Chapter One

Something Strange

     It was one of those warm, indian summer days, when beautifully colored leaves rustled under a clear sky, whispering the last tales of the hot season and murmuring gossip of the coming cold. It was the kind of day when Rainbow Dash couldn’t resist a long nap in the branches of her favorite tree, head buried in a soft feather pillow as the gently passing breeze caressed her body. In short, life was, at the moment, simply divine. Dash rolled about lazily and sighed with content, the most pressing matter on her mind being whether or not she should go find a snack now, or go find a snack later…or just continue snoozing indefinitely. She’d all but settled on this latter notion when thumping hooves and manic shouting startled her out of her reverie.

     “RainbowDashRainbowDashRainbowDashRainbowDash…!” Pinkie Pie was jumping up and down in a circle around the base of the tree demanding her attention. Dash had half a mind to fly down there and stuff her pillow in the hyperactive pony’s mouth, but she knew better than to ignore Pinkie. Despite being frequently obnoxious, often unbearably cheerful, and a borderline public nuisance, Pinkie Pie always had the skinny on what was going down in Ponyville. Whether she garnered information through her massive social circle or her inexplicable "Pinkie Sense”, she was like a walking, talking, babbling newspaper, and there was always a chance that the news was something important.

     “…DashRainbowDashRainbowDashRain…”

     “WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?!?!” Dash bellowed, poking her head down from the treetop to glower at her friend. Pinkie, unfazed, began her apparently urgent report:

     “Okie so Rarity told me that Twilight told her to tell me to tell you to come to the library because Fluttershy told Twi that something is up! Sumthin’s up sumthin’s up sumthin’s up sumthin’s up…!” she began this new chant and resumed hopping around the tree. Dash picked up an apple core left over from her lunch earlier and chucked it at Pinkie, missing as the pony darted off toward the center of town. “Come oooooooooooooon” she hollered as she galloped away, finally leaving Dash in blissful silence again. If it had been another one of Pinkie’s stupid parties or bake sales, she wouldn’t have hesitated to go right back to napping, but if Twilight was requesting her presence, it had to be something worth seeing to.

     Since her arrival in Ponyville a decade ago, Twilight Sparkle had become the town’s most beloved citizen, her incredible feats of heroism and magic, combined with her kindness and humility, had made her famous far and wide. Five years previously – upon the retirement of the old Mayor – Twilight had been elected to the office by a nearly unanimous decision. She had been reluctant to accept the position at first, but in the end it was a wise decision, for Ponyville had prospered under her watch. No longer just a speck on the map, the once small town had grown rapidly into a bustling city that nearly rivaled Canterlot, as well as a premier destination for ponies across Equestria. They came in droves to attend the flashy shows put on by Rarity, whose once small clothing boutique had grown into a veritable fashion empire. They flocked to Sweet Apple Acres to sample what were now known as the best apples in Equestria. Even Dash herself had become something of a public personality, having started her own flying show group called the Rainbolts, as a tribute – and partly as a challenge – to her own favorite flying group, the Wonderbolts. They put on daring stunt displays at numerous fairs and occasions in Ponyville and many other towns and cities. Most of all though, ponies came from all corners of the map hoping to meet Twilight Sparkle, who was not only a respected political figure and the heroine who had vanquished Night Mare Moon and Discord, but also the personal protégée of Princess Celestia herself.

     Yet still, in the midst of all her rising fame, Twilight had remained the humble, caring, and trustworthy friend that Dash had always known. She never ceased to share the credit for her feats with her friends, and despite her busy life she was always there for Dash. In fact, along with Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack – and Pinkie of course – they were closer than ever. Though they held no official positions, Twi constantly relied on her five friends for support and advice, making them a sort of informal city council and respected members of the community. They held their meetings in the privacy of Twilight’s library, which was where Dash assumed they would be now. “I swear this place is bigger every time I come here,” she thought to herself as she arrived. Since her election, Twi’s book collection had grown exponentially, requiring a few expansions to her home. The once unremarkable tree had, with the help of a little unicorn magic, grown to enormous proportions and was one of the tallest in Ponyville, a massive tower containing everything from ancient tomes to the latest lexicons.

     Upon entering, the first face Dash saw was Rarity’s – not in person but beaming up at her from the cover of this month’s ‘Mane and Tail,’ which lay on a small reading table by the library door. She had completely forgotten that this month was Rarity’s fourth annual ‘Fashion Passion’ show, and made a mental note to give the other Rainbolts a heads up, as they would undoubtedly be performing at the event. She also made a note to discuss with Rarity the timing of the pyrotechnics. Last year, Corkscrew, one of her best fliers, had nearly been killed by a volley of fireworks. Only his superior agility had saved his life, weaving and dodging through the explosives. Corkscrew still bore a burn scar on his left flank from one particularly close call.

     Dash picked up the magazine and flipped through it, catching glimpses of various models – including Fluttershy – sporting Rarity’s garments, as well as the pony herself, bejeweled and clad in one of her newest ensembles, her photo accompanied by a five page interview in which she discussed her meteoric rise to fashion fame. Just then, the sound of delicately treading hooves outside the library door hailed the arrival of the real Rarity. Dash quickly closed the magazine and tossed it back onto the table – the last thing Rarity needed was a further inflated ego, and seeing Dash – who never read anything ever – looking at her latest interview would be of little help. Rarity rapped on the door and Dash opened it, motioning for her to enter.

     The purple-maned unicorn was quite a sight. Her tresses were done up in knots and braids so complex Rainbow Dash felt dizzy just thinking of how such a coiffure might have been fashioned. Her tail was curled slightly more modestly, but by day to day standards it was still quite dressy. Not a hair was out of place on her shiny, milk-white coat, and the purple lacquer on her hooves suggested a recent hooficure. Her beautiful lavender dress was bejeweled with variously sized rubies, and accompanied by a matching collar which bore one particularly large gem (a gift from Spike, whose crush on Rarity – though technically a ‘secret’ – was all but common knowledge). To top off the flashy outfit was a diamond-encrusted sterling silver tiara, a gift that Dash and the other four had pooled their money to buy for Rarity’s birthday last month. It may have been a little taxing on their finances, but considering Rarity’s accomplishments over the past few years, it was well-deserved. She had been stunned and overjoyed upon receiving the gift, and since then had scarcely gone anywhere without wearing it. Rarity had an uncanny ability to dress elegantly without seeming snobbish. Today’s getup, however, seemed quite a lot, even for a fashionable pony.

     “Wow Rarity,” Dash mused “you look…”

     “Gorgeous? Stunning? Lovely? Dazzling? Magnifique?” Rarity prompted.

     “Umm…all of the above, I guess,” said Dash, not having much to say that Rarity hadn’t already covered.

     “Why thank you!” came her satisfied response. At that moment Rarity finally seemed to snap out of her own little world and take note of her surroundings. She and Dash were the only ones there. “Oh dear, did I miss the meeting? Ugh, I only meant to run home and get cleaned up, but then I started fiddling with my hair, and I’ve just been dying to try out this new dress, and then…”

     “Oh yeah, that reminds me,” Dash interjected, “Why, exactly, are we here? Did Twi really call a meeting or did Pinkie just trick me into coming to another one of her parties?”

     “Oh no,” Rarity replied, “Twi told me to round everypony up, and fast. I take it from the look on your face that I haven’t missed anything?”

     “Nope, I’m the only one here and I got no idea what’s going on. I think I heard somebody bumping around on one of the upper floors but I dunno who…” Suddenly, as if on cue, Twilight Sparkle came trotting down the spiral staircase, followed closely by Spike, carrying a very large stack of books. With a sigh of relief, the baby dragon dropped them on the floor and sat down, wiping the sweat off his brow.

     “I…am…not…meant…to carry…that many…books,” he puffed, sweating from the exertion. However when his eyes fell on Rarity he stood up and stifled his breathing in an attempt to look casual “but, it’s all in a day’s work. Thank goodness I got these babies,” he said, flexing his tiny biceps. Twilight and Rarity attempted to suppress their laughter, but Dash chuckled heartily, making no effort to hide her amusement.

     “Spike, you are priceless,” she declared. After a minute though, her mind returned to the matter at hand. “So, um, Twi, what in the heck is so urgent? I was taking a very important nap, so this better be good…”

     “Trust me, it’s…wait, Rarity, what’s with the attire?” Twilight asked, looking cockeyed at her overdressed friend.

     “Well, when I heard we were having an important meeting, I figured it couldn’t hurt to show up looking fabulous,” the unicorn explained with nonchalance.

     “Fair enough,” Twilight shrugged. “Hey, does anyone know where Pinkie is?”

     “Last time I saw her she was heading in this general direction,” Dash told her, “but I haven’t the slightest idea where she is now…” The three ponies paused for a moment as what had been a faint background noise now steadily grew louder into the unmistakable sound of a gallop. “Oh, please don’t let that be…”

     The door burst open and numerous balloons, streamers, and a cannon-full of confetti came raining down on them. Pinkie Pie exploded into the room, party hat on head and noisemakers in hand, spinning and creating a rattling ruckus. The pink pony sported a grin so wide it bordered on the psychotic, and before anyone could say anything, she erupted into a lively tune.

     “HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FROM PINKIE PIE TO YOU! SO GLAD IT IS YOUR BIRTHDAY, SO I CAN PARTY TOO, HEY!!!” she sang, zipping about the room like a firecracker. “Surprise!…Wait whose birthday is it again?”

     “NOBODY’S!!!” the other three ponies snapped in irritated unison.

     “Well,” chimed Pinkie, “No harm in celebrating a regular day!” she began dancing and singing again “HAPPY HAPPY REG…”

     “FOR THE LOVE OF CELESTIA PINKIE COULD YOU JUST CAN IT FOR TEN SECONDS?!” Dash shouted.

     “Party pooper!” Pinkie crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue.

     “Whatever,” Dash replied, teeth clenched in exasperation, “just be quiet, you’re gonna give me a migraine.

     “Ooh! Ooh” the spastic pony jumped up and down “I know a song that cures migraines!”

     “Oh no!” Dash thought, wracking her brain for an excuse to escape. She could already feel the beginnings of a massive headache coming on, until her eyes fell on a plate of apple fritters that sat on the reading table. In a moment of desperation she grabbed one and crammed it in Pinkie’s mouth.

     “Mmmm mram, daffs grood! Franksh!” Pinkie said through a mouthful of food, spraying crumbs all about. She hadn’t stopped talking, but at least the singing was over. Twi and Rarity gave Dash subtle glances of relief and gratitude as the library returned to relative quiet.

     As Dash stuffed another fritter in Pinkie’s face, she suddenly began to wonder; if there were apple fritters here, accompanied, she now noticed by apple pie, and apple turnovers, then…

     “Where’s Applejack?” She inquired.

    “Mrah, am werf Frushy?” Sprayed Pinkie

     “I was wondering that myself,” said Rarity as she tried to dodge the crumbs and spittle that were now flying freely form Pinkie Pie’s mouth.

     “they’re upstairs,” Twilight told them, lowering her voice “apparently Fluttershy saw something strange this morning and it scared her to death, the poor thing. A.J.’s trying to calm her down and coax it out of her.”

     “HAH!” Dash laughed, “What was it? A Jackrabbit? A penny lying face-down? Her own shadow?”

     “Don’t you dare start, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight warned, “She’s already distraught and if you make things worse I swear I’ll buck you into next week.”

     Dash yawned and rolled her eyes, but left it at that. Twilight was a bookish pacifist by nature, but she could raise hell if she wanted to. In fact, aside from the Princesses Celestia and Luna, she was quite possibly the most powerful pony in Equestria, both magically and politically. Even Celestia herself claimed she’d never seen a unicorn with such raw magical talent, that being the reason she’d taken Twi on as her personal understudy.

     “So did you get any idea at all what’s troubling the her?” Rarity asked.

     “Not really,” sighed Twilight, “I left her with A.J. ‘cause I figured she’d be more comfortable with someone more patient. You know me, I tend to pry…”

     “Now Twilight you mustn’t be ridiculous, you’re a wonderful friend,” Rarity admonished.

     “Thanks Rarity, but…” Twi stopped short at the sound of a door opening upstairs. Down the spiral steps came Applejack, gently leading an anxious looking Fluttershy. When they reached the bottom, the two exchanged a few whispers before A.J. turned to address the group in her thick southern drawl.

     “Well, I’m glad y’all are here. Fluttershy’s ready to get talkin’ if’n yer all ready to get to listenin’” She emphasized the last word as her gaze fell upon Rainbow Dash.

     “Yeah yeah,” Dash muttered under her breath as the other ponies nodded in agreement. Fluttershy gingerly stepped forward, helped along by a little nudge from A.J.

     “It’s alright sugar cube,” Applejack told her. Even Dash began to wonder if there was something serious going on. Fluttershy was always freaking out about this or that, but this was pretty extreme even for her.

     “I…I…” the bashful Pegasus struggled to begin, “I saw this carriage…and…and…it was making these funny noises…and it was…it was…moving…it was moving by it…”

     “BWAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!” Dash erupted into laughter, unable to hold it in for even one sentence. Tears streamed down her face as she heaved in spasmodic hysteria, “ARE YOU SERIOUS?!!?” she demanded between side-splitting guffaws, “ARE YOU FREAKIN’ SERIOUS?!” she crossed her eyes and cocked her brows, assuming a tone of mock seriousness as she waved her arm through the air as if to indicate a newspaper headline “Breaking News: Equestria up in Arms as Squeaky Carriage Moves and Makes Funny Noises!” As she continued barking with laughter Fluttershy burst into tears and ran back upstairs, followed by Applejack and Pinkie Pie, both of whom shot venomous glances at Dash. Twilight began to follow but stopped for a moment to speak to Rarity.

     “Don’t worry dear, I’ll handle it” said Rarity casually. Twi nodded curtly and then followed the others upstairs. Rarity turned to Rainbow Dash, who lay on the ground still trying to catch her breath “You just don’t learn, do you Dash?” She said shaking her head, “and on the one day I had my hair just so…” she continued, muttering more to herself. “Rainbow Dash?” she prompted.

     “Yeah Rar?” Dash asked, still wiping away tears.

     “Do you remember the last time you upset Fluttershy like that?” Rarity continued.

     “Yeah!” Dash chuckled “She accidentally ate those bad mushrooms over by the bog and spent the entire day running from her own tail! That was a crackup!”

     “She was horrified you insensitive cur!” Rarity snapped, her voice rising. “But anyway,” she continued, her cadence returning to calm indifference “Do you remember what I said to you that day?”

     “You said next time you’d slap me upside the…”

     WHAP!

     Rarity struck like a lightning bolt, her hoof hitting Dash’s jaw with the kind of augmented speed only unicorn magic could produce. Dash’s head spun around on her neck like a corkscrew. She dropped to the floor like a sack of bricks, the taste of blood in her mouth.

     “Owww!” Dash exclaimed, spitting out the blood that was filling her mouth, “I didn’t think you meant it literally! Where’d you learn to hit like that?”

     “It’s a long story,” Rarity told her, “now go apologize to Fluttershy before I have to do it again. And mean it.”

     “Okay, okay!” Dash hurried up the stairs. As she approached the door to the second floor library she caught a snippet of the other ponies’ conversation. Unable to resist the urge to eavesdrop, she stopped outside and listened.

     “No,” Fluttershy was saying, sounding frustrated and insistent “It wasn’t like the trains in Canterlot! There was no track, it was just moving along by itself and making these chuggy rumbly noises…it was loud and I didn’t know what to do so I came back here as fast as I could.”

     “Didja see where it was headin’?” A.J. asked

     “It looked like it was heading for Canterlot, but I don’t know why it would,” replied Fluttershy.

     “There’s all kinds of wacky things out there, Fluttershy…” Pinkie chimed in.

     “You bein’ a one of ‘em,” laughed Applejack.

     “Guilty as charged,” Pinkie affirmed with pride. “So, I mean, it’s probably nothin’ to worry about. Anyway, Rainbow Dash is hiding outside the door listening to us, so I think she’s got something to say.”

     How does she do that?  Dash wondered as she stepped into the room. A.J., Twi, and Pinkie glared at her and Fluttershy turned away. They stood in silence for a moment, tension mounting.

     “You got somethin’ to say chuckles?” A.J. broke the ice.

     “Fluttershy, I…”

     “It’s okay Rainbow,” Fluttershy cut her off, looking at her for the first time. Dash’s heart sank when she saw her friend’s watery eyes and tear-stained cheeks.

     “No, no it’s not. I’m sorry for being such a jerk, and I promise I’ll never do it again.”

     “Thanks Rainbow,” replied Fluttershy a smile forming at the corners of her mouth. Dash felt her eyes begin to tear up as she ran over to hug her friend.

     “Pegasisters?” Dash prompted.

     “Pegasisters,” Fluttershy confirmed, smiling fully now. The other ponies’ cold stares began to melt, and soon all was forgiven.

     “Dinner and drinks?” Dash suggested. Everpony nodded in assent, and off they went.