//------------------------------// // Chapter Six // Story: A Broken Enemy // by TheColorGreen //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle blinked, and realized for the umpteenth time that she was staring out the window. Again. She shook her head and looked back at the piece of paper in front of her. A myriad of crumpled-up balls of paper occupied the floor space behind her. After a moment, Twilight crumpled up the paper on her desk and started writing on a fresh piece. Dear Princess Celestia, she wrote. It has come to my attention that… Twilight shook her head and balled up that piece of paper as well, throwing it over her shoulder before she readied a new one. Why is this so hard? I’ve never had this much trouble writing to the Princess. Never! Twilight bit her lip. Dear Princess Celestia… Twilight sighed deeply. This isn’t helping. None of this is… I need a break. The alicorn stood up and made her way toward the kitchen, noting in the back of her mind the mess she had made. I’ll pick that up. Later. Twilight knew that if she didn’t, Sunset Shimmer would. When Twilight wandered out of the kitchen a few minutes later, she realized that that thought had come too late. There was Sunset Shimmer, scrabbling around on the ground as she tried to pick up the papers without using telekinesis. For a moment Twilight pitied her. Then Twilight felt bad, because she knew Sunset didn’t want her pity. “I can do that.” Twilight’s horn lit up, and the papers levitated off of the floor and into the wastebasket underneath the desk. Sunset Shimmer stood up. “I… I had it sorted.” “…Right.” “I did!” Sunset Shimmer seemed almost startled by her own sharp, sudden words, but she didn’t flinch back. Wait. What? Twilight looked at Sunset again and realized how closely she had been monitoring the unicorn’s body language lately. It was getting easy—disconcertingly easy—to tell whether Sunset Shimmer was being defiant or submissive. Twilight could look at her slave and just see if Sunset was afraid or not. And Twilight found that fact almost unfathomably disturbing. “Do you—do you need something?” Twilight blinked, snapping back into the present moment. “Uh… no. No, I don’t.” Sunset nodded, and then turned toward the basement staircase. “Don’t go,” Twilight said. When Sunset looked at her with a confused expression she tried to elaborate. “You really don’t need to stay down there—I mean, if you want to that’s fine, but it’s—I mean, if you think—” Twilight shook her head, as if that would clear her muddled thoughts away and give birth to some coherent idea. And then, as if by Celestia’s magic, an idea struck. “Do you like to read?” Sunset Shimmer arched her neck. It was a scornful gesture, Twilight thought, although it was just barely there. “Of course,” Sunset said. “I—” She paused, as if remembering herself, before going on in a more cautious tone. “When I was at the Academy, with Celestia—I studied history. And magic—but I liked history.” She approached one of the bookshelves cautiously, as if it might bite her if she got too familiar with it. “Do you—” She stopped herself. “What?” “Do you have anything by Star Swirl the Bearded?” Twilight felt herself deflating, if only a little. “No. Most of his manuscripts have to stay at the library in Canterlot. But I do have a study—” Twilight broke off and scanned the bookshelves, hoping to find the book she was looking for. After a moment she simply removed an entire block of books and began to sort through them with her magic. “It’s a research analysis done by the Manehatten Society for Study Devoted to Magic Theory. It starts with the texts written by Star Swirl during the Pre-Classical Era and works from there to show how magic theory has evolved since.” Sunset Shimmer was nodding now, her eyes alight with excitement. “I read part of that while I was studying under Celestia, I think, but I never finished it. I—” She stopped again and ducked her head. “I mean, could I—could I borrow it?” “Of course.” Twilight lifted the heavy tome from her pile of books and handed it over to Sunset Shimmer, who took it somewhat clumsily in her mouth. Twilight began re-shelving the books she had pulled down. As she did she thought about the magnificent library Canterlot boasted. She thought of her old study tower, and she thought of Princess Celestia. I haven’t seen her since we were in the Crystal Empire—before all of this. And then, as if a bolt of lightning had struck, Twilight saw what she needed to do to clear her head and work through her problems. “Sunset, do you think you could watch the library for—oh, I don’t know—a day?” Sunset started, and then, when given the chance to consider, nodded. “Yes, I think so.” “Oh, good.” Twilight hurried over to her desk and scribbled out a quick checklist, studiously entitled What to Bring on a Trip to Canterlot (to See the Princess). “Let’s see,” she muttered. “Books, dragonfire candles, paper, quills—maybe some clothes.” “Uh—” Twilight looked up again. “What?” Sunset blinked at her. “Can—do you still need me, or…” “Oh, you can go back to the basement.” Twilight looked down at the paper, then up again. “Um. If you want to.” Sunset just nodded and then turned toward the stairway. Twilight went back to her blossoming checklist, a new feeling of delicious delight taking its place in her mind. I’m going to see the Princess!