Twilight’s hoofsteps echoed around the corridors of Canterlot Castle. It had been a few months since she was there last, and the atmosphere was nothing like what she remembered.
The normally busy halls were deserted under the reign of night. Walkways usually filled with nobles and servants scrambling to and fro were shunned and given a moment’s rest from the constant stampede of hooves.
Had the castle always grown this quiet at night? Twilight didn’t know. She had never been the type of filly to leave the Castle during the off hours off the night. Those times were either spent asleep or studying in her tower. How she missed those days.
She gazed forlornly at the grand pillars that lined the hallway, spiraling upward into a poorly lit ceiling. In the day one could see the glorious murals that adorned the roof of the Castle, though at night it left an oppressive darkness that seemed to attempt to swallow everything below it.
The thought of darkness engulfing her set Twilight on edge. She levitated a lantern off of a pillar and breathed some life into it with a spell. With a tad more certainty, she continued on her lonely, flickering way.
Twilight sighed and glanced up into the shadows. Definitely prefer coming here during the daytime. This thought caused Twilight to reflect. Why had Princess Celestia invited her to visit at such an impractical time anyway? It’s not as if they needed to hide something.
Twilight sighed again, louder. She could assume the reason, of course. Twilight knew that Celestia wanted to see Twilight just as badly as Twilight returned that wish. They could just never find the time to meet up and talk. She frowned deeply.
It was the war, of course. What else could it be? Day in and day out the princess had to tend to councils and diplomats and deal with the ridiculously large workload that came with waging war. The Princess was always so busy during the day, she must have asked Twilight to come at a time like this so that they wouldn’t be interrupted.
Then she might be skipping sleep for me. Twilight stopped. That wouldn’t do at all. The Princess was far more important than her, she would have to bring that up with the monarch. It was a question of the importance of a small-time librarian versus the benevolent ruler of all Equestria. Scratch that, it wasn’t even a question. Resolute in her selflessness, Twilight recommenced her march down the corridor, following the lantern she levitated in front of herself.
Her determination, however, quickly wavered as she began to feel giddy. Try as she might, she could never suppress her giddiness when it struck her. She did recall one incident where she drew quite a crowd… Twilight’s eyes narrowed. That had been the good part of her story too! And the Cutie Mark Crusaders had flat out left before she got to it! The nerve of!... Oh yes, where was she? A smile graced her face.
She was giddy. Since moving to Ponyville Twilight and the Princess had never quite been in touch. Oh sure, there were the friendship letters, but they’re nothing compared to the actual thrill of speaking to a loved one. To hear their voice, to nuzzle them, to bask in their companionship.
She felt a spring in her step as she closed the remaining distance between herself and the large, ornate door that marked her teacher’s study. It had truly been too long since Twilight had had a face-to-face with her mentor. Much too long. Not since Spike’s funeral…
Her heart sank again and her body dragged. There was so much pain in war and so much loss. Death. Anger. Hatred. Twilight wanted no part of any of that any longer. It hurt too much.
Everything was OK though. After all, Twilight had learned very quickly how to make a convincing fake smile.
Princess Celestia took one last glance over the parchment she had been writing on before teleporting it away with a short flare of magic. Contrary to popular belief in Ponyville, Spike hadn’t been the only dragon that the Princess had used as a portable post office. She had other ponies and places she needed to be in instantaneous touch with, though Spike and Twilight had been the only personal contact she indulged in.
The Princess heard Twilight banging the doorknocker and allowed herself a knowing smile. She had sensed Twilight’s magical presence far before her student had arrived, call it one of the perks of being an alicorn. She closed her eyes in amusement.
With a lazy flick of her telekinesis the Princess opened her study door wide to reveal one Twilight Sparkle. Twilight trotted in, looking around at all the books and knick-knacks within. The place hadn’t changed much since Twilight had last come, but the memories within deserved recognition, and therefore deserved a quick look over.
The two ponies made eye contact and locked expressions, Celestia’s one of regal kindness and Twilight’s… Twilight had donned a pleasant enough smile, but it was more of a grimace. The Princess kept her face static with the practiced ease of one familiar with politics, though she cringed internally at the look on Twilight’s face. Her student had the worst fake smile she had ever seen, it was clear something, or somethings, were eating at her.
“Twilight Sparkle, my prized pupil. How are you?” asked Celestia with her usual motherly aura.
Twilight spoke ruefully, “I’m just fine, Princess. It’s so good to see you again.” She galloped over to the Princess and nuzzled her, and Celestia returned the favor. The alicorn saw that, this time at least, Twilight had a genuine smile.
Celestia’s eyes twinkled with mirth as she promised, “You know that you can visit me at anytime, my student.”
Twilight backed away from the Princess and sighed dejectedly, “But I CAN’T, Princess. You know that as well as me, you don’t have time for me.” Celestia tilted her head and frowned.
“Now now, Twilight. When you put it that way you make it sound like I don’t care about my star pupil.” Celestia said, more playful than condemning.
Twilight backtracked and stuttered in embarrassment, “O-oh! I didn’t mean it like, like that, Princess.” Twilight glanced away shamefaced, “It’s just you’ve had so much work to do since the war started. I don’t want to impede upon you.”
Celestia blinked a few times then replied in amusement, “Nonsense Twilight. You are very important to me. The time I spend with you is never a waste.” Twilight wasn’t convinced.
“But Princess, I-!”
“Hush, Twilight Sparkle. You mean the world to me, the time we spend together means far more than time spent with uptight nobles who obsess over nothing but property and bits.”
“They’re important ponies though, unlike me. We’re going to need their influence to fund our defense. Please don’t do this for me and neglect important duties like that,” pleaded Twilight
“Twilight, that’s why I had you meet me here at night like this, so that we wouldn’t be interrupted by anything popping up.”
“Yes Princess, but you can’t miss out on rest to accommodate me. You’re so much more important than me-“
“Twilight Sparkle, I know perfectly well what I should and should not do. You have no need to worry about me. I am always thinking about what is best for Equestria, my little ponies are more important to me than any personal pleasure.” The Princess answered without anger, but sternly. Her voice still carried an edge that didn’t invite argument.
Twilight looked away, ashamed. Celestia spoke reassuringly, “You have no need to feel guilty for voicing your thoughts Twilight. I understand your feelings and am very glad that you spoke to me about them. But believe in me, my faithful student. It hurts to see you so worried about me. Have faith, Twilight Sparkle.” Celestia nuzzled Twilight. After a moment’s hesitation, Twilight returned the gesture with her own, slightly teary, apologetic smile.
“Besides,” The Princess said, breaking contact and walking towards a pile of scrolls and a tea tray, “As much as I would love to have a casual visit and a long talk with you, I invited you here tonight to discuss something far more important.” Twilight’s curiosity was piqued, she trotted over to stand near her mentor.
“What is it Princess? Is something wrong?”
“No, Twilight,” then, with a chuckle, “Well, at least not more wrong than usual. I have a very special assignment I want you to work on.” The smaller unicorn did a complete 180 turn around in mood, and the Princess smiled. It was almost adorable, yet confusing, how the thought of work could excite Twilight.
“Really?!” asked a starry eyed Twilight. The Princess laughed.
“Yes Twilight, really.”
“Well, what’s the project?!” Twilight almost bounced up and down with nerdy energy, and probably would have if she hadn’t been in the Princess’ presence.
“I would like you to travel to Manehattan to work on this project. There are already a few ponies I’ve sent who have started their research. They’ll be your colleagues and fellow researchers while you work, their names are Shock Core and Control Freak.”
“Control Freak?”
Celestia leaned in with the ghost of a grin, “The name’s very fitting, I assure you.”
“Um… OK? So anyway, what’s the name of the project?”
“It’s being called the Manehattan Project.” Replied the Princess, opening a scroll and pouring herself some tea.
Twilight facehoofed. “Because the work is taking place in Manehattan. Brilliant.”
“Shock Core was rather proud of the name.”
“And what we’re working on is?...”
“A magical weapon.” The room fell silent. Both ponies could swear they heard their eyelashes swish as they blinked. A scroll shifted and the crackling seemed louder than Luna’s Royal Canterlot voice. Was that Neighagra Falls, or had the Princess just taken a sip of tea? Twilight sat down heavily on some pillows.
“You… want me to make… a weapon?”
Celestia was absorbed with a scroll now, and oblivious to Twilight’s uneasy shifting. “Right, a bomb, apparently. And yes, Shock Core tells me it could very well win the war, he seemed quite confident. That’s why he requested another pony to help with it’s development, he and Control Freak are afraid they can’t progress much farther without additional help.”
“And you thought that I fit the ticket for that job?” Twilight asked uncomfortably.
“I did indeed, Twilight. And speaking of tickets, here’s your train ticket. It leaves fairly soon, actually. I didn’t remember to accommodate daylight savings time, so we missed an hour I planned to use to catch up with you.”
Twilight was puzzled, “But can’t you just- I mean, the sun-?” she was interrupted by train ticket hovering in front of her face, with a large ONE-WAY-ONLY printed on it. Unconsciously, Twilight grabbed it with her telekinesis and briefly wondered how she was going to tell the Princess that-
“Now, you’re almost late. Let me teleport you there, I wouldn’t want you to miss the train. Send me letters every week to tell me about your progress, my faithful student. Farewell!” Her horn glowed and Twilight started floating in a magical golden aura.
“Um.” Was all Twilight got in edge-wise before she found herself in front of a train station with a ticket impaled on her horn. A train blasted it’s piercing whistle.
What the HAY had just happened?
To anyone and everyone who read my first chapter: Thank you! Really! It's pretty cool to think that people actually give a crap about my fanfic! Thanks so much!
Please... DEMOLISH my fic. I'm freaking out right now because I'm certain it's terrible, even though it's probably not. Any and all feedback will be loved and tolerated. And most likely obeyed, unless I have a good reason to not do so.
Also, tell me whether I should post author's notes in the comments or at the bottom like this. I don't know which is better, so you guys tell me what you prefer.