Doing It Clean
The sound of a container of water hitting the floor prompted Twilight to slowly wake up, wiping the sleep from her eyes and feeling her face in the process. Her mouth and nose were inexplicably cold and wet, deceptively lacking in sleeping powder, and there seemed to be towels placed underneath the spot where her head had been resting. She took it to mind, but suddenly remembered that she was neither alone, nor at home. Quickly turning her head to look around, she saw several of her friends lying around her. They seemed to be asleep as she had been, though she could see a few of their noses covered with the familiar peach-colored substance they had been put to sleep with.
Seeing Princess Luna gave her some peace of mind, but seeing her doing such strange tasks caused her to speak up reluctantly. “Pr… Princess Luna?” The dark blue alicorn princess turned around, placing the rag she had been using upon the edge of a bucket next to her. “Ah, Twilight Sparkle. It looks like you have woken up, just as he said.” Twilight stood up slowly, not wanting to fall over and onto one of her friends by accident, considering how tired she still felt. “What happened? What are you doing, Princess?” Luna sighed to herself as she soaked the rag and wiped the nose and mouth of Sweetie Belle, gently removing a significant amount of sleeping powder from the filly's muzzle.
“Vanish put you all to sleep, but kept me and my sister awake. Apparently, Gather had started something, but Vanish wanted to end it.” Twilight looked around, seeing all of her friends still sleeping. However, several ponies were absent at first glance: Gather, Princess Celestia, Vanish, The Wonderbolts, Shining Armor, Princess Cadance, and Derpy Hooves. However, after taking a second look, she noticed that Vanish was placed on his side, back-to-back with Rainbow Dash and having brandished her wings, sleeping comfortably while the wings seemed to be moving on their own, cradling the body of their ‘real’ owner from the back of the stallion. She had missed him at first, because his coat and wings he had brandished were colored light cerulean; the same color as the coat of Rainbow Dash. Everyone was asleep, except for Princess Luna and Twilight.
“Princess, what’s going on, here?” The purple mare had several questions, but could see Luna unable to enjoy herself with her given task. Twilight grabbed the rag from the princess, and tossed the towel that had laid below her over to the side of the bucket, seeing Luna smile as she accepted the non-vocal offering of help. “Can we please complete this rather monotonous ‘chore’, Twilight Sparkle? My sister should be back soon, and can disclose the details when she returns.” The unicorn nodded politely, as she was told what to do, in detail.
Luna sighed with relief as she recalled the essentials of the given task. “Alright, let me explain what to do. First, soak the rag. After squeezing it to remove any excess water, gently wipe the face of everypony here, specifically the nose, eyes, and mouth. Once done, place the towel under their face so it can catch any excess water that drips down from their heads. We need to get this done soon, as it has been several hours since you were put to sleep by that strange substance. Tend to Rarity, please. I need to put a towel under this filly’s head.” Twilight nodded as she understood her appointed task. This was hardly a test of endurance or magic; it was clean-up duty. Regardless, Twilight couldn't understand why Princess Luna would do this herself. “Princess, why not ask some guards to do this?” The regal alicorn turned around, having placed a towel under Sweetie Belle to catch any run-off water that fell from her face.
Turning around, Luna responded to Twilight's question. “Vanish mentioned how the guards would be ‘witnesses’. He could only risk directly asking for help from me and my sister; nopony else.” Twilight began wiping the peach-colored substance from her fellow unicorn’s face, which was easy to do, given how her friend's coat was not only well-groomed, but also white, making it easy to see where the powder was. “But you asked for my help, right?” Luna grabbed a second rag and had begun soaking it. “I suppose, but Vanish also stated the order in which you were to each be woken up.”
“‘Order’?” Twilight didn’t like the sound of that word, at least not in this particular context. “Indeed: First you, then Rarity and Sweetie Belle, then Fluttershy, then Applejack and Apple Bloom, then Scootaloo, and finally Pinkie Pie.” Luna paused for a moment. “By around that point in time, Rainbow Dash and Vanish should wake up by themselves.” Luna began wiping the face of Fluttershy, as Twilight heard the sound of a door being shut in the distance. Turning around to face the other room, she noticed a couple of things: The large burlap bags of bits were gone from the reception hall, and Princess Celestia and Spike were walking towards the Wedding Hall.
“TWILIGHT!” Spike began running over, but was picked up by Princess Celestia with her magic, and turned towards her as she raised her hoof to her muzzle. “Shh!” Spike gave a sheepish grin of embarrassment, before being gently placed back on the floor, and running towards his friend, keeping his voice low in tone. “Twilight, thank goodness you’re alright. I was so worried after waking up at the hospital.” Twilight couldn’t let such a statement go by without asking for details. “You mean the one in Ponyville? … Oh!” Twilight had been so busy that she had forgotten to ask about the baby dragon’s condition. “Spike, how are you feeling after what Vanish did?”
Spike rubbed his head and frowned. “Ugh, I was so careless and weak. I didn’t see it coming at all. I couldn’t even send the princess your message! I woke up in the hospital a couple of hours ago, and immediately got a letter sent from the princess that told me to head here! The doctors told me that the damage wasn’t too severe, but wouldn’t let me leave without an escort.” The purple, scaled assistant smiled as he looked up to Princess Celestia, who loomed over him as he continued explaining how things had been for him. “Thankfully, a couple of guards came to the Hospital with a chariot that had been sent in order to take me to the castle. I just got to Canterlot about an hour ago and was greeted by the princess, herself. She wanted me to help her write something, though I don’t quite understand it.”
Twilight looked up at her mentor, the latter of whom closed their eyes. “Luna already told you about the situation?” Twilight shook her head. “A little, but she told me to ask you.” The ponies kept their voices low in tone, so as to not disturb those who had yet to awaken, as the white alicorn responded. “I see. Very well, I’ll tell you what happened.” Princess Celestia grabbed the rag from Twilight, and began to soak it as her sister pointed towards Apple Bloom. “We thought Vanish was about to attack us, but he said that there was “no time to fight”. He told me that I must immediately send a chariot over to Ponyville to take Miss Derpy Hooves home, asleep and without her wings, though with a note telling her to remain in Cloudsdale. On its way back, the chariot would be used to pick Spike up and bring him to my castle. Upon meeting him, I would have to have him write ‘conviction papers’, and sign them as a witness. They were to be meant for the one who attacked us, as their ‘formal sentence’. I was told to make a choice on what to sentence him with: Banishment or imprisonment.”
“Gather…” Twilight muttered to herself, but Princess Celestia sighed in disappointment as she lowered her head, as well as the rag, wiping the sleeping powder off of Apple Bloom’s face as she continued her explanation. “I thought so too, but when I left to attend to my duties, Vanish spoke to my sister, it seems. With that in mind, I do not see Gather here, anymore.” As Spike noticed Rarity slowly waking up from her slumber, he ran over to her while Twilight and Princess Celestia turned towards Princess Luna, who spoke up. “Vanish told me that Gather’s fate was no longer in our hooves. I was to call several guards, and have them move the bags of bits to Canterlot Castle, away from the eyes of the Canterlot Elite. I was to instruct other guards to escort me and Gather to the train station, and I was to bring Shining Armor, Princess Cadance, and the Wonderbolts, who were to be taken back to the Canterlot Infirmary.”
Twilight placed her hoof under her chin. “Why the train statio…!” Twilight gasped, remembering a conversation Vanish had with her back in her library, as Princess Luna continued. “The Baltimare Prisoner Transfer Squad was there, with the Police Commissioner waiting at the station along with several other ponies in uniform. He took Gather from us, and thanked us for our ‘efforts on apprehending the criminal’, before promptly leaving on the train, promising to return for the 'evidence', as he called it. Gather never even woke up; Vanish had placed sleeping powder on his face to keep him from struggling against my magic.” Luna lowered her head. “I realized then, what he wanted of my sister.”
Rarity stood up, having been helped by Spike, and gave him a hug before using her tail to lift him onto her back, and walking over to Princess Celestia, who spoke to her off to the side, as well as Spike, while Twilight asked Luna about Vanish’s unusual plan. “But Princess Luna, why would Vanish ask for Princess Celestia to write those papers, if he knew Gather wouldn’t be here?” Princess Celestia had given Spike and Rarity brief instructions, as they set out to wake up other ponies, before she spoke to her pupil. “The papers... They’re for Vanish."
“Wh-What!?” Twilight dropped a rag on the floor from the shock, before running over to her mentor. “But Vanish was ju-!” Having become rather startled from the news, Twilight was silenced with a raised hoof of her mentor, before the princess spoke to the purple unicorn. “Please, not now, Twilight. Let’s ask him, once he wakes up.” Princess Celestia interrupted her student, who paused briefly before nodding slowly in response and turning around, looking at the artificial alicorn who was sleeping next to Rainbow Dash, silently speaking to herself. “Vanish… what are you doing to us?”