Dusk Shine in pursuit of Happiness

by bigsnusnu

Interlude

With the distinctive sound of the brakes, the last train of the day finally arrived at Canterlot station. It was already night, something that wasn't common for that train to arrive at that time. But today was special, because the most prestigious celebration in Equestria was being held: The Grand Galloping Gala. So that day train traffic was increasing due to guests from all over Equestria.

The last train had started its journey two days earlier, departing from the distant regions to the South of Equestria. Being one of the longest journeys by train, normally the passengers who boarded it got on at some station and got off at two or three subsequent stations. However, this time, a passenger had stayed on the train from the first station, from those distant lands, until she reached the last station in Canterlot.

"Finally... I hate train rides so much..." Sunset Shimmer said sullenly, slowly getting off the train as she levitated a dirty old travel bag. Then she looked up and saw that it was already dark, which made her grumpier. "If the train hadn't stopped in that small town, we would have arrived much earlier… Trains shouldn't stop in such insignificant towns as that!" The unicorn growled, annoyed to remember that the train in which she was traveling had stopped in a small town called Ponyville to pick up a package.

Deciding that she couldn't continue in a bad mood, since after all she had finally returned to the capital of the kingdom, Sunset Shimmer breathed deeply to soak herself with the night air from her home city. With a small smile full of confidence, she started walking to enter the city, always keeping in mind her objective, the real reason why she had returned to the capital.

As she walked the streets of Canterlot, Sunset stared at all the buildings around her with distaste, noting how little they had changed in ten years since she last saw them, and thinking that if she were on the throne, she would make sure that Canterlot was the most modern city in the kingdom.

After turning a corner, Sunset smiled when she recognized one of the main streets, since she herself had used that path many times in her childhood to go to the castle. At that memory, Sunset looked up and saw that not far from there was the entrance to the castle. Although her objective was precisely in the castle and she wanted to get there as soon as possible, a feeling of nostalgia made her turn to look towards a side street, because that path was the one she took when she returned from the castle in her childhood.

Erasing her smile and putting on a serious look, Sunset slowly changed direction and walked down that side street. She walked lost in thought, not paying attention to any pony that crossed her side, until she came to a huge and dark building whose entrance sign read 'Orphanage'. There, Sunset stopped for a few seconds with an expressionless look and returned her gaze to the road and continued walking.

Finally, Sunset came to a huge tower-shaped house with the doors and windows boarded up from being abandoned for several years, giving the tower a very gloomy appearance. Undeterred, Sunset activated her magic, and without much magical effort she tore the door open to enter. Once inside, she walked slowly through the house, paying no attention to any of the objects around. Then she went upstairs until a small, dark room that was sparsely decorated and with a very battered bed.

Once there, Sunset activated her magic again and broke some boards on the floor until she found what she was looking for, a small hidden box. She levitated the box, opened it, and smiled to see that its contents were intact. Then Sunset put the box in her saddlebag and went back down the stairs of the tower. However, when she was about to leave the house, Sunset stopped for a moment and looked around while remembering part of her past, then she levitated one of the picture frames that hung there, and she saw the photo that was there.

"So many memories..." Sunset Shimmer said with a wistful smile.

Then she dropped the frame, causing the glass to break as it fell. With an insensitive look, she used her magic to set fire to all the photos that were there. And as the fire began to consume the main hall, Sunset calmly left the house with a satisfied smile.

The nostalgic trip had taken longer than she had thought, but finally Sunset got to where she wanted, the entrance to the great castle of Canterlot. And even though it was late at night, the Grand Gala was not over yet, so she could still find the pony she wanted so badly to see.

"I guess I'll stand out a bit for not wearing a ball gown." Sunset thought with a smile as she approached the main entrance of the castle, remembering that she had never actually worn a ball gown in her entire life.

"Where do you think you are going?" The guard at the entrance suddenly asked, stepping forward to prevent the mare from entering, annoyed to see that this unknown mare intended to enter the castle as if nothing else. "I need to see your invitation."

"I have no invitation." Sunset replied unfazed, just staring at the guard with a cold gaze.

"Without an invitation, you cannot enter." The guard replied, instinctively on guard against such an aggressive look.

Sunset narrowed her eyes and was silent for a second. Then she slightly illuminated her horn, which immediately alerted the guard, who took a spear from his side and illuminated his horn as well.

"Are you challenging me!?" The guard asked irritably, glaring at that unknown mare for provoking him.

"Of course not." Sunset replied, looking away and sighing, as her horn lit up with a great flash.

As soon as Sunset's horn lit up, the guard's defensive magic activated instantly, but to the total surprise of the guard, it was as if his magic had never been activated... The magic level difference was too great, and the guard fell unconscious to the instant.

" You aren’t even a challenge..." Sunset Shimmer added, stepping past the unconscious guard and calmly entering the castle.

Once inside the castle, Sunset's gaze immediately went to the main stairs of the great hall, at the top of which was Princess Celestia, greeting several ponies that were still in line waiting for her greeting. As soon as Sunset saw the princess, she narrowed her eyes and slowly made her way up the stairs to where she was.

As she went upstairs, a great commotion was heard in one of the nearby halls, causing all the ponies in line to look curiously at where the sound was coming from, including Sunset Shimmer and Celestia. With a confused look, Celestia apologized to the pony that was about to say hello and withdrew to investigate what was causing all the fuss. And seeing the princess retreat, Sunset gave a thoughtful look for a moment and decided to follow her stealthily.

Once Celestia reached the ballroom, she saw all the chaos there, with ponies running in terror everywhere while others fought and argued and the animals from the royal garden invaded the hall. And as Celestia watched the strange sight, a few steps back, Sunset Shimmer put on the same look of astonishment as the princess when she saw the mess that was the great ballroom of the castle.

"Dusk always told me in his letters that the parties in Ponyville were a bit crazy... But I never thought they were at this level." Celestia said, speaking to herself. And as soon as Sunset heard the princess speak of 'Dusk', she immediately used a spell to amplify the sound in front of her to not miss anything the princess spoke while keeping herself hidden. "I wonder what happened..." Celestia added thoughtfully.

"I think it's all due... to a declaration of love. Actually, to be more specific... five declarations of love." Sweet Creme suddenly said, Celestia's personal maid, whom Sunset remembered seeing before many years ago.

As the maid explained to Princess Celestia what had happened, Sunset Shimmer's eyes widened in terror and amazement at what she heard. This was something that Sunset didn't expect at all upon her arrival in Canterlot. She expected to meet Dusk Shine, but it seemed that five mares had come to declare to Dusk their love this very night. This threw off all of the plans she had made, and she hated it when something didn’t go according to plan...

While Sunset was still processing all of this new information in shock, she only came back to reality when she felt Princess Celestia's magic kick in. Then Sunset watched as the princess teleported along with Dusk and some mares, which Sunset quickly guessed must be the five mares that had declared to him.

After Princess Celestia disappeared, Sweet Creme lowered her eyes in regret. She had told the princess what happened, but still, she hadn't told her everything, and that made her feel very guilty. But, even if she wanted to tell her beloved princess the whole truth, she simply couldn't.

"Where did Celestia go?" A voice asked suddenly, causing the maid to snap out of her sad thoughts of guilt.

Hearing that someone was bold enough to call the princess by her name, without her title, Sweet Creme furiously looked up to confront that insolent pony.

"Who dares to-!?" The maid said furious, but that fury instantly vanished when she saw the mare that was before her. "Y-You..." Sweet Creme added slightly scared.

"Where did Celestia go?" Sunset Shimmer asked again, this time moving closer to the maid to be face-to-face, looking at the maid with a cold and cruel gaze.

"I-I don't know..." Sweet Creme answered, shaking her head to ward off certain unpleasant memories and looked firmly at Sunset, determined not to be intimidated.

"Then you're a lousy maid. I thought your family took great pride in serving the princess to the highest degree…" Sunset said with a mocking smile, without taking her gaze from the maid's eyes for a second. "I know you're hiding something from me, so you better tell me the truth."

The truth was that Sweet Creme did think she knew where the princess might be. With how well the maid knew her majesty, she knew that her princess would seek to take Dusk and his friends to some place away from the castle, so that no one would follow or interrupt them. And although the Princess of the Sun believed that no pony knew her secret, the faithful blue-maned maid knew that her princess sometimes escaped at night to Donut Joe's café to eat some donuts before bed. However, even if Sweet Creme guessed the right place where the princess had gone, she wouldn't reveal it. She felt bad enough about herself for hiding information from her beloved princess, so no matter that Sunset threatened her, she wouldn't betray her princess twice in one night.

As Sweet Creme wandered in her thoughts, just one glance into the maid's eyes was all it took for Sunset to discover that the maid did know where Celestia might have gone. Then Sunset smiled and slowly leaned closer to the maid's ear.

"If you don't tell me where Dusk Shine went, I'll reveal your little secret to the princess..." Sunset whispered, smiling cruelly, which made Sweet Creme turn pale and look scared.

Feeling her heart clench, with her lost gaze and trembling lip, Sweet Creme slowly lowered her head and squeezed her eyes tight.

"Do… Donut Joe's café..." Sweet Creme said weakly with her eyes closed, shedding a tear as she felt that she was once again betraying her beloved princess.

Finally getting the answer she wanted, Sunset Shimmer smiled arrogantly, lit her horn, and disappeared from the castle.

Just a few minutes before, Dusk Shine had been standing behind Luna's room door, and after much hesitation, the Princess of the Night had finally relented and agreed to see him before the Grand Galloping Gala ended.

"It will only be tonight… Only tonight!" Luna thought nervously as she began to get excited and tried on her ball gowns again. Despite the fact that the blue alicorn had promised herself never to see the colt for whom her heart yearned for again, hearing his voice and his plea for wanting to see her finally made her emotional heart win the battle against her own determination not to see him again.

"Tell me, Sweet Caramel, are these really all the ball gowns I have?" Luna asked, pursing her lip when she saw all the dresses on the floor of her room, thinking that she had already tried all those dresses without being satisfied with any.

When she got no response, Luna was a bit surprised, as her maid always answered everything immediately. Turning around, she could see that for some reason her faithful maid seemed not to have heard her. Sweet Caramel was still standing by the door, with her eyes nervous and lost.

Realizing that her princess was watching her, Sweet Caramel quickly turned and looked at her princess, regretting that she had been briefly distracted.

"It's not fair for Sweet Caramel to be here with me… She wants to go enjoy the Gala like everyone else." Luna thought with a sad smile, thinking that for that reason her faithful maid was distracted. Another wave of guilt washed over the alicorn; putting her happiness over the feelings of others.

"Dear Caramel, I think that's it for today. You can retire now." Luna said with a gentle smile.

"Uh!? No, I-" Sweet Caramel immediately said, wanting to apologize again with her princess for not being attentive, and so she can be by her side a little more time. However, the maid bit her tongue when she remembered that even if she didn't want to, she indeed had to withdraw, beacuse she had to fulfill another mission elsewhere. "A-Are you sure, princess?" Sweet Caramel asked slowly, unable to help but worry about her beloved princess.

"Don't worry, I just have to choose a dress, hardly a complicated task for myself. Go to the party, I shall meet you later." Luna replied, smiling kindly.

Thanking her princess for her enormous kindness, Sweet Caramel quickly left the room, leaving Luna alone again.

"Well, time to choose a suitable dress to see Dusk. How hard can it be?" Luna said, looking in the mirror and levitating all her ball gowns.

The seconds and minutes slowly turned into an hour; Luna still couldn't decide. After trying on all her ball gowns for the second time, Luna finally tried again for the third time the first dress she had tried on that night: a long dark blue dress with small shades of lavender on it, adorned with various shining stars on the skirt. Luna's instinct had led her to choose precisely that dress in the first place because it just matched Dusk Shine's mane, however, her insecurity had led her to try on every dress she had before finally choosing her first choice.

"Okay… This will be it. If I still don't choose a dress, the Gala will end before I go down." Luna said, sighing and putting on a nervous smile as she looked at her own reflection in the mirror, putting a lot of emphasis on her mane.

"I still haven't gotten my powers back… Everypony will be able to see me like this… Everypony will be disappointed… Especially Dusk!" Luna thought frightfully. This would be the first time that the ponies outside the castle would see her since her return, something she had wanted to avoid until she regained her powers. However, Luna strongly shook her head and remembered the words that Dusk Shine had said to her before leaving. "No! Dusk is right. No matter what I look like, I… I am still me!" Luna thought, looking at herself with determination.

Finally, Luna left her room and walked at an irregular pace down the stairs of the tower, because every five seconds, her insecurity returned to her and all doubts took control of her. Nevertheless, every time she came to a complete stop, her heart's desire encouraged her to resume her march.

"Everything will be fine; you are not abandoning your duties… You will only see Dusk tonight, only tonight!" Luna repeated in her mind, over and over again, each time her rational side told her that she shouldn't see Dusk, that she should lock herself up and fulfill her self-imposed punishment. All to give herself the determination and courage to enjoy her life even for just one night.

After reaching the main corridors of the castle, Luna was surprised to see how few ponies were there. A strange sight for that night, since Luna knew that a hundred ponies had been invited to the Grand Galloping Gala. Then Luna heard a great commotion coming from the great ballroom, so she slowly approached to see what was causing such a scandal.

Upon reaching the grand ballroom, Luna was shocked to see that the ballroom was packed to capacity, almost as if all the guests had arrived there for some reason. But the most impressive thing was seeing the great chaos that was there with ponies arguing and running hysterically everywhere, animals running from one side to another, and the guards trying in vain to calm the crowd. And before Luna could better notice what was happening, a big flash flickered in various parts of the room, causing the bustle and confusion only to increase among the guests.

As the ponies began to murmur among themselves, all trying to figure out what had happened, Luna looked everywhere, trying to find someone she knew to explain what had happened. It was thus that Luna could see that not far from her, near a large window, was her maid Sweet Caramel, who, unlike the other ponies in the room, didn't seem to be interested in conversing with others. She only kept her gaze fixed on the floor with a sad look. Luna slowly made her way to the red-maned maid and gently touched her side to get her attention.

"Sweet Caramel, what happened here?" Luna asked, confused at what had caused some much chaos.

Sweet Caramel jumped a bit in shock as she saw that it was her beloved princess who had addressed her.

"I-I'm sorry, my princess! I didn't see you approach." The maid said awkwardly, bowing out of habit, something that caught the attention of some ponies around.

"What happened here?" Luna asked again with a raised eyebrow, since it seemed very strange to see her maid so nervous, who was normally the calmer of the two twins.

At that moment, Sweet Caramel looked away slightly, unsure for some reason. Then she gave a sigh and began to tell the Princess of the Night what happened with Dusk Shine that night since he left the door of Luna's room. Going through the declarations of his five friends, until the disaster caused in the grand ballroom. Sweet Caramel tried to tell her beloved princess as much as possible, as her loyalty to her dictated. However, like her sister with Princess Celestia, Sweet Caramel also omitted her participation in this whole situation, including the reason why that both sisters had done what they did.

When Luna heard Sweet Caramel's story, she couldn't help but widen her eyes when she found out that all of Dusk Shine's friends had proposed to him on the same night. Upon hearing that news, Luna was shocked, and for a second she felt as if she had run out of air, feeling as if a chill ran through her body and an emptiness pulled her from her own stomach. Despite feeling all of that, though on the outside she remained unscathed, like a statue, without showing emotions.

"Princess...! Princess!" Someone yelled suddenly, bringing Luna back to reality after her mind had shut off for a brief moment.

Hearing that someone called her, Luna blinked several times, as if her mind had been lost in the mist for a few seconds. Then, Luna could see that in front of her was the captain of the royal guard, Shining Armor, bowing slightly before her.

"Y-Yes? What is the matter?" Luna asked, maintaining her composure yet also feeling her mouth dry and her eyes starting to sting.

"Your Majesty, Princess Celestia seems to be nowhere to be found." Shining Armor said respectfully, as although he had seen the Princess of the Night before, it was the first time he had spoken directly to her. "I wanted to know what your orders are to proceed after... this disaster."

Then Luna raised her head and looked around her and only then did she remember all the disaster that was there, something that she almost forgot after finding out what happened with Dusk Shine.

As she looked around, Luna also noticed that now all the ponies in the room were staring at her and muttering among themselves, surprised and confused. As soon as Shining Armor said the word 'princess', they all paid attention to the blue-maned unicorn, and only then did they realize that it was actually an alicorn, which left them all amazed.

That was the mysterious Princess of the Night! The lost sister of Princess Celestia who had returned several weeks ago, but who had not appeared in society until that very night. And while the eyes of all the noble ponies finally saw the mysterious princess, most couldn't immediately avoid making the comparison between her and her older sister, the magnanimous Princess of the Sun, whose figure was much more majestic and imposing than that of that beautiful, but much more worldly, alicorn.

As soon as everypony’s eyes fell on Luna and the murmurs began, Sweet Caramel immediately understood what was going through the minds of those clumsy ponies, and her face was filled with anger. She was furious at those ponies who didn't understand true elegance and royalty that resided in her beloved princess.

"This was not the way my princess wanted to appear to her subjects… Not until she regained all her powers!" Sweet Caramel thought in frustration, remembering how, as a good confidante, she had talked about this with her princess several times.

"Princess Luna, I think we should..." Sweet Caramel said to the alicorn, ready to both leave this embarrassing situation, but she stopped in mid-sentence. The maid was surprised when she saw Princess Luna maintain a calm demeanor, emanating an aura of authority and dignity.

"Captain, we will end the Grand Galloping Gala for tonight. You and your guards escort the guests to ensure their peace of mind and safety." Luna said elegantly, then she raised her head high and inhaled to speak with the traditional royal Canterlot Voice, which corresponded when speaking with subjects. However, she remembered that her sister had told her that the long-used custom was no longer used and at the last moment changed her tone, higher than normal, but without becoming a scream, which made for her voice more solemn and shocking. "Dear guests, I am terribly sorry for this disaster. I assure you that with my sister we are extremely sorry for what happened. Please accept my apologies and the promise of this princess that I will ensure that in the future we can once again have a placid and pleasant evening, as ponies of their status deserve it." Luna said politely, speaking with grace and elegance, slightly bowing her head in respect.

Faced with such a display of class and refinement, all the pompous guests in the great hall applauded the princess's beautiful gesture, which caused everyone to quickly change their first impression of that alicorn, by demonstrating an innate dignity worthy of royalty. Slowly and quietly, the guests began to leave the castle, still confused by the strange uproar that had occurred, but satisfied that they had been recognized by Princess Celestia's sister herself as part of the Equestrian elite.

And of all the ponies that had been fascinated with the elegance shown by the princess of the night, no one was more enchanted than Sweet Caramel, who saw her princess with shining eyes, because now they all knew how sublime her princess was, who could deliver poise, class, grace and elegance, even if he was in a mess like that.

When Sweet Caramel approached to speak to her princess, Luna slowly turned around, spread her wings, and flew out the window behind her, leaving the red-mane maid confused.

With the night wind waving her mane, Luna flew to one of the castle towers, where there were big bells that were used to ring to announce an important event that was celebrated in the castle. Then Luna landed next to them, lowered her head, and breathed heavily.

"A princess must be strong... A princess must be elegant and attentive... a princess must be perfect..." Luna whispered quickly as she breathed hard to calm herself. However, her temperance eventually dropped, and she hit one of the bells hard to take out her frustration, causing the other bells to sway as well and begin to ring.

The rumble of the bells was deafening from standing right next to them, but Luna didn't care, she just leaned down and covered her face, grateful that the sound of the bells drowned out her crying. After thinking that she could make a good memory that night, everything had collapsed. Not only had she ruined her presentation in society and all the ponies had seen her weak and powerless as she was now, something she had tried to hide for months, she had found out that she had acted too late. Dusk Shine's friends had already gotten ahead of her, and now the lavender colt’s heart belonged to one of them.

"What do I do now..." Luna cried with desolation in her heart as a dark voice from her past whispered in her ear: 'It is what you deserve... It is your punishment to be alone... Return to the shadows...'

The castle bells rang in the middle of the night, alerting all the ponies in the castle that this year's Grand Galloping Gala was over, which would be remembered as the most unusual and chaotic gala in Canterlot history.

"How strange... Usually the bells that announce the end of the gala go off after the Wonderbolts’ closing show." Fluffy Cake said, one of the mares who worked in the castle kitchen. Said mare was not in her usual place of work, but in the carriage parking area of the castle.

"Eh, I wouldn’t worry about it. Besides, I can barely hear the sound of those bells over the beating of my heart when I look at you. Well, that and your melodious voice." Caramel said coquettishly. The mare swooned and hugged the stallion, falling in love with that excessively sweet compliment.

After the four stallions that had pulled Dusk' carriage finished eating the apple candies that Applejack had given them, they began pacing the sector carriages to find something to do. Specifically, 'somepony' to talk to. Afterall, being four young stallions right next to a great party, they only had one goal in their minds: to find a beautiful mare to talk to and make the night more pleasant. Fortunately, it didn’t take long for them to find a group of four mares that had left through the back door of the castle, and that, by their uniforms, it was evident that they worked in the castle kitchen.

Following the routine in such situations, the stallions let Thunderlane approach the mares first, as he was generally the most successful in chatting with mares; followed closely by Lucky Clover, who advanced with a great calm smile. Then came Caramel, with a clumsy gallant smile, the one most eager to want to chat with a beautiful mare; and finally Bulk Biceps, who despite his intimidating appearance, was the shyest of the four stallions.

Seeing the stallions approaching, the leading mare of her group quickly elbowed one of her friends, causing the others to pay attention as well. Then the four mares laughed playfully and waited with flirtatious glances for the stallions to approach, thus beginning the game of love conquest.

The conversation flowed quickly, with Caramel taking the lead in the conversation once he felt more relaxed. While on the mares' side, Fluffy Cake, a mare with white fur and pink mane, encouraged her friends to also chat with the handsome strangers. It was then the stallions found out that the mares were taking a break from cooking the myriad dishes they had made for the Grand Galloping Gala, and that they would then have to come back to clean before the Gala was over. And as the conversation progressed, so did their game of cat and mouse, and slowly and naturally each mare began to focus her conversation on a specific stallion, and pairs began to form.

"Wow... I've never seen anyone so muscular... You must do a lot of exercise. Your marefriend must be very lucky." Violet Glow, a mare with lavender fur and red mane, said flirtatiously, who had fixed her eyes on Bulk Biceps.

"Uh, YEAH! I-I mean… No! I…" Bulk Biceps stuttered nervously with a blush, not being able to look the mare in the eye. "I... I don't have a marefriend... yet."

"Yet? Is it to say that you already have a special pony in your heart?" Violet Glow asked again, having a bit of fun with the muscular stallion.

At the mare's question, Bulk Biceps fell silent and blushed deeply, causing the other mares and stallions to laugh at his timid reaction. All except Caramel and Fluffy Cake, who just then embraced under the sound of the castle bells.

"B.B. doesn't have a marefriend, but some time ago he fell in love with a mysterious mare who came to Ponyville." Lucky Clover added after he stopped laughing.

"Oh… And is she very pretty? What’s her name?" The mare asked again, excited to talk about a 'secret love'.

"Her… her name was Twilight Sparkle…" Bulk Biceps replied sheepishly. "She was very pretty and... And if I see her again, I'll declare my feelings to her!" Bulk Biceps added, plucking up his courage and flexing his muscles for confidence, which made the mares laugh at the hilarious gesture.

"Well, if she's pretty, you should hurry. Pretty mares don’t usually stay single for long." a new voice said suddenly, causing the four stallions and four mares to look back to see who had spoken.

Behind them was a young pegasus with pale orange fur and blue mane, wearing the characteristic golden armor of the castle guard. As soon as the pegasus saw that everypony turned to see him, he smiled gallantly, causing the stallions to look at him with disgust and the mares to be delighted.

"Flash Sentry!" The four mares said at the same time. The four of them blushing, for they well knew that handsome young guard. This included Fluffy Cake, who immediately stopped hugging Caramel and stared at the young guard, to the surprise and fear of poor Caramel.

"Sorry to bother you ladies, but I came to let you know that the Grand Galloping Gala is over. I think you better get back in the kitchen before the head chef gets mad at any of you. You know how he is." Flash Sentry said, smiling closely at the mares, then raised his head and looked at the four stallions. "And you should bring your carriage back to the entrance; the guests are leaving right now." The guard added, looking seriously at the stallions.

Then Flash Sentry turned and retreated slowly, closely followed by the four mares, who were so fascinated by accompanying the handsome guard that they completely forgot about the four Ponyville stallions and left without even say goodbye. Leaving the stallions shocked, especially Caramel, who had believed for a moment that he had finally found his long-awaited soul mate.

"W-Wait..." Caramel said stretching a hoof in the air watching his new love walk away. Then he lowered his head sadly with a look of complete resignation, feeling his heart broken again. But luckily, his friends were there to comfort him...

"Wahaha! Dumped again! Hahaha!" Lucky Clover sneered, as Thunderlane clapped and Bulk Biceps tossed some confetti in the air, as was the ritual they always did to taunt Caramel whenever a mare rejected him. "Fluffy Cake, Amethyst Star, Rarity, Cheerilee, Daisy… Gosh! It has definitely been a bad year for you, haha." Lucky Clover added, starting to list the mares that recently had rejected his friend, only a few of a long list of failures in Caramel’s quest for love.

"Ugh! Shut up! It's not my fault. I can't compete with that pretty colt in golden armor." Caramel said annoyed, but quickly overcoming his love depression. Something already routine for him, since he had a bad habit of falling in love very easily. "Maybe I should enlist to be a castle guard, mares love stallions in armor!"

"Nah! Have you seen those guys? They all look the same." Lucky Clover added, patting Caramel's back gently to encourage him.

"Don't worry, you'll find the right mare eventually." Thunderlane added smiling, being the most mature of the group, but he couldn't help but laugh at his friend's misfortunes.

"YEAH!!" Bulk Biceps shouted, cheering for his friend.

The four friends then returned to the carriage, ready to search for Dusk and his friends and thus finally return to Ponyville. Thinking that despite the abrupt ending, the night at Canterlot had been a lot of fun for everyone. Although, of course, Dusk and his friends had probably had a much better time at the Grand Gala... Or so they thought.

For his part, Flash Sentry walked back to the castle accompanied by the four mares, who didn't take their eyes off him. That gave him a lot of satisfaction, knowing that he was handsome enough to win the heart of any mare without even trying, which made his ego and self-esteem rise through the roof, although of course, at a much more humble level than ego from other casanovas, like Prince Blueblood. But even so, Flash was extremely proud of his undefeated record of never being rejected by a mare.

"Flash! Have you already told the ponies in the parking to return to pick up the guests?" Another castle guard in the distance suddenly said from one of the balconies, with identical armor as the one Flash Sentry wore but with a small star on his side.

"Affirmative, Sergeant!" Flash Sentry responded immediately, standing up to salute his superior in a military fashion.

"Good. After you finish your round, the princess requested to speak to you, so hurry up." The sergeant added before leaving the balcony.

"Yes sir!" Flash responded quickly. Then the stallion remembered who was next to him and glanced at the mares. "But first, I'll accompany these beautiful ladies to make sure they arrive safely at their destination." Flash added gallantly, causing the four mares to blush and giggle at the compliment.

After Flash escorted the mares to the castle kitchen, he left to continue his work, but not before promising the four mares that he would visit them again. And although Flash Sentry was delighted with the idea of flirting with four mares, and to accept the sweet desserts that they gave him on his next visit to the kitchen, his mind was set elsewhere at the moment, on something that had caught his attention before he separated that group of mares and stallions in the parking.

"So, a mysterious beauty circulates the streets of Ponyville… Perhaps I could ask to be assigned a mission there to see if there really is a beautiful mare that has escaped my radar." Flash Sentry said as he walked through the corridors of the castle, remembering his last visit to Ponyville, when they had had to watch over Princess Celestia's student when he expelled a dragon from the mountains. "Yes... There are a lot beauties in that small town..." Flash added, remembering Dusk Shine's five beautiful friends.

As he walked, Flash suddenly stopped with a shocked face as he realized something very important.

"Damn! I didn't ask the sergeant which princess requested my presence." Flash Sentry said, widening his eyes and hitting his head for being so careless for not asking something so obvious.

Thinking of how clumsy he had been, something else suddenly caught Flash's attention as he saw out of the corner of his eye that one of the doors leading to one of the castle's outer courtyards was wide open. He went over to the open doorway to investigate.

As he advanced across the courtyard, Flash gave an angry look as he confirmed what he had feared.

"Oh, great… Not only was there a disaster in the ballroom, the vandals also attacked the courtyard." Flash Sentry muttered as he stood in front of a stone pedestal, on which, until before the gala, there had been a statue there. But now there was only the pedestal and a few pieces of stone on the ground.

Flash didn't particularly appreciate art, especially the statue that had been there. It was a statue of a strange creature, and the truth was that it had always caused him an uncomfortable feeling whenever he was near it. Nevertheless, his feelings about the statue was irrelevant when it came to vandalism. Whoever it was, they would be in trouble for breaking something from the royal palace.

"Hm? How strange…" Flash added suddenly as he looked closer and saw that there were too few pieces of rock on the ground to be the remains of such a large statue. "Maybe somepony stole it? But who would steal such an ugly statue? Hmm… Maybe the statue just unpetrified and went on its own, haha."

Then Flash turned and went back into the castle, thinking that now to his report, he would have to add that an old statue disappeared.

"Definitely the most chaotic gala in history." Flash said as he walked and returned to his work, not realizing that those words were prophetic of the harbinger of chaos to fall in Equestria.

Celestia woke up with a big yawn, ready to raise the sun and thus start a new day in her kingdom.

The fatigue of this morning was greater than that of a normal one. After what happened the night before at the Grand Galloping Gala and what had occurred after, Celestia had spent much of the night wondering how everything had ended in such a way and what would happen now with this new 'character' entering the world of her faithful and beloved student.

After raising the sun and looking at herself in the mirror until she was sure her volatile mane was well combed, Celestia left her room ready to start the day with breakfast. A daily event that she had learned to love this past year, as it was one of the few times she could enjoy a meal with her sister. And Luna was precisely who Celestia was thinking about as she approached the dining room. For better or for worse, her younger sister had missed all the chaos that occurred at the gala and Celestia was sure that she would enjoy learning how the garden animals had come in to cause all the fuss with those prissy noble ponies of the Canterlot elite.

"I wonder if I should also tell Luna what happened with Dusk and his friends..." Celestia murmured thoughtfully, without being able to stop thinking about her dear student, or what he would doing right now. Because the truth was that after the events of the previous night, not even Celestia was totally sure where Dusk would be at that moment. But knowing her student and the surprise guest who had thrown herself on him, Celestia had a hunch where Dusk would be that morning.

Realizing she was putting on a worried look, Celestia paused for a moment and shook her head.

"I can't do it... I can't go with him..." Celestia thought closing her eyes in frustration and continuing her walk. "I am a princess of Equestria, the ruler of this kingdom. I was involved enough the night before. I can't always interfere with Dusk's life. I just… I must trust him to do the right thing." Celestia thought, determined to stop thinking about Dusk at least for breakfast. However, she couldn't remove from her mind Dusk's frightened gaze upon seeing Sunset Shimmer the night before, nor Sunset's defiant look before they both disappeared.

Finally, Celestia reached the dining room where, as was customary, Sweet Creme and Sweet Caramel had already brought all the dishes that their royal highnesses would eat that morning from the kitchen and were waiting patiently for their arrival.

As Celestia approached her seat, she couldn't help raising an eyebrow as she noticed that instead of being served by Sweet Creme, it was Sweet Caramel who served her, who was usually the one who served Luna at her breakfast. After sitting down, Celestia pretended not to mind the matter and simply began sipping from her cup of tea while the red-maned maid moved the sweet cakes to her plate.

"Sweet Creme, darling, is something wrong?" Celestia finally asked, after taking a couple of sips from her cup. Staring at her faithful maid, who was standing still at the table.

Hearing her name, Sweet Creme pressed her lips tightly together and lowered her head slightly, while her twin sister quickly became nervous.

"I… I'm sorry, Princess.” Sweet Caramel said quickly with a smile. “It's… it's just that today we wanted to change places so as not to get used to…". However, she stopped when she saw that Celestia was staring at her, without a hint of anger or annoyance, just staring at her. And then Sweet Caramel understood that it was useless to lie to the princess and lowered her head in sorrow. "I'm sorry, Princess. I didn't mean to lie to you... I... I was the one who suggested Sweet Creme to exchange tasks this day."

"Oh, I see..." Celestia said again, closing her eyes and feigning disinterest as she sipped her tea. Sweet Creme, knowing that her princess did that because she was really interested in it, quickly approached where her sister was so that the questions didn't fall only on her sister. "So, is there a reason you wanted to do this? Maybe Luna did something to upset you?"

"NO! Absolutely not!" Sweet Caramel immediately yelled, then lowering her head in embarrassment.

In that instant, Sweet Caramel remembered the night before, when Princess Luna flew out the window after calming down the guests, and only then did the maid realize the true state of mind her beloved princess must have had to fly out in that shape. Which made Sweet Caramel feel guilty about herself for not having stopped her beloved princess from avoiding the crowd and feeling bad about it.

Sweet Creme felt something very similar that morning, when she felt very bad about herself for not having told her princess the whole truth about what happened with Dusk Shine the night before. So, she agreed immediately when her sister suggested that each one attend to the other princess. That way at least, Sweet Creme believed that she could avoid seeing the face of her beloved princess and avoid feeling guilty.

Sipping her tea again, Celestia closed her eyes and thought for a moment. She had said that she would try not to think about Dusk at least during breakfast to try to separate herself from him a bit, and thus not show that she had a special interest in her beloved pupil. However, the maids had made it impossible for that to happen, because with the attitude they showed that morning, all the pieces began to fit together. Celestia realized that the theories that she had thought the night before were beginning to gain strength. Now it only remained to confirm them.

"Sweet Creme... How did Sunset Shimmer know where I teleported Dusk and his friends?" Celestia asked, calmly continuing with her breakfast. Sweet Creme instantly panicked and fearfully lowered her head.

"I... I was the one who told her where you could have taken them..." Sweet Creme said, feeling a pang of guilt in her heart.

"I see..." Celestia said, keeping her eyes closed and sipping her tea again. "Sweet Caramel, do you know what happened to my student Dusk Shine and his friends the night before?"

This time it was the red-maned sister's turn to tremble. Then she glanced at her sister, sighed, and told what had happened to Dusk Shine the night before, exactly the same thing she had told Luna the night before, and exactly the same story, word for word, that Sweet Creme had told to Celestia the night before.

"Exactly the same story Sweet Creme told me. And you two have never lied to me. So there is no reason to doubt what you tell me." Celestia said, finishing her tea, putting the cup slowly on the table, opening her eyes and looking kindly at both sisters. "You know, there's something I've been wondering about. The two of you said that Dusk's five friends proposed to him at the same time. However, when I teleported them to Donut Joe's cafe, none of the mares looked at each other. They didn’t say anything either, their gazes only focused on Dusk, as if they were simply waiting for an answer from him. At that moment I understood… None of the mares knew that they all had also declared to Dusk Shine that same night."

Hearing that, the sisters didn't respond. They simply lowered their heads in shame, not being able to look Celestia in the eyes.

"It was then that I thought, how would it be possible for all five of his friends to declare their love to him at once? Knowing Dusk, if one of his friends had declared her love to him, no matter how scared, confused, or nervous he was, Dusk wouldn't have run away, he is too chivalrous for that. He would have been unsure, but he would have stayed with that mare to give her an answer." Celestia said, continuing her deductions. "The only way that Dusk could have heard another declaration of love, and then three more, is that somepony deliberately interrupted each of the mares’ declarations before he had even responded… Tell me, was that what really happened?"

In that instant, the sisters shyly looked up, where they could only see the kind gaze of the Princess of the Sun, which made their hearts tremble and scream for wanting to confess what they had really done. However, despite her wishes, both sisters remained silent.

"Sweet Creme and Sweet Caramel, were you the ones who interrupted the mares before Dusk could respond to their declarations?" Celestia asked, raising a confused eyebrow, as she was surprised that despite being discovered, her faithful maids were still silent. "Please, I want you to tell me exactly what happened last night."

"I-I... I'm sorry, Princess." Sweet Creme said shyly, who was the less fearful of the two sisters, since she knew her beloved princess better and she knew that she would never hurt them. Meanwhile her sister, deep in her heart, still believed that Princess Celestia was capable of exiling them to the moon if they made her angry. "I'm sorry but… we can't tell you."

Hearing that, Celestia's eyes widened in surprise. That was definitely an answer she never thought to hear from her faithful maid. Then Celestia felt a strange feeling of annoyance. Partly caused by Sweet Creme's response, but primarily by the fact that she felt something was escaping her understanding and now she was going down a path she couldn't understand: Sweet Creme refused to answer her questions, Sunset Shimmer had come out of nowhere and had interrupted Dusk's declaration of love, and the future that she had foreseen for her beloved student now hung by a thread because there were variants that she couldn't see! And for a second… Celestia became serious. Not enough to be angry, but enough to use the old titles and scare the maids a bit to finally reveal the truth.

Then Celestia stood up and approached both mares.

"I am Princess Celestia, The One the Burns the Sun. Ruler of the great kingdom of Equestria and its overseas provinces. Protector of life and justice, Guardian of harmony and ancient magic. And with my authority I order you to tell me what happened last night!" Celestia said, standing in front of the two maids, without a hint of anger, but looking seriously at both ponies, showing her hierarchy so that they understood that what she was requesting was no longer a request, but an order.

Having the princess in front of her, after having heard her speak like that, Sweet Caramel began to tremble so much that it was impossible for her to utter a word, thinking that she would soon be exiled to the moon or sent to a dungeon. For her part, Sweet Creme also trembled, but less than her sister, something strange since normally her sister was the bravest of the two; however Sweet Creme was shaking for a different reason than her sister.

"I… I'm sorry, Princess. W-We can't tell you." Sweet Creme said slowly, not being able to meet her princess's eyes, trembling with helplessness at not being able to tell her beloved princess what she requested.

Then Celestia approached Sweet Creme and gently raised her face to look at her. Looking up, Sweet Creme was surprised to see her princess looking at her with a sweet smile.

"I'm sorry I scared you. It's just that I needed to confirm what I suspected." Celestia said, also stroking Sweet Caramel's face to apologize for scaring her, leaving the red-maned mare surprised. "You may continue with your duties." Celestia added, turning around and sitting back in her chair, leaving both sister maids very confused and staring at each other.

"But… We didn't tell her anything. What did she confirm?" Sweet Caramel whispered in confusion.

"We can't tell you..." Sweet Creme repeated with a thoughtful look, until she realized something, she looked at the princess and she returned her gaze with a smile. Then Sweet Creme got it. "We can't tell you!" Sweet Creme shouted excitedly, realizing that without even realizing it, those words were precisely the biggest clue she could give to her beloved princess.

Upon discovering that, Sweet Creme finally regained all her spirits and continued setting the breakfast table with a big smile. Happy to get rid of the weight of believing that she had betrayed her princess by not telling her the truth and amazed at how smart her beloved princess could be. Sweet Caramel, meanwhile, was very confused, who didn't understand the sudden change in her sister's attitude.

Seeing Sweet Creme smile, Celestia also smiled realizing that she had figured it out. And as she levitated a cupcake to continue her breakfast, at the same time she continued her thoughts on what she had just discovered.

"Of all the maids who have been to the palace, I believe the ‘Sweet twins’ are the most loyal I have ever met. Niether of them would ever cheat or lie to me, especially Sweet Creme." Celestia thought with a hoof over her mouth, unraveling the mystery. "However, after giving her a direct order from a princess, she kept saying that she couldn't tell me what I was asking. She didn't say 'I don't want' or 'I won't', she said 'I can't', which means someone ordered her not to talk about it, but who could order them not to reveal information if even A PRINCESS was the one who ordered them to reveal that information? There is no one in the kingdom who has greater authority than a princess, and that means… There is only one possible answer!"

Satisfied with finally having solved a mystery, Celestia continued eating with a thoughtful look.

"Why would SHE have done that?"

Then the room door opened, allowing Luna to enter, who for some reason seemed a bit depressed that morning. And as Luna came over to sit, Celestia kept staring at her, eating her cupcake and thinking that maybe it would be good to talk to Luna about certain topics.

The star journalist of 'The Canterlot Sun', Nosey News, was smiling quietly behind her desk, as she had finally managed to get the interview she had wanted so much. Sitting across from her was Shining Armor, the captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard. The only thing preventing Nosey from getting started with her long-awaited interview was the old office sweeper, who had just chosen that moment to sweep the floor of the Nosey News office, raising a great deal of dust with his old broom.

"Cough! Cough...! Enough!" Nosey News finally said reluctantly, seeing how slowly the old stallion swept. "I have an important interview, so please sweep another time!"

The old sweeper looked annoyed at the young journalist and left the office grumbling, finally leaving both ponies ready to begin their interview, or rather, their duel...

"You don't know how glad I am that you have finally accepted my request for this interview, Captain." Nosey News said smiling, while adjusting the glasses she normally wore, which made her look even more professional.

"Yeah, well, it was a hard thing to ignore…" Shining Armor replied reluctantly. The truth was that he didn't want to be interviewed at all, but Nosey News had been harassing him for months to interview him. Visiting him at home, interviewing his parents, breaking into his workplace... so Shining Armor was left with no choice but to accept the meeting.

"Yeah, I guess after the disaster in Gala last night, you had no choice." Nosey News said smugly, knowing that the Captain of the Guard was obliged to give a statement in the newspaper to explain what happened the night before. "But we can talk about what happened last night later. After all, the morning is still young, and there are many interesting things we could talk about before we get to that topic!"

At seeing the true intentions of Nosey News, Shining Armor couldn't avoid grunting slightly as that was precisely the reason why he had been avoiding giving interviews until that moment..

"I just came in to explain what happened last night. I don't gossip about my personal life." Shining Armor replied seriously.

"Gossip is such an ugly word. I'm simply saying that the Canterlot ponies would like to know a little more about what lies behind the gallant figure of the Captain of the royal Guard. What he likes, what he dislikes... if he’s ever fallen in love..." Nosey News explained, smiling mischievously and glancing at the white unicorn at the last query.

"Don't pretend that you're interested in my life! All you want me to do is tell you about Princess Cadance and the photo that was in the magazines last week!" Shining Armor shot back, unable to help but get a little angry.

A few days ago, in every Canterlot entertainment magazine, a blurred photo of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, the third princess of the kingdom, had appeared on the front page, kissing a stallion of her royal guard in one of the palace gardens. But given the blur of the photo, plus the fact that the guards' armor was all very similar, and that there were many white-furred unicorns on guard; it wasn't absolutely certain who was the stallion whom the princess had kissed.

Consequentially, it had become the great mystery that had been all the rage in the Canterlot magazines in recent days. Which then caused dozens of paparazzi to start trying to photograph the princess and her secret partner at all times. Shining Armor had become furious with the Canterlot journalists for such behavior, and especially with THAT journalist who was in front of him at the time.

"You're the one who took that photo, aren't you?" Shining Armor said, looking annoyed at Nosey News.

"You're the one who appears in that photo, aren't you?" Nosey News asked back staring at Shining Armor. They both fell silent during their staring contest. They both knew they were correct, but neither of them could admit it.

Nosey News was a professional journalist, and as such, she had been the first to hear about the rumors of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza's affair with Guard Captain Shining Armor. And since that day she had been spying on the princess day and night, until finally she managed to get a picture of her kissing Shining Armor, and just as she took the picture, for a fleeting moment, the gazes of Shining Armor and Nosey News crossed.

Fortunately for Shining Armor, the Nosey News photograph had been blurred. And the journalist, being as professional as she was, although she herself had been the one who saw both ponies kissing, couldn't publish a story without evidence. However, the astute journalist sold the photograph to tabloid magazines so that Shining Armor would be further pressured to expose the secret.

Thus, although both ponies had briefly recognized each other that day, neither could admit it. For if Shining Armor said that he had seen her, it would mean that he was admitting that HE was the 'mystery stallion'; and if Nosy News said that she had seen them that day, it meant that she admitted that SHE had been the one who had taken that picture and sold it.

And so, they both remained silent, waiting for the other to admit the truth.

"Enough of this!" Shining finally said annoyed, standing abruptly and looking seriously at Nosey News. "I came here to talk about what happened yesterday at the Grand Galloping Gala. Yesterday, when the Gala was in full swing, before the Wonderbolts’ closing show, some guests caused disorder and disturbances in the ballroom, causing the great curtain on the stage to fall on several guests. In this chaos it was that for reasons that are being investigated, the animals of the royal garden entered the room and pounced on the buffet food... As Captain of the Royal Guard, I extend the corresponding apologies to all those who were affected by this mishap. That's all." Shining Armor finished his speech, looking annoyed at Nosey News one last time, and turning to leave the office.

"Wait, captain! We haven't finished the interview yet!" Nosey News said, jumping out of her seat, scared to see that she was missing her big opportunity to get a scoop.

"I just came to talk about the Gala. Not about my personal life or anypony else's." Shining Armor said without turning around, reaching the office door.

"But you can't talk about one without talking about the other!" Nosey News said quickly. "Did you know that your brother was present yesterday at the Grand Galloping Gala?"

Hearing that, Shining Armor instantly stopped, as if someone had frozen him.

"Yes, I knew he was among the guests, but I didn't see him all night, since I was on duty." Shining Armor answered dryly, looking askance at Nosey News fiercely.

Seeing that she had again caught Shining Armor’s attention, Nosey News smiled and sat back down at her desk.

"Your brother's name is Dusk Shine, isn't it? He's the personal student of Princess Celestia... It's fortunate that you and your brother have achieved such renowned positions at such a young age... Even more so knowing that you don't come from a noble family." Nosey News said smiling, while she secretly levitated a notebook and a pen to write the development of the interview, seeing how Shining Armor reacted to the notes she was saying.

"I didn’t get where I am today because of luck. Everything I’ve achieved has been the product of effort and hard work." Shining Armor answered, looking annoyed once more at Nosey News, because he knew that what the journalist was saying was something that many ponies of aristocracy also thought of him.

"Only you? So, your brother had to rely on luck to get to where he is?" Nosey News asked insidiously.

A long silence followed after Nosey question, in which Shining Armor didn't answer, he only kept looking at Nosey with an annoyed look.

"Did you know that your brother was the one who saved Princess Celestia on the night of the Summer Sun Celebration's Eve? And not only that, he was also the one who helped bring Princess Luna back from her exile." Nosey News said, going through some notes in her notebook as she fixed her glasses. "He also saved a small town called Ponyville from the attack of an Ursa, and drove a dragon from the mountains that threatened to cover Canterlot and its surroundings with the smoke of his snoring... But do you know what is most extraordinary!?" Nosey News added, putting down her notebook and staring at Shining Armor. "The most extraordinary thing is that none of these feats have been in the newspapers so far..."

Under the watchful eye of Nosey News, Shining Armor was unflappable, like a statue. He continued to maintain absolute silence; he just narrowed his eyes a little while looking at the journalist.

"They're definitely feats that should be recognized throughout Equestria, but every time I want to publish a story about Dusk Shine, my boss says he has orders not to publish them." Nosey News said with a sigh, and again staring at Shining Armor. "It would be a scandal if it were known that the princesses are censoring the freedom of the press... Or perhaps it's not a princess who orders that these news not be published, but somepony closer to Dusk Shine... Somepony who also has a high position in the Canterlot hierarchy and could be jealous of the achievements of his younger brother... Achievements that would make the achievement of being Captain of the Royal Guard seem like something of little importance."

"Are you accusing me of intervening with the newspaper?" Shining Armor asked nonchalantly.

"No, of course not. I have no proof, they're just simple assumptions." Nosey News responded with a shrug. "My boss insists that I don't post anything related to Dusk Shine. That is why he commissioned me to report on this year's Grand Galloping Gala."

Those last words said by Nosey News seemed unimportant, and so Shining Armor thought for a moment. But then he realized where the journalist wanted to get to, and for a second, his eyes widened slightly, but he quickly regained his composure. Something that didn't go unnoticed by Nosey News, who smiled victoriously.

"That's right, my boss ordered me to do an article on this year's Gala, and Dusk Shine was one of the guests. He arrived with his friends and apparently had a very busy night." Nosey News said, smiling slyly. "Tell me Captain, do you know who caused all the fuss at the Grand Galloping Gala?"

"We already have some witnesses who have given us some clues as to who that cause of the riot looked like. However, there are no names or photographs." Shining Armor said seriously.

"Yes, it's a shame that no one was able to take a photograph of the culprits... that no one other than ME was able to take the only photos of the culprits." Nosey News said with a dirty grin, one that grew even more so when she saw that it finally made Shining Armor drop its annoyed look and now have a look of surprise, and even, something fearful. "I suppose once the photograph of the culprit is published, everypony will be interested in knowing who that stallion is and where he comes from… How good would that be for your career?"

At that moment Nosey News leaned down a little, still looking at Shining Armor with a smile, while she opened her desk drawer and searched for the photographs.

"And when the whole world wants to know about that stallion that caused chaos at the Gala, not even the princess herself will be able to prevent me from publishing everything related to..." Nosey News said maintaining her speech while looking for the photos with her hoof, but noticing that her hoof couldn't find what she was looking for, she stopped talking abruptly and bent down to look in the drawer. Then Nosey began to open all the drawers of her desk while her smile faded, and she began to panic. "The photographs... Where are the photographs!?" Nosey News said frantically.

Seeing Nosey News's shocked face, Shining Armor couldn't help but smile as the annoyed journalist seemed to have lost her trump card.

"Well, if the interview is over, I'll withdraw." Shining Armor said, turning around again, opening the office door and slowly walking out of there.

"W-Wait!" Nosey News screamed in fright, leaping from her desk and running to the office door to catch up with Shining Armor before he left. However, she accidently collided head-on with the old sweeper pony, who just then had been sweeping right outside her office.

After the abrupt blow, Nosey News glared at the old sweeper pony for getting in the way, and quickly stood up, only to catch a glimpse of Shining Armor was coming out of the building.

"Great! I just lost my chance at the interview that would have made me famous…" Nosey News said, slapping her face in frustration, getting up and reluctantly walking back to her office. "I bet he took the photos without me realizing it… Damn! If it weren't because the boss is afraid that the princesses would retaliate, I would post everything I know even if I have no proof!" Nosey News yelled in frustration, slamming the door behind her, leaving all the other ponies present from the newspaper very confused, not knowing what had happened in that office.

For his part, the old sweeper pony that Nosey News had collided with put down his broom and walked slowly out of the newspaper building. Once out on the street, the old sweeper pony stuffed a hoof into one of the pockets of his cleaning uniform and pulled the photos he had sneakily taken from the Nosey News desk. There were six photographs that had five mares and one lavender stallion respectively. And from what the sweeper pony had overheard as he peeked behind the door on the conversation between Nosey News and Guard Captain Shining Armor, those six ponies were the cause of the Grand Gala disaster. One of them was even somehow related with Shining Armor.

"It seems I was right to take these pictures... They might be useful for our purposes." The old sweeper pony muttered, hiding the photographs back in his suit, then looking back at the building he had just came out from. "So even journalists don't publish all the news for fear of what the princesses might say..."

Then the sweeper pony started walking and put on a disturbing smile.

"Well, I don't have that problem. Because I don't serve a princess." The old sweeper pony added, whose eyes glowed an intense and unnatural green for a second. "I serve a queen!"

Shining Armor walked uneasily through the corridors of the castle. After having to attend that annoying interview with the journalist from 'The Canterlot Sun', Shining had immediately returned to the castle to fulfill his duties as Captain of the Royal Guard.

"We’ve been hiding this for too long. Maybe… it's time to go public with our relationship…" Shining thought nervously, not sure what decision to make. All while dozens of doubts filled his head.

Before the interview, Shining already had many doubts about various matters, and after the interview, all those doubts only increased. Insecurity hovered over his head about whether Princess Celestia would reprimand him for not keeping order at the Grand Galloping Gala because, even though the princess hadn't yet requested his presence, his reputation and even his position as captain could be at risk! Plus… there was the matter of his secret relationship with Cadance; if he wasn't more careful, the paparazzi would manage to take a picture of them together and it would be a scandal all over Canterlot… How much longer could they keep it a secret…? And finally, to all those worries, now he had to add that of worrying about his younger brother, Dusk Shine.

"So it really was him I saw last night." Shining Armor muttered in annoyance as he walked, remembering that on the night of the Gala, he had caught sight of five mares when the guests pointed out the culprits of the disaster. When he went to see the sixth culprit, he only managed to see that it was a lavender stallion, before they all disappeared. "How did I not see it before!? Teleportation is his best spell! The damn coward ran away without even apologizing for all the mess he and his friends caused… Grrr… He only causes trouble!" Shining Armor growled.

After going through the main corridors of the castle, Shining came to one of the outdoor gardens where all his doubts and anger vanished when he saw the beautiful vision that always made him forget all his problems.

Standing next to a large rose bush was Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, or as her friends called her, Cadance. A pink alicorn with long violet, rose and yellow mane, and a cutie mark of a crystal heart, she also wore gold regalia on her hooves and chest, which matched the small gold crown on her head. Her regalia much less imposing than those of the other two princesses, but they fit her perfectly. Besides, what stood out the most in this princess were not what she wore or her size, but rather her impressive beauty.

As soon as Shining Armor reached the garden, he paused for a moment at the entrance and only stared at the princess with a small smile, always repeating in his mind how lucky he was to be the coltfriend of such a wonderful mare. It took Shining a moment to realize that Cadance wasn't alone, but was chatting with Flash Sentry, a young guard cadet who Shining thought was very promising, if it weren't for the young pegasus's big ego.

Noticing that Shining Armor had arrived, Princess Cadance smiled and said a few last words to Flash Sentry, who then greeted her with the typical military salute and left, also respectfully greeting Shining Armor as he exited the garden gate.

"What were you talking about with Flash?" Shining Armor asked, slowly approaching the princess once the Flash Sentry withdrew.

"Oh nothing. I was just…assigning him a little mission." Cadance said in her melodious voice, also approaching Shining. Then Cadance gave a thoughtful look and then looked at Shining with a mischievous smile. "Is my big, handsome guard jealous?"

"I never would be, princess." Shining said indifferently, stopping in front of Cadance as he made a small bow. And as he did so, with his eyes he glanced at the surroundings, trying to find if there was somepony else present.

"Easy, I already put a shield around the garden. Nopony is watching us." Cadance said with a somewhat sad smile.

As soon as Shining heard that, he got up and passionately kissed his marefriend, who in turn, also eagerly kissed him back. After all, even though they saw each other every day, they didn't always have the possibility of being alone and share an intimate moment like this.

"I have to go to inaugurate the new wing of the hospital in a few minutes, but we have enough time to take a little walk in the garden." Cadance said, smiling after breaking away from the kiss, but still hugging Shining.

"It would be great." Shining gladly replied. Then both ponies began to walk very close together through the beautiful garden of the palace. "You've gotten pretty good with shield spells."

"Well, I had a good teacher." Cadance replied, looking lovingly at Shining, for it was he himself who had taught her since that was his best spell. "You never know when you might need a good shield, I think it's a very important spell."

"Yeah, maybe one day it’ll be used to stop a great threat and not just to hide from the paparazzi..." Shining Armor added with a frown.

"So, how was the interview?" Cadance asked, to which Shining only responded by making an exaggerated face of disgust. "That bad, huh?" Cadance added in surprise.

"Well, at least that journalist still doesn't have proof that I'm the one in that photo kissing you." Shining replied with a sigh.

At that moment, Cadance's smile slowly faded into a sad look.

"Shining... How long do you want to keep hiding our love?" Cadance asked, stopping her walk.

"Cadance, you know I love you, but... I don't want everypony starts harassing us, more than they already do!" Shining replied, lovingly touching the face of his beloved. " I don't want hundreds of journalists come to ask you why you're dating an ordinary stallion..." Shining added, looking away sadly.

"Oh Shining! You worry too much. You're not just any stallion, and not just because you’re Captain of the Royal Guard." Cadance said with a smile. "You're brave, intelligent, loving, and the second cutest colt in all of Equestria… You were able to win my heart and that's all that matters to me!" Cadance added, lovingly hugging her coltfriend.

As the beautiful alicorn hugged him, Shining was comforted by the loving words of his marefriend. But after a while, while they were still holding each other, Shining couldn't help but remember something that his beloved marefriend always said to him that he always found a bit irritating.

"Are you really going to keep saying that I'm only 'The second cutest'?" Shining asked with a raised eyebrow.

"As amazing as you are, you can't compete with this cutie!" Cadance said quickly, breaking away from the hug and used her magic to summon a small gold, heart-shaped locket that Shining knew well, since she always carried it everywhere. She opened up the locket to reveal a photo of a small young lavender colt smiling. "Look at that little face!! He's sooooo cute...! You can be the most handsome stallion, but Dusk will always be the greatest little cutie pie in all of Equestria!" Cadance added, speaking to the photo of Dusk as if it were a baby, always remembering how cute the young colt was when she was babysitting him.

Seeing that Cadance was in 'babysitting mode', Shining only sighed as his marefriend returned to normal. The truth was that Shining knew that Cadance only saw Dusk as a baby colt and not as an adult stallion, despite his age. However, that rivalry that they had as brothers annoyed Shining from how Dusk had such a great place in the heart of his marefriend.

"Speaking of that clumsy... Did you get to talk to him yesterday at the Gala?" Shining asked, getting a bit serious. Something that took Cadance completely by surprise, who upon hearing said question, immediately left the 'babysitter mode' and returned to normal.

"I wasn’t able to, yesterday I was… a little busy." Cadance replied, looking away, remembering what she had done the night before.

Seeing that Cadance had a worried look, Shining blamed himself, thinking that perhaps the fact that he was hiding their courtship was affecting her more than usual. After all, Cadance had the virtue of being one of the happiest and joyful ponies in Equestria, and if she seemed to be distracted or worried, it was because something really wasn't right.

"You know... I've been thinking about it a bit and I think... maybe it wouldn't be so bad to announce our engagement." Shining said with a nervous smile, not being completely sure what he was saying, but it was worth it if that would make Cadance stop having that worried look.

"Really!?" Cadance asked almost jumping with excitement, smiling her beautiful smile again. "Didn't you say you were worried that journalists would harass us?"

"Yeah, well, they already do that now, it's not something I can prevent." Shining replied scratching his head, knowing that what he proposed to Cadance would change how the world saw them forever. But at some point everypony would find out the truth, and the great moment was already near! "If that journalist continues investigating, sooner or later she'll get evidence. So maybe it would be better if we announced it before it came out in some silly magazine." Shining added with a resigned sigh.

"Oh, Shiny!" Cadance said feeling immensely happy, giving her well-loved coltfriend another passionate kiss.

Seeing Cadance so happy, Shining enjoyed kissing her and sharing his love, satisfied that he could make his marefriend so happy. Although, of course, Cadance was almost always in that mood, it was very few times that Cadance felt sad, and even less that he had seen her angry. As the Princess of Love, Cadance always went with a smile on her face, and Shining would make sure that even he wasn't the cause to erase that beautiful smile.

Just as both ponies were kissing, they both heard the garden gates opening, which instantly caused both of them to separate and put some distance between them, as they couldn't allow themselves to be seen together before the big announcement.

As the garden gate opened, a unicorn guard with gray fur and black mane, wearing his customary golden armor. After approaching Shining, both stallions greeted each other with the typical military salute.

"Sergeant." Shining Armor said.

"Captain." The gray unicorn said, levitating some papers with his magic. "I have the report from the guard from last night."

"I'll take it." Cadance said with a kind smile, levitating the report with her magic before Shining took it.

This caught Shining's attention, since Cadance wasn't normally interested in reports from the guards. Why did she want to read it now? Was she looking for something? And in that moment Shining remembered what Cadance had told him about being 'a little busy' the night of the Gala… Busy with what?

"Something to report?" Shining asked, raising an eyebrow after glancing at his marefriend reading the reports with interest.

"Besides the disaster caused at the end of the Gala, nothing very relevant that we haven't already reported in the night meeting." The gray unicorn replied, until he remembered something important. "Although this morning we learned of a strange report... The guard in charge of the front door, Silver Spear, was reported for breach of duties by falling asleep last night. But this morning he spoke to me, and he insists that it wasn't like that, that apparently someone knocked him unconscious, a mare."

"Are you saying that an ordinary mare knocked him unconscious?" Shining Armor said incredulously. "Maybe it's just an excuse to-" At that moment Shining stopped speaking when he glanced at Cadance and noticed that she had been frozen, as if she had seen a ghost.

"A powerful unicorn mare, with yellow fur, red and gold mane..." Cadance said slowly, reading the report of that guard and reading the description of that supposed mare. Then she raised her eyes and stared at the sergeant with a mixture of amazement and anger.

"Uh... yes, t-that's right, Princess." The sergeant said in surprise. Shining was just as astonished, since he had never seen the always smiling Princess of Love make such a fearsome face.

"T-That's all sergeant. You can leave now." Shining said quickly for the guard to leave them alone.

Once the sergeant left, Shining looked with concern at his marefriend, who was now looking away with a thoughtful and concerned face.

"What was that Cadance? I've never seen you this upset." he said gently, touching his marefriend with a worried look.

After a breath to calm down, Cadance slowly looked back at Shining, but still unable to smile.

"Don't worry, honey. It's just… a bad memory." Cadance replied, trying to smile but not succeeding. "A bad memory that I'll make sure doesn't cause pain to the ponies I love again." she added, forming an angry look again as she thought that even though she was the Princess of Love, there was a mare that she couldn't forgive.

It was night in the Everfree Forest. The prevailing darkness added to the gloomy and terrifying features of the trees and the wild beasts prowling the surroundings, it could be assured with certainty that a night in the Everfree Forest was the equivalent of being in the scariest place in Equestria. However, that particular night, it seemed that there was something else in the air, as if a strange veil of cold and fear ran through the entire forest, announcing that a strange being had invaded it.

Winding across the dark forest ground and moving through the shadows of the big trees was a strange shadow crawled swiftly, advancing towards one of the most recognizable points in the forest: the ruins of the old castle of the two sisters.

"hmm, I suppose time truly doesn't stand still..." The shadow suddenly whispered upon seeing the ruins of the old castle, stopping for a moment in front of it before continuing to advance.

The strange shadow rushed into the ruins of the castle, always stuck to the ground, like an ordinary shadow, with the difference that a normal shadow was the dark reflection of something in the way of the light. However, this shadow was the reflection of nothing, meaning that 'something' that must have produced that shadow was nowhere to be seen. This was a freely moving shadow, and it had a goal in mind.

The shadow crept swiftly until it reached the old throne room, a huge hall with a destroyed ceiling where the moonlight managed to illuminate more than in the rest of the old castle. Then the shadow came to a wall and crawled onto it from the floor, as if its two-dimensional figure had risen to its feet. By doing so, the moonlight was able to more clearly reflect the living shadow that was there: a strange figure that resembled a huge snake, with long dissimilar horns, as well as its four legs, which although only its silhouette could be seen, clearly seemed different from each other, as if they were parts of animals of different species.

Always stuck to the walls of the old castle, the shadow moved down the hall the throne until it stopped when it saw an altar in the center. A structure that he knew well, for he had seen it a thousand years before.

"As I expected... The Elements are not here..." The shadow said as it held his head in one of his claws thoughtfully. "But it's strange... I didn't feel that they were in Canterlot either."

Suddenly the shadow stopped reflecting when he heard something falling towards him. Then a small vial struck the wall it was projected on, and instantly a large flash illuminated the entire room for a few seconds, causing the shadow to disappear.

Once the shadow disappeared, a hooded figure advanced from the other end of the room, who when feeling the light of the moon falling on her, took off the hood of her head, thus revealing her striped coat and her peculiar Mohawk-styled mane.

"A zebra? What fun, what fun! I haven't seen one in years... Although to be fair, I haven't seen any creature for over a thousand years." The voice of the shadow suddenly said resoundingly throughout the room, who after the effect of the brightness caused by the vial had passed, began to form again in the same place it had disappeared.

Zecora's face remained impassive after the shadow returned to its shape. She knew that a potion with such a simple effect wouldn't defeat this creature, least of all if 'this creature' was who she thought it was. But despite the fact that she had spent years preparing with her mother to face this creature, the truth was that she didn't know what could really affect it. So she would have to try everything before understanding how to defeat it.

"Are you the draconequus of legend?" Zecora asked, keeping her distance. She couldn't be completely sure if this creature truly was the draconequus, but the dark magic that surrounded it was reason enough not to approach it.

"I am 'ONE' draconequus. It's not like I'm the only one." The shadow replied calmly with a shrug. "Now then... Could you tell me if you know where the tiny stones that were inside that altar are?" The shadow added with an evil smile as he pointed to the altar in the middle of the room.

"There is no doubt. This is the being of chaos that the alicorn sisters fought against." Zecora thought worriedly, confirming her fears when she heard that creature ask about the Elements of Harmony. Without a doubt this was the creature she and her mother had been waiting for, and now she had to stop it as much as she possibly could.

"You're different from how I imagined you... More than a creature, you seem like a living shadow." Zecora said slowly.

"Keep stalling. Analyze its movements, its gestures, everything. If the stories are true, I have no chance of winning alone against it in a direct confrontation." Zecora thought as she spoke.

"Well, I haven't regained all my powers yet." The shadow of the draconequus said, flexing his arms to pretend he had muscles, but they comically deflated in a cartoonish manner. "It'll take me some time to fully recover, so in the meantime, I'm just a shadow of my former self." the shadow added nonchalantly, something that surprised Zecora, as that was definitely very important information.

Then the shadow of the draconequus slid across the floor to get close to another wall near Zecora, where he rose again and projected on the vertical wall. After seeing the shadow near her, Zecora instinctively jumped back to maintain her distance. Not just because she was cautious, but because her body instinctively reacted to feeling the enormous amount of chaotic magic emanating from the terrifying being.

"And now that I've been completely honest with you... How about in return you tell me where the Elements of Harmony are?" The shadow asked with a huge smile, staring at Zecora, who did her best to remain expressionless. "It's the second time I've asked you. You definitely know where they are. Don't try to fool me. It wouldn’t be wise to lie to the king of deception." The shadow added, moving his claws as if imitating a ghost.

It seemed that this being took everything as if it were a joke. And that was precisely what was beginning to terrify Zecora.

"If you tell me what your plan is, I might tell you where they are." Zecora said slowly, always staying on the defensive, without taking her gaze from the strange shadow being.

"Pfft! Plan? Do I look like the kind of creature that would have a plan?! I'm the master of chaos!! It's not like I’ve spent a thousand years planning a brilliant strategy." The shadow laughed, mocking Zecora's question. Then the shadow stopped laughing and put on a thoughtful look as he looked up at the sky. "Although it seems that there are other individuals who do have big evil plans for Equestria…" Immediately after adding that, the shadow glanced at Zecora, and smiled wickedly upon discovering that the zebra seemed genuinely intrigued by what he had just said.

"Hehe! There’s the winning number! I'll tell you what I know and you'll tell me what I need to know." The shadow added with a cheerful smile, again sliding across the floor until it casted itself in an old and broken column of the castle, even closer to Zecora. "I have only been free for a few hours since I returned, but I can see it... how the flow of magic is changing." The shadow added pointing to his dark eyes, which for an instant seemed to glow fleetingly in a multicolored manner. "No magical being sees magic as I see it. And that's why I can handle it like no one else can. And I can see things that no one else can..."

"Tell me what you know." Zecora said with a serious look, which made the shadow being smile evilly.

Then the shadow began to talk about what he had discovered. Although more than having evidence of a secret plan, what the shadow had discovered were small and subtle traces in the flow of magic. A small clue here, another there. Which, added to his vast experience in creating chaos and meeting all kinds of magical creatures, was what the lord of chaos needed to guess what someone very ingenious could be creating. And without realizing it, the being of chaos had discovered the truth, an ingenious and terrifying plan of someone secretly pulling the strings in the dark, a terrifying truth that was hidden in plain sight.

When the shadow finished telling what he had discovered, Zecora's face was pale. Not only because of the magnitude of disaster that what the shadow had just told her involved, but also because of the mastermind who was planning all this.

"It can't be… If what this creature says is true… Not only are ponies in danger, but every creature in this world is also! And without realizing it… We ourselves are helping this catastrophe to come!" Zecora thought terrified, feeling that never before in her life had she felt so much fear.

"Now now, don’t look so bleak. Life is much too fleeting for creatures like you to stress yourself over the inevitable! It'll be a great journey until that grand finale comes." The shadow said, laughing and pretending to celebrate next to Zecora. Unknowingly to the zebra, the shadow had been getting closer and closer to her. "Now then… it's your turn, dear. Could you be so kind as to tell me where the Elements of Harmony are hidden?" The shadow added, radically changing his attitude, taking on a wicked smile as he projected on Zecora's own shadow.

Zecora snapped out of her disturbed thoughts at the shadow’s question and remembered that she had to deal with the immediate danger right in front of her before she could start worrying about the dangers that lie ahead.

"I cannot tell him where the Elements of Harmony are. This… This is worse than I could imagine… I must warn everypony about this!" Zecora thought terrified.

Shifting her frightened gaze to one full of determination, Zecora again threw a potion of light on the shadow beast, causing it to once again disappear for an instant. Then as fast as lightning, Zecora turned and started running.

Hours earlier, when Zecora sensed a strange disturbance in the chaotic magic that surrounded the Everfree Forest, she understood that she had to prepare for a great final battle. Therefore, instead of the customary flasks with ingredients she carried under her hood, the zebra brought potions with great and powerful effects for everything that could be presented to her in a battle, in addition to having several 'bottled spells', an ingenious and difficult way to store unicorn magic that Dusk Shine himself had helped her prepare as an experiment. All this was to give her a small chance against the mighty lord of chaos, or so she had thought before facing him. Now, after finally feeling the great difference in power, and with the new information obtained about that catastrophe to come, Zecora's new plan was to escape from there as soon as possible.

'Snap!'

"We haven't finished talking yet." The shadow's voice echoed through the castle at the same time as a snap of fingers was heard. In that instant, a stone wall rose from the castle floor and blocked the exit from the main hall.

Zecora stopped instantly and turned again to face her opponent, a shadow that quickly took shape again, only this time much larger and more imposing. Ready to fight, Zecora pulled her hood back up to hide her face and took two flasks under her cloak. They were both ready, and the fight began.

'Snap!' Snapping his fingers, the massive shadow beast released an electrical bolt with his other claw, one that Zecora was able to evade by leaping right at the last second. Then Zecora threw the two flasks she was holding to the floor, causing the entire room to fill in an instant with a thick fog that made it impossible to see anything.

"Oh, come now. This wouldn’t exactly be a thrilling read if you made it too simple." The shadow said, smiling wickedly.

With another 'Snap!' of his fingers, the fog began to dissipate rapidly, so that the shadow could see that the zebra was trying to flee down one of the stairs that led to a destroyed roof. With another simple snap of his fingers, the steps of the stone stairway disappeared, causing Zecora to slip and slide back into the main hall.

The shadow came swiftly closer to catch his prey as soon as she fell into the room, but Zecora anticipated this and threw another vial into the shadow as it crawled across the floor, causing tree branches to swiftly grow across the floor, breaking the slabs of the castle and making it more difficult for the shadow to advance directly.

From outside the castle, it was possible to see the fleeting flashes of light and the rumbling of the walls from the battle fought. Over and over again the sound of a glass flask breaking was heard and repeated, always immediately followed by the characteristic 'Snap!' from the shadow's fingers. For every potion and bottled spell Zecora used, the shadow easily undone any effect with a simple snap. Potions of growth,, fire, light, any attack from Zecora only gave her a couple of seconds of advantage to flee, but instantly the shadow used his magic and shortened the distance again, bringing the entire battle to a deadlocked. But that stalemate was about to end, for the shadow magic seemed inexhaustible, and Zecora's flasks of potions and spells were almost gone.

After throwing a flask that encapsulated a teleportation spell that Dusk Shine himself had saved for Zecora in one of her flasks, the shadow was surprised to see that upon receiving the blow from the flask he had swapped places with the zebra.

"Interesting. I didn't know you could keep that kind of spell in flasks." The shadow said, turning to see the hooded zebra that he had lost sight of for a second, but that logically was now where he had been a second ago. "But it doesn't matter how many potions and spells you use. No unicorn magic, not even alicorn magic, has ever been able to defeat me!"

And with that last shout, the shadow lunged at the hooded zebra, finally managing to reach her and place his dark shadowy claws on her body. But the victorious smile of the shadow only lasted an instant, feeling that as soon as his claws caught the zebra, it disintegrated, falling a pool of water as soon as he touched it, thus leaving only the zebra's hood in his claws.

That second of absolute surprise at what had happened was all that Zecora needed to finally take the advantage.

The same water that had fallen from the false body that the shadow had trapped quickly gathered again, transforming into a high and thin ice sheet akin to a huge ice mirror, in which the shadow was now reflected.

"What magic is this?" The surprised shadow asked, touching the edges of the ice mirror he now found himself in, realizing that he seemed to be trapped in it.

"You said you knew all pony magic, so I had to use magic foreign to pony magic." Zecora said calmly, coming out from behind a stone column where she had hidden, without wearing her cloak, since she had used it for the decoy of the false body of water. "It's a pretty decent imitation of the magic that kelpies occupy in my homeland." Zecora added, remembering part of her past, where she had shared her childhood with some kelpies: aquatic equines that manipulated the water in their body at will.

Without wasting any more time, Zecora took the last vial she had and threw it into the shadow's claws, who was surprised to see that the vial contained a sticky molasses that stuck to his fingers, immobilizing them.

"Now you're trapped in that ice mirror and cannot use your magic." Zecora said with a small smile, finally sighing in relief after that fierce battle. "Every time you used your magic, you snapped your fingers. Now you won't be able to."

As Zecora spoke, it seemed that the shadow wasn't paying attention. The beast only kept looking at his own claws, trying to snap his fingers but without success. However, despite everything, instead of giving a worried look, the shadow just put a mischievous smile, as if he was enjoying that.

"And here I thought the zebras kept their word... I told you a very important truth, now you have to tell me where the Elements of Harmony are." The shadow said calmly, something that gave Zecora the chills.

"We never made a deal, I just said maybe I would tell you." Zecora answered, becoming uneasy again. Despite having won the fight and having the shadow beast captive, the environment around her was still gloomy and terrifying, even more so with the perverse smile that the shadow had. "I cannot reveal where the Elements of Harmony are to one as dangerous as you. I only faced you because I needed information. To find out your secrets and weaknesses."

After Zecora's words, instead of getting angry, the shadow began to laugh out loud, something that sounded extremely terrifying in that lonely and gloomy castle.

"Hahaha! Congratulations, I think you did a great job." The shadow answered laughing, while trying again to snap his fingers without success, since the molasses stuck to them prevented it. Then the shadow's face changed radically, staring at Zecora with an evil smile. "You just forgot a tiny detail... Do you remember when I told you that I was the king of deception?"

As soon as the shadow said that, a long and wide dark shape began to be seen extending from under the ice mirror where the shadow was trapped. The long dark line was nothing more than the natural extension of the shadow itself, a shadow that was never free, a shadow that was never magical on its own. That shadow was only the natural extension of its true owner, who had only hidden his projection to make it seem that the shadow was the one that lived by itself.

Realizing the truth, Zecora whirled around to see the true enemy, whom she only saw for an instant. From the brightness of the moon, Zecora could see the strange creature in front of her, a great beast that seemed to have everything in its body armed in parts. But what struck Zecora the most was finally seeing the true eyes of the beast, fearsome yellow eyes with bright red pupils, which was the last thing Zecora saw before losing her senses when the claw of the draconequus touched her head and put her in a trance.

"Hehe! Well, this was a delightful little battle we had; I haven't had fun like this in centuries! I guess it wasn't fair to lie about not having all my power yet, but you always have to have an ace up your sleeve." The draconequus said, smiling as he rolled up some imaginary sleeves, thus wrinkling his own arms and leaving his claws floating by itself in the air. Meanwhile, Zecora remained motionless, her gaze lost, where her pupils had been replaced by a multicolored swirl that meant that she was now hypnotized and at the complete mercy of the lord of chaos. "Well, time to see what you have hidden in that little striped head of yours!"

'Snap!' As soon as the draconequus snapped his fingers, the top of the head Zecora opened like a jar and dozens of images out of this, filling the room where they were. Memories of Zecora's childhood, her arrival in Equestria, and everything she had experienced up to that precise moment, like videos floating in the air, repeating themselves over and over again. Then the draconequus began to walk calmly around the room while observing the memories of the zebra and looking for the one he needed.

"Whoopsie! Spoiler!" The draconequus said when he saw the memory of when his shadow told Zecora about the secret plan he had discovered. Then the draconequus snapped his fingers and the memory disappeared. "It would be boring for you to tell what is going to happen. Everything will be much more fun when it is a surprise for everyone. And of course, when that time comes, I'll no longer be here." The draconequus added with a small shudder, thinking that even he didn't dare to interpose himself in the plan of 'that individual', not because he didn't have the power to stop that plan, but because he simply preferred not to approach that being.

Then the draconequus kept walking until he saw a memory that glowed slightly brighter than the others. As he approached, the draconequus smiled wickedly as he saw six ponies conversing with each other, six ponies that exuded a certain special magic in them.

"So, Luna and Celestia are no longer the ones in charge of carrying the elements, huh?" The draconequus said, then looked closer at the six ponies. "Hm…nothing out of the ordinary for these namby pamby ponies. A meek wimp, a spaztastic party mare, a drama queen, a plain cowgirl and an egotistic hotshot, what a bore!" He then looked at the purple colt of the group. “Although this one, I have a wonderful feeling that he will be very fun to ruin.

Once his mission was accomplished, the lord of chaos snapped his fingers and the memories returned to Zecora's head and her head returned to normal. However, her eyes were still lost in the trance of the draconequus.

"Good. Now, what will I do with you?" The draconequus said putting a thoughtful look as he looked at Zecora. "I could alter your mind so that you become the enemy of your friends … No, too predictable! I know! I'll turn you into a boring office worker who hates nature and forests!" The draconequus said laughing like a foal playing with a new toy, undecided about what would be the most fun to do to his new victim.

For her part, as soon as Zecora fell into trance, she lost all her senses. In her mind, she was in a huge lake, sinking lower and lower, losing sight of the light from the surface as the abyss at the bottom of the lake engulfed her. Zecora had no way of knowing what the lord of chaos was doing with her mind, but even though she didn't know that the diabolical draconequus was about to alter her personality in the deepest part of her being, Zecora could sense that something terrible was coming and that her mind, even her own soul, was in danger.

At the moment that Zecora was about to touch the bottom of the abyss, and when her eyes were about to close completely, a sign that she was completely surrendering, a small but intense light appeared on the surface of the mental lake into which she fell, and as a magnet began to draw her out of the abyss, filling it with a cozy warmth. That light and heat grew bigger and bigger until it was enough for Zecora to finally wake up from her trance.

"That was too reckless, sorceress. You should never have faced that monster on your own." A male voice said, a voice that Zecora couldn't recognize.

After coming out of the trance so abruptly, both Zecora's mind and body felt extremely exhausted, making it hard for her mind to remember what had happened and what was happening at that moment. Little by little Zecora's senses came back and the zebra could feel the wind on her face and the warm fur of the back where she was now.

Someone had rescued her, and now that someone was carrying her on his back and galloping fast to flee the old castle.

"This… This is not the gallop of a pony." It was the last thing Zecora could think of before she passed out.

For his part, in the old castle, the lord of chaos had remained motionless, watching as the unexpected intruder fled in the distance with his new toy. Everything had happened very quickly, the intruder had interrupted his fun just before altering the personality of that zebra, and after stopping the draconequus for a few seconds, he had fled quickly.

Despite the fact that the intruder and the zebra had already moved far away, the draconequus knew that it was only a matter of snapping his fingers and in an instant he could appear in front of them to stop them. However, when he was about to do that and raised his claw to snap his fingers, the draconequus stopped and put on a mischievous smile.

"No, that was very unexpected... And I love unexpected things!" The draconequus said smiling with satisfaction. Then he raised both claws and moved his fingers ominously. "More toys… more unexpected things… More chaos! Hahaha!" He added, laughing wickedly.

The lord of chaos stretched his entire body as if he were about to exercise, raising his claws together and moving his neck from side to side.

"Okay, enough of this interlude nonsense." The draconequus said smiling wickedly as he raised one of his claws and brought two of his fingers together, ready to snap them. "Time for the main show to start."

'Snap!'