It was a normal day in Ponyville. Twilight Sparkle and her dragon assistant Spike were busily rearranging the books in the library where they lived. Twilight had a bit of an obsession with keeping things organized. Sometimes a lack of organization or a mess up in scheduling could cause an onset of neurosis. It had happened once before, and she had nearly lost all of her friends because of it.

So every week, she made it a point to make sure everything was organized and her schedule was all set, so as to combat the neurotic cravings. She didn't know where they came from, but they could happen at the oddest of times. She took a look at the clipboard that was magically hovering above her horn. OK…that's done…that's done…that's done…AH! She screamed internally, I haven't written Celestia once this week! Oh, no! Not again! Then she stopped short. Wait a minute…she said I didn't have to write her every week. Whew! Crisis averted.

"Yo, Twilight!" Spike called, "where did you want this 'Equine Histories of the World' book? I know it goes in the history section, but is it in the pony history subsection or the world history subsection?"

"Uh…go ahead and put it in the middle. It kinda bridges the gap!" She called back. Then she took a step back and looked around at her collection of books. It was massive, and she'd read almost all of them. All of them, except one. There was a book in her collection that Princess Celestia herself had made her swear up and down she would never read. Of course, that didn't mean her curiosity wasn't piqued. After all, she was a young pony, and young ponies are always curious about such things.

The book was called "The Movement," and, though her strive for knowledge had always caused a bit of a magnetic attraction to the book, she had kept her promise to the princess. Celestia had told her that the book was full of things that no pony should ever see except for the princess herself. She considered it classified information.

But then…why would she leave the book with me? I mean, why have a book if you're not gonna read it? Twilight asked herself. It was a truly puzzling situation. But, no matter. I'll have time to ponder this later. Right now, it's time to relax.

With the shelving and organization done, she sent Spike off to the market to pick up some things for their home. Once he was gone, she pulled out one of her favorite Daring Do adventure stories and poured herself a cup of tea. She curled up in bed and began reading. She had always enjoyed these stories and had even introduced her friend Rainbow Dash to them.

She had barely started in chapter one when Spike came running back in hurriedly. "Twilight! Twilight!" He shouted. Twilight leapt out of bed and raced downstairs. "Spike, what's going on? You sound as if Ponyville's been set ablaze!"

"Twilight, I've just received a letter from Celestia. It's been marked 'urgent!'"

Twilight knew the princess would never mark a letter to her unless it truly was of the utmost importance. So she ripped the seal off the scroll and used her magic to open it. "Hm…it says here Celestia wants to see me in Canterlot immediately. She also says, 'no matter what, do not bring your friends.'"

The young pony looked up as curiosity flashed all over her purple eyes. What could this mean? Why didn't Celestia want her to bring her friends? She had always been welcoming to them before. Wasn't the whole point of coming to Ponyville to learn about "the magic of friendship?"

"Well…I guess when the princess calls, we answer. Come on, Spike. Pack your things. And don't tell anypony where we're going, OK?"

"Not even-"

"No, Spike."

"OK," Spike said. He had hoped that at least Rarity would come along. He had been itching to spend time alone with the white coated, blue eyed beauty that had stolen his heart. Unfortunately, it seemed Celestia had other ideas. So Spike and Twilight packed their things into a couple of saddlebags. "Alright," she said, "let's go."

They had just enough time to catch the mid-afternoon train to the city in the sky. Twilight always wondered why they called it that. It wasn't really in the sky, it was more hanging off the side of the biggest mountain in Equestria. But that's what they called it and they stuck with it. Then again, there are a lot of things about this world I don't understand, she said to herself as they arrived at the train station, like why do ponies keep pets? We're animals, too. Why do some animals talk and some don't? The cows talk, but the goats don't. The sheep talk, but the cats don't. It doesn't make any sense!

"Uh, Twilight?" Spike asked

"Just a minute"

"But-"

"Not now, Spike!"

"TWILIGHT!" Spike yelled

"What?!" Twilight snapped back.

"We're gonna miss the train," Spike pointed out. The conductor was waving his hoof and letting ponies on board. "Oh, gosh!" Twilight said in frustration. It looked as if questioning the things that were off about the world would have to wait. She and Spike boarded and the train took off…