A/N: Hello, readers!

So a new chapter for ES is up (Finally!)! It's been like...a year? Something? I dunno, I'm bad with time. I apologize for the long wait! Life is nuts, as usual, and I've been working on a lot of new projects (aka lame excuse for long chapter wait).

On another note, ES is almost done! We're almost there, just need the villain battle and "reveal" (some of you have probably guessed who it is already [looking at you, KoolKoopaGirl]), and some epilogue, stuff like that. Originally, this was going to be like, ten chapters. I made it to twelve; I guess that's an accomplishment? So don't be too surprised at the sudden ending.

Anyways, please enjoy the filler chapter and don't kill me over the wait/filler! Thanks to hirodachi, once again, for betaing! And, as always, read and review!


"NO! All of that hard work…WASTED! GONE! DOWN THE DRAIN!"

Mistress screamed in fury, lashing out in her blind anger. Minions squealed as they were caught in the blasts, and green flashes of light burst from the lair, nearly giving away the lair's position.

Mistress regained her senses slowly, inhaling and exhaling, her fists opening and closing. She should be more controlled than this. She was putting her minions in meaningless danger. That wouldn't help her.

But all of that toil she had done! She had waited and planned so carefully, placing her minions and herself in the hierarchy just so, delaying until she was able to strike…

And that pathetic Princess just had to show up.

Right when the plan had come to fruition!

She had the damnedest timing…Again, Mistress growled. She should have known that the brute would invite his sister. That whole fiasco was her fault.

She gazed around her new lair-after the Smash Ball had appeared in the duel, she had to move-analyzing the damage. Burn marks and green goo littered her home, as well as cowering minions. She inhaled calmingly, then began to repair the damage.

She had to take care of her minions. With this plan ruined, they were all she had left. Mistress squashed down another pang of homesickness. Weakness would not do now. Now, she had to make a stand.

She closed her eyes, engulfing herself in a green flame. Her body began to morph grotesquely, every defining feature about her warping. Her eyes changed color, wings sprouted from her back, her hair shortened and her skin changed.

"I am going to get the Element of Magic back. I will return soon." She turned on her heel and left, scaling the ladder and emerging onto the Mansion grounds.


The aftermath of the duel had been…exciting, to say the least.

Twilight had returned, triumphant, shiny crown still fresh upon her head. She expected to be hounded by her friends and asked many questions, but instead, the waiting room was utter chaos.

All of the Smashers present were crowded below a fallen ceiling tile, which had a ladder propped up onto the edge, leading into the crawlspace between the ceiling and the second floor. Her friends appeared to be in the middle of the mess.

She walked up to the closest Smasher, a small orb dressed in a mask and cape called Meta Knight.

"What's going on? Did the ceiling fall in?" she enquired.

The dark knight shrugged. "We were all sitting when Marth suddenly fell through the ceiling. It happened a few seconds ago. Everyone panicked, really. Link started screaming for a ladder, so Red went and got one for him, and he went up into the crawlspace to investigate. The rest went to go gawk at Marth." He glanced up at her. "Hey, where'd you get that crown?"

She reached up and lightly touched the jewelry on her head. "Um…It's mine from Equestria…I got a Smash Ball, and it appeared." She glanced at him curiously. "Did you not see that?"

Meta Knight looked stunned. "A Smash Ball appeared? That's not supposed to happen!" Twilight nodded in agreement. Meta Knight went on. "We missed the last part of the fight because of Marth. And the items that people receive aren't supposed to stay…"

Twilight sighed. "It's very weird, I know. Master Hand said it was okay for me to take the Smash Ball, though…or at least it looked like that."

"He might have been in shock though," Meta Knight countered. Twilight gulped, eyes going wide. Well, she might be in huge amounts of trouble later. What an exciting prospect.

Link suddenly popped his head out of the dark crawlspace. He blinked a few times, then screamed, "OI! INJURED MAN NEEDS SPACE! MOVE!"

The rate at which the crowd dispersed was astonishing. The room cleared even faster than ponies were able to panic back in Ponyville. Twilight glanced around, surprised, before walking forward towards Marth.

Zelda was applying a bit of first-aid magic to Marth's nose. Ike was staring at Marth, looking like someone whose dog had just died. Link was climbing down the rickety ladder, which was swaying dangerously under his weight.

Marth looked like a horror movie victim. Blood was crusted on his face and around his nose, and it was slightly out of alignment, evidence of a major breakage. He was unconscious, and had dark circles under his eyes, and was twitching slightly.

Twilight was stunned. "What…happened?"

Ike returned to reality, and looked at her. "We don't know…"

Link plopped down on the floor. "There's evidence of a fight up there." He hoisted a metal pipe up, which was slightly bloodied. "I think this was the weapon used to break Marth's nose. There's also a control panel up there. It controls all of the items that appear in the brawls, it seems."

The others gasped. It was generally assumed that the items appeared out of nowhere, and nobody had bothered to check, and so this assumption became common fact. To hear it was actually controlled was astonishing.

Twilight inspected the pipe. "So, a fight broke out up there?"

Link nodded. "That's what my check tells me. If you want you can go up there and check it out."

Twilight glanced at the thin ladder. "…No thanks, I'll leave that to your good judgement."

"Guys, he's waking up," Zelda said, her voice a little shrill. Everyone crowded around, attempting to grab a good hunk of minimal space, looking eagerly at Marth. He stirred, then blinked his eyes open. Everyone leaned in further.

"Hey, gimme some space here," he moaned, glaring at the spectators. "I need room to breathe."

Everyone shuffled away, but barraged him with questions.

"What happened?"

"Are you okay?"

"Who was your attacker?"

Marth rubbed his head, wincing in pain. "I don't know! Just hold on," he snapped. He then rubbed his face, smudging the blood, and coming away with bloody hands. "Good Gods…" Zelda passed him a handkerchief, and he snatched it and began attempting to clean himself up.

Link flopped down on the floor. "So, you're okay. Now, spill. What's the story? You were attacked, right?" Ike joined the two Hylians on the floor, and gestured Twilight to do the same.

Marth glared at Link, then continued to dab gently at his nose. "I don't really know. I heard a noise from the ceiling, and I went to investigate it, to see if it was Pit. I heard a voice say it was him, and that he was stuck under some wiring, or something. Then something attacked me. I dunno what, though. It was dark and the figure was dark. If it was Pit, I'm totally gonna whup on his ass the minute I see him next. It called me 'dinner', and tried to eat me, but I fought it. It slammed me into the control panel and turned it on, then it opened its mouth and I blacked out. That's it, all I know, alright?"

Twilight was taken aback at Marth's harsh tone and his inelegant language. Usually he conducted himself with poise fitting of his status, as he put it, but now he was lashing out. Twilight gave Marth a long once-over, noticing a lot of similarities between him and when Link was attacked. His eyes were tired, he kept rubbing his head as if he had a headache, his bad attitude…

"I think you were attacked by Mistress," Twilight stated. Everyone turned to stare at her, then turned back to look over Marth again. Marth looked indignant.

"What makes you think that," he retorted, glaring at everyone.

Twilight sighed. "You have all of the signs. The headache, the dark circles under your eyes-"

Marth snarled at her. "Oh, and you're so knowledgeable about this, aren't you, with your little pony princess powers, aren't you?"

A chorus of gasps sounded, and Link smacked Marth over the head.

"Idiot," the Hylian warrior hissed. Marth merely scowled at him, massaging the smacked area.

Twilight sat ramrod straight, shocked beyond belief. They knew? she thought. But…how? I didn't give anything away, did I? Everyone was giving her apologetic looks, with the exception of Marth, who was quietly sulking.

"You…knew?" she whispered.

Ike gave an apologetic shrug. "Only recently. Sorry we didn't tell you…"

"We figured you would rather keep it entirely hidden," Zelda added, "so we didn't say anything."

Twilight blinked. "How…?"

"Multiple pieces of evidence," Zelda said. "My Link has a very good nose, you know, from his time as a wolf."

Link tapped said appendage. "I smelled something familiar about you from the get-go, it just took me awhile to realize it was similar to Epona's smell."

"And then," Ike added, "well, you might have something to discuss with Master Hand later…" He gestured at Zelda, who had brought out a book, one, Twilight recognized, that was the Smasher's information about Equestria.

Zelda flipped it open, searching for a specific page, then handed it over to Twilight. She inhaled quietly, realizing it was her own information page. It had a brightly-colored picture of her original pony form, and indeed even listed her as an alicorn. She felt a tiny glimmer of anger appear, but it quickly extinguished. Master Hand didn't know she was keeping her pony origins a secret.

She sighed. "And…it's no big deal?" she asked tentatively.

"Well, of course not," Link said. "We've seen a lot weirder things than a transforming pony princess." Twilight nodded, feeling rather silly now. Of course they would have seen weirder things. Pink puffballs, a man who can transform into a giant pig, a bipedal hedgehog…

"But we are a little miffed that you didn't tell us," Link continued.

Twilight bowed her head. "I'm sorry, I just didn't think it would go over well…" Zelda patted her on the back in a comforting manner.

Marth let out an irritated snort. "Okay, let's skip the lovey-dovey crap." Everyone frowned at him, then turned back to Twilight, giving the irritated prince the cold shoulder.

"So, Mistress?" Ike asked.

Twilight nodded. "When Link was attacked, he was irritable, had dark circles and frequent headaches. Marth…well…" Everyone glanced at the blunette, who shot them a rude gesture, then back at each other. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Unfortunately, Mistress has long since cleared out," Link stated. "The crawlspace was absolutely deserted, except for cockroaches and rats and other sorts of icky things." He made a face.

Twilight hmmed, but didn't have a chance to collect her thoughts before Ike pointed out her new headgear.

"Hey, what's this?" he asked, pointing at the crown.

"Oh," Twilight responded, "It's my crown, the Element of Magic." She related the events of her duel to them.

Everyone, of course, was shocked. They responded with many questions and exclamations relating to how that had happened and how impossible it was. Link told them about how the control panel was active, and that Marth's brawl may have been the cause of its activation.

Everyone was stunned by this new turn of events. On the one hand, Twilight was able to go home now. She had accomplished her mission. She had her crown back. She could see her friends, Princess Celestia, everyone dear to her back in Equestria again.

On the other…she couldn't just leave her Smasher friends to Mistress. As much as she would like to, she couldn't wash her hooves of this matter and go home yet.

This mystery had only gotten scarier. People were being attacked in (mostly) broad daylight, brawls were being tampered with (even if accidentally), people were actually missing… Twilight missed Ponyville. Things were so much easier there, and certainly more peaceful. The last mystery she had to solve was the Marzipan Meringue Madness...or some cake nicknamed "MMMMMMMM."

She let out a sigh. "Well, this isn't going to solve itself," she said, attempting to boost her worn spirits. "Let's go out and search for Mistress. What signs do you think we should look for?"

"Oh, I know exactly what clues to look for," a voice snarled behind her.

Pit stood in an aggressive stance, glaring threateningly at the blue-eyed group. His eyes flashed green, and he snarled at Twilight.

"You." Pit advanced towards the stupefied group. "You little wretch. You ruined all of my work. You made me a laughingstock in front of my subjects. And this isn't even the first time." He hissed at her, then extended his hand, eyes on her crown.

"Give me your Element, Twilight Sparkle, and I just may let you live."