The rythmic sound of steel train wheels colliding with rails reverberated through the lavish confines of the Royal Wagon, reserved specifically for, well, royalty. The standard color of the cart used to be rich gold, representative of the prosperity Equestria can offer to those with sufficent funds. Twilight Sparkle laid on the queen-sized golden bed, her gaze lazily drifting along the wooden patterns on the wagon's ceiling.
It was all she could do not to freak out right about now, the monotonous and soothing action barely able to do it's job. Thousands of thoughts raced through her mind, each and every one doing nothing to help the situation. "Do the girls know about what happened? Does Spike? Does Celestia?" Twilight shivered at the mention of the Sun Alicorn, and felt her lunch threaten to meet the wagon's golden carpet. "Nope, not gonna think about it... Not gonna think about it..." She pried her gaze away from the ceiling, settling it on the winged form of her number one assistant, sitting beside her on the bed. "Faust almighty, I hope Spike stayed out of it. I can't imagine how hard these seven years were for him otherwise. " Twilight thought, looking intently on the drake.
So intently, it seemed, that Spike took notice, turning to the mare with a sad expression. "You're restless too, huh?" He said, a bittersweet smile gracing his features. "Yeah, me too. That group hug was something else, I swear I felt my scales crack from how hard Pinkie was hugging me, can't fathom how you, or any of the girls, for that matter, survived it." Suddenly, tears welled up in his eyes as he enveloped Twilight in a tight hug. "sniff Guess I'm not the only one in the mood for crying right now."
"What are you-" Twilight began to reply, but found it hard to do due to a lump in her throat. She brought a hoof to her eye, finding the fur there quite wet. Instead of continuing her sentence, she chose to wipe away her tears, before reciprocating Spike's hug, enveloping him with her wings.
She wasn't sure how much time passed, the both of them quetly sobbing into each other's shoulder, yet Spike finally pulled away, wiping the wetness from his eyes. "Thank you, Twilight." He said, offering her a supportive smile. "Good to know we can confide in eachother." A pang of guilt surged through Twilight's system, the mare doing her best not to let it show. Judging by the drake's reaction, she wasn't successful.
"Something's wrong Twilight?" He asked in a concerned tone.
"N-no, nothing." She lied through her teeth, averting her gaze from her assistant. "I'm just... hungry, is all." She said, hoping against hope to sound convincing.
"Why didn't you say so!" Spike said, cheering up a little. "I'll go get you something, don't you worry!" He jumped from the bed, running towards the door.
"Wait!" Twilight said a little to loudly, surprising the both of them, Spike freezing in place and turning to her with a confused expression. "I-I... Thanks, Spike. I really appreciate that." She said, squeezing out a less than convincing smile.
"No problem, Twi." Spike said, giving her an eager smile. "You know I'll do anything for you!" He disappeared behind the closed door, leaving Twilight alone with her thoughts. A soft click signified the door was closed, a small gift-box engulfed in a pink aura floating from beneath Twilight's pillow, carefully falling onto the pillow beside her as the mare sat up on her haunches.
Twilight's gaze concentrated on a small note posted on the giftbox as she mused on what to do.
"A special gift, for your eyes only! 
"
Marveling at a surprisingly detailed drawing of Pinkie, the party mare's eyes seemingly following Twilight's every move, the princess suddenly felt uncomfortable in the empty wagon. Shaking her head, she tore the package apart, the wrapping disappearing in a whisp of red flame, the drawing going with it.
A rather ordinary cardboard box greeted her, the mundane sight for anypony else nevertheless made her heart beat faster. Her mouth felt dry as a desert as she opened the box, hoping and dreading to find a small black rectangle there. She let out a sigh of relief when a pearly-white spherical crystal greeted her instead.
She levitated the sphere closer to her muzzle, examining it carefully. Upon closer examination, Twilight coud see colors swirling inside what seemed like an endless snow-storm. She squinted, trying to make out the blurry forms the swirling colors took, when the snow storm spread out, engulfing Twilight, robbing her of her surroundings as everything around her disappeared in pure white.
Twilight's limbs were heavy as lead, her eyes closing on their own accord. Everything felt numb as she closed her eyes, unable to stay conscious any longer.
Twilight's legs felt stiff when she found herself pacing around the insides of the Golden Oak Library, stealing a nervous glance at the wooden door from time to time. The cold winter winds beat relentlessly against the windows of Ponyville's only library, giving off a very eerie vibe when combined with the dark night sky and the beginning blizzard. Twilight shook her head as she glanced at the wall-mounted clock, the hands pointing it to be half past nine.
She sighed, deciding to make most of her time, and making her way towards the bathroom. She moved sluggishly, stifling multiple yawns on her way there, silently wishing she had something more potent than coffee at her disposal. Stepping onto the tile floor she looked at the mirror, slightly frowning at what she saw. Dark circles under her eyes, combined with her frazzled mane reminded her of the days she spent binge-reading all seven tomes of 'Principles of Magic' when she was a filly. The memory brought a smile to her face, one that died down when she remembered the motherly tone Celestia used to dissuade her from doing so.
She was halfway done brushing her mane when a rather strong knocking came from the other side of the door, prompting Twilight to leave her mane in a semi-frazzled state, and rush to let the her guest in. "Coming!" She exclaimed, opening the door with her telekinesis, falling to the floor when a pink fluffy blob collided with her, closing the door on her way in.
"Hiya Twilight!" The blob squeeled, confining the unicorn in a bone-crushing hug. "I'm so happy to see you! How have you been doing? I haven't seen you much past few weeks, I hope you've been doing alright!" The pink pudgy pile of pony prattled pointedly, preventing the purple pony from moving.
"P-Pinkie... Need... to... breathe..." Twilight stammered as the world began to go dark around her, her lungs burning from the lack of air.
"Whoops!" Pinkie relented, letting go of Twilight, leaving the latter panting for breath on the wooden floor of the library, rubbing her sides in a futile attempt to prevent the bruises from appearing. "Sorry, I was so eager to see you I forgot how passionate my hugs could be!" Pinkie said with a sheepish smile, backing away from the unicorn.
"It's fine, I'm happy to see you too, Pinkie." Twilight grumbled, standing up and moving towards the sofa. She sat down, glancing at the wall mouted clock, huffing in annoyance. "You're ten minutes late, Pinkie." She said, a hint of concern in her voice. "Something happened?"
"Nothing serious!" Pinkie said, hopping towards Twilight, jumping higher just before she hit the sofa, floating down onto it like a feather. "The Cakes left for Canterlot with Princess Celestia's monthly order, leaving me in charge of the Sugarcube Corner, so I had to stay after hours to clean things up!" Pinkie's smile fell a little when she noticed the color drain from Twilight's face. "What's wrong? You're not mad at me for being late, are you?"
"No, I'm not mad." Twilight said with a sigh. "Not at you, anyway." She muttered, earning a questioning look from the party pony.
"Not at me? Then who are you mad at?" Pinkie asked, before shaking her head. "Nevermind that, why are you mad at somepony in the first place?" She inquired, curiously watching Twilight levitate a thick journal towards them.
"I'll tell you, but first I need you to make a promise." Twilight said with a weary expression.
"A Pinkie-promise?" The party pony said with a sly smile, attempting to cheer her friend up.
"Yes, a Pinkie promise." Twilight said, giving Pinkie a faint smile, one that faded soon enough. "Promise me that what you hear from me today never reaches another soul, not even friends or family, unless I tell you otherwise." She said, with a steely expression.
"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." Pinkie recited, going through the motions.
An immense sense of relief washed over Twilight, the mare sinking into the sofa, tension gone from her posture. An exhausted sigh escaped her lips, the smell of coffee in it enough to send a small filly into cardiac arrest.
Only now Pinkie took notice of how harried Twilight really looked. Her mane, usually well maintaibed by the combination of Spike's persistent nagging, on behalf of Rarity, of course, and her periodic meetings with the girls, was now in total disarray, split strands of hair sticking out at random, the texture having a certain oily quality to it.
Her coat has seen better days as well, her chest fluff looked like it hasn't been brushed in at least a week, breadcrumbs and stains of unknown origin marring the otherwise servisable endowment.
"You can tell me what's wrong, Twilight." Pinkie said softly, putting her hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "I'm here to listen." The party mare offered the unicorn a supportive smile.
"Right, right..." Twilight returned a weak smile, rubbing the bags under her eyes. Pinkie silently thought that they were bigger than the beanbags in her room. "It's not an easy thing to explain... How about I show you something first?" Twilight opened the thick journal on a seemingly random page, filled with writing only the author could understand. The only thing that she could understand coincidentally was what caught her attention.
"This, is Fluent Tongue." Twilight said, pointing at a baby-blue unicorn on an old, yellowed photograph. In total, six ponies were depicted on the photo, five of them surrounding the unicorn. "She was Celestia's 'prized pupil' before me, from what I could find anyway." She said, shaking her head. "Notice anything odd?"
Pinkie drilled the picture with her gaze, carefully goong over every pony.
"They're all looking directly at the camera?" Pinkie asked, knowing that such a rookie mistake was widespread throughout the show. Twilight just shook her head.
"Alright then, let's look at another one." Twilight turned a good three pages before pointing at another photo. This one, unlike it's predecessor seemed to be taken not too long ago, and Pinkie soon figured out why. An intricate painting depicting a group of six ponies with five of them surrounding a jet-black unicorn stallion laid before Pinkies eyes, with Twilight's hoof pointing at the unicorn.
"Pinkie, meet Meteorite, another one of Her Majesty's 'prized pupils', one that came before Fluent Tongue." She looked at Pinkie with hope in her eyes. "Do you see it now?"
"Metiorite and Fluent Tongue both formed a group of friends with six members, so what?" Pinkie said, giggling to herself. "It's not against the law to do that, silly!" She suddenly frowned, scratching her chin with her hoof. "At least I hope it isn't, otherwise we're in deep trouble." Twilight groaned, flipping through the pages in quick succession, stopping just long enough for Pinkie to get a good look at the photos.
"Rough Diamond, Peace Walker, Solid Cake, Snake Beater. " She recited, flipping through a number of photo's each picture having a group of five ponies surrounding a unicorn. A chilling realisation dawned on Pinkie, making her wish she brought her hot chocolate thermos."We're not even a halfway through," Twilight said grimly. "do you see what I'm getting at?"
"I-I see, Twilight." Pinkie stammered, surprising herself. "But surely not all of them were-"
"Celestia's students?" Twilight asked, snorting. "Each and every fucking unicorn that was Celestia's personal student for the past thousand years went through the same motions. Passed the entrance exam into Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns at a young age, usually with some kind of incident that required her intervention; grew up in her care, Celestia acting like a mother figure/teacher; got sent to some bumbuck middle-of-nowhere town; went to become friend with five other ponies." As she spoke, her voice became more agitated, spiteful. "Does that sound familiar to you?"
"Middle-of-nowhere?" Pinkie asked, her ears pinned to her head. "D-do you... not like our friendship anymore?" Pinkie continued, her mane deflating.
"What?! No, that's not what I-"Twilight growled, exhaling. "I'll always cherish the friendship we have, but that's not what I wanted you to see." She said in a soft voice, hoping it'd placate the party pony. Her attempt bore fruit, perhaps a little too much fruit, as Pinkie's mane poffed into its usual condition, the mare giving Twilight a less-than-rib-crushing hug.
"That's a relief, Twilight!" Pinkie said, letting the librarian free from her hug. "I don't what I would've done otherwise!"
"Right." Twilight said, recuperating from the unexpected embrace. "So, let me tell you what I actually meant-" Her explaination was stopped before it began when the pink party pony spoke up.
"You meant to tell me that Celestia's been manipulating the lives of ponies for the last thousands of years to make the Elements of Harmony bind to a group of six friends, in hopes of releasing her sister from her moon banishment?" Pinkie said with a smile on her face. "Is that what you wanted to tell me?"
"I-uh-" Twilight stared at her friend eyes as big as dinner plates, dumbfounded and frightened at the same time. "P-pinkie, how did you figure it out?"
"Easy, I just read the rough draft of the story when nobody was looking!" She chirped, giving her friend a sheepish smile when her gaze met Twilight's confused features. "Uhm, I had a hunch?"
Twilight shook her head, it was pointless to ponder the 'hows' with Pinkie, she learned that lesson not too long ago. "Fine." She spoke, after an exasperated sigh. "So you know that our friendship was a big project of Celestia, but it goes beyond that." She flipped through a good half of her journal, before stopping on a page full of newspaper cutouts, most of them from a little over 30 years ago.
PAX EQUESTRIA
Was plastered in bold black letters, a considerably humbler line below saying:
All you need to know about the greatest demilitarization effort on Equus!
"The demilitarization of Equestria was a part of a Equus-wide treaty signed by most of the 'big' political players on Equus." Twilight began, pointing at the article below. "Griffons, Minotaurs, Zebras, all of them signed it, and those who didn't were denounced as 'warmongerers' by the International community." She pointed to another cutout.
Council Of Nations Is To Halt Trade Agreements With Saddle Arabia
"A civilised discussion cannot be held with those who refuse to lay down weapons of war." Comments Princess Celestia.
"In 973 AB, a year after the treaty was signed, and all contact was cut with Saddle Arabia, after a sudden wave of protests, mainly from pony citizenship, might I add, rolled through the country, Saddle Arabia signed the treaty, disbanding their military and caving it to the International community." She flipped the page, pointing at a somewhat blurry photo.
"Despite the claims of no direct Equestrian, or International involvement, this photo made by an Independent reporter made first page in news outlets worldwide." Twilight paused for suspence. "Except Equestrian."
Pinkie squinted, managing to make out a dark quadruped figure, clad in black armor that concealed its face holding a spear, four more figures behind it.
"Equestrian ex-military officials denied any involvemen, and due to the lack of concrete evidence, the International Community dismissed the photo as forgery." She pointed to another cutout down the page.
Equestria - A Nation Of Hypocrits?
"Equestria was always against any military involvement. This so-called evidence is nothing but a hoax, perpetuated by neighsayers, that have no faith in Equus-wide peace!" Comments Colonel Steelhooves, ex-head of Equestria's regular army.
"So you believe somepony tried to frame Equestria for military involvement, is that it?" Pinkie asked, not sure where Twilight was headed. Twilight shook her head.
"I'm not sure what to believe anymore, Pinkie." The unicorn mare set the journal on a nearby table, slumping into her sofa. "I want to believe that Equestria, and by associasion, Celestia, had nothing to do with this, believe me I do." She shook her head, a weary sigh escaping her lips. "But after all I learned about the Princess' meddling, I can't help but wonder..." She closed her eyes, just as the journal was enveloped in a purple aura. "There's one more thing you should know." She said as the journal levitated towards Pinkie.
"After an inspection arrived to oversee the proper decomission of Saddle Arabia's weaponry, they found something was missing." A pit formed in Twilight's stomach as she paused to get her bearings. "A prototype for a new weapon was nowhere to be found, along with blueprints and personell responcible for overseeing the project." She opened her eyes, pointing a hoof towards another newspaper cutout. "All they found was the codename."
MYSTERIOUS 'MANEHATTAN' PROJECT SPARKS DISCUSSION OF EQUESTRIAN INVOLVEMENT
Silence fell upon the library as the journal was closed and lowered onto the nearby table with a soft thud. Nopony knew quite what to say, Twilight having already spoken all she wanted, and Pinkie not finding the right words. After a painful couple of minutes, Twilight cut the silence, finding it in her power to cotinue.
"Do you know why I called you, Pinkie, and none of the other girls?" She asked in a tired voice.
"Because you were worried, but too scared the other girls would dismiss those worries?" Pinkie asked, nudging closer to the unicorn mare and laying a hoof on her shoulder. A mirthless chuckle that came from the unicorn mare made Pinkie cringe internally.
"You're smarter than ponies give you credit for. But that's not the whole truth." Twilight said, staring blankly at the wooden ceiling. "Even if the others didn't dismiss my claims, I still find it hard to trust them with something this important."
Pinkie frowned, not liking Twilight's tone. "Come on, Twilight, we're all your friends! You should know better than not to trust us!" She said that a little louder than intended, the unicorn's ears pinning to her head.
"I know I can trust you girls, all of you..." She trailed off, a sad expression on her face. "But then I thought: If Celestia has enough foresight to orchestrate our whole friendship, what's the chance she has a way to know wether or not I found something I shouldn't have?" Her breathing quickened, growing shallower with every word, her tail swishing nervously.
"If she asked any of the other girls, they'd more than likely crack. Dash is too loyal to hide anything from the Princess, Applejack is a terrible liar, and Fluttershy is, well, Fluttershy!" She laughed as she finished the sentence, but Pinkie could hear there was no soul behind that laugh. "Rarity might've held, but Princess could easily threaten to put her out of business!" She hugged her shoulders as a lump formed in her throat. "You were the only one I could confide in, due to your famous Pinkie promise." Tears welled up in her eyes as she curled into a fetal position.
"So I used you." She sniffled, her muzzle stained with tears. "Some friend I am!" Just as Twilight closed her eyes and started sobbing, she felt herself confined in a tight, but not rib-crushing, hug. The dams finally broke as she felt a hoof stroke her mane, and heard a bubbly voice whisper in her ear.
"Silly-filly, you didn't use me." Pinkie cooed into Twlight's ear, each sob of the unicorn mare embwdding a tiny needle into Pinkie's heart. "You just needed somepony to confide in, and I'm flattered you chose me." A muffled attempt at refusal reached Pinkie's ears as Twilight bawled her eyes out into Pinkie's chest fluff, but was quickly cut short with a soothing nuzzle from Pinkie.
"No butts, Twily! As long as you need me, I'll stay by your side!" A heartfelt smile made its way across Pinkie's face, unseen by Twilight. "No matter what."
A good half an hour passed before Twilight's sobs died down, and the mare was able to speak semi-coherently. The purple unicorn pried herself off of Pinkie, the latter not eager to part with her friend.
"I've got something in mind." She carefully began, her irritated violet eyes looking into Pinkie's cerulean orbs. "A plan, I guess. One that will help me get to the bottom of this, but I need your help." Her breath hitched as she spoke.
"Will you promise to help me?"
"Pinkie promise." The party pony replied, nuzzling Twilight's cheek.
"Your Highness!" A distant yet familiar voice called out to Twilight through the worst headache she ever experienced. "Your Highness, wake up!" Twilight hesitantly opened her eyes, immediatly regretting her descision as a mixture of gold and white assaulted her senses. "Your Highness, thank Faust you're alright! I've been getting nervous!" Twilight blinked away the blurrines, getting a good look at the source of the voice.
A white unicorn mare clad in golden armor stood over her, her single purple eye staring Twilight down with worry, a black eyepach covering her right eye. "Here, let me help you up." The mare said, offering Twilight a much needed hoof.
"Thank you, guard." Twilight said, standing up with a mighty pull of her hoof. "Not sure what happened, guess I dozed off!" She lied, rubbing the back of her head.
"Don't worry Your Highness, I'm not the accusatory type." The guardsmare chuckled, a white sphere engulfed in a raspberry aura floating beside her. "Memory orb, huh? Should've known you're the nostalgic type." She chuckled, suddenly freezing when she processed what she said. "Forgive me, Your Highness! I shouldn't have said that..." She trailed of, her head hanging low.
"No need to be sorry, I appreciate a pony who can speak their mind, especially infront of royalty." She said in a kind voice, the guardsmare raising her head with a hopeful expression.
"So you're not going to punish me?"
"No... As long as you don't tell anypony about the memory orb." Twilight said slyly, silently praying that the mare will aggree.
"My lips are sealed." The mare said with a smile, trotting towards the door. "If you don't mind I'll return to my post." Just as the mare was about to step out, Twilight intervened.
"Wait! I didn't catch your name, what was it again?" The white mare turned to twilight with a cheeky grin.
"Name's Twinkle Sprinkle, Your Highness." She stepped out of the wagon, looking Twilight dead in the eyes. "Have a safe Coronation, your highness."
The guardsmare shut the door, leaving a confused Twilight in wagon, her thoughts being her only companions.
Author's Note
Funnily enough, I didn't keep you waiting!
Probably the last stand-alone fic before a full longer fic, but don't quote me on that.
If that's true, expect the fic to take some time, I'd like to have a good few chapters ready before I post it.
Hope you enjoyed, and have a nice day!
