I woke up in my bed, sweating profusely. A quick glance outside told me it was just before sunrise, and... wait a minute! I was back in my room in the Castle of Friendship! How long was I unconscious for? I was almost sick again when I remembered in detail what I had just witnessed.
I quickly ran down the hallway to find anypony and ask them what happened while I was unconscious. I found Spike making his usual breakfast of toast and gems in the kitchen.
"Spike!" I yelled. The poor, unsuspecting dragon got startled and dropped bread on the floor.
"Agh, Starlight! Don't scare me like that." He complained as cleaned up the mess.
"But Spike, the Princess! Is she..." I stopped mid-sentence, forgetting what I had wanted to say. I tried to say more, but I was unable to form words.
"What about the Princess?" Spike scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Oh yeah, Twilight said there was something big Princess Celestia was working on, but she wouldn't say what."
There was silence for a few moments as I sat on the cold kitchen floor and gathered my thoughts. I was very confused, until I remembered the dream I had just had. The nausea I had almost forgotten about returned with the memory. No, that was no dream, though it was fading rapidly from memory just like one.There was a question I had to ask.
"Spike, what date is today?"
"It's June, 11th." He said. "Why?"
I wasn't sure of anything anymore. Was it all a dream, or did I somehow go back in time?
I needed to some way to confirm which it was, and I knew just how.
"Is Twilight awake yet?" I asked.
"Yeah, she already ate breakfast. She said she would be at her desk working on something."
"Thanks Spike."
"Sure thing, Starlight." He nodded. "I'd say, 'no problem', but next time try not to scare me, okay?"
I couldn't help but smile at his attempt to give me a stern look. It was adorable.
"Yeah, sorry about that."
Just as Spike had informed me, Twilight was sitting at her desk, with a scroll and quill held in her magic.
"Hi, Twilight." I greeted as I entered Twilight's personal study. It was the next room over from the main library, where Twilight would go to get work done. She looked up from her work and smiled.
"Good morning, Starlight." She glanced out the window briefly. "It's a little unusual for you to be up before sunrise. Is there something I should know?"
I pondered my response for a moment before replying, "I had a nightmare."
"Oh, that's terrible! Did Luna not help you?" Twilight got up from her seat and walked over to me. Her concern was written all over her face.
"Um, no. She must have been too busy helping other ponies last night."
"That's awful!" Twilight wrapped a hoof over me. "Do you want me to send her a letter?"
"Not just yet." I firmly responded. "It was just one night, after all. I'll let you know if it happens again."
"Okay." Twilight nodded somberly. "So, did you need something else? I don't mean to sound rude, but I do have work to do."
"Yeah, I do need a favor." I said before taking a deep breath. I had to be very careful with how I said this. "I know about the negotiations with the griffins and changelings."
Twilight's eyes widened. "You do? B-but how?"
"Let's just say I accidentally read something I probably shouldn't have." I lied, using the first excuse that came to mind. I was right. So I was in a time loop, because I shouldn’t have known that. If that was the case, I had to act. "But that's not why I'm bringing this up. I need you to get me in the negotiations as a diplomat. I do have some first hand experience with the changelings, after all."
Twilight was quiet for a few moments while she thought about what I said. As a patiently waited, a smirk finally showed on her face.
"All right, I think I can manage to get you involved, at least for a personal testimony."
"Thanks Twilight!" I hugged her briefly before trotting for the door. I paused as I remembered one more detail. "Oh, and can you arrange so Trixie can come with me? Her birthday is coming up, and I'd like it if I could bring her to Canterlot. She likes it there."
Twilight rolled her eyes. "This is totally an abuse of my powers, but I'll try. I suppose I do owe Trixie an apology of sorts."
"You're the best." I replied with the toothiest grin I could manage. My buisiness finished, I left Twilight to her work. I had a few morning errands to attend to myself, and then my next stop was Sugarcube Corner. I had a certain pink mare to talk to.
*******
"Pinkie Pie, are you in here?" I called out, as I opened the door to Sugarcube Corner. Mrs. Cake was looking right at me from behind the counter.
"She's upstairs, watching the foals for us, dearie." Mrs. Cake so helpfully informed me. As instructed, I walked upstairs to the Cake twins' room. I carefully opened the door so that the little demons wouldn't try to escape as I entered. To my relief, it looks like Pinkie and the twins were taking a nap together.
I gently nudged Pinkie, and whispered, "Get up." Her only response was a grumble and something about cupcakes. I rolled my eyes. This wasn't going to be easy. Fine, then. I used my magic to open the door across the hall to the bathroom, and started the faucet. I gathered a ball of water about the size of a hoofball, and carefully brought it over. I dropped it right on Pinkie's smug sleeping face.
Of course, her reaction was to scream. I should have thought about that before I doused her. In an instant, not only was she awake again, but the twins were both crying and screaming too. We spent the next half an hour calming the twins down again. Eventually they fell back asleep. I led Pinkie out of the room and into the hall so we could talk without waking the twins.
"That was mean!" She angrily whispered at me. "Why did you do that?"
"I needed to wake you up, and you weren't listening to my voice." I looked down and pinned my ears back apologetically. "I didn't think it through, sorry."
Pinkie just stared at me for a few agonizing seconds before perking right back up to her usual cheerful self. "Apology accepted, Starlight." She held out a hoof. I bumped it, and received an immediate and somewhat painful shock. I yelped, but managed to keep my voice down. Pinkie Pie just giggled. "And that's what you get for dropping cold water on my face!"
"Ok, I deserved that." I admitted. "But really, I need to talk to you."
I explained my plans for a 'prank' to her. I could swear her grin got wider with every word. By the time I finished, she was nodding at me furiously. Now, I should probably explain in case someone else is reading this, but this was no prank. This was my plan to save Celestia, assuming I really had knowledge of the future, and I wasn't going crazy. The talk I had earlier with Twilight had given me a little confidence, though.
I had instructed Pinkie Pie to mess with the food that would be provided at the signing ceremony. The most important parts were that she would ruin the tea that Celestia would order, and she would very carefully control the food and drink provided at the event. My hope was that with her help, we would catch the would-be assassin.
*******
By the time I headed back to the castle in the afternoon, it seemed that my plan was already working. There was a royal chariot there to pick me up, and I instantly recognized the faces of the pegasi stallions. With confidence, I walked right up to them, and they seemed to notice me approaching.
We spoke briefly, and once they were satisfied with checking my identity, they loaded me in the chariot. Trixie was apparently being given a free train ticket to Canterlot and would meet me there later today. Despite not normally getting motion sick, I felt rather ill as we traveled. I tried my best not to look out the window of the chariot, as each time I did I only felt the same severe nausea I had when I woke up in the morning.
The chariot made it to Canterlot in decent time. Thank Celestia for that. For a while I thought I was going to be sick all over the plushy insides of the royal chariot. I carefully stepped outside, back on solid ground and took deep breaths. The nausea finally subsided, and I thanked the royal guard ponies for pulling the chariot.
I looked at the nearby street clock, which read just after 2 pm. I still had a few hours before Trixie would arrive, and I had information to gather in the meantime. I quickly made my way to Canterlot Castle. Of course, the guards there stopped me, as they should.
"Halt!" One yelled, blocking the way with his spear. "What business do you have in the castle?"
"I have been summoned by the Princess as a sort of diplomat." I walked close enough to speak softly. "I'm sure you know what I mean." He eyed me very carefully.
"Very well." He nodded, "But you must submit for a changeling scan. We don't want any spies."
"Of course."
A few minutes later, I had been tested by a couple of unicorn scholars, and found to be definitely not a changeling. Once I had been cleared, they gave me an identification card attached to a string so you could wear it as a necklace.
"Keep this on at all times when in the castle, Miss Starlight." The guard instructed with a firmness to his voice. "We wouldn't want anypony thinking you're a changeling, would we?"
"No, of course not." I put the pass on. Before the guard could walk back to his post, I stopped him. "Have there been issues of changling spies?"
He looked thoughtful for a few moments.
"Normally I wouldn't tell anypony this, but you are Princess Twilight's student, so it's probably fine. A changeling was caught last week trying to impersonate Twilight herself. I'm surprised she didn't tell you."
I raised an eyebrow. "Really? That's quite bold of the changeling. Was it anyone important?"
"No, just some drone." The guard shook his head. "We suspect it was under orders from Queen Chrysalis, but we may never know for sure. Anyway, I have to get back to my post. Good day, Miss Starlight." He said before walking off.
My curiosity satisfied for the moment, I headed to my next destination: the kitchen. I wouldn't directly enter the kitchen, but instead carefully I walked the perimeter of the kitchen after asking for directions several times. The layout of the castle was surprisingly similar to Twilight's castle, except it had a barracks wing for the guards, and two personal smaller wings for each of the Princesses. Nopony asked where I was going unless I accidentally went somewhere I wasn't allowed.
The entire time, I was paying close attention to the servants. Particularly, the ones going in and out of the kitchen. They took odd paths through the castle, and it took me some time to figure out how they were getting around so fast. Apparently there are small, hidden passageways that cut across the castle lengthwise. If you didn't know what to look for, you would never notice them, but the servant ponies make great use of them.
When nopony was looking, I used a scry spell to see what the inside of one looked like. It was fairly dark, and very narrow. A great hiding place, as long as nopony opened up either entrance. It would also make a perfect place to ambush somepony. I also used my scrying to see the inside of the kitchen itself. As you might expect, it was a very large space, with servants and cooks rapidly working to prepare tonight's dinner. I noted, however, that it would be hard to do something to the food here without being noticed. There were at least twenty ponies at any given time, meaning that if somepony tried to poison the food here, they would probably get caught.
While I digested all this new information, I noticed that Celestia's sun had moved considerably in the sky since I had arrived in Canterlot. It was probably past time to meet Trixie, so off I went to the train station.
*******
"Trixie!" I exclaimed as I ran forward and tackled the blue mare in a hug. "I'm so happy you're here!"
"As you should be." Trixie said in her usual dramatic tone. "The Great and Powerful Trixie has come all the way to Canterlot to grace you with her presence."
I gave her a sly grin as we broke the hug. "Really? Is that the only reason you came?"
The showpony huffed, "Of course. Why else would Trixie take such a late train?"
"Maybe because tomorrow is your birthday, and you know I've been planning it for a long time?"
Trixie's cheeks turned a bright shade of pink. "Trixie had thought you might have forgotten." Her smile quickly returned. "Trixie supposes she should have known better than to doubt her Great and Powerful friend."
I put a hoof on her shoulder. "I would never disappoint you, Trixie."
"D’aww, you two are adorable!" a familiar voice exclaimed from nearby. I looked around and spotted a bouncing pink blur that was quickly approaching.
"Ah, you're here already, Pinkie Pie."
"Yupperuni!" the pink mare practically squealed. "We have to get ready for the prank tomorrow. You want to help us, Trixie?"
"That depends on what kind of prank." Trixie said cautiously. "Though Trixie supposes if Starlight is involved, then it must be a good one."
We spent the next two hours preparing for tomorrow's 'prank'. I also made a map of the possible routes a servant could take from the kitchen to the throne room.
"Well, that should do it." I announced as I inspected our work. It had taken quite a bit of effort to keep other ponies out of the loop. My plan itself was fairly simple though: control the flow of food to the throne room, and I would handle anypony acting suspiciously. To that end, Pinkie had brought her own party food, and would be replacing the food coming to the throne room with her own. The 'prank', was that some of her food was incredibly spicy. We had also explored the three routes to the throne room from the kitchen, and come up with a plan to cover all of them. I would handle one route, Trixie another, and Pinkie Pie would be bouncing everywhere replacing food when we gave signals. The third route was a windy route through the main hallways of the castle, and would pass by both Trixie and I.
"Trixie agrees. This should be a piece of cake, though it seems Trixie should not eat any tomorrow."
Pinkie Pie was giggling uncontrollably as we walked. "Yup! This is a great prank, Starlight, thanks for including me."
I smiled back at her. "No problem! Thank you for helping, Pinkie Pie. I really mean it, but," I forced myself to yawn. It wasn't hard, since I was actually getting tired. "I think I'd like to call it an early night. Tomorrow is a big day, after all."
"Okie Dokie! I'm gonna go find Twilight then! Good night!" Pinkie Pie said before bouncing off. I looked to Trixie next, who was still following me. We were outside of the room I had been assigned at the castle. She looked like she wanted to say something, but stayed quiet and didn't meet my gaze.
"Trixie?" I asked. "Is something wrong?"
"C-can I stay with you tonight?"
I hugged her tightly. "Of course you can!" I thought for a moment before adding, "There is only one bed though. Do you want to share?"
"Trixie does not mind, but Trixie also does not want Starlight to get the wrong idea." She finally met my gaze again. "Trixie is feeling a little lonely tonight, and wants to..." I didn't catch the last word.
"To what?"
"..to cuddle."
"Just cuddle?" I looked at her expectantly. She nodded. Okay, so cuddling, but nothing more. I could handle that. I opened the door and motioned for her to follow. "Come on then."
She smiled gently and said, "Thank you, Starlight."
I slept soundly that night. Trixie kept my bed warm, and my nightmares at bay. I really should have thanked her more. Well rested or not, nothing could have prepared me for the next day, though.