//------------------------------// // Emergency? // Story: Thweet Geniuth // by JMac //------------------------------// Thweet Geniuth Chapter 12  Emergency?           “Do your parents and guardians know how you behave?!” shouted Princess Luna.  “Because We shall be telling on you!  We are telling!”                      “Yes, Princess Luna.  We’re very sorry, Princess Luna.”  The girls were lined up, heads low, with the Princess pacing in front of them.                      “We mean to have a word with your teacher!” The fillies all cringed.  Even when she was using her normal ‘trying not to deafen the citizenry’ voice, when she was angry Princess Luna was loud.  “We will suggest to Miss Cheerilee that you all be assigned a composition on the proper use of the word ‘emergency’!  You seem to suffer from some confusion in this!”                      “Yes, Princess Luna.  We’re very sorry, Princess Luna.”                      “It is lucky the moon had already set when We received your notice!   Had We been interrupted while We were still working We would be very cross!”                      “She’s not very cross?” whispered Scootaloo.  “What’s she like when she’s very cross?”                      “We heard that, Scootaloo!” shouted the Princess.  “Hope that you never learn the answer!”                      “Yes, Princess.  I’m sorry, Princess.”                      Off to the side, the royal guards who towed the Princess’ chariot remained stoic and grim faced.  It was only years of training that kept them from laughing.                      “Um… Princess Luna?” began Dinky, her lower lip quivering.  “Does this mean you won’t give us a ride to the candy challenge?”                      Luna stopped her pacing and turned to stare at Dinky.  “Ah, yes, the ride you desire. The ‘emergency’ you spoke of.  Do you feel you deserve a ride in the royal chariot?”                      “Er… maybe?”  #                      Merry Fairweather sat in in her train car, trying to concentrate on tonight’s show notes.  Her time in Ponyville had been successful beyond her wildest dreams; what she had managed to achieve was truly amazing.                      Merry was completely miserable.                      She could now add “character assassin” to her resume.  She couldn’t remember when that had happened.                      Merry had set out to limit the size of the fans in Twist’s gallery at the Grand Chef’s Candy Challenge.  She had cut it all the way to zero.  Not a single pony would be there to cheer young Twist on.  It was a job well done.  Mission accomplished.                      “Twist is just a kid, and kids are resilient,” Merry muttered aloud.  “She’ll get over it.”  Merry hoped so.  Otherwise, she had just destroyed a promising career before it had really begun.                      She’d found herself in the station, waiting for the same train as Bon Bon and Twist, and it had been unbearable.  They didn’t know who Merry was or what she had done.  But Merry knew.  Nopony had come to see them off, because of Merry.  Twist looked so sad.  Merry couldn’t stand it, and had to bribe the conductor 100 bits to leave the station early.                      Getting underway, and putting several train cars between herself and poor little Twist, had helped.  Merry was still grateful that they were almost to Manehattan.                      Not everything Merry had done would hurt anypony.  The Cakes really did have a big contract, arranged by Food Equestria.  And Pinkie Pie was really judging a Food Equestria event.  In fact, Merry made a note to try and get Pinkie under contract – she was entertaining and would be good for ratings.                      Other ponies Merry had to ‘inconvenience.”  She hoped Cheerilee enjoyed her day in Baltimare.  The education conference the teacher was expecting was just vapor and lies on a forged letterhead.  The magic conference in Canterlot was a similar fabrication.  Merry told herself that she was probably doing Twilight Sparkle a favor.  When the unicorn got to the magic academy and began asking about speaking at a conference somepony was bound to wonder why they hadn’t thought of that.  Twilight would get invited to the next real conference.  Probably.                      One thing Merry couldn’t rationalize away was the whispering campaign she’d launched to ruin Twist’s friend Quiz.  That was just ugly, and Merry couldn’t spin it any way that made it pretty.  But it had to be done.  From eavesdropping Merry found that Quiz was on to her; she had no idea how Quiz had done it, but the kid had figured it out.  Quiz was clearly too smart for her own good; or, at least too smart for Merry’s good.  She had to be neutralized.                      “She’s a kid, and kids are resilient,” Merry said aloud, again.  “She’ll get over it.”                   Merry admitted, she might have gone a little overboard when she called Bon Bon’s venders and increased the Sweet Shop’s order fivefold.  The sudden arrival of an oversized pallet of supplies was meant to be just a hassle.  It was not supposed to trap anyone in a burning building.  Merry had only just learned how the supplies had contributed to the near disaster, and she was still in shock about that.  She was scared of herself.  When you nearly kill somepony does that mean you might be pushing too hard?                  Well, she could back it off a few notches, right after this show.                      Merry turned back to her show notes and tried to concentrate.  But she couldn’t take her mind off her guilty feelings by burying herself in her work.  Her work was where her demons lived. #           “Oh, yes, the candy challenge.  Hmmm.” Princess Luna mused aloud.  She was still pacing, but no longer in anger.  She ignored the girls as she pondered.   Finally, having reached a conclusion, Princess Luna turned and began walking away from the girls, back to her chariot.  “It sounds entertaining.  Very entertaining.  We believe We might enjoy attending this event.”                      Wide eyed, the fillies watched Princess Luna walk away.  When the Princess reached her chariot, she turned back, and said.  “As We are going that way, We see no reason why you all cannot ride along.”                      That did not need to be repeated.  The fillies squealed and shouted excitedly as they ran to board the royal chariot.  One filly did not join them.                      “Quizzical?  Are you not coming?” asked Princess Luna.                      “Quiz?” called Sweetie Belle.  “Please?”                      “Let her be, Sweetie Belle.  It’s her way,” said Apple Bloom, softly.  She turned to the Princess to explain.  “Quiz doesn’t have permission, Princess.  She won’t come with us without it.”                      “I am still grounded.  I have neither my mother nor Miss Twilight here to release me,” said Quiz.  “But I have been able to send Twist’s best friends to be with her.  I am satisfied.”                      “We see,” said the Princess.  She dismounted and strode towards Quiz.  “Girls, there is some time before we must leave, please wait a bit.  We desire a private word with Our student.  Quizzical, please walk with us.”  #              “Scooter, go stop them!” Merry shouted through his headphones.                      “On it, Boss,” replied Scooter, as he flew into action.  He was Merry Fairweather’s First Production Assistant, and her right hoof and wing.  Normally, his job would have been to greet today’s contestant and aid in settling them into the Challenger’s Kitchen, but today his instructions were to be as unhelpful as possible.  Scooter didn’t like that, but his was not to reason why.                      “Hold it right there,” he said as he landed next to Bon Bon.  She and Twist were unpacking the supplies and pots and pans they had brought from Ponyville.  “You didn’t file the proper forms for bringing anything from outside.  You may only use the equipment we provide in the kitchen, and the supplies we have in our pantry.”                      Nothing discombobulates a chef more than forbidding them the use their own tools.  And the Challenger’s pantry supplied only the most basic of ingredients.  Scooter had personally removed all the more interesting flavorings that very morning, on Merry’s orders.                      Twist had, of course, never been sent any of the necessary paperwork.                      “By the way, we don’t have an application for anypony to assist Twist.  I’m going to have to ask you to find a seat in the stands… er… what’s this?”  Bon Bon was practically poking Scooter in the muzzle with a sheaf of papers.                      “Our copies of the appropriate forms,” said Bon Bon.  “You’ll find they’re all in order.”                      Where the Hay did you get those?  Scooter almost exclaimed this out loud, but stopped himself just in time.  “Well, those may be your copies, but we have nothing on file… er… what’s this?”  Bon Bon was waving another hoofful of papers under his nose.                      “Receipts from the Royal Equestrian Mail Service, for when all the forms were sent from Ponyville,” said Bon Bon.  “Signed and dated, well ahead of the filing deadline, by our Mail Mare.  These are also all in order.”                      “Fine, you may have sent the forms.  But we have no record of receiving… oww!  What’s this?”  This time Bon Bon had actually poked Scooter on the nose.                      “An itemized receipt for each item of paperwork, signed on delivery here at the Food Equestria offices,” said Bon Bon.  “Certainly the signature of the employee who took delivery is in order, isn’t it?”                      Scooter recognized his own signature.  He vaguely remembered signing for something, then ‘filing” it in the nearest waste can and forgetting about it.  “Um… yeah… everything’s in order.  Carry on.”                      Scooter cautiously backed away from Bon Bon, then turned and spoke into his headset.  “Merry, we have an emergency.” #                      Bon Bon had enjoyed that immensely.  The best part was when Twist broke down and laughed.  It was the first thing that had made Twist even smile in days.                      Quiz hadn’t been able to find anything in the library, but Spike had located everything they needed in under ten minutes.                      “I figured, the Grand Chef’s Challenge is like a big cultural icon in Equestria,” Spike had said, “So I looked in the Popular Culture section.  It’s one of three, maybe four shelves in the library Quiz has never looked at.  And there it was; between the biographies of romance novelists and a history of tabloid journalism.  The Grand Chef’s Challenge Rule Book, complete with copies of all the paperwork.  Like I keep telling Quiz, it pays to show an interest in stuff most ponies care about.”                      The rest was no mystery.  Bon Bon knew just what had gone right.  To be on the safe side, Derpy had flown all the way to Manehattan and hand delivered everything to Food Equestria.                      It felt good to have something go their way for a change.  Bon Bon hoped she could get a little momentum going, and keep things going their way.   #                      “Well, you have certainly had an eventful summer, haven’t you, Quizzical?”                      “Yes, Princess Luna.  But that was not intentional.  Excitement is not something I tend to seek.”                      Luna chuckled.  “I haven’t found the time to give you the personal attention I would like, Quizzical.  Please don’t take that to mean I am not interested in you.  Twilight Sparkle sends me regular reports on your progress, and I read them, hanging on every word.   Is it true you have acquired a new nickname?  You are now the ‘Hypothetical Projectile’?”                      “Sadly, yes, Princess,” said Quiz, miserably.                      “Should I call you that now?  Or, perhaps ‘H.P.’ for short?”                      “You may, if you truly wish to, my Princess.”                      “But you would prefer that I didn’t?”                      “Yes, oh, yes, Princess.  For that I would be very grateful.”                      Princess Luna laughed.  She extended a wing, and awkwardly rested it across Quiz’s shoulders.  Luna was almost as uncomfortable reaching out to other ponies as Quiz was being touched, but they made the gesture work.  “Quizzical, you are my first and so far only student, and you are very important to me.”                      Quiz didn’t know how to respond, and settled for, “Thank you, Princess.”                      “That said, know that I would never overrule Twilight Sparkle’s authority so long as you are her assistant.  Should she complain about you I will not hesitate to find you other work, elsewhere.”                      “That is as it should be, Princess.”                      “Then you should know that she doesn’t ever complain about you, Quizzical.  The closest she comes to complaining is worrying.  She does quite a bit of that, actually.”                      “That is my fault, Princess,” said Quiz, sadly.  “I have convinced Miss Twilight that, unless I am closely supervised, I am likely to vaporize myself and all of my friends.”                      “Well, yes, quite a lot was said about that silly little experiment of yours,” admitted Luna.  She shook her head.  “That was blown quite out of proportion.  All little ponies your age get into such mischief.  There are stories I could tell you about Celestia and myself… no, I really had better not tell you that.  Suffice it to say, we grew out of our foalhood without destroying Equestria.  You also should turn out alright.  Not that I wouldn’t ask you to please be more careful.   Many ponies would be sad if you vaporized yourself, Quizzical.”                      “Um… thank you, Princess.”                      “You’re welcome.  Anyway, that isn’t what Twilight worries about most.   Quizzical, Twilight’s greatest concern is that she will make a mistake guiding you.”                      “I do not understand, Princess.”                      “Of course you don’t.  But Twilight believes, as I do, that you are a filly of tremendous potential.  She’s terrified that she will do something wrong; by being too strict, or being too lenient, or not being encouraging enough, or encouraging you in the wrong things, or something else unforeseeable.  Whatever she does, Twilight fears it will be something that ruins your brightest future.”                      “That is very confusing,” said Quiz.  “And that cannot possibly be correct.  If I achieve anything at all in my future, surely it will be because of Miss Twilight and my other friends.”                      Princess Luna stopped and rolled her eyes.  “Well, maybe you and Twilight should have a long talk.”                      They had been walking slowly around the block and had just turned the last corner to return to the library.  There was a bright green flash from an upstairs window, and a moment later Spike burst through the front door.  With one hand he was holding a towel around his waist, with the other he was waving a roll of parchment.                      “Quiz?  Oh, good, you guys haven’t left yet!  It’s from Twilight!”                      “Please read it, Spike,” said Luna.                      Spike cleared his throat.  “’Quiz, you were right!  The conference was a hoax.  You were probably right about everything.  I am so sorry I doubted you.  Get yourself to Manehattan if you still can.  Twilight.’  Took her long enough, if you ask me, but better late than never…”                      “Thank you, Spike,” Luna interrupted.  “Well, Quizzical, will you now be joining Us?”                      “Under the circumstances, I cannot imagine missing this.”                      The fillies cheered as they all mounted the Royal Chariot.  Luna’s guards stretched their wings, pulled the harness taught, and with a lurch the chariot was airborne.                      “Oh, and Quizzical?” asked Princess Luna.                      “Yes, Princess?”                      “Hang on.”