The Missing Princess

by Bronyxy

3 A Secret Shared

Splintered fragments of disparate thoughts tried to squeeze themselves together to form a cohesive plan, but nothing seemed to fit; the only thing that was apparent being that she couldn’t stay where she was. Without any idea of what she was going to do once she got outside, Twilight opened up her saddle bags and emptied out everything she didn’t need, packing in as many books as she could find, including the Booke of Truthful Thinges. The weight was greater now than it had been flying out here, but she wanted to take away these books as reference texts to benefit Equestria by reuniting earth ponies with their magic; she had already chosen Applejack and Pinkie to help her out with this one.

Saddle bags crammed to the point that their seams threatened to burst, she blew out the depleted stump of candle that had been her only friend during her visit, and braced herself to face the day.

She closed the wrought metal door behind her, casting a spell which was a significantly more powerful deterrent than the lock she had first encountered, and exited the library, descending into the room below, looking more closely now at the pictures adorning the walls. She recognised one of them now; Princess Corona.

A shaft of daylight pointed accusingly across the room, daring her to follow it to the exit. It was a worried looking Twilight who stepped out across the rubble, checking the sky to see if an irate Princess was circling above with a platoon of guards waiting to pounce and drag her screaming body away; it was almost an anti-climax when there wasn’t.

She paused and looked back at the old uncovered doorway she had entered with such enthusiasm the day before, and set about replacing the stone blocks with care so that the weathered faces were outwards as she did her best to cover her tracks. She knew that ultimately, Celestia and Luna would find out, but she wanted to play for time as far as possible while she figured out what to do next.

Twilight looked critically at her work and made a few minor changes to improve the appearance before accepting that it was as good as it was going to be, and sighed sadly. Then she turned and checked her saddle bags were tight before beating her wings and lifting into the air. Her load was as heavy as her heart, and she had to work hard to gain height as she set course in the morning sun back to Trottingham.

Whereas she had made the journey the day before pumped with excitement and fuelled by adrenaline, today she felt numb and kept flying by reflex rather than concentration. She found the lack of a plan disconcerting and as the first of the city’s outlying settlements came into view, she finally settled on what she would do next.

Wheeling out of the azure sky, Twilight descended by the station entrance and furled her wings. They should have been tired, but right now she felt nothing, nothing at all.

“Princess Twilight?” asked the ticket clerk excitedly, “Is it really you? How can I help you today, your Majesty?”
The welcome was quite overwhelming, and instantly Twilight snapped into her smile and wave mode, flashing him a dazzling smile and making him feel the most special stallion in all of Equestria.
“Good morning, Sir” she replied, “A ticket to the Crystal Empire, please.”
“Of course, Princess” he confirmed, sliding a booklet over to her, “Would you sign this please?”

Believing this to be authorisation for the Royal warrant, she looked down casually and noticed the signatures of Countess Coloratura, Sapphire Shores and even Princess Cadence.
“Wha …?” she enquired.
“It’s an autograph book for my fillies. They love hearing about the famous ponies I’ve met, and I can’t wait to tell them I’ve met you, Princess!”
Twilight smiled for the first time since her life changing discovery amid the ruins of Coltchester and felt a shred of her humanity return.
“I’ll need you to sign this too” he added, passing over the warrant authorisation form.
“Of course” she concurred, giving him a sincere smile, “And thank you.”
“No, thank you” he quivered in his excitement, passing her the ticket, “Platform two, three quarters of an hour, your Majesty.”

Twilight ambled into the station cafeteria and ordered a hot chocolate with extra oats, setting it down before her on an empty table. A party of young colts and fillies on the other side of the room started pointing and giggling until their teacher chastised them with a few stern words that she did not hear clearly. A few of the braver ones still risked occasional peeks at her, but all looked away quickly when they saw her eyes turn towards them.

She got up and walked over to the teacher who immediately curtseyed and apologised profusely for the behaviour of her young students.
“No, that’s fine” Twilight reassured, feeling another piece of her humanity return, “What have you all been up to today?”
“We’re waiting for another class to join us and then we’re all going to the Trottingham Museum” the teacher replied.
“Oh how wonderful!” cheered Twilight and bubbled excitedly as the colts and fillies all spoke loudly about what they most wanted to see. Although she had hoped somepony would have said the library, it seemed that dinosaurs were the main attraction. All the time she was happily answering their questions like “what do Princesses eat?”, “is your crown heavy?” and “do you remember when dinosaurs roamed Equestria?” she began to forget about her problems and was rather sad when she heard a train pull in.

“That’ll be the other class, Princess Twilight” said the teacher checking her watch, “Thank you for keeping them occupied while we waited.”
“No, really, I enjoyed it” she replied as the colts and fillies all gave her cheery thank yous.
Twilight looked out at the station clock that she could just see through the window. This was probably her train, so she stepped out onto the platform and looked up the timetable before getting on and choosing a seat where she could mull over what she was going to do next.

She was feeling a lot more level headed now thanks to some positive interactions at the station, but still very worried as the train wound its way northwards. In the way that time seems to speed up when you’re heading towards something you don’t want to do, Twilight soon found herself pulling into the central station in the Crystal Empire.

She got out without fanfare and could see the startled looks on the faces of the guards, not knowing whether they had missed the official memo that Princess Twilight would be arriving on a State Visit, and whether they should form a makeshift guard of honour, salute or just ignore her. They quickly settled on saluting smartly and in her turn, she graciously thanked each of them as she made her way out of the station and took the short walk to the Crystal Castle.

The Crystal Ponies all looked carefree and resplendent in their beautiful crystalline translucent colours as they went about their business, some pausing to greet Twilight and welcome her back. As she approached the castle, the guards snapped smartly to attention and sounded a fanfare, partly in greeting and partly to alert the occupants of the castle that a Royal visitor had arrived.

Luckily, it was Shining Armor who came out to meet her, his face beaming when he saw who the unexpected arrival was.
“Hey Twiley” he greeted joyfully, “Fancy seeing you up here! Cadie’s a bit tied up at the moment, but I’m sure she’ll want to see you as soon as she can!”
“Hey BBBFF, it’s good to see you too, but it’s really you I need to talk to.”
Even Shining, a stallion not renowned for his ability to pick up on subtle undercurrents got the hint; if his sister didn’t want to see her favourite foalsitter after all they had been through, something was seriously wrong.
“Sure Twi. You want a quiet room where we’re not going to be disturbed?”
“Yes please, I get the feeling this isn’t the only favour I’m going to be asking from you today.”

He led them up a flight of stairs, away from the usual route taken by visitors and along a corridor fronted with doors that all looked the same, save for a name and a rank, until he got to the end, then opened a door that had a plaque on the outside stating Captain of the Guard. He slid a shutter across, covering over the Knock and enter sign to Meeting in progress.

“This is my office” he announced proudly, “We won’t be disturbed here unless there’s an invasion.”
Twilight laughed nervously at this comment as he directed her to a seat and she finally took off her saddle bags.
“Travelling light?” he quipped, seeing how heavy they were.
“Heavier than you can imagine” she grimaced.
“OK, spill” he directed.

“You know how you said I keep saving your flank? Well, I don’t quite know how to say this, but I need somepony I can trust right now; somepony I can trust with my life.”
“Whoa – what have you gotten yourself into, Twiley?”
“First, you must promise that what I am going to tell you can never, and I mean NEVER be repeated without my express permission, OK?”

Shining’s look hardened. He had never heard her talk like this before.
“Do I have your word?”
“Of course Twiley; how’s that rhyme about cupcakes go again?”
“This is way more important than a Pinkie Promise. I have to trust you as my brother.”
“OK, Twi” he said, brows furrowing deeply, “I promise.”

“How many immortal alicorns were there at the founding of Equestria?”
“That’s easy. Two; Aunt Celestia and Aunt Luna.”
“What if I told you there was a third sister? Or rather there had been a third sister?”
“No way!”

Twilight’s face took on a look of deadly earnestness and suddenly Shining knew this wasn’t a joke. He made to get up but stopped himself, wracked with indecision.
“Yes, a third immortal alicorn Princess” she confirmed, emphasising the word immortal.
“Are you sure?”
“I have books with her in and I’ve seen pictures of her too.”
Shining leaned back in his chair, stunned.

“If she’s immortal” he thought out loud, “Then what happened to her?”
“Only two ponies can know the answer to that one BBBFF, and neither of them has ever mentioned her, so …”
“You don’t think …” he stalled.
Twilight just raised an eyebrow and shot him a look.

“Our aunts will find out soon enough that I know – I won’t be able to hide my feelings in their presence for long. They could use mind spells and all sorts to find out. I think it’s best that I confront them; at least I’ll have the advantage, for whatever that’s worth. But if I go missing or suddenly start denying all knowledge of what I have found out, I want you to have the evidence so you can ...”
“Are you suggesting they may murder you?” he interrupted.
“I DON’T KNOW!” screamed Twilight, “They’re sure not letting on about Princess Corona!”
“That her name, huh?”
“Yes … yes” she replied, visibly deflating in front of him.
“Show me” he asked gently.

Without a further word, she undid her saddle bags and pulled out the Booke of Truthful Thinges and showed him the pages relating to the Princesses. He looked, and whistled softly, taking it all in.
“You say you’ve seen pictures too?”
“Yes, big portraits. It’s all genuine.”
The two of them sat together as she explained how she had come by this information and pointed out the key passages in the books for him to read.

At length he looked up into her eyes. They weren’t sparkling with the thrill of finding out something new, but haggard with the responsibility this new knowledge entailed.
“So, you want to talk this over with the Princesses?” he asked, his voice heavy with concern.
“I can’t see any other way” she replied resignedly.
“And if you go missing then I take on the Royal sisters?”
“No; if they’re prepared to go to such great lengths to cover this up, then that isn’t the way. Tell the ponies the truth if it comes to that.”
“That could bring down the diarchy” he reasoned.
“Let’s all hope it doesn’t come to that” she replied sombrely.

Shining escorted Twilight to the station in time for the last train south. She had left the books with him and instructed him to hide them somewhere safe, but not to tell her where, in case her mind was read and they suddenly disappeared. As security against anything happening to him, he had written a note which he had put in a left luggage locker at the Crystal Empire main station and given her the key. It was the best they could do.

Shining gave his sister a heartfelt hug on the platform as the guard blew his whistle and she jumped aboard, waving the kind of farewell that ponies only do when they’re worried they will never meet up again.

Outside the passenger window, the sky was performing its evening rendition of oranges and purples and she suddenly called to mind Celestia’s original title; Her Majesty The Princess Of The Twilight. No wonder dusk and dawn had always been so spectacular – it was her birthright. It all fitted together, and she knew she was right.