The Third Generation

by Candle Light

The Third Generation Chapter Six

Princess Luna gazed out over the darkened landscape from the royal balcony of Canterlot Castle, her horn aglow with a spell she knew better than any other. Even a thousand years of absence had not diminished her mastery over the giant rock in the sky. Tonight, she had been asked to bring forth the moon earlier than usual, on request of one of the Element Bearers; an ironic task, as extending the nighttime beyond its due was what had ultimately led to her banishment in the first place.

Not a minute later, the deed was done, and the aura around her horn vanished. The celestial body would now move on its own accord, fulfilling its cycle, after which she would again set it in motion. Every night was the same routine. She felt for her sister, having to assume responsibility for both sun and moon when Luna had been gone.

The Princess was just about to reenter the castle when she felt a sudden tingling in her mane. A magic reaction she was unfamiliar with stirred inside the castle walls. Nothing harmful, however; on the contrary, the magic she sensed put her mind at ease, helped heal her spirit. The sensation grew stronger, and as it did, she noticed the stars dim. Neigh, it wasn’t the stars dimming, but the castle it self lighting up like a beacon. Luna felt changes and shifting in Canterlot’s magic structure, and for a moment, she feared it would disturb the balance of the various charms and barriers the sisters had put up so long ago.

The sensation soon faded. But the magic didn’t wholly go away; mixed with the castle’s own magical aura, another force had taken residence. To add to the mystery, it felt to her vaguely familiar. Where had she sensed this magic before?

No doubt that her sister was already awake, Luna trotted off into the castle to tell Celestia about what she had felt.

Rainbow Dash was speeding through the dark sky, the newly raised moon her only source of light. The vision from Pinkie Pie’s ‘Squink’ magic thingy had been rather unclear, but it was more than enough for Rainbow Dash to recognize the place in the background. She must have flown over there at least a hundred times on weather duty. Once she had reached the Everfree Forest, she turned westward toward the cliff side she knew would be at the edge of the forest. At top speed, she would be there in ten minutes.

She eventually touched down. It didn’t take much looking around the moonlit area before she spotted some stones formed into a circle, surrounding burnt remains of wood. It was still fairly warm, telling her that somepony had been here just recently. She sprinted into the forest, looking around as best she could, but the darkness grew thicker for each step. “Hello?” she called. “Anypony there? Rarity?”

Her counterpart and Pinkie had been sure about it: the little pink pony in the vision was their version of Rarity. As for the other pony that was with her, Rainbow Dash had her suspicions, but it was too early to tell for sure. She walked back into the moonlight, deciding to have a look around where she could see.

It was only a few minutes before she found something on the ground, half-buried: the remains of a firework. The ground on both sides seemed awfully ruffled as well, so Dash started digging around with her hoof, and soon uncovered four more firework stubs, each placed about three feet from each other. One of these still had most of the label intact; she could barely read it in the dim moonlight, but she recognized the brand. She had bought them for Scootaloo once, when she and the Crusaders were doing a play: the theater sparkle effect kind, easily ignited by a spark of unicorn magic.

Perfect for making you look great and powerful…

The sun rose for a new day, its first beam illuminating a lone traveling wagon by the edge of the forest, jolting awake a blue unicorn mare which slept therein. Grumbling to herself – it was way too early, and she hadn’t gotten much sleep last night – she stretched her legs, and proceeded to poking her companion, a much smaller pink unicorn with a mane that ranged from yellow to orange to pink.

“Wake up, Rarity!” she told the filly. “Morning has seen it fit to come, and so we must be off.”

There was muttering from sheets, and the pink little unicorn named Rarity slowly rose, yawning as she did. “Trixie?” she spoke. She looked out the window drowsily. “It’s not morning; it’s still dark. Wake me up later.”

At this, Trixie merely grabbed hold of the bed sheet with her magic and threw it off. “Are you suggesting you would sleep while The Great and Powerful Trixie pulls the wagon? Be up with you, lazy bone, we leave in ten minutes.” Trixie turned around, swung the doors open and stepped into the cool morning air.

She walked over to the steam by the forest and splashed herself in the face. The water was cold against her skin, but it helped clear her mind. Once she deemed herself fresh enough, she scanned the ground until she found a patch of particularly tall grass, which she then began munching. A rudimentary breakfast, but the best she could afford if she wanted any bits left for the fireworks and other props. The new wagon hadn’t been cheap either. She hoped that once she reached Winecolt, she could earn up enough coins and get herself a decent meal and a warm bed. Herself and the runt, that is.

Speaking of the runt, Rarity sluggishly stepped out of the wagon. She looked up at the rising sun, and was mesmerized by its glow… until a couple of butterflies flew by, catching her attention, giving her a childlike smile. “Focus, Rarity,” Trixie called out to her. “Go wash up and get something to eat; we must be off.”

“What’s the rush?” asked the unicorn, yawning as she walked over to the stream. “Do we have a time to keep?”

“The rush is that if we don’t hurry, there might not be time to put up a show in Winecolt,” Trixie argued. “No show, no Bits. Not to mention you are still in desperate need of some more practice before you are fit to by my assistant.”

Rarity dipped her whole head into the stream, held it there for a few moments and pulled it back up, shaking her mane. “But I practiced a bunch yesterday. I even think I got the levitation spell down. Watch!” The younger unicorn closed her eyes and assumed a concentrating look, whereas her horn started glowing. Or flickering, rather; as did the aura around the small rock now wobbling in mid-air. It held out for about five seconds, before it fell. “See? That’s something.”

“Please. You couldn’t even set off magic-igniting fireworks; remember what happened yesterday? If you hope to be of assistance to The Great and Powerful Trixie, you need to do more than wobble a rock in the air.”

“I dunno, Trixie,” said Rarity, “maybe I’m not ready for magic just yet. You make it look so easy; I’ve never even seen a unicorn use magic like you do.”

“Of course you haven’t; what pony could possibly hope to compare to The Great and Powerful Trixie?” asked Trixie nonchalantly. “I’m not asking for a miracle, but if you want me to help you find your way home, you will have to earn it. Be grateful that I’m even willing to sacrifice some of my precious time on you.”

Truly, more than once had she wondered why she even bothered keeping the filly around. It seemed innocent enough at first: a lost child all alone in the wilderness, a miserable look on her face, asking for directions. Trixie wasn’t heartless enough to just leave a helpless foal to fend for herself, so she had agreed to take her to the nearest town. She kicked herself for not foreseeing the troubles; the child would never stay quiet – telling her a bunch of crazy stories about flying fairy-ponies and magic rainbow castles – and every time Trixie tried to talk to her, she would only listen when she wanted to, more often than not getting distracted by the most minute things, like a worm on the ground or a butterfly.

To top it off, once she let slip that she was a traveling magician, the little pony had been begging and pleading to take her with her, in hope of maybe finding her way back home; someplace called Unicornia. Being as great as she was powerful, Trixie had done the only right thing and given the little one a chance, on the condition that she would become her background assistant. A choice she had a feeling she would soon come to regret, as Rarity’s talent for magic inspired about as much confidence as her pink heart cutie mark.

She also couldn’t shake the feeling she had seen this filly somewhere, but she couldn’t for the life of her remember where.

“I know,” said Rarity downtrodden. “But I am doing my best, y’know. It’s not my fault that nobody ever taught me these things.”

“Then whose fault do you suggest it is; mine? Just eat your grass; we leave in two minutes.”

Applejack, stuck with the habit of rising with the early beams of the sun, snuck out of the Ponyville Castle that the villagers had been kind enough to lend them for the night. She had no real business outside, but neither did she lying still waiting for the others to wake up, so she figured, why not go for walk? It would be a nice change of pace having a morning stroll without having to worry about apples to buck. She hoped her big brother Macintosh wasn’t too sour about being left to tend to the farm on his own.

She trotted over the draw-bridged and into the streets of Ponyville. It was a real pretty-looking town; as much as she questioned the overuse of the color pink, she found that these brightly colors on the houses – especially dressed with the decorations from yesterday’s party – reflected in the morning glow of the sun gave the village a very homely feel. She walked around the town for a bit, absorbing the fresh morning air, no clear goal in mind. Maybe she could go check up on the village Pinkie Pie? Except she had no idea where she lived.

Whatever magic she had pulled yesterday, it had sucked the energy right out of her, leaving her barely able to stand, let alone keep the party going. Her efforts hadn’t been in vain though; not only had they caught a glimpse of Rarity of Unicornia, Rainbow Dash had recognized the scenery in the vision, and sped off as fast as she could in hope of meeting the ponies there. She had returned roughly half an hour later, reporting that she had just missed them, but that she knew for sure who the blue pony in the vision had been: Trixie. A showpony that had come to town a while back to just to brag how special she was, only to be completely shown up by Twilight Sparkle. She felt sorry for Rarity’s counterpart, as she doubted Trixie handled kids any better than she did magic.

The good news was, Rainbow Dash had a pretty good idea of where they were going: a small town to the south of the Everfree Forest called Winecolt. Unless they traveled all night, there was no risk of them arriving before noon today at very earliest, so the plan was to go there and head them off.

“Hello, Applejack.” A blue mass popped out from behind a corner bend, only inches from her face, making the orange pony yelp. Kenbroth Gilspotten Heathspike laughed to himself. “And here I thought I wouldn’t get to scare anyone today.”

“Whoa nelly,” Applejack gasped, catching her breath. “Scare is right; you almost made my heart stop!”

“I’m sorry,” said the Earth Dragon. “But you should have seen the look on your face. I never get tired of those. I should take a picture next time.”

“Very funny,” replied Applejack, less than amused. “So what’re you up to so early, Mr. Kenbroth? Trouble sleepin’?”

“Not at all; I never went to sleep,” he replied. “Earth dragons can go weeks without sleep, but then they have to spend a couple of days in bed to make up for it, so I usually adjust my sleeping habits to suit the needs of those around me. But I couldn’t possibly go to sleep after what happened yesterday. Let’s walk and talk.”

“Uh, okay,” replied Applejack, as they started moving toward the river. “So… you’ve been up all night thinkin’ ‘bout stuff?”

“That, and poking around town, trying to piece together whatever I can about the Time Capsule spell. There’s still much I can’t determine. You’ve been to Kimono’s cave, yes?”

“Sure have. Nastiest place ah’ve ever been to. And this Kimono girl, she’s Twilight counterpart, ain’t she?”

“So it would seem. But there is something I find peculiar: if we are to assume that the room was left out from the affects of the Time Capsule, wouldn’t that mean that the picture we saw was from before this mess began? As in, from a thousand years ago?”

“Heavens to Betsy, you’re right!” Applejack realized. “That means Kimono looked like that long before Twi did! Could she be her great-great-great-great-grandma or somethin’?”

“That’s one possibility,” agreed Spike. “That, or the Elements of Harmony might have a claw in this. Evidence does seem point to them having a mind of their own; remember that book we talked about yesterday, ‘The Legend of Harmony’? It’s supposed to be a thousand years old, but it was written in modern Equestrian, rhymes and all. Same with most other books I found lying around. I thought it was strange that everypony in the village, myself included, were speaking in modern tongue, but books? Did the Elements rewrite them? Whatever the case, the spell seems to have been a connection to the outside world somehow; perhaps if we had some linguists take a look at these books… oh, sorry; I’m rambling, aren’t I?”

“That’s okay,” Applejack replied. “Things were already too complicated when Discord became involved. Might as well try to make sense of it as best we can.”

“That’s a good attitude. As I was saying, I believe I have found several pieces to the puzzles already, so with luck and some diligence, today I might… oh, hi there, Sky Wishes!”

A pink earth pony with a mane-do that looked a lot like Twilight’s sat on the river bed, turning around as she was called. At first, her eyes widened, but then she asked, “Spike? Is that you?”

“Funny how many times I’ve been asked that lately. Yes dear, that would be me. Hard time sleeping?”

“Yes… I’ve been so worried for our missing friends. So I’ve been sitting her all morning, wishing.” Her voice was rather high-pitched and raspy. She looked over at Applejack. “And you’re one of the outsiders… I mean, visitors! I mean… oh, you know what I mean! Applejack, was it?”

“Uh, yes ma’am.”

“Thank you ever so much for taking care of Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. I can’t even imagine what it must have been like, lost and confused, far from home. I hope everything goes well finding Rarity today.”

“Not to worry, miss; she’ll be back in the village in time for lunch.”

“By the way, who is this Trixie you were talking about?” asked Sky Wishes.

“A pony with lots of brag and little hustle,” Applejack told her. “And unless she’s done a one-eighty in the humbleness department, Ah can’t see her being a good influence on lil’ Rarity.”

“I see… good thing Pinkie’s Squink was able to find her so soon. Speaking of which, have you seen Pinkie today?” Applejack shook her head. “I hope she’s alright now. Something like that has never happened with her Squinking before.”

“That’s because she was doing it outside of the realm of the illusion,” Spike offered. “I’m surprised she was able to do it at all. What intrigues me most of all was Crystal Rainbow Castle lighting up when she did it; there has to be some kind of connection there. Not to worry, I checked up on her just a while ago, and she’s sleeping peacefully.”

“What a relief,” said Sky Wishes.

“Now Sky Wishes, my dear, if you wouldn’t mind, could you give me one of your extra special wishes?” Spike asked.

“Sure, what about?”

“How about the safe return of all of our missing friends?”

“Oh, okay.” Sky Wishes closed her eyes, facing her head skyward. “I wish I wish I wish everyone will return to the village, safe and sound.”

There was a moment of silence as Spike looked like he was pondering something. Then he said, “Yes, I did sense something just now from the castle. Just a tiny twitch of magic, but it was definitely there. This would point to the fact that not only Pinkie Pie, but all ponies from this town are connected to the castle. Most intriguing.”

“There’s real magic in my wishes?” said Sky Wishes, fascinated. “I never knew that. Well, part of me always kinda did. I mean, of course I didn’t, but… oh you know what I mean!”

“Not sure Ah do, sugarcube.”

Before anypony could reply, the sun was suddenly blocked by a dark figure. Applejack recognized it immediately, but couldn’t help taking a step back from the intense presence of the being that descended to the ground. “Princess Luna!” exclaimed Spike, running over to the ruler of the night, giving her a big hug out of the blue. “How I’ve missed you!”

“It is a pleasure to see you again, Sir Kenbroth,” the Princess replied, returning the hug. “It seems I was not the only one who took a thousand year leave.”

“Indeed.” They let go of one another. “Looks like we both have some catching up to do. What happened to you, my dear? Celestia would only tell me that you fell victim to the darkness in your heart.”

“Another time, perhaps,” Luna told him. “There are more pressing matters that need our attention. Fair Applejack, are the others not awake yet?”

“Well, no; it is still pretty early. Is Celestia not with you?”

“I am here in her stead, as she is otherwise occupied. As such, I wish to speak to all of you at earliest opportunity. Come, Applejack, let us awaken the lazy fellows.”

Traveling with Trixie was so boring! She had made it very clear to Rarity that she was not allowed to talk, and was quick to remind her whenever she opened her mouth. She had been nice enough not to force her to help pull the wagon, but Rarity soon began to wonder if this wasn’t more tiresome.

She spent most of the time quietly taking in the scenes. They were traveling through a big field, topped and lowered by hills here and there; it was unlike anything she had ever seen in her life, as she had spent most of it in the Crystal Rainbow Castle and Unicornia. There was that one time when a spell gone wrong sent her all the way to Breezie Blossom and Ponyville, but none of the places she got to visit then had been anywhere near as widespread and open. She just wanted to run off, as far as her legs would take her, but of course ‘The Great and Powerful Trixie’ had told her off when she tried to do so.

Trixie wasn’t a bad person, really; she was just way more strict than anyone she’d ever met before. She thanked the stars she had found her at all; Rarity had never been so lost and confused as she felt two days earlier. She had been outside, playing with a caterpillar, when suddenly everything had gone black before her eyes, and the next thing she knew, she was in the middle of a forest, on a dirt road far from anywhere she recognized. Her joints were sluggish, like that feeling you’d get when you sleep in too long, and from a nearby pool of water, she noticed that her face looked different. Had she forgotten the magic wand in her hair again, and accidentally set it off?

She didn’t want to think about what would have happened if Trixie hadn’t come along and agreed – reluctantly at first – to take her along with her. Although she wasn’t the most cheerful company, she had taught her a lot of useful things, such as how to recognize the tastiest grass, and how to tell east from west just by looking at the sun or the stars. She had also shown her an incredible magic show, sending sparks and lights everywhere, making branches and leaves dance to her will, and insisted that she too learn some of these tricks so that she could be her assistant.

Speaking of which, this was where Trixie stopped the wagon. “Alright, Rarity, I think we’ve earned ourselves a break. And you know what that means.”

“That I get to talk?”

“For now, but no pointless rambling.” Trixie’s horn started glowing, and she used her magic to lift five small rocks and put them in a half circle in front of Rarity. She dislodged herself from the wagon’s pulling belt. “Now, stand right between rocks, just like before. If you’ve practiced like you said, then I expect this little trick won’t be any trouble.”

“Uh, right,” Rarity agreed meekly. She had been practicing, but those practice rounds hadn’t gone as smoothly as had hoped. The point of the exercise was just to nudge the rocks all at once, which was all the energy it would take to set off the fireworks Trixie needed for her show, but Rarity had accidentally managed to fling one of the rocks right onto the wagon, making a hole she sincerely hoped Trixie would never notice. “Piece of cake.”

“Remember, don’t think of the rocks as five separate entities,” coached the magician. “Picture them as one being in your mind; that will take your mind off of multitasking.”

“Right… here goes.” She locked the five rocks onto her gaze, trying with all her might to shut down all other external thought. She had gotten better at it, but the little pony always had something going on in her mind, and these were just boring old rocks. She let her horn fill with magic – a sort of tickling sensation, which only added to the distractions – and as per Trixie’s instructions, she imagined all the pebbles as a single rock, shifting on the ground. In reality, only two stirred, barely noticeable, whereas the others hopped a full pony length into the air.

Trixe just sighed, shook her head and told her to try it again. Rarity did… and then again… and again… for the next ten minutes, she tried, the closest she got being getting three of the pebbles to roll away from her. “I’m sorry, Trixie,” Rarity apologized. “Isn’t there any other mind tricks you can teach me?”

“Well,” she offered, annoyance clear in her voice. “Why don’t you imagine the rocks as dancing monkeys singing a lullaby? That’s sure to produce more results that you’ve done thus far!”

Dancing monkeys? She looked at the little pebbles; what if they were dancing monkeys? The idea made Rarity laugh; so all she had to do was push over these monkeys? She gave them all a push in her head, and lo and behold, the rocks all shuffled. Rarity broke out a smile. “I did it! Did you see that? Thanks, Trixie!”

The magician only stared at her, disbelief in her eyes. “Not… bad,” she praised, grinning awkwardly. “I guess you’re good for something.”

“Okay, so now that I can do that, what’s next?” asked Rarity eagerly.

“Oh no, first we must make sure you truly got the hang of it.” Trixie lit up her horn, and from inside the wagon came flying five firecrackers. She installed them into the ground in the same pattern as she had the rocks, only a bit further apart. “Now let’s see you try the real deal. Go on.”

Rarity tried the same trick again, imagining the firework sticks as monkeys, singing so silly she got the giggles. She pushed them over again, and her day-dream was broken by the loud bangs of the fireworks as they exploded into swirling sparkles around them.

Trixie was pleased. She had meant the remark as an insult, but it had unwittingly helped the child concentrate. “You’ve made progress. Perhaps you are worthy of being The Great and Powerful Trixie’s assistant.”

“Do you think I could be The Great and Powerful Rarity one day?”

“Doubtful, but it’s a good attitude.”

“How did you become so great and powerful anyway?” asked Rarity. “Were you taught by some amazing unicorn master? Or did you go off braving the world, sharpening your skills for each new adventure?”

“The latter, my dear. I’ve been all around Equestria, polishing my skills on adventures far beyond your little imagination, seeking new places to dazzle ponies with my spectacular feats of magic.”

“If you’ve been everywhere, do you know where Ponyville is?” asked Rarity excitedly.

“Ponyville?” repeated Trixie, rather taken aback by the question. “Were you not looking for Unicornia?”

“Well yeah, that’s where I live, but I got lots of friends in Ponyville, like Minty, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie…”

Hold on… Rainbow Dash? In that moment, it all came back to her: Rainbow Dash was one of those neighsayers who had tried to upstage Trixie when she last visited Ponyville. And Rarity… yes, Rarity was the name of that unicorn obsessed with glamor and pretty dresses. With a jolt, Trixie realized that this young filly looked just like her. Could this be her little sister? But then, why would they both be called Rarity?

Of course, she wasn’t about to go back to Ponyville yet for awhile. Not as long as Twilight Sparkle still lived there. She straightened her face. “No, I’m afraid I haven’t heard of such place.”

“Oh… bummer,” said Rarity, looking dejected.

“Don’t worry,” Trixie attempted to cheer her up. “Equestria is a big land; there are plenty of places I have yet to visit. Why, after Winecolt, we’re going south to visit one of the largest lakes in Equestria. Supposedly there is a castle-town on an island there; maybe that could be your Unicornia!”

“No, Unicornia’s not on an island,” said Rarity. “Thanks for letting me come along, Trixie. I dunno how else I would have found someone to take me around.”

Of course, Trixie knew several places where they took in lost children and helped them find their home. She was sure that if she handed her over to Mayor of Winecolt, she would be put in an orphanage until they could contact her parents or caretakers; after a week or two, she would be home with her friends and family. Dropping her off was a tempting prospect, but at the same time, she felt that it might seem a bit cruel to just abandon her at this point; Trixie was the only pony she knew around these parts. Besides, as obnoxious as the foal might be sometimes, she had to admit that her company was to be preferred to traveling alone.

She put a hoof to Rarity’s shoulder, affording her a smile. “Just practice hard, and The Great and Powerful Trixie will see to that you have a home on the road.”

When Pinkie Pie opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Pinkie Pie’s face staring down at her. She let out a frightened gasp, before her mind could make sense of the situation. “…and then I said, ‘put em up! And don’t try to eat those cupca– ’oh, good morning.”

“Good… morning?” replied the village Pinkie Pie, still disoriented, but awake enough to recognize her counterpart. Some of her joints were still aching. “What time is it?”

“Somewhere around 7:37:06. Are you awake? Luna is in town, and she says she wants to speak with us.”

Luna? Who’s that…? Then it all came back to her: the Princesses, the party, the Squink… the Squink. “Rarity!” she exclaimed, rising from the bed so fast she nearly slammed into the other Pinkie Pie. “I saw Rarity! The Squink worked! Did you go get her?”

“No, we just missed her. But we know where she’s going, and we’re heading there to meet her soon”

“Oh…” the local Pinkie Pie calmed herself down. She stepped out of bed, ignoring the aching muscles. “Well, I’m coming with you. When do we leave?”

“Luna said she’d take use there once she’d had a chat with us. We should probably hurry.”

The two Pinkie Pies exited the house and ran down the street, until they reached the royal flower garden, where earth pony Rainbow Dash, Sky Wishes, Cheerilee, Spike, and the ponies from the Equestrian Ponyville were waiting with the Princess of the Night. “Ah, so you are awake,” said Luna. “I had intended to let you rest, but I’m glad that you are here.”

“How are you feeling, darling?” asked the Rainbow-maned earth pony.

“I’m okay; a little sore, is all. I’m just glad my Squink actually worked.”

“Just barely, darling; we could hardly tell what we saw. If Rainbow Dash hadn’t recognized the scenery and taken off after them, we might not have had a lead at all. I never knew your Squinks could be so straining.”

“It’s never been before. This time was different; it felt like there wasn’t enough magic in the air, so I had to Squink really hard to reach whatever I could.”

“You weren’t pulling magic from the air, my dear,” said Luna, “but from the castle.” She pointed over to the castle on top of the mountain. “The magic therein has been asleep there for eons, and your Squink did nothing less than pulling it out of its eternal slumber. I truthfully did not believe such thing could even be done.”

“Sleeping magic?” asked Twilight Sparkle. “But I didn’t sense any special kind of magic when I visited the castle.”

“It stands to reason that you wouldn’t; sleeping magic is not a commonly observed phenomenon. It occurs only when large quantities of magic is used to seal away powerful magical entities; it then ceases to be magic in a conventional sense, and becomes one with the forces of nature. It is impossible to sense through ordinary means. Needless to say, there haven’t been many instances of this throughout history.”

“So… you’re saying Pinkie Pie accidentally broke some sort of magic seal?” asked Twilight.

“So it would seem, yes, but it is yet impossible to determine the nature of what was sealed away. But there is more. Last night, I felt a mysterious new energy well up inside the castle of Canterlot, and similar surges have sprung up on four other locations throughout Equestria. We believe that the awakening of Crystal Rainbow Castle triggered a chain reaction that also awakened the other castles mentioned in the Legend of Harmony. Among them was the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters, which I’m sure you six remember.”

“That’s the place we kicked your… I mean, eh, Nightmare Moon’s flank, right?” said the pegasus Rainbow Dash.

“Indeed. I never knew it was in fact the resting place of one of the ancient castles of legend.”

“But for the other castles to react to Crystal Rainbow Castle,” contemplated Spike, “that would mean the other castles are connected to it. A castle which, for the past thousand years, has been inside Discord’s Time Capsule… could the sleeping magic have seeped its way into the illusion? It certainly would explain why the castles would react to the Pinkie Squink, being a spell created by the illusion and all. Does this mean that… oh my!” The earth dragon’s face lit up in realization. “Why, yes! It all makes sense now!”

“What is on your mind, Kenbroth?” asked Luna.

“I’ll tell you about it later; I have one more thing I need to check. You go on ahead.” And with that, the earth dragon ran off from the group. Pinkie Pie watched as he disappeared behind a corner.

“Very well,” said Princess Luna. “I suppose I have told you all I know, anyway. Now then, I shall take you to Winecolt as promised.”

“Is that where Rarity is?” asked the village Pinkie Pie.

“That’s where she’ll end up,” the winged Rainbow Dash said. “It’s the closest town from where they set up camp, and this is Trixie we’re talking about; she’s probably going there to try to brag her way into their wallets. All we need to do is sit tight and wait for them to come to us.”

“A sound plan,” approved Luna. “Should they not turn up, we can at least determine their general location. I assume all who are going with us are present, then?”

“Pretty much,” confirmed Twilight. “But wait, what about the children?”

“Unless we encounter problems, we should be back within a few hours,” replied Luna. “I have already taken the liberty of writing them a letter, so they won’t wonder where we are when they wake up. Now then, let us be off.”

Before Pinkie Pie could ask how they were going to get there, a veil of stars covered her eyes, and for a moment it felt like she was floating weightlessly in space. When the world reappeared, she was standing on the streets of another village altogether.

Special thanks to Tess Tesseract for help with editing.