I gathered everypony around the table to talk about current events, but I found myself unsure of how to start. I'd decided to take a seat next to Spike and Rarity, both of whom sat opposite Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie across the table. The cake sat in the middle, untouched by anypony.

Unsurprising given the circumstances.

"Well?" came Applejack's impatient voice as she turned to me, "ya'll got us right where ya want us, so... spill it."

"R-Right, okay... um," I took a deep breath to steady my nerves, gave one last look out into the inky darkness outside, and began, "from what I can remember, this all started in Canterlot, just before I arrived here. I was reading a book beneath a tree somewhere..."

I paused a moment, thinking about how I should tackle the discussion. It wouldn't have made much sense if I'd told them about what I did without any sort of context, so I instead opted to confer to Pinkie regarding my condition first.

"Pinkie," I began, turning to the mare in question, "you still know more about this whole thing than I do. I think it might be best if you do the explaining where Skal-Gazaath and my possession are concerned. What I've gone through won't make much sense otherwise."

"Skalga what now?" Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow before turning to Pinkie, "an' what does she mean you know more about it? Pinkie, don't tell me ya'll were in on this madness from the beginning?"

"Sorry, AJ," Pinkie replied with a nervous giggle and an apologetic shrug, "I'm... kind of a big part of it actually," she turned back to the rest of us, humming in thought. She nodded in satisfaction a moment later and spoke again, "the Dead Goddess, Skal-Gazaath rules supreme over another plane of existence known only as the Black Dimension."

"The Black Dimension?" Applejack asked, her frown deepening the more she heard, "the hay is that all about? And how do you know about all o' this nonsense, Pinkie?"

"Eh, it's a family thing," Pinkie replied, waving a dismissive hoof, "anywho, we all live in the White Dimension, and normally it's impossible for the two to interact with each other... at least, through normal means."

"If that's true," Spike jumped in, "then how did all of... whatever happened, happen?"

"Well~" Pinkie drawled before reaching into her mane, pulling out a massive black tome, and slapping it onto the table, "like I said, there are ways to communicate with the creatures living in the Black Dimension."

The book's cover was black with a silver trim lining its way around the sides in a twisting, swirling, almost hypnotic pattern. In shiny silver print was the simple and rather uninspired title of The Other Side. The book appeared to be written by somepony named Basalt Pie.

No doubt another one of Pinkie's relatives...

I eyed the tome curiously, but warily, making no move to reach for it. Looking around, I could see Rarity looking just as interested as I was. Rainbow Dash didn't seem to be paying much attention to the world around her, something I completely understood given what had happen not so long ago.

Looking at Spike and Applejack however, told a different story. Spike was eyeing the book with a mix of confusion and uneasiness, and Applejack had scrunched up her face in bemusement as she scrutinized the cover.

"What in tarnation?" the farm mare muttered, "Pinkie... what the hay kinda language is this?"

"You can't read it?" I asked, turning to Applejack in surprise. Something clicked and I turned towards Spike, "Spike can you not read it either?"

"No, I... don't know what kinda language that is, but that book gives me the creeps," he looked back up at me with a furrowed brow, "kinda like when you were talking like Minuette."

I then turned to one of the other mares who had yet to speak.

"Fluttershy?" I asked, "I'm guessing you can't read it either."

"No I can't," she said in one quick, strained breath. She was shivering, shrunken in her chair with her eyes clenched shut, "please put it away, Pinkie."

Pinkie, who been about to flip the book open, paused and blinked at the yellow pegasus. She looked back at me as if waiting for my say so, and with a slightly disappointed sigh, I nodded for her to do as Fluttershy requested. With that, she shrugged and shoved the book back into her mane.

"Suit yourself," Pinkie replied airily, "so like I was saying, the Black Dimension isn't like our White Dimension at all. It's like," she furrowed her brow and tapped her chin thoughtfully, "it's like... well... to most ponies it would probably be a nightmarish world full of horrors you couldn't possibly imagine. Terrible creatures and landscapes that would literally drive those unprepared to witness such things insane with fear... or so Granny Pie says."

She shrugged her shoulders again.

"It doesn't really bother me all that much."

"...So let me see if I've got this right so far," Spike began after a few uncomfortable moments of silence, "Skal-Gazaath is an evil—"

"SHE'S NOT EVIL!"

Spike yelped and nearly toppled over from the force of Rarity and Pinkie's combined shouts of outrage. I could hear the eerie undertone of whisper in their voice and to my dismay, both had stood up in their chairs, hooves planted firmly on the table and furious eyes becoming pools of inky black.

"Sweet Celestia!" Applejack cried out, pushing her own chair back and away from the irate mares, she turned away and doubled over, her face turning slightly green, "ah think ah'm gonna be sick..."

Fluttershy cringed back and whimpered pathetically, looking as though she was about to faint dead away. Rainbow Dash hardly reacted at all, save for a slight frown and a twitchy glance in Rarity and Pinkie's direction.

I couldn't feel it, but the aura coming off of the two angry mares must've been wreaking havoc on Applejack and Fluttershy's senses. I resolved to stop this before it got any worse.

"Everypony calm down!" I shouted, standing up in my own chair, "we don't have time for outbursts like these!" I turned to Rarity and Pinkie with as stern a glare as I could muster, "and will you two please rein in your ridiculous zeal? For my sake if nothing else?"

In an instant both of them had sat back down, their eyes normal and looking abashed. I hated to treat them like that, but if I was being honest, their blind worship was moving past uncomfortable and was beginning to grate on my nerves. As if reading my mind, Rarity winced and cleared her throat.

"Terribly sorry, dear," she muttered, "I know how you feel about that sort of thing by now, it's just... something of a reflex, I need to work on controlling," she brushed a stray lock of mane out of her face and turned to a shaken Spike with an apologetic smile, "you didn't deserve that, Spike, and I assure you it won't happen again."

"Y-Yeah, sure," Spike mumbled, edging away from the mare, "it's... it's alright, no problem... I'm over it!"

His uneasy grin wasn't fooling anypony, and I half wondered if he still had a crush on the mare after that outburst. I glanced over to Applejack and Fluttershy, the former of which seemed to have recovered and was now eyeing Rarity and Pinkie with an intense wariness.

Fluttershy looked as though she had calmed somewhat, though she still shook visibly in her seat. I shook my head and looked around at Applejack, Fluttershy and Spike with an apologetic smile of my own.

"I'm sorry, girls, and Spike. Things are... weird with Pinkie and Rarity right now," I turned to give Pinkie an expectant look, "I'll explain once Pinkie finishes her explanation," turning again, I nodded towards my assistant, "please, Spike, you were saying?"

"Um... right," Spike bit his lip in uncertainty as he looked at Rarity, "so this Skal-Gazaath, she's the Goddess of some other horrifying dimension, and somehow, she's the one that possessed Twilight?"

"To put it in super, super simple terms... yup!" Pinkie replied with a nod, "I don't know why, but I do know that She was fated to return to this world one day, I just didn't know how until today."

"R-Return?" Fluttershy squeaked, eyes wide with horror, "you mean... she's been here before?"

"Well..." Pinkie amended, "...not exactly."

In response to Fluttershy's query, Pinkie and I explained the fate of the pink mare's ancestor and how he had summoned Skal-Gazaath with his dying breath to preserve her family line. Spike, Applejack, and Fluttershy listened with a sort of horrified fascination

"Wait," Applejack began once we'd finished explaining, "so, Pinkie..." she fell silent and worked her jaw for a moment, as if struggling to get the words out, "yer... are you sayin' ya owe yer family's existence to this Goddess?"

"Yeperooni!" Pinkie replied cheerfully, "if it wasn't for Her, Ponyville wouldn't have it's premiere party planning pony, Pinkie Pie, prancing around planning perfect parties for the precious ponies of Ponyville!"

Applejack blinked.

She eyed the other innocently smiling earth pony with an inscrutable gaze, unsure of what to make of this revelation. Slowly she lowered her head and frowned deeply, more in contemplation than anything from what I could see.

"...Huh."

She said no more than that, prompting Pinkie to continue with her explanation.

"So like I was saying," Pinkie began, "the White and Black Dimensions are normally completely separated and their denizens can't interact with each other under normal circumstances. That means ponies, griffons, changelings, and every other race that exists in this world, can't cross over to the Black Dimension, and the creatures that live in the Black Dimension can't exist here... at least, not without a host, or vessel, or whatever you wanna call it."

"And that's where Spike and I come in," I interjected, "Spike's possession was only temporary, "but mine... well... I don't know," I frowned, "I think, unless I actively find a way to remove Skal-Gazaath from my body, my possession might be a permanent one. At least, that's the feeling I get."

Spike went to reply, probably with words of encouragement, but Rarity, who was now looking at Rainbow Dash, spoke first.

"And what of Rainbow Dash?" she questioned, "I must admit, her... change, came as quite a shock."

All eyes turned to the cyan pegasus, the expressions ranging from curious to suspicious to afraid to worried and more. When Pinkie spoke, it was with an air of uncertainty and a troubled grimace had made its way onto her face. Rainbow Dash did her best to ignore the stares as she looked at a far wall.

"That... I'm actually not so sure about," she replied hesitantly, "I don't know how I didn't notice what she really was before, but then again, that could've been because Nel-Baloth was hiding her identity... maybe."

"Pinkie," I said, my own expression troubled as I looked from Rainbow Dash to her, "who is Nel-Baloth. I... Skal-Gazaath recognized the name, but I don't know anything about what it means or who that is."

Pinkie went to reply, but to her and everypony else's surprise, it was Rainbow Dash that spoke up, her slightly glassy eyes still locked on the far wall, and her voice quiet and distant.

"Nel-Baloth, The Ancient King, The One Who Watches, The One Who Waits," she muttered. She finally turned to face the rest of us, her face grim, but her voice growing stronger, "a long, long time ago—like, we're talking, billions of years, He was the one who ruled over the Black Dimension..."

She winced, grunted, and raised a hoof to her head. It looked like she was in pain, but she pressed on nevertheless.

"...but there was this... war," she grunted again and her voice became slightly strained, "it was... huge, like it... nngh, armies large enough to cover planets, fought through time and space... lasted centuries..."

She pressed both hooves to her head and slumped over the table. Fluttershy moved closer, but hesitated, unsure of how to console her friend, or if she even should. After another moment's hesitation, she placed a hoof on Rainbow's back.

"Rainbow Dash, are you... okay?" she asked, "you look like you're in pain."

"Head hurts," Rainbow groaned before slamming a hoof down on the table and raising her head to look at all of them. She spoke through clenched teeth, "but... this is important. I don't know how I know all of this... but you guys gotta listen."

"Now hold on a minute," Applejack cut in, rising in her chair, "just what is all this about a war, an' what's that gotta do with what's goin' on now? What is goin' on now? Ya'll have been talkin' but so far ah ain't got much other than that Pinkie's family ain't normal and that there's this crazy horrible dimension ah've never heard of," she shook her head, "an' now ya'll are bringin' up this Nel-Baloth character, outta the blue. What am ah suppose ta make of all o' this?"

"I know the war Rainbow is talking about," Pinkie replied, her face growing slightly pale, "it was some massive war fought between Nel-Baloth and Skal-Gazaath for the Throne, and Skal-Gazaath and her forces won in the end."

"The throne?" Spike asked, actually looking more intrigued than nervous, "so it was some kind of war to rule the Black Dimension?"

"Exactly," Rainbow Dash replied with a pained grimace, "well, sort of. I don't know all the details, but apparently, the Throne is some kind of crazy powerful artifact that... that gives you the power to rule over the entire Black Dimension," she grimaced again and turned to me, "I don't know what it is or if it's an actual throne, but only the Dead Goddess knows where it's hidden now."

And I don't have any of Skal-Gazaath's memories, so I don't know where or what it is, either...

"Whoa," Spike muttered, shaking his head, "okay, this is getting kind of ridiculous."

"Yer tellin' me," Applejack grumbled as she pushed out her chair and hopped off, "ah think ah've heard just about enough. Ah don't know if ah can stomach any more o' this insanity."

"Applejack, wait!" Rainbow cried, trying and failing to follow after the cowpony as she fell to the ground, "something bad is gonna happen, like... really soon!"

"What do you mean, Rainbow Dash?" Rarity asked, looking concerned.

"I don't know how I know, but He's close," she grunted in pain as she tried to rise to her hooves, "He's planning to do something horrible during the Summer Sun Celebration!"

"What's he planning?" I asked, rising up out of my own seat, "Rainbow Dash, is Nel-Baloth planning to make his way into the White Dimension?"

"I don't know," Rainbow growled, "my head is killing me. My mind's all screwed up, and I keep hearing this voice in my head telling me 'the hour is near' and I have this feeling that I really need to be somewhere else right now, doing something super important."

My mind was racing with possibilities, and it didn't take me long to come up with one.

Does this have something to do with the Mare in the Moon?

"What are you on about, Dash?" Applejack retorted, "ah swear ta Celestia, if this is more of yer crazy Black Dimension nonsense—"

"Girls," I interjected, my tone urgent, "I think we should finish this conversation later. The Summer Solstice is starting soon, and I get the feeling whatever is supposed to happen, is gonna put a lot of ponies in danger."

"W-What should we do?" Fluttershy asked, helping Rainbow to her hooves, "what can we do? This all sounds so... so... awful," she turned to me with a look of understanding, then panic, "are you... suggesting we go and stop whatever horrible thing is supposed to happen?"

I looked at her for a long moment, then sighed and gave a slow shake of my head.

"No... no, you don't have to go anywhere, Fluttershy," I replied with a soft, reassuring smile. I looked to Spike, Rainbow and Applejack, "in fact, I think all of you should stay here. Pinkie, Rarity and I will go to Town Hall and see what's going on."

"No! I... I need to go too!" Rainbow cried, "I think I might be able to get some answers about what the hay is wrong with me if I go," she grunted again, but stood tall and stared me in the eye, determination burning in her own eyes, "take me with you. Whatever's happening, I can take it."

"Rainbow," Fluttershy began, "I don't know if this is a good idea. We don't know how dangerous it could get out there, and—"

"I'm going, Fluttershy," Rainbow turned to the scared yellow mare, her expression softening slightly, "sorry, but I gotta know what all of this means. I think we all do."

"I don't," Fluttershy, responded, hanging her head just enough that her mane covered most of her face, "I really don't want to know. I just want to go home, make sure my animal friends are okay, and wait until this is all over... but..."

She took a deep breath and raised her head. Her legs were shaking and lips were trembling, but her eyes were set.

"If this gets as bad as I think it might, I don't want to lose you, so... so I'm coming too," she gave Rainbow a small, shaky smile, "I... I don't care what you are. I know you're still Rainbow Dash no matter what," she turned and nodded towards me, "and like I told, Twilight, you're only a monster if you choose to be."

"I... geez, Fluttershy," Rainbow replied, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly, "thanks... I guess," she turned back to me, "so there you have it. We're going, and that's that."

"And you're not going without me," came Spike's adamant voice, from next to me, "not again. I've been asleep like all day, and I'm not gonna miss a chance to be there for you if things go south."

"But, Spike," I replied, worry coloring my voice, "aren't you scared of what might happen at all?" I looked back up at Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, "aren't any of you?"

"Of course I am," Spike replied, "this is all completely nuts, but again, what kind of number one assistant would I be if I just stayed behind like a coward?"

He puffed out his chest proudly, but I could practically smell the fear rolling off of him. I looked back to Fluttershy, to hear her answer, but she only responded by moving closer to Rainbow Dash. Given how shaky she was, it was clear she was scared out of her mind, but she was still willing to go.

I had no need to ask about Pinkie or Rarity, as they had already moved to stand by my side. That just left the cowpony standing near the front door, and we all looked towards her expectantly.

"Ya'll are seriously just gonna buy into all this hooey?" she looked each of us in the eye. Her disbelieving frown gradually morphed into a look of shock, then understanding, and finally, resignation, "...ya really believe somethin' horrible is gonna happen while Celestia's here? Really?"

We all gave various nods and mumbles of confirmation, and Applejack heaved a heavy sigh.

"Well shoot," she muttered, adjusting her stetson so that it covered her face, "ah can see it in yer eyes—all o' ya, plain as day. An' ah can't just dismiss what ah've seen with my own eyes neither," she pushed her hat back and nodded once, "as much as ah'd like ta forget this whole mess ever happened an' spend the rest o' the night helpin' mah family with the caterin', it wouldn't be right to leave it at this."

"So... that's it then?" I asked, "you're coming with us?"

"Ah reckon ah am," Applejack sighed, "if what ya'll are sayin' is true, then ah gotta protect mah family from whatever is plannin' ta crash the party."

This wasn't going to end well.

Somewhere deep down, even with my apparently unfathomable power, I felt like something was going to go horribly wrong—something I wouldn't be able to just reverse with a thought. Still, the girls and Spike were all determined to go, and, while I could've forced them to stay, I didn't.

At the end of the day, this was their decision, and I refused to take that away from them. As long as Twilight Sparkle was still in control, I wouldn't subject anypony else to my will or change them into what I'd made Rarity, Pinkie and the other three.

I won't use those abilities unless I have to.

I had the sudden fear that if I relied too much on Skal-Gazaath's power, she'd regain her memories and try to take control, and I wasn't sure if I could stop her. Taking a deep breath, I pushed those thoughts aside, stood up straighter, and addressed the others.

"Alright, girls, I don't know what's waiting for us out there, but remember that you all decided to join me. That means you're following at your own risk," I trotted towards the door, pulling it open and turning back to the others with a nod, "that said, I'll do everything I can to keep you all safe, I promise."

I just hope I won't have to work too hard to fulfill that promise...

Author's Notes:

I know you guys are still probably curious about Rainbow's origins, but that'll have to wait a bit longer. Not too much longer, but there's some rather important things that need to be taken care of first.

There's one more chapter before we get to the main event, and it concerns everyone's favorite Solar Monarch...