Traitors of the Kingdom

by Angel

#2: Revealed in Time

That night did not go down gently with the guards. In addition to Iron Sky and Traveler, some of the other guards heard the gentle tapping of the mysterious pony invading the castle. Some guards claimed to have seen the shadows slithering on the walls, or even both. The Princesses weren't impressed, especially Luna, on the other hand. The guards began speculating among themselves, brewing up a wide variety of crackpot theories and madman ravings. When confronted by the guards, the Princesses refused to believe there was anything wrong. They did not feel any different, or act any different, and insisted that their food wasn't poisoned.

The guards weren't convinced, however. The Captain of the Royal Guard argued with the Princesses about keeping ponies posted around the castle. This situation worked for some time, but Celestia and Luna were fed up with the constant watch of the armour-clad ponies endlessly cycling through and patrolling the castle. All three of them eventually came to a conclusion that pleased them all; they would call upon some of the most brilliant minds of the recent years, including Twilight Sparkle.

A letter was sent to a half-dozen of said individuals, with a disclaimer asking for silence regarding the matter of an intruder among the castle. Celestia feared the possibility of discord spreading among the public if this news were to spread, so the ponies were sworn to secrecy in their letters. They were personally met by Luna in the foyer of the castle, and escorted by herself and the Captain into their personal meeting room down a few of the many halls, up a flight of stairs, and into a secret meeting room reserved for the most important of ponies.

Twilight Sparkle was exactly on time. Almost to the second, she noticed. However, when she did arrive, she noticed that the other ponies were already there and waiting. She started sweating a little, at the thought of ponies even more organised and calculating than she was. She swallowed her pride and joined the group at the large, dark, mahogany table dominating the room. Candles adorned the walls, washing the room in a brilliant, amber light. Her eyes wandered around the walls, soaking up vast amounts of information printed on even larger pieces of paper, which almost covered the walls. She noticed that the notes abruptly ended, with a space between the paper and the ground measuring up to be about half her height, she guessed.

Written on the paper, was all kinds of notes (personal and otherwise), guides, messages between ponies, diagrams, and anything else you can think of. She began reading the nearest sheet behind her, but was abruptly brought back to reality by the gentle, yet firm voice of none other than Princess Celestia.

"Good evening, everypony. I trust that Luna and the Captain were hospitable enough?" She said as she trailed off somewhat, sending a large hint to the small gathering. She was met with murmurs from three or four ponies, mixed with possible grumbling. She took it as another hint, and continued on without a thought.

"As I hope you all know, we seem to have an intruder in the castle. Whoever he or she is, this pony is an unusually talented individual, and has managed to escape the attention of the Captain and his guard ponies." The Captain huffed at this statement, feeling paranoid about being perceived as weak by the ponies at the table, and ponies in general.

"We have gathered some of the brightest young individuals here today to formally ask for your assistance regarding the matter." Celestia was about to begin a new sentence, when the guests started applauding randomly. Twilight Sparkle blushed a little when Celestia said what she did, and began the round of applause as soon as she paused for breath. The other ponies joined in, pleased with their Princess's efforts. She stepped down for a moment and allowed the uproar to die down. Once the ponies were satisfied with themselves, they calmed down and silenced themselves.

"You will be allowed to stay here in the castle until the intruder is brought to justice. If you do not wish to stay here, then transportation will be arranged for you. All accommodations have been taken care of thanks to our company's personal chefs", hinting at the Royal cooks. She noticed the ponies began to murmur among themselves, so the stepped up and hushed them before another riot could be had.

"Now, without any further interruptions, my sister and I would like to begin brainstorming any ideas. We already have some written down, as you might have seen on your way in." She pointed a hoof at an unassuming brown box, sitting idly at the other end of the table. Celestia reeled it in with her golden magic, and gently let it down in between the two middle ponies, sitting at opposite ends of the table. Twilight was at the end closest to the door and the box, and when the box did make its way to the center, he began eyeing it curiously, and watching his fellow ponies. He shot glances all around the room, as if he was spying on the others.

"Uh.. are you okay?" Twilight asked him slowly. He almost jumped in his seat in response.

"What are you talking about!? I'm fine! There's nothing wrong here!" He hastily spat out, almost mashing words together in an attempt to say the faster. At this point, he was being watched by every other pony in the room.

"Yeah, chill out!" "Calm down!" And other generic responses emanated from the other guest ponies. He slowly took his seat, cleared his throat, and seemingly shrunk in his seat a little bit due to embarrassment.

Somepony else jumped in her seat, shouting "MAGIC!" all the way, flapping her wings in delight. She had the brightest look on her face, and her sudden outburst startled everypony else, even Princess Celestia. They all looked at her with varying degrees of confusion and surprise. She, on the other hand, seemed unfazed.

"...Care to elaborate on that?" Said a pony with an unusual red mane.

"Oh! ...sorry." She said as she sat down, mentally calming herself. "What I was meaning was, we should use some sort of magic trick or enchantment to detect the intruder!" The other five guests looked at each other, before setting their attention on her sudden spark of inspiration.

Eventually, Twilight spoke up. "You mean we should use an enchantment to detect any intruders entering or leaving... or moving through the castle?" She said a little un-decidedly.

"Yes!" She said, pointing a hoof straight at Twilight's face. Twilight jumped in her seat a little, unsure of what to make of this strange individual. The other five glanced at her, before turning to the strange one. Celestia seemed to be pleased with this turn of events, and silently chuckled to herself. Naturally, she personally knew all six guests, and she considered this to be nothing more than her typical behavior.

"Who are you, anyway!?" An angry pony with a suit and tie yelled at her, startling her in the process.

"Well, I'm Thunder Wing, of course! Only the smarterest in all of Hoofington!" She replied with vigor.

"Don't you think you should behave?" He retorted, hinting at his high expectations of his fellow ponies.

"And you should learn to have fun!" She joked, chuckling loudly in response to her 'joke'.

The evening continued in a similar fashion, with the six ponies clashing, making friends of enemies, enemies of friends, and in the end, getting hardly anywhere with their ideas. At the break of dusk, paper was scattered all over the room. All of them were exhausted, physically and mentally, and they were preparing to hit the hay for the night, so to speak. When the other five had left the building, Twilight was asked to remain behind by Celestia.

The room was empty, except for the two. Celestia leaned in close to Twilight, unnerving her, and looked her in the eyes with a look than she had never seen on her face before.

"Twilight Sparkle, my most faithful student." She began softly and slowly. "I need you to join the guards in patrolling the halls tonight. I've already set up an enchanted field of magic mist around the castle, only visible to certain ponies specifically chosen by me."

"Princess... I'm sorry, but I can't! I need to return to Ponyville! I can't leave Spike and Owlowiscious on their own in the library! And who will-" Twilight hurriedly replied, only to be silenced by Celestia.

"Twilight... If that is what you want, then I will understand. I will arrange transport for you home, immediately." Celestia warmed up somewhat, her cold demeanor fading fast. Twilight mentally breathed a sigh of relief, before following out of the room, and into a royal carriage, bound for Ponyville. The day replayed itself in her mind, rooting everything she had experienced firmly in her memory. She had wondered why anypony would decide to invade the castle, let alone do any of the possible actions suggested. She worried for the Princesses' safety, but she couldn't abandon Spike and Owlowiscious, either. She knew the Princess would understand, but she still felt bad.

It was then, she decided she would temporarily abandon her studies, and concentrate on catching the invading pony. First thing in the morning, preparations would be made, and the race to catch the intruder will begin.