MIA

  Twilight Sparkle pawed at the plush carpet in front of Princess Celestia's ornate magenta door. Thoughts swirled in her mind, ranging from downright feasible to insanely nonviable, and all racketed against her skull like sharp razors, giving her a splitting headache. She had already knocked about a minute ago, but the ruler of Equestria hadn't answered, much to her dismay.

  The purple mare stood stock-still, staring at the door persistently, as if it would open on her command. Well, it could, she was an alicorn, but she knew how much Princess Celestia valued her privacy in stressful times, and this was no exception. From the news she had heard down at Hay Burger on their rustic television, she knew that something was going on with the Crystal Empire and such.

  Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had refused to share any news with the pony community, and the scheming media had gone as far as to tell everypony that they were as fit as a fiddle, and to not fret over the threats from Yakyakistan and Griffinstone. Many ponies ground their teeth at that statement, as those two nations specifically, had sent terrorist threats and attempted air strikes on Vanhoover and Los Pegasus.

  The Princess of Magic groaned exasperatedly, wondering why the media couldn't just tell them what was actually happening, and why they had to worsen it by saying everything would be well when it was apparent that it would not be! She had questioned each of her friends about the topic, but none seemed to really have any other valuable information. The masses were protesting letting in refugees from those two nations, as the terrorist threat had shaken the security of the nation.

  As Twilight was loosing herself in her spiteful thoughts of the scripted reporters and their bullsh*t reassurances, the door to Princess Celestia's reading room opened slowly. The purple alicorn snapped to attention, locking eyes with a weary Sun Princess who looked as if she would collapse.

~~~

  Princess Celestia gave a prostrate smile before motioning Twilight into the reading room. She made sure that the purple alicorn was comfortable in a pale cream-colored chaise lounge before she herself sank into her mauve sleeping rug, resting her hooves on the canary-hued roll pillow.

  "I presume you are here to ask why I have not been speaking with you, yes?" Princess Celestia inquired, her voice ragged with exhaustion. Twilight nodded, her violet orbs troubled. She would not speak yet, if she could.

  Cue a sigh from the white alicorn. "You see, there have been.. onerous matters, so to speak. I imagine I should speak now, as to put your mind to rest. You are a princess, after all."

  Twilight knew full well that this confession would not bring any sort of mental relief, but she listened with perked ears, all her attention on Princess Celestia, whose trembling body signified her tenuousness.

  "All hell is breaking loose, as you young adults would say. Assuming you found out about the terrorist threats, there has been mass rioting breaking out in Manehattan and Fillydelphia, not to mention the rising crime rate in the entirety of Equestria. It is usually only theft, larceny, or burglary, which leads me to believe that everypony thinks there will be an attack, and they need to prepare or be wiped out."

  The white mare paused, taking a deep breath to continue even further, but before she could so much as get a word out, Twilight blurted, "Why wasn't any of this on the news?" Princess Celestia winced, but to her consternation, the audacious alicorn spoke once more. "In fact, why has the news been lying to us?! It's obviously not going to be okay, and they're trying to instill false hope! Why, they're no better than those fear-mongering idiots-"

  "Twilight." Princess Celestia stated sternly, her patience obviously wearing thin. Twilight snapped her mouth shut and appeared to be appalled with herself by speaking out of line in the presence of the ruler of Equestria. The purple mare expected a irritated rebuke, but to her surprise and worry, the princess in front of her exhaled.

  "I understand your indignation Twilight. But we have to keep the public from panicking. It certainly won't help any xenophobic matters this nation still has, and I don't want anything getting worse. Luna has had a mental breakdown and is still holed up in her room, contacting the world leaders and trying to make them see sense, but I don't see them agreeing to our invitations any time soon, and Princess Cadence has not been responding to our letters. We tried to visit her, but the guards would not let us through, even after Luna nearly obliterated them with her Royal Canterlot Voice."

  Twilight let out a sigh of disappointment, her head dipping ever so slightly before she nearly fell off the lounge. "Wait, why hasn't Princess Cadence been responding? Is she hurt? Is my brother hurt? I know he's with her there, and I worry about the crystal citizens..." She trailed off, her ears flat against her head.

  Princess Celestia looked as if she had to recompose herself. "Twilight... We have reason to believe that something has taken over the Crystal Empire once more." A moments silence entailed before Twilight yelped. "But, but... Oh my gods!"

  "This is why we need someone to help us, someone who my sister and I trust and wholly believe that has the power to fix this situation, but also has the power of empathy, to help and to bring friendship to our enemies. And we believe we've found the right pony for the job." Princess Celestia exclaimed swiftly, managing to calm the purple pony somewhat.

  Twilight, who was trying to keep a tranquil stature, tipped her head, acutely curious as to who the Princess could have thought up. Not much ponies would accept, they're scared half to death! I can't blame them though... Oh, I just hope Cadence and Shining Armor are okay! "Who is this lucky pony?" Twilight inquired, trying to keep her voice level when saying 'lucky'.

Princess Celestia rose to her hooves, the golden horseshoes on her hooves glimmering in the light of a crackling fire. Her eyes fell upon Twilight once more as she let the word fall from her lips effortlessly.

"You."