Flurry sat in her room, trying to dry away the latest wellspring of tears that had sprung from somewhere deep within her. When she had returned home, her parents had been absolutely enraged at what she had done. They couldn't believe that the daughter they had brought up to be respectful, obedient, and courteous in all things had committed such a deception. They had immediately banned her from attending the Summer Sun Celebration in Manehattan and grounded her for three weeks after that.

She thought she had ever seen her father that angry before. He had actually frightened her a bit, and she had shrunk away from him, much like Sunlight did with Flash. Her backside still hurt from the spanking she had been given. But the punishment had done its due diligence. She had learned her lesson very well. She swore up and down she would never sneak off and investigate anything after her parents or aunt and uncle told her not to ever again.

She was also banned from watching television, so she had to sit in her room alone while her parents and friends enjoyed the Summer Sun Celebration broadcast. This she found to be a little unfair. I mean, for crying out loud! I've already been spanked, grounded, and banned from attending the celebration in Manehattan! What else do they wanna do to me?! The filly felt like she was missing out on a lot of fun things, and she couldn't help but blame her parents just a little bit for it.

Suddenly, as she was sitting there thinking, her door burst open. She turned suddenly and dodged another small pony's body. Whoever it was nearly knocked Flurry over, and the filly yelped in protest. "Hey!" She said, "who in the world do you think you are?! I'll have you know this is a private residence!"

She turned back to face her intruder, and her face broke into a huge smile as she recognized Sunlight. "Sunlight!" She said in excitement as she raced over to help her cousin to her hooves. The two embraced, happy to be back with each other for the time being. "What the hay are you doing here?!" Flurry asked.

"Good, you haven't been watching television," Sunlight said.

"Um…it's good to see you too," Flurry said in bewilderment. Normally, Sunlight would greet her in a cheery way, not cryptically and darkly.

"Look, it's wonderful to see you, but we have to go! We have to get to Canterlot!"

"Canterlot?! Why do we need to go to Canterlot?!"

"Come with me," was all Sunlight said as she led Flurry out of her room and down the steps of the Crystal Castle. They maneuvered their way into the throne room, where Cadance and Shining Armor were having their own party to watch Celestia raise the sun. The fillies ducked in and hid behind Flurry's father's throne.

"Now," Sunlight whispered, "I want you to look out at your parents, and ONLY at your parents. Do NOT look at the TV screen, no matter what you do!"

So Flurry cautiously peered out from behind the throne and saw that her parents and the rest of their guests were staring at the screen. Their eyes had turned green, and the color seemed to be completely gone from their coats. Drool hung loosely from the lips of more than a few ponies, and they seemed to be in a complete trance. Their mouths were half open, almost in a silent plea for help from somepony who never seemed to arrive.

Flurry was scared to death and she turned back to her cousin. "What…the…heck?"

Sunlight nodded in understanding. "I know. Frightening, isn't it? I couldn't believe it myself, but the television screens down in Trotdale were doing the same thing."

"Trotdale?"

"The Friendship Express had to make a small stop there while I was coming up here. One of the brakes wasn't working right and they had to fix it. While we were there, I ran around town and looked at all the televisions that were broadcasting The Summer Sun Celebration. I noticed a pattern between the broadcasts and the ponies who were in a trance. Sunlight…it's Midnight."

"WHAT?!" Flurry yelled before Sunlight snapped her mouth shut. "Listen! They're all under Midnight's control! She's feeding them fear, and that's what's keeping them entranced. We have to get to Canterlot and stop her!"

"But…how?" Flurry asked as her voice returned to a whisper. Sunlight proceeded to tell her the entire story, and how Midnight had ripped the sun away from Celestia and basically taken over Equestria.

Flurry's mouth fell open. "So…she was resurrected," she said, "and if that's the case, then…"

"…then Equestria is in grave danger," Sunlight said seriously.

"So that's why you want to go to Canterlot."

"It's not why I want to go there, it's why we NEED to get there," Sunlight said, "I think I've figured out Midnight's plan. Look, she's not building an army. She's simply trying to gain control of seven ponies."

"The princesses of Equestria!"

Sunlight nodded. "You, me, Mommy, Celestia, Luna, Aunt Cadance, and Aunt Starlight."

"And if she has them…oh, my Celestia, the damage she could cause! Come on! We've gotta get to Canterlot!"

Sunlight smiled, grateful to have her cousin by her side once again. Their bond had been strained by the recent deception and punishment, but now they would have to put that aside and save the nation. Midnight's wrath knew no bounds, and she would slaughter ponies without question. Even now, the blood of the innocent might be running rampant through the streets of both Manehattan and Canterlot.

So the fillies turned and ran from the castle. "Come on," Sunlight said, "we have to get to the Friendship Express!"

"Who said anything about that slow train?" Flurry asked with a wink, "we're taking the bullet train!" Sunlight nodded as she realized that her cousin's plan would get them to Canterlot much more efficiently than her own.

So they ran towards the Crystal Express and hopped on board. Flurry unfurled her wings and ordered the conductor to take them to Canterlot at top speed. The other pony bowed to her in respect and commanded the engineer to do so. So they flew away from Canterlot at break neck speed. But even at that enormous pace, it would still take an hour or so to get there. That hour was a precious one, and the fillies spent it strategizing.

"We can't waste a second when we get there," Flurry said. Then, she realized something. "Hey, wait a minute…how the heck do you know Midnight's even in Canterlot?"

"Because I was able to get a look at a TV set when Midnight's eyes weren't glaring into the camera. I recognized the surroundings. She was in Celestia and Luna's throne room, and she had our friends there as her slaves!"

Flurry nodded as the seriousness of the situation sunk in even more. "OK," she said, "I'm thinking we do this as quietly as possible."

Sunlight nodded in return. "I agree. Look, I know that castle inside and out. Celestia once gave me a private tour of it. There's air ducts we can crawl through that go right over the throne room. We're both just the right size!"

"Yeah, and then we drop in on Midnight and take her by surprise!"

"But we can't forget about…Iron Wing." Here Sunlight stopped and retched a bit at the memory of Iron Wing and Midnight's small public display of obnoxious affection. "Are you OK?" Flurry asked. Midnight nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. They were just making out excessively while I was there. But, putting that to the side, we still can't forget about him. He'll be doing everything to keep Midnight alive. She feeds his ego, and he loves it."

"Remind me, whenever I get a stallion, to not get one with an ego to feed," Flurry said. Sunlight laughed. "Yeah, that goes double for me…But maybe we can use his enormous ego to our advantage! If one of us goes in disguised as an Iron Wing fan, he won't be able to help strutting and showboating a bit."

"But what about the air ducts?"

"That'll be a solo pony mission. Listen, I'll handle the air ducts if you handle Iron Wing."

"But why do I have to handle him?"

"He'd recognize me in an instant! You may be a princess of Equestria, but you're also somepony he and Midnight haven't been around too much."

"But what if they were hiding in plain sight in Ponyville all the time I was there?"

Sunlight stopped short as she realized Flurry was right. They could've been hiding within the massive crowds that Ponyville had at that time of year. All they had to do was remain well blended into the mass of ponies, and they could escape visual contact. Hay cakes and horse feathers! She said internally, now, what'll we do?

Then she started a bit and turned to Flurry. "Yes…yes…YES!" She suddenly squeaked.

"What?! What is it?!" Flurry asked

"The spell Mommy was teaching me before the celebration! Dissimula Tempus! We can use it!"

"Dissimula Tempus…wait, that's Old Pony for Temporary Disguise! Do you really think it could work?!"

"Of course! Here, let me try it on you."

"OK…" Flurry said nervously. As much as she loved and trusted her cousin, she knew that Sunlight wasn't exactly an expert when it came to firing magic blasts. "Be careful," she said, "I don't wanna end up in a permanent disguise."

Sunlight nodded and fired up her small horn. She blasted Flurry and turned her from a nice young filly, into a rather fetching young mare. She had retained her blue eyes, but her mane was now blonde and her coat was a light gold. "There!" Sunlight said triumphantly, "I've disguised you as…my mommy's friend from the human world, Sunset Shimmer!"