Twilight Sparkle flipped through another book, quickly wrote down a note or two, put it down, and did the same for the next few books in the stack next to her. Flip, write, put down, repeat. While this would sound tedious to literally anyone outside of an academic field, Twilight was having a fantastic time!
In light of the Crystalling incident, she decided to focus her studies at that moment on ancient artifact repair. There were so many pieces of Equestrian history that lay damaged by time - and if there was a way of healing them, who knew what could be discovered! If she could figure out an overarching spell for these finds, so much history could be preserved and protected, much like the Castle of the Two Sisters in the Everfree forest, which, like the Crystal Heart, would need more than one spell, and more than one pony. Besides, there was also the Equestrian Historical society to get everything cleared by, despite being royalty, and the amount of paperwork they required was “hazardous to somepony’s health”, according to Spike.
Speaking of…
Placing the book and quill she had in her magic down, she quickly glanced around her study. “Spike?”
She leaped off her chair and quickly walked to the library, which was adjacent to her study. No sign of him there either. She exited into the hall, peeking into the various rooms. Not in the bathroom, not in the parlor, not flexing in a mirror…
“Spike? Where are you?”
Despite the worry welling up in her throat, she wouldn't let it take her over. It was a big castle, and she hadn't searched half of it, and he could have gone into town. Besides, it wasn’t as if he was a baby, baby dragon, and Ponyville was very safe, more or less. But still, the big sister mentality kicked in. She thought for a moment about calling for Starlight to ask if she knew where the dragon went but remembered that she had gone to visit Sunburst. Twilight was proud that her student and friend was taking friendship lessons in stride, and was back on track with Sunburst. It was wonderful how quickly they meshed together again!
There was a sound of a door clicking open and shut, and she quickly raced to it, happily seeing Spike wander out of his room, rubbing the bleariness from his eyes, probably from an impromptu nap.
“Twi? What’s wrong?” He yawned. “I was asleep…”
“Nothing,” she smiled, affectionately rubbing his head. “I was just wondering where my favorite dragon was.”
He smiled and just as quickly burped. Fortunately, Twilight backed up in time not to have her mane singed, and she shot him a glare. He grinned sheepishly and picked up the message that accompanied it. The parchment scroll bore the seal of Celestia, which was unsurprising.
“Per the norm,” Twilight laughed. “What does it say?”
Spike cleared his throat: “Dear Princess Twilight…”
---
Rarity sewed the last gem unto the collar of a particularly expensive order for a noblemare in Canterlot. While the order was placed at her boutique there, the order was such an undertaking that it begged to be done in her Ponyville headquarters. Not to mention the gems and overall precision in their cuts she needed for them could only be found at her go-to jeweler in her hometown. She liked having everything in one place - from the fabric she bought, to the exact placement of gems on a gown. She could have been labeled nit-picky, but she was a perfectionist at heart!
Happily, Rarity placed the needle back into its cushion and stepped back from the overall work. The collar glimmered, and replaced any need for jewelry overall, as would the rest of the dress’s design. Ornate, shining, yet subtle and chic - it would be eye-catching and a showstopper, just what she envisioned.
Now onto the next dress! Or, dresses, really, for her and her friends for the Gala, not to mention suits for Discord and Spike. Despite the draconequus’s protests, Rarity was not going to let him wear something that clashed with everyone’s ensemble, especially Fluttershy’s, since more than likely they would be close the whole night. Although she still had her reservations at times, Discord was somewhat pleasant to deal with but very lackadaisical about color theory. But color theory could wait, Applejack’s dress simply refused to drape how she wanted.
---
The smell of freshly turned earth permeated the air, and Applejack couldn’t be happier. Recent prosperity from Manehatten sales had given her family the needed funds to expand the orchard, and soon a new field of Gala apples would sprawl out. She wiped her brow and swept stray hairs from her eyes. She looked over at her brother, stretching from the strain from pulling the plow. Even though it was brand new, plows are plows and they are heavy.
“Hey, Mac! I’m gonna run-up to the house real quick! Want me to grab ya some water?” She called. He nodded and answered his general ‘eeyup’. Applejack nodded with a smile and began the walk back home. If she was right, Applebloom would be home soon, and Granny Smith was probably done with baking apple tarts - if she was quick she could snag a few for herself and Mac. But until then, she was going to enjoy the day as she walked under the protective shade of her apple trees. When wasn’t it a beautiful day at Sweet Apple Acres though? Every dang day was in her honest opinion.
---
The sun was bright, her wings were preened, and the wind seemed to beg Rainbow Dash for a race. Who was she to refuse such an undeniable request? She had the sky laid out before her…
And while she raced, she could take care of cloud detail.
Even though she was a Wonderbolt, she was still the town weather pony, and she wasn’t going to let Ponyville down. Clouds still needed to be moved in or kicked out of places to make sure the sun got to the places it was needed. Like the Apple Farm - Rainbow knew that AJ and Mac were working in the field, so they would probably like some shade for a little while - and Rarity’s shop - the sunlight was needed to check colors...or something. She didn’t understand the particularities of colors, just what looked nice together more or less.
While this whole job was almost the same every day - move, place, kick, race, sleep -, she couldn’t imagine a thing better. Well, traveling with the Wonderbolts, but that was happening whenever she was needed.
---
Pinkie placed a tray of freshly decorated cupcakes in the display case and rushed back into the kitchen to start a new batch of muffins. Sugar Cube Corners was bustling today! Granted they were always busy, but the pastries seemed to be going at a faster rate today! She wracked her brain for a reason - a holiday? No. Birthday? Definitely not. Other special occasions? Nothing was written down on her calendar. Maybe ponies just had a sweeter sweet tooth today. That she could understand! Who didn’t love sweets?
Meanies. Meanies with no sweet in their soul. Or ponies prone to cavities. Or ponies with allergies.
“Pinkie! Are the muffins ready?” She heard Mrs. Cake call.
“Not yet! Give them twenty!” She replied, pouring the batter into a tin. “I have cookies ready though!”
“Be a dear and bring them out?” The older mare asked. “I swear, we are running out so quickly today…”
“It’s strange!” Mr. Cake said. “It seems like for each one we sell, two more disappear.”
“Huh” Pinkie replied, sliding the tray of cookies from her head to the counter. “I wonder...hey!”
She caught sight of a faint blue magic aura surrounding two cupcakes and pull them into a back room. Pinkie pointed out the magic to the couple, and the trio followed it, leading them to two mini-cakes, faces covered with crumbs and frosting. Pinkie couldn’t help but laugh at the sight - of course, it would be Pound and Pumpkin. Even though only a year and some-odd months old, they had very good tastes in sweets.
She chuckled, picking up one of the twins. “I should get in on this sugar smuggling ring…”
---
If there was ever a rule that applied to her and her friends, Fluttershy knew that it would have to be something along the lines that there was hardly a truly normal day. Not as a former bearer of the Elements of Harmony, or when your friends include princesses, a high powered unicorn, a morally gray draconequus, a pink reality blip, a rising fashion star, wonderbolt, and rodeo pony. Not to mention living in a town that seemed to attract crazy and hair-raising adventures. Despite everything, and even as nervous as she was, Fluttershy wouldn't give them up for the world. Part of her even liked the adventures!
Besides, today seemed like it was falling under the grouping of normal, or at least average, especially since it was Tuesday which meant tea and Discord. Speaking of which, she could expect his knock in 3-2-1…
Knock knock knock
There it was. At the beginning of their friendship, he would simply appear in her house for Tuesday tea - in a letter, appearing in the teapot, or just in her house sitting on her couch, materializing in the millisecond it took for her blink. Each time startled her from her horseshoes, and for a while, he seemed to get a kick out of it. At one point, he stopped laughing at her response and began knocking on the front door, politely, every time they were meeting up, though sometimes he would show up unannounced, but always in a way that wouldn't startle her too much, just as a way to surprise her. Either way, she appreciated it - it was very sweet.
“Come in!” she called, placing the tea set in the table next to her settee and chair. She turned to see Discord ducking under the low hanging door frame - he shot a goofy grin, levitating a plate of cucumber sandwiches to settle next to the tea set.
“Hello my dear!” he said cheerfully, and with a snap of his talons was next to the couch. “Need a paw for anything?”
With that, his lion paw fell from his body to the ground and propping itself up on two fingers walked across the floor. If she wasn't used to that, Fluttershy would have fainted, but at this point, all she could really do was giggle.
“No, everything is all set!” she replied, and Discord grabbed his limb, snapping it back in place with a loud pop, and he rolled his shoulder, realigning everything. “One day it won't pop back on.”
“It would grow back - not the first time if I'm honest,” he shrugged. “At least I'm the one removing it.”
“Wait, what?” she asked, concerned. Discord never really spoke about anything pre-statue, if that was the time period he was talking about, and if it was recent, he wouldn't broach the subject of losing his arm so carelessly. He shook his head.
“Uh, nothing,” he said, quickly changing the conversation - no need to worry her about missing limbs. “I have something for you, actually.”
She was about to protest but instead found a bouquet of wildflowers inches from her nose. Fluttershy couldn’t help but smile, happily taking the flowers. While it bothered her that he wouldn’t talk about his past - she did know some about it -, she understood why he wouldn’t want to talk about it.
---
It wasn’t that Discord didn’t want to talk to Fluttershy about his past, by Celestia it would take a huge weight off his shoulders, but the things he did, what he inspired others to do...he didn’t want to plague her with that, or risk losing the friendship he wanted to keep! He’d messed up enough - cough cough Tirek cough cough Gala incident cough cough his overall personality - he wasn’t sure how in Tartarus how she put up with him.
He did try- was trying to remedy himself, but old habits die hard. You can’t change a pony’s personality, only actions, can’t teach an old dog new tricks, etc., etc.. So a pull on pranking, and knocking on the door when he came in. It was funny for a little while, startling her, but she never seemed to enjoy it, and he immediately found it lackluster in terms of comedy and attempting at being a friend. She wasn’t exactly like Celestia, who had seen and put up with his jokes and pranks for years. The alicorn didn’t even blink the last time he reversed the gravity in the main hall in the palace! Besides, as he learned at the cough cough Gala incident, he could have different friends for different things. Pinkie and Dashie were always good for pranks, Rarity for gossip and when he had a creative streak, Applejack (and the rest of the Apples) was/were good ponies in general, and surprisingly enough, Twilight was excellent for talking about magic: she was curious about chaos magic and how it worked. It wasn’t like there were many chaos magic wielders left anymore - he was the only one left of his kind that he knew of.
And that was a good reason not to talk about the past if you asked him.
---
A few minutes into their tea, there was another knock on the door. They looked at each other, confused. No one usually come over at this time, save the odd animal or pony needing pet help. Fluttershy put down her tea and walked to the door, Discord leaning over to a window to see who was at the door.
“Why it’s our dear friend Rarity! I wonder what’s going on…” he told Fluttershy, who opened the door.
“Hello, Rarity!” She greeted. “Is everything alright?”
Rarity shook her head. “I hate to bother you during your Tuesday Tea, but have you seen your cutie mark?”
“What do you mean? Oh…” Fluttershy said, looking down at her now glowing cutie mark. She was so distracted talking to Discord she hadn’t even realized it was going off! She turned to her friend. “Discord, is it alright if we take a rain check?”
He nodded. “I completely understand - tree magic beckons. Don’t worry about the tea stuff. I’ll take care of it.”
“Thank you Discord! I’ll send a letter if we have to set off anywhere,” she smiled, quickly flying over to hug him before rushing out with Rarity. “Bye!”
He waved, and with a snap, the door shut, the tea set cleaned and put away, and the animals fed. He gave the cottage one last glance before a second snap magicked him away. So much for a day without something happening.
---
Rarity and Fluttershy arrived a few minutes after everyone else - Applejack stamping dirt off her hooves outside the door, while Rainbow Dash attempted to calm a wind-mussed mane and Pinkie attempted to get a splotch of cake batter out of hers.
“Hey, guys!” Rainbow called after spotting them.”I wonder what the map wants us to do. I was on a cloud-kicking roll!”
“I guess we should head inside and find out, huh?” Applejack said, bumping her shoulder.
“Yeah!” Pinkie cheered. “Maybe it will be super fun! Or super dangerous! Or both!”
“How can something be both dangerous and fun?” Rarity asked, her voice growing louder to mask out the solid echoes of hooves on the crystal floor.
“In plenty of ways!” Rainbow replied. “You’re just not having fun right is all.”
“Because it’s not fun unless somepony risks life and limb?” She asked coyly.
“Exactly!” Dash said triumphantly. Rarity and Applejack rolled their eyes.
“Prepare your eulogies, girls,” Applejack said jokingly. “Here Lies Rainbow Dash, a true friend and a truer idjit.”
“Hey! I’m not the only one who's pulled some risky stunts!” Rainbow argued, flying closer to the ground as they approached the Throne Room.
“I know that!” the cowpony replied, pushing the large doors open. “I was joking!”
“Hey girls!” Twilight called out from her throne. “I’m sorry to call you away from your day!”
“It’s not your fault, Twilight!” Fluttershy said, flying to her throne. “It’s not like you have control over the map.”
“Yeah!” Pinkie agreed, sitting down. “If anything, it’s whoever’s causing the problem’s fault!”
Twilight nodded. “Right! Let’s see where the map wants us to go.”
Once everyone sat down, the map glowed, and their cutie marks appeared in Ponyville, then suddenly shot across the map to the Undiscovered West, stopping just a few miles past the border of the woods and just below the mountain range.
“The Undiscovered West?” Fluttershy exclaimed. Nopony had ever gone into the woods, leaving it the unfortunate moniker of being ‘Undiscovered’, and anypony who had either never came out or just never said a word about their journey. The entire place was a mystery, and it made her nervous.
“But what could be there?” Applejack questioned.
“The whole region has never been mapped or explored to my knowledge,” Twilight said. “We’d be going in blind…”
“Does the library here have anything on it?” Rainbow asked. “You said it was pretty extensive.”
“Or maybe the one in Canterlot?” Pinkie asked.
“Maybe Celestia knows something about it?” Rarity suggested. “She is one of the few ponies who has been in Equestria for the longest time.”
As if on queue, Spike ran into the room, holding a scroll from Celestia herself. While the first had just been about a book she wanted to borrow, Spike’s face told a different story.
“Celestia needs you guys in Canterlot! She needs your help,” he said, quickly summing up the letter. The group cast a glance at the map and hoped whatever it needed could wait just a few hours.
---
Starlight stood next to Sunburst at the Crystal Empire Train Station as she waited for the train back home to Ponyville. The day had been fun while it lasted - he had given her a tour of the city, something she had missed on the last visit, and had a bag of baubles and crystal berry treats in her saddlebags to show for it. Not to mention a good hoof-full of books from Sunburst’s library.
“You sure you have to go?” Sunburst asked. “When you get home it’ll be dark. I have plenty of room at my- I’m sure Cadance would gladly let you stay the night, and you could take the early train back tomorrow. Or I could accompany you”
She laughed, trying to imagine where she could sleep in Sunburst’s comfortably cluttered house. “I appreciate your concern, but Ponyville is safe at night, and Twilight or one of my friends will probably be waiting at the station when I get there. And I’m not going to make you come all the way to Ponyville to spend the night only to leave in the morning.
“Besides, I’m a big girl now,” she said, bumping against his side. “I can take care of myself just fine.”
“If you insist…,” he smiled, regaining balance. They lapsed into quiet laughter, and then comfortable silence as the sun slowly began to set, coating the Crystal Empire in roses and golds. Starlight sighed happily - what a wonderful day.
That is until a scroll appeared centimeters from her eyes, hitting her squarely on the nose.
“Huh?” She picked it up from where it had landed on the platform with her magic and unscrolled it.
“Who’s it from?” Sunburst asked, leaning over to see the note.
“Twilight,” she replied. “She needs me to meet her and the girls in Canterlot as soon as possible!”
She scrolled the note back up and ran up to the ticket window to exchange her ticket for one to Canterlot, and with haste - it was arriving now.
‘It’s just another day,’ she thought, quickly grabbing the ticket and raced back to the platform, giving Sunburst a quick hug and leaped unto the train, hoping that everything was alright, and no fates were hanging in the balance once more.
But this was Equestria, and it seemed to be going through a period of ‘let’s be the universe’s largest damsel in distress’.