Author's Note

Ok, sorry about the wait, I've had a lot on my plate lately. I'll explain at the bottom of the next chapter. But to help make up for it, I'll be posting two chapters at once.

Arc 1-Chapter 2: Meeting Ponies

Arc-1 Chapter-2: Meeting Ponies

After exiting Celestia's study, Twilight teleported back into her home and quickly unrolled the scroll to examine it. After checking, double-checking, and triple-checking the information on the scroll, she rolled it back up and ran to find her things.

"Spike! Spike!" Twilight yelled for her assistant, only to get no response. She shrugged it off, assuming he was already at the chariot waiting for her.

Twilight ran through the library, finding her half-dried robe hanging over a now lukewarm oven, that Spike presumably had simering until it was time for him to go. She grabbed the garment and threw it on, taking only a second to get used to chill of the still somewhat cool fabric, before teleporting into her bedroom to grab a belt with a large pouch on its right side and several smaller pouches on its left, as well as a dagger behind the right pouch in a brown scabbard with her cutie mark embezzled in gold on its black hilt. After securing the scroll in a strap on the back of the belt, Twilight pulled out the dagger and eyed its bright silvery blade. She raised an eyebrow as she examined it. 'Why does the princess want me and Spike to carry these things around anyway?' She wondered to herself while using her magic to secure her belt around her hips, before shaking the thought from her mind. 'I'm sure the princess has her reasons.' She told herself, as she put the blade away.

Twilight levitated a small book bag from her closet, as well as some of her personal books she had for when she traveled, before swinging it over her shoulder. Competent that Spike had taken care of the rest of the packing, Twilight teleported out of her room and appeared in front of an arched entrance-way with two guard towers on either side of it, leading to an open field in the center of a circular stone enclosure with three more towers spread along the outside of the wall on the opposite end overlooking the lower levels of the mountain.

Four lines of about a dozen pegasus chariots each give or take, laid on the grass with pegasus guards flying away with one of them every few moments with passengers and luggage securely in them, followed by another couple pegasus guards flying in with another chariot to fill one the empty spaces almost as soon as they were opened, while various other guards patrolled the perimeter. Twilight spotted her little dragon standing to the side of the second row, as a guard took their luggage from him and loaded it into the small two-pony chariot. It was marked with Princess Celestia's cutie mark on both its sides to distinguish it as a personal transport for ponies on official government business, as opposed to the other chariots that were either marked with the flag of one of Equestria military branches or their owner's personal cutie marks. Twilight jogged towards him, swerving to avoid knocking into one of the patrolling guards on her way. "Hay Twi!" She could hear him say, as he lifted up an arm to wave at her.

"Hay Spike, are you ready to go?" Twilight asked, as she hurriedly climbed into the chariot, ready to go as soon as possible. The dragon simply nodded his head, while following her up the steps on the side of the chariot. Twilight sat her bag down on the seat in the center of the transport and prepared to flop down onto it.

"Trying to run off without saying goodbye, are we Twily?" She quickly turned her head back with a smile on her face to be greeted by her brother and Princess Cadence, her soon to be sister-in-law strolling to the side of their transport. Princess Cadence stood very slightly taller than her soon to be husband, but her horn was about thirty to fifty percent longer and she was clad in a very light pink dress with golden outlines to match her coat and mane, that went all the way down to her ankles and had a neckline low enough that ponies would be able to see the top of her bust, if it was not for the large diamond, heart shaped necklace obscuring her upper chest to match her cutie mark.

"Shining!" Twilight practically skipped to and down the steps, before throwing her arms around her brother's chest. A sentiment he soon returned.

After breaking from their embrace, Twilight turned to the pink Alicorn beside them and they immediately started their traditional greeting dance.

"Sunshine, Sunshine..." Shining smiled at seeing the two of the most important mares in his life act like a couple of school fillies, while the little dragon who had just made it down the steps made a faux gagging motion. "And do a little shake!" The two finished while shaking there rears at each other, before erupting into a burst of high pitched giggles.

"Hmmm-Hmmm", Shining interrupted this exchange while gesturing towards some of the guards on one side of the chariot yard, who had been staring at the two. Twilight and Candace soon turned red at the realization that everypony in the area was staring at them; while Shining tried to hide his smirk and thick cloud of silence took over.

"So... I'm sure Shining's told you about the big news!" Candace said excitedly, while breaking through the silence as all the other ponies got back to what they were doing. Her response was a rapid nod, followed by Twilight grabbing hold of her midsection so hard, the smaller mare almost knocked her down.

"I can't believe my brother's marrying the greatest foal-sitter in all of Equestria! Well actually I can believe it, because you two have been dating for years, but steal!" Twilight babbled on as she squeezed the princess even tighter, who responded by returning the gesture, albeit less forcefully and patting her on the back. Meanwhile, Shining Armor and Spike stood beside each other and smiled at the two, though the latter tried to hide his after realizing he was doing it.

"So, the princess is sending you on some important mission in Ponyville?" Shinning asked, as the mares finally broke their embrace.

"I wish. It's just a routine inspection to make sure the ponies she put in charge of setting things up are doing their jobs right. If I'm lucky, I'll just need to have a quick talk with the town's ponies and I'll be free to continue my research." Twilight said, smiling at the thought that at least after getting her assignment over with, she'll finally have time to sit down with her books and study in peace.

"Twilight, what did we talk about?" Shining said sternly.

"Yeah I know, I should just take the time to relax after I'm done with my duties and all that. But I really need to do this Shining! I just know it!" She said defensibly as her brother walked closer to her.

"Twilight! You can't just keep..." Shining was suddenly cut off by a long pink hand, perching itself onto his shoulder.

"What your brother is trying to say Twilight is that we all know you're very worried about these.... dreams you've been having. But, you can't keep working yourself to death over something that might happen." Princess Candace said, as her hand moved from her fiancé’s shoulder to Twilight's. "Especially when the wisest pony in all the land says it will be ok." Candace smiled brightly at the purple mare, before turning her head towards the white stallion. Both of who, returned it.

"Yeah, I really should trust Princess Celestia on this."

"Who said anything about Celestia?" Candace asked playfully, earning a chuckle from Twilight.

After a moment and another exchange of hugs, Twilight and Spike got back into the chariot. "Aren't you two coming to the celebrations too?" Twilight asked, while leaning against the edge of the chariot with Spike beside her.

"Yeah, but I still have some business to take care of here, so me and Candy will be arriving with the guards at the ceremony tonight." Shining said as two pegasus guards grabbed the front of the chariot in their hands and tied a rope around it, before tying the other end of the rope around small loops sticking out the back of their armor, while another guard grabbed hold of the back to balance it out.

"See you there BBBFF!" The four quickly waved each other good bye, as Twilight and Spike jumped into a padded bench in the center, just before the pegasy pulled up hard, causing their passengers to jerk back lightly in their seats as they positioned themselves at the right altitude, the guard in the back releasing his hold as a crystal in the back lit up to tell him the innate magic in the vehicle was kicking in to keep it balanced for the flight. This was followed by a small squadron of four other pegasi taking positions around the transport to escort it to its destination. Above their heads, the duo could see a massive zeppelin taking off and several smaller air ships flying around the air above them, as well as a few more pegasus chariots breezing by at around their altitude.

After everything was in position the pegasi took off, quickly leaving the chariot yard and castle behind them, while their passenger looked down below, then behind them to see pristine image of Canterlot Castle hanging by the mountain side leaving them. But they soon broke their gaze, with Twilight turning to her book bag and levitating out a travel sized copy of a book called 'Legend of The Elements of Harmony', before grabbing it in her hand and flipping it open to reread it for what seemed like the thousandth time to her. Meanwhile Spike pulled out a sack filled with some jerky that Princess Celestia had ordered for him from one of the Griffin kingdoms and dug out some pieces, before looking over the railing to gaze down at the sprawling city beneath Canterlot Castle's mountain rapidly leaving them as he snacked on the bits of meat.

They sat like this in silence, feeling the wind pushing against their bodies as they passed two layers of stone fortifications that separated Equestria's Capital from the surrounding countryside side that was rabbeted by train tracks and dotted by farms, manors belonging to lesser Canterlot Nobles and serving vacation homes for other nobles, and small communities. As they moved further out of Canterlot and the busier air traffic above it, the chariot and its escort gradually picked up speed, while Twilight continued to flip from one end of her book to the other, already having read through it for one- thousandth-and-first and one-thousandth-and-second times.

"Hay, Twilight?" Spike asked while still cramming jerky into his food hole.

"Swallow then speak Spike", Twilight offhandedly said, still continuing to look through her book and casually using her magic to tie her mane, to keep the wind from blowing it into disarray.

(Gulp) "Do you ever wonder what it would be like if you had wings?" He asked, before throwing another stick of jerky into his mouth.

Twilight turned her head to him with a raised eyebrow, while finally shutting her book. "I don't know, sometimes I guess.", she said after a moment of silence, before levitating her book back into her bag, as they were now less than a couple miles from Ponyville. "Why?"

"I was just thinking, it’s really nice riding through the air and I was wondering if this is what it will be like when I have wings." Spike finished off the last of the jerky and turned back towards Twilight.

"I don't know, maybe, but this seems like the question you should ask somepony that actually does have wings.", Twilight stated after a moment's pause, while levitating her book bag up and slipping her arm through the band to carry it as the chariot entered the sky just over Ponyville. Twilight spared a brief glance around the sky, making note that they had not been cleared yet. "You know, I actually had a dream where I had wings once"

"Really?" Spike asked, while putting the now empty bag away. Meanwhile three members of their escort broke away and flew down to make sure there was a clear landing area beneath them.

"Yeah, the night after the princess made me her student, I had this very vivid dream where I had wings and was leading an army into battle." As she was saying this, one of the guards that had broken off flew back up to inform the others that they had a clear landing area and the chariot stopped when it was positioned over said area.

"That sounds awesome Twi! What were you fighting!?" Spike exclaimed as he removed his restraints to get up, only for Twilight to casually pull him back into his seat by the tail with her magic, before throwing her arm around his midsection to act as a new restraint. This caused him to scowl at the unicorn, who smiled in response, before answering his question while the chariot began its gradual decent.

"Oh, I don't really remember anything other than they had this ominous dark cloud over them. I don't even really remember what the ponies beside me looked like, just that we were charging straight at whoever we were fighting", she said with a shrug, before the chariot touched down in-between the guards that hadn't flown back up, to the far end of the town's center, where many of its residents had flocked to do their jobs in helping prepare for the upcoming event, many of them stopping to give the robed unicorn mare and her little dragon a curious glance, before quickly averting their eyes and going about their day. "You know, it actually sounds like some cliché climatic battle I used to read in books all the time when I was around that age." Twilight allowed Spike to get up as she did herself, while levitating their luggage over to them.

"And still do", Spike said with a smirk. To which Twilight responded to by tossing one of the bags into his arms hard enough to send him staggering back for a couple steps. The dragon once again scowled at her, as she began climbing out of the chariot with her part of their luggage in hand, before following her.

After thanking the guard ponies, Twilight tossed her assistant the scroll and ordered him read over it real fast so he knows what they're doing, as the chariot took off for its next destination. Twilight meanwhile, looked around the area they had landed at to familiarize herself with her new surroundings.

"Hello!!!"

"Ah!!!" Twilight yelled as she was almost knocked off her feet by surprise, while Spike jumped back at the sudden appearance of a pink earth pony mare.

"My name's Pinkie Pie! Are you the new friends Princess Celestia sent over to meet us?" The mare said, while the unicorn and dragon's chest heaved as they recovered from the shock.

"What? Ah... yeah the princess sent us, but-"

"Great!!!" The pink mare yelled while jumping slightly in the air while clapping her hands together, before cartwheeling off to the side and seemingly disappearing just as soon as she came.

"Uhmm, what just happened?" Spike asked while Twilight swerved her head around, trying to see where the pink mare disappeared to.

After recovering from their surprise, Twilight brushed herself and motioned Spike to follow her, while he skimmed over the parchment. "The first pony on the list is an earth pony named Applejack who has apparently been put in charge of the food, right Spike?" Twilight asked the dragon, who nodded in response. "Good, let's hurry up, we need to get this over with as soon as possible, so I can get back to my research."

"Twi, I'm not sure the princess wants you to just breeze through this, so you could get back to studying", Spike responded before eyeing the scroll again. "In-fact, there's like half-a-dozen different reminders in here to try socializing with the ponies you meet. In bold letters. I’m… pretty ones even written in blood or at least blood red ink."

"Yeah, I know Spike but it's really important that I get back to my research. The very fate of Equestria could be at stake. I can't just drop all that to start trying making friends with ponies I'm probably never going to see again after tonight", Twilight said as they left town square and trekked down the road leading out of town.

"Come on Twi, you need to relax and learn how to make friends. You know what Celestia always says?"

"Yeah yeah, "Friendship is Magic" and all that, but right now this is more important."

"I was going to say, hmm-hmm 'Twilight Sparkle, my dearest and most faithful student, chill out before you give yourself a heart attack!'" Spike said with a brief chuckle, while Twilight groaned and tried to push his little impression out of her mind.

As they continued to walk down the road and further into the countryside, Twilight quickly started to sweat from the summer heat. "Those feather brains could've dropped us off closer to the farm", Twilight grumbled under her breath, as they approached a sign saying “Sweet Apple Acres” and could now hear the faint sounds of music and loud chatter off in the distance.

"You know, you'd probably be cooler if you took off the robe", Spike said offhandedly as they walked.

"Spike, this robe is an important piece of professional attire that must be worn at all times while doing official business", she said while stopping to take a fast breather and wipe away the sweat forming on her forehead.

"Come on Twi, like anyone here's going to care if you dress casually."

"Huh" Twilight exhaled, before begrudgingly pulling off her belt with her magic and slipping her robe over her head. The immediate difference in temperature almost made her shiver, despite it still being around ninety degrees or so, though perhaps that was just sweat that was starting to soak her shirt combined with a light summer breeze.

"Better?" Spike asked with a smug grin.

"Yeah, fine. It feels a lot better without this thing on", Twilight reluctantly admitted as she used her magic to secure her belt around her waist again while resting her robe over her shoulder. As they continued walking, they were able to take advantage of a forest of apple trees to shield themselves from the sun's heat with their shade. Meanwhile, the faint sounds of music they had been hearing gradually became louder to the point that they could now identify the sounds as coming from several fiddles, guitars, harmonicas, and at least one piano. They also heard the sound of fillies giggling to their side. Causing them to turn around just in time to catch a glimpse of three children running through the orchard with what looked like shovels and a pickaxe.

After a few more moments of walking, they spotted a large gathering of ponies out in the distance, near a couple large barns and an old farm house that seemed to be in the middle of some kind of celebration. As they approached they were able to make out the group better and noticed that it was mostly earthponies with fittingly earthly colored coats, almost like a sea of yellows, browns, oranges, and reds broken up by a few dabs of green here and there. There may have been one or two pegasi and the odd unicorn among the group, but the group that looked like it could be around a hundred or so large, was almost all earth ponies. After reaching the group, they were intercepted by a couple ponies, a mare and a stallion, that had circled their way around the crowd, probably having spotted them as they were coming.

"Hiya there, ya must be the ones the princess sent ta check on us." One of the ponies, the mare, said, while extending a hand out to Twilight, who quickly grabbed it and shook.

The pony that was greeting her was an orange furred, green eyed, and blond maned earthpony, about half a head taller than Twilight herself, not counting the horn, with a much more muscular and bustier physique, and a slight gut that stuck out just enough to be noticeable. She wore a brown Stetson hat, a short sleeved, green flannel shirt with its bottom tucked under her belt, a blue jean skirt that went down to her knees, and brown cowpony boots. Both her mane and tail were tied in... a ponytail oddly enough. And just under the sleeve of her shirt, Twilight could make out three apples adorning her arm.

"Ah, yes. I am Twilight Sparkle, personnel apprentice and emissary of Princess Celestia.", She said trying to look as dignified as she could, with her head turned up and her eyes closed, in the best posh voice she could muster and audible pride in her words, as she felt being a personal representative of her ruler and teacher, deserved. "And this is my faithful assistant and adopted brother, Spike."

"Hello", Spike greeted simply while waving at the two earth ponies, who eyed him curiously, like so many of the ponies in Canterlot had done upon meeting a dragon for the first time.

"Well it’s mighty fine ta make your acquaintance. I'm Applejack and this over hear behind me is my big brother Big Macintosh or Big Mac if you'd like," Applejack said while gesturing towards the large red stallion that was at least two heads taller than his sister and even more muscular, wearing a blue and white flannel shirt, tight jeans that emphasized the thick muscles of his legs, and brown worker's boots.

"Howdy." He said with a calm smile while sticking out his large and rough hands to shake Twilight's slender hand and Spike's claw, before letting the mares proceed with their conversation.

"Yes, nice to meet you both too. Now if we can get down to business, that would be most appreciated."

"Sure thing sugar cube, why don't ya come sit at the table and we can talk while we eat?" Applejack asked while very lightly (at least for her) grabbing the unicorn by the back of her arm and pulling her into the crowd with the guys following right behind them.

"Well actually, I really need to get going." Twilight responded, trying to yank her arm away from the earth pony that didn't even seem to notice the unicorn pulling against her.

"Oh, nonsense sugar cube! What kind of ponies would we be if we didn't give somepony that traveled all the way from Canterlot to check up on us a proper welcome?" Applejack stated as they reached a very long table at what could roughly be called the center of the gathering.

"I appreciate the gesture, but we really need to get through this as soon as-" Suddenly the aroma from the food on the table hit her nostrils, causing her to quickly turn her head to row after row fresh-baked goods spread across the wooden plane. Twilight forced herself to turn away and regain her composure, but she was pretty sure this Applejack pony could hear her stomach growling and betraying her air of disinterest in these festivities.

"Come on and sit down, and we can get ta talken. I bet you're probably starving by the way you were looking at our food", Applejack said while taking her seat.

"Well, I guess it couldn't hurt to have a little bite to eat."

Two Hours Later

"Ughhhh!" Twilight moaned as she stumbled down the road leading out of Sweet Apple Acres, trying not to puke, while Spike tried to help keep her on her feet. The duo's clothing now soaked in cranberry-apple juice and to a lesser extent, grape juice.

"You know Twi, you probably shouldn't have tried eating two pies in one sitting," Spike said, while trying to help her walk while sticking to the back just in case she did start throwing-up.

"Oh don't even start that with me! You and that farm pony ate like twice what I did! Each!" Twilight said bitterly, while reaching to fish out some pills, out of one of the little pouches on her belt to ease her stomach.

"You know, Applejack said she could whip you up an old family remedy for this, in like a couple minutes." Spike walked to Twilight's side to help her pull out a vile with a few tiny peels in it.

"Spike, I'm the personal apprentice to Princess Celestia and one of the very few ponies in Equestria with magic itself as her talent! I don't think I need a farm pony to tell me how- Ughm" Twilight was cut off by remnants of apple pies and other pastries being pushed up her throat and out of her mouth, as she doubled over.

Spike calmly patted her on the back, until she was done spilling her guts out on the road, before removing a couple of pills from the vile and handing them to Twilight who hungrily scooped them out of the little dragon's claw, before he put the vile back in its pouch. "You know, I actually kind of liked hanging out with them; they seemed nicer than the ponies back in Canterlot," the dragon said after Twilight had recovered.

"Yeah, I guess it was okay. But did she have to introduce us to

of her relatives. Especially when I said a hundred times that we were on a schedule,” Twilight grumbled that last sentence under her breath, while stepping over a puddle of her vomit, already recovered from her stomach issues thanks to the magically enhanced medicine.

"Hey, some of them were pretty cool. Like that one filly with a bow in her hair and her friends, uh, Applebloom I think her name was."

"You mean those little gremlins that caused the juice explosion?" Twilight asked bitterly, still trying in bane to ring the juice out from her cloak's sleeves.

"Yeah, they were a lot of fun," Spike responded, not noticing or caring about the bitterness in his companion's voice.

"Huh. Just remind me who's next on our list. Wasn’t it that pegasus in charge of clearing the skies, Rainbow Dash I think?"

"Uh-huh" Spike answered, while looking over the scroll. "Applejack said she lives in a cloud house around the south bridge just down this road. Uh, I think I can see it!" He said, as they reached the summit of a slope in the road and spotted the wooden bridge with cobblestone supports that arched over a shallow creek.

"Good, I would really like to have a word with this pony for slacking on her job. I mean for Celestia's sake, what kind of pony waits till the very last moment to-"

Twilight was cut off as they were approaching the bridge by a rainbow colored blur flying by followed by a gust of wind strong enough to blow the back of her mane into her face and knock the scroll from her assistant's claws, before he scrambled to catch it before it was blown away. Brushing her mane away to clear her vision, Twilight could see the blue blur with rainbow highlights flying loop-dollops the took her from just a foot above the ground, then back up above the clouds so fast, it didn't look so much like something flying around in circles as it did a giant blue circle spinning around in the air. Until it suddenly stopped at lowest point of the circle it was flying in just long enough for Twilight to make out the shape of a pony, before just as abruptly shooting back up in the air and right through one of the clouds, disappearing for several seconds before free-falling back to the ground while casually laying with her back facing down towards the ground and her eyes closed.

Acting instinctively upon seeing a pony rapidly falling to the ground, Twilight’s magical aura burst around her horn to catch the pegasus who's eyes shot open as she instantly began to struggle against Twilight's magic.

"Hay! What's the big idea here!?", The pegasus yelled upon spotting the unicorn that had her in a magical hold.

"What's the big idea?! The big idea is saving you from turning into a blue, red, and rainbow colored puddle on the ground!" Twilight yelled back as they exchanged angry glares. "What were you even doing?!" Twilight walked closer to the blue, rainbow-maned pegasus.

"I was practicing for a stunt I was going to show off to the princess; until you ruined it.", She said with a furious glare directed towards the unicorn, before crossing her arms. "Now can you please let me go already?"

"Fine."

Without any further warning, Twilight released her magical grip around the pegasus and allowed her to fall to the ground on her rear. "Ouh!" The pegasus rubbed her now slightly sore behind as she got up and continued to glare at the unicorn who glared back, as she began to walk towards the purple mare, only for a little dragon to jump in-between them.

"Come on girls, it was just a misunderstanding. There's no need to make a big deal", the little dragon spoke with a nervous smile.

The dragon's words took Twilight out of her anger long enough to take a breath and calm herself down, while the rainbow-maned mare's attention turned towards the unusual sight of a dragon in Ponyville. Now that they were calmed down a little they were able to take the new sight of each other in, though the blue mare seemed to be sizing the two up more than anything.

After another second, Twilight had managed to fully regain her composure and offered a hand to the pegasus. "Rainbow Dash I presume?" The mare in question was slightly shorter than Twilight, but with a more athletic and muscular build, though with an over-all leaner build than Applejack and a chest about as large as Twilight. Her eyes were a vibrant pinkish/reddish color, and she wore a T-shirt with the same colors as The Wonder Bolt's uniforms, a purple and white skirt over a pair of black track pants with a white stripe going down each side of them, a small golden Wonder Bolt's cadet emblem over the mid-thigh area, and a pair of black sneakers with white strings. A Cutie Mark that looked like a lightning bolt shaped rainbow coming down from a cloud was adorned on her arm.

"Yeah," Rainbow responded while averting her eyes from the dragon and took the other mare's hand. "I take it your Celestia's apprentice? I've heard you had a little dragon." Twilight replied with a nod while said little dragon assistant breathed a sigh of relief.

With her anger no longer clouding her mind, Twilight was able to focus on what she actually came to talk to this pony about, while said pony laid against the cobblestone end of the bridge with her arms folded, still clearly peeved that Twilight had interrupted her practice. "Anyway, I have come on behalf of the princess to see how the preparations were going and I was concerned by the fact that the skies have not been cleared yet, despite the fact that the princess will be here in just a few hours. May I ask why?", Twilight asked in the most professional voice she could muster to try to hide her ire at this pony’s laziness.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll get to it in a bit", she said placing her arms behind her head while turning her line of sight to the cloud filled sky. "We've still got plenty of time till Celestia gets here."

"Plen... Plenty of time?! It'll take hours to clear these skies! And it doesn't look like you've even gotten started! Don't you ponies in this town realize this is going to be a personal appearance from Princess Celestia! The ruler of Equestria! One of only three living Alicorns known to exist! You're ruler!" Twilight took a couple more steps closer to Rainbow Dash, while Spike tried to console her.

"Eh, I could clear every cloud in a hundred miles in like a minute", Rainbow said while waving her hand dismissively at Twilight's concerns.

"Yeah, I'm sure you could", Twilight said sarcastically with her own arms crossed. "Now would you kindly start taking this seriously?"

"Hey! I could clear every cloud in the sky in like, ten seconds flat! If that!"

"Yeah, I'd like to see that."

"Fine!" In a blue flash, Rainbow Dash was gone and Spike and Twilight were hit by upwards gust of wind that blew the latter's mane and skirt straight up, causing her quickly duck and pull down her skirt, before looking upwards to see Rainbow Dash blowing away and smashing swarms clouds, until about ten seconds later, there was not a cloud in sight, before seemingly disappearing herself while Twilight and Spike stared upwards with wide eyes and open jaws.

"So!" The duo jumped back at sound, before turning around to its source only to be hit by another burst of wind. This one strong enough to knock them both down. "What I tell ya?" They turned back to the bridge to see the rainbow-maned pegasus now laying sideways on the bridge's wooden railing with her head rested on the palm of her hand and a smug grin plastered on her face.

"Ok maybe you do have everything handled here," Twilight said in a daze after having picked her jaw up off the ground.

After making sure the cloud situation was under control, the unicorn and her dragon continued to the next pony on their little journey, a unicorn mare named Rarity who was put in charge of decorating the town's amphitheater. But by the time they arrived at said building, they were met with a job already done (a sight Twilight very much appreciated, after her last encounter) and were told that she would be at her home and business. A place apparently called Carousel Boutique. Though this mare's job was already completed, Twilight was still obligated to meet with this Rarity, if nothing else, just for the sake of marking her name off their list before they move on to the next pony.

Finding their way to a tall building that fittingly enough looked like a carousel, Twilight knocked on the door. "Come in", they heard an elegant voice say before they headed inside and began to look for the pony that had said that. Immediately past the entrance was a small waiting area with about half-a-dozen chairs and a table halfway between them with a stack of magazines on one side of it, while the opposite side had a couple chairs with a much smaller table between them and crammed in the corner was a mat with a box labeled Toys on it, for mares or stallions that brought foals with them. In front of them sat what looked like a reception counter with a cash register on it between two different paths that looked like both probably lead to the same area behind the counter.

Twilight took a brief moment to wonder how much business such an establishment could get in a backwater town where most ponies probably hand stitched their own clothing or made do with hand me downs, before shrugging it off and walking around the counter with Spike following close behind.

As they rounded the corner and entered a large open room filled the smell of the kind of high end perfume many Canterlot ponies wore and ponyquins either covered in various outfits and accessories or standing naked on both sides that seemingly made up the rest of the building's ground floor, where they could hear a mare humming to herself.

In the far corner of the room, they spotted the source of the sound: a white unicorn mare, presumably Rarity, that was getting up from what looked like a sewing station and setting down a pair of red glasses, before turning towards them. She had a long, curly, purple mane that went down to her hindquarters and a similarly styled tale reached down to less than an inch above the floor. She was noticeably leaner than the last couple of ponies she met, though she was still noticeably more muscular than Twilight and was even bustier than Applejack. She was adorned in a dark purple skirt that went down to her knees, a white long sleeved button up shirt with a plunging neckline that showed off her cleavage, gold, gem encrusted bracelets, dark purple high-heeled shoes which combined with her horn, made her appear taller than Applejack, even though she in truth, she was probably only slightly taller than Twilight, and a pendant made up of three diamonds strung together, presumably representing her cutie mark. And unlike the other mares Twilight had seen in Ponyville, that didn't seem to wear makeup, this mare wore bright rose-red lipstick, as well as eyeshadow.

"I'm sorry if you came to make an order, but we're closed for the Summer S-un-" She suddenly stopped, seemingly frozen in place. After a moment of silence, Twilight started to wonder if this mare was okay, but before she could say anything, the other unicorn mare appeared in front of her so quickly she wasn’t sure if she had teleported or just sprinted, causing Twilight and Spike to once again jumped back in surprise. "You're Twilight Sparkle!!! The personnel apprentice to Princess Celestia!!! And you're her little dragon assistant, Spike right?" She asked the duo who was at first, too surprised to respond to the unicorn whose ice blue eyes seemed to sparkle in anticipation for their response. "Uh, what brings a pony of your prestige to Carousel Boutique?!"

"Uh, Rarity I presume?" Twilight asked, to which Rarity hurriedly nodded, so Twilight continued. "I've come as an envoy of Princess Celestia to inspect how the preparations for the coming celebration are proceeding and since you have been put in charge of the decorations for the local amphitheater, I have come to see how that was going, but since you seemed to already have that covered, I'll be on my way", Twilight finished as she started to back away.

"No wait! You can't just go so! We've haven't had the opportunity to talk properly!", Rarity exclaimed before lightly putting her hand on the other unicorns arm only to fill a cool and wet sensation when her fingers touched Twilight's sleeve along with a light squishing sound. She quickly pulled her hand away. "Is this... Cran-apple juice?" Rarity asked while sniffing her hand to confirm the substance was indeed what she thought it was, before looking over the purple unicorn and realizing just how messy her appearance was. "Oh no! This simply can not do!" Rarity exclaimed while grabbing onto the purple mare's arm, this time firmly and pulling her away, as she struggled to get free.

“Uh, no, we really must be going.”, Twilight said nervously as she tried to pull her arm away to no avail.

“Looking like THAT?! Oh, nonsense darling!” Rarity responded as she dragged Twilight into towards a nearby changing area. “We cannot have you going around looking like that on such a special occasion and what kind of pony would I be if I didn’t step in to save somepony in a situation like this.”

“I really appreciate the offer, but I really do need to get going.”, Twilight said, trying not to sound frantic as she desperately tried to pull her hand away from the other unicorn’s grip.

“Come now Darling, you can’t really expect me to let you go outside looking like that.” Rarity suddenly spun them around so she was facing Twilight and pulled her in so closely, their snots were nearly pressed together and their horns were interlocked. “I would never DARE letting a fellow unicorn mare walk out in public while in such a state on a regular day, let alone such a grand occasion as this!” Rarity spoke melodramatically as Twilight’s fake grin became increasingly nervous and beads of sweat began to form on her forehead. “Now come now, we really must get started if we are to make you look presentable in time for the celebration!” Rarity cheerfully ordered.

Twilight turned her attention to Spike, knowing that her ever loyal companion was about to jump in and help her somehow, someway… only to see he was staring at Rarity with hearts practically forming in his eyes. ‘Oh! For the love of Celestia’ Twilight screamed in her head.

“Spike, I believe it is?” Rarity asked, as the little dragon practically jumped at the sound of her sweat voice. “Would you mind giving me a hand here or in this case, a claw here, darling? There is simply so much to do here, I wonder if even a mare such as myself can do it on her own.”

Spike nervously looked back and forth between the mares, as butterflied formed in his stomach and Twilight mouthed ‘Save me’ to him.

Later

On a dirt road just outside of town, there was a bright purple flash, as a purple unicorn mare appeared on the road in the middle of a sprint, in a blue puffy dress over her casual clothes and pink high-heel shoes, while a large pink hat with a big blue feather sticking out of its side adored her head. As her feet hit road, the sudden change from tile to dirt and gravel, combined with her current foot wear caused her feet to slip out from underneath her, sending the unicorn plume thing down as she instinctively threw her arms in front of herself to take the brunt of the impact, so she at least didn't fall face first into the hard dirt road.

"Urrhhh..." Twilight moaned pitifully, as she pushed herself up and looked around, while rubbing her aching forearms and wrist. She was glad she at least teleported far enough out of town so as nopony had seen her second slip and fall of the day. She looked up towards the sky, grimacing at how far west Celestia's sun had already traveled as she pushed herself up and tossed the hat off. "Great, just great. At this rate, I'll be lucky to finish my duty, before tonight, let alone find any time to study." Twilight grunted to herself while she pulled the dress over her head, stumbling backwards a couple steps as the dress got caught on her horn and she had to struggle to pull it off, until her horn ripped through part of the dress. Twilight quickly threw the garment to the side the road, before she started walking, kicking a couple rocks as she did so.

'At least I was able to get a little payback on that little traitor back there before I made my escape.' Twilight thought to herself as an evil smirk spread across her face at thought of all fashion related torture her friend will have to adore at the hands of Rarity, because of his betrayal. 'Let's see how he likes being turned into a living ponyquin by his little crush back there.' She chuckled a little for the first time all day while pulling out her instructions as she reached a fork in the road with a sign between the branching trails to double check on the remaining objectives on her mission in case she forgot something and to make sure she had teleported onto the right road. The unicorn glanced to the sign to confirm that she was sure on which path to take to reach the next pony on her list while she walked towards the right trail leading to a small hill with a tall oak tree in the distance, before putting the scroll back away.

As Twilight traveled towards the hill, she could hear the faint sound of birds chirping in an unnaturally orderly fashion that could only come from a pony leading a bird chorus. Hearing the birds, Twilight increased her pace towards the hill. She was so excited to get this task over and done with, that she had to consciously slow her pace down, before she ended up tripping over her own feet for the third time today. As she reached the foot of the slope, she could see the vague outline of a pony beside the tree directing her little avian orchestra in the branches of the tree.

Deciding to throw caution to wind and just get this over with, Twilight teleported to the top of the hill saying, “Hello, I’m…” just behind the mare, where she just barley caught a glance of a yellow, pink-maned pegasus jumping in the air, accompanied by a deafening shriek, before the mare flew into the tree, scaring off the birds in the process.

After gaining back the use of her ears, Twilight look up into the tree’s branches, where she caught another glance of the pegasus looking down, mostly of her trembling, aqua green/blue eyes looking down on her before retreating further into the tree’s green covering. “Uh… sorry about that I didn’t mean to scare you, I was just trying to get a hold of the pony in charge of the bird chorus, a pegasus named Flutters Shydale. I presume that’s you.” Twilight said nervously, not sure how to exactly approach this pony. After a long moment of silence, she spoke up again. “Ah, don’t worry not hear to hurt, I just want to talk.”, Twilight said trying to coax to pegasus out, which seemed to be working somewhat, as she once again spotter her nervous eyes peeking out of the blanket of greenery.

But just as Twilight was about to breathe a sigh of relief that she was at least making something resembling progress, she heard a noise that reminded her of some of the experimental new engines she had heard on some of the more advanced and recent air craft in Equestria coming from her side and rapidly getting louder. Turning to her side, she was just able to spot the rainbow colored blur, before being knocked away with enough force to send her rolling towards the edge of the hill on the opposite side. Before she knew it, she was on her back, being pinned to the ground by her wrists and the familiar and furious face Rainbow Dash was looking down on her own.

“What the hell did you do to her!?” The pegasus yelled at Twilight, who was just now processing what just happened. The unicorn instinctively struggled to pull her hands free, but Rainbow Dash’s grip only increased to point of being painful until the unicorn stooped. “Well!”

Twilight quickly vanished in a flash of light, briefly blinding the pegasus, as her palms and knees hit the ground. “Hold up a second here, I didn’t do anything to her!” Hearing the purple mare’s voice behind her, Rainbow Dash jumped back to her feet and spun around so fast, she almost appeared to teleport herself, before marching within half a centimeter from the unicorn’s snout and staring in the eye.

“Oh yeah! Than why in the name of Celestia could I here Flutters shrieking from across town!?”, Rainbow fumed as she shoved the unicorn in the shoulders hard enough to almost knock her on her rear.

“I was just trying to talk to her, you featherbrain!” Twilight shoved her back, but the pegasus barley nudged. As the tension grew, Rainbow clinched her fist, as if she was ready to deck the unicorn in front of her. Seeing this, Twilight readied a spell that would knock the wind out her if she tried.

“Stop!”

Both mares jumped a little at the sudden interruption and turned to see the timid pegasus hovering downward from the tree. “Fluttershy! Are you ok!” Rainbow Dash called out, as she half ran, half flew in Fluttershy’s direction. “She didn’t hurt you did she?” Rainbow asked her friend, who after a moments pause simply shook her head in response.

“Please Rainbow, it was just a misunderstanding, she… she wasn’t trying to scare me. She was just trying to talk... and… and she caught me by surprise. That’s all.”, She spoke hesitantly, while trying to keep her neck low and brushing her bangs over one of her aqua eye , as if she was trying to use her hair to hide cloak herself while under the gaze of the other two mares. While Fluttershy defused the situation, Twilight finally got a good look at this mare; Fluttershy was a very pretty mare with a pink mane that stretched far enough down that it blended with her tale, which reached the ground. She was also she was about as buxom as Applejack, even though she only stood slightly taller than the other two mares present. She was wearing a light green dress that covered everything from her neck, to the palms of her hands and feet, as well as a pair of sandals, a couple white and yellow flowers in her hair, and pendent around her neck depicting three pink and blue butterflies, that Twilight assumed was her cutie mark.

“Sorry”, Rainbow Dash spoke while turning towards Twilight with her head hung low and anger still in her voice, though it may have been directed at herself as much as it was towards Twilight. “I shouldn’t have… you know.”, she reluctantly apologized.

Still wanting to get a move on, Twilight accepted the apology and turned her attention towards the other mare present. “Flutters Shydale?”, the unicorn asked trying to break the ice.

“Uh, please call me Fluttershy.” She responded meekly while trying to look away, but quickly turning back to not look rude.

Now that she was finally able to talk to this “Fluttershy”, Twilight quickly got started. “Fluttershy, I am Twilight Sparkle, personnel apprentice of Princess Celestia. I’m here to check on how preparations are going for the Summer Sun celebration tonight.” Twilight said professionally with her hand over her heart, only to get no response other than the pegasi staring at her and an awkward silence. “Is your bird chorus ready for the celebration tonight or not?” She blurted out the question, no longer even trying to hind her frustration at this point.

“Uh, yes.”, Fluttershy said plainly, before the awkward silence resumed.

“Ok. Good then.”, Twilight responded as she prepared to back away.

“Twilight!” The unicorn heard a familiar voice call out, followed by the sounds of gasps for air and large a bag being dragged across the ground. Soon enough the three ponies found a little dragon in fancy and frilly looking suit, pulling a bag up the hill. Just as he reached the summit. Done with his climb, Spike fell to his knees and letting go of the large bag, (which Twilight presumed was filled with the large number of clothes Rarity had insisted they needed) only for the bag to start sliding down the slope. Something the now exhausted dragon brushed off, as Twilight came to help him to his feet. As she looked down upon her faithful little dragon companion, she noticed that on his sweaty cheek was a bit of red lipstick that was starting run off do to the aforementioned sweat.

“Twilight! (gasp) Are you (gasp) alright?” Spike asked as he was just starting to catch his breath. “I was just reaching the hill when I saw her attacking you!” Spike said with a glare and finger pointed at Rainbow Dash, only to immediately point it away and pull himself behind Twilight, when she responded with her own death glare. Meanwhile, unnoticed to the other two mares present, Fluttershy’s eyes burst open and her jaw had dropped.

After hiding an amused little giggle, Twilight turned towards and looked down at her assistant. “I’m okay Spike, it was just…”, before she could continue, she was hit by a sudden and powerful gust of wind that rivaled the ones Rainbow Dash had kicked up earlier that morning. In front of her, she saw Fluttershy hunched down and looking down at Spike, who was now sitting on his rear, having likely fallen on it do to Fluttershy’s sudden appearance.

“Are… are… you… a… a… baby dragon?!” The yellow pony said with sparkles in her eyes and a huge smile plastered across her face.

After a long pause, in which Spike didn’t know how to react to this display, Twilight seemed didn’t know how to react either, and Rainbow Dash seemed oddly amused, the little dragon gave her a very slow and very nervous nod.

“OH I KNEW IT!!! I KNEW IT!!!! I KNEW IT!!!!”, with this outburst, Fluttershy scooped the Spike up in a bone crushing hug and pulled him in tightly against her body with his face ending up pressed right against her chest, as she rested the side of her head against the top of his. “A BABY DRAGON!!!!! HERE!!! IN PONYVILLE!!!!”, she exclaimed while rocking him a little bit in her arm, not realizing that in her moment of excitement that her powerful hug, combined with Spike’s unfortunate position relative to her bosom, had completely cut off his supply of valuable oxygen. He tried to push her back, but the sheer might of Fluttershy’s hug was too much for him to overcome. “I’VE NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD MEET ONE BEFORE IN MY LIFE!!! I….”

Fluttershy was cut off as Twilight and Rainbow Dash roughly pulled her off of the little dragon, who was now gasping for air, while Twilight jumped in to make sure her dear companion was ok. As Fluttershy laid there on the ground, it donned on her what she just did and her yellow cheeks turned a bright shade of red.

“I don’t think you want to smother the little guy, Flutters.”, Rainbow said nonchalantly, as she reached down to help up her friend, who was once again trying to hide behind her own mane.