Forty-two.
There were forty-two convex vertices in her cutie mark. Forty-two books strewn about the library's floor. Forty-two words written in her diary entry for the day. Forty-two quills still in usable shape—counting the one in her magical grasp—before they had to go buy more. Forty-two titles that contained the word 'of' in the lower five shelves of the Romance section—not counting those with a cover in any shade of grey.
That last one was a bit of a stretch, but she was running out of things to count in her little self-imposed game. The forty-second such game she'd played that morning.
Twilight Sparkle was bored.
"Twilight?"
Languidly, she turned to face her little dragon assistant, who had probably just finished re-shelving the History section. "Yes, Spike?"
"When are we gonna get rid of the mess down in the basement? It's been like that since we moved in."
"Actually, I—" A loud ding cut her off, drawing their attention towards a small clock that sat atop her writing desk, marking the beginning of the day's eleventh hour.
Without a word, Twilight materialized a parchment in front of herself, checked off an item from her list and dismissed it once more. "I've already asked the others to come help us with that. They should be arriving later this evening."
Spike shifted his sight between the still-floating quill and the little clock. He grumbled, "Should I even ask?"
"Hey, you wanted me to relax, so I set aside an hour for relaxation. Unfortunately, that's made the rest of my day really busy." Another—much longer—parchment appeared above Spike, giving him just enough time to look up as it buried him.
"Here's the schedule for this afternoon. First, I'll need you to go buy some ingredients, since Fluttershy's offered to make us some muffins when she gets here." With that, Twilight started setting everything up to continue her research.
Spike rolled up the checklist and made for the front door. "You know, that's not what I meant when I said—"
"Really busy right now!"
"Yeah, sure." With a sigh, he closed the door and headed towards the market.
~~<17>~~
Duplicitous
~~<17>~~
Fluttershy considered her life to be fairly average—at least, up until two years ago. She used to be just a normal pegasus with normal foalhood traumas, a normal fear of anything dangerous and normal animal friends that kept her company far more often than other ponies did.
It was nice.
Not that her current life wasn't nice! She loved the friends she'd made, as well as all their adventures and non-adventures together, even if they could get scary at times. The adventures, not her friends! Well... maybe her friends too, once in a while.
For example, a normal pony wouldn't have to deal with walking into a room and finding that one of their friends was threatening another with the business end of a cannon.
"Pinkie, don't you dare! We just cleaned up the main room this morning!"
And Twilight was so nice, too. It wouldn't be right to let her floor get covered in confetti, even if Pinkie was just trying to have fun. However, the other three ponies in the room stood on the sidelines with an assortment of resigned sighs, preemptive wincing and unabashed expectation. She also noticed a very scaly tail coming from behind the writing desk and the sound of barely suppressed snickering.
Once she realized that no one was going to do anything to stop what was happening, Fluttershy did what any normal pony would do: She ignored it.
Approaching the reading table and pushing aside an edition of Surreptitious Stealth Spells for Sneaking with her muzzle, she placed down the platter she'd been carrying on her back.
Her voice came out as barely a whisper, but in the tense silence that filled the room, it was enough. "Um... Pinkie? Would you like to try one of my blueberry mu—"
"Ooh! Muffins!"
Twilight let out a sigh of relief as she noticed that Pinkie was now busy gulping up the treats that were supposed to be for all of them. It was fine though, really! Some ponies just needed to be distracted at times, and a few muffins were a fair price to pay for everything to remain neat and tidy.
"Dash." Applejack's stern voice brought everypony's—well, almost everypony's—attention back to the cannon, above which a cyan hoof had just stopped.
"Aw, you're no fun." Rainbow crossed her forelegs, scowling while hovering in mid-air.
"We're here to help clean, sugarcube. Not to make a mess."
It seemed like Rarity was suppressing a giggle—surely, a very ladylike giggle—but Twilight cleared her throat and started addressing everyone before it could escape. "As I was trying to mention before, Spike and I always keep the first floor of the library clean and presentable, since it's the public area. That's not an invitation to create a mess so we can all clean it together." She punctuated this with a slight glare in Pinkie's direction. "However, we'd like to ask you to help us with the basement."
"Fa befmeh?"
"Pinkie, swallow."
Three more muffins disappeared with a gulp. "The basement?" Her eyes twinkled with glee. "You mean the secret lab with all those colorful lights and shiny whatchamacallits?"
Twilight rolled her eyes. "Heh, have you been reading too many tabloids or something, Pinkie? This is a library, why would I have a lab in the basement?" She waved a hoof dismissively as she magically opened the door to the stairs that led underground, lighting up the room below with a spell so that the others could get a better look. "The only things down there are lots of very heavy boxes. Most have been there since we moved in, so I don't really know what we'll find."
"What?!" Pinkie bolted towards the open door, craning her neck to get a good look downstairs and confirming what Twilight had just said. She fell back onto her haunches with a confused look on her face. "But... I remember when you put those shackles on my hoofsies and that thing on my head..."
Rainbow let out a tired sigh as she moved to take one of the few remaining muffins. "Cut it out Pinkie, you're not gonna sell us the whole 'crazy scientist Twilight' gig. It's already been way overplayed."
"But, Dashie! I—"
"You know those rumors aren't true, right?" Twilight approached Pinkie and placed a foreleg around her back. "You can trust me. We're friends, after all."
The soft tone of voice helped put the confused mare at ease. A few silent seconds later, Pinkie was back on her hooves, bouncing around the room. "That's right! If I know one thing, it's to trust my friends!" For an instant, she slowed down to give Twilight a grateful smile. "That's what I learned almost a year ago." And then she started hopping merrily down the stairs. "C'mon, everypony! Let's get this cleaning party started!"
The others just shared knowing smiles and followed her to the basement.
~~<17>~~
A couple of hours had passed, and the place was starting to approach something one could call order... and actually mean it a little. Several empty boxes were now lying in a corner of the room, while their contents had been sorted into very specific piles, such as the 'things to throw out' pile, the 'might be useful junk' pile, the 'wish I'd known this was here before' pile and the 'I'm not touching that, darling. Get Applejack to put it out of its misery' pile.
Spike was holding an ever-growing inventory list, while the others were busy emptying more boxes.
Rainbow lifted her head from the latest bunch of items she was sorting, holding a bag in her hooves. "Hey, Twi? You think we could use these next week?"
Twilight shook some dust from her mane before turning around. Inside the transparent bag, she could see a bunch of multi-colored balloons and party streamers in good shape. "Yes, that'll do. Leave it upstairs on the table, so we don't forget."
With a quick salute, Dash flew upstairs, leaving Pinkie curious as to what they'd been talking about. A quick glance around told her that no one else found the interaction strange. That meant she was out of the loop. It wasn't fun being out of the loop.
Rubbing her chin and narrowing her eyes, she zipped out of sight and burst out of the box that Twilight was going through, eliciting a shriek and causing the surprised unicorn to fall on her back, as she held a hoof up to her heaving chest.
"Hey!" Pinkie loomed over her fallen friend with a piercing gaze. Twilight always told her she needed to take things more seriously, but it was really hard not to burst out laughing at such a reaction. In fact, it was probably Twilight who needed to lighten up a bit. It's not that she never had fun or played with the rest of them, but more often than not she was cooped up in the library, reading some dusty tomes. She'd gotten better at spending more time outside compared to when she'd moved in, but she seemed to be going back to her old habits recently. She'd even turned down a few of her party invitations to stay home and study, and that couldn't be good for anypony!
Wait, what was she doing again? Oh, right, focus!
Pinkie shook her head, losing the distant gaze she'd adopted and going back to her looming glare of doom—forelegs on her hips for added emphasis! "Are you hiding something from me?"
Having been given a few seconds to recover, Twilight managed to piece together a response. "W-what?! Is this about that bag?"
"Uh-huh. The one you just sent Dashie to save for next week. The one filled with balloons and streamers. You only use balloons and streamers for parties, and nopony in Ponyville throws a party without asking for my help..." Pinkie trailed off for a moment, reconsidering her words before continuing, "Okay, so they don't actually need to ask. I'm just there already because that's what I do!"
Despite her words, her eyes gleamed only with excitement at the prospect of a new celebration. "So? What do you have to say for yourselves?"
"We haven't told you yet?" Rainbow asked, hovering back down the stairs. "We're throwing you a birthday party next Saturday." Not one for explanations, she gave a look to the mare best suited for the task, urging her to continue.
"I was actually going to tell you later today. It's item thirty-four on my checklist, but I suppose now is as good a time as any." Twilight stood up and began what they'd all come to call 'assuming lecture mode': A combination of clearing her throat, puffing out her chest and closing her eyes. Very official. Very serious-looking. Very unnecessary.
"We know that your birthday's on Thursday, but very few of us would've been able to make it that day. Rarity's leaving on Tuesday for Canterlot to restock on fabrics, Dash has that Wonderbolts show in Fillydelphia, the Cakes went on that month-long paid vacation with the twins, and I have to present the first half of my thesis to Princess Celestia for revision on Thursday night. Since we didn't want to miss it, we decided to have the party on Saturday. I think Gummy will also appreciate the delay."
With her explanation finished, she opened her eyes and turned her attention towards her little assistant. "Spike, check off this item from the list, please." Finally, her lips turned up in a contented smile. One could almost see the classroom around her, along with the teacher patting her on the head and praising her for being such a good student.
From the corner of her eye, Pinkie barely registered Applejack trying to suppress a shiver. Not giving it much thought, an enormous grin got plastered across her face and she leapt on Twilight and Rainbow, crushing them in a hug, "Aww, you girls planned that for me? That's so sweet! Like cupcakes! I love cupcakes! And muffins and cake and pie and pancakes and waffles—ooh! And those little chocolate thingies they put on the cakes as decoration! Thank you, girls!"
Twilight shifted her gaze towards her fellow captive. "I get the feeling we're being thanked for the wrong thing."
"Meh, we're being thanked for something. Just roll with it."
Spike was fumbling between the inventory and the day's activity checklist, trying—in vain—to keep them off the dusty floor. "So, not planning another surprise party?" The implied smirk in his tone did not go unnoticed.
"Never." Maybe it was the fact that Twilight's lungs were being crushed and that the lack of oxygen made her statement come out roughly—just a bit louder than a whisper—but it still sounded very harsh.
Pinkie let go of them abruptly.
"Pinkie, I didn't mean—"
"No, it's okay Twilight." Her voice was low, even if it still held a bit of bounce, and her grin had collapsed into a small smile.
A pristine white hoof softly tilted Pinkie's chin up. "Don't feel bad, darling. Even if it isn't a surprise party, it's still a party in your honor."
She looked up into Rarity's eyes and could easily tell that they were filled with concern for her. "But... it's my fault."
"What is?"
"That you feel like you can't throw me surprise parties anymore. I ruined it for you. I'm the one who plans all the other parties in town, so my birthday is the only time when you could organize it without me, but now you're afraid I'll go all nutty again—which I won't, because I learned my lesson—but there's still that little worry in your heads that something might go wrong and so you can't throw me a surprise party anymore and those are the best parties! I always love that moment when the lights come on and everypony jumps out and yells 'Surprise!' and all the party poppers pop and the guest of honor is all 'Gasp!' and what kind of onomatothingy is 'gasp' anyway? Nopony says 'gasp' when they gasp. It doesn't even sound like—"
Pinkie had been too absorbed in her tirade to notice the fluffy yellow pegasus that had just cantered over to her, locking her forelegs behind Pinkie's head in a soft embrace and pulling her into her bosom. "There, there. Calm down. It's not your fault."
Fluttershy's voice, while not having changed much from how she normally talked, was at exactly the right volume it needed to be. This, along with the soothing strokes of her mane, seemed to have a hypnotizing effect on the younger pony, almost causing her to fall asleep right then and there.
"Pinkie, um... we may not be planning a surprise party, but that doesn't mean we're not going to try our very best to make it fun, so you can feel as happy as we do when you throw parties for us... I mean, if that's okay with you."
"Y-you're right." Pinkie nuzzled Fluttershy's chest before pulling away, her bright smile restored. "I shouldn't be a Miss Mopey McSadderson when my friends are planning a party for me!"
"That's the spirit!" Said the purple claw, pumping out of the heap of parchment in the middle of the room and bringing forth laughter from the rest.
~~<17>~~
The group of seven had gathered to bid Rarity farewell at the train station. They were all in a circle, having just cut their conversation off as they eyed the poor skinny unicorn colt that was trying to balance all of Rarity's baggage on his back at the same time.
"Why doesn't he just use his magic?" Rainbow whispered, only making it harder for the others to hear her given the background noise from the other ponies on the pad and the train itself. It was doubtful that the colt would've been able to listen in with all the ruckus. That... and the fact that he was about twenty strides away.
"Because he's dumb."
"Twilight! Ain't no need to be mean, sugarcube."
Applejack's disapproving glance did a lot to melt Twilight's deadpan expression, but she didn't feel like conceding just yet. "What? I'm being honest! If there was anything preventing him from using his magic, like a nullification field or an inhibitor ring or something, I would've already noticed. He's doing it because he wants to—with no logical explanation—and that's just dumb."
"The poor darling must simply be trying to impress me. He did the same thing the last time I stayed over at the castle."
Spike's eyes widened at this and he started to look around, searching frantically for a bag that the colt might've missed. "Uh... does it actually impress you, Rarity?" When he saw no other bags around, his claws suddenly became very interesting while he waited for her response.
Rarity regarded him with a bemused expression. "No, Spike. I'm not really one for displays of brute force. I prefer acts of chivalry, as becomes the nobility. Also, as I'm sure you know, nobles don't... lift things. At least not with their muscles."
Spike smiled at that, thankful that he hadn't missed a chance to impress her. A loud giggle came from behind him, "You should consider just packing balloons, they take up much less space!"
As if to prove her point, Pinkie loosened one of the strings tied around her midsection and undid the knot from the corresponding white balloon, letting it deflate as it flew around the air in circles for a bit before plopping down on top of a perfectly styled violet mane. Rarity just sighed.
"Hey, why do you need all those bags anyways? You're only gonna be gone for, like, three days."
Swiping off the deflated balloon, she looked over to Rainbow, who had started flying in place just to keep from being pinned to the ground for too long. "Oh Dash, a lady always needs to be prepared for any kind of impromptu social event she might be invited to.
"Half of those bags are filled with an assortment of dresses and accessories that go with the various locales in Canterlot, for every time of day. Of the other half, some are empty, for the materials I'll be buying. The rest... well, you don't think I just look like this naturally, do you? One has to put in the effort to look fabulous, not just for yourself, but for the benefit of those around you as well. I could give you some point—"
"Yeah, no thanks, we've been through this before. I'm awesome just the way I am." She lay back in the air, crossing her forelegs behind her head and giving a smug grin.
"Gee, I'm glad loyalty and generosity have nothing to do with modesty, 'cause we'd be screwed."
Twilight's mumbling got a raised eyebrow from AJ and curious glances from the others. "You alright there, hun? You haven't been actin' quite like yourself today." Applejack took a second to assess her friend's appearance. "And you ain't lookin' so hot, either."
The grumpy unicorn didn't even have to lift her half-lidded gaze to know that the others were all thinking the same thing and waiting for her response. She let out a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry, girls. I'm not usually awake at this hour and I didn't take my dose of—" she cut herself off, looking around at her friends for a couple of seconds before continuing, "—trimethylxanthine this morning."
"Tri... what?" Rainbow's confusion was reflected on everypony else's faces. "Is that a medicine or something?"
"Yeah, something like that."
"It's caffeine. We ran out of coffee yesterday."
"Thanks for that, Spike." Twilight didn't hold back on the spite in her tone of voice as she spoke through gritted teeth, turning her narrowed eyes towards her assistant. Spike didn't flinch, seemingly quite upset himself and staring straight into her eyes. "Maybe we wouldn't have run out if someone had followed the grocery list I gave them last week. Which, might I remind you, had checks on every single item when you returned."
"Well, maybe I did it on purpose!" He never thought he'd hear Twilight gasp louder than Pinkie did when they first met her. Some of the others also gasped, but he guessed that their motives were quite different from those of the mare he was locking gazes with at the moment. He saw her face go through several emotions in an instant: Disbelief. Betrayal. Hurt. Disappointment. Ah, there it was: rage.
"How. Dare. You." Twilight prowled towards him like a tiger approaching a very-much-dead-in-the-next-few-seconds rabbit. Some parts of her rumpled mane and tail were starting to release thin strands of smoke—whether because of the imminent spontaneous combustion or because she'd started wearing fireworks as a fashion statement, Spike wasn't sure. Dark bags hung under her bloodshot eyes, with pinprick pupils staring down into his soul.
Fear.
Have you ever felt fear trickle warmly down your legs? Spike was determined not to learn what it felt like that day. "You need help!" He was taking a gamble. One that was starting to fall apart as he saw the others taking wary steps back as the scene unfolded.
Risking a quick glance at the clock on the far wall, he saw that the train would be departing in ten minutes. Any resolution they came to right then and there would be rushed, but it would be a start. Besides, if being partially raised by Twilight had taught him anything, it was that you had to be determined when you knew that you were right!
The instant her horn began to glow though, every shred of determination left in him evaporated like a drop of water amidst a blazing inferno. Word of advice: Don't piss off the most gifted unicorn in Equestria. At least, not without a backup plan. Unfortunately, his backup was to jump on the tracks and hope the train got him before she did.
So it was to his relief and everyone else's surprise when the most unlikely voice spoke up. "Um... excuse me... Twilight?"
The soft spoken interruption was enough of a shock to make Twilight's anger subside for a moment, turning a questioning glance towards her meekest friend. Fluttershy walked slowly and nervously, positioning herself between the two, only daring to look up from the ground into Twilight's eyes once she'd stopped moving. She didn't say anything—probably because the tension had robbed her of the ability to do so—but she didn't really need to. Her eyes, though fearful, displayed a firm resolve.
She was soon joined by Rarity, who gave the dragon a warm smile before turning to face her infuriated friend. "I believe Spike has made it quite clear that you have a problem, dear. You know we're always here to help."
It didn't take long for the other three to get over their stupor and move next to Fluttershy and Rarity. The gazes of her five friends betrayed no judgment or anger, they were simply concerned. Well, Rainbow was also quite peeved at the whole 'emotional' thing, but she was still worried... deep, deep down.
Twilight took a step back. "What are you insinuating?" And another step back. "Problem? I don't have a problem!" And another. "I'm not—" She picked up a scent. A very familiar and welcome scent coming from behind her. She quickly turned around to see Pinkie holding a mug full of black, freshly brewed and steaming hot liquid paradise. Her left ear twitched and her lips formed a huge grin. "Coffee!" She pounced on the mug, throwing Pinkie into amused giggling.
She downed the drink in seconds, sitting on her haunches and going so far as to use magic to coat her throat and place a layer of frost over her tongue and cheeks to counter the scalding liquid. Once done, she noticed that all of her friends had formed a circle around her and were staring disapprovingly at Pinkie, which didn't really faze her glorious savior and new best friend forever.
Spike was particularly peeved. "Pinkie! That's not how you help a pony overcome an addiction!"
She giggled again. "Oh, silly Spike, that was just to make her stop being so grumpy. Now we can talk to her!"
They all looked down at the dazed unicorn, who was staring at nothing in particular with a goofy grin on her face. "Coffee's in my belly, all's right with the world." Her voice slurred a bit from what they could only assume was pleasure and bliss.
"I don't think she's in much of a listenin' tune. Was that a normal cup, Pinkie?"
"Nope! It was my special blend. Super charged with more caffeine than a pony should ever ingest… or, at least, that's what the Cakes say about it. I just call it my morning shot."
"Just give her a minute, then. It'll kick in soon." Taking advantage of the moment, Spike looked around and smiled at the five. "By the way, girls... thank you for doing this."
"Oh, it's no problem, Spike. It was, umm... very brave of you to stand up to her like that."
"Yeah! I thought she was gonna go all flamey again, but then we could've roasted these marshmallows I also brought!"
"Uh, yeah..." Rainbow eyed Pinkie curiously, before shaking her head and giving Spike an approving smile. "Good going there, kid."
"We'd never leave Twilight to face a problem alone, darling. But the poor dear really needs to learn how to take care of herself better." Rarity waved a hoof in front of her dazed friend's eyes, unable to get a response.
"Shucks, I know getting over these things ain't easy. Why, I myself had a—"
Applejack was interrupted as Twilight jolted upwards, landing on her four hooves and looking no worse for the wear. Her mane looked like it had been combed for hours, sporting a healthy shine. The whites of her eyes were actually white again and the bags under them were gone. She also wore a warm and friendly smile, the one they had all grown used to seeing. "Hi girls! Beautiful day, isn't it?" Her tone was also back to normal. This was the Twilight they knew.
They all shared worried glances. Finally, it was Rarity who spoke up, "I think we need to have a serious—"
The train's whistle drowned out her voice and signaled the station attendant to start giving out the final call.
"Oh dear." She shifted her gaze back and forth between the wagon she should be boarding and her friend in need—even if her friend didn't acknowledge that need.
A calming hoof was placed on her back. "Don't you worry none, Rares. We ain't gonna leave Twi's side 'til we get all this sorted out."
"I don't know... maybe I should just—"
"You should just get on the train before it leaves with all of your bags. Seriously, we'll get this whole thing straightened out before you get back." It was a typical Rainbow boast, but those usually held some truth behind them—not to mention confidence.
"Alright then." Rarity drew her caffeine-addled friend into a hug. "Please listen to what they have to say, dear. I'll be back soon, but I trust they'll be able to get you through this problem. Besides, addictions are just not fashionable nowadays."
"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. Have fun on your trip!" Twilight gave a bright smile, adding to Rarity's discomfort. However, she still said her goodbyes and was soon on her way to Canterlot.
~~<17>~~
A few minutes later, they were all moving towards the library from the train station, which piqued Twilight's curiosity. "You need to check out a book, girls?"
"Uh, no... Hey, do you even remember what happened before you drank your coffee?" Rainbow was hovering over her with an eyebrow raised.
"Sorry, were we talking about something important before that? This morning's memories are sort of a blur to me."
Spike beckoned Rainbow over, huddling in the back with the rest of the group and whispering, "She won't remember anything until an hour or so has passed. We'd better just wait to do this at the library."
They all nodded.
"What are you being all secretive about?" They turned to see that Twilight had stopped walking and was looking at them questioningly.
Spike opened his mouth to answer, but Applejack's eye twitched and she quickly cut him off, "We'll tell ya once we're at the library, since it's kinda private."
Twilight just shrugged it off and started walking again. "Okay. By the way, Fluttershy, did you pick up Opal?"
"Oh, yes," Fluttershy answered as she trotted along, thankful that the conversation veered away from the more serious topic, if only for the moment. "Angel Bunny's taking care of her right now."
~~<17>~~
This was it. Just a carrot and a spoon. He signaled his aerial comrades to start their final attack, giving one last tug on the basket's handle under his chin, making sure it wouldn't fall off his head when he moved.
The eggs started falling, bathing the battlefield in whites and yellows. The enemy was distracted as he charged forward, hoisting both of his weapons at his sides. He leapt and saw the white beast take note of him, flashing its sharpened teeth and preparing its claws for impact.
He smirked. It was a good day to die.
~~<17>~~
"They're like the best of friends." Fluttershy sighed wistfully.
Twilight eyed her friend curiously. "Well, you're the animal expert." She wasn't entirely convinced, but she put it out of her mind as they arrived at the library.
The mares settled into the main room, while Spike went into the kitchen to make them all something to drink.
"Well? What's this about, girls?"
Her friends stole guilty glances at each other, none of them wishing to be the first to broach the subject. Twilight just stared at them, with her head tilted slightly to the side and a faint smile hanging on her lips.
The room was so quiet that the clock's ticking sounded like a hammer rhythmically beating on metal, very close to their eardrums. Finally, Applejack took a deep breath and dove headfirst, "Sugarcube, you have a problem."
This was enough to open the floodgates for all of them.
"Yup! But we're gonna help you through it!"
"It's really not so bad... umm, if you look at it from a certain point of view... and squint a little."
"The first thing you gotta do is admit that you have a problem. The rest of it'll be a breeze, since we've already got your back."
Applejack grimaced at Rainbow's words. "I ain't sure it'll be a breeze, but we're behind ya, sure as sugar."
Twilight blinked. "Uh... that's very nice of you, girls, but... what are we talking about again?"
Spike had just opened the kitchen's door, bringing a tray of beverages into the room.
"Your coffee addiction."
And he turned right around and left again.
"Oh, that." She sighed and rolled her eyes, still smiling. "I don't have an addiction. I just use it to stay awake when I need to."
Seeing as how Applejack and Rainbow Dash might start using a harsher approach—and Pinkie might not be the best pony to rely on in this case—Fluttershy stepped forward and started a very soft version of an interrogation.
"Twilight, how do you prepare your coffee?"
"Drip brewing."
"And how many cups do you drink every day?"
"Around two or three..."
"Oh. Well, that's not so bad—"
"On weekdays."
"Huh? A-and on weekends?"
"Seven or so."
Fluttershy considered this for a moment, casting her gaze to the floor, before raising it again towards her friend's eyes. "Throughout the weekend?"
Twilight started fidgeting and looking everywhere except towards her interrogator, as she answered in a very meek voice, "Each day."
Fluttershy took a step back, startled and wide-eyed. She wanted to say that it wasn't healthy or that there wasn't enough coffee in Ponyville for that to be true, but the words just died on the tip of her tongue. In the end, she could only ask, "Why?"
Twilight hadn't really questioned it before, so it took a few seconds before she could piece together an answer. "I used to drink just one cup for breakfast, but I started drinking more when I began my thesis. I needed to stay awake longer, so I drank accordingly. And then my body adapted to it, so I had to drink more..."
Seeing the worried glances that passed between her friends' eyes, she quickly added, "But it's not that bad, really! I can cut back whenever I want. It's just necessary for my research right now."
Applejack rubbed her neck with a forehoof, stepping in front of a still-blinking Fluttershy. "It's just, uh… consarn it, how to put this nicely?" She struggled for a moment, before coming up with the right words. "You're a very nervous pony, Twi. You've overreacted and gone all loopy and stressed in the past. And that was before all this. It's not that I think the coffee's gonna make ya ill or nothin'—though I wouldn't be so sure with those many cups—but I'm a mite worried about what it could be doin' to your mind.
"Also, havin' to drink somethin' just to work properly... that ain't good for you, sugarcube. If you needed more time, I'm sure the princess wouldn't mind giving it to ya."
Twilight closed her mouth, cutting off the retort she was about to give. Her eyes refused to meet those of her friends, thinking on what she'd been told.
"And you kinda went all meanie on Spike because you didn't have any coffee when you woke up," Pinkie chimed in, hoping it'd be enough to get through to her.
"I did?"
"Uh-huh." Pinkie bobbed her head up and down, putting on a serious face for the occasion. "You were being all grumpy and negative too, up until I gave you a cup."
Fluttershy shook her head, snapping out of her initial shock. "We've never seen you like that before, Twilight… I mean, we've seen you have a breakdown, but never get furious with one of us. That's why we want to help you... umm, if that's okay with you."
"So... let me get this straight." Twilight closed her eyes, tapping her forehead with one hoof. "You want to take away that which allows me to have a civil conversation, prevents me from getting snappy with others, lets me feel upbeat and gives me the edge I need when I stay up all night working. Does this sound like a good idea to you?"
The others were caught off guard by this.
"Uh..." Applejack felt that she should say something, but she just couldn't think of anything proper.
"Huh." Rainbow blinked. "You know, that's actually... You're right, why would we take it away?"
"Dash!" All eyes turned to Spike, peeking out from the kitchen door. "She's tricking you. You've already figured out that it's bad for her health!"
He moved further into the main room as he spoke. "All that snappy behavior? That was all part of the withdrawal symptoms. At least, that's what it said in that medical encyclopedia. It's supposed to last for several days, but she has to ride it out. That's the time we have to be there for her, because after that, she'll start acting normally again."
Twilight seemed to process this information, but one sentence in particular stood out from it all. She gasped and beamed at her little assistant. "Spike! You did research?"
"I kinda had to, since—"
"Oh, Spike!" His body was suddenly enveloped in a reddish glow and he shot towards her crushing embrace. "I knew you had it in you!"
"Urk!" The captive dragon felt his eyes bulging out. "So, you'll listen to me?"
Twilight released him slowly, mulling over his previous words. "Hmm... did you check the dates of the references?"
"About five years old."
"Any standing or verified rebuttals?"
"None reported by the Equestrian Medical Board."
"The researcher's credentials?"
"Verified and clean."
"Well..." She looked up and found that her friends had moved closer, fixing their pleading gazes on her.
"Please, Twilight?" Fluttershy looked at her with wide and glistening eyes.
The cornered mare grimaced, feeling a few beads of sweat on her forehead. "I… I just don't really see how this is such a big deal. I mean, it'll only be for a few months and then I won't even need coffee anymore." Her voice grew meeker with every word.
Applejack sighed, moving next to Twilight and draping a foreleg over her back. "Now, I don't really think coffee's all that bad for ya. Otherwise, the princesses wouldn't let it be sold to everypony. Way I see it, the real problem here is that you're usin' it to go on little to no sleep."
Spike nodded, happy that they'd arrived at this particular subject. "Yeah, and that is bad for you. All the research I looked up on it was pretty conclusive."
Twilight started moving her gaze around, trying to think up a counterpoint, but she just arrived at the same excuse. "B-but it's just something I need at the moment. I have to squeeze out every waking hour I can from my days."
Pinkie was suddenly also hugging her. "And Applejack already told you that Princess Celestia would gladly give you more time if you felt you needed it! I'd bet her farm on that."
Twilight tried to slip out of the two-way hug, with little success. "No! I don't need more time! I can do this!"
AJ furrowed her brow. "Twi, we can do this the easy way or the hard way."
Rainbow hovered above them, raising an eyebrow at that last part. "Really? I thought we were just gonna get her to quit cold cabbage."
"Yeah, but she can offer to do it on her own or... we'll take more extreme measures." Applejack tightened her hold on Twilight as she uttered the idle threat.
Finally, the huggled mare stopped struggling. She took a final look at the determined faces of her friends and sighed in defeat. "Alright, if it means that much to all of you, I'll try to quit coffee."
A burst of confetti and streamers filled her field of vision and in seconds they were all cheering and celebrating in their own private party. It only lasted about half an hour, but it was still pretty good for a spur of the moment thing.
Soon, they were all saying goodbye and heading out the door, with Spike seeing them out.
"Wait until I rub this in Rarity's face, I told her we'd have it done before she returned, but even I didn't—"
"Uh, girls?" Spike's tone was hushed, clearly making sure that Twilight couldn't hear them as she arranged her books for her morning research.
The four of them stopped and looked back at the little dragon, with Rainbow at the forefront. "What's up, buddy?"
He twiddled his claws and shifted his eyes a bit, "Could... could one of you stay a while? You know, for when she... remembers what happened at the train station."
Applejack's face fell. "Sorry Spike, but I gotta go help Big Mac at the farm. I'm already late as it is."
"Ooh! I've gotta go get everything ready for when Sweetie Belle gets out of school! I'm throwing her a personal 'You get to live with Pinkie for a few days' party!"
"I'm sorry Spike, but... umm, even though Angel's taking care of things, I don't like leaving him in charge for too long. It tends to... get to his head..." There was a distant sound, very much akin to that of an explosion, coming from the direction of Fluttershy's cottage. Everyone turned to look at the rising smoke, except for her. "...A lot."
Blinking back to the situation at hoof, Rainbow turned to Spike again. "Uh, I don't have a problem with staying. I can just tell Twilight I wanna read something."
"Really?!" Spike's eyes lit up with gratitude. With that, the others left for their respective tasks and Dash followed him back inside.
~~<17>~~
The outburst wasn't nearly as bad as he thought it'd be. Twilight actually caught herself before she began and realized how she'd behaved back at the train station. She even apologized, which was... really nice, actually. He could count on one claw the amount of times she'd sincerely apologized to him. But then, they were basically family, so their fights just tended to blow over naturally.
However, several hours had passed, Rainbow had left and there was now another problem. One that he imagined would become a trend in the following weeks—if not months.
"No, Twilight."
"Please, Spike. I'm still really behind on my research! I can't go to the market myself."
"And I wouldn't let you anyway. You're not even allowed to go near a coffee shop until you get over this."
The tired mare groaned as she let the rings of books floating around her fall softly to the floor. "Getting over an addiction takes a very long time, and even after you're considered 'cured' there is always the risk of falling back into it. Can't we just hold off on this until I don't have so much work to do?"
Her begging was lost on Spike, and if he'd been surprised at her actually admitting that she had an addiction, he gave no indication of it. "You always have a ton of work to do. It's because you overextend yourself. Throwing so much on your shoulders isn't going to impress Celestia! It's only going to make her worry. You need to defenestrate that way of thinking and stop putting all of this off. Procrastinating is never good, especially when it comes to doing things that are for your own well-being."
She allowed herself a small smirk. "That word-a-day calendar's really working out for you, huh?"
"Better than that book you gave me two years ago," he grumbled, still loud enough for her to hear.
"Hey, The Basics of Barriers and Bubbles is a great piece of educational literature!"
"Yeah, if I was a unicorn!"
"One should always strive for knowledge, Spike. Even if it isn't applicable to oneself. Also, I'm not sure you can use 'defenestrate' figuratively, though I'll have to look it up."
He could feel another rant coming, so he decided it was best to nip it in the bud. "Whatever. It's past my bedtime, and I'm not going to go buy you coffee. In fact, the market's probably closed by now—no that you'd know its working hours—along with the coffeehouses in town."
"Come on, Spike! I just need one cup, please!"
"No means no, Twilight. If you can't stay up anymore, just go to sleep." The little dragon snuffed out the kitchen light, heading upstairs to turn in for the night.
As he was moving up, she noticed a small orange and red bundle, nestled on top of his head.
"Oh, Peewee's back."
Spike stopped and looked back at her, before rolling his eyes up towards his little phoenix. "Yup, came back from Fluttershy's an hour ago."
Twilight moved a little closer, to get a better look. "Is he alright?"
Spike grinned. "He's fine now. Fluttershy tied a note to his leg saying that he'll just need to rest up a bit and stick to eating flameburst seeds for a couple of days."
"Flameburst? That doesn't grow around here."
"She also sent a small pouch of them. Only four seeds a day."
Relief washed over her, as she smiled and walked back to her books. "Well, that's good then. Remember to pay her... and make sure she keeps the bits this time!"
He chuckled as he resumed his walk up the stairs. "I know. Try not to sleep too late!"
A few minutes later, the unicorn was resting her head on the reading table, trying to keep her eyelids from closing.
"Can't... fall asleep... I—wait!" A jolt of energy shot through her body, allowing her to sit upright once more. "I know who can help me with this." A mischievous smile formed on her lips as she stepped out of the library.
~~<17>~~
Applejack was fuming. She had decided to take a walk in town under the night sky and maybe drop in on one of her friends for a bit.
"Lil' filly needs to get some common sense in her," she grumbled, as she walked down the quiet streets.
As she passed by Sugarcube Corner, taking in the sweet scented air, she heard a very familiar pair of voices in mid conversation.
"—and a cow will fall from the sky to offer you a muffin," said… Madame Pinkie Pie, apparently. Changing back to her normal voice, she added, "I also have some cupcakes in the back if you want any."
"I don't need a cupcake, Pinkie, I need coffee!"
"Uh oh." The apple farmer immediately forgot her fleeting anger and headed in through the store's open door, to the sight of an absolutely miserable-looking Twilight slumped over one of the tables, and a nervous—but still smiling—Pinkie Pie, waving her hooves around a glass sphere.
Neither had noticed her presence yet, and the rest of the room was devoid of patrons.
"Aww, come on. I never get to use my crystal ball!"
"Maybe if you made some predictions that weren't either obvious or nonsensical… And it's not what I came here for, anyway!"
"But I can't give you coffee, you know we talked about this."
"I just need one cup to work through the night..." Twilight's voice trailed off as she covered her face with her forelegs, she seemed to be shaking slightly. "Why are you making me sad, Pinkie?" Her voice was tinged with sorrow and it actually cracked a bit.
Pinkie started to lose what little composure she had left, shifting her gaze frantically between her distraught friend and the doors that led to the kitchen. "O-okay, just... just wait here and—"
"Hold on there, Pinkie." Applejack was having none of it. She firmly trotted up to her friends, noticing how the lavender ears twitched with every step she took. "Twilight."
She didn't move. She didn't dare move. In fact, she'd never lift her head again. The table was nice, after its surface had warmed up from the heat radiating from her forehead. She was sure her face could do a great impression of a cozy fireplace at the moment, especially since the room had dropped several degrees in temperature a few seconds prior. Yes, the tables at the Corner were nice. Really nice. Always so clean… she could probably eat off of them. Not that she'd do that, since it'd be unseemly and Rarity would choke the life out of her if she found out that the idea had merely crossed her mind—
"Twilight."
That did it.
One of her forelegs retreated a little off the table, allowing her to peak up with one eye into Applejack's hardened gaze. "Hi Apple—"
"Are you toyin' with Pinkie's feelings to get what you want?" The tone was mostly flat, but it oozed disapproval.
"...No—"
"Don't ya lie to me, missy."
Twilight went silent for a moment before heaving a sigh, and slowly pulling her weight off the table. She didn't even know what she was doing anymore. How could she treat a friend like that?
She stood on all fours again, not making eye contact and noticeably crestfallen. "I'm… I'm sorry, both of you. I don't know what's come over me lately." Her voice was soft and sad, almost a whisper. She turned to leave, but she was stopped by an orange hoof on her shoulder.
"We're doin' this for your own good, sugarcube. You know that, right?" AJ's voice was back to its normal, caring tone.
Twilight nodded, meeting her gaze and showing a small smile. "I know. I'm just so used to it by now. I need it to stay awake during my late night research. Otherwise, I just fall asleep on my desk."
"Why don't you just sleep early and wake up early, to keep workin' the next day?"
"You don't understand. I can't keep my old routine. I used to wake up late—"
"Sugarcube, you used to wake up in the afternoon."
"My point exactly. I at least got enough sleep to make up for staying up late, but I just don't have the time anymore. Between the research for my thesis, keeping up with the princess' regular assignments, working at the library and spending time with you girls, I can actually feel the days stretching thin... and I don't want to give up on any of those things." Twilight's whole body seemed to droop with that statement.
"I don't get it. Why don't you just ask the princess to lighten up on the workload?" Pinkie asked.
"Are you insane?! That'd mean that I would've failed to live up to her expectations! That I was a... a disappointment..."
Applejack fumed again. "Will ya listen to yourself?! Celestia would never think of you as a disappointment, but how is she to know what your limits are if you never say 'stop'?"
Instead of backing away, Twilight seemed to regain some of her vigor. "I shouldn't have any limits. I'm her protégée, so my shortcomings reflect upon her! It doesn't matter if she doesn't personally think of me as a disappointment. If anyone else does, that's bad enough.
"I can't make any more mistakes. I can't whine or complain just because I have a little more work to do than usual..." Her voice seemed to die off as her energy seeped away once more. "I have to be worthy of the effort she's placed in my upbringing."
Applejack stared at Twilight for a good long while, before whispering, "Ya know, I think the princess would be pretty sad to hear you say that."
"There's no need for her to feel that way... I'll make her proud with the results of my work. And she doesn't need to know that this conversation ever happened. Understood?"
Applejack opened her mouth to reply, but she was swiftly cut off by Pinkie. "Why don't you try chocolate?"
"Huh?" Twilight looked at her other friend, offering her a slice of black forest cake with a smile.
"It's also supposed to give you lots of energy!"
Twilight eyed the pastry with a hint of amusement. "While that is true, I'd have to eat very large amounts of chocolate to get the same effect as a single cup of coffee... and since I don't really exercise much, I'd probably get fat."
Pinkie blinked and looked back towards her flank. "Heh, maybe I have gotten a bit chubby lately."
Twilight raised a single brow in confusion, then both in understanding. "Oh! No, Pinkie, that's not what I meant. You wouldn't have that problem with how much energy you burn each day, but I mostly just sit around in the library and read."
"Also, it don't exactly fix your problem. What you're doin' is plumb silly, Twi, and I'm sure Celestia'll be glad to give ya more time for your assignments if'n ya need it. I doubt she'd be very happy to know 'bout your sleepin' habits."
"Yeah, I don't really tell her about these things." Celestia's prized pupil turned her gaze away, ears falling flat against her head.
AJ brought her attention to her other friend. "And Pinkie, I want you to help us keep Twi in line. Ya gotta cooperate if we're gonna get her through this."
Pinkie pouted. "I know, but when I see that one of my bestest friends' face has made a frown, all I want is to work real hard and do my best to turn that sad frown upside down—"
"'Cause ya love to make us grin, grin, grin. Yeah, we know the song Pinkie, ya made the whole town rehearse it for weeks. Your heart's in the right place, but right now it's important for us to do right by Twi... and ya have to understand that that doesn't always mean doin' what makes her happy right now."
"But she'll be happy later, right?" she asked, with an eager nod.
AJ beamed. "Exactly. Now, Twilight, I'm gonna take ya home and make sure you're tuckered in 'fore I leave, okay?"
"What? But I'm not"—she yawned loudly—"tired... yet..." Her eyelids started dropping and her balance faltered a bit.
"...Right. G'night, Pinkie."
~~<17>~~
Twilight had given in to sleep about halfway to the library, so Applejack carried her on her back for the rest of their trek. Once inside the building, she climbed the stairs and made her way to the bedroom, where Spike was sleeping like a rock.
She looked to the scroll-covered bed and rolled her eyes. Gently, she brought herself down to the floor and slowly moved Twilight off her back. She then started gathering up the parchments and moving them to the nearby desk.
"Good gravy. Your room's a mess, filly."
She was grabbing the last two scrolls when one of them rolled of the mattress and fell on the floor. "Darn it."
When she picked it up, it unfurled, revealing a stylized carbon drawing.
"Huh, never took ya for the artist type. This is actually pretty good. Looks kinda like an apple tree... 'cept, without the apples... or the leaves." She shifted her gaze towards her sleeping friend. "It's actually a bit depressin', hun."
Rolling the scroll back up and placing it on the desk with the others, she finished clearing the bed and preparing it for its owner. With a slight bit of effort, she got Twilight under the covers without waking her.
She smiled softly as she watched the slow, rhythmic movement of the unicorn's chest and the peaceful expression on her face. She started to gently run a hoof through the sleeping mare's mane.
"Sorry, sugarcube, but you just proved that we can't trust you with quittin' all by yourself. That means we'll have to go with plan B." She stopped stroking Twilight's mane as a slight shudder passed through her. "Hoo boy. Fellas at the market ain't gonna be too keen on this one."
She nuzzled Twilight and spoke in hushed tones, "We all care about ya, but ya gotta help us by carin' about yourself as well."
Satisfied with the smile that tugged at Twilight's lips, Applejack let herself out and left the library in the quiet of the night.
~~<17>~~
"You sure you don't want me to stay?"
"I'll be fine, Rainbow. Spike's doing a good job of keeping me in line, and the others are still here to help." She looked around herself to her proud little assistant and the three smiling and nodding mares.
Dash moved in closer, speaking in a hushed voice, "Don't get me wrong, Twi, but I wouldn't rely that much on Pinkie or Flutters to hold you back. And AJ's usually busy with the farm."
Twilight just smiled and chose to forego the whispering as she countered, "While AJ may be busy most of the day, I think Pinkie learned to be a bit harsher on me yesterday night. And I know that Fluttershy's been getting better at her assertiveness... when it's necessary."
"Don't you worry about a thing, Dashie!" Pinkie popped up between them and pressed her snout against Rainbow's. "I just Pinkie Promised Twilight this morning that I wouldn't allow her to get anywhere near coffee."
"She really means it, too." Spike moved up next to them, carrying a fake moustache in his claws, as Rainbow reestablished the boundaries of her personal space. "That poor waiter, he never knew what hit him."
The unicorn raised an eyebrow at the item. "You're going to give that back, right?"
"I guess… if we ever see him again. I mean, he'll have to come back down from the sky someday, won't he?"
"Normally, I'd tell you that the laws of physics do work that way for earth ponies, but then..." They all turned towards Pinkie, who simply grinned excessively under their collective stares.
"Anywho, you should get goin' RD. We'll hold down the fort."
"Well, okay then. I'll see you all soon!" With that, she bolted off towards the horizon, leaving a rainbow trail behind her.
The five shouted out their farewells, even when they knew they could no longer be heard, and then turned to head back into Ponyville. They crossed the lush green fields that spread beneath Rainbow's home, leaving the outskirts and reaching the town proper. A few quick partings later and Pinkie was headed towards the school, hearing its bell ringing in the distance.
~~<17>~~
"So, we're all set for tomorrow?" Scootaloo strapped on her helmet, getting ready to leave as she eyed her fellow Crusaders.
Sweetie Belle noticed a pink blur coming their way from further down the street, before turning towards Scootaloo with a grin. "Yup, just don't be late!"
"I hope everythin' goes well." Apple Bloom turned to look at the heap of twisted metal in the schoolyard, where a swing used to be. "Unlike most of our plans," she added glumly.
"You're still hung up on that blowtorch thing, aren't you?" Receiving a silent nod, the Scootaloo just rolled her eyes. "Hey, don't sweat it. We didn't even get in trouble for that."
"My sis said that's prolly 'cause Miss Cheerilee's just tired of havin' to stay in detention, watchin' over us every other week."
Sweetie lifted a hoof to her chin in thought. "Hmm, that might be true. Remember how she was dozing off last time?"
"Must be hard, being the only teacher in town and handling all the classes."
Sweetie's eyes widened at that, before she furrowed her brow in confusion. "Cheerilee isn't the only teacher in town."
Scootaloo took a second to process that fact, tilting her head to the side. "Well... she's the only one I've ever seen." Shrugging it off, she turned her attention to Apple Bloom. "So, your sister heard about all that?"
Apple Bloom nodded, dejectedly. "...And then she grounded me," she added, almost as an afterthought.
"What?!" This caught the Sweetie off guard. She thought they'd all gotten out of it scot-free.
Scootaloo picked her jaw off the ground. "You mean, no crusading?"
"Exactly. She wants me back from school as soon as we get out. She was right mad last night, stormed out and everythin' after sendin' me to bed early."
"And tomorrow?" Sweetie asked, with a little hope in her voice.
"Well... she said tomorrow was okay, because we'd already planned it. 'Cause it's important, too."
"But that just means you can't go out, right? Isn't it okay if we come to visit you?" Scootaloo also held some hope in her voice, looking for a loophole to exploit. It just wouldn't do for the Crusaders to lose a member, no matter how short-lived their absence may be!
"I dunno… bein' grounded is supposed to be a punishment, right? Wouldn't be a very good one if you could just spend it with your friends." Apple Bloom scrunched up her muzzle, turning the idea around in her head. "But you're right. She didn't really say that ya couldn't."
"I get the feeling she won't mind much, especially if we use the mini Stare!" She flapped her little wings in excitement and flashed a smug grin.
"That don't really work with my sis, Scoots," Apple Bloom replied flatly.
"Of course, yours doesn't, since you're related and all. But I bet one look at Sweetie, with her big sparkling eyes and puckered, trembling lower lip, and she'll crack in an instant." Scootaloo pointed a hoof at their friend, who made a quick demonstration of her weaponized cuteness before breaking into a grin of her own.
"I did learn from the best."
Apple Bloom chuckled, cracking a smile for the first time since they left the school building. "Rarity must be able to get anything she wants."
Sweetie's grin faltered a bit at this, her eyes narrowing and her gaze falling to the side. "She usually does..."
Scootaloo looked at her scooter and then at her friends, suddenly remembering something. "Hop on the cart, Apple Bloom. I'll give you a ride. Your granny's not coming today, right?"
Apple Bloom beamed at this, quickly forgetting all of her property damage woes and hopping on. A moment later, they were zipping down the street.
"Hi Pinkie!"
"Hi girls!"
"Bye Pinkie!"
"Bye girls!"
Pinkie bounced up eagerly to the waiting filly. "Hey Sweetie! Ready to go?"
"Ready!" She fell into a trot next to the older mare, keeping up with her hopping. "Can I help you around the kitchen again today?"
"Absolutely! You can choose what we'll bake and remind me of the ingredients and throw out the coffee and help me carry the flour and sing with me—"
"Actually... I was wondering if I could help with the... you know, the baking part?" Her tone was tentative and she looked up at Pinkie with pleading eyes.
Pinkie froze in midair, taking the time to blink once before allowing gravity to reassert itself. Her smile never faltered, but her voice gained a hint of nervousness and lost a bit of volume. "Sure. You can help me bake. No problem."
Sweetie took it in stride. "Great! I actually have something special in mind."
"Oh?" She gulped. "This'll be fun."
"Yup! But we'll leave that for tonight, I'll just help you with the small things during business hours."
A small wave of relief washed over Pinkie as she perked up again. There weren't that many clients who came by the store at night and she'd be able to clean up any accidents before the next day. She broke into a grin. "Deal!"
~~<17>~~
It was morning again. Even in her sugar-coated dream, she could sense that slight itch running along her left flank, telling her it was time to wake up. She sighed, last night had been very tiresome and she really wanted to just stay in bed, but that wouldn't do. She had to wake Sweetie up and make her breakfast…
She shuddered at the memory of the filly's attempts at making scrambled eggs the previous morning. Eggs weren't supposed to be brown. Or sipped through a straw, for that matter.
Pinkie felt that slight tug towards consciousness, pulling her out of her blissful sleep. Her eyelids started to open very slowly, trying to drag it out as much as she could. She deduced that she was laying on her side, given the angle of the blurry image that came into sight. Her eyes started to focus and she could make out a distinct color flooding her vision: pink.
Well, of course it was. Her pillows were pink, her mane was pink, her snout was pink, her windows were pink... but all of that allowed her to recognize the various shades of her favorite color. And this was different. This was a shimmery kind of pink. A wavy kind of pink. A translucent-y kind of pink, even.
Suddenly, she heard a loud pop and the pink was gone.
"SURPRISE!"
Her eyes flew open and she was speechless. Torn between the shock at her Pinkie Sense failing to predict this and at being so very happy that it had, because this was the most beautiful surprise she could have awakened to.
Her entire room was decorated in flowing streamers and colorful balloons and snack tables and a mixing table and there were just so. Many. Ponies in there, all looking at her with smiles on their faces. Bon-bon was there with Lyra, next to Berry, behind Carrot Top and there was Vinyl near the Doctor and lots of others, but right now she was looking for her bestest friends and there they were and they were moving towards her with a very familiar-looking multilayered chocolate cake hovering in a reddish glow between them and everypony was singing and she wasn't even listening, but it was okay because she knew this song and her cheeks were really starting to hurt from grinning so much, but she didn't care and then it was time to blow out the candles!
She quickly put out all twenty-two candles with a single breath, the room filling with the roar of hooves stomping in elation. The loud rumble of conversation began and she focused on the five mares and the little dragon—with the little phoenix perched on his head—that were surrounding her bed.
"Oh my gosh, guys, this is so amazing!"
"We're glad you're happy, darling. Though, might I recommend that you go freshen up a bit before making the rounds with your guests? There is such a thing as a mane that's too tangled up, and you need to throw a little water on your face," Rarity tittered.
Pinkie gingerly stuck a forehoof in her mane and tried to pull it back out. Key word: tried. "Heh, yeah... I'll be right back, girls." She bolted between the ponies filling up her room and locked herself in the bathroom.
It took a couple of minutes, but the image in her mirror gave her a happy wink when her eyes were free of sleep and her mane was its usual puffy and bouncy self. She winked back.
Now that her mind was a bit clearer, she could start digesting everything that just happened. And it all started to seem a little weird. How were Rarity and Dashie there? Neither one of them was supposed to be back in Ponyville for at least another day. How could they get all those ponies in her room and set up all those decorations without waking her up? She was a pretty light sleeper. And where did the music go? She was fairly certain that she'd seen Vinyl moving towards her mixing table, but it was silent outside the bathroom. Very silent.
Had there been music in the first place?
With a slightly trembling hoof, she reached out to the handle on her bathroom door. She gulped audibly as she pressed her hoof down. The loud click of the lock's release seemed to echo in the small confines. Really small confines. Had her bathroom always been so small? She felt a rising urge to escape from the tiny space and pushed down faster on the handle, stepping quickly back into her room.
Her empty room.
Empty when compared to a couple of minutes ago. There were no streamers or balloons, aside from the ones she usually had lying around. No music or ponies, dragons or phoenixes. Only Gummy, still resting where she left him on the bed.
She took a few steps forward. Of course her room was empty, what was she thinking? She loved it when things didn't make sense, but she usually had to put in a little effort for things to be that way. And she hadn't planned herself a surprise party... Nopony would do that for her. Not anymore.
She chuckled, lacking the emotion that should accompany it. Just going through the motions. "It's okay, right Gummy? We'll celebrate on... on S-Saturday." A little moisture formed on the corner of her eyes as her lips twitched into a sad smile.
A 'sad' smile... those shouldn't exist. She shut her eyes tightly, trying to force back the tears that were threatening to escape.
"SURPRISE!"
Her eyes flew open as she fell back onto her rump. Her jaw hit the floor at the sight in front of her, even though she'd already seen it a few minutes before. It was all back! Her party was back! She sputtered, trying to form words while the gears in her mind grinded to a halt. Giving up, she just smiled a wide and joyful grin. The tears finally fell.
She didn't care.
Her friends were on her immediately, hugging her close. Twilight's gaze seemed ridden with guilt, though. "I'm so sorry, Pinkie. I didn't think it would affect you this much." Twilight backed up a bit, so as to look her straight in the eyes. "Did I go too far?"
Tears still flowing, Pinkie giggled loudly and lunged at her friend, pulling her into a crushing embrace. "Silly Twilight, this is the best surprise party ever! You surprised me twice! I didn't even know you could do that!" She heard Rainbow's familiar mocking laughter and paused—letting Twilight get some oxygen back into her lungs—to look up.
"I can't believe you just fell for a prank that Twilight pulled!"
Pinkie gasped. "You're right! Twilight pulled a prank! This is the best day ever! Wait... you gotta tell me how you did all this."
"I just learned a couple of new spells to help us out. One of them was the Mass Invisibility spell you just saw—or didn't see, actually—and the other was... did you get a peek at the barrier around you while you were getting up?"
"Ooh! The Pinkie Bubble?"
"Yeah, you... wow, you already named it." Twilight smirked. "It's actually a Vibration Dampening Bubble spell and—since Rainbow's already pretending to snore above us—I'll just say that I used it so that we could make noise and walk freely on the hardwood floor, without fear of waking you."
Pinkie's eyes widened as an idea seemed to strike her, but her attention was drawn to Fluttershy as she came closer to her with the cake. "I think you didn't get to read the icing message before, what with all the commotion."
Pinkie stood on her hind legs to get a better view, and saw that the top of the cake read: Happy Birthday Pinkie and Gummy!
"You remembered!"
"'Course we remembered, Pinkie. Figured you'd be awful mad if we forgot Gummy with all this runnin' and sneakin' around."
Pinkie nodded. And suddenly stopped. "Hey… wait a minute." She narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing the delightfully delectable dessert in front of her. "I know this cake!"
Dash rolled her eyes. "Ugh, I thought we were over this. Is this another one of your 'special' objects?"
Pinkie giggled. "No, silly!" She paused a moment, putting a hoof to her chin. "Unless I didn't notice and used the new Madame—I mean, no! I recognized it because I baked it yesterday!"
"Of course you did, darling. There aren't any other bakeries in town. And we couldn't exactly get you a birthday apple pie, could we?"
"I still don't get what the problem would've been," Applejack huffed.
Rainbow snickered as she flicked the farm pony's hat with a hoof. "Sure, you've got apples for brains, so none on your end. But this is Pinkie we're talking about."
Pinkie did a double take as she remembered what had crossed her mind in the bathroom. "Wait a second... Rarity? And Dashie?! What about your materials? And the show?"
Rarity played with the curls in her mane, her eyes betraying a hint of nervousness. "Well, we had to make the whole thing seem real, dear. It would be very strange if we were all here for your birthday and didn't have a party planned."
"So you didn't need to buy anything?"
"Oh, I did. But really, three days for fabric shopping? I had it all done on the first afternoon. I came back yesterday, on the overnight express." Rarity turned towards Twilight, standing beside her, who grinned in response. "With the help of our dear Canterlot expert, of course. All I had to do was tell her what shops I would be attending, and she had the most wonderfully efficient route ready in seconds."
"And there actually was a Wonderbolts show. I just didn't go." Rainbow flashed a cockish grin.
Pinkie noticed that she was tuning out all of the noise around their perfect little bubble. There was a party out there, but for once, she didn't really feel the need to join it. "You... you did all that for me?"
"Yup. Gotta hoof it to Twi, though. She's the one that went and thought of everythin'."
Twilight blushed. "Well, as the party pony, you deserve the best party ever..." Her smile faltered and her eyes widened. "Not that this party is better than the ones you throw. I mean, 'best' for a given measure, taking into account a necessary level of enjoyment, still within your boundaries of acceptable entertainment, but also given the exceptions of—"
"Boop! I booped your nose!" Pinkie singsonged.
Twilight froze at the interruption, but gave into chuckling a few seconds later. She sighed as she regained her breath. "I honestly don't understand how you organize these things on such short notice. I've been planning it for months! And I had to get most of the town in on it without you finding out. I'm surprised Applejack didn't crack."
"Hey, I can keep a secret!" AJ scrunched her muzzle up, while looking at the ceiling.
Twilight smirked, gazing down at the little filly that had just joined their circle. "Also, since the Cakes are actually out of town, we needed somepony to unlock the door for us, and Sweetie here was our perfect little agent!"
"Still didn't get my cutie mark..." Sweetie pouted.
Pinkie looked to one side of the room, where she spotted Apple Bloom using the helium tank to fill up some balloons, while Scootaloo tied them to her midsection with a huge grin.
Turning back to her friends, she mentally counted off all of the excuses they'd given her. "So, Twilight, I guess you didn't really have to work on your thesis?"
The unicorn shook her head. "No, Pinkie, I presented the first half of it to Princess Celestia two months ago."
Rarity gasped the loudest. "Darling, that's wonderful! I thought you were just making that up. Why did you not tell us about this?"
"I didn't really want to make a big deal out of it." Twilight fidgeted uncomfortably under their gazes.
Rarity scooped her up in a hug. "But it is a big deal! You know I never got to go to college and... well, I can't speak for Pinkie, but you know most of our histories in the education system."
"I think Rares is the only one of us that finished high school, so you can be sure we're powerful proud of ya, sugarcube."
Twilight gave a nervous little laugh.
"So? How was it?" Rainbow asked eagerly.
"It... didn't go so well..." Seeing that they were all about to comfort her, she quickly amended, "But that's what these things are for, after all. To find mistakes or rough edges and correct them for the final presentation. I've been working on it a lot since then, so I hope I'll live up to your expectations."
Their faces melted in relief, but Rarity caught sight of the frown that the lavender mare was quick to try and hide. "Twilight? Are you really alright, darling?"
"I… I'm just a little down." Twilight gave a small smile, trying not to spread her gloom to the others. "It's not a good feeling, disappointing the princess."
"Oh, darling. I'm sure that when you're finished she'll be absolutely delighted. Also, if you know that these preliminary presentations are to spot and correct mistakes, she must surely be aware of it as well."
That brought out a bigger smile. "You're right."
"So, the whole coffee thing was also part of your plan?" Pinkie asked, in between bites of her giant slice of cake.
"Uh… no. That's actually a real problem." Twilight rubbed the back of her neck and smiled sheepishly. "I'll be counting on you girls for that."
"Oh, that's good to know! I've already gotten rid of all the coffee in Sugarcube Corner, and we have a 'no coffee' policy until you get better."
Twilight's eye twitched. "Th-that's great, Pinkie…"
"Heh, and I talked with all of them folks over at the market. Ain't nopony gonna be sellin' it for several weeks."
She was shaking now. "That's... great..."
"And I've spoken with most of the café owners in town. You're banned from all of them! Isn't it wonderful, darling?"
Her body started twitching uncontrollably, while she unsuccessfully tried to form words.
"She's overcome with gratitude!" Rarity beamed.
"Aww, we love you too!" Pinkie threw her forelegs wide as a helpless Twilight could only accept the inevitable hug.
~~<17>~~
Dear Princess Celestia,
Remember that letter I sent you two years ago today? This is a follow up to it. While Pinkie learned not to mistrust us and quickly jump to the worst conclusion back then, I've realized—after much thought—that it was a failing on our part to not consider her potential reaction to the way we were acting.
Even though we were planning something to make her happy, our behavior had the opposite effect, causing a great misunderstanding. We also could have—and should have—noticed her distress sooner, and done something to stop it before it got so bad.
By careful planning and taking a lot more care into not acting suspiciously, we were able to make this day very special for her, without any of the unpleasantness from before.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle
P.S.: I also learned that interventions are like peer pressure, but used in a good way and performed by those who care about you.
~~<17>~~
Dear Princess Celestia,
Ah'm sendin' this letter 'cause Ah know Twi won't mention any of what Ah'm 'bout ta tell ya in her report. This week we learned that Twi's a caffeine addict, so we're gonna be helpin' her through it. Even if she says it ain't no big deal, we know that she's in some sorta denial phase... or somethin'. Rarity was talkin' 'bout that earlier, Ah guess she just don't wanna quit drinkin' what she likes—Ah know Ah'd be pretty miffed if somepony told me ta stop eatin' apples.
Fluttershy said that Twi was just bein' nice, so that we didn't have ta worry 'bout her, but that's what friends are for: ta help ya through the rough patches and laugh next ta ya durin' the happy times.
And we laughed a lot today, but Ah guess Twi already told ya all 'bout that.
Also, we wanted ta ask ya fer a favor. See, we know that you and Twi really enjoy yer monthly get-togethers over tea, but we were wonderin' if you could start havin' 'em over juice or, ya know, somethin' that don't have caffeine in it. Fluttershy says that there are some special kinds of tea that might actually help, but Ah don't really know much 'bout it. We'd really 'preciate it, though. And we're sure Twi will too... eventually.
Yers truly,
Applejack
P.S.: Twi's gotten real good at lyin', hasn't she? Ah worry 'bout her someti—Spike? What're ya doin'?
Ah know yer writin', but why are ya writin' all... wrong like that?
'Imitate mah accent'?! Ah ain't got no accent! Have ya been writin' all mah letters ta the princess like that?!
Git over here ya little rascal! Stop laughin'!
Sorry princess, it's really hard to write while I run. I hope you got the gist of AJ's message, though. Catch you later!
And now, a word from the author [and his editor]:
Woven's Notes: Welcome to Woven Word Weekly! I'm Woven Word and I'll be supplementing your Wednesday periodical at the behest—and with the blessing—of our beloved Princess Celestia.
I'd like to thank her for her trust, as well as the staff at Canterlot's Equestria Daily, the best newspaper in the entire kingdom (I'm legally bound to say that every time I spell out its name, so I'll just be calling it EqD from now on, since that's what everypony calls it anyway).
The idea is that this'll help spread the lessons of friendship and harmony that the bearers frequently learn, even though some are saying that it’s because the princess would like to know more about her esteemed protégée's daily life—the little things that they never talk about—but that's just hearsay.
It's important to point out that everything you read here will have been approved by the bearers themselves, before being sent to print. This isn't a gossip column, so you'll have to go elsewhere for that.
Violet's Notes: What, no mention of little old me? How ungrateful. [Corrections to scene flow required in pages 8, 16, 21, 31 and 32, marked in red.]
WN: Ah, of course! Special thanks to my lovely consulting editor, Violet Ink, who pitched my name to the staff at EqD when Final Cut—the Editor-in-Chief—started looking for authors.
She's also the one who asked me to send in something to put down in the Author's Notes section, so here we are. [I've revised the scenes.]
VN: I still don't get why you'd want them to read our back-and-forths. By the way, you didn't run into any problems when you asked the bearers for their approval, did you? [Word repetition in pages 4, 11, 15 and 27, marked in red.]
WN: They mostly didn't mind, but Twilight did say that she thought we were over-idealizing them. Still, she agreed, indicating that it'd be better for us to dispel this aggrandized image we have of them, instead of just trying to talk us out of it.
She's so modest, and she acted very mature and polite during our conversations. You could seriously learn a thing or two from her. [Changed the wording around a bit.]
VN: By Celestia, it's like experiencing a fanfilly's gushing in written form. Also, how did Applejack let you write her dialogue like that? She seemed pretty angry at Spike. [Speaker confusion in pages 11, 22 and 23, marked in red.]
WN: Ah, yes. I can still remember our conversation: "Please, Applejack, I'm begging you. I know what you sound like, but the rest of Equestria doesn't! This is a nation-wide publication!" And she gets all insulted, "I already told ya, I ain't got no accent!" It went on for hours before we reached a consensus. [Rephrased.]
VN: Did you have to put it in? Most good authors would just make an allusion towards it. Oh, right, those are good authors, not hacks like you. I just spent the entire day finding a hundred and fifty seven grammatical mistakes, Woven. A hundred and fifty seven! [A hundred and fifty seven! All marked in red!]
WN: Right where it hurts, Violet. Right where it hurts. By the way, there were a hundred and fifty eight mistakes. See if you can't find the one you missed. Happy weekend. [All corrected.]
VN: That took me seven hours. My eyes hurt. But there, a hundred and fifty eight! Why do you do this to me? Is it because of my desire to watch you burn in Tartarus? [Last error, page 27. Marked in red.]
WN: Nice working with you too, dear. [Corrected.]
Author's Note
Yup, these are the real Author's Notes. That thing right above this? That's the framing device, and it's also part of the story.
A couple of things that I want to make really clear from the get-go:
This is indicated in the description, but I want to reiterate it here: This story will only consider the show's canon up to—and including—the second season. The third season's introduced some interesting elements to Equestria's lore, but I'd rather not have to spend more months on the drawing board.
While the supplement in-universe does arrive every week (which means that, at most, only a week passes between chapters), I cannot pump out weekly chapters. Or, at least, I can't promise you that I will, try as I might.
Now that that's out of the way, I want to thank you for reading and I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as I can (it's about half done by now).
Why?
The bodies of the earth pony and the pegasus lay motionless on the grass. Neither stirred nor breathed. And neither would ever get up again.
Why did this happen?
They were soaked from the heavy rain, which kept pouring down on the meadow.
Twilight couldn't look away from the horrifying sight, tears trailing along her cheeks before they were swallowed up by the deluge.
Why do things like this happen at all?
She slowly walked past them, lowering her head solemnly and moving towards the stone arch. A sturdy wooden door barred her path. It had no knob or keyhole—only ornate carvings that marred its otherwise smooth surface.
With just a flicker of her horn, it cracked open.
~~<82>~~
Surreptitious
~~<82>~~
It started with a letter. Or rather, the green puff of a magic dragon, which materialized into a letter.
"Whoa there, partner! You're gonna burn somepony's mane one of these days..."
"Sorry. But it's just sending fire. Your mane would be fine... just a little displaced."
"Heat's still there, sugarcube."
"Just read the letter, Spike," Twilight cut in, wearing an amused smile.
He cleared his throat. "To my dearest student, it has come to my attention that a spell of considerable power has been unleashed upon Hoofington, creating a sustained field of effect over it. It's probably the result of an accident or a magical overload, but I trust that you will be able to dispel it and, perhaps, learn a few things in the process.
"M—" Spike stopped abruptly, staring at the scroll in confusion. "Huh."
"What is it?"
"That's new. It's like she hesitated before writing this part. There's a splotch of ink at the beginning of the paragraph... and that never happens in the princess' letters."
Twilight furrowed her brow and Spike cleared his throat again, before continuing in a more somber tone. It just seemed appropriate. "My dear Twilight, please be careful with this task. I am not certain as to the nature of the magic you will be facing.
"Also, be wary of mentioning this matter to your friends, should you choose to implicate them. I am quite aware that they would follow you most anywhere, without much regard as to the consequences. Yours truly, Princess Celestia." Spike leveled his gaze at the five mares sitting with him and Twilight at their table in Sugarcube Corner.
"Lil' late for that." Applejack smirked.
"A mission that even gets the princess on edge?!" Rainbow spread her wings and puffed up her chest. "Count me in!"
"Wow, she didn't even get edgy about the dragon thingy," Pinkie mused. "And that was a big dragon."
Fluttershy squeaked and shrank back into her chair. "P-please don't remind me, Pinkie."
"Hoofington, huh?" Applejack reread the letter over Spike's shoulder. "Ya know, I've been there before. No train 'round those parts, so ya just gotta hoof it. I could guide ya there, if ya want."
As the others talked, Rarity finished chewing on the dainty bite she'd taken from her pancake. She then calmly wiped her mouth with a napkin and proceeded to place a distraught hoof upon her forehead, arching her back a bit. "Oh, darling, you know I'd love to come with, but I still haven't finished that order I went shopping for."
"That's okay, Rarity. I know I'm not going to shake off having Rainbow Dash come, and I'll probably need Applejack's directions... but I wouldn't feel comfortable taking anypony else, considering the princess' caution."
There was a small sigh of relief—which still didn't manage to escape anyone's notice—coming from Fluttershy's direction. "O-oh, umm... I'm sorry, Twilight, I just..."
"Really, it's okay," Twilight reassured her with a smile. "You girls hold down the fort, and we'll be back in... How long does the trip take, Applejack?"
"Round trip? 'Bout three days. If you don't actually do nothin' in Hoofington, that is."
The little bell rang loudly as the door to the Corner burst open, startling everyone inside.
"There she is!" yelled Scootaloo, pointing a hoof at her quarry.
Sweetie Belle ran up to their table with pleading eyes. "Applejack! Please, can't she just—"
"Nope. Still grounded." AJ turned away from the filly, only to meet Scootaloo's gleaming eyes on the other side.
"Aww, but think of all the crusading she'll miss! You could be depra—derp—"
"Depriving," Sweetie Belle whispered between shallow coughs.
"—depriving her of her cutie mark!" Scootaloo shook her forehooves in the air, trying to emphasize the terrible implications, while the other mares at the table watched on in amusement.
"You're barkin' up the wrong apple tree, sugarcubes. A punishment's a punishment," Applejack finished, crossing her forelegs.
The Crusaders visibly deflated, dropping their gazes to the floor.
Taking a peek at their crestfallen faces, AJ sighed. They could be a headache someti—most of the time, but she still hated to see them down.
Clearing her throat, she announced to nopony in particular, "Still, I'm gonna have to go on a trip and I'll probably be gone for a few days. I dunno who's gonna be able to watch over Apple Bloom in that time, since Granny's favorite hobby is sleepin' and Mac's gonna have to double his work on the fields. So she'll be pretty much unsupervised."
The fillies perked up immediately—eyes and mouths open in wide elation—and quickly zipped forward to hug Applejack.
"Heh, you're welcome." With a quick thought, she shifted into a warning tone. "But I want you to listen very closely. AB's still grounded, and if I catch word that she left the Acres for anythin' other than goin' to school, she's gonna be grounded for a lot longer than a month. And trust me, I'll know."
The fillies saluted and spoke in unison, "Yes, ma'am!"
In just a few seconds, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle departed, letting the Corner's customers go back to their previous conversations.
"So, about that whole not-remembering-last-night-but-still-getting-home-somehow business..." a mulberry earth mare at the next table over said to her companion.
"I've told you before, Berry, you need to cut back." The other mare was a pale blue unicorn, who didn't look too impressed with the tale.
"That's the thing, I can't even remember drinking." Berry Punch slumped over the table, groaning and burying her head in her hooves.
The unicorn blinked. "You're really starting to worry me."
Back at their table, Rainbow leaned conspiratorially towards Twilight. "We didn't serve any of the hard stuff at Pinkie's party, did we?"
"No, and it was in the morning anyway… two days ago, so I don't really see how that's relevant." Twilight hummed and thought for a bit, before continuing, "If you'll excuse me, girls, I need to speak with Berry for a bit. We'll talk about the trip later, but do you think it's okay if we leave tomorrow?"
"Sure thing. I'll try and get done as much as I can 'round the farm today. Ask Mac to cover the rest." Applejack grinned. "Rainbow can reschedule her naps for later in the month."
"Hey!"
~~<82>~~
"And here's the list of things that need to get done around the library in the next few days. Now, what did we learn last week?"
"Never defile the sanctity of the checklist," Spike droned.
"Very good." Twilight put on her saddlebags with a glow of her horn and opened the front door, stepping out into the bright morning sun.
"You sure you don't want me to come with you?" Spike nervously fiddled with his claws. "W-what if you have to contact the princess really urgently?"
Twilight gave him a quick hug, trying to sooth his obvious apprehension. "We'll be fine. Don't worry, okay? I'll have the toughest friends I could ask for right by my side, so I'm sure that nothing can go wrong."
Spike fidgeted in her embrace for a bit, but eventually let out the breath he'd been holding and smiled. "You're right. The princess just had me a little worried. I'm sure you three could take on anything!"
~~<82>~~
"I wonder if we'll have to fight manticores on the way," Rainbow said, twirling in the air with excitement, "or maybe a hydra!"
Applejack tipped her hat up at that. "Uh... you've been livin' near the Everfree a mite too long, Dash."
Rainbow wrinkled her nose in confusion. "We all live right next to it."
"My point exactly," Applejack said with a smirk, still moving forward along the path of dirt that cut across the green plains surrounding Ponyville. "These here roads are as safe as most any other in Equestria. Ya ain't gonna get into no trouble, unless ya go lookin' for it."
"Actually," Twilight said, "I've been hearing rumors about robbers hitting traveling merchants and small groups on the roads that don't see much traffic."
"Robbers?" Applejack frowned. "That's new."
Twilight hummed in thought, her ears drooping as she spoke in a quieter tone. "It seems that these things are becoming more frequent lately. Fortunately for us, the bulk of it has been happening around big cities, and even if it's happening more than before, it's still scarce. At least for now..."
"Oh, right!" Rainbow zipped in between the two. "Some guys in the weather patrol were talking about it too."
Applejack sighed. "That don't sit well with me. Equestria's always been a peaceful place. Ya never had to never had to worry 'bout somepony stealin' from ya—'cept in the marketplace. Even back when I was livin' in Manehattan. Heck, my aunt and uncle left the door unlocked half the time."
"Well, it's not really something that's happened overnight." Twilight looked up, recalling what she'd read on the subject. "It seems to have been growing since around five years ago. Slowly, but without any signs of stopping."
A heavy atmosphere loomed over them—threatening to whisk away their energy—before it was shattered by Applejack. "Ya know, this ain't really good traveling talk, so let's go on 'bout somethin' else."
"Yeah, I got a good one!" Rainbow said, perking up. "I think we should decide on a leader for this adventure."
Twilight let the silence hang for a few seconds. They passed a crossroad, and heard a train off in the distance. "Applejack's already guiding us."
"Doesn't make her the leader, just the guide. I think we should use seniority to decide!"
"Seniority? Really?" A grin tugged at Twilight's lips.
Rainbow cleared her throat. "Yup, 'cause I was reading the other day... What? Don't give me that look, AJ! It wasn't Daring Do this time." A beat. "T-Twilight... s-stop grinning like that! Y-you're freaking me out..."
Twilight held herself back as best she could, forcing herself into a calm smile. It was very easy for her to recognize the air about Rainbow at the moment. It was that little glow that a filly got when she'd learned something new and interesting, and couldn't wait to show it off in front of her peers.
Her smile collapsed into a frown. That didn't bring back pleasant memories.
Cautiously eyeing Twilight, Rainbow continued, "Well, I was reading this book that was mentioned in the latest Daring Do, and guess what?" She puffed out her chest. "I'm the eldest of this group."
"Uh, I reckon Fluttershy's older than all of us."
"Ugh, not of the whole group! I'm talking about the three of us."
"Oh?" Twilight raised an eyebrow. "But that's still wrong. You're the youngest one here."
Rainbow flashed a smug grin. "Not when you consider the—" the grin got smaller "—thing between earth pony age and the pegasus—" and smaller "—thing." The grin disappeared.
Twilight let out a chuckle. "You mean the ratio of life expectancy at birth between the three tribes?"
"Uh..." Rainbow shifted her eyes side to side. "Yeah. Sure."
"I suppose that would make you older... in a sense." Twilight smirked and rolled her eyes. "Doesn't really help your case when you lack maturity, though."
"Hey, I'm plenty mature! I've already—" Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Applejack was paying more attention to the ground passing beneath her hooves than to them. "AJ? You okay?"
"Huh?" Applejack's eyes refocused and she shook her head. "What'd ya say?"
"Something on your mind?" Twilight asked, placing more worry than curiosity in her voice.
Applejack was silent for a moment, before she shook her head again, as if trying to dislodge a thought. "Nah, ain't nothin'."
"Hey, you should be glad you get to see two hundred, AJ. Pegasi get the short end of that stick, only up to sixty-five or something."
Applejack snorted and gave Dash a sour look, before composing herself and answering, "Well, unicorns ain't that far off either."
"About forty years less than earth ponies, give or take," Twilight added, nodding along, "but we are somewhat close. Pegasi have the highest magical expenditure, so they also age much quicker..."
"Which is so not fair, by the way. Especially since we're all considered adults at the same age. I mean, what's up with that?"
Twilight looked curiously at Rainbow. "This isn't all some elaborate plan to start calling us foals, is it?"
Rainbow's eyes lit up as the idea struck her. "Hey—"
"Can we change the subject?" Applejack kept staring straight ahead. Aside from the set jaw, she didn't look any different on the surface, but Dash and Twilight could sense that she'd grown very tired in the time since their conversation started.
"Yeah."
"Sure."
They didn't talk much after that.
~~<82>~~
The three had stopped and set up camp right next to the road, where they'd found a dry dirt patch amidst all the grass. The night was cold, dinner was behind them, and Rainbow snoozed up in the clouds, while Twilight and Applejack huddled under a warm blanket near their campfire.
Their saddlebags lay next to them, crowned by AJ's stetson.
They both stared at the dancing flames in silence. The only sounds were those of the cracking firewood and a few chirping crickets.
"Well?"
It was the first thing Applejack had said in a while.
Twilight turned her head slightly to look at the eyes that were decidedly not looking at hers. "Well what?"
"Ain't ya gonna say nothin'?"
"About before? I thought you'd want to speak about it when you were ready."
"No, not about today."
"Then, what?"
Applejack shifted uncomfortably under the blanket. "Oh, c'mon, Twi. Don't be like that. You know what I'm talkin' 'bout."
Twilight hummed playfully. "You're wondering if I'm angry about the letter you sent to the princess?"
Applejack was still avoiding her gaze, and her voice started sounding more frantic. "I know it weren't right to ask Spike to do that behind your back, but I—"
"AJ," Twilight cut her off, finally getting their eyes to meet, "I know that you're only looking out for me, and that you're worried about my behavior. I want you to know that I appreciate it..." She frowned and placed a hoof upon one of Applejack's. "Although I would've liked it if you'd given me the chance to tell the princess myself, before going to her directly. And I was going to tell her, you know. I was just waiting for my next visit."
Applejack's ears drooped. "You're right. I'm sorry, Twi." She sighed. "I should apologize to her too. She's a busy mare, after all."
"Not so busy that she can't send me a concerned letter..."
"She wrote to ya?"
"Yeah." Twilight was trying to look bothered by it, but couldn't hide her smile. "It was mostly about my sleeping habits, though." Applejack started to chuckle lightly. "I swear, no one understands the importance of heavy research around here!"
AJ rolled onto her back from laughing so hard. Eventually, Twilight's pout melted into giggles and grew into loud laughter as she rolled on the grass beside her friend.
"Hey!" A dreary Rainbow yelled from above them, stretching her neck over the edge of her cloud. Her eyes were narrowed into slits—not from anger, but from her inability to open them any further. "You fillies done? I'm trying to get some sleep up here!"
"Ooh, careful, AJ. Old mare Rainbow's gonna throw us off her lawn," Twilight mock-whispered.
Applejack snorted before they both broke off into another peal of laughter. Dash just groaned and plopped back into her sleeping position.
~~<82>~~
The sun shone harshly upon them, with few clouds adorning the sky to provide shades of respite as they moved along the main road.
Still, they weren't too bothered by it.
"Mmm, juicy!" Twilight looked down at the golden delicious she'd just taken a bite out of, floating in her magic.
"Told ya they were!" AJ wore a proud smile as they slowly crested yet another green hill. None of them felt the urge to rush forward, having just finished lunch.
Rainbow turned her dessert around in her forehooves, eyeing it curiously as her wings gave another lazy flap. "Makes me wish I had some cider," she grumbled, before taking a bite out of it anyway.
They were getting close to their destination, but the hills had gotten higher as they moved forward, so now they couldn't see very far into the distance. Their initial worries seemed unfounded, as no danger had reared its ugly head during the entire trip.
Rainbow would've given anything for a hydra to pop up at that point. Or maybe just a parasprite. As it was, she found herself hovering along in a daze, barely paying attention to the road, and definitely not paying attention to what the other two were talking about.
"—surprised ya let him publish that, actually. Thought you'd wanna keep it a secret."
The word "secret" managed to snap her back to reality.
"Well, that's the whole point, isn't it? To let them see us as we are, flaws and all. I'm actually more surprised that a certain pegasus hasn't already flown off the handle over the free publicity."
She'd missed something. Something important, apparently. "Hey, uh... what publicity?"
Twilight and Applejack turned back to face her.
"Welcome back, sugarcube."
"You know, that supplement they're writing about us on the newspaper?"
Rainbow blinked. "Somepony's writing about me?!"
"Us, Rainbow. As in, all of us. Didn't the writer come by your house to talk to you about it?" Twilight asked.
"Well..." Dash scrunched up her nose, trying to remember anything like that. "I think there was this one stallion that showed up out of the blue the other day. I was napping, so I told him to buzz off. Then he started bugging me about giving him my autograph on—"
"Signature," Twilight quickly corrected.
"What?"
"He asked you for your signature, right? Not your autograph." Twilight had tensed considerably, and her voice was dripping with trepidation.
Rainbow didn't really notice. "Yeah, whatever. I think he put it that way too." She stopped for a moment, trying to remember, before waving a dismissive hoof. "Anyway, I just scribbled down my name on some papers and went back to sleep."
"Rainbow!" Twilight bristled and turned towards the recoiling pegasus, finally bringing a stop to their trek. "Those papers could've been anything! Haven't you been taught not to sign something without reading it first? How can you be so careless?!"
Dash shrunk to the ground, her wide eyes staring straight into Twilight's—mostly because she was now snout to snout with the irate unicorn.
Their gazes broke off to the side when they heard Applejack chuckling. "Well, let's just be thankful that them papers were nothin' to worry about. Now, why don't you take a deep breath and calm down, Twi?"
Taking a moment to compose herself, Twilight took a step back from Rainbow, offering a hoof to help her up. "S-sorry."
"S'okay. Still feeling a bit snappy?" Dash started moving forward again, prompting the others to follow.
"Yeah. With the exception of last night, I haven't been sleeping all that well."
"Sugarcube..." Applejack said in a warning tone.
"No need to worry!" The cracks in Twilight's grin could be seen from Cloudsdale. "I've just been pushing myself to try and stay awake a little longer without coffee these last few days. The problem is that I end up falling asleep on my desk, which isn't a very comfortable position."
Applejack sighed. "You woke up just fine today, didn't ya?"
"Yes, but we did turn in earlier than usual for me."
"Exactly! You had a good night's sleep, and now you're full of energy. Ya see? You don't need to stay up late. When your body asks ya to sleep, you sleep. It pays well to listen. The problem is your gosh darn stubborn atti—don't give me that look."
Twilight shook her head. "I get it, Applejack. I just can't do that on a regular basis. I lose too many hours."
"Please tell me the princess gave ya more time in that letter."
Despite her dour look, Twilight answered, "Yeah, she did. But it's not about that..."
"What's it about then?"
"You wouldn't understand. I have reasons to stay up so late."
Applejack frowned and opened her mouth to retort, but was cut off by Rainbow before she could say anything. "Wait, wait, hold up! Back to that other thing! You're saying that I get to be in the news again?!" Her grin was infectious, helping the other two to clear their thoughts.
Twilight smirked. "I thought you wouldn't be so keen on it, considering the last time you were in the news."
"That was just the Foal Free Press, Twi."
"Which reached other cities due to its popularity."
"I think it was more 'cause nothing ever happens," Rainbow said, rolling her eyes, "so the news is extremely boring everywhere else. Heck, I bet the Royal Wedding's been their biggest headline in months!"
Twilight tilted her head, mulling the idea over before nodding. "Well, aside from Ponyville, we're a pretty peaceful nation. They say newspapers are something to be scared of in Griffia, for example. Nothing but bad news all the time."
"Well, no news is still better than bad news, I reckon." Applejack smiled, thinking of how peaceful things used to be even in Ponyville, just a few years prior.
As the sun reached its zenith, the road led them through a sparsely vegetated area, before going out of sight behind a tall hill.
Rainbow performed a few simple flips and spins, unwilling to remain grounded. "So, how does this work? Does he interview us or something?"
"Actually, he gets most of what he needs through a spell connected to his talent. I think that's why they hired him." Twilight tapped her chin with a hoof. "He still asks us a few things though, so I guess you could say that he interviews us."
Rainbow frowned as she stopped her tricks. "A spell? So he spies on us? Is he..." Her eyes darted from one side to the other and her voice dropped to a whisper. "Is he doing it right now?"
Twilight rolled her eyes. "No, he's not. It's not a very powerful spell, so its range is somewhat limited. Also, it only helps him record what we talk about, which is why he still has to ask us a few things afterwards. That's what the papers you signed were for."
"So now I have a creepy stalker guy invading my privacy all day?!" Rainbow huffed in indignation.
"Sort of... For what it's worth, there were clauses in there that prevent him from divulging anything he learns about us that we may deem inappropriate for publishing. That's why he'll always show you what he's written before he sends it up to print."
"Oh." Rainbow deflated a bit from that. "He's still a creepy stalker guy," she grumbled. "So, all of you signed those papers too?"
"Yup, though I figure we got more outta the whole deal than you did, since we were awake to negotiate a bit," Applejack teased.
Rainbow's ears perked up at this. "What do you mean?"
"From what I heard, each of us asked for something in exchange for signing—aside from the payment that they were already offering. I know that Fluttershy asked him to interview her only when it was absolutely necessary, and to get most details from the rest of us."
"What did you ask for?"
Twilight looked to the side and grinned. "To be honest, I would've signed it anyway—since it was a direct request from Princess Celestia—but I just couldn't resist the chance to learn a new spell."
"I should've known..." Rainbow turned towards Applejack. "What about you?"
AJ shrugged. "Just that he keep an ear out for the Crusaders too. Make sure they ain't gettin' into any big trouble."
Rainbow's eyes widened. "And he agreed to that?"
A smirk was her only answer.
"Wow, now I actually feel a little sorry for him. Not sure how this whole interview thing's gonna work out though." Dash craned her neck and stretched her legs in the air. "I'm pretty busy most days."
"Yeah, real busy." Twilight giggled.
"Wasn't that big a deal." Applejack ignored the way Rainbow was scowling at their other companion. "Didn't even cut into my work, really. He just followed me 'round while I bucked some trees and told him what happened in my own words. He wrote it all down and that was it. I actually 'preciated the company… 'cept for that whole accent thingy."
"What thingy?"
"Nothin', forget it."
"Well, as long as he stays out of my practice time... and my nap time." Rainbow looked around, noticing they were moving upwards again. "Hey, are we there yet?"
"Memory serves me right, we should be seein' the town when we reach the top of this hill."
"You said you'd been there before?" Twilight asked.
"Yup. Delivered a bunch of cider barrels there once, when the farm was facin' some hard times and Granny decided to sell to folks outside Ponyville."
"You had a surplus of cider?" Rainbow asked, in a tone that very clearly added, "You'd better have a really good reason for not selling it to me."
"Nah. We made the same as most years. Just put some aside for sellin' to outside folks," Applejack said, giving Rainbow a knowing look, "'cause they pay more."
"Hmph, sellout."
"Believe it or not, my family runs a business, Rainbow. When bits are short, we need to find ways to up our earnings."
"You know, I'd happily pay you more beforehoof if it'd guarantee me some cider." Rainbow crossed her forelegs.
Applejack hummed in consideration. "You mean sellin' it to ya when I don't have the cider yet?"
"Yeah, I know you're good for it."
"That might not be a bad idea..."
"Actually, it's a very good idea," Twilight chimed in. "You always have ponies that line up and still don't get to buy anything on cider season. You could limit these early purchases to a certain amount per pony, so that those who still want more can continue to camp out and wait for you to open up the barrels. Like Pinkie Pie, for example."
The businessmare in Applejack was having a field day, thinking of all the possibilities. "And the rest will still be able to get their share no matter what... and pick it up at their convenience! That's—"
"Please tell me you're seeing that."
They'd reached the crest of the hill, and Twilight had stopped abruptly, staring wide-eyed at what lay ahead.
"Seein' wha—whoa..."
Rainbow gaped right next to them, before shifting into a frown. "Okay, who put a palace in the middle of nowhere?!"
"This ain't the middle of nowhere, Dash." Applejack gulped. "It's where Hoofington should be."
~~<82>~~
The whole structure pulsed with magical energy. That much was obvious, unicorn or not. Even under the midday sun, the stone walls didn't seem to catch the light, being surrounded instead by a twisting darkness that appeared to bite at the edges of their otherwise solid-looking surface.
The architecture felt ancient—similar to the Castle of the Pony Sisters in the Everfree—with tall windows that gave no hint as to what lay inside, save for an eerie blue glow.
Everything about the palace seemed to dwarf them in size, if what they'd seen of it was any indication. It was almost as large as half of Ponyville—Hoofington being a much smaller town—and taller than any of the hills they'd climbed to get there.
The three stood at what seemed to be the only entrance. A set of gigantic double doors—nine, maybe ten times their height—that opened up into a pitch black nothingness.
"I don't feel right sure 'bout this, Twi."
"I'll admit it's impressive, but the only way to dispel a magical structure like this one is to reach its core."
"You mean the whole thing is the spell?!" Rainbow gaped harder.
"Remember what the princess said: 'A sustained field of effect'. Someone or something is maintaining the projection of this palace on top of the entire town. I don't even want to think about what might've happened to the ponies that lived here..." Twilight tore her gaze away from the entrance to face her companions. "I'll understand if you both want to stay outsi—"
"Twi, it didn't happen when we barely knew ya. It sure as hay ain't happenin' now."
"Yeah, come on! I wanna see what's inside." Having overcome her initial shock, Rainbow was now shaking in anticipation.
Twilight smiled ruefully as she let out a deep sigh. "I understand I won't convince you to stay behind, but you have to promise me that you'll be careful. I'm mainly talking to you, Rainbow."
The excited pegasus narrowed her eyes at her.
"I'm serious. The princess doesn't know what this is, which means that I won't be able to figure it out either. Not until we're well inside of it, at least. Stay sharp, and watch out for traps and other threats, since I doubt there'll be a shortage of either."
Applejack still looked worried, but there was no doubt in her voice. "We'll be careful. Ain't that right, Rainbow?"
"Yeah, whatever. Let's go!"
With two gulps of apprehension and a dash of impatience, they walked into the darkness.
~~<82>~~
Applejack's eyes started adjusting to the dark.
No, that wasn't right.
She noticed that it wasn't dark around her anymore. An unseen light source had begun to bathe her surroundings, causing shapes to become clearer. She seemed to be in a long hallway and—if she went by the silvery glow coming from the closed windows on either side of it—it was nighttime.
She looked behind her at the solid stone wall. "No way back."
She looked forward at the only visible exit in the hall: an open door, giving way into a well-lit room. "One way through."
Finally, she looked to her sides, where her friends should've been. She rolled her eyes and adjusted her stetson.
"Well, wish I could say this was new."
She started making her way down the hall.
~~<82>~~
"Open!"
Thump.
"Up!"
Thump.
"You dumb—"
Thump.
"—piece of—"
Thump.
Rainbow slumped down to the floor, panting as she looked back at the window she'd been bucking for the past ten minutes.
Nothing. Not even a crack in the glass.
She snorted and got back up. "Twilight would love to put up windows like this in the library." She frowned. "Better not give her any ideas."
Staring down the dimly lit corridor, she felt a nagging thought in the back of her head. The same one that popped up the instant she'd first looked over the place.
"I've seen this before..."
Was it the soft red carpet that covered the center of the hall? Could it be the way that the moonlight—fake as it probably was—came in through the windows and hit those statues just so?
Maybe it was the statues themselves. There were dozens of them, all lined up against either side of the hall, facing each other and holding upright what were sure to be the biggest axe-like thingies she'd ever seen. Also, the first axe-like thingies she'd ever seen. She initially thought the statues resembled Royal Guards, but closer inspection revealed the armor designs to be off.
No, wait... she hadn't seen this before.
She'd read this before!
"Daring Do and the Quest for the Holey Bit." She whispered, as a grin started to form on her lips.
She'd never gotten the whole 'holey bit' part. Twi told her it was some sort of metaphor or something, but she didn't read Daring Do for the metaphors. She read it for the action! Fortunately, the part that related to the hallway didn't require much interpretation.
Moving towards the closest statue, she noticed that there was enough space between it and the wall for her to move through and not have to deal with any obvious traps.
"Buck that."
She quickly positioned herself in the center of the hall, locking her eyes on the open doorway at the far end. As soon as she set her sights on it, a stone slab started to slowly slide down, threatening to seal it.
Her grin grew wider.
Eyes narrowed and wings splayed upwards, she went into a half-crouch, coiling herself for an initial boost. The slab was already halfway to the floor.
Good. She liked a challenge.
She took a deep breath and bolted forward, seeing the statues starting to move from the corner of her eye before she flew past them, too fast for the sharp blades that were swinging down and hitting nothing but her rainbow trail and the carpeted floor. She could hear the stone tiles cracking loudly behind her, but it only drove her to flap her wings harder and faster, as she saw the door approaching.
I'll make it with time to spare!
The moment she thought that, the hallway seemed to stretch forward, pulling the doorway further out of reach. Several new rows of statues also appeared out of thin air.
"Hey! That's cheating!" she screamed, as she gritted her teeth and pushed herself to go faster. She almost didn't notice that the new statues weren't holding their weapons vertically.
Her eyes widened as the first one began to swing and she found herself flying straight towards the blade. With monumental effort, she twisted her body in the air, clamping her wings to her sides and lifting herself just enough to pass over the deadly edge unscathed. She spread her wings once more, regaining control over her body and speed.
Knowing what was coming, she started climbing and diving in rapid succession as the other statues attacked from different angles. Having found the pattern though, none of them came as close to hitting her as the first one had.
Once she cleared the last statue, she dove towards the small opening that still remained under the slab. Her wings snapped shut and she threw herself into a side-roll across the floor, squeezing through the shrinking space and slowly coming to a stop in the next room.
Finally, the slab ended its descent with a resounding thud that echoed into the distance. She could barely hear it through her own panting.
Her chest was heaving and her vision was blurry, but she still managed to chuckle in between gasps for air. "And Rarity says... I can't learn anything... from 'foalish' fiction."
She grinned and pumped a forehoof into the air. "Thank you, Daring Do!"
~~<82>~~
Twilight didn't light up her horn. She didn't need to. Darkness could not hinder one who could gaze upon the inner workings of magic and see the enchanting patterns of strings that tugged at the world's greatest mysteries.
"Ow!"
Her chest ran into something hard and pointy. She whimpered as she rubbed the sore spot and lit her horn, casting its glow over the room.
Her eyes shone with a light glitter of their own, enchanted by a spell she'd crafted beforehoof. It allowed her to see the structure beyond the fake images that composed her surroundings—magic coursing through methodically crafted currents, like blood through veins—but not everything seemed to be made of magic within the palace.
Like the table that was now visible in front of her.
If the size and decoration of the room were anything to go by, she was in the great hall, but there was no long ornate table occupying the center—like the one back in Canterlot Palace. Instead, several simpler tables of different shapes and sizes seemed to be emulating it, standing side by side in a long line.
"These probably belong to the townspeople," she mused, walking along the length of the room. "The spell must have assimilated anything within its radius... so the ponies of Hoofington have to be somewhere around here."
She thought of Applejack and Rainbow, but shook her head before fear and worry could get ahold of her.
"They're fine. They have to be. They're much stronger than I am, after all."
She smiled.
She blinked.
She drove a hoof to her forehead.
"That's the problem with self-assurance." She sighed. "You can easily tell when you're blowing hot air."
Trying to find at least a shaky foundation for her words, she started scrutinizing the glowing currents running along the walls, ceiling and floor of the room. As she moved, she noticed that some of those bright streams were starting to separate from the main bulk, looking like thin blue wriggling tubes coming out of the stone and pointing at her.
Still, none of them set off any of the defensive spells that were protecting her.
"I recognize several of these patterns... but I've never seen them working together before." She leaned closer to the floor, mentally naming all of the spells she could identify.
After a couple of minutes, she raised her head again, relaxing her features and letting out a sigh of relief.
"They don't seem to be dangerous."
Turning her attention to the focus of her mission, she gathered her magic and cast another spell. A small sphere of light formed on the tip of her horn, before floating off and stopping in front of her. The sphere fluctuated for a while, pulling at the nearby currents, until it started moving steadily towards the door at the far end of the room.
"Item one: reach the spell's core. Item two: dispel the field. Item three: look for my friends."
Happy with her checklist, she started thinking about the ways that the spells she'd identified could be working in unison. The only ones she was really worried about were a couple of forbidden ones, used to access certain parts of a pony's mind. However, those were just for information gathering, and had to be feeding their output to the rest of the structure—which was mostly comprised of things that would be right at home in her edition of Fabulously Flamboyant Falsities and Fantasies.
Advanced illusion magic wasn't her forte, but she could still see where this was going.
She groaned as she reached the place where the floating ball had stopped. She'd have to be careful. Such a combination of spells could bring about her worst fears or tempt her with her greatest desires. Even if there was no indication of physical danger, the possibility of a psychological attack was very real.
Mustering her courage, she pushed open the door and walked in.
~~<82>~~
Applejack woke up at the crack of dawn.
She yawned and stretched under her covers, thinking about her dream. She chuckled to herself, remembering their trip to Hoofington all those decades ago. It was weird that such an old memory would come back out of the blue, but dreams were funny like that.
Hopping out of bed and moving to her dresser, she checked the mirror's reflection while making some well-rehearsed brush passes through her mane. She smirked at how useless the darn thing was. It'd still be a century before she started showing a few wrinkles. And even then, she wouldn't really care much to hide them.
Tying up her mane and tail, and throwing on her stetson, she made her way downstairs to the kitchen.
"Mornin', Sis!"
"Mornin', Apple Bloom. What are we havin' today?"
Her little sister stood smiling in front of the working oven, wearing a white apron and one of those sophisticated chef's hats. She'd certainly grown over the years, turning into the fine mare that she was so proud of. Her eyes wandered over Apple Bloom's cutie mark and she suddenly froze.
Something wasn't right.
Had she forgotten something? She knew it was AB's sixtieth birthday in a couple of weeks, and she'd organized a get-together with the girls over at Flutter—no. Scootaloo's. It was sweet old Scootaloo's cottage now. She had to keep reminding herself of that.
But then, what was it? Something around the farm? Did she have to fix the barn a—
"I'm bakin' some apple fritters! Milk's on the table." Her sister's voice broke her out of her thoughts.
It took her just a second to regain her grin. "Well that sounds—and smells—wonderful!" She turned to see Big Macintosh already seated, reading the newspaper. "Hey Mac," she said, sitting down.
The paper lowered a bit, revealing the same easygoing smile from the old hunk of red she'd always known. "Mornin', AJ."
Yeah, it was a nice morning.
"Apple Bloom! I told ya I'd still take care of breakfast! I never get to treat you youngsters nowadays."
Applejack froze again, her grin disappearing immediately.
"Sorry Granny, but I got up real early and didn't wanna wake ya. 'Sides, it's fritters! Your favorite."
She turned slowly, eyes widened and twitching.
"Well, I'm gettin' too old to be wakin' up 'fore dawn, that's for sure."
Her breath had caught in her throat.
"Oh, don't say that, Granny. You've still got plenty of life in ya!"
And there she was.
Granny Smith turned to look at her curiously, just as she managed to catch a glimpse of the old mare.
"And what happened to you, Applejack? Ya look like you've seen one of them ghost folk."
She grit her teeth and looked down at the floor.
"Sis? You alright?" Apple Bloom asked. It was easy to tell that she'd tilted her cute little head, just by the sound of her voice.
"Applejack?" Mac slowly droned from behind her, as concerned as he could manage to sound.
She lifted her gaze in a violent motion and focused it on Granny Smith, narrowing her eyes.
"No."
Crack.
"AJ?" Apple Bloom looked to be on the verge of tears. "What's wrong? Ain't we havin' a nice breakfast? Don't you wanna try my apple fri—"
Applejack couldn't stand to listen anymore. "I don't 'preciate bein' lied to," she said in a low growl, bearing her teeth. "And I sure don't 'preciate havin' someone mess with the thoughts of my family!"
Crack.
Granny stepped towards her, a frown on her face. "Don't you raise your voice to me, missy! Why I oughta—"
"Get out!" AJ screamed as the walls of the farmhouse shattered like glass around her, followed by the images of her family members. The shards swirled around her, breaking apart until they were no bigger than grains of sand, pelting her coat here and there, but not hard enough to cause her any damage.
She kept screaming as the earth and sky burst in waves of colors and sounds that crashed over her, twisting and tumbling her body around in dizzying motions.
Losing all sense of what was up and what was down, the roaring unmaking of the world around her was eventually too much.
She blacked out.
~~<82>~~
"Yeah, bring it on!"
Dash's mocking laughter echoed in the long corridors of the palace, as hundreds of darts—poisoned darts, she baselessly assumed, just for the sake of it being more awesome—flew through the air beneath her, and dozens of spikes sprang up from under the carpeted floor, missing her by a wide margin.
"Wow... Now I get why Daring always gets an injured wing at the start of her adventures." She smirked as she dodged a bunch of snakes that fell from a hole in the ceiling. "This is too easy!"
A loud yawn overtook her as she alighted in front of the next open door.
"Huh. Weird. I think I'm actually getting bored of this."
Her eyelids started to get heavier, but she shook her head vigorously, driving away the drowsiness for a few seconds.
Looking at the path ahead of her, she saw it open up into a wide garden.
"Maybe I can find a place to nap there."
Making her way to the green area, she noticed that the garden was enclosed under a huge crystal dome. There was probably a name for that, but she was too tired to care.
She also noticed the bright sun illuminating the place.
She looked back at the corridor she'd just come from, with rays of moonlight still slipping in through the windows.
She shrugged.
There was a very nice tree growing near the center of it all. Its sturdy branches had her name written all over them, and she wasn't about to refuse.
As she made her way up, a glint caught her eye.
She turned to see a stone pedestal she'd missed before. It was obviously ancient, with a few vines covering its surface and some faded carvings which might have been important a bazillion years ago. But who cared about that when there was a solid gold cup thingy on top of it?!
"Is that...?" Rainbow stood breathless in front of the relic. She squinted and fluttered around, looking at it from different angles, taking in all of the details and—with a wide grin on her face—coming to an exciting conclusion.
"It's the Griffon's Goblet!"
~~<82>~~
The room was pure white.
There was a featureless white table in the center, on top of which sat a white porcelain cup, filled with a very familiar black liquid.
"Oh, come on! Is that the best you've got?!"
Twilight paced in a circle around the table, eyeing the cup with disdain.
"I am Princess Celestia's prized pupil!"
Her ear twitched.
"I am the bearer of the Element of Magic!"
A bead of sweat started to form on her forehead.
"I am one of the most talented minds in Equestria! And I won't be fooled by such a simplistic and obvious trap!"
She stamped her hoof on the pristine floor tiles for dramatic emphasis, just like Rarity taught her to do when monologuing at the edge of a nervous breakdown in an empty room.
A few seconds passed and the echoes of her emphasis faded, but nothing changed. Everything was silent, waiting for her to move.
Waiting for her to fail.
"Well, you're out of luck. I'm not touching that cup." She sniffed and inadvertently caught a whiff of the tantalizing aroma, sending a shudder through her body.
Forcing herself to remain still, she lifted her nose high into the air and closed her eyes, like she'd seen those other Canterlot unicorns do.
"I bet it doesn't even have the right amount of sugar."
She opened one of her eyes to see if the cup was still there. Of course, it remained the same… except for that pot labeled "Sugar" that had appeared next to it.
She was now visibly straining. "N-no! My friends are helping me get over this! I have to put in the effort too..."
There was steam rising from the cup and oh sweet Celestia she couldn't remember if it'd been like that before.
"J-just a little sip won't hurt, right?" she whispered, slowly drawing closer to the table. "After all, I'm so tired, and I can't keep m-moving if I fall—"
Her eyes widened in realization.
"Tired?" She frowned and stopped in her steps, the cup forgotten in an instant.
"Why am I tired? I had a good night's sleep, we ate well, and I was feeling fine before we came in here. I haven't even walked that much..."
She paused and craned her neck, looking around the room.
"Why can't I see the magical currents in here?"
That's when she started to hear a little buzzing sound in the back of her head. It was bothersome and strangely familiar. It demanded her attention and caused her to lose focus on everything else. It made the hair on the back her neck stand up.
It was one of her defensive spells, trying to warn her through a thick haze of illusions.
She gasped and, with a quick flash of her horn, a barrier formed around herself, repelling most of the spells that were affecting her.
The white room flickered and cracked, crumbling around her as it lost the link to her mind, and revealing a simple corridor. It was right outside the great hall—the door she'd come through still hanging open—but she noticed that she couldn't see the streams there either.
"Oh." She giggled as her horn started to glow, bringing a reddish light to her eyes. "Of course I can't see them. I never cast the spell in the first place, did I?"
The magic coiling through the palace became visible to her for the first time. It wasn't much different from what the illusion had shown her initially, but she supposed that was to give her a false sense of security.
However, before she could start moving again, she noticed that one of the glowing blue tendrils was clinging to her body, apparently unaffected by her barrier.
Furrowing her brow, she gave it a closer look, quickly deciphering the symbols that covered its surface. She recoiled at the sight.
It was siphoning magic from her.
"Ah! Get it off! Get it off!" she screamed as she ran up and down the corridor in a panic, with the tendril flailing in the air and showing no signs of tensing or tearing.
Realizing how futile this was, she skidded to a stop and tried to tug and push at it with her magic, her hooves and her teeth.
None of it worked.
"Okay, calm down." She took a deep breath. "What do I know about this thing?"
She nervously turned around—trying not to freak out at the sight of something sucking what may very well have been the life out of her—and resumed her reading of the tendril's purpose.
"Magic extraction... safety limiter... a location spell?" She blinked, feeling the piece fall into place in her head. "That's how the palace knows where I am. How it determines where to craft the illusions."
Smiling, she lit her horn and the little ball of light formed and floated ahead, guiding her towards her destination. "With that out of the way..."
She changed the nature of her barrier and fused it with some of the stealth spells she'd recently learned. Her smile turned into a satisfied grin as the tendril detached from her body and squirmed around, having lost sense of her presence.
"As long as I don't have to cast anything else, I think it'll be smooth sailing from here."
~~<82>~~
Applejack woke up.
It wasn't dawn.
She wasn't home.
And she was alone.
She was also lying on the cold stone floor, the side of her face wet from the trail of tears she'd shed. Her eyes felt puffy and sore, not to mention the rest of her body.
Actually, it wasn't right to say she was lying on the floor, so much as being dragged along it.
She whipped her head up, trying to get a look at the thing she could feel coiled around her hindlegs. As soon as she did though, she felt the grip loosen and disappear.
There was nothing there.
"H-hello?" Her voice echoed along the walls of the long and dark corridor.
After a minute with no response, she shakily pushed herself up to her hooves. Taking a few steadying breaths, she wiped the moisture from her face and readjusted her stetson.
"Ain't no point in dwellin' on it."
Looking around, she noticed that she could see fairly well up until a certain distance from her body in the windowless hall. Beyond that, the darkness became much thicker.
Chalking it up to her eyes adjusting, she started to move forward. Head held high.
And she walked.
And walked.
Through empty rooms, winding stairs and long hallways, she kept walking, her hooves clacking loudly against the marble tiles. She wasn't trying to be subtle, so the noise didn't bother her much.
It was hard to tell how much time had passed, but she reckoned it was about half an hour later when she found herself walking along a glass wall. Outside, she could see the moon—drawing a perfect glowing circle in the sky, like always—along with the stars... and not much else. The landscape seemed to be covered in a black fog.
Turning her eyes to the palace's interior, she could see a little better thanks to the moonlight. She couldn't set eyes on the opposite wall, so she guessed that the room she was walking through was pretty big. It wasn't a hard guess, considering she'd walked the length of five barns up to that point, and there was still no end in sight.
There was also a forest of columns filling up the place, as far as she could tell. Black and smooth, springing up towards a ceiling she couldn't see.
"Rainbow!"
She'd lost count of how many times she'd shouted by now. Her voice echoed for a while, before dying out in the distance.
"Twilight!"
She started to wonder if the main purpose of her shouting was still to find her friends. Maybe it had shifted to simply making noise. The more noise she made, the less she thought about how eerie the whole place was. How dark it was. How alone she was. How lost she—nope.
"Rainbow!"
She huffed and brought a hoof up to rub her eyes. She was starting to get tired. Had it been longer than half an hour? She honestly couldn't tell.
As she put her hoof back down, she noticed something between the columns to her right.
A pair of shapes was moving through the shadows.
~~<82>~~
Rainbow eyed the Goblet with suspicion.
"These things always set off traps."
She'd stopped flying a while ago—her sore wings resting snugly against her barrel. The rush of excitement had come and gone, allowing her to remember how tired she was.
She still hadn't seen hide nor hair of her friends, and she wasn't even sure where exactly she was supposed to go.
"As long as I keep flying into more traps, that should be the right direction. And if the traps get more deadly, that means I'm getting closer to the end!"
Armed with her flawless logic, she decided to leave the Goblet alone for the moment.
"It'll be there when I wake up." She yawned loudly, turning back towards the big tree. "I'll just shut my eyes for a couple of minutes."
She lay down at the base of the trunk, curling her tail around herself and covering her head with a wing. She didn't want to bother getting up on a branch anymore.
Faintly, as sleep was about to take her, she heard a pair of hoofsteps getting closer.
~~<82>~~
Twilight was making great time.
Her guiding spell was moving at a brisk pace, and her surroundings had offered no obstacles in a good long while. Her barrier was working perfectly, allowing her to move undetected.
Since she'd only been cantering down long halls, she was able to study the palace's structure more calmly. She found that it had various spatial and perception distorting mechanisms working in concert, making teleportation a very bad idea while within its confines.
"Not that it matters much. I should be very close to the core by now," she whispered to herself, happy that soon it'd all be over and she'd be able to see her friends once more. Her very safe and very sound friends.
Close to the middle of the hallway she was currently running down, the little ball of light made a sudden left turn and headed straight towards a closed door—the first one she'd encountered since she'd escaped the illusion.
She skidded to a halt as the sphere seemed to bounce back once it got too close to its target, the door's surface rippling like water before becoming still once again. With a soft popping sound, her guiding spell disappeared.
"Uh oh."
She put a forehoof against the door, trying to push it open, but it wouldn't budge. She tried bucking it, but her legs seemed to be more rattled than the sturdy wooden surface. She could tell by the frame that it wasn't meant to be pulled, but there was still no visible way to open it with her hooves.
Panic began to swell inside of her, but Twilight forced it back. She couldn't lose her nerve at this point. Not when she was so close.
To unlock the door with her magic or cast another guiding spell, she'd have to lower her barrier for a bit. Another option was to try and move forward on her own, looking for another route, but she'd already seen the twisting, maze-like corridors she'd had to pass through in order to get where she was. A single wrong turn at the next intersection could get her completely lost. It might even force her back to the beginning.
She shook her head. "I don't have time for that. I'll just have to face whatever it throws at me."
Gritting her teeth, she left herself vulnerable, lighting up her horn and pushing the door open to reveal another hall.
Two ponies were sitting on the carpeted floor, resting against each other. Their backs were turned to her.
Twilight was so shocked at the sight that she almost forgot to raise her barrier again. She still did it after a new bouncing light was floating away from her horn.
They must be from Hoofington, caught in the palace's illusions, she deduced. Her eyes told her that they weren't part of the much larger spell. These ponies were exuding their own individual magic—like everypony does—but she still sensed something off about them.
The pair looked very peaceful though, like they were just resting. Of course, she couldn't see if they were actually sleeping, but she tried to remain quiet as she worked her way around them.
Regardless, I should be careful about interacting with strange ponies in a place like this.
~~<82>~~
"Hi there! Name's Applejack." She grinned while strongly shaking the stallion's hoof.
"Hah! Good firm grip you've got there, ma'am. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Dazzle and this here's my..." The pair exchanged a meaningful look before he continued with an even bigger grin, "My marefriend."
The mare smiled and nodded. "Pizzazz. Pleased to meet to you!"
~~<82>~~
"Pizzazz?" Rainbow asked, still trying to rub the sleep from her eyes.
"Yes, I know. It doesn't exactly roll off the tongue." The mare sighed dejectedly—her mood as blue as her coat—before perking up again. "You can just call me Pi. All my friends do!"
"Umm, okay... Pi. You can call me Dash. Or Rainbow, I don't really care," she muttered, standing up again.
She took a good look at the couple. They seemed nice enough, close to her own age, and far too into each other to not steal glances at one another every ten seconds.
"You guys must be from Hoofington."
"That's right! Born and raised. Haven't seen you around, though. You a tourist?" Dazzle asked, a little too eager for Dash's tastes. She could've sworn his eyes were sparkling at the possibility.
~~<82>~~
"I'm sorry, I still don't see how you can be so calm about this situation."
"Oh, it's always nice to meet new ponies, miss..." Dazzle trailed off, raising his eyebrows as he smiled.
"Twilight. Twilight Sparkle," she answered automatically.
"Twilight Sparkle! Marvelous. Such a beautiful name, wouldn't you say, Pi?"
"Definitely!" The mare beamed. "So very regal sounding. Why, you must be from Canterlot!"
"Um, yes, I—"
"That means you are a traveler!" It was hard to believe Dazzle's smile could get any wider, but there it was.
"Well... yes, I'm from out of town, but—"
"Say no more!" With a flourish, a bouquet of roses appeared between the stallion's forelegs. Bowing, he presented it to Twilight, who took it in confusion.
"Please, allow us to give you a magical welcome to Hoofington!" Pi was standing next to what seemed to be a fitting room curtain, blocking a small circular area of the hallway from view. Her violet eyes twinkled in excitement.
Twilight was certain the prop had appeared out of nowhere.
"We hope you enjoy your stay!" Dazzle pulled the curtains open, stepping inside with Pi, and then closing them once more.
Before Twilight could get a word in, the curtain fell to the floor in a burst of streamers and confetti. Neither Pi nor Dazzle could be seen anywhere.
She looked up, noticing that there was nothing that had been holding the curtain up. No metallic ring, strings or anything of the sort. She lowered her gaze to the floor.
The curtain had vanished.
She stood there, perplexed, for a good whole minute. Slowly, she turned to see that her guiding spell was still bouncing in place, waiting for her to get close in order to continue its trek.
She lifted a forehoof, only hesitating for a few seconds before continuing forward.
~~<82>~~
"Huh. That was weird."
Applejack stood in the middle of several stone pillars, still staring at the space where the couple had disappeared.
"Dazzle?" she called out. "Pi?"
Nothing but echoes.
"Horseapples." She bit off a couple of rose petals, chewing on them as she started to walk again.
They were really good roses, too. A crisp flavor, meaning they'd been recently picked. A slight sweetness that only came from a sprinkle of morning dew. Vivid and healthy color, showing proper care in their growth. They basically melted in her mouth, so she didn't even have to chew all that much. They must've been the best flowers she'd ever had.
They weren't apples though.
She popped open her saddlebags, stashed the roses and brought out a golden delicious, taking a large bite.
"Much better."
~~<82>~~
"Hey, lovebirds!" Rainbow shouted as loud as she could. Which is to say, not very.
"You know this place is dangerous, right?!"
She was lazily flapping her wings, moving around the garden in search of the couple. Her vision was getting blurrier by the minute and her sense of balance was slightly off, so it was by no fault of her own that one of her hooves brushed against the Goblet, sending it tumbling down into the grass.
She stayed there, hovering in place and looking down at the golden antique, while her brain tried to catch up with the sight.
Then she started chuckling. "The... the Goblet... fell," she managed between gasps of air. She didn't really get what was so funny, but she couldn't stop laughing. "That's just... I can't even..."
A loud noise drew her attention up towards the dome. All of the glass panels were showing cracks, and more were forming every second.
"That... that doesn't even make sense..." She was holding a hoof to her stomach, starting to feel a bit sore from the constant bursts of laughter. "Oh, this is gonna hurt."
The dome shattered into thousands of razor sharp fragments, raining from up high. Her survival instincts kicked in and her wings thrust her straight back to her napping spot, hooves over her head. The tree's crown protected her from the worst of the falling shapes.
It had only been a couple of seconds, but she could still hear the ringing in her ears. Very slowly, she uncovered her head and opened one of her eyes.
Everywhere she could see, a layer of glass covered the garden. If she had any interest in those kinds of things, she might've said that it looked pretty. A very strange kind of pretty, but still.
She could feel something was missing, though. As she stood up, she noticed that everything had darkened considerably. It would've been her guess that the warm light, which had been covering the garden just a few seconds ago, would've made it all look even prettier—again, if she was into that sort of thing. She started to walk out from under the tree, trying to see what had happened to the sky.
That's when the tornado hit.
Her body was suddenly pulled forward by roaring gale force winds, barely giving her enough time to root herself down. She crouched low to the ground, forcing her wings to stay shut against her sides, and looking straight ahead at the twister that was sucking up all of the grass, dirt, bushes, small trees and—of course—the razor sharp glass shards.
With much struggling, she managed to turn around, noticing that the only reason she wasn't being cut into ribbons was because the tree's trunk was shielding her from the fragments coming from the other side.
She threw a hoof forward, starting to drag herself along the ground. As she moved, she chanced a look up at the sky, seeing that the sun had completely disappeared, replaced by a dark and twisting cumulonimbus.
The shards had stopped flying through the air next to her, so her biggest worry as she reached the tree's roots was that they'd start shooting out in her direction. She quickly made her way around the trunk and stood on her hindlegs, her back flat against the tree.
Her heart was pumping a mile a minute, and she had to swallow hard a couple of times before her brain could stop running on instincts alone.
"Okay..." Rainbow's voice was lost in the deafening noise, but talking gave her some form of focus. "I think I'm awake now."
She peeked around the trunk at the tornado before jerking her head back again. "Wow! That thing looks deadly..." She grinned. "I must be getting close!"
Her eyes caught movement in front of her and she focused on the wall of the garden, some distance away. She could see an open door leading into another dark hallway. The problem was the glass, which was starting to fall like rain all over the place. Also...
She took another quick peek.
"Yup, the giant pillar of suckitude is getting closer."
She clenched her jaw, shut her eyes and gave her best battle shout as she rushed straight ahead, flapping her wings to gain speed, but not enough to risk taking her hooves off the ground for too long.
She cracked an eye open to see if she was still on course, just in time to see the golden goblet crash into the ground in front of her. She swerved around it and made it into the hall, the door slamming shut by itself behind her.
She collapsed onto the carpeted floor, breathing hard and checking her body for injuries. During the rush, she hadn't really felt much pain from the shards, but she could see that the cuts were there. They were pretty shallow though, nothing too bad.
Deciding that—in spite of everything—her body was pretty much fine, she let her head and eyelids drop. She wasn't sure if a door would be enough to stop a tornado, but she couldn't bring herself to care at the moment.
Sleep was far more important.
~~<82>~~
It had been a few minutes since Twilight had run into the strange couple. She'd been following her little guide through another area of the hallway maze without much trouble.
"Oh, Dazzle! I'm so nervous!"
Twilight froze. She turned to see Pi in front of a large fitting mirror, wearing a flowing midnight blue dress. It was covered in frills and lace, but seemed a bit tacky.
It also accentuated the mare's cutie mark, which Twilight hadn't noticed up until then. Three linked silver rings adorned her flank.
Dazzle was wearing a confident grin as he draped a foreleg around Pi's back. "Don't be, dear. They'll love you!"
"They already love your show," the mare said, turning her head to check her diamond-shaped earrings and grimacing. "It doesn't really matter what your assistant looks like."
"Well, we have a special guest in the audience tonight," Dazzle admitted, his grin turning sheepish. "We should make a good impression."
Pi rolled her eyes as she placed a giant fruit bowl on her head.
"No, wait. That's a hat," Twilight muttered to herself. Rarity would've been proud.
Trying to remain unnoticed, she slowly backed away from the scene and turned a corner. She looked at the glowing and bouncing sphere next to her. "Come on, we can't be far now."
~~<82>~~
"Wonder where she got that dress from..." Applejack frowned. She'd kept walking after a quick encounter with the couple had ended with them disappearing again.
She could finally see the far wall of the giant room she'd been crossing, as well as several doors lined up next to each other.
As she approached the closest one, she heard them again.
"That's wonderful news!" Pi swooned as she lay on the back of the brown coated stallion. She looked exhausted and her dress seemed undone, but she was smiling.
AJ noticed it was a completely different dress.
"I told you it'd be worth it!" Dazzle gave a hearty laugh as he pulled open the door in front of him. "Feeling too tired to celebrate?"
Pi ruffled his gray mane with a forehoof as she smirked. "Not for what you have in mind."
Applejack felt her cheeks warm up as the couple crossed the doorway. It was only when they were out of sight that she snapped out of her stupor. "Hey, wait!"
She rushed to the open door, only to find an empty hallway behind it.
"Consarn it! Stop doing that!"
~~<82>~~
Twilight was starting to get mixed emotions about those two ponies.
She couldn't find a link between them and the palace in the spell's structure. They also seemed perfectly normal to her enhanced senses, but they weren't acting like ponies trapped in a maze of illusions.
Unless they'd completely snapped.
She shook her head clear of that thought. "I've snapped before. They're acting too calm for that to be true." She blushed. "Well, except for that last time."
Her spell had been guiding her up several flights of stairs. She noticed how the more she climbed, the more she could find spots on the walls that stopped resembling polished stone, and started looking like blue-tinted glass or crystal.
The magical currents making up the structure were also getting stronger, coiling together and pulsing with power.
Reaching the next floor, she found herself in a lavishly decorated rotunda. Tall lancet windows allowed the bright sunlight to fill the room.
She was so in awe of the architecture that she almost walked right past Pi, who was standing in the middle of the room in front of a mirror again, wearing a dress. However, she stood alone this time, and the dress was very elegant. It was also very obvious in its purpose.
"Do I look fat?"
Twilight was caught off guard by this. Looking around and finding nopony else that the question could've been directed towards, she opened her mouth.
"You're pregnant, dear."
That wasn't her voice. Actually, she'd been cut off, but she couldn't see anypony aside from Pi or herself in the room. The voice had been very clear and very feminine, though.
"I know I'm pregnant, mom. I asked if I look fat," Pi said, giving a low chuckle.
There was a long pause. Long enough to be awkward. Twilight perked her ears, getting ready to pinpoint where the other voice was coming from. At the same time, she looked Pi over, noticing she did seem to be carrying a few extra pounds, but nothing that called much attention to itself.
"No, of cour—"
"Too late." Pi huffed, turning to look at her reflection's side. "At least the dress tries to hide it a bit."
"Are you sure about the white, sweetie?" The voice sounded cautious.
"It's my wedding day and I'm pregnant. Do you really want to be the pony who asks that question?" The scowling bride hid her face behind her veil.
The other voice was originating right next to Pi, on her left side, but Twilight still couldn't see anypony there.
"Let's go, mom. We don't want to be late."
Seeing the mare turn and walk in the direction she'd come from, Twilight faced the opposite door and started walking towards it.
She was beginning to understand.
"You sure this ain't 'bout the bits?" asked a gruff stallion's voice.
Twilight whipped around, looking back at the mirror.
Pi had already disappeared.
~~<82>~~
Dazzle stood in her place.
"I already told you that the money belongs to both of us anyway, dad." The stallion was fixing up his vest, looking at his reflection.
"I'm just sayin'! Two of you meet, you start workin' together, sparks start flyin', you catch a big break, and bam! Filly's knocked up with your foal. Seems a bit fast, is all."
Dazzle stopped fiddling with his vest, giving a very flat look towards the empty space to his right. "Dad, I get that you're old and senile, so I'll forgive you for forgetting that me and Pi have been together for over twelve years and that our 'big break' was two years ago." He sighed. "We had a nice surprise last summer, which led to one thing and another, and here we are. This is not Pi's convoluted scheme to run away with money that's already hers."
There was a long pause, the length of which Dazzle seemed to be trying to burn a hole into the air with his glare.
"Just sayin'," came the weak reply.
Dazzle took a relaxing breath and gave a tired smile. "Let's go, old coot. It wouldn't do to be late for my own wedding."
Applejack stood, struck dumb and staring at the lone stallion as he disappeared around a corner.
"Okay, this don't make a lick of sense."
~~<82>~~
Everything was getting clearer.
As she moved through the hallways at a fast trot, Twilight pieced together all of the clues she'd found. The moonlit corridors passed by in a breeze as her guiding light rushed along with her.
A change in her surroundings made her slow down, noticing she'd reached an interior balcony. She approached the railing to her right, and looked over at the large room below.
"It's a self-sustaining spell," she whispered.
She could see dozens of spherical containers dotting the floor. Her infused eyes allowed her to see the thin, tentacle-like protrusion growing from the top of each one, meeting the others half-way to the ceiling and coiling together as they continued upwards as a single magical conduit—presumably to the next floor.
They were streams, moving magic out of the spheres and powering something bigger up there. If she had to guess, she'd say they were obviously feeding the spell's core. Something else that was obvious to her gaze was that there was a pony in each container.
Twilight slowly broke into a grin as the pieces fell together.
"After the initial requirement of energy, the spell binds those in its vicinity, constantly sucking out their magic to keep itself going. That's what that tendril was doing to me. But that means those pods have a different purpose. They're probably..."
She squinted, trying to make out the patterns that formed the containers. They were too far away, but she still had a pretty good idea.
"They must be helping those ponies survive and recover, so that the spell can keep using them as energy sources!" She stepped back from the railing, taking the whole sight in. "It's a perfectly balanced system." Her eyes glittered with appreciation as the thought left her breathless. "It's beautiful…"
Her awe was cut short when she remembered what she had to do.
She glanced in the direction she'd be heading, looking at the spiral staircase that would surely get her closer to her goal. Then she turned back at the floor below. Her expression shifted to one of reluctance and then defeat. She closed her eyes and sighed heavily as she walked slowly towards the stairs.
"Duty first."
She slowly ascended the stone steps towards the light that shone at the top. Once she reached it, she was momentarily blinded by its brightness.
She could feel a soft breeze on her coat and hear the rustle of leaves nearby. Her eyes adjusted as she stared up into the clear blue sky, thankfully missing the sun that was causing her shadow to be cast forward. As she lowered her gaze, she saw the vast field of green that lay in front of her, stretching all the way to the horizon.
Carefully checking her defensive wards to make sure that they were still in place, she wondered at the amount of magic needed to craft such a scene. This was no simple illusion—well, not the kind that happens in your mind, anyway—but a magically-based fabrication, much like the palace below.
Spells still permeated everything she saw, from the seemingly endless sky to the blades of grass at her hooves, giving them shape, texture, smell, and all the little details that would've made them seem real had she been looking with her naked eyes.
The sound of laughter caused her to turn around. The first thing she noticed was the forest behind her. The second thing she noticed was that something was missing.
"There was a hole here... it's gone now."
She blinked, looking down at the patch of soil that blocked her way back, up until her vision was filled with the face of a blue mare.
"Hi!"
"Gah!"
~~<82>~~
"Oh, hello again!" Applejack grinned nervously and took a step back in surprise. Pi had popped up just she entered the large room.
The place seemed to be a bathroom, but made unnecessarily bigger than it needed to be—which seemed to be a trend with nobles. There were several large stone tubs set up next to each other. They looked like the one back at the spa, but a lot emptier and fancier.
She could hear quick and light hoofsteps echoing around the room, along with a filly's giggling.
"Dear, come greet our guest!" Pi called out, lying down to rest on her side. She turned to face Applejack, looking her over and squinting. "You've been here before..." Her eyes shot open in recognition. "Of course! You're Applejack! It's been such a long time. I'm glad to see you visiting this little town again."
"Uh..." AJ didn't really know what to make of it. Weird things had been happening since they'd set hoof in the palace. All of it could be waved off as being magic—that much was obvious—but she didn't understand how Pi and Dazzle fit into it all. The couple also seemed to be moving very quickly through life, which brought up a new thought that chilled her to the bone. "P-Pi? Exactly how long are we talkin' 'bout here?"
The mare seemed distracted, looking at something at the back of the empty bathroom, but the question snapped her back into attention. "Oh! Well, I'm not sure, sweetie. Let's see," her eyes wandered as she thought and her hoof started tapping the floor along with her count. "I think you came the year Dazzle got his big contract. Two years later was the wedding. Our daughter was born right after that, and she just turned six last month. So, I guess it's been around eight years."
Applejack's mouth felt dry. She swallowed the lump in her throat and tried to wrap her head around that last bit. "Eight y-years? I might've been gone for..." Her body suddenly felt weak. She wobbled and fell back on her haunches, staring straight ahead and seeing nothing.
Her breaths came shorter and faster. Images flashed through her head. Big Mac straining to tend to the farm alone. Apple Bloom getting her cutie mark. Granny baking for the next Summer Sun Celebration by herself. Her family in—
She shook her head.
Nopony gets anywhere by panickin'. That's what we tell Twi, at least.
She closed her eyes and slowed her breath with some effort.
It's just the worst thing that could happen. I can't be sure it's happened and there ain't no point worryin' 'bout it right now.
The sound of running hooves got closer and stopped nearby.
"Well, look who decided to stop frolicking around." Pi's gentle scolding was met with sweet, innocent laughter. "Now, say hello to Miss Applejack."
"Hi, Miss Applejack!" the young voice said.
AJ opened her eyes to look down between herself and Pi, but couldn't see anything other than the floor. "H-hello?" She gave a half-smile, darting her eyes around to try and find the filly.
"Aww, that was very good, dear. See what I told you about being nice to others?" Pi threw her forelegs forward, hugging and nuzzling the air.
Applejack just stared, confused beyond the point of trying to understand anymore.
"Mom!" the filly wailed playfully, in the way that fillies do when they feel that their mothers are embarrassing them, complete with giggling at the end.
Pi chuckled and—apparently—let go. "Okay, okay, run along."
Hoofsteps echoed again and slowly faded away into the distance.
"They grow up so fast. I wish our parents could've seen her." Pi sighed and closed her eyes for a moment.
Applejack still couldn't see anypony else in the room, which was worrying her. The mare seemed... honest. Her cuddling and sweet words didn't feel like some sort of trickery, and the filly's voice was also pretty real. This all pointed to bad things for AJ. It meant that there was somepony else there, but her eyes weren't working properly. Pi didn't act like she was trapped in some strange palace either, so that was probably something else wrong with herself too.
Come to think of it, I don't even know if Rainbow and Twi are in here! I could be having one of them hol—hallu—one of them bad dreams while I'm awake!
I-I... Huh... Twi's really rubbin' off on me...
She was snapped out of her thoughts by Pi's words, "Lucky for me, I've got another one in the oven. I'll be able to enjoy a few more years of being an overbearing mom, before they get sick of it." The mare grinned and patted her stomach.
Something about the mare's tone allowed AJ to relax for a bit, soothing her nerves. It brought up a certain warmth in her chest and made her remember something she hadn't thought about in a long time.
A soft blanket covered her from tail to neck, wrapping her in sweet, homely comfort. She felt a tender nuzzle on her neck and heard a whispered goodnight as she drifted off to sleep. "I never grew tired of it. Then again, I didn't have much time to." She smiled, the corners of her eyes glistening for a bit.
Pi looked at her, first in confusion, then in quick and painful understanding. Her mouth hung open for a few seconds, before she drove a hoof to cover it. Her expression turning to one Applejack had seen on countless occasions, but didn't much care for. "Oh, miss. I'm so so—"
"Don't worry 'bout it. It was a long time ago." AJ waved the words away with a hoof, but her smile became strained and her voice remained low.
Pi's ears fell flat against her head. "That may be so, but here I am reminding you of it." She looked away again, eyes fixed on a certain point.
Applejack reached out with a trembling hoof, slowly bringing it to Pi's cheek. For just an instant, the dark blue coat was replaced with a vivid yellow under her touch.
She snorted. "Darn magic."
Pi turned to look at the frozen mare, tilting her head. "Huh?"
"Nothin'. Ain't nothin'." She drew back her hoof and dropped her gaze to the floor.
Pi looked at her for what seemed like a long time. The choking silence drowned out even the filly's giggling in the distance. Finally, with a trembling and low voice, the mare asked, "Do you have foals, Miss Applejack?"
AJ opened her mouth to answer far too quickly, but stopped herself. After a while, she took a deep breath and forced out a more upbeat tone. "Nah. Ain't found the time for it. Still a bit young to be worryin' 'bout that."
Pi jumped at the chance to change the tone of their talk, giving an airy laugh. "Ah, well, it's hard to tell. I actually thought Dazzle was pretty young when I met him. He didn't even tell me I was dating an old geezer until a month into our relationship!"
That got a loud chortle out of Applejack. "I'm sure he didn't do it on purpose."
"Of course he didn't." Pi tittered as her eyes softened, looking at the back of the room again. "He thought he'd already told me, but it'd slipped his mind—old age and all that." She smirked playfully. "He was so apologetic that day. Very sweet too, considering how mad I got.
"To tell the truth, I'm not that young either," she added with a chuckle, "but a lady never tells."
AJ smiled and tried to follow Pi's gaze. She felt like she should've been looking out over an open field or something like that. But in that fragile moment of peace, she found that the naked stone walls would do.
~~<82>~~
A few minutes of quiet later, Twilight turned to see that she was alone again. The grass by her side seemed undisturbed, as if nopony had been resting on it.
With a little effort, she got back up on her tired hooves. All that running was starting to take a toll on her, and she felt a sudden desire to lie down and shut her eyes.
It was a natural tiredness, unlike before, but she pushed it back anyway. She didn't know what might happen if she fell asleep then and there.
Her guide was still waiting patiently, floating ahead. She followed it into the forest, carefully stepping over roots and around trunks.
There was no path, so she could only depend on the direction of her bouncing light. Soon, it also became her sole source of illumination, as the forest grew thicker around her.
It was not so different from being lost in the Everfree, except that—as far as she knew—there was nothing out to get her. The tree trunks were just as large and twisted, and she could feel the moisture in her coat, as well as in every breath she took.
The darkness was... Well, darkness was darkness, no matter where you were. It would've been easy to dispel it. Just a quick display of her will, and she could've been walking much more comfortably. However, there was something about the place that made her feel like doing so would be disrespectful. As if the forest was meant to be crossed in the dark.
"A strange thought." She wrinkled her brow.
At that point, she was only looking down, trying to gauge where she stepped in what little light she had. Her eyes scanned over dirt patches, over dry grass, over perfectly polished wooden floors—
"Huh?"
She looked up and she wasn't in the forest anymore. The place looked like a study; bookcases lining its sides, a large desk near the only entrance and a stone chimney in the middle of the far wall, providing warm light to the otherwise darkened room.
Dazzle was resting on a cushion, a couple of strides away from the fireplace. On the rug, in front of him, a pencil danced through the air, scribbling away at a notebook all on its own.
The pencil dropped to the floor.
"Daddy?" It was the same young filly's voice.
He lifted his head, looking towards the notebook. "Yeah, sweetie?"
"I have to write about your job for my homework. What do you do?"
Dazzle grinned as he sat upright, gesturing towards his cutie mark—Twilight realized that it was the first time she'd taken note of it—a side shot of a top hat, with a playing card peeking out of it. "Well, I'm a magician, dear. I set up magic acts to entertain my audience."
"Oh." There was a pause as the filly seemed to think on this, before she tentatively asked, "Is that the same as a mage?"
He chuckled, stretching a foreleg out and holding it there as his eyes moved slowly from the notebook to a point closer to himself. He lowered his hoof and moved it around, as one would when ruffling a filly's mane, eliciting a few giggles. "Afraid not. Mages study and practice actual unicorn magic... which I can't do—for obvious reasons. You could be a mage though, when you're older."
"Really?!" The filly gave an excited squeal.
Dazzle smiled warmly. "Sure."
~~<82>~~
The figures faded, once again leaving Applejack alone in the hall she'd been walking down.
"If there's one thing I can take from all this, it's that that's one lucky filly."
She kept moving, reaching an arch at the end of the corridor, which led into a large room filled with a strange blue glow. As she went in, she gasped as a cold shiver ran down her body, like she'd passed through a sheet of icy water. Her senses seemed a bit sharper, and it was as if a weight had been taken off her back.
Shaking off the surprise, she looked at where the glow was coming from.
Her jaw dropped.
Countless sleeping ponies were floating inside strange crystal formations. They all seemed to be resting peacefully, while their prisons flashed a bright blue every few seconds.
Applejack shuddered as she remembered the green goop that the changelings used to trap their prey.
She walked up to the closest... thing, trying to get a better look. It was firmly rooted to the floor, the crystals growing out like weeds through the cracks in the tiles, spinning around each other as they went up, before spreading out to form the bubble-like prison that housed the pony.
Looking inside, she could see shining shapes and writing on the surface of the crystals, but they made no sense at all to her.
~~<82>~~
Twilight stood in the empty study, staring at the darkness beyond the room's only door, which had opened moments before. She turned around and looked at her guide, bouncing next to the wall beside the fireplace.
She frowned in thought, moving closer to the wall. Tapping it with a hoof, she confirmed that she wasn't getting through there without magic. Taking one last look at her guide, she sighed and closed her eyes.
"Well, here goes nothing."
Her defenses fell as her horn began to glow. She could feel the palace's tendrils shooting out and latching onto her body, as she fired a beam to dispel the fake stone surface. She opened her eyes to see the wall crumbling and giving way to a bright, white opening.
She tried running forward, but something quickly slithered around her neck and started choking her, pulling her back towards the room. A scream died in her throat as the grip around it tightened.
She grimaced and focused through the constricting pain, throwing out a new shield around herself. She darted forward as air reached her lungs again, stumbling through the shining exit.
The world seemed to twist around her, and she found herself floating in a white expanse. It wasn't the same as falling. No lurching stomach or the fear of an impending splat. Just silence and nothing to see, except her own body.
She looked behind herself to find that the way back was gone. The fact that it didn't surprise her at all made her feel like she was getting far too used to this.
As she turned forward again, she noticed a little ball floating ahead. It wasn't her guide—which had disappeared—and it was very clearly made up of the same magic as the palace. The ball consisted of several currents, tightly packed together and glowing their bright blue.
Before she could probe it, it exploded outwards in a wave of colors and light, painting her surroundings and forming a vivid scene out of the blank canvas. She felt her hooves touch ground and her eyes adjusted to the light of a sunny day. Stalls and tents sprung up around her, as well as the buzz of a crowd of ponies.
Blaring music could be heard in the background and she slowly understood what she was seeing.
"A carnival..."
"I gotta say, that was pretty good," came Dazzle's voice from behind her.
She turned to see the couple walking down a path lined with food stands. The stallion was effortlessly carrying three saddlebags, several boxes and quite a few purchases on his back, while Pi was happily trotting next to him unencumbered, save for her bulging belly.
"Pretty good?!" Squealed the little filly's voice. "That was amazing! Did you see when Daring faced off with all of those bandits?"
While Twilight couldn't see her, she could imagine the filly trying to mimic what she'd seen, making all sorts of wild gestures.
"Yes, sweetie, it was all very exciting." Pi said through a smile, as she eyed what seemed to be a map of the attractions. "Now, we've seen the live action show, the greenery—"
"That one was boring!"
Pi chuckled. "Oh, come now, I thought it was beautiful. Nothing exciting may have happened there, but didn't you like the peace and quiet? And the pretty flow—"
"Bleh!"
With a roll of her eyes, Pi folded the map and put it back in one of the saddlebags. "Well, I think this next one's more up your alley," she said, pointing at something to Twilight's left.
Before she could turn to look, a loud voice startled her. "Step right up, folks! Feeling adventurous? Then try navigating the mesmerizing maze of mirrors!"
"Ooh, ooh, can we go in?! Please?"
Dazzle lowered his gaze and smiled. "Why don't you go in with your mommy? I'll be waiting at the exit with all of our things. Might even buy you some cotton candy if you don't make her run too much."
"Yay! Come on, mom!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming." Pi walked forward with a lazy smile as Dazzle broke off in another direction.
Twilight turned and stepped back, trying to get a good look at the structure they were going into. It was quite large, so she had to move away a fair bit. She was pretty sure she would've bumped into somepony by now, had she been able to see the crowd around her. The more she moved away, the more her jaw opened as she registered what she was seeing.
She promptly fell to her haunches.
"The palace..."
The façade was identical, even if it was clearly a carnival attraction and not actually made of ancient stone. As big as it was, it was also considerably smaller than the one covering the town.
Shaking herself out of her stupor, Twilight stood up and galloped forward, feeling her heart tighten with dread. She zipped past the empty barker stand and the entrance archway, reaching the lobby and barely catching a glimpse of Pi's tail disappearing around a corner, into a hallway.
She ran up to the hall's entrance and saw it quickly branch out into seven different paths, all of them with mirrors lining their walls.
"Oh no."
She hesitated, looking to one path and then another, frozen in place. Her indecision made seconds pass like minutes, and she wasn't even sure how long she'd just been standing there.
"Are you okay, mommy?"
Twilight's ears perked up.
"I'm... I'm fine, dear. Just feeling a little winded."
She went down one of the paths, following the echoing voices.
"Oh, okay. Umm... you just stay here and rest. I'll go explore!"
Twilight turned again as the path kept twisting and branching out in different directions.
Pi's laughter was weak and strained. "Sure. Just don't wander off too far, okay?"
The voices stopped, and Twilight stood at the next fork in the path, not sure of where to go. The mirrors made the halls look much wider than they really were—especially considering that she didn't cast a reflection—adding to her anxiety and the sense of emptiness in the maze.
"Pi!" Her shout echoed down the halls. She knew she couldn't interact with anypony—it was one of those scenes—but she had to do something.
"Ow!"
The little filly's cry reached her ears, and she ran towards the source.
"Sweetie?! What happened?"
Twilight followed Pi's frightened voice down more crisscrossing halls. She felt like she should've reached them by that point. It was impossible that they'd moved so far away in such little time.
"Mommy!" the filly cried. Her barely repressed sobs provided another guide to follow down the corridors. "I h-hit my h-h-head!" The wails got louder.
"Don't worry, honey. I'll be right th—ah!"
Twilight froze.
No.
The filly's voice was suddenly drowned out by gasps of pain and a loud thud.
No. Please, no.
Twilight's hooves started moving again, but at a much slower pace. As she rounded the next corner, she found Pi lying on the floor, panting heavily. Her features twisted in pain.
"It's... it's too soon," the mare managed to get out through her clenched jaw.
"Mommy?" The filly had stopped crying. Her voice now carried fear and worry.
Pi let out another scream. A wave of pain wracking her body and making her coil around herself.
Twilight couldn't do anything but drop to her haunches, staring wide-eyed at the floor. She tried to zone out the sound around her.
Why had she bothered? She'd seen it coming and she knew she couldn't do anything to change what was going to happen. It was an irrational action, but she'd just started running. She had to get out of there. She couldn't bear to—
"What do you mean you can't treat her?!"
Twilight snapped her head up at the sound of Dazzle's angry shout. She wasn't sitting in the maze anymore. Her surroundings had changed to a small, white-tiled room.
"Sir, she's going through a difficult premature labor. Our clinic doesn't have the right equipment for the procedure." The disembodied voice of the nurse was soft and placating, trying to get him to understand.
Dazzle's frown changed from angry to panicking. "So... so we move her? Get her to a big city hospital, like the one in Manehattan?"
"We've already arranged for transportation, but we need you to understand the risk—"
"Do it, then! Please!"
The room bled away, leaving Twilight in a new place. She was sitting in a long hallway, lined with blue cushioned seats and white doors. Moonlight poured in through the open windows, and Dazzle paced in front of a large double door marked "Emergency Room".
The sign's red backlight died, drawing Dazzle's attention.
The doors opened slowly, with a slight creek, before closing again. An uncomfortable silence loomed over the scene, as Dazzle looked intently—eyes shaking—at the space in front of himself. "D-doctor?"
Twilight heard a long intake of breath, which was held for a second too long. She let her head drop and closed her eyes.
"I'm sorry, sir."
~~<82>~~
"Who'd do this?"
Applejack stepped back from the crystal prison. The pony inside slept peacefully, with only some light twitches now and then.
"We'll getcha out." She looked over the rows and rows of glowing blue crystals. "We'll getcha all out. I promise."
She made her way through the room, taking quick glances at the faces of those trapped there, and was easily reminded of the folks back home. Hoofington was a small town—founded by earth ponies—so those who lived there had a day to day life much like Ponyville's own. A bit more on the peaceful side, of course.
She'd only been there once, but everypony had been very nice during her stay. Even if a few years had gone by, she could still remember some of them.
A cutie mark here.
An old bandana there.
A rainbow-colored mane over the—
She stopped.
Her head turned slowly towards that last one. Her eyes traced over the smooth cyan feathers, the well-toned athletic body, and the do-it-yourself manecut.
"Rainbow!"
In just a short gallop, she was in front of her knocked out friend. She placed her forehooves against the crystal and tried to shake it like a cherry tree.
"C'mon, sugarcube! Wake up!"
She shook and pushed, grunted and panted, but the thing wouldn't budge. She dropped back to all fours, giving her hindlegs a worried look. She didn't know if it'd be the best idea to break the thing...
"But I'll be darned if I'm gonna leave you in there."
~~<82>~~
Tick.
Twilight sat on the wooden floor, giving Dazzle a sidelong glance.
Tock.
An old grandfather clock was the only source of sound in the wide living room.
Tick.
It was the middle of the day, but one would be hard pressed to notice at first glance—what with all the curtains being drawn.
Tock.
She wasn't sure how much time had passed between the last scene and the one before her eyes. Even so, she wouldn't give it more than a couple of days.
A loud knock broke the silence, and a sharp gasp came from right beside her. Twilight was surprised. Either the filly had approached that spot very quietly or she'd been there the whole time, dead silent. And Twilight had been watching Dazzle just sit there for at least ten minutes.
The stallion didn't even flinch at the noise.
The knock came again, with much more urgency. Twilight heard little hooves scramble towards the front door and stop just before crashing into it.
"H-hello?"
"Umm, hello? Little filly?" The voice on the other side sounded like a young stallion. "Is your dad home?"
"Yes."
"We're from the hospital. We're just doing a routine checkup for cases of... great loss. We also need him to sign a couple of things. Could you go call him?"
Twilight could hear the filly pace back and forth in front of the door, unsure of what to do. This went on for a while, before the pacing stopped and the doorknob turned slowly, along with the sound of fumbling hooves.
It was supposed to be midday, but what light came in through the open door was dull and lifeless. The outside didn't fare much better, looking like somepony had taken a brush to it with a palette of grays.
"He's... he's over there."
"Thank you, dear." This time, the voice came from a mare. "Why don't you stay with me while they talk to your daddy?"
Twilight could hear two sets of hooves walking into the house towards Dazzle, who was still sitting with his back towards them.
"Sir? We're from Manehattan General. We'd like to have a word with you. See how you're holding up."
No answer.
"Sir?"
"He's been like that for a few days," said the filly, from her spot near the door.
A tense silence hung over the room, during which Twilight could imagine the adult ponies giving each other worried glances.
"Have you been... eating anything?" the mare asked. "Has anypony been coming to take ca—"
"I'm a big pony! I can take care of myself!"
Twilight recognized that tone of voice. She'd heard that same bravado and indignation before, from a certain little filly. This filly's voice faltered after that though, falling into a trembling whisper.
"I-is daddy gonna be okay?"
Some shuffling could be heard before the mare spoke again, using a soothing tone. "Your daddy's going to be fine, sweetheart. He's just feeling very... sad right now. We're going to talk to him for a good long while so he can get better again, okay?"
Twilight imagined the filly giving a tentative nod.
"So, while that's going on, somepony will have to look over you. Come with me and we'll get all that sorted out."
"But I wanna stay with daddy!"
"Your daddy's coming too. He'll just be talking with these two gentlecolts first, and that might take a few hours." Her voice lowered to a playfully loud whisper. "Do you really want to stick around for boring grown-up talk for so long? Or would you rather get to Manehattan early and maybe visit the stores for a while?"
The filly gasped, but her next words still took a few seconds to come out. "B-but he'll be okay, right? You promise?"
"I promise."
Hoofsteps moved away from the door and further outside. Once they were lost in the distance, the two stallions started talking.
"We can't just move him like this."
"I know. Go ask for a ride from the local clinic, and bring a gurney."
Twilight felt something tug at her, a sudden and familiar shift in the atmosphere, signaling a spell getting ready to be cast.
"You sure that won't hurt him?"
"It's just a standard sedative spell. It'll help him relax. Now go get that ride."
"Okay, okay."
As the stallion moved away and the spell was fired, Twilight saw Dazzle's frame falter and sag forward. The lights of the scene dimmed and the sounds started growing longer, echoing against each other.
The house disappeared into an inky blackness, which was swiftly replaced by a small and cozy room.
It had all the trappings of an office: A single wooden door stood in the middle of a wall, surrounded by framed diplomas and pictures. A window on each of the other three walls allowed her to view the mostly blue skies—with some gray clouds building up in the distance. A large oak desk stood in the back, opposite the door. A plush maroon carpet covered the floor. Bookcases and potted ferns lined the room, and several large cushions lay in the middle.
Dazzle was sitting on one of these, staring straight ahead.
"I want you to understand something, Mr. Dazzle." A mare with an accent that was decidedly not from Manehattan—it sounded Canterlotian—was apparently sitting across from him. She sounded much younger than the one from the previous scene. "You are not a prisoner here. You're free to leave at any time. However, should you choose to do so before we give you a clean bill of mental health, the hospital will have to make certain assumptions."
Twilight noticed that this voice was... silky? Rarity might've described it as such. In fact, it reminded her of the voice her friend used when she wanted to get a stallion to do something.
"Where is my daughter?" Dazzle sounded tired and rough in comparison.
"Rest assured, she's perfectly fine. For the duration of your treatment—and, I want to stress this, only for the duration of your treatment—she has been placed under temporary foster care by the foal protection agency."
Dazzle visibly relaxed, lowering his gaze to the floor.
There was a long silence, during which Twilight could see and hear something being scribbled into a notepad by a quill, floating in front of what she assumed was the mare's position.
"There is no great mystery here, Mr. Dazzle," the mare started again. "It is abundantly clear that the grief over the loss of your loved ones has driven you to depression. This, in turn, has given way to apathy, making you unfit to care for yourself or another."
Dazzle flinched and Twilight frowned. Something wasn't right.
"Is there something you'd like to say to that?"
There was a brief pause as Dazzle seemed to think on the mare's words, before he gave a resigned, "No."
"Well then, allow me to give you a choice." Twilight heard as the mare stood up and walked over to one of the bookcases. "What would you give for a chance to have her back?"
Dazzle's eyes widened, before setting into a confused frown. "Anything. But that's imposs—"
A loud thud cut him off, as a thick black book fell in front of him. It had no title or symbols on its hard cover.
"This book has one purpose. All of its pages are part of an elaborate spell, focused on doing a single thing." The mare's voice was now coming from the space right next to Dazzle's head, but he still couldn't take his eyes off the book. "To bring a loved one's memory back to life."
Twilight felt that same tug against her senses. That feeling of magic permeating the air. But this time it felt... wrong. It was a sickening and sliming presence twisting around the inside of her body. She had to force herself to stay put and keep listening to the mare.
"The steps are detailed on page eighty-four. The wonderful thing is that anypony can use it. Unicorn? Pegasus? Earth pony? It doesn't matter. All you need is your loved one's body."
Dazzle's eyes were shaking as he shifted them towards the mare.
"So here's your choice, Mr. Dazzle. I cannot, in good conscience, give this book to you. Instead, I'm going to step outside for a bit. Have a coffee, chat with the orderlies... keep them busy. Should I return to find you and the book still here, I'll put it away, and you'll never see it again."
"W-why? Why are you offering this to me?"
The mare's voice dropped to a whisper. "Let's just say I'm extremely interested in seeing if it works."
Hoofsteps started moving towards the opening door.
"Think about it, Mr. Dazzle. I'll be right back."
The door closed.
Twilight looked at the trembling Dazzle. "No." Her lips quivered as she stepped in front of him. "Magic doesn't work that way."
He extended a foreleg, reaching out towards the book.
"Please! It doesn't work that way!"
He pulled it close and hugged it to his chest.
"Stop!" She tried to take the book away, but her hooves just passed through his image. "You can't bring them back with magic!"
He got up and turned towards the door. Desperately, she threw herself over him, going through his body and hitting the floor. Her eyes misted up and her voice cracked as she lifted a hoof towards his receding figure.
"But you wouldn't know that..."
Her hoof fell as the door closed behind him.
"Would you?"
~~<82>~~
The crystal cracked under the force of her buck.
"Ha! I told ya this flimsy thing wouldn't keep me out! Just you wait, Dash. I'll getcha out in a bit."
Applejack coiled her body and thrust out with her hindlegs again. The sound of shattering glass echoed through the whole room, as the web-like cracks spread over the prison's surface.
The whole thing burst open, crystals falling to the floor while AJ made sure to shield Rainbow's body from the fall.
"There ya go!" She carried her friend over to an open area of the room, laying her gently down on the floor. "C'mon, sugarcube. Wake up."
Rainbow didn't stir.
"Hey." AJ's voice grew heavy with worry. "Dash?"
She patted her friend's cheek with a hoof.
"Don't... don't do this to me, c'mon."
She placed her hooves to the sides of Rainbow's head and started shaking.
"This ain't funny! Wake up, ya lazy pegasus!"
Dash remained still.
"C'mon! If I could do it, you can too! What? You gonna let me win now of all times?"
Her hoof hit Rainbow's barrel.
"Wake up!"
~~<82>~~
The storm thundered above her as rain poured down her coat.
Why?
Two stone slabs stood in front of her, one bigger than the other. The dirt in front of the bigger one had been dug out, its contents desecrated.
Why did this happen?
The two bodies in front of her were soaked, lying on the grass. One had long ago turned cold. The other suffered the backlash of an unfinished spell.
Why do things like this happen at all?
The book lay open on the ground. Its pages danced in the wind, never getting wet or tarnished by the rain that washed over them. A light blue glow covered the cursed thing, remnants of a spell with too little magic to fuel it.
Twilight took a deep breath, trying to calm herself as she stepped up to the door behind the scene.
The last one, she assumed.
Her horn shone for an instant, and the door cracked open.
~~<82>~~
"W-what?"
Applejack's head shot up at the sound of the raspy voice. "Rainbow...?"
"AJ? Where are—ow, my head!"
"Rainbow!"
Applejack threw herself over the bleary-eyed pegasus.
"Ack! H-hey! Cut it out!" Dash tried to pry her off with her hooves to no avail. "When'd you get so mushy on me?"
"I thought you'd never wake up, sugarcube." She sniffed and wiped her eyes dry, releasing her friend from the crushing hug. "Heh, had a nice dream?"
Rainbow stood and stretched her aching muscles. "It was pretty good, up to a point. But why was I sleeping anyway? And what..." Her eyes fell on the crystal prisons. "What are those things?"
"Well, I bet I don't know much more than you do, but I can try to tell ya what's been happenin' with me."
~~<82>~~
She was not surprised by who she found behind that door. Not after everything she'd seen.
The large pillar in the middle of the room—in which the unconscious mare was half encased—did make for quite a sight, though. She marveled as pulses of magical energy ran towards it through the azure tinted crystals jutting out from the floor and ceiling, adding to the soft glow that permeated the environment.
She noticed the ethereal bridge she stood upon and began crossing it with some trepidation, as if a loud enough sound would disrupt the spectacle around her.
As if it would awaken the dreamer from her sleep.
Exhaustion was starting to weigh heavily on her, both from maintaining active defenses for so long and the fact that she felt she'd been walking for hours—which was probably right.
At the other end of the bridge, she reached the exposed upper half of the unicorn that had been the cause of the palace's appearance.
She'd seen her before, of course, a couple of years prior. However, with her newfound knowledge, she couldn't help but look at the boastful mare in a different light.
A very blue light, which complemented her well.
She managed a sad smile. Her surroundings were beautiful and peaceful, and she had no problem admitting that she wished to enjoy them for a bit longer after everything she'd just seen.
So she did.
She allowed her eyes to close and her body to lie upon the floor that wasn't a floor.
She stayed like that for quite a while, letting the din of the crystals wash over her, humming a sweet lullaby of long and entrancing notes.
Still, she knew not to indulge in it much. It would be foolish to have come so far, just to fail out of tiredness.
Looking down, she confirmed the location of the open book at the base of the pillar.
She sighed and lifted her gaze again. "I don't know how it fell into your hooves. And I don't know who could've been so heinous as to give it to your father. What I do know is that I wish I could give you more time with them."
Her horn lit up and a tear rolled down her cheek.
"I'm sorry, but it's time to wake up."
~~<82>~~
"And then ya came to," AJ finished.
Rainbow opened her mouth to speak, but she paused and flicked one of her ears. "Hey..." She narrowed her eyes and looked up at the ceiling. "You hear that?"
Applejack stood at attention as she started to pick up a faint rumble in the distance. She frowned as it slowly grew louder, and the floor beneath them started to tremble.
"What's happening?!" Rainbow began hovering, looking around at the shaking room.
"Do I look like a pony who can answer that?!"
Large cracks appeared on the walls, spreading towards the shattering windows.
"Rainbow, watch out!"
Following Applejack's gaze, Dash looked up in time to see a huge chunk of the ceiling falling on top of her.
She froze as the mass of stone closed in, taking up her entire field of view.
She flinched and closed her eyes.
Something blue flashed beyond her eyelids.
And then...
Nothing.
Grimacing, she slowly opened an eye. "AJ? Am I dead?"
"No, sugarcube. Look!"
With both eyes wide open, she saw as several more chunks of the ceiling fell around the room. She also saw how none of them reached the floor, dissolving into something that looked like mist in mid-air after a flash of blue.
"She did it..." Applejack whispered, before breaking out into a grin. "She did it! Twilight must've made it!"
Dash slumped forwards, a tired smirk on her lips. "We're never gonna hear the end of this. Looks like she didn't need us after—"
"Twilight!"
The panic in AJ's voices made Rainbow snap her head up. She saw their friend falling through a huge hole in the ceiling—eyes closed and body limp—along with hundreds of crystal shards.
She was off in an instant.
The air whistled past her ears as she faintly heard Applejack shout behind her, "There's another pony up there!"
Looking past Twilight, she noticed the outline of the other body.
"I got them!"
Her wings pushed her through a familiar pain, the one that told her she'd reached her limit. Every inch of her being ached, she felt tired and hungry, but none of that mattered. Maybe it would have if she'd been dodging deadly weapons for fun. Maybe it would have if she was escaping a tornado.
But this was different. She was flying to help a friend.
She reached a high point and started her descent. She knew that Twilight wouldn't survive if she just caught her from below.
Lining up her targets, she closed in quickly, seeing the floor rapidly approaching.
An image of a white coat and three blue gems flashed through her mind.
She could make it. She had to make it.
It'd be close, but she knew she'd have enough time.
She stretched her forelegs forward as far as they could go.
Applejack screamed something in the distance.
She could see their shadows growing bigger on the floor.
She was so close.
"Twilight!"
~~<82>~~
Her eyes opened slowly.
The surface she was resting on shifted in steady, repetitive motions. It was also soft and warm. She recognized it as the feeling of being carried on another pony's back.
As her eyes began to focus, she noticed her muzzle was buried deep in a blond mane.
She moved her head a bit, not wanting to lift it, and looked to her right. The pale blue unicorn was being carried in much the same way, resting between cyan wings.
A pang of sorrow shot through her.
What the mare had done would not go unpunished, be it by law or the princesses. Forbidden magic was categorized as such for a reason—no matter the intentions with which it was used.
Still, the spell had already done a number on its caster, making her watch impotently as her parents' lives crumbled around them. Twilight could only imagine what it must've been like for her, when all she probably wanted was to see them again.
Perhaps there was some way she could help her... or, at least, make her punishment lighter. She'd need to have a word with a certain writer once she got back home.
Yes, Princess Celestia would understand. She always understood.
With that warm though, she drifted away once again.
Into the land of dreams.
And now, a word from the author and his editor:
WN: I can't believe I made the deadline for this. I'm so tired.
VN: I'm guessing you had some trouble with your usual method this time? [You really need to use a dictionary when you're not sure of how to spell something. Seriously, do you even read what you write before sending it to me? 86 errors, marked in red.]
WN: You could say that. Or just be blunt about it and say it was completely useless. I had to sit each of them down and get the full story.
Much slower process, I can assure you. Although it was fun to see Applejack making sure that Rainbow didn't enhance the truth in her parts. [Corrected.]
VN: Oh, I weep for you. Celestia forbid you actually have to work on your writing.
On an unrelated note, did you hear anything about what happened to the mare? ["The lavender unicorn", "the lavender unicorn", "the lavender unicorn"... what are you, five?! Learn to use pronouns! I found several places where you could practice. All marked in red!]
WN: Hey, all I normally get are lines of dialogue, I do have to build everything around that, you know. Also, you're the one in Canterlot, shouldn't you be better informed? Last I heard, she'd been put on standby for her trial.
Speaking of which, the reports from Hoofington said that everypony was fine once the spell was lifted. They just woke up feeling exhausted. [Revised. You know, I'm not even sure if her coat's actually lavender or some other form of violet.]
VN: What I'd really like to know is where the Royal Guard was during all of this. [Trust a stallion to never learn the difference between shades. Tell you what, next time we meet, I'm going to throw a brick at your head. You'll have until the moment of impact to tell me what color it is—and you're not allowed to say "red".]
WN: You know that they can't leave Canterlot, unless it's to escort the princesses. This isn't a rare occurrence, either. Did you know she sent them to deal with a dragon once? [What if I guess wrong?]
VN: She sent them to fight a dragon? [You'll prove me right. And the brick will drive the point home.]
WN: Well, no, not fight. She sent them to... negotiate with the dragon. [And if I guess right?]
VN: Which usually means 'get eaten by it'. You know, sometimes I just feel that Princess Celestia should go and [REDACTED BY THE EIC]. [You'll get the satisfaction of proving me wrong.]
WN: Wow. I don't think they'll let us publish that. [...And the brick?]
VN: We'll see about that. [Oh, it'll still cause a massive skull fracture. I'm not that generous.]
