The gentle breeze ruffled her mane as they stood atop the clouds of Cloudsdale. Her sister was jumping up and down with excitement as they watched the Young Fliers' Competition.

"Careful Lyra! There is only one layer of cloud under us, and I don't know if you've noticed yet, but you're not exactly helping your case by making it thinner."

"C'mon, Bon, don't be such a worrywart! Cloudwalking, remember? As far as clouds are concerned, we are lightweight! Enjoy yourself!"

As if to a cue, a pegasus bolted away right next to them. His performance included a lot of circling and sudden dives, but she was not impressed. Flashy, but boring.

"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Lyra, on the other hoof, was much more enthusiastic. She waved for each and every contestant that passed them. Some of them even noticed it, and one poor colt was so confused by a unicorn sitting on top of a cloud that he crashed into the stadium. At least he wasn't disqualified.

"Go! Go!" Lyra shouted. She waved some red flag around, and looked generally happy. Bon Bon suddenly got an uneasy feeling. Her memories started to fade away, and the clouds became dark. Soon, they were standing on a grassy field, where several chairs were set up. The worst was yet to come. The field was littered by bodies whom she recognised as Lyra's musician friends. She got a foreboding feeling.

An eerie sound began to fill her mind. Desperately seeking its source, she glanced around in every direction, but to no avail. Her gaze finally rested on her sister. She was smiling with an otherwordly expression on her face; slowly, blood began to trickle from her ears. Soon after, she collapsed to the ground, lifeless.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

__________________________________________________________________________________

Bon Bon jolted awake. It was not her who screamed, but Cloudchaser. She slowly rose to her hooves—still groggy from waking up suddenly—and trotted up to the pegasus in bed. Cloudchaser was trembling despite the warm blankets she was wrapped in. She looked at Bon Bon with suspicion.

"W-where am I?"

"Relax, Clouds, you're safe." Bon Bon replied, as she watched Cloudchaser stretch as she got off the couch she was laying on. Well, to be precise, it was rather a bench of sorts; zebrafolk didn't care much about comfort. She rubbed her temples to clear away the remnants of her dream.

"Where. Am. I?" the pegasus insisted with withheld anger. The cream-coloured mare gave her a comforting look.

"We're at Zecora's. I told you, relax. Nothing will happen here."

"Yeah, since the worst already happened." Cloudchaser intoned sarcastically. "At least my dignity's intact. Oh wait, no, I seem to have lost it in a basement with my virginity. What could possibly happen that would worsen the situation?!" she shouted. She sat back on the couch with such force it gave off an audible crack.

Bon Bon trotted up to her bed, and sat on it's edge on her haunches; not unlike the way her sister usually posed. She tried to pat the pegasus' shoulder, but she shied away.

"I'm sorry."

The purplish grey mare was thrown off by the random apology.

"Huh?"

"I'm sorry." Bon Bon continued. "If only I had been checking that bastard out first, I could have saved all of you. Instead of doing that, I wasted a whole week until I finally found you. Can you ever forgive me?"

Cloudchaser avoided her gaze.

"It's not your fault." she muttered. "Hay, if you were with us, you'd probably have gotten captured, too. I owe you my life."

"At what cost?" came the bitter question. "Friend, family, and purity." she continued. "I was stupid. Donning a costume does not make me a hero."

"You're right." the pegasus agreed. "The costume didn't make you a hero. Your actions made you a hero."

"I could only save you, and nearly got killed myself." Bon Bon argued.

"Yes, but if you didn't come... I'd be dead, or worse. A hero tries, Bon Bon. A hero makes mistakes. At the end of the day, the results are important, but effort is needed, too. I'm still glad for all you've done for me."

The earth pony gave her a wry grin.

"You're pretty philosophical for somepony who was sleeping for a week."

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?" Cloudchaser sat up so fast Bon Bon felt her own spine creak.

"Oops. Guess I should have mentioned that first. You were out of it for quite a long time. Eight days have passed since I brought you here."

Cloudchaser stared in front of herself silently.

"Eight days?" she asked finally. "You took care of me then, I presume?"

Bon Bon nodded.

"Yes. We took turns with Zecora to feed you. Also, to change the sheets."

The pegasus looked away in embarassment.

"Great. Just like a foal soiling herself. Could it get any lower?"

"You could've gotten pregnant." the earth pony suggested in a serious tone. Cloudchaser gave her a stern look.

"That was a really bad joke." To her surprise, Bon Bon's face only darkened.

"It wasn't a joke. The whole situation could have worsened with you bearing his foal."

The pegasus shivered.

"Don't you ever think of positive things?"

"Did ages ago. Big fat lot of good it did me. But enough about me. How do you feel?"

"Nauseous, weak, and hateful." came the reply. Bon Bon nodded.

"That is to be expected. You were undernourished, and possibly caught some disease when you were down there. Hate is also normal in your case."

"I hate all stallions."

"Okay, that might be a little over-the-top, but you did suffer through a lot."

"Stop comforting me. It won't bring my sister back." the pegasus grunted.

"You seem to have forgotten that I lost Lyra, too." the cream coloured mare said with sudden coldness. The pegasus recoiled a bit.

"...Sorry. But seriously, let's stop talking about this... this shit. Tell me about something else."

"Hm. Apparently, Fancypants was broken out from his mansion, and disappeared from Canterlot. I think I heard rumours about Soarin' dying, and Big Mac seems to have gone industrial."

"Wh-what?! I'm out of it for a week, and a crapstorm breaks loose? Explain. Now!"

"I'd better start at the beginning. You see, on the day I was supposed to meet you..."

_________________________________________________________________________________

Day after day I gaze upon the stars, only to find that I am still alone. What I did to make this country a better place now amounts to nothing. My greatest fears have come to pass, and yet, it is still not over. The shadows of the past haunt me to no end.

I am afraid.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Steps echoed in the ruins of the once mighty castle. Talon screeched upon stone, leaving no doubt of the infiltrator's identity. A lone griffon strode, eyeing her surroundings carefully. In the distance, a faint sound could be heard. It was like torture to her; a sign of impending doom. She chose sides—and she lost.

Dashing headway to the collapsed throne room, she frantically searched for some kind of cover. None were. Getting desperate, she stopped glancing back—only to feel a sharp pain in her wing. Crying, she fell to the ground, cradling her arrow-pierced wing. A tall figure entered her restricted view, followed by two armed griffon soldiers. Decorated with the highest of Gridax's medallions, the High General of the Griffon Kingdom stood before her. Powerful, cunning, and merciless—his prowess was well known and feared far and wide.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here? A coward? No, you have guts, I have to admit. A deserter? No, a deserter seeks their own benefit. A traitor? Yes, it fits you quite well. What reason did you have for betraying our glorious nation?"

The griffon spat.

"Go to hell, featherbrain. I don't answer to you."

The general smiled.

"I was simply curious. If you do not wish to talk, so be it. Well now, it is my duty to mete out punishment to you. I accuse you of revealing the entry point of our army into Equestria. I accuse you of giving information to the white abomination who controlled this wretched country about the exact time of our entry. I accuse you of causing many of our soldiers to die. I hereby sentence you to death, Gilda Stoutfeather. Any last words?"

Gilda raised her head, and looked at the general with shame.

"Fuck you."

"I am afraid not."

Without hesitation, the general lunged at her throat, tearing it apart with a single swipe. He watched as the life slowly drained from her eyes, then wiped his claw on a ragged remains of a carpet.

"Lieutant, gather our forces. We will begin the annexiation of Equestria right now."

_________________________________________________________________________________

"Aw, cripes, not again." Rainbow muttered as her consciousness slowly returned to her. She was getting used to the strange dreams she was having, but that didn't make them any less straining—or creepy, for that matter.

She shook her head. This was another clue to the future—she just needs to discuss it with the others, as soon as they woke up. Speaking of the others, they showed no intent on doing anything, but sleep at this hour. Indeed, the moon was up high, and even its princess resting. Rainbow smiled inwardly. They never agreed to anything, yet when they made campfire, there had been an unnoticed pattern taking form. Whereever she sat, Trixie would follow, taking the place beside her. Luna would position herself near Trixie, and Soarin would also linger around Rainbow. Not that she had a problem with that.

Shining and Vinyl, on the other hoof, just picked whatever place seemed fine to them. Rainbow couldn't help, but feel that they were trying to distance themselves. To what end, she didn't comprehend. Fancypants... well, any place seemed fine by him.

The cold autumn air made her shiver. They did make a campfire, but not a single ember was glowing in it's cold ashes. Rainbow fetched her blanket that somehow ended up a good meter away, and draped it around herself. Waiting or not, she was starting to get bored. Maybe it would be a good idea to talk about this in the morning.

_________________________________________________________________________________

She stood in the middle of Ponyville. The streets were empty; the usually bustling main street was nothing more than a fading memory. Every single building was abandoned, and gnawed by the iron tooth of time. Loneliness struck her like never before.

Her hoofsteps echoed through the ghost village. Clop, clop, clop. She wanted to run, to scream, but even the sound of her own steps scared her. They were like the echoes of something else; something reeking of death and misery.

She steeled herself as she continued down the street. Somehow, she felt that she would meet her friends if she pressed further. Every step was like a torment, every echo like a bell tolling for the dead. At long last, she arrived to the town square.

Where once stands were erected, only splinters remained; nothing of value, but dust. Even the cobblestones were cracked, the rubble strewn out erratic; as if somepony bumped into them several times.

Suddenly, the dark sky flashed. For a moment, she saw nothing, but a great white light; but when it cleared up, the five ponies most important to her stood in the square.

"Girls!" she cried with happiness. After her lonely trek, their sight was like balsam to her soul.

"Howdy, partner!" Applejack greeted her, nodding slightly.

"Darling!" Rarity shouted, posing as elegant as ever.

"This is fun!" Pinkie remarked, sporting a huge grin.

"Oh my..." Fluttershy whispered softly.

"Awesome!" Rainbow added, flapping her wings a little.

"You wouldn't believe how happy I am to see you!" Twilight said with the weight disappearing from her shoulders, "I thought I was all alone!"

"Darling!" Rarity shouted. The lavender unicorn looked at her with confusion.

"Yes, Rarity?"

"Darling!" she repeated. Twilight was starting to get a little nervous.

"Okay, this isn't funny."

"Howdy, partner!"

"Applejack? What's going on?"

"Awesome!"

Twilight's gaze jumped around her friends. They somehow gotten closer, but stood in the same posture as previously. The unicorn started to feel herself threatened.

"P-please stop this!"

"This is fun!" Pinkie exclaimed, her grin becoming less cheerful and more beast-like.

"No! No! I-I don't want this!"

"Howdy, partner?" Applejack said, nodding a little. A white, faceless unicorn appeared behind her. The shade was carrying a dagger in it's magical grip. Twilight tried to scream, but no words came from her mouth. She tried to jump, to use her magic, but her body didn't obey. She could only watch as the dagger struck once, twice, thrice... then Applejack collapsed.

"How...dy...par....." was all she could utter before the light disappeared from her eyes.

"NO!" she cried, her voice returning to her. She ran to her friend, but she no longer moved. All that was left was a lifeless husk of a pony. Twilight collapsed on the ground, crying, but an unknown force turned her head to Fluttershy.

A strange, blue wall of light closed in on the butter-yellow pony. Once again, the unicorn could not move or shout, but watch helplessly. The wall touchet the edge of Fluttershy's pink tail. At that instant, she began to burn, her body evaporated by the strange wall.

"Oh my..."

The light just kept advancing. It reached Fluttershy's torso, igniting fur and skin, then vaporising flesh, bone, and innards.

"Oh my..."

The lack of reaction was worse if she screamed. Seeing her being unmade by that mysterious energy was downright disturbing. The light sped up. In a moment, where Fluttershy once stood, only a charred spot remained.

"O...h....m........"

"Make it stop!" the unicorn yelled. She desperately tried to run away, but she couldn't. Pinkie stepped forward. Her grin was so huge that it nearly filled her features.

"This is fun!"

She raised her hoof... and suddenly, she bit into it. She spat out the bloody chunk... only to tear another piece of flesh from herself.

"This is fun!" she exclaimed again. Twilight watched in horror as the pink party pony systematically tore herself apart with her own teeth, until nothing but her insanely grinning head and bloody chunks remained.

"This...is...f........"

"No...Nohohohooo..."

Twilight was openly crying now. She lowered her gaze to the ground, wishing to avoid the disturbing imagery. She felt something pull her chin upwards, and she was suddenly facing Rarity. The pristine white unicorn was looking in her eyes.

"Darling!"

In a second, the whiteness disappeared. All of her fur fell off, leaving behind only the bare skin.

"Darling!"

Her flesh seemed to have begun to melt; it traced away from her bones in little pink streams, greedily drank by the cold earth below.

"Darling!"

Only a skeleton stood before Twilight, a skeleton of a once beautiful pony. Opening it's jaws, it let out a blood-curdling holler.

"Dar—ling!"

Small cracks began to appear all over her bones, growing larger, and larger, until nothing but very fine dust remained.

"Dar...li..." the wind whispered.

Twilight was devastated. The gruesome deaths of whom she held dear could have turned a lesser pony insane. Only one remained; the ever-loyal Rainbow Dash.

"Awesome!" she remarked. The unicorn stared at her with a feeling of uselessness. She knew what would come.

Dark shades emerged from the ground, twisting into shapes of ponies. Suddenly, the pegasus was surrounded by them, each grabbing her; their faceless visage betraying no emotions.

"Awesome!" Rainbow remarked. The shadows began to pull. With a sickening sound, Rainbow's flesh tore, the mob quickly claiming her front legs.

'Awesome!"

One by one, the merciless spectres ripped her limbs off. Not a scream of pain, nor any acknowledgement. Her last friend gave off such indifference as the others did. The shadows disappeared, taking away their bloody prize. Only Rainbow's head remained, slowly rolling in front of Twilight. Her expression has changed. Instead of joy, she radiated anger, and hostility, her eyes finally finding the unicorn's.

"Traitor." the head whispered. Twilight couldn't take it anymore.

_________________________________________________________________________________

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Twilight awoke, panting and heavy with sweat. It took her several minutes to fully comprehend her surroundings; her mind was still stirred from her recent nightmare. Shivering, she threw off her blanket, and wobbled onto her hooves. Her rational side dismissed this as a simple nightmare, but she still couldn't find peace.

Friends... did she have friends anymore? Two she hadn't spoken with, one drifting away, one lost to the darkness, and one betrayed. She had no excuse. She should've been the force to keep her friends together... yet instead of doing that, she outright betrayed her.

Shaking her head, she rose to her hooves. Against a nightmare, a cup of milk is the best, as her mother used to say. She stumbled through the unfamiliar apartment, not bothering to turn on the lights. After she was called by the Princess, she moved in here; not too far from the castle, yet not fancy enough to attract the wrong type of attention. She considered visiting her mother, but she would only be devastated if she saw her daughter now; her husband taken away, her son a fugitive. Twilight was never good with social situations; she didn't know what she could tell Velvet to make her feel better.

Because, blue ponies are evil, right? The book said so. The book...

When she first read that... that abomination, she couldn't sleep for days. The very thought of it's message churned her stomach, and she refused to eat until she could finally overcome the feeling. She dismissed it as superstition, at first.

But she wouldn't be Twilight Sparkle if she didn't look at both sides of an argument. Sure, it seemed stupid, it seemed illogical... yet there isn't a single pony outside Azure City who would doubt the truth of the book. What's the truth? All of her life, she believed in the written word. The theory would be solid, if only for one weak point.

Princess Celestia.

If every single pony with blue fur or mane is evil, then the Princess herself would be surely evil, right? At least that is what the book seemed to suggest... to those who didn't read it carefully enough. In truth, the book never explicitly stated that the white alicorn would be evil, only for blue ponies. One could argue: 'But she has blue in her mane!'. One would be wrong.

Twilight knew something about the Princess that not many knew; her mane was once pure pink. By her explanation, it only turned colourful when she achieved princesshood. She wasn't too generous with details, but Twilight knew one thing: this means that she is not evil, not even by the book's standards.

Right?

Doubts. Doubts everywhere. If only she could have a peace of mind, if only she could be sure she is doing the right thing...

If only...

A loud knock interrupted her thoughts. Completely thrown off track, she opened her door without hesitation. Outside, a stallion stood, clad in the armour of the Night Guard. An earth pony, to boot. over his shoulder, several more guards, and a very self-satisfied green puff known as Open Book could be seen. She unconsciously took a step back.

"What is the meaning of this? It's the middle of the night, for pony's sake!"

"I am terribly sorry, Ma'am." the stallion said in an apologetic tone. "I am afraid I must take you into custody."

What? Has her research been compromised? She glanced to the back of her room. After her brother escaped, she began working on a new spell; a spell that would surely stop the true enemy. There was only one problem with it; the Princess might have found it too... dangerous? Unethical? Desperate times call for desperate measures, or so they say. And now, the desperate measures will see daylight.

"On what grounds, if I might ask?" she questioned them with the remains of her wit.

"Grand larceny."

Her body immediately felt calmer. Her plan was not exposed. For the sake of Equestria, it would be better if it remained that way, if only temporarily. Still, larceny? Now she understood the grin that Book sported. This is just some roundabout way of him gaining power, right?

Well, she won't let him have his way.

"Lead the way, guard. I'm sure we can clear this misunderstanding up quick."

_________________________________________________________________________________

Pinkie Pie trotted down a dark corridor. Featureless, narrow, and oppressing, the end of it disappearing into the distance. She was unsure why she was heading forward, but still continued on.

After a good ten minutes, the wall on her left became transparent. She stopped, glancing curiously at the unfolding scene. Two ponies stood in a circle of faceless shadows, probably ponies, but without any distinguishing features. The larger pony laughed at the other, pushing him into the mud, and mocking him with meaningless words. Not a single one of the crowd came to the help of the bullied.

Pinkie turned away, continuing down the corridor. Soon, another part of the wall became transparent, and she stopped again to observe. A weak pony was hanging from a cliff, close to falling down. Nopony else in sight, his frightened cries unheard. With a terrible scream, he fell down, and the wall went dark again.

The pink party pony simply returned to her meaningless trek. After what felt like an eternity, she arrived at the end of the long corridor. A single, wooden door was all that was between her and her dream destination. She opened it without hesitation, only to find herself in Sugarcube Corner.

"Look at the wench! So pathetic!" a voice mockingly stated. Pinkie recognised him as the one threatening her on that fateful night... but something was amiss. The five goons were unhurt, and she saw her own body on the ground, battered, bruised, and bloody—

Pinkie laughed. The scene suddenly froze, colours flowing out from their places, creating a blur instead.

"Nice try, brain, but I know that's not how it's supposed to go. Heroes still exist."

The colours intensified, reducing the whole world to a blinding flash.

And Pinkie Pie woke up.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Despite immediately knowing that she dreamt, her body needed a few seconds to stop shaking. Curiously, it was not from anything psychological, but a chilly wind blowing from an open window. She slowly rose, making sure not to wake the pony sleeping beside her.

Since she was already up, she glanced out the window. Moving here was a bliss. Instead of gloomy ponies, the calmness of the orchards welcomed her tired gaze. Sure, her talent was throwing parties, and making ponies smile, but a talk with Mac convinced her she found what she should do for the time being.

The party pony smiled. His gesture was heartwarming, and as for Mr. Cake, a huge load was off his shoulders. He helped out in the farm, and with sales, and in return, the Apples provided him with safe housing. The twins were safe here, and missed their mother less with all the commotion around. Because there was a commotion everyday nowadays.

Ponyville has changed somewhat quickly in the last week. Among the most drastic changes was Mac returning to farming—since the death of his sister, he'd only been known as the town drunkard. Now he returns with a goal, and completely sober—Ponyville was taken aback. In just a week, he and Braeburn had organised the town's farmers into a sort of union. Each and every pony helped out with the others' orchards, giving the whole town a steady supply of reasonably-priced vegetables and fruits. It sounded a very unbelieveable feat, but Pinkie kept in mind that most farms suffered from a sudden lack of ponypower, and already had most of their crops ripe for the picking. Mac and Braeburn merely provided a calm point in a sea of distrust and panic, prompting everypony to start listening to them. And since both were smarter than they took them for, they quickly became the de facto leaders of all these ponies.

Not that it was a bad thing. They organised a farm patrol, which kept watch during the night on everypony's fields, and hired somepony to take care of their combined finances. Pinkie heard them call the gathering of the farmers a 'trust', which was good, because it meant they trusted Mac. Or so she thought.

She yawned. Between looking after the twins, and helping around the house, even her endless supply of energy ran low. She moved back to the bed, under the covers, and cuddled up to Mac.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Okay, it was getting old real fast. Rainbow was bored out of her mind, something she couldn't really say about herself since... that day. An hour must have passed, and nopony woke up. She was considering tickling them, or something, but then she dropped the idea. It was bad enough that she couldn't sleep, she shouldn't disturb the others because of that. Sure, Shining was military, so he would be used to erratic awake periods, Trixie performed her shows usually at night, and Luna was essentially night-lifestyle personalised... but still, she refused to wake them. The stallion was still in mourning, it wouldn't be nice to give him more time to blame himself for his loss. Trixie is still injured, and despite her claims to the contrary, if it wasn't for Luna, she'd need treatment in a hospital. Without blinking too hard, not to mention brisk trotting. Luna... well, she has adapted to a 'normal' cycle, awake in the day, sleeping during the night... and Rainbow was smart enough not to make the single most powerful entity on her side tired.

That left her with the others, whom she hadn't confided yet with her visions. Sure, Vinyl heard them, but she didn't really pay attention to anything she said. That leaves her alone with her doubts.

She started pacing up and down unconsciously. Sure, the princess said she would take them to safety... but they had been in this large forest for what felt like eight months. She knew with her brain that it wasn't the case... but still, doing nothing was getting on her nerves. Plan or not, she was displeased with Luna's passive suggestion about becoming the new Elements... without her giving any advice, or pushing them together. Sure, the original Elements banded together without any outside pressure (apart from Twilight being forcefully sent to Ponyville), but they didn't have as much time as... okay, they didn't really have that much time back then, but at least they didn't have to deal with life-threatening situati—wait, that's not right... Maybe the reason is—?

Suddenly, a voice from behind startled her.

"Geez, Rainbow, do you ever sleep?"

She turned around, realising she had gone a few paces afar from the others. Soarin was standing behind her, rubbing his eyes slightly. She had to admit that he looked kinda handsome with a messy mane.

The cyan mare blushed furiously. To her squadmates in the Wonderbolts, it was more or less an open secret that she liked Soarin. Thankfully, they never told this to either him, or Spitfire, who had a long, unsuccesful relationship with him. The last thing Rainbow needed was her crush alienating her from the top brass. To her luck (or not, considering they spent less time together), Soarin was practically away on missions the whole time, giving her little time to screw something up with a slip of the tongue. But here they stood now, partners in a crime they committed by being different; with nopony to berate her for acting unprofessional, nopony to stop her from getting to know him better. The thought was both exciting and terrifying.

"Uh, hello? You kinda spaced out there."

She jumped a little, stopped in the middle of reminiscence.

"Sorry, I just..." she said, sighing. "I guess I'm overthinking things, since I can't sleep. Hence the spacing out."

The stallion drew closer.

"Hey, if you've got something troubling you, you can tell me!"

Rainbow blushed again, but she didn't back away from him. She briefly weighed the pros and cons of telling him about her newest dream, but then decided that it couldn't hurt.

"Well, you probably don't know" she started in a confidential tone, "but lately I've been seeing some very weird dreams..."

_________________________________________________________________________________

"All hail the Princess of the Night, Protector of Equestria!" the crowd cheered. Luna was smiling. The moon was shining bright, lighting the large number of ponies gathered from every race. She was standing upon a balcony of the palace, alone, but happy. Everything was simple and practical... a memory of different times.

"I thought narcissism wasn't your style." a calm voice echoed. Luna spun around, ready to fight, but she relaxed once she saw a familiar figure. To her, it was something like a slim, bipedal man with elongated ears and purplish blue skin, but Celestia once told her that she saw him as a dragon-snake hybrid, lithe green as the lush forests overseas. Who he was? Eternus, a figure shrouded in mystery.

Not even Luna knew who he was exactly. Two things were true about him, however. One, he was the one who bestowed power upon those whom later came to be known as the alicorns; two, he had passed away, and ruled Tartarus, and the afterlife. The six of them vowed to him to keep peace throughout Equestria... and he did showed up in their dreams with advice, from time to time. But if Celestia was right, he never appeared to any of them since her descent to madness. Why, of all times did he appear now?

"Eternus? Is that really you, or is this some joke?"

The figure snapped his fingers, and the palace disappeared. The green fields of eastern Equestria appeared instead, a small hamlet in sight, everything all too familiar for Luna. She noticed her horn and wings disappearing; her coat changed into simple deep blue, and her mane became silvery white. Her cutie mark did not change, however.

"What do you think, Starchild?" he asked with curiousity, rather than anger. Luna smiled, and in a brief flash, she was back to being an alicorn.

"Well, you most certainly act the part. Why did you appear to me?"

"I couldn't help but notice the sudden intake of souls recently. Perhaps there is something you wish to tell me?"

Luna sighed. She thoroughly explained the situation, starting from Trixie's framing to her own banishment. Eternus listened attentively to her story, not interrupting once. When she finished, he regarded her with a concerned gaze.

"How are you holding together, child?" he asked in a worried tone. Luna waved away his (and her own) concerns.

"If you mayhap refer to my last... madness, I can assure you, I am in control of my mind. This time it is not general contempt I face, but a vile manipulator, who tries to turn the masses against me. I have the moral high ground—that at least gives me some strength."

"What about the murders?"

"I had no idea a pony so depraved existed, so twisted and ruthless. I will do anything in my power to stop them... but their identity eludes me."

"Still, you somehow came to the conclusion that the culprit is a pony." Eternus pointed out. Luna shrugged.

"My assertion is that if a foreign power was in work, they'd already have invaded, or tried to take over our government. Besides, the killings have stopped, is that not so?"

Eternus shook his head.

"The murders may have stopped, but other problems have arisen. Based on morphic resonance, I believe many starved to death. That is over, too, but they definitely died after your banishment."

"Morphic resonance?"

"When a pony dies, they retain the state in which they died in before until they realise bodily form is nonexistent in the afterlife. Judging by certain signs, I concluded that many died of starvation."

Luna considered this. To her, the afterlife was an unknown, but logical connections she could make.

"Let us think about that for a moment. My sister had gathered all of our blue coloured subjects in Azure City. Conversely, many of them were farmers, weather workers, and transportation specialists. It is not too far-fetched to imagine locking away a good portion of our population would elicit hunger, and consecutively, starvation. Either the nation adapted, or my sister intervened with emergency supplies. Either way, I must trust her to keep the nation together until we find the killer."

"We?" Eternus frowned. "I can not help you with matters of the mortal realm."

"That is most unfortunate. However, I meant my companions, who escaped injustice, and may shape up to be the next Element wielders."

Eternus raised his hand, pointing one of his fingers at the moon princess.

"You do realise that betting on them being true bearers is a very high-stake gamble, don't you? "

Luna turned away, her voice slighly shaking.

"I know. If they don't turn out to be capable of being bearers, my whole plan crumbles apart. But you and I both know that Equestria's greatest defenses are the Elements themselves, and the virtues they represent. Divided we fall, united we stand."

Eternus smiled, unbeknownst to the alicorn, and placed one ghostly hand upon her back.

"I am glad to see you have learned from your mistakes. " His smile faded. "I must warn you, however, that Equestria is in serious danger. Given the course of events today, the worst may come to pass. It might be a decade, or more, but if nothing is resolved, the wendigoes will return."

"No..." Luna whispered. She felt the weight of the hand disappear from her back. When she turned, the only thing she saw was darkness.

She turned her gaze to the sky of her dream, where the stars slowly crawled back to their just places. Waiting until she calmed down, she stared at the dream-moon.

"Sister... I can only hope you can keep your sanity as well as the lives of our subjects. I cannot visit you in your dream, I can only hope my wishes reach you somehow. Be safe."

With a sudden intake of breath, she spread her wings, as the ground disappeared under her. She dove into the dream-moon, causing ripples in the fake reality, shattering the emptiness left behind.

"Nothing? Not even something you'd consider unimportant?"

"Sorry, Ma'am. Last thing I remember is a sharp pain in my body while I've kept the assailants under watch."

Trixie sighed.

"I see. Sorry for disturbing you."

The ghost saluted.

"No, Ma'am. I'm the one being sorry for not being able to help."

The ghost dissolved, leaving one grumbling unicorn.

"I take it you have complications, then?" a voice came from behind her. She didn't bother to turn around, only waved her hoof briefly towards the newcomer.

"Complications doesn't even begin to describe it. Just like that previous guy, most of the victims didn't even know what hit them. And none of them could remember anything out of the ordinary. And if that wasn't enough, you forgot to mention that some are really hard to reach, not to mention summon."

"Forgive me," the princess of the night responded calmly, "but I found it more proper to teach you the technique to communicate with and summon the dead, and have you figure out it's limitations. Otherwise, you might have disregarded it in favour of other spells you might've considered more practical. This is the only spell capable of revealing the truth, however."

Trixie waved again, with slightly more force.

"Yeah, yeah, significant life lesson learned. Because we need that right now."

Luna sighed.

"Trixie, I am trying not to concentrate only on the present. Withholding this information held you back for no more than a few days until you figured it out, but it might have helped you learn patience. Patience that later will be crucial."

Trixie snorted.

"Crucial in what? Patiently waiting for my own demise when I'm inevitably captured? There's an individual out there that will stop at nothing to erase us, because we're the only obstacles to his or her finely crafted plan! What point is there wasting out time—"

"It is not a waste!" Luna shouted. "I have already told you, you need to become the new Elements if we want to have any chance at this!" She stopped Trixie, who was about to talk. "No, you are not at all ready! Rainbow Dash is hurt from her friends' cold demeanor, Vinyl Scratch is trying to forget the incident that changed her life rather than face it, Fancypants is still shaken from his sudden divorce, Shining Armor watched his family fall apart, and to top it off, you, who is supposed to be the Element of Magic, bearer of friendship, can not bring herself to be honest with us, the very ones that want the best for you!"

"N-not true!" Trixie protested weakly. "If I hadn't interrogated these ponies the last week I'd have never—"

"YOU WHAT?!"

The princess of the night was enraged. She fumed black smoke, her mane started to glow purple, and her voice deepened.

"HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?! I HAVE ALREADY TOLD YOU THAT YOU NEEDED REST TO HEAL COMPLETELY! BUT NO, YOU HAVE TO KNOW BETTER, AND DRAIN YOUR OWN ENERGY PLAYING DETECTIVE EVERY NIGHT! WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?"

Trixie looked up at her defiantly, her voice slightly quivering.

"I did it because I can not do anything else to repay all the kindness I've received from these ponies, but to stir up the past; their past, so they won't have to. I did it because otherwise I would just be dead weight that drags this group down! I've spent years being useless, now that I have a chance to change things, I will not hesitate to do so! I don't want them to suffer anymore... I..." She broke out in tears, her voice faltering. Luna returned to her usual self, imposing, but unthreatening.

"Trixie... Have you not thought about their stance on this? Do you think they only care about you because chance forced you together? No. They care about you, the real you, with all your mistakes. And if one thing is sure, it's that we don't want to see you destroying yourself like this."

Luna stepped closer, lightly nuzzling the disheartened unicorn. Slowly, tears began to trickle from her eyes, too.

"There hadn't been a single day that I wouldn't have missed my sister, or the time we've spent together. I am sure the others miss their own someponies, too."

She sat down besides the ex-showmare, and lit up her horn. A small meadow came to life around them, overlooked by the starry night sky.

"I know it might seem we do not care," she continued, "but the others believe in me, Trixie, and I believe in my sister. If we didn't do that, we might as well lose all hope, because... we cannot do it alone. We might find this killer, but if my sister and her advisors can't keep this country together, it is all for naught anyway. If I followed my heart, I would've joined my sister to figure out... something." Luna sighed. "But I listened to my mind, and my mind told me that by doing that, I'd only weaken my sister's authority, and might trigger a revolt, or potentially, a coup. So I took this gamble and hid... and now I believe we must find the culprit while my sister rules the country, and protects it from harm. Yet I do not believe hastiness would bring us much good. You see, I have spoken with Eternus."

"Whom?"

"Eternus. He was... a being most powerful, an individual that could've been considered a god. But one day, he bestowed his grace upon six of us... six ponies, who were granted incredible power, to watch over Equestria, and help it's people. My sister and I were the de facto rulers, while the others wandered around the world, helping whereever they could. Eternus had passed away, becoming the ruler of the afterlife, and the first one to seize control of Tartarus. Unspeakable evils are held at bay by him there... the price of their submission was his life. Nevertheless, he appeared to me tonight, and claimed that the murders seemed to have stopped. That is why I urge you to get better, so that we can face this conundrum together, at our finest. Please."

Trixie pawed at the ground.

"I... I trust you. I'll stop doing this for a while. But I think we both realise that we can't hide forever in the woods."

"Worry not, Trixie. We shall soon arrive to our destination: the hive in which the changeling queen resides. I can only hope she cooperates."

""How did you know where she was, anyway?" asked the showmare, desperate to change topic. Luna smiled.

"Equestria's spy service might be poorly trained, and few in members, but in no ways is it nonexistent. After her... invasion, I've assigned assigned all of our available spies to find out where she was, and if she was alive. Since then, I've had agents keep a constant watch on her; therefore, I know her current position."

"Wait, wasn't there something in the newspapers about a 'Changeling Containment Force?' If they knew where they were, wouldn't they spend all effort to eradicate them?"

"I do not know. The only explanation I can give you is that my sister withheld the information. Perhaps she seeks to curb the threat; to eliminate only those who would actively threaten our people. Trying to offer a chance for the changeling people to retreat, and call for a truce."

"That seems uncharacteristically naive."

"I do not believe a bloody crusade would increase either the disposition, or the common wealth of the country. We..." She paused, listening inwardly. "I think I can hear our companions talking. Maybe we should wake up, just in case." She smiled at the unicorn. "Remember what we talked about. Loneliness is not the answer."

The moon princess' dream form dissipated, leaving Trixie alone once more. She looked up to the fading sky bitterly.

"So is that it? I'm isolating myself? Seems like my past won't let me go; that's why I can't trust anypony, that's why I was reluctant to offer my idea to our next destination, and more importantly, I'm still too haughty, by the looks of it. Who am I kidding? I'm no detective or genius; while I admit that I played the fool earlier, my intellect is not enough. This killer outclasses everything I ever faced before, and I feel afraid. Afraid of being chased, afraid of being mocked, afraid of being left alone. Why am I so pathetic? Why can't I accept your help? Why can't I show that I actually care? And why, oh why couldn't I tell this to you? Why am I too cowardly to face my own feelings, even inside my own mind?"

She hung her head, and took a deep breath.

"Even so, I will endure. I will help you set things right. Even if my parents were wrong about the reason, I'll stay with you, until the end."

She smiled sadly.

"This'd probably have more effect, if I actually told it to you." She shook her head. "Now let's see what this fuss is all about."

____________________________________________________________________________________

She raised her hoof, and knocked on Spitfire's door.

"Come in!"

She entered, if somewhat sheepishly, and gulped. Spitfire was staring at her like she was an annoyance she wished to be rid of.

"We've been down in Ponyville, and there was—"

Spitfire waved dismissively.

"Yes, yes, I know. There was this rude fellow, a cream-coloured earth pony, blah, blah. Let me tell you something; I hired him to harass you. I was curious of your reaction. Now, I don't know what you did, but you can rest assured that I'll—"

"That's not the problem!" Dust burst out. "We... We found something terrible."

"Details."

"We were just finished with investigating the crime scene, when we got a report that there was another corpse. We headed there to check it out, and... well..."

Her voice trailed off, causing Spitfire to raise hers angrily.

"Well? What did you find?"

Dust had to force the words out of her mouth.

"We... we found...S-Soarin."

The captain's glare became the iciest Dust'd ever seen.

"Are you joking? This isn't the time to—"

"I'm not!" Dust cried, cutting her superior off again. "He's dead! We found his corpse, and the coroner identified him! I'm not joking!"

Spitfire seemed to have lost her strength.

"How...?" was all she could ask.

"A... A manticore."

For a moment, neither moved, nor spoke. Then, Spitfire slammed her desk.

"Out! OUT!"

Dust, happy to leave the room, practically flew outside, and slammed the door shut. Once outside, she leaned against it, and took a deep breath.

Then, she heard sobbing from inside.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Lightning Dust opened her eyes. She sat up groggily, cursing under her breath.

" 'Twas enough to go through that once..."

She stayed like that for a few minutes. Hearing the sound of her squadmates' breathing calmed her down. She rose to her hooves, and looked out the window. The moon lit up the Wonderbolt Academy, painting it in a beautiful silvery tone. It took Dust quite some time to notice that there was light coming from a window. Spitfire's window, to be exact.

What is she doing at this time of the night? she wondered inwardly. She felt somepony approach her.

"Dust? Why are you awake?" Raindrops asked, suppressing a yawn. The teal pegasus turned and smiled on her.

"Don't worry, I just can't sleep. You should, however."

She passed the jasmine mare, heading for the door.

"I'm getting some fresh air." she whispered.

Once outside, she glanced up to Spitfire's office again. Something was off. The captain never stayed up late; not even on night shifts. The teal pegasus hurried to the building. Somehow, the lack of security started to bother her. She didn't know why she felt so worried suddenly, but she doubled her pace nonetheless. The office building was unlit and silent, but she knew the layout well enough to swiftly progress through the corridors. She finally arrived to a half-open door, with light seeping through the gap. She went in, not even bothering to knock. To her surprise, Spitfire was staring at her, unmoving. Her pupils were like pinpricks, and something about her just seemed off. Dust carefully edged closer, with the captain's eyes following her thhe whole time.

Once she saw her table from a different angle, she nearly gasped in surprise. Pills of every size and shape literally flooded the desk, with a few needles thrown in for good measure.

"What...?" was all she could manage. The flame-maned pegasus' mouth contorted into a grin that was painful to look at.

" 'Sup, Lightning? Came to party?"

"What...what the heck is all this stuff?"

Spitfire glaced at the desk.

"Oh this? Just some stuff I'm trying out to keep me warm and happy."

Dust stared at the various pills. Some she recognised as performance-enhancing drugs; she'd met and beaten quite a few athletes using them. There were some remedies for common sicknesses: cold, headaches, and the like. There was even a bottle of medication for erectile disfunction. She nearly missed a small pile of white powder. Looking at it, she found it suspiciously similar to the contraband drug stored in the safehouses of the academy. This stuff was supposed to be destroyed last week!

"Spitfire..." she asked with a trembling voice, "what exactly did you take?"

The yellow pegasus waved dismissively.

"Everything. What does it matter? You scum only want my place anyway! Don't feign interest!"

She spat at her dumbfounded vice-captain. Not fire, but still, Dust felt her cheeks burn.

"I never wanted to be a leader like this!" Dust retorted with rising anger. "Hell, I didn't even want to become vice-captain at the cost of Soarin's d—uuuurgh!"

She was completely taken by surprise when Spitfire suddenly punched her in the gut. Smashing her aside, Spitfire started shouting.

"I'll show you! I'LL SHOW YOU MY GREATNESS!"

She darted off outside, leaving a heavily breathing mint pegasus inside. They never had a competition, so Dust didn't know about her physical abilities. Now she learned that the captain punches like a jackhammer. Bigger problem is that she seemed to went insane, and Dust was feeling a bit mowed down. She somehow got on her hooves, and staggered down the stairs. Once outside, she immediately knew where Spitfire was. The Advanced Orientation Training Device (or the Dizzy-Tron) was lit up like a hearth's warming tree, already spinning. Spitfire was in the middle, spinning around like a madmare. Dust caught sight of the strap; it was the only thing holding Spitfire on course, but she barely hung on to it with one hoof.

Before Lightning Dust could reach the machinery, Spitfire threw something at the release lever. To the young pegasus' horror, the captain crashed headfirst into the ground, tearing up the ground for a good ten meters, or so. A part of her brain noted that sompony was running towards them. Her body, on the other hoof, moved towards the unmoving Spitfire.

The captain looked horrible. She was bleeding from places Dust didn't even know to have blood in them. Dust's brain threatened to shut down as she cradled the downed victim.

A loud clang signified that the incoming pony dropped something in surprise. Two more seconds, and she entered Dust's sight. It was Raindrops.

"What in the blazes...?" she began, but Dust stopped her.

"No time to talk! Get the medic! NOW!"

______________________________________________________________________________________

Luna opened her eyes. Everypony else was awake, save for Trixie and Fancypants, engaged in conversation. Shortly thereafter, the ex-showmare woke with a jaw-breaking yawn.

"So, remind me again, why aren't you all sleeping so we can proceed during the day?"

"Eh, it was kinda me." Rainbow volunteered. "I woke up, then Soarin woke up, and I started explaining my dreams to him, then Vinyl woke up, and fell on Shining, so he got up too."

Meanwhile, Luna stepped beside Fancypants, and shook him gingerly. The stallion looked up, first in a daze, then alert. The moon princess made a calming gesture.

"Be at ease, my little pony. We are not in danger, but I suspect there is a story to be told." She looked at Rainbow Dash meaningfully. The pegasus nodded.

"Yeah, I saw a dream again."

Rainbow shared her experience with the others; everypony was listening intently, for an invasion was something they could barely fathom. Equestria was peaceful in their lifetimes, except for the changeling invasion; that let them horrified upon the thought of an invading army. The princess of the night was calm, however.

"I think we can conclude two things from your summary: the griffons lose a lot of their forces, and their next leader only strikes if the opportunity is right."

"Why would they suffer great casualties? I don't see anything to indicate that in this story." Shining voiced his objection. Luna simply shook her head.

"That is because you are not familiar with griffon customs, Shining Armor. If a high-ranking griffon acts outside of a battle, he usually has about twenty or so soldiers accompanying him, as protocol dictates. The griffons upheld these traditions even when their forces were decimated in the Giraffean wars three thousand years ago. Pride wouldn't let them bring only two guards... only if they had no troops to spare." She shook her head again. "From your dream I can deduce that my sister will be informed—and that is enough for me. She kept peace for a thousand years... she would not back off from a fight."

"Then what?" asked Trixie. The others had unsure looks on their faces.

"Our goal has not changed. I suggest we continue onward to the hidden hive. Once there, we will seek shelter, and make certain that Chrysalis had nothing to do with this... atrocity. If she had... may Eternus have mercy on her."

___________________________________________________________________________________

A few hours later, Princess Celestia was adhering to her royal duties. A thousand years' worth of experience made the process very fast—faster than Luna would do it, actually. For Celestia, the moon was only another reminder of her failure, so she was eager to get rid of it every day. The sun princess strode to her throne and sat down.

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and let herself be lost in her memories. Because of that, she was startled when a group of ponies burst into the throne room, led by none other than Open Book. Celestia started to think that she should make use of the nobility, send them to the army. After all, there is always a high demand for live-fire targets.

"Your Majesty, I bring dire news!" the stallion cried, unaware of the princess' silent loathing. "It seems there have been an incident."

"This is not the first time you bring dire news, Open Book. It's the third, in fact. I'm starting to think you enjoy seeing me disappointed."

The stallion looked at her with confusion; Golden Coin took the opportunity, and swoop in with his agenda.

"Mylady, we have found the captain of the Wonderbolts unable to perform her duty. Therefore I propose that my son—"

"What exactly happened?" the princess asked, cutting him off. The nobles stepped aside, revealing the vice-captain... Lightning Dust was her name, if Celestia could recall.

"Your Highness, I've found Spitfire in her office, seriously overdosed on drugs from the secure deposit, and possibly alcohol. I tried to stop her, but she knocked me down, and started up the... a flight simulating machine. She... crashed into the ground—"

"A likely story!" Coin huffed. "About my son..."

"Excuse me, Golden Coin, but I would like to hear what the new Captain of the Wonderbolts has to say." Celestia's expression was unreadable. The earth pony councilor's spoke lengths.

"Your Highness, you cannot possibly hear out this—"

"—Law-abiding mint-green pegasus?" The alicorn's voice could've frozen a volcano. "I think you need to get your eyes examined; you might've gone colourblind."

Coin's eye began to twitch. Book's reaction was no better, he clearly expected things to work out differently. He tried a last-minute attempt to steer the conversation's flow.

"Your Highness, all circumstances aside, this pegasus could've tried to eliminate Captain Spitfire. After all, the captain's position is a very good motive for attempted murder."

Celestia shook her head.

"Your conjunctions are really pleasant to listen to, Book, "she snorted, bemused, "but there is one tiny little detail you forget to take account of: I personally made sure to keep only one key in the possession of the Captain when I allowed the construction of that depot. Unless, of course, if you suggest that she forced the captain to open the depot, then drugged her, and slammed her to the ground by herself...?"

"I...If I may..." Dust interjected. "I only woke up a few minutes prior to the incident, and a pegasus saw me walk out the door of my lodgings."

"There. I consider this case closed, gentlecolts. Now, was there something else?"

The nobles bowed to the weight of their ruler's gaze; one by one they left the throne room, until only Dust remained. Celestia trotted back to her throne, and sat down with a sigh.

"How is Captain Spitfire holding up?" she asked the nervous pegasus.

"She suffered quite a few injuries, Your Majesty. Our medic said that if he wasn't so close, she could've died." The mint pegasus frowned. "Not that she's much better off. Currently, she is in a coma."

"Do you have any idea why she took those illegal substances?"

Dust hesitated.

"I...I have no direct proof, but I think she was upset over Soarin's death... And... I guess this was the end of her endurance."

Celestia tapped her chin.

"Strange. I remember them parting ways a few years ago, with the mutual agreement that they'll never enter a relationship again."

"How the hay do you know that?!" Dust blurted out before she could think. Seeing the alicorn's brow furrow, she immediately corrected herself. "... Your Majesty."

Instead of answering, the princess seemed to measure her with a piercing stare. When she finally spoke, the question was met with a question.

"What do you think the Wonderbolts is, Captain Lightning Dust?"

Taken off guard, the pegasus cocked her head in confusion.

"Uh... the gathering of the best air performers?"

Celestia slowly shook her head.

"No, Lightning Dust. The Wonderbolts is Equestria's air force. That is why I keep the current leader under surveillance; the group needs to be ready for any mission I assign them to. Make no mistake; although it is not strictly part of the military, the Wonderbolts are one of Equestria's assets in any war. With that in mind, I expect you to uphold order, and train the pegasi under your command properly. Are we clear?"

"Crystal clear, Ma'am. Who shall be the new temporary Vice-Captain?"

"Choosing him or her is your responsibility, Lighning Dust. I have no preferences; if you believe Golden Coin's son would be the best choice, appoint him. If somepony else fits better, appoint them. I require results, not complete control over the whole process."

"Understood, Your Majesty."

Celestia nodded.

"Good. Now head back to your stations. I believe the situation is quite chaotic back at the Academy; the sooner you restore order, the better."

Dust saluted, then left the throne room in a hurry. Celestia was left alone with her thoughts. For the millionth time in the last month, she wished there was somepony to confide in. Somepony to keep the loneliness away. There wasn't. She bitterly contemplated the fact that since she appointed Twilight Sparkle as Assistant Chancellor; since then, they didn't have a conversation outside political matters. True, her student eased a lot of her burdens; but Celestia couldn't help but feel like she's alienating the mare she looked at as a daughter. Court matters leave the most optimistic of ponies bitter and jaded; what would they leave Twilight, then? Probably disappointed. Coming face-to-face with the bureaucratic nobles, who stay in power thanks to their own little machinations takes a lot out of a pony. On her worse days, she considered dissolving the nobility.

But then she would become a tyrant.

No noble intentions, no greater good could justify that. Tyranny would bring rebellions, and civil war. She'd seen this country suffer enough.

Suddenly, the doors were nearly ripped from their hinges as a very disgruntled Twilight Sparkle entered the throne room. Celestia was still a bit lost in thought to comment on it. The fuming unicorn headed straight towards her, levitating a piece of paper in her grip.

"Princess, you should see this!" she barked angrily, with barely any self-restraint. The alicorn took the note with confusion. There were times she saw her student angry, but never so intensely focused on hating somepony. Her brow shot upwards when she saw the word written on the paper.

Sparkle

"What exactly is this?"

"This particular piece of paper was found today in the estate of a certain Jet Set, Princess. Seems like somepony robbed them yesterday, and left this calling card behind." The unicorn's eye was twitching. "I'm trying to help Equestria, and some stupid noble pulls me into his power play!"

"Are you quite sure this is a set-up?" the princess asked, snapping Twilight out of her fit. "Were there really objects stolen from Jet Set? Is there really a link between a noble and this thief?"

"Well, according to the butler, a few valuable gold statues had been stolen, all unique, with no real chance to sell them, not even on foreign black markets. As for the other question... I do not know. This Open Book fellow was a bit too eager to come and arrest me. I mean, how could he have known if he didn't hae a hoof in it?"

Celestia sighed.

"I believe you've seen his cutie mark. I have a strong suspicion that it enables him to peer into our secret documents, and somehow monitor our communications."

Twilight blinked.

"What?! That's extremely dangerous! What if he chose to use that information?"

"He is not as smart as he thinks himself to be. He always uses these scraps of informations wrongly... and I've grown to keep most of my spymaster's reports in here." She motioned to her temple. "That, and he makes very generous donations to both the military fund, and orphanages. He's technically untouchable—the public would view him as a martyr if I forced him to step down. This way, I can at least contain him somehow."

The alicorn saw that her student wasn't entirely convinced, but her attention was taken by the platoon of soldiers entering. Several bat ponies and pegasi were in a circular formation around a lone griffon.

"Gilda?" Twilight whispered in disbelief.

Night Shade stepped forward, his sightless eyes on the floor.

"Your Majesty, this griffon claimed to have crucial information about the safety of Equestria. She also claimed that she had to tell it to you in person."

"Are you mad?" Twilight blurted out. "You bring a griffon here, when their nation stopped all communication with us since summer?! What if this is an assasin?!"

Gilda snorted. Night Shade turned to the lavender mare's general direction, his voice growing colder.

"Believe it or not, lass, I've been captain of the night guard for twenty years. I wouldn't bring her here if it wasn't important."

"Let us hear it, then." Celestia said, cutting of Twilight's forming response. "Why have you sought me out, Gilda of the Griffon Empire?"

"Don't misunderstand this. I'm only repaying a debt here. Otherwise, I couldn't be bothered with lame ponies."

"To the point!" Twilight groaned impatiently. Gilda grinned, then she said a sentence that nearly caused Celestia a heart attack.

"The griffon army has entered Equestria near Harrow Hills."

Author's Note

Hey look, an update! No, seriously, an update!
Sorry guys, I've been busy since... well, a long time. I'll try to speed things up a bit in the future. No promises, tho.