“Aw, dang it… There really isn’t a lot in here, is there?” Twilight grumbled to herself in disappointment, shelving yet another book with little to none of the info she desired. Even with the insane amount of collective knowledge stored within the Canterlot Archives, she had been unable to find any detailed books covering dragon physiology, let alone details on how they aged and matured. Well, she wasn’t able to find such information in the sections of the archives she was allowed to enter right now.
Twilight groaned and thought some very rude words to express her discontent, words very unfit for use by a filly her age.. So many books, so many pages and scrolls, so much information, old wisdom and knowledge was stored within this archive. Much to her displeasure, she had little to no access to most of it without somepony supervising her search, usually Princess Celestia or another trusted individual.
Dangerous secrets and risky spells filled some of the deeper corners of the archives, and Celestia was not willing to let Twilight look into them without a guide. It still made Twilight huff dejectedly, even though in the back of her mind she knew it was probably good she wasn’t allowed to go back there unsupervised yet. With a sigh, Twilight turned to make her way out of the public section of the archives. She stopped and perked up in mild surprise as one of the royal guards trotted up to her, having been directed to her by the librarian in the center of the large, book-case filled room, by the looks of it.
“Princess Celestia requires your presence in the private wing, miss Sparkle.” he said politely, looking down on the lavender filly with the typically stoic expression of the guard.
“Oh! Princess Celestia’s back already? I thought she was going to be back here in Canterlot for another few hours.” Twilight noted curiously, falling in beside the guard when he turned to lead her to their destination.
“I wasn’t informed about the specific details of our early departure, miss Sparkle. All I know is that Her Highness finished whatever her work in Cloudsdale was earlier than anticipated, then came back with a, uh…” the guard fell silent, his face scrunching up slightly as he looked for the right words. “...she came back with a ‘guest.’ I’m under strict orders not to say anything more than that at this time.”
“A guest?” Twilight raised an eyebrow, her brain kicking into gear. “Who is it?”
“I’m not allowed to say.” The guard replied bluntly. The two stepped out of the archives and into the hallway that waited just beyond, taking a right to head for the private rooms. Many ponies were moving through the hallway besides them. Other guards on patrol, maids making their rounds and other ponies of varying levels of importance moving to and from equivalently important places.
Twilight whined slightly at the guard's refusal to speak up, looking at the floor and pouting. The guard, unsurprisingly, was unfazed. Spike, who was still resting on Twilight’s back, wrapped his little claws around what he could of her torso in an attempt to give her a comforting hug. While he wasn’t really able to hug her fully, she still appreciated the gesture and slipped him a small gem from her saddlebags with her magic.
Twilight and the guard both fell silent, opting to not exchange anymore words with one another for the remainder of the journey. Eventually they exited the public sections of Canterlot Castle and entered the private and reserved areas. The hustle and bustle from only a few moments ago gave way to the relaxed, calming quiet of the private wing. The private wing consisted of a long, well decorated hallway, torch sconces dotting the walls in regular intervals. Between these sconces, doors were set into the walls, each one leading to a private room.
“Here we are, your majesty.” The guard announced to the area. Twilight looked up and saw Princess Celestia herself standing by the door to Twilight’s room and looking back with a small, motherly smile.
“Thank you. You may return to your regular duties now,” Celestia gave a nod of her head to the guard, dismissing him. He bowed deeply before turning and trotting from the area, closing the large doors behind him. Celestia’s smile turned much softer. “It is good to see you again, Twilight. I trust you behaved yourself while I was away?”
“Yes, Princess. It’s good to see you too, your highness!” Twilight said cheerfully, giving a bow as well. Celestia rolled her eyes in amusement before giggling softly.
“Rise, Twilight. We’re not in public, so no need to be so formal.”
Twilight did as asked, swiftly standing straight up. “So, you wanted to see me?” she asked curiously. Celestia nodded and then turned slightly, allowing her flowing mane and tail to drift away from somepony it had been hiding. Twilight raised an eyebrow and tilted her head at the sight. “Who’s that?” she asked, pointing to the cyan pegasus filly with the prismatic mane and tail that had been sitting down behind Celestia.
“I’m Rainbow Dash,” the pegasus said simply, standing up and trotting up to Twilight, looking at her with a critical eye.. “This is the pony you wanted me to see?” she turned to look at Celestia with a measurement of confusion. “She looks just as old as I do. What gives?”
“Yes, Rainbow. This is Twilight Sparkle, my personal student and a very gifted unicorn. She has a great deal of potential and I get the feeling the two of you will be spending a lot of time around each other,” Celestia replied before looking at Twilight with a somewhat more uneasy expression wiping away her smile.
“And lemme guess; She’s just as clueless as everypony else we’ve talked to, am I right?” Rainbow asked bluntly, looking back at Twilight blankly. Twilight raised an eyebrow and frowned at the blunt way Rainbow was speaking to the Princess.
“Clueless about what?” Twilight inquired, opting to not chew her out for her lack of etiquette. The Princess will teach her that herself, I bet. Twilight then turned her gaze to Celestia in the hopes of finding answers.
Rainbow flinched and turned her eyes away, mumbling something under her breath. Twilight’s face scrunched up and her ears twitched, trying to make out the soft mumblings. Celestia chose this moment to intervene, stepping into the foreground of Twilight’s view.. “I’ll allow Rainbow Dash herself tell you when, and only when she is ready, Twilight. For now, why don’t you show her around the private wing? You’ll be neighbors for a while, after all”
Twilight looked to Celestia, flabbergasted, then back to Rainbow Dash. “Uh, sure, I guess… uh, I mean-!” She quickly dropped into a much-too-deep bow, mentally scolding herself for such an inappropriate and ineloquent acceptance of the task the princess had given her. “Of course, your majesty! Right away!”
Celestia couldn’t help but titter behind a hoof at Twilight’s abrupt freakout. Despite how much it normally bothered her, Celestia had to admit that it was at least a little amusing when a little filly was acting like this. Celestia then looked down to Rainbow Dash, her smile softening considerably. “Until I can make certain, more permanent arrangements, you’ll be staying in the private wing. Twilight has residence here and knows her way around. You can trust her,” she then looked back to Twilight firmly. “Now Twilight, there is one more thing.”
Twilight looked up curiously from her kneeling position. “Yes, Princess?”
“Play nice.” Celestia said simply before smirking and leaving the two of them to interpret her words, trotting out of the area through the large doors. They closed behind her with a ‘clunk’ that sounded much louder than it should have.
Rainbow huffed and shook her head. “Ugh… look, can we just get this over with? I really need to take a nap.”
Twilight stood tall and then recoiled with a sharp gasp, looking as if she had just heard the ultimate blasphemy. Truthfully, it kind of felt that way to her. “What? Oh, no! Princess Celestia asked me to show you around and I will not disobey that order!”
Rainbow blinked incredulously, shifting back from Twilight’s enthusiasm. “Uh… okay, sure,” She sighed heavily, sagging somewhat. “Lead on, I guess.”
Twilight grinned and gave a chirpy nod before beginning a tour of the area.
For a time, the two trotted through the area, Twilight going into exquisite detail on the functionalities and purposes of each sub-area of the private sections of the castle. From the guests lounge to the food court, Twilight had a lot to say about every room and what they were for. So enthralled was she in trotting in the teacher’s horseshoes, even if only for a little bit, she didn’t notice Rainbow Dash gradually losing focus on her words.
Rainbow looked Twilight up and down critically, her eyes periodically gluing themselves to the sides of her torso. Eventually, Twilight came to a stop and turned around to face Rainbow. Their eyes met.
“Alright, I think that’s just about it,” Twilight said before gesturing around at all the doors in the hallway. “There aren’t very many ponies occupying these rooms right now, so find one and make yourself at home.” That said, Twilight turned to trot back to her room for some supplies. She still needed to meet back up with Princess Celestia for the day’s private lesson.
Dash grimaced and looked down at the other filly’s words,, her wings fidgeting anxiously at her sides. “Right… home.”
Twilight paused and glanced back at Rainbow with a tilt of her head. “Huh?”
“Nothing. Sorry, just… forget I said anything.” Rainbow waved off Twilight’s question before putting a hoof on the nearest door and pushing it open. She didn’t even seem to register the fact that the room was absolutely luxurious, even when compared to the already high standards of her old home.
“Hey, are you okay? You’ve been kinda…” Twilight went silent and flinched away at the harsh glare Rainbow shot at her.
“I’m fine. And I’ll be even better if I can get some sleep. Okay? Cool. Thanks, bye.” Rainbow said coldly before slamming the door shut behind her. Twilight took a step back, alarmed by the other filly’s outburst.
“...Jeesh. What got under her skin?”
Spike uttered out a confused whine before patting Twilight’s neck, then pointed to a nearby clock that hung over the entrance to the private wing. Twilight followed his indication and then gasped audibly.
“Oh no, no no! We’re late!” She broke into a gallop for her room just across the hall. She Pulled the door open and darted inside, close to hyperventilating. “Where are those books? Where are my notes?! WHERE’S MY ESSAY?!”
Spike babbled at her in an effort to calm her down, but it was no use. Twilight was panicking and all Spike could do was hold on for dear life and ride out this storm. Twilight spent a solid three minutes assembling her notes, quills and gathering up the books she had been reading for her assignment before thundering back out into the hallway.
“Okay, if we hurry, we can get there without being flayed alive!” Twilight wheezed, vanishing out of the room through the main exit. For almost a minute, silence dominated the empty hallway before the door to Rainbow’s room slowly creaked open. The cyan pegasus filly poked her head out and glanced back and forth a few times, making sure the coast was clear.
Satisfied that she was unobserved, she quickly shot into Twilight’s room, softly closing the door behind her. She didn’t need to search for long once she began looking through Twilight’s things. A framed photograph was rested on top the night stand, showing an image of Twilight Sparkle with her parents and a newborn baby dragon, huddles together and smiling warmly. Twilight was seated in such a way that her brand new cutie mark was plainly visible.
Rainbow stared at the picture intently before putting it back down and slinking out of the room. There was no doubt about it in her mind, now. With her hunch confirmed, she turned and left the room, casting a few glances back and forth at the door to ensure she was still in the clear before returning to her own room. She still needed to get some sleep, after all.