//------------------------------// // Moving Day // Story: The Infestation of Equiss Prime // by Jest //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle was a patient filly, that came with a caveat of course, as she was only patient in comparison of someone her age and only when it came to certain things. For example, if a new book was coming in the mail, she would sit at the window sill, waiting for the mail pony every day, but after the mail pony passed her by, she forgot about it until the next day. If that book did not arrive the day it was supposed to though... she was liable to start harassing the mail delivery mare. Basically, if things went according to plan, she was fine, if not, well, she did things like this. The filly ran down the list of things she had to pack for the fourth time. “What about my old textbooks, are they in there?” Her father sighed, and lifted the flap of a box next to him, making a half-hearted attempt at peering inside. “Yes dear,” he droned. The filly struck that off the list. “And what about my clothes?” Her mother sighed as well, patting a box to her right. “Yes Twilight.” “But mom, you didn't even look! What if it's not there!” the filly whined. “It was in there a few minutes ago, why wouldn't it be there anymore?” Twilight Velvet asked, hoping to appeal to the filly’s logical side. “B-but!” Night Light stepped forward, putting a hoof on the filly’s withers. “Deep breaths, little star,” he gently reminded. A spike of anger rose inside the filly but the calm expression on her father’s face seemed to help and she reluctantly took a deep, slow breath. Twilight Velvet took a step forward, kneeling down to the filly’s height. “Better?” The filly nodded glumly. “Good,” her father said, rubbing her back. “Maybe we should just finish the checklist one last time?” Twilight offered weakly. Her father suppressed an intense desire to roll his eyes and continued to rub her back. “It's all there Twilight. Trust us.” Her mother smiled faintly. “What's bothering you, sweety? Did you forget to use the bathroom again?” “M-mom!” the filly cried, shame burning hot on her cheeks. The older mare merely giggled, shrugging her shoulders. “It wouldn't be the first time you forgot about it.” “I was ten!” Her father stifled his own laughter and shot his wife an unamused expression. “And now you are twelve, that's not exactly a long time, you know.” “It's like forever, dad! That's like two whole years!” The filly shrugged off her father’s hoof and stomped over to the window, peering out at the road beyond, her glowing eyes reflecting on the glass. “I just wish Shining was here,” she whispered. Twilight Velvet sighed and gently picked up her child in the glow of her magic, bringing the sad filly into a tight hug. “He would, if he could.” Night Light shifted beside them, shooting the filly a wane smile. “It's the only day for tryouts though and you wouldn't want him to give up his place on the team, would you?” “No,” Twilight muttered sadly. “Exactly, besides, he is going to be there tonight, remember?” her father offered. The filly’s features lit up slightly and she smiled a little. “Yeah…” “How is your stomach treating you Twilight, no more rashes?” her mother asked, concern slipping into her voice. Twilight blushed and shook her head. “No, it's gone.” “Thank goodness, those bandages were just dreadful,” her mother remarked. When the filly’s mood refused to lift, Twilight Velvet set the filly on her own hooves and picked up her chin, forcing their eyes to meet. “What is wrong, my little star?” The filly mumbled, kicking a spot on the floor. “What was that, dear?” her father asked. “I’m leaving all of you…” she whispered to the floor. Both parents sighed and moved to wrap their filly in another squishy hug. “You aren't going far, and you will be back home every weekend.” Her mother nodded. “And we will be coming to see you every night after you done with your studies, remember?” “Only for the first few weeks,” the filly muttered back, scowling at the wooden floor. “You know I can't take that much time off work and Shining Armor is going to have his own homework by then,” her father offered. “We will see you every chance we get, won't we honey?” Her mother nodded. “Absolutely.” The filly looked up, concern evident in her pupilless orange eyes. “Why is everypony afraid of me, and why do you have to wear those charms all the time? Princess Celestia said I can't actually shoot lasers out of my eyes.” The pair exchanged a brief look, with Twilight Velvet being the loser in their brief standoff. “It's just a… precaution, we don't want anyone to get sick like you did,” she offered. Her father lifted the small charm he wore about his neck. “It won't be around for much longer, remember what Celestia said?” The filly grumbled, but reluctantly repeated it, “‘You might still be contagious.’” “Exactly.” He smiled. “It's not so bad though. You don't even have to go back to the hospital anymore.” “I still missed a week of school,” she muttered. Her mother chuckled, ruffling her mane. “You got a whole week of reading whatever you wanted, surely it wasn't that bad?” For the first time a faint smile crept onto Twilight’s face. “It was kind of nice. Princess Celestia gave me so many new books to read.” “Exactly.” Her father stood up. “So why don't we start bringing your boxes to the curb and I’m sure the carriage will be here in no time. Okay?” Twilight smiled a little wider and hopped up as well, followed closely by her mother. “Sounds good!” Her mother nodded, grabbing a few boxes in her magic while her husband and daughter did the same. “Are you sure you can handle all that, Twilight?” her mother asked, gesturing towards the straining filly carrying as much as her parents did combined. Twilight forced the grimace from her face, and smiled up at her mother. “I’m fine.” Her father shook his head and opened the door, subtly snatching a few boxes from her aura while pushing her out into the front yard. “Let's get going, you don't want to dump all your stuff across the house, now do you?” Twilight Velvet smiled appreciatively at her husband, making her way behind the filly and bringing their train of boxes out onto the front yard. In short order they had managed to bring the entire load of boxes, which encompassed nearly everything the filly owned, save for a few back up pairs of clothes and a few books she wanted to be kept at home. Just in case she needed something to read, wouldn't want to have to make an emergency run to the library after all. The small mountain of boxes, and a few bags and suitcases were piled near the curb, arranged neatly by a very particular little filly who quickly organized everything just the way she liked it. “There,” she announced, taking a step back from the now perfectly ordered piles of stuff. “Just in time too, look!” her father called out, pointing up the street. Twilight’s heart leapt into her throat and she spun around, following her father’s hoof up to where she saw several guards trotting towards her, a pair of earth ponies hooked up to a large carriage behind them. “Wow,” she muttered, her eyes going wide at the sight. Three pegasus guards trotted out front, occasionally taking to the air and zipping over head before returning to their position. Behind them a unicorn guard scanned the skies and streets around them, watching everything with a steely gaze. The two earth ponies bringing up the rear were no less impressive, wearing the same gold armor as the rest of their comrades. All had the same white fur and mane, and all appeared to be male, but Twilight knew that was just a part of their glamor and the truth might be very different than that. The group came trotting up to the family, the lead pegasus had a grim look on his face and a large rune glowing faintly on his chest. “I assume you are the Sparkle family?” he asked in a gruff tone, hardly sparing a glance at the filly and speaking directly to the parents standing just behind her. “Err, yes. Is everything alright?” Night Light asked nervously, looking out over the rather extensive military presence. The guard nodded. “Everything is fine.” He turned and made a few quick gestures with his hooves. The rest of his guard nodded, with the pegasi launching into the air and taking higher positions while the unicorn entered the carriage that was getting turned around. Twilight Velvet didn't seem quite as concerned, though she was drawn to the glowing rune on the guard’s chest. “What exactly is that rune?” The guard’s eyes narrowed. “For our protection, I assure you.” The mother frowned, stowing away her concern for now and glancing down at her now quite excited young filly who was positively bouncing with excitement. “Mister guard, are we going to the castle right away?” Twilight asked, her glowing eyes going wide with youthful exuberance. The guard looked down at her, a flash of disgust pacing through his features. “Yes, is this everything?” he asked, quickly turning from the filly and pointing to the collected stuff that sat on the curb. The filly nodded. “Yup! That's all my stuff except a few clothes and some books and my-” “Excellent,” he interrupted, turning to one of the guards hovering just overhead. “Get Bright Shield and start loading everything.” The pegasus in the sky saluted before swooping down and grabbing a box from the pile. Twilight frowned, turning to her mother for support, who in turn tried to smile back as reassuringly as possible. “Why don't you come stand over here Twilight, don't want to get in the way, right?” The filly shook her head and trotted over beside her mother who laid a leg over her shoulders. Together the family watched in silence as the carriage pulled up and the guards all began loading Twilight’s things onto the carriage, but not before they passed by the unicorn who cast a quick spell on every box that passed. “What are they doing, mommy?” Twilight asked, turning her glowing orange orbs up at her mother. “They are just checking, right dear?” she asked, turning to her husband for help. “Right, gotta make sure you aren't sneaking in chocolate.” The filly’s brow furrowed and she looked up at her father with confusion in her eyes. “Why chocolate?” “Princess Celestia is on a diet, remember? They probably know you are her new student and they don't want her getting anymore chocolate and ruining her diet,” he said, adding a wink at the end that made Twilight giggle. “Right.” She nodded, turning back to the carriage with a sly grin on her face. Twilight Velvet shot Night Light a glare, to which he just shrugged, his wife merely sighed, rolling her eyes. I guess that is a decent enough excuse, she thought to herself. They didn't have to wait long, as the guards moved quickly, stacking the boxes on top of the carriage and covering, then made them vanish with a short invisibility spell. Twilight turned, realizing what that meant. She looked up at her mother, the fear in her eyes barely held at bay by the excitement coursing through her. Twilight Velvet didn't hesitate, hoisting her child up into a tight hug that Night Light quickly joined. “You’ll always be our little star.” “Never forget that,” her father added. The filly sniffed, giving her parents one last squeeze. “I won't.” Reluctantly the trio parted, allowing Twilight to wipe the tears from her face and look over at the impatient guard standing at the curb and tapping his hoof. “Are you ready?” he asked gruffly. The filly nodded, and her parents took a step back, watching her go. Twilight stepped up into the carriage, only barely noticing the bright blue rune that glowed upon the roof. She was too busy, and hopped up onto one of the seats, allowing her to see out the window to where her parents stood nervously. “Make sure to remember your manners around the princess!” her mother called, through misty eyes. “Don't worry, we’ll come visit tonight once Shining Armor is back from practice!” her father added, subtly elbowing his wife. Knowing her family was still close helped a lot and Twilight wiped away her tears, flashing her family a confident smile. “Can we go out for donuts later?” Night Light chuckled. “Of course we can! You can even have your favorite.” Twilight felt her grin more genuine and she waved as the carriage lurched, beginning her journey to the castle and her new life. The filly leaned out the window, waving at her parents until they were long out of sight and only settled back into her seat when they had turned down a side road and she could no longer pretend that her parents could still see her. With a sad sort of smile, Twilight Sparkle sat in her seat, wondering what the future had in store for her. The ride to the castle was quiet and uneventful, with Twilight settling in and watching as the city passed her by. Eventually they made their way to the castle, something Twilight had never seen this up close before and she hung out the side of the carriage, gawking at the sheer majesty of the numerous spiralling towers of alabaster stone. So caught up was the filly in her sightseeing that she nearly fell out the side of the window when they finally came to a screeching halt just before a side gate around the right side of the castle. The filly was quickly herded inside, with the guard merely telling her that her things will be in her room before she even gets there. Trusting that the adult knew what he was doing, Twilight wandered over to the side entrance where a slightly aged brown earth pony mare stood with a clipboard and a frown. She hadn't been rude neccessarily, but she had been terse, giving Twilight a brief, if a little too brief, tour of the castle before finally entering the royal suites, and passing by Celestia’s apartment. Twilight had paused to gawk at the massive golden doors that dominated the hall, reaching much taller than the other doors and absolutely filled with an intricate carving detailing a scene from history that Twilight had never seen before. That had earned her a glare, and a sharp rebuke for dawdling, but Twilight didn't care, standing near that piece of history and art was well worth a pinched ear. After that she was shown to her room, where all of her stuff was indeed waiting. Twilight had begun to ask if the mare was going to help her, only for the terse older mare to announce that she would be back in an hour to help Celestia test her general knowledge. That had perked Twilight up, and the unicorn couldn't help but grin as she thought of the alicorn, even if that happiness was a little marred by the realization that she was being tested already. Even still, it was a test from Princess Celestia herself, this was special! The filly had hurried to unpack her bags and boxes, stretching her telekinesis to its limit as she floated her toys and books into place. It was only halfway through the unpacking phase that she realized just how truly magnificent the room was. The pile of stuffed animals she had been holding fell to the ground as she realized that she had been about to arrange them on an absolutely massive four poster bed. Her jaw fell open as she rubbed the incredibly soft sheets. Her attention was slowly brought away from the bed as she realized that the luxury didn't end there. The large door that entered into her room was big enough to allow a minotaur easy entry, and numerous locking mechanisms both mundane and magical dotted the side of the door, with a small note posted beside them indicating they were only for emergencies. Next to the door was a hat and coat rack, a mirror and a closet large enough to fit everything she owned inside, complete even with a large shoe rack. Twilight scrunched her nose at the sight, unsure if she'd ever use such a thing. She continued her inspection, noting that four enormous bookcases dominated the entire side of her room. She could easily fit her entire collection on two rows of the five row book case with space to spare. The filly’s jaw hung open as she ran a hoof over the finely polished oak furniture designed solely to hold books. The shelves even had small golden book ends designed to look like setting suns set out randomly in case she needed them. Twilight shook her head, tearing her eyes away from the minute details that seemed to cover every inch of the intricate bookcases. Turning away, Twilight noted a large semi-circular alcove that was dominated by enormous windows and a small bench that served as the perfect reading nook. “Wow,” Twilight muttered, making her way over and staring out the window. The view was amazing to say the least and Twilight quickly lost track of time, staring out over Canterlot. She eventually gave up looking for her house and hopped down from the bench, shaking her head slowly. “What did I do to deserve this?” she whispered. When the empty room didn't answer, she turned to the next section, noting that it seemed to be a sitting area, complete with a table, piles of pillows, and a heat rune at the centre that could be used to keep food or tea warm while entertaining guests. Next to that was a small kitchenette, and an island, dominated by enormous windows that filled almost the entire wall of the room. Twilight turned to her right, towards where she knew the bathroom was. The filly walked inside and flicked on the light, only for her to jaw to fall once more, the bathroom, far from being ornate was still amazingly detailed, with each tile being a different tiny scene of some kind before blending in with a soft blue about mid way up the wall that reminded Twilight of well, twilight. The tub was entirely disconnected from the wall, a series of crystals along the wall next to it, obviously connecting to the spells necessary to fill and drain it of water. The sink was a little high, forcing her to hop up onto her hind legs, but she had no trouble reaching the taps, and there was even a perfect spot for her toothbrush. Shaking her head, Twilight turned back around, turning off the light as she left, something telling her she would need to set aside a few minutes just to figure out everything the bathroom could do. Walking back into her room, the filly got a running start and leapt up onto the bed and lay on her back, just staring up at the ceiling. She shook her head slowly, a small smile spreading across her face. Even the ceiling was touched with luxury but not so much as to drift into the realm of garishness. It was stuccoed in such a way to create many valleys and peaks, that hid many small sparkling objects that resembled stars. Twilight made a note of looking up at the ceiling when it was dark out as she had no doubt it would be even more amazing then. A knock on the door took her out of her reverie and she only then realized how much much time had passed without her brushing up on any of her past subjects. “Oh uh, just a sec!” she called, jumping off the bed and sprinting over to the book cases and tearing books out almost at random. Fiction flew over her shoulder and gathered in small piles behind her, while all non-fiction was piled before her. The knock returned, this time louder, a voice yelling from behind the door, “Twilight Sparkle, what are you doing?” Twilight groaned, noticing that it was that cranky old earth pony from last time. “Just give me five minutes! I haven't even studied yet!” The filly silently cursed herself for having set aside the joyous task of organizing her collection for later. Just as she reached the end of the line and all the books were off her shelf, the door cracked open, admitting an annoyed-looking mare still clutching her clipboard to her chest. “What on earth are you doing, child?” she scoffed, looking out over the semi-organized mess Twilight had created in her haste to find all her old textbooks from school. “Uh, studying?” Twilight answered weakly. The older mare tsked and trotted over to the table and sat down, placing her clipboard on the table. “Come, sit. We have much to go over and not much time to do so.” The filly frowned and gestured to her pile of non-fiction. “B-but I-” “No buts, don't worry, this isn't a real test. You can't fail.” Twilight sighed and sat down across from the mare, frowning at her. “Where is Celestia?” “Princess Celestia is unfortunately busy, something more important came up and she asked me to go on without her. Now then,  if you are ready?” she asked, looking out over the sharp rim of her glasses at the filly. Twilight gulped and nodded. “Yes, miss…” “Pots, you may call me Miss Pots.” “Err yes, Miss Pots.” The older mare nodded, flipping over the first sheet. “First, how much do you remember from magic kindergarten?” Twilight groaned, this was going to be a long day. Celestia trotted past the las security station in the long and ill-used hallway that was her top secret wing. Much like the quarantine wing of the hospital, this area had not been in use for years and Celestia made a note of getting some more trustworthy maids down here as though it had been cleaned, the alicorn could still see dust and dirt just out of sight. Evidently someone had grown lazy when it came to the maintenance of this particular wing. She couldn't really blame them though, it had been years since she had walked these halls after all. Putting that thought from her mind, she turned towards one of the many doors that lined the hall and stopped seemingly at random. The entire hall was black, featureless as were the doors, with only a small silver panel next to the door. Summoning her magic, the alicorn pressed her levitation field against the square, after a second of silence, the square turned gold and the door clicked several times. Waiting patiently, Celestia stood as the door clicked, rattled, then finally, after a deep rumble, clicked one last time. Taking the handle in her magic, the alicorn opened the door and walked into the next room which was just large enough for a small group of ponies to stand in comfortably. Across from her was another featureless door devoid of handle or silver square, while to her right was large tinted window with a silver rune next to it. “Ahh, welcome to the lab, Princess, just give me a second to hit the... oh wait. I guess I should ask for the password,” a staticy voice muttered from the rune. Celestia chuckled. “Yes, no matter who I appear to be, you should always ask for the password.” “Sorry about that.” The stallion cleared his throat. “What is the password?” “Sheep Skin.” “Right, go on in.” The door across from her buzzed, cracking open slightly. “Bit morbid of a password don't ya- of course I turned it off, oh wait.” The voice clicked off, drawing another chuckle from Celestia and she made a note to remind that particular guard that he might have to review security procedures again as he had forgotten the decontamination procedures. Celestia cast her own decontamination spell on herself and pushed aside such thoughts for now. With that done, the alicorn strode into the room, taking a moment to survey her surroundings. All around, her hoof picked researches were busy unpacking various boxes, assembling work stations and generally getting everything ready. A few paused to nod respectfully to the princess while a few others stopped what they were doing to bow low to the monarch. “As you were.” She muttered, her eyes glazing over the wide laboratory. A few quarantine rooms were already set up along the edges of the lab while a series of offices were on the far side of the room. Everywhere she looked, she was met by bright white surfaces, everything from floor to ceiling, and even the ponies were the same sterile white, just as it should be. The alicorn made a second note to come down here to check on the scientists in more detail, for now she was here for one and one purpose only. Noticing the familiar silver fur of the doctor inside one of the offices, Celestia trotted over and knocked politely on the door. “Just a sec!” the young voice called, before grunting. “Come on, you darn thing, get out of the- oof.” Celestia rolled her eyes and waited for Silver Scalpel to call her in, which thankfully didn't take long. “Come in!” she called. The alicorn pushed open the door and stepped inside, shutting it firmly behind her. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything.” The doctor blushed slightly. “Sorry about that, Your Majesty, just had a bit of a fight with the stapler.” “Did you win at least?” Celestia asked slyly. The mare giggled. “Barely, that thing weighs more than I do, but it's never failed to do its job.” Celestia looked over to the indeed quite massive steel stapler sitting on her desk. “Yes, a most impressive stapler if ever there was one.” Silver rolled her eyes and pulled her chair closer. “Is there something you needed, Princess? Or are you just here to tease me some more?” The princess sighed. “Yes, unfortunately I am, but first, how goes the unpacking?” The doctor shrugged. “About as well as one might expect. It's going to take awhile before we get everyone settled and the schedule worked out, but everypony is eager to get started.” “Good,” Celestia remarked, looking over the mare’s office with disinterest. Behind her on the wall was her first doctorate, several other diplomas, a picture of her and her family and finally another picture of her and her girlfriend at what looked like a fair of some kind. “The Summer Sun Celebration,” Silver offered. The alicorn lifted an eyebrow. “Pardon?” “The fair, it was at Velvet’s hometown. It's where we met, actually,” Silver added. “Ahh. I must admit I was curious.” The alicorn finished her quick inspection of the room and sat down across from the doctor, her much larger frame making the plastic chair squeak in protest. “Speaking of curiosity, how has the analysis gone so far? Surely you have been able to spare a few minutes to look over some of the data we gathered.” The doctor squirmed in her chair slightly, gripping her hooves a little tighter. “I have taken a few minutes out of my day to give it a look but it is… difficult.” “How so?” Silver shook her head slowly. “We gathered boxes and boxes of data thanks to the spells you used, but we haven't had the time to really start putting things together. Don't get me wrong, those spells were a massive help, and something us mortals are simply not capable of, but we just haven't had the time yet.” She sighed, tapping her hooves together awkwardly. “From what little I have looked at… Well, let's just say it's a good thing you hired so many ponies, as this one is quite the doozy.” The alicorn nodded slowly, reminiscing about the alicorn spells she had used to help gather said boxes of data. If only the spells could be scaled down, or perhaps if a group of unicorns got together… Celestia pushed the thought away for now, giving her head a shake. “Fair enough, and Velvet Touch?” “Oh uh, she's doing well, getting settled same as us.” “Has she had the time to perform an interview with Twilight yet?” Silver shook her head. “No, I’m afraid she insisted on canvassing her family and neighbors first, before interviewing the filly.” “And friends, right?” Celestia asked. The doctor sighed. “It did not appear as though she had any friends. Classmates, even study partners, but never friends it seems. They were the first Velvet contacted, and the interviews did not take too long as nopony in her class seemed to know much about her.” The alicorn’s brow furrowed and she made a mental note to address this later. “Any other concerns that come to mind, before you begin?” Silver paused, tapping her chin and looking off into the lab with a thoughtful expression. “No, I don't think so. I would just like to thank you again for the opportunity, I can't wait to get started.” “I eagerly await your discoveries and in time, a cure,” Celestia added. The doctor frowned slightly. “Hopefully…” “Regardless, if that's all, I have a meeting to attend.” “Oh uh, one quick question.” Celestia paused. “Go on.” “What uh, what happened to the dragon? What are your plans for it?” The doctor asked, a hint of nervousness creeping into her voice. “As you know there were some complications in that regard, though I do plan on exposing it to Twilight.” “Good thinking, maybe it will finally stop crying,” Silver added dryly. “Quite, the bond is more powerful than first thought, and so soon no less.” Silver tapped her chin. “I thought dragon bonds only happened after a week of contact. Or at least that's what my biology course said.” “Normally they do… One of many mysteries around my student,” Celestia remarked.