Twilight awoke to a knock on the door. At first, she didn’t know where she had arisen. She didn’t need to look long to look for her assistant; sometime during the night he had nestled into the curve of her body. Somepony had opened the curtains while she slept, leaving her to awake just as the sun began to crest over the horizon, offering a stunning view of the morning skyline of Canterlot. What else did she expect of Celestia’s room?

“Twilight?” She heard her mentor call from outside the room. Twilight sidled out of the bed, trying hard not to wake Spike who still slept beside her. She slowly pulled the door open with her magic, telekinesis still clumsy from sleep.

“Good morning, princess,” Twilight greeted quietly, trying to stifle a yawn. After the excitement of last night, sunrise seemed much too early for her to actually wake up. Celestia peeked over her shoulder, and clearly saw Spike still in bed.

“I’m sorry to wake you so early after such an ordeal, but we can’t waste today. Meet Luna and I in the dining hall as soon as you’re ready. You may use my bathroom, which is just over there,” Celestia directed, pointing a hoof towards the door Twilight had spotted the night before. Twilight nodded her agreement, the gravity of the situation and Celestia’s tone quickly shocking her awake.

“Then I’ll see you soon, my faithful student. If you can’t remember where the dining hall is, ask a guard,” Celestia whispered, closing the door. Twilight headed to the bathroom and closed the door behind her, locking it to ensure the avoidance of any awkward interruptions. As one might expect, Celestia’s bathroom was of palatial proportions. The room was filled with a hot, fragrant steam and the cool tiles felt soothing under her hooves.

The bath itself was sunk into the floor. Steps led down into the water, which grew deeper the farther one went in, much like a swimming pool.  Pure white columns grew from the edge of the bathroom, separating massive panels of a stained glass mosaic. Each panel depicted peaceful scenes of a meadow creek, or a mountain waterfall, or a gentle foaming surf. It took Twilight a few seconds for her to realize the bottom of the mosaics were actually made from colorful bottles, holding all the bath essentials.

Twilight slowly took the stairs down into the bathroom, the water pleasantly warm on her fatigued body. She levitated several of the bottles out, only to find them unlabeled. She uncorked a few at a time and dabbed them on her hoof. The bottles seemed to contain everything from mane conditioner to shampoo and even, as Twilight was delighted to find, bubble bath.

Twilight, unused to the array of options, simply used the first shampoo she found, a blend of lavender and vanilla that left her mane feeling like silk. Necessity done, Twilight found herself drifting towards the deeper end. Twilight sunk down into the water until it was just below her muzzle and closed her eyes, taking a few minutes just to relax. With a deep breath, she fell back, immersing herself completely under water. Her heartbeat sounded in her ears like a drum, but underneath it she could hear faraway hoofsteps and kitchenware clatters; the heartbeat of the royal palace.

Eventually, she had to come back up for air, breaking her from her reverie. She couldn’t stop her thoughts from drifting back to last night. If Trixie hadn’t taken the time to taunt her, she could have easily killed Twilight. If Luna hadn’t gotten there in time... Every time Twilight closed her eyes, she could see Trixie standing above her, completely in control. The water no longer felt warm and comforting.

At some point, Twilight had started to cry without her even realizing it. She could feel her legs and hooves shaking under the water, terrified despite knowing she was safe in the castle. Her logical mind told her it was ok for now, but she couldn’t shake the feeling she was being watched. Twilight dunked her head under the water, attempting to escape it all. When she finally resurfaced, she began making her way out of the bath. Her tears had stopped and she felt oddly empty.

She dried herself off with a quick spell. She didn’t bother trying to find a brush for her mane; she wouldn’t know the first place to look and never had really cared anyways. The longer she spent on her own, the more it felt like somepony’s eyes were boring into the back of her head.

Twilight moved quietly through the bedroom. As soon as she closed the door behind her though, she broke into a quick trot. She needed to not be alone with her thoughts. Twilight had lived in the castle long enough to know how to get to the dining hall on her own. Some of the guards even recognized her, but she didn’t bother to stop and chat.

Right before Twilight entered the dining hall, she stopped and took a second to compose herself. She shook her head clear and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm her racing heart. She finally entered the hall and plastered on a fake smile. Twilight quickly spotted Celestia, looking as calm as always. Luna sat beside her, looking much more disgruntled and impatient. Twilight’s smile became genuine as she saw her friends sitting adjacent to the princesses.

Pinkie practically bounced in her seat, exuberant as always. She was talking at a thousand miles an hour  to a Rainbow Dash set on devouring the entire table. Fluttershy sat opposite of Rainbow Dash concentrating fully on her pancakes and hiding behind her mane. Applejack sat beside Pinkie, ever-present hat on as usual. Rarity was the last of her friends, opposite of Applejack with her face down onto the table. Her mane was much more frazzled than usual. None of them seemed to notice Twilight instantly.

Twilight took the walk over to her friend’s table slowly. The pressure that had been oppressing her early seemed to have vanished. She could breathe easily once again. Celestia spotted her first, adopting the same easy, content smile. At Celestia’s reaction, the rest of her friends turned and caught sight of Twilight.

“Twilight, Twilight, Twilight, Twilight!” Pinkie Pie started chanting. Despite being across the table from her moments before, Pinkie Pie somehow managed to instantly be up in her face. “Twilight how are you? Are you alright? Celestia told us what happened and I’m sooo happy you’re alright! Luna’s guards woke me up in the middle of the night and I didn’t know what was going on for so long and I didn’t want to leave the Cakes but she said she really really super duper needed us to come with her because that big old meanie pants Trixie was back and she was coming after us and-”

“Pinkie!” Twilight interrupted, failing to hold back a small laugh. Twilight placed a hoof over Pinkie’s mouth, trying to hold back giggles. “I”m alright! Luna managed to fight Trixie off. She was amazing really.” Twilight noticed Luna had actually taken a small smile for a second before quickly turning back to frown as if remembering how much trouble Trixie had made. Luna quickly excused herself and left in a bit of a hurry.

“I’m... I’m so sorry you guys had to get dragged into this.” Twilight finished lamely. She took one last look over her friends, noting once again their haggard and weary appearances before taking the empty seat in between Fluttershy and Rarity. Rarity had finally brought her head up, giving Twilight her first good look. Rarity’s eyes were bloodshot and wide open; with her frazzled mane, she looked quite different than usual.

“Twilight, so very good to see you.” Rarity’s voice sounded dead tired and her greeting was interrupted with a huge yawn. “Forgive me, but those barracks were absolutely dreadful! Those beds, if they even deserved the name, felt like I was sleeping on a rock!”

“Eh, I’ve napped on worse,” Rainbow Dash chimed in between bites. “Although it sure made my wings bucking hurt.”

“Rainbow! Language! We’re sitting with the princess!” Rarity hissed back.

“Ah’m sure that she’s heard worse. Oh, and mornin’, Twi!” Applejack cut in. From beside her, Twilight could just barely hear Fluttershy muttering good morning to her. Fluttershy, always the timid one, seemed even more bashful around Celestia.

“My little ponies, I am truly happy that you are all safe now, but we won’t have that luxury for much longer, I’m afraid,” Celestia interrupted. Every pony turned towards the Princess, and Celestia locked eyes with each of them in turn, impressing upon them the gravity of the situation as she spoke.

“Each and every one of you is likely to be targeted by Trixie. From what I remember of Twilight’s recounting of Trixie’s disastrous show, each of you, save Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, participated. Trixie seems to have taken a fixation on those who ruined her show, some sort of vengeance perhaps.”

“Being the Elements will only compound your danger. I cannot fully disclose what has occurred, as it is not my story to tell, but Trixie awoke an ancient being and borrowed its power.” Twilight nearly interrupted to question Celestia. Shouldn’t they know as much as possible to be able to better survive? Knowledge was power, after all. She assumed Celestia had a reason though, and let her go on. “Unfortunately, it knows of the Elements of Harmony and will probably seek to have them eliminated.”

“To that effect, I and several others will be teaching each of you different ways to defend yourselves. Fear not, for there are other ways to defend yourselves than just fighting.” Fluttershy especially looked visibly relieved at this. Twilight half expected Pinkie Pie to burst in with how fun this was going to be, but she actually seemed to be grasping the gravity of the situation for once and remained silent.

“However, I have to reinforce that I would prefer that none of you fight unless absolutely necessary. Both my sister and myself will likely be able to handle anything thrown at us, but we cannot be everywhere at once. The power Trixie has is nearly limitless and the Everfree has many beasts that are susceptible to her influence.” Celestia paused, letting that sink in for a moment.

“Finally, I’d like you all to begin as soon as you are finished here. I’m sure you’re all tired, but we cannot delay this situation by any length of time. It is of utmost importance that you all are prepared for the upcoming storm. Your mentor will judge how long each of you should stay in practice and I expect you to heed their instructions on the matter. Everypony understand?”

Twilight and her friends let out a chorus of acceptance, albeit a little hesitantly. None of them seemed particularly enthused about the whole idea. Rainbow Dash seemed to be taking it the best. Twilight could just barely pick up on Rainbow whispering to Pinkie about how this would be just like Wonderbolt’s training, with Pinkie Pie listening with rapt attention.

“Good! I was hoping that everypony would pick up on this quickly. Now, is anypony finished and ready to go yet?” Celestia asked. All this talk about Trixie and the ramifications of the event had started to make Twilight feel paranoid again. She didn’t want to be completely useless like she had been last time. She could very well be dead by now. She suddenly no longer felt hungry.

“I’m ready,” Twilight muttered, not completely sure of herself. Still though, she felt like getting active would help get her mind from her worries. If she worked hard enough that she fell asleep instantly tonight and couldn’t worry anymore, all the better.

“Twilight! I wanted to go first!” Rainbow Dash said with a groan.

“Worry not Rainbow, as soon as I introduce Twilight to her tutors, I will show you to yours as well,” Celestia chuckled lightly. She stood from the table and started to take the lead for Twilight to follow, but stopped before walking any further. “Are you sure you don’t want to eat anything first?” Celestia asked with concern.

“I-I’m sure,” Twilight answered, rather shakily. She stood up and glanced over her friends one last time. She couldn’t let them be subjected to what she had; that’d be even worse than her dying. “I’ll see you at dinner girls.”

Surprisingly, Pinkie Pie stood up and hugged her before she had the chance to leave. “I know you’re feeling super duper bad right now, but try and feel better for us, ok?” she asked, with her trademark over-the-top grin. The simple gesture cheered her up more than Celestia’s words of reassurance had.

“Twi, you sure showed Trixie up once, Ah’m sure ya can do it again.” Applejack was right. It was different now though, Trixie had a lot more power.

“Yea! And we’ll all be with you, so don’t you worry. Right Fluttershy?” Rainbow said, as confident as ever.

“Well, um.. I don’t know what I can do to help, but um, I’ll try my best,” Fluttershy practically whispered. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat and hid behind her mane.

“Thanks girls. You really are the best friends a pony could hope for,” Twilight replied. All the more reason for her to try her hardest to be able to protect them from Trixie. Fluttershy especially. The others might be able to do something... but Fluttershy? She had to be protected. “I’ll see you guys later, then,” Twilight said with a newfound resolve.

“Shoot sugarcube, Ah reckon we’ll still have plenty o’ time together,” Applejack added in.

“Hey, maybe we could throw a party in the castle to send you off! It’d be like the Grand Galloping Gala except all those snooty pants ponies won’t be there and we’ll be able to have fun together!” Pinkie Pie danced around at the idea. Leave it to her to plan a party when the kingdom was threatened.

“While Pinkie is a bit... over-exuberant, I think that’s a good idea. We could all use a sense of normalcy and it would be absolutely wonderful to be able to dress up for a night,” Rarity said, already becoming a little starry eyed.

“I will try to arrange that. It will be good for all of us to relax a little,” Celestia assured the elements. “But for now, Twilight and I shall go. I will be back for the rest of you soon.”

Twilight and Celestia walked down the hallway with Celestia occasionally turning and  giving Twilight concerned glances.

“Twilight, are you sure you’re ready for this? I know I said it was important that you start as early as possible, but your emotional well-being is just as valuable to me. Is there anything that you need to talk about?” Celestia asked.

“I’ll be fine princess. I need to get started,” Twilight replied. Her anxiety could wait for now. Celestia had been right earlier, this needed to start as early as possible.

“Remember Twilight, I’m always here if you need somepony to talk to.” Celestia still looked worried, but she didn’t press her apprentice anymore.

“I know Princess. I promise I’ll talk to you if I need it.” Twilight hated to lie. She never been good at it and lying left her feeling dirty. But right now she couldn’t talk about it. Not yet, anyways.

“I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised with your tutor.” Celestia continued, obviously wanting to keep the conversation going. Twilight gladly jumped at the chance.

“Oh? Can I get a hint, then?” Twilight asked, trying to sound interested. She really was curious about who her new mentor would be, but she had other things on her mind.

“Let’s just say you’re quite.. familiar with them,” Celestia teased with a slight smirk. Twilight thought about it for a second. It could have been one of the old guardsponies who used to work around the castle. Twilight had actually started to get to know them rather well. Anypony who lived in the castle long enough started to make friends in the guards. Twilight would never have called one of them friends, but they were the most she had before going to Ponyville. Stormwing used to be stationed near her room. It could be him.

Fortunately, Twilight didn’t have to wait long. Celestia turned the final corner before the vast training field and magically pushed open the great, closed doors.