Chapter 9

Twilight Sparkle was planning to ask Rainbow Dash if she'd seen Gilda the Griffon anywhere. Even though the two of them were no longer the best of friends, Rainbow always saw most of the comings and goings of the residents of Ponyville. There were great views of the whole town from up in the clouds, so she might know.

Maybe talking to the griffon again would shed some light on the situation. There had to be more to what she tried to tell Twilight the other night after she crashed the secret meeting. Or maybe not. But a princess should listen to everypony, Twilight told herself. Especially because she still hadn't thought of a way to find the spell.

Rainbow Dash was sitting on a cloud high in the sky. She appeared to be arguing with a large group of Pegasi. She didn't hear Twilight trying to call her from below. Good thing I have wings now, Twilight thought, taking off. She enjoyed the rush of cool air as she soared into the sky. It was fun to be an Alicorn!

"I have herded more clouds today than all you slowpokes put together!" Rainbow Dash shouted at the other Pegasi. "My skills are second to nopony!"

"If you're so good, Rainbow Crash, why don't you help out the rest of us?" a big stallion named Hoops shouted back. His cutie mark was three basketballs.

"Rainbow!" Twilight called out, but Rainbow didn't notice.

"You asked for it!" Rainbow shot back at Hoops, and took off into a showy barrel roll. She gathered a nearby cloud, combined it with two others, and then jumped onto it. A heavy flood of rain poured out the bottom of the massive cloud like a waterfall.

"Just call me Commander Hurricane!" Rainbow yelled, grinning from ear to ear.

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight yelled a little louder. Why wasn't Rainbow listening? A princess was trying to speak to her! Twilight frowned. "Rainbow! Listen to me!"

Rainbow Dash finally noticed her friend hovering there, looking a little strange. "Oh, hey, Twilight! Are you here to talk about my awesome plans for the new royal guard?"

"No." Twilight rolled her eyes like answering Rainbow's question was really hard work. "Have you seen Gilda?" Rainbow cocked her head to the side. Twilight was acting really weird, and the colors on her necklace were swirling around.

"Are you okay?" Rainbow asked.

"Of course I am! Now, have you seen Gilda or not?"

"I think she's down by the farm with Trixie," Rainbow said. "The two of them have been spending a lot of time together lately. If you ask me, it smells like trouble. Mixing pranks and magic is a bad idea, right, Twilight?"

But Twilight Sparkle didn't hear the last part, because she was already off, flying toward Sweet Apple Acres. She didn't even say "thank you."