"I'm innocent, innocent I tell you" she cried before her speech devolved into indecipherable blubbering and sobbing. "Tell it to Celestia" The Guard barked, tightened his grip on the mare's arm.
"Wait, wait" Twilight said, running over to the guard following behind them, ensuring the girl didn't try to escape into the crowd of shocked onlookers. "Please,please, I just need a little more time" Twilight pleaded. The guard took her hoof in his and patted it gently, "sorry Twilight, I wish I could help." She sighed, forcing back her tears. "I wish you could too" she replied, sniffling. "It'll be okay" he said soothingly, reaching up to wipe her tear. Twilight nodded but inside she knew he was lying. She wasn't mad at him for trying to make her feel better, she was mad at this night, at this stupid, pretentious, horrible night. Her brain buzzed with every awful adjective she could think of but she knew it was a waste of time. Thinking wasn't going to solve her problem she had to do something--now!
She scanned the crowd all packed in like sardines, whispering what she was sure were disparaging remarks and pointing. Twilight felt a lump of anger rise in her throat. What had gotten into her tonight? She was usually so logical but at this moment she felt anything but, she felt downright visceral! The heavy door closed with a loud thud that made her jump. The crowd began to break apart, their whispering turned into dull murmurs that's when she saw her. She was standing in the middle of the room talking to some stuffy looking diplomats from Saddle Arabia. Twilight marched into the crowd as if there was no one in her way. Their cries of 'how rude' and 'well I never' fell on deaf ears.
"There has to be something you can do" Twilight said, demanding the princess's attention. The diplomats opened their mouths to say something but when they saw the glittering golden crown atop Twilight's head they thought better of it. "I am sorry, Twilight Sparkle, but this is a very serious offense. I must wait until my sister awakens so I may consort with her on this matter." Princess Luna said matter-of-factly. Twilight sighed, she grabbed a glass of sparkling cider from a nearby tray and drank it all in one gulp. "What a night" she said rubbing her head.
"Twilight, Twilight!" her ears perked up at the sound of her friends calling to her. "Did you find anything?" she asked, looking hopefully at each of them. The hung their heads, "no I'm afraid not" AppleJack said, her eyes glued to the floor. "We saw that it was midnight and we were afraid that--" Fluttershy's voice trailed off. "We were too late" Rainbow Dash chimed in, sighing. "Are we too late?" Pinkie asked, with only the slighted glimmer of hope in her eyes. "Yes, We're all too late" Twilight sobbed. Her friends gathered around her. All of them collapsing into tears.
"Wait I have an idea!" she said, wiping her tears away. She galloped through the castle, through the maze of exhibits that made up the Le Soir Du Couture Ball. "Shining Armor, I need to talk to you" she said breathlessly. "Twily, calm down, have some cider" he replied warmly, holding out a glass. "There's no time for that" she said, pushing it back towards him. "We've got to get her out!" Twilight yelled, causing everyone to turn around and stare at her. Shining Armor sighed, "Twily, I wish I could, it took everything I had just to give you 'til midnight. Now that I'm with Cadence full time in the Crystal Empire I'm no longer the captain of the guard here in Canterlot."
"I know, I know, it's just--" Twilight felt the tears starting to well up again but she did her best to choke them back. "Arrrrgghh" she grunted before turning on her hooves and running towards the exit. She pushed open the heavy marble doors and breathed in gulp after gulp of fresh air. The rain was soaking her to the bone but she didn't even notice. "What are you doing out here, Twilight?" Rainbow asked, before she could answer Rainbow swooped up into the sky and disappeared. "Will everything be okay?" Fluttershy whispered, her voice shaking. "I don't think so" Twilight replied emotionlessly. "Here ya go, Twilight" Rainbow said softly, floating down on a fluffy cloud she had retrieved from way up in the heavens. "Thanks Rainbow" Twilight replied, smiling weakly. She surrounded the puffy cloud with her magic pink aura and it followed her and her friends, covering them like an umbrella as they walked the grounds.
A low rumble of thunder made Fluttershy jump and a bolt of a lightening soon followed. It seemed to split the sky in two with a bright sharp line of pure light, Twilight and her friends shivered. All of a sudden, they found themselves staring up at a small stone structure, cast in darkness behind the looming shadows of Canterlot castle. AppleJack gulped and Fluttershy whimpered. Pinky jumped from beneath the fluffy cloud and knocked on the door. "Hello in there, anybody home?" she called in her sing-song voice. The friends waited anxiously for the door to open but when it did there was no one there, at least, not anyone they could see. "Come in" said a low, deep voice. They hesitantly stepped inside but as soon as they did the door slammed shut behind them, blocking their only means of escape. They huddled together, scared, but ready to face whatever or whoever had trapped them there. "Who's There?" Twilight said, trying her best to sound intimidating.
Through the darkness they saw a small glowing light, the light grew bigger and bigger until it flooded the room, it pinged off the dank stone walls and zoomed back and forth setting all the torches on the walls aflame. Twilight and her friends blinked rapidly, trying to adjust their eyes. "Who are you?" Twilight asked. "I am Glint Sentinel, the new captain of the guard" he said in the same low voice as before. "It is an honor to meet you, Princess Twilight" he replied, bowing. Glint was quite a bit older then Twilight's brother, he had a dark grey mane and a deep blue coat with a sword and a knight's helmet for a cutie mark.
"If you know me then you know why I'm here" Twilight said, she tried to sound authoritative but it was hard with Glint's eyes narrowed at her, eyes that seemed to analyze her every thought before she even had it. "Yes your Majesty" he said, bowing once again. "You're here to see the prisoner, well be my guest, she's down the hall to the left." "Thank you" Twilight said curtly. Her friends tried to follow but Glint Stepped in front of them, "only the Princess may see the prisoner" he said gruffly. His voice had a strange quality, Twilight thought, it was smooth and low but threatening at the same time, it made her feel uneasy.
"You'll need this, gets pretty dark down there" Glint said, a smile spreading across his face. He surrounded one of the torches on the wall in his magic yellow aura and floated it to her. Twilight took the torch in her hoof and looked back at her friends apologetically. "Tell her, tell her. . ." Pinkie fidgeted, trying to think of what to say. "I will" Twilight said, offering her friends a weak smile. After all, what could you tell your friend when you visited her in prison? That everything was going to be fine? Yet those were the only words she could think of when she saw her sitting in that dark cell and sobbing to herself. "Don't worry Rarity, Everything is going to be fine."
