//------------------------------// // Meanwhile: This Wasn’t on the List! // Story: Mission to the Pony Planet // by ersmiller //------------------------------// Canterlot, a city of glamour and sophistication. The capitol of the pony nation, Equestria. There were hustles and bustles all about as many well-dressed, and well-undressed but still well-coiffed, ponies milled about. Ponies in waste management uniforms and royal guards all with trash-bins over their backs like saddlebags spread out around the city, though there was little trash for them to pick up. The skies were clear, though a pegasus weather team was bringing in fluffy, white clouds and leaving them in apparently designated locations. Some pegasi were consulting instruction sheets and making adjustments as they went. In between the arriving clouds, the sun shone down gently as befitted a beautiful Spring day, almost smiling down upon the city ponies as they knew their Princess of the Sun to do. All in all, it was peaceful but busy. It was a typical, unremarkable, Canterlot day. At least on the surface. Any who took a closer look would wonder why royal guards were actively seeking out trash to pick up. Why were there decorations inexplicably being affixed to buildings, statues, and other attractions? Were the shadows cast by the clouds making a pattern? And why did they seem empty of rain? Also … was their visiting Princess of Friendship fretting more than usual? “Twilight!” Rainbow Dash called in a rush, while coming in for a fast landing. “Finally! Been looking for you all over!” Near a pristine park, Princess Twilight Sparkle trotted back and forth over a multi-point path with a quill and part of a checklist in her magic grasp. More of the list dragged behind her, the rest piled up on the cobblestone trotway somewhat nearby. “Did you finish your tasks already?” she asked Rainbow. “No time for that. We—“ “'No time'? No time?!” Twilight yelled, startling a nearby civilian. Twilight noticed the offense and smiled sheepishly, waving and apologizing. Once they were alone, Twilight continued with the loudest yell she could whisper, “What do you mean, ‘no time?’ What time is it?” “Um,” Rainbow drew back as Twilight approached her, “I don’t actually know? I just, there’s—“ “You don’t know the time?! Then how do you know we are out of time?” Twilight began looking around. “Where’s the sundial?! There’s supposed to be a sundial beside the park! Did it go missing? We can’t have important things going missing now!” “Uh—“ “Oh, that’s right.” Twilight brought a foreleg up to her brow. “They had to move it when that high-rise was built because it cast a shadow on it for half the day.” Getting a look at her pastern, she yelled again, “Why am I not wearing a watch?!” “Because you never wear a watch?” “Then I’m going to start!” “Oh, great,” mumbled the pile of checklist. “Wha?!” Rainbow jumped back from the sudden dialog from a voice more befitting a small, green and purple dragon than a checklist. “Can you imagine Twilight with a watch?” the checklist continued. “She’d become even more uptight about everything. She already plans a lot of her schedules to the minute. With a watch she’d be planning them to the second.” “Spike?” asked Rainbow, poking at the checklist pile. The little dragon poked his head out from a developing hole and gave the latest frizz in Twilight’s mane a nod, “Where else would I be right now?” “Where else would you want to be?” “Should I make you a list?” Spike snarked up at Rainbow, lifting a bit of his swaddling for a prop. “I thought we didn’t have time for this,” remarked Twilight. “Right!” Rainbow snapped back. “There could be a problem in—“ “Oh, no. What step are you on?” “Step?” “On your list!” Rainbow blinked. “List?” “I gave you a list!” Twilight looked her over, using her magic to search Rainbow’s mane. “I gave all of you lists.” “It’s not—whoa! Hey! It’s not there!” Rainbow answered as Twilight’s magic shifted to search through her wings and tail. “You didn’t lose it did you? If we don’t have time, how will I make you a replacement in time?!” “No, no! Forget about the list!” Spike gasped. “Uh, oh!” and dived for cover back inside the pile of checklist. “‘F-forget about the list’?” Twilight’s eyes grew large and glassed over slightly. “Do you know how long it took me to me to make that?!” “I wrote it!” mumbled the pile of checklist. “It was all night and all of yesterday since before dawn. Claw’s still got a cramp in it.” “Twilight, we could have bigger problems than the list,” Rainbow answered. “The checklist isn’t a problem, the checklist organizes problems so they can be fixed. But with no checklist the problems can’t be organized, so they all get jumbled and you don’t know what’s been fixed yet and what hasn’t been fixed yet, so you keep fixing the same things over and over and not fixing the rest of the things because you’ve forgotten what those things are because you don’t have a checklist so not having a checklist becomes a problem because you don’t have a checklist and that’s a problem that you can’t solve your problem with because you don’t have a checklist!” Rainbow slowly backed up a step, then imagined Pinkie Pie as an egghead and took another. “Twilight. How much coffee have you had today?” “Why?! Did you bring more?!” Twilight asked in a rush. “Maybe we should go see Rarity or Celestia for some of that calming camel tea.” “Chamomile,” corrected Spike, poking his head out of the checklist to see if it was safe yet. “I’m fine! It’s fine,” Twilight assured her friends. “How far through your list did you get before you lost it?” “Most of it! And I didn’t lose it!” Rainbow defended herself. “I left it behind.” “You ‘left it’?” Twilight’s eyes bugged out. Spike shook his head then ducked for cover again. “I put it where Applejack would see it … eventually. Probably.” “Applejack has her own list!” “Twilight! There’s more important things happening right now. Didn’t you see the rainbooms?” “Yes, I saw three rainbooms,” Twilight answered, voice a little tense. “I had hoped they meant you were being extra productive—with your list.” “I flew all the way to Ponyville and back! Rainboom each way! Top speed!” Rainbow considered mentioning her time for both laps but thought it best to save that for later. “Why did you go to Ponyville now? We have work to do in Canterlot and we don’t have time—or do we? What time is it?” Twilight looked to the dragon eyes inside the checklist pile. “Spike! Find out what time it is!” Spike simply pointed up at the sun. “Hour or two past noon maybe?” Twilight relaxed. “Oh, that’s a relief. We have time to write Rainbow a new checklist.” Rainbow slapped a hoof in her face. “You can do that later. Right now there’s something else that’s happening that’s not on the list!” Twilight grabbed Rainbow by the withers and shook. “What do you mean there’s something ‘not on the list’?” Spike sighed, wading out of the pile of checklist, “I’ll need to get more parchment for this won’t I?” “In-n P-Pon-nyv-vi-ille,” Rainbow got out before pushing Twilight back. “Only the second and third rainbooms were mine. The first one wasn’t exactly me!” Twilight stared back at her for a moment. “… and?” “ ‘And’?” repeated Rainbow. “What do you mean, ‘and’? It was a rainboom!” “Well, it’s not like you invented them,” answered Twilight. “There are tales of rainbooms dating back millennia. They only fell into myth because the most recent mention is well over three centuries old.” “Exactly!” exclaimed Rainbow. “Meaning I’m the only one that can do them!” “That we’ve confirmed in current times,” Twilight countered. “This isn’t a problem, it’s a good thing! You’ll have a new flying buddy to practice with at high speeds.” “Who was it?” Spike asked taping a quill to his chin. “You said Ponyville? Thunderlane is also a Wonderbolt. Has he been studying your moves?” “Thunder—?“ Rainbow started. “No, Thunderlane’s thing is endurance and carry limit. He doesn’t have the speed for a rainboom.” Spike gasped. “Is it Scootaloo? Is she flying now?!” Rainbow shook her head. “Kid’s awesome, but getting in the air for the first time and pulling off a rainboom isn’t something that can be done in the same day.” “Well, I’m sure we can look into it next week,” finished Twilight, turning back to and grabbing her list in her magic. “For now, we have some very time-sensitive things to worry about.” “But!” Rainbow gasped, looking back at her two friends. Twilight smiled and checked off another item on her list, Spike looked back at her and shrugged before trying to gather the checklist pile in his arms. “But that’s not everything! And it’s extra time-sensitive!” Twilight looked back at her and waited. “I said I went to Ponyville.” “Did you find the pony who did it?” asked Twilight. “Yes! Me! Well not me me, sort of,” Rainbow faltered. Twilight blinked at her, then looked at Spike, then at her list, then back to Rainbow, lowering the list. “Okay? Meaning …?” “I flew all over, but nopony was pulling off tricks or stunts, but I found a bunch of damaged stuff.” “Damaged?” “You know. Like when I rainboom too close to town.” “Broken windows?” Spike asked. “Yeah," Rainbow admitted. “Torn up streets.” Spike added. “That too.” “Scattered store signs ripped from their posts.” Rainbow scratched the back of her head with a blush. “Tumbleweeds made from what used to be garden plants,” continued Spike. “Toppled over bookcases,” Twilight added with a frown. “Alright, yes, yes, that stuff!” Rainbow relented. “But I don’t do that anymore.” “Two months ago—“ insisted Twilight. “Usually!” Twilight and Spike exchanged glances. “Look,” Rainbow tried again, “I followed the trail and found Scootaloo and she told me that there was another me but she came here from a world of furless minotaurs through a portal in your palace!” “What?!” Twilight shouted. “She came here?” “And pulled off a rainboom on her first day as a pony?” asked Spike. Rainbow turned to him and smirked. “Scootaloo had to help her with a giant slingshot. Guess we know who’s the fastest Rainbow Dash in the multiverse, huh?” “But why would she come here?” asked Twilight. “She could have just written to me.” “Using Sunset Shimmer’s journal?” Spike suggested. “The one still in the palace?” Twilight gasped, “She must have written to me and came through when I didn’t answer.” “It’s not just the other me,” said Rainbow. “Before I talked to Scootaloo, I checked AJ’s place and Apple Bloom said AJ was there a little before me. Said she was looking for you.” “Two of them came through?” stressed Twilight. “What about Sunset and the others?” “Did the other me come here?” asked Spike. “I hope he hasn’t sneezed on anything flammable.” “I don’t know. I checked Fluttershy’s too and her animals were patrolling her land and Sweet Feather with torches.” “Torches!?” cried Spike. “What happened?!” groaned Twilight. “What are they doing here?” “I don’t know about the animals, and I didn’t see any of the other world us’es myself,” answered Rainbow, “and Apple Bloom only said that the other AJ was just acting strange and didn’t even know where Canterlot was.” “Wait,” interjected Spike. “So the other Applejack was just ‘weird’? She didn’t say anything about being from another world?” “Probably worried she would confuse ponies or get in trouble,” explained Twilight. “Imagine if they all went around telling everypony they were from another planet filled with tall, mushy, two-legged creatures with ‘hands’.” “Yeah, I remember that argument,” said Spike. “Good point.” “Really?” asked Rainbow. “I think we’ve had weirder things happen in Ponyville.” Spike and Twilight looked at each other and shrugged. “Yeah, I guess it’s easier to swallow here than in their world,” agreed Twilight. “But they might not know that.” “Hey, mine knew that!” Rainbow defended Rainbow. “Hopefully the other Pinkie Pie also didn’t come through and try explaining things to everypony,” commented Spike. “She’s not the best at explaining things … especially the times when she’s too good at it.” Twilight took a quick breath to brace herself before asking, “What else?” “That’s all, really. After seeing the animal army and knowing the other AJ was looking for you, I checked at the train station and asked the guy there if he had seen me get on a train earlier.” “You didn’t actually word it just like that did you?” asked Spike. “Why not?” Rainbow replied. “We all just agreed there have been stranger things.” “Yeah, but that's not an envelope we want to keep pushing!” explained Twilight. Rainbow scratched the back of her head “Well. He said yes. She got on a train heading here.” “She’s in the city? Now? All of them or just Rainbow?” “Whoa! No, no, no. I’m way faster than a steam-powered train!” boasted Rainbow. “I passed it a while back. Thought you would want to check it out too, so I came to get you since it’s not like she, or they, will be going anywhere else before they hit the station. We can fly back and see what’s going on before they get here.” Twilight stopped for a moment before taking a quick look at the sun’s position and then the long checklist. She sighed. “Why today?” “I’ll roll up the list,” Spike offered excitedly. “No, Spike, I’ll need you to keep working through it.” “What?! But what if Rarity came through too? I want to see what she looks like as a pony.” “You already know what she looks like as a pony.” “Not this Rarity,” Spike explained, his wings fluttering slightly. “And … and, um, oh!  I haven’t had much reason to do a lot of distance flying since I molted! I could use the practice.” “Fine,” Twilight relented, before taking the bottom end of the list in her magic and beginning the lengthy process of rolling the whole thing up. “But we should let somepony else know before we leave.” “Fluttershy should be at the overhang working on the bird choir in private,” Spike suggested. “She’ll be on the way.” “That’s right. Good thinking.” Twilight gave Spike a bright smile, before turning a look toward Rainbow. “It was on her list.” *** *** *** “You doing okay, Spike?” Twilight asked, checking to make sure his wings were angled right. “Yeah! This is great!” he called back. “Flying off a mountain is easy! You barely have to flap! I’ve never just glided for so long!” Twilight smiled at his glee but followed up with a warning. “Yes, but you have to be careful about—whoa!” Her wings faltered and she flipped to the side, falling out of control. Rainbow didn’t miss a beat and angled into a dive to follow. Once righted and the two returned to their intended flight-path, Rainbow finished Twilight’s sentence, “Updrafts and clear-air turbulence.” Seeing Twilight’s now sheepish face, Rainbow added with a laugh, “That was on one of the practice exams you gave me for the Wonderbolt Reserves exam.” “You remember that? I thought they weren’t working for you.” “I knew that one before. I’m surprised you forgot.” Twilight rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out, but was jostled by another draft and quickly worked to steady herself. Turning to her other side, Rainbow addressed the group’s other member, “You didn’t have to come with us.” “Oh, I know,” giggled Fluttershy, “but it’s so exciting that there’s another me from another world. I can’t wait to ask her about the animals there. I hope she’s nice.” “She’s just as kind as you are, Fluttershy,” answered Twilight. “She really helped me out the first time I went to their world.” “Yeah, but,” Rainbow cut in, “we don’t know if she’s here. We know Other me and Other AJ are, but we don’t know about the other Other us’es. And,”—Rainbow looked to Twilight—“weren’t we telling ‘Shy so that nopony would think we’ve gone missing? Doesn’t her coming with us mess that up?” “Oh!” Fluttershy answered. “Don’t worry, I gave Tweety a note and told the choir birds there might be another me around. They were excited too!” “So, how much further out was their train?” asked Twilight. “I think we’ve been gliding for half an hour now and there’s been nothing on the tracks so far.” “Yeah!” shouted Spike, angling into a loop. “This is great!” “Well, at rainboom speeds, I’d almost be at Ponyville already!” Rainbow called back. “At this speed, and the speed of the train in the opposite direction, and how long it’s been since I passed it coming back … uh.” Rainbow paused. “Should we have brought an abacus?” asked Spike. “It shouldn’t be much further!” Rainbow quickly finished, giving Spike a look. “I see smoke!” gleed Fluttershy, angling downward slightly. “See?” called Rainbow, following and quickly passing Fluttershy. Twilight chuckled and did the same, but kept pace with Fluttershy. Spike decided to match Rainbow’s steeper descent. As they descended, the train emerged out from behind a bend in the track around a hill. A steam engine with six cars behind it. “Woo!” Spike shouted, passing Rainbow. Rainbow wasn’t having that at all and flapped her wings, easily matching Spike’s progress. “Heh, heh. Somedragon’s having fun.” The descent continued. The wind rushed over Spike’s scales faster than he’d ever felt before. “Spike!” Rainbow called. “Level out!” Now a few hooves below the tallest trees in the area, Spike took notice of his altitude and speed. And the speed of the oncoming train. “Uh, what?!” “Slow down. Angle your wings a bit, get some altitude. Get back above the treeline!” Spike made the attempt, shifting so that the air-pressure would slow him and push him back up. He wobbled and looked around for a reference point to steady himself when he heard Rainbow call out again. “AND DON’T HEAD STRAIGHT FOR THE TRAIN!” He looked up to see the train’s smokestack dead ahead. No sooner did he have time to think, “dead ahead” did he notice Rainbow’s hooves under his arms lifting him up and over the top of the stack. And right through the smoke, sending them both into coughing fits and covering them in soot. Rainbow slowed to a hover as the train passed below them. Twilight and Fluttershy quickly joined them. “Spike!” Twilight shouted, barreling into the two of them and pulling Spike into a tight hug, ignoring the soot. “Are you okay?” While Rainbow righted herself from the midair body-blow, Spike coughed again and looked up. “Heh. Oops?” Beside them, Fluttershy came up and gave Rainbow a more gentle hug, that still managed to get soot over her, before patting Rainbow on the back to help with the coughing. “That’s it!” Rainbow called. “You are joining me in more flight training.” “Sorry!” Spike dipped his head. “You too, Twi. More turbulence training.” “Sorry,” Twilight copied Spike. “We’re just glad you’re okay, Spike” Fluttershy assured him. “Maybe I’ll join in for more lessons too.” She suddenly perked up with a giggle. “Oh! Maybe Other Fluttershy and Other Rainbow Dash will join too! This is so exciting!” “We’ll have to find out who’s really here first,” said Twilight, gently letting Spike go to set into his own hover. “I’d like to know if my ‘Other’ has wings.” “Time to catch a train and find out!” Rainbow announced, launching herself after the speeding locomotive that had passed by them. The other three looked at each other, blinked, quickly recalled what they were there to do, and followed after at their best speeds. Those best speeds varied considerably between them. Rainbow was already right behind the train when the others started moving. Fluttershy was in second place with Twilight and Spike following behind her. Twilight had caught up and reached the last car of the train around the time Rainbow had finished a quick sweep along one side of each of the cars, peeking in through the windows. Seeing this, Twilight opted for landing on the roof of the last car rather than flying alongside it, and helped Fluttershy and Spike join her. They then watched Rainbow match pace with the train, more closely looking into each window from the other side. She took particular interest in the car they were on top of. Growing curious, Fluttershy decided to join her. Taking off from a moving platform at such a high speed was tricky, but she managed it and matched speed with the train shortly later. Her interest with finding the other her being enough encouragement. Fluttershy came up beside Rainbow and peeked into the neighboring window. And blushed deeply. “Oh my! Eek! Oh, they’ve seen us!” Fluttershy quickly returned to the roof of the train car. Rainbow followed after, a blush forming on her cheeks as well, only just visible through the soot. Twilight and Spike stared at the two of them a moment. “What did you see?” Twilight asked. “And did I hear a scream?” Fluttershy looked to Rainbow. Rainbow cleared her throat. “Um. So. They’re not in there.” “What? You checked the whole train, right?” “Yeah, they’re not in there!” “Wait,” Spike spoke up, “then what were you watching?” “Um,” Rainbow started, glancing at Fluttershy who blushed harder. “There’s a couple of mares making out under us.” “Really?” Spike perked up. “Rainbow!” Twilight admonished her. “That’s private, you shouldn’t—Spike!” She turned to the young dragon creeping to the edge of the roof. “What?! I wasn’t …” He blushed. “I was.” “That clown really loves that businessmare, I guess,” Fluttershy commented. “Huh?” Twilight asked her. “Well, that’s what it looked like. Big, frizzy mane. Very colorful. And the other was in a suit. Kind of adorable actually.” Twilight pondered that a quick moment before getting back on track. “But our Others weren’t there.” “Yeah, I don’t get it,” said Rainbow. “This was the only train I passed.” “Rainbow,” started Twilight, “when you asked the ticket agent at the station if he had seen you get on a train ‘earlier’ today, did he say how much earlier?” “Uh, no? But there was no way their train could have gotten past me without me noticing.” “But were you watching for trains on your way to Ponyville, or just on your way back? And how closely did you check through the forested areas and the tunnels running up through Mount Canterhorn to see if there were any trains making the ascent?” Rainbow blinked and scratched the back of her head. “Well … now that you mention it.” Twilight put a hoof to her face. “That means they are already in Canterlot!” “Probably heading for the castle,” Spike added. “Okay, no big deal,” said Rainbow. “We just fly back there and we’re all set.” “Fly up the mountain?” asked Spike looking back to the imposing mountain they had just glided down from. “All the way?” “Why not? I’ve done it plenty of times. Good exercise for the wings. Great cardio.” “Can’t we just ride the train back?” Spike hoped. “Wouldn’t that be faster?” Twilight shook her head. “Except for Rainbow it would be, but we haven’t bought any tickets.” “But we usually ride for free,” said Rainbow. “You know, because we’re heroes, and you’re a princess!” “We still need express permission for each ride. There are rules.” “You’re a princess,” Rainbow tried again. “You make the rules.” “Not from the roof of a train I decided to land on. There’s a process to making government laws.” “It doesn’t have to be a law! It’s just one train from our local station.” “Girls,” Fluttershy attempted to butt in. “But it’s a national rail line,” Twilight countered. “And you’re a national princess and even regular pegasus ponies hitch rides on it all the time!” revealed Rainbow. “Girls,” Fluttershy tried again. Twilight considered that. “A series of mirrors could allow the conductor to look for hitchfliers.” “Oh, come on! Ponies get tired wings!” Rainbow argued. Fluttershy rolled her eyes. “Girls!” It’s always the third time, she thought to herself as her friends stopped and turned to her. She took a breath. “Spike, do you think you can make it up the mountain? Rainbow could teach you how to ride the updrafts.  It's faster that way.” “Really?” he asked. “Yeah! That’s like gliding up, right?” “Kinda,” agreed Rainbow, “But it’s still a lot more work than coming down.” “Then it’s settled. Let’s clean off this soot and fly back up,” declared Fluttershy in the verbal equivalent of putting one’s hoof down while wearing fuzzy bunny slippers … that squeak. “Oh, I hope they’ll be okay till we get there,” Fluttershy added. Twilight put a hoof to her chin. “Well, they made it all the way from the portal and through Ponyville, learned at least the basics of how to be a pony and where the train station is, the train should have brought them directly to the castle, and Princess Celestia will know how to help them.” She shrugged. “They should be fine.”