The Canterlot Library was one of Twilight's favourite places, no question about it. Here the unicorn could study the old texts about the different kinds of magic in hope to find a spell that would counter the effects of the mysterious Kitten Spell... The answer must be written in a book somewhere, she thought.
Twilight looked at the massive stone slab that kept its secrets for itself. She sighed. This book wouldn't be useful at all. And Celestia wasn't very helpful either... It should be among her interests to help Twilight to find the counter spell, one might think. But no, she wasn't the least interested in helping her faithful student that worked her flank off to save the day as usual!
"Why aren't there a copy of The Forbidden Book of Dangerous Spells anywhere? I whish I could... go back in time... Hm... Yes! That's it! I just have to go back in time and stop the princesses from starting their disastrous pranking spree! Why didnt I think of that earlier? Spike! Follow me to the archives! We must find the Time Travel Spell. It must still be there somewhere!"
* * *
Meanwhile, at the castle, a very strange scene was taking place in the royal dining room. At the end of a very long table was Fluttershy and at the other Rainbow Dash. In the background she could hear soft, classical music from a gramophone almost like they were at a fancy restaurant. Rainbow didn't really care much for classic music, but she had to admit that this was indeed a tune fit for an empress.
She was still a bit confused about Fluttershy's sudden ascent to power and the alicorn's explanation was very, very vague on some particular subjects... But at least the food was good.
They were completely alone in the vast room, which was strange but no stranger than the rest of this strange situation.
"I... I have a proposal for you, if you would like to hear it," Fluttershy said while sipping some of Celestia's finest wine.
"Proposal? A-as... as in marriage proposal?!"
"No, not like that! Um... A proposal for you to become the new captain of the Wonderbolts. Would you like that?"
"Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh! Do I? It is my lifelong dream! Of course I want! It'll be super awesome!"
"Excellent..." said Fluttershy, rubbing her hooves with a cunning smile. "Eh... I mean, that's the least I could do for a dear friend. I just love to se my friends smiling with joy."
* * *
When Twilight and Spike reached the Canterlot archives they found that this part of the castle complex was heavily patrolled. There were royal guards everywhere in full armour. At the gates, on the roof and on the lawn in front of the archives.
"Stay here, Spike, while I go and try to talk my way past them. Since I'm their captain's sister my chances are pretty good, I say!"
She trotted right across the lawn with a very awkward smile and nodded at the guards that stood on each side of the copper coated door leading into the building. They didn't nod back.
"Halt! The archives are sealed of on the orders of princess Flushy! Nopony is allowed to be here!"
"But I'm Twilight Sparkle, princess Celestia's student!"
"I know who you are, and the princess has specifically told us to keep you away."
"But I need to get into the archives... There must have been some misunderstanding! I really need to get in..."
"There is nothing I can do about it. If you want to get in, you should go and obtain a written permission from the princess. Otherwise I can't help you, I'm afraid. Please try to understand, Twilight."
"I understand... I'll just have to come back later. Sorry for bothering you,"
"It's no big dea... Wait! What are you doing?!"
Twilight had suddenly thrown herself at the door, furiously struggling to push it open! She must get into the archives at any cost and surprise was her best weapon, she thought! But the door didn't move even an inch! It was sealed like a vault.
"Twilight! Stop doing that! Just stop. You'll never get into the archives that way," the guard said.
"Because you will stop me?"
"No, because that door has a PULL sign, not a push. That's why."
"Oh..."
"And now I'll have to place you under arrest for disobeying an officer. Twilight, why did you do that? We'll go to the captain's office! Now move!"
"The captain? My brother Shining Armour?"
"Yes. And I hope he tells you how foolish you've been. Now let's move, pony!"
Soon they had reached the office of the guard captain, which was located near the main entrance of the Canterlot Castle. It was a rather small office at the end of a corridor with a few cells on the side where drunk ponies were sometimes detained until they got sober enough to walk home. A purple earth pony with a bunch of grapes and a strawberry as her cutie mark lay on the floor in one cell, passed out and snoring. She smelled like a whole brewery.
"That's just disgusting..." Twilight said.
The guard opened the door and shoved Twilight into the room where her brother was sitting behind his desk, reading a letter and drinking a cup of coffee.
"Twilight! How are you? Have you come to visit me?"
"No... I was arrested."
"What?"
"I tried to go into the archives, where I wasn't allowed by Fluttershy..."
"Oh.."
"Yeah... I tried to sneak past the guard. It was a stupid thing to do and I'm really sorry..."
Shining Armour put down the empty cup on the desk, making a brown ring on a document. He scratched his mane with his hoof.
"No, Twilight. It is I who am sorry... I know that your intentions are pure. You are an honest pony, Twilight. You're just trying to help Celestia get her crown back from Fluttershy, who's acting rather bananas right now. You shouldn't be thrown in jail for trying to save the world! I think it's time for the royal guard to show that they're still loyal to the true rulers of Equestria. I won't lock you in a cell. In fact I will follow you to the archives and let you right in so you can do whatever you're doing to save the day. I trust you completely, Twily. Now, let's go before Fluttershy finds out."
* * *
At the same time Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were enjoying a walk in the royal park. The beautifully raked gravel crunched under their hooves when they strolled along the path in the shadow of the threes. Rainbow had already proudly put on her blue wonderbolt uniform and goggles. Her eyes were sparkling with joy.
"I'm so happy. Thank you, thank you thank you! You don't understand how happy I am right now!" she said and hugged the princess.
"I just want my friends to be as happy as I am," Fluttershy said.
"Awww! You're always so kind and generous, Flutters!"
"Oh, n-now you're making me blush..."
Suddenly a yellow pegasus landed in front of them. It was Spitfire and she was dressed in her dark blue flight commander's uniform and sunglasses. The epaulettes showing her rank insignia had been ripped of.
"Private Spitfire reporting for duty, princess! I have spotted a breach in the security of the Canterlot Archives!" she said while saluting the alicorn.
"Oh no!"
"I'm afraid that Twilight Sparkle has incited a revolt among the royal guards! Shining Armour is with her and they have forced their way into the archives, princess!"
"HOW dare they?! I haven't even had the time to commit any misdeeds yet! This treason is outrageous! Stay here while I violently crush... I mean... um... talk them to their senses."
The Canterlot courtyard was filled with royal guards in their characteristic brass helmets. Many ponies thought that the guard's armour were made out of pure gold, but that wasn't the case since gold is too soft to use that way.
"Long live princess Celestia!" a guard shouted.
"Down with princess Flushy! Her speech was boring!"
"Shining Armour for emperor!" said another.
"No! It's time for democracy! Let the ponies decide who shall be their leader! We've had it with princesses for a while! And why can only alicorns have the power? Why can't an earth pony or a unicorn be elected to rule? This government is unfair! We regular ponies are discriminated against!"
"Order! Order!"
Suddenly Fluttershy appeared on the roof of the castle, looking down on the heated debate in the courtyard.
"SILENCE!" she screamed.
And a heavy silence fell over the crowd.
"What is the meaning of this? Guards! I order you to return to your posts! I will deal with this insubordination later. Disperse NOW or heads will roll!"
A spear whistled past a few inches from her face.
"Go buck yourself, usurper!" a guard shouted.
"We liked Celestia better! She's the rightful ruler and not you, Flushy! Crawl back into your cottage and play with your squirrels!"
Fluttershy's eyes turned dark with rage. With a powerful spell she surrounded herself with a strong, magical force field and descended onto the courtyard in a great leap, sparkling with magic electricity. Guard ponies were thrown aside when she trotted right through the crowd, zapping them like cattle if they were to slow to get out of her way.
"Just go away! I need to get to the archives!" Fluttershy screamed and she begun to run towards the entrance of the building across the lawn. To her horror she found door wide open, which meant that Twilight was already inside... She must stop her before it was to late!
* * *
Meanwhile, princess Luna was sneaking into a little magic shop in one of the back alleys. She went right towards the counter to get what she came here to obtain.
"Greetings shopkeeper! I would like to purchase an item from thine shop!" she said.
The old, near-sighted shopkeeper looked up from an amusing book that he had been reading. It was in fact "Daring Do and the Griffon's goblet", but the old stallion had wrapped the cover from another book around it to conceal the fact that he, despite his age, still liked this foalish kind of literature. Slowly he put on his glasses.
"Yes? Is there anything particular that you would like... Princess Luna? Is that really you?!"
"Yes, it is me and I want to obtain the Alicorn Amulet! I know that it is here somewhere..."
The shopkeeper looked a bit ashamed. His gaze wandered away and he started to play a little with his red scarf.
"Well, you see... It might be a bit unavailable for the moment."
"Unavailible? What do thou mean by that? Please do explain..."
"Well... I kinda... sorta sold it. But I made absolutely sure that it's in responsible hooves, of course! He he, you wouldn't like it to be misused in any way, would you?"
"Thou sold the Alicorn Amulet? But tis the most dangerous item in the whole world!"
"Eh... yes. But to a collector, of course! I think... She must have been a collector and most likely the thing is now in a glass cupboard where it's collecting dust, safely away from any dangerous minds. So there is no need to panic."
"I NEED THE AMULET RIGHT NOW! I pawned it here in the first place and thou promised me not to sell it!" Luna shouted, grabbing the shopkeeper by his scarf!
"I'm... I'm so sorry! But I have bills to pay... I need to make money too! Also, this is a pawn shop... Of course I promised not to sell anything, but that's just part of the trade! Please, don't be angry with me! I can sell you another amulet, if you'd want to? Half price! Or would you rather like to by a monkey? I give you a very affordable prize..."
"No! I don't want to buy thine stupid monkey! I must have the Alicorn Amulet! Where can I find the unlucky pony who bought it?"
"She... she lives in Ponyville, I think? Or maybe she's a travelling magician of some sort? But the monkey is very..."
"Enough about this monkey! What does she look like?!"
"It's a he. I just call him Mon... Oh, you meant the pony! She's kinda cute... Blue coat and light blue mane, I think... Purple eyes. And a magcian's hat, I think."
"Good. I will hunt her down and find her. And then the amulet will be mine! Mine! Soon I will dispose of the unlawful usurper that has stolen my rightful throne!"
"And when you do, you can always celebrate with a brand new..."
"NO! I DO NOT WANT THY BLASTED MONKEY!"
"B-but... I... I wasn't going to mention the monkey! It just wanted to suggest... a nice new crown?"
"Oh, that does make much more sense."
"Would you like to look at a new crown, then?"
"No."