“…were this not the case, Bright Eyes’s theorem might have held far less credence with the Arcana Communitas. Thankfully, though, his steadfast dedication to the truth ensured that he…”

The golden threads of early sunlight lilting through the curtains make your book’s passages seem far more grand than they actually are. Though you’ve read these specific words time and time again in your pursuit of knowledge, today, they’re nothing more than fitting distractions, pulling your attention away from the heady task you’ve been entrusted with.

You wipe the sleep dust from your eyes with an unsteady hoof, taking a deep breath to gather whatever energy you’re hanging onto right now. A deep, arcing yawn arises from the depths of your chest, a shiver running through your body as it reaches its zenith. Rest came easy last night, but it had a hard time staying easy.

You woke up several times throughout the night, sleep becoming harder to return to with every stint of consciousness. It didn’t help that, every time you would wake up, you’d think about everything that was happening.

Eventually, you gave up at around five in the morning, settling for a cup of coffee instead. Its miniscule boost of energy is very welcomed, but you can’t imagine it will carry you very far into the day. To lunch at best, you surmise.

A sigh escapes from deep within your lungs as you use your magic to slot a bookmark into your textbook. You can’t believe it, but reading is actually making your nerves worse.

The sudden opening of the bathroom door mercifully distracts you from the pit in your stomach. Turning your head in its direction, you see Spike meandering out into the room you’re in, followed by an almost comical amount of steam trailing behind him, the edges of which curl around him as he struts outward. Despite him having no hair to speak of, there’s a bright pink towel around his head, curled perfectly into the shape of a cone. The odd sight makes you smile for the first time since waking up.

“Good shower?”

He nods, placing one of his claws on the towel cone so it doesn’t tip over.

“Try amazing,” he replies with a contented sigh. “We need one of these water heaters back home.”

That gets you to giggle.

“On a librarian’s salary? I don’t think so, Spike.”

“Aw, come on! I’ll bet if I went gem hunting with Rarity for a week or two and saved up, we could totally afford it.”

“You’d have to bring home an awfully rare batch.”

It’s true - you had a glimpse at the castle’s expenses once when you were still a filly. Even without a solid grasp of finance at the time, you nearly fainted. Nevertheless, Spike appears undeterred.

“Okay, so gem hunting for a few months.”

“Miiiight be a year or two…”

His eyebrows shoot up.

“They’re really that expensive?”

“More than likely. This is Canterlot Castle we’re talking about, after all,” you explain, the sentence leaving you a bit more dismissive than you would’ve liked it to.

Thankfully, Spike either doesn’t notice, or takes it in stride.

“I guess you’re right. I mean, the shower at home is more comfy than this one, so…”

You hum in agreement, your mind elsewhere as you turn to look out the window.

“So, uh… are you ready for today?” Spike asks, his tone a great deal more subdued.

Your gaze remains affixed to some undefined point beyond the window, golden light painting your face in a hue of apprehension.

“I guess so. I didn’t get much sleep, so that’s going to be difficult to deal with…”

As if to accentuate your statement, you can almost feel the bags under your eyes become heavier.

“I can get some coffee going if you want?” Spike offers.

You shake your head, turning to look at him.

“I’m okay. If anything, being tired is… actually helping me keep it together, surprisingly.”

He nods - although he can’t relate, he seems to understand where you’re coming from.

“Well, that’s good, at least. You think we’ll be able to make some headway on figuring out where all those ponies were taken?”

Before you can cobble together what you think he might want to hear, three gentle knocks ring out from the front door of the room. Both you and Spike’s heads whip around to face the noise. You’re inwardly thankful for the intrusion - difficult conversations have never been your forte.

“Coming!” you call out, hopping off of the bed and onto your hooves.

Walking over to the door and peering through the peephole, the fish-eyed visage of your mentor greets you, and in spite of the circumstances, you have to suppress a giggle. With a flourish of your magic, you twist the handle and gently guide the door open, smiles worn happily as the barrier between the two of you glides away.

“Good morning, Princess!”

She bows her head slightly for a brief moment, as do you.

“Good morning, Twilight,” she greets you, a warm smile gracing her features. “Did the two of you sleep well?”

It was difficult to even put your head on the pillow.

“As well as we could, with what’s going on.”

Her expression, colored by ever-so-subtle dark circles, cracks just a tad upon hearing that, but it’s mostly unnoticeable.

“I suppose that’s all anypony can hope for right now,” she responds, accompanied with a sigh. “As always, if there’s anything I can do to alleviate some of your stress, let me know.”

At this point, internally, it feels like nothing may be able to do that. Hearing that from her, though…

You close the distance between the two of you and wrap her in a tight embrace - a gesture she seems to have planned for, going by how tightly she squeezes you in return. You sigh into her, releasing as much anxiety as you can into her embrace.

“Hugs are a good starting point.”

You feel her giggle against you as you both step down from each other.

“That they are, Twilight,” she responds with a renewed smile, her voice falling back into its soothing neutral. Did she need that as much as you did…?

Regardless, you’ve got a good guess as to why she’s here, and you’d rather not put it off.

“I’m guessing it’s almost time?”

She nods, her outwardly soothing demeanor making way for something more focused.

“That it is. Most members are already present in the conference hall, but the meeting won’t officially begin until I ordain it.”

Oh, shoot! You didn’t even realize you were running-

“Not to worry, though - you aren’t late by any stretch of the word.”

You release a breath that you didn’t know you were holding in. Judging from Celestia’s quick smirk, you must have worn your reactionary terror all over your face.

“That being said, the meeting does need to start soon, so that we can reserve most of the day for the investigation.”

You nod, using your magic to grab your saddlebags full of scratch paper from the coffee table where you had left it the night before.

“I think we’re ready. Right, Spike?”

As your bags come to rest over your withers, you cast your gaze backwards at him, and you catch him in the middle of throwing his head towel aside. It hits the floor before you can catch it in your aura, and your inner sense of cleanliness shrieks at the offense. Against years of habit, you staunch it for now.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” he proclaims confidently. “Let’s do this.”

Celestia’s focused smile returns as she steps aside, allowing the two of you to exit the room. As you both cross the threshold, she shuts the door behind you, making sure to lock it. She begins making headway toward the conference hall, and you and Spike file in beside her for the brief trek.

“So, what can we expect when we get there?” Spike asks, looking up at her as he walks.

“Well, everypony is understandably a bit on edge,” Celestia explains, her expression falling a bit as she delves into business. “Some of them have been doing their own work outside of…”

Her account fades into dull noise. On any other day, under any other circumstances, you would’ve been the most attentive pony in the room. Now, though, Celestia’s voice has become the backdrop for reflection.

No, reflection isn’t right…

Inner turmoil is far more fitting, if you’re being honest with yourself.

Where was Anon taken? Is he hurt?

They better not have hurt him.

Was he able to get away from whoever took him? Who’s behind all of this? How could they do this to all of those innocent ponies?

You half-heartedly attempt to stop the storm of questions before it can spiral out of control, but nothing staunches the flow.

Impatience gnaws at you, propelling you forward. Even now, in the middle of the short walk over to the meeting, you find yourself wishing that you could just teleport in and get things going already. Every second that’s spent idling is critical to everypony that was on board those cars, and that’s without even factoring in that the heiress to Griffonia is one of the victims. And Anon…

…

It’s just…

It’s not fair.

You had him back home for all of a day, and then all this happened.

Your mind keeps trying to draw foregone conclusions, and you keep barely reigning yourself in before launching down the path of self-destruction.

You could have gone with him. Tartarus, you almost did. Part of you wishes you had, in spite of how dangerous it may have been. Maybe, if you had been there, you could’ve-

“Twilight?”

Your mentor’s voice stops you in your tracks, your head swiftly turning to the left to address her, only to find nopony there. With a frown, you look around, only to find that she and Spike are a good seven hooves behind you, confused and waiting at a set of closed double doors. Embarrassment quickly flushes your cheeks, a sheepish smile on your face.

“Oh! Um… s-sorry.”

You quickly rejoin them, a conversation from within the room audible even from the miniscule space between the door and the marble tile. Celestia hesitates for a moment, looking you over with a hint of concern in her otherwise neutral expression.

“Were you listening?” she asks, an eyebrow raised slightly.

For a moment, you’re struck by the compulsion to save face, but…

“…No. I’m sorry, Princess.”

The heat of shame burns your face as your eyes meet her hooves. It isn’t there for too long before one of them reaches out to your chin and gently raises it to meet her gaze.

“Twilight, if this is too much for you right now, I understand. You don’t have to push yourself, not for this.”

Her hoof finds ground once more, but you hold her worried stare.

“No, no, I can…”

You can do this.

“I can do this.”

You have to do this. You can’t just leave them out there! You can’t just leave him out there!

Her eyes pierce right through yours, looking somewhere deeper. In a twitch, you see several different, conflicting emotions fighting for dominance just underneath her brow.

“I know you can,” she reassuringly responds.

Sympathy colors her expression as her wing pulls you in for a light embrace, which you readily sink into as she continues.

“I want nothing less than his safe return, too, Twilight. And with you among our ranks, I genuinely believe that outcome is well within reach…”

She pulls back from the embrace but still holds you close, locking eyes with you again. The room is bathed in her resolve.

“…So I need you at your very best. Nothing less will do.”

Her call to action finds itself planted deeply within you, and from some indescribable place, you begin to shift, a single domino starting its top-heavy descent. Focus renewed, you begin to inwardly kick yourself for not getting control of yourself sooner, but even this self-criticism is staunched before it can fully form.

You are bathed in her resolve.

“I won’t let you down,” you reaffirm, the determination in your voice a surprise even to you.

She smiles down at you, stepping away from the embrace once more.

“I believe you, my dear student.”

Spike walks up to you and pats you on the side, giving you a wink.

“Plus, you’ve got me! You need some scales to lean on, I’ve got ya.”

You giggle a bit at that. How could you ever forget your little brother?

“Count myself and Luna among your support group as well,” Celestia adds, shuffling her wings a bit. “You’ll be accompanying us for most of the day as we oversee each team. If you ever need anything, we’ll be a wing away.”

Your heart warms at the confidence they have in you. While you’re still undoubtedly riddled with uncertainty, for now, your focus feels unclouded and directed.

“…One last hug?” you bashfully ask. “A group one, preferably.”

They laugh as you reach out to both of them, and they happily reciprocate. After you all step down from one another for the final time, you take a deep breath.

As Celestia opens the door to the meeting room, your thoughts fall back to something that Anon used to repeat to himself when he was stressed, or had a lot of work.

Focus, plan, execute.

…You can do that.

The cold of the room rushes out into the hall to meet you, moving the bangs of your mane just a tad to the left. A quick puff of air upward fixes it. Can’t look odd in front of Equestria’s highest officials on magic, can you?

You’re actually quite put off by just how chilly it seems to be in the meeting room. Not in the traditional sense, either - the chills you’re experiencing seem to be magically induced, if your intuition is correct.

Spike picks up on it, too, crossing his arms and making himself small against the sudden thermal change.

Celestia, if she notices it at all, doesn’t show it.

The three of you file into the room, and most discussion falls silent, or at the very least becomes hushed. A generous amount of ponies surround an imposingly large circular table, the face of which is adorned by the conjoined cutie marks of Celestia and Luna. They’re mostly unicorns, but you spot a few pegasi and an earth pony or two as well. At the farthest end of the table from you is a refreshingly familiar face, as well as the source of the cold permeating the room.

Princess Luna looks to be wrapping up a conversation with a stallion to her left, her horn idly casting a sizable projection of what looks like a sequence of runes onto the table in front of her. The magic she casts does have a tendency to make the room a bit nippy - funnily enough, the inverse of Celestia’s magic.

The sudden silence of the room catches her attention as she casts her gaze around the table, quickly settling on the three of you. She perks up ever so slightly, excusing herself from her conversation and heading over to join your group.

“Impeccable timing as always, sister,” she says as she closes the distance. “Everypony is present and accounted for.”

“Just as well, it’s a pleasure to see the both of you again,” she greets you and Spike, a tired smile directed at you. “I only wish it were under more pleasant circumstances.”

“Likewise, Princess,” you reply, comforted by the solidarity of your predicament.

She nods at your reply and takes her place next to Spike, the princesses effectively sandwiching the two of you in between them. You’d be lying if you said you didn’t feel like the safest pony in the room right now.

“If I may have your attention, everypony,” Celestia calls out.

It’s only now that you begin scanning the various faces at the table. Most remain relatively stoic, but a few look either neutral or optimistic about the task they’ve been entrusted with. You actually recognize a few of them from your studies, if you’re not mistaken. Before you can inwardly harp on the history of the ponies gathered around the table, however, Celestia continues her announcement.

“Since we’re all present, we can now formally begin. I trust that you’ve all been briefed about our intended method of approach prior to your arrival?”

Her tone is even and weighty, as are everypony’s silent nods in response.

“Good. In that case, we will begin shortly. I’ve arranged carriages for each of the four teams that comprise this operation. Does anypony have any questions before we depart for the crash site?”

A moment or two passes before an older, surly looking stallion to the far right raises his hoof. Gray beard, wide-brimmed hat, and even a robe to boot… You’re not quite sure who this is, but it looks like he’s emulating Starswirl.

“Is that your pupil, Your Majesty?” he asks gruffly, eyeing you up and down.

A smile rests upon Celestia’s face as she answers.

“She is. I’ve invited her along to assist with the investigation.”

The stallion, along with a few others in the crowd, seem perturbed by this decision, turning to their neighbors and whispering under the idle noise of the group. Celestia seems to notice this, clearing her throat to dispel the murmurs.

“I believe you’ll find that her input will be invaluable to our efforts. If there are no further questions or comments, then I believe it would be best to leave at once.”

That seems to quell all but a stoic few of the members, who simply look a bit off-put by your presence. It wears on your confidence a bit, but remembrance of Celestia’s words of affirmation keeps you centered.

Everypony makes their way to a door at the opposite end of the room, which, if your memory serves you correctly, leads in the direction of the castle’s main landing pad. Your entourage begins making their way out as well, but before you can all make much headway, one of the disgruntled looking unicorns from earlier interrupts the lot of you.

“Your Majesty?” she beseeches, directed at no one else but Celestia. “A word, if you would?”

“Of course, Ruby Seeker,” she replies before turning to you, Spike, and Luna. “Go on ahead, you three. I’ll be with you shortly.”

Now that name rings a bell - she’s one of the senior members of the board, with decades worth of experience to boot. You can’t help but feel that she might not be all too thrilled by your presence, what with you not being a member of the community, but you take it on the chin and head into the adjacent hallway anyways, Luna leading you out.

Her metal shoes reverberate across the largely marble hallway, joining the cacophony of the crowd of Arcana Communitas members in front of you.

“Well, some of ‘em sure seemed uptight, huh?” Spike interjects, just quiet enough so that none of them you can hear.

Luna sighs deeply in agreement.

“Most of the board’s members are tolerable, if not pleasant,” she says, uncaring of who might hear. “But the senior representatives are… uniquely difficult at times. Most of the time, if I’m honest.”

“How come?”

“They’re all about their little rules and regulations,” Luna spits. “Even if it costs us precious time that we don’t have. They’re the ones that wanted to meet in the castle, rather than in the field.”

You didn’t even think about that. How much time have you lost now? Minutes, hours… More?

The thought alone makes you angrier than you’d care to admit.

“Why didn’t you just order them to meet at the crash site?” Spike asks, genuinely confused. “They’re under you and Princess Celestia at the end of the day, right?”

“We could,” she begins, “but it would invoke mountains of paperwork that would ultimately take up more time than if we were to just abide by their silly rituals.”

You’d rather not focus on them for now - their old-fashioned processes are already starting to exasperate you, and all that will do is make your task more difficult.

“Have you been able to see anypony from the crash in the dream realm?” you ask, doing your best to mask your irritation.

Luna’s tone evens out as you bring her back to the matter at hand.

“Merely flashes and whispers. Some of the victims’ dream bubbles fully formed, but only for a few moments before fading away.”

“Was Anon’s one of them?”

Luna’s expression deepens, colored by worry as opposed to anger - you can see it in the lines that form on her face, and the way her frown sits lighter on her brow as she turns to look at you.

“No. I searched for most of the night, but I couldn’t find him.”

She isn’t lying - the dark circles under her eyes become more noticeable the longer you hold her gaze, even against her midnight fur. Her eyes move to her front once more as you both approach the entranceway to the landing strip.

“I was able to find a great many of the passengers in his cabin, though, which means there’s a fair chance that he’s alright. Relatively speaking, that is.”

You release a breath that you didn’t know you were holding. ‘Relatively’ doesn’t exactly assuage your anxieties surrounding his circumstances, but it does its job of stringing you along.

“Do you have any idea where they could be?”

“Not a clue, unfortunately,” she replies, frustration mounting once more. “Ordinarily, I might dreamwalk with one of them to start ascertaining clues, but every single one of their dreams were cut short.”

That’s far too convenient to be a coincidence… somepony really doesn’t want them to be found.

“Some kind of obscuring spell, maybe?” you offer.

Luna nods in agreement.

“Given my current findings, that is what I’m inclined to believe. Most other alternatives don’t fit what happened.”

…You’d rather not explore any other possibilities at this point, for your own sake.

The three of you cross into the ringed courtyard, the space bustling with ponies as your group and the members of the board file out onto the patterned, laminated concrete. Just as Celestia promised, four high-capacity roofless carriages sit among landing platforms around the platform’s edges, all complete with their own flying squads. A fifth sits in the middle of the open rotunda, its carriage closed to the air - Celestia’s personal method of transportation.

What’s more, you even spot a familiar face among its crew in the captain that headed the flight team that brought you here yesterday. You suppose he must be the leader of Celestia’s personal flight squadron. Who else would she have entrusted to bring you here in one piece?

“Everything appears to be in order,” Luna muses, surveying the crowd filing into their respective carriages. “Come - let us board.”

The three of you waste no time in making for Celestia’s carriage, Luna sitting across from you and Spike. As she shuts the door with a flourish of her magic, the dull roar of the courtyard comes to a close, and a comfortable, boxy silence settles in.

“My apologies if I‘ve given you a negative impression of the board’s leadership,” Luna apologizes, sighing deeply. “They really are quite effective at their duties, I’m just… rather stirred right now, is all.”

“No need to apologize, Princess. I know how you’re feeling.”

Possibly the most underexaggerated thing you’ve said in the past few months.

“Was he well?” she asks, gleeful to move onto far more jovial matters for the time being. “Before he left, I mean. It’s been a spell since we’ve been able to visit with him.”

Memories of the two nights he had spent in Ponyville come flooding back, his genuine happiness at the forefront of the torrent. The moment where he stood in front of all six of you at the park firmly plants itself in your brain and refuses to leave, inciting a genuine smile that you didn’t think you could pull off right now.

“He seemed a lot happier, even just in the two days we had with him.”

Luna adopts your mirth at this news.

“Good,” she remarks, mood slightly improved. “I read the letter that he sent to my sister. It brings me great joy to see that he’s finally come to his senses.”

You giggle at that.

“That makes two of us.”

“Three, if you wanna get technical,” Spike interrupts. “But hey, sentence clarity, I get it.”

All three of you openly laugh, and a tentative silence takes hold for some time. You opt to watch the carriage flight teams get ready as you wait for Celestia to return. It’s not too long, though, before a question bubbles forth before you can so much as run it by yourself.

“Do you think he’s okay, Luna?”

She looks tentative for a moment before turning to you.

“That colt is more stubborn than he has any right to be,” she says with a crooked smile, almost as if she’s boasting about it. “He’ll be alright - they all will. Even if We have to move the very heavens above to make sure of it, they'll be alright.”

Her sheer confidence surprises you - even with the innumerable number of unknowns, she unflinchingly marches toward her singular goal, undeterred even in the slightest. You sense the same steadfast resolve in her that radiated from Celestia. She even let slip a royal ‘We’, which has steadily been growing rarer since you’ve come to know her.

“Besides, he owes me fifty bits.”

“…Huh?” You briefly glance at Spike, who shares your confusion.

“We made a bet of sorts,” Luna explains, a brief chuckle coloring her words. “When he first started his job in Canterlot, I wagered that he would find his way back to Ponyville within five years, and he insisted otherwise. I intend to collect, naturally.”

“Yeah, that sounds like him,” Spike replies. “Why were you so sure he’d come back, though?”

She faces him, the ghost of pride still playing upon her face.

“Simply a matter of belonging, young Spike.”

Before you can continue to ponder the nature of her phrasing, though, the carriage door opens once more, revealing an exasperated-looking Celestia as she steps inside.

“I apologize for the delay,” she apologizes as she shuts the door behind her and shuffles in next to Luna. “Hopefully, that’s the last bit of bureaucracy we have to deal with for now.”

“I’m shocked to see your ears haven’t fallen off,” Luna jests, her gaze jokingly flitting between the two appendages.

Celestia chuffs amusedly, throwing her sister a sideways glance.

“Were it so easy.”

You feel the carriage jerk forward, and as such, you’re compelled to take a look out of your window. Yours is the final carriage to take off - the others are already in the air, heading off on their descent down the mountain.

With a lurch, your party is airborne, joining the tail end of the formation as the rotunda disappears from view.

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