The two ponies sat impatiently, side by side, in light brown low-back office chairs in a well used office. There was a small, grey fileing cabinet along the left wall. To its left followed a squat, two tier book case filled with small assorted trinkets and knick-nacks, many of which were unidentifiable from where they sat. The off-white walls of the room were adorned with a few motivational posters including the standard fair of a kitten hanging from a rope by its front paws with 'Hang in there, baby!' printed in bold letters at the bottom. If their mutual pegasus friend Fluttershy was there she would have not been very happy with it. A round white clock with a black frame ticked quietly on the far wall.

In the middle of the quaint office was a tan colored desk which was littered with stacks of paper. On the tallest stack of paper was a glass paper weight with a yellow parasprite attempting to eat a white carnation, hopefully forever trapped inside. Most of the papers held scribbles of notes or technical diagrams of various devices, while others looked like they had simple doodles of stick ponies or crude faces. A colorful assortment of natural feather writing quills rested in a pile beside a simple, square jar of black ink. There was even one of those kinetic sculpture things made out of a row of steel balls hanging from string. The kind of sculpture that would send one steel ball into another which would transfer its momentum to the one at the end and would clack noisily together for hours on end. It was standard desk type stuff.

In the left chair sat a pastel blue pegasus sporting a shimmering rainbow mane and tail. She was totally awesome but was stone silent save for the occasional ruffle of her amazing, feathery wings, trying her best not to think of the practice time she was missing, or of the nap she was going to have in her favorite apple tree later.

Sitting in the chair to her left closest to the fileing cabinet, sat one of her best friends, a bubble gum colored earth pony with a mane and tail that resembled cotton candy. Her eyes were closed eyes and pleasant smile adorned her face. She was humming quietly to herself while bobbing her head and tapping a forehoof to music she was making.

"I'm so nervicited, Dashie! What do you think it is?" The pink one squeaked.

"I have no idea, Pinks. We both read the same letter from Twilight" the pegasus returned. "And what's taking what's-her-face so long to do whatever she's doing?"

"Hmm, I'm not sure but if I had to guess she should be back right... about.. n..." Pinkie was cut off as just then the door to the office opened. A lime green unicorn with a mane the color of sun dried seaweed trotted in like she owned the room, which she could easily do because the room actually belonged to her. She wore a white lab coat which covered her back and cutie mark and wore little, white fabric booties over her hooves which swished across the floor with easy step. She made her way to sit behind the messy desk to sit in the only other chair in the room.

"Sorry to keep you two waiting, but I had to make absolutely sure that the letter you provided  from Princess Twilight was the real deal. So, what exactly can I do for you two?"

Pinkie spoke first, "We're here to adopt!" which may have been a mistake. The hoof of Rainbow Dash was a moment too slow on covering her friends mouth.

"I'm Rainbow Dash and this here is Pinkie Pie. We're here to pick up the creature."

The green unicorn rolled her eyes, "Two of the famed Elements of Harmony, oh wonderous joy. You've come to slay the beast, have you?"

"Look here, doctor."

"Flagpole." The unicorn offered.

"Whatever. By royal order of Princess Twilight Sparkle we're here to pick up the creature that wandered into the suburbs of Manehatten. We've been instructed to not leave until we get it."

The grumpy unicorn doctor sighed, then leaned far back in her chair until it fully tilted to the point where she could stare at a yellow square of paper stuck to the ceiling with a blood red quill.

She pointed a hoof at Ranbow Dash but otherwise didn't move, "You're asking quite a lot." She gave her raised hoof a little flourish. "I suppose if Princess Sparklebutt orders it I should obey. Just remember that I'm doing it out of protest."

The doctor dropped her hoof back to her side, "It was the find of the century, and I don't think we've learned all that we can from it yet. I suppose I can't talk either of you out of taking it? Maybe let us keep it for a few more days?"

"Nope!" Dash replied with a confident grin.

Flagpole let out an unladylike grunt as the righted herself in the chair and slid off the seat which brought herself back to her hooves. She trotted back around the desk and moved to the door leading into the hall. "Alrighty then, let's just get this over with.

The other two mares slid off their respective chairs and made to follow.

"Remember Pinkie, we're here for the creature. You can look at other stuff, but don't touch! I totally don't want to have another spaghetti incident."

"Ab-so-tively, Dashie!" Pinkie beamed.

"And no Party Cannon either." Dash shot back.

"Awww... Party pooper." pouted Pinkie Pie.

The trio made their way Down the hall and away from the front reception area where they had first arrived, following the moody doctor deeper into the facility. They passed a few closed and unmarked doors before rounded a corner where they came to an abrupt halt as the hall ended.

Using her magic, Doctor Flagpole floated a small silvery rectangle out from inside her lab coat and pressed it against an nondescript bare section of the wall. A low, metallic thump could be herd from beyond the wall before it gave a hiss and the entire thing slid sideways into an adjacent wall. Beyond the new threshold looked to be another office save for in place of any furniture there was a ominously glowing circle of runes on the floor.

The green unicorn motioned with her horn to her guests, "Please step into the spell circle. It will bring you to the lower level."

Without any hesitation Pinkie Pie bounded into the room. No sooner than she hopped onto a mark on the floor she had vanished with a 'pop' and a flash of violet light.

Rainbow Dash totally didn't huff, because she wasn't a drama quees like her friend Rarity, she just blew some of her mane out of her eyes, "Level with me Doc, is this thing safe?"

"Let me reassure you, Miss Dash, that the spell circle is perfectly harmless. You won't even feel a thing." The doctor replied. "I have used it at least six times every day for the past four years and let me assure you that the absolute worst thing that could happen if the spell were to fail is that it would do nothing. It's designed to be completely fail-safe."

Dash didn't shift nervously in place, she just had an itch on her back right leg, "Nah, I'm not worried about some goofy spell. It's the creature. It's not going to, like, grow huge and go on a rampage, or develop lightning breath, or spit acid or something, is it? It's, like, completely harmless, right?"

Doctor Flagpole nodded, "Absolutely. After all the tests we've run on it we probable know more about it then it knows about itself. It doesn't have any wings, claws, venium, or a horn to use magic. It doesn't even have a tail if you can believe that!"

Rainbow Dash would have looked worried for a second if she wasn't always so awesomely brave, "How does it not have a tail!? Everything in Equestria has a tail! What the hay is it?"

The doctor shrugged, "We have no idea what it is. I've never seen anything like it befor. Maybe seeing it for yourself will answer some of your questions. Let's go, Miss Dash, we shouldn't keep your friend waiting."

Rainbow's face didn't look worried or anything like that, as she was always totally in control, "Ohmygosh, Pinkie went ahead of us. Celestia knows what kind of damage she might have caused by now!"

With a single, mighty flap of her well toned wings she launched herself at the glowing runes of the portal low enough to graze a hoof over the surface. With a 'pop' and a flash of violet light, Rainbow Dash followed her friend.

Rainbow Dash popped into existence at the exit point of the spell Circle, unceremoniously dropping to the cobblestone floor as not having her momentum being carried through. She was given no more warning of "Pony pile on Dashie! "Before having the wind knocked out of her by the weight of another body crashing down on her back. The fluffy, pink body giggled and squirmed as Rainbow tried, unsuccessfully, to stand back up.

There was a 'pop' and a flash of violet light as Doctor Flagpole appeared in the nearly empty room. She raised an eyebrow at the struggle of Rainbow Dash as her pink friend had pinned her to the floor and was tickling her sides until she was streaming tears from her eyes Next Chapter: Chapter 4: Day 15 Estimated time remaining: 28 Minutes