Project Starburst

"Ponyville Station. Ponyville Station."

The voice crackled over the speaker, rousing Angel Grace and the others. Stretching, Spiral Dream nodded.

"Well, we finally made it. Ponyville!" she said brightly, looking out the window as the train slowed, allowing them a good glimpse of the colorful buildings all around them. Dominating the landscape, of course, was a large, purple castle with spires like branches: the Castle of Twilight Sparkle. "I can't wait to see Princess Twilight again!"

Cloud Prism was looking around the town. "Don't forget, we're not here for fun. Princess Twilight said there was a crisis in town, and if she called on us instead of the guard-"

"Then it must be something serious." Greymane finished with a solemn nod. Despite it, however, he couldn't help a small smile from creeping over his face. They had faced two threats together, and he had grown more confident in their abilities and their teamwork. Whatever lay ahead, he was sure that they could handle it. "Come on, let's get going."

The party rose from their seats, headed for the exit, and Angel looked back. "Golden Luck?"

Golden was staring out the window, her eyes narrowed. Angel came back to Golden, waving a hoof in front of her face. "You coming?"

"Oh right, of course." Golden Luck said, looking up and nodding. "Sorry, I was just lost in thought. Come on."

The two mares left the car as well, preparing to get off the train, when Angel bumped into someone. "Oh, I'm sorry about that." she said, looking up.

The pony she bumped into, a stallion with neatly curled hair and a vest, shook his head and smiled. "Nothing to worry about. Train stops can be so chaotic and confusing." with a nod of his head, he stepped aside to allow Angel Grace and Golden Luck to leave first.

"How nice..." Angel remarked, looking back as the stallion got off the train as well, nodding at a small group of ponies who had come to greet him and launching into an animated conversation. "Anyway, we should get to the castle as soon as possible. What-where did she go?"

The gathered ponies all looked around, puzzled. "Who?" Spiral Dream asked, before her eyes widened. "Golden Luck...where has she wandered off to now?"

Indeed, Golden Luck had completely vanished in the milling crowd around them. The four remaining ponies spread out to try and find her, but after fifteen minutes had passed without a glimpse of her, they regathered by the front of the station.

"We can't spend too much time looking for her." Greymane decided with a shake of his head. "She's shown a habit of appearing when we need her most, so let's assume that she's going to meet us at the castle."

With that decided, they headed for the castle, looking around for any signs of the crisis that Twilight Sparkle had mentioned. As far as they could tell, everything was normal. Ponies were out, going about their day, businesses were running, it was the very picture of tranquility. When they arrived, though, they were accosted by a pegasus...one with brightly colored hair.

"Hey! Didn't you get the memo? No one's supposed to be coming close to Twilight's Castle without prior permission!"

Greymane removed the small starburst badge from his satchel, holding it up. "I believe you'll find, Miss Dash, that she has been expecting us."

Rainbow flapped in for a closer look, then grinned. "Well, why didn't you say so! You must be the ponies she's been so excited about. Is it true that you kicked the flank of some messed up stallion? Man, if I had been there..."

Spiral Dream glanced at Angel Grace, who had lowered her head, seeming to be quite ashamed of herself. "I wouldn't say we kicked his flank, but yes, we're the ones who saved the town." Spiral said, looking back up at Rainbow Dash.

"Well then, come on in! Twi's a-waiting for you!" Rainbow said, opening the doors and guiding them inside.

It was a good thing that Rainbow Dash was here to help them; the sprawling castle was surprisingly tricky to navigate. With her help, they soon reached the throne room.

Twilight was hunched over the table, muttering to herself. She glanced up, and smiled. "You got my message! What took you so long?" she asked, coming over to the others.

"We have a little gardening to do. What's the big emergency?" Cloud Prism asked. Twilight motioned for them to take a seat.

"Honestly, I was hesitant about calling you at all, but...this kind of thing is why I put you together..." she looked around at the seated ponies in front of her. "Weren't there five of you before? What happened to Golden Luck?"

"...she disappeared shortly after we arrived. To be honest, she seems rather...sporadic in her help." Cloud Prism finally spoke up.

Spiral Dream shook her head. "She's a private mare, but her intentions are good. She's been an immense help."

Twilight held up a hoof. "Hopefully, she's doing some investigating. That's why I called you here: lately, the town has been...off. I can't explain it, but ponies have been acting strangely."

"Not where they're supposed to be, for one." Rainbow Dash folded her hooves. "I've got two members of the weather team who decided to take a walk down by the lake this morning. And I've been hearing about ponies changing their routines from others, as well."

Twilight nodded, holding up several papers. "When they were asked about it, they got really secretive. Said that there was something they had to do, wherever they were. Something is going on, and I've mapped out the strange...events..." she trailed off

Angel Grace had taken the papers from Twilight, as well as a few more from the table. Picking up a pencil, she began to notate on the papers as everyone else gathered around and watched. She pulled over a map of Ponyville as well, drawing dots and lines, then nodded.

"Well I...I think that it all started here." she said, pointing at the edge of one of the shapes, by the mountains . "This is where the first strange incident was reported, and they were...here..." Angel pointed at another dot, which was part of a larger shape, a sort of crescent nestled against the lake. "You said the weather ponies were down there, too?" she asked, glancing up slightly before quickly lowering her gaze.

Rainbow nodded, looking at the map. "Yeah, that's right. Right about there." she pointed at the respective dot. "What are you thinking?"

Angel looked at the shape, then shook her head. "I don't know. But I think that we should go down to the lake and have a look."

"And I'll come with." Rainbow said, sticking a hoof to her chest. "This is my home. If somepony is messing with my friends head, I'm not letting them get away with it!"

Twilight smiled. "I'll stay here and keep going over the notes. Thank you for guarding the castle, Rainbow."

"No problem." Rainbow said, landing next to Cloud Flare.

"If I may." Greymane said, stepping forward. "Why are you turning ponies away from the castle, Princess?"

Twilight sighed, hanging her head. "You're not the only defense I came up with against this strange events. I've put procedures into place to be enacted in case of suspicious activity. For the protection of the town; if I were somehow to be affected..."

Rainbow nodded. "I told you before, Twilight. Stuff like this, your first job is making sure it doesn't get worse. We can handle whatever it is. Come on, let's get going!" she said, headed out the door.

"We'll keep an eye out for Golden Luck, too." Spiral Dream said, as the party hurried to follow Rainbow Dash. "Anything we find out down there, we'll let you know as soon as possible."

Twilight smiled and waved farewell to the group, before going back to her research.