//------------------------------// // Chapter Two: Part Nineteen and Three-Quarters. Or, in other words: Bonus Chapter! // Story: The Misadventure Of: A Bunch Of Silly Ponies That Just So Happen To Not Be Applejack // by OCisbestpony //------------------------------// Chapter Two: Part Nineteen and Three-Quarters. Or, in other words: Bonus Chapter! The trashmare looked at the letter once more. She knew that the Princess needed to see this. She knew it in all of her being. She looked up at the massive structure before her. How was she going to get it to her? The hotel was locked down, hard. She could see what must have been dozens of pegasai guards flying around the upper levels. On the floor, there were at least two unicorn guards per entrance, and at least one earth pony guard per ground level window. In short: an't nopony goin' in or out unless The Princess says otherwise. She could wait until nightfall. Perhaps there would be less guards? Or maybe she could get in easier somehow. Perhaps she could sneak in with some laundry or a shipment of some kind. What if she got sucker pads for her hooves, and she climbed up the walls to The Princess's windows? But how could she do that without the guards noticing? Could she perhaps just ask to see her? No, that didn't seem like a good idea. Well, perhaps the most simple answer is the best answer. She walked a short distance from the main entrance (from where she and several other ponies had been unceremoniously dumped), cleared her throat, brushed herself off a little, then turned around and walked right up to one of the guards. “Nopony allowed in the hotel without a reservation miss, royal orders!” The guard said, looking at her sternly. “I know, I know. But I recently got this let-” she began. “Move along!” The guard said rather suddenly. “But this is impo-” “Whatever it is, it can wait. Now move along!” the guard made a shooing motion with his spear. “No, really! This is really impor-” she pleaded “BACK UP!” The guard shouted. And, as if simply waiting for a signal, suddenly half a dozen pegasui swooped down on her, grabbed her, and carried her off. “LET ME GO! THE PRINCESS NEEDS TO READ THIS!” she cried, trying to struggle against the guards who were now flying her to the edge of town. “Yeah, that and every other paper quilled by somepony in this city!” the guard holding her head snapped back. “An't gonna happen missy! Not until Princess Twilight says so!” The trashmare so wanted to snap back at him, but lost her chance when the lot of them suddenly dropped her on the ground, and then flew off back to the hotel. She stood up, brushed off the dirt, then stuck her tongue at them. Well, at least they dropped her close to the ground. But that was about the only thing she wasn't gonna hold against them. She let out a sigh. Okay, so trying to do this that way wasn't going to work. The guards seemed far too eager to keep anypony away to talk to. So, what now? As night fell, she ran the plan over in her mind again. She would approach the fire escape, and throw a rock at it to draw one of the guards. Then, she would make a mad dash for the garbage duct. From there, she figured she had only a few seconds before the guards would either come in after her, or try and drag her out via magic. Figuring that she had a small time frame to work with there, she hoped that she would at least make it to the third floor. And at the very least, the second. At that point, she would have to pop out of the garbage duct and run down the corridor. She figured that at that point the whole hotel would be on alert, and so she would either need a way to get up to the floor The Princess was staying on, or the floor below it, or find a place to hide until things cooled off slightly. She figured the last option was unlikely to happen while she was there, so she would make a mad dash for the elevators. Luckily, she was buddies with the maintenance guy, and even helped out from time to time. So, it was a simple matter of opening the doors, and then either riding a cable, or even the car, up to the floor she needed. After that, she paused. There would surely be guards on the other side of the door she would open. So the question was, what could she do about them? Wait, didn't the elevator shaft have ventilation ducts every few floors? Yes, that might work. Would she fit? And even if she did, could they hold her weight? She was pretty buff. Heh, she mused, and not for the first time, if perhaps she should try and join the guard again. Nah, she liked Vanhoover too much. She shook her head. Focus! Gotta stay focused. Okay, so, what to do about the guards at the elevator doors? Perhaps they would be a little more reasonable, and let her see The Princess? Eh, probably not. Odds were that they wouldn't take kindly to a trashpony that was on the run from the guards and trying to sneak into a locked down area. So talking was out of the window. What if she tried the roof? Granted, it had been covered with Pegasus Ponies, but perhaps they would be too busy looking around the building to look at the roof? It would be night after all, and as far as she knew, Pegasus Ponies couldn't see in the dark. But that still left the problem of getting to the floor The Princess was on, for she was on the floor under the top floor. She kicked the ground. Colt, these guards really thought this through. Sticking her between two floors, guarding every entrance. Wait. What if she went back into the garbage duct? What if she went through the top floor and to the garbage duct that way? Perhaps, just perhaps, she could be quick enough to get to the room The Princess was in. And perhaps, just perhaps, she could get the letter to her before the guards caught her! But what if The Princess gets angry? Well, once she sees what's on this letter, she'll understand! Why, The Princess might even give her a pardon for all she did, if not even a medal for being so brave! She felt a swelling in her chest, and her courage began to build as this thought began to sink in. Why, she might even be a hero! Her! A simple, humble trashpony from Vanhoover! A huge grin, from ear to ear even, spread across her face. She rather liked the sound of that. 'Hero'. Night time is the most annoying time for guards. It's the time when seeing is the hardest, not to mention that practically everypony waits until the sun goes down to before they begin their illegal tomfooleries! So, when the night shift began, rather then getting tired, or sluggish, the guards around the hotel became even more vigilant then ever before. The Unicorns were projecting beams of light every direction they could, the Pegasus Ponies were swirling around the building half a dozen at a time, and the Earth Ponies doubled their guard at all of the windows. Luckily, some ponies are too stupid to know when they've got no chance. This pony however, was not quite that stupid, but close enough to still try. She took a deep breath. She shook herself to remove the nervousness filling her head. This was too important to chicken out now! She slowly made her way around to the back, ducking between buildings and sticking to alleyways to keep out of sight. She popped her head around a corner, scouting out the back ally of the hotel. Horseapples... They even put guards at the freaking rubbish duct! Well, more like they were circling the dumpster under it. She saw that not only did they have THREE Earth Ponies walking around it, they even had a Pegasus Pony hovering near by. In her mind, this seemed rather excessive. Why in Equestria would you put so many guards around a GARBAGE DUMP? Then an idea struck her. She was a trash pony. Dealing with trash was her job. She smiled slightly to herself and stepped right into the ally, as though it was the most normal thing to do at midnight. “HALT!” cried one of the guards, causing the whole bunch of them to stop, and look at her. Everypony save the Pegasus, who was looking at the dumpster itself. “Who goes there?!” “Oh, sorry guys! Just makin' some runs. This place is really ritzy, ya know? So they ask me to clear out the garbage at night.” she said, walking forward as though nothing was out of the ordinary. Granted, she was terrified out of her mind, and with each step closer, she got even more so. “Trash? What are you talking about civilian?!” shouted the one from before, who now stood before her, blocking her path. “I'm a trashpony, see?” she turned to show him her cutie mark, “This is my job. Is there trash in that dumpster?” “Uh … I don't know. Can't this wait until morning?” he replied, clearly not liking her being there. “Not really. Look, I'll be quick, okay? Just let me do this right quick, and I'll be outta your mane in a jiff, okay?” He let out a sigh. “Corporal!” he shouted at the Pegasus, “is there trash in that dumpster?!” “Sir, yes sir!” she shouted back. He let out a growl. He was very clearly displeased. “Fine! But make it quick! We don't have all night to sit and watch you!” “Thanks, I'll get right on it.” she made her way to the dumpster, which was rather large. If you measured it by ponies, it could hold a good 35-40 of them, depending on their sizes. The duct itself was also somewhat large, for a duct. If one stretched their legs from side to side, they would be able to touch the sides of the duct, provided one was a little taller then your average pony. This trashpony however, was just the opposite. She walked to the side of the dumpster, and promptly kicked it. The whole thing lifted up on one side for a moment, then came crashing back down, sending trash flying all over the place. Now, normally, these guards would have been able to handle this swimmingly. Such a distraction would have proven fruitless and the poor trashpony would already be tackled and hoofcuffed. This time however, they were caught completely off guard. Unbeknownst to many, this dumpster (as well as a few others) was actually enchanted to conceal the smell. Or rather, it was supposed to be. What actually happened was the unicorn who enchanted it got lazy and only trapped the smell in the dumpster, as long as the dumpster was in the right place. So, give the dumpster a few weeks to ferment, allow the smells to build on themselves, knock it out of the protective bubble it's in, and watch what happens. The smell hit the alley like a bomb. She actually saw an evil green miasma vomit out of the dumpster at terrible speed, and hit everypony in the ally like a shock wave. The impact actually forced her back a few paces. As for the non-trash smell immune ponies? Well, they were knocked out like lights. Even the poor Pegasus Pony. She gasped when she saw the poor flier get blasted against a near wall, then fall to the ground. She dove, and caught her before she hit the pavement. Placing the guard carefully on the ground, she let out a sigh. The last thing she wanted was for anypony to get hurt. After all, these guards were just doing their jobs. She turned and jumped up to and onto the edge of the dumpster, and fell right on in. She landed with a lovely squishing noise, and felt something soak into her overalls. Just another day at the office, she thought. She climbed out, and got back onto the edge of the dumpster. She reached into her clothes, and pulled out the sucker cups she brought for just this purpose. Putting one on each hoof, she lept into the duct (which was hanging, vertically, in the air above the dumpster), and began making her way up. Sadly, for her, the sucker cups proved to be rather noisy (not to mention the massive crash of the dumpster), and she heard the cry of alarm. As she quickly, very quickly, made her way up, she heard the sounds of guards swarming to the ally below and their shouts of confusion, followed by orders: “YOU THREE, UP THE DUCT! YOU TWO, REVIVE THEM! YOU FIVE, FOLLOW ME!” She reached the first floor entrance and dove in, directly into a rubbish bin. She popped her head out of the trash, and scrambled to get out of the bin. She could hear the sounds of wings flapping from the duct behind her. She looked around, panic filling her mind. She was in a laundry room. She hopped out of the bin, and dashed for the door. Locked. “STOP RIGHT THERE!” she heard a voice cry from behind. She dove for a nearby pile of laundry and stood perfectly still. She had done so out of blind reflex, and luckily for her, the guard had shouted that before they had actually reached the entrance. Not the brightest bulb in the bunch, that one. “You, go to the next floor! You, help me search this one!” she heard another one say. “Look everywhere! The piles, the machines, everything! Even the trash cans!” “SIR!” she heard two voices shout back. She heard the flap of wings, then the sounds of of the two remaining ponies digging through the rubbish. Not good! Not good! There's no way she could out run two Pegasus Ponies, let alone two trained guards! The door is locked, there are two guards between her and the duct, with another who went to the second floor, and only matter of time before they look in her pile! She suddenly heard the sounds of the ceiling panels being lifted and dropped down. Wow, these guys were thorough. Her breath began to quicken. No way she could talk her way out of this either. So, she did the only sensible thing she could think to do. She snuck out of her pile, and behind a nearby machine. She slowly made her way across the room as the ponies made their way up it. The room was simple in its layout. An entrance at one end, and the duct at the other. Under the duct was a bin that hadn't yet been dumped (and was now overturned and making a mess), and several washing machines lined up along one wall, and dryers along the other. It was behind the dryers that she was taking cover. She paused for a moment, to glance over the top to see how far along they had come. One of them was in the air, looking behind the dryers, and the other was digging through a pile of laundry. “Sir!” the one on the ground said. What must be the commander (for her helmet was a bit fancier then the other one's) looked down at him. “What is it?” she demanded. “I think I found something!” she watched from her hiding spot as the guard pulled out what looked to be a life-sized pony plush. “Check to see if it's real! The intruder might be trying to fake it!” “Sir!” and with the one on the ground picked it up, and began juggling in the air. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” the commander shouted. “Sir! I figure that if it was real, it would be too heavy to juggle, sir!” The commander growled. “Fine! Move on! The intruder could be sneaking past us as we speak!” And she shot a look directly at the line of washers. She scanned them quickly, and flew over to them, and looked behind. Nothing there either. She lifted a few ceiling tiles and looked in. Nothing up here. She flew over to the dryer side once more, and did the same. Still nothing. She watched as her subordinate opened each washer and dryer they passed by. Perhaps the intruder had made it to the second floor? Or …. She flew over to the entrance of the duct, and hovered right in front of it. She turned, looked up and down the shaft, then turned back around, right in time to get a face full of linens most unwashed, and foul. Made only worse by the fact that they had just been used to clean the filth off a very dirty trashpony. Now, she was made of some pretty tough stuff. She had her share of latrine duty, as well as other nasty jobs. Heck, she'd even done combat drills in knee-deep manure (you know, just in case the cows rise up in rebellion. That's what her commander had told them anyway...). But alas, she was not career trashpony. So while she lasted a moment longer then her fellow guard ponies before her had, it wasn't quite long enough to make a warning cry. She thanked her surprising strength as she caught the falling Pegasus Pony. She carefully and quietly pulled her out, and tucked her into a nearby laundry pile. She then hid behind one of the washers. She watched as the other guard reached the other end of the room, and turn around. “Sir?” he asked, looking around. “Sir?!” He paused, then gripped his spear tightly. He now looked around the room with increased intensity, causing her to duck under the washer. Her heart beat intensified, as she noticed that he went deathly quiet. She heard the gentle swoosh of some wings, then all was silent. “Commander! Wake up!” she heard him cry. There was no response. “Pony down! Pony down!” she heard him shout. It echoed quite a bit. He must have shouted that down the duct. “Hold your position! We're sending back-up!” she heard a distant voice cry. Welp. Now was the time to be stupid. She lept from her hiding spot and ran to the door. “HEY! STOP!” he cried, but didn't move. “HURRY, I FOUND HER!” he shouted again into the duct. She reached the door, and knowing they were totally going to take this out of her paycheck, promptly kicked the door handle. It flung open, and she made a mad dash down the hall. As she made her way, she could see doors beginning to open and hotel guests poking their heads out to see what all the noise was about. She banked sharply around a corner and continued running as she heard a voice cry from far behind her, “BACK TO YOUR ROOMS! DO NOT LEAVE THEM!” She banked around another sharp corner. Oh come on! She cried to herself, Where' the elevator!? Oh, there it is! She breathed heavily once or twice in front of it as she heard the sounds of the guards making their way down the halls towards her position. Smiling slightly to herself, she pulled out a small key. You see, she was very good friends with the maintenance pony for these elevators. Good enough that he made a copy for her. She put the key into a small hole under the ^ button, and twisted. The doors popped right open, revealing that the car was not on this floor. However, the main cable was there. She jumped inside, grabbed said cable, stuck the key into a keyhole near the door, and turned it again. The doors shut with little fuss. She grabbed the cable she was clinging to with her teeth, and let go so as to put the sucker cups on once more (for she had removed them when she had entered the laundry room). She would need them, since the ponies who built this shaft forgot to put a ladder in. She begun swinging back and forth, her jaws still clamping the cable. One, two, THREE! She let go and swung onto the wall, sicking quite nicely, save her two back hooves, which kinda bounced off the wall at first and made her already overworked heart skip a beat or two. After a bit of struggling, she got her rear hooves onto the wall, and sat still for a moment, listening. She heard several ponies run past the elevators, as well as a lot of shouting. Given the noise, she figured it was safe to begin moving. It looked as though the elevator felt the same way as she suddenly noticed the cable moving and she heard the sounds of the whole thing coming to life. She paused a moment. Then it suddenly dawned on her. She was on the first floor. If the cable was here, then that must mean it's in the basement, which means it's right belo- WOAH, HELLO! She looked just in time to see the car almost smack right into her rear hooves. She jumped from the wall, and clamped once more onto the cable. She knew that landing on top of the car would alert anypony who would walk insid- Then she dropped down, right onto the access hatch. If the elevator was coming up, that could mean only one thing: the guards are planning on searching the shaft. And the only way for them to get in, is through car's hatch! She heard the door open, and the sounds of marching hooves enter. “Are you sure Captain? According to reports, she claims to be a trashpony.” “That may be true,” she heard a deep voice say, “but we must still warn The Princess.” “And what about what that Lieutenant said?” “The shaft? I suppose that would be good place to check. Although the car was in the basement. So I doubt she's in there.” the deep voice replied. “May I look sir?” she heard a somewhat high voice ask. “Permission granted.” She heard once more the flap of wings, and suddenly felt something hit the hatch. “Sir! The hatch appears to be stuck!” “Is that so?” the deep one said, their voice full of suspicion. “You two, lift me. I'm going to open it myself.” Oh colt, this was bad. She began looking around, hoping to see something, anything that mig- B L A M The force with which the hatch was hit knocked her out cold immediately. So, she was very unaware when she flew off to the side, hit the wall, and fell down between the side of the elevator shaft and the car. She would have continued to fall the whole way to the basement, but one of her hooves managed to stick (quite by accident) to the side of the car. So, it was with great surprise that when she came to, she suddenly noticed that she was a great many floors up higher then she had been previously. She was also very surprised by how much her poor left rear leg ached, and the fact that she was hanging upside down. She quickly stuck her hooves to the side of the car and then went quiet. “What will you tell Princess Twilight sir?” the high voiced one asked. “I will tell her that an intruder had breached the premise and that we are going to increase the guard around her room until they are found. And, if she's willing, we'll barricade her in a single room.” “Are you sure that's necessary sir? She did battle Tirek after all.” “This intruder has manged to evade capture while the guard is on high alert. We cannot be too careful!” The car stopped. “Sir, yes sir!” she heard several voices inside reply. She heard the ding of the doors opening, and the sounds of the occupants leaving. If she could somehow follow them... She climbed to the top of the car, and looked at the hatch. It had been blown clean off its hinges, but at least it had been put back. She made her way quietly over to it, lifted it, quietly dropped into the car, and removed her sucker shoes. She inserted the key into a small hole, and the doors slid open silently. She poked her head out and looked left and right. Odd, the hallway was empty. Even so, she made her way as quietly as she could down the corridor. This was a floor for the rich, that was for sure. Gilded door ways, fancy carpet, fancy walls, even a fancy ceiling (they seemed rather fond of all things fancy here). She paused a moment to recall which way to go. It was a left out of the elevator, not the right she had started taking. The journey was frighteningly quiet. No sounds were heard, and not a guard in sight. Still, she had a mission, and she was going to see it through. Even if the hairs on her back were standing up. She approached the corner that lead to the room Princess Twilight was staying. She took a deep breath, and poked her head around it. The door was wide open, with no guards of any kind in sight. Okay, this HAS to be a trap, she thought to herself. There was no way the guards would be this lax. She paused for a moment. She was tempted to make a mad dash for it, hoping that if she ran through the doorway fast enough, then she might outrun whatever trap they set up. No. That was a bad idea. She backed away and around the corner. “Spoil sport.” she suddenly heard a very deep voice say behind her. Here eyes spot open wide as she turned around. At first, there was nothing. Then as if a curtain fell, the world in front of her dropped down and revealed an entire corridor full of guards. And there, in the front of them, stood perhaps the biggest mare she'd ever seen in her life. “Well, I think you know what happens next.” the mare said, a huge side grin appearing on her face. She was terrified, and it showed. She'd never been in this sort of position before. The worse thing she's ever done was accidentally spilling a coffee on a guard. Now, here she was, standing petrified, before what must have been hundreds of heavily armed guards, all looking far too eager to put and end to this chase. Her jaw trembled, and her face flushed of all color. “Oh come on. Show some backbone. What happened to all of that spirit? You're gonna make me feel back for taking you in.” the mare of massive size said, though with surprising sincerity. She sighed. “Seize her.” “Stop!” came a voice from all around her. The guards all looked up in surprise, and then bowed to their knees. Then she saw a purple light erupt in front of her, and suddenly she found herself face to face with the Princess herself. Princess Twilight Sparkle. “Y-Your Majesty! It's dangerous!” the large mare cried, and rocketed herself between the two of them. Well, she made a good effort of it. She stopped cold in her tracks as her body suddenly became wrapped in a purple glow. “It's okay. She's not a threat.” the Princess said, her horn glowing brightly. “But, you don't know that!” the mare objected. “I do. Look at her, she's terrified.” the Princess turned to her and looked at her with gentle eyes, “Are you okay?” “I-I-” “Princ-” “It's okay. Really. I can handle this. Tell your guards to stand down. I'll talk to her myself” Princess Twilight said. “B-But-” “Please.” she asked kindly. The mare looked at her, then the trashmare. “As you command, your highness.” Her muscles relaxed a bit, and the glow around her dissipated. “At least let me assign you a guard or two, please?” “Alright. But only two.” “Yes your Majesty!” the mare saluted, pointed to two nearby guards, and then turned to the rest. “Back to your posts! We still have work to do!” and with that, the floor was emptied of guard ponies with surprising efficiency. The Princess let out a sigh as she turned once more back to the trashmare. “Are you okay? I hope you didn't get hurt.” she was touched by how sincere she said that. “Y-yeah, kinda.” she stammered. “Are you hurt?” she asked, looking her up and down. “I-I'm okay … PRINCESS!” she suddenly shouted, startling said pony and causing the guards to point their spears at her. “P-Please! Just call me Twilight. What is it?” Twilight asked, making a 'it's okay' motion to the guards. “I-I … letter … I, uh …” her words began to fail her. “Huh? I can't quite understand you.” Twilight said, taking a half-step closer to her. “Trash … important …” she was beginning to hyperventilate. “It's okay. You're safe now. Just take it slow.” she placed a hoof on her shoulder, which caused the humble trashpony to jump a little. She'd never talked to a princess before, let alone be touched by one. She swallowed, hard, and took a few breaths. “Y-yes. Thank you. I...” she still couldn't quite spit it out. “Yes? You've gone to an awful lot of trouble to see me. What do you need?” Twilight asked patiently, sitting on the ground. “I have a letter for you, Princess.” “Please, just call me Twilight.” “It's from somepony named Bon-Bon, and it looks really important. It came from your dragon I believe, and the doctors seeing him-” “WHAT?!” she suddenly shouted, and turned back to look at the guards. “DOCTORS? WHAT IS SHE TALKING ABOUT?” The guards suddenly looked between each other, neither of them wanting to open their mouth. “Fine! We'll deal with this latter!” she then looked back at her, “Sorry about that. What about this letter?” “Uh, well, the doctors threw it out. They thought it was something he just threw up I guess. I-I know I shouldn't read other pony's letters, but my gut told me that I needed to.” she felt a bit ashamed at this. “Do you have the letter now?” she asked. “Yes Prin-uh, Twilight.” she said, as she begun to dig though her overalls to find it. Ah, there it was. She pulled it out and handed it to Twilight, who grabbed it with her magic, opened it, and began reading it. There were several moments of silence as she read it. Then, as she finished it, she rolled it up. “Are you the only pony who's read this?” she asked. “Yes, you highness!” she suddenly felt very afraid. “It's okay. Clam down. You're not in trouble. In fact, I'm very glad you brought this to me. That must have taken a lot of courage and skill. Have you ever considered a job in the Royal Guard?” She asked, smiling warming. “I-uh...” she was stunned. Of course she had! But her cutie mark was that of a trashpony. Not a guard or anything like it! “I've always wanted to, but I'm just a trashpony.” Twilight chuckled. “A trashpony that managed to outsmart and out maneuver most of the Vanhoover guard? Tell you what. Since you broke the law, and tried to break into my quarters, I'm going to give you two options for your punishment.” She suddenly put on a royal air. “You may either sit in the royal dungeons of Canterlot for 5 months, or...” she then got a large smile on her face, “You may serve two years minimum in the Vanhoover Guard. Now then, which will it be?” she said, a sly smile on her face. She was stunned. Two years minimum? She had tired for the guard a number of times, and each time they said no. And now a princess was offering her to go into for at LEAST two years? Her happiness would not, and could not be contained. “I'LL TAKE THE GUARD!” she exclaimed, jumping up and down into the air. Twilight's grin became a full-blown smile. “Very well. By royal decree, you are hereby sentenced to two years minimum to service in the Vanhoover Guard, effective, immediately.” “Oh, P-Princess Twilight! T-Thank...” she suddenly discovered that it's rather difficult to talk through a face-full of joy-tears. She shook her head. “It's okay. You've earned it I think. Hey, you.” she pointed to one of the guards. “Would you mind escorting her to her home so she can get packed?” she asked kindly. The guard, who couldn't help but crack a grin of his own, saluted and said, “It would be my pleasure your Majesty!” “And you, tell your commander that I'm leaving. Something urgent has come up, and I must go.” “When?” the other guard asked. “Right this very second. And you,” she then turned to the trashpony, “Thank you again. What's your name?” “M-My name? O-oh, it's L-L...” try as she could, she suddenly couldn't get the word out. “Yes?” Twilight said, leaning her head in to listen. “I-It's L-L-L-” she found herself suddenly flustered and rather embarrassed at her inability to simply say her own name, not to mention frustrated! The Princess chuckled softly. “You remind me of an old friend of mine. She's a brave pony too when she needs to be. Tell ya what, I've got to go take care of this. And when I get back, how about we spend some time together? I'd love to get to know such a brave pony better, but I just don't have the time right now. So does that sound okay?” she asked with a friendly smile. The trashmare nodded vigorously. “Y-yes, t-that would be great, your Highness!” she answered, rather nervous about the idea of befriending a princess. “Great! I'll see you in a couple of days then. Oh, and please, just call me Twilight!” The Prin-Twilight's smile grew just a little more as she turned and headed to the window. She opened it, spread her wings, and flew out into the night sky. Suddenly, and with speed that surprised the guard, the trashmare ran to the window, and shouted at the top of her voice, “LITTERBUG! MY NAME IS LITTERBUG!!!” The last she saw of Twilight before she vanished into the night, was her looking back, and waving a friendly hoof in the air.