Expedition to the Stars (Private) [Dead]

[Oopsie Daisy]

♛ Twilight Sparkle ♛
Reaching out for no man's land, to take a breath and take a chance
I'd walk a thousand nights to change the world

---

The Castle of the Two Sisters - Saturday, 4:00 pm

- - -

"Hmmm.. I've never heard of this book before.."

It was hard being an avid book lover and knowledge enthusiast currently being busy moving books from the old Castle of the Two Sisters to her own brand new castle (with the help of her friends, of course) and having to resist reading several that caught her eye. So, she didn't resist, and instead settled down on a large cushion and spread out one particular book that had instantly interested her.

It was old and dusty, and was titled: "Conjurly Illusion's Extensive Guide to the Magical Readings of the Night Sky - Volume 2". This sounded pretty good to Twilight, as anything this old was well worth a read, and the title definitely aroused her curiosity. Especially since she'd never heard of this.. "Conjurly Illusion". So she got comfortable and prepared for a good read.

The book was full of fascinating astrological facts (most of them Twilight already knew) and had plenty of old dates and good stargazing locations recorded. One particularly odd thing about it was that a previous reader had seemed to have written in the blank spaces and had stuck notes in-between the pages. Such disrespectful graffiti usually really bothered Twilight, but she found herself reading them, too, as whatever had been scrawled into the paper seemed to be relevant and even important. Especially when she discovered that it was Starswirl the Bearded himself who had written the notes! The purple alicorn's eyes widened and she leaned in closer to read the notes intensely. Most of them were recorded meteor shower sightings and constellations, but they were still absolutely fascinating to her. Especially since one of the notes finished with, "..I will need to look into this at my observatory."

"His WHAT?!" She gasped aloud. What observatory?? Howcome she'd never heard of it before?! She absolutely needed to look more into this more, so without further ado the young alicorn was eagerly skimming through the pages and notes, desperate to find any inkling of where this apparent observatory might be. But soon she reached the end, and hadn't found anything. A disappointed pout fell on her face, before her eyes travelled to a rather odd-looking shelf that seemed to be filled with other old and obscure books on things like science, history and magic. So she rose to her feet and walked towards the shelf, seeing that most of the books were covered in dust and cobwebs, making them rather hard to see. Blowing on them wasn't the best idea as she ended up coughing and spluttering all over the place, but it was worth it when her bright eyes settled upon the books. Wasting no more time, she brought them into the air with her magic, and began reading through them all at an alarming pace: quickly moving them in front of her to skim through every set of scrawled notes she could fine. All of them seemed to have been written by Starswirl, who certainly seemed to like recording everything he thought was relevant to the information in the books. Little scribbles and doodles on all kinds of findings and personal reminders. Surely there had to be something on that-

Ears pricked, eyes widened, jaw dropped open. Perfect timing. "Aha!" she exclaimed aloud, peering at what appeared to be a list of good locations to build an observatory across an old Equestria map in the middle of the book. A few locations had been circled with runny ink, and it was a good indication that at least one of these areas were where this fabled observatory was situated. The book shut instantly as all the other ones dropped to the ground around her, and she began running back to the main library where all her friends were, holding the book in the air in front of her for all to say.

"Girls!" she panted, bounding energetically towards them all. "You have got to see this.."

---

Twilight's Castle - Monday, 12:25 pm

- - -

It was a particularly bright and sunny Spring afternoon in Ponyville. The air was filled with sweet birdsong and the town was bustling with activity as ponies moved to and from the many shops and buildings, busy with whatever errands and jobs they had going on that day. One particular purple pony Princess was rather busy herself, trotting to and from the many rooms of her new castle, deciding on what she needed to pack and plan for a certain planned trip. Luckily the castle was twice the size of her previous quaint little library-tree home, so no one outside of it would be able to hear her frustrated grunts and loud pacing and rushing about from within. Those on the inside, however, were less fortunate.

"UGHHH. Aero, did you see where did I put my new swan-feather quill?! I swear I left it on the desk in my bedroom, but it seems to have just.. vanished! Have you re-checked the checklist yet? Is there anything I've forgotten, besides that darn quill?" she sighed with frustration, looking to her bodyguard with a similar expression she often gave Spike when she was stressing out before a big event, test or trip. She didn't stress quite as easily (or quite as to-the-extreme..) as she used to, but one couldn't expect her to just stop worrying. Especially when it came to big, epic adventures which required a lot of preparation. She hated being so overbearing, but luckily her always helpful and collected personal guard could put up with it and accepted her often awkward and annoying behaviour graciously. With Spike away on royal business, she greatly appreciated the help and understanding.

- - -

After much fussing, fretting, stressing, and generally just being Twilight.. the two were finally on their way through town towards the hot air balloon port. The trains hadn't been running to Ponyville for the last couple of days due to maintenance work, so she'd hired a large balloon for herself and her friends. It was a shame Pinkie and Fluttershy hadn't been able to accompany them, but they were just too busy. But it was still going to be loads of fun! The purple alicorn had been sure to pack her saddlebags with everything she thought she'd need - including many books, journals, maps, notes... and of course the swan-feather quill she'd eventually managed to find (under her bed..). She'd told Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash to meet them there at 1pm, and it just so happened to be one on the dot when she and Aero arrived. She looked up at the beautiful blue and purple balloon with awe and excitement: she always really enjoyed travelling in them. The balloonist was quick to greet them as she instantly remembered that it was Princess Twilight and her friends who had booked the largest balloon for the day. Twilight told her they were going to wait for them first, and the kindly earth mare was more than happy to let them wait a little longer.

Trying to keep her excitement hidden was proving difficult for Twilight who could barely sit still as they waited. An adventure like this with some of her closest friends was just what she had been yearning. There was no doubt they were in for an adventure of a lifetime.

---

OOC: WHOOOOOOOOO, here it finally is! Sorry it took so long, but it's finally here! CableZ is to post first with Aero, but after that you guys can post with your manes in whatever order. No rush, and no need to make your's as tediously long as mine is: it was just to get the story and setting up and running. ^^

[CableZ]

This new castle was another world to the library that Aero had become accustomed to in his short time serving as Twilight's royal guard. He'd managed to get lost in its crystalline halls six times in the first day, minor instances of taking the wrong turn but it was the indication of how large it really was. The downsides of the castle were few and far between the vast realm of brilliance that it really was. Aero had his own room now which was pretty great, no more spare bed awkwardly placed in Twilight's bed room. He didn't have many things to fill the room with but a place to call his own was enough for him, Rarity had also been generous enough to give him a stallion mannequin to store his armour on when he wasn't wearing it.

It was going to be a busy day, late Saturday evening Twilight had come back from her little expedition to the castle of the Two Sisters to retrieve some books far more excited than usual. Aero had stayed behind to hold the fort as it were and continue moving furniture around. It had taken a while but the castle was finally looking like a home as opposed to a big crystal shell. She'd told him of some sort of observatory and somepony named Starswirl, it all flew straight over Aero's head but he knew that it meant an adventure was on it's way. As she bounded around the throne room making high pitch 'ahhhh' sounds and generally acting like an excited foal after getting some presents, Aero thought about what the next few days might entail.

Her little Dragon assistant had been called away for royal business, it wasn't uncommon but it wasn't a frequent occurrence either. While Spike was gone, Aero picked up his duties which was difficult but you'd never hear a complaint out of the pegasus. Aero rarely made mistakes, in fact that Saturday evening he only made one mistake albeit it a grave one. Asking who Starswirl the bearded was netted him a two hour lesson on the pony whom Aero came to understand was quite a big deal in unicorn history, long after Aero's time it seemed.

--

Sunday was a kind of day that Aero had come to dub "check-list" days. Twilight seemed far less about gathering things that she might need for a journey so much as writing them down on pieces of scroll and then checking that scroll, more often that not at least three or four times. Still Aero didn't mind, his jaw got a little achy from writing down so much though. Being a Pegasus lent Aero a speed at which he did things that allowed him to keep up with Twilight, ever since she learned how to use those wings properly she'd really picked up some speed. Learning to write while flying after her was just one of many skills that Aero had adopted since taking up her guard, frankly his duties as a guard were the ones that he fulfilled the least. Twilight needed no guarding. He, she and Celestia had all known this when he was assigned this duty. It was mostly a position of image, Twilight needed to be seen as protected as any other princess, plus it was safer to have a guard and not need one than need one and not have them.

Aero didn't feel demeaned by this, in fact he liked that there was very little need for a guard. Twilight was nice and friendly and from what he'd heard and seen, you'd have to be an idiot to try and take this pony on and her friends. Speaking of her friends, from what he understood four of them including Twilight would be going on a journey tomorrow. Aero was of course joining them, in fact it would be the first real time he'd meet any of them. He was looking forward to it himself, he knew he was lucky to be going on this kind of adventure with anypony let alone a princess and her closest friends. Before that however he'd be checking and rechecking list after list following after an excitable yet frantic Princess of Friendship, he couldn't imagine many ponies who travelled through time ended up like this.

--

Monday rolled around and Aero was up especially early, he had several things to attend to before Twilight woke up (if she had even slept). First things first was breakfast, usually Spike's job but he was still away and would be for the duration of the journey. The large kitchen felt like it belonged in a restaurant, Aero felt insignificant in this one room let alone the castle proper. Still there was no time to dwell on it, he'd burned too much food already this month. Making some simple yet delicious pancakes, he left them on the dining table with various sauces and the like that one might enjoy on their pancake before dashing off. He didn't stick around to watch Twilight eat the food, he just pulled on a small handle then got out of there. To help communication through the castle, there were a series of little bells connecting by little strings running through the wall. Twilight would see and hear the bell on the wall of her room, the rining bell having a little plaque that had the word "breakfast" written on it.

With Twilight fed, Aero had to move onto more specific tasks for the day. Parchment under wing like a vigilant solider with his sword, Aero got ready to scythe through his work load. The next few hours were spent flying all over gathering various items and making sure things were ready. Tickets for the balloon, Twilight's cold weather gear, various parchments and ink, a whole slew of things that Twilight wanted for her journey. Aero was efficient to a tactical degree, his military training had made him a machine at these sorts of tasks. In the lobby-qesue area of the castle, Aero assembled the goods. Neatly packed bags with folded clothes and well laid out writing paraphernalia.

It was at this point that he heard a rather familiar frustrated groan coming from the stairs, sure enough there was the princess looking annoyed and frustrated. Sadly he'd not seen the quill in question, he'd not gone into Twilight's room to tidy yet due to his busy work elsewhere. He suspected it was under her bed, she was often writing while in bed and fell asleep half way through the night.

"Not seen it I'm afraid Princess, have you checked in and around your bed?" He asked with a helpful smile, Aero always seemed to stay calm despite Twilight's neurotic tendencies.

After helping Twilight pack more of her things, Aero had one last thing to gather. It wasn't on any check-list, as this was something for him. Something he might not need, in fact he hoped he would not need. However he still wanted to take it for appearances and frankly because it looked cool. Walking into his pleasantly colourful crystalline room, Aero made a beeline to his Aero standing proud on the mannequin. Looking over the golden plates with a sigh, Aero remembered the bygone age in which both he and it had come from. However he was knocked out of his nostalgia with another loud annoyed yell by Twilight so he quickly strapped himself into the armour and dashed off.

--

Getting there on time was always something that you could rely on Twilight for, even if she didn't half faff before hand. Carrying a few extra bags than Twilight, Aero happily walked through the streets just a few paces behind Twilight's side. The ponies around town who once whispered in hushed tones about the golden pony following Twilight had now gotten to known Aero, they still enjoyed the sight of the pair walking through the street however. They'd booked the biggest balloon that the port had so Aero was interested in seeing the thing, had they been in Canterlot they might have rented a small airship for the journey which would have been really cool as Aero had wanted a chance to pilot one of those things since he'd seen them. Still perhaps another time, he was in and out of the capital a lot these days to see his girlfriend.

They made good time getting to the balloon port, by his count almost exactly on time. Seemed like none of Twilight's friends were here yet so the waiting game began. Thankful to get some of the weight off his back, Aero handed the bags to a few of the port workers to quickly wrapped the bags in very strong netting and attached it to the balloon's basket to hang over the side. There was not enough room in the balloon's basket for 5 ponies and all the luggage each of them might bring. Now without a bag to his name, Aero sat down near the excitable Twilight who was pacing around, keeping an eye out for her friends and talking about what she hoped to find. Meanwhile Aero sat in his quiet nature, almost like a statue in his armour. It was a few minutes later that Aero spotted a familiar pony.

"Isn't that one of your friends there Princess Twilight?" Aero pointed out an approaching pony.

[~Silly CC~]

~~~

Ugh... Rainbow Dash groaned, dropping another dusty pile of books into a cart being pulled back to Twilight's new castle, Why in the name of Celestia does Twilight need all these books?!? She dropped yet another pile into the cart, not looking forward to bringing that back to the castle.

Hah, castle. That still didn't roll off the tongue easily. She decided it was pretty cool, though, that castle and all, but it was definitely something to get used to. She grabbed another few books, coughing a bit at the musty smell they emanated. Shaking off a few cobwebs from her hooves, she plopped them into the full cart. Huffing a little as she descended—they had put her and Fluttershy in charge of the higher books, though Rarity and Twilight could do just the same—the fast flyer strapped the old strap around her waist (it tasted awful) and headed out the door. Making sure she steadied herself, she lifted off gingerly into the air, trying with all her might not to spill over the book pile.

She—slowly but surely—made it to the castle, dumping out the pile of books in the center of the new library room, right on top of a singing, six-pointed star. Those were everywhere around here. Rainbow Dash swiftly brought the empty cart back to the old castle of the Sisters, just in time to see Twilight rushing in with the book. Descending again, she dumped the cart off her back and looked at the title. A map. I don't get it. She soon did, though she regretted noting her confusion. What seemed like hours of tedious Twilight explanation later, the cyan pegasus was all caught up with the fabled Starswirl's Observatory. Obviously, Dash didn't understand all the hype, but she decided to keep that statement to herself. No matter how much she loved her friendship with Twilight, one long explanation was one too many.

~~~

It was early Monday morning—too early. Twilight had made them promise to leave ample time to get ready for this expedition. The speedy pegasus didn't like getting up earlier than nine—it was eight-thirty. Sure, that was only thirty minutes earlier, but to Dash, every minute counted. She definitely counted those minutes this morning, as she had already twice mixed up dental supplies with breakfast utilities. One orange juice-filled mouth and toothbrush-eaten cereal bowl later, the pegasus was groggily packing up her saddle-pack. Daring Do book? ...check... sunglasses...?... *yawn* mmhmm... she nodded off slowly, her head drooping towards the cloudy floor, but she shook herself awake and finished packing.

Now more fully awake—thanks to a few glasses of water to the face—and ready for the adventure, Rainbow Dash set the pack down by the door and went for a morning fly. The air was fresh, the breeze clean, and the clouds seemed perfectly positioned for her flight (she had put them there last night with warnings to anypony who moved them), along with nice resting spots to retrieve those thirty minutes—and then some. She couldn't resist, so her travels were halted by a few cloud-kicks and triple-flips on her fly. It was typical, but it was fun.

Passing over grassy plains, flowing rivers, and rippling fields, she enjoyed the brightness that the early morning sun gave, and let the breeze whistle in her ears as she leisurely drifted on around her fly. She was in the middle of a back glide when she noticed the sun: it was almost right above her! Twilight said be there by 1:00!!! the cyan pegasus shrieked, zipping towards Ponyville again, flipping around as easily as a bit in the air. She made it home by 12:50, panting, and grabbed her saddle pack in her teeth. She didn't even strap it on—she didn't want to be late.

~~~

'Shup, Twi? Shorry I'm— she spit out the soggy-strapped saddle bag, sorry I'm late, heh. She said more clearly, rubbing her neck with a hoof. She strapped the saddle pack around her waist and under her wings—grimacing at the cold wetness her saliva had given the strap—before smiling at her friend again. Her smile faltered as she saw the royal guard standing close by, and she flew up close to the stallion, eyeing him carefully. Who's this guy? she said, pointing a hoof at his face, And why is he here?

She looked at Twilight with wide eyes, Twilight, whaddidya do?!? the suspicious pegasus questioned, hoping her friend hadn't done anything wrong so quickly with her magic. That wouldn't be good, that wouldn't be good at all.

[ForgottenExistance]

Moving carts full of small objects was something that Applejack was very used to. Dragging carts of apples to and from the market was a piece of pie on the best of days, and on the days that involved Pinkie Pie, there was just that much pie involved. There was very little difference in hauling about a cart full of books from the Castle of the Two Sisters all the way up to Twilight's Castle. It was all just repetition; stop, load, walk, unload, walk, stop, repeat. With all the practice of hauling things on the farm, it was only sensible that Applejack had volunteered to help move the books from one castle to the other by pulling land-based carts. While not as fast as Rainbow Dash in the air, Applejack made decent time with a heavier load of books in the land cart, not having to worry about accidentally dropping all the books on some poor pony's head while in the air. 

Despite the fact that it was a relatively easy journey, they were going to be clearing out every book from that castle, or at least any that caught Twilight's eyes. Considering how much of an avid reader that Twilight was, it was no doubt that the books that caught her eyes would be...well... most of them. So that made for many trips back and forth between the two castles, bringing books, dumping them, and then bringing the cart back. They had already been there for a while, but what would have been mind-numbing work had turned out to give the girls a chance to laugh and generally cause a ruckus while they worked.

Twilight's Castle was something to behold itself, and likely something that the farmer would never get used to. Her friend, the princess, now had a castle that happened to be not even a stone's throw from Ponyville. It sure was something, and it would take some getting used to. But Applejack had to admit, Twilight having a castle to sleep in seemed a might better then living in a dusty old library. Though, with the amount of books that they were taking back from the Castle of the Two Sisters, they might as well convert Twilight's Castle to a library anyways. Not that one could really put that past Twilight, but that was entirely beside the point.

Applejack was in the middle of slipping out of the harness of the empty cart to pick up a new load of books whenever Twilight came running in with what looked like a book. Turning to the Alicorn, she was quick to ask, "What is it, Sugarcube?" curious to figure out what it was that got Twilight so excited. Now, she wasn't an expert on Unicorn history, but from how Twilight spoke of Starswirl the Bearded in the past, she had no doubt that the book was of the highest importance to Twilight. Of course, Rainbow Dash had to be the one to ask about the map, which resulted in a Twilight rant that could have lasted anywhere between an hour and a year, but ended with them all being quite educated.

---

Though they only had to meet for one in the afternoon, Applejack was up at the crack of dawn as usual. Even though she was leaving for who knew how long, she still had chores to get done, and had to make sure that everything was decently taken care of while she was away. That meant that she'd have to do a quick round of applebucking, make sure that their cows had enough food, rotate the cider barrels, make sure that Applebloom ate and got to school, and do a check through the farm to make sure that nothing was falling apart. Her Sunday had passed much in the same manner, save for sending Applebloom to school, so it wasn't much of a change of pace for her whenever Monday came and she had to get ready. The only thing that really changed on Monday was that she had to check in with Granny Smith for a chat before she left, and had to double check that Big Mac had everything taken care of.

"Now lets see here... Bags, apples, hat, boots. Flint? Eeyup, there y'are. Hmm, looks like everythin's here," the farmpony muttered to herself, giving a final check to her bags and making sure that she had everything for the trip. She wasn't sure exactly how long they'd be gone, but that map that Twilight showed them had more then a few circles on them, and they were quite a few leagues apart from each other. She had to assume that they'd be gone for a while, and packed accordingly, though tried to keep the weight to a minimum and bringing only what she thought they'd need.

Donning her worn-out stetson and kicking the bags up onto herself, she strapped them securely around herself before heading down the stairs to give a farewell to the family for the foreseeable future. She had no doubt that Big Mac could take care of things while she was gone, as long as he didn't ask Applebloom to do too much around the farm She was really a doll, but things tended to go South the moment she and the Crusaders got involved with almost anything.

After a round of hugs and reassurances, Applejack trotted out of the house eagerly, giving a happy call over her shoulder, "Take care y'all! See yah soon!" she exclaimed before turning her head forward and heading towards their meeting place, thinking that if it didn't wind up fruitful, then it would at least be a pretty fun group camping trip.

---

Applejack was trotting into view of the hot air balloon port at about the same time as an irritated rainbow-colored pegasus stuck her hoof in the face of what looked like a royal guard. Of course, the presence of a royal guard was something odd enough as it was, but Rainbow Dash gearing up like that wasn't uncommon whatsoever, so that provided at least some iota of normalcy to the situation. The amount of times that she had to stop Rainbow from charging at a problem that required patience was starting to get out of count, but at least Rainbow was reliable for those reactions. Of course, when that problem involved a royal guard, that made things a little more complicated.

Putting a bit more speed into her step, Applejack trotted over to them before stopping off to the side of Rainbow Dash, giving a curious look to the two as Rainbow asked if Twilight had done anything. The chances of their friend, who happened to be a princess, actually breaking the rules was slim to nim. This was also considering the fact that she doubted that Twilight would ever break the rules even if she wasn't a princess, at least not without a very compelling reason.

Giving a nod of greeting to them before she turned her head to Rainbow, she spoke reassuringly, "Now Rainbow, I don't think Twilight did anythin'," she spoke before turning her head to look at Twilight for confirmation, asking a more gentle, "Did yah, Twi'?" she asked, more concerned that her friend was being pulled away on royal duties then actually having committed a crime. It begged the question who the armored pony was though, and why he was there with Twilight when they were about to leave. If she was being pulled away on royal duties or something, then that was really rotten timing.

[Nimbus]

One would assume that adjusting to the fact that most of her time would be spend in the castle with the new princess would be somewhat strange, but in truth Rarity had always imagined herself spending a lot of time and even living in regal abodes, despite the reality that she had her boutique, the royal fantasy for now seemed to at least be in part reality, even though it wasn't her castle, nor was there a prince involved at all.

Normally she would have been more prepared and not left packing until the morning they were to leave, but she had been busy and of course in her true fashion, didn't know when not to accept work that other people needed from her, after all she thought she had time, and managed to get everything done, at the expense of giving up a lot of time.

Rarity checked and double checked what the arrangement for meeting was, the hot air balloon, the time, day, etc and had made a list of all the things she would need to take with her and then some. The other girls would be bringing things in preparation for Twilight's venture she had planned and would no doubt be helping the princess with her things, books and essentials for example. Rarity would have loved to have helped, but in a fashion only true to herself she had come across somewhat of a crisis; she was to pack lightly, or at least thats the gist of what was implied based on the fact they were travelling by balloon, this inevitably lead to a meltdown of sorts when she realised what she had packed that she considered essentials, somehow near enough a room full of cases and bags of varying sizes containing mainly outfits started to sound like perhaps she had a few things she could put aside for her travels. "I suppose I ought to travel lighter, but that would mean I have to sacrifice at least one of those darling chapeaus" she thought to herself as she walked around her luggage, opening some of them up and reviewing what was inside...

As the time to depart drew closer she was getting more and more flustered because so far she had only managed to pull aside one bow, two scarves and a single shawl she could bear to part with. That is when it had all unravelled for her, she didn't know what to take anymore and then she considered what the others would inevitably be taking, or at least how little they were likely to take, and that caused a dilemma, she panicked and thought to herself that out of the multitude of packed cases bags and totes that she could only really take, at a push three things, and that would only entail one larger piece of luggage and whatever she could carry.

The daunting nature of her situation had suddenly dawned on her, "how?" she thought to herself "how on earth do I decide what to take? These? These? What about those? Dear Celestia I just don't know!"  By this point she was frantically trying to pack and to be reasonable, anyone who would have seen her at this point would simply have seen a unicorn frantically unpacking large cases into one smaller one and then fretting that perhaps her things could be creased and that it wouldn't drop out when she wore it.
"THERE!" she said, believing herself to have packed effectively, she stared down at her case, bulging and pulling open, spilling things everywhere. Rarity of corse being a drama queen, burst into tears and slumped by her garments, now all over her floor, acting as if her world was coming to an end, and to her, it was.

In a brief moment of clarity she managed to compose herself and stand up, looking again at what was in front of her, saddlebags, two to be exact, and one smaller case, she was determined this was all she would need, but then she looked at all the things she wanted to take, and with a heavy heart, she didactically began to sort through it as best she could, the pain evident each time she had to put something to one side. As time went on this became a frantic session of throwing things onto piles, that were oddly neat, in true Rarity fashion. From under one of these piles came a muffled meow, clearly she hadn't given any thought to the fact Opal was around and was in fact buried under a mountain of discarded summer wear and unnecessary sun hats, dashing past she managed to utter "not now opal, mommy's busy losing her sanity over appropriate attire". The cat of course dug its way out from underneath with no help from the frantic fashionista.

With great pain she had finally packed her small case, a triumphant grin across her now exhausted face, then came the easy part; saddlebags, it was always the same things she kept in there, she didn't even need to list them to herself anymore, it was autonomous that she knew what to take. Luckily she had gotten up early that morning on the day of departure, knowing she would encounter her own inability to make a simple decision over what to wear in any less than a couple of hours, add on her morning rituals to get her looking her best and you've got a good few hours. Yet still, she was slightly later than she had wanted to be leaving.

Walking out and towards the hot air balloon port that they had agreed to meet at, she donned her best summer had and a pair of lovely sunglasses to match the pastel pink accent of the otherwise lavender coloured garment. She moved as fast as she could whilst maintaining her usual classy demeanour. The balloon in sight she could see Twilight there already, Applejack too and... a royal guard? Rarity was puzzled but assumed it was royal business, Twilight being a princess now and all, not exactly any surprise that some pony would turn up dawning the guards uniform at some point, but at this point there seemed to be a commotion of sorts.

"Terribly sorry I'm a tad late darlings, I had somewhat of a setback this morning regarding the logistics of getting what I wanted on this..." She said, approaching the group without really paying attention to what was going on, when she did notice, she stopped, noting that something was amiss , she raised an eyebrow confused, glancing from Rainbow Dash, Applejack and then to Twilight before looking at the guard pony that seemed to be hanging around"... journey with me,  Oh dear I do wonder, what's going on, Twilight? Has something happened? And who might I ask is this?" 
she asked in regards to the other pony in the presence of her and her friends
"I don't recall seeing you before, have we met? 


She set her things down and joined her friends awaiting the others, despite her troubles this morning she was looking forward to the trip ahead of them. Now only if she knew what was going on... That and she was plagued by the thought she may had forgotten her favourite scarf should the weather take a turn but then it was a balloon, and it may be windy. In retrospect she wondered if the hat was such a good idea after all... "Too late now" she thought to herself