//------------------------------//
// The Cutie Mark Chase 
// Story: Pet Fashion Crisis 
// by Mathew_The_Raridash_Fan 
//------------------------------//

It didn't make any sense. Her cutie mark signaled, but the map was empty. Usually, three blue gem stones would hover over where she needed to go. She couldn't understand why it was happening, so she decided to look for somepony who could figure it out. She left the map room and searched the castle until she found Twilight. Her bedroom and the library were both vacant. She looked in the dining room and saw Twilight eating breakfast.

Rarity approached her. She felt rude walking into the dining room without permission. It wasn't her house, and she had no business being there. At the same time, something was wrong with the map, and she needed Twilight's help.

Twilight looked up from her plate of scrambled eggs and saw Rarity. "Good morning!"
Rarity was confused. Sure, Twilight was her friend, but she was in her dining room uninvited. There were more important matters, though. "My cutie mark signaled, I'm sure of it, but I can't find where I need to go."

"Just go where your cutie mark is hovering," Twilight told her.

Rarity shook her head. "That's the problem. There is no cutie mark!"

Twilight dropped her fork onto the plate. "Now that's weird!"

She got up and walked with Rarity back to the throne room. Sure enough, the map was void of any cutie mark. This never happened before. Was it possible that where Rarity needed to go wasn't even on the map? How was she going to solve a friendship problem if she didn't know where the problem was?

Suddenly, a hologram of Rarity's cutie mark showed up and moved away from them. Rarity and Twilight knew that it probably had the answer, so they chased after it. It left castle and floated away. They kept following it all the way through Ponyville and into the Everfree forest.

If the friendship problem was in the Everfree forest, the map could have easily signaled them. It didn't matter now, though. They continued chasing the cutie mark through the layers of trees. Their eyes were focused on the cutie mark as it floated towards the castle.
Twilight didn't understand what was going on. No one lived in the castle, and she knew that place inside-out. It was already restored. What problem was there for her friend to solve? There was no time to think it over too much. The cutie mark was out of sight, and so was Rarity. There was no telling where they could be.

The sound of hooves hitting the ground filled her ears. She sighed in relief and followed the sound until she found Rarity still chasing her cutie mark. It went through the castle until it came to a stop above a circle on the ground. Triangles pointed out from the circle two inches apart.

"This was one of the methods for interdimensional travel that Starswirl the Bearded created!" Twilight recognized.

Rarity looked back and forth at the circle and her cutie mark. "It looks like a circle."
"I'm sure there's a book here that explains how this circle works," Twilight said as she levitated book after book passed her and skimmed the pages.

Rarity decided to help. She needed to find something about teleportation or a picture of that circle. She was a much slower reader than Twilight, so she spent more time on each book. The mares searched through the books. A pile started to grow in the ground. Rarity started to get bored, but Twilight managed to find what she needed.

Twilight looked into the book, "It says right here that the triangles must be filled with magical particles and it has to be held until the pony or object disappears. Ponies cannot use magic during the teleportation, so a second pony to do the magic is required."

"Perhaps that is why my cutie mark didn't lead me here until you were with me. It knew that you were needed as well." Rarity figured.

Twilight nodded, "and the reason it showed only your cutie mark is because you are the one who needs to solve this problem." 

Rarity stood in the center of the circle ready to go. She didn't know where she was going, but someone needed her help. She only hoped that she had a way of returning. Twilight filled each triangle with magic.

They glowed white as they were filled. Eventually, all 30 triangles were glowing. The light from the triangles moved outwards to connect each other, and the light floated up until Rarity and Twilight were no longer able to see each other. Rarity was completely engulfed in the light. It died away, and she was in a strange place that she couldn't even imagine.