"Dear Princess Celestia,

There has been a terrible accident. Fluttershy and i were returning from Everfree Forest and decided to take a shortcut. We found somepony, who was petrified by a cockatrice. We returned back to Ponyville and i went back home, so i could examine the Stone Pony, but one of my friends bursted in and by accident the stone pony was broken. I decided not to tell my friend the truth about the statue and i am glad Fluttershy was not here when it happened. Right now i am desperately trying to find a way to repair the statue and i request your help.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle."

Princess Celestia finished reading the letter and now imagined her poor student in panic mode. She used her magic to bring her an empty paper, ink and a quill, so she you could give an immediate reply, but she was interrupted by the guards. "Princess! Some pegasus is going crazy outside, trying to get in here! She says it is important and she calls herself Rainbow Dash! What should we do?", asked the Guard Captain. Princess Celestia gave a sad smile and answered "Let her in". The guard did not question her decision and hurried outside.

Soon Rainbow Dash, with guards around her, entered the throne room. She had red teary eyes and was shaking, not able to make an eye contact with Princess Celestia. "Is this about statue?", Celestia asked, while walking towards Dash. Rainbow Dash was shocked, because she had no idea Celestia had heard about it, so she panicked and blurted out something along the lines "Iamsorryitwasamistakeididnotknowyougottahelpme", but was then interrupted by Princess Celestia, who hugged Rainbow Dash and said, "Shhh.. No need to worry. The pony can still be saved". Rainbow Dash looked up with her round teary eyes, mouth open, trying to sink in what she had just heard and then her expression turned into relief and she started crying tears of happiness. "I-I am.. so glad!". She soon pulled herself together and had a question.

Dash: "How did you know why i came here?"

Celestia: "I got a letter from Twilight, explaining what happened. She did not mention you by name and apparently she has no idea, that you know what you did."

Dash: "I heard it from Fluttershy, but.. but Fluttershy does not know the statue is broken."

Celestia: "Ah, i remember her quite well and i think it is for the best if she does not know about this. As for the solution to this problem, i will need your help with it and it is not a small task."

Dash: "My help?"

Celestia: "I think a small story might help you to understand"

"Back in the days, when i was just a filly. I liked exploring places, that most would consider dangerous. There was a forest near my home. Much like Everfree Forest near Ponyville. I was playing there with my sister Luna, but something interesting caught my attention. Stone pieces, that put together formed a live sized bird statue. I immediately tried to use my magic to put the pieces together, but i failed. I had never repair anything before, so i assumed, that i was bad at it. I told Luna, that i want to bring the pieces with me, so we stopped playing in the forest and returned home. Day after day i spent hours trying to fix it, but eventually i tried something more complicated. I came up with my own spell, that required special symbols on the ground and a spell chant. First time i did it, two of the pieces actually stayed together. Not well, but at least if i did not touch the pieces, i could cast the spell again and again, each time the spell worked better. Three weeks after i started using my new spell, the statue was almost complete. I used the spell for the last time and not only did the statue get fixed, but it also turned into a real bird. Silly as i was, i thought i can turn any statue alive. I went to our garden to look for our Griffon statue and tried the spell on it, but nothing happened.. so i broke it. I then used my spell on it again and the statue was repaired in one try, but it did not become alive. I never figured it out as a filly, but now that i look back on it, it makes a lot more sense."

Rainbow Dash understood what Celestia was talking about. The bird statue had been a real bird to begin with, but Dash had no idea where her help is needed.

Dash: "I am sorry if i am slow, but does this mean that while you are busy with the spells, you need somepony else, as in me, to rule Equestria?"

Princess Celestia could not help, but giggle at the suggestion.

Celestia: "Oh, no. That is not what i meant. You see, there is a way you can do most of the work with the spells and all i have to do is give you magical power. I will teach you the symbols and you will keep drawing those on scrolls. Then, when i have time, i will place some of my magic inside the scrolls. After that you place the scroll bellow the platform, that i will have to set up, because you can not keep picking up and placing the pieces on the scroll or else the statue might brake again. Finally you chant the spell, while concentrating on the scroll and the statue."

Rainbow Dash, who never really cared about magic or bothered to listen "nerd talk", for once understood what Celestia is talking about. She also understood that this will take long time to finish and it will be boring, but she has no right to complain.

Dash: "Thank you Princess, i will try my best."

Determination was flowing in Rainbow Dash. She had to fix this mess, so she can return back to Ponyville, proud.

Celestia: "I will send Twilight a letter, explaining the situation. She will use transportation spell to send the statue here."

Dash: "How long exactly is this going to take..?"

Celestia: "It highly depends on how hard you are willing to work, but i would say at least a year."

Dash: "Whole year?! At least?!"

Celestia: "You could ask Luna for help, but i do not know what she does at night, so she could be busy."

A Year probably means no flying or fun with friends, but if she takes time off to have fun, it will take longer for her to get back home. While Rainbow Dash was thinking about this, Celestia finished her letter to Twilight Sparkle. The letter vanished and now a platform was floating in to the Throne Room. It stopped in middle of the room and 4 long chains attached to the corners of the platform and the roof, making it look like a swing. Celestia used her magic one more time, bringing a big pile of paper, ink and quills next to Rainbow Dash.

Celestia: "The statue pieces will be placed on to the platform and the finished scrolls are set bellow the platform. I will now draw you a sample scroll, that you will then copy as many times as it takes to perfect it. I will also write the spell chant on one of the papers, so you can learn it. We will worry about pronouncing the words right later."

Rainbow Dash nodded, while sitting down and looked at Celestia as she used her magic to write and draw with the quill. She resisted the urge to say how unfair it is, because Dash herself cant use magic, but it is not that important right now. Celestia continued drawing the symbols and it started looking very complicated and some parts were simply confusing.

Celestia: "I think it will be easier, if you first learn to draw half of the symbols."

Dash: "Half of those?"

Celestia: "Actually, all of these are about half of the finished scroll. Rest will be drawn over the symbols i have already drawn, so it would be hard to understand how to draw it if i give you a finished scroll right away."

Dash: "Why is this so complicated?! I-i mean.. I will do my best!"

Luna: "What is going on here?"

Princess Luna arrived. She seemed curious as to why Rainbow Dash is learning symbol drawing.

Celestia: "Good evening sister, had a good nap?

Luna: "Nothing worth mentioning. Care to fill me in on this?"

Celestia: "Rainbow Dash here has an important task to do and she needs some help learning to draw a specific scroll and chant it."

Luna looked at the symbols and can not help, but find them familiar somehow. She was about to ask another question, but they are interrupted by a flash of light. The statue has arrived.

Celestia: "This is what we are dealing with. A cockatrice turned somepony into stone, but sadly the statue was broken. However, with these scrolls, we should be able to fix it."

Luna: "I remember now.. This is the scroll you used as a filly. You told me, that you turned the broken bird statue into a real bird. I called you a liar, because you had such hard time just fixing it."

Celestia smiled as she said: "We were both wrong. The statue was a real bird to begin with."

While the sisters were chatting, Rainbow Dash was trying to copy the symbols. It had been ages, since she last touched a quill to draw something. Sure, she had written few letters to Celestia about friendship, but apart from that, all the experience she had was from years ago, back in school. She kept drawing and made mistakes. Scroll after scroll was no good for use, because Rainbow Dash had no way to fix the mistakes she made. Rainbow Dash finally stopped and looked around her, realizing it is dark, but there was a candle next to her, so she can keep drawing as long as she wants. Princess Luna appeared from the dark without making a sound, making Rainbow Dash twitch and for a moment her heartbeat accelerated. "I am so sorry! I prefer moving silently, so night guards do not constantly ask me if everything is fine.", Luna apologized.

Dash: "Its cool, i sort of needed that. I am not the type to sit down and draw for hours.."

Luna: "Yet here you are, doing just that. May i ask you, why?"

Dash was silent for a moment: "I broke the statue.."

Luna gave Rainbow Dash a sad, yet understanding smile. "I see.. I have my own set of mistakes and regrets", she said as she glanced at the moon from an open window. Rainbow Dash then remembered, that Luna was banished in the moon for a long time. Luna noticed the pile of scrolls, that have mistakes on them.

Luna: "I can remove the mistakes, so you can try again, without having to start over each time you make one mistake."

Dash: "That should speed this up a lot! Thanks!"

Luna smiled: "I have a lot of free time, so it is not a problem."

Few hours earlier..

Twilight: "Spike, has Celestia replied yet?"

Spike: "No.. *burp* yes!"

Spike opened the letter and starts reading out loud, "Spike, do not read this letter,"

Spike is confused: "What the.."

He cant help his curiosity and quickly reads the next line, "or i will tell one of your secrets to everypony." Geez, Celestia's mind tricks are too much for Spike to handle. He gives the letter to Twilight and mutters to himself, "Does Celestia know i like Rarity?".

"Spike, do not read this letter,

or i will tell one of your secrets to everypony.

My Dearest, most faithful student Twilight,

I am happy to tell you, that there is a way to fix the statue. However, this is a slow process and your friend Rainbow Dash is here to help me with that. She is fine, so need to worry. My reply was late, because Rainbow Dash arrived soon after your letter. I need you to send the statue here with your teleportation spell. I think you should tell your friends, that Rainbow Dash is training with Wonderbolts and will be staying here at least for a year.

Your mentor,

Princess Celestia.

PS. Check the back if you want to help"

Twilight flipped the paper and was now staring at a spell scroll. Twilight tried to imagine Rainbow Dash drawing these for a whole year. She smiled as she said to herself, "She needs my help.."