The Set-Up

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“Now Twilight,” Fluttershy said patiently and soothingly to her violet friend, “She’s not going to bite you, isn’t that right, Nelly?” Fluttershy asked a tiny garter snake that was wrapped around a positively petrified Princess Twilight Sparkle. Her whole body was rigid with fear, and her outstretched leg, around which the reptile was coiled quite comfortably, shook ever so slightly.

Despite Twilight’s terror, the little snake shook her head reassuringly, and Fluttershy smiled at her friend, “See, Twilight? She’s not going to-” at that moment, several things occurred: Nelly flicked her tongue, tasting the air, and Twilight’s voice erupted from her throat with a scream of pure, unadulterated terror.

“GETITOFFGETITOFFGETITOFFGETITOFF!” Twilight wailed, shaking her hoof around like it was on fire. Fortunately, Nelly possessed rather good sense and loosened her hold enough to go flying through the air, where she was promptly caught by a worried-looking Fluttershy.

“Twilight!” Fluttershy shouted, causing the panicking alicorn to stop running in circles, “Twilight, that was a definite improvement, um... ” the yellow pegasus looked at the clock, while Nelly curled up dizzily around her hoof, “It looks like that was almost ten whole seconds, and you didn’t even throw her all that hard.” Nelly looked like she begged to differ, but she settled for flicking her tongue again.

Twilight took several moments to catch her breath, and gave Fluttershy an apologetic look, “I’m sorry Fluttershy, it’s just... I really can’t deal with snakes at all. They’re so... ” Twilight shivered, “Slithery, scaly, and ectothermic... Well, I mean,” Twilight added hastily as she spotted Fluttershy’s increasingly crestfallen expression, while the snake managed to look mildly offended, “no offense to Nelly there, I’m sure she’s a lovely... lovely snake but-”

“Twilight!” A familiar cry called from outside, rescuing Twilight from the awkward conversation. “Twilight!” Spike called again, sounding out of breath as he ran towards the door, waving letter in his claws. Fluttershy quickly zipped down to open the door for him, and he entered the room at a dead run, gasping for breath.

“Spike?” Twilight asked, concerned. Spike was exceptionally dutiful, but for him to have run all the way to Fluttershy’s cottage set off alarm bells in Twilight’s head. “Spike, what is it? Is there something wrong?” Unable to reply, Spike continued gasping, and wordlessly handed Twilight the letter, shoving it at her so forcefully it practically went up her nose.

Twilight took the letter with her magic, while Fluttershy worked to drag Spike to a couch, where he lay, muttering about ‘too many hills’. It bore the royal seal, which Twilight broke to open the scroll before she began to read aloud.

Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,

A dire situation has arisen in Canterlot, and the implications of these terrible events cannot be denied. Princess Luna has taken dramatically ill, but there is no sign of sickness, and I fear this may be an attempt on my sister’s life.

Twilight and Fluttershy both gasped audibly, while Spike, who had already been gasping, continued to do so. “An attempt on her life?!” Fluttershy said worriedly, “Who would do such a thing?” Rather than answer, Twilight continued to read, her gaze more sharply focused, her face a mask of worry.

Your expertise on magical phenomena would be most helpful in this instance, as the doctors’ results have been inconclusive. Please, Twilight, my sister’s life hangs on a thread, and this illness reeks of some unnatural intent. A carriage will be provided upon your response, to get you here with all possible speed.

Princess Celestia

Twilight flipped the letter over fruitlessly, looking for more details, but the back of the letter remained stubbornly blank. Twilight summoned some paper, ink and a quill from her saddlebags. She had intended to take notes on her recovery from her ophidiophobia, but she felt the need to respond outweighed her original intent for the supplies.

Her response was a short affirmative, and a request for more information, but by the time she was done, Spike had recovered enough to send the letter along. “I’m going back to the library,” Twilight told Fluttershy, who was still looking extremely worried, while she unceremoniously slung Spike over her back with her saddlebags.

“Wait,” Fluttershy said suddenly, sounding strained, “Twilight, um... ” Twilight paused to listen to her friend, but Fluttershy abruptly seemed to change her mind, “Um, nevermind, it-it was nothing.” Twilight, her mind on other things, teleported away, leaving Fluttershy in her house, distraught, and still wearing a snake. “Oh Nelly,” she said softly, “What am I going to do?”

Princess Twilight Sparkle arrived at the Canterlot Palace with an almost scandalous lack of pomp, though a few trumpeters gave a rather muted fanfare. Her mind on the job, Twilight completely failed to recognize the fanfare, and the poor trumpeters had to follow her some distance to complete their duty. She strode through the halls, which were devoid of any of the usual servants, nobles and other dwellers of the castle. In their place, there seemed to be an unusual number of Royal Guards pacing, looking around, or standing guard extremely attentively.

It made sense, Twilight realized, and her mind supplied a distant memory of Equestrian emergency protocol. In the event of an emergency, Twilight recited to herself mentally, any and all auxiliary staff are to be moved away from the Palace proper to their designated evacuation positions. While she doubted the staff had been evacuated from Canterlot itself, their absence sent another chill of worry through Twilight’s already jittery gut.

She had initially made her way to the main throne room, only to find it empty. A guard who had been patrolling nearby informed her that Princess Celestia was currently in Princess Luna’s chambers, so Twilight made her way in that direction. Several minutes later found Twilight approaching the chambers of Princess Luna, where she was stopped by the Night Guards. Instead of the usual two door guards, four of the fearsome Night Guards stood ready as Twilight approached, their spears crossing the entrance to deny Twilight access, pulling her up short as she halted her urgent forward momentum. “No entry,” the guard on the left said flatly, while the others gave Twilight equally stony looks.

Twilight blinked in surprise, “But I have to go in there, Princess Luna needs my help!” she said urgently, attempting to walk forward once more, only to have the other two spears leveled at her. Intimidated, but determined, Twilight lifted her head, “I, Princess Twilight Sparkle, am here on behalf of Princess Celestia to help heal her sister, and you stand there-” Twilight broke off as the door opened from inside.

“Let her pass, Nocturne,” a soft voice said firmly, with a hint of chastisement. Far from assuaged, the Night Guard who had spoken to Twilight kept her spear in place, her bat-like wings half-spread. “Now.” The voice added, with a tone of finality, and the Night Guards finally relented, lowering their spears and bowing to let Twilight pass.

Twilight passed through the door, and almost walked into Princess Celestia who looked down at her with the most weary expression Twilight had ever seen. “Twilight,” Celestia said warmly, “It’s good to see you,” the gesture was genuine, but Twilight felt something else behind her old mentor’s words.

“It’s good to see you too, Princess,” Twilight said with a smile, “It feels like ages since the coronation. Hard to believe we haven’t seen each other these past two months.”

Celestia smiled, “Yes, it does seem like a while, I suppose.” The conversation was forced, but it seemed to relax Celestia, and Twilight felt it taking the edge off her nerves. Still, Celestia wasted no time leading Twilight through Princess Luna’s chambers.

Twilight had never seen Princess Luna’s personal chambers before, and she felt like a stranger walking through them, though she had lived most of her life in the palace. Dark tapestries studded with silver threads hung on the stone walls, depicting peaceful night scenes. The rug in the antechamber was similarly black with silver stars, like a patch of night spread across the floor, and Twilight had the mildly disconcerting feeling of falling whenever she passed over it.

Everything in Princess Luna’s chambers was a shade of dark blue, purple or somewhere in between, highlighted with brilliant lights and colors sketched out with metallic paint, threads, or other media. A fire was burning hotly in the fireplace, and there must have been another in Luna’s bedroom proper, for as the ebony doors to Luna’s sleeping chambers were opened soundlessly, heat washed over Twilight.

This room was lit entirely with archaic tallow candles, which cast a flickering yellow glow over the dark room, while the roaring fireplace in the corner of the room added an angry, orange element. As it was during the day, Luna’s shutters were closed, and the room smelled of sickness and smoke so strongly Twilight felt her stomach rebel slightly.

There, on the black velvet bedding of an elegant ebony and silver four-poster bed, lay Princess Luna. But this was a Princess far removed from the intimidating and puissant figure of Nightmare Night. Her coat was sweaty and matted, her mane dim and starless, and she seemed to be stuck in some sort of nightmare, her face contracted in pain even as she slept.
Twilight approached cautiously, and found herself the focus of several sets of eyes. Up above, several Night Guards hung from the ceiling, while others around the walls regarded her suspiciously through slit-pupiled eyes. A fresh wave of stench brought Twilight’s attention back to Luna, and a Night Guard approached immediately with, Twilight was embarrassed to note, what seemed to be another bedpan. She stepped back out hurriedly, while Luna’s attendant performed his duty.

Back in the antechamber, Princess Celestia watched and spoke softly to the retreating Twilight. “She’s weakening,” Celestia said sadly, causing Twilight’s head to whip around. She had forgotten Celestia was there, in her worry over Princess Luna. “She’s normally so strong. Seeing her like this is... ” Celestia couldn’t finish her thought, instead settling for shaking her head.

Twilight cast her gaze back into the bedroom. “The doctors have no idea what it could be that’s causing this illness?”
Celestia sighed, her body sagging with the action. “None. The symptoms are so broad and indeterminate, they can’t pinpoint what it might be. She had been running a fever for a few days, but that wasn’t too worrisome. She was still performing her duties just fine.” She looked up to the floor. “Then she started having the headaches and seemed to be out of sorts for periods of time. Then, just last night, when she failed to wake up to raise the moon... ”

“I didn’t think it was this bad,” Twilight spoke softly, her voice barely above a whisper, yet still easy to hear in the relative silence of the antechamber. “About what you said in the letter... ”

Celestia expression changed, taking on a more serious look. She met Twilight’s eyes, and for a moment, she felt like the Sun Princess was peering into her very soul. “I feel that this illness may not be of natural cause.”

“You... you don’t think that somepony might have made Princess Luna ill intentionally, do you?” The last words were uncertain and sounded weak. “I mean, who would want to hurt her?”

“I have no certain answer to that question, Twilight. Sadly, the number of suspects is growing larger by the moment. Nopony is exempt from suspicion... even me and you.”

“You can’t be serious,” Twilight spoke, this time loud and clear. “Princess, you know I would never—”

Celestia looked pained, and was unable to meet Twilight’s gaze. “The investigation will have to prove that.”

“Princess, I swear that I would never, ever—”

“Twilight, please!” Celestia spoke, her voice shaken with stress. “I know. Believe me, I know. However, we cannot rule out anyone in this. It’s the way the justice system works. As I said, not even I am exempt from suspicion.”

Twilight shook her head slowly and turned towards Luna’s bedroom. “Then... what should I do?”

Celestia looked back to the bedroom where Luna lay. “What you do best, Twilight. Research. Investigate. Look into possible spells that could cause illnesses. Rare poisons that could be placed into foods. I would help, but I am afraid that I cannot leave Luna’s side.” She walked towards the doorway. “For once, I must be selfish, Twilight. I... I cannot bear to be away from Luna while she is like this.” She swallowed hard before continuing. “My personal staff are seeing to the day-to-day operations for now. Hopefully, that won’t be necessary for too long.”

“I... I’ll do all I can, Princess.”

“I know you will, Twilight,” Celestia whispered. “Thank you. You have complete access to the archives, and are open to questioning anypony who you think may have a connection to this. As a princess of Equestria, in times like these, you are given legal authority to conduct investigations relating to this case.”

“Do you have any idea where I could start?”

Celestia closed her eyes, a troubled look crossing her mind. “There... are some leads that I might have.”

“Leads?” inquired Twilight.

“Luna... received a dress recently from an anonymous admirer. While this isn’t uncommon, it was delivered about a week prior to her sudden illness.”

Twilight’s eyes widened. “You think someone might have done something to it? Enchanted it, or exposed it to some kind of poison or bacteria?” Twilight’s mind began racing. “It’s plausible. Not the most conventional means of poisoning, considering a dress isn’t normally inhaled... unless it was sprayed with perfume or something... ”

Celestia shook her head. “I’m not sure. I’ve had my guards seal it up and put it in a safe room for now. I would suggest wearing some safety gear before you look at it, though. I don’t want you to risk falling ill as well if this dress is indeed the reason behind Luna’s condition.”

Twilight nodded. “I brought along paper, quills, and several books on illnesses. I’ll get right on this, Princess... ” Twilight dug into her saddlebags, only to pause and frown. “Odd, I thought I packed some extra paper in here... ”

A sudden burst of light went off between the two alicorns. Twilight cried out in alarm while Celestia reeled back, nearly falling over. Several guards were in the room immediately, spears and swords in their teeth.
Celestia’s eyes blinked rapidly as she recovered from the blinding light. Her expression darkened as she lay her eyes on the source of the sudden chaos. “You... ”
“Oh, well hello to you, too, Celestia. Glad to see your sunny disposition hasn’t changed since we last talked.”

Twilight took a step back as her eyes fell upon none other than Discord. The draconequus was sipping a glass of what appeared to be orange juice through a silly straw, a pair of thick-rimmed sunglasses resting on his snout. He had a bored look about him, but what grabbed her attention the most was the bundle cradled in his other arm.

“Spike?” Twilight gasped. Her magic reached out and took the dragon from Discord. She examined the young dragon, who looked dazed, but otherwise fine. “What did you do to him?”
Discord turned to Twilight, then shrugged. “Beats me. I guess he’s not used to chaotic teleportation... ” He tapped his chin in thought. “Then again, we did end up in Horseshoe Bay for a few minutes.”

Twilight grimaced.“Not my fault,” Discord spoke, raising his arms in defense. “Teleporting is always weird for me this time of the year.”

Celestia stepped forward, her snout inches from Discord’s. “What are you doing here?” Her tone lacked any of its usual gentleness, and the temperature in the room rose noticeably.

“I’m here to help, isn’t it obvious?” Discord replied as he lowered his sunglasses to meet her gaze. “After all, Twilight is a friend of Fluttershy’s. A friend of Fluttershy’s is a friend of mine.”

“You want to help me?” Twilight asked, arching an eyebrow.

Discord nodded. “Luna’s always been more exciting than Celestia. It’d be a real bummer for me if she were to retire from her royal duties... ” He leaned in close to Twilight and whispered loudly. “Nighttime was so dull when Celestia was in charge. Even though I was a statue, I still had standards.”

Twilight pushed his head away. “Why should I trust you?”

“Because, Luna being ill stirs up chaos. I know chaos,” Discord answered simply while smiling. “I’m the best bet you’ve got to solving this.”

“Oh come on, it was priceless!” Discord said with another chuckle, as Twilight trotted through the streets of Canterlot with Spike bouncing on her back, who gave Discord wary looks from time to time. “You and Celestia had the most delightful expressions, you have to admit.” Discord’s presence had cleared the streets, as the usual inhabitants were prudent enough to give the spirit of chaos a wide berth.

“I still have to agree with Celestia. You’re up to something,” Twilight added with a frown. “Since when have you ever wanted to help anypony?”

Discord rolled his eyes at the alicorn. “Since Fluttershy, I believe.” He floated in front of Twilight as she continued her trek down the road into the residential districts. “So, about that dress... ?”

Twilight lifted a box up before him, sealed tight with several wards to contain whatever possible dangers lurked within. “Right here. I’m not going to take any chances until I get some answers first.” She looked over her shoulder to Spike. “Did you bring pack my saddlebags with those books from the archives”

Spike flashed her a smile and patted either bag on her side. “Yep, just like you asked.”

“Good work, Spike,” Twilight said with a proud smile. “I have to admit, for once Discord did something good by bringing you with him.”

“Right here, you know... ” Discord grumbled. He took the box in his own magic, and studied it with a scrutinous gaze. “Hm... so, this dress is what made Luna sick?”

“I’m not sure. We’re going to speak to the Royal Steward and see if she can tell us anything more about it.” Twilight took a turn down a side street, and began looking at address numbers. “Ah, here we are. Right, Spike, come with me. Discord, stay here, and don’t cause any trouble.”

“Yes, mother,” Discord sighed, pulling a paddle ball out of thin air and smacking it without so much as batting an eyelash. “Take your time.”

Twilight made her way up to the small, two story abode. She raised a hoof and knocked on the door several times. The door knob lit up with a faint, white glow, and an elderly unicorn stallion greeted Twilight.

His eyes widened upon taking in her appearance. “Princess Twilight Sparkle, I wasn’t expecting—”

“Mister Bright Duty, I have some questions for you, if you don’t mind,” Twilight cut him off. She saw him pale a bit, and softened her tone. “Forgive me, but... it’s in regards to this dress that was delivered to Princess Luna a few days ago.”

The elderly stallion studied the box floating in Twilight’s magic, eyes lighting up in recognition. “Ah, yes, I recall that dress being delivered to her Majesty no more than a week ago.” He nodded slowly. “I... let me think... it was dropped off by a pegasus. A mare, I believe.”

Twilight nodded. “Did you notice anything odd about the dress or the pony who delivered it?”

“The dress?" The steward asked in surprise, "No, no, completely harmless as far as I can tell. I put it through the standard poisons and curses detection procedure as soon as I received it.”

Twilight frowned, “Are these detection spells up to date?”

The stallion frowned as well, and Twilight sensed that she had crossed a line. “Your Highness, I assure you, my spells are routinely improved. I have the best minds in Canterlot advising me. After all, it’s for the Princesses’ safety.”

“Of course, forgive me. It’s... well... ” Twilight hesitated. “Princess Luna has been rather... ”

The stallion’s expression became worried. “Is something wrong with the princess?”

“Um... no, she’s just, it’s... ” Twilight trailed off, caught between trying to maintain a royal secret and what she's already said.

“Embarrassing?” The stallion asked knowingly, Twilight looked to Spike, who merely gave her a confused smile. “Good heavens, what has our Princess of the Night done this time?” the stallion sighed, chuckling a bit. “I hope she hasn’t done some foolhardy spell at one of her private parties again.”

“Yes,” Twilight replied, a relieved smile forming on her lips, though the solution brought its own bouquet of questions, “It’s a rather complicated matter.”

“My word,” Bright Duty chortled some more. “Well, do let me know if I can be of further assistance. While I don’t doubt her Highness’ wisdom, she can be a bit rash in her decisions sometimes.” He waved a hoof. “Right, well, I imagine you’ve got more important matters to attend to. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

“Yes, actually. You mentioned a pegasus mare had delivered the dress. What did she look like?”
Bright Duty nodded. “Oh, yes. Forgive me. It was actually Lady Rainbow Dash who delivered it. She seemed to be in a bit of a hurry, though, so I couldn’t really exchange any greetings with her.”

“Rainbow Dash?” Twilight shared a look with Spike. He seemed just as confused. “Are you sure?”

Bright Duty laughed. “It’s hard to mistake that mane for somepony else’s, your Majesty.”

Twilight suppressed a sigh. “I see, well, that will be all. Thank you again, Mister Bright Duty.”

“It was my pleasure, Princess Twilight." Bright Duty said with a bow, "Good luck in helping the princess.”

Spike and Twilight turned around, making their way back towards the street. “Well, at least we know now that the dress is sa—”

The two paused as their eyes took in the scene before them. Several moments of silence passed before Spike spoke softly. “Twilight... what... ?”

There stood Discord, decked out in the regal dress that had been intended for Luna. “Well?” He put a hand on his hip and batted his eyelashes. “What do you think?”

Twilight had no words. Discord frowned, and pulled gently at the hem of the skirt. “Oh, it’s the color, isn’t it?” He sighed deeply. “Blue never was my color. Neon orange seems to fit me better.” With a snap of his fingers, the blue ball gown had transformed into a hideous, bright orange. “There, now Sapphire Shores will die at the next Grand Galloping Gala when she lays eyes on my amazing—”

“Discord, turn it back, now,” Twilight demanded. “You’re ruining important evidence!”
“Alright, alright,” Discord grumbled. He snapped his fingers once more, the dress once more blue and no longer on him. He stashed it back into the box.

“How did you get that from her, anyway?” Spike asked. “She just showed it to the stewards a minute ago.”
Discord just shrugged. “You’re asking me? Heck, I don’t even know how I do the things I do half the time.” He cracked his knuckles and stared at the box with a rare look of seriousness. “So, the dress was nothing more than a red herring after all.” He folded his arms together and turned the box over a few times. “There’s no return address or anything on here, either. Sounds a might fishy if you ask me.”

Twilight sighed as the spirit of chaos produced a red herring and sniffed it before tossing it aside. “We did find out who delivered it, though.”

“That’s right,” Discord smirked. “Little Rainbow Dash playing courier? Seems a little strange, does it not?”

“You’re one to talk,” Twilight countered. “I still don’t know what your game is, but if you’re willing to help, fine.” She took the box containing the dress from him. “Come on, Spike, let’s get to the train station.”

“No need,” Discord said as he floated in front of her. “Why take a train when you can take... ” He slapped an engineer’s hat onto his head and picked the two up with his magic, “The Chaos Express!”

The two were plopped onto his back as he lifted off into the air, his body extending to at least three times its normal size. Twilight’s ears twitched. “Why do I hear music?”

Discord let out a loud chuckle. “Hold on, Atreyu!”

“Twilight, I want to get off,” Spike whimpered.

The music grew louder as the trio took to the air, Spike and Twilight hanging onto Discord’s mane tightly. “The Neverending Stoo~oory! The Neverending Stoo~oooory!” Discord sang, his pitch off with the tune. “Come on, you know the words!”

“T-the Neverending Story... ” Spike and Twilight whimpered as Canterlot became a distant speck on the mountainside.

As soon as Discord landed in Ponyville Square, Spike hopped off, kissing the ground repeatedly. Twilight took a few wobbly steps as she attempted to regain her bearings.

Discord stretched his back and limbs. “Well, wasn’t that fun?”

“I’m going to throw up... ” Twilight mumbled weakly.

Discord snorted out a laugh. “Oh, you’ll get over it. You just need to exercise your wings a bit more. As for our little dragon... ”

Spike was now shedding silent tears and hugging a rock.

“On second thought, I’m not going to go there... ” Discord said to himself. He instead helped Twilight steady herself and grinned. “Right, so, Rainbow Dash. All we need to do is find a tacky looking cloud house.”

Within minutes they spotted Rainbow Dash’s house, floating a little ways north of town. The trio made their way through town, Twilight barely registering anyone who greeted her. As the cloud house grew closer, Discord grunted in amusement.

“You have to wonder, how did she ever afford a rainbow waterfall. That must have cost her a small fortune.”

Twilight shook her head and flexed her wings, only to grumble as she failed to lift off the ground. With a sigh, she picked up Spike in her magic and teleported to the front of the cloud house.

Spike patted her on the back. “Don’t worry, Twi. You’ll fly one of these days.”

“I could have helped,” Discord added.

“No!” the two replied, eyes wide with fear.

Discord rolled his eyes and knocked on Rainbow’s cloud door.

“Yeah, yeah, just a sec’” came the voice of the pegasus within. A few seconds later, Rainbow Dash opened her door and took in the sight. “Twilight? Spike?” Her eyes widened for a moment, then narrowed as she glared at the draconequus. “Discord?”

“Hello, Miss Rainbow Dash, have you heard the word of Celestia yet?”

Rainbow Dash frowned. “No, what is it?”

“Murder!” Discord shouted.

“What?” Rainbow Dash reeled back. “W-what are you talking about?” She looked to Twilight. “Twi, what’s going on here?”

Twilight looked to Discord with a disapproving frown. He slumped and huffed. “Fine, spoil-sport. Ruin the fun.”

“Right,” Twilight began, returning her attention to her friend. “Rainbow Dash, something serious has happened to Princess Luna.”

“P-Princess Luna?” Rainbow Dash repeated. “What’s wrong? Is she alright?”

“No, I’m afraid she’s not alright,” Twilight looked around, as though expecting somepony to be eavesdropping. “Can... can we go inside and talk about this?”

“Sure,” Rainbow Dash took a step back, opening the door fully for the three to enter. “So, what’s wrong?”

“Rainbow Dash, were you in Canterlot recently?” Twilight asked, looking around.

“Um... ” Rainbow Dash’s ears flattened. “Yeah, I was.”

“Why?” Twilight asked carefully as she noted her friend's change in body language.

“I... I was visiting a friend.” Rainbow Dash said unconvincingly, looking away.

“A friend?” Twilight repeated. “Who?”

Rainbow Dash chuckled a little. “Oh, you know... a friend. You probably never met them.”

Spike tapped Twilight on the shoulder. She looked to him, and he just nodded.

“Rainbow Dash... we heard from the Royal Steward that you were seen in Canterlot Palace a few days ago, delivering a box addressed to Princess Luna.”

“What?” Rainbow Dash took a step back. “Yeah, well... well I was not! They have to be lying!”

“Rainbow Dash, please, just tell me what is going on.”

“I was not at the palace! Seriously, I am not—”

“Rainbow Dash, Princess Luna is deathly ill, and I need to find out why!” Twilight shouted.

It was so silent, one could have heard a pin drop. On a cloud.

A loud slurping broke the silence, and the two mares and dragon looked to see Discord drinking a glass of chocolate milk through a silly straw.

“Oh... ” Discord looked to his drink. “Don’t mind me. I was just thirsty.”

Twilight just glared at him, then looked back to Rainbow Dash. Her tone softened as she took in her friend’s appearance. The pegasus was now on the verge of tears. “Rainbow... please, what’s going on? Why were you in Canterlot? Really?”

“I... I can’t.”

Twilight reached out with a hoof. “Why not?”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “I just can’t.”

“Rainbow Dash, right now, you’re suspected of attempting to poison the princess. I don’t want to believe it was you who has made her ill, but... ”

For a long time, there was silence, then Rainbow spoke softly, looking down at her hooves, “I got a note at work the other day,” Rainbow began. “It had no idea who gave it to me, but it said there was a package I had to deliver to the palace. I didn’t think anything of it, I mean... there was no name or anything. Besides, I’m not a delivery pony!” She frowned. “Then... then I saw an envelope attached to the package. I opened it. It had a picture of Gilda and I, back when we were in Junior Speedsters camp together... when I pulled it out... ” Rainbow’s voice cracked on the last word, and she took a shaky breath. “W-when I pulled it out, the picture fell apart. Somepony ripped it in half, right through Gilda and I.”

“Rainbow... ” Twilight whispered as her friend began to sob. “Oh my gosh, why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“I was scared, Twi!” Rainbow Dash answered. “I thought somepony was going to... going to do something awful to Gilda and... I know she was a jerk the last time I saw her, but, she’s still... ” She broke down at that point, crying openly before her friend. “I just didn’t know what else to do!”

While Twilight comforted her friend, Spike looked to Discord and made a shooing motion with his hand. For a moment, it looked like Discord was going to object. Spike pointed to Rainbow Dash, then mouthed the words ‘Out’ to him.

Discord shrugged, and left the house without a word.

Rainbow Dash must have noticed, since she gave Spike a small smile. “Thanks, Spike... ”

“No problem,” Spike said softly. “So... do you know anything else about that package? What time you found it? Anything suspicious?”

“Nothing,” Rainbow replied. “Though, Applejack told me something weird the other day.”

“She did?” Twilight took a step back from Rainbow Dash. “What did she say?”

“Something about someone stealing a lot apples from her in the middle of the night. I mean like, a few bushels of them. I don’t know the details, she was busy with setting up her stand. She looked pretty bothered by it, though. I asked her about it, but she wouldn’t say anything else.”

“A few bushels?” Twilight shook her head. “And Applejack hasn’t done anything about it?”

“Like I said, weird,” Rainbow Dash added with a nod. “You think she would have chased them down and hogtied them or something.”

Well, it was something, and right now, Twilight needed any clues she could find. If this was a part of some crime spree in Equestria, she wouldn’t rest until she had gotten to the bottom of it.

“Thank you, Rainbow Dash. I promise I’ll figure out who is behind all this. We found out that dress was nothing harmful, but we had no other leads to go off of.” Twilight gave her friend a quick hug. “I’m sorry if I scared you at all.”

“No, it’s alright. I understand.” Rainbow sniffled a bit. “Just... let me know when you find out who hurt the princess.”

“I’ll will. Hopefully I can figure this all out before too long.”

“I know you will,” Rainbow said with a smile, wiping away a few tears. “Nopony is smarter than you, Twi.”

Twilight’s smile grew. “Thanks.”

Twilight, Spike, and Discord sat at the small cafe near town square, taking a break for a quick lunch. Discord looked rather annoyed, seeing as he had to settle for hay fries and a daisy sandwich, since the cafe was “fresh out” of exploding banana cream pies.

“Horrible service if I ever saw it,” Discord mumbled while twirling a glass of tea with his finger. “So, Applejack, huh? Never took her to be the kind to attempt regicide.”

“Discord!” Twilight hissed, looking around. She settled down when she noticed no one had heard his comment. “Be careful with what you’re saying! We don’t want anypony to panic!”

“Yes, yes, you ponies are quite prone to that already. I’ll stop for now.” He leaned back in his chair and literally zipped his lips shut.

“So... what are we going to do, Twilight?” Spike asked. “Rainbow didn’t sound like she was behind anything.”

“No, she didn’t. I suppose our next move will be to talk with Applejack.”

“You... you don’t really think she did it, do you, Twilight?”

Twilight shook her head, “I’m not saying she did, Spike, but we have to talk to her.” Twilight frowned and looked over in the direction of the orchard, “There’s a lot of weird things going on, and I can’t shake this feeling... like they’re all connected somehow.”

Sweet Apple Acres was particularly beautiful that summer. The scent of apple blossoms drifted on the breeze as Twilight trotted up the road with Spike on her back, and Discord floating beside her, playing solitaire perpendicular to the ground, in complete defiance of physics. “I wish you wouldn’t do that,” Twilight said irritably to Discord, “It unnerves everypony we walk past,”

“Well, maybe they should broaden their horizons then,” Discord said primly, with a smirk at the annoyed alicorn, “It’s not my fault if they’re simply too narrow to appreciate a bit of fun.”

“Well it wasn’t fun when that physicist fell over in a faint,” Twilight returned. It had been quite a scene, and Twilight had had to stop the town from dissolving into hysterics with some calm explanations.

“Oh have it your way Captain,” Discord said, snapping the cards away, before replacing them with a set of dominoes. He proceeded to play against himself, on a table that was also perpendicular to the ground. He remained entirely oblivious to Twilight’s frustrated groans, or the annoyed and amused look he received from Spike.

As they arrived on Sweet Apple Acres, a rhythmic thudding noise drew them towards a familiar orange pony. Applejack looked exhausted, much as she had very early on in their friendship when she had refused help from anypony. Yet she still stubbornly kept kicking trees, filling baskets, looking frustrated, at least until she caught sight of Twilight. “Twilight!” Applejack called, lowering her hoof from giving another kick to a tree that, Twilight silently noted, was absolutely devoid of apples already.

She walked up to Twilight, and caught sight of Spike and Discord. “Mighty good t’see you too Spike,” the farmer said warmly to the little dragon, ignoring Discord for the moment, “Looks like you’ve grown a bit even,” Applejack said, while Spike grinned, straightening slightly. “But what brings y’all out here?”

Twilight’s smile dimmed, “Well, that’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about. Can we go inside?”

Applejack grimaced, “Ah really should get back to work, we’ve got a lot of apples to buck, and out of season too.”

Twilight nodded, “I know, it looks like you’re really busy here, but this is really important Applejack.”

Applejack sighed and nodded, “Alright, come on then,” Applejack led the trio back to the house, where she washed the worst of the sweat off in the rain barrel. To the side, Twilight noticed another barrel marked with a rather ominous skull and crossed-bones.

“Applejack,” Twilight said slowly, “What’s that?”

“Huh?” Applejack said, flipping her mane back out of her eyes and putting her hat back on. She looked over at where Twilight was pointing, “Oh, that’s some pesticide, you know, for them varmints that can’t be reasoned with nice-like.” At Twilight’s surprised look, Applejack went on, “You know, like ants, wasps, beetles, that sort of thing... Ah never do it when Fluttershy’s around, she’d probably talk them inta going elsewhere,” Applejack admitted, “But they gen’rally come back, and we’ve got a farm to run here.”

“I understand,” Twilight said seriously, “But it seems dangerous,”

“Oh a bit,” Applejack said as she led the trio inside the house, “But we manage. ‘sides, we’re really careful out here, ain’t never had an incident. Now,” Applejack said as they walked into the dining room. “What’s so urgent then?”

“Oh not much,” Discord put in over Twilight’s attempt to speak, “Just you know, fate of Equestria in the balance, danger and intrigue, boring things like that.” He looked at his nails as if excessively interested in them, “You’d think you ponies would have gotten used to it by now, but every time there’s a little disturbance, you all get so bent out of shape.”

At Applejack’s alarmed expression, Twilight clarified, “We think Princess Luna has been poisoned, or given some sort of disease.”

“What?!” Applejack burst out, “Princess Luna poisoned?! Or sick?! Of all the... who coulda done such a thing like that?”

“That’s what we’re trying to find out, Applejack,” Twilight said soothingly, “but we’ve only got one lead, and that ended in a dead-end,” she ignored Discord’s bark of laughter at the rather grim and unintended pun, “So we’re asking around about any strange things that have happened.”

The way Applejack’s open face solidified into unhelpfulness at that set off alarms in Twilight’s head. Still, she tried, “Have you... had anything weird happen lately on the farm?”

“Ah can’t help.” Applejack said flatly, looking away.

“Can’t?” Spike asked curiously, baffled, “Why not?”

“Don’t ask me that Spike,” Applejack said flatly, while Discord politely gave Spike a golf-clap, “Ah can’t tell you anythin’ about anythin’, so drop it.”

“But the Princess is in danger!” Twilight put in urgently, “Anything you say could-”

“Ah said no!” Applejack said, standing abruptly, looking angrily at Twilight, “Now if you’ll excuse me,” Applejack said, lowering her hat to blot out Twilight’s gaze, “Ah’ve got some apples to buck. You can let yerselves out whenever you like.” Twilight winced as the door slammed, while Spike just goggled at where Applejack had been standing.

For a few moments, the three just sat there in the Apple family kitchen, listening to the clock tick. Twilight was completely at a loss, and shocked at her friend’s reaction. She rose from the table, prompting Spike to look up and Discord to look over from where he was turning the numbers on the clock around backwards.

“I’m going to go talk to her again,” Twilight said firmly, “I don’t know what it is that’s got her so worried, but I’m going to find out.” A soft sound made her turn, and Twilight caught sight of Applebloom looking around the corner, her eyes wide and unusually anxious.

“Twilight... ” Applebloom said a little shakily, “Ah need to show ya something. An’... an’ Applejack doesn’t have to know.”

Twilight, more than a little alarmed, nodded and turned to Spike, “Keep him out of trouble,” she said with another nod to Discord, who was starting to fiddle with the clock more intensely. Spike saluted, and tugged on Discord’s tail meaningfully, distracting the chaotic visitor sufficiently to break him off from his project.

Applebloom led Twilight out of the house, around the back, to a small shed surrounded in carpentry tools. The door was unlocked, as most of the doors were on the Apple family farm, and when Twilight opened the door, wood shavings swirled around her hooves. The shed was dark, as it was little more than a space to store tools. Everything was perfectly organized, and generally clean aside from some sawdust here and there.

Every tool had a place, some of them quite sharp and alarming, but Twilight’s gaze was drawn to the chisels. They ran the gamut from small, detail chisels for shaping small pieces up to large blocks of sharp metal that were used for splitting logs. But in the middle, one chisel was missing. Twilight assumed it was being used, but it seemed eerily out of place, and Applebloom distracted her from her musings. She tugged gently on Twilight’s mane and pointed to a shrouded, door-shaped object against the back wall, where it was illuminated by a thin shaft of light peeking through the slats on the shed.

“That was my door,” Applebloom said quietly, biting her lip a little and looking around, “And... well just look, Twilight.”

Twilight, a little puzzled, took the shroud off the door with her telekinesis in a single motion. As she saw the door itself though, her heart stopped in her chest, and the shroud fell to the floor.

There, in the middle of the otherwise solid and serviceable door was a message carved clearly and neatly in the wood...

Silence is golden.

“That’s why ah can’t tell you anythin,” a tired voice behind Twilight said wearily, “Ah just can’t.” Twilight turned, and there was Applejack, framed in the doorway. Applebloom was nowhere to be found. “Ah shouldn’t have even told Rainbow about the apples, but that was before ah found that. So don’t ask me about it Twi, just don’t.”

Twilight bit her lip, but nodded and walked towards her friend. She gave Applejack a quick hug, surprising the conflicted farmer, “We’ll fix this,” she said softly, “You’ll see.”

“Ah just... ” Applejack swallowed hard, and nodded slowly. “Thank ya, Twilight. For... y’know... ”

Twilight shook her head slowly. “Why would somepony steal your apples and make such a threat?” She spoke softly. “Applejack, is there anypony that you might have upset that would do such a thing?”

“No. Ah... ” Applejack frowned. “Landsakes, Twilight, I ain’t never done wrong by anypony intentionally, you know that!” Apple Bloom had since walked up beside her older sister. Applejack had wrapped a foreleg around her, holding her close to her side. “First Sugarcube Corner’s kitchen caught fire, and now this... ”

“What?” Twilight started. “When did that happen?” Twilight asked. “How did I not know about it?”

“Oh... ” Applejack sighed deeply. “Shucks, it wasn’t anything too serious. Pinkie was takin’ care of an order when one of the stovetops caught fire. She sounded a little spooked by the whole thing, too. Something about the order going missin’ after she put the fire.”

Looks like Twilight had another stop to make. “Thanks for telling me what you could, Applejack.” She gave both of the two sisters a small smile. “I’ll make sure whoever did this is brought to justice when we find them. I promise.”

“So, we have an apple thief with a knack for leaving threatening messages on doors... ” Discord stroked his goatee while humming in thought. “Yeesh, makes you wonder if the Pear family in Fillydelphia has it in for the Apples or something.”

“There’s a Pear family?” Spike asked, following behind Twilight as they made their way back into Ponyville.

“Of course. They’re actually distant relatives of the Apples, but the two had a bitter split about two hundred years ago when there was a disagreement on which fruit made for a better cobbler. Needless to say, the Apples did better in business since the split.”

Spike narrowed his eyes. “You’re lying.”

Discord shrugged. “I thought it made for a good story.”

“Quit fooling around, you two,” Twilight said. “Things have just gotten more serious. Now we have someone threatening my friend’s little sister. The sooner we figure all this out, the sooner everyone can stop worrying.”

“What would anypony want with a bunch of apples, anyway? How many did Rainbow Dash say they stole? A bushel? Two bushels?”

“It sounded like a bit more than that, but there’s no way of knowing for certain. Applejack might know, but we can’t ask her.”

“We can’t?” Spike cocked his head to the side. “Why not?”

“It’s... I can’t say, Spike.”

Spike frowned. “Twilight... ”

“Spike, trust me on this one. It’s for the best.”

Discord rolled his eyes. “Hmph. Sounds like somepony’s keeping a secret from the rest of the investigation team.”

“For the record,” Twilight began, whirling around to face the draconequus, “you, Discord, have been more problematic than helpful so far! What’s the point of offering your ‘help’ when all you do is cause trouble?”

Discord frowned. “Well... ” He leaned forward and lowered his neck so that he was eye to eye with Twilight. “For starters, I visited Fluttershy yesterday. She had some rather unpleasant news to share.”

Twilight’s ears drooped. “Fluttershy, too?”

Discord nodded. “It was part of the reason I showed up in Canterlot, really. I figured you would be as good a pony as any to go to for help.”

“What happened? Is she alright?”

“Physically?” Discord waved a hand. “Yes. Mentally, though? She was pretty shaken.” He stood back up to his full height and floated ahead. Twilight and Spike followed by his side as he continued. “She told me that she saw somepony stealing a few toads from the creek near her house a few days ago. She called out to them and told them to let the toads go.”

“Toads?” Twilight’s muzzle scrunched up. “What would they want with toads?”

“No clue,” Discord replied. “All I know is that the pony told Fluttershy if she tried to stop them, she would be losing more than a few toads next time.” The expression on Discord’s face was grim, not a trace of humor to be seen.

“Why... but... ” Spike shook his head. “Who would want to do something like that to Fluttershy?”

As the trio of investigators approached Fluttershy’s cottage, Twilight immediately noticed something was wrong. No animals were running around outside, no birds were flying in and out of the window. It almost looked like Fluttershy wasn’t home at all, but there was smoke rising from the chimney.

“I wonder what’s up?” Spike asked, once he had noticed. Even Discord seemed subdued by the sight, which was something of a calendar event. He had been busily rolling his eyes over his body, attempting juggling tricks of varying levels of difficulty until they had come in sight of the cottage. His usual mildly amused smirk was dampened, and there was an intensity about him that was quietly disturbing.

“I don’t know,” Twilight said honestly, her tone laced with worry as she sped up her pace, “But this looks bad.”

Twilight and the others approached the cottage urgently, where the silence was the most noticeable. Fluttershy’s cottage was usually a happy anarchy of birds, mice and other creatures moving and squeaking around as the amiable yellow pegasus cared for them. Now the building was a sad shell of its usual welcoming self.

Twilight approached and knocked, while Discord floated nearby, and Spike sat silently upon her back. There was no answer for a moment, then just as Twilight was about to knock again, the door pulled open, revealing a very disheveled Fluttershy.

From the redness around the yellow mare’s eyes, it looked like she’d been crying, though she smiled at the group, “O-Oh hi Twilight, Spike, Discord... It’s g-good to see you all, um... ” Fluttershy trailed off, breaking her eye contact, “I, um... I’m k-kind of busy so... ”

“Fluttershy,” Twilight said gently, “Can we come in?” Fluttershy looked like she’d like to say no, as a flicker of fear danced behind her eyes, but she stepped aside to let the group into her house.

Fluttershy’s cottage was usually full of sound; everywhere there were creatures squeaking, chittering, chirping or otherwise making noises as they scuttled, flapped, slithered and fluttered through the house. Now, however, the house was empty, aside from one very distressed pegasus and a rabbit who looked entirely too cross to leave.

Angel, as per usual, gave Twilight and the others (especially Discord) a very annoyed look, as if they had interrupted something incredibly vital. But this time, there was a little glimmer of worry in the bunny’s usually irascible countenance. “Hi, Angel,” Spike said warmly, breaking the tension in the room, “What’s up?”

The words seemed to break something in Fluttershy, who just started sobbing. “What did I say?” Spike asked in bewilderment, while Discord and Twilight rushed over to Fluttershy, who continued to cry as her friends moved over to comfort her. Twilight, who was mildly surprised to see Discord genuinely distressed, held and comforted her friend for several minutes until the pegasus sniffled and choked back the last of her tears.

“I-I’m sorry e-everypony,” Fluttershy said weakly, “I just... I couldn’t... ” Her voice broke again, “I couldn’t keep them... I had to send them all away and, oh Twilight, I just don’t know what to do!” Bewildered and concerned, Twilight held her friend, while Discord sat nearby, his expression unreadable.

“So Fluttershy went and sent her little animals away,” Discord said with a rather more somber tone in his voice, “But why? I know those toads were taken, but honestly, was the threat that serious?”

Fluttershy bit back some tears, sniffing, and nodded her head sharply, “A-after that... after the toads w-were kidnapped... I... I wanted to find you and tell you, but... ” She shuddered and released a sob, “I found... I found the chicken coop outside my cottage destroyed earlier today.”

“Oh no,” Twilight gasped. “Were the chickens okay?”

“Yes,” Fluttershy sighed weakly. “I knew it wasn’t safe for my animal friends to be here anymore, so... so I had to send them all away.”

At that point, Angel hopped onto her lap and patted her gently. Fluttershy scooped him up into her forelegs and held him close.

“Why would anyone want to steal toads?” Spike asked quietly. “I mean... can’t you get like... warts and stuff from them?”

“Oh no, that’s not true at all,” Fluttershy spoke, her tone a little less sad for a moment. “But you should always wash your hooves after handling a toad. They have glands on their skin that secrete chemicals that can cause irritation to the skin or eyes... but... those toads... ” Fluttershy frowned. “They’re such good little toads, but they were Equestrian Bogskin Toads. Their poison glands have a very strong toxin in them.”

“How strong?” Twilight inquired.

“Um... well, I’ve never thought to try... but I know a full grown bear can get sick from trying to eat one.” Fluttershy frowned. “Poor Harry was sick for weeks.”

“How many toads were taken, Fluttershy?”

“All of them. Probably... ten of them? Maybe more? I know one of the females just had some tadpoles earlier this spring, but they grow up so fast,” Fluttershy whimpered, her mood dropping once more. “O-oh, I hope they’re okay. Honestly, they... they never tried to hurt anypony. I-I don’t know why somepony would steal a poor little animal.”

Twilight rubbed her chin with a hoof. “So... we’ve got a supposedly harmless dress, a lot of apples... and now toads... ”

“Huh?” Fluttershy quirked an eyebrow.

Twilight shook her head. “Fluttershy, there’s been some strange things going on around Ponyville lately. I think whoever stole your toads might be connected to the other events I’ve heard about.”

“It’s nothing bad, is it?”

Twilight wasn’t sure if telling the already distraught pegasus about Princess Luna’s condition was a good idea. She bit her lip, then looked to Spike and Discord.

The draconequus seemed to get the hint. “Hopefully, no. We’re still trying to figure everything out, Fluttershy dear.” He placed a lion’s paw over her shoulders. “For now, just worry about taking care of yourself and Angel.” He produced a cup of chamomile tea, still steaming, and a plate of cookies. “I’ll be sure to stop by again soon.”

Fluttershy gave him a weak smile. “Oh, Discord, thank you.” She pulled him in with her forelegs and hugged him briefly. “You’re such a good friend.”

Discord’s cheeks reddened as Twilight and Spike watched the scene with grinning expressions.

“O-okay, okay, enough,” Discord said, though his attempts to free himself from her embrace were half-hearted at best. Eventually, she did let go, a smile now on her face. “Um... stay safe, okay? Don’t worry, Twilight and I—”

“Ahem?”

“... and Spike will straighten things out. You’ll see.”

Fluttershy nodded. “Thank you. I think Angel and I will be alright for now. Just please be careful, okay? I don’t know what somepony wanted with those toads, but I don’t think they had any good intentions.”

“Well, good intentions or not, they destroyed your chicken coop. I’m not about let anypony get away with that,” Twilight said, a look of determination on her face. “Come on, boys, we have some work to do.”

“Aye aye, Princess,” Discord said with a mock salute.

Spike waved farewell to Fluttershy, and the trio made their way out of the cottage, heading down the road leading back to Ponyville.

“I don’t like this,” Twilight thought aloud. “Stealing apples is one thing, but toads? Very poisonous toads, at that?”

“What are you thinking, Twilight?” Spike asked as he caught up to her and Discord.

“I’m not certain, yet. I need more information. Looks like we’ll need to do some research at the library. I’ll make a checklist of materials to look up, and we can split the workload between the three of us. Right, we’re going to need—”

“Twilight! Twilight!”

The trio looked up at the sound of a young voice. Not too far ahead of them was a familiar orange and purple blur accompanied by a distinct buzzing sound. The blur came to a screeching halt in front of Twilight, panting heavily and dripping with sweat.

“Scootaloo?” Twilight asked. “What has you in such a rush?”

“I... just... talked to... ” the young pegasus filly took in a few deep breaths of air before continuing. “... Sweetie Belle. She... was... .really upset about something.” She pulled off her helmet and shook her mane a bit, beads of sweat flying off. “I was trying to find you. I stopped by and talked to Apple Bloom, and she said you’re doing some kind of detective work. She saw you heading this way, so I thought maybe you were going to talk to Fluttershy.”

Twilight glanced over to Spike and Discord, who shrugged in response. “What’s wrong with Sweetie Belle?”

Scootaloo looked down and bit her lip. “I... can’t say.”

Twilight suppressed a frustrated groan. “Why not?”

“It’s... Sweetie Belle made me promise not to tell,” Scootaloo fidgeted a bit. “Apple Bloom and Applejack have been acting funny, too.” She looked up to Twilight and frowned. “Do you know what’s going on, Twilight?”

Twilight walked forward, stretching a wing and placing it over Scootaloo. “Not yet. I think we’re getting close to something, though.”

“So... will you go and see if you can talk to Sweetie Belle and Rarity? I’m really worried... she hardly talked to me. Rarity wasn’t much better. She was really irritated, and looked angry about something. She was pretty grumpy when she asked me to leave.”

“That doesn’t sound too out of the ordinary for her... ” Discord commented offhandedly.

“Hey!” Spike snapped.

“Knock it off, you two.” Twilight warned. She met Scootaloo’s gaze once more, and could see the worry in the little filly’s eyes. “I’ll do what I can, Scootaloo.”

“Thanks, Twilight,” Scootaloo said. “Well, I gotta get going. I have some homework I got to get finished for tomorrow.”

With that, Scootaloo slapped her helmet back on and buzzed off towards Ponyville.

“Do all pegasus foals’ wings buzz like that?” Discord asked.

“Not sure, but it does work as an early warning to get off the road,” Spike replied.

Twilight shook her head at the two, and continued onward, trying her best to stave off the encroaching headache that was starting to form along her temples. All of her friends seemed to be suffering from some misfortune or problem of some sort. That, along with Luna’s current condition, was creating a rather frustrating day so far for Twilight Sparkle.

“So, what do we know so far?” She asked aloud.

“Um... ” Spike ticked off his claws. “Princess Luna’s really sick. Somepony sent her a dress with no return address on the box. Let’s see... somepony took a lot of apples from Sweet Apple Acres... ”

And left a threatening message on Apple Bloom’s door... Twilight added silently.

“Somepony has a thing for toad-napping,” Discord continued. “Pinkie Pie had a bakery mishap, and apparently Rarity and her little sister are hiding something that even pegasus fillies can pick up on.”

“None of it adds up to anything, though. I feel like we’re just going on some sort of wild goose chase,” Twilight groaned. “Ugh, this would be so much easier if Princess Celestia could help us.”

“Yes, because Ms. Sunshine has the answers to everything,” Discord grumbled. “Look, for all we know, Luna just caught a really nasty virus, and the doctors are just too simple-minded to realize it.”

“I highly doubt that a group of Equestria’s best doctors were unable to pick up something like a virus.”

“Alright, fine, let’s assume the doctors are right, and that it’s not something Luna just picked up from a bathroom sink. What is it, then?” The draconequus floated before Twilight, his arms folded. “My hunch is that we’ll find the answer in town, here. That dress wasn’t the culprit, but I feel like it’s still got some answers for us.”

Twilight’s horn lit up, and she summoned the box with the dress in it out of thin air. “You think so? I mean, it was scanned thoroughly for anything that could harm Princess Luna. What else could we possibly get from this that we don’t already know?”

“Think, Twilight... who knows more about dresses than anyone else you know?”

Twilight paused. Discord’s lips curled into a smirk as her eyes widened, and the answer hit her like a brick wall.

“I am such an idiot sometimes... ” she grumbled.

The trip back into town brought the trio of investigators past Sugarcube Corner. She hadn’t stopped by the place when she had initially arrived to Ponyville, seeing as it was on the other side of town for her, but her trip to Carousel Boutique revealed just how much damage the kitchen fire had done.

Ponies were hauling new building materials into the confectionery. Both Carrot Cake and Cupcake were standing at the entrance to their store, downcast expressions marring their features.

“Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Cake,” Twilight greeted with a sad smile.

“Oh,” Cup Cake looked to the alicorn and sighed deeply. “Hello, Twilight.”

“I heard about the fire from Applejack.” Twilight frowned as she watched the repair ponies make their way indoors. “It sounds like it was taken care of before most of the kitchen was damaged. Still, I’m really sorry that it happened.”

“We’re just glad nopony was hurt. Pinkie Pie managed to get the fire put out before it did too much damage. We... we should have the shop up and running, good as new, within a week or two at most,” Carrot Cake replied.

“Is Pinkie here right now?”

“Oh, sorry, Twilight." Cup Cake said with another worried look towards the bakery, "She took the twins with her to the park. I think she needed to take her mind off of everything that happened.” Cup Cake shook her head. “She keeps blaming herself, but these things happen, you know? We’re just happy she wasn’t hurt.”

“Well, let her know I said hello, will you?” Twilight said with a nod. “If you need anything from me or Spike, let us know.”

“Oh, sure, ignore the guy who could probably fix this mess with a snap of his fingers... ” Discord groused as they made their way through town towards Rarity’s house.

As Carousel Boutique came into view, Twilight could already tell something was amiss. Usually there was a sign in the front that bid welcome to customers, declaring the fashionista’s establishment open for business. Even during her busiest times, Rarity had always maintained an ‘open door’ policy.

Now, however, there was a white piece of paper taped to the door with the words, ‘Closed until further notice. Sorry for the inconvenience.’

Even Spike seemed to notice the red flag before him. “Whoa, Scootaloo never said it was this bad.”

“What are you talking about?” Discord asked.

“The only time I’ve ever seen Rarity put up a closed sign was when one time when she made these really... uh... ” Spike paused. “... well, she made some dresses that weren’t... really her best work. One of the big names in Equestrian fashion saw them during a show she put on, and... he didn’t like them.”

“Ohhh,” Discord chuckled. “Fluttershy told me about that time. I think she had a bird’s nest in her mane.”

“That’s only the tip of the iceberg,” Spike chuckled, while Twilight strode up to the door and knocked politely.

After a few moments of no answer, Twilight knocked again and called out, “Rarity! Rarity it’s me, I need to talk to you!”

“I didn’t know your name was ‘me’ Twilight,” Discord said with his usual smugness, “How very minimalist of you.”

Twilight ignored him while Spike tried not to laugh, and she called out again, “Rarity! Open the door!” Much to her surprise, the door was wrenched open and she was dragged inside.

Carousel Boutique was a mess, in more than the usual creative fashion when a deadline was looming. When usually the mess of Rarity’s art was confined to her work room, now bolts of fabric were strewn about. Dresses were askew on their hangars, and everywhere there were various dressmaking tools scattered about, from tape measures and scissors to pin cushions and sewing needles.

“Hm, you know, looking at this place is giving me inspiration. I better take notes... ” He snapped his fingers, producing a large, frilly, pink feathered quill and a notebook small enough to fit in his palm. “Idea number four hundred thousand twenty-one: turn entire town into yarn. Sic a litter of giant kittens on said town.” He chortled to himself and made the quill and notebook disappear. “Hah, I’ll save that one for a rainy day.”

Twilight shook her head and tried not to think of what the spirit of chaos was implying, instead focusing on her friend standing before her. “Hello, Rarity. Um... ” She took in the unicorn before her and paused. Rarity’s mane was a mess of stray curls and split ends. The bags under her eyes were a telltale sign that she had not slept for at least a day.

“I’m dreadful, aren’t I?” Rarity sighed despairingly. “Oh, I do apologize for the mess, Twilight. It’s... ” She bit her hoof and looked around the boutique before continuing. “... s-some rather unpleasant things have happened recently, and as you can see, it’s been affecting me greatly. I... it... I can’t really talk about it.”

Spike was by her side immediately. “Do you want me to make you some tea? Maybe a nice bowl of oats? I could clean up for you, if you want!”

Rarity spared a moment to give Spike an exhausted, if not appreciative, smile. “That’s quite kind of you, Spikey-wikey. If you wouldn’t mind being a dear, I could do with a nice cup of tea.” She looked to the floor and added solemnly. “Celestia knows my frazzled nerves need it.”

Spike gave her a quick salute and made his way towards the kitchen. Rarity returned her attention to Twilight, then cast her gaze to Discord. “Twilight... may I ask what he is doing here?”

Twilight gave her a sympathetic look. “He’s helping me.”

Discord was now decked in an outfit that would have fit the classic Equestrian detective, Sherclop Holmes. He placed a large pipe in his mouth, and began blowing bubbles. “Hmmm. Indubitably.”

Rarity let out a frustrated snort from her nose. “Well, you had best behave, or I’ll be sure to inform Fluttershy of any misconduct.”

Discord pulled a magnifying glass out of thin air and leaned in towards her. “So, Rarity. What exactly has been bothering you so much that you would be forced to create this wonderful scene of chaos before us?”

Rarity’s frustration seemed to drain out of her all at once, being replaced with a more timid, apprehensive look. “I... ” She once more glanced around the room. “I don’t know if it would be in the best interests of Sweetie Belle and I to discuss that.”

“Rarity,” Twilight began softly. “A lot of odd things have been happening in Ponyville as of late, and to be honest, some of it is scaring me. I don’t think I would be lying either if I were to say that they may be linked to Princess Luna being ill, either.”

“The princess is ill? My word, how dreadful. Oh, I hope she doesn’t have anything serious.”

“I’m afraid it is, Rarity. None of the doctors Celestia called for could draw a conclusion on the cause, and... to be honest, I suspect that there was some foul play involved.” Twilight’s expression hardened. “As of right now, Princess Luna is in limbo between life and death.”

Rarity’s eyes widened, and she slumped to the floor. “I... I had no idea it was... oh, and Princess Celestia must... ” Rarity closed her eyes. “To have something happen to your younger sister... ” The corners of her eyes began to leak tears. “I-it’s not something an older sister ever wants to endure.” She looked back up to Twilight and spoke. “Is... do you have any idea what may be the cause of it, Twilight? Surely there’s a way to help Princess Luna, is there not?”

Twilight simply shook her head. “I have more questions than answers right now, Rarity. That’s why I want to talk to you.” She studied Rarity for a moment, then spoke. “You’ve been crying, haven’t you?”

“W-what?” Rarity looked up. “Crying?”

“Rarity... what happened? Something must have... made you so stressed out.”

Rarity closed her eyes, and Twilight gasped when a thin trail of tears began to run down her cheeks. “It... it has to do with Sweetie Belle.”

“Sweetie Belle?” Twilight repeated as a chill ran down her spine. “Why her?”

“I wish I knew. I-I really do. It’s just... ” Rarity shook her head. “I can’t say.”

“Rarity, please, talk to me. I’m your friend. I have the authority to investigate whatever has been going on around Ponyville. If somepony did something—”

“I... I was asked to do a dress. An anonymous commission. They’re not too uncommon, some ponies prefer to not draw attention to themselves, and... and a lady never pries.” She wiped her eyes. “I found a box of very specific crystals and fabrics to use on my front porch with a bag containing... a very healthy sum of bits in it. They had given me instructions, design sketches, and even measurements. Whoever commissioned this dress very well could have done it my themself, but I always appreciate business. Still, I was curious about who would request such a dress and give such a large amount of money for it. I would never have charged what they gave, but... ”

Twilight watched as Rarity rubbed her temples with either of her front hooves. “So, what happened?”

“Well,” Rarity began slowly. “I had finished the dress a few days ago, just like the letter had asked me to. Considering the payment amount, I was more than happy to put aside my own projects for the time being. So, I had the dress ready, and was waiting for somepony to pick it up, just like the letter had also stated... ” Her voice drifted off at this point.

“Rarity... ?” Twilight spoke softly.

“I... don’t know what happened, but I assume somepony must have snuck into my boutique and knocked me out,” She said, pausing as Twilight gasped softly and Discord raised an eyebrow. “I awoke later that day with a pounding headache, a large lump on the back of my head,” Rarity parted her mane to reveal a red bump on her head about the size of a chicken egg, “and... and of course, the first thing I did was call out for my sister. She had been upstairs, and I feared the worse when I heard no reply. S-so... so I ran upstairs, and... and when I got to her bedroom, I... ” Rarity hiccuped as tears began to run down her cheeks once more. “I-I found my little sister t-tied up, crying, wearing a blindfold with a sock stuffed in her mouth with a note taped to it.”

Twilight gasped, and both of Discord’s eyebrows shot up, where they stuck to the ceiling, “She... what? Oh my gosh, w-was she hurt?” Twilight asked, her own voice shaking now with deep concern.

“Aside from some marks from the rope, no, thank the stars.” Rarity sniffled, then shivered as she continued, “The note, though... ”

“What... what did it say?” Twilight dared ask, caught up in her friend’s story.

Rarity swallowed hard to clear her throat of sobs, took a deep breath to steady her nerves, and looked to the ground as she spoke, her voice even and emotionless. “It said, ‘Curiosity killed the cat.’”

Twilight’s eyes widened and her jaw went slack. “That... oh Rarity, that’s awful! Oh my goodness... ” Twilight pulled her friend in for a hug, “I’m so sorry... ”

Rarity let out a few shaky sobs as she whispered. “Tw-Twilight, I’m so scared. The dress was gone, and Sweetie Belle’s room was destroyed. I... I asked her who did that to her, but she said she never saw. They must have restrained her and got the blindfold on her when she wasn’t looking. I... she must have been so scared, too. She doesn’t remember much. It’s like she’s just blocking it all out... ”

Twilight continued to hold her friend close. “Rarity, I’m so sorry... I imagine that’s the reason you haven’t said anything yet?”

Rarity nodded. “If anything happened to Sweetie Belle... I... I don’t want to even think about it... ”

“Nopony should have to go through such a thing... ” Twilight glanced towards the stairs leading up to the bedrooms, her face covered in concern. “How is she?”

“Sleeping, thankfully.” Rarity responded, as the tremor left her voice gradually, “The poor dear has been such a wreck; she was afraid to sleep for the longest time, but she just became so exhausted she simply could not stay up any longer.” She shook her head slowly. “I’m just thankful that it’s summer. I cannot imagine having to come up with a reason to give Cheerilee to explain her absence from school.”

“I’m glad she’s able to get some rest... though, I take it you haven’t, have you?”

“No, I haven’t. I probably won’t for a long while, either.”
Twilight let go of her friend and took a step back. She produced the box with the dress with a flash of her magic, setting it down in front of her unicorn friend. “I know you’ve been through a lot, Rarity, but I need your help. Hopefully this will lead me to figuring out some answers regarding Princess Luna. Can you tell me anything in particular about this dress?”

Rarity blinked, confused, and opened the box up. She lifted the dress up before her with the usual reverence she had for any fine piece of clothing. She gazed at the dress with haunted eyes. “This was for Princess Luna, wasn’t it?”

It was Twilight’s turn to be confused. “How did you know?”

“Because, darling, this is that very same dress that I was commissioned to make not too long ago.” She set the dress back into the box. “I suspected it was for some nobility, but... never for Princess Luna of all ponies. The design, while rather beautiful, if I do say so myself, held no indication of being for royalty.”

“Well... it was supposedly dropped off from Ponyville. There was no address on the box, though. Whoever did this didn’t want to leave any trail.”

“Yes, I must admit though, that dress in particular was unique because of the crystals.” Rarity noted. “They’re from the Crystal Empire. Jewelry from the Crystal Empire is said to be crafted by the best gemstone artisans in the land.”

“Whoever did this has a bottomless coin purse,” Discord noted, his expression once more serious, or at least as serious as he could look while sporting a bubble pipe. “Looks like we underestimated our red herring, Twilight.”

Twilight sighed and nodded, “It looks like it,” She rubbed her head as Discord’s eyebrows fluttered down from the ceiling to alight upon his eyes once more. “It’s one more clue but how-”

“Twilight!” Rarity called suddenly, her voice caught between excitement and astonishment. Twilight looked over to see Rarity holding up the dress once more in her telekinetic grasp. Rarity thrust the dress towards Twilight, “Twilight, darling, look!” Twilight stared at the dress, nonplussed. It was a lovely, elegant dress, studded with gems and crystals, the largest of which weighed down the fringe of the garment slightly. At Twilight’s continued incomprehension, Rarity added impatiently, “The gems!” Twilight’s gaze slid across the gems obligingly, but even as she started to wonder what Rarity was getting at, her attention was snagged by one of the largest crystals.

The large, green crystal sparkled with light, but a strange imperfection seemed out-of-place in the otherwise flawless gem. “I think... ” Rarity said quietly as she searched for something, “Aha!” Twilight jumped as a small chisel wrapped in Rarity’s magical glow stuck in a hidden gap between two parts of the gem quite suddenly, chipping the edge slightly with its speed.

To Twilight’s astonishment, the crystal separated into two distinct parts: a top and a bottom, while inside a perfectly concealed compartment was revealed, empty, but extremely ominous.

“What do we have here?” Discord inquired as he peeked over Twilight’s shoulder. “The crystal was a fake?”

Rarity frowned at the draconequus, clearly insulted by the question. “Discord, honestly, do you think I’d let something like a gaudy fake get past my eye?” She inspected the gem further with her eye and nodded to herself. “This gem was hollowed out. I’ve heard of this sort of practice with gems and crystals, but I’ve never done anything like it myself.”

“Why would anypony want to hollow out... ?” Twilight’s eyes widened. “Unless they had intended to put something inside the crystal.” She inspected the dress further, now finding numerous other crystals with similar imperfections. “This... the whole dress is covered with these hollowed out crystals.”

“I’ve heard of nobles using hollowed out crystals to store things within them. Bits most of the time, sometimes small dress and beauty accessories that they don’t want to bother with carrying in a bag.” Rarity lifted her nose in distaste. “Personally, I find the practice to be horrid. It completely destroys the natural beauty and appearance of the crystal.”

Twilight glanced down at the green crystal that Rarity had first shown her. However, he gaze slowly drifted over to the tool she had used. It was a chisel, about six to eight inches in length from the handle to the flat, sharpened, steel tip. The wooden handle was scratched and nicked from years of use, but the steel half looked as though it was still brand new. Clearly, Rarity took care in preserving...

Wait a moment...

Twilight’s mind drifted back to earlier that day. A wooden shed on Sweet Apple Acres. A small wooden shelf, lined with numerous sized chisels. Small ones for detail work. Large ones for splitting apart pieces of wood.

A single space in the middle of the vast array of chisels left empty.

A little filly’s door, with a threatening message carved on it.

Twilight took in a slow breath. “I didn’t know you used chisels for dressmaking, Rarity.” Twilight tried her best to look innocent and curious as she lifted up the chisel. “Good thing you had this lying around. We might have never been able to open up that crystal.”

Rarity blinked, then laughed. “Oh, that old thing? Yes, as... ugly... as it is, it was one of my first tools I ever bought when I started using gemstones in my work.” She took the chisel from Twilight with her magic and set it off to the side. “The thing is almost as old as Sweetie Belle, I imagine, but it’s still in pristine condition. Quite impressive if I do say so myself. After all, chiseling and shaping gems is hardly gentle work.”

Twilight nodded in agreement. “Right, I can imagine.” She suppressed a sigh of relief. Good. She should have known as much. Of course Rarity would have some chiseling tools around here: she worked with gems and the like nearly all the time.

“Tea’s ready!” Spike announced as he returned to the main room. In one claw he balanced a tray of tea, in another he held a cup of sugar.

“Oh, thank you, Spike.” She gave him a gentle pat on the head with her hoof. “Such a noble little dragon.” She lifted the cup of tea up and dropped in two spoonfuls of sugar and stirred. “So... Twilight... is there anything else I can help you with?” Her voice was subdued once more. “Do you think that... that whoever did... this,” She waved a hoof at the dress and the surrounding boutique. “Do you think that they might be connected with Princess Luna’s condition?”

“Hard to say, but I think we’re definitely on the right path to finding out now.” Twilight folded the dress back up and placed it in the box. “Thank you so much for all the help, Rarity.” She glanced up to the stairs leading to her and her sister’s bedrooms once more. “Will you two be alright?”

“Yes, I... I think we will,” Rarity answered with a heavy sigh. Her exhaustion caught up to her once more. “I will continue to be strong for her. The poor dear... I... ” Rarity set down her tea and gave Twilight what could only be seen as a desperate look. “Please... Twilight... please find whoever did this. I don’t want to have to live in constant fear for my sister’s well-being. She... she means the world to me... ”

“Something’s wrong with Sweetie Belle?” Spike asked, worry laced in his words. “W-what’s wrong?”

“We’ll talk about that later, Spike,” Twilight answered as she gave Rarity a reassuring look. “Come on, boys, we have some research to do.”

“Thank you, Twilight,” Rarity whispered. “If... if there’s anything else I can do, please don’t hesitate to ask for me.”

“Thank you, Rarity. I think I can handle it from here, though.”

With that, Twilight, Spike, and Discord made their way out of the boutique and headed straight for Golden Oaks Library.

Twilight had a lot of topics to look into, and the sooner she got her research done, the sooner she could put all these problems to rest.

Attempted Murder, She Wrote

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It had been almost two hours since Twilight had left Rarity’s boutique. She had wasted no time in starting her research, and now had a rather comprehensive list of things to work off of. First and foremost was a list of symptoms that she had seen or been told that Luna experienced with her mysterious illness: headaches, fever, drowsiness, vomiting, and loss of hair (her mane did look a bit thin, Twilight recalled).

Spike had initially brought her their largest book on medical problems and illnesses. The book had given her several possible answers, but then she recalled Celestia telling her that even the best doctors in all of Equestria were unable to pinpoint the problem. Twilight was smart, but she was an expert on magic. Not medicine.

Twilight frowned as she wracked her brain over the possible causes. Disease was still a possibility. Germs and viruses mutated all the time, after all. Still, she suspected Luna to be a rather hardy pony. Celestia had said it herself: Luna was a strong individual. So, there was a chance that this wasn’t a disease.

“Spike, can you make us some dinner?” Twilight asked, peeking up from her notes. She took a look at the clock on the wall. Seven in the evening.

Spike nodded. “Sure thing, Twi. Anything in particular?”

Twilight shook her head. “I’ll trust your judgement.”

Spike gave a mock salute and headed into the kitchen. As soon as she was sure he was out of earshot, she turned to Discord. “Discord… can you find me the book on A Pony’s Guide to Poisons and Effective Remedies?”

The draconequus looked up from his card game and raised an eyebrow. His tail saw his bet and raised a second. “So that’s why you wanted Spike out of here, huh?” Discord folded and sighed as his tail collected his one eyebrow, giving him a permanently quirked expression.

Twilight sighed. “Spike’s always been smart for his age. I... maybe I’m just being silly, but I’d rather not expose him to the idea of attempted murder through poisoning.”

Discord was quiet after that, but gave her a nod of understanding. He snapped his fingers, and the book Twilight had asked for plopped down in front of her. She opened it up with a bit of reluctance, and jumped back as the book shot spring-loaded snakes in her face. “Sorry,” Discord said somewhat-believably, “Old habits, and that.” Twilight sighed, and began to scan through the pages.

After about a half hour of reading through toad poisons, she had, much to her surprise, come to the conclusion that Luna was not poisoned by toads. As far as she understood, Equestrian Bogskin toads were highly toxic, but their toxin was especially known for causing hallucinations,vomiting, spasms, salivation, shallow breathing, and cardiac arrest. Luna’s heart, as far as she knew, was fine. She never had any spasm attacks, and she hadn’t been drooling. While she had been breathing rather weakly, lots of poisons and illnesses resulted in weak breathing, so she couldn’t count on that being the defining symptom. Luna had also been experiencing headaches and mild confusion, but a toxin-induced hallucinations and mild disorientation were two very different things.

So, that was a tentative no on Fluttershy’s toads. Twilight continued to take notes though, and started to compile a list of symptoms to compare to Princess Luna’s. Spike returned with dinner about an hour later, but she barely tasted it, she was so absorbed in her research. Discord, to his credit, kept Spike far too occupied with pranks around the library for the little dragon to look too closely at what Twilight was researching.

She was dimly aware that Spike was at times shouting at Discord, but when she reached the section on forms of food poisoning, Twilight became so absorbed it faded to mere background noise. The tome it was particularly old and difficult to read, but one passage in particular caught Twilight’s attention:

Thus it woulde bee unwise to partake too much of the apple, for its seeds doth contain a deadly compound. This compound forms in the stomache a deadly toxin, known as the Acide Pegsic. Yet it is not only the apple which beareth this unwholesome burden, but also the almonde, the peach and some more exotic fruits.

Cross-referencing with more modern texts connected the dots to a poison that made Twilight’s heart skip a beat.

“Cyanide,” she whispered in disbelief as she pored over the medical textbook she was researching. One of the faster acting poisons, at least when taken in appropriate amounts. Long story short, it cut off your body’s ability to transport oxygen. If enough was taken by an individual death would be almost instantaneous, if extremely painful.

“Um, Twilight?”

The alicorn let out a yelp as a gentle claw tapped her on the shoulder. She spun around to see Spike staring at her with concern in his eyes.

He also had a fairly large mustache beneath his snout, which lessened the effect of the look he was giving her.

“Oh, Spike... sorry, I was just really into this reading here.” She put on her best smile. “What’s with the mustache?”

“Discord,” Spike said, nodding towards the draconequus who was currently stacking up a pile of books into a scaled-down model of the Canterlot Palace towers.

“He had it coming,” Discord commented as he placed a book on the entomology on the stack. “He said my beard made me look old.”

“Not even going to comment,” Twilight said with a sigh. “What’s the matter, Spike?”

“Um,” Spike stared at the medical books strewn out before Twilight. “So... you think it’s poisoning?”

She almost said ‘no’, but stopped herself. Spike was smart, even for a dragon his age. He wasn’t as naive as he led others to believe, and could usually look past her clutter when she was heavy in her research and point out a detail that she had overlooked when gathering facts.

“Yes, Spike, there is a strong possibility that Princess Luna was... poisoned. I... I don’t like to think somepony would do such a thing, but—”

Spike turned to his side and handed her a book. “I... might have been doing a little research while you weren’t looking.” He smiled sheepishly behind his mustache. “Sorry.”

He opened the book up to a page on poisons. Twilight frowned, though it was mostly due to the fact that he was studying such a grim topic without her knowledge.

“In all due fairness, Twilight, you’ve been studying for almost five hours now,” Discord added as he placed a bust of Celestia at the top of a particular stack of books. “The little guy didn’t want to say anything since you were so engrossed in that dribble.” He waved a hand at the books before turning the bust of Celestia upside-down and nodding in satisfaction.

“Spike... ” Twilight began, her tone a mixture of warning and curiosity. “What did you find out?”

“W-well,” Spike fidgeted under her gaze. “I saw the list of symptoms Princess Luna had, and... well, I sort’ve looked for similar stuff in this book.” He paused before adding quietly, “We got a lot of books on poisons, by the way. Kind of creepy.”

Twilight read over the page, her eyes stopping on the words at the top of the page.

Arsenic.

“Thank you, Spike,” Twilight said while taking the book from him. “I think I’ll take over from here, though.”

“I can help, Twilight! Honest, it’s not any—”

“No,” Twilight said with finality. “I... if there’s really somepony behind something like... like poisoning or threatening my friends... I don’t want you getting caught up in it any more than this.” She turned to meet his gaze after setting down the book. “Understood?”

“But... ”

“Understood?” She said, her words cutting through any argument he was about to give.

“I... ” the dragon frowned, but nodded slowly.

“Good,” She pulled him with a wing and held him close. “Equestria knows what I’d do if something were to happen to you.”

“Aw, I’m not helpless, Twi. I mean, come on, remember that time we saved Rarity from those diamond dogs? Or that time we had to deal with those dragons?”

“Yes, but I also distinctly remember that the girls and I were there with you both times,” she countered. “Now, judging from the clock it is way past your bedtime, mister.”

Spike let out a huff and folded his arms. “Is not.”

“Is so, Spike.” She giggled as she picked him up with her magic. “Discord, would you be so kind as to help my little assistant to bed for me?”

“Hm?” Discord turned away from his now eleven foot high stack of books. “Oh, sure. Come, Spike, slumber-land awaits.” He clapped his hands twice, and Spike was suddenly dressed in a nightcap and a nightgown. Discord gave him a discerning look. “Ah, almost forgot.”

A glass of warm milk and a candlestick appeared in either of Spike’s claws. Spike gave the draconequus a peeved look. “What gives, Discord?”

“Ah ah, beddy-bye times for Spikey-wikey.” He snapped a finger, and Spike was lifted from Twilight’s magical grip. He was pulled into Discord’s arms briefly, but managed to escape before the draconequus could tickle his chin and complete the indignity of the situation. Still, he followed Discord as the spirit of disharmony made his way up the stairs, but argued the whole way.

As they left, Twilight mused over the page on arsenic. It was a horrible poison to knowingly use on another pony, as the symptoms, while they did lead to death, did so in an exceptionally messy and prolonged fashion. Usually it was encountered in groundwater, in unfiltered wells and the like. It was also sometimes found in metal work, but since Luna almost certainly didn’t work at a foundry, it could most likely be ruled out.

The most likely factor was food or water, then, and there were those empty gems in the dress to consider. Besides, even if the symptoms were currently leaning more towards arsenic, that didn’t mean it was something that horrible. Twilight organized her notes again, and continued to research long into the night.

“... light... ! Twi... ”

Twilight grumbled to herself. Somepony was yelling, and it was rather annoying.

“Twilight Sparkle, somepony rearranged the nonfiction section and replaced all the old history books with volumes of Daring Do novels!”

“What?!”

Twilight bolted up from her chair and looking around frantically. When her eyes rested on Spike, only to see him giving her an apologetic smile, she frowned deeply. “That’s not funny, Spike!”

“I know, but... you were sleeping really heavily. I mean... you were even drooling on the table.”

“I was not!” Twilight countered automatically. She glanced at the table and ignored the small puddle near the edge of the wooden surface. “What time is it?”

“Seven o’clock in the morning,” Spike answered.

“Where’s Discord?”

“Making ‘breakfast’,” the dragon answered, thumbing towards the kitchen. “I left him alone after he started cackling to himself. He was pouring an entire can of coffee beans and that old jar of molasses we always kept in the back of the pantry into a bowl. It kind of creeped me out a little.”

Twilight yawned as she looked to the various stacks of notes she had taken the night before. “I’ll have to look over my notes again, but... I think I got it narrowed down to two possibilities.” She lifted up a large roll of parchment she had labeled ‘Arsenic’ and another labeled ‘Cyanide’. “Princess Luna’s symptoms are similar to the ones related to these two.”

Spike shifted in place a bit. “So... we’re going to be able to help Princess Luna get better, right?”

“I hope so, Spike. We just need a little more evidence first.”

“Like what? We know the two possible poisons, what else is there to know before giving her an antidote?”

“For starters,” Twilight began, “I need to know the source of the poisoning. Food and water are two likely factors, but there’s always the possibility of something weird that could have made her sick.”

“So... what do we do, then?”

“We go back to Canterlot. We investigate all the different places that Princess Luna goes throughout the day. If we find anything odd, we make observations.”

It was at that point that Discord came floating out of the kitchen with a large cooking pot full of something black, syrupy, and smelling foul yet sweet.

“Ugh, what is that?” Twilight asked in disgust, holding a hoof over her snout.

Discord gave her an offended look. “This, my uncouth princess, is my famous Coffee Jambalaya.”

Twilight noticed bits of vegetables and rice floating within the black muck. Her stomach rebelled a bit at the sight. “I... guh, is that edible?”

“Yes,” Discord replied, only to take another look at the dish. “Probably... ” A frown formed at the corners of his lips. “... actually, you two might want to make yourself some cereal or something.”

After a large bowl of frosted oats and a glass of orange juice, Twilight organized her notes into separate stacks and tucked them into her saddle bags. “Right, that should be everything. Let’s see... extra quills... ink... extra ink for more notes... a quill in case I forget my extra quills... a copy of Common Remedies for Obscure Poisons... parchment... some apples... the dress... field notes on the Bogskin Toad, documented by the late Professor Cypress... ”

“Wow, you weren’t kidding about her tediousness... ” Discord commented to the dragon beside him. “She usually has a checklist, too?”

“Yes,” was all Spike would say, shaking his head slowly.

About two minutes later, Twilight had gone through her saddlebags, satisfied with having everything she needed. “Alright, I think that should do it.” She glanced at the clock on her wall.
Seven thirty-five in the morning. Plenty of time to get some investigation work done today.
“Ready?” Twilight asked.

“I was ready five minutes ago,” Spike grumbled.

“Oh stop it, Spike. We have to be sure we have everything we need for this. It’s important, after all,” she chided lightly, making her way towards the front door of the library.

“That won’t be necessary, Twilight.”

The alicorn turned to look towards Discord, who was once more wearing his engineer’s cap with the words ‘Chaos Express’ on the front.

“N-no, that’s quite alright, Discord. I can manage to get us a chariot to fly us to Canterlo-aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!”

“Reach the stars, fly a fantasy~y! Dream a dream, and what you see will be~e~e~” Discord began singing.

Twilight and Spike had, once again, found themselves on the back of Discord as he sailed through the early morning skies of Ponyville. Both were simply thankful that nopony was awake to see them.

Discord looked over his shoulder, giving the two an expectant look.

“R-rhyme that keep their secrets... will unfold behind the clouds... and there upon the rainbow, is the answer to a neverending story... ” the two sang out, both equally shocked and mortified by the fact they somehow knew the lyrics to the song Discord was singing.

“Aah~aaah~aaahahhhh!” Discord continued.

“Story~” Spike and Twilight replied.

“Aaaaah~aaah~aaaah!” Discord belted out happily as they flew through a puffy cumulus.

Twilight had never been more eager to get to Canterlot in her entire life.

“... and that is how Bastian saved the world of Fantasia!” Discord stated proudly as he settled down at the entrance to Canterlot palace. Spike and Twilight hopped off, a mixture of confusion and wonderment in their eyes.

Spike was the first to snap out of his daze, and looked to a clock tower nearby.

Eight o’clock in the morning.

“Twilight, how did only that much time pass between Ponyville and—?”

“Just... don’t ask, Spike. Please,” Twilight groaned.

“Sounds like somepony needs to work on their imagination a little more,” Discord snickered as he floated alongside Twilight.

“Not. Another. Word,” Twilight ground out. “Come on, let’s go speak to Princess Celestia and let her know what we found out so far.”

Ten minutes later and some explanations to the few guards present in the halls of the castle, the trio made their way through the double doors of the Canterlot throne room. Celestia could be seen on the far end of the hall, and even from a distance Twilight could see telltale signs of exhaustion and worry in the Princess of the Sun’s posture.

Upon looking up from a roll of parchment, Celestia’s eyes brightened, if only a little. She smiled as she got up from her throne, meeting Twilight halfway and giving her a nuzzle. “Twilight, I’m so happy to see you. The guards informed me of your visit just moments ago, and said you had some important news to share.” Her smile faded. “I can only imagine this news is a mixed blessing, isn’t it?”

Twilight nodded. “I did some research and followed a few leads from the dress. It... I’m not sure how else to say this, Princess, but I fear Princess Luna has been poisoned.”

Celestia’s eyes closed and she let out a soft sigh, her shoulders slumping as she did so. “I thought as much. It would explain a few things. Luna’s always been a rather healthy mare. Even when she was ill, she never was this bad... ” Celestia’s gaze fell to the stuffed saddlebags on Twilight’s back. “You’ve been quite busy, I see.”

“You don’t even know the half of it,” Spike added. “I helped a bit, too!”

Celestia’s smile returned as she lowered her head to give Spike a loving nuzzle. “I thank you for ever bit of help you could give, Spike. This means more than you can possibly imagine to me.”

Spike’s cheeks reddened, but he also stood a bit straighter, proud to have received praise from the princess.

“Ahem?” The three looked to see Discord, arms folded and an annoyed expression on his features.

“Discord helped as well,” Twilight added. “At least, he did in his own way.”

“I’m sure,” Celestia said, her voice a mixture of amusement and sympathy. “So, what have you found out, then, aside from it being poison?” she asked.

Twilight pulled out her notes from her saddlebags and presented them to Celestia. The princess began scanning through them, her expression becoming more serious with every passing moment.

It had been almost five minutes before she had returned the notes to Twilight. Her eyes were laden with worry now. “While I’m glad you’ve found the likely poisons, Twilight... I’m also terrified by them. Arsenic? Cyanide?” She let out a shaky breath as she whispered the last two words. “I never thought it would be anything this serious.”

“I agree.” Twilight floated two papers before her. “Both have relatively similar symptoms, but they can change depending on how much is taken into the body and for how long a period of time.” She shook her head. “I’m almost positive that these two are the likely sources, as bad as it sounds.”

Celestia could only nod. “Arsenic, Cyanide... I thought we were past all this,” Celestia muttered softly, before she brought her attention back to Twilight, “What do you propose we do, then?”

Twilight stuffed her notes back into her saddlebags. “I’ll be running chemical tests on anything and everything that might be a likely source for poison in Luna’s room... if that’s alright.”

“Of course,” Celestia replied. “Anything that can help save Luna.”

“Good,” Twilight gave her former teacher a smile. “I... also need to borrow the castle’s laboratory, if you don’t mind... and three lab coats and sets of goggles.”

Discord and Spike shared looks with each other.

“Is she going into science mode?” the draconequus asked with a mildly interested look.

Spike sighed deeply. “Hope you’re ready. It’s going to be a long day.”

“Alright, one more time, Spike. From the beginning.” Twilight said patiently. She was clad in a long laboratory coat, complete with a name tag, and a set of industrial-strength goggles. Its voluminous pockets contained enough note pads, pens and pencils for her to conduct her research in the depths of the Royal Laboratory.

The room was of ancient design, having been made when alchemy was still very much in fashion. Now of course the ancient alembics and arcane glass monstrosities that had dominated the room centuries before gave way to advanced scientific equipment. Still, something about the room simply oozed ‘mad science’, and Twilight frequently found herself restraining the urge to cackle, despite the serious circumstances.

The baby dragon sighed. “Twilight, we’ve read over the list—”

“Spike! Please,” Twilight said with restrained frustration, while Discord continued to prod some of the older equipment out of boredom. He entertained himself while Twilight was working by making the unnecessary equipment perform bizarre tricks. His rendition of popular music on the oscilloscope was particularly irritating, but Twilight soldiered on regardless.

Spike suppressed a groan, instead looking over the list before him. “Fine, fine. Here’s a list of the things we tested from Princess Luna’s quarters: the water pipes, the food in her personal pantry, her makeup kits, her shampoos and soaps, her perfumes, her bedsheets—both used and cleaned,” Spike squinted as he scanned further down the list. “We’ve tested fabric from her gowns and formal wear, fabric from her casual wear, medicine from her bathroom, heck, we even tested the polish for her shoes!”

“It’s all a part of the scientific process, Spike,” Twilight defended as she studied her notes from all the testing she had conducted over the past couple of hours.

“I really don’t think we needed to test her clothes,” Spike said with a long-suffering look as he lugged yet another bag of testing material away, “I mean, didn’t you say this stuff is usually ingested?”

“Usually, Spike” Twilight said primly, “But we have to be sure! Why don’t we run the test again, with sample 22-A?” Spike groaned, but grabbed the sample bag, which looked to be some sort of waxy substance. “Thank you Spike,” Twilight said consolingly as her number one assistant deposited the bag before her. Twilight scraped some of the substance out of the bag artfully with a little burst of telekinesis and deposited it in the test tube. She applied the first test, for cyanide, which came up negative, then continued to apply its various derivatives.

Twilight didn’t really think Luna was eating her candles, but she felt it was important to test every possible vector for the poison. As she started the arsenic tests, Twilight reflected on the bizarre nature of the crime. Nopony was poisoned anymore, that was the sort of thing for mystery novels or amateur writing.

She was so caught up in wondering about the whole premise of the poisoning, that she was taken by surprise when Spike tugged on her sleeve. “Hey,” he said curiously, “It’s never done that before, what does it mean?” Twilight turned her attention back to the test tube, in which metallic arsenic grinned at her through the glass. She blinked at it, and looked back to her book. Sure enough, the one test she had thought would never have come up positive had done so in sample 22-A.

Twilight checked her clipboard thoroughly, tearing pages off in her haste to locate the identity of the sample. When she found it, she ran up the stairs, out of the Royal Laboratory, until she found the nearest Guard. She shook the poor stallion and shouted at him, “Get me a candle snuffer!”

“I... y-yes, at once, your Highness!” the guard replied, making his way down the corridor, likely to fetch the tool Twilight had requested.

“Oh! Oh!” Discord said as he appeared by her side in a burst of light. “I call candle snuffing first!” He clapped his hands together giddily. “Can I, Twilight? Please?”

“Fine! Go ahead!” Twilight said with a dismissive wave as she continued down the hallway, making her way towards Princess Luna’s chambers.The Night Guards standing at the door didn’t budge as she made her way towards them. If anything, they stood taller and grimaced harder.

“I need to get in to Princess Luna’s chambers this instant! It’s important!”

Their gazes hardened.

Twilight grit her teeth. While she admired their dedication to Luna, their stubbornness was also making Twilight’s job of helping Luna harder to accomplish.

She hated using her status, but desperate times called for desperate measures. “I, Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria, demand that you let me through this instant!” She met their grimaces with one of her own. “Do not make this more difficult than it is! Princess Luna’s health and safety is at stake!”

For a moment they did nothing. However, much to her surprise, they stepped aside, giving her a large enough gap to walk through. She gave them a curt thanks and walked through the chambers, counting the candles that were lit throughout the Princess of the Night’s quarters.

At least two dozen or so tallow candles were spread out through the entirety of Luna’s chambers. Spread out enough to avoid casting too much light in one area, but enough so that anypony could see where they were walking without tripping over anything.
Then it sunk in. The poisoning. Every breath she took of the candle-smoke laden air sent a chill down her spine.

To think she’s been breathing it in this whole time... no wonder she’s in such horrible shape.

As soon as the guard she had spoken to arrived, she took the candle snuffer and handed it to Discord, who had been uncharacteristically quiet after her little stare-down with the Night Guards. “Try to make as little smoke as possible, if you can.”

Discord gave a salute, and began to snuff out each of Luna’s tallow candles with grace and relatively little smoke.

“Twilight?”

Turning around towards the entrance, Twilight was met with a winded Spike, a distraught Celestia, and about a dozen guards standing outside in the hall.

“Princess, I found the source of the poisoning!” Twilight said as she hefted up one of the unlit candles with her magic. “The tallow wax of the candles is laced with heavy amounts of arsenic!”

There was a general murmur from the guards as Celestia’s expression slid from confusion to shock. “I... Twilight, are you certain of this?” Celestia asked urgently, her look of shock fading into concern.

“One hundred percent.” Twilight replied, shifting her goggles up absently when they threatened to descend across her eyes, “Spike and I have been running tests on almost everything in Princess Luna’s quarters.”

“Even the contents of her sock drawer,” Discord added offhandedly as he snuffed out the last of the candles. He took great joy in the act, and occasionally paused to give a small eulogy for the flames. Twilight would have liked it if he had simply proceeded with as much alacrity as he could muster, but she restrained herself and let him go about it in his own time.

“Candles... I suppose that would explain why this poisoning took so long,” Celestia said slowly. “Arsenic poisoning does take some time if the amounts are small.”

Twilight sighed. “Still, to think it would be done through candles... poisoning her through the very air she breathes.”

“Impressive that you would think to check the candles,” spoke one of the Night Guards. His tone was neutral, though Twilight could hear the unspoken suspicion in his words. Twilight could feel the nocturnal guardian’s disbelief, “Perhaps it was not mere research that led you to the discovery, but-”

“I can assure you that I’m just as surprised by this,” Twilight replied hotly, incensed at the implications of the guard, “I never put in half-effort when it comes to my research, and I would have absolutely no reason to wish something this horrible on anypony, let alone-”

“Well,” Celestia put in firmly, cutting in between the two with a firm glare at the guard, who looked away. “We know how the poison was introduced to my sister. Now we just need to find out who is responsible for this.” She gave Twilight a hopeful look, while the Night Guards nearby listened and watched intently. “Do you have any leads on that, Twilight?”

Twilight frowned. “Sadly, no. But, I can probably find some answers to that easily enough.” She straightened up a little as she continued. “I need any paperwork regarding orders to goods mailed to Princess Luna, specifically these candles. I can only imagine whoever was responsible for getting the candles to her had a part in this."

Celestia gave one of the guards to her left an expectant look. The stallion straightened up slightly and gave a quick salute. “At once, your Highnesses.”

As the stallion made his way down the corridor, Celestia walked into the darkened chambers of her sister. “Candles, laced with arsenic. Horrible, but rather ingenious.”

Discord put out the last candle, made some odd gestures with a hand, and placed down the snuffer. “Once upon a time she used to hate having any light in her sleeping quarters, if I remember correctly.” He smirked. “Ironic how somepony’s suggestion about creating ambience would lead to this, no?”

Celestia shot Discord a glare that would have burned lesser creatures instantaneously. “Do not start with me, Discord.”
“I’m simply saying, it’s rather ironic.” He waved a hand at her. “Well, I think I’ll go get some sleep in the meantime.” He cast his gaze to Twilight for a moment. “I’ll catch up with you later, Twilight. Ta ta for now.”

With a flash of light, Discord vanished. Celestia let out a long breath, her body visibly relaxing. She shook her head and looked to the room where Luna was sleeping.

“Princess?” Twilight approached her former mentor, worry laced in her words.

“Ah... sorry, Twilight," Celestia said with a sigh, "Discord always had a way of getting under my skin with his words. I... I suppose it’s my own fault for letting it get to me.”

“That still doesn’t excuse him for being so insensitive,” Twilight countered. “I will admit, he was a bit of a help at times, but honestly, he was a distraction most of the time. It’s like... like he just came along to annoy me.”

“I dunno, Twi. He seemed alright to me... most of the time,” Spike argued. “I mean, he’s better than he used to be, at least. He’s not trying to turn Ponyville into the new Chaos Capital or anything like that this time... ”

“Even so, he still has no right to... to... ” Twilight failed to suppress a yawn. “Excuse me. I guess I’m still kind of tired.”

Celestia smiled a little, “Perhaps you should get some sleep, then.”

“Oh, no," Twilight protested, "I couldn’t possibly sleep when we still—”

“Twilight,” Celestia interrupted gently. “You may have very well saved Luna’s life. I’m sure you have earned a bit of rest. Please, if not for me and Luna, then for your own sake.”

Twilight looked taken aback, “B-but, the candle orders! I need to find out where they were from and—”

Celestia placed a wing over Twilight’s shoulder. “I think I can take over the detective work, at least for a little while. I’ll compile a list of the information and let you look it over afterwards, alright?”

“I... well, I guess if you insist... ” Twilight yawned once more, this time without even bothering to hide it. “Spike, you tired at all?”

The dragon shrugged. “I could always go for a nap. Sure.”

“Your old bedroom should still be furnished for you to sleep in. If you have any problems, just ask one of the guards,” Celestia spoke. “Also, Twilight?”

The younger alicorn found herself pulled in tight with a wing, a slender foreleg wrapping around her. “P-Princess?”

“Thank you,” Celestia whispered, her voice hitching only slightly. “Th-thank you, a thousand times over... for helping me... for helping Luna. I... I didn’t know who else I could turn to,” She chuckled weakly. “It seems whenever there’s a crisis, you are the one who ends up protecting Equestria in the end. You’re already proving to be worthy of your title, Twilight.” She squeezed a little tighter around Twilight. “Thank you,Twilight Sparkle.”

A warmth spread throughout Twilight as she felt a smile tugging at her lips. “I know you would have done the same for me if I was in your situation.” She looked up to see Celestia holding back tears. “I’m just glad I was able to help.”
Celestia gave Twilight a proud smile. “You truly are a wonderful pony, Twilight.”

Twilight’s cheeks reddened. “Oh, I’m just doing my job... ”

“Twilight?”

“Mmm... .” Twilight mumbled incoherently as her mind edged back from the abyss of unconsciousness.

“Twilight... ?” Spike tried again, poking Twilight with a tentative claw. Twilight could be unpredictable in the mornings, but he knew he had to keep trying.

Twilight rolled over sleepily, grumbling, “Nngh, ten more minutes. I promise, mom, just ten more minutes... ”

Spike sighed, “Come on, Twilight, it’s ten o’clock in the morning. You need to get up!”

Twilight’s eyes snapped open fully. “Ten o’clock? What?” Her body shot up from the bed. “Oh no! I slept too long!” She turned to Spike, her snout centimeters from his a moment later. “The paperwork on the candle orders! Did we get them?”

“Y-yeah,” Spike said, backing away a bit in alarm, “Princess Celestia told me to put them on your old dresser over... there... ” Spike’s voice faded as Twilight teleported to the far end of the bedroom, her magic picking up a small stack of papers.

The paperwork was fairly straightforward, in that it consisted mainly of receipts for the past several years, all the way back to when Luna had returned after the Nightmare Moon Incident. It wasn’t until a little while after that, after all, that there had been much of a demand for tallow candles, which seemed to be incredibly expensive from even a cursory look. Such was Twilight’s haste that papers went flying as she attempted to read them as quickly as possible. Spike stepped back as a hurricane of paperwork exploded around the alicorn, “I’ll just… make breakfast then,” Spike said by way of an excuse before he headed downstairs, presumably to the kitchen.

“Good, thank you,” Twilight said vaguely as Spike left, absorbed in her work. As she flipped through the receipts, she took a notebook out from the bedside table (where it resided in case of night-time ideas), and began to mutter to herself as she wrote. “Three hundred bits a candle? Really,” Twilight muttered as she scribbled, “that sounds like daylight robbery, what are they made of?” Twilight compared the receipts a dozen different ways, and a distinct pattern jabbed at her puzzling mind, “All from Candle Glow, a chandler here in Canterlot… Wait no,” Twilight amended, scratching something out with her quill with such vigor that it sprayed across the room, spattering her vanity with a spray of black dots.

“The Crystal Empire?” Twilight said quietly, while Spike carefully deposited a tray of sandwiches by her, “He moved… but when? Oh… oh! Spike!” Twilight shouted, causing Spike, who hadn’t left the room yet, to jump. She blinked as she noticed he was there and lowered her volume somewhat, “Spike, we have to pack.”

“Pack?” Spike asked, nonplussed. He eyed the floating receipts for a moment, “Those candles came all the way from…” he sighed as the penny dropped, “I’ll grab the cold weather stuff then. I can’t believe we’re going all the way up north again,” Spike grumbled, “I almost froze my spines off last time.”

“I know Spike,” Twilight said placatingly, “But the trail leads there, so we’ve got to go. Besides,” Twilight smiled, “I’m sure Cadence will like to see you again, and I’m sure there’ll be plenty of rock candy to go around. There certainly was last time, wasn’t there?” Spike smiled and nodded, “And with my brother there,” Twilight added confidently, “I’m sure we can get to the bottom of this. We’ll be back home in no time, you’ll see.”

The trip to the Crystal Empire was uneventful, if long. As a Princess, Twilight was given her own car and, to her general confusion, a detachment of Night Guards that were waiting for her at the station. They simply told her that they were accompanying her for her own protection, and proceeded to take up sentry positions in the corners of the car despite her protests, like unsettling gargoyles.

After Twilight failed to engage them in conversation for the third hour in a row, she gave up, and settled for going through her notes for the remaining six hours of the trip. It was unnerving to have the Night Guards looming in the corners of the car, especially given their standoffish behavior with her thus far. They didn’t interfere with her, but Twilight could feel the pressure of their gazes like a furnace in each corner of the car.

Yet for all her review of the evidence, Twilight felt no closer to a conclusion as the train pulled up into the Crystal Empire station. The Night Guards escorted her out with a level of efficiency that edged on pushy, and thoroughly terrified anypony unwise enough to get too close. A glare from the Night Guards was usually sufficient, given their unsettling appearance, but they were attracting entirely too much attention to Twilight’s presence.

It was so obtrusive after a while that Twilight finally asked Spike to go on ahead and send a message to her brother. Once he’d gone, she stepped into an alley and pulled one of the Guards aside. “Right,” Twilight said to the Guard, who floated in her telekinetic grip calmly before her face, “why exactly are you escorting me? Princess Celestia didn’t assign you, she would have told me,” Twilight said confidently, “And Princess Luna is still comatose, which means you elected to follow me yourselves. Why?”

The Night Guard remained stony-faced for several long moments before a voice behind Twilight said quietly, “We dishonored our station.” Twilight, who hadn’t heard the other Guard approach, whirled. She faced a stallion about her own height, his bat wings folded tight against his body, while his slit-pupiled eyes reflected the shame in his voice, “We suspected you. We impeded your investigation against Princess Celestia’s orders and came perilously close to preventing you from ending the threat to our princess’ life.”

Twilight blinked. That wasn’t the response she had been expecting, and it left her exceptionally wronghoofed. The guard she had been levitating continued where the other had left off, which prompted her to turn. “We needed to follow you, for our guilt, and to protect Princess Luna.” To her surprise, the other guards were crowded into the end of the alley soundlessly, like crows attending a crow funeral. While the phrase ‘murder of crows’ floated uneasily in her subconscious, Twilight relaxed a little as the Guards all looked to her with varying shades of guilt and shame.

“It’s…” She shook her head. “We’re all under a lot of stress. I can understand your actions.” She gave the stallions a sad smile. “You are all just are looking out for Princess Luna, after all.”

The stallions nodded solemnly.

“Then it’s water under the bridge,” Twilight stated as she lowered the guard from her magic. “I forgive you all.”
The Night Guard looked up at her with varying expressions of surprise. One of them spoke up. “Y-your Highness... but... we doubted you. We dishonored our stations, and—”

“And nopony is perfect, myself included,” Twilight interrupted, her voice neither harsh nor annoyed. “If you truly believe that you have to make it up to me, then you can help me with finding out about those tallow candles.”
Her words seemed to renew the fire in their eyes. The Guard straightened up, their grim expressions returning once more. They gave her a salute and spoke in unison. “As you wish, Princess Twilight Sparkle!”

“Um,” Twilight said, a bit shocked by the sudden change in their attitude. “Yes. Good.” She turned back towards the direction of the Crystal Palace. “Let’s be on our way, then.”

The rest of the walk towards the castle was without incident. The guards still remained silent, but they no longer held looks of suspicion when she met their gaze. The change in their demeanor was rather sudden, but it was a welcome one.

When Twilight finally reached the main entrance into the Crystal Palace, an entourage of Crystal Guards stood before her, forming a path. Four of the guards lifted their heralding trumpets and blew a royal fanfare, signaling the Twilight’s arrival. The palace doors opened as she made her way down the path, and she was greeted by the sight of none other than Cadence, her brother Shining Armor, and Spike.

“Twilight,” Cadence greeted, meeting her sister-in-law halfway and wrapping her forelegs around her in an embrace. “It’s wonderful to see you.”

Twilight smiled. “I see Spike’s message reached you quickly.”

“Heh,” Shining Armor laughed. “We had to scramble together a small group of guards to greet you at the last minute, but yeah, we had enough time.” He gave Twilight a quick hug as well, which she happily returned.

“So, what brings you to our kingdom?” Cadence asked, her smile still on her face. “While I enjoy surprise visits from my family, I know it’s not like you to do such a thing.”

Twilight’s smile vanished. “I…” She looked to the Crystal Guards, then to her escort of Night Guards. “We should probably go inside and discuss things.”

Her Cadence and Shining Armor noticed the immediate shift in her tone, and gave her understanding nods. “Spike didn’t really inform us on the purpose of your visit.”

Twilight nodded, giving Spike a small smile. “I’m glad he didn’t, either. It’s a rather... important matter, and it’s best if I explain it.”

“Your Highness,” one of the guards spoke. “Forgive me for interrupting, but we wish to remain with you inside the palace. Would you be against this?”

Twilight blinked, but didn’t miss the unspoken words in his inquiry: The perpetrator could have noticed my arrival. They may want to tie up any loose ends… Twilight nodded slowly. “Thank you, sirs. I would greatly appreciate that.” The stallions nodded, then returned their gazes forward, ever attentive, but unobtrusive.

Shining frowned at the Night Guards, then turned to Twilight. “Twiley... is everything alright?”

“I’ll tell you when we get inside,” was all that Twilight gave for a reply.
A half hour later found the three ponies and dragon seated in comfortable chairs as Twilight explained the situation with Luna, the poisoning, and her purpose for being in the Crystal Empire.

Cadence and Shining Armor were silent by this point, staring at Twilight and Spike with looks of mild shock on their face.
“Arsenic laced into the candles…” Cadence shook her head. “Why would somepony want to do such a thing?”

Shining frowned. “Probably some radical or somepony who thinks Princess Luna is still Nightmare Moon.” He sighed. “I remember when she first returned to Canterlot. She looked so lost and confused. Though, I suppose being banished to the moon for one thousand years can do that to a pony…” A smile crept onto his face as he continued. “Even so, she was quick to praise the Royal Guard for their dedication.” Shining looked up and gazed over to the Night Guard, who were standing vigilantly at the doors. “She also was pleased to see that the Night Guards was still around.”

“I’m just glad she’s alright... well…” Cadence sagged a bit. “As fine as one can be, given her circumstances.”

“She’ll need lots of time, but she will recover,” Twilight said reassuringly. “I just want to get to the bottom of this, and my investigation has led me here.”

Shining Armor nodded. “There aren’t many tallow candle makers left in Equestria or any of the neighboring regions, but the Crystal Empire is one of the few with at least one. He actually was in Canterlot until not too long ago. He moved up here some time after the Empire reappeared and King Sombra was defeated.”
“Wait…” Twilight blinked, her eyes widening. “Y-you know about the candles?”
“What?” Shining Armor paused, then shook his head rapidly. “Oh, no! Not... I meant that I knew the pony who made Princess Luna’s candles. I was in charge of ordering them for her, after all.”
Twilight was quiet for a long time after that. When she finally spoke, there was a sense of hesitancy in her words. “So... you’ve been making those orders even after he moved here, I imagine?”
“Well, yeah, Princess Luna really likes those candles, and I already knew the stallion who made them, so I just figured I’d ship the candles south to Equestria every so often.” Shining Armor shrugged at Twilight’s expression, “It’s a little more expensive, but Princess Luna was willing to pay the extra money for them.”
Twilight frowned. “I see.” She stood up, as did Spike. “Do you have any information on the candles that I can look at?” Twilight’s tone had sharpened a little, and she sounded almost wary as she asked the question.
“Um... yeah, we keep records of the orders, just in case,” Shining Armor replied. He seemed a little put off by Twilight’s change of attitude, she sounded almost like she expected him to send her away, but he shook himself and smiled warmly, “You’re probably tired, sis. Why don’t you go get some rest, and I’ll get somepony to send the paperwork along in the morning.”
His offer was genuinely generous, and for a moment it looked like Twilight was going give her assent, but she shook her head, “I’m sorry Shining,” Twilight said honestly, “But this can’t wait, I need to see the records as soon as possible, before this would-be poisoner gets away or covers their tracks.”
Shining Armor blinked, but nodded to a guard nearby, “Alright Twiley, but if you don’t take a break sometime you’re going to crash.”

The paperwork wouldn’t arrive for several hours, as it had apparently been filed away in a locked section of the archives due to a clerical error. Cadence and Shining Armor attempted to ask Twilight for more details about who she might suspect, but Twilight diverted any conversation about the state of the investigation, to Shining Armor’s frustration. “Come on Twilight,” Shining Armor finally said in exasperated tones, “Princess Luna’s wasting away from poisoning and you’re here talking about everything but the situation.”

Twilight bit her lip, but remained silent until Shining Armor’s eyes widened, “No…” he said softly, “You don’t really think…” It took a moment for Cadence to cotton on, but she looked similarly shocked once the realization hit her.
Twilight looked wretched, her eyes downcast, “I’m really sorry Shining,” Twilight said miserably, “But until I can see that paperwork…”

She trailed off, but Cadence stepped forward, looking quietly furious. “Twilight,” Cadence said sharply, “Do you really think that Shining Armor, your brother, my husband and former Captain of the Royal Guard could even think of something like that?” Twilight winced, but before she could form a rebuttal, a Night Guard interposed himself between the two alicorns.

“Step back, your Highness,” the Night Guard said neutrally, while the Crystal Guards started forward. The other Night Guards were suddenly in a ring around Twilight and Spike, facing outward. Twilight froze in astonishment, while the Night Guard continued cooly, “As Princess Twilight Sparkle is engaged in an investigation into the attempt on the life of Princess Luna, she has the authority to pursue any and all lines of inquiry.” His voice was quiet, but clearly audible in the crystalline halls.

For a long moment there was silence as Twilight found herself looking into the slowly filling eyes of her former babysitter. Twilight started to speak, but Cadence left suddenly, and was followed by a clearly aggravated Shining Armor, who refused to even make eye-contact with Twilight as he left, taking the Crystal Guards with him. Twilight sat back heavily on the chair that she had so recently thought was so comfortable, and Spike did the same, looking a little frightened. The Night Guards spread out again without a word, like shadows returning to the embrace of the darkness, aside from the one who had confronted Cadence.

The bat-winged pony turned to Twilight and saluted a little stiffly, “I apologize for interrupting like that, Princess,” the Guard said seriously, “But-” he broke off as a sniffle from Twilight cut into the silence of the room. She was crying softly, the tears running down her nose to land forlornly upon the crystalline floor. The Guard stepped back automatically as Spike moved to Twilight, pausing only to give the Guard a dirty look. The Night Guard grimaced a little and launched himself up to the ceiling, while Twilight held Spike for a long while.

Once she had composed herself, a knock at the door announced the arrival of the paperwork. Twilight sniffed back a fresh wave of sorrow, and bent her mind to the task of extracting useful information from the chaff of documents before her.

“Ugh,” Twilight groaned several more hours later, “I don’t get it, all the receipts are in order, everything checks out…” Twilight stretched, yawning. She was still in the room where she had confronted Cadence, surrounded now by mounds of paperwork. She had been informed by one of the Night Guards that lodgings had been arranged for her, but guilt prevented Twilight from taking advantage of them. That hadn’t prevented her from sending Spike to them however when he had fallen asleep on a pile of paperwork. The Night Guards had taken him there without complaint, while Twilight continued to work into the early morning, going over years of receipts.

“You could speak with the chandler,” a Night Guard said from behind the chair, making Twilight jump. She was about to reprimand him, when the words sank in and she put her face in her hooves, sighing. “Sorry Princess,” the Night Guard said, poking his head out from behind the chair, his face a mask of concern, “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

Twilight waved him off, “It’s not that, Penumbra,” Twilight said wearily, “I should have thought of that. I need sleep.” As the other Night Guards dropped down or stepped out from their various hiding places to escort her, she sighed, “I can find my way to the bedroom, you know. You should get some sleep too, all of you.” At the continued presence of the guards she sighed, “Alright, Penumbra can come with me once I’ve tidied up here, but the rest of you, get some sleep, that’s an order.”

As the Guards slipped out with their usual silence, Twilight and Penumbra tidied up the piles of paperwork back into their boxes. Twilight levitated the boxes and their exceedingly boring cargo through the crystal halls of the castle, while Penumbra discreetly steered her towards the room that had been arranged for her.

A pang of guilt shot through Twilight as she arrived at the wide doors of what looked to be a full royal suite. Penumbra pushed the doors open for Twilight politely, while Twilight maintained her telekinetic grip on the boxes of paperwork and passed through. The room was warmed magically, and it was indeed a suite fit for a royal visit. It hammered home the anger in Shining Armor’s face, and the heartbreak in Cadence’s eyes. As she stood there in the doorway, Twilight made a decision, and turned around, dropping the boxes in the room.

“Princess?” Penumbra asked, blinking before he shut the doors and trotted to catch up. Twilight was moving quickly through the halls, and the Night Guard took a couple of moments to match her pace, “Princess is something wrong?”
“No, Penumbra, I just have to speak with Shining Armor and Cadence.” It was plain that Penumbra didn’t approve, as it was against investigation procedures, but the Night Guard kept his mouth shut. Twilight, as if sensing his displeasure, continued, “He’s my brother, Penumbra. I can’t just let him think I don’t care about him, I owe him an explanation. And Cadence too, she must think… well I don’t know what she’s thinking,” Twilight said distractedly as she rounded a corner, “But she’s a good friend of mine, and I can’t just leave her wondering and hurting.”

Twilight approached Cadence and Shining Armor’s bedchamber, which was situated on the other end of the castle from her own quarters. The crystal doors however, were slightly open, and the lights were on. It seemed as if Cadence and Shining still hadn’t gone to bed, despite the exceptionally late hour. They seemed to be having a debate of some sort, and Twilight found herself drawn in at the first snippet she overheard: “... what if she suspects?”

Twilight bit back a soft gasp at the agitation in her brother’s voice, and Penumbra who had leaned in as she had, wiped his face of expression as he overheard Cadence’s response, which was similarly heated, “Well then tell her, tell her about-”
“I can’t say that now!” Shining Armor interrupted, his voice closer and then further away as he paced through the room, “Can you imagine how she’d react? I mean, it’s one thing to suggest that she take over for Luna…” Shining Armor became inaudible again as he moved away, while shock ran through Twilight’s mind, “... but Celestia? No, she wouldn’t go for that.”

Twilight was almost touching the door with her ear as Cadence continued with a sigh, “But think how much smoother things would go, with Twilight in the Palace. I know she’s so caught up in the investigation right now, but you could take that over. She’s just being thorough, but if you could-” Twilight fell back as the door was pushed shut abruptly, and she was caught by Penumbra, who had tumbled back as well.

Twilight looked to Penumbra, who for once looked as shocked as she felt. She stood as quietly as she could, and the two of them crept back to the room. Twilight’s mind was a whirl of shock, betrayal and panic as she checked on Spike, who was sleeping peacefully, and pulled herself into bed. “I’ll just deal with this in the morning,” Twilight told herself shakily as she pulled the covers up over herself, “Everything will be clearer in the morning.” She was about to turn out the lights when she noticed something uncomfortable. “Penumbra,” Twilight said slowly as she turned around, “Why are you in the bed?”

The Night Guard, who was still in his armor, was sitting in the bed beside Twilight. He looked surprised at the question, “Guard duty, your Highness,” he said honestly, “We sleep in shifts,” he nodded to the ceiling, where the other Night Guards were actually clinging to the ceiling, asleep. “One of us in the bed, while the others-”

Penumbra broke off as he was abruptly tumbled out of the bed telekinetically. “No,” Twilight said quietly but firmly, “Go to the next room, and sleep. I’ll be fine.” As Penumbra started to protest, Twilight gave him a hard look. He shrugged, looking a little puzzled, and gathered the other Night Guards, who piled into the next room of the suite and presumably went to sleep. Once she was sure they had left, Twilight let out a long sigh, “What am I going to do?”

Twilight found herself alone with Spike at breakfast the following morning. Well, as alone as a pony could be with a detachment of Night Guards standing at all corners of the room, vigilantly watching for possible threats. She had slept surprisingly well, all things considered, but she was still torn on what to do. She had yet to bring it up with Spike, and was unsure if it would be wise to get him involved in the dilemma.

“Twilight, you alright?”

“H-huh?” Twilight glanced up from her plate of hash browns and pancakes. “Oh... sorry, Spike. I’m just thinking.”

“About Cadence and Shining Armor?” the dragon asked knowingly.

Twilight slumped, poking with a fork at a particular piece of hash brown with disinterest. “Yes. I... I’m just not sure what to do, anymore. I mean, on one hoof, it would be very easy for Shining Armor or Princess Cadence to tamper with those candles... but…” She shook her head. “I find it hard to believe that they would do such a thing.”

Spike’s eyes widened, and he lowered his voice. “You think they both might be involved?”

“I don’t like to think about it, but it’s a possibility,” Twilight replied, her thoughts trailing back to the conversation she overheard last night. “There could be any number of reasons for somepony to go and do something like that to Princess Luna.”

“None of them are probably good, either,” Spike added as he chewed on a piece of toast, dusted lightly with some ruby shards and cinnamon.

Twilight jabbed at a lump of scrambled eggs and forked it into her mouth. Her mind was buzzing with the thoughts of what she was going to have to do that day, and it was bound into a tight, vibrating clump of unease in her chest by her guilt and inner disquiet.

“Spike…?” Twilight began after several long moments, “Do you think I was wrong to act that way yesterday with Shining Armor and Cadence?”

Spike looked up from his meal, a small frown marring his features. “Well, I…” He closed his mouth, scratching his cheek with a claw. “I don’t know. I mean, I know you’re only doing it to be safe and make sure you got all the facts…” Spike trailed off uncertainly, his tone dancing around the edge of what he wanted to say like a cliff diver on the brink.

“But…?” Twilight added encouragingly, a part of her dreading Spike’s answer, yet desperately needing some sort of feedback.

“But…” Spike continued carefully, “they’re family. You’ve known Cadence since you were just a filly, and Shining Armor, well, he’s your brother. I…” He shook his head. “I don’t know, you’re supposed to be the smart one,” Twilight snorted a little at that, and Spike relaxed a shade, “I’m just helping in anyway I can.” He tried to smile, but it looked strained.

Twilight smiled back and changed the subject a little, “I hope this doesn’t end up being all just a big waste of time. We may have lost the poisoner already and not even known it. Upsetting my brother and Cadence upset will only make things worse.” She set down her fork, finding herself no longer hungry. The knot of guilt in her chest tightened more. “Come on, Spike, we’re going to speak to the chandler who makes those candles. Hopefully he’ll have some answers.”

Spike shoveled the last of his food into his mouth, licked his face clean with his tongue, and followed Twilight as she made her way out of the dining hall. Within a few minutes they were out in the streets of the Crystal Empire’s capital, the crisp air of the morning hitting the two and causing them to shiver.

“Right, now, if I remember correctly, the address of the chandler’s place shouldn’t be too far from here. Some street nearby... Garnet... something, I believe…” Twilight scanned the street signs, her eyes stopping as she spotted a sign in bold, red lettering.

Garnet Avenue.

“Ah, looks like I was right. Come on, Spike.” Twilight felt her spirits lift up, if only a little. At least now she felt like she was making some real progress.

The walk down the street was rather awkward for Twilight, namely because she could feel the curious stares from the denizens who were already awake and going about their day upon her. She couldn’t really blame them. It wasn’t everyday that an Equestrian princess could be seen walking down a street with no guards escorting her, let alone without her regalia on.

After about ten minutes of walking, she stopped in front of her destination. She made her way towards the walkway leading to the entrance, only to be stopped as three shadows dropped down from the sky. She backpedaled in shock, only to bump into something solid. She spun around, her eyes resting on one of the Night Guard.

“Good morning, Princess,” the Night Guard—Nightshade, if she remembered correctly—greeted. “We took the liberty of scouting ahead to ensure the area was safe for you.”

Twilight’s face screwed into a grimace. The Night Guard looked perfectly calm, as did the other two beside him, while two more Night Guards stood sternly outside of the chandler’s shop. Twilight closed her eyes and took a deep breath for patience, then let it out and nodded. “I... thank you, Nightshade. Next time, though, please make your presence known beforehand, alright?”

“Acknowledged,” Nightshade replied stoically.

With that taken care of, Twilight returned her attention to the small building before her.

“Candle Glow’s Candles?” Spike read the sign above the door. “Huh, not the most of original names for a business.”

“Not now, Spike,” Twilight said as she made her way to the door. “I just hope that Candle Glow’s awake.”

After knocking on the door three times, Twilight heard the sound of hooves approaching the door. It swung open to reveal a middle-aged unicorn stallion with a dark grey coat, a dull yellow mane, and a cutie mark of a lit candle stick.

The stallion gave Twilight a quick look, then blinked as he took in the entourage beside and behind her. He took a step back, his mind finally catching up with the scene before him. He took a final look at Twilight before bowing low. “P-Princess Twilight! It’s an honor to have you visit me... at seven in the morning…” He looked up and smiled weakly. “I’m afraid I won’t be open for another two hours, but I’d be happy to put some tea on the kettle for—”

That won’t be necessary, Mr. Candle Glow,” Twilight said, her voice neutral in tone, though she was heartily embarrassed at having arrived too early. “I’ve come to inquire about the candles ordered by Prince Shining Armor, if it’s not any trouble.”

“My candles?” Candle Glow stood up and gave her a perplexed look. “I... well, what about them would you like to know?”

“Well,” Twilight began. “They’re actually sent to Equestria for Princess Luna, correct?”

“Ah, yes,” Candle Glow nodded, a smile forming on his lips. “Her Highness was quite fond of my work. I’m one of the few traditional chandlers left in Equestria and the Crystal Empire. Tallow candle-making is a rather old art, and… well… is seen by many modern ponies as a rather taboo art… to put it lightly.” He cleared his throat. “Years and years ago, though, when resources weren’t as plentiful, you had to make do with what you could. So, when a pony... passed on... their fat was used to make the candle, and then—”

“W-wait, what?” Twilight’s eyes had slowly become the size of saucers as she looked at the stallion before her. “Y-you use the bodies of dead ponies to make your candles? I thought you made them with soy or… or candleberries!”

“Well,” Candle Glow cleared his throat. “Yes, I do. Typically.” He looked to the Night Guards behind her, and frowned a little. “However—”

“The Night Guard donate their fat to be used for her Highness’ candles upon the moment of our demise. It’s a practice that dates back to the days before our Lady’s fall and her transformation into Nightmare Moon,” Penumbra put in solemnly. “It allows us to continue serving her, even in death.” At Twilight’s silence, he added, “In life, darkness, in death, light.”

Twilight felt the horror filling her expression, and for a long moment there was silence. Spike looked like he was going to be ill, Twilight was frozen in horrified disbelief, and the Night Guards were generally silent anyway, but it stretched out uncomfortably until the chandler cleared his throat again, “Why don’t we all go inside,” he suggested a little nervously, which made Twilight jump, “I’ve got the kettle on.”

Twilight shivered at that, her mind filling in all sorts of horrible implications, but she nodded and trotted nervously inside, a stunned Spike in tow.

“So it’s… It’s like a last request?” Twilight said disbelievingly as she sipped her rather strong, black tea and attempted not to inhale. The chandler’s shop was relatively modest inside, and filled with so many different scented candles it was like being punched in the nose with a meadow of wildflowers. The shop proper was airy and well-lit with magical lighting and some enchanted candles, as well as well-polished crystal floors and a few chairs that looked well-worn yet cozy at the same time. A small fire was crackling in a fireplace on the far side of the room, completing the ambient feel of the shop.

Candle Glow looked to the Night Guards, hoping they would be able to provide the appropriate answer. Penumbra, who was standing beside Twilight, gave a quiet nod, “In essence, yes. We swear our lives to the service of Princess Luna, and most of us are happy to donate our bodies if our service is ended prematurely.” He seemed somber and honest, with the air of one imparting a sacred ritual, “Besides, we are still buried with the other Guards, but we give a last gift of comfort with this offering.” His tone darkened as he continued, “It makes this attempt on the Princess’ life… rather close to home.”

“Attempt on… what?” Candle Glow asked in surprise as he narrowly avoided choking on his tea, “What’s this?” After a moment of hesitation, Twilight brought the chandler up to speed on the bare bones of the problem, carefully not mentioning the candles. As Twilight finished, she watched as the older pony sank back in his chair, his face white with horror, “That’s terrible! Who would do such a thing?”

“That’s what we need your help for,” Twilight said firmly, including the Night Guards in her statement, “Your candles are the one thing Luna will pay top bit for, and they seem to be connected to her poisoning.”

“My candles?!” Candle Glow exclaimed, fumbling his teacup, which shattered on the floor, “I’m sorry, Princess,” Candle Glow said shakily as his telekinesis scooped up the fragments of the cup. He was so out of sorts however that the pieces kept falling to the floor, “I’m sorry,” he said again, flustered, “It’s just that Princess Luna is the very reason I’m not starving right now… without her orders, well, there’s not much call for chandlers these days.”

Twilight felt another surge of guilt at not telling the older stallion about the true reason for their visit, but she was sure now that the old chandler definitely had no motive. Before he could do more than sputter a protest, Twilight magically reassembled the cup for Candle Glow and cut him off before he could apologize again, “Could we get a tour of the place, Candle Glow?” Twilight asked kindly, “I’d like to see how things work around here; it could really help with the investigation.”

As if she had flicked a switch, Candle Glow brightened, and started to pull Twilight through the whole process of candlemaking. It wasn’t terribly interesting, but Twilight listened carefully as Candle Glow described the different vegetable-based candles he made. He waxed for hours about the difficulty in imbuing the waxes with the proper amount of coloring and scent.

“Of course,” Candle Glow went on, “At least the scents for the vegetable-based candles mingle readily. Princess Luna’s candles though,” Candle Glow led the way from the workshop proper back to what seemed to be a dedicated workspace. A subtle, sticky aroma filled the air as Twilight entered, and the unfamiliar scent wrinkled her nose with its slightly greasy quality. She realized with mild queasiness that she was smelling the fat in the room.

The workshop itself, despite the scent, was exceptionally clean. Everything was in crystal boxes or jars, set in neat cabinets made of sturdy crystal. The countertop was sparkling metal, strangely. To Twilight’s disquiet, it was notched and set up like a surgical table to prevent… spillage. She had casually asked Spike to find a place to eat for dinner, to get him out of the shop, and he had taken the hint with as much ill-concealed relief as the little dragon could show, taking two guards with him.

In the corner, a large cast-iron pot with a double-boiler was set over a stove, but Twilight’s attention was wrenched away from its grim purpose by Candle Glow’s description of the process, which she had been ignoring, she noticed guiltily, “Once the fat is rendered,” Twilight suppressed a shudder, “I have to pour it into the mold around the wick,” he pulled the mold off the shelf, which was a perfect negative of the candles Twilight had seen around Princess Luna’s chambers.

Candle Glow started rummaging around the immaculate workspace, muttering, “Oh come on, don’t tell me…” He started pulling boxes off of the shelves and opening containers, looking around.

“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked politely, while Candle Glow continued to rummage.

He sighed after he had opened and closed the last box, “Oh, well, I was going to show you how I set up the mold, your Highness,” he opened the casing for the mold and showed Twilight the interior as demonstration, “but it looks like I’m out of wicks. I’ll have to order some more, I suppose.” He shook his head, “But I would put the wick-”

“Wait,” Twilight said suddenly, as the penny dropped and operated her brain, “Do you buy the wicks locally?”

Candle Glow blinked, his train of thought derailed, before he mentioned, “Well no, I import them, it’s why they’re so expensive.” At Twilight’s continued interest, he added, “The shipments usually come in every few days or so, but it’s a long haul all the way from Ponyville.”

Twilight gaped at the chandler, “Ponyville?!”

Candle Glow stared at the baffled alicorn, then to the Night Guards, who wore expressions of mild shock. When they failed to give any further reply, he cleared his throat nervously. “Um... was it something I said?”

Twilight stood dejectedly at the platform of the train leaving bound for Equestria. She glanced towards the distant Crystal Palace, then turned back to the railroad tracks. She sniffled a bit, but made no further sounds. Spike sat on top of their luggage, chin resting in his hands as he moped.

“I can’t believe they turned us away like that,” the dragon mumbled. “I mean... you said you wanted to apologize, too!”

“Hmph,” replied Nightshade. “It seems the Crystal Empire forgets one of its core beliefs: Friendship.”

“Nightshade, that’s enough,” Twilight sighed heavily. “I can’t blame them for turning us away.” She looked to the Night Guard. They had been especially silent since they left the capital. She could see their anger in their eyes dancing behind the thin veil of their stoic expressions, and while she appreciated their concern, she was more keen on avoiding further conflict.

“Even so,” Nightshade continued. “With all due respect, your Highness, they were out of line. You’re investigating an attempted murder on Princess Luna. I think you have the right to be a bit suspicious of everyone.”

Twilight glanced at Nightshade, who was looking directly at her. He and Penumbra had been, much to her surprise, rather vocal when the Crystal Guard had denied her entrance. They had given her and Spike their luggage, and forbade them entrance into the Crystal Palace. She had barely gotten two words in with the guards before her entourage of Night Guard had stepped forward and had given a thinly-veiled threat to the guards if they refused to let her through.

Not wishing to cause any more trouble, Twilight had commanded the Night Guard to stand down, which they had done, but not before shooting the Crystal Guard rather nasty glares. Not the best note to leave her brother and sister-in-law’s home, but it could have been worse. Besides, she still had a poisoner to catch.

That had been over an hour ago, and she was now waiting for the train heading back to Equestria to arrive.

“I hope we get this mystery solved soon,” Spike mumbled.

“I do, too, Spike,” Twilight agreed. “I do, too. I just don’t look forward to what’s going to happen before it’s finally solved…”

Caught Red-Hoofed

View Online

The hours flew by for Twilight, and before she knew it, she was once more standing in front of the entrance to the Canterlot throne room. She had expected the Night Guard to leave her at that point and return to Princess Luna’s chambers. Once more, to her great surprise, they asked to continue accompanying her, which she agreed to.

The double doors to the throne room opened, and Twilight was greeted by the sight of a slightly less disheveled Princess Celestia. When her gaze met Twilight’s her eyes lit up with something Twilight could only assume was hope.

“Twilight Sparkle, welcome back,” Celestia greeted. “I was informed by the guards that you were returning from the Crystal Empire. You’ve been gone for a couple of days, from what I understand.”

Twilight nodded. “Yes, I... it’s been rather stressful, but I think I’m close to finding the culprit.”

“Oh?” Celestia perked up. “Then please, tell me what you’ve learned. Luna is recovering slowly, but I cannot rest until we find out who was responsible for this.”

“I can’t agree more,” Twilight said. “I want to solve this just as much as you do... a-and then apologize to a few ponies.” She slumped a bit, and sighed heavily. “I’ve made some big mistakes in the past two days, Princess…”

“Twilight?” Celestia began, standing up from her seat. “Twilight, are you alright?”

“I…” Twilight shook her head. “No, I’m not alright. I-I…” She sniffled. “I’ve been running around half of Equestria, trying to find a lead, only to find out the source of Luna’s illness was in the castle the whole time! My friends are worried sick about Princess Luna and dealing with their own problems, I want to help them, but I can’t, and now I’m pretty sure Shining Armor and Cadence want nothing to do with me anymore!”

Twilight’s voice cracked on the last word, as Twilight started shaking and sobbing openly, Spike doing his best to console her failing to hold back his own tears. The Night Guard remained by her side, silently hanging their heads a bit and closing their eyes.

Celestia crossed the rest of the distance between her and Twilight in a heartbeat, and wrapped a wing around her. “Oh, Twilight…” She said soothingly. “I…” She sighed shakily. “I’m sorry you’ve had to go through with all this.”

Twilight sniffled again, wiping her nose with a hoof and looking away. “S-sorry…”

“No,” Celestia whispered. “Don’t be. Goodness, Twilight, I should have thought sooner about how you were feeling about all this.” Celestia loosened her embrace, just enough to look at Twilight properly. “It was insensitive of me to place all of this upon your shoulders. I should have been the one looking into this.”

“You have to run a country,” Twilight argued immediately, “I don’t blame you.”

“Even so, you’re only one pony. A very brilliant, wonderful pony, but still only one pony.” She ran a hoof through her mane. “Do you want to take a rest before we speak further?”

Twilight shook her head. “No, the sooner this is resolved, the better.”

“I understand… and I can’t agree more.” Celestia smiled weakly. “I’m thankful for all that you’ve done for Luna and I so far, Twilight. Please don’t forget that.”

Twilight nodded. “Well, I managed to locate the chandler who is responsible for creating Princess Luna’s candles. He seemed rather shocked and genuinely worried when I explained what happened to your sister. He gave me a tour of his shop, and while it was insightful, there was one minor detail that stood out.”

“What would that be?” Celestia inquired.

Twilight’s voice fell a bit as she spoke, as though afraid to speak. “The wicks for his candles are imported... from Ponyville.”

Celestia let out a soft gasp. “Ponyville?”

“A fabric warehouse, they produce lots of wicks, apparently. It makes sense. The Crystal Empire doesn’t really grow cotton to speak of, but Ponyville is located in the agricultural heartland of Equestria. While it’s more expensive to have the wicks shipped, the chandler has few options. He makes good money with the business he receives from Princess Luna, though, so it wouldn’t make sense for him to want to do any harm to her.”

“I see,” Celestia said, and Twilight could see her processing the information behind her calm expression. “Anything else?”

“Well,” Twilight sighed. “At first... at first I suspected—”

Twilight’s words were cut off by a loud explosion. Literally.

“Explosion!” cried out an all-too familiar voice.

Twilight and Celestia, along with Spike, the Night Guard, and the Royal Guards standing along either side of the throne room, were all at once covered in what could only be shredded coconut fibers. When the two alicorns looked up to the source of the mess, they found themselves looking at none other than Discord.

“Oh,” Discord took in the scene, and gave a sheepish grin. “Sorry, I took a quick break in Bermareda. Great weather this time of year, lots of hurricanes, and plenty of wonderful waves.” He sipped a drink from a coconut shell loudly, then continued. “So, guess what I found out.”

“Discord,” Twilight began. “Now is not the time to—”

“Ah, ah, ah, my little violet friend, it’s guessing time, not arguing time. That follows after.” He folded his arms. “Go on, guess!”

“That you’re annoying?” Spike offered.

“Pfft!” Discord waved a hand. “That’s old news. I found that out when I turned the sun blue for a week back in the ancient times. Celestia had a real fit, that she did…” He sighed dreamily. “No, that’s not what I found out, though. Guess again.”

“We don’t have time for this?” Twilight suggested, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Discord’s grin stretched from ear to ear. “Correct, my dear egghead! You’re entirely out of time, because the wicks at Cottontop’s Warehouse are being poisoned right now!”

“Of course,” Twilight said automatically, before her thoughts knotted unpleasantly around what was just said, “what… wait—”

“No, no time for waiting!” Discord said with a flourish towards the door, “If you wait they might be gone, and that’d be a terrible way to end a mystery.”

“Discord,” Celestia began, her expression serious and showing no signs of amusement. “If this is another one of your pranks…”

“Come now, Celestia, I’m better than that! Since when do I give fair warning to a prank?” He cleared his throat, and once more gestured to the door with a flourish. “Now then, shall we?”

“Ugh, fine!” Twilight snapped, her patience having run out. “Just... wait, nononono!”

Discord grinned as he snapped his fingers, and Twilight, Spike, Celestia, and the Night Guard all vanished in a flash of light. To Twilight, it was like the universe swallowed them up in a giant, multi-colored tube-sock, and dragged them through an endlessly pulsating mass of glowing, purple gelatin to the sound of a slightly off-key tuba and a musical saw. When the journey was over, reality reasserted itself like being smacked in the face with a brick made of marzipan. By the way one of the Night Guards threw up when they appeared, it seemed the others had had similar experiences.

“My mouth tastes like chartreuse…” mumbled one of the Night Guards dazedly.

“Give it a few minutes, it’ll wear off,” Discord said dismissively, only to pause. “Wait... you said chartreuse?”

“Y-yeah,” the stallion replied.

Discord hissed through his teeth and gave him an uneasy smile. “Um... make that a week. But don’t worry, at least you’ll get an intimate understanding of what it’s like to taste with your eyeballs,” while the guard looked at him in horror, Discord returned his attention to the scenery before them, and pointed to a large warehouse. “Behold! Cottontop’s Warehouse! The number one producer of fabrics and fabric accessories products in the central Equestrian region!”

Twilight frowned. “So, this is the place, huh?” She looked to the right, and immediately recognized the small town of Ponyville down the road. “To think somepony here is responsible for this mess... and they’ve been in town the whole time.”

“Yes, yes, but let us continue inside. That is where the real answer lies.” Discord floated over to a door labeled ‘Employees Only’ and opened it with a wave of his claw. Twilight, Spike, and Celestia hesitated for only a moment, then entered behind the draconequus.

“Discord, how did you find out about this place?” Twilight asked.

“Oh, you know…” Discord twirled a finger through the air. “Read some tea leaves, studied the astrological predictions for this week, talked to some koalas…” He shrugged. “Nothing too fancy.”

“Koalas?” Spike repeated, giving Discord a deadpan look.

Discord frowned. “I’ll have you know that the Koala sages of the Eucalyptus Mountains are the wisest beings in the southern regions of the known world!” He scratched his cheek and paused. “Or was that the craziest beings in the southern region?”

“Anyway,” Twilight cut in. “What are we doing here?” She waved a hoof at their general surroundings. “Not to mention we’re in a restricted area of the warehouse.” They had bypassed such things as doors through Discord’s meddling, and were standing, sitting and in one unfortunate case vomiting in a part of the warehouse that had a distinct ‘no admittance’ feeling to it. Crates were stacked everywhere, and there were warnings about heavy machinery on every wall that looked quite worrying to Twilight.

“Oh pfft, you’re a princess. You get to do what you want, don’t you?” Discord looked to a group of workers that walked by them and paused to bow somewhat awkwardly. “Besides, two princesses visiting a local business is bound to give them a lot of publicity.”

“Just... show us what you wanted to already,” Twilight conceded. “Please.”

Discord nodded, “Right, this way.”

The group went through a large hallway, turning down several corridors before stopping at a doorway with the words ‘Shipping’ painted over the entrance. He opened the door and continued onward, leading them towards the back of the large room.

Twilight noted that unlike most of the other areas of the warehouse, this place was relatively quiet and empty of any workers. She opened her mouth to ask Discord what they were doing here, but found a lion paw over her mouth.

“Shhhhhh…” He whispered. “Don’t spoil the surprise!”

She frowned, but remained silent as they continued to the back of the room. They eventually came up to a large aisle of shelves, lined to the top with crates. Discord weaved between a gap, the two princesses, dragon, and Night Guards close behind, until the confusing creature suddenly froze and gestured for the group to remain quiet.

“Dumb... box... why won’t…?”

Twilight and Celestia paused, both giving exchanging a look with each other. Twilight’s ears twitched. That voice…

She turned to the Night Guard, and they nodded, taking to the air without a word. Only Penumbra and Nightshade (who had recovered from his nausea) stayed with the them, now following close behind.

“Honestly, you think that they would make these easier to open for a pony. Nails? Staples?” the voice groaned in frustration. “I’m going to need a trip to the spa after I’m finished in this dusty place! Ugh, simply dreadful!”

Twilight was right behind Discord as they turned down an aisle. Her eyes stopped at the end of the aisle, and rested on the last pony she thought she would see here.

“R-Rarity?”

It was Spike who had broken the silence. The white unicorn froze in place, only her ears twitching as she heard his voice. She turned around, her eyes going wide as she took in the group before her.

“T-Twilight? Princess Celestia?!” She dropped a bag that she had been holding in her magic, as well as a tool that clattered loudly to the ground.

“Rarity, what are you doing here?” Twilight asked.

“I... well, that is, I was grabbing... some fabrics! I buy from here, you see, and they give me access to... I mean, they give me a discount, since I am such a loyal customer. So, I was just grabbing some supplies to take home!” She smiled, visible beads of sweat running down her forehead and neck. “Ahem... what brings you here, darling?”

Discord floated up beside her, and picked up the bag she had dropped. He studied it for a moment. “Do you mind?” Rarity huffed. “I would most certainly like that back, Discord! I paid good money for that… fabric!”

“I’m sure,” Discord chuckled as he hefted the bag and tossed it to Twilight, who caught it with her telekinesis. “Did they give you a good deal then? It would seem you made out like a bandit, with as much as that weighs.”

“I-Yes, yes I did,” Rarity said quickly, her composure reasserting itself, “The weaver is a good friend of mine and—” Rarity’s eyes widened as Twilight was about to open the bag, and she lunged unconsciously towards it, “No, don’t!” Rarity slipped on the tool she had dropped, and fell on her side in front of Twilight.

Twilight started to help her friend up, on reflex, when she saw what rolled towards her hoof: a chisel, well-worn from use, with a handle of apple wood. “Why not, Rarity?” Twilight asked, her voice hard, “Is it because you’re afraid I might poison all of us?” Rarity started to say something, to rise and say anything, but Twilight cut her off, “Are you afraid we’ll all be killed by your attempt on Luna’s life?! Was that what you wanted?!” Twilight’s voice had risen, her tone cracking as the stress of the past few days and the emotional roller-coaster she had endured etched deep gouges in her composure.

“Why would you do this?! How could you do this?!” Twilight ranted, as tears flowed down her cheeks, “I trusted you, the Princesses trusted you, our friends trusted you! Even your own sister!” Twilight’s voice had risen to a shout, which had drawn the workers from their tasks. The Night Guards landed around Rarity, facing inward, while Spike and Celestia watched on in horror and sorrow respectively.

The silence was broken only now by Twilight’s labored breathing, and Rarity took a deep breath and pushed herself up. “Twilight, darling,” Rarity said softly, her voice hurt, “You know… you can’t be suspecting me of something like this… this horrible thing.” She looked at Twilight with tear-filled eyes, “We’re friends, Twilight, do you really think I could do that? Something so selfish and mean-spirited…”

“Y-Yeah,” Spike put in, his voice taut with worry, “M-Maybe she is in the w-wrong place at the wrong time but… but… this is Rarity! She’s caring, trustworthy... and... and... well’s she’s just Rarity. I mean, she’s the Element of Generosity, right?”

“Was.” A very serious voice said from behind Spike, who turned to see a very grim sight indeed: Discord frowning with serious intent, and something grasped in his mismatched hands, “You’ll find, my draconic friend, that sometimes things aren’t always as they seem. Ponies change,” he held up a golden necklace, with a grey, cracked diamond set in it, which elicited gasps from Twilight, Celestia and Rarity.

“How did you get that?” Celestia asked the draconequus sternly, “The forces of chaos cannot touch the Elements of Harmony.”

“Ah but my dear Celestia,” Discord said with a sly wink, as he tossed the necklace to Celestia, “This isn’t an Element of Harmony anymore. Just some cheap, gaudy thing pretending to be something it’s not.”

Celestia frowned, but after a moment of inspection, her eyes widened, “This bears my spell… but it is indeed no longer an Element of Harmony.” She looked to Discord with something approaching respect, as she passed the broken necklace to Twilight, “Which is how he was able to handle it.”

Twilight looked at the Element, which still sparkled, though its gem had grown dim and cracked. It was as if the Element itself had rebelled, for the fracture was by no means clean. Its meaning was clear to Twilight, who asked her friend one last time, “Why, Rarity?”

For a moment, Rarity was silent, then she asked, “Why didn’t you help me?” Rarity’s voice was so soft, Twilight thought she had misheard, until the white unicorn’s voice rose to an angry, frustrated pitch, “Why didn’t you help me?!”

“What?” Twilight asked in confusion as she took a half-step back.

“So innocent,” Rarity spat derisively, “always so bookish and innocent, so smart and lucky. Your breeding is impeccable, your fortune is indescribable and you squander it every day with little small-town things, unless you’re saving the world! And you always have the answer, for everything!” Rarity’s voice was like a saw against Twilight’s heart: jagged and coated in a patina of jealous fury. “When we met, I thought you could help me leave Ponyville, or find a rich, charming husband to live out my days in luxury, amongst the nobility, where I belong! But you!”

Rarity flicked her mane out of her eyes with unnecessary force, “You came from there, to here, this little town, without so much as a backwards glance towards the glamour, the fame and fortune that could have showered upon you every moment of every day, even after you were done saving the world from Nightmare Moon.”

“But I didn’t want-” Twilight started, only to be cut off again.

“No, you didn’t want the fame, you didn’t care about the glory or the ponies adoring you-”

“I cared about my friends!” Twilight erupted finally as she stepped towards Rarity, “I didn’t want all of that because I had you, all of you!”

“And maybe some of us wanted more!” Rarity put in furiously, with the ghost of a sob haunting her words, “Maybe some of us would have liked to know if a friend of theirs had the Captain of the Guard for a brother.” Twilight winced at that, and Rarity advanced, “Maybe some of us would have liked it if that friend didn’t act as though a trip to Canterlot was as normal as a trip to the grocery store, and remembered that some ponies don’t grow up in palaces!”

At that moment, Celestia stepped up, and she was as intense as Twilight had ever seen her. The grim sorrow that radiated off of Twilight’s former mentor was almost palpable as she said softly, “Some ponies don’t grow up in palaces,” Celestia said, her voice so dangerous that some of the Night Guards leaned away almost unconsciously, “But no pony should poison another.”

This calm reprimand, delivered without judgment, seemed to break something in Rarity, and like a burst dam, her words came tumbling out, “I-I spoke with Luna briefly during my stay in Canterlot almost a year ago, and she mentioned that her latest shipment of candles were late. She thought… she thought that Shining Armor was having trouble getting the paperwork sorted out. I asked her about the candles, and she gave me a tour of her chambers. I… I did poison them, yes... ” She let out a shaky breath as she continued. “B-But it was never meant to kill her, it wasn’t.” The fashionista crumbled to the floor as Celestia stood before her like a monument to disapproval, impassive but puissant, “I… It was supposed to keep her unwell… keep her unwell so that somepony could s-suggest that Twilight,” Twilight closed her eyes at the venom with which her former friend whispered her name, “That Twilight take o-over…”

“To frame her?” Celestia asked coolly, “Was that why my sister had to suffer, why you had to defile the last rites of the Night Guard,” the assembled Night Guards stiffened, “Why you terrorized your own friends and even your sister? So you could frame Princess Twilight Sparkle for a crime that would be implausible at best for her to attempt?”

“N-No…” Rarity said quietly, her body trembling with sobs, “To frame… frame her brother.” At Twilight’s gasp, she looked up with genuine regret, “I hated him, I hated him for being the one that you, Twilight Sparkle, never introduced me to. He was charming, single, and you forgot to mention him at all to any of us: to any of your friends! I thought… if you had to arrest him, or if you tried to cover it up,” Rarity broke off briefly with another sob, “I wanted to hurt you Twilight, hurt you for what you did to me, but... ” Rarity covered her face with her hooves, “But I didn’t want to hurt my other friends… and I definitely never wanted to hurt Sweetie Belle… she didn’t know anything about what I was doing, I made sure…” Rarity swallowed hard, but more sobs came back up.

“I just didn’t know what to do, once I’d done it,” Rarity said brokenly, “I-I tried to cover up everything, send a few false trails but… but it just got so out of control… I… I…” Rarity broke down again, and sobbed on the floor like a broken thing.
After several more moments, Princess Celestia stepped back, and Princess Twilight Sparkle said the one thing she hoped she’d never have to, “Guards,” Twilight said softly, “Take her away.”

Rarity gave no resistance as the Night Guard arrested her and placed a suppressor ring over her horn. All she did was continue to look at Twilight, her gaze a storm hidden behind two blue orbs filled with tears.
It was all Twilight could do to not break down where she stood as her former friend was silently escorted out of the warehouse. Instead, she settled for hanging her head and letting the tears silently fall.
It’s all a part of my duty... Twilight thought, even if it hurts, it had to be done…

She felt Celestia’s wings gently resting on her shoulders, and while she heard her mentor speak, she didn’t hear the words. Her mind was numb, now. The exhaustion, confusion, and overall stress finally was taking its toll on her, and she wanted nothing more than to sleep, wake up, and find out these past few days had been nothing more than an awful nightmare. “Twilight…?”

Realizing Celestia was tapping her gently with a hoof now, Twilight glanced up to the princess. “Oh, s-sorry, Princess…”
Celestia frowned. “Twilight... I’m so sorry that this had to happen…”

Twilight shook her head. “I just... all this time... and she never said anything.”

“Ponies behave oddly when under stress, Twilight,” replied Celestia, her voice just above a whisper. “I would know, after all.”

Twilight nodded,“So, what’s going to happen to her?” she asked almost timidly.

Celestia shook her head. “She’s admitted to her crimes, so there’s nothing she can do to defend herself from punishment now.”

“And that punishment would be…?” Twilight asked after a moment’s hesitation. The familiar knot in her chest returned, tighter than before.

Celestia's serene visage grew grim, “She will either be imprisoned, or banished from Equestria for the rest of her days.”

“Banished?” Spike repeated. “As in... kicked out of Equestria... forever?” A slow nod was the only reply Celestia gave. Spike made no further comment, instead sitting down and fidgeting with his tail. Twilight walked towards him, and pulled him close to her chest. She felt him tremble for a moment before burying his face into her fur and softly crying. She curled her wing over his face and held him tighter in her forelegs.

“Twilight…” Turning around, Twilight found herself facing Discord. His face held none of its usual mirth. Instead of a smirk, his lips were pulled down into a frown, his eyes downcast. He almost looked guilty, she thought to herself.

“Discord... thank you for helping me,” Twilight spoke softly, her voice sounding hollow, even to her own ears. “I just wish that it hadn’t been like this.”

“I know,” Discord said quietly. “I’m not happy with her, though. She made Fluttershy cry... I... I’m sure you can understand how I feel about that.” Twilight nodded. “I’ll... relay the news to Fluttershy. I only hope that she’ll be able to take it.” Discord was gone with a burst of light. No doubt the rest of the girls would find out soon enough. Her mind began imagining their reactions. Rainbow Dash would flat out deny such a possibility. Applejack would probably be equally surprised, but she could see her getting angry rather quickly, given the circumstance surrounding Apple Bloom. Pinkie Pie would probably take it best, which was not saying much. No party would be able to fix these hurt feelings.

One sleep-filled day had passed for Twilight since her incident with Rarity. Given the fact that Twilight and Spike had been witnesses to Rarity’s confession, they had been required to attend Rarity’s sentencing. Celestia, being a party of interest, was forced to withhold from her usual station as the judge in the Canterlot Palace court room. Instead, one of Canterlot’s most experienced judges, Fair Sentence, had presided over the case, which lasted only one hour at best. Rarity didn’t deny the charges, and said nothing further outside of understanding her crimes and the punishment.

Twilight had opted to sit with her friends, who had arrived to Canterlot earlier in the day. She had been silent aside from when she had been called to the stand to state what she had witnessed. Celestia, Spike, and two of the Night Guard members who had been present also gave similar stories. It was an open and shut case, even without the written confession Rarity had provided.

The elderly mare sitting in the judge’s seat raised the gavel, ready to call an end to the case, only to be cut off as the doors to the court room were opened. “Your Honor, hold,” a quiet, firm voice said clearly from the back of the courtroom. All gathered in the room had turned to the entrance. Several of the ponies gathered let out gasps and murmurs as a dark figure walked up the main aisle. Princess Luna approached the bench, slowly but surely, aided by a bat-winged Night Guard.

Celestia rose from her seat as the murmuring of the crowd grew and strode with concern towards her sister. “Sister, what are you doing up and walking about like this?” Celestia said worriedly, moving to impede the ailing princess’ progress. Princess Luna pushed past her sister with a grunt of effort and stood as tall as she could, but the image was lost as she let out a weak cough and began to shiver. One of the Night Guard accompanying her held her for support as she teetered to the side. “Luna,” Celestia began again, “Return to your quarters. The doctors said you would need at least two weeks’ bed rest before you were fit to get be up and about.”

“I shall, after we have had our chance to speak,” Luna said when she finally recovered from her coughing fit. As she continued slowly up the aisle, Twilight and the girls got a good look at her appearance. Her mane, while much more vibrant than it had been when she was bedridden and struggling for her life, was still subdued. The sparkling magic it usually held was not as noticeable, and sagged to the side as it waved weakly like a breeze over a stagnant pond. Even so, it was worlds better than it had been days prior.

The Princess of the Night gave the judge an expectant look. The judge frowned, but nodded to Princess Luna nevertheless. “Of course, your Highness.” Luna nodded gratefully before making her way towards the front of the courtroom. She looked to Rarity, who sat by a table with the defense attorney she had hired at the last minute. The unicorn mare was unable to meet Luna’s gaze.

“Rarity…” Luna spoke, her words soft as silk. The mare in question winced at the sound of her name. She continued to look to her hooves, closing her eyes and silently shaking. “My sister shared everything with me last night…” Rarity let out a quiet sniffle. For a moment there was silence as Luna marshalled her strength, then she continued, “While I know that you put my life in danger… you could have killed me, filled the land with strife,” Rarity winced subtly at that, “All for jealousy and spite,” Luna finished. The Night Guard wiped her brow efficiently, and Luna continued in a slightly stronger voice, “I… I can empathise with your actions, Rarity.”

That got Rarity to look up. She blinked away her tears, a look of utter confusion on her face. “I-what?” Rarity’s startled voice was almost lost in the hubbub that rose at Luna’s words, filling the courtroom with the buzz of a hundred startled conversations.

Luna did not smile, nor did she scowl at the mare as she continued, “Once upon a time, I too had a heart filled with nothing but jealousy and vengeance. I know what they can do to a pony... and that is why I can understand what drove you.” She took a moment to straighten further, and looked for a moment like the avatar of night once more.

Rarity stared for a long time into Luna’s eyes, which were haunted from her long illness. They held something in them. She couldn’t pinpoint what it was, but she knew it wasn’t anger, nor was it fury or pity. She slowly moved her gaze away from Luna’s to the five mares sitting in the audience, their expressions a mixture of grief and sadness. She had hurt so many of them, Rarity thought again, driven violent cracks into her relationships with the ponies that had been with her through every kind of weather.

Rarity fell deeper into her own inner grief, until a voice shattered the vortex of despair that was threatening to pull her down an even darker road. There is a reason that we fall, Rarity, Luna’s voice said calmly, though as Rarity’s gaze snapped up, she could see no sign of the Princess speaking. “W-what?” Rarity whispered, unsure and grieving inside as the princess’ voice sounded privately inside her mind, We fall, so that we may rise back up and stand stronger than before. Rarity felt her heartbeat quickening in her chest. She closed her eyes and let out a weak sob. She had done so much, hurt so many… Her gaze swept across her friends, or former friends, and only then, by the light of the bridges she had burned, did Rarity see the dark path she had gone down.

“I-I’m sorry…” She choked out. It was weak, it was barely intelligible, but it was genuine. “By the stars and heavens, I’m sorry…” Rarity’s voice cut through the murmuring of the crowd like a blade parting silk, despite its weakness, and the crowd fell silent slowly.

Luna’s lips curled ever-so slightly into a smile, barely noticeable against her dark coat. She looked to the judge and spoke. “Your Honor... I ask that you drop the charges regarding my poisoning.” All at once, there was a clamor of voices rising into a hurricane of sound in the large court chamber.

Celestia was the first to address her sister directly. “Luna, what are you thinking?” Celestia’s voice was taut with worry and frustration, but Luna stood tall, impervious to her sister’s words.

“My lady?” whispered the guard supporting Luna. “Are you certain of this?” The bat-winged guard’s voice was confused, and perhaps a little surprised at the temerity of questioning the Princess of the Night.

“What?” Rarity almost shouted in disbelief, only to be lost in the maelstrom of clamorous voices. The numerous voices continued to fill the courtroom until the judge hammered her gavel several times.

“Order! Order!” Fair Sentence commanded sternly, punctuated by the strikes of her gavel. The voices died out quickly, though there was still a murmuring undercurrent in the flow of the courtroom. The judge studied Luna with a critical eye… or as critical as one was willing to be when it came to studying a Princess of Equestria. “Your Highness… are you serious about this request?”

Luna nodded. “I am, your Honor. This pony has committed enough crimes as it stands. Theft… harassment… fraud… arson, to name but a few.” She turned to the ponies gathered in the court. “Equestria is a land that stands as a symbol of love and peace. We seek not to alienate or ostracize those who have done wrong, but to help guide them to bettering themselves. Yes, these crimes must be answered, I won’t deny that…” She looked to Rarity as she continued. “However, I know firsthoof what it is like to feel alone and in the dark, surrounded by your own jealous hatred.”

“Your Honor,” cut in another voice. The court room’s attention was turned to the other sister this time. Celestia looked mildly concerned as she watched Luna for several moments. “I feel it should be noted that confusion is a side-effect of arsenic poisoning, which was confirmed to be the source of my sister’s illness. It is quite possible that my sister is still experiencing these effects.”

“Celestia,” Luna began, her tone a clear warning to the elder alicorn. “I assure you I am of sound mind right now. Do not attempt to inter-”

Celestia shook her head and cut her sister off. “I’m sorry,” Celestia said with genuine sorrow in her tone, “but there is still a chance that you aren’t entirely aware of what you are saying.” She turned to the judge. “Your Honor, I ask that you strike my sister’s comments from the record.”

“Sister!” Luna protested. “You dare disregard my pleas?!” She staggered against her Night Guard, who folded a little under the unexpected weight of his princess. Still, Luna fixed her sister with a furious gaze, and Celestia had the grace to look aside, though her expression didn't change.

“Order!” the judge barked out. She frowned at the two for several long seconds, then let out a heavy sigh. “Your Highnesses, while you do hold the highest authority in the land, I will remind you that we are in a courtroom. Please try to maintain a certain level of formality.” She rubbed a temple. “As it stands, Princess Luna, I am afraid that Princess Celestia has a fair point. Our records and data gathered by Princess Twilight Sparkle indicate that confusion is indeed a side-effect of arsenic poisoning, and there is a chance it is lingering in your system.”

Luna’s mouth opened and closed. “I... but…” She closed her eyes and lowered her head. “I understand…” She looked at Celestia, hurt and anger reflecting in her cyan eyes. Instead of storming out, she took a seat in the same row as Celestia, making sure to have her Night Guard sitting between her and her sister.

“Um... actually…” spoke another voice in the group.

The judge barely suppressed a groan. “Yes, Miss Fluttershy?”

All eyes were now upon the yellow pegasus, who let out a small squeak at the sudden attention she had gained. She sunk down into her seat a bit, but spoke regardless, her voice shaky but audible. “I-I was... well, yesterday I found my toad friends that were supposedly taken kidnapped. Um... they were unharmed…” She fidgeted a bit as she continued. “I would like to drop the harassment and destruction of property charges relating to me and Rarity….if that’s not too much trouble, I mean…um…” Her ears folded back. “I-if you don’t mind…”

Her friends were the first to react. “Fluttershy, are you kiddin’ me?" Applejack all but shouted as the courtroom began to murmur once more as Applejack all but shouted, "She kidnapped those toads, smashed your chicken coop, an' scared you half to death!”

“W-well... none of the chickens were hurt…” Fluttershy put in somewhat feebly, "a-and the toads are just fine..."

“But still!” Rainbow Dash butt in. “She threatened your animals!”

“Don’t forget that she tried startin’ Sugarcube Corner on fire!” Applejack grumbled. “At least she fessed up to that…”

Pinkie Pie was uncharacteristically silent during the argument.

“Girls,” Twilight said softly, just loud enough to get their attention. “Let Fluttershy speak.” She then gave Fluttershy a somewhat stern look. “And, while that’s rather thoughtful of you, Fluttershy... you’re speaking out of order.”

“O-o-oh my…” Fluttershy looked to the judge. “I-I’m so, so sorry!”

The judge just rubbed her temples harder with a hoof. “Acknowledged. Miss Fluttershy, you wish to drop your charges?”

“Um... yes?” Fluttershy said, while attempting to hide from Fair Sentence's unfriendly glare.

“Very well,” the judge sighed, “Despite the unorthodox process here in this courtroom, this whole case is rather... unique, it would seem. Miss Rarity, the charges regarding the destruction of property and harassment charges relating to Miss Fluttershy are removed.”

“Actually, your Honor?” Rainbow Dash put in suddenly, standing.

The judge was about to bang her gavel yet again, pausing to glare at Rainbow Dash. “Yes?”

Rainbow Dash stood up a bit straighter, “I... well, I didn’t have any property destroyed... well, I had that picture, but it wasn’t really that important, I guess... so... I think I’d like to remove my charges, too.”

The judge let out a groan. “Very well. Anyone else? Speak now, or forever hold your peace.”

Twilight stood up suddenly. “I would like to remove a charge as well.”

The judge blinked. “Princess Twilight? I... very well…”

Twilight gave her a thankful smile. “I wish to remove the charge of attempted regicide from Rarity’s record... as a way of respecting the wishes of one of the victims.” She briefly glanced to the front, noticing Luna giving her a weak smile. Celestia looked slightly less amused, but not angry.

“I….” The judge shook her head, then nodded. “Very well, charge removed. Why not? Anyone else?” She waited for several long seconds, then sighed in relief. “Very well, then. In the case of…” She studied her notes. “Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, Princess Twilight Sparkle, the Crystal Empire, Sweet Apple Acres, Sugarcube Corner, Fluttershy, and…” She squinted. “... Rainbow ‘Future Wonderbolt Captain’ Dash…?”

Rainbow Dash had the decency to blush and look to the floor.

“... versus Rarity... the court finds the defendant guilty on one count of harassment, one count of arson, one count of theft, two counts of destruction of property, one count of breaking and entering, one account of fraud, and one count of attempted civil unrest between allied nations…and forgiven on two counts of harassment and one count of destruction of property.” The judge shook her head. “Miss Rarity, I have served as a judge for Equestria for over thirty years. Never in all my years have I taken on such a case as this. I hope you realize that you have a long sentence ahead of you with all of these charges.”
Rarity nodded once. “I understand, your Honor.”

Fair Sentence nodded, then banged the gavel three times, calling an end to the trial. “For your crimes against ponies and property, in the name of the Sun and the Moon,” Luna snorted bitterly at that reminder of how close her authority had come to being superceded. Celestia stayed silent as the judge looked at her notes, “by the power vested in me by the country of Equestria, I hereby sentence you to fifty-seven years in the Canterlot Royal Penitentiary, with the possibility of parole in ten with good behavior.” Fair Sentence snapped her gavel down one last time, “Court is over.”

Twilight led the way down a corridor. The walls, unlike the rest of Canterlot, were slate gray and the windows were nothing more than thin slots, allowing only the barest amount of light to filter into the building. She could feel the subtle presence of several dozen wards and spells lining the walls, likely to prevent any unicorns or other magical races from entering or escaping.

Canterlot Prison hadn’t gained a reputation for its tight security for no reason, after all.

“So... what’s going to happen now?” spoke Pinkie Pie for the first time in what must have been hours.

Twilight looked up to the ceiling and let out a weak sigh. “Rarity will likely be doing a long time in prison. Even with the removal of some of the charges, she has a lot of marks against her right now, and a few of them are really big.” She chewed her bottom lip for a moment, then added. “Although, there is a chance she might be let out on parole, if the prison thinks she’s fit to be let out early. Good behavior and such…”

“Oh…” Pinkie replied glumly. “I... do you think they’ll let us talk to her before they take her away?”

“I’m sure they will, Pinkie. At least, I hope so. That is why they have visitation hours, after all,” replied Fluttershy.

“I hope they do, too…” spoke a younger voice.

Twilight looked to the little filly walking beside her. Sweetie Belle’s parents were currently on a vacation in Manehatten, and wouldn’t be back until a month from now. Word would of course be sent regarding Rarity’s incarceration, but until they returned, Twilight had offered to care for her. She had initially expected Applejack to volunteer, but the farmer had left the courtroom as soon as the sentence was given without a word.

“I... do you think they’d allow me to bake her a cake and give it to her on her birthday?” Pinkie continued.

“So as long as you don’t put a steel file in it, I suppose,” Twilight answered. She tried to smile to the party pony, but it never reached her eyes. Pinkie gave a half-hearted smile of her own in return though, which Twilight felt grateful for.

“Maybe she can borrow a library book from you, Twilight,” Rainbow offered. “I bet she’d love Daring Do! Probably better than those mushy romance novels she’s always reading.”

As the five reached the large steel doors leading into the prison, Twilight spoke up. “Just don’t expect too much time to talk with her. I don’t think the Royal Guard will be too understanding or sympathetic for somepony who just tried to remove one of their princesses from the throne.”

Twilight gave a nod to the guard standing in front of the door. He gave her a salute, then knocked on the door twice. It opened promptly, and the five stepped through and shivered as the cool air of the prison washed over them. It wasn’t uncomfortable, per se, but compared to the warm summer air outside, it was a noticeable difference.

A stallion sitting behind a large desk looked up from a large pile of papers in front of him. When he saw the five, he gave a grunt and nodded. “Your Highness….we’ve been expecting you and your friends. I imagine you’re here to speak with Miss Rarity?”

“Yes,” Twilight answered. “Has she been given her cell, yet?”

“All the paperwork is in order. She’s currently seeing a visitor, but I believe it should be alright for you to speak with her as well.”

“A visitor? Already?” Twilight frowned. “Um... I mean, yes, that would be appreciated. Thank you.”

The stallion looked to one of the guards, who in turn gave a nod and asked the mares to follow him. He led them through another narrow hall lined with doors. Twilight and the girls noticed that many of them had ponies in them, and that one of them was always wearing a bright orange prison uniform.

They stopped in front of a room labeled ‘Visitor Center’, and he knocked once before opening. The five walked in, only to stop short as they took in the sight before them.

“... realize how much damage you’ve done to mah family? My sister was in tears, worried that she was going to be…I-I can’t even say it!”

There sat Applejack across from Rarity at a small table. A guard was standing beside the door, his attention focused on the wall across from him and looking as disinterested as possible. Rarity, who was clad in the same bright orange uniform that the rest of the prisoners were wearing, looked to her hooves, shame written all over her face.

“I won’t ask for your forgiveness, Applejack. Were it me instead of you, I’d feel exactly the same.” Rarity said earnestly, her expression genuinely understanding.

“Says the mare who went and tied up her sister and had her thinkin’ somepony was out for her blood as well!” Applejack shouted, slamming a hoof against the table and causing it to wobble. It caused the guard to stop studying the paint and look up, but Twilight, from the doorway, caught his eye and shook her head. The guard relaxed reluctantly, and went back to his post, a little warily. “For pony’s sake, Rare, ya’ll went and put the fear of Nightmare Moon in my little sister and Sweetie Belle. Thank goodness Scootaloo’s such a good friend; she was stopping over every day she could, just checkin’ up on Apple Bloom to make sure she was alright. She didn’t even know what the hay was wrong, and I’d have it in good faith that she was just as frightened as they were!”

“I know!” Rarity replied, swallowing hard. “Believe me, I am not proud of what I did at all. It’s something that will haunt me for…” She paused, turning her attention to the now opened door. Her eyes rested on each of her friends before stopping on Sweetie Belle. “S-Sweetie Belle?”

The filly stood in place, unable to meet her sister’s gaze. “H-hi, Rarity.”

Applejack’s glare softened at the sight of the filly. She looked back to the mare sitting across from her, and stated firmly. “I want an apology, Rarity. A real one.”

Rarity took in a deep breath and sighed. “Applejack, I am truly sorry for all the pain and suffering I caused you, your family, and especially your sister. I… I wish I could take it all back, but I cannot. I will spend the rest of my days regretting what I did… a-and I am sorry that I had to betray you like that over something so… petty…” She sniffled loudly. “I’m sorry, and I’ll never be able to say it enough, but please believe me when I say that I apologize for everything I did to you and your family.”

“And the rest of Equestria, too,” Applejack added. “You’re lucky things didn’t go to Tartarus before you got caught, you know that?”

“Again, I’m not proud of that.” Rarity said, her eyes downcast.

“Hmmph.” Applejack got up from her chair. “Well, then, apology accepted. I… I hope you know how lucky you got off, Rarity. You’ve got a long road ahead of ya… and I’m not sure we can help you this time.” She shook her head. “Take care, Rarity.”

Rarity looked at Applejack as the farmer pushed the chair in and started to turn away, her eyes full of worry. “Applejack?”

“Hm?” Applejack turned slightly, her expression unreadable.

Rarity maintained the eye-contact as she said softly, “Thank you…”

The farmer paused for a moment, then nodded. She made her way towards the door, nodding once to her friends and speaking softly herself, “I’ll wait for ya’ll at the station, alright?”

The girls gave a nod each in reply, and with that, Applejack made her way out the door.

Rarity watched Applejack for several moments, then turned her attention back to the girls. “You came to speak with me. I... I must admit, I’m rather surprised. I didn’t think you’d want to speak to me.”

Sweetie broke the silence first. “Rarity…?”

Rarity restrained herself from getting up from her seat when she took in Sweetie Belle’s appearance. The filly was close to tears, and hiccuping with sobs.

“S-Sweetie Belle…” Rarity looked pleadingly to the guard. He in turn looked to Twilight, who nodded. He gave Rarity a quick nod in turn. Rarity got up from her seat immediately and rushed to hug her sister. “I-I’m sorry! Oh, Sweetie Belle, I-I…” She tightened her grip around her sister as the tears began to run down her cheeks steadily. “Y-you must think I’m some sort of monster!”

Sweetie Belle only wrapped her smaller forelegs around her sister tighter. “I-I don’t want them to take you away!” She looked to Twilight pleadingly. “P-please, Twilight, you’re a princess! C-can’t you say she’s sorry, and let her go?”

It was all Twilight could do not to start tearing up as well. “I’m sorry, Sweetie, but... even princesses have to obey the law. Rarity... she did some really bad things, and... she has to pay for them.” Twilight hung her head. “I’m sorry.”

“No,” Rarity said, having calmed down enough to speak once more. “Don’t apologize, Twilight. You are the last pony here who should be doing any of that.”

“If I had been a better friend, maybe—”

“Twilight, please.” Rarity disengaged Sweetie from herself and stood up straight. “You are, by far, the greatest friend a pony could possibly ask for. All of you girls are. I…I had so many blessings in my life, and I go and… and do something so heartless like this…”

Sweetie Belle hugged her sister again, tighter. “Rarity… I know you didn’t mean to hurt me. I… I don’t know everything that happened, but… I forgive you.”

That proved to be the breaking point for Rarity. Her somewhat composed expression cracked, and the dams of self-control were opened fully. Rarity pulled her sister in as she cried into the filly’s mane. Sweetie Belle cried quietly, closing her eyes and trying to remember the feeling of being held by her sister as best as she could.

Twilight and the girls chose to remain quiet that entire time, giving the two sisters what privacy they could. After almost five minutes of sobs and apologies, the two finally let go of each other so that Rarity could look to them. She looked between the girls, then frowned. “Where’s Spike?”

“Oh…” Twilight looked away awkwardly and sighed. “He… decided not to come with us. Discord took him out for some ice cream, I believe. He’ll be at the train station when we’re ready to leave.” Rarity slumped, but seemed to understand. “He says… he told me to tell you to take care of yourself, and… he’ll try and visit someday.”

“I… I see. Well, I suppose that’s better than nothing. Tell him that… that I’m sorry for what happened.” She gave Twilight a weak smile. “Please?”

“Of course,” Twilight smiled weakly. “He’s really torn up about this whole thing, but I’m sure he’ll get better with time.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow piped in. “We’ll keep an eye on the squirt for you.”

“Thank you,” Rarity said, relaxing a bit. “That goes for you too, Sweetie Belle. Spike’s still a baby dragon, after all.”

Sweetie Belle sniffled and nodded. “R-right.”

“Rarity…” Fluttershy put in softly, “are you going to be okay? Well, I mean, are you going to be as okay as you can for being in… well, here?” Fluttershy asked, her voice barely breaking a whisper, as if afraid to raise her voice in such a grim place.

“I suppose I have no choice, do I?” Rarity sighed wearily as she lifted up a foreleg, her nose scrunching up at the color of her uniform. “Ugh, whoever designed these ghastly outfits clearly had no sense in color. Blaze orange? Honestly, it clashes horribly with my mane.”

The girls couldn’t help but chuckle a bit as Rarity attempted to lighten the mood. It was good to see her in some semblance of her former self, “Aw, it’s not the worst color, Rarity. Imagine if it was lime green!” Pinkie giggled.

“Perish the thought!” Rarity gasped, while the others chuckled again and relaxed another fraction, “Green just isn’t my color, Pinkie, I’d look simply dreadful.”

“Nah,” Rainbow Dash added. “You could make it work, Rarity. Heck, maybe you could start a whole new fashion trend with the uniforms.”

Rarity shook her head forlornly. “Sadly, altering our uniforms is not allowed. I’m afraid I’m stuck with this atrocious thing for as long as I’m here.” she sniffed, “Otherwise I’m sure there’d be more variety. As it is, this is like wearing a fashion nightmare.”

“Speaking of fashion,” Twilight began. “What’s going to happen to Carousel boutique?”

Rarity frowned. “I’m going to probably sell it to the Ponyville bank. I can’t afford to maintain it while I’m in here. It can’t remain open without business, after all.”

“Maybe Mom and Dad can move there?” Sweetie suggested hopefully. “I mean, they keep saying they want to find a place closer to downtown Ponyville, right?”

“Heh, downtown Ponyville…” Rarity chuckled a little. “Perhaps, Sweetie Belle, but that’s for Mother, Father, and I to decide. You don’t have to worry about that. Alright? You just focus on school, having fun with your friends, and being a proper lady.”

“Okay, Rarity,” Sweetie said, a little more cheerfully.

Satisfied with her sister’s response, Rarity looked to the clock. “It seems we’re getting dreadfully close to the end of visiting hours.”

“Ah,” Twilight looked to the clock. Sure enough, there was maybe five minutes left before they would have to leave. “Rarity, take care of yourself, alright? I… we’ll try and visit as much as we can.”

“Oh, now don’t go and put everything on hold for me. You all still have your lives to live. I’ll be fine…” Rarity smiled, and this time it reached her eyes, “I promise.”

“Well, we’ll at least visit you once a month when we can,” Twilight said with a smile of her own. “If Princess Luna can forgive you for what happened, then so can we. It…” Twilight faltered for a moment before she continued, “it’s just going to take some time to heal the wounds.”

“She’s right, Rarity,” Fluttershy agreed. “True friends don’t leave each other when they need help. We can always write each other, too.”

“Oh, that’s right!” Rarity said, real excitement appearing in her eyes. “Oh, I can even work on that novel of mine.”

“Or, you know, work out in the yard and get a rocking bod,” Rainbow Dash suggested. The girls gave her a flat look. “What? Have you seen some of the mares outside? They could put the Wonderbolts to shame with those muscles.”

“Erm…” Twilight tried her best to erase the images from her mind of Rarity with muscles like Big Macintosh by continuing the conversation,. “Right, anyway, we’ll keep in touch with you, okay?”

“That’s more than I deserve, Twilight,” Rarity said with a tinge of sadness, “but I’m thankful for it.”

“Alright,” spoke up the guard, who seemed to spring to life as the clock struck the hour, “It’s about time for visiting hours to be over. Princess Twilight Sparkle, I’m sorry, but we’re going to have to end this visit now.” The guard sounded a little uncertain, like he wasn’t sure if Twilight was going to insist or not, when Twilight turned her gaze to him.

“We understand,” Twilight said with a nod, “Alright, girls, let’s get going.” They all gave their goodbyes to Rarity, who returned them with tears forming in her eyes. She smiled, though. It gave Twilight some hope for her, and it reminded her that despite what had happened, and despite the obvious wounds that would need to heal, her friend was still there.

As they made their way out of the Canterlot Royal Penitentiary, Twilight felt the warm rays of the late summer afternoon wash over her. It was a welcome feeling, and it reminded her that even with all the bad stuff that can happen, life still goes on, so she would have to do the same.
Starting with some apologies...

After several letters over the course of a week following the trial, Twilight was finally able to re-visit the Crystal Empire and deliver her formal apology to Cadence and Shining Armor. It was tremendously awkward, but necessary. Still, it helped heal the breach that had started between the Crystal Empire and Equestria. What helped more was the more informal meeting that followed the formal apology.

Twilight explained everything to Cadence and Shining Armor. Cadence had already forgiven Twilight, but it was only after a few days of strained relations that Twilight and Shining Armor started to act like siblings again. It reminded Twilight uncomfortably about the incident surrounding Cadence and Shining Armor’s wedding, but everything worked out very well indeed.

When she’d returned to Ponyville, however, Twilight was very surprised to find two bat-winged Night Guards waiting at attention outside the library. Twilight blinked as she noticed the pair of guards, and to her surprise she recognized them. “Penumbra?” Twilight asked in astonishment, “Nightshade?” both guards stood straighter to attention as their names were called. Twilight ran up to them, her luggage bouncing on the cart behind her, “Is Princess Luna inside? I thought she wasn’t supposed to be up for another few months!”

“Negative, Princess Twilight Sparkle,” Nightshade said formally, still saluting, “We’re here of our own accord.” Once Twilight had approached, she noticed that the traditional Night Guard armor both stallions usually sported was re-painted. Where once it had been dark blues and violets, both guards were decked out in purple and gold armor with pink highlights, matching Twilight’s own coloration, with a nod to her Element.

“After seeing your dedication to justice, Princess,” Penumbra put in a bit less formally, “We petitioned to transfer to your service. Since you lacked guards of your own, we figured we could help you.” at Twilight’s look he added, “We already discussed this with your draconic assistant, he seemed quite enthused.”

Twilight was about to ask about Princess Luna when Nightshade added, “Princess Luna signed the transfer herself, but of course it still needs your approval.” Nightshade sounded discreetly hopeful to Twilight’s ears, and Penumbra looked like he was attempting to cross his hooves mentally.

Twilight sighed and then snorted, “Well, I guess I could use the help around the library, and it is befitting of a princess I suppose.” Twilight smiled at the two bat-winged stallions, “At ease, guys,” the former Night Guards relaxed and lowered their salutes, “And welcome to the library.”

A few years later, Rarity was granted an early parole at the urging of Princess Luna herself. It had raised more than a few eyebrows, but the princess had been firm on the subject, and Princess Celestia had declined the opportunity to gainsay her sister. Unfortunately, this still left Rarity without a home or a business, as those had been sold.

Rarity though had moved back in with her parents, and had begun making dresses again. Her poisoning attempt on Princess Luna had completely ruined her reputation, and cost her almost all of her former clientele, but Rarity had refused to let that discourage her. After another year of progress, and a commission or two from Princess Luna, Rarity decided to take her first time off since her parole began.

She met up with her friends from Ponyville, just outside of town on a grassy knoll, beside a large oak tree. Rainbow Dash had personally seen to it being a clear and sunny day for the occasion, and Fluttershy had invited some of her bird friends, who chirped, trilled, and in one case, garbled, away happily, providing a wonderful ambience for the picnic.

“Oh, Rainbow, you truly did a wonderful job on the weather today, darling.”

“Eh, I still got the magic touch with clouds,” Rainbow said as she smirked proudly, taking her flight goggles off. “I’m just glad Spitfire gave me the day off. I didn’t want to have to skip practice without leave.”

“Ah, I forgot to ask, how was the performance in the Crystal Empire last week?” Twilight asked after taking a sip of her juice. “Cadence sent me a letter and told me it was really great.”

“Well, I don’t mean to brag…” Rainbow Dash said with the tone of somepony who intended to do just that. She’d become absolutely insufferable for a few months after her induction into the Wonderbolts, but fortunately that day Pinkie was able to divert the conversation.

“Oh, Dashie, we know you’re amazing. No need to rub it in our faces,” Pinkie giggled, “Of course if you really wanted to rub it in our faces, I think that would be amazing too, but then what would that look like?”

Rainbow Dash chuckled and rolled her eyes, “Heh, thanks, Pinkie. Yeah, though, it was great. We had to adjust for a day or two, though. The air is a bit denser up there, being cold and stuff. That magic barrier they have helps, but you can’t completely get rid of the cold, you know?”

“I can imagine. I’m still not the best with these,” Twilight looked to her wings, then back to Rainbow Dash. “I mean, I’ve gotten better, and your lessons have helped…” Twilight’s tone evoked the various introductions to the ground she’d suffered, and the unplanned visits to various houses around Ponyville.

“Oh, you’re flying just fine, Twilight,” spoke Fluttershy reassuringly, despite having been the one who most often patched her friend up. “You just need some more practice.”

Rarity gave a nod of agreement. “Yes, I have to agree with Fluttershy. I saw your little fly-over with Luna last week when you visited Trottingham. I daresay you were outpacing some of the guards… speaking of which…” Rarity glanced around, then smiled slyly. “How are your two boys doing?”

Twilight flushed a bit. “Y-you don’t need to say it like that! It’s strictly professional between us!” There had been quite a bit of loose talk in town about two stallions staying in the library with Twilight, unfounded of course, but it was still easy to wind Twilight up about it.

“Right, and that’s why you let them help run the library when you’re too busy, right?” Rainbow Dash put in with a grin, “And escort you everywhere and sleep in the same house as you…” The pegasus finally broke off laughing at the look on Twilight’s face which was a mixture of embarrassment and irritation.

“Oh that’s just too easy,” Rainbow Dash said, wiping her eyes before she turned a shade more serious, “Speaking of your guard buddies though, you need to tell them to lay off on the school foals. Poor Pound Cake was scared featherless when Nightshade popped out of the shadows and said his library book was eighteen hours overdue.”

Twilight blinked. “H-he... Nightshade did…” Twilight groaned, then looked to a random maple tree. “Nightshade! Penumbra!”

Two dark blurs shot down from the tree in seconds, landing right before Twilight and eliciting a squeak from Fluttershy, who was sitting closest to her. “Yes, your Highness?”

“What did I tell you about stalking the fillies and colts in Ponyville when they have a book that’s overdue?” She asked, her voice taking the tone of a scolding parent.

“I…” Nightshade continued to face forward. “But... the colt was heading out of town for the weekend, and I figured he would cooperate and—”

“Nightshade, eye contact,” Twilight cut him off.

Both Nightshade and Penumbra looked directly at Twilight this time. Nightshade continued. “I... forgive me, Princess Twilight. I shall not make the same mistake again.”

Twilight sighed, then gave an expectant look to Penumbra.

“I too shall see to it that Nightshade does not make the same mistake again,” the stallion said with a salute.

“... and…?” Twilight prompted expectantly.

“I... shall also not stalk the fillies and colts in town who have recently overdue library books, for it discourages them from returning to read more,” Penumbra finished, as if he’d said it many times before.

Twilight nodded, clearly satisfied with them both. “Good. Also, have you two found a book to bring for ‘Read a Foal a Book Day’ at the schoolhouse?”

“The Cask of Amaretillado,” Nightshade stated. “It is a great look into the darker side of equinity, and a classic example of an unreliable narrator.”

“Oh, I liked that one,” Penumbra commented quietly. “Not one of Raven Feather’s best, but definitely a memorable one. I’m going with The Deed of Paksemareion.” At Twilight’s surprised look, he added defensively, “It’s appropriate!”

“Penumbra,” Twilight said gently, while her friends tried not to laugh at the sight of Twilight mildly scolding a pair of full-grown stallions, “It’s over a thousand pages long. Granted, it’s a great adventure story, but…” Twilight shook her head and gave the smirking Nightshade a sharp look, “I think a story about a pony being walled up in a wine cellar is a bit too mature for those fillies and colts, so you’re going to have to pick another.”

Nightshade let out a groan, “Well, I suppose I could go with The Name of the Windigo.”

Twilight ran a hoof over her face. “Nightshade, that book is too long for a single class period.”

Nightshade frowned and grumbled to himself. “Very well, Grimm Tale’s Fairy Tales it is, then…”
He trailed off, and Twilight sighed, “Give it some more thought. And remember, don’t go scaring fillies and colts for their books. A few hours of lateness won’t hurt the book!” Twilight relaxed a bit, “But enough of that, would you like to join us?”

“Er,” Nightshade said, looking distinctly uncomfortable. Penumbra as well looked like he was wrestling with some inner conflict. Twilight sighed. Despite the time they had spent together, the bat-winged ponies had never quite abandoned the thought of constant stealth. Being out in the open, even to talk to Twilight, was clearly fraying their nerves.

Twilight shook her head, “Don’t worry about it, but if you want anything, just ask, alright?” The stallions nodded and bowed gratefully, then shot away like shadows in a breeze, presumably back to the same tree.

Rarity shook her head as well, giggling quietly as Twilight took a seat once more on the blanket laid out on the ground. “Twilight, how is Spike doing, if you don’t mind me asking.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and chuckled softly. “Spike and Discord declared today ‘National Library Assistant Day’ and made off to Neighagara Falls. Something about finding a barrel and diving.” She snorte., “I trust Discord enough to keep Spike safe, though.”

Fluttershy smiled at the mention of her draconequus friend. “Discord really seems to enjoy hanging out with Spike.”

Twilight harrumphed at that. “I think he just enjoys the fact that Spike gets a kick out of his pranks these days.”

A giggle escaped Pinkie as she nodded in agreement. “The other day they turned the roof of Sugarcube Corner Bright Green. Mister Cake had the funniest look on his face.” She scrunched her face into a panicked frown, one eye twitching, imitating the baker perfectly. “He got over it though when Discord changed it back and offered him some carrot cake, though.”

“Well,” Rarity said with a small smile, “Do tell Spike I said hello… and… say hello to Discord, too.”

Twilight shot Rarity a smile. “I’ll be sure to do that.”

Rarity turned her attention from Twilight to the pony across from her, and her smile lessened a bit. Applejack had been rather quiet for the most part since they started their little get-together. She had said only a hoofful of words at most since she showed up with two apple pies and some caramel apple fritters. She had also avoided speaking, let alone looking at, Rarity.

“Applejack,” Rarity tried, despite the lingering silence between her and the apple farmer, “how is the farm these days? I heard you had quite a turnout with the cider this year.”

“Yep.” Applejack said shortly, not looking at Rarity at all. The atmosphere seemed to chill a little, and Fluttershy and Twilight looked at each other uneasily.

Rarity blinked. “Oh, w-well, that’s good to hear. Um... how is Apple Bl—” The look Applejack shot her gave her pause. While not really a glare, it was a clear warning for Rarity to choose her next words carefully. “How is your family doing?”
Applejack bit into an apple and chewed a few times before swallowing. “Fine.”

“I see…” Rarity slumped a bit. “That’s... good to hear.” The silence stretched out uncomfortably, and nopony really wanted to break it. Most of Rarity’s friends had relaxed around her, but Applejack had held onto her grudge like a lifeline.

Fluttershy finally spoke up, “I saw a flock of fruit bats migrating south from your orchard the other day, Applejack. I’m sure that must be good to have them out of the trees.”

Applejack nodded. “Yep, we can get back to working those fields again with them gone. Big Mac and I are gonna get started first thing tomorrow.” Rarity frowned. So, Applejack had no problem talking with Fluttershy, but she couldn’t say more than a single word to her?

“Hey, AJ, what’s with you?” Rainbow spoke, and Rarity suppressed a worried groan. Leave it to Rainbow Dash to not beat around the bush when it was appropriate to do so.

Applejack raised an eyebrow at Rainbow Dash, “There’s nothin’ with me, Dash. Just enjoyin’ the scenery. That’s all.” Applejack though couldn’t look Rainbow Dash in the eye as she said that, but her tone suggested plainly to the pegasus that she drop the subject.

“Uh huh,” Rainbow said, clearly not buying it and not particularly caring about Applejack’s tone. “Look, if you’re going to be a mule about everything, then you can just le—”

“Rainbow, that’s alright,” Rarity cut in quickly.

“No, it’s not!” Rainbow argued. “Look, I know there was some bad blood between us some time ago, but... but…” She groaned. “I’ve forgave and forgot, I don’t see why she can’t do the same!”

“Well, unlike me, you didn’t have a sister who couldn’t sleep in her own bedroom for a month!” Applejack shouted to the pegasus, now inches from her face. “Try dealin’ with that, then let me know how you feel.”

Rarity took a breath and said, “Sweetie Belle still locks her door at night.” The abrupt non-sequitur snapped the pair of arguing mares out of their dispute. Applejack, for the first time in years, made eye contact with Rarity as she continued, “I-I know it’s not the same but… even though she says it’s fine, well…” Rarity swallowed hard, but maintained her composure, “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I brought it up,” Rarity said with obvious untruth in her tone. She had wanted to say she knew how Applejack felt, but she felt it would have sounded disingenuous.

But Applejack’s face relaxed somewhat, as if she’d heard the words Rarity had been feeling. She pulled back from Rainbow Dash and laid back down by her sandwich, which had been scattered when she’d risen to confront the pegasus. She put it all back together, not minding the dirt, though Rarity shuddered involuntarily. The farmer noticed though, and with a cocked eyebrow she asked, “Pass the salt, Rarity?”

The End

Author's Notes:

Denim_Blue’s Note: Hey, all, Denim_Blue here. So… yeah, Rusty and I did this. Needless to say, I think we were both amazed with ourselves. Rusty did all the heavy lifting, though he’ll probably deny it. Don’t let him fool you. I just stood there and looked pretty.

Anyway, in all seriousness, this was fun. I’ve never done Dark/Mystery genre before, and while this was a rather happy ending compared to some stuff in that category, I’m still proud of myself. Rusty-senpai has taught me well. Hope you all enjoyed this as much as we did writing this. Be sure to favorite this and follow us to validate our work so we can brag about it and such. Or don’t… but feel free to.

Right well, as always, thanks for giving this story a chance, and as always, happy reading!

Rusty's Note: He lies! He lies! Okay, maybe he doesn't, this WAS a lot of fun. Denim definitely kept things moving nicely, and I just crammed more details in whenever I felt people should know what color the sad, cardboard box in the corner was. Still, I really liked working with Denim_Blue, they're really cool, and their stuff is pretty darn awesome, if I do say so myself.

Anyway, thanks for sticking with it 'til the end y'all! Toodles!

Sick and Twisted

by RustyTheBrave

The Set-Up

Attempted Murder, She Wrote

Caught Red-Hoofed