That night the six mares and one dragon slept deeply, though what had transpired earlier hadn't been taxing, they all felt absolutely exhausted. They all had a similar dream, a pathway made out of starlight that had odd voices all singing out in perfect wordless harmony.
Applejack woke with the crowing of the rooster. As she blearily blinked the sleep out of her eyes, she reached out with a hoof to check the time on the clock on her bedside table. If she had been more awake, she'd have noticed that the clock slid towards her, seemingly on its own. "Holy jeebers!", she exclaimed noticing the time. Though the sun was barely peeking above the horizon, Big Mac had already been up and about for thirty minutes tending to the early morning chores. "Macintosh's gon' chew my ears off fer sleepin' in so late!"
Applejack sprung up from bed, she felt lighter on her hooves. Something, she surmised, must have been from a good night's sleep. "Ah musta been tireder'n Ah thought." Snatching the stetson off of the post of the bed's headboard with her teeth, she quickly flipped it onto her head and rushed down stairs. After hurriedly shoveling a rapidly nearing cold breakfast down her throat and washing it down with a glass of apple juice, she rushed outside to see Big Mac trotting out of the barn with a couple of buckets of feed for the chickens on his back.
"Mornin'.", the stallion said.
"Uh...heh. Sorry 'bout sleepin' so late, Big Mac.", Applejack apologized. "Ah musta been awful wiped out after what happened o'er at Twi's."
The red stallion gave his usual bi-syllabic response. "Eeyup."
"Hows 'bout Ah make it up to ya?", AJ inquired.
Big Mac raised an eyebrow. "Hmm?"
"Ah'll take th' first watch tonight so ya go a-visitin' Junebug this evenin'."
Big Mulled it over for a moment, then answered. "Eeyup! Now ya git on o'er ta th' barn by th' southwest fields and begin cleanin' it out so's we can get ta repairin' the loft."
Applejack gave a quick nod and headed off towards said barn.
Big Mac noticed as his sister trotted away that she seemed to be bouncing a bit higher than normal. He mentally chalked it up to her have such a deep and restful sleep.
---
Rarity woke in her bed. She initially didn't want to get up as the pegasus down stuffed mattress was just so comfy. With a dissatisfied grunt, she made the decision to get up...after all her boutique wasn't going to run itself. She pulled off the sleeping blindfold that was specifically designed to reduce puffiness around the eyes, after all a mare of her caliber must always strive to look her best.
Rarity grumbled wordlessly as she rolled out of bed, her back was itchy. As her hooves hit the floor, the boards creaked a bit louder than normal. This drew her attention. "My word! I must have put on a couple of pounds." She poked a hoof at her flank and belly. She didn't seem to have put on any extra fat.
Rarity trotter over to the full length mirror to look herself over. Her eyes widened in mild surprise. Her legs looked to be a tiny bit more trim and muscular, her flanks seemed to be just a little bit firmer, and her belly seemed just a little trimmer. "Those new thrust squat exercises must be starting to pay off. I didn't think I'd see any results after a week." She turned around a few times in the mirror, admiring herself from different angles. She stepped away from the mirror and started the thrust squats, first stepping forward with both of her left legs, squatting down, holding for ten seconds, straightening back up, moving her left legs back in place, then repeating the process with her right legs.
---
Angel Bunny stood atop a blanket covered, pony-shaped form. Fluttershy's alarm clock had went off two hours ago and the butter yellow pegasus mare hadn't stirred. Outside and downstairs birds chirped, mice squeaked, Harry the bear groaned and grumbled, wolves yipped and yelped, and snakes...well the snakes made whatever sounds they usually made, normally Fluttershy was up with the sun to fill their feeders, tend to their boo-boos and offer counseling for any mental problems they were having. The little white bunny had a grumpy look on his face and he crossed his forelegs across his chest, he hadn't had his breakfast yet, and that had put him in a bad mood.
Angel raised his hind leg and repeatedly thumped his paw against the side of the yellow pegasus mare who was his owner and caretaker.
Fluttershy reached out with her hoof and flailed around for the alarm clock. The switch on the clock on the bedside table switched itself off. This made Angel stop his thumping, raise an eyebrow and wiggle his whiskers in a quizzical fashion.
Fluttershy groaned, sat up and looked at the clock. "O-oh my! I'm so sorry, Angel Bunny!", apologized the yellow mare in a soft tone. "I had a late night over at Twilight's and didn't hear the alarm clock. You must be hungry. I'll get you your breakfast."
Fluttershy flapped around her cottage, filling the various feeders with seed, chunks of fish, bits of cheese, the whole while apologizing to her critter friends.
Angel Bunny watched his owner and caretaker from the couch. Flappy ponies couldn't move something without touching unless they flapped their wings, and Fluttershy was a flappy pony. Something was odd this morning and he couldn't put his paw on it.
Once she finished filling the feeders, Fluttershy called out in a soft voice, "Angel Bunny, are you ready for your breakfast?"
Angel Bunny's tummy grumbled and growled at the mention of breakfast. He figured he could better figure this out once he had some breakfast in him.
Humming a merry tune, Fluttershy gathered a head of lettuce, a head of cabbage and a carrot from the crisper drawer in the fridge. She peeled a couple of leaves off of the cabbage and lettuce. Pulling a knife from the wooden block on the counter, she chopped the lettuce and cabbage leaves into little strips, then arranged the strips onto a plate. Putting the knife in the sink, she retrieved the grater from the cabinet and shredded part of the carrot over the plate. She tapped on the grater a couple of times to dislodge the bits of shredded carrot stuck to the inside of it, then placed the grater in the sink.
Fluttershy picked up the head of lettuce, head of cabbage and the unshredded portion of the carrot, and returned them to the crisper in the fridge. She then retrieved from the shelf in the fridge an unopened jar of sweet clotted cream and a container of berries, placing them on the counter.
Fluttershy struggled with opened the lid on the jar of clotted cream. A drawer opened on its own and a table knife floated out, landing on the counter. "Why thank you, Angel!"
Angel Bunny stared, jaw hanging wide open from his spot at the table. Rabbits didn't believe in ghosts as the great rabbit king-god Fiver was said to have killed them all so hard that they wound up reincarnating as other rabbits, so there had to be another explanation as to why a drawer opened on its own and a knife floated out. Maybe flappy ponies were secret psychics, so secret that they didn't know it themselves?
Fluttershy placed a dollop of sweet clotted cream onto the bed of chopped lettuce and cabbage leaves, and shredded carrot, then sprinkled a few berries onto the plate. She carried the plate over to the table and placed it down. "Here you go Angel Bunny, a nice, scrumptious and healthy breakfast. Eat up!"
Angel Bunny gestured at his owner and caretaker as he squeaked.
"Angel Bunny, you can be silly sometimes."
The white bunny squeaked and gestured some more.
"You know that earth ponies are the ones with psychic abilities, not pegasi, and they can only get glimpses of the future, though Pinkie is a special case. Although...I did have a great-great-great-great aunt who was an earth pony. I'm named after her."
Once again the bunny squeaked and gestured.
"But I didn't move anything with my mind. The only way a pegasus can move something is to touch it or to use their wings to generate wind. Here, let me show you." Fluttershy extended a wing and channeled the magic that was inherent in all ponies. She intended to create a small controlled gust of wind to float a napkin over to Angel Bunny. She gave her wing a little flap and...
*whoosh*
A hurricane-force gust of wind shot out from Fluttershy's wing, sending the stack of napkins, the salt and pepper shakers, the plate of food, everything else on the table, the table, and one little white rabbit, sailing across the room.
Angel Bunny covered in sweet clotted cream, shredded carrot, strips of lettuce and cabbage leaves, and squished berries and berry juice, kicked the plate off of him. A nonplussed grimace was spread across his face.
"Uh...whoops?"
---
*knock-knock-knock*
Rainbow dash was roused from her slumber by a loud knocking on her door. With a big stretch, she let out a yawn and rolled out of bed. "I'm coming! I'm coming!", she shouted in the general direction of the knocking.
In a still sleepy stupor, Rainbow trundled down the steps of her cloudominium. Her right front hoof sunk into the clouds that made up the staircase a little more than normal and she lost her balance, tumbling down the staircase, bouncing off of each step on the way down. "Whoa-oa-oa-oa! Ay! Ee! Ai! Oh! Ooh!"
Eyes spinning in her socket, Rainbow came to a rest at the landing at the base of the stairs. "Razzle-frackin'! Gribble-grabble-grobble!", she grumbled as she shook off the cobwebs and rolled up to her hooves.
"Whoa! What the?!"
Rainbow's eyes went wide as dinner plates as all four of her hooves fell through the floor and she sunk in all the way to her barrel. "This ain't funny!", she exclaimed as she kicked her legs impotently in the air. She withdrew her hooves to try and get a better purchase on the cloud floor, only to sink back into the floor again. "If this is somepony's idea of a joke, I'm not laughing."
The knocking at the door persisted.
"Yeah, yeah! I'm comin'!", she exclaimed at the door. "If I can just get...get a dang--GAH! Cheap fracking clouds! That's the last time I buy flooring nimbuses from a place called Honest Cirrus' Cloud Emporium!" After several minutes of trudging along the floor and falling through up to her barrel with each step, she finally made it to the door. Reaching up with a hoof to grasp the handle, she was shocked when it went through it like it wasn't there.
"Wah!" Rainbow flailed and grasped for something, anything, as she tumbled forward through her front door and got stuck partway through. Blinking her eyes in the sunlight, she looked into the face of Thunderlane who was poorly holding back some snickers.
"Uh...*snrk* you...uh...having some *snerpt* problem there *snort* Rainbow?"
Rainbow looked at the pegasus stallion and fellow member of the Ponyville weather team with a nonplussed expression, her cheeks burning with embarrassment. "I think I got gypped on some cheap clouds. Don't just sit there gaping at me like some sky-bass, just help me get unstuck."
---
"Pinkie?", Mr Cake shouted through Pinkie Pie's door. "Are you okay? You slept in kinda late! We've been open for three hours! Are you sick?"
Pinkie smacked her lips as she sat up in bed and looked over at the alarm clock. Here eyes shot wide open when she noticed the time. Picking up her alarm clock, she held it up to her ear. Yep! Still working. "Sorry about that, Mr Cake. I had a late night and didn't hear the alarm! I'll be down in twenty minutes!"
Hopping out of bed, Pinkie reached back with a foreleg to scratch at an itchy part of her back. After a couple minutes of vigorous scratching, she couldn't get her back to stop itching, so she trotted over to her bathroom door, stood on her hind legs, and scratched her back on the doorjamb. "Aah!", she said with a satisfied sigh as her tongue hung out of her mouth. "I don't know why my back is so itchy-witchy this morning!"
Dropping back to all fours, Pinkie trotted into the bathroom, not noticing the little bit of pink down-fluff clinging to the door frame. After relieving herself and getting a shower, she pronked down the stairs. "Good morning Mrs Cake! Good morning Mr Cake! Sorry for sleeping in so late. I had a late night with the girls over at the library. Then there was that weirdy dream, what with the singing voices and the path made of starlight!"
"P-shaw, dearie!", said Mrs Cake. "Carrot and myself were just worried you were sick is all. Normally you're up and about before the sun is up. But now that you're up, could you head over to Barnyard Bargains and buy a couple of bags of flour? We're running a little short as our delivery hasn't shown up yet." She wrote out a check, gripped the corner with her teeth and tore it from the checkbook.
"Okie-dokie-lokie!" Pinkie took the check from Mrs Cake and stuck it in her mane. She then skipped out of Sugarcube Corner.
Pinkie pronked down the road through Ponyville heading towards Barnyard Bargains. "~La-la-la-la-la!" She didn't notice that her pronks were getting higher and higher until...
*sproing* *whoosh*
"Woooooooooooooooooo!" Pinkie arced through the air and came to rest atop a cloud. She looked over her hooves. "I don't recall putting on my super-bouncy rubber shoes this morning! Also, how do I get down?"
---
Spike groaned as he woke up. "What time is it?"
"Thank you for this prestigious fluffer-nutter award.", Twilight mumbled in her sleep.
Spike rolled his eyes at his sister and went to get up from his basket at the foot of Twilight's bed, only to find he was stuck. "What the?! Did Pinkie or Rainbow put super-sticky glue on my sheets...again?" He struggled and flailed to get up. "Gah! I'm stuck!"
"Hoo.", Owlowicious hooted from his perch on the nightstand by Twilight's bed.
"Me!", Spike exclaimed. "I'm stuck!"
"Hoo.", Owlowicious hooted again.
"Me, you stupid bird! Don't just sit there...or perch there, help me get unstuck! Maybe wake Twilight up so she can help me out of here."
"Hoo."
"The purple pony, you dumb bird! Wake her up!" Spike flailed and rocked back and forth, trying, and failing to get unstuck. The basket creaked, then tipped over, sending him crashing to the floor, basket still stuck to his back. "Whoa! Aah!"
*thump*
"Hoo-hoo?", Owlowicious hooted quizzically.
"Yes, I'm okay...wait did you just talk?" Spike shook his head back and forth quickly, surely he must have bumped his head and now he just hallucinated Owlowicious talking. "Just wake Twilight up."
"Hoo?"
"I don't know. Peck her in the face. Scratch her head. Pluck her mane. Whatever will wake her up so she can get me unstuck."
Owlowicious sighed...or gave as close to an approximation to a sigh that an owl can do. He extended a wing and used a primary flight feather to tickle Twilight's nose.
Twilight moaned as she gave a sniffle-snort, then rubbed her face on the pillow. Owlowicious tickled her nose again. Twilight gave another sniffle-snort and rubbed her snout with a foreleg. Owlowicious tickled her nose again, this time with extra vigor.
"Ah-ah-ah-ah-aaaaaaah...." Twilight went to sneeze, then settled down again.
Owlowicious let out a small frustrated hiss, as if he was saying, "I don't get paid enough for this.", and extended his wing to tickle Twilight's nose again.
"Chooooooooo!" Twilight let out a powerful sneeze just before Owlowicious could tickle her nose again, peppering the owl with spit and snot.
Owlowicious gave his best owl-y glare at Twilight as she sat up in bed.
"Uh...sorry, Owlowicious. There must be a lot of dust in the air this morning.", Twilight apologized sheepishly.
"Hoo-hoo-hoohoo."
"Thanks, Owlowicious. I'll get Spike unstuck from his basket." Twilight rolled out of bed, all four hooves clopping on the floor. As she trotted over to help Spike, she stopped mid-stride. "Waitaminnit!" She turned back to her pet owl and number two assistant. "When can I talk to critters? That's Fluttershy's talent, not mine!"
Owlowicious opened his beak to let out another hoot, then closed it with a sharp clack. He blinked his eyes several times, first both at the same time, then one at a time. He fluttered his wings, twisted his head from side-to-side, then moved it around and around in circles in thought. "Hoo!" He flew off through the open window.
"Yeah, you go get Fluttershy, maybe we can get to the bottom of this together.", Twilight called out after her pet and number two assistant had flown out the window.
"Twilight!", Spike shouted. "Help get me unstuck!"
"How in the name of Celestia's beard did you get stuck?", Twilight asked as she trotted over to her little brother.
"I think Pinkie or Rainbow put super sticky glue on my blanket."
"Again?"
---
Applejack stood in the loft of the barn shoving old bails of hay and broken buckets down to the ground floor. She was too engrosed in her work to notice that the bails and buckets were stacking themselves neatly.
Granny Smith ambled into the barn doorway. "AJ? You in here? Mac said you were--" She froze mid-sentence seeing the bails and buckets floating through the air and stacking themselves. "Land sakes alive! Th' barn's hainted!" She took off as fast as her old legs could carry her.
Applejack walked to the edge of the loft. "Granny? Didja take yer pills this mor--"
*crack*
A crack in the middle of the beam at the edge of the loft split open. "Uh-oh!" She began to slowly move away from the cracked beam so she could find another way to safely negotiate her way out of the old loft.
*crack* *pop* *creak* *crack*
More beams began to split and the whole loft gave way with a crash.
Aaaaaa!--Aaaaaahhhh?" AJ's scream as she fell turned in an upwards octave as instead of plummeting down to the ground floor, she clumsily glided downwards before crashing in a heap.
Sitting up with her eyes spinning in their sockets, Applejack shook her head back and forth to get rid of the cobwebs. "Now where is my..." She froze mid-sentence seeing her Stetson floating in front of her in midair. "Aah! Th' barn's hainted!" She bolted out of the old barn as fast as her legs could carry her, returning to snatch up her Stetson and secure it to her head, then bolting from the barn again.
---
Owlowicious flew over Ponyville, or as he and the other owls called it in their owl-y tongue, 'The Place Where All The Ponies Live That Weird Things Happen', heading to he yellow flappy pony's tree cottage so he could get her to help his master, the purple horned one.
Owlowicious paused mid-flight seeing the pink bouncy one sitting atop a cloud and looking around confused. Normally non-flappy ponies don't sit on clouds. Today was a weird day. He flew over to find out what was going on. "Hoo?"
"I dunno how I got up here. I think I put on my super bouncy rubber shoes by accident. Also, I didn't know that owls could talk Ponish."
Owlowicious would have rolled his eyes if owls had that ability, so instead he twisted his head in a circle and flew off to find the yellow one. Just another weird day in this weird pony town.
Pinkie shouted after Owlowicious, "Also-also, could you tell me how to get down?"
---
After Pinkie had been helped down from the clouds by a couple of weather ponies and Twilight managed to reassure the Apple family that there were no ghosts haunting by casting a 'ghost repelling spell' on the old barn, which was really a shield spell so weak that even a stiff breeze could pass through, the six mares and one dragon gathered at Golden Oaks Library to discuss the weird things that had been happening that morning.
Once each had told what had happened to them, Twilight began to muse. "Hmm...maybe this has something to do with the Elements. Maybe the spell I performed last night did something odd to them?"
The five other mares and one dragon all murmured in agreement.
Twilight rubbed her chin in thought. "Hmm.... Spike, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rarity, Rainbow, you each look through the shelves to see if there's a book about this. I'll look through Starswirl's journal to see if I did something wrong with the spell. Applejack, you go get the Elements of Harmony, just in case."
The six mares and one dragon went off to do their tasks.
Applejack walked over to the case that held the Elements of Harmony. Instead of being the normal wood and glass case that contained them, the wood had changed into golden vines and creepers that had grown halfway up the wall and partially across the floor, and the glass had changed from the normal boring glass to intricately shaped crystal. The five golden necklaces and one golden crown that held the gems that were the Elements of Harmony, they were the source of the golden vines and creepers, with six large flowers that held the gems.
"Uh, Twi?", Applejack called over her shoulder.
"It's the wood and glass shadow box in the corner. I didn't bother to lock the case last night, so the lid should be open.", Twilight called back.
"That's not the problem.", Applejack said back."Ah think ya need ta come here an' see this fer yerself."
Twilight sighed and grumbled, "Every stinking time!" She stomped over to Applejack and stopped mid-stride."Whoa!" She gaped at the golden vines and creepers that had once been the case.
"See? Toldja!", Applejack gloated.
"Not helping.", Twilight grumbled. "Spike! Spiiiiike!"
Spike ran over, his foot claws clicking on the floorboards as he wiggled a finger in his ear frill. "What is it Twi--whoa!" He reached up a finger to poke at the vines and creepers, only for a lavender hoof to swat it away. "Ow!"
Twilight quickly cast a bubble shield over the golden vines and creepers that once had been the case that held the Elements of Harmony. She rushed over to her desk and gathered up the spell diagram and interpretation of Starswirl's spell. "Spike! Draft a letter and put in a compilation of the events that everypony has had this morning. We need to send this to Princess Celestia. Whatever is happening is unprecedented!"
Up in Canterlot Castle Princess Celestia was sitting down for her late-morning/pre-lunch snack. She was sitting down at a little table in her favorite nook getting ready to eat her favorite late-morning/pre-lunch snack of a whole three-layer cake, fifteen honeysuckle and peanut butter sandwiches, a medium cauldron of lentil soup, and one large pitcher of lemonade, after all being an alicorn, she had a much greater magical wellspring so it needed more calories to keep it fueled and moving that big glowing ball of plasma and gas taxed it a lot...or at that's what she always told everypony, when a large bundle of scrolls appeared above her head in a puff of green flames and smoke.
"Twilight's early this week with her report.", Celestia said as she caught the scroll bundle in her golden magical field. She unfurled the bundle of scrolls and looked them over. Her eyes went wide and she bolted out of her favorite nook, upending the table, sending the spread crashing to the floor.
"Luna!", Celestia exclaimed as she burst through the door into her sister's room.
"And a good morrow to thee too, sister.", Luna grumbled as she sat up. "I don't just burst into your door shouting when you're trying to sleep. I knock first. But nooooooo, Celly is special and everypony bends themselves into a pretzel for her wants and needs."
Celestia gave her sister an unpleased sneer then raised her gold shod hoof and banged it on the door. "There, I knocked. Now look at this, Luna!"
Luna flopped back onto her bed and covered her head with a pillow. "Whatever it is, I shall look at it this afternoon. Now go away."
Celestia used her magic to snatch the sheets and pillows off of her sister's bed, then unceremoniously rolled Luna out of bed. "Just look at what Twilight just sent me. This is world-changing!"
"I swear if this is another one of her panic attacks, you're both going to spend a long time on the moon...orbiting a planet three solar systems away. I haven't decided which one yet." Luna sat up and looked at the papers. She spent several moments reading and re-reading them. "Wait...is this the spell that--"
"Yes!"
So...wait...we were both wrong?"
"Yes!"
Luna paused for a moment. "So that means..."
Both sisters looked each other in the eyes for a long moment. "Eeeeeeeeeee!" They both started prancing on their hooves as they squealed with glee.
Outside Luna's room a pair of guards were standing watch. One craned his neck around to look. "What's going on in there? Should we get involved?"
The other guard shook his head no. "Unless it's somepony trying to attack the princesses or loot the castle, I'm not going to get myself directly involved in the affairs of alicorns. They don't pay me enough to do otherwise, so I'm going to just stand my plot here. I suggest you do the same."
"So how far along has their transformation moved?", asked Luna.
"Not far. Right now they're just experiencing bursts of magic of the other three tribes. We must watch and wait for when the path finally calls them. Who knows how long that will be? This is technically new magic. If Starswirl was here, I'd give that old bag of grumpy bones a big wet smooch on the cheek for crafting the alicornification spell that channels the power of the Elements!"
"You and me too, sister!"
Outside Luna's room the pair of guards swallowed and shuddered. Guarding three alicorns was trouble enough, what with all of the magical weirdness they always seem to attract. Now there was going to be an indeterminate amount more, they'd have to tell their fellow guards and their commander so they could negotiate for pay raises.
With a belch of green flame and sparkling smoke, Spike burped up a scroll that bore the seals of Princesses Celestia and Luna.
Twilight plucked the scroll out of the air with her magic, broke the seals and unfurled it. Clearing her throat, she began to read it out loud.
Dear Twilight Sparkle of Clan Wisteria, Applejack of Clan Apple, Rarity of Clan Platinum, Fluttershy of Clan Shy, Rainbow Dash of Clan Posey, Pinkie Pie of Clan Pie, and Spike of Clan Wisteria,
Many thanks are to be lauded upon you all. The spell you all performed was an ancient and powerful spell first crafted by Founder of the Pillars of Equestria and Grand Royal Wizard Starswirls the Bearded. The spell has imparted a great change upon you all. This spell was intended for six ponies to gain the magic of all three tribes using the Elements of Harmony as foci, with a seventh to serve as protector and keeper of the six and their foci. Congratulations to you all and your families as there is soon to be six more alicorns in our great nation! Though we do not know when the change will occur. Please keep us informed of all changes that are happening to yourselves.
The keeper of the Sun and Moon, and Royal Diarchs of Equestria, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna
All seven stared flabbergasted for several quiet moments.
"Wah-ha-ha-ha-ha!", Rarity exclaimed all a-fluster. "I'm going to be a princess?! I'm going to be a princess!" She then looked down at herself and screamed, startling the other six. "I don't have anything to wear for such an occasion!" She bolted out of the library, leaving whirls of dust in her wake.
"Oh yeah! Uh-huh! Uh-huh!", Rainbow exclaimed as she began to moon-trot in the air. "Who the pegasus? I'm the pegasus! Oh yeah, all right!" She flew out of the library shouting, "Hey Ponyville! Drinks are on me tonight!"
"Well I'll be consarned, hog tied and dunked head first into a barrel of tobacco spit.", Applejack said exasperated. "Th' last thing any o' us needed was those two gettin' their egos e'en more inflated. Though Granny, Mac and Bloom will be please as punch that Ah'm gonna be an alicorn. Guess Granny'll have to polish up her ole blunderbuss." She walked out of the library, shaking her head side-to-side as she muttered to herself, "Gon' have them there soft-hooved nobles callin' on my stoop all hours o' th' day-n-night."
Fluttershy gently tapped on Twilight's wither and said softly, "Uh, Twilight? Does this mean I have to leave all my critter friends behind and move up to Canterlot?" her eyes became pinpricks and she retreated further behind her mane. "Oh dear. What if ponies start coming to me asking for help with their problems? What if I give them the wrong advice? What if I have to speak in public?" Her voice became quieter and quieter until it was nothing more than a series of scared squeaks. The yellow pegasus began to tremble as she squeaked.
"Fluttershy, why don't you go home and get some rest?", Twilight said as she gently laid her hoof on her animal loving friend.
Fluttershy gave a squeak in the affirmative as she left, letting out softer and softer scared squeaks.
Twilight looked over at Pinkie Pie. "Pinkie? You've been quiet this whole time. Do you have anything to say?"
Pinkie looked like she was going to explode. The pink party planner let out an excited squeal as she began to vibrate until she was a pink squealing blur.
Twilight looked over at the blur that was her friend. "Pinkie...uh...I'm not sure if I'm looking at your face or not. Um...uh...go home and get some rest."
The pink blur went out of the library.
Twilight was left alone with Spike and her thoughts. "I'm going to be an alicorn?" The thought of her being royalty was a happy one, initially. The panic part of her brain took over and she started seeing phantom crowds of ponies staring at her, and she was standing behind a podium without knowing what to say. The phantom ponies started to murmer, then one-by-one they started to laugh at her.
Twilight couldn't control her breathing. She began taking panicked gasps. Spots danced and swirled before her eyes, the world began to rock back and forth as if tossed on tempest waves. Darkness began to creep in on the edges of her vision.
*thump*
"Twilight!" Spike ran over to his sister who had fainted in a heap on the floor. Sitting on the floor, he propped her head on his lap and fanned her face with his hand.
A couple of moments later Twilight regained consciousness.
"They're going to laugh at me, Spike. A billion eyes on a billion ponies staring at me behind a podium and I won't know what to say. They're going to laugh at me and I'm going to embarrass Princess Celestia so much that she'll send me back to magic kindergarten!" She began to hyperventilate again.
Spike stroked his panicking sister's mane. "You know that the princess won't do that. Deep slow breaths, Twilight. Let's start out simple and slow. Recite the library's reference section starting at A."