It was a lovely, sunny day in Ponyville, and Twilight was extremely, incredibly bored. The sheer fact that the most interesting thing about her day was the [i]weather[/i] certainly underlined just how uneventful things were. She actually would have welcomed a monster attack or friendship problem, but when she mentioned that to Spike, he gave her a worried look and mumbled something about a want-it-need-it spell. Thankfully, that’s when her doorbell rung. But instead of a pony, what she found waiting outside was a package. A plain brown package, with no name or address, and no sign of the deliveryman. Twilight knew then that she was going solve the mystery of this package, no matter what. Ponies stared at her package she ran through Canterlot. The added weight made movement awkward and clumsy, and Twilight was constantly distracted by the thought of releasing its contents. She knew that it was just the addictive lure of dopamine between her neurons, anticipating a reward... but that didn't make it any easier for her to resist her curiosity. Protected by only a thin outer layer, her package might react explosively to the touch of her hooves, much less enveloping it in her magic. It would ruin everything if she spilled its secret [i]now[/i]. She thrust into the castle's throne room, penetrating past the flank of the royal guards, and boldly stuck the package in Princess Luna's face. "Please, Princess Luna, I need you to take me to the moon, right now," said Twilight. "The moon? At this time of month?" The princess seemed perplexed. "Twilight, thou of all ponies should know that a new moon means it's simply not there at all." "Of course I know that. That's something every schoolfilly learns in basic astronomy lessons," Twilight lied. Whatever was going on here went all the way to the top, and now was not the time to tip her hoof early. "And while I'd love to talk about this more, I just remembered that, uh-- Mayor Mare needed me to sign off on some zoning paperwork!" Twilight gave a nervous and very convincing grin. "Very important paperwork, how terribly unlike me to have forgotten this deadline. I really have to be going!" Spreading her wings, she took off at top speed without sparing a glance at the results of her deception. [i]There's only one mare I can trust to help me solve this mystery[/i], Twilight thought as she flew, [i]and I know just where to find her.[/i] It was night when Twilight Sparkle landed outside of the Temple of… something. She had found the note in Daring Do’s cottage, and even though her hoofwriting was terrible, Twilight only knew of one nearby temple full of traps and snakes and treasures. Sure enough, there were signs that someone had recently arrived. Poison darts lying around the hallways, a giant boulder already crashed through one set of walls, the usual. It was simple for Twilight to make her way to the vault at the very center, though who she found there left her speechless. Sitting on a ruby-incrusted throne and chewing on a cinnamon stick, Twist shot the princess a devilish smirk. “Well, the falth god finally thows. Are you ready for war? Or are you ath much of a coward ath your prethiouth Princeth Thelethtia?” Twilight took a deep breath as the monstrosity that was once Twist―now Princess Twist, Alicorn of Abandonment―addressed her. "Twist," she said, "this isn't you. You're corrupted by the Alicorn Amulet." Twilight pointed at her. "I need you to take that off so that things can go back to normal." "Oh, no, absolutely not," Starlight replied as she sauntered ever closer. "After all, it just has you paralyzed oh so, so very well, doesn't it? You can hardly move a muscle!" Twilight ground her teeth, and whispered, "You planned for this from the beginning, didn't you?" "I knew the moment I took your hoof we would end up here," Starlight chuckled, "And now, Princess Twilight Sparkle, I have you just where I want you. Don't bother trying to scream. Or do. It doesn't matter. Nopony will hear.” One last smile. Starlight had won. Twilight...was hers. Helplessly, utterly, completely...hers. “And now… what’s in this package.” Starlight’s magic reacted with the box causing it to collapse inwards. Everything disappeared, first Twilight and Starlight, then Princess Twist. The last words the universe heard were “Oh ” [b]( Author's Note: In case it's not obvious, Twist is included for anagnorisis.)