Twilight gasped for air as she was let go, the aura of magic fading away and her senses slowly returning to her. She had never been 'piggy-backed' with a Teleportation spell before, and now she understood why Spike had been upset when he was brought with her the day she received the Gala Tickets. Her coat had been partially singed, some smoke rising off of her mane and her teeth partially chattering. A voice, male, gently whispered out to her "You...alright? Don't go freaking out now...you're not in trouble or anything, not anymore." She looked over slowly, eyes still wide, towards an azure coated unicorn. His eyes were a soft, grayish magenta, and his mane was a light silver which matched his black and white magic wand Cutie Mark.
Twilight nodded wearily as she took in a deep breath, letting it out with a soft sigh and whispering "I...think I'll be ok. Thank you."
The unicorn smiled a little, holding a hoof out. "No problem," He said "But I think you might want to stay out of the authority's way from now on."
Twilight smiled and nodded, taking the time to look around at where she had been brought. From the looks of the small living room, cramped looking kitchen, and the various cracks and peeling wallpaper that adorned the walls, she had narrowed the options down to an apartment...or really really small trailer. She looked towards the Unicorn and whispered "Um...not to sound rude but...where the hay am I?"
The unicorn laughed, trotting towards the window in the far wall. He lit up his horn and grabbed the string for the shades with his magic, exclaiming in an excited manner "An apartment on the second floor of the Winchester Building...but overall? Well...if I could put it any more simply...welcome, to Manehatten!" He tugged down on the strings, the shades opening up and allowing Twilight to look through as she trotted up. Her eyes widened in pure shock as she looked over the massive concrete city before her. The streets were crammed full of ponies rushing about, carriages speeding this way and that, and the skies were absolutely littered with Pegasus ponies.
"W...wow" Twilight whispered, looking over the many buildings and the signs with flashing lights. "Applejack told me Manehatten was big...but I didn't think it would be THIS big!"
The unicorn chuckled a little, nodding and muttering "Yep, I heard it's about...oh, maybe seven times the size of Canterlot. Who takes the time to measure though, right?" Twilight nodded with a slight smile, turning to the unicorn as he cleared his throat and said "I'm sorry...where are my manners? My name's Thoendithas Arcaneium...but you can just call me 'Thoen', everypony else does."
Twilight smiled and held out a hoof, shaking Thoen's as she stated with formality "I'm Twilight Sparkle, resident Librarian of Ponyville and Protege of Princess Celestia herself, it's wonderful to meet you Thoen."
Thoen's eyes widened as he heard her full title, whispering "You...are Princess Celestia's star pupil? Why Miss Sparkle...this is such an honor!"
Twilight blushed as he shook her hoof a bit harder, muttering "R...really?"
Thoen nodded excitedly and said "Oh but of course! I used to teach up at the Magic School in Canterlot!" His smile suddenly turned downwards however as he muttered "Unfortunately...with Canterlot's economy taking a hit...I kind of got let go. Things in Ponyville didn't help either when...oh shucks, who am I to complain?" He shrugged with a small smile, looking out of the window as he muttered "Things are bad for everypony...and as long as I've got my mind on my mission I'll be fine. We're survivors, the lot of us here in Downtown."
Twilight raised an eyebrow, whispering "You mean the ponies who were ransacking the food car? Wait...that Azure bolt...YOU were the one who attacked the train!?"
Thoen nodded meekly, whispering as Twilight leaned slightly away "Now...don't go freaking out, I told you to relax, you're in no danger. Yes...I was the unicorn who shot the train...it wasn't the best idea in the world but somepony was getting desperate. The uh...poor ponies who you met down at the train had made a deal and I got kind of roped into it. I guess it makes sense...we don't really have the bits to afford her medication, which reminds me..." He trailed off, trotting towards the kitchen for a quick moment and trotting back, a small brown bag in his mouth. He dropped it in front of Twilight, who seemed to have calmed down and asked "Could you do me a favor? I think it only fair, you know...I saved you and all."
Twilight nodded with a small smile and said "Of course, I owe you from the train! Sure, whatever you need me to do is fine."
Thoen nodded but raised an eyebrow, his voice tinged with curiosity "If you don't mind me asking before you go and do this for me...exactly why didn't you teleport yourself out of there in the first place? You being Celestia's pride and joy...I kind of find it hard to believe that you couldn't have just escaped on your own."
Twilight blushed a little, bowing her head and whispering "I...I don't know. I kind of...froze up I guess..."
Thoen nodded a little in understanding "Yeah, it seems like that was your first tumble with any sort of real violence or battle."
The mare looked up at this though, shaking her head with a slight smile "Well...actually that's not true, I've had run ins with Manticores and Hydras...Ursa Minor...".
Thoen whistled at this, his eyes widening as he said "Well I'll be...you sure live up to your name as Celestia's star pupil. I don't blame you for freezing up like you did, happens to unicorns a lot more often then you think. It's like a fainting goat, when he's surprised he'll lock right up! When we're surprised...well sometimes our magic and minds don't work right away." Twilight nodded and looked down at the bag, drawing Thoen's eyes down to it as well as he spoke "Right, anyway...the favor. I need you to deliver this bag to a house on the outskirts of the city, in the suburbs. It's got the uh...payment for the Train Job".
Twilight nodded and levitated the bag up with her magic, heading towards the door with a quick "No problem! Which house exactly is it?"
Thoen opened the door for her as he said "It's...a bit of a run-down looking place. Just about the color of my coat, red roof, and a red mailbox. The numbers on it are '2', '2', and '3', got it?" Twilight nodded and paused for a moment, turning to listen as Thoen called out "Wait!" He looked down with a guilty expression and mumbled "I'm sorry...you know, for the train. The pony down at that house...it's really all for her. When you see her...tell her Thoen says sorry and that...well she can come back anytime, ok?" Twilight nodded and trotted out to door, heading towards the stairs. The last thing she heard before she made her way down was Thoen calling after her "Keep away from the guards!".
~~~
Twilight hobbled on three hooves, her front right hoof still stinging from where a large stallion had stepped on it. She was having a really rough time navigating the streets with the amount of ponies walking, trotting, and galloping this way and that. As she moved down the street (by some miracle), she noticed long lines of ponies waving out towards the streets, hollering loudly at yellow and black colored carriages that raced by.
"Taxi!!! TAXI!!!"
"TAXI! I know you heard me horn sucker!!!"
"Oi! Get yer ass over here for' ah have to whup somepony's ASS!"
Twilight's eyes widened as she listened to the loud, and not to mention rude screams of the ponies. "How can ponies stand to act like this..." she thought to herself, a sharp yelp escaping her lips as a colt roughly pushed past her shoulder, his saddlebags scraping at her side. She frowned and continued down the street, looking up at sign nailed to one of the large traffic light posts. There was a sign like it on every corner, the words etched into its metal plating displaying the clear message of NO TELEPORTING, NO BEGGING, NO STOPPING!. She grimaced at the no teleporting part...though it made a lot of sense. She had read about countless incidents where a unicorn had used a teleportation spell in high population areas...and ended up either in the walls of a building, a thousand feet up in the air, or through another pony...either one spelling out death. She shivered as she remembered the article about a Unicorn who had managed to teleport herself halfway into side of a train car, just as it was about to pass through the tunnel. She could never really get the picture out of her mind...the smear of blood running all the way down the entire length of the train, or the top half that was still twitching when the train stopped...a look of sheer terror on the mare's dead, frozen face.
Twilight shook her head, taking in a deep breath as sighing as she started to weave further into the now dissipating crowds of ponies. She must have been approaching the suburbs area, as the amount of activity dropped suddenly and allowed her more room to breathe and move. Buildings and parking lots slowly gave way to houses and yards, streets of hard concrete to trails of dirt. The dramatic change had Twilight looking over the area with slight despair, as most of the houses were rundown, dirty, or simply boarded up completely. Trash and garbage littered most of the area, mailboxes lay bent and broken, and most of the yards were overgrown with weeds and tall grass. Twilight gulped as she scanned over the rusted metal numbers that were nailed to the posts of the mailboxes, whispering quietly "218...219...220..." She looked up as she approached the house Thoen had described, looking over its faded blue walls and decaying red roof. The number '223' was displayed very clearly on a dented mailbox, drawing a nod from Twilight. She trotted up towards the dirt-smeared door and knocked lightly with a raised hoof, sitting back on her haunches and waiting. She sighed, mulling over in her head the events that had taken place from the train till now. She was supposed to be here for a 'Friendship Problem', but the funny thing was...Luna hadn't even told her exactly WHO she was going to be helping.
She didn't know if it was coincidence or not, but at that exact moment, a puff of green magic flared up nearby, drawing a surprised look from Twilight. A rolled up letter had fallen from the aura of magic, similar to the way Spike sent and received their letters back in Ponyville. She picked it up with her magic and unfurled it, reading over what she recognized as Princess Luna's hoof-writing.
"Dear Twilight,
I trust by now your train has arrived in Manehatten...I was hoping you could send me confirmation of your arrival as quick as you can. I didn't want to reveal to you who your assignment was until AFTER you had arrived...since I didn't want you getting cold-hooves. I know that sounds harsh of me...but Tia' and I both agreed that since you know this pony...personally...that maybe it would be best to tell you after you got there. Just know that I wanted to tell you everything...and that I hope you'll forgive me for throwing this all upon you so suddenly. You'll find the pony at 223, Appleteenie Lane, in the suburbs on the south side of the city. Do write back soon...
- Luna."
Twilight blinked with wide-eyes as she read over the address. There was no way...could it have really been the same address? Was it fate, destiny? Or could it have even be-
-BANG!!!!-
Twilight jumped as the front door flew open, a loud, and overly obnoxious voice screaming out to her "YOU!!!!!!" She whirled her head towards the entrance of the house and gasped loudly, her pupils shrinking as she beheld the azure coated unicorn mare standing in the doorway, her eyes wild and a heavy grimace crossing her face.
Twilight stuttered, not believing her eyes "T...Tri...Tri...!!!"
She let out a loud yelp as Trixie got in her face, shouting with as much venom as she could muster in her voice "The name's, TRIXIE, bitch!" With that, Trixie reared a front hoof back and forward, punching Twilight straight in the eye.
It was going to be a long day indeed.