Twilight awoke the following morning to the sounds of merriment already getting started throughout the streets in Ponyville. Whenever festivals or larger events came to her hometown, it was as if the residents could hardly wait to get them underway. Then again, based on the position of Celestia’s sun in the sky, the princess must have slept in for a change. But at least the actual judging portion would come around noon, and Twilight could tell that was still a ways off.
She stretched beneath the bedcovers, rubbing her eyes and considering what to do next.
There might be just enough time to practice a little more with the chaotic sphere.
Yet then her thoughts turned to Spike.
Perhaps she could use this time to help her number one assistant with any last-minute preparations involving Roots. It was unclear to her how Spike might handle the pet show, despite all the difficulties in keeping the Timberwolf under control. Perhaps he had been practicing different tricks at Fluttershy’s cottage. In any case, he had seemed to be improving with Roots, ever-so-subtly.
But was it enough?
“Twilight, come quick!” The bedroom doors crashed open, and a moment later Spike patted to her beside. “Roots got out of her room.”
“Again?” Twilight sat up, yawning.
“But it’s worse this time. We can’t find her anywhere. Owlicious is still looking, of course, but I think we need some help.” Spike was wringing his tail, which was a sure sign the poor dragon was very upset. “Usually, we have been able to track her down based on—well, any damage. Yet everything in the castle seems to be in its place, except for one thing.”
Spike pointed a clawed finger across the room, and a certain dread swelled in the pit of Twilight’s stomach as she followed it.
The chaotic sphere was gone.
Uh-oh.
Twilight teleported from her bed to beside the pedestal in a flash. The impression on the cushion showed the chaotic sphere had either slid or been pulled down from the right side. Circling the area, and examining the floor, the princes found it smooth and unmarred by claw marks (Roots tended to leave small scratches wherever she went, unless the Timberwolf had been moving slowly). But that didn’t make sense. And how had Roots gotten into the room, anyway? At least, she remembered closing the bedroom door, but that had been before she got up later and tried again. She couldn’t recall if it had been or not by then.
“Spike, was the door open when you went to bed?” Twilight asked, causing the young dragon to tug at his head frills in a meditative manner.
“Owlicious got me up because Roots got out of her room yesterday evening. She had broken out, so we had to bring her back. We believed she would be fine afterwards, and that we had an understanding. But then Roots must have decided to leave again, for some reason.” Spike paused, seeming to realize he hadn’t answered Twilight’s question. “Actually, I think I might have left the door a bit ajar when we came back. Was that wrong?”
“Of course, not.” Twilight took a deep breath. The last thing she wanted was Spike to blame himself for the missing chaotic sphere, or for Roots’ disappearance. He had been trying so hard, after all. She ruffled his frills with one hoof. “You couldn’t have known Roots would come up here to take the chaos, if that’s what happened.”
“Roots never showed an interest in getting into the bedroom before.” Spike persisted. “I wonder why she did now—if she did. What seemed to interest her last night were doorknobs. But then again, she loves balls, or anything round.” He began to slow down a bit while saying the last part, letting the implications hang for a while between them.
The chaotic sphere.
“Well, we’ll just have to find Roots.” Twilight declared. “Spike, you continue to search the castle with Owlicious, and I will search outside. Roots couldn’t have gotten too far.” She stopped just short of adding, “I hope.”
“Right.” Spike saluted Twilight and rushed off.
It was only when the dragon was out of sight that Twilight allowed herself a moment of weakness. Her knees knocked together once or twice, and she had to take several deep, cleansing breaths before heading downstairs at a full gallop. All signs pointed to Roots having taken the chaotic sphere and run off with it, which didn’t bode well on a few different fronts. However, the princess should have had the foresight to take extra safety measures to protect her assignment.
Where would Roots go?
There was also Fluttershy’s cottage. If the Timberwolf had run off with the sphere, and perhaps thought she would get in trouble for it, her friend’s home might also be a good place to check. After all, most creatures felt more secure there, and Fluttershy would be sure to receive Roots with welcoming hooves.
With these thoughts in mind, Twilight rushed out the (noticeably open) front doors, looking straight ahead, and—
Ran right into somepony.
“I’m sorry.” Twilight said, flopping backwards into a seated position.
“Ah, Twilight Sparkle. There you are.” Came the chuckled response, and Twilight lifted her eyes to see (of all ponies) Discord stroking his beard and grinning at her. Twilight paled, despite everything, and stifled an urge to take more deep breaths under his scrutiny. Dread formed in the pit of her stomach.
The draconequus had clearly become integrated with the crowd already at the Equestria Pet Show. He had a hat upon his head with two cups of some drink connected to it (and swirly straws to them dangling past his ears). Besides this, he wore a bright yellow T-shirt that read: I [Heart] the Equestria Pet Show, carried a hay dog with various garnishes (including chili peppers) piled on top, wore some type of butterfly-theme watch on his wrist, carried an Equestria Pet Show flag with tuft of white fur on his tail, and had a camera slung around his neck.
“Can you believe I only got here five minutes ago?” Discord nudged the stiff princess with an elbow.
Twilight sat there, numb.
“Speechless, I see. Smile!” Discord raised the camera by magic and took a shot of Twilight—whose photograph must have borne some resemblance to a trembling, wide-eyed deer.
However, if the chaos spirit noticed this at all, he didn’t show it upon looking at the snapshot (which matched Twilight’s fears perfectly).
“Delightful.” He said instead.
Uh-oh. Twilight thought, for the second time that morning.