Little Choices

by Skijarama


Suspicious Activity

One Week Later

Seven days. They had been trying to subtly observe Starlight Glimmer for seven whole days now. Watching and waiting like this without taking some kind of action was driving Rainbow Dash crazy. Granted, with each day they observed her, they learned a bit more about her routine. From what they had managed to observe of her so far, she worked at Bits and Bobs as an employee, the owner of which had apparently rented out a couple of rooms on the second floor to Starlight as a living space.

They didn’t know what she did at Bits and Bobs, though. Only that she was an employee there. Furthermore, she had made two separate trips to a local library to return some books and then leave with a new batch. The books themselves didn’t seem all that exciting: Rainbow had been able to discern that they were either fiction books or instructional manuals on various forms of magic. When she had seen this, Rainbow had almost started having a panic attack, but once she relayed the names of the books, Twilight was able to quell her fears. Nothing in any of those books had anything to do with time travel. Twilight knew; she had read them all already.

Now, on the seventh day of their time in Manehattan, the group of six mares and one dragon were assembled in Twilight, Rainbow and Fluttershy’s room to discuss their next course of action.

Twilight cleared her throat slightly once everypony was comfortable and got underway. “Okay, girls. We’ve been watching Starlight for about a week, now, and I’m getting the impression she isn’t up to anything especially dangerous.”

“Yeah, she seems to be just another mare goin’ about her routine like everypony else.” Applejack chimed in, adjusting her hat slightly.

Twilight nodded at that and continued. “It definitely seems that way. But she is looking into magic of all kinds, based on what we’ve seen. None of it could be applicable to time travel, as far as I know, but some of what we’ve observed her carrying could be dangerous if misused.”

“And we probably don’t want to sit around here in Manehattan for too much longer, do we?” Pinkie added with a small frown appearing on her face. “We’ve already finished shopping for Dashie and I bet Princess Celestia is still waiting for her to send a ‘yes I’d love to see you again, let’s try for Sunday’ letter.”

Rainbow cringed slightly. “Yeah, which is a problem for us. We need to try and be quick about this before mom starts getting suspicious.”

Twilight pointed at Rainbow Dash. “Exactly. Which is why I suggest we take our action now. Applejack,” she turned to the farm pony. “You are generally a good judge of character. I’m figuring you and I can head into Bits and Bobs when we know Starlight is there, browse around and maybe strike up a conversation with her. If she’s into magic as much as she seems to be, it shouldn’t be too hard for me to get her talking. From there I’ll need you to try and pay attention to the way she’s talking.”

Applejack nodded curtly. “Alrighty, ah’m in.”

Twilight smiled gratefully before turning to Rarity. “Rarity, you have a keen eye for detail and are generally good in social situations. I think you should come along, too.”

“What about the rest of us?” Spike asked from Rainbow Dash’s side. “What do we do?”

Twilight turned to the purple dragon. “I want you, Pinkie and Fluttershy to stay here with Rainbow Dash,” she said simply.

Rainbow’s eyes narrowed a little bit. “Hey, why do I have to stay behind?” she demanded, standing up quickly.

Twilight flinched slightly and looked away. “...Rainbow, I need you to understand me on this one. This whole situation is putting you on edge and making you irritable. When you spotted Starlight across the street, just in passing, you locked up and started shaking. I don’t think it would be a good idea for you to see her up-close. We don’t want an outburst here.”

“But I-!” Rainbow started before pausing and looking at her hoof, which was currently held up before her. It was shaking. Heaving a sigh, Rainbow set her hoof down and nodded, unwilling to look at anything but the carpet beneath her hooves. “Okay… fine. Point taken.”

Twilight, unwilling to see Rainbow moping like this, drew forward and wrapped Rainbow in a hug. “Just… spend some time with Pinkie and Fluttershy, okay?”

Rainbow nodded and returned the hug for a moment before backing out of it. “Okay. You three should probably be getting a move on. We’ll be here.” she said, giving Twilight a reassuring smile.

Twilight smiled back and then turned to Applejack and Rarity, who were now standing a few feet behind her. “Okay, you two. Let’s go.”


Princess Luna sat upright from her bed with a loud gasp, sweat pouring down the sides of her neck. She was in her room in Canterlot Castle, morning sunlight streaming in through the window. She took a few moments to catch her breath and calm herself before sagging slightly. “...I see it works,” she mumbled to herself, shuddering as she thought back to the horrible nightmare she had just woken up from. She stretched slightly before sliding out of bed. She wobbled slightly when she realized she had grown again. Much to her pleasure, all of her mane and tail were swaying and drifting in slow motion, stars and galaxies sparkling and swirling within.

It only took her a minute to adjust to her fully grown body, after which she stood before a tall vanity mirror against the wall beside her bed and looked at her reflection. She smiled slightly before shaking, the memory of her nightmare seeping back into the forefront of her mind. She shook her head again before standing upright and moving for the door of her room. She wished to find Celestia and get brought up to speed on what she had missed during her final growth spurt.

Before she even reached the door, it was opened by golden magic. Celestia strode in and almost immediately locked eyes with Luna. “Oh! Little sister, I didn’t know you were awake already,” she said, a pleasant smile appearing on her face.

“Good morning, sister,” Luna nodded, though she couldn’t quite bring herself to meet her elder sister’s gaze. “How are you?”

Celestia’s smile dwindled just a touch. “I’m better, now that I know you’re awake,” she said before stepping forward and embracing Luna tightly.

Luna tensed under the embrace for a moment, but then relaxed and returned it. However, a frown crossed her face when she considered Celestia’s choice of words. “Better? Is something amiss?”

Celestia reluctantly removed herself from Luna and nodded slowly. “I am afraid so… Rainbow Dash is missing.”

Luna’s eyes went wide. “What? Explain, sister,” she said urgently, worries and concerns for her only niece already entering her mind.

Celestia sighed softly and turned to Luna’s bedroom window. “I sent her a letter via Spike’s Dragonfire about a week ago, asking her if she would be available to come to Canterlot and visit sometime soon. The reply I received told me that Spike, Twilight and her friends were all in Manehattan to do some early birthday shopping for Rainbow. Apparently, Pinkie Pie insisted.”

Luna frowned, her muzzle scrunching up as she tried to remember the pony in question. “Pinkie Pie… the wielder of the element of Laughter, is she not?”

Celestia nodded while making her way to the window. “Yes, she is. But that is beside the point. Yesterday, I sent somepony down to Ponyville to deliver my message to Rainbow Dash directly. Well… this morning, they returned and informed me that Rainbow Dash wasn’t there. Apparently, she hasn’t been seen in Ponyville for a few days, now.”

Luna’s brow furrowed in thought. “Are there any leads?” she asked after a moment.

“Nothing concrete… I’m hoping to ask some of the other ponies who know her if they’ve seen or heard anything personally tomorrow.” Celestia said, a hint of frustration in her voice.

Luna looked away. “...I shall keep an eye out for her in the dream realm tonight. If I find her, I can have her inform me of what’s going on.” she offered simply before sagging a bit. “She had been having routine Nightmares the last time I spoke with her. I can only hope they have subsided by now…”

Celestia leaned forward slightly, resting her forelegs on the railings of the balcony outside of Luna’s window. “Let me know what you find… I fear for my daughter. She was shaken pretty badly by the incident with Discord a little while ago.”

Luna’s frown deepened somewhat. “Discord… I suppose I slept through that insufferable cretin’s most recent display of chaos and madness.” she seethed bitterly.

“It was rough,” Celestia acknowledged sadly. “And… it felt horrible, being so powerless this time. When you and I were the wielders of the elements of harmony, there was almost nothing we couldn’t do. Now, though, I fear we may have become somewhat obsolete.”

Luna shook her head. “If you were obsolete, sister, you would not still hold the throne of Equestria,” she said reassuringly, planting a hoof on Celestia’s back.

Celestia nodded slowly, but said nothing.

Luna’s ear twitched suddenly when she heard the sound of her door creaking slightly. She immediately turned to face it, the sound of hooves swiftly galloping away reaching her ears. With an agitated growl, Luna shot through the door and looked down the hall where she heard the pony running away.

There was nopony there. Luna felt confusion swiftly replace the alarm and agitation she had been feeling from being eavesdropped on barely a second ago. “Where did they go?!” she demanded, looking around.

“Where did who go?” Celestia asked, cantering out to join her sister and eyeing her with confusion.

“Somepony was listening in on our conversation,” Luna said bluntly. She scanned the hallway again, her eyes narrowing before she sagged and sighed slightly. “...Perhaps I imagined it.”

Celestia patted Luna on the shoulder before the two returned to the latters room, closing, locking the door behind them. Luna added a soundproofing spell just in case. A few seconds ticked by in silence in the hallway before there was a flash of green light behind one of the support pillars. A unicorn mare in a maid’s uniform stepped out from behind the pillar and gulped heavily. “That was too close…” she whispered. Swiftly and silently, the mare left the area, intent on relaying what she had just heard. Her superiors would want to know about this…

Princess Celestia’s beloved daughter, Rainbow Dash, was missing. This meant that the elements of harmony, Equestria’s most powerful means of self-defense, would be inert. The mare couldn’t think of a better opportunity...