> Solar Eclipse > by lightningeyes > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Royal Exchange > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A pure white alicorn paced up and down the large white hallways of Canterlot castle, she held a clear look that seemed midway between concern and annoyance. The clacking from her pacing reflected off the marble and resonated down the hall. Where are they? I told them a week ago, if they don’t arrive soon I’ll be forced to begin without them. The alicorn heard a creak and then a grate, she turned to see the large oak door, leading to the castle meeting room, open wide. A pony-like creature stepped out of the door, this one looked very different to Celestia’s own subjects. He had a smaller cranium, a longer snout and a much more slender and graceful body, ironically looking more equine than regular Equestrians. He also had a dark cyan coat and bright blue eyes, like any regular pony. “Your majesty, if need be we can wait for Que-I mean, Princess Luna, a little longer.” The male Saddle Arabian said, still standing in the partly open doorway. Celestia hesitated for a moment, before replying to the desert horse. “I warned my sister and we have waited for too long already. Let us not keep your Sultan waiting any longer, it wouldn’t be befitting of me.” The horse stepped back into the room, widening the door as he did so. Celestia followed him through, before shutting the door behind her with a wave of her slightly glowing horn. On the other side of the door, the room was of a decent size, with a large crystal chandelier and clear white walls and roof. The room centre had a large circular mahogany table, lined with chairs made of the same wood, both of which were intricately and artistically designed. The far side of the table was occupied with four horses, quickly becoming five as the dark grey one took a seat. The other side was occupied with two other ponies, both of which were alicorns. One purple, the other pink, the purple one clearly younger than her old babysitter. Celestia took a seat in the centre, leaving two more empty chairs. Celestia sighed in frustration, she needed at least 4 beings of royalty to make any real decision. Otherwise this diplomacy agreement would be invalid. At least Discord could have arrived, annoying chaos chimera that he is. He always has to be late, just to spite me. Celestia looked at the five horses on the opposite side of the table and smiled. Until she felt, then saw a small piece of confetti on her nose. Oh, well at least he came. A huge pink cloud formed in the room centre, once it had reached a reasonable size it began raining confetti. From inside the cloud a draconequus lowered himself down to the table centre, he posed in the confetti shower and giggled. Celestia groaned in annoyance, Cadence raised an eyebrow and Twilight facehooved. “Greetings my lovely fillies!” Discord bowed with a large grin on his face. “What is going on here if I may inquire?” He asked curiously, giggling manically as he floated behind Celestia’s back. Great Father, give me strength… “We’re in the middle of a meeting, something I remember telling you would happen a week ago.” Celestia snarked at Discord, who was busy eating a carton of popcorn before spitting out the leftovers in her face. “That was today?!” Discord gasped, mockingly fainting to the ground as he groaned. “Oh I feel simply awful! Woe is me!” He cried outloud, sobbing tears of chocolate milk before clicking his fingers and standing up right again, smirking as he inspected his talons. “Must have slipped my mind.” Twilight’s brow furrowed in frustration as she glared daggers at the draconequus floating above her. To this day, she still wondered why exactly had Celestia instructed her to unseal him with the help of her friends from his stony prison. “Well a lot can slip your mind if you’re just out there making life miserable for other ponies.” Twilight muttered to herself, still eyeing Discord with great distaste. “Au contraire Twilight!” Discord pushed his face against hers, his eyes almost bulging against hers. “I make life just a little more interesting around here, something I think Celestia has picked up from me.” He glanced at Celestia, who only groaned at his words. “But aren’t we missing another pony?” Discord tapped his chin, scoping the whole room as he hovered above it. Cadance rolled her eyes in agitation of Discord’s antics. “Discord, we’re very busy right now if you haven’t noticed,” she chided at him, as though he were a foal who walked in on some adults during a business meeting. “Of course I have noticed, but how can you proceed further without moi or our dearest Luna?” He pouted at the alicorns, displaying puppy eyes that would make even Fluttershy’s heart stop abruptly. “We don’t need Luna for this,” Celestia answered him dismissively, turning her attention to the Saddle Arabians who was viewing the exchange between the Princesses and Discord with a combination of curiosity and concern. “She knew about this and yet decided not to show up at all.” Discord cackled with a nefarious grin as he looked down on Celestia. “Oh really?” He clicked his fingers again, this time having a giant clock appear before him. “My guess is that she will be walking through that door any moment…” He clicked his fingers again, pointing to the door. “Now.” All faces in the room turned to the door at Discords word, expecting a certain dark blue alicorn to step through. Discord burst out laughing, finally unveiling what appeared to be his joke. “Ahah, oh that was amazing, you all must have forgotten.” Discord snapped his paw, in a bright white flash he appeared seated between Celestia and Twilight, a wide smile on his face, wearing a blue hawaiian shirt. “I’m Discord, Spirit of Chaos, there is always a chance I may be lying...” The door to the room slammed open, princess Luna stepped through and took a seat between Cadence and her sister. She was breathing heavily and clearly looked like she hastily groomed herself. She also had dark bags under her eyes, clearly from lack of sleep and a few too many mugs of coffee. The Alicorns on either side of her could smell the caffeinated drink emanating from the lunar princess. Discord continued his speech with a cheeky grin. “...or I may be telling the truth a few minutes early. You will likely never truly know, that’s the fun part.” Discord snapped again, this time summoning a steel cup filled with a strange sparkling liquid, that was red hot and emanating concentrated heat. Twilight frowned at the spirit, as her nostril caught a familiar wiff. “Is that...magma?” Discord smiled at Twilight, using his tail to casually stir the liquid. “I’ll have you know it’s much more than that, it’s magma mixed in with sugar, ruby, sapphire and a hint of Amethyst. I call it, cocktail chaos.” He proceeded to pull out a steel straw and casually drink. “Oh! It has a kick, just look.” He revealed the bottom of the cup which had a pair of small kicking pony legs. Cadence raised an eyebrow and groaned, but said nothing else. Luna decided to ignore the draconequus and turned to her older sister. “I know you told before, but sorry I’m late, I woke up late and came as soon as I could. Thanks for being patient and waiting for me, I’ll try to be on time, next time.” Celestia’s eyes widened and she proceeded to blush. “Uh, that is no problem dear sister, you are all too important as the princess of the night.” Luna turned to look at her sister, she held an unimpressed look on her face. “...You can’t lie. You know that right?” Celestia’s blush deepened as she shook her head. “But I’m not lying.” Much. Discord dived in, posing next to the bright red solar alicorn and using a floating camera to snap a picture. “This one is going in the records, can’t miss a little fun.” He turned to Luna with a devious smile. “If you want I can quote her word for word.” Celestia glared at the draconequus. “Don’t. You. Dare.” “We don’t need Luna for this. She knew about this and yet decided not to show up at all.” Discord emulated Celestia’s voice perfectly as he spoke, before clapping his mouth shut with both his claw and paw as he snickered gleefully at Luna neutral expression. “What’s wrong, Lulu? I thought you knew where you stood with your sister?” Discord patted her head gently with his paw. “Want a cookie?” He clicked his talons and a large cookie appeared in his claw that he waved around Luna. “No?” Discord asked but got no reply at all. He groaned and dispelled his magic before taking flight. “I’m surrounded by boredom! Catch ya later!” He yelled out as he surrounded himself in smoke and disappeared from sight. Thank the Maker… “That was unexpected…” Celestia sighed before smiling softly as she turned to her paperwork. “Now, as I was saying--” Celestia froze when Luna’s eyes glared into hers with animosity. “Yes Luna?” “So my opinion does not matter to you?” Luna asked Celestia softly, her eyes still fixated on Celestia’s. “What are you--” Luna slammed her hoof hard on the table, grinding her teeth in frustration. “It’s just as Discord said, you don’t need me to make decisions when it comes to Equestria.” Celestia flustered for a moment before regaining her composure. “Now Luna, that’s not true… I was just--” “Twilight, did Celestia really say that before I entered this room?” Luna asked Twilight curiously, albeit in an interrogative tone as she turned her attention to her good friend. “Well…” Twilight gulped as she fiddled with her hooves nervously. “It is true, but I think Princess Celestia was just--” Luna raised her hoof to stop Twilight’s words, her head turning sharply at Celestia. “Straight from the pony’s mouth,” Luna muttered angrily at Celestia before clearing her throat. “You just love to make decisions without me, don’t you?” “That’s not true Luna!” Celestia defended herself as she raised her voice a little, beginning to feel irritated by her sister’s antics. “Really? It seemed to work fine for you for about a thousand years,” Luna reminded Celestia bitterly, seeing Celestia roll her eyes in annoyance. “But why do you ever call me to meetings when you just make the decisions yourself or with Twilight and Cadance? Just to pull a prank on me ‘for old times sake?’” Celestia quickly sprung on all fours, causing the chair she was sitting on to fall and clatter. “No! It’s not as simple as that.” From the other side of the room a heavy coughing summoned the attention of both princess sisters. The sound came from the grey Saddle Arabian seated near the Sultan, who had an eyebrow raised. The Sultan had the same slender horse figure of the others of his race, he also looked had a slightly muscular build. He had bright green eyes, a deep blue coat and a thick dark brown mane. He stood up and spoke, his voice was unlike anything the alicorns had expected to hear. His voice sounded young yet dominant, demanding attention from all who heard, but his voice also held another quality. It had a wisdom and intelligence, along with a foreign accent that didn’t sound nearly as thick as Celestia or the others had expected. “Excuse me princesses but whatever issue you two have can be assessed between you and fixed at a later date. All you really need is a deep conversation during afternoon tea.” Celestia stared at the stallion, eyes wide with shock. Until now she had only spoken to him through letters of diplomacy, but had never met him. He sounded very wise and intellectual, she assumed he would be much older, but this stallion sounded only slightly older than her ex-student. The sultan continued, still retaining the attention of all the princesses of Equestria. “Now I believe the best choice would be that we discuss what we originally came here for. This way we will not waste time and we can continue our day.” The lunar princess turned away and glared daggers at her sister for a moment before speaking, her voice filled with tense annoyance. “Very well, let us complete the task at hand.” Luna’s horn stopped glowing, she dropped the quill and glanced at her signature on the form in front of her. After confirming that the agreement was to her preferences she turned to the horse on the other side of the table and bowed to him. “Our agreement is complete Sultan Abdul, I hope that you and your friends find our hospitality and food to your liking.” The young, yet wise leader on the opposite side bowed back respectfully, a slight yet grateful smile on his lips. “I’m sure we will, thank you princess.” The groups of horses all bowed like their leader and turned around, following their leader out the exit and towards their next destination. Celestia watched the small group leave, before hearing a set of hooves behind her. She spun around to see her sister open the door, eyes dark and filled with rage. Luna raised her voice and spoke with a serious intensity. “Twilight Sparkle, and Cadenza, please leave me and my sister to our business. We have important matters to discuss”. Looking nervously at each other, Cadance and Twilight gulped as they made their way to the door. Only Twilight took one last glance at the sisters before she closed the door, leaving Celestia and Luna behind. “Well?” Luna finally spoke as she tapped her hoof in agitation, looking at her sister with venomous eyes. “Well what?” Celestia asked in confusion, blinking profoundly as the glare in Luna’s eyes intensified by the minute. A hoof stomped on the ground, releasing a small tremor as Luna groaned out loud in frustration. “You know very well what Celestia!” Luna poked her hoof into Celestia’s chest as she marched towards her. “How dare you try to run a meeting without me when I am needed to agree upon the conditions! Am I not the co-ruler of Equestria anymore?” Celestia snorted as she waved a hoof at Luna, flustered for a moment before regaining her posture. “Luna, that’s a ridiculous notion,” Celestia replied factly as she tried to smile at her sister, who never stopped leering at her. “You are my sister and I would never leave you in the dark when it comes to the matters of Equestria at all.” Luna spun around where she stood, every movement of her regal body expressing rage. “Then how do you explain making the decision while I wasn’t around, did you not even bother to send me a servant?” Celestia cringed at the sudden realization. “I admit, I did not think of such a trivial matter...” The solar princess was immediately interrupted by the Lunar leader. “TRIVIAL? Would you also call my change into Nightmare Moon trivial? How about the loss of the Crystal Empire, is that trivial to you dear sister!” “Luna how dare you!” Celestia’s voice had increased to a harsh growl, as Luna’s words struck a chord. Refusing to listen to any more lies, the princess of the night turned and flew out the door, leaving the room empty with a stunned, angry and confused Celestia. Standing there alone like so many centuries ago. The white princess couldn’t help but yell in anger and stress, resorting to a term that hadn’t been used in Millenia. “LUNA YOU SPOILED LITTLE MOON BUTT!” As she continued venting her frustration, Celestia was oblivious to Discord in the stain glass looking down on her with glee. He clicked his talons together, appearing outside the room in his body as he looked back to Celestia. “My oh my…” Discord whispered as he shook his head. “This will not do,” he said, flying towards Luna’s tower and seeing an equally frustrated Luna pouting on her bed. “This will not do at all.” Discord muttered as he flew back outside to the skies looking down on Canterlot castle. He sat on a cloud, placing a talon to his forehead as he narrowed his eyes in thought. A few seconds later, a grin started to form on his face as he got an idea. A chaotic idea. “This calls for some of my speciality!” He told himself, pulling out a book from oblivion named “Family Remedies” and opening it to the centre before reading aloud. “Mind swap… that’s cliche,” he said knowingly as he turned a page. “Near death experiences… a little too morbid for my taste,” he shuddered at some of the imagery the page displayed before turning over another page. He paused before taking a closer look, the grin on his face becoming wider with each second. Discord started to cackle maliciously as he clicked his talons together again. “Brilliant!” Discord cheered at the ‘remedy’ and the effects it would leave. “Now let’s see here… a little bit of ‘sleep’...” That night, back at Canterlot Castle, up on the highest tower slept Princess Celestia in her bedroom. The member of royalty was tossing and turning in her bed, though her eyes were closed and breathing regular. Something felt wrong. Across the castle in another tower remained the princess of the night, looking out into her dark blue canvas of stars. She stood on her balcony, eyes full of confusion, concern, anger and most of all fear. “She really doesn’t care for me...how have I not seen it until now.” Luna turned around, heading back into her room intent to rest for the rest of the calm night. However once she turned a red and brown pigeon with a strange fang sticking out of his beak landed on the balcony. Luna turned around to see the odd bird, a frown forming on her muzzle. “Discord I’d rather not deal with your shenanigans, leave me be.” As the alicorn turned around she paused and stared into the furry chest of the draconequus she suspected was behind her. As Luna craned her neck and looked up she felt some pink sand hit her nose. “I have plans for you Luna, you and your sister. It’s gonna be so much fun.” The dark princess groaned a final time before collapsing into a deep sleep, hearing the echo of Discord’s sly chuckle guide her into the land of dreams. Discord picked Luna’s sleeping form up with his claw and paw in a bridal style, flying over to Celestia’s tower. He knew Celestia had always kept the window at night, granting him easy access to her bedroom. Once he slipped in, he was in front of the slumbering white alicorn who was still frowning. “Aww, don’t worry Tia… all will be much better in the morning.” He cooed at her, gently placing Luna next to her before flexing his own muscles and cracking his talons and fingers before wiggling them in excitement. Discord started to giggle uncontrollably as he works his magic, covering both Celestia and Luna in his aura. He frowned deeply as he concentrated more, intensifying his own magic as the aura started to glow brightly. Once the magic started to diminish, he panted in exhaustion as he wiped the sweat from his forehead and smiled smugly at the work he has done. A chirping sound emitted from the room, causing his Discord to turn to a perch were Celestia’s pet phoenix Philomena was looking curiously at what Discord had done. Before Philomena could speak again, Discord clamped her beak shut. “Now now… let them sleep… and find out in the morning.” He winked at the phoenix, who only shrugged before withdrawing her beak to her wing and falling asleep herself. Discord yawned out loud, looking at the time on the clock against the stand. “I suppose I should lower the moon and raise the sun just this once for them… as they will be too busy bonding.” Discord laughed at his words, flying outside the room and leaving the two sisters in peace. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!” Celestia jolted awake at the sound of breaking porcelain and clattering trays. She looked towards her bedroom door, only to see a ponies head disappear down the flight of stairs. “Hm, was my bed mane really that bad?” The mare decided to sleep in and dug her head back into her pillow. Luna remained on the bed, snoring like a stallion. Celestia raised her head at the snores, realizing the familiar sound. Is that...no it couldn’t...could it? Celestia turned her head around to the where the snoring originated from. She frowned at the odd sight of Luna snoring on the opposite side of the bed. Why in the world would she sleep in my bed, she’s not a filly anymore. Celestia shrugged off the odd moment and looked away. I’ll simply ask when she wakes up, now I need some breakf… At that split second Celestia noticed something, she turned an entirely new shade of white, purer than the whitest clouds. So white she looked holy, though it was for anything but that. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!” Hearing her sister scream, Luna jerked her head up and looked frantically around where her sister was. She looked behind her to see Celestia was in fact very close to her. Luna could tell by Celestia’s expression she was horrified, causing Luna to tilt her head in confusion. “Sister, what are you doing in my bed?” Luna asked simply, oblivious to Celestia’s trembling lips and her eyes becoming moist. Celestia’s only answer was a gesture. She pointed a hoof to Luna’s body, briefly looking down on it with dread. Luna followed suit, the colour of her face draining as she gasped. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!” Soon enough, both sisters screamed out in panic before jumping out of bed, only to fall down on the floor face first and groaning in pain. The door to the bedroom soon bursted open, revealing two royal guards. “Princess! We heard you screaming! Is everything al--” Both guards froze, their eyes widening and their signature stoic faces turned to disbelief as their jaws dropped to the ground to what they were witnessing. One guard clamped his mouth shut, as his face started to become red when he decided not to breath. Had he done so, he would have committed treason to the crown by laughing his lungs out. The hind quarters and cutie marks of the princess sisters were no longer where it should have been. Instead the the two princesses were now bonded to each other at the barrel. They were now one creature, a very odd creature with two front legs and two heads. The Guard who stopped breathing turned and ran out the door, his face turning purple due to lack of air. The second guard stared at the odd creature in front of him, before turning pale and fainting on the spot. Crumbling onto the floor next to the bed, unconscious. Celestia finally stopped panicking and turned her head to her sister. “Luna, we need to work together to stand. Think you are up for it?” Luna didn’t hear her sister, she was now screaming in rage, her eyes turning white. “How dare that monster do this, I’ll tear his soul from his wretched corpse after I beat him into sauce!” Celestia groaned, then came to a realization. “Wait? You know who did this?” Luna turned and growled at Celestia, “Who else but Discord!” Tia promptly turned red with rage at the insight. She levitated a piece of paper and a pencil towards herself and started writing. Luna raised an eyebrow at her sister. “Why in Tartarus are you writing at a time like this? We have to get ourselves back to normal.” Celestia answered, but kept her concentration on the letter. “We can’t expect to get back to normal by ourselves, I’m summoning Twilight Sparkle.” > Stellar Pandemonium > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Further over the edge of the horizon, in the quaint small town of Ponyville, a new day had begun. However there was a minor issue, the Sun hadn’t been raised. The citizens of this town and many others awoke to find Equestria still in darkness. A situation the nation’s latest princess was all too familiar with. That same bright purple alicorn was pacing across the seating area of her library. Three of her friends and her personal assistant were seated in the same room. Spike, Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash. Twilight’s pacing did nothing to reduce the worry saturating the air. A cyan pegasus swung back her head, groaning at the situation. “Twilight, why don’t we just get going to Canterlot? You know if Nightmare Moon is back she’s not going to waste any time.” Rarity turned towards her overzealous friend. “Rainbow, don’t you think you are too judgemental? Maybe the princess has a different reason for not raising the sun.” Twilight turned to her friends, it was no secret the unicorn was worried and skeptical. “I’m not going to guess what caused this, because until we get to Canterlot we won’t know. Besides, I’m sure we can use the bright sun thats outside to...wait what?” Oddly enough, the sun was now raised over Equestria and resided where it should have at this time every morning. Yet less than ten minutes ago, the only lights in the sky was Luna’s stars and Moon. Twilight stared out the window, then narrowed her eyes. She only knew of one being that could raise the sun in such a way. A loud burp escaped from Spike’s mouth, followed by a streak of flame and a letter appearing from the fire. Spike took hold of the letter and unfurled the scroll, clearing his throat before speaking. “Dear Twilight Sparkle…. Help.” Spike spoke out loud, cocking an eyebrow at the contents as he scanned the whole paper for any more words. “That’s it?” Spike asked to himself, before he heard Twilight's teeth chattering and saw her eyes bulging out to the word she just heard. Twilight immediately ran upstairs, leaving a spectrum of dust in her wake at a speed that even Rainbow Dash found impressive. When she came back downstairs, she had a saddle bag on her back that was overloaded with books and tomes. “Alright girls! We need to save the Princess!” “Um, Twilight… what’s with all the books?” “This could be another test! I need to be prepared or else I’ll fail the Princess!” Twilight exclaimed, her eyes darting from every corner as she was sweating profusely. A deafening silence engulfed the room, with a small cough coming from Spike. “What?” An orange Earth pony casually leaned against a bookshelf, witnessing her friends paranoia. Applejack sighed, she planted her hoof to her face before she shook it slowly. “Twilight, sugarcube… ya really think the Princess would just throw a test at ya with such a short letter?” “Yes!” “Twilight.” Spike crossed his arms, frowning deeply at the alicorn before him. “I really don’t think this is one of Princess Celestia’s tests… I mean, when was the last time she actually gave you a test?” Spike asked her rhetorically. “But that’s just it! This could be a long overdue test that I must complete!” Twilight replied by shouting, before she threw the saddle bag to the ground and emptied all its contents. “I must make sure I have everything here! Even the silliest book may be needed!” Twilight zoomed past her friends towards the shelves, throwing every book to the ground. “Where is ‘Magic ABC’?! Where are the autobiographies of Starswirl the Bearded! Where!?” Rainbow Dash and Applejack simultaneously groaned at Twilight’s book searching. After looking at each other and coming to a silent agreement, the two of them pounced on the mare. After a few minutes Twilight was forcefully seated in her lounge, as Rarity levitated the books back into their respective shelves. The orange earth pony sat next to Twilight and sighed. “Twilight, that letter said help. Considering the situation, ah think it would be best if we head over with our Elements of Magic. ” “Harmony.” Twilight corrected her friend. “Yeah that. Besides, if you were being given a test, wouldn’t the princesses have done it yesterday?” Rainbow Dash clopped her hooves together and sarcastically cheered. “Well said by the logical honest one, now what does princess crazy geek have to say.” “Hey!” The alicorn pouted at her the pegasus.  “I’m just telling it how I see it, Twilight... you are a princess, tests are yesterday’s news. Please just think with your head.” Twilight blinked in shock. How in the world did she not realize that thinking this might be a test was a silly idea. The mare shook her head and turned to the three other ponies in the room. “Applejack, you need to go get Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash, I need you to find Pinkie Pie and bring her here. Rarity, I need you here to help me with a spell. Girls, time to visit Canterlot again. Spike, gather the Elements of Harmony.” Spike saluted at the order. “6 magical pieces of jewellery coming up.” The young dragon bolted up the stairs of the building. Applejack and Rainbow Dash left the building at that very moment, both of them through the large window to save time. The lavender alicorn sighed in annoyance before yelling after the two in question. “There is a door for a reason!” Rarity commented, a hint of excitement in her voice. “I would prefer to gather some fabulous outfits, but who am I to turn down a friend. What shall I do?” Twilight turned to her friend. “The dresses are going to have to be used later. This may sound really strange, but when Spike comes down, you need to grab the Elements of Harmony, I won’t be able to do it.” Rarity frowned. “But why not, dear?” Twilight looked at her friend. “Rarity I need you to channel your magic into me, only a little. I’m going to prepare a long-distance teleportation spell.” Rarity gasped. “But Twilight! Surely you know how bad of an idea that is, you won’t be able to make the distance. Even as an alicorn.” “Which is why I need some of your magic, to focus mine. If my theory is correct we can teleport directly into Canterlot Palace.” “How can my magic amplify yours, I’m not very powerful.” “Well I could explain it, but it would take three hours. I just need you to believe in me, Rarity.” The pearl unicorn sighed. “Now you are being cliche, but I do trust you, dear.” At those words an aura of blue magic left the white unicorn and was absorbed by the lavender alicorn. __________________________________________________________________________ As her name was called out, Twilight quickly opened her eyes and saw her friends falling alongside her. When she looked down, she screamed in panic as she saw a pit of lava underneath her. Looking around frantically, she saw numerous dragons looking at her intently. Some of them even licking their lips. “Get us out of here now Twilight!” Rarity barked out, flailing her hooves in the air as she experienced a sense of deja vu. She heard Fluttershy let out a high pitch scream and saw a few dragons flying towards them with their jaws wide open revealing razor sharp teeth. “Hold on girls!” Twilight shouted out, igniting her horn and engulfing her friends with magic as they were sent far away from the hungry dragons. __________________________________________________________________________ “Who turned out the lights?” Twilight opened her eyes, but was greeted to darkness and the sound of water dripping. Lighting her horn again, Twilight saw they were now deep underground with an assortment of shining rocks everywhere around them. “Wait, are those…” Applejack began to speak, but her words were drowned when Rarity let loose a high pitch squeal. “Diamonds!” Twilight frowned as pieces of the puzzle connected in her minds eye. “Huh, the magic must have your special talent, I should write a report on this.” A short moment after the statement Fluttershy pulled her attention away from the diamond’s and focused on other aspects of the cave. At which she saw something all too familiar and scurried into the centre of her friends. “Um, Twilight? Can we leave now.” Rarity was looking at the diamonds embedded in the wide roof of the cavern, she wasn’t hiding the fact that she wanted these gems. “It’s a treasure trove in here, I don’t see why we would want to leave. Why, I could start a new clothes line with this, Stone Stars, what do you think?” As the pearl white unicorn rambled on about the carbon gems, the rest of the group looked into the dark. In the darkness they saw something all too familiar, a large black stone, that emanated a strange green glow. Twilight started charging the magic in her horn, she knew they shouldn’t stay any longer. The others instinctually decided to shuffle closer to the mare. Spike reached up and tugged Rarity’s hoof, pulling the mares attention away from the roof. He had a claw raised to his lips, sending the message of silence. However a sound began emanating from the rock, a sound the ponies were hoping not to hear. In actuality it was a pair of sounds, the cracking of a shell and the beating of a heart. The stone had now broken open, the top opening like a flower. Inside a newly reborn changeling drone pulled itself out of the liquid green medium within. He also began expelling the fluid and breathing air. Rarity stared in shock at the sight, then started turning green. “Oh, well I might lose my lunch now.” Twilight activated her spell, encompassing the group in a flash of light a third time. Much to the relief of all the ponies and dragon. ______________________________________________________________________________ “Ow! Hey what’s the matter with you?” Twilight opened her eyes to find herself sitting on a pile of ponies, under which stuck out a familiar white flank, with a blue tail and a cutie mark consisting of a blue shield and purple star. “Get off!” After a few moments of leaping, shifting and tumbling the group allowed Shining Armour to resume breathing and standing. The stallion shook off the bruising and looked at the mares with a raised eyebrow. “Hey Twily, wasn’t expecting you to make it this fast. Celestia and Luna are in the throne room.” Just as Shining Armor got up and walked towards the door leading to the throne room, Twilight felt a chill running down her spine and looked behind herself to see Rarity glaring daggers at her. Rarity pressed her face against Twilight’s, her eyes nearly poking Twilight’s. “I am never teleporting with you ever again.” Rarity whispered calmly, yet threatening. Receiving only a nervous chuckle from Twilight, Rarity removed herself from her friend and followed Shining with the others behind her. “Um, girls…” Shining spoke before he opened the door. “Whatever you see in here… it’s a matter of the utmost secrecy.” The girls gasped at his words, but Spike’s eyes were gleaming stars as he hopped in excitement. “Cool! Did Princess Celestia make a secret weapon!?” Spike asked curiously as he beamed to the stallion. “No Spike.” “Did she accidently create a deadly substance that could destroy the world?!” Twilight asked frantically, her teeth chattering at the idea of something as dangerous as that. “Twily…” Pinkie raised her hoof and waved it in the air. “Oh oh oh! Did Luna find life on some faraway star!?” “What?!” “Girls!” Shining interrupted the mares as he raised his voice, silencing them finally. “Just take a look for yourselves…” WIth that, Shining opened the doors of the throne room and walked inside with the girls following suite. Once inside, they found all the curtains closed and only candle fire keeping the room alight. Shining looked towards him but didn’t see either princesses. “Princess Celestia, Princess Luna?” He called out to the princess, looking around himself. “Twilight and the others are here!” “Oh good!” All the girls’ ears perked and they saw Celestia’s head poking out from behind the throne, where she was forcing a wide smile at the company of the Elements of Harmony. The throne looked barely large enough to occupy the the solar princess behind it. However the real oddity was that the voice that responded was Princess Luna’s. Twilight recognized the voice and took note of the odd behaviour of Celestia. Twilight couldn’t help but mentally think, Something’s clearly going on. Shining Armour turned to the room entrance and began to leave. “Sorry, Twilight, I need to get back to organizing the guards and running the castle. If you need me, you’ll find me in the castle courtyard. Princesses, good luck.” The stallion shut the large doorway using his magic, leaving the room in an awkward silence. All of the newcomers, except the purple alicorn, noticed only one particular word about what Shining said. They couldn’t help but ask out of a mixture of bemusement and curiosity. “Princesses?” Twilight, on the other hoof, noticed something even more important in her brothers speech. “No.” Rainbow Dash turned towards Twilight, a frown on her. “Twilight?” Twilight raised a hoof, her forehead now furrowed and thinking. “I mean no, Princesses isn’t the question. The real question here is something entirely different, actually it’s a pair of questions.” Twilight looked up at the throne room chair. Celestia’s head remained where it was before, the nervous smile had now doubled. Twilight knew she was onto something. “These are the two questions. One, why is Shining Armour running and guarding the castle simultaneously. If I remember right from my time here as your student. The resident Guard Captain never takes control of the castle, unless an emergency is going on. However you two are still fine, by the way, hello Princess Luna.” A second alicorn head popped out from behind the chair, eyes wide and face blushing. “How? Wha..” Twilight didn’t stop, she was in rambling mode. Something her friends and Celestia were all too familiar with, Luna had no idea. “Question number two, if my eyes don’t deceive me, then according to my mental calculations that throne is only wide enough to hide one pony. Possibly two if the ponies squished. So how does a pair of larger alicorn princesses fit behind that throne? It makes no sense.” Celestia was casually reading a newspaper as Twilight kept on rambling. Luna stared, her mind had gone blank while trying to understand the purple alicorn. Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie were seated on the floor with a deck of cards playing blackjack. Fluttershy, Spike and Rarity sat casually around a tea kettle, enjoying some local tea. Spike provided the boil, dragon fired tea often made the best tea. Twilight blinked for a few minutes before looking around and taking in the sights around her. “I started rambling again...didn’t I.” Spike pulled out a stopwatch, clicked it and commented sarcastically. “6 minutes and 32 seconds, you wanna go again?” Twilight groaned, before turning to her friends. “Where’d you get that stuff from, anyways?”  Rarity chimed. “A basic summoning spell, nothing more.” Pinkie called out with an overly wide smile. “Always bring cards, you never know when you might be bored by a Twilight rant.” Rainbow and Applejack began giggling at Twilights self realization. Twilight groaned a second time, this time placing a hoof to her forehead. “Yes, well, I’m finished, now please get up and be ready for a battle.” Fluttershy meeped. “Battle?” “Yes, battle. Because I only know of one creature that is small enough to fit a pair behind that throne. The changelings have returned, girls be ready!” Spike yelped. “Changelings! Nope, I’m out.” The young dragon bolted off towards the back door, which led to the personal lounge of the princesses, only to find it locked. “Oh no.” Twilight used her magic and encompassed the throne in a light purple aura. Celestia and Luna both simultaneously recoiled in fear of what was happening. “Twilight don’t!” The purple alicorn smirked, her crown of harmony and magic sat proud on her head. “You ruffians are in for it now, nopony touches the princesses of Equestria.” The other five chimed in at that very moment, scaring the princesses even more. “You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us!” Celestia yelled out. “Twilight, wait!” Twilight used her power, which levitated and threw the throne to the side. At which the mane six saw the creature that lay in front of them. A fusion of two alicorns with no back halves. There was only one appropriate reaction. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!” Spike took the inappropriate option and laughed hard, so hard he began crying as he rolled on the floor holding his sides. Outside, Shining Armour along with the entire platoon of guards heard the screams and began laughing just as hard. The screaming and laughing around the castle lasted 5 minutes before both parties needed to breathe.   As Twilight huffed from a shortage of breath, she quickly rushed towards the princesses and looked over their attached bodies. “Who did this to you!?” Luna grunted as she looked to Twilight deadpanned. “Who do you think?” “Discord!” Twilight replied automatically, frowning as she nodded. “Okay… this just needs our magic to fix this… C’mon girls!” With that, Twilight and the others stood before the princesses with the Elements of Harmony shining brightly as their eyes turned blindingly white. Streams of magic flowed from the elements, combining into one as they shot towards their target. The rainbow colored magic enveloped the princesses. Intent on undoing the chaotic enchantment placed upon the alicorn sisters. The magic did something Twilight never expected. The magical energy collected around the alicorn princesses before being blasted back to the Element Bearers, striking them with their own power. When the magic ceased, all six ponies landed on the floor groaning as they felt changes in their bodies. Twilight was the first to stand up, shivering violently as she felt a harsh chill run down her spine. “Why does it feel so cold!?” She asked out loud, but was greeted with silence. She blinked when she saw the horrified looks of Celestia and Luna, gulping hard when she dared to look behind. When she did, she had to stop herself from screaming again at the horrors that greeted her. “T-Twilight?!” Fluttershy said her friend’s name, in a deeper more masculine voice. “W-what… what’s going on?” Where Fluttershy stood, was now a stallion the size of Big Macintosh with the same colours of the shy mare. “Fluttershy…” Rarity’s voice cracked as she shakingly pointed a hoof at her friend, but froze immediately when she saw the colour of her leg. She turned her head frantically around every corner of her body, nearly crying when she saw what colour her coat and mane had taken. “Green!!!” Rainbow looked around, shocked at the conditions of her friends. “Why are you guys so big!?” She yelled out, only emitting a tiny shrill voice. When the others looked at her with wide eyes, she only blinked and looked to herself before gasping. “Oh c’mon! Why am I a butterfly!?” “Why is everything so bright?!” Applejack squinted her eyes, barely able to make out what her friends were doing now. When the glare diminished slightly, she was able to see the conditions of all her friends. “Good gravy girls! What’s happened to y’all!?” “What in wide wide world happened.” The faces now turned to Pinkie Pie, who herself was examining her friends, after blinking away the bright light of the room. “Tiny Dashy, Sparkly Jackie, Flutterguy for real, Green Rarity and a hairless alicorn.” Pinkie took a deep breathe and examined her own body. Only to see a set of large wings, a horn and translucent flesh. Pinkie started bouncing up and down, squeeing and giggling. Twilight frowned for a second, at hearing hairless alicorn. Then her eyes grew wide in realization, she cast a mirror spell and saw her new appearance. Here she screamed again for another five minutes, before taking a breathe again. “What happened? Why am I na-” The mare stopped herself and started blushing madly as she came to realize what this meant. Applejack turned to Pinkie and groaned. “Why do you get the awesome change?” Pinkie shrugged, her smile still as wide as ever. “Just lucky I guess. Now lets see if I can fly.” The mare began jumping up and down, trying to get her wings to flap. Princess Celestia tried to stand up, before realizing that she was in a pose. Her back half, Luna, was still lying on the floor, making Celestia look like she was performing some strange exercise. “Luna, can you please stand?” The blue alicorn stood up, but twisted to her sister. “I think it’s best if we go to my bedroom, Twilight may need some clothes and she’s more my size.” “Brilliant idea princess, may I have the honor?” The entire room was encompassed by a bright light, before they all reappeared in Princess luna’s bed chambers. Every single creature in the room recognized that voice and looked up. Above them floated the spirit of chaos himself, Discord. He was seated on a red couch that hovered in the air, enjoying a stick of cotton candy. He giggled as he finished the treat. Discord looked down at the hairless alicorn and smiled. “Oh hello princess Twilight, or shall I say Princess Egg Head. After all, egg’s are bald too.” Twilight turned completely red before galloping into Luna’s closet. Leaving the chaos being behind, who just simply laughed and chuckled. “Oh how this day has gone so much better than expected.” “Discord!” The draconequus looked down at the deep voice that called him and noticed a male Fluttershy glaring up at him, he struggled to keep from laughing again. “Oh my! You've become so macho!” Discord contorted his face and flexed his muscles, but stopped when he saw Fluttershy start tearing up. Sighing, Discord lowered himself to the ground and patted Fluttershy on the back. “There there, it’s not all that bad…” “Not that bad!” Applejack interrupted Discord, marching towards him as she maintained a menacing glare. “You turned all my friends into some carnival side show and you say it’s not all that bad!?” Discord pulled out a pair of sunglasses, before flicking his fingers and appearing in a white suit with black go go shoes. “Yo sister! The disco’s not until tonight!” Discord started dancing around the crystal Applejack, his grin widening each second. “Give me a break…” Applejack groaned as she shook her head. When he finally stopped, Discord’s eyes landed on Pinkie Pie. He gasped before bowing to her in respect, albeit smirking slightly. “My my, if I had known we were in the presence of a new princess…” Pinkie Pie couldn't stop blushing and giggling at Discord’s words. “Oh you!” Pinkie waved her hoof at him, looking away as her cheeks burned brightly. “If you need a domain to rule, I have the perfect chocolate milk-clouded candy valley just for you!” “Really?!” Pinkie’s eyes became saucers, with the sides of her mouth almost drooling as she imagined the land Discord described to her. Discord shook his head at the alicorn. “Nope, Celestia wouldn't allow it.” Pinkie’s face fell at the statement. “Awe.” “ENOUGH!” Every face in the room turned to Twilight, who stood in front of Luna’s open closet. Wearing a long flowing dress, laced with preserved cherry blossoms. Her head was still visible and as hairless as a griffon’s egg. The hairless alicorn continued. “Discord, you’re the one who enchanted the princesses into looking like they do now, what I want to know is why. I’m giving you 10 seconds.” Discord shrugged and snapped his fingers, summoning a lounge chair behind him. After casually taking a seat the draconequus opened his muzzle and began to talk. His voice held a hint of delight, but was more serious than usual tone. “You want the truth Twilight, because all you needed to do was ask. As you likely remember yesterday you and the other alicorns had a diplomatic meeting with the Sultan of Saddle Arabia...” “Get to the point.” “Then don’t interrupt me. I was there the whole time, it may have looked like I left, but I simply chose to reside in the window. I wanted to see how Luna and Celestia would react to my ...honesty. After seeing Luna and Celestia fight, opening up old wounds from years past, I felt responsible and wanted to help. I figured the best thing to do is have the princesses remain together until they talk things through like adults. Then I decided to throw in a chaotic twist for a laugh and oh it was a riot.” The spirit of chaos look at Twilight with a giggle. “I can honestly say I never expected the comedy to go this far.” Celestia snapped at the draconequus. “And you didn’t think to tell us earlier!” “Let me ask you Celestia, is it my fault if you jump to conclusions, because that sounds selfish.” Taken aback by the comment Celestia paused to think for a moment. “You have a point, we probably should have spoken with you first. What kind of leader jumps to conclusions” Discord approached the Alicorn and smiled down at her. “Then learn from your mistakes, that is all I can say.” Fluttershy ran to hug Discord, the cheer in her face obvious. “So you were only trying to help.” Discord smiled at the pegasus, before giggling again. “I’m sorry I can’t take you seriously with that voice.” Twilight stepped in front of the laughing draconequus. “One thing, the Elements of Harmony, why didn’t they work?” Discord looked at Twilight and pondered for a few moments, tapping his chin. “Maybe, this is just a theory, but maybe the Elements didn’t work because my intentions were good.” Everypony raised an eyebrow before releasing a resounding, “Huh?” Discord pressed his eagle claw against his face and groaned. “I’ll explain slowly and try to keep up. So far, all the individuals who have fallen under the power of the Elements of Harmony were evil. Nightmare Moon and yours truly. At the time those individuals had clearly evil intentions.” Discord pointed at the fused Alicorns. “However the intention behind this was good, and if you have two positive forces clash...” “It causes a backfire. That’s why we changed.” Discord smiled. “That about explains it.” With a click of his talons, a door appeared out of no where and he opened it to reveal a vortex of some sorts. “Well, this is where I have to go now… good luck!” He waved to the ponies, before stepping into the door and the portal disappearing too.   Rainbow Dash hovered above the others, her jaw agape at what Discord had told them all. “Well… now what?!” she squeaked out, her wings fluttering furiously as she tried to keep herself airborne. “I don’t know, give me a few seconds.” Twilight looked around at her friends and began thinking what to do. Rainbow Dash was fluttering up to the ceiling, getting used to her new, ridiculously large wings and undersized body. A deep forest green Rarity was in front of a mirror, summoning and using a variety of dyes to try and get her coat back to normal. A yellow stallion, with long pink hair, Fluttershy, was holding Rarity’s hair and attempted to help her unicorn friend. Pinkie Pie was awkwardly and terribly flapping her new shining wings, trying to get airborne before falling. Applejack also looked around the room, but for a very different reason. “Uh, Twilight, where’s Spike. Ah haven’t seen him since the… oh.” Applejack stepped over to the door and opened it, to reveal a very odd sight. A platoon of guards stood outside the door, heaving for air as their captain face hooved. Spike was panting equally as hard, expelling hotter than usual air from his draconic lungs. Shining Armor turned to Applejack, looking a little worn out. “We had to run from acro…” The captain of the guard couldn't help but burst in a ridiculous giggle, as he saw a crystalline Applejack standing in front of him. Applejack stared at the guards, with a deadpan expression, before pulling in Spike and shutting the door on the guards. Who all started giggling as the door closed. Spike held a claw over his mouth, to stop himself from giggling. As the young dragon looked at his entourage of friends and their current predicament he could only have one appropriate reaction. A moment later the baby dragon found himself pushed outside the room, crying from laughter a second time. Pinkie Pie pouted in frustration. “Why can’t I make anyone laugh like that?” “Pinkie, if you think this is funny even for a second!” Rainbow Dash hovered in front of her muzzle, causing the pink alicorn to sneeze and send her flying as though she was blown away by a tornado. One of the guards, having closed his eyes and keeping his face neutral approached the group of mares. “Princess, we’ve prepared a carriage for you and your friends back to Ponyville…” The guard bowed as he spoke, not before Twilight, but rather Pinkie Pie, who was taken aback by the formality displayed towards her. A cough escaped Twilight’s lips, alerting the guards to her. He slowly opened his eyes, immediately clamping his mouth shut before he could start laughing again. “Let’s just go Girls…” Twilight mumbled, walking past the guard with her friends following suit, hearing the snickering of guards and the tittering of the maids who witnessed what transpired.