//------------------------------// // 1 The Missing Student // Story: My Little Pony: The Gemstones of Magic // by RamenVA //------------------------------// "Where is it!?" Twilight is flinging books all over the library, trying to find the book of spells Celestia gave her the day prior. Spike descends from the stairs, rubbing his eyes. "Twilight... what are you doing?" Spike said in a low tone. "Oh Spike! I'm so glad you're up!" Twilight dropped all of the books she was holding with her magic. "Do you know where I put that spell book?" "Which one?" "The one Celestia gave to me yesterday!" "Why do you need it now?" "Because!" Twilight uses her magic and bring out a large stack of books. "My student is coming today, remember?" "She's coming today?" Spike said, going through the piles of books Twilight created. "Yes, and Celestia specifically said to use that book! And now I can;t find it. My student's not here yet and I'm already slipping up!" "Uhh... Twilight...?" "What Spike!?" "You're gonna hit the ceiling..." "Huh...?" Twilight looks down and sees that she's flew up to the ceiling during her freak out, which tends to happen a lot. She giggles embarrassingly and flies back down to the ground. "Just calm down Twilight," Spike said, walking up to her. "You'll be fine. I mean, you're a princess after all. And if Celestia didn't think you could do it, well, you wouldn't be doing it." Twilight smiles and brings Spike into a hug. "Thanks Spike, that means a lot," she said happily. "But I still need to find that book!" She said, shaking Spike. "Did-n't you... fall... a-sleep... read-ing... it... last... night...?" Spike stuttered as she shook him. Twilight stops and exclaims, "You're right!" She drops Spike and flies up the stairs to her bed where, low and behold, the spell book was under her pillow where she left it. "You started reading it last night and fell asleep," Spike said, walking up from behind Twilight. "Oh yeah... I guess I'm so nervous about this mentoring thing that it slipped my mind..." Twilight took the book and walked back down stairs. "Who is this pony who's gonna be your student anyway?" Spike said, following her. "Beats me. But Celestia said that she desperately needs a mentor and that I was the only one who could do it." Twilight placed the spell book onto her stack of spell books. "So, you don't know anything about her?" Spike started to pick up books from the floor and place them back on the shelves. "Nope. I don't even know their name. It could be anypony." "Then, how are we gonna know who it is when we go to get her from the train station?" "Celestia said that I'll know her when I see her, whatever that means. But anyways, we better get to Apple Jack's to help with the preparations for the Welcoming Party." Spike puts up the last of the books and follows Twilight out the door. Twilight and Spike show up at Sweet Apple Acres, where almost everyone in Ponyville are helping put up decorations. "Hey Spike, go find Rarity for me, would you?" Twilight said to Spike. "I'm on it," he said, running off to find Rarity. Twilight looked around and saw how hard everyone was working and smiled. "TWILIGHT!!!" A voice from afar yelled. "Huh?" Twilight looked around to see who called her name. "UP HERE!!!" Twilight looked up and saw Pinkie Pie heading toward her at full speed. "GAH!" Twilight used her magic to stop Pinkie Pie about 2 inches away from her face. Twilight sighed. "Pinkie, what were you doing?" Twilight put Pinkie down. "Testing out the cannon of course!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Cannon? What cannon?" "The one that Rainbow Dash is gonna use for the welcoming party! She said she had a new trick she wanted to try, but she didn't know how to get that fast in a small amount of time. So I started to think for a few minutes and thought about my confetti cannon, and I was testing it to see how fast and far it could shoot Rainbow Dash!" She gave a big smile. "And... you didn't think about your landing..." "I did, after the cannon shot me in the air!" Twilight face-hoofed herself and shook her head. "Where is Rarity?" She said, changing the subject. "She said she had something she wanted to show me." "Oh! She's over there in that big tent! Well, I better go test the cannon one more time!" Before Twilight could object, Pinkie Pie dashed off. Twilight sighed and walked over to the purple tent where Rarity was. "Rarity?" Twilight said walking in. "Oh Twilight! Finally!" Rarity ran up to Twilight, grabbed her hoof, and towed her toward a large display of dresses. "Well, what do you think?" "Uh... they're pretty," Twilight said, confused. "But what are they for?" "Why, for you of course! For you to wear tonight at the party." "Rarity, I don't need a dress for a welcoming party." "Well, the unicorn Twilight wouldn't need one, but the alicorn Twilight, Princess Twilight, does! You have to look regal at every, single event you participate in. So, go through these and pick your favorite!" "Rarity, it's ok. I don't need a dress. Besides, if I;m going to meet my student for the first time, I'd rather meet her the way I am." Rarity sighed and said, "Well, alright. If you insist. But in the future, you will wear one of these, right?" "Cross my heart," she said, making an X over her heart. "So besides all these dresses, how is everything else going?" "Well, Apple Jack is almost done preparing the food, Rainbow Dash cleared all of the clouds and is working on some kind of trick for the party, Pinkie Pie is attempting to help her-" Twilight and Rarity hear Pinkie Pie outside yelling "WEEEEE!!!" and her landing into a tree nearby. They both shook their heads. "What about Fluttershy?" Twilight asked. "She was helping me put up these dresses for you to see, but something happened with Angel, so she went to take care of it." "Twilight!" Twilight turned around and saw Fluttershy's head sticking into the tent. "Oh, hey Fluttershy, How's Angel doing?" "Oh, umm, he's alright, He just got a thorn in his paw. No biggie." "Well, that's good to hear." "But, I do have some bad news..." "Bad news?" Twilight said, slightly freaking out. "What kind of bad news!?" "Well, ummm, apparently you student is, well... already here..." Twilight's eyes widened and she started to sweat. "What do you mean she's already here?! She wasn't suppose to be here til this afternoon! I was suppose to meet her at the train station and bring her here! Where is she Fluttershy? Where is my student!" "Well, ummm, that brings me to more bad news..." "I don't think I can take more bad news..." Twilight said, sitting down with her hoofs on her head. Rarity sighed and walked up to Fluttershy. "What else Fluttershy?" "Well, no one knows exactly where your student is..." "WHAT?!" Twilight flew up and out of the tent, making it crash down on Rarity and Fluttershy. all of the townsfolk looked over at Twilight in the air and she smiled sheepishly. "Opps... hehehe," Twilight said, flying back down toward the tent. "My dresses!" Rarity exclaimed, moving under the tent, attempting to grab her dresses before they got dirty. Fluttershy wiggled her way out from under the tent and let out a big sigh. "Hey Twilight!" Spike said as he ran up to her, "They told me that Rarity was- Whoa..." Spike saw the the fallen tent. "What happened here?" "I'm sorry girls..." Twilight said to Fluttershy and Rarity. "That's been happening a lot lately..." "It's okay Twilight," Fluttershy said. "I used to do that too when I was a philly." "I forgive you, but my dresses won't!" Rarity said, still under the tent. Spike ran over to the fallen tent and started tried to help Rarity out from under the tent. "But Fluttershy, what do you mean no one knows where they are?" Twilight asked. "Well,-" "Twilly!" "Huh?" Twilight turned around and saw Shining Armor and some other guards running toward her. "Or should I say, Princess Twilight?" "Shining Armor!" Twilight and Shining Armor both hugged each other, with smiles on their faces. "What are you doing here?" Twilight asked him. "And in your guard uniform?" "Celestia told us to escort your student here," Shining Armor said. "But she somehow left the train on our way here." "Could she have used magic?" "I don't know, but either way, we don't know where she is and we need to find her." "Don't worry Shining Armor, I'll find her." "And we'll help too," Fluttershy said, walking up to Twilight with a smile. "Alright. Fluttershy, go get Apple Jack, Pinkie and Rainbow. We have a student to find."