As the days were passing by on the relatively calmed town of Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle started to feel more and more how her nervous system was pressuring her to find a solution to her predicament regarding Princess Celestia and the request made to her for an extra ticket for the Grand Galloping Galla. It has been quite a while since Twilight made her petition to the Princess but Celestia hadn't given her a response that could put her mind at ease, neither yes or no, only silence.
This was certainly worrying for the scholarly unicorn since one of the reasons she was deeply anticipating the event that was days away from starting was her inner desire to make her newest friend meet the pony that was like a second mother to her. She still remembered the weird looks given to her by her friends when she told them her idea of making those two encounter each other, and why not? The more she thought about it, the more similarities she saw between Raziel and Celestia that would make them quite good friends.
Both of them were believers and protectors of what is good, both were very knowledgeable in any subject they were given, they both were ancient and had their own share of secrets, why would those two not like each other?
Thus, she could barely maintain her control over her nerves, clearly indicated by her constant move through the library as she was waiting for Celestia's answer which made Spike try to make an explanation for her.
"Maybe she has been trying to search for one and the reason her response hasn't come yet is because she wants to get one before giving you her response?"
Twilight considered Spike's response quite thoroughly, it was a possible fact after all, considering that this was the Grand Galloping Galla and it was quite possible that there were no more invitations avaiable, but it didn't explain why Celestia hasn't responded her until this moment or why, whenever Twilight gave Celestia a friendship report or send a letter in general, she would answer about it but she would completely avoid talking about the Galla.
It was something worth asking about and Twilight would have asked Celestia about it, after a while of speculation, if it weren't because, in that moment, Spike belched a letter with the royal seal, hopefully meaning that Celestia has finally decided to respond her.
Twilight quickly opened the letter with the same rush one would see on a foal on a present fever on Hearths Warming Day and read its content before Spike could even react. After reading it, though, Twilight's face could only reflect a strange wave of confusion that forced Spike to grab the letter and see Celestia's response to Twilight.
My Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle
I sadly found myself on a concerning situation
regarding your request of an extra ticket invitation for
the Grand Galloping Galla
When you wrote me that you made a new friend
my heart filled with pride for your accomplishment and
just for you,
I decided to search for another invitation but
to my dismay
I found myself unable to find a new invitation
I tried for days to find such invitation for your new friend but
as much as I tried
such endeavor was fruitless
Which is why I feel quite disheartened to tell you
that I cannot help you on this regard
Do not fret though for I'm sure that another chance
for me to meet your new friend may come sooner than you expect
Princess Celestia
"Well" -, said Spike as he analyzed the letter, - "this is a strange letter, that's for sure."
"You think that as well?" - Asked a perplexed Twilight Sparkle as she turned herself towards Spike, glad to know she wasn't alone on that feeling. - "I mean, she's the one hosting that Galla, and she's the princess, shouldn't she be able to make an extra invitation should she want it?"
"Not only that but also look at this" -. Complemented Spike as one of his claws pointed at an specific part of the letter. - "'My heart filled with pride for your accomplishment'? What does that even mean when you already have five friends and why she doesn't feel something like joy or happiness?"
"Do you think there's something wrong with her?"
Asked Twilight Sparkle as worry was going through her face although Spike decided to disuade her fears.
"No, most likely it probably is stress for having to host the Galla but it doesn't change the main problem, finding an invitation for Raziel."
The pony and the dragon thought about it for quite a while until Spike finally got an idea.
"I know, why don't you give Raziel my ticket?"
As Spike said this, Twilight could only see him with a hint of sadness on her face.
"Are you sure about this Spike? I mean, you won't be able to go with us to the Galla."
Spike simply shrugged it off and dissuaded her worries.
"Don't worry about it, I wasn't planning to go on the first place, now the ticket won't go to waste."
And with that said, Spike gave Twilight his ticket and asked her to give it to Raziel. After giving him a nice 'thank you', Twilight decided to go into the Everfree Forest to give Raziel the invitation for the Grand Galloping Galla.
As Twilight moved around Ponyville and into the forest, she could never ignore the differences of the kind of life she was having compared to Raziel. Where she lived on a peaceful town filled with warmth and kindness, surrounded by her friends and always feeling loved by even those who didn't know her, Raziel lived on a dangerous place filled with coldness and a desire to destroy him as he was living on his own.
That was something Twilight was hoping to change very soon after Raziel met Princess Celestia on the Galla.
She could grasp her dream, Raziel meeting the Princess, both deciding to join forces to save this world and, in the end, Raziel would be living in a place where he deserved to live in instead of that dreaded forest.
And thus, as Twilight reached the remnants of the Castle of the Two Sisters, she started to call for his friend in the hopes of telling him her plan. It took a few moments before a familiar chill went down her spine, followed soon by a call from one of the castle's door.
"Twilight?" - Said the voice that the scholar has already associated with righteousness and good will towards the weak one. - "May know why have you decided to put your life at risk by coming into this castle residing within a dangerous forest?"
Twilight just rolled her eyes as she gave him a simple answer as she rose the invitation ticket.
"Don't worry, I have prepared myself already in case something like the cockatrice happens again and all of that was worse going through just to give you this."
Raziel gave the ticket a good look before he asked what it was, something which Twilight was very eager to explain.
"This is an invitation for the Grand Galloping Galla, one of the most important celebrations in Equestria, where the most important ponies meet each other and I managed to get one for you."
As she said this, Raziel's eyes went wide much to Twilight's happiness.
"With this, you can go to the Grand Galloping Galla and meet Princess Celestia in person, isn't that great?"
Razel kept looking at Twilight's invitation without giving any kind of indication that he either accepted or rejected the idea but when he answered, Twilight felt startled by said response.
"Twilight, how far have you gone through with this plan?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
Raziel gave Twilight a stern look as he decided to ask about a few important details about her plan as he moved his claw over his body.
"I would like to point out that my current appearance isn't one that would invite a friendly conversation right away. More likely would be that the royal guard would try to capture me and I doubt Princess Celestia would be eager to meet with a monster."
Twilight frowned before quickly making a happy face that reflected the positiveness surrounding her plan.
"Oh, don't say that. I'm going to be there early so I can tell Celestia about you. I assure you that, once she hears about you, she will gladly accept you and try to talk to you and, regarding the royal guard, I can talk to my brother so they don't give you any problem. Trust me, I've been thinking about this for a while."
"And what about my entrance? Even if I can pass the guards, I would not be able to pass through the citizens just like that. At best, I would have to go out of sight and there's no portal in the castle I can use to shift between realms."
"All covered" -. Responded a confident Twilight. - "As you said, you can pass invisible between the civilians while I will search for a place where you can realm shift without being seen. That way, no matter what happens, you can be in Canterlot Castle in any way possible."
Raziel kept on giving an skeptical look at Twilight's invitation as he wondered if it was a good idea to go there taking into consideration how his last meeting with Celestia went. He was aware of how important it was for him to actually meet Celestia but he also knew that there were details that still needed to refine before getting to know her, like not making the encounter in a place with so many civilians.
In the end though, Twilight's insistence showed him a part of reality that he needed to face.
"Come on! We don't know how many chances will come for us to present you to Celestia, let's take it and see what happens. I promise, if anything goes wrong, I'll take responsibility and try to fix it as soon as possible."
Raziel gave the invitation one last glance before putting it on a table and accepting Twilight's idea.
"You are right on that regard. It's unknown how many opportunities like this will come and it would be best to seize this one so we can have much better chances for our progress."
When Twilight heard that, she couldn't stop smiling as she jumped into the air (at the eyes of Raziel) like a child and shouted yes. Not too long after that, she hugged Raziel, much to his shock, and appreciated his decision.
"Thank you Raziel, I promise you that you won't regret this."
And, with those departing words as well as determining the day and hour at which Twilight and her friends will get to Canterlot followed soon by Raziel, who would enter on his own (with the invitation under his power) and would later meet Twilight and Celestia in a more private room.
And that way, when the day of the Grand Galloping Galla came, Twilight and her friends took their dresses and prepared to go to Canterlot to have the grand day they've been expecting for weeks. Twilight enchanted an apple to be their chariot, Rarity convinced two stallions to pull it for them and Spike, even though he wouldn't be in the galla itself, was the driver of said chariot and the girls discussed all the journey to Canterlot to live what they described as "the best night ever."
As they discussed, the taboo was mentioned.
"Well" -, mentioned Rainbow Dash, - "I personally find it awesome that we're all going to be there but it feels kinda lame that not everyone here will have fun in the galla."
This gained a few looks, mainly from a curious Flutteshy who wanted to know more.
"I mean" -, she continued, - "just look at Spike, he'll be alone in there with nopony to have fun."
"I see your point, darling" -, continued Rarity, - "I find it quite disheartening to see poor Spike all on his own. Considering that he has been so energetic about Raziel and how much he seems to admire him, I wonder why he couldn't come. Do you know why, Twilight?"
"Surprisingly, no" -. Responded Twilight, with her answer bringing a lot of concern to her friends. - "When I asked Celestia for an extra invitation, she said that they had ran out of them so I couldn't ask for an extra invitation to bring Raziel."
This rose all her friends's eyebrows as she continued.
"It was fixed, in the end, when Spike decided to give Raziel his invitation but I still don't understand why Celestia couldn't find another invitation but I plan to ask her about it later on the galla."
"Well, I commend Spike's righteous act" -. Praised the enchanted Rarity as she tried to talk into the subject. - "But I still find it suspicious that Princess Celestia denied you of another ticket considering she didn't want to divide us after what happened when she sent you those original tickets."
And so on, they discussed the rest of the journey about what could be Celestia's reason (with Pinkie having the most ludicrous idea of her being deceived to think Raziel was a meany pants, idea that all of her friends scoffed at) along how she would react to Raziel, with the most interesting scenarios being drawn by Rainbow Dash, who predicted Celestia fighting Raziel, and Rarity, who predicted her falling victim to a panic attack.
In the end, the girls along Spike got to Canterlot. The girls dropped from their chariot and started to move into the castle and, as they did, Twilight noticed something strange on the bridge.
The best she could describe it was as a tentacle and, by the looks of it, it was a huge one that was coming out of the water below the bridge. She could see how it came out of under the bridge and got to the land as if it were taking a bit of fresh air. Twilight wanted to get closer to see not only why it was there, but also why nopony seemed to mind it, it was as if nopony else but her could see it.
"Hey! Applejack" - Said Twilight as she turned to her friend to get her attention, once she got it, she then asked. - "What do you think of that?"
Applejack turned to the bridge and, after a few seconds of watching, gave a strange answer.
"Well, Ah' don't know what is fer interest, Twilight, but Ah' see no problem with a nicely done bridge."
"What!?" - Asked the flabbergasted Unicorn. - "Don't you see that there is a huge-" - She was going to point out the tentacle when, to her surprise, there was no tentacle in there anymore. Just a normal bridge with normal water under it. - "But..." - she stumbled. - "I swear I saw-"
She was then interrupted by Rainbow Dash.
"Twilight, stop nerding around and just enjoy, this is supposed to be our best. Night. Ever!"
And, with that, they started to move into the castle, hoping to celebrate the event they desired to have for all of their life. Rainbow Dash would try to impress the Wonderbolts, Applejack would try to sell money form her stand, Rarity would try to have a date with the handsome Prince Blueblood, Fluttershy would try to enjoy her time with the animals in Celestia's garden, Pinkie Pie would try to be the soul of the party and Twilight would try her best to past some time with her beloved teacher and tell her all she has discovered so far in friendship, although not before going to a private sector of the Canterlot Castle and use her spell to create a new shift portal, at the cost of draining all her magic reserves, so Raziel could have a mean to enter into Canterlot with no problem.
Meanwhile, not too far away from the mountain holding the city of Canterlot, Raziel was looking at the beautiful castle as the fireworks, the lighting, the Wonderbolts's pirouettes mixed with the beauty of the silvery moon in a black sky decorated with white drops that shone under the city of Canterlot, giving it a sight worth watching for, at the very least, a good moment.
And here I was, after going through some eventful moments on the outskirts of Ponyville that earned me the respect of some of its inhabitants, I've managed to find myself returning to Canterlot, not as an invader nor an intruder, but as a desired guest.
And, after enjoying the view for enough time, Raziel started his lonely trek towards Canterlot remembering all the moments he got to share with the elements of harmony and their relatives. He cherished the idea of him first befriending a group of foals rather than the ponies he was supposed to befriend but that was how things like friendship happened, naturally, and he wouldn't ask for it to be any different.
He got to the base of the mountain and admired once more the castle and how it was capable of keeping its beauty both on day and night, truly a sight to behold.
It truly is something worth thinking about how my adventure started here, on Canterlot, and now that I befriended the ponies I was supposed to meet, I found myself returning to meet the one pony I could have met on the first day I was here. All that could be hoped now is that we managed to unravel the knot formed from our last encounter, for it has never been in my wishes to face them under any circumstance.
Raziel then started to walk up the mountain, avoiding the guards and seeing how the city was covered in a silent aura as everybody was either sleeping or celebrating on the castle and, when Raziel reached the aforementioned castle, even though he had an invitation, he was sure that many of the citizens passing through the doors would fall into panic should they see him and it was for that reason he decided to enter incognito. Incapable to be seen by sight, thanks to his Dark Reaver, and his presence was confused by the chilling wind of the outside with only six exceptions that were already accustomed to his presence and the one cold that preceded him all the time.
Even still, it was impossible for Raziel to not stop for a brief moment to give a look at the party before him.
The celebration was as I just expected. A party full of nobles and elites who were there more to show off their social status and have some idle talk with others of their same kind as they sought for any political gain on the hierarchy. All of that in the hopes of getting close to their monarch and, that way, perhaps they could gain some benefits for their private life style. There truly are some things that never change, no matter on what world you live in.
He sought for his friends and saw, much to his displeasure, how Pinkie Pie was bored out from the elite's way of enjoying more harmonious music, Rarity was suffering the consequences of judging a book by its cover, Rainbow Dash was trying to gain the attention of her favorite group when she wasn't in a position capable of earning their attention to begin with and poor Twilight was trying to have a conversation with her mentor but she was too busy fulfilling her duty of greeting every new guest into her castle.
It was sad to see how they are now realizing that not every trinket that shines is gold, hopefully, this will be a lesson for them that will help them out in their future.
He couldn't see Applejack or Fluttershy, but he hoped they were having a better time.
Once he slipped by the guards, Raziel dropped his invisibility (not being able to keep it under such a prolonged time without straining his magical energies) and started to explore the castle for the first time since he got to Equestria, with a huge help for him being the fact that the Royal Guard was mostly concentrated on the party down below than on the upper part of the castle where he was located, and tried to search for the room Twilight told him where both him and Celestia would meet. It was debated the location of the room but both agreed that it would be for the best to meet in one of the private rooms in the castle. All Raziel had to do was to find one proper room, advice Twilight and he would be waiting for the both of them.
It was a long search but, after going through many rooms, Raziel managed to find a place where he could meet Celestia, a dinner room. It was ideal since those rooms were great for encounters between diplomats and neutral in many ways. So, with the room determined, Raziel went back to the party to tell Twilight where he was planning to go although, unbeknownst to him, a guard managed to see him going through the castle's corridors.
This guard, of female constitution, was a rookie that joined the guards not too long ago and, following that common mistake rookies tend to follow where they aren't aware enough of what to do with the situations they encounter themselves with, she decided to search for a higher officer to warn of this monster going through the Castle and of which she knew she wasn't capable of facing on her own.
As this soldier ran for her life, down below, two ponies were suffering together the consequences of being on the Grand Galloping Galla, this two being Twilight Sparkle and Princess Celestia, the both of them being victims of the stagnant predicament of greeting everypony entering the Galla and stopping them from enjoying each other's company. There was nothing they could do, since it was Celestia's duty to greet all the guest in the galla, which made Twilight the poor mare of honor willing to suffer Celestia's torture with her, not being able to find a moment to tell her about Raziel, but the stagnation was soon broken when a magnanimous voice erupted in the galla, a voice that scared Twilight tremendously since it didn't seem to come from a specific place.
Celestia!
He is here...
Twilight quickly looked around the galla and tried to figure out where did the voice came from as well as try to figure out why nopony else seemed to be scared of such voice breaking into the castle as if it were a superior being, which led her to talk to her mentor.
"Princess, did you hear that?"
Celestia, strangely enough, seemed as she also didn't notice the voice.
"Hum, hello! Welcome to the Galla! Sorry my faithful student but, hello! Welcome to the Galla! What do you mean by that?"
Saying that Twilight was confused was an understatement.
"Princess, didn't you heard that voice? It was apparently talking to you and said that 'he was here'. Do you have any idea of who it might be?"
But any chance for Celestia to answer Twilight was dashed when a Royal Guard broke down the place from the castle's upper levels and delivered a news that seemed to scare both Twilight and Celestia.
"Your Highness!" - Said the very scared mare, If her voice was any indication of that in a tone that would have been heard by the other guest if it were not for the loud music Pinkie started to play not too soon after she got there. - "I found a strange creature wandering through the castle's corridors, it's something of the likes I've never seen before and I came here to report it to you."
Both Twilight and Celestia gave the guard shocked faces. Twilight knew what that creature might have been and seeing how Celestia was reacting, she knew she needed to talk to her quickly but Celestia cut her off on that regard.
"Thank for your report private Lulamoon, this probably is the same creature that broke through the safe containing The Elements of Harmony so search for the Captain Shining Armor and tell him that I order him to put a barrier that covers the whole castle so it cannot escape, to secure all the entrances of the castle and then go to my sister's room and tell her all you've seen, what I have ordered you and that I request her help as well for I don't know what this creature is capable off."
Twilight was in shock, she never heard of any creature trying to enter into the vault containing the Elements, why her mentor didn't tell her about it, not only that, for the way Celestia was talking, it looked like she was going to confront Raziel and Twilight was well aware of how that could result in but, before she could even have a chance to tell Celestia, she once again cut her off, almost as if she knew what Twilight was about to say and she was stopping her from saying it.
"I'm sorry my faithful student, but duty calls. Please stay down here, where it's safe, as I deal with this threat."
She then turned towards the Castle's stairs and started to move quickly to the levels containing Raziel as the soldier moved to Shining's location to inform him.
And, thus, many ponies were left startled at what they saw. Not too long after that, Twilight heard Raziel's voice coming to her ear as it said - "I've found a place where both Celestia and I can properly meet. You can find me on the dining room on the third floor, try to calm the princess if you can, I doubt I'll be able to talk to her under the condition she was in when she passed through me" -. And, once again, before Twilight could have a chance to warn Raziel, the voice disappeared, leaving her worried and wondering what to do.
Meanwhile, with the message delivered, Raziel went once again to the castle's upper levels to wait for Twilight but, much to his chagrin, Celestia's movements made hard for him to go around the castle's corridors, forcing him to enter into a random room he found as he waited for Celestia to pass down from where he was and give him a clear path to the dining room. This gave Raziel time to see the room he was located in and he found himself quite interested on the place he picked to rest.
It was a small library that had a small fireplace that gave the room quite a homely ambiance. It was nothing like the other rooms Raziel have found so far for it gave an air that was unlike any other on the castle. He moved around a little and decided to get closer to a table and see the book located in there and, once he saw Celestia's cutie mark on the book, a sign to tell who did this book belonged to, Raziel immediately knew where he was and decided to leave but, sadly, the library's door opened up and a female voice greeted him with a warm tone that hid a distinct anger that Raziel wasn't too keen on enraging any more.
"Hello, while as much as I like to see you enjoy books, I would like to know why are you here, on my personal library, and why you came here uninvited."