Author's Notes:

The Usual Disclaimer:

The following is a work of parody, and is protected as Fair Use under section 17 U.S. Code § 107 of US Copyright Law. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and all affiliated characters are property of Hasbro Inc.

I own nothing. All characters, settings and other belong to their respective owners. This is purely a fan-work with no intent towards profit, slander or harm towards the characters, settings or other, or their respective owners. If the respective owners feel that this fan-work in any way, shape or form threatens or besmirches their property, please let me know so that it be can be removed asap.

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Night Light once again pops into the story.

Celestia puts on her warface.

Twilight walks right into this with her pants down.

Brace yourselves, shenanigans are coming.

CHAPTER 17

“We could have this meeting tomorrow, Twilight …” Rarity offered, standing well-back from Twilight as Luna did … something … to Twilight's neck with her horn.

As a Unicorn, Rarity was well aware that powerful members of her Tribe needed strong emotional control to prevent random outbursts of their magic, but despite Twilight’s ability to fly into a raging panic at the moment things did not go according to plan, she had never seen or heard of the other Mare having such outbursts before except for the story of when Twilight had first come to the attention of Princess Celestia.

Then, Twilight had transmuted several other Ponies into inanimate objects, almost exploded from trying to channel so much raw arcane energy and hatched the Dragon Egg that contained Spike. And now, Twilight had apparently just teleported Pinkie Pie to Canterlot, although her exact location there was something Twilight had said she wasn’t certain of, only that she’d wanted to send Pinkie to Celestia for a scolding. Badly.

“Rares, what is Luna doin’ to Twi?” Applejack whispered, both Mares watching as that same dusky purple glow surrounded both Princesses again, with an especially ‘thick’ concentration around Luna’s horn as she ran it up and down Twilight’s neck.

“I’m not entirely certain what Luna is doing, Applejack, but I know what Twilight did, and so I do suggest we do and say nothing till Luna or Twilight says otherwise.” Rarity whispered back. “Unicorns that lose their emotional balance begin to suffer ‘Flashes’ that pulls magic from around them into their own bodies, and with each ‘Flash’, they become more emotionally unstable until the additional magic is purged from their systems, and the more upset they become, the more magic they pull into themselves, like a vicious cycle. Right now, Twilight’s not in total control of her faculties, so …”

“So do nothing to make her get emotional, got it.” Applejack muttered, shooting a nervous look at the scorched portion of the kitchen bench, where Spike was scrubbing at the black marks with a scouring brush to try and remove the marks. “Don’t really want to try teleporting without being told first neither …”

“Twilight, are you feeling better?” Luna asked after several minutes of silence, to which Twilight nodded wordless, then began to shake and sob. “Oh Twilight, it is not something to fret over …”

“No … no, it is something to fret over! I lashed out at Pinkie. Yes she was being stupid, but I … what if my spell had been off? She could have been teleported miles into the air, or into a wall, or even transposed ontop of another Pony!” Twilight sobbed, tears beading up in her eyes. “I-I’ve got to go to Canterlot, and go look for her!”

“You will do no such thing. We can’t just go waltzing into Canterlot right now, not without a lot of Ponies asking us a lot of awkward questions and putting my sister on the spot about our ‘training exercise’.” Luna warned, wrapping a hoof around Twilight’s neck and pulling the younger Alicorn into a hug. “Pinkie Pie will be fine, and hopefully learn a lesson about taking others feelings into consideration.”

“Look, Twilight, after we sort this mess with Trixie and her friend, I’m sure if you send a letter to Celestia, she’ll be happy to send some guards to look for the biggest impromptu party in Canterlot, find Pinkie and put her on the next train back to Ponyville.” Rarity offered nervously, sighing in relief as Twilight nodded after several seconds of internal debate. “One problem at a time, dear.”

“Speakin’ of which, we’ve got less than half an hour to get to the station and pick these two Mares up. Ya’ll ready for this?” Applejack asked, looking from the despondent Twilight, the nervous Rarity, the sad Luna and the surly-looking Spike. “Course we’re not. But when has that stopped us before?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Several Hours Earlier …

“Night Light, wonderful as always to see you.” Rosebush said, smiling warmly at the older Stallion as she escorted him to the cells. “Normally, I’d wonder why an innocent Pony was requesting to spend the night in our cells, but … I’ve met your wife.”

“Well put, Rosebush. Besides, if Bluebone hears that his mercenaries were trounced and gave up his identity as the patron who hired them to kidnap me, he’s likely going to come running to try to silence both parties.” The dark-blue Unicorn said with a chuckle as they passed several Royal Guards, all of whom saluted sharply when their Captain came into view.

Unlike the ‘normal’ Guards, who had the full list of military ranks, Rosebush was the Captain of a small, elite force numbering just under a thousand and sworn to protecting the Palace and the Princesses who dwelled there, known as the Palace Guard. Despite all wings of the military being dubbed ‘Royal Guards’, given their allegiance to the Princesses, each ‘wing’ of the military was supposed to be both independent of each other, and yet also be able and willing to support and work with the other wings as the situation required with a minimum of fuss.

The ‘Palace Guard’ focused on short-range and defensive tactics, the better to perform delaying actions within the confines of the Canterlot Castle, but that did not mean they were unable to hold their own against the normal range of enemies. It also meant that, technically, Rosebush, and Shining Armor before her, had held equal rank to the Generals Dart, Breach and Rhinestone, as well as the Commander of the Lunar Guard, Thunderwing. And it was a rank she wielded eagerly to protect her charges, and often.

“Well, you’ll forgive me for this, Night Light, but I’m just putting two Guards at your door tonight, although they are two of Thunderwing’s finest Lunar Guards.” The young Royal Captain explained as they rounded a corner, missing Night Light nearly missing a step when the Captain mentioned Thunderwing, where at the end of a long hallway, two burly Thestrals flanked a solid, dull-purple metal door, covered in a fine lattice of golden runes that glowed visibly even from a distance of two-dozen meters. “I’m redirecting every Guard that I know is both competent and has no connections to the Nobility to stand guard over those Mercenaries. I want them alive and squealing in the Royal Court when we drag Bluebone by his withered, dried-up balls before Celestia and Luna to face his punishment!”

“Well now.” Night Light whistled as he looked at his new accommodations. “A solid plate of adamantite, and that looks like the Princess’s own hoof-work on those magic runes. I imagine that cell would be a bitch to break out of?”

“Or breaking into it. Only Celestia, Luna or Cadence possess the arcane 'key' that can open that door. It’s got more rune-work on both its inner surfaces, as well as on the outside of the cell itself, walls, ceiling and floor all three-foot thick slabs of adamantite magically welded together and inserted whole into the mountainside, then fused to the bedrock via several anchor-points.” Rosebush explained with obvious pride in her voice as the two Lunar Guards saluted her, and gave Night Light curious looks. “Ideally, this is the cell we’d use to imprison a threat along the lines of a Necromancer or perhaps even a Demon-Bull, as it’s intended to not only keep the prisoner from escaping by redirecting their magic back at them in a variety of nasty forms, should we so desire, but to also prevent anyone but the Princesses from releasing the prisoner with ease, in-case they have backup.”

“Errr … apologies, Captain, but who is the Stallion?” One of the Thestrals rumbled, displaying the wickedly sharp canine teeth that had once made Ponies of a less scientific age condemn them as blood-drinkers. “Why’re we putting him in the Ultimate Confinement room?”

“Night Light is a former member of the Royal Equestrian 205th Rangers, and is a guest, not a prisoner. So long as none of his requests means you leave your posts, or let him out of the cell without my express permission, they are to be obeyed without question.” Rosebush said, stressing the ‘guest’ part, which made Night Light wonder, briefly, if that perhaps they weren’t being too cautious.

It wasn’t as if assassins or poisoned tea were the worst things he’d woken up to on or off the battlefield. Perhaps just a normal cell would be enough, maybe Rosebush was being a bit too … extreme …

But after a night of getting worked up with ‘inspiration’, and then having her husband not return home, facing assassins would be far preferable to dealing with an overly-kinky wife whom possessed more ‘illustration aids’ for her novels than the Royal Guard had weapons in their armory.

At the very least, the assassins would kill him quickly. Twilight Velvet would force him to proof-read her work …

“Just slip me the morning paper and we’ll get along just fine, gents.” Night Light nodded to the two Lunar Guards and stepped into the room, noting that somebody had had the foresight to place a thick sheep’s-wool blanket and a foam pallet on the bench-like bed for him.

“I don’t need to remind you two that Thunderwing has specifically asked for the job of protecting Night Light fall to her Guards. There’s already been one attempt on his life tonight, they may come back for a second attempt in the castle itself. Screw this up in any way, and it will reflect very poorly on Commander Thunderwing.” Rosebush briefed the two Guards as the thick, adamantite door slowly swung shut, silent but for the muffled thump of the door meeting the frame, and then the bell-like clattering as rods of adamantite were extended into the walls of the cell itself, effectively sealing it off from the rest of Equestria.

Thunderwing, eh? Night Light sighed, shaking his head as old memories bubbled up to the surface. It had been a long, long time since they’d served together …

Possibly stepping out of the fire and into the Dragon’s mouth here … Night Light mused as he slipped under the blanket, hoping to get a few hours of sleep, at least, before having to give his report to the Princess, and probably get an earful from his wife.

As a much younger Ponies, Velvet, Thunderwing and he had considered forming a Herd, with his affection for both Mares and their friendship with each other making choosing one or the other all but impossible.

Of course, the Twilight House had gotten very vocal about its displeasure of one of their most prestigious bloodlines mingling with a low-born Unicorn and a Thestral, and the Thestral Colony had been scandalized at the grand-daughter of their Alpha looking to bind herself to two wingless Ponies.

Eventually, Thunderwing had withdrawn from the relationship, bowing to the pressure from her Colony, but had never taken a mate of her own. Rumour had it that she’d eventually used her position as the new Alpha to take revenge on the hard-line members of the Colony who had been so dead-set against her marrying outside the Tribe, and banished them to dead-end jobs in the farthest reaches of Equestria, effectively crushing their careers and political influence, but by the time the Colony had become open-minded enough to reconsider a union with a Non-Thestral …

By then, Velvet was already pregnant with Sparkle, and I had retired from the Rangers so I could be a proper father to Shining. Sighing heavily, Night Light turned over and tried to not think about how much it had hurt to see Thunderwing staring at them across the street, a young Shining at their heels and Velvet well into her second pregnancy. She’d simply nodded, then taken wing and flown away, and refused to meet with them outside of her ‘work’ as a Lunar Guard. I suppose, to Thunderwing, Velvet and I betrayed the trust we all shared. She probably thought we should have waited for her, or that Velvet would have held back and not taken me as a Mate if Thunderwing couldn’t either.

Present Time ...

Despite having been ‘retired’ for two decades, the lessons and instincts engraved into Night Light by combat were still there, if blunted, and as such when something came up to him in his sleep, the Stallion woke but kept his eyes only just slightly open.

One of the Guards? Or one of Bluebone’s assassins? He wondered, trying to move ‘naturally’ as if dreaming, moving so as to allow the sliver of sight his mostly-closed eyes allowed.

Whoever was standing at his bed had dull grey fur and … silver armor? One of the Lunar Guard? But only Celestia, Luna or Cadence are supposed to be able to open this door.

So either Rosebush was mistaken and there was some sort of flaw in the ‘Ultimate Confinement’ cell, or Celestia had opened the cell and then left, which was very odd considering their relationship even before Twilight had become Celestia’s personal student.

Further musing was lost as a hoof touched Night Light’s jaw, trailing along the contours of his face before gently lifting turning his head so he was ‘looking’ straight up … and then he felt the soft tickle of another’s breath on his muzzle …

“Who are you?” Night Light snapped, his eyes opening to see … a Thestral Mare, with a small amount of fine lines at the corners of her eyes, vibrant purple eyes that were familiar despite them being wide and rolling from panic, and a pink scar across her muzzle that he recognised as having come from a Gryphon’s claws. “No … Thunderwing?”

“I … I just wanted to check on you!” The Commander of the Lunar Guard protested, trying to pull back, but finding her head locked into place by an invisible force. “Night Light! Is this your Empty Horn technique?”

“I’ll admit being woken by a pretty Mare is a nice compliment, but really, Thunder? After everything we’ve been through, done together, a lame excuse like ‘I just wanted to check on you’ is the best you can come up with?”

“We-we don’t have time for this, Celestia opened the cell, but we need to get you back to your house quickly …” Thunderwing explained, wriggling as she felt the tendrils of Night Light’s magic gripping her haunches firmly. “Night Light!”

“And what about Bluebone’s men? Have they been interrogated?” Night Light asked, releasing his grip on the Thestral, silently berating himself for being so aggressive. Well done, you hot-headed fool. Now she’s going to be even more awkward around you.

“That’s just the thing, Night. We need to use this cell to keep them safe. Last night, somebody with a lot of magic tried to stop their hearts last night with a curse. It almost worked, but there were a dozen Palace Guard Unicorns present who were able to nullify the curse before it could take full effect.” The middle-aged Thestral explained, taking a full three steps back from him before continuing. “Celestia forgive us, but right now, the lives of those Stallions weigh more than yours, regardless of your service. Their testimony is everything we need to crack open Bluebone’s defences, rip out all his dirty little secrets and open a gap in the Shadow Court’s ranks that might finally tip the scales in our favour, permanently.”

“And what of my life, Thunderwing? Or that of my wife? Or the rest of my friends down at the Bronze Leaf? It doesn’t take a genius to figure out removing all of us from the equation is the next step if the Shadow Court can’t silence their pawns. If they can’t squash the squealers, it’s time for the victims to vanish.” Night Light growled, rolling out of his bed and onto his hooves, filled with indignation at this turn of events. How many times did I lay my life on the line for this country, and this is how I am repaid? “Or does Celestia expect a dozen young privates from Palace Guards are going to be able to stop an organisation with as many connections and deep pockets as the Shadow Court? A group of vipers in our midst that even Sweet-Filly-Faust Celestia herself hasn’t been able to contain?”

“Celestia doesn’t expect Rosebush’s Guards can hold the line, no. Hen … hence I have been assigned as your personal guard, as have the patrons who were present at the Bronze Leaf at the time of the incident, whom have also been conscripted. These are your new orders.” Thunderwing shuddered and picked up a piece of paper from the ground with her bat-like wing, holding the limb at maximum stretch towards Night Light, who took it quickly and read it.

“Oh … bollocks.” Night Light muttered, feeling all his righteous indignation and fury crumbling into despair. “Our Princess just conscripted me, didn’t she?”

“You do have the right to reject these orders, Night, but you and I both know that Celestia would only do this if things were dire. You earned your retirement when you bought enough time for Spud, myself and the remainder of your squad to get back across the border.” Thunderwing murmured, taking a hesitant step back towards him, then another, and then another, wrapping the trembling Stallion in her wings. “It’s going to be okay, Night. I’m … I’ll be there, every step of the way.”

“I just … I thought it was over, Thunder. All the cloak and dagger manure. Always looking over my shoulder. Always wondering if I’d be coming home on four hooves, three hooves or in a casket.” The Stallion whispered to his old friend, shaking with grief and frustration. “I’ll do it. I swore a blood-oath to Celestia and Equestria, and I’ll not break that oath … but if you see Celestia before I do, you tell her this for me.”

“If I get my shot at Bluebone and the Shadow Council while she’s still twiddling her hooves, I’m taking my shot, damn her orders. I will not let them hurt my family and friends, not again.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Captain, I need six flying chariots prepared, double the usual amount Pegasi to pull them, and load as many Unicorns as you can into the chariots, the strongest Unicorns we have, equipped for a highly magical confrontation.” Celestia barked the commands as she stalked through the Castle, cursing in her mind the Court and the pedantic whining of the Nobility.

Sunset Shimmer was back. And yet neither Shining Armor nor Cadence had noticed anything coming through the mirror, nor had any of their guards. Which meant that there had to be another connection to the world known as ‘Earth’ other than the enchanted mirror, and somehow the last Pony that Celestia wanted to see was back in her lands.

Even now, Celestia’s mind whirled with nightmarish visions of what her former student was plotting. Twilight’s story, that upon putting the Element of Magic on her brow, the Humanized Sunset Shimmer had turned into a literal fiend, with blazing hair, horns jutting from her head, bat-like wings and a long tail.

The differences between a Pony’s body and a Human’s body were many, but the transformation seemed too familiar, to similar to a menace that had not walked the lands of Equestria for over two thousand years, not since she and Luna had purged them from the world and sealed the entire race into Tartarus for their crimes.

Even more aggravating, Twilight had burned through most of the Dragon’s Fire stored in the Castle proper, and when the servants had rushed down to fetch more supplies from the basement, they had reported that the crates containing the spare Dragon’s Fire had all been looted and then resealed, made to look as if they were still unopened.

So in addition to a Succuponi running amok, and possibly bearing down on two Alicorns, who are weakened by my hooves, I now have somepony looting one of the most expensive and rarest substances in my kingdom! Celestia cursed in her mind. And without Dragon’s Fire to use as a component, I cannot use the flame-scroll spell to send a warning to Twilight!

“Princess Celestia, will the Earth Pony regiments be used?” General Rhinestone, a tall, bulky Earth Pony with a golden coat and two-toned silver-white mane, asked as he trotted alongside the other two Generals, Dart, commander of the Pegasi regiments and the youngest Pony in history to hold her rank, and Breach, commander of the Unicorn regiments and a seasoned veteran, sent several of their aides off to deliver the commands, while more rushed towards them with reports and responses from their various units.

“No. Much as I need more hooves on the scene, if my fears are correct, Earth Ponies would only be targets to Sunset Shimmer. I need your forces here, in Canterlot, ready to deploy to help evacuate Ponyville and the surrounding territories if we cannot capture and contain the threat.” Celestia explained, feeling some relief that none of her Generals seemed to feel the need to gloat about the Earth Ponies being left out of the fight. Thank Faust that I don’t have to deal with Unicorn Nobility here, at least! “Twilight Sparkle mentioned that Sunset Shimmer had been … transformed … by the Element of Magic into a dark entity when last they met. Expect her to be able to fly, and likely also be able to use Dark Magic. Approach with extreme caution, and let your soldiers know I am giving them full permission for lethal force if they feel the situation requires it.”

“Princess … this ‘Sunset’ is that big a threat?” Dart, a slightly smaller than average Pegasi with a bright red coat and orange mane and tail, asked softly, easily keeping up despite her much shorter legs. “I mean, you’ve just given your troops permission to use lethal force. She’s that dangerous you’d have us risk our image as gentle sentinels of the citizens, an image we've spent decades trying to make a reality?”

“Sunset Shimmer is at least as dangerous as Nightmare Moon, General Dart, if not more-so because of her personality. And unlike the Nightmare Moon situation, there is no Pony being possessed that we need to be wary of hurting when we contain the Monster.” The Princess explained, then sighed as they rounded a corner and found a gaggle of Nobles trotting towards them. “Gentleponies, you have my apologies, but We cannot stop to speak to you right now.”

“Princess, are we going to war with the Gryphons? What is this going to do to our economy?”

“Is it true that Commander Thunderwing has taken an extended leave of absence to care for a sick family member, now of all times?”

“Why are we sending soldiers out, your Highness? A military exercise to warn our neighbours of our might?”

“Princess, why is Discord being chased around the castle by a pink Pony with bottles of whipped cream?”

“We demand answers, Princess Celestia! Why have you cancelled the Day Court?”

“There are pressing issues that must be~!”

“SILENCE!” Celestia roared over the complaints of the courtiers, taking a grim satisfaction in how they instantly back-peddled and bowed. Honestly, after the last three packs of whining fools I sent running, you would think they would learn! “We have an emergency of great importance in Ponyville, a possible Dark Force is on the move and I cannot risk the Ponies there being hurt or worse! Now move, and spread the word that I am not to be delayed by anything! Lives hang in the balance!”

Please, don’t be too late, please. I can’t lose my sister again. I can’t lose my student! The Prophecies are bearing down on us now, and if we are not Five when the time comes …

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Donning their illusory disguises once again, Twilight and Luna joined Applejack and Rarity and trotted towards the train-station, smoothing out their cover-story along the way in whispers.

Twilight and Luna would go by the names of Strawberry and Mint, given their coat colourations, and with the saddle-bags obscuring their Cutie Marks, nobody would be the wiser. Of course, if anyone brushed up against them, they would feel the ‘invisible’ wings hidden behind the illusions, and the jig would be up.

Thankfully, the train-station was almost deserted but for a handful of Ponies apparently waiting for the train for a trip to Canterlot, so ‘Strawberry’, ‘Mint’, Applejack and Rarity could sit at the far end of the station in peace and wait for the train’s arrival.

“Ya’ll’re sure about this? Trixie’s been the bearer of bad news every time she’s set hoof in town. We can jus’ send her back to Canterlot with a letter to some other Unicorn an’ get them to fix this spell-thingy that’s got her an’ her friend in such a tizzy, right?” Applejack muttered nervously, kneading her hat between her hooves.

“Applejack has a point, Tw … Strawberry. She does have a very … bad reputation in town. This could be a problem for us all, especially if somepony recognises her and tries to blame us for her mis-deeds.” Rarity added in, flicking a quick look around the train-station, little more than a large, wall-less shed built over a raised concrete platform with a small wooden stall that functioned as the ticket-booth. A far cry from Canterlot’s elegant, air-conditioned version, where trains from all over the continent passed through in an orderly, nightmarishly complex tangle.

“We’ve been over this already. Spike is back at the Library, with a letter asking for immediate assistance to be sent to Celestia via his own Dragon-flame the moment either Luna or I send a distress signal to the crystal ball in the library. The instant Trixie does something that might even remotely threaten the town, that we can’t handle, Celestia will know of within a minute’s time.” The disguised Alicorn Princess sighed and rubbed at her temples. Her friends’ caution was well deserved, but still, they were acting like Trixie was Sombra, not just another weird, quirky Pony, like what Ponyville attracted on a daily basis. “Now, unless we have to go over this again, Trixie should be showing up with her friend in some hessian cloaks …”

“Hessian?” Rarity squealed in distress, shoving a hoof into her own mouth to silence her diatribe against ‘sack-cloth’ garments.

“Ahem, yes, so she should be easy for us to spot, even if she is trying to move incognito. We’ll get Trixie and her friend back to the library, clear this up, and send her on her way with a minimum of fuss. Then Luna and I have some … shopping issues to take care of.”

“We need to get a new shower-head for the bathroom … and some mouthwash.”

“You are not going to let that go, are you?”

“You touched it with your mouth. If you ever wish to touch me with that mouth again, we’re getting you that mouthwash.”

“I was four, and that was years ago. Cooties cannot survive that long!”

“D’you unner’stan’ what they’re on about?” Applejack whispered, leaning in close to Rarity as ‘Strawberry’ and ‘Mint’ had a friendly bickering contest.

“I … uhm … have an idea, but I’d rather not dwell on it.” Rarity sighed, colouring slightly. “I am somewhat impressed that Twilight could break the shower-head … that is some impressive gripping pow … ugh, I did not just think about … ugh.”

Time passed slowly, awkwardly, especially as the choice of topics between the four Mares was constrained by the true identities of two of them, but Rarity managed to get Luna to talk about the ‘disgraceful’ tabloids of Canterlot, into which the disguised Alicorn waded with great gusto, venting about their outright slander against the Princesses and torrid obsession with conjecture about the elite of Equestria, with Applejack and Twilight either steering the conversation into safer waters or, trying to give Rarity space to avoid being dragged into trouble with her love of said tabloid magazines and more often than not asking ‘Mint’ to keep her voice down when the ‘Royal Canterlot Voice’ started to make an appearance.

Finally, the train steamed into view, and a handful of Ponies stepped off … none of them wearing hessian cloaks.

After a quick huddle to discuss their options, the four Mares tried to broach the subject of passengers still on the train with the Pony in-charge of collecting tickets, who seemed to take a perverse delight in being as obtuse as possible, having no idea that he was deliberately baiting two of the Princesses of the Kingdom, when the two cloaked Mares showed up, bickering and shoving as they tried to step out of the very last carriage ahead of each other.

“Ah, there they are … Ladies!” Applejack shouted, waving a hoof at the two cloaked Ponies, who started and looked around frantically before one of the ponies waved back quickly, the large cloak sliding aside to display a blue-furred leg.

Curiously, what started off as a walk turned into a race between the two cloaked Ponies as they once again attempted to put themselves in-front of the other, glaring at each other under the ragged cowls of their cloaks.

“Err … are you alright, Trixie?” Rarity asked, eyeing the two figures nervously. The letter had said the other Mare was Trixie’s friend, yet their behaviour was more like that of rivals, and bitter ones at that.

“Trixie is … is looking forwards to being rid of this curse, Miss Rarity.” The cloaked Pony muttered, the hood twisting left and right as she spoke. “Trixie apologies, but is Mist … Miss Twilight not here?”

“Ah … Twilight is waiting for you back at the library.” Luna lied, putting a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder when the disguised Mare opened her mouth to speak. “If you will please follow us?”

“Ugh, I can’t believe a Princess lives in a hick town like this. Let’s just get this curse removed.” Trixie’s companion muttered, either oblivious to or ignoring the five glares directed her way.

“Charming. However, I must say, the sooner the matter is resolved, the sooner you can leave.” Rarity replied, smiling warmly even as the words left her mouth, Applejack and Rarity moving to the sides of the two cloaked Ponies, ‘Strawberry’ taking the lead position, and ‘Mint’ following behind, trapping Trixie and her ‘friend’ between them.

If their meeting at the train-station had not been awkward and strained enough, the trip back to the Library was even worse, as most of Ponyville was up and about by then, and having two of the local celebrities with four strange Mares ensured that almost everypony came over to ask what was going on.

Trixie, thankfully, seemed extremely bashful and full of regret, and thus remained mute, while her companion seemed to be composed of nothing but snark and complaints. Luna and Twilight both had to adopt accents to avoid being recognized, accents that made them sound ridiculous, even to themselves.

“Ugh, finally, sanctuary.” Twilight muttered in a high-pitched voice, opening the door with her magic, and wincing as twin gasps of shock came from the two cloaked Ponies. “Uhm, damn, looks like the Kattian is out of the bag. Well, come on in, and let’s see what I can do to help … SPIKE! Cancel the letter, nothing has gone wrong yet.”

“Seriously? Oh wow, that’s great, Mayor Mare was saying she was going to deduct the next disaster from your salary, Princess or not.” Popping out from behind the library counter, Spike clattered over, wearing a pot on his head as a helmet and having pans strapped to his back and chest as a breastplate, a spatula clenched in one claw and a scroll in the other. “I’ve got the perfected spell-scroll ready in the basement … and got my gear moved out. Just in case.”

“Perfect, thanks Spike, that’s at least one thing that has gone right this morning. Okay, Rarity, Applejack, if you could see to the blinds? Ah … ‘Mint’? Would you … uhm …” Twilight met her ‘little brother’ halfway and gave him a hug, dropping her illusion as she did so, feeling oddly … threatened at the gasps coming from the two cloaked Mares as the tingle of the illusion fading washed over her body, revealing her true form.

“I will see to it there are no … problems … while you get to the bottom of what happened here, Twilight.” Luna offered, shedding her own illusion and giving her wings a stretch, the joints popping audibly, and when Trixie and her ‘Friend’ looked over to see what was making the noise, they had two very different reactions.

Trixie leapt about six foot into the air and came down in a kneeling position that was a half-step from outright grovelling, her hooded face pressed to the floor.

Her ‘Friend’ whirled around and took a half-step back, but otherwise gave no indication of reverence, or even acknowledgement of Luna’s royal status.

“Oh for Faust’s sake! Who is that?” The cloaked Pony shouted, her face hidden beneath her cowl but her tone was one of both irritation and surprise. “Are they just handing out Princess-dom to any old Mare now?”

Luna’s ears twitched, but her face remained blandly pleasant. Rarity and Applejack looked shocked, and Twilight’s mind whirled. Who was this Pony that did not know of Luna’s return over three years ago? It had been the talk of the nation for almost a year, and even now her reintroduction to the Kingdom was often brought up in Equestrian papers and magazines.

“Uhm … that is Princess Luna? Shepherd of the Night, Governess of the Stars, the Lunar Goddess?” Twilight offered after giving a nervous laugh, wondering if she was about to see her Lover turn this snarky, smarmy Mare into moon-cheese before her eyes.

“Huh … I remember hearing about somepony like that. Aren’t you supposed to be twelve foot tall and eat Foals whole?”

Luna’s ears laid flat against her skull, her face slipping to a stony frown.

Twilight wondered if murder-laws applied to pissed-off royalty.

Spike dove for Rarity and pushed her behind a reading couch, with Applejack in close pursuit.

Trixie wailed on the floor and slipped two legs out from under her cloak and placed them above her head.

“What?” The snarky Mare asked in a surprised tone, looking around the library at the cowering Mares and back to the insulted Immortal before her. “What?”

“Uhm … you’ve obviously been absent from Equestria for some time … Luna is not at all like the papers paint her to be … it’s somewhat of a sore subject.” Twilight explained, edging around the two cloaked Mares to stand by Luna’s side and wrap a wing around the Lunar Princess’s neck. “Perhaps you could … tell us your name?”

“Oh come on, Twilight, it’s not been that long since you last saw me.” The cloaked Mare scoffed, chuckling under her hood.

“Well, I can’t actually see your face…” Twilight muttered, blushing slightly. That voice though … it’s not possible.

“Oh, oh right. Sorry about that. Dodging Guards, you know how it is.” The Mare said after a short pause, lifting a gold furred leg up to push back her hood, revealing a gorgeous face with a banded yellow-and-red mane and emerald-green eyes.

“Sunset Shimmer?” Twilight shouted in surprise. “What are you doing here? Aren’t you … but the mirror … my brother … what?”

“It’s a long story … I’d love to fill you in … but first …” Sunset said, fluttering her eyelashes at Twilight and either ignoring or being oblivious to the glares from Luna and the prone Trixie. “Let’s deal with the spell that the Pathetic and Mediocre Trixie messed up first, hmm?”