After a long night of frustrating royal meetings and assigning sleeping spaces, Twilight stormed into her room, slamming the door behind her. As she paced back and forth, she felt a little bit of frustration radiate from her form with every 'stomp' her hooves made upon the crystalline floor. But seriously though, after today's meeting before Princess Luna and Discord set off, who could blame her?
'I need to do something', she thought.
"Twilight?" said a familiar voice. Twilight poked up to see her beloved companion, Spike, at the door.
"Oh Spike!", she cried, embracing him in a tight hug, "It's so good to see you!"
"Same here, Twilight. Sorry I took so long. I was helping out near the Crystal Heart, and you know how precise Rarity is about everything. And then after it took a bit of time convincing the guards at your door that I, in fact, am the real Spike and not just some Changeling"
Twilight cocked an eyebrow in confusion, "But Dragon magic is too powerful, Changeling's simply can't take - wait...guards?! What do you mean "guards"?"
Spike gestured towards the door, "See for yourself"
Twilight opened the door to find Flash Sentry and one of Cadence's guards standing at both sides of her doorframe.
"YOUR HIGHNESS!!" cried both guards collectively, saluting her.
Taken aback slightly, Twilight shook her head. "Flash!" she said irritably, "What is the meaning of this?!"
"Ma'am!" said Flash in a tone more suited to addressing a drill commander, "First brought into effect in the year 1845 A.E., this salute has been used ever since the establishment of the Cosmic Dynasty, replacing the ancient -"
"Not the salute, Flash" said Twilight, rolling her eyes, annoyed. "You. Here. Just what in Celestia's name are you two doing here?!"
"Ma'am!", answered the other guard - a purple Crystal Pony, "as members of the Royal Guard, we devote our lives to protecting the Royal Family! Captain Sentry and I were hoof-picked by your brother, Prince Shining Armour, to aid by standing guard at your door!"
"Shining Armour sent you?!" asked Twilight, shocked. "Is that so? Well, here's an order. Just. Just. Take the night off. Help the other ponies, or something."
"NEGATORY, MA'AM!" said Flash
Twilight glared at him, "Excuse me?"
"Lieutenant Stronghoof," Flash gestured to the guard next to him, "is a member of Princess Cadence's Guard. And as a member of that guard, he only takes his orders from her and Prince Shining Armour!"
"What about you?" said Twilight, glaring at Flash, "you're the Captain of my guard, aren't you?"
"Yes, ma'am!" said Flash, "but as you have witnessed in the declaration shown to you at 0113 hours today, I am to escort you at all times, by order of Princess Luna herself!"
Twilight gave both of their serious faces an unimpressed look: "There's nothing I can do to get you two to leave, is there?"
"NEGATIVE!" they chorused.
"Fine!" said Twilight, slamming the door magically.
"Wow. Harsh, much?" commented Spike.
"I had to, Spike"
"But why? They're just doing their job!"
"Because, haven't you noticed?!"
"Noticed what?"
"That they're all treating me as if I'm a little filly!" she yelled, "Oh, just stay in your room, Twilight. Let the adults sort everything out. Sure, we know you saved Equestria a couple of times and there were those times where your ideas have come in, like really handy and all. Oh, and let's not forget that one time at, i dunno, your coronation, I think it was. You know, where you kinda swore the same oath we did once upon a time, thus vowing to share our responsibilities when it comes to something as important as the welfare of our citizens."
Spike crossed his arms, "Anything else?"
"Yes! Once upon a time, during one of my first days of learning...The Way of The Princess. Rule number 4: Princess Celestia told me that my instincts were there to be trusted - and that that was one of the most important rules to follow."
"And, what are your instincts telling you now?"
"That the power of love and friendship has always helped us out of a jam. Considering we're got a whole assortment of jams on our plate and Cadence and Shining Armour have pretty much got everything under control around here, I propose that I volunteer to go around to each of the different sub countries around Equestria and get them to join us!"
"And you think they'll help us? Just like that?"
"Well judging from what Princess Luna and Discord told us about their excursion into Changeling territory before the invasion, it would seem that they're not just targeting ponies, but Gryphons and Zebras too! So I'm sure their situations are pretty much similar to ours now. They'll definitely want to avenge their dead, and protect their remaining citizens too - just like us!"
"Okay, let's say you're sure you want to go through with this. Are you planning on going by yourself?"
"Of course, Spike! I'm not gonna let you or my friends put yourselves in danger just like that!"
"I don't know Twilight, don't you think it'll be safer if you had us tag along? I mean, you'll have the Elements of Harmony with you, right?"
Twilight started scribbling away at a scroll, "No, Spike. This is something that I'll need to do on my own. I just need to grab everything I need from here. After that, I'll get to the rooftop and teleport right outta here!"
"The rooftop, huh?" said Spike, "Question: how're you gonna leave your room, let alone get to the rooftop, unnoticed?"
"Easy" said Twilight, neatly placing a note on her pillow before heading towards her door, "To get to the rooftop, I'll need your scouting skills, but to leave my room all I need is a little...magic."
And with that, Twilight opened her door.
"Your highn-" began Stronghoof, before getting cut off by a beam of light hitting him squarely in the forehead, causing him to drop limply like a marionette detaching from its strings.
"Twilight! What're yo-?" was all Flash could say before meeting the same fate.
"TWILIGHT?!?!!" cried Spike
"Shhhhh!!" said Twilight, "It's okay, Spike. They're not dead. It's just a simple Snoozing Spell. They'll be up in a couple of hours. Now come on. We need to get to the castle archives, and fast!"
"For a map, I'm guessing?" asked Spike, hopping onto Twilight's back.
"Exactly!" said Twilight, "now hold on, Spike!". And in a flash of Twilight's Teleportation Spell, they were gone. So fast that Twilight didn't notice the 5 rolls of parchment disappear amidst Spike's emerald green flames.
***
"OW!!" yelped Rainbow Dash, nursing her pained hoof. "Whadja do that for, Applejack?"
"Stop yer complainin' and maybe ah'll stop kickin' ya!" whispered Applejack angrily.
"But it's 3 AM! Whaddya expect?!"
"I do understand, darling" said Rarity, brushing the tangled off her well styled mane, "While I do agree that a decent night's beauty sleep is very much a necessity, sometimes one does need to sacrifice it in certain situations. Now, Twilight sounded pretty distressed in those letters she sent us. She most certainly needs our help! She wouldn't have called us to the rooftop for no reason, you know."
"Speaking of whom, where is that pony? We're been waiting up here for HOURS!"
"Actually!!" chirped Pinkie Pie, "Twilight's letter was received by all of us about 17 minutes ago, and we arrived here precisely 8 minutes ago...except for you because you were the one who volunteered to go grab the Elements of Harmony, so you've been here for about 7 minutes and 15 seconds."
"How did y-?" started Rainbow Dash, awestruck.
"It's just a rough estimate," shrugged Pinkie.
"Ugh, nevermind. She'd just better hurry up is all." said Rainbow, crossing her forelegs.
"Oh don't worry, Rainbow Dash, she'll be here soon" assured Fluttershy.
"Sooner than y'all think" said Applejack, gesturing towards the rooftop's entrance, where Twilight stood bearing an expression of pure and utter shock.
"OH TWILIGHT!" gasped Rarity, leaping over to embrace Twilight, "We were ever so worried! Are you okay? You sounded ever so desperate in that letter. I feel so bad, we haven't had a chance to talk about eve-"
Twilight shook her head. "Wait, letter? What letter?"
"You know, he letter you send all of us? The one that said you had a plan to help is solve all this and that we had to meet up at the rooftop with the Elements of Harmony ASAP?" summarised Rainbow.
"I didn't send any let-" Twilight began, before slowly glaring at Spike. "Spike, you wouldn't have anything to do with this, would you?"
Spike hid behind Rarity, "ALRIGHT, I SENT IT!" confessed Spike, "It was only because of your plan had any chance of succeeding, you needed each other. Just at least tell them where you're off to!"
"Nevermind that, Twi." said Applejack, "Might as well tell us since we're all here and ready to leave at a moment's notice."
"Bu-but, no! I can't let you guys risk your lives like that on my behalf!" pleaded Twilight.
"And we can't let you just run off into harm's way, darling. Contrary to what you currently believe. You don't have to do everything on your own and you can put your trust in us! Now, go on, tell us the plan." said Rarity.
Mumbling intangible words of protest, Twilight gazed at their attentive, eager faces. Spike just gave her a 'just do it' look.
Twilight sighed, "How do I start?"
***
"Is that it?" said Rainbow.
"Twilight, do you really think this is going to work?" asked Fluttershy anxiously
"Yes, absolutely," replied Twilight.
"So, say we go on this little road trip and head to each of them nations out there. How do we know that they won't kill us on sight thinking we're Changelings disguised as ponies?" asked Applejack.
"The Elements of Harmony" replied Twilight, "Changelings are like bees so to speak. All that they are and all that they do depend on and are done for their Queen, and King in this case. They don't possess any of the qualities of the Elements of Harmony like Honesty, or Kindness for example. If a changeling were to wear one of these necklaces or this crown, they'd be rejected. And by being rejected, they'd pretty much just die more or less. So as long as we have the Elements on us at all times, we're fine."
"What about me?" said Spike indignantly.
"Like I said before; dragon magic is very powerful, Spike. Changelings just can't disguise themselves as dragons."
"Okay, so even if they believe we're genuine ponies - I know for a fact that many of their relations with ponies haven't been great, despite Princesses' efforts. For example, you said you wanted to head to Zebrica to visit the tribes. I'm pretty sure they'll join our cause in addition to those in Saddle Arabia. Then there was the Gryphon Kingdom, who will probably be more hesitant due to past tensions. And then there's the Dragon's Nest, which I do not even want to touch upon because I think it's that insane. How do you expect to convince them to join our cause by the end of the week?" said Rarity, concerned.
"I don't know a lot of things, Rarity, but I do know this" said Twilight, "The Changeling Army far outnumbers our own. And from what I've heard from the surviving scouts is that they've established Canterlot Castle as well as most of central Equestria as home base, and are still expanding!! We won't be able to survive another attack, despite the Crystal Heart's power. Whilst I do believe that there's more we need to learn about the Changelings and Sanctus, and that there might be a way to defeat these guys without going to war, it doesn't hurt to have better numbers - in the case of both defence and offence should the need arise. And besides, I'd think the fact that they're losing population numbers by the day themselves would make them desperate enough to put differences aside and join our cause. If not, well, I guess we'll just have to wing it?"
"Spoken like a true politician" said Applejack.
"I'm sure the key to getting us out of this mess and defeating Sanctus and Chrysalis is by Uniting Equestria, so to speak. It's what Princess Celestia would've wanted" continued Twilight.
All of a sudden, their whispering was interrupted by the shrill laughter of none other than Pinkie Pie.
"Shhhhhhhhhhhhh!!" they all chorused.
Pinkie wiped away a tear as she regained her breath, "I'm sorry, hehe. I couldn't help myself. But don't you see? You're a princess speaking like a "true politician" and you're saying we might need to wing it? Get it? Because the wings you have make you a princess?"
"And that's not the only thing that makes her a princess" said Applejack, putting a hoof around Twilight, "it's also her outstanding leadership qualities"
"...and her limitless devotion to her country..." said Fluttershy.
"...and her bravery..." added Rainbow Dash
"...her smile?..." said Pinkie Pie
"...not to mention her absolutely gorgeous poise..." said Rarity, batting her eyelashes
"...and most importantly, her love for her people and sense of responsibility" finished Spike.
Twilight blushed: "There's no way to convince you guys to stay, is there?"
"No siree!!" chirped Pinkie Pie
"How'd you guess?" asked Applejack, chortling.
"Excessive use of flattery" answered Twilight
"Ughhhh. Come on, guys!! If we're going to try and sneak outta here, we'd better do it fast! Before we know it, daytime'll come!" said Rainbow Dash.
"Where to, Twilight?" asked Fluttershy.
"First off, Zebrica!" said Twilight. But her friends just continued giving her expectant looks.
"Oh, heheh, it's that way" she added, pointing her hoof to the West.