First Lesson- Banquet is a Bust!
Streamers and paper lanterns were hung all about the feasting hall and the torches were lit by a magical green fire. Several yukata-clad samurai sat on the floor, carefully using their hooves to manipulate chopsticks to eat from the magnificent feast prepared for them. A row of unicorn mares with manes done up in buns danced a hypnotic dance; twirling their kimonos about, and levitating their fans high into the air.
From across the table, Shogun Butterflies and Duke de Branforr glared at each other, quietly sipping their hot tea as the festivities swirled all around them. Four of the six harmony fillies, wearing their formal attire from the festival, were seated at an elevated table on the other side of the room, staring over at the two suspected conspirators.
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Twilight asked, looking over to the others. "How do we know they don't suspect anything?"
"We have this sooooo carefully planned out, she'll never see it coming!" Surprise giggled. "We'll have that meanie old mare confessin' in no time!"
"Provided Glory 'an Posey can carry out their part of the plan," Applejack snorted. "And if you guys are wrong about this, it'll be a one way trip to the glue factory for us!"
"Quiet, you three," Firefly hissed, turning back towards the front. "Their act is about to start!"
"This is it, girls," Princess Cadance whispered, trotting up to the group. "I've got the colt guards in place, everything is waiting for the trap to be sprung!"
As they all quieted down, the lights went dim and the curtains opened onto a stage. At that moment, every eye among the assembled ponies turned to the brightly-lit stage. There stood the two lovely fillies, Posey and Glory, with paper fans held in their hooves, and fresh lotus blossoms woven into their manes. Lotus petals, dropped by stage stallions in black costumes, floated all around the two, only enhancing their natural beauty and poise.
"A dragon and a phoenix, sharing a valley, living in harmony," Glory started, waving her fan in front of her face. "The two live quite contented, and at peace."
"But stray thoughts in their minds, plot against each other," intoned Posey, holding her fan so it hid her face entirely from the audience. "Both bird and beast contemplate, possession of the whole valley for themselves."
"But both are filled with wisdom," Glory picked up, as the two fillies moved back-to-back. "Both see that to fall to conflict over the land and its riches, shall destroy the very prize they seek!"
"Will the phoenix and the dragon continue dwelling as brother and sister?" the voice from Posey asked.
"Or shall they let the whispers of greed corrupt their generous and pure hearts?" Glory inquired.
"Only time... will tell!" the two spoke in unison, hiding their faces behind their kimonos.
The curtain drew closed... and the room fell into total silence.
"Aren't they going to applaud?" Firefly whispered. "Didn't they like it?"
"This is a Hoofkaido custom," Twilight replied, "total silence is the highest compliment that someone can pay to a performance."
"This place... is weird!" a bewildered Applejack muttered, shaking her mane.
"An exquisite performance, my dears," Daimyo Snowflake congratulated them as they came down. "Your elegance and poise go far beyond what mere words can express."
"Indeed!" Starglow nodded approvingly. "I have not seen such performances since the days of Equestria."
"The age of Equestria? Wow!" Twilight Shine's eyes went wide at Starglow's comment. "Aunt Cadance... are glow 'n show ponies immortal like alicorns?"
"No, child, of course not," she replied with a smile. "But they do have a much longer lifespan than a regular pony. Much closer to a millennium or two!"
As the other ponies came forward to congratulate the two mares, Dancing Butterflies motioned to the elf ambassador. The shogun and the duke moved off to quietly talk together elsewhere.
"Alright Butterflies, what is it you wanted?" the duke asked, as she trotted and he walked back into the shogun's empty throne room.
"This is an unforeseen turn of events," Dancing Butterflies told the duke nervously. "De Branforr, I think we've been found out!"
"What?! Nonsense!" the elf ambassador scoffed. "What gave you any indication that our plot has been revealed?"
"You don't know how Hoofkaido symbolism works!" the shogun snorted. "Remember the poem the two fillies recited? The dragon is the symbol of Hoofkaido, and the phoenix the symbol of the elven kingdom. They told us that they knew through allegory."
"My dear, I think you are worrying about nothing," the duke reassured her. "There is no way they could have uncovered our deception."
"That is, unless you just came right out and told us!" Fireball snapped, as he and the other colts came out of the shadows.
"The mares and fillies thought you might come back here to discuss your plans," Tornado whinnied, adjusting his glasses. "I'm afraid it's all over!"
"Don't make this harder than it has to be!" Lightning snorted.
"Yeah," Thundercloud agreed. "We're not gonna let you outta here without a fight!"
The two conspirators went pale. "N-now just hold on you boys!" Dancing Butterflies called out. "Perhaps w-we can work something out?"
"Yes! We can make it very worth your while!" The pudgy elf agreed, sweat trickling down his forehead.
The two slowly backed towards the door, then the shogun made an unusual gesture with her hoof. Suddenly, two ninja stallions appeared from hiding, and dove at the stallions.
"Prepare to die, gaijin pony devils!" the two hissed in unison, striking with their katanas. The two fiends they were protecting bolted back through entrance.
"Boys, look out!" Fireball called out, as he and Tornado moved to block their blades with their energy shields. "Lightning, Thundercloud! Take them out!"
Lightning charged one ninja, headbutting him into the wall. Thundercloud dive-bombed the other, slamming him into the floor.
The two ninjas, caught by surprise, bounced back at the stallions, unleashing a barrage of shuriken at them.
"Man! These ninjas are a pain in the flank!" Lightning yelled, as he flipped out of the way of the ninja stars. "If we hadn't received our fighting training by a Hoofkaido martial arts pony, we'd be toast!"
"Stay on them," Fireball snorted, blocking their throwing stars with an energy shield. "They have to have some kind of weakness!"
"It doesn't matter," Tornado whinnied as he levitated one of the katanas on the wall to block his opponent’s sword. "Our two suspects just made a clean getaway!"
"Don't worry Tornado," Thundercloud reassured him, as he dove at the other ninja with another katana from the wall. "I have a feeling those two won't get away from the girls!"
...
As the colt guards fought off the two ninjas, the two conspirators fled towards the main gate, hoping to elude any watchful guards.
"I can't believe they almost caught us!" The galloping shogun gasped out, nearly out of breath. "We need to get out of Hoofkaido, now!"
"We'll tell the Elf King that Hoofkaido turned hostile, despite my peaceful overtures," Duke De Branforr exclaimed. "He'll surely help you in regaining your throne!"
"You'll not be going anywhere, traitors!" Starglow snorted, flying down and landing in front of them. "You're going to answer for your dishonor against Hoofkaido!"
"Why did you do it, Dancing Butterflies?" Snowflake asked her, trotting up behind the two, to prevent their escape from the other direction. "Why sell out your own herd?"
"I was trying to help you fools, even if you'll all refuse to see that!" The shogun growled in anger. "After we forced the war between the two communities, the duke could have discredited the king who led the elves into a bloody conflict, and taken control!"
"I was going to lead the elves out of this valley!" the duke exclaimed. "In exchange for helping me to gain the kingship, and the other riches your shogun promised to provide me with."
"Can't you see we're only trying to help ponykind by getting rid of these interlopers?" Dancing Butterflies pleaded. "The elves have no business being in this land! Our ancestors never should have invited them here!"
"But all the lives such a war would have taken⚊ On both sides!" Snowflake replied incredulously. "Besides, Ponyland is as much the elves’ home now, as it is ours!"
"Enough talk!" the elven ambassador pulled his blade, pointing it at Starglow. "We're leaving this place, pegasus, and you won't be doing anything to stop us!"
Suddenly, the glow 'n show pony unleashed a powerful burst of light, blinding the elf. "Ahhhhhh! My eyes!" At that, Snowflake charged up to him, and held her katana at his throat.
"I'd advise not moving a muscle, if I were you," she informed him calmly.
Before anyone could react, Dancing Butterflies had opened her wings and taken to the skies. Before she could go very far, two pegasi had flown up to greet her.
"Hey, where d’ya think yer goin’?" Firefly called out, flying over her head, and blocking her path.
"Fool! Think you can best me?" The shogun dove at the other pony, dodging her attack and kicking her downward.
"Whoah!" Firefly yelled, catching herself in midair. "This one's a toughie!"
"I'll never fall to your pathetic attacks," Dancing Butterflies boasted, turning to fly away. "Cheap tricks won't work on me!"
"SURPRISE!" The other pegasus who had flown up exclaimed, zipping up into the startled mare's face. That split second of distraction was all that Firefly needed.
KAPOW! The pink filly's kick to the head sent the shogun tumbling back towards the ground.
"Good going distracting her, Surprise!" Firefly exclaimed. "I never woulda got that shot off without ya!"
"Awww, it was nuthin’!" Surprise replied bashfully.
"Well, that takes care of these two," Twilight whinnied, galloping up to the unconscious form of Dancing Butterflies. "Where are the colts?"
Posey and Glory went running towards the throne room, where they found the unconscious ninjas next to four colts playing cards.
"Oh, hey!" Thundercloud greeted them. "What took you so long?"
…
"Fillies, I cannot tell you how grateful we are for your help," the new shogun Snowflake told the six gathered fillies. "Thanks to you, we have made a successful treaty with the elves!"
"And the deceivers who sought to destroy us have been thoroughly punished," Starglow exclaimed. "We really can't thank you enough!"
The six fillies were gathered in the throne room, mere days after the whole fiasco at the party went down. The change in power at Hoofkaido had been accompanied by a return to normalcy for the oriental fortress.
"Your highness, we were glad to be able to help all of you out." The six fillies bowed before the newly-elected shogun. "But we wouldn't have been able to do anything without Glory's clever plan!"
"It was rather simple, actually," Glory replied, batting her eyelashes. "Just let a little hint drop, and let their own worry at being caught do them in."
"And what did you learn from this, Glory?" Princess Cadance asked, trotting forward and breaking her silence.
"Well... nothing really!" Glory replied with a smile. "I came up with a clever, complex solution to a complex problem, and everything worked out alright."
"A filly who knows the value of strategy." Fireball nearly swooned. "That's my kind of girl!"
As the other ponies continued talking and laughing, a look of worry spread across Princess Cadance's face.
Oh, this is not good, Shining Armor! She shook her mane, staring over at the celebrating Glory. Not good at all!
...
Back at the Volcano of Gloom, the two young witches had successfully returned with the chariot and were currently engaging in their favorite activity; arguing with each other!
"Draggle loves a pony! Draggle loves a pony!" the fat sister sneered, eating her worm-flavored ice cream.
"Oh, shut up, Reeka!" Her sister snapped, brushing her hair with a comb made from a foal's rib. "It was just the effect of the spell!"
"SHUT UP, BOTH OF YOU!" Hydia roared, waddling into the room. "I have another assignment for you!"
"Yes, Hydia!" Both of them snapped to attention.
"It will take me a while to work my magics with the chariot," the old hag cackled. "In the meantime, I want you to go find out what those traveling fillies are up to next, and ruin it."
"But where will we find them, Hydia?" Reeka asked, scratching her perpetually empty head.
"A little birdy I put a spell on told me that they will be on the train to Bright Valley soon," Hydia barked, crushing a sparrow she had caught in her palm. "Now get out there, and make me proud!" she crowed, her hideous cackle polluting the entire volcano.