Hooves Cubed

Chapter 3: "Mist"erious

[Applejack]

"What kind of book was the one Twilight just flew away with?" Fluttershy asked, staring quizzically after the somewhat quick-to-leave Twilight.

"Some sort of spell book," Rainbow said.

"Spell book? Oooh, that sounds fun!" Pinkie exclaimed, a huge smile on her face.

"Not really. It was all in this abnormal language. I don't think anypony has a clue what it was," Rarity replied. Pinkie started to jump up and down.

"I wanna see what that book was all about! Maybe it was about parties!" said Pinkie.

"I don't think it was about parties, hun," I said, but Pinkie was already zooming down the path after Twilight.

"Well, I'm done here. I said I'd have a race with Scootaloo today, and I don't want to be late," Rainbow said, and then flew away.

"I have some business to attend to, also. I want to have that dress finished as soon as possible," Rarity said, and then started to gallop down the path.

"Applejack? Are you leaving, too?" Fluttershy asked.

"I don't have anywhere special to be," I said. "Apple Bloom and Big Mac are okay with me staying out for a few more hours, why?"

"Well...I just wanted to go see exactly what Twilight's book was," Fluttershy explained, and then started to lead the way down the path.

"Well, all we know is that it was in this weird writing, and it had a bunch of boxes on most of the pages I've seen so far. Oh, and it was in the hole we dug to plant your new apple tree," I said. Fluttershy's eyes widened in interest.

"Boxes?" She asked.

"Yeah, something like boxes. Some looked like clumps of dirt and grass, some looked like grey rock, some looked like water. They were really strange," I said, trying to remember what I'd seen when Twilight had flipped through the pages.

"That's odd," Fluttershy said. I nodded. We reached the top of a hill along the path, and looked across Ponyville, over at Twilight's house. Suddenly, the windows shone a bright magenta, and then faded. I looked over at Fluttershy.

"What in the heck was that?" I asked at the air.

"Whatever it was, I'm sure Twilight was just practicing some of her spells. Being an alicorn and all, she's gained a lot of magic," Fluttershy suggested.

"Yeah, but I think we've seen most of her spells by now. I don't think any of them were that bright," I pointed out.

"Most of them," Fluttershy said. "Implying not all of them? It could be new."

"Maybe Celestia or Luna taught her something," I said. Fluttershy shrugged. We continued down the hill and through Ponyville. I noticed some sort of small black cloud drift past me. When I blinked, it disappeared.

"Did you see that?" I asked. Fluttershy liked around.

"See what?" She asked.

"This little black cloud," I said. Fluttershy shook her head. "Maybe you imagined it," she said.

"Maybe..." I trailed off. But it seemed too real for me to be imagining it. What was that? I swear I've seen something similar to it before...but I couldn't recall when it was.

"Fluttershy..." I heard a sort of whisper coming from Fluttershy's direction.

"Who...?" She asked, looking around frantically. "Was that you, Applejack?"