//------------------------------// // "I wasn't prepared for this..." - Nicknack - Nov. 15. 2014 // Story: The Sun and Stars: Lightning Round // by JKinsley //------------------------------// Entirely new to Twilestia, but no less exceptional, Nicknack! Twilight Sparkle floated the microscope off her table and packed it gently into her left saddlebag. As she did, she counted off, “One industrial-grade, one-thousand-times magnification microscope.” Spike, standing next to her, sighed. He was more than familiar with Twilight’s routines, even if they defied logic. Long ago, he’d learned it was easier to just entertain her instead of arguing. “Check.” “That’s the last of it, then. Thanks, Spike!” Twilight fastened the straps on her saddlebags before levitating them around herself. She glanced at the clock and blanched. “I’ve got to hurry if I’m going to be on time to meet the Princess!” For the second time, Spike sighed. “But Twilight, Celestia said to meet her at Java Joe’s at dusk. That’s not for two more hours!” Twilight responded with a shake of her head. Little brothers never quite understood. “There’s more to meeting the Princess than just showing up on time. I’ve got to make sure the streets are tidied up for her arrival, and that the coffeeshop is in proper order, and—” “Okay, okay.” Spike fought the urge to roll his eyes. Instead, he pushed Twilight towards the front door of the library. “If that’s the case, then yeah, you’ve got a bunch of stuff to take care of still.” Spike shut the dutch doors of the Golden Oaks library behind her, and Twilight walked out into late-afternoon Ponyville. The town’s trees were aflame with fall’s colors, and a crisp edge of ice came with the blustery wind. She magicked her scarf around her neck tighter, and she trotted along to her destination. Every time Princess Celestia came to Ponyville, Twilight had done her best to make sure she was welcomed as a princess deserved to be. Celestia herself had mentioned that certain parts of the ritual were unnecessary, but Twilight knew better—she was only being modest, which was part of why she admired the Princess so much in the first place. Power and authority, in any other mare’s hooves, would’ve gone to their head. But instead, Equestria’s ruler was kind, gentle, and, well, benevolent. Twilight inspected the streets of Ponyville for undue amounts of litter, traffic, or cake frosting—Pinkie Pie had been holding an event earlier; that was as good a reason as any to watch for the aftereffects of exploding baked goods. Without finding anything, Twilight almost felt herself relax; that was one less thing to worry about. However, as she entered Java Joe’s coffeeshop, more worries resurfaced: What does the Princess want? Twilight tried to bury the possibilities, as well as the thoughts of all the mistakes she’d made over the past two months. It was easy enough to distract herself by heading into the coffeeshop’s stockroom; a voice cried out, “Hey, you can’t go back there!” but she knew better than to leave inventory unchecked. After getting halfway through determining that the coffeeshop did, in fact, have enough coffee—she’d only gotten halfway before being escorted back into the lobby by a gruff-looking stallion—Twilight took a good look at the restaurant itself. The woodwork was in good condition, so there wasn’t any need to worry about an abrupt structural collapse. It was polished, but not too polished, to the point of creating an undue fire hazard. If a fire did break out, there were two extinguishers in the establishment—one under the counter, and one in Twilight’s right saddlebag—and the emergency exits were clearly marked. Twilight Sparkle sat at one of the tables. Her mind raced with possibilities, potentialities, and eventualities. Everything was in order, all her preparations were made, and she’d be meeting Princess Celestia soon. I should relax, she told herself. So why can’t I? She had forty minutes until Celestia showed up. Five minutes each passed in agonizing slowness, and Twilight almost admitted that, this time, Spike may have been right about not needing to make so many preparations for meeting the Princess. Almost. Just because she was running ahead of schedule this time didn’t make all of her routine checks and investigations worthless; if she’d have found something unsatisfactory, she might have had to get it fixed. Twilight did note that, next time, she would bring a book to read in case her pre-Celestia-meeting inspections ran quicker than she expected them to. *        *        * At long last, the sun set and dusk fell. Twilight moved forward on her cushion, up to the edge of it. Celestia would be coming at any moment, and then— A dingling bell broke through Twilight’s apprehension. She looked over—like she had every other time the door’s entrance bell had dingled—and saw her. Princess Celestia, the ruler of Equestria, flowed through the door in a gracefully regal walk. Or is it regally graceful? Twilight wondered, but she put that question away. Unlike several other patrons of the restaurant, Twilight resisted the instinct to bow when Celestia approached her table. They’d gone over that, many times, and how it was unnecessary. She instead went to her plan B greeting: “Hello, Princess! You look resplendent as ever tonight!” As soon as the words left her mouth, Twilight fought to keep from cringing; that wasn’t the best way to have phrased it. Celestia merely smiled down at Twilight. “Thank you. You look... strained,” she admitted. An apology immediately formed on Twilight’s lips, but Celestia cut in: “You haven’t been worrying yourself over this visit, have you?” Oh... Her, she’s going to fire me from my position, I knew it! Twilight fought to keep her breathing neutral. “No, no...” she lied. “I... I just made sure everything was suited for your arrival.” Princess Celestia sat down opposite of her tiny, quivering student. “Even though I told you that Ponyville—and every city in Equestria—will always be suitable for my arrival?” Guilt crushed Twilight’s lungs, and she couldn’t form a response. The Princess continued, “You... it makes it difficult, for me, to tell you things, when I’m not sure that they won’t cause you undue duress.” At the sound of Celestia mincing a word, Twilight’s ears perked up. The ever-crushing dread built up inside her, and finally, it boiled over. “I... I can do better, I promise!” Without a word, Celestia glided around the table and sat next to Twilight Sparkle, on her left. “Better, how? At what?” “At... at being your personal student! And a citizen of Equestria!” Immediately, Celestia pulled her nervous wreck of a protégé into a soft, draping wing-hug. “Twilight Sparkle, you are my most faithful student. All of your efforts are already above and beyond what I could expect from you. You simply worry, far too much!” In an instant, Twilight’s worries shattered. They fell so abruptly, it almost felt like they’d been the only things holding her up. She melted into her mentor regardless, and returned the hug. Out of everything she’d thought would happen during the visit, a hug definitely hadn’t been very high on the checklist—it hadn’t even made the list in the first place! “I... I’ll try to tone it down,” Twilight muttered. It felt strange to have her words get muffled by Princess Celestia’s very own pinions. “That is good,” Celestia replied. Without looking up, Twilight could already imagine the watchful, knowing smile upon the Princess’ lips. “Now, is that a microscope in your saddlebag, or are you just happy to see me?”