After Gold and Silver

Twilight walked along the dusty roads, a book stuffed right against her muzzle. It was a tourist handbook, a book which Twilight insisted was needed to find the most important areas in their search. Unfortunately, Rainbow Dash saw no point in it.

"Why can't I just fly over and check it out?" She complained. Twilight slowly lowered her book and turned her head. Tilting it slightly, she blinked in disbelief. Silently, she thought for a few moments. She wasn't quite sure how to explain it to Rainbow Dash. Finally she found the right words.

"Well, Rainbow Dash, you like your Daring Doo books, right?" Rainbow Dash nodded, "Well, I like finding more information about important things. It's just who I am." She explained. Rainbow frowned but dismissed it as nothing. They then continued to walk. After a few minutes of walking, a large building came into sight. It had magnificent architecture and it could be seen it was an important building. A crowd of ponies were seen around it.

"Is that," Pinkie gasped. "The Baltimare Museum? It's said that the gift shop has rare party supplies..." She gazed into the distance. Applejack clapped her hooves together and Pinkie looked at her with a clueless expression.

"Sugarcube, I think you ought to try and stop starin' into the distance." Applejack laughed. Pinkie nodded slowly. Twilight then opened her large wings and sudden they all looked at her. She didn't know why that always caught everypony's attention. She then tilted her head in direction of the museum. Once again they walked.

~~~

The museum was a grand place inside, with bustling ponies all around, pedestals with fantastic artifacts on and beautiful pictures depicting Baltimares individual history. Fluttershy quickly went off in the direction of an ancient painting which showed a pony dancing with animals. Rainbow Dash looked over the Baltimare flying teams old uniforms while Rarity admired a extraordinarily beautiful vase. Pinkie cantered to the gift shop to see if the rumours were true. The two who were left both exchanged glances. They were at least on task.

"Sugarcube, what's that?" Applejack pointed to a large pedestal in the circular room next to them. Twilight walked closer towards it. She quickly got out her guide and skipped through the pages. She finally came across a paragraph talking of a important gem with magical properties. Twilight turned to Applejack with a impressed look.

"Well, it's called the Gem of Baltimare," Twilight began. "And it posses magical harnessing and magnifying properties. It used to be used for magnifying the magic in us all, wether we be Pegasi or Earth Ponies. It was mostly used for farmers when food was scarce so they could -"

"Did someone say gem?" Rarity walked up to them. Twilight looked at her with a scolding look. Rarity made a sad face at her. Twilight rolled her eyes.

"Yes, the Gem of Baltimare." She continued to explain yet again. After finishing her explanation she looked to the Gem. She looked at towards the gem and tilted her head in deep thought. She then said, "It is said to attract those with pure hearts."

"Ooo, it can't be that easy, can it?" Pinkie Pie said unexpectedly. They all jumped in surprise. Pinkie smiled mischievously, "I bet they think this is normal, right?"

"Don't you mean 'you'?" Twilight corrected. Pinkie continued to smile with no reply. Twilight dismissed her immense feeling of nervousness. She couldn't help but feel it. Twilight occasionally heard things like this from Pinkie Pie. Always subtle. Always with the same affect. She scraped her hoof against the ground and finally went towards the gem.

"Twilight, though, do you really think it'll be that easy?" She asked. Twilight shook her head. She had learnt from all he rheas of learning and adventures that it was never too easy. Sometimes it was easy but not as easy as picking somepony from the crowd and putting them on the throne. Twilight rubbed her eyes. She then looked to her side. Fluttershy had silently joined them.

"Hello everypony..." She whispered. Twilight smiled. Fluttershy's shyness was cute and it fit her. It was such a big factor of her personality it had even made her name. She then looked in front of her. She had been so immersed in their conversation that she hadn't realised they had made it to the gem. Finally, she was able to observe the crowd a little more. Her horn glowed brightly and many ponies looked around. It stopped but instead her eyes glowed. She sensed a large magical aura around the gem, it made her head bang like crazy. She quickly stopped the spell.

"Twilight, darling, you look so stressed!" Rarity commented as a pale gold cloth levitated from her bag and dabbed Twilights head. It then proceeded to go back into the bag. Twilight wiped her brow and smiled at Rarity.

"That was... Refreshing... How did you know to do that?" Twilight asked. Rarity blushed at the compliment. Rarity then stretched her leg out to pat Twilight on the shoulder.

"Well, darling, making dresses is a fine but stressing work. You just learn these things!" She exclaimed with a fresh, natural laugh. Twilight gave Rarity an appreciative grin. She then turned back to the gem. From nearby a museum worker came to them.

"Excuse me, but I really don't think you should be so near the -" He said before his jaw dropped at the sight of Twilight. He bowed as much as he could before getting pushed by one of the tourists. He got to his feet and smiled at them all, giving a specially large grin to her. Twilight sighed.

"Someone's famous, huh?" The familiar voice of Rainbow Dash snickered. They looked at her scoldingly. Rainbow Dash frowned and her ears went back. "What did I say?" Twilight shook her head and face hoofed.

"I think we should go." Twilight advised. They all nodded. They didn't really think that they could find their princess here. It was all tourists, bustling, impolite tourists. They followed Twilights lead to go outside.

"Darling, we have to meet Cadence, Princess Luna and Celestia now don't we?" Rarity said. Twilight gasped. Her horn glowed strongly and the six of them quickly disappeared without a trace or anyone noticing.

~~~

They reappeared in the lobby of the hotel they were staying in. It was a fine hotel, clean and made of a white and quartz-like material. It was so shiny and clear you could look into it and see yourself. The lobby was full of important, busy ponies. Some were rich and famous designers, others authors, and some even members of royalty. There was a clearing in the room where the three other princesses stood.

"Ah, my favourite sister-in-law arrives!" Cadence grinned and trotted over to her. She gave Twilight another hug. She then turned to the others who have her smiles of greeting. Celestia tilted her head to the stairs. Twilight nodded with respect and went to the stairs. Her other friends followed. They came to the top, and were greeted by the tall and mysterious figure of Princess Luna. She had a childish smile on her face, before she turned to the door.

"These apartments, I believe, will suit you and your needs." Celestia said from behind them. Fluttershy gave out a whimper of surprise. Rainbow Dash, though reluctantly, comforted her. Cadence went beside Twilight. They were both very close, being family and all.

"Well, y'all, I think I have an idea! If we can use the gem to amplify your magic, Twilight, then maybe we can find that pony quicker!" Applejack suggested with optimism. Twilight looked at Applejack and a large smile started to appear on her face.

"Applejack, your a genius! Let's go!" Twilight turned to the stairs and cantered down. She once again led the way, on hoof of course, to the museum.

~~~

By the time they arrived, most exhibits were being carted away, others cloths on and the rest were left secured in their glass cases. They, of course, had only been allowed so late because they were special visitors. They walked through the large rooms before once again coming to the gem. They saw it being loaded by two unicorns onto a cart.

"E - Excuse me good sirs, but, only if you are ok with it, could we please use this gem? It's for... Well... Very good causes!" Fluttershy said. The two finished their work and the older one turned to them. He had a light grey coat, white hair with faint brown mixed in and misty green eyes. He had a curly moustache.

"Well, what do we have here?" He said in a slight Trottingham accent. He grinned at them all, showing off a couple of missing teeth. He spotted Twilights wings and horn and his mouth seemed to drop. "A Princess, eh? Well, 'tis my solemn duty to welcome you to 'ar humble museum. Now, what's this about using the Gem of Baltimare?"

"Well, we're on a very important mission. We must use the gem for purposes relating to this mission." Twilight confidently said. He looked at them, then looked at his colleague who was still staring at Twilight. He clicked his tongue and the other quickly trotted away. He then turned back to the others.

"A mission, eh?" He said with a slight unbelieving tone. Twilight nodded. "Well, ok. But if you mess somethin' up your gonna 'ave to take the blame." He shrugged and went off, leaving the cart to them. Twilights horn grew bright and a map appeared beside her in the air. It was a map of Baltimare. It swept past her to lay on the gem.

"Everypony must touch the gem. It will give a balance to finding the next alicorn." She pressed her horn and front hooves on the gem. Everyone did the same, everyone with hooves, Pegasi with wings and Unicorns with horns as well. Everyone started to have a slight sparkle around them. Rainbow rippled on the map, as it had done before, and many small dots appeared. Some slowly faded away while others instantly disappeared. Finally two were left. One was near the Baltimare train station while the other was at a cafe nearby.

"I've made it so it will refresh every six hours. In the morning we will go after these two dots. Let's just hope that this will work." Twilight explained and they saw the