The Cave of Elements

by Sage Probo

Chapter 4: An "uneventful" Trip

"What do you mean, we've been summoned? And why would the princess use three red ribbons? That is normally the urgency rate where she comes personally to us and take us with her," Stella wondered with wide eyes. "I mean, what could possibly be urgent enough about my dream, that it causes her to use three red ribbons?"

"I don't know. It perplexes me as much as it does you, Stella," Twilight said, her eyes still fixated on the letter. "But now we have to hurry. You said you have the tickets? Okay then, let me pack a few things. You should too. We meet back here in ten minutes."

With that, Twilight got up and went to her room to pack. Stella sat down dumbfounded, but eventually stood up as well and went to her room to start packing as well. She guessed they would at least stay a few days. She grabbed her saddlebags from her back, and began to place some things she thought she would need into it. After she finished packing, Stella went down the stairs to meet with her mother, who was already waiting for her.

“It’ll be most likely that we are away a few days, maybe a week or two,” Twilight said to Spike, then opened the door. “You don’t have to re-shelve the books while we are away. But if you got nothing to do, maybe you can start with some of them. You know where the money is, and please, don’t try to fry the library, one near-disaster is clearly enough.” Spike gave her an annoyed look to her remark of the fire. It’s not like he wanted to burn down the library, he just got a huge hiccup, and the flame that came out was not a sending flame, but a dangerous “burn-down-the-house” type of flame.

“Sheesh Twi. No need to remind me of that. I’ll be careful. You go and tell the princesses I said hi, that is enough. Now go. You know how the princess is, if you come late after receiving a three red-ribbon letter,” Spike said, pushing Twilight out of the door and into the street.

Stella followed her mother onto the street, and after she left Spike, closed the door. The two mares began to trot towards the station in silence. Stella was pondering why the princess would use three red ribbons and Twilight was thinking about what to say to the princess when they were meeting her.

They arrived at the station and quickly boarded the train, and were soon on their way to Canterlot. Twilight was reading a book she brought along for the ride, leaving Stella to her own devices. Stella decided to take a nap, and was soon asleep.

What Stella didn’t expect was to see Princess Luna standing before her in her dream. She blinked a few times before waking up again, startled. Twilight looked confusedly at her daughter and raised an eyebrow.

Stella breathed in and out to calm herself down, then proceeded to answer her mothers unspoken question.

“I wanted to take a nap, but the moment I closed my eyes and began to dream, Princess Luna was standing before me. I was shocked and woke up right after I saw her,” Stella told her.

“Princess Luna visited you? Then the situation is more dire than we thought. I just hope we are not too late for whatever emergency occurred,” Twilight said with a serious tone. She returned to her book, which happened to be a spell-book with spells she hadn’t learned or tried yet.

Stella, not keen on encountering Luna a second time in her dream, looked out of the window the rest of the ride. She saw the mountains close in, and soon they were inside one of the many tunnels along the track. Not long after that, they arrived at Canterlot Station, and left the train car.

Stella was surprised to see two guards and her uncle greeting her, while her mother approached him with a weak smile and hugged him.

“It seems we meet only if there is some sort of disaster impending, isn’t it, Shiny?” Twilight asked him after she let him go. “How is Cadence? I hope that both she and your daughter are fine and ok with you being away from them so suddenly.”

“Yeah, seems like it. And they are both in good spirits. Gentle Dancer sends her hugs to you both and Cadence says hello. Dancer also asks if Stella could come over sometime this year,” Shining said as the group began to trot towards the castle grounds. “You have free time this year, don’t you Stella?”

“Sure, just write me when it’s okay for me to come over, and I will take some days off. I think I’ll be needing a vacation after all,” Stella replied.

The rest of the trip everyone was busy with his or her own thinking, only stopping here and there to grab something small to eat or to chat with a guard that served under Shining. The whole trip took them 30 minutes, not including the time spent on talking and buying food, so the total time would be something around an hour. They arrived at the castle gates, where the guards were waiting impatiently for them.

“We are to show you your quarters before you have your audience with the princesses. Prince Armor, we have prepared a royal suite near the chambers of the princesses for you. Ms. and Ms. Sparkle, the guest rooms in the west wing are prepared for you. Please follow us,” the guards said before turning and walking towards the castle.

The three of them gave each other an odd look before following their respective guards to their prepared rooms. They entered the castle interior and parted ways after reaching the stairs. Shining armor and his guard turned to the left, and Stella together with Twilight and their guard turned to the right. They walked down the corridor and turned right at the end, and continued a bit further, until they were standing in front of a door.

“This will be your room, in there we have two beds and shelves for you to store your belongings while you are in the castle. Please get comfortable, a maid will be with you shortly and serve some snacks. A guard will come later and lead you to the conference room, where your appointment will be held. Good day,” the guard said before he turned and walked back to his post.

Stella and Twilight shrugged, and went inside the guest room. They put their bags in the shelves and sat down on the beds, which were very comfy. While Twilight took out her book again and began reading, Stella examined the room: there was a big and beautiful table between the beds, the shelves that held the bags, another door which Stella assumed would be the bathroom, two giant windows with gold decorations and various plants and decoration around the room. It was really beautiful in here, and Stella began to feel at ease a bit more. She stood up and went into the bathroom. As soon as she closed the door and locked it, she could hear the maid knocking and entering the room with what sounded like a small cart. Stella heard her mother thanking the maid and the maid leaving the room. She finished her business in the bathroom and then joined her mother with the snacks, which appeared to be apple-fritters, imported from Ponyville.

“Mmmmhhh, I never thought they would serve us the Apple family’s praised reunion fritters here. And plenty of them too,” Stella said between fritters. “Taste like they invited Applejack here to cook them for us. Don’t you agree, mom?”

“They sure taste like them. But don’t eat too much, we still have our appointment later. You don’t want to sit there with an aching stomach, do you?” Twilight replied in between eating.

“No, not really. I’m still nervous as is, and I don’t think stomach pains will relieve me from that. So, how long will it take after this before we go to the conference room?” Stella asked her mother.

Twilight gulped down the last fritter and put a hoof to her chin, she was clearly thinking about it, before she simply shrugged and rang the bell that was attached to the cart. Minutes later the maid came back and took the cart with her after both thanked for the snacks.

“I don’t know, I haven’t been involved with political affairs and the like in years. So I can’t take a guess when the time will be,” Twilight answered Stella’s earlier question before returning to her lecture.

Stella, not knowing what to do in the meantime until the meeting, took one of the books from the bookshelf and began reading. It caught her interest pretty quick, and while she read, she didn’t notice how the time went by. She was so engrossed in her book, that she didn’t hear the knocking, so she was a bit startled when the door suddenly opened and a guard came in.

“Ms. and Ms. Sparkle, the princesses are now ready to meet you in the conference room. Please follow me, you can leave your belongings here,” he said, then stepped out of the room and waited.

Stella and Twilight closed their books and put them back into the shelf, then proceeded to step out of the room into the corridor and to the waiting guard. They walked in silence after him and a little time later, they were in front of a large door, behind which they assumed the conference room must be. The guards standing beside it opened it and Stella and Twilight walked in.