After the incident at the courtyard, I found myself sitting on the carpet aisle in the throne room. Celestia was looking down at me with a strong expression of disapproval.

Tia reached her hoof up [in the same manner a human would] to pinch her nose. A sense of frustration filled her as the reports came in of the mess made.

“Mother, why? Just, WHY!?”

“(I thought it would be funny)”

At hearing this, Celestia took a deep breath and walked a little ways back to collect herself. If she wasn’t as used to self-control as she already is I would probably be getting pummeled by the mare.

Luna, who was standing at the side with a look of confusion, took this as an opportunity to look over the report. I watched as she lifted up the parchment. Her eyes scanned the paper over with intensity, and I found the feeling of anxiety wash over me.

I waited for her to become angry with me as well, but to my surprise, she was covering her mouth trying to keep her giggles under control. After around thirty seconds passed Luna looked up at me with a bemused expression.

“You coated the side of parliament in food?”

I was about to give an answer, but then Tia chimed in. “Lulu, she didn't just coat the outside of the building. The velocity of the food items did physical damage to the exterior and blew out every window on the west side of the building.”

With that, the blue mare fell into a fit of giggles.

Celestia gained a stern look on her face and she faced the giggling mare. “Luna, this is no laughing matter.”

“Bu...But... Parlement!.. food.. hahaha!...eh, oh.. it hurts to laugh...”

Tia rolled her eyes at her sister and turned her attention to Lauren. “Mother, while I want to show you the honor and respect you deserve, I’m afraid I must say... You’re grounded...”

“You are to remain confined to your quarters until I, and possibly Luna manage to succeed in damage control.”

Our internal conversation was cut short as Celestia nudged her face close to mine waiting for our answer.

“(...Fine.)” Lauren gave a defeated pout.

Tia let out a sigh of relief as she glanced at the ground. She then looked up at me with a warm expression.“Thank you, mom.”

A second passed, and I nodded my head after realizing I was back in control. Standing up, I began to walk toward the main doors of the throne room. My pace was slow and I could feel a grumpy look on our face. I was roughly ten feet away from the royal sisters when my ears lifted.
They stood upright and listened attentively to what they had to say.

“Luna, there was another issue I needed to discuss with you.”

“Sister?”

I paused mid-step, and my full attention was directed to their conversation.

"It’s about the Crystal Empire Lulu. It's returned."

At that, I could hear the sounds of Luna stammering back in shock. I heard her make a gulping sound as her breath quickened. A moment passed as she cleared her throat. Planting her hooves on the ground she steadied herself standing tall.

"Should I go, sister? I can be ready to leave shortly."

"...No, but thank you, Lulu, Princess Cadence, and Shining Armor are already on their way. Twilight and the others will be joining them shortly."

"I am worried though sister. The Empire's magic is powerful, does thou remember how nopony could defeat him without using the Elements."

“...Yes, yes indeed...”

A voice spoke from the depths of my mind and I could feel a sense of pride well up from my chest. Immediately I began to worry.

Defeat loomed over me as we moved quietly behind the Princesses. We found ourselves a comfortable spot to listen.

“Don’t worry Lulu, I have faith in...”

Celestia was speaking but stopped at the sound of someone clearing their throat. All of us turned our heads towards the adorkable unicorn standing by the doors.

Luna decided now would be a good time to leave, so she began to walk away from her sister. As she made her way down, Celestia tried to reassure her sibling.

"Trust me, little sister. When have I ever let you down?"

To that, Luna couldn't help but deadpan, and I slapped my forehead with my hoof. She wore her unamused expression all the way down the hall. Twilight sidestepped the Princess and gave her a timid smile. A smile to which Luna gave a brief nod in acknowledgment but she still couldn't help stewing over Tia's last comment. Deciding not to ask about it, Twilight looked down the hall to where Celestia and I were standing.

She continued down the hall, doing her best to keep the massive pile of supplies she was carrying from falling out. "You wanted to see me? To give me a test?" Lighting up her horn, Twilight took a few supplies out of her luggage bags. "I brought my own quills and plenty of paper to show my work."

She moved more stuff out, but unfortunately due to a lack of concentration she couldn't keep control of everything she was holding. Papers and scrolls went across the ground, and the adorkable unicorn couldn't help but blush in embarrassment.

"Sorry, sorry!" Obviously flustered, she began to roll a scroll back up to the best of her ability. All the while forgetting the big pointy thing on her head. Deciding to help out, I grabbed the scroll with my telekinetic abilities and rolled it up.

Tia looked over at me and rolled her eyes. Perhaps because I had a very proud expression on my face.

Turning to her student she said, "This is a different kind of test... The Crystal Empire has returned." At this, the solar Princess tried to go for the theatrics and flared her wings out. Unfortunately though, instead of impressing her student and inspiring a sense of awe like the solar princess was trying to do; her form only seemed to worry the unicorn.

"The Crystal Empire? I'm sorry, I-I thought I'd studied.” Quickly, Twilight levitated a few of her books in front of herself, desperately trying to spark a memory. ”Ooh. I don't think there's anything in any of my books th..."

Seeing her student’s antics brought back a feeling of nostalgia to the solar Princess. She smiled and explained. "There wouldn't be... Few remember it ever existed at all."

‘Pfff, well that's not fair.” I muttered. My outburst was only met with a quick glance at my direction from both mares. Celestia continued on, and I began looking at my hoof to see if I was becoming invisible.

Tia walked over to the throne and removed a purple crystal from a glass jar. "Even my knowledge of the Empire is limited.”

Celestia set the crystal down in the middle of the hall and used some sort of spell to make a hologram of the Empire. “What I do know is that it contains a powerful magic."

Both Twilight and I looked on with awe at the miniature city that appeared before us. She looked invested because of the detail. I, on the other hand, was trying to squish a small house with my hoof. It didn’t work.

I guess it was an important matter we were discussing. So, being a good ‘Faust’, I sat up and paid attention to Tia’s explanation.

"One thousand years ago, King Sombra, a unicorn whose heart was black as night, took over the Crystal Empire."

I watched as the clean and bright empire suddenly turned to dirt and black crystals. The nation was fully corrupted with this new look until the blackness covered over the crystal tower or castle... Whatever you want to call it. Once the peak was covered a black unicorn’s head appeared at the top. He seemed to stare right at me. His stare was disturbing, the same type of disturbing as when Chrysalis tried to imitate Celestia. His head then began to expand like a balloon until it enveloped my vision.

Quickly fading, I next saw this pony standing on a balcony overlooking the slaves he’d captured.

Suddenly the image changed again. This time it was the silhouette of Celestia and Luna turning the pony to shadow.

“He was ultimately overthrown, turned to shadow, and banished to the ice of the arctic north.”

The look of ‘oh shit’ suddenly appeared on Sombra’s face as she said that, and I watched as the unicorn screamed as he was cast down for his thought crimes.

“Unfortunately before we banished him, he managed to put a curse upon the Empire. A curse that caused it to vanish into thin air.”

When she finished speaking the hologram cut out, and I found my head following the crystal upwards.

“If the Empire is filled with hope and love, those things are reflected across all of Equestria.” she shot a beam at the crystal and it began to shine radiantly like a rainbow. But then her stance changed and her eyes began to smoke. “If hatred and fear take hold...” Her eyes turned green and her horn bubbled with dark magic. It looked weird in the show, but in real life, it was just disturbing.

She shot a beam of that at the crystal and darkness emerged from it. It surrounded Twilight with pillars of obsidian colored crystal. And I found the unicorn growing worried at the sight of things.

I looked up towards Tia, and to my confusion, she was still using dark magic. She was breathing heavily and let out an almost inaudible moan. I was confused, but the alicorn inside me wasn’t. I was standing across the hall, then suddenly I was in the air kicking the solar Princess in the face.

“(No Celestia! Just, say, no!)”

From the newly made crater very sore Celestia emerged. She looked like she was wincing in pain, but something told me there was no need to worry about it. She gave me a pout as she climbed out of the rubble. “That was unnecessary Mother.”

“(Say what you will, Dark magic is like playing with fire. Eventually you’re going to get burned.)”

Tia just huffed. She looked at me with a disappointed frown. Then after a slight shiver, she turned and began walking towards the door. As she passed Twilight she blasted away the crystals and continued on.

I guessed that she needed a moment, so I turned to the purple unicorn and asked her, “As we were saying before this, will you help us protect it?”

“You want me to help protect an entire empire?”

From the other side of the hall, Celestia cut in, "It is, as I said, a different kind of test. But one I'm certain you will pass." She was standing by the door and there was no sign of wear on her at all. This confused me a little so I decided to take a closer look. As I began walking down the hall towards her, I noticed that Twilight decided to join me. We trotted down the hall and I soon found my wing to be stretching out over the unicorn. Whether it was my doing, or Lauren's, I wasn't sure.

We reached Tia and she began walking with us as well. It seemed like Celestia was hoping to bolster confidence in her student. The lavender mare puffed out her chest and looked up to her mentor. "How do I begin?"

"By joining Princess Cadence and Shining Armor in the Crystal Empire."

"My brother is there?" Twilight beamed,

"He is. And your Ponyville friends will join you there as well. I have every confidence you will succeed. And when you do, I'll know you are ready to move on to the next level of your studies."

I stayed back as the two of them made their way out the door. However, I was still able to see the figure of Luna just outside the door. She was practically grinding her teeth out of frustration. This, although unintentional startled the unicorn. I could see as she began to doubt herself.

"But what if I fail?"

"You won't."

"But what if..."

"You won't. I have full confidence in you Twilight. But, in the end, it must be you and you alone who ultimately assists Princess Cadence and Shining Armor in doing what needs to be done to protect the Empire. Do you understand?"

As I watched the conversation between the two I felt a wing drape over me, I turned to see Luna giving me a soft smile. we looked on as Twilight puffed out her chest ever more so. Determination prevalent on her face.

"Mm-hmm!"

"Then go Twilight. There is no time to lose." Celestia gave the little unicorn one last reassuring smile, then shut the doors. Slamming them in a hurry...

A moment passed, and the alicorn’s demeanor remained stoic. Then, she began pacing. Her eyes grew distraught, and panic crawled onto her features. I sat in a corner beside the crap twilight left. I was dumbfounded as Celestia’s regal Princess personality withered away. She began ranting to herself about what had she just done? And 'why didn’t she go instead?' At least that’s what I was able to make out through the ceaseless mutterings.

Luna wasn’t fairing too well either. Although her reason for panic wasn’t so much for Twilights safety as it was sending six civilian mares unarmed against somepony whom two alicorns couldn’t defeat.

As the two Princesses had their panic attacks I slipped out of the room and headed to my bedroom.

Along the way, I knocked over one of the mannequins in the hall and hastily put the armor back on. The cloaking magic working its wonders as the image of a sentry standing guard returned to the halls.

I flopped face down onto my bed and proceeded to scream into a pillow (screaming normal volume). The whole way back Lauren was trying to convince me to go after the mares from Ponyville. I knew that no matter what I wanted we would be going, but, well... It was frustrating to have to put up with this.

I continued to bury my face into the pillow and scream as the voice at the back of my mind pestered me like a dripping tap.

As I laid there, face down, my ears swiveled towards a slight knocking at the door. Sighing, I sat up and blew my mane off of my face.

“Um, come in...”

The door slowly opened revealing the forms of three concerned mares, Minuette, Lyra, and Lillybreeze. Immediately I shot up into a sitting position to greet my attendants. They walked in and closed the door behind them.

“Minuette! Lyra! Where have you two been? I haven’t seen you since the invasion.”

The two mares looked around awkwardly and Lyra tapped the ground in a fidgeting motion. Minuette looked over to the other mare and decided to act as spokespony.

“Yeah, about that.. we kinda got trapped in a cave. And when we eventually got out, we found ourselves near Ponyville. We were kinda sluggish to leave because we have a few friends that live there and we wanted to catch up with them...”

From the looks of things, they expected to be scolded, or at least face some sort of punishment for their detour. What they didn’t expect was for me to envelop the both of them into a group hug.

“I’m so glad you’re safe.”

They both pulled away slightly in surprise but I wasn’t letting go. Looking over to the Changeling in disguise I motioned with my head for her to come. Her mild smile turned to a happy grin as she joined our group.

We stayed like this for a few moments more before Lillybreeze broke the hug and offered to get some tea. I shook my head no, not particularly liking tea, while the other two said yes. Just as Lilly was about to leave the room I had an idea and called for, “Hot Chocolate, with marshmallows!”

At hearing my request there was a quick change of orders by the other mares, and a few minutes later we were all sitting around my room in the seats near the balcony entrance.

I took a sip of my drink. It was perfectly made. I watched as my attendants tried their refreshments as well they all gave a relaxed groan at the ambrosial taste of Lillybreeze’s or should I say Adorelin’s hot chocolate. In the recent months, I had found out that the proto queen had quite the knack for fixing beverages. And even better was that she enjoyed doing so.

Deciding to break the silence I placed my cup down and looked at my newly returned attendants.

“So, how are your friends in Ponyville?”

“Oh, oh-oh!” Lyra put her hoof up into the air like we were in some sort of classroom setting. I couldn’t help but have a warm smile at her antics. With a shallow nod, I welcomed her to share her story.

“Well, my friend Bonbon, just came up with a new recipe for her sweet shop, and it seems to be doing quite well.”

“Is that so? What did she come up with?”

“It’s like a ball of dough and chocolate layered up three times, with a soft charmel center.”

“That... sounds quite good, maybe I’ll make a little trip to Ponyville to try some myself.”

Hearing this Lyra sat forward in angst, “Well If you want some I could always have her send some to us.”

“I gave the turquoise mare a mild smile. “While I appreciate the offer I’d very much like to meet your friend in person, and perhaps tell her what I think of her treats face to face.”

Lyra seemed a little nervous about the idea but then smiled. Minuette seemed happy as well. In fact, she was just about to speak when Lillybreeze spoke up.

Her shoulders were up, and she seemed stressed out about something. “...Um, I kinda have something to share...” The disguised Proto Queen squeaked.

“Yeah? what is it?” Minuette asked.

She shuffled around a little bit feeling quite uncomfortable about something. I was trying to guess what she could find so troubling to bring up all of a sudden when...

“Well girls, you remember the invasion of Changelings a few months ago?” The two mares stared intently, “...Yeah...” They both replied in unison.

“Well, um I’m one of them...” She said this, then dropped her disguise in a flash of green flames.

I winced in anticipation of screams and freaking out, but I was surprised when I was greeted with silence. Looking between the two mares I was surprised to see not fear but curiosity.

Lyra leaned forward as if to examine her friend, “Hmm? So this is what you really look like?... Neat!”

The Changeling was dumbfounded, “Wha? You’re not afraid?”

At this Adorelin was met with a reassuring hoof on the shoulder by Minuette. “Oh come on, we came from Ponyville, nothing surprises us anymore. Once friends always friends.”

The three mares in front of me gathered together in a group hug and I felt my heartstrings being tugged as tears welled up in Adorelin’s eyes. I could see a figurative weight come off of her as the proto queen’s fears melted away. She looked up to me and I noticed the heartfelt smile on my face. The three of them reached out as if to invite, so I joined in on the group hug.

We stayed that way until Adorelin managed to calm herself down. When she got a hold of herself I gave her a tissue to dry her eyes.

We sat back down and took another sip of our Ned Flanders worthy Hot Chocolate. It was delicious. While drinking I felt my cup fall out of my grasp and I felt my heart skip a beat as I expected to feel the scolding of my hind legs.

The cup, however, was enveloped in a red glow as it floated away from me. My body righted itself upwards and my posture was corrected to a more regal stance as Lauren looked over at the Changeling. I felt an unsettling sense of anxiety wash over me as I waited in suspense as to what that crazy unpredictable mare would do now.

“(Adorelin, if you don’t mind. Would you care to help me with something?)”

The unsuspecting ling smiled happily and placed her cup down. “Absolutely what would you like me to do?”

Twilight new that the Crystal Empire would be far but she didn’t think it would be a day and a half for the train to get there. Thankfully, Celestia, had the expenses for the trip covered. So Twilight and her friends enjoyed a night where they could share stories and drink a little of Applejack’s famous cider.

In the morning, the group of mares and dragon were surprised as they looked out the windows at the frozen wasteland. The landscape had been flattened by glaciers and the land was lacking any vegetation.

The group arrived near midday and they stepped out of the train onto a newly made train station. It looked like it was made with haste, most likely Ponyville construction ponies. After all, they were the fastest in all of Equestria. Not that they really had a choice with all the houses getting destroyed all the time.

As the mares stepped out onto the train platform the chilling breeze hit them like a frozen wall. They shivered. They tried breathing in and out a couple of times to adjust to the cold, but It didn’t work. With this Rarity felt herself beam with pride in a very ‘I told you so’ type of manner.

“Ha! And you all made fun of me for packing so many scarves.”

It was then that the drake stepped off the pink locomotive with a box twice his size filled to the brim with scarves. He let out a grunt as he tried to keep his balance. With a sarcastic tone, he replied, “I didn't say a word.”

A gust of wind blew past and Spike was suddenly tasked with catching scarves being blown out of the box. “Whoa! Hey! C'mere...”

A single scarf got past Spikes grip and it flew over the six mares as they walked through the station. On the other side, Shining Armor stood in wait. At catching sight of the group he called out,, “Twilig..gh..t.”

The flying fabric found itself down the Colts throat and he was soon on the ground rolling around as he pulled it out.

Twilight looked on with concern as Spike walked up beside her.

“Shining Armor?”

Spike looked over his face and waved his hand, “Yo, Shining Armor... ya alright?”

Shining Armor pulled the scarf out completely and tossed it into the snow, much to Rarities dismay. He coughed a little, then looked up. “Twily! You made it!” he got up and hugged his little sister exhaling slightly as he did.

The lavender mare broke the hug and smiled sheepishly. Shining coughed and looked out over the horizon, “We'd better get moving. There’s a thing out here we really don't want to run into after dark.”

Fluttershy instinctively hid behind her mane as she gulped in fear. “W-what kind of thing?”

Shining’s gaze hardened as he looked towards the girls. “Let's just say the Empire... isn't the only thing that's returned...” He began walking back in the direction of the Empire as the group followed. “Something keeps trying to get in! We think it's the unicorn king who originally cursed the place.”

Twilight quickened her pace to match her brother’s, “But Princess Celestia said I was being sent here to find a way to protect the Empire! If King Sombra can't get in, then it must already be protected.”

Suddenly a whimsical howl carried through the landscape. To each creature that heard it the sense of dread washed over them like water being dumped on their head.

Fluttershy let out an ‘eep’ as she dug her head into her mane. Shining Armor snapped his head towards the east.”Guh. We have to get to the Crystal Empire! Now!”

The group found themselves running for safety across the frozen wasteland. Spike dropped the scarves completely and ran for his life.

From the distance, a blackness rose and it crawled across the land like a corrupted virus. Faster and faster it sped across the ice until it loomed over the group.

Twilight gritted her teeth as she ran. “Come on...Almost there.”

The black King formed and his giant head and shadowy face caused a yellow pegasus to stain the tundra the color of her coat. Tears ran down the sides of her face as the monster loomed over her. She was the last one in the group. Sombra let out a low growl as his jaws opened and he prepared to bite into the pegasus’s rear. Fluttershy whimpered in terror and shut her eyes in ultimate defeat.

But. Before he could chomp down a wall of ice erupted out of the ground smashing the tyrant in the face.

The group reached the shield surrounding the city. Twilight was hunched over and gasping for breath. “...Is everypony okay?” she asked.

Various replies like, “I feel like my lungs are trying to kill me.” or “I think I peed a little..” Caused the mare to cover her head with her hoof in embarrassment. “Celestia this is sad...”

Twilight took a deep breath and looked up at her friends, “Okay girls, first things first, how are we going to defeat that thing?”

“I know, we’ll just use the elements and send that creeper back to the pit he crawled out of!

“Yeah... that would be good and all, but we didn’t bring the elements Dashie...” Pinkie clarified.

“Oh...right..wait why didn’t we bring them?”

At the pegasus's question, the mares all found themselves dumbfounded, looking around at each other for the answer.

When no one came up with anything Twilight began to worry. “Oh, I really really hope we didn’t forget anything else...”

It was evening, and the two Princesses walked through the halls of Canterlot castle with a sense of anxiety that wouldn’t cease. Celestia looked at her little sister with a look of worry, and Luna reflected her feelings back to her.

Dropping her head slightly Celestia looked at the ground and asked, “Lulu, do you think it was wrong for me to send Twilight and her friends to the crystal empire?”

“...I’m not sure Tia. While they are able to handle a lot they certainly couldn’t handle Sombra in a head to head battle. Especially without the elements.”

Celestia stopped walking and stared into space with a wide-eyed look on her face. Luna halted as well, but for the purpose of making sure that her sister was okay.

“Oh, Buck...”

This startled the Princess of the Night. To see her normally regal and collected older sister swearing was unheard of. Let alone the display that came after. Celestia kept on staring downwards at the ground as she walked in circles.

“No... no, no, no no no no!”

Her breathing became quicker and quicker, and much to Luna’s surprise, the solar Princess curled herself up into a ball on the ground. She summoned a white paper bag with her cutie mark on the side and began breathing into it.

Luna felt, lost, to say the least. First off, there were questions bouncing around in her head like why did Tia get a line of paper bags made with her mark on them? But Luna felt that was a question best left for another time. Instead, despite her curiosity, she decided that she needed to deal with the matter at hand, and rushed to her sister’s side.

“Tia? Tia, what’s wrong?”

“I...[breathe] forgot...[breathe] to send...[breathe] the Elements... [breathe] with them...”

At hearing that, Luna fell into a sitting position. Her ears flattened themselves against her head. And much like her sister, she began to stare off into space from the shock. A few minutes passed as the two royals tried to fathom how messed up this situation really was. To this, Tia continued to hyperventilate into her paper bag.

Luna, on the other hand, felt that there was still quite a lot of hope for her friends. After all, they had managed to beat her as Nightmare Moon. They did this by flying by the seat of their flanks no less. Thinking in this manner helped the Night Princess get a hold of herself.

Now there was the task of helping her sister. It was very rare that Celestia let her emotions get the better of her. Or to be more precise it was very rare for Celestia to show her true sense of worry. Although for her,
this was still a little much. It seemed that a little of Twilight's personality had rubbed off on her big sis.

As soon as that thought crossed the Princesses mind, Lulu found herself gain a faint smile. Seeing her big sister in this state, while mildly enjoyable, was mostly sad for Luna to watch. Hoping to help distract her sister Luna’s eyes started darting around the hall as if looking for something to talk about.

After several seconds of silence, she looked down to her big sister and brushed her mane off of her face.

“Tia... dost thouest think we should check on Mom? It has been quite a while since you... sent her to her room...” Luna said the last bit while trying to stroke a laugh.

Thankfully for her, Tia was looking the other direction so Luna amusement went unnoticed.

[sigh] Lulu... [breathe] I know what you’re trying to do.”

“Perhaps, but still, for our mother to go along with what you told her is very strange. In my opinion, she agreed to this way to easily, did she not?” Luna said this as she grabbed a hold of the paper bag, and ripped it from Celestia’s muzzle. The look of fear quickly went to a flash of irritation; then to that of frustration on Celestia’s face as she thought things over.

Luna was right, if she knew anything about her mother, it was that she was never one that could be told what to do. And on top of that, while Celestia wasn’t sure, she had her suspicions that her mother may be a compulsive liar.

Celestia looked up from her spot on the ground and found her sister standing above her with her hoof stretched out. Hesitantly Celestia took it and let her sister help her up. The two, however, were at a loss for words so the two mares continued on their way to their mother’s quarters in silence.

Tia, while not hyperventilating, was still having difficulty breathing normally. Some staff members noticed this as the two made their way down the halls. They walked upstairs and stood in front of the door. The two of them were a stir of various emotions some of worry, embarrassment, guilt, and frustration. They hesitated for a moment but then Celestia knocked on the door with her hoof and opened it.

Upon entering, the two princesses spotted their mother talking with her attendants. Celestia couldn’t help but smile when she noticed Adorelin. The Proto Queen her mother had taken in; was standing in her true form, and the two ponies, Lyra, and Minuette didn’t look fazed in the slightest.

The four in the room stopped their conversation and looked over to the Princesses. They all smiled sheepishly and waved in an almost forced manner. This earned the response of a deadpan stare from both Celestia and Luna. Although the Princesses were still filled with mixed emotions, That last action from the group of mares made frustration become ever so slightly stronger.

“Okay, Mom what are you up to now?” Celestia asked as she closed the doors.

Lauren quickly answered, “No-Nothing at all! We were just talking about Adorelin’s amazing hot chocolate!”

Celestia narrowed her gaze and let a skeptic, “Uh huh...”

Luna took this time to look over to the other mares and see if there were any hints as to what the four of them would be talking about. While she didn't notice anything that could help her come up with an accurate deduction the four mares were acting very suspicious. All of them seemed to look around trying to avoid her gaze. Minuette began to whistle a little tune and the others were bobbing their heads to her tune.

With this display, the two Princesses drew close to one another and began whispering amongst themselves.

“Well, Lulu, what do you think?”

“...Hm, I don’t know Tia. She’s definitely planning something. Dost th-you think she’s planning to make a run for it? If so, make sure to grab her by the tail. I've found that to be the most effective way of controlling Mother.”

“Yes Lulu, I think there’s a good chance that she’s planning on going after Sombra.” As Celestia said this, the two Princesses slowly turned to look at the four mares across the room. The four ponies held up their eight-inch tall mugs and proceeded to smile sheepishly before taking a long drawn out sip of the delectable liquid.

Both princesses just stared, something was definitely up, and with their mother being involved it could mean trouble for everypony. Suddenly, the alarm went off, and Celestia found herself clicking her tongue in irritation. Luna had set it up so she would get up on time to raise the moon but in this case, it served as a reminder that the task needed to be done.

So begrudgingly, the two alicorns made their way outside to the balcony and prepared to raise the moon and lower the sun.

The sisters began, and as they started, a loud whispering could be heard from the bedroom. As they heard this the Princesses halted their duty and peaked their heads into the bedroom. They held a bored expression and their stares bore into the very souls of those ponies sitting in the couches near the washroom.

Slowly the two exited the room back onto the balcony and began their duty once again. But, like last time, the mares in the room began frantically whispering.

This time the Celestia and Luna teleported into the room and startled Lyra and Lauren. They hung over the group; breathing a bit heavily. Once again their presence was met with silence and forced smiles. Celestia’s eye was beginning to twitch, and Luna let out a grunt in frustration.

The two slowly returned to the balcony, and Tia motioned to the group with her hoof ‘I’m watching you,’ and then she returned to her sister. The two of them gathered up their magic and grabbed hold of each of their respected celestial bodies. Finally, after five minutes the sun was down and the moon was up in the sky. Various constellations shined in the night sky, and Tia couldn't help but be in awe at the beauty of the night sky.

It was a beautiful moment until the whispering in the bedroom started up again. Suddenly, both princesses teleported once again and shouted in unison.

“I can’t take it anymore!”

Celestia leaned forward to say something. But she found herself stopping at the sight of Luna grabbing a cup of Hot Chocolate and beginning to drink it furiously.

Silence hung in the air as all watched the mare gulp it down.

After about three seconds had passed Lyra began chanting for the Princess.

“Chug, Chug, Chug.”

Soon the rest of the group followed Lyra’s example and began chanting, a bit somewhat awkwardly, but chanting nonetheless.

“Chug, Chug, Chug.”

Celestia could feel her Day court headache coming back. Previously, the white alicorn had thought that she would only have to deal with this level of random stupidity when dealing with the nobles of Canterlot.

However, it was at this moment that she realized that those days where she could come back to her quarters and relax were long gone. Yes, those days...“Chug, Chug, Chug.”... had passed.

Celestia didn't even bother trying to understand and dismissed the display in front of her with an eye roll. Instead, she watched her sister with an irritated yet bored expression as Luna finished the mug.

As she drank the last bit, the lunar Princess let out a satisfied, “ahhh...”

“You done...” Celestia deadpanned.

“Hmm, quite,” Luna replied, giving a quick glance at the other drinks. As she did the ponies all flinched at her gaze. They huddled over their individual drinks as if saying ‘mine.’

A faint frown appeared on the lunar princesses face but her attention was quickly called elsewhere. Celestia had tapped her shoulder and, well, to say the least, the Lunar monarch was still under a lot of stress.

Before she even knew what she was doing, Luna found herself swinging at the air to which her hoof was caught by Celestia. Luna felt her blood rush to her face as she blushed and smiled sheepishly. As she smiled, she let out a little squee.

"Um... yes, yes I'm done."

Tia rolled her eyes as Luna said this and dropped her sister.

[Sigh]“Good, then you can wipe that mustache off your muzzle.” Celestia quipped.

Luna smiled sweetly as she licked the whipping cream off her muzzle. It was something that the group of mares found a little amusing.

Even though she wanted to be irritated right now, Celestia couldn't help but feel herself begin to smile.

Reading her sister's expression Luna walked forward. she draped a wing over her side in the same manner that one would use in a 'side hug' and began talking.

“Tia, while I do think that our questions are important. I think it...would be best if we asked them after having something to eat." To make her point the blue alicorn gestured to the doors.

It was then that Celestia noticed the ambrosial scent leaking in from under the door. As soon as the sent was picked up by Celestia, she was hit with a pang of hunger. An audible rumble came from her stomach and Celestia found herself blushing.

“... Well, I guess a little something wouldn’t hurt.”

Luna smiled a knowing smile as she knew that her sister could never resist a good meal. Celestia looked over at the group finishing their drinks and an idea popped into her head.

Smiling mischievously 'on the inside' the solar Princess got the attention of everypony in the room. "Mom, Luna and I are heading down to have dinner. Are you going to be joining us?"

"Um, thank you for the invitation, but no, not today. I was hoping to spend my evening with the girls."

"... Well you know Mom, they are always welcome to join us."

As they heard that, both Lyra and Minuette squealed in excitement. Lauren, on the other hand, had a worried look on her face, as did Adorelin.

Much to Lauren's surprise Lyra and Minuette seemingly appeared in front of her with wide grins as they asked, "Can we go? Can we go? Please let us go."

It was then that Lauren let out a sigh in mild irritation and blew her bangs up with a huff.

"Fine..." She gave in.

Hearing this the two let out some fangirlish screams and ran over to the Princesses sides.

"Come on, the last one to the dining hall is a rotten egg..." Lyra sang out as she left the room. Lauren begrudgingly followed the rest of the group.

Both Princesses carried a faint smile as they made way to the dining rooms.

It was quiet, and everyone was sitting in the dining hall. It was a large room with stained glass windows and a tall ceiling. The walls were a mixture of gold and azure blue. The two colors swirled around each other in various designs.

Unfortunately, even though it was such an awe-inspiring place the magnificence of the Royal Dining Hall could do very little to dismiss the atmosphere within it. For those who occupied it, it was as if a blanket of discomfort had been draped down upon them, and there was no way out.

The group had been sitting in the hall for the past four minutes and all were currently waiting for their food to be brought out. Luna and Celestia had decided to sit on opposite ends of the long rectangular table. This left their guests the only option of sitting in the center, where they could be seen.

While it may seem like an insignificant gesture the two Princesses had done this ruse several times before. It was a simple action that gave the impression of being surrounded, and if they hoped to get any answers out of their mother they had long learned that they needed as much help as they could get.

To the Princesses relief, the four that had sat down in the middle of the table were showing visible signs of feeling uncomfortable. They were all having difficulty knowing where to look and how to act. Eventually, they all settled for starting down at the table in the spot right in front of them.

With everyone acting as if they were in trouble, Celestia was beginning to feel a little restless. It was like an itch of sorts that she had. She wanted to speak, she wanted to talk and ask questions, but for the first time in several years, the solar Princess felt at a loss for words.

She clicked her tongue in a flash of frustration. Internally she scolded herself. For centuries, Celestia had been known as one of the easiest mares to talk to. But now, nothing of any significant value was coming to her mind.

She breathed in deeply as her eyes closed. Hoping that all the practice over the centuries would help her she opened her mouth to speak.

It was then that the doors from the kitchen opened up. The Princess halted, thanking whatever powers that be that she had been given an out. The wafting smells of various foods filled the dining hall. An earth pony with a mustache and a food cart made his way over to the table.

He placed down a wide dinner plate that carried a delightful vegetable stir fry with rice and seasonings that made the mouth water. The scent alone was ambrosial, and the display was a work of art.

Tia felt almost a little sad to eat this masterpiece. It was a feeling similar to how some love to spend time in the snow, but find their actions to be bittersweet knowing they destroy a smooth white landscape with their footprints.

While she did find the plate to be quite beautiful, the Princess also found herself to be quite hungry. In fact, it wasn’t until the scent of the food had reached her, that both Princesses noticed how hungry they were.

With all that had happened today, they realized that the stress had caused them to go all day with no food. Something truly unheard of in Tia’s case.

So, as regal as one could, Celestia and Luna began furiously digging in. As always, the explosion of flavor was something that could only be experienced. Lyra and Minuette squealed in their seats as they tasted the best dish of their lives. It was something that brought the Princesses a shadow of a smile.

There was, however, something strange about the group. Adorilin had respectfully declined the offer for food, which was to be somewhat expected. But Lauren didn’t seem to be in the mood for eating either.

Feeling some concern, Luna spoke up. “Mother, are th-you feeling alright? You have yet to touch your food.”

The off-white mare flinched at Luna’s words as her ears flattened against her head. Lifting her head slightly Lauren spoke whilst refusing to make eye contact. “I um, I’m not feeling that hungry... I’m still going over things from earlier this morning.”

Luna nodded her head in agreement. “Yes, today has been hard on all of us. With the Empire’s return along with King Sombra, and with it being Penilia’s first day of school. It is quite understandable.”

It was then that Tia chimed in. She scratched her chin in thought as she stared off into nowhere, “Hmm, somehow I completely forgot about that. I wonder how her first day at school was?”

Suddenly Adorilin jumped up and slammed her hooves on the table with a look of excitement in her eyes. “It was awesome! I made so many new friends and they all were... uh... eh heh oops...”

'Lauren’s' eyes were twitching as the Princesses looked at the little bug with wide eyes. Blinking, they looked back over to 'Lauren' with a bored expression. She hastily grabbed some food and began eating. Tears began to well up at the corners of her eyes as she swallowed.

A shiver went down her body as she put a smile back on her face. ‘Lauren’ looked from Princess to Princess hoping to see any changes in expression. There was none. Then before she could catch it, she coughed the food back up onto her dinner plate. Her body lurching and shaking with disgust as it violently rejected what it was given.

It was then that everything seemed to go silent. The kitchen doors creaked shut and a moment later the chief cried, “Oh mon Dieu! I’ve failed!”

There was a sound of rustling metal in the kitchen as the chief’s workers began yelling. With all the commotion a royal guard made his way to the Kitchen. There were sounds of commotion and lots of incomprehensible yelling. A few moments passed then the guard returned with the head chief floating in his grasp.

The workers also came out, they all looked quite disheveled and a little out of breath. One was pulling a knife from the chief’s grasp as he was escorted out for his and others safety. He cried as he tried to grab it. He was then escorted out of the room, and the workers turned to those dining, bowed, then returned to the kitchen.

‘Lauren’ smiled sheepishly hoping to find some hope of a way out of this mess but instead was met with the disappointed scowl of both Princesses. Her smile widened as her eyes pleaded with the Royals. Their expressions didn’t change.

Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore, “...Ugh! Okay, fine! You win!”

In a roar of green flames, 'Lauren' changed into Adorilin. And likewise, the changeling that looked like her transformed into Penilia. Once they finished, Penilia stood up in her seat and threw her hooves out into the air.

“Surprise!”

Luna rolled her eyes at the nymph and Celestia gave a frustrated snort. Shaking her wine in her glass Celestia took a big gulp. She slammed it down onto the ground shattering it into over nine thousand pieces. This action demanded everyone's attention as all heads snapped over to her position. Her eyes had gone from frustrated to pissed, and she was practically growling.

“Where is she!?”

Her words, while at a normal volume were the most threatening the changeling had ever felt. The four sitting in the center felt sandwiched between two angry celestial beings and all they could do was cower.

Adorilin huddled in her seat and answered, “I don’t know where she is! All I know is that she wanted me to pretend to be her for the day, and hold out for as long as I can. She said something about going to deck somepony in the schnoz...”

The Proto Queen’s words rang out through the Dining Hall and for a moment her words seemed to calm the Princesses down.

It was but a moment later that Luna slammed her hoof into the table busting a chunk off as she leaned over the table shouting, “Are you serious!?”

By this point, the ponies were shaking and holding onto the Changelings in fear. It was as if they were shrinking with every word that left the monarchies mouths. Celestia was always the first to regain her composure but the frustration was still visible on her face. She, however, managed to calmly ask those present when Lauren left the castle.

It was Minuettes turn to speak up as she too regained her composure, and a bit nervously answered, “Um she left about two... three... four... more, hours ago?

At hearing this Luna’s coat grew dark and she looked over to Celestia with a serious expression.

“We‘re going after her.”

Celestia’s eyes opened to nearly the size of dinner plates as she fell backward out of her chair. Her legs were waving all over the place as she not so regally freaked out.

Luna looked over to her sister with confusion as her elder sister huddled down in a corner staring back at her with wide eyes. It took a moment for her to notice the others in the room were giving her the same concerned/worried faces.

Feeling a slight bit of concern and curiosity, Luna looked down towards her hoof and found it to be dark black. With a huff, her coat lightened up to it’s normal deep blue. She rolled her eyes and gave her elder sister a deadpan stare.

“Sister, there is no reason to be concerned, the Nightmare has not returned.”

“You’re sure...?”

“Positive.” Luna partially lied.

Still feeling a bit doubtful, Celestia got up and stepped over to the table. She watched her sister with a skeptical eye, waiting for an attack, but it never came.

Feeling that she had managed to settle Tia’s concerns ever so slightly, Luna repeated.

“As I was saying, We’re going after her.”

“But Luna, Twilight...” Tia tried to make an argument that her student would miss this opportunity to prove herself but was interrupted by Luna slamming her hoof down.

“No!” Luna looked down to her dark once again nearly black hoof. “That unicorn has the power to manipulate the souls of his enemies and draw the worst out of those around him. If he manages to do something like that to Mother...” She trailed off.

Suddenly the temperature seemed to drop as those in the room went silent. A sense of dread washed over everypony and no one said a word.