Twilight snorted loudly as her alarm clock began to chirp away. She let it ring for a moment as she stretched, reaching toward the tall ceiling with her hooves. Her wings fluttered behind her, flapping against her pillows. Twilight let out a small squeak as one of her joints popped, and it took her another flap for the out-of-line joint to crack back into place. Twilight let out a sigh of satisfaction, and she finally reached over to her alarm clock, giving it a hearty tap to silence it.
She didn’t know why she had an alarm set. She had no reason to be up at an early four in the morning. A minor plague had swept through Equestria from the Dragon Lands, and while nopony had died, thousands were sick and unable to take care of themselves. Such a vast amount of the population ill was dangerous, and if they weren’t treated properly… She didn’t really want to think about that. Hospitals were filled to the bursting, and everyone who didn’t have actually medical training had been ordered by all four princesses to stay inside. Only after their combined announcement did Twilight realized that she fit into that category. Sure, she was a fantastic study, and yes, she knew thousands of spells, but as Luna had demonstrated, not even alicorns were immune to the Burning Flu. The Lunar Princess had somehow caught it during her nightly runs through the dreamscape, and with a fourth of Equestria’s princesses down, the public had begun to panic. The Burning Flu was originally only a disease that dragons could get, but due to unknown circumstances, the disease had mutated and had spread rapidly to the weaker immune systems of ponies. Twilight theorized that it had to do with Fluttershy helping save the dragon eggs, but there was no way to go and collect evidence to prove her theory.
Twilight sighed and rolled her hooves out of bed. Once ponies started panicking, the disease started spreading faster. Ponies from the countryside moved into the cities seeking better medical care, and when they found the cities already overflowing, they went home, taking the Burning Flu with them. It was only through quick action that Twilight and the other healthy princesses managed to blunt the spread somewhat. Cadence had personally obliterated the train tracks leading to the Crystal Empire, then closed the barrier behind her. After quarantining the few cases there, she had started sending the Empire’s healers across Equestria. Though the newspapers tried to smear her, most, if not everypony knew she was right, and nobody expected an apology.
Ponyville had suffered a great deal from the Flu spread. With the school, as well as all six Elements of Harmony, it was a massive tourism town, and the Flu had appeared within days. Twilight counted her blessings that all of her friends had remained healthy, and that she had closed the school fast enough. She had received hundreds of letters of protest, but she had been firm, going so far as to teleport students’ home herself. Only one of her many students had fallen ill, a filly no older than Applebloom named Starshine, and she was quickly on the mend. Twilight smiled as she remembered the picture the little filly had sent her. It was still sealed in a glass case in her freezer as she waited for the germs on it to die off. Twilight sighed, then looked out her window. It was still dark; the sun had not been pushed up yet.
Twilight shook her head free of the dark cobwebs that tried to collect every time she woke up. She had approximately thirty-seven minutes until Celestia raised the sun, and then another wonderful day would begin. She had done everything right, and everything she could do, so now it was simply time to sit back, relax, and do some projects! Twilight clapped her hooves together and quickly used her magic to make her bed. It had been a very long time since she had had time to simply work on her personal projects, and Twilight had plenty on her schedule, and the castle to herself. Her friends were safe at their respective homes, Starlight was helping Trixie to entertain sick ponies, and Spike was already immune to the Burning Flu, having received a vaccination years ago. He was out helping the doctors, mostly sending messages and delivering supplies where they were needed. Her preparations for his celebratory party was item number 72 on her list. Twilight giggled to herself at thought of how happy he would be when he got home as she trotted to the kitchen to start with item number 3.
*****
Twilight let out a long sigh as she settled on her second fluffiest blanket. A hot cup of hot chocolate sat on the balcony rail before her, and her fluffiest blanket sat around her shoulders. The mornings were still a bit nippy, and she enjoyed the way the brilliant pink blanket trapped her body heat. It had been an early birthday gift from Pinkie, and Twilight briefly thought about sending the party pony a letter. She had been hit the hardest by the news of quarantine, but she had tried to remain stoic. Pinkie Pie was ever the socialite, and thought it had only been a few days, Twilight knew that the earth pony was likely going stir crazy. Twilight floated her schedule over with a quill and added another task at the bottom.
Item Number 387: Send Pinkie Pie a letter.
Twilight frowned, then added a small note under the new entry.
Make sure to complete Item Number 49: Test whether dragonfire destroys flu cells first.
Twilight set the parchment aside and gently lifted up her hot chocolate mug, blowing away the thin streams of steam rising from its marshmallow covered surface. She looked to the horizon, waiting quietly as the first rays of sunshine climbed over the horizon and the real show began.
*****
Twilight frowned as she flipped upside down in her reading chair. She had only been reading for a little over an hour, and yet for some reason she felt… restless. It certainly wasn’t a lack of interest, she had been saving the newest Daring Doo for quite some time, and had even managed to go spoiler free, despite Dash’s best efforts to engage her in discussion. No, it wasn’t that what she was doing wasn’t holding her interest, it was something else. Twilight closed her book and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. She immediately felt the sun on her face, felt wind passing through her wings. She even felt her feathers twitch in response to the phantom sensations, and as she let herself fall into the daydream further, Twilight gave a single large flap.
Immediately propelling her from her reading chair. The alicorn smacked into the floor, flipped over onto her belly. Her Daring Doo book dropped onto her head, the cover splitting open perfectly to cover her face. Twilight sighed aloud, then levitated over her to-do list. She briefly considered adding the new tasks at the bottom, but her wings twitched again, and she knew that she wouldn’t survive if she didn’t do something immediately.
Item Number 213.1: Set up sunlamps in experimental wind tunnel.
Item number 213.2: Go for an (indoor) fly.
Twilight levitated the book off her head and set it in her reading chair as she pulled herself to her hooves.
*****
Twilight sighed as she flapped along in the hurricane force gale that she had programmed into her wind chamber. The experiment had long since been abandoned, another theory destroyed under the weight of “it just works because of magic”, but she still flipped it on, usually in the winter when one of her winged friends wanted to go for a good fly. Unfortunately, it was a poor substitute for the real thing, especially given how nice it was supposed to be. Twilight couldn’t afford to break her quarantine for a quick, lonely flight however, she was a princess. She needed to set the example, or one flyer would turn into two, then ten. Soon all kinds of ponies would be breaking their isolation for “just a little bit” and the Burning Flu would get worse.
Twilight yelped as she mistimed a flap and began spiraling out of control. She lit her horn, and in a split second, appeared in the control room. Taking a deep breath, she pulled off her flight goggles and dialed down all of the wind tunnel controls. She smiled as she noticed a photo from the experiment; a funny picture of a time when the wind had become too strong for even Rainbow Dash, and the pegasus had gotten pinned to the far wall. The only thing she had suffered was a bruised ego, but Twilight had promised to keep the event a secret, with the singular photo being the only evidence.
Twilight glanced over and opened her mouth to talk with Spike about the funny day, only to find nobody. Right. He was helping Celestia take care of Luna. Her former mentor had her hooves full drawing out legislation for the kingdom, so while Twilight helped with quarantine efforts, Spike, who had already developed an immunity to the Burning Flu, had volunteered his services to help care for the ill lunar diarch. She hadn’t spoken to him for weeks, and while it wasn’t an issue while she was conducting her princess-ly duties, she…
Twilight shook her head and began running through the wind tunnel shutdown procedure. She was fine, she just needed to keep to her list. She had plenty to get done; work to catch up on, books she hadn’t yet read, plenty of chores to take care of. She was fine, she just needed to occupy herself was all. She was fine.
*****
Twilight sighed and plopped into one of the stools at her breakfast bar. Her kitchen was stacked high with freshly prepared food, more than enough to feed half a dozen or more ponies. After leaving the wind tunnel she had tried just checking tasks off of her list in chronological order, but that had quickly soured, and she had begun to mope. In an effort to brighten her spirits, she had skipped straight to the newly added Item 412; try something new. She had chosen a cookbook at random and had conjured what few ingredients she didn’t have, then set to work.
It was only when her favorite meal; chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream in a wide smile and a pair of long banana ears, ended up on the plate before her did she realize the mistake she had made. It had taken her a supreme effort not to settle in a corner and cry in frustration. Instead, she had identified her emotions for what they were, futile, and had pressed stubbornly on. The second dish had been Spike’s favorite; ruby burritos with chips in emerald salsa. The third had been an apple pie, and the fourth had been crepes. Twilight cooked a dish for each of her closest friends, then for her fellow princesses, then her biological family. Moonpies, chocolate cakes, a massive cookie shaped like a hoofball (for Fluttershy surprisingly). All of it sat under perfect preservation spells, and all of it would remain uneaten for weeks. She had no way of getting it to them without risking somepony’s health, but she didn’t want it to go to waste.
Twilight sniffled and laid her head on the counter.
“Why is it this hard?” she whimpered. “I never see them when I’m busy, so what’s different?”
Nobody answered, and that hurt even more than the answer itself. A vast chasm of loneliness seemed to stretch before her, and for a moment, Twilight felt the urge to teleport to her room and crawl under her covers. She could simply sleep the quarantine away, and then when it was done, she would spend day after day with her friends and family. Even just talking to them, seeing their faces would be enough to dull the haze she felt.
Twilight’s head shot up and she scooped up her pancakes before she bolted to the library. That was the solution. Maybe she couldn’t risk sending letters or food, but maybe, just maybe she could find a way to speak to her friends.
*****
Twilight slid on her goggles and with a banana sitting in her teeth like a cigar, she flipped the switch. Her balcony doors slammed open, and Twilight felt her fur stand on end as a sunbeam spilled into her make-shift battery. Though it was against the rules for her to meddle with the sun, she knew her teacher wouldn’t mind too much when she saw the result.
If it worked.
On her fifteenth attempt.
Twilight tried to ignore her eye twitch as she stared pointedly away from her failed (exploded) conversation machines. She could justify the melted slag now decorating half of her bedroom if the newest attempt would just work!
The wheels began to turn as the charging pack lit up with purple energy. The crystals focused the already concentrated beam of fire into a pinprick, which shot into the magnification compartment. Twilight swallowed nervously as the beam of light passed through each chamber successfully, charging them all with energy. The interior of the contraption began to glow with violet light, then a beam shot out of the side, lancing into the first mirror crystal.
Twilight dove behind her bed, poking her head just about the frame as she waited for this contraption to explode. She put her hooves over her ears and waited, biting her lip as the mirror crystal charged with energy. It grew brighter and brighter, and the light became almost white as Twilight turned away. She put a small forcefield around herself as she waited for the newest boom…
Except that it didn’t come.
Twilight opened her eyes and dropped her shield. Tentatively, she poked her out from behind her cover, and her eyes widened with glee as she spotted that not only had her invention not exploded, but it was also working. A purple sheen hovered in the center window of the contraption, and with a quick once over of the machine, Twilight began to hop around, squealing with glee.
“It worked it worked it worked!” she crowed. “I invented completely touchless communication! No more being alone!”
Twilight stopped mid-hop at the thought. Celestia she was alone. She hadn’t seen anypony in days, and even her celebration of her success seemed to blunt of that awareness. Settling down, Twilight walked up to her contraption and took a seat, frowning as she pulled off her goggles. Who to contact? Pinkie and Applejack were off the table, since they were working day and night to make sure food got to everyone, as was Rainbow Dash, who Applejack had drafted to help make deliveries. Rarity was busy making masks for similar reasons, and Fluttershy was off helping in the hospital. That meant all of her friends were unavailable.
Twilight briefly considered trying to contact Spike, then an idea popped into her head. She thought long and hard about the face of a mare that she hadn’t talked to in ages. Her magic sparked for a moment as it interacted with her machine, then it activated. Twilight let out a breath as the machine began to whir, sending its magic toward Canterlot. It took a moment or two, but an image began to appear in the purple haze, and within a minute, Twilight could clearly see her mother, humming idly to herself as she worked over a steaming pot of soup.
Twilight sat in silence for a moment, completely unsure of what to say. Why did it feel so hard to speak? Had she really been alone for that long? A flitter of nerves in her gut told her yes, so with one long breath, Twilight wiggled into her throne posture and cleared throat.
Twilight Velvet shrieked at the sound, and lost her soup spoon in the pot. Twilight watched as the unicorn panicked, quickly fishing the spoon out to use as a weapon against her unknown “assailant”. Velvet froze when she spotted Twilight staring at her, then continued to stand in frozen shock as Twilight sat mutely. The alicorn cleared her throat again, then blushed and gave Velvet a small wave.
“Hi Mom.”
Velvet snorted, then her posture relaxed, and she smiled.
“Hello Twilight, you scared the daylights out of me.”
She reached out a hoof toward Twilight’s viewing window, then nearly fell as her hoof went right through it. The unicorn drew her hoof back, then sat down.
“Interesting,” she mumbled.
Her eye flicked up to meet Twilight’s, and she frowned.
“Sweetie, what’s wrong?”
Twilight looked away and fluttered her wings.
“What do you mean?” she replied. “Nothing’s wrong.”
Velvet clicked her tongue.
“Twilight be honest with me. I knew when you had accidentally forgot to turn in a book when you were three, and I can tell that something is wrong now. Talk to me.”
Twilight sighed, still not meeting her mother’s eyes.
“How can you tell something’s wrong?” she asked quietly.
Velvet snorted and waved her hoof.
“Twilight, you’ve invented something that makes it so two ponies can talk to each other face to face without being in the same room, and you look like I just put a plate of soggy hay fries in front of you. My Twilight hops around and cheers when her projects work out, and I usually receive her research notes within an hour. The Twilight I’m looking at right now is neither cheering, nor offering notes or the specs of her new invention.”
She laid down and levitated the soup spoon back into the pot.
“Now talk to your mother,” Velvet said. “What’s getting to you?”
Twilight sniffled, the met her mom’s eyes as tears filled hers.
“I’m just so lonely,” she said. “I know it’s a dumb thing to complain about and get worked up over, especially with everything that’s going on, but…”
She wiped her nose and stared at the carpeted floor.
“I don’t even have Spike here. I… I just made this because I wanted to talk with someone. Anyone. I’m sorry if I bothered you.”
Velvet clicked her tongue again.
“Twilight, if we could touch either right now, I would slap your head with a newspaper, then give you my best hug. You never have to be sorry for wanting to talk with somepony, especially not your mother.”
Twilight sniffled again, then looked up to find Velvet smiling back. The unicorn reached out, putting her hoof right up to the viewing window.
“I’m right here baby girl,” she said. “I know we can’t touch right now, but I’m always right here.”
Twilight sniffled a final time, then chuckled as tears began to run down her cheeks. She laughed, but her hoof rose and met her mom’s, and for a moment, she swore she could almost feel the older mare. It washed away her depressed attitude, at least for the moment, and Twilight’s tears began to dry as she chuckled at how she had been acting.
“Sorry Mom,” she said as she rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. “I just really needed to see someone else. Thanks for not freaking out more.”
Velvet nodded slowly and smiled.
“Of course Twilight, and do feel free to use your device to call any time. I’ll make sure your father isn’t napping next time.”
Twilight giggled for a few more moments, then closed her eyes and let out a relaxed sigh. When she opened her eyes, Velvet was still waiting with a smile full of support and love. Twilight matched it, and she finally felt herself beginning to relax fully. She laid down like her mother, then after wiping away the remains of her tears, she met her mother’s eyes and asked;
“So how are you today?”