Prologue - The Day Before Tomorrow

In the majestic Canterlot Castle, Princess Twilight Sparkle, ruler of Equestria, entered with a step befitting royalty into an exclusive room intended only for her and a select group of ponies. This room, possibly the coziest and most comfortable in the entire kingdom, was permeated with a delicate lavender scent that mixed in the air with the gentle evening breeze coming through one of the open windows. The temperature was perfect, and the room was illuminated by the warm and comforting light of a lit fireplace.

Twilight slowly advanced through the room, leaving behind her noble demeanor. With each step, she shed the adornments befitting her princess status. Her dress magically slid to the side, the brooches that held it in place gently fell onto the carpet, and her hoof protectors rolled until they collided with some piece of furniture in the room. She took particular care when placing her crown on a specially designed bust for that purpose.

Finally, without any distinguishing accessories, she leaped onto the plush sofa located at one end of the room, using her wings to descend gracefully like a feather.

The contact of her body with the furniture was perfectly silent. She remained in silence for a few minutes. Slowly, Twilight stretched her body, pressing it against the sofa, seeking to feel the coolness against her fur.

Twilight was exhausted.

The Festival of the Two Sisters was scheduled for the next day, and she had been busy attending to requests all day. Not just that day, but throughout the week, she had been overwhelmed with her royal duties. She had to oversee the closing of Equestria's fiscal year, attend the awards ceremony at the School of Friendship, participate in the degree awarding ceremony at the School of Magic, and many other matters that required her personal attention. In short, it had been an exhausting week.

She was an alicorn, and, more importantly, a pony who knew how to organize herself. She had the time and planning experience required to handle her daily responsibilities. However, there were days like this when she felt like she had aged centuries since her coronation. She was aware that only three years had passed. Still, when she was alone and reflected on those years filled with intense work and responsibilities, she couldn't help but feel a fleeting and childish sense of frustration.

Twilight struck the sofa with her hoof, a strong blow, and then repeated it about four more times. After a moment, she stood up and briefly examined it to make sure she hadn't damaged it. Confirming that it was in perfect condition, she fell heavily onto it.

The plush sofa resisted her hooves like no other sofa in Equestria could have. She had acquired it following the advice of a good friend. At first, Twilight thought the cost of that piece of furniture was scandalous, but so far, it had been worth every coin she had paid.

That was the famous super fluffy and soft sofa recommended by Rarity, in her words, "fit for a princess's 'royal' rest," and it had received Rainbow Dash's special approval. Of course, the "special approval" involved Rainbow Dash using it first and then refusing to leave it because of how comfortable it was. They even had to use magic to get her out of there.

Twilight smiled as she reminisced about those times and scanned the rest of the room. There were other familiar and cherished objects there, like Pinkie Pie's mini automatic candy machine. It always managed to provide her with the perfect flavor to perk up on the heaviest of days.

There was also Fluttershy's library of relaxation books. Whenever she had trouble falling asleep, Twilight would immerse herself in one at random, but she had never managed to finish one, as she would fall asleep instantly after reading the first page.

Lastly, there was Applejack's standing coat rack, which, oddly enough, was the item she had used the most. Not to hang dresses or royal attire but as a genuine "idea tree" or "thought rack," where she hung all her ideas and thoughts when she needed to solve a complex problem.

All these objects were gifts from her friends, and they brought back fond memories of shared moments. They would be reuniting tomorrow, but Twilight knew there was still work to be done. Despite her tiredness, she felt she had enough energy to finish it.

Someone knocked on the door with a light tap.

"Twilight, are you in there already? I've got the documents you asked for," Spike said from behind the door.

"Yes, Spike, just a moment," Twilight straightened her posture to appear more regal, using her magic to tidy up her royal attire that was scattered around the room. Finally, she opened the door, and a stack of scrolls entered with Spike underneath them.

"All right, here are all the scrolls. Wow, they're lighter than last year," Spike said sarcastically as he dropped them in the center of the table.

"Yes, this year we've resolved many issues. But look on the bright side, next year you'll have less weight to carry," Twilight replied as she began picking up some scrolls that had fallen to the floor with her magic.

"I'm just worried it might be more than we can handle," Spike said with concern.

Twilight didn't respond and began organizing the scrolls by the color of their labels. Each one of them was a summary of some matter, problem, or event that had been tagged as "observed" over the course of the year. Unfortunately, some of them were from the previous year.

The scroll colors ranged in four shades representing the reason for their tagging: green for opportunities, blue for strengths, orange for weaknesses, and red for threats.

This was a basic management exercise that needed to be done as it would be the prelude to the annual analysis she would conduct after the holidays.

Twilight used her magic to bring the "thought rack" closer and pulled out a clean set of notecards. She was ready to start with the green topics and finish with the red ones.

"Spike, fetch some pudding and chocolate, please?" Twilight requested.

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A couple of hours had passed, and Twilight had finally finished reviewing the second-to-last scroll and closing her notes. As she looked around, she noticed an empty plate with pudding crumbs on the table. Spike had been quite helpful at first, making suggestions and organizing the notes on the "thought rack." But now, he was comfortably seated on a sofa, sipping hot chocolate while reading a voluminous book with a golden frame.

Twilight's curiosity was piqued by the book Spike was reading. "What are you reading, Spike?"

"Mmm, it's A.K. Yearling's latest book, 'Daring Do and the Unfinished Journeys'."

Twilight bit her lip. After a long wait, the author A.K. Yearling had finally released a new Daring Do book earlier in the week. Spike noticed Twilight's disappointed expression and took on a smug posture. "It holds the record for being the best-selling book in its first week of release and it's also the longest one she's ever written. It's an anthology of short stories of different genres, recounting her travels across Equestria and the world. It includes autobiographical stories and material..."

"Please, don't go on, Spike," Twilight interrupted with a sigh. Although she had her own copy of the book, she hadn't had time to read it due to the work of the past week. Rainbow Dash would probably rub it in her face all night tomorrow. But if only she could sneak a quick peek at the summary...

"NO," Twilight internally halted her thoughts. She knew she had to finish today's work, and there was only one scroll left to review. It was the only red-tagged scroll she had, and she already knew its contents.

"Thank you, but let's save the spoilers for later, okay?" Twilight said as she opened the last scroll and began reviewing it. Spike watched her with concern as he finished his cup of hot chocolate. He also knew what that scroll was about.

This was a delicate matter that Twilight could no longer ignore.

"The Knights of the Order"...

It all began three years ago. Shortly after her coronation, Twilight started charting the course Equestria would take now that she was its ruler. It was then that she aimed to improve relations with the neighboring kingdoms of Equestria and beyond. By sending her friends and acquaintances as ambassadors with a message of friendship and respect, she hoped to learn more about the realities of these kingdoms and, if possible, establish a common partnership.

These expeditions successfully reached their destinations and conveyed the message of friendship Twilight wished to share. However, during the course of these journeys, the unexpected discovery of the existence of other Trees of Harmony in these countries was made, each with a different meaning and magic. With the somewhat impromptu assistance of Equestria's ambassadors and the support of new friends in these realms, they managed to activate the magic of each of these new Trees of Harmony and discover the new bearers who represented them.

That's when problems began to arise. Her friends soon discovered that they were not the first to uncover these Trees.

Many moons ago, a group of individuals had arrived from a distant land to these realms and had activated the magic of these Harmony Trees. Their goal was to protect the Trees and bring prosperity to their inhabitants. Temples were erected where each of the Harmony Trees was located. And within the temples, mechanisms were put in place so that in each of these realms, one could access the magic of the Harmony Trees in the correct way.

These individuals called themselves the "Knights of Harmony". Hailing from the magical realm of Cunabula, they were on a mission to awaken the magic of harmony in the world. Their crusade led them to discover five of the six existing Harmony Trees, and they were on the verge of awakening the sixth and final one in Equestria.

However, they did not succeed in their mission. Upon arriving in the land of the ponies, they unfortunately found it under the dominion of Discord, the Lord of Chaos. Discord, unable to turn the Knights of Harmony into his playthings, decided to use his chaos magic to manipulate the inhabitants of the other realms they had previously visited and start a war against them.

The results of this conflict were devastating for Cunabula. Feeling betrayed by the nations they had previously aided, the Knights of Harmony decided to close each of the temples they had built and erase any trace of harmony magic that might be in them. They concealed their own realm from the eyes of the world and wiped out any evidence of their existence.

They abandoned their title of Knights of Harmony and renamed themselves the Knights of the Order, pledging to protect their realm and maintain order in the world. They were determined to eliminate anyone who tried to awaken the magic of the Harmony Trees again.

This crusade had remained dormant for over a millennium until Twilight and her friends inadvertently rekindled it.

Without waiting for any explanation, the Knights of the Order set in motion, taking action against the realms where the magic of the Harmony Trees had been awakened. This escalation led to Danu, the leader of the current Knights of the Order, facing off against Twilight and her friends right in Canterlot. After an intense confrontation, Twilight and the other ponies were cornered, at the mercy of the Knights of the Order who intended to eliminate them and thus eradicate the magic of harmony that resided within them.

Fortunately, with the help of other friends present at that moment and the timely arrival of new allies from the other realms, these plans were thwarted, and the city was saved from disaster.

Finally, the Knights of the Order were defeated and, with the approval of the leaders of the other realms, they were captured and taken to Tartarus, Equestria's magical prison, where they were imprisoned.

Twilight sighed as she finished reading the contents of the red-tagged scroll. It was as she expected; the situation with the Knights of the Order in Tartarus remained unchanged, and the results of the investigations into Cunabula were the same as the previous year.

In other words, there had been no progress.

Since the imprisonment of the Knights of the Order, they had remained there without attempting to escape or cooperate to improve their penitentiary situation. Despite Twilight's best efforts to establish a connection with Danu, the leader of the group, he had remained unyielding in his refusal to speak to her during her visits, as had his companions. Therefore, apart from what they had discovered in their initial encounter, nothing more had been learned about them.

On the other hand, Cunabula was a challenging research subject. It was not found in any history book of Equestria or in the allied realms. In a letter from Star Swirl from Ornithia, he claimed to have discovered the flag of that nation, which was a green flag with a silver tree surrounded by six stars as a shield. He concluded that its location was probably somewhere in the southern seas. Unfortunately, that was all that was found. Nevertheless, Twilight had decided to extend the investigation for another year, and then another, and so on until today.

Twilight sprawled on her back on the couch. That the situation remained the same could be considered a success for an irresponsible leader who only improvised solutions. She wasn't that kind of leader. As she thought more about the Knights of the Order, her doubt grew.

"Tell me, Spike, why do you think no representative from Cunabula has attempted to communicate with us after the defeat of the Knights of the Order?" Twilight asked without taking her eyes off the ceiling.

"Uhmm..." Spike pretended to ponder for only a moment before responding; he had expected Twilight to ask about this topic. "It could be that they're very unpopular at home, and we did their people a favor by locking them up."

"Really?" Twilight replied without turning to look at her dragon assistant. "I remember my first encounter with Danu and his companions; at that moment, I didn't perceive them as reckless tyrants, but rather as conservative individuals too committed to their cause..."

Perhaps she was giving them too much credit, but much of Danu's speech made Twilight believe that she was only seeing one facet of her opponent. The fact that he had initiated the initial conversation in their first encounter reinforced this idea.

"Well... maybe they don't know what to do in their country now that they're not there, or maybe they're too afraid to leave their home," Spike continued without considering his words too much.

"It's been three years, Spike. In Cunabula, they should already have new leaders, and even if they didn't, their own supporters would have tried to find or rescue them... Remember how quickly they reached Canterlot and how powerful they proved to be in battle. I don't think they're afraid to leave their home for fear of getting lost or hurt."

Taking into account Ornithia's conspiracy, the Knights of the Order's actions in Canterlot, and her own discoveries about the Harmony Temples, she could be sure that Cunabula was not something to be taken lightly. It was a realm that had been using Harmony Magic for over a thousand years. Obviously, they were far advanced for their time back then. Currently, she couldn't imagine how much the difference could be. Being isolated from the world for so long must have delayed much of their progress, but it must have driven their development in other directions.

"I think those are all my options..." Spike said, settling into his seat and saying no more. Twilight didn't reproach him; she had a lot on her mind at the moment.

She had to admit it. She knew too little about Cunabula. Its government, history, customs—it was all too much. There could very well be other unknown actors guiding decision-making in that realm, coldly observing events in Equestria from afar. This hypothesis would explain the behavior of the Knights of the Order, who might simply be waiting for the right moment to act.

If that were the case, then what happened in the Canterlot attack would repeat itself and could result in something worse...

After her reflection, Twilight began to feel an unpleasant taste spreading in her mouth. It was as uncomfortable as having something in front of her nose that she couldn't see.

How could she make a responsible decision if there were so many unknowns? Should she just file the case and leave the Knights of the Order in Tartarus indefinitely? Did making more escape plans in case of an attack serve any purpose?

The most irresponsible thing she could do was simply let them go, but that would be...

"What if we just let them go?" Spike suggested jokingly, trying to ease the tension.

Twilight looked at him annoyed. "Well... I'm just saying, if this is too much for us... maybe letting them go wouldn't make a big difference," Spike explained, a bit nervous under the princess's gaze.

"Did Discord suggest that to you?" Twilight asked.

"Yes," Spike replied. He had already consulted the "Lord of Chaos" about the matter, after all, he was partly responsible for the current situation. Of course, the response he received from his friend was typically discordant.

Twilight sighed once again. "I think he's right," she admitted. "But it's not a decision I can make on my own. I need the other realms to consider my point of view. However, I don't have solid arguments to support that decision... just a faint hope," she said as she looked despondently at the scroll.

If she asked for Discord's help to conduct a trial, the case could turn against her due to the pranks he had committed in the past. Moreover, she couldn't imagine the "Knights of the Order" accepting the "sincere" apologies of the "Lord of Chaos."

If she simply "released" them, the other realms might think that Equestria was untrustworthy. Allowing those criminals, who had sworn to destroy them and had already attacked two realms, to return to their home country to continue their conspiracies put Equestria in danger. Although she wanted to believe that the "Knights of the Order" wouldn't intervene again, she knew it was more likely that they would.

In the end, she couldn't make a decision yet. She would have to wait and reflect more on the matter before reaching a conclusion.

With her magic, Twilight carefully placed the scroll in a special box that already contained other scrolls that would be addressed next year. Seeing the number of documents compared to the previous year, she thought about how little her workload had decreased compared to the previous year. With this in mind, she proceeded to organize the rest of the documents.

Once she finished her work, she felt quite upbeat. The clock marked the end of the hour, and they realized that there were still three hours until midnight.

"It's still early! How about we make a surprise inspection to assess the state of this year's decorations?" Twilight proposed to Spike.

"I don't know, Twilight. I'm feeling a little tired today," Spike replied, pretending to yawn as he tried to hide a thick book he had. "Why don't you go alone this time?"

"Really? I thought taking my assistant number one on my 'royal back' would be an appropriate reward for his hard work," Twilight joked with a conspiratorial look as she put on her royal attire. She already had a hunch about the origin of her dragon companion's tiredness.

Spike couldn't resist, and with a flap of his wings, he jumped onto Twilight's back.

"I just remembered I have some special messages for the head chef. Do you mind if we go there first, Twilight?"

"No, if you tell me some stories from the new Daring Do book on the way," she replied as her royal crown levitated and gently settled on her head.

"Perfect! Have you ever read about the 'Hill of Eternity'?" Spike asked excitedly.

Both of them left the room with smiles, leaving behind an untouched bowl of pudding and a cup of chocolate.