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Back in Canterlot

Author's Note:

Look! A new chapter for something!

Haha, sorry everyone for the wait. Writing has been slow for me mainly due to time restraints, but I've been slowly working on all my stories. I feel like this chapter was a little bit of a mess structure wise, but overall I'm satisfied with how it came out.

For my release schedule, I don't want to give any of you false hope. I'll try to get one out every month but we'll see.

Thank you all for reading and see you in the next one!

Twilight simply watched the wonderful gates of Canterlot from a far. It was bustling with ponies, some trying to leave while others trying to enter. Caravans and wagons, guards and carriages. There were a vast number of things coming in and out of the city.

It truly was the capital of Equestria.

“Still the same as always,” Twilight scoffed. “Well, I guess I was here just a couple days ago.”

“Woah, that city is huge!” one of the kids squeaked. “We get to go there?”

“Yup,” Twilight smiled weakly. “Unfortunately,” she added under her breath.

The kids cheered happily at the notion of getting to enter the capital of Equestria.

“I need you all to remain silent when we start to approach the gates though,” Twilight said. “Let me talk to the guards, okay?”

“Okay!” Some of them chirped, nodding their heads.

“Well here goes nothing,” Twilight mumbled, her horn igniting. A purple aura washed over her briefly before fading away just as fast.

“Why are you blue now?” A kid asked, tugging on her cloak.

Twilight patted the filly’s head. “Just a magic trick I learned a while back. Helps keep pesky ponies away.”

“Pesky? What’s that mean?” The filly asked, tilting her head slightly.

“Pesky is similar to annoying or bothersome,” Twilight explained. “Some ponies just want to bother me for some reason.”

“Why would anypony want to do that? You’re awesome!”

Twilight shrugged. “They have their reasons.”

Tossing her hood on, she ushered the kids to follow behind her. Reaching the path to the gate, they approached the tall walls of Canterlot. The top of the walls were lined with a couple guards, surveying the ponies coming in and out of the city.

Twilight kept her face hidden with her hood. Even with her disguise, there was a slight chance that somepony would recognize her face. Even if the possibility was inconceivable, there was no harm in being too careful. Thankfully the line had died down, allowing her to reach the gate in mere minutes, away from the eyes of the guards above.

“Halt,” one of the three guards commanded her. The other two stood behind him, covering the gate with their spears. “Name and reason of visit, please.”

“My name is Sapphire Glow and I’m here because I have business with the hall,” Twilight answered.

“What kind of business?” The guard eyed her.

“I don’t need to tell you the specifics of my business, I know my rights. I have a letter from the mayor of Ponyville if you would like to see it,” Twilight countered, smirking.

“No, that’s fine,” The guard grumbled. Looking past her, he eyed the kids. “What’s with all the children?”

“Ah, yes,” Twilight mentally slapped her forehead. She had completely forgotten about them somehow! “Well, you see, when I was traveling here from Ponyville, I came across a bandit camp. I was traveling with some of my companions, so we decided that it would be good to get rid of them before they tried to attack travelers.”

“We took it into our hooves, easily wiping them out. After clearing the camp, we came across cages and cages filled with children. It was sickening.” Twilight paused, pretending to calm herself down. Taking deep breaths and wiping her eyes, she let out a long sigh.

“So we decided to bring them here to Canterlot to see if anypony could help find their families. Do you know anywhere that could help me out with that?”

The guard smiled. “You can leave the children with us,” The guard simply said. “We’ll be sure to find their families. Also, I’d like to thank you and your companions for doing such a noble thing. I will be sure that her majesty hears of this.”

“Though, where are your friends?”

“They had business in another town not too far from here, so they decided to stop there first,” Twilight said. “They won’t be here for a couple weeks I believe.”

“That’s too bad. Well, if you do see them again, say that the royal guards and her majesty thank them.”

“Will do,” Twilight nodded. Turning to the children, they were staring at her with sad eyes. “W-What’s wrong?”

“Y-Y-You’re not going t-t-to leave us, are you?” one of them stuttered through sniffles. The child’s eyes were glossy and wet in the corners.

“I’m sorry, but I have to,” Twilight brushed the filly’s mane gently with her hoof. “I still have some things I have to do and can’t look after all of you. Plus, you might be able to see your family again! Isn’t that great?”

The child nodded, though their head was drooping. Sniffling, tears dripped onto the floor.

“Hey, don’t cry,” Twilight frowned, placing a hoof under her chin. Lifting her head up, Twilight smiled at her. “I know it’s going to be hard, but this is for the best, okay? I know you’re all strong, wonderful ponies. I also know that your families miss you a lot, so don’t make them wait, okay?”

The filly nodded before surprising Twilight with a hug. Twilight sighed, rubbing the child’s back as she returned the hug. After releasing the filly, she stood in front of all the children, who were in a similar state as the filly.

“I know you’re all going to grow up to be wonderful ponies,” Twilight grinned. “So live the best life you can. For me, okay?”

“Ok!” The majority of them said, nodding their heads.

“Good,” Twilight nodded back, content all over her face. “Goodbye everypony!” She announced, walking into the city.

They waved to her as she slowly got farther and farther. Taking one last look back, Twilight could barely see their outlines. They were still waving, however. Twilight’s smile never left her face as she went deeper into the city.

Twilight strolled through town without a care in the world. She looked at all the stalls set up along the roads, as well as all the familiar stores and buildings. All the wonderful bookstores she used to visit as a filly. That one donut shop that she just couldn’t get enough of. It was like she was home.

But she knew she wasn’t.

Her smile slowly vanished and her mood dampened as she stood in front of a much too familiar building. Twilight sighed, her mind drifting back to her fillyhood as she stared at the Canterlot library.

A table off in a secluded corner of the library held stacks and stacks of books. It was almost as if the pony sitting there was trying to build some sort of book fort.

A young Twilight sat in the middle of all the books, her eyes darting from one side of the book to another, followed by a quick flip. This continued for a while until her body forced her to blink, causing her to lose her concentration.

Shaking her head, she put the book down and blinked a couple more times. Her eyes felt heavy. Stretching her body out, she heard some pops and cracks. She let out a long sigh.

“I wonder what time it is,” She said to herself, looking around her for a clock. However, all she could see were books. “Whoops, I did it again!”

Looking around, she found a small hole underneath her, light shining through. Crawling through, she ended up outside of the pile of books. As she stood up, her head suddenly felt warm, her vision blurring. She felt herself wobble a bit as she tried to keep her balance. Her vision slowly faded, the last thing she felt was her body falling.

…

Twilight heard faint voices around her which were whispering something she couldn’t make out. Slowly opening her eyes, she stared up at what seemed to be her bedroom’s ceiling. Turning her head to her right, she saw her parents talking to one another. Her dad’s eyebrows were furrowed, a large frown on his face. Her mom, on the other hand, had a softer expression. Her eyes were a bit puffy from crying Twilight assumed.

Looking to her left she saw her brother and babysitter sitting there. Both of their expressions were full of concern, but seemed to slightly change as their eyes met.

“She’s awake!” Shining Armor announced.

“Oh thank goodness,” Twilight Velvet cried out, hugging her tightly. “I was so worried when I found you just laying there in the library.”

“You shocked everypony quite a bit,” Night Light sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “You almost killed yourself studying.”

Shining Armor frowned. “It’s not like we’ll stop loving you if you don’t get into Celestia’s school.”

“Yeah…” Night Light grumbled.

“Are you okay?”

Twilight shook her head, snapping out of her thoughts. A mare stood in front of her, looking her right in the eyes.

“Oh, yes,” Twilight fake coughed, averting her stare. “Just zoning out, that’s all.”

“I’d advise to lay low. The guards have been on high alert ever since that attack the other day,” the mare whispered. “I heard they’re arresting anypony who they deem even remotely suspicious.”

“That’s messed up,” Twilight mumbled. “Though I wouldn’t expect much from them,” She added under her breath.

The mare tilted her head. “What was that?”

“Nothing,” Twilight weakly smiled. “Thank you for the heads up, but I must get going now.”

“Of course,” The mare smiled back.

Twilight made her way through the streets again. Guards would often pass by her, but none of them batted an eye at her. As she strayed farther and farther away from the center of Canterlot, the buildings became more worn and the streets less populated.

Dark alleyways and beggars became much more common.

“This place hasn’t changed a bit,” Twilight grinned.

“What’s a young missy like you doin’ here by yourself?” A gruff voice said from behind her.

Turning around, Twilight mentally rolled her eyes at the three ponies in front of her. Two rather large earth ponies and a unicorn were grinning from ear to ear as they stared at her. They wore tattered black cloaks with their hoods pulled over.

“Just taking a stroll,” Twilight replied before turning back around to start walking again.

“Who said you could leave?” One of the earth ponies grabbed her cloak, tugging it backwards. Twilight sighed as she simply slipped out. Turning around once again, she shot them a glare.

“I’m really in a hurry, so give me my cloak and I’ll be on my merry way.” Twilight frowned, slightly agitated.

The unicorn snickered. “Do you even know who we are?”

“No and I couldn't care less,” Twilight said.

“Feisty, I like it,” The unicorn licked his lips. “Just come with us, and nopony gets hurt.”

The two earth ponies slowly approached her, but much to their surprise Twilight didn’t stumble backwards like their other victims.

“You guys really need to read more,” Twilight scoffed. “Like seriously, this is so cliche. A group of stallions ganging up on a mare in the bad side of town? How lame.”

One of the earth ponies stopped his advance, tilting his head. “Trope? Cliche? What do those mean?”

“I dunno,” the other earth pony responded, also stopping in his tracks.

The unicorn ringleader slapped his forehead. “She’s making fun of you morons. Now get her!”

“Actually, I’m making fun of you too, not just these idiots,” Twilight chuckled. “Thanks for the laugh, but I really have to go.” Igniting her horn, she started a spell.

Both of the earth ponies pounced towards her, intending to tackle her to the ground. However, as they were about to reach her, Twilight disappeared, causing the two to crash into each other.

“Ow…” They both groaned, one laying atop the other.

“Idiots!” The unicorn scowled. “You two, notify the boss and search for that unicorn!”

Twilight giggled to herself as she disappeared into the darkness of a nearby alleyway.

As the sun set, the streets became more lively. Ponies walked about, entering the various bars and taverns. Twilight slipped into one of the nearby bars and quickly made her way to the counter. Sliding two bits towards the bartender, she took a seat.

“What can I get for ya?” A dark brown earth pony asked as he scooped up the bits.

“A glass of beer please.” Twilight put another bit on the table. “And some information,” She added in a hushed voice.

“Comin’ right up,” the bartender grinned as he grabbed a glass and started working the tap. The golden drink filled the glass to the brim, a layer of white foam on top. Placing it onto the counter, a bit of it spilled out. Leaning closer to her, he whispered. “Now, what kind of information are ya lookin’ for?”

“I need as much information you have on a noble in town,” Twilight replied in a hushed voice.

“There’s a lot of nobles in town, missy,” The bartender scoffed. “Yer gonna have to be more specific than that.”

“Blueblood,” She bluntly stated. “All the information you have, name a price.”

“Are ya crazy?!” The bartender shouted. Everypony’s chatter died down, the bar becoming silent. They were all staring in their direction.

“Sorry everypony, just got a little worked up,” The bartender awkwardly laughed.

The customers shrugged it off, going back to their original conversations. Twilight smirked while she took a sip of the beer, causing the bartender to roll his eyes.

“Missy, be honest with me, why are you diggin’ into Blueblood? Do ya have a death wish?”

“I don’t need to answer that,” Twilight frowned. “As I said before, name a price. I don’t care about what could happen to me, just tell me.”

“Fine,” The bartender relented after some thought.

“Thank you.”

“But!” The bartender quickly added. “Ya can’t tell anypony, and I mean anypony, where ya got this information from. If the royal family finds out it was me, they'll have my head.”

Twilight nodded. “Don’t worry, everything will stay between you and me.”

“I hope so,” he mumbled. “My asking price is two hundred bits. I’ll have as much information as I can get tomorrow night, so make sure to bring the money.”

Twilight clicked her tongue at his price, but begrudgingly agreed. Chugging down the rest of her beer and throwing her hood on, she silently exited the bar. The streets were still quite lively. Stalls with all kinds of different things lined the streets, illuminated by hanging lanterns.

Twilight watched ponies trot up and down the streets, conversing with one another or stopping at one of the various stalls. Although this area couldn’t shine a light on the inner city during the day, it certainly became much better than it at night. However, it wasn’t safe just because more ponies were there. Kidnappings, theft, and even murder were pretty common, though ponies wouldn’t bat an eye to them. That’s just how they were here.

Twilight, however, casually strolled down the streets back towards the inner city. The stall owners would call out to her, but she simply ignored them. Entering an alleyway to escape the crowd, Twilight let out a sigh as she continued walking. Suddenly, she was stopped in her tracks. It felt as if she had just bumped into a brick wall.

“This the pony you're lookin’ for?” A gruff voice said.

Twilight looked up to the towering figure. A large unicorn, somehow even larger than the earth ponies she ran into earlier, was blocking her path. Taking a few steps back, she was stopped yet again. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw those two earth ponies!

“Yeah that’s her,” a familiar voice said, snickering. Stepping out from behind the larger unicorn was the other unicorn who tried to abduct her. “She’s quite good with magic so I thought you’d might be interested.”

“Good with magic, eh?” The bigger unicorn smirked. “Say, missy, come with me and we can have some fun.”

Twilight inwardly gagged. “Um, no thank you.”

His eye twitched slightly. “I wasn’t asking.”

“Well that’s not very gentleman-like,” Twilight huffed. “Not that I’d expect that from ponies like you.”

“Well good thing I’m not a gentleman. Boys, grab her.”

Twilight rolled her eyes, igniting her horn. However, as soon as she was about to teleport away, it fizzled out, allowing the earth ponies to capture her.

“What the hell?” Twilight muttered, looking up at her horn then to the bigger unicorn. He wore a smug smirk, his horn glowing. Her mouth formed an “o” as she put two and two together.

“Cat’s got your tongue?” He mocked.

“No, I was just wondering how an idiot like you could learn such an advanced spell,” Twilight chuckled. “Well, now that you got me, what do you want?”

Narrowing his eyes, he examined her. “How can you be so calm even though you’re captured? Do you have some plan to escape?”

“She’s probably just bluffing,” the smaller unicorn said. “Not even a royal guard could escape your magic suppression!”

“Wow, not even a royal guard?” Twilight gasped, feinting surprise. “I really am in a bind then, huh?”

“Enough with your sarcasm!” the smaller unicorn shouted.

The larger unicorn let out a hearty laugh. “She’s just trying to get on your nerves.”

“And by the looks of it, I really am,” Twilight smirked.

“Alright, enough fun for you,” the larger unicorn said in a serious tone. “I hope you fully understand the situation you’re in. There’s no escaping, so let’s make it easy for both of us.”

“You’re right…” Twilight sighed.

“Thank you.”

“Right that I’ve had enough fun!” Twilight grinned, igniting her horn.

“How the-”

Before he could finish his sentence, a light illuminated the alleyway, causing them all to become temporarily blind. As the light slowly faded, they looked where Twilight was.

“Where the fuck is she?!” The small unicorn yelled in agitation.

“She disappeared…” One of the earth ponies muttered.

“Oh thank you so fucking much,” the small unicorn responded, rolling his eyes. “It’s not like I have eyes to see that.”

“She actually broke through my spell?” the bigger unicorn frowned. After a few moments, he let out a sigh. “I think we should give up on her. She’s obviously somepony not to mess with.”

“Aww, giving up so easily?” Twilight taunted.

They all looked up to see Twilight on the roof above them, smugly grinning down. Glaring up at her, the bigger unicorn teleported up next to her. Instantly casting another spell, he shot a laser right at her. Unfortunately, all it hit was the roof.

“Did I strike a nerve?” Twilight giggled, looking over at the burn mark left by the laser.

“How did you break through my spell?”

“Easily.”

“That’s not what I meant!” He spat, shooting another beam at her.

Twilight winked. “I know.”

“There’s no way she can take both of us!” The smaller unicorn said as he blinked behind Twilight. Stuck in the middle of them, Twilight calmly stood there.

“You really think I can’t?” Twilight asked. “I mean, I was able to break through your ‘strongest’ spell easily. What makes you think I can’t take both of you at once?”

“That’s it!” the smaller unicorn growled. Igniting his horn, he shot multiple blasts at her.

“Really, that’s it?” Twilight cocked an eyebrow, easily sidestepping all of them.

“You better stop looking down on us!” The bigger unicorn bellowed, releasing a giant lazer at her. It incinerated anything in its path, leaving a large hole in the roof. Twilight was nowhere to be seen.

“I think you got her!”

“Whew, that was close!” Twilight wiped her forehead. Looking down at hole, she frowned. “Besides that, are you going to pay for all this damage, because I’m sure not.”

“You’re going to pay with your life!” The smaller unicorn said, shooting a beam that split into smaller, thinner ones.

Igniting her own horn, Twilight was surrounded by a magenta barrier which deflected the smaller beams.

“I’m getting bored, so I’ll just end it here,” Twilight said, her horn glowing brighter than before. Before the two could even react, a force hit both their backs, slamming them into the roofing. It felt as if they were both slammed with a sledgehammer.

The smaller unicorn practically threw up blood. The bigger one, on the other hand, was a bit more sturdy. He only spat out a little bit of blood, leaving a large crater in the roof.

“It’s been a while since I’ve used that one,” Twilight grinned, looking down at the defeated unicorns. “Now, what should I do with you two?”

They, however, did not respond.

“Hopefully I didn’t kill them,” Twilight frowned, poking the smaller unicorn. His breaths were ragged, but he was still breathing thankfully.

“Hey, what are you doing up there?” Somepony yelled.

Twilight looked down to see a few royal guards staring up at her. Their golden armor shone in the light, making them stand out among the crowd.

“Nothing, just dealing with some criminals,” Twilight replied. “Now I’ll just get going now!”

“Wait!” One of the guards yelled, but Twilight had already teleported away. Flying up to the roof, they were met with the two unconscious criminals.

“She wasn’t lying,” one of them laughed.

“I guess not.”

Humming to herself, Twilight casually trotted down the streets. As she trotted and trotted, less and less ponies were around her. Eventually she found herself on a desolate street besides the two guards in front of a beautiful golden gate.

“Ma’am, are you lost?” the male guard asked.

“Shush,” the female guard beside him nudged his side. “You’re supposed to be quiet when you guard!”

“I’m just trying to be a good pony,” he harrumphed. “Unlike a certain someone I know.”

The female guard rolled her eyes, turning her attention back to Twilight, who was giggling. “What’s so funny?”

“Supposed to be quiet, aye?” the male guard grinned, earning him a jab to his side.

Twilight grinned. “I just find you two amusing, that’s all.”

“Why thank you,” the male guard smirked.

“And I’m not lost, just touring around,” Twilight said. “I wanted to take a look at Celestia’s gem.”

“Are you interested in enrolling somepony into Celestia’s Academy of Magic?” The male guard asked with sparkling eyes. “I wish my son could get in, but the entrance exam is just too hard. Maybe next year!”

“Pfft, yeah right,” the female guard said. “The odds of getting in is one in a thousand. Like, literally. In every thousand applicants, only one gets accepted.”

“Unfortunately,” Twilight mumbled, letting out a long sigh.

“Well you can look all you want as long as you stay outside,” the male guard said. “Nopony is allowed in the school after hours regardless if you’re staff or student.”

Twilight weakly smiled in response. “Of course. I was just taking a quick peak. Thank you for the information.”

“No problem!” the male guard grinned while the female guard simply stood there, nodding her head slowly.

Walking away, Twilight took one more long look back at the school, a frown slowly forming on her face.

“Go ahead, Miss Twilight,” one of the proctors said. “Show us what you can do.”

Twilight nervously laughed as she looked at the proctors, then back at the dragon egg next to her. Shaking her head, she took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. After a moment of deep breaths, she tried to ignite her horn.

Unfortunately, the magic never came.

Minutes ticked by as she strained herself, trying everything in her power to just do something to the egg. The protectors looked down at her with disdain, whispering among themselves as they scribbled notes down.

This led Twilight to try even harder, but it was to no avail. Nothing came, not even a spark of magic.

“That’s enough,” another proctor announced in a cold voice. The other proctors nodded in agreement. “Miss Sparkle, although your effort and dedication is admirable, your magic skills are not. I’m afraid you’re not suited for the Academy of Magic. You may take your leave.”

Twilight’s vision became slightly blurry as her eyes welled with tears. Swallowing back a sob, she looked up at the proctors. “P-Please, just g-give me one more chance!”

“Your next chance is next year when you can retake the entrance exam,” one of them said scornfully, scoffing. “Maybe you should study more rather than playing so much.”

“B-But-”

“No buts!” he barked. “If you do not want to leave, then we will take our leave first!”

With that, the four proctors walked out, not even giving a glance to the filly. Twilight stood in the empty auditorium, falling onto her butt. Not able to contain the tears, she let out loud sobs which echoed through the room.

Twilight cried and cried until her tears ran dry. Her eyes stung and her throat hurt. Wiping her eyes and nose, she begrudgingly stood up. Making her way to the doorway, she took one last longing look at the auditorium before making her way to the courtyard.

Twilight smiled bitterly, breaking out of her daze.

“This is why I hate coming to Canterlot. All these stupid memories always come back,” Twilight mumbled to herself. After a slight pause, Twilight turned around and walked further into the city, towards the castle.

Walking through the dimly lit streets, Twilight’s hooves clacked against the cobblestone. Occasionally passing by a guard, she would give them a small nod before continuing forward. Eventually the scenery changed from city to housing. This wasn’t just your ordinary housing though, but housing for the rich.

Mansions the size of several houses surrounded her. Surrounded by tall gold fences, it gave off an intimidating aura. More guards patrolled this area, though they did not pay any attention to Twilight as she stared at the mansions.

Twilight slightly smiled as she stood in front of a certain mansion, the name plate signifying its owner. Taking a long look at it, Twilight’s smile grew more and more sinister. Turning her back, she laughed to herself.

“You’ve got what’s coming for you, Blueblood.”

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