It was a normal day in Ponyville, all things considered. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, Rainbow Dash was napping in a particularly comfortable cloud. Twilight observed the days happenings from atop her main balcony. She sighed. She hadn't gotten a break from all of the craziness of being a national hero in... months, really. She got the occasional rest from petty squabble resolution. Twilight had taken to coming to this balcony when she had a break. There was something about being an observer, away from it all, yet still watching, that satisfied some odd feeling that she never knew she had.
All that aside, the day had been... a lazy one. She had a friendship council meeting in fifteen minutes, but she actually enjoyed those. Yes, today was a good one. She nodded as a younger stallion and his marefriend passed by. She spent several more minutes outside, and then stepped inside to grab some tea. She heated up the water, and then there was a knock at the door.
"I'll get it!" Spike's voice was heard from somewhere else in the castle. Twilight figured that he was hoping that it was Rarity at the door. It probably was, for Rarity always said that a proper mare is always slightly early. Twilight cracked a grin.
"Why thank you, Spikey Wikey! Where might I find Twilight at the moment?"
Yeah, definitely Rarity. Rarity and Spike walked into the kitchen just as Twilight added a teabag to her hot water. Twilight smiled at Rarity.
"Hi, would you like some tea?" Twilight asked. Rarity politely shook her head no. There was another knock at the door, which Spike ran to answer. He may not have been as enthusiastic as he had been when answering the door for Rarity.
Several moments later, Spike entered the room with Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, the latter of which was babbling about something nonsensical, as usual. Fluttershy was listening politely.
"And then, he tried a sample of the dirt cupcake, and he looked sicker than he would've if Justin Beiber had shown up at his doorstep!" Pinkie said.
"Um, what's a Justin Bieber?" Fluttershy asked.
"Justin Bieber's- oh, hey, Twi!" Pinkie said.
"Hello, girls. AJ should be here any minute now," Twilight said.
"What about Rainbow, dear?" Rarity asked.
"She's never on time. We can never say when she's coming," Twilight said. Just then, there was a knock at the door. Twilight added sugar to her tea, and went to answer to the door. As she pulled it open, she was greeted by a grinning Applejack and a partially asleep Rainbow Dash. Twilight knew that she'd be fully awake by the time that she started the meeting. It never took too long to get her awake. Twilight ushered the two in, and took them to the kitchen.
"Now that everypony's here, we can start our meeting!" Twilight announced. They all trotted over to the throne room. They sat down in their respective thrones. As they were all seated, their cutie marks began to vibrate. Rainbow Dash, who had fallen asleep again, awoke with a start.
"Huh?" She jumped up. She noticed her cutie mark and calmed down a bit. On the map, their cutie marks jumped to the network of caves next to the former equal town. Twilight sighed.
"Starlight Glimmer problems?" She guessed.
"Ah doubt it, she got a durn good whoopin' from us last time. If it is her, ah bet y'all she wouldn't try anything too risky," Applejack said.
"Well, then you give me an explaination for this," Twilight said.
"Maybe we're supposed to just explore the caves and find, like, an ancient treasure to fix," Rainbow said.
"Or, um, maybe we're supposed to find a problem. Not an item, a problem. A poor injured animal, or a lost pony, but, you know, that's only an idea..." Fluttershy said. Twilight nodded enthusiastically.
"Good idea, Fluttershy! Anyway, we need to pack our saddlebags for this trip," Twilight said, getting excited. Hey, a mare's allowed to enjoy herself on trips, even if that trip is a trip to solve an unknown problem.
"If you don't mind, could I come along this time? You could need your number one assistant!" Spike said. Twilight considered it.
"I don't know, Spike... it's dangerous..." She said.
"Alright, Twilight, if you want that," Spike said, showing a bit of disappointment. He was obviously not too dissapointed though.
"I didn't say that.... Alright, but you have to do what we say, so you don't get hurt. We wouldn't want that," Twilight said. Spike smiled.
"Thanks, Twi! I'll do whatever you say!" Spike said.
"Alright. Now, pack your things and take a short nap. You want to be well rested, as we're going to be doing some hiking tomorrow. Spike ran off to his room to do just that. Twilight grinned slightly.
"Are you sure that it's a good idea to bring Spike along? I mean, he's a dragon, but he's a baby dragon. You're sure he'll be okay?" Rarity asked.
"We'll be with him. He'll be alright. Now, girls. Get a good nights rest, and pack whatever you feel you'll need. I'll do the same, but I'll also pack a group bag with tons of the essentials," Twilight said. The girls nodded, and Fluttershy asked what to bring.
"A picture of your animals, food, water, a tent, a sleeping bag, a toothbrush and toothpaste, and anything else you might want." Twilight said. They continued asking questions, and left when they felt that they were ready. Once everypony had left, Twilight took a deep breath, and got to packing.
