Neos smiled, the letter he had been waiting for finally coming. Tearing it open with a small burst of magic, his pink eyes focused on the wrinkled paper.

"Hey, Neos! I don't need to crash at your place anymore! I actually got a job! Sure, it's kinda boring, serving people food, but hey, I'm sure I'll be promoted soon!" the letter dictated, Babs's sloppy writing clear on it. She had been bouncing around apartments and odd jobs, staying at Neos's small house(given by Applebloom) rather often. Neos was possibly one of the closest to Babs out of all the ones who had fought alongside her. This could be said for most though, given Neos's love of friends and politeness. However, all(including himself) had decided not to reveal his identity to the general public. The son of the mad tyrant? He would have had far too many enemies. He'd have to thank his mother for that on his next visit to her prison cell, keeping his name out of the books. Neos pulled out his own piece of paper and began writing a response before he heard a knock at the door.

"It's nice, isn't it?" Sweetie said, leaving the door just a crack open to let in the fresh spring air. Neos sighed happily, dropping the pen and turning around to look at his friend. "I mean, Equestria, the land. Everything is getting better" Sweetie clarified, still feeling stupid on occasion compared to Neos. The alicorn chuckled slightly at the clarification before stepping outside, Sweetie Belle following.

"Yes. Everyone laughing and living under the Sun, with friends and family. I cannot understand why my mother wou-" Neos started, being cut off  by a headshake from Sweetie Belle.

"Don't think that way. Who knows what made Celestia go bonkers? What matters is the here and now" Sweetie reassured. Even so, Neos looked somewhat depressed. Even if the war was little more than a memory, in some minds, it hadn't faded. Feeling guilty, Sweetie looked around for something to work as a distraction. Her horn plucked up a small pebble and Sweetie began fashioning it, finding that she was as good at gem cutting as sister was.

"What's that?" Neos asked, as the green magic faded away from Sweetie's horn, the pebble falling into her hoof.

"Remember when you helped me get out of my slump? Well, I'm not as good at giving big speeches, but I thought you'd like this" Sweetie offered, holding out an exquisitely beautiful gem, cut to near perfection. "I mean, sure, I'd have to get a necklace or so-" Sweetie started before being tackled in a hug by the taller pony.

"Oh, thanks! It's great!" Neos gushed, using his magic to quickly fashion a small chain out of some grasses and inserting the gem into the knot. "You're a lovely friend"  Neos said, rolling on his back to let Sweetie get up, the poor unicorn panting.

"T-thanks" Sweetie gasped, trying to get back some air from the bone crushing hug. The two ponies laid there for a bit, simply enjoying the sunny weather.

"My dream...is to cover the land in flowers. So that everyone is reminded of how precious the world can be" Neos spoke out, turning to Sweetie Belle to continue the train of thought.

"My dream...I don't know. I guess that, well, just spending my life with friends and people who care and then caring back. I guess that's mine. Not so deep, huh?" Sweetie chuckled, getting a small eye roll from Neos. The unicorn could be so self deprecating sometimes. "Neos...can you promise that you won't leave me, not until I'm old?" Sweetie asked, paranoid of losing another person near to her heart.

"I promise"

"Infiltrator found. For the record, I declare that I have been pushed to the extreme. The power that I once used, but has been revived for stupid reasons, is already corrupting their world. I have had to contort my body, evolve my mind, transcend their tiny comprehension. The universe needs a goddess. And I am that goddess"

Neos let out the scream of a wounded animal as lines of magic, looking like some sort of parasitic vein system, spread across his body. His insides being reformed, he couldn't say anything. Just howl in agony.

"What's wrong?!" Sweetie demanded, eyes wide as her friend began to float into the air. Then, the sky exploded

"Will someone tell me why the sky is just looked like someone hit it with a giant flash light?!" Applebloom demanded, glaring at a team of zebras surrounding a telescope. Before the zebras could respond, a booming, telepathic voice rang through the heads of everyone on the planet.

"To all the sentient beings on your planet: Twilight Sparkle has come back home"

"Get me a source!" Applebloom commanded, her ears going flat with terror. Twilight had died when Celestia became the Emperor! This had to be a trick.

"Ma'm, we detect a massive object in the solar system!" one zebra shouted.

"It far surpasses even a galaxy's hem" another added.

"The voice matches the late Twilight" a third one informed

"I have reached sight" the fourth one declared, causing a panicking Applebloom to look into the telescope and see a floating Alicorn, projected by magic across Equestria. Neos

"Even when Celestia rounded you up, you just couldn't stay away from friendship, could you?" Twilight growled, Neos's body little more than a puppet for the self proclaimed goddess. "You're all foals who need to be educated, punished for their insolence! You play around with forces that you can't understand when you use the Magic of Friendship! But I know, I've seen beyond the fabric of space-time and seen that it's like playing with a sleeping dragon! The Elements of Harmony themselves are symbols of arrogance, trying to control it. If the Nightmare Moon, Discord, and so many others had triumphed, you would have never endangered the whole universe. If Celestia had accomplished her goal, this wouldn't have happened. Sweetie Belle, your defeat of her is the root of your new problem" Twilight ranted, though she'd occasionally return to calm.

"Neos, what's wrong with you? What are you talking about?" Sweetie gaped, trying to disregard Twilight's voice booming in her head.

"In three weeks, the Moon will leave orbit and crash into the planet, cutting out the cancer once and for all" Twilight declared, her ultimatium dropping like a bomb. Neos's body finished its transformation, four extra wings sprouting from his back and his mane turning into a facsmile of Twilight's. "And Celestia. You taught me so much, even how to deal with people in war. Well, I think I learned. Take the son of their previous ruler and turn him into a herald" Twilight stated, little malice behind the cruel words, though no doubt Celestia was cringing at this thought within her cell in the catacombs of Canterlot. "But yet, I am merciful. You may offer your bodies forth for study, so that your death won't be in vain. Good-bye" Twilight spoke out with finality, a portal opening behind Neos and dragging him into a void.

"NEOS, NO!" Sweetie Belle cried out, her cry drowned out by the buzzing that was emanating from the portal. Twilight had sent something through Next Chapter: Drones Estimated time remaining: 30 Minutes