It was early Saturday afternoon – most ponies were out doing their shopping, gathering the necessities for dinner – and the library was full of light and warmth from the sun. It was also full of books, but it is a library. The odd thing about this library was the large purple hot air balloon sat just outside. Many of the books inside were also rammed into saddlebags, but that would be odd for any library.

“Spike, is everything ready?”

“Ugh, Twilight? I know it’s the Princess you’re going to see and all, but do you really need all of this? It’s only going to be for two days.”

Twilight Sparkle is packing her belongings to head to Canterlot. She’d received a letter from Princess Celestia asking her to visit; after all, her one-year assessment was coming up.

At Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, every pony that attended had to be appraised once each year they studied, and all annual assessments were performed by the student’s tutor. While her case was slightly odd – most would come under a new tutor with each new course they took to match the subject, while Twilight had remained under her tutor the entire time – the personal protégé of Princess Celestia herself would be no exception.

“I know, I know, but I want to be prepared in case she bombards me with questions. There’s a lot of knowledge in Equestria and beyond its borders, and she could ask me literally anything. I want to be sure I have an answer.”

“…Twilight, you’re not being tested. This is just a report of sorts, to see how you’re getting on in your studies. We’ve been through this before. Every time.”

The dragon was ignored as Twilight continued her tirade about what could-but-most-likely-wouldn’t happen.

She began pacing back and forth “…what if I can’t answer? What will she do? Will I be kicked out? I will, won’t I?! And because my studies will be over, I won’t be able to stay in Ponyville any longer! And then my parents, who spent so much money to enrol me at the school, will disown me! I’ll be homeless! And bitless! I’ll have to turn to a life of thieving and villainy to survive! Oh-no-oh-no-oh-no-oh-no-”

“TWILIGHT!” Spike snapped. His claw thrust out, stopping right in front of the mare’s face. It held a glass of water. Apparently he’d gone to the kitchen while Twilight was having her episode. “Here.”

Twilight looked at the glass, the sight initially a little odd, but she then sighed, took the glass between her hooves and relaxed a great deal. She brought the glass to her mouth and sipped at some of the clear fluid inside. The chill on her lips was soothing, and that feeling slowly spread throughout her body as she swallowed it bit by bit. After the last few drops slid down her throat, she pulled the glass away and gave a hefty gasp of refreshment.

“Thanks, Spike. I needed that. Yeah, she won’t kick me out. It’s just an assessment. I’ve been through loads before on other subjects, and she hasn’t gotten rid of me yet. You can do this, Twilight Sparkle.”

“’Atta girl, Twi! You’ve just gotta have confidence in yourself.” Spike patted his guardian on the shoulder. The touch comforted her. However, all that comfort was lost when she noticed the time.

“Wah! I’m gonna be late I’m gonna be late I’m gonna be late-“

She hurriedly grabbed everything she’d packed with her magic, forcing them outside and into her balloon. She then removed the anchoring pegs before jumping inside and waving back to her assistant.

“Now you’re in charge. Keep an eye on the library and Owlicious. Pizza’s in the fridge. Don’t stay up too late. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to find one of the guys: Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie- wait, maybe not Pinkie Pie, she’d cause more mayhem than she’d fix. And if it’s an emergency, send a letter to Princess Celestia; I’m sure to get the message. I’ll probably be back tomorrow evening. See you later, Spike!”

“Bye, Twilight! Hope it all goes well!” He waved back. The balloon rose, higher and higher, until it was just a speck among the blue sky. At this point, Spike rushed back indoors and prepared everything for his night in charge.

“Alright, first things first! Give everything a once over, and then make myself look good, send Owlicious off to Fluttershy’s and then invite over…Rarity…” He shuddered with anxiety and excitement both; this was the best chance he’d had to court the fair mare in a long time.

The balloon had been flying for about an hour when Twilight finished going through her checklist a third time. All of the books were there, and she was finally satisfied so; she left in such a hurry, she didn’t have time to make sure. She’d hardly noticed that the sky was now grey, clouds thickening by the minute.

“Okay. About half-way there. I suppose I’d better make sure I’m ready for this assessment…let’s see…”

“Heeey! Excuse meeee!”

A voice called to her from nearby. She lifted her head above the edge of the basket to find the source. It took her just a moment to spot the male pegasus headed her way (probably about half the speed Dash would be using, and for that she was thankful). He stopped about 3 body-lengths from the balloon.

“Excuse me, miss! We’re now putting together a small thunderstorm to let the charge in the ground dissipate! You may want to steer clear of this area!” From his enthusiastic tone (and his uniform) she could tell that he was a member of the weather team around Canterlot, and a new recruit too – because Canterlot was a much larger city than Ponyville, the weather team was much larger and their catchment area covered a lot more ground, so it wasn’t a surprise to find them this far out.

“Thanks for letting me know, but I really need to get to Canterlot, and I don’t have time to wait. You said it was going to be small, right? It should be okay.”

“Very well, miss! I ask that you be careful regardless, and wish you a safe journey to Canterlot!”

“Oh, before you go, about how long will it last?”

“It should last approximately thirty minutes, though the supervisors may extend the storm’s period to forty-five! It should be clear enough for you to land safely in Canterlot by the time you arrive!”

“Thank you very much. Good luck with the storm!”

“And safe travels to you, miss!”

Huh. Twilight thought to herself. Glad to see someone’s into their work; unlike another weather-pony I know…She then chuckled to herself, imagining Rainbow Dash showing the same vigour in her working life.

“Oh, right! Where was I?”

She pulled out a few books of spells with her magic, propping them up against one another – there wasn’t enough room to spread them out over the basket, so that had to make do.

“Okay, I remember all the different known spells of the Elemental schools, and I can remember most of those from Conjuration and Abjuration…I guess I should brush up on a few of the more obscure ones- huh?”

In her perusal, her hoof had placed itself on a page she didn’t recognise; an odd thing indeed, given she had read every book in her library, some multiple times.

“Chronosecra. Okay, I don’t remember this one.” She began reciting the spell’s description to herself.

“This spell was created by Grocklin the Mad himself before his infamous single-hooved levelling of Darnstrom in CE163, and his subsequent maximum-security imprisonment. Legend has it that this is the very spell that drove him to his insanity, the condition which took his life a mere 2 months later.

“The basic level of this spell involves creating a distortion in space; requiring up to 3.0*10^5 Ar, where 1 Ar – Arisun, founder of the system – is the magical power required to levitate one kilogram of mass one metre in height, one who uses this magic can alter the distance between two places, depending on the power used. It can be employed to shorten travelling distance between two cities, or to lengthen storage space, among other known uses. Even at the basic level, use of this spell is rare due to its energy requirement; the most recent spatial deformation at time of print was performed by Professor Hoofrey Hornwell in CE991, compacting the 120 miles between Canterlot and his hometown of Horchester into a single step. It is said that he could only take the one step, as the power he put into the spell used up the rest of his energy, and he could not complete the shopping errand he was assigned by his wife.

“The intermediate level of this spell (requiring up to 1.21*10^9 Ar, 4,000 times more than the basic level) compacts space to such a level that time is affected in a similar manner – see Time = Space: A Theory or Two for more details on how time and space are thought to be linked.”

She stopped reading for a moment to search through her bags (magically, of course).

…Yes, her copy of Time = Space: A Theory or Two was in there as well. She made a mental note to read it again once she’d finished this one.

That being sufficient, she continued reading.

“Those who claim to have used this spell at this level have been few in number, and fewer believed, even among the great mages of their time. Personal accounts say that one who uses this magic can momentarily see a short way through time; the user can use the spell and see events as they were a few moments ago, or even as they will be in a few moments to come. Fairheart the Valiant told tales of his assistant, Renda Thyst’s, ingenuity and ability during the Battle of the Western Fields of CE422, in which none of the 200 warponies under his command lost their lives, despite being outnumbered by more than 6 to 1. He claimed she used the spell to see incoming danger such as trebuchet fire and hidden enemy forces on the flanks, and redirected his efforts to account for the new information. Whether this is true or otherwise, the battle was won decisively thanks to Fairheart’s instruction, and the land escaped the oppressive rule of the tyrannical Draconic Empire. However, this difficulty of spell is simple when compared to the advanced level.”

Twilight gulped a little – the biggest spell she’d ever managed to consciously pull off was probably about a hundred thousand Ar, maybe two hundred thousand, and the most powerful she’d ever read about was only ten million. Something that dwarfs even a spell rated at 1.21 billion was enough to boggle the mind. Still, her intellectual curiosity drove her to read on.

“Nothing is known about the advanced level of this spell; all subsequent information is pure speculation by experts in both the fields of advanced magic and advanced physics. The spell is thought to require at least 8.9*10^16 Ar, a magical power so immense that few could even hope to attempt it, and none ever have – there have not even been any serious claims to a successful casting of this spell. So difficult is this spell, it is thought only our fair Princess Celestia would have the power to cast it, and to date she has yet to do so publically – whether this is due to her being unwilling or actually unable is unknown. It is theoretically possible to use this spell to alter the form of any portion of space to the user’s will. The space can stretch or compact to levels unseen in the basic level. Time can be viewed across generations and eons, far more than the few seconds of the intermediate level. Two points in space can be joined, bypassing the space in between altogether. There are even theories of extra-dimensional travel. However, the most useful and most likely form of this magic is thought to be the distortion of time within a space; with it, one can move to the past and retrieve a long-extinct creature. One can change the form of objects to what they were many years ago or what they will be in many years to come. Full control of space and time would be in the caster’s hooves. If a pony were to harness this power, the possibilities would be endless. As the author of this book, I sincerely hope that the one who eventually claims this magic as their own has a good heart and a strong will, so that our land is not thrust into an ageless darkness – or I hope that none ever succeed at all.”

Twilight finishes reading with her jaw only held up by the bottom of the basket. She never even knew magic this powerful existed. She ran through the numbers again, weighing up how that sort of power would feel. In the end, she decided it was beyond comprehension, and made to close the book…a flash of inspiration across her mind prevented her from shutting it completely.

Okay, so she’d never manage the advanced, or even the intermediate level, especially not in the half-hour left before she arrived in Canterlot. But she couldn’t help but think about giving the basic one a go; if she could practice it, she could really impress Princess Celestia once she arrived. Speaking of which…if she could pull it off, with enough practice she might even be able to arrive sooner, avoiding the main brunt of the storm altogether. Handy, that.

As the unicorn put the book down, she noticed that it was raining, and quite heavily too. Still, the balloon above gave her and the books enough protection. A rumble of thunder made it known that the storm was beginning.

“Right, back to the spell. Let’s see how this turns out.”

Twilight began to focus her energy into her horn, letting the charge slowly build up so she could keep control of it, visualising the form of the space just in front of her. About a minute in, she felt what could only be described as a wall; the magic dissipated, and she was left out of breath, panting heavily.

“Hah…hokay…hah…I can do this…hah…HNNNGGGRRRAAAAHHH!”

This time, Twilight pushed as much energy into her horn as she could possibly manage in one fell swoop – she could barely keep a hold on the power – before waiting a few moments with the charge. She caught her breath, and then forced yet more in. The energy seemed to leave her, as her legs started shaking, wanting to give way to the weight of her body.

Then she felt it: a slow tension across her entire being, flooding her from head to hoof, almost giving her the infinite strength needed to cast the spell. It made her coat stand on end…

Wait, that wasn’t the magic. That was electrical charge.

And Twilight only realised the moment it was too late.

CRACK!

A bright flash of light, and then a blurred view of her surroundings; everything seemed out of proportion, everything so much further away, and wobbling about as her remaining energy left her. Her eyesight then faded to show only the void of her own mind, and she slumped onto the floor of her balloon, unconscious.

“Ah, the weather squad have finished their storm? That means that Twilight will be here within the hour.”

Princess Celestia stepped out onto her balcony, basking in the new light of her sun. The sky glowed with a vivid blue, blocked only by a few clouds that were still yet to be cleared away by the team of pegasi.

She had been looking forward to her student’s arrival for days; yes, having it pre-arranged meant she could escape the mind-numbing meetings and the dismal duties, but the main reason was down to a pure desire to spend precious time with her prized pupil once again.

The door to her bedroom opened behind her, and she wheeled round to see who had intruded.

“Oh, dear sister. Today Twilight Sparkle arrives, does she not?”

Princess Luna closed the door behind her and trotted over to her elder sister; she had been showing interest in the unicorn lately, asking Celestia about her, or asking for the letters she sent to be read aloud.

Celestia addressed her younger sister with just a little disdain. “Yes, she does. Unfortunately, it is a formal visit, and you have duties to attend to in the meantime, so you will be unable to interact with her for the duration.”

Luna sighed a sigh of disappointment, and yet of acceptance. “I know, sister. However, it would be nice to see her again; she is the first friend I made. Remember, the night I went to celebrate Nightmare Night in Ponyville?”

Celestia smiled before answering, “I remember, Luna. And I never said you wouldn’t see her. Once the assessment is over, I plan to spend some time with her in a more relaxed environment, and you are more than welcome to join us. It’ll be just the three of us for the first time, and I’m sure it’ll be fun.”

Luna’s eyes lit up like a child’s in a sweet shop. “Ah, Twilight Sparkle showed me the meaning of fun when I went to Ponyville! Will I get to launch pumpkins again? How many points will they be worth this time?”

A chuckle wormed its way out of Celestia’s throat – she couldn’t help it – and she lifted a hoof to her mouth in an attempt to refine it rather than hide it. “Ahahaha…oh, dear sister, we will not be launching pumpkins, or anything else for that matter. Fun can take many more forms than you realise, and it can take a different form for every pony in Equestria. What matters is that we do it together; that is when it will be most fun.”

A knock on the door and a voice from the other side interrupted their conversation.

“Pardon the interruption, Your Royal Highnesses, but Princess Luna’s presence is requested in conference room A soon.”

Celestia called back through the door, “Thank you, Captain. My sister shall be with you shortly.” She turned back to Luna. “You had best be going. You cannot force everypony to wait, can you?”

“Very well, dear sister. I shall see you and Twilight Sparkle once my duties are complete.” She gave a small bow; despite being immediate family, her sibling was still higher in the royal hierarchy, and she felt the proper respect was due. She took a graceful turn on her hooves and strode out of the room, poise and dignity in every step.

Celestia closed the door again with her magic, before facing her balcony again. She caught a glimpse of a familiar sight: a large purple hot-air balloon, one her student would use whenever she travelled far. Her heart leaped with joy, and her whole body almost followed suit – instead, she managed to suppress the motion to a small hop – though the smile on her face was as wide as could be. She ran out to her balcony and prepared for the balloon’s landing.

A closer look at the basket suspended below showed no signs of the mare she’d been looking forward to seeing again. The balloon itself was moving erratically, too, as if the wind alone was guiding it. Her worries began to take shape.

Using her magic, Celestia brought the balloon down to her balcony. The basket had barely touched the white marble when she lifted her forelegs over the side. Her eyes were full of anxiety, still no sign of her student. She heaved the front half of her body (entirely gracefully) over the boundary of the basket to take a proper gander…and what she saw made her jaw drop. Books were scattered about the basket – at least, those that weren’t secured in bags – and a few were open. That wasn’t the surprising aspect though.

The surprise took the form of a tiny unicorn foal, no more than a week old, sound asleep on the floor. The foal lying on her side, Celestia could see the rising and falling of her chest as she breathed peacefully. She was lavender in colour, and her mane and tail were jet black, save for the purple streak running their length. Her horn was singed black at the tip, and despite being a week old she already had her cutie mark: one of a six-pointed star surrounded by a few more.

Celestia’s voice barely broke through her shock.

“…T…Twilight?”