Several minutes later, the unicorn guard were returning to the castle, up a long arcing cliffside path. Twilight, Rainbow, and Spike were floating in their midst, imprisoned in a glowing sphere of shield energy.
Rainbow pounded angrily at the field with her forehooves, then flung her shoulders against it, first one then the other. "Aw, come on!" she yelled. "I've got wings, darn it. I can fly myself!"
"Calm down, Rainbow." Twilight was staring around at the sphere of magic, fascinated by it even given their predicament. "This is perfect, actually."
"Maybe for you, Twi." Rainbow flung herself down grumpily. "But for me it's embarrassing! I'm a pegasus, for crying out loud. I don't need somepony's freaky magic toting me around like... well, like some kind of wingless wonder!"
She blinked, noticing Twilight's raised eyebrow.
"Oops. Heh heh! No offense, huh?"
"None taken," Twilight muttered. "But look, we wanted to find somepony important to talk to. The guards are probably taking us to whoever's in charge. And look on the bright side, we don't even have to walk there."
"But what if they're just planning to chuck us in the dungeon and throw away the key?"
"I don't think it'll come to that."
Spike looked up at her fearfully. "Are you sure, Twilight?"
Twilight looked uncomfortable.
"Well... not really. We might need a backup plan."
Glancing around at the guards surrounding them, Twilight fished in her mane with a hoof, and pulled out a small wooden ruler. With it she gently poked and prodded at the field around them, with no effect. Then she dug in her mane again, producing a steel straightedge. She gently touched the end of it to the field, and the tingling in her fetlock made her nod confidently. She passed the wooden ruler to Spike, while she pulled a roll of tape from her mane and wrapped some of it around the end of the steel bar. Then she tucked the tape away again and settled in to wait.
The guards brought them up to the castle, and through its main doors, then along a connecting passageway and finally into a large, richly-curtained audience chamber.
The room was crowded with unicorns, all shouting loudly, making pleas and demands. At the room's far end, on a raised dais, there was an elaborately sculpted silver throne. And seated on this, primly and regally, there was a gleaming-white unicorn. She had flowing violet locks and wide, blue-irised eyes. On her forehead, just below her sword-like horn, she wore a blue crystal crown with a shining amethyst gemstone in its center.
And she was currently rolling her eyes in disbelief.
"Have you completely lost your mind?" she addressed the richly robed official kneeling before her. "We promised the Crystalsmith's Guild they'd have representation on this new Board of Trade. And never let it be said the Princess of the Unicorns doesn't keep her promises. Now, if we could only find somepony in the Guild who was actually worthy. And not snaffling the bits at every opportunity..."
"Er, Princess Rarity!" said a robed scribe, holding up a thick stack of parchment sheets. "I have the revised Decrees and Ordinances, ready for your review and approval."
"Oh my word! Would somepony puh-lease get me a strong cappuccino? Like, seriously, a bucket of the stuff?" She shook her head, putting a hoof to her forehead. "I'm going to need it to get through this lot, I can tell."
"Geez..." Rainbow said scornfully. "She looks... busy."
"She looks beautiful..." Spike was staring rapturedly at her. "Don't you think so, Twilight?"
"Focus, Casanova," Twilight warned. "Are you two ready?"
"Uh, yeah!" Spike nodded. "Ready, Twi!"
Rainbow looked puzzled. "Ready for what?"
"Just follow my lead."
As the guards brought Twilight and her friends through the crowd, the Princess looked up, appearing less than pleased by the interruption.
"What is it now, Captain? Can't you see I already have a million things on my mind?"
The laureled stallion bowed importantly, but said nothing in reply.
Instead, out of the shadows to the left of the throne, a dark-robed, silver-maned unicorn stepped into view. "Highness," he growled importantly, "the guards captured these, ah, ponies... down in the town. They were wandering around, asking questions of the townsfolk." The unicorn glared down at the captives, his eyes narrowed suspiciously, his horn shimmering with golden magic.
"Oh yeah..." Rainbow whispered eagerly. "This guy is trouble! He's got 'Grand Vizier' written all over him."
"He's also surprisingly well-informed," Twilight replied. "We only just got here."
"Eeeh! That's the mage I ran away from!" Spike shivered. "He's Aegagrus, the Royal Sorceror. They say he can see everything, no matter where he is. What if he wants me back?"
"Just stay close to us, Spike," Twilight advised nervously.
Aegagrus had turned his stern gaze back to the throne. "They came from... the Everfree Forest," he intoned gravely, as if it was an offense all on its own. "They appeared to be trying to gather information about us, Highness. For what reason, we have yet to ascertain..."
"Ya coulda asked," Rainbow muttered crossly.
Twilight drew herself up, clearing her throat. "Your Highness, if I might explain..."
But the Princess was already waving a hoof dismissively. "No no no! I simply don't have time for this just now. See to it please, won't you, Aegagrus?"
"Of course, Highness." The sorcerer bowed readily. "At once."
Sensing she was losing her chance, Twilight quickly raised her voice.
"Ehem! I think Her Majesty will wish to see us now!"
Bringing up her hoof, with the steel straightedge clasped in it, Twilight plunged it like a dagger into the gleaming shield. With a loud pop, the field destabilized and winked out, dropping Twilight and Spike heavily onto the marble tiles of the floor. Rainbow of course had instinctively taken wing. She hovered in midair beside them.
Slightly winded by the fall, Twilight quickly scrambled to her hooves, then bowed deeply. "Your Majesty, I'm sorry for this intrusion. My name is Twilight Sparkle. And it's an honor to meet you."
The Princess was staring at them in wide-eyed surprise. "But... you're not unicorns."
"No, we're not, Your Highness," Twilight agreed. "I'm an earth pony. And Rainbow is a pegasus. And Spike here is a dragon. We're from... a distant land. We've come to your realm merely to visit. We mean no harm to anypony."
"I rather think we should be the judge of that," Aegagrus warned. "Wouldn't you agree, Highness?"
The Princess looked doubtful, yet intrigued. She stared at the prisoners, seemingly fascinated by them. Twilight held her breath. This might be it, make or break, if they could only hold her interest...
Then Rainbow suddenly snickered. "This is so cool, Twilight! It's exactly like Daring Do's Adventures in the Hyborian Lands, huh?"
"That was just a story, Rainbow," Twilight said absently, with her attention still focused on the Princess.
The pegasus blinked, then turned to stare at her.
"Just a story?"
"Yeah. You know, an adventure novel? You didn't think those stories were real did you?"
"What? I thought you loaned me those books to help me learn about earth pony history! They made you guys sound really cool! And now you're saying they're just stories?"
"Don't you have anything similar at home? Books you read for fun?"
"Read? For fun?" Rainbow looked scandalized. "We've got very different ideas about fun, Twilight. And why invent a bunch of stories anyways? The history of the Legion's got tons of great stuff -- which actually happened!"
"Military history? That's what you find entertaining?"
"Sure! What of it?"
"That is the most jingoistic, jar-headed attitude --"
"Well at least we don't have to invent a bunch of made-up stuff just to make ourselves sound cool."
"Rainbow!" Twilight paused, her mouth open, trying to collect her thoughts enough to launch a full broadside.
Then a different voice spoke up.
"Ahem."
Princess Rarity was smiling at them, bemusedly. "Am I still a party to this conversation, my dears?"
Twilight winced, and cleared her throat sheepishly. "My apologies, Your Highness. A slight difference of opinion here." She glared at Rainbow.
"Yeah, right." Rainbow frowned, crossing her forehooves.
"As I was saying," Twilight went on, "we came here out of curiosity, a wish to explore and meet other ponies. Nothing more."
"Well," Rarity said. "You must be a very knowledgeable sorceror indeed, the way you dealt with the guards' shield spell."
"Oh, that wasn't magic, Your Highness," Twilight said proudly. "Just basic physics. I used a conductor as an antenna, setting up a feedback loop which caused the field's own standing wave to cancel itself out!"
There was dead silence in the throne room, as everypony took this in.
Rainbow glanced around, then shrugged. "Don't bother trying to figure it out. She's an egghead."
"And the, er... dragon?" Rarity asked. "Is he your familiar?"
Spike gave Twilight a suspicious look. "What's she mean by that?"
"A spirit in animal form," Twilight whispered back. "Who acts as a magician's assistant."
"Oh!" Spike nodded. "Sure, that I can do!"
Before Twilight could stop him, the dragon had brandished his wooden ruler. "Back! Back I say! Or I shall use this magic wand she gave me to take you all on myself!"
He swung round and began hacking and slashing with all his might at the nearest of the guard unicorns. Who simply projected a blue warding spell, against which the rain of blows from Spike's 'magic wand' had absolutely no effect.
Winded and panting, Spike finally paused, waving a claw. "Okay... time out. Just... gimme a sec, here..."
"Ugh!" Twilight ran a hoof down her face in frustration. "Spike! That's not helping."
"Nice try though," Rainbow added. "You just need to work on your technique, buddy."
"Rainbow! For crying out loud! I --"
She was brought up short by a peal of laughter. It was Princess Rarity. Unable to contain herself she'd finally burst out laughing. Loudly, brightly, and at length. "Oh my!" the Princess finally said. "You simply must take this little performance on the stage, my dears. It's an utter delight, absolutely first rate!"
The onlooking petitioners, following the Princess's lead, also broke into a storm of derisive laughter. Twilight stared around at them all, her eye twitching.
"But... but I..."
"Now," Rarity went on, "that was just the break from routine that I've needed in... oh, I don't know how long! You've no idea how the work simply piles up around here. Heavy is the head that wears the crown, eh? I'd simply love to have a chat, find out more about where you're all from, and --"
"Ah, perhaps, Highness," interposed the silver-haired unicorn, "it might be best to do so at the conclusion of the afternoon's audience? There are, after all, so many deserving ponies requiring your attention."
"Oh!" The Princess stamped a hoof impatiently. "Of course you're right, Aegagrus. Duty first! I've always said so myself. Later then, my dears? Oh, Captain, do see to it that our guests are given someplace comfortable to wait in the meantime, mmm?"
The laureled unicorn simply bowed once more. And Aegagrus spoke for him.
"As you command, Highness," the sorcerer said.
The guard unicorns quickly caught up Twilight and Spike in a shield bubble, this time after carefully relieving Twilight of the steel straightedge. They also captured Rainbow in a separate bubble, before the startled pegasus had a chance to make a break for it.
"No! Wait!" Twilight called desperately, as they were levitated away. "Your Highness! If you'd just hear me out for a minute..."
But the Princess had already turned her attention back to the noisily clamoring throng, once more completely distracted by the endless tide of demands and minutia. Beside her, the silver-maned sorcerer nodded significantly to the guard captain. Who nodded back, just as significantly.
"Well," Rainbow muttered glumly, as they were toted away along the corridor outside. "That just happened. Any more bright ideas, Chief?"
Twilight just sat in her shield bubble, a miserable look on her face. And Spike stared up at her, looking both guilty and concerned.
------------------------------
The guards secured them in a small cell, high in the castle's tower. The room wasn't uncomfortable really. It had a quilted bed by the window. There was a side-table with a jug of water, glassware, and a basin. Yet the solid iron of the door, and the bars on the window, made it clear they weren't merely guests.
Twilight sat in the middle of the floor, her lips pursed in thought, and scuffed at the thin carpeting with a hoof. Spike sat beside her, twiddling his claws and trying to think of something helpful to say.
Rainbow turned from testing the window's bars once again, and flopped down disgustedly on the bed. "Ugh! This is agonizing! How long have we been stuck in here?"
"About five minutes, Rainbow," Twilight said.
Spike reached up to put a comforting claw on her shoulder. "I'm really sorry, Twilight."
"For what, Spike?"
"For messing things up. I thought you were trying to impress everypony, make them think you were a powerful sorceror too. I'm sorry if I got a bit carried away, and ruined your plan."
"What plan?" Rainbow demanded, waved a hoof. "There was no plan! We were totally winging it there! And trust me, I know what the word means."
"There was so a plan!" Spike objected, hotly. "Right, Twi?"
But Twilight shook her head sadly. "No, Spike. Rainbow's right. I was playing it by ear, figuring it out as I went. And I should have clued you both in, so you'd know what to do." She sighed. "I'm just so used to working things out by myself, doing everything on my own. I didn't even think to talk to you two about it. This happens to me a lot. I suffer from expert's disease."
"Eww." Rainbow eyed her. "Is that like... contagious?"
Twilight managed a smile. "It's when you think just because you happen to know something, everypony else around you must know it too. I just assumed you two would see what I was up to. I'm sorry about that."
Rainbow stared at her in surprise. Then shrugged.
"Hey, no biggie. And trust me, if it's goin' down, I am totally there. But... dropping a hint ahead of time, that wouldn't hurt either, would it?"
"Absolutely." Twilight nodded. "And I promise, from now on we'll work as a team." Then she glanced around at the cell. "That is, assuming that we aren't stuck in here forever."
"Well," Spike said, "the Princess did say she'd have time for us after the audience was over. She'll get to us eventually, won't she?"
"I dunno..." Rainbow muttered. "The way Greasy Eminence down there was giving us the stink-eye, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for him to remind the Princess we're stuck up here. He's just liable to have us flung into a real dungeon. And then burn the paperwork so everypony forgets about us."
"Oh! This is all my fault." Twilight stamped a hoof. "I went at this all wrong, and now we're stuck in here."
Then she looked up at the barred window. And down at Spike.
"Well, maybe not all of us..."
"Forget it, Twilight," said Rainbow. "Those bars ain't movin'."
"But Spike's small enough. He could squeeze right through."
"Yeah, I suppose so. Lucky for him."
"What?" Spike objected. "But... you guys would still be trapped in here."
Twilight shook her head. "That doesn't matter, Spike. This isn't your problem. We only asked you along as a guide. There's no reason you need to be trapped in here with us."
"But... Twilight!" Spike suddenly grabbed hold of her foreleg and hugged it tightly.
"What is it, Spike?"
He stared up at her, eyes damp.
"It's just... you're the nicest pony I know. Heck, you're the nicest anything I know! I'd never want to leave you trapped in here."
"Can't fault him for loyalty," Rainbow muttered, staring at the ceiling. "Not a bit."
"Spike..." Twilight put a hoof around him and hugged him back. "I appreciate the thought. I really do. But you need to get out of here while you have the chance. Like Rainbow says, they might move us someplace else. Someplace that might not have a convenient window available."
"No!" Spike crossed his claws determinedly. "I'm not abandoning you guys!"
"Aw, for cryin' out loud!" Rainbow grunted in disgust. Then she hopped up from the bed, swooped down and grabbed up Spike, then banked back to the window again and shoved him straight through the bars.
"Bon voyage! Send us a postcard!"
"Eeyaaaaahhhh!" Spike's terrified shout faded into the distance below. And was punctuated by a splash.
"Spike!" Twilight bounded desperately to the window, trying to force her snout between the bars to look down. "Rainbow! What the hay?"
"No worries." The pegasus shrugged. "There was a rain barrel or somethin' down there."
"I'll assume you knew that!"
"Sure I did. I spotted it when we were being toted inside. Huh! Thought you were the one who didn't miss little details like that."
Twilight shook her head irritatedly. Then she called out through the window. "Spike! Can you hear me? Are you okay?"
There was a sputtering sound from below, then Spike answered. "Yeah! I'm fine, Twi! But what do I do now?"
"Just... head back to the forest," Twilight called. "And if anypony like us should come looking, let them know where we are, okay?"
"Sure thing! I'm on it!"
There was a pattering of scampering feet, and then silence below.
Rainbow looked at Twilight. "You really think anypony is gonna know where we are, and come looking for us?"
"No." Twilight shrugged. "But I had to tell him something, right? Or he'd never leave..."
------------------------------
Spike hardly needed a hint. He didn't stop running until he was well out of town and back on the hoof trail into the Forest. Then by degrees his pace slowed, first to a walk, then a trudge. Finally he came to a halt, all alone, peering up at the moss-hung branches, and around at the creeper-choked pathways.
He tapped his claws together anxiously.
"I gotta do something," he told himself. "I'm Twilight's familiar. Er, her assistant, I mean. She said so herself! At least, I think she did..." He considered it briefly, then shook his head, pounding a fist into his other claw. "Doesn't matter, I gotta help her! And Rainbow, too. But how?"
He gazed around again. He'd always been a little nervous, wandering around the Forest all by himself, hiding out in the weeds when the larger animals hove by, finding holes in trees or tight places under bushes to sleep at night. But his friends' predicament, that put an entirely different spin on things. Here he was, free, with the entire Everfree Forest itself before him. There had to be something here he could use.
Worse came to worst, Spike finally decided, he could get a few of the larger pack animals, the ones that looked like living brush piles, to chase him into town. And then in the confusion maybe spring Twilight and Rainbow. Assuming the toothy, wolf-like monsters didn't catch him first.
Spike gritted his teeth. It wasn't much of a plan. He really hoped he could come up with something better along the way. With that in mind, he turned off the hoofpath and clambered through the undergrowth, hoping that inspiration would strike. Or desperation, he thought. I'm not particular.
After bushwhacking for a while he came to a small creek, and started following it, mostly because the going was easier along its banks. The trickling flow grew into a small stream, which finally emptied out into the nearby lake, after winding through a clearing shaded by overhanging trees.
To his surprise, Spike found a cottage there as well. He hadn't known anypony else actually lived around here. The cottage was small and snug. It had a sod roof covered in moss, and was festooned with at least a half-dozen birdhouses, in varying shapes and sizes. Plus there were small animals scampering everywhere around the clearing. Chipmunks and squirrels, rabbits and groundhogs, even a family of ferrets and a sleepy-looking badger.
Curious, Spike trotted around to the other side of the cottage, where it faced the lake, to find out who lived there.
And found a unicorn, standing by the lake and staring down into the water. She was tall and willowy, her coat a warm buttery yellow, and she had a flowing pink mane and tail that seemed just a size too large for her. The mane in particular hung about her face as she stared down into the lake water.
And as Spike tiptoed closer, he could hear her gently sobbing.
"Uhh, hello?" he said to her, as quietly as he could manage.
"Oh!" The unicorn's head jerked up and she stared at him with wide, blue-irised eyes. She tensed, looking ready to spring away from him and bolt into the mists.
Then she suddenly registered what he was.
And it was as if a totally different pony was standing before him. "Oh my!" she cried, suddenly all melting smiles. "A dragon! An actual baby dragon! Aw... he's so cute!"
Spike frowned. "Humph! What is it with all this 'baby' stuff today? I'm a little dragon, all right? Actually," he added with a hint of pride, "I like to think I'm just the right amount."
"Oh, you can talk!" the unicorn said eagerly. "I didn't know dragons could talk. That's so wonderful!" She leaned close, staring at him rapturedly.
"Uh... right. My name's Spike. Nice to meet ya." He put out a claw.
"Hi, Spike. I'm Fluttershy." She hesitated briefly, then willingly shook with him, looking all the while like she wanted to just grab him up and hug him instead.
"So..." Spike asked, "you live out here in the Forest?" He glanced around at the cottage, the animals, all of it. "All by yourself?"
As if a switch had been thrown, Fluttershy became quietly sad again. "Yes. Um... I'm just more comfortable, living by myself, with my little animal friends for company. Which is kind of difficult, considering..."
"Considering what?"
"That... I'm the Princess."
"Huh?"
"The Princess of Unicorns. Didn't you know that?"
"Like I said... huh?"
------------------------------
In the castle's throne room, the afternoon audience was finally coming to an end. The remaining petitioners were filing out, still muttering crossly, arguing amongst themselves about the pecking order for the next session.
And Princess Rarity stared at the ceiling, gasping a relieved sigh. "Oh my word! These things just seem to take for-ev-er nowadays! And I can't seem to make anypony happy. Everything's so rushed and half-measure. But at least that's over with for one day. Ha! Now, I should very much like to have a chat with those unusual visitors who arrived earlier."
"I think, Highness," Aegagrus warned sternly, "that would be unwise. They are strangers, after all. From the Everfree... with who knows what plans in mind to unleash against us."
"Oh, rubbish!" Rarity lofted her snout. "They seemed perfectly pleasant and reasonable to me. A little off the vaudeville stage perhaps, but one can make allowances."
"All the more reason, Highness, to have them watched, and closely." Aegagrus grinned smugly. "Appearances can be so deceiving, after all. One never knows what may lurk behind a pleasant exterior. And to that end, I have ordered them securely confined, until their real purpose amongst us can be determined."
"You did what?" Rarity stared at him. "I gave no such order! Oh, my word, what will they think of us? Being treated in such a high-hoofed fashion. Ahem! You will have them released immediately, and brought to me. And right speedily, too. Dear me, I shall have to come up with some way to redress this truly unforgivable, and most unfashionable, insult..."
"Ah... do I understand you correctly, Highness?" the sorcerer said. His sternly affronted tone caused the departing petitioners to look round in surprise. "You are proposing to treat with, and show deference to, unknown and potentially hostile foreign agents?"
"Have a care, Sorcerer," Rarity snapped. "I don't particularly like your tone. A polite word, yes, and an apology for the indignities of their brutish treatment at our hooves. If that's what it takes to make good your poorly-considered diplomatic blunder."
The silver-maned unicorn shook his head, tsk-ing gently. "It is as I feared, everypony. The strangers are sorcerers, of the worst stripe, indeed. As one myself, I know the signs all too well. And it would appear they have some hold, or influence, on our sovereign. Warping her judgement, weakening her resolve, to make her their pawn in some subversive plan. I think," he added gravely, "it would be best for all, including Her Highness, if the Princess were relieved of royal duties and confined, for her own safety. Temporarily, of course, until the source of this baleful influence can be found and neutralized."
"Hwat!" The Princess's eyes went wide. "Have you taken leave of your senses, Sorcerer Aegagrus? And believe me, I use the title advisedly!"
But the sorcerer was already nodding importantly to the laureled Captain of the Guard. The Captain quickly collected his soldiers with a silent nod of his own. Then together with them, moving as one, he and the soldiers advanced upon the throne, horns gleaming.
Princess Rarity was almost too astounded to act. Then she quickly charged her own horn, attempting to defend herself. She flung wards and tangle-hoof spells at the advancing soldiers. Which they easily deflected with warding spells of their own. And while she was able to beat back attacks from any one of them, the sheer number of them made the outcome inevitable.
In short order, the soldiers had her surrounded, and they began marching her silently and sternly from the throne room, under the watchful eyes of the ranks of startled petitioners.
"Rest assured, good citizens," Aegagrus continued loudly, as if Her Highness was not even still present. "We shall soon discover the source of this malign influence, and bring it to a proper end..."
Rarity glanced around at the soldiers, and the proudly indifferent Captain leading them. And then she looked at the scowling, disapproving gaze of the watching petitioners, as she passed them.
"So..." she muttered sadly. "This would be a palace coup, would it?" She bit her lip, frowning. "You know, after all the hard work I've been putting in lately," she grumbled, "one might have hoped for at least a token show of resistance from the citizenry..."
------------------------------
Twilight and Rainbow were both surprised when the door to the cell was flung open by the guards.
"Huh," Rainbow said. "Looks like I was wrong. Maybe."
Twilight looked at her. "You admit that?"
"Eh." The pegasus shrugged. "It has been known."
As they watched, Princess Rarity herself strode in, stiffly and proudly. Twilight hurriedly got up and bowed politely. "Your Highness! It's great to see you again. Have you come to let us out?"
"Afraid not, my dears." The Princess winced as the door clanged shut behind her. "Apparently, I'm now just as much a prisoner as you are."
"Woah," Rainbow said. "How did that happen?"
"I'm not sure myself." The Princess shook her head. "For some reason, my Sorcerer Royale has taken an extreme dislike to you two."
"Hmph. The feeling's mutual."
"Do you know why?" Twilight asked.
"Apparently, he believes you two to be magic-wielders of some sort. And spies in the bargain, and it's not at all clear which of the two has him the more agitated." Rarity pouted. "He's completely out of line, of course! But he appears to have the support of the guard. And of the populace. So at the moment, there doesn't seem to be much I can do about it."
"I'm so sorry, Your Highness!" Twilight winced. "We didn't mean to cause you all this trouble."
Rarity looked surprised. "Oh, my dear, it's not your fault. If anything, I should be grateful to you for bringing this to my attention." She stamped a hoof, frustrated. "Why did I not see this coming? I've been so busy lately. Busy, busy, busy! So busy, in fact, I fail to see a palace revolt happening right under my nose!" She sat down, fluffing her mane distractedly. "Well, enough of that. Now we've a moment to ourselves, perhaps we can have that chat about where you two are from, what brings you here, and so forth?"
"Huh?" Rainbow stared at her in disbelief. "Your Highness, aren't you upset about being tossed in your own dungeon?"
"Oh, believe me, my dear," Rarity replied. "I'm cross beyond measure! But it's no reason to behave rashly, or incivilly. Everything in its time. And just now, we seem to have plenty of time for a chat. So we might as well avail ourselves of it, mmm? And I don't suppose," she added loudly, in the direction of the door, "that we might get the tea service in here, hmm? One should like to entertain guests properly, even in these dreary circumstances."
There was no reply. Rarity shrugged philosophically. "Ah me! So difficult to find good help these days. And speaking of which," she added, glancing around, "where is your small scaly companion?"
"Um... we helped him escape," Twilight admitted.
"By the dumb-waiter," Rainbow added smugly.
"There isn't one," Rarity objected.
Rainbow pointed to the window. "We... kinda improvised."
"Ah." Rarity nodded. "How ingenious. Well, so much the better. Perhaps he can find somepony in this benighted realm who actually gives two bits about their hard-working sovereign. Hmph!"
Then she shook her head, worriedly.
"I just hope he doesn't wander off into the Everfree," she added with a delicate shudder. "The stories one hears about that place! There's no telling what kind of dangerous creatures he might run into out there..."