"Wow..." Scootaloo's voice trailed off as she gazed at the picture of Berry Breeze Hotel on Sweetie Belle's desk. "Is that where Rainbow Dash and everypony went for their vacation?"
"Yes indeedy!" Sweetie Belle confirmed. "Doesn't it look beautiful?"
"I wish we could've gone with 'em," Apple Bloom pouted. "I'll bet we coulda figured out what our special talents were over there."
"All right now, class, settle down!" Cheerilee requested, walking up to the front of the room. "It's time to start our lesson about Equestrian history!"
"Borrrrrring..." Diamond Tiara muttered, rolling her eyes.
"First," Cheerilee began, "let's start with a quick lesson about governments. Can anypony tell me what form of government Equestria has?" She smiled as a few hooves went up. "Let's see now...Scootaloo?"
"It's an autocracy!" Scootaloo offered innocently. "You know, where one pony has all the power and can do whatever they want, and they don't have to listen to anypony?"
"Well..." Cheerilee laughed nervously, "That's wasn't quite the answer I was looking for."
"Ain't it an olive-garchy now?" Apple Bloom chimed in. "You know, since Princess Luna's back from the moon and all."
"That's oligarchy," Cheerilee corrected her student, "and no, I wouldn't..."
"Ooh! Ooh! Maybe it's a theocracy!" Sweetie Belle suggested. "You know, since everypony thanks Princess Celestia for everything."
"Actually, girls," Cheerilee interrupted, in an attempt to steer the conversation, "Equestria operates under a form of government called a monarchy. This is where power is held by a ruling family, and passed down through successive generations."
"Ohhhh..." The Cutie Mark Crusaders replied in unison.
"Of course, this wasn't always how things worked," Cheerilee explained, drawing three circles on the board. "Long, long ago, unicorns, pegusi, and earth ponies lived as separate tribes, with only a loose agreement between the three to cooperate. As a result, it was a time filled with mistrust and resentment."
"Wow...things have sure changed since then," Scootaloo muttered sarcastically, glancing over at Diamond Tiara.
"Er...Miss Cheerilee?" a voice called from the back of the class.
"Yes, Twist?" Cheerilee asked her bespectacled questioner.
"How did Princess Celestia become a princess?" Twist inquired.
"It happened when she and her sister overthrew a cruel trickster named Discord," Cheerilee answered. "They assumed stewardship of the land after they imprisoned him."
"A hostile takeover!" Scootaloo gushed. "How cool is that?"
"But that was a long time ago!" Silver Spoon pointed out. "How old is the princess, anyway?"
"And who's next in line for the throne if something happens to her?" Diamond Tiara added, secretly hoping it would somehow be her.
"To be honest," Cheerilee noted, "it's not really polite to ask a pony about her age, so no one really knows for sure how old Princess Celestia is, nor who would succeed her if she ever gave up her title. Princess Luna is close to her sister's age, and the two would most likely leave together."
"Gosh!" Apple Bloom exclaimed. "You mean if somethin' ever happened to the princess, like when she got captured by Nightmare Moon, we wouldn't have anypony to rule Equestria? Does that seem like a problem to anypony else?"
"Don't worry, Apple Bloom," Cheerilee reassured her student. "The princess has been a strong, benevolent ruler for many years now, and if you ask me, she'll be the same strong, benevolent pony for many more."
Two guards stood at attention at the main gate of Canterlot Castle, watching as ponies hurried along the road to superficially-important engagements. "See anything suspicious yet?" the first guard asked.
"No," the second guard responded sternly.
The guards stood in silence for another few seconds. "How about now?" the first guard asked again.
"For the three-hundred-and-forty-sixth time, I haven't seen anything suspicious!" the second guard declared. "I've never seen anything suspicious before, I don't see anything now, and I'll probably never see anything suspicious in the future!"
"Aw, man," the first guard muttered. "This is the most boring job ever."
Suddenly, the song of a robin came floating over the wind. "You hear that?" the second guard asked rhetorically. "When you're in this line of work, you have to learn to appreciate the little things you hear and see, like a bird's song, or a group of colts and fillies playing football in the street."
"Football?" The first guard arched his eyebrow. "Don't you mean soccer?"
"Just listen to the stupid bird, rookie," the second guard ordered.
The first guard shrugged and did as he was told, listening as the robin worked his way through a sweet, springy number. Soon, more birds began to join in, and within minutes, the one-bird song had turned into a forty-bird choir production, complete with four-part harmony. "Wow..." the first guard mused. "You know, you're right! I've never heard the birds sing like this before!"
The second guard grimaced, and listened in for a few moments. "You know," he finally offered, "neither have I. That seems awfully suspicious."
"What's that?" the first guard asked, too wrapped up in the song to listen.
"I said it seems awfully sus..." The second guard tried to repeat himself, but was cut off by virtue of being whacked over the head by a mysterious assailant.
"What the..." the first guard uttered, turning around just in time to see the attacker - the same pony who had kidnapped Twilight and company from the train - aiming a roundhouse kick at his nose. "Not in the face!" he screamed.
The attacker stopped, shrugged, and planted their back hooves into the side of the guard, sending him crashing up against the castle wall. "Thanks..." the guard acknowledged, before losing consciousness.
Before anypony else could react, the pony ducked inside the castle, slinking down hallways, creeping up stairs, and avoiding castle guards en route to the castle throne room. Finally arriving at the throne room entrance, the intruder carefully cracked open the door and peeked to see who was inside.
As it so happened, there was one pony sitting in the throne room: Princess Celestia herself. Having finished her royal duties for the day, the Princess now relaxed with a cup of tea while watching the sunset and partaking in one of her favorite hobbies.
"This is gonna be hilarious," Celestia chuckled to herself, as she took another sip of tea and started drawing out her plan. "First, the decoy: We put a banana peel where Luna is sure to notice it on her way to breakfast. She'll pick and up and start gloating how I'll need to do better than that...and never notice the bucket of water I have balanced on the kitchen door. WHAM!" Celestia scribbled all over her stick-figure of Luna with a blue crayon. "Soaking wet and clueless," she chortled.
Suddenly, the creak of a door opening echoed through the chamber. "What's that?" Celestia asked. "Who's there?" Noticing that the front door to the throne room had been opened, she stood up and walked over to see who was there, but found no one. "Strange," the princess muttered to herself.
Hearing another sound behind her, Celestia turned to see that a window had opened up in the throne room, letting in the sorrowful howl of the breeze. "Good grief," Celestia muttered, walking over to close the window. "Oh dearie me," she declared in a high squeaky voice. "First the door opened by itself, and now the window? How creepy!" She shook her head as she closed the window with her magic. "Seriously, Luna, if you really think you can scare me like that..."
"I'm not Luna," an evil voice answered from behind the princess.
"Huh?" The princess wheeled on the intruder. "What are you doing..."
"BANZAI!" the attacker shouted, leaping at the princess. A fierce melee ensued, as the princess and marauder dueled their way around the room.
"Who do you...think you are?" the princess demanded, as she traded punches and parries with her assailant. "I'm Princess...flipping...Celestia, dang it! I am the...most...powerful...pony...around!"
"Haven't you gotten the memo?" the attacker taunted. "Royal families are so last millennium. You're as out of date as the VCR!"
"Date this, jerkface!" Celestia raged, throwing a right hoof that would have made Manny Pacquiao proud (had it connected).
Despite her pronouncements, however, when the dust finally settled, it was Princess Celestia who found herself bound and blindfolded in the middle of the room. "This is outrageous!" she proclaimed. "Weren't you even listening? I'm the boss around here! The big cheese! The head honcho! The alpha and the omega!"
"Times are changing, my dear princess," the evil pony announced, dragging Celestia over to the door to the closet containing the Elements of Harmony. "Now!" the pony ordered, jamming the princess's horn into the door lock. "Open this door, and give me the elements!"
"Take a long walk off a short cloud!" the princess spat back. "Help! Somepony! Anypony!"
"Go ahead, princess," the evil pony chortled, "scream all you want. I, for one, would love to know what Luna would say if she saw you like this. It's your choice - turn over the elements, or try to explain to your sister why you're wrapped up like a Hearth's Warming Eve gift after getting owned by a mere pegasus."
Celestia flinched at the realization. "Curses," she muttered. "Fine - you win."
An evil smile crossed the intruder's face as Celestia used her magic to open the door. "At last!" the pony cried, seizing the chest containing the Elements of Harmony. "With these elements, I shall be unstoppable! The dawn of a new era is at hoof!" The evil pony let loose a suitably-evil laugh, and removed Twilight's tiara from the box of elements.
"Who...who are you?" the princess asked nervously.
"You may call me...the Monarch," the masked pony decided, donning the tiara. "The successor to Princess Celestia and new supreme ruler of Equestria." Walking over to the window, the Monarch looked out over the city of Canterlot and the surrounding landscape. "Tsk, tsk, princess," the Monarch observed, "I must say, you've really let this place go, haven't you? All this hatred and selfishness and needless suffering..." The evil pony looked to the sky, grinning at the birds, bees, and other animals that had begun to circle overhead. "But that's all in the past now," the pegasus declared, turning back to Celestia. "Today marks the beginning of a new world order, one free of strife and hardship...and senseless trolls like you."
Celestia's eyes began to widen. "Maybe calling for help was the better option after all..." she realized.
"It's far too late for that now," the Monarch announced, as two buzzards flew in through the window carrying a princess-sized bag. "The journey to a brave new world begins now, and all of the pain you and your subjects have brazenly distributed is about to come home to roost."
"Phew!" Cheerilee breathed a sigh of relief as she walked through the library door. "Another school day in the books!" she declared, plopping down in the nearest chair. "I swear, those fillies get more and more rambunctious every day!" She yawned, stretched, and pulled a newspaper out of her bag. "Now I can finally relax," she proclaimed.
Right on cue, a loud scream cut through the peaceful silence of the library. "Get away! Stay back!" a voice cried out from the street. "Somepony help me!"
"That sounds like the mayor!" Cheerilee deduced, throwing her paper aside and dashing to the window. Sure enough, Cheerilee looked out to see the mayor of Ponyville running as fast as her hooves could carry her, with a ferocious-looking bull in hot pursuit.
"Please, sir! Allow us to talk this out like civilized ponies!" the mayor requested as she ran. The bull, however, ignored her pleas, and continued to chase her down the street.
"Oh no!" Cheerilee shouted. "She needs help!" Looking frantically around the room, she spied a red curtain hanging in one of the windows. She rushed over and pulled the curtain down, then dragged it out into the street, cutting in between houses to head the mayor - and the bull - off at the pass.
The shortcut paid off, and Cheerilee soon found herself ahead of the chase. "Yoohoo! Mr. Bull!" she called to the bull, waving the red curtain. "Look what I've got!"
Spying the curtain, the bull slammed on the brakes, skidding as it turned, and charted a new course towards the pony matador. "That's right!" Cheerilee goaded the bull. "Come and get it!"
Steam starting pouring out of the bull's ears as it closed in on its prey. At the last moment, however, Cheerilee spun out of the way, and the bull passed under the curtain...and rammed face-first into the side of a house, knocking himself unconscious. "I hope that teaches you to play nice next time!" Cheerilee scolded the senseless bull.
"My word!" the mayor declared, as she approached Cheerilee. "That was incredible! I cannot thank you enough for coming to my rescue, Cheerilee!"
"Oh, it was nothing," Cheerilee declared. "I'd read a lot of stories about ponies who fought with bulls like that, and always wanted to give it a try!"
"Nevertheless," the mayor continued, "thanks to you, Ponyvilians can rest easy knowing the crisis has passed."
"Er..." Cheerilee hesitated, pointing up at the sky, "I don't think we're out of the woods just yet."
The mayor's jaw dropped as she looked up to see a flock of angry birds swarming the skies, divebombing ponies and dropping rocks and makeshift Molotov cocktails on the town. "Good heavens!" she shrieked. "We're under attack! We have to take cover immediately!"
Cheerilee and the mayor raced back through town while dodging birds, boulders, and a marauding band of belligerent bovines, finally making it to the relative safety of the library. "Good gracious!" the mayor exclaimed, as she tried to douse a pile of burning books. "What's happening out there? What has gotten into all those animals?"
Cheerilee spotted a note attached to one of the rocks that had been thrown through a window. "Look at this!" she announced, unfolding the note and reading its contents. "'Citizens of Equestria,'" she read aloud, "'let it be known that a new dynasty has been born in our fair land, sweeping away the old order of corruption and cruelty and establishing a new era of harmony and justice! Join us in establishing our brave new world, or face our wrath and be thrown away with the garbage of the past.'"
"This is harmony and justice?" the mayor questioned, gesturing to the chaos unfolding outside. "What kind of deluded foal is behind all this?"
"The note is signed by somepony called 'The Monarch,'" Cheerilee informed the mayor. "Who in the world could that be?"
Another rock smashed through one of the windows. "Oh dear!" the mayor panicked. "Whatever shall we do?"
"I don't know," Cheerilee admitted, "but we'd better think of something, and fast."