Exiled From Equestria

Twilight opens her wooden door and breaths in the crisp the morning air. Morning sunlight baths the land in a yellow glow. The sky is dotted with fluffy gray clouds, foretelling a light drizzle.

The purple unicorn takes a step outside. At that very second, she hears Spike running down the stairs and turns her head inside the house.

“Wait! I have a message from Princess Celestia!” The lavender dragon gives Twilight the scroll he is carrying. Her rose-colored magic envelopes it, eventually opening the letter. There is only a short paragraph written in black ink.

“Dear Twilight Sparkle, my most faithful student, today I invite you to my one-thousand and thirty-first birthday. It is being held in my old castle in Manehattan tomorrow afternoon. I encourage you to bring your best friends. Sincerely, Princess Celestia,” Twilight reads. She steps back inside the living room and closes the door with her magic behind her. Spike takes the letter from Twilight and runs to a small closet next to one of the bookshelves. He opens the door and pulls out a plastic bin full of all the scrolls the princess has sent and places the new one inside, then shoves it back in the closet and shuts the door, dusting his claws.

“One-thousand and thirty-one years old? Isn’t that like… really old?”

“Well, alicorns are immortal,” she replies, rushing to the kitchen and grabbing a box of cereal from a cupboard. Spike helps by pulling out a bowl, a spoon, some milk, and mixing it all together. “Thank you, Spike.”

“What are you rushing for?” He glances worriedly at how fast Twilight is scooping spoonfuls of Breakfast into her mouth.

“Manehattan is an eight hour train ride, and it takes time to gather all my friends for packing and such.” She hops out of her chair and rushes upstairs. As Spike is cleaning up the mess, he hears a loud crash from upstairs. “Oh, where's my suitcase?”

“The green one or the pink striped?”

“Striped. I can’t find it anywhere!” Twilight comes running down the stairs. Spike stands in her path and blocks her. “What are you doing?”

“You need to calm down.”

“Where’s my bag?” She shouts, grabbing Spike’s shoulders and shaking them. He points a shaking claw to the guest bedroom. Thirty seconds later, Celestia’s star pupil has dragged the largest suitcase in Equestria to her bedroom and started teleporting things inside. “Toothbrush, hairbrush, paper, quill…”

“Done!” She places the stuffed suitcase by the door. All she says to Spike is, “I’ll be back in a bit,” before galloping out of Golden Oak Library to bring over her friends.

***

“I can’t believe we’re going to Celestia’s birthday party!” Rarity exclaims excitedly. The six ponies are sitting on the seats of a train headed for Manehattan. The busy city is zooming into view each second they wait.

“I can’t believe how old she is,” Rainbow Dash comments.

“I wonder how old Princess Luna is,” Fluttershy replies.

“Ah assume ‘bout 20 years younger,” says Applejack. Twilight ponders on the question for a moment, knowing that she does actually know how many years the younger princess is.

“If I remember correctly, Luna is 6 years younger than Celestia.”

“Well I can’t believe that I’m not the one planning the party. I heard they hired somepony named Cheese Sandwich. Can you believe that?”

Fluttershy giggles. “Not in the least, Pinkie.”

Twilight keeps thinking about the last time her friends and herself traveled. King Sombra had attempted at reclaiming the Crystal Empire, which she hadn’t even known about until then.

This wasn’t very long ago; a week to be exact. What if something like that happens again?

Suddenly, the train stops and the whistle sounds. The six friends all cluster together and trot out of the train car.

Manehattan seems bigger than Canterlot. It is early summer, so there is no snow. However, there has been a late morning drizzle, making the concrete beneath their hooves cold and slightly wet. A pair of unicorns bumps into Twilight accidentally, apologizing curtly and continuing to walk.

She already misses Ponyville. The sky is gray and the sun is setting. The street lamps are already on, and it is beginning to drizzle. Skyscrapers and taxis are everywhere, and all the shops have blinds or are tinted so she can’t see inside. It makes her feel locked out and uninvited in the big city she has never been to. All the classy ponies have stern faces with no sign of a friendly welcome.

But when she turns around to her five friends, a rush of relief and happiness flood over her. Even at the worst times, her friends will be there to make them not so bad.

Twilight reaches into her suitcase and pulls out a pamphlet with her magic. Then she reads the address on the back. “Our hotel is on Cake St. According to the map,” she unfolds the pamphlet to look at the map, “we can get there by heading down the street on our left and many turns after that.”

Rarity collects everypony’s suitcases with her magic and places them on an empty wagon-like cart out of nowhere. It is large with wheels, perfect for carrying around all their luggage. “Come on, Darlings. We must hurry if we want to get there by sunfall.”

“Too late,” Rainbow points out. The last orange glow of Celestia’s sun has disappeared beyond the horizon. With all the street lamps and lights from buildings, it is much too bright to see the stars.

The light drizzle turns into pouring rain. Even though the luggage cart has a roof to protect the suitcases, the ponies don’t have anything to cover them from the rain. Even with thick fur and walking under the occasional roof of a shop on the sidewalk, the ponies are soaking wet in the first minute.

Twilight’s wet bangs hang over her eyes, causing her to trip on a curb.

“Are you okay?” Fluttershy asks. Twilight springs up, off the ground and shakes her wet fur and mane. With everything fuzzed up, she looks like Opal with a mane dryer.

“No, I am not okay. I just want to find our hotel as–”

“Hey look, we’re here!” Pinkie interrupts. They all stare up at the small building and sigh with relief. A small bell clings above the door when the ponies walk inside with their cart. The lobby is fairly big with a coffee table in one corner surrounded by a few couches and chairs next to a fireplace. Then they turn their attention to an orange stallion with a slicked back dark purple mane as he walked to the counter.

“How may I help you?” He asks with what Applejack calls a ‘fancy accent’.

“Yes, we booked a large hotel room under the name Twilight Sparkle?” The unicorn replies with a fake smile. The stallion picks up a clipboard with his teeth and looks through the names.

“I’m sorry, but I see no Twilight on ze list.”

“What? I specifically booked it this morning and checked twice to make sure you had my name down! This is outrageous!” Twilight snaps at the earth pony. She looks like she is about to blast the hotel out of the ground like she did at the library one time. But, luckily, the door bell chimes again, and everypony turns their heads to see none other than the almost-birthday mare with an umbrella.

“Princess Celestia,” they all exclaim simultaneously. The regal alicorn tilts her head and smiles.

“Twilight, I’m so glad you and your friends are here. How is Manehatten so far?”

“Well, it would be great if we had a place to sleep,” Twilight replies, rubbing the back of her neck. “It turns out our room wasn’t booked.”

“Oh?” Celestia stares at the stallion who is gazing in awe at the princess. “Well, I’m sure this problem can be resolved, ladies. Does my old castle sound nice?”

“But we couldn’t possibly ask–”

“It is no trouble at all, Twilight. I am more than happy to help you,” she replies, carrying their luggage out of the cart with her gold magic. Then, a mix of fire-colored swirls pours out of Celestia’s horn and wraps around the seven mares. When the beautiful mist fades, they are inside a large room. To their left is an island counter and a kitchen made from marble. On their right is a mini living room with a long couch, three chairs, a glass coffee table, and a large window that outlooks the ocean.

In front of them are 6 doors. Twilight and her friends all open the doors and each find a queen bed, bedside table, dresser, porch, and two more doors inside. In one door is a closet, and in the other is a bathroom. There is so much stuff, and everything is fancy; not to mention what a coincidence it is that there are exactly six rooms for six ponies.

Princess Celestia sets our bags down by the front door. “My room is at the end of the hallway if you need me,” she says before leaving and closing the door behind her.

Twilight and her friends all gather in the living room. Pinkie Pie bounces on a chair, Rainbow Dash leaps onto another, and Applejack jumps into one like it’s a marshmallow. She spits out fuzz and laughs. Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy all take a spot on the couch.

“It was so nice of her to give us this room,” Fluttershy whispers.

“This place is awesome!”

“And huge,” Pinkie Pie adds on to Rainbow’s comment.

Rarity uses her magic to levitate all their bags into the room. “So who is sleeping where?”

“I could take the last room on the left,” Twilight suggests. “Applejack could be in the room next to mine, and then Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and you could have the last room on the right.”

Applejack shrugs. “Sounds good.”

“Wait, but what about dinner?” Pinkie asks eagerly as they all hop down from their sits and either carry, push, or levitate their bags into their rooms.

“We should settle in first.”

“Agreed,” the other four mares agree with Twilight. Pinkie sighs and noses her bag into third room on the left.

Twilight drops the candy-cane-like suitcase on her bed with a huff, unzipping it with her magic. She opens all the drawers in the dresser at once and quickly sorts her items inside. Then she set her suitcase under her bed and flopped onto her bed, resting her eyes.

The tired pony falls asleep in a second. When it’s time for dinner, her friends decide not to wake her and that they will bring her back something.

***

Twilight slowly opens her eyes. Sunlight shines between the window’s curtains onto her bed. She is laying on her side, facing the wall covered in silky blankets. Once her eyes adjust to the brightness of the room, she flings her back legs over the edge of the bed and rubs her sore eyes.

Her sense of smell kicks back in, and she turns her head to a plate of carrot cake, an apple, and a glass of milk. The purple unicorn realizes that she never went to dinner last night and that the bedside table must be holding takeout food.

Twilight’s stomach growls. She tiredly picks up the plate and milk in her magic. The slice of carrot cake is medium size and takes five bites to finish. Then she takes a gulp of milk, eats half the sweet, juicy apple, finishes off the milk, and sets the empty glass and somewhat empty plate back on the bedside table.

The carpet is soft underneath Twilight’s hooves as she makes her way over to the door. Afraid of waking her friends, Twilight slowly cracks the door open and glances at the living room. Pinkie Pie and Rarity are chatting on the couch while Applejack and Rainbow Dash are raiding the apparently full fridge.

“Goodness, you’re awake at last!” Rarity exclaims when Twilight shuffles out of her room. “You slept through dinner. We didn’t want you to miss out on Breakfast too, so we’ve been waiting for you to get up. It’s been a few hours, though.”

“It was a long day yesterday,” she replies, entering the kitchen. “Where’s Fluttershy?”

“She’s sitting on the porch on her room. Says she likes to watch sunrises when she can, especially when its image is mirrored on the ocean.”

“Doesh thas mean weesh can get breakfast?” Rainbow asks through a mouthful of oats. Rarity nods and trots into her room.

“Just give me one moment,” Rarity calls from her room. Twilight levitates a glass under a sink and drinks the warm, yet refreshing, water. Pinkie Pie cartwheels over to the fridge and helps Rainbow Dash and Applejack stuff everything back inside the fridge.

Since they are all about to go out for food, Twilight Sparkle trots into Fluttershy’s room. Inside, she has placed a picture of Angel and her smiling on the dresser. She made her bed, and a silky night gown was folded neatly on top. Sleeping on her pillow is a stuffed animal bunny.

“Fluttershy?” Twilight opens the sliding glass door with her magic and searching the balcony. There are two empty chairs and a table that has a floppy green hat on top. She is about to panic when she hears a faint giggle that sounds like Fluttershy.

Where is she? Twilight thinks, trotting to the railing and peering down. Sure enough, the yellow pony has flown down to the ground. Even from twenty ponies above the ground, Twilight can see the pegasus gleefully riding a dolphin. Even though it seems like something Rainbow Dash would do, Fluttershy is a curious pony and loves animals. It isn’t too much of a surprise.

Rose-colored light flows out of Twilight’s horn and wraps around her. By the time the light has dissolved, she is down on the shore, watching her friend.

“Fluttershy!” she hollers over the sound of crashing waves. Startled, Fluttershy falls off the dolphin and splashes into the water. When the familiar face doesn’t pop above the surface, Twilight leaps into the cold, salty blue and dives down.

Underwater, Twilight can see clearly. Rainbow coral and soft, white sand covers the sea floor. Many varieties of fish sway in the water, darting about when the unicorn comes too close.

Twilight breaches the water, sucks in a big breath of air, and dives back under. The dolphins swim away. Sunlight seeps into the water and Twilight just catches sight of Fluttershy trapped in a large, sinking bubble. Fear for her friend and confusion grip Twilight’s heart as she dives toward her friend.

No matter how many times Fluttershy bangs on the bubble, it won’t pop. Twilight swims over and starts banging on it, too. Soon she feels sick and has to get another gulp of air. When she swims back to the pegasus, she has fainted from loss of air.

Twilight screams. Her eyes flash white and magenta light pours out of her horn. The light surrounds the bubble and squeezes it until it bursts. Twilight’s eyes fade back to purple and she feels faint, but when she spots Fluttershy, she dives into action, using her magic to drag her and herself back to shore.

“Fluttershy?” Twilight chokes, shaking her friend weakly. The yellow pegasus blinks once, then twice, then her eyes fully open and she coughs out buckets of water. “Oh my Celestia!” She pulls her friend into a tight hug and squeezes her.

“Twilight? What happened?”

“I-I don’t know. You fell off your dolphin, and when I found you, you were trapped inside a large bubble. I was scared for you, Fluttershy... I think my element of Magic responded to my fear and saved you. Oh, I was so worried!” She explains breathlessly, pulling her friend into another reassuring hug.

“A bubble? I’m starting to remember now, but... how could I be trapped in a giant bubble?”

“I don’t know. It doesn’t make any sense,” Twilight coughs and slowly picks herself off the ground, lending Fluttershy a hoof. For a second, she swears she can hear familiar evil laughter. I must be going crazy, she thinks.

***

Twilight grabs a tray with her magic. The castle cafeteria is oddly quiet and not too busy. By the time she’s out of the food line, an apple, bowl of vegetable soup, a small slice of chocolate cake, and a full glass of milk are on her tray.

“So what’s our agenda today?” Rainbow Dash asks Twilight as soon as she sits down at the table with her five friends. She thinks while spooning some soup into her mouth.

“Princess Celestia’s birthday party is at 11:00,” Twilight replies through a mouthful of soup. She swallows, looking at the clock. “That’s one hour from now.”

Pinkie Pie gasps so loud that all the tables around us stare. “Only one hour? That’s not enough time for me to set up my party cannon!”

“Pinkie, yer not plannin’ the party.” Applejack takes a bite of apple pie. “Ah’m just surprised that Rarity ain’t wearin’ some fancy shmancy outfit.”

“Oh, don’t say that yet, my dear Applejack. I have a lovely dress waiting in my room. In fact, I made dresses for all of you to wear.”

“Rarity, you didn’t have to do that,” Fluttershy whispers.

“But I had to! The idea of a royal birthday party inspired me.” Rarity pauses, taking a polite bite of oats, then wiping her mouth with a napkin. “Fluttershy’s is elegant, Rainbow Dash’s is bold, Applejack’s is country, Pinkie Pie’s is fun, Twilight’s is simple, and mine is gorgeous.”

“If we want to get there on time, I suggest we leave now,” Twilight says, pushing in her chair and carrying her tray to the trash bin. Her friends nod and do the same.

By the time the ponies arrive in their rooms, it is 10:47. Rarity gallops to her dresses and quickly slips them onto her friends.

Each dress is outlined with shimmering gold fabric and uses purple for the base color. Fluttershy’s flows off her tail and poofs out like a collar around her neck. Rainbow Dash’s has layers of jagged fabric, looking like an extreme and purple version of her cutie mark. Applejack’s is made of dyed purple leather. It ends with fringe on the bottom and looks almost like a long saddle. Pinkie Pie’s is bouncy and is striped purple horizontally. Twilight’s is only one shade of purple and acts like smooth waves. Lastly is Rarity’s outfit, which presents so many shades of purple that feel like silk.

“My, these are lovely,” Fluttershy admires her dress and smiles.

“Thank you darling, but I’m afraid there’s no time for thank yous. The party is in ten minutes, we must leave now.”

“Wait, I’ve been working on my teleportation. If I can just...” Twilight trails off as her horn glows immensely and beads of sweat run down her forehead.

“No, that’s quite alright, darling, we can manage. That’s a lot of magic for even you to cast,” Rarity comments nervously. The first time Twilight tried to teleport Spike and herself, they were burnt and singed. It would ruin the dresses she had worked so hard on.

“Come on, everypony. Follow me!” Pinkie Pie shouts, bouncing out the front door with her friends following.