Twilight Sparkle: Friendship Expert

Twilight walked into the library. It was quiet but for her hoofsteps on the cold stone floor and empty save for the ever present librarian. The books filling the towering shelves were as comforting as ever, the scent of old books filling her with a sense of calm. Nothing bad could happen to her here as far as she was concerned.

She sat down at a table near the corner of the library, stacks of books surrounding her and enough parchment and ink to last her the afternoon. She held a book on minor transmutation spells in her hooves, but her heart wasn’t really in it, no matter how useful the applications might be.

Fluttershy sat beside her with a large book on cat breeds. Considering how fast she was turning the pages, she was either a very skilled reader, or only looking at the pictures. She had a small smile on her face though, so Twilight was happy either way.

She managed to make it halfway through the book before she faltered. Realizing that she had spent the better part of a minute just gazing at the page blankly.

Thanks to last night’s Changeling attack and this mornings breakdown, there was too much going on in her mind right now to focus. Talking about runes with Entropy had helped, but she knew that studying wasn’t a very healthy way to cope. At least that’s what her friends had told her.

Her eyes eventually left the book, simply gazing at Fluttershy as she quietly hummed to herself. Her mind was starting to blank as she gave up on working through her inner turmoil and she just let herself wonder about her new friend. What was she doing in the park so late at night? Was she okay? At least Twilight already knew about the Changelings before she was right in the thick of it.

Fluttershy finally took notice of Twilight’s staring, letting out an eep before hiding behind her mane. She shifted as if to hide under the table before realizing that it was a little too small to cover her entirely. “T-Twilight?”

“Mmm?”

Fluttershy started to peek out of her mane with a concerned expression. “Are you… okay?”

Twilight paused to consider her reply, setting down her book slowly. “I… I’m not sure.” she answered honestly.

“Do… do you want to talk about it?” Fluttershy seemed to take a deep breath, before sitting up straighter and making an effort to look at Twilight directly. “I-I’m not sure if I can help, but I’m happy to listen.”

Twilight looked at her carefully, searching for something. She finally let out a sigh. “You’re probably wondering what happened last night right? It’s not like we’ve had much time to talk about it.”

“I’d like to know if it’s not too much trouble, but you don’t have to say anything.” Fluttershy looked worried.

“No, you deserve to know.” Twilight took a deep breath. “It all began a few weeks ago…"

The party was finally winding down and Pinkie’s necklace was still vibrating. She thought it might be broken, but a little hide and seek outside had proved that wrong. The second she was out of sight it stopped. She was definitely being watched by one of the meanies, maybe more than one.

She swept quietly, eyes darting around the room. The floor was covered in confetti and the tables were mostly cleared of food. Pinkie would have to get rid of the rest of the cake and punch herself. It was her solemn duty as party planner.

However, she was more concerned with the number of ponies staying behind. Usually Pinkie would only have a couple of helpers cleaning up after the party. Right now there was practically a crowd of them hanging around the edge of the room. All of them ponies she didn’t remember inviting to the party, or even coming in with ponies she did know.

She glanced across the room at Mrs Cake, one of the owners of the little shop she had commandeered for today’s party. She was bustling around the counter, singing a happy little tune.

Pinkie pursed her lips, struggling not to frown. She didn’t feel good about this, and she’d learned to trust her gut. She glanced around, trying to work out if any of them were obviously watching her. She eventually gave up and sidled over to Mrs Cake.

“Hello dear, are you alright?” she asked, concerned. “You seem a little worried, did something happen?”

Pinkie looked into her eyes, wavering.

“You can trust me dearie.” She smiled warmly.

Pinkie caved, pulling up her necklace to show it off. “My friend made this for me, it vibrates when bad ponies are around. We were attacked a little while ago and she wanted to keep me and her other friends safe.” Pinkie bit her lip. “I don’t know most of the ponies that are still here.”

Mrs cake frowned in worry. “You didn’t invite them?”

Pinkie shook her head. “And they didn’t come in with anypony I know either.”

Mrs Cake looked around in worry. She didn’t know any of the ponies here herself, and ponyville was a pretty small town. She had just assumed they were travelers, or friends of Pinkie from out of town. “You’re sure it works.”

Pinkie nodded vigorously. “My friends really good with magic, I trust her.”

“Alright then, head into the back for me, I don’t want you getting hurt if something is wrong.”

Pinkie looked at her, biting her lip. “Don’t worry dear, I can handle myself.”

Mrs Cake shooed Pinkie out back, turning around to fix the remaining guests with a practiced smile.

Shining armor watched in horror as his fellow guards were taken down in droves. The madly cackling pony at the head of the loyalists was blasting out beams of dark magic like he was giving out candy on nightmare night. The earth was shaking and large fissures were opening up in the ground. Dark clouds roiled above, shooting out lightning in all directions.

He had arrived as the loyalists were finally being pushed back, screaming about the ultimate power he held in his hooves. He then slipped on an amulet with a red gem set in the center. His eyes started glowing with a malevolent red light and his magical presence suddenly expanded a hundred fold.

Things went downhill from there, the loyalists rallying together and charging at the guard once more. Finally pushing them back in the midst of the chaos.

Shining had to dive to the side as a construct made of the earth rushed past him, snarling with rage. He could see deep grooves made in the ground from the abnormally sharp claws jutting out of it’s paws, and it’s eyes were a swirling miasma of darkness that sent a shiver down his spine.

The construct stood twice as tall as the average pony. It was roughly in the shape of a wolf, made of hard concrete from the roads of the city. It’s posture was aggressive as it leant forward, the animation spell causing it’s non existent muscles to tense as it readied itself to pounce.

His horn sparked to life as it shot forward, his shield shaking and shuddering under the absurd weight of the creature as it flared to life. It ultimately held, but he wouldn’t be able to hold the shield up for long under these conditions.

Shining grit his teeth, pulling the shield inward to the absolute max before releasing it explosively to twice its previous size. A dangerous maneuver in the middle of a battlefield, but also his best option to deal with the construct quickly.

The concrete wolf impacted a nearby building with a heavy crunch, and Shining tensed, waiting for it to get back up. The rain pounding on his back and obscuring his vision made him uneasy and nervous.

He let out a sigh of relief as the magic holding it together gave up and it crumbled to dust.

He looked around warily. Only the guards still conscious and on their hooves were being attacked by the constructs, but they were keeping them back well enough to start getting some of the more heavily injured guards out of the area. Looking behind him, he could see that they were slowly getting pushed out of the city. Shining grit his teeth.

He absentmindedly sent a mana bolt at a nearby loyalist that was rushing towards him, knocking him out instantly. He was more interested in what was going on up ahead.

A large group of loyalists were gathered near the centre of the town. Most of the houses around them were nothing but rubble at this point, and even the fires had died down in the face of the roaring rains. There was a large crystal set into the ground they were surrounding, various runes Shining couldn’t even begin to understand spiraling out from it and to the edge of the rough circle the loyalists had made.

He could vaguely hear chanting, but the howling of the wind could have just as easily been playing tricks on his mind. He looked left to right. His commanding officers were well and truly down, having been struck first. He bit his lip, wavering. Without orders he couldn’t be sure of his next move, but he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if he did nothing.

Finally he threw caution to the wind and rushed forwards, enacting a basic shield in front of himself. They weren’t making any new constructs at this point, so he had time to plan out a route to avoid them. A few of his fellow guards shot out bolt of mana to assist where they could, but he barely managed to get past by the skin of his teeth.

He was very lucky that the mad pony with the amulet was being kept busy by the majority of the guards. He didn’t have nearly the reserves left to deal with a magic user that powerful.

Rushing forwards, he crashed into a barrier surrounding the loyalists. His horn sparked in protest as he steadied his stance and started to create a large barrier where he stood. Shield was pitted against shield in the ultimate contest of wills.

One of the figures stepped forward. They had a smile that would have looked kind but for the hood shrouding their face in darkness. “You won’t be making it through this barrier any time soon colt. It’s probably best if you just give up now and leave.”

Shining Armor grit his teeth. “We aren’t letting you take this city. As royal guards it is our duty to protect the citizens of Equestria.” His shield started to grow more opaque as he poured as much magic into it as he dared.

The figure’s head shook as they chuckled. “As much as I admire your determination, it’s much too late for that. The city will be ours soon enough, and plans beyond your understanding will be set into motion.”

The stallion smiled, looking up towards the sky as the elements raged around him. A parting in the clouds showed the full moon in all its glory. “Soon enough you will all see her majesty. Bowing to her power and grace as you were meant to.”

Sadly for Shining, special talent for shields or not, he couldn’t win against a full group of mages on his own. Especially not when they already had so much time to prepare. He could see by the way the runes had started to light up that he was too late, the crystal at the centre glowing with magical power despite his best efforts to stop them.

His shoulders sagged as a bright light filled the clearing and a wave of magical power burst outwards, spreading over the whole city. His hooves left the ground as a weightless feeling overcame him, before he found himself flying through the air outside of the city limits.

The sky was filled with his fellow guards as they quickly fell to the ground, the enchantments on their armor keeping them alive despite the best efforts of gravity.

He gave out a groan after landing, looking up to the sky as a bubble of magic encased the city for miles around. He watched the translucent bubble slowly spark, before it turned completely opaque as his vision faded to black.

Pinkie held her breath as she sat still and silent, hiding inside a small cupboard in the kitchen. Her knee had gotten a pinchy feeling, and she had the sudden urge to hide.

She had been getting predictions like this since she was a foal, and they had gotten stronger since she earned her cutie mark. She wasn’t entirely sure what they all meant, but she could make a guess this time.

“Pinkie Pie, are you in there?” She could hear Mrs Cake calling out. She screwed her eyes shut, staying quiet. If she thought of it as a game of hide and seek, she would be fine.

“Pinkie dear, I’ve had a talk with some of the ponies out there. It was all just a misunderstanding.” She chuckled, but it sounded slightly off, unnatural. “You should really come out and talk to them, they just want to be friends.”

Something was definitely off here. Her… Pinkie Sense? Hadn’t let her down yet. As soon as she made a move to open the cupboard she had gotten that pinchy feeling again, so she kept quiet and waited.

It took a few minutes, but a voice finally spoke up. “It looks like she’s left, I suppose we weren’t being subtle enough.” A sigh. “The queen will be displeased.”

“She’ll be displeased with you,” called out another voice. “I said we should just grab her when she was alone, but no, you had to make a big production out of it, didn’t you?”

“Look, we already tried that with the Princesses student, it didn’t work out so well. We had twenty of our best and brightest waiting to ambush her. How was I supposed to know she would turn tail and run? She’s just a foal. This was supposed to be above and beyond what we needed to catch her.”

“Well don’t look at me, I don’t understand the mind of a child. She was probably scared off by you, always with the stoic airs and curt replies. Would it kill you to act like one of them once in a while? There’s a reason you aren’t cut out for infiltration.”

A groan. “Look, just wipe the shop owners memory and send out a small search party. She’s probably already gone to get the guards so sticking around isn’t really an option.”

A pause. “She could be hiding in here.”

Pinkie’s breath caught in her throat.

“Don’t be ridiculous, you think she could be that quiet for this long?”

“Pff, true, she’d be bouncing off the walls by now.” A chuckle. “Let’s get going, I really don’t want to deal with getting caught by the guards on top of all of this.”

She could hear the voices fading into the distance as they left the room. “Yeah, well, at least you don’t have to deal with…”

Pinkie waited for a few minutes, ears swiveling around to catch the slightest sound.

She let out a sigh of relief and slipped out of the cupboard. She hadn’t gotten that pinchy feeling again, so she hoped that meant she was safe. She exited the back room quickly, coming across Mrs Cake sitting behind the counter.

“Oh, Pinkie dear, what were you doing back there?”

Pinkie froze for a moment. “Ah, nothing Mrs Cake, just… putting away some things.”

“Oh, alright dear, but don’t take too long on the cleanup. Wouldn’t want you to stay up too late now would we?” She chuckles and moves away from the counter, heading upstairs.

“No problem Mrs Cake! I’ll be done before you know it.”

Pinkie looked out over the mess. “Okay, deal with this quickly, then find some guards. I should probably send a letter to Twilight too…” She took a deep breath before getting to work. Her mane was a little limper than usual, but she was safe and that’s what mattered.