True, True Friends
A true friend freely, advises justly, assists readily, adventures boldly, takes all patiently, defends courageously, and continues a friend unchangeably.
-William Penn
"Princess, I'm sorry to say but the ongoing search for Twilight Sparkle has proven fruitless," droned one Celestia's ministers in a frustrating monotone, "Recent reports from the royal guard state they've searched every alley and basement in Stalliongrad and found neither height nor hair of your student. That exhausts our list of sites within Equestria we can effectively search. This also brings to the forefront issues of excessive expenditures of-"
The princess of the sun ignored the rest of the bored sounding stallion's ramblings about the cost of her order to find her faithful student. She cared little if the coin counters in the treasury department were worried about turning an end of year profit. Besides, he'd just confirmed what she already suspected about Twilight's disappearance. The results of the royal guard's search combined with Spike's testimony made one point abundantly clear to the princess. Twilight was no longer in Equestria. Oh, she'd hoped she was wrong and some spell was simply stopping her from locating her student magically, but the evidence was undeniable.
The worst part of this revelation was realizing that she and her sister could do nothing to help Twilight, not directly at least. For reasons only Celestia, Luna, and coincidentally Discord were aware of, the alicorn sisters were unable to leave the borders of Equestria under any circumstances. To do so would only invite disaster.
Thankfully, there were other options to pursue. Options Celestia wouldn't have even dared consider if Twilight had gone missing a few months earlier. In fact, she was waiting for that option to arrive at this very moment, even if it meant listening to her well intentioned but long winded minister tell her that trying to find her beloved student was a waste of time and resources.
As if understanding he was trying her infinite patience, the stallion droned with a edge to his voice that was very close to irritating her when an impossibly placed pie landed on his head with a plop. "What in the name of Celestia!" the minister cried, backing up a step only to slip on some errant lemon meringue and land on his rump, "Good gracious!"
Celestia choked back a snort of amusement at the minister's predicament and adopted a good natured smile. "Oh my, I'm very sorry Footnote but it appears my other appointment has arrived. We will go over the details of the coffers later."
"Oh um, of course your majesty," he replied, trying to regain a measure of his dignity, "I'll just go uh... clean up."
The minister turned to leave but Celestia held out a hoof in gesture to stop him. "Wait a moment Footnote. Turn your head a little to the right please." He complied, revealing a large dollop of meringue stuck to his face. With a thought Celestia wrapped the fruity cream in a golden sheath and removed it without so much as a stain on the minister's fuchsia coat.
"Oh my," Footnote said, flushing in embarrassment, "Thank you, your majesty. I'll call the maids to clean up this mess on my way out."
Celestia glanced at a seemingly empty corner of the throne room with a knowing smile. "That won't be necessary. I'm sure it will take care of itself," she said with a titter, cocking a dainty eyebrow at the offending corner. Footnote looked confused, but he obeyed and left without another word, closing the great golden doors behind him.
Alone, Celestia levitated the lemon meringue still held by her magic up the steps to the throne, floating it in front of her for inspection. After a few seconds she plopped it into her mouth and savored it thoughtfully. "Acceptable," she finally announced to nopony, "Though it could do with a little more sugar and slightly less cream."
"Everypony's a critic," came a sarcastic reply from nowhere, "Besides, who are you to judge after that cake party fiasco in the statue garden three hundred years ago."
The corner of the throne room Celestia had been eyeing suddenly came alive, the empty space distorting as the now unhampered light revealed what was once her oldest enemy. Now, he was her best hope of locating Twilight.
"If I remember correctly, the incident happened within a close proximity of your statue," the princess bantered, thinking of how best to approach Discord with her proposition. If she didn't get him to agree to a few guidelines, who knew what kind of a mess he'd make.
It wouldn't be lemon meringue, that was for sure.
Discord adopted an offended tone that oozed guilt. "Tut tut princess. Placing the blame on my shoulders without proof is a little less than benevolent, don't you think? Besides, nopony was seriously hurt by your flop of a cake." He grinned as he began to float listlessly around the throne room. "I'll never know what made you suddenly think to become an amateur cook, but for what its worth, I forgive you for the mess your guests made of my statue," the avatar of chaos drawled, adding in a whisper, "Even if it took the servants weeks to get the smell out."
'Karmic justice,' the princess thought to herself.
"And it took myself several months to smooth things over with the griffon ambassador, which of course meant partaking in their peace ritual," Celestia said, shuddering at the memory while Discord broke into a fit of laughter, "What? You know I hate fish."
It took several seconds for Discord to get himself under control, time enough for Celestia to force down an un-princess-like blush. "Oh yes, your achilles heel in the diplomatic ring. Tell me, how salty do the griffons like their trout?" he asked, drawing a groan from the princess. "But really, you didn't invite me all the way to your little castle in the clouds to reminisce did you? Five bits says this has something to do with your precious missing student."
"You're right, I didn't invite you here for a chat," Celestia began, raising an accusatory eyebrow at the avatar of chaos, "And if my memory serves, I didn't invite you alone. You should have come with escorts. Five escorts. Please tell me you didn't leave them behind in Ponyville."
Discord chuckled at that and said, "On that note you'll have to wait a second. Five to be exact. Four. Three. Two. One."
As his count down finished the golden double doors of the throne room burst open and a prismatic flash skidded across the polished floor to a halt a few feet from the throne's steps. Rainbow Dash heaved several lung fulls of air before glancing around frantically.
"Where is he!? Did I beat him!? Did I win!?" she asked, looking around to see if there was anypony else in the room. She didn't see Discord floating above her head without a care and let out a whoop. "Awww yeah! Ain't nopony can beat me in a race. Take that Discord!"
At the mention of his name the avatar of chaos yawned and tapped Rainbow Dash on the head. "I'm sorry, did somepony say my name?"
The prismatic mare looked up at Discord and slumped as her jubilation rushed out of her. "Aww, come on, you cheated didn't you."
"Miss Dash, I am insulted that you would even question such a thing!" the avatar of chaos cried in faux shock, "Of course I did. After all, what's the fun in playing fair?"
"We'll see how fun it is when I tell Fluttershy your turning back to your old self," Rainbow Dash grumbled under her breath.
Celestia politely cleared her throat, drawing the pair's attention to her as she stood up and made her way down the throne's steps. "Energetic as always, dear Rainbow Dash. I hope Discord hasn't been giving you all too much trouble."
The prismatic mare recovered from her slump quickly and snapped a crisp salute at the princess. "Of course not Princess, it's nothing we can't handle," she answered with a confident grin, "So, did ya call us here cause you found Twilight?" Despite her attempts to keep her voice calm and aloof, there was a hopeful tone to her voice that spoke of her concern. She and the other elements must've been restless over the last couple of weeks after being told to leave the search in the hooves of the royal guard.
Celestia picked her words carefully while Discord smirked knowingly at her. "No, so far the search has proven less than successful," she began, but catching Rainbow Dash's downcast expression at the news she hurried to continue, "But the fact that there hasn't been so much as a clue to Twilight's whereabouts in the recent weeks leads me to believe she is no longer in Equestria, or Equis for that matter. That leaves only one place she could possibly be."
"Rainbow Dash?" came a cultured voice from beyond the throne room's double doors.
From the doorway came the rest of the elements lead by Rarity who was looking at Rainbow Dash with disapproval. "Rainbow Dash, dear, you had us all worried. You just took off from the train station without a word."
The prismatic mare cocked an eyebrow and looked at Rarity like she may have hit her head on something. "Uh, Rarity, this is Canterlot. What could possibly happen?"
Rarity harrumphed and tossed her mane with expert precision. "How about getting arrested by the royal guard for breaking into the palace unannounced and thrown in a dungeon?" she responded, trotting past the leftovers of pie still laying on the ground with a cringe, "Sometimes I don't know what I'm more concerned with, dear; that you don't think through the consequences of your actions, or that you just don't care about them."
"Yeah, yeah," Rainbow Dash said with a roll of her eyes, "That doesn't matter right now. The princess says she knows where Twilight went."
Rarity took that moment to notice Celestia looking over the spat with an amused smile. "Oh my, I'm terribly sorry for this petty display your majesty," she declared a little over-dramatically with a nervous bow. For the life of her, Celestia couldn't understand why most her subjects were always so daunted by her presence, Rainbow Dash being one of the few exceptions. "But if your majesty has some clue as to Twilight's whereabouts, please continue."
"Before I reveal what I believe to be the truth of Twilight's disappearance, I need everypony present to swear themselves to secrecy." Her voice held no inflection, but the gathered mares shared worried looks nonetheless. "This matter involves the security of Equestria, and besides myself, Luna and Discord are the only ones who are aware of it. Please girls, this is not a matter I share lightly."
From behind Rarity a bright pink mane bobbed up and down erratically followed by an excited 'ooo-ing' sound. "You mean like super-duper-secret spy stuff!?" Pinkie Pie squealed, her bubbly demeanor drawing incredulous looks from her friends, "Does it have something to do with the lemon meringue pie on the ground?! Oh wait, if the secret isn't something you share 'lightly' then do you share it 'heavily'!? How much does it weigh!? What if you carried it in a saddleba-"
The over-excited mare continued attempting to speak even with the orange hoof shoved in her mouth, but all that came of it was muffled gibberish. "Uh, sorry 'bout that yer majesty. Pinke's just been a bit on edge is all. Well, more than usual, Ah mean," Applejack said with a slight bow and added, "We all are."
Celestia smiled at her reassuringly and gestured for her to rise. "There is no need to apologize, Applejack. Twilight's absence has been difficult on everypony, myself included, but I cannot overstate the need for secrecy in regards to what I must tell you all."
"If that is the case your majesty, my lips are sealed," Rarity said, glancing around at her friends, each giving a nod in turn.
Applejack looked a little apprehensive. "Ah don't much like the idea of hidin' the truth, but if it's ta find Twilight then Ah guess Ah could make an exception. Ah promise not ta tell another soul."
"Yeah, and I'm too awesome not to have a few secrets," Rainbow Dash boasted with a smirk, "I'm game."
At this point Pinke escaped from Applejack's hoof and bounced right up to Celestia. "Yay, secret spy mission! I get to use my spy suit again!" she cried in sheer delight before stopping and adding as an afterthought, "Oh yeah, and mums the word. What is a 'mum' anyway? What do you think, Fluttershy?"
The bright yellow mare perked up from a conversation she had been having with Discord. From the look of annoyance on his face it would appear to be a scolding, or as close to a scolding as Fluttershy could manage in any case. "Oh my, I'm so sorry Pinke. I wasn't listening. Did you say something?"
The pink mare grinned. "Just say 'yes'."
"Um... yes?" Fluttershy half-asked in confusion.
"And now we're all agreed!"
"Indeed," Celestia said with an honest smile. She'd always adored her student's friends, and her breast filled with pride as they all looked at her expectantly, not yet knowing the grand adventure that awaited them. It would take them through dark places and would test them more than anything they'd ever faced before, but the princess of the sun held faith in them. They would not fail their wayward friend.
With a steadying breath she prepared to share something no living mortal had known for thousands of years. "What I'm about to tell you all began before the founding of Equestria..."
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and now we see how equis is linked to... whatever the other plane is called.
Did you...Did you seriously just do that? Come on. That song is, like, ancient.
2573795
Would you like me to sharpen your pitchforks and light your torches before you begin the witch hunt?
Honestly, I expected a reaction like this on some level, but at least let the development pan out before the summery execution. It's a trope that's been beaten to death repeatedly yes, but for good reason. I just can't see anything like trans-reality travel getting past Celestia. She's a clever old bag that one.
their wayward friend, apart from that quite good i say
If you have to do it at all, Ah looks better.
2573795>>2573960 just do what? I know I'm dense, but seriously, I didn't catch it.
2574373
Oh, you're right, that does look better. It also makes a distinction between Applejack's and Riegar's speech as Riegar's is much throatier.
Placing the blame on my shoulders without proof is a little less than benevolent, don't you think.
should be a question mark
How about getting arrested by the royal guard for breaking into the palace unannounced and thrown in a dungeon,
same here
anyway, good to see this is going to be more than just Twilight....
Story time with Celestia? Better break out the popcorn and grab a seat cuz this is gonna be one doozy of a tale I think.
2574388 it's been a while and you might've figured it out by now but what they're talking about is the name of the chapter true true friends which is a reference to the song in the season three finale. sorry but it bugs me when people are ignored and don't get their questions answered.
Now you got me worrying about WHY Celestia and Luna can't leave Equestria.
...But wouldn't being on the moon count as being out of Equestria?
2575253
Huh, and here I thought we were talking about something completely different. I thought LunarSaraph was guessing at one of the world building mechanics I was going to employ. It was about using the song as a chapter name?
Well, that makes me relieved, and here I thought I was getting predictable.
2574799
Thank you for the catches there. I just can't seem to stick with an editor longer than one chapter for some reason.
2575044
Isn't it always
2575320
Ha ha, all will be answered in time, but nope, that's still inside "Equestria". I don't want to give away much but metaphysics is fun.
2575320
Depends on whether or not you consider Eternal Night or a thousand years of loneliness to be "inviting disaster".
2575253 Thank you! It bugs me too. And I feel bad when I don't have an answer for them.
2574388
I apologize for not getting to be the one to tell you that, but I wan't exactly near an internet-capable device. Please forgive me
2575790
Why not both?
2577674
Okay, just caught up.
The main thing that jumps out at me is that you have a lot of spelling errors throughout (accents aside, of course). Considerably more than I'd expect from otherwise very good general narrative quality.
2579541
Dam you English language and your similar sounding words!!!
CLIFFHANGER
Why doth thou torment me so
Oh boy, Discord is on the case. On the plus side, this should clear up that silly little undead problem quite nicely. On the minus side, Discord is going to be doing enough good that he can talk Flutters into letting him get away with just about anything in the process. This should be fun.
2574480
GLOTTAL STOPS!