For a moment everything was covered in a thick cloud of magical smoke. Then all she could see was stars. Finally, as the fog started to clear, she found herself in an alley somewhere. This definitely wasn't the Crystal Castle, and it certainly wasn't anywhere in Unicornia.
Where was she and how did she get here? Where did Brights Brightly and Whistle Wishes go? And the princess book? And the wand? She started asking herself, getting ever more frantic.
"Excuse me madam, but there's no loitering allowed at this location." Said a large winged hornless unicorn dressed in some kind of armor, interrupting her panic attack. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave!" He said, stamping his foot, and muttering something to himself about vagabonds.
"Of course sir, sorry about that!" She said, stumbling out in a haze. Did that odd winged hornless unicorn not recognize her? And where was Rarity?
"Oh no! Rarity!" She screamed to herself in fright, suddenly realizing where she was and what happened. "I have to find her!"
********
Some time earlier.
********
"And then they lived happily ever after!" Cheerilee said, tucking in the little pink unicorn that had recently come under her supervision and mentoring, closing the door quietly on her way out.
It had been only a few days since this year's Crystal Rainbow Princess had been chosen to begin her training, under her watchful care -- and Cheerilee was already at already at work mentoring the young pink unicorn for the job. Sadly, much work had to be completed for this year's Princess Rainbow Ceremony, in the spring. It was good that she was so much easier to convince to go to bed then she normally was: Cheerilee had a whole night's worth of work ahead of her.
Normally, by this point, they would, already, have the ribbons and banners ready; but things were put in a kerfuffle last year, when the flower's didn't get pollinated at a reasonable time -- for some reason (maybe the pollinators got districted with some silly promenade or something?) This meant, of course, that she couldn't start on this year's Princess Rainbow Ceremony when she normally would. And, of course, this meant she had to re-plan almost everything.
"Better get a cup of tea! This is going to be a long night." She said to herself, quietly, as she sat down at her desk, a pencil and paper handy. "So because the flower's didn't grow on time, then that means that the wreaths didn't get made; and that means that banners and ribbon's got thrown off by three months. That means that..." She said, trailing off as she turned her focus to her work.
The planning went on well into the night. Sometime around midnight, though, the purple unicorn -- and the most senior among the four unicorns that brought the rainbow every year -- decided that she needed another cup of tea.
"Ok, just a couple of minutes for the tea to steep, and then back to the planning." She yawned. "Hopefully I can get this done in time to get a little sleep." She said, right as a blinding light could be seen in the sky to the north, and a booming crash.
"Wow! That was interesting!" she said to herself, with astonishment. "That definitely doesn't happen every night." She said, grabbing her tea and returning to her room.
She threw herself into the job she had done for most of her life, preparing for the First Rainbow of the season and the Princess Rainbow Ceremony. However, shortly after returning to her work, a loud shriek could be heard booming throughout the castle: "Not without you!"
"That sounded like Rarity!" Cheerilee said, with some concern. "I'll probably regret this, but I should check on her." She said, trotting off to the little foal's room.
She hovered close to the door for a minute trying to determine if it was safe to enter before deciding to open the door carefully, in case the young foal was still asleep. The young foal was, indeed awake and sitting up on the side of her bed, sobbing uncontrollably -- hiccupping between sobs.
"You ok, Rarity?" She asked the young foal, with concern. "I heard you screaming, and I wanted to see if you were ok."
"Oh Cheerilee, I had the most horrible nightmare! It started as such a nice dream about super fun rubber balls, and then things went really, really, bad." She said, hiccupping.
"Here! Let me come closer, and you can tell me all about it." She said, sitting down next to the young filly, on the side of the bed.
"Oh Cheerilee! I failed you!" She said, between sobs. "I let you and Unicornia down! I could've saved you both! But I failed!"
"There! There!" The older unicorn said, putting her front leg around the filly. "Tell me what happened."
"I don't know if I want to!" She said, looking away, her eyes full of terror. "You'll probably hate me!"
This didn't sound like the normally cheerful filly at all. Where was all the talk about just having fun? Where was her eternal laughter?
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, Rarity. I just thought that it might make it easier on you if you let it out. Are you worried about being this year's Crystal Rainbow Princess?"
"No! Well maybe! yes?" She said, uncertain of how to unload her feelings. "I don't know!" She said, her eyes full of anxiety.
"Well! Why don't you start by telling me what you dreamed?" The purple unicorn said, with her best smile.
"Ok, well basically I was dreaming about super-fun rubber balls! And then all of a sudden, it was different." She said, her eyes puffy from crying, but it looked like she was starting to feel better. "But then it was like I was here, in Unicornia. And there was two other people, whose names I can't remember, and you." She said, starting to cry again. "And we were all happy, and then everything started to go wrong. First everything started to vanish." She said, her voice getting ever more hysterical.
"And then everything was gone! First whomever it was took away Lily, and then Brights Brightly, and finally Whistle Wishes and Unicornia and everything!"
"Who took them away?" Cheerilee asked, hugging the young unicorn closely. "Wow! whatever it is she dreamed about really got her worked up."
"I don't know!" Rarity squealed quietly. "I can't remember! I don't want to remember!" She screamed.
Cheerilee just held the filly still for a second. Maybe she should go?
After a few minutes, though. Rarity began to talk again. "It was the darkness! But there was someone in it! And it was whistling and laughing!" Rarity said, sobbing. "Laughing at us!" She said, shaking violently. "And then it was going to take me! And the others! And you too!" She said, starting to sob again, hiccupping a little.
"Who is she talking about? The other unicorns?" Cheerilee thought to herself. "And why is she convinced that the others and I are going away?"
"But I used the wand to teleport away; but you demanded to stay behind! You said it would be safer if you stayed behind!" Rarity said, looking up into Cheerilee's eyes. " I should have forced you to come with us! I failed you! I let you down! And whoever it was took you too!" She exclaimed, starting another round of hiccupping and sobbing -- this time into her mentor's chest. "And I tried to stop it, I tried to fight it to bring you back, but I failed!!! I failed you!!! And now you're going away! Never to be seen again! POOF!!! "
"There, there!" She said, in her most motherly voice, hugging the sobbing filly tight. "It'll be ok! I promise you, it's just a nightmare! You're fine! See!" She said, gently putting a hoof to her chest. "And I'm still here aren't I?"
"Yeah, I suppose." She said, starting to calm down.
"And I promise you: you haven't failed me! And I'm not going anywhere! And we'll be together, at least as long as you remain Crystal Rainbow Princess!" Cheerilee said, trying to comfort the hysterical filly.
"You promise? Cheerilee?" She asked. "But aren't you still angry about me failing you? And letting you down?"
"I promise! And look: you haven't failed me. I'm still here, and so is Brights Brightly, and Whistle Wishes!" She said, with a smile. "And everyone else is fine to!" Cheerilee said with a smile, one more time. "Now you feel better?"
"Sure, but could you sleep in here with me tonight?" Rarity asked, looking anxious.
"Sure, I'll grab my sleeping bag, and some pillows. And I'll join you in here." Cheerilee said, trying to comfort the little filly. "I guess I won't finish that work tonight..." She thought, frowning on the inside. "Just means more work for tomorrow." She contemplated to herself, with a sigh.
********
Today.
********
A clamor could be heard outside the castle as a seemingly endless rain of strange bug ponies descended upon the unsuspecting unicorn city. At first the unicorns tried to introduce themselves only to be greeted with violence -- one unsuspecting green unicorn with a smiling cloud symbol got bucked in the gut as she tried to introduce herself. Quickly panic ensued as unicorns scattered far and wide -- fruitlessly trying to escape the inevitable.
Meanwhile at the top of the hill.
"Rarity! Rarity! Where are you!" Cheerilee called out in desperation. "We have to get out of here now!" She shouted, upturning pots, and throwing over tables. Oh where had that unicorn run off to? And at the worst possible moment.
"Brights Brightly!? Whistle Wishes!? Where are you! We need to find Rarity and get out of here now!" She screamed, swallowing her panic at the last second.
"It's no use!" Said Brights Brightly! "They're everywhere! What do we do Cheerilee?"
"I don't know..." Cheerilee said, swallowing more panic. "Whistle Wishes, we have to find Rarity and get the wand. It's out only hope!" She said, before realizing something to her horror. "THE WAND!!!!"
"No! No! No! This can't be good!" Why was she so sure that that silly filly was going to try to touch the wand? No! She was certain that silly filly was going to try and use the wand! "She's not ready to touch the wand! She doesn't even know the Princess Twirl yet!" Cheerilee said, in panic, hearing Lily Lightly screaming just outside the castle.
"Brights Brightly! Block the door, at least for a few minutes!" Cheerilee said, desperately, knowing that Brights Brightly wouldn't be able to hold the door closed for long. "We need all the time we can get!" She said, galloping as fast as her legs would carry her, hoping to get to the wand and the Crystal Dome, before it was too late. Hoping all the way that she was wrong.
"No! No! No! She's still too young, and with all those nightmares she's been having she might try to do something dangerous! And it'll all be my fault!"
Sure enough, coming under the dome she could see her young student opening the box where they kept the magic wand. "No Rarity! Don't touch that!" She said, in horror.
"I'm sorry Cheerilee, I have to!" The filly unicorn said, with resolve. "I can't lose you again!" The young unicorn continued, her face unflinching. "I'm not going to let anyone down again! Not you! Not Brights Brightly! Not Whistle Wishes or Lily Lightly or anyone!"
"Um guys... they're coming!" Shouted Whistle Wishes as she tried to keep the doors shut with her body. But It wasn't long before the doors started to budge, causing Cheerilee to join her blue unicorn friend in holding the doors shut with their own weight.
Rarity began to wave the wand, not once, nor twice, nor even thrice.
"Rarity! What are you doing!? That's not how you do the Princess Twirl!"
"I'm not doing the Princess Twirl Cheerilee" Said Rarity, with a frown. Looking straight into her mentor's eyes. "I'm going to teleport everyone this time!" She said, steeling her resolve.
"What are you talking about Rarity? You've never used the wand before. You don't know how dangerous it is!" Cheerilee said, her face saying no as loudly as it could, as the young unicorn started to shake in pain -- still desperately holding onto the wand.
Instantly Cheerilee, who had been watching this scene in horror, began to lunge forward to stop her young mentee, letting go of the door.
"Cheerilee! The door!" Shouted Whistle Wishes as the door flew open, sending Whistle Wishes flying into the floor.
"Bravo! That is some tasty despair, and desperation, out of you." Captain Raphanus said, with a smile. "I should probably have forced my way in earlier. But..." He said, with a sadistic smile. "Too bad I'm not permitted to feed!" He said to all three unicorns in the room. "Grab the two by the door, I'll grab that pathetic filly." He said, turning to his soldiers.
"Cheerilee!" Said the young unicorn with a frown, and a dazed expression, forcing herself to continue moving despite the excruciating pain she was feeling. "I'll save you!" She shouted, her eyes springing back to life.
All Cheerilee could do was scream in terror as these horrible predators grabbed her and started to drag her away.
"Take them all to the base camp!" Captain Raphanus commanded. " Vladímir will decide their fates. And nopony is to feed unless given an order by Vladímir himself!"
The changeling captain looked at the small filly, the only free unicorn in the room, and started to laugh. She looked so pathetic, desperately holding onto a child's toy in her mutant little paw -- desperately trying to help her worthless friends against the inevitable. "Oh what are you going to do with that worthless toy? Cause me to laugh to death?" Said the changeling captain as the filly tossed the wand up into the air with everything she had, crumpling onto the ground, unconscious -- or worse.
"Oh wow! She's going to impress us with her 'wand throwing skills' boys!" Captain Raphanus said, howling with laughter -- just before unicorns (and all other kinds of G3 pony, for that matter) started to disappear into puffs of smoke right before his eyes.
********
"Well another day, another bit." Cheerilee said to herself, with a sigh. She could just sense that today was going to be one of those days. Most days were good for her, and she really did like her job. But every once in a while...
"Here Ms. Cheerilee! Let me help you with that bag." Said a exuberant young white unicorn. "Wow it's heavy!" She said, dropping the bag on the ground with a crash.
"Well.. there goes today's science lesson." Cheerilee said to herself with a sigh. The young unicorn just stood there with a 'sorry puppy dog expression'. "It's ok Sweetie Belle, I can take care of this." Cheerilee said, feeling defeated. She didn't want to upset the filly, after all, she just didn't want to change her lesson plans for the afternoon.
"Let me help you with that!" Said an tomboyish, young pegasus, ripping her saddle bag off. "Wow!" The young unicorn said, taking a quick peek at the contents of the bag. "The homework answers are in here! Score!"
"Scootaloo, please stay away from those!" Cheerilee chastised. Those answers were for her eyes only, and she was pretty sure that the young pegasus didn't do her homework today.
"Sorry 'bout breaking yer plant thing-a-ma-bob! Maybe I can use this potion I got from Zecora to!" The earth pony of the trio said, mulling through her saddle bag.
"Girls! Girls! GIRLS!!!!" Cheerilee said, and eventually shouted, trying to get their attention.
"Yes, Ms. Cheerillee?" Asked all three young ponies said, suddenly materializing before her, all doing the puppy dog eyes.
"Girls, I appreciate your help! I really do! But I've got everything well under hoof." She said, breathing a little, to calm down. These were her precious little flowers, and she was going to make them grow! "What brings you girls up at this hour? I didn't expect you to arrive until just after class started?"
"Well I wanted to Ms. Cheerilee, but Rarity said that this was the perfect opportunity for us to be..."
"Oh No! Here it comes!" Thought Cheerilee, trying to hold her ears as tight to her head as she could.
"CUTIE MARK CRUSADER: TEACHER'S PETS!!!!!!!!!!! YAYYY!!!!!!!" Shouted all three girls in unison, at the top of their lungs.
"Well great!!" Said Cheerilee, a fake, but quite convincing smile plastered to her face. "Why don't you come with me, and help me set up for today's lesson?"
"Sure thing Ms. Cheerilee!" Said all three crusader's in unison.
"I've got dibs on her bags!" Shouted one girl
"I've got dibs on the bugs!" Shouted another
"I've got dibs on..."
"Girls! Girls!! GIRLS!!!!" She shouted, all three girls turning their attention to her again. "We'll all work on it together."
"Why don't you help me with this," Cheerilee said, pointing to one thing. "And you help me with that." She said pointing to another. "We're almost at the school house anyways." She said, approaching the old red school house -- hoping that no more havoc would be wrought. "Ok, now stand back while I open the door, and!"
"Girls!" she shouted, being suddenly sent spinning in circles by the three exuberant youngsters.
After a few seconds, she regained her composure (or at least she thought she did).
"Well lookie here!" She said to herself with a smile. "Somepony is eager!" She said, seeing a tiny pink unicorn, laying on the floor near the chalk board, with the most beautiful rainbow mane, and tail (and with a giant mutant muzzle.) Her horn was still not fully grown in, meaning that she couldn't be more than six -- most likely she was five or less.
"Wake up little one! I'm glad you could come in early, but it's not good to sleep out here! " She said with a smile. The little one wasn't waking up. "Where are your parents?"
"Are you ok?" She asked, her face showing concern, as the dear didn't respond. "Oh dear... She's barely breathing." Cheerilee remarked, checking the filly's breathing, which was labored at best.
"Girls! GIRLS!!!!" Cheerilee shouted, looking for the tiny bullets that had mowed her down earlier. "Now where are those Crusaders when I need them?"
The little one started to stir, just a hair. Barely looking up, she glanced for a second at the teacher's Cutie Mark. "Ch.... Cheerilee?"
"Oh thank Celestia she's still alive." Cheerilee thought to herself, glad for small miracles. "Girls where are you?" She shouted, hoping the three overeager fillies would materialize again. "I think now would be the perfect time for you to earn your Cutie Marks as: Cutie Mark Crusader Ambulance drivers!" She said, hoping to get their attention, wherever they were.
"I'm sorry Cheerilee, but I had to use the wand." The filly said, looking distraught. "I couldn't lose you again!" She said, her eyes starting to close again.
"How does she know my name, or is she talking to somepony else?" Cheerilee thought, trying to avoid looking like she was going to panic -- she was a teacher after all, and panic might send the little filly further into shock. "It's ok dear. I forgive you." She said to the little one, in a comforting voice. "Now why don't you stay awake, and we can talk about stuff! Maybe I can teach you something?" She said, hoping to prevent the filly from passing out. "Where were those blasted crusaders?" She asked herself again, in the privacy of her own mind.
Suddenly a sound could be heard behind her of a wooden scooter, and a small red cart being dragged through the school doors, knocking them off their hinges, and practically out of the wall. "Sorry about that Cheerilee!!!" All three crusaders said, blushing slightly.
"That's ok girls." She said, once again swallowing the urge to face hoof. "Their recklessness may be just what this little filly needs." Cheerilee thought to herself, looking at the small filly.
"Did somepony say the needed CUTIE MARK CRUSADER AMBULENCE DRIVERS!!!" The crusaders asked with huge smiles.
"Sure! Girls, please get this little one to the hospital as quickly as you can!" Cheerilee said, begging the one thing, of the crusaders, that made the least sense. "Faust have mercy on all of us..." She thought to herself. "What horror have I unleashed on you Ponyville!?" She thought to herself, her face filled with terror.
"You coming with... with us Cheerilee?" Asked the little one, barely awake.
"Yes." She said, staring in the child's baby blue eyes. Was there a two highlights in there? And was one of the highlights a yellow star? Weird... "I'll be along in a second." Cheerilee said, mustering her most convincing smile. "I just have to get somepony to stand in for me." The filly's eyes started to glaze over in horror, like she had just said something that spoke straight into the filly's nightmares. "I promise! You'll see!" She said, looking the filly straight in the eye, and speaking with all the conviction she could muster. She had no idea why the filly was so horrified of her saying she would catch up. However, she had no more time to press the issue any further.
"She's in bad shape!" Said Scootaloo, quoting a movie she had seen somewhere. "We have to move NOW!" She said, taking off like a rocket, ripping the doors completely out of the wall. "Sorry about that Cheerilee!" The three crusaders said, as they flew off, at high speeds, into the distance (With Sweetie Belle making ambulance sounds along the way to the hospital.)
Now she had to face hoof... But the face hoof didn't last long, looking down she saw something odd. "And what did she have here?" She asked. "Some kind of toy wand? Maybe the little one dropped it." She speculated out loud. "I'll hold onto it for you, for safe keeping!" She said to herself, as if speaking to the little one that just flew out the room -- carried in a cart by three hyperactive fillies.
********
"Ok girls." Said a very agitated doctor, with a stethoscope for a Cutie Mark, as they sat in his office. "What did you do to her? Hit her with that cart? Fall on her while being Cutie Mark Crusader paratroopers?" He said, waving his front hooves around, jazz-hands style."Maybe you tried out another potion? I heard about that whole Cutie Pox incident!" He said, accusatively, looking at Apple Bloom directly.
"We didn't do nutting! Honest!" Said Apple Bloom, looking uneasy. "We found her this way, and when Ms. Cheerilee comes in, she can go and vouch for us!"
"Well we'll find out, because I guess that must be her now!" Said the doctor, giving the girls the stink eye once again. "And where is that blasted new doctor anyway?"
"He's in the Everfree overseeing the transportation of a patient." Said a nurse, with a heart Cutie Mark.
"Why does he need to be there for that?" The doctor snarled.
"'Because they'll get it wrong, and I'll have to pick up the pieces!' He said, I think." Replied the nurse, dripping with sarcasm.
In the room, a small intercom started to ring. The doctor walked over, in a huff, and picked it up. "Doctor Stethoscope, a Ms. Cheerilee is here." The nurse on the other end said clinically.
"Excellent!" He said, with an accusatory smile. "Bring her in, maybe she can fill us in on what these three hooligans did!"
"Hooligans!?" Shouted Scootaloo, her back arched, her fur standing on end, just itching for a fight. "Say that again! I dare you!"
"Hooligans!?" Whined Sweetie Belle, starting to cry. "We're not hooligans!" She said, balling like a young foal.
"HOOLIGANS!!!! When mah sister hears that!" Apple Bloom said, with a scowl. "You'll be sorry!" She Exclaimed, belligerently, sure her sister would eventually show up to defend her -- and then the doctor should watch out!
********
Cheerilee staggered out into the strange stone streets, looking for something familiar -- anything familiar -- but nothing seemed to make any sense. Why did all the ponies look so different, and why didn't anyone recognize her?
"Excuse me. Hello there--" She said, speaking to a young unicorn, and her foal.
"Don't look Diamond Eyes!" The mother responded, putting her hoof over her foal's eyes. "It's some kind of deranged crazy pony!" She said, with disdain (don't blame her, Cheerilee must have looked really odd with her oversized horn and muzzle.)
"Why will no one talk to me?" She asked herself, swallowing the desire to start crying. As the senior of the four unicorns that brought the rainbows each season, she'd have sworn someone would recognize her. And where did Brights Brightly and Whistle Wishes go? Did those horrible bug ponies take them away? She had to find everyone fast. She had to hurry and...
"Oooffff..." She said, bumping into a pair of unicorns. "Oh I'm terribly sorry." She said, blushing through her purple coat. "I'm looking for someone. And I wasn't paying enough attention to where I was going."
The pair just looked at her, with an expression that screamed both agitation, and condescension.
"Anyway, have you seen her? She's this year's Crystal Rainbow Princess." Cheerilee asked, as politely as she could.
"And we care why?" The female of the pair finally spoke. "You bumped into us, and nearly caused my husband to rend his shoulder. You are lucky we don't take you in on charges!"
"Did she say this year's princess?" The stallion asked to the mare accompanying him, both laughing at the absurdity of the statement, with a haughty demeanor.
"Yes, she's a small pink unicorn no more than five years old, and she has rainbow hair." Cheerilee said, desperate for help.
"Pink? Princess? She must be thinking of Cadance, dear, and she's obviously deranged!" The male of the pair said, his voice starting to crack again. "The Princess certainly doesn't have 'rainbow' anything!" He said, laughing harder than before. "And she's certainly older than five!"
"Yes, this year's Crystal Princess: Princess Rarity." Cheerilee said, finishing her request.
"Princess Rarity!" Said the female, breaking out into laughter. "This mare is clearly on the bottle." She said, holding onto her husband 'lest she fall over with laughter'.
"Well, ms--" Started the male, swallowing chuckles.
"Cheerilee, sir." Cheerilee responded, now frowning. Why did these ponies make light of the Crystal Rainbow Princess? Didn't they know if she wasn't found then there would be no rainbows this season? (And all the color would disappear from the world -- ok only in G3 world.)
"Yes, quite. Ms. Cheerilee, you need to have an audience to talk with the princess. Bumpkin..." The male responded, swallowing another laughing fit. "You can't approach a princess without one!"
Had they found little Rarity already? But why would she, Rarity's mentor need to jump through hoops to see her? Cheerilee simply stood there baffled.
"Yes, and to get one of those by knowing the princess." Responded the female.
"No... That can't be right. I was just at the Crystal Castle, and Rarity cast a spell, and I need to find her." Cheerilee said, about to break down.
"Obviously inbred." Said the male, snickering to his female counterpart. "Just look at that muzzle of hers!"
"And that horn!" She said, laughing raucously, as the two of them headed off. "Come on Jet Set, we simply must be going, we have real, non imaginary things to do and ponies to find!"
********
"Any luck doctor?" Asked Doctor Stethoscope, of his colleague, who was busy browsing through every medical book at his disposal. "Apparently the teacher confirms their story. They had nothing to do with the filly's sickness." He continued, while he waited for the other doctors to arrive.
After a couple of minutes, half the floor's faculty came streaming in. Half the doctors having run every test they could think of on the strange pink filly who's condition continued to worsen.
"Huh... I was sure... Oh well! Let's run over the tests we've run." One of doctor Stethoscope's colleagues said, bringing out a board covered in writing.
"It couldn't be hypothermia, her temperature is too high for that, but might start dropping soon, if we don't figure this out." Replied Doctor X-ray, nervously adjusting his glasses.
"She's not malnourished, though we're waiting on blood tests to finish to see if she has a vitamin deficiency." Said a nurse, brining in some paperwork requested by the Doctor Medicine Stamp.
"Did our scans find any foreign bodies in her system?" Asked Doctor Health chart, to the nurse who was still in the room.
"No! Doctor. And it looks like her enlarged muzzle is genetic, and not due to swelling. We think it's a non serious genetic disease, probably a family trait." The nurse responded, with a frown.
"Doctor Pathology Report. Did any of the symptoms match any disease we have on record?"
"Nope partner." Said a doctor with a cowboy hat. "And none in the blood work either." The doctor responded, looking down.
"Ok! Her condition is quickly worsening, we need a reason, and we need one fast! Ponyville General prides itself in not losing patients! And I intend to do everything in my power to keep it that way!" Said a frowning doctor Horse. "So I need you all to buck up, and help me think!" He said, with a smile, trying to encourage the other doctors in the room.
"Have you checked her magic levels?" Asked, a doctor as he slowly entered the room, his hooves clopping the whole way.
"Look Doctor, I'm sure you fancy yourself the smartest doctor in the history of medicine! But I'm sure that we won't find anything by checking her magic levels! For one thing: if she had no magic she wouldn't be able to render a Cutie Mark and she's, by far, the youngest pony I've ever seen to have one." Said a scowling Doctor Stethoscope, convinced the newcomer was a fraud.
"Oh so you must have already run the test then?" Asked the surly old doctor, convinced that an important test was being skipped.
"No we haven't! But if she had too little magic we'd know by simply looking at her, and if she had too much, she'd be running a fever, or she would be experiencing horrific headaches." Doctor Stethoscope replied, matter-of-factly.
"Run! The! Tests!" The old doctor responded, commandingly.
"It's not safe for the patient! She's not in good shape, and getting worse by the second." Doctor Stethoscope replied, reminding his 'colleague' of the obvious. "She might not be able to take the loss of blood." Replied Doctor Stethoscope.
"Ok! Well I'll be tending other patients then, the new one should be arriving now and I want to make sure those blockheads don't botch the delivery." He replied, with a haute voice. "You can tell me what those results say." He said shaking his head -- with names like Doctor X-Ray, Pathology Report, and Stethoscope, he could tell they were winners.
"Fine! Nurse, run the test for doctor superiority over there! I almost hope he's wrong for a change, if it wasn't for that fact that it's the only lead we have!" Said Doctor Stethoscope, with a sigh.
********
"Aunty, I don't see why you had to go to the Crystal Empire personally." Blueblood whined. "We could've been caught... OR WORSE!!!" He continued stating, in an exasperated tone. "Who knows what those rapscallions would've done!" Blueblood said, with an eye twitch. "And I'm too important to -- "
"Look Blueblood, I suppose you are right." Celestia said, with a hidden sigh. "But in this matter I needed to take liberty: I almost lost my little ponies twice to those monsters, and I won't do so again." Celestia replied, looking solemn.
"Yes, and your student too." Blueblood said, deadpan. "Couldn't you've sent Kibitz, or Twilight instead?" He chastised, his ego showing. "Shining Armor! He would certainly be able to handle this!" He said, before remembering the obvious (well that wedding was... um.... just a bore anyway!) "That's right he's taking care of your niece." Blueblood said to himself, blushing slightly. "Well maybe Flash... Whatever his name is!" Blueblood said, his confidence never shaken.
"Yes, Blueblood, I could have." Celestia admitted. "But I felt it better to do it myself, to keep my little ponies' spirits up!" She said, with a smile.
"Then why did you have to bring me along? How would Canterlot survive without my guidance?"
Celestia rolled her eyes (and rolled them a second time for good effect.)
"We're arriving in Canterlot now, your majesty." Interrupted one of the two pegasus guards, who was guiding the chariot. "You have a meeting in a half hour with your royal scheduling advisor, and then another with your minister of defense." He said, reminding the princess of her afternoon's schedule.
"Thank you, my good sir." Celestia said, looking out the chariot. Which elicited a silent, but approving whiny from the guard.
"Celestia, you need to learn to stay here where it's safe! Just look at all that rabble out there." Blueblood said, with a wave of his hoof. "They need our loving guidance! I mean, for one, look at that purple unicorn." Blueblood said, pointing specifically at an odd looking pony below, standing in the middle of an island -- ponies avoiding her on all sides. "Poor, inbred, pathetic soul. Her and her giant muzzle! How does she eat? And her enormous horn! How would she live if we didn't take care of her?" He said, blissfully unaware of the odd look on his "aunt's" face.
"Did you say purple unicorn? Giant Muzzle?" Celestia asked, her face growing ever more pale by the second. "Triple pink flower Cutie Mark?"
"Yes, that would be the poor soul." Blueblood briefly acknowledged, unaware of what his "aunt" just finished saying, before continuing on his preplanned rant. "You see Celestia, we care for all these lesser ponies. And it involves not getting ourselves in danger."
"Guards, I thought I saw something down there, could you circle and take us lower?" Celestia asked her guards, politely -- looking over the side of the chariot intently.
"Yes, your majesty. But would Kibitz approve?" One of the guards asked, as afraid of the Princess' brusque advisor as the Princess herself.
"He'll be fine, I just thought I saw something." She said, with a smile. "I hope you don't mind, but I really would like you to take it lower." She said, smiling again.
"Yes, your majesty." The guards responded, dutifully.
"What, in the hay are you doing?" Blueblood complained, in abject terror. "We have important meetings!" Blueblood asked, once again exasperated.
"It couldn't be!" Celestia said, under her breath. "Guards, I wish to land right here!"
"Are you sure, your majesty?" The guards asked, inquisitively. They knew better then to doubt their majesty though.
"Yes, I certainly am, good sirs." Celestia replied, with a reassuring smile.
"What are you doing aunty?" Blueblood asked, as if his aunt had finally lost her marbles. "This is highly unorthodox!" Blueblood said, with an expression of horror on his face.
"Yes it is!" Celestia said, under her breath, motioning down with her hoof.
********
"So Doctor Stethoscope: what was the results of the test?" The old doctor said, returning from Minty's room -- smiling a sarcastic smile as he asked. He quickly noticed the immediate wince on his rival's face.
"0.000 milli-swirls of magic" (That's approximately -163.92 Platinas in Old Equuish Measurements, for those of you that aren't hip! Or 0.000 Jewels for you scientific types!)
"Say again? I think my ears aren't working!" Doctor Stable asked, leaning in forward -- pretending to be deaf.
"She has no magic... None..." The doctor said, hanging his head apologetically. "You were right, Doctor Stable! And I was wrong! I should have run the magic test earlier." Doctor Stethoscope, said with a defeated sigh.
"Wait... She actually has no magic, I thought for sure it was..." He said trailing off. "Stupid!" Doctor Stable said, chastising himself. "That complicates things greatly!"
Doctor Stethoscope, quirked his eyebrow, was this the first time that 'wise' old Doctor Stable was openly wrong? He wondered what Doctor Stable could have thought it was, but there was no time for that. "And it's the only thing that makes sense." The doctor replied. "So where did all her magic go? And how do we get it back?" The doctor asked, the wheels in his head already turning on the problem.
"The answer is easy: we need a donor, and now!" Doctor Stable replied, looking both belligerent and recalcitrant all at the same time. "And we need to prey to Celestia, Luna, and Faust (and probably Megan, Danny, and Molly too!) that whatever caused her to lose her magic doesn't happen again!"
Running over to the intercom, Doctor Stethoscope jammed down the button. "Nurse, see if you can get that teacher back in here! We need to know if she saw anything else." He said, hoping beyond all hope, that the mulberry earth pony Cheerilee could shed some light on this enigma.
"Meanwhile, we need to find a compatible donor, and fast!" Doctor Stethoscope continued. "And not knowing her family, and magic type, is not going to help!" (You see magic compatibility is usually determined by magic samples or, baring those, family history and magic type.)