Premonitionist

Prologue 4

The Challenge of Being There

Rainbow Dash blazed across the sky leaving her signature rainbow trail behind as she did all sorts of amazing tricks for her morning practice. She did loops, barrel rolls and other amazing stunts. Scootaloo gawked in amazement like she always did when the pony she idolized went speeding passed. The younger pegasus leaned over the stretch of cloud that comprised Rainbow Dash’s front step and couldn’t contain her excitement as she watched. When Dash went zipping passed again Scootaloo tried waving.

“Hey, Rainbow!” she called. “Way-ta-go! Don’t stop!”

But suddenly, Scootaloo leaned too far and couldn’t stop herself from falling.

“Oh... oh no! Rainbow!”

The young filly fell from the floating house and cried for help as she went plummeting towards the ground. As soon as her screams reached Rainbow Dash the cyan colored pony stopped in midflight just in time to see the pegasus as she fell. With a gasp, Rainbow Dash spread her wings and dived towards her.

“Don’t worry Scoots! Imma coming!”

Scootaloo couldn’t hear as the wind blew passed her ears. After seeing the ground approaching she closed her eyes and tried flapping her tiny wings to get some lift. She couldn't fly, but if she could get enough air to slow her descent maybe she could cushion her fall. It was a stretch but it was the only thing she could do. But just as the strain on her wings was bringing her to tears, Scootaloo was suddenly scooped up and found herself in Rainbow Dash’s hooves.

It took Scootaloo a moment to realize she had been saved when she saw the ground moving away from her. She looked up into her mentor's smiling face and threw her hooves around her neck. “Thank you Rainbow! That was scary!”

Rainbow Dash was glad as she spiraled up to her house and landed gently on the clouds. After putting Scootaloo down she looked down at her friend; concerned but also glad she wasn't hurt. “Scoots, you gotta be careful!” she told her. “When I’m not there to save you, you can’t get yourself into trouble like that!”

Scootaloo lowered her head in disappointment. “I'm sorry Rainbow Dash. I really didn't mean to fall like that."

But Rainbow Dash smiled as she put a hoof around her. “Hey, don’t sweat it,” she nodded. “You did awesome. You were nearly about to make it... I mean, cushioning your fall before you hit the ground and got hurt. That was some quick thinking you did.”

Scootaloo hadn’t thought about it, but it was a good idea at the time. “Yeah, I was great! Maybe with more practice I’ll finally get off the ground and be doing tricks like you!”

“Sounds good to me,” Rainbow Dash chuckled. “I could help you practice, but not before the party I have planned for you this evening.” Suddenly, the pegasus remembered the sleep over she was supposed to be hosting this evening and also wondered how yesterday's sleep over went. “How was your sleep over at Applejack’s, by the way?” she inquired. “You didn’t do the same boring stuff that you did at Rarity’s place like braiding hair, did you?”

“Oh, no,” Scootaloo smiled. “Me and Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were hanging at the Cutie Mark Crusader’s club house when Applejack came by and said it was time to call it a day. So we went to her place and helped her make apple strudels and apple fritters. That was before Pinkie Pie showed up.”

Rainbow Dash was feeling rather smug, up until she heard that last sentence. “Wait, did you say Pinkie Pie? Where did she come from?”

“I don’t know,” Scootaloo shrugged. “But when she came over we had a party and had the bestest time ever!”

Rainbow Dash paused. The more she tried thinking about it the more frustrated she became. It all made sense to her when she considered the circumstances. She could picture Applejack trying to entertain the Cutie Mark Crusaders last night with apples and baking. To a farm pony, of course it would seem like perfect entertainment, up until she realized her idea of fun wouldn't be nearly exciting enough for three young fillies. So to help her throw a better sleep over, it would make sense if Applejack invited Pinkie over to make the evening more eventful. Since Rainbow Dash and Applejack were competing to throw a better sleep over, it made sense that Applejack would pull such dirty trick to get a few points ahead.

Rainbow Dash was grinding her teeth; frustrated that one of her friends would do something like that. Even worse, Rainbow Dash was painful aware that she’d have to work incredibly hard to find some way of topping a Pinkie Pie sleep over.

While she was thinking this it didn't take Scootaloo long to notice how upset her mentor looked. “Rainbow Dash, what’s wrong?”

Rainbow Dash suddenly remembered Scootaloo and tried to ignore any thought of Applejack. The pegasus knew she had other responsibilities to worry about. “Ah, don’t you worry about a thing,” she said as she pat Scootaloo on the head. “I’ll throw you the most amazing sleep over you've seen yet; you can count on it.”

The pegasus turned went towards her house. After Rainbow Dash opened the front door Scootaloo followed her inside, before a curious thought crossed her mind. “By the way, is it even possible for ponies beside us pegasi to come into your house Rainbow Dash? Earth ponies and unicorns like Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle can't have a sleep over at your place if they can't walk on clouds, right?”

Rainbow Dash chuckled as she closed the door behind them. “You may not have noticed but my house is actually pretty solid,” she replied. “Have you noticed the floor and the walls are made of wood and timber. The only clouds I have are the ones holding the house in the sky.”

Scootaloo looked down below her hooves and was surprised she had never noticed it before. Pegasus architecture was more solid than she first imagined.

But just as she was about to say something, both ponies were surprised when they heard a knock at the door. They were inside for only a moment and didn’t remember seeing anypony coming. Shrugging off her initial surprise, Rainbow Dash opened the door and saw the familiar walleyed pegasus who worked the mail route.

The mailmare known as Derpy smiled a wide grin as she introduced herself. “Hello, I am looking for a Ms. Rainbow Dash!”

Rainbow Dash stood there; figuring her mane and her tail should have made it a dead give away... for the second time this week. “That’s me,” she said.

“Oh goodie!” Derpy cheered. Quickly reaching into her bag she retrieved a letter and showed it to her. “I have a special delivery for you. It’s got a stamp on it, so I know it’s super important.”

Rainbow Dash took the letter and looked at the return address. When she saw the name of the sender a look of concern suddenly crossed her face.

But, Derpy was too happy to notice. “Well, my work is done!” she cheered. “Till next time, I’ll be signing off!”

At that, she turned and flew away to continue her route, not even bothering to close the door as she left. After she was gone, Scootaloo approached the older pegasus and noticed the way she was looking down at the letter. “What is it Rainbow Dash?” she wondered.

The cyan colored pony didn’t know whether to be nervous or excited as she read the name on the envelope a second time. “It’s from the Wonderbolt Academy,” she replied. After carefully tearing it open she retrieved the letter and read it to herself.

“Oh no...”

“What, what is it?”

“The Academy wants me to report in this evening to practice drills,” Rainbow Dash explained. “They expect me to be there all night.”

Scootaloo quickly realized the problem. “So does that mean the sleep over at your place is canceled?” she wondered. “Can’t you write back and say no?”

“These are the Wonderbolts!” Rainbow Dash told her. “They'll never take no for an answer.” She gave herself a moment to think about it. "I'm... I'm going to have to cancel the sleep over."

Scootaloo’s ears dropped. This wasn’t just quality time with her friends she was missing but also quality time with Rainbow Dash. This was the one sleep over she was looking forward to the most. “But... there must be something we can do!” she said.

Rainbow Dash needed to think. She was fond of Scootaloo, and all the Cutie Mark Crusaders for that matter. But because Applejack had the nerve to cheat by inviting Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash couldn’t bring herself to just let it go. Quickly checking her options she came to a solution that seemed questionable, but maybe the only solution she had.

Twilight Sparkle was storming through The Legends of the Premonitionists quickly. She was two thirds the way through by the time she realized there wouldn’t be anything left when she'd reach the end. She was sitting at a reading table, waiting for Spike to come with an early lunch since she wasn’t very hungry for breakfast after her visit with Magnos Hoofwell.

Twilight closed the book, just as Spike appeared from the kitchen. When the baby dragon saw that she had stopped reading a smug grin crossed his face. “Twilight, this is the first time you put the book down since you got it,” he said.

But Twilight didn’t think it was amusing. “Right Spike,” she frowned.

Spike realized at that moment that something was seriously troubling her and came to see what it was. “What’s wrong Twilight?” he asked as he put lunch on the table.

“Nothing. I doubt you'd understand anyways.”

Spike felt hurt that his friend would think that way of him. He paused and realized the joke he tried a second ago was probably too insensitive of him. He exhaled and was determined to show he was still her number one assistant, and friend. “It’s okay Twilight, I promise I won't laugh if you tell me."

Twilight closed her eyes for a moment. “I’m sorry Spike,” she said, turning to look at him. “It’s just... The Legends of the Premonitionists is nearly done and as soon as I reach the last page the story is going to be over. After I’ve already invested so much of myself into this book, what am I supposed to do when there’s nothing left of it to read?”

Spike began to feel Twilight’s pain, but he was suddenly distracted by something else he remembered. “You did promise that you’d return the book as soon as you were done with it. You won't forget, right?”

Twilight felt cross that Spike would remind her now of all times, but didn’t scold the dragon for being corrected. It was true, she was approaching the ending and I would nearly be time for her to return the book and never see it again. She looked at The Legends of the Premonitionists again and finally considered this rationally.

“As soon as I’m done with this I suppose another really good book will simply come along and then I'll forget all about this one,” Twilight shrugged. “I know that I'd rather not forget about The Legends of the Premonitionists, but I know I will honor Magnos Hoofwell's wishes.”

Spike’s mouth was stuffed with peanut butter and hay sandwich as he stared across at his friend. “Who?” he wondered.

“Oh, never mind!” Twilight responded.

Spike frowned and considered where Twilight Sparkle had disappeared to this morning when he first woke up. Although he decided not to ask, Twilight decided herself that he wouldn't need to know until it was important. She kept her visit a secret and Spike was content to just have early lunch before getting back to work. Twilight looked down at her own sandwich and levitated it with her magic.

But, just as she was taking her first bite there was a knock at the door and Twilight turned. “Who could that be?” she wondered. She turned to Spike. “We are closed for re-shelving day, right?”

“Don’t remind me,” Spike groaned.

Twilight got up from the table and went across the library to see who it could be. When she reached the door she opened it with her magic and was surprised to see Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo there.

“Hey Rainbow. What brings you here?” she smiled.

“Twilight, heh heh,” the older pegasus grinned, “this is going to sound like incredibly short notice but I had a favor I wanted to ask.”

“A favor?" She paused. "A favor to do what exactly?”

Rainbow Dash had trouble finding the words, since asking for help was a real blow to her ego. “Scoots and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were supposed to be staying at my place this evening for a sleep over, like they did last night at Applejack’s. But, the Wonderbolts just wrote and they need me today to practice drills and I can’t say no.”

Twilight frowned. “That’s too bad.”

“You said it,” Rainbow nodded. “Listen, since I can’t fillysit tonight would you mind doing it instead?”

Twilight somehow knew that question was coming. “Gee, I don’t know Rainbow,” she replied. “I am going to be busy. As soon as I’m done with re-shelving day I’ve got letters to write to the Princess.”

“Aw, come on Twilight!” Rainbow Dash pleaded. “Rarity and Applejack have already done their part! I can’t back out now!”

“You’ll have to,” Twilight stated. “You’ll just have to find a way of telling them. Say you can't fillysit and ask if one of them wouldn't mind doing it another night.”

Rainbow Dash didn’t like that; especially since she once possessed the element of loyalty.

Twilight Sparkle didn’t like the words she was speaking either, since it wasn’t like a true friend to abandon somepony in need. After wrestling with the issue for a moment she realized she couldn't do that to Rainbow Dash. If she was able to help, she didn't see any reason why not.

“Okay Rainbow Dash, no big deal,” she sighed. “I’ll just move re-shelving day to tomorrow. If it's really that important than I'll watch the Cutie Mark Crusaders for you, just this once.”

“Thanks Twilight!” Rainbow Dash smiled. She turned to Scootaloo, who looked disappointed. “Just make sure you and the rest of the CMC have the most awesome time you can! Got it Scoots?”

But Scootaloo wasn’t enjoying this plan at all. “Rainbow Dash... I wanted to spend the night at your place!”

“Hey, I’ll arrange another sleep over some other time, I promise, but I can’t disappoint Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom either. It’s about you three! If you don’t want another sleep over than you’ll be missing out and school break might as well be over with. This is the best I can come up with Scoots.”

Twilight also felt sympathetic for the younger pegasus as she stepped forward to show her support. “Don’t worry Scootaloo, I promise we’ll have tons of fun at my place.”

Scootaloo still wasn’t feeling any better, but was forced to admit Rainbow Dash and Twilight did have a point. With a sigh she looked up at her idol. “Okay Rainbow Dash, as long as you promise another time...”

Rainbow Dash held her close and gave her a nuggie on the head. “You bet squirt!” she chuckled. After a moment, she looked at Twilight again and remembered one other thing. “By the way, can you make sure the sleep over you’re throwing is going to be extra, extra exciting?” she wondered. “You see... Applejack kinda threw a really awesome sleep over last night and I’ve been meaning to top her...”

Twilight immediately got the message and looked at her friend, crossly. “You want me to come into the middle of this challenge you two created for yourselves?” she remarked.

“If you don’t mind,” Rainbow Dash smirked.

Twilight shook her head and almost couldn't believe she was agreeing to this. “Okay, bring them over as soon as you're ready to leave Rainbow Dash and I’ll take care of everything.”

“Gotcha!” Rainbow Dash nodded. “See you this evening.”

At that, she took her leave and closed the door. Twilight stood there and took a moment to consider what she had just agreed to. This afternoon she would be fillysitting, which wasn’t the worst favor she could’ve been asked. It was still pretty last minute and she became nervous of her schedule.

Spike, meanwhile, overheard the whole thing. “So we’re having Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo over this evening?” he wondered.

"Apparently so," Twilight told him. "Spike, you're officially off the hook. No re-shelving today."

Spike almost couldn't believe his own excitement. "Awesome!" he cheered.

But Twilight gave him a cross look and the baby dragon grinned sheepishly. "Oh... I mean... that's bad news. Whatever will we do with all this free time we have now?"

Twilight chuckled. "What indeed?" she wondered.

Twas at this point in history the High Council of Evedurr began having their disagreements with the Order of Premonitionists. After the Lords of Darkness had returned for the forth time and it was believed they were all defeated at long last, it crossed the council's mind that maybe the Premonitionists had outlived their purpose. Master Osiris, who had now lived for many hundreds of years, realized he was dying but he knew he couldn’t allow the Premonitionists to leave defenses down while the land of Dussk reached its Golden Age. Turning to his most favorite student, Jiro, the head of the order pushed to make his pupil the next leader of the Premonitionists as the time of Osiris came to an end. What happened next became a matter of great controversy.

It was getting late and the sun was about to set as Twilight Sparkle closed her book again and realized how close she was to the end. There were only a few pages left. The alicorn frowned and wondered where the time had gone. She had read stories about the creation of Dussk, four great wars, at least fifty heroes and still couldn’t get enough of it.

But at that very moment, she was startled when she thought she heard knocking at the door and remembered that the Cutie Mark Crusaders were supposed to be coming by. It felt like only a few minutes ago she agreed to fillysit them, yet here they were now.

Getting up from her seat, she opened the front door and saw Rainbow Dash already dressed in her Wonderbolt’s trainee uniform. The three fillies were with her, here to be dropped off. “Hey Twilight,” the rainbow pony grinned.

The princess didn't even have time to reply before Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle came running passed her and began prancing around the library. “Hey Sweetie Belle, did we ever try getting our cutie marks as librarians?” the younger earth pony wondered.

“I think so,” the unicorn replied, “but I don’t remember how it ended.”

When Twilight saw their excitement it made her chuckle with amusement. But when she turned to Scootaloo she noticed the young pegasus didn't seem as enthusiastic as her friends did. Rainbow Dash noticed as well and tried cheering her up. “Hey, don’t sweat it Scoots. We can plan another sleep over some other time.”

“But, you were going to show me all your cool moves Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo sobbed. “We were going to hang out, read a Daring Do book together and have popcorn!”

Rainbow Dash was realizing how much Scootaloo idolized her, as well as how desperate the filly was to have quality time with just the two of them. It disappointed her all-the-more that it couldn’t be tonight like they wanted. “You’ll have fun at Twilight’s,” she spoke. “Don’t worry squirt. As soon as I get back we’ll figure something out.”

Rainbow Dash then looked up at Twilight. “You got them, because I really need to go before I run late?”

“Don’t worry Rainbow,” the alicorn replied. “I promise I’ll take care of them.”

“Awesome. See you later.”

At that, she took to the skies and sped away. After Rainbow Dash had passed over the horizon and out of view Twilight guided Scootaloo inside and closed the library door behind them. The younger pegasus was not looking forward to this evening as she dragged her hooves behind her. Although Twilight hoped to be encouraging to Scootaloo, she was startled when she came inside and saw Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle out of control.

In the short time they had been here she found the two fillies standing over a pile of books knocked from their shelf. They both stood there with very sheepish looks on their faces. “Sorry Twiligh’,” Apple Bloom frowned.

“We were trying to find a place to store this book, when suddenly we started an avalanche,” Sweetie Belle explained. She lowered her head. "I guess there's a very good reason why we didn't get cutie marks as librarians the first time we tried this."

But as she was talking, Twilight noticed the book Sweetie Belle was referring to and recognized it as the manuscript she remembered finding earlier that morning. The very manuscript Sweetie Belle wanted to help put away was the same one that appeared out of nowhere and nearly hit Twilight on the head. The alicorn was still unsure where the bounded papers had fallen from and was a little uncomfortable that Sweetie Belle was handling it.

But after getting over her initial shock, Twilight breathed a calming sigh and beckoned the fillies away from the fallen books. “Girls, it’s nice that you want to help but the library is already pretty tidy.”

Apple Bloom frowned. “So then what are we supposed to do this evening?”

Twilight quickly arranged the books with her magic and had them re-shelved in no time. “Actually, I have lots of things in mind for tonight,” she smiled. “I just read the Dangerous Book for Fillies. It gave me lots of good games and ideas we can try this evening. Then when it’s time for bed I’ve got a great story for you girls I can read.”

Sweetie Belle turned and looked at Scootaloo. “That sounds like fun!” she exclaimed.

But Scootaloo wasn't all that excited. “Yeah... fun,” she groaned.

“Don’t be so down cuz Rainbow Dash couldn’t fillysit us tonigh’,” Apple Bloom interjected. “It ain’t her fault Scootaloo.”

“Yeah, but even after she decided to take me under her wing we still haven’t been doing much of anything together,” Scootaloo sighed.

Twilight couldn’t help but smile. Listening to the fillies going back and forth sounded like a friendship lesson that was about to be learned. Maybe later this evening there would be an entry added to their journal, but only time would know for sure.

After placing every book back where it belonged Twilight had only the mysterious manuscript left and wondered where to put it. Although it was safe on the shelf before, the shelf felt like only a temporary place to store it. Now that she had it again in her hooves, Twilight began reconsidering the place she wanted it to be kept.

As her eyes darted between the library shelves and the manuscript, she was started when she thought she spotted a familiar word. She scrolled down the manuscript until her eyes confirmed what she saw. “Premonitionist!” she read aloud.

It was almost too freakish to be true. The made up word was there; written into the manuscript the same as in her book, The Legends of the Premonitionists. It was almost like seeing a ghost and Twilight nearly stumbled back in surprise. “How... how is this possible?” she wondered.

But it wasn’t long before there was another crashing sound and Twilight saw the Cutie Mark Crusaders standing on yet another pile of toppled books. “Oh... sorry Twiligh’,” Apple Bloom frowned. “Is The Dangerous Book for Fillies supposed to be under T for The, or D for Dangerous?”

Twilight completely forgot about the manuscript as she shook her head and realized what a long night this was going to be. With a smile, she realized she was looking forward to it; whatever it was sure to bring.