"Isn't this amazing Twilight? Your old foal of a father finally got promoted to head of the department!" Twilight was overjoyed, naturally. Her father had been trying for this position for years. She would finally get a chance to see inside of the Royal Canterlot Research Center for Specialized Magic and Science! [R.C.R.C.S.M.S.] History was made here everyday! So much knowledge spewed forth from behind the normally closed doors, she didn't know if even she could understand all that information. Spike followed Twilight around, a basket of delicious rubies shoved between his claws.

"I'm just glad that they finally decided to recognize your devotion to your work. For awhile there, you had me worried; you were almost always coming home past midnight!" Twilight's mom was about as excited as Twilight was. She understood just how much this meant to her family.

"Twilight, do you think Ponyville will be ok with you gone? It doesn't have the best record for being without, ya know, problems." Spike chomped through a ruby, tiny shards flying out of his mouth.

"Oh Spike, I'm sure that the others can take care of it. It's about time that I took a vacation anyway." Twilight was going to learn SO much today!

"But whenever anypony says that something bad happens! I mean what if there's aliens? What if Dash gets stuck in some weird monochromatic world?" Spike did have a point, but Twilight wasn't going to let Spike's sudden burst of common sense get her down.

"Aliens? You've been reading too many comic books! Read a dictionary or something, might help when you write letters." Twilight really didn't care about Spike's paranoia, she was too busy looking at all the sights. Her hooves clicked against the hard tile floor as she tried to view everything at once.

"So you're the new applied pony research head? That's great!" Twilight chimed. Spike crunched.

"Yes, I know Twilight! This is only the fifth time you've said that!" Her dad laughed with her for a second. "In fact, we just got a new intern in the applied aerodynamics subdivision. What do you say to saying hello to her?" A ruby fell out of Spike's basket and rolled into a corner.

"Of course! I would love to go greet the interns! Do you think they would be willing to share some notes with me?" Learning! Chomp!

"The door is right over there." Her dad motioned over to a single door. "You'll have to open it with your hooves, dear. Everything in this place is as magic proof as anything can be." Twilight tried to will the door to open. Her horn glowed a fierce red and the door refused to budge. She was shocked to find that no matter how hard she tried the door really wouldn't open. She walked up to it and placed a hoof on the button to open it. It swung open with a nice sciency swishy sound.

The room beyond the door was filled with paper and scribbled on whiteboards. A single thick plane of glass overlooked what looked to be a large flight course. A few harried looking pegasi ran about the place, scribbling on note pads.

"May I speak to the new intern? I wish to introduce her to my daughter." Her dad spoke in a clipped tone. "Twilight, I want you to be nice to her, she hasn't had the easiest time so far. But still! She's the first griffon to join us in quite some time!" A pair of doors that Twilight hadn't noticed opened to reveal a face that Twilight hadn't been expecting.

"You?!" Twilight let incredulity slip into her voice.

"Yes me! I graduated from flight school you know!" Gilda growled back. "Why are you here? Are you here to drive me away from this place too?!" Twilight's dad shifted uneasily.

"I see you two have already met?" He turned towards the window. "I don't remember any clouds scheduled for today..."

A thick cloud cover almost blotted out the sun. A dim glow shot through the clouds. Gilda tackled her.

"THERE WASN'T! GET DOWN!" The clouds exploded.

So... If you don't know what Iji is go look it up.

"