Labyrinth: Return of Discord

Twilight avoided Applejack's gaze, but the earth pony stomped a hoof to draw the other's attention back to her.

"Look, I know bein' a princess has made things complicated fer ya, but she's our friend!  She was our friend 'fore you were a princess.  So sit yer plot down and tell me what ya know."

Obediently, she plopped her rump down onto the floor.  Her tail curled around her hooves and her head hung low with guilt pressing on her shoulders.  "It was yesterday that Celestia called me for an emergency meeting...  I had no idea why."

That day prior, Twilight had arrived at Celestia's castle with Spike running to keep up with her frantic pace.

"We're late, we're late, we're late!"  She cried.  "Spike, I thought the trains always ran on time?!"

"I thought so, too!"

She groaned.  "You're on your own, Spike!"

Her horn glowed and she teleported herself ahead in frequent bursts.  Ponies were startled by the rapidly appearing and disappearing alicorn, calling out "Excuse me!" and "Coming through!" each time she reappeared.

Reaching the castle gates, she trotted in place.  "Come on, come on!"

The royal guards paid her no heed, opening the doors at their normal, proper pace according to protocol.  She rushed in as soon as there was enough room for her to fit through.  She beamed when she saw Celestia standing at the top of a flight of stairs, but even from the distance she could see the serious look on the princess's face.  Her pace slowed until she came to a complete stop, her wings drooping some, ears folded back.

"Princess Celestia?"

"Come, Twilight.  We have very important matters to discuss."  She turned and started to walk, not waiting for the other, who hurried to catch up with her.

"What's wrong, Princess?"

Celestia glanced at her, then looked straight ahead.  "For a while now, I have sensed a darkness growing in Equestria.  It was weak at first, and I was unable to determine where or what... or whom it was coming from."  She stopped halfway down the hallway of stained glass.

Twilight ran her gaze along the windows.  Each scene depicted in them triggered memories, either of the stories she had heard or the experiences of actually being there.  She paused at one in particular, the oldest in the sequence, which brought forth nothing in her mind.  Of course, she recognized Celestia and Luna, so she knew it had to be over a thousand years old, but they were encircling a strange, unfamiliar creature.

She had seen the window many times during her life in Canterlot, but there were no stories in the history books she had read over the years.  The curious, knowledge-seeking side of her felt ashamed that she had never made an effort to learn more, or to even ask about it.  For some reason, it had just never seemed important, which was particularly odd to her, as she normally thought everything was important.

Celestia's voice brought her back into the moment.  "A few moons ago, I felt it very strongly emanating from Ponyville for a brief moment.  You did not write of any particular occurrence, however, and I did not want to alarm you until I knew more."

The younger alicorn lowered her head and her gaze fell to the floor.  "But if you had asked, Princess, I could have looked into it.  I could have-"

"I made the decision to investigate more quietly.  Unfortunately, none of my guards gathered any reports from anypony about anything out of the ordinary.  I...  I had hoped that perhaps I was wrong."

Her eyelids slid halfway closed.  She appeared to look at nothing in particular, gazing off into a distance Twilight could not imagine.

"It has grown stronger, to the point that I can no longer keep this from you."  She finally looked down at her.  Her serious but calm expression never wavered.  "Twilight, are you absolutely certain that there has been nothing to report?  Anything at all that you have left out of your letters?"

Twilight's gaze darted around the hallway.  She finally focused on a statue of no consequence that served as a blank slate for her to stare at while her mind worked overtime.

At that moment, Spike burst into the room, panting and gasping.  "Twi-light..."  He straightened his back and tried to look nonchalant, though his heavy breathing gave him away.  "I...  I'm here."

She spun around.  "Yes!  I brought... I tried to bring everything, Princess, since I didn't know what to expect."

She ran over to Spike and the pack on his back opened with a flick of her horn.  Scrolls flew out and she expanded them all around her.  Her gaze hurried over each one.

"I have my notes on the events of Ponyville.  Of course, most of them aren't very important, just all the things that don't seem worthy of being put in a letter, but just in case I need to remember later.  Hmm...  There was the time Mayor Mare came down with a terrible cold.  The school got overrun by parasprites...  Someone replaced Sugarcube Corner's sugar sacks with salt...  Oh, um..."  She hesitated.

"What is it?"  The princess stepped forward.  "Did you find anything?"

"Well, maybe?  I mean, no...  Yes?"  She glanced between the scroll and her mentor.  The rest of the scrolls rolled up and returned to Spike's pack while she walked over, bringing the scroll in question with her.  "I don't know."

Celestia tried to look over the scroll, but there was too much written to know what exactly the other was referring to.  "I will be the judge of that.  What happened?"

Twilight drew a small circle on the ground with one hoof.  "It fits with the time you said, but...  It was just a dream."

She looked down at her with a raised brow.  "What sort of dream did you have?"

"No, it wasn't me; it was Fluttershy.  She had a pretty crazy dream and was upset about it for a while."

"Tell me about it."  Celestia's gaze wandered again.

As Twilight began to explain the dream, the seriousness on the elder princess's face shifted to concern, then to worry.

"- and... well, that's the gist of what she told me, but that-"

Celestia closed her eyes.  "This is far worse than I feared, but no less than I expected.  So, he is returning."

"Uh...  Who is returning?"

"Discord," she said much quieter than normal, as though the name had special power of its own.

"So, wait."  Twilight raised a hoof.  "It wasn't just a dream?"

"Luna did not report such a distressing dream to me, and she takes extra care to ensure the wellness of you and your friends."  She sighed heavily.  "We are blessed that Fluttershy was able to escape whatever trap he had waiting for her in this false dream.  There is no telling what would have happened to her if she fell for his deceit."

Slowly, Twilight's hoof lowered back to the ground.  She blinked a few times as hot tears stung her eyes and she turned her head away.  "I-I-"  She choked.  "I had no idea it was so serious...  And I just brushed her off.  I-"

"Twilight."  Celestia stared at her with compassion, placing a hoof on her shoulder.  "You must gather your friends.  I know they are all very busy, but this is of the utmost importance.  I can still sense his power lingering in the air.  Please, do what you can to protect Fluttershy, as she is in the most danger of us all...  But tread carefully.  I fear that Discord will not give up on using her to aid in his escape.  Come with me, Twilight...  There is much I must tell you about the dangers we now face."

Back in the library, Twilight's eyes were closed tightly shut.  She was silent for a while after she had finished recounting what had happened.  Just as Applejack was asking a question, she continued.

"When I got back, Fluttershy asked to go to Canterlot.  I was going to ask her to go anyway, since there's a flower festival at the royal gardens, and where else is safer than the castle?  Celestia told me of the statue and I knew it was there.  But I thought..."

Her head dropped low.

"I thought she would be safe, so I tried to find a book that might have more about him so I could learn even more.  But if what you saw is true, then... I sent her right into danger while I wasted time here trying to find a stupid book.  I was so focused on learning that I neglected to make sure she was safe...  What kind of friend does that make me?"

Applejack's eyes widened as she saw the color seep from her friend, then frowned.  "Sorry, Twilight, but..."  She grabbed the alicorn by putting both hooves on her shoulders and shook her rather vigorously.  "I don't know what in tarnation is goin' through yer head but you cut it out right now!  Snap out of it!"

The color returned to her from the sudden jolt and she looked at Applejack with momentary fear.  "Wh-what was that?"  She withdrew from the other and put a hoof to her forehead.  "What happened?"

"Don't know.  All I know is ya started turnin' pale like Fluttershy."  She dropped her hooves back to the ground to stand on all four.  "So how are we goin' ta get a hold of Pinkie?  Last letter we got, she was in Manehattan."

"Says who?!"  A cheerful pink head popped out from a pile of books, startling both Applejack and Twilight into screaming, albeit briefly.  "I'm always here, watching..."  She grinned as she lowered back into the books, then popped out beside Applejack.  "So let's go save Fluttershy!"

The other two glanced at one another, then smiled and shrugged.  Questioning Pinkie was like questioning how magic worked.  It just did, and that was that.

"I already sent a letter to Cloudsdale to tell Rainbow Dash to meet us in Canterlot.  That just leaves..."

"Rarity."  Applejack sighed.  "Now how are we gonna find her?"

Spike paused halfway down the stairs. "Huh?  You guys don't know?"

They all turned to look up at the dragon with curious gazes.  He blushed and finished descending the stairs.

"While you were meeting with Celestia, I ran into her at Canterlot.  She's here doing some research for a new fashion line for Sapphire Shores.  We, uh, had lunch."

Twilight's spirits lifted and she started to run toward the door.  "Then we have no time to waste!  Let's go get Fluttershy and catch the next train!"

"Oh, goody!"  Pinkie hopped after her.  "It's been so long since we went on an adventure!  This is an adventure, right?"  She scrunched up her nose.  "Or is it a rescue?  A rescue adventure?  Do those exist?"

"Sure, Pinkie," Applejack commented as she ran to catch up.  "Whatever you want t'call it."

"Really?  Whatever?  Well, then I think it's an ultimate amazing rescue showdown!"  She snorted as she giggled.

Twilight was silent, her focus entirely on the mission.  She felt responsible for everything:  for sending Fluttershy to Canterlot, and for not taking her seriously in the first place.  The pegasus had come to her two or three times before she gave up.  She had to make up for all of it.  It was the least she could do.