//------------------------------// // Outside // Story: Fear Me, for My Name is Twaith! // by Michael Hudson //------------------------------// Sunset looked at the small book fort that resided in the back right corner of the royal library with envy. She had been being pushed hard by Celestia, no, with Celestia, to learn all they could on wraiths without using the forbidden tomes. As much as she may have been able to glean on Twilight’s dark magic from them, they would have painted the ghosts in the worst lights, as abominations, and neither her or the princess wanted to even let that thought cross their minds. Hence why we’re doing what we’re doing today. Sunset put out a hoof and tapped on the books. A single purple eye appeared at the hole before a small, ‘Eee,’ could be heard within. Twilight popped out of her home and floated next to Sunset. “Where were you yesterday? I thought we were gonna do stuff together.” Sunset raised an eyebrow and pretended to take a swipe at the pristine back cloak of her friend. “Don’t you mean past few days?” Twilight’s eyes widened before her face turned slightly more transparent and gained a red tinge. “Oh, sorry. I’ve been getting into this ‘kids’ section within the library, like with Epona, Winnie the Pooh, and even Thomas the–“ Fwoosh! They both looked at the newly disintegrated book as the smiling face of a train started to fall to the ground. Sunset quickly put the survivor out of its misery before realizing she was with someone and putting a hoof to her face. “Why did you–“ “Don’t ask.” “But you just destroyed a–“ “Don’t ask!” “But I liked that one!” Sunset spent a moment glaring at her new acquaintance before remembering that if she started yelling at her, she could end up frozen. “That’s perfectly fine, but if you want to do things with me today, you will let it stay dead.” Twilight weighed the options for a few moments. “Do I at least get to know what we were going to do if I ask again?” “No.” She bit into her lip and started to turn over as she considered it. She had spent hundreds of years reading books, so this could be a new, fun, exciting experience. On the other hoof though… books. Twilight spent another moment rubbing her temples before sighing and looking at Sunset. “When did you get on the ceiling?” Sunset rubbed her eyes a bit more in frustration, remembering times when she would have an all nighter and ask a servant that exact same question in the morning. At least she isn’t asking about the book anymore. She shook her head clear of the nasty trains and pulled a piece of parchment from her pack. “Celestia made you this, saying that she knew your ethereal form would hamper your ability to be with anypony, especially while most are awake.This should at least help with the latter problem.” Twilight grabbed it with her magic and pulled it to herself. “These arcana are amazing, and the penmanship is fantastic!” She then turned slightly red again. “It may be a little too new for me to be able to read though.” Sunset tried ignoring the crossed front hooves and sheepish smile as she took the paper back. That much cuteness was far too much to simply ignore though and she felt her annoyance fading away. “It is a seal that Celestia may remove at any time. When it is on and active, you should be able to walk into any sort of light without fear. The trade off though is that if she ever turns it off, that pain will go from annoying, to searing.” She bit into her lip as Twilight lowered herself to the floor. The purple ghost spent a few moments with one hoof to her muzzle, the air still between the two of them. She looked up at Sunset with her eyebrows furrowed, just before she broke into a large grin. “Yes!” She glided straight through Sunset as she tried hugging her and started to laugh on the other side. Sunset let out a deep sigh of relief, attempting to ignore the deep chill that had been sent through her. “It’s good to see you taking the news so well. I thought you would be annoyed.” “For what? Putting a safety pin on me?” Twilight laughed a little more before wiping away a shining blue tear and flicked it away, covering the floor around where it hit with frost. “I don’t plan on ever making you hate me, so why would I fear or be offended? It’s just smart.” A smile spread over Sunset’s face and she nodded. Her horn glowed bright and plucked the sigil from the paper before placing it upon Twilight’s essence. It shone even brighter for a single moment before merging and fading into her form. “Yum!” A slight giggle escaped Sunset and she beckoned for Twilight to follow her. “That is a great idea for a first stop.” Twilight’s eyebrows furrowed as she floated over Sunset. “What do you mean? I didn’t offer anything?” “No, you didn’t, but I’m starving and it’s almost lunch, so why don’t we go to a food cart while we’re in town?” Twilight’s eyes widened. “I get to go into town? I get to see it?” She started zipping about Sunset as the yellow unicorn opened the door to Canterlot proper. The moment the door was open, an icy gale blew through the halls of the library and Twilight launched herself towards the center of town, the mare too excited to know how the town had changed to consider the years. There, she found nothing the same. No small buildings that held families that wanted to invite her in for lunch, no simple farmers or craftsmen, and definitely no earthy smell to which you could enjoy fully after a hard rain. Instead, she was surrounded by towering figures of stone and clay, roads that chorused hundreds of hooves at the same time, ponies dressed in the fanciest robes that used to be reserved strictly for the princesses, and definitely no homes that simply wanted her as their guest. Her hooves came around her as she touched the ground. Sunset heard the clamor just before she got there. In the middle of one of the small squares of commerce was a patch of ice and fog. She couldn’t see Twilight, but she assumed that the wraith was hiding herself. Damnit! I was going to keep her to the back alleys and outskirts, but she simply got away too fast. She swallowed hard, her brain pumping as hard as it could to figure out how to get Twilight out of there without anyone knowing the truth. A blast a radiant white light filled the square as Celestia appeared over the origin of the ice. For a brief moment, Sunset saw Celestia use an aura to pull something underneath one of her wings and she sighed in relief as the princess spoke. “I’m sorry everypony. Just like with the freezing pipes, the cold magics being studied in the academy are being extremely temperamental right now, so you simply have to bear with me. I am attempting to fix the controls, but new spells can always cause problems, something I hope you all can understand.” Almost nopony there had even heard most of the speech as they were too busy trying to kiss the ground at almost terminal velocity. Sunset stayed until everyone was gone before trotting up to Celestia. “Is she okay?” Celestia nodded. “I told her telepathically to go and return to her books. She simply got over eager and then overwhelmed, that was all.” She watched as her pupil looked away and shook her head as she lifted Sunset’s head. “I know you would have been careful, but I knew this might happen due to her nature, not yours, okay?” Sunset brushed the hoof away and sighed. “I…I, I have reading to get done. Will I see you tomorrow, princess?” Celestia kept her tongue in cheek, but knew better then to force Sunset to share. “Of course you will. Have fun.” Once her student was gone, she teleported back to Twilight, who was under her bookfort. She looked in the small hole. “Are you okay?” Twilight glanced up. “Yeah, yeah I think so.” She felt her worries lift slightly and saw Celestia’ horn glowing. “Thanks.” “Anytime my young pony. I do hope you know we had the best intentions by showing you the town.” Twilight nodded. “I know, promise. Just, in that moment, it dawned on me that I know this is Equestria, I know you’re a princess, but that is about where my knowledge ends. I probably don’t even know all there is to know about me anymore or what I am!” She grew silent for a few moments before looking back up. “It scares me Celestia.” She reached in with an aura cloaked hoof and brushed it against Twilight’s face. “Don’t worry. You’ll learn at your own pace, and you’ll probably even teach to some degree. Though, if you absolutely need an answer,” Celestia paused as she teleported a book from her bedroom and slid it through the fortress hole, “that book holds all current knowledge on wraiths, but make sure that you only read it when you absolutely must, and not a moment sooner. The things you may find in there, they may scare you more then you already are.” For a moment Twilight considered opening it up right then and there, but the princess was so nice and patient. No, you should listen to her this time. She hunkered down into her current book after putting the guide underneath one of the piles. Just as Celestia was about to go though, she looked out with puppy dog eyes. “Can you please not leave yet? I… I wouldn’t mind some company.” Celestia smiled and nodded, knowing Kibitz was going to have a fit when she got back, and not caring at all as her hoof touched Twilight through the hole.