Disclaimer- MLP: FiM does not, in any way, belong to me.

Chapter 1

Back in Ponyville, the entire town was preparing for the inevitable Pinkie party that was about to ensue. The town hall had been decked out with streamers and balloons in so many different colors it almost hurt to look at it for too long. Cakes, cupcakes, and cookies were being ferried in by the cartload, directed by Mr. and Mrs. Cake themselves. The center of the hall had been cleared to make an enormous dance floor, complete with giant stereo system manned by DJ Scratch. The pink purveyor of parties was busy bouncing around and moving her mouth at approximately 100.5 miles per hour.

"Omigosh this is gonna be the biggest, most wonderful, stupendous, huge-a-rific party EVER! Can you guys believe we saved a whole empire? Not just any empire but the Crystal Empire! I mean, how many ponies can say they saved an empire? Well, it was mostly Spike that did the saving but still! My favorite part was the flugelhorn. Oh! And the crystal berries and the jousting and the…"

The remaining five best friends expressed their excitement in slightly different fashions.

Rainbow Dash was looping around, re-living her favorite moments in her head. "Did you see how awesome I looked in that armor? Those crystal ponies really know how to have a good time."

Rarity and Applejack were slightly more modest. Rarity was still disappointed her crystal mane had disappeared. Applejack, on the other hoof, was glad she hadn't stayed like that; she had lost her beloved hat to the crystal transition.

Fluttershy, as usual, did not do a lot of talking, but smiled and enjoyed her friends company.

Twilight was simply relieved that the Princess had understood the circumstances and permitted her to continue her studies. Not only that, but she had also said something about moving on to the next level of her studies! Twilight couldn't wait to learn more about her favorite subject from her favorite teacher, and had told her friends as much.

"That's great, Twilight. I know y'all'll do just fine," Applejack said in her southern accent.

"Yes, of course, darling. We all have complete faith in you," was Rarity's contribution.

"Thanks, girls. I couldn't have made it this far without you." Twilight blushed slightly.

Pinkie defused the sappiness of the situation in an instant by popping into the conversation out of nowhere. "C'mon, girls! No time for debatin', let's get to celebratin'!"

The others heartily agreed.

The entire town participated in the festivities; town hall practically vibrated from the energy and excitement emanating from the various ponies. The music thumped along in sync with the crowd, until the building seemed it might collapse from bass waves pounding against its structure. There was happiness and joy in abundance that night for the residents of Ponyville as they played, talked, laughed, and danced the night away.

However, even Pinkie's parties had to come to a close, and as the night wore on, the crowd started to disperse. In just a few hours, Pinkies constant dancing, playing, and merry-making had tired out most of the town, leaving the six friends on their own while the DJ packed up, bobbing her head to a tune in her headphones.

They gathered in the center of the town hall to rest from and discuss yesterday's events.

"I wonder what Princess Celestia meant when she said 'the next level of my studies,'" Twilight said to no pony in particular.

"I bet it's some super-awesome magic only the princesses know about!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"More powerful than friendship and the Elements of Harmony?" Twilight sounded dubious.

"Maybe it's some other way t' use the Elements," Applejack suggested.

"That sounds reasonable," Rarity suggested. "I simply cannot imagine why they would need to be more powerful, though."

"Yeah! We already beat Nightmare Moon and Discord; who's next?" Rainbow took a fighting stance and jabbed at thin air.

"Ooh! Ooh! More guessing games! Umm… how about ghosts? Leprechauns? No, wait! A pony that only has three legs, cant see out of one eye, has two stuffed animals called Chico and Rooster, and plays the accordion in his free time!" Pinkie stopped to take a breath, and her friends stared at her.

"That was… oddly specific." Twilight remarked.

"Why ever would we have to fight somepony like that darling?" Rarity asked.

"I dunno, maybe he doesn't know how to make friends and we have to show him!"

There was a pause as the group decided how exactly to react to Pinkie's theory, until Fluttershy suddenly yawned.

"Oh! Um… excuse me," she pleaded.

"Ain't no problem, sugarcube," Applejack reassured her. "Ah reckon we're all a might tired from all the things we been doin' lately."

"Not me!" Rainbow Dash interjected.

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Almost all of us," She corrected herself.

Tired or not, the others agreed they needed a good night's rest. They bade each other goodnight and went their separate ways to their respective homes.

-XXX-

Twilight groaned as she woke up the next morning. She could still feel last night's party in her muscles; dancing like she did for extended periods of time had its consequences. She rolled out of bed and walked to her vanity to brush her hair like she always did. When she deemed herself decent, she descended the staircase in her library home and found the checklist for the day she had left on the round table in the middle of the room last night.

"Item one:" it said. "Check the day's checklist." Twilight scanned the parchment to see what she had to do for the day, and then crossed off the first item and moved on to the next one; "Finish summarizing Chapter 1 of 'Magic Through the Ages.'"

"Easy enough," she said to herself, and began working.

Spike woke up about an hour later and assigned himself the task of reorganizing the books Twilight had left strewn across the floor in her desperate attempt to study for the Princess' "test." He tried to make conversation as he worked.

"So, didja like the party?"

"Of course I did, Spike. Parties are Pinkies special talent, after all," Twilight said shortly and continued writing. "Just… about… done!" She punctuated her last sentence with a stab of her quill and checked off the corresponding item on her checklist. She turned around to see Spike struggling with a ladder and levitated the books up to the shelf with magic. Spike sighed with relief.

"Thanks, Twilight. I don't know what we'd do without magic!" He said. "It's a good thing you're a unicorn!"

Twilight giggled. "I'm sure we'd manage without it, Spike. Lots of ponies do."

Spike shrugged. "Still, it makes life a lot easier."

Just then, Twilights stomach growled. "How about some breakfast?" She opened the door with magic.

"Oh boy! Food!" Spike hurried out the door. Twilight rolled her eyes and followed.

As usual, breakfast consisted of flowers and other leafy greens. Twilight reviewed her checklist once more to affirm what she needed to do next: help with the cleanup of town hall from the party yesterday.

When she and Spike arrived at the scene, she couldn't help but agree with Spike's earlier comment about magic making life easier. Pinkie's party had really done a number on the building; streamers and balloons littered the rafters, and glitter and confetti covered the ground. The inside wasn't much better. Tables coated with crumbs and other food scraps were scattered around; one had even been flipped over somehow. Pegasi hovered near the ceiling to detach streamers and other decorations, letting them float down to the earth ponies and unicorns waiting below.

"Ponyville sure knows how to party," Twilight commented. Her horn lit up, and the tables arranged themselves neatly along the back wall. A few earth ponies swept the crumbs into buckets and bowls so they could be fed to the birds and other small animals that populated the area. Twilight then folded the tablecloths and tables and stacked them onto a waiting cart with ease. Spike busied himself with collecting fallen banners and streamers, which he placed in a different cart. With most of the town working, the party was brought down even faster that it had been set up. Twilight smiled and made a mark on her list. She noticed Rarity finishing up with her corner of the cleanup and trotted over.

Rarity didn't respond to her approach at first. She turned around and started when she practically ran into Twilight. "Oh! Hello, Twilight. I didn't see you there."

"Wow, you did a great job fixing this up, Rarity!"

"Yes, I suppose it will do, until Pinkie finds another reason to involve the entire town in a celebration, at least." Rarity began walking back outside.

"I'm sure she will." Twilight decided to follow Rarity. Spike was on her heels, but his attention was focused on another unicorn.

They ran into Applejack and Rainbow Dash, who were toting a cart and clearing some stray clouds, respectively. Rainbow swooped down to talk. "Hey guys! What's happenin'?"

Twilight answered first. "Well, I don't know about Rarity, but I'm going back to the library to start reading the next chapter of my book!" She was genuinely excited.

Her friends hesitated a beat. "That sounds… fun," Rainbow opened her wings back up and hovered a few feet above the ground. She was about to take off into the sky when she remembered something. "Oh yeah! Applejack invited us all over for lunch in a few hours; apparently they have some extra apple cobbler, but you better get there before I eat it all!"

"Of course," the friends chorused.

Twilight returned to the library and settled herself down to read the second chapter of "Magic Through the Ages" for the first time, to familiarize herself with the general subject of the chapter. The next two read-throughs would be more comprehensive, and after the third one she could start summarizing. She flipped to the correct page with her magic and began reading:

"Now that we have a concrete definition of what magic is and what it does, we can move on to the known History. The origins of magic are quite obscure, though many historians agree the answer lies in a 'Tale of Seven Brothers,' who, according to legend, created magic thousands of years ago…"