Anterograde

by Archmage Ludicrous

Chapter 7 — The Testimony of Rarity

From Twilight Sparkle's Notebook:

The following is a statement of the truth as one Rarity saw it the night of the Fourth of Juniper and and the following day of the Fifth of Juniper, Third Year of Equestria's Fifth Recorded Age.

"Last night, Twilight Sparkle and I met at around half past eight, Juniper Fourth, in my businessplace and home, Carousel Boutique. As Twilight Sparkle does, the meeting's objective was to arrange a different meeting, at ten in the morning the following day—Twilight had requested some clothes from me, and we were arranging a time where she could try them on. She wanted to try them on somewhere less public, and more private—and, seeing as Spike would be out on his educational camp until the eighth, Twilight considered it a fine time to do so. The meeting ended from a business standpoint shortly before around eight forty-five, but Twilight stayed to talk until nearly ten. At that point she left for the east, I assume towards her home, which was slightly upwards of a five minute walk. Normally, I would escort her home as a good lady should do, but I had pressing matters to attend to.

"Which is to say that I had some sketches to draft.

"And some orders to fill, yes. I had some clothes that I felt I should get started on.

"Alright, fine. I still had some deadlines to fulfill. Which I had in my book for several weeks. And were due to be done at ten o' clock the following day.

"Don't you glare at me like that!

"In any case, I was up until midnight working on those orders, at which point Pinkie Pie stopped over due to an... unfortunate Pinkie Promise I had made. The promise in question was... well, just something Pinkie was doing to help regulate me. In any case, I had to turn in for the night, but I woke up sometime around six to finish working on the orders I had been working on last night.

"I finished those orders, and showed up fashionably late to the library, knocking on the door shortly before the quarter-after-ten bell rung. I waited outside the library for several minutes before letting myself in, calling for Twilight. She wasn't there! The library's lobby was exceptionally clean, but upon climbing the stairs, I uncovered an absolute mess on the second floor! Now, I knew that Twilight Sparkle tended to let go a bit when Spike was gone, but what I saw seemed unheard of! There were papers scattered everywhere, and half the books were off of their shelves! Several searches of the house found no sign of Twilight, so I stowed the br— I stowed the clothing in one of Twilight's armoires, up in her room, then set out to look for her.

"Twilight isn't the type to go off schedule at any time, so I really was at a loss. I stopped by the Sugarcube Corner, my boutique, the spa, anywhere that she might have misunderstood us meeting or where she would usually be. I was actually heading towards Sweet Apple Acres, on the vague hope that I might find her there, when I was stopped by a messenger pony. The courier asked slowly (but politely!) if I was familiar with anypony named 'Twilight.' I told him that I did, and he presently produced a letter. A telegram of some variety, actually—In fact, I still have it with me! Allow me to read it for you."

Equestrian Royal Mail Service..........Twelve Hundred Years Serving Our Diarchy!
Long-Form Telegram from Canterlot Royal Post Office to Ponyville Delivery Service.
Juniper Fifth, 2 5A

DELIVER TO PONYVILLE ASAP STOP
DELIVER TO FIRST TO FIT ONE OF FOLLOWING DESCRIPTIONS STOP
WHITE COAT PURPLE MANED UNICORN NAMED RARITY STOP
ORANGE COAT TAN MANED EARTH PONY NAMED APPLEJACK STOP
LIGHT BLUE COAT RAINBOW MANED PEGASUS NAMED RAINBOW DASH STOP
MESSAGE READS STOP
COME TO CANTERLOT QUICKLY STOP
SITUATION URGENT STOP
TWILIGHT

"Obviously, I went directly to the train station after receiving this message. I had been looking for Twilight, and there it was! A telegram from Twilight Sparkle. I took the 1h05 train to Canterlot, which arrived right on schedule at 1h37. When I arrived, though, I was not met by Twilight Sparkle. I wandered around the train station for a while, and was eventually approached by a pony of the most uncouth sort.

"The stallion walked up to me. He smelt like he hadn't taken a bath in weeks, but he caught my attention by asking if I knew Twilight Sparkle. I told him that I indeed did, and after referring to a note he was holding, he asked if my name was Rarity. I told him yes to that, as well.

"Then I asked him 'How do you know my name?'

"He said, 'Twilight asked me to look for you. She's in trouble, and she wanted a friend.' Or something to that effect.

"He told me to call him "Bigs," and he escorted me through some most perturbing back alleys—uck, I think I saw vomit in at least one of them—to a door guarded by an irritatingly loud mare. She let us in, and he took me to his room. I had grown suspicious of him before that point, but I don't know if my suspicion waxed or waned upon finding Twilight, asleep on a table strewn with paper."

Comments

[Misty Spell]

so I stowed the br—

Twilight, Twilight, Twilight.

Also Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie are apparently not Twilights friends lol.