It was the day after Twilight had found the book, and she still hadn't parted with it. After she had woken up, she had suddenly decided to right a wrong that had occurred to her after she woke up.

She would bring Nightmare Moon back in Luna's body.

The only problem with this is that she didn't know any spells that would work, and she was fearful of what would happen should Celestia find out, or even Luna, even though Twilight thought she was helping Luna. She was eating breakfast, the book beside her plate, thinking of how to make it work when she suddenly saw the book vibrate. Curious, Twilight grabbed it and levitated it up, opening it as she did so. She gasped as she saw that a new spell had appeared, its description saying, "This spell will help even the most timid of pony become what they were meant to be."

Twilight was amazed at this. Not only had this book given her the spell she needed, but it also gave instructions. "Have the target be within your sightline. Imagine what you want them to be like, and so it shall be." Like the last spell, it required only a small portion of energy to cast, for her anyway. She wanted to use it right away, but refrained from calling for Spike to send a message to Luna, should it not work. So she decided on the next best course of action.

She would try it on her "friends." The ones who so rightly had this coming. She said a silent thank you to Discord, who she expected to show up at any second, for allowing her to see what the others would be like as their opposites. She grinned at this. She wouldn't keep it permanent, as she knew that would attract the other princesses attention before she wanted it. The only question was who to test it on. They all gave her reasons to test the spell on them, but she didn't want to risk the others knowing. This immediately took Pinkie out of consideration for this, but she was probably going to have to take care of her at some point so she didn't tell anypony else.

She considered Rainbow, but knew that this would lead to her being found out due to Rainbow no longer being loyal. Rarity. Well, she wasn't even considered. No way in tartarus was Twilight going to allow a greedy Rarity in her crystal castle, simply for it being made of crystal. Twilight doubted even Pinkie Pie would be that devoid of logic. That left Applejack and Fluttershy.

Both cases would almost instantly be noticed in the town. Applejack because everypony knew that she was honest, so would say to honest, which is why most ponies went to her for advice. Fluttershy had less risk, but only slightly. She was so nice, Twilight knew that if she won the best award in existence and another pony asked her for it, she would give it to them.

It was this last thought that decided that Fluttershy would be the test subject. If anything, she would at least make it to where Fluttershy was more assertive. Not Iron will assertive- Ponyville didn't need another incident like that, however funny it was now in retrospect- but assertive more so than now. The best part. The excuse made itself, so Twilight knew the others would believe it, should they find out.

Twilight finished eating her breakfast and told Spike that she'd be out doing some errands. Once she was outside, she immediately walked over to Fluttershy's cottage, knowing that the timid Pegasus didn't leave it unless she herself was doing errands, hanging out with the others, or something animal related. Along the way, she ran into Applejack.

"Howdy there, Twi," the orange earth pony said, raising a hoof in greeting.

In order to avoid any suspicion that she knew might eventually reach the Princesses, Twilight walked over to Applejack, pretending to be the same as yesterday, and said, "Hey, Applejack. What're you doing? I figured you'd be at the farm." She was genuinely wondering why Applejack wasn't on the farm this early in the morning, seeing as how apple bucking season was right around the corner.

"Big Mac said that he could handle what was left, so ah figured ah would walk around a little and talk with y'all," Applejack said.

It was then that Twilight came up with another idea. Instead of just Fluttershy, why not Applejack, so long as she wasn't in public while she was affected. "Then maybe you can come with me to Fluttershy's. That saves time, so you can get back to the farm faster."

Applejack paused for a second, thinking about it, then said, "Sure."

The two began walking to Fluttershy's, with an evil, albeit barely noticeable, grin on Twilight's face.

The two talked about inconsequential things on the way to the cottage. Once the two arrived, Applejack knocked on the door. It was a second before they heard Fluttershy say, "Coming."

The door opened, with Fluttershy standing there. "Oh. Hi, girls," she said happily.

"Howdy, sugarcube," Applejack said.

"Hey, Fluttershy," Twilight said. "Can we come in?"

Fluttershy nodded. "Of course you girls can." She moved out of the way, allowing the two to enter. As they were making their way to the couch, Twilight thought, Maybe a loyalty spell to make sure they don't tell anypony, just to be safe. At this the book began to vibrate, drawing the attention of Applejack and Fluttershy.

It was Applejack who asked, "Hey, uh, Twi? Ain't that the journal y'all use to talk with Sunset on the other side of the mirror."

Twilight nearly panicked. She knew she shouldn't have brought the book, but she couldn't help herself. She was able to recompose herself in a second and said, "Yeah. I decided to bring it in case she and the others needed help again." In all fairness, before she left, she had wished for a spell that would allow messages from Sunset Shimmer to appear here and in the other one as well, not to mention changed it's appearance so that it looked like said journal. She opened it up and saw that a new spell had appeared. "Those affected by this spell shall remain ever loyal to the caster, regardless of what they do." All this spell needed was energy and could be cast on a group, and the effect was permanent, much to Twilight's relief.

This would ensure that they wouldn't tell anypony else. She pretended to read the book as if a message from Sunset had arrived. "Huh. Apparently, she just learned he same lesson I did after the ticket incident," she said, rubbing the back of her neck with a hoof with a fake blush on her cheeks to show fake embarrassment.

Applejack sat on the couch, with Fluttershy sitting in her chair, while Twilight remained standing. "Uh, sugercube, ain't y'all gonna sit down?" Applejack asked. (At this moment, I am banging my head on the wall saying "Damn you, Hasbro, for going with the hick cliché with AJs speech patterns.)

At this, Twilight said, "No. I think it best if I stand for this." Before either of the others could ask what she meant, Twilight began to cast the loyalty spell on them. It really only took three seconds for it to take effect. There were no obvious changes, physically speaking, but it became obvious the spell worked when both Applejack and Fluttershy got up and bowed to Twilight, saying, "We are yours to command, empress Twilight."

Empress Twilight. Now that has a nice ring to it, Twilight thought. She also noticed that Applejack had abandoned her usual turn of phrase for a more normal one. "Get up, both of you," she ordered them. They stood up, but otherwise did nothing. "First of all," Twilight said, slipping into her new role surprisingly easy, especially for her, "you will not call me 'Empress,' when others are around that do not know. Secondly, you are to follow what ever commands I give you without hesitation. Is that understood?"

"Yes," they both said, a rush of power going through Twilight at this. She knew that this was wrong, but she didn't care.

"Good," she said. She then began to cast the personality change spell on Fluttershy. This looked like any standard spell, and the visual effect lasted only a second. When it was over, Fluttershy noticeably twitched a little, but that was the worst of it. When it was over, Twilight asked, "How're you feeling, Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy shook her head to remove what remained of the disorientation, then said, "Braver than I usually am, Empress. Less shy."

"Good. Now, what would you do now if somepony was to cut you in line?"

"I would tell them they did so and ask them to get behind me. If they refused, I would push them behind me."

Twilight smiled at this. This was exactly how she imagined the new Fluttershy, and unless she manually reversed the spell, it would stay, though it could easily be replicated by others. "Good." She refrained from casting the spell on Applejack, to be safe. Regardless, this was good for her plan to bring back Nightmare, though she was still cautious as to if she should cast the loyalty spell on her before hoof to ensure that she didn't run, but that would risk Nightmare being under her control, which she didn't want. "Now, the both of you are to resume your normal routines, with whatever changes I deem necessary. In your case, Fluttershy, that means being more assertive. And Applejack, when ever you're speaking in public, use that country drawl of yours. Ponies might get suspicious otherwise.

"Of course, Empress," the two said as they bowed. With that done, Twilight left the cottage and returned home. When she got back, she discovered that Spike had, not so surprisingly, gone out to help Rarity. She didn't know with what, but she was glad for it all the same, as she was still reluctant to cast the loyalty spell on him, even if it meant she wouldn't have to deal with his sarcasm and complaining. On the other hoof, it was him who had, or, at least, tried to, stop her from going insane over the letter incident two years ago.

She was a little hungry, so she decided to go to the kitchen to fix a sandwich. It didn't take her long to do so. Once she had finished the sandwich, she decided to go into her bedroom to read the book in private. Once she was in her room, she sat down on her bed and began reading.

Who so ever holds this book is the destined bringer of peace and the one to unite the countries of their time in one, allowing all to prosper. Their path is one of hardships and difficulties and betrayals, those who have experienced the worse parts of life, but came out strong for it. They will face hardships in their path, many will try to stop them, even those they call friends, but they will have allies as well. The Shadow Queen, and the Queen of Deceit are those they will come to trust, but the one who is Equis' sun will attempt to stop them, and only the most forbidden magic will determine the winner of this fight.

Twilight was intrigued by this. A fair portion of this confirmed what she had guessed about the book, including that it was very old. But it was the tail end of the second to last and the entire last sentence that perplexed her.Why would my friends try to stop her from bringing peace. Assuming they really are my friends, that is. I could probably guess who "Equis' sun" and the "Queen of Deciet" are, and I'm almost certain that the Shadow Queen is Nightmare. But why would the others try to stop world peace? Twilight thought to herself. She was so enveloped in her thoughts that she didn't notice the inky black tendrils coming off of the shadows in her room, and into her.