"Sister, are you certain that we shouldn't send aid to Ponyville?" Luna asked, wondering why Celestia had made such a decision. "Last I checked, being placed under a giant fishbowl with storm clouds at the top was not a natural occurrence. Perhaps it is just that the town's version of natural is a bit skewed, but it still worries me."

"Trust me, sister." Celestia replied. "Twilight will send word if she requires it. I'm sure there's something she's working on right now."

Luna sighed. "If you insist."

"I do. Now, shouldn't you be rethinking your plan for Eclipse? We don't know if he'll appreciate something like this."

"Oh, it's just a bit of fun. It'll be fine. Eclipse won't overreact. In fact, I don't think he's ever overreacted to anything."

"Come on... come on..." Eclipse muttered, tapping on the screen of his iPod.

"What're you--" Dust Demon began, when Eclipse suddenly hoof pumped and let out a victory yell.

"Team Inferno wins again! Take that Team Rainbow!" Dust Demon was bowled over in his seat, a terrified expression adorning his face as Eclipse continued. "Soon, we will control all the starforce! Then nothing can stop us!"

Sagebrush looked at Eclipse as if the pony had gone mad, doing his best to not burst out in a fit of laughter. It didn't help that his daughter was giggling at a mile a minute.

Dust Demon's eye twitched unexpectedly. "The hell--" He began, when Eclipse shut him down with another outburst.

"Onwards to the DragonVale! My gemstone and seasonal dragons are nearly hatched!"

"It's gonna be a long train ride..." Dust Demon muttered, his mood improving with finally getting a full sentence out of his mouth.

"Luna..." Celestia began, nervousness flooding through her.

"Tia, it will be fine. Half of Canterlot might be blown off the mountain when it's all said and done, but it will be fine."

"You always know just what not to say..." Celestia smiled.

"You just handle the political view of everything and keep the nobles from ever finding out. The rest shall take care of itself."

"No way." Feather Duster rolled her eyes at her friend. "After what he caused? There's no way they'd willingly set him loose."

"Why not?" Soap suds countered. "With all the good grace that your coltfriend has been building up for disharmony, should it really be surprising?"

"Good grace?" Feather Duster snorted, remembering how cautious the princesses had been when they first learned of Eclipse's power. "He's only just coming back from his second assignment. That's hardly a reputation, much less enough of a service record to build up any sort of 'good grace' whatsoever."

"But the princesses may think that if he can be a good pony, then imagine if they start thinking the same way about the god of chaos himself! We may be drowned in cherry cola before the week's out!" Soap Suds was waving her hooves around, flailing as if she was actually drowning.

Feather Duster sighed. "They will implement every fail-safe possible, up to and including the elements of harmony."

Soap Suds reigned in her excitement to replace it with a slightly different excitement. "Ooh, I wonder if he'll be there as well!"

"Who?" Feather Duster asked, genuinely wondering who she meant.

"The same stallion who'd be indirectly responsible for Discord getting loose, that's who!" Soap Suds tittered like a filly. "I wonder if it'll come down to a showdown between those two. Imagine the excitement!"

"Just for that right there, it'll end up being just a chess match to figure out who surrenders without a fight..." Feather Duster muttered, recalling something Eclipse had told her about Discord being utterly unpredictable. And knowing Eclipse, he'd likely agree to it just to see who'd win in a chess match. She fought down a shudder at the thought of how similar they suddenly sounded when cast in that particular light.

Finished cleaning the table and vase that Soap Suds had been distracting her from, Feather Duster turned to find the mare polishing a suit of guard armor, much to the annoyance of the guard who was wearing it.

Fighting down an urge to giggle and an urge to sigh at the same time, she merely shook her head with a small smile on her face.

"Sir, with all due respect, that's not true."

"You've only been here for a few days private. It's true."

"Sir, really? I doubt it."

The older guard chuckled. "Just give it some time, private. Something will come around."

"We're door guards, Sir. Literally the least exciting guard in existence. Nothing other than a hallway and a few walking ponies will--"

One of their fellow guards zipped by, wearing a slightly stained apron. He was followed by a loud "THOU CALL THIS A CAKE!? THINE PRINCESS WILL SHOW THOU A TRUE CAKE ONCE THEE HATH BEEN FOUND!"

A dark blue alicorn entered the hall, holding a slice of chocolate cake in her telekinetic grip. Her face was an odd mix of rage and excitement. A mad grin slowly stretched from ear to ear as she looked down the hall, spotting the fleeing tail of her quarry. "DOST THOU WISH TO PLAY A GAME? VERY WELL, LET IT COMMENCE!"

She teleported away, leaving the two door guards confused and worried for their comrades' life. Despite this, the older of the pair managed to grin at his much more shocked companion. "Anything else, private?"

A scream echoed from where the cook/guard had run to.

The private turned even whiter than he had been before. "N-no sir." He said with a slightly quivering lip.

"Oh, please." The older replied, rolling his eyes. "I've seen worse. Heard it, too."

A few minutes passed in utter silence.

"S-sir?"

"Hm?"

"Does it happen often?"

"Depends on your perception."

Luna came back through the hall, dragging the cook/guard behind her. He whimpered softly and held a hoof out to the pair of door guards, but the older of the pair put his hoof in front of the private to stop him from reacting.

Forced to watch his comrade be dragged off, the guard almost broke down into tears. "This is not what I was expecting at all."

"Yeah, we see some weird shit while on duty. Part of the package." The older guard thrust his jaw out in the direction Luna had gone. "Right now I'm concerned with what she's going to do to him."

"Theories?" The Private asked, though he immediately wished he hadn't.

"Probably just some duty helping the maids. I doubt she'll do her worst for such a small offense."

The younger guard perked up. That was far lighter than what he had been expecting. "What's the worst?"

"Blueblood duty."

The private let out a relieved sigh. "Well, that doesn't sound too bad."

The older guard simply gave him a thousand yard stare. At the questioning "What?" from the younger guard, he shook his head.

"Rookies..."

Author's Notes:

Due to not wanting to subject you to a boring-ass train ride with Eclipse, Sagebrush, Dust Demon and Cactus star, I instead subjected you to a boring-ass day at The royal palace, featuring several ponies there. Enjoy!