As she flew back from Cloudsdale, Celestia reflected on what she had seen and heard. She'd found two Element Bearers within three days, and possibly a third, if she could ever think of a reason to meet this Fluttershy that wouldn't raise questions. That Fluttershy was Rainbow Dash's best friend was a good sign, and Celestia could tell just by listening to the Wonderbolts' account that Fluttershy was a strong little filly, to have survived on her own for three days. But apparently the ordeal had traumatized her, understandably so. Celestia was patient, however. She had already waited almost a millennium, and she hoped that she would see both fillies at the Best Young Fliers' Competition.
In the mean time, she had other youngsters to attend to.
“Hello, Cadence. Did you have any trouble with Spike while I was gone?”
“Oh, he wasn't much trouble, Auntie,” answered Cadence, floating Spike in her aura. “But I wish you would've warned me that he was starting to roll over. Last night I set him on his blanket on the floor and turned my back for ten seconds and when I looked back at him he was taking a bite out of the door! He'd gone at least eight feet by himself.”
“Oh, my!” Celestia chuckled. “I didn't know he could roll that fast! He'll be as mobile as a newborn foal before long, and then we'll really have to keep a close eye on him.”
“Don't I know it! I like this, though. Watching Spike and Twilight makes me feel like I'm finally an adult.” She smiled. “Speaking of Twilight, when are you going to have your first one-on-one lesson with her?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
“Oh, how exciting! What are you going to teach her?” She leaned toward Celestia and whispered, “I think you should start with a lesson about Star Swirl the Bearded. She's a huge Star Swirl nerd.”
Celestia grinned. “Thank you for the suggestion, Cadence. I think I'll do that.”
And so the next morning, Celestia went to the School for Gifted Unicorns, taking Spike with her in the basket he slept in. She entered the classroom she'd reserved for her lessons with Twilight. As soon as she set Spike on her desk and began laying out the books she would use, a quiet knock sounded on the door.
“Come in,” she called cheerfully.
Twilight opened the door, a nervous smile on her face.
“Good morning Twilight. I've brought Spike to sit in on our lesson today. Would you like to hold him?”
Twilight cantered over to the basket and peered inside. Her anxious smile relaxed into a sincere grin as she waved to him. He squealed just as all sapient babies did when they were excited. Twilight touched his shoulder with her hoof.
“Use your unicorn magic to hold him,” said Celestia.
Narrowing her violet eyes in concentration, Twilight lit her horn and projected her thauma around Spike. Slowly, she floated him up from the basket, moving him in a wide circle around the room. Spike's eyes widened in surprise for two seconds. Then he giggled, waving his arms and legs.
“Very good, Twilight,” said Celestia, as her student lowered Spike back into his basket. “Control is more important than power. Now, I'd like you to start reading this book.” Celestia lit the book with her aura, but before she floated it, Twilight shouted with excitement.
“Is that a book about Star Swirl the Bearded!?” It was the first time Twilight had spoken since entering the classroom.
Twilight's magenta magic overtook Celestia's gold as she raised the book to look at the cover. “It is! Star Swirl the Bearded is my favorite pony in all of history! He invented so many amazing spells! I'm so glad you asked me to read this!”
Celestia laughed. Twilight's reaction was far better than Celestia had anticipated.
And so Celestia taught Twilight about Star Swirl, revealing that he had been her mentor. Twilight responded with enthusiasm – “mind-blowing” was the term she used. However, Celestia was careful to avoid any mention of Luna, which left more than a few holes in her retelling. Of course she would have to tell Twilight about Luna and her downfall at some point. But after what happened with Sunset, Celestia was cautious about revealing too much about her past or her plans for her student. Besides, she wanted Twilight to enjoy her innocence for a while longer.
Celestia had many more lessons with Twilight and Spike. She loved watching both of them grow and mature. However, she also kept Rainbow Dash in the back of her mind. Even though she did not receive word from Rainbow about entering the Best Young Fliers' Competition, Celestia went ahead and asked the competition coordinator about lowering the age limit. The coordinator liked the idea and longed to see the rainboom herself, so she agreed to hold a qualifying round that would be open to any pegasus under the age of sixteen. Any foal who completed the track in the qualified time could compete in the main event with the older fillies and colts.
And so at the end of summer, Celestia came to Cloudsdale to serve on the judges' panel, as she had every year for the past four centuries. Unfortunately, she did not see the multicolored filly. Rainbow Dash was not even in the crowd. Celestia could only guess that Rainbow did not feel confident enough to perform at a competitive level. Perhaps she had stage fright. Even though Celestia wanted to see Rainbow again, she didn't want to intrude into her life yet. Experience had taught her that ponies could usually find their own paths and purposes when left to their own devices.
She did keep her eye out for other foals who could be Bearers. There were a couple of fillies among the spectators who almost fit Fluttershy's description, but they looked a bit younger than eight. Besides, Celestia had a feeling she would know Fluttershy when she saw her.
When Celestia returned to teach her regular class at the School for Gifted Unicorns, she carefully observed the first year students. Moon Dancer was very bright but aloof. Lemon Hearts was charming but accident prone. Most of the other foals seemed perfectly average. The only student who stood out as a possible Bearer was Minuette. The filly had a bubbly, infectious laugh, and she often smoothed awkward moments with a light, witty comment. Her sky blue coat was very close to the color of the Element of Laughter. However, for whatever reason, Celestia did not feel the same certainty that she sensed with Twilight or Rainbow.
A month later, she found out why.
She was at the 500th Annual Royal Growers' Fair, located in a field exactly halfway between Manehattan and Fillydelphia. The fair gave earth pony farmers and botanists an opportunity to network with each other and submit the literal fruits of their labors to a panel of judges to determine who was the best in their field.
The event was more magical than it appeared to the casual observer. Whereas unicorn magic activated via visualization and willpower, and pegasus magic functioned through confidence and instinct, earth pony magic worked with the ebb and flow of the earth's energies. With thousands of earth ponies gathered in the same place, they had to be cautious about where they directed their thauma to avoid accidentally influencing other ponies' crops. A carelessly aimed energy siphon could wither a prize begonia, or make lettuce grow undesirable flowers.
Celestia sensed the silent thaumic swirls and eddies as she browsed the booths, pausing at a table piled with small, green fruits. Celestia picked up a fruit and saw that it had a prominent seam that divided it in half.
“This fruit looks familiar, but I can't identify it,” she said to anypony who would listen.
“That's what almonds look like before they are peeled and roasted, your highness!” said the enthusiastic mare on the other side of the table. “You see, the almonds that we eat are not nuts, but the pits of these fruit!” She gestured toward another pile, this one consisting of almonds in their familiar tan pitted hulls.
“That is fascinating. I am more than a thousand years old and I learned something today.”
The mare waved her foreleg dismissively. “You probably heard it somewhere and just forgot. I'll bet you've forgotten more knowledge than I've learned in my lifetime!”
That was probably true. As Celestia set down the almond fruit, something shiny caught her eye.
She pointed her hoof at the almond-sized white quartz. “It looks like a stray mineral got into your pits,” she observed.
“That's strange,” said the mare. “I'm sure it wasn't there a few seconds ago.”
From somewhere near the ground came a high-pitched giggle. “How'd that get there? Silly rock!”
Celestia looked down. Standing next to the table was a pink filly who seemed no older than Twilight, although perhaps she merely looked a bit young for her age. She gazed up at Celestia, her eyes glittering like the Element of Laughter. Her coat was the same pink as the Element of Kindness, and on her flank were three balloons: two that matched her eye color, and one the color of the sun.
And whereas other earth ponies acted as magical pumps, this small earth filly was a gravity well that drew the energies downhill, to extend the water metaphor.
She was certainly a special little pony. Celestia knew in her heart that she had found another Element Bearer.
“It's not supposed to be with the almonds,” said the filly, waving her foreleg with a cheeky grin. “It's supposed to be with the other rocks at the Pie Rock Farm booth! So if you like this rock, Princess, you should follow me and see all of its friends!” She sprang up and down in place.
The mare at the almond booth lowered her eyebrows. “Maybe the princess would like to finish hearing about my almonds first.” A smile returned to her face, less sincere than before. “These are the sweetest, most nutritious almonds in all of Equestria.”
“You had me at sweetest!” shouted the filly. “I'll take twenty pounds!”
“Oh!” The mare blinked, looking disarmed. “All right, dear. They're at wholesale price here, so they're only five bits a pound.”
The girl reached up into her wild mane and pulled out three bits. “Aw. I can only buy half a pound.”
“I'll buy a pound for us to share,” said Celestia.
The filly's eyes grew enormous. “Really!? Best day ever!”
As she weighed the almonds, the mare said, “Thank you, Princess. Please come again!”
“Yes, thank you, Princess!” said the filly as she reached into the bag of almonds. “I can't believe I'm sharing almonds with the Princess of Equestria!” She shoved the seeds into her mouth. “She was right, these are sweet!” The child yelled, spraying bits of food. “Not as sweet as the apricots I ate for breakfast, but really, what is? Now, to the Pie Rock Farm booth!” She pointed in the direction of the mineral quadrant of the fairgrounds.
Celestia smiled down at her as they walked. “Miss Pie, is it?”
She nodded. “Pinkie Pie. You are going to love our rocks. We have a bumper crop this year! I even helped culti- culti- well, my big sisters made most of them grow,” she said with less excitement. “I can't push any of my energy into the rocks yet.” Then her grin widened. “Oh! There they are!” She waved. “Hi Mom and Dad! Hi girls! Look who I found! Do you see!?” She pointed, as if Celestia did not stand out like a beacon with her height and shimmering mane and tail.
Pinkie Pie's mother and father gaped up at her with enormous eyes. Three fillies – no doubt the sisters Pinkie Pie had mentioned – stood next to the booth, and each sister wore a different expression. The smallest was terrified, the middle one was almost bored, and tallest was bewildered with a hint of annoyance.
“She actually did it?” asked the tallest filly. “I thought she was just blowing sunshine up our rear ends when she said she was going to find Princess Celestia and bring her here.”
Her father scowled at her. “Language, Limestone! Thou art in the presence of the Princess of the Sun!” Then he took off his hat and bowed. “Thou doth honor us with thy presence, Princess Celestia. I am called Igneous Rock Pie, and this is my wife, Cloudy Quartz Pie. Wouldst thou care to view our array of minerals?”
Rock farmers tended to be even more traditional then agricultural farmers, so Celestia was not at all surprised that his speech was more old-fashioned than a crystal pony. It was actually a bit unexpected that the daughters seemed willing to blend in with mainstream society.
“Yes, please. I happen to have a baby dragon, and he needs more variety in his diet so he'll stop eating teacups and doors.” She hoped.
Cloudy Quartz put her hoof to her cheek. “Forgive me, Princess Celestia, but would not a dragon pose a threat to the ponies that dwell within the royal castle?” Despite her words of caution, she spoke in a soothing tone that would've been perfect for reading a bedtime story.
“It's all right, Mrs. Pie. I did say 'baby' dragon. He's only the size of a three month-old foal, in fact. I'm going to raise him to respect Equestrian values.”
“Oh.” The mare nodded in approval. “Thou art wise, Princess. Mayhap thy dragon whelp wouldst partake of our quartz and feldspar.”
“They look wonderful. I'd like for him to have a wide variety of minerals. I also want the stones to be little, so I can teach him to take small bites without having to break up the rocks myself.” Or without making one of her poor servants do it.
“As you wish, Princess.”
Celestia bought ten pounds of the choicest pebbles in Equestria, splurging on some of the rarer ones like amethyst, citrine, and agate.
“You sure you don't want more rocks, Princess?” asked Pinkie Pie. “A growing dragon needs to eat more rocks than that!” she declared as if she were the expert on dragons. “I'll even help you carry it to your carriage!” She frowned for a second before pointing to her bored-looking sister. “Actually, Maud will. She's stronger than I am.”
Maud gave a little wave, her expression unchanging. “It's true.”
“Hey!” Limestone whipped her head around to glare at Pinkie. “What am I, invisible?”
“Of course not, silly!” said Pinkie Pie. “You're just not as strong as Maud!”
“Also true,” said Maud.
Limestone walked closer to Pinkie and hissed, “Just because Maud is your favorite sister does not mean she's the strongest.”
Pinkie's pupils shrank. “I never said Maud was my favorite!”
“You didn't have to!”
Everypony could feel the tension mounting between the sisters. It would be best to steer the conversation back to business.
“Thank you for the offer, all of you, but I would prefer to buy a smaller bag for now. After I figure out what my . . .” Celestia paused, realizing that she had never actually called Spike her “nephew” out loud, and she wasn't sure if she wanted the first time to be here with this eccentric family.
“Your dragon?” Pinkie suggested helpfully.
“Yes, my dragon. After I figure out what he likes, I'll order more of those kinds of minerals from your farm. I'll keep in touch.”
Limestone's eyes suddenly widened. “Business card!” She grabbed one off the table and held it up toward Celestia. “Here's where to find us when we're not at the Grower's Fair, Princess.”
Celestia took the card and the bag of pebbles in her telekinesis. “Thank you, Limestone Pie. I'm very glad to have met you all.” But she was staring at Pinkie Pie when she said the last sentence.