Apple Bloom finally brought herself to a halt, clutching her chest and panting heavily; in her haste to escape Ponyville, she hadn't paid much heed to the direction of her flight, and now she was unsure as to where she had ended up. Forlorn orange eyes took in a bizarre vista of gnarled trees and oddly-coloured flora shrouded in mist. It was like no place she had ever seen before in her young life, but despite its abnormality she felt little in the way of fear. Thoughts of her brave sister, the few slivers of memory she retained of her parents, spurred her onwards. Resettling her faded pink bow atop her head, she resolved that, whatever was out here, she would face it as tenaciously as they had.

“How did your first day of teaching go?” asked Sweetie Belle, planting a small kiss on her husband's cheek when he returned home.

“Ugh,” Spike said disgustedly, “if I'd known that it would be like this, I'd probably have turned Celestia's offer down.”

“That bad, huh?” Sweetie Belle smiled sympathetically, hugging the dragon tightly.

“They're just kids, I know, but … all they ask is about the Elements of Harmony. What was Twilight like before she became a princess? Can you get Captain Rainbow Dash to come to my birthday party? Did you ever get anywhere with Rarity?” He looked a little sheepish at that last one, but Sweetie Belle only chuckled.

“Are you jealous?”

“... maybe a little,” Spike said, feeling a surge of shame. “Nopony ever wants to know about my adventures. I feel a bit left out.”

“I think we have to regard this experiment as a failure,” Princess Celestia said, her magenta eyes regarding the huge, furry orb that had taken shape in the skies above Equestria with interest. “Still, I have to commend you on your ingenious solution to a problem that should not have existed, Twilight.”

Twilight reddened slightly; the whole thing had gotten out of hoof relatively quickly, and the only way to save the planet from the rapidly-multiplying cannibalistic guinea pigs had been to launch them into space. There, their mass had been enough to form its own gravitational pull, creating a second moon. They would continue to grow until they collapsed into a quantum singularity, thus erasing the problem.

“Still,” Celestia added, “we'll need a princess to raise and lower this monstrosity each day.”

“Not it,” Twilight and Luna said at the same time.

In the background, Cadance made a huffy noise.

“You were late returning this book, weren't you, you naughty pony?” Twilight said, scolding the shy yellow pegasus cowering before her.

“I'm sorry,” she said, stammering the words out. “Are you going to punish me?”

“I'm afraid I'm going to have to,” replied Twilight, putting a note of false sadness into her voice while levitating the book in her magical grasp and using it to swat the pegasus' flank several times until it was red. She didn't want to do this, but standards had to be maintained. “Have you learned your lesson now?”

“Yes, Twilight, I have,” said the pegasus, whimpering slightly.

“Good.”

“One of these days, we're going to have to have a talk about your weird sexual fantasies, dear,” said Princess Celestia, removing her Fluttershy costume.

“Like you're one to talk,” Vinyl Scratch said, removing her Twilight Sparkle costume.

“Um, Spike, you're going to have to explain this one to me,” Twilight said, holding the book written by her baby dragon assistant in her magical grasp.

“Well, it's a romantic story about a dashing dragon adventurer who sets out to rescue a fair unicorn maiden from the clutches of an evil villain,” replied Spike.

“But … the title? What made you … choose that?”

“What's wrong with it?” asked Spike, cocking his head to one side. “It's a description of the monster holding the maiden captive. Rarity's favourite author-” just for a moment, his expression soured “-always uses punning titles, so I thought I'd do the same.”

“But … Rarity's Big Furry Pussy?” Twilight said, her eyes practically bulging out of her head.

“The monster is a giant persian cat.”

Twilight's hoof went to her face.

Shining Armour strolled the castle's hallways, letting out a contented sigh as he did so; everything was running smoothly in the Crystal Empire, the ponies were happy, and his perfect wife was working on their first child. Everything that could possibly be perfect was perfect.

Why, then, do I still feel this cloud of unease hanging over my head?

Shrugging, he continued on his way; he supposed that a ruler would have to get used to feeling this way, never one hundred percent satisfied that everything was, in fact, fine.

Maybe that's how it starts? Sombra, Discord, Tirek … they never felt truly happy with how things were and wanted more. Maybe, as bizarre as it sounds, they felt like they had a just reason for what they did.

At home, he found Cadance asleep and he stroked her swollen belly. “I promise, little one, that you will be truly happy. No matter what it takes," he said, his eyes flashing darkly for a moment.

Rainbow Dash's eyes cerise eyes flicked to Pinkie Pie, then to the enormous stack of cards piled up in front of her. “Point of order,” the pegasus said, knowing that introducing this particular card game to her friends had been a mistake. “I think we should call this quits.”

“Why?” asked Twilight Sparkle; despite the fact that the game's rules seemed almost entirely arbitrary, she'd actually been having fun learning the nuances that came with it.

“Because,” said Rainbow Dash, stroking the back of her mane, “Pinkie Pie is sitting there with 1,574 cards. I don't think there are any more decks left in Ponyville for us to continue, never mind the library.”

“I'm sorry,” said Pinkie Pie, “but I just can't not talk. I mean, I feel like my head's going to burst whenever I'm quiet for too long.”

This cave opening was unfamiliar to Maud Pie; it had apparently sprung into existence overnight, and just the faintest expression of curiosity shaded her muzzle before she got her features back under control. The glittering blue crystals were aesthetically pleasant, and she regarded them with a faint smile as she plunged deeper inside. She found a charcoal grey stallion with a curving red horn at the end of it. “King Sombra,” Maud said, her voice free of inflection as she identified the former ruler of the Crystal Empire.

“Help me,” he said weakly, struggling to stand.

Maud knew that she should alert the authorities, but something in the way he'd asked for help … he sounded sincere. “You won't hurt my family if I take you to our farm?”

“You have my word,” Sombra replied, his red eyes studying Maud's form.

Princess Celestia strolled the gardens of Canterlot Castle, the grim expression on her muzzle and shoulders slumped at an awkward angle told the story of yet another sleepless night; without having made any conscious decision to do so, her hooves brought her to the statue of Discord. Most were uneasy about it, but Celestia wanted to keep a close eye on him.

Especially …

Her eyes drifted back to the castle; one light, of course, still shone. Star Swirl, working late into the night, perfecting the many spells that he had created. One always eluded him, but he was determined to crack it.

Celestia sighed. He had to be aware, on some level, of the connection. She'd wanted to bring it up many times, but … what would it do to him to know? That a sliver of Discord's soul had escaped before the Elements had completed their work and was infesting him?

That it was that sliver that gave him his power.

That it was that sliver that she was truly in love with.

Slowly, she made her way back to the castle, wondering where the sliver would go when Star Swirl finally died.