Filly Twilight's merry and crazy adventure

Filly Twilight's merry and crazy adventure Chapter 2

As the morning came, the Mane Six, the Crusaders, and Spike once again gathered in the library. They came to work out the last details of what they will exactly do about Twilight's condition. There was also the fillies' request to have one last day to play together before she had to turn back.

After much thinking, they came to a decision and Spike spoke up: "Okay girls, listen well!" Which immediately got the fillies' attention. "We decided how will we proceed to get help to reverse the spell."

After giving them a minute to his words to sink in he continued: "I will go with the girls to Canterlot via the train, to tell the princesses what's going on, until then you can stay here to have fun. Once we have a solution we will come back to tell you." The fillies were nodding and smirking, at least this would give them plenty of time of crusading. Yay!

But it haven't lasted too long, when Rarity added: "But, while we go to Canterlot, one of us will stay here to keep an eye on you." Said she firmly.

"What?!"

"But why?!"

"This is so not fair?!"

These and more questions came from the fillies, clearly showing their disagreement with the idea. Luckily Applejack quickly came to rescue the situation.

"Now listen 'ere you there! We do this to make sure that you won't go overboard with yer "crusading" while none of us is around!" When she saw that they were about to keep arguing she resumed her speech: "It's either this or no deal!" Said she, then seeing the sad expressions on their faces she gave them a soft smile and more gently continued: "It would really ease up our worries, that there is somepony to look after you and keep you away from trouble."

After thinking for a few seconds Apple Bloom cautiously asked: "Who would stay with us?"

"We agreed, that Fluttershy would be the best for the job." Said Rarity. Said mare gave a timid nod, then gave a gentle smile.

After looking at each other and some whispering the four fillies turned towards them and simultaneously said: "Okay."

After this issue was settled the group of mares and a single dragon prepared to go to the station, but before that Pinkie offered to the fillies some cookies.

"Are you sure?" Asked Twilight hesitantly from the party pony, as she eyed the cookie still unsurely.

"Of course silly! There is no better way to begin a day full of fun, like a cookie, well maybe a muffin, or a cupcake. Hmm... cupcake." Said she, at the end dreamily. After that Twilight accepted the offered treat (at least it may satisfy the slightly creepy pony, who seemingly can defy the laws of physics with ease.).

After a good breakfast, the group headed to the train station. After they got their tickets, the four mares and Spike got onto the train heading to Canterlot, while the fillies and Fluttershy waved after them. Once the train became a small dot on the horizon the five decided to head back to the library.

The fillies sat around a table, exchanging ideas about how they could gain their cutie marks, said ideas getting more crazy and ridiculous as they kept brainstorming, Twilight sometimes adding her own advice (not less absurd than the rest). However, while Fluttershy was cleaning around the library, she kept her ears on their conversations and quickly told them, that all of them were very dangerous and that they shouldn't do them.

But as they kept thinking about new plans, the lavender filly, who in the past few minutes was silent stood up and spoke up: "Uhm, Fluttershy?" Which quickly gained said mare's attention.

"Yes, Twilight?" Asked the pegasus curiously. The trio as well turned towards her, curious about what she had in mind.

"I was thinking if you would let the four of us go up into my room to read some books, and maybe playing with one of those games which I saw yesterday?" Said Twilight, giving her best puppy eyes to the yellow pegasus.

After a few seconds of thinking Fluttershy smiled and kindly said: "Well, I don't see why not, so have fun and if you need something just say it, I will be down here."

After that, the young unicorn has directed the three confused fillies into her room and when all of them were inside she closed the door. It was Scootaloo who spoke first: " Twilight, while I don't have a problem with reading books like Daring Do and such, but I doubt that would be our special talent. So why did you suggested to come up here?" The other two nodded in agreement, just as confused as the orange filly.

Twilight, already expecting the question, gave them a mischievous smirk. "Don't worry this is part of the plan." said she, then seeing their still confused expressions she quickly elaborated: "I realized, that we won't be able to do anything with Fluttershy forbidding all of our ideas. Now after we are ready we can make our escape through the balcony and begin crusading." She could barely hold back her enthusiasm. However, the others were hesitant.

"I don't know, it really doesn't feel right to deceive Fluttershy like this." Said Apple Bloom uncomfortably.

"Yeah! The last time when we did that we almost were turned into stone by that cockatrice! It actually turned YOU into stone!" Exclaimed Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo nodded in agreement with them. Twilight visibly cringed from their doubtful expressions, but quickly shrugged it off and spoke again: "I know what you mean. I know that Fluttershy is kind and only means good... " Said she a bit solemnly, then pressed on: "But I can't see another way and don't worry, because I already have ideas how to minimalize the potential risks." Claimed she confidently.

As their expressions turned from doubtful to contemplative she swiftly elaborated: "First off, we don't have to go into the Everfree or even too far from Ponyville, to begin with, we just have to stay out of sight. That way we would have enough room to work with, while avoid being detected and as a bonus, that way we don't have to worry about running into something dangerous." Explained she eagerly. The trio before her nodded, seeing her point.

"After that, we have to properly plan out our ideas, to work out any possible mistake. Making checklists could help with that." Continued she, after all, what could go wrong, if they have checklists?

"And finally, wouldn't a little trouble worth it, if this would help you get your marks? Because I really want to help you!" Declared she with passion. Upon her words, the three crusaders looked at each other and after some meaningful glances, their eyes shone with determination. "Okay, let do this!" Exclaimed the fillies, then quickly covered their mouths with their hooves.

Hearing their agreement she gave them a grateful smile, then swiftly moved towards a wall in the room. The others looked at her quizzically and Scootaloo asked: "Uh, what are you doing?" Twilight gave another smile to them while kept inspecting the wall, then spoke: "Before we go I just wanted to grab some books for inspiration and if I know well enough older me, she must have some hidden place, where she keeps her most interesting books!" Said she giddily.

"But that isn't stealing?" Asked Sweetie unsurely.

"Don't worry, since those are my books I hereby allow you to use them." Said she, then her face turned a bit stern: "Given that you won't damage them." The fillies smiled rubbing their necks awkwardly. After getting a nod from them she once again became cheery: "See? Everything will be alright!" As if supporting her words, a secret door opened on the wall, revealing a safe which she soon opened and with her levitation pulled out a big chest. For a moment her brows furrowed and commented: "Hmm, it seems older me still using the same code. I am not sure if I should be smug or being annoyed about how easy it was?" Then she shrugged and began inspecting the content of the chest with the CMC soon joined behind her.

After studying the books and other strange stuff in the chest a wide smile spread across her face: "Oh, these books look very interesting! I am sure they will be very helpful!" She almost squealed. "I can't wait to begin!" The others weren't so sure, but after a moment just shrugged, deciding if she was so excited about it, then it must be something good and as their imagination started to wonder about the possibilities they could not hold back their own excited smirks from appearing.

As this was happening, a collective shiver runs up and down on the spines of the ponies of Ponyville as if something terrible would be about to happen. Oh, colt! They had no idea.

The escape from the library was not an easy nut to crack in itself since they can't just walk out through the door. Climbing down on the tree was an arduous task, at times it was only Twilight's fast reaction with her telekinesis, that saved them when their hooves slipped. But in the end, their efforts paid off (they barely felt that last three-meter fall!) and quickly ran to find a secluded place to get to work in peace.

Soon they found themselves at a field, a little bit away from Sweet Apple Acres. The Cutie Mark Crusaders watched their temporary partner in crime as she placed several open books on the ground (all on clean spots!), curious about what she would come up with. From the way she almost devoured the content of the books, like a dragon in a jewelry store, and from her excited shaking, it had to be something good.

"Okay Twi, how do these books will help us to get our marks?" Asked Scootaloo impatiently. The others, while not as vocal as their daredevil friend, also wanted to begin crusading.

"Do not worry my friends! Come here and we can begin." And they did so. As they sat down before her, surrounded by the many books she began: "After you told me about your past attempts to get your marks," at that she raised a scroll with her magic, which was, in fact, a list about their many failed crusades: "I combined it with what I found in those books, I realized that to increase your chance of success, we have to expand your horizons and with these books, we will just do that!" Explained she vigorously.

"How would we do that?" Asked Apple Bloom.

She gave them a large grin and spoke: "Magic! From what I gathered, you never tried to get any magic-related cutie mark! But now we will rectify that!" Said she confidently, stomping with her little hoof to emphasize her point.

"Are you sure? My telekinesis is not that strong or as good as my sister's." Admitted Sweetie with a slightly depressed expression.

"And even then it would not help the two of us since we can't do magic." Said Scootaloo disappointedly, and just when she started to get excited! Apple Bloom nodded in agreement.

"Don't be so sure about that." Assured she, giving them a wink, then seeing their confused faces the purple filly elaborated: "While it's true that you can't use unicorn magic, it doesn't mean that you couldn't use others."

"Everypony has magic and while unicorn magic is the most malleable, it doesn't mean that you could not try out other, exotic forms of magic."

She brought one of the books before their wide eyes as she explained: "One good example is potion-making, " here she paused and looked at Apple Bloom, "From what you told me, the three of you once made a love potion and then later you made one which gave you Cutie Pox." The three blushed, remembering the mess they caused back then. Something that Sweetie quickly voiced: "But those things at the end turned out disastrously!" Said she, then rubbed her neck sheepishly at the looks that she got from them. While it was true, she didn't have to be so blunt about it!

After a few moments of awkward silence, she continued: "Sorry, but despite those... "mistakes" the fact that you were able to make them is impressive." Seeing their hopeful expressions she pressed: "If we give it a few tries, maybe it turns out that one of you have a talent with potions."

The fillies looked with excitement, but then Scootaloo's smile turned into a frown and asked: "But none of us got a cutie mark after those... "incidents". Said she, air-quoting the word incident.

However Twilight's smile didn't falter and continued her explanation: "Just because you tried something once and didn't get a positive result, it doesn't mean that it's a dead end. For example, after I saw the princess rise the sun I wanted to learn as much about magic as possible and did a lot of practice. Yet I only got my cutie mark at my entrance exam after I hatched Spike!" Said the purple unicorn. "You don't get usually your mark on the first try. The trick is to find what you not only are good at but also something that you truly like to do! Something that makes you feel complete, like a part of yourself that you aren't entirely aware of until it happens, and when you succeed it gives you a feeling of fulfillment. It's a little hard to explain, but this is what I felt. I hope it helped."Said she passionately, then ended a bit awkwardly, slightly blushing.

The Crusaders looked at each other for a moment, then after a series of confident nods they shouted at the same time: "Cutie Mark Crusader Potion Makers, yay!" Then they looked at Twilight expectantly.

"Okay, first off we have to gather the necessary ingredients, then..." Said she, showing them a recipe in one of the books, as the others listened attentively.

Back in the library, Fluttershy climbed up on the stair into her friend's bedroom. After being finished with the cleaning, she decided to check on the girls, and if they wanted a few snacks.

Slowly opening the door she took a look inside and heard the sound of light snores coming from a heap of blankets and pillows, covering small forms. She couldn't help but smile at the scene, then she quietly closed the door and went back to the ground floor humming a light tune. She headed towards the kitchen to make some sandwiches, so the fillies would have something to eat when they wake up.

Back in the room under the blankets were tape-recorders, the sources of the snores, right beside some stuffed dolls to make the illusion even more realistic.

The four fillies after a small detour in the town got all the ingredients they needed and returned to the chosen clearing and set out to begin their work. Each one of them had bowls, glass containers, a mobile burning platform (with their reputation it was not easy to get THAT particular thing), all kinds of herbs and liquids, with tools necessary to grind the materials.

They kept shifting between reading the book, to check their progress and if something isn't right, so they could stop if they mess up something (why didn't they thought about that sooner?).

As she waited for her potion to reach the right temperature Twilight looked up to see, how were the others faring.

Sweetie Belle was calmly working, humming a light tune. She seemed to be just fine. The smoke rising from her bottle, the violent bubbling of the liquid and it swirling wildly as if it would be wrestling with itself was surely a positive sign. Right?

Scootaloo on the other hoof was sweating and looked nervous. She kept glancing at the book and every time after that she looked more and more worried, sporting a very strained, and very fake smile.

Apple Bloom was in deep focus at the moment, as she slowly poured the liquid from a bowl into a glass jar. After moments of intense concentration she put down the bowl and looked at her work, then after a quick glance at the book she smiled. After a sigh of contentedness, she returned her attention to her potion.

After that, the purple filly as well returned her focus on her project and after a few more minutes she was done and put a cork on the bottle of purple liquid. Then seeing that the others too finished it she called out: "Okay! It's time to see the end results!"

They complied and walked up to her. She then with her magic raised her bottle to eye level and began: "All right! One by one we will tell the others what kind of potions we made, then testing them. I will go first!" After she got a series of nods she continued: "I decided to do something simple. This!" - said she, as she brought her potion closer- " upon consumption will turn a pony's fur to a chosen color and it will glow slightly, giving anypony a rather radiant appearance." As she finished she pulled out the cork and quickly downed its content with a grimace. A few seconds later her coat promptly began to glow in a bright purple color, almost the same as normal, but with the radiance.

As she saw their surprised and confused faces, she could guess what they were thinking and swiftly began to explain: "For simplicity, I decided that I won't change the color of my fur and don't worry, I made sure so that the potion's effect only lasts for only a few minutes." They nodded with amazement and she raised her hoof to point towards Scootaloo: "You are the next."

She nodded and nervously stepped forward. Her potion was in a glass cup, which was orange and bubbling profusely. She put it down where everypony could see it and began: "So this potion will... " and she got that long before the potion promptly exploded, leaving a small smoldering crater and one very embarrassed and very soot-covered filly.

A few awkward seconds passed, all heads turned towards the young pegasus. Even with all the soot on her, they could see the major blush on her face. As the surprise passed over the others found themselves trying (in vain) to control their facial muscles, Sweetie opened her mouth, but before she could speak, a deeply scowling Scootaloo beat her: "Don't say a WORD!" She practically growled. The others then moved to help their friend to get clean and to comfort her. They had only giggled just a little bit. But soon they were able to clean up and were ready to continue the tests, now Scootaloo only sported a MINOR scowl.

Sweetie Belle stepped forward, raising her bowl to show them her work and as they looked at it they were dumbfounded. It was clear that Sweetie has messed up something, the first sign being its jelly-like consistency, another is its green and purple color and rotten egg smell. Or it was the fact that IT trembled and swirled on its own and soon found it's way out of the bowl onto the ground. Then it started to slowly move/wobble away from them, leaving behind a path of sick looking grass and its horrendous smell.

Until a magenta blast of magic struck it and it exploded, its remains sizzling then disappearing. Turning their heads from where the small blob was seconds ago, they saw Twilight, her horn still glowing with magic, while looking around to make sure that it was gone for good.

"What?" Asked Twilight.

"Uh, nothing! I guess it's better if we don't let that... thing, to roam freely." Said Apple Bloom, still confused about what she just saw.

"What was that supposed to be?!" Asked Scootaloo, turning towards the white unicorn, who made it.

"I don't know what I did wrong? It should've been a simple flavor-enhancer potion." Answered she uncertainly.

"You are really bad at cooking!" Said the orange filly, while snickering. The others too joined in, so it was Sweetie's turn to scowl and pout.

After they all calmed down, all eyes fell on Apple Bloom, who gulped and took a quick breath to calm her sudden nervousness from being in the center of attention. Then she showed them her vial, filled with a healthy green colored liquid.

"Well, after giving it some thinking, I decided to make something that could help at the farm, so I made this potion, which supposed to be a fertilizer and help the plants to grow faster." Explained she.

"It will make other things also grow, unleashing a swarm of humongous bugs upon Ponyville?" Asked Scootaloo hesitantly, she was cautious after the last two potions ending up as failures.

"From what I have read in the book, it only affects plants. I guess there is only one way to find out, isn't it?" Concluded Apple Bloom, then dug a little hole in the ground and put into it a seed. After covering the hole she then pulled out the cork and proceeded to pour a few drops of the potion. Then she stepped back and watched nervously.

As the minutes have passed without any visible reaction she hung her head in defeat. But as she was about turn away the earth started to shift and a few seconds later, before their widened eyes a sprout rose from the dirt, growing at a constant, but not too rapid pace. Once it stopped, in the place of one seed, now stood a small, but strong and healthy-looking apple tree, three times the height of the filly.

"Whoa!" Whispered Scootaloo in awe, the others giving similar expressions of wonder. The most amazed, however, was Apple Bloom, who looked up to her creation with wide eyes, she could see many blossoms on the tree.

"I think we can call it a success!" Said Twilight, after she regained her bearings, giving a wide smile to the red-maned filly. This broke the others out from their stupor and they too began to cheer the apple filly (the pun fully intended), smiling and congratulating their friend.

Once they calmed down they looked at Apple Bloom's flank (which sounds more naughty, than it really is) only to groan and grumble, when they saw no cutie mark. This of course quickly dampened their mood.

"Oh come on!" Exclaimed Sweetie Belle, annoyedly.

Slowly Twilight walked up to the depressed earth pony filly and gently spoke: "I know that you feel disappointed, but it doesn't mean that it was for naught." Seeing their now confused faces she elaborated: "What did you felt, while you were working on your potion?" Asked she calmly.

Apple Bloom thought about the question for a bit, then she said: "I am not sure, but it felt kind of..., right. I felt as if the world around me would've disappeared, my attention solely focused on the task before me. I also had this feeling within me, a sense of peace and joy. As if everything would be right in the world." Said she slowly, having a distant look in her eyes.

Hearing her answer, Twilight gave her a little smile, then spoke: "I think we definitely found the good path." Then seeing that they don't get it, she began to explain: "Your special talent is not something, that you are forcing upon yourself, but something that you feel being natural for you to do it. From what you just said, it sounds that potion making really "clicks" for you. Keep trying and I am confident, that soon you will get your mark." Finished she reassuringly.

That helped to raise her spirits and they returned to the chest to try out something else.

After some rummaging in the chest, they found another book. To save time they agreed to let Twilight read into the books beforehoof, then she will give them a summary about the stuff in the book. Everypony wins!

The Crusaders tried to occupy themselves while their friend kept reading, when suddenly she spoke up excitedly: "Hey girls! This looks interesting."

"What is it?! What is it?!" Asked Sweetie Belle curiously, barely containing her excitement.

The purple unicorn had a big smile on her face, she visibly trembled from her own giddiness. "This book is about the mysterious magical runes!" She then went into full lecture mode: "The runes are an ancient collection of symbols, believed that it was once the written form of an old language from the pre-Equestrian age."

The filly trio was a bit taken aback, voicing their confusion: "But what is so special about this language?" Asked Apple Bloom.

"Oh! Maybe our special talent is to figure out and learning old, forgotten languages!" Exclaimed Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo quickly thinking through her friend's words soon added: "And maybe one day we will discover some old ruins of a long-forgotten civilization and unearth its secrets like Daring Do! That would be so awesome!" Shouted Scootaloo excitedly, as she daydreamed about such an adventure, accompanied by her idol Rainbow Dash, as they were avoiding traps and finding ancient treasures.

"While that definitely sounds like a fun idea, I am afraid one day wouldn't be enough for us to learn an entire language." Said Twilight, then seeing their dejected expressions she quickly continued: "But don't worry, that is not necessary for us."

"The runes are the base of an incredibly powerful form of magic known as Rune Magic. At first, we will only work with some basic runes, nothing too dangerous or overcomplicated."

"But Apple Bloom and I can't use magic, so what is the point for us to try it?" Asked Scootaloo. Twilight gave her pegasus friend a warm smile and began to explain: "This is the beauty of it! You don't have to be a unicorn to use this magic!" Seeing their shock she continued: "The first step is to draw up the intended rune until you make sure that there is no flaw to the design, you can use any method you feel comfortable to the drawing. The next step is the powering of the runes. While it is true, that it is easier for a unicorn to do it, I have read in the book that there are alternative ways to charge the runes, like using potions or other reagents that already have magical properties.

The three were happy that none of them would be left out and after a little detour into a shop to get the necessary tools they returned and set out to start. Each of them grabbed some sheets of paper and writing tools (this ranged from pens to crayons), then sat down around the book and began to work.

After hearing the possible dangers of a messed-up rune, they decided to start with something simple to avoid any problems. They choose a simple Light Rune, that when activated would start to glow like a lightbulb. After charged, it could be activated by clapping once, then the repeat of this action would turn it off.

They began the slow, meticulous process to draw the rune correctly, which in itself proved to be a challenge. Numerous times they had to restart the process because when they checked the illustration in the book they found some flaws. This was very frustrating.

But they kept trying and finally, they all made one that passed the examination. Then Twilight used her magic to charge them up. Finally, one by one they activated them and their eyes widened in wonder, seeing the runes glowing in a light magenta color. They then cheered upon their success.

After they calmed down and deactivated their runes, they decided to keep going and try out some other runes. Numerous papers were used to their projects, only to end up discarded for this or that mistake. Once they all felt ready they proceeded to try them out. However, Apple Bloom's rune did not activate, because some of the ink got smeared. And when it was Sweetie's turn, the rune sizzled and sparked a bit then the paper alighted and burned away.

Twilight's rune, which was also a light rune, that changed the color of its glow. It worked quite well, maybe a little dimmer, but still was good none the less.

Then as they turned towards Scootaloo their eyes almost popped out, because Scootaloo was on her scooter, doing some tricks and while it was not too strange, the fact that said scooter was floating at least two hooves from the ground left them speechless. Once they regained their bearings Scootaloo explained to them that she made some runes that would levitate the object on which it was and she glued some of them on the underside of her scooter. It also could be activated and deactivated with a light stomp of one of her hinder hooves. Seeing their bewildered expressions she asked: "What is it?"

"Nothing! Just the way you told us how you did it makes it looks so easy. That's all." Said Sweetie still a bit threw off balance.

"Well, as I looked at all the lines join together to form the rune, it kind of reminded me to the different parts of my scooter, that put together made the scooter and if something isn't at the right place then it won't work or just fall apart. Many times, when one of my stunts failed I had to repair it and with time I just learned where a part's place was and how it was connected to the others." Explained she with a shrug.

The others congratulated her (while Twilight totally WASN'T jealous of her skill with runes). While she was a bit annoyed that she didn't get her cutie mark she was happy that she tried it.

After they cleaned up they returned their attention to the chest, curious what else had it in store for them.

After another round of gathering the necessary things, they once again were deeply focused on the task: making golems!

Of course, given their limited amount of clay, they had only enough material for each of them, that's just enough to make a filly sized golem.

Nevertheless, they began to work on their clay golem. For the sake of simplicity, they used themselves as a basis for the look of the golems. Twilight faired just fine, however, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo only got partial results, as at some places their hooves left imprints, while other parts were still wet and fell off. But they had a decent enough resemblance, so they booked it away as a success.

At the same, they all were impressed by Sweetie's golem. It was well detailed and aesthetical, even the curls in its mane and tail matched perfectly.

Once every golem was dried Twilight began to cast the animating spell. As her magic washed over them and their eyes started to glow with purple light. They slowly started to move and stepped before their creators, while the four fillies watched them in awe.

"I weaved the spell in a way, so they will only obey to the pony who made them." Explained Twilight with fascination. Then they started to give commands to their respective clay copies, telling them to march in place, to bow, to break-dancing, and all kinds of silly things. However things escalated a bit when Apple Bloom's golem accidentally bumped into Scootaloo's, then the orange-colored filly ordered her golem to push away the earth pony filly's golem. Then one thing followed another and it all ended up with an all-out brawl. Soon their golems were reduced into rubble. But then they felt ashamed for their actions and apologized to each other. Soon they all sat down with the other two golems and just sat, enjoying each other's company and while they still didn't obtain their marks, they had a lot of fun. Of course, it didn't mean that they were finished. There was still a lot of things to try out.

And the day was still young...