Chapter One: Another Field Trip Gone Wrong.
It was a bright, sunny day in Ponyville, the sun was shining brightly, and a cool breeze graced the nowadays quiet town with it's presence. The weather was perfect for a stroll through town, or a picnic on a grassy field. It was perfect outside...If only the Cutie Mark Crusaders were awake enough to enjoy it. The three young fillies tiredly trudged along with the rest of their classmates; they had only just gone back to school, and their sleep schedules were greatly disturbed. The class was at Canterlot, a place they haven't been to in a while, not since Discord's first return. Their teacher, Ms. Cheerilee turned to her not-so bright eyed and bushy tailed students and smiled.
"Alright class! Are you ready to learn today with Princess Twilight?"
The class suddenly perked up and eagerly nodded their heads, signaling Cheerilee to lead them towards the castle. Yet Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle were still very sleepy.
"Y'all...Ah love Ms. Cheerilee's classes, as well as spendin' time with Twilight an' all...But Ah'm more tired than a...Than a...Oh, what's a country-ism Applejack would use in this scenario?" Apple Bloom muttered to her two closest friends.
"Whatever you can think of...I completely agree." Scootaloo muttered back. "I miss my old sleep schedule."
Sweetie Belle gave a weary smile. "We'll get used to it, girls" She said softly "We always do. Besides! Not many ponies get to see Twilight anymore since she took over for Princess Celestia and Luna!"
The small earth pony and pegasus nodded in agreement, knowing that Twilight was much more busy with her new responsibilities. They followed the other students up to the castle steps, when their teacher suddenly turned around, wearing a very stern expression.
"Now listen up class, Twilight is a princess, and this is a very special field trip. Please be on your best behavior, or you will be escorted outside and sit out the rest of this fieldtrip."
"Yes Ms. Cheerilee." The class recited in bored, monotone voices. Their tones did not impress the magenta colored pony.
"I'm serious everyone! Twilight has recently taken her place as a ruler in Canterlot. She is very busy, and I don't want any of you stressing her out!"
"Aww, she won't be stressed out!" Silver Spoon chirped.
"You don't know that!" Diamond Tiara pointed out "I know I'D be stressed out if I was a ruler of Equestria left alone like her! Oh poor Twilight, she must be soooo tired and stressed out!"
"I'm bored out of my mind..." Princess Twilight thought to herself, sitting on the very large gold throne that had once belonged to her mentor, Spike asleep on a cushion right next to her. She looked around the room, seeing the usual...Well...Any old something you'd see in a throne room. The room was so quiet you could hear the world's lightest pen drop, and Twilight was almost completely alone, save for a few royal guards and her unconscious dragon friend. Earlier, in an attempt to entertain herself, she had tried to conversate with the ponies guarding her, but her efforts proved to be futile. The young alicorn continued scanning the room with her eyes, the usual decorations eventually catching her. Twilight couldn't help but smile at them.
"Rarity loved these decorations..." she thought "She could probably make them prettier if she really wanted to...Then Applejack would comment on how it's not necessary, and Rainbow Dash would ask 'who cares?'. Pinkie Pie would just say something silly about them while Fluttershy would call them 'lovely', since she wouldn't have much of an opinion on them either. And then I'd-..."
Twilight sighed sadly and stared at the ground. She remembered her Sister-In-Law, Cadence telling her that her life at the Crystal Empire was rather boring on the day Discord had faked being sick. And the lavender pony didn't understand that feeling as much as she had now. While her new role was important, she couldn't help but feel stuck; not only was each day here duller than the last, but most of all, she felt so far away from her five most dearest friends. She missed them so much to the point where it hurt, even though she knew they were always welcome to visit, only they weren't visiting, which made Twilight assume they were busy as well. Maybe she should visit them, rather than they visit her? But how would she make time for-
"Your highness!" A voice spoke up, snapping the princess from her thoughts.
"Huh? What?!"
Twilight looked over to see Cheerilee and her students all smiling at her excitedly. Twilight's eyes widened, before she gave a somewhat sheepish smile
"Oh...Hello everypony! I'd forgotten the tour was today!" she explained, slightly embarrassed about forgetting a date.
"Would you like us to wait outside, your highness? We understand if you're not pre-"
"Oh no no! It's fine Cheerilee!" Twilight dismissed, walking down the throne's steps. "I wouldn't want to keep you all waiting"
"Twilight! Hi!" she heard three familiar voices call out. She smiled and looked over to see the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
"Hello you three! How's being back at school after break?"
"Tiring" Scootaloo replied bluntly.
"Now girls, you can talk to Twilight after the tour" Cheerilee told the three of them firmly. "Okay!" They answered in unison.
"Alright everypony, follow me!" Twilight announced, walking towards the touring areas of the castle, the class in tow.
Only twenty minutes into the tour, many students became bored. Not by Twilight of course, but rather this history lessons themselves. The stories they were hearing about were mostly about how the castle was built, and the insignificant ponies who built it. Not to mention how Twilight didn't spare any of the mostly boring details, making the stories seem even longer.
"Ah've seen slowly rottin' apples more interestin' than this" Apple Bloom whispered tiredly.
"I know! I expected things to be more interesting with Twilight around!" Sweetie Belle added.
Scootaloo only hmphed before her eyes suddenly landed on a window pane. But not just any window pane; it was the one with Discord getting turned to Stone. Twilight still had yet to replace it with another, more positive story about him. Scootaloo smiled at her friends;
"Hey Guys, remember when we first came here to the gardens, and accidentally released Discord from stone?" Apple Bloom smiled back. "How could we forget? We were fightin' a bunch that day, but we all made up in the end when Discord became a statue again!"
"Yeah...Say...What do you think they did with his old place in the garden?" Sweetie Belle asked curiously. Scootaloo only smirked at her. "Wanna find out?"
"Ah don't know Y'all...What if Ms. Cheerilee notices we're gone?!"
Scootaloo scoffed at her. "C'mon! It'll only take a few minutes! We'll be back before Ms. Cheerilee notices we're gone!"
Apple Bloom shrugged, unable to argue with the pegasus' logic. "Alright, anythin' but this!"
And with that, the three fillies tiptoed away, successfully sneaking away from the rest of the class. After a while of wandering through the castle somehow undetected, they found a door, leading out the the Gardens. They all giggled and trotted towards the world famous statue garden.
"So...Where was it again?" Scootaloo asked.
"Don't look at me! This place is a maze! Literally!" Sweetie Bell announced, gesturing to the maze not far away.
"Girls! Look!"
They both walked over to the young earth pony, who was near the Maze's entrance.
"Did you find where it was?" Sweetie Belle excitedly asked.
But at the entrance, they saw a sign that said;
"Stay away from the statue in the center" Scootaloo read aloud, before she smiled and walked right through the entrance. "Well, let's find out which one it is!"
The other two ponies hesitantly followed her. After a while of getting lost, they came across a sign that read 'Legion of Doom'.
"Ooooh. let's go look, let's go look!" Scootaloo exclaimed, running towards the center, her friends right behind her.
It wasn't long before Cheerilee noticed three of her students were gone. After telling the class to stay put, she looked around the castle for them, until she saw an open back door. She went outside and saw hoofprints on the ground, leading inside the maze. She growled angrily; Not only did they run off, but they went to a restricted area. She made her way to the maze, before she knew it, she saw an exhibit label that read 'Legion of Doom'. Cheerilee was now both angry, and worried. She walked into the exhibit, and saw the three fillies, their jaws open, and their eyes wide. They looked completely paralyzed.
"There you three are! What were you thinking sneaking off here?! You three are going back to the castle, an-" The teacher began scolding them when her eyes caught what had made the three freeze up in shock. Cheerilee felt herself tense up in fear when she saw that the supposed statue inside was gone...And only a few bits of stone and concrete were left behind.
Author's Note
...Hi...I'm back...Uh...Okay, first off, I just wanna deeply, sincerely apologize for all the cringe I once called stories I have brought to this website so long ago, I have recently returned with a new story for you, and with hopes that my writing has gotten better. I also wanna apologize for being gone for so long to those of you who have noticed, and became sad over my absence (Though I highly doubt anyone did). I've had a lot going on while I was gone, such as my beloved grandmother's passing, my recent employment, school, problems with my Mom and Dad, Covid 19, me trying to figure out what the heck I'm gonna do with my life after graduation...It's been tough. However, two powerful forces called 'Inspiration' and 'motivation' have brought me back this this website, and have encouraged me to start over, with better stories than the poor ones I've already posted( In fact the only reason I haven't deleted them all is because some people out there actually like them). So I will do my best to update this story as much as I can, and show off some hopefully improved writing. I love you guys, and I will see you in the next chapter, bye! 
Chapter Two: Concerning Matters
Meanwhile, back in Ponyville, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were upon on a grassy field, waiting for two other friends to show up. It had been a while since five of the most well ponies in Equestria all met up, since they had their own jobs of course. Rarity, and Applejack were usually occupied with their businesses, Pinkie was of course running Sugarcube corner while planning parties, Rainbow Dash was doing her usual training and shows as a Wonderbolt, and Fluttershy had been watching over her animal sanctuary. They had all decided to meet up and take a small day off, and of course they could've invited Twilight, but they didn't want to bother her in case she was in the middle of something important.
Applejack smiled and looked up at Rainbow Dash, who seemed to be clearing away a few clouds.
"Phew! Sure is nice out here, ain't it?"
"Yeah it is!" Rainbow replied "With this kind of weather, it's a shame I don't have training today!" She looked at her two friends.
"Buuuut hanging out with you guys is way better...Hey Fluttershy, think you could lend me a hoof with these clouds?"
Fluttershy didn't seem to register what her rainbow maned friend had asked of her, she seem to be mostly staring at the ground as she unpacked some of the tea she brought.
"Fluttershy?"
The shy pegasus' head shot up and looked at rainbow, with the expression of a very startled doe. "Oh! Sorry Rainbow! I...I'd rather just focus on this if that's alright?"
Rainbow Dash looked at her suspiciously before she shrugged it off and went back to work, while Applejack looked at Fluttershy with concern; she had been acting off since she got here. Not wanting to pry, however, she dropped it and began to spread out the picnic blanket.
"Well doesn't this look nice!" a familiar voice called out.
The three of them turned their heads to see Rarity and Pinkie Pie, who was waving her hoof furiously.
"HEY GIRLS!!!" She greeted loudly. Oblivious to the possibility that half of Equestria could've heard her.
"Hey Ya'll! You're jus' in time! We jus' finished setting up!" said Applejack, gesturing to the now set up picnic area.
Four of the mares smiled at set up of their picnic. It was almost nostalgic, seeing it set up again like this. In the past, they had often had picnics like this, when the weather was nice, or they wanted a break from any stress...Or even when they just all wanted to meet up together.
"Lovely!" Rarity replied "I'm sure we all have MUCH to discuss!" Rarity chirped as Pinkie sat down with them, meanwhile the unicorn was strenuously using her magic to lug in her signature fainting couch.
Since Spike had moved to Canterlot with Twilight, Rarity began carrying all her things by herself. While it was harder than Spike made it look, she decided that hard labor to bring in a couch was better than just lazily lying on the filthy ground! Besides, Rarity was quickly getting adjusted to the weight of her luggage...though that could just be because she started packing less things.
"Yeah! Like me! I've got big big big big big big big big big big BIIIIIIIG news!!!" Pinkie Pie giggled, wearing a grin that was wider than usual.
"That news sounds mighty big, Pinkie!" Applejack said with an amused smile.
"Do-! Hmmph! Do tell Darling!" Rarity encouraged the pink pony as she finally got the couch to a good stopping place.
Pinkie sat up on her haunches, and raised her head high and proud.
"Okay, okay...So this morning, I was just making a big ol' batch of waffles with whipped cream and strawberries, but then the mail pony came to my door with a letter, and you'll never guess who it's from!" she squeal, waving a yellow paper with a sticker of a cheese sandwich on it.
"Cheese Sandwich?" Rainbow mused, a small knowing smirk on her face.
"CHEESE SANDWICH!" Pinkie announced, not noticing Rainbow's smug expression. "He's taking a break from his travels to come visit me here in Ponyville! Isn't that the greatest thing ever?!" The pink earth pony hugged the envelope to her chest tightly, as if she were embracing a dear friend.
"That's Marvelous! You and him haven't seen each other for a while!" Rarity commented, now seated on her couch.
"Pinkie misses her coltfriend!" Rainbow suddenly chanted in a sing-song voice.
Pinkie just giggled and snorted obliviously. "Well of course he's my coltfriend! He's my friend who just happens to be a colt! But I'm pretty sure everypony else already knew that, Dashie!"
While everypony continued chatting, Fluttershy suddenly became deaf to everything around her. The only thing she could hear were her own thoughts, echoing through her mind almost endlessly. She somewhat smiled, happy that Pinkie would get to see her long distant friend...But then frowned, remembering a friend that she hadn't been with very much for a hot minute. A very dear friend who at the moment, wasn't on very good terms with Equestria after a big 'incident' that happened two months ago. And although this special friend of hers could conjure up almost anything he desired, she couldn't help but have worries for him. Was he feeling alright? Was he sleeping well? Was he missing her as much as she missed hi-
"Uhhh, Fluttershy? You're pouring tea on the blanket" Rainbow's voice suddenly interrupted her.
Fluttershy looked down in shock to see that she had indeed not been paying attention to where she was pouring the tea, and her corner had become soaked in hot flower water.
"Eeek! S-Sorry! I guess I wasn't paying attention! I-I'll get some napkins!" she squeaked out as she trotted over to the picnic basket.
Four of the girls looked at each other, and looked back at the shy pegasus in concern; something was definitely up with her.
"Erm...Fluttershy..." Rarity said gently "You seem quite distracted today! Is everything alright?"
"Yes! Everything is fine! I've just been thinking about a lot lately is all!" she claimed, pulling out a few napkins.
"A lot about what?" Rainbow asked
"Oh, you know!....Stuff" Fluttershy replied vaguely
Applejack suddenly heaved a sigh "You've been thinkin' 'bout Discord, haven't ya?"
There was an awkward silence, and everypony was about to shrug it off before Fluttershy cried out as she threw the napkins to the ground;
"Oh, I can't help it! He hasn't been popping in like he used to, Tuesday teas nowadays are quiet, and I'm so worried about him! He's not himself!"
Applejack just shook her head "If I were him, I wouldn't be poppin' in nowadays either Sugarcube"
"Yeah, everypony's preeeeeetty mad at him right now" Pinkie chimed in, giving a shrug as she shoved a blueberry muffin into her mouth. Rarity rolled her eyes a bit.
"Pinkie, that's quite the understatement!"
"No kidding!" Rainbow agreed "He impersonated an old villain, brought the legion of doom together, let them rise to power, and endangered ALL of Equestria! AGAIN!!! Who WOULDN'T be angry with him?!"
Fluttershy's ears drooped as she looked at her friend's disapproving gazes.
"But you said it yourself, Rainbow! He made a 'pretty epic comeback'! If not for him, we wouldn't have been able to escape our prisons! A-And he ran all the way to Canterlot to warn us! Without magic I might add!"
Almost everypony's expression softened, realizing Fluttershy had somewhat of a point. Not the best one, but a point nonetheless.
"Yeah! To warn us of a problem HE CAUSED!!!" Rainbow deadpanned, folding her hooves. "We would've had our rears hoofed to us if not for all our allies showing up! C'mon Fluttershy! Don't pretend you weren't disappointed in him too!"
Fluttershy went silent and stared at the ground sadly, a guilty look on her face. Rarity noticed and walked over, putting a hoof on her shoulder comfortingly.
"Not to worry Dear! I'm sure everypony's grudges will eventually fade away! Much like they did with the Tirek incident! I'm sure Discord will be back to normal in no time!"
"Yeah! Nopony can stay mad at anypony forever! Even at Discord!"
"I can" Rainbow Deadpanned
"Nopony asked fer your input!"
"And nopony asked for YOURS Applejack!"
"ANYWAYS!!!--" Pinkie cut in, trying to prevent an argument between the two "How do you all think Twilight's doing?!"
Rainbow lied down on her back, hooves behind her head. "If I had to guess Pinkie, I'd say she's just snoozing the days away"
It was about a few hours past sundown and Twilight was awake, unbeknownst to her however, her loyal assistant Spike was secretly awake as well. Why was he up so late you ask? Perhaps it was because the room was cold, only being illuminated by a few lit candles, rather than the boisterous, welcoming heat of the fireplace. Or maybe it was his friend's muttering and pacing that kept him awake, clearly concerned about something, yet trying to calm herself down. What she was worried about, the small dragon couldn't fathom, mostly because Twilight wouldn't talk to him about it. She just told him it wasn't important and it could all just be one big misunderstanding. Knowing Twilight, he wouldn't get an answer out of her, not for a while anyways, so he decided to drop it and wait for the answers to inevitably come to light. In the meantime, he had other things to think about anyways, such as his plans for tonight. Today was a day he was scheduled to play Ogres and Oubliettes with two of his pals; Big Mac and the all powerful lord of chaos himself, Discord.
With Twilight so deeply immersed in her own thoughts, Spike saw the perfect opportunity to sneak by her, out of the castle. In reality, it wasn't necessary for him to sneak out for such a thing since most ponies already knew about their secret meetups for their game, yet Spike and Big Mac still believed it to be imperative, while Discord just played along because he found it humorous. He quietly crept out of his small bed and tip-toed past Twilight.
"It has to be a misunderstanding! It just has to be!" The alicorn muttered to herself comfortingly.
Next thing Spike knew, he was flying out a nearby window into the beautiful, peaceful night. He enjoyed feeling the cool breeze enwrap him as he flew down to land, still within the castle's lovely grassy grounds.
He smiled smugly to himself "And Garbuckle has officially snuck out of the tower, soon to reunite with his team of brave warriors" He muttered, awaiting for Discord to teleport him to his chaos dimension. Ever since Twilight moved out of the castle back at Ponyville, he figured it would be best for them to play their game somewhere else. Spike impatiently tapped his foot.
"The time draws nigh, Captain Wuzz, anytime to brave a journey to the Squizzard's tower would be adequate!"
Fifteen minutes later, and still no sign of the chaotic archer known as 'Captain Wuss'
"Oh C'mon! What's taking him so long?" the small dragon stomped his foot impatiently.
Spike knew that Discord wouldn't be asleep at this time, he never was! So why was't he showing up?! Eventually after waiting about another hour, Spike just frowned and begrudgingly walked back into the castle, walking through the throne room and climbing up the stairs to Twilight's room for a parchment and quill. When he got to the room, he saw a softly snoring Twilight, asleep at her desk. Spike gave a soft, kind smile and went to her bed to grab a pillow and blanket. He walked over to his older sister figure and moved her notes out from under her, replacing them with the pillow. After draping the blanket around her, he gently patted her shoulder, careful not to wake her.
"Night, Twilight" He whispered.
Spike then grabbed an empty parchment paper, a nearby quill previously used by Twilight, and began scribbling an angry note for Discord, demanding an explanation for his absence. After he finished writing, he used his dragon breath to send the note to Chaosville.
"He'd better reply quick" The purple dragon muttered in annoyance, expecting Discord to simply send a letter back.
But of course, with Discord, nothing was exactly simple. So not even two minutes later, instead of receiving a letter back, Spike was teleported away from Canterlot.
Author's Note
Hey guys! I apologize for my lack of updating, or if this chapter isn't very well written. I was gonna make this chapter longer, but I thought the next chapter would be somewhat short if I continued writing here. I'll probably start working on the next chapter right away after I publish this one, and hopefully I'll be able to update more often. So yeah! Any friendly criticism or feedback is appreciated! I hope you all like this chapter! Love you!
