Night Brigade wasn't entirely sure why he was required to report to a simple farm pony. It had made sense up until now. Captain Hero, which he totally thought the Captain should change his name to, left to fly to Canterlot in order to inform the court. That had left their Second In-Command Silly Cupcakes in charge, but she realized she should go get word out in Ponyville since the two ponies that had reported the kidnapping information needed to be present as they were the concerned part looking for Twilight, which left Maize Picker in charge, except Maize was currently in the hospital balcony so that left Night in charge.

Yet here he was giving a report to Applejack, "-twenty-seven bedrooms and fifteen guest rooms, a total of four kitchens, one throne room, one formal throne room, one even more formal throne room, a royal bedroom behind the more formal throne room, one library in a spiral pattern that takes up the entire middle of the forth floor and beyond, a working elevator system, several dining rooms of varying qualities, a green house, treasuries, treasure rooms, armories, basements-"

"On a flying castle?" Applejack raised an eyebrow. Sensing her bemusement, Hayseed left out a hot snort behind her and closed his slit eyes again while Pinkie changed out his nature-made bandage for a more proper one.

"I'm not sure what else to call a room beneath the, uh, ground it's stationed on, but it includes cellars, wine cellars, a whole prison compound, and wine cellars."

"You said wine cellars twice."

"I like the wine cellars." Night turned his head to Twilight. "Hey, think this can go any faster, ma'am?" He called curiously.

"Unfortunately no. I'm trying to keep it at a reasonable speed that won't disrupt the local air currents and will be easier to compensate for when I need to make a stop, on top of that I'm trying to be careful about-"

She continued to ramble as Applejack turned to Night. "Anyways, good findin's, is that all?" She asked, while he shrugged.

"Only other thing I can say is that this castle is full of the finest materials and décor imaginable. Soft silks, expensive metal-ware, gold all over the place, heck, I don't know what magic your friend has but every statue is of her, everything's in her color scheme, and all the plaques in the place are dedicated to her and somepony called Atmos. As far as we can tell, she owns the place in every sense of the word."

Applejack blinked at this bit of info and turned to Pinkie Pie as she gave Hayseed a tummy rub. "Hey Pinkie, I'm gonna explore the castle a bit. Wanna come?"

"Sure! Rainbow Dash, you wanna-"

"I'll stay up here, thanks. Last time I went down there were mirrors. If I see another mirror in the next week I'm going to head butt myself through it." Dash waved a hoof, sitting firmly next to Twilight as they flew.

"Uh," Pinkie and Applejack blinked, "Okay, well, if you wanna stay, it's your choice!" Pinkie nodded as they walked towards the staircase leading down into the castle.

"Darn right it is."

As they turned, Hayseed opened his eye and gave a sorrowful rumble, causing Applejack to pause, and approach. She rubbed his tummy. "Aww don' worry Hayseed, we'll be back, we're jus' gonna explore Twilight's new digs. You keep an eye on 'er?" She asked, and the dragon rumbled contently. "There's a good boy." She turned and walked down the stairs.

Oh right, that's why Night reported to Applejack. You didn't mess with the filly who owned a dragon.

---

"Hey." Malta stared at the enormous tapestry beside him, having been counting the thread count and finding it impressively high. But he'd lost count. "Hey Malta." Malta turned his head towards his partner, who was laying on the stretch of light purple carpet that covered the middle of the stone floor of the take-off deck. "Hey, we're like, captured, right?"

"…" Malta stared down at his hooves. "Popular opinion points to 'yes'." Other than Ziel, pretty much every captured pony was moping around. One of the female ones, that really bitchy one had even gone so far as to break out into tears for failing Lord Galio. Freaking drama queens.

Ziel rolled onto his hooves and remained on the floor, watching Malta. "Well shoot. I mean, I had to ask, they're not doing a hard job of keeping us here." Only one guard was stationed at the exit of the flight deck, and even he spent most of his time exploring the outside of the multi-sectioned castle.

"Twilight has the place shielded. And none of us can fly either." Malta hummed, then immediately cursed himself in his head for using her name. He wasn't supposed to get used to her, but the short time he'd spent watching her cell he'd reported to Rukafelth with concerns of their health and hygiene.

"Oh yeah, the almighty 'False One' and all that. What do you think's gonna happen to us?" He asked, standing up. "Think we'll get home eventually?"

"Doubtful. We're prisoners of war." Malta shrugged. Ziel was new to the military, Malta was a seven year veteran. He'd mostly held down cushy jobs of non-action but every now and then he got put out there to fight and proved to be capable. "That means they're probably gonna take us straight to their heavily fortified castle, have us strung up, tortured, interrogated, and if we're lucky, put to death."

"Well," Ziel paused, "crap, I can't get tortured or killed. I promised Lahmia I'd be okay."

"War likes to break promises. Anyways, if we're unlucky, they'll probably keep us around for a few years and take turns torturing us depending on how bored they are. That's what I heard Coltriella does to its prisoners." Malta prattled on, reupdating his memory of the thread count.

"This isn't Coltriella though." Ziel pointed out idly.

"What's Coltriella?" They turned to face their guard. He was an older pony, his mane graying, but he looked tough, and very curious.

Malta couldn't hide all the surprise from his eyes, but he minimized it some. Standard procedure should have been to not say anything, but right now, he wanted to reduce his future pain. "Coltriella is a foreign country near Golding." The guard blinked. "Golding is really far west of here."

"Ah. We don't hear much news outside Equestria." The old guard admitted, shifting to face them.

"Probably for the best. Not every where's as happy as it is here. Coltriella's kind of this barbarian waste land that used to be an agricultural empire until its ruling class ran it into the ground. Now it's kind of the ultimate hotspot for sin."

The guard blinked once, "I don't understand."

Ziel butt in, "Oh, you know, gambling, whores, slaves, assassinations, it's full of the 'finer pleasures' and such. We've been at odds for a while because those cocky bunch of foals don't even try to hide it. Their king practically lives off it, in fact. It's really a shameful place."

"Very shameful." Malta nodded darkly.

"… Surprising. And you tolerate your neighbors doing such things?" The old Equestrian asked.

"Heck no! We've been at war with them for the past twenty-eight years!"

"Thirty-eight." "Thirty-eight years! Some slavers snuck into our country and were caught trying to kidnap a few maidens, so our Lord put out a war order. The only thing stopping us from knocking them flat is they use slaves as cannon-fodder, and our Lord doesn't want to kill slaves."

The Equestrian looked out to the sky, and flapped his wings a little, then looked back to the Golding ponies. "I'm afraid I don't understand you ponies at all."

---

The floors of every room was a nice white marble, with a dark violet carpet stretching across the middle leaving only the edges exposed. The walls were also a fantastic white, the same with the ceiling, each a well-polished stone that was smooth to the touch. The hallways were hardly boring to traverse, what with the gold candles, gold chandeliers, all encrusted with jewels with a perfectly formed candle lit in each spot. There was a column in the walls every ten feet, all with the shape of Twilight's cutie mark chiseled in and filled with gold.

There were banners and tapestries and artwork, the banners and tapestries being dark blue, purple, light violet, and pink, with the paintings being professionally done in various styles from water-color, to acrylic, to oil based, and all of them depicted Twilight in some form or fashion, all looking her absolute best wearing dresses, or on thrones, or sleeping soundly, or sitting on a sun-lit rock, or playing in a field, or surrounded by thousands of books, or performing magic. Some of them had Rainbow Dash in them, looking noble and powerful, sword in mouth and sometimes with multiples of her with their mono-colored hair. There was never a similar painting no matter how many they passed by.

Inside of each bedroom was a fancy canopy bed, with plenty of pillows, numerous layers of blankets, wrap-around blinds perfect for a noble between each bed column. There were wardrobes full of Twilight-colored clothes, all with star motifs and there was an outfit for just about everything: nightwear, comfort, casual, comfort casual, comfort formal, formal, super formal, and of course saddle-wear. On top of that there were blankets, extra pillows, towels, belts, and even girdles.

The bathrooms for each bedroom had a wide bath with several towels, all Twilight-themed, with bath soaps, conditioners, shampoos, tooth-brushes and tooth-pastes, mouth-wash, and to Pinkie's everlasting glee, Twilight Sparkle brand bubble-bath. Star shape guaranteed!

Coming out of the bedrooms they entered the grand hall, which connected to the library, to the throne rooms, to the bedrooms, to the kitchens, it was the central room of the whole place. It was a super multi-leveled traveling place, with elevators in four areas to go to each level of the castle. There was even more artwork, more gold fineries, plants growing everywhere and soft music coming from seemingly no where. In the very middle at the bottom was perhaps the most interesting thing in Applejack's opinion.

It was a true testament to Twilight's vanity, and how she really thought of herself. It was a fountain, with Twilight sitting in the middle, surrounded by Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and herself, all proportionately tall, all smiling and happy, as if staring at a camera. Sure it was made of solid gold, but Applejack had the feeling this had been drawn from Twilight's thoughts and feelings of herself and her friends.

"Wow. Twilight really is like a Queen." Pinkie Pie whispered as she stared around at how fancy this place was.

"I need to go find me some fancy ancient Alicorns. Maybe they can get me a new barn." Applejack mumbled as they walked into the elevator again, this time taking it to the very top floor, Twilight's personal throne and relaxation room, as well as her bedroom. The glass elevator showed them go through the main room's ceiling and up a library that was just as tall as the central room, full of books. Twilight would adore this place.

When they reached the top, they entered a circular room with a large lay-down couch with comfortable cushions, with several more couches and comfy chairs as well as cushions laying about. Along the walls were bookshelves with, what else, books. On top of that though were games, coolers for food, and a large, picturesque magic window to stare at the clouds from. There was also an informal painting of Twilight on one wall simply reading, and all around it were pictures of her friends. Just above the pictures of Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity were pictures of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.

Applejack stared at the pictures as Pinkie settled on perhaps the most comfortable cushion she'd ever sat on. Applejack was truly, affectionately touched at the pictures. Twilight clearly cared for them, loved them, put them on an equal level with her, and even more clear was that they'd made a huge impact on her. It made her feel good, knowing she really did help somepony's life so much.

The two moved on into a door hidden behind a tapestry, and found themselves in a smaller circular room. Directly across from them was a room with Twilight's name on it in solid gold. But around it were other doors. Each one had a different name for each friend. Applejack stood before her room's door, and opened it slightly.

Inside, it smelled like apples. Her bed was not as large as the guest bedrooms', but Applejack didn't mind. It was comfortably sized in her opinion, and all around it were pictures of her family. All of them, from the Apples to the Oranges, either in a small picture frame or resting on the walls, and everything was a shade of orange, yellow, green, or red, and there were plenty of apple shapes everywhere. Even a basket of fresh apples laying on the night stand by her bed, and a small bowl of cool, fresh water on the other side. Her bathroom had more that the regular bedrooms had though, a massager for sore hooves, and deep-scrubbing brushes to get dirt out of her fur and hooves. The bath was even a hot tub, which would feel amazing on her muscles.

Pinkie was bouncing excitedly in her room, with balloons floating around her pink and pink as well as white-ish red room, with bowls of candy and cakes and pastries laying around, as well as sugary juices and water, a party planner on the wall already filled in with birthday dates and events around Equestria, and a small cook's kitchen. It smelled so sweet and tasty, just like a bakery. Inside her bathroom was a bowl of chocolate mints, many scented candles, bubble-baths, each a different variety. All around it were pictures of her family, having the times of their lives at her parties, smiling and enjoying themselves.

Both their closets were full of the same ensemble the other bedrooms had, but this time, besides the Twilight theme, they had their own personal themes thrown in. It reminded them both of Rarity's dresses if Rarity had spent weeks on each dress. Not that Rarity's dresses were bad, but these dresses were made by ponies who glued themselves to the sewing machines.

Pinkie Pie came out in a sweeping dress that looked like it was made of groomed cotton candy with icing on the edges, with red spirals sewn into the pattern that resembled various candies. Applejack came out with a styled hat, embroidered with darker leather ties with a red apple-shaped jewel in it, as well as some very fancy leather boots. She also wore the saddle cover to match it.

"Ya get the need ta hug Twilight?" Applejack asked, looking rather dashing in her outfit, as Pinkie looked very casually formal.

"More than ever! Her castle knew my favorite type of crescent!" Pinkie Pie happily licked her lips and grinned.

Applejack smiled a little, and got a small idea. She slipped into Twilight's bedroom, and came out with a stuffed pack. "A Queen's gotta look formal at all time, yeah?" Applejack winked as Pinkie poked her nose into the pack. Pinkie dove back into Twilight's room, and came out with another stuffed pack and a grin.

"Definitely!"

---

It had been a very long week. The Mayor sat quietly at her desk, eyes closed as she simply let the peace relax her. She had been running around everywhere it felt like. She tried to keep things calm and orderly, to keep the whole of Ponyville operating as it should have and keep gossip down, but she knew she couldn't keep it quiet forever.

Dragon-riding ponies had nabbed two of their most well-known residents, the weather pony Rainbow Dash, as well as Celestia's student herself, Twilight Sparkle, and this was directly after the whole "under attack" incident. Nopony knew precisely what to do, not even herself, but she knew she had to calm them down and let Celestia sort it out. Rarity and Fluttershy had sent information that could possibly bring them back, which was what she tried to explain to her citizens but some were insistent on panicking.

Things did calm down at least. Of all the ponies, Applebloom had been the one to really calm everyone's nerves. She and the other "Crusaders" had taken her speaking platform by force and very politely reminded everyone that Celestia could do anything, then immediately started chewing everyone out for not trusting their Princess or Dash or Twilight. Truly a gift, that one.

She was not looking forward to filling out documents for this though.

"Mayor?" She opened her eyes to see her door opened just a crack, and she let out a slow breath of exhaustion. "One of Celestia's Royal Guard is here to see you. A miss Silly Cupcakes."

The Mayor groaned. She didn't need this right now, she was tired, and honestly didn't feel like dealing with that stiff. She put on her best smile though and sat up. "Alright Butler, show her in." Her secretary nodded and opened the door. In walked a mare that was solid muscle and bone, and with a stare hard enough to crack ice.

"My apologies for intruding, Mayor." Cupcakes grunted out politely, staring straight into her eyes. "But this is urgent. I bring good news, and I feel you should be the first to be informed. Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash have been found and are being escorted to Canterlot."

The Mayor felt the tightness in her chest leave as a breath of relaxation came out, then in. "That is absolutely fantastic news! Oh but I hope they're unharmed, I'll have to call a town meeting immediately to let the citizens know."

"You do that. For now I have several orders to issue on behalf of Canterlot business and Equestrian safety."

"O-of course miss Cupcakes." The Mayor nodded slowly, pulling out a piece of paper to record the orders.

"Order One: by direct order of Canterlot we must have all relevant ponies associated with Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie in Canterlot. That includes you, Mayor, their families, and their friends, meaning Miss Rarity and Miss Fluttershy. You are all to be taken immediately to Canterlot and will be escorted within the hour. The meeting to discuss what has happened will begin in just under six hours. There will be no delays whatsoever, is that clear?" She asked in a low, demanding voice, and the Mayor nodded rapidly as she wrote.

"Yes Miss Cupcakes, loud and clear, you have my word."

"Perfect. Order Two: inform Ponyville to keep the skies clear for seven hours. Air traffic will be heavy sometime within the next six hours, and it's advised that nopony gets in its way under punishment of a heavy fine. Is that clear?"

The Mayor nodded rapidly, scribbling furiously. "Yes miss Cupcakes, of course."

"Perfect. Order Three: inform Ponyville that, no matter what they see, hear, or feel, there is no reason to panic."

The Mayor paused after writing, and looked to Silly. "If I may ask, what will be happening that could incite panic? An informed town is a prepared town, after all."

Silly Cupcakes sighed heavily, and shook her head. "Just tell them not to panic. It's not like the dragons aren't tamed or anything, nor is the giant flying castle unstable." The Mayor dropped her quill. "Also, if any Pegasus are in the airspace within the next six hours and happen to somehow misconstrue that Twilight Sparkle is in fact now a Queen and attempt to spread the word that Twilight Sparkle is a Queen, they will be taken to Canterlot and reprimanded harshly as well as fined heavily for spying on and spreading Equestrian secrets. Please inform your town that nopony is allowed in the skies at all for the next six hours, as we do not wish the information of Twilight Sparkle of being a Queen to spread, is that clear?"

The Mayor did not respond. Silly Cupcakes merely read the answer in her eyes. "Perfect." Cupcakes turned, and grinning widely to herself, checking Step One off her list.

Somewhere on a giant flying castle to the south, Night Brigade was high-hoofing the next in command.

---

"I'm not looking forward to this." It had taken Dash several minutes to respond. Twilight understood completely as they flew over the Forest of Tranquility. Since they had reached land, birds had been flocking from the treetops to land on the castle, a majority of them around and on top of Twilight, despite the enormous dragon and many attempts to shoo them away. "I want to just go lay down for a while." Dash sighed heavily.

"I know what you mean." Twilight whispered, keeping her eyes forward towards the horizon. "But if we don't, there won't be a place to go lay down. This is something we really gotta do."

"I just think it's too much. It doesn't even feel real, does it? Here we are on a flying castle, surrounded by dragons and freaking birds!" She shouted, but the birds didn't move. "I barely even believe there's six of me." She glanced around at the reflections she'd made. They were calmly pacing the top of the tower, leaving the red-maned one by Twilight.

"Heh. It's all real though, isn't it? It's like a nightmare." Twilight smiled weakly, and felt Dash rest her head on her back.

"Sorta. But it got kinda good in the end, even if Tanat's, well," she gulped quietly at the memory, "and you got the castle for your trouble, and for mine I got a… Sword." She mumbled. Twilight broke her concentration for the first time, the castle slowing as she leaned over to gently kiss Dash's forehead.

"Dash, magic is a great gift, but I agree. You deserve more. You deserve a lot more for what they took from you. I'm going to make it up to you." Twilight smiled a little as she resumed the castle's flight.

"I don't want any part of the castle or any money Twilight." Dash grumbled a little.

"Okay. I understand." Twilight continued to stare forward as Dash yawned, nuzzling Twilight's back. "I'm going to find some other way then." Twilight whispered as she felt and saw the Dash's pull back into one form, and curl up by her side. Subconsciously, she wanted to comfort her friend, and a cushion placed itself under the sleeping Dash.

She flew in silence for a few minutes. She liked the silence right now. It meant Dash was calm, it meant she could be calm. There was no danger. No foreigners trying to attack them on huge dragons, no puzzles or tests, no history to learn and missions to get, she was just flying a castle home. She reveled in it.

"Hey Twilight."

She smiled to herself. "Applejack, Pinkie Pie. How did exploring go?" She asked, curious. She hadn't seen the castle herself, she'd been up here the entire time.

"Twilight, I ain't one t'say this without good reasoning', but I gotta say, I'm jealous." She heard Applejack say with a little chuckle. "You claim an Alicorn gave all this to ya? Land sake's girl, luxury ain't even accurate to describe watcha got down there."

"Really?" Twilight asked in surprise, keeping her head forward.

"No kidding! This whole place is made around you! You're everywhere! Your colors and your face and paintings and statues and your Cutie Mark are on everything!" Pinkie Pie bounced beside her, and Twilight became aware she was wearing something fluttery.

"That ain't the half of it. Castle's built entire rooms around ya, like the library is crazy big. Hey, what's with the birds?" Applejack walked through a flock, which immediately landed back where they'd been.

"I have no idea, probably Anemone's weirdness, or maybe birds like castles. You guys aren't pulling my leg are you?"

"Nope! This place is incredible Twilight, it even had rooms and dresses for us!" Pinkie Pie walked around to Twilight's front, who nearly bugged out as she saw the beautiful, comfortable looking dress Pinkie wore. Applejack did the same, and grinned at Twilight's stare.

"Oh, speakin' of dresses." Applejack went behind Twilight, and Pinkie Pie did the same. Twilight couldn't see them, but heard them working on some backpacks. "Don't go movin' none, ain't nothin' but some clothes." Applejack told her as something comfortably breezy yet warm was pulled across her back. It was her formal dress, not that she knew. It was a dark blue, like the night sky, and covered in glowing white star spots that seemed to shift whenever they moved. She shifted uncomfortable as it was fitted around her, and Pinkie had her lift each leg to put on slippers.

She glanced around nervously, unable to see them or herself as they put silver bands in her hair, giving her a beautiful - heh - ponytail, and she felt jewels get clipped onto her ears, followed by a tiara. Then around her neck a silver necklace was put with a dark purple jewel in it, as well as beautiful jeweled leg bracers.

"Well land sakes…" Applejack whispered, walking around Twilight slowly. "Ya'll really do look like a Queen in all this."

"Guys I'm not a Queen, I just have the castle." She mumbled a little in embarrassment. She felt heavy now in all of this. No wonder Princess Celestia just wore the slippers, the necklace, and the tiara.

"Well you're going to live in it, right?" Pinkie asked as she gently adjusted each piece of jewelry on Twilight to make it perfect.

"I was thinking about donating it to Canterlot…" Twilight admitted with a mumble as the Tiara was reset on her head.

"Well ya'll can still live in it. It's a big, pretty place. Also it's pretty magical, I don't think anyone'll complain if you decide to keep yourself around it…" Applejack chuckled a little. "Oh, Luna's in the kitchen and wants to know if ya'll're hungry."

"Actually, yeah, Dash and I could both use a nice meal." Twilight remained mum on living in the castle. It didn't seem like it was such a fantastic thing to do, even though it was a nice castle. She had a home already, with Spike, this was just a lot of extra space she didn't need.

Although… When did one get the rare chance of indulging oneself to the 'royal treatment'? She tried not to consider it too hard, but even Applejack seemed to have enjoyed the luxury. Maybe just a little using it for personal needs.

It was a gift from Anemone after all. There was that. Anemone probably wanted her to use it to her own leisure. Would he? He seemed like he wanted to give her some material reward for this, but maybe it was another test. What if she grew too used to it and didn't donate it? Or didn't come out of it at all? Or she actually hired servants? Celestia would be mad if she just fattened up in the castle. Maybe she should just hand it over, she wasn't sure if she was ready to test her own will that way.

Though if she didn't, would she ever know? If you didn't try you wouldn't be able to tell, and she did have friends who could keep her in line. Applejack would certainly be nice and honest about what she thought of Twilight if she really started acting like a jerk. Maybe she'd ask about it. Later though, there was a swan trying to rest on her back.

"Excuse me, but I'm very busy, could you all please leave me alone!" She shouted. There was a mess of wings, feathers, and squawking as the birds all tried to leave at once into the same airspace and left the castle. "Wow, did that actually work?"

"Yes indeedy! You really have a way with birds." Pinkie giggled as she groomed Twilight's mane and coat with a few brushes. "Oooh, you're going to look all fancy for this Twilight. I think even Princess Celestia will be jealous!"

Twilight's thought process paused; would she really? "Um. Before we get there, can you take all this-"

"Nope!"

A short distance away, Night Brigade landed on the rooftop, next to Hayseed who offered him one second of interest before falling back to sleep. He glanced up to Twilight for a moment, and had to bat his eyes rapidly to see if the sun was still in them. He stared at her once he was sure he was seeing this right. "Ooo-ho-ho-ho-hooo, perfect!" He grinned brightly, turning to launch off the tower.

"What's perfect?" Applejack asked, poking her head around her dragon. She had an eye raised.

"…" Night stopped, turned, and kept his face flat. "The number of dragons has not diminished, meaning they're staying here rather than simply leaving. I'm assuming this has something to do with Qu- Twilight Sparkle." He stated plainly, nodded to Hayseed. "Twenty-one dragons are currently roosting on Laputa."

Applejack raised an eyebrow at Night's change in tone, but nodded quietly. "Alright then, that's good news I suppose. Where are the dragons roostin'? Hayseed's lookin' a little lonely." She looked up to her dragon, who had opened its eye to look to Applejack. He extended an arm and wrapped it around Applejack gently. "See? He's so lonely thinkin' I'm kin!"

Night Brigade and Hayseed both snorted in amusement, "Well, from what I've seen the smaller ones have taken to the larger balconies for rest, the larger ones are on the castle-" he peaked over the side at the bottom of the castle, at the floating island of land carrying the castle, along with the gardens and courtyards it had, "-grounds I suppose you could call them. Several have been seen burrowing into the grounds from the bottom to set up a nest cave. They are remarkably non-hostile, even allowing us to strip them of their saddles and refit them after inspection. Several soldiers are requesting your expertise on how to ride them."

Applejack's turn to look at him blankly. "What, really? I'm no expert, I just hopped on Hayseed and told him where to go and what to do and he listened."

"That implies a level of mastery nopony else has. Then again, Hayseed does seem to simply just plain like you." He watched as Hayseed yawned, turning his head to avoid breathing on Applejack.

"Yup. Two peas in a pod, me 'n Hayseed." Applejack rubbed the dragon's arm and then sighed. "I still have no idea what to do with 'im when we get home. Not sure the farm life is for a dragon."

"If it's any reassurance, if it meant staying with you, I would happily live on a farm." Applejack opened her mouth, closed it quickly, and stared at Night as he turned and walked to the edge of the tower. "I need to go check preparations for our latest mission, please try not to lose the 'Queen'." Night dove off the tower to the levels below, while Applejack just raised one dainty blonde eyebrow. Maybe she should lose the fancy clothes.

---

"I ain't ever flyin' again." The tiny filly groaned as she wobbly walked out of the carriage, a sympathetic Fluttershy by her side while Scootaloo all but bounced out.

"Are you kidding me!" The tiny Pegasus shouted in excitement, drawing attention from some of the mayors, administrators, and nobles filing through the open doors of Celestia's castle. "The wind going through your coat, the sound of it going by, being so high up, not stopped by stupid rocks and trees and houses! That was amazing! Oh man oh man I hope we do that again, that was so cool."

Applebloom meanwhile heaved herself over to a bush and retched dryly, Fluttershy rubbing her back. "It's okay Applebloom, not everybody is suited to flying. I prefer the ground myself and I'm a Pegasus."

"At least ya'll didn't get sick on the way over!"

"Speak for yourself," Sweetie Belle walked out of the carriage just behind theirs, "when Rarity heard Princess Celestia was inviting her to the court and she didn't have time to prepare herself she nearly shook herself to pieces on the way over." Sweetie Belle herself was shaking as she waltzed over.

"Are you alright?" Fluttershy asked the quivering unicorn filly.

"She held onto me the entire way there like some sorta teddy bear." She finally stood still, and focused intently on Fluttershy. "I still see two of you!"

"Pfft, you guys are lame. It's just a little air travel. As soon as I'm old enough, Rainbow Dash is gonna give me lessons herself!" Scootaloo grinned assuredly as Rarity came out of the carriage, staring around at everyone with low eyes.

"Did you at least have a nice flight?" Fluttershy was tempted to ask, and Rarity sighed heavily.

"It is to be expected that my beauty is tested on a day I have no time to prepare it." Rarity sighed again, casting her eyes around at the passing ponies, each in their casual wear, or with formal wear hastily pulled on, manes rapidly groomed, and make-up shakily applied. "At least I don't seem to be alone."

"Why did the Princess invite us again?" Applebloom seemed to have righted herself, and was finally facing the group. "I heard it was somethin' 'bout Applejack." She watched Big Mac help guide Granny Smith inside.

"Yes, we would like to know as well." Came a highly cultured, concerned voice from behind her.

They turned to face a pair of older ponies, both with a shade of yellow for their coats, and the male had mint-green hair while the female's was orange. "Aunt and Uncle Orange! Ya'll got called here too?" Applebloom stared at them both curiously, approaching after a brief moment of hesitation.

"All we got was a knock on the door during our brunch with the Jewelries and one of the Royal Guard demanding we come post-haste, as we needed to be present for something concerning Applejack." Aunt Orange explained, looking perhaps the best of all the ponies present since she'd prepared early for formal company.

Fluttershy and Rarity looked to each other, hiding their concern as the three family members spoke. "Well Applejack had to run off to find Twilight and Dash back in Ponyville, maybe they found them and there's a celebration?" Sweetie Belle offered.

"She never could keep herself from being an active little thing, could she?" Uncle Orange turned to his wife, who nodded.

"Let's hope for that. Come, let's go find places to stand." The Oranges lead the way, talking their way through the crowd. They were apparently somewhat well-known, as more than a few ponies recognized them and greeted them. They insisted on pushing ahead though, wanting information as much as everyone else did.

The formal greeting hall was packed to the walls with ponies. The middle red carpet was clear of guests so Celestia could pace freely, for once not acting as the hostess and more as a filly who lost her puppy. Hero was still dropping by villages to gather ponies of importance, and he was the one with all the information. It twisted her to have to wait but she understood the importance. His initial message had just been "It's bigger than we thought, we need everyone" and he'd left. No word on Twilight, no word on Rainbow Dash, no word on anything.

She turned her head to stare at Twilight's parents up near the top of the stairs she would making her announcements from later, both absolutely rigid with nervousness and terror. She had personally delivered the news of Twilight's disappearance, and bore their sorrow and fears. They had been the first to receive the news and the first to arrive.

She stopped when a few familiar faces were spotted in the crowd. "Fluttershy, Rarity." She called quietly, and watched the two pause as she approached. This was drawing a good amount of attention, but she didn't care. "I'm so glad you could make it, and I'm so thankful for your help. I'm sorry it was such short notice." The seven of them bowed, except Fluttershy who did so only awkwardly. After spending a few days in her company caring for Twilight, it had slipped her mind that there were formalities inside the castle.

"It's quite alright Princess Celestia, even if I'm not at my best right now, all that matters is that Twilight and Dash are okay." Rarity nodded, smiling sadly.

"Have you been alright Princess Celestia?" Fluttershy quipped curiously.

"Oh, dear Fluttershy I've been so exhausted lately. I think I've seen all of Equestria in detail in the past few days, not to mention I've been worried sick about Twilight and Luna being gone." The Princess sighed, causing them to nod.

"Oh…" Applebloom groaned. "Please don't say 'sick', I'm just barely comin' off that carriage ride." She squeezed her eyes shut as Celestia smiled just a little.

"My apologies. I do hope that news is good news, the guard captain was very unhelpful on if it was or not. He should be here soon though." She then added very low, "I hope."

They seven of them nodded quietly. Fluttershy explained who Twilight and Dash were to the Oranges while explaining their relationship to Applejack, and Rarity was trying to keep the Crusaders near. Celestia stood up at the top of the staircase to observe the crowd once more, noting that everypony must be present.

Twilight's parents stood close by, watching the Princess, then the crowd in concern. The wait went on for another twenty minutes before he appeared.

He flew in through a balcony, and landed quietly on all fours, and walked boldly into the hall. The room quieted down as Celestia sighed with relief. "Hero, you've made it." She sighed, staring at Hero. The entire crowd did so as well.

"M-my daughter." Twilight's mother spoke up, a few feet from Celestia. Her voice was shaking. "I-is she okay?"

Hero closed his eyes slowly, collected his thoughts after this hectic day, and opened them again. "Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash," he sighed heavily, and smiled softly, "are perfectly fine, if a bit battered."

The mood of the room shifted to relief and slight confusion. Most of the ponies here did not know who Twilight or Dash were, but those who did were at ease. Fluttershy was actually quietly clapping as Rarity quivered in excitement. The Crusaders smiled between each other as they hopped about, having a small party. Princess Celestia's whole body quietly calmed, her muscles relaxing immediately. Twilight's mother buried her head into the father's neck as she cried happily, and her father didn't bother hiding his look of relieved pleasure.

"But that is only part of the news I bring. I myself do not know the full details, Sparkle and Dash do, and they have insisted on telling their story. The news they bring is not good, and is in fact why I have summoned so many of you here." He explained, his smile turning into a flat line as his voice lowered.

"What," Celestia paused, her mind blanking for just a moment, "what do you mean, Hero?"

"Twilight Sparkle will inform you when she arrives, as my information is limited." He noted Celestia's eyes as they went from him to behind him, and he turned. "Cupcakes?"

The tall mare entered the building, her stare flat and not to be questioned. Silly Cupcakes approached Hero and stood just a foot from him. "Captain."

"You were supposed to be guarding Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash during their escort." He spoke, his eyes narrowing.

"With all due respect, I had a few mission-based errands to run and I left Night Brigade in charge, and the guard seems to like him better anyways." She rolled her shoulders. Celestia raised an eyebrow at the mare's direct attitude, but Hero calmed some.

"Is there any trouble? Any updates?" He asked rapidly, somewhat concerned.

"They should be only two hours away by now. Everything is still organized and no sudden happenings have occurred. Only problem I foresee is parking but Night claims to have a solution. Maize is finally conscious again as well, but he'll be out for a week." Cupcakes said with a small shrug.

"But everything is still okay?" Hero asked, and Cupcakes nodded, turning to leave.

"Fine, just came in to inform you of the time."

"Everything including my daughter?" Twilight's mother called from the top of the stairs. The whole place was dead silent. The intrusion of the guard pony was a little odd, not to mention still official. It was a little odd when Silly began to shake a little as she turned.

Hero's blood froze as he actually saw Cupcakes smile with mirth. "Ma'am, you have nothing to worry about. The Queen is doing fantastic." She then immediately sprinted out the doors and took off from the balcony.

Everypony stared out the doors with wide eyes, Celestia, her parents, Rarity and Fluttershy, and the Crusaders included. "What did she mean by 'the Queen'?" Celestia asked Hero after ten seconds of silence.

"… D-…" Hero panted. "Damnit Night…"

---

I stand corrected by Numbuh Six-sixtysix: to not get confused with the titles 'Queen' Twilight and 'Princess'es Celestia and Luna, we'll say the Princesses keep their titles as Princesses out of respect for the other so neither surpasses the other in rank. Twilight only has the title 'Queen of Laputa' because she doesn't care enough (yet) to correct it.