Twilight tilted her head. "Who?" she asked.

"Princess Radiant Dawn is an alicorn who rules over the kingdom of Daybreak," Luna said. "She is the Princess of Happiness, and she possesses powerful happiness magic that should banish this evil spell."

"Wait—there's another alicorn I've never heard of?" Twilight Sparkle asked. "How? I mean, alicorns are kind of a big deal—I thought Celestia would have told me about any other alicorns besides you, her, and Cadance."

"And what about the Tirek incident?" Spike asked Luna. "When you, Celestia, and Cadance had to give all of your magic to Twilight so Tirek couldn't absorb any alicorn magic? Where was this Radiant Dawn pony then?"

Luna glanced over at her sister, then back to the other ponies. "I am not entirely sure of all of the details, myself," she said. "It has only been a few short years since I returned from the moon, and I have not had the time to do much catching up on a millennium of missed history."

"Even with all the history books in the palace library?" Twilight asked.

Luna shook her head. "Princess Radiant Dawn isn't in any history books."

"An alicorn who's not in any history books?" Starlight asked. "What's up with that?"

Luna frowned a little. "Perhaps if you would let me finish," she said, pawing the floor with one hoof. "As I was saying—it seems that at some time during my exile, my sister turned a pony named Radiant Dawn into an alicorn. Radiant Dawn now rules Daybreak, but Celestia has expressly told me that Radiant Dawn's existence is to be kept secret. She is only to be contacted in a case where her happiness magic is specifically needed." She sighed. "And if there ever was such a time, it is surely now. You must journey to Daybreak, find her, and tell her of our plight. Undoubtedly she will rush to Celestia's aid."

"I'm on it!" Twilight said. "Spike, get me an atlas of Equestria! I've got some geography research to—"

"You will not find Daybreak in any atlases," Luna said, "or on any maps. The kingdom has been magically hidden by my sister."

Rainbow Dash groaned. "A magically hidden kingdom? Seriously? How much more inconvenient can you get?"

"Well, if anypony's up to the task of finding a magically hidden kingdom," Rarity said, tossing her mane, "it's Twilight and Starlight! After all, magic is their forte!"

"There is one other item of information that may be of some help in your search," Luna said. "My sister has not yet told me much about Radiant Dawn or Daybreak, but she did mention that, if I were ever to need to find Daybreak, I would require a pony whose ancestors came from Daybreak. The spell over the kingdom makes it so that only members of those family lines can find the way."

"That'd be a great help," Applejack said, "if'n we knew somepony from a Daybreak family. How much genealogy are we talkin' about, here?"

"My sister did give me one clue," Luna said. "Daybreak is the home of ponies who spread happiness. She said to look for pony families whose special talents tend to do specifically with making other ponies happy."

Pinkie Pie kicked her back hooves in excitement. "Ooh! Ooh! That sounds like my family!"

"Your family of rock farmers?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Oh yeah, they're sure interested in making other ponies happy."

"Well, I guess that does narrow it down," Twilight said, although it still seemed like a daunting task to try to find somepony with Daybreak ancestors. Still, she would gladly do this to help Celestia. She took a deep breath. "I'll begin my search immediately, Luna."

"Thank you," Luna said. She closed her eyes for a moment. "I trust you will not waste any time on your quest. My sister must be freed from this horrible spell." The alicorn looked out the window at the bright sunlight. "And… I cannot move the sun. It will not set until Celestia awakens. This is not just my sister at stake, but the natural balance of all Equestria."

"I understand," Twilight Sparkle said. "Don't worry. You hold down the fort here in Canterlot, okay?"

Luna nodded. "Best of luck to you, Twilight Sparkle. And to your friends as well."

As the group clopped out of Celestia's room, Luna lingered in the doorway, watching them. Twilight saw the desperation and fear in the alicorn's eyes and knew how serious this was.

Within Twilight's scope of knowledge, there had only been a few things in all Equestrian history that Celestia could not handle. This spell had to be incredibly powerful in order to affect the alicorn so badly. And now Twilight needed to somehow find a way to a kingdom she never knew existed, to ask for the help of a hidden alicorn. This was definitely not how she expected to spend her mentor's birthday.

"Well… where should we start?" Starlight asked as they paused in the hallway. "I wish we knew more about Daybreak—even just some information about where its ponies tended to emigrate to."

"I s'pose we could start right here and now," Applejack said. "I mean, there're seven of us, so maybe one of us has Daybreak ancestors. What do y'all know about your family histories, and the kinds of special talents that run in your clan?"

Rainbow Dash folded her forelegs as she hovered in the air. "I'm pretty sure all of my family's from Cloudsdale," she said. "And we seem to be competition-oriented. I don't think there's anything particularly cheer-spreading about that. Unless you count the cheers of our ecstatic fans."

"I think my family's from Cloudsdale, too," Fluttershy said. "I mean, I've never heard of Daybreak, so…"

"Neither have I," Starlight said. "And my family seems to be more about magic, like most unicorns."

"So is mine," Twilight said. "I've researched my family history, and we all seem to be native to Canterlot. What about you, Rarity?"

The white unicorn tapped her chin. "I do believe my family's been in Ponyville for as long as I can remember," she said. "But our family records are rather sparse."

"Ain't no Daybreak in my family for at least a hundred generations," Applejack said. "Trust me. Great-Aunt Goldie Delicious keeps very extensive records."

"Oh—" Rarity said. "Sorry to interrupt, Applejack, but I wonder, perhaps my special talent might qualify as spreading happiness? After all, I specialize in helping ponies look and feel their best and in bringing out the beauty in the world," she said, tossing her mane.

"That's true," Twilight said. "I'm just not sure how broadly we're supposed to interpret the whole 'spreading happiness' thing."

Pinkie Pie cleared her throat. "Aren't you forgetting somepony?" she asked. "You know, the pony who's all about fun and parties and hooray!" She threw confetti. "The pony who lives for nothing more than to see her friends smile, which means she wants to see everypony smile because everypony's her friend? The pony who eats, drinks, and breathes happiness every single minute of every single day?!"

"Cranky Doodle?" Spike asked dryly.

"Pinkie," Twilight said, "you definitely qualify as a happiness-spreading pony. But the rest of your family… I'm not so sure. No offense to them, of course."

Pinkie Pie danced around her. "That's because you haven't met my ancestors!" she said. "Most of my family are rock farmers, but we have stories of my great-great-something-great grandpa Birthday Bash and how he used to throw the most amaaaaaazing birthday parties! And my other great-something-aunt Viva Fiesta, who invented piñatas!"

"Wow… yeah, I never would have guessed that looking at your parents and sisters," Rainbow Dash said.

"See? Appearances can be deceiving!" Pinkie Pie said. "And my dad told me once that his grandpa told him that when he was a foal, his family traveled back west to see their family in Daybreak—oh!" She jumped up with a squeak. "Well, I guess that helps."

Rainbow Dash spread her wings. "Pinkie! Why didn't you tell us that in the first place?!"

"I was trying to!" Pinkie Pie said. "But you girls were all like 'oh Pinkie, your family is so serious and obsessed with rocks, there's no way you could be the key to solving this mystery'!" She glowered at them.

Twilight Sparkle grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, Pinkie," she said. "We shouldn't have dismissed you like that. Does that mean you know how to get to Daybreak?"

"Nope!" Pinkie Pie said. "Well—I mean, sorta! Maybe?" She tapped her head with her hoof. "It's kind of hard to explain… I couldn't tell you how to get there, but I just sort of… know. Like, now that I want to go to Daybreak it's like I've always known how to get there."

"Yes, it's in the westernmost regions of Equestria, isn't it?" Rarity asked. "I can see the way in my mind's eye! Twilight, if you hire us an airship, I think Pinkie and I can guide you there!" She turned her snout up at the others. "Hah! I was right about my special talent!"

Twilight ignored Rarity's moment of hubris. "This is great!" she said. "Come on, there's no time to lose!" Tossing her head, she galloped toward the entrance to the castle, her friends' hooves thundering behind her.

"Are we there yet?" Pinkie Pie asked as the eight friends clopped wearily through the woods, forging their own trail among steep hills and shady valleys. "Are we there yet? How about now—"

"You're the one leadin' us there!" Applejack said. "Why don't you tell us?!"

It had been two days since the group left Canterlot—two days with no night in between. By now, ponies knew something was up. To Twilight's concern, some ponies had even begun to blame Luna, suspecting her of betraying her sister again. The sooner they could get this fixed, Twilight thought, the better.

"To be honest, Applejack," Rarity said, grimacing at the dirt on her hooves, "I'm not entirely sure how close we are, either."

Starlight looked around at the thick, dark forest. "What I want to know," she said, "is why we had to hoof it once we reached that last town."

"My Pinkie Sense couldn't navigate from the air anymore," Pinkie Pie said. "But now that I'm on the ground again, it's back! And the Pinkie Sense never lies!"

"I can tell that we are going the right way, at least," Rarity said. "And Pinkie Pie, dear, remember that it's our family line that's showing us the way to Daybreak, not your Pinkie Sense. Unless I have Pinkie Sense too, which I doubt."

"But maybe you do!" Pinkie Pie said. "I mean, I've been calling it 'Pinkie Sense' all these years, but what if it's more like 'Daybreak Sense'—" She stopped suddenly, and Twilight walked into her.

"Ow—Pinkie, what's wrong?" the alicorn asked, magically grabbing Spike so he wouldn't fall off her back.

Pinkie Pie looked down at her hind leg. "It's—it's my Pinkie Sense!" she said. "My knee's getting pinchy! Do you remember what that means?"

Twilight scrunched her muzzle. "I can't say that I do," she said. "My research on your Pinkie Sense was moons ago. I've half forgotten all of those notes. Which is why I wrote them down, of course."

"It means something scary is about to happen!" Pinkie Pie said.

Suddenly a dozen pairs of eyes glowed in the shadows of the woods. With snarls and barks, a pack of timberwolves leaped through the bushes at the ponies and Spike, wooden jaws open wide.