It had been almost three months since Twilight had returned to Ponyville, and there had been no signs of Pennington returning. She had been in several more arguments with Applejack over the matter, some more heated than others, and had investigated how many of them had actually known Pennington before she did. It turned out that, aside from his cousins at Sweet Apple Acres, the one who had seen him the most was Rarity, though she had withheld her opinions when Twilight had first returned in an effort to be polite.
From Rarity, Twilight had discovered that most of Ponyville's entrepreneurs knew each other well, and often shared help when it came to suppliers or a sudden monetary emergency. She had claimed that Pennington "seemed nice enough, though we haven't talked much." Once, she said, he had even ordered a sky-blue suit from her, then refused to pick it up once it was finished. "Keep in mind, he still gave me payment in full, not to mention a healthy tip, but he told me to keep it!" Aside from this instance, she had never had reason to give the reclusive pony a second thought. In all of her time amongst the "Entrepreneurs' Circle," Rarity had never seen Pennington take money from another pony, though, and she said that she was happy that Twilight had chosen to court an independent stallion who could manage himself.
Fluttershy claimed to have seen "a blue, well, a blue-and purple-maned, blue-coated pony, walking in and out of the Everfree Forest. Every time I tried to tell him it was dangerous, he would smile, give me a little salute, and just keep on walking... It made me worried sick, and sometimes I would stay up late to see if he came out again, but he always did." Though she didn't know what exactly he did in there, Fluttershy was always happy when she saw him walking back towards town.
Even Rainbow Dash, whom Twilight had thought was simply his customer, knew Pennington well enough to have her own opinion. "He's a cool guy! He always gets me my Daring Do books at least a week early, and you'll never find a bigger fan of the series than him!" Rainbow Dash was the only one who was excited that Twilight was going out with Pennington, claiming that "the guy knows his stuff! When it comes to Daring Do, he may even be a bigger egghead than you!" Of course, she had almost immediately afterwards asked if Twilight could ask Pennington for more free books, an inquiry at which Twilight had simply rolled her eyes and walked away.
Obviously, Pinkie Pie hadn't known who Pennington was until she had been introduced to him by Twilight, and had quickly done as much research about him as she could in the small town. When she had finished, she knew almost as much about him as Twilight did. Despite her typically overexcited and scatterbrained demeanor, Pinkie Pie was the only one that Twilight knew would be willing to carry a secret to the grave, so she and Spike soon became the only other ones in town to whom she would discuss her adventures. Leaving out only Pennington's nom de plume, she told the two everything about their travels, from the train station in Canterlot to her nighttime battle for the possession of Pennington's mind. She left out a few of the more gristly details about the fighting for Spike's sake, and a few of Pennington's more crazy stunts so that Pinkie wouldn't try to repeat them, but aside from that, threw everything on her mind onto the two of them, from her concern about her argument with Princess Celestia to her fear that he would never come back. Luna didn't come to visit her in her dreams in the months that followed, and Twilight felt as if she needed to assume the worst, as much as she didn't want to. Pinkie had instantly given Twilight a lesson on the power of happy thoughts, illustrated by song and dance, and Spike heated up enough hot chocolate to drown half of Canterlot for her to drink. With their help, Twilight had avoided a total breakdown as time marched by without word about Pennington's state, and even learned to keep hoping in the face of truly bad odds.
"Twilight!" Rainbow Dash's voice sounded desperate as the door to the library flew open and the multicolored mare came careening in, obviously too excited to stay on the ground.
"Rainbow, what? What is it?" Twilight quickly rushed out of her room, where she had been studying, and came to make sure that everything was alright. "Is there some kind of emergency?"
"Do you have it? Oh, please tell me you have it!" Rainbow Dash quickly flew from shelf to shelf, obviously looking for something. "Pleeeease have it!"
"Rainbow, I've memorized the titles and authors of almost every book in this library, what are you looking for?"
"Scorching Quill published his newest book! It'll be out next week, and all of my friends are asking me if I have it, yet! Daring Do and the Adventure of the Firestorm Crown! Pennington still isn't in his shop, so I thought that he might have given you my copy, or any copy!" Rainbow Dash floated to the ground in front of Twilight, looking truly anxious over a book.
Twilight tried to take in the implications of what Rainbow Das had just told her. Either somepony else is using Pennington's pen name and character... or...
Before she could finish the thought, a loud knocking came on her door. This time, the pegasus standing in from of the door had a grey coat and straw-colored hair, and her two eyes pointed in differing directions, both angled inward. She had somehow knocked on the open door, and stepped inside after only a few seconds.
"Special delivery for Rainbow Dash!" She cried, reaching into her bag and pulling out a medium-sized package and a muffin.
Rainbow Dash and Twilight looked at one another in confusion as they both read the box.
"Derpy..." Rainbow Dash said quietly. "This address is to my house... How did you know I was here?"
"The bubbles led me here, silly!" Derpy pointed at her cutie mark, which was indeed bubbles floating up into the air. "I saw that you weren't home, so I used the bubbles to find you!" She reached into her bag, pulled out a small bottle and circular wand, and blew into it, making a small flock of bubbles, all of which floated over to Rainbow Dash and popped on her. With a giggle, she put the bubbles away again, gave a muffin to every pony in the room (she seemed to keep an infinite supply of them in her bag), and flew away again, wishing them a happy day.
Twilight shook her head, which was beginning to spin with the impossible logic of using bubbles to find somepony who moved as much as Rainbow Dash. "What is it?"
"It's from the Free Mind Publishing Company..." Rainbow Dash's eyes lit up with excitement as she tore the box open, revealing a book cover that Twilight had never seen before.
It was Daring Do, of course, sitting on some kind of golden throne, her typical pith helmet replaced by a golden crown, inlaid with at least a dozen different rubies. Fire leaked out from the corners of her eyes, spreading and growing into an inferno that blazed around her while tribal-looking ponies bowed around her in some kind of religious order. The title was laid out across the top in the typical bold font.
Daring Do and the Adventure of the Firestorm Crown
Rainbow Dash squealed with excitement as she opened the cover, revealing a small note in bad penmanship.
To my devoted fan, Rainbow Dash. I hope that you enjoy this, Pennington told me that you needed an advance copy.
Come see me sometime, and bring a friend.
-Scorching Quill
A pair of small tickets labeled "VIP" fluttered to the floor. As Rainbow fawned over the fact that Scorching Quill knew who she was, Twilight picked up one of the tickets. As she inspected it, she saw that they were VIP tickets to a book signing in Cloudsdale, granting permission to sit with Scorching Quill as his special guest while he was signing books and a personal visit afterwards.
Twilight's heart lit up with hope as she realized that Pennington must be alive. He was the only pony who would do something like this.
But... where is he? Why hasn't he come to see me? He hasn't even sent me a letter! She thought to herself, a small flame of indignation lighting with her confusion. I mean, he remembers to send a copy of his book to Rainbow Dash, but he doesn't take the time to tell his own girlfriend that he's alive?
"No... WAY!" Rainbow Dash squealed as she read the ticket. "I... am going to get to meet Scorching Quill? That's beyond cool!"
Twilight looked over at Rainbow Dash, an idea quickly forming in her mind.
"So... who are you going to take with you?"
"Well... I don't know!" Rainbow Dash placed a thoughtful hoof on her chin. "I couldn't take Applejack, she would probably try selling apples to all of the ponies there... I couldn't take Pinkie, she wouldn't be able to sit still that long... and even Rarity would probably get caught up in 'Canterlot society...'" Twilight's excitement grew as Rainbow Dash's train of thought eliminated all but herself.
Rainbow Dash's eyes lit up with excitement, and she looked over at Twilight with a look of sheer epiphany. "I know! I could invite Spitfire! Now that's how you get the Wonderbolts to remember you!" Without taking time to notice Twilight's disappointment, she took off into the sky. "Thanks a bunch, Twilight!"
Twilight's jaw dropped as she found herself suddenly alone with Spike again. She slapped her hoof against her forehead, muttering frustrated remarks under her breath. Even Spike seemed to have noticed Rainbow's oversight, and simply shook his head and walked away.
Twilight didn't move for a number of minutes, her mind racing as she tried to understand how this could be happening. Finally, she reached the conclusion: if Pennington wasn't going to come to her, then she was going to come to him.
"Spike! We're going to Canterlot! Find the address of the Free Mind Publishing Company!"
The building didn't seem like anything special, to be honest. Certainly, there was a sign out front identifying it as the publishing company, but without it, Twilight would not have identified it as the central business hub of the massive company.
"So... uh... what are we doing here?" Spike asked quietly, looking up at Twilight with an unsure undertone in his voice.
"Well..." Twilight had spent a long time on the train trying to determine how to explain herself without giving Pennington's secret away to Spike. "Rainbow Dash's delivery gave me an idea. Pennington publishes his books here, too! I think that if I talk to his publisher, I might be able to find out if he's back in Equestria yet!"
Spike's brow furrowed as he tried to understand her logic. "Well, wouldn't you be the first one he'd send a letter to?" He asked the question as they walked up to the doors of the business office.
"You'd think so, wouldn't you?" She muttered angrily under her breath as she pushed open the doors.
The building wasn't much more impressive on the inside, with black-and-white tiled floors and a receptionist sitting behind a large desk, looking at a small computer screen as she typed away. Large ceiling fans spun above, creating a small downward draft, and the walls seemed to be painted off-white to create a sense of ambience, the same color that Twilight had seen in the pages of so many of her older books. Twilight was impressed at the speed at which she was typing. Seeing as most ponies preferred a scroll and quill. speed typing was for the most part a lot art, but the receptionist didn't seem to need to look at the keyboard.
"Yes, can I help you?" She asked from behind a large pair of glasses, not looking away from the computer. Twilight hadn't noticed the silence until it was broken, but
"Oh, yes!" Twilight walked up to the desk with a smile that portrayed more confidence than she actually had. She wasn't technically going to lie, but she hated to mislead Spike about Pennington's true identity. "I was wondering if you could tell me anything about Pennington Inkwell's whereabouts? I'm more than a little worried about him, since he's been missing for some time..."
The receptionist typed something hastily into the computer, followed by a firm strike to the "enter" key.
"Well, it says here that Pennington Inkwell is currently on sabbatical to Saddle Arabia, though you're correct in saying that he has been gone much longer than he was supposed to be... Two months overdue, in fact..."
"Sabbatical? What's that?" Spike asked, scratching his head.
"It's when someone, usually a teacher or an author, takes a trip to expand their knowledge." Twilight quickly defined the term for her assistant, dealing with the issue so that she could continue her inquiry. "Well, I know for a fact that he has some close dealings with Scorching Quill... Perhaps you could give me his address, and I could talk to him?"
He secretary exhaled with a bemused "hmph" sound, which was what Twilight guessed was her equivalent of a laugh. "You and half of the fillies in Equestria have asked me for that address, and I'll tell you the same thing that I told them: it doesn't exist. Mr. Quill has never provided us with an official address, but instead had made special arrangements to avoid most permanent information from having to be given to the company..."
Twilight sighed, rolling her eyes quietly to herself. "Well, I know that Scorching Quill's most recent book is rolling off of the presses right now... Perhaps you could give me the address that the manuscript was mailed from?"
"I am sorry, but that information is privy on to our C.E.O., Fine Print." The secretary looked over from the computer, finally making eye contact with Twilight by looking over her glasses. "And when it comes to Scorching Quill's personal information, wild horses couldn't drag the secrets out of him..."
"Well, could I see Fine Print?" Twilight asked, leaning forward intently now that she had managed to actually seem important enough for the secretary to make eye contact.
"Well, if you're willing to wait until next March..." She apparently cared nothing for their impromptu staring contest as she turned back to her computer, once again beginning to type.
"NEXT MARCH? But it's July! I only need five minutes!" Twilight cried in shock.
"You and half of the authors in Equestria 'only need five minutes...'" The receptionist muttered, beginning to sound somewhat irritated. "Is there anything else that I can do for you?"
"No..." Twilight muttered in return, turning to leave with her spirits somewhat lower. Spike followed after her, quiet until they had exited the building. One they were outside, however, he spoke up.
"Twilight! I have an idea!" He tugged on her tail, forcing her to turn around. When Twilight gave him a questioning glance, he continued. "Look, first of all, what did Rainbow Dash do with the rest of the packaging when she got her book?"
"She tossed it into the waste bin..." Twilight replied, furrowing her brow in confusion. "But that package just had the address to this place, not to Pennington... or Scorching!"
"No, but if that's what a pony normally does when they get an important package, what do you think that Fine Print guy did when he got the manuscript from Scorching Quill?" He asked, jutting his thumb towards an alley to the left of the building, where a large dumpster was sitting with an open lid.
Twilight's eyes lit up with excitement, though it was quickly dimmed again. "Spike, do you have any idea how unlikely that is? I mean, the odds against that must be 3,720 to one!"
"Don't tell me the odds..." Spike muttered as he walked over to the dumpster and climbed up on top, looking down into the open hole.
"Spike, it must be disgusting in there! Get down!" Twilight rolled her eyes again as she walked over the dumpster, as well.
Spike ignored her, still peering downwards. "Wait, I see some kind of big envelope, the kind that you would send a- w- woah!" With a small cry, he slipped from his perch and fell inside.
"Spike!" Twilight immediately ran up to the edge and grabbed spike by his tail, pulling him out of the garbage in almost as little time as it had taken him to fall in. "Are you alright?"
"Twilight, look!" As Spike emerged from the top, he was clutching a large, empty brown envelope. As he dropped to the ground, Spike waved the envelope in her face. "It says 'Scorching Quill!'"
Twilight shook her head as she examined spike for any kind of injury. Luckily, it looked as if most of the garbage had been paper-based, and Spike hadn't even gotten dirty from his fall. "Spike, I think that you must have misread it..."
"Twilight, just look!" Spike shoved the large envelope into her face, forcing her to look at the return address.
Scorching Quill
631 Rosebud Lane
The Arbor Apartment, Room 211
Canterlot, Equestria, 53798
Twilight's jaw dropped as she realized that Spike had been correct. Against all odds, the company had carelessly thrown away some sort of mail from Scorching Quill (likely some kind of short manuscript, judging by the size of the envelope), unwittingly providing them with the author's location.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Rosebud Lane is at least ten blocks away!" Spike hopped onto Twilight's back and pointed in a direction away from the publishing company.
Twilight suddenly felt an urge not to waste any time, either. Now, after so long, she had a clear shot at finding him again. With a thrill of excitement burning in her chest, she took off running towards the address, knowing exactly how to get there in her old home.
Just don't disappear again, Pennington... She silently pleaded. I'm coming...
When they had finally reached the room address on the envelope, Spike began to fidget nervously on Twilight's back.
"Twilight... Are you sure that this is a good idea? I mean... Scorching Quill is a big, popular author! He probably doesn't want ponies bothering him!" He said quietly as she slipped down from her back.
"Spike, don't worry! I didn't mention it, but I actually MET Scorching while I was travelling with him! The two of them are practically the same pony..." Twilight smirked at the subtle joke. "I'm sure Scorching will be happy to help us find Pennington!"
"If you say so..." Spike muttered, moving back away from the door as Twilight moved to knock on it.
Twilight took a deep breath, hoping to find Pennington but bracing herself for the worst: a wrong address. As she released the air from her lungs, she rapped her hoof against the door.
After a few seconds, she heard the knob being turned, and the door swung a small distance inwards, revealing a pink pony's face that she had not expected to see.
"Lily?" Twilight asked in shock, trying to peer through the cracked-open door.
"T-Twilight?" Lily sounded even more shocked than Twilight. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, I heard that Scorching Quill was supposed to be here... He was using it as a return address on the mail to his publisher..." Twilight pulled out the envelope from her bag for Lily to see, and Lily seemed to only grow fearful from the sight. "What are you doing here?"
"I-I-I live here, Twilight... This is my apartment." Lily said as she began to slowly shut the door. Everything about her had some kind of fearful feel, as if something about Twilight's presence threatened her. "I'm sorry, but I really have to go..."
"Wait, Lily!" Twilight's voice raised a little as she put her hoof into the door, stopping it from closing entirely. "Do you know anything about Pennington?"
Lily opened her mouth to answer, but another voice cut her off. A voice that Twilight knew very, very well.
"Twilight!" The joyous cry was Pennington's voice, for sure. Lily's face shifted in an instant to one of total shock as she turned back towards the room, and she quickly slammed the door shut, forcing Twilight's hoof out with a quick magical shove.
At this point, there were a lot of things that Twilight didn't know. She didn't know why Pennington had taken so long to return to Equestria, she didn't know why Pennington had sent Rainbow Dash a signed copy of his book, but had neglected to write her a single letter, and she didn't know why Lily was acting so fearful... but she did know one thing:
She had heard Pennington on the other side of that door.
"Spike... Do you want to come with me in there, or wait out here?" She asked quietly as she gathered up the energy to teleport herself the five feet to the other side of the door.
"Twilight, I don't think that she wanted us to come inside."
"That's why I'm offering to let you stay out here..." She muttered as her face fixed into a scowl of concentration. "I'm going in there, anyway, whether she wants me to or not..."
"Isn't that breaking and entering?" Spike asked as he looked up at her with a questioning glance. When she didn't reply, he took a step back. "I think I'll wait out here..."
Twilight nodded, then closed her eyes and cast the spell to move herself spontaneously through space. There was a flash of light, a sensation of heat all around her, and then he opened her eyes again, and she was standing in Lily's front hallway, facing into the apartment.
And there, in front of her, were three ponies, a changeling, and Pennington Inkwell. to be