An Average Morning in Ponyville

I feel the soft warmth of Celestia's sun grace my face as I lie in my bed with my eyes closed, enjoying the early moments before one wakes, I peacefully went to sleep late last night and in the fog of waking up I cannot fully remember what's transpired last night but something seems quietly different about my current situation.

First is the feeling of dread within back of my mind, normally when I wake up theirs a fresh feeling of beautiful restful sleep and excitement of what what the day can bring, but instead I feel unease and a bit of anxiety from an unknown source is all i can sense. The second feeling my mind wakes up from is the realization of an immense warmth between my hooves, as I cannot recall a feeling of warmth so comforting in my life, with my eyes still closed I bring the source of warmth closer to my barrel and and I rest my head on my pillow as the scent of wildflowers fills my muzzle. Eyes still closed I exhale and focus more on the warm comforting object in my grasp, I think of what I need to accomplish for the day the fog of sleep slowing my immediate thoughts I focus on the rise and fall of the warm objects breathing and soft fur. . . .what.

I open my eyes to the wall of light pink fur that is Starlight Glimmer, nestled between my hooves I am now in shock as I realize that I am cuddling my student and friend in my bed. Whats worse is that Starlight is not simply sleeping but staring at me with a half lidded stare and a sultry look upon her face and a smile that would most likely melt the bravest of stallions. As I look up and down Starlight's form she giggles softly and smiles even wider "Well, isn't this scandalous; the teacher and her student sharing a wonderful morning in each other's embrace but my thought is that what would Celestia say?" says the silky voice of Starlight Glimmer and before my mind can fathom a response due to shock. The click and turn of a quartz handle from the entrance of my room, gradually opens and the faces of the unarmored Spike and uniform-less Rainbow Dash enter my bedroom and as I look from Starlight to the now open mouthed soldier's the unthinkable happens.

"Heey~ we could use a pair of sturdy guards couldn't we Twilight?" the voice of the devious instigator Starlight again breaks this mornings awkward silence and out of either shock, surprise, or embarrassment I unceremoniously push Starlight off the bed with my forehooves with a yelp of complaint from the aforementioned pony. As the burning fire that is now immense upon my face and the rapid flare of my wings to full extension out of shock reflex, the room stays silent for what seems to be the longest moment in equestrian history. Spike and Rainbow close their mouths and with a quick glance at each other the simply walk out the door without a single word and last sound heard is the click of the door lock shut. "Well that went well I suppose." the floored voice of Starlight penetrating the already tension thick air and I do the only thing that I can think of.

Meanwhile outside the Crystal Castle of Friendship. . .

It's a beautiful day outside of the castle of friendship, as the early morning markets set up shop for the morning the business ponies of Ponyville to their distress and alarm hear an Equis shattering scream of frustration emanating from the home of Princess Twilight and a flock of birds is seen fleeing from the castle's direction, with all the ponies stopping in their tracks for a moment to consider what has transpired, they simply shrug it off and continue on with their day.

"T-Twilight. . . S-TOP I WAS JUST MESSING WITH YOU!" The explosive laughter of Starlight Glimmer echos down the halls as a emotionally and ONLY emotionally frustrated Twilight exits her living space and after recovering from the initial shock of her morning affair incident with her student. After brushing her mane and her teeth ignoring the light pink elephant in the room so to speak the giggling mad-mare of Starlight continues her attempts to apologize for her early morning shenanigans. With a grunt of frustration and an increase of momentum to my trot towards the dining hall I hear the rapid hoof falls of Starlight in an attempt to catch up with me. As she approaches I slow down simply because no matter how mad I could be at Starlight the simple fact remains that in a odd sense of symbolism I think of her has my sister if I ever had one. Although I might be the alicorn and savior of Equestria many a time; my strength was in my mind and my heart through spellcraft, in opposite nature Starlight had her physical strength through full contact magic and emotion based casting together we were quite the pair team.

As she catches up to me I glance at her sideways and with a unbemused look and then I nuzzle her cheek and she returns the nuzzle in a silent understanding that I understood and I accept her apology. Besides, it would be quite the story to tell Luna to get back at her for achievement of harassing me by proxy through a letter.

We both enter the dining hall where we see a conflicted Rainbow and Spike eating a plate of eggs and hash browns and already across from them two plates with the same freshly cooked meal was placed opposite of them. With a nod and a smirk to my student we casually trot over and join the drake and mare without eye contact "Good morning Lieutenant Dash, Sir Spike." I casually greet them, as we take our seats and get comfortable I look upon the plate and inspect the meal further which was actually an omelette with diced vegetables and cheese and lightly browned hash browns with a fresh glass of orange juice next to the placement.

With a look of uncertainty between the two guards having been so greeted as by a leader rather than their friend they return to their plates and spike clears his throat, "So. . .how did you guys sleep? Find anything interesting while we were in Cloudsdale?" asks a reluctant Spike and with a casual glance I peer towards Starlight and back to my plate.

"Yes, we did it was quite the learning experience," I reply non-nonchalantly and to my amusement I think that Starlight has caught on and nodded in agreement. Across the table the mind of Rainbow was on full overdrive, she was considering all the options and as a brash Rainbow that I've always come to respect suddenly erupted with placing her hooves on the table and wings in full show and a slight blush, "Okay, seriously?! I have no idea what's going on, one day I think that Twilight's a shut in and then all of a sudden it comes crashing down that she's been getting all personal with her very own student and I-I'm confused are you guys like. .- Special Someponies or something?!" Dash exclaims nervously with her voice quivering at certain points and Just when I think I can't continue the charade any further my student impresses me so much I think I could die having executed a perfect prank.

"No Rainbow;" Starlight begins, "You see me and twilight have come to the understanding that we could not learn anything more through friendship so we have been studying under the lessons of Empress Cadenza in the art of love, the the experience that we have shared together has been most exhilarating. . " says Starlight with a matter of fact voice and to much of both our amusements and the fact that verbal perfection has been uttered from my favored student. She places her right hoof on top of mine and lovingly looks back at me to which I return a hopefully convincing look back towards Starlight.

Across the table I see the brain of Rainbow Dash collapse and all motor function has stopped with her mouth wide open and her blush fully inflamed upon her face, and as we look to Spike to gauge his reaction he simply is chewing on a ruby with an eyebrow raised and with a half-filled mouth he swallows and stares back at us with a neutral expression.

"I call pony-feathers, no way that that could ever happen unless the sun and moon collide and Discord is claimed as the heir to the throne," at that point the charade fails and Starlight and I burst into laughter and in an attempt to stay within our chairs we fall out of them due to laughter and the rebooted voice of Rainbow is a barely audible ". . . .what." escape her mouth and slowly body functions are restored and as Starlight and I recover from our fit of merriment Spike smiles and finishes his ruby with a 'called-it' look and eventually I explain the true story of how Starlight ended up within the same bed as me.

As breakfast is cleaned and the story concluded with Rainbow recovering from her mental breakdown (still none too pleased that we toyed with her to mine and Starlight's amusement) I hear the side-story of how I was reading aloud and Starlight served me tea during my zoned out reading. "I was just listening to you and as you started reading that part with the gypsy and the singing. . . and I felt a sudden calmness within me and I guess I just passed out," Starlight says with a sheepish smile and I wave her off with a hoof.

"I understand completely Starlight, it happens to the best of every pony and I'm not mad at all, in fact I'm more thankful that you retrieved me tea as it was very thoughtful of you," I say in return.
As we enter the foyer of the castle I see two separate piles of equipment on the edge of the wall to which both Rainbow and Spike begin to gather their individual gear and follow us towards the receiving room at the front of the castle. With the gear relocated and separated in the large space myself and Starlight begin to magically acquire equipment from our rooms according to the lists that Luna has provided us; along with additional additions from myself and guided by 'The Ranger's guide to Arctic Exploration' book I found we begin making sure that our belongings are in proper order for the journey later towards Canterlot and the meeting with the royal pony sisters.

I look to Rainbow, who is inspecting to what seems to be her protection gear of choice a light and sturdy chain mail vest with furry patches of cotton near the head and sleeves. The metal of the chain I notice is of light colored sky-steel, a very sturdy and lightweight material that will allow pegasi to fly without any trouble. To the left of her white saddlebags with a subdued image of her cutie mark on them also lined with the same cotton patches for insulation I assume and leaning on the bag is Rainbows weapons of choice.

Though I'm not particularly fond of weapons I understand their purpose for the means of self defense and the protection of the innocent. Leaning upon her bag is a pair of Sky-Steel wing blades that can be affixed with a special harness to the joints of her wings and run along her humerus and the blades begin to edge near the radius and carpometacarpus. Although the art of wing blade combat is especially scarce as most pegasi within the guard have turned to projectile weapons such as bows or crossbows and the occasional sword or spear, It's nice to see that a piece of Pegasus tradition is not lost to the ages. Next to the pair of blades I notice a smaller crossbow that I presume for its size is more or less meant to be a backup weapon, which is not always bad to have a 'Plan B' as I smile at the thought.

Looking towards Spike my number one assistant and sole guardian, I see he's polishing his prized possessions which include his gambeson and plate armor gifted by Luna with the addition of cotton patches near the waist, sleeves and neck, next to Spikes general equipment I see a Minotaur style waist satchel and like a filly being caught with a hoof in the cookie jar Spike's eyes meet mine and he grins a toothy smile. "Something I can help you with Twi?" he asks, and with a shake of my head I smile, "No I was just wondering where your gift from Celestia was is all."
With a nod Spike extends his arm and his claw out and closes his eyes for a brief moment and as he opened his eyes emitting a amber glow along his stilted pupils very much brighter than his stark green eyes a fire appeared within his outstretched arm in the palm of his claw and as I watched him concentrate he grasped the fire and the form of a golden royal trident formed within his grasp complete with a matching balance of white silk and the emblem of the sun at the edge near the clasp. Pleased with his summoning work the others took pause to watch Spike pull his gift from a magical pocket space, as I remember that Celestia using the power of the sun to forge for Spike a defensive weapon worthy of his abilities for his joining ceremony into the auxiliary guard. A slight glance from the others in the room they smiled and returned to their preparations, as I remembered the enchantment placed upon the pole arm as I helped design it that the wielder of the weapon would be able to adjust the size of its entirety allowing Spike to use the gift regardless of how he grew, I questioned once where Celestia received the materials and she said that I was a rare ore found within Saddle Arabia and gifted to her as no heat could temper the metal.

With a nod of approval I look towards Starlight and my own equipment and and half-way dejected at the commonality of the gear that we both own. As we did not need weapons or armor the only thing that me and Starlight equally possessed were brown saddlebags with our cutie mark on them normally meant for holding a few books and supplies and a top strap for holding a bed roll and other small supplies. Also not sporting any of the insulation that Spike or Rainbow's bags had possessed I feel a tinge of jealousy for a moment. As I exhale to counter the dread of underpreparedness I hear outside the receiving room the entrance to the castle open and close with a solid thunk, I focus my ears to get a better sound of who could have walked into my home and my answers are met with a very clear and elegant voice.

"Twilight dear, are you home?" says none other than I could presume is Rarity owner of the Ponyville Carousel Boutique and now a few establishments across Equestria and in very busy cities her businesses took off across all boards. "Rarity!" I stand and begin to trot towards the foyer and behind me the rest of my friends follow. As I enter the foyer I see none other than Rarity the element of generosity and to no surprise dressed in a light summer dress of her own design sporting two crates in her blue magic.

As she sets the crates down we meet for a small embrace as well as Spike, Rainbow and Starlight, with a confused look I return to Rarity's attention, "Rarity what brings you here? I thought you were setting up shop in Hooverton?" I state with a tilt of the head and an ear flick.
A see a ghost of a smile from Spike and Rainbow and as the Fashionista turns to my direction she smiles, "Oh darling, I could not simply ignore a request from a friend especially one from such handsome a drake and stunning wonderbolt as Spike and Rainbow Dash," she states with a dramatic flair gesturing to the two now proudly standing guard members. With a hint of confusion and a glance back at both Spike and Dash and back to Rarity, "What request was that?, I' didn't hear of it is there something else I don't know about?" I ask as I look towards Spike I hear a tisking from Rarity as she magically reaches over to the crates and very neatly opens the lids.

I see Rarity begin to unbox various amounts of materials and sewing equipment and I raise an eyebrow and I glance towards Spike and Rainbow who have decided to return to the receiving room and before I can call them back I am interrupted by the nervous prods of Starlight Glimmer, "Twilight whats Rarity doing?" she asks and as I look towards Rarity I see that she is finished setting up to what looks like a miniature tailor studio with even mirrors and a dais for ponies to stand on. "Now;" with a snap of some magically held measuring tape, "Ive been notified that my friends are in need of some new winter equipment, so who is going to be first dearies?" Rarity finishes and as I look towards Starlight and she stares back at me as if scripted we both point with a hoof at each other, "She Is." we both state and to a small giggle from Rarity as she approaches with her tape measure of truth and how no mares curves would be saved from this fashionistas hooves.

A Few Errands

The afternoon is late and as Rarity had finished taking our measurements for both Starlight and I, we were ushered out of Rarity's makeshift working room as she created some winter based gear and equipment for us also taking our saddlebags for modification and general maintenance (much to the displeasure of the state is was in). I informed the others that I would be stepping out to go make some final purchases and errands before we depart from Ponyville, with a chorus of waves I walked outside my home and began the trot towards Ponyville to finish my required errands.

It was a cooler day outside and it was shown by many of the towns ponies meeting and hanging outside with friends, family or loved ones. As I approach the inner parts of town the fresh smell of apples is the first thing that comes to my senses and to my right behind the freshly painted white picket fences I spot none other than the vast fields of farmland owned by the Apple family. My first stop is to none other than Applejack the town's resident apple farmer and one of my best friends and fellow element bearer of honesty.

As I approach the front archway I can see the homestead and I begin to make my way there, but the lack of a certain sound which normally is what many are greeted by is the sound of strong hooves bucking against the broad apple trees. I come close to the homestead proper and I'm immediately struck by the smells of the makings of a late lunch and a reminder by means of a very loud stomach growl that I have not had anything to eat during my time with Rarity. I trot up the porch stairs and I can hear from within the laughter of a few teenage fillies who I can no other assume to be the Crusaders talking excitedly, a well known group of fillies in Ponyville who once caused untold havoc ventured to find their special talents who now attempt to help others find their talents or rekindle others lost talents.

I Approach the door and raise a hoof and knock with a few good hits and the laughter fades away and I hear the sound of hoof-falls on the other side. As the door opens I see none other then Applejack with a warm smile and a curt nod, "Well 'howdy Twi, what brings you 'round these parts?" asks Applejack as she opens the door fully. "Well I was hoping to get some dried goods if you had any available, my plans for the wee took an unexpected turn and I'll be making a trip to Canterlot to meet with the Princesses," I sate with a sheepish grin as Applejack begins to read deeper into my explanation.

"Well, hopefully it's nothing dangerous I hope?" asks Applejack, "I'd hate to have this long period of calm interrupted by a 'lil bit of tomfoolery from the universe as we both know it." We both share a few snickers in understanding as Applejack exits the house and motions to follow her as she begins to trot towards to storehouse.

Along our way to the storehouse I give Applejack a abbreviated version of what was asked by Princess Luna and the provisions well need, I take a seat outside as Applejack unlocks the storehouse and begins to rummage around inside. As Applejack gathers the requested goods I take a look around the farm and see that the trees are starting to bloom which means that the Apple family will be busy soon enough in the summer harvest. In my thoughts I'm interrupted by the sound of a few weighty sacks being placed in front of me and I look up to Applejack who gestures to the bagged goods, "So, we have dried fruits and vegetables and some preserves and a few bags of oats for good measure, you think this will be enough for your trip?" asks Applejack.

I take a quick once over the provisions and with a nod of approval I take hold of the supplies in my magic and send them off to the kitchen pantry to where I can distribute them later to the others. "Thanks Applejack, I really appreciate it, I hope this should be enough to cover the costs," I state while summoning a bag of bits that I keep stashed away for market purchases and pass them to Applejack who catches the bag in her stetson and returns it to her head. "Yep, I wasn't going to charge ya' none anyways sugar cube Just make sure y'all have a safe trip ya' hear?" states the now smiling farm pony and with a hug and a quick mention of thanks I head my way off the property and turn towards the road leading to the edges of the Everfree forest where my next task takes me.

Meanwhile back at the castle. . .

"Hey Spike!" Yells Rainbow Dash, "Where does Twilight keep the secret snacks in this place? I'm a bit hungry."

The form of Spike emerges into the kitchen and walks towards the hungry pony. "Dash, obviously we keep snacks inside the pantry what are you looking for?" asks Spike as he enters the kitchens moderately large pantry with a very hungry Rainbow trotting after him. "Well y'know anything edible, let's take a look and see what we can scrounge-" before Rainbow can finish her sentence the sound of a few solid objects winking into existence with a few 'poofing' noises and before the Drake and Pegasus can respond properly several sacks of provisions land abruptly on them pinning them between the floor and the heavy bags of goods. As the dust settles a curious Starlight peeks her head into the pantry and sees very defeated individuals to the looks of their assailants which were surprisingly, groceries.

"Oh look some oats!" exclaims Starlight happily and with a hoof-full of oats in her magic she leaves the victims helpless with a giggle of amusement and trots towards the library.

'The Everfree forest is still a creepy place', I think to myself as I continue down the path to sole resident that borders the Everfree forest. My only request towards the element of kindness Fluttershy is for her to take care of Owlicious while I am away and she can easily do that with no problem. Trotting across the small bridge over the brook I approach the animal caretakers cottage and this time I don't have the courtesy of knocking first as I barely approach the door. To my surprise, one moment I was walking and the next I'm completely seated at a table in what appears to be Fluttershy's kitchen with a steaming cup of tea in front of me. Curiously I look around in confusion and I begin to hear the venomous giggling of a well known demi-god of chaos and juvenile prankster known as Discord.

"Well~ hello Twilight!" exclaims Discord from a disembodied voice somewhere within the kitchen, "I saw you coming here soon enough, especially since your very interesting one nighter with your stud-" I slam my hooves on the table interrupting the draconequus, "WE DID NOT SLEEP TOGETHER!" I shout causing a slight 'eep' and the sound of a table knocking over in Fluttershy's living room. "

"Now. now, Twilight why would you so quickly dismiss such a budding romance," says the glassy voice of Discord as I spot a disembodied face on a heart shaped card from hearts and hooves day on the nearby cold-box door secured by a butterfly magnet, "Celestia only knows that you need the physical comf-" A blast of magic and a black charred surface is now all that remains of the petty demi-god heart shaped card, with a few pieces of burning paper floating in the kitchen and the tisking appearance of a cross-legged draconequus is now sitting in front of me with a none too amused look glancing at me over a copy of the Canterlot Times.

"Discord." I state with venomous magic beam shooting intent annoyance and settle back into my chair as the draconequus folds the paper neatly in thirds and takes a summoned cup of tea with a poison joke leaf sticking out of the cup. "Good evening my little pony, coming to visit your dear old friend Discord?" He asks with a loud slurping of his tea and a turn of his paper. "Yes actually I am I'm here to visit Fluttershy a dear friend of mine, but it seems that she has some company at the moment so I'll come back tomorrow I suppose," I state, using my free hoof to push the provided tea away from my person not willing to drink anything Discords served up. With a over dramatic stare and a hint of mocked hurt feelings Discord finishes his tea by drinking the glass cup and throwing the brown liquid out the kitchen window and to a shock on my part, suddenly explodes outside with a blue flash.

"Now listen here Missy, all I was doing was being nice and here you are shooting a laser beam of death at me!" Exclaims discord as little puppets appear out of nowhere on the table reenacting the incident with the fridge, to my annoyance discords puppet has an innocent looking halo and face while mine has red horns and an evil expression; "Can you blame me for my excitement as it's been so long since I've seen you since our last encounter two years ago?" He finishes by holding out an eagle arm with a watch that has his face planted on every hour mark as the second and minute hand are spinning constantly.

I exhaled in frustration and with a shove of my hoof to move his arm from my face I open my mouth to deliver a retort of the ages but the alarmed voice of a new pony in the conversation catches me off guard. "DISCORD!" scolds the now entering Fluttershy into her kitchen, "What have I told you no explosives in the cottage, someone could get hurt! And what have you done to the cold box mister!" With a shocked expression from Discord he simply points at me reflexively and looks to be fumbling at the words to try and put the blame on me, at this point Ill risk the tea as I slide it with my magic into my hooves and take a sip of delicious rosemary flavor along with securing a plate of fresh cookies from the kitchen counter.

After a few minutes of arguing between Fluttershy and Discord the draconequus admitted his error and apologized to me which I accepted. After a brief conversation with Fluttershy and keeping an eye on the brooding demigod in the corner of the room just in case of revenge who is now seated on a stool facing said corner. Fluttershy thankfully agreed to watch Owlicious for awhile during my trip in exchange for some help magically charging her equipment. The equipment she needed charged were a few newer inventions in Equestria as the royal scientists have discovered and reverse engineered a few unknown pieces of equipment scattered throughout the nation found by adventurers near strong leyline interference. Some were practical such as newer cooling boxes powered by magic for long periods of time and some were as complex as the improvements to the electricity system, while Equestria had access to certain types of electric devices with the discovery of strange metals found in these random pieces of equipment many inventions have been improved upon.

In Fluttershy's case she needed a few magical crystals charged and a enchantment recast on her feed bins to keep unwanted things such as bugs or weather to eat her food stores meant for her animals. After a wave of goodbye and a quick hug, I turned to Discord and gave him a reassuring nuzzle at his embarrassment and decided it was time to give my wings a stretch and with a trot and a push into the air I was off towards my castle.

Return to the Castle

The flight home was relaxing, I decided to take my time passing over Ponyville proper as I watched many ponies return to their homes for the night and thought how much the town has expanded in the past two years. Although still present is the ever close knit community, there are many new faces since the treaties that the Diarch had passed such as the border initiative allowing open borders and trade with certain nations such as Labyrinthia the nation of Minotaurs and the various Griffon Warlords who reside under High Lord Blood Talon. It's not uncommon to see a tall minotaur or a striking griffon walk or fly within the town's limits and personally it makes me smile seeing many new faces and friends being made across races dissolving tense racial fears that were in my opinion rampant in pony society.

As I slowly approach my castle outskirts near the edge of town I notice that Celestia's sun is now making its final move towards sunset releasing its amber glows across the mountain skies. Although as a astrology enthusiast I appreciate the night with a bit more wonder I still none the less appreciate my mentors efforts in creating an ever beautiful sunset. As I land in the castle's courtyard which has now been under some renovation behest some of the citizens of Ponyville as this castle is their pride and joy as well as my home. I trot around the central pond and notice that the fireflies have come out to hover over the moist surface and out of idle thought, I take a primary wing tip and gently stroke the ponds still surface causing a few ripples and a few resting fireflies sprung from the water's surface adding to the beauty of the area.

Continuing towards my home and with a shake and fold of my wings I notice that the lights in the castle are unusually quite dim, which is strange as the glowing crystals adjust their brightness to external lights never allowing true darkness so to speak but comfortable viewing brightness. Closer inspection to the castle's main entrance another odd occurrence is that the quartz doors are ajar, normally not a big issue in a small community but as of recent revelations by Starlight that I might be wishing for some excitement I approach the door eagerly none the less. I open the door slightly with my hoof and channel my magic to be ready for anything and as I peer into the foyer with my head I see nothing but darkness. Curiously I think why the castle would be this dark and with a quick thought I shoot a flare of light magic into the castle and am met with nothing but soft echos of the flare moving down the main entrance and winking out towards the stairs.
"H-Hello. .? Spike-Rainbow? Starlight?" I call out questioningly into the darkness of my now dim castle, I peer over to Rarity's temporary work area as I enter the castle and I notice that the area is disorganized, which if I know my friends that Rarity hates being unkempt and orderly. I cast my horn alight and the foyer of my home appears empty and I begin to panic slightly reassure myself that maybe they all went to bed and forgot to leave a note? I trot slowly across the open space to the receiving room and open the doors slowly with my hoof.

I peer into the room and notice that the fire is lit in the mantle and in the shadows of the flame I see four satchels and equipment moved into the corner. "H-Hello..is anypony here?" I call into the room, and am met with nothing but silence. After a quick once over of the receiving room I notice that near mine and Starlights bags are two custom made winter coats and our saddlebags have been repaired and modified with exquisite detail and stocked with the supplies that I bought from Applejack earlier. A glance at Spikes and Rainbow's gear shows the same attention to detail all equipment organized and packed orderly and it makes me wonder where my friends could be.

As I'm peering at my friend's equipment I am suddenly brought back to reality when a loud *CRASH* is heard from the foyer and to my judgement of sound somewhere deeper in the castle. With a totally not embarrassing squeak and a quick change of direction I charge an attack spell and prepare to fire it in the direction of the offending noise, with nothing but silence and the hum of my held spell meeting my ears, I power down and resume my search back to the main entrance area and as I reach for the door handle a strong metal scent begins to fill my muzzle. As I step into the foyer and from the receiving room I make my way towards the banister to the upper levels and as I shine my light upon the stairs I stop dead cold at the sight before me, on the steps to the upper floors and on the railings of the stairs a thick red substance is now dripping off the railings onto the stairs themselves and I begin to enter overdrive as my mind takes in this new and distressing sight.

"RARITY! SPIKE! IS ANYPONY HERE?!" I shout towards the upstairs floors and I focus my ears forward listening to the slightest sounds and I am met with a small hint of movement. I gingerly reach my hoof towards the dripping substance and as the liquid drops onto my frog I immediately recoil as the liquid is a pleasant warm and the sharp smell of iron as now I recognize fills my senses. "Oh no, oh Celestia no!" I leap into the air and fire another magical flare towards the upper hallway which is again empty and with a fear gripped heart and I begin the search to find my friends, drake and student.

Landing on the upper levels I see more of the red substance to which I nearly lose the contents of my stomach thinking about the horrible thought of life giving fluids relatively looks, feels and smells of fresh blood. Large splotches of the substance is trailing down the hallway and I break into a sprint down the hall attempting to track the source of vital life giving fluids hoping that it does not belong to my friends. 'Oh please, PLEASE let this be a dream! How can all my friends be missing what on Equis could have been able to possibly harm my friends to be seriously injured!' I think to myself as I track the red substance now smeared in places few and far from each clue of where this injured pony or drake was.

I accidentally step in a red smudge of blood, and internally cringe and hold in my bowels as I now take to a light glide over the crystal floor and within a few minutes I see a open door and i land in an efforted quiet manner with the click of hooves touching the floor. I peer into the open door which turns out to be nothing more than a supply closet with a few brooms and mop inside a filled bucket of water colored in the red iron smelling substance on the floor, 'What kind of creature CLEANS UP AFTER ITS CRIME?!' I begin to panic as my mind goes in overdrive and I continue to track the blood from a close glide.

I begin thinking of long lost incidents, Assassination? Were they here for me and my friends are in danger because of it! Or was it a Changeling attack that have been more frequent along the borders of the badlands to the west and Queen Chrysalis is now seeking her revenge?! My heart beats faster as I glide over the trail which is leading towards the central chamber of the castle, towards the map room and the heart of my home and the memory of my friends.

I enter the hallway to the map room and I hear whispers within the darkness down the corridor to the map room itself, I land a good distance away from the map room and light up my horn attempting to see into the room from the hall. As I peer towards the door I see on the handle itself a red smeared hoof-print and a print of a claw and a padded print like a feline print. "H-H-Hello! If anyone's there come out this isn't funny anymore!" I claim and anger fills my voice towards the defiant assailants, "What have you done with my friends!" I scream into the darkness and with a flick of my ears I listen for a response, and the silence becomes so unbearable that you could hear a pin drop to break it.

I hear Muffled laughter, the faint sounds of mocking laughter is heard beyond the breach of the door and to my despair- no my HATRED I see the door slowly begin to creak open with the silence shattering sounds of ancient creaky doors that would turn a horror story into a reality. And as the door opens inwards into the darkness out of the back of my mind, Suddenly the memory of something that I really could do without came into my mind and my mind begins to recite the song from the gypsy in Trotheimer's diary and I think of the fear cursed door at the base of the crystal tower in the Empire. But I steel myself as I shake my head and with a deep breath I charge with a angered lament towards my friends that who could possibly be in danger and as I begin to charge my magic into an offensive nature I feel an unnatural power take hold and fire a spell of violet and green destruction towards the door.

The spell collides with the quartz door and shatters it into fragments and the surrounding archway arcing with green discharge.

The light from the blast silhouettes numerous round moving shadows within the map room, I now fear that I may be outnumbered.

As I clear the breach I hear hissing laughter and quickly fly towards the map table and land on it.
I channel with no reservation the well of emotion and magic within me and using my alicorn powers and prepare for the worst with sheer determination and shout into the large surrounding darkness that is the map room, "SHOW YOURSELF COWARD HOW DARE YOU HURT MY FRIENDS!" I can feel my emotions taking over fueling my magic past the edge, and If I was looking at myself from a third person, I think I wouldn't recognize the pony that was me as wisps of arcing black and green electric magic now rolled off my body into the darkness outlining the many moving round objects and creating dark impact scorch marks on the floor and walls and I steel myself for the oncoming onslaught. As I channel my raw emotions into the display of power and praying that whoever dared to harm my friends would show his or her face I would show the the proper justice they deserve for harming my friends.

.

. . .

. . . . . .

Suddenly the crystal lamps illuminated sharply and due to my tunnel vision I couldn't react appropriately to what I was currently seeing as the lights became overly bright to my eyes. I see in various places around the map room, my friends standing with various expressions of shock and fear. To the farthest left I see Rarity with red splotches on her coat with a look of shock and an open mouth looking towards me, Just behind her is Starlight who has taken a seat and a stunned expression and with her cyan magic enveloping the crystal lamps within the throne room causing them to brighten. Above the door is a banner with the words 'Good Luck Team Ponyville!!' and perched on the window arches above the banner is Spike with a look of shock and alarm with undertones of a worried expression along with the draconequus Discord who looks absolutely fearful staring towards myself the demi-god holding a lion's paw over his mouth in what I think is an attempt to contain a shriek. I focus my eyes to the right of the door and I see Rainbow and Applejack and I think I see a pink quivering mane behind the curtain near the window. As the round shadows from my previous observations have turned into multi-colored balloons And last but not least suddenly a meek Pink curly Pony approaches timidly in front of my vision and A loud *BANG* and the rain of small multicolored ribbons and streamers rain from the roof I focus all my attention on the blue eyed pony.

"S-Surprise..?" asks none other than Pinkie Pie with obvious worry and sheep-ness in her eyes.
With another look around the room noting the amount of destructive force and power Ive displayed, the deafening silence as my magical aura is the only sound coming from anywhere in the room cracking in unnatural energy and snapping sharply on crystal floors I come to my senses I simply feel light headed as I begin to fall from the table forward, as the muffled sounds of various ponies and dragons came to my aid I couldn't hear them as the wells of emotional magic faded from my control.

The last thing I felt as my vision turned black was the sharp contact of my face on crystal floor.

Author's Note

I apologize for the lateness, life happened and I was worried about releasing this on time i promise!

I also took time to proofread it and that increased my publishing time and again im sorry.

Also Dark Twilight is Best Twilight