Suddenly the night sky was lit up by a bright, orange blast. The thundering explosion tore away the railroad bridge at the exact moment when the Friendship Express was crossing it, instantly blowing it to pieces. The locomotive disappeared in a white plume of scalding steam and a rain of burning embers. The shockwave filled the air with dust and debris, shattered wood and twisted metal. This horrifying sight sent shivers down the spine of Mr Greenhooves where he lay in cover behind a rock.
"Oh, the ponies... the ponies..." he cried in terror. His face went pale.
Beside him was Lightning Dust, staring at the scene with a mildly curious expression in her face.
"So, this is what death looks like? Fascinating."
"No... No! This... I don't... I didn't want to kill her! I really didn't!"
"Well, too bad, then. And a few sparkly-mules less. Good riddance if you ask me... Come now, you silly old goat. I believe we have a draisine to catch."
* * *
The royal bedroom was lavishly decorated with golden mosaics, paintings and stucco. There was an empty spot on the wall where an enormous oil painting of princess Luna being born out of a giant scallop had been hanging. The gilded wallpaper there was a bit darker than the rest of the wall as a result of years of bleaching from the sun.
Princess Fluttershy was laying on her bed, or in fact, Celestia's bed. Her eyes were swollen from the tears that she had shed and she felt like a very, very miserable alicorn. What if Rainbow Dash didn't want to be her friend anymore? What if she hated her now? The thought almost made her cry again, but this time she managed to get a hold of herself. As the tyrant ruler of Equestria she had important things to take care of...
There was a very, very soft knock on her door. Could it be Rainbow Dash?! What if she came over to say that she still cared for her and that she wasn't angry at her anymore? Fluttershy's heart almost jumped in her chest.
"C-come in...?"
But it wasn't Dash. It was Derpy Hooves, her advisor.
"Good morning princess!" she shouted.
"It is almost midnight, Derpy."
"Oh, I didn't notice. My watch is only on time twice a day."
"That means it's broken..."
"But I just washed it! Drat and double drat!"
"Oh, Derpy... I would laugh if I wasn't so sad."
"Are you sad because the watch is broken?"
"No! Because Rainbow Dash is angry at me for throwing Twilight in jail! I'm trying to rule the world and she gets mad at me for just a little, little unimportant detail! And I gave Twilight cookies! But no, of course I'm not forgiven! You know what? I think that I have been shockingly nice all the time! Perhaps even too nice! What do you think, Derpy? Isn't it time to do a little evil for once?!"
"Evil! Yes! Do evil, please! I like evil!"
"Evil it is then. Get my chariot. I have some evil deeds to commit!"
* * *
Far from being dead, princess Cadance looked at the flaming wreckage at a distance. With her keen eyes she had spotted the burning fuse moments before the blast and immediately teleported herself and all the rest of the ponies off the train with a powerful spell. They were alive and safe, but a bit bruised and confused from hitting the ground at full speed.
"Uh... what happened?" Celestia asked. She held a hoof to the side of her head and her coat was full of thorns from landing headfirst in a shrubbery of rosa rugosa. "What the buck just happened?"
"The train... They blew up the whole train..." Cadance said. A crystal pony that had been hiding under her wing became visible. "They just blew it up..."
"Who? Why? WHAT?!"
"I saw the burning fuse... And then I just acted! Are you all right, Celestia?"
"I have seen better days..."
"I mean, are you hurt? No? Then you can help me tend the wounded. I think that nopony is dead, thankfully... Oh, why did I get involved in this? Why did I choose to put my subjects in this grave danger?!"
"Don't you look at me like that! I didn't start a civil war and stole the throne and threatened to blow up my home town!"
"No, you fumbled away your throne and then you started a civil war! I have no sympathy for you right now, Celestia! I'm going home and I'm taking my troops with me. You and your bumbling sister may fight your own battles from now on."
"Princess Cadance! Do you really want to let that... that usurper win? That menace! That yellow-coated, pink-haired monster?! She's probably laughing at us right now, planning her next attack! Perhaps you think that she will spare your precious empire? No, Fluttershy will come to your lands too... You can't just back down, for Pony's sake! You have grabbed a snake by its tail and if you let go she will bite you!"
"I'll take my chances with her."
* * *
A little shadow appeared in the moonlit alley. It quickly galloped across the cobblestones and snuck into a hiding place behind some crates. It was Twilight, who had tried a second time to get into the Canterlot Archives. But she had found the archives empty. All books, scrolls and documents had been taken away by Fluttershy's troops to some unknown location. And now Twilight had to find out where...
Suddenly she heard the sound of hoof steps! Twilight decided to stay hidden behind her crates and observe what was going on at this late hour.
She saw two ponies quickly trotting by. They wore black masks and carried heavy saddle bags that seemed to be overloaded with something. They disappeared behind a corner. Soon two other ponies with black masks and saddlebags appeared. And then another two. Very, very carefully Twilight teleported herself across the street to get a better view. She hid behind a wooden barrel and took a quick glance at the street where the ponies had disappeared. There she saw a sewer lid closing. Some very strange operation was going on in the alleys of Canterlot...
"What are you doing here?" a voice suddenly asked her from behind.
Twilight turned around and saw a par of masked pegasi in camouflaged suits.
"I... I was just looking around."
"Nopony should look around where it has no business. Identify yourself!"
"I'm.... Tw... Sparklight Twinkle!"
"What did you see? Tell us what you saw!"
"I... I didn't see anything!"
"That's right, Sparklight. You didn't see anything. But just to make sure, you will come with us..."
"No... please, let me go!"
One of the pegasi tried to grab her but Twilight's horn lit up and she knocked them both out with powerful flash of magic! She was about to run away, but then she noticed that one of the stunned pegasi had dropped a package on the ground. Twilight picked it up before fleeing from the scene.
When she had passed a couple of blocks she realized what it was: Banknotes. Fluttershy must be secretly robbing the Bank of Equestria!
* * *
The next day, princess Luna was visiting Zecora at her home in the Everfree forest. The princess sipped on her tea and looked at the strange objects that hung on the walls and from the ceiling. Dried herbs, bones from various animals and clay pots decorated the surroundings.
"I truly appreciate your lavish hospitality and delightful company, dear Zecora. I was just wondering... Out of curiousity, of course, nothing else... Do you know what might have happened to the Alicorn Amulet?" Luna asked.
Zecora put her little clay cup down on the table.
"Of that I will not speak, for tis dangerous, what you seek!"
"Tis preposterous! I AM PRINCESS LUNA! Why do you not trust me immediately? I will only use it to take back what is mine! I promise you that I will handle it in a most responsible way!"
"No. For the thing that you desire is a very dangerous attire!"
Luna rose from the table. She was still a bit taller than Zecora in her earth pony form and although she was now a thin, blue-maned creature she still possessed every bit of her royal temper.
"I think that I am most capable of using it! Tell me where it is located so that I can begin to wield its immense power!"
"To help you, I refuse! A thing like that you may not use!"
There was a flash of anger in Luna's eyes. She didn't like the way this conversation was going at all!
"Perhaps you have hidden it here in your hut? Do you mind If I look around a little? Of course, I might broke a few things if I do not find it soon... My patience is limited! And I may have bribed the Home Guard a little... If I do not find what I seek, I might invite them to help me searching."
"Princess Luna! That is... is... eh... bad... like rotten tuna!"
"Do you have it or not? Do not take me for a foal!" Luna cried and grabbed a richly decorated clay pot from the table. "I might drop it... My hooves are slippery when I am enraged."
"This has gone too far! Go away now, or a foolish pony you are!"
The raging Luna turned around and stormed off. She slammed the door on her way out. Twice.
On the walk back to Ponyville, Luna noticed a large boulder in the forest. She decided to stop right by it to rest for a while and calm down so that she wouldn't be stuck in a bad mood for the rest of the day. The former princess felt a bit ashamed for having behaved the way she did towards Zecora... The poor zebra was only doing her best to save ponykind from devastation, although Luna would most definitely have handled the Alicorn Amulet in a perfectly safe way, she thought. Zecora was indeed very wise, but she somehow lacked the courage to trust in Luna's good judgement... Drat and double drat! Why did nopony ever want to help her? What if she would never find the blasted thing on her own?
"IT IS NOT FAIR!" Luna screamed and threw herself on the ground, kicking and beating the mossy floor of the forest in a way that she many, many times before had promised never to allow herself to do in public. Lucklily, nopony was there to watch this foalish and very undignified tantrum.
Suddenly a hole in the ground opened up under her and swallowed the surprised princess, making her disappear without a trace! Luna was gone and the Everfree forest was silent again.
* * *
Meanwhile at Canterlot, Lightning Dust and Mr Greenhooves were standing in front of the enormous, gilded door leading to princess Fluttershy's room.
"You tell her!" Mr Greenhooves whispered.
"No! You tell her!"
"But you're the one that wanted this whole gosh-darned mess to happen!"
"Yes, but I'm not stupid enough to tell her!"
"But who will tell her then?"
"You will! She will ask you, I bet!" whispered Lightning Dust and very, very softly knocked on Fluttershy's door. "Oh, maybe she isn't at home? Maybe she has gone away for a few days..."
But her hopes were soon dashed when Derpy opened the door and let both ponies in. In the middle of the room was Fluttershy. She was seated at a big table with stacks of money on it. Beside the table were piles of banknotes, gold bits, silver bullions and diamonds. It looked like a seapony's treasure. There must be several millions in value just on the table...
A tired Fluttershy looked up. She couldn't have slept very much last night...
"How did it go? Is the bridge down yet? I'm so stressed out that I could burst! Tell me!" she said, throwing a big wad of bills into an open suitcase.
"Yep," Mr Greeenhooves said without looking her in the eyes.
"Good... Good... What more?"
"Eh... We blew it up. The bridge sure is gone."
"Good... But where are Celestia and Cadance's army now? How much time do I have to... to relocate my money just in case something... unforeseen happens. I just don't have a lot of confidence in my own ability, that's all... Oh, I didn't meant to say that out loud. Pretend that you didn't hear that!"
"It is not a problem anymore, princess."
"It's not?"
"We buried twelve barrels of gunpowder under the bridge. It is two thousand and four kilos of explosives... the blast... was far greater than we expected. I'm sorry. There is not even so much as a button left of them."
"Oh... oh my..."