//------------------------------//
// Findings and Questions. 
// Story: Leading the charge. 
// by Watercolor the Pegasus 
//------------------------------//

Pinkie stared straight ahead as the group walked through the streets of Canterlot. Although her combat instincts had dulled slightly over the last few days, she found her head on a swivel. A quick glance to the rear told her that the rest of her companions were similarly alert. They had all been told to be on the lookout; this part of town was much less pleasant. It was the darker side of the city, on the edge of the cliff that held up the bustling capital. Those who dared go to the very edge found a wonderful view, but precious few ponies actually ventured that far. This part of town was practically a hub for crime. With how little criminal activity there actually was in Equestria, that was saying something. The rest of the city was a bustling metropolis, streets lined with the most elite shops and ponies in Equestria; meanwhile, this part was a gathering place for the most cruel operations and ponies in Equestria.

That was why it had surprised them all to learn that the Twilight Sparkle they had been looking for lived here.

Pinkie thought back to the records Princess Celestia had shown them. Twilight Sparkle's school records, from when she was in Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. They had all been dumbstruck. Not only did the records list her as a unicorn, but it also said she had no cutie mark. She had also gotten kicked out of the school for not being able to extract enough magic, and that when she could, it was completely out of control.

Pinkie couldn't believe it. How…how could the pony Applejack had seen as an Alicorn, the one who had magic powerful enough to travel through time-as well as knowledge of things that had been and yet not been-have been kicked out of a school of magic?

"Alright. I think this is it."

Pinkie looked up from her thoughts at the sound of Rarity's voice. They found themselves standing in front of a horribly tattered and torn building. It looked like a single tap would make it collapse. On the door was a set of locks, though by the looks of them, they didn't serve much of a purpose.

"This is it?" Rainbow asked, voicing what Pinkie was sure they all thought.

"Well, this is the address." Rarity responded, a slight strain to her voice.

"It looks horrible. How could anypony stand to live here?" Fluttershy spoke up, sounding worried. "In this whole part of town, even?"

"Ah ain't sure." Applejack said. "Whatever the case, we've come this far. We can't just turn back now."

There were a few murmurs of agreement, most sounding strained. With that, Rarity lifted a hoof, knocking on the door.

Surprisingly, it didn't fall off. There were sounds of crashing for a moment. When it stopped, a magenta aura lit around the door handle, and the door pushed open, ever so slowly, with a creak.

"H-Hello? Who is this? I-I don't have any money, if that's what you want."

The voice was clearly terrified. It almost sounded as if the speaker hadn't slept for days.

Applejack quickly confirmed it, whispering under her breath, "That's her voice."

"We don't want any money, darling. We just a have a few… questions for you."

It was quiet for a moment, the only sound being heavy panting.

"I...You don't work for Brass Tacks, do you? I-I gave them what they wanted. I-I don't have to do anything else for you."

Rainbow sighed with frustration. "We don't work for any crime organizations, okay? We're here by order of Princess Celestia. We just want to ask you some questions."

After a brief moment of silence, the same magenta aura clicked open the locks slowly. When they were undone, the door pushed open a little more, revealing the mare's face.

She matched Applejacks description closely. A mane of deep blue with two strips of lighter purple and magenta. Her coat was a soft lavender, her eyes were a pure violet. Even so, her voice matched her, and she looked as if she'd hadn't slept for ages, nor had she ever cleaned herself up. Her coat had grayed- not from age, but from layers and layers of dust. Her mane looked the same way, along with split ends and loose strands, spilling out of a horribly put together bun. She wore a set of jet black glasses, with a few cracks splitting through the lenses, and her eyes had bags beneath them.

Her violet eyes scanned over the group, quickly locking onto Rainbow and Pinkie's uniforms, as a look of terror spread across her face.
"I-I-I didn't do anything wrong. D-Don't arrest me, please. I-I-"

"Darling, calm down. You're fine. We're not going to hurt you, and we're not going to arrest you. We only want you to tell us some details about yourself, all right? You can trust us, okay?"

She stood for a moment, panting heavily, before finally biting her lip and pushing the door open fully. "O-Okay."

The inside was just as big a mess as the outside. It consisted of one room, barely big enough for a whole house, with a single, bare, torn-up cot in one corner, a scratched desk piled up to the ceiling with papers in the other, and one small table in the center covered with ages worth of Chineighse takeout boxes.

Twilight closed the door behind them and took a seat at the table. There were no chairs around it, so she sat on the floor. Hesitantly, the other five mares followed.

Twilight looked down at her hooves, avoiding eye contact. "I-I apologize about the mess. I, um… don't get a lot of company. So... what do you want to know?"

"Well..." Rarity started. "You went to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, right?"

Twilight bit her lip, visibly tensing at the question. "Y-Yes. I did."

Rainbow spoke up without hesitation. "You got kicked out though, right?" Rarity shot a look at Rainbow, who simply shrugged.
Twilight once again looked down. "Yes. They said my magic was too dangerous and out of control… but… when I took the final test to get in..."

Rarity leaned in slightly. "Yes?"

"...they gave me a Dragon egg. They told me to get in I had to hatch it. I was terrified. I had attempted spells before, but never something like that. I tried. I tried with all my heart. But in the end...all I got out was a few small sparks. It turned out that the test was just to see if I had the determination to try. I got in, but… ever since then… I've always felt that it wasn't supposed to happen like that. I've always felt that something went wrong that day. I've spent the whole rest of my life studying… trying, desperately trying, to figure out what went wrong."

"H-Have you figured it out?" Pinkie found herself speaking up. This could be what they needed.

"No. All my work has been in vain. All I've gotten out of it is a few vague readings and many, many enemies."

Pinkie sighed. So close.

"One more question." Rarity said. "What do you know about... time travel?"

With that, Twilight perked up. "Well, I haven't really done any studies on it, but from what I know, there's only one spell capable of it, and that one only goes back a few days. Why?"

The other five shared a knowing glance, before Rarity looked back to Twilight.

"We think we can figure out what went wrong that day."