After lunch, Twilight went back to the library. Spike went off to continue doing whatever he'd been doing. She didn't question it. She knew a growing dragon needed his alone time, and she really did want to continue reading her book. Robert had recalled the title of the book he wanted, 'Potions and ingredients of the Everfree forest: A visual reference.' She'd given it to him and then closed the door. She settled back in with her book and notepad and delved deep into the mysteries of Alicorn magic as understood by the authors. Some of it, she had learned, was completely wrong. While Alicorns were capable of powerful feats, leaping tall buildings in a single bound wasn't one of them. At least not without flying, which was not listed as part of it.

Learning to use all three magics however was something Alicorns had to do. Applejack had said there wasn't magic to earth ponies, but Twilight wasn't sure that it was possible to do the things they could do without some kind of magic. It might not be the kind of flashy, showy magic that Unicorns did or the power that Pegasi showed in controlling the clouds, but there was magic there. Twilight was sure of it. She'd considered asking Pinkie, but Pinkie did things that were still inexplicable. Privately Twilight suspected she was capable of giving Discord a run for his money if she really put her mind to it. Twilight had no interest in giving her the incentive.

What she decided eventually was that her sample size was simply too small. She considered Zecora, but decided that Zebra and Earth Pony probably wasn't the same thing. So she stood up and walked out the door, and looked around for the first earth pony to catch her attention. Of course this meant that she wasn't paying quite enough attention and was bowled over by the twelve-legged menace of Ponyville, known as the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

“Hello Twilight.” Sweetie Belle said. They were the only two face to face, piled up in a scooter and pony tangle.

“Hello girls. Can I help you?” Twilight asked, horn glowing as she extricated the four of them from one another and the scooter and trailer.

“Yeah, Applebloom was telling us about the new tiger in town and we're hoping he'll help us get our Cutie Marks in Tiger Taming.” Scootaloo said.

“I don't know if that's a good idea, but he went to Zecora's. Just remember, if he says no, that doesn't mean he needs taming. Remember the Griffon Incident.” all three swallowed.

“Yes, Twilight.”

“Okay, go catch up to him then.” Twilight shooed them along. They took off, racing away. Twilight shook her head and started back on her way.

---

The Crusaders careened through the town in the direction they'd been pointed. As they crossed the bridge over the pond to Fluttershy's house, they found Robert and Rainbow Dash. She was hovering, and waving a piece of paper at him. Her tail was bushed out and her mane was standing on end, and every so often a bolt of electricity would crawl up her mane like it was a Jacob's Ladder. Robert on the other hand, was rolled on his back, paws in the air, laughing madly.

“You should see yourself.” he laughed. "You look like a hedgehog!”

“Yeah, because some pony listened to your silly 'Bolt me' sign.” she paused. "More than one somepony!”

“You did say that this means war. And all's fair in war.” Robert chuckled, as he rolled onto his stomach.

“Love 'n war.” Dash corrected automatically.

“Well, I'm lovin' War, but you seem to be having a shockingly bad time of it.” Robert grinned. Dash sighed.

“Fine. You got me good.” she grinned, then zoomed in close. "Just remember, this isn't over, not by a long shot.” she smirked, rolled over and disappeared in a blast of rainbow light. Robert sneezed.

“Is that him Applebloom?” Sweetie Belle asked as they trotted up. Scootaloo rolled her eyes.

“Do you see another tiger around here?” Sweetie's eyes narrowed and her mouth opened.

“Yes, that's him.” Applebloom interjected. "Hello Robert.”

“Greetings Ivlemos.”

“Huh?”

“It means Fellow Apprentice.”

“Oh.” Applebloom blushed. "Umm...” she was suddenly at a loss for words.

“Are these the indomitable Cutie Mark Crusaders of which I have heard so many... Interesting, stories?” he asked, eyes twinkling.

“Yup. I'm Sweetie Belle.” she said with a smile.

“And I'm Scootaloo.” she struck a pose on her scooter.

“Ah, I see. Is there something I can help you with?”

“Well....” Sweetie said.

“We were hoping you'd help us get our cutie marks, maybe in Tiger taming?” Applebloom asked hopefully.

“I don't know, you might have trouble taming such a mighty wild beast as me.” Robert drew up his head and gave his best toothy grin. Applebloom swallowed.

“Uh-oh.” Scootaloo saw Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon approaching.

“Bullies?” Robert asked.

“The worst.”

“Get yourselves ready to 'tame the tiger'. We'll give them something to remember.”

“What?” Sweetie asked. He didn't answer, but got to his feet and began to menace her. Her eyes went wide, then he winked at her. Then he lunged forwards towards Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon as they crossed the bridge. He landed well short, but they both jumped. Suddenly Scootaloo was in front of him, waving her scooter like a lion tamer's chair.

“Back, back you wild beast.” he backed off a step or two.

“Oh look, the Blank Flanks have a new pet, just as Blank as...” Robert Roared. All five jumped, but the two bullies screamed.

“Stay back, we ain't got 'im tamed yet.” Applebloom said, joining Scootaloo with the wagon.

“L-like we're afraid of...” Robert growled and snapped in the air, teeth clacking with a terrible sound. The bullies took the cue and bolted across the bridge, screaming. Once they were gone, Robert dropped to his haunches and laughed.

“I just love the smell of bullies in the morning, don't you?” he asked.

“Yeah.” All three checked, but no Cutie Marks appeared. Aww.

“Don't worry kiddos. Magic takes time. It's one of the first lessons I had to learn. So, tell me. Those two, they bother you much?” Robert asked.

“All the time.”

“Because we don't have our Cutie Marks.”

“And because they're jerks.”

“Now, now, don't judge a book by it's cover.” The three of them stared at him flatly.

“Don't give me that look. I despise bullies as much as you. I was not always the big, handsome tiger you see before you. Truth be told, I was and still am, the runt.”

“Ah don' believe it.” Applebloom said.

“Me either.” said the other two.

“Well, after I ate the first few bullies...” They blanched. "I'm kidding. No, I really am a bit of a runt. Not so much any more, but I'm smaller than my sister and my parents.”

“You have a sister?”

“And three brothers. One older, one younger, one much younger.” he smiled. "My sister is...” he paused, translating. “Called Morning Dew.” He decided explaining that her full name was Bloody as the Grass of the Morning has Dew, was not conducive to sleep in young ponies.

“That's a pretty name.”

“A pretty name for a pretty Tiger.” he smiled. “Anyway, as I grew up, I was found not to be as big and strong as the other Tigers, and so I did not participate as well in their games as they thought I should. Some of them teased and bullied me for it.”

“What happened?” Applebloom asked.

“Eventually, I came to a stunning realization. It didn't matter in the slightest what they said. They were just trying to get a rise out of me. I found that after I ignored them for a while, they eventually left me alone.”

“Really?”

“No. Bullies don't work that way. At least the ones that harassed me didn't. They ambushed me on my way home one day. I finally snapped. I turned on them and went berserk. It didn't matter that they were bigger and stronger. I just attacked and attacked until they gave up. I couldn't win. But I refused to stay down. Eventually they decided I wasn't any fun and left me alone.” he paused. "I did win a couple of them as friends that day. They saw exactly where they were headed and decided to try and make peace. A couple of them just stopped bothering me. The leader... he didn't change. And he ended up exiled.”

“Umm.. I don't think that'll help us.” Scootaloo said.

“Yeah, there's three of us, and two of them. Sweetie said.

“Then we'd be the bullies.” Applebloom answered.

“Well I wasn't suggesting you follow my plan exactly. I sort of got carried away. Look the point is, if you ignore them, they can't hurt you with words. And if they go past words, then you can get them in trouble.”

“That's mean.”

“Better than being picked on.”

“Ah guess.”

“Think on that. I have an argument to go settle with my Esteemed Teacher.” The words had audible capitals. He turned and set off down the path. The crusaders looked at one another, then climbed into the wagon and aboard the scooter and motored away back into town.

---

Twilight finished her notes and the last of the chapter, when Spike returned. “Hello Twilight.”

“Hello Spike. Have a good day at Rarity's place?”

“Yeah, she spent the day working on her new fall line.”

“Cool.”

“Then she took me out for ice cream.”

“That was nice.”

“And then the entire town levitated twenty feet in the air.”

“Delight... what?” Twilight's eyes scanned the window. Stranger things had happened. "Spike?”

“Sorry you weren't paying attention. Something wrong?”

“No. Yes. I know earth ponies have magic. I just know it.” Twilight pulled out a sheet of paper. It was covered in magical formulae. Spike skimmed it.

“You've showed me this before.”

“I know, it's one of Star-swirl's equations. It proves that everyone has magic. I combined it with the research on the purely magical aspects of friendship and it's providing surprising results. But that's not what I'm looking at it for. It proves that everyone has magic. Unicorns, Pegasi, Earth Ponies, even griffons. I was hoping to use it to prove things to Applejack but she wasn't home. I'm not sure where she's gone either. Big Mac wasn't talking, as usual.” she took a breath.

“So what's wrong?

“I'm an Alicorn. That means I should have magic from all three types of ponies. I can fly.” Spike bit off a laugh. "I can fly, not land.” Spike laughed again. "I can do magic. I know there's something I should get from Earth Ponies, but they won't tell me what!”

“I take it it's infuriating?”

“As a matter of fact, yes, it is.”

“If earth ponies won't tell you, then ask one of the other Princesses.” Spike suggested.

“You're right. We still haven't heard back from Princess Celestia, have we?” Spike shook his head. “And I'm not sure if I want to ask Princess Luna.” she shrugged. "I guess I'll ask Cadence then.”

“Okay, I'll get some paper.”

“I'll think about what I want to say.” Spike returned shortly.

“Dear Cadence. It's been some time since I saw you last, I hope you and Shining are well. I'm looking forward to our visit later this year. I have a surprise planned.

I am writing to ask you a question. I have discovered the magic of Pegasus flight, and I have come to understand it. However, no one has been able to tell me about the magic which Earth Ponies use. I was wondering if you have any insight.

Love, Twilight.”

“.... Love, Twilight. Got it.” Spike sent the letter.

“Thanks Spike. she considered it a moment. "I wonder why we haven't heard back from Princess Celestia. It's not like her not to reply.”

“She might be busy, or she might not be sure how to reply.” Spike suggested. "Or she might not want to answer.”

“I guess, but it's not her way.” Twilight sighed. "You don't suppose she didn't get it? I mean, true your Dragonfire has always been reliable before, but maybe she was somewhere that blocked it?”

“I don't think so. Remember when that message came back, while she was in her Thaumatorium?” Spike asked.

Twilight did. She'd sent a letter to Celestia about something and it came back. She'd freaked out and gone all the way to Canterlot, only to find out that the room in question, where Celestia practiced her magic was warded against magic itself, both to prevent magic coming in, including mail, as well as to prevent magic from leaking out.

“I guess she did get it, since it didn't come back.” Twilight sighed. "She must have a reason then.”

“Right, so, how did your other research go?”

“Hmm? Oh, right. Truth is, I got kind of caught up in the Alicorn research and didn't do anything more with the Pegasus research. I don't even know if this will help Scootaloo.”

“Yeah, but Twilight, weren't you the one who told me no knowledge is bad knowledge?” Spike asked.

“I did. But there is useless knowledge.” Spike picked up an umbrella. "What's that for?”

“The universe takes comments like that as a challenge. I'm just getting a step ahead of it this time.” Twilight rolled her eyes.

“Anyway, I don't know if it will help. Robert thought the symbology was important. Like you could fly if it were tattooed on you somewhere.” Twilight tugged a book out of the shelves. "Personally I think that's not the right way. I think, it can be substituted into the flight formula outlined by...” she flipped through the book. “Diaxia the Magnificent.” she showed Spike the book.

“In place of?”

“Her gravitational constant. Since the rune in question made the chalkboard fly, it must have changed how gravity affected it.” Twilight said. "How else would you explain it?”

“So asks the Winged Unicorn.” Spike said, grinning.

“Good point.” Twilight said and smiled back. "Of course, it might be magic affecting the gravity. Did you think of that Mister Smarty-dragon?”

“No, you did. Miss Smarty-horse.” Spike laughed.

“Of course.” Twilight turned, and began writing on the board. Diaxia's Flight Formula appeared on the board, minus two constants. "Magic or gravity?”

“Magic.” Spike said. Twilight plugged in the gravity constant from the formula, and then the rune from the new theorem. "Looks like...”

---

It looked, like the explosion was visible from Canterlot. Those who looked, were treated to the sight of the rare, free flying tree. Celestia paused in lowering the sun and stared. She'd seen a lot of things in her life, but this one was new to her. She shook her head, and turned to the sun. The sun descended slowly in a spectacular fashion. A few moments later, she landed on Luna's Balcony and nudged her sister out of her fascinated reverie. The moon rose over the horizon.

“Twilight Sparkle?” Luna asked.

“Twilight Sparkle.” Celestia answered. The question her student had posed was weighing on her mind. She had never been one to keep secrets from her student, at least not without good reason. On the other hand, this was not the sort of secret she wanted to keep. But at the same time, she wasn't sure what the reveal would do to the newest Princess. Luna had been less than enthused to learn it as she was brought up to speed on the thousand years she'd missed.

“She can handle it.” Luna said.

“I know she can. It's just, what I did. She won't look at me the same way.” Celestia shook head.

“Of course she will not sister. She will never look at you the same way again. Because she is no longer the unicorn you trained, but the princess you raised. I have learned much of Twilight Sparkle. Her successes and failures. She will forgive your trespasses, as you have forgiven hers. Give her the benefit of the doubt. I believe she will surprise you.” She opened her mouth to say more, but was interrupted by another sound. The tree had landed again, and was being held down by the Pegasus of the town.

“I suspect I should wait for tomorrow. I think she will have more than enough on her plate this evening.”

“Agreed sister.”