Ready as I'll Ever Be

For the second time that week, Twilight Sparkle woke up in a strange and unfamiliar room. However, this one wasn't nearly as inviting or comforting as the first. In fact, it was quite the opposite. The room was dank and dark, made up of stone that was growing some sort of moss over its exterior. Cobwebs littered the corners, and a few empty and dust - filled bookshelves were lined against the walls. It was obvious this room had, at some point, been used for storage of some sort, and that function was long since rejected, leaving the room abandoned and in disarray. For a small moment, Twilight felt the slightest twinge of pity for the room itself.

But it was only a small moment.

Twilight found she herself was more or less chained to a metal stake against the wall, the proper function of which was entirely unknown to her. It would either take some skilled hooves or simple magic to undo the ties. However, magic also appeared to have been erased as a potential option, due to the magic-blocking ring tightly fitted around her horn, a simple ring of metal enchanted using the same spell used by the security at the Equestrian Games. She growled lowly under her breath as she found she truly had been stuck here. Wherever "here" was, that is. Fortunately, she didn't have to wait very long to find out, as a bright and cheerful figure slid through the door, appearing as though she had simply arrived to meet a friend than a prisoner.

"Olive Glow! What's going on?" Twilight warily asked, standing to approach the mare. She was stopped almost immediately by the chains tightly wrapped around her hind leg, leaving her mere inches away from the earth pony's smug face.

"Isn't it obvious, Princess Twilight? You're my prisoner now!" Olive laughed, seeming to be enjoying this a little too much. "Or rather, you've been my prisoner for a while."

Twilight opened and closed her mouth, trying to form words as she stood there. "What... what are you talking about?"

Olive Glow sighed, turning back to the door and peeking through it, as though expecting someone to come in any second. "All this time, this whole week, you've been strictly in my grasp and didn't even know it! Honestly, Princess..." Olive trailed off, her two-toned golden and purple eyes glittering with excitement as she looked back at the alicorn. "This feels like a dream come true!"

"Wha...?"

"Don't play stupid with me!" Olive yelled, raising her voice for the first time since Twilight and her friends had arrived. "Your blind trust in somepony you literally just met... How insanely stupid are you?! I've been playing you for a fool this whole time! Unless... unless you saw through all of this..." Olive anxiously lowered her voice and peeked through the door once more.

She was clearly inexperienced in the field of kidnapping and holding royalty against their will, but Twilight took that as an opportunity to peacefully turn the tables on her captor.

"Why are you doing this?" Twilight asked, easing the edge out of her voice. The question felt almost cliché at this point, but it was necessary if this would go anywhere.

"Revenge, obviously." Olive replied, although by her tone of voice she didn't seem entirely certain. "And I know what you're trying to do. You're trying to make me talk about my feelings, reveal my whole plan to you so I feel bad or some bullshit like that, and I'll end up in a prison cell while you prance around outside livin' your perfect privileged princess life!"

To this, Twilight was taken aback. She found herself at a complete loss for words. Olive gave the smallest hint of a smile.

"I can't decide... whether you should live or die. What would bring about the better result?"

The alicorn was silent.

Olive sighed as she leaned against the wall, peering through the slightly ajar door. She pulled her scarf tighter around her neck as though a draft had suddenly passed through, and Twilight could see her hooves shaking.

She was afraid.

The silence was almost deafening, but Twilight didn't mind the quiet. She hadn't faced anypony like Olive Glow before, and didn't think she'd ever have to. How could a pony so malicious have so many secrets? How could she hide under a mask of goodness so well done up that everypony around her could be so effortlessly fooled? It seemed almost impossible, unnatural even.

"I hope you've thought about what you're doing." Twilight said, shocking her captor as well as herself. The words seemed to just come out.

"I..." Olive stammered, her eyes flashing a wave of emotions before settling on a cruel coldness. "I know exactly what I'm doing."

"Do you?" Twilight asked, furrowing her brows. "You know, none of this is necessary. I promise you, there is always a better solution to-"

"Shut up!" Olive yelled. "You have no idea what you're talking about! There is no other solution. There is nothing else I could possibly do that would make everything better. This, however..." she trailed off, seemingly thinking about her words in her mind. "...this will fix everything."

The thundering gallops of five sets of hooves echoed through the streets of the Crystal Empire, sending more than a few crystal ponies into a panic as they made way for the small group to scurry through. With Rainbow Dash and Rarity at the head, the remaining five of the six raced towards the familiar opening beneath the empire's crystal castle. It didn't take long to find the throne room, once inside, and Rainbow was the one to push through the guards and shout loudly into the room:

"Where's Twilight?!"

Cadance was sitting at her throne, now looking a mixture between confused and shocked. She took a moment to process the appearances of the ponies in front of her before she was able to actually speak. "She isn't with you?!"

Rarity shook her head, her own look of worry crossing her features. "No, that's why we're here. She wrote us a note saying that she'd be coming here."

The aliorn blinked, her eyes filled with so many emotions and questions it was a wonder her head didn't melt or explode from the confusion. "I-- she-- what--?! Somepony please explain to me what's going on, what happened? No-- wait. I need to bring Shining Armor back here. When you all didn't show up and your train went missing, he's been out with a search party looking around the area of the tracks. He needs to hear whatever explanation you have as much as I do."

Before anypony could comment or protest, Princess Cadance was out the door, flanked by two of her guards. Rainbow Dash loudly groaned as she dropped onto the ground, her cyan coat tinted red with the cold and frustration combined.

"Just what the hay is goin' on around here?! Where's Twilight if she's not here?"

Applejack tapped a hoof to her chin for a moment, thinking over the events of the past week. Everything had happened so fast, it all came through as a blur. After a few minutes, she finally came to a reasonable enough conclusion. "She never left the town."

Rarity cocked her head to the side in confusion. "What are you talking about, darling? The note that Twilight wrote clearly expressed that she was not staying in the town any longer."

"What if Twilight wasn't the one who wrote it..?" Rainbow Dash added, realization crossing her features.

"But it was clearly done in her penmanship. Nopony else could have possibly written it-!"

"Oh yes they could've." The earth pony said, stamping her hoof in frustration. "And I think I might just know who did. Olive Glow. I knew she was suspicious right from the start!"

"What are we gonna do, AJ?" Fluttershy whimpered softly.

Rainbow stomped her hoof on the hard crystalline floor, directing her friends' attention to herself. "I'll tell you what we're gonna do! We're gonna go right back there and get Twilight back!"

"But it won't be so easy." Rarity continued. "If Olive Glow only sent us to the Crystal Empire, then she must know we'll be coming back. She'll undoubtedly be ready for us."

"Then we'll be ready for her." Applejack said. "When Cadance comes back with Shining Armor, we'll give 'em the whole run-down, and storm th' place if we have to."

"What makes you think the townsponies will let us in?"

"They won't." the earth pony replied. "But it ain't gonna hurt to try."

"...and then Olive Glow gave us that letter from Twilight telling us that she'd be coming here, to the Crystal Empire, so we came all the way over and found out that she wasn't here and now here we are!" Pinkie Pie smiled proudly upon finishing her rather condensed recollection of the week's events.

Princess Cadence looked over the letter given to her by Applejack for what had to have been the hundredth time. Her violet eyes scanned the sheet as though it were an important document containing the secrets to life itself. "If your theory about this 'Olive Glow' forging the letter is true, then I'm afraid she may be a lot more dangerous than you think. Especially if she truly is expecting the five of you to return with our aid."

"So, what? Are you not gonna help us?!" Rainbow Dash asked, the edge in her voice obvious.

"Oh, we most certainly are going to help." Cadance scribbled on a loose piece of parchment and gave it over to the guard flanking her left side. "Send this to Princesses Celestia and Luna. We're going to need the extra assistance."

"There's just one thing I still can't wrap my head around." Shining Armor piped up from his place. "What could she possibly want to do with Twilight?"

"That's the one thing we don't know..." Applejack replied. "She was gettin' awful close to Twilight while we were there, so she probably had somethin' up her sleeve the whole time. But given the reputation alicorns apparently have in that town, it likely ain't somethin' good."

Cadance sighed, bringing a hoof up to her head to massage her temple. "It just isn't adding up. There are so many missing pieces." Suddenly, she perked up, a small smile spreading across her features. "What about those other ponies you mentioned, the ones who helped you? Could they have anything to do with this?"

"You mean Snowflake and Amethyst Rose?" Rarity asked. "As far as we could tell, Snowflake was completely against Olive, and she was apparently friends with Amethyst, so she must also be trustworthy."

Shining Armor nodded. "That's good then. If we can convince them to help us put a stop to this, then maybe the other townsponies will want to help. Moreso if Snowflake is as respected a community artist as you said."

"Oh, she is." Rainbow Dash added, rolling her eyes at the memory of how mesmerized everypony seemed of her works.

"I think we can formulate some kind of plan then." Cadance said. "We'll bring some guards along with us just in case things get too out of hoof. Once the Princesses get here, we'll head over there immediately. If the others don't side with us we'll just have to push past them. I don't want to have to fight."

"Agreed." Shining chimed in. "The primary goal should be reaching Twilight and apprehending Olive Glow."

"Wh-what if the other townsponies try to fight us?" Fluttershy asked, quivering.

"Then we'll have to be ready to face them."

Before another word could be said, the guard that had gone to send off Cadance's note returned. Everypony turned to face the stallion as he burst through the door. "Princess Cadance! Princesses Celestia and Luna have arrived!"

"Applejack, I want you and your friends to find Twily. If the townsponies put up a fight, we'll hold them off, but that probably won't be necessary. Bringing her back is the most important thing." Shining Armor said, a stern expression crossing his face. To this, the earth pony firmly nodded in reply.

"All right!" Rainbow exclaimed, pumping a hoof in the air. "Let's go get our princess back!"