Pinkie happily bounced out of the library, leaving her friends with confused looks on their faces. Twilight turned her head to Lauren, who was softly munching on the daisy sandwich she had in her mouth. She then turned her head towards Rainbow Dash, who was too ashamed to look Lauren in the face. Applejack, Fluttershy and Rarity were only sitting there, contemplating the whole situation. Spike had finished re-organizing the books, so he joined his mare friends.

“Rainbow,” Twilight called. Rainbow raised her head, looking at Twilight. “Don’t you have something to say?” she said, tilting her head towards the alicorn.

“I uh…” Rainbow muttered, looking at Lauren. “I am sorry for, you know… tackling and yelling at you,” she softly said, rubbing one hoof against her leg. Twilight smiled, satisfied with Rainbow’s answer.

Lauren removed the sandwich from her mouth with one hoof and smiled at Rainbow. “Don’t worry Rainbow, it’s okay,” she said, waving one hoof around in the air. Rainbow smiled back at her, glad to have her apology accepted.

“All right!” Twilight giggled. “Everything better now?” Both Rainbow and Lauren nodded.

“So um…” Lauren looked at Rarity. “I’m sorry, what was your name, again?”

“Why, it’s Rarity, dear,” she said, tilting her head upwards. Introducing herself was one of the things she enjoyed the most.

Even though Lauren had no need to ask Rarity for her name, no one else had mentioned her name since they all arrived. She had to stick to her story, it was for the ponies’ sakes.

Lauren smiled. “Oh it’s a pleasure to meet you, Rarity. I think we haven’t been properly introduced. My name is Lauren.” she said, pressing a hoof against her chest. “I must say, I absolutely love your mane!”

Rarity looked up to her mane, waving it with her hoof. It was already common for her to receive compliments about her gorgeous mane. “Why, thank you! And the pleasure is all mine.” She kept waving her mane around with her hoof.

That curly mane! Oh, I had the hardest times drawing it! But it’s really lovely, even more so when I’m looking at it in person. “So, where did Pinkie Pie go?” Lauren asked the mares, who stared back at the alicorn. She placed her daisy sandwich back in her mouth, giving it another bite. Suddenly, the lights went out and the entire library was shrouded in darkness.

“Hey, who turned off the lights?” Rainbow asked.

“Ow! Hey, that’s my hoof!” Twilight cried.

“What? I didn’t step in anything!” Applejack replied.

“Hey! Who pulled my mane?” Rarity squealed.

“Oh, goodness…” Fluttershy muttered.

The lights quickly came back, revealing the chaos inside the library. Twilight was rubbing her hoof; Rainbow, Fluttershy and Applejack were staring at each other in confusion, while Rarity was fixing her mane with her magic.

“Whoa!” Spike exclaimed. Around the library, there were several streamers and balloons adorning the walls and ceiling. One table with a big cake on it had appeared out of nowhere and a record player on another one. They were both relatively close to each other.

“What’s this?” Lauren asked to nopony in particular, gazing at the adornments.

“Well, duh! It’s your welcome party!” Pinkie chimed from outside of the library. She opened the front door, walking inside while dragging her party cannon.

Oh my, the party cannon. But… how could she set-up all these decorations in a matter of seconds? Lauren looked at Pinkie, who was trotting towards her friends. Well, this is a cartoon after all…

Pinkie shot the cannon. Several streamers and confetti of all colors came from it, scattering all over the library. “Let’s party!” Pinkie exclaimed, putting a party hat on top of Lauren’s head. The other ponies laughed, nodding in agreement.

“Oh, uh, okay,” Lauren said, looking at the hyperactive party pony jumping around the room. Well, I guess this is going to be fun.

Pinkie turned on the record player, which began to play a very familiar tune. It was the same loud tune that played at Twilight’s birthday party at Canterlot. She turned back to her friends, who began to dance at the sound of the music. “Come on Laury! Shake that flank!” Pinkie said, bumping her own flank againts Lauren’s.

Lauren laughed, starting to dance with her new body. Laury? Oh my, that’s a… weird pet name, but cute, I guess. As expected from Pinkie Pie. She giggled, shaking her flank at the rhythm of the music. Although it was an awkward sensation for her to dance as a pony, she didn’t mind improvising.

Rainbow and Fluttershy were flying only a few centimeters above the floor, waving their hooves around. Applejack, Rarity and Spike were dancing around in the middle of the library; although Spike was more interested in dancing near Rarity than everything else. Meanwhile, Twilight was awkwardly dancing, hopping around on her hooves, and softly shaking her head. Pinkie and Lauren continued with their flank shaking.

“Alright, let’s do the pony-row!” Pinkie said. The ponies gathered around, forming a line, which was lead by Applejack. Fluttershy placed her hooves around Applejack’s flank; then Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie and Twilight joined them. “Come on, Laury!” Pinkie called her. Lauren raised her front hooves and placed them around Twilight’s flank. Spike hopped on Applejack, waving his arms around. The ponies began to advance, moving to the beat.

Walking on two legs… feels a bit more… natural. Lauren chuckled, advancing along with the ponies.

After a few minutes of dancing, the ponies and Spike gathered around the cake. Twilight used her magic to slice the cake in eight equal pieces. She gave everypony one slice, placing them on their plates. Everypony gave their slice a bite.

Delicious! I've never had a cake like this! This is far more delicious than the one from my last birthday! Lauren used her magic to levitate the cake to her mouth; she felt she could levitate objects with much greater ease than before. She munched her cake, identifying the flavors with her mouth. It was a chocolate cake with strawberry frosting, with little pieces of walnuts inside. Pinkie is a really good baker. She kept on eating her piece of cake.

The ponies kept partying. They danced some more, played some games, such as ‘pin the tail to the pony’. It was a whole new experience for Lauren; she never thought she would be partying with ponies.

“So, Lauren, do you know how to fly?” Rainbow asked. She was flying while holding a balloon with her hooves. “You’ve got wings, right?”

“Fly? Um…” That’s right, I got wings now… and I can even move them, but fly? “Nope, I guess I forgot how to fly as well.” Lauren chuckled.

“Well then, what are we waiting for?” Rainbow tossed the balloon to the floor; it began to softly fall until it landed on Fluttershy’s back. The balloon startled the timid pegasus. “Come on, I’ll teach you how to fly!” An enthusiastic Rainbow said, landing right in front of Lauren.

The other ponies didn’t pay attention to Lauren and Rainbow, who were standing at the other side of the library. Pinkie was dancing with Spike, while Twilight and Applejack were drinking some grape punch. Rarity and Fluttershy were only talking, laughing between sentences.

“Okay, how do I do it? Flap my wings?” Lauren asked, opening her wings.

“It’s more than flapping your wings, you know,” Rainbow said, looking at Lauren’s wings. She approached closer, taking a good look at the pair of cream colored feathers on them. She grabbed both wings with her hooves and began to move them around. “Yeah… these are very good wings,” she said, moving back in front of Lauren.

“Um, thanks,” Lauren replied. Well, if anyone can teach me how to fly, who better than Rainbow Dash?

“All right, open you wings!” Rainbow ordered.

Lauren did as instructed; she opened her wings as wide as she could, feeling her new muscles stretch. It was indeed a weird sensation, to have a pair of wings on her back. “Okay, now what?” she asked.

“Now, quickly flap them,” Rainbow said, flapping her own wings without soaring into the air to show Lauren how to do it.

The alicorn began to sloppily flap her wings, although she was still standing firmly on the floor. “Uh… I can’t,” Lauren sighed.

“Of course you can! Just time your flapping correctly, and make sure your wings are in sync,” Rainbow explained, flapping her wings slowly so Lauren could see. “The trick is to push both your wings with strength when you flap them.”

“Okay, okay, I got it,” Lauren hesitantly said, attempting to try again. She focused on her wings and began to softly flap them at the same time.

“Yes, like that.” Rainbow said, looking at the alicorn. “Now that you got it, flap them faster.”

“Okay,” Lauren responded, increasing the speed and power of her flaps. Suddenly, she could feel her hooves leaving the floor. She lost her focus, landing back on the floor, almost tripping. “Whoa.” She pressed her hooves firmly on the floor, trying to keep her balance. “Oh my gosh! I did it!”

“Yeah! Well… almost,” Rainbow chuckled. “You only raised yourself from the floor.”

“Well, let me try again!” Lauren exclaimed, opening her wings again. She flapped them one more time, trying to do it as before. She kept flapping, until she finally raised herself from the floor. Oh my! I’m doing it! I’m flying!

“Yeah! Now you’re flying!” Rainbow chimed, flying in front of Lauren. The other ponies noticed the flying alicorn, cheering her on from around the room.

“Yee-haw! Way to go Miss Lauren!” Applejack cheered, waving one hoof in the air.

Lauren began to lose altitude, slowly descending back onto the floor. “Wow! That was amazing! I’ve never flown before!” she exclaimed.

“Oh, I’m sure you have, you just forgot how to, remember?” Twilight said, walking towards the alicorn. The other ponies approached her as well.

“Right,” Lauren quickly replied. That was close! I have to be more careful next time. “Uh, it just felt like a new experience for me.” Lauren softly laughed.

“Hey, everypony!” Pinkie yelled from one side of the room. “Let’s take a photo to remember this party!” she said, holding a purple, shiny camera with her hooves. “Everypony gather around Laury!”

The other ponies nodded in agreement, gathering around the alicorn. Fluttershy sat in front of her, while Twilight stood right next to her. Applejack and Rarity stood next to Lauren and Twilight respectively; Rainbow flew above Applejack and Lauren, and Spike sat next to Fluttershy.

Pinkie placed the camera over a table and pushed a green button on top of the camera. She quickly bounced back to her friends, standing behind Twilight and Rarity. “Everypony, say… cupcakes!”

“Cupcakes!” everypony said in unison, and the camera flashed, taking the picture. They all laughed.

Luna slowly opened her eyes. She was lying on her bed, and the time at which she raised the moon every night was rapidly approaching. She raised herself from the bed and yawned, rubbing her eyes with her hooves. The royal blue alicorn climbed down from her bed, sticking her hooves into her crystal hoof-shoes. She levitated her black crown from her nightstand, placing it on her head. “Okay, all set,” she whispered to herself.

Luna opened the doors of her room, where a Royal Guard, who was standing outside of her room, greeted her. “Your Highness,” the guard said, bowing before the Princess of the night.

“Good evening, guard,” Luna greeted him. The guard stared back at her in surprise; the Princess didn’t usually greet the guards. “Please tell me, have you or any of the other guards seen my sister?” Luna asked, looking at the surprised guard.

The Royal Guard snapped out of his surprise to answer the Princess. “Eh... I’m afraid not, Your Highness,” the guard said, looking at the hallway. “Not since yourself and Her Majesty, Princess Celestia, left this morning.”

“I see. Thank you, guard,” Luna said, walking away from the guard.

The guard bowed again. “My pleasure, Your Highness.” he said, but he didn’t get an answer this time. He saw Luna walking away from him, turning left towards the Moon Balcony.

The royal blue alicorn arrived at the Moon Balcony. She spread her wings, raising herself up into the orange sunset. It looked as if her wings were growing, first slightly and then dramatically as they swept out over the sky from where she hovered. An aura of midnight blue seeped from her horn, surrounding her body, glistening silver on the edges. She was ready to raise the moon, her beautiful moon.

As the sun moved out of view, Luna’s wings seemed to spread across all of Equestria, covering the land in a veil of shadow. Her wings reached up into the sky, brushing against the sky to paint the color of the night. Luna’s eyes glowed, gazing upon the horizon. She was about to conclude her ceremony.

Slowly, the moon began rising from the horizon to take its place in the sky. The beautiful silver light shined down on the land below. With a final beat of her wings, Luna descended back to the balcony. “There is no doubt,” Luna said to nopony in particular. “It seems like the third alicorn legend was true after all.”

“Ah, it has been fun,” Applejack said, “but it’s getting late, so I better go back to the farm,” she added, walking towards Lauren.

The party seemed to be over, and the music had stopped playing. Fluttershy had to leave because she had to feed her pets. Rainbow left some minutes after her, because she had to wake up early the next day to clear the skies above Ponyville; but she promised Lauren to meet her tomorrow to teach her more flying tricks. Before leaving, Twilight made both pegasi promise that they wouldn’t say a word about Lauren. She told everyone else not to say a word about her as well. Rarity, Pinkie and Applejack gathered around Twilight and Lauren.

“I wish I could stay a little longer, but I simply must finish my dress,” Rarity said, “It has been an absolute pleasure meeting you, darling.” She looked at Lauren with a smile on her face.

“Oh no, the pleasure has been all mine,” Lauren replied, returning the smile.

Twilight looked at Spike. Princess Luna had told her that she only wanted her and Lauren at the library, but she just couldn’t tell Spike to get out of the library.

“Well then, I shall be on my way,” Rarity said, turning back to the front door.

“Wait, Rarity!” Twilight called, looking back at Spike. Rarity stopped and turned back to Twilight. “Spike, why don’t you go with Rarity back to her place?” Twilight asked the purple dragon, who smiled right after that last sentence. “You don’t mind, right Rarity?” she said, looking back at the white unicorn.

“Oh, not at all!” Rarity giggled. “I would actually like if he could come with me.” She winked at Spike, who blushed more than ever.

“Okay then,” Twilight added, looking at Spike. “Go now.”

Spike walked behind Rarity, who was walking towards the door. “Very well then, see you later, girls,” Rarity finally added, walking out of the library with Spike. Everyone else replied with an unison ‘bye’.

“I gotta go too,” Applejack said, looking at Lauren. “It was nice meeting you, sugarcube,” she added, taking off her hat with her hoof.

“Nice meeting you too, Applejack,” Lauren replied, still smiling.

“You should stop by the farm tomorrow; I’ll have some of the finest cider you’ve ever tasted waitin’ for ya!” Applejack enthusiastically exclaimed.

“Sure thing!” Lauren answered. Applejack nodded, turning back towards the door. “Good night, y’all.” she added, walking outside of the library.

“Oh! I have to go too!” Pinkie suddenly said, giving a quick hug to Twilight, then another one to Lauren. The alicorn felt Pinkie’s body, it smelled like cotton candy. “Goodbye, Twi! Goodbye, Laury! See you tomorrow!” She dashed outside of the library, not even letting Twilight or Lauren reply to her.

“Well, that’s Pinkie Pie!” Twilight chuckled, looking at Lauren, who chuckled with her. The unicorn walked towards the middle of the library and gazed upon the party’s mess. She sighed, turning back, walking to the kitchen. Now she had to clean the entire mess since Spike went with Rarity. Twilight entered the kitchen for a few moments.

Lauren stood there, analyzing the entire events of the day. She remembered the daisy sandwiches she had in the morning. She thought about how she went out in Twilight’s dress to meet her friends, about how she meet Princess Celestia and Princess Luna and about how she learned to use magic. She walked aimlessly around the library, staring at it one more time. She chuckled a bit as she stared at the wall where she had collided with Rainbow Dash.

Everything seemed like a dream to her. Appearing out of nowhere in a cartoon, meeting its characters, and the sole fact that she was transformed into one of those characters. It had to be a dream, but the whole thing seemed real enough for her. Even if the details weren’t as realistic as in real life, they still felt real. The cream colored alicorn kept walking around the library.

Already night time, and they still don’t know where I am. Lauren sighed. I wish I could at least tell them that I’m safe… but there’s no way to do it, is it? She sat down on the floor, resting her chin on her front hooves. I… I just want to go back… I want to go home… The alicorn’s eyes began to get teary, until she finally shed a tear from her right eye. But how? How am I supposed to go back? Am I going to be stuck here forever? Both eyes began shedding tears. Lauren sobbed, wiping the tears from her face with her hoof.

Twilight came out of the kitchen with a broom and a plastic bag levitating right next to her. She quickly noticed the crying alicorn on the center of the library. She dropped the broom and the bag and approached to her. “Lauren? Are you okay?” Twilight gently asked, looking down at her.

Lauren looked at Twilight’s warm smile. Somehow, her face made her feel a bit calmer than before. “Yeah, I’m okay,” she said, wiping away the tears from her face, again. She tried to raise herself from the floor.

“Why are you crying? Is something wrong?” Twilight asked again, helping the alicorn to stand up by holding her hoof.

“It is nothing, Twilight, really,” Lauren lied. She stopped sobbing, smiling at Twilight. “Mind if I help you clean?” she happily asked.

“Sure! Thank you!” Twilight giggled, turning her head back to levitate both the broom and the bag with her magic. “Can you hold this bag with your magic?”

“Yeah, I’ll try.” Lauren replied, focusing her mind on the bag. Suddenly, her pearly white magical aura replaced Twilight’s magical aura around the bag. She was getting used to use magic.

“Perfect! You hold it right there and I’ll clean all these streamers and confetti from the floor,” Twilight said, starting to sweep the floor with the broom. “Princess Luna should arrive shortly. She already raised the moon.”

Oh, that’s right, Luna said that she would come tonight to talk with both of us… Lauren moved the bag near Twilight, who levitated the pile of swept streamers into the bag. She said that Celestia was hiding something from us. I wonder what she could mean with that.

“The third alicorn legend… I don’t remember much about it,” Luna said to herself, flying across the night skies of Equestria. She felt the cold night air hitting her face as she flew around, vigorously flapping her royal blue wings and leaving a few shiny sparkles in her wake. Tia… what was that all about?

Lauren was still holding the bag; it was getting a bit heavier thanks to all the trash inside of it, but she was still holding it with the same ease as when it was empty.

“Well, that’s it,” Twilight sighed, looking at the clean library. She had cleaned every piece of confetti and additional trash from the party. She carefully placed the cake plates and the punch glasses on the kitchen sink. “Thank you, Lauren,” she said.

“No problem, Twilight,” Lauren replied, putting the bag down to the floor. She walked next to Twilight and stared at her. “So, what do we do now?”

“Wait for Princess Luna,” Twilight answered, levitating a book from one shelf. She opened the book and began to read it.

“Um, alright,” Lauren said, looking around the library. It was the perfect opportunity to read one of Twilight’s books. “Twilight?”

“Yes?” Twilight stopped reading, focusing her eyes on the alicorn.

“Can I borrow a book to read?” Lauren asked, looking around the several bookshelves around.

“Oh, of course!” Twilight exclaimed, “feel free to take as many as you want.” She pointed her hoof at one shelf in specific. “That’s the spells bookshelf, and over there is the flying bookshelf.” She moved her hoof towards another shelf. “Just grab whichever you want!” she chimed, resuming her lecture.

“Okay then,” Lauren said, examining the spells bookshelf. Hmm… Classic Magic, Advanced Magic, Elemental Magic. She kept looking at the book titles, until one of them caught her attention. Magic for beginners? I think I could use that. She pulled the book out of the shelf with her magic, opening it at the first page.

“Levitating for beginners, Basic transformations, Teleporting…” Lauren read the index out loud. She was about to start reading when somepony knocked the door. Her eyes immediately stared at the door.

“Ah, that must be Princess Luna,” Twilight affirmed, quickly putting down her book on a table, softly walking to the door. Lauren approached, keeping her distance from Twilight. The unicorn enveloped the door with her pink magic and opened it, revealing who was behind the door.

“Good evening, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna greeted the unicorn. She glanced around inside the library to check if no one else was around; naturally, she saw only Lauren, who was looking at her. She returned her stare back to Twilight. “May I come in?” she asked.

“Of course,” Twilight replied, moving away from the door so Luna could enter. She joined Lauren in the middle of the room, waiting for Luna to join them.

“Thank you,” Luna quickly said, making her way in. She closed the door behind her with her magic, and finally stood in front of the two ponies. She took a deep breath, trying to rest from her long flight. “It’s pretty cold out there, isn’t it?” The royal alicorn commented.

“Yeah, it’s been feeling a bit cold since sunset,” Twilight added, looking through the window at the beautiful night that Luna rose a while ago. She felt the cold weather through her skin. “But anyways, Princess, what did you want to tell us?” she asked, looking back at the blue mare.

“As I told you earlier today, it’s something that has been bugging me about Tia,” Luna responded, sitting down on the floor to get a more comfortable position. “It’s something that I noticed earlier, when we came here.” She looked at the small alicorn.

“That’s weird. I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary about her.” Twilight placed a hoof on her chin, recalling what Celestia said in her mind. “I didn’t notice anything,” she said again, turning her head to Lauren. “Did you notice something weird about Princess Celestia?”

“Uh, no, nothing,” Lauren answered, immediately remembering what she noticed about Celestia. Wait, I did notice something. It was that faint smile she gave me! “Wait, actually…” she added.

Both Twilight and Luna stared at Lauren with curiosity. “What is it?” Twilight asked.

“Actually, I don’t think is important, but, when Twilight told her that if my name or my memory loss meant anything for her, she kinda smiled.” Lauren nervously explained, trying to fully recall what she saw.

“She smiled? I didn’t see her smile when she replied,” Twilight claimed, looking at Luna who suddenly interrupted her.

“Smile as in… a very faint smile, right?” Luna asked Lauren, who surprisingly looked at her.

“Yes! A very faint smile, like if she were hiding something from me,” Lauren eagerly answered. What is this all about?

“Well, did you two hear something… like a ‘crack’ noise?” Luna asked.

“A crack noise?” Twilight confusingly asked. “No, I didn’t hear anything like that.”

“Well, you see. Earlier today, Tia was acting odd since she woke me up. During our flight towards Ponyville in the Royal Chariot, she nervously jumped in her seat,” Luna explained, catching her breath to continue speaking. “Later, right here at the library, I heard two faint crack noises coming from her, along with a mouth twitch,” she confessed.

Crack noises? A mouth twitch? Seriously, what’s going on? Lauren worriedly looked at Luna, trying to assimilate what she just heard.

“Well, what do you think that means, Luna?” Twilight rapidly asked, “Is something wrong with Princess Celestia?”

“I told you, I’m not sure about it, but I think this has something to do with… the third alicorn legend,” Luna looked at Lauren at that last sentence.

Both Twilight and Lauren exchanged stares of confusion. “Third alicorn legend?” both ponies asked.

“Yes, but I don’t remember much about it,” Luna said, “but I believe that somehow, Celestia knows more than she claims to know.” She looked at the floor.

“So, you think that Celestia is hiding whatever she knows about Lauren from us?” Twilight asked. Luna softly nodded. “But why would she do that?” she asked, with a confusing tone.

“I tell you, I don’t know why Celestia is hiding whatever she knows about your friend,” Luna explained, once again. “But I think that for the time being, it would be better if you keep your distance from her.” she said to Lauren, who was still listening to the whole conversation in confusion.

“She agreed to help us, it makes no sense!” Twilight exclaimed, “if she knew anything, she would totally tell us, and not keep it to herself!” She stood up from her seat. Luna stared at her with a blank expression on her face.

“Hmm, well I said what I had to say,” Luna said, standing up from the floor. “You’re free to believe me or not.”

“I’m sorry Princess, I didn’t mean that… is just that I…” Twilight apologized, trying to order the words in her mind. She couldn't believe that someone as kind and honest as her mentor could hide anything from her own, most precious student.

“It’s okay, Twilight Sparkle, I know it must be hard for you to hear, but I’m positive about it,” Luna firmly said, looking at Lauren, who was still silent. “Don’t you have anything else to say?” she asked.

Lauren looked back at Luna, shaking her head in denial. Hiding something from me? What is this? This isn’t the Celestia I know. As Twilight said, she would tell us anything to help us.

Suddenly, somepony knocked at the door.

“Oh? It must be Pinkie Pie, who forgot her camera,” Twilight said, looking at the purple camera over a table, which Pinkie left after the party. She levitated the camera with her magic, moving it right next to her. She walked towards the door. Luna and Lauren stared at her.

Softly, with her magic, Twilight enveloped the door lock, gently opening the door to greet her hyperactive friend. Her eyes went wide open as she noticed the visitor right in front of her; it was not Pinkie Pie at all. She gasped, trying to hide her surprised reaction. She tried to talk, to mumble, but she was too shocked to do so.

“Good evening, my faithful student,” the visitor kindly whispered.