It all happened in an instant, faster than anything he had ever experienced before. Which, admittedly wasn’t that long a list of experiences when it came to ponies attacking alicorns, or ponies being in danger in general. There was that time Twily was nearly crushed by a rockslide when he earned his cutie mark, that fake dragon that nearly roasted him alive shortly before he and Sunset kissed for the first time, and although it wasn’t really real, that time he fought alongside Cadance in the mage's tower.

Still, when that crazy unicorn had charged at Sunset with a sword in a hoof of all things, Shining Armor reacted like he did those first two times. He didn’t think about the how he simply leaped forward and threw out his magic on pure instinct despite the fact that the image he saw was burned away by a bright light.

He felt a pressure on his horn and the familiar sensation of his magic depleting at an alarming rate. Although, unlike the times when he saved Twilight and kept his own plot from being fried, the drain didn’t suck him dry in a matter of seconds.

The room was silent for several seconds. Then, a scream reached Shining Armor’s ears. It was a primal sound, full of anger and fury like nothing Shining had ever heard from a pony. But, it wasn’t the voice of a mare that did it.

And when he opened his eyes, Shining Armor saw a half-bubble that had been formed around Sunset. However, it didn’t look like Shining Armor’s reaction time was quite up to par. The sword that Hard Line pony had been wielding was stuck in the pink energy barrier as he tried in vain to pull it free.

“Well,” Celestia spoke in a hard voice. “This is certainly the most...unique show of loyalty that I have ever seen.” She looked up to the ceiling. “Guards, apprehend the Line stallions.”

The order seemed to knock Hard Line out of whatever mental loop he was in. He turned around and began to gallop away before five white pegasi in gold armor came down from above to pile on top of him.

His father looked around at the four ponies that quickly surrounded him before looking up to Celestia. “Highness, I-I have nothing to do with-”

Celestia spoke before he could finish. “If you wanted me to believe that, then you should have at least brought some sort of gift.”

“N-Ugh! NO!” Hard Line shouted as the guards ponies piled onto him. “It’s her! She’s the one you need to attack! She’s not a princess! She’s not even a noble! She’s just trash! LOW BORN TRAAAAAASH!”

A bright flash of golden light filled the room and the next thing Shining Armor knew, Hard Line’s words were made incomprehensible by the muzzle of magical energy covering his mouth.

“That’s enough out of you,” Celestia said before she looked up and over to the blue pony and the mare sitting next to her. “And as for you-”

The noble mare that the blue stallion had been sitting next to a moment ago let out a scream and began to gallop towards the door. Halfway there, the guards standing by the exit subdued her. “You can’t do this to us!” she shouted. “She’s just some common filth! She’s not better than us! We’re nobles! She’s NOTHING!”

A few seconds later, the blue unicorn that had been sitting next to the mare sighed and raised his hooves before lowering his head. A pair of guards came over not long after to fit his horn with an iron ring at Celestia’s order.

Shining Armor’s vision began to blur, making him shake his head to try and focus.

“Hey Shiny, is this yours?” Sunset called out as she pointed a hoof at the pink barrier, drawing the young stallion’s attention.

With his head starting to swim, Shining Armor took a moment to respond. “Y-Yeah.”

Sunset blinked. “So them you...you...saved me,” she said as a dazed expression started to fall over her face. “Um…”

“Well, I’m not sure-!” Celestia got up before Cadance poked her in the side with enough force that it might have been called a punch, forcing her to look over. Then the pink pony whispered something at Celestia he couldn’t make out.

The white alicorn turned her head back to look at Shining Armor again with an emotionless mask that actually sent a small shiver down the stallion’s spine. “Thank you for your quick actions today, Shining Armor. It looks as if my daughter was right to place your seating at the front of the crowd,” Celestia told him before inclining her head ever slightly. “Now, if you would please cut the magic to your shield. I would also advise sitting down, the defense of my daughter seems to be taking quite the toll on you.”

With Celestia pointing out that he was still feeding energy into his protection spell, Shining Armor cut off the power flowing to his force field. But, it wasn’t quick enough to stop the effort from showing on his fancy clothes.

Which actually fit him much better than the time when he took Cadance out on a date. It seemed his mother was right about growing into it.

He looked back to the mare and saw that Velvet was keeping Twilight under control as he took his cushion.

When he looked back, Sunset quickly shook her head as if to clear it. “Well if that’s what passes for an assassination attempt here in Equestria, doesn’t look like I’ve got much to worry about,” she said, earning a few nervous glances from all the ponies sitting at the front. “So...anypony else want to try and kill me, or should we get things back on track?”

When Sunset’s attempt at levity fell flat, Celestia cleared her throat. “Guards. Escort your former captains to the dungeon through the exit behind the throne,” she ordered in a neutral tone. It was easier than she had thought it was going to be a moment ago.

Of course, a moment ago, she had barely restrained herself from caving in the guard captain’s skull. The thought that another pony had tried to harm her daughter was maddening. For the first time in her life, Celestia thought she understood what Luna had gone through. Which was why she acted to make sure there wasn’t a repeat of the incident from back then.

In the ensuing silence that followed the three ponies being taken into custody, Celestia reapplied the illusion she had dropped that kept the personal actions of her family private. As soon as it was up, she spun her head to look at Sunset, the emotional control she held onto buckled. “What do you think you’re doing? We need to call a stop to these proceedings at once!”

“Mom, I know you have this whole thing where your emotions cloud any sort of rational thinking when it comes to me,” Sunset told her. “But we can’t stop this.”

Celestia frowned back at her. “The hay we can’t! Somepony just tried to kill you.”

Despite the fact that she had a point, Sunset rolled her eyes. “Yes, and much like my first attempt at world domination, it was a poorly thought out temper tantrum of a plan that wouldn’t have worked under the best of circumstances. Thank Celestia ponies suck so much at being evil.”

“That’s beside the point!” Celestia exclaimed.

To which Sunset nodded in reply. “Yes, the point is that there is another group of creatures that you believe to be in Canterlot right now, creatures we have been planning for pretty much since I got back to Canterlot. If we change any plans now, they could decide to call off their little coup attempt and then we’re back to square one.”

Celestia stood up a little straighter. “And you think that all of this isn’t going to make the changelings suspicious?”

“Right now, the only ponies who know about what are going on in here are the ponies that are in here!” Sunset exclaimed. “Plus the ones you let out, that is. So, we go on like normal and take care of things.”

“No, we need to call a stop to this,” Celestia said as she examined her daughter. From the look of things, it seemed as if the white pony wasn’t the only one who needed help in thinking things through clearly. Sunset had always been a prideful pony. It was obvious that was keeping her from canceling the event like she should.

Cadance cleared her throat. “Excuse me,” she said, getting the attention of the other two alicorns. “I know I’m stepping into a mother-daughter argument here, but I think only the High Princess of Equestria should make that kind of decision.”

“Great!” Celestia said. “And I-”

“Not the High Princess of Equestria anymore, remember?” Cadence reminded Celestia. “Not that it matters, since a two princess vote could overrule that authority.”

Both of the big mares shared a nervous look before Celestia let out a disgruntled sigh. “I hate it when rank gets pulled on me.”

The sickness Cadance felt in her belly had nothing to do with the thought that she’d soon be drinking another dose of Princess Celestia’s anti-changeling potion. Which she still had to do, unfortunately. Princess Celestia had poured the drink herself. She knew the true cause of the butterflies in her stomach was the guilt of having Sunset continue on with her her coronation and everything that went with it.

And so, after some angry encouragement by Sunset, the coronation fealty practices continued. All totaled, Sunset ended up with four grants of land that promised a large amount of bits to flow into her pocket, a private airship, a collection of ancient mystical tomes, a private regular seagoing vessel, and the simple gift of fifty million bits by the last of the remaining top nine families of Canterlot, who claimed that knowing just what was on a great mind like Sunset’s was impossible for such simple ponies as themselves. All in all, Cadance estimated the value of the gifts to be perhaps three times what she had been given upon becoming a princess.

But then, Cadance had been a country bumpkin, unskilled in the ways of politics and a complete unknown to Canterlot. Sunset had grown up around the court and garnered a reputation for going off like a firecracker at the tiniest spark. The gifts to Sunset were obviously meant more as bribes for her to leave them alone than anything else.

Cadance had a feeling they were going to be in for a rude awakening.

Once the ceremony had completed, a process that felt more like a torture than a celebration thanks to the change in atmosphere from Hard Line’s actions, Princess Celestia instructed everypony in a no-nonsense tone that spoke of banishment to anypony stupid enough to disobey to move to the gardens for the coronation luncheon.

Which was where Cadance found herself ten minutes later. She sat at the largest dining table next to Celestia, positioned at the northern end of the garden, a large beast of a rectangle that equaled a fourth of the wall’s length. With the alicorns only needing a fraction of the space, the rest of the table held numerous foods and treats. The idea was that when ponies came up from the little round tables that each family had, they could give the Princesses their good tidings.

The change of scenery did nothing to improve Celestia’s mood or the atmosphere it was creating. Even with a band playing some lively music in the background, everypony looked to be walking on eggshells. Most of the ponies remained at their seats and most of those that did find the courage to approach to grab a meal quickly galloped back to their table after giving a respectful bow to the royal family.

However, some managed a few words. Although Cadance was certain that was because they had been born without much in the way of common sense.

“Yo, Princess-ezes,” Rainbow Dash finished awkwardly as she floated in the air in front of them. Having escaped her parents while they were busy grabbing food from the buffet, the little blue pegasus had zoomed in to talk to her white alicorn ‘buddy’. “Wasn’t that awesome when Shining Armor got all Wham! Kablam! and saved Princess Sunset?”

“Yes,” Celestia answered in a dry tone that spoke volumes about how she was probably really feeling. “Seeing my daughter put in danger was quite, awesome.”

Apparently taking a hint, Rainbow Dash lowered herself to the ground before she cleared her throat and looked back to the crowd for an instant. “So uh...does that mean Shining Armor’s like...a knight, or something?”

The look on Sunset’s face became uneasy. “Well…”

Celestia answered the filly in her even, but still barely restrained voice. “I assure you that the reward Shining Armor will gain from his actions will be far greater than some silly little title like Sir.”

As Rainbow Dash took the hint and decided to go back to her parents, Cadance noticed Raven trotting in through the garden’s side entrance with a look of purpose in her eyes. When she arrived, Celestia looked back at her. “Is it done?”

Raven cleared her throat before addressing Celestia. “The banks are closed because of the holiday, but I managed to track down Stable Loan and High Interest to deliver your orders. They’ll take care of House Guard’s holdings and have a list of any other financial institutions Hard Line transferred funds to or from as soon as the doors open tomorrow.”

The name discrepancy raised a few questions in Cadance’s head. “House Guard?” she asked. “I thought it was the Line family that just...um...you know.” As the magma beneath Mt Celestia seemed to become closer to eruption with every mention of her daughter’s attempted murder, Cadance thought it best not to say words that were quickly becoming taboo.

“When Canterlot was founded, Blue Line’s ancestors were the founders of the Royal Guard,” Sunset told her. “Blueblood and the House of Platinum is the same way. It’s pretty rare that ponies like Mini Mouse and Trump Card have names that match that of their houses. Which you would have noticed if you had bothered paying attention after they hauled the Lines away instead of just standing there with that weird grinchy-grin on your face.”

Cadance raised an eyebrow. While she remembered not being able to contain her excitement on face at seeing what was going on with Sunset in regards to Shining Armor… “I wasn’t...grinchy,” Cadance said as she tripped over the end of her sentence before looking up to Celestia. “Is that even a word?”

“It is if a princess says it,” Celestia told her firmly before she looked around. “Are the servants done passing out the cider yet? I want to get this farce over with as soon as possible.”

Sunset leaned forward to look past Celestia. “I’ll give you the rundown on Dr Seuss later.”

“Um, is there anything else you need...Princess Celestia?” Raven asked nervously, which drew the attention of the three princesses. Which only made her more nervous.

“Put away the papers, then take a glass of cider and find a seat for the celebration,” Celestia told her.

Raven flinched ever so slightly. “Oh, um...if you don’t mind, I’ll just have water. You shared some with me this morning and...it just wouldn’t be right for a common pony like me to have two glasses when even ponies like Prince Blueblood only gets one.”

The look Celestia gave Raven before she even started speaking made the little unicorn assume a cowering position. “That was not an offer, it was an order. If you can not tell the difference between the two, then perhaps I should find a secretary who can.”

“Mom! What the hell?” Sunset demanded through gritted teeth before she stood up.

Raven looked over to Sunset. “N-No, Princess. You don’t need to-”

A hoof to the unicorn’s lips stopped her from talking. “Please don’t stop me from stepping in here,” Sunset told her before looking back to her mother. “Raven has been a member of the palace staff for as far back as I can remember, and your personal aide for the last three. She has put up with a lot of crap from both you and me.”

“Oh, no. Princess Sunset! You were-” Raven said again before Sunset moved to stop her.

“Raven, I remember all the times you ended up with the watch Sunset and make sure she doesn’t burn the castle down job when I was younger, the job that nopony else wanted. So, shut up and let me defend you before you end up taking the same amount of crap from my mom.”

The unicorn blinked and took a step back before Sunset looked back to her mother. “Mom, I get you’re upset and your taking it out on everybody here. And while I don’t give two shits about the vast majority of the guys out there that you’ve got ready to piss themselves, you don’t talk that way to Raven. I like Raven, and she deserves better from you.”

The two alicorns held each other’s gaze for a few more seconds before Celestia lowered her head with a sigh. “You’re right,” she said before looking over to the glorified secretary. “I apologize for treating you in such a hostile manner, Raven.”

Even though the unicorn obviously wanted to tell her such actions were necessary, Cadance saw her glance at Sunset before regarding Celestia again at the end of the second. “Apology accepted, Highness. I understand that you must be going through something unimaginable right now.”

“Thank you,” Celestia replied with a much calmer voice. “Now, please take a drink and sit down.”

Raven blanched at what anypony who wasn’t in the know would have thought of as a peace offering before she put on an obviously fake smile. “T-Thank you, Highness.”

As soon as Raven had gone out of earshot, Cadance looked over to Celestia. “Did you have to give her another taste of this stuff?”

“Raven was out of sight for the entire transition from the throneroom to here. Considering her close proximity to all three of us on a daily basis, I wouldn’t be surprised if she was at the top of the list for ponies to be replaced,” Celestia replied as she looked around the garden again. “Now, is anypony else refusing a drink?”

Cadance looked around at the assembled ponies. While the foals didn’t have any of the sparkling liquid in front of them, everypony else either held a flute in their magic, wings, or had it sitting on the table in front of them. Even the guards that lined the ramparts above the crowd, who would be put to their true use in moments, had been given drinks with instructions to wait for the toast before even sampling them.

“Everypony’s got one as far as I can tell,” Sunset replied.

Celestia stood up, dispelling the illusion around them as she did. “Good,” she said as she raised her glass in her magic and tapped it with a knife. “Ladies and gentlecolts, your attention.”

Every single one of the assembled ponies looked towards Celestia. “I’ve been thinking of what to say when this moment came for the past several years, now. I even decided to make the whole thing a little more special by being the pony who personally made the cider that is in the glasses before you.”

Surprise ran through the crowd like a wildfire and each one of the assembled ponies looked to their drinks with a bit of awe.

“I guess,” Celestia said before a tiny sigh escaped the side of her mouth. “I wanted to make this coronation special. I wanted to make it...no. No, that’s not it at all.”

Sunset looked over to the big pony. “M-Mom?”

What had to have been a prepared speech went right out the window as Celestia turned her attention to Sunset. “I wanted to make it about me. I talked about how proud I was, how this pony that I raised has come so far...as if everything you’ve accomplished was only because of me. And here I am now, letting my displeasure taint what should be an acknowledgment of your accomplishments.”

“Mom, did you chug a few of those when I wasn’t looking?” Sunset asked.

Cadance wanted to roll her eyes at the question. It was obvious that the recent events had put a mental strain on Celestia to the point where she was starting to feel the effects. Considering how bad her daughter’s nights were and how much they both liked to go on guilt trips, Cadance had to wonder how little sleep Celestia had been getting as of late.

Celestia didn’t let Sunset’s jab turn her aside. “But the truth is, I had nothing to do with your success, Sunset. You became a wonderful mare all on your own. And because of that, I know that you will be able to handle whatever may come in the future,” she said before raising her glass. “To my daughter. May she continue to go through life with the same fiery passion and indomitable spirit that has brought her here.”

Although a few ponies in the crowd gave each other worried looks, they all quickly followed Princess Celestia’s example and downed their drinks. Cadance felt a rush of nervousness as she watched them go through with the action.

How many of the ponies in front of her were actually changelings?

Just what would drinking the potion actually cause a changeling to do?

Did the potion even work? It wasn’t as if they had a changeling to test it out on after all.

Cadence’s eyes darted all over the crowd as she looked for signs of black exoskeletons.

Faces turned queasy. A mare’s body went still as she moved to wretch. A stallion doubled over and puked.

The last action made Cadance take in a breath. That one! she thought before pointing out a hoof. “GUARDS! SEIZE THAT PONY!”

“Um...here’s the information you wanted from our operatives in Zebrica, my Queen.”

From her private chambers deep within the changeling hive, Chrysalis looked up from the newspaper that she was reading while lounging on her bed. The announcement of Sunset Shimmer’s coronation in big bold letters on the front page was probably giving several powerful ponies back in Canterlot more than their share of ulcers with all the bad chatter about Celestia’s adopted daughter going around.

She took the offered scroll in her magic and unrolled it to look the thing over. The zebra concoction that reports from her informants in Canterlot said Celestia had based her own work off of looked simple enough. Chrysalis could breed in an immunity to it in her next batch of eggs and coming up with a spell to disable the magic base of both potion and face goo for Chrysalis to use in case she needed it wouldn’t be that hard either.

When she noticed the delivery changeling was still standing there, Chrysalis frowned. “Yes?”

“My Queen. Would you be willing to answer a question for me?”

Chrysalis looked away from the scroll and over to the changeling. He was a bit off color, probably one of the eggs she had toyed around with in an attempt to create a stronger minion. Just getting rid of him would have been a waste, even if she didn’t like her brood asking questions. “Very well.”

The changeling cleared his throat. “After that message that you had Cornea give to the pony princess...I thought we would have invaded Canterlot by now.”

After waiting a few more seconds to make sure his not-question was done, Chrysalis sighed. “Who are you again?”

“Pharynx. My Queen,” the drone answered.

Chrysalis sighed in annoyance. “Which Pharynx?” she asked in exasperation. She had thousands of changelings and only so many body parts to name them after.

The changeling cleared his throat in embarrassment. “Pharynx Seven. Majesty,” he answered. “I’m the one they’re grooming for guard duty? I-I thought because of my specific look, you didn’t need my identification number.”

“You’re following Chitin Seventy-Six around for guard training, correct?” Chrysalis asked for clarification.

Pharynx nodded. “Yes, my Queen. Although I’m still just a gofer for the captain.”

“Tell me, what are we?”

The changeling blanked at the question and tilted his head to the side. “Uh...changelings?”

“And what is it that we do better than anything else on this planet?”

Once again, Pharynx’s confusion and hesitation increased. “Um...change?”

Chrysalis decided to throw her offspring a bone and take that as a viable answer. “Yes. We conceal, we adapt, we infiltrate and make sure that no creature is the wiser to our presence,” she said. “So tell me, just how much sense does it make for me to spread some rumors among the nobility with a few anonymous letters and have one of my brood posing as an out of town politician at a party mutter a few bad words concerning the new princess before skipping town, have Celestia find out that I’m no longer where she trapped me, then outright tell her when exactly it is I’m going to strike in the most terrifying way possible?”

To his credit, Pharynx actually took a moment to think about it. “Well, the first two would be a good way to get the ponies suspicious about each other. But um...the second...I’m not sure what good warning an enemy when you’re going to attack would do,” he admitted. “It seems a little counter intuitive. All it would do is make Princess Celestia build up her defenses.”

“My, you do seem to be showing more intelligence than the average changeling,” Chrysalis complimented him...and herself. She had designed him that way after all. “And you’re exactly right. Despite her age, Celestia is still as weak as any other pony. Frighten a pony, tell her that there is something coming to get her, something she can’t even see, and she will show you exactly how she plans to deal with such a threat.”

Pharynx nodded. “Like sending a letter to all of the other kingdoms, asking if they knew anything about how to counter our transformation magic.”

“Exactly,” Chrysalis replied with a confidence she didn’t truly feel. Celestia reaching out for assistance from other species had been unexpected, even if they had intercepted the missives in the end. Ponies tended to keep to themselves. The fact that Sunset Shimmer had done something so unexpected was the real problem.

It made her a dangerous unknown. The fact that Sunset was powerful was a minor thing. As long as Chrysalis could predict her movements, she could make sure that power wasn’t unleashed on the changelings. But powerful and unpredictable was a dangerous combination.

Which meant...Chrysalis would have to learn more about the pony in question before making any serious moves.

She shooed the drone away. “You may go now.”

Not even bothering to hear Pharynx’s reply, Chrysalis went back to studying the potion mixture. Perhaps a potion of my own drunken beforehand to counteract the magic, she mused as she continued to look at the worthless defense that Celestia now thought kept her perfectly safe.

Royalty didn’t need to answer questions. They didn’t need to give explanations or justify their actions. They existed to lead their ponies into a brighter future, not serve at the leisure of the populace. Such was Sunset Shimmer’s reasoning as she looked out her window to the courtyard below as she watched her mother give a press conference while Cadance stood by her side.

Still, the desire to know what was going on and a simple spell to carry the sound up to the window she was looking out allowed Sunset to keep herself informed.

“Although we were aware that there was a plot on my daughter’s life in the works,” Celestia spoke loudly. “I decided to proceed with Sunset’s coronation after taking several safeguards. One of which was a potion of my own design that would have allowed us to discern the intentions of anypony that drank it by displaying the amount of violent intentions they possessed.

“However, even I couldn’t have predicted the actions of my own guard captain, whose family has served in this position since the founding of Equestria,” Celestia went on. “Hard Line was also privy to these security measures, including access to the potion. After seeing its effects, it is obvious that he altered its composition in some way to cause nausea instead of the change in coat color we had intended.”

The bright bulbs flashed before more hooves went up along with ponies asking for Celestia’s attention. After a few seconds of looking around, Celestia pointed at a brown pony. “Yes?”

“Back Bench. Manehattan Times,” the pegasus stallion replied before he flew up a little to look over the crowd. “Princess, Hard Line was taken into custody during the coronation. At that point, why didn’t you have the cider switched out?”

Celestia gave a sad smile. “You need more than a single pony to make a conspiracy,” she explained. “Although Hard Line would have known any attempt he made would have to be before the toast, any other ponies that might have been involved would have been outed at that time. While the emotional nature of his attack tells me that is unlikely. Sunset Shimmer is my daughter. Even the possibility of any other conspirators forces me to do anything in my power to seek them out.”

Another question came soon after. “Cross Head, Ponyville Press. If the potion didn’t work as intended. Why then did Princess Cadance order the guard to apprehend Lord Barnyard?”

“Yes, well...anypony who works in the palace knows that I am one to play things close to my barrel,” Celestia told them. “Princess Cadance knew there would be some sort of reaction, just not what that reaction would be. As Lord Barnyard’s reaction was the most prevalent, it was a logical assumption that he was the other conspirator. I would like to take this moment to publicly apologize to Lord Barnyard. I should have informed Cadance of the potion's effects so that she would know what to expect.”

Hooves went up again, and Sunset turned away from the window as the next pony was called. “Head Line, Canterlot Times. What is going to happen to Hard Line and the rest of his family?”

“There are already laws for attempted regicide. I do not need to elaborate on them further,” Celestia replied in a cold tone. “Next question.”

Sunset moved away from the area of the spell’s effect and down the hallway until she got to her quarters. From the looks of things, Celestia was creating enough safety for Cadance not to have a panic attack over the fact that their anti-changeling plan had failed to net a single shapeshifter. It didn’t look like Cadance was ever going to be leaving her bed.

After going into the living room, she blinked at surprise at the pony who was already there, looking at some flowers sitting in the corner. “Shiny.”

The young stallion turned his head to look at her and smiled. “Oh! Sunset...um….your flowers are…”

Although the colt was talking, Sunset found herself unable to listen properly. With Shiny’s dress jacket gone and his coat clipped down, Sunset had to agree with Fleur’s assessment. He looked hot. But it wasn’t just Shining Armor’s looks that made the amber alicorn feel that her mare parts were much too empty at the moment.

She remembered the events of just a few hours ago. Of being blinded by that fucking idiot’s spell and opening her eyes to see Hard Line’s rapier inches from her face. While Sunset was pretty sure the lack of the smallest scrape from barely subsonic crashes into the ground meant that her coat was next to indestructible, she had no intentions of testing that theory out on the internal space of her nostrils, not to mention her eyes.

“Shiny...um…” Do you want to fuck? Sunset mentally asked before shaking off the urge to just take the stallion right then and there. “W-What do you..uh, what’re you doing here?”

Shining Armor turned away from the flowers and opened his mouth.

“Oh!” Sunset exclaimed as she remembered something important. “Thank you! I need to thank you. D-Did I thank you at the coronation? I don’t think I thanked you at the coronation. Did I?”

Shining Armor reached over to rub one of his shoulders with a fetlock. “Princess Celestia did.”

“Ohmygosh!” Sunset rushed out before she quickly closed the distance until the two of them were within reach. “I forgot to thank you. Thank you! Thank you for saving me, Shiny. I-I don’t know what would have-no. No, I do. I would have, I would have...oh boy. Um...I need to thank you.”

Shining Armor took a step back. “You just did.”

The words got a fierce shake from Sunset’s head before she began to pace back and forth. “No. I mean, thank you. Like...anal,” Sunset decided after going over her list of options. She looked back to Shiny. “You deserve anal for this.”

“What’s...uh, on second thought,” Shining Armor said before taking a step forward. “Sunset, are you alright?”

Sunset looked back at Shining Armor was an obviously forced smile. “Alright? Why wouldn’t I be alright? I was almost killed, Shiny. Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades,” she said before beginning to wonder aloud. “Do we have hand grenades in Equestria? I don’t think we do because we don’t have hands, but-”

Sunset was cut off when the door to the hallway opened. She looked over to see her mother walking in with Cadance right behind her and Kibitz, who was wheeling a cart with some tea on it. The big pony gave her a worried look as she sat down and Cadance greeted Shining Armor.

“Sunset, I told you. Even if you didn’t want to do the news conference, you need to remain in sight,” she said before Sunset found herself in a warm hug as her breath quickened. A second later, a cup floated in front of the amber alicorn’s face. “Here, drink some tea. I will help with the side effects.”

A thousand red flags shot up in Sunset’s mind. “S-Side effects?”

“Cadance, would you please escort Shining Armor...oh, someplace else?” Celestia asked. “I believe it would be better if Sunset and I had some semblance of privacy for this”

The third alicorn in the room nodded. “Come on Shiny,” she said before leading him away, past the stallion with the mustache. “Great job with the coronation, by the way. Really heroic and...well, I’ll warn you outside.”

As soon as Cadance shut the door to Sunset’s living room, after having to wait for the older stallion to leave the tea, Shining Armor pulled away from her in confusion. “What’s going on?” he asked in concern before looking at the door. “Sunset came in and just started...um...freaking out.”

“Shiny? Did Sunset’s actions during the coronation, or Celestia’s or...well, seem a little off to you?” she asked.

He thought back to a few hours ago. Although he was hardly in a place to judge Celestia since he didn’t know her well enough, Sunset and Cadance...well, Cadance had acted normal enough, but Sunset… “I dunno, she seemed a bit…”

Cadance raised an eyebrow. “Too calm for somepony that was just attacked?”

“Yeah, but...it’s Sunset,” Shining Armor replied. The thought of her being afraid of anypony was ridiculous. “She isn’t the…” He trailed off, unsure of what to say. Sunset had freaked out plenty of time in front of him, but never due to bodily harm.

When Shining Armor couldn’t think of the right words to continue the verbal thought, Cadance cantered in. “Well, to keep things from spiraling out of control, Celestia…”

“YOU USED MIND MAGIC ON ME?”

As soon as the room stopped shaking from the sound of Sunset’s voice, Cadance put her ears back up. “She did that to Sunset and herself. A emotional safeguard spell that keeps a pony from overreacting too much,” Cadance explained before becoming hesitant. “The problem is, when it wears off...well, remember that spell we used during that marathon orgy I kept casting to let you go another round?”

Shining Armor threatened to drop before he looked to the stallion standing in the hallway with them. “Uh...C-Cadance? Are you sure this is the best place for-”

“This would be a good time to take my leave, then?” the older pony said in a heavy posh Canterlot accent.

Cadance nodded. “Yes, thank you. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure they don’t blow Canterlot up or drown us all with tears.”

The stallion nodded. “Excellent! Good day, Princess Cadance,” he said before trotting away at a brisk pace.

“...what was that?” Shining Armor asked.

Cadance hummed in thought for a moment. “Oh! Well, Kibitz is one of two or three ponies in the palace that Princess Celestia left Sunset with when she was very young and didn’t have time to care for the filly herself,” she explained. “I wouldn’t exactly call him a father, but...he’s the closest thing Sunset’s got one...I guess.”

Shining Armor gulped as he looked back to Cadance. “So um...that spell you used. I remember it. I also remember it made me sleep for a long time afterwards.” He was never going to forget that day, or the night that followed.

“Right,” Cadance said with a nod. “Same thing here. Sunset got great emotional control for one moment...and now she’s got next to none.”

A earlier snippet of the conversation came back to the forefront of his mind. “Wait, you said that Princess Celestia-”

“YOU'RE A HORRIBLE MOTHER!”

“-also cast it on herself,” Shining Armor finished.

“I AM A HORRIBLE MOTHER! BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

Shining Armor blinked as another memory came into focus. “But...Celestia, was really angry at the banquet.” Anypony, even those that didn’t know Celestia could tell that.

Cadance nodded. “I said better emotional control, not perfect,” she said before becoming a little nervous. “Quite frankly, I don’t wanna know what she would have done without it.”

“NO! I’M A HORRIBLE DAUGHTER! BWAAAAAAAAAA!”

“So...you okay?” Cadance asked.

Shining Armor too a moment to think about the question. “I’m good,” he replied a bit too quickly. When his final assessment came, he had to revise his opinion. “Better than good, actually. I feel...great!” It was weird, despite everything that had happened, Shining Armor felt great about himself.

“NO! YOU’RE THE BESTEST DAUGHTER EVER!”

His horn still ached a bit and he had to get this clothes cleaned because they had been covered in sweat afterwards, but despite everything, Shining Armor couldn’t stop himself from smiling the more he replied the day’s events in his head. “It’s strange-”

“WELL YOU’RE THE BESTEST MOM EVER!”

“-Sunset almost gets stabbed, but I’m feeling great,” Shining Armor said before frowning down at the ground for a second before he looked up to regard the pink alicorn next to him. “Is that wrong?”

Cadance giggled and trotted up to throw a wing over his back and nuzzle the young stallion’s neck. “What’s so wrong about a paladin feeling good about himself for saving his princess,” she said before kissing him on the cheek. The smile was short-lived though, Cadance blinked it away a second later. “Although. I should probably warn you that Sunset’s going to be really into you for the next couple of weeks.”

“I LOVE YOU BABY!”

Letting himself be guided down the hall and away from the screaming alicorns that were still crying like crazy, Shining Armor looked over to Cadance. “What do you mean?”

“I LOVE YOU TOO MOMMY!”

Cadance looked up in thought for a moment before answering. “Well, Sunset fell in love with you without a real infatuation stage. There was plenty of sexual desire, but that was more brought on by the fact she hadn’t seen a stallion for the better part of three years,” she explained. “But after this? She’s going to be very into you. Like, her happiness is in your hooves, into you. Please, don’t drop it.”

“Hey, that’s what heroes like me do, right? Saving the princesses and keeping them happy,” Shining Armor said, earning a little giggle from Cadance.

The pink princess leaned in closer to rest her head against Shining Armor’s. “Yeah. Just like with me and Buck.”

Reality slowly set back in to Shining Armor’s mind. “Okay, I know it probably isn’t that big a deal, but I…” Metaphorical lightning struck Shining Armor’s horn, stopping him cold and sending a realization into his brain in an instant. “...that’s what he meant.”

“Shiny?” Cadance asked.

Shining Armor stepped away from Cadance. “That dragon I met when Celestia sent me into that future...dream...thingy,” he said. “There was a dragon there that told me some stuff about princesses and roads, and...well, it wasn’t really literal, but…”

“You’re losing me here, Shiny,” Cadance told him.

“Okay,” Shining Armor said as he strained out his thoughts. “I met a dragon there, and he talked about being the guard of a princess. The thing about being the guard of a princess is...you’re not going to be a hero.”

Cadance gave him a little smirk. “I wouldn’t say that.”

Despite how good it made him feel to see Cadance smiling at him, Shining Armor kept himself focused. If he lost this train of thought, he might never get it back. “Well, I’m not going to be a hero compared to the two of you. You’re both leagues ahead of me, but that’s okay. Fighting big scary monsters, saving the whole kingdom, that’s what you’re supposed to do. Big flashy things. But…” Shining Armor went on as his thoughts became muddled, his voice a little hesitant. “Because you’re probably going to be on the lookout for big, flashy things, there’s going to be things that you don’t see coming. Small things, like a bully outside a theater, or some crazy pony with a sword. That’s the stuff I can...deal with. Does that...make sense?”

“...I think so,” Cadance said after a moment.

Shining Armor gulped. “W-What I’m saying is...I-I want to be your guard,” he told Cadance as she looked at Shining Armor with eyes that made his hind legs feel weak. “Y-Yours and Sunset’s. I know I won’t be able to do anything against the dragons and stuff, but if a pony’s sneaking up from behind if there’s something hidden that you girls aren’t going to notice before it’s too late. I-I’ll deal with it and take care of the two of you.”

Lips touched his in a kiss. When Cadance pulled away, she was giving him one of her looks. The kind of look that made the space between his rear lower legs twitch. “You have no idea how perfect that sounds to me right now.”

Knowing where looks like that led, Shining Armor’s brain reminded him of one last thing. “Oh! My family got a scroll from Princess Celestia, telling us to stay the night so we’d be at court tomorrow. Any reason you know what’s going on?”

Cadance smiled. “Well, you did save a princess from a dastardly villain. Ponies tend to get rewarded for stuff like that,” she said before the level of Look more than doubled. “Which reminds me, we haven’t broken in my bed yet, have we?”

“Hey, Cadance...what’s going to happen to those three they arrested?” he asked.

“Shiny, stop talking about that stuff, you’re gonna kill my mood.”

A slight jolt of energy brought Celestia back into the conscious world. She opened her eyes to wonder what was going on before the memories of past events reminded her of what had happened. After the emotional control spells broke down, she and Sunset had thrown around a few words before crying each other to sleep on her daughter’s cutie marked carpet.

The warnings of that particular piece of magic wasn’t kidding when it said the spell was both emotionally and physically exhausting. But without it, there was no doubt in Celestia’s mind that she would have struck down the entirety of Blue Line’s house, not to mention anypony else that happened to be sitting next to them and probably singed a few others.

When her visioned had cleared to show Celestia the danger that Sunset had been put into, the same fears she had felt upon her daughter’s return and subsequent declaration of intention for self harm returned twofold to quickly transform into rage. Hard Line was not Celestia’s daughter, he was not something to be coddled and coaxed into a change for the better, he was something to be struck down and scoured from the Earth for daring to threaten her family.

A slight shift in her arms brought Celestia’s attention back to the big filly wrapped in her wings and forelegs. It had been too long since she had held her daughter in such a way and done far too few times once Celestia had given Sunset that title. The urge to simply put a spell on her foal to make sure Sunset didn’t wake up from being jostled and carry them both for her bed for a motherly cuddle almost made Celestia forget just why she had a mystical alarm set to go off at certain times.

“This isn’t fair at all,” Celestia told her daughter before casting a spell to keep Sunset’s sleep undisturbed before she levitated Sunset out of her grip and set the big filly’s sleeping form on her couch.

But, it wasn’t as if she couldn’t not lower the sun and bring out the moon.

Still...when was the last time that she spent some real time with her daughter?

Sunset stirred in her sleep, letting out a tiny moan of need as she grasped forward with a hoof for something that wasn’t there. Despite her unconsciousness, it seemed that the poor foal knew that something had been taken from her, something she desperately needed back.

Cadance had said her nightmares had returned.

“I’ll return shortly, little one,” Celestia promised with a kiss to Sunset forehead. Then she quickly rushed out of her daughter’s quarters and down the hall to find a balcony capable of giving Celestia a proper view of the sky for her duties. Which the positioning of Sunset’s room made impossible since it was to the East.

After finding a vantage point in the form of northern window, Celestia stuck her head out and quickly went to work. She pushed the sun down beyond the reach of her eyes, then started the hard part.

Raising the moon was always a task, no matter how many times Celestia did it. She had discussed the process with mages, philosophers, scientists and even a party pony or two over the years, hoping to find some insight as to why that was. But the only explanation Celestia ever received that made any sort of sense was that the moon wasn’t hers.

The moon belonged to Luna. While Celestia could move it with some effort, she would never truly be its master. No matter how many times she performed the deed or attempted to adapt her magic to handle the task better, the white pony knew that she was just a clumsy replacement for the mare that was supposed to be putting the silver orb into the night sky.

Celestia sighed in relief as she finished her task. Over nine-hundred years, and she had only truly failed at the task seven times during the first decade.

The silhouette of Nightmare Moon held her attention longer than most times as the sight of Sunset’s uncomfortable sleep replayed in Celestia’s mind. For the first time in centuries, she felt a spark of anger at Luna’s fall and subsequent departure. If she was in Equestria, she would be able to take care of Sunset’s needs!

The errant thought got a little sigh from Celestia before she looked back up to the moon. “I’m sorry,” she whispered before smirking at her actions. “But, I guess that proves how much of a mother’s mindset I’ve developed lately, huh?”

Realizing that she was just wasting time, Celestia turned around and headed back to her daughter’s room to find the filly where she left her. Sunset was curled up on her sofa, letting out tiny, distressed moans like a little foal that had been denied the presence of her mother’s warmth.

The sight of her daughter being so frightened and vulnerable made Celestia’s heart ache. A pony that so many others looked up to as a mentally strong, independent mare who could thrive under the most inhospitable circumstances a pony could imagine was in truth something so different that Celestia had to wonder how such an image came to be. As Luna was fond of saying, a pony’s true self was revealed in their sleep.

“You’ve had a long day,” Celestia told Sunset before she picked the pony up in her magic to trot into the filly’s bedroom.

Despite the pony Sunset hired onto the palace staff being put there out of charity, Star did good work. Celestia could see that fresh sheets had been applied to Sunset’s bed, along with a lingering scent of soothing chamomile. A spell gave light to the room and Celestia set Sunset down on her bed before taking a look around.

Even with the hour or two of sleep that followed their emotional marathon, Celestia knew that she needed some more rest. But then, actual sleep would leave her up for a majority of the night. Plus, she had yet to eat dinner, and it would be nice to visit with the fillies again before they needed to sleep for the trip to their respective homes tomorrow.

Oh, I also need to get their gifts ready, Celestia reminded herself. Sunset had mentioned that she was thinking about giving them something, but that was a good as a decision on her part. Celestia just needed to enchant the books.

Which...took time.

Maybe getting some sleep now so I can be up all night won’t be so bad, Celestia mused as she examined her daughter’s room. Despite the addition of a much larger bed, it hadn’t changed much. There were some magic books from various disciplines on the shelves, including the one Cadance was currently studying with Sunset’s help. There were also several mare magazines that had to also belong to Cadance, what with Sunset never showing an interest in such things.

Celestia’s eyes continued to wander until they fell upon her daughter’s study desk and the messy piles of parchment that littered the thing, surrounding a notebook with several colorful pieces of paper sticking out the side. Curiosity pulled Celestia closer to take a look.

Although she knew that Sunset had been playing with the idea of introducing Equestria to several of the inventions, Celestia had seen little of the work her daughter put into the task. The closest thing she had done to helping with Sunset’s side project is give her information on the availability of rare components like naturally formed crystals that could absorb, hold, or transform pure magical energy into another form. Something that had been much harder to come by since the fall of the Crystal Empire.

An idea struck Celestia. While things had been getting better with Sunset, they were still a long way from where she knew they needed to be, where they had been just a year after she had taken her daughter in as a student. Celestia remembered so many good times when Sunset had been working to learn a spell or complete some sort of project she needed Celestia’s help with because she didn’t have parents to fall back on. They were some of the happiest memories of her long life.

Although those days were gone, perhaps there was a way to recapture the heart of such moments. Flying lessons didn’t seem to be cutting it, but a product using magic to construct a device of some sort might turn out better.

Sunset let out a tiny cry, drawing Celestia’s attention. “Oh! Coming, sweetie,” she said before heading over to her daughter. When she got to the edge of the bed, Celestia frowned. “Wait, why am I talking to you? You can’t hear me, can you?”

After getting no reply but Sunset’s distressed moaning, Celestia climbed onto her daughter’s bed and pulled her in close. It had been a few years since Sunset was of a comfortably snuggable size, but the white pony made do with what she had.

Although, it wasn’t as if Celestia didn’t have any experience sharing the bed with slightly smaller ponies. She had Luna had spent many nights together, having to share a book due to the printing press not yet being invented and the written word being scarce in comparison to modern times. Celestia and Luna spent a great deal of time together just curled up, reading together in the winter months in the early hours of the night when the ponies of Equestria had yet to fall asleep thanks to how early the sun went down.

Celestia opened the notebook and flipped through the pages with the magic of her horn as she held her daughter close, letting Sunset calm down in her mother’s presence. Several of the pages at the start of the book had a large X drawn through them, with some of the diagrams not even half-finished before Sunset tossed the idea away.

Unfortunately, incomplete notes and half drawn diagrams made it impossible to tell what some of the doodles were even supposed to do. The television box looked like it might have been used so that people could see inside the packages they mailed from all Celestia could tell. Some parts of the drawings made Celestia wonder if Sunset had stayed up too late. The the way she spelled saddle light was just awful and she didn’t even want to try and consider how a pony was supposed to strap the cylindrical object to their body, or where the illumination would come from. It was no wonder there was an X through the thing.

One set of inventions did catch Celestia’s eye, though. Sunset had crafted designs for mirrors that would send whatever image reflected in them to another mirror as well as pick up images from other mirrors with the same enchantment. There even looked to be a few ideas on how to make them mimic sounds using very specific vibrations; although they looked incomplete.

While several ponies had come up with such ideas in the past, they had always run into a wall when it came to the fact that the spells involved didn’t travel far enough to make it a viable means of communication over long distances. However, the next design in Sunset’s little notebook seemed to solve that problem. Towers with enchantments that would receive, store, and then amplify the message for another transmission instantly would more than double the range of such magic. A side note questioned if it could also be used as a teleportation booster, but Celestia didn’t see any more notes on that.

“This is brilliant,” Celestia mumbled before letting out a yawn despite her interest. She flipped back and forth between the two pages before looking up at Sunset’s desk. The sketches in the book were little more than doodles of ideas. If Sunset had made any real designs, they were probably somewhere in the stack of papers on her desk. “We...we could build this.”

It would take some work and any sort of ‘network’ as Sunset put it, would be limited to Canterlot, the surrounding townships, and maybe one other major city of Equestria due to the materials and number of towers needed, but if Celestia could get reports from places like their southernmost towns or the ones on the western frontier the same hour that they went out, it would change so much.

“Sunset, I think we should...try…” Celestia trailed off as her eyes fell on her daughter.

Tears streamed down Sunset’s face before she let out a tiny sob that shook her whole body.

Celestia blinked. “What?” she whispered to herself before setting Sunset’s book on the nightstand and holding her daughter close. “No, no. Don’t cry. I’m here, I’m right here. Everything’s okay.”

Being asleep, Sunset didn’t seem to notice a single word as she continued to silently cry, oblivious to her mother’s presence.

Should I wake her? Celestia asked herself. However, the answer to that came as she fought to keep her own eyes open a second later.

Instead, Celestia went with a much more unicorn approach. She surrounded her horn in raw magic and moved it down with the intention of touching Sunset’s. According to the books on parenting Celestia had read since Sunset’s return, it was a very intimate way that mothers could calm the rough emotions foals experienced during magical surges.

Celestia touched her horn to Sunset’s and let the magic she was generating slowly seep into her daughter’s horn. As it did, she became aware of Sunset’s mental presence while filling her with Celestia’s own thought’s of love. The poor girl was afraid, alone, guilty, sorrowful, ashamed and…

Something touched Celestia’s magic, sending a wave of anger and hatred through the white pony’s mind with such intensity that she physically recoiled from the experience as a primal scream of rage ran through Celestia’s mind. Despite the fact that the contact had lasted only a moment, the feeling of what she had touched with her magic was one Celestia would never forget.

Panic and terror ran through the alicorn’s mind. How? How could she possibly-There was a loud thud, drawing Celestia away from her thoughts when she realized she had just knocked Sunset off the bed.

“Bwa! Huh? Wha?” Sunset asked he head rose from the other side of the bed to look around for a moment before her eyes fell on Celestia. “M-Mom? What’s...going on?”

Celestia fought to keep her heart from pounding out of her barrel. “S-Sunset...you...I saw you...were you having another nightmare?”

A blank stare was her daughter’s only reply for several second before she reached up to rub the side of her head with a hoof. “Yeah...you were...um…” she looked away. “I was back in Canterlot High and...you were yelling at me that was where I...belonged.”

“No!” Celestia told her before she rolled over and adjusted herself to lay on her barrel and look Sunset face to face as she held her shoulders. “You belong here. You belong with me. And I will never, ever let you go, do you hear me?”

Sunset looked up from the mattress and into her mother’s eyes. “Mom...what’re you doing on my bed?” she asked.

The question broke Celestia’s train of thought. “I...carried you in here after you cried yourself to sleep. Um, are you still mad that I cast a mental control spell without permission? I’m sorry that I upset you.”

“Well…” Sunset sighed and shook her head. “What’s the point? It’s not like it was total mind control. Just...please don’t do it again? Humanity gave me a huge hang-up about mental manipulation.”

Celestia smiled at her daughter. “Never without your permission,” she promised before giving her foal a peck on the nose. “Now, I need to take care of something. So…Sunset?”

“Yeah?” her daughter asked.

“I’m sorry I was never the best mother to you. I’m sorry it took me so long to-”

Sunset stopped her. “Please don’t start doing that again. You know where it leads. We just cried to sleep over it.”

Celestia nodded. “Right. So, let me just say again that you are beyond everything I could have hoped for, and I know you will be a better princess than I could ever hope to be,” she said before pulling herself off of the with her hind legs. “But, I need to go take care of something important. I’ll...see you in a bit. Go play with your friends”

As she turned to flee from her daughter’s presence, Sunset’s words reached Celestia’s ears. “Yeah, that’s not cryptic at all!”

Cadance cuddled her coltfriend, basking in the post-coitus feeling she so enjoyed before rolling on top of her stallion. “Mmmmmm, I see somepony’s adjusting to his new circumstances quickly,” she said before kissing Shining Armor.

Like most times when the subject of sex came up, Shining Armor gave the cutest little light blush. “Thanks. It’s um...okay, I got nothing.”

Cadance giggled before kissing the stallion on the lips again. “I’ll take honesty over egotistical bragging any day,” she said. “So, what do you want to do for the next couple of weeks, hero?”

“Huh?” Shining Armor asked.

The question got Cadance groaning at what she was about to bring up. “Well, with heat week and everything else that happened, somepony in this relationship deserves a little pampering so...what do you want to do?”

Shining Armor shrugged. “It’s okay Cadance. Anything you and Sunset want to do is fine with me.”

“Okay Shiny,” she said before sighing and rubbing the side of her head with a hoof. “Look, it’s okay to ask us to throw our weight around if you want something like a tour of the military academy. Sunset was the one who got trapped on an alien world and lowered her expectations. You’re allowed to raise yours a just little.”

Shining Armor raised an eyebrow. “You mean besides the gourmet food I eat every time I come here, Twilight’s scholarship, the LARPing tablet and my fancy clothes?”

“Doesn’t change the fact you’re getting whatever you want for the next two weeks,” Cadance told him before giving Shiny a peck on the lips. “Hero.”

The complete made Shiny’s mouth curve into a tiny smile. “I just like being with you girls.”

“So...replay?” Cadance asked. It wasn’t exactly her thing, but Shiny enjoyed them and Solar Battles had been good.

Shining Armor thought about it for a second. “Well, there is that Ant-Mare show they’re doing.”

It took Cadance a moment to recall what the papers said about the play. “You do remember that you’re talking to a mare that has been compacted in size, right? Kind of kills the amazingness of the ability when it’s been done to you,” she reasoned. “Although, I haven’t actually be tiny enough to get lost on another pony’s coat. How would they even do that in a play?”

“What happened to letting me pick?” Shining Armor asked.

Cadance gave him an apologetic grin. “Sorry. You’re right. There’s probably a subplot I’ll like. If not, well…” she said before her smile turned lecherous. “I’ve always got yours.”

She moved in for another kiss before snuggling close to her stallion to just enjoy the peace and quiet. Which was odd, when she thought about it.

For the past few weeks, Cadance had been terrified of changelings attacking Canterlot, seeing them in every corner at her lowest moments. She even managed to infect Sunset with her fear at one point, causing the amber alicorn to pin her to the ground and become wonderfully threatening to the pink princess. Only, when the smoke cleared from the post coronation celebration, there wasn’t a bug to be found. Ever single guard, noble, servent and pony that had been standing in the background had been exactly what Cadance’s eyes had told her they were.

All this time, she had been afraid of nothing.

Cadance was well aware the changelings were out there and that they were one of the biggest enemies that Equestria would ever have. But...letting herself think that she needed to spend every waking moment away from Sunset or Celestia on guard against them had shown her that even though it was a step down from her previous fears, she was still taking things too far.

Princess Celestia had a way to detect them if suspicions were raised and she knew her close-knit circle of friends well enough that Cadance was certain she could spot a fake. That was enough to keep her safe.

After soaking up a few moments of contentment, Cadance looked to the face of her coltfriend. “Hey Shiny, you want to get something to eat?”

“What time is it?”

Cadance picked her head up and looked around for a clock. Had it really been so long since she slept in her own room that she had forgotten the layout? Then again, I wasn’t here for that long, she reminded herself quickly. “Maybe six? Six-thirty?” The sun going down was her only clue.

Feeling Shining Armor begin to move underneath her, Cadance rolled off of the stallion before he began to speak. “Yeah, I should probably get together with Mom for dinner,” he said before hesitating. “Um…”

“Why yes, Shiny. I’d love to come and eat with the rest of your family,” Cadance told him.

Shining Armor blushed and looked down at the bed. “Right. Sorry, it’s just...sometimes I feel a little...guilty about it. I’m always with my parents, but yours are miles away. They didn’t even come for the coronation.”

Bittersweet feelings, or both feelings of sweetness and bitterness swirled in Cadance’s chest. She didn’t blame the ponies that had cared for her, the timing probably meant that the earth ponies were working on getting one last harvest before Fall started really turning to Winter. It took a lot of earth pony magic, but it was doable. “That’s okay, Shiny. I love your family. They’re so caring and inviting and they’ve never once made me feel unwelcome, and it’s not just because I’m a princess.” Velvet proved that when she spoke up to both her and Sunset in regards to their relationship with her son.

“Something wrong?” he asked.

Cadance looked away from her stallion. “It’s just...seeing Sunset and Celestia has gotten me thinking about a few things, lately,” she admitted. “Remember when I told you that I was found in the forest by some earth ponies to be taken in and raised in their village?”

“Yeah,” Shining Armor replied.

“It’s just...with all Sunset’s family relationship troubles, I have to wonder what my parents were like. They didn’t even leave me in an orphanage, I was just set down in the woods,” she said before her speech fell to a complete grumble. “At least Sunset’s parents left her with somepony who wouldn’t let her starve to death before they abandoned her for better employment opportunities.”

Shining Armor brought Cadance into a hug that she gladly melted into. “Do you want to find them?”

It was a question that Cadance had asked herself plenty of times over the years. As a foal, she imagined that her parents had just been moving and her basket had fallen out of their wagon without notice. She thought that they would just appear one day, looking for her. The idea that they had died protecting her was also a theory, but the little filly that was her younger self didn’t like to go down that road very often. Then when she became an alicorn, there was a brief fantasy of them appearing at Canterlot one day, both of them powerful alicorns in their own right who had to leave Cadance behind as some sort of test so she could prove herself before joining them in some magical land where only alicorns could exist.

But now… “If I did, there’d probably be a lot of crying and screaming involved before I told Sunset beat the feathers off them and had them jailed for foal abandonment,” she said with a sigh. “The only thing I ever got from them was a name nopony under the age of ten could pronounce, which was sewn into the blanket a lumberjack found me in. Which could just be the name of an old line of clothing for all I know.”

“The Mi Amore Cadenza?” Shining Armor asked.

Cadance rolled out her tongue as if she had just eaten some bad oat. “Blech! Give me Cadance, any day over that thing.”

A little kiss to her cheek picked Cadance up a bit before they moved to get cleaned up for dinner. Still, the issue of her original parents continued to linger as she and Shiny played in the bathroom a bit while freshening up since the toys Shining had were just too irresistible. But still, the distractions were just that, distractions. The question of her parents lingered in Cadance’s mind. It was the same question that every orphan asks themselves at one time or another, despite the circumstances of their life. Why didn’t they want me?

When they came out into the hallway, Cadance blinked when she saw the light gray unicorn with reading glasses and a black mane done up in a bun waiting for her. While Princess Celestia’s personal aide waiting for her was a tad worrisome, she didn’t let it show. “Yes, Raven?”

“Princess Cadance,” the smaller pony said in worry. “Pardon me if I’m overstepping my bounds for asking, but...do you know if anything is...amiss with Princess Celestia?” she asked.

The question got a sigh from Cadance. “What’s she done now?”

Raven cleared her throat and adjusted her glasses. “Well, she summoned me not too long ago while she was inspecting the ancient wards around the castle before penning a pair of scrolls with instructions that they were to be delivered to you and Princess Sunset at seven AM tomorrow, before departing.”

“And you’re telling me this, why?” Cadance asked in confusion.

“Well, despite the continuing routines of the castle that have everypony going to her, you are the High Princess of Equestria,” she explained. “If something is going on, it is my duty to keep you informed, Highness.”

Cadance blinked at the title. During one of her lessons as a princess, Cadance had learned the odd intricacies of the Equestrian title system that was lost on the vast majority of ponies. While most other countries referred to their rulers as Highness and Majesty, the terms were not interchangeable. Majesty was the higher rank of the title, with Highness coming in second, usually marking the next in a line of succession. However, Equestria flipped that on its head, with Highness being the rank for the High Princess, and Majesty being what ponies in the know called the lesser princesses like Sunset.

The fact that Raven, a pony in the know was calling her a title that only Celestia should hold had Cadance feeling odd for a few moments before she could gather a reply. “I…um…” she said before her reply fell apart when the reality of the situation hit her. “Wait, departed as in, she left the castle?”

“Technically, this is a palace since it has no defensive structures,” Raven pointed out. “But, yes Your Highness. She flew out of her bedroom balcony after sealing the scrolls.”

Cadance’s eye twitched. “Are you telling me she just took off before Sunset’s coronation dinner?” the pink princess demanded.

After giving a quick nod in repose, Raven spoke. “Yes, Highness. Considering the level of affection that Princess Celestia has been showing Princess Sunset as of late, that is why I decided to come to you. Something must have been terribly wrong for her to have done this.”

“That…” Candace plopped her plot down on the ground to cross her forelegs in annoyance. “Buck! You’re right. I can’t just ignore the fact that she’s no longer a bucking moron when it comes to Sunset anymore. So...did she get a letter or...something?”

Raven shook her head. “Not that I am aware of, Princess. And all pertinent mail does come through me before reaching Princess Celestia. Just because I don’t read most of it doesn’t know when we get an important missive from the griffons or the minotaurs.”

Without much to go in, Cadance felt her tensions rise. “So, I can either trust Celestia and go to a dinner that’s going to break my fillyfriend’s heart because she had no idea where her mom is on one of the most important days of her life, or...rip open the scrolls and hope she told us what the buck is going on, hoping it’s not the type of things that sends Sunset off the rails and barreling after her,” she mumbled before groaned. “Which...considering Celestia’s actions...it probably is.”

“So...what do you want to do, Highness?” Raven asked.

Cadance found herself awash in an ocean of what if scenarios. What if she opened the scrolls to find that it was nothing to worry about and this violate Celestia’s trust? What if Celestia had to go settle a dispute between two warring factions, and she got hurt? What if Sunset came barreling after her and started a war? What if Celestia had been captured by changelings and the letters were ransom notes left by an impostor?

Despite being a princess for longer than Sunset, Cadance found herself at a loss of what to do. The biggest problem she had taken care of had been a corrupt principle, she didn’t know how to deal with something like who to tell a potential state secret!

“Let’s…” Cadence paused. She had wanted to say, ‘go ask Sunset’. But that was the same thing as telling her what was going on! So, she either had to trust Sunset enough not to blow up, or go with Celestia’s decision not to tell anypony.

“And she just left?” Cadance asked. “Not even a ‘tell my daughter I’m sorry, but something very important has come up that can’t wait’ message?”

Raven nodded. “I’m afraid so, Princess. But, I’m certain that it was done unintentionally. She was very distraught when she departed.”

So...Sunset...or Celestia, Cadance thought to herself. If it was a simple family thing, Cadance would have sided with Sunset in an instant. But, with the way Raven was describing the situation, Cadance could see that something more stately was going on. Which was a completely different thing than the personal squabbles the solar alicorns tended to have.

“Okay,” Cadance decided with a sigh. “Here’s what we’re going to do.”

The sounds of fillies talking made their way through the dining hall’s large double doors as Sunset stood outside them with Sassy and Fleur behind her while Cadance and Shining Armor were a few feet behind the secretary that had just finished addressing the amber alicorn. “What kind of emergency?” she asked the little gray pony.

“I’m not certain, Your Majesty,” Raven replied before adjusting her glasses. “But, Princess Celestia does convey her deepest regrets. If there was any way for her to be here, you know that she would.”

Sunset gave the mare a disappointed sigh before picking her shoulders up. “Well, guess it can’t be helped,” she said before going into a grumble. “Would have been nice for a little heads up, though. I’m not a foal anymore, and it’s not like being a princess doesn’t give the highest security clearance there is.”

Raven nodded at the big mare. “I’m sure it was a simple slip brought on by her haste, Majesty.”

“Yeah,” Sunset agreed before turning towards the dining room. “Well, come on Raven. Let’s grab something to eat.”

The glasses-wearing pony blinked. “Pardon?”

A feeling of confusion also showed on Cadance’s face. “Sunset?”

Sunset threw a foreleg around Raven and turned her around to face the other princess. “Cadance, allow me to introduce you to the royal baby sitter.”

“Oh!” Cadance replied with a blink as she tilted her head in confusion. “I knew Celestia couldn’t watch you all the time, but I didn’t know that Raven was your official caretaker while she was away.”

Raven blushed. “Well, I was tasked with the responsibility of looking after Princess Sunset a few times when Princess Celestia had duties to attend to.”

The comment got a little grin. “Yeah, but I’m talking about all the times you had to foal sit my mom,” she said. “So, how much cider did Mom down last year, when you wheeled her home in a wagon over in Baltimare?”

“Urk!” Raven exclaimed.

“Wait, that’s a story that should be shared with everypony,” Sunset told her before opening the door.

As the amber alicorn started to lead the nervous secretary into the dining hall, Cadance quickly caught up and gave her fillyfriend a private frown. “Sunset, there are foals in this room, you know.”

The statement made the bigger alicorn flinch just a bit before she looked over to Cadance with an uneasy grin. “Yeah, but I’m thinking the girls got to go play or hit the hay sometime before us big ponies do so...that’ll give Raven plenty of time here to think of her best tales to share with the rest of us.”

Raven gulped. “Princess Sunset, I don’t think your mother will appreciate such information being given out without her knowledge.”

A dark frown appeared on Sunset’s face. “Well, she should have thought about that before leaving me here in Canterlot and having you deliver the message.” Which of course left the question of, just where was her mother, anyway?

Space. The empty frontier. Such were the thoughts of Celestia as she voyaged through the dark expanse, propelled by the magic in her wings that simply extended out into the void.

Mostly because those thoughts helped distract her from the fact what she was doing was absolutely insane. Just coming into Nightmare Moon’s center of power after giving her nearly nine-hundred ninety years to fortify it was the same as a mouse walking into a cat’s den when it had a limp.

But after examining the dream wards in her palace that protected the ponies of Canterlot from unconscious mental intrusion and finding them functioning just fine without any signs of tampering, the only explanation for what she had felt when her magic touched Sunset was that despite the impossibility of it all, Nightmare Moon had sunk her teeth into Celestia’s daughter.

All the things Cadance and Twilight Velvet had said, Celestia had casually tossed them aside, thinking that she knew better. Sunset wasn’t some invincible pony like she pretended to be in front of others, she was a fragile little foal who needed her mother’s love.

At least, that was what Celestia had thought.

But now…

Celestia gulped down a breath of air her sustenance spell was creating around most of her body. How long had it been going on? How far had Sunset been pushed into despair from her dreams? How much had she suffered because Celestia had refused to look at what was right in front of her face from day one?

Coming in for a landing, Celestia was surprised to find the presence of air a few dozen feet above the ground. It seemed that Nightmare Moon had made her prison a bit more livable during her time on the lunar surface. She touched down on the surface of the barren rock, kicking up a cloud of dust with every step.

Although it had been well over a thousand years since her last trip to the Moon, old memories bubbled up like it was yesterday. Thanks to a pair of competitive natures that only increased as they got older, Celestia and Luna frequented the lunar surface to engage in the more destructive contests that might have burned down a forest or stirred up a maelstrom if done around Equestria. It felt wrong for Celestia to stand on her old playground for such a reason as she was about to undertake.

It didn’t take long for her to feel the change in the air. A foul presence closed in from all around her even before Celestia could see the black clouds so think with darkness they might as well have been moving globs of oil moving across the desolate plains. Every pony instinct she had told Celestia to take flight, to run away from this dark place as fast as she could and never look back. Her legs trembled and a primal neigh wanted to escape from her throat as the darkness closed in, but Celestia stood her ground.

For years after Nightmare Moon had been banished, before Celestia enacted her magic to strip away all written record of Luna’s existence in an effort to keep her name from being dirtied, Celestia had conferred with the brightest minds of Equestria in an attempt to understand just what Nightmare Moon was. While she knew it was an attempt by a distraught mare who wanted to try and spare her sister any blame, the answers she received had been interesting.

The first and most prevalent among them was that Nightmare Moon was simply Luna. Although her little sister usually adopted a lesser stature than Celestia, the power of the moon was equal to that of the sun. By all accounts, they should have stood as equals. It was only by some desire of Luna’s that she stood at about the same height level that Sunset currently occupied. When she decided to overthrow her sister, that desire was done away with and Nightmare Moon was born.

Another idea was that unlike the sun, the moon held some sort of dark power unknown to other ponies. Because of that, Luna’s power was slightly less than Celestia’s, as was her stature. But when she finally decided to rebel against Celestia, she blotted out the sun to cut Celestia off from her power source while drawing on the full might of the Moon. The dark powers of her mystical font then worked to corrupt her mind, turning the angry tantrum that Luna was known to have from time to time into a full on homicidal rage.

The final theory was the one least favored by the ponies Celestia had spoken to, but one she hoped for the most. According to Equestrian legend, there were places across Equestria where the remnants of dark magic would collect and build up over time. This magic would then take on a pseudo-life of its own, not truly alive, but not quite inert, something that acted on pure instinct. It would seek out a host, reforming into a dark reflection of whatever pony that it came across. While the pony herself would provide the basic will and motivation for its actions, it was the darkness that was truly responsible for the actions that were undertaken.

While Celestia had come across creatures that had been corrupted by darkness in her time as Princess of Equestria and dealt with them, she had never found another being of any sort to be so consumed. In fact, the only case she knew of was second-hoof, told her by one of the magical researchers. According to him, a great-uncle of his had fallen into such jealous hatred of Starswirl the Bearded that he had become swallowed by such a creature.

Despite how little credence there was to such tales, they were the ones Celestia held to. And seeing the creeping sea of darkness in front of her, Celestia couldn’t help but feel a glimmer of hope, despite the danger she was in.

After lighting up her horn, only for a black wind from the darkness to suddenly sweep in to send a chill down her spine and snuff it out, Celestia steadied herself. “I understand the desire to be theatrical, but if I do not return to Canterlot alive and well before Sunset reads the missive I left for her, I very much doubt there will be much you can do to stop my little girl from hoof painting the ground with your blood.”

The darkness in front of Celestia retreated just a step before a figure as black as the empty night emerged from it. Just the sight of her sister’s captor made Celestia tense in anger. Nightmare Moon looked exactly how Celestia remembered her to be. Although just as tall as Celestia was herself, the Nightmare’s frame was much more lithe and slim than the pony who had lived on Equestria for the past several years.

“Hello...sister,” Nightmare Moon said in that same near-seductive voice she frowned at Celestia. “To what do I owe such an honor as your bountiful presence?”

Celestia couldn’t keep the anger held back. “You are not my sister!” she shouted at the monster.

The rebuttal only got a tiny laugh from Nightmare Moon. “On that, we can agree,” she said. “I am not the foal you berated because she was a step behind you during magical training despite being six years your junior. I am not the filly you bullied and snapped at because she wished to be your equal. I am the mare you made a mockery of at every party with your lies concocted to undermine my authority!”

With the end result of her early stumbles shouting at her, Celestia felt her legs weaken. “I…” She sighed and lowered her head. “Yes, I was prideful and foolish. I admit to my failings, to all my mistakes. And when I see my sister again, I will placate myself before her and beg for the forgiveness that I do not deserve,” the white pony said before raising her head to meet Nightmare Moon’s angry gaze. “But that is for her, not you.”

“Oh yes, your noble sacrifice,” Nightmare Moon spat. “As if you ever had an ounce of nobility in your entire body. I know all about your stupid plan to end us both. I see you’re still lying to yourself as always. I’m amazed that you haven’t sent your little weapon here to end me already.”

Celestia frowned. “I would never force the burden of a death on Sunset’s shoulders.”

A snort came as Nightmare Moon’s reply. “Yes, you say that now. But tell me, one, two...five years down the line, will you begin to tell yourself that you’re wrong? That Equestria needs you for some greater purpose? That paying for your crimes isn’t as important as what you could do to make it right, or some other weak-willed trash?”

“I committed no-”

“YOU DID THIS TO ME!” Nightmare Moon shouted. “For one thousand years, I have been left on this dead rock, unable to return to where I belong. For one thousand years, you slaughtered any of those who could truly be called mine.”

Celestia snorted at the accusation. “You mean your puppets? I released them from you.”

The reply got a laugh from Nightmare Moon. “Is that what you call it?” she asked. “Tell me, how much did Gum Drop’s mother cry when you so graciously released her?”

“Enough!” Celestia shouted. “I am not here to discuss such things. I am here for Sunset!”

Nightmare Moon threw her head back and laughed. “Do you mean, this pony?” she asked before her horn became...Celestia couldn’t say that it was illuminated. An aura of blue that was almost black surrounded Nightmare Moon’s horn and actually decreased the light coming in from the stars in the sky.

Behind Nightmare Moon, the darkness took the shape of a wall before a clear image was displayed within it. Celestia sucked in a breath as she saw a much smaller, wingless Sunset than the pony she had just crowned looking up at Celestia with wide, hurt eyes as the alicorn glared down at her. “I’m selfish?” Sunset said before she threw a book at the big alicorn that was deflected. “This book says you could become as powerful as an alicorn princess! I could rule here! It’s selfish of you to keep me from my rightful place!”

“W-What is this?” Celestia whispered.

Nightmare Moon chuckled. “Oh come now, Celestia. You know that the memory of a pony is an open book to me. This is what happened to her way back when. This is the real you.”

“I deserve to stand beside you and be your equal...if not your better!” the Sunset in the projection told that Celestia. “Make me a princess!”

The world around Celestia dropped from her attention as she took a step closer to the image. “Tell her that it’s too dangerous,” she said to her image. “Tell her what might happen if she’s not ready.”

“No,” the Celestia in the projection said, dashing both that Sunset’s hopes and the living alicorn’s. “Being a princess must be earned. I have been trying to teach you everything you need to know, but you have turned from it. Every time you say you deserve to get something without the effort just proves to me that you are not ready.”

Celestia frowned at the hypocrisy that came from her double’s mouth. A born alicorn, she and her sister had been given a crown on a silver platter. “What you talking about?” she demanded of her past self. “You’re the one that controls the curriculum. If she wants a test to prove her worth, then give her one! Even if it’s one designed for her to fail! Don’t just stand there, wrapped in your own foolish sense of superiority!”

“Sunset Shimmer!” the projection of Celestia went on. “I am removing you from the position of my pupil-”

“No!” Celestia told herself as the sound of her terrified heart drowned out some of what she was hearing.

“-your studies end here,” the other Celestia said as she glared down at Sunset with her wings spread to their fullest.

“OH SHUT UP YOU SELF-RIGHTEOUS NAG!”

The force of Celestia’s voice blew the image away before her vision began to blur. “How dare you look down on her like that! How dare you not see the pain in her eyes! I HATE YOU!” she shrieked before the tears made it impossible to see and she fell into a sitting position before looking down onto the ground to cry. “I hate you.”

Nightmare Moon’s voice cut in a few seconds later. “I wonder how many times she told herself things were better this way. How many times she said she could rule Equestria all by herself, without any other family to get in the way.”

Unable to rally her anger, Celestia continued to look at the ground. “I never truly meant any of that,” she mumbled.

“Yes you did!” Nightmare Moon accused her between clenched teeth. “Admit it! You were glad I was gone. That you didn’t have anypony you needed to debate issues with, that all the authority was in your hooves!”

Celestia let out a sob as the words brought back memories that she would sooner forget. How she had stood proudly in her new throne room as the put a single throne on the dais. How she had told ponies this would be much better now that her sister would no longer slow down legislation. How she had envisioned an Equestria molded in her own image, rather than the hodgepodge of two different ponies.

It was with heavy numbness that Celestia realized she needed to move on from this. If she left the Moon too late, Sunset would come calling even if the Nightmare agreed to allow her departure. Fighting was out of the question. The surface of Nightmare’s moon pulled Celestia’s power away until she felt like a pre-teen foal, barely able to light her horn.

She took in a deep breath and looked up at her sister’s jailer with heavy eyes. “Nightmare Moon. I’ve come to bargain with you.”

The hoof that struck Celestia in the side of the face sent her sliding a foot along the ground. Her jaw ached with a throbbing pain as the black alicorn stomped up and pressed her hoof to Celestia’s cheek. “Well of course that’s what you’re here for. Do you think me a complete fool?” she asked. “You want me to stop intruding on the dreams of the precious little girl you were willing to throw away like trash. Of course, the question then becomes, what’re you willing to give me in return?”

“That is a rather hard question to answer,” Celestia replied. Her voice sounded strange to her own ears from being pressed to the ground by Nightmare Moon. “On the way here, I was thinking about offering to take you into my own body.” As far as Celestia knew, the binding would still hold the darkness to the Moon. And Sunset would never do anything to hurt her own mother.

Nightmare Moon giggled before removing her hoof from Celestia’s face and circling her like a predator would wounded prey. “Oh yes, you still think of me as some sort of monstrous parasite to be removed from your precious baby sister,” Nightmare Moon said. “You truly are an idiot.”

Celestia picked herself up off of the ground. “It is the only option that makes sense.”

“Okay, let’s go with that for a second,” Nightmare Moon replied. “You’re hoping that I’ve just some evil manifestation that has possessed you previous wittle Woona. A manifestation that has held her body hostage for centuries. An evil creature that has cut into her mind, tortured her, torn her apart from the inside and devoured her soul bit my bit. All because you don’t want to think that you pushed your little sister into doing all the things I have.”

The scenario presented chilled Celestia to the bone. Was that what she had truly been hoping for all these years? The idea that Luna was alive within Nightmare Moon had given her hope, but she had ignored the fact that Nightmare Moon was the one controlling Luna’s wellbeing. “Surely, something of the host must survive.”

“Host?” Nightmare Moon spat. “Even after I told you such a thing, you cling to that. To the foolish idea that you can see your baby sister again when in fact I am your sister.”

Seeing that any further talk would only drag her down deeper, Celestia hung her head. “What is it you want?”

Nightmare Moon snorted. “Only what is rightfully mine,” she said before frowning. “But since you are unable to give me such a thing and my freedom would only lead to my eventual defeat. I’ll settle for...your life.”

As soon as the words were said, Celestia dropped into a defensive stance. She didn’t know how well she would be able to ward off Nightmare Moon’s attacks, but she was hardly going to just agree to be murdered. However, instead of moving on her, Nightmare Moon just threw her head back in laughter. “Ohohohohoho! Do not not think me that simple you twit!” she spat. “I wish for you to engaged in a life pact with me. That way, if you break the agreement we make-”

Celestia cleared her throat. “I’m aware how it works,” she mumbled. “What is the agreement?”

“I shall no longer assault the dreams of Sunset Shimmer, Mi Amore Cadenza, or any pony within the royal house. In return, you will continue to keep my existence and all things related to it a secret, as well as keep your proxies from revealing me to your daughter or anypony else. In addition, when I am released from the moon, you will be the first pony to face me in combat. While happenstance encounters will be allowed, should another pony or another group attempt to impede our reunion and subsequent battle, or interfere with it after it’s begun, the contract will be void and your life will end, as will mine should I invade the minds of your family.”

After going over the words in her mind, Celestia looked back to Nightmare Moon. “So, you and I will still meet on the thousandth Summer Sun Celebration?”

“I’ve been looking forward to it for some time, sister,” Nightmare Moon sneered. “Now, shall we begin? The spell does take some time to prepare.”

As she ran her mind over the spell time and time again, something occurred to her. It didn’t have anything to do with the agreement, but with Nightmare Moon herself. Back when Sunset had just arrived, she had mentioned the desire to kill herself, or close to it. But as time went on, that thought changed to something else. “Nightmare Moon, if you’ve been plaguing my daughter’s dreams...then why didn’t you simply push her towards suicide?” Celestia asked as she constructed her part of the spell.

Nightmare Moon snorted. “I suppose you think I escape from the Moon once a year to eat foals as well,” she spat before a black light appeared at the tip of her horn. Then a pensive frown appeared on the mare’s armored face. “Well, I’ll admit to the assassin, but honestly? We both know he had little chance to wound your daughter, much less end her life.”

“W-What?” Celestia stuttered in shock.

Instead of answering, Nightmare Moon charged and touched the tip of her horn to Celestia’s.

Thus is our treaty written; Thus is the agreement made

Though memory shall dull with time; This agreement shall never fade

What asked is given; The price is paid.

There was a thunderous boom before Celestia and Nightmare were forced a step back from each other, the magic’s presence was still ringing in her ears. “You made Hard Line try to kill my daughter?!” she demanded.

Nightmare Moon smirked at Celestia, showing her fangs. “Oh, we both know you can’t make anypony do things from the dream realm. Forge agreements and manipulate emotions, but nothing that can force a pony into an action,” she said. “What’s truly pathetic is that it barely took any convincing at all on my part to make him so homicidal that he would attack his ruler.”

“Why would you do such a thing?” Celestia demanded.

“I will admit that he is quite useless,” Nightmare Moon replied. “But as a former captain of the guard, he will know everything about your castle's defenses and will be able to train the others that bow to me in combat. Well, once that my other minions break him out of that pathetically guarded dungeon this night.”

Celestia’s eyes widened in alarm. She turned around and began to gallop, hoping that the added speed would assist her in leaving the Moon’s gravity. Only, when she got a few inches off of the ground, the shadow-stuff swarmed in to engulf her hooves before a dark glow surrounded her horn to prevent any magic from escaping.

“Oh sister, you shouldn’t leave yet,” Nightmare Moon said as she came from behind Celestia to stand beside her. In front of the white mare, the darkness gathered to form an image that was obviously pulled from Sunset’s life as a human. “I’ll let you go after seeing Sunset’s...I believe she would call them...her greatest hits.”

The darkness expanded to create room for another image, one of Sunset sitting on a cot, looking at some kind of white rod. The look on the redhead’s face was one of horror. “This is the time she thought one of those naked apes had left his seed in her.”

Another picture showed looking at what was obviously some kind of waste bin. “Oh, this is the one where she ate discarded food because she wasn’t aware of her gems’ value yet.”

Then another picture appeared. “There’s her eating grass. Poor thing lowered herself to such an action, not knowing what it would do.”

And another. “Her first human disease.”

Followed by another. “First Winter there. As I understand it, humans don’t really like the cold.”

Then came another. “Oh! This one is my favorite,” Nightmare moon said as she forced Celestia to look at the picture of the human Sunset standing in front of a horse statue. The journal in her...arms(?) drew Celestia’s attention. “You noticed it too, then? This is after that Princess Twilight Sparkle went to Earth a second time. After that, the portal was open all the time. All she has to do is walk through, and she’s home again.”

Celestia gulped. “W-Why’re you showing me this?”

“This is during a point in her life where several of her human friends have turned against her because of that Anon-thing,” Nightmare Moon went on. “She’s been out there for hours because Twilight Sparkle told Sunset to...oh yes...find her family.”

“Would she...even want me back?” Sunset’s image asked. “Is she...still mad?”

Nightmare Moon leaned in close. “Look at her, shivering in the cold. The humans who have cursed at her, abandoned her. Thrown her away like trash and left her to cry in the middle of a hallway...or you?”

Sunset looked back down at the back of her journal, where Celestia’s cutie mark shone brightly. “She...hasn’t sent me anything since…”

“Please...please, stop,” Celestia begged as she tried to lower her head with no effect. So, she closed her eyes.

Sunset’s voice cut into her ears. “She...she doesn’t want me,” the projection said before Celestia heard the crunch of snow. “She never wanted me.”

Celestia cried.

And Nightmare Moon...laughed.

With her dress and jewelry taken from her, Crooked Line sat on the cold ground in the nude, the cold feeling of the stone beneath her draining any hope for warmth away. Across the hallway from her cell, both of the males from her house sat glaring at one another. They had been arguing for hours on end about Hard’s actions until dinner had been brought in. That had at least stopped things long enough to give her a little quiet.

Much to Crooked Line’s surprise, there was another mare in the cell next to her husband and son. She was a chubby, yellow thing, but at least she had a horn. Crooked could remember something about a non-noble getting thrown into the dungeons by Sunset under Princess Celestia’s authority, but as she was just a wealthy commoner, that was all Crooked Line cared to learn about the subject.

And it seemed that any attempts to converse with her ended after the meal. Blue Line quickly stood back up after swallowing the last bit of food from his plate. “You stupid little foal!”

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done to me? TO OUR HOUSE?” he yelled. “RUINED! You’ve ruined us! One thousand years of history and success, ruined because of you! HOW COULD YOU HAVE BEEN SO STUPID?”

The younger stallion let out a whine. “B-But, she was going to destroy Canterlot. Everything we made, everything we’d worked for. All of it would have disappeared under her rule.”

“Rule? WHAT RULE?” Blue demanded. “Celestia rules Canterlot! She rules Equestria! She has ruled it for over a thousand years! Do you think she’s stupid? She would have never let that brat have any real power!”

“But, she gave Sunset the crown for a weekend,” Hard Line said.

Blue Line snorted. “That was a test, you fool! A test she failed!” he insisted. “The only thing that brat was going to do was sign her name to every document Celestia put under her nose and be the Princess’s flunky for the rest of her life.”

As Hard Line went back to sulking, Blue Line walked over to look through the bars at his wife. “And I suppose by your reaction, you had a horn in this disaster as well?”

The accusation made Crooked Line roll her eyes. “Don’t pretend you didn’t hear us conversing,” she said. “I also know what you talked about with some of your friends during Heat Week’s stallion soiree.”

“Then you should have joined the conversation,” he said. “If you did, I would have told you all how stupid you were being. And grumbling about business is a long line from what you and the colt did!”

Crooked looked away from her husband in disgust. “You should have charged the commoner the moment your son did. He’s ten times the stallion you are, trying to remove filth from the throne.”

The sound of hooves coming down from above perked Blue’s ears. There was only one guard on duty around the cells, and if schedules were still running like they were supposed to during big events like this, he wasn’t to be swapped out until the middle of the night. Unless, they had been imprisoned for longer than he thought.

An earth pony in gold armor with a covered tray on his back came trotting down to greet the white pegasus standing half-asleep by the stairs.

“Good evening. I’ve bought food for the prisoners,” he said before motioning to the tray. “Uh, this isn’t going to fit through the bars. You got the key?”

The pegasus cocked his head to the side. “They just ate a few hours ago.”

“Well, the party and all...they cooked up so much food,” the big earth pony said. “I uh...guess they didn’t want it to go to waste?”

The pegasus sighed and reached to his side with a hoof. “Alright. Give me a minute,” he said before raising a wing and reaching around with his teeth to get a key.

As the pegasus turned his head away from the earth pony, the larger stallion looked back to remove the platter’s cover. Atop it sat a pie, made with some type of white cream or frosting. “You know, it seems a shame that prisoners get to eat this stuff and a hard-working guard like yourself doesn’t have a taste. Cut yourself a slice.”

“Well…” the pegasus guard said as he considered the offer.

Hard Line ran up to the bars. “Hey!” the stallion shouted. “What do you think you’re doing, soldier? You can’t eat on duty, I’ll have you court-martialed for this.”

Blue Line put a hoof to his face and groaned.

After letting out a considering moan, the pegasus looked back up to the earth pony. “Unfortunately, he has a point. I shouldn’t eat while on duty.”

“Of for the love of-JUST EAT IT ALREADY!” the earth pony shouted before he slammed it into the face of the pegasus guard as he tackled the smaller pony the ground and kept the pie tin from leaving his nose. After a few moments of struggle, the stallion finally went limp.

Once the guard was unconscious, the other guard trotted towards the cells and-

“Hey, I know you,” the other mare that had been locked in the cell across the hallway and over exclaimed. “You’re that um...Buck’s dad, right?”

The stallion looked her way and the yellow unicorn gasped. “Have you come to rescue me?”

“...no,” the big stallion told her before he began to trot on.

“Well if you don’t rescue me, I...I’ll scream!” she told the earth pony.

The stallion stopped moving to look back at her. “Fine! Fine, I’ll take you out too.”

“Too?” she asked when the stallion continued moving.

He trotted up to the cell both Line stallions were standing in. “So, you’re the failures that couldn’t even kill a stupid overgrown foal.”

Blue Line snorted. “Perhaps if my idiot son had told me of his plans beyond a basic, do not worry father, I have everything well in hoof, things would have ended differently.”

The false guard snorted. “Yes, I too have an idiot for a son. It makes me wonder where I went so wrong,” he said. “So, let’s get going. The coronation pulled most of the guards from the night shift into day duty, so there shouldn’t be much trouble in getting out.”

“Why are you doing all of this?” Blue Line asked after the cell’s door had been opened.

The stallion turned to work on Crooked Line’s cell. “Why, so you might serve the true Princess of Equestria.”

Celestia came in for a landing on her balcony and barely managed to keep from stumbling. She was drained emotionally and physically. Aching wings and legs demanded rest, but duty demanded that she moved to check on what Nightmare Moon had told her. So, Celestia opened the door to her bedroom and moved inside.

As soon as she did, a new wave of exhaustion pressed down on the white pony. As if somepony had flipped a switch and told Celestia’s body it was time to sleep.

But, she had things to do.

The pair of scrolls sitting on the top of one of her bookcases made her stop. She frowned at them. They contained personal letters to both Sunset and Cadance, as well as instructions on how to perform certain duties such as raising the sun, and what Celestia knew what would have been her fate had she not come back from the Moon.

She looked at the scrolls. Then took them in her magic and promptly tossed the things under her bed. Out of the way, she could deal with in the morning.

Celestia opened the door to her living room and...blinked when she noticed the amber alicorn princess slumped over Celestia’s writing desk with a quill and several parchments of paper. “Sunset?”

“Mom!” Sunset exclaimed before bolting up. “I um...I couldn’t sleep, and uh...you were gone and…geeze, Mom what happened to you? You look horrible!”

The unexpected appearance of her daughter was like a kick to the gut to Celestia. “Sunset, I-I love you,” she said before stumbling forward to wrap her daughter in a hug. “I love you so much, so much.”

Sunset caught the bigger pony, but quickly fell backwards onto the thick carpet shaped like Celestia’s cutie mark. “Whoa!” she exclaimed. “I-I uh, I love you too, Mom.”

“I always wanted you. I always...I’m sorry, I...I wasn’t there for you,” she whispered.

Sunset ran a hoof down Celestia’s back. “That’s okay.” the amber alicorn told her mother. “You had something important to do. I understand.”

Celestia tried to say something, but it only came out as a sob. “I...I’m sorry.”

The slight tingling of another pony’s magic was quickly followed by the sensation of floating as Celestia found herself being lifted by Sunset’s horn. “Come on, Mom, let’s get you to bed.”

But instead of heading in that direction, Sunset moved to gather up her notes on the desk. Celestia made herself read the label on the diagrams. “What’s a...holo...deck?”

“Just uh...it’s nothing,” Sunset assured her with a little blush. “Come on now. Let’s get you into bed.”

Celestia tried to move but, she was just so tired. Everything that had happened wore her out more than any single day had in hundreds of years. Had Nightmare Moon done something to her that she wasn’t aware of?

But, she still need to get to the dungeons!

She tried to shake off the fog in her mind, but found that it didn’t work.

After Sunset moved the sheets aside to lay her down, Celestia reached out to her. “Sunset...wait.”

“Yeah Mom?” she asked.

“Don’t...don’t go,” she told her daughter.

An uncomfortable look crossed Sunset’s face as it began to turn red. “S-Seriously?”

“Hmmm?” Celestia asked as she fought to keep her eyes open.

Sunset groaned loudly. “Fine,” she agreed before magicing Celestia over a little and climbing in after her. “This is a mother-daughter...celebration...thing. Late as it is, Cadance and Shiny are probably already asleep anyway so…” Sunset moved in and kissed Celestia on the cheek. “I love you, Mom.”

Unable to even muster a response, Celestia closed her eyes.

Sleep came moments later.