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Twilight Sparkle was wrenched from peaceful slumber by her alarm clock's insipid ringing tone. The local radio had been playing a horrid composition by a certain Buckinghamite colt-band for weeks on end, proving that it had indeed sunk to a new low in order to increase ratings. She lashed out with her magic and pulverized the annoying thing, tossing the remains into the corner where it lay with its mutilated fellows. She swore that if the Principality ever returned to an absolute form of government, she would have that band exiled and the radio station shut down.

That said, a hangover pounded its way into her cranium like a dozen angry diamond dogs. She cracked an eye open and gazed at the wall clock. It was 8:10. Just twenty minutes until the start of her class. The sudden realization hit her with the force of a freight train and banished all thoughts of sleep from her mind. She leapt out of bed, glad that she hadn't gone to sleep with somepony else, and galloped to the bathroom, where she had a quick shower. With that done, she cast a spell to dry herself off and got dressed. Royal garb. Professor's ID. Tiara. She set her mane and feathers straight with a spell, missing the days when she didn't have to worry so much about appearances.

She burst out of her sleeping chambers and into her study, nearly provoking the Twilight Sentinels guarding the door into action.

"Stand down!" They quickly returned to their posts, paling at the gravity of their faux pas.

Fifteen minutes. Still enough time for paperwork. She looked at the stack of paperwork on her desk and ran an indexing spell. The papers separated into three stacks, each with a different priority. She glanced at the ones marked 'Priority Red' and stuffed the rest into a drawer.

There was a request to have a new wing of the Library-Museum grown to make room for the artifacts from Saddle Arabia that were coming in. She approved that. There was a request for a meeting with the College of Arcane Sciences involving the possibility of creating portals to other worlds. She approved that too, making note to set conditions. She didn't want a repeat of that incident. And there was a request for muffin-related materials from a certain wall-eyed mare. What the hay. Her muffins are good. She approved that too and sent them off to the messaging flame.

She glanced at the wall clock. 8:31. She was late! That would make a very bad first impression! She called up a teleport spell and put her lecture hall in mind. She felt static electricity wash over her skin as space tore in a flash of light.

She reappeared behind an orator's stand. "Sorry everypony! I had some paperwork!"

"Hi Princess!" The hall's only other occupant waved from the back.

"Horsefeathers." She breathed, putting a hoof on her face.

The class, as it turned out, was tomorrow, leaving Twilight with some free time to do buy groceries and chat with a few of the other professors. She passed by Professor Lyra Heartstrings as she made her way to her cryptobiology class.Twilight had been one of her main opponents concerning humans, but after the incident with the Mirror, she felt that she should make it up to her. The two had become close friends and partners as a result. Her computer, a projector, and several physical models levitated above her head.

"Lyra, mind if I take a look at that?" Twilight gestured to one of the models.

Lyra passed one of the models, a study on human hand articulation, to Twilight. She took it and held it up in front of her so she could compare the model to her memories. It was pretty spot on, but the thumb rotated too far to be humanly possible.

"So Twilight, how did class go?"

"Pretty well." Twilight smiled, "I teleported into an empty classroom."

Lyra giggled, "Wrong room?"

"Nope. I was late already, and there was nopony there. And then I remembered my class was tomorrow! Talk about being excited!"

They shared a laugh, but then whatever they had to say was cut short by Lyra's arrival at her lecture. Twilight returned the hand model to her.

"Oh, yeah." She whispered, "Lyra, you might want to present your work on hands at the MIST Conference next week. I've got a feeling it'll be a great help. I'll even get you a place."

"You really think so?" Lyra's eyes widened.

Twilight nodded. "Think of all the ways they could be used!"

"You know what, Twilight?" Lyra smiled, sighing dreamily. "I think you're right." She snapped back to reality. "We'll, I've got class! See you later, Twi!"

They waved at each other as they parted. Twilight hummed the tune to 'Winter Wrap-up' as she trotted happily down the wide corridors of the University of Ponyville, passing by and greeting ponies, griffons, minotaurs, and even dragons. Spike had never, ever been the only civilized dragon on Equs. It had only seemed that way because the dragon civilizations had locked themselves in due to certain circumstances. Spike was really happy that he wasn't alone.

She emerged into the University Plaza. Couples walked past, displaying their affection towards each other in various ways. Pegasi and griffons danced and played in the air. Groups and communities of all sorts gathered in their nooks and crannies. A steady stream of visitors and borrowers came in and out of the Golden Oaks Library-Museum.

It was almost time for the Running of the Leaves, and this time she would be hosting it alongside the Mayor. She sat down after ordering some pastries from Sugarcube Corner's takeout, organizing her lecture notes and plans as she ate. Suddenly, a hoofball came sailing in on a trajectory to her head. She caught it with her telekinesis and returned it to one of the players, who looked mortified in that they may have irked somepony who could make life hay for them on so many levels.

"Oh, um. We apologize, Princess Twilight." Said a minotaur, smiling nervously.

"It's alright." She smiled reassuringly. "There's no harm done."

The minotaur quickly returned to the game, tail tucked behind his legs. Twilight didn't know if she should chuckle or feel annoyed. She was a princess, yes, but she wasn't a petty tyrant like that Blueblood.

She had just finished organizing her notes when a slip of paper fluttered to the ground. She picked it up and held it out in front of her.

"Ask shiney, Luna about 'Warlord Ravenous'."

The note read in a drunken scrawl. That character had come up in Fluttershy's story, and he sounded like he was trouble. She returned to her quarters and wrote down a letter to addressed Prince Armor and Princess Luna. They were both away on diplomatic business with the Lizans and the Diamond Dogs to the West, so it would take them at least a few days to respond.

Twilight Sparkle spent so much time ruminating on this new figure and the implications of his business that she almost missed her appointment with the CAS.

Elsewhere, Rainbow Dash flew with not a care in the world. She relished the way the wind whistled in her ears and clutched at her hair as she propelled herself faster and faster with powerful wingbeats. She thundered upwards, breaking the cloud cover and emerging into bright sunlight. The earth stretched out below her.

The ominous depths of the Everfree lay south, the deep Rambling Rock Ridge to the west, and the tall towers of Canterlot to the north. Her own Ponyville lay underneath, the crystal waters of Saddle Lake beckoning her to take a dive. She flared her wings, killing her momentum as she rolled until her nose pointed to the ground. She grinned.

A powerful stroke sent her screaming to the earth, the vapor in the air condensing into a fine prismatic trail behind her. She pushed herself faster and faster. She could feel it, the ether building up in her body, as she approached the sound barrier. The waters of Saddle Lake parted, vaporizing into a fine mist as she passed.

Suddenly, there was silence.

That silence was soon shattered by an earth-shaking boom accompanied by a wave of multicolored light and a towering spray of water. Rainbow Dash cheered, extending her wings to slow down, twisting them to put her into a spin, arching her back to pull upwards so that she spiraled around the collapsing spray.

All the while, she was oblivious to a tubular device pointed at her from the edge of the forest. The pony manning it pulled a trigger, and the end of the device flashed.

Rainbow Dash felt a sickening lurch as the magic that allowed her to fly suddenly dissipated. Her momentum could only carry her so far, and her frantic wingbeats did little to slow her down as the water's surface approached. She thought she heard noise from the forest. A black blur rushed at her as she fell, slamming into her side with breathtaking force. She cried out in pain as the bones in her wing broke.

The darkness took her.

Author's Note

I actually feel quite guilty about doing this to RD, especially after what happened with Fluttershy. But I'm sure she'll recover.

Next chapter will feature more Lyra.