Spike groaned as he opened his swollen eyes to look around his dimly lit confinement. He had been here for about a week now, so his time here was drawing to a close. He adjusted himself to sit up, and was once again aware of the heavy iron braces and chains that were on his neck, wrist, and ankles. Each spot had been rubbed raw, and there was a quiet hiss as black magic seeped from the wounds in a repetitive cycle to heal them. He let out a tired sigh through his nostrils. Twilight’s Commanders had done quite a number on him, and he knew that they had gone easy on him. He looked down at the small puddle of blood that had formed from his bleeding wrists. His reflection stared back at him, his eyes blazing a shade of lime green,

“Are you happy with the way your toys are treating you? They are acting as if you belong to them, when you know damn well they belong to you!”

“They don’t belong to me…” Spike replied. He realized that he hadn’t spoken in a few days. His voice sounded tired, and his throat hurt. “Nor I to them. This is my punishment for speaking out of turn.”

“She’s yours! What are you apologizing for?!”

“She’s not mine! She’s a princess!” Spike roared. He stopped to hack up some saliva to lubricate his tired, parched throat. “I…I will take the punishment for what YOU said.”

“What I said? I am you, you stupid sack of shit! And all I said… was the truth.”

“You are something evil… unnatural. You wouldn’t know how to speak the truth if your life depended on it.”

Other Spike chuckled. “Well…it’s a good thing that I’m immortal, huh?” He leaned closer to the edge of the surface. “But believe it or not, I’m not lying. After all, that would just be you lying to yourself.”

“SHUT UP!!”

“Are you done arguing with yourself?”

Spike looked away from the puddle and up at the source of the voice. His eyes narrowed when he saw Silk standing before him,

“Why are you here?” He hissed.

“I just came to check up on you. See how you’re doing. No need to be so hostile, my love.” Silk trotted closer to him. She placed a hoof on his chin. “So once again…are you done arguing with yourself?” Spike didn’t respond, only continuing to glare at Silk. “I’ll take that as a ‘yes’.” She looked around at the dungeon. “Cozy little place you got here. Are you ready to get out of here?”

“My time will come soon enough…” he looked away from her, focusing on the cracks in the stone flooring. “Twilight will be releasing me soon.”

Silk raised a brow, “Is that so? Is she the one that put you here? I can only assume so. I doubt anypony else would be able to put such a mighty dragon of your caliber in confinement like this.”

“I am here because I am being punished. I asked for this. Perhaps…perhaps then I can-”

“You can what?” Silk cut him off. “Quiet the voice inside of your head? Stop the thing that lies within the deepest parts of your soul?” she plopped down in front of him, “I’m not here to rush you…. But I do want to know; how long do you plan on fighting this? Fighting what you really are?”

“Until the thing inside of me shuts up and leaves me alone.”

“It will leave you alone when you accept what you are…who you are.” She lowered her head so that their eyes met. “Father is coming, dragon. I’ve heard whispers within the city walls that the Holy Alliance is starting to show itself again. It’s not going to be good if either of them rise, and you know it. So if you could be a dear, I would like to try and find out just how much time is left before the Holy Alliance fully shows itself.

Spike averted his gaze elsewhere. He knew she was right; this was a completely different situation now.  But he couldn’t just break out of here to stop it. That would defeat the purpose of him being here. He didn’t want to help the mare, but he knew he didn’t have a choice. Spike relented with a sigh. “Twilight’s commanders have been keeping me updated about things going on within the castle walls. Princess Celestia’s personal guards came here a few days ago.  They wanted Pinkie and a DJ named Vinyl Scratch that lives in the second ring of the kingdom. Twilight’s having them kept here within the castle walls to deter anypony from attacking or kidnapping them. They might be your best bet at a clue.”

Silk gave him a sultry smile. “You’re as smart as you are handsome.” She rose to her hooves, “I will check up on you another time, my little dragon.”

“Where are you going?”

“Well, I haven’t seen Pinkie in quite a while, and I want to meet this DJ. Let’s see if she is good with her hooves with things outside of her occupation.” She walked into the shadows, her hoof steps fading into the darkness, and left Spike alone in the dungeon once more.

                                                                                                         -MLP-

“I miss Octi already….” Vinyl stated in a soft tone. “I hate being stuck here.”

“It’s safer for us to be here, as well as for the ponies we care about.” Pinkie replied. “They’ll stop looking for us soon enough. There will be other things more important than us that will need to be taken care of.”

“Princess Twilight still hasn’t talked to Princess Celesta either. What’s taking her so long? I wanna know what they wanted with us.”

“Hey, stop stressing! Think of this as a break from all of your gigs. Gods knows you need one. I haven’t seen you take a break in the last four months!”

“Wait, how do you know that?”

“Well, I’ve gone to all of your major performances….”

“Wait… all of them?”

“Well… yeah. We haven’t kept in touch so I went to the shows to at least see you.”

“But… I live in Middle Ponyville. That’s so far….”

Pinkie shrugged. “Meh, not really! Anything for a friend!!”

Vinyl broke out into a huge grin, “Wow… thanks, Pinkie… I don’t know what to say….”

“You don’t have to say anything. I told you, anything for a friend.”

“Well… that is very touching….”

Both mares looked over at the bathroom. Silk stepped out from the shadows. Vinyl jumped to her hooves. “Who the hell are you, and how did you get in here?!”

Silk sauntered over to her, locking eyes with the DJ. Vinyl felt her heart start to thunder in her chest. “I promise, I am not your enemy, Vinyl Scratch….” She looked over at Pinkie. “It’s nice to see you again, Pinkamena.”

“It… it’s nice t-to see you again, too….” Pinkie stammered. “W-what are you d-d-doing here?”

“I heard that somepony attacked you. I’m sorry that happened to you….”

“I’m… okay. I barely got out of there alive….”

Silk leaned in. “I know that is a lie…your body can take quite a beating. We know this, don’t we?” She whispered. “Now… did you feast upon your attackers?”

Pinkie went pale, and didn’t answer her. Vinyl stormed up to her. “Hey, leave her alone-”

Silk turned her gaze to her, and she froze again. Something about her eyes stunned her into silence. She felt her heart thunder in her chest with a vengeance, and her legs turned to jelly. Silk gave her a sultry smile. “I’m sorry if I didn’t get my point across the first time. Is there a way I can show you that I am not an enemy here?”

‘Hey, snap the fuck out of it you loser!’ Madd snapped. ‘She’s just a whore! Don’t listen to her lies!’

‘How do you know what she is?’

‘Just don’t listen to her, dumbfuck!’

Vinyl shook her head, “Uh… no thanks. I’m fine.”

Silk’s smile didn’t falter in the slightest, but one of her perfectly tweezed eyebrows raised a bit. “If you say so….” She turned back to Pinkie, “You never answered my question, love.”

“Yes.” Pinkie replied as if the word left a disgusting taste in her mouth. “Yes, I did.”

“I see…” her smile got bigger. “Did you enjoy it?”

Pinkie swallowed the lump in her throat, “Kind of….”

“Good…” Silk nodded in approval. “That’s very good….”

“Hey, what are you doing to her?” Vinyl questioned.

“I’m only talking to her, love. Please calm yourself.”

“I’m fine, Vinyl… it’ll be okay.” Pinkie stated. She looked over at Silk, “Seriously… why are you here?”

Silk’s smile disappeared, “You are in grave danger….”

“I know that. Vinyl and I just got jumped by Celestia’s personal guards. That’s why we’re here.”

“It’s not just you two… but all of us.”

Vinyl raised a brow. “What are you talking about?”

Silk opened her mouth to answer, but stopped when the door opened and Twilight trotted in. “Are either of you hungry? The cooks are making a delicious-” She froze mid step and her eyes went wide. “You….”

Silk smiled. “Princess Twilight… this is such a delightful surprise.”

Twilight’s horn whined with burning hot magic. “I should kill you where you stand!”

Silk giggled, the sound as soft as velvet to Twilight’s ears. “No need for such hostility, my love… we are among friends here. Besides… you do not have the intestinal fortitude to cause suffering by your own hooves….” Twilight felt a pit form in her stomach. Did she know about Spike? That would mean she would have had to have been snooping around and gotten past security… again. “Now…where was I…” Silk tapped her chin thoughtfully, “Ah yes, I remember now. Terribly sorry, but a stunningly beautiful mare such as yourself can be absolutely distracting at times.” She winked and caught the barely noticeable flustering in Twilight’s cheeks. “Anyway, as I was telling these two…you are all in danger, and there is nothing you can do to stop it.”

“Then why are you telling me?” Twilight questioned. “What are you expecting me to do if you’re already stating that nothing can be done?”

Silk smirked. “Your fellow Princesses, while they are… somewhat powerful, are no match for the monster that is coming for you all.” She stepped closer to Twilight, “However, they are not all that they seem to be.”

“Wha-… what do you mean?”

“The monster…he is a master…a teacher of lies and deceit. Your Princesses, through their longevity, have learned well from his teachings.” In a flash, she was back in front of Pinkie. She licked her lips and pulled the pink pony into a sensual kiss, “Take care of yourself, love… we need you alive.” She then appeared beside Vinyl, and gave her a soft peck on the cheek, “Till next time, my precious DJ….”

Twilight felt a twinge of jealousy as Silk disappeared without a word to her. Why did she give them kisses? Wait, why should she even care?

“Twilight.”

She was just a bed mate. Nothing more.

“Twilight!!”

Twilight jumped and looked at Pinkie, who was now in her face. “What?” She asked.

“Geez, spacey much? When are you going to go talk to Celestia?”

“Um… I’ll send her a letter of my arrival, and head out as soon as she gives me a response.”

“Can me and the others come with you??”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea… Things could get blown out of proportion. I don’t really know since Celestia isn’t acting like herself.”

“All the more reason you should have us there for you. We can deal with her together.”

Twilight let out a small sigh. “Fine…okay, just…let me call the others and make preparations.”

Pinkie smiled, and Vinyl couldn’t help but smile when she saw the old Pinkie for a moment. “Awesome! Then go take care of it!!” Pinkie head-butted Twilight in the shoulder and began to shove her out the door. “Gogogogogo!!!”

Twilight stammered as she was shoved out the door. Pinkie slammed it shut, then let out a tired sigh. Vinyl slowly walked up to her. “Are you okay?”

Pinkie looked up at her with a worn expression on her face. “Twisted wanted me to do bad things to her….” She looked down at the floor, “I don’t want Twilight to see me like that….”

Vinyl rubbed her shoulder soothingly, “We’ll figure this out, Pinkie. Twilight’s going to have this whole thing squashed real soon, and we can go back to the way things used to be.”

“Well, I don’t want that…” Pinkie replied. “Because that means we wouldn’t hang out again….”

Vinyl chuckled. “Okay, except for that. The first thing we’ll do, is have lunch together, and it’ll be my treat.”

                                                                                                    -MLP-

Luna stood out on her balcony, observing the streets of Canterlot. She had raised her Moon up a few hours ago, but the metropolitan was still bustling with activity. The downtown area was lit up with neon signs, and she heard the faint thumps of base-filled night clubs. She tapped her hooves to the beats, wishing she could go to the club with her subjects.

“Enjoying yourself, Luna?”

Luna looked over her shoulder as Celestia walked up to her. “Thou should be resting, Sister.” She calmly replied. “Thy schedule has been a busy one, and thoust deserve it.”

“And miss out on you dancing?” Celestia teased. “I think not.”

Celestia stood beside her little sister and enjoyed the view with a faint smile on her face. Luna glanced up at Celestia. “Sister?”

“Yes Luna?”

“Are thou upset with Twilight Sparkle?”

The smile was replaced with a frown for a few seconds before Celestia composed herself. There were a few moments of thoughtful silence before she spoke up. “Yes and no.” Celestia replied. “Her telling me no is not a surprise to me. However, I did not expect her to tell me no in that way. She has been in control of her kingdom for almost 15 years and I know that she knows the way she went about that was wrong. Had it been the Griffin King, or the Diamond Dog Chief, she would’ve been met with raised paws and extended talons. Retaliation that would’ve started wars. However, I cannot be angry. She is the Princess of Friendship, and her friend’s safety was on the line. To give them up to us without knowing why would have gone against everything she stands for.”

“Well then…are thou going to confront her about it?”

“Knowing her, I won’t have to. She is a seeker of knowledge, and she will come to me looking for answers.”

“Then what are thoust going to tell her when she does?”

“I’ll tell her the truth.”

Luna’s eyes went wide. “Thou are a fool if I ever did see one! It is not your place, Sister!”

There was a beating of wings on the night air. Celestia and Luna looked up to see Ditzy sliding down the spire. She jumped off of the edge and landed on the balcony railing. Her golden eyes glowed in the moonlight as she stared Celestia down. “Your sister remembers her place amongst the Alliance, Celestia. Why does your memory seem so spotty all of the sudden?”

“She’s going to have to know. The Alliance is in dire need of more powerful members.” Celestia replied.

“That is not for you to decide!” Ditzy snapped, a warm wave of power radiated off of her. Her eyes glowed even brighter. “We are in need of loyal members, not powerful ones.” She looked back and forth between them. “I don’t know why you sent guards out instead of doing it yourself. There was a higher chance of their capture if you had.”

“We have one of the largest kingdoms on the planet. We have other matters to attend to-”

“Anything pertaining to the Alliance takes priority and you know that.” Ditzy scolded. “Look what happened with you not doing this. They are both still walking free, you got ponies killed for no reason, and now Twilight has them heavily guarded.”

“By whom?” Luna questioned. “I can capture them without ending anypony’s life.”

“The Sunset Squad.”

Luna and Celestia fell into silence. Celestia let out a sigh. “Do you know where she’s hiding them?”

“Within the castle walls. Everypony was talking about how they were tearing through the city to get there.”

“There is now no doubt that Twilight is going to come here to find out why I did what I did. The Sunset Squad is going to escort her. They’ll have to, and that means Pinkamena and Vinyl Scratch will be left unprotected.”

“That’s not true.” Luna corrected. “It is still her castle. The place will be secured from the floor to the roof with guards.”

“I would rather deal with a castle full of guards than the Sunset Squad.” Celestia replied. Celestia turned to Luna. “I’m going to need one of your guards to infiltrate the castle walls and let us know when Twilight leaves to come here.”

“That will never work. If she’s there, then so will the Sunset Squad. Whomever I send would be captured and destroyed before they got anywhere near it.”

“Then get them to at least make it within the inner city’s walls to see her mode of transportation.”

“Almost all of my guards are Vamponies. They won’t be able to handle the sunlight.”

“What about the Lunar Knights? Surely you have Unicorns on your personal security force.”

“True…” Luna rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “It will be a most difficult mission, but I shall see to it that it is carried out.” She looked over at Ditzy. “Is that all you came to us for?”

“I also came to warn you.” Ditzy replied. “We want those ponies. They are the key to bringing the others out of hiding. Two have already revealed themselves, all we need is the other five.” She snapped her wings open, “Twilight is interfering with important matters. I don’t care if she is their friend, and I don’t care if she was your pupil, you will settle this matter, and you will bring them to us.”

With that, she stepped back off of the railing and fell into the darkness. Luna and Celestia looked over the railing and found no trace of the Pegasus.

“Thou hast angered her greatly, Sister.” Luna pointed out.

“I know…but Twilight is going to find out, one way or another. I wish Ditzy would understand that.”

“So are thou going to tell her? I advise against it, but I know how thine mind works….”

“I don’t know… for now, I will do what we planned, since I cannot be outright with her.”

“And having me have my guards wandering around Twilight’s kingdom in secret is alright with thou?”

“No… no, not at all….” Celestia draped her hooves on the railing. “Lying and sneaking behind her back pains me. But the fate of our world depends on their capture.”

“This would not be so tedious if the Alliance removed their heads from their posteriors.”

Celestia giggled. “What a bold statement to make.”

“I am only speaking the truth.”

There was a knock from Luna’s bed chambers that rang out. “Your Highness, may I enter? I’m trying to find Princess Celestia.”

“Enter.” Luna commanded. A moment later, a guard pushed the massive door open and trotted in. “Good evening, Your Highnesses.” The guard gave a curt bow and rose again. “Princess Celestia, I have a letter from Princess Twilight Sparkle for you.”

Celestia took the letter within her magical grasp. “Thank you.”

The guard gave another bow, and hurried out of the room. Celestia opened it and scanned over it.

“What did she say?” Luna asked.

“Exactly what I knew she would say.” Celestia replied. “She will be departing Ponyville tomorrow morning.”

“I’ll send out some of the Lunar Knights now. They can surround the castle until they leave. That’s when they’ll strike.”

“Then I shall leave it to you….”

Celestia turned away from her and started to walk.

“Sleep well, Sister. I guard you beneath the Moon’s glow.”

“And I guard you beneath the Sun’s blaze.” Celestia replied. “Goodnight Luna.”

Luna nodded and turned back to the view of the city, with a tiny smirk on her lips. Tonight was going to be busy for her.

And she was enjoying that.

                                                                                                     -MLP-

The train ride to Canterlot was a long one, and the girls took this opportunity to catch up, and properly introduce themselves to Vinyl.

“I still can’t believe I’m in a train car with the DJ PON-3!!” Dash exclaimed. “This is so awesome!!”

“And still I can’t believe I’m in the same train car as the multi-time saviors of Equestria! It’s truly an honor indeed!”

They bumped hooves, before Dash glared at Pinkie,

“Yo, Pinks, why didn’t you tell us you knew her?!”

“You never asked me!”

Dash rolled her eyes and pinched the bridge of her snout. Rarity scooted closer,

“I can’t help but notice your mane and tail color. Tell me, is that the actual color?”

Vinyl nodded, “Yes ma’am-”

“Oh my goodness, no!” Rarity batted her hoof on Vinyl’s shoulder, “We are almost the same age. ‘Ma’am’ isn’t necessary! Rarity works just fine, darling.”

Vinyl chuckled. “Sorry. It’s just, what do you call Equestria’s legendary heroines besides ‘Ma’am’?”

The alabaster mare giggled, “I just told you, dear. ‘Rarity’.”

Vinyl laughed and continued to chat between the other mares while Twilight rested her hoof on her chin, her eyes set on the scenery that raced by her. Pinkie looked over and noticed the far off look in her eyes. The Earth Pony leaned over to her. “Are you okay, Twi?”

Twilight sighed. “Kind of. Something bad is going to come from this, I just know it.”

Pinkie chuckled. “Twilight, don’t be such a worry wart! I’m sure there’s just… a misunderstanding or something.”

Twilight snapped her head in Pinkie’s direction and narrowed her eyes. “I have every right to be a worry wart right now.” Her voice had dropped down to a whisper. “You don’t get it, do you? There were lives involved. There were ponies who had been brutally murdered, and you were tearing through the streets while you were soaked in their blood!” She leaned even closer. “I believe you don’t know what happened, Pinkie. Really, I do. But to the rest of the city, and soon all of Equestria once the word spreads, I brought a murderer into my home.” She dropped her face into her hooves. “This isn’t a typical friendship problem, Pinkie… I could have started a war….”

Pinkie’s ears flattened against her head in shame. Just how much damage had she done?

‘You did enough damage to possible throw Equestria into chaos! I’m so proud of you!!’

Pinkie felt her heart drop to her stomach. She got up and left Twilight to sit alone, before joining Vinyl. The DJ looked over at her as she plopped down into the seat. “What’s up?”

“I messed up. Big time.” Pinkie whispered. “I killed the guards.”

“You told her that you didn’t!” Vinyl hissed. “Are you kidding me? That was a lie?”

“Yes and no….”

Vinyl pinched the bridge of her snout, “Pinkie….”

“What are you two whispering about over there?” Rarity chimed in. “Oooh, is it gossip about your intriguing night life?”

Vinyl waved her hoof dismissively. “Oh no, just… making a few plans, and we don’t want anypony to hear the details until we have everything together.” She rose to her hooves. “Hey, Pinkie, can I talk to you in the other cart? This next part is a major top quality secret.”

Pinkie nodded. “Yeah, sure!”

Vinyl turned and started to walk to the other cart. Pinkie looked back at her friends. “Can one of you come and grab us when we get there? Don’t know how long we’re going to be in here!”

Applejack raised a hoof. “Ah gotcha.”

Pinkie grinned at her, before following Vinyl to the other car. As soon as she shut the door, she turned to see an angry Vinyl mere inches from her face. “Pinkie, did you kill the guards?”

Pinkie rubbed her leg, “I… I think I did.”

“Pinkie!”

“But it wasn’t me! Twisted made me do it. She made me do horrible things to them….”

“What did she make you do?”

Pinkie opened her mouth to speak, but no words would come out. She had already shared her secret with Vinyl. And it turned out that she had something living inside of her, too. But, there was just no way that the thing that lived in Vinyl was as bad as the thing that lived inside of her.

“Pinkie… Pinkie, you have to trust me.”

Pinkie looked into Vinyl’s eyes, and saw the concern in them. It felt good just telling her about Twisted. Now, it was time to take another risk and tell her the truth. “She made me eat them.”

Vinyl’s eyes went wide, and her jaw went slack. Pinkie started to back away from her but Vinyl shot a foreleg out and wrapped it around Pinkie’s neck. “Where are you going?”

“Away from you!” Pinkie snapped. “I’m a monster… and I shouldn’t be here. I’m a danger to everypony around me….”

“Pinkie…” Vinyl spoke in a soft tone. “You forget… I’m a monster too….”

Pinkie bit her bottom lip, and she felt tears stinging at her eyes. She pulled Vinyl into a hug, and once again, the Unicorn felt the bone-crushing strength of an Earth Pony.

“Thank you… thank you for not judging me….”

“Pinkie, stop being a dope.” She pulled away from her. “Now… look. Twilight doesn’t know what really happened. You’re her friend, and she’s going to look out for you.” She looked her in the eyes. “And if you did it, it’s because Princess Celestia had them ready to attack you without a reason.”

“But Twilight is freaking out because of me!”

“Let her.” Vinyl calmly replied. “She’s one of the princesses. She’s got a lot on her plate with Ponyville growing into a full blown city.” She turned her head to one of the windows, noticing how the scenery had changed from rolling fields into decorated stone houses and small towers. “How long have we been on the tracks now?”

“A few hours.” Pinkie replied in a worried tone. “We’re probably close to Central Canterlot….”

As if on cue, there was a knocking on the cart door, before it was slid open and Applejack trotted inside. “We’re rollin’ up to the station, sugarcubes. Let’s go.”

Vinyl looked over at Pinkie with a small smile, “You’re going to be okay.” She whispered softly, before trotting past Applejack and joining the others in the other cart.

Applejack looked over at Pinkie. “Ya alright?”

Pinkie nodded. “Yeah, just a little nervous about what Princess Celestia is going to do to me and Vinyl.”

“Twilight’s gonna take care of ya.” Applejack stated reassuringly. “Let her do her thing, alright?”

Pinkie nodded slowly, before following Applejack and the others out of their cart. Central Canterlot was a bustling metropolis, with hundreds of ponies going about their busy schedules. The group’s gaze wandered up to the twin, towering spires of the Princess’ castle. Pinkie gulped, and Rarity placed a reassuring hoof on her shoulder. “Everything’s going to be alright, darling. We’re going to get this situation figured out soon enough.”

“Alright girls, put on your game faces.” Twilight stated. “We’re not here for cake and tea.”

The others nodded in agreement. With locked jaws and stoned faces, they walked up to the main entrance doors. Each side of the sidewalk was lined with armed guards, each who angled their staff in salutations to the princess and her council. Vinyl’s ear twitched as she listened in on a conversation between two guards they had passed.

“Who’s that white pony with the crazy mane?”

“She’s one of the ponies Princess Celestia wanted captured….”

“She’s still not as scary as Lady Pinkamena….”

“Yeah, I saw the pictures…how horrifying for somepony to do that.”

Vinyl frowned at the whispers. This wasn’t Pinkie’s fault, and they shouldn’t be talking about her like this. For her sake, she hoped that Princess Twilight knew what she was doing. The gates slowly opened and welcomed them in. Applejack and Dash herded Pinkie and Vinyl between them, so that they were protected within their circle. Pinkie looked around her. All of the guards were eyeballing her and Vinyl. Some with hatred, and some with fear. Her ears folded a bit as they were circled by guards. A particular large smoky Unicorn stallion stood in between them and the door.

“Good afternoon, Princess Twilight and her Council.”

“Good afternoon, General Mist. Could you please step aside?”

“I’m sorry, but I cannot let you past these doors with Miss Pinkamena and Vinyl Scratch.”

Twilight arched a brow. “Why not? Pinkie is part of the Council, and Vinyl Scratch is one of her guests.”

“With all due respect, they are under investigation for murder of the Sun Princess’ personal guards. Until they are proven innocent, they will not be allowed into the Princesses’ main chamber. I am already being lenient by allowing them to step within the castle walls.”

Dash snorted angrily, “Excuse me? Who do you think you are?”

“I think I am one of Princess Celestia’s generals. My job is to protect her from everypony, including you, and your princess.”

Twilight took a couple steps forward, “I’m not leaving until I speak with Celestia, and I’m not going in there without Pinkie and Vinyl.”

“I’m sorry to hear you say that, Princess. You’re going to be here a while then.”

“General Mist, stand down.” Celestia’s gentle voice commanded as the main chamber doors opened. She slowly walked between them, and the guards parted to let her through. She stopped in front of the group. “Good afternoon, girls. It’s a pleasure to see you.” She smiled at them softly, “Come in… I’m sure you have many questions.”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed a bit, “You’re absolutely correct about that, Princess.”

Celestia turned away from her. “General, have your stallions line all the doors leading into the main chamber and don’t let anypony in. I don’t want to have anypony interrupting us, please.”

Mist saluted her. “Yes, Your Highness.” There was a muffled sound of hooves landing as Luna appeared. The guards snapped to attention as she walked down the lavish carpet that cut floor in two. “Good afternoon, Princess.” Mist greeted. “It’s very late for you to be awake. Shouldn’t you be resting?”

“Sleep can be very helpful, but in this case, it is a debilitating crutch.” Luna stated in a curt tone. “Now, stand aside. I will not let Celestia hold this meeting alone.”

She walked past him, remaining stone-faced as she did so. Twilight studied the expression, and her body language, as the princess of the night walked past all of them, including her own sister, without saying anything. Celestia magicked the doors shut and promptly made her way over to the lone table that stood in the middle of the vast room. She sat down and gave the group a friendly smile. “Please join me.”

The others wordlessly pulled out their chairs and sat down. For a few minutes, they sat in awkward silence, with the occasional nervous cough to break it. Twilight finally let out a tired sigh. “Why’d you do it?”

Celestia turned her gaze to her, “I’m sorry?”

“Why did you send your guards to arrest Pinkie and Vinyl?” Twilight asked with a trace of anger lacing her voice.

“Pinkamena and Vinyl Scratch are dangerous.” Luna interjected. “They have killed security guards within Ponyville. Murder, a crime that is nearly unheard of happening in these times, must be dealt with swiftly, and thou were doing nothing about it.”

“I hadn’t even been aware of what happened until Pinkie showed up at the castle. Ponyville has a judicial system, that while it is still evolving every day, is capable of handling most of the crimes within the city. Besides, you had guards already within my borders before the murders. And not just any guards,” she pointed a hoof at Celestia. “Your personal guards.” She leaned in. “No, something else is going on here, so why don’t you just tell me the truth.”

“Luna and I are telling you the truth. Pinkie Pie and Vinyl are incredibly dangerous.”

“But how? Why? What makes them so dangerous?” Pinkamina

Luna pointed an accusing hoof at Pinkie, “Why don’t you ask her? She’s the one who ripped my sister’s personal guards to shreds!”

Pinkie cringed, “I didn’t do anything to them, I swear!”

“Lies!” Luna snapped. “Nopony could create the horrors thoust had made and continue existing with that weight on their shoulders!”

Applejack tilted her hat up and leaned forward, “Princess, with all due respect, I don’t appreciate you slanderin’ Pinkie’s innocence! It ain’t right!”

“Pinkie Pie,” Celestia started. “You and Vinyl are dangerous ponies. Your friends do not believe that. But my sister and I; we know the truth. We know you know what you two are as well.” She rose from her seat. “Do I blame you for being afraid? Of course not. With such… horrifying power flowing through you, who wouldn’t be? Please, turn yourselves over to the Canterlotian government and we will help you.”

“Forgive my intrusion, Your Majesty, but I never did anything, and your guards still came for me.” Vinyl spoke up. “I’m no monster… and I’m not dangerous.”

“Yeah, the only thing that makes Vinyl dangerous, is that you pass out from dancing too hard to her sick beats.” Dash pointed out. Vinyl couldn’t help but smile at the compliment.

“As I stated before, you’re dangerous, and you know it. I wanted you here, within our castle walls, where we could help you, before you hurt somepony.”

“You still broke international law, Princess Celestia.” Rarity stated. “Twilight’s response may not have been as uh… civil, as it could have been, but you had your troops within her land, without her permission, or her knowing. In fact, none of us had this brought to our attention, and we’re her council.”

“What we’re doing is bigger than what you can even comprehend.” Celestia replied cryptically.

“Is it?” Twilight leaned forward, “Try me. I would like to believe that my friends and I are more than capable of understanding a situation if you would actually take the time to explain it to us.”

Celestia looked over at her sister and was met with a hardened gaze. Luna slowly shook her head. “Don’t.” She warned. “Don’t say anything. It is not your place.”

“What’s not her place?” Dash asked. “What’s going on?”

“Look, this is bigger than all of us.” Celestia calmly stated. She pointed at Pinkie and Vinyl. “Their capture; could save millions of lives.”

“Or we could be sending them to their graves, and a bunch of ponies die either way.” Dash retorted.

“You didn’t answer Dash’s question. Or mine, for that matter.” Twilight pointed out.

“It’s because they’re lyin’.” Applejack snapped. “Ah don’t what part of that was truth. Shit, they’re might not have been a lick of truth in it. All ah know, is that mah Element is screamin’ at me.”

The others looked at her, before turning back to Celestia and Luna,

“I think…I think that I’m speaking for the others, when I say that it’s best that we discuss this on our own.” Fluttershy stated. “Such a matter can’t be solved within a few minutes.”

The others nodded in agreement before rising from the table. They turned and headed for the doors but stopped once they noticed the golden glow that covered the door handles as they neared them. They all looked back at the princesses.

“I hope you aren’t planning to try and keep us here against our will.” Twilight stated in an eerily calm tone. “False imprisonment of Royalty and any Council members is more than enough for my Head Ambassador to warrant an extremely thorough investigation by the Sunset Squad.”

There were a few moments of tense silence, before Celestia gave her a gentle smile. “You forgot to say goodbye. It’s very rude of a Princess to not do so.”

Twilight gave her a plastic smile, “Of course, my apologies. I can’t believe it slipped my mind.” She gave the princesses a curt nod. “You ladies have a good afternoon. I will send you another letter of arrival, after we have discussed what we will do with Pinkie and Vinyl Scratch.”

The door handles lost their golden hue, and were replaced with a lavender one, as Twilight opened the doors to let herself and her friends out. Luna looked over at Celestia. “The Sunset Squad wouldn’t be able to make it here before we had them deep below the castle.”

Celestia let out a sigh before resting her chin in her hooves. “That would be true, if they weren’t already right outside the castle walls.”

Luna rose to her hooves, “What?! Thou knew of this and said nothing? How could this be? I didn’t feel their magic at all.”

“How do you even know what their magical aura looks like? We’ve never seen them.” She pushed back from the table and rose to her hooves. “No, I didn’t feel their magic per say. But… I felt, a distortion of magic. Something that just didn’t sit right.”

“I had only assumed that Discord was somewhere near the castle. Perhaps keeping an eye out if Fluttershy were to come under harm. Thoust know he has a tender spot somewhere deep within the stony confounds of his heart when it comes to that mare.”

“I wish it had been him. Sadly, it was not.” She started a slow walk towards the doors, “Come, sister. We have to report back to the Alliance.”

“They shall not be happy with the results of our meeting.” Luna spoke with dread in her voice. “And their patience with our realm is already wavering greatly…"

                                                                                                     -MLP-

“Silk… what the fuck are we doing?”

Silk’s ears perked up. She tilted her head in the Gasconade’s direction. “What are you talking about? We are waiting for Vinyl and Pinkie to awaken.”

Gasconade scoffed, “They’re taking way too long. It could be years before they wake up. Shit, they may never actually awaken.”

Silk let out a chuckle, “Oh, dear brother… you’re so negative.” She leaned her head against his feathery shoulder, “They’ll wake up soon. They just need a little… motivation.”

Gasconade raised a brow. “Do you have any ideas in mind?”

“Of course I do. Such a problem will be dealt with for us. For now, you and I will simply observe this situation, and wait for Father’s next command.” She backed away further into the shadows, before bumping into something large. It gave off sinister magic, though that did nothing to deter the smile appearing on Silk’s face. “Torpor, my loving, sleepy brother. How do you do?”

“You called for me…” he leaned down, and his eyes leveled themselves with hers, “What is it?...”

Silk reached up and caressed the hidden monster’s face, “I need you to go and acquire our dearest Pinkie or Vinyl. I don’t care which one you bring back, but if you’re able to grab both, that would be lovely. I can’t get through to our dragon with them wandering around all confused.” She patted his cheek. “Be a dear, and take care of that immediately.”

“Okay….” Torpor grumbled before rising back up. He lumbered back into the shadows, his thudding fading as he got further away from them. Gasconade looked back at Silk. “You really trust that bumbling fool to take care of your task?”

“You really do not give our dear brother credit where credit is due.” Silk replied. “After all… he’s probably the strongest one out of all of us.”

                                                                                                     -MLP-

“We can’t give Pinkie or Vinyl up.” Dash stated. “I don’t care if she was the Princess of the whole freakin’ planet, she can’t just storm in here on our turf, and try to kidnap ponies!”

“Why are we even havin’ this talk?” Applejack questioned. “We ain’t givin’ neither of ‘em up.”

“Then… we need to be ready for war….” Fluttershy stated softly. “Are we prepared for such a course of action?”

“We will have to be.” Rarity replied before looking over at Twilight, “Should I get with Spike to start adding extra guard posts along the rings? Perhaps more security detail around the castle as well-”

“That won’t be necessary.” Twilight cut her off. “For me at least. I will give the order for more security detail to be posted at your homes. As before, Pinkie and Vinyl will be staying here, where I can protect them.”

“You…cannot...protect…them….”

They all froze as a chill raced up their spines from the source of the voice.

“Th-that voice….” Rarity stammered out. “I’ve heard it… before. That’s the one…that killed the guard at the prison…”

The air grew deathly still. A gentle, rhythmic thud began, and all eyes focused on a massive manticore that stepped from the shadows. For a moment, none of them moved. Twilight slowly rose out of her chair. “Who…are you?”

“I am Torpor….” The manticore slowly responded.

Dash rose to her hooves. “I couldn’t give a damn what your name is. Why are you here?!”

“I come for…Pinkie and Vinyl….”