“Aargh!” Twilight shouted. “Why the hay did the princess send me here!? All that’s up here is this stupid snow!”

Honestly, she wasn’t entirely sure why she had agreed when the princess asked her to come up to this place. Not only was the Frozen North lonely and unforgiving, but it was, well... frozen. Celestia wanted her to study the ecosystem of the tundra, but there simply wasn’t anything here worth studying. Aside from the random snowy owl, she was the only living creature up here. At least, the only one that she was aware of.

Of course, the lack of subjects to study left her with minimal notes. Needless to say, this frustrated her to no end. After looking down at her compilation of papers, she forced a sigh. Not only were her scribbles few and far between, but they were just that: scribbles. Nothing of any intellectual value. Celestia would be ashamed.

Now that she thought about it, wasn’t she supposed to be studying friendship? Last time she checked, the frozen wasteland was anything but friendly. In fact, it was the dead opposite of friendly. It was downright hostile.

Twilight Sparkle shivered, the icy wind shaking her to the core. The sun had begun to dip below the horizon, its fading light encompassing the wintery wonderland in a surreal trance. But as beautiful as the sunset was, the temperature was dropping dangerously low. It was already below zero and still falling.

This thought in mind, Twilight grabbed her notes and headed back to base camp. Thoughts of a warm campfire and a cozy sleeping bag prominent in her mind, she quickened her pace. The sooner she got back, the better.

Reaching the summit of a hill, she paused to take in her surroundings. The way that the orange light from the sunset reflected off of the gently falling snowflakes was breathtaking. She could see rolling hills for miles and, if she looked hard enough, she could just barely make out the peaks of the Crystal Mountains in the distance. Honestly, the view was the only thing Twilight enjoyed about this whole mess.

She could have sat there and stared for days, but she was more concerned with the base camp resting at the bottom of the hill. It was fairly rudimentary, but for the moment, it was home. And home was just what she needed right now.

Home currently consisted of a hastily-erected tent, a couple of winter survival guides, and a small purple dragon tending to a roaring fire. A smile crept onto Twilight’s face. She was eternally grateful that Spike had agreed to come with her. She hadn’t wanted to inconvenience her other friends by asking them to come with her. They all had lives outside of her ridiculous antics.

She did feel bad for Spike, though. He would never admit it, but she knew he was growing tired of staying at base camp while she explored the winter wonderland.

And it was only their fourth day up here.

A particularly strong gust of wind jerked Twilight from her thoughts. She trudged through the fresh powder down toward her number-one assistant.

Spike jerked his head around and spotted Twilight. Waving her over, he said, “Find anything interesting?”

She shook her head. “Nope. At least, not anything worth including in a report to the princess. I saw what I thought were some fox tracks, but the snow covered them up before I could study them in any detail.”

He threw another log onto the fire. “I’m sure you’ll find something tomorrow.”

“I hope so.”

After that, they lulled into a companionable silence. Each of them was immersed in their own thoughts.

Twilight rubbed her forehooves together in an effort to warm them up. Staring into the flickering fire, her thoughts wandered.

Why had the princess wanted her to be the one to research the Frozen North? There were plenty of ponies more qualified than she. Everything about the whole assignment was strange, especially Celestia’s letter asking her to take on the task. She would have gotten it from her bags to examine once again, but she had read it over so many times that she had committed it to memory.

Dearest Twilight Sparkle,

I hope this letter finds you well. Things at the palace have been rather slow lately, so I’ve taken to studying econ ecology with my free time.

I apologize for the abruptness, but I have an assignment for you, should you choose to exc accept it. Field notes on the ecosystem of the Frozen North are few and far between, and often lack both quality and quantity. As a fellow student of scin science, I know that you’ll be just as concerned about this lack of information as I am.

This is why I am asking you to take a two-week excursion up to the lands north of the Crystal Empire. You are to take notes on the indigin indigenous flora and fauna and write a comprehensive report on them upon your return.

Also, please don’t bother writing back. I don’t want to trouble Spike with having to send another letter.

Sincerely, Celestia

Several things about the letter bothered Twilight Sparkle. It was hastily written, much different than her mentor’s normal cool and calculated penmanship. Errors littered the page, each one crossed out and rewritten correctly. There were ink smudges everywhere, as though the letter had been handled roughly.

But none of that bothered Twilight. What did bother her was Celestia’s signature at the bottom of the page. Her first time reading it through, she hadn’t even noticed it. It was only on the third or fourth time that she finally picked up on it, and now that she had, she couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Celestia always signed her letters with her full title. Not just Celestia, but Princess Celestia.

She had a sinking feeling the letter wasn't actually from the princess.

Sure, chances were that it was just Rainbow playing another prank on her, but she couldn't quite shake that heavy feeling deep in her gut.

She sighed. In thinking Celestia’s haste had meant the project was urgent, she had packed quickly and taken the first train out of Ponyville. She barely had time to ask Fluttershy to watch over Owlowiscious and the library, and then she was gone. She had wanted to respond to Celestia to tell her that she was leaving, but ultimately she decided against it. The princess had asked her not to, so she wouldn’t.

Extracting herself from the warm embrace of the fire, Twilight plodded over to the tent. She pulled herself into her sleeping bag and curled up into a ball. Listening to the crackling of the fire, she eventually drifted into a fitful sleep.

That night, she dreamed of a nice, reassuring letter from her beloved princess.

---

Princess Celestia slowly lowered herself into the warm waters of the bath. With a contented sigh, she allowed the heat to melt away all the troubles of the day.

Most days were trying in their own right, but today had been particularly insufferable. Even the most seasoned of bureaucrats were unable to keep their expressions level when a stallion stormed into the court and proclaimed, “I swear upon Star Swirl’s grave, the world does not exist! We are all just figments of Discord’s imagination!”

Seriously, where did ponies come up with this stuff?

But she chose not to dwell on such things. She was supposed to be relaxing right now, not stressing.

Of course, there were other factors that contributed to her unease. Namely, Twilight Sparkle. She had suddenly fallen off the map, with only a short letter to Celestia in explanation.

Celestia turned to her bags, wrapped her magic around the letter, and levitated it over. She didn’t need to read it—she had read it over so many times that she had it memorized—but she preferred to have the tangible letter in her grasp. Otherwise she might not be able to convince herself that it was real.

Dearest Celestia,

I hope this letter finds you well. Things in Ponyville have been rather slow lately, so I’ve taken to studying biology in more detail. I was researching the ecosystem of the Frozen North, when I realized there was no solid data on the tud tundra. There was merely speculation and educated guessing.

I just wanted to let you know that I won’t be writing any friendship reports for the next two weeks. I’ll be sure to compile a large report on erey everything I’ve learned upon my return.

Also, please don’t bother writing back. I don’t want to trouble Spike with more letters. He der deserves a break.

Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle

The letter wasn’t right. The writing was messy and there were multiple errors interspersed throughout, which were two traits very uncharacteristic of her personal student. The parchment was tattered and torn, as if it had been tossed about roughly.

That wasn’t what bothered her, though. The little error that sealed the deal was Twilight’s signature. Twilight always closed her letters by saying Your Faithful Student. Celestia had grown to love that line. It was a little something Twilight had adopted at a very young age and stuck with into marehood. Without it there, it felt like something was missing.

She couldn’t shake the feeling that the letter wasn’t actually from Twilight.

It was a stupid thing to think. She was probably just in a hurry to catch her train, so she didn’t have much time to write a well thought-out letter like she usually did. There was a logical explanation for all of this.

Still, the thought lodged itself in the back of her mind. No matter what she did, she just couldn’t seem to get rid of it.

When she brought her concerns up with Luna, she just shrugged her off. "Twilight’s a smart mare," she had said. "Even if she was in trouble, which I doubt she is, she would be able to handle herself."

Luna, of course, was right. Twilight was nothing if not competent. She should have more faith in her student, but she couldn’t help but be worried.

She glanced over at the window. She had lowered the sun not even twenty minutes ago, and the moon was already high in the sky. With a groan, she pulled herself out of the water and dried herself off. Lounging around was doing her no good. What she really needed was some sleep.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. “Princess?” a feminine voice called out. “Are you in there? Princess Luna and Captain Armor are requesting your presence in the throne room immediately.”

What could they possibly need her for, and at this hour no less?

She pulled open the door with her magic and smiled down at the mare. “Thank you, miss…?”

“Melody. My name is Melody.”

“Ah, well thank you, Melody.”

Celestia briskly walked down the hallways of the palace. She was going to give somepony a stern talking to for interrupting her soon-to-be rest.

Upon arrival, she panned the throne room. There were several things going on, none of which made sense to the princess. Luna and Shining were talking animatedly of to the side of the room and… was that a changeling tied up in the middle of the floor?

Celestia shook her head to clear her thoughts. So there was a changeling in the room. That didn’t mean anything. It was probably just a straggler from the invasion a few months ago that never left Canterlot. It wasn’t that big of a deal.

She walked over to Luna and Shining Armor, who explained everything with alarming celerity.

“There is a stallion waiting outside. He demands to speak with us,” Luna said.

Shining nodded in affirmation. “He told the guards that he was willing to use force, and when they laughed at him, he sicced this little guy on ‘em,” he said, gesturing to the tied-up changeling.

Celestia frowned. “Did he say who he was?”

“Nope. All he would tell the guards was that he wanted an audience with us,” Shining answered.

Luna shuffled her hooves. “That brings us to our next question. Do we speak with him?”

None of them said anything. This mystery stallion was either completely out of his mind, or knew exactly what he was getting himself into. Maybe even a combination of the two. Either way, this could potentially be a dangerous situation.

Finally, Shining broke the silence. “I think we should go. If we don’t, he’ll probably just send in more changelings. I don’t want anypony else getting hurt because of us.”

Celestia nodded. “I agree. He really isn’t giving us much of a choice here.”

Plan in mind, they headed out the throne room doors and into the royal gardens where the stallion lay in wait.

The gardens were in chaos. Thousands of changelings plagued the area, far outnumbering the guards present. The guards were clearly fighting a losing battle, having to fend off ten or eleven changelings each. The screams of the fight echoed all around, sending a shiver down Celestia’s spine. There was changeling blood, as well as an alarming amount of equine blood, splattered all over the marble walkways.

Amidst the chaos, there he stood. He had an air of calm confidence about him, as if he had been waiting for this moment his whole life. He was completely untouched by the fight going on around him. It was almost ethereal.

At first glance, he looked like your typical unicorn. He had a soft, chocolate brown coat. His mane was a light chestnut color with stripes of even lighter brown running throughout, as though it had been bleached by the sun. He was the kind of pony who looked familiar even though you’d never met him before. Under any normal circumstance, he would have easily blended in with the crowd.

Of course, this wasn’t any normal circumstance.

Then there were his eyes. They were blood red, and burned with an intense fire of determination. He knew what he wanted, and he was going to get it.

He strided over to them with an eerily warm smile. They could hear his words clearly amidst the cries of battle. “Nice to finally meet you three.”

“What in Equestria is going on here?!” Shining shouted.

The stallion rolled his eyes. “Oh, put a sock in it, Whining Armor.”

Celestia had to give the stallion credit. He had guts.

Just then, a changeling bleeding from deep gashes in its sides zoomed between them, flying after a fleeing guard. Celestia was sent reeling. How in Equestria was that changeling still in the air?

Seeing the question form on her lips, he laughed. “Fantastic, isn’t it? It’s amazing just how much a few well-placed spells can achieve. I simply weakened their pain receptors. They could have their heads chopped off and still continue fighting.”

Celestia was disgusted. That was cruel on so many different levels.

Instead of disgusted, Luna was curious. “Where did you find this spell?”

“The royal archives, of course.”

Celestia froze. The archives lay deep within the bowels of the castle. They were heavily guarded and only the princesses, and Twilight Sparkle on occasion, were granted access. “How?”

He rolled his eyes, as if she had asked a stupid question. “Honestly, Celestia, I have changelings on my side. It shouldn’t be that hard to piece together.”

He grinned devilishly. “Let me give you a hint. Remember a couple of months ago when Twilight Sparkle came to visit you?”

Leaning in close, he whispered into her ear, “That wasn’t Twilight Sparkle.”

So many different emotions were running through Celestia’s mind in that very moment. Fear. Sadness. Fury. Amidst all of this, she couldn’t think properly. So she did the one thing that came instinctively to her—she swung at the stallion, striking him right below the eye. Hard.

He didn’t flinch, or even try to roll with the punch. Instead, he only laughed.

He began pacing around them. “In the archives, I stumbled across a few dusty old tomes. Tomes that contained the answers to all of my questions… and more. Oh, so much more.”

He smiled. “One of those tomes was titled The Edicts of Ascension. It had all kinds of facts about alicorns: their quirks and mannerisms, their faults and foibles, and all the little nuances of their existence. Above all of that, it explained how to make an alicorn. And, more importantly, how to unmake one.”

He stared at Celestia, completely deadpan. “Unfortunately, the process forbids me from killing you. It’s a shame, really.”

That was when all hell broke loose.

It was Shining Armor who made the first move. He lunged at the stallion, tackling him to the ground. His blows rained down on his adversary, each one drilling home with jarring force.

The changelings, noticing their leader in danger, leapt into action and dragged Shining Armor off of him. Once he was restrained, they went for the princesses.

The changelings were upon them before the princesses even realized what was happening. One of them leapt and sank its teeth into Celestia’s neck. She threw it off as quickly as she could, but the damage had already been done. Looking to her side, saw Luna had been bitten too.

Luna cursed under her breath and spun around on her hooves. As another changeling lunged at her, she lifted her hind legs into the air and bucked it in the face, sending it flying into several others.

The changeling, now sporting a broken face and a bloody nose, rose to its feet as if nothing had happened. It let out a guttural shriek and charged once again, earning a little yelp of surprise from Luna.

Celestia shook her head to clear her thoughts. Her mind was becoming clouded, and she was finding it hard to focus. “Buck,” she muttered under her breath. “stupid changeling venom…”

She turned away from her sister and leapt into the air. Taking deep breaths, she examined the scene from above. The majority of the guards had been subdued, and the ones who hadn’t would be soon. Shining was fighting one on one with the mystery stallion, and Luna was tearing through the changelings with alarming vigor.

She swooped down to one of the slightly less injured guards. “Go alert the rest of the royal guard,” she commanded. “We need reinforcements. Now.”

The guard smiled at her, but made no effort to move.

“Please, this is urgent. I need you to—”

The guard launched himself at Celestia, throwing her to the ground. With a feral hiss, he bared his fangs, ready to sink them into her throat.

With a shriek, she threw the now-reverted changeling off of her. A shiver ran down her spine. “Note to self; anypony might be a changeling.”

She sighed, and shook her head once again. Her mind was becoming fuzzier by the minute. The natural anesthetic in the changeling venom was working its course far quicker than she would have liked.

She took to the skies once again, heading for the for the guards’ barracks. As soon as she left the ground, the changelings were after her and quickly gaining. She spun and flipped around in the air to dodge their attacks, accomplishing aerial maneuvers she had no idea she was capable of. When one changeling came particularly close to landing a blow on her, she grabbed it with her magic and threw it at the ground with all the force she could muster. It landed with a splat, dying on impact. Staring at the nauseating splatter mark its guts left, she let out a shaky smile. At least that was one changeling she knew wouldn’t be getting back up.

By the time she tore her eyes away from the changeling’s remains, twenty more were upon her. With the extra weight, her wings faltered and she plummeted toward the ground. She tore the changelings off of her and righted herself just before hitting the ground. She let out a sigh of relief.

Her relief was short-lived, as the remaining changelings dove after her. She landed on the ground and steadied herself. As the first one approached, she reared up and bucked it in the side, sending it sprawling. She let out a growl and galloped toward the barracks, which now lay only several hundred hooves in front of her.

Just when she thought she might make it, the mystery stallion teleported right in front of her. She cursed under her breath. Why hadn’t she thought of teleporting?

Unable to stop in time, she plowed into him, knocking them both to the ground. He rolled over, pinning her to the ground. In seconds, the changelings had surrounded them. He climbed off of her, and she scrambled to her feet. As much as she wanted to attack him, she knew that if she did, the changelings would be on her before she knew it. She might be able to take on a bunch of of them, but there was no way she could beat this many, especially in their pain negligent state.

“Where are the others?” Celestia snarled.

“Don’t worry, they’re both taken care of. Shining Armor was easy. Luna… not so much.” He grinned. “I like her. She’s got spunk.”

“What… what did you do to them?”

“Nothing yet. I’ve got some of the changeling higher-ups watching over them until I bring you back. Now, are you going to come willingly, or are we going to have to do this the hard way?”

Celestia grimaced. If she went willingly, she forfeited any chance she had of reaching the guards' barracks. If she tried to escape…

He noticed her gaze gravitate toward the barracks. He rolled his eyes. “Please, you think they haven’t been taken care of already? I hit ‘em just as they were getting ready to sleep. They never saw it coming.”

Celestia’s eyes widened. “But—”

“Most of them were already changelings anyways, so it really wasn’t all that difficult. Honestly, ‘Tia, do you really think this is spur of the moment thing? The changelings didn’t all leave with Chrysalis. Many remained in hiding. We have slowly been infiltrating your ranks for months. Months. It was over before you even knew it started.”

Celestia was dumbfounded. Not only had this stallion staged a coup on the throne, but he had done so without so much as a whisper reaching her ears. “How did you get the changelings to listen to you in the first place?”

“With Chrysalis out of the picture, they needed a leader. When I showed up, they practically begged me. It was far too easy.”

Celestia shifted her weight. None of it added up. “Why?”

“Why did they need a leader? Well I—”

“No," she said. She was finding it harder and harder to focus on his words. Her consciousness was slowly slipping away. "I mean why are you doing all of this? What do you possibly have to gain?”

He smiled. “Everything. I had absolutely nothing. They all ignored my in my time of need. They put me through hell, Celestia. So I’m going to do the same to them.”

She said nothing.

“Any more questions?” he asked.

“Who are you?”

He faltered. “Do… do you really not remember me, Celestia?”

She shook her head.

He sighed. “You can call me Hecate. Hecate Foul.”

At that, the changeling venom finally took over and she crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

---

Celestia awoke in a daze. She, Luna, and Shining Armor sat in the throne room. They were tied up and unable to move, the ropes restricting them. The mystery stallion, Hecate, was across the room speaking animatedly with a few changelings.

Shining said, “What do we do now?” He had a big welt under his eye, presumably from his tussle with Hecate.

Luna frowned. “I don’t know. I don’t think there is anything we can do.”

Shining Armor sighed. “Do either of you know anything of that book he was talking about?”

Celestia and Luna looked at each other. Both of them shook their heads.

The conversation lulled into silence. There wasn’t much to say. They were far deeper in this mess than they had realized. There were no two ways around it; this time, they were in over their heads.

Just then, Hecate trotted over to them. His eye was swollen where Celestia had hit him.

After giving them a once over, he said, “Wow, you ponies don’t look too great.”

Luna glowered at him.

He laughed sheepishly. After clearing his throat, he slid the book over to Shining Armor’s subdued form. “Read this out loud for me.”

After shooting Hecate a confused look, he began to read. “ ‘Alicorn magic is not generated from inside the horn of the alicorn like unicorn magic is. Alicorn magic is far too powerful to exist within anything. It exists of its own accord, flowing throughout the universe whenever and wherever it is needed. This alicorn magic is called ‘Harmony’. The alicorn taps into this universal current of energy, and the magic ebbs through them, allowing them to utilize its power.

“As per an age-old treaty between ponies and Harmony, alicorns were given the eternal task of maintaining equilibrium wherever they exist. Alicorns are essentially a supreme race designed to fulfill the bidding of Harmony. With this task came many different stipulations, the most prominent of these being their pseudo-immortality.

“Alicorns run a hierarchical society. If a pony defeats the sole alicorn, then they themselves ascend to alicorn status. It is the survival of the fittest. However, if the victor kills the previous alicorn, the connection to Harmony is lost. If this connection is lost, then the victor does not become an alicorn simply because the Harmony cannot reach them. The loser needs to be spared, at least until the victor has fully ascended.’ ”

Nopony said anything.

Hecate shuffled his hooves. “That was an excerpt from the preface of The Edicts of Ascension. Later on, it even provides spells on how, once the alicorn is defeated, to ‘remove their alicorn status’. I figured I should at least let you know why I'm doing this to you.”

Celestia tensed up.

Hecate laughed. “Honestly, I’m surprised you didn’t keep a better watch on this thing,” he said, gesturing to the book. “It is pure gold. Now…”

He trotted over to Luna. “Hmm… what should I make you? Unicorn, pegasus, or earth pony? You know, I think I’ll make you a pegasus. I’ll let you keep your wings 'cause you've been a good girl.”

Luna glared at him.

He closed his eyes peacefully, his horn leaping to life. A bright yellow light wrapped itself around Luna. Hecate closed his eyes more tightly, a bead of sweat forming on his forehead. After a short yelp from Luna, it was all over.

Luna looked… different, to say the least. Her coat was similar to the midnight blue that it was before, only a few shades lighter. Her mane, instead of sparkling like the night sky, was now a gentle blue. She was the height of any regular old pegasus.

Hecate turned to Celestia. “Now for you. Because you gave me this,” he said, pointing to his black eye, “I’m going to make you into an earth pony.”

Celestia jumped as she felt his magic envelop her. It felt as if pins and needles were covering every single inch of her body and, after a moment, as if all of the pins and needles simultaneously pushed deep into her skin, eliciting a squeak of pain. As soon as it started, it was over. All of the sudden, she felt bare. Naked. Empty.

She looked down at herself. Her coat retained its alabaster hue. Her mane, however, did not. The colors of the sunrise were gone, replaced by a warm pink.

Hecate, for the most part, looked unchanged. If anything, he might have grown an inch or so taller, but nothing more. He sighed. “The book did say that it would take a few weeks, but I was hoping there would be some immediate changes…”

He strided over to them. “Now, if I’m going to successfully convince Equestria that I am your chosen successor, I can’t have you rotting in the bowels of the castle. If somepony stumbled across you two in the dungeons, all hell would break loose. But I can’t just have you wandering around Equestria either…”

Celestia’s mind was racing a million miles a minute. He… he wasn’t going to kill them?

Luna shot Celestia a pointed look. “You could always exile us, if you so wish.”

His ears perked up. “That’s not a bad idea. But where to?” he asked, more to himself than anypony else.

Luna gave Celestia another look. “What about the Frozen North?”

Celestia’s head jerked up, having caught on to Luna’s plan. “Actually, I think the Frozen North would be perfect, “ Celestia said. “It’s uninhabited and frozen. If we do survive up there, it wouldn’t be for long.”

He shot them a questioning look. “Why are you two so eager to go to the Frozen North?”

Celestia shrugged. “Honestly, we’re just trying to convince you not to kill us.” It wasn’t a complete lie.

“I couldn’t have killed you anyways, otherwise I would have to risk losing my connection to Harmony. Although,” he said with a devilish smile, “there is nothing stopping the Frozen North from finishing you off for me.”

“Just in case, I think I’ll speed up the process…” he strided over to Luna. He touched his horn to her forehead, sapping her of all of her energy. She crumpled to the floor, unconscious. He turned to Celestia.

The last thing she saw before the darkness overtook her was Hecate’s smug grin.

---

Shining Armor groaned in pain, feeling himself stiffen up from the fight.

An hour or so had passed since Hecate had sent his changelings to drop Celestia and Luna off in the middle of the Frozen North, leaving them to die. Why the two of them had been so adamant about being exiled there, he had no clue. But hey, that was their prerogative, not his. Honestly, it didn’t matter much at this point.

Tearing his attention from that wretched book of his, Hecate turned to Shining Armor. “I forgot I still had to deal with you.”

He tapped his forehead contemplatively. “Of course, there’s nothing stopping me from killing you.”

Shining’s eyes widened.

“But you’re far too amusing of a punching bag to dispose of this early on in the game. I think I’ll keep you around in the dungeons,” he said. “In fact, that’s perfect! I can tell the ponies that you betrayed the throne so that they’ll pay attention to you instead of the me.”

Shining wasn’t sure what was worse; the thought of being killed or being tortured by this whack-job.

“Of course, I’ll have to lock up your wife and parents too.”

Shining tensed up. “Don’t you dare touch my Cady!”

Hecate rolled his eyes. “It’s not like she has any chance of saving anypony anyways. She’s not even a real alicorn: just a unicorn with wings. A genetic mistake.”

Shining persisted. "You'll never get away with all of this. My sister and the elements of harmony will set things right again."

"You insolent foal," Hecate spat, circling his prey. "You really think the elements can harm me? I am a god. Using the elements on me would have the same effect as using them on Celestia or Luna. Absolutely nothing."

"They worked on Nightmare Moon!"

Hecate let out a throaty chuckle. "Oh, Shiny. Shiny, Shiny, Shiny. Don't you realize that you've just answered your own question? The elements worked on Nightmare Moon, not Princess Luna. Luna was possessed by her own inner demons. Her jealousy took root deep within her heart and created an entirely new creature."

The stallion shot Shining Armor a devilish smirk. "Tell me, Shining, what exactly do the elements do?"

"They maintain Harmony."

"And what exactly is Harmony?"

"Balance. Stability. Equilibrium."

"Good. Now tell me, what supreme race's job is it to maintain this Harmony?"

"…Alicorns?"

"Precisely. Alicorns are Harmony. If you could use the elements on us, you would be achieving the exact opposite effect of what you desire. You would be eliminating Harmony."

Shining scowled. "You are anything but harmonious."

Hecate grinned knowingly. "Ever heard of a thing called chaotic Harmony?"

Hecate’s grin faded. “But thank you for reminding me about the elements. I had almost forgotten about them.”

He spun around and pointed at the nearest changeling. “Gather up a few more changelings. I have a job for you. You are to bring me the bearers of the elements. Alive.” He shot a grin back at Shining. “How does it feel to know that you sealed your sister’s fate?”

Shining Armor gulped.

He pulled another changeling aside. Pointing at Shining, he said, “You, throw him in the dungeons. As far underground as you can get.”

---

That night, Twilight mumbled restlessly in her sleep.

“No… Princess… don’t… don’t trust him… he’s trying to… to…” she trailed off.

“Ughhh,” Spike groaned tiredly. “Twi, how many times do I gotta tell you everything is fine? I promise you that everything is perfectly okay back home. In fact, I’m positive that everything is fine. Everypony is safe in their beds, sleeping. There’s nothing to worry about.”

“He… he’s gonna… going to…” she sleep-murmured.

Spike let out a gaping yawn. Flipping onto his side, he mumbled, “Don’t worry Twi, everything is fine.”

After another series of yawns, the tendrils of sleep finally reached him. Within minutes, he was snoring peacefully. “Everything is perfectly fine…”

Fluttershy danced around her cottage, humming to her own little tune. The day was still young, and there was much left to do. She flipped open a cabinet and pulled out a few carrots. After dicing them up into small chunks, she put them on a plate for Angel to eat. He was sleeping now, but he would be hungry once he awoke.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. She looked out her window, and saw it was a royal guardspony. She pulled open the door with the warm, albeit surprised, expression.

“Are you Miss Fluttershy?” he asked, his expression stoic.

“Would you like to come inside?” she asked. “It’s very cold out there.” She looked past him. Snow was falling from the sky, coating the ground in white. A shiver ran down her spine. Winter was coming.

“Thank you, ma’am.”

“You can call me Fluttershy.”

“Thank you, Miss Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy was quite proud of herself. Her friends had been trying to get her to be more assertive recently. Well, maybe not more assertive. Just less shy. Either way, she was certain that she was improving. Had the guard come just a few weeks earlier, she wouldn’t have been able to speak to him, much less invite him inside.

“I’ll go put on some tea,” Fluttershy said.

The stallion nodded, the same placid expression plastered on his face.

Fluttershy sighed. She knew that the guards had a reputation to uphold, but it wouldn’t kill them to smile every once in awhile. Walking into the kitchen, she grabbed the kettle with her teeth and placed it on the stove. After turning on the burner and letting it simmer, she took a deep breath and walked back into the living room.

She sat down on the couch and gestured for the stallion to sit down next to her. He sat down, but still remained stiff as a board.

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Fluttershy cleared her throat. “Um, why are you here? Wait, I didn’t mean it like that! I mean, like… why are you here?” Fluttershy felt her face heat up. She nearly face-hooved.

“I am here to inform you of your audience with the King.”

Fluttershy blinked. “The King?”

“The king.”

“Do… do you mean the Princesses?”

“No. The King.”

“…Oh.” After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence. Fluttershy excused herself to go and get the tea. She slowly poured two cups, taking all of the time in the world. She desperately wanted to pretend there wasn’t a stallion sitting in the other room. She knew that it was unfair to think that, but she couldn’t help it. Something about him just seemed off, and it bugged her.

Her heartbeat picking up, she walked into the other room. She took a deep breath and sat down on the couch.

“Are you ready to leave, ma’am?”

Fluttershy blinked in surprise. She definitely didn’t want to go anywhere with this stallion. “I… uh…. I need to tell my friends where I’m going first? Yeah, that’s it! I need to tell my friends.”

“That won’t be necessary, ma’am.”

She picked up the cup of tea and took a sip to calm her nerves. “It w-w-won’t?”

He grinned. “No, ma’am. You see, your friends are coming with us… whether they want to or not.”

Fluttershy raised her gaze to meet his eyes. As soon as she saw them, she froze, dropping her cup of tea. His eyes were an eerily familiar, pupil-less, cloudy blue.

Silence reigned. The tension in the room was palpable.

He grinned at her, saying nothing. In a flash of light, he reverted back to his changeling form. He lunged at her, pinning her to the floor. He bared his fangs at her and sunk them deep into her neck.

Fluttershy let out a shriek of alarm, which then faded into silence. Her body fell limp in the changelings arms. With a smirk, he threw her over his shoulder and left the house, not bothering to close the door behind him.

He took flight, heading in the general direction of Canterlot. Four other changelings dotted the sky, limp forms splayed across their backs as well. They all had the same destination: the palace throne room.

Frozen in Fluttershy’s doorway sat a little bunny rabbit, wondering where in Equestria the weird bug creatures were taking his friend.

---

Twilight awoke in a cold sweat, the remnants of a horrific nightmare plaguing her bed-riddled mind.

The darkness that permeated the air of the tent told her that the sun had still yet to rise. With a drawn-out sigh, she pulled herself from her bedroll. She needed some fresh air to calm her mind. After throwing a scarf around her neck, she exited into the cold of the night.

Based on the trajectory of the moon, the sun would come up in a couple of hours. Not nearly enough time for her to bother going back to sleep. She figured she should get a head start on today’s studying, but…

She turned back to face the tent. After solidifying in her mind that Spike would still be asleep once she got back, she headed out on her way. To where, she didn’t know. Anywhere but here.

She slowly made her way up the same hill she had come down the previous night. The incline was steep, almost too much to climb, but she wasn’t about to be defeated by a mere mound of snow. She just had to put one hoof in front of the other. That’s all. One hoof in front of the other.

Once on the top, she paused to catch her breath. She scanned her surroundings. It was the same as it always was. White everywhere. All she was was a purple speck in a sea of white—a testament to the fact that she truly didn’t belong up here.

She was about to continue on her way when she saw it. Out there, on the horizon, lay a lump of blue. It was a no wonder that she had missed it her first time. It was barely even visible, only a small little blip in the vast expanse of snow.

Her face broke out into an enormous smile. It might be an animal! Like a real, living animal! One that she could put in her report to the Princess! She was about to break out into a gallop toward it when she second guessed herself. What if it was dangerous?

Eventually, she figured the pros outweighed the cons. She was about to head out when she realized just how far away it was. Twilight slid back down the hill to the tent. Pulling out a quill and some parchment, she began to write.

Dear Number-One Assistant,

I’ll be out for a little while. I’ll be back soon though, so don’t worry. See you soon.

Love, Twilight Sparkle

With that, she began the long trek to the unknown.

---

The mass of blue fur was definitely not what Twilight was expecting it to be. In fact, it was two masses of fur tangled up in each other. And instead of animals, they were ponies. And it was clear that they weren’t faring too well. They had gashes and bruises all over their bodies, and they were both unconscious.

It was there that Twilight faced a choice. There was no way she would leave them there to die, but if she were to heal them, they would have to go back to base camp. If she decided to bring them back to base camp, things could go downhill fast. There was simply no way of knowing if they were hostile or not.

Twilight looked up. Ominous storm clouds had long since rolled in overhead, casting everything in an eerie gray light. They were so thick that she couldn’t even tell if the sun had risen yet, though if she had to guess, she would say it had. She’d been out here far longer than she would've liked to have been.

“Just great,” she muttered. “Now I can add a snowstorm to my list of things to worry about.”

She sighed. She would not leave these ponies here to die. Based on how battle-worn they looked, they probably wouldn’t make it if she went to go get her first-aid materials and came back.

She shivered.

With a heavy-heart, she levitated the two ponies with her magic. She began the long walk back to camp.

Snow now fell heavily from the clouds above, impairing her vision. It showed no signs of slowing down. She quickened her pace. She needed to get back before the brunt of the storm hit. If they got stuck out here when the snow really started falling…

---

Eventually, they reached base camp. Twilight desperately wanted to collapse from exhaustion, but if she did, she would get buried in the falling snow before she knew it. It was falling so fast that she could hardly see ten hooves in front of her.

She pushed into the tent, deposited the two ponies onto the ground, and collapsed into a ball. She may have been able to levitate an ursa minor, but that wasn't for nearly as long as this. She had just carried two ponies for miles through a snowstorm in the bitter cold. She had a right to be tired. Really, really tired.

With a sigh, she pulled herself to her hooves. There were matters more important than sleep that demanded her attention. She could rest later.

She glanced over at the two ponies with a frown. She was in control of these ponies lives, and frankly, it scared her. What if she messed up?

She turned back to her saddlebags, noisily tearing through them. She eventually found her small first aid kit. It was tiny, but it was better than nothing.

Spike groggily lifted his head, awoken by her noise. “Huh…? Twi, what’s going - sweet Celestia, why are there other ponies in our tent?!”

Twilight spun around to face him. “Spike, get me the survival guide on dealing with injuries.”

“But why are there—”

“Quickly!”

Spike jumped to his feet, sensing the urgency in Twilight’s voice. He rummaged through the small library of books Twilight brought with them, searching for the one she requested.

Twilight turned back to the first aid kit. All that was there were a few bandaids, some gauze, and a small bottle of antibiotic ointment. Nothing of any use to her right now.

Spike scurried over and handed her the book she requested. Flipping through the pages like a madmare, she found what she was looking for. “Primary assessment of injury,” she read aloud.

Walking over to the first of the ponies—a pegasus with a navy coat—she continued to read, “Step one: make sure the scene is safe.”

After looking around the tent, she nodded to herself. “Step two: check for consciousness.” She tapped the pegasus’ shoulder. “Can you hear me? Hello?”

The pegasus showed no signs of response. Twilight frowned. “Step three: if the victim is unconscious, check for pulse and breathing.”

She placed a hoof on the pegasus’ neck and lowered her ear to her chest to see if it rose and fell. After a moment of waiting, she found the pulse. The chest did not move.

She scanned the page for the next step. “If the victim has a pulse but is not breathing, initiate rescue breathing.”

Twilight looked at the book, then the pegasus, then back at the book. “R-Rescue breathing?” She vigorously flipped through the book, looking for the chapter on the topic. “P-Place resuscitation mask over the victim’s mouth and nose. Breath into mask. Wait five seconds and repeat.”

“Twi, are you seriously going to, like, put your mouth on hers?” Spike asked.

“She’s dying, Spike!” she said. “But I don’t have a resuscitation mask… do I just do it without one?”

“I dunno, Twi. She might have diseases or something.”

Twilight gulped. “I can’t just sit here and do nothing…”

She slowly lowered her face towards the pegasus’. Just as their lips were about to touch, the pegasus’ eyes shot open.

Twilight let out a shriek and jumped back in surprise. Both mares stared at each other unblinkingly, neither saying anything.

Spike forced a cough, trying to cover his laughter. “Well… that was awkward.”

Both ponies shot him a glare. He laughed sheepishly.

“Twilight Sparkle, what were you doing?”

“I was trying to - wait, how do you know my name?!”

“I… do you really not recognize me?” Luna asked.

“No. Was I supposed to?”

“It’s me, Luna.”

Twilight blinked twice. “Luna. As in Princess Luna.”

“Yes, that Luna.”

Twilight shifted her weight. “Let me get this straight. You’re telling me that you, a pegasus mare, are actually Princess Luna, an immortal alicorn goddess?”

“Yes. That is exactly what I am saying,” said Luna, completely missing Twilight’s sarcasm.

Twilight opened her mouth, only to close right back. She turned to Spike, looking for a second opinion.

Spike shrugged. “I dunno, Twi. Try looking at her cutie mark.”

Luna curled her tail around her flank protectively. “I don’t know what you were doing before, but I’m certainly not about to let you ogle my flank as well!”

Twilight blushed. “I was trying to save your life! You were kind of dying!”

With a frown, Luna slowly uncurled her tail from her flank, revealing her familiar cutie mark.

Twilight’s eye twitched. “This doesn’t make any sense. You’re supposed to be an alicorn! And in Canterlot!”

Luna’s frown deepened.

Twilight’s gaze slowly drifted to other pony. Her eyes widened. “Is that…?”

Luna nodded. “Yes, it is.”

Just then, Celestia’s eyes began to flutter open. With a grunt, she pulled herself up into a sitting position. Noticing everypony’s eyes were on her, she shied backward. “What is going on here?”

“Twilight and Luna totally almost made out,” Spike said.

“Spike!” they yelled simultaneously.

Spike chuckled. “So, uh, does somepony want to explain what the hay is going on here? I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m really confused right about now.”

“I found you two unconscious in the snow. I carried you back here, then tried to heal you. That’s pretty much all there is to it,” Twilight said. “Now, do either of you want to explain how in Equestria you two ended up here?”

Luna sighed. She slowly recalled the events of the previous day, Celestia interrupting when she felt the need. After some time, Twilight and Spike were up to speed.

“Okay, so this crazy stallion comes in and takes over the throne. Then he somehow made you guys normal ponies, and now he’s an alicorn?”

“He’ll be an alicorn soon. Apparently, the transformation takes time,” Celestia said.

Spike shuffled his feet. “Something still doesn’t make sense to me. Why did you write to Twi asking her to come up here?”

“What do you mean?” Celestia asked.

“You sent a letter to me asking if I would be willing to study the Frozen North,” Twilight said.

“No,” Celestia said, “you sent a letter to me telling me you were going of your own volition.”

Twilight opened her bag and pulled out the letter. After giving it a once-over herself, she gave it to Celestia.

Celestia read the letter to herself, her eyes wide. “Twilight, I didn’t write this.”

Twilight’s ears splayed, her fears now confirmed. “But… then who did?”

Everypony fell silent.

“If I had to guess, I would say it was Hecate, but that wouldn’t make any sense. If it was part of his plan to send Twilight up to the Frozen North, then why would he allow us to be exiled here?” Luna said.

“Maybe he forgot?” Spike added helpfully.

“I… I think I need to get some fresh air to clear my head,” said Twilight. She opened the tent flap, only to be affronted by a wall of snow. It was blowing about furiously. She could barely see two hooves in front of her. The white-out was in full effect. “…Or maybe not.”

“We’re probably going to be stuck in here for awhile,” said Spike.

“That’s not necessarily a bad thing,” Twilight said. “You two still need to recuperate from your fight, and I’m still not done with first aid. I’ll patch up your cuts now, then you can rest.”

Spike yawned. “That all sounds good and fine, but I’m going to take a nap. If you need me, don’t wake me up. I need my beauty sleep.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Have a good sleep, Spike.”

Before long, the small drake’s snoring filled the air.

“Hey, Twilight, what is this?” Celestia asked, picking up a small slip of paper.

She levitated it over to Twilight. Taking it into her own grasp, Twilight read it. “Oh, this is just the letter I wrote Spike this morning.” She shoved it haphazardly into her saddlebags without a second thought.

---

Fluttershy was the first to awake. Her eyes suddenly snapped open, painfully aware of the cold marble floor she was laying on. With a groan, she sat up and looked around. She was on the palace throne room floor. The rest of her friends, minus Twilight, were sprawled out all around her.

Then she noticed the changelings. There were several of them guarding every exit, preventing escape.

She cowered, trying to make herself as small as possible. The changelings stared at her, amused grins plastered on their faces.

Slowly, all of the others woke up, still groggy from the changeling venom in their systems.

“What the hay is going on here?“ Rainbow asked, peeved.

“Maybe it’s a surprise party!”

“Pinkie, darling, I doubt that it’s a surprise party,” said Rarity, eyeballing the changelings.

“Doggone changelings… one of ‘em nabbed me right as I was headin’ in from apple buckin’.”

“You… you guys were brought here by changelings too?” Fluttershy asked.

Everypony nodded.

“Buck this!” Rainbow shouted. “I’m going to find the princesses and sort out this whole mess.”

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Rainbow. My changelings and I wouldn’t allow it.”

Rainbow turned toward the voice, a confused look on her face.

Hecate was leaning casually against a doorway on the other side of the room. A golden, gem-encrusted crown sat upon his head. He wore a long, flowing, bright red robe.

“Oh, you simply must tell me where you found that ensemble! I’ll be honest, it’s a little bit out of style, but it still looks divine on you.”

“Rarity! Ah don’t think that’s the biggest of our problems right now,” Applejack said.

“Whaddaya mean your changelings wouldn’t allow it!” Rainbow yelled at Hecate. “I can kick all these changelings’ flanks in ten seconds flat!”

“Oh really?” Hecate asked. “Then why did it only take one of them to drag you here?”

Rainbow flushed. “That’s not fair! He caught me while I was napping.”

Hecate let out a throaty chuckle. “Fair? Fair? Hah! What a joke. You ponies know nothing about fair. You’ve been handed your lives on a silver platter. You don’t have a right to complain about what’s fair or not.”

"That’s all good ‘n fine, but would ya mind explainin’ why we’re here?” Applejack asked.

“I thought you’d never ask,” Hecate said with a smile. “I’ve overthrown your princesses, and I need your help staging my rise to power.”

For the longest time, nopony said anything. The mares just sat and stared at Hecate in shock.

Eventually, Pinkie Pie broke out into laughter. “Phew, buddy, you almost had me there for a second.” She panned the room, searching for the princess. “Okay Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, you can come out now! The prank is over!”

“This isn’t one of your stupid pranks!” Hecate spat. “I assure you, I am telling you the truth.”

“Do you truly believe that we’ll take your word for it? You do realize how utterly implausible this whole situation is, yes?” Rarity said.

“Did you not notice the lack of royal guardsponies around? Or the changelings everywhere? Heck, it's mid-afternoon. If Celestia were here, her day court would be going on, would it not?” Hecate said.

“If you are telling the truth, which you're not, what makes you think we’re going to help you?”

Hecate barked a laugh. “Rainbow, I think you’ve misunderstood. I’m not asking you to help, I’m forcing you to help. You have no choice in the matter.”

The whole room went dead silent. Rainbow lunged at Hecate, her eyes burning with anger. The changelings leapt into action, pulling her back before she could reach him. She struggled against their vice-like grip, but to no avail.

“Rainbow, show some decorum,” Rarity scolded. “At least let him explain himself in full before you attack him. Which I wouldn’t blame you for.”

Hecate nodded. “Thank you, Rarity. I actually—wait, where is Twilight Sparkle?”

The five other ponies in the room looked around, just now noticing her absence.

He turned to a cluster of changelings by the throne room entrance. “You! Tell me, where is Twilight Sparkle?”

The changeling dug at the ground with his hoof. “Well, uh… we could only find these five, and nopony in town knew where she was, so we—”

Hecate slammed his hoof onto the ground. “ENOUGH! First, you fail to find Twilight Sparkle. Next, you have the audacity to just give up!? Honestly, that is truly pathetic.”

He sauntered over to the changeling, his rage building. He wound up his hoof and swung at the creature, drilling it hard in the jaw. The changeling flew across the room, landing with a sickening thud.

The changeling scrambled to its feet, cowering underneath Hecate’s presence. “You. You are not to return until you’ve found Twilight Sparkle. Am I clear?”

“C-crystal, s-sir.” The changeling scurried out of the room, a few others tagging along.

Hecate sighed. “Minor setback, but I can work around this.” He turned to the others and smiled a wicked smile. “Here’s the plan—”

---

“That’s not the kind of party I want to plan. I mean, parties are usually super duper fun, but this is just super duper sad. Maybe we could—”

“I agree with Pinkie,” Rainbow interrupted. “What makes you think we would ever go along with that?”

“If you want to live, then you must. Really, Rainbow, the concept shouldn’t be that hard to grasp.”

“Girls…” Fluttershy said. “As much as I hate to admit it, I think we should do what he says. I… I don’t want any of you to get hurt.”

Hecate smiled. “Thank you, Fluttershy. I think you and Rarity are the only ones with common sense in this group. We’ll start tomorrow. Until then…”

He turned to a cluster of changelings who were feigning disinterest in their conversation. “You. Take these ponies and throw them in the dungeon.”

Rarity let out a shriek of disapproval. “I simply cannot sleep in a dungeon! My coat would get filthy!”

A wicked grin spread across Hecate’s face. “Actually, I think you’re onto something Rarity.”

“Oh? We don’t have to sleep in the dungeons?”

“No, you don’t have to sleep in the dungeons,” he corrected. “In fact, you’ll be sleeping with me tonight.”

---

Fluttershy sat in the darkness of her cell, feeling cold and alone even though her friends were right there with her. Well… at least most of them were.

“Hey,” she called out into the darkness. “D-Do any of you know where Twilight is?”

“Nooope!” Pinkie said. “Last time I saw Twilight was a week ago when she bought some cupcakes from Sugarcube Corner.”

“Same here. I saw her the other week when she bought a bushel of apples from me, but that was it,” Applejack said.

“Actually, now that you guys mention it, I haven’t seen her for awhile too,” Rainbow said.

Fluttershy gulped. Images of a frantic Twilight on her doorstep asking her to watch over Owlicious flashed through her mind. “Guys… I know where Twilight is.”

---

Hecate sat at his desk, flipping madly through the pages of The Edicts of Ascension. “C’mon,” he muttered to himself. “Where is it? I swear, I had the page marked earlier.”

“You do realize that you’ll never get away with this, right? Twilight will find some way to set everything right again,” Rarity said, peering over his shoulder.

Hecate rolled his eyes. “Somehow, someway, everything must end, Rarity. You should know that by now.”

She cocked an eye at him. “If everything ends, then why do you bother doing all of this?”

He smiled. “It’s not about shining forever, Rarity. It’s about how brightly you burn before your flame winks out.”

There was a knock at the door. Hecate flung it open with his magic, and the changeling behind it bowed deeply.

“You may rise.”

“Y-Your Highness, I bring bad news,” the changeling said.

Hecate's ear twitched. “Go on.”

“I’m sorry, but… we couldn’t find Princess Cadance anywhere. Actually, we couldn’t find any of the Crystal Ponies.”