Applejack walked back through Ponyville in frustration. Limestone wasn't at home, having left a short note mentioning that she had gone to visit her family. Now she had nopony to go to ask for help. Limestone was her best shot, and now she had none.
Well, techincally there was another option. There was a single pony in town who had any sort of knowledge on the inner workings of magic, and that was Amethyst Star. Plus, she had even worked on the farm before.
Applejack came to a dead stop. No, she thought firmly. Star doesn't know a thing 'bout Earth pony magic. And she ain't all that magically gifted. All she has is that little magnifying-glass spell. That stupid spell that lets her see little details and little things that are off and... She sighed. Oh, who am Ah kiddin'? This is about the farm. Doesn't matter how much we hate each other. She'll have an idea of what ta do.
Applejack began walking towards the Golden Oaks Library, just as the door to the library opened. She paused, confused as to why Amethyst would be awake at this hour, as Rainbow flew outside. The door closed behind Rainbow, who landed on the ground and began pacing back and forth.
"You alright there, Rainbow?" called out Applejack as she walked over.
Rainbow bolted upright and flew over to her in a second. "Applejack! Something weird is going on!"
She raised an eyebrow. "Weird how?" Was there something going on with pegasus magic, too?
"It's Twilight and Sparkler! Something's wrong with them!"
Her concern faded. "Ain't there always something wrong with Star?"
Rainbow scowled. "I'm being serious, AJ! Twilight was acting all kooky and even forgot to leave a note saying she was coming here! Twilight never forgets stuff like that!" She continued before Applejack could interrupt. "And Sparkler's even worse! I tried to tell her about Twilight, and you know what she said?"
Applejack rolled her eyes. "What?"
"'Go ask AJ, maybe she talked to her.' Since when does Sparkler call you AJ? And since when do you two not hate each other?!"
"Ah don't hate her!" she objected quickly. "Star's just a self-absorbed, lazy, and-"
Rainbow placed her hoof on Applejack's mouth to stop her. "This is an actually problem here. I shouldn't have to be the mature one in this situation! Can't you tell something is going on?"
"All you've said is that two ponies are actin' weird in the mornin'! They're probably just tired!"
"And they're the only two who would know what's happening! Flitter and Cloudchaser are in Cloudsdale visiting her parents! Lotus and Aloe are in Baltimare visiting their parents! Saffron and her dad are in Tall Tale visiting her mom! Limestone is visiting her family at their rock farm! Fleetfoot is at the Neighagra Falls Flight School visiting her parents! Even Twirly isn't here! She and Fluttershy went who-knows-where to look for some sort of plant!"
"Rainbow, Ah really think that yer-"
"If something goes wrong and we need the Elements of Harmony, who does that leave? Sparkler. And with everypony else gone, who's the only one left who would know what to do? Twilight. And maybe that's why she called me Dash! Twilight never calls me Dash, but she might have been trying to say that something was wrong! Maybe that's why Sparkler told me to talk to you!"
Applejack blew a sharp breath of air into Rainbow's face. "Get ahold of yerself, Rainbow!" She pushed the pegasus down so her haunches were on the ground. "Stop ta think for a bit more instead of just panickin'. You barely even know Twilight-"
"Who do you think I visit every week?" Rainbow was much softer than she had been just seconds ago.
That caught her off guard. "You- You go to Canterlot ta visit Twilight? Why?"
"We train together. Mind-control resistance." Her ears fell flat. "After Nightmare was able to just make me do whatever she wanted... I never wanted to feel that again. It was her idea to train together."
Applejack was surprised. "Wow... Ah'm sorry, Rainbow. Ah didn't know."
"Of course you didn't. You're the first pony I've told." She sighed. "I didn't want anypony to think I was some sort of weak loser."
"Rainbow, there ain't a pony in this town who'd make fun of you fer that." She smiled at the pegasus, but she quickly switched to being more serious. "So, you're sure that there's something goin' on with Twilight? 'Cause I was talkin' with her earlier, and-"
"You were?" Rainbow bolted upright. "What was she doing? What did she say?"
"Cool yer jets, sugarcube. She was running out of Everfree with a timber wolves hot on her hooves, but Ah knocked it back into the forest. She was a bit shy when we first spoke, but got way more eager when she asked where Star lived, and-" she decided to omit the question of why she hated Amethyst. "-then she headed off to the library."
By the end, Rainbow's mouth was agape once again. "Sweet Celestia... That's the most un-Twilight-ish thing I've ever heard!"
Applejack spoke before Rainbow could go off in a tizzy. "Mind explainin' to me?"
She nodded vigorously. "Well, first of all, Twilight's the First Lieutenant of the Royal Guard and she was running from a timber wolf? That's just absurd! She has a whole arsenal of spells she could have used to either take it out of slow it down. Secondly, I have never seen Twilight being shy. And she already knows that Sparkler lives in the library! Why would she need to ask?"
"Ah'm tryin' ta process was yer sayin', Rainbow. Could you just wait fer a-"
"I need to get back to Canterlot!" Rainbow jumped into the air and hovered. "Shining needs to know about this, and we can even talk to the Princesses! I'll go as fast as I can, while you stay here and talk to Sparkler!"
"You want me to talk with Star?" asked Applejack incredulously. "Have you lost yer mind?"
"Somepony needs to try and figure out what's going on, and you already know that something's up." Rainbow frowned. "Besides, I need to go now. I can't wait any longer!"
"Ah know that bein' fast is yer thing, but don't just go at tornado speed!"
"Everypony else is gone. The Element Bearers, Fluttershy, and Twirly. I need to hurry because if I can't get back before something else happens..." Rainbow took in a breath to calm down. "Then there won't be a single friend one of Sparkler's friends left in Ponyville. I'm the only one still here."