It was a bright and sunny day in the land of Equestria, the Pegasi had worked hard to bring it and everypony was out enjoying the beautiful day. On this fine day, The Elements of Harmony had been called to Canterlot on important business. What they were needed for, they hadn't been told yet. But they received a letter telling them to pack whatever they felt they'd need and to arrive the following Saturday. Apparently they'd be staying for a few weeks. The elements were curious as to why they were needed for so long, but they were excited nonetheless. Some more than others.
Golden Oaks Library
“Oh come on, Twilight!” Spike hollered. He had grown considerably in the past few years, and was now just a little taller than Twilight. You might not tell at first, but he started to develop wings on his back. “It's a beautiful day outside and I wanna go enjoy it!” He said, his voice sounded a lot like Shining Armor's.
“Spike,” Twilight said after letting out a short, but irritated sigh. “The Princess called me, and my friends up to visit Canterlot, I need you to watch the Library for me!”
“But do I really have to stay inside during,” Spike pointed to the window, “That?”
“I'm sorry spike,” Twilight said sincerely, “But I need you to keep a really good eye on the place.” Twilight suddenly put on a comforting smile, Spike was about to start whining again, when he was cut off by Twilight. “Besides, you are my number one assistant after all. Right?” The look of disdain quickly faded from Spike's face, and a new, somewhat cocky look appeared on his face.
“Well, when you put it that way...I guess I could watch the library well you're gone,” Spike said in a, obviously fake, reluctant voice. “But, I do want something in return,” the teenage dragon said, his mind set to one thing. “Give Rarity this,” Spike pulled out a small letter, there was a dragon claw printed on the envelope. “It's a letter I wrote her, but, I-uh, was...” Spike began to blush. No way am I telling Twilight I was afraid to give Rarity this. I'll never hear the end of it, Spike thought as Twilight shot him an amused look.
“Spike,” Twilight began, “I'll give it to her.”
“You will?” Spike's face lit up, not just metaphorically, put also physically. When dragons get older, the fire pockets dragons had in there faces would glow when they were exited over something. “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!” Spike was so excited, you'd think he'd just won the Lottery.
Twilight couldn't help but chuckle at this. There were times she thought she'd have to send him to the vet due to the intensity of the glowing. She had to keep reminding herself, 'It's just part of him growing up.' Twilight used her magic to levitate the envelope Spike had, and neatly tucked it into her saddlebags.
"Now Spike, I have just a few more supplies I need to go out and buy. I'll see you in a few hours." She turned to leave, but not before forgetting the most important thing, Twilight whipped around fast as light and put Spike into such a bear-hug, it could suffocate an Usra Major. “I love you. You know I do.”
“Ca-can't...breathe” Spike somehow managed to say. He was turning a darker shade of purple than he already was. As soon as Twilight noticed this, she let him go, almost as fast as she had picked him up. Upon being released, Spike fell to the floor in an immense coughing fit.
"Heh, sorry." Twilight sheepishly said.
Cloud castle
Rainbow Dash was in a hurry. The usually lazy, but somehow athletic, tomboyish Pegasus was rushing through her house at the speed of light. She and the others had been summoned by Princesses Celestia and Luna, Twilight having received a letter from them. She hadn't read it herself, but Twilight did and had told her and the others to get packed by the end of the week. It was Sunday when they got the note. They left on the next Saturday. It was Friday. She already had packed her essential equipment, a toothbrush, some water bottles, and also a hair brush. Not like she was going to use the hair brush, but you never know. There was just one thing she needed, and she was tearing her house apart looking for it. She flew into her living room, and on the couch was exactly what she was looking for.
“Aha! There you are!” Rainbow excitedly said as she pulled a small note. She looked at it once, giving it a quick glance. Tears began to well within her eyes as she read. She quickly folded it up and put it in her saddlebags with everything else she needed. This is gonna be one heck of a trip. She had no idea what she was in for when they reached Canterlot, but Twilight said to pack enough stuff to last a few weeks. Rainbow wondered what it was they needed to pack for, but she didn't question it. She, somewhat, knew better by now. She was all set and ready to go. As she trotted over to the door of her small palace, she immediately remembered something. She hadn't packed any Daring Do books.
“I knew I was forgetting something!” She immediately flew up to her room to fetch one of the books. After about ten minutes or so of digging through the pit known as her room, she finally found one of the books,
“Daring Do and the quest for the Sapphire Stone.” Rainbow read aloud. This was the book that started it all, the one she read that fateful day at the Ponyville Hospital. She quickly packed it in her bag, the cover getting folded as she did so. Crap. Twi's gonna kill me, Rainbow thought to herself. She finished with her saddlebags and took off downstairs and through the door at break-neck speed, off towards Twilight's house.
Everfree Hut
Fluttershy was getting the last of her animals fed as she preped to leave. She'd already packed for the trip to Canterlot, and was able to spend the week relaxing. In the few years between the changeling invasion, Fluttershy had become a little more easygoing, and wasn't afraid to speak her mind anymore. But she was still as timid as ever. As the last of the animals got in their pens, Fluttershy went back inside to say goodbye to one last animal. Angel sat on the floor, giving Shy a sad look.
"Don't worry Angel, I won't be gone for long." Fluttershy assured him. The little rabbit still gave her a sad look. Fluttershy leaned down an gave Angle a hug. "Like I said, don't worry." At this point Angel went from sad to irritated.
Fluttershy looked at him in puzzlement. "What is it?" Angel pointed towards an empty dish. "Oh! I haven't fed you yet!"
Fluttershy flew over to a small sack in the corner of her hut and poured the contents of the bag into the bowl. Angel hopped over and began to chow down on the rabbit food Fluttershy had poured. While he was eating, Fluttershy had already left. As she was going out the fence, she turned and gave one last look at her house, then left for Twilight's.
Sugarcube corner
Pinkie pie was excited, for lack of better words. She and the others had been called to Canterlot on official business and was bouncing off the walls more than she usually does. The Pink earth pony bounded into her room. She, like Rainbow Dash, hadn't packed yet. She had laid out some things she thought she'd need. She sat there with a decisive look on her face, her hoof held to her bright pink chin.
"Will I need to bring a Apple, Cherry, or Blueberry pie, Or should I bring cake?" Pinkie thought hard to herself for a few moments before finally settling on bringing a, get this, a pie-flavored cake. What kind of pie has yet to be revealed, but it is indeed, pie flavor. She packed the pie-cake into her saddlebag and leaped into the kitchen, she still had to tell the Cakes goodbye. The twins, now at the age of seven were helping their parents bake a batch of muffins as a special order from a mail pony with lots of money. As soon as they noticed Pinkie, their faces almost instantly lit up.
“Auntie Pinkie!” The twins yelled in unison. They rushed over to pinkie as quick as they could to give her a big bear hug. Not that it fazed her.
“Do you really have to go?” Pumpkin asked, the small yellow filly giving a sad look.
“Yeah, do you?” Pumpkin's brother Pound asked, His face matching his sisters.
“Yeah,” Pinkie said in an uncharacteristically calm voice. She was going to miss the twins while she was gone. “Don't worry though! Your good ol' auntie Pinkie will be back before you know it!” Saying that apparently helped the two children as they appeared to lighten up a bit. Not as spike did though.
“Okay. We'll have a big Pinkie party for when you get back!” Pound Cake exclaimed.
“Hey, that's a great idea! Pinkie! Can we use your party cannon for it?” Pumpkin asked, again giving the puppy dog eyes.
Pinkie thought for a few seconds and said “Sure! I don't use it anymore, so you two can! Consider it and early present for your birthday!” She smiled brightly at the two. The twins shot the same smile back at her.
“Thank you pinkie!” The twins excitedly said as the ran into the storage room.
Carrot Cake and his wife Cup Cake watched the whole thing with warm smiles on their face. They couldn't help but feel guilty though. Pinkie was going to be leaving, and they were somewhat glad. They loved her like family, considering she's their niece, but it was a relief whenever she had to go for a while. You can only take so much of her randomness. The Cakes trotted up to Pinkie and gave her a big hug.
“We're all going to miss you,” Carrot said, his wife nodding in agreement. She wasn't good with goodbyes. “We'll make sure the kids don't get too bored while you're gone.” Pinkie sat and gave them a teary-eyed smile. Pinkie wasn't good with goodbyes either.
“I'll miss you guys too,” Pinkie quietly said. She gave them a big hug each and trotted out the door. The Cakes almost began to cry as she left. They wouldn't have that chatty, party loving being with them for a while. The Cakes went back inside as Pinkie trotted off to the library to meet with the others, Carrot giving one last glance as he went through the door.
Celestia help her if anything goes wrong. I have a feeling it will.
Carousel Boutique
Rarity was currently filling out an order. She already had packed what she needed, so she was able to relax for the week. Her relaxation was cut a day short when a unicorn named Darkflight filed an order for her to make. It was the oddest thing rarity had ever heard. It was a sleeveless one-piece white suit, with diamond shapes cut out from the chest and abdominal area, along with two white gloves, long enough to cover up his forelegs. There was also a yellow sash, embroidered with a Ruby from the side. And to top it all off, it also required a red cloak, fashioned in a style similar to a mix between a jester and a vampire. This was a simple task for rarity, so it wouldn't take long, and she was almost finished anyways. Apparently Darkflight was a skilled magic user who worked a sword show. His magic was notable for having black and orange diamond sparks instead of the usual aura unicorns gave off.
Rarity was just adding the finishing touches, when somepony entered the shop. Rarity turned around and found Darkflight was here for his suit. The flamboyant conjuror was quite the sight. His white mane was styled so the left side of his face was covered, his colorless eyes were masked around heavy layers of purple eyeshadow. His coat was a very pale color, and his right ear had a small, blue, diamond shape earring on. On his flank was an Ebony blade, the same one he often used in his performances..
"I assume that my suit is prepared?" The stallion said in a prissy tone. "I made the trip from Canterlot to this," He paused a moment and placed a hoof to his chin, "I would say dump, but your store has class to it. Anyways, I'm here. So is it done or not?"
"Ah, yes indeed it is." Rarity was somewhat put off by his tone, but he was a customer nonetheless. "It's right here," Rarity pointed a hoof at the suit. "Made exactly as you specified sir." Darkflight looked over the suit. He had to say, it surpassed his expectations.
"It's perfect!" He said amazed, "Exactly as I asked. Now, for your payment," He levitated a small coin purse over to Rarity. "Will this cover it?" Inside the bag was three-hundred bits. Usually Rarity charged about a hundred to two-hundred, so it wasn't far off from what she had in mind.
"This will most definitely cover it, thank you very much." Rarity, being the element of generosity, scooped out fifty bits and levitated them to Darkflight. "I was going to charge only two-hundred fifty, so here's fifty back." Darkflight looked mildly pleased at this.
"Thank you very much," He said in a pleased tone. "But now I must be off, I have a train to catch tomorrow, and I need some time alone." He turned to leave the building.
"Where are you going?" Rarity asked. She felt that she was being invasive, but that's never stopped her before. Darkflight hesitantly glanced about the room. He shrugged before focusing his gaze on Rarity
"I'm going to Canterlot. The Princesses have requested some Unicorns with basic knowledge of magic seals, and they asked for me personally." Rarity's ears perked up as he finished.
"What a coincidence. I'm heading there tomorrow too. The princess requested me and some of my friends to come up, I wonder if she wants us for the same reasons." Rarity placed a hoof to her chin in thought. I wonder who else will be there too, if these events are related of course.
"Well, if that is indeed the case, then I look forward to working with you." Darkflight politely said, "Now, I must go. I need to get back to the Inn before they give my room away." And with a warped clang sound, he teleported away, taking his suit with him and leaving a small shower of white diamonds. Rarity let out a small sigh. She really wanted to see how the suit turned out.
Sweet Apple Acres
Applejack was saying goodbye to her family. She'd already packed and was heading out to Twilight's library.
"Y'know Ah'm gonna miss the lot of ya." Applejack said, her voice heavy. She, like Pinkie, wasn't very good with goodbyes either. At least when she knew she would beaway for awhile. She had just finished saying goodbye to her brother, Big Macintosh, when a young mare with a red bow in her mane galloped up to her older sister.
"Ya really gonna be leavin'?" Apple Bloom said with a sad look on her face.
"Only for a couple of weeks,the princess wants tah see Twilight and the others. Me included." Applejack was on the verge of tears. She'd never been away from her family for as long as she would be. She was with her relatives in Manehatten for a few days, and she could barely stand being away from her family for that long. A few weeks would be torture for her. "Don't worry. Ah'll be back just fine." Applejack assured her younger sister. Applebloom wasn't convinced.
"The last few times ya went tah Canterlot ended in disaster! There was Discord, Chrysalis, and Rarity told me about the Gala and Twilight's birthday." Applejack couldn't deny it. Whenever she went to Canterlot, things got crazy.
"Okay, but Twi's birthday wasn't bad at all. Rarity was most likely just fussin'." Applejack shifted uncomfortably on her hooves. "But this time will be different. Ah swear." Apple Bloom still wasn't convinced, but she wasn't going to argue anymore.
"Jus' promise me, and Big mac that you'll be back alright."
"Pinkie promise." Applejack proceeded to recite the Pinkie promise and the motions as well. She then gave a big group hug to her family before leaving. "Again, Ah promise Ah'll be back." And with those final words she went off towards the library. Her family was waving goodbye behind her, Big mac was fighting back tears.
"Yah gonna be alright?" Applebloom asked.
"Nnope."
Golden Oaks Library
It was getting dark. Twilight wondered where the others were. They weren't there yet and it's been five minutes past when they were supposed to show up. As Twilight was starting to worry, she heard a knock on the door. Twilight jumped up and trotted to the door. She hesitated a moment before opening the door to find her friends out there, all of them a guilty look on their faces. Twilight shot an irritated look at all of them.
"Okay," Twilight said, "any reason why you were late?" The others shifted on their hooves, all except Rainbow, who just rolled her eyes. Good grief Twi, it was only five bucking minutes, Rainbow thought to herself. Applejack was the first to speak up.
"Well, Ah was on mah way to meet them at the town hall, and we were going to head here as soon as everypony was there, but Rarity didn't show up when she was s'posed to." Applejack then shot a disapproving glance at Rarity.
"What? I had to make sure I had the right dresses to bring." Rarity pouted. Twilight still was visibly upset.
"Whatever the reason, don't do it again." Twilight said. "You all were starting to make me worry!"
"Oh come on twilight, it was only five minutes! Five minutes!" Rainbow Dash said, the irritation in her voice clear.
Twilight was about to speak up, when she heard Spike from the other room.
"Just let it go Twi, it was only five minutes." He grunted. "Seriously. You need to relax." The others all said a collective of words that could basically be summed up as, 'Liten to the Drake.' Defeated, Twilight decided to drop it and let them all in. "I'm going back to bed." Spike said, the fatigue clear in his eyes.
"So anyways, you guys all packed?" Twilight asked, trying not to sound irritated. Everypony nodded, confirming Twilights question. "Okay, you guys might want to get some sleep, we need to leave early tomorrow for our train."
"Alright." Applejack agreed. "I'm used to goin' ta bed at this time."
"Why not? I've had a long day and some sleep sounds good." Rainbow said. "Where are we sleeping?" Twilight pointed towards the basement.
"I have some sleeping bags set up for you downstairs, pick one and sleep." Twilight gestured for them to follow her downstairs. The door handle lit up with a magenta glow from Twilight's magic, and opened up for the six friends. Twilight led them down the stairs and showed them where they'd be sleeping. "Like I said earlier, find one you want, and that's where you'll sleep." The five friends went and plopped down on the sleeping bags.
Wood floor wasn't comfortable, but at least they'd have a place to sleep for the night. Twilight went back upstairs, but not before turning out the lights. She continued up the stairs, giving a brief glance at Spike sleeping in the corner. She smiled softly as kept going until she found her bed, which she promptly climbed in. Passing another glance at Spike, Twilight slowly drifted off to sleep, feeling anxious for what would come tomorrow.
Golden Oaks Library
"Wake up Twilight!" Twilight was still sleeping like a baby. Spike had already woken the others, but Twilight was out cold. "C'mon Twi! Everypony else is awake except you!" Spike yelled again. He grabbed her by the shoulders and began to shake her about, but to no avail. Rainbow Dash stepped up next to him.
"TWILIGHT, WAKE THE BUCK UP!" Rainbow shouted.
Twilight let out a yelp and rocketed into the air. Rainbow simply smirked. "It's about time. We're gonna miss our train!"
Twilight landed with a dull thud, but she seemed to not even register it. She stared blankly at the wall, her friends all traded looks of confusion. "Twilight?" Rainbow Dash asked, hoping she hadn't broken her friend.
"Did you say we're late?" Twilight deadpanned. Rainbow Dash hesitated a moment, then slowly nodded. She knew what was about to happen, everypony did. On cue, Twilight's left eye began to twitch as she began to mutter incoherently. All in the room took a step back.
"Twilight, are you okay?" Spike asked. It was rhetorical. Twilight lunged towards the door, yelling in a mix between fear and frustration. Fearstration.
"I'm late!" Twilight yelled. She sped through her house fast enough that Rainbow was almost jealous. Twilight scrambled through the library, trying to find where she put her saddlebags.
"Where are they, WHERE ARE THEY?" Twilight frantically shouted. Spike in the others watched in either amusement, fear, or just sat there neutrally. It was deeply amusing got see when she goes off like this, but at the same time anything small may cause her to flip even worse. After a few more minutes, Pinkie bounced up to Twilight.
"Your bags are over there, Silly Filly!" Pinkie Pie announced, pointing over to the front door. Twilight stopped and looked, and to her surprise and rage, found her bags sitting next to the door. Twilight used her magic to levitate the bags over to her, and secured them on her back. She turned to the others, and her horn began to glow.
In a quick purple flash, Twilight and the others, save Spike, were gone. Spike looked around for a moment, processing what had happened. He shrugged, and went over to the kitchen. I'm sure Twilight has some gems in here somewhere. He thought as he began to rummage through the cupboards.
To his disappointment, his search brought nothing for him. "Oh well, might as well start organizing."
Ponyville Train station
"ALL ABOARD!" yelled the conductor. As the Ponies began to board the train, their attention was diverted to a purple
energy blast near the platform. As soon as the light faded, six Ponies sat where the light once was, and then scrambled to the train. The poor conductor was still processing what was going on, when a purple unicorn pretty much rammed into him.
"We aren't too late are we?" Twilight asked, nervousness clear in her voice. The conductor shot back a little, clearly startled by the unicorn.
"N-no. No, we still have fifteen minutes 'til departure. We just started boarding." A look of relief washed over Twilight's face. "Now, may I see you tickets please?" The conductor asked. Twilight pulled her ticket out of her saddlebags, and motioned for her friends to come up and present theirs. The other five ponies trotted up and reached into their saddlebags, pulling out the white pieces of paper that served as passage to the trains. As Rarity was getting hers, she noticed a familiar face heading their way, and it was dressed in something that a Peacock would consider flashy.
"Well, I should have expected to bump into you six." Darkflight chuckled, levitating his ticket to the conductor. "Here you go sir," The conductor looked over the ticket and with a satisfied nod, gestured everypony in.
"Please make you way to Cart Four, that's where you seven will be staying." The seven ponies all went inside ahead of the rest, finding their cart and all promptly sitting in their seats.
They all sat in silence as the train was being boarded. Ponies came and went as they tired to find their own seats. One mare, a mint green Unicorn, passed a rather sultry look at Darkflight as she passed him by.
"Hoh boy." He muttered to himself. Within a half-hour, everypony was seated and the train had began its trek through the mountains and to Canterlot. Immediately, all eyes were on Darkflight. "What?" He asked, not quite aware of why they ware all staring awkwardly at him.
"What exactly are you wearing?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Seriously, that's flashy enough to put the sun out of commission."
