Princess Twilight woke up the next morning with the rising of Celestia’s sun, the warmth of the sun making her feel at peace. The clouds, although few in the sky, made the sky above look inviting. She stretched and yawned, then climbed out of bed. Spike entered her bedchamber, carrying in his clawed hands a silver tray that held on it a teapot with cup, toast, eggs and strawberry jam. Twilight smiled to him warmly. Using her magic, she took the tray and set it next to her bed on an end table to begin her breakfast.

After finishing her breakfast, Twilight headed out of her bedchamber, ready to start her day. She headed to her library, where she found Spike dusting the many books that lined the shelves. Looking to her friend, she said, “Spike, would you please take a letter for me?”

“Sure thing, Twilight. Let me get a quill and paper.” Spike ran off, returning a few moments with a quill and paper in his hands. With a smile, he said, “I’m all set to take that letter.”

“Good.” Twilight put a hoof to her chin, tapping it a few times before saying, “Okay, Spike, I'm ready.

“Same here.” Spike put his quill to the paper, ready to write as soon as Twilight began talking.

Twilight began to pace back and forth as she spoke to her words to Spike, who quickly wrote them down for her.

Dear, Princess Celestia,

I would like to talk with you, if I may, about Sunset Shimmer. I have good news for you about her. I spoke with her yesterday, and she is doing rather well and is well on her way to learning about true friendship. She has already had two sleepovers and has learned the importance of good friendship from the human world's counterparts of my friends. She even asked me to bring her a wax and a stamp made in the impression of her cutie mark, so must really be serious about this. She seems to be very happy there. In fact, I think she has actually started to fall in love.

Sunset has stated to me that she wants to come home yet feels that she can’t. I am not sure as to why she feels this way. There is something she has asked me to look into for her, but I feel that I should clear this with you first before I do. She wanted to know if Crystal Ridge is still standing. I do not understand why she would be interested in that old town, though. If you would be willing to give me a little more information on this, that would be so wonderful.

Sincerely your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

Spike finished writing the letter. After he read it back to her, she nodded her approval of it, then said to him, “Okay that should about do it. Please send that letter right away.”

“Will do,” Spike replied cheerfully. Holding up the parchment, he blew green fire onto the parchment and sent it on its way to Princess Celestia. “There, all done.”

A few moments later, Spike burped out a letter from Princess Celestia. Before opening the letter, he looked at her, then at the letter, saying, “Princess Twilight what's Crystal Ridge? Why's it so important for Sunset to know if it is still standing?”

“I honestly don’t know why she wants to know about it Spike. But perhaps Princess Celestia can tell us more.”

“Alright, I’ll read what she wrote back to you, then.”

Clearing his throat and opening the letter, Spike began to read the letter aloud to Twilight.

My faithful student,

Please come to Canterlot Castle right away. There are some things that we need to discuss. I look forward to talking with you.

Finished, he looked up at her, confused.

“That's it? That’s all she said?” Twilight said, just as confused herself.

Looking over the letter again, Spike rolled it up then set it onto a nearby book shelf, replying while dusting off his claws, “Yep that's all that was in the letter, Twilight. So, when are we going to go to Canterlot Castle?”

“We will not be leaving.Iwill be going immediately, while you stay here and finish your chores.”

Spike looked down, whining out, “Aww, but I never get to go the castle and have any fun.”

“I’m sorry, Spike, but I need to speak with Princess Celestia alone in this matter.”

“Alright, but at least do me one favor.” Spike looked up, a gleam of hope shown in eyes. “Would you please bring me back a comic book from the comic store?”

Giggling slightly to herself, Twilight patted Spike on his head, then started to head out for Canterlot Castle. Looking back at her friend as she walked out of her library, Twilight said, “Sure thing, Spike. Just make sure you get all of your chores done before you go and play, alright?”

“Thanks, Twilight. Say hello to Princess Celestia for me.”

Spike ran off to complete his chores while Twilight headed out. Getting outside a few moments later, she took the air and flew towards the train station. Landing a few minutes later, she boarded the next train to Canterlot Castle, letting out a soft sigh as she sat at her window looking out the countryside. Her thoughts dwelt mainly on Sunset's request about Crystal Ridge and on what Princess Celestia wanted to speak with her about.

Twilight stepped off the train two hours later once it had pulled into the Canterlot City train station and soon found herself standing in front of the main gates of Canterlot castle. Looking around, she saw two castle guards positioned outside of the castle.

Walking up to them, she bowed to both of them. Each of them bowed back and allowed her access to the castle. One of the guards said,
“Princess Twilight, if you are here to speak with the princess, you will find her in the royal gardens.”

“Thank you,” Twilight replied, bowing again to show respect to the guards. “I very much appreciate that information.”

Twilight spent almost no time at all navigating the long hallways and corridors of Canterlot Castle and soon found herself standing outside in the royal gardens. Twilight opened the door to the royal gardens and found Princess Celestia pruning a rose bush.

Celestia looked up from her work and smiled warmly to Twilight as she came up to her. Setting down her gardening tools, she said sweetly to Twilight, “Ah, Twilight, it is good to see you today. Please, won’t you join me for some tea and muffins?”

“Oh, thank you, Princess Celestia. That would be lovely.”

Princess Celestia lightly clapping her hooves together. A guard appeared from the nearby door, saying as she bowed, “Yes, Your Highness, what can I do for you and Princess Twilight?”

“Please bring us some tea and muffins from the kitchen,” replied Princess Celestia looking to her student. “I assume you will want milk with your tea, Twilight?”

“What? Oh, uh, yes, thank you, Princess Celestia.”

The guard bowed again, then went off to fetch the tea, muffins and milk, leaving Twilight and Princess Celestia to talk.
Celestia brought Twilight over to a nearby glass table, pulled out a chair for her student, then took out a chair for herself. Sitting down, Twilight looked at her mentor then at the rose bush, saying as she looked back again, “I thought you had a royal gardener that took care of the gardens for you, Princess?”

Princess Celestia giggled and smiled warmly to Twilight. As the guard came back, placing the teapot, milk and muffins down in front of the two before bowing and leaving, “I do have a royal gardner that normally would take care of the entire garden, but I like to do the work myself every now and then.”

“Does it help you to relax when you're under stress, Princess?”

“Yes, it does. Now, I believe you wanted to talk to me about Sunset,” Celestia replied taking a sip of her tea.

“Sunset is doing well Princess. I think she is making great progress in learning about friendship. As I said in my letter, she has had two sleepovers so far, and I think--but I'm not sure--that she might be falling in love.”

“Ah, yes, I remember. Sunset in love..” Celestia set her teacup down and levitated a muffin over to Twilight, who took then set it down on her plate. Sighing wistfully, she said, “It pleases me greatly to hear that. When she left, I feared that I had failed her so badly that she wouldn’t be capable of loving somepony other than herself.”

Sipping her tea, Twilight said gently to Princess Celestia, “You miss her, don’t you, Princess?”

“Yes, I do. I keep hoping for the day when she will return, but I fear that day will never come.”

“She does want to come home, though. But, she feels that she can’t, and she won't tell me why.”

Princess Celestia looked down at her cup. Letting out a stuttering sigh, she said, almost whispering, “I am the reason she doesn’t want to come home, Twilight.”

A tear in her eye, Princess Celestia picked up her tea with her magic, taking a sip from it.

After a somewhat uncomfortable silence, Twilight changed the subject. “Princess Celestia, can you tell me why Sunset wants to know if Crystal Ridge is still standing?”

"Ah, yes. Crystal Ridge. That's the reason I wanted to talk to you personally." Princess Celestia set her teacup down. Her eyes went out of focus, as if she were staring at something in the far distance.

“Princess? Are you okay?”

“Twilight, listen to me very carefully,” Celestia began, taking a deep breath, “you are absolutely forbidden from going to Crystal Ridge.”

“But--”

“I'm sorry, Twilight, but my word is final.” Celestia looked over to Twilight, who looked confused and worried. “I am sorry, Twilight. I know you're curious, but you must not go to Crystal Ridge. This is for your own safety and good.”

Seeing that her mentor's words to her were absolutely final, Twilight, rather than risking her mentor's wrath, quickly changed the subject.

“I gave Sunset a seal stamp of her cutie mark and some candle wax with it yesterday. Although, I'm not sure why she'd want them. I know we use them for very important letters here, as far as I know, humans don’t send letters of any type using wax seals anymore.”

Princess Celestia looked down at her teacup then slowly back up to her student, saying, “Oh, uh, that's nice, Twilight. I am sorry to do this, but I have some things that I need to take care of. I hope to meet with you again.”

Twilight nodded, got up, then headed out, leaving Celestia to her thoughts. As Twilight made her way to the front gates, a bright light flashed before her. When her eyes recovered, she saw Discord before her, smiling. She didn’t return the smile.
Seeing how upset the princess of friendship was, Discord said, “Why, Twilight, dear? Whatever is the matter?”

“It's nothing, Discord. Why are you here?”

“Well, far be it from me to pass up an opportunity to spend some time with my pal Twilight. Besides, Fluttershy is off with her woodland friends. So, I thought we could spend some time together. What do you say? Want to spend some quality time with little ol' me? Hmmmm?”

Twilight shook her head and moved on, leaving Discord a bit perplexed. Snapping his talons together, he popped up right in front of Twilight. With a smile on his face and a gleam in his eyes, he said, “Let me guess. It has to do with this place, am I right, Twilight?”

"What pla--"

Before Twilight could finish, Discord teleported her and himself to another town. Snow, tundra, and silence surrounded the ghost town. Looking around, Twilight saw what looked like an old store, its sign intact. It read, "Crystal Ridge Commissary". Twilight snarled out bitterly to the master of chaos, “Discord, take me back to Canterlot this instant!”

“Aww, come on, Twilight,” Discord cooed. “Aren’t you at all the least bit curious as to why Celestia doesn’t want you up here?”

“Princess Celestia forbade me from--”

“Twilight~” A voice suddenly sang out to her from a nearby mansion. “Twilight~”

“What was that?” Twilight asked, nervous.

Looking to Discord for answers, Twilight was not surprised to see that he had vanished. Grumbling to herself, she said, “I swear, when I get home, I am going to give that draconequus a earful.”

Twilight looked around and saw a burnt-out old mansion. Hearing a voice coming from an open door of the mansion, Twilight walked up to it. Looked into the foyer of the mansion, she called out, “Hello? Is anypony there?”

Twilight was just turning to leave when she heard it again. "Twilight~"

Twilight stepped into the mansion’s foyer and looked around. She saw a mysterious figure dart down a long hallway. Without thinking, she chased after the figure calling out to it as she ran further into the mansion. “Wait, I don’t want to hurt you. I just want to know if you need my help.”

The figure ran into a side room. Twilight rushed in after it, and the doors slammed shut behind her.

---

Discord, in the meantime, had teleported back to the Canterlot Castle throne room, just as Princess Celestia was entering. She took a seat on her throne, glaring at him as she said, “What are you doing here, Discord? I'm not in the mood for your games.”

“Games!? Why, Celestia, you wound me!" Discord shouted, putting his paw to his head in mock offense. "I was just taking Twilight for a quick tour of some of my favorite locations. We went everywhere. Los Pegasus. Yakyakistan." Discord smirked at Celestia. "Crystal Ridge."

“WHAT?” Princess Celestia exclaimed, her eyes going wide. “How could you bring her to that place, Discord?”

“Come on, it's Twilight. You know that when she gets curious, she's going to find out what she wants to know. I just helped her along, is all. Besides, it's not like anything bad is going to happen to her. This is Twilight that we are talking about. You know, your student, the princess of friend--”

Celestia bolted from the throne room. Unfurling her wings, she took the air as fast as she could. Getting to Crystal Ridge a few hours later, she saw hoofprints leading into a mansion near the center of town. Stopping in front of the mansion, she called out, “Twilight, where are you?”

Before too long, she saw Twilight slowly emerging from the darkness of the mansion. Celestia's relief quickly turned to horror when she saw the state her former student was in.

Twilight's eyes were opened as wide as possible, while her pupils were shrunk to pinpricks. Her mane was a complete mess. She had drool leaking out of the left side of her mouth.

Twilight took a few steps and collapsed into Celestia's hooves. Princess Celestia looked down in alarm at her student. As she looked back up, she was horrified at what appeared before her. It was just as she feared.

“No! It can't be!”

“Hello, Celestia,” the ghostly image began. “By the time you see this image, I will have long since been gone from Equestria. I left this message here in the hopes that I would find you. But if you are seeing this now, after so long, then it means that I have instead found Twilight. I do hope you like what I did to her. If you need me, I will be in the human world looking for my--”

Before the image finished its sentence, it faded away, leaving Celestia to care for Twilight. After cleaning up the drool and tidying her mane a bit, Celestia took to the sky. A few hours later, she rushed into her bedroom, laying the unconscious Twilight onto her bed.

Stroking Twilight's mane and weeping quietly, Celestia whispered, "Oh, my dear Twilight. Why did this have to happen to you?"

Next Chapter: Getting the Photos (Edited by Icecreammac) Estimated time remaining: 19 Hours, 54 Minutes