The sunlight inched across the hardwood floor as it rose ever higher in the sky. A ray of sunshine played on Twilight Sparkle's cheek as the globe of light ascended through the sky. The little purple unicorn began to stir as she felt the light dance across her face. Twilight stretched and got up out of bed. She contemplated waking Spike from his peaceful slumber, then decided mercifully to let him sleep a bit longer.
The little unicorn took the winding path through the castle to the meeting room where they were yesterday. It was quite early in the morning, but Princess Celestia was wide awake and flipping through the pages of a book when Twilight entered the meeting room.
"Good morning Princess Celestia," Twilight greeted.
"Good morning Twilight Sparkle," the princess returned. "Shall we look over that spell you found last night?"
"Yes, great idea," Twilight said as she moved to stand next to the princess.
Despite how tired she was when she went to bed, Twilight didn't get a whole lot of sleep. Her mind was too preoccupied by the situation that the princess had presented her and with the possible remedy. The whole fate of the Pegasus population depended on her being able to find an alternative to traditional breeding.
She tried unsuccessfully to stifle a yawn as she read over the spell. "Sorry Princess Celestia, I didn't sleep very well last night."
"Quite alright, dear. I didn't get a great deal of sleep myself, so I can sympathize," the princess chuckled and returned to reviewing the spell. She stopped reading and turned to the young unicorn. "Twilight, I would like for you to find two Pegasus mares that would be willing to volunteer to be the first alternate breeding pair and bring them back here."
"Will do! Just let me gather up my stuff and wake Spike, then I'll be on my way," Twilight uttered as she hurried back to her room. Even in a serious situation like this, Princess Celestia was reminded of why she was so fond of the ambitious little unicorn; she was so keen and was always eager to help in any way that she could.
Just like Twilight had said, as soon as all of her things were packed in her saddlebag and Spike was fully roused, she was on her way back to Ponyville. The same two Pegasi that brought her to the castle the day before were the ones now returning her.
From the sky she could see all the ponies of Ponyville beginning their daily routines. They flew past the Pegasus ponies of Cloudsdale clearing the sky and they flew over Sweet Apple Acres, watching the ponies tend to the apples. She saw Granny Smith and Big Macintosh, but Applejack was nowhere to be found. Come to think of it, she hadn't seen Rainbow Dash clearing the sky with the other Pegasus ponies either. She glanced over the ground below her in search of any of her friends, but none were to be found.
As they neared Twilight's home in Ponyville she understood why she didn't see any of her friends; they were all waiting for her at her at the library! When they came closer to the ground after beginning their descent, Twilight noticed that her friends looked quite nervous. As well they would be, thought Twilight as they neared terra firma, I left in such a rush and didn't explain anything to them! All at once when Twilight landed, her friends swarmed towards her, gushing and fretting over the little purple unicorn.
"We were so worried about you, darling!" Rarity said, the first to be heard over the commotion of anxious ponies.
"What in tarnation happened?" asked a flustered Applejack.
"Yeah, Twilight!" Rainbow Dash piped up. "All you told me was that there was a crisis and then you left!" The colorful Pegasus sounded vexed, but there were undertones of concern in her voice.
"I'm so sorry girls. Princess Celestia needed me right away, so I didn't have time to stay and explain," Twilight apologized after her friends quieted down.
"That's alright, sugar cube," soothed Applejack. "Now, why don't you tell us what happened?"
"Okay, well, I got a letter from Princess Celestia saying that there was a crisis and she needed my help. She sent to Pegasus ponies to take me to Canterlot to see her. She told me that all the male Pegasus ponies of Cloudsdale are sterile and the population of Pegasus ponies is in danger if we don't find a way to breed the Pegasus ponies without the males," Twilight explained.
"Oh, that's awful!" Came Fluttershy's tiny voice.
"Oh no!" Cried Pinkie Pie. "What are we gonna do!" She asked enthusiastically, bouncing up and down.
"The princess and I spent almost all of night going through spell books trying to find the right spell for this problem," Twilight began. "We found one that combines the reproductive DNA from two Pegasus mares to make a Pegasus foal. Princess Celestia sent me back to Ponyville to find two Pegasus mares who would be willing to be the first two mares in all of Equestria to reproduce without a stallion."
"I'll do it!" Shouted Rainbow Dash. "How cool would that be? I would be totally ground breaking and famous! Everypony would know that I was the pony that saved the Pegasi of Cloudsdale," she puffed out her chest and spread her wings wide in a show of pride. Despite the arrogance in her tone, Twilight knew that Rainbow Dash really wanted to help for the right reasons, not just to be famous.
"That's great! Thank you so much!" Twilight hugged her friend.
"Heh, yeah no problem!" The rainbow-maned pony smiled at the unicorn. "Always happy to help, especially since it's the fate of my species."
Twilight Sparkled smiled back at her, then turned to the much quieter Pegasus in the group. "Fluttershy would you like to be the other Pegasus mare to help re-build the Pegasus population?"
"Um... I'll have to think about that Twilight," the pretty little Pegasus blushed and hid behind her long mane. "I would really like to help, but I don't really want all that attention. And besides, I'm not a great flyer, so... you know, I don't want to pass that trait on."
"But Fluttershy darling, you have so many wonderful characteristics! I bet you would make a great mom," Rarity cooed.
Fluttershy blushed a deeper shade of crimson. "Thanks Rarity."
"Well, how about you give it some time and get back to me as soon as you make a decision. I don't want you to do this unless you really want to, okay?" Twilight spoke softly to the gentle Pegasus who nodded in return.
Fluttershy quietly walked away, back to her peaceful home with all of her animal friends. She glanced behind her as she went and saw all the ponies still in a heap of commotion around Twilight Sparkle. She didn't want to admit to herself how much she wanted to help. But mostly she wanted to do it because the other pony that had agreed to this was Rainbow Dash.