The Royal Prank

A month later, Twilight knew she was ready. Spitfire had trained her to all kinds of skills, from hoof and magic combat to gadgets testing. Most of them Twilight had never seen before, like a self-aware robot used in both combat training and chess, a scouter which could detect the power levels of unicorn magic, and for some reason, an automatic cupcake dispenser. While Rainbow Dash aced in combat, Twilight found interest in the gadgets, eventually breaking them down and fixing them on a daily basis. The best thing was that Luna had covered up for her absence by saying that she was in mental distress due to the press, which everyone believed due to the events in the past. Three days later, she was to be deployed into the edge of Equestria with Rainbow, where E.U.P scouts found the same yellow feather from the crime scene, which had been identified to be Flash Sentry’s, a member of the Royal Guard who had disappeared.

She felt like Daring Do in the quest for the sapphire stone, going to certain death and meeting a friend that had betrayed her and was now her rival. The only thing comforting him now was Spike, softly massaging her back with his claws smeared with herbs from Zecora, healing the wounds that she had faced in the training center. “You could leave the E.U.P now, you know.” His voice was steady, but she could sense the fear inside him. “Don’t worry Spike, I’ll be ok. He’s just one pony, and I’m a fully trained agent now.” “But what if...” Twilight forced a smile. “Can you promise me something?” Spike now had a confused look on his face “What?” Twilight’s voice was trembling as she spoke. “Don’t tell Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rarity, or Applejack where we’ve gone.” Spike felt a surge of anger, but then her words made sense. If he spoke to her friends about their adventure, it would worry them sick. So the voice that replied was not full of anger, it was trembling and soft. “Ok. Go to sleep, Twilight.”

“Agent Sparkle!” Twilight came out of her stupor. They were drifting swiftly across the desert, and it was hard trying to stay awake when wind was blowing smoothly through your face, erasing the worries and consciousness away. She had already drifted off for several times, only to be woken up by Spitfire either slapping her on the face or shaking her head, which she was doing now. “Wake up, or I’ll tell Rainbow to do a Sonic Rainboom in front of your face.” “We’re not even there yet.” She complained groggily. Spitfire had been staying up the whole time without sleeping, while Rainbow, knowing how to multitask when flying, could sleep and fly at the same time without any problems.

“WAKE UP!” Twilight sighed and got back into focus.
“What is it Spitfire?”
“We’re reaching the destination point Sparkle, and if we don’t descend now, we might be detected by a tracking spell. By the way, Wake Rainbow up.”
Twilight flew towards the sleeping Pegasus and shook her.
“Huh, what?”
“Spitfire wants us to descend towards the marked location, Rainbow.”
“Oh, ok.” Rainbow stiffed a yawn and dived downwards. Before Spitfire or Twilight could stop her, an alarm was soon heard, the noise riveting across the horizon. Suddenly, the mountain below them opened, and three cannons appeared, all aimed at the now targeted trio.

“What?” Twilight was still in confusion as Spitfire was screaming at Rainbow. Where did the cannons come from and who had this sort of technology? It seemed that the opponent was smarter than they though, and could explain why Celestia was attacked so easily by Flash without the alarm of any royal guard patrolling the area. Did he have some modern tech that enabled him to sneak in the palace unnoticed? Could there be another pony involved? If it weren’t for Rainbow Dash, she would have pummeled by the cannon’s contents while still stuck in doubt. However, Rainbow was not a pony that abandoned her friends so easily, holding the true spirit of loyalty, unlike Spitfire, who didn’t even realize what happened. She had grabbed Twilight by the hoofs and was now quickly gliding towards the ground, dodging all of the cannon’s bullets.

“You knew this would happen?”
Twilight was yelling at Rainbow even though he had just recused him.
“What in Celestia’s hoof do you think? I’ve been flying while taking in the surroundings since I was a filly! Now do your shield spell!”
Twilight reacted on command, forming a bubble shield across both of their bodies as they continued to descend, now 300 meters until impact. Before she could cast the same spell on Spitfire, she was splattered with colors, and fell out of the sky, but not before exclaiming: “Cupcakes?”

In the Academy, Twilight and Rainbow had learned that in such a situation, all fallen allies had to be left behind. However, this was not what they really stood for, as true friendship meant that no pony gets left behind. Quick as a timberwolf, Rainbow dashed after the falling body of Spitfire while telling Twilight: “Cover me!”
Twilight now took charge, aiming magical blasts at the cannons now in front of them while Rainbow caught the unconscious Spitfire. As cupcakes flew towards both ponies, Twilight focused her blasts on the holes in the cannons, causing all three of them to jam and break down.
“Nice shooting Twilight!” Rainbow cheered on behind her.
However, the celebration was limited as shadows of small ponies could be seen exiting the opening of the cannons. Rushing towards the suspects, Rainbow zoomed towards them and picked all three of them up in one swoop. But before Twilight could catch up, she heard Rainbow tussling with the three creatures, which seemed to be wearing some kind of black clothing.
“Time to see who these ponies really are!” Rainbow exclaimed excitably. But before she could savor her moment of triumph, one of them guiltily took her own mask off, leading Rainbow to shout in shock.

“Scootaloo?”

"Er....heey...Rainbow Dash."