//------------------------------// // Trouble In Ponyville? // Story: Apart From The Pegasi // by KillerChainsaw //------------------------------// Hours having passed as late evening was soon turning into night, and eventually Lightning's 'little welcome party' had ended with pretty much all the guests from Ponyville saying 'Goodnight' and heading off back to their homes, while Pinkie Pie and Lightning thanked them all for coming and staying for as long as they had. Now only leaving Lightning, Rainbow Dash, Spike and Twilight still at the bakery together, as they had all offered to help Pinkie clear away everything. "You know you all really don't have to stay here, I can clean all this by myself," Pinkie stated to Twilight as she didn't want the others to all have to stay at hers later than they already had been helping her, "It's not like I don't love having you all here and I appreciate all your help...but it is getting quite late, and I don't want you all not getting enough sleep because you were helping me for most of the night," she explained, clearly seeming like she was a little worried for the others, and didn't want any of them to push themselves in order to stay awake helping her. "Oh no, Pinkie it really is no trouble, Right Dash?" Twilight smiled as she shook her head to the pink pony, not wanting her to think that she was being a burden to them at all, while she looked over to her marefriend, and sighed slightly with a smile when she saw the cyan mare happily just talking with Lightning as they both were working together to clear away the aftermath of the party. "We offered to help didn't we Pinkie? So there really is no need to worry, plus it's the least we can do for you," the Princess added as she just looked back to the pink earth pony again, ressuring her that they didn't mind staying here a little longer to continue helping her out. However just as she had said that, and Pinkie thought of protesting, Lightning and Dash came walking over to them both, "Hey you know it's gotten quite late, don't you think we should be going soon, Twi?" Dash asked her marefriend, which caused the Princess to just raise her eyebrow slightly, guessing that the cyan mare must be getting tired right about now. "That's what I just said," Pinike stated, and hoped Twilight would soon change her mind and agree to return back to the library like Dash obviously wanted to do right now. "Dash we can't just leave Pinkie to clean all this up by herself," Twilight stated, giving a slight stern stare to her marefriend, as it just didn't feel right for them to all leave when the bakery was still in the state that it currently was, to which Dash just groaned in return to. "But I'm tired, and Spike's already fallen asleep," Dash pointed out as she gestured over to the young dragon, who was sleeping peacefully, curled up underneath a table in the corner of the bakery, which caused Twilight to just sigh slightly, hesitating a little as it looked like she was going to refuse leaving again, but not getting the chance to as Lightning quickly chimed in, seeing if she could suggest a compromise of sorts. "Hey why don't you all call it a night, and I'll stay here to help Pinkie Pie with the cleaning up?" she smiled, as she caused Twilight to look back to her with slightly widened eyes, while Pinkie and Dash just both nodded in agreement. "But Lightning Dust, you don't need to do that, and- Twilight continued to protest as it seemed she wasn't willing to leave everything to just Pinkie and Lightning, but quickly got interrupted by Pinkie. "You and Dashie have done more than enough, and I can see you're tired too Twilight, so really it's okay, just go home alright?" Pinkie cut Twilight off as she smiled to her cheerfully, looking like she wasn't going to take no for an answer, while the other two were clearly also trying to persuade the Princess to just do as the pink pony had said and finally leave for home. Looking to the other three mares as she thought for a few moments, Twilght guessed that she really was outnumbered right now, so she soon just sighed heavily, and decided she might as well just give in to them all, "Fine, we'll head home," she caved, causing Dash and to cheer happily, as she was clearly looking forward to returning home so that she could make her way to her warm bed and have a restful sleep finally. Rolling her eyes in return Twilight just smiled slightly, as Dash quickly went to go and wake up Spike, and tell him they were heading home now, while the Princess looked back to Pinkie again, "Thank you for having us Pinkie," she said, causing Pinkie to just smile brightly back to her in response. "Thank you for coming, even though it was at such short notice," Pinkie chuckled slightly causing Twilight to do the same, as she nodded in reply, before she went walking over to her marefriend seeing that she was having a little trouble with trying to wake Spike up at the moment, while Pinkie and Lightning just looked on with small smiles on their lips. Pinkie and Lightning looking to each other as they both smiled, "I really can't thank you enough for this Pinkie, nopony has ever done something like this for me," the turquoise mare stated as she still couldn't quite believe that the other mare would do all this just for her. "Well since you're going to be in Ponyville much more often now, I just wanted you to feel welcome," Pinkie replied with a simple beaming smile, glad that tonight had gone well, and the party was a clear success, while Lightning just nodded back to her in return. "Yeah," The pegasus sighed slightly as she looked back over to Rainbow Dash and Twilight, her smile fading a little and a blank expression forming on her face, before she simply shook her head, and turned back to Pinkie again, as they both soon said 'Goodnight' to Dash, Twilight and Spike, then continued to clean up the bakery together once they were left alone again. Twilight, Dash and Spike now all leaving for their home, as they headed back from Sugarcube corner with Spike having reluctantly woken up, as he walked in front of the two mares, leading the way to the Library quite quickly as he just wanted to curl up in his warm and comfy bed right now, while Twilight and Dash were following him at a much slower pace, happily talking to each other as they all began to make their way back home together. "Come on you two, pick up your pace a little or it'll be the morning before we get back home," Spike groaned as he looked back to the two mares behind him, while they just apologized to him with slight smiles as he rolled his eyes and turned back around, sighing heavily before he picked up his pace again, and didn't bother waiting for the other two to catch up with him this time. Dash just chuckled slightly as she picked up her pace a little so that they could still keep up with the young dragon, while Twilight looked to her marefriend and smiled softly feeling like this was the happiest and most relaxed she had seen the cyan pegasus in quite a while, and only guessing it must be because of whatever had happened between her and Lightning durning the party. "So when did you become so friendly with Lightning Dust?" the Princess asked with a slightly raised eyebrow to her marefriend catching the pegasus's attention, while she just looked back to her, widening her eyes for a moment before giving the other mare a bit of a nervous smile. "What do you mean?" Dash asked, seeming to avoid Twilight's question a little, while she turned away from the Princess slightly, which just caused Twilight to smirk back at her. "Well you weren't looking at her with any worry or suspicion like you normally do, and you were talking to her like the two of you were suddenly best friends," Twilight explained, as it was obvious that she was surprised by Dash and Lightning's relationship suddenly taking the turn around that it had seemed to, while Dash just continued to look nervous, hesitating a little, before she soon slowly turned back to the Princess. "Well maybe that's because...I've decided to start putting my trust in her a little more now," Dash stated in a low tone, causing Twilight to widen her eyes, as at first she couldn't quite believe what she was hearing, not thinking that Dash would ever really be able to trust Lightning, but it defintely seeming like she would be willing to try her best to do just that at the moment. "Really?" Twilight asked as her eyes filled with hope, while Dash just nodded to her in reply with a slight smile. "She's proven to me just how much she really wants to change things with the two towns, and it's easy to see that she's willing to help us to get to the better future we've both been heading towards, plus to be honest...I think it's about time I stopped judging her, and started giving her more of the chance that she really deserves," Dash expalined with a smile, as she soon seemed much more confident with what she was saying now, and caused Twilight's eyes to go wide again, before they began to fill up with slight tears and she had to stop walking for a moment as Dash just rested a hoof on her shoulder, and smiled to her. "You know there's nothing to cry about Twi," she stated comforting her marefriend as Twilight just chuckled slightly, while she nodded, wiping her eyes and trying to gain back her composure. "I know, it's just...I'm so happy for you Dash!" Twilight smiled happily as she threw her hooves around the pegasus and held her tightly, taking Dash by surprise at first, before she soon smiled back to Twilight, and hugged her back. The two holding each other close and they both felt glad about how tonight had gone for them, as they leaned in for a light kiss. The both of them soon separating as they just continued to chat happily with each other, while they walked a little faster to try and catch up with Spike still, smiling to one another as they made their way back to their little home together. .... Early the next morning Twilight was stirred awake by the bright light of the sun peeking in through the slightly open curtains from the widow, the rays bathing the bedroom in a warm glow, as Twilight blinked once or twice, letting her eyes get used to the bright light that was streaming into the room right now. And slowly turning over in her bed as she yawned and pulled the covers over her more, still feeling a little tired as she looked to the space beside her expecting her marefriend to be sleeping there like she was every other morning, but then widened her eyes in surprise and suddenly sat up in her bed instead. Seeing the space beside her being empty, and quickly looking around the room, after seeing that the cyan pegasus was nowhere to be seen she sighed slightly as she looked to the empty space beside her again, 'Where's Dash? She's never gotten up before me, after alll she's not really one for early mornings,' she thought, before just guessing that she would get up and go looking for her marefriend, wondering just where she was at the moment. Soon coming down the stairs as she heard the sound of somepony in the kitchen, being a little of weary of who it could be at first, before sighing with relief as she saw just the pegasus she had been looking for upon slowly walking into the kitchen and dinning area, greeting her marefriend and catching her attention. "Dash, what are you doing up so early?" she asked as she came walking over to her marefriend, standing beside her at the kitchen counter, while the cyan pegasus just smiled back to her cheerfully and greeted the Princess in response. "Oh good morning, I decided to make breakfast for you today, since you always make some for me in the mornings Twi," Dash simply stated with a smile, as she looked away from what she was doing for a moment, just causing Twilight to look more suspicious now, having never known her marefriend to ever make food for anyone but herself really. "Okay...where did this gesture come from all of a sudden?" Twilight questioned, still clearly being skeptical about just what was going on with her marefriend at the moment, and trying to figure out just why she was acting like this. Which in turn just caused Dash to look back to the Princess with a nervous smile, obviously trying to seem more lively then she actually felt right now. "What do you mean, can't I get up early to make my wonderful marefriend a nice breakfast to show her just how much I care for her, from time to time?" Dash asked, raising her eyebrow and sounding like she was trying to sound annoyed, when really it was more obvious of just how anxious she was right now, causing Twilight to seem confused again, as she wasn't used to seeing Dash hiding behind a smile like this, when normally she would just close in on herself and shut down, whenever something was constandly on her mind, like how Twilight could tell something definitely was at the moment. "Well, sure you can Dash, but normally I have to really try to practically drag you out of bed to get you up this early, and you've never made breakfast for me before," Twilight explained, as she began to feel a little concerned for her marefriend now as she saw that nervous expression slowly breaking through from behind the pegasus's very clearly forced smile. "Exactly, you do so much for me Twi, so I think it's time that I started doing more for you," Dash stated, her composure quickly starting to fade away as it was obvious just how much she was actually bottling up her real feelings at the moment, causing Twilight to now look to her with a slight stern stare, showing that she wanted Dash to tell her just what was going on with her all of a sudden. The Princess narrowing her eyes as she caused Dash to avoid looking back to her, while she nervously turned away from her, but Twilight not letting her do that for long as she brought the pegasus to look back at her again a moment later, as her expression softened, and she smiled slightly to her marefriend, "Dash we've been together for a long time now, I know when there's something bothering you, and I know when you're trying to hide what you're really feeling from me," she spoke in a low tone, as she rested her hoof on Dash's shoulder in a comforting way, and encouraged her to open up to her a little, so that she could explain just what was going on with her. Dash hesitated a little as she widened her eyes slightly, biting her bottom lip and turning away from Twilight again, downcasting her gaze, before she just soon sighed, knowing that she couldn't keep this act up for much longer, 'I can never hide anything from Twilight, she always knows how to get me to speak my mind,' she thought as a slight smile formed on her lips, before she now lifted her head, and looked back to her marefriend again. "It's just..." Dash paused as she sighed again, shaking her head a moment later, before continuing, not letting her anxiety get the better of her, "For a while now I've been causing you to worry about me a lot, and I shouldn't be doing that all the time, it shouldn't have taken me this long to finally trust Lightning more, and it's about time that I started focusing on you more. After all I love you Twi, so I should show it more often than I have been lately, rather than always being paranoid about other things," she explained nervously, while causing Twilight to widen her eyes a little, before she simply smiled and leaned in closer to Dash. "I love you too Dash," she stated as she hugged Dash tightly and pulled her close, causing the pegasus to be a little surprised at first, but soon she just smiled slightly as she hugged Twilight back and nuzzled into her mane lovingly. "But you don't need to do all this for me, I already know how much you care for me, and I know I've been worrying about you an awful lot lately, but that's only because I want to help you. So...you will let me help you from now on, won't you Dash?" Twilight asked as she gave Dash a caring smile, while the pegasus soon just nodded in reply to the Princess as another slight sigh left her lips, knowing she should be more open with her marefriend about the things that were causing her worry, and let her help more often. "Good, now you can start acting on that, by letting me help you with making breakfast for us all, okay?" Twilight smiled as she pulled away from Dash and faced the kitchen counter, ready to start helping to prepare breakfast for them all, but soon stopping as Dash caught her attention again a moment later. "Actually...could you go and wake up Spike for me, please?" the pegasus asked as she gave a slight nervous smile to Twilight again, causing the Princess to raise her eyebrow slightly, "And in return I'll finish making breakfast for you, deal?" she added, hoping that Twilight would agree to her 'deal' and let her do this for her. Seeming a little skeptical at first, before she simply just smiled with an understanding expression and nodded to Dash, "Okay, I'll be back in a few minutes," she answered as Dash just nodded back to her in return, smiling slightly when Twilight gave a her a small peck on her cheek, before turning to leave and head up the stairs to wake up Spike, While Dash would continue to finish off making breakfast for them all. Dash watching Twilight leave her with a slight smile, waiting until the Princess was out of sight, as she now let a long sigh escape her lips, before turning around and going back to happily making breakfast for the three of them to eat together. .... The three were all soon sitting around the dining table just finishing off their breakfast together, while they casually talked to one another. Twilight smiling to Dash as she could see that the nervous expression she had eariler was now completely gone as she happily chated with Spike, causing the Princess to feel glad about the fact that her marefriend was back to being her regular-self again, and there was nothing for her to be concerned about anymore it seemed. Happily just looking to her marefriend, Twilight was soon however snapped out of her trance, as she and the other two heard a slight knocking at their door, causing them all of them to look to the front door, and then look back to each other again for a moment. Dash standing up from her chair as she headed to answer the door, but Twilight quickly stopped her as she stood up as well and smiled to the pegasus. "I'll get it, why don't you and Spike start clearing away everything?" Twilight suggested, causing Dash to just smile back to her and nod her head in reply, before she turned back to the table as her and Spike started to clear away everything from breakfast, while Twilight smiled to them both, as she soon turned and left to go and answer the door. Wondering who was coming to visit them this early in the day, Twilight simply opened the door ready to greet whomever was standing on the otherside, and being a little surprised to see a familiar turquoise pegasus standing at her doorstep, and greeting her happily with a her normal cheerful smile. "Good morning Twilight," Lightning beamed happily to the Princess, causing Twilight to seem a little taken aback for a few moments, before she simply shook her head and returned the pegasus's smile, greeting her back politely. "Good morning Lightning Dust, you're sure here early," "I know, and I'm sorry if it's an inconvenience at all, but do you think that you and Rainbow Dash could come with me to the market toady? And Spike can come too if he wants to I guess," Lighting asked, causing Twilight to look back to her with a questioning expression, wondering just what she was going on about at the moment. "Why do you want to go into the market?" "Because, I want to get something for Pinkie Pie, to thank her for last night. But I'm not too sure what to get her, you and Rainbow Dash could help me out right? You two have known Pinkie longer than I have after all," Lightning explained as she clearly was excited about this plan of hers, talking in a bit of a rush as she caused Twilight to just look back to her questionably for a few moments, before answering her. "I guess we could come and help you get something for her- Twilight answered after a short pause, shrugging her shoulders as she didn't see why her, Dash and Spike couldn't help Lightning out with this idea of her's, plus it was quite the kind gesture after all. However the Princess was soon cut off by the other mare, as she suddenly lit up, and threw her hooves around Twilight, surprising her quite a bit. "Oh thank you Twilight, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Lightning happily cheered and hugged the Princess tightly, causing her to seem surprised at first, before she soon just smiled nervously and hugged Lightning back, trying to pull away from the pegasus a moment later, but it not seeming like she was willing to let go just yet. "You're welcome Lightning Dust but- Twilight was about to question the turquiose mare about this idea of her's more, however was soon interrupted by her marefriend, as she and Spike now came walking over to the entrance to the library, wondering just what the noise was all about coming from there. "What's with all the commotion?" Dash asked as she and Spike looked to Twilight and were a little surprised to see Lightning, as she was still tightly clinging onto the Princess, while Twilight turned her head to the other two and smiled nervously to them both, guessing that they were most likely wondering just what was going on right now. "Do you two feel like going into the market today?" the Princess asked in a slightly nervous tone, which just caused Spike and Rainbow Dash to look to each other confused for a few moments, before they both turned back to Twilight again, looking to her with questioning expressions. "What do you mean?" Dash asked as she raised her eyebrow slightly to her marefriend, while Lightning now let go of Twilight as she looked to the other two with an excited expression, seeming hopeful that they would agree to come along as well. Twilight breathed out deeply as she was glad to be released from Lightning's crushing hug, and let out a slight sigh, before answering her marefriend, "Well Lightning Dust here said she wants to get something for Pinkie, as a thank you for the party she threw her last night, and would like our help in finding something for her, do you two want to come along?" she explained, as the other two simply looked back to each other again, both of them seeming to be thinking for a moment, while Lightning happily awaited to hear what Dash and Spike's answer would be. Dash and Spike simply soon just shrugged to each other as they turned back to the other two mares and nodded to them in reply, "I guess we could go for a trip into the market, plus it would be nice to see Pinkie afterwards," Dash stated as she and Spike agreed to come along on this little 'gift shopping trip' for Pinkie, which caused Twilight to smile to them both, while Lightning happily cheered in return, overjoyed that the others had all agreed to tag along with her to the market, and was clearly more than excited to head off with them all into the town, as they all just smiled to her in return happily, before they soon all left the library together. .... It wasn't very long before Lightning Dust and the others had found something to get for Pinkie as a thank you gift, only having spent a little over an hour in the market, before they were soon able to find something that Pinkie would like, and were all now heading to Sugarcube corner together, with Lightning carrying Pinkie's gift wrapped up in a box on her back, while she walked with a bit of a spring in her step, clearly glad that they had found something, and was excited to give it to Pinkie, but was also being sure to be careful so that the box contianing the gift wouldn't fall off her back at some point. Twilight was walking alongside Lightning, while Rainbow Dash and Spike were a little ahead of them both, leading the way to Pinkie Pie's home, "So what made you want to get a gift for Pinkie anyway?" the Princess asked as she looked to Lightning and gave her a slight smile, while the pegasus just looked back to her happpily. "I wanted to show just how thankful I am to her, after all I've never had anypony throw a party for me before," Lightning simply stated as she happily smiled back to Twilight, while the Princess just nodded to her in return. "Did you two eventually finish cleaning up the bakery last night?" "Yeah...well kind of, I stayed for a little while longer after you three had all left, but it wasn't long before Pinkie Pie suggested that I start heading home as well, and even though I did try to protest, it seemed like she just wouldn't take no for an answer. So I ended up leaving her to clean up the rest like she had told me to," Lightning explained, hearing Twilight chuckle slightly as the Princess had a feeling that Pinkie wouldn't like keeping the pegasus at her home too late, while Lightning just smiled in return to her, as they both picked up their pace a little to catch up with the other two, as they had both ran off ahead by now. All of them soon having made their way to Sugarcube corner, as Rainbow Dash knocked lightly on the door, all of them waiting for a response. However after not getting one for a few minutes, they all looked to one another as Dash knocked again, being louder this time as she thought that maybe the earth pony hadn't heard her knocking the first time. But again there was no response, which in turn caused them all to look to each other, wondering just why Pinkie wasn't answering the door, "Pinkie, are you in there?!" Dash called out loudly as she knocked again, while the others all seemed confused at the moment. "Maybe she's gone out?" Lightning suggested, guessing that that was probably the most logical reason why she wasn't answering her door right now, however just as she had said that, and Dash thought about trying knocking one last time, before deciding to give it a rest, the door opened slowly to reveal a very tired, and depressed looking Pinkie Pie. "Oh hello, what are you all doing here?" Pinkie asked as she greeted them all with a slight smile, it however seeming forced as her expression was clearly not one of happiness right now. Her normally bouncy mane was dropping slightly, and it defintely seeming like she was more than exhuasted at the moment. "Umm...we're here because Lightning wanted to give you something as a thank you for last night," Dash explained as she looked a little concerned for Pinkie, all of them seeing that she was not herself right now, and wondering what was causing her to seem so...disheveled all of a sudden. "That's awfully nice of her, but she really didn't need to do something like that," Pinkie stated looking like she was trying to act like her usual self, but it seeming like the others weren't falling for her act very much at all. "We know, but she wanted to so..." Dash trailed off a little as she really wondered if Pinkie was okay or not, as it definitely seemed like she was struggling to stay on her hooves at the moment, while she was leaning against the door slightly. "What took you so long to answer anyway?" Spike asked, as he also seemed concerned for the pink pony, wondering if he should ask if there was something wrong or not, since he could easily guess the kind of answer he would most likely get from the pink mare right about now. "Oh sorry, I was...a little busy you see," Pinkie simply stated nervously now as she turned around and made a gesture for the others to follow her inside the bakery, as they all did, wondering just what was causing the normally very energetic and bubbly earth pony to seem this depressed all of a sudden. Walking into the bakery the others now all started to see and understand what the reason was for why Pinkie was acting so unlike her normal self at the moment. All of them looking around the place and seeing that it had been trashed and torn to pieces like a twister had come raging through it all, the tables were all turned over and broken in many places, there was all kinds of food and drink thrown everywhere, coating the floor and walls in hundreds of different coloured stains, countless utensils from the kitchen had been broken and thrown around as well, some windows were smashed, and some of the walls were even kicked in, having big holes being left in them. Rainbow and the others couldn't believe what they were all seeing right now, as they looked around the trashed bakery with shocked expressions on their faces, none of them knowing what to say for quite a while, as Pinkie just started to try and clean up her home, causing the others to guess that that's what she must have been doing for quite some time now, judging by how tired she looked at the moment. "Pinkie...this isn't from the party last night right?" Spike asked nervously, being the first to speak, but not wanting to think that all this was like what had happened to the library a day ago, but clearly seeing that that was most likely exactly what had happened here. Pinkie just shook her head in reply as she sighed deeply and seemed like she was trying to keep herself from crying. "Pinkie, just what happened here?" Twilight asked as she came walking over to the earth pony, and rested a hoof on her shoulder, hoping that she would shed a little light on just what had go on here. "I...I don't know...I just went out this morning to get a couple of things from the market...and...and when I got back home...I...I found it like this," Pinkie explained, struggling to keep her composeure as tears began to fill her eyes and stream down her cheeks, hiccupping as she sobed heavily, while Twilight quickly pulled her into a tight hug, as the pink mare cried over her shoulder. "I just...don't know who would do this sort of thing. W-what am I going to tell...Mr and Mrs Cake once they return back home?" Pinkie questioned as she continued to sob loudly, while Twilight held her tightly and hoped that she could soon soothe the crying pony sitting wrapped in her hooves right now. "I don't know Pinkie," Twilight stated with a deep sigh, as she tried to comfort Pinkie, looking over to Dash a moment later, and giving her a look as if to say, 'What should we do?', to which Dash just answered with a determined look her eyes, and a simple nod of her head in reply. "I think it's time we got the Royal Guard and the Princess involved in this," Dash stated as she looked back to Twilight, who just nodded her head slowly and seemed to agree, while Spike came walking over and patted Pinkie's head and hoped to soothe her crying a little. However Lightning quickly came walking over as she heard what Dash had said and seemed awfully nervous all of a sudden, "Wait is that really necessary? I mean we don't want to cause Princess Celestia and the Royal Guard any trouble right?" she asked with a nervous smile, causing Twilight and Dash to look to her a little confused now. "Lightning Dust, this isn't like what happened to the library, there's more damage this time, and while I'm a Princess and am bound to have some ponies that don't like me, Pinkie Pie is just like any other ordinary pony who doesn't deserve something like this to be done to her home," Twilight explained, knowing that this was much worse than what had happened with the library and it was clear that some action needed to be taken this time. "That's right, plus whatever pony did this was probably the same one that trashed the library, so if we talk to the Royal Guard about it all than we have more of a chance to find out just who the culprit is, and make them pay for all the hurt they've caused," Dash added as she clearly seemed angered right now, and definitely wanted to start looking for whoever did this right away. "But...but we could cause more trouble if we do that and that- Lightning got cut off as she seemed to be totally against going to the Royal Guard and Princess Celestia about all this, obviously not wanting to get them involved in all of this, which just caused Twilight and Rainbow Dash to seem even more confused as to why she was so against them doing this, when it seemed like pretty much the most effective action for them to take at the moment. "Lightning all of Ponyville could be in danger if we choose to do nothing about this, so we can't just sit back and let the pony who is doing this get away with it all," Dash cut Lightning off as she spoke in an angered tone, it being obvious that she wanted to make the pony who was gulity for this pay after causing her, Spike, Twilight and now Pinkie Pie such pain. "Dash is right although I can prevent the library from getting trashed again, I can't just cast a protection spell on the whole town it would take too much magic to keep it sustained. And why are you so against us getting the Royal Guard and Princess Celestia included in this anyway?" Twilight asked as she clearly wanted to know just why Lightning really didn't want to go along with what her and Dash were saying right now, even though things were more serious then they were before. Lightning seemed to be hesitate for a few moments, looking like she was thinking about what to say, "It's because...because...can I talk with you for a moment Twilight?" she asked after sighing a little, looking back and forth between Twilight and Dash, while the two of them looked to each other. Before Twilight simply just gestured for Dash to take her place in comforting Pinkie Pie, as she nodded to Lightning and left Spike and Dash trying to calm Pinkie down, while she walked over to the turquoise pegasus, as she led them a little ways away from the other three. "So what's going on with you, don't you want to see the pony who did this stopped?" Twilight asked in a lowered voice as she tried to listen and hopefully understand where Lightning was coming from at the moment. "Of course I do, but I still don't think we should get The Princess and Royal Guard mixed up in all of this just yet," Lightning explained in a whsipered voice, clearly showing that she was worried about something, and causing Twilight to wonder just what that was as she leaned closer to Lightning and replied to her. "Why?" Twilight questioned as she was obviously still confused as to why Lightning kept refusing to agree to get Princess Celestia and the Royal Guard included in all this since it definitely seemed like they needed to. "Because..." Lightning paused, hesitating again as she glanced over to the other three, and sighed deeply, "Because...I know it sounds crazy, but...I think Rainbow Dash has something to do with all this," she now finally confessed in a whispered voice, looking nervously to Twilight, while the Princess just widened her eyes and looked shocked again, clearly not expecting Lightning to say anything like that. "What?" The Princess questioned after a short pause, not seeming like she knew what else to say at the moment, her mind starting to ask her hundreds of questions that she had no idea how to even start answersing, as Lightning just nodded her head slowly, looking like she really didn't want to say what she just had, and was regretting it right now. While Twilight went silent as she tried to make sense of what she had just heard, but that being something she just couldn't do at this moment in time, obviously showing that she wanted much more of an explanation from the turquoise mare it seemed.