Rather surprisingly, the actual journey to Canterlot was fairly uneventful. Twilight was terrified the whole time that some of the lunatics who had destroyed Ponyville would pursue them here, but they seemed unwilling or unable to do so, as they ran across not a single pony wielding a blade and screaming insanely about the blood god the whole way.
After a matter of hours, the ponies and Spike arrived at the train station at the base of the mountain where Canterlot was located. It was much more crowded than usual: several thousand ponies were packed into the same small area, talking, crying, and generally making a lot of noise. As it turned out, many were in the same situation as Twilight and friends: they reported that their hometowns had been suddenly attacked and burned, though descriptions of the attackers varied significantly. Some ponies reported similar screaming maniacs as had attacked Ponyville, while others reported disgusting, rotting ponies attacking. Some reported swarms of ponies that seemed to take pleasure from being injured, or from injuring, while others reported a handful of powerful magic-users destroying their villages. Most common, however, was simply a take of friends and neighbors suddenly taking up arms against their former friends, with brands or scars of an eight-pointed star on their flanks.
At any rate, Twlight found plenty of time to discuss this, as simply waiting for a train up the mountain took longer than arriving there in the first place had. Several hours passed as they simply stood in line to get tickets for the train. And even then, the earliest they could get were for noon the next day. The train system was clearly being used in numbers far greater than those it was designed to accommodate.
Twilight and her friends had to sleep on the train station floor that night, cold and hungry. But at least they were safe here: there were dozens of Royal Guard about, doing their best to keep order. More than once, they'd had to break up near-riotous mobs of furious ponies. It seems that losing one's home and family, and then being forced to sleep in a train station, did little for one's self-control.
The next day, after starving throughout the morning (it was way too crowded to go looking for food: they might not be able to get back in time), Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Spike, Applejack, and Applebloom boarded their train up the mountain. It was as packed as the station, and there was absolutely no room to sit down. It was, by far, the worst train ride the friends had ever experienced. Thankfully, it was also quite short – the whole thing took a mere 10 minutes to reach Canterlot proper.
"Ten minutes too long." Thought Twilight.
But at last they reached the city proper. Canterlot, capital of Equestria, home of esteemed princesses Celestia and Luna. Many called it the greatest city in the world.
"I'd call it the most crowded city in the world." Twilight grumbled to herself.
Canterlot was disappointingly, if not surprisingly, almost as crowded as the station below had been. Ponies were everywhere. The lines were long. The hotels were completely booked. Anyone with friends or family here was calling them up to ask for a favor.
As a result of the massive overcrowding, tempers seemed to be flaring. Countless times, Twilight heard angry shouting, or saw the Royal Guard break up a brawl. They seemed to be deployed everywhere in the city, but even their presence only seemed to keep a lid on disturbances, not get rid of them.
"So, how were we planning on getting to see Princess Celestia or Luna again?" asked Rainbow Dash, as she flew down from where she'd been hovering. "I can see the palace, and the line there seems to be longer than anywhere else here. It'll take days! Weeks maybe!"
"Not to worry, Rainbow Dash," said Twilight confidently, "I've got a plan."
…
"Seems that wasn't such a good plan."
"Rainbow, zip it," grumbled Twilight irritably.
She had intended to personally appeal to Celestia via her status as a student. Unfortunately, the Royal Guard rejected that argument.
"Her majesty is extremely busy right now. If you wish to appeal to her, you must wait in line like every other pony here," had been the only response she'd managed to get to that line of appeal.
Next, she'd tried sending a letter via Spike, but he had burped out a response mere seconds later. At first, Twilight was excited. Then she read it:
Dear Student,
I regret to inform you that, due to extreme demands recently placed on Princess Celestia's time, the Student Information Line is closed until further notice.
-Walter E. Hooves, Assistant Secretary to Princess Celestia
"Great," Twilight grumbled, crumpling up the paper with her magic and tossing it into a wastebasket. "Well, I'm fresh out of ideas. Anyone else got anything?"
"We could try just flying directly to her. I'm sure she'd hear us out," offered Rainbow.
Twilight shook her head. "No, in this situation, the Royal Guard would arrest us on the spot, and they might not even be able to get around to looking at our case for weeks, if all the ponies I've seen arrested since we got here are any indication."
"Uh, shoot, Twilight. Ain't yer brother the captain of the Royal Guard or somethin'? Couldn't he help?"
Twilight's face lit up. "That's it! Applejack, you're a genius!"
"Aw shucks. Ah just remembered the last time we were here."
"His wedding with Cadance."
"Yep."
"We need to talk to him! Come on, I know where he lives!"
…
Finding Shining Armor's house hadn't proved difficult. Unfortunately, it seemed he and Cadance were as busy as everyone else.
"Come on, answer the door!" yelled Rainbow Dash as she pounded on his knocker. "Why won't you answer your door!"
"Uh, Rainbow, I think he's not home. And it might not be a great idea to slam down on his knocker so hard. You might damage the door."
"Alright." She released the knocker. "So now what? Do we just wait out here until he comes home, then?"
Twilight shook her head and smiled. "Nope. No need to wait out here."
Her horn glowed, and the welcome mat lifted. "Aha, just as I thought!" Twilight lifted a key with a smile and a wink. "I know my brother. And I know that he always keeps a spare key under his doormat."
Sure enough, the key clicked effortlessly, and the door slid open.
"Ah, just as I remember it from last time," said Twilight as they stepped in, "You know, except for the whole 'evil shape-shifting monster queen replaces my brother's bride and hypnotizes him' thing."
Spike stretched and yawned. "It feels great to have some room again. Hey, Twilight, you know of anywhere I could get some shuteye in here?"
"Me too," yawned Rainbow.
"And me," said Applejack.
"Don't ya forget me!" piped Applebloom.
"Well, I know my brother has a guest room, but I don't quite think it's big enough for all of us… Let's just see what we can find."
…
It didn't take too long to get things settled. The Apple sisters took the double bed in the guest room. Spike took a cozy armchair in the same room. Rainbow Dash curled up on a couch in the living room. Twilight took an armchair in the same room.
"I need to stay awake," she thought, over Rainbow's snoring, "Gotta keep watch for my brother or Cadance." Twilight yawned. "Well, maybe it won't hurt if I rest my eyes a bit…"
Within a minute Twilight was as sound asleep as the rest.
…
"Twiiiiilight, wake uuuup," whispered a familiar voice as a hoof gently shook her.
"Mmmmmmm… five more minutes…"
"No, Twilight, I'm afraid it's time to wakey-wakey."
"Ugggghhhh…" Twilight cracked open one eye. Hovering above her was a very familiar pink face with purple-pink-white hair. "Cadance? What're you doing here?" she asked in a sleepy haze.
"I live here, Twi. Remember?"
"Huh?" Twilight rubbed her eyes.
"It's me, Cadance. Your foalsitter? Your sister-in-law? We had an adventure together. Remember?"
"Cadance!" Twilight said happily, hopping out of the chair. She got in a familiar pose. Cadance smiled and mimicked Twilight.
Sunshine, Sunshine,
Ladybugs awake!
Clap your hooves,
And do a little shake!
Twilight and Cadance laughed together.
"Just like old times!" thought Twilight happily. For a moment, she was content.
"So, what brings you here?"
"Aaaaaand there goes that moment."
Twilight sighed. "The same as everyone else, I'd wager."
Cadance's face suddenly saddened. "Yes, that. It happened in Ponyville too?"
Twilight nodded sadly. "Maniacs. Maniacs with knives and axes and spears and all sorts of stuff. They… they… oh Cadance!" Twilight gripped her tightly as she recalled the blood, the fire, and the horror that had befallen her hometown. She sobbed.
"There there," said Cadance comfortingly, wrapping her legs around Twilight firmly, "It's alright. Go ahead and cry. I don't think bad of you."
So Twilight did. She cried and cried for all the dead, the homeless, and the traumatized. She cried for her town. She cried for Equestria. She cried for herself.
After a while, the crying subsided.
"Now then," said Cadance, releasing Twilight, "You and your friends are welcome to stay here as long as you need to. I understand what you're feeling, and I promise: I'll do everything I can to help you through this." Cadance looked briefly sad and thoughtful, as though attempting to decide whether or not now was a good time for what she had to say. Eventually, she evidently decided on yes. "So," she said gently, leaning in close. "What happened to your three other friends from the wedding – Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie?"
Twilight sobbed again.
Candace looked horrorstruck. "No, no! I'm sorry! It's ok! You don't have to tell me if it would hurt you!"
Twilight sniffed a bit. "We couldn't find Rarity or Fluttershy. Fluttershy's place looked broken in to, and we found the bodies of her pets, but not hers. Rarity's house was burned down. We never found her. Pinkie Pie…" she sniffed again, "Pinkie Pie was… was taken by a strange pony."
Cadace looked a bit surprised, but then leaned in closer and said, "Twilight, I hate to pry into such a personal matter, but this may be important – what do you mean by 'a strange pony'?"
"He was…" Twilight thought for a second. "He was dyed blue. But it looked unnatural. Weird. I could have sworn I heard whispers when I looked at it."
Cadance looked briefly shocked at that, but prodded, "Go on."
"He was highly skilled in magic. He was totally unafraid of me even after I announced who I was. He mentioned… he mentioned sacrificing Pinkie to someone called 'Lord Tzeentch'. Does that name ring any bells?"
Cadance sighed heavily. "Yes, Twilight. Yes it does. I've heard a lot about that name for the past few days. I'd hoped you might be relatively ignorant, but that was stupid of me. Tzeentch is one of four of what our mysterious attackers call 'Chaos Gods'. He's called the Lord of Change, and is apparently worshiped by sorcerers and witches among the enemy. The other three Chaos Gods are Khorne, the Blood God, Slaanesh, the Dark Prince, and Nurgle, the Plaguefather. And then there are some that don't seem to claim any specific allegiance to one god at all, just to something called 'Chaos'."
"How do you know that?"
"Because I've spent my last two days in meetings with a lot of high-ranking figures on the subject of these attacks. What they haven't told me, Shining Armor has."
At the mention of her brother's name, Twilight recalled her intention in coming here.
"Uh, Cadance? Can I ask for your help?"
"Of course, Twilight."
"I need you and Shining Armor to help me get an audience with Princess Celestia. She has to hear this."
"Celestia is very busy right now, as is Luna. Are you sure what you have to say is worth it?"
Twilight hesitated. Did she know that? Would she just be repeating what others had already said and would say to Celestia? But, no, no one else could have known what happened to Pinkie Pie. That alone seemed significant. She didn't know much about sacrificial magic, banned as it was, but she did know that souls with connections to powerful magical artifacts like, say, the Elements of Harmony, made for good sacrifices.
Twilight nodded.
"Alright," Cadance sighed. "I trust you. We can talk to Shining Armor when he gets back and together we should be able to get you in."
"Thank you, Cadance."
They hugged.