It was a beautiful day In Ponyville. The gentle beams of the sun fell softly on the village as it slowly climbed towards its pinnacle in the sky. A smooth breeze flowed through the area, making the temperature pleasant. In short, it was a good day to participate in outdoor activities.

Nowhere in Ponyville was this more appreciated than Sweet Apple Acres, the local apple orchard. If one were to look at this establishment on this particular day, they would bare witness to a small gathering between eight, seemingly ordinary, citizens of Ponyville. A closer look, however, revealed that these were no ordinary ponies. In fact, six of the ponies were the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, with one of these being Princess Twilight Sparkle. The seventh pony was Starlight Glimmer, Princess Twilight's personal student. The eighth was not a pony at all, instead it was a dragon named Spike, the assistant of the princess.

This gathering was in fact an impromptu picnic, called by Pinkie Pie, the group's resident event planner. She had decided that it was a good day for a friendly picnic and had rounded the group up.

This picnic is where our tale begins, I hope you're ready. If so, let us see what this group of friends is doing, aside from the obvious.

"And that's when I swerved to the right, barely avoiding the deadly claws of the chimera. I stopped a few yards away from the beast and took stock of my situation. I was alone, fighting a creature at least three times my size, and it had every advantage. Well, almost every advantage, I was faster, but I didn't really see how that would help because the beast was blocking the door. I thought I was done for, but sud-"

"Did you make it Dashie!? Or did the chimera EAT you?!"

"Pinkie! Let me finish! Anyway, where was I? Suddenly the chimera ran left and I got my chance. I bolted forward and brought the cave down on its head with a solid rainboom."

The other seven members of the group clapped for Rainbow Dash's exciting story. "Good story Rainbow, you always know just how to add thrill to any situation. Even if the "chimera" was just a salamander on a chicken's back." The comment had come from Applejack, the group's resident polygraph test.

"Come on Applejack! I was trying to make the picnic more exciting," Rainbow replied, exasperated.

"I know Sugar cube, but at least tell a story we weren't all there for."

Pinkie Pie piped up at this. "You mean that cave was Fluttershy's old chicken coop?"

"That's what ah'm saying."

"That's hilarious!" Pinkie broke into a fit of laughter.

Rainbow crossed her forelegs with a pout, her wings slowed as she descended to the ground. "Yeah, hilarious."

"It's ok Rainbow, you still had the best story. Even if it was just a hyped up demolition job," interjected Twilight as she put her hood on the pegasus' back.

"That's because I'm AWESOME!" Rainbow looked at Twilight. "What do I win again?"

"A reserved glass of cider next season."

"Yes!" The blue pegasus pumped a hoof into the air. "That means I can sleep in that day."

Twilight shook her head and smiled as Rainbow leapt into the air and began regaling the rest of the group with another tale about her awesomeness. Twilight wanted to listen but found her mind drawn to other things. Ever since the whole debacle with Chrysalis and the Changelings there had been relative peace. There was still an occasional monster attack on the town, but other than that things had been quiet. She had thoroughly enjoyed the lack of national threats.

On the subject of the Changeling fiasco, she had recently begun a study into the strange, magic nullifying stone that Chrysalis' throne had been comprised of. So far her studies had been stagnant. In fact she had sent a letter to Celestia a few hours before requesting unrestricted access to the royal archives for a few days in order to further her research. She had expected a swift reply, as was characteristic of Celestia, but the elder princess had yet to reply.

Twilight had finally decided to not worry, Celestia was likely tied up with day court and would respond as soon as was convenient. It was at this point she tuned back into the conversation.

"And that's when the manticore cornered me. The beast let loose a ferocious roar and-."

"Rainbow, quit fibbin'. The "manticore" was Opalessence and the "roar" was a purr, and the darn cat was asleep for cryin' out loud."

Applejack tilted her stetson down as the others once more burst into a fit of laughter. Rainbow had tried to follow up her victory with another exciting tale, only for her lies to be, once more, exposed by a certain apple farmer. Currently Applejack was leading on the score board between the two.

Rarity suddenly spoke, "Weren't you trying to steal Opal's pillow? I would be frightened as well in that situation."

This only served to feed Pinkie's roaring laughter, but the others had settled down. Honestly Twilight felt a little bad for Rainbow, but she also agreed with Applejack. Honesty is important. The purple mare decided to trot over to her student and sat by Starlight Glimmer.

"Are you enjoying the picnic Starlight?"

"I am Twilight. Thank you for inviting me."

"I feel like I'd be a bad friend if I hadn't."

"You could never be a bad friend Twilight. I mean, it is what you are the princess of."

"Starlight, that may be, but I'm still learning how friendship works."

" You really can't take a compliment," Starlight replied with a smile. "Have you heard from Princess Celestia about your research?"

"Nothing yet. It's a bit odd for her to delay this long but I'm sure it's nothing."

At that moment Spike doubled over in pain, he appeared to be choking. "Ack!"

Twilight hurried to him. "Spike! Are you ok. Did you swallow something large!?"

Suddenly, the dragon let loose a stream of green flames. After the torrent subsided he coughed and picked up the resultant scroll, stimulating Twilight to sigh in relief.

"My faithful student,
I regret not being able to respond sooner. There were some particularly urgent matters I had to attend to and was unable to read your letter until just minutes ago.

On your request, of course you may access the archives. Truthfully you don't even need to ask, you are my equal in rank after all. That being said, I do appreciate the gesture.

Now, another matter. Recently, I received an item you will likely recognize from Starswirl's historical writings. I won't say what it is here, but I want you and your friends to come to the castle tomorrow and talk. Pack for a few weeks in a dry environment.

Enclosed are eight express tickets to Canterlot, good for any train today or tomorrow. I hope to see you all soon.

Your friend, Celestia.

As Spike finished reading the scroll, he handed Twilight the aforementioned train tickets. "What historical artifact do you think she has Twilight?"

"I'm not sure Spike, she really didn't give me much to work with, I mean Starswirl the Bearded wrote about hundreds if not thousands of different historical events and objects, having compiled what he believed was a definitive history of all ponykind up until his death, after whi-"

Rainbow tapped Twilight's shoulder with a hoof. "Twilight."

"What?"

"You're rambling again."

"Oh, sorry." Twilight blushed slightly.

"Actually I just think the author wanted to lazily dump alot of exposition. It didn't really work though," Pinkie suddenly interjected.

"What does that even mean Pinkie?" Rainbow retorted.

"What does what mean?" Pinkie shot a puzzled look at Rainbow.

Rainbow sighed, "nevermind."

Twilight looked at the the others, "is everypony free for a few weeks?"

The only member of the group who didn't nod was Starlight. "I'm supposed to go visit Sunburst with Trixie on Saturday, sorry." She hung her head a bit.

"Don't worry Starlight, I'm sure Celestia will understand." Twilight replied with a bright smile.

"Thanks Twilight."

Twilight turned back to the others, "So what time is good for everyone to meet at the train station? If we go up tonight we can have some time to explore the city before we go to the castle tomorrow."

After setting a time, the group dispersed.

The trip to Canterlot had been quiet and uneventful, and while she would've normally considered it boring, Rainbow Dash was actually thankful for the quiet. It reminded her that, for once, they weren't in Equestria's capital because of a national crisis. Something that happened quite often.

She now found herself in a nice, posh bed in one of the castle's guest suites. While she enjoyed the room, it was really more Rarity's speed than Rainbow's own. She wasn't going to get any sleep anyway, the anticipation of seeing what the Princess had was keeping her wired, and wide awake.

Rainbow and the others had attempted to help Twilight brainstorm about the subject of their upcoming meeting, but it had just resulted in the purple princess locking herself in the castle's library. Typical Twilight, Rainbow thought. The whole situation made the her remember when she had a crush on Twilight. It hadn't worked out in the end, in fact it even made their friendship stronger, but Rainbow had always wondered what things could have been like.

And that is when Rainbow fell out of the bed. "Ouch," she groaned as she hoisted herself into an upright position. "What even..." she trailed off as her eyes found the aforementioned unicorn in the doorway of the room. "Hey Twilight, what's up?"

"Oh, I just heard a crash and wanted to make sure everything was alright."

"Oh, I'm fine. I just got distracted and fell out of bed."

Twilight smiled at this. "Oh, are you sure you're ok?"

Rainbow nodded, "yeah, it'll take more than gravity to take me down." She jumped into the bed.

"Well, goodnight Rainbow."

"'Night Twi," Rainbow said, turning over in the bed and shutting her eyes.

She didn't even realize Twilight had left until her eyes opened again the next morning.

Rainbow didn't like Canterlot. The city itself was too fancy, where Ponyville was quaint and subdued, Canterlot was loud and in your face. Even Cloudsdale was easier on the eyes. She found the aesthetic of the the city off-putting and cramped.

Then there were the ponies. Most of the citizens were polite and courteous, most being the key word. The rest of the ponies, namely the elite unicorns, looked on Rainbow, all non-unicorns for that matter, with disdain and disgust. They were rude and aloof. She hated it.

The only exception was Fancy Pants, and he was apparently off in Las Pegasus at some big ceremony. Thus, Rainbow found herself the center of much unwanted attention. Even her status as an element bearer gave her no escape from the scorn of the upper echelons of Canterlot society.

Therefore she had stayed in the castle while the others had gone out to explore the city, and was currently destroying the Royal Guard's obstacle course for pegasus trainees. She loved it. If she kept up the pace she had set, the course record would be hers. A small crowd of various castle staff members, that had congregated at the finish line, burst into cheers as Rainbow soared into view.

She found Twilight waiting for her at the end of the course. "Rainbow, have you been showing off again?"

"Well Twi, it's like I always say, if you've got it, flaunt it." Rainbow grinned.

"Does that include setting a record that nopony will ever beat."

"Yes, if you're the best, you have to let others know, otherwise why be the best?"

Twilight sighed, "we got back early, are you ready to go to our meeting with Princess Celestia?"

"You bet'cha!"

Twilight beckoned for Rainbow to follow as she quickly trotted into the castle (the obstacle course is in and outdoor area). Rainbow followed into the building and they headed for the throne room. On the way the meet up with the others, sans Spike who was at Joe's Donut Shop. Rarity immediately began talking about every piece of clothing she purchased, as well as the status of her own local boutique. Rainbow only pretended to hear.

The castle was surprisingly empty, most of the guard was accompanying Princess Luna at a large summit in Prance, leaving only a garrison in the city. Nonetheless, Rainbow knew the castle had beefed up security since the Changelings invaded again.

When they reached the throne room, Princess Celestia dismissed her guard and took the six friends into a back room. On the far end of the room was a small table, on which was what appeared to be a sphere covered in a black sheet. She turned to them and began speaking. "What I am about to show you is an item of great historical significance. Afterwards I will give you a task that could shake the very foundation of our society. I do not say these things lightly, and I have chosen to skip the pleasantries due to the gravity of this situation."

Everypony was suddenly very uncomfortable, none of them had ever seen Celestia be this serious except for Twilight. Even then she had only seen this once or twice. Rainbow spoke up, "we can handle it princess."

"Very well." She turned and used her magic to pull off the sheet, revealing a red, glowing crystal sphere. "Behold, the Orb of Fire, sacred artifact of the ancient city of Accra."

Twilight's eyes went wide but she said nothing.

"Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to take this back to its rightful home."

Author's Note

So it begins.

By the way, if you want to be an editor for this, shoot me a message. I need one.