One Night in Ponyville
Celestia was already lowering the sun when Twilight and her guards finally returned from their trip to the Everfree forest. She was pleased with the results. The initial team-building and icebreaking exercises had left her knowing all six of her guardponies' names, and the subsequent hike through part of the nearby Everfree had given her many opportunities to acquaint them with the flora and fauna of the forest. They'd left Tower Shield at the hospital and Lance Charge at the spa. She felt that both had paid a small price for a valuable lesson about the importance of listening to her lectures and taking accurate notes - she'd already explained how to recognize both manticore lairs and poison joke at the times of the incidents, after all.
There was a growing part of her that didn't understand the point of the guards. She'd certainly kept them safe on the trip, rather than the other way around. She supposed, though, at the very least, she had to sleep sometimes, and couldn't be everywhere at once. That latter point especially stuck in her mind when, upon her return, she noticed the door to her castle ajar.
"Huh," she said to herself, "maybe I shouldn't have taken all the guards at once."
"I did suggest that, m'am," the captain, Last Standing, said from behind her.
She'd forgotten the guards were still there, and frowned. "Yes, well. Please help me check the castle, Captain. Have your guards secure the upper floors and I'll investigate the basement."
The captain nodded and set off upstairs with her guards, leaving Twilight to trot around the stairs towards the door to the basement. She wasn't afraid, what with all she'd seen in the last few years, but she'd kept it for herself because she knew that any serious intruder would likely have wanted the arcane items stored there, so she prepared a shield spell, just to be safe.
The basement appeared undisturbed, but Twilight couldn't shake an uneasy feeling. She kept looking over her shoulder, thinking she saw something moving, though neither her eyes nor her magical senses found anything. The shadows in the corners of the room seemed deeper, somehow, than she remembered them, despite the steady magical light of the castle, which she'd never known to vary. She picked up the notebook that she'd left next to the bottom of the stairs, containing a detailed inventory of the room, and started checking things off. She got into the routine of it as she went down the list, and soon she was barely thinking about it as she glanced at an item, checked it off, and went on to the next.
"Princess!" She jumped at the sound of Last Standing nearly yelling right next to her.
"Captain?"
"Are you alright, Princess? I've been trying to get your attention."
"Oh, I'm sorry, I must have been lost in my inventory," Twilight frowned and looked down at the checklist. Alicorn Amulet was the final item on the list; there were four tick marks in the box. She really had gotten lost in it! She supposed the trip to the Everfree must have tired her out more than she realized.
"I must be tired," she said, "sorry again. What do you need?"
"The upper floors are secure, m'am. One or more ponies seem to have poked around the empty rooms upstairs, the dust was disturbed. They may also have poked around elsewhere, of course, we can't really tell in the inhabited rooms, unless something seems to be missing. Right now it looks like they were just curious, or perhaps looking for you."
"Mmm, yes, I suppose I should have left a note or something...I'll have to think of a good system for that." Twilight couldn't quite keep the joy out of her voice at the idea, and the captain looked at her and shook her head. "Thank you, Captain, you and your ponies should turn in for the night, it's been a long day. I'll just be heading to my room and making sure nothing's missing, I think everything's fine down here."
"Yes m'am," Last Standing saluted sharply and marched up the stairs. Twilight followed, dropping off the inventory list and shaking her head. She supposed the shadows must just look dark due to fatigue, though she felt sharp enough. It wasn't yet near a late night for her. Still, she went up to her room and dutifully checked her inventory there as well, finding nothing missing. She pushed open the doors to her balcony and walked out. Luna's moon was in the sky now, low on the diamond-strewn horizon. It was looking to be a beautiful night.
The view of Ponyville from this height was nothing like what she was used to from the library. Her old home's balcony had been excellent for stargazing, but the tree wasn't notably taller than the surrounding houses, and was in any case in the middle of town, so she felt nestled among the buildings when she was there, clearly a part of the sleepy town. Here she was above it, unquestionably: the sheer scale of her new castle made her feel separate in a way she hadn't before. She shook her head at the thought, but her eyes were drawn to the empty, dark lot where the library used to stand. It would be a park, someday, the remains of the trunk integrated into a masterfully designed landscape made to both honor it and provide another public space for the residents to enjoy.
She was happy, she supposed, that this would be the old place's fate. Certainly Rarity's eyes had gone appropriately wide at the name of the Canterlot pony that was overseeing the design of the park, though Twilight herself hadn't recognized and couldn't recall it. Still, she wished somepony else could have taken it over. She'd always imagined Spike doing it, someday. In the main, though, she still wished nopony had needed to do it yet. She'd have liked another year before moving into quite so...princessly accommodations. Maybe a decade. Century. How long would she live, anyway?
She shook her head again, and forced her eyes off the park-to-be, hoping her mind would follow. They drifted over the cheerful lights of the town, most of them still lit in the early evening. Near Sweet Apple Acres, her eyes were drawn to an unexpected set of lights high in the air, and she recognized Rainbow Dash's cloud house hovering not far from the farm. For a moment she was puzzled, then remembered that Applejack had conscripted Dash to help her prepare for the impromptu reunion, and that she'd temporarily moved her house over, to help with storage. And, Twilight privately suspected, so she could reduce her commute.
Well, it was still early, after all, and if anypony would have noticed any unusual activity around the castle, Rainbow Dash was a good bet. Twilight nodded to herself and leapt off the balcony, relishing the feel of the cool night air on her wings and coat.
Rainbow Dash came quickly when she knocked, though her mane and tail were even more frazzled than usual.
"Huh? Twi? What's up?"
"Oh, I'm sorry Rainbow, did I wake you?"
"What? Oh," Rainbow looked back at her tail, "nah, I was just lying in bed reading. AJ's got me doing heavy work, you know? Nice to relax a little. But come on in, I've read this one a million times."
"Thanks," Twilight followed her in. "I had a question, though. I took my guard out to the Everfree for training today, but when I came back, we found out somepony'd been in the castle. I'm sure it was nothing, but did you see anything?"
"Oh," Rainbow said, "well, not really, but I know who it was anyway. The Crusaders heard about AJ's book and wanted to get their writing cutie marks. Somehow they decided it'd be cool to write about you and how you got to be a princess. So they went snooping around the castle. When they couldn't find you they came to talk to their sisters instead so Scoots and Applebloom found AJ and I at the farm and started grilling us."
"Oh," Twilight smiled, "well, that's a relief then. I don't think they broke anything. Thanks Rainbow!"
"No sweat ,Twi." Twilight turned to leave, but then Rainbow stepped forward and spoke again. "Uh, hey, it's been forever since we hung out. I'll be up for a while still. Want to stay and read with me a bit? Like old times?"
Twilight smiled. "Of course, Rainbow. Thank you." The two trotted back into the house.
Below the cloud house, the three Cutie Mark Crusaders were in their clubhouse, having a sleepover. This wasn't particularly rare, these days. With school out for the summer, the fillies spent most of their nights together in their hideout, to the point where they were dreading the return to school even more, since it would mostly keep them in their own rooms.
Tonight, though, something was wrong. Sweetie Belle had dutifully reported Rarity's story about Twilight's ascension, but Scootaloo could tell she was phoning it in. Not that this was difficult; Sweetie might have had some flaws, but lack of enthusiasm was rarely among them, so her subdued tale raised both her friends' eyebrows.
"What's wrong, Sweetie?" Scootaloo opened.
Sweetie sighed, and shook her head, but didn't protest. "I dunno," she said, "ever since we went to Twilight's I've felt off. Something about that necklace of Trixie's was just weird. Like when you have something at the back of your mind you just can't quite remember, you know?"
"Well o'course it's weird," Applebloom said, "it somehow made Trixie take over the whole town! Did it curse you somehow, Sweetie? Are you gonna like, steal it and become an evil overlord?"
"What? No! It's not like that, I promise. It's like...well, when Twilight was teaching me magic, she told me how when she hatched Spike, her horn felt like it was doing the spell on its own. And Rarity felt the same way when she followed hers to that rock full of gems. I dunno exactly what they felt but it feels kind of like that, I think. Like my horn wanted me to do something when I saw it, but I don't know what."
"Wait, but in those stories--" Scootaloo said, then was joined by Applebloom saying the same thing in unison, "--they all got their cutie marks!"
"Sweetie," Applebloom said, "why didn't you tell us? This could be our big break, or at least yours! What was your horn telling you? Where did it want you to go?"
"That's just it," Sweetie nearly wailed in frustration, "I couldn't tell! It was just this tingle! I got the feeling the thing was important, but I still have no idea how, and it's driving me crazy!"
"Well," Scootaloo said, "what are we waiting for? Let's go back and see it again! If you just pay attention longer, maybe you'll figure it out!"
"I dunno," Sweetie said, "it felt kind of creepy too, I don't like that amulet."
"Well, it's not too late," Applebloom said, "let's at least go see if Twilight's back. If she is, you can tell her about this and maybe she can help, she knows everything about magic. And if she isn't, maybe your horn was trying to warn you something's wrong, and we need to find her."
Sweetie thought for a moment, then slowly nodded. "Okay," she said, "but I hope she's there."
The three raced off through the night, heading towards the castle on the other side of town. Despite their excitement at the prospect of finally earning a cutie mark, all three were reluctant to break the quiet of the night, mostly out of long habit. While nopony would think twice about fillies their age out this late, they still well remembered their earlier crusading years when being out after dark was forbidden, and kept quiet.
Halfway through town, as they were passing the road to the nicer part of town, this policy bore unexpected fruit. The trio caught sight of two ponies roughly their own size standing in the road, and heard raised voices.
"Is that Silver Spoon?" Scootaloo whispered.
"I think so," Sweetie replied, equally quietly, "and it sounds like Diamond Tiara arguing with her."
"This I've gotta hear," Applebloom said, "stay quiet girls."
The three crept closer along the dark, lightly vegetated verge.
"You're doing this to me now?" Diamond Tiara raised her voice, hitting a shrill high note. "After everything I've done for you?"
"Please," Silver Spoon was quieter, her voice cold, but they were close enough to hear now, "you never did any of that for me. It was always about you. It still is. Well I've had enough, and now I don't have to put up with it anymore."
"Please," Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle looked at each other, eyes gaping at Diamond Tiara's unexpected tone, "I just need someone now, Silver. I never--"
"Save it," Silver Spoon cut her off, "you're pathetic, and you still don't get it. I'd never have gone to you if I needed a friend, because I knew you'd just use it against me. I'm not going to do that to you, but I'm done pretending to like you."
"You, you," Diamond spluttered.
"What's the matter. Oh Celestia, are you really that sheltered, Diamond? You don't even know a word strong enough to cuss me out? That's just adorable. Well don't worry, I'm sure your daddy will teach you plenty now, after all it's all your--"
Before she could finish the sentence, Silver Spoon's voice cut off in a yelp as Diamond Tiara struck her across the muzzle. The pink pony pushed past her and galloped off. Silver Spoon shook her head and then slunk off in the same direction.
"Wow," Scootaloo whispered, "trouble in Tartarus."
"That sounded really serious," Applebloom said, "I've never seen 'em fight like that before."
"Good," Scootaloo hissed back, "maybe they'll make each other miserable next year, instead of us."
"I guess," Applebloom said.
"Whatever, let's go see Twilight," Sweetie said, "I was enjoying not thinking about those two all summer."
The other two nodded, and the fillies set off across town again.
The Rich mansion was deserted when Diamond Tiara returned, to her relief. It seemed both the servants and her father had gone to bed, so nopony gave her grief for her tear-stained face or dusty coat. She collapsed on her bed unbathed, darkening the white bedspread with dirt, and cried. Tears were not her most common weapon, but were an important tool in her arsenal, so she had experience with a wide variety of feigned or mostly false tears; even her display for Silver Spoon earlier in the evening hadn't been entirely genuine. But alone in her room, she finally gave in entirely to the genuine article. Her wracking sobs shook the bed, and she let her mind go for a while in her grief.
Then a voice broke her out of it, though she couldn't make out the words. She assumed her father or one of the servants was at the door, and spun to snap at the unfortunate intruder, only to find it still closed.
"Over here," she heard clearly, now that she was merely sniffling in confusion. It was a mare's voice that she didn't recognize, warm and kind. Her voice was strangely accented; it reminded Diamond of Rarity's Canterlot affectation, but wasn't precisely the same, and didn't seem forced at all. Confused, she glanced around her room, then froze as she caught sight of her full-length dressing mirror.
The silvered surface showed the reflection of a pony, though Diamond was clearly alone in the room. She wore a gorgeous, archaic outfit that reminded Diamond of the drawings she'd seen of old unicorn nobility: a tastefully cut black gown adorned with pearls, covered by a hooded purple traveling cloak, trimmed with white fur. The hood hid her face in impenetrable shadow, but Diamond could tell from how it fell that she was a unicorn. Most striking, though, was the royal-style tiara she wore over the hood: it exactly matched Diamond Tiara''s cutie mark.
"Hello, little filly," she said, and Diamond felt herself calming a little at her gentle voice, "would you like to talk about it?"
The moon was high, and Twilight was flying back from Rainbow Dash's house. She'd thoroughly enjoyed catching up with the pegasus, interspersed with dramatic readings of Daring Do, but she'd known to leave when Rainbow started fading. With more farm work on her friend's schedule in the morning, Twilight didn't want to keep her up too late, so she'd claimed royal duties and headed home.
She was halfway across town when she felt cold for a moment, and her horn tingled. Frowning, she hovered over the mostly dark, quiet houses, casting all the detection spells she knew. Nothing seemed amiss, and she flew on, but made a mental note to investigate further in the morning. Maybe there was a detection spell she didn't know? After all she'd seen, she wasn't prepared to entirely ignore the strange feelings she'd been having since her earlier trip to her basement.
Far below, the three Cutie Mark Crusaders trotted dejectedly home.
"Already gone to bed," Scootaloo grumbled, "I thought she was way cooler than that."
"I'm sure that guard just wanted us to go away," Sweetie Belle said, "she's probably up in her room reading. If only we could have gotten in..."
"No chance with those guards," Applebloom said, "we'll just have to come back tomorrow like they asked. You gonna be able to sleep okay, Sweetie?"
"I think so," Sweetie said, "my horns's felt a little less weird ever since we saw Diamond and Silver Spoon arguing. Or maybe I'm just getting used to it."
"Unicorns are so weird," Scootaloo said.
"Yeah," Sweetie just agreed, and the trio trotted back off towards their clubhouse.
In her curtained bedroom in her house, the very one Twilight had been flying over when she felt the chill, Diamond Tiara stayed awake until sunrise, talking to the mare in the mirror.
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Chapter's around half done and I have an event to work on Saturday, chapter ETA is hopefully Sunday night/Monday morning.