Ready as I'll Ever Be

Twilight was pleased to find, the following morning, that Olive Glow wasn't home. After a thorough check and double-check of the house, she deemed it safe enough to do a little investigating. Something in the alicorn's gut told her that a simple interview wouldn't give her the answers she needed.

Finding Olive's bedroom wasn't hard, as the wooden door had been painted with an image of her cutie mark. The room itself wasn't too different from the guest bedroom, sporting a similar coloration with the purple curtains and carpets accented with green. A white rabbit lay sprawled out on the bed, almost blending in with the snowy white pillows decorating the head. Book shelves covered the expanse of one of the walls, filled to the brim with books labeled with the names of ponies. Twilight pulled the first one to catch her eye and opened up to the first page, reading aloud what was written.

"'Amethyst Rose - The town librarian. Ponies in the town think she's crazy for her research, which is a good sign. She keeps her stolen information in the backroom of the library, behind the fifth shelf on the right.'" Twilight paused to examine the shockingly detailed diagram drawn of the hidden space. It was obvious Olive had been there on more than one occasion without Amethyst's knowledge. "'She's a minor threat...' Threat? Threat to what exactly..?"

Shaking her head, Twilight pulled a second book, titled with the name "Winter Spark".

"'Electrical engineer. He left the town nearly two moons ago, but I convinced Mayor to let him go. He serves no threat unless he comes back.' What is all of this..?" Flipping further along in the book, Twilight could see endless pages of information on this seemingly insignificant stallion recorded on many different dates, from what he liked to eat and wear, to the state of his mane, even his medical and family history. "It's like she's been... watching everypony in town."

When she turned to replace the journals, a particular name caught the mare's eye, and her breath hitched for a second when she opened up to the first page, not even daring to read it aloud. It was notable that this book was noticeably shorter than the others, and the reason why was painfully obvious.

Thorn - Blacksmith's Apprentice
Snowflake's best friend. He's no idiot, and he tried to spend as much time around me as possible, visibly upsetting his friend. Weird kid. Has a talent in weaponry. Update: Successfully disposed of.

It took a moment for the words to process, but once they did, everypony's words, everything she had been told, all of it came rushing back towards her, echoing in the back of her mind like the violent beating of a drum.

"...I suggest you all stop while you're ahead so nopony you care about ends up like Thorn."

"...the boy'd been impaled... sure enough, there he was, stuck by an icy rock."

"...it's like playing Russian Roulette with yer life!"

Thorn died because of Olive Glow. No pony knew, not even Snowflake. After all, who'd believe that? Twilight sure didn't. Even now, with the evidence all stacking up against her, with everything she'd been told echoing in her mind, how could she believe it? Most importantly: why? Why would Olive do this? What did Thorn do? Her breathing heavy, Twilight prepared to rip as much information as she could from the books she found, but was interrupted by a sound by the bed. Her heart dropped upon hearing it, and the journals dropped to the floor as she released them, slowly turning to face what she was certain would be her doom, but instead found the rabbit, Olive's rabbit, curiously watching her from atop the pillows it was previously napping on. A book lay in the spot he'd been sleeping, obviously hidden by the extensive pile of fur. When she saw the name printed on this book however, all color drained from her face.

Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight slowly approached the bed, noting how the rabbit's eyes seemed to follow her across the room. When she opened the newest journal, she was surprised to find not an abundance of information, but a list taped to the front page. A list written in her hoofwriting, detailing the pastry preferences of her friends.

A list she had written mere days ago.

She turned the page, there was the list again, rewritten in Olive Glow's hoofwriting. She turned the page. The list. Again, and again, and again it was rewritten. Slowly, Twilight saw, Olive's writing became an exact copy of her own, the same list, written over and over until she had to remind herself that she wasn't the one to write this. Turning the page once again, she was shocked by the sight of a new pattern of words and sentences, weaved so gracefully and so meticulously they could have been thought up by Twilight. A letter, written from Twilight Sparkle to her friends. But... she didn't recall ever writing it. No... this was done by somepony else, somepony who studied Twilight, grew close to her, studied her every move.

"Olive Glow..."

"You called, Princess?"

Twilight jumped as she simultaneously swerved to see the smiling figure in the doorway. This time, Olive Glow's smile didn't have the same kind feeling it had always carried previously, rather a sick, poisonous feeling, as though she had just defeated a great enemy and would be soon collecting her reward. Almost as if he had just noticed the earth pony's sudden entrance, the rabbit leapt off the bed and bounded towards her, nuzzling at her hooves like a scared filly would its mother.

"I see you had Philomene to keep you company as well! He's so nice, right? I would've introduced you sooner but I didn't know how to approach the question of whether or not you were afraid of animals or allergic to pet dander, but then I realized you got along well enough with that friend of yours, Fluttershy, so I figured, really it can't be too bad, right? ..."

Olive's rambles seemed to go in one ear and out the other as Twilight tried to process her current situation. Who exactly was Olive Glow? "What... what is all of this? Who are you?"

Olive's expression turned confused, as though she had no idea what the princess was trying to say. After a few moments of holding her expression, however, the young mare started to laugh, a bitter, off-putting laugh, filling Twilight's stomach with a sense of dread. "Goodness, I'm so sorry! You must be so confused, right?" She sauntered over to the alicorn, plucking a blue flower from the pot that sat on the nightstand beside her. "Thing is, I can't really tell you yet. That would ruin the surprise, and we don't want that now, do we? No matter how exciting."

Before Twilight could react, Olive blew over the plant, sending a wave of pollen into the alicorn's face. The last thing Twilight saw before everything faded to darkness was Olive's sneering expression, and the last thing she heard was the young mare's not-so-sweet voice, practically dripping with poison.

"You'll find out soon enough, anyways."

"Twilight! Twilight?!"

Applejack led the small search party consisting of the remaining four of her five friends up and down the streets of the Frost Village, calling out her missing friend's name as she went.

Rainbow Dash stopped a random mare on the street. "Hey! You seen a purple alicorn around here? Really nerdy, likes books?"

When the mare shook her head no, the pegasus couldn't help but let out a frustrated growl. "It's been hours! Where the hell is she?!"

"Language, Rainbow." Rarity snapped, her expression equally exasperated at the situation. "I agree, though. It's not unlike Twilight to get caught up in her own little shenanigans, but not for this long, and certainly not without giving us even the smallest clue of what she could be up to! First she disappears from Pinkie Pie's party, and then this. Simply ridiculous!"

Fluttershy couldn't help but shrink a little smaller into herself at the mention of the attempted holiday festivities, knowing full well that she was just as guilty as Twilight for not staying.

Pinkie Pie herself was also strangely quiet, as though the recent events had truly been enough to deflate her due to the gravity of the entire ordeal. She seemed to perk up near instantly at the sight of a certain pale yellow mare approaching. "Oh! Look who's here!"

Upon hearing those words Applejack spun on her hooves, expecting to see Twilight standing before them, but was thoroughly disappointed at who she really saw. "For the love of Celestia -- I shoulda known!"

Before Olive Glow could say anything, the apple farmer was already standing defensively before her. "Awful convenient you like to appear whenever some sort of trouble's stirrin' up 'round here. Where's Twilight?!"

Olive's eyes softened, despite the accusation, as though she had been hit with a sudden pang of pity for the mare. "Oh dear, she truly didn't say anything to you guys? Her best friends? I can't believe it..."

"What in Celestia's name are you talking about, darling?" Rarity asked, brows furrowed.

Olive tutted softly as she shook her head, holding out the paper she had tucked into her bag. "I was truly hoping you'd all have known already, either heard from the locals or she'd told you herself, but I can see what she told me was true."

"What could Twilight have possibly told you?!" Rainbow shouted, gathering the attention of more than a few passersby.

"Well, simply read the letter and you'll know for yourselves. It's a shame, really..."

The five ponies gathered around Applejack as she looked over the crisp parchment, her green eyes flying across the page of her best friend's unmistakable penmanship.

Dear Girls,

Due to everything going on in the town, I decided it would probably be best if I left. It's obvious that I'm not wanted or accepted here, and I don't want any of you to face persecution simply for being around me. I've decided to try my luck heading off to the Crystal Empire and getting help. I didn't tell anypony because I know you girls would try and talk me out of it due to the risks involved. Please trust me when I say, as your friend, that I love you all dearly and am only doing this with you in mind.

Sincerely,
Twilight Sparkle

"There ain't no way this is true..." Applejack whispered, not even fully believing herself.

"I'm afraid it is, Applejack." Olive sighed. "I tried to tell her not to go, but who am I to speak against a princess? No pony in town seems all too upset about it either, y'know?"

There was a prolonged silence for a while, before finally, Rarity spoke up first. "Well if it truly is the case that Twilight is going to the Crystal Empire, then we'll have to go too. None of us truly knows what lurks out there in the Frozen North, and there's no reason to allow one of our own to get stuck out there."

"I agree!" Rainbow Dash cheered. "If Twilight's leaving, then so are we. No friend of mine is going to get caught out there in the snow!"

More collective cheers followed, and Fluttershy seemed to be the only one who was even remotely hesitant about the whole idea.

"It's so honorable that you all want to do that for your friend. I'll put in a word with Mayor to let you go." Olive said lowly, offering a small smile. The gesture was returned with a few weary looks before she walked away, leaving the small group to their own devices.

Really, it took quite a bit of struggle on Olive Glow's part to hold back from laughing at how incredibly easy this all came together. But of course, the battle wasn't won yet. After all, she still had a Princess of Friendship to attend to.