A Process of Elimination

I returned to the castle in a better mood than I'd been in a long time. I had my study materials and a potential new friend. I was even willing to come around to the idea of going to school despite my fears that somepony would recognize me as 'that filly who destroyed the school'.

That optimism died relatively quickly when I thought back on the conversation I'd overheard earlier, but the fact that I'd even entertained the idea as a good one in the first place I thought said volumes about how I was feeling when I got back.

I was still all smiles when the mousey off-duty maid and I ran into Bulwark on our way back to my room. We were making our way down one of the outer corridors that lined the courtyard when we spotted the lackadaisical Guard talking with another one of the castle maids.

The rather portly unicorn mare was clearly on duty and looking slightly bemused as Bulwark spoke but I wasn't close enough to hear what he was saying. I'd meant to drop my borrowed books and notes off before trying to catch the Princess for a quick update. That plan slipped my mind as we got closer and I saw Bulwark's uncharacteristically grim expression.

I opened my mouth to call out with a greeting but the words caught in my throat and I slowed my pace a bit when I saw his face. Looking from Bulwark to the maid, somehow I knew in that instant that whatever they were talking about had to be bad news. What's more, I just knew it had something to do with me.

Call it conceit or paranoia, but something in my gut was telling me that my day was about to get a lot worse. I wanted to turn right around and head the other way. I, in no way, wanted to deal with whatever was coming, but it was too late. Sure enough, the stout maid just so happened to glance our way and was already pointing me out before I could make my escape.

I winced as Bulwark turned his head to follow the mare's pointing hoof and my heart sank at his deepening frown. I nearly jumped out of my skin as the timid mare next to me suddenly spoke. I'd completely forgotten she was there, but as we both watched the grimacing Guard make a beeline our way, she leaned over and whispered hurriedly in my ear.

"I believe you know your way back from here, young miss," she said with a slight quaver, "I'm sorry but I have other matters that need tending to now that we've returned to the castle so I'll take my leave and bid you farewell."

"What?!" I cried, feeling somewhat betrayed, "but... but wait! You can't—" But she was already trotting back the way we'd come, her quickly receding hoofsteps echoing mutely as she stepped through the open doorway into the castle proper.

I watched her go for a moment, my mouth hanging open in disbelief at being abandoned so suddenly. It was clear the mare had sensed the trouble in the air just as I did. I wanted to be angry, but I couldn't really fault the mare. After all, this really wasn't her problem and she was wise to back out before it somehow became her problem.

The sound of Bulwark's approaching hoofsteps pulled me from my thoughts. I looked over my shoulder and, sure enough, the stallion was making a beeline right for me. The maid he'd been speaking to, meanwhile, wandered off to resume whatever duties she'd been tasked with. Left with no choice, I fully turned to face Bulwark and tried to prepare myself for the worst.

“Twilight, just the filly I was looking for,” he called out, “wasn't sure when you'd be back but I'm glad I caught you when I did.”

His expression was still serious but his tone was more casual than I was expecting. I allowed myself to relax for just a second, thinking maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. Unfortunately, my relief wouldn't last long. The guard reached me, then turned around and started heading back the other way toward the opposite end of the outer hall.

“We got ourselves a problem and I don't have a lot of time to explain,” he raised a hoof and motioned for me to follow after him, “c'mon, I'll give you all the details on the way.”

“On the way to where?” I demanded, scrambling to keep up with the larger pegasus' longer strides, “Bulwark, what's going on?”

I didn't get an answer until Bulwark and I made our way past the courtyard and into the castle on the opposite side of where I'd come from. I chose not to pester the guard, knowing he would answer eventually and honestly dreading whatever explanation he had to give. Eventually he let out a beleagured sigh and spoke, his eyes trained on the corridor ahead.

“So... I did a bit of digging while you were gone—about the library card thing, I mean,” he began.

“And?” I pressed, “did you find out what happened to it?”

He snorted and a disgusted grimace crossed his face. The expression didn't look right on his normally jovial features but I was too worried to care at the moment.

“Oh, I found out alright,” he practically sneered, “it wasn't easy, but I managed to pull a few strings. Got myself into that room behind the desk in the Archives.” He glanced down at me with a humorless smile, “Give you three guesses on what I found in there.”

“My... card?” I answered with a mix of hope and hesitation, “But didn't that receptionist tell us it wasn't there?”

“Yup,” he replied with a bitter chuckle, “turns out Floral Delight had somehow 'accidentally misplaced' your ID card during her transition into her new role as receptionist.” The guard let a grim smile slip, “At first she wouldn't cooperate with me to find it, but a short missive from the Princess herself on your behalf changed the mare's tune real quick.”

“The Princess got involved?” I asked, my eyes widening in surprise.

In the end I'd chosen to leave out what happened in the Royal Archives when I told the Princess I wanted ot go to the public library in the city. I'd wanted to just put the issue aside and let Bulwark take care of it since he was willing to help. Well, he'd certainly helped and I was extremely grateful, but I hadn't expected him to go straight to the Princess like that.

I wasn't sure how to feel about it.

“Are you surprised?” Bulwark replied with a raised eyebrow, “it took some doing, but I was able to get close enough to mention the situation to Her Majesty. All it took was a few words and she allowed me access to search the Archives, no questions asked.”

He frowned, “It was honestly kind of scary. She probably would've marched off to the Archvies herself if she hadn't been so busy. I think she was ready to actually.”

“Wow,” I muttered, both stunned and genuinely touched, “I had no idea...”

“Well, yeah,” the pegasus shrugged, “the Princess cares about you. Like, a lot. I'm just some lowly grunt who's met Princess Celestia only once before and even I can see that much.”

“I know she does,” I replied, “it's just... I'd wanted to keep her out of it. I thought she'd have more important things to worry about.”

Bulwark frowned at that and his tone when he next spoke was slightly admonishing. “C'mon, kiddo. You and I both know something weird is going on here. If the Princess is willing to help, then let her help—especially with this. You know she'd make time for you even if she had more important things to do.”

“Yeah, I... guess so,” I grumbled, still hesitant, but seeing his point. To be honest, the thought of taking advantage of the Princess' fondness for me still made me uncomfortable so I decided to change the topic. “A-Anyway, what did you mean when you said we had a problem. This is good news, right? So what's the issue?”

“Ah, right,” Bulwark replied, his mouth slipping back into a frown, “well, yeah, that was the good news. Now it's time for the bad news.”

I swallowed nervously, suddenly feeling I was a bit too hasty in my decision to change the subject. Bulwark, not noticing my unease, pressed on as we rounded another corner. Looking around, I noticed we were coming up on the corridor that led to my bedroom and a sinking feeling settled in my stomach.

“The whole deal with the ID card was why I was looking for you to begin with,” he explained, “wanted to give you something to look forward to when you came back, y'know? That was the plan anyway, but then... well...”

He trailed off as we finally reached the door to my room, a dark scowl crossing his face. We stood there in silence for a moment while the pegasus guard stared at the closed door like he was preparing himself.

“...Well what?” I asked, taking a tentative step forward, “what happened?”

Instead of giving me a verbal answer, Bulwark looked at me, gave a heavy sigh, and raised a hoof to the door's handle. He hesitated for another second, then turned the handle and pushed the door open. Standing next to him, I was able to see the space beyond the open entrance and what I saw turned my blood to ice.

My bedroom had been completely ransacked. And it wasn't just a few things misplaced here and there either. All manner of books and parchment had been scattered across the floor. My bed had somehow been overturned. Cabinets and dressers and even my desk had been toppled over, the contents torn free and thrown about the room.

The large windows had been smashed and it was clear from the dampened floor and drenched tomes and rolls of parchment nearby that the earlier rain had blown in. In short, my bedroom was an absolute disaster—like a miniature hurricane had rolled through the place. Taking it all in, I gradually felt my shock and horror freeze into something cold and hard.

I suddenly felt strangely dissociated from the situation as I stepped into the room. There was a clarity that hadn't existed a moment ago and I found I was able to analyze the mess with a calm and critical eye. I heard Bulwark make his way into the room behind me.

“When I went out to find you, this was the first place I decided to check, naturally,” he continued in a somber tone, “on the way here I saw some pudgy colt hanging around the corridor near your room.”

My ears perked up at that, but I didn't say anything and just let the stallion continue. While he spoke, I started to search the room for clues as to who might've done all of this. I was also on the lookout for anything that might've been missing.

“The kid looked awfully guilty about something,” Bulwark continued, “he booked it when he saw me coming, and I didn't think much of it then... not until I got to your room anyway.”

“What made you come into my room?” I asked. My voice sounded strange in my own ears. It was a flat, dead thing far removed from what a foal should sound like. When I didn't hear an immediate response from Bulwark I stopped what I was doing and turned to the pegasus. “Bulwark?”

I found him giving me a weird look, like he wasn't sure what he was looking at. Once our eyes met, he blinked and shook his head as if to clear it, then spoke again. “Sorry, I just... well anyway,” he cleared his throat, “I knocked on your door and figured you weren't back yet when I didn't get an answer. But then I thought back to that colt and realized the kid looked kind of familiar.”

“That was probably Greedy Gut,” I guessed, “one of Blueblood's lackeys. He was there when Blueblood attacked me in the dungeon."

“Right,” Bulwark nodded thoughtfully, “I saw him a few times in the week leading up to the Gala. Something about him rubbed me the wrong way—something about how he was wandering around near your room.”

“So you decided to investigate?” I asked.

“Yeah, that's about the size of it,” Bulwark confirmed, “Against my better judgment I invaded your privacy and, well... this is what I found.” He glanced around the room, his expression turning bemused, “Not sure if that colt did this or not, but what I don't understand is how nopony heard the racket this would've caused.”

“A silencing spell probably,” I surmised as I searched around my upturned desk, “and if that was the case, that either means it wasn't Greedy Gut or he had help from a unicorn.”

“You think it was him?” Bulwark asked.

“I don't know for sure,” I replied truthfully, “but I don't think so—at least, I don't think he wanted to if he did.”

“What makes you say that?”

“I've seen Greedy Gut around the castle a few times since what happened in the dungeon, and I get the impression he feels bad about the part he played in Blueblood's stupid schemes.” I shook my head and frowned as a growing sense of dread began to pick away at the strange, icy feeling that had taken over me. “In any case, I... I think I might have a few ideas about who did all this.”

“Really?” Bulwark asked. The guard's brows furrowed at the slight tremor in my voice, “Care to, uh... share?”

“Before that,” I said, trying to ignore the cold sweat and shaky hooves as I did one more inscreasingly frantic sweep of the room, “did you tell the Princess or anypony else about this?”

“No, I... didn't get the chance,” Bulwark replied, looking more concerned by the second as he watched me desperately search through the countless books scattered across the floor, “I was about to head off to let the Princess know what happened when you finally showed up. Why? Did you find something else out?”

“You were right, Bulwark,” I admitted as I fell to my haunches in defeat. I turned to stare out the broken window, a hollow pit forming in my stomach., My mind reeled as I thought about what I couldn't find and what it might mean. “I think I might need to rely on the Princess a bit more—at least for this.”

“Why?” Bulwark pressed. He took a step toward me, worry etched in every line of his face, “Twilight, what happened? What's going on? Whoever did this... did they take something?”

It took a moment for me to answer, but I eventually gave a slow nod and turned to the pegasus guard. I was unsure of just what kind of face I was making as I replied. “I think so. I can't find my journal, Bulwark. I think... I think they took my journal.”