Every single day as a princess was filled with chores, duties and hard work. Even with all the help generously given to her by her followers, it was still an exhausting life Princess Celestia lived. This day was no different with everything she had to prepare for the coming weeks. Fortunately she was a pony that never quit and she loved her job. While it was certainly difficult, even for somepony as talented, experienced and wise such as herself, it was all clearly worth it as she would get to see the happy smiles of everyone around her. They smiled to her, greeted her, bowed down to her, not because she was regal, but because she made them feel safe. Spreading joy to so many ponies was its own reward, but she would have, a bit sheepishly even, admitted that she certainly enjoyed the endless respect she received every single day.

Which is why she was quite surprised once she returned to the throne room that afternoon.

On her throne, her throne, sat a slightly skinny, slightly tall earth pony in the most laid back manner possible. He was basically hanging his head over the side. He actually seemed a bit bored. His brown coat and slightly darker mane didn't fit the expression on his face when he saw the Princess in front of her. He sat up straight and adjusted the hat on his head ever so slightly.

Celestia was not amused at this display of disrespect, but he certainly was. She walked towards her throne.

"Princess Celestia. It's an honor to meet you. You are stunning, your coat is more white than snow, and your mane! Photos do not do you justice. At last. I've been waiting for you for, well, at least an hour," said the pony. The only thing unusual about his voice was how slick and oddly playful it seemed, despite the fact that he quite clearly had just showed disrespect against beloved royalty. Celestia only knew two things about this pony: that she wasn't fond of him, and that she had never seen him before.

"Who are you?" asked Celestia, slowly getting closer to her throne. Where are my guards, she thought to herself, giving a quick glance around the throne room after them.

"I am called 'Random'," said the stallion. He took off his hat and bowed to her. Princess Celestia didn't show shock at seeing a pair of antlers sticking up from the pony's head. They were disgusting in the way they simply didn't belong there.

"What are you?"

"Oh, me? I am a pony. Oh, the horns, right, right. They are just an accessory, don't mind them. Cool, no?" asked the pony and put his hat back on.

"They look ridiculous," said Celestia, actually with spite in her voice. The reason for the horns would have to wait, what the pony was doing in there undisturbed was a much more pressing issue. "Why are you sitting on my throne?" asked Celestia with a regal, domineering tone, rising up above the stallion as she finally walked up to him. Unfortunately, the pony wasn't impressed, or intimidated.

"Would you consider it amusing if I simply said, 'because I needed to sit'?" asked the pony with a small, confident smirk.

"Where are my guards?"

"Oh, them?" asked Random, looking around in the otherwise empty room. "I made a bet with them, if they lost they would take the day off. They lost." Celestia would have a serious talk with the guards and staff once this was over. For the moment she focused on dealing with this intruder.

"Get, off, my, throne," said the Princess, letting her face get closer to the pony with each word. She would not allow this to continue. Then the pony unexpectedly reached out his hoof towards her.

"Boop," he said, poking her muzzle, keeping himself from bursting out laughing.

"That's it!" yelled Celestia, making the glass windows in the throne room shake. "I will not allow this disrespect to continue any further!" She prepared a spell to teleport the pony further down into the castle, more specifically into the dungeons. Her guards would have to interrogate him themselves. To put it lightly, after a hard day's work, she was in no mood for games. There was a sudden flash in the room, and when Celestia looked down on the throne she was happy to see him gon-

"Having difficulties?" asked the pony, with an even wider smirk. There wasn't even a singed hair on his head, he was completely unaffected.

"How?" Celestia asked in disbelief. She simply tried levitating him, but he might as well have been part of the floor. She eventually tried to physically pick him up, but he wouldn't budge. Her hooves just slipped off him, feeling oddly powerless.

"Oh, you see, I can't be physically forced by another individual to do something I don't want to do," said Random. He explained in a calm, clear tone. "Well, I have answered plenty of questions for you, all of them quite honestly on top of it all. Why don't you go ahead and ask the one, actually important question?" asked the pony, politely. Celestia sighed, she just wanted to get rid of him.

"Why are you here?" she asked, finally letting up and playing his game. She walked away from him, moving towards the windows to get a bit of fresh air.

"Finally. Well, I am here, as a type of messenger. I am part of a group that will soon appear in Canterlot. We are after the Cesom." Those words made Princess Celestia stop in her tracks. She had at first just considered him to be an annoying but harmless trickster. The fact that he knew that name was an instant sign that his pony was, or at least represented, an incredible threat to the balance of Equestria, if not the entire world.

"How do you know about that?"

"We have a reliable source. Is it true it can stop some certain things from working?" Celestia didn't answer, she simply couldn't.

"Ah, my boss said that if you would keep quiet, it would be a confirmation. I choose to believe that. My associates will simply be thrilled!" said Random, smiling at the thought, or maybe Celestia's nervous look. "Well, I suppose I should properly introduce us as best as I'm allowed. We, are Group Misery. We are a small group, under ten. We have two goals. The first one is to get our hooves on Cesom. The second one is to make your rule end... by any means necessary."

"And why would you want to do that?" asked the Princess, suspicious. She took the threat seriously, but she had no fear to show. They were a threat by knowing Cesom, but there was no way that they would get it. She wouldn't allow it.

"Six years ago," the pony said with a suddenly solemn tone.

"What?"

"It happened six years ago, and it was your fault. Now, I should thank you for it - and I shall, thanks - but some ponies are not as happy with it as I am. Let's just say that most of us have a very good reason to see you get knocked off your throne. We don't so much want an Equestria governed by the citizens, rather than seeing anyone rule it but you."

"What happened six years ago?" asked the Princess. Random blinked, and then he scoffed at her, trying but failing to smile.

"You don't even remember. She doesn't even remember. The guys are not going to like hearing this," said Random and shook his head. "Well, anyway. I hope you read up on what you've so disrespectfully forgotten. It's the least you can do before Misery, my boss, comes to town and makes your entire world crumble. I should mention, 'entire world crumble', that was from Misery, not me. I'm not that poetic," added Random. He picked up a pocket watch from under his hat and gave it a quick look. "Oh, time's running out a bit. Anyway, here's what you need to know: Group Misery is coming to make life in Canterlot awful, we want to get Cesom, and we're going to make you suffer. Well, I'll see you soon enough, Princess. Farewell!" said Random and cheerly waved to her.

The very next second, Random disappeared, and in less than a second a white guard suddenly sat on the throne, looking shocked beyond belief.

"Princess! Thank goodness that you are safe! We were approached by somepony, and-"

"Guard, calm yourself. Please, are you alright?" She knew this wasn't a trick, there was no mistaking that this was one of her guards and not some sort of magical impostor.

"But, Princess! There is a-"

"Are you alright?" asked the Princess again, giving him a concerned look. The guard paused, and eventually nodded to her. "What a relief." She looked right into his eyes with a serious look on her face. "Now, what happened?" The guard took a deep breath.

"All of the squad was in here as usual, but then a pony wearing a hat entered without any escort. We did as we were trained to, and told him to stay put, but he kept walking towards the throne. We warned him he could face punishment if he did not stand down, but he didn't listen. We gave him a final warning."

"And then?"

"I don't know what happened. He just challenged us to apprehend him, and when we tried to, we just... we bounced off him. Then, the next moment, he told us all to go home and relax. Then something even stranger happened. We all did as he told. I was aware of what I was doing wasn't right, and I knew I was needed here, but I just couldn't do anything about it. It was like my mind and body was following orders. I could barely object! It wasn't as frightening when it happened to me as it is now, horrible, but at the time I felt oddly content with whatever I was doing. Before I left, he pulled me over and said that I would trade places with him at this particular time."

"So everyone else is unharmed?"

"To my knowledge, yes, Your Highness. They should have been forced to return to their homes just like I was. I fear for my family, I was in the middle of a quiet dinner, actually casually talking about this very event, like nothing was wrong. I must have disappeared into thin air. They are probably worried beyond belief."

"The pony was here just a moment ago, it's more than likely he and you did indeed switch places just now."

"That means he's with my family!" exclaimed the guard.

"And I will send a few guards to investigate, but this is utmost important. Did he say anything else?"

"N- no, Your Highness," said the guard, thinking carefully despite his worry.

"Well, I don't have time for small details at the moment. Guard, gather some ponies and make sure to search for and locate the guards that were sent away against their will. Also check in with your family. Find that pony, and bring him to justice for his intrusion and horrible disregard for other ponies' lives," said Celestia to her trusted servant.

"Yes, Your Highness. And what about you?"

"I have a letter to write, two, actually. For a start."

"Two whom, if I may ask, Your Highness?"

"My little pony?" asked Celestia gently, lowering her head to get down to his level.

"Yes?"

"Why are you still on my throne? Go get that intruder!"

***

In that moment, after a quick meal and pleasant conversation, along with a gentle warning to the nice family that they might need to reconsider taking a vacation away from Canterlot in the coming weeks, Random walked out of the building.

"Don't worry, the husband and father of this fine household will probably come along soon with hugs and kisses in relief. Have a nice day, Mrs. and young Sir," said Random and waved goodbye to the initially quite surprise wife and son of the guard. They were still a bit confused, but at least the pony had been more than approachable in explaining why the stallion of the house had suddenly disappeared.

***

Less than an hour later, in a not too quiet little town a day's journey away by train, a young mare was relaxing in her library, reading a book and talking about trivial little things with her assistant and old friend.

"So, you see, that's why the series gained such popularity. Because it had a broad, well-defined demographic, yet was so poorly made it attracted more intelligent readers. The demographic who lacked good taste was drawn in, more by the popularity than any quality, because they were too young to compare and evaluate it. It got even more publicity by how everyone else said it was terrible, so ponies got curious. And while I think it's a horribly written, poorly made and unoriginal not-so-romantic story, it's a fantastic modern horror story."

"Wait, what? Just because it involves magical bat ponies doesn't make it a horror story," said the assistant, reading a comic book. He was usually working hard, but just like her, he was on a well-deserved break. The relatively young, green and purple dragon poured himself a glass of orange juice as the mare turned his head toward him.

"Believe me, if you don't look at this in my way, you are probably going to loathe it."

"How are you supposed to look at it, then?" asked the dragon and drank the delicious juice.

"The writer wanted a romantic story where a young girl could feel like she was fought over by supernatural studs, but she failed horribly. If you instead look at it as a cautionary tale about how an inexperienced youth in passion gets picked out by someone older and dangerous and corrupts her to her core, it becomes cringe-worthy how much he's just manipulating her, toying with her, just so he can take her away from her family and friends. She's losing her very soul and becoming something that can't think for herself, and eventually becomes a monster slave. The wolf pony in this story is supposed to be a third wheel, but he can also be considered a healthy, respectable pony who wants the best for the mare. He's the better option."

"Wait, he assaults her in the next sequel and then falls in love with a foal, that's just creepy," said the dragon. Spike looked at the mare, Twilight Sparkle, with disbelief.

"Yes, because the bat pony has managed to corrupt him too, in a way. From start to finish, this series can be considered to be a bunch of ponies who are okay, to decent, whose lives are destroyed because of a single entity that enters their life. The father loses his beloved daughter, the proud wolf pony has became nothing but the horrible family's pet, and a once immature but normal girl has been cursed with an unlife, and she's so blinded and convinced it's a blessing. And there's nothing you can do about it as a reader, just look at her losing more and more of what makes her a pony. A good horror story without scares, because it can very well happen in real life. Who knows, Spike, there could be a pony on his way into our lives that will slowly just break us down and apart, and use us, and we will just happily say 'thank you', while being blind to the truth because of our weaknesses and passion. Young mares makes mistakes all the time, even horrible mistakes. I just hope this book won't accidentally push them to make some of those mistakes," said Twilight.

"That's... really dark," said Spike.

"You know, I've read some pretty awful stuff in my life, but this is the first time I've actually wanted to burn a book."

"I can help you with that," suggested Spike with a playful smile. Twilight laughed.

"No, no, even if it's badly done, we can't go to that level. That's even more wrong in a way. Anyway, this one goes in shelf alphabetized A."

"'A'?"

"Atrocious!" she said and with a gently wave of her horn, the unicorn made the book float up to a nearby shelf. Spike smiled, taking another sip of his juice. Then something happened to him. He always hated it when it came in times like that. He coughed up the juice as it almost slipped into his lungs as warm feeling gathered in his throat and stomach. A burst of energy escaped his mouth in the form of a green flame as he coughed. It swirled around and suddenly materialized into a paper scroll. It hovered for just a moment before falling down on the floor. Spike was still coughing up juice when Twilight picked it up and read it.

"What does it- ugh, what does it s- say?" he asked. It better have been important, since he had spilled his juice all over his comic book.

The more Twilight read from the letter the more curious she got. Usually when the Princess sent her pupil these types of messages they gave the distinct impression of being urgent, but this letter was different from many that had come before it. There was an hint of... uncertainty in how it was written. Still, the basic message was still familiar to her.

"Spike, do me a favor and get the rest of the girls to meet me at the train station," said Twilight, heading for her study up the library's stairs.

"What for?"

"Trouble in Equestria again. The Princess wants the Elements of Harmony in Canterlot."

"Oh, are you going to save Equestria, or should I just do it this time again?" asked Spike, oddly self-satisfied.

"Spike, right now I don't care what you did in the Crystal Empire, just drop it and go get our friends!" said Twilight with a strict voice. This was no time for jokes or smugness. The Princess needed them in Canterlot and Twilight wasn't going to make her wait. It was time to pack for the trip.