THE COURT MAGISTER
Chapter 1: The Saga Begins
Heaving a great sigh, Twilight used her magic to hang up her hat and travel cloak on the rack as she walked into her tower. Spike crawled past between her legs and scampered over to their favorite chair and took up his usual spot on top of the back. “Spike! Rude!” she admonished him, but there was no heat to it. The small, purple dragon flicked his tongue out at her, and hissed a sibilant laugh. “That's enough of the disrespect, mister,” she admonished, waggling a finger at him.
The unicorn loosened the buttons on her collar, and removed the belt of pouches from her waist, tossing them expertly to land on the hook below her hat. She walked over to the chair and collapsed on it with another great sigh, which turned into a purr of contentment as Spike slid off of the chair back and onto her head, curling around her horn. “If only it could always be like this, Spike.” Looking over to the fireplace, she magically set up a couple of new logs from the pile next to it, and lit them with a spark. As the warmth from the fire seeped into the room, she sighed once more and settled further into the chair, a smile of serenity forming on her face.
Her contentment was short lived as an insistent knock came from the front door. A frown immediately replaced her smile and she glared at the door. Maybe if I pretend I'm not home, they'll go away.
The knock came again, this time, louder. “Magister, your presence is requested in court.” The stallion on the other side of the door had the authoritative lilt of a palace guard, but Twilight was far from impressed.
Without moving from her chair, Twilight yelled, “Tell the court that they can get stuffed! I just got back, and I have barely had time to breathe! They'll have my report in the morning, when I give it to The Princess! If they don't like it, they can lump it!”
“Magister, the Princess is in session, and-”
In a flash, Twilight was up and at the door, facing the guard. “She requested my presence?” At his nod, she glared at the stallion, who towered over her by more than a hoof, but he still gulped audibly. “Why didn't you lead with that?” Her horn glowed again, and her hat and belt as well as her formal court robes floated over to her, putting themselves in place. She looked back at Spike, who had fallen onto the seat of the chair, and climbed up to put his forepaws on the armrest. “Stay put, Spike. This won't take long, and then we'll have dinner, okay?”
The dragon breathed out a puff of green smoke and climbed up fully on to the armrest so that he could watch the door, which closed quickly behind his departing unicorn.
Despite the stallion's longer stride, he had to hurry to catch up to Twilight. A small whisk broom appeared from a pocket of the robes, held in her magical grip and began brushing the dust from her travels off of her clothes. “Honestly, lead with 'The Princess', and you get results. Everypony knows this...” She grumbled to herself, but the stallion couldn't help but overhear her ruminations. She glanced at a graddam clock they passed in the palace hallway as they entered, and slowed down a little. Court would likely last for a few hours yet, if The Princess was in session.
They arrived at the doors to the Great Hall in short order. Twilight was walking up to the bailiff standing guard outside, when an attention-getting cough from her escort halted her. “Ahem. Her Highness awaits you in her antechamber.”
“Oh.” A slight moue of disappointment found its way onto Twilight's face, but was quickly chased off by years of training. It was well known that the unicorn loved terrorizing the nobles by storming into court as if she owned the place instead of Celestia and Luna. The fact that both princesses not only indulged her shows of force, but even used them as subtle threats to keep them from forgetting their place was not lost on them either. Being the Magister came with some perks, after all.
Twilight made her way over to a less grand door to the left of the Great Hall and knocked.
“Enter.”
Running a hand through her mane, she attempted to make herself more presentable, but without a bath to wash away all the dust from the road, there was little to be done. Twilight took a deep breath and walked in. As expected, Celestia was seated at her desk, looking resplendent in her white silk dress, and a stack of parchment almost a hoof high to her left. As their eyes met, a smile graced their faces. The unicorn approached the desk and gave a small bow. “Princess. What a delight to see you in high spirits.”
Celestia smirked and rose to walk around the desk. She stood in front of the smaller mare and crossed her arms under her prodigious breasts. “I'd be in higher spirits if a certain pony had not sent back her escort so she could complete her quest alone and unguarded.”
“Princess, I can explain-”
“No doubt you can,” Celestia rejoined. She walked over to a sofa in front of a fireplace and sat down, patting the space next to her. “I'm sure it would go somewhere along the lines of, 'Princess, he just wasn't up to the task!' How close am I?”
Twilight sat down in the indicated spot, carefully avoiding her diarch's face. “Spot on.” She finally looked up at her, desperation in her eyes. “But it's true! If he wasn't whining about some minor discomfort on the road, he was making moon eyes at me. It was... disconcerting. When he followed me as I tried to relieve myself in the bushes, I drew the line. I gave him a piece of parchment and made him believe it was orders from you to go home.”
Celestia frowned at her. She telekinetically floated a wanted poster for the Trixie, whom they had been dispatched to capture from her desk. “That certainly explains why he tried to give this to the Captain when he was asked why he returned alone.”
Seeing an opportunity to change the subject, Twilight asked, “How is Shiny-”
“Twilight.” The steel in Celestia's voice sent a shiver down the unicorn's spine and made her flinch visibly. “You know how I feel about mind control spells.”
The mare didn't have a leg to stand on, and she knew it. Looking to the fire, she said, “My apologies, Princess. I knew he wouldn't return without the proper push, and his infatuation with me and inability to handle even just a week out on the road pushed me beyond my tolerance. It won't happen again.”
Celestia cupped the smaller mare's chin in a hand and pulled her up to look at her again. “Thank you, Twilight. Using it on a prisoner in transit to keep them compliant is one thing, but on one of our own is intolerable.” She released the unicorn and sighed deeply. “Still, we can't just have you running about unescorted. Like it or not, you've garnered a certain... reputation.
Twilight winced at the understatement. Explode one hamlet, and they never let you forget it. Well, more of a thorpe, if truth be told. “Could we try a unicorn this time? It would be nice to have a conversation about magic that did not end with other's eyes glazing over.”
The alicorn caressed Twilight's mane and smiled gently down at her. “I'll see what I can do, but you have to remember that not every unicorn is going to be the next Star Swirl the Bearded.”
“At this point, I'd settle for a Flashbang,” Twilight replied, rolling her eyes.
Celestia gave a chuckle. “Now that the unpleasant part is out of the way, how did it go? I got a message that not only was Trixie not apprehended, but you brought back two stallions to lock up. Care to explain?”
Twilight waved off the discrepancy. “Oh, it turned out that Trixie was coerced into fleecing that village by those two hucksters. I've run into Flim and Flam before. Remember the Apple Farm Incident? They were the ones who managed to slip past me then. I talked Trixie into turning evidence in exchange for a pardon. The mayor agreed to the deal, even gave her a reward before sending her on her way, and giving me the criminals for punishment.” A small portal ringed in magenta energy appeared next to her, and she pulled a small stack of parchment and a bulging sack before the portal closed again. “Here's my report, signed and sealed by all the relevant parties, along with some of their more dangerous magical artifacts; the rest are in evidence. You may want to use the Magic Dead Room when you open this up. There's an intelligent necklace in there that will try to take you over otherwise.”
Celestia looked at the bag with some trepidation. “Looks like they'll be awaiting my pleasure for some time.”
“Hmm. They were quite unrepentant,” Twilight agreed.
They sat in companionable silence for some time, Twilight even leaning against the Princess in a show of familiarity that would have scandalized any noble. “Sometimes, I miss the days when life was so much simpler. There was a lot less gray when I was a filly.”
Celestia returned to stroking her mane, enjoying the closeness. “Foals tend to miss a lot of nuance. The gray was still there, it's just that you had sharper contrast back then.”
“Mm.” With a sigh, Twilight stood and stretched. “Well, I better let you get back to running court. I got some sleep that I need to catch up on, and Spike is all alone in a house filled with food.”
Celestia bestowed a smile on her favorite student-turned-magister. “I'll have a candidate for you in a day or two. Until then, rest up. I'm sure that something will crop up that will require your personal attention sooner, rather than later.”
Twilight smiled and bowed before leaving. Celestia sighed as she flipped through the report written in Twilight's neat calligraphy. “Maybe fifteenth time is the lucky charm. She goes through so many escorts, it's almost impossible to find a suitable one.” Her horn lit up in a golden light, and a scroll contained within a similarly colored field floated over to her. Unrolling the scroll part way, she stared at the hand drawn sketches of the various prospective ponies and bit her lip.
(\ /)
( . .)
*(“)(“)
Twilight sighed as she slipped into her tub. The stones lining it were enchanted to keep the water piping hot, the better to soothe her aches and pains from the road. It wasn't very deep, but its generous dimensions still allowed her to completely submerge herself with room to spare if she so chose. She breathed in the scent of the Abaddon Orchid hanging vines, which released their soporific perfume in the presence of warm humidity. The fact they the glowed with an eerie purplish light as they did so only added to their otherworldly appeal.
Spike waddled into the bathroom and climbed up the dark, wooden wall to leap upon the edge of the stone tub. His tongue flickered out to taste the air, and he instantly regretted it, making sounds of disgust as he tried to wipe the taste of the perfume with a claw.
Twilight looked over at him and smirked. “One would think by the thirtieth time, you would have learned, Spike. I'm beginning to wonder if your egg was dropped from the nest and returned.”
The tiny dragon made gagging noises at her and gouged out a large chip from the edge of the tub in retaliation.
Rolling her eyes, Twilight's horn lit up and repaired the chip almost instantly. “Oh, grow up. I know you're still a baby, but the sooner you learn that petty revenge gets you nowhere, the better off you'll be.
The dragon hissed at her, adding in a few clicks and a whistle for good measure.
Again, Twilight's eyes rolled. “Yes, but when I sent Flash Sentry away, it was so we could finish our mission in peace. The petty revenge was just a fringe benefit.”
Spike hissed and clicked at her again, ending with a sibilant noise that could almost be mistaken for laughter.
“And when I explained what happened, The Princess agreed with me.” Twilight sunk a little further into the steamy water and groused, “Still don't know why she can't just let us do our job our way. All those guards are more hindrance than help.
Spike's click of agreement was most welcome to the mare.
“I dunno. I guess she's just trying to get me to socialize more, but honestly, outside of my few friends who have scattered to the winds, most of them just... ugh.” She turned to Spike and folded her arms on the tub's rim, her head resting on top. “I know I shouldn't say it, but some of these ponies we meet really make me lose hope in equinity, you know?” Spike pushed his head under her hand until she got the hint and gently scratched him under his chin. “If they aren't actively hurting each other, they're doing it with their own thoughtlessness. It's enough to make a mare want to just go off and be a hermit somewhere quiet.” Another sigh escaped and she returned to her earlier position almost lying prone with just her head above water. “Still, I made a solemn vow to The Princess to serve her until either I can no longer physically perform my duties, or she dismisses me as no longer necessary.”
Twilight submerged herself entirely, her thoughts a jumble of desires for privacy and pleasing the Princess to whom she had sworn fealty.
(\ /)
( . .)
*(“)(“)
Taking a moment to breathe, Twilight sat back on her hooves and wiped the sweat from her brow, smearing soil on her forehead in the process. She looked down at her basket of herbs, both mundane and magical, and smiled. While she would never be a farmer like Applejack, she had to admit that working in her herb garden brought a peace of mind like few other things could. Even better, she was able to maintain a somewhat steady supply of the more hard to find ingredients for her potions and studies.
She looked over at Spike, who was lying on his back, sunning himself she could tell he was enjoying the time off as much as she. Rising to her hooves, Twilight dusted the dirt off of her peasant breeches before picking up the basket. “I'm going in now, Spike. Try not to fill up on bluebottles again. I need them to pollinate the plants, you know.”
One green eye creaked open to regard the crazy unicorn, then closed again. The tiny dragon let out a sound that sounded suspiciously like, “Meh” and returned to his nap.
Twilight just chuckled and shook her head. She walked into the kitchen, and started sorting the herbs from the magical components, though some could- and did- pull double duty. “Let's see, I suppose I could spare some peppermint for Spike's trail rations, but those healing potions really taste awful without it...” She stood there a moment, contemplating whether or not to save any for Spike, then shrugged and set aside a small handful for him. She was about to start on the toadstools, when the door chime sounded. She gave a sigh of disgust at the interruption and briskly walked to the door. She pulled it open with a touch more vigor than was absolutely necessary, but reined in her temper when she saw it was one of the palace pagecolts.
“Message from Princess Celestia, Your Grace.” The small, blue colt bowed and held a slip of parchment up for her.
Twilight broke open the seal and read the contents. With a sigh, she remarked, “Guess our respite is over.” Turning her attention to the colt, she added, “Please inform Her Highness that I shall be there shortly, after I clean up from the garden.”
The colt bowed and scampered off, leaving Twilight to close the door. She leaned against it, then pushed off, shaking herself free of her reverie. She brought a thumb and forefinger to the corners of her mouth and gave a shrill whistle that sharply dropped in pitch, then back again. In a flash, Spike was standing at her hooves, having dashed in through the small leather flap on the bottom of the door leading to the backyard. “Get yourself cleaned up, Spike. The Princess has a new quest for us.”
A tiny tongue flicked out to wash an eyeball that looked remarkably like a mock salute, and he scurried out of her way as she began divesting herself of her gardening clothes on her way to her dressing room. Stopping only to give herself a quick cleaning with a spell, Twilight threw on her everyday court clothes with practiced ease. A navy blue coatee was pulled over her white waistcoat , black tunic and breeches, and her hoofies were telekinetically put on as she was walking out the door. A brush poofed into existence only long enough to tame her mane and tail as she trotted to the palace proper from her tower. Once the brush was gone, Spike climbed up his mistress to rest on her shoulder, so he wouldn't have to run to keep up with her. It only took being assaulted by the brush along with her mane once to learn to wait until it was gone before assuming his normal riding seat.
Needless to say, they arrived at Celestia's office looking immaculate. Twilight nodded to the doorpony, who announced their arrival. “Her Grace, Lady Twilight Sparkle, and Sir Spike!”
Spike gave the pony a conceited nod of approval as they walked in. Celestia was already standing near the open balcony talking to a guardspony, a rather muscular pegasus mare in the light armor of the courier corp. “Twilight, Spike, thank you for arriving so promptly. I'm afraid some rather dire news has prompted my recalling you early, that I might avail myself of your services.”
“I live to serve, Princess,” Twilight said, with a deeper than normal bow. “How might I aid you today?”
Celestia led the unicorn over to a table where a map of the world was laid out, leaving the pegasus at the window. The princess pointed to a small chain of islands far away from pony lands. “An old friend in Neighpon has asked for my assistance with a special creature there. You have heard of the kaiju, yes?”
Twilight had indeed read about the kaiju. After saving Princess Luna from the thrall of a monster, she had made it a priority to familiarize herself with many types of monsters that she might be called upon to battle. Kaiju, though, topped a very short list of creatures that she hoped to never meet. She swallowed hard and nodded. “I have, yes. I hope that I am not being sent to fight one, as even Iwould be woefully inadequate to the task.”
“I should say so,” Celestia replied. “As of right now, it is still asleep, but there is some foalish group out there that means to wake it and put it under their control, magically. Given your particular expertise in this field, and the fact that I cannot leave Equestria for the length of time it would require to deal with this, I felt it would be best to make use of your skills.”
Twilight bowed again, her serious mien showing just how worried she was this time. “I shall see to it immediately.”
Celestia gave her a grim smile and laid a hand on her head, gently stroking her mane. “I knew I could rely on you, Twilight. That being said, I'm afraid that I must inform you that I have not yet been able to select an appropriate escort for you.”
A small thrill of relief flooded through Twilight, which she squashed with some feeling of guilt. “It's fine, Princess. I'm sure that between Spike and myself, we can resolve this matter with all due alacrity.”
“I certainly hope so, Twilight,” Celestia replied. “Dealing with an awakened kaiju is no mean feat, and is a situation with which it will take more than one immortal to settle. You'll need to use Nyx's Library to reach Neighpon in a timely manner. Fortunately, there shall be an envoy to meet you there, who will liaise with you and their government.”
Twilight affected a blasé nod, but inwardly, she was giddy. I get to go through The Library? Even if it's just as a stopover, this is too exciting! Oh, if only I could peruse the shelves for a day- no, just an hour! “Understood.”
A small bit of her elation leaked through however, which the Princess picked up on right away. “After this matter is dealt with, I suppose you could ask permission from Nyx to browse her shelves for a bit. Hopefully, there will be some time in between crises for this at least,” Celestia remarked with a wry smile.
Twilight bowed deeply in appreciation. “Thank you, Your Highness. I shall make ready to leave right away.” With almost unseemly haste, she turned around and fast walked out of the room after only the barest indication of dismissal from her diarch.
Not wanting to waste time walking back home, the unicorn teleported herself and her passenger directly to her private sacrarium. Her court clothes were thrown to the floor without a care so that she could more quickly clothe herself in her traveling gear. Supple armor made from leaves plucked from a second generation World Tree lined with phase spider silk, and enchanted with so much magic that anyone with magic sight looking at it would be dazzled was donned, followed by greaves and sabatons, a hooded cloak, and gauntlets. All this was topped with enchanted jewelry, and an extra-dimensional backpack filled with any supply she might need, but was not stored in her extra-dimensional space.
Spike, for his part, simply made sure his favorite snacks and gems were still in Twilight's pack and easily accessible.
Twilight double checked her gear before nodding to Spike, who nodded in return. He climbed up on her shoulder, and in a flash of white light, they were gone, leaving their home empty once more.
(\ /)
( . .)
*(“)(“)
A flash of light and an outrushing of displaced air was all the warning ponies got as they entered or left the Canterlot Royal Archives to get out of the way. Fortunately, Twilight's arrival here in such a manner was a common enough occurrence, that no one was truly surprised. A familiar noble stallion, was pleasantly surprised to see this mare's entrance, and closed the book he had been reading as he walked out of the library. “Lady Sparkle!”
Twilight turned around completely in surprise. “Bluey! This is a surprise. I thought you said the Archive was useless,” Twilight asked with a sly smile.
Blueblood gave a casual flip of his mane that would have sent most mares swooning and returned her wry smile. “Ah, but you misheard, Milady. What I said was that the archive is useless for the subject I was looking into. One is not likely to find much more than a hoofnote here and there on the subject of child rearing techniques of the great dragons of the East.”
“And you still haven't told me why you needed to know,” Twilight remarked in an obvious attempt at fishing for information as she resumed her walk into the library.
“I haven't, have I?” Blueblood replied, putting a finger to his chin in mock thought as he kept pace with her. “So, what brings you here today wearing your 'stepping out' clothes?”
Twilight smiled and shook her head at his evasion, but let it go. “Stepping out,” she answered with a grin. “Another quest for The Princess, so I'm afraid I can't stop to talk like I normally would.”
Blueblood nodded and gave a sigh. “I might have known. We get so little time to talk anymore, I fear we might be drifting apart.”
Pointing a finger at him in admonishment, Twilight remarked, “Talk like that is why ponies keep mistaking us as more than friends. I have important quests that I cannot put aside, and you are destined for somepony more important than a yeoman such as myself.”
“There are at least three things wrong with that sentence,” Blueblood replied. He ticked the points off on his finger as he enumerated them. “First, quests- especially those handed out by one of the Princesses, are rarely so involved that they would require total and complete devotion to them, to the exclusion of all else, including a personal life. Second, you are more than a mere yeoman, and are at the very least, unlanded gentry, if not a first-generation minor noble. Third, whom I pursue is of no concern to anyone, save myself, and the person, or persons I pursue.” He leaned in closer and whispered in a theatrically conspiratorial manner, “One of the perks of being a duke, is that as long as they're not one of the Princesses, I can tell them to go suck an egg.”
Twilight's composure was shattered, and the only thing preventing her from giving a hearty laugh instead of the subdued snicker was the fact that they were currently in the Library itself. Still, Blueblood took this as a minor victory. Twilight twirled around to face him, giving a low bow at the waist that was only half serious. “I'm afraid that this where we must part ways, Your Grace. Duty calls, and I must hie anon.”
Blueblood returned her bow with equal depth and pomp, unable to keep the smile from his face. “Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night till it be morrow.”
“This bud of love, by summer’s ripening breath, may prove a beauteous flower when next we meet.” Standing upright, Twilight gave one last parting shot as she walked backwards, before turning to quickly reach her destination.
Blueblood watched her leave, pain in his eyes. “O! Let me not be mad, not mad, sweet Elysium; keep me in temper; I would not be mad!”
Twilight fairly skipped as she made her way to the restricted section of the archive. She was stopped at the entrance by the desk, where sat a stern-looking unicorn mare. Her ash-gray coat was offset by her purple mane with white stripes. “Again, Your Grace?”
The Magister stepped around the desk and embraced the mare. “Hi, Mom. Yeah, but this time, I need to get to the Great Library. On a mission for The Princess again.”
Velvet returned the embrace with vigor, then held her out at arm's length. “When are you going to visit? Your father and I so rarely get to see our little filly anymore. Honestly, it's like you and Shiny are having a contest to see who can go the longest without seeing us.”
Twilight had the good grace to look chastened. “I'm sorry, Mom. I just got back from my last assignment yesterday, and was going to see you and Dad later tonight, but this new threat popped up, and quite frankly, if it's not dealt with now, there may not be a tonight.”
“Oh, dear. That serious?” Velvet tsked at her daughter's nod. “I really wish Her Highness would send some guards with you, or better yet, a battalion.”
“Bah,” Twilight replied with a roll of her eyes. “You know I work better when it's just me and Spike. Besides, it's just another cult messing with things better left alone. I'm sure we'll be back in no time.”
Velvet wagged a finger in front of her daughter's face. “Well, you better come see us when you do get back.”
“Of course I will, Mom.”
“And be careful out there.”
“Goes without saying.”
The mare hugged her daughter, then unlocked the door to the restricted section, and watched her disappear down the aisles. “Come back safe, Twiley,” she whispered, a tear trailing down her cheek.
(\ /)
( . .)
*(“)(“)
Twilight's hands were shaking with excitement as she approached the unassuming wooden door at the back of the room. Ostensibly, it opened up into a small storage room which held rarely used books, but if the opener had the correct mark on their body, and they wished it, it would open up to a very, very different place. She rubbed her left arm, which was marked with a tattoo of a feathered quill and a pot of ink, now concealed by the sleeve of her coatee. Taking a deep breath and releasing it, the unicorn reached out and turned the handle of the door.
Opening the door revealed not the three hoof by three hoof closet built by the palace's construction crew, but a long, dark hallway made entirely of black marble. There were no lights in the hallway, but the marble itself was speckled with glittering quartz, giving the illusion of walking through space. At least, that was what Nyx told her. The sensation of each step taken encompassing much more space than one normally did, combined with the feel of translocation magic that saturated the hall made Twilight think that there was much more to it than that. Perhaps she was indeed walking through the firmament, and not a secure secret location on the planet; the occasional streak of light that looked an awful lot like a comet instead of the flash of light reflecting off the stone as claimed was just too uncanny to ignore.
Twilight had to resist the urge to reach out to the wall to balance herself. Even though she could feel the floor, and hear her hooves clatter against it the passage was just too disorienting, even for those who have traversed it as often as she. Instead of focusing on the walls (if they were indeed, even there), she kept her eyes on the rectangle of light straight ahead of her. Twilight made her way down the hallway, walking for what felt like several minutes before the hall ended, depositing her into the main lobby of the grandest repository of knowledge it had ever been her pleasure to see.
The ceiling of the lobby soared hundreds of hooves overhead, creating a space that would have had its own weather system had magic not been keeping it stable. The walls were stone, but apparently didn't need a forest of columns to support the massive weight of the roof, again, no doubt reinforced with magic. The lobby led to the library proper, and had many staircases leading to the dozens of levels where the books were shelved. Stained glass windows twenty hooves tall set into the walls high off the ground allowed natural light to filter in, but did not allow the view outside to distract the customers from their studies. Massive doors fifty hooves high led out into the city of Arkadia, but only residents of that city were allowed through them. All other visitors were restricted to the doors through which they entered, much like the one Twilight used. The most imposing structure in the lobby would easily have been the Librarian's Desk. A massive marble semicircular structure a hundred hooves at its widest point, it had to be this large to accommodate the titanic black dragon sitting behind it. The floor behind the desk was sunken so that he could converse easily with the smaller customers without them needing to raise their voices to be heard. Currently, said dragon was directing a small child satyr to their desired shelves, but stopped when he glanced up and spotted Twilight.
Twilight timidly approached the desk when he waved her over and gave him a tremulous smile. “Good day, Onyx.”
“Good day to you, Lady Sparkle,” Onyx replied. His voice was low, and rumbled like thunder or a landslide.
Just then, a huge door behind the desk opened, and a sphinx the could tower over even Celestia, the tallest pony Twilight knew walked out. “Did I hear Twilight's voice?”
Onyx leaned down and whispered, “Don't let her fool you. She knows exactly who enters and leaves her library at all times.”
The sphinx cuffed the much larger dragon with a paw, causing him to wince. “That's enough out of you. Don't you have returns to process?” The dragon said nothing, but smiled and turned to a stack of books on his desk to give them a modicum of privacy. The sphinx turned to the unicorn and beamed at her. “You really should come by more often, Twilight. I'm beginning to think you're seeing other libraries behind my back.”
“I honestly wouldn't even begin to know where I could find a library to rival this one, Nyx,” Twilight said with a shy grin. “I'm afraid I can't stay too long right now, but maybe after I finish my work for The Princess?”
Nyx shrunk down to a size similar to Twilight, rising to stand on two legs, but keeping her feline features and wings. Clothes appeared from seemingly nowhere on her, making her look like a classic Greek sculpture come to life. She gently slapped the unicorn's shoulder. “Tease. Fine, then. When you return we can go through the stacks. Anything in particular you wanted to see, or shall we play it by ear?” She flicked one of her feline ears at her as she said this.
“Perhaps we could look through the books on magical artifacts? Twilight ventured. “I recently came across an intelligent item that tried to take me over, and I wanted to read up on those. I thought they only imbued weapons- or more rarely, armor with that sort of intelligence, but this was a necklace.”
“Fascinating. You'll have to tell me all about it when you return,” Nyx replied.
Their conversation was interrupted by a demure, quiet voice saying, “I beg your pardon, but would you happen to be Twilight Sparkle-dono?”
Twilight turned to find a kitsune in traditional dress bowing at her, her long black hair spilling over her face like a curtain. “I have that pleasure,” Twilight replied with an equally deep bow.
The kitsune straightened, revealing the odd masks they wore when outside their lands. “My name is Yukino Hana. I was instructed to.. what is the word, to renkei with you?”
“<You speak Equish very well. Where did you learn?>” Twilight asked her in fluent Neighponese.
Hana's hand lightly touched her mask where her mouth would be in surprise. “<Ah! You speak Neighponese! I was worried that there would be a miscommunication between us, and I am the only one available who can speak Equish this well. I hope we can resolve the issue quickly.>” She held out her hand in a show of cultural understanding.
Twilight smiled as she shook her hand. “<I look forward to it.>”
(\ /)
( . .)
*(“)(“)
A dark gray hedgehog ran as fast as his short little legs would allow, running straight into one of the two storm guards flanking the door. The larger creatures barely even acknowledged the smaller, who ran through, the door banging against the wall behind him. “Commander! Cooommmannnder! Com-”
The hedgehog's cries were cut short as an steel-shod hoof slammed down on the rocky floor, causing him to come up just short of running into it. “There is no need to shout, Grubber. I'm right here. I hope for your sake that you finally have some good news.”
Grubber stood up and saluted... with the wrong hand. “Oh yes, Your Commanderness! One of the spies returned with the name of the one we've been searching for!”
A dark purple unicorn stepped out of the shadows, her green eyes flashing dangerously. “And the others?”
Grubber pulled a scrap of paper out of his pocket and read aloud from it. “'They felt that it would be a better use of time if they went ahead, and only sent back me.'” He stuffed the paper back in his pocket, replacing it with a mochi he had bought from a street vendor. Ignoring the pocket lint the sticky treat had accumulated, he took a bite and tried to talk around the mouthful of food. “At leasht, thash what he tol' me.” He swallowed and asked, “So, what now, Commander Tempest?”
Tempest looked down her nose at the much smaller subordinate and smiled evilly. “Now?” She stalked over to another door and opened it to reveal a common room filled with the much more physically imposing Storm Guards. “Now, we mobilize!” Tempest's smile turned into a grin as she watched the guards don their armor and grab their weapons.
