"Man, it feels good to be back here again," Twilight said as she stepped off the training.
After Celestia brought up the crusaders, Twilight felt it was about time to go visit Ponyville. She wanted to see just how much it had changed, if at all. As she stepped onto the platform at the station, nothing came across as different, and this gave her comfort. For once, she could feel like she was back home without having left in the first place. She decided that her first visit in Ponyville would be her own castle. She said good bye to her friends then started off with Spike by her side.
"So, what do you want to do first?" Spike asked.
"Go home," Twilight said.
"But you are home," Spike said.
"To the castle, Spike," Twilight said, "I haven't seen it in a year, and I want to see it before I do anything else right now".
"Not much has changed about it," Spike said, "Other than you not living there, that is".
As they walked, every pony they passed gave them strange looks. It didn't seem to bother Twilight, she was used to it because of all the strange looks she got during the war, but it did seem to bother Spike quite a bit when he started taking notice. They weren't running scared, so that was a good sign... right?
When they finally arrived at the castle, Twilight noticed a couple of guards near the entrance. As she got closer, she could confirm they were the same guard assigned to transfer her weapons to Ponyville. She still wasn't allowed to carry weapons openly, so she had to have guards transfer them instead. She still had her concealed combat knife, but it offered little more than marginal comfort. As soon as she reached the entrance, the guards unlocked the cart and allowed Twilight to take her weapons back. As she grabbed each one, she inspected it closely to make sure it hadn't been tampered with. Satisfied, she put every weapon, magazine, clip, and the sole grenade back where it belonged before dismissing the guards.
As she walked the halls of her castle, Twilight started to finally a little more at home. The comfort of being inside her own home eased her thoughts. For the first time since she got back, Twilight felt like she was truly home and safe.
"Earlier, there were ponies everywhere," Twilight said as she and Spike walked around the seemingly deserted Ponyville.
As they walked, Twilight kept glancing over to make sure Spike was still there. She wanted to be sure this wasn't some kind of dream or something along the lines. Every time she looked at Spike, he reassured that he was, in fact, still all there. If she wasn't in a dream, then was it possible she had actually scared everypony away earlier? If that were the case, she wondered if perhaps Pinkie would have some catchy tune about her like back when they first met Zecora. She couldn't help but giggle at the thought. That thought also directed her towards Sugarcube Corner.
As Twilight and Spike approached the well known sweets shop, they noticed that it was dark inside. Twilight thought nothing of it until she opened the door. As soon as she stepped in, it was like she'd pressed some kind of button. All the lights suddenly turned on and the whole place soon became a multi colored mess as ponies jumped out of nowhere to greet Twilight with one of Pinkies signature surprise welcomes. Twilight's reaction was not what anypony expected. Her mind told her she had just walked right into an enemy ambush.
Without a second thought, Twilight immediately sent out a shockwave of magic and dove behind the closest cover she could find that wouldn't leave her exposed from behind. As the shockwave flew through the room, ponies flew backwards, windows shattered, and the whole room became an instant mess. Twilight, still believing herself in an ambush, tried to grab her weapons. It didn't take long for fear to grip her as she remembered that had nothing with her, not even her knife. All she had was her spells for defense. She lit up her horn, and slowly peered around the overturned table she was hiding behind. She was ready to put somebody in pain.
When something touched her shoulder from behind, Twilight spun around and let go of the magic she had built up. The blast barely missed its target, a small, purple and green dragon. She knew who was in front of her, but her mind told her it was all some trick. She was scared and unarmed, causing common sense to fly away. As she lit her horn again, the dragon dove to the side.
"Twilight, it's me, Spike!" The dragon yelled, failing to convince Twilight yet again.
Another blast flew right past him, grazing his right ear. His scream of pain was all it took. As her mind finally settled down, Twilight began to realize what had just happened. She'd walked right into one of Pinkie Pies parties. Pinkie always started her parties off with a surprise welcome, and this party was obviously no exception. As she looked around, she took in the state of the room, and all the ponies who were now covered in various sweets and punch. If they weren't afraid of Twilight before, they were now.
The now familiar scream of pain brought her attention back to her most recent victim. She quickly rounded the table to find Spike clutching his right ear, his claws covered in blood. The very sight of her number one assistant bleeding like that scared Twilight just that much more. She wasn't afraid of what would happen to her, she was afraid of herself. She had just lost control when one of her friends only wanted to throw her a party, and it ended up getting Spike, and no telling how many ponies, hurt. She finally broke. She spread her wings and flew out of Sugarcube Corner towards the castle as quickly as she possibly could, tears flowing freely.
Back at Sugarcube Corner, the ponies were finally getting free of their shock and fear. Applejack, wanting to get rid of any misunderstandings before they last too long, began to explain everything that Twilight had told her and the others about her time in the war. Fluttershy, being the kind and timid soul that she is, used the first aid kit that Mr. Cake gave her to patch up Spike and anypony who managed to get hurt.
"Twi? Ya in there?" Applejack asked.
"Sorry, Twilight's not home right now, please come back later," Twilight said solemnly.
"Open up already, we just wanna talk," Rainbow Dash said.
When they didn't get a response, Rainbow decided it would be a good idea to just buck the door down. As she reared up, however, Applejack caught her.
"Rainbow, she about sent everypony in Sugarcube Corner to the hospital because we all startled her," Applejack explained, "What do ya think will happen if ya buck the door down?".
"Ugh... you're right," Rainbow Dash said after a brief pause and sigh, "I just don't want her to blame herself for something we caused".
"None of us want that, darling, but you must go about it in a different manner," Rarity said.
"Yea, ah mean... ya don't buck down Scootaloos door when she won't open up, do ya?" Applejack asked.
"Well... no, I kinda removed the lock for her door," Rainbow Dash admitted.
"Well, that's one way to handle the situation," Applejack said.
"Twilight, dear, please just open up," Rarity said, "We really just want to help".
"If I come out, I'll just be putting you all in danger again," Twilight said.
"I do seriously doubt that," Rarity said, "Now, please, open up. Let us help you".
After a short pause, the door clicked and opened slowly, revealing a very sad looking Twilight.
"Say what you want to say, then leave before I-" Twilight said before being cut off.
"First off, you don't need to go blaming yourself for what happened," Rainbow Dash said.
"Yea, it was our fault for startling ya," Applejack said, "We should have known better".
"Doesn't excuse what I did," Twilight said softly.
"Your mind is still in the war," Applejack said, "In fact, ah'll bet every bit ah've got you thought you had just walked right into an ambush".
"I can't deny that," Twilight said.
"Like ah said, that's not your fault, it's ours," Applejack said.
"What about Spike, huh?" Twilight asked, "He had nothing to do with it, but he still got hurt".
"Fluttershy said she'll bring him over once the bleeding stops," Rainbow Dash said, "You clipped his ear pretty good".
"But even he doesn't blame you," Rarity said, "He actually blames himself for getting himself hurt".
"That was all me, though," Twilight said, "He had nothing to do with any of that, he was just an innocent victim".
"Twilight, will ya listen to us fer once!?" Applejack asked, obviously becoming irritated.
"I am listening," Twilight said.
"Obviously not, because ya ain't getting it!" Applejack said, "None of us can find a reason to blame ya fer what happened".
"I can," Twilight said.
"Alright egghead, you've kinda let me down," Rainbow Dash said.
"That's not what-" Applejack said before being cut off.
"What do you think would happen if you let your friends in that other world down?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"That wouldn't happen," Twilight said, "If I let them down, they'd die, and so would countless innocents".
"What do you think they'd say if they saw you right now?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"To shape up and move on," Twilight said.
"Exactly!" Rainbow Dash said, "So, shape up and move on already! If it helps, think of us like we're those friends of yours from that other world".
"Wow, ah never expected to hear this kind of stuff coming out Rainbows mouth," Applejack said.
"We're on a mission right now, and you being all depressed is holding us back, keeping us from completing the mission," Rainbow Dash said, "Shape up and move already so you're not holding us back and we can move on with and complete the mission".
"What mission are we on again?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"A mission to get Twilight to forgive herself and go back to being happy to be home," Rainbow Dash said.
"The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step," Twilight said, "I guess that first step should be heading back to Sugarcube Corner to help fix the place up again, right?".
"We already cleaned it up, but ya'll are on the right track," Applejack said.
"In that case, I guess maybe some apologies are already long past due," Twilight said.
"We took care of everything already," Rarity said, "All you need to do is forget about what happened and forgive yourself".
"That's going to take a little while," Twilight said.
"Yea, well we'll be right by your side that whole while," Rainbow Dash said.
"Thanks, that means a lot right now," Twilight said.