Cubbage

"Well done, little fillies! Unfortunately, looks like Dartmouth takes all again. So now that you're familiar, you fillies wanna put a little skin in the game? Put some bits on the table?" he asked smoothly as he gathered the bets and cards from each player, shuffling as he waited for their response.

"The bartender said we're not allowed to play with our own bits," Reflection chimed in. Dartmouth looked a little disappointed by this remark, clearly having hoped the two fillies would have forgotten that by now.

Lope Lighthoof

The earpiece was strange to get used to, but it didn't take long before it settled in and he could forget it was there. "Good idea," he said in response to Strong Copper's suggestion. "And remember to keep a low profile. We don't want to spook the locals. After all, we still don't have confirmation that there's really something to be afraid of out here." He then waited for Tangent to give the OK to roll out.

Tangent Line

Agent Line looked strangely at the griffon's night vision gear. "Maybe I should cast a night vision spell on you... That light might scare away whatever it is we're hunting, plus it could wake up the locals." she suggested. 

Copper made the suggestion about checking in regularly, which she agreed with. Lighthoof commented about keeping a low profile, which she whole-heartedly agreed with -- part of the reason she wanted that... thing floating above the griffon's head extinguished. "Agreed. Have an excuse in mind in case someone asks why you're out so late. Honesty might be an element of harmony, but it certainly isn't an element of stealth."

Cloudy had to put her head down a bit to hide the giggles trying to make their way out of her stomach after watching just how quickly Windy snarfed the pie. It was probably a side-effect of being pregnant, after all, and she didn't want to offend. 

"That is quite reasonable!" she said in response to the prices. "Don't worry, I've got it covered. I budgeted this whole trip! Being cloud machine technician might not be the highest-paying job in Equestria, but I make enough for trips like these with some left over to spare!" she took a sample bite of the pie and -- Oh wow. Her face lit up as the flavor coated her tongue. It was everything Windy described and more! By far one of the best -- if not the best -- pies she had ever had! She quickly mimicked Windy's approach at eating it, devouring the entire slice in moments. Now she understood. "Wow. Just wow. That was amazing!! It was so good!!" she returned her tongue to the plate to lap up any crumbs or specks she had missed, then gave the area around her mouth a swooping lick to clean it, as well. "I see what you mean now when you say you could eat a whole one! You weren't kidding!" she laughed at herself for being so sloppy with the pie.

So it was about the meeting... This wasn't good. If word got out about the meeting... Who knows what might happen?? What if the royal guard heard! Surely They'd see it as a sign of insurrection! Twinkle could be jailed, or worse...

For now though, this pony seemed to be quite receptive. In fact, she mentioned that her talent was similar to Twinkle's own. "Ah yes, a uh... Meet and greet. Well really, it's more of a... uh..." her mind struggled for a name for it that wouldn't arouse suspicion. Would any name arouse suspicion? Was she overthinking the danger of this meeting? No matter, you could never be too careful when organizing a long coup. Think!! "A club. It's a club. Like the Canterlot Society for the Preservation of the Night Sky, or the Coltumbia Rotary Club, that kind of thing. Only this one... Is a little more political than that. But that's not important!" she said, trying to change the subject from her (highly illegal) secret meeting that was apparently not-so-secret anymore. "You mentioned you also do predictions? What sort, if you don't mind me asking?" Her mind was still reeling and panicking that this pony knew about the meeting. She was going to have a talk with her cousin...

Twinkle looked at him intently as he expressed his fears over something or somepony having it in for him. A feeling like that was not to be taken lightly.  "That sounds pretty serious... I do hope you're just paranoid. But I think we should do a reading or two just to be sure. I have a variety of methods I use in instances like these. I think we should start with either tarot cards or tea leaves. Just a matter of which... How thirsty are you?" she asked. She closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment, and her tarot deck and a tin of tea teleported into the air around her head. When she opened her eyes, a brief look of elation flashed across her face, and she set both items down on the table between the two. 

It was unclear whether or not she had heard his last question about artifacts. If she did, she had either forgotten about it or chosen to ignore it, though it was possible she simply hadn't heard him.

Lope Lighthoof

As they continued their patrol, Lope was feeling especially on edge. He couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched, but every time he turned around, there was nothing to suggest that such suspicions could be correct. 

Then midway through an alley, he heard something, and judging by the instant reaction of his trainer, she had, too. It sounded like a yelp! A trash can was knocked over, too, which meant there was probably a struggle! The two ponies didn't even look at each other before doubling back and sprinting their way towards the sound. His cutie mark sprang into action as he sprinted, ignoring the slight pain in his back leg. But when he burst out of the alley at a canter, what he saw was not what he had expected. There sat a perfectly normal areion, clutching his wing, a trash can knocked over beside him. Perhaps the foalnapper had released him? A moment or two later, Tangent arrived behind him and seemed equally confused at the sight before them. "Are you alright??" he asked frantically, whipping his head around to see if there was possibly a creature within sight. "Were you attacked??"

Tangent Line

Agent Line's ears picked up the cry at the same moment Lighthoof's did, but he was faster on the draw. Having an athletic cutie mark gave him the edge over her when it came to things like that. As she sprinted after him, she charged her horn with a stun spell, preparing to fire on anything they encountered.

When she got to the end of the alleyway, however, it was not an encounter they found, but rather what looked to be the aftermath of one. The areion didn't look particularly harmed, but did appear to have put up a fight against whatever had attacked him. Her partner was faster to speak than she was, and when she did speak, she was much less empathetic than him. "Why are you out this late? Don't you know there's a town-wide curfew? Even for areions, being out alone is incredibly dangerous. The last three ponies who were are now missing. And if you thought your flying could save you, clearly you were wrong. But even so, you should have had the forethought to know that if a pegasus had been nabbed, your wings would be of little use to you. Unless..." Agent Line had never really trusted areion in the past. They were shifty, creepy, and continued to pay homage to Princess Luna during her exile as public enemy number one. But now her suspicions were growing slightly. A ring of nocturnal ponies would make sense. They could get around in the sky unnoticed, had exceptional dark vision, which would give them an advantage over the the more flight-adept Pegasi at night, and could be out during the night because they didn't sleep. She listened to his answer with a high degree of scrutiny.

"So then, boys, what shall we do to celebrate our maybe-birthday? Gift exchange?" (he opened a red package with gold ribbon and removed a large white elephant, which he promptly shoved into the cloud, increasing its volume) "Get the guys together and play Ogres and Oubliettes? Ooooh or perhaps my favorite, spread a little bit of chaos? Y'know, salt life a little bit and give it some flavor?" The cloud itself began sprinkling salt on the ground down below, which caused the flowers and other vegetation to grow faces and arms and start in a quiet, gibberish musical number. "It has been a while since we bugged Celestia. Don't you think she's bored with retirement? Perhaps we should show her a good time! Remind her of what fun it can be to indulge in a little disharmony?" he tapped his fingers together and gave a mischievous smile as he finished. "Of course, normally I would never suggest such a thing. We're reformed after all," (a halo appeared over his head and his wings transformed to angel wings for a moment before he continued) "But it might be our birthday! And I think for that we should be allowed to let our hair down a bit!" he ran his hand down the back of his head, and as he did, his mane transformed to resemble that of Princess Celestia's. "Don't you boys agree?" a reverse chord played in the background, reminiscent of his pre-Fluttershy days.

Morning Glow still had many questions, but assumed they'd be answered in due time. The headmare, or headmaster, or-- Ugh, this pronoun thing was going to be difficult. But nothing she couldn't handle! Actually, she was very intrigued and impressed with whatever potion he took to transform himself into "Bluebelle". She assumed the transformation was permanent, well at least until s/he took another sip, in which case there was some powerful transfiguration within that cup of tea. She wondered which ingredients and/or spells might have gone into its creation, and whether it was a product of pony magic or zebras. 

She did, however, raise her hand for one last question as the archchancelor was departing. "Um, Archchancelor? I know classes start tomorrow, but when do we receive our schedules? I don't think one was included with my paperwork, though my parents might have missed it when it was mailed to them..." She wanted to know exactly where she would be going on the morrow because although she was already familiar with the layout of the school, she still wanted to be early to classes on her first day. 

"Honestly, you two, I thought we were taught better manners than to start eating before all the other guests had arrived?" Discord said, appearing seemingly instantaneously with the change of camera angles, revealing him to be on the other side of the cloud from the first Discord to arrive. Of course, as he ridiculed the other two, he himself took a bight of an inverted cucumber sandwich -- that is, a cucumber cut in half with the bread and other condiments between the two long pieces of vegetable. "And here I thought we were reformed!" He rolled his eyes before finishing the rest of it in another bight. "Now remind me what the big occasion is? The last time I saw any of you was when I was preparing the house for Fluttershy to come for a tea party. Terrible advice you all gave me, by the way. 'Make things normal,' they said." He spit a raspberry to the air. "Yeah right. I told you Fluttershy prefers our true self to some facade." to accent his point, he removed his face like a cheap party mask and tossed it aside, leaving his true face (which was completely unchanged) exposed to all.

Tangent took a wary step back from the tear in reality, and again warily accepted a headset. "Personally, I feel magic is a bit more reliable, But I'm willing to compromise for the evening," she said as she slipped it into her ear and watched her junior do the same. In response to the copper stallions remark, Tangent simply said, "I couldn't agree more. We should fan out. I assume you both have some way of improving your vision in the dark?" she asked.

Meanwhile, Lope waited patiently. Though Strong Copper had been suspicious of him only a few minutes earlier, Lope was actually coming to like this pony. He seemed sensible, and from the sounds of it, he wanted to avoid an argument as much as Lope did. Tangent also seemed less temperamental tonight, as she accepted the griffon's way of doing things with little fuss. He hadn't known her to be this docile in the past. Maybe it was the surprise of cooperation catching her off guard?

"Copper, cover Southside. Lighthoof, take North. I'll cover East. Blackclaw, you're on West. Your aerial reconnaissance will be valuable, so I hope you came ready to spend a couple hours in the air. Don't be stupid. Any of you. If you see something suspicious, call it in before you investigate. The last thing we need is someone injured or worse on  what should be a simple investigation. Everyone clear?" Ok, so maybe the idea of running a team was starting to go to her head a little...

Hi! I read your character app, and while I don't have any ideas off the top of my head, I bet we could figure something out! My character log is linked below which has a list of all the characters I play! If you see any you think would be a good match, I'm open to RPing with you (I love RP, but be warned, I tend to get swamped with homework because silly me can't work when he's not stressed for some strange reason xD ; P)! If nopony on the list strikes you, I love making new characters, too, so if you have any ideas, I am sure I can come up with somecreature to introduce!

Let me know what you decide! And feel free to contact me on Discord (I respond a lot quicker there hahaha)!

Hahaha I relate!

"Playin' it safe, eh little filly?" Dartmouth responded. "Probably a good call." He flipped over a card for himself. An ace, which, when he played it with a value of one, gave him a perfect 21. "Well well well, looks like a perfect score for me! Hope you ponies can tie it up as neatly as me, or that's another win for ol' Dartmouth." He smirked, satisfied with his hand, and then went around the table again. Reflection asked for another, hit figuring there was nothing to lose, and was right. Her card was a six, causing her to bust. Kara's turn once again. 

Cloudy contemplated the schedule. She certainly wanted the full experience, but three-and-a-half hours was a long time to wait for a show to even start... She did love foals, though... But the foals would probably be focused on Windy, and might find it odd to have some random pegasus there. It would probably be best if she came at 5:00 when the VIPs made their way in. Although, Windy might be more asking her to come early rather than inviting. Would it be rude of her to not come at 3:30? She didn't want to insult her new friend! Ok, 3:30 it was, then. She would bring something to keep herself entertained. Perhaps a book or something! She could get in some reading time! That was something she needed to do more of anyway...

When the waitress returned, Cloudy was about to ask for a refill when Windy ordered herself and Cloudy two slices each of strawberry silk pie. "Oh, thank you!" she said to Windy. She hadn't looked at the price on the desert, figuring she wouldn't be having any, but--- wait, she hadn't looked at the prices for anything! She had been so caught up in the conversation that she had forgotten to see how much things cost! That certainly wasn't like her! Normally (and especially on trips), the prices were the first thing she checked! She budgeted things out neatly so that she always had enough to do what she wanted to do, and sometimes a little left over to go back in the piggy bank. But this time she had forgotten to see how much her meal cost! She was certain she had enough in her souvenir fund to cover it, but it still made her uneasy not knowing how much she was spending.

She requested a refill in addition to the pie, then waited for the waitress to leave before asking Windy, "Um... I sorta forgot to look at the prices when I was ordering... How much does the pie cost?" she was a bit embarrassed to ask, as that was generally poor etiquette, but she felt like she needed to put her mind at least somewhat at ease by know how much more she was spending on desert. 

Twinkle Dawn sipped as she listened to his tale. He mentioned the aurora, another of her favorite sky phenomena, and also the subject of light pollution, which she was actually quite passionate about. Light pollution could interrupt her connection with the stars, which infuriated her. "I bet it's beautiful! And I bet you can see the Northern Stars, as well! I've only seen them once, when I took a zeppelin trip. It was magnificent!"

He then brought up the fact that she had foreseen his coming, and she sat up a bit straighter, the subject of her profession now entering the conversation formally. "The stars didn't say much about you in particular. My horoscope read that I should expect a strange visitor, and no offense to you, but I do believe you fit their description! You are a most interesting unicorn! But if it is a premonition you seek, a premonition I can provide. I have numerous ways of reading futures, be it through tarot cards, tea leaves, observation of the sky, or dream interpretations. Would you like to know what the heavens believe about your future?" She ended in a slightly mysterious voice, looking at him with a mischievous smirk as she took another sip of her tea. 

Tangent Line

Their cooperation was... weird. Normally, S.T.A.R. agents weren't nearly so docile in yielding control of an investigation, especially if they were one of the members who hadn't been made aware of S.M.I.L.E.'s existence, which most hadn't. There was a growing awareness of one another within each agency, but there were still many from either side who hadn't heard of the other. She herself wouldn't have known S.T.A.R. existed if she hadn't nearly gotten into a firefight with several agents on a mission during her junior days. Subsequent run-ins became more common, and now it was getting to the point that S.T.A.R. was threatening to make S.M.I.L.E. obsolete. But not if she could help it! S.M.I.L.E. was her life, and her parents' before her. She refused to let it die out during her lifetime. 

She had to take a beat to respond, having a response prepared months in advance for opposition, but nothing prepared for cooperation. "Well then, as long as we're all in agreement that S.M.I.L.E. will be running point on this, let's fledge out a four-pon-- er, four-creature plan. My standard investigative process is to learn everything we can about the case before arriving on scene. Then my partner and I gather our own clues, first in the field to see if we can find the source of trouble right off the bat, and then if we have to we turn to interviews and interrogation. Naturally, we don't do this first because we try to keep a low profile. However, with you two not under that restraint, we might be able to gather information tomorrow more effectively. Until then, we should fan out. I have a spell I use to communicate with my partner up to a mile away. With your permission, I'll cast it on you two, as well, and that way we can relay information from four different areas of the town." She kept a cool head and voice, so nopony would have guessed it, but she was actually beginning to enjoy herself. It felt a little like directing a team rather than a partnership, something she aspired to do within the agency one day. Her voice, however, conveyed only command and field experience. 

Lope Lighthoof

So far, nothing interesting had happened. The two of them stuck close together as they went down alleys, through back areas of the street, mostly patrolling areas where a pony could be easily isolated. In particular, Tangent wanted to investigate sewage grates and other holes in the ground through which a pony could feasibly fit. If her hypothesis was correct, that's where their culprits would be taking the MIA ponies. "If we don't find anything tonight, then we'll take a trip down there tomorrow after a little rest," she told him. He was already starting to yawn, and the thought of staying up even later into the day didn't sound pleasant, so he was glad she added the stipulation about resting first.

As they trotted along, Lope thought he heard something behind them. His head whipped around, his training kicking in. Tangent proceeded on her path, not noticing until several seconds later that she had left him behind. "Lighthoof! Come on!" she whisper-yelled to him.

"Just a second! I think I heard something!" he replied with identical volume.

Tangent Line

So far, they hadn't stumbled upon any evidence that would confirm her hypothesis as to who the culprits might be, but that didn't necessarily mean there wasn't any. Tomorrow they would interview family members of the missing ponies and then take a venture into the sewers to search for clues. But for the time being, they patrolled the streets, hoping to catch the creature and end this case as soon as possible. 

As they journeyed down one alleyway, she became aware that Lighthoof was no longer with her. A wave of panic went through her momentarily until a quick look around revealed that he had simply stopped several feet back. "Lighthoof! Come on!" she called quietly to him. He relayed that he had heard something, and she trotted back to him, intrigued. The alleyway appeared to be devoid of anypony (or anycreature for that matter) other than themselves, but they checked behind a couple of trash cans just in case. "I think it's dark enough for that night vision spell now," he suggested. She looked up at the sky to assess the light. The spell she had been taught in her training was very useful at night, but could have painful effects if used when there was too much light around. She didn't have the skill to cast more advanced vision spells that could be adapted to various lighting conditions, unfortunately, so they had to wait until after sundown to use it. "I think so. It's dark enough that I'm having a hard time making out acute details now, so we should be good." Her horn glowed momentarily and she touched it to Lighthoof's forehead, then focused instead upon herself. When her light diminished, the alleyway was much brighter, as was everything else. They reexamined the alley again before deciding to move on. "Best stay alert, though. Just because we didn't find anything doesn't mean it was nothing," she said as they continued to trot. 

Welcome to Canterlot.com! I totally know what you mean with it being a hyper fixation! While I don't have ADHD (as proven by reaction to stimulants like adderall :|||), I go through some pretty intense phases! MLP is the one I'm in right now hahaha (which can be kind of a bad thing because it's hard to do homework when MLP is so readily available on Netflix...)

Pinkie Pie is amazing! I love her! I personally join Wziela in swinging to Rainbow Dash, but Pinkie Pie's personality has always been a highlight of the series for me!

Anyway, welcome to the website!

Lope Lighthoof

And there it was. The S.T.A.R. card. He turned away his head as his superior began to speak.

Tangent Line

"What is S.T.A.R. doing on this case? This is clearly a sign of monster activity, which puts it under S.M.I.L.E. jurisdiction." She was trying to remain civil for the time being. Best not to get into an argument with a griffon carrying a dark magical gauntlet. But having somepony else jump in last minute on her investigation made her skin crawl worse than that artifact did. "And as for your question," she said, turning to the copper pony, "we're not entirely sure. We have several theories based on the creature's reported behavior, but no real leads other than spooked ponies. Like you said, most of our intel is coming from ponies who thought they saw something. Doesn't mean there's any monsters necessarily, but we were dispatched to assess the situation regardless. There's a possibility it's linked to the same powers that corrupted Stygian or Luna, though it's unknown whether those powers are still lurking around Equestria, and if they are, it's unknown if they have enough concentrated power to take shape yet. The most likely locations for it to be found are in areas where moonlight and torchlights aren't corrupting the darkness, like in alleyways or under porches, etc." She then turned back to the griffon. "In other words, this is most likely the work of a monster, and not a pony. Which makes it a S.M.I.L.E. case, not a S.T.A.R. case. Unless of course, you want to use your gauntlet as bait. I'm sure a creature of dark magic would love to suck the energy from that infernal thing."

Lope Lighthoof

Lope was impressed with Tangent. Though her irritation was obvious, for the most part she hadn't condescended (except maybe to the griffon towards the end there), and she hadn't really told off the other two creatures for stepping on her case. With Strong Copper, it made a bit of sense. He was a private eye, from the looks of it, and one who specialized in their kind of work, so she probably didn't have any good reason to tell him off. But with S.T.A.R. agents, she usually wasn't so kind. 

Cloudy followed Windy into the maze, trying again to keep him in between her and Sanda. Being from Neighpon explained a bit... Actually, no it didn't. She had no clue where that was. It didn't sound like Equestria, though. "I'm a born and raised Cloudsdale-ite. I still live there. I work in the weather factory as a technician," she said with a little pride, calling attention to the mechanic's goggles on her forehead. "What do you do?" she asked, hoping to receive an explanation for all the scarring, and hopefully something along the lines of tragic accidents that in no way had to do with warfare. 

Then she heard something. A voice? Could be. Probably just other maze runners. She shrugged it off.

Dartmouth chuckled once again at her enthusiasm, but proceeded to deal her another card.

On the second time around, one of the other ponies busted, but the others managed to stay below the critical number, with one older gentlecolt even landing on a perfect 20. With a four and a seven, Reflection asked for a hit. A six. Now it was once again Kara's turn.

Tangent Line

Though he hadn't answered her question directly, Tangent assumed that if he was hunting monsters and talking with a griffon who actually had been sent by order of the princess, he could be trusted. She sighed, and removed her S.M.I.L.E. badge. "My name is Tangent Line, and this is Lope Lighthoof. We're agents of the crown as well, here hunting the same thing you two are. While Princess Sparkle isn't necessarily aware of our presence, she is aware of our organization and has given approval for the League to deploy agents as it sees fit, which in this case, is here. No, I am not allowed to answer any other questions about the League or who we are, unless you'd like a lovely memory-altering spell to help you forget you even saw us when this is all over. And now that you know who I am (she turned to the griffon), do you mind showing me a permit for that item there? Dark magic like that is normally kept under strict lock and key, not given to reckless privateers to use as a flashlight." The aura was making her skin crawl just as badly, a sensation she had only felt when finding out a threat was much bigger than she could have imagined, like when what was thought to be some kind of basilisk in the Whitetale Woods had turned out to be a hydra. The pony sending in the report just hadn't gotten close enough to see more than one head. She also turned her curiosity to the copper stallion. "And as for you, if you're a monster hunter, you must have some kind of credentials other than a cutie mark. Do you have some kind of license? Like you said, this can be a dangerous line of work."

Lope Lighthoof

Lope, meanwhile, was blissfully unaware of the gauntlet's dark nature, having no horn to feel its aura through. If his partner was serious about it, though, then that meant it was probably bad news. He mostly just hoped that her confession had differed suspicion from him. He didn't like being accused of things. He was generally good-natured and likable. Then again, he generally didn't meet ponies in dark alleyways. He was also busy praying to Celestia this wasn't about to become an argument of jurisdiction. It was one thing for them to be told to go home for being out when they shouldn't. They were used to that kind of thing. Usually Tangent would just cast a spell to change his coat and mane colors and he would go about as a different stallion for the rest of the night. But for someone to tell them to challenge their authority, even indirectly, usually got Tangent fired up pretty quickly. She put a lot of time and research into cases before going out into the field, and was never anything less than furious when she was told it had been for nothing because she didn't have authority over the case. Hopefully, the four of them would be able to work together, pool their talents, and catch whatever this thing was so that they could get home sooner and he could sleep.

As the two ponies were unpacking and setting up home base, the inevitable quiz of materials in the case file came. Lope was able to answer most of his senior's questions, but stumbled or just plain forgot the answers to a few, for which she scolded him. "You need to know the case inside and out if you ever want to be a senior agent, Lighthoof. Knowing your enemy is the first rule of war, and knowing all the facts of the case is the first rule of investigation. It's how we add monsters to our suspects list. For instance, all of these disappearances took place at night, and since they were on the east side of town, it's likely that they took place in the evening before the sun was fully set. That tells us a lot about our culprit. It's nocturnal, but an early riser, and it either can't or won't go into the sun. So there's a possibility it's a giant spider. However, we also know that there weren't any signs surrounding the disappearances, so it's possible these are kidnappings. But out in a rural community, with no ransoms, what would be the motive for kidnapping three full-grown ponies?"

Lope thought for a minute. "Well, the only reason I could think of would be for food, but you're the senior investigator, and if you're asking that, then that means it was probably more complex than just food. Plus, there hasn't been any blood found, and no one reported hearing screams. So it was probably someone who kidnapped them and got them to go quietly. But that still leaves motive... Perhaps a creature like Tirek who wants to drain their magic? But then, why kidnap them? Why not just take it then and there?" then an idea struck him. "Are there any cave systems nearby?"

As usual, Line was impressed. "That, I think, is one of the first things we should know. However, the sun is beginning to go down, and we need to be out on the field when that happens. So it will have to wait until tomorrow. Remember, we stick together tonight. Can't risk one of us getting snatched with no one to see."

"Right. Shall we go for a stroll then?" He offered his hoof in a mock-gentlemanly way. Tangent smirked a little at him, but walked by his outstretched foreleg. He followed her down the stairs of the motel and out onto the street. For now, they would need to stick to the alleyways and avoid suspicion. After curfew, however, they should be relatively free to roam, so long as they didn't make too big a deal out of it. They reviewed their stories in the event that they got caught, and set out for the east edge of town.

Cloudy sipped her soup as she let the other mare talk (for once), and then swallowed before speaking. "Ooooh I can't wait! I just know it's going to be awesome!" she said, clapping her hooves together excitedly. "What time should I be there tomorrow? I don't want to be late..." she said, removing a notepad and pen and then flipping through pages of checklists and packing lists until she came to a page entitled, "Las Pegasus Vacation Ideas". She poised her pen above the page, ready to take down the time.

Twinkle Dawn gave a bit of a chuckle at the idea of Princess Luna running a school for gifted unicorns. She couldn't see such a moody pony being patient enough to teach a bunch of foals how to properly channel their aura. Of the princesses, Luna had been her favorite. That is, until the day of her discharge. That was they day she became her least favorite, next to Twilight, of course. Luna's divination power had rendered Twinkle's apparently useless. Eclipses were bad omens, and Luna had eclipsed her. It hurt her more than anything for her favorite princess, the one she looked up to the most for her beautiful night, to turn her flanks on her so quickly. So much for the element of loyalty...

When Blizzard mentioned the book about Luna's escape from the moon, Dawn's ears perked up. "Are you referring to Predictions and Prophecies? That is one of my favorites! Though, most of the premonitions in it are now outdated, having come true or missed the projected date. I have to admit, though, it truly was magical to see. Instead of going to the Summer Sun Celebration in the Gardens, I stayed here in the observatory to watch for the great escape. I had already informed Celestia of the impending breakout, and she assured me there was nothing to fear, that Nightmare Moon would be put back where she belonged in the event that she ever escaped. I assumed at the time that meant Celestia intended to renew her sentence to the moon, but clearly I was wrong. Even so, you should have seen the signs leading up to the night it happened! I've never seen the stars and planets so active and excited! So many predictions and whisperings, more visions than I've ever had! It was like as the solstice neared, my power to interpret the heavens increased tenfold. 

"Then, I happened to be looking down my telescope when it happened. It was unreal. The moon glowed extremely brightly for less than half a second, and then when I put my eye back to see what had happened, most of the craters on its surface had literally vanished without a trace. It was like nothing I've ever seen! I was awestruck for weeks over it! Where were you when it happened?"

She took a sip of tea excitedly as she finished.