The night sky reached out to grab her, drawing her to face a grin full of long, cruel fangs.
"You thought it was over, didn't you?"
There was no anger in the words, nor any hint of genuine curiosity. Instead, the dark mare's question rang with a sadistic kind of mirth. Her hold tightened until something cracked slightly.
"You thought you were safe, that you were home free. But you were a fool. Neither you, nor Equestria, will ever know freedom again."
In that wretched grip, the unicorn thrashed, fighting for her very life.
"There's no use trying to resist," the voice continued. "It's time to submit, Miss Moondancer. Well?" She lifted her victim to face her. "Submit! Miss Moondancer, are you listening to me?"
The words rang in the ears of young Moondancer as the dark blues and purples of the night distorted and slowly recomposed themselves into a new image.
The silvery filly jolted upright in her desk by the window, the face of her teacher looming over her. "Yes—I mean, no, I—what was the question?" she fumbled.
"I was asking you to submit your assignment," the professor chided. "I assume you were up all night completing it?"
"Er, actually..."
"She was building a Nightmare Shelter," a grassy-green filly behind her interrupted. "In case the world ends next week. I told her she'd probably get in trouble..."
A few of her classmates snickered at this, and Moondancer pointedly ignored them, shifting her sapphire eyes to the window. The professor leveled the destructive power of a sympathetic gaze at her.
"It's alright," the teacher softly assured her, raising a lavender hoof to stroke the fily's deep red mane. "These things happen. Why don't you just finish it over the break, and get it to me as soon as you can?"
Moondancer nodded. "Yes, Professor Sparkle," she agreed halfheartedly.
Professor Sparkle smiled and patted her student's shoulder lightly. She then returned to the front of the room and scanned the papers she had collected. Satisfied, she looked over the class, and cleared her throat. "I hope you all have a lot of fun over the upcoming break," she announced. "These moments will be precious to you for the rest of your life, so enjoy them. Class is dismissed!"
With a great chattering noise, the students all rose together and began filing out of the room. At the door, a small, purple and green dragon waved to them, offering a few short words of encouragement to each one in passing.
Moondancer paused to smooth her mane and straighten the powder blue bow she wore at the base of her tail before passing the teacher's assistant, and gave him a broad smile.
"Good luck, Moondancer!" he said, patting her on the back. "I'm sure you'll do great!"
"Thanks, Spike," she replied. "That means a lot." She trotted past him slowly, lagging behind her classmates as her eyes lingered on the dragon. He didn't pay any attention to her gaze, just giving her a small bow and walking away to talk to Twilight. Moondancer sighed sadly as she reached the door.
Distracted as she was, she didn't notice the two pairs of hooves reaching for her until they gripped her around the shoulders. With a small "awp", she was pulled quickly out into the hallway.
She spun to confront the grabby ponies. "What's the big idea, May?"
The green filly giggled in response. "We all saw you practically swooning over dragon-boy," she explained. "We just want to help you out." Her friend, a yellow colt with a shooting star cutie mark, nodded emphatically.
Coming from May Flowers, those words were slightly ominous. She was clever, certainly, and not particularly cruel, but she had a bit of a troublemaking streak. For all Moondancer knew, this could be sincere, or it could be some kind of weird setup for a prank. "Help me how?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow.
"By making you look pretty!" May pumped an enthusiastic hoof and tossed her buttery mane. "This is the only class Professor Sparkle teaches today. In ten minutes she and Spike will be back in her office, doing other work for the rest of the morning. Come with me and I'll have you ready by the time she gets back there, and you can go woo to your heart's content! We'll be a little late for Professor Blueblood's class, but I don't think that'll be a big deal."
The silver filly thought it over for a moment. "Well... I dunno..."
"Last chance before the Celebration," May reminded her. "If you don't do it now, you'll have to wait an entire week, just thinking about him, before you even get to try."
Moondancer groaned into a hoof. "Okay, okay," she said, waving at them. "Let's do this... quick. Before I change my mind."
~#~#~#~
"Hey, did you hear about...?"
"Could be the end for all of us!"
"Only a few days left, better make it count..."
Spike let out a tiny snort of disdain as he followed the professor out the door and into the school's courtyard. "Listen to them." He waved a claw around at the foals chattering about the latest rumor. "They're convinced something really bad is about to happen just because the year is a nice, round number. How can they take it that seriously?"
"I don't think they do," Professor Sparkle replied. "For most of them, it's just fun to pretend something that couldn't happen is about to. Don't tell me you've never done that?'
The dragon started to speak, but halted himself, looking slightly annoyed by his inability to answer in the negative. "Yeah, well," he managed, "I'll just be glad when the Summer Sun Celebration is over and everypony sees that there was no meteor or plague or ancient goddess coming to kill everypony."
"That would be nice," the teacher answered him, picking up her pace. Her bright violet eyes wandered a bit, distractedly.
There was something off about her reaction, he realized. "Twilight? You don't... actually believe it, do you?"
Twilight shook her head. "I don't know, Spike," she stated flatly. "This whole thing, there's something familiar about it, like I should know something that I just... can't remember."
Well, that was that, Spike decided. "We're going to have to do research, aren't we?" he asked.
"I think that's a pretty fair assumption."
"I understand this is how you cope with things, but as of right now we're on a break!" he protested. "You really wanna waste a whole week worrying when we could be having fun at a festival?"
"I need to know, Spike," she replied in a stern tone. "Just... help me research today. If we don't find anything, we can go do whatever you want for the rest of the week, I promise."
The beleaguered assistant sighed. "Alright, Twilight..." he agreed. "Just for today."
An aura of magic picked Spike up and set him on Twilight's back. "Thank you, Spike." She smiled back at him as she approached her tower.
A few steps later, she bumped straight into something and crashed to the ground, drawing a surprised yelp from her rider.
"Oof... what was—Professor Heartstrings?" Twilight stood slowly, using a hoof to steady her passenger. "Are you alright?"
"Oh, yeah, totally fine," the seafoam green harpflanked mare answered, springing to her hooves as if nothing had happened. "I was just looking for you, actually! I need to borrow one of your books, to confirm something. If my theories are correct, we're about to see an invasion from another world! It'll be catastrophic, of course, but if we survive, think about what we could learn from the experience! Imagine the technology they'll have... the culture... imagine what their very existence could reveal about the nature of life itself! So can I?"
"Sure thing, Lyra," Spike replied, while the unicorn under him was still attempting to process her colleague's theory. "We were just going to research something similar, so maybe you can help us."
"Great! Alright, let's get it started!" Lyra hooked a hoof around Twilight's leg and zipped up the stairs, dragging the confused mare along with her.
Twilight's office was located at the top of the tower, overlooking the whole of Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. The school had been one of the cornerstones of Equestria since it was founded, one of the three great magical academies. Like most who studied here, Twilight had lived on this campus since she was a little filly, and expected she would all her life. On an ordinary day, the professor might have paused here to look out over the courtyard and appreciate the sight, but at the moment, she was preoccupied.
"Okay, let's see," she began, trying to assume control again. She eased her way through the mess of books from recent research sessions, making a note that as soon as she had found what she was looking for, every shelf in the chamber was going to have to be re-alphabetized twice. "Spike, can you fetch me our copy of Predictions and Prophecies? That seems like a good place to start."
Her assistant saluted and made his way to a bookshelf on the far side of the room. He scanned the books on the lower shelves, then pulled an elephant ladder around to get a better look at the higher ones. Inspecting the top shelf, he found what he was looking for; an old, brown tome that was almost as big as he was. "Got it!" he called, pulling it out.
Between the weight and the sudden motion, Spike suddenly found himself completely overbalanced. Twilight gasped and reached out with her magic to hold onto the falling dragon and set him gently back on the ground. Lyra, meanwhile, caught the book, and instantly began leafing through it.
Twilight leaned closer and attempted to read over her shoulder. Here and there, she spotted predictions she recognized from history lessons or had seen fulfilled herself. An illustration caught her eye. "Hold on a moment, Professor," she said, pointing to the page. "What's that?"
Obligingly, the other mare passed her the book. "What? You mean this one about the Mare in the Moon?"
The lavender unicorn looked over the picture, a nighttime landscape, with a great equine shadow descending from the moon, obscuring the distant mountain. "It says... The Mare in the Moon, Nightmare Moon, The Mare of Darkness, Terror Born of Luna, Promise of Everlasting Starlight, The Cold Despair of... let's just skip the appelations... is the name given to the monster that attempted to overthrow the Princess and was sealed away in the moon. There she shall remain full one thousand years, until on the longest day of the thousandth year she will be free once more. Unless the heroes of the forest rise against her, the night shall have no end, til it be the end of all ponykind."
Neither pony could think of anything to say for a moment. Lyra recovered first, lip trembling pitifully as she spoke. "Does this mean no aliens?"
Professor Sparkle stared a moment longer, then began fumbling about telekinetically for some parchment and a quill. "Terror Born of Luna..." she mused. "Professor Heartstrings, history is your subject, not mine. Who is Luna?"
The seafoam professor rubbed her chin and thought for a moment. "Well, I'm not sure... you'd really want Professor Minuette for this, I mostly study dead or apocryphal cultures, and proto-Equestrian politics tends to be really complicated... and it was before the Decree of Historical Preservation, so most of what we know from that time is oral tradition or straight-up myth. All I can say for sure is that she was an alicorn princess, and she disappeared a thousand years ago."
"Hm." Twilight put quill to parchment, thinking carefully. "I guess there's only one place to turn for more information, then. Dear Princess Celestia... I have come across a prophecy regarding Nightmare Moon's return. As a Canterlot professor, it is my duty to protect the students and the city, and as your faithful student, I want to help you. In order to act on this, I need more information. Please send anything you can tell me about Nightmare Moon and her mother, Luna." With that written, she rolled up the letter. "Spike, can you send this for me, please?"
"Oh, yeah, sure thing." Spike took the missive in his claw, and it was consumed in a quick exhalation of emerald fire.
No sooner had the action been completed than a rapping sound echoed through the chamber. The ponies glanced at each other. "I'll get it," Lyra offered, trotting around a pile of books to get to the door.
"I still think this is a dead end," the dragon insisted. "You know these prophecies always have some kind of weird twist on them. The whole thing will probably turn out to be a metaphor for a mild flu outbreak or something."
Before Twilight could reply, Professor Heartstrings returned, escorting a young silvery filly wearing a glittering pink dress. Her red mane now had a mauve streak in it, and she seemed to be wearing a touch too much makeup. "Hey, uh, she says she's looking for Spike," Lyra explained.
Spike scratched his head. "Uh, hey, Moondancer. What's with the outfit?"
The filly rubbed her leg with a hoof. "Oh, this? It's borrowed, actually. May thought it would help." She looked down at the ground as she mustered her concentration. "See, I actually came to talk to you about the Summer Sun Celebration," she continued. "This year is supposed to be a big one. You know, the millenial fair and all. And, well, I was just thinking, I mean, my parents take me every year, but I want to do something special." She shifted her weight from her left legs to her right. "So I was wondering, would you... want... to..."
The dragon's cheeks were puffed out and he was making some kind of gagging sound, and Moondancer trailed off as she noticed. He turned away from her and released a fiery belch. The wisps of smoke from the flame coalesced into a solid shape, a simple roll of parchment, sealed with a red ribbon and the royal crest. "Sorry about that," he said. "I swear Philomena makes these things hotter than they need to be. Hey Twi, I think this is Celestia's reply." A claw cut the ribbon off, and he unrolled the letter. He read the first line, and immediately did a double-take. Moondancer watched his eyes scan the paper several more times.
"What's the matter, Spike?" Twilight asked, moving a little closer.
"I don't understand, is what. Listen to this." Her assistant shook his head and cleared his throat.
My Faithful Student, Professor of Arcane Theory, Researcher of Magitechnology, Chief Librarian, Sourceress Twilight Sparkle,
You don't need to know.
"What?" Twilight craned her head around, trying to get a look at the parchment.
"That's what it says here!" Spike cried, gesturing to the line. "I told you, it doesn't make sense! The rest of it isn't any better, either."
Preparations have already been made. I intend to see to the matter personally, so you need not concern yourself. I think it would be good for you to get out of the castle and go somewhere nice and sunny. Fillydelphia, maybe. Lots of ponies vacation in Neighagara Falls or Applewood. I've heard Manehattan is nice this time of year. Go anywhere you like and just relax.
Remember, my student, I care deeply about you and Spike. I have watched you grow from a filly who could barely control her magic into one of the most clever, skillful, and respectable professors Canterlot has ever seen. I have no doubt you will continue to grow for many years. For now, though, you must remember that there is a time when your duties end.
Sincerely,
Princess Celestia
Silence flooded the room as he finished reading the letter. Twilight's concerns had just been flatly dismissed by Celestia. That had never happened before. In the entire time she had been Celestia's student, no insight, no complaint, no minor worry had been ignored. Her entire body slumped slightly, and Moondancer, visibly uncomfortable with her teacher's condition, nuzzled her appeasingly.
'What does she mean, preparations have been made?" Twilight wondered aloud. "And... my duties end? How? Isn't this...?" Slowly, she looked down to the filly at her side. "Oh, by the way... about that assignment."
Her pupil blinked and looked up at her. "Yes, Professor Sparkle?"
The adult mare bit her lip. "How about we do something different? I don't want you to spend your entire break working, so if you can answer one question for me, you don't have to do it. What do you say?"
Moondancer hesitated for a moment. The professor's tone was odd, melancholy and grim. Something was definitely wrong. Still, to avoid upsetting her, she nodded. "Okay. I'll do it. What is it?"
Twilight closed her eyes and took a deep breath before delivering the question. "What is magic?"
This was simple. Perhaps some of the class might have forgotten, but they had been taught the answer to this question on the first day. The filly waited a moment, in case there was more. When nothing else came, she answered, "Magic is a force that acts on the interconnectedness between all things. By redefining logical connections, magic changes the way the natural laws express themselves."
Professor Sparkle smiled at her, though it wasn't a kind of smile Moondancer was used to or understood. "Very good," she said, embracing the filly. "You pass. Now, I think you should get going. You have somewhere else to be, don't you? Better get going. And I hope you enjoy the Celebration." Gently, she nudged her student, urging her toward the door.
Twilight relaxed when Moondancer took the hint and started out of the office on her own. She leaned closer to Spike as the silver filly disappeared around the stack of books. "Where is the Summer Sun Celebration this year?" she asked cautiously.
Spike scowled and scratched his head. "How should I know?" he replied. "I usually just wait for the letter." Every year previously, the Princess had sent them a reminder of the location. This time, though, she had mentioned several cities, and said nothing about the festival in connection with any of them.
"It's in Ponyville," Lyra chipped in. "I'm kinda surprised you two didn't know. My students have been talking about it all week."
"Well, you're lucky, then," the dragon retorted. "All I've heard is stuff about Nightmare Moon and zombies and earthquakes and tidal waves."
"Tidal waves?"
"In any case," Professor Sparkle said, "if we know where to go, then we should be going, don't you think? Come on, Spike, we've got a train to catch."
~#~#~#~
"What do you mean, no trains to Ponyville?"
"Sorry, Professor," the scrawny, ashen ticketing colt said apologetically, tapping his hooves together. "It's the Princess's order. No trains to Ponyville all week, from anywhere. No airships or carriages, either. And she ordered the Gate of Magic closed."
Twilight's eye twitched. The Gate of Magic was the only way into, or out of, Canterlot on hoof. It held a great deal of ceremonial importance to the city. Anypony wishing to study in Canterlot was required to walk through it several times a year, and so it was never closed, under any circumstances. There was only one possible reason for Celestia to have ordered such a thing; despite her claim that the situation was under control, Ponyville was now too dangerous to visit. Of all the worst possible things that could happen, she thought, this was... well, it was certainly on the list! Right above "the dead walk the streets" and right below "the library is on fire!"
"Bummer," grunted Lyra from beside her. "What are you going to do now?"
With a huff, the purple professor turned and stomped toward the exit. "I'll tell you what I'm going to do," she growled. "I'm going to go back to my office, and I'm going to create a long-range relative-target teleportation spell, because that's apparently the only way to get to Ponyville. Then I'm going to use it to go straight to Princess Celestia and ask why in Tartarus' name she didn't tell me anything! And then I—"
Twilight was jarred out of her indignant ranting when, for the second time that day, she collided with another pony.
"You really need to stop doing that," Spike remarked, elbowing her starburst cutie mark.
Her obstacle this time, a large white stallion wearing a solid-looking chestplate, barely flinched, but quickly turned to spot her. "Twily?" He offered a hoof to help her up.
Looking up at him, Twilight smiled briefly. "Shiny!" she exclaimed as she took his hoof and stood. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with the Princess?"
Shining Armor was Twilight's older brother, and shared the same highly magical bloodline that had made her the Princess's prized pupil. With his own power, he had ascended through the ranks of the Royal Guard, becoming Captain within a few short years of enlisting. This being one of the biggest holidays of the year, he should almost certainly have been in Ponyville by now.
Yet here he stood, shaking his head. "No, I'm with the rear guard," he explained. "We're set to leave by flying chariots in about ten minutes. I'm making my final preparations right now, so—"
"That's perfect!" Twilight exclaimed, nearly jumping on him. He backed up very slightly, raising an eyebrow. She took a deep breath and tried explaining herself slowly, gesturing to Lyra with a hoof as she did so. "Sorry, I mean, we actually need to get to Ponyville ourselves, but the trains aren't running right now. Can you give us a ride?"
Shining Armor thought hard about that one. "I dunno. I mean, I could get in a lot of trouble... it's against the Guard's policy..."
"You're the Captain!" she protested. "You can make your own policy!"
At this, he chuckled and shook his head. "Alright, alright. Ordinarily I'd object to bringing my sister along on an escort mission, but this is all ceremonial anyway. It's perfectly safe. There should be room in my chariot. We'll need to hurry, though." He thought about it for a minute as he started walking, the mares close in tow. At length, he added, "If you want, I could fix you up with my chariot driver, Flash. You'd really like him."
Twilight went crimson at this. "Shiny! I do not need your help getting a stallion!" she protested indignantly.
"Yeah," Lyra cut in, "she'd much rather have help getting a Trixie."
"That's not what—I don't have a crush on Professor Lulamoon!"
"Whoa, okay, talk about oblivious, I had no idea my little sister was into mares!"
"I am not!"
Lyra's snickering ceased as they arrived at a grassy lot where half a dozen chariots were lined up. Guards hurried to take their positions, either seated in the chariots or in front, ready to pull. One by one the chariots were filled and took off. The stallion offered his sister a hoof up into his own, then stepped in after her. Spike climbed in as well, but before Lyra could hop in as well, a pegasus guard placed a hoof on her shoulder.
"These vehicles are reserved for use of the Royal Guard," he calmly informed her. "You should go about your business and—"
"She's with me, Flash," Shining interrupted. "I'm giving these three my permission, personally, by my authority as Captain of the Guard."
The pegasus turned to give him a surprised look, then shook his head. "Well, that's fine then, I guess, but three ponies in one chariot will put us over the weight limit. She can't ride with you, unless you want to take the risk of all of us plummeting out of the sky."
"Oh, then I'll..." Lyra started, but as she looked around she found that no seats remained empty.
The captain sighed heavily. "I guess there's nothing we can do about that. But Twilight and Spike are okay, right?" he asked.
Flash scrutinized Twilight in a way she wasn't entirely sure she was comfortable with, then nodded approvingly. "Yeah, we're good to go."
"But, but," Lyra protested, "I have to go with you! Only me and Twilight know what we're dealing with here! Tell 'em, Professor!"
The purple unicorn, however, simply gave her an apologetic look. "I wish I could do something, Professor Heartstrings," she tried weakly, "but it looks like this is the only way. Don't worry, though, I promise I won't fail!" Beneath her, the wheels started to move. "I'll get to the bottom of this!"
Mouth agape, the history professor hurried after the chariot. "We were supposed to face this together, Sparkle!" she shouted, just as they lifted off. "We were going to be a team!"
Twilight took a sudden interest in studying the edge of the vessel.
"Too bad about Professor Heartstrings," Shining Armor offered as they cleared the city walls. "But hey, at least this'll give us time to bond. How have your classes been?"
They made small talk to pass the flight to Ponyville. The professor discussed her students, her own academic pursuits, and the latest issue of Unicorn Science Weekly, while the captain told her all about his assignments, his girlfriend, and his bumbling lieutenant ("No offense, Flash!"). The whole time, Twilight kept eyeing the horizon. She began to fidget slightly as the Princess's covered vehicle came into view.
~#~#~#~
As expected, they touched down in the town square without incident in the early afternon. Twilight sprang from the chariot and bolted toward Celestia's carriage. "Princess!" she exclaimed, sticking her head inside.
Where she had expected to see her mentor, however, she instead found an empty seat.
"I told you," Shining said, behind her, "this is all ceremonial. The Princess was already here."
"Where is she, then?" Twilight asked, withdrawing her head and looking up at him.
Her brother shrugged. "Having a look around with the vanguard. That's all I can say. Meanwhile, we're supposed to get set up in Town Hall. Where are you staying?"
"I'll find a room in a stable somewhere," she replied, shrugging.
He scratched at his neck uncomfortably before opening his mouth. "Uh, Twily, you do know this is the biggest festival of the year, right?" he ventured. "There won't be any rooms left by now."
Realization dawned on her face slowly. Usually, Celestia would have made a reservation for her, so she had never thought about how hard it was to get a room for the event. Her expression soured as she kicked at the ground. "Well, yeah, now that you mention it, there wouldn't be. What now? I can't sleep on the street for a week."
Shining Armor sighed. "Well, since you've come this far, I'm sure you could bunk with me," he offered, smiling. "It'll be easier to catch up that way."
Twilight smiled softly back and nuzzled against her brother. "Thanks, Shiny," she said. Then, quickly, she turned and took a few steps away. "Well, I've got a lot to do today! I'll see you tonight!"
He waved to her as she trotted off, Spike at her heels. "Alright, and be careful! Love ya, sis!"
Behind him, a shape slipped quietly out of the vehicle and scampered off.
~#~#~#~
"So... you're just gonna walk around the festival at random until you find the Princess?"
The unicorn clicked her tongue at the dragon's suggestion. "Now, Spike, you know me. Do you honestly think I wouldn't have a plan?"
He shrugged. "Well, where are we going then?" he asked, looking reasonably confused.
"Think about it. Everypony knows Celestia has a massive sweet tooth. So the first place she goes during every Summer Sun Celebration is..."
"The nearest bakery or sweets shop," Spike finished, understanding now. "Of course. So, do you know where that is?"
Twilight paused a second to glance around. "I saw a sign a minute ago for a confectioner's," she answered. "We should be going the right way, I think—"
"You're looking for something sweet?" a voice boomed a few feet to their left, drawing a stare from the pair. At a booth, an earth pony with a pink coat and an even pinker curly mane, wearing a boater hat and a pinstriped suit, leaned forward with her forehooves on the table in front of her. "Step right this way," she said, "I'll show you what you need!"
"You can take us to Sweetie Drops?" Twilight smiled. "That's perfect!"
At that, the other mare scratched her head, inadvertently pushing her hat down over one of her bright azure eyes. "Sweetie Drops? You mean Bon Bon's place? I guess I could, but I know someplace even better! Walk this way!" With that, she sprang into action, in a literal sense, hopping down the street like a massive pink rabbit.
"I don't think you could walk that way if you tried," Spike commented dryly. The professor gave him a stern look as they both followed the pink mare's path.
They wove their way through the crowds, taking twists and turns until Twilight suspected they were completely lost and knew that they had made at least three circles around various parts of the fair. Abruptly, however, their guide halted in front of a large building. The roof had the color of gingerbread with a white icing-like trim, and a tower shaped like a cupcake sat on top; the windows had an odd rosy tint to them. She turned on the spot and gestured wildly.
"Here we are, Sugarcube Corner!" she announced. "Whatever you're looking for, I'm sure you'll find it here! And if you can't find anything, you can just ask me, Head Apprentice Baker Pinkie Pie!" She ripped off her suit to reveal a uniform complete with an apron concealed underneath, and tossed her hat aside as a chef's toque seemed to spring from under it.
"Twilight Sparkle," the unicorn introduced herself simply. "And this is Spike, my assistant. May we speak to the owners of this shop?"
"Oh, sure! Just come right on in!" Pinkie flung open the front door and nearly dragged Twilight inside. "You can wait here while I go find Mr. and Mrs. Cake. Be right back!"
As the earth pony swept off to summon the proprietors, Twilight took a look around. The room seemed designed primarily for hosting events, with its long tables arranged close together and ample floor space left open. The small crowd inside was dissipating rapidly; it must have been the very end of a big rush.
At the counter, a blonde unicorn filly with a muted mauve coat was talking to a lanky rust-colored unicorn colt wearing a toque atop his turquoise mane. "Yes, that looks perfect," she was saying. "Thank you for your help, Snails!"
"Aw, it's just my job, eh?" Snails replied. "But I'm glad you're satisfied!" He closed the box and slid it to her, then spotted Twilight and waved. "Hey there, new customer! What can I do for you?"
As the filly turned to look, the mare moved closer. "Well, I'm looking for Princess Celestia," she explained. "Have you seen her?"
"Princess Celestia?" the colt repeated, scratching his head, his voice slow as if he had to consider each word as he said it. "Well, I don't really know. I've been busy in the kitchen up until that last crowd, so I haven't seen who's been here." He winced. "Sorry I can't help."
Twilight shook her head. "It's fine, I'm sure the owners will know. So you're the other apprentice baker?" she asked idly.
"Oh, yeah, me and my buddy Snips," he replied, stepping out from behind the counter to reveal a close-cut tail and a cutie mark of a snail. "Say, why are you looking for the Princess, anyway?"
"Oh, well..." She thought about this for a moment and decided it was definitely not a good idea to tell them everything. "I'm a professor from Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, and I have to talk to her about... important magic stuff. I can't really say any more."
The filly's golden eyes widened. "Really? Oh, wow," she gasped. "That must be so cool! I, er, was going to take the exam once, but I had to cancel... it would've been great to live in the castle."
Twilight chuckled. "Oh really? And what's your name?" she asked, patting the filly on the head. "I'm sure you'd be right at home in my class."
"Dinky Doo," the little one answered. "But I can't now. I've got too many responsibilities lately. Thank you, though!" She smiled warmly.
The bell over the door chimed. "Ugh, you're on duty today?" a voice sounded from the door. "I should probably just forget it. I don't want any of your charred cannolis."
The voice belonged to a little pink filly. A white stripe ran through her violet mane, on which a tiara identical to the one on her flank was proudly perched. Azure eyes narrowed at Snails mockingly. Snails, for his part, greeted her with a friendly wave. "Oh hi Diamond Tiara! I've got plenty of stuff that's not burnt," he called, while Dinky rolled her eyes and quietly huffed.
"And we're already here," added a bespectacled gray filly with a cutie mark of a spoon, trotting up alongside Tiara. "Are we really going to leave now?"
Tiara shrugged. "I'm just not looking forward to eating anything made by the Dopey Duo," she said with a snort.
"Hey!" Dinky spoke up now, looking suddenly irate. "Snips and Snails are great bakers! The only thing wrong is your taste buds!"
That was the moment smoke billowed over the saloon-style door that led to the kitchen. Tiara looked up at the cloud, then back to Dinky with an eyebrow raised. Then she burst into raucous laughter, her friend chuckling reservedly behind her. "Come on, Silver Spoon," Tiara said, turning and walking toward the door with her nose in the air. "We've got better places to be."
The gray filly looked like she might protest for a moment, but silently followed Tiara. As Tiara reached the door, Dinky took a step forward. "Why do you listen to her, anyway?" she asked. "You think she's your friend? Obedience isn't friendship."
Silver Spoon looked back at her for a moment, her expression oddly neutral. Without answering, she resumed her motion and slunk out the door.
Dinky sighed. "Well, at least they're gone now. I wish they wouldn't make fun of Snails like that."
"Aw, it's not a big deal," Snails protested. "Anyway, it's true, I did kinda burn their order last time."
A squat, teal unicorn colt rushed out of the kitchen and grabbed Snails. "You gotta help me!" he cried. "Everything's gone crazy since the Cakes left me alone here!"
"Uh, Snips... wasn't that five minutes ago?" the taller colt asked, his expression one of puzzlement. "How bad could it be?"
As Snips dragged Snails back into the kitchen, Dinky looked up at Twilight. "Well, it was nice meeting you," she said. "I have to be getting these back now." She scurried out of the room with the box balanced carefully on her back.
Running hooves sounded behind them as a yellow blur darted past and slammed through the kitchen doors. An apparently oblivious Pinkie Pie bounced over to the counter, followed by an extremely nervous-looking older blue earth mare.
"I found Mrs. Cake!" the pink pony declared. "And Mr. Cake is back in the kitchen putting out the fire!"
Mrs. Cake looked as though she might faint at that, but did her best to give Twilight a confident smile. "What can I help you with, dear?" she asked in a decidedly strained voice, her attention wavering between Twilight and the doors.
A stallion's voice could be heard from the kitchen, muffled as though he was speaking through clenched teeth. "Five minutes—we just needed five minutes to—"
Now was very probably a good time to finish her business here. "I just wanted to know if Princess Celestia had been here today," she explained quickly.
"And as soon as we turn our backs you nearly—"
"Oh, yes," the earth pony replied. "She said she absolutely needed a cake. But she didn't stay long."
"—to fill the sink with zap apple jam and—"
"Did she say where she was going?" the professor pressed.
Mrs. Cake thought carefully about that one. "I believe she was on her way to the school to talk to the foals there," she said, "but—"
"—contaminated the butter with an alligator—"
"I'm afraid I'm needed in the kitchen," the blue mare excused herself. "So sorry!" And with that, she was off.
The voices in the kitchen now became indistinct and confused, trying to figure out how in the world the pair of colts managed to make such a mess of things. Spike nudged Pinkie's hoof with an elbow. "Hey, do you keep any maps around here?"
"Oh, sure," said Pinkie, "we bought some for the Summer Sun Celebration, just like all the other shops. They're not as popular as we thought they'd be, though." She reached behind the counter and pulled out a pamphlet-sized map, which she presented to the two.
Twilight took it with a grateful nod and paid a silver bit for it. "Well, maybe I'll see you around, Pinkie Pie. Thanks for all your help!" She gave a small, polite wave as she trotted out the door.
She hoped she would not see Pinkie Pie around. Something was just not right about that mare.
~#~#~#~
According to the map, the school stood within an estate called Sweet Apple Acres. The apparent farmland was easily as large as the town proper, and Twilight found a sudden appreciation for the town's agricultural significance. The schoolhouse itself took up about three hectares of this land, which seemed a bit small, likely due to the popularity of apprenticeships as a method of education in this area. No doubt the school had simply remained the same size over the years while the town built around it had consistently grown.
As she approached, the professor felt her confidence waver. "Spike," she began slowly, "what do you see here?"
The dragon looked over the building and shrugged. "I don't know, Twilight," he admitted. "It looks like a normal enough school to me."
"Look at the windows," she instructed.
Obediently, her assistant scanned the windows of the building. "They're all closed," he observed. "What does that mean?"
"Well," she responded as they approached the front doors, "we're about to find out."
A violet earth mare with a slight red tint, with a cutie mark of three smiling flowers stood outside the school, taking down some decorations, accompanied by a stick-thin, cream-colored pegasus colt. As Twilight approached, the colt spotted her and tapped on the mare's foreleg. "Miss Cheerilee," he said, "somepony's coming."
Miss Cheerilee turned around to spot the unicorn. "Oh! I wasn't expecting anypony to come by just yet." She paused for a moment, thinking. "In fact, I don't think I remember you at all. Featherweight's sister usually picks him up. Are you his cousin?"
"Featherweight?" Twilight repeated. The colt waved to her, and she shook her head. "Oh, no, sorry. I'm Professor Twilight Sparkle, from Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. I'm looking for the Princess. I heard she was here?"
The local teacher seemed confused by the question, leaning to the left slightly as she processed it. "Er... yes, she was," she responded at length. "She gave a speech, but, Professor... class ended at noon because of the Summer Sun Celebration. She hasn't been here for hours."
"And here we go," Spike muttered.
The unicorn could practically feel her pupils constrict. "What? But that... but you're still here! With a student!" She was sure she would find Celestia here, and now she clung desperately to anything that might, however weakly, contradict the very simple truth that she was much too late.
"Well, yes," Cheerilee replied patiently. "We've had these banners up for weeks, but nopony's coming back here until the Celebration is over so I'm getting a head start on cleaning them up."
"And I volunteered to help," the colt added. "Somepony had to do it, after all."
Twilight hung her head. "I... see," she said. "I guess that's that, then. Do you know where she went?"
"I'm afraid not." Cheerilee shifted her weight slightly, offering Twilight a remorseful smile. "I wish I could help you, but I have no idea how."
"Thank you for your time," the lavender unicorn sighed. She straightened up and gave the two a nod, then turned and walked away without another word.
~#~#~#~
The rest of the day progressed in a much less hopeful manner than the initial two stops. Nopony had seen Celestia at all since she left the school, which was frankly unprecedented. Celestia wasn't one to hide from the public, and in fact loved to be seen during the festival each year. Many considered seeing the Princess to be a good omen, and spreading those was part of what the festival was all about.
If Twilight didn't know any better she'd swear her mentor was hiding from her, personally. Of course, since she hadn't arrived until some time after the last sighting, that was unlikely. And yet, as the sun set, she returned to Town Hall without having caught so much as a glimpse of Celestia.
As she reached the large double doors, she brightened slightly. If this was where the Royal Guard was stationed... of course, it was so easy, she hadn't needed to spend the whole day searching at all! With a renewed sense of purpose and a little extra vigor, she climbed the stairs.
The guards were quartered on the third story. As she set foot in the corridor, her brother's voice called out to her. "Hey, Twily! You all done for the day?" He trotted over and wrapped a hoof around her shoulders. "Come on, I'll show you where we're bunking."
"Actually," she said, extricating herself gently, "I've got one thing left to do. Where is Celestia's room?"
Shining Armor gave her a stern look. "Twily, did you bring your work with you on vacation?" he asked.
"No, nothing like that," Twilight replied, shaking her head with a halfhearted grin. "I just want to talk to her. I mean, she is my mentor and all."
He raised his eyebrow, but shrugged and waved in the direction of the stairs. "Okay, she's on the fourth floor. There's only one room up there, so it won't be hard to find. I'll just wait here until you're done."
"Think I'll wait here too," Spike said, slipping off Twilight's back. "I'm beat. All day we went back and forth. It was crazy."
Twilight hugged her brother once, then quickly climbed the stairs.
About a meter from the top of the stairs, there was a door; on either side stood a pegasus guard. The professor walked confidently up to the door, and found two crossed wings blocking her path.
"By the Princess's order, none may enter until the Summer Sun Celebration is over," the guard on the left intoned gruffly.
"Oh, it's alright," the unicorn responded. "I'm Twilight Sparkle, her personal protégé. She'll want to—"
"I'm very sorry," the guard on the right interrupted, "but our orders are very clear. We are not to allow anypony to enter. Not even you."
The words were a hammer to Twilight's barrel, and she stepped back, eyes wide. "What? That can't be. She wouldn't tell you to keep me out. There must be some mistake!"
"I'm afraid not. I'm sorry, Professor, you'll have to wait until after the Celebration."
She didn't catch which of the guards said that. It didn't matter, she supposed. Their message had been delivered. She turned around and slunk back down to the floor below.