I decided to spend my day off engaging in one of my favourite pastimes. Teasing Twilight Sparkle. I have been playing with my students for almost as long as I have had them. Nothing malicious or cruel, mind you. Just a gentle prank every once in a while.
I wondered which of my tricks I should try today. Show up at her library unannounced, perhaps? That could be more than enough to send the cute purple unicorn into a state of frenetic panic. I giggled to myself as I drifted through the clear blue sky, imagining her desperately scrambling around her library trying to tidy up. But what if Twilight wasn't home? Out with one or more of her friends. Then maybe I'd spend the day with Spike getting all the gossip on what she'd been up to. Find out the things she wasn't putting in her letters. I could wait in the library for her and then when she returned I'd step out suddenly from behind a bookshelf. Just to see if she'd jump clean out of her skin. Oh, this was going to be so much fun.
Not even last night could put a damper on my spirits. After being forced to play nice at the delegates dinner for several hours I finally slipped away in hopes of having a chat with Luna. Only to find that she'd gone on one of her Dream Journeys and her devotees were highly distraught over the absence of the Princess. I had to spend damn near an hour reassuring various individuals from guards to chambermares that: No, the Princess had not been kidnapped. Yes, this was a part of her normal duties as Night Princess. Yes, they could expect her to return by morning. No, there was nothing they could do to help. Yes, this was something that will probably happen again in future. And on and on it went. These things are to be expected, I suppose, they are still becoming accustomed to her after all.
But as I floated on an updraft in the crisp spring air my troubles seemed so far away. Ditzy had been right. It was simply stunning out here in the country. The fields of green below me rippled like an emerald ocean in the breeze. Small speckled patches of bright colour broke the verdant waves like foam. The flowers had returned in full force after a long and cold winter. And there lay Ponyville, nestled between the rolling hills on the banks of a lazy river. Its thatched roofs huddled together around spire of town square. And there was my student's library with its treetop swaying gently like a sail in the wafting spring air. A picturesque vista to say the least.
And pictures need to be appreciated from afar and up close. I decided to walk the remaining distance. I would take the back roads to avoid drawing too much attention. If I was going to ambush Twilight I certainly couldn't afford to have a large crowd following behind me. Besides, I stood out more in the clear sky then on the ground. Maybe I'd bump into one of Twilight's friends. I'd say hello to them like any other normal pony. Ooh, maybe they'd go and tell Twilight I was here and then I could cast an invisibility spell and hide from her. So many possibilities ran through my head as I gently alighted in a back alley across within line of sight of Golden Oak Library.
Right. Time for me to put my talents at sneaking into action.
"Hi!"
I almost fell face first into the dirt.
"Wow! Kinda weird how sometimes you meet somepony who you've never met before and think that you'll prob'ly never meet again but then you run into them again right away. I wonder if there's a word for that," I whirled around to see the grinning face of Ditzy Doo.
"Hello, Ditzy," she caught me off guard again. How embarrassing. However a Princess must be a master of making even her slip-ups seem intentional, "I was somewhat hoping we might bump into one another once more. I took your advice and have taken the day off. I wanted to to make sure you weren't injured after the crash. To check up on you, as it were."
"So you came to see me?" she asked.
"Among other things..." I replied vaguely.
"How come you're hanging around in an alley staring at Twilight's house then? " I felt my face grow hot. I'm here to play childish pranks on my student and she caught me red hoofed.
"I-I-I thought I might drop in on my dear student first... just while I'm in the area," how does she keep doing this to me? I never stumble or falter in front of my subjects and here I am making clumsy excuses like a schoolfilly.
"Hmmm," Ditzy scrunched her nose in thought, her tail swishing pensively, "Yeah, Twilight's really busy today. Last I heard she got called over to help Mayor Mare. There's been some kind of structural problem with the bridge and they want somepony smart to take a look at it before they'll let anypony across. Twilight'll fix it, I'm sure. She's always the one to help us out when there's a serious problem in town. I reckon they'll be busy on that for a few hours. Tell you what though. How 'bout you come have lunch with me and Dinky while you wait?"
A friendly invitation. I racked my brain to think of the last time I had been able to informally interact with my subjects like this. It had been far too long. Perhaps teasing my student could wait. This was a rare chance.
"That sounds wonderful. Um... who is Dinky? If you don't mind me asking..." if she doesn't mind? I've ruled this land for more than a millennium and can reduce a mountain to rubble and I'm checking with her if she doesn't mind me asking. Something very strange is going on with me lately. And I'm not sure I like it...
"Really? You'll come?" Ditzy laughed and flung her arms around my neck, nuzzling affectionately into my flowing mane. And with that I'm completely sure I like it, "Awww, thats great! A Princess over for lunch. Dinky's gonna be so proud! Oh... Dinky's my daughter. She's the one that made the sandwich you ate."
"The sandwich you exchanged for a two hundred year old stained glass window?" I laughed.
Ditzy detached herself from me and stood, pouting defiantly, "That was a fair trade! I'd swap a hundred dumb ol' windows for one of Dinky's sammies!"
I felt a warmth wash over me. And it was not simply because the two of us were now walking side by side in the sun.
"Well, I'll have to thank your daughter personally then won't I? Lead the way..."