“Applejack! APPLEJACK! Wake up! NOW!!”
Applejack opened a sleep-crusted eye, and looked over at Pinkie. Ever since her sister’s death, her fellow Earth Pony had been by her side at all times, both the good and bad. In their time together, the sugary pony had worked her way into the farmer’s heart. She liked her. She would even say that she was beginning to love her. But what she didn’t love, was that her partner was shaking her in a frenzy just to get her to rise from her slumber.
“What it is Sugar…” Applejack said groggily. Pinkie had her typical look of excitement on her face.”
“Do you know what time it is?” Pinkie trembled with excitement.
“Its like…” she looked out the window. the sky was blue and purple, the stars appeared to be fading. “Gotta be six in the mornin’?”
Pinkie shook her head, “Its three in the afternoon!”
Applejack jumped up, flinging the bedsheets and her partner off her in the process.
“Oh golly, mah chores! Ain’t none of the chores of the chores done yet! Ah got apples ta buck, a-an’ chickens ta feed an steer ta uh…steer! Oh no, an’ Ah still got ta get the slop fer the pigs an’-”
Applejack stopped. If it was three in the afternoon…
Why was the sky still in Eventide?
She focused on Pinkie, who was leaned on the windowsill with her tail wagging in excitement.
“Its still dark out!” Pinkie giggled. “Maybe Twilight is going to be holding another big rave. And a big rave means a big party! And a big party means big fun!” she gave Applejack a joyful peck on the lips. “Let’s get on the train and down over to Canterlot!” she bounded out the door, only to pop back into the room a moment later, “Wait!! We need to grab the others. They can’t miss out on this!”
Applejack started to protest, but Pinkie snatched her out the door before she could protest.
-MLP-
“Twilight…um…could you open the door please?” Fluttershy asked polited as she knocked gently on the door.
“What are you guys doing here?” Twilight questioned.
Rarity rolled her eyes, “Dear, we can sit here and begin a light conversation through these beautifully constructed Canterlotian Redwood doors, but it’d be much more preferable to talk while we’re face to face. Please let us in.”
There were a few moments of silence before one of the heavy doors slowly opened to let them in. Twilight was lying in her bed with the curtain closed. The group noticed the room was cold.
“Sugarcube, why are ya sittin’ in yer room all by yer lonesome” Applejack questioned as she tilted her head, “Aren’t ya supposed to be doin’ some Princess things? Like…shuttin’ down Eventide an’ letting Celestia raise the sun?”
Twilight shook her head, but did not face them, “The sun will not be rising today.” She paused before rolling over to face them with tired eyes, “Celestia’s gone…”
The shock slammed into the group. Gone? How does one of the Princesses just…vanish like this?”
“What do you mean ‘she’s gone’?” Dash questioned. “Where’d she go?”
“When I woke up, I could see Eventide was still out. When I went to check on her in her tower and she just wasn’t…there…” Twilight rose out of her bed, “She’s been gone for hours.”
“Well then we need to go and find her!” Pinkie stated with cheerful determination. “It shouldn’t take long, and then throw her a ‘We Found You!!’ party!” she started bouncing in place, “Let’s get to it!”
Twilight sighed, “I can’t do that. We can’t do that. Look, the death of Eter-…Luna is still hard on her. She’s probably taking some time to grieve.” She summoned a scroll with the Seal of the Sun on it, “This scroll documents what needs to be done in her absence. All I can do is just follow the instructions until she returns…”
She pulled open the curtains and looked out and looked out at Eventide. Fluttershy stepped forward,
“Sorry for asking but…who cares?” the Pegasus started. “Who cares if there’s a paper that says not to look for her? We…we aren’t just her citizens, we know her better than anyone alive now, save for Disord…we’re her friends.”
Twilight looked back at her, “Fluttershy, we ca-”
“I mean, if it were any of us that disappeared, she would come looking for us-”
“No she wouldn’t-”
“Or at least send out some of your most trust Royal Guards-”
“Fluttershy.”
“Or maybe, we could try-”
“I SAID NO!”
Fluttershy’s ears flattened against her head and her eyes snapped shut. Dash was immediately taking a protective stance in front of her wife,
“What the hell is your problem?” Dash snarled. “Flutters was just giving ideas! At least she’s trying to do something, unlike you!”
“And what would you know?!” Twilight splayed her wings. “What do you know about being a Princess?! Please tell me how you would just fly off and go look for her, leaving hundreds of thousands of citizens confused and scared!”
Dash’s chest puffed out and she mirrored Twilight’s form. “I would do EVERYTHING in my royal powers to help look for a friend!”
“BUT ITS NOT HOW POLITICS WORK, RAINBOW DASH! The scroll was written and signed by Celestia herself! Do you know what that means?!”
Dash didn’t respond.
“It means that it’s a legally binding document. It is law! If I run off going to look for her and something happens to Equestria, it would all be on me! and I can’t send any of you girls because you’re all Bearers of the Elements of Harmony!”
“When has that every stopped us from doing crazy stuff?” Pinkie questioned. “I mean, we’ve went to go and fight baddies all the time! Remember that one time we ran into the Everfree Forest thinking we’d have to give up the Elements and we almost died? What did you do?” Pinkie paused, waiting to see if Twilight would respond. She continued when no answer came. “You ran into the forest and saved us!” she took a step forward, “Why has that suddenly changed?”
Twilight took a few breaths to steady herself, “That was almost 30 years ago, Pinkie…when we were still young and crazy, and I was still new to being a Princess.” She teleported over to her bookshelf and grabbed a dark green tome, “This here is a book pertaining to the rules and regulations of royalty.” She pulled another dark red tome from the shelf with her magic, “And this one talks about the Elements of Harmony and their bearers. It states that those who are able to bear the Elements, have been perceived to have magical attributes that surpass almost every other creature on the planet. You girls…out of millions of creatures across the world, were all born differently…all of you having magic that would challenge Alicornian magic. If the threat of serious injury or death was high enough. That’s why Rainbow’s skull started to fix itself before we even started working on her. Or, how Applejack’s skin started to heal her burn when we fought that dragon at the edge of Tartarus. If five are invaluable, and to me, irreplaceable. By the regulations of these books, your well-being is only surpassed by Shining and the Princesses themselves. That’s why you all can’t just run off into danger on an impulse anymore. And I’m sorry, but aren’t young mares anymore. Its time to settle down…let the soldiers handle the fights unless its necessary for us to step in…”
“That makes no sense, Twilight.” Rarity declared. “We all know that while we won’t live as long as you, we’re still far stronger than anyone here in Equestria. And yes, we are…aging,” she said with a shudder, “but I don’t need some Alicorn telling me how I look, and how my body feels! We’re not decrepit! The Elements are slowing our aging immensely! I may be 56, but I can confidently say that we all still have the body of a 25 year old, 30 max!”
Twilight sighed, “I understand what you’re saying, Rarity…but still, the scroll has its rules, and following rules is something that I used to do…and in this case will still do.”
Applejack walked over to her and placed a hoof on her shoulder, “Twi..please…let’s go look fer her…”
“I’m sorry…but things aren’t the same anymore. I’ve had this title for a while now, and am understanding the responsibilities that come with it. I can’t just go and do whatever I want. The subjects expect me to act a certain way, and I will not let them down. So I’m sorry, but I can’t go and search.”
Applejack’s hoof dropped to the ground and her face hardened, “Very well then. We’ll go look fer her while ya hold down the fort.”
The group turned and started to walk out the door, only for it to be slammed shut in their faces. They spun back around to face Twilight, who was staring at them with rage burning bright behind her eyes.
“When I said ‘No’, I MEANT ‘NO’!!” Twilight boomed. “None of you will be going off and getting into danger searching for someone who probably doesn’t want to be found! I will not be held accountable for the death of the Element Bearers, for the death of my friends!”
The rumbling in the room came to a halt once Twilight stopped shouting. Her friends looked on in horrified shock at her behavior. Twilight stared at them. They were her friends, but dammit, she was their Princess, and she would have their respect.
“Do you understand me?!” Twilight shouted.
They looked around at each other, not sure of what to say.
“DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!”
“Yeah Twilight…” Dash replied.
She stomped an angry hoof, “I AM A PRINCESS, AND YOU WILL ADDRESS ME AS SUCH! DO. YOU UNDERSTAND?!”
They hesitated for a few seconds, before slowly bowing to her,
“Yes…Your Majesty.” They replied in soft unison.
Twilight took more calming breaths, “Good. Now…please leave. I must go and speak to Cadence and Shining about Celestia’s disappearance.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” They responded once again. They turned and left without another word. The door clicked shut and Twilight looked out the window.
‘Your sky is beautiful. The sun and the moon will never rise again. Eventide will never be forced to go below the horizon again. Your time to shine is now, Twilight Sparkle. Your time to call this kingdom your own is now here. Take it. Take it, and never let it go…’
Twilight got a look of determination on her face, “Time for me to fix the damage Celestia has made…”