I walked away from Fluttershy's cottage. Where could she be? She was usually home in the mornings. That's when I spotted her. She was coming up the road from Speedy's. They must have been having breakfast together. I began to walk towards her. I noticed the worried look in her eyes. I wonder what was wrong? "Fluttershy?" She didn't answer at first, but then she seemed to notice I was in front of her. "Oh...Hi Twilight." I gave her a comforting smile. "Is everything alright?" She shook her head. "I went to talk to Speedy, but he wasn't there. I don't think he ever got home last night." Speedy wasn't home?

I put a hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder. "Why don't we go back? Maybe he was just asleep and didn't hear you knock." She looked thoughtful. "I...I hadn't thought of that." I led her back down the road until we reached Speedy's home. I knocked on the door and waited. Nothing. I jiggled the doorknob to find it unlocked. I opened the door and walked in. "Speedy?" Everything was quiet. We walked into the living room and looked around. I noticed a door off to the side, slightly open. I walked over and pushed it the rest of the way. It was Speedy's bedroom. There was a shattered mirror and a burn mark on the floor.

I couldn't say anything for a few seconds. What in Celestia's name had happened? "F-Fluttershy?" Fluttershy joined me and looked in. She gasped as the tears come to her eyes. "What happened?" I carefully stepped around the broken mirror and looked at the mark on the floor. I concentrated and let my magic get to work. There was the faintest trace of magic in the air, most of it around the burnt area. What had happened to Speedy? I could hear Fluttershy crying behind me. I turned to her. "I'm sure he's okay. As far as I can tell, this wasn't a dangerous spell. I think it was a teleportation spell actually." She wiped away her tears, but it didn't help. She had a steady flow coming from her eyes. "Where...where would he...go?" I shook my head. "I don't know. But we should probably search the town. Just in case. Maybe he's out running an errand or something." She slowly nodded her head and backed away into the living room.

Where was that stallion? He was absolutely nowhere! How could he just disappear like that? Fluttershy and I had looked everywhere in town and he wasn't there. We sat down to rest. Fluttershy had stopped crying, but I knew that I hadn't seen the last of her tears. I thought hard trying to figure out every possible place that Speedy could be. There was only one place left we hadn't checked. I looked at Fluttershy. "Why don't you head over to Sweet Apple Acres and see if he's working?" Fluttershy nodded slowly. "Okay. But...aren't you coming." I shook my head. "I'm going to go ask Rarity if she's seen Speedy. Then I'll ask the others." Fluttershy smiled a little. "Thank you." She took off and flew in the direction of the farm.

I wlked to Rarity's boutique and entered. Rarity was looking over a dress hanging from a model. Oh boy. The model was Spike. What wouldn't that dragon do for her? Modeling a dress just to get her attention? I rolled my eyes and walked over. "Hi Rarity. Hi Spike." Rarity turned and smiled. "Hello Twilight! What do you think?" She motioned to the dress. I could see Spike was embarrassed. I smiled. "I think Spike ought to wear it more often." Rarity giggled. "Oh Twilight, you tease! Spike dear, you can go ahead and get out of the dress. Thank you for helping me." The dragon jumped off his stool and shed the dress. "No problem Rarity!" Rarity looked back at me. "Was there something you needed Twilight?" Something I needed? Oh!

I told Rarity and Spike about Speedy being missing and asked if they had seen him. They both shook their heads. I groaned and sat down. "I sure hope Fluttershy finds him at the farm." Spike patted me on the back. "Don't worry Twi. Speedy wouldn't just run off. I bet he's-" Spike froze as his stomach growled.

'BELCH'

A scroll fell to the floor, the royal seal holding it together. I picked it up. "What would the princess be sending me?" I unrolled the parchment.

Twilight

I'm afraid there's been a dilemma involving Speedy. Do not worry for his safety. He's resting comfortably here at the castle. I need you to send something to me though. Go to Speedy's home and find his collection of the letters that Luna has written to him. When you have them, have Spike send them straight to me. I will explain in more detail soon.

Princess Celestia

Speedy was in Canterlot? And what was this about Luna's letters? What the hay was going on? I looked up at Spike and Rarity. They both looked anxious to know what had been written. I looked at the letter one more time and then back to Rarity. "I could use your help finding something. It's urgent." Rairty nodded. "Of course darling. Anything for the Princess." I turned to Spike. "Go back to the library. We should be there soon." Spike looked a little crestfallen that he didn't get to tag along, but he nodded and left the boutique.

I led Rarity into Speedy's place and we began looking around. Rarity flipped through some papers on a desk. "Are you sure we should be doing this? It feels like an awful invasion of one's private life." I nodded. "I know, but Celestia said to send these letters to her immediately. We have to find them." We continued in silence, combing through everything with our magic. As I moved towards the kitchen I heard Rarity behind me. "Here they are."

I turned to see Rarity looking at a short stack of papers. Her eyes were skimming the top paper. I inhaled sharply. "Rarity! You can't read them! Those are personal letters to Speedy!" I knew I was too late once Rarity's eyes widened. She gasped. "I don't believe it!" She backed away from the letter stack. I rushed over to her. "I told you not to read them. Now what are you so shocked about?" She grabbed the top letter and held it up. The date showed that this had to have been the most recent letter from Luna.

I looked it over several times and shook my head. "I don't understand why you were so surprised." Rarity rolled her eyes. "Honestly Twilight, it's as clear as a blue sky. Princess Luna was...." She trailed off. I looked at the letter again, still unable to connect the dots. "Luna was what?" Rarity hesitated another moment before opening her mouth. "She was flirting with Speedy." I think my eyes went just as wide as hers. "What?!" She put the letter down. "I can't explain it, but the way she wrote this letter just makes it obvious that she was flirting. I doubt Speedy picked up on it though. Stallion's rarely do." I looked at the remaining stack of letters. Luna flirting? Would the rest of the letters prove that?

Memories started to fall into a certain order in my mind; Luna leaving suddenly last night, Speedy going home after that, Speedy missing from home, and these letters. Could it be true? Did Princess Luna have a crush on Speedy? Did he feel the same way? Had they been meeting last night about it? What was going on here? I shook my head to clear it. There had to be an explanation for everything. But one question remained. Why did Celestia want these letters?

I grabbed every last letter and double-checked to make sure we weren't forgetting any. I led Rarity out of the house and we started for the library. I paused as we passed Fluttershy's cottage. What about Fluttershy? She loved Speedy. And Speedy loved her too. This whole thing would break her heart. I had to get these letters to Celestia before she saw me. I began to run and Rarity followed. "Why are we running?" I explained the situation to her and she nodded. "Of course. I couldn't bear to see Fluttershy heartbroken either, but you can't hide this from her forever." I nodded. She was right. If Speedy didn't get back here soon, I would have to tell her everything.

Spike's fire sent the last of the letters and I relaxed finally. Rarity had been pacing back and forth the whole time muttering to herself. I had never understood her fascination with love relationships. And now she was overloaded with a royal scandal. I swallowed hard. A royal scandal. The princesses didn't need that. And then it all made sense. If Celestia knew about this whole thing, she would be doing what she could to keep it quiet. That's why she would want the letters!

I walked over to my desk and picked up a quill.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I'm always glad to help you, but this does concern one of my friends. I would greatly like to know what's going on. From what I can gather, there seems to be something going on with Speedy and Luna. Again I believe that I need to know what's going on. And if not me, Fluttershy. Please respond.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

I rolled the parchment up and sealed it. "Spike. I have one more for you." He took the letter and sent it off. Please Celestia....what's happening? Next Chapter: The Decent Begins Estimated time remaining: 21 Minutes