//------------------------------// // Unboxing // Story: A Foreign Gift // by Wiz Ahmad //------------------------------// The afternoon sun beamed strongly through the stained glass windows as Celestia lifted her pen and began jotting down a few lines of important information. To the untrained eye, her paperwork might seem excessively repetitive, but it actually was more complex and varied. Not every paper was a form in need of a confirming signature from the Princess herself, but also letters. Some townsfolk put out complaints regarding issues they’d noticed in cities and towns, and others needed to arrange for meetings regarding projects they had in mind. A few, however, sent in letters of love and support for her and her hard work, congratulating her on achievements, offering to have fun at events and galas in Canterlot, and even pleading to meet in person just for a warm hug. “Just a few more to go, and then I can rest for the night,” she told herself quietly, ensuring that all the words in her letter to Queen Novo were arranged properly. It was then that a knock came on her office door – and it wasn’t a “typical” knock – the soft, subtle ones made by a few royal guards who wanted to ask for early leave or other minor issues. This was a hard, urgent knock. “Who is it, please?” Celestia asked, walking up to the door and listening with concern. “It’s me, Inkwell,” a voice came. “Inkwell?” Celestia replied quizzically, opening the door. There stood her faithful friend, who ran a school in Canterlot, and also had helped her in tough times. Behind her stood a royal guard, who was balancing a large package across his back like circus performer. “It’s great to see you, Princess,” Inkwell said with a warm smile, greeting her best friend with a loving nuzzle and a wing hug. “Thought I’d drop by to say hello before heading home for the night. Coincidentally, this fella happened to be needing assistance bringing a package to you.” Inkwell gestured to the guard, who looked up pleadingly, as if hoping for relief of the burden on his back, even though the package wasn’t that heavy. Celestia smiled and beckoned him to enter. The guard used his unicorn magic to lift the box up and set it down on the floor with a heave of relief and a few brief pants. “Your Highness… I come to you with an important package that was sent in. Its rather large size intrigued many of the other guards, so I asked Inkwell to assist me and allow you to investigate it.” “Do you know where it came from?” Celestia inquired in a serious tone. “Yes, your Highness,” the guard quickly replied. “It was addressed to the address of the Royal Palace, and for Princess Celestia herself. Original source of sending was from a well-known pony in Fillydelphia that deals with foreign objects entering Equestria. Might be just a fan who wants to offer something special.” “Perhaps,” Celestia thought subtly. “Well, thank you very much, you may return to your duties. I’ll be seeing you later this evening during the shift change. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.” “You’re most welcome, your Highness,” the guard replied with a smile, giving a slight bow before turning tail and heading down the hall. Inkwell smiled with awe at the package. “I wonder…” “Don’t worry too much about it,” Celestia said quickly. “I’ll take a look at it later. For now, these papers demand my attention. Thanks for stopping by. Maybe tomorrow, I can find some time to take a look at it.” “No problem. Good luck with those papers!” “And you have a fantastic evening, dear Inkwell.” With her friend gone, Celestia gently pushed the box to a corner of the room, settled back into her chair, and resumed her paperwork. Yet, ever so often, she’d find herself peering over at it ever so often. She assumed it to be just the large sticker that adorned the top of it, with its big letters “FOR THE BEAUTIFUL, AMAZING PRINCESS CELESTIA” sticking out with brightness, much like the moon in the dark night sky would be soon. “Who even makes a sticker that big?” she wondered, quickly scribbling a signature for an architectural approval permit slip. “It certainly has to be designed for the unique purpose it was used for.” Two agonizing hours later, Celestia finally completed the last few papers from her first stack. She ‘d written so much, her pen had broken twice and a whole inkwell jar had been used up. With a sore mind and a pair of tired eyes, she walked out the door and headed straight for the castle kitchen, where she made a quick cup of latte and dumped a pile of cookies that had been baked the day before into a small bowl. Holding both in her magical aura’s grasp, she returned to her office, eager to find out what the package contained. Sitting down at her desk yet again, Celestia sipped her hot latte and ate a cookie, staring at the box, as a new feeling came over her – one of hope and insight. There was a good possibility that there was something great about this, rather than a scary concept. Surely Queen Chrysalis wouldn’t try a trick like this… As she gently lowered the sun toward the horizon, Princess Celestia gave a warm, endearing smile at her sister, who was already up on a nearby balcony, ready to do her part of raising the moon. With the day gone and the night beginning, it seemed like the perfect time. Back in her office, Celestia turned on an overhead light and pulled out a pair of scissors. Harnessing all her magical power, she suspended her mug, bowl of cookies, and the scissors while walking to her bedroom, dragging the large box behind her. The carpeted halls only added to the already difficult task of making this operation as quiet as possible. After almost breaking decent sweat, Celestia finally reached her bedroom and firmly shut the door. Settling down in the moonlight and accompanying candlelight, she set down the mug and bowl, before popping a cookie into her mouth and holding up the scissors. With a smooth, gentle motion, she slid the tip across the packaging tape right at the meeting point of the flaps, so as not to damage the contents. Cutting the remaining tape off, she tugged at the flaps, opening up the box. Inside was… well, she couldn’t exactly tell, as it was completely covered in brown wrapping paper and supported by small blocks of foam. Accompanying them was a smaller box, also taped shut. Gathering the foam blocks together, Celestia put them side in a small bundle and carefully cut open the small box, pulling out the contents. Inside lay a small T-shaped piece of metal and two small bottles, one of which had a red circle with a white cross over it and the word “BONES” in black lettering. The other bottle had all sorts of lettering and numbers in different areas on it, but Tia could clearly tell it was isopropyl alcohol – a substance she was familiar with, as castle maids had used it to clean tough stain marks in the kitchen. “How odd,” Celestia whispered to herself. “Who names an empty bottle ‘Bones’? And what would you need a bottle of cleaning alcohol for?” Logically, it could only have something to do with the main item. So, Tia turned her attention to that. Pulling off all the wrapping paper, her eyes went wide in awe. Surprised, she scooted over in front of the bed and laid it down flat on the rug, in the middle of the room, bathed in the bright moonlight. It was unlike anything she’d seen before. Measuring longer than her legs and two hoof-spans wide, it was quite a beast… with a curved shape and narrowed, rounded tips. Sticking out from each one was a low, T-shaped bracket that held an axle. Attached to both were wheels – four, wide white ones with a black-colored outer edging. Reaching out with her hoof, Celestia rubbed one – and it spun smooth and fast. The underside surface was a smooth, polished deep blue, with a unique graphic art of a screeching chimera in bronze and black, with the words “LANDYACHTZ SWITCHBLADE” in a bold, antique-style design. Below it lay a diamond, and on top, a royal crown. A bronze and blue ornate pattern framed the whole thing. It looked so cool and pretty, Tia was tempted to hang it on her wall as a decoration, but the wheels clearly showed there was much more to it than a work of art. Flipping it over, she found the top surface to be nothing like the underside. It was hard, dark gray, and gritty like sandpaper, with shiny flecks within it and the same logo words “LANDYACHTZ” printed across the center in white. Dragging her hooftip across it hurt, indicating it was meant to hold and maintain grip. Turning back to the T-shaped piece of metal and the bottles, Celestia noticed something she didn’t see before – a letter attached to a booklet. Eagerly, she snatched them, set the booklet aside, and began to read the letter. Dear Princess Celestia, I have sent this out to you as a gift from my heart. As much as I loved viewing it and thinking of the great potential it holds, I would prefer you to have it, as I’m sure you can find better use of it than I can. Being a traveler, I happened to spot you and your sister on vacation. It’s evidently clear that you enjoy exciting, thrilling adventurous activities, and I wish for this to be a means for you to continue the pursuit of such thrilling, joyful moments. I received this item from a facility that had collected items coming from a portal connecting to another world. It is called a longboard, with four large wheels that roll smoothly and a low-profiled deck that allows you to maintain balance better. You simply step on with one foot and push off against the ground with the other, and you’ll be moving. At higher speeds, steering and sliding about is a lot of fun once you figure it out. Also included is a cleaning kit and a metal repair tool. You can read more in the accompanying booklet. Hope you enjoy having fun with this longboard. Ride it and feel happy, fun, and free. Thank you for all you’ve done for Equestria. Best wishes, Hall Hunter Celestia smiled endearingly at the letter, touched by the effort one pony far away in another city had done for her. Then she set aside the longboard, the cleaning bottles, and the repair tool, before discarding the packaging and dropping it into a waste bin. Finishing her latte and cookies, she slid the booklet under her pillow and wiggled under the covers with an eager yet content smile. Yes, tomorrow was going to be a blast.