Twilight was bored, she had been since Rainbow Dash and Pinkie left. She had wanted to go Griffonstone as well, yet she was stuck here. Standing up from her seat in the library she stretched her wings before heading out. At first she thought that she could visit Celestia and Luna but they were currently looking at the ruins in the Everfree Forest. ‘Dash that one off my list.’ she thought before pausing as she spotted a chess board on one of the tables. ‘I made this, after my first… no, when I went to the future… to decorate a room. Why did I just leave it here?’ she thought lifting it up and studying it. She couldn’t remember why she didn’t find a room, shaking her head she headed out. It was nice to be in her home again, to feel safe once more. Her eyes wandered to the Spartans patrolling the halls and halted in her walk. ‘Do they feel welcome?’ she thought as she watched them curiously before moving on. ‘Where would I even start with that? They don’t really talk much.’

This caused her to sigh as she opened up a door seeing beakers and benches. A place to mill herbs and empty journals lining the wall. The Princess of Friendship noticed one of the books saying: Basic Alchemy. Her heart leapt for joy as she looked around at the place, the room was large enough. ‘But not a room for a chessboard.’ she thought before turning around and leaving promising to explore the room later. ‘Pinkie would have set up a room for games, probably not for chess though.’

Walking along she caught sight of Dr. Halsey talking with her Spartans. Glancing at the chessboard she moved forward to ask if she wanted it. Though her steps slowed, she was never going to admit it but the woman intimidated her. Swallowing she moved forward and all eyes turned towards her. The pony froze before managing out. “I, uh, thought that you would like this. Here!”

Twilight tried handing over the board but her chest began to go tight when there was silence. ‘She doesn’t like it.’ the alicorn thought as she began to glance around, not noticing her magic beginning to waver. One of the Spartans, Kelly if Twilight remembered her name correctly, managed to snatch it just as the magic vanished. The Princess of Friendship panicked and took off running her chest moving up and down quickly. Voices called out to her but she ignored them not evening taking notice of where she was going. Doors opened quickly but the halls seemed to be growing smaller and smaller. She flew over the map and passed her throne but didn’t quite remember the statue of herself. Closing her eyes the mulberry princess felt herself pass through the stone. She fell forward hitting some kind of surface and slid forward tears pouring from her eyes. She felt useless, she had seen true friendship be born in difficult times but she had not even attempted to reach out in friendship to their guests. Her chest did not slowly in fact it was speeding up as the area darkened around her. ‘I’m a failure as the Princess of Friendship.’

Applejack kicked the tree watching as the apples fell from the branches. She sighed as she moved over to pick up the barrel.

“Applejack, are you alright?” Apple Bloom voice cut through her thoughts causing her to turn to look. Giving her sister a sad smile she said. “I will be Sugarcube, I will be.”

“But not right now.” the amaranthe maned filly said and her sister turned in her tracks and glared at her sister causing her to recoil. The gamboge pony froze when she saw the action and looked away saying. “Ah don’t want to cause any of ya anymore trouble than Ah already have. Ah don’t want ta just stop workin’ because Ah can’t control mah temper.”

“Ah’m sure Granny wouldn’t mind if yah took some time for yourself. Ah’m sure you’ve been through a lot.” Apple Bloom told her walking up to her sister’s side. “Yah need to rest, not just get straight to work. We don’t need yah to be fumin’ while workin’ Big Mac said yeh missed half the field this mornin’.”

Applejack’s head whipped around as she observed the orchard seeing that she indeed missed a lot of the trees. Sighing she shook her head saying. “Shoot.”

“Get some rest.” Applejack felt something off when her sister said that as she stared at her as the green eyed mare’s eyes glowed. She saw an image of a large white wolf with white eyes standing by her sister’s side.

“Sis, are ye alright?” that snapped her out of it and the pony replied. “Ah’m going ta take a break. Can yeh get Big Mac to finish my work?”

“Sure.” her little sister watched as she walked off the older mare’s throat feeling parched. She head into her room and shut the door. Looking over at a stand she set up she grabbed a metal and black cylinder slipping it into her saddlebag. Taking off she headed to the castle to seek advice from the Princesses. Though the scene she saw when she got to the castle worried her. Twilight was running as fast as she could despite many of the castle residents calling to her. Heading after her friend the farm pony entered the Map Room only to find her missing. Confused the mare walked around calling. “Twilight? You alright Sugarcube?”

The lack of answer worried the gamboge pony, frowning she noticed that each of the statues were different. ‘It’s a good thing we checked on them before the Gala.’ she thought seeing the large sword that her statue was holding in front of her. Walking forward she touched the surface seeing it glow and she moved forward. Opening up her eyes she saw the sword in front of her and had a sad smile on her face. Walking towards it she placed her hoof against the surface of the sword and mumbled. “Hey there, Chief. Freaked out a little when I couldn’t find you when I returned here. Just glad you aren’t as formal as the sword Rainbow Dash got. Just wish I….”

“Don’t worry about it Jackie.” her eyes widened as the deep familiar voice spoke. “I’ll always be here for you. Just like your buddy.”

She bit her lip as she tried to control herself but the tears began to spill. She missed them both so much, Iron Bull and Thexan. Unlike his father and siblings he was the only one to show true interest in Equestria saying that it sounded like the perfect place for her.

“I just wish we hadn’t gotten into that stupid fight!” she sobbed as the area changed in front of her. “I wish I hadn’t been so stubborn and just apologized for saying those things about his sister.”

An image of Iron Bull appeared in front of her and knelt down. He placed a large hand on her head as they sat there in silence.

“Twilight?” Rarity called as she walked down the halls of the castle. “Twilight darling, where are you?”

The pale silver unicorn paused in her walk seeing Spike calling out for Twilight as well. Tilting her head to the side the mare moved forward saying. “Spike is something the matter?”

“Yeah, Twilight freaked out when she was talking to Dr. Halsey.” Spike explained and Rarity felt her stomach clench. “I was talking to Michaels and Thompson when she ran by. We tried to get her to stop and now we can’t find her. Do you think…”

“I will see what I can do.” the mind reader assured him trying not to take notice of how much he had grown. Closing her eyes she listened for Twilight’s thoughts but couldn't seem to find her at the present moment.

“Did you see which way she ran?” the unicorn inquired and Spike nodded his head saying. “Yeah, the throne room but when we went in there she was gone.”

Rarity hummed under her breath before heading to the throne room. She glanced around using her critical eye to see where Twilight went. That was when she noticed it, the staff in the statue of Twilight’s hooves was pointing downward. Walking over to it she pressed her hoof against the base of the stone listening closely. ‘No matter how hard I try I will lose any friend I make.’ the first thought worried the unicorn the second one allowed her to form a plan. ‘Why should I even bother to try and be their friend. It’s pretty obvious that they don’t need anyone but each other.’

“Rarity?” Fluttershy’s voice cut through the thoughts and brought her back to reality. “Is everything alright?”

“Yes my dear.” Rarity said spinning around catching sight of the young Gryphon next to her friend. “I see Brandon is still following you around like a lost puppy.”

“Hey I don’t know anything about this place.” grumbled the raptor looking to the side a frown on his face. Rarity chuckled saying. “As long as you don’t attack the nobles I believe you will be alright. Now if you will excuse me, I need to have a chat with our human friends.”

“Why do they get to be human again?” Brandon asked as Rarity headed out of the room listening for the thoughts of Dr. Halsey and the Spartans. It was to get their general location, she didn’t want to reveal all of her cards just yet. Something she had learned from Mr. Ping, it wasn’t that she didn’t trust the humans. It was more useful to get an idea of what they need without them trying to block her all the time. She knocked on the door waiting a few moments before a voice called. “Come in.”

“Apologies for the interruptions…” Rarity couldn’t even finish her sentence the moment she laid eyes on the surrounding area. “What… how… how long have you been living like this and what is that smell?”

Her eyes strayed to glasses filled with coffee though from the smell it was very old. Blue eyes narrowed as the unicorn spoke again. “Found it.”

“I do not believe we have been introduced.” Rarity focused her eyes on the human in front of her. ‘Why was I here again?’ she thought as a new goal had been set in front of her. This human needed new clothes.

“Apologies Doctor Halsey, my name is Rarity.” the unicorn introduced herself as she forced herself to not observe the room around her again. “I own a boutique nearby and am a friend of Twilight Sparkle’s apparently you witnessed her having….”

“An anxiety attack yes.” the human replied picking up one of her cups only to have it taken away earning a raised eyebrow from the scientist. “I didn’t expect it from the residents of this world.”

“We have been through a lot.” Rarity said picking up all the cups with her magic. “I was hoping you could help me with a matter but first we must do something about that outfit of yours.”
“I’m sorry?” this confused Halsey, the fashionista rolled her eyes as she explained setting the cups down. “It is the same outfit you wore before, most ponies have never dealt with a human and it has the hole in it from before. Nevermind though I am willing to help. I just need a few measurements.”

With that the purple maned mare pulled her emergency roll of measuring tape out from her saddle bag.

Fluttershy walked through the halls silently her head hung. She couldn’t sleep, her mind was filled with worry. Twilight had ran off somewhere, Applejack wasn’t doing any better, Rarity was busying herself, Pinkie and Rainbow Dash were off on their mission, Brandon was doing a bit of his own training. It was hard for her to keep the Gryphon out of trouble but she had promised Otasaad that she would keep an eye on him. She paused as her attention was caught by the training room that the Spartans had set up. Swallowing she entered her eyes taking in the large area, she didn’t remember a room this big before. Yet with the way it was structured it seemed like the room had always been there. Glancing around to make sure no one was there she walked to the center. Closing her eyes she just listened to the area around her. From what she could tell this was set up by the dragon forge and she could hear DurgUa hammering away. Birds sang their song from the trees outside, but behind it all there was a humming. Her eyes opened as she frowned, she had heard something like this before. She moved towards the exit as fast as she could making sure not to knock into anyone. The humming was growing louder the closer she got to Everfree Forest and closer when she arrived at the Castle of the Two Sisters. Her teal eyes searched the area before landing on the cave that contained the Tree of Harmony. Walking in she hid behind one of the larger rocks seeing Discord standing there next to Raven saying. “Well they passed both mine and Raven’s test, I don’t see why you are so reluctant to include the Princesses in this. They have proven that they can protect their land over and over again.”

The Tree glowed brighter as the humming continued and Fluttershy blinked. ‘He’s talking to the Tree of Harmony?’

“Oh don’t give me that.” Discord scoffed rolling his eyes and crossing his arms in front of his chest. “You are just having a pity party. The Crystal Heart doesn’t mope about its mistakes and it has made a few trust me.”

The tree glowed brighter and Fluttershy’s eyes opened wide, she knew what this was. Taking a step outwards all eyes turned to on her and she swallowed before saying. “Hello, I’m sorry for disturbing your conversation.”

“Fluttershy?” Discord was shocked at her sudden appearance. “How did you know I was here?”

“I heard a familiar humming and so I followed it.” she replied taking note of the confused look on his face. “The Tree of Harmony is speaking directly into your mind. I don’t think….”

There was a brilliant light as an alicorn appeared in front of standing tall as she spoke. “What do you know about me?”

“I know of where you come from.” the shy pony replied looking towards Raven who was standing close by. Taking a deep breath she began to explain.

“In the meantime you can wear some of the clothes I had already made.” Rarity said looking at Halsey as she hovered a stack of clothes to her. “Now back to why I was wanting to talk to you. I had heard that Twilight Sparkle had come to visit you.”

“That’s right.” the human female replied taking the clothes and noting that they were well made for a pony who hadn’t met a human before. “We were speaking of her anxiety attack before you got distracted with my room.”

“Ah yes, I think you can help her.” the unicorn took a deep breath to steel herself until she was done talking. “You see she has been doubting her position as the Princess of Friendship. She brought you to this world and has nothing to reach out to any of you. I don’t know what caused her to freak out but knowing Twilight, it had something to do with this.”

The two shared a look before Halsey went to change and Rarity continued. “I’m not saying revealing everything about you. Are you one for small talk?”

There was no response and the pale silver mare rolled her eyes as she glanced around the room. Her eyes landed on the chessboard on the desk and she spoke up again. “How about a game of chess? One game of chess will allow the both of you to get an idea of what the other is like. You are trapped here and yet choose not to study us, staying in this room drinking old coffee. Aren’t you curious on how our magic works?”

Halsey let out a low hum under her breath before walking out in the simple clothes that were given to her. She had to admit she was quite curious and it would allow her some insight into the mind of the youngest princess.

“If you want you can bring one of your… soldiers.” Rarity picked up more of the cups lying around. “Do you just forget about the coffee or just get bored with it?”

Applejack yawned as she opened her eyes seeing the area around her different, instead of the void that it was: It was now a vast forest with two gravestones. One had the sword on it while the other had Thexan’s lightsaber. Smiling she tilted her hat before grabbing the sword, she didn’t remember falling asleep. Yet she suspected it had to do with Iron Bull turning around she heard a voice call out to her. “Applejack, I’m sorry too.”

She froze her tears threatening to spill over as she turned around.

Twilight got up her mind feeling heavy as she looked around the void that she was in. In front of her was a familiar staff yet she looked away. There was still guilt gnawing at her mind, Mythal had grown quiet while she was in here. Swallowing she stood up and moved towards the staff and placed a hoof on it. The area around her glowed and a library appeared startled she looked up seeing Solas standing there.

“Everything I have learned you can read here. You can store books and your own memories upon these shelves.” he told her before placing a hand on her shoulder. “Twilight you are still young, you can learn from your mistakes and try and make yourself better because of them. Just because you aren’t perfect at one thing right away does not mean that you are a failure.”

“It just means you are young.” Mythal’s voice told her and she looked away. “You have room to grow and trust us when we say that we are proud of you.”

Twilight’s head turned just as a door at the far end of the shelves opened up. There stood Rarity with two of the humans beside her. One she recognized as Doctor Halsey, they moved through the rows swiftly.

“Twilight, there you are darling.” Rarity said a pleasant smile on her face. “I just had a little chat with Doctor Halsey and we came to a compromise. As you are conditional allies until they are returned home I figured that you bond over something. Since you made such a lovely chessboard I decided that it must be chess.”

“How… how did you convince….” Twilight was flabbergasted before looking at Halsey. “I.. do you want to play?”

“I would not be here if I didn’t.” the human scientist replied with a nod of her head holding out the board. Twilight gave an unsure smile as a table and a set of chairs appeared by the fireplace. The pale silver mare gave them a smile before passing by the Spartan who was observing the area. Glancing up at him for a moment she continued out of the room. When she exited into the throne room she looked towards her statue summoning a bright green gem in front of her.

“You should be glad Oogway had enough decency to let me try and help you.” she muttered before heading into her statue.

Author's Notes:

I do not own MLP