‘My Dearest Twilight Sparkle,
I have Luna’s blessing to take off a week so that she may see what it was like to rule Equestria on my own in her absence. I have the utmost faith in her ability but would like some company on this break to help ease my nerves.
If you would like to join me, come to the Trottingham Hill Spa and Resort and ask for a mare named Prominence. She is my aid for this trip and will bring you straight to my private room. From there, we can discuss plans of what we’ll see.
I look forward to seeing you,
Princess Celestia’
---
Twilight scanned over the small letter again and again with her widened eyes.
“Princess Celestia wants me to go with her?!” Twilight grinned widely, “Ohmygosh! This is so sudden! It’ll be like everything I wanted from the Gala and more!” She danced on the tips of her hooves excitedly as her student and assistant both stared at her evenly.
“Uh, yeah.” Starlight said, “You’re kind of a Princess, and it’s not exactly like you do much of anything important.” Spike’s claw flew over his mouth, looking over at Twilight cautiously. Luckily for the unicorn, Twilight was too wrapped up in her excitement to care about her student’s blunt comment.
“Oh, what do I do? What should I pack?” Twilight was wandering in circles at this point, “ I should do something to impress her! SPIKE! I need a new spell to pull off!”
Spike shook his head with a sigh, “Twilight, seriously, it sounds like the Princess just wants to relax with you. Can you just calm down and accept that not everything is a test.”
Twilight froze. “A...test?” Her eyes went even wider, something Starlight found to be scarier than her villagers’ faked smiles. “What if it’s a test?! What if I have to write up an essay about how Starlight’s been doing with her friendship lessons?! Starlight! How are the lessons going?” She smiled nervously.
“Um, fine, I guess?” Starlight blinked, reeling herself back. She leaned into Spike, “...Is she always like this?”
“She’s gotten better recently,” Spike replied evenly.
“Um, okay, Twilight, can you relax? That’s what this whole thing with Celestia is supposed to be, isn’t it? Relaxing?” She stressed, pushing Twilight towards her bedroom door. “I mean, come on. You do need a break to relax, you’ve been stressed out recently.” Quite literally dragging Twilight through the door, Starlight threw a suitcase onto Twilight’s bed.
Twilight stopped struggling, “R-Right. Heh. There’s not going to be a test. Celestia wouldn’t do that to me.” She got up, going over to her dresser to frantically start packing.
Starlight dodged the clothing soaring over her head, a shoe nearly hitting her in the face as it arced in the general direction of the bed. “Though I really don’t know how Celestia plans on not being seen on her week off.”
“I don’t know, she probably rented out the entire resort or something,” Twilight said, hitting Starlight point blank with a sock. The other mare didn’t seem very impressed by this.
“...How about you aim where you’re magically slingshotting things.” Starlight stated in annoyance.
“Sorry, Starlight.” Twilight pulled the sock off of her student’s face, “I’m just nervous. The last time Celestia and I tried having ‘alone time’ in public was the Gala.”
“Yeah, and that worked out well!” Spike snickered before the sock landed on his face instead.
“...” Starlight let go of her aura, and the sock slid down Spike’s face, “Well, maybe, but I think this shows how much she wants to see you. Looks like she’s taken extra precautions this time.”
Twilight pawed at the ground with her hoof, “I sure hope you’re right, Starlight, because if it’s anything like the Gala, it’s not going to turn out well for me.”
“How, specifically?” Starlight asked. “I was never given the full rundown there.”
“Well… Every time I tried to talk to her, she’d get caught up in greeting another pony coming into the Gala.” Twilight said, “I barely talked to her that night at all.”
“So, it was an official thing?”
Twilight nodded. “I get that this isn’t official, but either we’ll have guards swarming everywhere trying to play border control or we’ll be in a swarm of ponies trying to talk to Celestia. She can’t rent everything out.”
“Well… Yeah.” Starlight admitted, scratching the back of her head. “But what are you going to do, just not go?”
“I… Well, of course I’m going to go. I’d disappoint her if I didn’t.” Twilight nodded, “Yeah. No matter what, I’m going.”
“Just don’t freak out. Like, in general. No freaking out.” Starlight said, raising an eyebrow. “This is for relaxing, and the last thing the Princess needs is to deal with a Twilight freakout.”
“...Right.” Twilight bit her lip, flinching a little, “Calm. Okay.” She pulled the suitcase over. “Are you two going to be alright without me?”
Starlight waved, “Pfft, we’ll be fiiiiine, right Spike?”
“We will?” Spike asked, blinking. “I’m visiting the Changelings this weekend.”
“Oookay, then, I’ll be fine. Even better.” Starlight replied. Twilight gave her a wary look. “Whaaaat? I’ll be fine! The girls are right around the corner.” Starlight huffed.
“Alright then. No friendship lessons until I’m back. At all.”
Starlight blushed, scratching the back of her head, “R-Right… Heh heh. That.”
“Okay. With that being said, have a good weekend, you two. I’ll be checking up on you later.” Twilight said.
“See ya, Twilight!” Spike called as they left her room, and Twilight headed down the castle’s hallway. Starlight was still pouting a little from the distrust, but she understood why.
---
The ride from Ponyville to Trottingham took a few hours, but Twilight took this time to catch up on some of the most recent books she had been sent and had bought. One in particular that had caught her eye was a text of illusion magic that had the magic community buzzing. She knew that Trixie, in particular, would be eating this one up, seeing that it was her preferred method of magic. Twilight hoped, anyway.
The text was informative on how the particular lengths of light could be utilized to make specific colors. Unicorns were always able to do this, of course, but it was never specifically spelled out why like this. Now, it all made sense.
That, naturally, led her to question why certain unicorns had certain colored magic, like how Shining’s was pink of all colors. She chuckled to herself at how embarrassed her older brother was of that fact in magic school. He had come to embrace it in the end, but the fact still remained.
More and more, Equestria was starting to understand the nuances of magic, and Twilight was happy to see it happen. But as her vision started to blur, and a pain rose up in her chest, she put her book down in confusion.
‘That was new…’ Twilight blinked, ‘I’ve never been trainsick before.’ The feeling disappeared as she put the book down. She stared at the cover with a confused expression, blinking at it. Even looking at it struck her with that strange feeling.
“Manehattan station!” Called the conductor, “End of the line!” Twilight sighed, gathering her things and stuffing the book back into her bag.
‘I’ll try again later.’ She trotted out of the train station with ease, suitcase balanced on her back. She was only about halfway there, but she quietly thanked The Scribe that Celestia had chosen an island to spend their vacation on. Sure, it was a little harder to get to because the train line didn’t reach over the Celestial Sea, but there were going to be fewer ponies to see them as they passed through Trottingham’s attractions.
Ponies didn’t bother her as she pushed through the Manehattan streets, but they did clear the way a little if they cared enough to see her passing by. The ferry to Trottingham wasn’t far now, but Twilight couldn’t help but ponder why so many ponies decided to live in such an overly crowded city like this. Sure, it was the leading city for Equestria’s advancement, but it was also dirty and, well, crowded. After living in Canterlot nearly her life, and Ponyville for the past few years, Twilight couldn’t imagine putting up with not having an actual house to live in. Then again, Rarity’s friend Coco Pommel didn’t seem bothered by it.
Shaking those thoughts off as simple differences, Twilight made her way onto her ferry. The boat ride was going to take a few hours and seemed pretty crowded. Finding that books now somehow made her sick in moving vehicles, she decided to just listen in on conversations and pony watch.
Her eyes drifted over to two unicorn mares talking amongst themselves. One had a Trottingham accent and the other a Manehattan.
“It’ll be good to be home.” The Trottingham mare said. “I can get back to my studies.”
“What,” The Manehattan mare scoffed in her own thick accent, “My place not good enough for ya?”
Her friend tittered, “Of course it is. I just want to get back to my own desk and notes. You know how it is.”
Twilight’s heart panged again with pain, and she grimaced hard to the floor. Was it really motion sickness that was doing this to her? She looked out uneasily at the coastline in front of them, trying to ignore the queasiness that settled in her stomach as she slowly watched it approach her.
---
Trottingham wasn’t exactly what Twilight thought it would be. The humidity wasn’t all that bad, but it was like a constant cloud hung over the city. There was very little sunlight peeking through the thick sheet of vapor, and the wind didn’t blow very much to drift the cloud away. It was an interesting change, considering the usual open fields and pure sunlight of Ponyville. It didn’t feel bad, though. Despite what would’ve been described as ‘gloomy weather’, the streets seemed to be filled with laughter and cheering as ponies sat around cracking jokes at each other as they downed healthy heapings of cider.
‘Pinkie would like this place.’ Twilight decided with a smile and a nod, moving on towards the resort.
Said resort was nothing flashy or huge, but instead had a homey feel about it. It reminded Twilight more of a bed and breakfast in Canterlot than any big fancy beachfront resort. She would’ve thought of this as a great place to just sit back and read in front of the hearth if books weren’t kind of a problem right now.
She blew out an annoyed breath, going inside. ‘Maybe Celestia can help me with that.’ Twilight decided, if for any reason than to raise her spirits. She wasn’t about to see Celestia looking like she was annoyed at her, or really didn’t want to be here. She really did!
“Excuse me, ahem. I’m looking for Prominence?” Twilight said to the mare at the front desk.
The mare looked at Twilight, then the clipboard in her hooves. “...Solar Prominence, Princess?” She asked, almost a bit startled.
“Yes.” Twilight nodded. ‘I, uh, guess? Celestia never gave me a full name.’
“...Right.” The mare blinked, “Second floor, room 207.” She passed Twilight a key with the room number on it.
“Um, thanks!” Twilight nodded, grabbing the key in her aura and stepped into the elevator. ‘...Why’d that mare look so confused?’ Twilight asked herself, cocking an eyebrow. She pressed the ‘2’ button on the elevator door, looking over at the other 5. ‘I guess Prominence has a separate room than the Princess? I mean, I guess that makes sense, but…’
DING! The doors opened to reveal the second floor, and Twilight went over and opened room 207.
It came equipped with two queen sized beds, a desk, a sofa, and a bathroom in the same little “hallway” as the entrance.
“Um, hello? Prominence?” Twilight called into the room, blinking as a green pegasus mare with a blue and white mane appeared from around the corner.
“Twilight! So glad you could make it!” The little mare grinned.
Twilight looked down at her, confused, “Um, Prominence, not to be rude, but where’s Princess Celestia? I was told to come to you first, but I really need to see the Princess urgently.”
“Is it an emergency?” Prominence asked.
“Well, no. I just need to talk to her.” Twilight said.
“Oh, good. I was worried about an emergency pulling us away.” Twilight jumped as Celestia’s voice began to come from the mare’s mouth. ‘Prominence’ giggled, “Oh, Twilight, you didn’t think I’d come to a vacation disguised, did you?”
“...Celestia? H-How did you do that?” Twilight’s mouth nearly fell open.
“Chroma Spell.” Celestia smiled up at her, now shorter. “It comes in handy a time or two.” She smirked, elbowing Twilight, “Trust me, I needed it to sneak out of the castle without being mobbed.”
“Wh-what about your guards?” Twilight asked, “Did you sneak away from them too?”
“No.” Celestia shook her head, “They’re on the parameters of the island, keeping watch from afar. Besides, with the two of us here, we can handle whatever the world throws at us.”
“But, um, your horn…” Twilight replied.
Celestia laughed, “It’s still there!” Her eyes flashed with her gold aura, levitating a pamphlet describing the attractions around Trottingham over to Twilight, “Just hidden.”
“That’s… That’s really cool!” Twilight beamed at Celestia, eyes shining with joy. “Can you show me how to cast it sometime?!”
“Sometime?” Celestia smirked up at her in amusement, “What better time than this trip? You and I have nothing but time to ourselves for a few days.”
Twilight blinked, “Oh yeah!” She put her hoof to her forehead, “Wow… It’ll really be only about us with you in de-” She paused. “Wait. What about me? Should I be in disguise too?”
“Probably not. You can easily wave me off as a new friend of yours.” Celestia smiled, “I take it that isn’t exactly uncommon of you.”
Twilight blushed brightly, “Well… No, it’s not. I guess it’ll still work.”
“Great! Then we should decide where to go in the morning.” Celestia pitched her voice back up to disguise it, “Then, we can go get some dinner for the evening.”
“Right.” Twilight nodded at her, still not used to the idea of looking down at Celestia. ‘I guess she just likes being small?’ Twilight asked herself, only half paying attention as her teacher went on about the sights here.
“Then there’s the old unicorn founder huts.” Celestia went on, not noticing her student’s mind drift elsewhere, “It’s nice to see they’ve kept them up, even if it’d be hard to keep them standing after a big shower.”
Twilight came back to her senses as Celestia came to one of her favorite words, “The University here has a fantastic library that I don’t doubt they’d let you into.” Celestia paused, smiling over at Twilight and waiting for the excitement. When nothing came, she just looked concerned.
“...Hey, Princess?” Twilight asked, “I, uh, did need your help about something.”
“Absolutely, Twilight.” Celestia nodded, the concerned expression not leaving.
“Do you get train sick?”
“Yes, why?”
Twilight grimaced, “What does it… feel like?”
“Um.” She paused, “Your vision blurs a little, and you start to feel nauseous, usually. Why?”
“So, nothing to do with your heart?” Celestia shook her head, and Twilight sighed, sitting on the bed, “It’s… It’s just a feeling I’ve gotten recently, and I thought it was just motion sickness at first, but…” She scratched the back of her head.
“A pain in your heart?” Celestia sat next to her, “Could be a lot of things. Homesickness, anxiety, longing… What caused it?”
“A book I was reading,” Twilight said simply.
“...Mmm, I’ll be honest: I have no idea.” She admitted, “I guess it’s just something for you to try and come to terms with.”
“It must’ve been anxiety.” Twilight reasoned fairly easily, “You know me, nervous at everything as always…” She gave a weak, joking smile as she readjusted herself on the side of the hotel bed.
“Well, whatever it is, I’m sure it’ll pass.” Celestia assured, brushing Twilight’s mane back a little, “Maybe starting with a bit of warm food will help. Come on,” She smiled, “I’ll buy us dinner.”
“Th-thanks, Princess.” Twilight nodded, getting up and following her.
She was right. This would pass soon enough. Twilight thought over the strange happenings of when those feelings had hit her on the way over, and how easily they could be explained by simple nerves. Now that she was here, all she needed to do was to enjoy spending quality time with Cele- Solar Prominence. It was just one weekend. Just one weekend alone with the disguised Princess. Nothing could go wrong. ...right?