While eating with the others, Twilight spent most of her time watching for Sigma, making sure he did not do anything. She had expected him to come in and say something or deny any allegations of wanting to become the Alpha, but he did not show. Twilight then began to wonder if he was planning on any way to silence her. He has shown that he is willing to kill to get what he wants before, so what's stopping him from doing it again to her?
"Are ya okay, Twi?" Applejack asked, noticing how she was now looking about nervously.
"Er, yes. Yes I am." Twilight said slowly, forcing herself to look at Applejack as straightly as she could before finishing her slice of apple pie. "This was delicious as usual, Granny Smith."
"Thank ya kindly, miss Twilight." Granny Smith smiled as she grabbed the plate with her teeth and placed it on her back. "Was awfully kind of ya t' drop by for a visit."
"It was nothing."
"Yeah, it really was." Tex chuckled as she watched Church politely finish his slice.
"Well, we really should be going. Come on you two." Twilight said quickly, hopping off her chair, but bowed her head at Granny Smith. "Thank you for having us over on such short notice."
"Nonsense, if ya ever need anythin', don't hesitate t'..." Granny Smith started as she closed her eyes pleasantly, just to stop when she opened them and saw that Twilight was no longer in front of her. "...Ask us. She's a strange filly, ain't she?"
"One of th' strangest." Applejack chuckled as Church and Tex said their thank yous to the eldest Apple. "See both of ya later."
"No hard feelings about me not being able to help you?" Church asked, pausing by the door.
"None at all." Applejack assured him while she rolled her eyes.
"Not even a little?" Tex fished.
"Tex, stop tryin' t' watch him work." Applejack laughed.
"Hey, can't blame a girl for trying, right?"
"Guess not."
Church and Tex found Twilight standing on the porch, tapping her hooves impatiently. She nodded at them and led them back to the library, still looking over her shoulder. Church and Tex both began feeling anxious just being around Twilight, knowing for a fact that something was on her mind, but didn't know what to say. In the end, they decided to remain quiet on their trip to the library. When Twilight arrived at the front door, she let out a heavy sigh of relief.
"Alright, I'll bite." Church grumbled, putting his right hoof on Twilight's back. "Why are you acting like Grif does whenever somebody mentions work?"
"That's what I needed to talk to you about." Twilight said quietly. "I need to talk to you about Sigma."
"What did he do now?"
"Last night I talked to him." Twilight said shiftily, then looked at the buildings that surrounded the library for any signs of the menacing fragment. "Let's go inside, I'll tell you more there."
Church shared a shrug with Tex and opened the door to the library. As they began to walk in, they saw a large figure in the middle of the room, standing next to the Necronomicon. When Twilight had entered, the door became surrounded by a golden aura and gently closed shut, making it so nobody outside would see the Princess of the sun, staring seriously at the trio that just entered.
"Celestia..." Twilight gasped, mouth ajar.
"Twilight Sparkle. Church." Celestia said thinly as her eyes darted to the dark earth pony. "Who is your friend?"
"Tex." Tex muttered, eyes narrowing on the large alicorn, instantly knowing it to be Celestia, thus instantly not trusting her.
"It's nice to meet you, Tex." Celestia said as she tilted her head forward, sight flicking towards the Necronomicon on the table. "I do not wish to be rude, but I cannot spend anymore time pretending like nothing is wrong. Twilight, if I may ask, why do you have such a dangerous item in your possession?"
"How did you find out we had it?" Church asked, not willing to answer her question.
"I sent her a letter." The Necronomicon muttered. "Or mores specifically, Spike did. I simply wrote it, and I made him send it without reading it. Heh, he didn't give it a second thought. He really doesn't like it when you treat him like a child. I guess that's what you get for not showing either of us the respect we deserve."
"Where is he now?" Tex growled.
"She told him to wait upstairs while she waited to speak with you." The Necronomicon chuckled.
"You son of a-" Church began.
"Peace, Church. I knew you had him before he sent the letter." Celestia interrupted softly.
"Wait, you did?" The Necronomicon asked. "How come you didn't come get me earlier.
"Because I had hoped Twilight would have come to see me about it later." Celestia sighed deeply, gazing sadly at her student. "Twilight, the aura you thought you disabled didn't disallow people from entering, it simply told me when somepony entered. Not who, but just that somebody did."
"Oh." Twilight said, looking at the ground. "Princess, I'm so, so sorry, it's just when Caboose died... Church and Pinkie distanced themselves from everyone... I couldn't just let my friends feel that amount of pain, especially when the one who caused it was that innocent and undeserving of what happened to him."
"I know you brought him back to life." Celestia nodded sadly. "I just hoped I wasn't right."
"H-how did you know?"
"I don't think you would have grabbed the Necronomicon for any reason other than that. There are only a few ponies that know the Necronomicon isn't just the book of the dead, but rather an exorbitantly large spell book. But what really made it obvious was when word got around Canterlot that a blue stallion was having dinner with friends at a certain five-star restaurant. The stallion in question told Fancypants that he was a space warrior, and later on he told me about it at a party I attended with him, believing it to be a funny story." Celestia said, closing her eyes softly. "I thought it was a different pony, maybe a travelling jester who told tales for fun. When I asked for his name... Fancypants said it was Caboose. After some quick and easy investigating, I found out he was alive. I quickly connected the dots between the missing Necronomicon and the now alive Caboose."
"What a nice story, thanks for telling me it." Church said sarcastically. "Now why are you really here, huh? You could have just taken the Necronomicon and-"
"Church, I think it is time I sent you back." Celestia said quietly, making him blink dumbly. "Your friends as well. I will send a letter to the other Elements of Harmony as soon as I can, so they have no need to watch them any longer."
"Princess-"
"Twilight, don't argue with me on this." Celestia said sternly, giving Twilight a soft glare. "What you did was extremely reckless. You endangered the lives of countless ponies by using the Necronomicon without knowing what he would do, yourself included. You should count yourself lucky that he is not evil, or he could have quite easily done things to you all in the catacombs."
"I told you I wasn't evil!" The Necronomicon interjected.
"Please, Necky, let me speak." Celestia hushed the ancient artifact looking back to Church. "All six of you have your Cutie Marks. You all found out your special talents, and that is all I made you stay here for. Now that you found them, your time is up and I must make you leave, lest you endanger the lives of my student, her friends and everyone around them."
"Celestia, please, it was my fault, not his." Twilight said, walking between Church and Celestia. "I grabbed the Necronomicon without even telling Church. I only told him about it when I had it in my possession, and do you want to know what he said when I told him I had the means of bringing Caboose back? He told me I shouldn't have done that, that I was being reckless too. I could have turned back then and returned it, but I didn't. If anyone here deserves punishment here, it's me."
"I see." Celestia frowned at her student who hung her head low, feeling ashamed of herself for doing it. "You understand that both stealing from me as well as endangering the lives of everypony in Equestria is a serious offense."
"I know."
"And you know what the consequences for doing those is, correct?"
"Banishment?" Twilight guessed hazardly and Celestia nodded glumly, confirming Twilight's suspicions, causing a few tears to come out now. "I guessed as much. For what it's worth, Princess Celestia, I'm sor-"
"Hang the fuck on, Twilight, you did this for me and I'm not going to let you get punished for this, nor am I letting you apologize to her. It's not right. That's not to say it wasn't a stupid thing to do at the time, but you did what you thought was right. That's what life is about. Doing reckless shit to fight for what you believe in." Church growled as he brushed past her, keeping his eyes glued to Celestia. "Go on. Send me back. But I hope that you know that it won't change a single fucking thing of what happened. All I ask is that you let the others stay. They had even less to do with Twilight's decision than I did, Tex included."
"Church..." Tex said quietly, almost painfully.
"Tex, don't you fucking start." Church snapped, but forced a small smile to show that he wasn't truly angry. "It's the least I can do."
"Very well." Celestia said quietly before Twilight or Tex could argue.
Church turned around and nodded spitefully at Celestia. Celestia frowned at Twilight, showing her that she understood how painful it was, but that she had no choice as a ruler to let it slide. She lowered her head and her horn began glowing softly, when the door to the library suddenly swung open. Celestia turned her attention to the latecomer who entered the library in a collected manner, whose eyes flicking about the room like wildfire.
"If I may interject..." The small, orange colt said seriously.
"Sigma, what are you doing here?" Twilight asked, both nervously and gratefully as Sigma walked towards her.
"Thinking about others for once." Sigma smiled at her, then turned to Celestia. But the smile he gave Celestia was not the reassuring one he gave Twilight. It was almost the same smile he had when he felt in control of the conversation the night before, but this one was more intimidating. "I believe we need to have a discussion."