There was a strange feeling over her body, like rain but made of ticklish light, hard to explain, it was like one second being there and the next, not anymore…

“GAH! I hate these things!” Rainbow Streak yelled, coming out of the teleportation chamber.

“Please, stop complaining so much,” an unicorn said, approaching her.

“Easy for you to say, Diamond Dazzle! Your tail isn't on fire!” Streak replied, trying to put off the flame with her wings.

Diamond rolled her eyes and put a bit of saliva on her hoof, putting down the fire. Her friend smirked, knowing full well she wouldn't have dared to do that with her mother around.

“Now come on, we don´t want to be late,” Dazzle said, remembering to thank the receptionist when they left the teleportation booth.

“I still don´t see why we needed to use this thing…” Stak complained.

“You expected us to walk all the way from Stalliongrad, Rainbow?”

“I could have carried you…”

“It´s a three days trip! Even for somepony as fast a you!” Dazzled said, poking her prideful friend.

The sharp contrast once leaving the modern both and stepping into the quaint, little Ponyville was such that both mares cringed.

“I must confess, this town inability to progress can get quite..unnerving at times,“ Dazzle admitted.

“Same here. This place gives me the creeps…”

“Realy? Even when you were born here?”

“You were born here too,” Streak replied and Dazzle admitted it was a good point.

They walked into the Golden Oaks library, which despite a few stands for modern video books, was still pretty much the same place.

“You think a Princess will like to live in a bigger place,” Steak comment, avoiding piles of book scattered over the place while Dazzle just shrugged.

“You know her. She likes simple things…”

They reached the stairs and were reached by the gentle figure of the big and bulky Apple Tart.

“Hey cuz and cuz, ya two arrived early!”

“Good to see you too, Tart; but, why do you insist on calling us cousins?” Dazzle asked while Streak was blushing red.

“Momma AJ says all her friends were family so yah´ll family too on mah book!” he replied with a big goofy smile. “Cuz Streak, how´s it goin on them fancy flight school?”

“Gr-great! You know me, kicking some clouds and breaking some records! It runs on the family!” she said, punching him a bit too hard on the arm.

Streak wished she could teleport now, trying to hide behind her wings while the earth stallion rubbed his sore arm.

“Tart, you know where the Princess is?” Dazzle asked.

“Auntie Sparkle is upstarts,” Tart said, a bit less cheerful.

“Thank you, dear,” Dazzle said and dragged her friend upstairs. “Still not over that crush, I see…” she said, once they were up.

“Shut up. You're the one to talk after you announced you were gonna marry Bubblegum in your birthday party…”

“I was a child back then!” Dazzle replied, now blushing too.

“Remember when Pinkie Pie dragged you all the way to her family farm once you graduated from fashion school?”

“We promised never to talk about that again…”

Still snickering, Streak reached the balcony first and saw a young bespectacled  earth colt sitting on a cushion, reading a book.

“Hey runt, you escaped from Fluttershy's cottage again?” she asked, ruffling the colt´s mane.

“Stop picking on your cousin, Rainbow Streak,” Twilight Sparkle said, leaving her notebook and walking to them.

“Sorry…” Rainbow Streak murmured while Dazzle made a reverence to Twilight.

“So nice to see you agian, Princess. But I must ask, why I have to insist we´re not really related.”

“Oh, you're all my family as far as I´m concerned, Dazzle. And stop being so formal with me,especially on my birthday.” Twilight said, huggin both mares. “So glad you could make it, the rest of the family will be here soon. We´re waiting for Shingin and Cadence´s train to arrive…”

“Why did he insisted on coming by train?” Dazzle asked.

“Ah, my brother has a thing against teleporting, ever since I accidentally sent him into a lake once…”

“Yeah, I can relate…” Streak murmured again. “Hey, what's that thing?” she asked, pointing at something covered on a blank next to the stairs, they missed at first.

“Oh, it´s my old first version of the teleporter. I asked Apple Tart to take it out for the basement, the basement, WInd Chime here said he wanted to see it,” Twilight explained, now she softly ruffling the blushing colt.

“It looks tacky,” Streak said, earning a nudge from Dazzle.

“Haha, all inventions look the same. I remember the big party Pinkie threw during my first try, it was supposed to send us right into the Canterlot Palace but the machine malfunctioned and we were dropped halfway into a swamp,” Twilight said, laughing at the memory.

“Does it still works?” Dazzle asked.

“Probably. I remember, Streak´s mom once sued it to play a prank on Princess Luna. That lead to so many regulations and rules for the device. For the best I suppose but, those times were funny,” Twilight said, apparently lost on her memories.

The three younglings waited nervously for her to finish remembering.

“But enough about that, it´s old history now. Come on, we have my party to plan.”

“Surprise party, aunt Twilight,” Dazzle said, smiling.

“Of course, surprise party…I almost ruined the ffort your aunt Pinkie puts on it every year...” Twilight laughed and they all went downstairs.