In the Center of Ponyvilleby AmandyChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 1In the center of a quaint little town, one named such as Ponyville, its inhabitants moved about their lives without much interaction. A smile here, a laugh there, a casual conversation to a neighbor in which neither knows the other’s family. None of them consider one another much more than strangers with the title of ‘friend’. And it’s these so called friends and neighbors that just mechanically go about their day. This particular day was just like every other in this little town of Ponyville. The sun was shining, the sky was cloudless, and nothing was amiss. Everything was wonderfully fine and normal. Well, almost. Nothing was wrong per se, but in the center of Ponyville where the town square spread out and a fountain was placed, a single mailbox sat near a lonely tree on the fringes. Rusty red in color and square in shape, it stood alone near no building or home. And instead of lying on its side, this lonely mailbox was upright on its post with a small slot in the top part. There was no name printed or painted onto the side, no sad-faced Pinkie Pie sitting in front of it, but only a small wooden sign tacked onto its wooden post. A small, worn-looking sign that wasn’t painted with anything except for a word or two in red. “Letters for Here” Was all it said. Though, the first two words were followed by a blank space, and then underneath the blank space was the last word. So it seemed as if there should have been a name in the blank space, but nothing filled it. Dusk fell over Ponyville as the day turned into night. A small figure skirted across the square and went over to the mailbox without hesitation. A flash of silver and then the mailbox popped open. The figure removed a few small pieces of paper from the mailbox and then another flash of silver and the mailbox was closed. Within moments, the figure was gone. And then the square was empty again. Dear mailbox owner, I hope you end up receiving this letter! I just wanted to ask of you if you could let me know perhaps who you are? Or if you have any letters to send yourself. I mean, it’s just my job as the mailmare to make sure everything gets delivered on time and to the right pony and I didn’t know what to make of your mailbox. Hopefully it’s not too much trouble for me to ask? Sincerely, Ditzy (Derpy) Doo. In the middle of a basement, where a little candlelight flickered across a wooden table, a small figure smiled and let out a little laugh, shaking its head. “How did she even see…Okay Ditzy. You must be an exception.” It softly said before it rolled out a crinkled bit of aged paper and moved a well of ink closer to itself and used a bit of silver to pick up a quill. A dip of the quill and then the figure began writing. A few minutes and the figure was done, already folding the new letter before it labeled it with an elegant ‘Ditzy’. The figure smiled and then set the new letter aside and used some silver to pull up another piece of paper and began reading. Dear ~~Princess Celestia~~ Mailbox, ~~Today I learned~~ ~~Today I~~ You know, I never realized just how hard it is to write your own letters, I really had my assistant always write them so I never really had to and well just- Nevermind. That’s not the point. But what is, is that I just had to write. I had to. Ever since I became a princess and returned back to Ponyville, everything hasn’t changed. Of course, not that I had expected or wanted it to change but well it’s just that I expected something to change. Or at least for ponies to maybe look at me in a new light or respect me more… But (and this worries me) everyone has been acting as if nothing ever happened. I am a princess now. Granted, I’m still learning how to fly correctly, but no one treats me like such. I don’t wish to be fawned over, but no one even congratulated me. It’s like no one can see my new wings. I learned the true magic of friendship, learned how to cherish its magic, and nothing changed. Everypony just ignores me like they do everypony else. Except my friends of course. But even they pay little attention to me now. Maybe it’s because they don’t even think twice about the change. I’m just Twilight like always to them. Even so, it’s strange that even Pinkie rarely visits me for random reasons anymore. It doesn't help that I don’t need to write letters to Celestia anymore. She said that I could if I wanted to, but she made it clear that I should try and be the teacher and not the student now. But…how can I teach when nopony even talks to me? Outside of my group of friends, the only ponies that talk to me are the ones that I engage first. I don’t know what I need to do anymore! I don’t even know how I never noticed this unnerving fact before I became a princess. I've mentioned my suspicions to my friends and they all gave me the blankest look imaginable before Pinkie giggled and changed the subject entirely by asking who wanted some cupcakes. Since then I’ve not brought it up again but I fear that something is terribly wrong in Ponyville. Maybe it’s just me being paranoid. I truly hope that it is because I don’t want to think that something dark is lurking around my beloved home. Please. If anypony ends up reading this and agrees with me, come to my home and library and we can talk over tea about all this. I really just need somepony to talk to. Please, I don’t want to be in the dark about what’s going on. ~~Your faithful student~~ (Excuse me, just an old habit) Sincerely, Princess Twilight Sparkle A small frown crossed the figure’s face this time and it sighed, dropping its head a touch and letting its hair fall in front of its face before it used some silver to pick up its quill and unroll another piece of paper. The letter took longer to write this time, but it was finished after a bit and then sealed neatly and addressed to ‘Twilight’. The figure placed it on top of the other letter and then turned to the last letter that it’d pulled from the mailbox. It blinked in surprise when it saw this last letter and it frowned and let out a small, surprised gasp. The last letter was written on crinkled, lined paper that had random spelling words on the one side while the actual letter was on the other. The figure gritted its teeth and then began to read. Dear Maily-box, Lately my mommy has been acting like daddy doesn’t exist. Me and mommy don’t live with daddy and they aren’t married, but I know she really likes him. Or she used to. I don’t know anymore really… He used to come over every day to spend time with mommy after her work was over. But now he never comes. And she never talks about him either. She doesn’t even seem sad about it. She acts like he is not more than a stranger. I am very worried about her. I asked her about daddy once. Why he didn’t come around anymore. They had not ever even been fighting. So I knew it couldn’t be that. But when I asked mommy just tilted her head and looked confused. She said that “why should he come over? he’s nothing more than a neighbor. I don’t know why you suddenly asked about him dear. I barely know him. Wait. How do you know him? Is he bothering you when you walk to school?” She had asked with a scary look that frightened me. I said that he hadn’t and that I just missed seeing him. This made her give me a really confused look before she sent me out to play and told me to stop expecting her to just invite strangers over. I ran outside and went looking for daddy then, worried about what he’d think and say if I asked him the same question. It took me awhile, but I found him in his store. He smiled and I was so happy until he called me an adorable filly and asked why I wasn’t with my mother. I said that I wanted to know why he didn’t come over anymore and he looked confused like mommy had. He said that he didn’t know who my mother was and then he shooed me out of his store and told me that I should go on my way. I ran away and cried then. Nopony even looked my way as I ran through the streets. I don’t know what’s going on anymore. I just want my mommy to smile again and I want my daddy to come over and smile as well. I want to be hugged and to laugh with them both. Do you know what’s going on Maily-box? Please tell me. I want my family back. -Dinky The figure flinched at the end of the letter and slightly crinkled it up as it shuddered.”I’m sorry little Dinky that you ended up being one of them.” The figure softly said. A small tear slipped from its face and landed on the page before it pulled itself together and picked up its quill one last time with some silver before it wrote one last letter. Neatly folded and signed with a ‘Dinky’ in that elegant handwriting, the letter was finished. The figure stood up from the table and gently collected the three letters before leaving the room after blowing out the candle. The small figure donned a black-grey cloak and flicked a hood above its ears before it hid the letters under its cloak. In a few moments it was out of its home and back into Ponyville at night, though the sun surely would be rising soon. It snuck along until it was in Ponyville’s square. It glanced around to make sure that nopony was watching and then it dashed across the clearing and over to the lonely mailbox. It pulled out the letters and then fastened them to the little sign under the mailbox under the words “Letters for”. And with her job for the night now done, the small mare sighed and then dashed off towards home, lest that anypony see her when the sun rose. As the sun rose the next day, a certain Princess Twilight was walking dejectedly towards the center of town. She wasn’t dressed in anything fancy, and in fact, she wasn’t even wearing her crown. She had said that she’d be going out to Spike, and then had left for a walk. She couldn’t quite keep her mind off the letter that she’d written the day before. Why had she been compelled to write it? It had been such a sudden, fervent urge when she’d laid eyes upon that strange mailbox. Everypony else had just been walking by it like it didn’t exist. But it had called to her. She’d gone home and handwritten a letter herself about her worries for a reason she didn’t understand. And then she’d put it in that mailbox. Even now, she didn’t understand why she was being drawn back to Ponyville’s square where the mailbox was. But nevertheless, she ended up walking there and glancing over at that rusty red box. Much to her surprise though, something now hung underneath the mailbox on the sign without a name. She glanced around at everypony, wondering if they noticed the sign or what was hanging there. But nopony even stopped to glance at it. Twilight frowned and then trotted over to the sign, her eyes slowly widening in shock as she read what the hanging letter said. ‘Twilight.’ She threw a wondering look around to make sure that nopony was paying attention, and then Twilight used her magic to gently pluck the letter from the sign before she stowed it away under her mane and then quickly trotted home, eager to read what was inside. Chapter 2The small mare had come back during the day, risking being seen in order to watch the mailbox in the center of town. She wanted to see if her letters were picked up. Because if they weren’t, then everything she had planned for would go to waste. So now she was hidden in a bush, watching ponies walk by the mailbox like it wasn’t there –and it wasn’t- until suddenly she saw Twilight walk into the area. Her breath froze in her throat and her heartbeat sped up as she watched Twilight hesitantly walk toward the mailbox. And then hope soared into her chest when Twilight plucked a letter from the sign and tucked it away into her mane before she trotted away and vanished from sight. She had to stop herself from jumping in glee for that would give away her cover. And no matter how happy she was, if her cover was blown then she would never be able to get home, let alone out of the center of town. So instead of showing any emotion of how joyful she felt, the mare didn’t move, didn’t twitch, didn’t even change her expression. Entirely satisfied and assured that the others would get their letter as well, the mare stood up and flicked up her hood, planning a route to take in order to get home. She moved to follow it when she saw a new pony walk up to the mailbox in a trance. She was surprised to see the berry colored coat and mane of this pony. Was this one yet another that could…? The mare watched with growing surprise as the berry-colored pony quickly shoved a letter into the box and hurriedly glanced around before trotting off quickly and vanishing into the crowds. The mare wanted to go take the letter now, but there would be no way for her to get to the mailbox without being seen by somepony. So instead of hurrying to gather the letter, the mare sighed and rested her head on her hooves and closed her eyes, waiting for the night to come. And when the sun did sink and Luna brought up the moon, the mare stirred, yawning before she glanced around from the safety of the bush. Nopony did she see and so with hesitation she put a hoof outside of the bush. No sound came as she held it there, no croons or screams did she hear. Relieved, she jumped out of the bush and trotted up to the mailbox, glad to see that her other letters were gone. Hopefully they’d listen to what she’d written. It was everypony’s only chance… With a flash of soft silver, the mare popped open the mailbox and retrieved not one, but two letters before she shut it again. Surprised by the second letter, the mare tucked both under her grey cloak before she turned around and vanished into the shadows. Mailbox. You know- Well, you’re a mailbox, you wouldn’t know. But still. Though I know this I still find myself compelled to write this. And in red ink, no less. Regardless, I find it odd that I feel as though I’m not making my hoof move to write this. Even now, I’m having trouble putting down- puttin~~g down~~ ~~words-~~ The mare frowned at this section of the letter that was heavily blotted out with red ink as if the writer had spilled her container all over it. Shaking her head, the mare continued reading where it picked back up. I spent my next days in the cellar of my home, mixing different fruits and juices into the most delicious types of punch that anypony could ever imagine. I had found myself again and I wanted to tell everyone about my revelation. But when I told my friends they just scoffed at me. I told my neighbors and they acted like they’d been told something very personal by a stranger. No one I talked with seemed to understand that I had changed, and they didn’t seem to remember who I even was. They just grimaced and went on their way. ~~andthenI~~ ~~thenI~~ why am I writing this? What’s compelled me to explain- to explain my life story? I don’t have any idea. Please, it’s like my hooves are not my own as I write this. Thank Celestia I’ve run out of ink to write with. Something strange is going on in Ponyville. Please tell me I’m not alone. Berry Punch The mare was alone in her basement again, a touch of silver holding the letter she was reading as she blushed a bit and scoffed at herself. “I think I may have made that particular spell too strong for earth ponies. Sorry about that Berry. But I do wish I could read the entire letter.” The mare set the letter down and then smoothed out a new sheet of paper with her magic and picked up her quill and dipped it in her ink and began writing. As she did so though, she laced her magic into the letter, planning that it would lessen the effects of her previous magic on Berry Punch. She finished the letter with a flourish and then sealed it and labeled it with an elegant ‘Berry Punch’ before she set it down and picked up the letter whose owner she hadn’t seen. Dearly so to Somepony, Quite frankly, when I first saw your mailbox in the middle of town, I didn’t understand why I felt so drawn towards it. Even now, I can’t explain the feelings that compelled me to write. Maybe I just need to vent on an unknown ear. Yes…I think that’s it. Please, forgive me for troubling you with these letters upon this page. But I have to get my suspicions out of my mind. To explain what I mean, it is important that you know that I have a special somepony. Well…it’s not official through marriage just yet, but we were already starting to plan our wedding. We don’t sleep in the same room yet either because of our jobs. (This is important I assure you, more so because I have to venture out late at night for my job. Hence, why we don’t sleep together. I don’t wish to wake her.) As of late when I come home I’ve taken to softly playing my lyre for my special somepony, knowing that she often mentioned how she loved to wake up to hear me playing an alluring and calming tune. And she’d come to her window and look down and smile. She’d listen with that sweet smile of hers, her blue and pink curls of hair draped messily about her face. It was the most beautiful thing... Forgive me for rambling, I’ll get to the point. The point being that just last night when I came home from a normal serenade of a dinner that I’d been hired for, I started to play her a song like normal. But she did not come to my call. She didn’t appear at the window. Worried about her and thinking that she may be sick, I trotted inside and dropped off my lyre and then went to her room. I softly knocked a few times on her door and then waited a bit impatiently for her to come to her door. When she opened it she gave me a soft blush and glanced at me in confusion. She asked me if I had been playing music. I replied that I had and then she blushed and pawed at the ground. She said with a small voice that she thought it was sweet, but that she really didn’t think I should be playing music for her. We were only roommates after all, because I had needed a place to stay. I had been so stunned. Those words shook me to my core and I froze. I watched her nod nervously and then shut the door on me. I barely managed to get back to my own room. What had my love meant? I questioned her the next day and yet she avoided every question I asked. She gave me blank stares and simply started to avoid me altogether. I tell you, I am truly heartbroken. Something is not right in this situation. My love would simply just not stop acting as if I didn’t exist to her as a special somepony without at least some reason. What can I say? I am deeply troubled and confused. Do you have any advice to offer? My dearest apologies for troubling you with this, Lyra Heartstrings Mechanically, the small mare set down the letter and then used some silver to create a new one, taking her time with it like Lyra seemed to have done with her own letter. The mare touched off the newly sealed letter with a ‘Lyra’ and then set it by the other. Satisfied with them both, the mare stood up and collected the two letters before sticking them in her side bag. This would be the last night for her to go out and deliver these letters before her careful plan would be set in motion if everything went correctly. *** High above the sky at night, in the clouds that were allowed to float and accumulate now that everyone was sleeping, a small Pegasus was trotting along daintily. She was humming to herself quite happily, enjoying being out at night in the heavy cloud cover. Luna’s moon hung high above her head and bathed the clouds around her in a silver-blue light that dazzled her eyes. She loved being alone at night up in the sky. It was the only time that she didn’t have to worry about doing something wrong. The mare smiled and kept trotting along, enjoying the feeling of the damp clouds beneath her hooves until suddenly, that feeling vanished. Scrambling with her hooves, Raindrops fell through the clouds where they had parted and she hadn’t seen them end. Fear rushed through her veins and she flailed her hooves, forgetting entirely about her wings. She fell like a stone then, until she finally did remember about her wings and spread them out wide. She didn’t have the strongest wings though, and soon the ground was upon her. She landed roughly on her one wing and skidded a bit before she came to a stop. Wincing, she blinked open her eyes and realized that she was laying in front of something. Something that was standing over her. Blinking painfully, Raindrops looked up and was surprised to see a mare in a grey cloak that was looking at her in shock. Raindrops blinked a few times, about to ask for help when the mare suddenly bolted away from her view. Raindrops’ hope fell as she heard the mare galloping away. Realizing that she was all on her own, she shakily pushed herself to her hooves and winced as her wing hung limp. Her one was fine, but the other flashed with pain if she tried to move it at all and that same side felt badly brush burned. Raindrops realized that she could still walk though, and so she glanced around and saw that she was in the center of Ponyville, not too far away from the fountain. But then she remembered that she didn’t quite know a lot of ponies in Ponyville, not to mention the fact that she didn’t know anypony that she could go see about her wing or ask for a place to stay for the rest of the night. Dejected and depressed by her thoughts, Raindrops slowly started walking away from the middle of town, her damaged wing dragging on the ground as she went. She wandered around and past many cold-looking homes until she noticed a sign in front of a different style of home that depicted a little book. Looking up, Raindrops took in the sight of a tree-house that looked inviting. There even was a light still on in one of the windows even though it was so late. Hope filling her eyes, Raindrops walked up to the door to the house and softly knocked upon it with her uninjured hoof. She waited anxiously for somepony to answer her knock, debating if she should even bother this particular pony. But the pain in her wing kept her in place, and so she stood silently as she heard some movements from inside. Suddenly, the door clicked softly and was pulled open, letting light flood out and momentarily blind Raindrops. She squinted against the light as her eyes adjusted, and then immediately found herself stammering for words because of the pony that was standing before her. “Are you alright?” The mare before her asked with a concerned look. Raindrops blinked in surprise and then pulled some words out of the air. “E-excuse m-m-me P-Princess…b-but I-I f-fell f-from the sky a-and hurt m-my w-wing.” Raindrops said shyly, awed that she was talking to the Princess. Much to her surprise, the Princess’s face fell and she stepped aside from the door. “Please come in then my friend! I’ll take a look at your wing and see what I can do. I’m no Doctor, but I know the basics. And if you have no place to go, I’ll find you a bed for the night.” Stunned, Raindrops took the offer and hesitantly walked inside before the Princess shut the door and trotted off to the other side of the room, already using her magic to pull down various books as she searched for what to do. Raindrops looked around in wonder, staring at all the walls of books as the Princess pulled books from them and replaced them in successive motions. Raindrops walked to the middle of the room and then sat down politely, waiting for the Princess to find what she was looking for. And yet, Raindrops still could not believe that she was in the Princess’s house. She glanced at the ground and shook her head in disbelief before she winced and then glanced absentmindedly to her left. Raindrops then tilted her head softly as she noticed a letter-like paper that was sitting upon the desk. And she faintly wondered whatsoever the Princess could be writing about, and to whom. For, after all, why would a Princess need to be writing her own letters? Chapter 3By the time morning came, Twilight was both extremely confused and extremely hopeful about the small group of ponies that had come to her in the night. She had patched Raindrops up after not too long and the stammering mare had fallen asleep off to the side of the room. Later that night, as the letter said should happen, a few...others had shown up. Twilight glanced over at Lyra, who was sitting on a chair, half-heartedly plucking on the lyre that she always had with her. Berry Punch was sitting on the other side of the table, drawing circles with her hoof as she waited as well. Twilight sighed, turning her gaze outside to look at the rising sun with heavy eyes. They had been waiting all night for one more pony. Worried that she had read the letter wrong, Twilight trotted back over to her desk table where the odd letter still lay. She picked it up with her magic and frowned, seeing that she had read it correctly. It told her that her fears were correct. Something was going terribly wrong in Ponyville. But the letter didn't explain what was happening or who the sender was. All that was at the bottom was Royal Stone. The only conclusive thing it mentioned was that three others would meet her in the night. Nothing else. No more explanations. It didn't say why those ponies were coming or how this pertained to what was going on in Ponyville. Raindrops had shown up first at her door just after she had finished reading the letter. She'd been quite surprised, not thinking that somepony would arrive so soon. But when she asked Raindrops about the letter, the mare insisted that she didn't know what Twilight was talking about. Just after midnight, another knock had come and Twilight opened the door to find Lyra, who looked relieved to find that Twilight knew who she was. In fact, Twilight had had a hard time getting Lyra to stop going on about how nopony knew her anymore and that even Bon-Bon was acting like they had just met. Berry Punch... had come just after Lyra. She knocked shyly and defended herself when Twilight asked if she hadn't been drinking too much punch and ended up at the wrong house. Twilight looked over at the mare now with a soft wince, terribly sorry that she assumed that about her. After Berry Punch arrived, Twilight showed them the letter that she had received and they pulled out their own. Raindrops joined in on the conversation with a bit of confusion. What was going on down here in Ponyville, she had questioned. Everything was just fine in Cloudsdale. Twilight had frowned at this information and suggested that they wait to make any further speculations until the last pony arrived. But now as the sun started to rise, Lyra groaned and glanced at Twilight, her voice a bit sarcastic. "Are you sure Raindrops isn't the last pony?" "Positive. She said that she didn't know about the letters or what's going on. She is from Cloudsdale after all." "But maybe she doesn't know that she's the last pony." Berry Punch chimed in, tired of waiting as well. "Did you think of that Twilight?" Lyra said with a flop of her head on the table, her lyre still floating as she plucked at it with her magic. "She insisted that she hadn't any idea. Now please, I'm sure that if we just wait-" "We've been waiting all night!" Lyra suddenly shouted in exasperation as she threw up her hands and her lyre dropped out of her magic's control and clattered to the floor. Raindrops suddenly jerked awake, startled by the sound as Twilight narrowed her eyes disapprovingly. And then they all froze as the sound of a soft knock on Twilight's door. Everypony in the room blinked and turned towards the door in stunned silence before Twilight regained herself and trotted over to it. She opened the door slowly and then stared sadly at the pony on the other side. Derpy's filly, Dinky, was staring back at Twilight with big eyes. "Dinky, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in school right about now?" Twilight said gently before she stared in surprise as the filly ignored the question and trotted inside, determination on her face. "I'ma guessing you are the others?" Dinky said as she trotted over to Lyra and Berry Punch and hopped up onto a seat at the table. They looked at one another in surprise before Lyra spoke. "What do you mean Dinky? Why are you-?" "I was told to come here by this letter." Dinky said as she used her magic to pull a small note from under her hair. She unfolded it and held it up for them to see. Twilight, still a bit scattered, shut the door and trotted over, reading the letter as the others did. "But how..." Lyra stammered, shaking her head. "You're so young!" Berry Punch said with a frown. "And why didn't you come sooner?" Twilight asked with a tilt of her head as she took a seat at the table as well. Dinky shook her head and smirked. "Did you think my mother would've let me leave home at night?" Dinky said with a roll of her eyes. Twilight smirked and laughed softly before she glanced at Dinky's letter again. "So if everypony's here...what happens now? These letters don't give us any clues." Twilight said as she picked up all the letters and laid them out on the table. The entire circle of ponies frowned and squinted their eyes, reading and re-reading the letters for some type of clue. Any clue, that could lead them to an answer. Raindrops, in the meantime, had slowly trotted over to the table, curious about what was going on now. The others didn't notice her as she glanced from one letter to the other with a tilt of her head. And then suddenly, she spoke. "Look at the signatures." She said with a point of her one hoof. Startled by the sudden sound, the others jumped in their seats for a moment before Twilight managed to speak. "What do you mean? They're not the pony's real name, they're all signed differently!" Twilight said as Dinky gasped. "I get it!" Dinky said with a growing grin. "The names are all descriptions!" Dinky exclaimed in excitement before she tilted her head. "Though I don't know where it's talking about." "I don't get it...how do you see...?" Lyra said with a look at the filly as Twilight figure it out. "They're right Lyra. Look. Royal Stone, Broken Fable, Night Home, Magic. " Twilight said with a smile as Berry Punch frowned. "I don't see how-" "You just have to rearrange the signatures." Twilight said with growing enthusiasm. "Royal Stone and Broken Fable -when switched- make Broken Stone and Royal Fable!" Twilight said with a grin as Lyra chimed in. "But how does Royal Fable make any sense? Wouldn't Magic Fable make more sense?" "What about Royal Home?" Dinky pitched in, eager to help. "That would leave Night, Magic, and Fable. And that doesn't make any sense..." Twilight said with a frown. "Maybe..." "Night Fable. I'd say." Raindrops said with a small blush as the others looked at her. "I-I mean, it sounds like another name for a bedtime story." "So we'd have Broken Stone, Royal Home, Night Fable and Magic. How are those connected?" Lyra said with a frustrated frown. Berry Punch glanced at Twilight, and Dinky frowned as well. Raindrops shrugged and looked to Twilight, who was staring intensely at the words. A few minutes passed in silence until Twilight suddenly lit up. "I got it!" "What? What does it mean?" Lyra asked in joy. "It's talking about the old ruins of the royal castle that's deep in the Everfree Forest!" "The what?" Dinky questioned, too young to know about them. "The ruins! They're made of broken stone that's been crumbling for years. They used to be a royal home for the sisters. Stories are told about them to little fillies, and it's where I first realized that I was the element of Magic, and that friendship was a powerful thing." Twilight said quickly with growing enthusiasm. "So are we supposed to go there?" Berry Punch asked after a small moment of silence, her voice hesitant. "I'd say we were." Lyra said with an excited grin. "I agree. But we can't take-" "I'm going with you and that's what's going to happen." Dinky said with a strong glare at Twilight as she puffed up her face. Twilight blinked in surprise and tried to reason with the filly. "But your mother-" "Will forget about me like she did with daddy if we don't fix this. I'm coming with you." "Okay then! It's settled. We'll bring Dinky with us!" Lyra said with a clap of her hooves before she glanced around at everypony. "Twilight knows better than I do how hard it will be to get there, but all that means is that we should all go home and pack out things and meet back here at noon. Sound good?" Lyra said with a smile, leading the way toward the door. The others shrugged and nodded their heads in agreement and then stood to leave. "But what about me?" Raindrops said as everypony headed towards the door. "Oh...well I guess you can go home." Lyra said with a soft smile. "I can't." Raindrops said with a frown. "Why couldn't you...?" "She injured her wing Lyra." Twilight said as she turned to Raindrops' defense. "I can't really fly home right now. And I doubt Twilight just wants to leave me here alone." "Well, you'd be here with Spike of course." Twilight said with a smile. "Spike? But we haven't seen him all night Twilight." Berry Punch said with a confused look at the princess. Twilight blinked in realization and her face fell. She had no idea where he was. "R-right. Maybe Raindrops should come along with us then?" Twilight suggested. "That probably wouldn't be-" "That'd be a great idea!" Berry Punch said, cutting Lyra off with a sheepish smile as Lyra glared. "After all, she did notice the connection with the signatures. She's probably be good to have around. Right Twilight?" "Only if she wants to come." Twilight said with a glance at the mare. Raindrops smiled and nodded. "Sounds good to me." "Okay then! We'll meet back here in front of my house at noon. See everypony then!" Twilight said with a small bit of excitement as Dinky giggled and bounced out the door. Berry Punch followed after Dinky, and Lyra frowned and sluggishly trotted out. Twilight shut the door and then turned to Raindrops. "Okay then! Time to pack. I think I remember having a spare saddlebag in the storeroom..."
Chapter 1In the center of a quaint little town, one named such as Ponyville, its inhabitants moved about their lives without much interaction. A smile here, a laugh there, a casual conversation to a neighbor in which neither knows the other’s family. None of them consider one another much more than strangers with the title of ‘friend’. And it’s these so called friends and neighbors that just mechanically go about their day. This particular day was just like every other in this little town of Ponyville. The sun was shining, the sky was cloudless, and nothing was amiss. Everything was wonderfully fine and normal. Well, almost. Nothing was wrong per se, but in the center of Ponyville where the town square spread out and a fountain was placed, a single mailbox sat near a lonely tree on the fringes. Rusty red in color and square in shape, it stood alone near no building or home. And instead of lying on its side, this lonely mailbox was upright on its post with a small slot in the top part. There was no name printed or painted onto the side, no sad-faced Pinkie Pie sitting in front of it, but only a small wooden sign tacked onto its wooden post. A small, worn-looking sign that wasn’t painted with anything except for a word or two in red. “Letters for Here” Was all it said. Though, the first two words were followed by a blank space, and then underneath the blank space was the last word. So it seemed as if there should have been a name in the blank space, but nothing filled it. Dusk fell over Ponyville as the day turned into night. A small figure skirted across the square and went over to the mailbox without hesitation. A flash of silver and then the mailbox popped open. The figure removed a few small pieces of paper from the mailbox and then another flash of silver and the mailbox was closed. Within moments, the figure was gone. And then the square was empty again. Dear mailbox owner, I hope you end up receiving this letter! I just wanted to ask of you if you could let me know perhaps who you are? Or if you have any letters to send yourself. I mean, it’s just my job as the mailmare to make sure everything gets delivered on time and to the right pony and I didn’t know what to make of your mailbox. Hopefully it’s not too much trouble for me to ask? Sincerely, Ditzy (Derpy) Doo. In the middle of a basement, where a little candlelight flickered across a wooden table, a small figure smiled and let out a little laugh, shaking its head. “How did she even see…Okay Ditzy. You must be an exception.” It softly said before it rolled out a crinkled bit of aged paper and moved a well of ink closer to itself and used a bit of silver to pick up a quill. A dip of the quill and then the figure began writing. A few minutes and the figure was done, already folding the new letter before it labeled it with an elegant ‘Ditzy’. The figure smiled and then set the new letter aside and used some silver to pull up another piece of paper and began reading. Dear ~~Princess Celestia~~ Mailbox, ~~Today I learned~~ ~~Today I~~ You know, I never realized just how hard it is to write your own letters, I really had my assistant always write them so I never really had to and well just- Nevermind. That’s not the point. But what is, is that I just had to write. I had to. Ever since I became a princess and returned back to Ponyville, everything hasn’t changed. Of course, not that I had expected or wanted it to change but well it’s just that I expected something to change. Or at least for ponies to maybe look at me in a new light or respect me more… But (and this worries me) everyone has been acting as if nothing ever happened. I am a princess now. Granted, I’m still learning how to fly correctly, but no one treats me like such. I don’t wish to be fawned over, but no one even congratulated me. It’s like no one can see my new wings. I learned the true magic of friendship, learned how to cherish its magic, and nothing changed. Everypony just ignores me like they do everypony else. Except my friends of course. But even they pay little attention to me now. Maybe it’s because they don’t even think twice about the change. I’m just Twilight like always to them. Even so, it’s strange that even Pinkie rarely visits me for random reasons anymore. It doesn't help that I don’t need to write letters to Celestia anymore. She said that I could if I wanted to, but she made it clear that I should try and be the teacher and not the student now. But…how can I teach when nopony even talks to me? Outside of my group of friends, the only ponies that talk to me are the ones that I engage first. I don’t know what I need to do anymore! I don’t even know how I never noticed this unnerving fact before I became a princess. I've mentioned my suspicions to my friends and they all gave me the blankest look imaginable before Pinkie giggled and changed the subject entirely by asking who wanted some cupcakes. Since then I’ve not brought it up again but I fear that something is terribly wrong in Ponyville. Maybe it’s just me being paranoid. I truly hope that it is because I don’t want to think that something dark is lurking around my beloved home. Please. If anypony ends up reading this and agrees with me, come to my home and library and we can talk over tea about all this. I really just need somepony to talk to. Please, I don’t want to be in the dark about what’s going on. ~~Your faithful student~~ (Excuse me, just an old habit) Sincerely, Princess Twilight Sparkle A small frown crossed the figure’s face this time and it sighed, dropping its head a touch and letting its hair fall in front of its face before it used some silver to pick up its quill and unroll another piece of paper. The letter took longer to write this time, but it was finished after a bit and then sealed neatly and addressed to ‘Twilight’. The figure placed it on top of the other letter and then turned to the last letter that it’d pulled from the mailbox. It blinked in surprise when it saw this last letter and it frowned and let out a small, surprised gasp. The last letter was written on crinkled, lined paper that had random spelling words on the one side while the actual letter was on the other. The figure gritted its teeth and then began to read. Dear Maily-box, Lately my mommy has been acting like daddy doesn’t exist. Me and mommy don’t live with daddy and they aren’t married, but I know she really likes him. Or she used to. I don’t know anymore really… He used to come over every day to spend time with mommy after her work was over. But now he never comes. And she never talks about him either. She doesn’t even seem sad about it. She acts like he is not more than a stranger. I am very worried about her. I asked her about daddy once. Why he didn’t come around anymore. They had not ever even been fighting. So I knew it couldn’t be that. But when I asked mommy just tilted her head and looked confused. She said that “why should he come over? he’s nothing more than a neighbor. I don’t know why you suddenly asked about him dear. I barely know him. Wait. How do you know him? Is he bothering you when you walk to school?” She had asked with a scary look that frightened me. I said that he hadn’t and that I just missed seeing him. This made her give me a really confused look before she sent me out to play and told me to stop expecting her to just invite strangers over. I ran outside and went looking for daddy then, worried about what he’d think and say if I asked him the same question. It took me awhile, but I found him in his store. He smiled and I was so happy until he called me an adorable filly and asked why I wasn’t with my mother. I said that I wanted to know why he didn’t come over anymore and he looked confused like mommy had. He said that he didn’t know who my mother was and then he shooed me out of his store and told me that I should go on my way. I ran away and cried then. Nopony even looked my way as I ran through the streets. I don’t know what’s going on anymore. I just want my mommy to smile again and I want my daddy to come over and smile as well. I want to be hugged and to laugh with them both. Do you know what’s going on Maily-box? Please tell me. I want my family back. -Dinky The figure flinched at the end of the letter and slightly crinkled it up as it shuddered.”I’m sorry little Dinky that you ended up being one of them.” The figure softly said. A small tear slipped from its face and landed on the page before it pulled itself together and picked up its quill one last time with some silver before it wrote one last letter. Neatly folded and signed with a ‘Dinky’ in that elegant handwriting, the letter was finished. The figure stood up from the table and gently collected the three letters before leaving the room after blowing out the candle. The small figure donned a black-grey cloak and flicked a hood above its ears before it hid the letters under its cloak. In a few moments it was out of its home and back into Ponyville at night, though the sun surely would be rising soon. It snuck along until it was in Ponyville’s square. It glanced around to make sure that nopony was watching and then it dashed across the clearing and over to the lonely mailbox. It pulled out the letters and then fastened them to the little sign under the mailbox under the words “Letters for”. And with her job for the night now done, the small mare sighed and then dashed off towards home, lest that anypony see her when the sun rose. As the sun rose the next day, a certain Princess Twilight was walking dejectedly towards the center of town. She wasn’t dressed in anything fancy, and in fact, she wasn’t even wearing her crown. She had said that she’d be going out to Spike, and then had left for a walk. She couldn’t quite keep her mind off the letter that she’d written the day before. Why had she been compelled to write it? It had been such a sudden, fervent urge when she’d laid eyes upon that strange mailbox. Everypony else had just been walking by it like it didn’t exist. But it had called to her. She’d gone home and handwritten a letter herself about her worries for a reason she didn’t understand. And then she’d put it in that mailbox. Even now, she didn’t understand why she was being drawn back to Ponyville’s square where the mailbox was. But nevertheless, she ended up walking there and glancing over at that rusty red box. Much to her surprise though, something now hung underneath the mailbox on the sign without a name. She glanced around at everypony, wondering if they noticed the sign or what was hanging there. But nopony even stopped to glance at it. Twilight frowned and then trotted over to the sign, her eyes slowly widening in shock as she read what the hanging letter said. ‘Twilight.’ She threw a wondering look around to make sure that nopony was paying attention, and then Twilight used her magic to gently pluck the letter from the sign before she stowed it away under her mane and then quickly trotted home, eager to read what was inside.
Chapter 2The small mare had come back during the day, risking being seen in order to watch the mailbox in the center of town. She wanted to see if her letters were picked up. Because if they weren’t, then everything she had planned for would go to waste. So now she was hidden in a bush, watching ponies walk by the mailbox like it wasn’t there –and it wasn’t- until suddenly she saw Twilight walk into the area. Her breath froze in her throat and her heartbeat sped up as she watched Twilight hesitantly walk toward the mailbox. And then hope soared into her chest when Twilight plucked a letter from the sign and tucked it away into her mane before she trotted away and vanished from sight. She had to stop herself from jumping in glee for that would give away her cover. And no matter how happy she was, if her cover was blown then she would never be able to get home, let alone out of the center of town. So instead of showing any emotion of how joyful she felt, the mare didn’t move, didn’t twitch, didn’t even change her expression. Entirely satisfied and assured that the others would get their letter as well, the mare stood up and flicked up her hood, planning a route to take in order to get home. She moved to follow it when she saw a new pony walk up to the mailbox in a trance. She was surprised to see the berry colored coat and mane of this pony. Was this one yet another that could…? The mare watched with growing surprise as the berry-colored pony quickly shoved a letter into the box and hurriedly glanced around before trotting off quickly and vanishing into the crowds. The mare wanted to go take the letter now, but there would be no way for her to get to the mailbox without being seen by somepony. So instead of hurrying to gather the letter, the mare sighed and rested her head on her hooves and closed her eyes, waiting for the night to come. And when the sun did sink and Luna brought up the moon, the mare stirred, yawning before she glanced around from the safety of the bush. Nopony did she see and so with hesitation she put a hoof outside of the bush. No sound came as she held it there, no croons or screams did she hear. Relieved, she jumped out of the bush and trotted up to the mailbox, glad to see that her other letters were gone. Hopefully they’d listen to what she’d written. It was everypony’s only chance… With a flash of soft silver, the mare popped open the mailbox and retrieved not one, but two letters before she shut it again. Surprised by the second letter, the mare tucked both under her grey cloak before she turned around and vanished into the shadows. Mailbox. You know- Well, you’re a mailbox, you wouldn’t know. But still. Though I know this I still find myself compelled to write this. And in red ink, no less. Regardless, I find it odd that I feel as though I’m not making my hoof move to write this. Even now, I’m having trouble putting down- puttin~~g down~~ ~~words-~~ The mare frowned at this section of the letter that was heavily blotted out with red ink as if the writer had spilled her container all over it. Shaking her head, the mare continued reading where it picked back up. I spent my next days in the cellar of my home, mixing different fruits and juices into the most delicious types of punch that anypony could ever imagine. I had found myself again and I wanted to tell everyone about my revelation. But when I told my friends they just scoffed at me. I told my neighbors and they acted like they’d been told something very personal by a stranger. No one I talked with seemed to understand that I had changed, and they didn’t seem to remember who I even was. They just grimaced and went on their way. ~~andthenI~~ ~~thenI~~ why am I writing this? What’s compelled me to explain- to explain my life story? I don’t have any idea. Please, it’s like my hooves are not my own as I write this. Thank Celestia I’ve run out of ink to write with. Something strange is going on in Ponyville. Please tell me I’m not alone. Berry Punch The mare was alone in her basement again, a touch of silver holding the letter she was reading as she blushed a bit and scoffed at herself. “I think I may have made that particular spell too strong for earth ponies. Sorry about that Berry. But I do wish I could read the entire letter.” The mare set the letter down and then smoothed out a new sheet of paper with her magic and picked up her quill and dipped it in her ink and began writing. As she did so though, she laced her magic into the letter, planning that it would lessen the effects of her previous magic on Berry Punch. She finished the letter with a flourish and then sealed it and labeled it with an elegant ‘Berry Punch’ before she set it down and picked up the letter whose owner she hadn’t seen. Dearly so to Somepony, Quite frankly, when I first saw your mailbox in the middle of town, I didn’t understand why I felt so drawn towards it. Even now, I can’t explain the feelings that compelled me to write. Maybe I just need to vent on an unknown ear. Yes…I think that’s it. Please, forgive me for troubling you with these letters upon this page. But I have to get my suspicions out of my mind. To explain what I mean, it is important that you know that I have a special somepony. Well…it’s not official through marriage just yet, but we were already starting to plan our wedding. We don’t sleep in the same room yet either because of our jobs. (This is important I assure you, more so because I have to venture out late at night for my job. Hence, why we don’t sleep together. I don’t wish to wake her.) As of late when I come home I’ve taken to softly playing my lyre for my special somepony, knowing that she often mentioned how she loved to wake up to hear me playing an alluring and calming tune. And she’d come to her window and look down and smile. She’d listen with that sweet smile of hers, her blue and pink curls of hair draped messily about her face. It was the most beautiful thing... Forgive me for rambling, I’ll get to the point. The point being that just last night when I came home from a normal serenade of a dinner that I’d been hired for, I started to play her a song like normal. But she did not come to my call. She didn’t appear at the window. Worried about her and thinking that she may be sick, I trotted inside and dropped off my lyre and then went to her room. I softly knocked a few times on her door and then waited a bit impatiently for her to come to her door. When she opened it she gave me a soft blush and glanced at me in confusion. She asked me if I had been playing music. I replied that I had and then she blushed and pawed at the ground. She said with a small voice that she thought it was sweet, but that she really didn’t think I should be playing music for her. We were only roommates after all, because I had needed a place to stay. I had been so stunned. Those words shook me to my core and I froze. I watched her nod nervously and then shut the door on me. I barely managed to get back to my own room. What had my love meant? I questioned her the next day and yet she avoided every question I asked. She gave me blank stares and simply started to avoid me altogether. I tell you, I am truly heartbroken. Something is not right in this situation. My love would simply just not stop acting as if I didn’t exist to her as a special somepony without at least some reason. What can I say? I am deeply troubled and confused. Do you have any advice to offer? My dearest apologies for troubling you with this, Lyra Heartstrings Mechanically, the small mare set down the letter and then used some silver to create a new one, taking her time with it like Lyra seemed to have done with her own letter. The mare touched off the newly sealed letter with a ‘Lyra’ and then set it by the other. Satisfied with them both, the mare stood up and collected the two letters before sticking them in her side bag. This would be the last night for her to go out and deliver these letters before her careful plan would be set in motion if everything went correctly. *** High above the sky at night, in the clouds that were allowed to float and accumulate now that everyone was sleeping, a small Pegasus was trotting along daintily. She was humming to herself quite happily, enjoying being out at night in the heavy cloud cover. Luna’s moon hung high above her head and bathed the clouds around her in a silver-blue light that dazzled her eyes. She loved being alone at night up in the sky. It was the only time that she didn’t have to worry about doing something wrong. The mare smiled and kept trotting along, enjoying the feeling of the damp clouds beneath her hooves until suddenly, that feeling vanished. Scrambling with her hooves, Raindrops fell through the clouds where they had parted and she hadn’t seen them end. Fear rushed through her veins and she flailed her hooves, forgetting entirely about her wings. She fell like a stone then, until she finally did remember about her wings and spread them out wide. She didn’t have the strongest wings though, and soon the ground was upon her. She landed roughly on her one wing and skidded a bit before she came to a stop. Wincing, she blinked open her eyes and realized that she was laying in front of something. Something that was standing over her. Blinking painfully, Raindrops looked up and was surprised to see a mare in a grey cloak that was looking at her in shock. Raindrops blinked a few times, about to ask for help when the mare suddenly bolted away from her view. Raindrops’ hope fell as she heard the mare galloping away. Realizing that she was all on her own, she shakily pushed herself to her hooves and winced as her wing hung limp. Her one was fine, but the other flashed with pain if she tried to move it at all and that same side felt badly brush burned. Raindrops realized that she could still walk though, and so she glanced around and saw that she was in the center of Ponyville, not too far away from the fountain. But then she remembered that she didn’t quite know a lot of ponies in Ponyville, not to mention the fact that she didn’t know anypony that she could go see about her wing or ask for a place to stay for the rest of the night. Dejected and depressed by her thoughts, Raindrops slowly started walking away from the middle of town, her damaged wing dragging on the ground as she went. She wandered around and past many cold-looking homes until she noticed a sign in front of a different style of home that depicted a little book. Looking up, Raindrops took in the sight of a tree-house that looked inviting. There even was a light still on in one of the windows even though it was so late. Hope filling her eyes, Raindrops walked up to the door to the house and softly knocked upon it with her uninjured hoof. She waited anxiously for somepony to answer her knock, debating if she should even bother this particular pony. But the pain in her wing kept her in place, and so she stood silently as she heard some movements from inside. Suddenly, the door clicked softly and was pulled open, letting light flood out and momentarily blind Raindrops. She squinted against the light as her eyes adjusted, and then immediately found herself stammering for words because of the pony that was standing before her. “Are you alright?” The mare before her asked with a concerned look. Raindrops blinked in surprise and then pulled some words out of the air. “E-excuse m-m-me P-Princess…b-but I-I f-fell f-from the sky a-and hurt m-my w-wing.” Raindrops said shyly, awed that she was talking to the Princess. Much to her surprise, the Princess’s face fell and she stepped aside from the door. “Please come in then my friend! I’ll take a look at your wing and see what I can do. I’m no Doctor, but I know the basics. And if you have no place to go, I’ll find you a bed for the night.” Stunned, Raindrops took the offer and hesitantly walked inside before the Princess shut the door and trotted off to the other side of the room, already using her magic to pull down various books as she searched for what to do. Raindrops looked around in wonder, staring at all the walls of books as the Princess pulled books from them and replaced them in successive motions. Raindrops walked to the middle of the room and then sat down politely, waiting for the Princess to find what she was looking for. And yet, Raindrops still could not believe that she was in the Princess’s house. She glanced at the ground and shook her head in disbelief before she winced and then glanced absentmindedly to her left. Raindrops then tilted her head softly as she noticed a letter-like paper that was sitting upon the desk. And she faintly wondered whatsoever the Princess could be writing about, and to whom. For, after all, why would a Princess need to be writing her own letters?
Chapter 3By the time morning came, Twilight was both extremely confused and extremely hopeful about the small group of ponies that had come to her in the night. She had patched Raindrops up after not too long and the stammering mare had fallen asleep off to the side of the room. Later that night, as the letter said should happen, a few...others had shown up. Twilight glanced over at Lyra, who was sitting on a chair, half-heartedly plucking on the lyre that she always had with her. Berry Punch was sitting on the other side of the table, drawing circles with her hoof as she waited as well. Twilight sighed, turning her gaze outside to look at the rising sun with heavy eyes. They had been waiting all night for one more pony. Worried that she had read the letter wrong, Twilight trotted back over to her desk table where the odd letter still lay. She picked it up with her magic and frowned, seeing that she had read it correctly. It told her that her fears were correct. Something was going terribly wrong in Ponyville. But the letter didn't explain what was happening or who the sender was. All that was at the bottom was Royal Stone. The only conclusive thing it mentioned was that three others would meet her in the night. Nothing else. No more explanations. It didn't say why those ponies were coming or how this pertained to what was going on in Ponyville. Raindrops had shown up first at her door just after she had finished reading the letter. She'd been quite surprised, not thinking that somepony would arrive so soon. But when she asked Raindrops about the letter, the mare insisted that she didn't know what Twilight was talking about. Just after midnight, another knock had come and Twilight opened the door to find Lyra, who looked relieved to find that Twilight knew who she was. In fact, Twilight had had a hard time getting Lyra to stop going on about how nopony knew her anymore and that even Bon-Bon was acting like they had just met. Berry Punch... had come just after Lyra. She knocked shyly and defended herself when Twilight asked if she hadn't been drinking too much punch and ended up at the wrong house. Twilight looked over at the mare now with a soft wince, terribly sorry that she assumed that about her. After Berry Punch arrived, Twilight showed them the letter that she had received and they pulled out their own. Raindrops joined in on the conversation with a bit of confusion. What was going on down here in Ponyville, she had questioned. Everything was just fine in Cloudsdale. Twilight had frowned at this information and suggested that they wait to make any further speculations until the last pony arrived. But now as the sun started to rise, Lyra groaned and glanced at Twilight, her voice a bit sarcastic. "Are you sure Raindrops isn't the last pony?" "Positive. She said that she didn't know about the letters or what's going on. She is from Cloudsdale after all." "But maybe she doesn't know that she's the last pony." Berry Punch chimed in, tired of waiting as well. "Did you think of that Twilight?" Lyra said with a flop of her head on the table, her lyre still floating as she plucked at it with her magic. "She insisted that she hadn't any idea. Now please, I'm sure that if we just wait-" "We've been waiting all night!" Lyra suddenly shouted in exasperation as she threw up her hands and her lyre dropped out of her magic's control and clattered to the floor. Raindrops suddenly jerked awake, startled by the sound as Twilight narrowed her eyes disapprovingly. And then they all froze as the sound of a soft knock on Twilight's door. Everypony in the room blinked and turned towards the door in stunned silence before Twilight regained herself and trotted over to it. She opened the door slowly and then stared sadly at the pony on the other side. Derpy's filly, Dinky, was staring back at Twilight with big eyes. "Dinky, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in school right about now?" Twilight said gently before she stared in surprise as the filly ignored the question and trotted inside, determination on her face. "I'ma guessing you are the others?" Dinky said as she trotted over to Lyra and Berry Punch and hopped up onto a seat at the table. They looked at one another in surprise before Lyra spoke. "What do you mean Dinky? Why are you-?" "I was told to come here by this letter." Dinky said as she used her magic to pull a small note from under her hair. She unfolded it and held it up for them to see. Twilight, still a bit scattered, shut the door and trotted over, reading the letter as the others did. "But how..." Lyra stammered, shaking her head. "You're so young!" Berry Punch said with a frown. "And why didn't you come sooner?" Twilight asked with a tilt of her head as she took a seat at the table as well. Dinky shook her head and smirked. "Did you think my mother would've let me leave home at night?" Dinky said with a roll of her eyes. Twilight smirked and laughed softly before she glanced at Dinky's letter again. "So if everypony's here...what happens now? These letters don't give us any clues." Twilight said as she picked up all the letters and laid them out on the table. The entire circle of ponies frowned and squinted their eyes, reading and re-reading the letters for some type of clue. Any clue, that could lead them to an answer. Raindrops, in the meantime, had slowly trotted over to the table, curious about what was going on now. The others didn't notice her as she glanced from one letter to the other with a tilt of her head. And then suddenly, she spoke. "Look at the signatures." She said with a point of her one hoof. Startled by the sudden sound, the others jumped in their seats for a moment before Twilight managed to speak. "What do you mean? They're not the pony's real name, they're all signed differently!" Twilight said as Dinky gasped. "I get it!" Dinky said with a growing grin. "The names are all descriptions!" Dinky exclaimed in excitement before she tilted her head. "Though I don't know where it's talking about." "I don't get it...how do you see...?" Lyra said with a look at the filly as Twilight figure it out. "They're right Lyra. Look. Royal Stone, Broken Fable, Night Home, Magic. " Twilight said with a smile as Berry Punch frowned. "I don't see how-" "You just have to rearrange the signatures." Twilight said with growing enthusiasm. "Royal Stone and Broken Fable -when switched- make Broken Stone and Royal Fable!" Twilight said with a grin as Lyra chimed in. "But how does Royal Fable make any sense? Wouldn't Magic Fable make more sense?" "What about Royal Home?" Dinky pitched in, eager to help. "That would leave Night, Magic, and Fable. And that doesn't make any sense..." Twilight said with a frown. "Maybe..." "Night Fable. I'd say." Raindrops said with a small blush as the others looked at her. "I-I mean, it sounds like another name for a bedtime story." "So we'd have Broken Stone, Royal Home, Night Fable and Magic. How are those connected?" Lyra said with a frustrated frown. Berry Punch glanced at Twilight, and Dinky frowned as well. Raindrops shrugged and looked to Twilight, who was staring intensely at the words. A few minutes passed in silence until Twilight suddenly lit up. "I got it!" "What? What does it mean?" Lyra asked in joy. "It's talking about the old ruins of the royal castle that's deep in the Everfree Forest!" "The what?" Dinky questioned, too young to know about them. "The ruins! They're made of broken stone that's been crumbling for years. They used to be a royal home for the sisters. Stories are told about them to little fillies, and it's where I first realized that I was the element of Magic, and that friendship was a powerful thing." Twilight said quickly with growing enthusiasm. "So are we supposed to go there?" Berry Punch asked after a small moment of silence, her voice hesitant. "I'd say we were." Lyra said with an excited grin. "I agree. But we can't take-" "I'm going with you and that's what's going to happen." Dinky said with a strong glare at Twilight as she puffed up her face. Twilight blinked in surprise and tried to reason with the filly. "But your mother-" "Will forget about me like she did with daddy if we don't fix this. I'm coming with you." "Okay then! It's settled. We'll bring Dinky with us!" Lyra said with a clap of her hooves before she glanced around at everypony. "Twilight knows better than I do how hard it will be to get there, but all that means is that we should all go home and pack out things and meet back here at noon. Sound good?" Lyra said with a smile, leading the way toward the door. The others shrugged and nodded their heads in agreement and then stood to leave. "But what about me?" Raindrops said as everypony headed towards the door. "Oh...well I guess you can go home." Lyra said with a soft smile. "I can't." Raindrops said with a frown. "Why couldn't you...?" "She injured her wing Lyra." Twilight said as she turned to Raindrops' defense. "I can't really fly home right now. And I doubt Twilight just wants to leave me here alone." "Well, you'd be here with Spike of course." Twilight said with a smile. "Spike? But we haven't seen him all night Twilight." Berry Punch said with a confused look at the princess. Twilight blinked in realization and her face fell. She had no idea where he was. "R-right. Maybe Raindrops should come along with us then?" Twilight suggested. "That probably wouldn't be-" "That'd be a great idea!" Berry Punch said, cutting Lyra off with a sheepish smile as Lyra glared. "After all, she did notice the connection with the signatures. She's probably be good to have around. Right Twilight?" "Only if she wants to come." Twilight said with a glance at the mare. Raindrops smiled and nodded. "Sounds good to me." "Okay then! We'll meet back here in front of my house at noon. See everypony then!" Twilight said with a small bit of excitement as Dinky giggled and bounced out the door. Berry Punch followed after Dinky, and Lyra frowned and sluggishly trotted out. Twilight shut the door and then turned to Raindrops. "Okay then! Time to pack. I think I remember having a spare saddlebag in the storeroom..."
