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.”