Her pink and purple coat was for once more radiant than that of Celestia's, it would have been even if it didn't have the glimmer of a crystal. She was skinny, beautiful. She was smaller than Luna, but her very presence made Twilight feel safe. She didn't have time to hug her surprised husband.

"Cadance, what are you doing here?" asked Twilight. "And, and why are you crystal like?"

"I represent the Crystal Empire, I just used a spell to make me look the part for the moment," mentioned Cadance. "The needs of the many outweighs the needs of the few. I had to temporarily leave the Crystal Empire to come here. I figured that your need was greater than that of my ponies. I suppose that I was right," said Cadance. She looked upon all of them. "What are you doing? This is not the gracefulness I expect from you. I expect you to talk about your differences, but not for you to actually fight, not use such hate," said Cadance.

"Why did you suddenly start to fight?" asked Shining Armor. They all still exchanged some murdering looks, but Twilight noticed some sense of remorse.

"It got out of hand a bit too quickly, I suppose," said King Pero reluctantly, leaning back in his chair with a sigh.

"It didn't start out well to begin with, there was some tension," said a pony at the table.

"It grew, and then it just sort of reached a breaking point when my glass broke when I was drinking water. Everything among us just exploded," said King Pero, looking at his glass.

"You're fighting because of a broken glass?" said Twilight.

"It's more than that," said the griffin king.

"No, it's not. I understand that you are all very stressed, afraid, but no matter your differences, you are all more alike than you would like to admit. We are all merely too proud for our own good," said Cadance.

"Some of us are more proud than others," said the same pony who had criticized Celestia, glancing over at Celestia and Pero.

"And yet I all heard is that you have no pride," said Celestia with a biting remark. A fight broke out again.

"Cease this at once!" yelled Cadance. Their voices died down again. Twilight looked at her old foalsitter with nothing but awe. To think that she had become something so much like a proper leader, a proper princess, to put all of these great leaders in their places without even so much as a moment of fear. Wow, I have the best role models, Twilight thought, concealing her glee. Cadance didn't even need to use her spells to incite caring and love. She only needed her words.

***

Mrs. Misery was watching their drama from not too far away. That new alicorn infuriated her, not by her interference but just by her guts to try to hinder her plans. It didn't matter, Dot and Y had both done exactly what they had needed to do. It had been perfect. She could see the anger whenever someone looked over at Celestia. The next and final move was Y's. Everything had come down to this moment. Equestria's own laws would betray Celestia there and now. They would know everything. Years of planning, dozens upon dozens of different plans made and removed just for this moment. Getting Mood for breaking down opponents and getting little bits of information; Instrumental to torture the citizens and obstacles; Solitary to get rid of those opposing their plans; Erase for pure strength;  Random to get whatever she wanted whenever she needed; and of course, Y, for his strategic placement and making sure the goblet overflowed; little Dot, to put some fuel on the fire; and that disgusting changeling, for her practical ability to impersonate.

"Come on, Y, this is the one thing I need you for. Do it," said Misery.

***

"This does not make sense for any of you! Have you all been put under a curse?" asked Cadance, not really meaning it. And that's when Twilight realized it.

"A curse... Maybe you all really have been put under a curse," said Twilight.

"But, who could have done it?" asked Spike.

"A curse? What's that?" asked the little filly. Twilight turned to her.

"What's your name, little girl?" asked Twilight.

"My name is Dot," said the little filly, a bit shy, frankly afraid.

"I'm Twilight. Do you know anyone calling herself Misery?"

"No, Twilight," said Dot.

"What about Merry?" asked Twilight. Dot nodded.

"Miss Merry is really nice. She made me sing, but then all got mad," said Dot.

"You're in Group Misery!?" exclaimed Shining Armor.

"Don't yell at a foal, you jerk!" yelled Spike to Shining Armor, they both looked at each other like they were old enemies.

"Fighting, she makes ponies fight," said Twilight.

"But, we haven't heard her sing," said Shining Armor.

"But we have all looked at her at the same time. I feel a bit of anger in the air when we look at her," said Cadance.

"What are you talking about?" asked Dot, afraid that everyone was looking at her like that. Suddenly somepony slammed his hoof on the table.

"So it's actually is true!" yelled that pony who had criticized Celestia.

"What?" asked a griffin.

"The Cycle of Destruction!" yelled the pony. He was green with a yellow mane, he was slightly pudgy and was wearing a nice black suit.

"What does that old tale have to do with anything?" asked King Pero.

"I thought the rumors that I've heard were so incredible they couldn't possibly be true, but this might prove it. Celestia, the pony who supposedly tortured ponies by making them dance. This little filly. They are both really cursed, aren't they?"

"Yes," said Celestia. She was clearly wondering how that pony had managed to hear about the Cycle of Destruction.

"Is it really true that you've put a curse on this young girl because you summoned the Cycle?" asked the pony. There was an outburst of whispers in the group. Twilight noticed that there was no more fighting, it seemed that knowing about Dot's curse was enough to dispel it.

"Of course she would not, you fool!" said Luna, standing up with her front hooves on the table. "My sister is of utmost wisdom, she would not do something so foolish!"

"Is that so?" asked the pony aggressively.

"Yes!"

"Then why do I not hear a denial from Celestia?" There was a sudden silence in the room. Heads turned towards Celestia who just stared into the floor with a frightful look. She had never looked so afraid.

"I didn't intend for anypony to be hurt," said Celestia, turning away her face. The pony stared at her with contempt. Many just looked on with disbelief.

"None here would ever consider doing something like that. At least tell me you did it to protect the world through some strange requirement," said the pony.

"It was..."

"Yes? Tell us! How important was that!?"

"I tried to figure out a way to save my sister," said Celestia. Luna gasped with a face of complete shock.

"Save your sister, yes, the pony who wanders the dreams of her subjects without consent, the very same pony who not too long ago almost destroyed us all with an eternal night that would have destroyed our crops. I have heard enough," said the pony. With determination, he stood up from his seat.

"This can't be good," said Spike.

"My honored fellow delegates, my royals and ambassadors. I fear that the star controlling our star has burnt out. Everything so far, from the trivial to the substantial, have slowly made me come to a conclusion that I believe that most of you will share. Celestia is not fit to lead Equestria."

"What is he talking about?" asked Twilight. Celestia looked at the pony with fear.

"Considering the impact that Equestria has over all of our fates, I would deem it to be a very grave injustice to us all to leave the ruling of this land to someone who has not even been able to contain a single criminal organization of merely nine members. A group that just now managed to create unrest because one of their members sneaked in, through security that she guaranteed us would keep us safe. Her negligence and selfishness have at once point endangered us all with the summoning of the Cycle of Destruction, and has caused evil to be cast upon a filly. If she would have been competent, her ponies would not have suffered because of that cursed musically talented mare. Not even the most inexperienced of you would do such grave mistakes. With that in mind, I call upon the members of us to create a temporary world council to vote on the Forced Royalty Abdication act of 274."

"Oh no," gasped Cadance silently.

"What?" asked Spike.

"He's trying to force Celestia to step down from the throne, if there is a majority vote and she doesn't comply, she will have effectively declared war on the entire world," said Twilight with fear in her voice.

"What, they can't do that! I didn't even know of it!" said Spike.

"It's supposed to stop tyrants from rising to power, it was made 274, the year after King Sombra refused to stop his terrible reign of the Crystal Empire. Most of it is written with him in mind. It's more than a thousand years old, it's outdated, but the procedure to change it hasn't come up because there hasn't been anything like Sombra for so long, to actually vote on it for this...," said Cadance.

"I implore you all to vote with wisdom, taking these transgressions into account. Is such a pony really one we want to rule this kingdom?"

"They can't honestly... Wait, what happens if she loses the vote?" asked Spike.

"Then she will immediately, in front of this council, name her successor and crown him or her. I suppose that would be Luna, but considering her history they might object to that and vote against it," said Cadance.

"But, Luna is a princess of Equestria as well," said Fluttershy.

"She isn't the head royal, and Equestria needs one," said Twilight.

Everyone around the table looked at Celestia. King Pero sighed deeply, sounding tired.

"The voting commences. Everyone of us, those in favor of her abdication raise your arm, hoof, or other extremity. Those opposed, do nothing," said King Pero. Hoof after hand after talon slowly raised towards the ceiling. Twilight counted them, and her face lost a bit of color, even her fur did.

"A majority, with merely a few more in favor of forcing abdication. Celestia. Decide your successor. You can choose anyone you think fits the criteria of a ruler," said King Pero. Celestia looked horrified, defeated, scared. Many looked worried at this sudden change. The only pony smiling was the pony that had started the vote. If they would have known him to be Y, the last member of Group Misery, he would have been tossed out there before he even would have started anything. Still, the law was the law, and it was too late now.

"Why did you vote against me, Pero?" Celestia said with a hurt look.

"Decide. Your. Successor," said King Pero with a strained voice. Twilight noticed that he was keeping himself from crying. Celestia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Twilight just knew her choice would be either Luna or Cadance. How, or even if that would work considering Cadance already was a ruler of the Crystal Empire was uncertain.

"I choose Twilight Sparkle."