On one rainy morning, Morning Star, a unicorn mare with a silver mane and a golden coat, was sifting through the various scrolls and books in the Canterlot Archives with his friends Lightning Cloud and Wind Storm, both stallions, the former being an earth pony with a silver mane and a dark blue coat, and the latter being a pegasus with a sky blue coat with white streaks and a black mane.
The trio wanted to kill some time because of the delayed Wonderbolts performance, which Rainbow Dash had hyped up and was broadcasted to the citizens of Ponyville via strategically placed posters. It was rumored that a mysterious cult called the Menukar had threatened the show group.
“Hey, Wind Storm,” Lightning Cloud called out.
“What is it, nerdie?” Wind Storm asked, slightly upset due to the call-off.
“Well, I was wondering if you were related to Rainbow Dash, because your rainbow-colored tail suggests family resemblance, yet there’s probably about a ten percent chance it was a coincidental coloring or a one percent chance you dye your-”
“Ha! Me, dye my tail?!” Wind Storm laughed. “Leave that to Rarity! Anyway, I’m actually Rainbow’s cousin. Still can’t pull off a sonic rainboom, though.”
Morning Star pulled a random book out of the crystal shelf and looked at it.The words Classified Cooking for Magical Ponies were set deeply into the book. “Eh, boring,” Morning Star moaned, as he shoved the book back in the shelf.
“Come on, there has to be something interesting in here!” Wind Storm whined, as he pulled out the favorite book of many young unicorns, Conjuration for the Weak and Meek, and immediately put it back, making a small gagging sound as he did.
Morning Star took another book out of the shelf, Dating Spells for That Special Pony You Love.
“Why do they have a dating book in the Canterlot Archives?” exclaimed Morning Star as she looked at the book. “Huh... this could turn out to be useful..”
“Look, I’m not going to sit here and watch you try to get somepony to like you. I mean, even Lightning Cloud has a marefriend!” Wind Storm said, as Morning Star put the book back.
“Well, I might have one. So what?” Morning Star glared at Wind Storm.
Wind Storm shrugged. “Just saying.”
“Hey, look what else I found!” yelled Morning Star, as she took a golden book, Teleportation, Time-Warping, and Time Fusion, from a shelf and set it on a wooden table. Wind Storm flew over to see the book, while Lightning Cloud pranced over.
“This could be really fun. I really want to try some of these, like this first one, Blink Teleportation," Morning Star announced.
“Well, let's try it out!” exclaimed Wind Storm.
“Wait, wait, guys, we don’t know what the requirements are. We don’t even know what it does!” Lightning Cloud cautioned.
“Alright, then let's read the first spell!” Wind Storm yelled, slowly becoming more and more annoyed.
The three ponies read the first spell, Blink Teleportation. “Have you ever wanted to teleport short distances without tiring yourself? Well, you only need to be a unicorn--”
“But Morning Star is the only unicorn here,” Wind Storm whined.
“I guess we need to go onto the next one,” Lightning Cloud replied as Morning Star magically turned the dusty worn page.
“Ugh, showoff,” Wind Storm grunted.
“Hey, shut up! Anyway, here’s the next spell.”
Event Fusion, read the page. “Have you wanted to temporarily move past events into the future or present? Have you ever wanted to cause mass confusion?” On the bottom, in small footnotes, it read, “For a good success rate, you need about 120 unicorns. Please note that side effects may include: Change in present time, death, hysteria, planar clearing...”
“Cool! That seems fun!” Wind Storm exclaimed, obviously not seeing the last part of the page.
“Umm, Wind Storm... that would be pretty tragic, considering the likely deaths. Also, it would mess up the 4th dimension and possibly create another dimension. Finally, good luck finding 120 insane unicorns to do that,” Lightning Cloud droned, which was surprising considering that he looked like he was about to explode.
“Fine,” sighed Wind Storm, turning to the next page.
“Time Portal,” Lightning Cloud read. “Have you wanted to create a portal to a random place in time? Well, if so, this is for you! Note, however, that you may only have 3 ponies enter and those three are the only ones who can use the portal to return to the future/past. Usually, many Unicorns are required, but skill, not quantity, is the deciding factor here.”
“Hey, what’s that written on the page?” Morning Star asked.
“It says, ‘Egnguvkckpvtqwdngjgnr’,” Lightning Cloud answered.
“Must be some type of code! I bet I can solve it... Wait, why are all the letters in one word? That’s not a code. That's just some random junk.. I think," Wind Storm observed.
"Hm... This is a tricky one. What do you think, Lightning?" proclaimed Morning Star.
"Well, it looks like... Aha!" shouted Lightning Cloud. "Hmm.... Oh, no!"
"Come out with it, Lightning," Morning Star insisted.
"It says...Celestia is in trouble, help!"
“What?!" yelled Morning Star, “Are you serious? Well, we should make it as soon as possible!”
“We should definitely do it! We would also solve the Celestia/Luna birth controversy! This
could be a breakthrough!” proposed Lightning Cloud.
“Wow, Lightning Cloud.” Wind Storm snickered. “I didn’t know you were such a history nerd!”
Lightning Cloud swiftly tackled him, causing a loud thud to echo through the Archives. “Hey! Get off me! It was just a joke!”
“Oh yea, we should probably make it near the Everfree Forest, because then nopony would be disturbed!” Morning Star said as the other two ended their tackle. “I think I can teleport us back to Ponyville!”
“Okay, let’s go. But what do we need to do, Morning Star?” Lightning Cloud asked, “Don’t you also need the star alignment to be: Proxima Centauri at 56’ on its orbit, Alpha Centauri A at 32’ on its orbit, Toliman at 96’ on its orbit, Barnard’s Star at 22’...”
“Oh, just shut up and try it,” Wind Storm scolded.
“Okay, but if the EZ Aquarii Trinary system isn’t in alignment, then, well, we’d be teleported anywhere within a 1.12565 mile range of the target location,” mumbled Lightning.
“So what?” asked Wind Storm.
“That’s pretty far...”
“Maybe for you guys, but pegasi have wings! It’s easy to fly a mile! Anyway, we just need to stand around Morning Star and perform the spell.”
Under Wind Storm’s command, the trio got in a circle. Sparks started flying out of Morning Star’s horn, and with a boom and a flash of golden light, they were on the edge of Ponyville.
“Told you we wouldn’t be needing your star alignment mumbo-jumbo! By the way, does anyone else notice that smell too?” Wind Storm remarked.
“That burning smell? Me too..” continued Morning Star as she sniffed the air.
“Well, it looks like I wasn’t wrong about the star alignment. Our manes were burnt because EZ Aquarii A was off alignment by 3.345 miles,” announced Lightning Cloud.
“Whatever. We can get Rarity to fix it up for us, so let’s get trotting! I’m already bored!” Morning Star revealed.
“Do I have to walk with you guys?” Wind Storm whined. “It would be a ton easier if I could just leave you guys...” He looked down at the dirt path. “You know... In the dust?”
“Hilarious,” Morning Star sarcastically spoke. “That was so funny, I even forgot to laugh. Now let’s get moving!”
“Does that mean I can use my wings?”
Lightning Cloud nodded at Morning Star. “May I do the honors?”
“Go ahead,” Morning Star replied with a nod and a smirk.
“Gathering oxygen...” Lightning Cloud whispered. “NO!!!!”
The scream startled Wind Storm so much that he fell backward, raising a large plume of watery red-brown dirt. The three laughed until they realized it was beginning to rain and they would be late to the Wonderbolts show, which they could just barely see in the distance.
“Oh no! We’re going to miss the show!” Wind Storm moaned.
“We have more important things to do than watch the Wonderbolts,” firmly said Morning Star.
“Why don’t we just open that portal right now?” Lightning Cloud asked. “ We’re near the Everfree Forest, and I don’t want to go back to town.”
“Sorry,” Morning Star apologized, “but we have to gather all the unicorns, and you have to help.”
“Guys? I’m gonna go try and get some pegasi to clear the clouds up.” Wind Storm said.
“Sounds good,” Morning Star replied. “We’ll go home and prepare for the trip.”
So the three friends went their separate ways, Morning Star and Lightning Cloud heading back to Ponyville, while Wind Storm flew up to Cloudsdale.
“Hey everypony!” yelled Wind Storm, whizzing through Ponyville. “We’re going to open a time portal in Everfree Forest!”
“What’s that noise?” Spike mumbled, as he waddled out of The Ponyville Library.
“Oh, hey Spike!” said Wind Storm. “We’re going to open a time portal in Everfree forest! Can Twilight help?”
“Let me go ask Twilight.” Spike turned around and yelled up the stairs. “Twilight?! Wind Storm says he’s going to open a time portal in Everfree Forest!”
A faint reply: “Tell Wind Storm he’s crazy! I’m not helping make a time portal after what happened when I did!”
“Well, you tried.” Wind Storm sighed. “We could have used Twilight’s magic, but I guess we’ll just have to find other Unicorns willing to help.”
Spike tilted his head to the side. “Who is “we”?” He asked suspiciously, while looking around.
“Oh, it’s just me, Lightning Cloud, and Morning Star.”
“You guys are all insane. Who’s idea was this, anyway?”
“Lightning Cloud’s!”
“He’s crazy!”
The door was shut.
“Hey, wait a second! I need to tell you something very important!” yelled Wind Storm.
“Make it quick. You smell like a burnt apple pie that was left in the rain.” Spike groaned.
“Lightning Cloud isn’t crazy, a doctor had him tested! He’s 80 percent sane... or was that insane?”
The door was slammed shut.
Lightning Cloud trotted along the road.
“I wonder if Rarity is in today?” He wondered.
He knocked on the door of the lavish house, which was impossible to not distinguish as Rarity’s.
“Hello?” He asked.
“Come in, darling.” replied Rarity.
“No thanks. I was just checking by to see if you could help us open a portal in Everfree Forest. We want to rediscover the past.” Lightning Cloud said.
“Well, it sounds exciting. It might ruin my new manicure, though.” Rarity said.
“Please, Rarity? We need all the Unicorns we can get!” pleaded Lightning Cloud.
“Well, if you insist... Oh dear, your mane is charred, and your coat is in terrible condition. Don’t worry, I’ll fix it right up!!”
Morning Star blink teleported around town. He was really getting the hang of the spell. He had knocked on a couple doors, broken some windows, and had recruited a few ponies that would help create the portal. He would just go to the southern end of town, and.....
“Ahhh!”
“Oh, sorry Applejack!” Morning Star exclaimed. “I was thinking about something, and I guess I didn’t watch where I was going.”
“No problem, sugarcube. But what the hay is this time portal hoey that I’m hearing from that uppity Pegasus Wind Storm?”
“Oh, we’re all going to open a time portal in Everfree Forest!”
“Well, that’s all nice and all, but what’s the use of a big ol’ time portal near the Everfree Forest?” Applejack drawled.
“I dunno, Storm Cloud’s idea,” replied Morning Star.
“I can’t help ya folks, being an earth pony and all, but I’ll attend the opening.”
“Yea sure! See you there!” exclaimed Morning Star.
At that moment, Big Macintosh came along, hoisting multiple baskets of apples.
“Brother, this pony here wants us to see their lil’ time portal thing! So what do ya say?”
“Eeeyup!”
“Hmm... Maybe I should go find Dash.” Thought Wind Storm. “She’ll probably do something crazy during the opening, like a sonic rainboom, which might boost the Unicorn’s magic to the point of destroying the forest. Then again, knowing my cousin, that’ll be exciting. Why not?”
He flew up into the clouds, hoping to spot a snoozing pony somewhere in the sky. After flying around for a couple minutes, he saw a yellow pony. After staring at the pony for a couple seconds, he blinked, did a double-take, and briefly lost concentration and fell for a couple feet.
“FLUTTERSHY?!” he cried. “What are you doing here?”
“Oh... H-h-hi Wind Storm...”
“Why did you come up here? I thought you liked the ground and your animals better.”
“R-r-rainbow Dash said it would be fun...”
“Speaking of my cousin, where is she?” Wind Storm asked.
“She’s your cousin?’ Fluttershy (quietly) replied.
“Yup. Notice the tail?”
“Rainbow’s in Cloudsdale right now, giving a speech. I don’t think you should go there right now.”
“Aww... Oh! Fluttershy, do you wanna go to the Everfree Forest for the opening of our time
portal?”
Fluttershy noticeably shuddered.
“But the Everfree Forest has lots of scary creatures...”
“Oh, come on, Fluttershy! It’ll be on the edge of the forest. There are no monsters there!” Wind Storm pleaded.
“But there’ll be lots of people... lots and lots and lots...”
“It’ll be fine. They’ll all be looking at the portal, so no one will look at you!”
“When you put it that way...”
“So you’ll come? Great! See you there!’ Wind Storm enthusiastically said, and proceeded to fly away, presumably to Cloudsdale.
“I don’t think Rainbow Dash would want you to go there right now...” Fluttershy whispered.
Wind Storm had already flew out of sight before she could finish.
Meanwhile, Lightning Cloud, after becoming much more fashionable than usual (“You can thank me later.” said Rarity), decided to go visit the Pinkie Pie residence. He knocked on the door. A hoof lightly tapped him on the shoulder. He spun around to face the possible threat, which he would-
“Lightning Cloud?” Morning Star asked quizzically. “Why are you staring at me like that?”
“Oh! I’m sorry. I was just thinking about something.” Lightning Cloud mumbled.
“Also, why are you just standing here?”
“I’m going to get Pinky Pie to come to our portal opening. That way, we don’t have to plan a party.”
The door was open a crack, barely enough to hide large, pink colored cannons.
“Do you think Wind Storm already told her?” asked Lightning Cloud.
Suddenly Pinkie Pie opened the door so wide that Morning Star, who was leaning on the door, crashed onto the front door mat of Sugarcube Corner.
“Hey, Lightning Cloud." said Pinkie Pie, bouncing up and down. “Where’s Morning Star and Wind Storm? You guys are usually together."
Pinkie Pie looked around, apparently not noticing Morning Star lying on the ground in front of her.
“I’m right here,” groaned Morning Star.
"Don't listen to that!" cried Lightning Cloud. "A malignant spirit is attempting to feed on your love and tolerance!"
"Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie Pie happily replied, still unaware of Morning Star. "I have to get ready for the portal opening. See ya!"
Seeing no other ponies to alert, the two friends decided to head back to the Everfree Forest, where they would wait for Wind Storm to come back from gathering pegasi to watch the ceremony.
Malignant spirit?" asked Morning Star. "Where the hay did you get that idea from?"
"Were you at Canterlot for Hearthswarming Eve?" inquired Lightning Cloud.
"No, but what does that have to do with-"
"Forget that I ever said anything."
Wind Storm flew into Cloudsdale, searching for a cyan pony.
“Hey, Moon Shine!” he yelled at a passerby Pegasus.
“Wind Storm! What do you need?” yelled the pony.
“Do you know where Rainbow Dash is? Fluttershy said she was giving a speech.”
“Right over there.” He pointed toward the center of Cloudsdale.
“Thanks!”
He sped off directly toward the sound of ponies cheering and destruction, which Wind Storm assumed was the product of pegasi on caffeine, or Ditzy Doo (to most ponies, Derpy). He quickly dismissed the thought of the two ideas combined, which would have surely destroyed Cloudsdale. In the distance, he saw a podium with a large group of pegasi around it, and a singular pony giving a speech to the crowd, which he assumed was Rainbow Dash. He settled in, but a couple of black hooded ponies blocked his view.
"Hey, can you please move?" Wind Storm exclaimed.
One of the ponies turned around. His purple eyes flashed. Suddenly, the blue Pegasus felt himself being pulled inexplicably forward. He managed to fly above the crowd, but he still crashed into the wooden podium with a loud thud.
"Buckin' 'ay." he mumbled.
Rainbow Dash looked down on him quizzically.
"This is why I don't like to talk about my family," she said, eliciting laughter from the crowd.
"Heh! That was an epic fail!" exclaimed Dumb-bell, which also made Hoops and Score laugh, his two eternal cronies.
Wind Storm grew red with embarrassment. He walked slowly to where the three bullies of Cloudsdale stood, laughing their heads off.
"Hey, Dumb-bell! See any birds up there?"
"No..." Dumb-bell replied, wondering if it was a trick question.
"Really? Maybe you'll see them now."
And with that, Wind Storm solidly smacked him across the face with his hoof.
“There you go. A good punch always fixes eyesight.” Wind Storm said with satisfaction.
"Storm! Get over here!" Rainbow Dash beckoned him over. "Look, I don't know what you were doing, but it's hurting my reputation!"
"One of the ponies in the crowd was a unicorn, and he used magic to throw me into the podium!" exclaimed Wind Storm.
"Whatever. Pinkie already told me about the portal. No offense, cuz, but if you’re going, you’re gonna have to do better than that. Maybe you should leave it to the pros.”
“Nah. I know you want to go, but you're not the only pony who loves adventure."
"By the way, I think one of the unicorns was making a book on the history of Cloudsdale and Ponyville. Your dad was pretty famous, right? What's his name?"
"Dust Storm I. In case that pony wanted to know, my grandfather's name was Dust Storm II."
"But that's impossible!" yelled Rainbow Dash.
"There was an accident with Dr. Whooves' time machine. Maybe a contraceptive. Anyway, see you at the opening!" shouted Wind Storm, flying off toward Everfree Forest.
"Oh boy." muttered Rainbow Dash, putting her hoof on her forehead.
