Twilight awoke the next day feeling entirely refreshed. The feeling that had plagued her yesterday had passed by completely. Looking around with that first blurriness of being awake, she almost didn’t recognize where she was, nor the green pegasus sleeping in the bed beside hers.
“Nnnng…” She rolled over, slowly pulling herself up and stretching out. She felt awkward, just standing in the middle of she and the Princess’s room, trying to decide whether or not the Princess would be mad if she was woken up. Finally, Twilight decided to quickly take a shower before they went out today. From how Princess Celestia was talking last night, they had a full day of sightseeing ahead.
As the drops of bath water dripped from her snout, Twilight took the time to ponder about the strange feeling again. Sure, it had just been nerves, but it seemed… different from her normal anxiety. She couldn’t deny that she was a nervous and anxious mare, that had always been so. But normally, nerves came with shaking and a heat flash. That hadn’t happened.
A knock sounded on the door. “Twilight? Ahhhhhh~” A yawn cut Celestia off mid-sentence, “Aaaare you almost done in there?”
“A-Almost done, Princess!” Twilight called back, and Celestia sighed softly to herself from the other side of the door.
“Right.” Celestia shook her head, going over and splaying out onto her bed, closing her eyes again.
Twilight trotted out happily, “Okay, done Prin-”
“-Please stop calling me just ‘Princess’, Twilight.” Celestia said wearily, ears folded, “Call me Celestia at least.”
“Oh, um,” Twilight had never heard her mentor’s tone grow so sad, “Alright, Celestia.” She almost tripped up again. ‘Princess’ just flew so easily to her tongue when she saw Celestia. It was what she had called her teacher for years.
Celestia got up from her bed, trotting towards the bathroom, “Thank you, Twilight. The formality really isn’t needed.” She shook her head again as the door closed.
Twilight just stared at the door, dumbfounded and confused. What had brought that up so suddenly?
It was when Twilight heard the shower that she decided to put her mind to other matters. Specifically, she pulled the book from yesterday into her aura. She sat down on the edge of her bed, staring at it intensely, running her eyes over every detail of the cover. “Illusionary Studies of Magic Volume III”, written by “C. Starview”.
When nothing came this time, Twilight attempted to open up the book to the page she had been reading on the train.
Past the section of the light lengths, the author had gone into detail about how the specific lengths of light had been utilized without any proper knowledge of how such a simple trick worked. Unicorns simply created a simple beam of light and stretched it to the length of the desired color, before holding it in-
“AUGH!” Twilight covered her eyes with her hooves as the pain and blurriness set in again. The book fell from her lap with a loud THUNK.
“Twilight?” Celestia’s muffled concern was heard through the wall between the bathroom and bedroom.
“I-I’m fine! No worries!” Twilight said, scooping up the book in her aura and sliding it back into place on top of her suitcase. “Guess I’m not reading that this trip.” She sighed, settling onto the sofa to wait for Celestia to finish her shower. That was where Celestia found her when she returned.
“Did you need to sleep longer?” Celestia asked. “Excited as I am, we’re in no big rush today.”
Twilight got up. “No! I’m ready when you are.” She nodded eagerly.
“Alright then!” Celestia nodded, “Let’s go.”
“Um, to breakfast, right?” Twilight asked.
“...Oh. Right. Breakfast.” Celestia blushed, already opening the door to their room.
---
Twilight and Celestia took the day out, taking in the sights of Trottingham. Said sights were okay, Twilight thought, but what truly made them special was the way Celestia reacted to them all. Either she’d squeal silently to Twilight, or just gasp happily in recognition of the monuments.Then she’d lean in close, telling Twilight all about the histories of these places and what they had meant to her. It all came to the end when they arrived at a Trottingham Flea Market.
“Oh! Twilight, I’ll be right back.” Prominence said as they were perched on a bench, “I’m regretting not trying to haggle down that souvenir salespony. This might take awhile.” She joked.
Twilight giggled, “Alright. I’ll be here.” As Prominence trotted off, Twilight decided quickly to pony watch again. It was like her friendship senses were trying to zone in on any possible problems she could find in the crowd. Instead of a friendship problem, though, she spotted a familiar face.
“...Comet?” Twilight tilted her head. “HEY! COMET TAIL!” The blue and yellow stallion whirled around at his name being yelled, and Twilight waved her hooves frantically to catch his attention.
He trotted over with a grin, “Twilight! Hey! It’s been awhile, how’re you and the girls?”
“We’ve been alright. Trying not to be swept back by saving Equestria every week and all.” Twilight nodded back, “What are you doing in Trottingham?”
“Visiting friends.” He smiled, “They’re… eccentric, for sure, but hey, we all deal with Pinkie almost on a daily basis.” He joked, “So it’s expected.”
“You have two Pinkie Pie friends?” Twilight laughed, “Geesh, the world hasn’t exploded yet! How do you manage that?”
“Okay, that comparison is a bit too far.” Comet smirked, “They’re not that loud, they just like to voice their opinions. Loudly. Well, at least one of them does.”
“Well, trust me when I say that one Pinkie Pie is all this world needs.” Twilight chuckled, “I love her like a sister, but everypony needs a breather from that mare.”
“Absolutely true.” Comet laughed with her, and the two sat down on the bench.
“So, anything going on around Ponyville recently?” Twilight asked him.
“Nothing too huge. The CMC are still causing trouble-”
“-what else is new?” Twilight rolled her eyes with a smile.
“There’s a new hotel opening up on the edge of town.”
Twilight blinked, “Really?”
“Yeah.” He elbowed her, “I guess Ponyville’s own Princess is bringing in some curious tourists, eh?”
Twilight blushed, “Oh, gosh, I don’t exactly want to become a crowd-pulling attraction.”
“And you never really will be. You mean more to our town than just that.” Comet assured her, “You’re a hero, clearly, and our friend.”
“Aww, thanks Comet.” Twilight smiled genuinely at him. “So. How’s the stargazing been going?”
Comet nodded thoughtfully, “Pretty good, pretty good. Princess Luna’s been showing us some gorgeous nights.”
“I still say you need to talk to her! She’d love the appreciation!” Twilight urged, “I mean, she’s in Ponyville every Nightmare Night. I’m sure if you just walk up to-”
Now Comet blushed, “Noooo, no, no, no!” He insisted, shaking his head quickly.
Twilight stared at him, befuddled at the sudden outburst, “Why not?”
“It’s just…” Comet bit his lip, “It’s hard to ta-”
“Comet Tail the Starry-Eyed?” Looking over, they noticed that Prominence was standing but a few feet away, having stopped to gawk at the stallion. “Is… Is that you?”
Comet froze, his back to Prominence. Twilight saw his face quickly shift from nervous to confused.
“Uh, me?” He asked, whirling around, sudden, complete confidence in his voice.
She nodded, “Yes, you! I’d recognise you anywhere!”
“You must be confusing me with someone else.” He said simply, looking over at Twilight, “Is… This a new friend of yours?”
“Yeah…” Twilight cocked an eyebrow at Prominence, “Comet Tail, this is Prominence. Prominence, who are you talking about?”
“Him.” Prominence motioned at Comet, who had suddenly disappeared without another word. “...Twilight. Follow me. Now.” She burst off into a full-on run, and Twilight followed awkwardly.
“Wait, wait, what’s going on? Why’s that name so important?!” Twilight called as she attempted to keep up, barely dodging around stands and racks of merchandise. She swore mentally. She’d never get used to these wings.
“I’m telling you!” Prominence called back, “He’s an ancient mage! I’m amazed I didn’t notice him before!”
“WHAT?! NO! I know Comet! He lives in Ponyville!” Twilight slid under a table, pulling the white tablecloth to the side as she stumbled out, causing knick-knacks to scatter all around and a shopkeep to angrily shout after her. “S-sorry, sir! No famous, ancient mage would try to hide out in Ponyville!”
“Clearly he was trying to hide out in plain sight, and I’m mad that it worked! He didn’t even try disguising his cutie mark!” Prominence said with a huff, rounding a corner.
Twilight did so as well, “I really think you’re overreacting, Ce-Prominence!” She stumbled, seeing Comet in the distance. They were closing in on him, but he was charging his horn for another teleport.
Clearly, not if Celestia had anything to say about it. A table off to the side of him slid, top-up right into his path. While it didn’t trip Comet completely, it did enough to both slow him down and break his concentration on his spell, and the aura gathering on his horn fizzled out. In desperation, he rounded the corner, and Prominence slid to a stop right before it, holding a hoof to signal Twilight to do the same.
Twilight huffed, taking in heavy breaths to keep from falling over. “Can you take… One second. To tell me why chasing. After my friend. Was a good idea?”
Celestia hushed her, before motioning her on again. “I’ll explain later.”
Twilight followed with a grimace this time, the two keeping a much slower pace as they trailed behind a unicorn mare. Twilight’s eyes widened when she realized that it was no longer Comet who they were following .’...Is the Princess insane?’ flashed through her mind a few times, though she tried to shove it down every time it did.
Finally, Prominence stopped.
Twilight took a step forward in confusion, but just as she was about to ask why they had stopped, Prominence spoke.
“Meet me at that bench. I won’t be gone long.” She said simply, lifting off into the air.
“Um.” Twilight looked up just in time to see her flying away, “Okay.” She let out a frustrated breath, “Thanks for asking. I didn’t want to know what was going on. Not at all.” She sagged, shaking her head before walking over to the bench at the front of the flea market, getting some dirty looks from some of the shopkeepers on the way over.
Luckily, Prominence didn’t take long to land next to Twilight. “Sorry about that.” She panted, “I couldn’t tell you what was going on as we went after him. Let’s get some lunch and talk this out.”
“Listen, Prominence, even if he was some great mage or whatever, why was it a good idea to chase after him?” Twilight asked nonetheless. “I’m me, not Rainbow Dash.”
“The same reason he ran. Whatever that was.” Prominence replied, “If he felt strongly enough to burst out into a run, wouldn’t him being guilty of something pop into your head? Besides, I wanted answers.”
“I mean… I guess.” Twilight scratched the back of her head. “Still...I think we could’ve tried something less...exercisey…?”
“If he wasn’t who I said he was, or if he didn’t know something about it, why would he run?” Prominence asked. “Now. Hayburgers for lunch, or a daisy sandwich?”
“Hayburgers, definitely.” Twilight was only off topic for a moment, the two heading towards a little cafe. “But seriously, say Comet is this ancient mage. Why’s he so important?” Twilight asked as they seated themselves at a table.
Prominence sighed, lowering her voice and ducking behind a menu. “Let me put it to you this way: Comet Tail the Starry-Eyed was born in the generation after Clover the Clever.”
“That’d make him like 17 hundred years old!” Twilight squeaked loudly, jerking back in shock. “H-how would he still be alive?!” She asked as her voice quieted down and Prominence pulled her head back behind the menu.
“You tell me.” Prominence said simply, “I have no idea, either. I also don’t know why he’s been hiding from me all these years. He was one of Luna’s best friends, as well as the founder of the study of illusion magic and a master astronomer.”
“...So his illusion was hiding under your snout all this time?” The question was asked innocently enough, but Prominence couldn’t help but find the wall suddenly very annoying. Twilight was still too annoyed from the impromptu jog to to realize that she was snarking at her teacher and fellow Princess.
“Yeah, well…” She sighed, “It doesn’t really matter now. I overheard Comet quickly telling that second mare to run, so I figured following her would bring us to where he’s staying. But after following her for a few moments, I realized she was onto us too. So! I made them think we were going to give up.”
“He’s staying with friends.” Twilight said simply. “We could’ve waited until he left for Ponyville, too.”
“Well, I saw him run into a house.” Prominence said.
“You did?”
“Mmhmm, that’s why I flew up like that. With a bird’s eye view, I caught sight of him right as he was slipping into a house.” She smiled, “So. How about we go and talk to him after lunch?”
“How’re we going to get through to him? With how we were acting earlier, it seems like we’d just get the door slammed in our face. Or, you know, he wouldn’t open it at all.”
Prominence put down her menu as the waitress came, pondering her answer to that question. After giving their orders, she admitted, “Good point. How could we get him to talk to us?” She scanned over Twilight before giving a soft smile. “Ohhhh~ I know how!”
Twilight blinked, “...You just sized me up. Did you just size me up? I’m not interested in a date with Comet, Prominence. I don’t swing that way!” Twilight blinked, “...w-wait no…”
Prominence burst out laughing, holding her sides. It took her a good minute to calm down before she could form sentences again. “N-No! Not for a date, Twilight! Just an apology.”
“An apology?” Twilight asked. “He won’t come out with you there, even for that.”
“I won’t be there.” Prominence assured, “At least, not at first. I’ll come up later, once you’ve talked him down.”
“Um, I think you’re putting too much confidence in my-”
“It’s okay.” Prominence said, “He’s not a criminal, I’m not going to throw him in prison or anything, I just want a chance to talk to him. I know he’s your friend, and I won’t make you lie to him. Just say that your friend meant him no harm, and that I was startled when he started running.”
“I mean…”
“And, hey, if you really think I’m completely wrong here, we can go back to the hotel now.” Prominence offered.
Twilight’s mind flashed to how seamlessly she had seen Comet’s face go from terrified to confident before he had turned around. “No… No, I think something’s definitely going on.” She agreed finally. “It’s just that… I feel bad for meddling. Comet’s been my neighbor for years.”
“To be honest… I’m not entirely doing this for me,” Prominence explained, “If this really is the Comet Tail I’m thinking of, he has the ability to bring Luna so much joy, if I can convince him to see her again.”
“Mmm… Every time I offered that they talk, he finds every way to back out of it.” Twilight said.
“I’m… I’m hoping that it’s not because of Luna’s banishment.” Prominence said with a frown. “I can see why he’d be angry at me about it.”
“Still?” Twilight blinked, “...It’s kinda been a long time to still be sore about that.”
“Well, yes, but grudges will sometimes stay with ponies all throughout their lives.” Prominence reminded, “So it wouldn’t be that big of a stretch to say an immortal can hold onto that as well.”
“It still makes no sense to me, but alright.” Twilight looked down, almost missing the waitress as her hayburger was put in front of her. It looked pretty similar to the ones served in the Ponyville cafe, and she was somewhat thankful for that. Her stomach needed to be settled for what she was about to do.
There was a chance that her neighbor in Ponyville was a 1700 year old mage. If that was true, Twilight wasn’t sure if she’d ever look at him the same way again. She took a thoughtful bite of her hayburger, trying to think of what she’d say to him if he’d been lying all this time. Not much, she realized with a start. He hadn’t really been lying to her, or anyone. His identity was just an illusion, hidden in plain sight.
“It rarely does.” Prominence said simply, taking a bite of her own hayburger. “It’s just how ponies are.”
“Well… Either way, I don’t think I could go home without answers now.” Twilight said, nodding to herself, “Let’s see what Comet says.”
‘And ask him a ton of questions.’ She added in her mind with a quiet giggle, feeling more resolute now. Hayburgers truly were magical.