Blue, part two: A shattered country

Creepy. That was the first that came to her mind when she entered the abandoned library. Twilight Sparkle has been in Canterlot for quite some time, and Spike simply left a few weeks ago for whatever reason. Meaning there was absolutely no living soul inside said library... perfect for a little break-in. She hadn't really come to terms with stealing, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Besides, it won't be for her.

She frantically searched the whole library, making sure she covered the windows before lighting a light. Sure, the chances of somepony being awake right now were one-in-a-million, yet she couldn't afford failure. Not now. If she can't find it—she found it. A small cardboard box, hidden in the depths of the wardrobe. She smiled, even if she wasn't particurally happy. She brought her findings to candlelight, proceeding to open the box. Inside was something purple; but what was more important: symbolic. The costume of Mare-Do-Well, from a time when the Elements trusted each other, and tried to right the little faults they had. Still, this particular piece has been discarded after only one use. There was a lesson to be learned there, but frankly, she didn't care about it right now.

She tried on the costume. It was a perfect fit. Practical, too, because it covers the muzzle and the body. Nopony will recognise her. Now, for the tenous part.

She spread out a few newspapers on the desk she lit the candle at. Even though the library was abandoned, the magazines and newspapers ordered arrived on schedule. She was a little behind on fresh news.

She skimmed paragraph after paragraph, ignoring the articles covering nobles and politics. She was interested in two things: the movement of the Changeling Containment Force, led by Applejack and Prince... Redblood; also responsible for hunting down escaped convicts, and gathering blue ponies for transferral to Azure City. Azure City was actually the second thing she was very curious about; nothing factual was revealed to the public around it. One thing was for certain: blue ponies entered. Nopony saw food shipments go in, either, or any reasonable supplies a pony might need. A thick, well guarded wall, with the Princess herself casting enchantments to be intraversible from above, and unscryable by any means. Of course, she found nothing about it.

She did find an interesting tidbit about her other concern, though. The CFF was currently operating near the Badlands, choosing to wipe out a changeling nest in a critical strategic position. Would it fall, the southern borders would be undisturbed by any type of spy activity; if proper patrols would keep watch for a change. Well, this only means the big guns are down there, so her little plan here in Ponyville would be mostly undisturbed. Hopefully.

She buried her muzzle in her hooves. What happened? Two weeks ago, four Ponyvilleans decided they should stick together, and get as far as possible from Equestria. Flitter, Cloudchaser, Cloud Kicker, and her. Even though the former three had ambigously purplish coats, they decided not to take a risk. The plan was for the escapees to meet up with Bon Bon, in a small clearing northwest of Ponyville, then they would escape together, for greater security. Something went wrong, however. Flitter, Cloudchaser and Cloud Kicker simply disappeared from the face of Equestria. She didn't know what happened. She ran away before them, yet she showed up at their designed meeting time, and place. Unmistakeable signs of struggle was all over it, yet no living soul was present. From what meager tracking skills she possessed, she concluded that they were loaded on a cart, possibly against their will, that arrived later than they did. They were ponynapped.

She had nopony on her side. Nopony, but Bon Bon. Would Bon Bon shed a tear if she died? Improbable. She swore, however, that this will change. She had one lead; one lead, that probably Flitter left her. She was always the smart one. Still, the clue was a crudely drawn pillow on the ground; if she guessed correctly, the pegasus skimmed down their assailant's cutie mark before they were taken. She knew the ponies of Ponyville. Only three adult ponies had a pillow as cutie marks: Silent Song, Etched Art, and Snore Stop. Great. Now she only needs to figure out which one took them.

She quickly put out the light, and pulled up the mask. She wasted two weeks, because she had to hide from everypony; if they caught glance of her... Azure City, hay hoe! What meager reconnaissance she could perform, she could only confirm one thing: two of the three possible assailants had cellars. No chance of narrowing it down to one, then. She only prayed that her friends were still alive.

She quickly skidded to a back alley, without bothering to close the door behind herself. If they discover the robbery... well, they will know that the costume is stolen. End of the line.

The mare hurried her steps. The night was so short, and she had to do so many things...

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Deep in the Everfree, under the ruins of the alicorns' old castle, an agreement was made. An agreement that made somepony especially unsatisfied.

"I am telling you to take me, too! You need me to—"

"No, Trixie, we don't." a bright purple stallion interrupted her. "You've already did your part: we look like a bunch of hippies from Woodstoke, which is perfect. Nopony will recognise us because of your disguising skills."

"Yeah, dudette." a red unicorn joined. "I mean, I'm pretty sure we'll only screw up 40% of what you predict we will screw up."

"Not to mention you're injured, too." a white pegasus with grey mane added. "Not going to take you just to put you in danger."

"Well, I—"

"Apparently, you are feeling well enough to wander out despite the fact that you somehow managed to open up one of your wounds. Not to mention you're not even disguised, so you'd have to maintain an illusion constantly to be unnoticed."

Trixie stared at Luna. Then, she sighed defeatedly.

"Fine, fine... I'm just worried. Try to be as fast as you can. It's bad enough that I can't help, not to mention Luna has to stay here to foalsit me because of my own stupidity."

"Even if you recovered completely, I could not have gone with you. If I cast a spell in Canterlot, my sister would notice it. Right now, we must remain hidden. Now go," she gestured towards the exit. "Go, and bring the Element of Generosity here."