“Oh thank Celestia you found him!” Mrs. Cake shouted as Wayfarer walked into Sugarcube Corner with the now unconscious Mr. Cake on his back. Celestia and Twilight walked in behind him, Celestia back in her disguise as Sunny Skies. “What happened to him?” Mrs. Cake said, gasping at the state her husband was in and rushing to him.

“We found him outside of Ponyville,” Wayfarer said walking to one of the benches, allowing Twilight to pull Mr. Cake off of him. “He passed out a little while ago.”

“Oh my Sugar Plum!” Mrs. Cake cried as she kneeled down next to him. “Please tell me you’re alright! Tell your Honey Bun you’ll be okay!” Mr. Cake was still for a moment before his face twitched and his eyes cracked open.

“Honey Bun…” He mumbled. “Must you be so loud? I feel like I’ve been hit all over with a croquet mallet.” Twilight and Wayfarer glanced at each other for a split moment before Mrs. Cake embraced her husband in a very tight and very tearful hug.

“OH Carrot!” Mrs. Cake sobbed “You had me so worried!”

“Worried?” Carrot strained out as Mrs. Cake squeezed the air out of him. “What do you mean? I told you I was making a delivery!”

“Yes! But you didn’t come back! I looked everywhere for you Deary!”

“I… wait… what?” Mr. Cake stumbled as he finally looked around at his surroundings. “How did I get back here so quickly? Wait… Why is it dark outside?!”

“Memory loss,” Celestia whispered next to Twilight and Wayfarer. “I don’t think he’ll be able to tell us what happened to him past the point he left to make the delivery.”

“Won’t hurt to ask,” Twilight said stepping forward. “Mrs. Cake, I’m sorry, but could I ask Carrot something please?”

“Of course deary!” Mrs. Cake shouted pulling back from the embrace. “You brought him back! So ask away!”

“What do you mean brought back?” Mr. Cake asked, his confusion only growing. “What in sam hill is going on?!”

“We found you… near the castle.” Twilight started. “Do you know how you got there? What do you remember after leaving Sugarcube Corner this morning?”

“Oh, well let’s see," Mr. Cake started rubbing the side of his head, wincing slightly. "I remember walking out of town to the address. I remember because I kept telling myself that this was probably a crank order, because nopony lives in those houses anymore! Then I remember walking up to the door of the house and knocking then… that was it.”

“That was it?” Twilight asked.

“That was it,” Mr. Cake repeated. “I can’t remember a thing after that. I don’t remember going anywhere near the castle though.”

“Who cares!” Mrs. Cake yelled, pulling Mr. Cake back into a hug. “You’re back with me! That’s all that matters!”

“I think that’s our cue to leave, Twilight,” Celestia said.

Reluctantly, Twilight turned away and she, Wayfarer and Celestia headed for the door, only to be stopped by Pinkie. “Sooooo, do you need me to find you now or later Twilight?” She asked

“Huh?” Twilight said, lifting a tired eyebrow.

“You said to come find you if Mr. Cake came back!" Pinkie explained. "Well he came back, do I still need to find you?”

Twilight sighed. “No Pinkie, that’s alright thanks. But if you could go tell the others that we’ve found him and they can stop looking, that’d be great.”

“Ookie Dokie Lokie!” Pinkie said, bounding out the door.

“Wait a minute!” Celestia said, following her out. Pinkie stopped and Celestia whispered something in her ear. Pinkie smiled at whatever she heard and just hopped away.

“What did you say?” Wayfarer asked.

“I… I asked her how she knew who I was.” She said, looking confused as the poofy pink pony pranced away.

Twilight just sighed again and started walking in the direction of the library. “It’s Pinkie Pie. Don’t question it.”

Celestia looked dumbfounded at that statement. “But she… And you never…" She sighed, deciding that it was probably better to not question it. "Okay then.” The three of them made their way down the nearly empty streets of Ponyville. By now, everyone was probably sitting down for dinner, the thought of which made Wayfarer’s stomach growl viciously. The sound reached the princesses’ ears and brought their attention to their own stomachs, which replied with their own noisy growls.

“eh heh…” Twilight chuckled to herself. “I guess it’s been awhile since that late breakfast. I hope we’ve still got something at home. Oh, umm, Princess Celestia?”

“Sunny Skies.” Celestia whispered to Twilight.

“Oh, sorry. Umm, do you want to join us for dinner, Sunny Skies?”

Celestia smiled at that. “I’d love to Twilight.” Twilight seemed to exhale a breath of air that she'd been holding in, then she glanced over at Wayfarer before she slowed her pace. Noticing this, Wayfarer did the same so that they both fell slightly behind Celestia and were walking side by side.

“Something up?” He whispered.

“Well, no,” Twilight said, her expression fascinated and yet obviously confused. “It’s just rare to see Celestia act so… casual. It’s a little unnerving I guess.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that,” Wayfarer said with a confident smile. “I mean why wouldn’t a 1500 year old immortal princess act like a normal pony every now and then?” Twilight shot him a raised eyebrow, his smile faltered a bit before he continued. "Okay, it IS a little weird. I've always seen her as a beacon of perfection and grace, but all day she's been determined to act like everyone else. Just another small town mare. But, I don't think it's bad or anything, right?"

"No it isn't, I guess," Twilight mumbled.

“C’mon you two!” Yelled Celestia, who’d already cantered a bit ahead of them. “I’m hungry too you know!”

Twilight looked a little stunned at this, but picked up her pace nonetheless. “I guess I'm in the same boat. She's always been my ruler and mentor. And while I've always seen her as a friend, I just have this image of her in my head. I expect her to be more, you know, authoritative.”

“Do you WANT her to be more authoritative?” Wayfarer asked, casting a glance in Celestia’s direction. “Personally, I like her more when she’s happy and content and not staring into my soul, judging every word I say and how I say it.”

Twilight actual snickered at that. “Yeah, I won’t lie, when she told me to lock you up, I thought she was going to come and take you to some sort of magic research facility and have unicorns run tests on you to see how you were able to use magic when you’re an earth pony. But looking back, that seems rather ridiculous.”

“Yeah, speaking of which, hey Sunny!” Wayfarer said, raising his voice and trotting up to Celestia, who was staring up at the sky as she walked, marveling at the star field above her as the last traces of her sun drifted below the horizon. “Why DID you have her lock me up?”

“Hmm?” Celestia said, pulling her attention away from the sky to look at Wayfarer.

“That day we first met," Wayfarer elaborated. "You had Twilight lock me in my room while I was asleep. What was that about?”

Celestia’s face seemed to droop and she blushed slightly at that. “I apologize, It was a precaution I felt was necessary, given my previous experiences with Persona users.”

“I take it they weren’t a very pleasant bunch?” Wayfarer asked.

“...You could say that. But we can discuss that after our bellies are full!” She said as her stomach growled loudly again. The three continued on their way, arriving at the library a few minutes later. When they walked inside, it was to find a very distraught Spike running about trying to catch several books that had sprouted wings and were flying too and fro, knocking other books off the shelves and in general making a mess of things.

“Come back here!” The dragon yelled as he leapt up to try and nab one of them, only for it to drop to the floor as its wings disappeared, leaving Spike to tumble to the ground, landing tail up against the wall. He growled loudly as he looked upward and shouted. “Will you quit it Discord!”

“Now now my little draconic friend.” Discord said from the ceiling as he lounged there on his back. “You never said the magic word!”

“Discord!” Twilight and Celestia yelled at the same time.

“What are you doing here?” Twilight demanded. “And why are you tormenting Spike?”

“Oh hello there Twilight, and you as well Wayfarer and Celestia.” Discord said, turning to greet the three of them. “I was just in the neighborhood and I heard something about somepony going missing, thought I’d go see what all the hubbub was. And what a surprise to see the three of you walking out of the Castle… without inviting me!”

“Discord. Put. The books. BACK.” Twilight said.

“Oh and there you go forgetting the magic word too," Discord shook his head, tutting his tongue with disappointment. "Now I see where Spines got such rude manners!”

“My name is Spike!” Spike yelled as the books started to flock around him and occasionally hit him on the head.

“Whatever Spork.” Discord said, attracting more glares from the three newcomers. “But you should know I don’t take kindly to being bossed around, especially by someone as small as you. So when I come by to chat with Sunny Days, or whoever Celestia is pretending to be, and company about something important, I don’t want to be called a ‘freak’ and a ‘monster’ and told to get out immediately. Now, what’s the magic word?”

“PLEASE! Please stop!” Spike yelled.

“Please?" Discord scratched his chin in thought before shrugging. "Nope, I’m afraid that isn’t the magic word. Care to guess again?”

“DISCORD!” Celestia yelled, her forehead starting to light up.

“STOP IT!” Twilight yelled.

“PINEAPPLE!” Wayfarer cried. Everyone stopped what they were doing, even the books, and turned to look with confusion at Wayfarer, who was looking up at Discord. “Is the magic word ‘Pineapple’?”

Discord sighed and went back to stroking his beard. “Close enough,” he said, snapping his fingers and setting everything right again. All the books were back on their shelves, all the decor fixed or placed back in their proper place, and Spike was picked up and set right side up. “No hard feelings Spyro?” Discord said to Spike as he snapped again and placed a very large ruby in Spike’s claws.

The dragon looked at the gem with wide eyes before glaring up at Discord. “My name is Spike.”

“Of course it is! You’ve only told me that three times already. Now run along Sparx," Discord said, shooing the small dragon out of the room as his voice suddenly turned serious. "The grown ups have a LOT to talk about.”

Spike still looked very annoyed, but he turned and walked up the stairs anyway, tapping the ruby in various spots to check if it was real. Discord turned back to the other three, who were looking close to murdering him at the moment.

“What?” He said indignantly. “I. Am. BORED! How else am I to make use of my time when you all decide to just leave me behind. I thought this was the sort of thing you freed me for in the first place!”

“It is!” Celestia shouted, stepping forward. “But one of the conditions for letting you go free was that you no longer used your powers to abuse and harass the citizens of Equestria. I should have Twilight and her friends put you back in stone right now!”

“Then be done with it!” Discord said, falling from the ceiling and looking Celestia dead in the eyes. “Or tell me what your plans are for me. Either way, I need SOMETHING to do with my existence or I’m going to go mad! Or madder as the case may be!”

“My plans are my own. But rest assured I have a use for your abilities. I give you leniency because of that, and all I ask in return is that you behave yourself!”

The two continued to glare at one another before Discord finally threw his hands in the air. “Fine, be secretive if you must. Goodness knows you have practice with that. But could you at least give me a playmate or something? Someone who I can poke and prod till my heart’s content?”

“Absolutely not!” Celestia balked.

“I’m game,” Wayfarer said simply. Again, all eyes went to Wayfarer, and again, he only stared at Discord. “I’ve spent time with Theatre ponies and Artists of all kinds, I’m no stranger to madness.” Wayfarer smirked up at the spirit of chaos. “Just don’t bother me when I’m at work, you might scare off Cheerilee’s students.”

“Deal!” Discord said, rushing forward to take Wayfarer’s hoof in his talon and shake it violently. “I promise I won’t regret it!”

“Wayfarer,” Twilight said, eyes filled with worry. “Are you sure about this? I mean this is Discord we’re talking about! Discord the liar! Discord the egomaniac!”

Discord’s head turned over his neck till he was looking at Twilight upside down, giving her a big pair of puppydog eyes. “Discord the miserable, Discord the desperate! I promise I won’t ruin this chance by messing with your coltfriend’s mind TOO much.”

“C-COLTFRIEND?!” Twilight screeched.

“Anyway, I’ll make plans for him later.” Discord said, tussling Wayfarer’s mane before teleporting over to one of the couches by the fire place. “For now, I am content. So my dear Celestia, I believe you’re ready to let our little ponies in on one of Equestria’s darkest secrets?”

Celestia sighed, finally dropping her disguise and then walking to the fireplace. “That I am, but first…” She then turned around and locked eyes on Twilight. “I’m going to offer you the choice Twilight, and this offer will remain for the rest of your days. Do you want to be a princess of Equestria, the Alicorn of Friendship?” Twilight stared at Celestia for a moment before letting her eyes dart around in deep thought. “You don’t have to answer now. Just know that I can change you back if you desire.”

“No,” Twilight said. “I’ve already made up my mind. This is who I am now.”

Celestia gave a slight look of worry. "Are you sure Twilight?"

"I'm positive."

Celestia sighed, bending her head away from Twilight. “I feel like I’ve taken so much away from you, how is it you’re able to forgive me so easily my faithful student?”

“Princess,” Twilight said, approaching Celestia. “I can forgive you because you didn’t take anything away from me at all. In fact I feel the exact opposite as you do.” She smiled as Celestia looked to her with confusion. “I’m grateful to you for giving me this chance to be more than just a powerful unicorn living in a small town library. It feels like the day you first charged me to live here in Ponyville to study the magic of Friendship, like a whole new world has opened up to me.” Discord made a gagging face at this that only Wayfarer managed to catch. “You may have done this to me without asking,” Twilight continued. “But I feel I would have said yes anyway. That’s why I forgive you, because I’m ready and willing for the first day of the rest of my life. And I know my friends are ready to stand by me the whole way. Not because I’m a princess, but because I’m their friend.”

Celestia was quiet for a moment before smiling as well. “You are so lucky to have friends like that. And I am so lucky to have a friend like you Twilight.”

Twilight blushed slightly at that. “That’s going to take some getting used to.”

“Me calling you friend?”

“No... well, yes.”

“Can we get on with this?” Discord said. “This level of sappiness is going beyond my ability to resist gagging.”

"Very well then.” Celestia said. “But Twilight, don't hesitate to come to me if you ever have a change of heart. And with that out of the way," Celestia started, settling herself in front of the fire. "I have a tale to tell."

"Long ago, when Equestria was still just newly founded by the three kingdoms, an Alicorn mare of power and wisdom that dwarfed even my own had risen to the throne: Queen Rosetta. She had seen the might of The Fire of Friendship and wished to fuel it to it's peak, and ensure that her kingdom and subjects would never know strife again. She reasoned that the Fire would grow as the bonds of unity were strengthened, so she reached out to the other kingdoms of the world and offered to share the prosperity. Over time Equestria was joined in harmony with the Dragons, Minotaurs, Gryphons, and even the Changelings. Rosetta’s reasoning was correct, and the Fire grew so strong that it became a part of the world itself. Thus began the first Golden Age of Equestria.

"However, even with the land itself overflowing with harmonious energy, it could not stop the horrors that spawned right under our very noses. A foul creature of darkness, nightmares, and chaos appeared in a small town not far from where Ponyville is now. We knew not where it came from or what it truly was, only that it cared nothing for life or happiness. We could only call it what it was: The Beast. It was a creature that emitted a form of magic never seen before, one that made it resistant to our own magic. It's immense size rivaled only its hunger as it spread over the countryside, consuming all in its path.

"As it approached the then capital city, Rosetta issued an evacuation of the entire population, including the Royal Family and Court, which included me, my sister, our parents, and Discord. In the panic that soon followed when The Beast finally caught up, most of the escapees were caught and devoured, leaving only twenty two of us left.

"We wandered in the desert alone for what must have been months, a black shadow in the sky following us where ever we went. We'd gone past giving up hope when we stumbled on an oasis, filled with flora and fauna of all kinds. We surrendered ourselves to the idea that we weren't going to survive, and decided to spend our last few days in relative comfort. We immediately went to the center of the thriving grove, where the largest apple tree I had ever seen stood, and we all ate our fill of its golden fruit. And in doing so, we sealed our fate.

"During that night, the fruit caused us to dream of eternity. We saw everything. Our minds filled with all the secrets of the cosmos, and in the morning it was ripped from us just as easily. Few of us could remember any details, but those who did were blessed greatly by the knowledge. For a moment we humored the idea of survival, only to have it denied when The Beast surrounded us.

"We were ready for the end, we were standing on the doorstep of oblivion, when the youngest amongst us, the Archmage's apprentice, stepped forward and shouted defiantly at the darkness. A light surrounded him, and as it faded, he was joined by his Persona. One by one, the rest of us found the courage to stand with him, and we too were joined by Personas. The Beast was forced back, and we saw our chance. Over the course of the next year, we traveled across Equestria, our Persona's shining a brilliant light that made the Beast crawl into the crust of the earth, where we sealed it for what we hoped would be forever.

“We were heralded as heroes the world over, the races of the world calling us by a name of mysticism: “The Arcana.” Once more the land prospered, and a new city was built over the place of our victory, where The Beast was sealed in the earth. Queen Rosetta, exhausted from leading the group’s campaign, elected to step down from her spot as ruler and handed her crown down to her only child: My and Luna’s mother, Princess Solianna. Our mother declined it however, believing herself unworthy, and so the crown fell to me and my sister. In celebration of our victory and of the coronation of their new rulers, the citizens built a castle at the city’s very heart, where it could be seen from miles around: The Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters.

“Luna’s and my rule reflected that of Queen Rosetta’s, as we strived to rebuild what had been lost, but it was also the shortest reign in Equestrian history. Nary a year after we’d taken the throne did our citizens begin to disappear in alarming numbers and frequency. As we investigated these incidences, the earth below us began to shift. At first it was only small tremors, but by the end they had become catastrophic earthquakes. It was only then that we discovered the two were linked, The Beast was stirring again, and someone was dragging our subjects down into the earth to feed it sustenance.

“We were outraged and terrified by this revelation, but our horror only grew when we discovered the culprits: Our fellow members of The Arcana. The Beast had wormed its dark magic into their minds, slowly corrupting them to its will until they began to undo the victory we’d worked so hard for. Determined to stop them and the Beast once and for all, we called on the only source of magic left to us capable of working the miracle we needed: The Harmonious Magic of the world, sewn by the Fire of Friendship that Rosetta had built.

“However, the results were not what we desired. Because we were drawing on this magic in sorrow over the loss of many of our friends and family, the spell Luna and I casted to put a stop to and revert the Beast’s advance instead became a curse. In less than an hour, a massive swath of our kingdom had bloomed into a dense forest, burying the Beast and the corrupt members of the Arcana beneath its roots, sapping their strength. The City was lost to the flora and fauna, falling into ruin until only the castle was left, and the forest itself became a corrupted land filled with monsters that none dare enter. Today, we know the Forest by the name Everfree.

“In the end, only four of us were left. Luna and myself, Discord, and the ambassador of the Crystal Ponies, King Sombra. The years that followed, were not any better, as I’m sure you could guess. Sombra had turned out to be the most corrupted of us all, a literal shadow of his former self. Discord went mad, taking the country for himself until Luna and I stopped him, and just when I thought it was all finally over, Luna was lost as well.

“I don’t think I ever felt more alone then I did in that moment.” Celestia said as her story came to a finale. “My friends and family, all dead or trapped by my own hooves. In shame, I secluded myself at the top of what is now Canterlot Mountain, foolishly allowing Equestria to fall apart as I did nothing but wallow in misery whilst guiding the sun and moon across the sky. I waited for death to claim me on that peak, only realizing months later that the Apples that had blessed us with the strength we needed had also cursed us with Immortality. I think that was the point my mind finally broke.”

“And I missed it?” Discord said in a very disappointed tone. “Aww, what was it like?”

“... Enlightening. It gave me a new appreciation for life and death. After about half a century I finally came down from my solitude and rejoined society. Most ponies were happy to see me, though there were a lot who felt I had abandoned them. They were right, and I admitted as such to them, but my conscience demanded that I fix what I had done. And the rest, as they say, is history.”

“It is.” Twilight said. “Your rule after the defeat of Nightmare Moon is well documented, but nothing before that is even mentioned! Why haven’t I heard of this ‘Beast’ before now?”

“... I burned the records of it,” Celestia said, the shame of the act clear on her face.

“You... burned them.” Twilight said in flat shock.

“Yes.”

“You burned history books.”

“Almost all of them I’d say. The few that I found in later years were stored in a restricted section of the Canterlot Archives.”

Twilight remained quite again for a moment before she found her voice. “You burned books.”

“It wasn’t the proudest moment of my life Twilight," Celestia confessed. "I thought the best thing to do was to erase such a dark period from the pages of history. I came to regret that decision in time, but I didn’t see the point of dragging it back up after a thousand years of peace.”

“... You burned… Books.”

Celestia sighed. “... I’m sorry Twilight.”

Twilight sat there, staring at Celestia in horrified silence, clearly unable to get over the fact that the elder princess had committed such a travesty against literature. Seeing that neither of them were capable of continuing the conversation on their own anymore, Wayfarer cleared his throat.

“As interesting as that story is,” he said. “How does it relate to now? I mean, yes, you were able to use Personas to defeat some eldritch abomination, but me and Twilight never ate any fruit to get our powers. And what about the Shadows? You never mentioned them.”

“Both are true,” Celestia said. “I never saw anything like the Shadows when we fought the Beast. My best guess is that they are some form of extension of its being, because they seem to feed on our negative emotions and thoughts, much like how the Beast would whenever it drew near. We would always hear voices of things we didn’t want to hear, things that made us despair even more. How they are becoming our Persona’s now however, is still a mystery to me. It all seems to indicate one thing though, The Beast is returning. The kidnap of Mr. Cake was just more evidence to support that fact.”

The room was silent for a while. Even Discord was still as he twiddled his thumbs and stared at the ceiling in deep thought. “You know, he said. "There’s always the chance it could be something completely different, it doesn't have to be that thing."

“I’m not willing to take that chance," Celestia said. "I don’t think any of us are.”

“But… we have Personas though!” Twilight said, a slightly hopeful smile struggling to lift her face. “We can fight it!”

“There are only three of us, at the moment, who have discovered their Personas.” Celestia said. “Discord has the Potential, but nothing to show for it.”

“Gee thanks,” Discord sneered.

“It took twenty two of us to have a chance to fight back against the Beast, if it returned now, at full power, we wouldn’t survive.”

“Wh- What about the Elements of Harmony!” Twilight desperately said.

“The Elements are the Harmonious Magic in its purest form. But even so, they are only six little gems worth of it. We are talking about a creature that turned my Sister, among many other more powerful beings, to its cause. Equestria’s soil is not laced with the amount of magic it had when we created the Everfree Forest.”

“... so it’s hopeless.” Twilight murmured as she dropped her head.

“Not necessarily.” Celestia said. “If the Beast has been breaking itself apart in order to create these Shadows, then-”

“It’s just making itself weaker!” Twilight said, hope coming back to her eyes.

“Precisely.” Celestia said, nodding. “The Everfree has greatly drained the Beast, and sending these Shadow’s to the surface must be its last desperate attempt to reclaim our land for itself. The fact that it was able to burrow itself to a place unaffected by Everfree is a testament to its determination. But as long as we stand our ground, we can defeat it. There is, however, one other problem: Mr. Cake’s Kidnappers, they know about the Beast. And I would bet my crown that this won’t be the last time they try this. So for now, our objective is to find the culprits and put a stop to them before they kidnap anyone else.”

“...That might actually be rather easy.” Wayfarer said. “I already have an idea who it might be.”

“You do?” Celestia and Twilight said at the same time.

“Yeah, I mean it might just be a coincidence, but there’s this weird Pegasus mare that I had a run in with, and who I saw earlier today watching Sugarcube Corner. When I first bumped into her she seemed to be really interested in finding Twilight, actually being a little creepy about it if you ask me.”

“Coincidence or not,” Celestia said. “This sounds like somepony we would need to keep an eye on. If you see her again, go ahead and invite her to see Twilight, then bring her to me. If you can’t manage that, just call out for Gnowee, we’ll hear you and know to come find you.”

Wayfarer nodded. He was actually rather hopeful that all this would be solved by finding this pegasus again. But even then, coincidences did happen, and he wasn’t about to demonize this lone pegasus on only an assumption, even if she did make his skin crawl. Regardless though, he still had a few questions to ask Celestia.

“The Arcana,” he said “Are they-”

“They were the basis for the twenty two Major Arcana of a standard Tarot Deck,” Celestia said. “I didn’t even notice it until a couple decades ago, I never cared much for fortune telling you see.”

“Uh huh… What about what I did during the fight with the bird? I swapped Personas.”

“I saw, and I have no idea how you managed it, so your guess is as good as mine.”

“My guess is probably better actually.” Wayfarer considered as he thought of the dreams he’d been having. “I’ve got one more," he said aloud. "Have you ever heard of The Velvet Room?”

“The what?” Celestia asked. “No, I’ve never heard of such a place, what is it?”

“Nothing, just something I’ve been hearing a lot about recently.”

The room was silent again for a moment before Celestia smiled at Wayfarer. “Are you asking me out on a date to some Coffee shop or something?”

“N-no!” Wayfarer stammered as his stomach roared out in a desperate cry to be fed. “I’m asking Twilight if we can eat now! I’m starving!”

“Well that didn’t go as expected,” said a hooded figure as she eyed the small little town below her.

“Well perhaps it would have gone better if you had covered your tracks more carefully my dear,” said another hooded figure as he leaned against a rock formation. “You DID basically tell them where we kidnapped the baker when you gave them the address.”

“How else were we going to lure that idiot out without alerting anyone?”

“How should I know? Maybe you should have used your shapeshifting powers Miss Changeling.” The first hooded figure hissed at the second as she turned to him, lowering her hood to reveal a mask that covered most of her face save for her large eyes and molting hair, which intricately traced her hard black carapace.

“Do not pretend to be the wiser one here! Ever since that worthless so called ‘Queen’ decided to advertise her swarm’s presence in Equestria, everypony and their mother is being taught how to recognize one of my kin, even in disguise!”

“Still, you could have used a bit more tact.”

“Don’t insult me. Let’s go, the others will be waiting.” And with that, the two slinked away into the darkness.

Author's Notes:

No matter what is revealed to us on Saturday, or into the future of the show for that matter, this is the back story I'm going to stick to. Maybe when I need to go back and fix plot holes I'll change it up a bit.

Speaking of plot holes, I still expect you all to be tough as nails when reading this story. If you see something that's off, TELL ME!

Hopefully I can get another chapter out as fast as I did this one, but at work I've been asked to take extra hours a lot lately, so it's up in the air when I might update next.