A pounding on the door broke through the still morning air. Twilight Sparkle sat up, groggy and disheveled. Who was bothering her this early in the morning? She had barely slept at all last night as she dealt with Princess Celestia. She needed to sleep. But there was too much going on in her life right now to ignore an urgent knock. So, she rubbed her eyes and stumbled across the floor. She yanked the door open and stared blearily out into the hallway where one of the pages stood. The silver pony was cringing awkwardly.
"I'm so sorry, Princess Twilight," the pony whispered. "I know it's early, but I have an important message for you."
"Y-yes…" Twilight mumbled. She urged her eyes to focus on the other pony's face. "What is it?"
"Someone has spotted Princess Luna," the pony's voice was still hushed but her excitement was obvious.
"What? Who? Where?" Twilight's eyes snapped open and her mind became alert. Princess Luna? No one had seen her in over two years since she disappeared mysteriously, and all efforts to find her had been unsuccessful. Now someone had seen her.
"We aren't sure how reliable the information is but the elderly pony stallion that informed us seemed pretty insistent. Enough that the statesponies thought that you should be told immediately."
"When did he see her?" Twilight opened the door wider for the pony to enter her room and she began to rush around, packing bags and gathering supplies.
The page entered the room hesitantly and continued, "He said that he saw Princess Luna out of his window when he got up for a snack in the middle of the night. This was two nights ago. He left the next morning for Canterlot and just got to us this morning."
"I've got to go check it out," Twilight stuffed one more book in her bag, deemed it sufficiently full, then zipped it up.
"I have to warn you," the page said, her voice still hushed. "Our informant told us that she did not look well, and he didn't even recognize her at first. We don't know if it's her. This is very loose information."
"Yes, but it is a clue. The first one we've had in months," Twilight was becoming excited. Maybe this would be it. Maybe this was the clue that she needed to solve this mystery. Princess Luna was surely in need of her help. She would go get her and bring her back. Princess Luna would help her run Canterlot and maybe together they could find a cure for Princess Celestia. Maybe everything would be alright again. "Now, where does this stallion live? Where did he see her?"
The pony hesitated before continuing, the corners of her mouth turned down slightly. She cleared her throat. "He lives at the edge of the Everfree Forest…near…" the pony stopped to let Twilight piece the information together on her own.
"Near Ponyville…" Twilight's eyes grew wide, and she felt a dryness in the back of her throat that made her want to swallow. She tried, but her throat felt so tight and the lump in it was so big that she couldn't.
"Didn't you used to live there?" the page pressed her gently. "Didn't you used to have friends there? Maybe it will be good to see them."
Twilight's face fell momentarily. Then, she took a deep breath and set her mouth in a thin line. "That is a piece of my past I'd rather keep in the past. This will be merely a business trip. Nothing else." She turned to look out the window for a moment. "I won't be there long enough for them to notice I've returned. They won't even know."