The party truly started almost an hour after the gates opened. So many people wanted to make their first priority saying hello to Twilight and try to engage her in conversation, that she almost missed her appointment in the dining hall to give the first toast and christen the castle proper. When she got there, a flood of ponies came in behind her and made claim to any open table they could, and even then, for every seat filled there were at least two more ponies standing. Twilight didn't realize how vast the crowd was until she'd reached the table where all her friends had gathered and turned around. the sea of colour, at first, looked to be too daunting for her, but then a reassuring touch from Cadence seemed to set herself at ease. With a deep breath, she took hold of a champagne glass and lifted it into the air. immediately the hall grew silent and all eyes were on her.

"A toast!" She cried out to the crowd. Those with glasses took this moment to raise them, following Twilight's lead. "First, to the hardworking mares and stallions, who put their blood, sweat, and tears into making this beautiful castle a reality." A small group of tough looking ponies, representing the much larger group of construction workers that weren't present, stood and acknowledged the princess's thanks. "You put up with a great many delays on my part, for that I am sorry and eternally grateful. I could not ask for a more beautiful home." Everyone in the room cheered at this, some more passionately then others. "Second, to the people of Ponyville, who made this town such an amazing place to live, that I could not imagine a better place to stand as a Princess of Equestria. This last year has meant more to me than any other." She looked around as the cheering started again, making sure to look each of her friends in the eye just to emphasise how much they meant to her. "And finally, to all of you here. Thank you for joining me for what my friend Pinkie Pie would call a housewarming party. I hope you all enjoy yourselves!" Everyone finally drank from their classes, then the cheering began anew.

"I wouldn't actually call this a housewarming party," Pinkie told the table. "That'd require more balloons and streamers and flashing lights and Vinyl shaking the foundations with her newest song." Everyone smirked at that.

Luna was, at that moment, putting the finishing touches on the early hours of her night sky. The glow of the sun was nearly gone, what little could be seen of the moon was just cresting over the far mountains, and the stars were twinkling into view one right after another. From her balcony, she looked down into the valley below Canterlot, where she could just barely make out Twilight's castle aglow in the darkness. She sighed and turned back into her room to prepare for some early night royal business. She honestly did regret not accepting her sister's invitation to join her, Twilight, and Cadence, but she also knew that after an hour or two she'd get tired of the crowd and wander off to some lonesome corner of the gardens with a glass of cider to enjoy the rest of the night in peace. Her time was honestly better spent performing her Royal duties and then moving directly to her favourite part of the night since her return from the moon: flying about the realm of dreams, watching her subjects spin great clouds of wonder and mystery, and sweeping away nightmares that troubled their rest.

Oh, how she regretted not taking advantage of her access to the dreaming world before her fall to Nightmare Moon. It seemed silly to her now to think that her subjects had no interest in her when there was a whole world waiting for her to be a part of. Her subjects these days were always so thankful and overjoyed to have her visit their dreams, especially the children. Nothing made her happier then giving the fillies and colts of Equestria a friend to talk to about their troubled day time hours, but she would often lament that there were only so many hours in the night and so many dreams she wished to visit.

"I wonder if I could teach others to do walk the dream world as I do," Luna once again mused to herself. She smiled at the idea of having a school like her sister's, where she could train gifted unicorns to help her protect the dreams of her subjects. The idea kept her mind occupied as she quickly left for the throne room, eager to get started. Her eagerness, however, distracted her just enough from noticing that a particularly long shadow was following her down the hall.

As the night wore on, Gust, Vivid, and Hourglass were starting to get bored. Not exactly tired, but their focus was admittedly starting to slip. No Shadows had shone up for nearly an hour now, not even the tiny ones that run away at the very sight of you. It didn't help that they were the team highest up in the labrynth, meaning that most Shadows would have been dealt with before they even got close to them. Hourglass at least had something to do to keep herself occupied, she was humming along to a song in her head, occasionally appraising and rehumming parts over and over again. It did get a bit annoying, but Gust and Vivid knew better than to interrupt her when she was in the middle of formulating a new song. Vivid wished he had a talent that he could practise while working too, but drawing and writing while you need to be paying attention to your surroundings didn't sit well with that.

"Sooo..." Vivid said, breaking the silence and turning to Gust. "What do you think of Celestia's Persona group?"

"Not much too think," Gust responded simply. "They're just like us. Eclectic and determined to find the bright side in everything. We might be a little better organized though, but we've got dozens and dozens of people in our organization, while they're only five."

"But you've got an idea of what their Persona's are like, right?"

"Only what their Arcana is, everything else I'd have to actually see them first to make any judgements."

"Kay." Vivid went back to being silent for a while before another question popped up. "What do you think of Miss Rarity?"

"The one with the swirly purple hair?" Gust asked, raising an eye. "I haven't even spoken to her, you'd know more about her than me."

"I know that, but..." Vivid hesitated for a moment. "Do you think she's cute?"

Gust rolled his eyes. As they reached an intersection, the trio stopped and Gust's collar began to glow and hum. "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern!" He shouted out. A Persona wearing a rough jacket and a masquerade mask with a butterfly half and a batwing half appeared behind them. A similar Persona then appeared in front of them, only his mask was reversed. One Persona stayed behind while the other wandered off, seemingly unconcerned with anything.

"R.G. hasn't seen or heard anything the last three times you sent him out," Hourglass said pointedly. "Why don't we just go wait by the stairs for Infinity to give us a ring?"

"I don't suppose it matters," Gust muttered an admittance with a nod. "Gods I wish I was up in that party right now."

"You may get that chance," said the voice of Infinity in their ears. "Court and Marionette are both reporting that the number of Shadows on the lower levels are dwindling quickly. It's not quite midnight yet, but if this trend continues then we might be able to retire a few of you around one o'clock."

"The party will be over by then!" Vivid bemoaned.

"This is strange," Gust said, ignoring Vivid. "It's almost midnight on a new moon, the place should be crawling with Shadows. What is going on?"

Twilight's party was going swimmingly so far. Though her friends had desperced to enjoy the party themselves, she did surprisingly find some enjoyment in meeting some of her more well off subjects from out of Ponyville. She, Celestia, and Cadence hd moved to the throne room, which had become the defacto place to mingle with them at this point. Some of them were, as she had expected, only there to rub elbows with someone powerful in hopes of currying favor with her. But many also seemed genuinely interested in providing support, not just to her, but to Ponyville as well. Twilight was already making promises to introduce a few looking to conduct business to those who would would need it most, she suspected Applejack would be ecstatic to know that ponies all the way from Manehattan and Baltimare wanted to buy her apples.

Elsewhere, Wayfarer was just people watching in the halls. He mingled with a few ponies here and there, but no one really took notice of him. He passed by Time Turner, who was showing a collection of timepieces to some intrigued looking Canterlot ponies. He managed to catch that the time was nearing midnight, and a tinge of worry raced up his spine. If anything was going to happen, it'd be happening soon. He said a silent prayer to whoever might be looking out for them, and then Discord suddenly sprang into existence right in front of him.

"I'm hungry," He said simply, even as ponies all around him started to gasp in horror. "You hungry?"

"Not really," Wayfarer responded, just before Discord booped him on the nose and teleported both of them to the dining hall. There were a few more gasps, and a loud declaration of startled surprise from Applejack.

"What in tarnation!" She cried out.

"No need to panic," Discord claimed before he summoned a plate to his lion hand and started making a tower of food at the table they'd landed next to. "I'm just here for the horderves, then I'll be out of your hair." Everyone was looking at him nervously, save for Wayfarer and Applejack, who just shook their heads in exasperation. Wayfarer noted that Applejack had a plate as well, filled with food that her family had brought.

"Met a fella who seemed interested in my handiwork," she explained. "Told him I could bring some for him to try for himself. Actually, could you lend me a hoof Wayfarer? I'll need another plate." Wayfarer shrugged and acquiesced to helping her out.

They left Discord to continue building his tower, which was almost as tall as he was now. They weaved in between the crowd, until they reached a table with a single pony seated at it. Wayfarer stopped dead, his body turning to ice and his eye widening in horror. He recognized the pony, or rather he recognized the mask he was wearing. It was purple, with spikes along the top that looked like a crown. He was the one who had kidnapped Pinkie Pie back in May, and Wayfarer couldn't have been more sure until The Emperor opened his mouth and spoke with that same calm demeanor he used to try and tempt Pinkie that had merely been a front for the pompous rage he had behind him.

"Ah, there you are Miss Applejack. Goodness you weren't joking about how much you had to offer." Then he noticed Wayfarer, and his calm smile slipped for barely a fraction of a second. "And you brought a friend."

"Wayfarer, this is Mr. Artemis," Applejack introduced. "Mr. Artemis, this is... Wayfarer are you alright, sugar cube?" Her normally joyful voice turned to concern once she had noticed Wayfarer's expression.

Before Wayfarer could say a word though, The Emperor's magic took hold of both him and Applejack, clamping their mouths shut and forced them to walk forward and take a seat with him at the table. He took the plates of food from them and took a few bites. Humming sweetly, he smiled at Applejack even as she scowled at him.

"I'm impressed Applejack. These are quite good, you should be proud of your family's work. I imagine our Mother will think you taste just as good when we feed you to her." He continued to sample the food the two trapped ponies had brought him, chuckling under his breath as he did so. "Earth Ponies. Tending the fields are just about the only thing you lot are good for. If you were unicorns, you could free yourselves easily and shout for help, but instead you get to sit there and listen to my well practiced monologue." He then turned to Wayfarer and sneered at him. "You've humiliated me and my companions enough I think. I need to keep you alive long enough to feed you to Mother, but that doesn't mean I won't make sure your remaining hours are filled with agony and despair."

The magic surrounding Wayfarer started to twist his ear around, threatening to tear it right off. He couldn't even whimper in pain, much less cry out for help. Suddenly, a loud clatter drew The Emperor's attention away from Wayfarer and to the opposite side of the table from himself.

"Ah! Good," Discord said as he swung his head around the tower of horderves to look at them. "You found a table." When his eyes landed on The Emperor though, the mirth in them was quickly replaced with confusion, then seething anger. "Artemis," he grumbled. "You shouldn't be here."

"Really?" The Emperor said, scowling back at Discord. "I was under the impression that this party was open to all?"

"It isn't open to the dead." Discord's claws were scratching deep cuts into the table, but Wayfarer could also see that Discord was actually starting to sweat.

"Well," The Emperor laughed as he picked up another apple treat from his plate. "As you can see, I'm not dead, despite Celestia and Luna's best attempts."

"Then allow me to fix that!" Discord sent the entire table, and all the food, flying into the air. With nothing left between himself and the Emperor, Discord flung himself forward, magic crackling at his fingertips and a burning fury in his eyes. Just before Discord made contact though, The Emperor's eyes flashed brightly and a wave of magic blasted Discord away from him. The force of the explosion was so great that it sent Wayfarer, Applejack, and all other attendees within a ten foot radius sprawling. Discord, getting the worst of it, was sent flying over the crowd like a cannonball, straight through the stained glass window overlooking the gardens. The hall was filled with silence until the table Discord sent flying finally crashed into the ground.

The Emperor didn't waste anymore time and grabbed at Wayfarer and Applejack again. "Come along you two," he said with aggravation. "We have a few more guests to collect before the ceremony can truly begin." He then looked back to the shattered window as a haze of pitch black fog started to expel itself from beneath his cape. "Death, finish off Discord and pick up any others you find on your way to the throne room."

The fog seemed to laugh at this as it gathered itself up and shot out the window as well.

Down in the Gardens, Discord was pulling himself up from a pile of shattered glass, a piece of which he pulled from his side with a wince of pain before he noticed there were dozens of other shards still lodged in him. He stuck his thumb in his mouth and blew, the remaining glass launched itself out of him. A distressed cry behind him drew his attention, Fluttershy stood there with a few shards arranged around her.

"Whoops, my apologies Fluttershy," Discord said as he stood up and rolled his shoulders. "Don't have time to talk though, I have to catch up with an old friend." Before he could so much as leap into the air however, another voice called after him.

"Wait!" Shining Armor called as he drew close. "I was getting an update from the perimeter guards when I heard the window break. What happened?"

"Let's just say that, even for a party with no official invitations, we have an uninvited guest. Go and inform our crew mates in the lock box that they're wanted center stage." Discord made to leap back up to the window, but then the black fog smacked him back down to the ground, right between Fluttershy and Shining. Looking up, the three watched as the fog descended around them, laughing uproariously. Discord leaned up again and rubbed his neck as the fog blocked out the lights from the stars and the castle. "I know that laugh," he said solemnly.

"So do I," Shining responded, gritting his teeth.

"Good," the fog growled as a pair of blood red eyes, surrounded by purple and green miazma materialized out of the darkness. "Then introductions are not in order." Around the eyes, a face took form. A red curved horn, a dark grey coat and billowing black mane, followed by a neck and forelegs encased in polished metal armor. On his back was a red furred cape, but everything else beneath it remained incorporeal. The demented looking pony laughed again as Shining's eyes filled with a burning hatred while Fluttershy's filled with fear and panic.

"S-S-S," She stuttered before she managed to finally scream out the fiend's name. "SOMBRA!!"

Rarity looked on in fear and confusion as she watched Rainbow Dash suddenly get yanked out of the air. A unicorn with a mane and dress of fire had simply walked up to Rainbow, Pinkie Pie, and herself and, without and provocation, kicked Pinkie in the side and sending her flying before she turned her attention to Rainbow. Now the psychotic mare was dragging the both of them together and tying them up with a rope of magic. Rarity started forward as she finally gathered her senses and addressed her.

"What is the meaning of this!" She shouted, drawing eyes of what could only be literal fire to her. "H-how dare you attack my friends! Release them at once!"

"No," the fiery mare said simply as she started to drag Rainbow and Pinkie's unconscious forms up the stairs. "I'm not interested in making a big production out of this like my husband, so I'm just going to tell you once to come with me to the throne room or else I'll drag you there as well."

Rarity hesitated, looking around the foyer at the other party goers, but also at the many royal guards just standing there with their jaws on the floor. Incensed by their inaction, Rarity roared in frustration, wrenching at least six spears out of the guards' hold with her magic and javelining all right at the mare holding her friends. At first she thought they'd found their mark, but just as they came within a foot of the mare, they were incinerated to ash. The mare stopped and looked back at Rarity, obviously not amused by her feeble attempts to stop her.

"I only need you and your friends alive," the mare said as she raised a hoof, lighting it on fire as she did so. "But I can show them a bit of pain if you are really that determined to resist me."

Rarity took one horrified look at Pinkie and Rainbow, before she snarled in anger and approached their captor. "Fine, I'll come with you. But if you lay one hoof on them, you won't live to speak of it tomorrow."

"Bold words for a weak wingless one like yourself. But you've got several lifetimes to go before you could even hope to stand against me, Soliana of the Flames."

"Wingless?" Rarity scoffed as she looked at Soliana's back. "That's rich coming from you." But even as she said that, she saw something moving beneath Soliana's dress, something she noticed immediately as a sign of a pegasus wearing something without holes for their extra appendages. Fear gripped Rarity's heart as her eyes traveled from Soliana's back, to the horn on her head.

"Enough of your worthless chatter," Soliana snarled. "Move, before I burn every worm in this room."

Luna, completely unaware of the crisis quickly unfolding in Ponyville, was finishing up the very last of her royal duties. With as much speed as she could without breaking royal decorum, she placed down her quill, bowed to the last of the evenings sycophants, and made for the doors. Before the guards could even reach for the handles to open the threshold and let her pass, they opened themselves and allowed Blueblood of all ponies to step forth. Luna's excited prance turned into an annoyed slouch before she collected herself and stood proud before her nephew.

"Blublood," She said sternly. "Do what do I owe this visit?"

"My apologies Aunt Luna," Blueblood said, bowing to Luna. "It seems I've interrupted you in your rush to playing around in children's dreams, I understand how... important that is to you." His tone made it seem like he didn't think it was important at all, much to Luna's annoyance. "However there's one last pony who wishes to speak to you, she says she's an old friend of yours?"

"What?" Luna said, looking passed Blueblood into the hallway and seeing no one. "Who are you talking about?"

"She's actually been here the whole time," Blueblood chuckled as he took hold of the doors in his magic and quickly closed them. "You've been very close to her actually."

"One might say," came a voice from beneath Luna's hooves. "You and I are closer to one another than anyone in all of Equestria."

Luna looked down and watched as her shadow grew in length and darkness, swinging around behind her until it connected her with the throne she had just vacated. Luna turned around and glared as the shadow grew into the shape of a pony, seated on her throne and chuckling at her. Every guard in the room brought their spears to the ready, Luna's secretary dropped the scrolls she was carrying and bolted for the side entrance, which she only just barely got through before the door slammed shut and magic blue chains wrapped around its front, as well as the doors of the front entrance.

"I know your voice," Luna said, stepping toward the upstart pony seated on her throne. "But I must confess I'm confused as to how you can still be here... Nightmare Moon."

The pony flipped off her hood and revealed a masked face, it was translucent and devoid of any features, but a black horn did shoot up from behind the mask and a blue cloud filled with stars began flowing behind her head. It truly could be none other than Luna's evil alter ego.

"In the flesh," Nightmare said, before smirking and looking at herself. "Well, maybe not flesh per say, but despite you and your sister's best efforts, I am still here."

"How," Luna questioned. "The Elements of Harmony ripped you from my body and left you without a host. You should have faded into nothingness without me."

"True, but I have friends who taught me how to maintain my presence here on this plane. You may remember King Sombra? He's still around as well and he's taught me quite a lot."

"Curse you," Luna snarled. "You creatures of darkness never stay down, do you?"

Nightmare laughed at that. "No, as long as the Dark Mother of Shadows remains, her loyal servants can never truly be destroyed."

"Of all ponies, I did not expect you or Sombra to bow to a higher power than you. You certainly didn't feel like listening to Celestia a thousand years ago."

Nightmare hissed in annoyance. "Celestia is not more powerful than us, she's not even our equal! We easily smited her last we fought, and if not for the Elements of Harmony, she would have failed! And now that her pressious student has given them up, there is nothing that can stop us!"

"My goodness you can monologue," Blueblood said. "Do we really have time for this? It's nearly midnight, and you won't have a better chance at this."

"Quite right Blueblood, thank you."

Luna rounded on Blueblood, powering up her horn to strike at him. "I knew you were a filthy traitor!" She shouted. "But to ally yourself with creatures like this? You truly are beyond even Celestia's light you ungrateful whelp!"

"Now calm down Aunt Luna," Blueblood said with a chuckle, his own horn lighting up as well. "I've no intention of fighting you for your kingdom. As I said months ago, I'm more interested in simple pleasures then I am of ruling. Nightmare Moon on the other hand has been waiting to sit with you on the seat of power at long last. Would you deny her that wish after all you two have been through together?"

"With every fiber of my being," Luna promised. "Guards! Seize the former Prince Blueblood and bind him in the most uncomfortable irons at your disposal. Nightmare Moon is mine."

"How brave of you," Nightmare said as Luna approached her, the guards advancing on Blueblood. "But even you must realize you are at a disadvantage. It's New Moon, where the moon's light is completely gone, and with it, much of your power is gone as well."

"I'm aware, but the same must be said for you as well."

"Ha! Oh no dear Luna, you'd be wrong in that regard. For you see, my power is strongest in the darkness. As the light of the moon fades I grow!" With that, Nightmare moon, shed the last of her cloak. Across the hall, Blueblood shot his magic at the chandelier which illuminated the throne room, severing its magical power source and casting them all in darkness. Luna and Nightmare had no trouble seeing, as the night was there element, but the guards had essentially been blinded. "Before this night is done, you and I shall be one again, and I shall stand as the True Self once more!"

In the throne room of Twilight's castle, herself, Cadence, and Celestia were still conversing with ponies from far and wide. A flutter on unease was manifesting in the pit of Twilight's stomach though, as if she could feel that something was going wrong. She looked to the other princesses and could tell that they were feeling the same, even if they were doing there best to retain a calm outward appearance. None of the three noticed, however, a figure closing in behind Twilight. Excited bloodlust filling the turquoise pegasus' movements as she silently drew a dagger from within her simple dress. Before she could do anything however, another stepped in front of her.

"I admit, I did not expect to see you here," Judgement said. "I'm vaguely interested in speaking to you one on one later, but for now I'd appreciate it if you abandoned your current schemes until mine have been completed first."

"W-what?" The pegasus stuttered as she hid the dagger away. "I've no idea what you're talking about. Now, step aside."

"And let you stab poor Princess Twilight in the back?" Judgement snickered. "Sorry, I've got important plans for her. Now why don't you run back to whatever hole you crawled out of. Or can't you? It seems someone took your place while you were gone, my queen."

Whatever the pegasus was expecting, it certainly wasn't that. Without any further hesitation, she withdrew her dagger again. A flash of green erupted from her forehead, revealing a gnarled black horn. She attempted to shove Judgement out of the way with her magic, but Judgement merely grabbed hold of her and tossed her to the ground with a thud that silenced the entire room as it echoed about. The Princesses spun about to see Judgement holding the pegasus down with her forehoof, laughing coldly at her captives struggles.

"What in the," Twilight started, before she got a good look at the pegasus' face and gasped. "That's the mare who tried to kill me when me, Rarity, and Fluttershy went to go see a play in Canterlot! She's a changeling!" The guards in the room quickly surrounded Judgement and the changeling, pointing their spears down at the pinned assassin. Celestia ignored them for the moment and picked up the dagger, dropped by the changeling when Judgement subdued her.

"It appears to be coated in a poison of some kind," Celestia said as she examined the weapon. "My thanks, you just saved our lives."

"For now, perhaps," Judgement said cryptically. Before Celestia could ask her what she meant, she continued. "Now, drop the pathetic disguise girl, and show us all the miserable state you are in." The changeling hissed and snarled, but Judgement continued to put pressure on the creature's neck. "Adorable, that a weak little thing like you, barely holding onto life as it is, would attempt such a flimsy assassination. Oh you must be desperate to redeem yourself in the eyes of your swarm."

"You know nothing!" the changeling shouted. She pointed furiously at the princesses. "They took away our future! We're all dying of hunger because of them! Blood for blood! The only way I can return to my subjects is if it's with Sparkle's head!"

"Enough of this!" Celestia shouted, charging up her horn. A blast of magic finally forced the changeling to lose her disguise, her body elongating outward beneath Judgement until her black carapace and matted hair spilled out before them. Her head snapped forward to bite at Judgement's leg, but Judgement's other hoof smacked her back down. "As I thought," Celestia continued. "The Queen of the Changelings."

"Chrysalis," Judgement chuckled. "You look awful."

Twilight could definitely see that Chrysalis was even more horrendous looking then the last time they'd fought each other. There were even more holes in her legs this time, to the point where she was amazed the lower halves hadn't just snapped off. Her wings were nothing but tattered strips now, and her hair was broken and frayed so badly that it would have probably been a better idea to just shave her scalp. Twilight honestly wondered if she was really looking at a corpse at that moment.

"Guards," Celestia said. "Take her away."

"That won't be necessary," Judgement said. "She's more than welcome to stay for the real party."

Celestia scowled as she walked around Judgement to get a good look at her face. "Who are you?"

"My dear Celestia, don't you recognize me?" Judgement looked up and finally removed her mask. Deep red hair spilled out, and eyes of a dark rainy day looked back at Celestia. Celestia nearly screamed in horror as recognition forced her to take half a dozen steps back.

"No!" Celestia cried. "No no no no NO!"

The doors to the throne room were blown open with a mighty crash. Ponies panically scattered to the walls to clear the way as two more tall unicorns walked in, dragging behind them Wayfarer, Applejack, Pinkie, Rainbow, and Rarity.

"We have arrived!" The male unicorn said, as he and the other tossed their captives in front of themselves. "And we brought snacks!"

Celestia continued to whimper 'no no no' to herself as Judgement kicked Chrysalis to the side and started to walk slowly around Celestia getting close to her ear and whispering to her. "What's wrong my dear? Aren't you happy to see your mother and father again?" A ripping noise echoed through the hall as Judgement, Empress and Emperor's wings tore their outfits, spreading wide and revealing them to the shocked crowd. "They, and Grandmother Rosetta, have returned to claim what is rightfully mine."