ν
Accident
Twilight read over the letter in a flash. Rarity was too busy to come to her birthday party. Twilight didn't mind at all. Really, she didn't want a party, having too much to catch up on as research restrictions were loosening around her.
Plus there was the matter of Snow Berry. She had finally messed up, and Twilight needed to find the time to confront her.
"Twilight?" asked Sweetie Belle suddenly. Even though classes had started again, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were still often found hanging around the workshop. Scootaloo however was never there, and had even begun to miss classes.
"Yes Sweetie Belle?"
"Apple Bloom and I were wondering if we could go to your birthday party too? Rarity told me I could if you said yes, and Applejack told Apple Bloom the same thing...."
"Why didn't you ask me earlier?" asked Twilight.
"Well, we were kinda nervous, so we played a game to decide who would ask."
"I don't mind, Sweetie Belle. If you two want to come, that's fine."
Sweetie Belle's face brightened. "Thanks Twilight!"
"But you should know Rarity isn't going to be there," said Twilight. Sweetie Belle's smile faded.
"Why's that?"
"She sent me a letter saying Opal's gotten sick and she can't make the trip back from Canterlot in time." Twilight neglected to mention the real reason was that Rarity wanted to attend an important social party.
"Aww, poor Opal," said Sweetie. "But wait! I have an idea! Why don't we go over to Canterlot and have the party there?"
Twilight put a hoof up in the air to shoo Sweetie Belle away.
"No no, Sweetie," she said. "That'd be too much work, and honestly it's no big deal. Besides, the party itself could be bad for Opal."
Sweetie Belle let herself be led away from the workbench and back towards Apple Bloom, who was busy tinkering with who-knows-what in the corner.
Twilight got back to her workbench and sighed. Things were finally beginning to calm down. Her medical classes were over and done. Apparently four of her former students had gotten together to form a medical school and continue teaching inquiring ponies. Twilight was surprised that Celestia allowed it considering all the problems Twilight had been given. Curiosity got the better of her one day and she did check with Mephistopheles and find out that Celestia didn't want to try to stop the information. Twilight had been correct all along, it was Luna, and now that Luna was basically out of the picture things were going to be easier.
"Twilight," said Apple Bloom, putting her project behind her as if she was trying to hide it. "I'm going to take this home with me. It's getting late and I want to finish it."
"That's fine, Apple Bloom," said Twilight.
Twilight said goodbye to Sweetie Belle as well before they left, just in time for Spike to come down asking where they were.
"They just left," said Twilight. "Why?"
"Oh," said Spike suddenly. "No reason."
Twilight narrowed her eyes but didn't say anything.
"What are they hiding?" she asked Mephistopheles.
"A birthday present for you," he replied.
Twilight's eyes widened. "Oh. Well if that's the case, don't tell me what it is. I'll find out at the party."
With that knowledge in her mind, she suddenly had a realisation. This could provide her with some time to confront Snow Berry. She turned to face Spike.
"You know," she said to him, "you've been working awfully hard lately. Why don't you take the rest of the day off?"
Spike looked at her like she'd just grown an extra head.
"Are you sure about that? Didn't you say we had a lot to catch up on?"
"Yeah, but tomorrow's my birthday, now's the time for us to relax a bit. Besides, I wouldn't mind having the house to myself for a little while. I don't mean to push you out or anything, but I'm sure you'd like to have some time somewhere else right now."
Spike's eyes suddenly narrowed, and a quick check with Mephistopheles confirmed that he believed Twilight knew about her gift, and was giving him free time so he could go help the cutie mark crusaders finish it. He was right about that, but it wasn't for the reasons he was thinking.
"Alright," he said, drawing out the word as he continued to glare at her in suspicion. "If you're sure."
He slowly took off his work apron and walked towards the door. He opened it, and walked out, the door squeaking behind him, the entire time staring at Twilight. Finally he shut the door and Twilight was alone.
"What is Snow Berry doing at this exact moment?" Twilight asked Mephistopheles.
"Bathing," he replied.
"In a shower, or a bathtub?"
"A bathtub."
"That's convenient," said Twilight. "Can you tell me exactly where she is? Give me an exact location so I can teleport into her bathroom?"
"Of course," he said. Twilight waited for him to tell her, but instead of speaking an image formed directly into her mind. She could see a bathroom, and even hear the sounds of somepony humming and the echoes bouncing along the walls. The vision zoomed outside, and she saw a large house along a familiar street. Again the image zoomed out, and she saw the entire city of Canterlot. That was enough, and the vision faded.
"I didn't know you could do that," said Twilight. She thought about it for a moment and then realised it should have been obvious. The image she saw of him was just a vision, after all. He wasn't there. He was just connecting with her mind. He could probably show her anything. She felt uneasiness at the thought. It suddenly occurred to her that he could deceive her if he wanted, showing her things that weren't there. She'd have to think about how to counteract such a possibility, just in case.
"I wouldn't do that," he said suddenly, in that same monotone voice he always used. "That would not be beneficial for me, or you."
"But you read my mind," she countered.
"I know your mind as it happens. I know everyone's mind. I know everything."
"Right," said Twilight. She'd never really thought about his knowledge extending to her and the implications of that. Still, he hadn't given her cause to doubt him yet, and she had more important things to do than delve into some stupid philosophical debate about the validity of her sense experiences.
She closed her eyes and concentrated. Teleporting to a place she'd never been to before wasn't as difficult as she thought it'd be, not with Mephistopheles's help. As soon as she appeared in Snow Berry's bathroom she heard the sloshing of water and the fearful screech of a mare being walked in on. She opened her eyes and looked at Snow Berry, who looked back at her, her eyes wide and her chest moving up and down at a pace only the panicked could make.
"What in the world are you doing in my bathroom!" she shouted, standing up in the tub. Water was spilling out onto the floor in great waves, and Twilight did her best to seem utterly unconcerned by it. She wanted to give the impression of a calm and stoic pony, one in a clear position of power to be taken seriously. It's why she was glad to surprise Snow Berry in the tub.
"Get out!" said Snow Berry, stumbling out onto the floor. The water had made the tiles slippery, and she was having trouble finding her balance. Twilight just looked on, keeping her face impassive.
"You and I need to have a little talk," said Twilight, just as Snow Berry righted herself, holding on to the bath tub with a foreleg to keep from slipping. Snow Berry looked at her, furious.
"I repeat, what are you doing in my bathroom?! If you want to talk to me I have regularly scheduled office hours at the Univer-"
"I think this is a much better time," said Twilight, trying to make her tone sound menacing.
"Like heck it is!" said Snow Berry. "If you don't leave this instant I will -"
"If someone were to take a look at your son's company, to see what they were making, and perhaps take a peek at what chemistry students at Canterlot University have been experimenting on, what would they find?"
That shut the mare up. She seemed to be having trouble breathing, as she kept opening and closing her mouth like a gaping fish. But Twilight knew she cold breath just fine. Finally she sighed.
"How could you possibly have found out?" she said. "That research was only completed today. I doubt there'd be any evidence left in a week."
"So you understand why now is a good time to speak?" said Twilight. She waited a moment and stepped forward, careful not to slip as she did so. The water splashed underhoof as she walked closer to Snow Berry.
"Now I can go speak with some of the students at the University and get some of their notes. Some testimony. In fact, I'm going to do that regardless, after this meeting. I can teleport there in a literal flash and be done before you got a chance to do anything. So the question is, Snow Berry, what is going to happen to your career if ponies found out you've been stealing ideas?"
"There's no proof of that!" she said. "Anypony could have -"
"No, the idea of Fire-Clay is something I came up with, and something that only you and the other four ponies on the committee to oversee my research would have known about, other than myself. Plus, even now I have the Princess's ear. She will believe me, if I told her the truth and had proof. And we both know it's the truth, and I can get proof."
"What do you want?" said Snow Berry, teeth clenched in anger.
"Isn't it obvious?" asked Twilight. "Start voting in my favour on the committee. I don't want a single shred of opposition from you from now on. In return, I'll not only let your son produce Fire-Clay, but I'll sign him with an exclusivity contract, baring myself and my friends and students of course. Since none of my friends or students currently own chemical companies, I'm sure that will be an acceptable amount of competition for him. If you don't agree, I'll make it publically known that he, through you, has been stealing ideas. I'll also inform everyone that you're using the Canterlot University Chemistry Department to research for your son's company. He'll be ruined. And so will you."
"This is blackmail!" she said. Twilight couldn't help but chuckle.
"Yes, I'm glad to see you're not a complete moron. So, do we have a deal?"
There was a long pause while Snow Berry simply stared at Twilight, utter contempt in her eyes.
"I suppose I don't have a choice," she said.
"Glad to hear it," said Twilight. She didn't bother shaking hooves. She didn't want to touch an annoying old wet pony anyway. Instead she took a few steps back, to where she had teleported in. She didn't take her eyes off Snow Berry as she did so.
"One last thing," said Twilight. "If later on you decide to go back on this deal.... Well, Fire-Clay is very volatile. There might be an accident."
Before Snow Berry had a chance to reply, Twilight concentrated and teleported back to her house in Ponyville.
Upon her arrival she looked around to make sure she was alone, and seeing no one, called for Spike. When nobody answered, only then did she allow herself to collapse.
She hit the floor, not very hard, but uncomfortably. She found it difficult to stand up. Her heart was racing, and her mind was reeling from what she'd just done.
She had just blackmailed somepony. Again! And worse, she threatened to kill someone. Someone she'd never even met! Twilight suddenly felt sick to her stomach, and she tilted her head to the side just in case.
When nothing happened, and the feeling of nausea refused to go away, Twilight just slumped further down on the floor and lay shifted to her side to rest. She felt exhausted suddenly.
She couldn't stay there forever. She really did have to leave and acquire evidence from the University, before it was all cleared out. If she didn't, she'd have nothing to use as blackmail. And she really doubted she'd be capable of murder if it came down to that, no matter what she had said.
Slowly, Twilight picked herself up off the floor, her mane hanging limp in front of her face. She tossed her head back, putting her mane where it was supposed to be.
She knew the University, she'd been there before. She even knew the Chemistry Department. And it wasn't that late. She was sure there were probably still students working in the labs. And so with great reluctance, Twilight closed her eyes and concentrated, before appearing on the Canterlot University Campus, in front of the chemistry department. She looked around, and there were indeed still students outside studying, though the sun was going down. A few gave her odd looks as she lifted her nose at them, trying to appear nonchalant, and trotted into the building.
Thanks to Mephistopheles she knew where to look and who to talk to. One of the professors, Lemony Fresh, was the one who currently had students's notes on the University's Fire-Clay research. Said pony didn't currently have office hours, but she also wasn't busy, currently eating dinner alone in her office.
Twilight wasted no time, and soon arrived in front of the professor's office door. She knocked on the door, but didn't wait for an answer before walking in.
Inside the Professor was clearly in the middle of eating her sandwich, and looked up, a slightly annoyed look on her face.
"Can I help you?" she asked, a tinge of irritation in her voice.
Twilight opened the door fully and walked through, not closing the door behind her.
"Yes. My name is Twilight Sparkle, I am the princess's personal student. It is very important for my work that I obtain a copy of all your students's notes on their recent chemistry research. If necessary I can get Princess Celestia to authorise this." She wasn't sure she could, but it seemed like a good lie.
Lemony Fresh put down her sandwich and looked hard at Twilight. Twilight met her gaze and didn't budge.
Finally, Fresh said, "Alright. I don't know what this is about, but I know your name and I know who you are. I can make copies and have them sent to you by tomorrow."
"I need them now, if you please," replied Twilight. Another long staring match. Fresh sighed.
"Very well. Wait here. Make yourself at home I suppose. I'll be back soon."
Twilight stepped aside as the pony passed her, and then took a seat across from the desk. Just to be sure, she checked with Mephistopheles and found that indeed, Lemony Fresh intended to make copies of the notes and give them to her. She knew said notes were in the main faculty office. As soon as Snow Berry would get the chance, she'd take the notes and "lose" them, but she couldn't do that immediately.
Finally Lemony Fresh returned, a large stack of papers hovering above her head, bound together with a rubber band.
"Here you are," she said, her voice again sounded irritated. She certainly wasn't happy with having to run this errand, so Twilight thanked her as sincerely as possible before leaving, and teleporting back to her home with the notes.
Looking around, Spike still wasn't back yet. She considered that a good thing, and thanked her luck. Taking the notes, she walked into her bedroom, opened the drawer in her nightstand, and placed the notes in it, pushing them as far back as they would go. She'd have to put a lock on it later.
Twilight asked Mephistopheles where Spike was. And he was with the Cutie Mark Crusaders still. He probably wouldn't be back for a while. She then asked what Sweet Stuff was doing.
"She's coming off the affects of her recent morphine injection," was all he said.
Twilight cringed.
"She's injecting herself with morphine?" Mephistopheles nodded. "I'm surprised she can synthesise it. I only expected her to start smoking opium at the most...." She said that last sentence mainly to herself.
She had wanted something like this of course. Lots of plants were even better than Rhubarb in various ways, and more dangerous. But morphine was on an entirely different level, and Twilight never wanted anypony to synthesise it for recreational use. In any case, now was not the best time to confront Sweet Stuff about it. Perhaps the day after her birthday. That would be in about two days. If all went well there, she'd have three fifths of the committee firmly in her hooves, and so could move as she wanted without any problems.
Twilight suddenly felt exhausted. She wasn't sleepy. She never got sleepy anymore, she always took survival pills. She just felt emotionally drained, which in itself was odd, as the survival pills should have taken care of that as well. It probably meant that without them, she'd be a devastated wreck right now.
Instead of going back to the workshop and continuing her work, Twilight laid down in her bed and put the pillow over her face. When she removed it, she didn't notice two wet spots on its underside.
Spike eventually came back. By then Twilight was feeling a bit better, and so working on her medical textbooks for her graduates to use as references and teaching aides. Twilight had no interest in how his time went with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and so he entered the house without eliciting a greeting, or even an acknowledgement.
The next day was her birthday. Everypony had gathered at Sweet Apple Acres, in a new larger barn, recently built with Applejack's new-found wealth. Twilight's friends pulled out all the stops. A huge cake, good music, tons of presents, and several guests. Twilight imagined if she'd moved her party to Canterlot for Rarity, there wouldn't be so many mere acquaintances. As it was, it looked like Rarity was the only pony from Ponyville not in attendance.
Despite the large crowd and the frivolous nature, Twilight found herself really enjoying her party. After the events from the day before, she welcomed something that would take her mind off work.
Opening presents was an amusing affair. Mostly she simply got birthday cards, but her friends had also given her such odd things as a stack of wood, painted pink (Pinkie Pie), a new perch for Owlowiscious (Fluttershy), and a pair of leg warmers (Rainbow Dash). Luckily, nopony brought her any books.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders (and Spike) unveiled their present, and it turned out to be a tool case. Twilight already had a place for all her tools, and Spike knew that, so she wondered why they thought it'd be a good idea to make such a thing for her.
"Thanks girls," said Twilight mechanically. Inwardly, she was disappointed. She thought all the secrecy would have been worth it.
"Twilight, you haven't seen the best part!" said Apple Bloom, who then reached over and opened the toolbox. Inside were various tools already made, though a bit smaller than what Twilight was used to. As well, there was a small book with a crudely drawn picture of a pony, possibly a filly, looking at a large model of an air atom. It looked ridiculous. Nevertheless, Twilight was curious on what it was supposed to be.
"We wrote our own book!" said Sweetie Bell suddenly, answering that question. "I drew the pictures." And that answered another.
"I wrote most of it," said Apple Bloom. "We thought since you started teaching again, you might get more students. And they might be young, younger than us. Like in kindergarten. And that they'd want smaller tools to work with when they visited your workshop, since what you use is too big. And Miss Cheerilee used to always say, you learn more by teaching than sitting in class learning, so we thought it'd be a good idea for us too! Plus, we thought maybe we'd get a cutie mark in book writing. We didn't." She looked a little sad at that.
Twilight couldn't begrudge her enthusiasm, so she gave the girls a warm smile and said, "that's wonderful." She couldn't help but notice that Scootaloo apparently had done nothing on this project but put her name on the cover of the book.
"You still got one more present Twi," said Applejack, chuckling. That one more present was hers, and it was the one Twilight intentionally saved for last. She was really looking forward to whatever was in this one.
"Twilight, there is some information you may want to hear regarding Sweet Stuff," said Mephistopheles just as Twilight reached out for the present. It looked to be a simple card, but it was wrapped in plain shiny red paper, with a bow on top, which was unusual for just a card. A closer look proved there was a small package underneath.
"I don't care right now," said Twilight internally. She hesitated in grabbing the present.
"You didn't want to be disturbed during the party unless it was an emergency. This is an emergency. Sweet Stuff is dying."
Twilight pulled her hoof away from the present completely upon hearing that.
"What's wrong?" asked Applejack suddenly, though Twilight barely heard her.
"What do you mean?" Twilight asked Mephistopheles. "Did she get involved in an accident?"
"No," he said. "She injected herself with morphine again. About thirty five percent too much for her personal tolerance. She's begun to suffocate and will die in approximately one minute and forty three seconds from my completion of this sentence, if not helped immediately."
"Not now, this isn't a good time!" said Twilight out loud. It was only then that she noticed ponies were staring at her and murmuring among themselves, wondering why she'd been standing still for so long staring into space and ignoring everpony. Now there were looks of genuine concern.
"Uh, Twi?" asked Applejack.
Twilight didn't have a choice. She wanted to blackmail Sweet Stuff, maybe exchange a safe dose for preferable treatment. She didn't want her dead.
"Show me where Sweet Stuff is," said Twilight to Mephistopheles. He did so.
"An emergency's come up," said Twilight as quickly as she could. And before anybody could ask what she meant, she closed her eyes and teleported away.
When Twilight's eyes opened she found herself in her own workshop. As quickly as she could she grabbed a survival pill out from her own supply, and then teleported once more, this time to Sweet Stuff's bedroom.
There, Sweet Stuff was lying on her bed, on her back, a syringe lying on the floor, empty.
"I wish I had Naloxone," Twilight whispered to herself, frustrated and more than a little scared.
As fast as she could she shoved the survival pill into Sweet Stuff's mouth and got her to swallow it.
The reaction was near instantaneous. Sweet Stuff began violently convulsing. Twilight grunted as she then shifted Sweet Stuff around so she lay on her side. Just as she did so the mare began to vomit, and Twilight cringed as some got on her hooves.
"Did I make it in time?" she asked Mephistopheles.
"She had not yet suffocated. But there is a distinct possibility the survival pill will kill her. There was too much in her body and you made no preparations."
"Celestia, please don't say that. I know this was risky but you didn't give me any time! This was my best choice." She threw an accusing look at Mephistopheles as Sweet Stuff's convulsions began to slow, and her vomiting ceased. "Why didn't you warn me sooner?!"
Mephistopheles remained as stoic as ever, even with Twilight yelling at him.
"There was a possibility she would have been fine. You know very well that even a mechanistic universe is not predictable in every aspect. I did not warn you until it was certain she would die without aid. I should warn you as well, it's now clear the survival pill's attempt to expel the impurities in her body and restore her proper flow is too much for her. She is going to die in about twelve seconds from heart failure and loss of sanguine.
"Damn it!" shouted Twilight. She turned Sweet Stuff around so she was on her back again, and pressed firmly on the proper points along her meridians, hoping to slow the survival pill's process down.
"It will not work, and would not have helped," said Mephistopheles. "The survival pills you made account for this themselves as much as is physically possible. You know this."
"I have to try!" said Twilight. She didn't stop pressing, and unfortunately Sweet Stuff didn't start breathing. Just as Mephistopheles had said, Sweet Stuff died.
Twilight could feel it. Her heart stop. The sudden collapse of muscle. There was no ignoring the sudden smell as her bowels emptied.
Twilight, for the second time in just two days, slumped down on the ground utterly at a loss for what to do, feeling melancholy and unmotivated to do anything.
But she had to do something. She couldn't leave the death of a prominent Canterlot Pony who happened to be one of her overseers and happened to die from a drug that only existed because Twilight herself had described its synthesis. That would be too suspicious. She also had left her birthday party with no explanation right at the time it happened.
There was no helping it. She'd have to do something about this immediately, or else lose everything she'd ever accomplished.
Slowly and with great effort, she picked herself up from the floor. For now, she'd have to take away the body. She needed time to think. Closing her eyes in concentration, she teleported both herself and Snow Berry's body to the Everyfree Forest. There was no chance anypony would find her hear. She then told Mephistopheles to warn her of incoming ponies, or possibly dangerous animals, just in case. Twilight had a to think of a way out of this, and with not a lot of time to do it.
She didn't return to her house until a little after midnight. She was exhausted, and just as she expected, her friends were there waiting for her, worried sick.
"Twilight!" they said, almost in unison as she teleported into the workshop. She wasn't surprised to see them and so didn't recoil or act surprised.
"Where have you been?" asked Rarity. Seeing her did cause Twilight surprise. She'd forgotten that Rarity should still be in Canterlot. Rarity continued, "When I heard you left your party talking about an emergency, I rushed over as fast as I could."
"It's lucky Opal was feeling better," said Fluttershy.
"Nevermind that," said Applejack. "What happened to you Twilight? Where'd you go? You had us all worried sick!"
"I'm sorry for worrying you," said Twilight, trying to remain calm. She just had to follow the script, and everything would be fine. "But I wasn't exaggerating. An emergency came up and I had to leave right away."
"How would you know if an emergency came up? You were standing with us the entire time. Nobody said anything, you just stopped what you were doing and teleported away."
She tilted her head and used her magic to take a small, ear-hole shaped bud out of her ear. It was white, and had a few ornate designs on it. She held it out to them so they could see it. Spike pulled up in front to get a better look.
"I just call this an earpiece. It goes in my ear and ponies with other earpieces can talk to me and I can hear them from far away. I was informed something serious had happened through this, and so I had to leave to try and take care of it."
It was no such thing, in reality. What her friends were looking at was just a lump of dirt she transmuted into hard clay, moulded to fit in her ear. It was modelled on a hypothetical device that she could make, so she'd have to make them as soon as possible to keep up her story.
"What was the big emergency?" asked Rainbow Dash. "You left your own birthday, Twilight. It better have been something really important."
"One of the ponies on the oversight committee, the committee that keeps tabs on my research and activities... one of them died."
"There's no way I can hide the fact that she died," Twilight said to Mephistopheles. "She has a family, she has friends, she's important and ponies will notice." Mephistopheles just nodded.
"Oh my!" said Fluttershy. "That's terrible. How did it happen?"
"I can't bring her back to life. But I can bring her body back. That's only useful in changing the appearance of her death, but her body would still have evidence of Morphine, so that'd be of limited use anyway." Her brain seemed to be working a million times faster than normal, in her utter panic. "Okay, I can make a duplicate of her body. With enough information I can make a living duplicate that's a little older, like a retroactive backup. Can you give me enough information for that?" Mephistopheles nodded. "Okay, so I can bring back a copy of her, and kill it some other way. Someway so it can't reasonably be traced to me."
"Rhubarb poisoning," said Twilight. "Apparently she got a little drunk and then decided to have some rhubarb. But she didn't prepare it properly... I'm sure you can figure out the rest."
Twilight needed to prevent Sweet Stuff's husband from reaching his house at his normal time. According to Mephistopheles he was on his way back from picking his foals up from his in-laws. Twilight had an idea. Finding him walking along the street, his foals following close behind, Twilight focused on one of them and teleported her two blocks away. They were both unicorns, it could be chalked up to accidental magic. The foals sister saw and began crying, and it wasn't long before Sweet Stuff's husband was running around calling for his daughter. Instructing Mephistopheles to inform her if the missing foal was ever in any danger, she teleported back to Sweet Stuff.
It was disconcerting to see a pony who clearly had no soul. Her eyes seemed unfocused. They lacked the obvious fire that all creatures in Equestria had. And it was too stupid to understand that the sour tasting plants it was eating was poisonous. Instead it just kept right on eating the rhubarb, leaves and all, a dull expression on its face. Twilight waited until it was done, fed it some alcohol, and threw it in the bedroom. It would die and there would be every reason to assume it was the normal old sapient Sweet Stuff, whose death had nothing to do with Twilight. The only problem was that if they bothered to check for time of death, the time of death wouldn't match up with the time Twilight left her party.
"Who told you?" asked Rarity. "Who was on the other side of that, er, earpiece? How did they find out?"
Twilight teleported into the middle of Snow Berry's living room. She jumped, frightened, then saw what it was.
"Damnit, can't I got a single day without you showing up to ruin my life?" she yelled out. "I already agreed to side with you on the committee!"
"I have something else for you," said Twilight, tossing one of her makeshift model earpieces onto a nearby table. She then crushed it, and scattered the pieces on the floor.
"What the heck is wrong with you?!"
"You're going to listen to me closely," said Twilight, speaking slowly with gravel in her voice. "And you're going to do it, or you know what will happen." She didn't wait for Snow Berry to reply. "If anybody asks, you and I have been in contact long distance for two weeks now, through a device I invented called an earpiece. You turn it on, you talk, I hear you, you hear me, no matter how far away."
"Impossible," Snow Berry tried to say, but Twilight cut her off.
"You broke it tonight, those are the pieces and you're going to throw them away." She pointed to the broken bits of clay on the floor. "Earlier today, at around four in the afternoon, you were with Sweet Stuff, who began to drink and get unruly. She showed you her hothouse where she grew rhubarb, you panicked and contacted me through the earpiece. I came over immediately, we settled her down and we left at five thirty. You and I then had dinner and talked about what to do about her illegal growing. At ten, we decided we were going to tell the authorities but first tell her of that decision, and we went back to her house, getting there at ten fifteen. She was dead from rhubarb poisoning. It was too much for you so you went home, and I called the guards at ten thirty. I then went home myself. This is what happened. Do you understand?"
"What the heck are you babbling ab- "
"Do you understand?" Twilight repeated, putting as much force into her voice as possible. She glared as hard as she could at Snow Berry, who nodded slowly.
"Good," said Twilight. "You'll certainly be questioned, but it looks like an open and shut case so there shouldn't be any serious interrogation."
Twilight closed her eyes to return home, but opened them again when Snow Berry spoke.
"Did you...?" she asked.
Twilight looked at her for a moment. She didn't know if telling the truth or not would be better, or worse, in the long term. So she closed her eyes and teleported without saying anything.
"That's terrible," said Pinkie Pie, oddly serious.
"What's gonna happen now?" asked Applejack. "If she was on your oversight committee?"
"I don't know," said Twilight, sounding sad. "I hadn't expected anything like this." That part was sincere. "Whatever Celestia thinks is a good idea I suppose."
There was a long, awkward pause as her friends shuffled around, glancing at each other and taking effort to avoid Twilight's gaze. They were probably feeling guilty for bothering her when her emergency involved death.
Twilight took the opportunity. "If you don't mind," she said, "I'm really tired. I feel out of it. I'm not up for company."
Some of her friends seemed almost relieved at her statement, and with a few stilted goodbyes and hugs and nuzzles, her friends filtered out the door, leaving only Spike.
"Anything I can do?" he asked quietly.
"I'm going to take a bath," she said. "Try not to bother me."
In the tub, she felt exhausted in a way she'd never felt before. This was worse than with blackmailing Snow Berry. This was dealing with death. Hiding a body. Covering something up. She didn't kill Sweet Stuff, but it felt like she did.
She submerged her head in the warm water, the water still pouring from the tap. She exhaled, and when her lungs were empty she rose up, took a breath, and stopped the shut the tap off. She didn't bother with bubbles or soap. It wasn't about getting clean now. She just wanted to try and relax, to calm down. She felt like she was going to have a heart attack all day, though Mephistopheles assured her she was just stressed.
What was going to happen now? Would she be a suspect anyway? Would they replace Sweet Stuff with somebody like Spell Tome, who would never be on her side? She didn't know. She didn't like not knowing.
The warm water, the quiet, it helped. She didn't hear any noise from Spike, and she was thankful for that. The warm water eased her joints and muscles, which she considered odd because her joints and muscles shouldn't be in pain. She asked about that.
"The survival pill is almost finished. It has been difficult to keep you balanced for the last few days."
Twilight nodded, slowly getting up to drain the water. She didn't want to. But she'd feel better with a fresh survival pill. With the bath water gone, she turned on the shower and quickly washed herself clean. With that done, she had her coat dried and then went down to grab another survival pill. There were only five left. She'd have to make more. Or easier, buy more from Applejack.
Immediately she felt better. Every time, she was surprised at how affective they were. She still felt a little uneasy, but compared to before... she really didn't know how much of a wreck she was until it was gone. She shuddered to think of what she'd be like if she didn't have a survival pill working at the time at all.
Her task now was to build some earpieces. Real ones. They were possible. She just hadn't made anything like it before. She never thought of it, until she really had a problem that required them.
It shouldn't be too difficult. Sound was just the expansion and contraction of air falling upon and striking the air that is next to it. All Twilight had to do was build something that took these waves of air, built an Affinity between two places, and recorded and mimicked them across the Affinity. Simple.
The next morning, Twilight was interrupted in her work on the earpieces by the sound of hard knocking on her door. There was hardly a second before it was followed up by the door opening forcefully. Behind it were three guards, all pegasi.
Twilight had expected this, and set her work down, nodding for them to come in.
"Princess Celestia wishes to see you," one of them, the middle one, said. "We are to escort you to Canterlot."
"Why didn't she just send me a letter? I could go myself."
"We don't know. Please come with us."
Seeing no good coming from arguing, Twilight allowed herself to be led to a chariot, to which two of the guards strapped themselves to. In moments she was in the air, headed back to Canterlot. Things would be so much faster if she was allowed to leave on her own.
"I'd like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind," said the guard next to her. The tone of his voice indicated he wasn't asking.
"Alright."
As they flew, he asked her all the things she expected. What she was doing the previous day, what had happened with Sweet Stuff, her contacting the guards, if there were witnesses. She followed her script, and he nodded like he'd heard it all before, which eased her mind. She asked about it, to Mephistopheles.
"Snow Berry has already been spoken with. She relayed your story exactly."
Finally he was done with his questions, and not soon after they'd arrived at Canterlot Castle. The three escorted Twilight into Celestia's chambers, as if she didn't know the way. When she arrived, Twilight was relieved to see Luna wasn't there.
"Twilight Sparkle," said Celestia.
"I'm here Princess," she replied, feeling kind of stupid for saying something so obvious. But she had to say something.
"I see your story corroborates what I've heard from others," she replied. She sounded relieved. Twilight inwardly asked how she knew.
"If the stories didn't match, you would have been cuffed," answered Mephistopheles. That bit of knowledge jarred Twilight. She couldn't believe Celestia would go that far in suspecting her. Not after everything she'd done to erase her tracks. There was no solid evidence even without Snow Berry's aid.
Twilight wanted to speak up, to say something. That she didn't do anything, which technically she didn't. That she had no idea what was going on. Something. But instead she kept her mouth shut.
She stood there feeling awkward and guilty. She tried to suppress those emotions but felt even more guilty for doing so in front of Celestia of all ponies. Twilight, feeling suddenly afraid, asked Mephistopheles why there was such a long pause.
"She's trying to gauge your reaction. She's reading your body language. She knows you feel guilty and embarrassed. She doesn't know why. She's trying to decide if you are guilty in something relevant to this matter, guilty in some other event that is unrelated, or simply nervous and reacting to bad circumstance. She has decided she needs more information."
Almost immediately after Mephistopheles said that, Celestia spoke again.
"After I found out what happened, I spoke with the other members of your oversight committee on what to do. We came up with three choices. One, we find a replacement for Sweet Stuff. Two, we don't, and the committee continues on with four members. And three, we disband the committee entirely and accept it is and was an unneeded waste of resources."
Twilight almost exhaled in relief, but she caught it in her throat just in time, before she could look relieved. She struggled to maintain her guilty and awkward look to prevent Celestia from reading anything about her movements. A quick check with Mephistopheles showed that she'd succeeded.
"They took a vote," Celestia continued. "Two were for disbanding, one for remaining with four members, one for replacing Sweet Stuff. Since it was then an equal distribution of those who wished to disband and continue, I decided to play tiebreaker."
Twilight felt anxious, but worked to keep it inside. Suddenly she realised she didn't have to wait, and it'd be better to know earlier so she wouldn't involuntarily relax or seem relieved at the wrong time. She asked Mephistopheles.
"She voted to disband the committee," he said. As she feared, Twilight couldn't help but exhale slightly in relief. Almost imperceptibly, Celestia's eyebrow quirked at that. Twilight shifted, and attempted to give off the appearance of trying to calm herself. She took a few, slow and subtle deep breaths.
"I voted to disband the committee," said Celestia. Twilight just nodded slowly, once, her movement jerky and uncoordinated.
"I was never personally invested it in it," she continued. "It was my sister's idea, and I saw fit to let her have a 'victory', as she would see it. But Luna is... indisposed at the moment, and so it is up to me and me alone."
Twilight nodded again.
"Understand Twilight, that this is not permission for you to do what you want. You and I have already had one disagreement on what is permissible. Just... try to think a bit before you do anything. And remember your friends. I expect to see more friendship reports."
Twilight nodded again, not trusting herself to sound right if she spoke. A quick check with Mephistopheles proved she'd tricked Celestia. There was no longer any suspicion of foul play. Despite everything that happened, that was a major victory, even if it was mostly accidental. She could do what she wanted. There was nobody to hold her back now.
After being dismissed Twilight left the castle and then teleported herself back to her home in Ponyville.
She heard Spike's startled yelp before he realised what had happened. He looked at her for a moment, steadying himself, broom in one hand and a dustpan in the other, wearing his cleaning apron. She gave him a glance to let him know he should continue his work. Likewise, she returned to the bench was at before, and continued work on her earpieces like nothing had ever happened.
Upstairs, a gift lay inside a desk drawer. A small package, with a card on top, a bow adorning it. Spike had put it there, but forgot to tell Twilight. And Twilight had forgotten it completely.