"Come on, y'all. Let's go check on the Princess."

The pony who said this, Applejack, trotted past a distraught looking Twilight. The rest of Twilights friends followed her. None of them shot her a look of pity, nor a glint of shame in their eyes, nor even looked directly at the unicorn. They all simply walked past her, walking past her. All, except one of them.

Rainbow Dash shot a gaze her way as she flew past the lavender mare. She saw her friend was in pain, and it hurt her to see it. She was the Element of Loyalty after all; she was supposed to look after her friends. To stick by them, even if they did something wrong. And, well, wasn't that the case here? Hadn't Twilight made a mistake?

While the others moved on a little further, Rainbow stopped to hover by the door. She saw Princess Celestia walk down from the dais, walking toward the same door as she was by. Twilight looked up at her; and even though she couldn't see her face, Rainbow could almost feel the tears sliding down Twilight's face. She said, "I- I didn't-" However was cut off by a cold rebuke from Celestia.

"You have a lot to think about," said the Solar monarch. Rainbow didn't know if this was intentional on Celestia's part, but to her, the air around the room seemed to drop by a few degrees. Then, without a hint of emotion on her stone-cold face, walked past a stunned Twilight and an equally stunned Rainbow, and out into the hallway, leaving the two ponies alone.

Rainbow considered what to do. She was the Element of Loyalty. She was loyal, but to who did she give her loyalty? Her friend, or the Princess? She then mentally face-hoofed at her stupidity. This was her friend after all! She wasn't about to just leave her behind. She was on the ground sniveling like Fluttershy, and everypony else just ditched her?! If she did the same, she wasn't loyal. It was that simple.

Rainbow touched down on the marble floor, then walked over to her quivering friend. Twilight kind of was crying like her oldest friend, although she would never say that out loud. Or, well, at least publicly out loud. Once she was standing next to Twilight, she lowered herself down. As she did so, she draped one of wings over her distraught friend. As she did so, Twilight sprang her head to the side, burring it into the crook of Rainbows neck.

Rainbow now began to feel a little uncomfortable. The only one she really allowed to get this close to her were her parents, and even then it wasn't often. This kind of contact made her uneasy, and always kind of freaked her out a bit. But, well, it wasn't like she could move away from her. If she did, Twilight might cling to her, or start crying harder. So, despite the discomfort caused by this move, she held her still, allowing Twilight to wet the fur along her shoulder with her tears.

She didn't know exactly how long it was she just sat there like that, letting Twilight cry into her shoulder. It was more than likely just a few minutes, but it felt like hours. Finally, Twilight raised herself up from the shoulder. Her face was puffy and red, with damp lines from tears running down her face. She looked a wreck. This only convinced her further, however, to stay with her friend.

"Y-your n-not going t-to leave me?", asked Twilight. Her voice was shaky, seeming ready to crack.

Rainbow just shot her a small smile. "Are you kidding?" She asked. "I'm not just going to leave a friend hanging. Does that sound like something the Element of Loyalty would do?"

Twilight nodded. "Rainbow, I messed up. I-I could have gained a sister today. Instead, I lost a brother."

Rainbow simply nodded. There was no way in Tartarus she could say that 'she understood' or that 'she knew what that felt like'. She was an only child, so she didn't have any siblings. Plus, she wasn't the romantic type. Far from it; she hated it when ponies got lovey-dovy stuff around her. However, she did get wanting a sibling, or at least someone you could consider a sibling. She was fond of that one filly back in Ponyville; the one who founded her fan club. What was her name again: Scootaloo? But wasn't super close with her.

So, she didn't try to say she understood. She instead scrunched up her face for a second, thinking. Then, her face lit up for a quick second. "Well, listen Twi. How about we go get some donut joes? It'll be my treat."

Twilight didn't smile, or even stop sniffling. She just lightly nodded, and began to stand up next to dash. After she had stood up, the two of them heard the clopping of hooves on the floor. Looking up at the dais where the rehearsal was taking place, they saw Princess Cadence.

Rainbow Dash was now a little suspicious of Cadence herself. How had she gotten up there? There were no doors leading up to the dais from the hall; and even if there was, they would have heard the clopping of hooves on the marble. If she flew, neither of them saw It happen. If she teleported, neither of them heard it. And if she did do either of those things, then why? Wouldn't it have been more efficient to just have walked up behind them, and then clear her throat or something?

Cadence wore a sweet smile, which seemed to undermine Rainbows nerves a little. "Could you give the two of us a few minutes? I want to talk with Twilight here." While her tone was nice, Rainbow saw her eyes. They shone with a slight shine, like the sun reflected off of a frozen pond. It gave her a clear message: 'Leave now, before I get mad.'

"Uh, sure," Rainbow said. Looking over at Twilight, she added, "Meet me outside when you're done. Like I said, we'll go get some donuts." With that, Rainbow took off from the ground, and slowly flew over to the door.

As she left, she started to feel a growing feeling of unease. Just how did Cadence get in there? She had clearly left the room, so how did she do it? Some sort of weird spell? Advanced teleport? What was going on? Then again, maybe she was just being overdramatic. Who knew?

A few minutes later, Twilight left the room. She looked a lot better; the bags under her eyes were gone, her face was dry, and her eyes were no longer red. Following up behind her, Cadence stepped out, still wearing her sweet smile. She said, "Well, that was a good talk, don't you agree, Twilight?"

Twilight simply nodded. She didn't say a word, she didn't make a sound. Cadence, still smiling, continued, "Well, you two run off now. I'll see you tomorrow." And with that, she began to trot off down the hall, leaving Twilight and Rainbow alone.

"Well", said Rainbow. "Let's go get something at Joe's." Twilight, once again, gave no sound. Just a simple nod. That set off a few red flags with Rainbow, but she filed it under something that could be dealt with...After she had gotten some Donuts.

Next Chapter: 2~Deceptions and confrontations. Estimated time remaining: 10 Hours, 21 Minutes