A year and a half ago, Twilight received a summons from the Princesses. Her expertise were badly needed, and she and Spike were to come immediately. However, the letter read, this was not to be an official visit. She was to tell no one where she was going and she was to leave on foot. She packed her bags, and would have left right then if not for a little nagging problem.
Rarity was in the Library, and refused to leave so Twilight could close. "You simply MUST, darling," she begged. "I need them so BADLY," she pleaded. After several minutes of this, Twilight lost her temper.
"Fine! If I give you wings again, will you shut up and leave?" Rarity was shocked by this response, but nodded slowly. Twilight cast the spell, and ran off with her Dragon. "Lock the door on the way out!" She never looked back to see that the spell had gone horribly wrong.
Rarity had received her beautiful wings, but was left only a few inches tall.
She would have fixed it upon her return, I would imagine, but she never got the chance. On route to Canterlot the pair were ambushed and Spike was badly wounded. Twilight Sparkle, on the other hand, disappeared.
Today, Spike returns to Ponyville for the first time. Celestia gave him a simple assignment, to bring the Element-bearers to the castle as quickly as possible. He's the director of a new organization, dedicated to seeking out and destroying an emerging threat and he reports solely to the Princesses.
He is Spike Fury, Agent of H.O.O.F
The five ponies were brought before the Princesses, the dual avatars of ponykind, Celestia and Luna. Without a word, they were separated, and the Princesses took their champions to separate chambers. Fluttershy followed Luna, and went deep into the catacombs below the Castle.
"My sister told me how you fared with that dragon in Ponyville" The Princess began, "And we need you to repeat your success." Fluttershy stuttered her response.
"What do you mean, Your Majesty?"
"We need you to go to the dragon-lands, and raise an army to help us in the coming battle."
"Battle? Army?" Fluttershy stuttered again "I mean…Why can't you do it?"
"My sister and I are occupied with other matters." Fluttershy gulped. "There's just one problem. The dragons have no king."
Luna continued talking as they arrived in a room with a giant domed ceiling, and symbols drawn on the floor. The floor was littered with large, bleached bones.
"These are his bones. They've been buried for thousands of years, but we need them in order to give you an edge in your coming trials. Stand in the center"
Fluttershy was frozen, and the princess had to push her across the room. Luna smiled. "You're going to be given a great gift, that few ponies ever receive. You will no longer be pony, but neither will you be dragon. You will be something in between and yet so much greater."
Luna began chanting, and the room was filled with a magnificent green glow—a glow whitch filled the timid mare and raised her into the air. The bones shook with a powerful tremor, and burst apart, filling the room with a thick white dust.
When the dust settled, however, Fluttershy was no different. The Princess frowned. Their experiment was a failure, and the bones were destroyed
"There's nothing we can do. We need you to be our ambassador, whether you be pony or dragon and whether not you can be their queen.
"Go to their lands, and bring them together. We have great trust in you, Fluttershy. Stay calm and let your instincts guide you. You will find a way."