Happy Adventuring, Twilight!

by Pennington Inkwell

Bluff? Called!

The long, shrill sound of a train whistle woke Twilight on her seventh day of waiting. She threw the covers aside and leaped out of bed.

"It's here! The train's here!" She jumped up and down with excitement, looking over to Pennington's bed to see if he was awake.

The sheets were neatly folded at the foot of the bed, and all of his things were gone. On the desk was a small letter.

Dear Twilight,

As you can see, I've left early so that we won't have to argue once again over my expedition into the Changeling Hive. Under this letter, you'll find the two hundred bits that you need to buy a ticket back to Ponyville on the train.

The past week has been more fun than I've had in a long time. Thank you for being my friend, regardless of your intrusive methods. I'm only hoping that I can count on you to keep my secrets safe, both of my identity and my illness. I've actually come to enjoy your company more than I expected, so you can expect me to be swinging by the library WHEN I come back to Ponyville.

I can only offer two pieces of advice from here.

1: Don't worry about me. You'll drive yourself insane, and we both know that it will not have been the first time you've done so.

2: Try and be inconspicuous on your way to the train station. That gang seems to have gotten the message, but there's no telling what they'll try if you're alone.

Aside from that, I'd be willing to use those famous last words, "I don't see what could go wrong!"

Your friend,

Pennington Inkwell

Twilight's spirits fell as she realized that her new friend was gone, leaving her alone in a place that, even after a week, still felt completely unfamiliar. She lifted up the letter, and indeed, there were exactly 200 bits in bills sitting beneath it. He wasn't kidding when he said that he only had enough for one ticket back... She decided to skip breakfast, instead walking straight down to the motel lobby to check out, albeit a bit reluctantly without her friend.

"He told me that you would be checking out this morning." The clerk smiled as he collected her key. "Don't worry about paying for your stay."

"I-I'm sorry? I didn't know that he hadn't paid for it..." Twilight was taken aback.

"Are you kidding? The pony that took down Pick Pocket's gang is always welcome here!" The clerk gave her a huge grin. "Word is, there haven't been any attacks since Scorching Quill completely humiliated them! And any friend of his is a friend of mine!"

Twilight smiled, seeing the truth behind the matter. "Thank you, you're very kind for that..."

"It's nothing, really. We get so few visitors, I always have a spare room here, if not a dozen of them!" The pony seemed strangely optimistic about the fact. "You two are welcome back any time!"

"Thanks! And, if you see Scorching Quill again, tell him..." Twilight thought back to his letter. "Tell him that I'll be waiting for him in the library, and that he had better not be late!"

"Right!" The clerk's grin became mischievous. "I'll tell him not to be late for his date at the library."

"He's not my boyfriend..." Twilight muttered, not wanting to insult the stranger who had just been so kind. "I just want to make sure that he gets back safely."

"You two shared a room for a week alone, and he's not your boyfriend?" The clerk asked confusedly.

"Well- It- It's not like that!" Twilight could feel her face burning as she blushed harder than she had in a long time. Without another word, she walked out the doors of the lobby and onto the street, following Pennington's instructions to go straight to the train station. For pony's sake, why do we keep getting mistaken for a couple?

She was so wrapped up in her frustration, she didn't even notice the pegasi following her, including a familiar orange-coated one, until it was too late. She felt a firm hoof grab her shoulder and spin her around, bringing her face-to-face with "Pick Pocket."

"Well, well, well... Lookie here. All alone, without your boyfriend to protect you..." The pegasus gave her a sadistic smile.

Twilight tried to pull herself out of his grip, but her efforts were in vain. Despite the terror of her situation quickly rising up, she remembered the things that her brother had taught her about defending herself. One: stay calm.

"Last time I saw you, you were halfway through a wall, and your friends there had a bit of a mind-blowing collision." She nodded towards the two pegasi behind him, recognizing them as the two that had nearly split their skulls open.

"Well, pegasi are built for crashing, it's the nature of flight." Pick Pocket's grin only grew. "Unicorns, I hear, are more prone to taking time to recover from injuries..."

"Well, I don't think that's a theory worth testing." Twilight tried to pull away again, but his grip tightened around her neck, bringing her into a chokehold. Now, Twilight began to panic, and her focus seemed to fade away. I've got to get away... Got to get away! Can't... breathe...

"Oh, I think that it's very much worth testing... Could you fund my research?" Using his free hoof, he reached for her saddlebag.

Twilight felt something fly past her face, missing her nose by inches. Pick Pocket cried out in pain and dropped Twilight, both of his hooves flying to his face. As oxygen returned to her brain, so did Twilight's sense of focus, more steeled than ever. Without giving him a chance to recover, Twilight picked up the pony with her magic and threw him against the ground several times, until she heard a few snaps that she knew were his ribs breaking. When the othe was.her two pegasi rushed at her, she used her magic to abuse their weakest point: their heads. It didn't take much force to knock their heads together like a pair of coconuts and send them into unconsciousness. With all three of her attackers disposed of, she finally looked down at what it was that had struck Pick Pocket's face and given her the window of opportunity.

It was a knife. It took only a moment for Twilight to recognize it as one of the knives that Pennington had taken from the gang during their first attack. Instantly, she looked up to the rooftops nearby, trying to pinpoint where it had come from.

"Pennington? Are you there?" She called out, trying to spot her friend. I thought that he had already left...

"You're an early riser, Twilight! I didn't expect you for another hour or two!" Twilight instantly honed in on the voice, trying to determine which building it was coming from.

"I told you, I can defend myself!" Twilight tried to start another argument to keep him talking.

"When were you planning on doing that? After you woke up? After you just became another statistic in small-town crimes?"

Twilight grinned, now sure of where he was: a rooftop directly to her left. "You're right. I'm sorry. Thank you for saving me." Her horn sprung to life again, teleporting her to the roof.

"You're welcome!" Pennington shouted. Twilight could see him now, laying on the roof and looking up at the sky, like a filly watching clouds pass by. "Now, head to the train, before you're late!"

"Not without you." Twilight giggled as Pennington nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of her voice being so close. "Now, let's go home!"

"I told you, I'm not going yet." Pennington rose to his feet. "I came here for a reason, to challenge myself! And I'm not leaving until I've done that."

Something about him, the way that he refused to give in until he had finished his task, reminded Twilight once again of her brother, Shining Armor. Then maybe the trick that used to work on Shining will work on him... "Well, then I guess you're going to have to take me with you, because I'm not leaving!"

"What?" Pennington shook his head in disbelief. "You're kidding, right? All that you've been talking about is going back to Ponyville all week!"

"And I've been arguing with you about not going to the changelings!" She gave him a smug grin, showing her victory. "So, we're at an impasse. I'm not letting you go alone, and you're obviously not going to-"

"Well, come on then!" Pennington picked up his bags. "This won't be the first time I've had a straggler on one of my expeditions." He calmly began to walk away, moving towards the fire escape.

"Y-You're kidding, right?" Twilight ran after him, looking down as he climbed down the fire escape with practiced ease.

"I'm not kidding, I'm calling your bluff!" He called back up to her, foregoing the stairs for a faster route, swinging down from one level to the next. "I don't believe you!"

Twilight groaned and quickly teleported herself to the ground, arriving only a few seconds before Pennington jumped down. "Oh, really? You don't think that I'm going to follow you?"

Pennington looked her over, his eyes scanning every inch of her body in a way that made Twilight more than a bit uncomfortable. "You're in good enough shape... For a librarian. You're not ready for a trip like this, though."

"For a librarian?" Twilight's eyes narrowed as Pennington's words struck a very unique nerve. "And I suppose that a ramen-eating layabout like you is in better condition?" As her temper flared, she began to actually consider following him on his "adventure".

"I'll let you know after you've climbed Mount Never Rest a couple times." Pennington didn't seem to enjoy Twilight's insults, either. "OR when you've outrun an Ursa Major, swum the Canterlot Channel three times, AND spent two weeks off the grid in the Everfree Forest!"

"You... OutRAN an Ursa Major?" Twilight shook her head. "Forgive me if I don't believe you, but just one of their steps covers an entire city block!"

"Which means that you have to do a lot of hiding while you're running to confuse it!" Pennington rolled his eyes and walked past her, not looking back to see if she was following. "There's a lot more to adventures than just words and books, Twilight Sparkle. Perhaps I'll bring you back a souvenir from the changelings, but you should be getting back to Ponyville, back to your library, and back to your assistant."

"Oh, no! You did not just say that." Twilight followed after him, refusing to let another "librarian" comment pass unchallenged.

Pennington had been travelling to several hours now, and Twilight still hadn't left him alone. You can't be telling me that she's serious! First, she calls this "suicide," and now she's insisting on coming! He once again looked over at his violet companion, who was beginning to pale in their taxi as the world rushed by. "You've never seen what it's like outside of Equestria, have you?"

"Well, no. I've read about it..." It was obvious that the full implications of following through on her threat were beginning to sink into her brain.

"Then you ought to know that we're heading towards the Plains of Lore, the last place that the Changelings were seen." Pennington once again checked over his bags. "We'll have to get over them quickly, they're a veritable desert, and I only bought provisions for one. After that is the Tigerous Forest, where I believe the Changelings would have constructed their hive. Close to Equestria, but with a barrier that no army of ponies would be able to carry the provisions to cross. It's the perfect spot for a base of operations."

"You forgot: the Tigerous forest is filled with pony-eating TIGERS! Thus, the name 'Tigerous!'" Twilight shouted, becoming paler by the minute.

"I didn't forget, I just didn't think that it was so obvious, we didn't need to go over it, my fellow adventurer..." Pennington rolled his eyes. "I still can't believe you're going through with this..."

"I didn't think that you would let me come!" Twilight shouted in return, seriously considering violence. "I thought that if I tried to tag along, you'd get so tired of me, you'd have to take me home!"

"Well, I must admit, it's come very close to working at times... But I told you that I was calling your bluff, and I meant it!" He rolled his eyes, not sure whether to be amused by Twilight or brace himself for an attack. "Anyway, this trip will have you back so late, you're going to miss the train, anyway."

"You're past the point of no return, Miss Sparkle. Just brace yourself."

Comments

[Neon Icy Wings]

Seems to be a filler chapter with a fair bit of story progression. Though it feels off a bit it's really good!

[Pennington Inkwell]

989961 dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/shrug_Luna_apple.png Filler? Me? Never...dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/shrug_Twilight_future.png

But, you're right. Not even I really enjoyed this chapter as much as the others. It's mostly for the transition from "Staying in a hotel" to "Changeling Hive" dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/shrug_Queen_Chrysalis.png I'm going to HAVE to take a week off. (By force: Family vacation with no electronics.) dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/sillyfilly_Derpy_Hooves.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/sillyfilly_Derpy_Hooves.png

(By the way: I like the change to your avi. dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Twilight_Sparkle_lolface.png I REALLY like her MANE! dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/sillyfilly_Sweetie_Belle.png )

[Neon Icy Wings]

995227 One: Hope the family vacation goes well! Two: Thanks! I felt something was missing. I'll work this into my story yet!

[StarShine739]

[soulyman]

To be honest, I think that none of this is Pennington's fault. Twilight chose to follow him on her own accord. Why is she still angry? She wasn't forced or tricked into it.
Good story by the way. It's be interesting to read from here on, I expect more action! even though you have already written it. By the way, make sure you use the Equestrian language "Boyfriend->Coltfriend". Also, the ticket cost 150 bits. Pennington originally paid 200 because he was bribing the ticket seller!

[Sketchy Markks]

3137639 The running gag that women blame men for everything.

[19jburner]

Dear Twilight,
As you can see, I've left early so that we won't have to argue once again over my expedition into the Changeling Hive.

Can't Twi just tell Penny that she has helped defeat the queen of the hive?

"He's not my boyfriend..."

*Coltfriend

"You two shared a room for a week alone, and he's not your boyfriend?"

*Coltfriend

"Well, well, well... Lookie here. All alone, without your boyfriend to protect you..."

*Coltfriend, This is the pony world, not Earth

When the othe was.her

What is this, I don't even...

"I told you, I'm not going yet." Pennington rose to his feet. "I came here for a reason, to challenge myself! And I'm not leaving until I've done that."

Tell him that you've beaten the queen....

[MariusIoannesP]

Is there a point where Twilight lets her friends back in Ponyville know where she is and what she's doing? What must they think happened to her at this point?

[Boss_Hoss1]

Poor Twilight...
“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door,” he used to say. “You step into the Road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there is no telling where you might be swept off to.”
Frodo Baggins about Bilbo, The Fellowship of the Ring

[Commander Darklight]

3348886 fuck that think of spike she just up and left