Chapter 10

A good patch of leafy foliage was always ideal for spying. That was precisely the reason why Twilight Sparkle often found herself hiding behind tree trunks and peering through hedges while doing various sorts of field research.

Today, Twilight crouched low behind a bush near the barn at Sweet Apple Acres. She had spent the last ten minutes watching as Gilda and Trixie rolled a barrel of fresh cider from the stacked-up stores and dumped it onto the grass. Glug, glug, glug. The cider spilled out quickly. Why anyone would waste the precious cider was beyond Twilight's understanding. Yet the two of them snickered as they began to fill the empty barrel with some gloopy green gunk that resembled the lily pad slime from Froggy Bottom Bog.

"These ponies will never know what hit 'em!" Gilda laughed triumphantly. "This might be one of my greatest pranks yet!"

Trixie joined in. "And once the unlucky ponies who get a cup of 'cider' from this barrel take a sip, I'll swoop in and perform a magnificent spell to save them from the horrible taste!" She cackled.

"Personally, I think it's funnier not to save them… but whatever you want, Trix!" Gilda said. "This partnership is really working out." The two of them high-fived.

"Hey!" Twilight shouted from the nearby bush. "You two!"

Gilda and Trixie scrambled to cover up the barrel, and both stepped in front of it to create a shield. They looked all around but didn't see anyone until Twilight climbed out from behind the bush. A couple of wayward twigs were still stuck in her mane.

"What are you, the undercover cider police?" Gilda sneered. "Do you take all your orders from Applejack now? Or are you finally giving some orders of your own, like a real royal pony, eh?"

Twilight puffed up. She was a little bit offended. "Well, if you must know, I couldn't care less what you do with that cider," Twilight said, even though she knew she would definitely tell Granny Smith which barrel was filled with slime later. "But I'm here because… because… I wanted to ask you about…" Twilight couldn't seem to find the words to ask Gilda the Griffon for help.

Trixie tapped her hoof on the grass impatiently. She was still wearing her purple magician's robe and pointy hat covered in stars. "The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn't have all day, Twilight!" She was clearly still a little bitter about the time Twilight accidentally revealed her to be a fraud in front of all of Ponyville. Trixie probably didn't feel so "Great and Powerful" after that.

"What were you talking about the other night at my cottage?" Twilight asked Gilda.

The griffon crossed her arms and shrugged casually. "I was just saying that if I were a princess, nopony would be allowed to tell me what to do." Gilda put her claw on Twilight's shoulder and dug in a little too sharply. "What is it that you want to do, Twilight?"

"I want to…" Twilight hesitated. It was a little strange to be asking for Gilda's opinion on the matter. But she was right. Why was Twilight spending all this time and energy trying to listen to her friends in Ponyville, when she herself knew exactly where to find the answers—the one place she always felt completely at ease, no matter where in Equestria she was? "I want to go to the library! The Crystal Empire Library!"

Gilda nodded in satisfaction. "I'll admit—the library thing is a little weird. But the Crystal Empire sounds awesome! Right on, Princess Twilight! You always know what's best."

A moment later, Twilight's jeweled necklace began to cloud and darken even more. The

transformation was so brief and subtle that Twilight didn't even notice.

But there was definitely a new determination in her eyes. And it was a little scary.

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All that Twilight could think about now was that huge library in the Crystal Empire. It held hundreds of old books! There was no way the spell wasn't hidden in the pages of one of them. She couldn't wait to dive into her studies and hide away with her books for as long as it took.

"Thanks for your help, guys," Twilight told Gilda and Trixie. "I have to go to the Crystal Empire right now!" Twilight spread her wings and took off into the air.

"That sounds so totally awesome! I'm coming, too," Gilda said, flying alongside her. "Is everything really made of crystals? What are the ponies like there?" Gilda began to imagine all the innocent victims whom she could play her pranks on. It was going to be so funny!

"Trixie will go with you, too!" Trixie exclaimed, trotting beneath them. She pictured a whole new city of ponies who had never seen her "Great and Powerful" magic act yet. It was going to be glorious!

The two lackeys followed as Twilight soared through the air, winding through Ponyville and unaware of everything in her path. Fluttershy, who was leading a line of baby ducklings back to their mother at the pond, noticed Twilight approaching. "Oh, hi, Twilight!" she said very quietly. She smiled and waved. "I'm so glad you're here! I came up with some new ideas for the baby- animal sanctuary that I wanted to share with you…."

But Twilight didn't even see her and swooshed right past. She was going so fast that Fluttershy's pretty pink mane blew out from the gust of wind Twilight's wings created. Rarity watched the scene unfold in pure shock. Who was this pony and what had she done with their best friend, Twilight Sparkle? Twilight always stopped to talk with her friends. Then Rarity noticed that the Cosmic Spectrum gem on Twilight's necklace had lost some of its luster. This was a bad sign.

"Oh, Fluttershy!" Rarity said, trotting up to her. She was carrying a large sketchbook in her pack. It was full of new outfit designs she had been drawing all morning for Twilight's imaginary kingdom. Even though she'd been annoyed after the meeting, she still wanted to help her friend.

"Do you think she heard me?" Fluttershy squeaked sadly. "Twilight would never ignore somepony like that on purpose, right?"

But before Rarity could mention the necklace, Gilda the Griffon called out to them. "Twilight is a princess now, you guys! She's off to the Crystal Empire and doesn't need a bunch of silly Ponyville friends like you holding her back. She told me so herself. So leave her alone!" Then she took off into the sky after Twilight.

Rarity and Fluttershy exchanged a worried look. "We'd better go find Spike," Rarity said, looking to the sky. "He'll know what to do."