//------------------------------// // Tension // Story: Chaotic Neutral // by C-Puff //------------------------------// Chapter 3 On the way to Sugarcube Corner, Twilight stopped by the Carousel Boutique. It was Sweetie Belle who opened the door when she knocked. “Oh, hey there Twilight!” She smiled, letting her in. “Hey Sweetie Belle. Is Rarity around?” “Yeeeeeaaah.” Sweetie Belle pulled a face. “She is, but... she's kinda working on a fancy dress thing and I don't think she really wants to talk to anypony.” She leaned closer to Twilight to whisper, “She's kinda in a bad mood.” “Oh yeah?” Twilight couldn't help but smile. “Why would you say that?” “Because she's being a real jerk when I try to help her.” The little unicorn grumbled. “Well, maybe I can get her to cheer up. Is she in her room?” Twilight guessed. “Yeah, but she's got the door closed. If she lets you in, will you tell her I went to see Apple Bloom?” Sweetie Belle called after her. “I'll tell her, don't worry.” Twilight promised, heading upstairs. She knocked on the bedroom door, wondering if there really was an urgent order for a dress or if Sweetie Belle's specific brand of 'helping' was just getting on Rarity's nerves. The reply to her knock pretty much answered her question. “Sweetie Belle, I have told you! I need to finish this dress tonight or I will have to undercharge for being late! Now will you please be so kind as to go do something else?!” “She's already left,” Twilight answered back. “It's Twilight.” There was a short, silent pause before sounds of scrambling could be heard and the door opened to a brightly smiling Rarity. “Oh Twilight! I'm awfully sorry! Sweetie Belle has just been rather insistent today and I'm afraid she's worn my nerves a bit thin. Do come in.” “Thanks. You sure I'm not interrupting anything?” Twilight asked, looking around curiously as she entered the surprisingly cluttered bedroom. “Nonsense!” Rarity insisted, removing the tape-measure from around her neck and placing it on the work-desk. Twilight made a note of the fact that she did this with her magic. “Now, what brings you here?” Rarity said brightly. “I really do need to finish this by tonight, but if there's something you need urgently, I can fit it into my schedule.” “Actually there is, although it's not a dress or anything.” Twilight started. “I'm sorry to interrupt your work but it's kinda important.” “Oh, by all means!” Rarity nodded, removing her glasses as well. “Well, this might sound a little weird, but have you had any problems with your magic lately? I mean, has it been acting up at all?” Rarity tilted her head slightly. “To be honest, I have had a few mishaps.” “Oh yeah?” Twilight's ears perked. “What happened?” “Nothing too serious, but I have been rather clumsier than what I'd like lately,” Rarity continued. “It's been awfully difficult getting my needle to do what I want it to. And threading the eye has been an absolute nightmare! My accuracy is completely off! Not to mention I keep dropping things at the worst time. I'm never quite this clumsy so I must admit it has gotten me a bit worried.” She blinked at her friend, “But why are you asking, dear? Has something happened?” “Hmmm. Maybe.” Twilight said as she bit her lip. She gave Rarity a quick rundown of what'd happened to her that morning as well as what Fluttershy and Discord had said. “It may be a coincidence, but I really don't think so. If it was just me that'd be one thing, but for it to happen to Discord and now you... That can't be good.” Twilight finished. “Do you think it will last long?” Rarity asked anxiously. “I mean, I have deadlines to meet! I can't afford setbacks slowing me down. This is my livelihood after all.” “I'm not sure,” Twilight said. “But I think we need to ask the other unicorns in town and see how many, if any of them are having problems too. Maybe we can find a pattern or something and figure out what's going on.” “But for it to affect you as well as that Discord, that's already two very different people having the same symptoms.” Rarity said as she led Twilight downstairs. “Yeah, but maybe it's not really something to do with being a pony or a unicorn. Maybe it's because of something we've done in the past. Or maybe it's got something to do with the Elements of Harmony. Something that ties you, me and him together.” “Hopefully you're right,” Rarity nodded. “Not that I like this at all, but at least we can find a way to reverse it, if there's a simple answer.” “Exactly.” Twilight gave a determined nod. “We just need to go get pinkie Pie and then we'll have everypony covering the town.” Rainbow Dash wasn't at home when Fluttershy and Discord knocked on her door, but it didn't take long to find her. She was above the park, clearing away several small rainclouds that had built up during the night. “Rainbow Dash.” Fluttershy, for lack of a better word, 'called' as she flew over. “Oh hey, Fluttershy,” Dash said as she bucked one of the few remaining clouds out of existence. “If you were sent here to help, I got it covered.” “Um. No. No I'm actually here because of something else.” Fluttershy said as she followed behind her moving to the next cloud. “Oh yeah?” Dash asked as she dealt with it. “What about?” “Well, Twilight came to see me this morning about her magic,” Fluttershy went on, once again trailing after her friend as she moved again. “Her magic? Why'd she see you?” Rainbow kicked at the newest cloud but instead of dissipating, it instead grabbed hold of her hoof and clung to it as if she'd just tried to kick wallpaper glue. She gave a startled cry, flapping her wings wildly to try and stay airborne. Fluttershy frowned as she addressed the immediate area. “Discord!” “I do apologise.” He replied, a zipper opening itself up in mid-air for him to appear out of. “It was just too big a temptation.” He was trying hard not to burst out laughing. “Figures!” Rainbow Dash snapped. “Get me outta this thing will ya?!” “Alright fine.” Discord sighed. There was a short pause in which nothing happened. “Well? Lemme go already!” Rainbow insisted, flailing helplessly. “Hmm. Alright. One more try.” Discord said, his smile fading. The sticky cloud made a pop before disappearing. Rainbow Dash only fell a couple of feet before she regained her lift and hovered in place. “Very funny, Dingus!” She grumbled, shooting Discord a dirty look. “I suppose.” He nodded in agreement. “However no less annoying. The sooner we get this fixed, the happier I'll be. It's really blocking my creative flow.” “Fluttershy, what is he talking about?” Rainbow said irritably, waving a hoof at him as she turned to her friend. “That's just it. Apparently Twilight and Discord are having problems with their magic.” Fluttershy answered calmly. After a short explanation the three of them started heading in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. “Man that's gotta suck.” Rainbow said with sympathy. “Twilight not being able to do magic is like me losing my wings.” She gave Discord a small, stabbing glance over her shoulder. “I hope it's not serious.” “I hope so too.” Fluttershy nodded. “I'm really worried it could be a magic flu or something.” “My dear Fluttershy, I have not been ill a single day of my life and I don't plan to start now.” Discord added, ignoring Rainbow Dash. “Besides, I feel fine.” “Well, if you've never been sick how would you know how it feels?” Rainbow gave him a cheeky grin. “I've heard enough whining and complaining from sick ponies to get the general idea.” He said, sticking out his forked tongue. “It was always 'eeenh. My head hurts' or 'Uuuugh. I keep sneezing' or 'aaargh, One of my eyes fell out'. It got so repetitive I could almost sing along eventually.” “Not that I think I'm gonna like the answer, but why exactly were sick ponies coming to you?” Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “You forget, I ran this little dog and pony show for a while.” His face dropped into an annoyed scowl. “Until that uppity princess of yours and her sister decided to steal it.” “Hey!” Rainbow Dash came to an abrupt stop. “Don't go insulting the princess while I'm around, ok?!” “I was merely stating a fact, Rainbow Dash.” He said with a wide smile, petting her on the head. “I was in charge, our esteemed regents showed up, and before I knew it I was 'fired' if you will.” “I heard you made everypony in Equestria miserable!” Rainbow snapped, swatting at his paw. “Oh dear... Um... Please... don't fight... ok?” Fluttershy squeaked. “I made Equestria fun.” Discord said proudly. “Celestia and her sister made it boring.” “They made it a place where ponies could actually live!” Rainbow yelled back, her temper rising. “We really should keep going...” Fluttershy mumbled. “So you say, but you weren't there, now were you?” He gave her a sly grin as he flapped his wings to get going again. “But by all means, take your Princess' word. I'm sure she's never made a mistake before.” “You're a real creep, you know that?” Rainbow Dash snapped at him as she started moving again too. “Such harsh language.” He said, feigning offence. “Let's just say you two have different opinions and agree to disagree... ok?” Fluttershy tried carefully, putting herself between the two of them. “Whatever,” Rainbow muttered to herself. They flew in silence for a few minutes before Fluttershy spoke up again, turning to Discord. “Your magic didn't work when you tried to get Rainbow Dash free of your cloud, did it?” “Only for a moment.” He answered with a slight shrug. “We better let Twilight know.” Rainbow Dash said seriously. “Let's just tell the entire town, shall we?” Discord grumbled. “We could get a town crier and announce it to everypony! I'm sure they'd be overjoyed by the news. Why, they might throw me a parade!” Rainbow Dash said nothing, but a spiteful smile spread across her face. With all six ponies plus one draconequus asking around Ponyville, it didn't take long before all the unicorns were asked about their magic. Most gave the same story. Their magic was behaving strangely, usually in that it would choose random periods of time to just stop working, only to be fine a few minutes later. Despite some of the unicorns in town being annoyed or nervous about it, it didn't seem like anything serious had happened to anypony. However, despite identical symptoms, nothing else seemed to tie the ponies together. Whatever was affecting their magic was happening to both mares and stallions of all ages, and from every walk of life. It was late in the afternoon, almost evening, when the little group met up at Twilight's library again. “Ugh! I don't get it!” Twilight groaned. “Every unicorn in town has had a problem of some kind and yet nothing's causing it!” “Well, it's gotta be something. Things don't just happen for no reason.” Rainbow Dash added from her own spot in the main room. “Are you sure it's not a magic flu or something, maybe?” Fluttershy asked. “If it was it'd be very weird for everypony in the entire town to all get sick at once.” Twilight shook her head. “And then there's Discord. How exactly does a magic flu affect both ponies and a.... whatever at the exact same time?” Discord, who had made himself comfortable leaning against the staircase wall raised a bored eyebrow at Twilight. The group had all found various spots in the room on cushions and throw pillows, tired out from walking and flying the entire length and breadth of the town. With no answers and only a better idea of how wide-scale the problem was everypony was feeling irritable and on edge. Spike, who'd noticed this as soon as they'd walked in, was doing his best to dose any serious temper flares with a lot of tea, juice or whatever else he could find on hand to offer them. “Perhaps there's a natural cause for it.” Rarity added. Her anxiety had grown dramatically throughout the day. “I don't know.” Twilight shook her head again. “I don't think there's a stellar alignment or anything that'd cause this.” “And there's no way the weather team would let something like this happen if they knew about it.” Rainbow Dash added confidently. “As far as weird natural things go, ain't nothin' wrong' with any of my animals or crops.” Applejack said. “Might sound funny, but if there's something' strange happenin' nature wise they're the first ta let you know about it.” “I don't think I have a 'weird nature thingy' twitch. But if there was something weirdo like that happening, I'd probably find a way to have one.” Pinkie said enthusiastically. “I also haven't had any 'magic flu' twitches, 'Magic-draining spells' twitches, or 'magic-vampires' twitches.” “Magic vampires?” Spike, tray with refills firmly clasped in his claws, froze in place. “There are magic vampires?!” “I don't know.” Pinkie shrugged. “But if there were I'd definitely have a twitch for that! Or at least a shake. Or maybe a wobble!” “The point is, if it's something happening naturally we'd probably be able to figure it out a lot easier.” Twilight interrupted. “So there's no magic vampires?” Spike asked, a serious frown on his face. “Don't say 'no' unless you mean it! I really don't wanna go to bed thinking I'm safe only to wake up to one hovering over me in my sleep.” “Why would a magic vampire be tryin' ta attack you?” Applejack frowned at him. “As the resident dragon, I'm the most magically charged person in this town.” Spike puffed out his chest proudly. “Just because I can't do magic doesn't mean I don't have magic.” “There's no such thing as magic vampires, Spike.” Twilight sighed. “At least, not in the way you're thinking.” “Wait... what's that supposed to mean?” Spike set her with a hard stare as he handed Rarity her cup of tea. “You do get some animals that feed on magic but they're very small and they live in deep caves. They don't attack ponies and they really don't steal as much magic to have this kind of effect on ponies!” “So they're not gonna crawl into the library when I'm trying to sleep?” He said, to make sure. “If there was something like that in Ponyville, I'm sure I would've seen it coming out of the forest.” Fluttershy said with a kind smile. “If I may interrupt,” Discord spoke up, scratching at an ear with as much boredom as he could possibly gather, “you could always ask somepony with experience if something like this has ever happened before. Somepony a little older than yourselves perhaps?” “Oh yeah?” Rainbow Dash scrunched her muzzle at him. “And who exactly do you think we should ask?” “Well, I don't mean to brag,” He said as he stood up, fully intent on bragging, “but I am the oldest in this little countryside by... oh I'd say... at least two, maybe three thousand years?” He put his nose in the air. “You could ask if I've ever seen anything like this before. But then, far be it from me to instruct your eminent highness on how to handle these situations.” He said this last bit with a very exaggerated bow towards Twilight. She shot him a very sour expression in return but nevertheless asked through clenched teeth, “Well? Have you ever seen something like this before?” “No.” He grinned widely at her, flopping back down on his spot and crossing his arms behind his head. “Of course I can't tell you anything about the few thousand years I spent as stone. You'll have to ask our other eminent highnesses for info during that time period.” Twilight gave a loud growl at this, glaring daggers at him. “That may be a good idea.” Applejack said, causing everypony to snap their attention to her instead. “If anypony'd know what in the hay is s'pose to be happenin', it'd be the Princess. Maybe we should ask her if she knows anythin' about this?” “I don't know.” Twilight bit her lip, calming down again. “If it is just a small magic flu or something I don't want her to think I couldn't handle it on my own.” “But if it's not, then it might really be very serious!” Rarity added urgently, putting her cup of tea down. “And what if it gets even worse?! What if it's not just Ponyville?!” “Calm down sugarcube.” Applejack reassured her as she seemed on the verge of hyperventilating. “I think Celestia oughta know.” Rainbow Dash said. “Even if it is something small, maybe she's got like a reverse spell or something she can send you to fix it. At least she should know what's going on.” “I agree.” Fluttershy nodded. “If it isn't anything serious she could give you some advice, and we shouldn't let the ponies in town worry so much about it.” “I guess you guys have a point,” Twilight said in defeat. “I'll write her a letter and send it tonight. Hopefully you're right and it's something she knows how to deal with easily.” “Well, not that this hasn't been an enthralling conversation,” Discord said, stretching himself out on the floor before standing up and cracking his spine into place, “But I'm all ponied out for the day. I'm heading home. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves but I need some sleep.” He turned and gave Fluttershy on his left a small bow. “My dear, I bid you good evening, and shall see you later.” A hole opened itself up beside him on the floor, apparently to a dimension of green and purple spirals, which he stepped into before it popped in on itself with a small puff of confetti. “Yeah well, good riddance.” Rainbow Dash grumbled, leaning her head on a hoof. “You were getting on my nerves.” “That's not very nice Dash.” Fluttershy said, giving her a puppy-eyed stare. Rainbow Dash sulked and mumbled something to herself, but didn't try to argue. “We probably should all get to bed though.” Applejack said as she stood up. “Ain't worryin' gonna fix nothin'. Better wait ta hear what the princess says and take it from there.” “Wouldn't it be funny if we stayed up all night trying to figure out how to fix this and the answer was to get lots of sleep?” Pinkie Pie giggled. “Gosh, wouldn't that be hilarious?” “I wish it was that simple.” Twilight said as she stood up too. “But you're right Applejack. There's no point worrying about it if we can't fix it.” “Well, keep us updated ok guys?” Rainbow Dash said to the two unicorns as they headed to the front door. “You bet.” Twilight waved everypony goodbye. “And if you find anything let the rest of us know, ok girls? G'night.” The others gave their goodbyes before splitting up in the various directions of home. After seeing them off Twilight immediately went to her desk to get a fresh scroll and quill. “Spike, we need to send a letter.” “You got it.” He said, putting down the glasses he was collecting before trotting over. Taking the parchment and quill from her, he took his spot. “Fire when ready!” Dear Princess Celestia Lately there's something funny going in Ponyville. All the unicorns in town seem to be having problems with their magic. It keeps failing for short periods of time for apparently no reason. It's affecting everypony regardless of who they are and even seems to be happening to Discord. I don't know if you've ever seen anything like this. Do you have any advice on what to do or what could be causing it? I hope you and Princess Luna are doing well Your faithful Student Twilight Sparkle The next day rolled around without a reply. Twilight wondered if maybe Princess Celestia was busy with some official business or visiting an area of the kingdom that needed her attention. The magic problems had gotten worse overnight. Maybe it was just because their investigation yesterday had called attention to it, but more unicorns were complaining of being unable to do things properly. The other ponies in town, although not having any problems of their own, were becoming distracted as well. There were rumours that other symptoms that affected all ponies would start happening, although nothing had been reported to back that up. Apart from the rise of worried conversations in the street however, not much else changed in the small town. Some of the unicorns who were having a hard time completing their daily tasks asked their neighbours for help, but things seemed to at least still be functioning. Another day passed and still there was no reply. Things got worse. If a unicorn's magic managed to do anything at all they were lucky. Concern was turning into paranoia and more than a few unicorn-owned stores had to close, simply because their owners couldn't do their day's work. Some ponies even came to knock on Twilight's door, asking for help. It was a nail in her heart every time she had to tell them she was waiting for a reply from the princess and to wait until then, sending them home. On the morning of the third day things had reached their breaking point. Twilight called another meeting with her friends at her library and after they all arrived (and in Rarity's case, gotten something sweet to drink to calm her nerves,) they went straight to the topic at hoof. “Still no word from the Princess?” Rainbow Dash asked the obvious first. She was pacing the length of the room irritably. “No, nothing.” Twilight shook her head. “She should've gotten back to me ages ago! I don't know if she's maybe away from Canterlot or something, but even if that was the case Princess Luna should've gotten it and written back! But I haven't heard anything at all!” “Have you tried sending a second one?” Rarity asked, her cup shaking between her hooves. Spike had sat himself next to her when he saw the state she was in and hadn't paid attention to anypony else. “I sent another one this morning.” He said, giving Rarity a confident smile and a thumbs up. “Even if the first one got lost, and my letters never do, there's no way they can ignore a second one! Especially since it's from another princess, right Twilight?” Twilight shifted, a little uncomfortable with the title. “I guess so. But yeah, the chances of two letters getting lost through Spike's flame isn't gonna happen. I don't think I've ever had one letter get lost. But we decided better safe than sorry.” “I hope she gets it this time.” Applejack sighed. “Ponies are losin' their heads out there. If we don't get some kinda attention, this is gonna get ugly.” “We'll take care of it before it gets too chaotic.” Twilight said determinedly. “Even if I have to do something myself, we'll keep things under control.” Somewhere in the corner of the room Discord scoffed at this but said nothing. He was scowling to himself and scratching grooves into the wooden floor with his talons. “Silly! You don't have to do anything by yourself!” Pinkie Pie smiled widely at Twilight. “She's right.” Rarity nodded. “If we need to knock some sense into anypony's head we will do so together.” “It's not just ponies though,” Fluttershy said, looking worried. “Some of the animals that I feed in the evening seem to be having a hard time too.” “So?” Dash stopped her pacing. “What's that got to do with the magic loss thing?” “Well,” Fluttershy started, thinking for a moment. “Some of the animals I feed live on the outskirts of the Everfree forest. Or at least they spend the day there. Some of the forest-deer's antlers are losing their leaves and it's still a long time before fall. And I haven't seen any salamanders with their fires burning since yesterday.” “And that's... a bad thing?” Rainbow arched an eyebrow as she finally flopped down on a pillow. “Salamanders are fire elementals.” Twilight explained. “And forest-deer are different from regular deer as their antlers correspond with the seasons. Both have a bit of elemental magic in them.” “Right.” Fluttershy nodded. “But they haven't been looking very well for the past couple of days. I'm getting worried.” “Great. So not just ponies and whatever's, but now we got the local wildlife going crazy too!” Rainbow sprung up again and resumed her pacing and she blew an irritable huff. “Oh they're not going crazy. They're just-” Fluttershy's sentence got cut-off by a loud knock on the door. Twilight sighed as she got up. “Just a sec everypony. It's probably another unicorn asking for help.” The others watched sympathetically as she opened up, ready to once again give her apologies and send the pony away. The knocker greeted her with a furious glare, gritting her teeth and looking about ready to headbutt anypony who said the wrong thing to her. Taken aback, Twilight had to think a moment before she spoke. “Hello, can I help you?” “It'd be a nice change!” The furious mare snapped as she pushed passed her and marched into the library. The collected group frowned at her as Applejack got to her hooves and Rainbow Dash stopped pacing again. The mare apparently didn't even notice them as she scanned the room for a second before he gaze homed in on Fluttershy and Discord. Her nostrils flared as she stomped over to them. “You!!” She practically yelled. “Um... er....” Fluttershy somehow managed to stand up while walking backwards at the same time. “Yes?” “You and you!!” The mare's hoof snapped between her and Discord whose claw had frozen mid-gouge. “I can't take it anymore!! If nopony is going to confront you then I'll do it myself!!” “Madam, I am certain we have no idea what you're talking about.” Discord said, his voice uncharacteristically icy. The unicorn mare didn't so much as flinch. “You know exactly what I'm talking about!! I'm talking about this!!” She gestured at her own horn. “I'm talking about the entire town going haywire!! I'm talking about the last straw in this little game of yours!! Well I've had enough!! And so have all the other unicorns!!” “Now wait just a second.” Twilight said, stepping in and focusing the intruder with a stern glare. “You can't just burst in here and start throwing accusations around!” “It's not an accusation!! You know as well as anypony that that monster over there has caused nothing but trouble since he got here!!” She yelled back, once again waving a hoof at Discord who was watching her dispassionately, chin resting on a paw. “Even if that's true, you can't just decide he's responsible for this!” Twilight raised her voice. “If he really was the one causing all this, do you really think we'd let him get away with it?” Rainbow Dash added, walking over to give Twilight some back-up. Behind her, Rarity and Pinkie Pie got to their hooves too. “Then you're all either blind or idiots!” The mare screamed back, her gaze flitting to Rainbow Dash for a moment before she turned her attention back to Discord. “How can you defend this this... Thing?! We've had every kind of plague you can imagine in the past few months and it always comes back to him!!” “But it's not his fault this time.” Fluttershy said in a shaky yet firm tone. “Discord hasn't done anything that would really hurt us since he's moved here. And whatever's happening is happening to him too.” “Oh of course you'd stick up for him!!” The mare gave a humourless laugh. “He's got you so wrapped around his finger he could get you to jump hoops for him! But I'm not so easily fooled and neither are the other unicorns!” “That's not fair!” Pinkie Pie yelled. “Everypony knows Fluttershy isn't good at jumping hoops! You don't have any right to make fun of her like that!!” “And she's not lying either.” Twilight added. “Now please, I know this is stressful for all of us, but you're not gonna help anything by starting fights. I must insist that you leave.” “You mark my words, I'm not through with you!” The unicorn mare screamed back as she turned to go. “You can kick me out if you want but I'm not the only unicorn in town!! If this doesn't get fixed it won't be the Library we'll come to visit!! And you can't hide in that little cottage forever you spineless, cowardly-” “I believe,” Discord interrupted her tirade as he uncurled and stood himself up to his full height, “that you were asked to leave.” His eyes locked onto hers “And I would not finish that sentence, if I were you.” The mare made a noise in the back of her throat as she glared at him but she said nothing. An icy silence hung in the room for a moment before she turned and marched out, slamming the door behind her so hard it swung open again. They could see her meet up with two other unicorns at the end of the path and a heated conversation start as they walked away. “Charming lady.” Discord said as he lay down cat-like on the floor, suddenly looking completely bored by the whole situation. “You know, I'm starting to understand why Celestia wanted me here of all places. I've yet to find one sane pony in this town.” “Ya reckon she'll be back?” Applejack asked Twilight as they watched her disappear. “Definitely.” Twilight said grimly, closing the door. “We need to do something, and fast.” Rarity said with a relieved sigh as she sat back down, pulling her cup closer and taking a deep drink from it. “I can fly to Canterlot if you guys want.” Rainbow Dash suddenly spoke up. “It'll probably take two days but I can make it there and see what's going on.” “Hmm... Maybe.” Twilight said as she returned to her seat. “Are you kidding?” Dash shot her a proud grin before getting herself in a stance, pawing at the ground eagerly. “I hardly ever get to do cross-country flies! It'd be a good endurance test!” Twilight nodded but still didn't look completely convinced. “We're running out of options, and I know you can get there faster than anypony else. But I'm worried we might need you here in case anything happens.” “Like what?” Fluttershy asked. “I don't know.” Twilight pulled a face to herself. “I just have a bad feeling...” There was another knock on the door. “Not again.” Applejack stood up and marched over to the door. Behind her, Discord pushed himself to his feet. “Look we told ya...!” Applejack started as she swung the door open. She swallowed the rest of her sentence when the knocker took several steps backwards in shock. “Oh...” Applejack smiled sheepishly, clearing the doorway. “Erm... Twilight you're er.... you've got some mail.” “Oh?” Twilight walked over, blinking at the startled mail-mare. “Sorry about that. Is there something for me?” “Uh...Uh-huh!” The pegasus mare nodded hurriedly, digging in her sling-back and holding an envelope out at foreleg's length with a nervous smile. “It's from Canterlot. Mail system's outta whack so it's a little late. Sorry 'bout that.” Twilight took the letter with a frown, looking it over. “Canterlot?” “Your parents maybe?” Applejack suggested. Twilight shook her head. “No, it's too fancy looking.” “Erm... can I go?” The mail-mare shifted nervously in place. “Yeah yeah. Thanks for the mail.” Applejack shooed her as Twilight turned to open the letter. The rest of the room closed in on her curiously. She read the letter through with a frown before pulling back with wide eyes. “Uh oh.” “Well? What is it?!” Pinkie bounced up and down at the back of the group eagerly. “What's it say?!” “It's from Princess Celestia.” Twilight said, looking up at the rest of them. To my most Faithful Student Communications are difficult at the moment, but from what I have been able to hear it seems that all of Equestria is having serious difficulties in the areas of magic. I am unsure if this has happened in Ponyville or not. I have been trying to get in contact with you through your assistant Spike, but I have not had a reply in some time and so have sent this through the regular mailing system, hoping it will reach you. I ask that you and the other bearers of Harmony have an audience with me at the Canterlot Palace as soon as physically possible. I need your help in this matter. The railway systems are still running at the time of my writing this and should be the most reliable way of travelling during this time. Please heed my call and I await your arrival. Sincerely Princess Celestia of the Kingdom of Equestria.