Minty Image

by mintgreenconspiracy

Optional Chapter 4-1: Lily Lightly's chapter

Lily Lightly shivered dramatically, as she lightly tapped her hoof against her friend, Feeling Flitter's door. Man! It was cold today! Course that was standard this time of year in Unicornia. Why'd the ancients decide to build a massive city this far north, or this high in the mountains?

Of course, it didn't help that there was this feeling in the air, a feeling that everything was off. Not that it mattered, of course, Lily Lightly was starting to get used to it now, they'd been feeling it constantly since Christmas, and it hadn't produced much yet, other than a crybaby pink rainbow princess, whose infectious laughter had all but vanished in the ensuing week and a half.

After a few moments, a green unicorn, with a purple and yellow two color mane, and a smiling blue cloud cutie mark opened the door, her smile matching the one that graced the cloud in her cutie mark. "Isn't today a particularly beautiful day?" The green unicorn, asked, as she quickly motioned the purple unicorn into her cottage with her left hoof, her right hoof still tightly holding the doorknob.

Lily nodded eagerly, quickly swallowing a chuckle as she cantered indoors, she had to be careful, or word would get out of her weird glowing horn, and then people might not like her anymore.

"Come in! Have a seat!" Feeling Flitter said, motioning at a table already set, and prepared, for a good old-fashioned tea party. "Wow! January already!" The green unicorn exclaimed, taking a peek, through her window at a thermometer, which now read -10 °F, and quickly hurried into the kitchen of the small cottage to grab some water she had already prepared, for tea. "It feels like it was the First Rainbow Of The Season only yesterday!" She said waxing nostalgic, her voice trailing in, from the other room. "Have a seat! I'll pour us some tea!" She shouted, over the loud clatter of dishes from the other room. "Cinnamon or peppermint tea?"

"Peppermint!" Lily shouted, with glee, and an enthusiastic chuckle. She gasped, having realized what had happened, and hurriedly turning around to check her horn in the nearest mirror. Fortunately, though, it wasn't glowing.

Feeling Flitter began to turn the doorknob, outside the kitchen, there was a clattering, as Lily galloped back to her seat.

"So!" The other unicorn said, returning, from the kitchen, a teapot, in one hoof, and a tray of tea cookies, in the other. "Anything new, at the castle?" She asked, getting in close, ready for the information dump to come.

Lily shook her head, playfully, one eye peeled for any glowing from that treacherous horn of hers.

"So?" Feeling Flitter asked, a catty expression gracing her face. "Any gossip?" She asked, with a sly smile. "You can trust me," she exclaimed, reassuring her friend, with a wink.

"Oh!" Lily said, with an innocent expression. "You know how it is at the castle!" She continued. "Nothing new ever happens there!"

"Oh?" Feeling Flitter asked, mischievously. "What about this year's pink unicorn princess?" She asked as Lily began to sweat. "Nothing's happening with her?" She purred, through mostly closed lips.

Lily sighed silently. The Pink Rainbow Princess had just ascended, at the fall equinox, and was already a handful, having woken the whole castle, virtually every night since Christmas, with her consecutive night terrors. It was strange; she was such a happy go lucky pony, up until that point, usually laughing at almost everything imaginable. Lily preferred the troublemaker to the sourpuss!

Feeling Flitter sat back, in her seat. Man! Lily seemed particularly nervous today, for some reason. What could have gotten under her skin?

Lily shifted noticeably in her seat, her horn starting to glow a faint purple. "Who told you about that!" She finally blurted out. "That's a sec --" She said, cupping one hoof over her mouth, and another over her horn, holding it there till it slowly went out. The green unicorn, much to Lily's relief, didn't seem to notice.

"I think you just did!" Feeling Flitter replied, playfully. "Now spill!" She continued, leaning in close, once again.

"What's to say, " Lily said, with a chuckle, forgetting to check her horn. "Cheerilee's still all alone. And Brights Brightly and Whistle Wishes still love to take joy rides in the Crystal Carriage, " she said, chuckling nervously. "And it wasn't like I started four whole months early," she explained, looking away. "Or something!"

"That's right!" Feeling Flitter replied back, with realization, her right hoof gently touching her chin groove. "You weren't supposed to start until March!"

Lily nodded, looking out the small window that sat just behind her friend's tiny two-room cottage. "Things, apparently are in an uproar. Because all the flowers gave up their seeds late, " she said, with a sigh. She wasn't even supposed to know she was the Princess of all that Sparkles and Glows until the solstice, but they'd told her back in November, that was how messed up things were.

Cheerilee had told her, the night before, after one of Rarity's nightly night terrors, that half of the flowers never created seeds at all, they were just pollinated that late, and that meant that this year's whole schedule was thrown off. So Cheerilee had appointed this year's Princess of all that Twinkles and Glows before this year's Rainbow Lights Party: the Night of a Thousand Lights, a few months early. Apparently, she'd initially planned to surprise Lily with the title the day of the festival, but circumstances prevented it, and she needed the purple unicorn to start work immediately.

Lily's horn began to glow a dingy color, as the weight of the situation slowly weighed down upon her.

"Something wrong?" Feeling Flitter asked, having not yet noticed Lily's glowing horn, or even if she had, she wasn't willing to admit it.

Lily shook her head and returned a fake smile. "Everything's great!" She announced, as she began to slowly, and apologetically, trot towards the window, all the while fretting about Feeling Flitter noticing, what felt like her blindingly glowing horn,

Feeling Flitter began to follow close behind, a look of profound concern on her face. She didn't mean to hurt Lily's feelings; she just wanted the usually shy girl to open up a little.

"What's that?" Lily asked, pointing out the window, at something, in the distance.

"What's what?" Feeling Flitter asked, looking out the window.

In the distance, a multitude of what appeared like black specks began to materialize, just above the horizon.

"That's odd... " Feeling Flitter said, squinting her eyes, "It's only the first week in January." She continued, her voice growing cold. "The birds aren't supposed to be this far north until at least April."

Lily shrugged. That was unusual. Maybe spring was coming four months early?

Feeling Flitter smiled, grabbing a coat from the coat rack, on the wall. "I'll take a look!" She volunteered, with a smile, as she bolted out the door, closing the door behind her. "I wonder why the birds are coming back so early?"

"Wait for me!" Lily called out, rushing to the coat rack herself. That ominous feeling was back now, and crawling up and down her back, causing her to shiver in dread.

As she raced down the hill, towards Feeling Flitter, she could see something weird: Feeling Flitter seemed to be talking to some odd hole filled bug ponies. They were so strange looking, especially with their itsy-bitsy almost nonexistent muzzles. Lily began to inch closer, until she suddenly saw the monsters kick her friend in the gut, with their rear hooves, like some crazy donkey. And, just like that, Feeling Flitter almost immediately collapsed onto the ground, in a heap.

"Oh dear!" Lily cried out, in terror, having the sudden realization that everything had gone wrong, and promptly broke into a full-bore sprint. "Somebody help!" She cried out, as galloping, as fast as she was able, to pull away.

Captain Raphanus licked his lips, with a taste of the only thing he'd probably be allowed to eat all day. "Let's give her a five-minute head start!" He said, holding his left hoof in front of the changeling to his left. "I want a little more of this..."

********

Lily panted wearily, as she galloped, full bore, towards the castle, her horn glowing an intense neon color, matching her terrified mental state. "No! Stay away!" She shouted, at the ever approaching horde of strange black bug-ponies. "Whatever did we do to you!?" She cried. Unfortunately, the monsters gave no response, and, surprisingly, only seemed to derive some sick satisfaction from her emotional turbulence.

The bugs grew ever closer, so close, in fact, that she could already hear them nearby, only enhancing the feeling of doom that now hung in the air.

Her mind began to race. What should she do? How would she get out of this horrible place? How could she possibly survive?

Maybe if she fled towards the castle?

Yes!

Cheerilee was at the castle! Cheerilee would certainly know what to do! She was like the closest thing they had to their leader, and, as the currently acting Purple Rainbow Princess, practically ensured she was the wisest unicorn alive! (Even if that wasn't the case!)

Images began to flash before her eyes.

It had, at first, started innocuously enough like missing socks, and objects not in their proper places. Had, towards midday, begun to turn sinister like missing buildings, and weird shapes in Lily's head of ponies things that had probably never existed to start with, though she felt like she should have like they had been her closest friends.

Then her friends had vanished, one by one. And she couldn't even remember their shapes or names! Like she had never had any friends, in the first place!

Scary, and genuinely spooky, like a horror movie, or an episode of the Twilight Zone!

But then, by the afternoon, things had gone from worse to apocalyptic, as darkness had slowly begun to descend on the outskirts of Unicornia, making everything in its path gradually discolor, then fade, and then eventually to vanish, until, ultimately, only the void remained.

She shivered, at the thought, but only for a moment, as the darkness loomed ever closer.

But it appeared she had acted late, as the darkness had already begun to close in around her!

She began to flee, as fast as she could, towards the castle.

Yes!

Cheerilee was at the castle! Cheerilee would certainly know what to do! She was like the closest thing they had to their leader, and, as the currently acting Purple Rainbow Princess, practically ensured she was the wisest unicorn alive! (Even if that wasn't the case!)

She continued to gallop, as fast as she could. The castle was her only hope! Someone there could help! Between Spike, Cheerilee, and Rarity, someone would be able to do something, right?

But she was far from an athlete, and her short legs and pudgy build were just not fast enough to escape the now rapidly approaching darkness, which overtook her, jumping her, like a cougar, and clinging to her, like a robe.

The darkness began to work it's dark magic, as she could feel her life slowly vanishing before her eyes, like she too, never was.

Her horn began to glow a color it never had before. Instead of its usual pleasant purple, it was beaming increasingly obscene shades of red, which seemed only to intensify, with her panic until --

Nothing!

The glow was gone!

She looked down at the frogs of her hooves, but they weren't there! Only the pale frogs of the horse of the horseman of death and hell!

No! Those were her hooves!

Her eyes bugged out in terror, as the horrifying reality drilled ever and ever deeper into her heart.

'Where are my colors!' she thought, looking at her hooves, whose purple color was, at this point, almost entirely gone. Not just was its colors gone, but it appeared practically transparent.

'No! Please! Someone help!' She 'shouted,' at the top of her lungs. Except, She didn't say anything! Her voice seemed to have left her, and didn't seem to be coming back.

The panic got steadily worse as her body began to vanish, then her beautiful horn.

She cried, or, more correctly, would cry, if she could; as she frantically ran in circles. Cheerilee! Rarity! Brights Brightly! Whistle Wishes! Someone needed to help her! PLEASE!

'And what would the tragedy be in that?' A creeping voice, other than her own, hissed in her mind, invading the space between her ears. 'I think this ending is sooo much better than any that existed in your tumor of a world before!'

It tried, once more, to cry, but failed again. After all, how can something that never-was shed a tear? And what a tragedy this was becoming! Like a grand Greek tragedy!

'Have a seat! The show's just begun!' The voice purred, as her life began to flash before her eyes. Except, for the fact, that things that never-were have nothing to pass between their eyes! For the simple fact, that they never were!

Lily vigorously shook her head, her mind slowly returning to the present.

That was horrible! What a terrible daydream! Was this what Rarity had been experiencing the past few weeks? Was this why she had been waking up every night, since Christmas, in tears. Why she'd been so vehement to apologize so profusely to Cheerilee, every single night? Could that be why she kept apologizing for 'leaving Cheerilee behind'? Was this the cause of her night terrors? How horrible! No wonder the dear was constantly crying herself to sleep in her mentor's arms! And, just like that, Lily suddenly felt sorry for the little Pink Rainbow Princess.

However, she couldn't wait long, before reality, once more, began to bear down on her. She looked out over the horizon. How long was she out? Were the nasty bugs still approaching?

The good news is that the bugs didn't appear that much closer, so maybe only a few seconds, the bad news, however, was that the black specks no longer looked like specs, and instead, began to take the shapes of the weird black bug ponies again.

Yes! They were still approaching! And they were getting closer by the moment!

What was she going to do? She couldn't go back to the castle, not after that vision! The castle horrified her now. What if it was a vision? What if something terrible would happen if she headed towards the castle?

A thought occurred to her! Maybe there was another solution. Yes! She knew, exactly, what she needed to do! She needed to run away from the castle! She needed to get out of town at all costs! That was the only option left! Maybe if she hurried, she could escape!

The images returned, with a vengeance, haunting her mind with horrors long gone. Or perhaps, atrocities that never happened?

"Hurry up!" Lily shouted, quickly turning back towards a faltering pink unicorn, with the aqua, purple and pink three color mane. "The darkness is catching up!" She howled, as the darkness continued to descend, from above, like a disease.

In the thick cloud of nothingness, laughter could be heard, along with the sounds of ponies' shrieks of terror.

"I'm trying!" The unicorn shouted back. "But it's -- " She shouted, as her voice trailed off as the darkness slowly enveloped her.

"Sunrise Song!" Lily shouted, in horror, running around in circles, as her friend seemed to vanish before her eyes.

Inside the shrieks of her friend lasted, but a moment, before they suddenly stopped, replaced by the raucous laughter of him!

What was she going to do? The darkness continued to spread, and everywhere it spread he seemed to appear. And ponies unlucky enough to meet him were never seen again.

She had to get to the castle! That was her solution! It was also her only hope!

She shook her head. For some reason, it felt like only death would await her there. So what else was she going to do? Run through the darkness?

A thought occurred to her! Maybe there was another solution. Yes! She knew, exactly, what she needed to do! She needed to run away from the castle! She needed to get out of town at all costs! That was the only option left! Maybe if she hurried, she could escape!

She galloped back down the hill, towards town, unaware of the darkness that had, already, started to envelop her.

As she ran past the unwinding remnants of Garden Wishes' cottage, a voice called out to her from nearby.

"Going somewhere b%*^*!?" The chimera said, using literal profanitype and grawlixes (Cheerilee will be so happy to find out that those vocabulary lessons were finally bearing fruit), which hung over his head, as he talked. The odd-looking creature would be funny looking under better conditions having the head of a horse, the body of an eagle, the right arm of a lion, the left claw of an eagle, the left leg of a goat, and the right leg of a lizard. He leaned against the cottage, which seemed to unwind faster, and faster, by the second, his legs bent slightly in a 'straight street' position, which had been ripped straight out of an eighties anti-drug PSA. "Yo' a'n't bad, yo' a'n't nothin'! Yo' a'n't nothin'!" The monster said, hesitating for a moment. "So what's yo' major!?"

Somewhere voices sung the haunting words of the music, who's EEEEVVVIIIILLL drum beats summoned demons that kidnap people and take them to Hades, for diet soda or something, in a high pitched tinny voice.

Because I'm fat, I'm fat, come on
(Fat, fat, really really fat)
You know I'm fat, I'm fat, you know it
(Fat, fat, really really fat)

Lily Lightly held her ears, in terror, terrified of what horrors the creature had in store, for her.

"Back! Back you demon hands!" The monster said, beating the grasping hands of 'Tartarus' back into the ground, with a foam wiffle ball bat, which closed behind them. "Sorry about that!" The monster responded, with a blush. "I'll change the channel for you!" He said, punching a jukebox, which Lily could have sworn hadn't been there till just now.

Seemingly from nowhere, a deafening, and incredibly annoying never ending backbeat of the lamest six notes ever played rumbled on, along with a cacophony of loud drum beats.

Lily gulped as if she'd seen the devil himself, for some reason. She took a step back, saying something that made no sense, even to her, something entirely unlike her that spring from deep in her gut. "G...get away from me! -- " She announced, the chills running down her spine as she, futilely, attempted to turn a one-eighty, and gallop away in terror, but found herself unable to do so, as her body froze in a state of mortal terror. " -- Y-you m-m-m-monster!!!"

The creature gave out a boisterous laugh that sprung from somewhere in his gut, coming out of his mouth as literal 'ha's. "Oh girl, you know you like it!" The beast said with a ridiculous falsetto as he stood before her, now wearing a ridiculous wig, a black dress that didn't quite fit right. On top of the dress, the monster wore the most obscenely oversized bead necklace that Lily had ever seen (and that was saying something, considering how her friend's tended to play dress up with some pretty elaborate neckwear.)

Lily remained unable to move, as her body was, still, frozen in terror.

"DO NOT BE AFRAID EARTH GIRL -- " the not pony said, in a very absurd nineteen fifties robot voice, as he inched forward, still wearing his wig dress, and obscenely oversized beads, over a giant cardboard box, with cardboard toilet paper rolls covering his limbs. " -- WE COME IN WAR!"

"Please no!" She begged, pleading for her life, her horn glowing a vibrant black color, as the beast reached out and touched her on the horn with the lion's paw.

The creature broke out into raucous laughter, as Lily began to dim and fade. "The excruciating feeling of your body slowly unraveling should go away after fifteen seconds, or so, " the mix and match mess said, now dressed in a very dated nineteen fifties television commercial doctor's outfit, which he wore over the cardboard boxes.

All Lily could do was let out a yelp as --

Lily shook her head and returned her mind to the present again. At this point, second-guessing not just her decisions, but her very instincts as well!

What was she going to do? Every decision she made would only result in unfathomable horror! And what was even worse was, that, the longer she stayed, the closer the bugs came, and, that wasn't even mentioning that they were, at this point, now clearly visible. She had to get out now! But where would she go? All options resulted in her friends all disappearing, or worse!

She began to run in circles. If she ran towards town, the monster would get her. If she ran towards the castle, she'd cease to exist, and if Lily left town, then she wouldn't make it. She thought, as she began to run tighter and tighter circles, till she was practically spinning in place.

"HALT PONY, YOU ARE TO BE TAKEN TO LORD VLADIMIR FOR JUDGEMENT, PLEASE DO NOT RESIST!" A large burly looking bug pony said, as it landed nearby, it's horn glowing an odd green color.

Lily suddenly had the intense sensation that she was in trouble, as her eyes darted around looking for someone, ANYONE, who could help her.

No one, however, seemed to be around, having all, most likely, been kidnapped by the nasty bugs!

More and more of the large bug ponies kept landing. All were looking like they weren't in a pleasant mood! Like they'd missed lunch, or tea, or something!

It was at this point that her body finally decided to run, in the only direction that made sense, the one not blocked by a bug! Only to find that her legs were moving, but she wasn't! And suddenly found herself being slowly lifted up by some strange green lights, like an alien abduction!

Oh no! She didn't want to be abducted by aliens!!!

And what do you do during alien invasions? She asked herself, remembering those old movie projector films that her first-grade teacher, Mrs. Twinkle Shine, had shown her.

"What do you do, when aliens abduct you?" Asked the warbled voice of Little Dipper, The Everyday Safety Unicorn.

...

...

...

Oh, that was right! "Someone help!" She called out, futilely, as the bugs slowly drug her away in their abduction beams (or whatever that green light was.)

********

"Lord Solanaceae!" The changeling drones holding the purple unicorn, in their magic, said, saluting dutifully to their commanding officer.

The officer, Solanaceae, a strangely bald changeling stallion, with an unusually dark hue, rolled his eyes pompously - drones, such worthless creatures, why the queen insisted on continuing to convert so many was beyond him - and nodded back, taking careful note of the pony that they held, in their magic.

'Interesting' The Changing thought, walking around his drones and beginning to look the purple unicorn filly, with intent. "Certainly a unique specimen - " he said, taking careful note of Lily's unusually large muzzle, and oversized horn. Were all these ponies this odd looking? He'd seen, at least, another dozen unicorns, and all of them shared that strangely colossal muzzle, and that oversized horn.

"Unique!" Lily replied back, her eyes growing large like saucers. 'Oh no! My horn! It must be glowing again!' She thought, to herself, trying to sandwich her horn between her two hooves, which was pretty much impossible, because she was currently covered head to heel in green slime. And that, naturally, meant that she couldn't so much as even wiggle her hooves.

As she her anxiety grew, about her horn glowing, her horn started to react to her emotions, and began to do its regular thing, and glowing its customary pleasant shade of purple.

'Interesting!' Solanaceae thought to himself, quirking an eyebrow. 'I've never heard of a unicorn whose horn does that before - ' He thought to himself, as he watched the unicorn's horn, itself, glowing. Strange! This light was not coming from a magical aura! No! The horn, itself, was shining. How could the unicorn be doing that? Didn't their slime usually prevent the use of unicorn magic?

'Oh no!' Lily thought, looking at the weird black bug pony staring at her gleaming purple horn, as she felt more and more embarrassed! And, unfortunately, the more embarrassed she became, the more her horn glowed, causing her to become even more embarrassed, in a cycle of endless failure. And it just didn't help that everyone was there, just staring at her, they must have thought she was some sideshow attraction!!! Just look at all those weird bug ponies staring at her, judging her, and watching her every move!

Solanaceae tilted his head, he'd heard that the magical aura around a unicorn's horn could become visible, to the trained eye, as they cast magic, but he'd never heard of a unicorn's horn, itself, glowing visible colors, especially such vibrant ones. Surely not when the unicorn wasn't casting magic, which was impossible while she remained bound.

Was she trying some gambit with a light spell? She couldn't be! That was impossible while they had her still covered in slime, and even if that were true, then her horn would glow only at its tip, not all the way down. Maybe, she was trying to blind him by going all out? No, not possible, he'd see a magical aura! Strange! Nevertheless, perhaps the preemptive use of an inhibitor was in order?

The thoughts in Lily Lightly's head continued to spiral out of control.

A jolt went through her head, interrupting her thoughts.

'Someone needs me!' Lily thought, sensing a pony reaching out to her. It felt like Rarity! Rarity needed her! She struggled against the goop but found herself still quite stuck. But Rarity kept calling to her, more and more forcefully.

Lily yelped. Not just was her horn glowing fiercer than ever, it felt like someone was tugging at her horn, with all their might! "Rarity stop!" She cried, as the tugging got progressively stronger. And the more she hollered, the harder it tugged at her horn.

...

...

"Odd..." Solanaceae mused, watching the glow of the strange unicorn's horn grow progressively stronger, as its colors changed to brighter and brighter shades of purple. Where were those fools with his inhibitor? He'd considered the need minutes ago. Did those fools even hear his thoughts? Was the hive mind worth anything at all? Sheesh! These fool drones were so wholly WORTHLESS!

Though, on the other hoof, there seemed to be no cause for his concerns. He didn't sense the casting of magic, and no aura joined the glowing in the unicorn's horn. Maybe this unicorn was attempting some suicide attack? Like some intentional case of Catastrophic Magic Buildup Disorder? He shook his head. Impossible! Undeniably not with her magic blocked, and even if it wasn't, it was anatomically impossible for a unicorn to cause a case of catastrophic magic buildup, intentionally.

Plus he didn't sense any sign of that. If the strange purple unicorn were, then he'd certainly feel the arcane vibrations.

Nevertheless, better safe, than sorry, he thought as he motioned his companions back a few paces.

The tears streamed down Lily's cheeks, as the tugging intensified, and it felt like the tugging was going to tear her horn clean out of its socket.

Solanaceae shuttered, finally sensing magic. He shivered, on the inside, this was an impossibility!

Except, no magic seemed to emanate from her horn. Only a blinding purple light that slowly transformed into an, equally blinding, red light.

Where was this magic coming from? Could it be leaking from somewhere?

A pair of phantom wings appeared as the purple unicorn vanished in a flash of light, leaving her captor shocked, and befuddled. How could she possibly have escaped from his ooze?

**********

"Your high and mighty, majesty, the pinkest of all unicorns!" The platinum armored unicorn proclaimed, laying his body flat against the ground, before the blood red-coated unicorn king, making very sure to avoid even touching any of the six steps leading to his throne, even the first.

At the word 'majesty,' fifteen unicorns, directly to the right of the king played their horns, and the army of tambourine players standing on a platform just two steps up from the guard began to play with intent.

The king stood up from his gold encased ivory throne and waved his hoof.

All sound in the room came to an abrupt stop.

"Do you have anything to add?" The unicorn king asked the lowly guard.

"Yes, oh high and exalted, most noble of all pink rainbow unicorn princesses." The guard continued, by rote.

The king scoffed. "You didn't mean that!" He said, sternly, his voice growing cold. A dozen other guards began to gather around the guard, pointing their spears at the prostate fellow.

The guard gulped nervously; his hooves clapped together as he silently prayed for his king's mercy.

"However, it will be forgiven this time!" The king replied, feeling jovial today.

"Oh thank you oh great one!" The guard replied, gratefully bobbing his head, having breathed a sigh of relief. The king sometimes tended to lose his temper at those who he saw as disloyal and often punished them severely.

"Now, nave, tell me your 'news'!" The king said, waving his hoof, and returning to his throne.

The guard motioned back to the entrance, and three, very sad looking, big muzzled unicorns marched in, a purple one, a blue one, and a yellow one. The manacles on their oversized horns were hooked together by one short chain. Another unicorn guard in platinum armor poked the purple unicorn in the rear, with the butt of his spear, to push them along. Another platinum armored unicorn, with a spear, marched ahead, his weapon fixed on the unicorn in the front.

The unicorn in front came to an abrupt stop, causing the purple unicorn to crash into the blue, who quickly plowed into the yellow, all three of whom collapsed into a heap.

"Get up!" The unicorn standing front of the throne announced angrily, waving his spear, in frustration.

The unicorn in the rear proceeded to start poking the heap to 'expedite their rise.'

The big muzzled unicorns slowly rose, taking a few pratfalls on their way up, collapsing in a heap, on multiple occasions, before finally restoring equilibrium.

"Here are the three Equestrian spies that we caught snooping around your grand kingdom, Prince Red Sword." The guard announced to his king, as more guards joined in with the second on 'expediting the prisoner's rise,' after their last pratfall.

Brights Brightly tilted her head, curiously. "What's an Equestrian?" she asked, looking around for some context. Were they referring to horse racers? Why would a horse be talking about horse racing?

Every head in the room quickly shifted to face the yellow unicorn, even if it meant a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn, and each face reflected the same profoundly aghast expression, at the words that came out of her mouth.

"Is it some new kind of pony?" Whistle Wishes interjected nervously, as her eyes darted around the room. Why was everyone so nervous?

The court remained dead silent, as the unicorns of the court returned their stares to their king, as they awaited the hammer to be brought down on the interloper. Instead, the king began to give out a loud belly laugh.

The court remained silent for only a mere moment more, than every unicorn, in unison, began to give out a forced laugh, not wanting to be the one who didn't find whatever their king found funny, funny.

The king finally raised his hoof; his face grew cold and stern. The court suddenly became immediately silent. "Are these all that Celestia has left? Are these the best spies that she could find?" He said, giving out another loud belly laugh. "The 'God Princess' of Equestria may yet be forced to, officially, declare me the king of Unicornia yet!" He said, shaking his hoof, angrily. "And then our indignities will be over, and we will finally have full self-determinism!" The king announced, conveniently failing to mention that they'd had full self-determinism since the early days of his mother's reign as Purple Rainbow Princess.

"And your so-called 'princess' may have to atone for the insults she brought on Unicornia during The War of Unicorn Succession Yet!" The unicorn whispered in the three unicorn's ears.

Lily Lightly, Brights Brightly, and Whistle Wishes turned to each other, asking the same blood chilling question, in unison. "Unicornia?" They couldn't possibly be Unicornia! Where was Cheerilee? And why did all the Unicorns here look like they had eaten nothing but a steady supply of lemons?

The king laughed boisterously, as he descended the seven steps from his throne. "Yes, children, this is Unicornia." He said, waving his hoof. "And, you are fortunate that you amuse me, " he announced, as all other unicorns in the room made like they were worms. "Now let me show you around The Regal Crystal Rainbow Keep!" The Prince boasted, needing to be sadistic take some time off of his work to 'show these spies the sights.'