Twilight stretched and yawned lazily, awakening from the best night's sleep she'd had in ages. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she glanced over at the calendar hung upon the wall beside her bed; Ponyville was expecting a visit from Princess Luna today.

She smiled at how much things had changed over the past few months since the Crystal Empire was restored to its former glory. She remembered a time where ponies would cower in fear of the 'Mistress of Darkness'. No longer. Luna's regular visits to many towns across Equestria, in conjunction with her gradual adjustment to society - namely, not using the 'Royal Canterlot Voice' when the opportunity seemed ripe to her - meant that ponies had gradually come to accept Luna for who she was, and eventually, love her for it.

Sighing contentedly, Twilight rolled out of bed onto her hooves, trotted to the stairs and caught the scent of what would surely be an immaculate breakfast; Spike's own pancake recipe really couldn't be bested by your average pony. Maybe it had something to do with him cooking the mixture using dragonfire. On more than one occasion she had tried to copy his recipe, and on just as many occasions had almost set the library ablaze. She plodded slowly downstairs into the kitchen and surely enough, there was Spike, holding two plates towered high with delicious pancakes, "Morning, sis!" he said with a smile.

Twilight could never remember the exact point at which she and Spike had begun to refer to each other as brother and sister. Then again, it didn't really matter to them all that much. Twilight knew that Spike looked up to her as a big sister, and when she thought about it, it made sense. Even so, she occasionally had to stop herself from referring to him as her 'big brother', considering the growth spurt he had hit about a month ago. He now stood almost a head taller than Twilight, and the general consensus between Twilight and her friends was that he would soon be reaching the early stages of dragon adolescence if he continued growing at such a rate.

Twilight giggled at the thought of a Spike with a deep, gravelly voice before replying, "Morning, Spike."

Spike stared quizzically at her for a moment and slightly titled his head, "What's so funny, Twi?"

She shook her head to herself, though a small grin remained on her face at the thought, "Oh, nothing important, don't worry about it."

Spike shrugged his shoulders in mock exasperation. "Girls," he murmured to himself, "I don't think I'll ever understand..." He set the plates down onto the table, and the two began to eat in comfortable silence.

Twilight sighed contentedly as she levitated the plates into the sink, "Absolutely fantastic, as always. You really should consider entering a competition!" Spike's eyes widened as he thought of how humiliating it would be if he were seen in public, making pancakes in his favourite apron, and how quickly his 'masculine image' would be destroyed.

Noting his mortified expression, Twilight giggled and prodded him gently, "Just teasing! But really, those were great!"

Letting out a breath he didn't even realise he was holding, Spike reclined lazily in his chair, "That's a relief, and thanks! Only the best for my big sister!" His smile practically gleamed, "So," he spoke casually, "What plans do you and the others have for when the Princess gets here?"

"None!" she exclaimed happily, as if she'd just won some huge personal victory; showing her 'rebellious side' apparently amounted to not making list upon list to ensure things went perfectly.

Spike cocked an eyebrow before sighing, reading her like an open book, ironically enough, "She asked you not to plan ahead didn't she?" It was phrased as more of a statement than a question.

Twilight quickly hung her head in response.

"Yeah, I figured as much." he continued, though it was all in good humour. Turning towards the sink to begin the washing up, he spoke again, "You'd better go find the girls. The Princess will be here in a couple of hours, you can at least save her the trouble of having to track you all down that way."

Twilight, glad to have been given something even vaguely similar to a plan, bolted out the door in search of the others.

Spike grinned and shook his head slowly. "Girls... especially that one..." He decided there and then that the minds of the fairer sex were of a far more complex and intricate nature than he could ever hope to comprehend. It weighed upon him more than he thought it would, and it took several moments for him to snap from his musings, shrug, and get back to washing the dishes.

In the Canterlot sculpture gardens, all was still, all was silent, and to a certain spirit of chaos, all was far too boring. If one were to listen carefully enough, they would have noticed a small sound, quieter than a whisper by half, drift off towards Ponyville.

To the southwest of Ponyville, in a large field not too distant from Sweet Apple Acres, something strange was set in motion. If one were to listen carefully enough, they would have noticed the sound of quiet laughter. Slowly, but surely, growing louder.

Twilight caught sight of Fluttershy and Rarity leaving the spa together, and gave a great sigh of relief. It was a well-known fact around Ponyville that trying to find Fluttershy when you had nothing to go on but word-of-mouth was almost impossible. If she didn't want to be found - or, as was more often the case, simply wasn't aware that somepony was looking for her - she typically wouldn't be found. Twilight herself had wondered at one point if the pegasus was concealing a horn of her own; her ability to fade into the background put even the highest level of invisibility spells to shame. Twilight approached them from the side, "Hey girls!"

"Hello Twilight." Fluttershy nodded to her approaching friend.

"Oh, Twilight dear, what a pleasant surprise! We were just heading up to Sugarcube Corner for a snack, care to join us?"

Twilight nodded, "Sure, I need to find Pinkie anyways. I doubt I'll buy anything while I'm there though, I'm still stuffed from Spike's pancakes."

"Oh, isn't he just the cutest little cook in all of Equestria!" Rarity wailed. The three shared a giggle as they proceeded to trot towards Sugarcube corner.

"By the way, have either of you seen Rainbow Da-" Twilight was interrupted by a huge crackle of thunder piercing the air directly behind them, causing the three to jump reflexively, followed by the sound of laughter from above, "Never mind..." Twilight huffed. The three began walking again, one very amused Rainbow Dash in tow.

The four trotted into Sugarcube Corner. Dash wore a disappointed look after Rarity had frowned menacingly at her for trying to gain access through one of the second floor windows, "Sorry, Rarity, bad habits die hard I guess. At least it's not your house..."

Rarity held her nose high but said nothing, leaving Rainbow to scratch her head awkwardly.

Twilight approached the counter and rung the service bell. A pink blur appeared in her periphery for a moment, and she found herself staring into the face of Pinkie Pie not half a second later, "Hey, Twilight! What can I get for you? Y'know, 'cause you don't visit as often as I'd like, otherwise I'd already know. I know all my regulars' favourite cupcakes! I know! We should throw a party! A cupcake party! Then I can learn what everyone in Ponyville likes best! Then I -"

Dash facehoofed and interjected, "Pinkie!"

Pinkie stopped, still smiling, "Yes, Dashie?"

Not raising her head, Rainbow continued, "Twilight needs to ask you something."

Twilight was once again staring into the smiling face of Pinkie, although this time she was quiet - asides from her hooves clacking against the floor as she bounced on the spot. Twilight cleared her throat awkwardly, "The Princess will be here in about an hour, we still need to find Applejack before she arrives, would you be able to take your break now so we can go find her together?"

Pinkie looked puzzled for a moment, "Okie dokie lokie!" If Dash had pressed her hoof any harder into her forehead it probably would have bruised, "Mrs Cake! The Princess wants to see us in an hour, is it okay for me to take my break?"

Mrs Cake called through from the back of the shop, "Of course, Pinkie! Considering it's the Princess it'd probably be better if you took the day off; don't want to look disrespectful leaving her suddenly, do you?"

"Thank you Mrs Cake!" Pinkie practically screamed. She gave the others a puzzled look when she noticed they were all covering their ears but shrugged it off, "AJ, huh?" Pinkie mused, "She was here about half an hour ago, picked up some ingredients for a pie I think, then headed off back to Sweet Apple Acres." she explained, still hopping slowly on the spot.

Everypony sighed, more walking.

Twilight lifted her head, "Okay, lets try and catch her bef-"

She was promptly interrupted by a familiar voice, "Howdy, y'all!" Applejack approached Pinkie and sighed, "Sorry to bother ya, Sugarcube, but Ah forgot the uh, excuse the pun, the sugar..." she smiled sheepishly.

Pinkie shrugged, "It's okay, we were just about to come find you anyways."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, the Princess will be here soon, remember?"

Applejack blushed ashamedly, she hadn't remembered. With so much going on at Sweet Apple Acres she'd completely forgotten about the visit, "Uh, no, sorry, Ah kinda got caught up in all the work Ah've been doin'. Ah'll be right back once Ah've got these ingredients back to the barn!"

She grabbed the sugar, placed it into the bag she was carrying and cantered towards the door, only to be stopped by Rainbow, "The Princess'll be here soon AJ. We don't have time to wait around."

"Ah know, A-Ah'm sorry..."

"Don't be, just pass me the ingredients. I'll be there and back before you know it!" she boasted, striking her chest with a hoof.

Applejack looked like she would reject the offer, but after a moment of deliberation she sighed and handed the ingredients over. She had already nearly made her friends late, she wouldn't disappoint them twice in the same day.

A multicoloured blur shot out the door, "BE CAREFUL WITH 'EM!" Applejack called after her.

Only ten seconds later, Rainbow Dash appeared in in the doorway, panting a little but smiling, "All done!" she shouted to nopony in particular. Applejack couldn't help but roll her eyes.

In the field, a small area, no larger than a square inch, seemed distorted, as if by the heat haze on a hot summers day. The laughter was now barely audible without straining to hear it, provided no other sounds dared overlap it, which they didn't.

The Bearers of the Elements of Harmony arrived just in time to see Luna step out of the carriage. Cheers of joy rang out across the town centre. However, as was always the case, she was flanked by royal guards, and a queue of dignitaries had already formed to greet her. Luna cast an eye over them and onto Twilight and the others. She smiled mischievously and rolled her eyes, causing all of them to giggle. The Princess then put on her most official expression and proceeded to indulge the dignitaries with her words of wisdom.

Luna realised she had only spoken to about half of the long line of ponies and scowled momentarily, it had already been half an hour!

Rainbow Dash chuckled to herself as she picked up on Luna's irritation, "Forget about the 'Royal Canterlot Voice', that right there's the royal Canterlot sour-face!" she whispered, eliciting a fresh bout of giggles from her friends.

Forty minutes later, the last of the long line of ponies departed. Luna sighed happily to herself as she scanned over the crowd around her. Finally finished, she could actually talk to the ponies she had come to visit.

The Elements, Luna and Spike sat in the library, having finally gained enough privacy to relax comfortably. Luna had even told her guards to remain outside, much to their displeasure, but they complied nonetheless. It was their job to worry about such things, so the Princess let them do their job and worry. Outside.

The conversation was light, Spike had brought in some refreshments and many laughs were shared. Stories of adventures and, more often than not, misadventures were listened to attentively. Everypony - and one dragon - was happy there.

The rift had widened, now spanning a few meters. The laughter, however, came to an abrupt halt. Now came the difficult part...

"And Big Macintosh's still got that doll hidden under his bed! Ah've seen him tryin'a hide it every time anypony visits!" All eight were laughing hysterically now, recalling how Twilight had almost started a miniature riot over a tattered old doll, just because she had nothing to write to Celestia about. Looking back on it, even Twilight found it amusing. Luna, wiping tears from the corners of her eyes tried desperately to stop laughing, it was starting to hurt; every consecutive story somehow managing to be even more hilarious than the last. By this point the eight of them had been sharing jokes, stories and secrets in this way for almost three hours, but the time seemed to have passed them by completely, seeming like only a few minutes at most.

Just as Rarity leaned forward, preparing to reveal 'The deepest, juiciest, worst possible secret ever!' a voice, loud and crystal clear, resounded from everywhere and nowhere, bouncing around the room, yet never coming from more than one direction at once.

They recognised it immediately as belonging to Princess Celestia, and it sounded rushed and urgent, "Everypony, listen carefully! We don't have much time!" Immediately, all present sat stock straight as if the Princess could see them directly, even Luna. The worry in her sister's voice troubled her deeply.

"Luna, a dimensional rift is being opened to the south-west of Ponyville!"

Luna's horn began to glow as she tried to sense the ley energies of the area surrounding Ponyville, and her eyes widened upon the realisation that Celestia was right. There was a massive distortion, and it was rapidly doubling in size, "H-How could I have missed this!?"

Celestia spoke again "I'm on my way as I speak, I have two companies of royal guards with me." All but Luna shared apprehensive glances. Equestria's military might had not been called upon for anything other than defence in years, certainly not within the bearer's lifetimes. If Twilight's estimates were correct, well over a hundred royal guards were on their way to Ponyville.

"Sister," Luna was on her hooves in an instant, "What is happening!?"

Even Celestia herself sounded fearful, doing little to calm the nerves of the room's occupants, "Judging by the rate of expansion, something colossal is trying to get through, and we both know of only one being capable of pulling itself through forces that immense..." Celestia's voice wavered slightly as she spoke, "He's back, Luna..."

Luna's jaw hung loosely agape, and her eyes briefly took on a hollow quality that served to scare the wits out of those around her.

Twilight glanced around frantically, tinges of dread creeping into her voice as she spoke, "W-What do you mean, Princess? Who's back?"

Celestia hesitated for a moment, her voice sounding choked, as though speaking her next words would doom Equestria forever, "Discord's favourite pet and most dangerous weapon, Calamity."

Author's Notes:

Edited as of 3/1/14. Quality, grammar, and wording of sentencing is now vastly better than it was.