The streets of Upper Canterlot were mostly quiet that evening. The sky was as clear as the city was, and the majority of any noise came from the nearby palace as Princess Luna held her birthday celebration.

But that was the surface. Below any basement, deep in the caverns of Mount Canterlot, in a certain tunnel, in a certain enclave, muffled cries of a mare that had the misfortune to meet a certain criteria could be heard.

The mare was bound and gagged in the middle of a summoning circle of fresh blood. The coppery taste filled her nostrils as she tried to scream, tried to plead, tried to beg. The figures around her had little interest in what she thought, however. They were equines, like herself, though their exact strain and faces were obscured by crimson red cloaks and bodies wrapped in gauze. She didn’t know how many there were, but that was far from the first thing on her mind at that moment.

The first thing on her mind was the unicorn slowly approaching her with a knife in his or her magical grip. Each step rang in her ears like a clap of thunder. Each breath felt harder and harder to draw in as her chest seized up in terror. The cloaked stranger came to a halt just outside the circle, but the knife continued on, making a dive right for her throat. She screwed her eyes shut and let loose the loudest scream she could, not expecting to open them or hear her own voice ever again.

To her great surprise, she didn’t feel the cold of steel slice through her flesh or the taste of blood as she drowned in it. She cautiously opened her eyes to see that the knife had been stopped a hairsbreadth away from her throat by a black hand that had arisen out of the floor before her.

“That’s enough, ladies and gentlecolts, that’s enough,” a smooth, distinctly male voice echoed around the room from right next to her ear. “You have my attention.”

Several gasps were audible from around the room as the hand extended to show and arm, then a shoulder, then much more as the owner seemingly pulled itsself up from the ground. It looked like a bipedal shadow, though she couldn’t see much from her vantage point on the cold floor.

“My lord,” the pony who had just tried to kill her gasped out, dropping into a bow. The voice was definitely female. “The Children of Silence humbly welcome you to the world of Equis.”

“I know you do,” the entity purred. “I quite like the setup you’ve got here. Highborn unicorn virgin hogtied like a pig, magic candles that glow with black light… you’ve really got this whole cult thing down.”

“It is all as was instructed to us by the Codex of Unspoken Truth, your lordship,” the apparent leader of the cult said with pride.

“Ah, yes, that old thing,” the entity said with disinterest. “Tell me, mortal, do you know what exactly the unspoken truth is?”

“My lord?” she said, confused.

“The unspoken truth is that you didn’t have to do any of this shit. I am omnipresent. I could have shown up at any time,” the thing explained with a hint of amusement.

“B-but why did you have us do all of this, then?” the leader sputtered. “Why have us kidnap a highborn mare? Why tell us to sacrifice her in your name on this specific day on this specific year if you were only going to stop us?”

A cackle rang throughout the cavern, a manic laugh that could only be likened to a fire, taking all joy nearby and destroying it to fuel itself. “To see if you would do it, of course! It was all just one of my little games, mortal.”

“Yes. Yes, of course. One of your games,” the leader said, though it sounded more like she was trying to convince herself.

“And now that you’ve won my game,” the entity purred, “you all want your reward, do you not?”

“Yes, my lord,” she said excitedly, “we have longed for the day of your coming, and we are prepared to receive your blessing!”

It chuckled darkly. “I’m glad you’re at least enthusiastic about your prize. For winning my game of testing to see if you would tie up and murder a young mare who has yet to experience the glory of sex because an old book told you to, I reward you with… a painless death by atomization.”

Not another word was spoken before all the figures in the young mare’s field of vision collapsed. Their gauze and cloaks just dropped to the floor, lifeless and without owners in newly formed piles of dust.

“Mortals can be such idiots,” it chuckled to itself again. “Worshipping an elder god never works out for the worshipper. One would think that they would understand that after a while.”

The young mare suddenly found herself face-to-face with the thing, though that wasn’t entirely accurate. It had no face, just a head-shaped empty void where one should have been.

“Now, as for you,” it cooed. “Oh, I’m somewhat disappointed in their choice of sacrifice. Such a luxurious white coat, such a flowing, golden mane…” She felt its cold, lifeless hands comb through her mane, making her seize up and whimper. “It would have been such a shame if they made you a corpse on my account.”

Her gag suddenly fell from her mouth and her bonds fell away. She looked over herself in shock to see that they had been evenly split in two by some unknown force.

“Get going,” the thing said encouragingly. “Get going and… give the surface a message.” Its voice suddenly turned coldly menacing as it whispered in her ear, “The end is coming, and the game has just begun.”

Terror washed over her once again as she scrambled to her feet and galloped away as the thing’s terrible laughter rang in her ears, the sound threatening to follow her to her grave.

Twilight surveyed the ballroom for the thirty-sixth time that evening - she briefly contemplated whether keeping count of that was weird before getting back to the task at hoof. Nopony suspicious looking yet; just the usual mix of nobles, businesscolts, socialites, and other assorted members of the bourgeoisie talking over wine but staying sober enough not to make foals of themselves. The band’s brand of classical music rang throughout the large chamber – Octavia was playing especially beautifully that night. Twilight would have to compliment her performance after the party was over. If it ended well, anyway.

The young unicorn’s eyes found their way once again to the table where her friends were sitting. They were much more well-behaved than they had been at the Gala, thank Celestia, and they all sat together at a table toward the center of the room. So far they seemed to be following her instructions to stay sober, which she was thankful for. They all seemed to be laughing and having fun; even Fluttershy seemed to be giggling her tail off. All except Pinkie Pie, whose laughter was forced at best. Twilight’s brows furrowed in worry. Pinkie was still twitchy and still casting her gaze this way and that, as if anypony in the room could be a changeling ready to sink their fangs into her neck. What worried her most is that could very well be the case, for all she knew.

“Why don’t you go join them?”

Twilight snapped from her thoughts and looked over to Celestia, who she was sitting next to at the head of the ballroom along with Luna. Luna was busy accepting congratulations for her birthday from various partygoers at that moment, though. “Princess?”

“You’ve done everything you can,” she assured. “You and all your friends are wearing the Elements of Harmony and the guards have been put on high alert; go and enjoy yourself. If there truly is an impending disaster that the Elements can take care of, you’re all more than ready for it this time.”

Twilight sighed and shook her head. “I don’t know, Princess. Pinkie’s Pinkie Sense has been going haywire all day, and she pinkie swears that something big is going to happen tonight. If it’s so bad that Pinkie Pie is afraid…” Everypony should be scared for their lives. That’s what she wanted to say, at least, but she didn’t want to come across as overly dramatic. Hyperbole would not help her case, even if it felt accurate.

Celestia leaned down and nuzzled their muzzles together. “I’ll keep a special eye on all the guests in your place. Now go and have fun with your friends. That’s an order.”

Twilight couldn’t help but smile and nuzzle back. “Of course, Princess. Thank you.” She got back on all fours and began trotting through the crowd over to her friend’s table, getting several compliments for her tiara from various ponies. She gave token thanks to each of them but didn’t stay to chat. It wasn’t long before she had arrived at her destination, a sixth seat empty and reserved just for her between Pinkie Pie and Rarity. “How’s everypony doing?” she asked as she took her seat.

“Doin’ just fine, Twilight,” Applejack replied. “Not too fond of the hoity toity folks, food, and drink, but Ah guess it ain’t so bad.”

Rarity let out a small huff. “I suppose ‘ain’t so bad’ is an improvement over your outright disdain of high culture at the Gala last year.”

Rainbow Dash let out a snort. “And who was it that shook cake all over a prince at the Gala? Pretty sure it wasn’t AJ.”

“He wasn’t part of high culture, he was on a high horse, and I feel perfectly justified in kicking him off of it,” Rarity said, closing her eyes and sticking her nose up like she tended to do when getting defensive.

“I personally don’t mind the food or drink,” Fluttershy piped up with a content smile. “Don’t get me wrong, Angel is a good cook, but nothing can compare to professionals.” She and Rarity exchanged smiles that said “Glad somepony around here has taste,” and “Why, thank you.”

“Forget the food, did you see the Wonderbolts’ performance earlier?” Rainbow Dash said, immediately brightening up as if the mere thought of them made life worth living. “It was so awesome!”

“It was darn impressive,” Applejack admitted.

Rainbow Dash paused for a second before looking hopefully at Twilight. “Are you sure I can’t go and talk to them? Just for a little bit?”

Twilight sighed and shook her head. “No, for the last time. We have to be in sight of each other at all times so that we’re ready when-”

“Ready when what?” Rainbow Dash cut in. “We don’t even know if whatever emergency is going to come up is something we can do anything about!”

“It’s better to be safe than sorry, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity scolded. “I admit that being confined to this table is a bit draconian, but we’ve got food and friends right here, and that should be enough for tonight.”

“Said the mare who earlier was whining about how Fancy Pants was here and tried to sneak away,” Dash deadpanned.

Rarity giggled nervously. “Now now, Rainbow Dash, we’re supposed to be the Elements of Harmony, not the Elements of Snide Remarks,” she deflected.

“Or the Elements of Denial,” Rainbow Dash shot back.

“Or the Elements of Senseless Bickerin’,” Applejack cut in, looking at the high-class unicorn and athletic pegasus in turn, just daring them to continue fighting. Twilight gave her a little look of thanks, and Applejack returned by tipping her hat.

“Look, I’m sorry girls,” Twilight sighed, “but Pinkie Pie’s Pinkie Sense is never wrong, as I learned the hard way. Whatever happens, we need to be here in case the Elements of Harmony can fix it or, hopefully, prevent it.”

“I-I don’t think that’s going to be enough, Twi,” Pinkie Pie piped up nervously. Twilight looked over at the pink pony, and she looked like a nervous wreck. She was hanging onto her chair with her forelegs to keep from twitching right out of it. “This is bad. Very, very, very bad. Like, all sugar in the world being stolen bad.”

“You look like you downed a whole bucket of the stuff before you came here,” Applejack said, looking at her fellow earth pony worriedly. “Twilight, Ah think it might be a good idea to take Pinkie Pie home. Ah’m beginnin’ to think this isn’t her Pinkie Sense.”

“I’m not sick!” Pinkie Pie protested, throwing her forelegs up and slamming them on the table, drawing a few glances from nearby patrons. “I know what I’m feeling right now is my Pinkie Sense and we are in for a doozy!”

“Calm down, calm down; it’s almost midnight. If anything’s going to go wrong, there’s not much time left for it to happen before the party is over,” Twilight tried to assure the shaken Pinkie Pie. She knew it was in vain, but she should at least make the attempt.

“I’m sure everything will be fine,” Fluttershy joined in, reaching over and putting her hoof atop Pinkie’s. “Nightmare Moon is gone and Discord is back in stone.”

“Yeah, if we could deal with them, we can deal with anyone!” Rainbow Dash said, pumping her hoof up into the air before placing it on top of Fluttershy’s.

“We can deal with anything as long as we’ve got each other, right?” Rarity said with a smile, putting her slipper-clad hoof atop the others.

“Darn tootin’! Whatever’s coming, we’ll send it packin’, just like we always do,” Applejack said, putting her hoof in as well.

Twilight was tempted to remind them that those were both very, very narrow victories that could have easily gone the other way, but she didn’t want to ruin the sentiment. She just joined her hoof with all the others, and with a forced smile that hid how worried she was said, “Right. We can handle anything that the world can throw at us.”

Pinkie Pie, as shaky and twitchy as she was, cracked the first smile she had that entire day. It was a shadow of her normal huge face-eating grins, but it was something. She simply nodded in agreement and pulled the two ponies next to her – Twilight and Applejack – into a tight hug. Though a bit taken aback, the two shared a glance and pulled the pony next to them into it until all six of them were in a chain of hugs. For just a few moments, Twilight’s worries dissipated. She had her friends; all was right with the world.

Nightwatch repressed a sigh as he glanced at the clock. Still a half hour until his shift was up. His post had been just as boring as he’d expected it to be. Not that normal guard duty was particularly thrilling, but just saying “Name?” and checking the guest list before letting them onto the castle grounds over and over again was somehow just more grating. It was no job for a guard. He had no idea why they’d been put on high alert, but he was fairly sure that the usual fare of unicorn nobles couldn’t take on two alicorns.

His boredom was momentarily lifted when he saw an… unusual pony trot up to him. The pony was wrapped head to hoof in gauze. From what the guard could see, anyway. He had a black cloak draped over him with a very low cowl. The poor pony’s tail and mane also seemed to be completely missing.

“Sorry about the odd attire,” the pony apologized as he walked up to the guard. His voice was very smooth, and his tone contrite and somewhat embarrassed. “I had a disagreement with one of my fire spells a week ago, and only just got out of the hospital. I didn’t want to burden the eyes of everyone here with my scarred visage; quite frankly my coat looks like melted wax.”

Nightwatch couldn’t help but lower his ears a bit in sympathy. “Very sorry to hear sir, but I need your name before you can enter.”

The strange pony tilted his head. “Name? Why would you need that? Is there a list?”

Nightwatch opened his mouth to respond, but suddenly found his mind to be totally blank. Was there a list? He looked down at the podium in front of him. There was no list there to speak of. “I… guess there isn’t.”

“I thought so,” the mysterious colt said with an odd touch of smugness. “I was told that this was a public function, so I can’t imagine why you’d need my name.”

“Sorry sir, my mistake,” Nightwatch said with a bow. “Go right inside, and enjoy your night.”

The colt nodded and said back, “Enjoy the rest of your life.” Nightwatch couldn’t help but blink at the odd parting words as the strange pony trotted into the castle grounds, but he thought nothing of it.

After their tender moment of pure schmaltz, the six friends had begun enjoying the party a lot more as they just talked. Much to Twilight’s relief, Pinkie Pie had once again started smiling and giggling, though she was still twitching and spasming here and there. Even then, she’d mostly just taken to listening to the others talk.

“And I said, ‘Dear, I’m sure you’re a very nice colt, but I am so out of your league that I didn’t even know your league existed until now,’” Rarity said, finishing her story.

“That was a bit mean, don’t you think, Rarity?” Fluttershy asked.

“Well, it was true!” Rarity defended. “I’m quickly making my way through the fashion world straight into the ranks of the elite; I just can’t be seen dating anypony.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “You really won’t settle for anything less than getting in Fancy Pant’s pants, will you?”

From how red Rarity’s face went, it looked like all the blood in her body had been shot into her cheeks with a cannon. “I-I would do no such thing! He’s a married colt!”

Rainbow Dash burst out laughing and started flapping her wings, presumably at how flustered the unicorn was.

“So, who exactly would you want yourself seen with, Rarity?” Applejack cut in, trying to defuse an argument.

“Well…” Rarity paused and brought a hoof to her chin, her blush slowly fading. “I suppose somepony with flair and style, but wasn’t high and mighty about it at all. I’ve seen far too many ponies in the Canterlot fashion scene like that. The less they’re aware of how much poise and grace they have, the better. Oh, and can’t forget being kind, loving, a gentlecolt, not afraid to do some nice things for me unlike a certain prince I could mention… things like that.” She blinked and asked back, “What about you, Applejack?”

“Me?” Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow and putting a hoof to her chest. “Ah never really thought about it. Ah guess somepony Ah could come home to after a long day workin’ the farm and just relax with.”

“Not somepony that could work the farm with you?” Rainbow Dash asked, her giggle fit dying down.

“Well, yeah, if the workload got too much Ah’d expect them to come and help a bit, but you know how the old saying goes: never mix business with pleasure,” Applejack recited. “Ah guess Ah just want my love life and my work life as far away from each other as possible.” She smirked a bit and asked, “And you, Dashie?”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “I haven’t thought much about it either, but I guess somepony who could keep up with me.” She paused and grew a smirk of her own. “I’ve got a lot of energy to vent, and I’m not gonna stop for anypony who couldn’t handle it.” Fluttershy quickly grew a blush to rival the one Rarity had.

“Says the pegasus who takes four naps a day,” Twilight teased.

Rainbow Dash snorted. “Yeah, whatever. What about you, Miss Star Student?”

Twilight opened her mouth to respond and paused. “I… don’t really know. I suppose somepony who I could talk to who would understand me.”

“We understand you, Twilight,” Rarity said.

“Most a’ the time,” Applejack corrected.

“I know, I know, that’s a very broad requirement,” Twilight admitted. “I just really don’t know what I want.” She paused a few seconds more before adding, “I guess somepony I could look up to. Somepony I could trust never to hurt me. Somepony more dependable than any pony I know.”

Rarity sighed wistfully. “Don’t we all, dear?”

Rainbow Dash lightly elbowed Fluttershy. “What about you, Fluttershy? What kind of colt do you want?”

Fluttershy could have easily been mistaken for a deer in headlights at that moment. “Uh, well, um… I guess somepony who’s… nice?” She moaned a bit. “I don’t really know. Just… well, not really sure it has to be a colt…”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes just about fell out of her head. “Wow, Fluttershy, I never pegged you as a, well, um…” She cleared her throat, refusing to speak the homophobic slur that was on everypony’s mind.

“Filly fooler, I know,” Fluttershy said, her face completely red. “Don’t really see why everypony has to pick either colts or mares; both can be very nice.”

“Guess I never really thought about it that way,” Rainbow Dash said, rubbing the back of her head nervously. Twilight could detect a hint of a blush on her blue face, but she decided not to comment.

“Personally I don’t think I’d mind a mare either.” Rarity huffed. “At this point, I’m not sure there’s a dependable stallion left in Equestria.”

“No mare ever really caught my eye, but then again, no colt really has either,” Applejack said with a shrug.

Twilight smiled over at the blushing pegasus. “We’re your friends, Fluttershy. Of course we aren’t going to judge you for who you date.”

Fluttershy gave an appreciative smile back, though her blush didn’t lessen.

“What about you, Twi?” Rainbow Dash asked with a smirk. “You ever find your stable door swinging that way?”

Twilight could feel a light touch of heat find her face. “I’ve never really thought much about love before, let alone dating, so I can’t really say… what about you, Rainbow Dash?”

The pegasus’ smirk quickly left her face and was replaced by a very fake, very nervous smile. “I-I haven’t really thought about it,” she said as her face turned bright red.

A wide grin spread across Applejack’s face. “Oh really? Then why is your face redder than my brother’s coat, RD?”

“I d-don’t know what you’re talking about,” Rainbow Dash said, her blush deepening.

Applejack leaned in with an elbow on the table. “Ah reckon you have thought about it, and you have a lot.”

“Really, there’s no use denying it, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity joined in with a smug smirk.

The pegasus was cornered, and she knew it. Her eyes darted between the farmpony and the fashionista before she finally threw her hooves up in surrender. “Fine, fine! If it’ll get you off my plot, I admit it: I like mares. Like, way more than colts.”

“Aha! I knew it!” Rarity said triumphantly, pointing a hoof at Rainbow Dash.

“It’s not polite to point, Rarity,” Fluttershy said quietly. Rarity paused and put her hoof down with a clearing of her throat, sending the yellow pegasus a silent look of thanks.

“What happened to not judging ponies for who they date?” Rainbow Dash said, looking around the table.

“Rainbow, we’re teasin’, not judgin’,” Applejack snickered. “The look on your face was worth an entire season worth of zap apples.”

Pinkie Pie giggled manically, kicking her hind legs. “You have to admit, Dashie, it was really fu-”

Pinkie Pie was abruptly cut off with a loud thud. Twilight looked over to find the pink earth pony sprawled over on the floor. Her legs floundered and kicked like beached fish. Her tail flailed and lashed like an enraged snake. Every single muscle in her body writhed as if she were being electrocuted. The look in her eyes was of pure panic as control of her body was completely wrenched from her. Tears started welling up in her eyes as she started screaming, “It’s here! It’s here, it’s here, it’s here!”

Twilight could feel all the eyes in the ballroom turn in their direction, but she didn’t particularly care. She wheeled around in her seat to look at the princesses, who looked like they already had things under control. Celestia and Luna both nodded at the guards as they sealed the exits.

The young unicorn hopped up onto the table and scanned the crowd. Some were shouting for medical attention and gathering around Pinkie. All eyes were on Pinkie… for every pony except one. A tailless pony wrapped in bandages and with a low-cowl cloak draped over him. He was close to a door and was walking away from it, so presumably he had just entered. He should have at least noticed the door get barred behind him, but he didn’t even acknowledge it. He didn’t acknowledge anything. He just waded through the crowd as if it didn’t even exist.

It seemed Celestia had noticed the strange stallion as well. She whispered to a guard and motioned toward him. Within seconds, several guards had surrounded him. She couldn’t hear what they were saying above everything else, but he didn’t seem to budge. One of the guards looked angry and tried to cuff him, but as soon as he did the bandages and the cloak dropped to the ground, completely empty.

“Well, bang goes the sneaky approach!” a male voice reverberated throughout the chamber. “I guess I should’ve done this from the beginning, but hey, what’s non-life without a bit of a challenge every now and then?”

A figure… ‘appeared’ didn’t seem like the proper word to Twilight. It was more that it slithered up from the floor in the center of the room. It was a creature not even remotely like anything Twilight had ever seen. It walked on its hind legs and its forelegs just rested at its sides. Its head was round as well as its very small ears. It had no facial features to speak of. Its skin was completely black… if it could even be called skin. No, the texture wasn’t right. It was like somepony had taken a shadow and given it shape, and made it as dark as the blackest abyss. And yet something was still amiss. All unicorns had the ability to feel the magic in the air at least to a subconscious extent. She felt no magic in this being. To her magical senses, it felt like a gaping wound in the very fabric of magic.

“Great party, I must say,” the voice said, coming from the black creature as he turned to the princesses. “Too many stuck-up asses, but hey, the music is great, the atmosphere is nice, and it’s a great night out. I really must commend you on raising the moon on such a wondrous night as this, Princess Luna.” He walked casually over to a table and scooped up a glass of wine, the ponies at that table scattering. “To the exiled princess come home, forgiven of her crime for nearly killing everyone on the planet a scant thousand years ago!” He tipped the glass back roughly only for the wine to phase completely through him and spill onto the floor.

Twilight briefly contemplated how the creature being able to pick up the glass and yet the wine passed through him made absolutely no sense before she shook her head. “Let’s go, girls! Get in formation!” She heard her friends quickly jump out of their chairs and line up behind her; even Pinkie Pie, whose seizure was over since the threat had become apparent.

“Hm?” The creature lazily swung around to face the six mares. “Oh, right, you’re here. I would be surprised, but I already knew that. Go ahead and use those Elements of yours; I’ve got time,” he said with a dismissive wave of his foreleg.

Twilight only smiled. “I have to warn you; the last evildoer who said that didn’t last long! Let’s show him what happened to him, ladies!” The room began to glow brightly as her five friends charged up their elements. She quickly felt herself levitate off the table as the raw force of magic flowed through her mortal frame. She closed her eyes, letting the magic sink in, before opening them wide and aiming all her power directly at the intruder.

She saw the rainbow stream of the Elements’ power connect and begin to swirl around him in a twister of color. She slowly floated back down as the torrent of magic ebbed away. She sighed and let out a soft smile. For once, a crisis was actually averted instead of ended.

Twilight was about to turn around and congratulate her friends when something went… wrong. The rainbow stream wrapping itself around the intruder like a snake started to turn gray. It gradually lost its color before it turned to black. Without any warning, it slowed down and simply dissipated – and the intruder was exactly where he was, still holding his empty glass.

“Bravo, ladies, very nice light show. I truly feel welcome here,” he said to Twi and her friends before he started looking around and holding up his glass. “Anybody want to give me a refill? I’ve never gotten drunk before because I don’t have any organs to process alcohol with, but hey, five-trillion, forty-seven-billion, one-hundred and two-million, seven-hundred and fifth try’s the charm, right?”

Twilight barely registered her jaw going slack as she fell backward on her rump.

The Elements of Harmony didn’t work.

The Elements of Harmony didn’t work!

“Uh, Twilight… what’re we gonna do now?” she heard Applejack ask.

“Yes, dear, please tell me you have a plan B,” Rarity said hopefully.

“Twilight always has a plan!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “Don’t you, Twilight?”

Twilight shook her head. “I… I don’t. I have nothing.”

“I knew it, I knew it, I knew it…!” Pinkie Pie muttered to herself, holding her head in her hooves.

The intruder held up a foreleg in their direction as he turned back to the princesses. “Quiet, kiddies, it’s time for the grown-ups to talk.”

“Who are you and how dare you mock us?!” Princess Luna bellowed using the traditional royal voice. She was absolutely livid – beyond livid, with her chest heaving and her wings spread. Her sister, on the other hand, looked simply angry, probably trying to keep herself under control.

The intruder gave a small shrug. “Nobody.”

Luna’s face contorted into a visage of pure rage. “We demand you tell us your name at once!” she said with a thunderous stomp of her hoof.

“I just did,” he responded casually. “My name is Nobody.” He got down on all fours as his shape began to change. It shifted and warped until he looked very much like a pony himself. He had much thinner legs, but it was clear he was trying to mimic their body shape. He laid his head down low in a bow and said, “And excuse me, Princess, but I’ll mock anybody I please. It’s not like you can actually do anything about it.”

Luna took a step forward, but Celestia raised a foreleg and held her back. “What exactly are you, Nobody?” the white alicorn asked.

“You sure you want to know? You won’t like the answer.” He didn’t give them time to answer before saying, “Eh, I’ll tell you anyway. After several thousand years of life, I would have hoped that you’d learn that the truth hurts.” He let out a little sound of clearing his throat. “I am a god, your highness. I am a god far older than your world and far beyond your comprehension. I am the god of the void. I am the god of the space between stars, and the space between all things. I am the god of nothingness. I am the god of forgetfulness, and the keeper of forgotten memories. I am the essence of absence.”

“We have heard of no such god,” Luna snorted. “And how great could you possibly be if you were? You’re the god of literally nothing!”

Nobody suddenly sprang with energy and dramatically pointed at Twilight. “Pop quiz: What are objects mostly made out of?”

“Empty space,” she said reflexively. It was a basic fundamental of physics.

“Very good, Twilight Sparkle, very good,” he said, clapping his hooves together and making no sound. “Somepony get this mare laid, she really needs it.” Twilight had only begun to blush when he added, “AJ, if you’d be so kind to do it, I hear you’re good at bucking more than trees. Actually, I know you’re good at bucking more than trees due to that whole ‘omniscience’ thing.”

Both the young unicorn and the farmpony were left with red faces when the latter managed to shout, “Hey, how do you know our names?!”

“Why, my dear country bumpkin, I know everypony’s name,” he explained as if he were talking to a foal. “I know everything about everypony.”

Celestia scoffed. “Nopony knows everything.”

Nobody wheeled around to look at the white alicorn. “Oh, really? Then shall I start with you, oh wise and immaculate Princess Celestia?” he asked as he took a step forward.

“I have nothing to hide,” the princess responded, her expression coldly defiant.

Nobody burst out laughing and stomped his forelegs on the ground. “Oh, that’s rich; I haven’t heard a lie that big in a long, long time.” He raised his leg as if he were wiping a tear from his eye. “You've had thoughts about courting your most faithful student before, and she’s not even a hundredth of your age!”

Celestia’s stoic expression completely crumbled. Her face grew bright red and she spat with venom, “I have thought no such thing!”

He brought his hoof up to where his mouth should be and added, “Oh, sorry for letting that slip; you were going to wait until she was a bit further from the age of consent to bring it up, weren't you?"

“I was not!” the princess protested with a stomp. She looked around to find everypony staring at her, even her sister. Twilight was staring mostly past her. She couldn’t have heard that right.

“Oh, so you were going to bring it up tonight? Splendid!” he said with great cheer, as if he were congratulating a friend on birthing a foal. “Perfect time, being your sister’s birthday and all. The weather team would have made sure it was a cloudless, romantic night, there would be plenty of booze to get her nice and tipsy with before you broke the subject to her-”

“Silence!”

Celestia had become a mirror of her sister a few moments ago, with her chest heaving and her wings outspread.

In the meantime, though Nobody had no face to speak of, Twilight could just feel smugness exude from his very being. “Very well, enough with your secrets. How about everypony else’s?”

“You can’t talk to the princesses like that!” a noblemare at the front of the crowd said, staring down Nobody defiantly.

His head snapped around on his shoulders unnaturally to look at her. “Oh, really? I can’t? Well, neither can you. Come to think of it, you can’t to anyone, can you?”

The noblemare opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. A strangled choking sound came out of her throat as she collapsed to the floor, her eyes going wide as she clawed at her throat.

“Honey? Honey, what’s wrong?” a noblecolt said as he knelt down beside her. He snapped up his head at Nobody and demanded, “What did you do to her?!”

“I am the god of forgetfulness; so, I made her forget how to breathe,” he said with all the emotion of a pony commenting on the weather. “I do hope she relearns how before she suffocates. Purple doesn’t really match her mane.”

Before Twilight could really react, Applejack was already galloping up to Nobody. “You give that memory back!” she yelled before turning on her forehooves and kicking him right in the plot – only for her hooves to pass right through it.

“Applejack, honey, you can’t hurt nothing with something. You can’t hurt nothing with anything because it’s nothing,” he explained as the enraged farmpony tried her hardest to hit him, failing each time.

“You do not treat our subjects like this!” Luna shouted. With a nod to her sister, the two alicorns charged up their horns and fired their magic directly at Nobody’s chest.

“Oh, woe is me, how could I withstand the combined might of two such accomplished mages,” he deadpanned as the beams of magic had no effect. “I am a gaping hole where existence should be, you fools! Nothing you can do is going to hurt me!”

The two alicorn princesses stopped their magical assault, a mix of anger and the unimaginable – fear – clear on both their faces. Applejack, however, was still bucking and swinging.

“Applejack, sweety, cease this foolishness at once,” Nobody sighed. The cowpony, of course, paid no heed.

“Not until you make her remember how to breathe again!” she shouted.

“Cease this foolishness at once or I will recite exactly what your parents said when they conceived you!” he threatened. When the non-blows kept coming, he cleared his throat and said in a clearly feminine voice, “‘Oh you beast, you, ride me like one of your rodeos!’ Oh, wait, nevermind, she’s dead!”

Applejack flopped down on her rump, panting heavily as she looked over to the noblemare. She was indeed dead, her face a deep purple and her eyes bugged out of their skull as her tongue lay limply out of her mouth. The noblecolt at her side hugged her corpse and began crying, cradling her empty husk in his arms.

“I could send you to join her, if you like, sir,” he offered. “I know what a broken heart feels like, and I can make you stop feeling it quite quickly. Better yet, I could make you forget she existed completely. Broken heart gone!” A shiver ran down Twilight’s spine; it sounded like he genuinely thought he was offering the grieving colt a kindness.

The fear in the room had become permeable. The princesses were clearly afraid of this… thing, so what chance did any of them have? Twilight took a deep gulp and asked, “Why are you doing this? You could clearly kill anypony in this room with a single thought, so why keep us alive?”

Nobody turned around to gaze at Twilight with his eyeless face. “Ah, ever the astute Twilight Sparkle. I’m glad you asked, actually. Between all the paedo-shaming and the casual murder, I lost track of why I was here.” He cleared his non-existent throat again and said clearly, “I am here to present a challenge, a riddle to all the brightest minds in Equestria: Why do I call myself Nobody?”

“A riddle?!” Rainbow Dash said, flying up above the rest of the crowd and gliding over to Nobody to look him directly in the face. “That’s it? All of this is just so you could ask us a stupid riddle?!”

“Yes and no,” he said. “There’s a bit of a catch: You have one day to give me the answer. Midnight tomorrow night, to be exact.” The bells started ringing high above the castle to signify that it was now exactly midnight. “Oh, perfect timing! You now have exactly twenty-four hours.”

Rainbow Dash crossed her forelegs. “Great, we have a time limit. And what happens if we don’t answer your stupid riddle?”

“You all die.”

Twilight could practically feel her heart stop. The entire room went dead silent. It was if time was standing still, and only Nobody could move around as he swiveled his head to survey the crowd.

“Allow me to be more exact,” he requested. “If you don't, I'll widen the gaps between every single atom on this planet and cast what used to be your bodies, your homes, and your lands to the cosmic winds as microscopic dust, and the only people who will ever know are the denizens of other worlds who look up at the night sky and notice that a single star has gone out.”

The entire room had gone silent – except for Rainbow Dash, who let out a little scoff. “That’s easy. You have no body, so you call yourself Nobody!”

“Why yes, you guessed correctly. All of Equestria and the world is saved forever thanks to your deductive-” He stopped mid sentence. His neck suddenly extended like a striking serpent and put his blank face a few hairs away from hers. “Did you really think that the answer would be that simple? Hm? Did you?”

She slightly shrank away and began stuttering. “W-well, I-I just-”

He interrupted as his neck retracted. “And to think so many believe you’re the best pony.” He turned his head again to face the princesses. “You or one of your subjects have twenty-four hours to present me the correct answer. Until then… have a nice apocalypse.”

His form morphed again into that of a serpent as he took to the sky, slithering through the ceiling and just phasing right through it, leaving a stunned, frightened, and mortified bunch of ponies in his wake. Next Chapter: Party's Over Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 19 Minutes