Being principal of a school was tough. You were looked up to by teachers and students, but looked down on by the board of schools. You had to make sure that the students got good grades so that you wouldn't be looked down upon by the board. And of course, she got worried when the school's top student, Jackie Hollings, wasn't coming in for school. She tried to contact her brother, but he didn't answer his phone, and he wasn't coming to his classes either. When she went to his dorm, all she heard was sobbing.

The only two of the Elements that were showing up were Charlie and Mary. Now, she had overheard from some other students that they had went on a date. And before the lodge trip, they seemed happy. But she noticed them not sitting together, and even arguing. Could a bump in a relationship really do that to people?

Her mind flooded with thoughts as she went to bed. She had seen relationships turn sour, and sometimes it was out of her control. But, she knew that sometimes, they just had to realize what was important in the relationship, even if it was just friendship. How would they get these four friends to realize it was important? NO! she thought. I can't use my magic; I can't reveal myself now…

"Thought you could hide from me, Cadence?"

"How…how do you know my name? Wait…that voice… No, it can't be! F-For you to be here would mean you crossed through the gate!"

"You obviously forget that chaos knows no bounds."

"But…why are you here? Don't you have a country to lead?"

"Yes, you did too; The Crystal Empire, to be precise. Then, your ancestors left it for the longest time. They fled when King Sombra was still in power. I remember teaching him a few tricks, specifically the corruption spell. Oh, he did miracles with that charm. Then you came back, a thousand years later, and returned with your husband to what was rightfully yours. And then…you left out of fear."

"It was not fear, Discord! It was so I could locate the extra Elements, and the carriers of the True Wings needed to reseal you to stone. That is not of fear; that is of hope that they have arrived."

"So why did you leave your husband then? He's powerless without an allicorn like you…. You haven't seen the things I've done to him, have you?"

"Stop! You foul tempter! You probably haven't touched an appendage into the Crystal Empire since its return."

"And miss up the chance to play with the brother of Twilight Sparkle? Don't make me laugh, Cadence."

"If you lay ONE CLAW to his head…."

"Ah-ah-ah. I wouldn't use that magic if I were you. It's a slow process, but if you do, you and the others that have been enchanted will slowly show that they aren't human. You wouldn't want to do that, would you?"

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!"

"Watch me."

Mrs. Romore tried to jump on whatever she could identify as Discord in the shadows of her nightmare, but in reality, she just fell out of bed. She groaned and got up, but didn't go back to bed. Instead, she walked over to a full-body mirror she had in her bedroom. She didn't look at it often, usually when she was putting on new clothing or needed to look at something she felt but couldn't see.

It was the latter in this case, and she looked into the mirror to see her golden hair was stained. She squinted to see the colors; they were pink and purple. She sighed, and thought, Discord started the changes already. I need to find those kids, and change them back. If I can't beat these changes… She used her magic, for what felt like forever, to bring her clothes to herself. I might as well embrace them.

It was the start of the weekend, and the school grounds of PerryAcademy were filled with the hustle and bustle of students just…hanging out. Some had AP courses over the weekend that they went to. The hoodlums of the school grounds usually filled the classes with pranks, but they were disarmed once the AP classes came in.

No one usually saw the principal there on the weekend, but this was an exception. She had business with her most trusted students, and right now, she only had one she wanted to talk to the most: Charlie Williams. Last she had heard of him, he was failing all his most recent assignments. She came to his dorm room only to find him laying on the bed, and he replied with a groan.

"Principal Romore…." he said, not even bothering to look at her. "I know what you're here about. And…" The principal noticed he started to tear up. "I…I'm so sorry I let you down. I…I don't deserve your forgiveness."

"You haven't let me down yet," she insisted.

"Wh….what?" She noticed a certain gleam in his eyes, one she hadn't seen in almost a week. She smiled at it. "The only way you could possibly let me down is if you don't help me rescue your friends right now."

"I…I don't think I can do that. I-I've let you down too many times now."

"Oh, come now, Charlie, when have you ever let me down?" She placed an arm on his shoulder and forced his brain to remember the good times. She usually used this on lovers to help them remember their good times, but…it could work for them too. She let out a silent gasp as she saw that his color had been restored.

"Pr-Principal Romore, what happened?" Charlie got up and noticed his hair in a nearby mirror. "Is my hair auburn? And is that green? Romore, what's happening to my hair?" She placed a hand on his shoulder and replied, "Our identity has been blown. We are slowly changing back to our natural forms. And I need your help."

Jackie was on the road; she had lent her brother's car, even though she hadn't heard from him in a week. Her "friends" had convinced her to borrow it. The road was open and there wasn't a car in sight. Until…the driver, Frankie, a rather rowdy senior, noticed in the left mirror a purple car gaining.

Principal Romore and Charlie were able to get right next to the car, considering it was just a country road and not a busy highway. Both opened-top cars were right next to each-other, and Charlie was able to shout, "Get in, loser! I've always wanted to say that…."

"Charlie!" Frankie exclaimed. "You want me to kill myself and the passengers?!"

"No, no, not you!" The car slowed down a little so Charlie, who was in shotgun, could talk to the back left passenger who wasn't wearing a seatbelt. "We need her."

"Fine. Pull her out. She isn't wearing a seatbelt!" The brunette in Romore's car nodded, and pulled the redhead in the back out. As Frankie's car drove off, Principal Romore pulled her car to the side of the road. Jackie, who was squirming horribly in the seat that Charlie and she were both in, yelled, "Hey! Let go of me! Why would you two do this to me?! Those were my friends back there!"

"'Friends'?" Charlie questioned. "What in the world has willed you to think those jokers are your friends?"

"The gray spell," Romore interrupted. "It's affected her in the most confusing case I've ever seen. She seems….naive, but doesn't trust her friends."

"That's because you think I'm stupid!" the redhead exclaimed, not understanding anything but the last sentence. "I thought you would like that I would care about you more, but you seemed….weirded-out by how much I cared."

"Jackie, you shouldn't pretend, or even try to be dumb if you think it's going to get you friends. It really isn't." Cadence then used her magic again to make Jackie remember all the times she had helped out her friends using her smarts, mostly her brother. Her colors were restored….and a little bit more.

"Romore, what…" She noticed her tousle with Charlie and put her arms around him. "I'm so sorry! I never saw Discord coming! I…I thought he was just a myth!" Charlie sighed, "We all didn't prepare for this. And now…things are getting worse."

"What do you me-!" She then noticed something strange about the strand of hair in her face. "Is my hair purple?" Cadence told them, turning the car around, "Charlie, tell her on the way. We've got her brother to fix next."

To say Joey felt miserable was an understatement. He was devastated. He had taken a long personal leave for the week, but he could still feel the grief. How could he ever let his sister down? He wasn't there when he needed her. It was late at night on Saturday, and even though it was just a week, it felt like years. He had confined himself to the room, living off anything he had stored there.

Principal Romore was nervous to come in. She didn't want to make a corrupted Element of Strength even more on edge than she knew he would be. She looked to Jackie, and nodded. Jackie nodded back, and went into the room. Joey saw her immediately, and jumped back.

"N-No, it can't be…" he whimpered. "Y-You were confirmed dead!" She sighed, hoping he would listen to reason. "Joey, I am here. That man lied to you, and I'm here. Don't worry, I'm here now."

"No, you're not, b-because…" She then saw something that she had never seen Joey do before; he was crying. "I wasn't there for you!" He didn't seem to stop crying when Jackie placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Joey, I know you can't be strong all the time…but I do know this. You have friends who care about you. I care about you, and for all the times that you can't be strong…I'll be the best sister I can be. I'll….I'll be there for you!" Even though she was well-aware of his corrupted state, she hugged him. She looked at him, and smiled. She was glad that Romore wouldn't have to use the memory spell on him, because his colors were back.

The principal heard silence, and looked through the door. Jackie noticed this and nodded in order to tell them to come in. Charlie and Cadence both joined the hug. Joey opened his eyes and asked, "What are you guys doing here? Where's Mary? Is she okay?" Principal Romore sighed, "That's what we need your help on…"

Romore ran out of Mary's dorm, her hair frazzled and an expression of shock and awe on her face. She panted, a bit out of breath from the running, "She….she's lost all sense of sanity…all she says is the screams of the mantra… 'I can't trust you'….over and over…."

"Well, I'm not giving up my dorm!" Jackie exclaimed, going over to the door, but Romore put her hand over it.

"The only hope for her now is someone to love her."

"I'm her friend. Of course I love her."

"Um, not like that," Joey interrupted. They then soon all looked to Charlie, and he stared at them in confusion. I mean, it was obvious he had a growing crush on her, but that couldn't be true love, could it? The brunette, figuring it was worth a shot, decided to go in.

The principal and the two siblings all leaned against the door, trying to hear as many sounds as they could. Like before, Romore could hear Mary throwing things at Charlie. Joey gave a small grin when he heard a ball being thrown, but a reply of, "Good arm." Jackie heard animal-like growls and pants to confirm the principal's claims of Mary's crazy behavior.

Eventually, minutes turned into hours. The sun was setting when they had returned from Jackie's little road trip, and when Joey had been restored, the moon was just coming up. This meant that they would have to wait through the night for Charlie to come out. The three had fallen asleep in the hallway, and it wasn't until midnight that they heard a growl of pain. It alerted them of something, and they all sprang up into Mary's dorm.

The place was trashed; it looked like a wild animal had come through and decided to claw up everything. Two people stood in a corner near the door: Charlie, who was crouched on the ground and looked exasperated, and Mary, who was passed out and her color had finally restored. Cadence had to know. "How did you do it?"

"I tried my best to keep calm with her," Charlie explained. "I didn't say anything to try and reason with her, and waited until she stopped throwing stuff. Then, I…um….well, she fainted from exhaustion. I was tired too, and decided it was then to give her true love's kiss. I can't believe it worked."

The four all decided they were too tired to go home, and since Jackie lived there, they decided to stay over there for the night. Joey and Charlie shared the bottom bunk and Romore took the top. Jackie slept on the desk chair, and figured she'd help Mary clean up her mess in the morning.

The night quickly passed, and a collected Mary found her room trashed. Having no memory of what happened to her, she didn't want to jump to conclusions and figure it was all Jackie's fault. She cleaned up the place as much as she could, and decided to leave a note for the others when they awoke.

Guys, I don't know what happened here, but I feel as if I should apologize to all of you for what happened in these past few days. And…I think I remember Charlie kissing me? Anyway, I thank you for that, Charlie. You really are a good kisser.