> A Wonderbolt Trip > by Rocky Boulder > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I yet out one more yawn and put the glass tube with the weird green liquid on the table near the other tubes. Seeing Starlight come into the room levitating the cardboard box I asked her to bring, I thanked and shoved it on the table next to the potions. I opened the box. Phew! The spells were in perfect condition even after the Golden Oak library was destroyed. Taking out the parchments with spells, I put a few of my new spells near the table with them, burning the cardboard box in an instant. Starlight came closer and read aloud the titles of my new spells. " 'Magic steal','Book Restoration Spell', ' Double Modified...." She looked at me with confusement, and anger."...Time Travel spell? Twilight you modified my modified Starswirl's spell?" I nodded. "Just for good measures. This way you can always change huge mistakes you made! Now lets go to sleep. We shouldn't have stayed up this long." I looked at the clock. Two o'clock into the night. It was a bad idea staying up so long. I went pass her with a good night's wish, and headed for the bed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I woke up hearing sounds from the castle. Was Starlight still up? I saw the sun rising in the window. Or maybe.. thieves? I jumped out of bed running towards the sound. Opening the library's door, I saw Spike, inspecting the glass tubes. I cleared my throat, asking for the dragon's attention. He turned towards me."Oh, Twilight! What is this all about?" He asked coming towards me. "I'm doing an experiment. You see.." I prepared my lecture voice and saw Spike rolling his eyes."When I pour this liquid on the spell, it casts itself without damaging the paper of course. It's helpful for the earth ponies and pegasi, because they can't use unicorn magic." For once it looked like Spike listened to me and climbed on the chair looking straight onto the glass tube with the green liquid. "So, these are spell caster liquids?" He for once was interested in the experiments. He turned around hitting a few glass tubes with his tail, causing them to fall over. It all fell on the spells next to them on the table. I shrieked as a few ducks appeared, a freshly made cake, and magic light? Suddenly a glowing scroll opened and suddenly started pulling me and Spike in. Spike was almost sucked in, but I teleported him away, to late to teleport myself out. I was sucked in the paper with a nauseous feeling. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ First thing I felt, was the terrible smell of rotten and trash. I pushed my self to my hooves, I started stretching my wings, and legs. Then finally I looked around. I was in a space between buildings, with trash lying around me. The walls of the buildings were made from bricks, with cracked paint all over them. Ponies were passing in the street ahead of me, but in the space where I was, was dark, so thankfully nopony could see me. I summoned a pile of checklists I always kept with me for situations like this. I took out a checklist with a title that read 'Checklist #13472 - magical fail guide'. I read the first box. '1-Look around you.' I checked that one off and resumed. '2-Put up a disguise.' This one was because I was an alicorn princess after all, so seeing your princess appear smelly and sleepy, will not put up a good impression of me. Casting a disguise spell I removed my horn. After that I wondered if I needed to remove my neck curve(1), and my much-more-bigger-then-a-pegasi's wings. ~~(1)My neck curve freaked me out after I became an alicorn. Having more body parts, an alicorn needs to have a bigger body to fit them nicely.~~ But I decided to keep them. I never liked getting out of my comfort zone. '3-Which city are you in?' I realized I had no idea where I was. Walking out of the building space I trotted along the unknown to me street. The buildings seemed odd - a lot of them were made out of bricks. On the streets were mostly unicorns in old-fashioned gowns and tuxedos. There were a few earth ponies here and there, but most of them were in farmers clothes. Just when I was confused about the pegasus I saw a lot of them flying above the city, with no care at all. I realized I was disguised as a pegasus so better work those wings, if I wanna look kinda normal. When I got higher then the buildings a few familiar castle towers popped into view. I gaped at the castle. CANTERLOT? No, It couldn't. I was about to head for the tower of time(2), when I realized it wasn't there. I was hovering in confusement with no idea what was happening. ~~(2)The highest tower in Canterlot. Apart from the clock, it has a calendar as well.~~ I flew across the city inspecting it. When I was above a newspaper stand, I flew down to get the date from the newspaper. I bought the only newspaper I managed to recognize. Canterlot Times Date: 6th July, 25 year of ER. Cloudsdale coming to Canterlot? I stared at the paper in amazement. ER was a very old time name. It stood for Eclipse Reign, because of Luna's and Celestia's reign together. But as she remembered 25 ER was the last year with that time name. It was stopped after Luna's banishment, and it so happens that she was banished a few months ago in this time. So after that went MB - Moon's Banishment. In Equestria it was 1002th MB. I guess my time travel spell was activated... Time travel was never my thing. Especially after the Starlight thing. I have to get out of here... wait Cloudsdale? I read the newspaper title once more. Of course! This is the first year the Wonderblots will perform in the first Summer Sun celebration. They needed to pick the best flyers to participate in the show. She saw Cloudsdale in the distance hovering slowly towards Canterlot. The grin I let out was huge. This meant one thing - history in real life. > Chapter 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The magnificent city of Cloudsdale - the home to most of Equestria's pegasus and the first city made out of clouds. I looked up, with excitement. I could see hundreds of pegasi flying up to it every minute. I unconsciously followed them. Flying towards the city, I had millions of questions swirling in my head - 'Why am I in the past?' 'How do I get back home?' 'How different is Cloudsdale from nowadays?' 'Will they have libraries in there?'. I reminded my self I was still in the air, and after I barely dodged a fluffy cloud, I realized I was almost at Cloudsdale. The beautiful rainbows and magnificent archs and structures, sometimes reminded me the strange fact that pegasi were better builders then unicorns. Landing on a fluffy street I almost forgot to pulse pegasi magic threw my hooves. Being an alicorn didn't mean that I could walk on clouds that easily. I was surprised that Cloudsdale was little different from when I visited it at Rainbow's tournament or the cleaning up cloud monsters princess duty I had to do . Reaching the target of the crowd, a racing ring reviled itself. I barely recognized it. The Honored Guest and Royalty pavilions was extremely small, the seats were made out of stone, and the ring was a bit smaller. She could see at least three hundred pegasi, with coal-written numbers on their hooves. Suddenly a temptation ran threw me, and I glided down towards the assignment office(1). I am not a good flier (considering I just got my wings nine months ago) but unfortunately the pegasus part of me was eager for some excitement. I knew the contest was more of a test flight to pick the best seven pegasi to perform in the first Summer Sun celebration, of course from history books. I knew I didn't have a chance against the Wonderbolts, but perhaps I could at least get my fastest 400 meters time. Better hope Rainbow will be satisfied by it. After some waiting, it was time for me to fly. I came to the starting platform, along with other four pegasi. I got use to stand in front of hundreds of ponies, but the others, no. Well all except one. A pegasus colt, with blue coat and red hair was as calm as me. I observed the seats again, and noticed somepony familiar in the Royalty pavilion. The mare was tall, with graceful white coat, but barely recognizable in front of the bright clouds. I jumped into the air flapping my wings, and gathering speed. I was enjoying the first four meters, when a chill ran threw me, and my wings thrust started increasing rapidly. About half way there, there was only me and the stallion, it seemed the others couldn't keep up. In the end , I got second. While I was wondering what could've increased my speed so much, I saw that red maned winner in the crowd. He was looking at me, and a friend (or a co-worker) of his, whispering something to his ear. The red maned nodded, sanding a glance to wards me. He noticed I was looking at him, and quickly looked away. His friend walked off. After he trotted off into the distance, I was startled by a mare with the strangest, yet familiar uniform I have ever seen. "Missy, you're coming with me." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "You hear me? You were fast enough to join the team of seven participating in the celebration. Tomorrow at five I want you here!" Said General Firefly with some excitement in her voice."Oh, and also, today we have a meeting before sunset to get all of the new teammates to meet each other. " I wondered how badly I already changed the course of time. ME flying with the Wonderbolts. THAT was unthinkable. After leaving the office, I trotted on the clouds towards the hotel I was staying in when I visited Cloudsdale the second time, (disspelling the cloud monsters was pretty hard.) I stopped by a cloud to hide behind it. I opened my pocket dimension, and took some bits from my deep budget. I hoped that the bits weren't worth less in this time. The hotel staff greeted me kindly, thought I could see that the kindness was fake. After the room was payed for I lay down on the bed, trying to organize memories of things that happened to me today. I still had that teammate meeting before sundown. Maybe I shouldn't go? Maybe I should stay in the hotel for years, trying to remember the spell? No. I Flew out of the window forgetting to close it behind me. ~~~~~~~~ The building Firefly mentioned we will meet in, was the strangest looking building in Cloudsdale. The giant grey walls had statues of the previous pegasi rulers, gargoyles looked down from the windows, and it's towers were extremely detailed, but not very high. The giant gate was opened and two guards were standing in the entrance. Jeez, I knew the pegasi were kinda honorable and traditional in this time, but this was an overdoing. After the guards checked if I have any weapons, they let me in. I was early, but the general and one of the future Wonderbolts was there was there. I needed to act like I am honored and proud that I am in the group. But I wasn't I was more of ashamed and scared that I'm messing with the past, but if I will get back home, I need to be smart and act. I wish I took the show acting lessons Trixie offered me. > Chapter 3 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Twilight," Firefly turned towards me upon my entering."I want to introduce you to our second best flyer - Crimson Sky." I looked at the stallion she was introducing me to, to find out that it was the read haired one. He turned around, looking away from his meal. When he noticed me, leaped back, almost hitting the table. "N-Nice to meet you!" He said with a shaky voice. I was weirder out as well, but greeted him. "Hi, name's Twilight. Nice to meet you." I said quickly. I realized that Firefly felt the tension between us, and a faint smile appeared on her lips. "You know each other?" "Yes, we were flying in the same round." I answered quickly, before Crimson could react. "I see." The general said and walked off to some pegasus officer. It wan't long before the other five arrived. Rose Feather, Star Binder, Icy Wind and Free Breeze. The last one, (who seemed to be a friend of Crimson) kept avoiding me, so I couldn't get his name. I really befriended most of the other flyers. Rose was quite a romantic one. She was almost like Rarity about her dresses, only about romance novels. Star Binder was something of an expert at pegasus physical and magical studies, Icy Wind somewhat reminded me Maud Pie. She was actually a kind of pony I never met before. She had a strange one tone voice like Maud, but she showed more expressions in her voice. Also her jokes were to die for. Free Breeze was exactly what his name was. He was a non-stop talker, and changed the subject so often, it was hard keeping up. 'Hmm... Kinda like Pinkie.' In the end I even got to talk to Crimson Sky, thought I got little words out of him. I think he is too suspicious. Something about me is bothering him. A thought hit me and I tried to brush it off immediately, but it was obvious. He probably saw me as an Alicorn before I cast the transformation spell. I suspected that his friend knew it too, considering he's been avoiding me. After doing Cadence's breathing technique, I walked over to the snack tables grabbing myself a cucumber sandwich. The pillow seemed soar to me, the air - hot. I have barely ever felt this bad. If Crimson tells Firefly..... Or perhaps this time's Celestia! With these thoughts disturbing I somehow fell asleep. *Next Morning* The morrow was surprisingly pleasant, considering it was 5AM. The sunrise had painted the sky yellow. The fresh wind was blowing my mane to the sides as I walked across Cloudsdale's streets. I flew to the General's office to meet up with the group. When Firefly saw that everyone was here (for some reason everypony had a bag on his\her back) , she took off, leading the group down to the lands beneath Cloudsdale. We landed on a green valley surrounded by a forest, but big enough to fit a quarter of Ponyville. Then everybody took of the bags off their backs unpacking tents and supplies. I wondered how stupid I sometimes can be. We were setting up a camp to stay here for some heavy training. And I was stupid enough not to get the purpose of the bags. As fast as I could, I flew to the bushes, shattered the illusion spell, and created a tent with magic. Sweat ran down my face when I was ready, and casting the illusion spell again, I ran of to put my tent up. Then Firefly commanded us to fly about a thousand laps, and I finally realized what Rainbow went threw every day. In the evening I barely felt my wings. The general said that we can rest before nine o'clock and then go to sleep, and I appreciated the free time. I went to the nearest river (that I spotted while I was doing the exercises Firefly gave us) to wash the sweat from me. Only then, when I came out of the river ruffling my wings to remove the water, I looked up at the beauty of the night. The sky was dark blue, the stars were much more brighter and more than usual. And there was the moon, with Nightmare Moon's Face on it. A few lonely clouds were hanging in the air, and crickets were singing their evening song. I sat on the grass near the river bank, looking up at the sky. I couldn't recall any of the future's nights being so calm and gentle. Suddenly, a bush rustled behind me. I looked back, and saw something orange slipping into the darkness of the forest behind me. i jumped to my hooves, getting readied to break the illusion spell and use magic, but who came out, was Crimson's friend. His grey coat and large wings fitted nicely with the orange mane. He came out of the bushes, greeting me by name and sitting a few feet away from me on the grass. "Why did you come?" I asked the stallion who was looking up at the sky as well. "Are you from around here?" He asked without moving his head, looking towards the sky. The question sent shivers down my back and I slowly nodded. "You know how to behave yourself near royalty, you have manners, and at the same time you are an interesting talker to other folk. You remind me of a unicorn." He said and turned his head towards me. When he mentioned about behaving around royalty I was confused. Then I remembered that in these times the general was still the ruler of the pegasi. So Firefly was considered royalty? "From what family are you?" He asked sharply. I never wanted to tell him that. The Sparkles already existed in this time, so reviling the name would make it worse."Crestle!" I said the first name that came to my head."You probably never heard of it." I added. Realizing that I lied he sighed, stood up and headed in direction of the camp. "See you tomorrow Twilight Crestle." He walked of, leaving me alone. The conversation had sucked the beauty out of the night sky. I stood up, shook off the last drip of water and followed him to camp. > Chapter 4 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I woke up early, totally ready to continue our research. I went to the bathroom, brushed my teeth.. all that stuff. Suddenly I heard strange sound from the bottom floor. I heard some glass shatter and then... teleporting? Something seemed off. Then I heard a dragon's shriek. What happened? I ran towards the shriek, my hooves clattering on the crystal floor. Spike ran out from the library, and upon seeing me, he stopped, trying to get some air. He started screaming out words, trying to explain. The dragon pointed towards the library screaming."Twilight! .. Help! ... " From these few words I understood that something happened to Twilight. I ran past Spike into the library to find that... nopony was inside. Some papers were stacked on the table, spell scrolls were all over the room and... fresh cakes? I turned towards the dragon with a confused look. He tried to calm himself down and explain."I-I spilled s-some of the potion o-on the spells... T-Twilight teleported me away b-but when I c-came back.... She was gone!" He took some air and finished"I hope you aren't mad at m-me S-S-Starlight." I looked at him shocked. There were around fifty spells near the table. There were baking, magic stealing, dark magic and even deleting spells n there... The situation was very bad. "Call Twilight friends.. We have a huge problem." ~~~~~~~~~~~ A week had passed since my arrival and I was... getting use to it? The sweat from hard training, the wind blowing in my face, I got use to it all. I improved a lot in flying, but I still was looking for a way to go back. I stood up from my uncomfortable sleeping bag and dragged down the zipper on the entrance of my tent. It was to early to go to training. In fact, the sun was not up yet. Bu my horn was itching for some intense magic training. I flew quietly threw the camp, heading towards the river. I remembered the last time I was here. I finally got to talk with Crimsons friend - Silver Sunrise. I still suspected them knowing I was an alicorn, so I figured I needed to be careful around them. I flew threw the forest dodging trees and bushes, until I saw the sound of the river. I sat down on the grass, broke the illusion spell, making my horn visible again. I set off some alarm spells in the forest and searched for a magical challenge. What if... I pushed all my strength into the water feeling the rivers bottom and pushing the liquid up. I opened my eyes to see, that around two hundred feet of a fifty feet wide river were in the air. The bottom of the river was wet, with some crabs lying around. The strangest thing was, that It wasn't hard. I was almost in a relaxed state while holding a few hundred kiloliters. I heated up the water to fifty decrees at Celsius. As the few first sweats appeared on my face, of course I felt the alarm spells going off. I dropped the water and restored the illusion spell. Just as Crimson came out of the bushes, the enormous water mass hit the river floor, creating a water explosion. Crimson stared at the aftermath - everything in sight was wet, and a few fishes and crabs lay around on the river banks. "What the hay?" He came close to me, still looking around. "A ginormous fish." I stated. He looked fairly convinced. Now he was a stupid guy. I brushed the sweat off my face, and tried changing the subject."So what are you up to?" He opened his mouth, but the words weren't heard, credit to the general, who came out of the bushes. "You two lovebirds will practice today? HURRY UP!!! YOU ARE FIVE MINUTES LATE!!!". I nodded and fluffed my wings, preparing for a take off. While he was looking me getting to fly, I saw that his face had... a blush on it? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Yes.. this is what happened. I suspect its one of these three." I pointed in direction of the three scroll I put on the table. I read the titles out loud. "Crystal Flare's Erasing Spell, Advanced Teleportation Spell by Star Swirl, Double Amplified Time Travel Spell by twilight sparkle." "I hope it's the first one." Stated a sapphire blue unicorn with a magician's hat. I and the other five mares + a dragon stared at her with confusement and anger. "I can try to find out the right one, but it will take some time." I said going out of the library, hurrying the other guests out of the room. "But will Twilight be alright?" Applejack asked me after going out of the library. "I can't guarantee, but I think... no." > Chapter 5 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Give me five tornado dives!" were the words of a relaxed mare, sitting on a beach chair. Everypony started flying in circles with high speed, creating tornadoes. Never thought I will be able to do these, though it still was easier to do them with magic. I finished my tornado and prepared to dive. I flew into it, resisting the air that was pushing me up. I flew out of it with my mane all messed up, and prepared for another dive. It was then that I heard a scream. I looked around noticing the giant out of control tornado stand taller than the others. A familiar stallion flew out of it, no doubt lost control of his course. He hit the ground with a loud *thump* and lay there. I rushed to him, reaching him before the others. I rolled him on the back and checked for pulse, after what I sighed with a relief. His wings didn't look good though. Both were stretched on a unusual corner, and the feathers were broken or flying near the place. Crimson looked horrified after he saw his wings, but I'm sure it was more painful then it looked. Upon seeing the situation a angry, yet caring look appeared in her eyes. "Do we have anypony here who at least knows the medical basics? This heavy-head forgot how to fly." "Twilight!" Instantly replied Crimson. Well yes, I did know the basics, perhaps even more, but how did he find out? Or perhaps he shot blindly trying to guess. "Yes I do, but only the basics." I replied hesitantly. "Great! You shall stay with him until.. well medical help arrives from Cloudsdale." Firefly looked at me and nodded towards the extra tent we used for provisions. I placed him on my back and carefully carried him to his tent. I put him on his sleeping bag, and flew towards the provision tent. By the time I finished, his face was as red as a his hair. Maybe he hit his head? After bandaging (Never did it with my hooves before), I found out that his wing muscle was stretched, but that was about it. Good thing that I didn't skip the non-unicorn part of the medical help book back at home. My wings certainly missed the exercise that we needed to have today. I had to put my sleeping bag into his tent to be there if he needs anything at night. The damage his wing had taken would usually take up to half a year to recover, but with the help of some magic... Well he will be as good as new tomorrow. I just hope he won't see me while I will be casting the healing spell. It is quite luminous. It wasn't even dark when I heard him snoring. I shattered the illusion spell, and prepared the for the healing. I lifted him up into the air, focused the magic around his damaged muscles and remembered the runes. A turquoise light appeared and he started (or tried) to move while I was holding him in my magic. After the spell was done I put him carefully on the sleeping bag and zipped it. When I went out the tent Firefly and the others were just returning from practice. "Weren't you supposed to stay with him?" "Oh, I'm done. He'll be in perfect condition by tomorrow." I replied, immediately earning strange a strange look from the general. "If you say so. But that looked like a broken wing at minimum. You sure." I understood her concern for letting him fly so early after the damage, but spells always (mostly always) solved the problem. "Crimson is fine and he will be ready to go to practice tomorrow. And.. You can send the medical team back." I stated. She looked up at the sky and saw a few pegasi with medical kits flying towards us. She looked one more time at me suspiciously and walked of to the landing spot of the doctors. I and Twilight were sitting on the beach, under an umbrella. The sun was shining and ponies were swimming in the sea. Twilight was telling me a story, but I didn't hear her. My conscience was focused on the sea, on the happy ponies, on the fresh breeze. We laughed together when Twilight finished her story. Suddenly the sky darkened, clouds appeared, and the ponies around us vanished along with Twilight's smile. She stood up and looked around us. The look on her face - grim determination and care, but fear. Suddenly three smoke-like spirits appeared around us. I started moving away from the scene, just when the spirits jumped at Twilight. I called out for her, screaming her name, but I was too far away. My screams turned into cries. I started to hear voices in my head, calling for me."Starlight! Starlight! STAARLIIGHT!" I opened my eyes and quickly raised my head. Spike was standing in front of me, with his claws on my shoulder. The research papers and counter spells were all over the floor. "You alright?" "Yes, just a bad dream." I suddenly remembered the hole dream. "We need to find Twilight! She is in danger!" I scram and jumped up, trying to realize what to do. "Calm down Starlight! If you panic we won't be able to bring her back. You are the best at magic and spells. You'll be able to do it just if you calm down." Spike said as he stared into my eyes. "I am sure about it Drogan. The spell doesn't lie." "What would another one be doing here. Where did she come from?" "The spell said she is present for a few weeks now." "You informed me just now!? Get my things ready, I'm heading to find out what is going on in person. Your lousy agents are useless as I can see." "B-But Celestia will take it as offence...." "She is hiding something from me! And I will find out what!" > Chapter 6 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well, Crimson sure was grumpy the next morning. It almost seemed like he crashed on purpose. Of course, he and the others were surprised from such a quick recovery…  but it still was hilarious to see their reaction.. Scratch that... I think I’ve been spending too much time with Discord these days.. "Twilight! Did you fall asleep?" Starbinder poked my side with a hoof. "Uh?" I asked in confusion and realized I had spaced out during a flying technique lesson. "Twilight, Star you must be having a pleasant conversation? Because I am not." Firefly noted angerly."Now stop talking and suck this technique into your head newbies! Your gonna need it in one week." "And what's gonna happen then?" Free Breeze asked. "Is the Celebration getting moved to nearer dates?" "We're heading to Cloudsdale in a week. Some inspectors from the academy were wanting to see how we improved. After that we will start working on the routine and... pegasus magic." I've heard about pegasus magic - that's how they, well and me, could fly. But since we obviously could fly, than what? Or maybe some way of using it more effectively... And.. I have no idea. "And do I have to mention that the princess will be joining the inspectors?" Celestia? No, no, no. This could ruin the future big-time! "And I think you don't want to embarrass yourself in front of princess Celestia, so you better stop spacing out Twilight!" Firefly returned me to the conscious world with the raised voice in the end of the sentence. "Sorry." I may have blushed as I looked away embarrassed. But anyway, I wonder how my friends back in future Equestria were doing. "Finally!" I screamed while jumping up. I lifted Twilight's version of the Time Travel spell and lifted it in the air. Spike ran into the room and excitedly said "Did you find it? We can get Twilight back?” “Yes! She needs to reach out with her magic and open the portal from her side!" "All right! ... And if she doesn't know that we are trying to undo the spell?" "Umm.. Let's just hope that doesn't happen." Spike nodded and ran out of the room, saying something about going to Shugarcube Corner when I heard a familiar burp and 'pop'. "What is it Spike? Just don't say that..." "Yup, Twilight will be missing some noble meetings." "A letter." Celestia grasped the letter in her magic, broke the royal Sparkle seal - a six pointed star cut out on magenta wax - and unrolled it. She recognized Spike's hand writing. 'It's weird'. Lately Twilight was writing them on her own. The reason is that some nobles find it offensive to let some dragon write the letters instead of the princess. Princess Twilight Sparkle will be unavailable to do her duties for.. some time, and please don't come because everything is alright and there's no reason to worry about Twilight. From Spike. To Princess Celestia. Celestia chuckled about Spike's attempt to write a formal letter. But the haste that the letter was written in was indeed troubling. 'Well, I guess Luna won't get a day off after all.' She thought as she stood up, wondering what would make Twilight unable to work. 'Might as well do a night time visit.' I heard the bell ring at the entrance of the castle. I rubbed my eyes and crawled out of bed. In some time I was opening the crystal gates wondering who it might be. Well I certainly wasn't expecting Celestia at the front door of the castle. And she was unaccompanied. Like no guards and carriage, what was totally understandable since it was 2 o'clock in the night. "Uh.. Hello! Princess.. Celestia! ... Nice to.. see you here. It... is a.. nice night?" I said startled. She either didn't notice or she ignored my very suspicious tone, though I am sure it was the latter. "It indeed is Starlight Glimmer. " She said calmly. I gestured with a hoof for her to come in, while keeping my very fake smile. I never realized before how soft was Twilight's reading couch. At least now I know why she preferred sitting on it when reading. "May I ask where is Twilight?" So I guess Celestia read Spike letter. She was sitting on another violet couch across the table. "She's.. just got a little sick! That's all! " That was a pretty convenient lie from my perspective. "I think her magic is advanced enough to heal almost any sickness." Well that was a good argument."Can we stop playing stupid?" "What?" I certainly didn't expect her patience being that short. "Where is Twilight?" I'm doomed "What is going on- Princess Celestia!" Well now Spike is also dragged into this. "Hello Spike? Would you mind telling me where Twilight is?" Well I suppose when it came to a pony close to Celestia, you can't judge her for losing patience so fast. "She is... She is..."Oh no... "SHEISSTUCKINATIMETRAVELSPELLANDIANDSTARLIGHTWANTTOGETHEROUTOFTHEREBUTIDID'TWANTTOLIETOYOUANDITSALLMYFAULT!" It took a few seconds for Celestia to process the words. But her reply was a simple "I see." Silence dominated the room for a few long moments, and to my pleasure it was Celestia who stopped it. " Have you found a way to bring her back?" "...Yes." And I hope that it works. "Can I be of any help?" "I suppose, if you know any effective counter-time travel spells." "Sadly I don't have any knowledge of those. But I can give you access to the Canterlot archives if it will be helpful." "I suppose... Yes it will. Thank you." Celestia nodded. "Than I will see you tomorrow after sunrise at the entrance to the Archives." > Chapter 7 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- We readied on the starting line, waiting for firefly to give signal. The three inspectors from the Flight Academy were sitting on some chairs and waiting for the race to begin. I was 100% ready and so excited, I could hardly wait to take off. The first signal to get ready ran threw the air. The tension in the air doubled, but to everyone's disappointment instead of the second signal, the gates slammed open. A three meter high minotaur stepped in wearing a smug look on his face. A few royal pegasi guards were escorting him. Star Binder and Crimson Sky jumped and started flying from the sudden sound, before stopping and cringing their way back to the starting line. "Hello fly-bookworms!" The minotaur greeted the inspectors as he found himself a seat. (Thought he didn't fit well in it.) "I have overheard that you were training some stupendously good flyers, and came to see them for myself!" One of the inspectors looked away from him, the disappointment and anger visible on his face. "Alarak! It is s-so nice to see you! " One of the other inspector spoke, trying to force a smile on his face. "I'm glad as well." Alarak said, before overthinking something and adding- "To be fair I'm not glad, but ignore that. Let's watch those pegasi fly!" "Let's. " Mumbled the first inspector. He nodded towards Firefly (who looked rather disappointed to see the new arrival). She blew at the whistle and we thrusted forward, the wind ruffling our feathers. I yawned. Throwing an ageless scroll behind me, I sipped from my tea. 'Half of the Archive's spell searched.' I thought with a sigh. "Dusty Scroll? Any luck?" I asked letting my boredom slip into my voice. The old stallion shook his head, and continued his reading. He was assigned to help me, and he had already helped a lot. It has been a week since Twilight has disappeared. We (By we I mean me and Celestia) decided that we could increase the chance of Twilight noticing that the way back is open, by finding out what time she has traveled too. Dusty Scroll suddenly suddenly stopped reading and gazed at the scroll. Then he realized I was watching him, so he rolled the scroll and threw it behind him. He continued to read, but he seemed down. "Dusty, is something wrong? " I asked. He shook his head."It's not important." "I decide what's not important sir, so please say what you found. " He nodded and retrieved the scroll from the pile behind him." When time travel spells are used, the user gets sent back in time. But there is a difference in time. If the user is 40 years in the past, there will be no difference in time, but as further back the user goes, the faster is the time for him and slower for us." He sighed and looked straight in my eyes." For all we know, maybe our day is Princess Twilight thousand years.. Maybe millions.. Her spell was pretty advanced, so we would be lucky if she is even 700 years back in time." "But that would mean..." "That every lost minute can be fatal if we don't act quickly." He finished My eye trembled. In the past weeks Twilight has become more then a teacher to me. She was a dear friend. I h-had to hurry! "Report this to Celestia. Please bring more help to scout the library for the information we are searching." I ordered him. This.... Was going to be a tough few days. I threw my flight goggles away with a smirk that would make Rainbow Dash proud. Second place wasn't bad at all, considering that my opponents were wonderbolts. But then of course I was second, not first. That place was Icy Wind's. She looked at me. If she would've been good at showing emotions, she would smirk at me, I'm sure. And my sweet almost victory was interrupted by an annoying minotaur's voice." Oh that was fast for feather brains like you! Congrats!" I huffed. He was as annoying as Discord. But, he didn't know me and I had no idea how to deal with him. My hopes were, that he just would ignore me. Nope. Discord was better than Alarak. ...... I was exiting the hall, when a hand touched my shoulder. I turned around to find Alarak. "What do you want?" I asked him. He had no smile on his face. It was emotionless even when he whispered."Come with me if you don't wan't me to spoil your disguise." I trembled. Something wasn't right.... Another alicorn? I thought I banished my sister was banished to the moon.... And I didn't feel any new alicorns created. If this is Luna.. or that Nightmare Moon.... I'll have to investigate. I stood up and ruffled my wings. I walked out of my chambers, greeting the guard on the way out. I hope there would be no trouble I thought as my hooves clacked on the marble floor. Just when I reached the throne room a servant hurried to me and bowed before starting to talk." Your Highness. The prince of the Minotaur Empire-Alarak, has been seen in Cloudsdale. We know where he is staying and if you wish we can request him to leave Equestria for entering illegally." I sighed. I had enough problems to deal with, without a Minotaur showing up. > Chapter 8 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It seemed like he was staying in possibly the most expensive hotel of Cloudsdale. 'Princess Amour' said the bronze sign hanging from above the entrance. Upon entering the room where Alarak lead me to, I saw a guard standing near the exit. He was wearing a suit of dark steel armor, and holding a spear in his magic. He was staring blankly forward as we entered, only stealing a small glance at me, probably making sure the one who entered with his prince to be harmless. The room was quite big. By the marble walls there were a few closets and a writing desk. The windows were showing the impressive view of the central street of Cloudsdale. In the center of it was a mahogany wooden table, no doubt from Saddle Arabia. Two alizarin colored couches were standing in the opposite sides of the table. There was a simple ceramic vase with some daises in it standing on the table, being the cheapest thing in the room. Alarak pointed a forehoof towards one of the couches. “Have a seat young alicorn.” He said, his grin growing wider after the confirmation of his knowledge. I lay down on the couch, staring hungrily at the daises. “You can take off your disguise. Even my guards know it. And it is probably so uncomfortable to hide your horn!” At this point I found no use to keep the horn hidden, and it indeed was uncomfortable. He nodded when I undid the spell, the grin vanishing from his face. “You really do make an interesting sight. But let’s cut straight to the reason you are here. Our empire's mages had detected your presence and are in fear of an unknown alicorn's powers." I could barely hold back a smile. A country was in fear of me? Like Rainbow Dash kept saying - Even after becoming an alicorn I was still the plain old unicorn bookworm inside. "I want you to tell me the reason you appeared so suddenly. Perhaps you have just ascended? No. Your spells and flight are too good for a newbie. You were ascended at minimum 3 years in the past." I cursed myself for being so careless with the experiment I was making. I was too embarrassed to tell him the real reason, so I needed to make up one. "I noticed the disappearance of the Mistress of the Night, Princess Selene, or Luna as Equestrians call her." The lie sounded convenient enough to me. "So I came to this world to investigate." Please don't ask from where, please don't ask from where, please don't ask from where! "From where?" He asked. Well, this was the end of me. I couldn't even overwrite his mind because of the guard! I chuckled nervously. "Ha. Ha. It's a secret!" I mentally punched myself for a stupid answer like that. He suddenly burst into laughing, before falling on the couch. I gave him a bemused look. "What's so funny?" It took him a few minutes to calm down. "Oh you are funnier than I expected! " He breathed heavily and held back his chuckles before adding."But your lies are trash. Even a colt could see through them!" He then banished the last drops of amusement. " But if you don't want to tell me, then so be it as long as you don't cause any trouble to the Minotaur Empire. But if you do..." He didn't need to finish the sentence. " And don't do anything rash. That will also count." I was walking in the hotel where it was said that Alarak was staying. While I was walking in, a lavender pegasus mare passed me, only sleepily muttering-"Hi Celestia." Before walking past me. It took me several moments to realize that she didn't bow or give any sing of honor, not that I minded. It was as if she knew me. Good that I decided to leave the guards outside, they would've tied her up in the dungeons if they saw her reaction. When I knocked at the door, a grey aura surrounded the door handle and opened it. Alarak was lying on his couch, from the looks of it in a good mood. " Twilight...." He never got past that word because he saw me at the doorstep. His eyes widened and he jumped from the couch, bowing in my direction. "Your highness." "Don't sweat it Alarak I only came hear to ask a few questions." "Just make it short." "Fine we will start from why you are here......" Celestia looked over the spell one last time, before sparks started to shoot around her horn, and a bright golden light enveloped the room. I put a hoof in front of my eyes, covering them from the bright light. When the light died down, I saw Celestia shaking off the unpleasant feeling after casting a spell, and a golden magic oval ring was on the wall. Suddenly an empty black void appeared in it, showing that the spell had worked. "Now we only need for the spell to find the time she is trapped in. Hopefully Twilight will notice when she can travel back to the present." Celestia said. "And Starlight... don't feel bad that your magic wasn't strong enough to cast the spell." "I know I shouldn't. You're a thousand year old alicorn after all!" I giggled. Celestia nodded and started walking towards the exit, but stopped and looked back at me."Please send a letter threw Spike when she arrives." "But Princess.." "WHEN NOT IF!" She screamed, before running out of the room. I could still hear her hoofsteps while she ran from this room and I stood there shocked. After some time that seemed like eternity, a dragon poked his head threw the door."What happened here? I was walking towards this room when Celestia ran by, all in tears and sobbing! I never saw her cry thought I lived eight years with her." "We should go and comfort her." He nodded and ran out of the room, with me following shortly. > Chapter 9 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I found Celestia crying on Twilight's bed, her face burrowed in a pillow. Spike was sitting near her, uncomfortably trying to stroke her ethereal mane. I heard him say "It's gonna be alright!" and "Twilight's gonna be back in no time." She either didn't her or didn't believe him, for she continued to weep into the pillow. I really hope Twilight comes back... If Celestia falls into a trauma and is unable to rule... I don't think Luna is as good at politics as Celestia, she's more about wars and action! It could resolve horribly for Equestria. But when I think about it... Celestia has lived longer then a thousand years, so she probably has dealt with loss before. Uhm, not that Twilight won't come back... Right? Thankfully nopony questioned my two-hour long absence. Our camp in the forest has already been packed. If plans weren't changed, then it means that the next few months until the first Summer Sun Celebration would be spent in training and pegasus magic use. I still don't understand what Firefly meant by that. Pegasus magic was used only in flight and weather manipulation, right? At least the owner of the hotel where I slept the night I arrived in this time wasn't that mad about me disappearing for a hole few months! At least not after I payed him. Well, with a few free days break before we start the routine, I now had this time at my disposal! Literally. I could... Somepony knocked at the door, before it opened slightly as one of the hotel's housekeeper mares showed herself. "Uhm, miss Twilight? There is someone at the ground floor looking for you. Said' name was Crimson." I thanked her before I left the room. Crimson stood up from the waiting couch upon seeing me, and greeted me with a smile. "Hi!" he called out. "You wanted to see me?" "Yup! Well you know... we have a free day so, wanna hang out?" He stammered. Wait... How does he know that I stayed in this hotel? "Uhhh, how did you know I stayed here?" He suddenly froze, his face going pale. "I... kind of.. followed you here. But, you still interested in hanging out?" Well, there goes my library roaming time. But friends are friends, and you gotta spend time with them."Yes. Just, you lead. I am from Canterlot, so this city is kinda new to me." I said uncomfortably. "Of course!" We walked out of the hotel and headed somewhere through the cloudy streets of Cloudsdale. It still is weird to see no unicorns around here, but I was getting used to it. A few foals ran by us, giggling, and with smiles on all of their faces. I could't help it but smile as well. We stopped in front of a restaurant named 'The Hurricane'. It looked almost like one of those Canterlot fancy places except... it had a homey feel to it. The name definitely didn't suit it. Wait... something in my book-reading memory clicked. Going to a restaurant with a stallion... WHAT? Was this some sort of date?! I blushed furiously, before containing it quickly. 'I am sure it's just a friend thing... right?' Crimson lead me through the restaurant, to the stairs, up to the third floor and to the building's top. I noticed the roof of the top floor was made out of clouds, unlike the rest of the building that was wooden. We climbed the last set of stairs. The roof top was nice, with some oak tables and flowers. Crimson lead me towards the edge of the rooftop. The sight caused me to gasp. The Cloudsdale main plaza could be seen right below me. Tall and majestic buildings surrounded the plaza, a fountain of liquid rainbow was in the center of it. A tall statue of a pegasus was on top of it. The stone mare was standing on her hind legs, a forehoof pointing towards the sky. It had a victorious feeling about it. Some parents were teaching their foals how to fly, while some groups of teenagers were passing threw the plaza. Ponies were sitting on benches and admiring the view. Crimson smirked at seeing that I liked it. "Impressive isn't it?" He said. I nodded. He then sat at a table near the fence, and therefor the edge of the rooftop. After I had my fill of the view, I joined him. After the servant came and we ordered our foods, we did some chit-chat. It was VERY hard to pretend that this didn't seem like a date. "So... how are your parents taking the fact that you are participating in the first Summer Sun Celebration?"(1) He asked. "They actually don't know..." I replied with a sheepish smile. ~~~~~~ (1) Why would someone want to spend months of training for a celebration? The payment was almost as much as I was getting as a princess. (Actually it was one third smaller, and that's not considering the fact that a bit is worth less here, than in the future.) ~~~~~ I mentally facehoofed. 'Applejack is rubbing off on me too much!' "What? Ha! You should tell them! They will be more than proud!" "Uhhh... well you see, it's meant to be a surprise!" I praised myself for that answer. "What!? How didn't I think of that?! That is such a good idea!" He proclaimed. I giggled. He actually looked quite cute while rambling about how good was that idea of mine. Celestia shuffled her wings. 'Still no report of sighting the alicorn. Oh, who am I kidding? Of course she or he will stay hidden!' "Uh, Your Majesty? Are you alright?" One of her guards asked. Celestia realized that she just spaced out and stopped in front of her chamber's doors. "I'm alright, thank you." 'Why did Star Swirl and Luna have to leave me at such a hard time?' she sighed as she walked into my chambers, closing the door behind me. 'What if it is something important?' The white alicorn bit her lip. 'I suppose I will need to wait and see what will happen... as much as I dislike the idea. > Chapter 10 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As I lay down in bed, the uncomfortable anticipation of knowing my break is over invaded my thoughts. Tomorrow we will continue the training. 'Huh, I completely forgot that I need to return to my own time.' I noticed. But it's not like I cared. Perhaps I was missing my friends... Yes, of course I was... But I think I might be taking this as a break from being a princess. The desk overflowing with paperwork, (Yes reading a few thousand boring reports a day gets quite boring, even for me.) ponies sending me fanmail, (The fanmail was often mixed up with important letters.) And the tourists in Ponyville bowing to me upon sight. But this, you could call a mental vacation, thought the physical part is being is getting quite tired. *Next Morning* Did someone drop a anvil on my head this night? Or perhaps Tom? Or, it's just a bucking headache. I groaned. As I stood rolled down from the bed, I hit my horn on the bedside table, causing even more pain. 'Wait.. my horn?' I quickly stood up, and looked into the mirror. Upon seeing my horn, I cursed under my breath. My eyes were bloodshot as well, but I decided to ignore that. I cast the illusion spell. Just after a moment of extreme pain, the headache stopped, and I fell to the ground from relief. But then an idea came to mind, and I reached out to my wellspring. It was full. I cursed again. If a unicorn's (or alicorn's, in this case) wellspring was full, the magic still kept building up, until the amount started to cause pain to the unicorn. Usually the magic pool almost never is full, due to daily telekinesis and other spells, but since I was only using my wings, the pool was full. Then second idea came to mind. 'I could transfer the magic in my pool to pegasus magic!' Today we were going to have pegasus magic training after all! I arrived at the Flight Academy not early, but not late as well. Crimson as always was first to arrive. "We had a nice couple of days huh?" He said when I came closer. "You bet!" I smiled. In the last couple of days I got to know each other quite better... and we spent almost a thousand bits in the process. Thought every minute was worth it! After 10 minutes of waiting and chatting, the last of our group arrived. Firefly lead us to a one of the Academy's two flight training halls, where an instructor was waiting for us. He was a grey-coated stallion with a brown mane, a black streak running throught it. Firefly left the room saying that we are to listen to him, until we finish the pegasus magic training. "Oh, Hello to you gals! How's it going?" The instructor said, as if to announce that the stallions in our group can go to Tartarus. The cheeky smile only approved that his was that type of guys. Star Binder visibly blushed from his words. 'This is going to be fun.' I thought. "Hey! Aren't you forgetting somebody?" Someone said, obviously angry. Ha! Of course, it was Crimson. Quite stupid of him to snap at the one who currently holds the rights, to give us a few thousand wing ups for breakfast. "Yup! I'm forgetting a bunch of losers who don't deserve my attention." He smirked. If not for the fact that he was in charge, Crimson Sky would have bucked his face in. "But, I suppose we will need to start the lesson, even if I would prefer so only the ladies be here. SO! My name Is Wind Edge and I will be handling you, even if for a few days." After that we introduced ourselves to him, he lead us to a room with a sign 'Lecture Hall #5' hanging over the door. 'YES!' Once we entered it, we saw quite a big hall, thought Wind Edge told us to seat only on the front seats. He himself went to the center of the podium, and waved to somepony in the back of the hall to start the projector. He then took a more stable position, and his mane and tail started to look strange, as if another image of his hair was overlapping over the old one. He then took a few steps towards the door, and a trail, or rather an afterimage of his tail and main followed him. 'Just like Rainbow after finishing a Rainboom.' I thought. This was pegasus magic? But... Uh! It didn't seem to take enough magic to empty my wellspring. Guess I'll have to cast some useless enchantments on a chair when I get back ... "Yes, Rose, this is pegasus magic. There are a few other ways to use it, but you'll be needing this one." Then the projector started, and a picture of a white pegasus with a magic afterimage from her tail and mane appeared on the white board. "As you know we use our magic when flying and standing on clouds, but there are other ways. When a pegasus pushes magic into his tail and mane, a trail is left behind. We will attempt to use it tomorrow. You're free to go." An idea came to me. 'What will happen if I send magic into my feathers without lifting myself up?' A stupid idea, I know... But it could produce something interesting. I spread my wings and tugged at my now half-empty wellspring. I chuckled. The number of enchantments on that chair was so large, it could be sold for over twenty times it's original price. Most of the enchantments were useless though. I forced magic into my wings and kept the flow for a dozen of seconds, when I suddenly heard crackling, like from electricity. I looked at my right wing, and saw lightning running throught my wings, once in a while a zap would shoot into the air. I panicked an flapped my wings, releasing the magic flow. The lightning went out of control, and hit a few places in the room, along with a glass of water, a place on the rug, my pillow, and of course, my main and tail. I looked at myself in the mirror, and sighted an awful hair problem. I cursed as I stomped towards the bathroom, small piles of ash floating in the air from my mane and tail. > Chapter 11 - Predictions and Prophesies > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Starlight* "Aaarh!" I yawned when I woke up. I was clearly sleepy, so I didn't wake up on my own. Celestia didn't even raise the sun yet! It probably was the annoying buzzing in my head that did it. 'Wait... buzzing?' I jumped out of bed, lighting a illumination spell, before rushing to the library. When I arrived, I cast the library lights on, before starting to cast that spell. A portal in time, looking like an upside down cauldron flashed into existence, causing wind to start blowing in all directions. Soon enough a pony in a brown cloak came out of the portal. She was tall. not as tall as Cadance, but tall. Her purple horn was poking out from under her hood. "T-Twilight?" I stuttered. "Wha?" Said the pony in the cloak. She clearly was an aged mare. "Twilight Sparkle?" "I've lived a long life Missy, and nobody ever called me that!" She said with something of an accent resembling both Applejack's, and some noble's from Canterlot. "Sparkle, yes. Not Twilight'." Then she lifted her hood, revealing a face of an aged mare, her skin the color of purple. Her eyes were blue though. "Now, do ya know where Ah am now? I found a trace of Starswirl's Time spell, and pulled on it. And whoosh! Now A'm in a fancy crystal place!" "Ahhm.. You're a Sparkle right? My name is Starlight. Can I ask you something?" "Sure thing, Starlight! My name is Lilac! Lilac Sparkle! Now Wat'cha wanna ask?" "What is the year you left from from?" "Why, 25th year of tha' Eclipse reign!" She said proudly. I hummed in thought. So Twilight was in that time. It wasn't as bad as a million years from now, but it wasn't that good either. If I count correctly then... In Twilight's current time, there had passed... Holy! Five months! How was she doing? Did they found out she was an alicorn!? "So can ya tell me where, and when am I?" Lilac said, while looking around the library. "Uhh... a thousand and two years in the future?" I said sheepishly. "Holy guacamole! That far!! But still... is this a public library or something? Quite fancy for that. Haven't seen a crystal building since the Empire has disappeared." She said, while poking a wall with a hoof, causing a clear *cling*. "Well, ever since this town's library was exploded... well yes. This is a public library." 'Don't tell her too much, Starlight. I don't want to change the past, do I? "And by the way, have you seen a purple pegasus or unicorn with a dark purple mane? A pink stripe running through it too?" "Sorry deary, but I haven't. It does match the description of one of the flyers that are preparing for tha' Celebration!" She said swinging a hoof. "Does she have the name Twilight?" "Ah, yes. Twilight Crestle! Poor dear got stuck with a bad family name!" She chuckled. 'Twilight was always bad at giving names...' "So.. Yea now... can you now return to your time please?" "ARE YOU KIDDING ME? This is a WONDERFUL opportunity to see the future of Equestria with my own eyes! I'm horrified that you would suggest such a thing!" A thought came to my mind. Such a brilliant idea, that I could brag about it to Trixie for a whole day, and shut her mouth as well. "Then promise me, that if you want to share it with anyone from your time, write what you learned here, in a book that you will call 'Predictions and Prophecies'. ===*=== Starlight facehoofed the moment she came into her room. 'That stubborn old mare! At least she agreed to my idea!' I sighed. 'While Spike can entertain her, I can break the news to Celestia. She'll be happy to hear it!' I thought as I went to the library. I sat at a table, taking a parchment and a quill, before lighting the Dragonfire candle. > Chapter 12 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Twilight* "So... what you are saying, is that you couldn't do the afterimage technique, and instead developed a new one?" Wing Edge said, still not believing that he just saw a new technique, that no one ever did before in recorded history. "U...huh." I said nodding uncomfortably. "You see this boys?" Wing Edge suddenly yelled out at Crimson, Free Breeze and his friend (who was apparently called Autumn Glider). "The lady only got into this, and is already flying loops around you!" He said, cackling as if he heard one of Pinkie's jokes. "You're talking as if you're something special, and unlike Twilight you aren't!" Crimson snapped at him. I blushed madly, and uncomfortably shied away. 'Well if you consider being an alicorn something special... But he doesn't know...' Realizing that made me blush even more. The last few years, if the praise wasn't coming from friends or family, then it was given to me only for being a Princess. This made a fuzzy feeling tingle inside me. "It's not as if YOU have any achievements! Well, apart from the new academy wingup record you'll be making tomorrow! It means you'll have to beat the 1999 wingup academy record! You better be prepared for it!" He announced. ===*=== Apparently Crimson was sick on the next day. (Or at least he said so.) Turned out he missed quite a lot... After I payed rent for my room, I flew straight for the Academy. When I came in, compared the last time I arrived, which was much more cheerful, this was a complete opposite. Five Royal Guards (who were called ERP-Equestrian Royal Police back then... or back now... I'm confused) were talking with Wing Edge, or rather, arguing about something. "I think that I would see a bucking ALICORN walking around!" Wing sounded so angry, that I almost decided to leave. Almost. "You don't understand they could be hid-" "Whats going on here?" I asked as I came into voice range. "Oh, Twilight! Nice to see you. WELL apparently they think that AN ALICORN is hanging around somewhere here. I tried to fake a laugh, as if I thought that to be ridiculous. (I surprisingly succeeded) "Why would you think that? It's not like there are three alicorns right?" Sorry Applejack, I lie surprisingly good. "If you are implying the opposite, that means you are accusing Princess Celestia herself of lying. " I, Wing and all the others gathered there except the ERP froze. 'How does Celestia know?' The officer looked at us suspiciously. "We will leave now. We have other places we need to check. If you sight the alicorn, report to Cloudsdale ERP." Upon leaving, the officers slammed the door shut, making me jump. "Well, that was pleasant. Let's start the training?" A typical move for this situation. Switch the subject. Wing nodded halfheartedly, then turned around and forced a smile. "So who is still slacking?" This time, I was ready. I mean with the afterimage! No one looked ashamed or like they are hiding something, so I suppose... I was the last one to learn the technique... "Psst. Twilight. There's a black cloud hanging over your head." Free Breeze said. I looked up, finding out that he was right. I shoo'd it off. "So. Unless I can't count, the Celebration is in... 3 weeks. For these three weeks we will be repeating the routine until perfection." Announced Wing Edge. "Also, be sure that the missing red brat get's the info." "Hey!" I heard Autumn say behind me. ==*== "Yes, Your Highness. We noticed a large spike on our sensors when she came in." The ERP officer finished. "What a relief." Celestia eased herself into he favorite chair. "And here I was, doubting the power of the elements... Thought, it is rather interesting what she is doing with the Celebration flyers." "Any orders?" "I think she isn't a threat. Continue watching her. If she does anything suspicious, capture her and bring her to me. Also, give me her description. " ==*== "THIS IS SO EXCITING!" Screamed Lilac Sparkle as she ran around the room, making documents and research notes go flying. "What is it honey?" Asked a bright green stallion as he walked into the room. "Remember the time spell I said I'd cast? Know what? It lead me to... Oh horseapples! I almost spilled it!" "Spilled what... OH you mean the thing... ah... the thing... AHA the Butterfly Defect?" Lilac facehoofed. "First, it's Effect. Second Yes. Also, honey, could you please see if the name Twilight popped up in any recent news?" "Of course! I'll get to it then." Said the stallion as he sprinted down the hallway.