I believe that Celestia is right for Equestria, and I also believe that despite her flaws, letting her have her throne, her birthright, is also the best for the rest of the world. I do not mean much by that, except for the fact that she is compassionate. She makes her ponies happy, and if others ask for help, she readily gives it to them. The thing that is the biggest problem, that she summoned the Cycle of Destruction, I get why that made the council feel a need to vote against her. I know that is a problem, but I'm also sure that Celestia has been punished enough for that mistake at this point. She was disgraced, she almost lost everything she had because of that. And you know what she did? She did nothing. She did not give up her duty of guiding the sun, because she was aware that if she did, then we would all face long harsh winters. She respected the council's choice. Even when off the throne, she still holds very much power in her hooves. She could control and destroy everything, but she refuses to. She is merely a pony, trying to keep her subjects, and those beyond her borders, happy and content. Yes, summoning the Cycle was a single moment of foolishness, but she didn't do it because of ill will, or evil, she did it because of love. Love, for her sister, the same love she shows her friends, subjects... and everyone else. You are no exception. Now, when we vote, who would you prefer to wear that tiara, that crown? A pony like me you barely even know, who has never ruled anyone? Or an experienced Princess that is filled with love, compassion, and peace? If nothing else, if you don't like Celestia, and that's okay, then at least you will know where she is at all times. If you still do not trust her, at least you will always know she is here in this castle, rather than a wild card out in the world. Now, vote, please," said Twilight, sitting back down.

"Voting continues. Begin," said King Pero. Twilight just took a deep breath, holding her hooves tightly together towards the table, like she feared that they would suddenly just jump up and vote against her beloved mentor. It was silly, but she didn't even want to risk it. She kept her eyes closed. She could hear movements around her. It was clear some had voted against, but how many?

Please, please, please, she thought to herself. The moment very slowly passed. There were no whispers, no idle chitchat. Just the sound of ponies and other beings breathing, as the seconds ticked by one by one.

"The votes have been counted, and added to the total sum. I'm sorry, Twilight Sparkle," said King Pero, walking up to her seat, placing his claw on her shoulder. Twilight opened her eyes in fear to see that a whole twelve had voted against Celestia. It all totaled up to- "But I'm going to keep this safe until she comes back," said Pero, picking up the tiara from the table. The majority had become the minority. Celestia's return and subsequent stay had been decided by merely one vote.

Twilight turned towards everyone there. "Well," she said. "I do believe that settles it. I believe you are all entitled to a good night's sleep," said Twilight.

Some ponies and some of the guests started to move out of the room. Twilight and every single one of her friends stayed behind, as did some of the guards who had voted. King Pero stayed there as well, keeping the tiara quite safely tucked away beneath his cloak. As the last left the room and closed the door behind them, they all jumped up and cheered.

"We did it! We did it!" yelled Spike in triumph.

"Twilight, you saved my sister! I thank you most dearly!" shouted Luna with a mighty voice, hugging Twilight like she was a little doll.

"Good show!" said King Pero, dancing merely with Pinkie Pie.

"Wait, can't they just hold the vote again?" asked Shining Armor. Cadance shook her head.

"Not for at least ten years. By that time, Celestia will be back in their favor, I have no doubts about that," she said with a smile.

"I hate politics. I really do," said King Pero.

"When will she be back?" asked Spike.

"She should return soon. It has been some time after all, so we should not expect an immediate return."

***

So, they waited. Some of the guards there, some of which didn't even belong to Equestria, were quite cheerful, even relaxed. Shining Armor had sent for some food and refreshment, which they all eagerly took part of. Pinkie Pie had left for a little while, and Twilight was quite surprised when she returned. It was the former members of Group Misery.

"I figured we needed a party atmosphere," said Pinkie Pie, handing Instrumental her keyboard.

"But how did you, how...? It doesn't matter. Why are Eras- Hiltguard, and Rerry here too? They should be resting," said Twilight.

"Our wounds are not that dangerous to us, I was dismissed and sent to the dungeon again shortly after you left me there. And as far as I know, Rerry will heal well if she is with Chance," said Hiltguard.

"Chance?"

"That would be me," said Random, letting Rerry lean towards him. Her wound had been bandaged and she was already on her way to health. "Why are you looking at us like that? We merely followed this Pinkie Pie."

"Just don't escape, you have to answer to Celestia once she gets back," said Twilight. Chance looked at her with a somewhat nervous look.

"Right, yes. Of course," he said a bit hesitant. "Wow, I haven't been afraid of a beating in a long time," he said, surprised at himself.

"Do you really think she would beat him?" whispered Spike.

"I don't think so, maybe? No, what am I saying? Of course not. Not physical punishment, some kind punishment, yes, no doubt, they deserve it, but not hitting them in revenge. That's just not Celestia," answered Twilight.

"Are we talking about the same Celestia? The one who sent a filly to a griffin prison?"

"That's different. She tried to destroy Canterlot, these ponies just tried to get to Cesom to get rid of their curses. If it hadn't been for Misery, then we would never would have had to deal with this mess. Then no poor pony would have died," said Twilight.

"I, I wonder how many Misery has killed behind our backs," said Chance, looking greatly concerned.

"How many have you killed personally, or hurt beyond repair?" asked Twilight.

"Few, but still too many. Many scared and threatened ponies. I've... killed one, in her cursed name," said Hiltguard.

"Nopony has ever suffered for more than a day with me. Still, that doesn't change the fact that I've removed much of value from many ponies. Still, I refuse to be blamed for any situation where they outright willingly accepted the terms. I've rarely had to force somepony to accept by blackmail. I have technically been conspiring with Misery against the throne, so I'm hardly innocent."

"I've caused fear in ponies, and exhausted them like you wouldn't believe, but nopony has ever died because of me," said Instrumental. "Wait, what about Dot?"

"She's safe. I deemed her harmless myself, so I spoke with the guards. She is on the journey home to her parents," said Luna.

"Poor little Dot. Maybe now, she will finally be in public without creating chaos," said Chance. Suddenly, the doors flung open with great force. Twilight and Shining Armor were both shocked to see a pair of familiar faces there this late.

"I knew I heard your voice," said Twilight Velvet with tears in her eyes. Night Sky was standing right next to her. They both looked directly at their children.

"Mom!"

"Dad!"

All four of them ran, bumping into each other. A big warm group hug soon followed. Twilight was just so happy to finally see them see her in turn.

"We've missed you so much," said Shining Armor.

"I've- Wait, somepony is missing," said Velvet, reaching out her leg towards Cadance who proceeded to a bit sleepily join into the hug.

Sheila "Solitary" Shields turned away at first, not wanting to feel the shame of having separated such a loving family, but she took a deep breath and then walked over towards them. She patiently waited until they were done, which started with Night Sky recognizing her, looking down at her somewhat. They all turned towards her.

"I'm sorry that I did this to you. I can say that I was just following orders, but that's never the right thing to say. I can't blame Misery for what I agreed to do. I apologize, my only excuse... is that I was desperate to be hugged by my own family. Hm, they're going to be quite ashamed of me once I contact them," said Sheila.

"We'll be able to forgive you, eventually, but for now, please just let us spend time with our children in peace," said Velvet. Sheila nodded her head respectfully and walked over to Hiltguard.

"That was quite mature of you, Shelly."

"'Shelly'? You're calling me 'Shelly'?"

"I thought it would be cute," said Hiltguard a bit awkwardly.

Mood approached Twilight, keeping his eyes on her hooves like a reflex.

"Twilight Sparkle, and Spike. I'm am sorry too for what I've said and done to you. I know what I attempted is despicable, and I will never forgive myself-"

"I can forgive you," said Spike, walking up to him, looking up into his eyes. Mood just stared at him, and then he started to cry. He ran away, blubbering from tears of joy, thanking Spike as he ran and buried his head in a nearby tablecloth.

"Hey, could I... could I, play some music? I haven't done that in a long time without something bad happening," said Instrumental, a bit meekly.

"Sure, silly, it wouldn't be a party otherwise. I'll be the drummer!" said Pinkie Pie, grabbing her by the hoof and pulling her up on the stage. Once Instrumental managed to start playing something simple, she looked quite happy. It didn't take long for her to indulge herself, playing as much as she could. Pinkie Pie and her actually managed to create a really nice beat. It was worth dancing to.

"Well, I suppose since this might be our last night outside of a cell, we better enjoy ourselves. Perhaps it would help with the healing," said Chance. Rerry was almost about to start dancing when he stopped her. "I mean mentally."

***

And, to the surprise of many, they did enjoy themselves. While they had all experienced some rather awful things during their time there, at least there were some nice moments too. The two groups of ponies did generally stay away from each other during the night. It was both from fear and respect, from both their sides. Fear of judgment from the former Group Misery and the respect they had for Twilight and her friends. Chance realized that they were in great debt to Twilight, who had saved all of them from Misery, who had exposed her lies, who had not merely left them all down that hole to die for their crimes.

With that in mind, they still managed to have a good party, filled with the joy of finally having rid themselves of their curses, of finally having defeated Misery. But, the greatest joy for Twilight came as the night had reached its end. The sun was slowly rising, shining in through the large windows. The door slowly opened, and there, stood Princess Celestia. Twilight just looked at her for a while before running right into her embrace.

"I thought I would never see you again," said Twilight.

"So did I, my dearest Twilight." She did not let go of her pupil for quite some time. King Pero strolled up to her, getting out the tiara from under his cloak.

"I believe this is yours," said King Pero. Celestia glared at him with a stern look, but then broke out a smile and accepted her grown back. She gently placed it back on her head where it belonged.

"It feels nice to be back again, I can't deny that, and I won't," said Princess Celestia. Her very appearance just looked more lively with the return of her crown, even her mane started to flow a little from her wonderful aura. She took a deep breath, and then looked at the former members of Group Misery.

"All of you, get over here," said Celestia, quite cross. They walked a bit hesitatingly towards her, but not one of them seemed to want to run. They bowed down in front of her. "You've hurt and terrorized my citizens; followed a psychopath in a quest to destroy me and what I stood for; Invaded my castle and attacking my guards; made my star pupil unable to speak with her family; and you almost helped destroy everything everywhere. So, what do you have to say for yourselves?"

"Nothing, except that we are sorry. We do not know you well, but some ponies here have described you as merciful. We do not expect mercy, however. Do with us as you please," said Hiltguard.

"Is this all really our fault, however? Misery has lied to us for a very long time, manipulating us, pretending to be our stern friend, I'm still shocked at what I've learned today, and it was not Misery who summoned the Cycle of Destruction," said Instrumental. Hiltguard hit her on her shoulder, slightly too hard.

"But she was the one who chose to give them to us. It doesn't matter for me anymore. In the beginning, I chose to side with Misery, and everything that happened from that point on was due to that decision. As far as I am concerned, everything that has happened was due to that choice, and nothing else. Sure, Celestia is partly to blame for the curse in the first place, but not the part we wanted to get revenge on. And now, when we have seen just what revenge can do, the pain and terror it can cause, I do not wish to pursue it anymore. We are responsible for our actions, that is true for Celestia, but that does not automatically mean that we are excluded from that rule. We have been aware of this for some time, it is time we do as we say. We have to forgive, and receive punishment."

"True," said Celestia, looking down on him.

"Celestia, there is something I want to tell you before you decide their punishment," said Twilight.

"And what is that?" asked Celestia, sounding patient.

"While, I haven't exactly seen the result, I did see the beginning of it. They have destroyed Cesom," said Twilight. Celestia looked at her, first in disbelief. But when it dawned on her that Twilight was speaking truth, it was a sight to behold.

"They did?"

"Erase, or Hiltguard, had to stop Cesom before it destroyed everything, so he used Mood's strange power. He managed to find or figure out some sort of incantation that made Cesom crack up, and break into pieces. Also, a bomb exploded on it. I didn't see that part, I heard it though."

"This... I've tried to protect the world for centuries by keeping it safe. I've wanted to destroy it a hundred times over. I've tried, as well! Tell me, what did you do to destroy that terrible threat?" asked Celestia in disbelief.

"I have a decent memory, and I believe Mood said 'Reslennabröf aråv trob at cho vläjs gid atniröf, Cesom'," said Chance.

Celestia just fell down on her knees. She looked like she was in absolute shock.

"What? Is that bad?" asked Fluttershy nervously.

"No, it's wonderful," said Celestia. She started to laugh, and she did so loudly. "After all that time, after all this time keeping it secret, and it was so easy. I, I've tried to use magic to annihilate it, complex, old magic, and nothing has worked. And it turns out I have been trying too hard! I cannot believe this!" she said, laughing with extreme joy.

"Celestia, what are you talking about?" asked Twilight.

"Cesom works with commands in a long dead tongue, so ancient that nothing natural remembers them. I only learned the language after studying a stone inscribed with it, for a decade, and I barely know it still. Those words, they are literally just a command, telling Cesom to destroy itself and remove their curse." She laughed even harder. "I never even suspected something like that, oh joy! So much worry, for nothing! Oh, life has a twisted but lovely sense of humor," said Celestia, finally getting the composure to stand upright again. "Oh, oh... Well, you have still committed quite grave crimes, but, this favor to the kingdom, to the world, makes me think that a reward, to balance it out a bit, is in order."

"What? No! We have done too much! We have hurt too many!"

"I will not merely let you go free. I know you need punishment, but, this action of thwarting Misery, who I assume is dead or incapacitated, correct?" Twilight nodded.

"Yes, she is dead. If she survived that, she frankly deserves to live," said Rainbow Dash.

"I see. Well, our settlements out in the great buffalo plains are still building. There is a lovely little town in its very infancy, with merely eighty ponies, only made up of tents as of this moment, trying to grow into a proper settlement. As punishment, I sentence you to community service. You will not be allowed to leave that town until it is properly built and settled. You will protect it and its inhabitants with your lives as those plains can be quite hazardous. You will be given work to do by the mayor, hard work, understand?"

"What is the name of the town?" asked Sheila.

"It has none as of yet. But, I've gotten inspiration for it today. I will call it White Silver."

"Silver? Is it a mining town?" asked Hiltguard.

"No."

"This, this is a great opportunity for us. We can start a new life there," said Chance. "Together."

"I... I might be able to write to my family, maybe, maybe even get them to visit, maybe even move there in time," said Mood, realizing the possibilities.

"Celestia, thank you very much for this, I give you my word that we will not allow this opportunity to slip us by. We will work hard, not to destroy our past, but to build our future," said Hiltguard.

"Ooh, can I come?" asked Rerry.

"I think you're forced to," said Chance, putting her hoof over hers with a smile that she returned.

"If you leave that settlement or surrounding area without my personal approval, I will deem you criminals and you will be banished from Equestria."

"If we would waste this opportunity, we would deserve it," said Chance.

"This is going to be super hard, isn't it?" asked Sheila, a bit uncomfortably.

"We've handled trouble before, we can do so again, if we have each other," said Hiltguard, leaning against her, both for support, and to show affection.

"For the moment, you are to return to your cells. The train on the way to Ponyville goes in that general direction, so you will go there under the supervision of Twilight Sparkle in a few days, after which you will continue to White Silver under the supervision of an official."

"Very well," said Hiltguard. They all got up, and returned to their cells. As they were about to be escorted back to the dungeon, Hiltguard turned towards Celestia. "I thought you were a terrible power hungry pony. But you really are compassionate, aren't you? I have never been this happy to be this wrong. Thank you," said Hiltguard.

"She's really nice too. She would have given us that community service even without destroying Cesom, knowing we have been victims in this too," said Chance, looking at Celestia from under his hat. She turned her head slightly to look at him.

"And what makes you so sure?" she said, sounding even a little cold.

"Instinct. I tend to call bluffs. Good night," said Chance. When he left, and the door closed. Celestia cracked a little smile. "Typical gambler."

The sun was shining into the room quite clearly. "It has been a very long day and night, hasn't it? How about we all go to get some sleep?" she suggested with a kind smile.

"Yeah, we could do that," said Pinkie Pie. As she said so, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Spike all collapsed from sheer exhaustion they had been forced to endure. It was over, without a doubt, it was all over. Tomorrow, or, technically today, was a brand new day, and they would sleep through most of it.

And Then...

They were all on the train home. Considering everything, the guests in Canterlot had been part of a messy, but overall acceptable meeting. For now, it was just nice to finally be on her way home. The train cart was surprisingly empty considering it was the end of such a big event, but Twilight didn't complain. She just looked out the window to see the familiar landscape passing by, as Canterlot disappeared behind the terrain. She didn't want to see that city for at least a couple of months.

Next to Twilight sat Cadance and Shining Armor. He was sweating a bit nervously.

"Going to be a daddy... Still can't believe it," said Shining Armor, shaking with excitement and terror.

"I wonder if it will be a crystal pony, the magic of that kingdom is far from ordinary, after all. I know it will be beautiful either way," said Cadance, leaning towards him very affectionately.

"You have to send me a message when its time. I'm going to be an aunt, I can hardly believe it either," said Twilight.

"Twilight, thank you for everything, and that you have, you know, pretty much saved the world," said Shining Armor.

"It was nothing, I'm used to it by now," said Twilight, chuckling at that fact.

"How are the 'prisoners'?" asked Shining Armor, looking over her shoulder to see the ponies and a changeling sitting over in the corner.

"Coping, everypony left keeping their names hidden. Wanting to start over. What to expect," said Twilight, taking a sip of her tea.

"Do you think they can handle all the pressure of helping a town be created? It's supposed to be backbreaking work," said Shining Armor.

"I think they will as long as they have each other. In a way, they are like us. They are strongest together. And I genuinely think they want to try to make up for what they've done, or at least try."

"Well, I firmly believe everypony deserve a second chance if they ask for it," said Cadance.

"It's like that Hiltguard said: our choices are what matters. They've made a good one after a series of bad ones. I wouldn't want to mess that up. Choosing to accept a second chance, that's enough of a reason to give them a chance. That's what we do, after all," said Shining Armor.

"So... what are you going to name the foal?" asked Twilight, leaning over towards them with a bit of glee in her voice.

"I'm not sure, I was sort of thinking about Victor, or Victoria, since you beat Misery, but that would be so unoriginal," said Shining Armor.

"Dawn?" suggested Twilight.

"No," they both said immediately.

"Armor... Amore... Armory?"

"No!" they exclaimed.

"Okay, how about..." she started to say. Trying to figure out new and interesting names for her coming nephew or niece. Sitting there in the train, her friends not too far away, her family quite close, she felt content and happy. Her former enemies were looking at the three happy ponies talking about baby names, all hoping that they would one day too get to experience such happiness, and that they would deserve it when it came. For the moment, no matter where you looked, no poor pony was alone. Twilight had her friends and family. Shining Armor and Cadance had each other. Group Misery, as a bit of an inside joke having been renamed into Team Search by its members, had each other to lean on, in more ways than one for some. Princess Celestia having her beloved sister by her side as they barely saw the train go beyond the borders of Canterlot, off towards Ponyville, then beyond to distant lands.

***

And that is the end. Some have been hurt, others have begun to heal, some have been punished while others have been rewarded. Whatever journey one takes, one should always be mindful of the crossroads. Pick the right path, make the right choice, and you might find yourself on a road leading to something great, something that can bring you happiness.

"And if you pick the wrong path, you might end up a few miles underground inside an ancient dangerous artifact with a bomb blowing up in your face!"

Sometimes, the choices we make can lead us down terrible paths. If we do not possess the strength to recognize when we are lead astray. Our actions, or lack of them, can have terrible consequences.

"Yeah, like spending too much time writing uninspired fanfiction when you could do something productive instead!"

Um, er- Sometimes we recognize the the choices we have made to be wrong or misinformed. When we have reached that point we should not turn back in desperation, but instead face our flaws head on, and face the dangers the road has in store, but face it with humility and grace, even when that is difficult. Do apologize for your mistakes, do regret them and ask for forgiveness, do not flee the punishment that you have brought upon yourself.

"And do not try to sound deep when you in reality have no idea what you're talking about."

We must always..., um, okay, what?

"You heard me! Don't try to give the story a moral just for the sake of having a moral. It was just an adventure. It wasn't deep, and you know it!"

Hey, I try my best to-

"Oh please, you just want to have fun, like me. You try to write of fun and excitement. It came out so-so, I suppose. You just want to write for the sake of writing, even though you can't spell or even use commas right."

Okay, that is a bit mean... True, I suppose, but still.

"And what about the lose threads? What about the rest of the kingdoms now when they must know about Celestia having kept Cesom hidden for so long? What about the Whitemane's name? What about that Dot filly? Oh, was she actually the mastermind about the whole ordeal and will return with a vengeance in 'Group Misery 2: Curse Harder'!?"

What?! No! She is just an innocent little filly. Although, I did have a sort of reason why Misery picked her to be part of the group though, but that is just a small detail.

"Ooh, tell me!"

No.

"Tell me!"

No! Good bye.

"Come on, nerdy guy on the Internet from beyond the wall! Tell me! I want to know! Wait, where are you going? Come back here! I'm not done criticizing you. Still, thanks for the adventure and stuff, but, hello? Can you still hear me? Oh well, I'll see you soon enough again. Bye, everyone!.