Sweetie Belle's eyes narrowed and she wrinkled her brow as she focused on her target. She had followed the beetle for several minutes as it scurried along over the dirt and through the grass towards some unknown destination, but now it was time for her to make a move. She drew a little closer and, after a moment's hesitation, spoke.
"Hello."
The beetle stopped suddenly and turned its body and head to get a better look at Sweetie Belle. A second later it screamed and ran in the opposite direction as fast as its little legs could carry it before disappearing underneath a small pile of leaves.
Sweetie sighed. It was clear to her that just because she possessed the ability to speak with anything she wanted to, that didn't actually mean that anything wanted to speak with her.
She supposed she couldn't blame them. She wasn't sure what she would do if some giant creature, maybe a hydra or something, followed her around and suddenly said, "Hello." Then again, there was now a real possibility that a situation like that might actually occur. How would she react?
She would probably scream and run away, just like the beetle had.
What she needed was some good advice. Discord had told her that she'd need to figure things out on her own, but he was known to speak in riddles and was a bit of a trickster. Perhaps he just meant that she needed to figure out who the right person to ask for help was. She thought for a moment.
Her situation was caused by a stray bolt of magic. What she needed was somepony who understood magic and could help her learn more about it. She could always ask her sister Rarity, but the fashionable mare had become quite busy with work ever since opening up a boutique in Canterlot. Although Rarity had been helping with Sweetie's budding magical talents whenever she could, Sweetie had to admit that this particular magical problem was probably beyond Rarity's ability to help with. That left just one pony she knew who was gifted magically. An obvious choice, really.
Sweetie stood up and started down the path towards the Castle of Friendship.
..o0o..
Twilight Sparkle frowned. Then she raised an eyebrow. She then proceeded to squint, blink rapidly, and stare open-mouthed, in that order. Finally, she spoke.
"So let me get this straight," she said, pacing somewhat frantically around the room. "You went to see Pinkie so that she could help you learn to bake." She turned and waited for confirmation from Sweetie before continuing. "But then you measured out a cup of flour, some of which landed on your nose and caused you to sneeze, thereby inadvertently releasing a magical charge from your horn that zipped around the room and landed in your cupcake mixture–"
"Muffin," Sweetie corrected.
"What now?"
"It was a muffin mixture."
"Riiiiight." Twilight rolled her eyes and continued. "Then Pinkie said it was okay to eat, so you put the mixture in the oven, baked a surprisingly yummy muffin, and then discovered that you could speak to insects!" She stopped pacing again and stared at Sweetie expectantly.
Sweetie was hesitant. "Well, I think I can talk to more than just insects. Discord said that I could speak any language, and–"
"Ah, yes. Discord." Twilight chuckled. "Good old, dependable Discord. He wouldn't possibly try to lead any of us astray, would he? It's not like causing trouble is in his nature or anything." Sweetie lowered her ears, and Twilight softened her tone. "Look, Sweetie. I know you aren't the kind of pony who goes around making up stories. Usually," she added. "The problem is, there's something about what you told me that just doesn't add up!" She shook her head and looked at Sweetie. "How did you only get one muffin if you used a full cup of sugar and two cups of flour? It doesn't make any sense!"
Sweetie Belle blinked. She hadn't really expected it to be easy to explain everything to Twilight, but she couldn't have predicted that the studious alicorn would get caught up in such a minor detail.
"We used Pinkie's miniature cups," she explained with a shrug. "She said she uses them for beginners."
Twilight's eyelids lowered. "Of course she does." She spun around and trotted over to her desk, then used her magic to open one of the many books that was scattered upon it. She examined the book closely for a moment, then her eyes rose and locked onto Sweetie.
"So tell me," Twilight continued casually. "If Discord says you can read and understand any language, then that would mean you can understand magical languages too, correct?"
Sweetie had studied magic in a limited fashion with help from Rarity, and occasionally Twilight, but she had never tried anything advanced, and certainly nothing in a foreign language. She shook her head.
"I'm not sure. I wouldn't think–"
"Well there's only one way to find out!" Twilight said. She used her magic to levitate the book she had been reading over to Sweetie Belle. "If Discord said you can read any language, then you should be able to read this."
"What is it?" Sweetie asked, curiously peering at it.
"Oh, nothing," Twilight said with a smug smile. "It's only a spell book written in a lost draconic dialect that took me four hours cross-referencing six different books just to translate the title! I haven't even begun to translate any of the spells. But I'm sure if Discord–"
"Controlling Our Destiny," Sweetie muttered, her eyes fixated on the strange runes before her. "A Selection of Magic From the Greatest of the Dragon Lords." She didn't know how it worked, but one moment she had been looking at weird little symbols, and the next moment she fully understood what it said. She looked up to ask Twilight if she was correct.
Twilight just stood there, eyes wide and mouth open. It was obvious that she was right.
When Twilight recovered several minutes later, she stared intently at Sweetie and drew uncomfortably close.
"Tell me what the first page says," Twilight whispered.