Now, under most circumstances, whenever Twilight called her friends over to the Friendship Palace, it was usually for map reasons or because some wider threat had emerged that required their involvement. However, today, there were a couple of things that made it very clear that this was not going to be like those other occasions. First of all, there was the fact that there was an additional figure sitting around the table. And that was none other that Fizzlepop Berrytwist, who, for obvious reasons, usually went by the name of Tempest Shadow. Secondly, all around the room there could be seen a number of charts and graphs that Twilight usually made whenever she was doing some heavy research about something important. The last time she put out a spread this intense, however, was back when she was focused on the events of her time-travelling future self, so Pinkie in particular was looking pretty wary of all of this.

"So...this is nice, right?" she asked.

The mood around the rest of the room gave her a distinct and unspoken answer to that question, and so she instead remained quiet for the time being, waiting alongside everypony else as, just then, Twilight entered. The young Princess smiled at all of her gathered friends, and as she approached the table, she gave Tempest especially a friendly-looking pat on the shoulder, much to the latter's appreciation. Then, after clearing her throat a little, she finally got down to business.

"As you can probably imagine, there's something of great importance that I need to discuss with you all."

Rainbow leapt up from her chair.

"Is it another monster we need to fight?"

Twilight shook her head.

"No, but if it remains unaddressed, it could very well become something that serious."

Grinning, Rainbow smashed her hooves against each other.

"Alright then! What do we need to do?"

Turning, Twilight looked over to Tempest, then to Starlight nearby, before answering that very question.

"As you know, in the past we've faced a number of foes who hail not from some far-away land, but have emerged from within pony society itself."

Stretching out her hooves, she placed one on the shoulders of each of the aforementioned mares.

"Both Starlight and Tempest were fearsome enemies that did a great deal of damage during their time as our opponents."

Tempest raised an eyebrow.

"I trust you didn't just bring us here to make us feel worse, Twilight?"

Twilight shook her head.

"Not at all, but it's important to remember that, because it brings to light a very serious issue that may well be going on right now, somewhere out there in Equestria."

Looking to her mentor, Starlight took on a confused look.

"What do you mean?"

Twilight looked to her, then pointed to one chart in particular, which, now that they truly paid attention to it, appeared to have a number of photographs of Equestrian colts and fillies dotted around it.

"I'm talking about Equestria's children!"

Naturally, there was a great deal of shared confusion for the mares, and Spike, who had been standing silently next to his carer for some time now, let out an exasperated sigh and slapped his forehead in frustration before speaking up himself.

"Just...just wait," he advised.

As one would expect, the others all braced themselves to hear what Twilight had to say, which she soon did with renewed vigour.

"Both Starlight and Tempest were driven to commit terrible acts as a result of some traumatic event that took place during their childhood. For Starlight, it was the loss of her only friend, and for Tempest, it was the loss of her horn."

Again, she pointed to the charts.

"That such childhood calamities can occur and lead to villainous mares twice is not something we can simply ignore!"

Rarity, clearing her own throat, soon spoke up.

"Um...Twilight? Far be it from me to question your...um...research. But are you suggesting that such things could happen to other children?"

Twilight nodded.

"I am. For all we know, there's a colt or filly out there, as we speak, who's going through some terrible experience. Something that may lead them down a dark path that could threaten all of Equestria!"

Applejack, hearing that, chuckled.

"Don't y'all think yer takin' this a bit too far, Twi?"

Walking to her, Twilight shook her head.

"On the contrary, Applejack. I'm actually a little disappointed in myself for not having considered this sooner!"

Then, she placed her hooves against her cheeks and let out a gasp.

"What if we've already dodged a bullet on this already?!"

Pinkie looked to her.

"Um...what?"

Before the party-lover could react, Twilight teleported, appearing again right in front of her.

"Remember Cheese Sandwich? How miserable he was a child? What if he'd never met you and become inspired by your parties?"

She looked away.

"He could have grown into a bitter and vengeful stallion, determined to make all of Equestria as miserable as he was by putting an eternal ban on all parties!"

Hearing that, Pinkie let out a gasp of her own.

"No parties?! That's a travesty!"

Rainbow, of course, couldn't help but chuckle to that, which naturally led to her being the next one to earn Twilight's attention.

"And you, Rainbow? Remember Sky Stinger and Vapour Trail? If Vapour had never met Sky, then the latter might have spent his entire youth being unhappy about his poor flying abilities."

Rainbow stopped and considered that, all while Twilight carried on.

"He might have vowed to himself that nopony would ever be able to fly better than him, and so seeks out some ancient artefact of evil that could magically take away the wings of other pegasi!"

Looking back to her, Rainbow raised an eyebrow.

"Er...is there an artefact that can do that?"

Twilight pointed to her.

"We don't know that there isn’t! We have to think of this kind of stuff!"

Then, the Princess' eyes widened, and she looked over to the one member of the group who had not uttered a word yet; Fluttershy. Of course, the animal carer was not looking forward to whatever her friend was about to say, which was a sentiment soon confirmed when Twilight actually spoke.

"And you, Fluttershy! Remember how you used to be bullied? If you never had Rainbow to defend you, you might have grown up even more reclusive than you were already! Maybe you developed a hatred of bullies so fierce that you put it upon yourself to keep an unnecessary eye on every colt and filly in the world! Keeping them from ever having any kind of freedom or fun ever again!"

Fluttershy, rather than being cowed by that, simply let out a brief giggle.

"That...that just sounds silly, Twilight."

But Twilight was too far gone now, as evidenced by the way her mane was starting to become somewhat unkempt, which, as anypony close to her knew, was an early sign of her losing her marbles.

"We can't rule it out! So..."

Again, she turned to her map.

"...I've set up a number of plans to ensure that all of Equestria's colts and fillies live happy and peaceful lives. We make sure they're all watched carefully so that, if some traumatic event does look like it's about to occur, we'll be there to stop it!"

To that, Fluttershy frowned.

"Wait...isn't that the sort of thing you just said I might have done if evil?"

Twilight again shook her head.

"Don't worry, this plan is born out of a need to defend Equestria's children, rather than some misguided scheme born out of the unrelenting bullying you suffered."

"But that never..." Fluttershy began.

"Anyway, we need to get to work, girls! I've already drawn up a plan of who needs to go where. There are thousands of children that need our help if they're to avoid becoming evil!"

As Twilight carried on with this, Tempest leaned over to Starlight.

"For the record...does she do this often?"

Chuckling, Starlight then sighed.

"Yeah...you get used to it."

The sound of someone clearing their throat led to both mares looking down, only to see that it was Spike.

"If you think this is bad, you should have seen how obsessed she was when she had to deal with her future self."

Naturally, both mares looked at him with confusion, leading to another sigh on Spike's part.

"Long story. I'll tell you later."

Then, the young dragon looked as though he'd gained an idea of some sort, and before anypony could ask him what he was doing, he walked over to Twilight as she was engrossed in one chart in particular, before poking her in the side and getting her attention.

"Yes, Spike?"

Poking his fingers against one another, Spike tried to look as innocent as possible before answering.

"Well...um...I was wondering. What about the bad things that happened to you when you were a filly? Like that terrible experience of all that magic taking you over when I was hatched?"

Twilight raised an eyebrow, prompting him to continue.

"What if that left some sort of...I don't know...lingering fear that could lead to something worse for you in the future?"

The young alicorn opened her mouth to reply, only to have her assistant's words start to truly sink in for her. Her eyes widened, and she let out a gasp.

"Oh no! You're right!"

She spun around, looking to the other mares.

"All of you can go for now! I need to do some serious checking on myself!"

And with that, she was off, heading away from the chamber and slamming the door shut behind her. As soon as she was gone, Spike turned to the others, a sense of urgency in his voice.

"That ought to buy you an hour at most! Go, go!"

They didn't need to be told twice, and so raced for the exit. But, before all of them were gone, Applejack halted, looking to Spike with some concern.

"But...ain't she jus' gonna go back ta this plan o' hers later?"

Chuckling, Spike shook his head.

"Maybe...but...if she does, I'll just tell her to keep an eye on your sister and her friends. Chances are, whatever they get up to in the week will keep her pretty occupied."

Considering that, Applejack put on a knowing smile.

"Yeah...good point."