It was a busy day in Ponyville. Ponies bustled around the town square, on their way to work. Bulk Biceps rushed through, clearing a path through the crowd, his nut cart in tow as he rushed to the spa. Derpy flew in circles above Dr. Whooves, chasing her own tail. Lyra, emerging from her home half asleep and blurry eyed, stumbled over to Bon Bon and the pair set off. Roseluck stood behind her rose stand, a long line already forming in front.
Rainbow Dash strolled through the crowds, Scootaloo trailing behind her. Rainbow pretended not to notice. She came to Roseluck’s stand. “Make way, make way!” she called out to the line.
“Yeah!” Scootaloo shouted. “Move out of the way for Rainbow Dash, the coolest pony ever!” The other ponies, confused, but not wanting a fight, stepped aside for Rainbow.
“Hey Roseluck,” Rainbow said. “Spitfire wants orange flowers for her office.”
Roseluck sighed. “More?”
Rainbow nodded. “And I’d prefer to stay on her good side, so…”
Roseluck handed her a bouquet of orange flowers. “Better get them to her quick then.”
Rainbow nodded and began to walk away when a paper hit her in the face. “What the hay?” Her expression soon went from confusion to excitement as she read it. “Oh yeah!” She threw the flowers over her shoulder and shot away. Scootaloo scooped them up and handed them to Roseluck, then raced after Rainbow.
Pinkie Pie came bouncing in, singing her Smile song. “I would love to make you grin, awesome, I would love to make you…” she came to a stop. “uh, Fluttershy, what are you doing?”
Fluttershy was standing outside a jewelry shop, ogling the window display. “Oh, um, Pinkie Pie! I didn’t see you there. Um, hows it going?”
“It's going great!” Pinkie pulled out her party cannon from thin air and shot it off, confetti raining down on them. “Are you secretly obsessed with jewelry? Oh, never mind. If this was an episode that would be a great plot!” she leaned in close to Fluttershy and whispered, “Actually that would be a horrible plot. Make it a comic book.” She straightened up. “But let's learn about some mysterious alicorn princess instead!”
“Pinkie Pie,” Fluttershy asked tentatively, “What are you talking about?”
“Never you mind,” Pinkie told her. “The writer will explain all about that as soon as he’s introduced—” she thought for a second. “Rarity, Applejack, and Twilight.” She snorted. “Hey, Fluttershy! Know what you get when you put those three together?”
“No Pinkie,” Fluttershy answered patiently. “What?”
“A love triangle!” Pinkie began laughing. “At least that's what the shippers told me!”
“I, uh, need to go,” Fluttershy told her, and flew off as fast as she could. As she flew a paper hit her right in the face. She paused, hovering, as she read it, then took off in a much different direction than before.
Pinkie shrugged and leaped to her feet. “Okie Dokie Lokie!” She then noticed a piece of paper on the ground. “Well, how’d you get there Mr. Paper?” She picked it up and read. She suddenly gasped, turning several heads. “Sorry!” Pinkie called as she bounced away.
Rarity was rushing about the boutique, desperately trying to get the shop in order before it opened and customers started arriving. In her haste, she tripped over Opal, who clawed her leg and ran. Lying on the floor, Rarity noticed a small slip of paper near her. Curious, she picked it up, reading and rereading it. “Oh dear,” she sighed, and, picking herself up off the ground, hurried out of the boutique.
Applejack perched precariously on the lip of the barn roof. “Applebloom?” she called down to the ground. “Could ya get me the wrench?”
Applebloom nodded. “Sure thing big sis!” she ran to the toolbox and threw a wrench at Applejack.
Applejack quickly ducked as the wrench went flying over her head. She shook her head at Applebloom. “You’ve got to learn to be careful, to pay attention,” she told her.
“Like how you’re paying so much attention to the giant dark shadow looming behind you?” Applebloom asked sarcastically.
Applejack spun around, half expecting to see the Pony of Shadows, but there was nothing. “Applebloom, r’ you telling tall tales again?”
Applebloom shook her head in confusion. “Nah, it disappeared, but it was there!”
Applejack was about to reply when a paper hit her in the face. She snatched it up before it could blow away and read it. “Applebloom, you mind yerself while I’m gone.”
“Will do, sis!” Applebloom called after Applejack’s retreating figure. Then she grinned. “Time for some fun!” she said to herself.
Twilight sat in her castle library, high stacks of books on the table in front of her. She was pouring again and again over a single page of Thrice of Magic, Twice of Power. She rocked back and forth in her chair. She ran her hooves through her mane. She blindly reorganized books behind her, not looking to see if she was doing it right. This might be her greatest discovery yet if it turned out to be true. She was torn between excitement and nerves. This was big. She grabbed another book from the middle of a stack, causing the pile to collapse, deluging Twilight in a wave of books. “AAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!” she screamed. “I can’t take it anymore! WHERE ARE MY FRIENDS?????”
“Twilight?” Fluttershy pushed the door open a crack. “Is everything okay?”
“Finally!” Twilight slumped in her chair. “I’ve uncovered amazing information about—well, I’ll wait until the others are here.”
Several seconds later Rainbow burst through the door. “There’s a villain we have to stop, right?” Rainbow asked. “I am so ready for another fight…Though can we skip the redemption? That got old really quick.”
Twilight sighed. “Fine. Uh, maybe. No.” Rainbow groaned and facehoofed. “Anyway, I’ve discovered the most incredible thing ever. The greatest discovery of our entire lives.”
“I knew it!” Pinkie gasped. “Cupcakes and muffins are the same thing!”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “No, Pinkie.”
Pinkie stared in shock at Twilight. “But wasn’t I a teensy weensy eensy bit close?” she whispered hopefully.
Twilight shook her head. Pinkie’s hair deflated. “It was almost exactly right!” Twilight said quickly. Pinkie grinned widely as her hair popped back into its former shape.
“So, Twilight?” Applejack asked. “What is it?”
“It is a great secret of Equestrian history, perhaps the greatest. It has been kept a secret for years.” Twilight began to pace in front of them. “Even Celestia and Luna dare not speak of it, though they know. It is a dark secret, a horrible story of pain and misery.”
Fluttershy curled up into a tiny quivering ball and squeaked with terror, “I d-don’t know if I w-want to hear this.”
“Spill the beans Twilight!” Rainbow demanded. “For crying out loud, what is it?”
“There,” Twilight told them slowly, her pacing intensifying, each hoofbeat resounding through the library, “Is,” she came to a stop, “A,” she snapped her head to look at them, “Nother princess! And yes, I am willing to sacrifice grammar for drama.”
“And?” they all asked, leaning forward.
Twilight shrugged. “That's it.”
“What?” Rainbow screeched. “All that suspense and you don’t know anything?”
“Nope,” Twilight replied cheerfully. Rainbow facehoofed again. “That doesn’t matter,” continued Twilight. “Because what matters is that it's been discovered.”
“And how do you know about this princess?” Fluttershy asked.
“All thanks to a one of a kind book of Clover the Clever’s writings,” Twilight told them smugly. “I got it from Maud in exchange for a chunk of Painite.”
Pinkie gasped. “What is Maud doing with a rare book like that? Is she part of a secret organization? Is it a conspiracy? Are they trying to overthrow Celestia?” She pulled a pitchfork out of her mane and raised it high above her head. “Liberation for Equestria!”
Twilight sighed. “Should I continue?”
“Yes!” they all cried.
“Good.” Twilight motioned for them to gather close around the table. “This book, Thrice of Magic, Twice of Power is it. Here he hints at another princess, when he states, ’When at tea with the princesses today, the youngest spilled tea all over Luna. She was quite displeased, and while I should not have laughed, I did.’ Then, later, he flat out says, ‘The third princess, youngest of the three sisters, is quite odd. Most days she is shut in her room, and when I listen at the door I often hear screams and weeping. She seems to be plagued with some sort of curse, though I cannot tell. When she does come out of her room, her magic often goes crazy, causing dangerous explosions and such. She is obviously an extremely talented pony, but it is a wonder how she earned wings before both of her sisters.’” Twilight stopped reading and looked up. “Well, girls? Are you in? Ready to make history?”
“Oh yeah!”
“Road trip!”
“I…guess…”
“Hoo-wee! This is gonna be good.”
“I suppose I could leave the boutique unattended for a while…”
Twilight smiled. “Next stop—Canterlot.”
