A Traitors' Reforming

The next morning came slowly for Twilight, she could barely sleep so instead she spent the night in a state of half sleep and half awake. But finally dawn had arrived and Twilight was ready to go straight away, except she wouldn't, as much as she'd rather not bring them into it, she had to say goodbye to her friends. Only problem was, she wasn't really big on lying to her friends so instead, she had to come up with a something that wasn't strictly untrue, but gave very little details.

"Spike? Wakey-wakey!" Twilight walked over to the dragons bed and gently rocked him with her the bottom of her hoof.

"Mmmm." Spike wasn't happy about waking up so early but their train left in an hour and Twilight had to say goodbye to everypony.

"C'mon Spike. We have to say goodbye to our friends." Twilight said softly.

"Uhh, fine! I'm getting up!" Spike grumbled, throwing the blanket over himself as he followed Twilight down the stairs.

In the kitchen four pieces of bread floated over to the toaster, from there they proceeded to place themselves in, and the lever pulled itself down. Twilight walked into one of the corners of the room, waiting for Spike to find himself a seat. The dragon walked himself over to the counter and hoisted himself onto the seat that he normally took when he and Twilight ate.

Twilight had begun pacing back and forth, while Spike watched, barely able to keep his eyes open. "Okay, so today's itinerary, seven o'clock: wake up, seven-oh-five: eat breakfast, seven-ten to seven-forty: say goodbye to friends, seven-fifty: arrive at Ponyville train station. That leaves ten minutes to wait for the train!" Twilight said triumphantly.

"Then?" Spike questioned.

"Hmm?"

"After we catch the train to Canterlot? What do we do then?"

"Oh... Um... Well, see, I hadn't really thought of that."

"Really? Twilight 'literally organised every minute of her surprise sixteenth birthday party' Sparkle, hasn't thought of what to do in Canterlot?"

"Uh look, it's complicated, you'll understand when we're on the train"

"OK, fine."

The toaster popped as soon as Spike finished speaking, which only served to punctuate the awkward silence that had arisen; Spike was too tired to talk and Twilight was too stressed. So they ate in silence.

Outside, ponies were starting their days, foals were getting ready for school, mares and stallions were getting ready for work. It was still pretty quiet, and very few stalls were open as Twilight trotted through the marketplace, Spike was half asleep on her back. Their first stop was Sugarcube Corner, no doubt Pinkie Pie was awake, Twilight could've sworn that pink pony never slept.

The store was slowly coming into focus and the more she looked at it, the more Twilight thought that it really was made of candy as what happened whenever she came to Sugarcube Corner, but she had never been brave to take a bite and check. From the window she could see an indistinct pink blur making waving motions. Twilight smiled at her friend; Pinkie always somehow knew when her friends where going to stop by.

When Twilight finally came within talking range, she called out to her friend. "Hello Pinkie Pie."

"Hi Twilight! Hi Spike! What brings you around Sugarcube Corner?" Pinkie responded, suddenly she lowered her voice. "Did Spike tell you about... the recipe?" Pinkie suspiciously eyed the area around her, and put a hoof next her mouth, so as to stop any potential eavesdroppers.

"Uhh, yeah, I mean, no, well he told me about it but he didn't tell me the actual recipe." Twilight replied, confused as to why it was such a secret.

"I just came by to let you know that I'm going to Canterlot, and probably won't be back for a few days." Twilight explained.

"Okey Dokey Loki! Why are you going?" Pinkie asked, her smile hadn't faded for a second.

"Oh, I'm just catching up with a friend I haven't seen in a while." Twilight responded, she hoped Pinkie wouldn't ask her anything else about her 'friend'. Pinkie's eyes narrowed as if she were deciding whether or not to believe Twilight.

"All righty then! Make sure you bring them back to Ponyville sometime! Have a good trip!" Pinkie said, her usual smile returning with gusto.

Twilight gave a very half-hearted laugh. "We'll see, he might have changed a lot. Remember Gilda?"

"I'd rather you didn't remind me...wait did you say 'he'?"

"Bye Pinkie" Twilight said, turning her back, hoping she adequately dodged the question. Twilight had already began walking away, but she could almost hear the cogs in Pinkies brain.

"This is already not going well" Twilight muttered to herself.

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In other places, Carousel Boutique would have stuck out like a sore thumb, but in Ponyville it seemed to fit right in. In the front window could see two shadows, flickering back and forth through the two front windows, occasionally the outline of a ponyquin would float around between the two. Obviously, Rarity and Sweetie Belle were fighting, or playing. Twilight could feel the distinction between the two become hazier the longer she spent with the sisters.

Walking in felt like she had opened a door into a battlefield. Feathers and ponyquins were strewn all over the ground and from the looks of things two forts were set up on opposite sides of the room, Rarity and Sweetie Belle each held one. Staring daggers at one another, it took them a moment to realize somepony had stepped in on their miniature war. Rarity, always the lady, stops what she is doing to come greet Twilight.

"Oh, hello Twilight, I didn't know-." She was cut off as a pillow found it's way to the side of her face. Suddenly red flushed the otherwise pure white unicorn.

Giving a desperate smile to Twilight she turned around to confront the filly who threw the pillow. "SWEETIE BELLE! WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT FIGHTING WHEN WE HAVE GUESTS!" Rarity screamed. The filly stuck out her tongue in reply. Turning back to Twilight Rarity continued. "Sorry about that, as you can see Sweetie and I are a having a bit of a tiff."

"Really? No way." The noise had brought Spike out of his sleepy state and into a sarcastic state.

"Oh, hello Spike, I didn't see you there." Rarity said cheerily.

"Hey." Spike said, angrily.

"So Twilight, what brings you here?" Rarity asked turning back to Twilight.

"I'm just letting everyone know that I'm going to Canterlot for a bit." Twilight replied.

"Really? Why?"

"I'm meeting a friend I haven't seen in a while."

"That's nice of you. Er...While you're there do you think you could pick up some of Madame Cocoa's Chocolates, they're my favourite."

"Sure, Rarity. No problem." In the corner of her eye, she could see Sweetie's eyes light up. Giving a small smile, Twilight said her goodbyes and left for Sweet Apple Acres.

As Twilight walked out of the store, Pinkie Pie began to hop towards her.

"Hi Pinkie."

"Hey Twilight." Giving her barely a hello Pinkie continued on, into Carousel Boutique. Just as the doors were closing Twilight could hear Pinkie saying, "I have the most amazing news about Twilight!"

"Uh-Oh." Twilight said. She contemplated going back but Spike cut in and something that made the decision for her.

"Itinerary." Biting her lip, Twilight remembered she was behind schedule and so continued onto Sweet Apple Acres.

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\

Sweet Apple Acres spread on for miles, she faintly hear the sound of Big Mac bucking trees somewhere amongst the dense foliage. Luckily, Applejack was busy taking a bucket of apples back to the house, so Twilight caught her when they met at the front door.

"Well howdy, Twi'. What can I do ya' for?" Applejack asked her southern drawl coming in strong.

"Nothing really, I just came by to let you know that I'll be in Canterlot for a few days."

"Is that so? Why are ya'll doing that for?"

"I'm just catching up with a friend."

"Well, I hope ya' have fun. Seeya" Applejack said, carrying on into the house.

"Bye." Turning around, Twilight thought she might actually be able to get out of here quickly, like she planned.

"Who are ya' meeting?" Twilight looked around to see where the phantom voice had come from, looking down she found Applebloom, standing right in front of her, looking like she expected an answer.

"Just a friend." Twilight said, internally cursing herself for jinxing it.

"Yeah, but who?"

"Nopony, just a friend."

"Is it a stallion?"

"How di- I mean, no."

"So who is he?"

"A friend."

"How do ya' know him?"

"How did ya' meet?" Applebloom continued, not giving Twilight a chance to answer.

"Why are ya' meetin' him in Canterlot?"

"Are ya' going on a date?"

"Oh my! Look at the time!" Twilight said, cutting in before Applebloom could continue. "I really have to get going, so...seeya!" After awkwardly forcing a goodbye, Twilight left in a hurry, she barely saw her as Rarity passed her, silently giggling to herself.

"Hey Rarity."

"Oh, hey Twilight" This simple interaction caused Rarity, to start bubbling over with giddiness and now she was openly giggling.

Blushing red, Twilight continued on, towards Fluttershy's house.

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Twilight loved walking up to Fluttershy's home, it always felt to serene, the trickling of water, the smell of flowers, the melodic twittering of birds. But the bright pink pony bouncing away from the cottage sort of spoilt the moment.

"Hey Pinkie."

"Hey Twilight."

By this point Twilight didn't even know why she was bothering, Fluttershy had already gotten all the info from Pinkie, even if Pinkie had added her own two bits, she didn't even want to think about what Applejack was hearing. Zebra Whispers if funny like that.

The door swung open as Twilight neared. A small voice came from inside. "Come in, Twilight."

"Hey Fluttershy, whatever Pinkie told you is not true."

"Oh, so you're not going to Canterlot? That's too bad, I wanted to get some of the pedigree pet food they have there."

"Yeah- No- Uh, I am going to Canterlot, but whatever else she told you is a lie."

"You're not going there to meet a friend?"

"Well, yes, I am going there to meet a friend."

"And he is also a stallion?"

"Well, yes." Twilight was suddenly feeling very bad for expecting her friends to spread gossip about
her.

"And he is special somepony?"

"No! He is just an old friend!" The feeling was suddenly gone. Peeking over at her clock, Twilight saw that it was 7:56.

"Uh-Oh! Um, really sorry about this Fluttershy, but my train comes in four minutes so I really gotta go."

"Okay, see you in a few days then."

Twilight had already left the cottage and was galloping as fast as she could toward the train station, as Spike held on for dear life.

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The train was just pulling into the station as Twilight and Spike came running in through the grandiose archway. The train station looked very great and extravagant, but in actuality it was really a big empty box with booths on either side and a fancy coating, the platform was wooden slats nailed together, with wooden supports underneath; presumably because the designers went over budget with the intricate outside and were left with little left for the practical parts. Twilight often found it funny that somponys are so fixated on appearance that they often forget to be practical with their goals as well.

The train conductor gave out his well-known "ALL ABOARD." Just as Twilight jumped onto the train. When they were safely on the train, Spike let himself down from Twilight's back, slowly and shakily.

"Jeez, Twilight if you wanted to kill me there are easier ways." Spike said angrily, shaking his claw in her face.

"Sorry Spike, it's just this is the first train to Canterlot and the next one doesn't come for another hour."

"Well, why couldn't we wait for that one?"

"I really wanted to find out more about this author." She said, pulling 'A Theory on Magical Mathematics' from her saddlebags. "Here, read this." Twilight said, turning to the page that held the author's notes. Spike rolled his eyes, but took the book anyway. As Spike lowered his head the train began to move.

After a few minutes, Spike lifted his head.

"Well?" Twilight inquired.

"Well, what?"

"What do you think?"

"I think this is a bad idea. Remember when I said Celestia stopped mentioning this guy when you were eleven or twelve? Around the same time and age this guy writes a book and asks you to some look for him quietly, this just seems like bad news. Besides this was written fifteen years ago, maybe this guy is gone or something."

Twilight was a little taken aback, she hadn't even considered that. But her mind was made up, she decided she would find answers, besides what was the worst that could happen? Twilight instantly regretted thinking that. It was going to be a long trip.ss