Visitors

On a cool, Spring evening, Twilight Sparkle stood outside her castle. The sky was clear, and the stars shined brightly. She smiled as she observed a few constellations. It's nights like this that are truly magical, she thought to herself as a smile formed on her face.

As she continued stargazing, something caught her eye. It was disc-shaped, and moved quickly across the night sky. She narrowed her eyes and saw that it had lights going around the outer edge of it. As she continued to watch the bizarre object, it flew over her castle, before it vanished just as quickly as it had appeared.

Twilight stood motionless. A hundred different theories filled her head before she finally shook her head and snapped out of her stupor. She turned around and ran back into her castle. “Spike! Spike!” she yelled, her voice echoing throughout the hallway.

As she ran down the hallway, a nearby door opened. Starlight Glimmer yawned sleepily and looked at the frantic Alicorn. “Twilight, it's the middle of the night,” she said. “What’s wrong?”

Twilight spun around. “There was this disc in the sky!” she said. “I need to inform Princess Celestia about this!”

Starlight tilted her head. “A… disc?” she asked; confused. “Are you sure it wasn't just a meteor?”

Twilight shook her head. “No, it was definitely a disc,” she said with a frantic look on her face. “It had lights on it, and flew right over the castle and just vanished! I don't know where it went!”

Starlight rested a hoof on the princess's shoulder. “Listen,” she said calmly, “you've been up for nearly eighteen hours. You've done nothing but work the entire day. Perhaps you saw a meteor, and mistook it for something else.” Starlight smiled warmly and rested her hoof back on the floor. “Why not get some sleep and send a letter in the morning if you're honestly that worked up over it?”

Twilight took a deep breath and smiled. “You're right, Starlight,” she said. “Thank you.”

Starlight smiled warmly. “You're welcome,” she said as she went back her room and shut the door behind her.

Twilight made her way back to her room. She opened her bedroom door and saw Spike fast asleep in his bed. Good, I didn't wake him, she thought as she walked to her bed and crawled into it. With that, Twilight quickly drifted off to sleep.

---

The next morning, Twilight awoke early. While she felt refreshed, the thought of the mysterious object she'd seen still plagued her mind. I'll have Spike send a letter when wakes up, she thought as she got out of bed. She made her way to the kitchen, where she saw Starlight eating some toast.

“Good morning,” Starlight said with a smile. “Did you sleep well?”

“Kinda,” Twilight replied. “I still can't stop thinking about that object.”

“Maybe Luna was playing with a frisbee,” Starlight said with a giggle. “Now, I made you toast. I figured that you needed it after your panic last night.”

Twilight smiled and sat down across from her student. “Thank you,” she said.

Knock, knock, knock

However, before she could enjoy her breakfast, three loud knocks that bordered on angry bangs came from the front door of the castle. Twilight jumped in shock. She stood up and walked to the door, Starlight following closely behind. Twilight approached it slowly and opened it.

Standing motionless, and with blank expressions, were two unicorn stallions—one with a beige coat and the other with a pale coat. Both, however, wore black, silk suits with black ties, and black sunglasses. “Hello, Miss. Sparkle,” the beige coated stallion said, his voice devoid of emotion. “We received news that you saw something last night.”

Twilight cocked her head. “Um, yes, I did,” she said, uneased. “May I ask how you know about this?”

“We received a tip from an anonymous source,” the pale coated stallion said in an agitated tone. “Now, we need to speak with you immediately,” he said as he shifted his attention to Starlight. “And alone.”

Starlight gulped. Without a word, she walked back into the kitchen.

Twilight frowned as she watched her student leave the hallway. “Okay,” she said. “May I at least get your names?”

“You question the authority of your princess?” the pale coated stallion asked in a sardonic tone as he and the other stallion walked into the castle. “I figured that her former prized student would know better.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “You work for the princess?” she asked, surprised.

Both stallions nodded as the turned to face Twilight. “Now, we’re aware that you saw an object last night,” the beige coated stallion said.

“Yes, that is correct,” Twilight replied. “It was disc-shaped and moved faster than anything I’ve ever seen.”

The two stallions looked at each other and nodded. “You’ve seen something that should not be spoken about,” the beige coated stallion said in monotone. “Speak to anypony about it, and the consequences will be dire.”

Twilight’s eyes widened. “W-what do you mean?”

“If you value your friends and family,” the pale coated stallion said, “you will never speak to anypony about what you saw under any circumstances.”

Okay, this is bad, Twilight thought as she nervously chuckled. “Um, well,” she said as her eyes frantically darted around. “I'll do so.”

The two stallions looked at each other again and nodded before they walked to the castle door. “Remember, Miss. Sparkle,” the pale coated one said as he reached the door. He rested a hoof on the castle door and and turned around to face the anxious Alicorn before saying, “if you say even a single thing, the consequences will be dire.” With that, he turned around a left the castle.

Twilight's heart raced. “Okay, just breathe, Twilight,” she said to herself. “There's no way they actually work for Celestia.” Twilight began to gallop back to her room when a thought hit her. But what if they do actually have some sort of connection to her? What if they can somehow intercept a letter sent by Spike?

Twilight gulped, and her legs shook, when another thought hit her. Wait, I told Starlight! What if they find out?!

As Twilight stood shaking and panicking, a voice yelled from the kitchen. “Hey, Twilight, are you going to come eat?”

Twilight shook her head. “I-I’ll be there in a little, Spike” she yelled back, fear filling her voice.

“Nonsense,” Spike said as he walked down the hallway. “I was going to help Rarity find some gems so I figured I'd bring it to…” Spike looked at Twilight and nearly dropped the plate of pancakes. “Twilight, are you okay?” he asked as he placed the plate on the floor.

Twilight nodded. “I just, uh, slept late,” she lied.

Spike raised an eyebrow. “Then why's the castle door open?” he asked as he stared at Twilight suspiciously.

“I… went out for a walk?”

“Since when do you go out for walks?”

Beads of sweat ran down Twilight's head. She hit her lower lip as she shook nervously. “I, uh, wanted to burn some calories?”

Spike folded his arms. “You're hiding something,” Spike said. “What's bugging you?”

Twilight fell to the floor and buried her face in-between her forelegs. “I can't say it Spike!” she cried.

Spike’s eyes widened. “Say what?” he asked, surprised.

Twilight looked up at spike with watery eyes. “They'll… do something bad.”

Spike rolled his eyes. “Have you been reading conspiracy books again?” he asked.

Twilight shook her head. “Some ponies in black came by and… I can't say!”

Spike rolled his eyes. “Sure they did.”

“Spike, I'm serious!” Twilight snapped.

“She's not lying,” Starlight said as she walked up beside Spike. “I don't know what their deal was. They didn't seem to like the fact I was with Twilight though.”

Twilight nodded. “They told me not to talk about…” A smile formed on her face. “Wait, that's it!” she said. “Spike! Take a letter.”

Spike sighed and ran back to grab a piece of paper and quill while Twilight shut the castle door. A short while later, he returned and held up the quill.

Twilight cleared her throat. “Dear, Princess Celestia,” she began. “I have urgent news. I was recently visited by two bizarre ponies dressed in black, who threatened me, and claimed to work for you. I'd like to know if they really do, and what you think I should do. Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle.”

Spike stopped writing and sent the letter. Almost immediately, he burped up another. Twilight and Starlight ran over as he unraveled it.

Twilight,
Don't leave the castle. I'll be there momentarily.
Celestia

Twilight let out a sigh of relief and smiled.

“Feel any better?” Spike asked.

Twilight nodded. “Now weren't you going to go help Rarity?” she asked

Spike's eyes widened. “Oh no!” he said. “I'm going to be late!”

Twilight and Starlight both giggled. “Well, you'd better get going,” she said.

“Okay!” he said. “I'll see you later!”

Twilight nodded and she began to walk back to the kitchen with Starlight by her side, when a familiar sound came from the front door.

Knock, knock, knock

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Comments ( 13 )

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BlabideeblahMLP

BlabideeblahMLP #1 · Oct 1st, 2016 · 1 · ·

Damn. They sure took care of Tia fast.

Which is why I don't like this story. The ending twist is too forced. In addition, I'm damn sure these black-robed ponies would stand no chance against Celly.

Basically, good idea and good twist, but also forced twist. Downvoted.

Vertigo22

Vertigo22 #2 · Oct 1st, 2016 · · ·

7609528 Uhh... That's not what I was getting at.

The ending was meant to be ambiguous—not that the Ponies in Black "took care of Celestia". I'll freely admit that I didn't do a very good job of conveying that, but I wasn't aiming for that. As for how they heard them, I'll admit I ROYALLY screwed up there—so I apologize on that front.

That said, I appreciate your honesty. It's nice that someone at least left a comment explaining why they downvoted a story.

VampDash

VampDash #3 · Oct 1st, 2016 · 1 · ·

7609528 Or they didn't deal with her... maybe they told the truth about working for Celestia.

BlabideeblahMLP

BlabideeblahMLP #4 · Oct 1st, 2016 · 1 · ·

7609536 Oh. Well, now I feel stupid.

Commander Darklight

Commander Darklight #5 · Oct 1st, 2016 · 2 · ·

now twilight kindly look at this device for me

the frank

the frank #6 · Oct 1st, 2016 · 1 · ·

I also have a slight itch with the fact that they adress Twilight as miss. If they work for Celly, they should know that Twilight's a princess too. The idea is interesting, but I think vague threats would work better.

Vertigo22

Vertigo22 #7 · Oct 1st, 2016 · · ·

7609816 I chose "Miss" simply because—in my opinion—it sounded more... proper, even if they should be referring to her as "princess".

As for vague threats, I did throw back and forth as to whether or not they should threaten her more. I ended up not doing so as I was for two reasons. The first was I didn't want to potentially end up hitting a T rating (I'm not experienced with writing a story with an E rating). The second was that I honestly didn't know what else to threaten her with. So, I wanted to keep it short and sweet (for better or for worse).

Anyways, thanks for reading! I'm sorry if it wasn't as great as it could've been.

Thunder-Bolt