Contemplation.
Twilight Sparkle sighed wearily. It had been a whole year since she and her friends had tried to help the Crystal Ponies. Their general despondence had seemed impossible to a mare who was from a happy, prosperous land like Equestria, and even though they had failed in their quest Twilight had tried to look at the more positive side of the whole ordeal. She had learned so much of the outside world, and although it was a darker,more depressing knowledge Twilight was still thankful for the opportunity to learn. On top of that she got to see a beautiful new world,meet new ponies, and try a few new foods, but the positive aspects were soon overwhelmed by the remembrance that the whole reason they got to experience such wonderful new things was because she and her friends had been given a mission to help ponies in need, a mission that was less than successful.
Something had been missing from the Crystal Kingdom, and she and her friends new it. So did the Crystal Ponies, but they simply couldn't remember why. Weeks of pressing everypony for answers had yielded no results whatsoever, and her friends' patience had been wearing thin. After a while they decided to give up despite Twilight's constant protests. The others had just had enough, they'd tried everything, and accomplished nothing. They headed back to Ponyville and all of them tried to forget their failure in the foreign land. All except Twilight, she refused to allow herself the luxury of accepting defeat, there were ponies in need, and Celestia be damned if she wasn't going to keep trying.
Once she had arrived back at Ponyville she instantly began scouring every inch of the library for any information about the Crystal Ponies, but she could find nothing. She had tried the Canterlot library, praised as the largest and most extensive in Equestrian history, still nothing. It seemed as though the Crystal Ponies didn't exist. She began thinking, until she came to a horrifying conclusion, King Somber's spell hadn't just wiped the memories of the Crystal Ponies, it had rid the entire world of any info about the Crystal Kingdom. Only the oldest of ponies would have been able to remember what happened.
"Wait,Twilight thought to herself,only the oldest of ponies. That's it!
Twilight had only one place to turn, the Princesses' own personal files. The two princesses preferred to keep records of the past, they helped the princesses make difficult decisions by providing them with access to past mistakes that could then be applied to the situation at hand. They were bound to have something about the Crystal Ponies.
Running to the train station with renewed vigor Twilight purchased her train ticket to Canterlot and boarded post haste. During the several hour train ride Twilight stared out the window and allowed her mind to wander. It had been so long since she'd had any reprieve from studying( or at least attempting to study) the Crystal Ponies, and it was relaxing to finally be able to think about the mundane tasks of everyday life. She let the serenity overtake her, and her eyes began to droop.
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"Excuse me miss, sorry to wake you, but we've reached our destination."
Twilight opened her eyes slowly, allowing herself to adjust to the harsh light. She quickly thanked the train conductor for waking her and ran off in the direction of Canterlot Castle. Unfortunately it took longer to reach the castle than expected, because Twilight was constantly having to dodge in between the ponies that were roaming the streets. After what seemed like hours of dodging countless stuck up stallions and Primpy mares, Twilight finally reached the gates of Canterlot castle.
Twilight ran up to the gates, only to be stopped by six members of the Royal Guard.
"State your name, and business coming to the castle."
"I'm Twilight Sparkle, and I'm here on an emergency visit."
"Sorry,we can't just let anyone in, you'll have to schedule-"
"Dude,"one of the guards cut him off,"that's Twilight Sparkle, she's Celestia's personal student."
"Still, we can't give her special treat-"
"She's also Shining Armors sister, and since he married a princess she is technically royalty, not to mention Shining Armor would make our lives a living hell if he ever found out we prevented his sister from doing something important."
The guard sighed in defeat and stepped aside, allowing Twilight to pass.
"Thank you very much,"she told the guard with an air of self-satisfaction. She then walked through the gate and into the castle.
She ran through several hallways and rooms using her vast knowledge of the castle layout to her advantage. She eventually reached Celestia's throne room, where she would come to relax after a hard day's work. She politely knocked on the door, her old habits returning despite the urgency of the situation.
"Come in," said a voice on the other side of the door. Twilight acquiesced and opened the door to confront the goddess of the sun.
"Oh Twilight,"Celestia happily said," what a pleasant surprise, what brings you here?"
"I've come to talk to you about the Crystal Ponies."
"Twilight, I've already told you, I bear no ill will towards you and your friends for being unable to help them, you tried your best."
"Actually, I was wondering if I could view the files you and Luna keep, I still want to help the crystal ponies, and if there's anywhere I can find at least some information about what happened to the Crystal Ponies or how to help them it's got to be in there."
"Twilight, you know that only Luna and I are aloud in the archives" Celestia changed her expression to one as serious as possible.
"I know, but it could help save millions of pones."
"Twilight my answer is no,"Celestia said with an air of authority,"there are dark secrets in the Equstrian Archives, things that I can't let anypony see, not even the ones I trust most, tomorrow you will take a train back to Ponyville, but in the meantime you may use one of the guest bedrooms."
Celestia watched a defeated Twilight walk away. She sighed, afterall, she hated having to yell at Twilight, but this was for the safety of Equestria.
Twilight Sparkle walked to her guest room, angrily muttering to herself. She wanted to help the Crystal Ponies no matter what, even if it meant doing something she almost never even considered. Twilight was going to disobey a direct order from Princess Celestia. She was going to sneak into the vault that held the Equestrian archives at night and find what she was looking for herself, no matter what the consequences.