The Miracle Worker

THUMP.

"Ow," I muttered to the floor, rolling onto my stomach and sitting up. I had rolled off my bed while I was sleeping. Again.

Not that I didn't expect it. It was basically my internal alarm clock. Every day at exactly 7:30 A.M., I flopped onto the floor. It had been difficult to get used to when it first started, but now I would be more worried if I didn't roll out of bed in the morning.

I stood, flaring my wings and stretching my legs. I slowly shambled toward my wardrobe, looking at my reflection in the mirror. Mane going all directions, eyes baggy, coat ruffled. Pretty normal morning look, if you ask me.

I opened the wardrobe and dug through the various outfits with my hooves. Eventually, I pulled out a purple robe with gold trim and a whitish shirt underneath. I put them on and shuffled toward my desk, which was covered with an assortment of books, several inkwells, stacks of parchment, a saddlebag, a pair of goggles with iridescent lenses, and a wand. I snatched the wand and the saddlebag, putting the wand in my robe and the saddlebag on my back. I picked up the goggles and put them on, keeping them off my face for the moment.

I trotted back toward the wardrobe, feeling my energy start to replenish. I checked my reflection again. I looked exactly the same as I did before, except I had a pair of goggles on my head. "Just the usual," I told the wardrobe. Out of it flew a glowing comb and a stream of pale blue energy. The comb ripped through my mane until it all went in one general direction, and the stream of energy washed over me, removing any dirt from my coat and energizing me. I checked my reflection again.

"Perfect," I told the wardrobe. The comb flew back into it and the stream of energy vanished, leaving me to my business. I trotted back toward my desk, glancing at a book on it as I did so. It opened itself and flipped through the pages until it reached today's schedule. "Seven thirty, prepare for the day without incident: check. Seven thirty-five, prepare to receive a letter of some sort from Celestia about the Summer Sun Celebration." Right on cue, a scroll appeared on my desk with a golden flash of light. I unrolled it and skimmed through it.

Dear Star Flare,

As you are no doubt aware by now, the annual Summer Sun Celebration is approaching rapidly, and with it, the return of Nightmare Moon. I have made plans to ensure that she is dealt with properly, and I would like you to attend to make sure that the plan is carried out successfully. The preparations for the celebration itself will be taken care of by my personal student, so don't feel the need to worry about those yourself. In addition to overseeing the celebration, however, I would like to ask that you settle in the town permanently. Perhaps instead of being a recluse and staying inside researching all day, you could make some friends! The celebration will be held in Ponyville this year. I trust you can find your way there on your own.

Sincerely, Princess Celestia.

...Was she kidding? I couldn't help but wonder.

Overseeing the Summer Sun Celebration was one thing. I could understand Celestia's concerns in that respect. A vengeful goddess of the night wasn't something you ran into every day. But moving the base into a town? Permanently? That was a high order. I sighed, glancing at a quill lying on the desk. It floated into the air and dipped itself in an inkwell as a blank piece of parchment flew underneath it. I spoke, the quill writing on the page as I did so. "Dear Princess Celestia," I said. "Very well. I will attend the celebration, and make an attempt to stop being 'a recluse' as you put it. However, I sincerely hope that you realize just how how much you are asking of me. Moving a workshop the size of a small town into another small town will not be a simple task. Sincerely, Star Flare." The parchment rolled up and vanished, and the quill dropped back into the inkwell.

I sat down for a moment, pondering Celestia's reason for having me move into a residential area. It was true, you didn't get much social interaction when you lived in the middle of a dense, remote forest. Maybe it would be a good idea for me to make some friends, or at least properly talk to somepony. I grunted, standing back up. As I left my bedroom and turned left down the hall, I ran through the activation code for the spatial storage runes in my mind. I trotted through the living room to the front door and out into the workshop area. It was basically a bunch of stone and wood buildings surrounding a small clearing. Some of the buildings included a forge, a small pavilion with a variety of alchemical apparatuses in it, a few greenhouses filled with myriads of plants (most of which wouldn't normally survive the local climate), a medium-size building labelled "STORAGE" in big letters, and various others.

I walked toward a gap in the buildings, which was conveniently just large enough to fit a street. I stopped and turned to face all the other buildings, drawing my wand from my robe. I stuck one end of the wand into the ground, where a circle was drawn. I concentrated, and the circle lit up, glowing a dim blue. The light spread to a chain of runes drawn in the ground near it, then spread further, enclosing the entire workshop in a square of glowing runes. Beams of light shot up from the ground, forming a cube of runes and symbols around the workshop. A low hum filled the air, the runes becoming increasingly bright until they were almost blinding white. The hum grew steadily louder, and the workshop became hazy. There was a deafening BOOM, and then the entire thing was gone. All that was left was silence, and a small metallic cube at my hooves. I picked it up and dropped it in my saddlebag, then pulled out a map.

"Ponyville...three hundred fifty miles northeast. Better see if I can catch a train," I said to myself, and then trotted off in search of the nearest town.