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// Problems in Canterlot 
// Story: Rainbow's Quest 
// by Zetriax 
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Chapter 2- Problems in Canterlot
Rainbow streaked across the sky towards Canterlot Castle. The stone was in a saddlebag draped across her back. As she flew, she wondered what the stone could be. Maybe it was simply a carving made by an admiring filly. But, no mare would let their filly that close to the Everfree Forest. So what could it be?
The castle loomed ahead of her now. Instead of going to the front gate, she veered up and made for the tower she knew to be Twilight Sparkle’s dwelling. She nodded at the guards below her, and they acknowledged her with a nod of their own. She had been to the castle enough to be known as an ally, and a friend to one of the princesses.
Rainbow landed on the balcony of the tower and knocked on the door. Twilight’s voice came from behind the door, “Who is it?”
“It’s me. Rainbow. Open up!”
A series of locks sounded and the door swung open. “Dashie!” Twilight exclaimed and ran forward to hug her friend.
“So, why are you here?”
“Pinkie Pie gave me this stone she found near the Everfree Forest,” she replied, pulling the stone out of her saddlebag. “It has my cutie mark on it. I was wondering if you knew what it was.”
“Hm.” Twilight pondered as she seized the stone with her magic.
Rainbow didn’t see anything happening but Twilight kept nodding and started writing stuff down. “So?” queried Rainbow Dash after a few minutes.
Twilight looked up from the stone. “I’m not exactly sure where it came from originally but there are traces of magic embedded in the stone. Whoever made it was either a Unicorn or an Alicorn. And it was meant to wind up in your hooves.”
“I don’t get it. What is it? What does it do?”
“It’s a Fate Stone,” Twilight said. She pulled a book from the shelf. “They are closely related to the Elements of Harmony in power and magical property. Fate Stones were invented by Starswirl the Bearded to let one see their future. They were originally designed to let a pony see their future in their sleep. But, something went wrong with the spell. Instead of simply seeing the future, they were transported into the future.”
Rainbow’s eyes widened, “Cool! I can go to the future using this?”
“NO! If you use this you may never come back!” Twilight exclaimed.
“Of course I’ll come back. So, how do I use it?”
“Listen to me Dash! This is serious magic. You could change the results of the entire world by going there! Just take my advice and throw that away or something.”
“Well. Okay,” replied Rainbow Dash somberly.
Just then a pounding sounded at the door and a guard burst in. “Princess Twilight Sparkle! We need your help! Somepony’s trying to break through the gate. She claims to have come to warn us of something.”
“Fine. I’ll be right down. Rainbow, you go on back to Ponyville. Maybe we can chat about this another time.”
“Okay.”
When the door closed, Rainbow Dash glanced at the book Twilight was reading from. It was entitled, Relics and Artifacts. She grabbed the book and the stone and placed them both in her saddlebag. She would do a little research of her own before throwing the stone away.