NaNo2014: Shadows of Friendship: Part 6

“Seriously?” Shining asked with a wince, knowing how much their dam-sire’s gift meant to his sister and how hard she had worked on trying to complete it for the last few years around her studies, “You sure you haven’t just misplaced it?”

“We turned the entire place upside down.” Spike answered for her, feeling almost as depressed as the unicorn he was riding. “We couldn’t find it anywhere.”

“I’m sure you’ll find it while you’re not looking for it.” Shining sounded hopeful which perked Twilight up a little, though she knew it was a fool’s hope. The puzzle was thousands and thousands of years old. It was highly likely that it had been lost long before Treasure Trove had ever gotten his hooves on it.

“Never mind that,” The filly was not really in the mood to discuss tests she had quite clearly failed, “Are you okay? How’s Cadence? Are you coming too?”

“Cadence is fine,” Shining smiled at the thought of his girlfriend, “And sorry Twily, but the Princess wants me here to guard the palace and look after Canterlot while she’s away. I’m the only one who can cast a big enough shield spell to protect the entire city after all.” Shining nuzzled his sister and gave her an apologetic look. “And we’ve heard rumblings from the north and if you’re right, Nightmare Moon could be on her way back. Summer Sun or not, we can’t leave the capital undefended.”

“You don’t believe me?” Twilight asked, hurt at the ‘if you’re right.’ It was not like she was often wrong when she managed to put the facts together. Normally she only got things wrong if she was given the wrong facts to assemble or did not know the whole image.

“It’s…a bit farfetched.” Shining admitted hesitantly, knowing that his sister was not going to like his answer, “I mean Nightmare Moon was defeated a thousand years ago. Why would she come back now?”

“Because she swore she would and because it would have taken her some time to break down the seal.” Twilight tried to explain, her tone one of a teacher trying to explain something to a particularly dense foal and realising her mistake when Shining frowned at her. “Sorry.”

“No you’re not, you never are.” He harrumphed. “I’m not an idiot, Twily. I’m getting the guards ready in case and I’m sure you heard my conversation with the Princess, but I’m just saying that it’s highly unlikely and there are more modern matters for me to deal with that should probably hold the bulk of my attention.”

Twilight just huffed. She was no used to her judgement being questioned. Most people just assumed she was right nowadays and accepted what she was saying even if they did not like it. Still she could her brother’s point. He was in charge of protecting Canterlot after all and if Nightmare Moon was going to strike, she would go after the Princess first and she would be in Ponyville with Twilight, not here in the capital city.

“Cheer up, Twily.” Shining barged her gently, just enough to make her step sideways but not enough to dislodge Spike, “If you are right and Nightmare Moon shows up, you’ll have the chance to say ‘I told you so’ after the Princess and whoever her mysterious helper is sends her packing back to the moon.”

Twilight smiled slightly at that, though she could not help but ask, “So you were being serious when you asked who the other pony the Princess is relying on was?”

Shining nodded , “Though I think I’ve figured it out.”

“Oh?”

“Oh no, if you haven’t realised who she was talking about yet, I’m not going to tell you.” Shining looked smug at having realised something before she had, irritating Twilight no end. She did not have time to press however as they arrived in the courtyard to find that the chariot was ready and waiting for her. Two pegasi were hitched up to it and her bags were already packed. “You’ll work it out soon enough.” Shining told her as he escorted her to the chariot and she carefully packed the Princess’s letter in the box with the almost finished puzzle.

“Stay safe?” Twilight asked her brother rubbing up against him and nuzzling him, worried.

“I’ll do my best.” Shining promised as Spike scrambled down and checked their bags before he clambered into the chariot, “Go have fun in Ponyville and try not to worry too much about what’s happening here, you have a test to pass after all.”

Twilight cringed slightly as he reminded her of the test that she still had no real idea of the way it was going to be marked or how she was going to even attempt passing.

“You’ll do fine.” Shining reassured her, “You always do. Don’t think about it too hard, just go with what feels natural, they’ll love you.”

“I hope so.” Twilight sighed as she followed the baby dragon and got comfortable, assuming that it was going to be a long trip. She did manage a watery smile for her concerned brother though, “Love you Shiney.”

“Love you too, Twily.” Shining smiled back at her and then they were gone, taking off quickly and heading up into the skies. Spike was delighted as they shot further and further up and he watched over the sides as Canterlot soon looked like a toy town far below them.

Twilight normally enjoyed flying just as much. As a unicorn pony, flight was beyond her and she only ever got a chance to see Equestria from the skies when she travelled by chariot. When she had been a lot smaller, she had occasionally had rides from her older brother’s pegasi friends, but nowadays she did not get airborne as much as she liked.

Craving the skies was odd for a unicorn, she had been told, but it was a problem she had. Whenever she flew she felt like she belonged up there, like being in the skies was as natural as breathing. She did not understand why, but that was how she felt.

Right now, however, she was too busy being confused and sulking about how little she understood her test criteria to really enjoy being up high.

Make friends? How was she expected to make friends in less than twenty four hours? It was late into the evening now, by the time that she got to Ponyville she expected that everyone would be in bed already and the Princess was due in the town before dawn the following day. Twilight did not think she really had time to get to know anyone well enough to consider them friends, yet alone any idea of how to start making any.

And why was it so important now of all times? Surely it would have been better to give her this test after the Summer Sun Celebration was over, especially if Nightmare Moon was returning.

“You want to relax, Twilight.” Spike informed her with a yawn, the young dragon beginning to get sleepy as they skirted the edge of the Everfree Forest on their way into town. “Making friends isn’t so hard. You’ll see and we get to check on the preparations so we’ll meet lots of ponies that way. Maybe you’ll get lucky.”

Twilight grimaced at that. Once she would have believed luck was something that happened to the prepared, but one too many games of Duel Monsters had taught her that luck was a force just as powerful as any magic spell. You could not prepare your deck for a duel so you knew what would come out every time you drew, at least not without cheating, which was something she refused point blank to do. So in the early stages of her training she had swiftly learned that if you poured your heart into the game, then most of the time the luck of the draw would come through for you.

However that did not mean that she liked completely relying on luck outside the duelling field. She would rather rely on her studies and the books that held the knowledge of almost anything she could ask for while preparing for a test.

It did not help that she was not entirely certain that trying to make friends was not a waste of time. Back when she had started at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, she had had a few friends but as they had seen her powers flourish at a rate beyond their capabilities and seen how hard she had driven herself into her studies they had pulled away from her. It did not help her situation either that on many an occasion she had heard the snide remarks of her classmates about her being ‘favoured’ or ‘the teachers going easy on her’ because she was Celestia’s protégé. They did not seem to realise how much work went into maintaining that position or how hard she tried to make herself useful to the Princess.

She never wanted to disappoint her teacher and be cast aside. She wanted to be able to help her teacher and learn everything she could. To that end she accepted the extra classes, the many various tests and everything else that was thrown at her. She even enjoyed it for studying was something that really seemed to help her unwind when she had had a rough day. That did not mean that she had an easy ride of it at all and she had had to learn to ignore the comments being thrown her way and the ponies it came from, forming an armour of aloofness that only ever fell around Spike, Shining Armour and Princess Celestia.

Maybe this was what she needed, she mused as they passed through the silent and slightly chilly night. A different start in a different place with different ponies who did not know who she was or what she could do. The idea actually appealed to her, though she felt guilty for even considering that a backwater, out of the way town could be better than Canterlot, especially when her brother was working so hard to protect the palace and the capital city that it resided in.

Spike dozed off as they flew and Twilight settled herself so he would not slip out of the back, pulling a blanket out of the nearest bag to put over him and keep him warm. Twilight herself was tired but she could not sleep, not with everything that was running through her mind. It was a good thing in a way, because it meant that she was awake when the dark and quiet town of Ponyville first came into view.

As she had expected, everyone had gone to bed already. The moon was high in the sky as the pegasi warned her that they were going to land just moments before she felt the chariot descending and the citizens of Ponyville had already tucked in for the night beyond one or two bright spots of light.

The chariot touched down by a huge oak tree that was dark within and had a sign hanging outside the door that said ‘Golden Oaks Library.’ Twilight guessed that this was where she was going to stay and she was actually quite grateful for it. It was rather comforting to be surrounded by books rather than people and she was glad the Princess had not expected her to stay in the local inn or hotel or arranged for her to stay with some pony she had never met in the interest of making friends.

She did not need to wake Spike. The jolt of the landing had done that for her and she aided the dragon in unpacking the chariot before retrieving the key from under the doormat and seeing the two pegasi off.

“Come on Spike.” Twilight sighed as she let them in the door and looked around for the candles. There were several available by the door and once she had lit the ones around the room, her mood picked up substantially. The entire downstairs, even the space under the stairs, had ceiling to floor bookcases that were packed to bursting with books, most of which it looked like she had not read. Even if she started now it would be weeks before she finished reading them.

Spike’s yawn stopped her as she reached for the first book, having decided to start from the door and work clockwise. “Twi?” Spike asked sleepily, “Where’s the bedroom?”

“I think it’s this way.” Twilight says softly, levitating the baby dragon onto her back before lifting the bags up the stairs. If she was honest with herself, she was just as tired as Spike was. It was late, very much so. The moon was just past its highest point, so it was probably midnight or later and she had been up before dawn. Spike had the right idea and she got him settled in before she dumped the bags to one side of the room and slumped onto the bed by the window, not even bothering to pull the curtain before she laid down.

“G’night Twi.” Spike mumbled at her before cuddling into his pillow and slipping into sleep.

“Night Spike.” Twilight answered back as she stared out of the window. Tomorrow would be a big day. She would have to check on all the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration, try and make friends and she kind of hoped that she could find out more about the Elements of Harmony in the library below her. She knew the Castle of the Two Sisters was supposedly nearby in the Everfree Forest which practically backed onto town. The castle was the last place that Princess Celestia had ever used the Elements and if Nightmare Moon was coming back, it was possible that she would need them again.

Hopefully she would have time to do everything before the Princess arrived and she would have to report on her progress with both the festival and making friends. It was not going to be easy but then easy had never been her style. She had always worked her hardest and she would make time if she had any say in the matter.

As she drifted off it was on the happy thought that at least here she had a whole new library to read and she kind of hoped that the Princess would let her stay long enough to get through most of them.

NaNo2014: Shadows of Friendship: Part 4

The baby dragon was not daft enough to try and disturb Twilight when she was working on the bright treasure that looked edible and delicious to him but had an awful taste that had put him off eating it for life. Instead he found his spare cards and started making adaptions to his deck in case Twilight wanted to duel while they were waiting for the Princess to write back.

Twilight lost track of the time as she worked on the trinket. Her dam-sire had told her a long time ago, back before she had even gotten her cutie mark and started studying under the Princess, that the one who passed the test and completed the ‘Millennium Puzzle’ got one wish and that wish was guaranteed to come true. She was beginning to wonder though, if it was called such because it was going to take a thousand years to complete.

The first pieces went in easily. She knew almost instinctively now which pieces went in which order right up until she was about a third of the way done. Then the difficulty started. She could not insert the pieces by hoof, the puzzle was far too complex and fiddly for that. Instead she had to use her magic to put it together as well as hold it in place. The complex creation was a 3d puzzle, which meant that it would make a statue or something once completed but if she pushed on one piece just a little too hard it would completely collapse and she would have to start from scratch.

More than once she had ruined hours and hours of careful work in such a way and she was extra careful as she started the difficult task of assembling the other two thirds, not that she knew which piece went where or what the end product was supposed to look like.

Spike was surprised when he looked up from his cards to find that not only had it started growing dark, but the puzzle was really beginning to come together in front of the unicorn he looked up to. It looked like an upside down version of one the pyramids that he had seen in a book about Saddle Arabia, which had once been Equigypt. The hoop on the base was new though and looked sturdy, as if you could loop rope or something similar through it and wear the completed thing as a rather large and probably heavy pendant.

“I’ve done it!” Twilight crowed as she slipped the last bar one piece into place, leaving one last space for a piece to go. She knew which one it was, a piece that was, oddly enough, shaped like the main star of her cutie mark and had an eye symbol on it. Twilight had researched it and it was known as the ‘wadjet eye’ or the ‘Eye of Anubis’ who had supposedly been a God in the days of Equigypt. “Just one more piece and…” She froze when she went to use her magic to lift the last piece of the puzzle out of the box and found that it was empty. “Spike!” The baby dragon scrambled to his feet at the panic in her voice, “Spike!”

“What?” He asked as he scrambled to her side, “What’s the matter Twilight?”

“There’s a piece missing.” Twilight panicked, trying to maintain the magic holding the puzzle in place despite the surge of emotions coursing through her.

“Huh?” Spike blinked at her, confused.

“A piece. Of the puzzle. It’s gone! The last piece!” Twilight whinnied frantically, “Please tell me you haven’t eaten it!”

“No way!” Spike protested, even as he lit the lamps with his fire breath and started searching for it, knowing what Twilight’s next question would be. “Tried that once, remember? It was gross. I haven’t seen it lying around either.”

“It might have fallen out when we moved around for a while.” The filly paled beneath her fur at that idea. It was not like she could just buy another puzzle and complete that instead. This one was ancient and one of a kind. Not only that if she could not complete it, she would never pass her dam-sire’s test and that was something she just could not live with.

 “I thought the box hadn’t left the house since Princess Celestia borrowed it? And you had all the pieces then?” The purple dragonet questioned his pseudo-mother as he turned the place upside down to look for the missing gold. Before too long Twilight had put the golden treasure down carefully on the desk and joined him in the hunt which decimated the normally orderly library and left it looking like a surprisingly careful hurricane had hit. One that did not damage anything but did leave absolutely everything strewn across the floors of the multi-storey building.

Despite their best attempts though, the piece was nowhere to be found. Twilight let out a frustrated and despairing whinny as she started getting ready to go look for it outside next, only to pull up short when Spike burped up a burst of green fire and a letter emerged from it, coiled in a red band just like the one she had had Spike send that afternoon, but sealed with the gold wax and insignia of her tutor, Princess Celestia.

“Guess she had a lot to do.” Spike frowned slightly as he opened it, “You want me to read it now?”

“It’s from the Princess, it could be important.” Twilight hesitated by the door, wanting to go and look but knowing that anything from the Princess was more important than her petty concerns even if they involved the puzzle she had poured her heart and soul into for the last eight years.

“My dearest Twilight,” Spike read out as Twilight shut the door and turned to look at him properly, shoulders sinking, “It is of great importance that you join me in the palace this evening.”

“Really?” Twilight blinked, “Tonight?”

“I will be sending a pegasus chariot to pick you up not long after I send this letter to you.” Spike continued, nodding, “Please be ready for a short three day trip before he arrives.”

“Now?” Twilight winced, thinking about the missing puzzle piece and realising that she was not going to have time to search for it outside of her home. “She’s sending me somewhere now?”

“Guess she’s taking your warning seriously.” Spike shrugged, “That’s what you wanted, isn’t it?”

“Yes but…” Twilight had a sinking feeling. Unless Celestia was going to come with her, she had a horrible feeling that she was going to be sent away for her own protection. It was frustrating. She could help. She knew she could but it did not look like she was going to be given the chance.

“What do you want me to pack?” Spike asked, “And what about the missing piece?”

Twilight did not know. She wanted a little more time to go out and hunt, but perhaps this was a blessing in disguise. She could ask the Princess if she had seen the puzzle piece and try to convince her mentor that she could help. “Maybe we’ll find it when we’re packing.” Twilight sounded more hopeful than she felt, “Get together the books I was reading earlier, my recent school notes, the…”

Spike nodded, starting to grab everything on Twilight’s ever expanding list. Not that anything was easy to find in the mess they had created when searching. Still by the time the chariot arrived their bags were packed and Twilight had carefully returned the rest of the puzzle to the box it had come in and before Spike could take the last of the bags out, she shoved that in too.

It was a short trip to the palace from Twilight’s library. The unicorn had been assigned her home by the Princess so she was not surprised by that fact, nor that it was the same distance in the opposite direction from the library to her school. It was a boon in most respects as it meant that if she was called to see her tutor or to attend extra classes, as she so often was, she could make it there in a short amount of time.

Today however, she was not entirely happy that the trip was so fast. She had not entirely worked out what she was going to say to the Princess when the chariot arrived in the courtyard of the palace and the pegasus pulling it, a white coated, blue maned stallion with a silver shied as a cutie mark, whose name, if she remembered the introduction properly, was Mirrored Shield, helped her down from the chariot.

“Don’t worry about unpacking, Miss Sparkle.” The Mirrored Shield told her with a smile, “I’ll move your things to the bigger chariot, but Princess Celestia was insistent that you go and see her in the great hall immediately.”

And if that was not enough to set the butterflies in her stomach off again, nothing was as Twilight headed into the building that was imposing enough during the day time, but was worse right now by the light of the torches and the moon which seemed to be watching them ominously from above. Its shadow laid heavy on the ground, the castle’s many spires making the form on the ground look like some kind of beast stretching its arms into the skies as if preparing to strike.

“Get a grip Twilight.” The young unicorn told herself, shaking her head and taking a deep breath, before levitating Spike onto her back and cantering in through the main entrance. “You’re being ridiculous.”

Spike, thankfully, did not say anything, probably assuming she was working herself into a nervous frenzy as she often did when her tutor called her before her. It was ridiculous after the many years of being Celestia’s student, but Twilight was no fool. She was fully aware that the Princess could decide that teaching her was too much effort at a moment’s notice. The Princess, who some considered a Goddess, ruled over all of Equestria alone after all. Teaching her young student took time away from that important duty and she never wanted the alicorn to decide that she was not worth the hassle.

She just hoped that bringing up what could possibly be an overreaction to an Old Mare’s Tale was not the final straw for her and she was not about to be sent home for good.

The guards knew her and Spike rather well and they were allowed through the corridors without much fuss. The only real issue came when she was scurrying through the hallways, heading for the main hall where the Princess heard petitions and held grand parties, when she collided with a unicorn gentlecolt who emerged from one of the side rooms and Spike went tumbling from her back. He only didn’t hit the floor because of the fast reaction time of the unicorn she had collided with, who used his magic to catch Spike in an aura of red.

“S…sorry.” Twilight stammered to the gentlecolt. He an odd looking stallion whose rather gaudy red suit covered up most of his coat, including his cutie mark and whose silvery lavender mane hid one eye from sight, though she was almost certain she caught a glimpse of gold beneath the tresses.  

“No problem Twily-girl.” The stallion shrugged it off even as he set down Spike, “I should have been looking where I was going.”