It was the morning after the big market spectacle. Twilight was back home in Canterlot after being brought back by Cadence. While Twilight slept upstairs Royal and High were both sitting at the dining table drinking coffee and talking to each other. Twilight's parents were at already at work. They were called in early to put the spectacle in the history books. But also to do more research on the markets in the past. Since no-one was sure if this truly was the biggest market ever.
High sipped his coffee when he suddenly asked "So, what was the goal in bringing Twilight to the market?"
Royal calmly sipped "For her to gain connections. And to teach her about vegetables." Royal answered.
"I guess that has been pushed back, no?" High asked.
"Correct. I guess after this weekend, she will start by learning about vegetables instead what I had planned" Royal answered.
"So. What was planned?" High asked.
"Meat and Fish prep work and her first time making a dish with them." Royal simply said.
"I see." High said.
High sipped his coffee when he suddenly remembered something "Also when you let Twilight handle meat, make sure she doesn't try to eating it. It has happened before." High said.
Royal raised his eyebrow at this information "What happened?" Royal asked.
"Well, I am not quite sure. All I know was that she tried it and got a minor bellyache. Which is odd since she is a herbivore." High said thinking back.
"Meaning she consumed it without getting very sick?" Royal asked uncertain.
"Exactly." High said.
Royal raising his eyebrow, "Do you have proof?" he asked.
"I don't." High sipped his coffee "But Twilight's parents should know more." High said.
"Interesting. Very interesting." Royal said "I did come across the very rare mutation where a pony can eat meat but,"
"But?" High asked.
"It's almost impossible. Ignoring the princesses. As far as I am aware of. Only 2 other ponies have it in existence" Royal said "And they died two years ago." Royal finished.
High raised his eyebrow but said nothing as he drank the rest of the coffee. He then moved towards the front door and placed the coffee cup on a side table "Well if she does have that mutation. Tread carefully, I heard she's loved by a lot of ponies." High said ominously.
He then opened the front door and closed it behind himself. As High left the building. Royal staring at the front door confused. He then looked back at his coffee. He too finished his coffee and placed on the side table. And walked to the front door to leave Twilight's house.
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Twilight woke up and noticed a big pile of presents on the other side of her bed. Suddenly remembering yesterday's events. She then jumped off her bed and walked towards the presents before carefully opening each, while also writing the names of everyone on a piece of parchment paper.
Twilight's presents mostly contained items for her own kitchen as well as some cookbooks. She looked through the pile of unopened present when she notices a black present on the bottom. She opens the odd present and sees a pile of beef jerky in it. Raising her eyebrow she grabs a secret compartment in the wall and puts them in it. For meat emergencies.
Twilight after that encounter chose to go to the bathroom. She recently went into bath so she just cleaned her face and hair. Brushing her teeth afterwards. Twilight then headed downstairs to the living room. Once downstairs she sees two dirty used coffee cups on a side table below a window, confused she grabs them and move them to the kitchen sink.
Once inside the kitchen she sees a salad made by Velvet. She looks at it. Then proceeds to grab it and eat it in the dining room. As she sits down to eat her salad she looks around. Shiny's gear is missing, as well as the work clothing of both Velvet and Night. Realizing she's alone she looks at the calendar. It's weekend.
Twilight feeling bored without any homework and being too lazy to go and cook something. She decided to start reading a bunch cookbooks to pass the time. three hours pass as she finishes up her last cookbook. Next to her is a mountain of notes from the cookbook. She then rereads the notes and rereads them once more.
Feeling complete, she puts the important information into her notepad. Closing the notepad she looks at the clock. Another hour had past but she was still alone and bored. She looks at the calendar once more. Then chose to go outside, as she moves towards to front door to leave the house.
Once outside she looks around. She looks at the commercial district but realizes that they weren't going to have a market in a few more months, atleast not the size of the farmer's market anyways. She looks to the right of the commercial district and sees the forest also known as the collection district. Shaking her head she looks behind her house to see the military district.
Twilight wanting to see that side of Canterlot, even tho she is not allowed to.
'Well Shiny should work there now right? It should be safe, right?' Twilight thought as she slowly walked that direction.
While Twilight slowly entered the military district she looks around. The city atmosphere changed slightly as she enters. She sees more guards and less food stores. But she does see a calming forest to her left.
One of the guards spots her and walks towards her "Hey! This area is off limits for fillies." said the guard.
Twilight raised her eyebrow and asked "Why?"
"It's unsafe. The slums is filled with ponies with bad intentions which is that directions. Unless you are trying to reach the Magic Barracks which is in that forest to your left." The guard points further down the street and then also points towards a forest on her left.
"I am trying to reach the Magic Barracks, sir." Twilight said.
The guard raised his eyebrow and asked "Shall I escort you then?"
"If you could. Please." Twilight said.
The guard nods and then together with Twilight trod towards the barracks. the guard then asked "What is your business with the Magic Barracks?"
Twilight trying her best to keep up said "To visit my brother who is training there."
The guard looked at Twilight "I see, who is it if I may ask?" He asked
"Shining Armor" Twilight answered.
The guard then thought about it. however while thinking about Shining Armor and walking closer to the magic barracks he paid no attention to where is was walking. Which caused him to smack face first into a tree.
"Are you alright?" Twilight asked worried.
The guard shakes off the pain and said "I am fine. Shining Armor is training at the Royal Barracks however. You won't find him here."
Twilight sighs "Well we are here anyways. I might as well just visit this Magic Barracks then." she said.
"I agree. I was going off duty anyways. I can give you a tour if you want." The guard suggested
Twilight looks at him then nods excited. Meanwhile the Commander of the magic guard looks at the carefree state of the guard and the small filly that approached the Magic Barracks. unsure of what to do, she beacons the filly towards her.
Twilight noticing her bashfully stayed near the guard, because she's unsure of who she is. The commander sighs and shouts "You!" To the guard.
The guard shook himself and looked to the commander in shock. "Yes, Madam! What can I do for you?" The guard shouted back.
Both their shouting caused Twilight to flinch. Twilight then stared daggers into the eyes of the female commander. Something which caused the commander to flinch but stand her ground.
The commander shouts "Why are you bringing a filly to unsafe ground?!"
The guard flinches "She wanted to see the Magic barracks for herself, Madam." the guard answered scared.
Twilight noticed the fear and chose to stand her ground annoyed at the interruption and inspected the commander. Twilight inspection revealed that commander looked remarkably like Pride Keeper, but female.
"Are you Pride keeper's sister?" Twilight asked interrupting the Commander.
The commander in turn looked at Twilight shocked "You know my brother?" she asked.
Twilight then sighed as she smiled, releasing the tension in the air "Yup. We are friends. I met him in the Public Canteen."
The commander looked at her, searching for a lie. Not finding any she finally smiled "I see. Nice to meet you. The name is Magic Keeper. I am the commander of the magic guard."
Twilight smiled even broader "My name is Twilight Sparkle, Nice to meet you too."
Magic happily released the guard as Twilight followed her to the training ground. Once there Twilight sees that the field is way bigger than the field near the Royal Barracks. She also sees these weird black orbs in the distance and guards shooting lasers at those orbs like target practice. She also noticed lots of guards distracted at her presence.
Twilight was surprised at the size of the field looked towards Magic. "What are those orbs?" she asked
Magic looked at Twilight "Those are magic targets. They allow magic guards to train their magic on. Perfect for laser beams."
Twilight looked at one of the orbs then ask "Can I try?"
Magic smiled at the enthusiasm and said "Sure. Let me prep a orb for you."
Magic then grabbed a bigger pink orb and give it to Twilight. "Try this one." she suggest.
Twilight shook her head. "I want shoot a black one." Twilight asked
Magic raised her eyebrow, "Those are too far away and are too strong for you." Magic said
Twilight than used Puppy eyes on her asking "Please?"
Magic laughed "That won't work, however since you really want to hit the black one sure. one moment." Magic said.
Twilight pouted as Magic beaconed on of the guards to move a black one closer to Twilight. She then looked at Twilight and points to the black orb.
"I will give you an example. Then you should try shooting." Magic said.
Twilight nods as she feels an unholy amount of magic coming from Magic as she shoots a powerful beam to one of the furthest away target. "BOOM!" did her magic go in the background, rocking the ground and windows around Twilight.
Twilight raised her eyebrow at the attempted discouragement from Magic. Magic flinched when Twilight saw through her attempt and looked away while pointing to Twilight's target.
The guards behind Magic chuckled at her misfortune, but flinched when Twilight stared daggers into them. Twilight then focused her on the target. Gathering the most amount of magic she had into her horn and looking at her target. She then whispered some magic text, causing her magic to gather at one point on her horn. As she looked confident at her target she released an orb of magic hitting the target. And a second later a powerful beam hit the orb as it pierces the orb and continued into the distance causing a massive mushroom cloud to appear behind the orb. A second passed when a powerful shock wave hit the barracks behind her, shattering the windows and blowing away doors with hinges and all.
A moment had passed after her laser beam, the orb fell to the ground shattered to bits and a crowd of shocked guards looked at the destruction. Trees where cut in half. some trees were uprooted and were laying all over the place. Pieces of cobble was everywhere. All windows of the barracks behind Twilight were shattered. Every door was where they weren't supposed to be. Several guard got smacked into the walls and Twilight. She was lying unconscious for using too much magic at once.
Magic blinked twice at the destruction and injured guards. She looked Twilight who was just lying there, unconscious. She blinked one more time when in the background a fire suddenly started, sighing she shouted "Medic! And anyone who can walk, clean this mess up while I go alert the Royal guard and-"
"No need. We are already here!" Pride Keeper shouted as he started to order the wonderbolts into stopping that fire. The pegasus rescue squad was already busy searching for survivors while the repair crew repaired the windows behind Magic.
Magic smiled at Keeper and shouted "Get this filly to the Royal hospital!" the medics nod at Magic as they moved Twilight out of the disaster zone.
"Filly?" Keeper asked.
"Yes. Twilight caused this disaster. Something which I didn't saw coming. That filly is powerful!" Magic said smiling in glee despite the disaster.
Keeper looked shocked at her then facepalmed "We have to report this to the princesses." Keeper said annoyed.
"Why? She is still young. Anyone could cause this disaster." Magic asked confused.
"Yes. Well, she is banned from the military district by Princess Cadence." Keeper said.
Magic looked shocked at Keeper then said "Well. By the order of the Magic Guard. Twilight is welcome anytime to return to the magic barracks. By my name she is unbanned. Anyone who stand against this, shall have to face me!"
Keeper looked beyond shocked at her and asked "Are you sure?"
"By my Noble title and by the name of the magic guard. Absolutely!" Magic shouted.
Keeper smiled "Well then. By the name of the Royal guard and the Noble title of mine. Twilight by this title be unbanned from the military district. Any who oppose this, shall face the Royal guard and Magic guard respectively. Whether they be Royal or Noble. Ye shall face us head on, when you oppose our ruling!" Keeper echoed with magic though Canterlot. Reaching the ears of a shocked Cadence and Celestia on the other side of Canterlot.
Even though Twilight was unconscious, she smiled hearing this. While lying on a hospital bed.
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The next day, Twilight woke up with a painful headache and horn injury. Looking around she noticed that she isn't home. Rather her room looks like a hospital room. She then looked at the clock her headache increased slightly. She sees it's 5 O'clock in the morning as the windows behind her suggest. There was no sunlight.
She looks around the clock to see a white room without any splash in color. Attempting to get out of bed caused her to collapse as she thought back 'I used too much magic on that laser beam. And got unbanned, I think.' Shaking her head, she got to her hooves and walked around the room. On the wall was a single lonely painting, the painting of a tree with a library inside. It looked oddly familiar.
As she was about to leave the room. The door opened to show a doctor. The doctor raised his eyebrow at Twilight "Why are you out of bed? You should sleep more you drained all your magic." the doctor questioned.
Twilight looked sheepish and asked "Are there anyone else in this hospital from my accident?"
The doctor shook his head "Not anymore, they were released yesterday with minor injuries." he lit up. "Actually, that is what they wanted me to tell you but."
Twilight looked saddened by the news "How are those patients?" Twilight questioned.
The doctor looked sad "Not good actually. Not only is there a lot of them. Their condition isn't good either." the doctor looked saddened.
Twilight looking practically depressed "What happened? Is it my direct fault or?" Twilight asked.
The doctor nodded "Sadly it is. Your spell caused a massive fire to rock the slums. It has already costed some lives. I have never seen so badly wounded patients before. Usually we don't deal with the poor, but since Princess Cadence order the hospitals to let them get help at our hospitals they came here also." he said.
Twilight closed her eyes as internally she lost a bit of color. "How badly?" Twilight asked depressed.
"Are you sure you want to know Twilight? You are bit young for the details" the doctor questioned.
"Please." was Twilight's answer.
The doctor sighed. He remembered the screaming patients who came in with burn wounds "They came in with fourth degree burns. Atleast a thousand of them had it." the doctor answered "It felt like a terrorist attack or war zone hit the hospitals."
Twilight eye's went as small as possible. Fourth degree burns are usually life-threatening, with extremely deep burn wounds. she remembered. As Twilight felt her depression increase she asked the last nail in the coffin "Anything else?"
The doctor realizing Twilight's state, wanted to stop talking but couldn't as he felt that lying would worsen her state "Besides that. They have wounds from buildings collapsing on them and too much smoke inhale." he continued "Anything else is from guards and civilians getting smashed into things from the shock wave."
"We have had 35 poor pony deaths and 5 guards deaths. With atleast a thousand serious injuries and atleast a million minor injuries" the doctor continued.
At this point the doctor couldn't take it anymore, he started to cry. "Among the deaths was my wife."
Twilight jerked up at the doctor's last statement. Twilight unsure what to do also cried holding the doctor in a hug that felt like it lasted hours. The doctor returned the hug.
"I am sorry. I didn't mean it. I thought those black orbs were stronger than that. I didn't, I didn't-" Twilight couldn't continue as the situation dawned on her. She accidently killed some innocent ponies. All because she couldn't control her magic.
As her mind spiralled out of control. The doctor said the thing that changed everything "All that happened. Because you got a defected orb. The amount you showcased it could easily withstand if it worked as intended!" the doctor shouted at the end.
The doctor's frustration was showcased at the end. And Twilight jerked up again at that last statement.
Twilight feeling lost still bravely asked "Is there anything I can do for the patients. I can cook and stuff. Please allow me to do something. I don't want to feel hopeless." with a pleading after tone.
The doctor looked at Twilight in an understanding look "I know you can cook. I will allow you to make something for them in the kitchen. Just don't use your horn okay? You magic isn't ready yet." The doctor said
Twilight nodded and followed the doctor to the kitchen.
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While Twilight walked there, she sees the carnage. Patients everywhere, most of them with some kind of burn wound. Doctors were everywhere, nurses were running around like a circus and medication were used from every direction. However Twilight realized something.
"Hold on. Do you doctors and nurses even have enough medicine?" Twilight asked.
The doctor looked at Twilight "No. No we don't. However entire Equestria is currently going to deliver thousands of tons of medicine to hospitals all over Canterlot." The doctor answered.
Twilight looked saddened at the situation and continued to the kitchen with the doctor. That hallways were even filled with patients and every hall and room including offices were filled with patients. The hospital truly was overflowing and there weren't enough nurses, doctors or medicine to go around. Let alone food, she didn't see a single tray of food on her way here. And there were a lot of patients.
Twilight quickly realized she had to play the ultimate card, 'The Emergency Food Connections'. Once inside the kitchen she said "Doctor. I know I shouldn't use magic, but I need to cast one single important spell. Don't worry it's not very magic powerful." Before the doctor could say anything "Please!" Twilight shouted.
"Fine, but only one spell." The doctor said sighing.
Twilight walked further into the kitchen and grabbed a card with food and a medical icon. She lit her magic onto the card and said "Please." softly into it.
As Twilight's magic ends the card shined as bright as a star, then suddenly disappeared. Seconds pass as Twilight preps the kitchen. "I am going to make porridge and vegetable soup." Twilight said to the doctor.
"But we have no stock. Nothing in storage. How are we going to make anything?" The doctor questioned.
Twilight points at the door. The doctor looks at her then the door. The door opened suddenly and rapidly as 15 different ponies enter. They place hundreds of kilos of vegetables and then some, on the table as they leave. Twilight shouts a quick thank you before quickly starting to make hundreds of liters of soup and porridge.
Twilight pours liters of water in every large soup pan she could find and add spices to it as it warms up, meanwhile she chops lots of bell peppers and paprikas into pieces. She cuts lots of tomatoes and cucumber into pieces. And the white radish into similar pieces. At this point the soup was hot and she puts the vegetables in.
She then cuts fresh herbs and put that also in. So the soup now just need boiling for 2 hours.
Meanwhile she started to make the porridge. she added the oatmeal and milk into a large pan and added some salt. She started to slow boil it while stirring lots. Once it became thick, she lowered the heat temperature to low and let it simmer for 7 minutes. Once the time is up she cools the porridge for a minute before adding some jam.
At this point both the soup and the porridge is complete and calls the doctor "Doctor! We need to spread the porridge and soup to the patients. I recommend them both in bowls and giving the nurses the task in distributing them among the patients." Twilight recommend.
As the doctor nods and the nurses starting to give each patient both the soup and the porridge. Twilight continued to make more until all the resources were used up. And the nurses kept the distribution up until everything has been used up.
Twilight then remembered "Hey doctor? Are there any griffons or predators among the injured?"
The doctor shook his head "No. Not even in the other hospitals."
"I see. That is good atleast." Twilight said before feeling wobbly "I should head to my bed. But first I am going to eat my portion of porridge and soup."
The doctor nods as Twilight quickly ate before returning to her bed. Falling asleep instantly.