Mike sighed as he combed through what seemed to be a never ending room of books and documents. He had been at this for more than a week now, and he wasn't getting much help from his friends.

Over the past week, the town of Ponyville had gone through some drama. Two days after the "defeat" of Nightmare Moon, Twilight had received two tickets for the Grand Galloping Gala. The problem was, she couldn't figure out whom to give them two. As the day played out, all of Ponyville became obsessed with getting the second ticket. All except Mike, Jake, and Cameron.

They went about the day as if were any other, ignoring the crowds that swarmed over Twilight. In truth, they couldn't care less. They had already received their tickets the day prior.

More drama followed two days later when it came time for Applebuck season. Applejack began to lose more and more sleep every day. Mike had wanted to help her, but he had been already trying to treat his own sleep deprivation.

Applejack had refused help for a solid three days before finally giving in and letting her friends help her. This had included Jake and Cameron. Mike realized that he hadn't really been in Ponyville for quite some time. Twilight had only barely met him and he hadn't shown of to work at Rarity's in days.

Mike decided it was time to take a break. Before he left the room, he made a mental checklist of some of the things he had already read.

Starswirl the Bearded's Complete Works on the Dimensions, Advanced Time Distortion, and Mass Teleportation: Book One.

A lot of the books he read were mainly for either his amusement or so that he could learn new magic. It took all of his mental discipline to not try the Time Distortion spell, for fear of what might happen if he used it.

"Guard, I'm leaving. You can lock the room up now." Mike said as he walked out of the room and teleported away.

When he arrived in Ponyville an instant later, he saw Jake running up to him.

"Thank God, you're here. It's horrible! They're driving me nuts!" Jake exclaimed.

"What do you… Oh. Today's that day, huh?" Mike said as he facehoofed. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were having their first ever pranking spree. They of course had pranked numerous ponies before, but they had never joined forces before.

Mike shuddered at what the two were capable of.

"What did they do to you, specifically." Mike asked Jake.

"They tried a bunch of stuff, but they haven't gotten me yet. It's only a matter of time before I slip up, though. They've already tried putting hot sauce in my cupcake. Cameron actually fell for it." Jake said.

"What happened to him?" Mike asked.

"It was the weirdest thing. He just commented on how the cupcake tasted funny. Nothing else." Jake said.

"I'm guessing he's either too ignorant to realize it or he has taste buds of steel." Mike joked.

"You better look out for yourself, dude." Jake said as he flew away.

I haven't been here a minute and things are already crazy. Mike thought. Maybe I should have stayed in Canterlot.

Mike suppressed the urge to return to Canterlot and headed towards Rarity's boutique. He heard sneezing come from inside.

"Are you sick, Miss Rarity?" Mike asked as he walked inside.

"Oh, Keen! It's you. I haven't seen you for days! Where have you been?" Rarity asked.

"I've been in Canterlot doing… stuff." Mike searched for the right word, but found none. The only ponies that knew about Mike and his friends being Heroes were the Princesses. He wasn't supposed to tell anypony about that.

"Canterlot? What kind of 'stuff' are you doing?" Rarity asked.

"Why do you want to know?" Keen asked back, trying to give himself time to think of an answer to her question.

"Canterlot is a city of refinement, beauty, and fashion. I've always wanted to go there. Did you know that Twilight used to live there?"

"Really? That's nice." Mike said.

"Back to my previous question, what are you doing in Canterlot?"

"Um… Princess Celestia has tasked me with looking through the Royal Archives and reporting my findings." Mike said.

That's basically what I'm doing, right?

"If the Princess wanted you for the job, she must think very highly of you. Congratulations, Keen!" Rarity said as she hugged him.

"Now, why were you sneezing again?" Mike asked.

"It was a good natured prank, courtesy of Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. Try to keep your guard up, Keen. You may be next." Rarity smiled.

The next day…

Jake flew casually towards Rainbow Dash's home. Something at the edge of his mind was nagging at him saying that something was supposed to happen. Jake couldn't quite put his hoof on it.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash!" Jake said as he hovered over the house. The door opened, but it wasn't Rainbow Dash that came out. Jake sighed when he saw who it was.

It was Gilda the Griffon, Rainbow Dash's friend from Junior Flight Camp.

God, not her. I do not want to have deal with this today.

Jake tried to keep a straight face.

"Hey, Agile!" Rainbow said as she came outside. "Gilda, this is my coltfriend, Agile."

"Hey, what's up?" Gilda said as if she were too cool for Jake.

"Dash, I was going to ask if you wanted to have a flying session, but I don't want to take you away from your friend." Jake said.

Also because I don't think I'll last two seconds of her talking before smacking her upside the head.

"Don't worry about it. Gilda already wanted to have a flying session too. We can have one right now all together." Rainbow Dash said.

"I don't think he could keep up with us, Dash." Gilda said smugly.

Jake resisted the urge to laugh. However, he couldn't keep himself from smiling.

"I guess we'll find out." Jake said. Rainbow Dash picked up on what Agile was smiling about.

"Agile, no. Don't show off. Gilda's just being Gilda." Rainbow Dash said.

"No, I want to see what this guy can do." Gilda said. "Race me."

"Oh, gladly." Jake said. Rainbow Dash stopped him and gave him a rather serious look.

Jake recognized this to be the universal "stop-while-you're-ahead" signal and backed off.

"Come on, Rainbow. I won't try my hardest. Just let me put her in her place." Jake pleaded.

"Agile, stop. Gilda's just being competitive. If you can't be around her, leave." Rainbow Dash said.

Jake looked at Rainbow Dash then at Gilda, who at this point was giving off the cockiest smile imaginable.

"Ugh, fine. I'll see you later Rainbow." Jake said, defeated.

"What's his problem?" Gilda asked as she saw Agile fly away.

"Nothing." Rainbow Dash answered. "Wanna race?"

Two hours later…

"Come on, she can't be that bad." Cameron said as he walked with Jake over to the market.

"Think of her as that camper on Call of Duty that you always moan about. Then multiply it by ten." Jake said.

Cameron actually calculated it, much to Jake's amusement.

"Wow. That is bad." Cameron said. They neared the town market. It was bustling with activity, as always. Numerous stands filled the streets as dozens of ponies going about their business. Jake looked across the street and saw Gilda.

"Speak of the devil." Jake mumbled.

"Cheer up. Let me buy you an apple or something." Cameron said.

Jake didn't respond. He merely watched as Granny Smith, the grandmother of Applejack, smell some produce. Gilda had proceeded to place her tail in front of Granny Smith's face. The old mare went into panic.

"Gah! A rattl'r! Run fer the hills!" she yelped.

"That prank was just in bad taste." Cameron remarked as he shook his head disapprovingly.

"You don't do much better." Jake joked.

"Hey! When I pull a prank, it's funny as hell. That wasn't funny at all." Cameron retorted. From the corner of his eye, he saw Fluttershy leading a group of ducks across the road.

"What are you…" Jake said as he found what Cameron was looking at. He knew what was going to happen next.

Gilda bumped into Fluttershy. "Hey!" Gilda shouted.

"Please excuse…" Fluttershy began.

"I'm walkin' here!"

"Oh… um… I'm sorry… I-I was just trying-" Fluttershy said timidly.

"'I'm sorry, I'm sorry!'" Gilda said, mocking Fluttershy's voice. "Why don't you just watch where you're going, doofus?"

"B-But I…I…" Fluttershy stammered.

Gild proceeded to let loose a full on animal-like roar, causing Fluttershy to start crying and fly away.

Cameron's going to go ballistic… now.

"I will smack the living crap out of her, Jake! It will be biblical!" Cameron said, but not loudly enough that any other pony could hear. His voice dripped with malice.

My God, he's really lost it.

It took all of Jake's strength to keep Cameron from getting to Gilda. Even then, Cameron was quickly gaining ground. Cameron would have gotten to her if she hadn't flown away.

"Snap out of it! She'll get what she deserves soon enough." Jake said, trying to calm his friend down.

"How soon?" Cameron asked.

Hours later…

Mike walked into Sugarcube Corner and was greeted by Pinkie Pie. He thought that this would probably be a good time to relax and socialize. He saw Rarity talking with Applejack, so he decided not to interrupt them. He did, however, find Twilight standing over by the punch table with Spike and walked up to them.

"Hello, Twilight." Mike said with a smile.

"Oh, hello Keen! I haven't seen you or a while. Where have you been?" Twilight asked.

"In Canterlot, studying in the Royal Archives."

"Really? Only the most prestigious of scholars are able to see the Royal Archives. Princess Celestia must think highly of you." Twilight said.

"You could say that." Mike said as he poured himself a glass of punch. "It's nice to take a break from that once in awhile. It's also really good to see Rarity again."

Spike immediately reacted to Mike's statement. "What do you mean by that?"

"You know, I get to spend time with her, maybe take her on another date or something." Mike said.

"You're Rarity's coltfriend?" Spike asked.

She could do so much better. Like me, for example. Spike thought to himself.

"Problem?" Mike asked as he took a sip of punch.

Spike was about to answer when Pinkie Pie announced, "Everyone, I'd like you all to meet Gilda, a long-time, dear friend of Rainbow Dash. Let's honor her and welcome her to Ponyville!"

This'll be fun to watch.

"Vanilla Lemon Drops. Don't mind if I do." Gilda said as she popped one into her mouth. Mike laughed as her mouth spouted fire. "Hot!" she yelped.

"G, the punch!" Rainbow Dash said as she pointed Gilda to the table.

Gilda grabbed a glass and tipped it towards her, but the punch dribbled out the side. Mike glanced over to Cameron, who at this point was in a much better mood than before.

"Enjoying yourself?" Mike asked as he walked up to him.

"Immensely. Does it get better?" Cameron asked.

"Yep." Mike said as Gilda opened one of her "presents". A dozen Spitting Snakes burst from the container.

"Pssh. Weak." Cameron said. "Funny, but weak."

Jake walked over to his two friends after he finished talking with Twilight.

"I see that you're in a better mood, Cam." Jake said as Pinkie Pie rolled out a enormous cake.

Cameron's eyes lighted up. He watched as Gilda blew out the candles, only to find that they re-lighted. This cycle went on three or four times until Gilda was out of breath.

"Re-lighting birthday candles, I love that prank! What a classic." Spike said.

"I wonder who could have done that." Pinkie Pie said.

"Yeah, I wonder." Gilda said as she glared suspiciously at Pinkie Pie.

"Who cares? This cake is amazing!" Spike said as he burrowed into the cake.

Cameron's look of joy turned to complete sadness. "He's tainted the cake." He mumbled.

"I'm sure you can get a piece that he didn't touch, cheer up." Jake said.

After a few minutes of cake eating, Pinkie Pie announced that it was time for pin-the-tail-on-the-pony. Gilda, of course, thought it was another prank. She decided to walk in the exact opposite direction of the poster with the pony on it.

As she was walking, she slipped on some fallen cake and skidded into the kitchen. Cameron's immediate reaction was that he was going to have to clean it up. However, he felt it was worth it to see Gilda covered in frosting, sugar, and flour.

At this point, Gilda lost it. She berated Pinkie Pie for all of the "lame" pranks that had been pulled on her. As a surprise twist, Rainbow Dash admitted to setting up all of the pranks. A long argument ensued, ending with Gilda calling Rainbow Dash a "flip-flop".

"That's the worst insult I've ever heard." Cameron said.

"I have to agree with you on that one." Mike said.

Gilda flew off and the party resumed. Cameron walked over to Fluttershy.

"Are you okay?" Cameron asked.

"I'm feeling better now, Facade. Gilda was just so mean." Fluttershy said.

"Yeah. The bright side is that we probably won't be seeing her again. I'm sorry that I didn't come and try to help you earlier." Cameron said apologetically.

Fluttershy smiled.

"Do you want to play pin-the-tail-on-the-pony?" she asked.

"Sure, why not?" Cameron answered.

Later that night…

Mike found himself back at the Canterlot Archives yet again. As he finished another book on the subject of dragons, he noticed that in the far back, there was a dilapidated section. He guessed that it was old, perhaps as old as Celestia. Dust literally carpeted the floor. He walked over to one of the old bookshelves and grabbed a book titled: The Power of Chaos.

Interesting title. He thought as he blew the dust off the cover. He tried being gentle with the book, seeing as it was old and possibly fragile. He opened the book and began reading.

In the times before Equestria, there were numerous and immensely powerful evils in the world. However, the most powerful of the lot was a draconequus named Discord. Discord had the power to change reality to his whim. This magic, unlike unicorn magic, is thought to be much more powerful and has no limitations. (See Chapter 7 for more information on Chaos' Capibilites) Instead of having the confines of spells, Chaos is controlled only by the wielder's own imagination and morals.

"Kick ass magic, huh?" Mike said to himself. He read on.

Theoretically, Chaos could affect entire worlds or dimensions if the user's power is great enough. (See Chapter 13 for more information.)

"That's all I needed to know. Thank you, mysterious book."

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