"What in the hay was that!" Big Macintosh rushed out of the house, seeing his sister with mouth agape and staring at an empty patch of dirt. As the stallion got closer, he saw that the ground looked as though a firecracker had gone of on it, a circular blast pattern plainly evident, the pattern interrupted by a smaller, similar burst off to one side.

"Ah... Ah..." Applejack had apparently found her voice during his investigation. She shook her head, trying to throw off all the impossibilities that had gathered. "Y' ain't gonna believe me, Big Mac."

He couldn't help but grin at this. "Sis, if ya told me th' sky was green, Ah'd be wonderin' why the Princess went an' changed it. What'd ya see?"

"Ditzy Doo done cast a spell!"

The enormous pony paused at this and turned to reexamine the tiny craters. After a moment of further consideration, he arrived at a hypothesis. "She explode?" A glance at the smaller burst. "Twice?"

"No, she didn't explode, y' overgrown candy apple! She glowed bluer 'n a clear noon sky an' th' next thing Ah knew, she an' Dinky were plum gone!"

Big Macintosh chewed this over, along with his hay stalk. "Ya sure she didn't explode?"

The look Applejack gave her brother would have frightened anypony who hadn't grown up watching her perfect it. "Tain't no way any self-respectin' pony'd blow up 'er own flesh an' blood."

"Well then, Miss Magic Expert, what did she do?"

The orange pony frowned and thought on this. "Well, if Ah had t' guess, Ah'd say she teleported. Looks an awful lot like th' aftermath o' one o' Twilight's, an' she seemed awful desperate fer a getaway."

"An' why was that?"

"She was spoutin' somethin' 'bout th' Element o' Honesty makin' 'er spill 'er guts. Seemed right on th' edge o' sayin' somethin' she wanted to keep under wraps real bad."

The plowpony frowned as he came to a decision. "Sis, Ah think ya should go see Miss Twilight 'bout this. Seems awful serious."

The mare gave a sheepish grin. "...can it wait 'til after supper?"

"Applejack..."

"Aw, Ah'm jokin'. Mostly. 'Sides, Spike's near as good a cook as me if 'e ain't usin' apples."

Incident Report #5872-3377

Reporting Guardspony: Cpl. Seraph Plume

Report filed 1950, 28 Incitat, Anno Celesti 5872

Incident Description: At 1853 this evening, there was a spontaneous flash of blue light approximately five kiloponies above Mount Canterlot. After the flash receded, PFC Swan Dive reported the manifestation an adult female pegasus and juvenile female unicorn at the point of the flash. Orders to intercept were given and carried out. The unicorn was supplied with a cloudwalk talisman and both ponies were placed in custody in Sky Barracks Gamma. The pegasus was unconscious but stable. The unicorn identified herself as Dinky Doo of Ponyville. She also identified the pegasus as her mother, Ditzy Doo.

According to the younger Doo, her mother and she had been on the premises of Sweet Apple Acres, a farm on the outskirts of Ponyville, when the elder Doo emitted a brilliant blue radiance from her entire body. The next moment, both were airborne.

Custody of the Doos was transferred to the Castle Mageguard at 1935. Ditzy Doo remained unconscious.

"Twilight!" Applejack sang out, having already knocked on the library door a few times. "C'mon girl, Ah'm starvin' out here!" Time continued to pass with no sign of anyone, pony or dragon, coming to let her in. The farmer sighed. "Ah'll give this one last try, then Ah'm headed on home. Cold supper's better 'n no supper at all." With that, she delivered a solid applebuck to the side of the tree.

As a few leaves fell around her, Applejack was pleased to finally see a response. Twilight had opened the top half of the door and was now blinking incredulously at her. Now that the door was open, the earth pony could see a shimmering field that was filling the doorway like a film of soap in a bubble wand. She also realized that she couldn't hear a thing coming out of the living building. "Twilight, what kinda crazy magic did ya work on this poor ol' tree?"

The unicorn's eyes widened and she noiselessly laughed at herself before her horn glowed and the pearly field vanished. "Sorry, AJ, I'd forgotten about that Field of Silence. What's up?"

"Well, Ah—" The farmer paused for a moment as she took in the state of her friend. Without the frosted-glass effect of the Silence Field, Twilight was clearly a mess. Her mane seemed clumped into the sort of dreadlocks that form from prolonged neglect. The hair around her eyes seemed to glisten unhealthily, and the eyes themselves were both bloodshot and faintly glowing. "Oh, Twilight, what have you bin doin' t' yerself?"

The unicorn blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Ah mean ya look like ya ain't slept or bathed since Ah last laid eyes on ya! Let me in, ya crazy mare, Ah'm stagin' ya an intervention."

As she opened the bottom half of the door, the librarian couldn't bring herself to make eye contact with the indignant earth pony. "Is... is it really that bad?"

Applejack turned to better appraise her friend's welfare. Twilight had definitely lost some weight, her tail seemed as bad as her mane, and more oddly shiny patches spread sporadically through her coat. One even stretched across her left cutie mark, much to the orange mare's distress. "Twi, Ah'm yer friend, so all Ah'll say is that Ah'm real glad Rarity ain't here t' see ya like this. Poor thing'd probably faint at th' sight of ya." She shook her head. "Honestly, sugarcube, this here is jus' plain unhealthy. Ah thought Spike'd make sure this sorta thing wouldn' happen."

"Spike's been asleep for most of the weekend. I think he's about to molt."

"...'Molt'?"

Twilight perked up a bit now that the subject wasn't her self-neglect. "A dragon's scales are designed to grow together into an interlocking suit of natural armor. When the scales of a young dragon like Spike become so linked together that his body can't grow any further, he sheds the whole layer. It's a really energy-intensive period, so he can't do much beyond eat and sleep. He's done it twice since I hatched him. I was so worried the first time it happened. He was still teething at the time, so—"

Applejack held up a forehoof. "Twi, this is fascinatin' an' all, but we've got more pressin' concerns 'n Spike's formative years."

"...Right." The unicorn folded in on herself in shame.

Her friend put a foreleg over her shoulders. "Ah ain't mad, sugarcube. Ah'm worried for ya. What if Ah hadn't come fer a visit t'night? How much longer were ya gonna run yerself inta th' ground like this?"

"Well, I was in the middle of refining a possible improvement of Maregan le Fey's Third Principle of Leyline Channeling, so..." Twilight grimaced. "I have no idea. Thank you, Applejack."

"No need t' thank me. Jus' promise me y' ain't gonna try an' be as big a foal as Ah was last applebuck season."

"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

The freckled mare nodded, satisfied. "All Ah needed t' hear. Now whaddaya say Ah make us some supper?"

"I, uh, don't know if I have much in the pantry."

"Aw, Ah'm sure Ah can figger out somethin'." Applejack went to the library's small kitchen. "Now, lessee what we've got t' work with here..." The cupboard proved to be nearly bare, save for a single cardboard box sitting on the floor. An awkward silence reigned as she examined its contents, only to be deposed by a declaration of, "Twilight, git that scrawny behind o' yers in here!"

As she did just that, the unicorn wondered if this was how Apple Bloom felt after a particularly foolish crusade. "Yes?"

"What the hay is that?" A hoof indicated that the "that" in question was the box that apparently comprised Twilight's entire food supply.

"A box of ramen feedbags?"

"An' is there any other food in this here tree?"

The answer came out a volume normally reserved for Fluttershy. "...No."

"Ya can't be serious."

"To be fair, they got me through studying for finals at the Academy."

"T' be fair, there's more salt in that there box than all the saloons in Appleoosa!" Applejack made her way out of the kitchen. "Twi, Ah've come t' a decision. Yer comin' with me back t' Sweet Apple Acres, an Ah'm feedin' ya somethin' other' 'n a nosebag fulla instant oats."

Twilight sputtered at this sudden change of plans. "But, but... What if Spike wakes up? What if he's stuck in his old scales?"

"Well now, that all depends. Do ma dragons help their babies in such a situation?"

"Well, that depends according to species. Some—"

Applejack cut off the lecture before Twilight could build up any momentum. "In Spike's case?"

"Oh. Well... no."

"Then th' li'l fella'll be fine. Write 'im a note, get yerself a quick shower, an' we'll get ya fed right an' proper. An' then Ah can tell ya what Ah came t' tell ya."

If anypony asked, she was still the Great and Powerful Trixie. (Cue fanfare and pyrotechnics) She was just making her way through one of the switchbacks that cropped up on the pernicious road of show business. Losing one's home, stage, personal library, and method of transportation in one fell swoop could do that.

Still, it would take more than that to end the dreams of the Stalwart and Dedicated Trixie. For now, however, she had to recoup her losses, and to do that, she had made her way to the one major city easily reachable from Ponyville on hoof: Canterlot. (It was the next stop on the tour anyway.) Thankfully, the Timely and Fortunate Trixie had been able to find a decent job with astonishing ease. That said job occupied the graveyard shift mattered not, especially since it was the graveyard shift at the Royal Library, and that the opening had been made by request of Princess Luna Herself.

Working from eight at night to four the next morning was a small price to pay for a daily opportunity to interact with the enigmatic Princess of Night, especially since She was every bit as magnanimous and kind as Her older sister. To think that such a being would deign to discuss matters of politics, history, and arcane science with the likes of the Awestruck and Unworthy Trixie, why, it was a dream come true!

The Frank and Self-Aware Trixie would be lying if she claimed to have not degenerated into a squealing schoolfilly on her first night. Thankfully, She Who Ignited The Stars was as understanding of such awe as she was deserving of it. She even offered an understanding ear to the showpony's shameful exploits in Ponyville and freely offered sage advice on the matter. She helped the Abashed and Humiliated Trixie see past the wound to her pride, to see her ouster from the village as an opportunity: Here was a benchmark, a rival, a metric by which Trixie could measure her own progress as a mage. That said metric was no less than the personal pupil of Celestia Herself, well that only spoke well of Trixie's own potential, did it not? (Though the less said of the incident two weeks ago in regards to that rivalry, the better.)

In any case, this series of offscreen events explained why the Drowsy and Undercaffeinated Trixie was making her way through Castle Canterlot at half past seven in the evening, only to stumble upon a cluster of servants and guards around one of the guest rooms. Intrigued, she found one of the guardsponies whose acquaintance she'd made. "Dark, what's going on here?"

"You haven't heard?" Guarding Dark was easily recognized as one of the few earth ponies in the castle's barded retinue. While his armor made him the same uniform black as the other earth pony guards, there simply weren't that many other earth pony guards with whom he could be confused.

"Luna's pet librarian, remember?" It had been the guard's description of her when he first heard of her position, but the... Adjective and Other Adjective Trixie (she really needed some coffee) was learning to keep such friendly jabs from bruising her ego. And it was both rather accurate and kind of funny. "I only woke up about an hour ago."

"Right. Sorry, Patty." The recovering showmare held back a grimace. Speaking in the first pony was a simple matter. Enduring playful denigration was something she was learning. But having to dust off the moniker "Patricia Hobbitses" was truly a test of her will. The guard continued heedlessly, "Well, apparently there was some kind of magical mishap in Ponyville."

"You don't say..." The Opaque and Composed Trixie maintained a careful poker face honed through long experience with hecklers of all stripes, zebras included. Internally, though, she was beginning to worry for Twilight Sparkle. How could she prove herself even greater than Celestia's protege if said protege went and tripped on her own horn?

"Yeah, apparently some unicorn filly managed to teleport herself above the castle."

While relieved at the news that her rival was safe, the Puzzled and Perplexed Trixie was now faced with something new to chew over. "That shouldn't be possible."

"I know, right? Little thing doesn't even have her cutie mark yet. You'd think something like that would be worth it."

"No, that literally shouldn't be possible. Even if a foal had that kind of power, there's no way she could control it enough for a teleport. That kind of magic is so intricate, most unicorns never manage to perform it." Myself included, the Bitter and Befuddled Trixie added silently.

The sable stallion shrugged. "Hay, that's just what I've heard."

"Hmm..." The Intrigued and Alert Trixie wasn't through. In this conundrum she'd found a better stimulant than her usual. "I suppose she's asleep?"

"Yup, along with her mother. Apparently, once she'd heard where her daughter had ended up, she flew here nonstop. Both were exhausted before the maids even had the room prepared."

"'Flew'? Her mother's a pegasus?"

Dark frowned. "Now don't tell me you're one of those breed purists, Patty. I was actually starting to like you."

"Nothing of the sort. It just adds another wrinkle to this." The Thoughtful and Ruminating Trixie began running through a list of books that might be helpful in figuring this out. "Thanks for the news, Dark. If something else develops, could you stop by the library after your shift ends?"

"Sure thing. Have a good night, Patty."

"You too." Grey's Anatomy should be a good starting point. And maybe the Princess could recall a similar incident that history had forgotten...

That night, the Doos slept, Trixie cogitated, and Applejack ensured that Twilight didn't research herself into an early grave. All the while, mana continued to coalesce, and as it did so, it passed a critical threshold. Only one pony could have seen the faint shapes that traced themselves in the moonlight, and she was currently unconscious. But those shapes themselves could see much, including the many possible paths to full manifestation. One required nothing but time, but there were other, faster ways. Though only quasi-real, the forms could nonetheless subtly nudge things of equally dubious existence, catalyzing their realization. So they did.

In six buildings scattered across Ponyville, the fabric of reality began to fray. And in Castle Canterlot, a pegasus squirmed in her dreamless sleep.

Exhaustive Research UU
Sorcery
Draw three cards. You skip your next untap step.
"If Celestia wanted me to sleep, she wouldn't have created books and caffeine."
—Twilight Sparkle