It was just before lunch when Wayfarer, Twilight, all of her friends, Spike, and Celestia found themselves at the train station awaiting the arrival of Twilight's elder brother, Shining Armor, and his wife, Princess Cadence. Wayfarer hadn't been told much about Shining from Twilight or Celestia other than his talent as a shield caster or his reliability as Captain of the Royal Guard. Spike on the other hand had told him enough for Wayfarer to make the assumption that Shining had to be some sort of massive dork underneath the royal armor.

Just as the nearby clock struck half past eleven, the roar of an engine reached Wayfarer's ears, only it was a lot heavier then the trains he was used to. As he looked up the tracks, he was stunned to see what looked like a train incased in crystalline armor, blue smoke billowing up from its stack and whistling loud enough that he almost felt the need to cover his ears. As it came to a halt in the station it hissed out a large amount of steam from underneath, clearing away almost as quickly as it came once the doors of the front most car slid open. Two guards wearing crystal armor that put even the Canterlot guard's gold armor to shame stepped out, followed by a tall, handsome stallion with a pure white coat and blue shaggy hair. Alongside him stepped out a mare with a light pink coat and a flowing mane stripped with yellow, purple, and a darker shade of pink. These two were obviously Shining Armor and Cadence, Wayfarer was just about to bow to the two when Shining Armor suddenly shouted out.

"Twiley!" He tossed his bag away, Cadence catching it in her magic with a bemused sigh, and rushed into the assembled crowd. He grabbed hold of Twilight and lifted her up in the air, spinning her around once before dropping her back to the ground and giving her a proper hug. "I wanted to come back immediately after the Summer Sun Celebration when I heard what had happened but stuff got crazy in the Crystal Empire and I'm just so glad you're okay!" The stallion looked like he was on the verge of tears, confirming Wayfarer's suspicions on Shining's dorkness.

Twilight giggled at her brother's enthusiasm. "I'm alright Shining, and it's good to see you too big bro."

"Hey, can I get in on this?" Cadence asked as she gently put her bag and Shining's down and approached. She seemed more restrained then her husband, but then she pulled both him and Twilight into a hug that seemed even tighter than Shining's. When she pulled away, there was a brief moment where she just smirked at Twilight as she smirked back, before they suddenly started dancing and clapping their hooves together in rhythm while singing a limerick.

"Sunshine! Sunshine!
Ladybugs awake!
Clap your hooves,
and do a little shake!"

Wayfarer gaped at the display for a moment, simultaneously confused and yet blinded by how ungodly cute that was.

"It's good to see all of you as well," Shining said, looking to the other ponies and dragon. "And I take it this is your new friend?" He asked when his eyes fell on Wayfarer.

"Yep," Twilight said, leading Shining and Wayfarer together. "Shining, this is Wayfarer, Wayfarer, Shining Armor."

"Pleasure to meet you Prince Shining," Wayfarer said, bowing his head slightly.

Shining snorted at the formality, shaking his head and smiling. "Just call me Shining dude." Shining looked over Wayfarer's shoulder, when he saw Celestia, he merely nodded his head to her. "Miss Sunny Skies."

"Prince Shining Armor," Celestia said. "I trust the trip was pleasant."

"The trip, yes. Getting out of the Empire, not so much."

"Oh no, " Twilight said. "Is something wrong?"

"The opposite really," Cadence said. "Things are going so well with the new government that when Celestia asked us both to come down, we thought it'd be a great opportunity to try and give our new Prime Minister a chance to take the reigns. But him and the rest of our cabinet were sent into a panic at the idea. They don't seem to believe in themselves as much as we do, so while Shining is going to be here for your castle's coronation, I'm afraid I'll be going back and forth to make sure everything's going well back home."

"Speaking of the castle," Shining said, his smile turning to a serious frown. "I'd like to see what we're dealing with now."

"Later," Celestia said, turning away and walking down the steps of the station. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm famished. I'd love to get a hayburger, what about all of you?"

Shining looked rather confused at that, then turned to his wife, who looked equally confused. Shrugging, Shining turned to his guards and asked them to bring their stuff to Twilight's library. "And bring the other thing to the Castle, if you don't mind." The guards nodded and got back on the train.

Cadence and Shining followed after Celestia, then the rest of their entourage followed suit. Twilight and Spike kept pace with Shining and Cadence, the four of them catching up on each other's lives. Wayfarer could hear Spike talking excitedly to Shining about Ogres and Oubliettes, to which Shining looked backwards to Wayfarer and gave him a big grin.

"They make a lovely family," Rarity commented. "I wonder if Cadence and Shining plan on adding their own little foal eventually?"

"I don't know when they're going to find time for that," Applejack said. "Running an entire kingdom and raising a little bundle of joy? Heck I had trouble just raising Apple Bloom and running a farm at the same time. Sure I had Big Mac and Granny, but still, I don't envy the stress parents go through when taking care of their little ones."

"But Apple Bloom only had you, Big Mac, and Granny Smith," Fluttershy said. "Cadence and Shining armor will have an entire kingdom to help them with making sure things run smoothly. That might be why they're so determined to get the Crystal Ponies to be able to run the kingdom themselves, so that they can have time to raise a foal."

"Yeah Applejack," Rainbow Dash said. "Maybe if you asked for more help when it came to running Sweet Apple Acres, you wouldn't be so stressed out."

Applejack glared at Rainbow for that, but otherwise did not comment.

They arrived at an establishment simply called "Hay Burger," and once again Wayfarer was surprised at how many places in Ponyville just seem to not be there whenever he's not looking for them, but the moment anyone needed them, there they were. "I'm convinced there's a theatre and a museum here somewhere, even if I can't find them," he thought with disdain. As they walked in, it also hit him how surreal it was that three alicorn princesses, a prince and former Captain of the Guard, and their entourage, were all eating at a fast food joint made for commoners. The ponies working behind the counter seemed to realize the weirdness of the situation as well, even if they couldn't see Celestia for who she really was, and started to panic as the party walked in.

"Ayum... ummm... Patty?" One of them stuttered. "Are you seeing this?"

"No need to get up in a tizzy everyone," Celestia said. "Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor just need something quick, then we'll be on our way."

"Oh I hope they have decent salads here," Rarity bemoaned, eyeing the menu. "I'd rather not have those greasy burgers in my system."

"You kidding me Rares?" Rainbow Dash smirked. "The grease is the best part!"

"You think an athlete like yourself would want to keep yourself healthy at all times, but whatever, it's your colon."

With bellies full and the restaurant staff thoroughly lost, the party finally headed over to the castle. Since the last time Wayfarer had been there, it had felt almost deserted. The guards remained, but the construction crews had finished their work and moved on. Now maids and staff were moving themselves in and decorations were being added, but Celestia and Twilight had insisted that the maid staff sleep away from the castle for their safety, at least until the proper defenses were added, and hopefully that would happen today. The Guards from Cadence and Shining Armors train were there, a large box carried between them.

"What's that?" Twilight asked, eyeing the box.

"Celestia asked that we stop in Canterlot on our way here to pick this up," Cadence explained.

"It's got a very 'Ancient Equestria, do not mess with this, very dangerous' vibe to it," Shining Armor added. "Luna said not to open it without Celestia."

"Come," Celestia said as she opened the bubble and led the party in. "I'll show you what it is."

The inside of the castle was more lively then Wayfarer had ever seen it. Staff were cleaning the months' worth of dust and debris left by the construction crews and replacing it with beautiful banners, carpets, tapestries, and other works of art. Many of them merely gave the royals a bow before going back to work. With barely over a week left before the coronation, there was still a lot to do.

"This place is really coming along," Applejack said, admiring the decor.

"Ooh yes it's all marvelous Twilight!" Rarity added, swooning at the stitch work on one of the tapestries.

"I can't wait to host some rock'n house parties!" Pinkie giggled.

"Pinkie," Fluttershy said. "I don't think that's what Twilight's castle is for."

The group descended into the deepest levels of the castle, right to where the wine cellar used to be. The room had been emptied, all the shelves moved to another location that had been refurbished to act as a wine cellar, making the whole room look like a crypt instead. The only thing that remained was the crevasse, and even with the Beast's defeat during the Summer Sun Celebration, everyone could still feel the chill and stale air rising up from within. The light that all the unicorns were shining seemed to stop just short of a foot into the hole, and Wayfarer could have sworn that somewhere down in that darkness he could here labored breathing.

"Alright, now that we're here," Celestia started. "Here's the full story."

Celestia spent as brief a time as she could explaining all she could to not just Cadence and Shining Armor, but also Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Spike. Everything, from the the Beast rising up during Equestria's first Golden Age, to the original Persona wielders, all the way to recent events, filling in the holes that Twilight had left out when she had tried to explain things to her friends during their trip through Everfree. Shining Armor kept glaring into the crevasse as she spoke, as if resisting the urge to jump in himself and start blasting apart everything that moved. When Celestia was done, he looked up at her and asked the question every non Persona user had asked.

"How do I get a Persona?"

"As I said," Celestia sighed. "Without fruit from the tree of knowledge, it seems that you'll have to face against a fabrication of yourself created by the Shadows and accept them into your heart no matter what they say. And they will say a number of horrible things, they'll spill every dark emotion and memory you try to hold in the back of your mind. I'm not going to allow any of you to go through with that if I can help it, which is why I had this made." She gestured to the box.

"But what is it?" Twilight asked again.

"It's called a lock box. I sent a request to some of my most trusted artificers, blacksmiths, and mages to have it forged for me after I first got a look at the crevasse." She pulled the lock box to the center of the room and tapped her horn to a panel on its front. "Normally I'd have Luna here to help me with its activation, but Cadence and Shining Armor's mastery of Emotional Magic and Shield Magic will be a much better fit for our purposes. Now, if you two would join me."

Cadence and Shining stepped to either side of Celestia as the box started to unfold. At it's center was a pure white gem bigger than Wayfarer's head. Everyone else oohed at the sight of the gem, especially Rarity and Spike. Celestia, Cadence and Shining began powering their horns, channeling massive amounts of magical energy into the gem, charging it like a battery. The gem began to radiate light and power so great that everyone had to shield their eyes. Suddenly the box began to rise, attaching itself to the ceiling, then it started unfold even more, stretching out to the walls, then down to the floors, then right under their hooves. The room now looked like it was made of solid gold, with the gem embedded in the ceiling acting as a lamp. The crevasse was only briefly covered before row after row of steps dropped down into the darkness. Behind everyone, the door turned into an ornate vault hatch, with a single keyhole at the center of the tumbler wheel. The magic stopped flowing from Celestia, Cadence and Shining, and the three had to steady themselves as exhaustion hit them.

"Are you three alright?" Twilight asked as everyone else rushed to ensure the royals were okay.

"We're fine Twilight," Celestia said. "We just had to put everything we had into it in order to make sure it was secure."

"More like it sucked everything we had out of us," Shining said irritably. "Excuse me Celestia, but could you have given us a warning about that?"

"My apologies, the gem is enchanted to absorb latent magical energies, both from its surroundings and from ponies who come in contact with it, which is why Luna told you not to open it. But now the box is self sustaining, and only the most powerful of Shadows will be able to make it out."

"But how do we know it works?" Fluttershy asked.

"The other day I asked Discord to give it a test run when we were done setting it up, he should be trying to break in at any moment now."

As if on cue, a loud bang resounded from the left side of the room, everyone save for Celestia jumped in surprise. Another bang followed soon after, then another. There was a brief moment of silence before something started rapidly hitting the walls. The hits came from every which way, some bigger than others, others smaller but in concentrated patterns. This went on for a few minutes before stopping. One final pause, then the biggest hit of all slammed into the vault door. Satisfied, Celestia walked to the door and slid a key into the keyhole. The wheel turned and the sound of many gears spinning could be heard. The door finally creeped open, and on the other side was a very tired looking Discord, leaning on the head of a massive sledge hammer, a number of power tools and heavy machinery crowding the hallway.

"You know," he said, gasping for breath. "I'm known for wanting to stay out of the box, but nothing makes me want to get in a box more than telling me I'm not allowed in it."

"I take it you tried everything?" Celestia asked with a smirk.

"Are you kidding me? I tried to pull the box itself out of the castle, but it's so ingrained into the crevasse now that it's like trying to pull Canterlot Mountain out from under Canterlot! Even I can't do that!"

"Good to know." Celestia then turned to Shining Armor. "Shining, get some rest. Tonight, you, myself, Wayfarer, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and whatever Guards you've brought will start sweeping every inch of this castle for any remaining Shadows. We may have put the cap back on the bottle, but we still need to clean up the spilt milk."

Author's Notes:

I lied, there isn't going to be anymore big chapters before we get back to plot. You guys have waited long enough. I skipped over three days worth of social links to get us here, and I'm gonna skip over another two so we can get to Breezy Beaches Week.

Next time, the Tarot Theatre Caravan comes to Ponyville.