Eris stood next to Cadance, occasionally glancing at her or the unconscious alicorn laying on the floor. Leaning down, Eris shook his shoulder and elicited something unintelligible from him. Looking at the day old paper in her paw, she threw it over her shoulder and let herself lean against the wall. Looking at Cadance, she saw the pink alicorn staring at her calmly.

"Yes, I got a gender change," Eris said rolling her eyes. "Shocking, I know. What are you even doing here?" She asked glancing momentarily back down at Sunshine.

"I could ask you the same question, Discord." Cadance said. "What I would like to know is why you were chasing this... Alicorn around with a newspaper." She said pointing at the piece of paper laying further down the hall.

"We were playing," she replied sliding down the wall to sit by Sunshine. "You still haven't answered my question." She said shaking his shoulder again. "Wake up you big lug."

"I wanted to surprise my aunts," Cadance said staring at Eris as she shook Sunshine's shoulder. "Instead I'm the one getting a surprise. I'm going to go find Luna or a guard. You just stay here and keep doing whatever it is you're doing." She said turning only to stop momentarily and look back at Eris looking at the cracks in the stone wall.

Eris glanced back at Cadance as she turned a corner, and as soon as she did, she snapped the fluff at the end of her tail and teleported herself and the unconscious alicorn to the castle's infirmary. All at once she was hit with the smell of sweat, disinfectant, latex, and a copper taste in her mouth.

There were a few of the night guard and less day day guards sitting on the beds or walking with crutches, the medical staff were making their rounds by the beds, speaking with the guards or other castle staff who happened to be there. Upon seeing the Draconequus they all froze and just stared at her but went into a hurry once they saw the alicorn by her claw and hoof.

She was pushed out of the narrow room and turned just to have the doors slammed in her face. Blinking, she backed up, huffed and sat in one of the seats by doors. Picking up a magazine, she was beginning to flip through it when the door cracked open and one of the doctors' poked his head through.

"Mrs?" He asked stepping out. "I understand that you brought our newest patient here?"

"I did," Eris said getting up. "Is he alright?" She asked setting the magazine on another table.

"Yes, he's fine." The doctor said nodding. "What many of my staff to do wish is, who is he? Is he related to the princesses?" He asked running a hoof over his blue scrubs.

"He's not related to them," Eris said smiling. "He is Princess Celestia, but he prefers Prince Sunshine. It's a strange name for him, but he seems to like it."

The doctor stared at her for a second, peeked back inside, and than back at her. Shaking his head, he went back inside the infirmary without another word leaving her frustrated again. Eris, looking at the door, noticed the day guard looking at her.

"Let me guess, you think I'm a nut, too?" She asked crossing her arms.

He said nothing but fixed his attention back to the wall in front of him. Letting out a breath through her nose, Eris turned away from the golden hall ornament and went back to the magazine she was reading.

Cadance

"Yes, they're this way." Cadance said bringing the two guards by her sides. "He should be laying down this hall, he may have a concussion so be... Gentle?" She said quietly as she looked down the empty hall.

Rubbing her eyes, she closed them for a second, counted to five and then opened them again. Seeing nothing but empty space again, she scanned the wall until she found the impact where Sunshine had ran into it. Poking at the cracks, a piece of the wall fell off and broke at her hooves.

"They were right here," she said looking around. "I told her to stay here, and instead she runs off with him." Cadance muttered to herself.

"Ma'am," one of the guards said. "Who is it you are looking for?"

"Discord," she said. "And a white alicorn."

"You mean Princess Celestia?" The other asked.

"No, he's a new alicorn," she said shaking her head. "White, tall, reddish-brown mane and beard, and I'm sure he's with Discord. Find her and you'll find him."

"Her?" The guards said in unison.

"Yes," Cadance said. "Her. Discord is now a she. I'll tell Twilight Discord has apparently kidnapped somepony. You two, go and find them, and once you do, find either of my aunts, me, or Twilight."

Twilight

Not looking away from the small pocket-book she had, Twilight attempted to move the straw to her teeth with her lips but given up after she only sucked in air. Finishing the third paragraph on the page she was on, she looked over on her desk and saw an empty space where her drink was. Looking down, she frown when she saw a brown reflection looking back up at her.

Getting up, she went into the bathroom and tore a few sheets off the toilet-paper roll. Cleaning up the spill, she was setting the glass back on the desk when there was a knock at her door. Looking back at what was still on the floor, she huffed when the knocking came again, this time more urgent.

"Alright, I'm coming." She said making the knocking cease.

Going to the door, she opened it and saw nopony, poking her head out, she looked to the left and right and still saw nothing. Shutting the door, she turned around and backed into it when she saw Eris sitting on her bed, smiling, seemingly pleased with herself for scaring her.

"Hello, Twilight," Eris said grinning. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I was almost looking at one," she said ruffling her wings. "Where's Sunshine?"

"In the infirmary." Eris said calmly. "He ran into a wall. The doctors say he has a minor concussion and that he should be fine in a few hours, fine enough to walk anyway. What are you reading?" She asked leaning over the edge of the bed to look at Twilight's book.

"He ran into a wall?" She asked incredulously. "No, there's no way he would do that. Why would he be running in the first place?"

"What is this?" Eris said holding the miniature book in her paw. "Science fiction?"

"Give me that and answer me!" She said taking the book from the Draconequus's hands. "Why was he running?"

"Why was who running?" Eris asked getting up from being pulled to the floor. "Sunshine? I was chasing him with a newspaper."

"Why?" Twilight asked shaking her head. "Was it a game you two were playing?"

"Oh, Twilight," Eris said rubbing the alicorn on the head. "We're always playing games. He just doesn't know it."

Before the lavender alicorn could utter another word, Eris was gone in a flash. Looking around momentarily, the alicorn made sure the goddess wasn't hiding anywhere, once sure she was gone, she sat back down at her desk and opened her book back to where she had left off.

Upon opening it, there was another knock at the door. Grunting, she closed it again and went to the door. Putting her hoof on the handle, she looked back at the bed as she opened the door. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, she looked in the doorway and saw nothing. Looking out again, she paused as she heard the sound of pages in a book being turned. Turning around again, she saw Eris laying comfortably on the bed, her own book in her paw while she turned the pages with a wave of her talon.

Looking up from her book, Eris just stared at the flabbergasted alicorn for a moment, shrugged, and went back to reading her own book.

Closing the door again, Twilight Was pulling out her chair but stopped to look back at the bed. Satisfied, she was turning around when she realized the bed was empty again. Looking back at it, she saw the book was still lying there, the sheets were still disturbed from where Eris had been laying. Looking at the door, she sat down in the chair, eyes narrowed at the thin slice of wood. Grabbing her book, she slowly turned her head away from the door and just as she began to read again, there was a knock.

Gritting her teeth, she went to the door and opened it, not even bothering to look up as Eris stood there, grinning down at her.

"By the way Twilight," Eris said twirling a lock of her hair in her finger. "The guards think I kidnapped a new alicorn. If they ask, you never saw me."

"I wish I hadn't." She said shutting the door in Eris's face.

Standing by the door, she looked back at her own book sitting cold on the desk, she sighed and just sat there on the spot. Leaning her head against the door, she closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. The air she was holding came out in a single word when another knock was heard, and the sound of the door being slammed open along with her yelling at the guard sanding there.

"What!?" She yelled before seeing the nervous look on the guard's face. "Oh, I am so sorry, I thought you were somepony else." She said putting a hoof to her chest. "What can I help you with?"

"I came here to make sure you were safe," the guard said gathering her wits. "There was a recent kidnapping of an alicorn and I came here to make sure you hadn't been taken. Have you seen a Draconequus anywhere? She was suspected of the kidnapping and we wish to bring her in for questioning."

"A Draconequus?" Twilight said. "No. I haven't seen one of them anywhere. Have you tried searching the kitchen?"

"The kitchen?" The guard said pondering the area for a moment. "She is fond of sweets; an excellent idea your highness. Stay inside and be on  alert, I'll have guards put here if I run into any others."

The guard saluted her and began to gallop away. Closing the door once the sound of the guard's hoofsteps were gone, she was closing the door but decided to leave it cracked. As she was turning away, she heard a clinking sound coming from behind her. Opening the door, she spotted a glass of brown tea sitting on the floor, a small yellow note was attached to the lemon.

"Thanks for covering me," Twilight read. "Eris."

She looked at the note and then the drink, shrugging she took a sip and spat it out when it hit her tongue. Dropping the note, she didn't see the words, 'Was I supposed to add salt or sugar?' Written on the back.

Eris

Sitting in the statue gardens again, she looked at the collection of ancient figures, some of them older than her and others quite new. Running her talon over the smooth marble that was once her pedestal, she let out an involuntary shudder.

'This place shouldn't even bother me anymore,' she thought staring at the one statue she could see in her imprisonment. 'But I just can't forget about what happened. I probably never will forget it, no matter how much I try. But why does it still bother me so much?'

Looking around the garden, she spotted the faint outline of a pony working on a wall and her bad mood worsened.

'It's not the garden, or my imprisonment,' she thought. 'I feel guilty about what happened to Sunshine. Why do I feel guilty about that, it wasn't my fault. Not entirely anyway. I could have probably warned him before he hit the wall, or I could have just stopped chasing him, or maybe even not chased him at all. Guilt is terrible, this feels like that time I tried to make Rocky Road with actual rocks.'

Kicking a stone away from the pedestal, she heard a rustling coming from behind her in the bushes. Looking back, she found herself underneath two guards.

"Now, is this any way to treat a lady?" She said pooling out from underneath them.

Standing up, she crossed her arms and smiled down at them as they untangled themselves. Once free they both stood in front of her, crouched and ready to pounce on her, but she had made herself a little hammock she was laying in.

"Ma'am, we need to bring you in for questioning about the pony you brought to the infirmary." The one on the left said.

"Oh, Sunshine?" She said looking at them through a pair of sunglasses. "You can ask Twilight or Luna, they were with us a little while before he ran into a wall. If you want to hear what happened, we were having a conversation, we made some jokes, he said something embarrassing about me, and then we had a little game of chasing that ended when he almost hit his niece but she jumped out of the way and he hit a wall."

"That's all very nice, but we still need to take you in." The guard on the right said.

"Good luck." She said sliding the sunglasses up on her fore-head. "You can't even touch me."

When the guards jumped again, she rolled off the hammock and pulled it back with a finger, holding it there while the guards landed on their chests against it. They looked at the hammock and than at her, shaking their heads vigorously, she nodded twice and than took her finger off the hammock. The guards were sent flying across the gardens and eventually they landed in a large hedge.

"I love messing with the guards." She said to herself. "They're so bold and so very brainless. I wonder if Sunshine is awake yet?"

Sunshine

He was awake, but he didn't want to open his eyes, his head hurt, his mouth tasted like copper and disinfectants. He could hear the sound of hooves, always moving, getting closer or further away, the sound of rubber against the floor, and the snapping sound of gloves on hooves.

'I'm in the infirmary,' he thought. 'That would explain the awful taste in my mouth. What happened? The last thing I remember is Eris chasing me, I was running, and then I saw Cadance, and now I'm here. One of them must have brought me here, most likely Eris, she seems to be doing that a lot recently.'

Cracking an eye open, he quickly shut it from the light piercing his head. Slowly opening it this time, he looked around and saw ponies rushing about in blue scrubs, guards and some staff with bandages, casts, or crutches. Raising his head a little, he looked down at himself. He was in a bed with warm blankets, and an itchy pillow.

Reaching up to rub the spot on his head, he felt the rough threads of one of the bandages wrapped around his head. Putting a small amount of pressure on it, he winced when a small sting was made from it.

As the doctors and nurses went to and fro, checking on remaining medicine, patient information, bedding, and the patients themselves. Sunshine slid out of the bed and landed with shaky legs, shaking the sleep out of them he turned his attention to the doors. Taking off the bandages, he cracked his neck and was about to start walking towards the exit when a doctor was suddenly in front of him.

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to get back in bed." He said putting a hoof on Sunshine's shoulder as if to keep the already balanced alicorn upright. "You suffered a minor concussion and blackout, you need to rest."

"What I need," he said staring down at the medical pony. "Is to find my niece. I saw her just before I hit that wall. Do you know where I can find her?"

"If you get back in the bed, than I can have a guard look for her. What's her name?"

"Cadance." He said and to his amusement, the pony jolted slightly. "Is there something about that name that concerns you? You seem disturbed by it."

"N-No, it's just that you're related to her?" He said taking his hoof off Sunshine. "I thought only Princess Celestia was her only relative other than Princess Luna."

"And you're right, my sister and I are related to her." He said making the pony narrow his eyes. "If you don't believe me, look at my cutie mark and tell me otherwise."

He turned and showing his cutie mark to the doctor, the pony's eyes widened and his mask thinned slightly from his mouth dropping. Sunshine smiled and went around the doctor and other patients until he was at the doors. Hearing somepony clearing their throat, he turned around and saw the doctor again, this time there was a nurse who had a syringe with a clear liquid inside it.

"Your highness," he said taking off the mask for the second time that day. "You need rest, and if you won't get back in bed willingly we'll have to sedate you. Nopony wants to do that, right?" He asked looking at the nurse who shook her head, but tapped the needle on a hoof regardless.

"Doctor, I am able to walk without an aid, my head isn't spinning, and I don't feel ill, I would say I can leave whenever I wish." Sunshine said narrowing his eyes.

"In my professional opinion, my medical one I mean," he said rubbing his hooves together as if washing them in a sink. "You-"

"Doctor, I will not stand here being lectured on medicine and medical treatments when I have important business I can attend to without and pills, tonics, or aids." He said moving closer to the doctor until the nurse had the needle raised. "I was the one who founded most of the medical discovery's in the last century, and there is nopony alive that knows as much or more about medicine and doctoring than me."

"R-Right," he said smiling and nodding briskly. "Nurse, could you put down the needle? It won't be needed after all. Have a nice day your highness," he said opening the door himself. "But, do come in for a checkup if you begin experiencing any headaches or nausea."

Eris

Appearing in front of the infirmary doors again, Eris missed the ethereal tail disappear around the corner behind her, or hear the hoofsteps slowly getting quieter. Looking back down at the guard from before, he didn't glance up at her. Sticking her tongue out at him, she pushed open the doors and stepped inside.

The smell of disinfectants and medicine was overwhelming at first, but she got used to it quickly and let the doors shut behind her. Looking around the room, she saw an empty bed where a nurse was fixing it. Seeing another nurse pick up a cap of bandages, she guessed it was Sunshine's bed.

"Yes, he's gone." A doctor said next to her. "He just left shortly before you got here. He said he was going to look for Princess Cadance."

Nodding at the doctor,  she vanished from the room in a small flash of light and left him alone again. The doctor looked back at the doors for a moment, let out a sigh of relief, and went back to his duties.

Twilight

Closing her pocket-book, she took a sip of water from the fresh glass she had. Finishing what little was left in there, she set the glass down and backed her chair out. She stopped when she was pushing in the chair, looking at the door she narrowed her eyes slightly before going to it. Opening the door, she wasn't surprised to see Eris there, but instead a guard to go flying over her head as she ducked.

"Hey, Twilight," Eris said casually. "You haven't seen your sister-in-law, have you?"

"Cadance is here?" Twilight asked watching as the same guard tried to tackle Eris but ended up sliding down the hall when she turned the floor to soap. "When did she get here?"

"Twilight," Eris said stepping in and shutting the door. "Have you, or have you not seen her?"

"I just found out she was here, of course I haven't seen her." She said before wincing as a thud was heard from the other side of the door. "How long have the guards been after you?"

"I don't know," she said grabbing for a beard that wasn't there anymore. "Oh, I forgot It's gone. That's depressing." She said rubbing her smooth chin.

She sank into the floor just as the guard took the door off its hinges and looked around furiously as caramel and soap dripped off him. Not seeing Eris anywhere, he turned his attention to Twilight.

"Your majesty, are you alright?" He asked pausing to wipe soap away that was getting dangerously close to his eye. "Where did the Draconequus go?" He asked looking toward the window for a moment.

"She was just asking where my sister-in-law was," Twilight said. "Why are you after her?" She asked stepping away from the floor as it began to ripple again.

The guard, seeing this, dived head-first into it and disappeared into the room below, Twilight was looking at it before noticing Eris in the doorway.

"They think I kidnapped Sunshine." She said. "You wanna come help me find Cadance? The guards are only so amusing, but after a while they're just annoying."

"Do I have a choice in the matter?" Twilight asked before she was picked up and was hanging in the air by Eris's tail. "I guess not. Where are we going first?"

"I figured we would just go see if Luna knows anything." She said looking back at Twilight.

"She's asleep right now, we can't just go in and wake her up." Twilight said glaring at Eris. "She'd be mad at you, but she'd be even angrier at me for coming with you."

"So you admit you wanted to come with me?" Eris said making Twilight frown. "No use standing here talking, lets go see if Luna can give us any hints as to where we may find our pink and yellow alicorn."

The two immortals disappeared from sight, unfortunately, the alicorn they were both searching for poked her head around the corner around the same time a tall white alicorn turned the corner opposite down the hall.

Cadance

She stopped as soon as she and the other alicorn were in the middle of the hall. He was walking towards her, a large smile adoring his face as it seemed to split the two lines of red facial hair even further, making it look like somepony had taken a bite out of it. When he was close enough she began walking herself, and to her surprise, she was smiling too.

They both stopped short of three feet, with him looking down at her with the same smile and her now smiling a little uncomfortably.

"It's very nice to see you again Cadance," he said. "This time without a wall to hit me in the face."

"It's nice to meet you too." Cadance said. "Who are you? Celestia or Luna didn't tell me about another alicorn."

"That could be because I'm Celestia," he said turning so she could see his cutie mark. "See? I'm still your aunt, but now I'm technically your uncle now."

"Wow," she said looking away from the picture of the sun on his flank. "How did this happen? Was it Eris?"

"It was, but I'm doubtful she knew what she did until it was to late." He said shrugging. "She's been very kind lately, unusually kind sometimes but different from her usual self. I think this gender switch made her more maternal."

"She did seem more protective over you when you were unconscious." Cadance said smiling a little. "She kept shaking your shoulder and kept glancing down at you. I doubt she even cared that I was there with how she was acting around you. She even sat down by you and started talking to you once or twice."

"She must care about me more than I thought." He said looking down at his hooves.

"I think she cares more a lot more than you think." Cadance said turning away. "Are you coming? I'm pretty sure I got a glimpse of her and Twilight before they disappeared. We should find them before she gets Twilight in any real trouble."

"I doubt they're getting into anything to bad," he said following her pace easily. "What's the worst they can do around here?"

"Isn't your sister asleep right now?" Cadance asked suddenly.

"She is. Why, do you think they would wake her up?" He asked pondering it himself for a moment. "I think I should teleport us there." He said lighting his horn making it spill out a crimson color and not the usual gold.

Luna's Bedchamber. Two Minutes Earlier

In a dark flash of black light, Eris stood in near darkness with Twilight still hanging from her tail. Looking around, she saw Luna's ethereal mane easily in the dark as it blew in some unfelt wind. Setting Twilight down, she could feel the alicorn press against her leg and just barely make out her trying to look for the door. Quickly  shrouding the door in a small burst of magic, she looked back down and saw Twilight looking at the sleeping alicorn.

"What are you going to do? Poor ice water on her?" Twilight whispered.

"Not a bad idea, but no, I have something much better in-"

"Oh, sir Macintosh, you truly know how to treat a mare..." Luna said making a little purring noise before rolling over.

Upon hearing that, Eris almost fell to the floor laughing while Twilight just stood there eyeing the window. Glancing back up at the Draconequus, she could see her biting her knuckle to keep herself from laughing to hard.

"Eris, this is wrong," Twilight said hissing it this time. "We really shouldn't be here. What if she wakes up? She'll think we're invading her privacy."

"Oh don't get your horn in a twist, she's used to having me break into her bedroom." She said snickering lightly before abruptly stopping. "That sounded less creepy in my head."

"Well, how are you going to wake her up without her blasting us into a wall?" Twilight asked and immediately regretted it when she was picked up. "Eris, don't you-"

With a quick 'Too late.' From Eris, the Draconequus sent the small alicorn flying into Lunas bed. In a tangle of limbs and wings, Twilight was suddenly on the floor with a bedraggled Luna laying on top of her.

"Wha-What is happening?" Luna asked still half sleep-drunk. "Where's Macintosh?"

"Sorry to interrupt your little dream, your highness." Eris said making Luna quickly pick herself up quite ungracefully. "But we wanted to know if you've seen-"

In another flash of light this one a dark red, Sunshine and Cadance were standing in the now crowding room. Luna snorted and belligerently opened a curtain letting the lowering sun's light through. Covering her eyes momentarily, the lunar alicorn p and glared outside and than at the Draconequus who threw Twilight on her.

"First of all," Luna said glaring at Eris. "Why did you throw Twilight on me? Second, how much did you hear before I woke up?" She asked much more quietly while avoiding her brother's gaze.

"She thought it would idea to wake you up this way, I still disagree." Twilight said straightening a few feathers.

"And we heard enough," Eris said. "Mrs. Macintosh." Eris said saying it loud enough for Sunshine to hear.

"Who's Macintosh?" Sunshine asked grinning at his sister who's cheeks had turned a deep purple. "Does my little sister have a crush on somepony?"

"N-No, I do not." She said crossing her fore-legs. "That's just Eris talking nonsense as usual."

He smiled knowingly and led Cadance out to the balcony to speak, leaving Twilight and Eris in there with her. As soon as the doors closed, Luna turned towards Eris with a burning glare.

"Do not tell him about Macintosh or else." She hissed through her teeth while Twilight a corner.

"Why not?" Eris said smiling playfully. "Shouldn't he have the right to know about your little-"

"Say another word, and I will tell him you thought he was cute while he was a mare." She said with a growing smirk as Eris's face went from playful to fearful.

"You wouldn't dare. W-Would you?" She asked casting a nervous glance towards the white alicorn outside. "He'd never let me live it down. Please, can we keep it between ourselves?" She asked giving a nervous smile.

"Only if you do not mention Macintosh in front of him or Cadance." She said extending a hoof.

Eris took it and Luna found herself being flung up and down by her hoof. After being set down, and some minor nursing to it, Cadance and Sunshine came back in. Sunshine immediately going to sit by his sister.

"So, who is Macintosh?" He asked draping a wing over her.

"Just some name I made up to embarrass her." Eris said grinning enough to show her teeth.

"Whatever you say, I won't press on the matter if you're so uncomfortable about it." He said taking his wing off of Luna.

"If you two are done," Luna said trying to get back under her comforter. "May I go back to sleep before I have to raise the moon?"

"Sorry to say, but it's diner time now." Sunshine said causing Luna to bury her face in her pillow. "Sorry."

"Speaking of diner," Eris said perking up.  "I still need to see if Fluttershy and the others are coming. I'll meet you all in the dining hall."

"Wait," Twilight said speaking up from her corner. "Could you pick up Spike? I don't want him thinking he can eat another tub of ice-cream again for diner."

"I'll see if I can stop by." Eris said shrugging slightly before disappearing. Next Chapter: Nighttime fiasco Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 31 Minutes