//------------------------------// // Table for One // Story: The Price of a Smile // by Trick Question //------------------------------// As Twilight exited Luna's chamber, she noticed it was already early evening. "All that stupid, useless writing," she said to herself, frowning. "Well, I'm sure the Office of Equestrian Records will let me in whenever I please." At that moment, she noticed a guard approaching her, and realized she'd been talking to herself out loud. "Sorry, too much on my mind," Twilight said to the guard, with a blush. "Not a problem, Princess," said the guard as he passed, nervously avoiding eye contact with Twilight. For a brief moment, Twilight worried about the Visitors, but the whole thing seemed so surreal, in retrospect. Maybe they weren't real, or maybe they were an effect of the underlying problem rather than a cause. She'd start seeing imposters everywhere if she let her imagination get the best of her. Twilight Sparkle had a few hours to kill before bedtime, so she decided to go out to eat by herself before visiting the OER. She knew of an upscale restaurant with a private area where she wouldn't be disturbed or gawked at. "Whenever you're ready," said the waitstaff, as she seated Twilight just inside the entrance to the private alcove. Twilight ordered a light salad and a glass of wine. Just one glass to take the edge off, she thought. She silently cursed herself as she realized her eyes might be puffy from the crying. She hadn't even bothered to look in a mirror first. If Rarity were here, she'd never have let something like this happen, Twilight knew. Rarity was always going the extra mile to help her be the best she could be, even though Twilight wasn't a typical princess by any standard. At the thought of her unique and generous friend, Twilight smiled her first genuinely-happy smile of the day. Being here by herself felt awfully lonely. The sooner I can break the lid on this mystery, thought Twilight, the sooner I can share it with my friends. Then we'll save Equestria once again and life will return to normal, without all these secrets and lies. Twilight's attention was interrupted by an earth mare sitting down at the only outside table Twilight could see from the private room. It was near the entrance, and reasonably close. The waitstaff clearly hadn't directed the mare to that table, knowing the Princess of Friendship was dining alone. Twilight thought about calling her waitress and asking her to move the other mare, but decided that would seem rude. Then she accidentally made eye contact with the mare, and so Twilight smiled politely. The mare seemed surprised and quickly averted her gaze. A minute later, Twilight's waitress arrived with her order. "Princess, we'll move her right now. She says she's waiting on friends to arrive," whispered the waitress. "Oh! No, don't bother. She's not hurting anypony," said Twilight. "Are you sure?" "Positive." Another smile, this one not-so-genuine. As she picked at her salad, polished off her wine, and pondered a second glass, Twilight thought about the Office of Equestrian Records. For all she knew, the tinfoil hat pony—whose name she couldn't remember, since it wasn't Screwball Nutjob—was the one who'd slipped her the note. Additionally, the OER contained an overwhelming amount of information. It would have to be something obvious, or the note would have been pointless. Not very promising, thought Twilight. Nonetheless, she resolved to do some research there before bed. She looked up and saw the mare again, but this time safely within her peripheral vision. Might as well keep the habit up, thought Twilight. Maybe someday I'll actually notice one of these Visitors for myself. Twilight Sparkle's back suddenly stiffened, and she felt an adrenaline rush. The mare had just changed! Mane color, manestyle, and coat color. There was a very subtle shimmering effect when it happened, not at all like a changeling's transformation. Don't let her see me, thought Twilight. She reached for her glass of water and took a large gulp, swearing off anything harder for the rest of the evening. The mare was staring at her. It was such an intense stare that Twilight could sense it in her peripheral vision. It took a moment for her to realize that the slithering sensation against her thoughts wasn’t just her imagination. The Office. Something about the Office was bugging her. It felt almost like she was losing her place in a book. Oh, Dear Celestia no. She's taking my memories! It was just the office, but it was slipping away. With lightning-quick retroduction, Twilight concluded the manipulation was likely linguistic, and her brain went into autopilot. Hide it. Hide the letters. Hide OER. Numbers are too slow. Use pictures. Cipher it. Luna's cipher! Twilight grabbed the letters in her imagination and twisted them, then held them fast... OER. OER. OER. Wait... Why am I imagining a ciphertext OER, thought Twilight? Twilight could see the mare smiling as she stood up and walked away. That was a Visitor, she realized! It tried to erase OER from my mind, and it almost succeeded. And then she knew the truth. That's why Princess Luna forced me to practice the cipher! Twilight exhaled deeply, and wondered how long she'd been holding her breath. "Check, please?" called Twilight. There was no time to waste. Provided, she thought, I can figure out what the buck OER means.