“So later that night, the three of us headed off to the compound. One of the rebellion’s guards went with us to show us the way, but we ended up leaving him halfway. He was standing ready if something were to go wrong…” Twilight paused.
“What is it Twilight?” Celestia asked, concerned. “Did something go wrong?”
Twilight looked up at Celestia, a look of desperation in her eyes. “I… I think it would be better if I just told you this part in private.”
“Awe, C'mon!” Spike exclaimed. “What happened at the secret hideout? I want to hear about the supervillains you found there! There were supervillains right?”
“Twilight,” Starlight began, standing up from her seated position on the floor in between Celestia and Spike. “You know you can trust us, right?” she asked, and betrayal and hurt shone through in her voice like the brightest light in the dark of night.
“Um… I-I do, but… it’s just I—” Twilight stopped as Celestia held up a hoof.
“That’s enough. Starlight, I’m sure she trusts you just as much as she does me. If she doesn’t want you to hear something though, I have to say that I trust her judgment. Knowing Twilight, she is doing this to protect you.” Twilight silently nodded at this, her head held low in disappointment. “If I deem it okay, then I will tell you after I have heard what Twilight has to say.”
Starlight nodded, seemingly relieved. Spike was about to say something, but he was cut off as well. “That goes for you too Spike. This should just be between me and Twilight for now.”
Spike grunted in annoyance before turning and stomping out the door, eliciting a chuckle from the other three in the room. Starlight turned her gaze back to Twilight, who tried to give her a sympathetic smile.
Starlight smiled back, and walked up to her teacher, hugging her tightly. “Thank you,” Twilight whispered in her ear.
“Don’t mention it,” Starlight whispered back, lightly nuzzling her cheek as she pulled back, leaving a crimson patch of fur behind as she did. She then turned and walked out the same way Spike had gone.
Once she had walked off, Celestia cleared her throat, calling Twilight’s attention away from Starlight’s retreating form. She was met with a raised eyebrow and an inquisitive, and slightly mischevious, look from Celestia. Twilight’s blush only deepened.
“Don’t say a word,” she said forcefully but quietly.
Celestia chuckled. “Don’t worry, my lips are sealed. Now, let’s get back to business. What was so important that only I could hear this.” The hints of a barely concealed smile danced across her lips as she spoke. However, this instantly disappeared to be replaced with a look of concern at the expression on Twilight’s face… and the tears slowly escaping her eyes.
In less than a second, she was at Twilight’s side and had a wing wrapped around her shoulder. Twilight gratefully leaned into the embrace, turning her head and burying it into Celestia’s chest.
Celestia reached a hoof up and began slowly stroking her mane. Twilight relished in the loving embrace of her mentor as she let out all of the emotions that had been threatening to release themselves throughout the previous week.
The moment seemed to last forever, but it was eventually broken as Twilight’s sobs calmed down to sniffles, before stopping altogether. Leaning back, Twilight looked up into her mentor’s eyes. Celestia was staring down at her with a look of pure love in her eyes.
“I-I’m sorry…” Twilight said.
“What for?” Celestia asked.
“For… you know. Breaking down like that. I didn’t mean to. It’s just… we’ve been through so much this past week, and I’ve been trying to stay strong… I jus—” Celestia placed a hoof on her mouth, stopping her.
“It’s okay. I understand. Are you ready to talk now?”
Twilight sniffled. “Yes, I think so.”
“Very well then. What was it that was so important?”
Twilight sat up fully, but Celestia never moved her wing from her student’s side. “After we entered the complex, we made our way to the center building. I figured it was where the leader would be residing, as it was the largest and most heavily guarded. I used an invisibility spell to keep us hidden.
“We looked through a few windows, but when I came to one window near the center, I saw her… or rather, she saw me…” Twilight trailed off.
“What do you mean by that?” Celestia asked concerned.
“I first looked in, and I didn’t see anything, I looked away for a second, and just as I was about to fly down, I heard something inside. I looked back… and there she was.”
“Who did you see Twilight?” Celestia asked calmly.
Twilight shook her head, losing the thousand-yard stare she had previously been displaying.
“I don’t know for sure,” she said looking up to Celestia. “But… she was an alicorn.”
A silence so thick that it could hardly be seen through fell upon the room. Celestia’s face had lost its previous calm and caring demeanor. Her wing slowly retracted to her side, much to Twilight’s dismay.
Twilight stood up to look her mentor in the eyes but was met with the same thousand-yard stare that she had worn moments before.
“Celestia?” She asked. “A-are you okay?”
Celestia instantly snapped her focus to Twilight with a stare so intense she physically shrunk back underneath it.
“What did she look like?” Celestia demanded.
“Uh, s-she had a r-red mane and her c-coat was b-black,” Twilight stammered.
“What did her wings look like?” she asked with even more force than before.
“Um, her wings were red near the tips… I think.”
Celestia muttered something under her breath, too quiet for Twilight to hear what it was.
“Twilight,” Celestia continued after a moment. “You need to go back and get your friends out of there as quick as you can. Don’t think twice and don’t look back. Just go.”
“B-but Princess. What about all of the other ponies there. Didn’t you hear what I said about the ponies there?”
“I heard you just fine Twilight, and my answer remains the same.”
“But why? I’ll do it, but you need to at least give me a good reason to leave all of those ponies behind.”
Celestia sighed. ’You are just too kind for your own good sometimes Twilight.’
“Look, we may not have time for a full story, but I can tell you that I have met this pony before. Her name is Brimstone. Let’s just say she is not one that you want to mess with.”
“Well, maybe not by myself, but with you and Luna and Cadence I’m sur—”
“TWILIGHT!” Celestia screamed, using the royal Canterlot voice for the first time that Twilight could ever remember hearing. Twilight instantly shrunk back and fell to the floor, curling up into a fetal position.
Celestia took a few deep breaths and then sighed. She walked over and lifted Twilight’s head up to meet her gaze.
“Twilight, I am very very glad to see how much you want to help these ponies. I truly am… but you do not understand the power that my older sister possesses. At our last meeting, she possessed more power than me and my sister combined. Now… she could very well possess more power than all of us combined. It is imperative that you go now. Every second that you spend here is another second that your friends could be in danger.”
The last sentence seemed to snap Twilight out of her confused trance. She looked Celestia in the eyes and gave one firm nod, before turning and bolting out of the room.
“Twilight. Finally, you’re done. Can—” Twilight ran out the door before Spike even finished speaking.
“Nevermind. I guess we’ll hear about it later.”
Starlight groaned.
***
As soon as she was outside of the crystal walls of her castle, Twilight teleported straight back to the clearing where they had originally found the flower. Lighting her horn, she found the trace of the portal and in no time at all had thrown herself back through.
She tumbled out on the other side, dropping the spell as she did so.
Before she even caught her breath, her ears perked up at a sound. It was a laugh. It wasn’t too loud, which explained why it took her a second to notice it. It was about like a chuckle.
Twilight didn’t even have to look up to know who it was.
“Brimstone,” she seethed through her teeth.
“I’ve been expecting you Twilight Sparkle.”