The Date (Part 1)
Silver and Twilight left the library shortly after they agreed that they would spend the day together in what Twilight called a “date.” She wrote a quick note to leave behind for Spike, saying where she was and telling him not to get into too much trouble. Silver voiced his worries about leaving the young drake by himself, but Twilight assuaged him.
“Don’t worry about him, he’ll just treat it like a mini vacation and sleep for the rest of the day.” she said. Silver merely shrugged, figuring that she knew Spike better then he did.
He grabbed his small saddle bag where he kept his wallet and other essentials while Twilight quickly snatched her purse, and they both went out the door, their heads high and their minds wondering what was going to come out of this impromptu outing.
The first thing that the two did after they left the library was get some breakfast. Twilight showed him a quaint diner/café called The Black Barrel that she was fond of, and they made their way there.
Upon entering the establishment, Silver finally realized how hungry he was when he remembered that he hadn’t had any dinner yesterday, opting to go to sleep early instead. Because of this, he spared himself no expense for breakfast, getting himself a large omelet with melted cheese, 2 crispy hashbrowns, a buttered croissant, and a big glass of orange juice. Twilight raised an eyebrow at the amount when it arrived at their booth with the simple fruit salad that she ordered. Silver let his stomach explain for him since it was already so vocal of its displeasure. She laughed and nodded her understanding.
Throughout their meal, they made small conversation, mainly talking about their go-to subject of books and authors. Silver revealed that he was fond of the works of Edgar Allen Poeny, and Twilight was surprised by this.
“I can’t fathom what you would find likeable about him. I can hardly stand him myself.” she commented in surprise and with a touch of revulsion.
He shrugged. “I find that not only is he a very good writer, but his writing style fits the genre itself extremely well. It’s almost as though he was born for macabre.”
Twilight was unconvinced. “But it’s just so…dark.”
He smirked in amusement. “You mainly read murder mysteries where innocent ponies are killed, often horrifically, but Edgar Allen Poeny is too dark?”
Twilight huffed. “Those are different! Those have intrigue and puzzles wrapped around a complex plot. There are problems that, no matter how convoluted, can be solved with the right amount of logic and creativity, and more often then not, there is a motive to everything. Edgar Allen Poeny just writes about needless death and violence.”
Silver’s eyes gleamed with nostalgic pleasure. “Mmm, tell me about it. I shivered the first time I read The Crow.” Twilight raised her eyebrows incredulously. Silver sighed.
“To be honest Twilight, I’m not entirely sure why I like him. I guess I just like to look at things on the other end of the spectrum every once in a while. I like the raw, primal emotions of fear and despair and how well they're portrayed.” he explained.
Twilight nodded slowly, mulling over his words. “I guess that makes sense...” She said slowly. “Still can’t stand the guy though.” Silver chuckled.
Their conversation eventually turned away from literature and moved towards the day in front of them, or more specifically, what they were going to do with it. Twilight posed this question to Silver Quill, and he had to think about it for a moment before answering.
“We’ll do whatever you want to do. I want to make it up for making you worry.”
Twilight smiled and reached her hoof over to lay it on his appreciatively. “You don’t need to make anything up to me Silver Quill, but I appreciate the thought.”
Silver looked down at the arm on which her hoof was resting. He decided that he liked the way the light grey of his coat and the strong lavender of hers contrasted. It looked nice. And it felt nice too.
He looked up at her and nodded. They then proceeded to finish the rest of their meal, tossing around suggestions as to how they should spend their day. Twilight suggested going for a walk in the park, a trip to the beach, a day at the theatre, but nothing she thought of pleased her.
As they were leaving the diner, Twilight stopped in her tracks as an idea came to her. Silver looked at her curiously as her eyes widened in sudden realization.
“Did you think of something?” he asked. Twilight nodded emphatically, grinning all the way.
He looked at her for a few more seconds, waiting for her to tell him what had occurred to her. When no such thing was forthcoming, he decided to help her along.
“Would you care to share?” he asked politely.
Still smiling, Twilight shook her head. Silver raised an eyebrow, but she spoke again before he could reply.
“Instead of telling you, how about I show you." she said excitedly.
His eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Alright…where is it?”
“Not Ponyville.” She replied. “I’m going to have to teleport us there.”
Silver had never teleported anywhere before, having never had the need to as he stayed in Canterlot for pretty much his entire life and having never been able to as he wasn’t that skilled in magic. It didn’t surprise him that Twilight was capable of such advanced magic, what with her being the student of one of the most magically powerful beings in the world.
“Alright then.” Silver said as he nodded his acquiescence. He waited for Twilight to activate the spell, but she only stood there and looked at him expectantly.
“You need to close your eyes first.” She explained
“I do? Why?”
“Two reasons. One, the vertigo and the shock will be a little overwhelming to you if you don’t since you probably aren’t very experienced with the feeling of teleportation.” She paused and looked at him curiously.
“You aren’t, right?”
He shook his head.
“Right. Closing your eyes will let your brain adjust to the sudden change of scenery at a more relaxed pace. The sudden changes to your senses can be a bit overwhelming, and being blind while teleporting makes it easier to keep yourself from falling over right as you arrive.”
Silver nodded, mostly following along. “And the second reason?” he asked.
Twilight grinned and clapped her hooves excitedly. “Because it’ll be more of a surprise!”
Silver couldn’t help but smile alongside her. Her excitement was infectious, and he was finding himself eager for whatever it was that she had planned.
He closed his eyes and waited expectantly to feel what teleportation was like. Twilight’s horn flared brightly for a few moments before the two of them quickly winked out of existence.
The best words that Silver could describe the sensation of teleportation was “sensory overload.” At first, everything was still and quiet except for the ponies that had been around them, and the next moment he was assaulted by a cacophony of sensation. He could hear a thunderstorm that seemed to be localized in only his ears, the thick taste of metal coated his mouth, the strong smell of ozone assaulted his nose, and he could feel the sensation of hundreds of pins and needles prodding him on every inch of his body. If he hadn’t had his eyes closed, he could hardly imagine what strange things he would have seen.
All in all, it was a little unnerving when these new sensation came and went in an instant. He lost his balance for a few moments before hastily regaining his footing. The dirt road beneath his hooves had been replaced with what felt like cobblestones. The air was tinged wit the smell of smoke and the odour that arises when many ponies live in a small area, and he could hear ponies all around him, tossing him around in an ocean of white noise.
“Alright, open your eyes.” He heard Twilight say from right beside him, startling him a little. He now understood what she meant by shock and vertigo during teleportation. It was really something that needed to be experienced personally to understand, and multiple times to be get used to.
He opened his eyes to the sight of a city most unlike Ponyville. There were magi-lamps on the sides of the cobblestone roads, and ponies wearing an assortment of refined and snazzy clothing milled past them. Small shops and houses lined the streets on both sides, their colourful designs adding a nice backdrop.
“Are…are we in Canterlot?” Silver asked as he looked around. Twilight beamed.
“Yup! Oh wait…” she shrunk back on herself slightly as a look of panic crept into her features. “would you rather be back in Ponyville? I mean, I know you left for a change of scenery, and all but…” she looked at him worriedly, seemingly afraid that he was angry with her for bringing him back to the city that he only recently left.
Before Silver could stop her train of thought where it was, she rambled on. “Oh, I’m so stupid! I’ll teleport us back to Ponyville right away!” she squinted her eyes shut and ignited her horn.
Silver sighed and stepped a little bit closer to her, leaning forward to tap her horn with his. He released a tiny magical spark, similar to a static shock, and interrupted the flow of magic to the teleportation spell she was moments away from casting.
Her eyes fluttered open as her connection to her magic was suddenly interrupted by his, and she looked at him with a confused expression on her face. Silver did his best to put on a reassuring smile for her sake.
“I don’t mind being in Canterlot Twilight.” he said quietly. “If this is where you want to spend the day, then that’s fine by me.”
She blinked at him for a few seconds before nodding gratefully.
“Okay.” she replied in a small voice, appearing to still be little bit nervous. Silver could hardly blame her, he was pretty spooked about the day ahead of them as well. He didn’t know what came over him when he blurted out that he and she should “do something,” it just felt like the right thing to say. He didn’t let his nervousness show however, instead trying to put on an air of confidence in an effort to make Twilight feel more comfortable. Whether or not he’d be able to maintain that façade throughout the day remained to be seen.
He nodded, satisfied with her simple answer. Then he started to notice his surroundings. They were standing in a circular plaza that was surrounded by shops and ponies. In the center of the plaza was a fountain of a pony with the tail of a fish, a hippocampus curled on top of a rushing wave. He was cradling a conch shell through which water flowed out of to his chest. Silver didn’t recognize anything around him, although Twilight had a nostalgic smile on her face.
“Where are we?” he asked. Twilight sighed contentedly.
“This is one of my favourite places in Canterlot. It’ a place where students and academics gather to socialize, eat, or study in the company of other likeminded ponies.” She smiled. “I used to come here when I was studying under Celestia, whenever I wasn’t busy of course.”
Looking around, Silver started to see what she liked about this area. Everywhere he looked were ponies who exuded an air of quiet intelligence. Young ponies wearing sophisticated jackets and hats with saddlebags were sitting attentively with older ones as they absorbed whatever life lessons that were being given to them. Tweed jackets, eyeglasses, and saddlebags weighed down with books and other academic tools were all common sights.
“Most ponies call this place ‘Students Square.’ I call it heaven.” Twilight commented.
Silver looked at her in surprise. “What makes it so special?” he asked.
She didn’t respond, instead pointing her hoof over his shoulder at something behind him. He turned around and saw that there were 3 modest bookstores standing in a row. He chuckled and shook his head. Of course Twilight’s idea of heaven was a place in which books flowed like water.
He turned back towards her to see her grinning. “So, is this the place you wanted to spend the day at?”
Her grin grew wider. “Nope, the only reason I teleported us here is that I needed a destination that I was familiar with, and this one was the most convenient. We’re going somewhere else.”
“Oh.” He replied simply, trying not to look like he had no idea what she meant.
“Follow me and I’ll show you where the way.” She winked at him. “I think you’ll like it.”
Silver nodded as Twilight started to walk past him, and he quickly matched her pace.
Silver quickly started up a conversation. “You know, I’m pretty impressed that you were able to teleport the two of us all the way to Canterlot. I wasn’t even aware that was possible.”
She looked at him in confusion. “What do you mean? Why wouldn’t it be possible?”
Silver shrugged. “Canterlot is around 5 hours away from Ponyville by train. That’s a pretty big distance to teleport, and you don’t even look tired. It’s a pretty incredible feat if you ask me.”
Twilight’s eyes widened in realization. She shook her head as she replied. “Oh no, that’s not how teleportation works. Distance doesn’t factor in the energy cost for teleportation, mass does.”
When her explanation was met with a raised eyebrow and a blank stare, she explained further.
“You see, it doesn’t matter how far a place is, it will always take the same amount of energy and concentration for one pony to teleport themselves a mile away as it would to teleport themselves a meter away. The amount of effort and focus needed for the spell is only changed by what is being teleported, or more specifically, how big it is and how much it weighs.
Silver nodded in understanding at the simplified explanation. “Ah, that makes sense.” He thought for a few more moments. “Does that mean that you could teleport to any part of the world at will?”
“Well, yes and no. Yes in that I theoretically could teleport wherever I wanted at any time, and no in that it would be extremely dangerous.”
“Care to extrapolate?” he asked her curiously.
Twilight smiled at him, pleased to have an audience that she could talk about spellcrafting with. The only one she could ever discuss the intricacies of magic with was Princess Celestia, but the Princess rarely ever had the time to indulge her student.
“Certainly.” She replied briskly. “Teleportation can be very dangerous when the caster doesn’t have a clear image of the destination in mind. If somepony tries to teleport to a place that they’ve never seen or been to, there is a chance that they will accidentally materialize in already occupied space. This is called ‘splicing,” When this happens, the best case scenario is that the pony is only injured. Worst case scenario, they lose their life.”
Silver whistled appreciatively. “Wow, I never knew it was so dangerous.”
She nodded seriously. “Yep. That’s why teleportation is rarely taught to most unicorns for the fear of them accidentally teleporting themselves in the middle of a mountain or something. That’s why it’s so important to know the area that you’re going to materialize in, so you know which spaces are free.”
“Ah, I see. So that’s why you chose Students Square.”
“Exactly. I know that place like I do the back of my hoof.” She grimaced slightly. “Unfortunately, it’s a half an hour walk from our destination, but better safe then sorry if you ask me.”
Silver nodded as they continued walking, and he took a moment to observe their surroundings. He noticed that the majority of the crowd where walking in the same direction as he and Twilight. He wondered if the destination that Twilight had in mind was the same for the of the ponies around them.
“Hold on, I just thought of something.” He said abruptly. He turned to Twilight with his brow furrowed contemplatively. “If it’s so important to not teleport in already occupied space, then what about when teleporting in crowded areas like how you did back there? Isn’t there a chance that we would have appeared in a space somepony was already standing in?”
Twilight looked at him in surprise. “Wow, I’m surprised you thought of that so quickly." She grinned at him. "Impressive. That used to be a big problem several hundred years back, so much so that teleportation was banned all together. However, Starswill the Bearded modified the spell so that if there were any living organisms in the designated materialization zone, then the spell would automatically compensate and materialize the caster in open space.”
Silver sighed in relief. “Oh, that’s good. For a moment I was worried that you had put our lives in danger by taking us here.”
Twilight laughed lightheartedly and playfully bumped her hip against Silver’s side, making him blush slightly.. “Oh don’t worry, I’m not about to ruin the day with any careless casting.” She gave him a wry smile. “Besides, don’t you trust me?”
Silver shrugged. “Oh, I trust you. I also know you’re probably the most powerful unicorn under the sun.” He gave her a sideways grin. “I just wanted to make sure that this date wouldn’t end with me accidentally being turned inside out.”
“Well, I never!” Twilight countered in a mock affronted voice. “That you have so little faith in my abilities…you wound me Silver Quill!” She raised a hoof to her forehead as though to ward off an approaching faint. Silver smiled as he noticed her slightly upturned lips. Somepony has obviously been taking lessons from Rarity.
“My humblest apologies Twilight.” he replied in a chastised voice. He bowed her head to her with his eyes closed, the picture of guilty regret. “Could you find it in your heart to forgive me?”
He heard her giggle before she scooted a little closer to his side as she walked, slightly pressing herself into him. Even though the pressure was very slight and chaste, Silver almost toppled over completely as his legs suddenly started to feel unusually wobbly. She probably only thought that she was innocently teasing him, so Silver steeled his mind and forced any chances he had of embarrassing himself with a few focused breaths.
“Alright, I’ll forgive you.” She said with a smile which quickly turned into a smirk. “Besides, stay in Ponyville a little longer and you’ll get your fair share of magical mishaps.”
Silver couldn't help but look at her quizzically. “You know, I keep hearing how attracted trouble is to that town. Is it really as bad as everypony says?”
Twilight squinted uncertainly. “Oh, It’s not bad, per se. It’s just that if anything interesting happens in Equestria, the odds are pretty good that it’s happening in Ponyville.”
She was answered with a raised eyebrow and a curious look. “Really? Care to share some stories?”
And so, for the next 20 minutes, Twilight amused Silver Quill with several stories of her times in Ponyville, from the time when it was overthrown by a swarm of parasprites to the time it was overthrown by a swarm of Pinkie Pie’s. Silver had a little trouble wrapping his head around the Pinkie Pie one.
“Paint? You solved it by making them look at paint?” he asked in disbelief in the middle of her story. Twilight chuckled.
“Say what you will, despite its ridiculousness, it still worked.”
He shook his head in disbelief. “Wow. Who knew that such a small town could be so… interesting.”
“That’s one way of putting it.”
Silver was about to say more, but his train of thought was cut off as he briefly picked up a strange noise in the air. He perked his ears and looked around as he tried to detect its source. It sounded like music and…screaming?
Twilight noticed it as well. She grinned excitedly. “Oh, we’re almost there!” She increased her pace to a brisk trot.
The sounds got louder as they moved closer to its source. Silver could identify the blaring of trumpets and trombones. The crash of drums and cymbals, and the tell tale blare of a calliope being played. He could also hear screams of both mirth and terror, oftentimes both at the same time.
They eventually rounded a corner and were met with a spectacular sight. A large open area of the city had been sectioned off and repurposed as a fairground for the enjoyment of ponies both young and old. From where he stood, he could see tall ferris wheel slowly turning in the sky and a smattering of fair booths and games that were preventing him from seeing any deeper into the festival.
Ponies happily milled about around them, enjoying the sights and relishing in the festive atmosphere. Silver noticed with a start that about half of every pony he saw around him was dressed up in some manner, most wearing a simple mask or facepaint, some wearing intricate full body costumes. He could even see a 10 foot tall pony who was wearing stilts under the very long legs of a clown costume. Several children were amusing themselves by running around and under him as he walked around.
Twilight smiled next to him. “Oooh, this is always my favourite part of Nightmare Night!” she said happily. She shooed him forward eagerly. “Come on, we’re missing out, let’s go!”
Silver nodded dumbly, still a bit disoriented by the sudden cavalcade of colourful sights and sounds. He noticed a large purple banner in the direction they were heading. A greeting was written in glittery golden letters.
WELCOME TO THE NIGHTMARE NIGHT FAIR!