Twilight and Luna sat in an extravagantly decorated hut. The royal guards had drifted back into town to look for clues and gather supplies to go back into the Everfree Forest. So she wouldn't get caught, the princess now hid in the place she had Twilight lie about on the first day she arrived in Ponyville. Fortunately the princess could teleport better than Twilight could. Now they sat in Zecora's hut, enjoying some of her wonderful tea.
"The guards came around just the other day." Zecora stated, pouring the princess a new cup. "They questioned me, but I had nothing to say."
"Well, please tell them I came by here." Luna said with a smile. "Just don't tell them where I went."
"Lying I do not usually do, but tell them I will that you passed through." Zecora replied.
"Thank you." Luna stated. The zebra turned around and went back to her brew she had been cooking since they arrived.
"Have you met zebras before?" Twilight asked quietly.
"A few." Luna said, taking a sip. "Wow this is good tea."
"It is, isn't it?" Twilight asked, smiling. "Did the zebras you met always rhyme?"
"No..." Luna said, thinking a moment. "But I don't think Zecora is a normal zebra."
"How do you mean?" Twilight asked.
"The ones I met spoke of "sages." They were people that mastered in potions and generally left their land for a time to gather wisdom. I was told that many of them were odd and had unusual habits. Zecora is probably one of them."
"Indeed I am what you say." Zecora said, trotting into the conversation, with a smile. "And unfortunate news I have to relay."
"What is it Zecora?" Twilight asked, looking concerned.
"It is nearing the time I return to my land, it is unfortunate as my stay here was grand." Twilight flinched and appeared hurt.
"You're...leaving?" She asked. Zecora nodded with a solemn smile. The past few years had been hard on Twilight. With her friends scattering in all directions and her remaining ones finding their own lives, her loneliness was often hard to bear. She had taken solace in visiting Zecora, even if the zebra was hard to understand. They would sip tea, talk about Twilight's problems and discuss happier times with Twilight's friends. Now even that was ending. "Oh Zecora! I'm going to miss you!" Twilight bounded around the table and wrapped the zebra into a hug with both hooves. Zecora gave her a pat on the back.
"You must relax dear young one, I will be here for several more sets of the sun." Zecora stated. Twilight separated from her striped friend, but her face was sad and hallow. It was an expression that made Luna's heart break a little. It was one of painful resignation, and the princess guessed that Twilight had that face on a lot the past few years.
"H-h-how am I supposed to get my tea...?" Twilight asked, her voice becoming weak and her eyes watering. She obviously wasn't really talking about the tea, but didn't want to beg Zecora to stay away from her homeland. The zebra smiled, knowing that her friend was hurt.
"I will mail you some my dear friend, our correspondence will not end." Twilight hiccupped briefly, biting back tears. Zecora kissed her on her forehead, trying to comfort her.
When Luna finally sensed the frustration of the guards as they entered the forest again, the two of them teleported back to Ponyville. The moment they arrived back inside Twilight's house, the lavender colored unicorn dragged her feet over to her desk. She sat on the chair and slammed her face onto the table rather hard.
"C'mon..." Luna said nervously. "It's not that bad. You can still write to her right?"
"Like Rainbow Dash?" Twilight said, her voice muffled by the desk. "Everypony I know and love is leaving me."
"Oh Twilight, they're not leaving you," Luna said, walking right up right beside the pony. "Their lives are just leading them in different directions."
"Like mine?" Twilight replied. "I've stayed at this house since Princess Celestia ordered me to. Maybe I should move back to Canterlot and get a real job..."
"But you've spent your entire life studying magic!" Luna stated, abruptly feeling terrible for the little unicorn. "Sis hasn't pulled your stipend yet! Don't give up!"
"At a real job people are less likely to just up and leave..." Twilight muttered. "Everypony is just going to leave me if I stay here..."
"Not everypony in your life is going to leave you!" Luna said desperately.
"What, like you?" Twilight said, lifting her head.
"Uh...uh..." Luna said, being caught off guard. Twilight was hurt and was lashing out. The princess understood that, but that didn't make it any easier to take.
"Like you're going to stay?" Twilight said bitterly. "Sooner or later those guards will find you and then you'll have to leave! You'll leave me too! Just like everypony!" Tears were periodically streaming down her face. "Why are you even here?" Luna twitched. She hadn't seen a pony this hurt in a long time. The mare that only yesterday was hopping around happily at a party, now crying in a heap, hurt the Princess's heart.
"Twilight..." Luna finally said, her voice straining.
"I just want to be left alone." The unicorn said, putting her face back onto the desk. Luna knew she meant the opposite, but Twilight was also dealing with the coming pain of Luna leaving and was pushing the princess away. The alicorn shifted nervously. There was something she could do...but it was not recommended. In ancient times it led to some serious trouble and only alicorns were capable of doing it.
"Twilight," Luna began. "Look at me." The unicorn reluctantly obeyed, already appearing exhausted. "I want you to empty your head." The unicorn squinted and wiped away tears.
"What?" She asked.
"Just trust me, empty your mind, make it blank and don't think of anything." Luna instructed. Twilight had no idea what she was talking about, but decided to obey. She closed her eyes and began trying to clear her mind. "Think of an empty, white room, with absolutely nothing in it, got it?"
"Yeah." Twilight said.
"Good." Luna replied. She leaned forward and brought the tips of each other's horns together. Before Twilight had time to question what was happening, Luna sent magic into the unicorn's horn. The pony flinched and gasped. Her mind abruptly filled with memories, just as vivid as they had been when she first experienced them.
Twilight felt Spike on her back, and ropes over her mouth.
"Hi-ho Twilight, away!" He shouted. The unicorn gave him a glare.
"And just what do you think you're doing?" Twilight asked, her tone harsh.
"Please Twilight, just give me this." Spike pleaded. He was such a young dragon with the most childish of crushes upon Rarity. Twilight couldn't just cramp his style.
"Ugh...fine!" Twilight said. She reared back and then took off down the tunnel.
The moment changed. Now Twilight was in Zecora's hut for the first time. All of her friends from Ponyville were there. They had all been affected horribly by some plant, but they were blaming the zebra instead. Rainbow Dash had just crashed, her wings upside down. Everything in Zecora's hut had been smashed, including something she had been brewing.
"We're onto you Zecora!" Twilight shouted, her horn floppy on her head. "I didn't want to believe you cursed us, but the evidence is overwhelming!"
"You made me look ridiculous!" Rarity interjected, her hair in shaggy curls.
"You made me sound ridiculous." Fluttershy added, her voice distinctly like a stallion's. Pinkie Pie then tried to speak, but all that came out was spitting gibberish. Her tongue was too big for her mouth. At the time, Twilight thought that might have also been a blessing, considering how bad Pinkie was at keeping a straight line in a conversation.
"You ruined my horn!" Twilight said, accusingly.
"How dare you!" Zecora shouted angrily. "You destroy my home, destroy my work! Then boldly accuse me of being a jerk!"
"You put this curse on us!" Rainbow Dash shouted. "Now you're going to uncurse us!"
"It is unwise to venture down this road!" Zecora said, stomping her hoof onto the ground. "Your actions will make my anger explode!"
"Where. Is. Apple Bloom!" Twilight shouted, now sounding angry. She pushed her forehead against Zecora's, both of them pushing against one another.
"Zecora!" Apple Bloom shouted, entering the door of the house. "I think I found all the things ya asked for!" Apple Bloom's surprised face was the last thing Twilight saw, before the scene faded.
Now she was at Pinkie Pie's birthday party, the first surprise one they ever sprung on her. They were in a barn full of balloons and streamers, and Pinkie was fuming at them. The poor pony thought that they were trying to kick her out of town or something. Once the Pinkie realized that this was her birthday party her hair abruptly poofed out again and her usual demeanor returned.
"Because it's my birthday!" She shouted with mirth. Her arms stretched out in both directions as she rounded her friends in a huge hug. "Oh! How could I have forgotten my own birthday?" Everypony else heaved a sigh of relief. The pink pony abruptly dropped all back onto the ground. The hyperactive pony began bouncing around, excitedly. "And you like me so much you decided to throw me a surprise party!"
"That's what we've been trying to tell you darling." Rarity said, flashing a pretty smile.
"You girls are the best friends ever!" Pinkie Pie shrieked, still hopping around. She abruptly stopped moving and lowered her head. A sad expression came across her face. "How could I have ever doubted you?" Twilight smiled and trotted over to her friend.
"It's okay Pinkie Pie." Twilight said. "It could've happened to any of us." Abruptly, all the other ponies approached the two of them, reassuring Pinkie that they weren't mad.
"I'm just glad I haven't been replaced by a bucket of turnips!" Rainbow Dash said. Pinkie Pie smiled nervously, remembering her crazy behavior a little earlier.
"Huh?" Twilight asked, not yet aware of Pinkie had been doing back home.
"You don't want to know." Rainbow Dash replied from above her, smiling mischievously.
"Alright girls, enough of this gabbin'!" Applejack exclaimed as she walked over to the record player. "Let's party!" She turned the device on. As the music started to play, all of the ponies began dancing. Twilight was filled with happiness to be around her friends. At the time, she didn't even realize how much it all meant to her. She certainly did now that it was all gone.
Twilight stumbled out of her chair, her mind swimming. It wasn't a memory spell. It was deeper. She could feel Spike on her back. She could smell Zecora's spilled brew. She could hear the music, smell the hay in the barn and feel her hooves move to the music. She was there. Twilight scuttled around like a foal, trying to figure out how to walk. It wasn't until the princess lent her support that she managed to stand up straight.
"What...I was...there...it...what was...?" Twilight babbled incoherently. She stared around her house, unsure of where she was or what year she resided in.
"It's something we alicorns can do." Princess Luna replied. "We can do more than just show your memories to you. We can make you relive them."
"That was...incredible." Twilight said, her senses finally returning. Once she realized that what she saw, smelled and tasted were all memories of the past, she felt familiar haze of sadness set over her. "Can you...do that again?" Luna sighed and looked away from Twilight.
"Most alicorns refuse to do the practice." The princess stated, seemingly ignoring the question. "You see, it's like a drug. Why deal with the terrible things of the present when you can just run away to your happy past? Some less virtuous alicorns began acting as dealers, selling the ability to live in your memories. There were people that starved to death, content with just seeing the past over and over again. The alicorns that ruled worked for millennia to break the practice." Twilight thought to herself a moment. She understood what Luna was saying, but why even do it in the first place?
"Then why did you do it?" Twilight asked, managing to stand on her own four feet.
"I couldn't stand to see you in so much pain." Luna said, walking towards a window. Twilight stared at the princess, but the royal pony's face was turned away from her. "I wanted to remind you of the good times, not just the bad." Twilight stared at the ground. She didn't know what to make of what just happened. She really wanted Luna to do it again, but knew it was better that she didn't. The unicorn really needed to clear her head.
"I'm going for a walk." Twilight announced, heading for the door. Luna didn't respond.
When Twilight Sparkle left, Luna began pacing the room, her head low to the ground.
'Why did I do that?' The unicorn thought, feeling miserable. She told herself that she had good intentions, but didn't know if that was true. Luna missed the happy bunny of a unicorn she saw yesterday. Twilight was hopping around, chatting happily and discussing things in magical textbooks and taking Luna's answers to them far too seriously. In short, Twilight was being adorable. Then Luna saw her hit the depths of despair, cry and lash out. It was too much, so Luna performed forbidden magic. It certainly wasn't her wisest decision.
The princess kicked a bookcase, mostly out of frustration. Much to her chagrin, something fell from the top of it and landed directly on her head. The alicorns stumbled backwards, most ungracefully. She growled at herself, rubbing where the object struck her. Luna gazed up and saw something that took her a few moments to process.
It was a basket, the blanket inside partially spilled out. It puzzled the princess as to why Twilight would need such a thing. As she approached, she used her magic to lift up the sheets. Her eyes widened when she saw what was underneath. A small collection of colored gems was hiding inside the basket. Why would Twilight keep these? Since the discovery of the spell used to find gems, they had become nearly worthless except to look pretty. Then something fluttered off of the blanket. It twisted in the air and landed on top of the jewels. It was a purple dragon scale.
Luna heart broke a little. This had been Spike's bed. He must have hidden the gems under his covers as his little stash for a snack. Twilight kept the bed as she had found it, she hadn't even checked under the blanket. She probably couldn't bear to get rid of the thing. Luna made a slight whining sound at the sudden emptiness inside of her. She probably made Twilight feel worse instead of better... well no longer. Luna leaned down and seized the basket with her teeth. She turned and charged out the door. With no regard for getting caught, she took off into the air.
Twilight slouched around Ponyville, dragging her feet. When she said that she should leave Ponyville earlier it was the first time she ever did so. She had so many happy memories and quite a few friends still in town. Now, however, the sadness was beginning to overwhelm both of those. She was a grown mare now. She couldn't read books forever. So far the only thing she had in the way of a job description was "Celestia's favorite student." She was now giving serious thought to going out and looking for a job.
She needed somepony to talk to, but her choices were slim. She could talk to Applejack, but the pony was always so busy. Twilight wasn't entirely sure when apple-bucking season was, but it seemed like it was year-round. Added in with the fact that her husband Apple Tree was largely useless without her, Apple Core was quite the little rascal and their farm had grown in size much faster than their family Twilight wasn't likely to get Applejack's attention for long. Twilight couldn't go see Zecora without breaking down into tears, so that was out. Twilight groaned as she turned down a street and began walking towards her inevitable destination. She even considered the Cutie Mark Crusaders before settling on this decision. She was going to... attempt... to speak to Pinkie Pie.
When Twilight entered the bakery, she was greeted with a familiar sight every time she saw Pinkie Pie. The pink pony bounded over and stuck her face directly in front of Twilight's.
"You're just in time!" The pony shouted. "I'm starting Gummy's after-after-after-after..."
"That's great Pinkie." Twilight said quickly, putting her hoof in front of Pinkie's mouth. "I'm not really in the mood for a party."
"A party will put you in the mood for a party!" Pinkie shouted, making about as much sense as she usually did. "Come on!" Pinkie leapt into the center of the room and began dancing.
"Pinkie..." Twilight began, a vein in her forehead beginning to pop. The pony continued to ignore her, cheering Gummy on. The alligator merely blinked his eyes however, each one at a different interval. "Pinkie!" Pinkie began whooping at the ceiling, hopping around excitedly. Twilight felt anger boil inside of her. It was the first time she had ever felt this way about Pinkie. Did she even care? Are parties and confetti and cupcakes all this pony can think about? Doesn't any of this matter?
"PINKIE PIE!" Twilight bellowed with all of her might. Pinkie landed on the ground and flinched away from her friend. Twilight's voice was seething with rage. Her sorrow had turned to anger, and Pinkie pushed her buttons. "Don't you even care? Everypony is leaving and all you can do is mindlessly throw parties! Everything can't be solved with a party! They won't bring our friends back!"
"Why are you yelling at me?" Pinkie said in a soft voice, lowering her head towards the ground.
"Zecora is leaving!" Twilight shouted. "The Princess is leaving...everypony is leaving, and you're throwing a party!" Pinkie shrunk back more, not believing Twilight could ever be so harsh.
"The party isn't for them." Pinkie said quietly. "It's for you."
"H-huh?" Twilight asked, her anger quickly fizzling.
"We're not celebrating them leaving, and I certainly care...but I don't want any more sadness. I thought if I threw a party, the sad look on everypony's face would disappear... and it does... for a little while. So I keep having parties so all of my friends will be happy." Twilight had a blank expression on her face for a few moments. She had never thought of it that way. She figured that Pinkie Pie threw these endless parties because of some pathological need to escape her own sadness. Twilight sighed and lowered her head. She kicked her hoof at the ground a few times.
"There's only one way to cure this sadness Pinkie." Twilight said. "And it's not with a party. We can't have what we used to when we were fillies. We can't just have everypony come back and act like we did back then."
"If we can't bring it back," Pinkie began. "then we can only work with what we have." Twilight stared at the pink pony. She wondered just how smart Pinkie was. How much of her personality was really her and how much was just a happy-go-lucky front? Maybe both were her, just different parts.
"You're right Pinkie." Twilight said. "I'm sorry for yelling at you." The unicorn turned around and began walking out the door. "I need to walk until my mind clears, I'll be gone a while." Pinkie smiled to herself.
"The party will be waiting for you when you do!" Pinkie gazed down at Gummy, who was chewing on a ribbon. "You'll always love me, won't you?" The alligator's right eye blinked. That was when, quite abruptly, Pinkie's entire body began to shudder. Her face fell and was replaced with one of concern. Her Pinkie sense was going off, but this feeling... this had only happened once before, and something amazing happened. Something amazing would happen... but amazingly good or bad?
This was a lot harder than Luna thought. Her sense of smell was quite good, but the mountains to the west of the Everfree Forest were swarming with unpleasant creatures. Luna had already run into two ursa majors, three of the wrong dragons and a very angry scorpius who for some ungodly reason refused to let her leave until it got a snip of her light blue hair. Exhaustively, Luna collapsed in front of yet another cave, the basket still in her teeth. She was going to have a serious conversation with Celestia about taming these forests when she returned back to the castle. Luna stood up and dusted herself off. She approached the edge of the cave and took a sniff. It reeked of reptile.
The Princess had absolutely no love of these scaled creatures. A very traumatic event in her childhood was to blame, one she didn't like discussing. Luna steeled her will, took a deep breath and marched into the cave.
After only a little ways in, she saw that this cave belonged to a dragon. The walls had deep claw marks in them, a territorial gesture for the creatures. The princess gulped, beginning to think this was a horrible idea. Of course, if she went back empty-handed all she would see was Twilight crying. Seeing the poor unicorn's face in emotional agony made Luna's heart ache. She couldn't bear to see it. The Princess emerged into a cavern. She shuddered a bit, feeling her knees become wobbly. This was a dragon's den. Piles of jewels were scattered around, although they were not large. The princess set the basket down on the ground. She tried to speak, but her voice failed her for a few moments. Finally, she cleared her throat.
"H-Hello?" She called. "Is anypony there?" For a time there was nothing but silence. Then she heard a grunt and a shuffling of feet. After a few tense moments something emerged from a side cavern. Luna knew she found her mark. The dragon had aged a bit, but he was still easily recognizable. His scales were light purple, his underbelly was light green and his now spiky ears were sap green. His body was more serpentine and much longer. He was even bigger than Celestia now. His tail now had a larger, sharp ending. His snout was slightly longer and the spikes on his body had evened out (as opposed to being grossly larger on his head) and become sharp. The young dragon growled at the pony in his cave, causing her to shrink backwards. She saw his sharp claws were covered with dirt. He had been digging for more gems.
"Who dares disturb my cave?" Spike said, growling. His voice had deepened quite a lot. Luna was beginning to lose her nerve. The other dragons she ran into were either sleeping or indifferent to her presence.
"D-Don't you remember me?" The princess asked.
"Leave now!" Spike bellowed. "Before I get angry!" He shot a brief stream of fire into the air. Luna yelped and jumped into the air, her feet scrambling uselessly. Her foot nicked the edge of the basket, tipping it over. The blanket inside billowed out, along with the jewels hidden underneath. Spike gazed at it, mesmerized. Luna was huddled on the ground, shaking. Spike walked over to the basket, quite calmly. He sniffed the gems, his eyes closed. He could still smell the tree house on them. It made him feel like he was a baby again. He raised his head back up. His brain was now clear for a moment, free from his baser impulses. He recognized the poor pony huddling on the ground. "You're the princess, the one that was Nightmare Moon." Luna opened one eye. She saw that Spike now had a kinder expression on his face.
"Y-Yes." She said, raising herself off the ground. "You remember me!" Spike gazed down at his secret stash of jewels.
"I left this at Twilight's house." He stated. "Why do you have them?"
"I'm visiting Twilight." Luna replied, some of her fear fading away. "I saw this and thought I would bring these to you."
"Thanks." Spike said, sounding confused. That was an awful lot of trouble for a just a few gems.
"Listen," Luna began. "Twilight is very sad. Zecora said she was leaving for her homeland soon and Twilight isn't taking it very well. She feels that everypony around her is leaving and soon she'll be all alone. She even told me that she should quit being a student and just get a job back at Canterlot!"
"That doesn't sound like Twilight." Spike said, scratching his chin with his claw.
"I know, she's in a very bad way right now, so I thought who better to cheer her up than her assistant, roommate and friend?"
"Well, I'd love to," Spike replied. "but the last time I left my cave I came back and found several other young dragons pillaging it. That's why I moved and Twilight couldn't find me anymore. My instincts tell me to stay here and I'm afraid that if I do I'll return to find all the gems I worked hard to find gone."
"I could hide the entrance of the cave."
"Y-You can do that?"
"Of course, it's a simple illusion spell. I can make it appear as if the entrance to the cave is nothing but the smooth rock of the mountain." Spike smiled, revealing a new row of sharp teeth.
"Then what are we waiting for?"
Twilight made her way to outskirts of town, kicking up dirt she dragged her hooves. Perhaps Pinkie really wasn't as stupid as she seemed. Then again, how much thinking did it take to realize that throwing parties for everypony when they don't show up is useless? Twilight sighed into the dust and leaned onto a pile of logs. She briefly gazed around. She was the lumber mill, a place on the edge of Ponyville. Since the Everfree Forest and Whitetail Wood had plenty of trees and the demand for houses continued to grow they frequently chopped down and processed lumber here. It was also pretty convenient that magic could easily grow the foliage back. The whole place reeked of wood and was covered with sawdust. Twilight wrinkled her nose and then blew out her nostrils. She was going to start sneezing if she hung around here. She turned to return moping in the other direction...
That's when she heard a laugh. It was a stallion, and his outburst was a great guffaw, as if he found something completely hilarious. Twilight perked up her ears. It was an odd sound, particularly around here. What could be so funny in a sawmill? Then she heard a high-pitch whine. Twilight's face fell. She recognized that noise anywhere. She heard it the first day she came to Ponyville. The unicorn rounded the pile of logs, only to find numerous others interwoven in front of her. She had to climb, side-step and walk around many of them to finally get where the sound was coming from. As she peeked over a final log, she got the biggest eyeful of her life.
There was a shack behind the piles of logs. The door was ajar and the unicorn could see there was a table with several papers on them. It was more than likely some kind of tally station, to keep up with how many logs there were. That wasn't what drew Twilight's eye. In the shadow of the shack was a puddle of muddy water, which had apparently survived from the last rainfall. In that puddle, covered with mud, was Fluttershy.
"I-I-Is this enough?" Fluttershy asked, her voice barely audible. There were three stallions standing around her, two earth ponies and a unicorn. One of the earth ponies, the color of mud, barely out of being a colt and with crooked teeth, was the one cackling like hyena, as if he found this absolutely hilarious. The unicorn, fully-grown and green-furred, reached up with his hoof and rubbed his chin. There was a devilish gleam in his eyes however.
"I don't know." The unicorn said. "What do you guys think?"
"Dirtier, dirtier, hyuck hyuck!" The mud-colored pony cackled.
"You heard him." The unicorn ordered, a wide smile appearing on his face. Fluttershy briefly closed her eyes and trembled. She then fell into the puddle and began rolling around, much to the howling laughter of the stallions. She stood back up, her hair and body completely covered in mud.
"Is this enough?" Fluttershy asked, sounding utterly humiliated.
"Yeah, you're a dirty little mule." The unicorn said, grinning loudly. "'Nee-haw' like a mule, go on." Fluttershy issued a tiny whine, which didn't have any discernable words. "Sorry, didn't catch that." The unicorn's voice was mocking. He flicked his ear, leaning in closer.
"N-n-nee-haw..." Fluttershy muttered, tears beginning to stream down her face.
"Louder." The unicorn ordered.
"Nee-haw."
"Louder."
"Nee-haw!"
"Louder, louder! Hyuck, hyuck!"
"Nee-haw! Nee-haw! Nee-haw!" Fluttershy was practically screaming it at this point. Tears of humiliation were pouring down her face. All of the males laughed uproariously. The unicorn wiped a tear from his eye.
"Oh you are a dirty mare!" He exclaimed. "Bridleburg was right, she's just the best!" His gaze abruptly changed to something lascivious. "Now...turn around." Fluttershy sniffed and wiped her tears away. She attempted to walk out of the puddle, but the unicorn held up his hoof. "No, you stay in there. Dirty mules deserve to roll around in the muck and filth." Fluttershy flinched, but obeyed. She turned around and stood waiting.
"Oh come on boss!" The mud-colored pony exclaimed. "I want a turn! We all pitched in to get her!"
"We'll all get a turn, but I paid the most, so I get dibs." The unicorn replied. He began marching forward, licking his lips.
Blind rage. Those were the only words Twilight could even think of to describe what burned inside of her gut. Fluttershy's husband...was selling her out! Twilight couldn't even think straight. She couldn't watch the scene anymore. She lowered her head back behind the log and grated her hooves against the ground in rage. She desperately wanted to jump over the log, charge in, beat those stallions senseless and rescue Fluttershy, but that probably wouldn't work. Even in her limited capacity, she knew it was a bad idea. The ringleader was a unicorn, a full adult male too. If he was magical enough to move these logs around he could certainly put up a fight. Then there was the matter of the two earth ponies. She couldn't fight all three of them at once and then if she lost... what would they do to her? Fluttershy would be humiliated, Twilight would face the unimaginable and Bridleburg would still get his damned money. No...there needed to be a plan. She had to blow this wide open. She would show Bridleburg for what he was and hang him for it. She would see to it personally, even if it was the last thing she would ever do! As much as it hurt and burned her up inside... Twilight turned and walked away. Her vision had a red haze over it and her guts were twisted up. Even as she walked, she stamped her hooves onto the ground so hard that sawdust went in all directions.
The door to Twilight's home burst open. Luna spun around, smiling. Spike was standing in the room, sniffing everything, as if making sure all of it was the same. The princess expected a happy gasp and the pony would begin hopping around excitedly again. Instead, Luna stumbled backwards. She wasn't attempting to sense emotions, but Twilight's feelings bled into her mind. Luna couldn't make sense of it. It was just blind anger. There were no words, no images, no thoughts... just rage. The princess grabbed her head and tried to clear her mind. The emotions were so strong that it nearly knocked out the powerful alicorn. Spike turned and smiled as well, but Twilight calmly marched inside, a stern expression on her face. She merely glanced at the dragon before continuing on to her library bookcase.
"Spike! Take a note!" She ordered. The dragon and the alicorn in the room glanced at each other. Luna was dazed and still trying to make sense of what was pouring into her head. She appeared confused. Spike simply shrugged, not sure what to do. He reached for a quill and a piece of paper and began writing, as he always had.
"Dear Princess Celestia," Twilight began, pacing back and forth. "it has come to my attention that certain unscrupulous individuals in the town have begun contributing to..." Twilight abruptly stopped. Her rage disappeared, finally allowing Luna to focus. The Princess's eyes rotated in different directions for a moment. Twilight's head jerked around and a wide smile broke out onto her face. "SPIKE!" Luna watched as in two huge bounds the unicorn leapt over to the dragon and wrapped all four of her hooves onto Spike's neck. "Oh Spike! I missed you! I missed you so much!" Twilight rubbed her cheek back and forth joyously on his rough scales. "How have you been? Have you been eating well? Are you sleeping well? Have you had your second growth spurt? How big is your gem pile? Have you gotten good at breathing fire? Have you been sick at all? I can make some food if you are!"
"It's good to see you too Twilight." Spike said, realizing she was babbling. He reached up with his hands and wrapped the unicorn in a hug. Twilight attempted to do the same, but only managed to spread her legs out across his broad chest. Both of them stayed that way for several moments, neither of them letting go. Twilight abruptly felt something wet. She opened her eyes and saw that a small stream of water was leaking down Spike's neck and onto her face.
"Spike?" Twilight asked.
"Yes?" The dragon asked.
"Are you crying?"
"No." The dragon said as he sniffed his massive nose.
"Neither am I." Both of them returned to their hugging. Luna enjoyed the scene. She smiled as she sensed the warm, gentle love that was emanating from Twilight. She couldn't sense anything from Spike. She had suspicions that she could only sense the emotions of ponies but had never met anything intelligent enough to confirm it. Now she knew for sure. Luna enjoyed the happy feelings and the memories attached to them. Abruptly however, the Princess became dizzy. She had flown for huge distance, been scared out of her wits and overwhelmed mentally all in one day. Normally all that would have been manageable, but she hadn't slept in several days. None of these things were a big deal all by themselves, but combined altogether they were taking their individual toll and working together to exhaust her. Luna desperately wanted to know what made Twilight so mad, but those emotions were gone She wasn't a mind reader and could only sense thoughts and memories that the emotions a person was currently feeling were attached to. Luna put her hoof to her head and wobbled for a moment.
"I'm going to take a nap." Luna said, not sure if they even heard her. "You two enjoy yourselves." Luna stumbled up the stairs towards the guest bed.
Twilight and Spike talked all day and night. The unicorn even invited Spike to Pinkie's party tomorrow. When the dragon asked how Twilight knew there would be one the unicorn simply laughed. They talked about books, their childhood and what all of their friends were doing now. Twilight forgot all about her problems. She forgot about Fluttershy, about Zecora and about the scattering of her friends. It was a long time before they ran out of breath. After that they both drank some of Zecora's tea and Spike drifted off to sleep. Twilight was leaning against his snout, listening to his deep snore. The unicorn watched her apprentice sleep, seeing him as the baby dragon from her memories. Finally, she stood up and picked up their teacups. She set them aside and stood in front of a window.
Luna was a very nice pony. Twilight had heard the entire story from Spike. Luna had sought out Spike in the mountains, even when she didn't know where he was. Twilight owed the Princess a debt for this and would have to find a way to pay her back. Her thoughts invariably returned to her most pressing matter however, Fluttershy.
How could Fluttershy just go along with that? She could have just told him 'no' and left! How could she do that? Twilight understood that Fluttershy had a weak personality and Bridleburg had an overbearing one, but this was just awful. Twilight, in her anger, had originally planned to write to Celestia and have her break up the buyers around the saw mill, attempting to put Bridleburg out of business. After she had calmed down, she realized that probably wouldn't work. The workers at the sawmill, who came from all over Equestria to work, couldn't have been the only buyers. Even if they were, Bridleburg could simply take Fluttershy elsewhere and set up shop there. She had to catch him the act. She had to convince Fluttershy to turn on him and say that she had been forced into this. She would see Bridleburg in jail for this or she would deal with him... herself.
Twilight had never had such dark thoughts before. To even consider doing what she thought about... however, no one hurt Twilight's friends, NO ONE. Bridleburg would pay. An idea popped into Twilight's head. She was going to have to set him up. She needed to speak with Fluttershy alone, unlikely considering that Bridleburg never left her alone... except when she was working. Twilight needed somepony to pose as a buyer. Then she would convince Fluttershy to turn on him. They would go to Princess Celestia and Bridleburg would be exposed for what he was and suffer the consequences. Twilight gazed up at the nearly full moon. She knew of only one stallion that might help her.
"Please watch over me." She said at the sky. For a moment, she saw those frolicking wisps in her head. The ones from her dream that apparently created ponykind as they were today. It was silly. It was just a dream...wasn't it? "Please help me," Twilight continued. "and if you could...please give Big Macintosh an open mind?"