A Catalyst in Time

Chapter 10

Twilight groaned as she had to listen to Rarity talk to her new found little sister, just hanging around this park.She wanted to do something productive, like find Ditsy Doo and wring her neck. They were here. Now they were supposed to be doing some kind of epic quest for Princess Celestia, but noooo. Pinkamena and Ditsy had wandered off. Rarity was talking to this filly and totally actually listening to her. Spike was asleep and she was stuck here doing absolutely nothing. It was driving her CRAZY and she was pretty sure that the rest of this party was crazy too. "Fine, they don't want to get things done, I'll have to do it myself!" she said out loud. Spike woke up at this declaration. "What? Who? Huh?" the dragon stammered.
"Come on Spike!" Twilight demanded. "We are going to the library to find out WHY we are here and WHY I have to put up with all these crazy ponies!"
"But I like Pinkamena and Rarity! I mean, Pinkamena's a little crazy if you ask me, and Ditsy is just completely nuts, but I thought they were our friends!"
Twilight halted.
"Friends? Spike, we've known them for a few days...how could they possibly be our friends?"
"Oh come on Twilight. You've gotta stop being so serious all the time. There's nothing wrong with making friends with ponies you don't know very well. That's why you become friends, so you can get to know them."
Twilight glared. She hated it when Spike made so much sense.
"Well, that's not important! For now, I'm going to the library!"
"Shouldn't we find Derpy first? She knows what we're doing and maybe she could direct your research better!"
"No, Spike, I know what we're looking for. I've figured it out!"
"Uhh....you have?"
"Yes...I will....um...tell you when we get there..."
Twilight barely saw Spike roll his eyes and shrug. "Ok...I mean, whatever you say Twilight."
The pair set off toward the library without telling Rarity where they were going.
Spike trotted along behind Twilight, his stubby legs making it hard for him to keep up with her deliberate canter. Twilight didn't notice, she was angry and frustrated and by Celestia's Mane she was going to get answers, banish it!
Finally the pair arrived at the library, which was a beautiful tree that had been magically carved out to act as a building. It was Twilight's kind of place, with two balconies for stargazing, or reading and several large windows. And it was a library.
"Come on Spike, let's see what we can find!"
"Coming Twilight!" Spike said, then muttered something less pleasant to himself.
Twilight ran into the library, a puffing Spike behind her. The library was beautifully lit, if a tiny bit dusty, and a tiny old unicorn stallion stood on rickety legs, an open book with a quill laying across it was his cutie mark, he sported a bowtie and glasses, his mane was curly and pure white. His pale blue coat did nothing to hide his wrinkles and knobby knees.
"Hello? Who's there?" The old stallions squinted through his bifocals, the glasses clearly not strong enough for an old pony who must be nearly blind.
"Um...hi...my name is Twilight Sparkle...and..." she stopped. She realized she had no idea what she was looking for.
"Twilight! I'm so glad to see you!" the old pony said. Twilight stepped back.
"Um...I don't know you...you see..."
"Oh, I'm sorry...the Princess told me to give you this book," the old stallion said, shakily levitating a book toward Twilight. Twilight nervously took it.
"Elements of Harmony, A Reference Guide. Why would I need this?" She asked.
"Dunno. Ask the Princess. But she wanted me to make sure you read it, Missy"
"Um...Ok..." Twilight opened the book, with her magic...and it fell to a page on it's own.
"There are six elements of harmony, but only five are known, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, and Loyalty. The sixth is a complete mystery. It is said that the last known location of the Elements of Harmony is the ancient castle of the Royal Pony Sisters, located in what is now..." Twilight gasped. "The Everfree Forest? But what does this have to do with me? Why does Celestia want me to know this?"
"Don't ask me, sweetie. I'm just an old bookworm about to retire," the old pony said.
"Retire? But...this library! It's so beautiful! All the books and, the balconies and...oh and everything! What will become of it?"
"Well, if you like it all that much, Princess Celestia said to let you live here!"
"Me? Live here? But...I'm from Canterlot and I was going to go..." she stopped. Other than her family, was there really anything for her in Canterlot? She was a student of Celestia, but that was recent and still bewildering...she had no friends there...she'd never needed them...
"Um...Ok...I'll...consider it..." she said.
The old stallion nodded and then went back to his chair...where he quickly fell asleep. Twilight set her book down and began to read.

***

Princess Celestia paced around her chambers. Her counterpart in the "Sonic Rainboom" timeline had informed her that Princess Luna was already back in that world. The Summer Sun Celebration was right around the corner and Ditsy still had not managed to get the six together and where they needed to be.
Nightmare Moon was going to come back to a world that was unprepared for her.

"My sister...if only I could save you myself," the princess murmured.

While she was lost in her thoughts, a letter appeared in front of her in a flash of green flames. Spike.

It was about time.

"Dear Princess Celestia," the ruler began out loud.

"I am almost there. The six are all in Ponyville now, and I'm trying to bring them together. Twilight has received your offer to take over the library and hasn't come out of the library since. Rainbow Dash has run into Miss Pinkamena Pie and seems to be bringing out the latent laughter in her, Applejack and Fluttershy are with the Apple Family, and Applejack is remembering why she should have come home, while Fluttershy is attempting to overcome her crippling fear of others and is making friends with Applejack's brother and the neighborhood school teacher. Her kindness toward the Apple Family has made her almost an honorary member. Rarity is my next mission, she's meeting her young sister, Sweetie Belle, and I hope that makes her lose the rock hard exterior somewhat.

Give my regards to my brother,

Ditsy Doo"

Princess Celestia sighed. She hoped Ditsy could do it in the time required.

Or Equestria might not see day for a long time.

***

Rarity sighed a little. Her sister, one she hadn't even known she had, was the most talkative pony she'd ever met, and certainly more talkative than her traveling companions. Of course, they had years of things to talk about, but Rarity was getting impatient.

"Sweetie Belle, dear, I really must..."

"And then mom said that you used to love fashion, so I got her to buy me a sewing machine just for me!" Sweetie Belle squeaked. "And you're just as amazing as I imagined only even better because you're a queen and a cool rogue pony!"

Rarity was momentarily stunned. This pony had known her all of an hour, and she was raving about her. How could anypony give anypony else such an instant chance?

Her heart softened ever so slightly. She supposed she could donate a little more of her time to her sister.

"And one year for Nightmare Night I dressed up as you in your theif costume and all my friends said it was the best costume ever! And..."

Rarity smiled. Sweetie Belle could talk all she wanted. And not because the tiny squeaker was stroking Rarity's ego. But because she honestly seemed to look up to Rarity, and Rarity hadn't had someone look up to her without fear...ever.

The unicorn was listening to every word her sister said. It was a strange relationship they had, since she was someone listening to a stranger, someone she'd never met, and yet had they had a connection. In Equestria, family bonds often extended beyond being related to somepony, not always, but often. Your family served as your first friends, and even if you didn't know them Rarity had to suppose that there was still magic in being blood related.

"And then Scootaloo said that I'd never meet you that you probably were dead or something and she was WRONG!" Sweetie Belle said, then hugged Rarity's leg.

"I'm so glad I was right!"

Rarity smiled. "Me too little sister...me too."

Somewhere in the distance, a wall-eyed pony smiled.

***

Trixie was finished with Twilight Sparkle. All she had been doing for hours was just reading in some boring old library in a pitiful little town called Ponyville. Even Spike was getting bored, she could tell, he walked outside the library three times just to sit on the stoop and sigh.

Which gave Trixie an idea.

Spike had been taken from her by Twilight...it was only fair that she took him back...oh Trixie loved this plan, Trixie loved this plan very much.

***

Spike was bored out of his mind. Twilight had been reading in the Ponyville Library for hours and to the baby dragon it felt like days. He'd napped three times, gone to sit on the stoop four, eaten twelve not very good quality crystals that had been lying around, and caught his scales on fire accidentally. Which had only earned him a small reprimand from Twi. Ugg...
He went back outside, trying to enjoy the beautiful day instead of dealing with Twilight's reading some more.

And then everything went black. He tried to yell for help, but he only got a familiar and not very welcome laugh in the process.

Trixie.

"Don't worry, Spike, Trixie won't hurt you, Trixie is just getting back at Twilight for stealing her life!" the blue unicorn said.

Trixie's magic had silenced Spike, so responding would do him no good. He just sat in the bag Trixie had put him in and hoped Trixie was telling the truth about not hurting him...and hoped that Twilight finished reading soon and helped him out.

***

Applejack had no idea where Rainbow had gone, but Fluttershy muttered something about a strange pegasus talking to her.

"Consarn in..." the orange earth pony muttered.

"Hello Applejack!" an unfamiliar voice said.

"Gah!" she shouted. "Who are you?"

"My name's Ditsy Doo," a grey pegasus mare with funny looking eyes said, as she walked up next to Applejack. "And before you accuse me of trying to sell you something like your rainbow maned friend did, I have to tell you...go to the library and bring Fluttershy. You'll meet a unicorn named Twilight Sparkle. She has something important to tell you."

"Uh....ok?" Applejack said, more than mildly confused.

"I know it sounds weird, but please do as I ask ok?" the mare pleaded, a note of childish innocence that hadn't been there before in her voice. "I'm on a tight schedule...and I really don't want to have to tell the Princess that I just didn't know what went wrong."

Applejack had to believe this pony...she liked to believe that most ponies were honest and something about this mare demanded trust.

"Uh...ok, Ah'll get Fluttershy then...hope Ah don't scare her too much with the prospect of takin' her some place new..."

"Thank you Applejack," Ditsy said.

"Your welcome, Ditsy Doo."

***

Pinkamena hadn't laughed this much in years.

"And then my mom pushed me off a cloud, and told me if I wanted to fly so bad I could just fly!" Rainbow Dash said. "Of course, there was a cloud underneath me, but I panicked and instead of flapping both of my wings, I flapped one, and crashed head first into a cloud. That's how I earned the nickname "Rainbow Crash", though bullies later used that one to pick on me, my parents called me that teasingly."

Pinkamena giggled a little bit.

"Tell me a story about your family, Pinks," Dash said.

Pinkamena paused. She didn't like talking about her parents...but she could talk about Granny Pinkie Pie and her sisters.

"Well, growing up, my parents didn't really understand me, so I always really looked forward to my Granny Pie's visits. She was both my namesake and the only one who really got me. My whole world was gray until she came to visit, and I don't mean that metaphorically. I lived on a rock farm, my family's coats were all varying shades of brown or gray. But when Granny Pie came, everything turned into a rainbow of colors, even though she was all pink like me...one time...I was trying to go to bed, and I kept seeing monsters and ghosts everywhere. Granny came into my room while I was hiding literally completely under my pillow. She then told me the best remedy for ghosts...and I've never really forgotten it....was to laugh at them. I've giggled at the ghostly ever since...even when I almost stopped laughing for good I never stopped laughing at things that scared me. I know it's kinda dumb..."

"No it's not dumb," Rainbow Dash interrupted. "I think it's kinda cool. It's like...a little bit of your Granny Pie follows you everywhere...in a like, not creepy and weird kind of way."

Pinkamena smiled at Rainbow Dash, "Yeah, I guess that kind of is how it is, huh?"

Then something weird happened...her mane lost a tiny bit of its stick straightness. Instead of being a curtain of pink hair, it had the slightest wave to it, as if it were curly, but wet.

"Woah....that was..."

"Super duper weird..." Pinkamena finished Rainbow's thought.

"Yeah...kind of looks cool though," Dash said. Pinkamena smiled slightly at Rainbow Dash.

They sat there quietly for a moment, enjoying a rare moment of silence for both of them and enjoying having a friend that was truly a friend.

That moment was interrupted by a gray mare with doodle eyes.

"Hi, before you freak out, I'm not selling anything, and yes, you're important, Rainbow Dash, you too Miss Pie," she said.

"Not you again!" Dash grumbled. "I was having fun..."

"You can have more fun in the future, but right now I want you to listen to me," the gray mare instructed.

"First, if you don't remember my name is Ditsy Doo and you and four other ponies are extremely important to the fate of Equestria," Ditsy began hurriedly, directing her comments at Pinkamena. "Second, you need to go to the Ponyville Library, where our traveling companion Twilight has something important to tell you. Third, if you see Rarity, bring her with you."

Pinkamena felt a tingle...Ditsy was right, there was something important going on and Pinkamena and Dash had to be there for it.

"Come on Dashie," Pinkamena instructed. "We have somewhere important to be."

"What? You can't believe this weirdo!" Dash protested.

"I traveled with her and yes, she's a little weird about her delivery and her tendency to chase bubbles. But she knows things, and so do I, so you're coming with me if I have to drag you by your tail!" Pinkamena commanded, a pout forming on her face.

Dash did what she said and they headed for the Ponyville Library.

***

"Um, I'm so very sorry Applejack but I just can't go out. Not to meet a bunch of ponies I don't know, even if some of them are you, and Rainbow Dash. I just couldn't," Fluttershy said, hiding behind her mane.

Applejack started to give up. And that's when he came into the room and once again pushed her a little farther.

"Ya can and ya will," Big Macintosh said. Applejack looked stunned. Fluttershy could only squeak.

"Ah know it don't seem like it's that important, Shy, but y'all've gotta come outta yer shell, at least a little. Ah'm a shy pony too. Ya have to've noticed Ah don't talk so much, not even around mah family. It ain't cause I can't or cause I'm stupid, it's cause I'm shy. But Ah don't let that stop me from doin' mah best ta be kind ta folk and help 'em out. Yer the kindest soul anypony could ever hope ta meet, but y'all don't let 'em meet ya. It's time ya do somethin' with that kind heart of yours and go to this library meetin' thing," he said.

"I love you Fluttershy, I've never loved anypony as much as I love you."

Fluttershy gaped. She knew she was gaping. And probably blushing. Her face had to be the same color as her mane...and Applejack was there and...oh my goodness he loves me...

"I...oh Big Mac..." she stammered.

"It's ok, sweetheart, Ah know Applejack is here...now go. Go to tha library and Ah'll be waitin' for ya when ya get back an' then we can talk."

She nodded, and walked over to the still staring Applejack.

"Ok, I'm ready. We'll go to the library."

***

Apple Bloom heard it all. Including the part where Big Mac admitted to loving Fluttershy, which she did a victory dance about, and definitely the part about the secret meeting in the library. Which she was absolutely going to.

"Ah'm a big pony, and Ah ain't gettin' left out of this one..." she said to herself as she left Sweet Apple Acres to cut through the forest to the library. The old cottage where Fluttershy used to live held a shortcut to town almost nopony knew about.

She headed that way as fast as her short legs could carry her, and that's when she saw something she probably shouldn't have.

"Hopefully Twilight has found my note by now and Trixie's revenge shall soon be complete!" said a strange blue unicorn. She was talking to a...baby dragon! That was tied up and gagged!

Now that just wasn't right.

"Hey! What do y'all think yer doin'?"Apple Bloom said, and ran for the unicorn, not really thinking about...
Magic. She got caught in the unicorn's magic.

"What is this? A earth pony foal charging a full grown unicorn? Trixie finds this absolutely ridiculous! Well, Trixie guesses she'll have to keep you with the dragon since Trixie can't have anypony finding out about her plans..."

"Ya won't get away with this! Mah big sister and Fluttershy'll mmmmhmmmph!" Apple Bloom said, as she was gagged and bound next to the dragon. Trixie blind folderd her, then loaded her into a cart to be taken to Celestia knows where. Apple Bloom tried really hard not to cry.
Ah'm a big pony...and big fillies don't cry