The silhouette grabbed a torch of a sconce and held it near his face, it was Crimson. “Twilight, by Celestia you look like you were trying to escape Sombra’s clutches. You can stop being so frightened. You’re in the Castle of the Two Sisters, not some dingy dungeon, or treacherous trap, nor in any kind of peril at all.”

Twilight exhaled and took a moment to catch her breath, “thank Celestia it’s you Crimson, I fell asleep in the forest and I wasn’t expecting to wake up somewhere…else. I didn’t recognize it for the longest time.”

Crimson grew slightly stern, “About that, how did you find yourself in the Everfree Forest in the middle of the night?”
Twilight hesitated on answering, “Well, I had these terrible dreams of a city on fire and it turning into a wasteland, then someone appeared and I watched them as they took aim and shot me. Suffice to say it made me feel vulnerable, and I guess I was a little worried that you might be lonely.”

“Me…lonely, don’t be ridiculous. Anyway I got a message from Spike that he had seen you run for the forest I thought that it might behoove me to find you.”

“Thank you Crimson, honestly. There is no telling what danger could have found my in that forest.”

“It’s nothing, I just finished with breakfast, left some for you, and now I am beginning the first smelting process. My offer from yesterday still stands, your welcome to watch my craft. Although I suggest you get something to eat first.”

Twilight realized she hadn’t eaten since early yesterday evening and that it was about noon. She bid Crimson bye for now and went upstairs to find a modest table lined with vegetables and treats. She ate her fill and took several for Crimson and herself to snack through the day. She guessed that he would get little free time in the next three days. She descended into the inner depths and followed the rhythmic sounds of the hammer and bellows.

She left the food in Crimson’s drafting room and circled around until she found an unused room that looked onto the forge. Consequently this was the only unused room around the forge and it was located opposite the entrance to the forge itself. Twilight unpacked her hastily filled saddlebags and spread the contents throughout the room. Several notes and books as well as her assortment of alchemical regents and miniaturized devices she placed on the desk in front of the window. Meanwhile her princess garb and saddlebags were placed in a wardrobe. Once she settled in she began to go through her papers first. Several were pertaining to her duty as a princess, most of them were on construction permits, and soon they wore on her, their tedium became all the more frustrating with each document. However, through raw determination she finished the impressive pile. She toyed with her alchemical set for a while. Her movements unknowingly matching the rhythm of the hammer now that her mind was free to wonder a bit. She had finished an experimental salve mixture that ended up failing and with that she let out a sigh and gave up. Too mentally exhausted to do much else she stared out the small window to the forge. The sun was shining straight down onto the forge and the whole forge shined brightly. Twilight’s attention shifted from the brilliant walls and floor to Crimson. He was on two legs and was without a duster, helmet, or his armor. He instead wore a smock and a long brown coat, but seemingly much more protective as the sparks bounced harmlessly off. He was working tirelessly on an ingot of pure white. He was striking the ingot with finesse, but also frightening power. The small brick slowly morphed under the authority of the hammer into a something resembling a rib. She stared at it perplexed; she had seen armor many a times but could not recall ever seeing an armor designed in that shape.

Twilight ruminations were cut short as she felt the familiar pitter-patter of delicate hoofsteps and the face of Fluttershy appeared at the entryway of the forge. There she stood for a little while as Crimson finished cooling a rib shaped piece. After he carefully placed onto a table in the nearest room he turned his attention to the new arrival. Fluttershy was frozen for several moments before she finally returned his greeting and stated her intention. From what Twilight overheard, it sounded like Fluttershy was dropping off an assortment of medical supplies. Twilight felt glad that her friend had her safety in mind, but at the same time felt anxious that she might need to use them on her journey. Once Fluttershy had deposited the supplies she promptly left still a bit scared of the castle after the last time she had been here. Soon the now familiar ring of Crimson’s hammer and the roar of the forge filled the air and Twilight resumed her medicinal alchemy with renewed vigor. After an hour or two she had successfully managed to create the salve several times and effectively memorized the process. She was quite exhausted now and turned to the books she had brought with her. They all pertained to certain survival skills like edible flora and fauna, or hiking guides. She picked up the one she thought was most important, the one on desert plants, and began reading through it.
Twilight had read halfway through the impressive volume when nighttime fell and another guest had arrived. This time it was Rarity who stood in one of the rooms staring at the forge’s moonlit drum and Crimson as he work furiously for several minutes before approaching Twilight.

“Oh, hello Rarity, what brings you down here?” Twilight inquired as she laid her book down.

“I brought you a little present and good thing Fluttershy told me you were here. I would have gone insane trying to find you otherwise.”

Rarity produced a long tan piece of clothing from her saddlebags. “Do you like it; I modeled it after Crimson’s.”

“Uh…what is it?” Twilight asked tentatively.

Rarity answered not at all put off by Twilight’s lack of understanding, “It’s a duster, meant to keep the harsh dust out of your fur as well as cacti and such. I personally do not like wearing them, they are very intimidating and all too serious but some people can pull them off very nicely and I think it’ll make you and Crimson have the team look.”

Twilight put on the duster and it covered her very well, she felt surprising cool underneath the thick fabric. All in all she loved it. Rarity chimed up “Now I hope you enjoy it, I unfortunately have to attend to Opalescence tonight. Wish you luck, dearie.”
Twilight held her hoof off to stop Rarity before she ran off. “Thank you Rarity, I know it’ll see its use.”

Rarity smiled back, “the joy of a designer is to see their work being worn. I know it’s not the most important thing for you to worry about in that inhospitable place, but I’m glad you do.”

With that Rarity walked off into the corridor, but not before stealing another peak at Crimson. Soon the sound of the forge once again asserted its dominance on the air and the noise of the hammer filled Twilight’s head. She lay on the bed listening to the sound. Clang… clang… clang… then a steaming ‘hiss’ followed by the heaving of the bellows before the clang continued. Twilight listened for a while before it lulled her to sleep. Her dream were nice and pleasant for once, her night terrors held at bay by the unrelenting hammer. Her worries melted and for a while she felt at ease.

Twilight woke up to the sound of Crimson’s constant strike. The sun had just peaked over the horizon and the drum was slick black. Twilight eased herself out of bed and used her magic to make the bed. She surveyed her room, it was small and cluttered but Twilight felt at ease here. Twilight picked up the book she hadn’t finished the night before and walk toward the great hall in search of breakfast. Twilight meandered through the halls of the ancient castle, looking for the secret passages and rooms left by its royal designers, Twilight’s journey through the past came to an end as she found the terrace kitchen and settled down with her breakfast and book. She began reading, the early morning sun warming the cool marble around her, in the sunbeam she knew Celestia was there and the thought dissipated some of her fears. She was nearly done with the book and our later when she came upon the chapter of desert poisons; she cringed as the thought of Crimson’s limp form lying on her floor asserted itself into her memory. She hesitated, afraid of the poison’s reality, but who she feared for the most…she didn’t know . Soon after her rationality returned and she came to terms with the poison and realized ignorance could not save anyone and read it through and then again and again, until she was confident to the point of paranoia that she was intimately familiar with the topic, from identifying the plants, identifying if somepony is poisoned and with what kind, however the part she reviewed over and over again was the list of antidotes. A huge compendium of antidotes was listed as well as the plants they are derived from. She memorized them all.

Finished with her work, Twilight closed her book and sat up, before quickly falling back down. She had been so intently studying that her legs had gone to sleep and her muscles had all gone stiff. Twilight sighed in irritation, before setting about stretching each muscle until she could stand again. She looked up to the sky and saw a bright spring sky, just beckoning for her presence. Twilight, always courteous, could not refuse such a perfect invitation. She walked out onto the windy terrace and inhaled deeply as she stretched her wings out wide, the sunlight shining through the delicate lattice of feathers. She held her breath until her wings were fully outstretched, then she released her breath and beat her wings with a mighty effort as she shot up into the sky. Her headlong charge through the atmosphere didn’t end until she burst through the cloud layer like an amethyst tipped spear, with her wings cocooned around her. From the lavender cocoon she emerged and fell back onto the layer of clouds. There she lay relaxing in the brilliance of the sun, lost in the moment. Twilight turned away from the glorious sun and looked through the clouds onto the forest. She stared intently at the river of emerald green, at the flourishing forest, as it swayed in the morning breeze. All the valleys and hills, clearings and canopies were arrayed below her. And then a speck of orange and pink intruded on the green ubiquity. Twilight knew who it was immediately and flew back to the castle to meet them. She had taken a stealthier way down but still arrived minutes before they arrived, which she used to tidy the kitchen and foyer that she had unknowingly throw into disarray with her rapid ascent to the heavens.

All was neat and tidy when Pinkie and Applejack walked through the door. Applejack greeted her from the doorstep. “Well, I reckoned that Fluttershy must’ve been fibbing about you being here, but here you are. Pinkie and I were just thinking that would should come and visit and check up on you, we figured you’d be alright with it.”

Twilight motioned for them to come in and closed the great oak doors behind them. “Don’t worry girls, it’s alright. I spent the morning up in the clouds and was really needing someone to talk to. Crimson is a bit too busy to carry on a conversation.”
Applejack and Pinkie Pie placed several boxes on the kitchen table, “well we came to bring you guys some good eats but I guess we can stay a while, can’t we Pinkie.”

Pinkie nodded vigorously, “We sure do, and the Cakes gave me the day off so I can spend the whole day here!”
“Don’t worry we won’t take up the whole day, I need to be getting back to the farm before dinnertime, and I’ll take Pinkie with me.” Applejack reassured Twilight, “so what have y’all been doing around here, haven’t seen it since it was all fixed up.”
Twilight, eager to connect with her friends, took them on a tower through the newly renovated parts of the castle. Twilight took them all across the castle from the restored library to the once destroyed throne room where they had once saved Equestria from Nightmare Moon and had all found each other the second time they had ventured in. They travelled through the ancient tunnels and hallways that had all been secrets if not for Pinkie’s accidental detective skills. Through their grand tour they talked about the journey ahead and like Rarity and Fluttershy, Applejack and Pinkie each showed concern and worry over the prospect of the Twilight’s journey. Pinkie’s worry was soon soothed over by the rediscovery of the piano room. As Twilight walked the halls with her friends she couldn’t stop thinking of her crystal palace and how it varied so much from the old stones that towered around her.

She realized just how odd her appointment as princess had been compared to the appointment of Celestia and Luna. The difference was even apparent in the castles. The stone of this castle carried with a physical need of the people, a need for security and need for regularity and reliability in their lives. It was built in defense to the chaos and hap-hazard care of Discord’s reign. Her own castle stood as a monument to her accomplishments, a savior and a protector of the ponies of Equestria but she represented a different form of service. She was a symbol of rebirth and the disperser of evil long festering and growing restoring that which once was and protecting that which is. Even her castle was reborn and renewed after evil’s destruction. Twilight had never really realized the weight that her fore-princesses had borne for their kingdoms, she felt unworthy in the light of their glory. She soon realized that she had confronted and beaten the powers that had nearly defeated Celestia and Luna.

Twilight's deep introspective was interrupted by her friend’s emergence from the music room, one of Luna's favorite rooms. Pinkie and Applejack, having practiced more ditties then an average Pie family reunion, wanted to see Crimson. Both were intrigued when Twilight told them that he was set up in the basement forge.

“A forge, I haven’t seen a castle forge, only forge I ever seen is the old one in Appaloosa I wanna see.” Applejack announced with a boisterous “ME TOO!” from Pinkie Pie. So Twilight once again descended into the cool earth with friends in tow. The sounds of pounding met them as they descended and eventually grew to a mighty din that Twilight had to erect a noise field so that they could speak amongst each other. The three of them stood for a several minutes watching Crimson he had moved from his simple pieces and had moved into forging an intricate circlet. Crimson having finished the basic shape of the circlet begun to forge a story into the crowning and the coif pieces, embossing images of vines and war in gold and silver across the entire helm. Applejack was so amazed at the mastery of what to her was a very simple and old art. She had never seen such an exquisite piece made with such strength and durability. Pinkie was unusually quite awed by the amount of energy and the extreme level of precision two things she never thought possible. After several minutes of gawking at the tireless stallion Twilight snapped into reality and lead the others into one of the side rooms to continue their conversation.

Once they entered one of the spare room Twilight started again “That’s the full tour of the castle from tallest tower to deepest dungeon or forge in this case. How did you like it?”

Pinkie was the first to respond “I thought it was wonderful my favorite was the kitchen oh wait…It was definitely the garden, or the main hall so unlike yours. You know it was all my favorite.”

Applejack followed up “I got to agree with Pinkie although the forge is definitely the most interesting feature I mean look at the walls. They're hewn from hooves not magic there is a lot history in these walls and not to mention It’s got the strongest and most skilled smith in all of Equestria at its helm”

Twilight then asked “I know you guys didn’t come all this way for a tour, There must be something else you girls wanted to say to me before I leave.”

They both looked around sheepishly before Applejack admitted “It’s just that we are worried about you I mean we fought countless dangers some almost cost us dearly but we always stuck together as a team and we prevail, I’m just worried about you even though you are a princess and everything I still worry for you.” Pinkie Pie agreed with a solid “HURUMPF”

Twilight started to tear up but composed herself and placed a hoof on Applejack’s flank. “You know you girls mean so much to me and it’s a friend’s right and duty to worry about each other and you know if you were in my place I would do the same. It’s just Crimson, he is so strong and invested and…a…and alone. He has done so much behind the scenes and been alone the whole time I feel that he needs me just as much I’m going to need him. I know it’s dangerous but it’s the only way, he is a stallion on a mission. I feel like he has taken a vow to never fail anyone. I couldn’t do that to him.”

Applejack nodded slowly “I understand sugar, and in that case Pinkie and I pulled together and got you a little something to remind you of home while you are away.” Applejack reached into here workbags and pulled out a small shiny harmonica. Twilight inspected the harmonica seeing too was of simple construction, but once she flipped it over she saw engraved into the metal a little ditty that she recognized. It was the melody of Applejack’s first song of welcome to Twilight. The notes and lines were crooked but Twilight knew it at once. She looked back at Applejack who was smiling holding back a tear. Twilight embraced Applejack as the tear finally broke loose from its austere owner.

Pinkie Pie non-too-subtlety broke the moment by jumping into the hug causing the three to careen into a nearby stack of hay. Once they got up from their little tumble Pinkie Pie zoomed off only to return with a bandolier of spices and reagents. “So I thought that you might get hungry on your trip, I mean it would be pretty silly of me to think you wouldn’t get hungry on a trip and so I thought I know how about I get you something so you can eat like you do back here so I realized the best way to do that is with spices so I gathered up as many as I cold and made this awesome spice belt.” Pinkie then continued to point out and talk endlessly about each spice. Twilight and Applejack listened patiently having heard all this before on one of their many visits to her shop. However Twilight perked up when Pinkie got to a few herbs she hadn’t spoken about before. “So these three herbs right here are super special because they are used to purify water and clean food, you see these herbs once boiled create this paste that you ca rub into food or drop into other water and it kills all the germies and stuff, it also taste like lemon, yum.” Twilight took careful mental notes after this and a good thing too as all the spices after this were completely new to here. Once Pinkie was finished explaining her herbs the three of them chatted idly for several hours. Their idle chatter was interrupted by Crimson as he walked into the room towering above on his charcoal hind legs, his duster like an iron curtain around him. In his fore hoof he held the detailed circlet its immortal stories having been finished being told across its length. Crimson gave a hearty smile as he entered but said nothing as he walked over to Twilight and sized the circlet on her head, and to Twilight’s surprise it was a perfect fit and despite its ornamentation it sat balanced on her head.

“Try walking around and moving your head quickly in it, I need to make sure I fitted it correctly” Crimson instructed. Twilight did just that moving at various speeds around the outer rim and then did all sorts of sporadic head movements in an effort to shake the crown off but to no avail as the circlet stayed firmly attached to her head. “Good, good I was sure that was going to be perfect” Crimson commented as it became clear the circlet’s hold was not hampered by the ornamentation. Applejack and Pinkie Pie had been mesmerized by the decoration as Twilight was running around the rim, the light from the sun had bounced off the obsidian walls and as it shined onto the circlet the scenes looked as if they were alive and moving, the light also created a dazzling array of colors as it reflected the sunlight.
Once Twilight was finished with her laps they finally spoke up about it wishing to congratulate Crimson, “wow… I ain’t never seen a circlet quite so pretty, I’d hate to see it get all scuffed up and dented,” said Applejack.

This made Crimson smirk in amusement almost making him chuckle before responding “If you think it might get damaged I can assure you it won’t, here try.” Crimson laid the circlet down and gave a hammer to Applejack who looked nervously at the prospect but at the urging of Crimson swung at the circlet with her full strength. When the hammer met the circlet it stopped dead before falling from Applejack’s hoof. The circlet was as pristine as ever, now this made Pinkie’s mouth drop. She pulled out her detective’s hat out of thin air and investigated the hammer and circlet which only her more confused see thought for sure it was a trick. Crimson denied it showing that the hammer and circlet were not a result of trickery. She eventually gave up and turned back to the girls.

“Well in that case I have only one thing,” Pinkie’s expression turned to a softer more sincere expression “to say I wish you the best and the safest journey.” Pinkie ran up to Twilight and embraced with a final hug before Applejack and Pinkie left for the night. As they left Crimson’s usually grin was tainted by a small drop of something unhappy, but only Twilight noticed it as he returned to the forge with the same tireless vigor.

Author's Note

A bit longer then usually but whatever.