Just half an hour after the arrival of not one, but two parties that could ignite a war, Misery had gotten the news.

"Are you serious?" asked Misery to Random.

"Yes, Mrs. Misery. Scalerclaw and the changeling queen both arrived just recently."

"This is not good, not in the slightest," said Misery. For the first time she actually felt nervous. He could easily ruin her plans if he started the wrong war, if he said the wrong things. That prince was too unpredictable.

"We need a way to deal with him at once. Random, I need you for this."

"Me? Are you sure?"

"Yes. You need to get in there, and get them both to leave. That they are there now might already have done some irrevocable damage. Hurry, and they are not to be hurt unless it would benefit us, understand?"

"Yes, Mrs. Misery. But, what about this Chrysalis?" asked Random.

"She might actually be of use."

"There is a problem. She will be able to find Rerry simply by her presence."

"Then we have two choices. Getting rid of that queen or getting rid of your changeling." Random didn't like that particular word choice.

"Rerry is on our side but that queen is not. I will get rid of both these royals. I'll get on it as quickly as I possibly can. Oh, this is going to be so much fun," said Random with an excited smile. Beneath his calm facade, he was quite relieved Rerry would stay.

***

Twilight had almost forgotten that she was supposed to be on the lookout for anything related to Group Misery as she kept glancing over at the young colt talking to the dragon. She was sitting down at a table with her friends all gathered for the moment.

"What a strange pon-" Rainbow Dash was about to say when Blueblood basically shoved a piece of cake into her mouth.

"Ssh, quiet. They do not take that sort of talk lightly, and it's very possible the older one can hear you," said Blueblood. The little colt turned towards them suddenly and quickly trotted over, with his dragon brother in tow, like a parent being dragged by an enthusiastic child.

"He can't hear you, but I can," said the little colt as he stood up on his hind legs to reach the top of the table. Blueblood tried not to shake in his seat, Twilight, however, was much more relaxed.

"Hey, Prince Scalerclaw, it's very nice to meet you," said Twilight Sparkle.

"Hey, nice lady. It's nice to meet you too," said the colt. Twilight noticed how frizzy and uncombed his mane was. He was actually a bit dirty, they both were.

"Want some cake, Your Highness?" asked Pinkie Pie, holding out a plate with a piece of chocolate cake.

"Hey, thanks!" said the colt. He chomped down on the cake, and the plate, eating it with ease. Twilight winced at the sounds, it looked painful, yet he seemed unaffected.

"How are you...?" Twilight let her question trail off as she didn't want to be rudely pointing out some sort of flaw in the pony. Thinfang, realizing her confusion, pointed at his brother.

"Scalerclaw has been imbued with the magic of dragons by our father. It makes it possible for him to be more like a proper dragon," said Thinfang with a proud voice, looking at Twilight with his pointed thin snout. His eyes were bright red, yet he didn't look very intimidating. What he could do was the only reason Twilight worried about their presence.

"Oh, I see, how interesting. I have a dragon friend, and he's sort of been taught magic of ponies," said Twilight. It sounded interesting to her, so without thinking she started to talk about it.

"Yes, I thought I smelled a dragon on you," said Thinfang. Twilight raised her eyebrow at the comment, but didn't say anything.

"Mm! That was some good cake!" said Scalerclaw.

"I'm glad you like it," said Pinkie Pie.

"I rarely get cake at home in my cave. Mostly gemstones, and those are still way better," said Scalerclaw. Twilight was surprised, this little pony seemed harmless for all the nervous looks he was getting from those around him.

"Don't underestimate," said King Pero, who walked up to their table, clearly recognizing her expression. "Hello, Prince Scalerclaw. How is the clan?"

"It's okay, I guess. We've had it pretty boring for a while."

"I've noticed that you have not started any wars since you've arrived," said King Pero.

"Dad says that our clan should try to be nicer. I get why and all that, but it's boring. I mean, I want a good fight for once," said Scalerclaw. He reached out and simply took Twilight's cake from right under her spoon to eat it. Twilight decided not to stop him. Dragons were greedy by nature, and as he had apparently been raised by them, telling him 'no' seemed like a bad idea.

"Excuse me, but if I may ask, most dragons I've seen have matured fully when they are of your age, why are you still so...?"

"Young? Our father makes all of us go through very difficult exercises in order to quell our greed. A dragon that grows to full adulthood with time instead of greed as a catalyst can become much more powerful. With that said, we still take what we want, just not all the time," said Thinfang.

"Ooh, I want this!" said Scalerclaw, reaching out his hoof towards Pinkie Pie's dress as she offered him another piece of cake. He pulled out something very valuable from beneath it, her Element of Laughter.

"Prince Scalerclaw, that is not really just something you can tak-" Both Scalerclaw and Thinfang gave Twilight such a cold, deadly look that she instinctively feared for her life. She looked over to Princess Celestia in slight panic. The Princess was already watching, but she shook her head with an expression like she was in pain. At that moment Twilight realized to her horror that they would never get to see that Element ever again, that had been her impression in any case.

"Sorry, that's already mine," said another voice. Someone just grabbed the necklace from out of Scalerclaw's hoof. The entire party just halted with a single quiet sound of everyone holding their breath in unison. Spike was holding the Element in his claw like it was something worthless.

"That's mine, dragon. Give it back, or I'll start a war with your homeland," said Scalerclaw.

"Sorry, but this is already part of my hoard. It's been that for months now as well as the entire set. You can't just take it from me, dragon rules," said Spike. It sounded more like he was on a playground than on a grand political meeting. Scalerclaw glared at him for a moment. "Still, since you're a prince, I figured you'd want my gift to you instead. It's an ocean sapphire. A big one. Want it?" asked Spike and held out a big, round shimmering blue stone. Scalerclaw's eyes were drawn to it, and Twilight even noticed a bit of drool as he watched the beautiful gem.

"Okay, but no backsies!" said Scalerclaw and grabbed the gem, quite greedily looking at its smooth surface. At the acceptance of the gift the entire party resumed its rhythm. Disaster averted. Both Scalerclaw and Thinfang left the table to look for something else to take, no doubt. Twilight hugged Spike as he gave Pinkie Pie back her Element.

"Spike, that was fantastic. Why did you have a sapphire?"

"Oh, that was a gift to them from my vault here. When I heard there was another dragon my age in the castle, I wanted to get to know him. I didn't expect him to be a pony, though," said Spike. Twilight leaned in closer to him, lowering her voice so Scalerclaw wouldn't hear.

"I didn't know that was a dragon rule," said Twilight.

"Neither did I. What was everyone so worried about?" asked Spike a bit curious as he looked around the party.

***

Not too far away, Random were sitting at a table in his convincing disguise, eating a slice of a delicious cake. He had been nervous there for a moment. If that little dragon baby had done that differently, their plans could have all gone to waste. He knew that Scalerclaw too eagerly agreed with the dragon doctrine that war was a way for a clan to show their strength and ambition. If he would have gotten even the slightest chance to start a war, he would have. Random had the difficult assignment of making sure that didn't happen. His very presence was slowly but surely derailing their plans. He needed to get them right back on track. His first order was to get Scalerclaw and his brother escort to leave.

They are drawing away the attention from Celestia. We can't have that. Celestia needs to be seen as the villain, not them, thought Random to himself. He observed his surroundings. He needed to make a bet with them, but he was quite aware of the fact that the phrase 'I bet you' probably had some rather large alarm bells to them at this point, especially in here. He needed to be a bit subtle for once in his life. It would be hard to approach them unseen, especially since basically everyone was looking at the little prince.

"Oh, joy," he said dryly and took another bite of the cake, looking over at both Scalerclaw and the Bearers of Harmony. With so many guards patrolling the area it would be impossible for him to say anything that sounded suspicious to Scalerclaw. He needed a distraction to get rid of the guards, fortunately, Mrs. Misery had prepared such.

A single guard walked up to Random. "Sir, everything has been prepared per your instructions," said the single guard. Random had been lucky to win against that guard, gaining his complete allegiance, but only for a day at most.

"Very good. You know the next step. After that, go home and rest," said Random, not even looking at the guard. The guard went towards the exit. He would return in ten minutes, and head straight for Shining Armor.

***

"Captain," said the guard as he approached Shining Armor.

"Technically, I'm not a captain here anymore, but what is it?"

"This note arrived, it seems quite urgent," said the guard, holding out a piece of paper. Shining Armor took the folded note and opened it, reading it quickly. It was a short message on it. Shining Armor wasted no time and instead walked over to Celestia. He whispered the nature of the message into her ear.

"A bomb?" whispered Celestia.

"Yes, that's what it said," said Shining Armor.

"From whom? Did it say it was from Misery?"

"It just said 'The flaw with the secondary charge has been taken care of this time.'"

"So it is her. Find that bomb and take care of it, quietly. We can't allow a panic here. We also can't simply just end the party, maybe if Scalerclaw hadn't been here, but that's not the case."

"But, we don't have any qualified to disarm it, I hear Misery doesn't use the magic type."

"Your sister can do it, get her at once. Find the bomb whatever it takes," said Celestia.

"Of course, Your Highness," said Shining Armor and bowed to her.

***

Twilight saw her brother approach her with a bit of haste in his steps. He whispered everything she needed to know.

"I was afraid something like this would happen. But why does she want me to deal with it?"

"I don't know, just trust her."

"I do, but, what do we know?"

"Nothing. I've put half of the guards on the job of finding it. We're searching everywhere in this part of the castle. We're simply ignoring every other part of the castle, since they are basically empty," said Shining Armor. Twilight had noticed that a few guards had seemingly disappeared from the room.

"Girls, let's look for it around here."

"Where?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Everywhere. Rainbow, look in all things that are high up in here. Try to be subtle. Applejack, check the garden.  Fluttershy, fly up and check the floor above, we can't allow the ceiling to collapse on top of us. Myself, Rarity, Spike and Pinkie Pie will check everything in here. Go, go, go!" said Twilight. They instantly got to work.

"There isn't anything beneath this room, right?" asked Spike.

"No, nothing. Don't worry about that," said Twilight.

Pinkie Pie was meanwhile peeking under every table cloth she possibly could. She looked everywhere under anything. Tables, carpets, plates, cakes, guests. Fortunately, they still remembered her with King Pero.

"Spike, do you smell anything odd?" asked Rarity.

"No, nothing," said Spike.

"Spike, come on, let's check the nearby kitchen," said Twilight.

"Right, thanks for including me in this," said Spike.

"Oh, well, maybe I shouldn't let a child look for a-"

"No time! Let's go!" said Spike and dragged Twilight after him, much like Scalerclaw had pulled Thinfang along.

***

Random smirked as he drank a glass of fine wine. He could see most of the Bearers of Harmony either leaving or being distracted. There were still too many guards in the vicinity, but Random was already on top of that little problem. His controlled guard had suddenly returned, holding another note written by Misery. When the second note reached Celestia, her face almost made Random chuckle. The message had been quite simple. 'There are actually two bombs.'

Celestia summoned Shining Armor, who immediately had to tell even more of his guards to look for it. There were less than ten guards left in the end. They were too busy looking over the guests or checking for changelings. It was time. Random made his move. He put down the glass and adjusted his tuxedo slightly. He looked at the guards casting detection magic. It was pointless. Random had not used changeling powers to transform, he had simply bet another pony for his looks. Besides, even if he had used a changeling transformation, there was no way they could trust their powers with the Chrysalis so close.

Suddenly a band started playing on a stage, it was an admirable performance, and at just the right time as well. As the lights dimmed to give the girls an easier time to search undetected for the two bombs, it also allowed Random to approach the young prince undetected as everyone's eyes were drawn to the stage. It would have been difficult with too many guards, but here it was easy.

Random walked up to Thinfang and Scalerclaw. The little prince looked at Random a bit curious. He sniffed him.

"Who are you?" asked Scalerclaw, sounding suspicious.

"My name is Risk."

"What a dumb name," said Scalerclaw and went back to eating his cake.

"Are you having fun, Prince?" asked Random.

"Sort of. The food is good. Not so much fun, though," said Scalerclaw.

"Well, maybe I can help you with that?" asked Random nonchalantly. Thinfang eyed Random somewhat threateningly.

"Well, how?" asked Scalerclaw.

"Well, I usually bet things, exciting stuff. Perhaps you'd like to make one with me in a game," said Random.

"What game?" asked Scalerclaw, interested. It was most fortunate that this little brat was so young, so curious.

"Well, see this glass? If I put it here like so, and put this card on top, and in turn put this bit on top of the card. I'll make a bet with you. The game is that you must get the coin in the glass without touching the card or glass. If you win, I'll give you an emerald. If I win, you have to do me a favor," said Random.

"What favor?"

"Nothing overly difficult," said Random and smiled.

"Brother, don't do it, it can't be done," said Thinfang but Scalerclaw raised his hoof, silencing him at once.

"I'll agree to this bet," said Scalerclaw. Random smiled subtly, children were so impulsive, and this one in particular went headfirst into anything without thought.

"There is a time limit of thirty seconds. Begin," said Random.

Scalerclaw looked at the glass, card and coin, and then he took a deep breath. He gently exhaled, and spewed out a thin bright green flame, burning the card in an instant. Both the burnt card and the coin fell down into the glass. Random leaned back from the heat and surprise, he hadn't expected that.

"I win! I want an emerald!" said Scalerclaw cheerfully. Random begrudgingly searched his pockets and took out a relatively small green gem that the little colt immediately snatched from him and gobbled up with a sickening crunching sound that made Random wince.

"Tasty, well, that was fun. Got anything more?" asked the Prince. Random looked at the bit in the glass, and he got an idea.

"Well, yes, I do. Let's fill up the glass," said Random and poured some wine into it so it was on the verge of spilling over. He opened up a pouch and put a bunch of bits on the table.

"We each take turns to put as many bits as we want into the glass. The first one to spill the glass over looses. Same stakes as before."

"Okay," said Scalerclaw.

"I'll start, with four coins," said Random. He picked them up and very carefully put them down into the glass. He could see the wine ever so slightly rise.

"I'll just put in one," said Scaleclaw. Random noticed that he was a lot less careful when he did it. He simply did not have much grace, to be expected of a dragon, or a pony raised as one.

"Two."

"Three!"

"One."

"Hm... Two," said Scalerclaw. The wine was very near its breaking point. Random was a bit nervous. This child could actually beat him. He was shaking with excitement. This was more like it, he just loved it when the stakes were high. He could not be allowed to fail. He only had another gem on him. There was very little else he could bet. He was very carefully, very steadily holding the single coin above the surface of the wine. He could do it, he was sure of it.

Unfortunately, he was sweating, and a single drop landed right on the edge of the glass. The volume of the drop was not enough to cause a spill, but the surface tension it created between the inner and outer part of the glass certainly was. Random sighed in defeat as a line of the wine started to run down along the curved shape of the glass.

"You lost! Pay up!" said Scalerclaw.

Damn it, thought Random as he handed over his last gem. He needed to get rid of them somehow. If they even so much as caused a commotion and then decided to stay, they would not be able to learn about Cesom.

"Your Highness. This is exciting, how about another game?" asked Random.

"Oh, like what?" asked Scalerclaw.

"A flip of a coin. I bet you that if I win, you will both do me a favor."

"And if you lose?" asked Thinfang.

"Then, I will give you my entire life," said Random. This was important, but he needed to do it. He was nervous, but also overjoyed. He loved this, he loved these moments, where everything was hanging on a thread. He probably could have done this differently, but at this stage he simply didn't want to. He was a gambler by heart. He lived for this.

The two brothers smirked to each other, and Scalerclaw nodded his head in agreement.

"I call heads, because I'm so smart," said Scalerclaw and smiled.

"Very well. Everything or nothing," said Random and flipped the coin high up in the air. He caught it and put it on the table. He took a deep breath, and pulled back his hoof. Tails.

"Oh, that's stupid! I wanted to win! Where are you from? I'll declare war on your-"

"The favor you both shall do is to immediately return home and not start any other wars for a year," said Random. They both suddenly tensed up, and then promptly got off their chairs, and without a word, without a gesture, without even a look, they simply left. Random let out a sigh in relief. Suddenly something peeked up from under the table. It was that pony, Pinkie Pie. Random tensed up. Had she heard them?

"Hey, you haven't heard something ticking, have you?" asked Pinkie Pie. Random subtly sighed in relief.

"No, I haven't."

"Okie dokie," said the pony and returned to under the table cloth. Random took a look under, but she was gone.

"And ponies say I'm strange," said Random and rolled his eyes.

***

"Have you found anything?" asked Twilight over in the corner. Her friends and her brother was there with her. They just happened to have gotten together, so Twilight took the opportunity to get an update on the situation.

"Nothing."

"Nada."

"Nope."

"What they said."

"I found a quarter!" said Spike, quite joyful, holding up his find for all to see. They all glared at his joy, except Pinkie Pie that shared his enthusiasm.

"We have to keep looking. There could only be minutes left, seconds!" said Shining Armor. They separated again to continue their search.

***

Random couldn't help himself when he smirked over their panicky searching. Keep looking, look all over. You will never find anything, he thought to himself. Still, he did not have time to enjoy himself. His target had entered the room.

The changeling queen walked inside the room. She seemed to have gotten back with nothing but a few bruises. Random was surprised she had the courage to get back in the room, as she certainly couldn't have known that Scalerclaw had left. In fact, that she was brave enough to return to this town after that whole mess she had created not too long ago was either quite courageous or incredibly foolish. Still, she couldn't have picked a better time to get back into Canterlot peacefully. After all, Celestia or her subjects causing conflict with a guest would have been looked down upon.

So it was a shame he had to get her to leave. While aggravating Celestia would have helped in their plans, it was relieving that Rerry would get to stay with him. So how would he get rid of Chrysalis? What game could he play with her? He looked over at the stage. The performance was almost over. Once it was, it would be a difficult for him to get to the large changeling and not be noticed. As much as he wanted to enjoy himself, as much as he wanted the thrill of risk, he didn't have a lot of time.

He rolled his eyes and approached the the Queen.

"Hey, your Holey-ness. That was quite a nice feat back there, being punched in the face. Is your face swollen from it or are you just usually this pudgy?" asked Random. Chrysalis was taken aback by the sheer nerve. She hissed towards him, showing sharp fangs.

"You're probably a pushover not being able to take a hit like that. I bet you anything you couldn't hit me in the face even half as hard. How does that sound?" said Random. The performance was almost done, before long it would no longer be dark. He needed to get this done quickly.

"I'll take that bet," said Chrysalis and immediately tried to strike. Random just leaned towards her with his face up front. The black hoof didn't even get an inch close to him. It just stopped in front of him. Chrysalis looked at him in surprise.

"You lose. I want you to go back home to your hive at once," said Random.

Just like with the dragon and colt, Chrysalis just turned around and left without saying a word. And that was that. Random was finished for the day. Their plan was back on track. The next step of their plan was going to take place the day after tomorrow. He was about to leave through the same door the changeling had gone through when he noticed the Bearers of Harmony searching through the room in a slight panic. For all they knew, they could only have seconds to live. He wanted them to at least be able to enjoy the night at least little bit.

Random wrote down something on a piece of paper and waited for Twilight Sparkle to rush past him. At that time he flicked the piece of paper into her face and then quickly left the party.

***

Twilight Sparkle removed the piece of paper from her face. She looked for whoever had tossed it, but was unable to pick anyone out in the crowd and darkness. Twilight read the note in the light of her horn, and she was surprised.

"Can, can I trust this?" asked Twilight Sparkle. She hurried over to Princess Celestia.

"Princess, a third message. This one is supposedly from Random. I think he might be in here."

"We've already assumed he's had something to do with this and are looking for him. What does it say?"

"It says that there isn't actually any bombs." Celestia looked surprised at these news.

"Assuming that is the truth, why would they distract us with- Where is Prince Scalerclaw and Chrysalis?" asked Celestia as light returned to the room. Several of the guests seemed to have noticed their absence as well.

"Do you think they are hurt, dearest Sister?" asked Luna.

"I'm not sure. Get me information from the guards at the castle entrance."

***

The only information anyone had gotten from any of the two unexpected guests was that they were going home. They had said so much themselves whenever anyone had inquired about it.

"That's Random, alright," said Spike. They all except Celestia and Luna had gathered at a table to talk. There was a sense of lingering doubt in the air. A whole half hour had passed since Twilight  had gotten the note, yet nothing had been found by any guard. No bomb, no threat, no Random, nothing.

"But why would they want that young Prince Scalerclaw and... the other one, to leave?" asked Rarity.

"Hm I don't know. It seemed like a perfect opportunity for them to create some real unrest. So, if they needed them to leave, why? Would Group Misery's- I mean, would Mrs. Misery's plan on getting revenge on Princess Celestia not work?" said Twilight. In the back of her mind she thought about how this behavior could be connected to Cesom, but if there was one, she was unable to find it. Why wouldn't they want wars to start? Did Mrs. Misery just want to get to Celestia and Celestia alone? But then why would she have done so many terrible things to so many? It didn't make any sense. Twilight was fearing that there was something more to this.

"Princess Celestia, and everyone else here, seems rather relieved that Scalerclaw left. So there is that at least," said Shining Armor.

"True. Maybe we should just be happy that they are gone," said Fluttershy.

"Maybe. Still, I don't like it. There is just something here we're missing, I know it," said Twilight.