Twilight is in the wing of her castle that she had had converted into a massive, multi-floor library, getting her new collection of books organized just right. Yes, Rainbow Dash would probably crash into the room at some point and they’d all have to be sorted and re-shelved, but that’s what her Number One Assistant is for. Eventually she finishes putting away the latest of the new books received from Rarity, more... risque romance novels featuring impossibly perfectly good-looking stallions on the covers, adding to the worryingly large section filled with such books.
Just as the last book is shelved, the door to the library is slammed open with such force that normally some books would have fallen. However, after having this happen enough times, Twilight had developed a new spell to keep her books on the shelves in such a situation and now it was just a matter of having the reflexes and speed to cast it before any books fell. Though the first few times had been failures, she was getting better and now a magenta forcefield almost instantly appears in front of all of the many bookshelves, holding the books in place.
“Phew.” she says, wiping at her forehead with a hoof as she gently flies down to land in front of the only pony who would barge into her library so forcefully that books could be knocked free from the very act. Rainbow Dash is hovering in the doorway and she does not look happy.
“Um... Can I help you, Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asks, nervous about what could make Rainbow Dash so upset. The only things she can think of are that maybe somepony was picking on Fluttershy or Scootaloo, or, well, anypony for that matter. However, if she’s here then it must be pretty serious.
“Nah, I need Spike for this. We need Princess Celestia’s help for this one.” Rainbow tells her as she looks around, hoping to find Spike somewhere.
As she’s looking, Rarity and Fluttershy enter the room, though with much less impact than Rainbow Dash had.
“I’m afraid Rainbow Dash is right, dear.” Rarity says, looking like she was having difficulty keeping her calm composure.
“I’ll get him, but what’s this about? What’s so serious that we need Princess Celestia’s help?” Twilight asks, growing increasingly worried.
“Well—” Rarity begins, but Rainbow Dash cuts her off.
“Another one of them showed up!” the cyan pegasus exclaims, all but spitting the word “them”.
“’Them’?”
“Yes, dear. Another of those... ugh, calling them ‘stallions’ is an insult to all other stallions out there, even the worst of them.” Rarity starts to explain and Twilight begins to catch on.
“Oh dear...” Twilight says, “One of them.”
“Yeah! One of those creeps that thinks they’re Princess Celestia’s gift to all marekind! He came into town and after going on and on and on about... something, I stopped listening once I realized he was one of them, he called for, and I quote,” Rainbow makes air quotes with her front hooves, “’Bring all the most beautiful and eligible mares in town before me.’ Hoping for a laugh, I hopped off my cloud to go check things out.” "Oh dear..." Twilight finds herself thinking as Rainbow Dash tells her story.
“Naturally I was there, and Fluttershy was getting some food for her animals.” Rarity says, “So, once everypony else got there, he started walking around and every once in a while he’d stop in front of somepony, say some mean comment and then send them running off in tears!”
“He told me he asked for mares, not filly-looking stallions!” Rainbow Dash says in a huff, “He’s lucky I didn’t buck him to the moon myself for that comment.”
“The brute had the nerve to tell me that I was trying too hard.” Rarity scoffs.
“Eventually, he approached Fluttershy and, after a moment, announced that, and I quote,” Rainbow once again does the air quotes with her hooves, “’You should be honored, for I, Shadow Blade, have chosen you to be my first wife!’” she then makes a gagging sound before continuing, “As if it was some great privilege! Anyway, that’s about the time that I decided to come here so we could put this matter to rest. Preferably somewhere far away.”
Rarity wraps her forelegs around Fluttershy, “The poor dear, I brought her here as quickly as I could. There’s no way I could let that ruffian get his hooves on her.”
“I’m okay. I really don’t want to cause any trouble for anypony, but... well, the others are right. He’s not very nice.” Fluttershy says quietly, speaking for the first time since she and Rarity arrived.
“Alright. I’ll call Spike down here to send a letter.” Twilight agrees and is just about to call Spike down when Rarity holds up a hoof and interrupts her.
“Please, allow me.” Rarity smiles to her friend before calling out, “O~~~~h Spi~~~~ke!”
With speed that Rainbow Dash would be proud of (especially considering his short legs and lack of wings), Spike suddenly appears in the doorway, an eager-to-please-Lady-Rarity look on his face. “Yes, Rarity?” Spike asks, eager to help the lovely alabaster unicorn in any way he possibly can.
“We need to send a letter to Princess Celestia.” Rarity tells him.
“Of course! Anything you need!” Spike says, quickly retrieving a blank scroll along with a quill and inkwell.
“Spike, take a letter.” Twilight says and immediately receives looks from everyone except Fluttershy that all seem to say, “Seriously?” The lavender alicorn blushes, “Sorry, habit.”
Dear Princess Celestia,
We have once again become troubled by one of those particularly difficult—
“Oh for crying out loud, just write what I tell you, ok, Spike?” Rainbow says impatiently.
“Well, ok.” Spike shrugs and gets a fresh scroll. He tries to hide his relief that Rainbow Dash is taking over, since at least her letter will be short and to the point.
Dear Princess Celestia,
Another one of thoserottenponies that thinks they’re the bestbuckingthing since apple cider is here and we want you to get rid of him as soon as you can.P.S. He was mean to Fluttershy.
Thanks bunches,
Rainbow Dash
“Perfect.” Rainbow Dash says, content with another job well done.
Spike crosses out a few words before rolling the scroll up and sending it off to Celestia.
“Well then, would anypony like refreshments while we wait?” Twilight offers.
Her friends (and assistant) all accept and they leave for the kitchen to get some snacks.
********
Seconds after getting that fiery, grumbling feeling in his belly, Spike suddenly burps up a scroll labeled “Read this scroll first”, quickly followed by a second scroll with a label on it that reads “Read the other scroll first”. Though Spike and Rainbow Dash are both very tempted to read the second scroll first, Twilight snatches it away with her magic and puts a stop to their shenanigans. She unfurls the first scroll and reads it aloud,
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
I am sorry, but I cannot come and help at the moment. However, included is something I feel you will be needing, particularly if these loathsome individuals continue to show up. Only use this spell if you absolutely must, as it is quite difficult to undo. That said, as I cannot be there myself, get him good for me.P.S. Thank you for your concise and candid report, Rainbow Dash. It was very refreshing.
With Love and Friendship,
Celestia
“Your report was refreshing? Concise? But so are mine and she’s never said anything about them being concise...”
“What’s concise and candid mean?” Rainbow Dash inquires.
“Concise means it was short and to the point and candid means it was unfiltered, dear. And I must agree, it was certainly both of those things.” Rarity explains to her friend.
“Oh. Well, anyway, it sounds like we have Princess Celestia’s permission. So what kinda spell is on that other scroll?” Rainbow Dash asks eagerly.
“Let me take a look.” Twilight says as she unfurls the scroll in her magic. The scroll is almost completely covered in arcane diagrams, runes, instructions, and other miscellany she’d need in order to cast the spell. As she examines it, which takes nearly fifteen minutes, her eyes begin to grow wide. “Oh. Oh my...”
“Well? Don’t keep us waiting in suspense, darling. What does it do?”
“Yeah! Spill already!”
Looking up from the scroll to her friends, Twilight says solemnly, “Somepony is going to the moon.”
“Aww yeah!” Rainbow Dash cheers as she does a hoof pump, “Twilight gets to give out ‘Banished to the Moon’ tickets!”
“Rainbow, this is a big deal and I have to be very careful about who I banish.” Twilight explains, “If I use it irresponsibly, I might get banished to the moon. Which would be incredibly awkward, being there with everypony I sent there.”
“Well, I think we can all agree that this ‘Shadow Blade’ needs to go.” Rarity announces then turns to Twilight, “So, how long do you think it’ll be until you’ve got that spell figured out?”
“Hmm...” Twilight ponders as she looks at the scroll, “Couple hours? Though I’d feel a lot better if I spent a bit longer to practice it, just to make sure I’ve really got it down.”
“And how long is ‘a bit longer’?” Rainbow asks, dreading the answer.
“Six or seven hours?” Twilight offers.
“Really?! Can’t you just learn it and blast him with it on your first or second shot?”
“If I perform the spell wrong which is a lot easier with a spell this complex, it could go off course, send him somewhere else entirely, send only part of him to the moon, or even blow up in my face and send ME to the moon.” Twilight explains, growing increasingly frazzled as she thinks of more and more ways the spell could go wrong.
“Whoa, deep breaths, Twilight, deep breaths!” Spike tells her as he tries to get her to calm down.
“You’re right. I don’t have to worry about any of that happening, because I’m gonna practice this spell until I can cast it perfectly.”
“Alright, um, you’re the expert. So you do what you have to. I’m gonna be hanging out with Fluttershy in case that creep shows up again.” Rainbow Dash says as she hovers protectively near her friend.
“And I’ll be heading back to my shop. I still have a bit of work to do before closing up today.” Rarity tells them.
“Okay. Take care. Shall I come find you tomorrow when I’m ready to put an end to this?” Twilight asks.
“Oh yeah! Wouldn’t miss it for the world! I wonder if your parents will want a picture for the photo album? ‘Twilight’s first banishing of somepony to the moon!’” Rainbow Dash laughs.
“I believe I shall pass. As much as I would like to see him get his just desserts, I have no desire to see him again. Ever.”
“Um... Just say bye for me, okay? If it’s not too much trouble, that is.”
“Okay. Now then, I’ve got some studying to do. I’ll see you tomorrow, Rainbow.”
After her friends had left, Twilight heads to her private study and sets to work. Spike enters after her and asks, “All nighter?”
“Yep.”
“Bummer...” he hangs his head as he leaves to prepare some tea.
********
Early evening the next day, after spending nearly ten hours studying and then practicing the spell on various unlucky boulders that she had taken a disliking to, and then another eight hours to get some sleep so she’d be well-rested, Twilight is ready to take on Shadow Blade and send him packing.
After preparing herself as best she can, Twilight heads to Fluttershy’s cottage to find Rainbow Dash. Spike had decided he wanted to come as well, since he agreed with Rainbow that it’d be both awesome and a milestone event. Also, he wanted to take some pictures to send to Twilight’s parents.
When they arrive at Fluttershy’s cottage, they’re surprised to find a completely black alicorn stallion with a shining onyx blade Cutie Mark standing at the door to Fluttershy’s cottage. “Sweet Celestia, he’s even worse than the last one...” Spike says as he hops down from Twilight’s back. “I’m gonna go find a good spot to take the pictures from.” he then rushes off into the brush across the stream from Fluttershy’s cottage and finds a vantage point. Once he’s in place, he gets his camera out and then nods to Twilight.
During her practice the night before, Twilight had come to realize that although she could perform the spell perfectly, it’d be a lot harder to do it if the target was resisting or even moving. And for that reason, she would have to do something that was decidedly underhooved. “It’s for the betterment of Equestria though.” she tells herself and begins the spell. As she is casting the spell, Spike is snapping pictures and Shadow Blade is knocking on Fluttershy’s door, calling for her to answer.
Once the spell is finally prepared, Twilight takes aim and fires a beam of swirling lavender, magenta, purple, and pink light at the black alicorn, which suddenly engulfs him in a similar light. The beam remains in place like a rod of light between Twilight’s horn and the black alicorn as he’s lifted into the air about ten feet.
“WHAT IS THIS?! DO YOU NOT KNOW WHO I AM?!” Shadow Blade roars angrily and a nebulous black aura begins to surround him, pushing away at the light from Twilight’s spell that is surrounding him.
Sensing his struggles, Twilight pours more of her power into the spell, temporarily squashing Shadow Blade’s efforts to break free. Quickly, Twilight locates the moon and lines up her horn with it, swinging Shadow Blade through the air so that he’s between her horn and the moon. The alicorn princess then prepares for the final part of the spell.
“YOU CANNOT DO THIS TO ME! I! AM! SHADOW BLADE!” Shadow Blade shouts defiantly as he once more tries to build up the magic necessary to break free.
“Fluttershy says ‘bye’!” Twilight shouts to him before finishing the spell. The beam of energy between her and Shadow Blade suddenly flares, igniting like a rocket before Shadow Blade is sent shooting off toward the moon, leaving a streak of light in the sky behind him. After a moment, there’s a small, brief sparkle on a spot on the moon.
“Whew.” Twilight exhales as she collapses to the ground. “That’s much harder on a pony, much less one that’s fighting back.”
“That. Was. AWESOME!” Spike says as he comes rushing out of the trees, his camera held above him like a trophy.
“Twilight!” Rainbow Dash shouts as she suddenly comes flying to land in front of her friend. “I’ve been looking all over for you! That good for nothing Shadow Blade was here pestering Fluttershy so I told her to hide while I went to go get you so you could blast him to the moon!” Rainbow explains then asks, “So, are you ready to kick some flank? I can’t wait to see this! A pony getting banished! This is the stuff of legends! Literally!”
Twilight and Spike both look at each other for a moment before turning back to Rainbow Dash. Before either of them can speak up though, Rainbow asks, “Um... Guys? What’s with the faces?”
“Well... He was still here when we came to get you, and, umm...”
Rainbow’s ears droop and she falls onto her rear, tears brimming at the corners of her eyes, “I... missed it?”
Twilight and Spike just nod.
Rainbow sniffles and wipes at her eyes, “Well, I’m sure there’ll be more. I’ll just have to stick with you next time.”
“I just hope it’s later rather than sooner...”