Another day of sunshine and rainbows washed across the land of Equestria as several creatures walked through the crystalline halls of the Friendship Castle as it had been dubbed by a few townsponies. It had been a trying week after the latest attempts from Queen Chrysalis to conquer Equestria by swapping the preeminent leaders of the nation with changeling infiltrators. Luckily, thanks to a timely warning from Princess Luna to Starlight Glimmer led to the creation of unlikely friendships which triumphed over the evil plan everyone had been enveloped in. With mild reluctance she led a group consisting of Discord, Lord of Chaos and Disharmony, the ‘Great and Powerful’ Trixie, and the Crystal Changeling, Thorax, into the depths of the Changeling Hive to free the captives within. With a little luck and the literal power of love Thorax changed the fate of changelings everywhere usurping the throne after metamorphosing into a new form.

“I can’t believe that all happened just a few days ago. I’m so proud of you Starlight you’re friendship lessons really saved the day,” Twilight spoke aloud as the group sat around the map meeting over the time they spent captured.

With a little magic Twilight and Discord had created some chairs for Starlight and him to sit at the map table.

“Ah’ll say. Those varmints musta had us dead ta rights trapped in their fancy-schmancy goop prisons. Must ah gotten me in my sleep, I reckon.” Applejack spoke up as she readjusted her stetson a bit to keep the brim out of her eyes.

“They just couldn’t handle my awesome skills. Of course they’d be so lame to get me when I sleep. One Sonic Rainboom and I’d have them reeling and screaming back to their mamas for messing with the Rainbow ‘Danger’ Dash.” Her proud tone broke out next as she lightly hovered above her chair in a small display of hoof fighting skills.

“If you say so Rainbow… I was just so tense when we finally were free. Thankfully the changeling who impersonated me fed my animals while we were trapped. Thanks Starlight I’m glad you’re such a good friend and went out of your way to save us. Not that I thought you wouldn’t of course,” Fluttershy managed to chime in as a blush adorned her demure smile which beamed true elation in her and Discord’s direction. “I’m proud of you especially Disord. You made friends and became a hero in your own right.”

“ I’ll say darling. All four of you managed to save all of Equestria and me from the horrible fate of having that icky, mucky goop matted down illustrious coat. Three spa treatments and I still don’t feel that it was enough to wash away that ghastly affair from my mind. Still, I’m glad to have you all back.” Rarity puffed up from her words with a simple flair of her mane while her eyes shined in pure bliss.

“I can’t wait to throw you guys a party of celebrating our celebration when you saved us plus the afterparty to celebrate how happy we are with you guys. Still it makes you wonder what the changelings would eat for an appetizer since we are all friends now. Oh, maybe Cadance can help me put more love into my cupcakes. We’ll call them lovecakes…, romanticups, no that doesn’t sound right. I’ll figure it out later so we can have a super fantabulous day. Maybe the writer will figure out a better name before we grow old.” Pinkie blared out as she bounced in her seat in perfect tempo with the tapping claws of a young dragon nearby.

“That might have to wait for a while Pinkie. When I last talked to Thorax he told me that they would be working for a while to make their hive more palatable for ponies so they could jump start their new city and be recognized as a true nation. They already set up diplomatic ties with the Crystal Empire and are in a joint project building up their new homes. Oh that reminds me, Princess Celestia want me to work as a liaison for them to smooth out any hard feelings that might remain between the two nations.” Spike gloated slightly yet kept some of the smugness out of his voice. He’d rather not turn into Rainbow Dash. That battle of egos could go on for days. “Also they want you to come along Starlight and Discord.”

While Discord just did a mock bow the smile on his face was anything but humble. Starlight seemed stunned instead. She pointed her hoof towards herself before mouthing out the words ‘me’.

“Yeah you. They recognize Discord as a hero and you as a savior for leading them down a better path.” Spike chuckled lightly.

“I really didn’t do much Spike. I just spoke from the heart about everything I’ve learned through my time with you all. They shouldn’t have suffered like that just because they eat differently than any other creature in Equestria. Besides Thorax did all the hard work in the end.” Starlight looked away unsure how to handle being so well liked by all the new and improved changelings. The smile on her face didn’t fade for even a second.

“Oh come now Starlight. Take a chance and enjoy yourself now. This is the perfect time to relax and live a little,” Discord immediately snapped his fingers and in a flash of light she fell onto a small hammock with a small umbrella drink in her hoof while a Discord dressed in hula attire was fanning her with a large leaf, “Think of it as a lesson in friendship and a chance to go wild.” With another snap of his fingers she returned to her chair as more umbrella drinks appeared for everypony before Fluttershy could say anything.

Fluttershy sighed in relief since Discord had been much more open lately about being good to others other than her. It seemed to be doing a good job as well since even Applejack smiled appreciatively as the gesture and drank with the rest of her friends. Weh she looked closed though one particular pony didn’t seem to be smiling much. Their fearless princess was slightly frowning but did well enough to hide it from everypony else. She didn’t want to bring it up in case it would embarrass yet if she didn’t then it would harm Twilight for a long time and she might not bring it up at all. With a little courage she could keep her from frowning and was about to speak up when Twilight spoke first.

“Um...How long would you guys be gone though Spike?” Twilight looked towards the two other roommates she shared the castle with. A false smile was on her face but to every mare around the table it was obvious how much worry was bursting through her eyes.

The castle was nice but it wasn’t a real home without the three of them together. It was something that each of them had found out whenever business forced them to separate for an inordinate amount of time. Still… She would be supportive regardless of whatever was said because she was a tough enough mare to handle it.

“Three days at least Twi. We did set the groundwork already after our last visit to the Crystal Empire when we met Thorax.” Spike looked over at the nervous alicorn until a genuine smile crossed her muzzle.

“That does sound like fun…” A small utterance came from Starlight hidden beneath a somewhat confident smile.

“It should be fine then Spike. When do they expect you?” Twilight asked a bit quickly so she could start scheduling everything in advance including his could be diplomatic ventures.

“In three weeks. They want to make the place a bit cleaner before then. Plus I know how you would react if I told you right before it happened.” Spike answered.

“That’s quite a ways away darling. Was now really the best time to mention that?” Rarity stared quizzically as she took a sip from her drink sighing in appreciation at the flavor chosen for her.

“Ah reckon it’s for Twi’s benefit so she don’t get all worked up from a sudden shift in her schedules.” Applejack brusquely stated leveling her eyes at Twilight apologetically. “No offense Twi. Ah just have seen ya all worked up before and it ain’t pretty.”

“I’ll say. Some of those breakdowns put my chaotic dealings to shame even. We so should compare notes since you never know when a little chaos could bring others closer together. A new perspective truly can get the creative juices flowing.” Discord held out his paw as a pitcher in the shape of Twilight’s head appeared. The drink inside seemed to be flowing with the words idea floating through it which he drank the pitcher up. After the act it elicited a grimace from most of the mares around the table while Fluttershy and Spike tittered around in joyous mirth at his antics.

“Hey! I’m not that bad…” She sheepishly hid the guilty smile and blush that covered her muzzle. Everyone else broke out into a small laugh which brought Twilight into a giggle fit. The laughter slowly faded out as a serious look appeared on Fluttershy’s face.

“Still we should be careful everypony. Chrysalis is still out there...She-she seemed really angry with all of us.” Fluttershy soon hid her eyes behind her mane. Her frankness did fully break the laughing streak as she muttered out her apologies.

“Don’t worry about it Fluttershy. Me and AJ can just take the fight to her and stop her before she even knows what hit her.” Rainbow patted the shivering pegasus calming her from the sudden thoughts that plagued her mind.

“Yeah Flutters. I got my party cannon specially ready to go. Or at least that’s what my script says.” She quickly pushed the script back into her mane leading to several perplexed stares and the guffawing of an excited draconequus.

Twilight smiled warmly at all her friends. Contentment flowed out of the room leaving behind a true aura of harmony. Each one radiated a certain energy of either joy or laughter. This was truly a perfect Tuesday unlike all the others.

“So what should we do for today everypony? We’ve had a stressful week and we really deserve a chance to relax. Oh I even have some idea note cards we could look through and pick the best activity we could all enjoy.” She giddily gathered up a small stack of index cards in her telekinetic aura causing a few groans to sound out due to an incident with a chessboard.

“Let’s just play this by ear Twi.” Spike gathered the cards setting them aside while patting her side comfortingly. Better to him to keep her away from her comfort zone so she could have natural fun rather than planned fun at least this once.

Twilight grumbled noticeably but kept her comments silent. The laughter at the scene soon subsided when the map activated of its own accord. All six cutie marks lit up on their respective flanks and the holographic representation as Twilight called it appeared over the map. The six marks circled the entire map while all six mares looked on expectantly at what their next friendship lesson would be and where it would occur. That was when another cutie mark lit up and a seventh mark appeared with the rest of the group.

“WHAT!” Six mares all screamed out as Starlight’s cutie mark appeared along with the rest of the marks.

“Th-that was unexpected…” Starlight’s eyes widened in shock as her eyes fell to her cutie mark which was indeed glowing and pulsing like the mark represented on the map.

“Things are getting exciting now aren’t they Glimmer?” Discord bumped her side with his elbow in a friendly enough manner. The teasing didn’t help the small anxiety which was popping up from being responsible for teaching friendship lessons now.

The marks above the map circled the map even faster than before contracting into smaller circles before settling on the Friendship Castle. Confusion spread out amongst everypony involved since they were already inside the castle. The map started to lose the image before shutting off almost instantly. All that was left was a trail of anxiety.

“What the hay was all that about? Is this thing broken?” Dash landed and tapped the map with her hoof.

“Oh I hope not. That would be bad for any new friends we might meet.” Fluttershy managed to squeak out as she rubbed the map in a soothing motion.

“Spike, send a message to the Princess about this. Hm...Discord can you do anything about this?” Twilight looked down at the map scanning it over with her magic while the draconequus floated around the map.

“Hm… No can do Princess. Also no that’s not me being uncooperative or rude. This particular artifact was created using the very origin of harmony to keep track over all of Equestria and beyond. As a being of chaos and disharmony if I push any magic into it I might cause a cascade event across the entire world.” Discord kept a wary eye on the map table for some reason. The fur on the back of his neck was bristling wildly.

“Whatever do you mean by that? Will this make me sweat? That would be the. Worst. Possible. Thing. EVER!” Rarity shrieked out while Discord curled his eyebrows in amusement and annoyance.

“It’s a bit worse that sweat of course. It would create a shockwave that would destroy the very fabric of the space-time continuum and turn everything you thought you knew into a new thing to the point that your existence would be all for naught. Though you are right in a sense. It would be the worst possible thing ever.” He stated with a small flair of his griffon claw.

“Now no need to be rude darling.” Rarity spoke with a small while.

“Apologies… Something is driving me on edge here.” Discord murmured.

That instantly brought all attention on him. He rarely apologized for his actions unless it was important. Each girl glanced at each other before focusing back at him. Spike, meanwhile, finished the letter and sent it off to Celestia.

“Maybe we should get out of this room Twi. We could wait for the princesses in the next r-” Spike was unable to finish his sentence as a message appeared from his flame breath. Twilight unscrolled the message seeing only a few words scrawled on it.

We are on our way.

“Let’s head over to the kitchen everypony. The princesses will be coming to help out. We are already where the friendship problem is so now we just need to figure out what is wrong.” Twilight ushered everypony out of the room until only Spike, Discord and her were left in the map room. With some prodding from Spike, Discord finally moved out of the room as well. Twilight was the last one out leaving a worried glance at the map before she left the room. When she left the room a small section of the map began opening up to reveal two small pulsing spheres of energy rising out of the hole.

The two spheres gravitated over the table keeping equidistant from each other. A few moments later the sound of crackling energy filled the room as two eyes opened up, one on each sphere. The one of the left shined in a bright white light like the box of harmony while its glowing blue eye stared down at the map. The one on the right was a swirling mass of darkness but was smaller than the bright sphere, It’s red eye glared out at where Discord had stood. It has been slowly syphoning a munitae of his chaos magic without him fully noticing what was wrong. The bright sphere watched in amusement as it finished absorbing the magic from the map and root system.

The skittering sounds from the dark sphere caused the bright sphere to pay attention. With a slight bob they disappeared back into the map repairing the damage they caused while they waited for the creatures to return. Magic was essential.

With a flash of golden and blue light two regal figures stood outside the castle. Another burst of pink light soon followed as another regal figure joined the two with a quick hug before regaining her poise.

“Sorry for taking so long Aunt Luna, Aunt Celestia. I needed to get Flurry Heart ready to stay with Shiny and Sunburst when you sent me that letter, Though I’ll admit I don’t really know much about what the problem was,” Cadance sauntered back to face the two.

“Worry not Cadance. Honestly Spike only gave us a small message that the map wasn’t working and that Alicorn magic might be needed to fully check it out. Lulu and I just wish to be cautious about these things before they get out of hand.” Celestia closed her eyes releasing a warm smile. As she sat down Luna followed the action as did Cadance.

“Tarry not sister, Tis something far beyond the machinations of any creature we know; to do something so foul as to mess with the very foundations of harmony. Harmony should not falter through random happenstance and more than likely something is causing this.” Luna spoke even with the small trepidation pour out of her voice.

“Hiya Princesses!” A sudden pink blur appeared in the middle of the three causing Luna and Cadance to fall on their backs while Celestia’s eyes widened in shock. He quickly found her voice while Luna and Cadance got over the sudden shock.

“Hello Pinkie Pie. I see you came out as our welcoming committee. Lead us to Twilight, if you please.” Celestia managed to voice out with a measure of professionalism while the other two recomposed themselves enough to walk with the others. They followed after the bouncy pink pony into the dining room where everypony was currently sitting around the dining table. The draconequus in the room kept floating around haphazardly while he kept his eyes locked on his lion paw.

“Hello Princesses.” A hail of chorused greetings encompassed the halls as all mares and the single dragon gave a graceful bow. Discord kept quiet, merely contemplating something with a neutral grimace plastered on his face.

“Rise my little ponies. You don’t need to be so formal with me.” As everypony rose back up she noted that Discord hadn’t spoken or even attempted to create a little chaos at the moment. Celestia didn’t glare at him for his rudeness in demeanor since this was commonplace for him to do something far different for each greeting. A somber expression grew across her muzzle while concern etched its way onto every other pony’s face.

The others slowly glanced up after Twilight and Cadance finished their ladybug greeting with a little shake. Discord was staring at his paw concentrating on its center as he lazily floated around. Luna was the bravest one and coughed slightly to get his attention.

“Discord.” Luna piped up.

“Hm… Oh right. Hello Sunbutt, Moonbutt and Pink Heart.” He said a little flatly staring back at his palm while waving his claw at the princesses.

While it was a common greeting everypony noticed how overly distracted Discord truly was with the situation at hand. They quietly ignored it in case it was a prank but with the looks that Fluttershy and Starlight had everypony knew something was wrong. Twilight lightly coughed to regain everypony’s attention.

“Princess if you’ll follow me I’ll show you what happened to the map. Or at least what possibly could have happened to it.. Twilight lifted her hoof leading the princesses to the map room. The regal gesture was not lost on the princesses and they each kept their quiet chuckling to themselves.

Everypony left back towards the map room following behind the princesses except for Spike. While it was still hectic thanks to guys night Discord had become one of his friends and stayed behind. Curiosity stayed in the back of his mind while Discord landed still staring at the center of his paw. Something was wrong and while everyone knew that there was everypony was either worried it was a prank or that they would be overstepping their boundaries. Fluttershy probably would be too scared to ask as well though she had gotten better about it.

“Everything okay, dude?” Spike stared inquisitively at the strangely quiet draconequus.

“Yeah… at least I think so. Maybe not. Something is weird though. Some of my chaos magic is missing. Some of my more powerful abilities have also been clouded over and I can’t see those strings of fate I usually see over every being in the universe either. It’s interesting that something is trying to mess with me, the Lord of Chaos and Disharmony.” Discord flared his arms out in a certain blue unicorn’s particular greeting to a crowd during a show. A large sign reading ‘LORD OF CHAOS AND DISHARMONY’ appeared in a fizzling of sparks behind him before fading out of sight a little too quickly. Discord furrowed his brow in dissatisfaction.

“Shouldn’t we tell the others about this then? I mean, at least, we should tell Fluttershy. Right?” Spike croaked out. He knew telling her was a more acceptable plan to Discord rather than letting the princesses know that he was vulnerable at the moment.

“No. She would worry too much and it doesn’t seem too important right now. Besides any plan with chaotic variables do not mix. At all.” Discord chuckled maliciously. While it did sound like Discord was in control of the situation Spike saw that his eyes betrayed him. Uncertainty was the only thing reflected in his eyes and Spike could only sense the crawling dread draping itself across his back.

Spike quickly picked a few gemstones to munch on before getting Discord to join him with the others. While they were still working on their friendship they at least transformed it from antagonistic acquaintances to decent friends. A short walk later they joined the others, The four alicorn princesses began to scan the entire map with their magic while Rarity and Starlight syphoned their magic to help as well. The extra magic allowed the magic to scan deeper into the map. The light soon faded leaving four very confused alicorns lost in their thoughts.

“Now this is truly strange isn’t it. The map has no ambient magical signatures imbued with it. Lulu where have we seen this before? It feels oddly familiar but at the same time different.” Celestia titled her head uncertain.

“Verily. We… I mean, I believe it’s like the throne Chrysalis had but its not draining our magic. It feels more similar to the spells Sombra once used but I can not place my hoof on it.” Luna looked closer at the map noticing that the crystal table had lost its lustrous shine it once had.

“I agree that this does feel like something Sombra would do but the crystal heart already dealt with the shadows. Perhaps someone else knows the spells he knew. There are too many unknowns right now and this table has unfortunately lost its magic.” Cadance piped in while glancing towards each of the elder alicorn princesses. Her eyes settled on Twilight when she finished speaking.

“There are too few clues to make a reasonable hyp-” She was cut off when the map cracked completely leaving the crystal looking like a dance floor Twilight had just gotten through with. Everyone in the room gasped in shock when two spheres rose up from the center of the table.

No one moved an inch as the spheres stayed floating in place. One pulsed a bright white glow while the other pulsed in a dark black glow strangely enough. Twilight felt her inquisitive nature want to take over until Pinkie Pie stopped her. Her knees were feeling pinchy. Applejack and Rainbow Dash stepped forward staying in front of Fluttershy, Rarity, and Starlight. The other princesses regrouped together while Discord and Spike split up. Discord stood with Celestia, Luna, and Cadance. Spike got close to Twilight staying by her side.

The spheres began to pulse more growing in size. Twilight and Starlight created a conjoined shield while Celestia and Luna did the same. The two spheres stared at the royal sisters before shooting out a beam of combined magic cracking the shield completely. The dark sphere shot out immediately grabbing Discord and dragging him over to an empty portion of the room. Screaming followed soon after as Fluttershy rushed forward to Discord only to be stopped by another shield created by the bright sphere.

“Twilight we have to do something!” Fluttershy shrieked out as all ponies present attacked the shield relentlessly. Pinkie even brought out her special party cannon only for the ammo she shot out to roll harmlessly off the shield. Horns kept flashing as magic beams of light were deflected by the shield. Hooves bounced off the shield as well. Discord for his part didn’t stay down. Even though his magic felt weaker he kept attacking the sphere with his claws and tail.

The dark sphere didn’t stand down either slamming Discord against the ground breaking the floor in the process partially leaving a crater. A red teeth lined jaw opened up soon after as a trail of plaid colored magic was forcefully drained by the dark sphere. Discord attempted one more one more attack only for the bright sphere and dark sphere to grab Discord with the magic and tossed him into Celestia and Luna. The two spheres returned to the cracked table ignoring the mares who tried to keep attacking them through their shield. The soon started circling the table again keeping their now opened eye trained on the room.

“Ergh… Discord, are you ok?” Celestia brushed her wingtip against his face rousing him from his pain.

“Celestia, when you see the cart that hit me… tell them to go buck themselves to Tartarus.” Discord groaned wincing at his shortness in breath.

A voice sounded from the the table. The girls stared as the two spheres released a beam of light which seemed to scan the entire room. Seconds later they stopped.

Tendrils of what felt like harmony and chaos magic sprung out of the spheres striking all the ponies until only Spike and Discord remained standing. The tendrils pierced each of the beings; the bright sphere into Spike and the dark sphere into Discord; dragging them closer to the tables.

“SPIKE/DISCORD!” A couple of screams rang out from the groups. Each of the princesses sans Twilight immediately grabbed Discord in their telekinetic grip along with Starlight and Fluttershy assisting as much as they could. Twilight and the others grabbed Spike before they could be dragged away. Strangely enough the spheres didn’t attack again focusing only on their targets. Suddenly, a horrible squelching rang out as a portion of Discord was ripped off by the dark sphere’s tendrils. The same soon happened to Spike. While Discord roared in pain the screams from Spike were much worse causing a flare of magic in all ponies present as they attempted to get them both away from the spheres. Twilight was lost in abject terror and teeth grinding rage as bit by bit each of her friends were torn apart. The tears streaming down Spike’s cheeks perfectly mirrored her own as the little dragon was fully absorbed into the sphere. It menacingly stared down at the ponies that had attempted to save him while also keeping them from racing over to Discord’s side.

“BASEMENT!” Discord screeched as the last parts of the chaos spirit were fully absorbed into the dark sphere. No one moved after that while the spheres floated back to the center of the table and stared at their respective groups a blue eye rested on Twilight while a red eye rested upon Fluttershy. Each one of the spheres grinned in exuberant joy revealing their sharp maw to the ponies in front of them. Then it got worse… they started chewing letting out a loud crunch which echoed through the room. The ponies could only gape at the horror that was before them. They had eaten Spike and Discord.

There wasn’t any sobbing, or loud cries of anguish that would usually eek out of the ponies. Tears streamed freely from all of them before the spheres smashed the table completely to shards and fled into the hole beneath the table. Each of the girls quickly shook off their sadness enough to follow after the spheres. Luna quickly used her magic to create a platform for them all to stand on while it descended after the spheres.

“They’ll pay…” Twilight muttered out barely audible even to her friends acute hearing. Cadance though had. She quietly wrapped her hooves around Twilight only in the tiniest of hopes to calm her down.

As the platform reached the basement they realized just why Discord had meant. The cavernous expanse beneath the castle left the ponies in awe. From the path they now stood on they saw a small island surrounded by fifteen land bridges each leading to a mirror at the end of each path. On the island was a large crystalline tree similar to the Tree of Harmony surrounded by a ring of water and several stone pedestals. The island seemed to be magically supported as there was nothing underneath the island holding it up. Floating around the tree were the bright sphere and the dark sphere. They were with a glowing gray sphere which seemed to be arguing with the other two.

“Oh dear… there’s another s- sphere here.” Fluttershy gasped as the two sphere ganged up on the gray sphere smacking it around with their magically constructed tendrils. The gray sphere struck back with a magical wave of energy never giving an inch as it lashed out wildly at the other two spheres. Unfortunately two on one in this case favored the little monsters as they flung the gray sphere towards the mares who had stopped to watch the battle. The travesty before them doubled when the two spheres noticed the ponies in the room and smugly smiled at them. They phased into the tree with a flourish of magic creating a shield around the tree when they entered the tree.

“Poor thing… “ Fluttershy attempted to get closer to the sphere to help it back up only for Applejack and Rainbow Dash to stop her. Celestia moved forward instead gingerly picking the sphere up in a telekinetic field. The sphere was cracked and sparking magical energy. Its green eye focused on Celestia seemingly studying her before sweeping over to where the other mares were. It closed the eye and he magical energy seeping out of it began mending the cracks.

The telekinetic field broke to Celestia’s shock as it floated back up near the shield. A few moments later it began gathering ambient magic in the air causing a ripple of energy to course through every pony there. The sphere flung itself back before flinging its body into the shield. The force between the two caused the shield to shudder in response before bouncing the sphere back into the ground in front of the ponies. It rose back into the air and ran a green beam of magic across the entire shield before lowering its eye in defeat. It finally fell down to the ground and rested upon one of the stone pedestals closest to the group staring back at them with its sullen green eye. Twilight took the initiative even through her still smoldering fury

“H- hello. My name is Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship. These are my friends and colleagues; Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Starlight Glimmer, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadance. Can you perhaps tell me a little about yourself. “ Twilight spoke calmly enough but tried to keep a regal tone she had picked up from dealing with the Canterlot ponies.

The sphere merely stared. No movement just it watching the ponies. None of them were willing to move either. Then it spoke something that pulled at their hearts.

That stopped their collective breaths. Twilight’s indignation and fury wanted to burst out after what was witnessed. Yet, she couldn’t speak. There was something sincere in its tone.

The anger froze solid leaving the entire group speechless. Hope rose up.

“You’ll help then?” Luna stepped forward but keep a steely gaze trained on the sphere. “What’s your price?” She scowled and was soon joined by a few other girls as well. It closed its eye and seemed contemplative about its next words.

“Agreed!” Most of the ponies spoke up immediately but were drowned out when Celestia quieted everypony with her magic.

“Can we trust you? You may have attacked the other spheres or spirits as you call them but you could easily be lying about this. I’ve lived a long life and seen all manner of creatures use whatever method they have to endear themselves to another. How do we know that you can be trusted?” Celestia spoke in a calming tone but the accusatory edge had been brought out of experience. Its eye looked at everypony present before it focused solely on Applejack. It rose up off the pedestal and slowly edged in front of her.

“Go where.” Twilight managed to speak up being one of the few still following the conversation.