> The Darkness Saves the World > by Eon Seb > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > History and The Rise of The Sun > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1005 years ago Celestia could only breath a sigh of relief. They had won. Sombra the tyrant, Sombra red eye was no more. As the last of his shadows faded, she could not help but fear his last words “y͘Yo͢͝҉͠҉u҉͡ a͢҉r̨͟͞e̶̕͢ á͟ f̶͟o̴͟ǫ̴́͘l̴ w͟Wį̸͟t̵̡͜h̸̢͟ò̕͠͝u̸̡̨̢͟ţ̷͜͟ m̶҉̡҉e҉̨͠҉ t́͠͠͝h͡͠e̢͘͜͠ h̶́̕͢͠e̷͢͠a̴̛ŗ̴̛͟t̢́͜ w̢̛o̴̴n̨͘͏̷'̴̵͜͜͞ţ͜͝͡҉ b̵̶͢e͟͠ á͞b̧́l̴̶͡e̵͟͡ ţo̢͠͡͞ k̸̶̨͠͞ę͜e̕͠p͘͜ ḩ̨̀͡i̶͜͜m͢҉ a̷̕͡w̶͞a̷̸͏͘ỳ̨̧̧͠.̷. I̴ c̷͡͝͠á̶̀͜n҉̸̶̛'̸̵̛͜t̸̨̀͜ w͢͟͡͡a̷̵í̧̧͢͠t́͟͠͠ t̀́̀͞ó͜ s̸̵̵̡͟e̛e͘͏̸̧ ḩ̶̵̧͟o͟͝͠w͘͝҉͞ y̶̸̢̧ó̷͘͜u̕͟ d̴ę̛͠͞á̧l͟͝ ẁ̨̕i̴̛͝t͏҉̡h̴̶҉ t̛͢͟h̸̸̨i̴͝ś̵͡͠, P̵̧̢̀̀ŗ̴̵i̡̧̢̧͞n͘̕ć̴̡e͘͞͝s̵̵ś̨͡”͠ Now she could only wait and dread what was to come but as she looked to her sister who's 5 eyes were drooping with exhaustion, She gained hope they could do anything working together. Now if they could just find out why those stupid Elements had done jack shit to Sombra, they would be set. 1003 years ago Well they knew the Elements worked now. Discord had been quite the pain to fight and he caused more trouble then she ever thought possible but, hey, at least they got a nice statue for the garden, and there was no way the nobility was going to argue with them for at least the next few years. 1000 years ago Celestia felt her heart breaking. “I failed you, Luna, Sister I”-with a shuddering breath her eyes blazed with resolve- ”I won't fail again. I will protect my people and I will crush all who get in my way.” Woe to the enemies of Equestria for the Princess of the sun was not taking crap anymore. 990 years ago Celestia looked back on the last 10 years with grim satisfaction. After setting up Cadence as the new ruler of the Crystal Empire, the yaks had decided to get smart. She crushed them with one attack. They had not been wiped out, but enough had died that they never wanted to fight her again. Hopefully, it would last. Then she had used to Elements for a final time sealing the door of Tartarus before returning them to the tree. Discord and Nightmare Moon would never again harm her ponies. 850 years ago Celestia had just finished placing her new trophies in the throne room. The wars with the Griffins and Minotaurs had been long and bloody. But with the deaths of both Boreas and Midas, the remainder of the resistance had crumpled like wet paper. Now with the golden idol and hand of Midas in her collection, any remaining members of those kingdoms were part of Equestria. Hopefully, they would get the message this time. 700 years ago In the past century and a half, new trophies had been added as more and more threats were crushed. First had been 'Queen' Marksaline. How that creature had convinced those poor, innocent people she was a good ruler she would never understand. They were now safe as part of the non-combatant citizens of Equestria. Next was the first - and last - Changeling invasion. She had crushed the head of the queen under her foot and taken the crown. Now she had a way to look for any threat and get a heads up if anyone tried to attack her people. 570 years ago Things had been quiet for quite a while. Not even the dragons were willing to risk her wrath now. With that happy thought, Celestia drifted off to sleep - never noticing the ripple across the moon as a dark shadow fell to the planet. The tree of harmony would be howling if it had a mouth. So much death had been caused in the name of 'Harmony' it could not stand by any longer but neither could it get directly involved (it's a tree; what's it going to do?) So with a flash of magic it called forth the 2 greatest sources of darkness left. Shadows coagulated, showing one form with glowing green eyes and one with glowing blue eyes. In a voice like gravel on sandpaper they spoke “You called Ancient One, what do you need?” The tree glowed filling their minds with images and facts - letting them catch up with the world at large. When that was over they both shot off on their mission to keep the dark alive and stop the Princess before she became another tyrant in all but name. > Chapter 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Patient 106 T. Sparkle Twilight sat in her room shivering. Why did this keep happening around her? She was always afraid of something happening when she went outside and, like usual, the moment she gained the courage to speak, anyone she tried to talk to ran away screaming. The doctor said that she had an aura of fear so other people were scared of the sight of her, “Ha. Yeah, right. Scared of a 3 foot waif who can't seem to feel anything but fear.” Twilight had always been analytical, but she kept her emotions locked up. Too afraid to show her true self to others. But that was going to change soon. Patient 115 Moondancer Moondancer had problems. She knew that very well. She tied her emotional well being on the first thing to show her affection for crying out-loud, but it always went the same way. They stayed for a bit and then her obsession made them run away. The doctors were very careful to not let her get attached to them, and it was killing her. Then one day Moony spotted, Her. She was a small thing and looked like she would faint in a breeze but her eye, her third eye, was so bright and strong. “It had 3 rings already and she had to be the same age as me” (Moondancer had no idea why others found her creepy) “I'm going to visit her. Not like they stop us from talking.” Twilight jumped when there was a knock on her door. After a moment, she summoned the courage to go to see who it was. When she opened the door, her eyes went up and up and up. The pony at the door had to be at least 6 feet tall and she was a Triclops. Even the biggest Ogres only reached 5 feet and that was rare enough that she could count the number of them on one hand! It took her a moment to gather the guts to squeak out a "Hello", but it was enough for the visitor, who had not run away yet for some reason. Moondancer looked down at the girl in front of her. She felt something telling her to fear the girl, but pushed it away with ease “Hi. my names Moondancer. Whats yours?” “Uh, Twilight Sparkle” She winced internally. Everyone on the floor knew who she was by name, if not appearance. They'd been afraid of her ever since one of the more unstable patients called her "Queen". Moondancer however just grinned. “So you're the famous one everybody keeps talking about. Do you mind if I come in?” Twilight stepped to the side and gestured to a chair while she sat back on the bed. After a moment, she tried to speak again. After 2 failed attempts she finally asked “So why are you here?”- the 2 started by exchanging stories. “Well I have attachment issues - as in I get really attached to ponies very easily and I don't take being ignored - or even thinking I'm being ignored - very well. My parents got me tested after I chased off 5 different ponies in the same number of weeks. So what about you ?” Twilight took a moment to digest that information before answering “I have extreme anxiety - as in it took me 3 years to show I could talk, and I freak at the strangest things. I once hid under my bed for a whole day because it was the first time I heard the vacuum.” And they just kept talking. The only time they noticed what time it was was when a nurse came looking for them. This routine continued for several weeks before Moondancer asked Twilight on a date. The panicked expression on Twilight's face almost made her back off before Twilight jumped off the chair she was in and glomped onto Moondancer with a death grip as they joined in a hug of joy and hope they were filled with magic. Magic which pulled on their fear, their doubts and their anger soaking up their negative emotions like a sponge and filling them with more and more power as their minds were filled with memories as their energy leveled off they could only stare into the eyes of their friend (love) the Shadow ponies were alive once more. Nurse Sweetheart had come looking for two of the patients she saw on a regular basis. She honestly thought that the way they danced around one another was cute. She walked in to find them cuddling, forcing her to suppress a squee and then to nearly panic when she saw a corona of dark energy surrounded them. It was black with hints of blue, green and red mixed in. By the time she came back with the doctor treating them, it was starting to fade. When they saw the 2 several things became obvious Their eyes, when they opened, had changed. They both had draconic pupils and their 3rd eyes had gained a forth ring. Second, The fur of the two had darkened from purple to puce for Twilight and from cream to black for Moondancer. When they blinked, the 2 were back to normal, Then Twilight, the shyest patient they had, asked them politely how they were doing without stuttering once. Only their years of medical experience stopped them from fainting. Dr. Sound Mind decided to see if they would talk about what had happened. “So girls how are you” He was not expecting Moondancer to stand-up and put Twilight on her shoulders, before answering “We're good, Doctor. I, for one, feel better then I have in a long time. What about you dear?” This was bad. Moondancer was extremely possessive of anyone she called that. If things went sour here, it could set them both back by several years. “Oh I feel amazing, sweetie. Still afraid but I want to see if we can at least walk around without me having a panic attack”- Moondancer got a scary look on her face before Twilight cut the fuse ”No hurting people. I'm going to get scared sometimes, but as long as I know you're with me, I know I'll be fine. Okay?” Moondancer gave a begrudging nod before they turned their attention back to Sound mind. Sound Mind was trying to figure out how this was working. These two should have driven one another away completely, but the more he thought about it the more sense it made. Both were starving for attention for different reasons. Was it possible that they could help one another heal? “Okay you both know the rules. Stay in the general area of the facility and don't cause trouble. Be back before 8:00 tonight, Both of you.” They spent several hours walking around the general area, enjoying the sights and avoiding some odd stares. Suddenly they heard a shout 'TWILIGHT?” Twi spun around to see her parents gaping at them. “Uh, Hi. Good to see you. Mom, Dad” They were both just staring at them or, more specifically, at Moondancer. (not that she blamed them; it was rare to see someone over 4 feet tall, much less someone who was this large). Velvet was having trouble believing her eyes, why was her daughter; her tiny girl literally scared of her own shadow standing next to someone who was twice her size so calmly?! Nightlight managed to gather his wits first (For a change ) “Twilight, how are you dear?” They both jumped at the sound of cracking knuckles from the larger woman, watching Twilight calm her by just putting a hand on her arm confused them even more. “I'm doing better. I actually plan to ask the doctor if he thinks it's safe to move out of the facility soon. This is Moondancer. I met her after your last visit and we've been talking for awhile. It's helped both of us a bit but, we still have some problems.” They spent the rest of their time out with the Sparkles who were having to deal with something they never thought would happen. Their daughter introducing a date to them. > Chapter 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Starlight could feel another headache coming on. Why had she agreed to take on these 2 egomaniacs as students? One had a temper the likes of which history had never seen and the other had the most annoying habit of speaking in the third person. No mater what she tried, they both kept causing problems. She was one more panic attack away from equalizing the both of them. She had thought that taking them to the vault for artifacts would scare them into behaving. She still had no idea why some of the items down there reacted to them but she could not find anything wrong with the two so was forced to let it go, for now. Why had she agreed to teach them again? An explosion rocked the tower at that moment. Right. She was the only one strong enough to survive their stupid experiments. “Lets see what they broke this time.” Shining blinked before cleaning out one of his ears. There is no way he heard that right. His LSBFF with a marefriend. After confirming that yes, he heard correctly and no, he was not dreaming, he set out on a course to the Evergreen Care Facility. ”When I get my hands on whoever thinks they can date my sister...” After checking in at the front desk, Shining quickly moved to his sister's room only to pause at the sound of laughter coming through the door. He quietly poked his head in to see what was up only to blanch at the sight of the mare sitting with his sister in her lap. She was as tall as he was, while sitting down. He noticed that they were reading one of Twily's favorite Joke books. It had always bothered him a bit that she was so easy to scare yet seemed to love macabre humor. After all, "1001 Zombie Fails"; while admittedly genuinely funny; was still gruesome. When he knocked on the door and was properly invited in, he was immediately hugged by his sister. While returning the hug he caught a glimpse of, something he couldn't quite put his finger on in the other mare's eyes before she took a deep breath and stood up. He now realized why their parents had described her as huge. She had to be at least the size of Granny Cadence, and she was an Elder! Unaware of his mental struggle, Moondancer extended her hand to the brother of her darling “Hi I'm Moondancer. I'll go out on a limb here and guess that you're Shining Armor?” The question brought him out of his stupor and gave him a chance to move and sit down after greeting her. They then spent the next hour talking and Shining found the mare acceptable. Her obsession with his sister was worrying, even when it was explained to him, but the more he watched them interact the more he realized how much this seemed to help both of them. Moondancer would do anything to protect Twilight and Twilight in turn was starting to face her fears knowing that no matter what Moondancer would support her. It may not have been the most healthy way of dealing with their problems but, if it worked for them, who was he to judge? he just wanted his sister to be safe and happy. Shining was just about to leave when they heard a commotion in the hall they all stuck their heads out to see a pair of young mares rolling on the floor fighting and hurling insults. “You washed up excuse for a magician! This hat just compounds how dumb you are!” “Trixie will make you eat your tail if you don't return Trixie's hat this instant!” They continued to argue in the same vain. Shining noticed that the hat they were fighting over had been tossed down the hall, and he could see Miss Glimmer, the arch-mage, storming down the hall towards the fight. What he failed to notice was his sister's eye twitch. Twilight was a very organized and logical person and the speech pattern of one of the mares was driving her batty. Twilight slowly moved over and picked up the hat. When the two mares noticed, Trixie broke off and walked over to her “Return The Great and Powerful Trixie's amazing hat!” Her loud, boastful way of speaking should have been enough to send Twilight into a panic fit, but just as Shining was about to step in he felt the air around them become cold. Ice was forming on the walls and he could see his breath. It was the middle of summer for crying out loud! Then the air grew heavy laced with fear, he was charging a shield to separate his sister from the main source of her fear when she spoke. “Both of you pull up a chair and sit down now! I have something to say to you.”- They all (including Shining and Starlight) found themselves sitting in chairs in Twilight's room-”I have never seen adults act like you two, even some of the adults who live here. You are the students of the arch-mage and all that entails. Please show some dignity for the love of c̀͘r̀͢y͠s̀͘t̢҉͝a͡l̛͟s̵̢̧͘ !” Shining was trying to remember when she started using crystal pony terminology. Starlight was focused on the reverb that had entered the young mare's voice with the last word. Sunset looked bored and Trixie was insulted. “Trixie can act however she likes Trixie is the most powerful Triclops of her age.” (She learned the hard way that saying 'in all of Equestria" was a good way to get her flank kicked) Twilight looked ready to blow a gasket at the audacity of this mare. Then she had an idea. An awful idea. A wonderfully awful idea. “Shiny you said you needed someone to set up the celebration in, Ponyville. Right?” Shining could only nod and try to lean away from that grin. He had seen that grin on his sisters face before and it never ended well for the pony it was aimed at. “Yeah but don't you still have?”- He was cut off when she shoved a paper in his face, he read it quickly the long and short of it was that she and Moondancer had been cleared to move out of the facility so that was not going to stop her now.-”Well, if you're sure you can handle it, I'll fill out the paper work for you to be the organizer, sis” “Wait a darn minute that's our job” Sunset had been enjoying the fireworks until this point. There was no way she was losing this job to some midget. Starlight's gaze would have frozen lava “Think about that next time you want to act up in public, young lady. Now then, Twilight was it? You have my permission as well to take up this responsibility. I guess this large young lady will be your assistant?” After receiving confirmation of the facts and bidding the captain goodbye, Starlight left pulling her students behind her by their ears with levitation. Shining left not long after to give them time to pack. This was going to be the weirdest celebration in recent history. He felt it in his bones. > Chapter 3 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ponyville was a simple little town on the surface. Now, that being said, it had still seen a large amount of strange happenings over the years ,so seeing a pair of ponies walk out of an alleyway where no one had been a moment earlier was not commented on. What WAS mentioned was the appearance of the ponies as one looked like they just came out of the war with Alpacastan. The other was carrying her companion and apologizing “I forgot to account for our size difference with the shadow portal. Are you okay, dear?” The smaller newcomer shivered for a bit before answering “Next time, I'm making the portal. Let's just get to the list. I'll be all right shortly.” The two were quite a sight around town. While triclops were not uncommon, seeing ponies with such a drastic size difference got people talking. A woman with pink fur and hair rushed off after seeing them at the speed of a bullet. The two took very little notice of this at the time, however, as they were wrapped up in finding the correct way to their first destination: Sweet Apple Acres. After briefly consulting their map, they arrived just in time to see an orange mare wearing a Stetson, plaid shirt and cut off jeans kicking a tree to knock the fruit down. She had strong glyphs and runes coating her body forming a sprawling apple tree design which was ruined by the eye-like shapes on the back of her hands. They waved to her after making sure she was not going to charge another tree. When Applejack saw the pair of mares approaching the farm, she at first thought it was a mother and daughter. When they arrived and she saw the actual size of them, however, she could only whistle at how tall the larger mare was. Even her brother Big Mac was short by comparison. The smaller of the pair looked young a first glance, but the suit she wore coupled with the calm, if slightly nervous, gaze made her pause. “Howdy, name's Applejack. What are you two doing here this fine day?” “W-we are here to check on the preparations for the C-celebration.” The smaller mare looked ready to try and hide “Sweet apple cider. It's like looking at a tiny Fluttershy” Applejack grabbed them both by the hand and pulled them over to the barn “let me introduce you to the Apple family." One meet and great brunch later Twilight groaned from her place on Moondancer's back “The food was great, but I ate too much pie.” Moondancer shook her head in exasperation “You ate a pile of pies that was as tall as you are. What did you think was going to happen? I'm amazed you haven't puked or exploded yet!”- They continued down the path back to town before curiosity got the best of Moondancer “Did you notice anything about the elder ponies in the family?” Moondancer could not shake the feeling that something had been, well, slightly off about those old mares. All of them had been hunched over with large noses and sunken eyes, and, for a brief moment when Granny Smith smiled, her teeth had gone from flat across the board to razor sharp. “They were hags if I'm not mistaken. I'm more surprised the population in town is as high as it is if one has been living here very long.” As they were contemplating this, a rainbow streak smacked into Moondancer (Who managed to maintain her balance with a bit of magic) with a sound not unlike that of a coconut being hit. “OW! What did I hit?”- Rainbow looked up to see a mare who had to be one of the tallest in the world giving her the evil eye. - “Sorry about that, You okay?” Moondancer felt her eye twitch before she sighed “Yeah, I'm fine. I take it you are Rainbow Dash, the one who is supposed to be keeping the sky clear?” Rainbow's face morphed into a scowl “Come on! I could do that in 10 seconds flat and I just got home from my last year in service.” Every citizen was expected to have basic training in the army to defend their home should the need arise. All ponies trained from 16 to 18 to join the army and only those with true mental or physical difficulties were exempt. 2 years of training, 3 years of service minimum. Based on her appearance, it would make sense that she just came home a short while ago. “Preposterous”- Rainbow's head jerked up at that to notice a trio of eyes staring at her from the large mares back. - “I don't care how skilled you are! No pony is fast enough to clear the sky in 10 seconds.” Rainbow just gained a cocky grin “Watch this.” -10 seconds later the sky was clear and Twilight needed a new jaw- “Hey. See you two later.” After resetting their jaws, the girls walked into the main hall to see a triclops in the middle of decorating with, a drake helping her? The mare was a pristine white with purple hair wearing a well tailored dress which looked perfect for day wear. Her third eye was bright blue. The drake was wearing a simple shirt and pants with no shoes to keep his claws free. He was purple with green scales on his head and, for once, Twilight found someone who was eye level with her. Before they could do more than get the pair's attention (much less introduce themselves), the mare took one look at Twilight and was crushing her in a hug gushing about how cute her outfit was. Quick as a flash, she had sped off to who knows were talking about outfits to increase the cute. The drake just sighed. Why was his boss/mother/sister so embarrassing? He turned to apologize to the other mare only to meep at the sight of her eyes glowing white her teeth sharpening to points and her aura going black. Moondancer picked the drake up by his shirt 'Tell me where she went now!” The drake stammered out the directions, before introducing himself as Spike and the well-dressed mare as Rarity. After that, he tried to ignore his life flashing before his eyes. He was also trying to ignore the town as they sped down to the boutique. Rarity had been brought back to reality by the shacking of the person she was carrying. She quickly sat the girl down and started to apologized, and hope that she could still get some modeling. When had they gotten to the boutique? “I'm sorry dear. You were just so cute I lost my head. I had planed to see if you would model some smaller clothing lines for me?” Twilight paused to regain control of her breathing and think. On the one hand, she had just been dragged across town by someone she did not know. On the other how many times had this happened in Canterlot over the past week, for the exact same reason (They had been turned down do to their attitudes)? At least this mare was polite about it once she calmed down. “I would not mind helping you. It would be nice to not have to re-size clothing all the time.” Before Rarity could get too excited, there was a crash and her door flew across the room she turned and saw her life flash before her eyes at the look of rage on the much larger mares face. She was about to start praying when the smaller mare walked over and booped the tower of muscle and magic on the nose, gaining her attention. “I was just about to get fitted for some new clothing. Any suggestions dear?” The change was instantaneous and Rarity and Spike both thanked the sun before helping their new customers and going over the decorations for the celebration. The girls left 2 hours later with a new wardrobe. Rarity had fainted after they left when she realized how much they had bought. They strolled up to the small cottage expecting to see a band practicing, not to hear a choir of birds from the back (though the choir of birds WAS very, VERY good). When the source of the song came into view the first thing they noticed was a mare who appeared to have faint glyphs on her body which resembled letters in many languages. They almost wrote her off as a budding omnilinguist till she started flouting. Moondancer stepped on something which made a loud noise the mare dropped to the ground spun around and after catching a glimpse of the of the size of one of her visitors fell over sideways. It took five minutes of coaching (and Moon sitting down) for Twilight to coax the mare out of her fear induced faux-coma. After properly introducing themselves and double checking that Fluttershy (as the mare was called) had all the songs ready for the celebration, they decided to check out the library for some peace and quiet before the big party. When they entered their pre-arranged temporary haven of peace and tranquility, they were immediately assaulted by noises bright colors and loud greetings. Who in their right mind would set up a party in a library? Then they noticed it. Standing in the center of the party with a grin too big for its face was a pink mare. The form may have been different but, even with how briefly they say it before, that smile was unmistakable. 'I'm not drunk enough to deal with this" Was Twilight's last thought as she entered what was her personal hell. Moondancer's thoughts can best be summed up as an unintelligible mass of growls and groans as she prepared to use all her self control to not cause somepony to need the hospital. It was going to be a long night. > Chapter 4 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight had managed to grab a seat and had not moved. She hated large parties. She had always hated them. She remembered crying during her first birthday party because she had not met the other members of the family yet and was afraid of them. The only one she had never been afraid of was Cadence. It was not until she met Moondancer that she finally remembered why. It's hard to be afraid of someone who you watched try to walk around with a crown too big for her head while wearing her blanket as a cloak. Twilight was still sorting through all her unlocked memories. They got fuzzy around the time the Crystal Heart was created so she was still trying to fill in some blanks. But one thing that was very clear was that grin. The grin of that cotton candy loving lunatic. The same grin that had been on the face of the pony who planed this party. Moon was mingling while keeping an eye on her king, or more accurately, her queen. The Nightmare was not very smart. It was a creature of instinct. Most of the plans had been Luna's back when they had merged. It had been summoned by the tree to find the remaining members of the dark tribes. These were the ponies cursed by the smooze back way before the arrival of the Windigos. The magic of the smooze was directly responsible for the current state of the world. Once the central mind was destroyed, the power and magic coated the world, mutating everything it came into contact with. Those who were cursed by it before this became many of the 'monsters' of modern day, including changeling and ghouls. Ghouls included all 3 tribes triclops, tenome, and ogres. Ghouls earned their name due to their indiscriminately carnivorous diet. Most of them, by this, point were dead due to paranoia, but a few small pocket remained soon they would return. Someone just had to make sure the Princess did not kill them when that day came. Pinkie looked around at everypony enjoying the party. It was like all her parties for the most part. A bit more subdued than she would like, but seeing how many others enjoyed her parties was a good enough reward to stop her from going all out again. That and Sunbutt was even more of a killjoy now then she had been back then. Hopefully, Crystal Head and Moonbutt 2.0 would be able to help bring her around. Which reminded Pinkie. She still needed to talk to those two. Rainbow was flitting around enjoying the games when she noticed the small triclops from earlier with a glass full of liquid rainbow! Who ever was cruel enough to try and prank someone like that was getting kicked in the pants when she found them (the worst she did was trick others into trying a taste of it; she never tried to get them to drink it.) "Careful that's really.."- She watched as Twilight chugged the glass. Her face never changing from the blank look it had gained at the start of the party-"spicy" She waited for the screaming, the freak out, the begging for water. She watched as the small mares face changed to every color. Not one sound came out of her until she burped a cloud of chromatic fire before getting up and walking to the snack table. Rainbow felt her eye twitching 'What the hell?" The only one she knew that could do that was Fluttershy and even SHE needed a glass of water the same size immediately afterwards! While Rainbow was working herself to a headache, Twilight's brain was screaming about a core meltdown. Once she reached the snack table, she checked around and summoned a handful of obsidian crystals before scarfing them to counteract the agonizing heat of what she just drank. She had wanted to try liquid rainbow since she first heard of it and she was never using it again! Several hours later, Pinkie finally manged to drag Twilight and Moondancer into another room during karaoke (no one asked how Vinyl managed to get a machine into the library). By snapping her fingers Pinkie summoned a table with three thrones. Two were jet black with different designs. Her chair, on the other hand, looked like it was pieced together by a drunk taxidermist. "So how are things for you two?" After checking the chairs for pranks, they sat down . Twilight spoke first "You are surprisingly calmer then I remember, Discord" "Oh call me Pinkie. Otherwise, I'll have to start calling you Sombra and I don't think you'll enjoy that. As for my behavior, well, growing up on a rock farm helped me learn how to gauge my audience better when it comes to parties." Nightmare twitched "Please don't tell me that the craziness you were causing was supposed to be a party?' "Okay. I won't. Besides, you figured it out on your own anyway." They decided to ignore that line of thought for the moment. Moondancer decided to try and get things on some form of track. "So, do you have a plan for when Celestia arrives in a few hours, Pinkie?" "Oh, I'll handle Celly, but if we want to get Lulu out, one of you two will need to keep Beardy busy. That won't be a problem, will it?" Twilight's eyes flashed green "I think I can manage old star brain. Moon, feel up to arranging the stars?" Moondancer huffed "Who exactly do you take me for? I am the fearsome Nightmare Moondancer! Nothing is beyond me. Plus, I remember the spells Luna used to move the stars and make the constellations." Pinkie clapped "Well now that we have that sorted, we need to look the part. Show me your game face, ladies." With a flash of energy they changed. Moondancer was decked out in a set of blue plate Amazonian style armor welding a scythe so black it made her fur look bright. Twilight was wearing thick plate mail reminiscent of a long dead dark lord who was obsessed with a ring. The only part of her which was visible was her third eye glowing like a dying star through a hole in her obsidian crown. In her hand was a crimson sword curved like the fang of an ancient dragon. Pinkie in contrast was dressed like a 19th century gentlestallion complete with gloves, top hat and cane. The only thing out of place was her eye searingly pink tailcoat. They were about to put on illusions and join the party when Pinkie started shaking before exploding like a balloon. She came down with a manic smile. "Well girls, I hope your ready, because I just felt the Princesses herself. That's right, the honorable Celestia Sol JUST entered town. In other words, It's show time."