Wayfarer didn't wake up as gracefully as he'd hoped that morning. Someone was shouting and jostling him around, and continued to do so until finally his eyes opened and he looked above him to see a very distressed looking Pinkie Pie.

"Finally! You sleep like an Ursa Minor!" The panic in her voice roused Wayfarer to full awake and alert status.

"Pinkie? What's going on?"

"What's going on?" She nearly screeched. She pulled Wayfarer out of bed and hoisted him against the window so he could see what was going on. "THAT'S what's going on!"

Wayfarer had to rub the sand from his eyes to be sure that what he was seeing was real and not just delusions brought about by sleep deprivation. All of Ponyville, or at least the portion he could see from his window, was being overrun by huge, jet black vines with sickly green thorns protruding from them. The vines were quickly entangling the buildings and decor, wrapping about them like an octopus's tentacles. One of the vines sprouted near the library and slammed against the window, badly cracking it and startling both Pinkie and Wayfarer as far back as they could go.

"Exit stage left!" Wayfarer shouted, tearing open the bedroom door and leading the escape from the library.

Outside wasn't any safer though, as some of the smaller vines made a grab for the two whenever they tried to stand still. One managed to snare Pinkie and caused her to start hollering in distress before something very fast and very blue severed the vine and freed her.

"You two alright?" Rainbow Dash hollered as she ascended back skyward and tried to punch apart a very dark looking cloud that also had thorns sticking out of it. She got zapped by lightning for her trouble and decided that shying away from the terrifying clouds was a better option.

"We're fine, just a little spooked." Wayfarer looked around at where he and Pinkie were standing and made sure to stomp down hard at whatever vines were just sprouting. "What are these things?!"

"No idea, but they look like they're spreading out from the Everfree!" Rainbow Dash declared, pointing a hoof in the forest's general direction. "Nothing we do seems to stop them though! I tear up one and like a dozen more take its place."

"And that's not the only thing not so right about today!" Pinkie said, putting a hoof under Wayfarer's chin and lifting his attention to the sky itself. Wayfarer's eyes went wide as his mind tried to reconcile what his eyes were seeing.

"By the Sun and Moon." The sky looked as if both night and day had split the heavens in half. The Sun was high in the east, but the Moon was also high in the sky to the west. This was more than just the light of dawn or dusk, this was a celestial improbability.

"Something must have happened to the princesses," he pondered out loud. "We have to establish communication with Canterlot!"

"Already on it!" Dash yelled as she started pulling a vine away from the door of a nearby house. "The mayor sent one of the guards, they should be there soon if not already! Once Twilight and Princess Celestia get here, these vines can say their prayers!"

'Somehow, I doubt the situation up there is any better than it is down here.' Wayfarer thought to himself.

Twilight had her face pressed against the window of her guest room, dumbstruck at the sight of both the Sun and Moon fighting over control of the sky.

'How is this possible?' She thought desperately. Quickly she tore her gaze away from the outside world and ran to Spike's side, prodding at him to try and rouse him from his slumber. Grumbling, Spike lifted his head and blinked rapidly to try and rid the sleep from his eyes.

"Is it morning already?" he asked, stretching his arms.

"I don't know," Twilight said with panic in her voice. "It could be, but it could still be night! But that's just it! Look Spike!" Eyes fully open, Spike laboriously rolled to where Twilight was pointing. Suddenly, the last of his drowsiness fell from his eyes as he beheld the state of the sky.

"Wow... What's going on?"

"I'm not sure Spike. Come on, we need to find Princess Celestia!" Twilight swiftly swooped up Spike and tossed him to her back, dashing out the door of her suite with Spike barely getting a firm grip before they hit the stairs.

After descending the stairs and bursting out the front door of her tower, Twilight was greeted by the sight of dozens of ponies gathered in the square, looking up at the sky with varying degrees of confusion, fear, and panic. Twilight was about to start galloping in the direction of the central castle, when all of a sudden one of the mares in the crowd pointed to her and called out.

"Princess Twilight will know what's happening!" Everypony present spun about to look at Twilight and then rushed forward like a group of foals clamoring for their mother's attention, each of them beginning to vocalize their panicked questions as they crowded into her personal bubble.

"Princess, what's going on?"

"Where's Princess Luna?"

"Where's Princess Celestia for that matter?"

"Is the Summer Sun Celebration canceled?"

Twilight's already heightened levels of panic started to increase as more and more ponies grouped together.

"Well you see," she stumbled. "I really don't... there should be a logical explanation for this."

"Your Highness!" Came a gruff call louder than the crowd as one of the Royal Guards pushed through. "Please, I need you to come with me, quickly!"

Nodding, Twilight allowed herself and Spike to be rescued from the anxious gathering. The guard led her safely to the central castle and into one of the side hallways, where another Guard quickly shut the door to prevent anyone else from getting in.

"I apologize for this your majesty," the first guard said. "But I'm afraid we have some grave news."

'What could possibly be graver than the sky being torn apart?' Twilight thought with trepidation.

"It's Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna,"

"They're gone!" The second guard shouted.

Twilight gasped as the feeling of ice ran down her spine. "Gone? What do you mean gone?!"

"Both of them disappeared at some point last night and no one has been able to locate them!"

Twilight's mind entered a state of emotional free fall at that point. 'Last night?' she thought. 'The train arrived late... Celestia and I were together until long after the sun had gone down... then I started freaking out over forgetting things back in Ponyville... Celestia sent me to bed and then-' Twilight's mental recounting of last night was interrupted by the guards however, who decided to add yet another layer of stress to her morning.

"When we realized the Sky was in disarray, we assumed that something had happened to them. As such, we came to you."

"For me?" Twilight stuttered. "But why?"

"The Royal Guard takes its orders directly from the Princesses," The first guard said before both of them stooped into a bow.

"With Luna and Celestia missing, and Princess Cadance in the Crystal Empire, this leaves us at your command."

"My command?" Twilight was beginning to feel rather nauseous.

"Yes Princess, we await your orders."

"Quickly Princess! What do you wish for us to do?"

Twilight simply stood there, staring at the two guards. She'd been a princess for a good few months now, but now was the first time the weight of that title truly dawned on her. She could give orders, and it was expected that they would be followed. There had been moments where the guards at her castle in Ponyville would ask her for something, or asked for her to make judgements on certain matters, but she had always felt that her responses were nothing more than suggestions or opinions. Never had she stopped and thought that her words were akin to the law. And now when it looked as if the other princesses, her friends, were in danger, she was expected to lead Equestria's forces in their absence. She took a deep breath, composed her face into a look of dignity, stood straight up and made her commands.

"I want you to continue the search for Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Find out what happened to them, and report back to me should you find any evidence as to where they might have gone."

The guards, rising to attention, saluted to her and then rushed out the door to rally up another more thorough search party to find the missing princesses. With them gone, and her left alone with only Spike, she relaxed and sighed. Spike smiled and patted her on the shoulder.

"Way to go, Princess."

"Thanks Spike, but if you could do me a favor and give me some space, I'm starting to feel a little sick. Ooh, I really hope ordering troops around doesn't become a regular thing."

The door then opened once more, Twilight and Spike looking up to see who it was and groaning with annoyance as Prince Blueblood strode into the hall. He looked almost as annoyed as they did, as if they were at fault for the chaos outside.

"Princess Twilight. The sky is a mess. I don't know what sort of prank Aunt Celestia and Aunt Luna are pulling, but it isn't funny. I demand they fix it this instant."

"Sorry Blueblood," Twilight said in a voice that had not an ounce of sincerity in it. "We're working on fixing it right now."

"Bah! Where are they? If they think I'll put up with them ruining my beauty sleep, they've got another thing coming."

"Are you kidding me!" Spike shouted. "Equestria might be in danger and all you care about is your beauty sleep? No wonder Rarity called you a royal pain."

"So? Why should I care about Equestria?" Blueblood snorted as he walked past Twilight. "It isn't my kingdom. Now I don't care who does it, but someone needs to put the sun and moon back in their proper place!"

"For your information," Twilight snarled, "Princess Celestia and Luna are out taking care of whatever it is that's happening, right now, as we speak. They care about putting this right too."

"Wait," Blueblood paused and turned back to look at Twilight. Something in the corner of his eye seemed to waver as he did so. "Are you saying that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna aren't here?"

Twilight, miffed that she'd allowed that little slip, pressed on. "As I said, they are fixing the sky right now. And until they return, I'm in charge."

"You? Bah."

"Yes, me. Now if there's nothing else, I have a city full of frightened citizens I have to-"

"Princess Twilight!" Came a shout as the doors burst open. In ran a very tired looking Pegasus guard, who Twilight recognized as one of those stationed in Ponyville. "News from Ponyville!"

Mentally bracing herself for more bad news, Twilight stood up straight once more. "What's wrong? Has something happened?"

"Well, you see," the guard said, still trying to catch his breath. "The Everfree Forest is... invading!"

Twilight's eyes went as wide as saucers. Her entire body started to twitch and her legs began to move forward in an almost automatic fashion. Spike gave her a worried look before hopping back on top of her. He started to run a claw over her shoulder, trying to get her to calm down as she walked past the guard.

"Y- Your Majesty?"

"I have to go!" Twilight said with a shaky breath as the doors were flung open and she broke into a mad dash. The guard, shocked at her sudden departure, chased after.

Blueblood, however, remained behind. He smirked as the doors closed themselves and turned to look into the shadows nearby. The ghostly figure of Moon slunk out of the darkness, slowly pacing in an irregular path towards Blueblood as the area above her head started to glow a pale blue.

"I'm impressed," Blueblood commented. "You took out both Celestia and Luna in one night. So what's our next move?"

"Shut up you foal!" Moon screeched in a quiet rasp. "I need to send a message to the others and you are breaking my concentration!"

Blueblood took a step back, then huffed in annoyance at Moon's outburst. "Is there something wrong?"

"Something is always wrong," She muttered to herself.

~~~~~

Judgement, standing at the altar within the main hall of their hollow, gently tapped a hoof in impatience. In front of them stood the Emperor and the Empress, both looking just as irritated as Judgement was. All around them the walls were being cracked and punctured by the vines and thorns, only for the plants to then be incinerated by a blast from one of the three's horns. Every now and then, one of them would toss a glance at the doorway at the end of their lair, only to give a low growl upon seeing no one enter.

Finally, the doors burst open and allowed a pitch black mass of cloud to maneuver inside. It crawled along the edge of the ceiling, weaving in between the fissures until it reached the place where Judgement stood.

"It's about time you showed up, Death!" Emperor shouted. "We've only been waiting nearly ten hours for you to report back!"

"Silence," Judgement said sternly. The cloud extended to the side of Judgement's head and started to make incoherent and echoing moans. Judgement scowled after a few moments, then shooed the cloud away. "It would seem the vines have spread beyond the forest. Ponyville is under assault, and other settlements on Everfree's borders are at risk as well."

"And the Dark Mother?" Emperor inquired. "What have these wretched things done to her?"

"I can feel her presence waning faster than ever. It would appear that this plant is strangling her life away just as the forest itself has done for a millennia. What's more, Death has passed on a report that the Princesses of the Sun and Moon have also disappeared."

"So at this point, the vines are everyone's enemy. Definitely sounds like Discord's doing."

"So why don't we simply track him down and finish him off!" Empress declared. "He's not worth anything to us and he's too powerful to be captured and contained!"

"And that is precisely why we can't do anything about him," Judgement said coldly. "Much as I'd love to recruit him to our cause or else eliminate him entirely, we are incapable of doing either as it stands right now. The best we may hope for is that he never regain a Persona. Regardless, I doubt killing him would put an end to these vines. Nothing short of a jolt of Harmonious Magic will wither them completely, the chaos that flows through them is too strong."

The room went silent for almost a full minute at this. Emperor was the first to speak up, his voice filled with dumbfounded rage.

"Are you seriously suggesting we allow those... children to unleash the magic that trapped the Dark Mother in the first place, on the thing that is currently expediting her death?! That could destroy her as well!"

"If the Harmonious Magic was capable of killing the Dark Mother, it would have done so when Celestia and Luna harnessed it a thousand years ago. Mayhaps it will strengthen the curse and push our plans back, but I would rather wait another thousand years to free her rather than lose her entirely."

"If she will even last that long," Empress snorted, her disbelief showing. "She only managed to break a portion of herself free ten years ago, and since then she's only been spreading herself thin."

"Nevertheless, we don't have much choice in the matter now do we?" Stepping down from the altar, Judgement strode past the other three and began making their way to the lair's entrance. "Death, continue to keep an eye on Ponyville. I have a feeling that Princess Twilight will be returning sooner than she expected. Emperor, Empress, stay and see if you can't keep the vines from destroying what's left of the Sanctum."

"And what of you?" Emperor asked with a scowl. "Where are you going?"

Judgement paused, then turned to smirk at Emperor. "I'm going to go see an old friend about a tree."

~~~~~

"Princess, please wait!" Shouted the guard as Twilight dashed out into the courtyard. "Ponyville is far too dangerous for you to return to! Please send a detachment of troops instead!"

Twilight whirled around, Spike almost flung off before he could grab hold around her neck. "My home and friends are in danger! I refuse to stay here and do nothing! Prime Minister Iron Gavel can handle things in my stead, but Ponyville is where I'm needed right now!"

"But your Highness!" The guard shouted, but Twilight was already unfolding her wings.

"Hang on Spike," she whispered to her passenger. Spike gripped tighter around her barrel.

"Ooh, where are the seat belts on this thing?"

With a mighty whomp of compressed air, Twilight shot herself into the sky. Her wings flapping as fast as they could to try and increase her speed.

"Are you sure you can make it?" Spike shouted over the roar of the wind.

"I have to make it Spike! Whatever's going on, we may need the Elements of Harmony to fix it!"

'Oh I hope it isn't as drastic as that,' Twilight thought to herself. 'If this is the Beast's doing, there's no telling what using the Elements would do!'

~~~~~

From a balcony overlooking the courtyard, Blueblood and Moon watched as Twilight took off into the sky. Snorting, Blueblood tossed an annoyed glance back at the sun and moon.

"You sure this isn't your doing?" he asked his companion.

"I barely have the strength to hold a physical form, let alone take down both Celestia and Luna and wrest control of the heavenly bodies from them. So no, this was not mine, nor any of the others' doing." Walking away from the balcony and into the shadows of Blueblood's unlit suite, Moon continued. "I informed Death of the situation, he'll have passed it onto Judgement by now."

"Why don't we just kill Iron Gavel now?" Blueblood asked as he followed her. "With the princesses gone away from Canterlot, taking out the Prime Minister would put me in charge."

"Because, you fool," Moon spat as she paced. "I don't have many doubts that Twilight Sparkle and her friends will succeed in rescuing the lost Princesses. If they return to find Gavel dead and you on the throne, you'll be incinerated on the spot."

"Then what do we do? Sit around and waste this opportunity?"

"Until I get word from Death or Judgement, yes."

"Bah!"

~~~~~

"This is becoming a bit of a problem," Wayfarer deadpanned as he stared out of the library window at the chaos growing outside. A couple of guards from the castle ran by, trying to use their magic to dispel the vines. However, a few of the vines sprouted peculiar looking buds that bloomed and shot spores at them. The guard's magic then turned against them, tearing a banner off a nearby light post and swooping them away with it. Wayfarer's eyes bulged out and he quickly closed the blinds and turned back to the library proper.

"Okay, we've gone past 'problem' and gone straight to 'catastrophe.' you all found anything yet?"

In addition to Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, Rarity, FLuttershy and Applejack had also met up at the library. The six of them were turning the place upside down in search of explanation as to why the Everfree forest was suddenly encroaching beyond its borders, however, their search was turning up fruitless.

"Not a single pony pick'n thing!" Applejack swore, tossing another book into the air, where Rarity caught it and placed it down gently.

"Have you had any luck contacting Celestia or Twilight, Wayfarer?" The seamstress asked after tossing Applejack an annoyed glance.

Wayfarer gestured to the bottle of dragon fire sitting on a shelf next to the window that Celestia had given him. Nothing. I drop a letter in and all I get back in responce is a message saying that 'My contact is either offline or has blocked me.' Whatever that means."

"Ooh, I really wish they were here right now," Fluttershy bemoaned. "They'd know what to do."

As if in response to Fluttershy's wish, a very loud yet distant cry of panic reached their ears, bellowing out until, with a massive burst of magic, Twilight teleported into their midst. She was still going at speed however and crashed right into Rarity's stack of books, with Spike flying off her back and right into Fluttershy's outstretched fore legs.

"Fluttershy," Wayfarer said as he ran over to dig Twilight out of the book pile. "Remind me to hug you later."

Fluttershy blushed but didn't comment. Instead, she, Spike and the other four gathered around Twilight and dragged her out of the books.

"Thank goodness you're here!" Rarity proclaimed. "When you and Princess Celestia didn't respond to Wayfarer's letters, we started to fear the worst!"

"The worst is unfortunately what we might have," Twilight said as she looked around at her friends. "But what about all of you? Are you alright? Is Ponyville alright?"

"You mean, aside from all the vines destroying things and harassing everypony?" Rainbow Dash asked sarcastically. "Meh, same old same old."

"Oh no, how bad is it?" Twilight asked as she went to the front door and pulled it open.

Suddenly, a massive vine pushed its way into the library, tossing Twilight aside and ramming right into Applejack. Applejack was sent flying into a book case and ended up in yet another pile of books. With a rage filled cry, Applejack leapt from the heap and pushed back against the plant, shoving it right out the entrance and slamming the door shut behind it.

"Get'n real tired of this horse manure!" She yelled. "Twi, please tell me that you know what's going on and that Princess Celestia sent you to help take care of it."

"Well," Twilight said, suddenly growing nervous. "Y-you see, um, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are... are..."

"They're gone!" Spike shouted out, causing everypony else to gasp in shock.

"I have no idea what happened to them," Twilight continued. "But I have a few suspicions as to who might be responsible." She then tossed a knowing look over at Wayfarer, who got the hint and swallowed nervously.

'If this is another kidnapping by those hooded ponies,' Wayfarer thought. 'Then we're in a lot of trouble. Without Celestia, we won't even be able to track where they are under the castle, let alone fight the Shadows! But... how could they have overpowered both Celestia and Luna, unless they had Shadows with them... horse apples, there's too much we don't know!'

"Yeah, I've got my suspicions too!" Rainbow Dash declared, knocking Wayfarer out of his thoughts as she rushed over to a glass case with the Elements of Harmony stored inside.

"You do?" Fluttershy asked uncertainly.

"Duh! It's Discord! The sky is split in half, the weather is all weird, and the vines are affecting everypony's magic! This has his cloven hoof prints all over it!"

"He only has one cloven hoof," Fluttershy pointed out softly.

"C'mon Twilight! Open this case and let's send that no good trickster packing!"

"Hear hear!" Rarity affirmed.

"Wait a minute guys," Wayfarer said. "Discord is a lot of things, but I don't think he'd actually hurt anypony." Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow gave him a disbelieving eye roll, but he still continued. "Besides, he's been getting really excited about starting his symphony. Why would he throw that away by doing something like this?"

"Um, because he's the Spirit of Chaos and that's just what he does?" Applejack pointed out.

"Oh come on girls," Fluttershy said, "Discord has been on his best behavior the past few months. I say we give him the benefit of the doubt."

"In any case," Twilight said as she undid the lock and lifted the glass surrounding the Elements. "Asking Discord about what's going on might be a good place to start. But no turning him to stone unless we're sure he had something to do with this."

With her magic, Twilight took the Elements and placed one around each of her friend's necks, save for Spike and Wayfarer.

"Everyone ready?" She asked, heading for the front door, only to turn around and head for the back door instead.

"Give me a moment," Wayfarer said as he dashed back to his room. A few seconds later, he came back wearing his button-up and over shirt. Everyone stared at him incredulously, but he just smiled at them. "What? You all have your fancy jewelry, I wanted my shirts."

"You did look a little incomplete without them," Rarity admitted as everyone else rolled their eyes again.

"Now are we ready?" Twilight asked impatiently. Everyone nodded. "Then let's go find a draconequus."

~~~~~

The massive maw of a cave stood before Judgement, mist rolled all around its hooded figure and the sound of wind echoed throughout the gorge it was standing in. Judgement eyed the edges of the cavern, noting the increased amount of vines in this area. With a huff of annoyance, it made a move to enter. But before it could place even one hoof into the darkness, the cloud of shadow that was Death swirled down from the forest and approached.

"I take it the Princess has come home?" Judgement inquired. Death gave an unearthly response that Judgement took as an affirmative. "Good. Now, go make sure they actually make it here in one piece."

Death gave another howl that sounded like anger and disappointment.

"I know you'd rather they all die, but right now we need those accursed Elements of Harmony. And what's more, all of them are still viable sacrifices. I'm sure you'd rather they die in the Dark Mother's mouth than at your own hooves?"

Another disgruntled murmur from Death in his distorted tongue.

"Fine, very well than, you may have the honor of personally feeding the Princess and her pet dragon to Mother, if your petty desires are that important to you."

Death made a noise that wasn't dissimilar from laughter and finally left Judgement's presence. Silently, the cloaked pony entered the cave. As it made its way deeper, a gentle rumble could be felt from within the earth. Judgement couldn't help but chuckle to itself.

"Impatient, aren't we? I promise you, my dear, you'll be out soon, but now is not the time."

A soft glow seemed to fill the cave as Judgement got close to the end. With a spiteful smirk, they beheld the glow's source as a giant, crystalline tree wrapped from top to bottom in vines.

"Yes, we'll be together again in due time."