A couple of guards saw Twilight Sparkle and her friends as they walked up to the front gate of the great royal castle. They were quick to let the pupil of the Princess inside. To Twilight's surprise they actually seemed relaxed enough to greet them as they walked past. That was not a good sign.

"Wow, this is worse than we thought," said Spike, who had obviously noticed it too.

"What? They seemed really nice," said Applejack. Spike thought about how he would best explain it as they walked through the garden towards one of the doors leading inside.

"Well, you haven't been here that much. Guards here are usually pretty strict, except for the less public positions, but, well, they are always strict at this gate. And, when they are so chatty there, that either means they are nervous and jumpy, or overworked and exhausted. This doesn't happen often."

"Oh, I see," said Applejack, looking back at the gate as it closed behind them.

***

As they walked through the large, open hallways and corridors of the castle, passing dozens of ancient paintings portraying the wise and worthy along with meaningful events in Canterlot's history, they heard something throughout the castle that none of them had heard earlier. It was Celestia, and she was groaning in frustration. They would have gone to the throne room like they usually did when they were summoned to this castle, but this time they might as well not have known where it was, as they simply could follow the sound of an annoyed Celestia.

As they entered the throne room, Celestia was surrounded by stacks of books and folders filled to the brim with old documents. She was reading through them at an impressive speed. The guards allowed the six ponies and Spike to approach the throne. Celestia didn't even realize they had arrived. One of the guards walked up to the throne and stood next to it. He very carefully started to speak to her.

"Your Highness, the-"

"What?" asked the Princess. The guard was a bit surprised, it was clear Celestia had never snapped like that before, not in front of him, and certainly not to him. "I apologize, I am simply under a lot of pressure at the moment," said Celestia and returned to her work. "What is it you wanted to say?"

"Twilight Sparkle and her friends have arrived in Canterlot," informed the guard.

"Please tell me when they arrive here, specifically."

"That's what I'm referring to," said the guard and gestured towards the visitors. Princess Celestia looked up from her work. She sighed, sounding tired, and put down the book she had been reading.

"I'm glad you girls are here. Equestria is in need of your aid, yet again."

"So, where are we going this time, Your Highness?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"You will not leave Canterlot until I say you can," answered the Princess. Spike held out his hand behind Twilight's back, and Rainbow Dash put some coins in it, defeated. Spike smirked.

"What threat requires the Elements of Harmony? We will be ready for anything! Is it an evil god? An ancient enemy? Another bunch of evil changelings?" asked Twilight Sparkle proudly, not hearing Spike saying 'What about that changeling on the train?' The Princess let out another sigh.

"This isn't exactly about the Elements of Harmony, this is about the seven of you. There are two things right now that, if they are going to collide, things could go very, very badly. I don't even think the Elements of Harmony will be necessary. Let me explain," said the Princess, standing up from her throne. She walked down to them and stood among them. "Yesterday, a strange pony entered the castle and talked about a team of sorts, I think. He called this team, 'Group Misery'. My magic had no effect on him, and while that isn't new, it is worth noting. He threatened Canterlot, and me. I believe that this group could pose a genuine threat to me, to all of us. Usually, I would deal with this myself, but they came at a bad time, as I expect is part of their plan."

"This wouldn't happen to have with that meeting of governments?" asked Rarity. Celestia nodded her head once.

"Yes. Me, and my servants, have been working hard planning this meeting to the letter for months. Over the next two weeks, delegates, ambassadors, kings, emperors, will all gather in Canterlot for a very important meeting. A single conflict during this meeting could cause outright war. Due to circumstances, canceling or postponing this meeting is simply impossible, and may in itself be considered Equestria declaring war. It's all very complex, politics can be so at times."

"But, why do you want us here, and not the Elements?" asked Applejack?

"Because, frankly, I'm understaffed. I need ponies and friends that I can trust around me. I want you to do your best to find this Group Misery, and make sure they can not interfere with this meeting. Basically, I want you to be ready for whatever I might need. If I want you to aid with the search for Group Misery, you will do so. If I want you to help or escort a government official, you will do so. I know you are very capable even without the Elements, and I want to know that you are here, ready to come at a moment's notice. You are not the only one I've asked to come, but you certainly were the first. Will you be ready to help me to fight Group Misery and protect the kingdom of Equestria?" asked Princess Celestia.

"Yes, Princess!" they all said with conviction.

"Fantastic. I expect your brother to arrive sometime this week, Twilight Sparkle."

"My brother is coming?" asked Twilight, her face lit up just thinking of seeing him again.

"I've also made contact with some other groups that might be useful. Still, I trust you will do fine on your own. Spike, you will receive daily reports directly from my guards, detailing their investigations into this Group Misery. Make sure you are always close to somepony here in case they need you all in an emergency," said Celestia. Spike did a resolute salute.

"Princess, what do you know about this Group Misery?" asked Twilight.

"Not. A. Single. Thing," said the Princess and groaned with that sound again. Hearing and seeing her being annoyed was so strange, almost wrong. She was usually so proud and regal. "I just, their apparent leader, Mrs. Misery, it feels like I've heard that name before, but I haven't, I'm sure of it. And the pony spoke about something that happened six years ago, but I don't know what he's referring to," said the Princess, going back to searching for answers in her books and records. "It is incredibly frustrating, it feels like it's just out of my reach. I haven't felt like that in a very long time," said Celestia.

"Who was this pony?" asked Spike.

"He called himself 'Random'. Tall, skinny, wore a hat, had antlers. Could simply not be touched," said Celestia. "Your first report will contain a more detailed description of him. If you see him, make sure you do not approach him. Instead follow him and find out whatever you can about him."

"Antlers?" asked Spike. Celestia shook her head.

"I was surprised as well. It is clearly due to his strange magic."

"Oh, so he's a unicorn!" said Spike.

"No. Except his horns and powers, he was a plain earth pony. I'm sure of it. I couldn't feel any magical aura from him. It was unsettling in a way once I realized it afterwards. Still, you know everything that I know about it now. Will you stay in the castle?"

"Actually, Princess, I would like to stay at my parents' home. If it is alright, I would like my friends to be there too," said Twilight. The Princess nodded.

"Of course, it might actually be better to have you outside the castle in case of an emergency. You would have the element of surprise coming from outside the castle. I will send you a key to the chamber where the Elements of Harmony lie hidden, but that will come later. Besides, I have a feeling they won't be needed. I'm just very glad that you are all here," said the Princess, nodding in appreciation. "Now, my dearest little ponies, you are dismissed."

"If you need us, you know where to find us," said Twilight. They bowed respectfully and turned around and left, leaving the Princess behind to go through her records.

***

Once they had reached the gardens, they all turned to look at each other.

"The Princess seemed a bit, off, didn't she?" asked Rarity.

"Changeling?" suggested Spike.

"Will you stop with that? No, it was definitely her, just... different. We've seen her angry, and serious, but not like this. She was so, so not princess like. What could the problem be? She was a bit too casual, right?" asked Twilight.

"Well, if she's not a changeling, then isn't it obvious?" asked Spike, making everyone turn their heads to face him. "She's scared. Believe me, I've seen her scared. I once fell off a tower here when I was a bit younger. I remember that she was a lot like she was in there for the rest of that day while I was in bed. But, she's a princess and gets threats all the time... she's never afraid of them. I, I get this weird impression that she's not telling us something," said Spike. Twilight shook her head.

"Even if that's true, we have to trust her judgment. It's not important. We have a job to do, and we will follow it through, isn't that right?" asked Twilight.

"That's right!" they all exclaimed, just as resolute as they had been inside.

"But for now, let's go and pay a visit to my mother and father!" said Twilight, already longing to see her beloved parents.

***

"You know, I don't think I've ever been to your house in Canterlot before," said Rainbow Dash as she gently flied next to Twilight as they walked on the path supposedly leading to her home. Twilight's family's house was closer to Canterlot's border, this meant more space and quiet than in the loud, crowded and busy streets of the center of the city. They passed by a beautiful large garden leading up to a large building that had a tower as part of the architecture. It was a very nice building, and Twilight had a few good memories of being in this garden, playing with her brother or having a picnic with her parents. Trees surrounded the area, and the many flowers around them filled the area with a familiar scent that reminded Twilight of home.

"Well, you know. Mom and Dad can get pretty busy. I almost never have time to met them myself," said Twilight. They walked on the gravel path leading up to the curved stairs leading up to the front door. As they took the first step on the stairs, the door opened. A pony holding a cane in his mouth walked out of it. He let the cane lean on him as he turned around and spoke to whoever was inside.

"Thank you very much for having me here, Velvet. I'm sorry about the mess with the vase," said the pony apologetically. His mane was purple, and his coat was of a darker blue shade. He was wearing sunglasses. It was likely the pony was blind. Twilight wondered why he was there, as she had never seen him before.

"It's quite alright, Mood. It was just an accident, that stuff cleans right out," said Twilight's mother's voice from inside the door. They said goodbye, Twilight Velvet closed the door just before she could catch a glimpse of her daughter and then the pony turned around to leave, bumping right into Spike. They both fell down, the pony losing his sunglasses as he did. Spike was quick to get up and retrieve the pony's sunglasses, fortunately they were not damaged.

"Sorry, Sir. I didn't mean to," said Spike. To Twilight's surprise, the pony opened his eyes and looked a bit disoriented at Spike. He wasn't blind after all.

"My eyes are sensitive to light, but it's alright-" and then the pony's and Spike's eyes met. "You're Spike, aren't you? The dragon who supposedly saved the Crystal Empire," said the pony with a slightly different tone of voice, it wasn't as much impressed, as it was merely stating a fact. Spike fiddled with his claws a bit, but couldn't help but to smile. "What a joke!" said the pony suddenly with a condescending tone. They looked at him surprised. The pony took his glasses from Spike and put them on. "You keep expecting ponies to thank you and love you for it, and when they do, you act like you're a great hero. Get real! The only thing you did to 'save' anything was pick up an old rock and fall out of a building! If it wouldn't have been for the real heroes, we would all be slaves at this moment. You were at the right place at the right time, and you weren't even very brave to begin with! And to add insult to injury, you have had art made in your name, and you haven't even objected to anything of it. There is a statue in the Crystal Empire of you as we speak, and when you heard about it you just gave a self-satisfied smirk. You really are greedy. You really are a dragon. To a lot of ponies, and even yourself, you're nothing but a big, ugly, selfish beast waiting to happen. Get out of my sight," said the pony disgusted and stormed past them. Spike looked shocked, he couldn't even turn around to look at the pony as he walked away.

"Hey, don't insult our friend!" said Rainbow Dash. The pony sighed and turned around, looking down at the ground.

"I'm, I'm sorry. I've, I've just had some things bottled up, and, and a lot of stuff has been happening lately. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said things like that," said the pony, receiving their cold stares.

"It- it's alright," said Spike, his voice slightly trembling. Rarity put her hoof on his shoulder. "It's, it feels true. It's true... I'm such, I'm such a fraud," said Spike, shivering, and then he broke out crying. Rarity gave him an affectionate hug to try to calm him down.

"I'm so sorry," said the pony and left with his head hanging low. It took a moment before Spike actually calmed down. He dried his tears and tried to keep his head high, which was difficult for him.

"Those words really hurt," said Spike after his tears had finally stopped.

"It's alright Spike, let's just forget it and go inside. Who knows, maybe Twilight's mother will have a tasty gem for you?" said Rarity. It made Spike smile a bit again. Twilight patted him on his shoulder and then proceeded to knock on the door. She opened before anyone could come to greet them.

"Mother, Father! I'm home!" said Twilight with a cheerful tone in the hallway. Two ponies rushed to the front door, one from the kitchen to the left, and one from the stairway to the right. Within seconds Twilight was embraced by her parents who didn't seem to want to let go of her.

"Our baby's home!" yelled her mother. Her striped white and indigo mane got all up in Twilight's face.

"It's been too quiet in this house!" yelled her father. Twilight could feel his horn poke her ear. She managed to push them away.

"Yes, yes, it's nice to be home. I've missed you. How have things been?" asked Twilight.

"Oh, just great. I'm fairly sure I've discovered a new star, I'm currently making a quadruple check to make sure it really is newly discovered. I'm thinking of calling it 'Coruscante Crepuscula'. I'm going to have to make sure it's properly written Latin, however. I'm an astronomer, not a translator," said the father.

"And I'm working on creating a way to make teleportation more effective and safe. Well, struggling might be a more proper way to describe it," said Velvet.

"So, these are your friends. Hello, I'm Night Sky. I'm Twilight Sparkle's father," said the stallion and walked up to everyone behind Twilight. "I'm sure Twilight's told you everything about me and her mother," said Night Sky, giving the young mares a smile.

"Well, not really," said Applejack.

"Oh, embarrassed about your parents, Twilight?" asked Night Sky teasingly.

"Of course not," said Twilight.

"To be fair, she's not big on talking about her family, like, at all. We didn't know she had a brother until a few days before we were invited to his wedding," said Rainbow Dash. Night Sky looked surprised, so did Velvet.

"Well, perhaps it never came up in conversation. What brings you all to Canterlot? It couldn't have been just for a friendly visit, not with such short notice," said Velvet.

"We're here to stop-"

"-by to make sure that this political meeting goes well. We're just a few helping hooves, just in case," said Twilight, interrupting Rainbow Dash.

"Er, yeah, and we'll just stay until it's over," said Rainbow Dash, clearly a bit confused at the interruption.

"Mother, Father, why don't you prepare some tea for our guests, it's been a long trip," said Twilight. They quickly went into the kitchen. Twilight turned around. "Girls, listen, try not to talk about this. I don't want to worry my parents over nothing. You should have seen them back when I told them about what we're sometimes asked to do. They don't really like that I have to go on these dangerous adventures, so let's not worry them about this one, alright? Not while I'm staying here," asked Twilight. Everyone quietly agreed to her request.

"Spike, since you have an extra, and the only, pair of hands, could you perhaps help us out with a few things?" asked Velvet.

"Coming, Mom!" said Spike taking a step forward, and immediately freezing in place. Everyone looked at him as his face started to go red. "I mean, um, Twilight's mom," added Spike quite embarrassed and continued into the kitchen a little too quickly, not wanting to stay around for what the girls were about to do. They couldn't stop giggling at it.

"Where did that come from?" asked Applejack.

"He was living here with me for a long time, I guess he just mimicked me a little by accident," said Twilight and chuckled, actually thinking it was rather precious.

"So, how's it been going in Ponyville, have you been taking good care of our daughter, Spike?" asked Night Sky playfully to Spike as they entered the kitchen.

"Yes, Sir," said Spike.

"I heard you saved her life, and the entire Crystal Empire a while back," said Night Sky. Twilight couldn't not notice how Spike tensed up as he was placing the plates on the table.

"That's... just a stupid rumor. I just picked up a stone," said Spike, holding one of the plates a little too tightly.

"Well, would you like some marmalade and toast, any of you? We have plenty of it after a fair late last week. Wasn't that just lovely, Velvet?" asked Night Sky.

"It sure was, too bad you couldn't come and visit then, Twilight. You would have loved it," said Velvet.

"Since the Crystal Empire, I've had my fill of fairs. Believe me," said Twilight and laughed. She walked over to Spike and hugged him with her front leg. "Are you okay, Spike?" whispered Twilight.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," said Spike and placed the rest of the plates.

***

The rest of the day was spent catching up and just talking to Velvet and Night Sky. It went by mostly as Twilight had expected it to go after they had been given Celestia's orders. Except for Spike getting his report from the guards, which he was careful not to let Velvet and Night Sky read, everything was fairly ordinary. Sure, Pinkie Pie suddenly gasped at dinner, saying 'Oh! Because some ponies think I'm so weird I could be from another planet! I get it!' but otherwise Twilight had a chance to relax. She missed her studies, but today's schedule was to hang out with friends and family, not a bad thing to fill up a time slot or ten. Once the sun had set, they were off to bed. Velvet had prepared several beds in Twilight's personal study and library, making it almost like a good old slumber party for her and her friends. Sure, they had talked and chatted long after midnight, but at last they all went to their sound sleep.

But then Twilight slowly woke up, hearing something from the open window she was sleeping next to. It was a familiar sound that she despised, and she knew she immediately had to do something to stop it. She silently got up and closed the window, but instead of going back to sleep, she had something else she needed to do. She left the room and went down the stairs, and after a short walk through a hallway she went up a different set of stairs, this one going further up than any other ones in the building. These stairs led to a special room, the astronomer's tower. She could see half of Canterlot from there, and all of the starry sky. It was always beautiful, no matter the weather. Tonight something was different about it though. This night there was a source of the awful sound. It was Spike sitting near the railing, looking out at the city, and he was crying.

"Spike, is that pony's words still bothering you?" asked Twilight carefully as she walked over to him and sat down next to him.

"No," said Spike, looking away, not wanting Twilight to see his tired and dripping eyes.

"Spike."

"...Yes."

"Spike, you shouldn't listen to him. Why does this bother you so much?" asked Twilight, making sure to give him a hug. He leaned towards her.

"You wouldn't understand," said Spike.

"Maybe not, but I'm smart. Try me. And even if you're right, talking about it might help. These things usually do," said Twilight. Spike looked up at her, without thinking he grabbed hold of her leg and held on tight, like a child clinging to something safe.

"Because this Crystal Empire-thing was... it was mine, okay? I mean, you have always been real heroes, and what have I been? I've been a fancy mail system. I'm a... butler. But then the Crystal Empire happened. Suddenly, ponies looked up to me like I really mattered. For once, I could feel like the hero of the story. I, I kept bragging about it because I wanted to keep feeling important. I wanted ponies to look up to me again, and again, and again. I kept doing it, despite knowing I didn't do much," said Spike, sighing deeply. Leaning on Twilight even more than before. "Feeling a bit proud over being the hero was a lot better than the shame of being the dragon that almost destroyed everything he loved. Better than being greedy, which I try not to be anymore. That pony, he was right, and that's what hurts. I let my greed take over, I should have been really humble, realizing I didn't do much. Instead, I kept being proud for nothing, lying to myself. Being greedy like that is for a dragon, and not a pony. I chose to be more like a pony, but this, this just reminded me... that I can never fully be a real pony in any way. It, it makes me afraid that I'll never be the pony hero, and instead just the dragon villain, like when you, me, and Shining Armor played when we were small," said Spike. "I sort of would have wanted to be the knight once."

"So Shining Armor would have been the dragon?"

"I sort of figured he could have been the princess," said Spike, and chuckled a bit. Twilight hugged him yet again.

"Spike, you're still very young, especially for a dragon, and even for a pony. I swear you will have your time to shine one day, for real, but for now, I'm just happy you are here, helping me out. And I'll admit, you really didn't do much in the Crystal Empire, but you know what? You were ready to," said Twilight and gave him a small kiss on his forehead. "I know a lot of ponies who would have fled so quickly they would have outrun a train, but when things got sour, you were there, and you were ready to fight. You risked your life to help not only me, but everyone else. So what if you just picked up a crystal? You did so because I couldn't. In my eyes, you are a hero, and no matter what you tell yourself, or what some stranger says, that won't change," said Twilight. She let out a laugh when she realized Spike had fallen asleep against her, but from the smile on his face, it was clear he had heard what he needed to hear. Twilight summoned forth a blanket from her own closet downstairs and wrapped it around them. It was a lovely night to watch the stars.