"Twilight?"
Celestia knocked on the wooden door that led to Twilight's bedroom. Knocking three times, the instant she stopped, she heard the princess begin to sob harder. She sighed.
"Twilight, please let me in."
"No," she insisted in between sobs, "I can't let you see me like this!"
"I've seen worse," Celestia replied, "You've been in there for almost three days now! You need to talk to somepony!"
"No!"
Rolling her eyes, Celestia's horn glowed as she utilized her magic to unlock the door from the outside. As the door slowly opened with a faint creek, she went wide-eyed at what she saw. Despite everything that had happened over the last week, Twilight had somehow managed to keep her room in near perfect condition!
Her desk had a neat stack of graded papers sitting on them; above it were pictures of her closest friends and family, from Shining Armor and Cadance to Spike, Elements of Harmony, Discord, and the princesses. Next to it, Celestia noticed that she had rearranged her bookshelf (again); they were now alphabetized by name and author, color coordinated, chronologically correct, number of pages, and located based on personal preference. Not even Celestia herself had the patience to put that level of detail into the organization of her library.
Next to her bed, she had a fresh bouquet of flowers organized by the color of the rainbow. Like her bookshelf, she put intense care into its organization. Not only were the flowers alphabetized, but they were also placed around the edge of the vase based on their age and height. Once again, unnecessary details tended to by her top student.
Her bed was neatly made; although Twilight lay face down at its edge, it didn't have a single wrinkle in it.
The window was open, allowing for some fresh air to blow through the room; Celestia shivered a little as a cold gust of wind entered.
"Surprised?" Twilight said, looking up at her mentor with remorse, "I told you I didn't want you to see me like this, and now you see why!"
"Actually, it's quite the opposite," Celestia corrected, "Everything looks neater than the last time I was in here."
"Sure, that's what it looks like. But it's not..."
"How?"
Celestia closed the door behind her and draped a wing around her. However, she was surprised to see that Twilight moved away from her as she got closer.
"Is everything alright?"
"No! Nothing is alright!" Twilight screamed, "Everything is horrible!"
"That's not true," Celestia said, "If everything goes according to plan, Spike and Pinkie Pie should be out on Sunday."
"NOOOOOO..." Twilight wailed as she stuffed her face into her pillow, crying even harder. Celestia was more confused than usual when it came to dealing with her student.
"I would've thought that this is a good thing, Twilight! What's wrong?"
"He hates me! That's what's wrong!"
"I'm sure that's not--wait a second."
Narrowing her eyes, she took a whiff of the air around Twilight. Although the window was open, she had a bit of a sour aroma surrounding her; it seemed to come from her breath, which explained why she got away from her the closer Celestia got. A thought entered her mind, and she prayed it wasn't true.
"Twilight?"
"What? What's wrong?"
"Why does your breath smell like gin?"
Twilight's pupils shrunk at her question. She avoided the gaze of her teacher as she searched for an answer, only to find out that there was only one right answer. Celestia's shocked gaze burned into her head.
"You haven't been drinking, have you?"
"N--no!" she answered, waving her hooves in defense.
"Are you sure?"
"No! I MEAN, YES! Yes, I'm sure!" Twilight finished rapidly, fidgeting farther away from Celestia. This time, Celestia kept her distance, not wanting to catch the smell of alcohol again.
"You lie, Twilight Sparkle," Celestia said in a disappointed tone, "How could you do this?"
"D--Do what?" Twilight asked before burping. Celestia's face scrunched up as Twilight chuckled after she finished. "I didn't do anything wrong!"
"You've clearly been drinking, Twilight," she answered, "That's not very becoming of a princess."
"W--well, it's not..." Twilight muttered, "Because I haven't been dri--*burp*--inking!"
"Yes. You have," Celestia said in a matter-of-fact tone, getting annoyed, "Why?"
"Even if I did, it's none of your business," muttered Twilight, laying her head down on her pillow with her back to her authority. Celestia gasped and grit her teeth.
"What did you just say?"
"You heard me, Princess Celestia!" Twilight shot back, "It's none. Of. Your. BUSINESS!"
"It IS my business, Twilight Sparkle," yelled Celestia, spreading her wings*, "For a teacher and a role model to all of Equestria, you of all ponies should know the drawbacks of drinking! There's no excuse whatsoever for this kind of behavior! Did you forget that? Because if so, I'd be happy to remind you."
Twilight's conscience screamed at her to stop before things got worse than they already were. But her will had other plans.
"You know what, Celestia?! You're right! I've been drinking!" Twilight screamed, forcefully poking Celestia's nose with her hoof with tears pouring down her face, "You know why?! Because my Spike, my number one assistant, is locked up in a mental asylum, and it's almost all my fault! I'm drinking because Spike, my closest friend, is living in a world where he thinks that everypony despises him and that their friendship was all a lie!"
Taking back her hoof, Twilight began to levitate in a mix of frustration heartbreak, confusion, and drunkenness. She could barely see Celestia's face because her tears blinded her.
"I'm drinking because Spike, my little brother, hates me! Our relationship is nearly destroyed because of me!"
"Twilight, that's not--"
"LET ME FINISH!" she shrieked, silencing Celestia once more. "Because you say it's not very becoming of a princess when what IS becoming is the exact opposite of what I want!"
Pausing to catch her breath, she looked at her with fury in her eyes.
"I left this castle every night for the past week to go to Filthy Rich's bar," she said with newfound boldness, "I ask him to give me the strongest drink that he has! It originally burned my throat, but ya know what I found?!"
Celestia stayed silent, listening to Twilight rant.
"I found that I'm the happiest I've ever been! I forget my worries! In this new world, Spike loves me again! Pinkie Pie is perfectly sane! Everything is perfect in the world again!" she yelled, not caring who heard her, "And then when I wake up in the morning, my world just comes crashing down again! Everything is terrible; Spike is still in that asylum, Pinkie is still insane, and I'm pulling as many strings as I can to get them out while also wondering what we can do when they DO get out!"
"Twilight, I understand. I know--"
"No! You don't understand, Princess Celestia," Twilight sobbed, "I opened that window to make sure that no one can ever detect that I've been drinking! Everything here is perfectly placed and clean when in reality, my world couldn't be more disorganized and dirty."
Stuffing her head into her pillow again, Twilight bawled frantically as her world once again crumbled around her. As much as she didn't want to admit it, Celestia was right; it was unbecoming of a princess to do such a thing to cope.
"I have to keep drinking to make sure I don't go insane," she admitted, "I'm at my lowest point, Princess Celestia. I've hit rock bottom, and I don't know if I can get back up again."
"You can, and you will. You have to stay strong, Twilight. The last thing I want for you is to feel like you're powerless when you have the opportunity to show how strong you truly are."
"But--"
"The road you chose to take isn't making you stronger; you're simply avoiding the problem and making it worse on yourself." Celestia said calmly. "And you're not alone...I've made more mistakes than I could ever hope to fix. Some are actually coming back to haunt me at the moment..."
Twilight looked at her with half-open eyes.
"But the least I could do is try to find a way to make things right," she continued, "And that's what I'm going to do later this week."
"What?"
"The visiting day for Luna and I is near. I'll make sure to send him your regards and let him know how much you miss and love him."
Twilight looked at her once more and felt her soul shatter again; Celestia noticed it too.
"But for now, it's time for you to rest. The time for crying is over; it is time for action, my dear princess."
Placing her under the covers, Twilight began to quietly sob once more at her recent misfortune. Brushing her tears away, Celestia sighed.
"Everything will be alright in the end. I'll make sure of it."
"I hope you're right."
"Oh, and one more question," Celestia stated as she opened the door, "Have you been sleeping at all?"
Twilight shook her head. "No...well, at least I try. Whenever Luna finds me, I ask her to leave me alone, and she just moves onto somepony else's dream."
"I see...rest well, Twilight Sparkle..."
Under Cloudsdale, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity stood patiently. Rarity and Applejack shivered at the cold weather while Rainbow Dash just yawned because it was so early.
"Where is she? This is my one day off for the week and I was going to use it to sleep in," Rainbow complained.
"I don't have a problem with the time; I get up way earlier than this," Applejack said, "I'm just not used to the cold!"
"You can say that again, darling," agreed Rarity, "I would've brought my wool sweater from my Winter line if I'd known it would be this cold!"
"You'll get over it. It's not too bad."
"Easy for you to say, huh, Rainbow Dash?"
Sitting down, Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes at her friend's remark. "So, what do you think she wants to talk about?"
"Beats me. She said she appreciated Apple Bloom's cooperation in her interrogation."
"Sweetie Belle was said to have been of good use as well..."
"She didn't tell me anything about Scootaloo."
"She was of good help too, Rainbow Dash."
Looking above them, they were relieved to see Luna descend gracefully onto the dirt path that lead towards Ponyville.
"Morning, Princess," Rainbow greeted.
"Hello, Rainbow Dash. I know that you're tired, but I promise I'll try not to take too long."
"Good. Those apples ain't gonna buck 'emselves!" Applejack said, excited at the idea of work.
"Ugh, work," Rainbow groaned, "Can we just get this over with?"
"Yes. Long story short, according to your sisters, Spike is starting to think that the Elements of Harmony, my sister and I are hypocrites."
"What?! How could Spikey think such a thing?!" Rarity asked shocked at the thought of it.
"Apparently, we're just using him for our own personal gain and don't care about him at all," Luna sheepishly explained, "And I can recall some times where that was the case..."
"I can't. Can you, RARITY?" Applejack asked, looking at the fashionista with a skeptical look.
"Hey, it's not only me! What about Rainbow Dash?"
"Oh, no, she's asking YOU, Rarity! Considering he's head over heels in love with you, there were multiple times where you've used him without giving him another thought," Rainbow Dash said. Luna chuckled.
"Speaking of which, you just might have some competition, Rarity," Luna said.
"Competition? For what?"
"Spike's heart, of course."
"But I don't want Spike's hea--" she froze midsentence; if she finished it, she would just be proving Rainbow Dash and Applejack right.
"What was that, Rarity?" asked Rainbow Dash, causing Rarity to blush furiously.
"Oh, shut it, you. Who's my 'so-called' competition?"
"You'll find out soon enough. Anyway, here's what I propose to see what other information we could get without actually having to visit the asylum. And this is why I'm here."
"Thank goodness, we're almost done," Rainbow weakly celebrated.
"Yes, we're almost done. I was a bit reluctant on this idea because I didn't know how you three would react to it, but it's why I'm making sure you all are alright with it."
"What is it?" Applejack asked. Rarity was still thinking about who her competition could be.
"I suggest that we check the Cutie Mark Crusaders into the mental asylum." Luna said casually.