Twilight Sparkle trotted through the bustling crowds of Ponyville, Spike the dragon riding happily on her back. Twilight had a list of things that she had to pick up from Ditzy Doo, the mailmare, the items mostly compromising of quills, new parchment and extra ink. Nevertheless, Twilight was happy to be out and about, seeing as she had ben studying late into the night for the past few days.

As Twilight continued her steady pace, Spike spoke up. "Hey, Twi, is that Fluttershy up there?"

Twilight chuckled without breaking her trot. "Oh Spike," she said to the dragon. "Fluttershy's always looking after her animals or popping out for some groceries at this time of day. She almost never hides in - clouds?"

At the last word, the purple unicorn halted her steps. Spike toppled slightly, before regaining his balance and hopping up on his legs. He shielded his eyes from the sun with a hand and squinted.

"Twilight, that's definitely Fluttershy!" exclaimed Spike.

Twilight looked up, frowning in confusion. "Fluttershy!" she called up to her friend. "What are you doing up there?"

The unicorn cantered until she was almost directly below the fluffy white cloud. Behind the wisps of cumulus cloud, Twilight could spot the yellow feathers and trembling pink mane of the shy pegasus. Concern welled up in Twilight's stomach, and she called out again.

"Fluttershy!" yelled Twilight. "What are you doing? Come down from there!"

There was an awkward whimpering sound, and Fluttershy withdrew deeper into the cloud. Twilight sighed exasperatedly and looked expectantly to Spike for help. When the dragon realised he was being silently asked for help, he simply shrugged and said, "Looks like we're not getting new quills this week."

Twilight groaned and surrounded Spike with magic. Plopping him down on the ground, Twilight went to help his friend, while saying over her shoulder, "Stay there for me, Spike!"

When Fluttershy was in Twilight's direct line of vision, the unicorn teleported the pegasus down on to the ground. In a spark of magenta and a puff of smoke, Fluttershy was cowering on the ground. Surprised to find herself on the ground, Fluttershy whimpered and shielded herself from Twilight with her hooves and wings.

Twilight trotted over to Fluttershy and looked over her worriedly. "Fluttershy, are you okay? You look petrified? What's happened?"

Fluttershy said something so quiet it was undistinguishable.

"Er... Fluttershy?" said Twilight awkwardly, the situation reminding the unicorn irresistably of the first time she had met the yellow pegasus. "Are you okay?"

"I..." muttered Fluttershy, before heaving in a huge breath. "I have something to tell you, Twilight..."

"Well, why don't you tell me while standing up?" said Twilight kindly, helping the caretaker up with a light push of magic. Fluttershy whimpered again and squeaked out a little word. "Um..."

"Yes?" said Twilight earnestly.

"Uh... I got a letter..." said Fluttershy, ducking her head as though this was something to be horribly ashamed of.

"Well, that's nice!" said Twilight happily. "Who was it from? Applejack? Rainbow Dash? Or is it Rarity? Oh no..." Twilight gulped as another memory swam into her mind. "Please don't tell me you have another model career you want to end!"

Fluttershy smiled weakly. "N-no, nothing of the sort..."

"Good," said Twilight sincerely, and the two shared a laugh. "So, what's this letter about?"

"Um..." whispered Fluttershy yet again. "It's... um, well it's from Princess Celestia..."

Twilight's eyes lit up. "Princess Celestia! Oh, what did she say? What was it about?"

"Well," muttered Fluttershy, perking her head up slightly, "it said something about my Element..."

But before Fluttershy could elaborate, the two mares were interrupted by a loud belching sound. The duo galloped back to Spike, who was holding a slightly smoking scroll in his claws, sealed with the royal symbol.

"That's Princes Celestia's seal!" gasped Twilight. "Why would she be writing at this time?"

"Um, it's probably because - " began Fluttershy softly, but Twilight unintentionally cut her off.

"Read it out, Spike," requested the unicorn.

"Yes, ma'am!" said Spike, and cracked open the seal. He rolled the parchment open and, clearing his throat, read the following:

"Dear Twilight,

Faithful student, I fear that a dark time has come upon us. An unknown evil, much more dreaded than Discord or Queen Chrysalis, has swooped upon Equestria. The Elements of Harmony are the only things able to defeat this enemy, but the catch is that the time has come upon the Elements.

You must now pass on your Element to a worthy foal, capable of handling and upholding your Element. If needed, help can be requested from your fellow Element bearers.

I apologise most profoundly for doing this so soon to you and your friends, as I know that you deserve longer than this to possess your Element. But the unexplainable magic that powers friendship and love has called upon me to do this, and so I must.

Your forever trusting mentor,
Princess Celestia."

---

Sweetie Belle lifted her hind legs, clinging hard to the chanting of her friends' encouragement, and thumped her back hooves as hard as she could on the trunk of the apple tree. The bark shuddered a bit, and a few stray leaves were dislodged. However, the best the little unicorn got out of it was a slightly trembling apple that quickly ceased.

Sweetie hung her head, and felt her pale-green eyes well up with angry tears. She heard frantic hoofsteps, and felt two familiar hooves sling themselves around her shoulders.

"Aw, cheer up, Sweetie," said Applebloom, as she and Scootaloo led the sobbing unicorn to the far end of the Acres.

"That was an awesome go!" said Scootaloo enthusiastically.

"N-no it w-wasn't!" stammered Sweetie, shaking uncontrollably. "That was worse than a bunny's buck! I'll never get my Cutie Mark!"

Scootaloo and Applebloom shot each other a confused and worried look. Sweetie Belle could easily control her feelings, and besides, she almost never got out of control. But now, it seemed that she had just gotten one fail too many.

"Ah, don' worry, Sweetie," said Applejack, trotting over to comfort her sister's friend. "Listen, when ah was a filly, mah first buck was far worse than that."

Sweetie sniffled and looked up at the cowpony. "You're lying."

"Ah'm the Element of Honesty," grinned Applejack. "How c'n ah lie? 'Sides, ya'all c'n ask Big Mac 'r Granny Smith, they'll tell ya."

Scootaloo looked at Applejack in awe. "Seriously?" she said, amazed.

"Yup," smiled Applejack. "Ah didn't even shake 'em leaves! But y'know what ah did?"

"W-what?" stammered Sweetie.

"Ah practiced. Every day, ah bucked harder 'n harder, and soon, ah was fit enough to take over half the farm! 'Sides, Granny 'erself said that ah had a gift for farmin'. So ah honed mah skills. Ah practiced what ah was good at. An' that's what ya should do, too!"

And then it hit them.