World Skippin' (The Really Long, Convoluted Fetch Quest)

Celestia had been relaxing inside the Canterlot Castle for quite some time now, half asleep. It was a harsher summer then expected this time around, and no one wanted to go outside. It wasn't worth being baked alive in the heat, even to get the mail. How did the mail-ponies survive? Nobody really knew. As a result life became boring very early on in the summer, and motivation to do anything was few and far between.

This didn't stop the princess from wanting to do something about it, however. There were no papers to look over, no events to organize, and no surges of evil to combat. If she wanted to fool around, now was the perfect opportunity. She sat up and thought about what to do.

'See how Twilight's doing? She's probably still organizing the castle and wouldn't be in the mood for fun.'

'How about Luna? Never-mind, she looked like she had a hard night and is most likely unconscious.'

She hadn't actually been bored in a long time. There's usually something to do, but today was different. Suddenly she thought of something she could do.

'It's been a while since the Royal Golf Cart's seen any use, seeing as I mostly teleport to places. No one would mind if I took it for a spin.'

This sounded like a good idea until she realized a small problem between herself and the Cart. The keys....are all the way over there. An intimidating twenty feet away was Her Majesty's Keychain of Power on a writing desk. She'd have to get off of the couch to get them, something she wasn't willing to do this morning.

'Wait a second! I'm an alicorn! I can just teleport it to me instead!'

A light glowed around her horn as she focused on the keychain going out of existence and then appearing next to her on the couch. It popped with a spark or two, and then disappeared. Celestia expected it to show up again, but it didn't. She could sense it reappearing somewhere else, but it wasn't here. The princess felt like an idiot when she realized what she had done. Instead, she must have sent it to some random location!

Very little was happening at Twilight's castle that morning. Many loose objects from the girls' old homes littered the main hall, ready to be relocated to different rooms and chambers. Rainbow Dash and Applejack attempted to stave off boredom in the throne room while Twilight remained diligently at work arranging her recently added encyclopedias. The implements for this job completely covered the central table.

Spike lay on the cold floor with a fan blowing in his face.'Sweet Celestia, it's too hot,'  he thought to himself. 'How is Twilight organizing books? I can barely even get up!' He felt something rising in his chest. After not too long, a message appeared. Twilight looked up from her organizing charts to investigate.

"A message from Celestia?" Twilight asked. "What could she possibly need us to do?"

"Let's find out," Spike replied. He began;

'Dear Twilight,

Excuse the brief length of this letter, but I need you to get yourself and your friends over here as soon as possible. I messed up and need your help with something.

Sincerely,

Princess Celestia.'

"It seems pretty urgent. We should get going." Dash said from her chair.

"I agree," Applejack added, "but how are we gonna get there? It's too hot to even go outside!"

Rarity appeared from her sewing room.

"Is something the matter?"

"We need to get to Canterlot immediately," Twilight answered, "and the weather right now could make that impossible!"

"Wait. Hold on, darling, I'll be back in a second. That gives me the perfect idea!"

"You know, it really is a shame that they cancelled that request," Rarity commented as the six mares walked down the street, "after I had already made twelve of those parasols."

"What do you think someone would need with so many fancy umbrellas?" Applejack asked.

"I still have no idea! At least I'm putting them to use instead of scrapping them for fabric. And besides, they're parasols, Applejack."

"Whatever you wanna call them is fine by me," Applejack replied, "but they're still just umbrellas."

"There's actually quite a difference between a paraso--"

"Well, we're here!" Twilight interrupted. "The station."

Before them stood the short, pallid pink building that was the train station. It had never changed since time immemorial, and probably never would. Many years and decades of ponies coming and going, but it always remained. It would be a while until the first train would arrive.

"You know this place brings back memories." Dash said.

"Come to think of it," Applejack agreed, "it really does, doesn't it?"

"Ooh! Ooh!" Pinkie blurted. "Remember when we went to the Gala together?"

Twilight reflected on this memory. "That was one of the first things we did together as friends. Good times."

Suddenly a train came blazing across the rails at full speed, just barely stopping at the platform. Steam billowed off the sides of the engine for a moment before the door opened. The conductor was hysterical.

"Sorry about that, ladies. The princess sent me immediately on 'emergency business,' so I came as quickly as I could. All aboard, I guess!"

After a moments' hesitation they boarded the train, exchanging some glances. Soon they would be discovering what Celestia needed their assistance for.