The balloon landed in the middle of a colorful square. Rich ponies passing by stopped for a minute, looking at the majestic purple balloon with sparks of interest in their eyes. Twilight is silently looking at the black book, trying to catch its expression, which is very hard to do if the subject has no facial features beside an eye. But now, the eye is wide open, hotspots are increased in size and are shaking a bit. The book is clearly fascinated by the glory of the radiant square, surrounding him. Twilight looks around.
The bright yellow sun luxuriates in soft crystals of the majestic buildings’ roofs. Carved sculptures made out of marble and precious metals are decorating the bright, shiny streets. Light is playing on a colorful stained glass on the outer windows of radiant buildings, made out of gleaming white stone. Slim, yet glorious Canterlot castle towers are seen high above the shining streets through a fragrant mist. Rarity jumped out of the balloon with sparkling eyes.
“Ah, Canterlot! How I have missed you!” she sang with a joyous voice. Several reproachful gazes fall on the emotional mare, calling upon a moment of awkwardness. Rarity lowers her head apologetically.
“Hey, Stargale!” whispered Twilight to the book. “Please go into my saddlebag. Your… look will attract too much attention.”
“I refuse!” the book very loudly whispered back. “I have claustrophobia, remember? Besides, if you will seal me in this… bag how would I enjoy the scenery?”
Twilight rolled her eyes in irritation. “He is unbearable,” she said to Spike.
“I have an idea!” Spike responds. “Hey, Rarity!” he calls. Rarity turns toward him.
“What do you need, Spike?” asked she eagerly. She clearly wants to dash into her boutique right now, and only her manners prevented her from doing so.
“Do you have scissors with you?” asked Spike with a mischievous expression.
“Well of course! A pair of them,” Rarity’s entire look saying ‘Duh’. “Every fashion designer always has a pair of scissors just in case of emergency!”
“Emergency like wha… Never mind, can I borrow it?” asked Spike/
“Of course.” Rarity levitated a pair of scissors out of her saddlebag and gave it to baby dragon.
“Anything else?”
Spike grabbed the scissors. “Nothing else, thanks! I shall return it when…”
“Take your time!” breaks Rarity. “Now, I have business to do!” she winks. “Let’s all meet there in three hours! And Spike, make sure you won’t be running with scissors!” she turned around and headed out with a graceful gait.
Twilight and Stargale warily eyed the sharp tool.
“Spike, what do you need these snips for?” asked Twilight curiously.
“You’ll see! Give me your saddlebags!” exclaimed Spike with inspirational sparkles in his eyes.
*******
“Well, I guess I can bear it,” said the book, looking at the transformed saddlebags. Twilight’s face held an unhappy expression.
“Come on, Twilight!” Spike scolded. “You have a lot of boring, normal saddlebags at home, and now I just made you an Awesome Bookholder!” Spike swelled with pride.
Twilight looks at the “Awesome Bookholder” with a gloomy expression. All Spike had done was cut out the curved “windows”/square holes on each side of Saddlebags.
“Well…” she consoled herself, “at least jerkbook will not whine about it anymore.” She opens Spike’s Awesome Bookholder and held it open for its only guest.
“Welcome in!”
“Pheh!” The book placed itself comfortably inside. “As half-aced as I expected! Well, at least I can look at your puny capital now!”
Twilight put the Awesome Bookholder on.
“Let’s go, Spike!”
*******
“Gorgeous!” Rarity raced inside a labyrinth of clothes. “Magnificent!” She is flying from one garment of a new collection to another. “Brilliant!”
This boutique is a gigantic by its size. The series of famous designers clothes form a veritable maze. Rarity stopped next to a sparkling garment of indescribable grace, decorated by colorful jewels.
“That is mine…”
“Rarity!” somepony calls. Rarity happily turned around to face a tall white unicorn with blue mane and mustache, dressed in a black tail-coat.
“Mister Fancypants!” said Rarity with ill-concealed awe.
“Sorry I am late, Miss Rarity.”
“Oh, what are you talking about? It is I who came too early! I just wanted to look at the new collection!”
Fancypants smiles. “Anyway, Rarity, I don’t have much time, so let’s make it quick. Your recent collection was a great success for my line of boutiques all over Equestria! That’s what I am congratulating you with…” Sparks of euphoria blinked in Rarity’s eyes. She barely holds herself from starting to jump in joy.
“…That’s why I” continues Fancypants,“am presenting you with this.”
He whistles. A young stallion in a black tailcoat suddenly appeared before Rarity, holding a gilt case. “Don’t be shy, open it,” insisted Fancypants, thoroughly enjoying Rarity’s reaction.
Rarity opens the case with shining eyes. On a velvet cushion comfortably lies one of the most beautiful gemstones Rarity has ever seen in her life. A gigantic, tear-shaped sapphire, shimmering with all shades of blue on its grains. Rarity gasped.
“I-is that an aqua sapphire?” Rarity’s voice shook with excitement.
“Yes,” answered Fancypants with a satisfied voice. “And it’s all yours! I hope we shall continue our prolific cooperation and you shall make more marvelous garments for me to sell!”
Rarity stood up. “ With Celestia as my witness, I shall make as many garments as needed to bring you joy and wealth!”
Fancypants smiles. “Now, when that is settled, I gotta go. Business never waits.” With this final word, Fancypants exit the boutique.
Rarity goes into the deepest corner of the garment maze. She didn’t need any witness. Convinced, that there is nopony around, Rarity began to jump with joy.
*******
A cave is filled with soft, cold light. Weak shadows are playing their silent games on the grey, lifeless walls. The place seemed to suck the life of anything that entered its depths. Not a single insect, not a single bat dared stay here for long, because those, who for some reason wants to live in this light-forsaken cave, shall have a very unlikeable neighbor.
A black stallion walks toward the source of a weak light: a gigantic shining mountain filled with vast, unimaginable riches. Gold, jewelry, forgotten artifacts of great old, everything is mixed inside this paradise of greed. Shining treasures are reflecting in the stallion’s horrifying red eyes.
Suddenly, a black shadow behind a mountain of riches began to move.
“Who goes there?” asked a thundering, heavy female voice. Walls of the dark cavern began to shake. Sand began to falling from the ceiling.
“I asked : ‘Who goes there’!” A second mountain began to rise behind the shining first. In a faint light of shimmering jewelry rose a gigantic dragon.
This dragon had a grace of burning fire. Her scales are colored like a forest after a long summer rain, and her yellow eyes shined like diamonds. This dragon was surely considered an epiphany of beauty and grace for her kind, yet all her look portends a great danger. The dragoness moved her gigantic head closer to the cloaked figure, trying to discern the tiny creature in all its details.
“What are you doing here, feeble pony?” her voice thundered. “Are you here to steal my treasures?!” She menacingly opened her giant wings and bared her blade-like fangs.
The black stallion raised his head, looking right into the eyes of the graceful yet menacing giant.
“I am not here to take your treasures, lizard” said he with a calm, cold voice.
Suddenly, six colorless deformed gemstones appeared from under his cloak and rose to the air, formed a circle behind it’s wielder, and began to spin counter-clockwise, sparkling with energy of red color. The dragon looks at the cold, yet strangely attractive jewels with enchanted eyes. She does not understand what’s happening with her. She doesn’t understand why these tiny colorless gems are so attractive. Yet her head fills only one mind. “I want it! Why does this feeble pony has something she, a mighty dragon, who lives over three hundred years, hasn’t.” Unnatural envy began to fill the dragoness’s soul.
“No, I am not here for your riches,” repeated the strange stallion through the purple fog, which began to fill the dragoness’s mind. The stallion’s eyes became completely red. Glowing, featureless red orbs, ready to swallow every soul of someone who would be foolish enough to look into them.
A beam of dark-red light shot from the stallion’s horn, hitting the frozen dragoness in the center of her breath, covering her with a layer of liquid black mud. The mud creates a tight cocoon, which took shape of the startled dragon. A red flash follows, extinguishing the mysterious shadows on the cavern walls.
When the light fades, the floating colorless gems above the black stallion begins to crackle. In a matter of seconds, they completely turn to dust, blown away by the cold cavern’s wind. But the black stallion isn’t paying attention to it. He saw it already for this simple fact to surprise him. It is still imperfect. Still weak. The black stallion looks on the gigantic black figure before him. He grins, revealing triangle teeth.
“Time for another friendly visit, your highness”.
*******
Jewel-encrusted golden door with a royal coat of arms opened with a creak. A lavender mare with strange-looking saddlebags walked through a spacious hall. Its ceiling is made entirely of stained glass, showing the history of Equestria at its finest. Sandglass-shaped white marble columns are seeking upward, supporting a wide platform, which is the royal library’s second floor. Endless sea of books in golden shelves contain knowledge of over a thousand years. Twilight feels like she hasn’t been here for ages.
“This is a royal library,” proclaimed she to her saddlebags.
“You don’t say?” The book responded with irony and floated out of the Awesome Bookholder.
Stargale busily looked around.
“Here I should say ‘goodbye’,” said Twilight with ill-concealed relief. “Here you can find almost every magic-oriented book in Equestria. I persuaded the librarian not to go here for a day, so take your time.” She looks at the book, finding that it is completely ignoring her, picking books from a nearby shelf.
“Now I have some business with a princess,” started Twilight.
“Yea, yea, go, lass” Stargale interrupted eagerly. “Leave me alone with books, would you?” Twilight shook her head and headed out. When suddenly,
“Hey, lass?”
Twilight turned around. “What now?
The book holds a pause, then proclaims, looking away, “Thank you. For everything.”
Twilight smiles. “You’re welcome.”
*******
“Is everything ready, Ironhoof?”
Princess Celestia is standing in the center of her golden throne room, filled with bright warm light. An iron-clad pony is standing before her, looking at the guards, who are guarding the throne room’s entrance.
“Yes, your highness. Anti-flash crystals are placed in key points by the whole castle’s perimeter. There is almost no means of teleporting in or out whence field is activated.”
“What about an activation process?” asked the princess
“Anti-flash field is activated by voice command from you, your highness. All as you ordered.”
Celestia smiles.
“Good. Did you sent a letter to Luna?”
“Yes, highness. But it will take some time for our messenger to reach Princess Luna’s domain on the moon.”
“I knew I should have gifted Luna a baby dragon…” mumbled the Princess reflectively. “Anyways,” she looks at Ironhoof with a thoughtful expression on her face, “from now on, Canterlot castle is under siege. Everypony must be on their guards!”
“Of course, Princess!” The throne room’s door opens. Silent guards cautiously gaze at a guest, but calms down, seeing a familiar lavender mare with a purple baby dragon.
“Oh, Twilight Sparkle! I have waited for you!” said the Princess with a warm smile.
Twilight is happy. She is always happy to see her mentor in person, especially when she hasn’t had any kind of guilt before her.
“Twilight Sparkle, my most faithful student,” continued the radiant princess, “I have summoned you here for a deal of great importance.”
She levitates a jeweled case to Twilight and opens it, revealing the Elements of Harmony inside.
“The Elements, Princess?” asked Twilight astounded.
“A phantom menace lies heavy upon Canterlot. I need you to take the elements and give it to your friends.”
Twilight tilts her head. “Why us, Princess?”
Celestia closed her eyes.
“The enemy is after the elements. I am planning to set him a trap here, in Canterlot, and I need the elements to be as far away as possible.” She looks at the worried expressions of her most faithful student and her number one assistant and warmly, soothingly smiles.
“Do not worry. I shall take care of that enemy faster than you shall tire from the element’s presence.”
“Are you sure we can’t help you beat your enemy, Princess?” said Twilight with a worried voice.
“I have already used you all too much,” – said the gleaming princess softly, “this is the enemy I must take care of by myself.”
“But, princess…” started Twilight.
“Twilight Sparkle,” said Celestia firmly. Twilight looks in her eyes.
“All right, princess! We shall take a good care of elements!”
Celestia smiles. “Very well. You are dismissed, Twilight Sparkle. And don’t worry. It shall be over soon.”