Twilight remained silent on the trek back to Ponyville, her mind racing through the dozens of spells that she had learned in the last year years as she tried to recall the best spell she could use to locate their mysterious friend. Most of the basic tracking spells she knew required something of the pony she was looking for so she could accurately track them down, which she didn't have. The intermediate spells either required a physical picture of who she was looking for, which she didn't have, or a sample of their blood, which kind of grossed her out. That left the more advanced tracking spells, which would physically drain her magical reserves for a few days, but the results would be immediate.

The only problem with the advanced tracking spell she had in mind was that she needed a crystal ball, a focus that would serve as an eye and show her exactly where the stallion was. And she had absolutely no idea where she was going to find a crystal ball in Ponyville, short of visiting Princess Celestia and asking if she could borrow one of hers. Then Celestia would ask her why she needed the crystal ball to begin with and then Twilight would have to tell her about the alicorn stallion that she had found. It was better, in Twilight's mind, to find where Crimson Flare had gone, track him to wherever he went, and then ask him every question she had, before telling Celestia about him.

Which left her with her current problem, finding a crystal ball somewhere in Ponyville.

"Is something the matter Twilight?" Rarity asked, seeing that her friend was lost in thought and annoyed with something, "I haven't seen you this annoyed with something since, well, the incident with Tirek."

"Just reviewing tracking spells," Twilight sighed, shaking her head ever so slightly, "the only spell that I know of that can help me locate where Crimson Flare ran off to requires something that I don't have."

"Oh? There's something that the powerful Twilight Sparkle doesn't have?" Rarity mocked for a moment, but then she became her serious self a moment later, "Tell me dear, what is it that you need so you can find this 'Crimson Flare'?"

"A crystal ball," Twilight replied, "if I had one of those I could use it to find where he wandered off to and get the exact location of where I can search next."

"Is that all?" Rarity laughed, as if it was funny that Twilight didn't have a crystal sphere, "Oh Twilight, I seem to recall that Pinkie Pie had one of those crystal balls some time ago, when she was trying to read ponies futures and freak them out with her tricks. Course she had Rainbow Dash helping her, so there's no telling where the crystal ball ended up. If you want my advice, just track down Pinkie and ask where she hid the thing. I'm sure that its gathering dust in some corner of Sugarcube Corner."

Twilight had almost forgotten about the time that Pinkie had dressed up as a gypsy, set up a stand that she had wandered into, and tried to read her fortune while Rainbow Dash was waiting in the wing to prank her. It was an elaborate plan that only Pinkie could have come up with, so it would have made sense that she would have gone all out and acquire a real crystal ball to complete her costume. Rarity was right in one regard, Pinkie would still have the crystal ball somewhere and would likely just give it to her for an amount of time that Twilight would need it for.

"I'll be sure to ask her," Twilight said, just as they safely emerged from the Everfree Forest, "Once I knew where he went I'm sure that it would be in our best interests to get together and find him together."

"So once you get his location we'll meet up again," Rarity moaned slightly, not really caring about the alicorn anymore and just wanting to get home, "Fine, just be sure to give me some warning before we leave the town."

"If you two will excuse us, we need to get back to the farm." Applejack said, gently pulling her sister in the direction of the farm, "We've got apples to harvest and some places that need repainting. Come on Apple Bloom, we've got work to do."

"Unfortunately, I must agree with Applejack," Rarity said, staring down at her hooves for a moment, "I've got to go home, get the dirt and grim off my hooves, and then get to work on some of the dresses that were ordered yesterday. Come along Sweetie, I'm sure you've got homework to do."

Twilight watched her friends and their sisters walk away, though she was left alone with Scootaloo, who stared at her friends as if she was feeling guilty about everything. After a few moments Scootaloo sighed and stared for Ponyville, not doubt heading to the library so she could get her scooter and head back home. Twilight, on the other hoof, flared her wings and took off, intending to fly all the way to Sugarcube Corner while hoping that Pinkie was still there.

-----------------------------

When Twilight arrived at the Sugarcube Corner she found that there were a dozen ponies waiting in line, no doubt wanting to get their hooves on something to snack on before they went home for the evening. She stayed outside the building, keeping taps on how many ponies were left, until the line had disappeared and she was the only one left. Miss Cake welcomed her as she entered the building, though she went back to work and left Twilight to wait for Pinkie to finish whatever she was doing. After a few minutes of waiting Pinkie finally came out of the basement, humming some tune to herself before coming to a halt right in front of Twilight.

"Hiya Twilight," Pinkie said, smiling as she pulled out a muffin and bit into it, "What's going on? Need some help tracking down an alicorn stallion that blew you off?"

Normally Twilight would be shocked that Pinkie knew exactly what she was doing or what she needed, but she had come to not question Pinkie and just go with it. She'd have to ask her later how she knew about Crimson Flare, as Twilight didn't know about him until earlier that day.

"Yeah, something like that," Twilight replied, "I need a crystal ball for one of my spells so I can find him and I was told that you might still have one laying around somewhere. Do you think I could borrow it?"

"Oh, sure, let me get it real quick," Pinkie said, shoving her hoof into her mane and moving it around for a few moments before pulling out a crate and putting it on the floor, "One crystal ball, ready for whatever use you need it for."

Twilight was used to Pinkie putting her hooves into her hair and pulling something out of it, but most the time she pulled out random pieces of candy or instruments. The fact that she had the crystal ball, placed in a crate and waiting for Twilight to come for it, just told her exactly how well Pinkie was at planning. She popped the lid off the crate and stared down at the crystal ball, seeing how it was shiny and well prepared for what she needed it for.

"Thanks Pinkie," Twilight said, sealing the crate and lifting it into the air, "I'm going to head back to my castle and see where this stallion is, so I won't be available for a few hours."

"Want to explore the Castle of the Two Sisters later tonight?" Pinkie randomly asked, getting up in her face for a moment.

"Um...sure," Twilight said, not really sure why Pinkie wanted to explore the castle again, "I'll make sure to be done with my spell before I come back to the Everfree Forest."

"Okie dokie lokie," Pinkie said, bouncing a bit before pulling a list out of her mane, "I've got to invite the others to our party, otherwise we won't have any fun tonight."

Before Twilight could ask her anything Pinkie rounded a corner and vanished, another feature that Twilight was familiar with and should have seen coming. She made sure that the crate was stable and took off, heading back to her castle so she could begin the spell that would allow her to find the mysterious Crimson Flare. As she flew through the air she kept an eye out for Rainbow Dash, just in case she was prepping the weather for the night and needed to diverge from the path she had set for herself. After a few minutes she landed outside her castle, finding that Spike was waiting for her inside and had spent some time cleaning whatever messes he could find.

"What do you have there Twilight?" Spike asked, noticing the crate and wondering what was inside it.

"A crystal ball, courtesy of Pinkie Pie," Twilight replied, moving up the stairs so she could visit one of the empty rooms, "I'm going to preform an advanced tracking spell to find the alicorn stallion that I met earlier. He vanished before I could get any answers out of him, so I'm going to track him down and then head out to where he's resting. Then I'm going to ask him as many questions that I can."

"Wait, so Sweetie Belle was telling the truth?" Spike asked, following after Twilight so he could learn everything that she had learned.

"Yeah, turns out that she was right," Twilight remarked, opening a door and finding an empty room, "All I was able to get out of him was that his name was Crimson Flare. Now, I'm going to use this crystal ball and find out where he flew off to, so I can find him whenever I want and get my answers."

Spike shrugged and watched Twilight place the crate in the center of the empty room and take off the lid, revealing the clear orb to the sunlight for what he assumed was the first time in a few weeks. Twilight gently pulled the sphere out of the crate, replaced the lid, and laid placed it on the top of the crate before moving to the window. She closed the curtains and shrouded the room in shadow, giving her the perfect lighting she needed so she could clearly see whatever the sphere showed her. Spike stood near the door as Twilight sat in front of the crate, her magic lighting up and surging into the sphere as she focused on the spell she needed to use.

At first nothing happened to the crystal ball, causing Spike to worry that the alicorn they were looking for had teleported to someplace that a tracking spell wouldn't reach. Then, as if it had somehow heard Spike's worries, a scene appeared in the center of the crystal and a spectrum of colors began to fill the empty room. At first Spike couldn't tell what the were looking at, but Twilight applied more magic to the crystal and the scene began to sharpen until they could see somepony. Then he noticed an alicorn sleeping on a cloud, a stallion with a flaming mane that didn't seem to have a care in the world. That was when Spike noticed the surrounding area, a ruined area of a castle that he assumed was the Castle of the Two Sisters that they had visited several times in the past.

"Why there?" Twilight asked, staring at the image of the stallion as she cut off her magic, "Why would he choose the Castle of the Two Sisters, of all places, to hide in?"

"I don't know," Spike said, pulling the curtains open, "but I'm guessing that we're going to head into the forest tonight and look for him?"

"Yes," Twilight replied, recalling what Pinkie had said earlier, "and, if Pinkie manages to invite the others, we'll have a full group of ponies to search for him. I had best get ready for tonight."

-----------------------------

It was roughly eight at night, the perfect time for Twilight and her friends to venture into the Everfree Forest and make their way to the ruined castle. They were all done with their work for the day and those of them that had siblings had given them dinner before putting them to bed early for the night. Twilight had expected to be the first one to arrive at the sign, but when she and Spike got there she noticed Pinkie sitting next to it, blowing up a balloon while she waited. After a few minutes Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash arrived, both of them chatting with each other and only stopping when they neared the sign.

Before Twilight could welcome them she spotted Applejack and Rarity, the two of them arguing over something that she was sure wasn't relevant to their current task.

"So, we're heading back to the old castle?" Rarity asked, raising an eyebrow as she stared at the forest, "Well, I'm glad that we could find where that alicorn wandered off to."

"What's this about an alicorn?" Rainbow asked, confused as to what they were talking about.

"Oh, the Crusaders came into the forest to look for their Cutie Marks," Rarity said, "they ran into a group of Diamond Dogs, were chased through the forest, and found a stallion sleeping in a cloud. He's an alicorn and Twilight's trying to find him again, though it sounds like she found where he went."

"We had best hurry in case he decides to move," Twilight said, moving into the forest, "let's get to the castle."

Seeing how they knew the path to the ruined castle it took roughly fifteen minutes for them to traverse the forest and appear before the stone arches. They strolled into the castle, keeping their eyes peeled for either the cloud the stallion slept on, the stallion himself, or a trap that might have been placed to warn him of ponies in the immediate area. They had learned not to touch anything from their previous visit, least they set off a hidden passage that might land them somewhere else in the forest. Pinkie continued to bounce around, her eyes scanning the immediate area around her as if she was looking for something, but then she continued into the next room and left them behind.

"Should we follow her?" Applejack asked, worried that something might happen to Pinkie, "Or maybe split up and follow her?"

"Pinkie's just being, well, Pinkie," Twilight sighed, looking around for a lever they might have missed the last time they were in the castle, "but it will be me who finds the alicorn first. Now help me find a lever or switch that might reveal a hidden passage."

Twilight was concerned that Pinkie might run into some trouble, as the old castle was said to hold dozens of secrets that hailed from the time before Princess Luna became Nightmare Moon. Of course Pinkie seemed to know almost everything about certain things and then had no idea about others, making Twilight wonder if she was bluffing half the time. But if none of them could find the stallion Twilight was certain that Pinkie would be able to find him, using whatever method of searching that she used. As she took a step forward she smelled something that wasn't old and musty, something that was oddly familiar to her that she had come into contact with earlier that day.

It smelled like the stick that the stallion had been burning earlier and now Twilight had an idea of how to find him before Pinkie could. She rounded a corner, walked up the hallway that she found herself in, and passed by a set of ruined windows, all of which were shattered due to old age. She passed by the windows and stopped in her tracks, the smell had disappeared for a moment and it forced her to retrace her steps back to the windows. Her friends stared at her for a moment before she turned to look out the broken windows, looking into a courtyard she's never been in before and finding a cloud in the middle of it. A cloud, she noticed, that a certain flaming maned alicorn stallion was sleeping on.

"Well," Twilight said, not sure what to feel at that point, "that was easy. Hey, Crimson Flare!"

Crimson moaned and lifted his head, staring up at the broken windows of the courtyard and finding the lavender alicorn, and what he assumed were her friends, staring down at him. He pulled the stick out of his mouth and let another puff of smoke escape, rolling onto his back so he could stare up at the beautiful night sky and the shining stars. He heard the sound of a cannon going off and he bolted up, looking around for the cause of the cannon fire and finding what he assumed was strange party items littered across the courtyard. Standing near one of the courtyards entrances was a pink mare with a puffy mane, but she had the look of somepony who had experience with a cannon.

"Oh go away," Crimson said, leaning back on the cloud and closing his eyes, "just leave me in peace."

"Here's something you don't know," Twilight called down to him, "Pinkie here won't leave a pony alone until she friends them. So fine, we'll leave the castle, but Pinkie will stay here and continue to pester you until she causes you to cave in and befriend her, just like everypony in Ponyville. Or you can answer my questions without her making you mad."

Crimson sighed and took a puff of his stick, listening to the alicorn mare and sensing the fact that either scenario was a losing situation for him. Either the alicorn won and got her answers or the pink mare won and befriended him, leading to the alicorn mare still getting her answers out of him. He rolled off the cloud and touched the ground, barely lighting his horn as he shrunk his cloud down to a size that he could hide without anyone finding it. Once the cloud was gone he unfurled his wings and leapt into the air, passing through the window frames and landing right behind the assembled group of ponies.

"Fine," Crimson said, putting his stick back where it belonged, "Take me to whatever interrogation chamber you have prepared for me and ask me whatever questions you desire. If it will make you ponies leave me alone."

"We are going to be best friends forever!" Pinkie exclaimed, appearing behind him and throwing her hooves over him, "Oooh, this means that I need to plan your 'Welcome to Ponyville' party."

Just as swiftly as she arrived the mare was gone, leaving him with five completely different mares and one baby dragon that continued to stare at him. Crimson wondered if he had doomed himself to constantly be annoyed by other ponies and never being allowed to be alone ever again. It was in that moment that he wished the three fillies that had found him had never gone anywhere near him, as it was their fault that his peace and quiet had been shattered. His only hope was that the mare's questions would be as swift as possible and the pink one's party would be over quickly so he could return to his freedom.

Somehow he doubted that he would be getting any peace in the next day or two.