Wayfarer had a hard time grasping exactly what he was listening to. Discord’s piano was generating a myriad of sinisterly jovial sounds that would have sounded more in place as the background music for an evil clown in some demented theatre production. Even more than the first piece Discord had played for him, this one had an air of of complete abandonment of one’s sanity, and it fit the chaotic entity’s personality to a tee. Beneath the quick and clean strokes of the keys, Wayfarer could also hear Discord humming out a counter melody, at times loud and boisterous, at others too quiet to possibly hear.

With one last crash of his claws to the keys, Discord went completely still and awaited the response from the gathered crowd. Said crowd was only five ponies, Wayfarer and Fluttershy of course, but they were also joined by Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and ‘Sunny Skies’. Wayfarer and Fluttershy, after a moment’s hesitation, gently started to clap their hooves, even though they were wondering if they should have been clapping for such a performance. Pinkie on the, other hoof, went all in and started to furiously clap as a big smile crossed her face.

“That was so cool Discord!” Pinkie said. “Scary, but cool! I had no idea you could play so well!”

Discord rose from the piano and turned to give a bow. “Thank you, thank you, you’re all SO kind.”

“As much as I loath to admit it,” Twilight said as she slowly lifted her forelegs to politely applauded. “That WAS pretty good. If a little unnerving.”

“Agreed.” Celestia said, then leaned over and whispered into Twilight’s ear. “I suppose I should have known better. Afterall, he and my mother were both part of the Royal Equestrian Orchestra before The Fall.”

Discord continued to bow even after the applauding stopped. “No no, please! DO go on!”

“I’d rather not.” Celestia said as she rose to her hooves. “Twilight and I are needed at the castle now. Finishing touches are being made and we don’t want to keep the construction ponies waiting. Come along then Miss Sparkle.”

Twilight tried to stifle a laugh at that as she blushed and followed Celestia away from the grove near Fluttershy’s house, where the impromptu concert had been held. Discord pursed his lips at them and shrugged, sitting back at the piano and pressing some keys at random.

“Unnerving she calls it. Bah!” Discord harrumphed. “Young people today, she probably listens to pop songs about love and friendship in her spare time.”

“Actually she sang a love song for her brother and sister in law for their wedding!” Pinkie said. “It was so pretty! And it was especially cool for Vinyl Scratch to provide the background music!” Discord stopped hitting notes, then slowly turned around to look at Pinkie with a face that screamed ‘You have got to be kidding me’.

“Oh how I do so weep for this generation.” He said, draping the wrist of his lion arm across his forehead. “Is there not a single pony in this wide world who yearns for the gentle hum of a bow across violin strings, or the boom of a sudden brass entrance? Am I doomed to be inundated with this irritating buzz of random noise known as dubstep?”

“For the love of Celestia.” Wayfarer groaned. “If you hate it so much, why not go see if the Royal Equestrian Orchestra still exists? I’m sure they’d be glad to have a former member return to their ranks.”

“With my reputation?” Discord said, cocking an eyebrow. “Highly doubtful.”

“You won’t know unless you ask.”

“I-I can go get some paper for you to write a letter to them.” Fluttershy said. “I’m sure they’d love to have somepony as talented as you play for them Discord.”

“That’s even if they still exist.” Discord said, spinning in his chair and suddenly obtaining a violin. “And after two apocalypses and a thousand years, I wouldn’t bet money on it.”

“Well then ask Celestia.” Wayfarer suggested. “If anypony knows about Equestria’s biggest symphony, it’d be her.”

“Again, you’re missing the crucial detail that nopony in their right mind would let me perform for an audience of hundreds, given my track record since my last major jailbreak. That’s not even considering what sort of havoc I caused when I WAS in the orchestra. And besides,” He drew the bow across the strings, forming a low, almost sorrowful note. “I don’t like being part of a group, especially if I end up being just another handsome face in the crowd. In that case I prefer being at the head at the very least.”

“Then why not form your own Orchestra?” Wayfarer said.

Discord stopped and stared blankly into space. “That… might work… But still, what of my reputation?”

“Don’t you have a disguise or something now?”

A light bulb appeared over Discord’s head. A real one, that he looked up at with annoyance and flicked his eagle claw at, sending it into a tree where it shattered. “Again you have proven to have a sense of ingenuity about you Wayfarer. It’s a wondrous idea. Now if only I had an actual theatre to play at.”

Again Discord drew his bow across the violin strings, only this time it pulled right into another jovial song. This one however was without the demented and insane tones, it sounded like a celebration piece. This time Wayfarer was able to visualize something to go with the excited fiddle: Rolling green hills, dotted with cliff sides that sloped down into deep blue oceans. He could see crowds of over excited young ponies stampeding over the emerald highlands, dancing and singing and roughhousing all the way. Wayfarer couldn’t place it, but for some reason tune reminded him of a place across the sea that he’d only dreamed of seeing with his own eyes. Then it clicked.

“This is Maredonian music! From the Coltish Highlands!”

“Haha! Yes! This particular piece was written by Wabbajack the Insane! Boy did HE know how to make a Spirit of Chaos feel welcome!”

Wayfarer didn’t have an alarm clock, but he thought he did when he woke up that morning. The earth was rumbling beneath him, shaking him gently from his slumber. Bolting up, he looked around as everything in his room began to dance across whatever surface it happened to be on, and outside his room he heard the tell tale thuds of books dancing right off their shelves.

Wayfarer leapt from his bed and into the hallway, almost running into Celestia, who looked almost as panicked as he did. He opened his mouth to ask what was happening, but just as soon as it started, the shaking stopped. The two of them stood in silence, looking about, half expecting the trembling to start up again. A minute later they both let out a sigh of relief.

“Can we please let that be JUST an earthquake and NOT something under the castle?” Wayfarer moaned as they entered the front room, just in time for Twilight and Spike to come rushing down the stairs.

“Are you two alright?” She asked, then she caught sight of all the books that had been knocked to the floor. “Oooh, and I just reshelved those!”

“Relax Twilight.” Spike said as he went to pick up a few fallen tomes. “At least nothing important fell.” The cuckoo clock on the wall chose that moment to drop from its perch on the wall, hitting the floor with a sharp crunch. Twilight looked at Spike with a grimace and he shrugged and smiled embarrassedly.

“Sorry. Odd, this is the second earthquake we’ve had in the span of a month.”

“The last one was a little more intense though.” Twilight said as she walked over to the clock to see if she could salvage it. Her voice got a little hopeful as she added. “Maybe it’s just a small aftershock, nothing to really worry about?”

“We can’t just assume that.” Celestia whispered to Wayfarer. “Let’s go make sure nothing’s going on below, just to be safe.”

Wayfarer nodded and was about to go get his clothes on when a burst of blue flame came roaring in through the mail slot and shot at Celestia. The flame coalesced into the form of a scroll, which dropped itself in front of her. Biting her lip, Celestia picked it up and began to read it. Wayfarer shrugged and continued back to his room. After getting his covers and heading back into the hallway, he heard a scream of frustration and anger from the front room. When he entered, he saw Celestia crumple up the scroll and toss it away.

“Stubborn old foals!” she shouted.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Twilight said, rushing to Celestia’s side. Celestia, realizing she’d just lost her cool in front of her subjects, took a few controlled breaths and turned to look at Twilight with tired eyes.

“I’m afraid our business at the castle will have to be put on hold,” Celestia said. “I must return to Canterlot immediately, something has come up that demands the presence of both my sister and I.”

“S-Should I come too?” Twilight asked.

“No Twilight, I’m afraid your presence won’t help me. Now I must go, I will try to make it back here before sundown.”

“Wait, Celestia.” Twilight tried to say as Celestia disappeared in a flash of light. “But… Aughh! What was that about?”

“Maybe we could find out in her letter?” Spike said, walking over to where Celestia had thrown the offending parchment.

“Spike! That’s Celestia’s private letter! We can’t just go reading through her things!”

“How else are we gonna know what’s going on? And besides, she’ll probably tell us the whole story anyway when she gets back, so why wait?”

“Because it’s rude!”

“Fine, close your ears then.” He said as he unfolded the letter. Twilight didn’t close her ears though, but she did bite her lip and look nervously out the window as Spike began to read aloud.

“My Dearest Sister Celestia,

It is with a heavy heart that I must inform you that your suspicions about the Court of Canterlot Nobility have been proven to be correct. This morning, one of the senior members of the court, a unicorn stallion by the name of Fancy Pants, came to my throne room and informed me that the Court was planning to bring a movement to Parliament today that would undermine our rule. They intend to make an argument that you have ruled Equestria as High Princess for too long and that the crown should be moved to a more suitable leader, who they believe to be me. Normally I would not bother you with the actions of the Court, as both you and I know that they rarely get there way in matters of government, but unfortunately they also have the support of many of the Canterlot elite, as well as the upper classes of Manehatten, Baltimare, and Las Pegasus. I intend to confront the Court on this issue when they bring it to Parliament today at two o’clock, but I feel that my success will depend on you being there to defend yourself, as they’ve only decided to make their move now, when you are on ‘vacation’, because they fear facing you directly. Personally, I am insulted that they do not fear me as such, but that is beside the point. I know you are busy with a matter of grave importance, but if you don’t come back now, we may end up facing enemies from both below and within Equestria.

Yours truthfully,

Princess Luna”

Wayfarer and Twilight both stood in shocked silence, mouths slightly agape, as Spike looked over the letter again in confusion.

“I don’t get it.” He said. “What’s this mean?”

“It means, Spike,” Twilight said, voice teeming with rage. “That a bunch of snooty, stuck up, rich, unicorn supremacist, MORONS are questioning Celestia’s rule to such a degree that they’re trying to dethrone her!”

“But… why? Celestia’s been a great ruler! Why would they want to dethrone her?”

“Because apparently some ponies don’t agree with that assessment.” Wayfarer said. “She said something about even her own nephew giving her trouble.”

“Blueblood.” Twilight grumbled with acid in her voice. “Why do I get the feeling HE’S behind this?”

“You know him?”

“Idiot thought the reason Celestia made me a princess in the first place was to make sure HE had a wife of his own! Can you believe that load of horse apples?!” Twilight collapsed onto the couch, groaning in annoyance at the behavior of her fellow noble ponies. Wayfarer and Spike exchanged looks before moving to join her.

“So now what?” Wayfarer asked.

“Now we wait. We can’t do anything without her, so we’ll have to wait for her to come back before we can go to the castle.”

Celestia was sitting in her usual spot in the Parliament courtroom: A slightly elevated and cushioned podium next to the Prime Minister’s chair. On her other side sat her Sister with a very stoic look on her face. Celestia herself was barely able to keep her irritation off her own visage, but over a thousand years of rule had given her enough self control not to let even a twinge of her anger show. However after everything that had happened in the last few months, even she wasn’t sure if she was going to make it through this without finally cracking.

The court room itself was split in half down the middle, with a podium at its center, facing the Princesses and the Prime Minister. On either side there were a series of seats filled with at least thirty ponies in each one. All of them had the same blank stares on their faces as they looked directly forward, only moving to blink or breathe.

“Guards,” The Prime Minister spoke. “Bring in Prince Blueblood and the Representatives of the Court of Canterlot Nobility.”

The guards stationed on either side of the doorway closed in on each other and began pulling open the large doors, allowing four very pompous looking Unicorns to step inside. At the front of the group was a white coated and blond maned stallion with a smirk on his face. He and his companions all some how managed to walk to the stand in unison with their eyes closed, adding to the arrogant look that they shared. When they came to a stop at the stand and opened there eyes up and saw the princesses, their smug faces immediately dropped and were replaced with fear.

“A-Aunty!” The white unicorn stuttered as he looked at Celestia.

“Hello Blueblood.” Celestia said in the most pleasant and kind voice she could muster.

“W-what are you doing here?”

“Is it not my duty to attend court sessions when matters of Government are being addressed?”

“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“Prince Blueblood.” The Prime Minister said in a tone of irritation. “You requested an audience with Parliament to make a request of us concerning the Princesses. Tell us what you want or leave at once.”

Blueblood looked from Celestia to the Prime Minister and back again, swallowing a nervous lump in his throat as sweat started to run down the side of his face. Behind him the other three unicorns were in no better shape as they looked at each other, silently discussing whether they should call off everything now and bolt.

“Uhm, actually Prime Minister Iron Gaffle.” Blueblood wheezed out. “On reflection, I think my request may be a tad inappropriate at this time. I’m sorry for wasting your time, but I think we should go.”

“Go?” Celestia said, trying hard not to laugh at Blueblood’s predicament. “I cut my vacation short to come and listen to you and your friend’s ideas for the future of Equestria, and now you don’t want to share with us? Come now, tell us what’s on your mind.”

“I-I don’t think you’ll agree with us.”

“Oh? And why is that? Is it because you’re unhappy with my behavior as of late and you want to dethrone me?”

If Blueblood’s face could have gone any whiter at that point, it would have. The three behind him started quaking as their eyes locked on Celestia in fear. All around the courtroom, ponies had started whispering to each other, confused as to what the Princess was talking about. Minister Gaffle picked up his name sake and rapped it thrice on his stand, bringing the din to a hault.

“How- How did you-”

“Not everyone in your little group agrees with you Blueblood. Now tell us what you want, and let’s put an end to it.” Blueblood swallowed another lump in his throat and turned to look at his companions, who were whispering to themselves.

“It had to be Fancy Pants!” One of them quietly raged.

“No doubt! How could he do this to us?”

“The Princess must have seduced him or something, all the more reason to go through with this!”

The three of them turned to Blueblood with confident looks, egging him to go on. Blueblood turned back to the monarchs with a less assured look and began to plead his case to the assembled ponies.

“We of the Court of Canterlot Nobility come to you all today to discuss a matter of importance to the welfare of our great nation.” Blueblood recited from his well practiced speech. “We feel that the Crown Princess, Celestia, Alicorn of the Sun, is unfit for her title and should be removed from power, effective immediately.” Blueblood quickly closed his eyes and tried to cover his face with a hoof, awaiting the stinging pain he half expected his aunt or aunts to rain down on him.

“Which title?” Celestia said simply.

Blueblood blinked and looked back up to her with confusion. “Huh?”

“You said I was unfit for my title, which one were you referring to? Crown Princess? Or Alicorn of the Sun?”

“O-oh… ummm… Crown Princess?”

“I see.” Celestia mockingly nodded in understanding, then looked back to Blueblood. “Would you care to elaborate please?” Blueblood looked around in surprise. Surprise that he wasn’t dead and surprise that he was allowed to continue with his proposal.

“Umm, alright.” He coughed once to clear his throat and then continued. “You once told the ponies of Equestria that you rule for them, and it is their wishes and benefits that you strive for. That is why you established this parliament in the first place, to insure that all of your subjects would be heard. However, recently you have begun to either ignore or disrupt several campaigns and bills brought forward that you did not agree with, without giving them the proper attention of this government. You have abused your power as supreme monarch of this country several times in the last decade and a half. We of the Court of Canterlot Nobility feel you are no longer acting in the best interest of your subjects, and therefore we humbly request this Parliament to acknowledge Princess Luna as the new High Princess of Equestria.”

The room was completely silent at this point. Many of the ponies in the stands were looking to each other with varying degrees of emotion. Some looked like they agreed with Blueblood, others looked like they thought he was off his rocker. Nopony spoke however, until the Prime Minister sighed and made his response.

“That is a rather bold request Prince Blueblood,” he said, eyes squinting down at Blueblood. “Tell me, Princess Celestia has ruled over us for nearly a thousand years. And even if you were only alive for the last thirty five years of that, why now of all times do you rise against your own aunt?”

“Well… uhmm… because… because she instituted yet another Princess without consulting anypony about it.”

“And there it is.” Celestia thought with a sigh.

“I was not aware I had to consult with anyone when I named a new leader for this country.” She said out loud. “Especially since I did it before with Princess Cadence. Nopony seemed to be upset about that if I recall.”

“I was.” Blueblood mumbled just loud enough for Celestia to hear.

“And why is that? Is Cadence not every bit the good ruler I said she would be?”

“That’s not the point! You did it without asking!”

“And I’m not sorry for that.” Celestia said, standing up. Every eye turned to her as she walked to stand in front of her nephew, who looked up at her with an extremely worried look on his face. “Please continue. What else have I done to upset you so?”

“Y-you keep blocking the tax increases that the ponies of Canterlot need.”

“For what? New roads? Indoor swimming pools? Perhaps more airships for you to christen? Why should I tax the hard working ponies in Ponyville, Appleoosa, and Hollow Shades for these things?”

“Because they’re nothing but filthy Earth Ponies and that’s all they're good for!” Blueblood shouted. A moment later he realized what he just said and his ears flattened to the side of his head. “I… I mean…” One of the ponies in the stands stood, with as much dignity as he could muster in his hornless head and wingless back.

“The court recognizes Minister Gravy Boat of Manehatten.” Prime Minister Iron Gaffle said.

“I humbly request the removal of Prince Blueblood and his racist and bigoted comments from this court room.”

“All in favour?”

“AYE!” Screamed the entire room save for the five ponies at the center.

“But- but I…” Blueblood stuttered as the guards approached him and the other three.

“Prince Blueblood.” Iron Gaffle said. “Your request has been heard. We will discuss it in due time, but for now, good day to you.” Blueblood’s entourage started to walk through the door compliantly, but he continued to stare at his aunt, who was giving him the most disappointed glare she’d ever given him.

“Tyrant…” He whispered as the guards tried to get him to move. “That’s what you are. This whole Parliament is a farce! You do whatever you want, regardless of others! You’re a TYRANT! You’ll never give up your crown! TYRANT! TYRANT!!”

Blueblood continued to scream at Celestia, even as the guards gave up on escorting him out and just picked him up off his hooves, tossing him out the door. His screams could still be heard however as another set of guards dragged him away.

“My apologies for that Iron.” Celestia said as she, Luna, and Iron Gaffle sat in Gaffle’s office.

“You have no need to apologize Your Majesty.” The elderly unicorn said as he rested his head in his hooves. “But I think it’s time you put a leash on that no good nephew of yours.”

“I know. I should have done it long ago, but I’m going to cut his allowance to only the bare essentials until he can learn to behave himself.”

“Somehow I think that will only enforce his claim that you’re a tyrant, Sister.” Luna said.

“He had a point though.” Gaffle said sadly. “You may have the power and right to act without consulting anyone, but the last few decades I feel you’ve been listening to Parliament’s counsel less and less. I don’t have a problem with it, as I trust you completely, but think of how that might look to the common citizen of Equestria. I don’t mean to question you Princess, you’ve always done what’s best for your ponies, but it seems like you’re not letting us do our job sometimes.”

“I am sorry for that as well Iron.” Celestia said.

Iron Gaffle sighed, rubbing his eyes in exhaustion. “This isn’t the end of this. Mark my words, there’s going to be a lot of angry ponies in this city. Thank the Sun and Moon the Summer Sun Celebration is coming up. Maybe they’ll all forget about it during the preparations.”

“About that.” Celestia said. “I’m going to move it to Ponyville this year.”

Iron Gaffle looked up from his hooves at Celestia, glaring at her as if she’d grown three extra heads. “No. You’re not. Do you WANT to start a revolution? You need supporters in this city, not enemies. Moving the celebration THIS close to the date will just give the Court of Canterlot Nobility more ammunition against you.”

“I don’t care. There are more important things going on right now than some celebration.”

“Are you referring to your vacation? Because if that’s the case I’m going to actually give consideration to Blueblood’s request.”

“Iron, do you believe for even a moment that what I’ve been doing for the past month has just been vacation time?”

Iron opened his mouth to respond, then quickly closed it and sighed, putting his face back in his hooves. “No. I don’t. You NEVER take a vacation.”

“Something is happening to Equestria Iron.” Celestia said somberly. “Surely you felt the earthquake earlier today? I can’t give you all the details, but I can tell you that Ponyville is at the crux of it. I can’t come back to Canterlot long enough for preparations, so it has to be in Ponyville, if at all.”

Iron Gaffle sighed heavily again in frustration. After a moment he looked up to his monarchs. “I understand. Luna and I will handle preparations here then, you just be here for the actual ceremony.”

“Excuse me?” Celestia said. “Did you not hear what I said?”

“I did Your Highness. But as you said, something is happening to Equestria. You may have noticed it, given Blueblood’s increased desire to tax the lower classes, but we’re on the brink of a Class War. There’s a rift forming, and we need our leaders to put on a strong, unified face to keep it from tearing Equestria apart at the semes. I’m not asking for you to be here for a whole month, or even a week, just the day of. You raise the Sun, then go back to Ponyville, less time than you were here for today.”

Celestia gave a sigh herself and turned away from her most trusted advisor. She’d have to be blind not to realize the truth in his words, but still she only saw it as another distraction from putting an end to the horrors trying to literally tear Equestria apart.

“Sister.” Luna said, putting a hoof on Celestia’s shoulder. “It’s alright, we can do this. Let’s just take this one problem at a time shall we? Go back to Ponyville, I’ll send you a letter tomorrow with an update, okay?”

“... okay. Alright.” Celestia rose to her hooves and walked silently to the door. “I’m wondering if this crown is even worth it sometimes.”

Blueblood was in his room, tearing apart everything not nailed to the floor. He was as infuriated as he’d ever been in his life, except ten times more so.

“She can’t do this to us!” he yelled to no one. “Stupid Mud Pony Loving Aunt! Makes me wish the Unicorns of old had just blasted the other races into the dirt instead of making fwends with them. Unicornia sounds like a better name for a kingdom anyway!” He kicked aside a chair and then flopped himself onto his oversized bed. “Even aunty Luna is siding with her. It’s not fair!”

“Life is so rarely fair.” said a voice from nowhere.

Blueblood sat up and looked around. “Who’s that? Who are you?”

“I? I am but a Shadow of the Moon.”

A cloaked figure materialized out of one of the dark corners of the room. It carried with it a small draft as cold air flowed around it, rustling its garb enough to show that the intruder didn’t have any physical legs or body to speak of. The chilly breeze reached Blueblood and caused him to shiver slightly as he looked at the ghostly apparition before him.

“W-what do you want? Leave me alone! I’ve had a bad enough day already!”

“Oohhh… poor baby prince…” The figure mocked. “Looking up at his aunts and cousins and wishing he could fly with them too.” The figure began to hover towards the terrified prince, the cloak trailing behind it and dragging across the carpet.

“GUARDS!” Blueblood yelled, looking to the door. “GUARDS! GET IN HERE!”

“They won’t come for you. I’ve cast this entire room in silence, so it’s just you and me, my little colt.”

Blueblood leapt from his bed, trying to keep as much distance from the figure as possible. “What do you want!?”

“The same as you, Little Prince. I want to rule Equestria. It’s my right, just as much as it is yours.” The cloak stopped right over Blueblood’s vacated bed, the displacement of the sheets showing that the invisible pony had laid down on them. “But we’re not the only ones who deserve to rule, there are others. And we’ve all been waiting so long for our chance.”

Blueblood stopped trembling at this, his fear now mixed with curiosity. “What do you mean? You… You could help me?”

“We could… but first you must help us.”

“...I’m listening.”

“Good, then listen well, because you’re about to go spelunking.”

Celestia teleported into the library just as another tremor was happening. Wayfarer and Twilight, already on pins and needles because of the shaking, jumped up in surprise when the flash of light announced her arrival. She took a moment to steady herself before looking to the other two.

“Has it been like this all day?” she asked.

Both Twilight and Wayfarer nodded vigorously in order to make their response visible against all the shaking the earth was doing.

“This is the third one since you left!” Twilight said.

“Then we need to go to the castle now. Twilight, go get Pinkie Pie, meet us at the castle. Wayfarer, we’ll go get Discord. Let’s get to it!”

Emperor and Empusa were situated in the mountainside with a good view of the castle courtyard through the dome. Both were laying down in a grassy spot, with Empusa huddled up close to Emperor.

“You were right Emperor.” Empusa said smugly. “This is VERY exciting. I can’t wait to see how they fare tonight, how bout you?” Emperor remained silent, staring intently at the castle. “Ohhh, you still sore about that Love Bite I gave you the other night?”

“It hurt. Alot.” he mumbled angrily.

“Oh it couldn’t have hurt that much! You’re still alive aren’t you?”

Emperor grumbled something incomprehensible. They stayed in silence for a few minutes before they noticed a few figures walking toward the castle.

“Here we go!” Empusa said excitedly.

“Oohhh!! I’m so nervouscited!” Pinkie Pie said as the guards let them through the front gate. The earth then chose that moment to give another small tremor. “And I think the ground is nervouscited too!”

“Your Majesty.” One of the guards said as they passed. “I implore you, the castle is not a safe place to be during an earthquake!”

“And where is safe during an earthquake corporal?” Celestia asked coily. “Don’t worry, we won’t be in there for long. Hopefully.”

“Pinkie,” Twilight said, leaning close to her friend as they walked. “You sure you don’t want to back out now?”

“Nothing doing Twilight!” Pinkie said. “I said I was going to help, so I’m going to help!”

Celestia’s shield and the front gate closed behind them and they slowly made their way to the front door.

Suddenly the ground cracked and the earth let loose its greatest quake yet. Everypony stumbled to the ground as they lost their balance.

“Hang on everypony!” Wayfarer yelled as the violent quaking beneath them steadily got more and more intense.

The crack in the ground began to widen and pull apart, separating Pinkie, Twilight, and Wayfarer off from Celestia and Discord. When the crack has almost ten meters across a large hand rose out of the depths and grabbed onto the edge of the hole. Then another hand joined it, and another, then another, until six hands were lined up on the edge of the crevasse. A massive lizard like creature pulled itself up and out into the now completely wrecked courtyard, it’s head adorned with an over sized wizard’s hat that covered its eyes, but not the rest of its face, which was hidden by a mask. The creature crawled toward Wayfarer, Twilight, and Pinkie as they got to their hooves, roaring out at them as ice crystals formed along its back.

“I don’t need a bigger hint then that!” Wayfarer yelled. “Quetzalcoatl!” The winged snake sprung forth in a blast of light and let loose a stream of fire over the scalie Shadow, causing it to howl in pain and stumble backwards.

“Ooh! Ooh! My turn!” Pinkie shouted. “Laetitia!” Pinkie’s crossbow cannon wielding Persona slammed onto the ground and then lept at the lizard, firing round after round at the dazed creature and pushing it backwards into the pit.

“We got it!” Twilight yelled.

A gust of wind roared up from the pit, carrying the Shadow with it on wings made of the wind itself. The ice crystals were gone, and whatever flame was left was being blown out by the wind.

“Aww pony feathers.” Wayfarer cursed as the lizard brought its wings down, sending another powerful gust of wind ripping through them and their Personas.

Wayfarer and Pinkie Pie were sent back a few feet, but Twilight was sent flying as she howled in pain, she and Tyche landing a ways back behind them.

“Oh that’s it!” Wayfarer grunted as he sent Quetzalcoatl in for another barrage, Laetitia following up behind. The fire shots they made had little to no effect this time however, and the shadow sent another blast of wind in retaliation. Wayfarer and Pinkie joined Twilight on the ground, only to look up and watch as the Shadow’s back erupted into flames.

“It’s changing its strength’s and weaknesses!” Celestia yelled from the other side of the crevasse. “Keep on your hooves!”

“Alright, well if this guy likes changing strategies, then we will too! Change!” Quetzalcoatl exploded into fragments of light, which then came back together in the form of a woman with a sitar.

“SARASVATI!”

The woman made one aggressive strum across her instrument and ice descended on the shadow. The fire on its back faltered, and then it attempted to try and get away from them by trying to leap onto the walls surrounding the castle. The guards who had been watching fled in either direction as the beast slammed into Celestia’s bubble shield and fell back to the ground. The shield rippled around the point of impact, and across the chasm Celestia almost collapsed under the strain of holding it together.

“You aren’t getting out of here that easy!” Twilight yelled. “Let him have it Tyche!”

“Twilight wait!” Wayfarer yelled back.

Tyche rushed forward, coating its bladed wheel in lightning before flinging it at the Shadow. The Shadow in turn began generating electricity of its own just as the wheel made contact with it. The creature howled at them as it quickly got to its hands and rushed forward, curling into a ball of lightning and rolling in their direction. All three of them scattered in different directions, but Twilight was unlucky enough to still be in the path of destruction. Once more she was flung to the side as the Shadow uncurled itself and lunged at her.

Twilight, dazed from the impact, looked up as her attacker hunched over her. Its mask cracked along the mouth line until it split completely, revealing a pitch black hole that swirled with a sickly tinge of purple and green. Out of its maw snaked a tendril of darkness, lashing out to grab hold of its prey.

“AHHHGGGGG!!!!” Twilight screamed as she realized what was happening.

“TWILIGHT!” Wayfarer yelled, quickly getting to his hooves and rushing forward.

“Do you require my assistance?” Came the familiar voice of Igor in Wayfarer’s head. “I believe it’s time I showed you what our true purpose is in your quest.”

In his mind’s eye, Wayfarer could see the Velvet Room, the center table glowing with power as Igor waved his hand over it, causing two tarot cards to appear on its surface and a circlet to form from the surrounding light.

“SARASVATI! FORTUNA!” Wayfarer shouted as he charged. The two personas dwelling within him began to flicker into existence, instead of bursting into light. The same circlet appeared in front of him, and as he passed through it, the two persona’s shattered the circle behind him, fusing into one single entity. The new Persona erupted into flames, shooting forth at high speed and landing a kick right to the head of the shadow before it could scoop up Twilight.

The Shadow went flying into the front door of the castle, and the Persona landed in the grass in between it and its summoner. The flames surrounding it died down to reveal a woman wrapped in a black gown highlighted with gold frills and jewelry.

Wayfarer galloped to Twilight’s side helping her to her hooves. “You alright?” he asked.

“I’m fine.” She said dusting herself off. “Just a little shaken up is all. Is it still alive?” In answer, the shadow rose out of the wreckage of the front door, moaning in pain as ice once again covered its back.

“I’ve got this one!” Pinkie said as she bounced in front of the other two. Laetitia joined Wayfarer’s Persona, then brought her crossbow up to the ready. “Hey Meany! Laetitia says she’s got a special party favour for you!” The crossbow began to take in energy, the cannon barrels glowing red hot as it prepared to unload its attack.

“Sati!” Wayfarer yelled. “Give her a boost!”

“You too Tyche!” Twilight yelled.

Tyche and Sati stood next to Laetitia, before casting spells to boost her attack’s power. By now the Shadow was drawing closer, ready to continue fighting.

“SEE YOU LATER ALLIGATOR!” Pinkie cried out as her Persona’s attack reached critical mass.

The resulting blast from Laetitia’s crossbow tore right through the Shadow, and what was left of the front door. The surrounding area lit up like a bonfire the size of Sugarcube Corner, raising the temperature past even Celestia’s comfort levels. Everypony averted their eyes at this point, waiting anxiously for the light show to end so they could see the final product of their efforts.

After about twenty seconds the fire finally cooled down, leaving nothing but smoke coming out of the front of the castle and the barrel of Laetitia’s crossbow. The shadow was completely incinerated, not a trace of it was left for their or Celestia’s eyes. After a few minutes of stunned disbelief at what they’d done, Pinkie smiled and started to bounce around, laughing hysterically.

“Guess you’re going to have to cancel that Dedication Ceremony for the castle, eh Twilight?”

Behind Emperor and Empusa’s masks, their jaws were trying to drop to the ground. The light from that blast had caused even them to avert their eyes. Emperor stood up suddenly and started pacing back and forth.

“Why are we even bothering now?” he growled loudly. “They’re only going to get stronger! So why don’t we just throw in the towel and call it a life?”

“Quit your belly aching!” Empusa said, getting to her hooves as well. “We’re still getting more powerful as well! And there’s still only three of them, not counting Princess Support Unit, compared to our seven! Maybe more if Moon and Death can actually get new members!” Empusa put out a hoof and stopped Emperor’s pacing, then brought herself close to him and ran her other hoof down his side. “We may be down my dear, but we’re certainly not out. Now run on home sweetie, I’ll see you in a few weeks.”

The changeling then took to the sky, buzzing away from the Emperor as he lifted a hoof to his neck to rub the spot where she’d given him a ‘Love Bite’ during their time together.

“That hurt A LOT.” he grumbled again before disappearing in a blast of black fire.

Gust Strongwind trotted through the halls of the lavish theatre he and his troupe of performers worked at. His destination was the Performance Hall, where his boss was holding auditions for their upcoming tour of “Hinny of the Hills”. Under his wing was a stack of files he’d been collecting and studying over the course of the day since he’d gotten back from Ponyville early that morning. Some of the files detailed all the seismic activity that had occurred in the area of Ponyville over the last two decades, others concerned any disappearances of townsfolk that had happened in the same time frame.

Gust Strongwind stopped in front of the Performance Hall, where he could hear the latest auditioner belt out the final few lines of one of the try out songs. He ran a hoof through his spiky steel grey hair and made sure his uniform was on straight. When the song was done he immediately entered the large theatre and zoned in on his boss, Court Drama, as he gave a respectful clap to the pony on stage.

“Bravo my dear. You did wonderful.” Court said as the performer took a bow and trotted off the stage. Gust took a seat next to him as he sat back down. “I think I just found our Hinny!” Court whispered excitedly to Gust.

“Very good sir, can’t wait to see the play when it comes out.”

“Oh don’t be such a flank kisser Strong.” Court said with a chuckle. “So how was Ponyville? Make any new friends?”

“Too busy with work sir, not even sure anypony saw me.”

“Pity, you ought to settle down with a nice mare Strong, you ARE the Lovers Arcana afterall.”

Gust coughed and pulled at the odd looking collar around his neck. “I’ve been trying sir, no luck so far.”

“Ahh don’t worry too much about it, you’ll find Mrs. Right someday. Now, to business. What’s the news?”

Gust looked around to make sure the theatre was indeed clear before starting on his debriefing. “It’s as we feared sir. Another crevasse has opened, and this one looks to be a little more active than the rest.”

“Casualties?”

“This is where it gets exciting sir.” Gust smiled. “Nopony has died yet, there have been a couple of disappearances, but so far the ponies in question have either been accounted for or came back a few days later.”

“Really? I wasn’t aware we had a team stationed there.”

“We don’t sir. The Persona Summoners there are unrelated to us in anyway. They’re Independents.” Court Drama sat up straight and looked directly at Gust. “And sir,” Strong said as his smile grew wider. “Two of the summoners? They’re Princesses Celestia and Twilight Sparkle.”

“Well Banish me to Tartarus… The original Sun Arcana is back in action?”

“It would appear that way sir, and it’s possible the Tower Arcana could be as well.”

“Discord?”

“Yes sir, but I’ve only ever sensed four Persona, and none of them felt like a Tower.”

“Hmmm… what of the other two?”

“A baker is filling the role of the Magician, and a school maintenance worker is the Fool, though it appears he might also be a wild card.”

“Fascinating. Are they using Evokers?”

“I don’t know sir, but it doesn’t feel like it.”

“Hmmm…” Court Drama hummed as he sat back in his seat. The two sat in silence for about a minute before Gust spoke up again.

“Sir, if I may, might I request you send my team to Ponyville as back up?”

“Backup? Whatever for? They seem to be doing fine on their own. Besides, isn’t your ‘team’ just yourself and two new recruits?”

“But sir, they barely managed to contain last night’s Shadow out break before they were able to destroy it. Add to it that the Princesses have no idea that this isn’t an isolated incident, and I think we’re well within the need to send a minimal T.A.R.O.T. Squad in to support them.”

“You worry far too much Strong. Very well, I will consider your request, but I intend to wait until the next new moon to see it the situation deteriorates any further. In the meantime, take a few days off. Go find a nice Filly Friend. Or a Colt Friend, whatever floats your boat.”

Gust sighed, then stood up to leave. “Alright Sir. If you insist.”

“I do insist. Now go on, shoo, and give my regards to Vivid and Hourglass.”

Author's Notes:

So many new players in this dangerous game. Whether they know what game they're playing or not, that is to be decided.

Decided against submitting this to EQD. Gonna wait until I make the featured box on the front page before I even attempt that... IF I make the featured box that is.

Still wanting more constructive critiques people. I won't get better if no one tells me what I'm doing wrong.