//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Who we were // Story: A Lonely Star // by DemonSaint //------------------------------// Twilight's hooves dragged across the polished marble of the castle floors, her head hanging low as she searched for her friends. Much of the night had been spent at the Friendship Festival, receiving congratulations from most ponies, small glares from her closest friends— though, they had seemed happy when they had to talk to her— and being the poster pony for the festival. So many civilians, nobles, and royals alike had crowded around her, their faces blurring in her vision as she struggled to meet and remember them all, that she'd lost track of her colorful clique in the desire to faint dead on her hooves. Even though she had been exhausted and the action from the Storm King's invasion was long over, Twilight couldn't leave to search for them right away. The Princess of Friendship had to be present for it all, of course, even though all of her friends had vanished at around two in the morning. Celestia wouldn't tell her which rooms they were staying at in the castle, but hinted that they had probably turned in for the night and suggested that Twilight did the same. "With all due respect, I can't just turn in, Princess Celestia. I need to talk with them. It's important." "Twilight, I'm sure whatever it is, it can wait until everypony is well rested. That includes you." Celestia had smiled serenely, then winked. "Important talks are best done when everypony can think clearly. Don't think I didn't see you eyeing that pile of hay." Twilight hadn't slept soundly in weeks, and had already spent most of the early morning hours after the festival trying to find her friends, which devolved into aimlessly wandering the castle and paying more attention to her hooves than where she was going. Her mind was running over every possible scenario, and it hadn't been long before she lost herself in her thoughts. She kept thinking about the glares she was receiving during the festival, how little they actually wanted to talk to her, how they went out of their ways to avoid talking about... it. Maybe it was because they were tired. She thought. They had traveled so far, so quickly, by hoof. They had somehow managed to keep pace with an airship, through all of the terrain between Mount Eris and the capital of Equestria, and none of them had gotten any actual rest since the start of their adventure. Naps on the cold, hard ground were far from restful, and passing out in Seaquestria didn't count. Or maybe it was because of our argument... What I said... She sniffled and shivered as she continued to walk. I flooded them with apologies and I was still met with those looks. And with how Celestia is being secretive with their rooms... It's like they asked her to hide it. They don't even want to be around me. She shivered again. I... I hate this. Why am I thinking badly about my friends? Pinkie had apologized for what she said, but... We all really need to talk. Where are they? She raised her head and didn't realize she was crying until she ran muzzle-first into a support pillar. She could only see a blurry mess, and had to blink through the tears as she rubbed at her nose with one hoof, sniffling. The castle guards didn't question why the Princess of Friendship was openly weeping in the halls, but though they looked uncomfortable with it, they didn't stop her. It was too early for any of the nobility to be up to see her like this, but a few concerned witnesses did keep an eye on her. After taking a few minutes to gather herself, Twilight placed a hoof forward to continue her moping until she heard a familiar voice. Her ears stood erect. They sounded... angry. Slowly, Twilight inched towards the door. "I can't believe her! All that, and she thinks she can just... apologize, and everything is okay again?!" "Rainbow, keep it down. We don't want 'ta attract attention. Unless, ya know, you want Twilight to find us?" Twilight's heart stopped. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were avoiding her on purpose, and they were... still angry with her. "I almost want her to find us! I mean, for pony's sake, what I would do to crack her stupid egg-head right now!" "Rainbow Dash, that's enough." Twilight shuddered— Rarity was there, too?— "I believe you've had enough of acting like a ruffian for a lifetime. While I am angry at her as well, there is no way I would resort to such violence." "Agreed." Fluttershy...? Pinkie must be there, too. They must all be sharing a room, that or they came together to talk... without me... "Yepperooni. She's not a bad pony, Dashie, she just... Ran away with her words. That happens in the heat of the moment." "I don't think you guys were hearing the same things I was. She said she'd rather have friends that weren't us! She doesn't trust us!" Rainbow suddenly quieted, likely stopped by one of the others in the room. "Look, I know y'all are just tryin' to be the bigger ponies, but... We need ta' face this proper." Applejack said. Twilight's ear was practically pressed against the door. "She did apologize a bunch'a times, but... The fact still stands, if she's gonna snap at us when she's under pressure, maybe miss princess would be better off going on adventures without us." Her heart dropped. "Applejack, how could you say that?" Rarity. Air returned to Twilight's lungs; At least all of her friends wouldn't abandon her. "Sure, she may be annoying and neurotic, and... paranoid, and nerdy, and everything in our lives changed the moment she stepped into Ponyville, and... Well, you get the picture, but if we didn't go with her, what would happen to Equestria? As the Elements of Harmony, it's our obligation to help." All of the air she'd just claimed left again. ... I'm an obligation...? "Well, obviously she thinks she can do better without us." Rainbow snapped. Fluttershy, for once, spoke up. "I've, um, honestly had enough life-endangering, world-saving adventures. Thanks." She seemed to squeak. "N-not that I wouldn't want to help Twilight, but... um..." "But... but..." Pinkie stammered. "But what about Twilight? What if she gets captured again, next time? Don't you think she'd learned some lesson today...?" "Not really. Y'can't just fix this with a bunch of apologies." "Applejack! That's silly, they were just words! Of course they can!" "Pinkie, just because they were words doesn't mean it takes away the sting. If Twi wants to push all the fault of what went wrong in our last adventure ont'a us, maybe she can handle them by herself. I've got an apple farm to run, a family to keep outta debt, and I can't just be torn away every time Equestria's in danger or every time Twilight has a problem that needs fixin'." "Yeah; I mean, I'm a part of the Wonderbolts. It's my lifelong dream, and lately, I've been falling behind because of these adventures... I mean, it's fun being a hero, but I can't just keep putting it off for Twilight if she's going to be like this!" Rainbow huffed. The sounds of her wingbeats stopped, giving way to the sound of her hooves clopping onto the floor. "I... Look, after everything Twilight's said, she makes me feel like a complete moron. I think this one was just my last straw with her..." There was the sound of a hoof scuffing against the floor before Fluttershy spoke up. "... I guess... Ever since we've been going on these adventures, I keep getting torn away from my animals. Hiring a sitter is expensive, and even then, the sitter can't quite communicate with them like I can. And recently, I think some sort of distance has been forming between me and them, just from... not being around as often." She sighed, almost sounding heartbroken. "Angel Bunny hasn't even been accompanying me on shopping trips. He used to do that all the time..." "... Perhaps Angel Bunny isn't the best example, dear." Rarity sighed. "But... There is fact to it. While the fame is nice, I've found that I've been losing my ability to envision something appropriate for my clients that matches their deeper personality to a "T." There's so much I don't know about them anymore, simply because I'm not around. And, in addition to that, I have three boutiques to take care of. The workload gets quite strenuous as it is. I'm falling behind!" There's a space of silence that invades the air, as if the five are waiting for the last pony to speak up. The silence is filled by none other than Pinkie. "... The Cakes have twins to take care of. Doing that at the same time as taking care of the business without me is... I've noticed that they've been a little more stressed than usual. I do my best, but every time I have to leave..." Pinkie sniffled. "I want to help Twilight. I know you guys are mad at her, but... Now that you mention it, the Cakes have these spats, and when I have to leave... I can't bring laughter to Ponyville when they need it most." Much to Twilight's despair, she heard hesitant murmurs of agreement come from around the room. Her ears flattened against her head. She wasn't aware that she'd crossed a line, or that Rainbow or the others had even drawn one. She hadn't even known that the Cakes or her friends had been having such problems. "... How can Twilight even be a crowned Princess?" A much more subdued Rainbow asked. "I mean; She's told us what she used to be like. Did... Celestia just give her her wings after that one magical screw-up as, like... A personal favor? A pat on the head? I was almost eaten by Fluttershy's animals that day." Rarity groaned. "... And I hurt a number of ponies with the weather..." "Heck, I almost destroyed Rarity's brand and boutique." Applejack sighed. "... I almost put Applejack's farm out of business." Pinkie sniffled. "... I almost moved back to Cloudsdale because I couldn't make Ponyville laugh." Fluttershy whimpered. As each pony spoke her piece, the silence got longer. "Well... Darlings, I'll admit, this is quite the predicament." "... You know, if I had a bit for all the times we've gotten into trouble since Twi's shown up, or every time we had to fix one'a her mistakes, I would've been able to fix up my whole farm and hire some extra hooves to work the fields." There was another uncomfortable beat. "... Heck, I would just be workin' to work, not because we need the bits to keep the place runnin'." Applejack sighed. "Just how do we go about breakin' the news to her?" "... I'm not sure. Twilight modeling a few dresses is good publicity, but the adventures just... aren't worth it. I know it sounds horrible for me to say it, but... would you believe that I spent time with Canterlot nobility instead of working on her birthday dress during the first year that we knew her?" ... What? But— but I loved that dress! She just— "Rares, you didn't..." Rainbow said. "Should I just come clean on that? That I gave in to my selfish desires instead of doing something for a friend, and she still loved the unfinished result?" Rarity sighed dramatically. "It's not like I did it on purpose, I just got... carried away with the high society life. But it was so good with publicity and the simple design sold well with the nobility... And surely, the crown has a backup defense force. Is it possible to stop adventuring and just have a casual friendship with her? Do you think she would still help me with modeling after that?" "Well... Twi would do anything for a friend, and... well, maybe for you, even if ya stopped bein' her friend." Applejack sighed. "... Rarity, all this time, I kinda knew you wouldn't go so bare-bones with a birthday present. Once I saw you in the garden party, I think I knew why that dress was the way it was, but we were havin' so much fun..." They're just going to... use me, and lie to me? Twilight shuddered. "Look, no matter how you all want to play this, I... I need to keep my distance from her." Rainbow's voice lost the edge it had kept since the start of the conversation, but it hurt nonetheless. "I think we all should have some space from her for a while." All at once, Twilight wanted to scream. She wanted to do what she had yesterday and start shouting, to get angry and argue with them to defend herself. I... I can't believe this... I have to say something! She couldn't think of what to say. The wind left her sails, leaving her to try to recover any material to defend herself with to salvage the situation, but every time, she came up empty-hoofed. There was no sudden spike of anger to bring down the whip, or the spark of friendship to drive her onward. All Twilight knew was that she just couldn't listen anymore. Just as she was about to turn from the door, she heard two sets of hooves, and Twilight merely stood there, a river of tears falling from her face before her brain caught up with her. "Girls, don't say things like that." Fluttershy was close to the door, but no matter how hard she tried, Twilight couldn't get her hooves to move. The door opened to reveal the faces of the friends she'd had for the past few years. Their eyes widened in shock. "If you girls are so upset that you aren't going to be fair, then maybe—" The pegasus stopped abruptly, startled as everypony stared at the alicorn beyond the door. "— Twilight!" "... Great. Um..." Rainbow sputtered. "You're... Here." There was an awkward silence, then... "How much did you hear?" Rainbow blurted. At the very least, her... "friends" looked horrified. Tears continued brimming within Twilight's eyes, her ears drooped flat against her skull, but she forced a smile. "It's— It's fine. Everything's fine, who heard what, now?" Twilight wiped her eyes. "I was just— just looking to talk to you, but I see you've got it all under control! No need for ol' Twilight to butt her head in, ha-ha, right? Nope! You need your space, s-so... I'll... so I'll just be—" She bit back a sob. "I'll be going!" Twilight couldn't tell if anypony had cared to follow her when she bolted down the hall, but she heard the shouts of the other ponies far behind her, and her hooves clopped wildly against the tile as she galloped to get away. This was it, wasn't it? She had failed friendship. And now friendship failed her. Light and heat bore down upon her as she awoke from her dirt nap. Twilight didn't remember the flight from Canterlot. One moment she had been fleeing down the corridors, her wings spread as she charged the nearest balcony; The next, she'd appeared in the empty site that was once the Golden Oaks Library, the stump long missing from the filled-in pit in the dirt after her friends dug it up to hang as a chandelier in her castle. She tripped and fell as the ground changed from castle carpet to the soft, loamy soil of Ponyville. She tumbled, but didn't care that she was getting soil in her coat, mane, or mouth; Instead, she curled up in the remnants of what had been her home when she had first met her friends. There were thoughts running through her mind at a rainboom's speed, but all of her thoughts were overtaken by how she shouldn't be sobbing like a filly. She was run through with all of the pain her friends had just put her through, their thoughts spoken clearly on what they really thought about her. Even if she had wanted to move, all her body could do was curl up in the dirt, hold herself, and cry. I miss home. I miss home, I miss my friends, I miss my family. Did they ever love me? Does my family love me? Why, Celestia, why did this have to happen? Why did the Storm King have to invade? Why did I have to try to steal that stupid pearl? Where do I go from here? They were questions she just didn't have the answers to. It was a good thing Ponyville was mostly empty right now. Nopony was there to see the Princess of Friendship at her lowest point. Her friends wouldn't know where she went, if they even cared to find her; Ponyville's proximity to Canterlot guaranteed that most of its population would be able to attend the Festival of Friendship, which was now such an ironic festival for her that it hurt. Her choked sobs were inconsolable, bordering on hysterical. This was when she needed a friend the most, but she had to wonder if she even deserved one. .... Not my... friends... She was spent. Twilight remembered the unobstructed view of hundreds of stars in the sky, but at some point, she must have fallen asleep. Now awake with dry eyes and a terrible headache, she made her way to her crystal castle. She tried to let absolute nothingness consume her mind while the sunlight beat against her half-closed eyelids, demanding entry to make her headache worse. Ponies had yet to start trickling back in from the Friendship Festival in Canterlot, and the train station had yet to start running as it recovered from the most recent invasion. Twilight was grateful for both of these delays. Hardly any pony would see her in the state she was in now, and with the trains inoperable, the only ways for the other five to reach her would be to ask Princess Celestia for a chariot, or if Rainbow or Fluttershy flew all the way to Ponyville on their own. As it was, the abandoned streets allowed Twilight to return to her crystal home without attracting much attention. Entering her castle and finally getting out of the sights of any prying eyes, Twilight allowed her body to sag as she dragged her dirt-covered hooves to the kitchen for some water, swelling it down almost automatically. She was going to have to ask Spike to... Spike. He was back in Canterlot. Twilight froze with her lips on the glass before putting the empty cup aside with a sigh. Celestia... She would make sure he came home safely. He'd likely be in the same chariot as the girls. She wouldn't have to interact with any of them. She couldn't. But I'll have to confront them eventually, won't I? She began to shake and shudder with sobs again as she moved on to the bathroom. I don't want to think about them. I just... need to clean up... Apparently, the best way to think about what you're trying not to think about was to continue with a Don't Think About It mantra. Instead, she let herself scrutinize every detail of the bathroom, every step of showering and cleaning her coat, brushing her mane, preening her feathers... She had been a complete wreck after her nap, complete with misaligned feathers and a tangled mane that would put her "Want it, Need it" self to shame. Her coat had been covered in dirt, and the dried mud running down her cheeks from her puffy eyes made it cruelly obvious that she had been crying, trailing down her face like some messy evidence in a crime scene. She kept scrubbing. Brushing. Preening. Filing. It was almost neurotic, obsessive, except she was hardly really thinking about it at all. It was exactly what she needed right now. All too soon, she had made herself presentable enough to be seen by the public. In fact, she'd overdone it; Even though she had no plans to leave her castle, she had payed far too much attention to detail. If Rarity were here, she wouldn't find a single thing to fuss... over... Rarity. How could she just think of Twilight as a... A business asset!? An obligation to have around when saving Equestria!? A paranoid, nerdy, annoying, neurotic mess who was nothing but a source of trouble and the one who hatched Spike... Who Rarity treats as a pushover, a chore monkey, and merely entertains his crush for her! Then she goes about using it against him even though she knows she will never return those feelings!? How was that generosity!? ... I use him too, don't I...? My number one assistant... When was the last time they'd just gone out for something fun..? No, that changed in recent years. He still helps out, but that's not all he is to me. Rarity may care for his well-being, but she uses him in so many ways and leads him along with lies just to get someone to carry her basket while gem hunting. What will she do when she comes to collect him for that again..? How will she act, now that I'm no longer counted as... being among her friends... and... No, there were other things that she did for Spike. That wasn't the zenith of Rarity's and Spike's friendship. There was— —a twinge in her stomach, chasing away whatever hunger she might have had as her heart sank further and her mind spun faster. "Don't," She told herself. "Just... Don't." She didn't want to retread upon happier memories. So, she moved from one of the many bathrooms to the main kitchen, counting each individual crystal pillar on her way there, since the floor tiles were far too large to keep her occupied by counting the ones she crossed. She'd neglected her stomach for long enough anyhow, and she knew she had to eat, even if she didn't feel like it. Twilight frowned as she opened the fridge and found nothing but spoiled ingredients. Sighing through her nose, she levitated a trash bag towards the fridge and disposed of the spoiled foods, leaving her fridge almost completely barren. Her mouth twisted into a displeased frown as she viewed her prospects. With a flash of her horn, she got rid of the trash, then shut the fridge and took a look at the cupboards and the pantry. There was another long, drawn-out sigh that left her when she realized she would have gone shopping the day before yesterday, had a certain adventure not kept her away. Had it not happened, the spoiled food in the refrigerator wouldn't have gone to waste because it had still been fresh when she had left to prepare the Festival. She would have been back in two days, but because of the adventure, it took two weeks, and now she had only oats to munch on. She didn't even have milk. Do I have to leave the castle...? Twilight's wings twitched and she flew up to the top of the pantry, slowly lowering herself as she scanned the shelves from top to bottom. Dry oats... but for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? She would have to leave the castle sometime... Right, Ponyville's marketplace would be closed without ponies to run it. So would the markets and stores of the other cities, if she was right about the invasion affecting all of Equestria. "Guess I'm going hungry." She grumbled miserably. Pinkie frowned. Ever since last night's badmouthing of Twilight, she had been getting droopy ears. There was no other sign that her Pinkie Sense was giving her that would normally accompany the droopy ears. Or, were they just drawn-out floppy ears? She knew she felt sad after Twilight ran off, but when the feeling hit her, she just couldn't run after her. Even the prospect of cutting one of the close friends out of her life, and hearing that her other close friends were on the verge of doing it, was upsetting her. She was supposed to be everypony's best friend, but when it came to Twilight... Something changed. She wanted to be her friend still, but— despite their poor delivery and the fact that they were being really mean about it— their other friends had a point. She couldn't just keep dropping the Cakes and her job because Twilight had another mission or assignment from Celestia; They'd hired her for a reason! She lived with them, for pony's sake! Twilight. Ever since the alicorn ran off, Pinkie hadn't felt up to popping up in places nopony would expect. She couldn't follow Twilight, and though Pinkie knew she had already forgiven her for her outburst just like Fluttershy had, there was some new feeling that was just twisting and tearing her up from the inside! She knew she had to go talk to her... Her ears continuing to droop and perk back up periodically, Pinkie soon found herself trotting rather than hopping through Canterlot Castle, wondering if Twilight was in her usual room, or if she would need to ask a guard (or Celestia herself) as to where she'd gone. Of course, she could shout, too. That was always an option. "TWILIGHT! Where are you?!" The pink pony's shrill shout startled a maid, but the guards were about as reactive as ever. Pinkie didn't bother making eye contact with the glaring maid and continued on, through the hall, listening for any sign of her fr— Should she still be called a friend? Yeah, duh, I'm friends with everypony. Responsibility can't get between me and that. Pinkie decided in an instant and puffed up her chest. I'll find you, Twilight. You wanted to talk to us pretty bad yesterday, and you heard some really mean things. At the very least, I'm not going to leave our friendship off like this. No matter which door she checked, she was not finding the alicorn she was looking for. With a frown of deep thought, Pinkie rubbed at her chin. Maybe Spike knows where she is. With a little dragon to look for, Pinkie's face screwed up in even deeper thought. Just where could he be... "AHA! The breakfast hall!" With that, she was off. "Even though it's more brunch than anything!" I really wish Rainbow Dash hadn't said anything... Fluttershy sagged in her seat as she picked at a stack of blueberry pancakes. Tired, dark rings sagged under her eyes as she blandly observed the breakfast food, the background chatter between Spike and Celestia offering a little white noise for her thoughts to get lost in. She just couldn't believe Rainbow had gone off the way she had, and now, not only had she said so many mean things about Twilight, but she was beginning to harbor mean thoughts about Twilight as well! Sure, she'd been mad when Twilight exploded, and she had been mad at Twilight for trying to use them as a distraction while she went and tried to steal the pearl, but she didn't need all of this negativity flowing through her system. It felt bad. It was such an antithesis to what she normally stood for, harboring bad thoughts towards another pony, and what made it even worse was the guilt. Twilight... That poor dear had overheard everything that was said. Nopony had meant for it to be that way, but that made it all the worse. It was like Rainbow's initial torch of anger had sparked something among the rest of her friends. She could see the minor changes in their body language whenever Twilight was mentioned, the flash of anger and then regret in their eyes before they compose themselves... The exception was Pinkie. There was a resigned sadness and regret there, but she had seen the pink pony hopping through the halls this morning, looking for Twilight. Was she going to resign her friendship with her, too? It didn't take much to start a wildfire, especially with so many sparks being shared among five torches. The guilt helped suffocate it, at first, but it wasn't enough to completely stop the blaze that had begun to burn her. It made it worse. The guilt grabbed at the rage and twisted it up inside, making it into something else and bringing back that. Fluttershy didn't want to think about that, but she'd battled it for years, and it nearly killed her a few times. She sighed and put down her fork. "Is something the matter, Fluttershy?" The motherly voice of Celestia brought her out of her reverie. "Well... Yes." Fluttershy frowned tiredly. She was glad that most of the castle staff weren't in the dining hall anymore. "It's... it's about Twilight. You see, we... We had a fight. Well, it was more that Pinkie and Twilight had a fight, just a little while before Twilight got captured... And Twilight said some things that we all didn't take very well to..." Fluttershy hadn't looked up, but if she had, she would have seen Celestia's expression change from kind to surprised. "I see..." "T-to be fair, the rest of us put the blame on her shoulders. She'd gotten us kicked out of Seaquestria just when we'd convinced Queen Novo we were worth saving; But Twilight was trying to steal their pearl so she could save Equestria, and she used us as a distraction without us knowing, so... I don't know, she was stressed about the whole thing, but she shouldn't have tried to steal, and—" Fluttershy sighed. "Twilight basically said she didn't trust us." "Pinkie accused her of not trusting you guys." Spike said over his pancakes. "I know Twilight didn't mean what she said back there. I know you know it too, Fluttershy, but honestly? For an adventure with all of Equestria on the line? The songs, the rainboom, the... Trusting a stranger in a shady town thing? Twilight had a point. We should have taken it more seriously." Of course Spike would defend her. Maybe she should be more thankful for that, but... Fluttershy finally looked up. "It worked out in the end. The pirates, Capper, and Princess Skystar all helped us." "Well, yeah, but they teach safety stuff in preschool. Even magic kindergarten would teach being safe in a strange area, especially if it looks dangerous or shady, and our group was breaking every rule." Spike shrugged. "We drew a bunch of attention to ourselves, which led Tempest right to us, twice. We trusted a stranger and almost got sold into slavery, and the songs? We're lucky the pirates and the seaponies even went with it. We could've been hurt." "I'm surprised to hear you fought at all." Fluttershy startled as Celestia spoke. She was so out of it that she'd almost forgotten Celestia was there. "I do believe you should find and talk to Twilight at the nearest opportunity... After you rest. This entire ordeal has clearly kept you up all morning." She briefly thought about telling Celestia about the night before; About the conversation that occurred in the castle suite, and the alicorn that happened to overhear. She considered asking Celestia where Twilight had gone off to last night. Fluttershy cringed and rose from the table, shame clawing at her insides. She couldn't talk about it; not right now, and hopefully never again after settling things with Twilight. "Y-yeah... I should probably get going back to Ponyville afterwards. My animals must be getting restless, and I don't want the sitter getting hurt from looking after a grumpy bear." As she shuffled through the door to head back to her room, a pink blur sped by her and zipped into the dining hall. With the final touches to her makeup and manestyling completed and adapted to the middle of the day, Rarity trotted towards the dining area with a half-awake Rainbow Dash and a hungry Applejack in tow. "So, you're saying in the entire time you've been awake, you two haven't found the epicenter of your wrath from last night?" Rainbow sighed. "Ugh. Rarity, you just woke me up." "Shame, Dash. You missed'er morning beauty routine." Applejack rolled her eyes. "I looked around the castle a bit, but I couldn't find hide or hair of Twilight. After all we've been through lately, I just can't keep lookin' on an empty stomach." Rarity sighed and stopped briefly, rubbing her forehead. "It's good to know you have your priorities in order." "Now, that there's the pot callin' the kettle black." Applejack shrugged as the dining hall came into sight. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU HAVEN'T SEEN TWILIGHT?!" It happened before Rarity could even respond, and the three ponies froze. Cautiously, they entered the hall to find an upset Pinkie, Celestia looking calm as ever, and a confused Spike. Pinkie's ears drooped for about two seconds, then perked back up, but she looked more panicked than sad. "I looked for her last night," Spike blinked, noticing Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash as they approached the table and sat down. "I didn't see her after we left the festival. I thought she was with you girls?" Celestia put down her fork. "Twilight came to me last night. She was looking for all of you, saying she had something important to discuss. However, instead of telling her where your rooms were, I told her to get some rest. She was exhausted from your travels." Celestia's mask twitched. Maybe it was their collective guilty consciences speaking, but in that twitch, it almost looked like the Princess was putting something together. "Fluttershy and Spike both had accounts that there was a fight that broke out near the conclusion of the adventure, and both sides said some things that they regretted... I can't help but wonder if the argument continued without her input last night." The elements present winced. Spike just looked around in confusion before his little jaw dropped. "Celestia? Girls? What happened?" He glared at the guilty party. "What did you do?" When nopony offered an answer or an explanation short of stammering or mouthing wordlessly, Celestia spoke. "I was told this morning that my night guards had seen something fairly disturbing to them. The Princess of Friendship was wandering the halls in a daze last night, looking quite upset. It disturbs me to hear that a few reports were of her sobbing before stopping near a certain door; A door to the room where the other Elements of Harmony had congregated." Pinkie's mane lost some of its bounce as her ears drooped again. "It wasn't what it sounded like!" Rainbow blurted. "I fear it was exactly what it sounds like." Celestia's eyes narrowed. "The guards aren't deaf, either; In fact, they have quite sharp hearing. While I won't get into the details of what was said from three particular voices, reports say she stopped to listen for a time, and just after you all discovered her, she fled the castle." "Fled the...? What'dya mean, she fled the castle?" Applejack frowned, looking for any signs of deceit on the Princess's face. "Where'd she get off to?" Celestia raised a brow. Her eyes held the cold and honest truth. "I know where she went, but until you take some time to cool off and think things over, you're just going to make things worse. Talking behind somepony's back is the quickest way to poison a friendship. Unless you have plans to apologize to your dearest friend and talk to her properly, I think you three have done enough damage for today." The elements present lowered their heads, but they were in no position to start backtalking a princess. Pinkie's drooping ears would twitch now and again. "Can I talk to Twilight?" Spike stood from his seat. "She needs a friend more than anything right now." "Of course, Spike. You weren't behind any of this." "Can... What about me?" Pinkie frowned. "I was in the room, but... I need to talk to her. I was looking for her to talk with her, and let her know she's still got a friend in me, even if I can't be around as often." Celestia's frown levied somewhat. "Perhaps, Pinkie. I'll grant you a chariot back to Ponyville, but when you speak to Twilight, choose your words carefully. She's likely in a rather... Fragile state, right now." Her gaze drifted to the three offenders. "You six were her first friends, outside of her family and myself. I'm not sure you understand just how much that meant to her."