Tempest in a Teapot

by SparlightTwarkle

Chapter 1

The sun ascended over the horizon, its rays spilling through the dusty window of an old castle bedroom. In its bed lay a lavender coated alicorn mare, twisting and turning with her eyes shut close and her covers tightly wrapped around her like a cocoon. The light spilled around the room as the sun went further up, until it reached the alicorn’s eyelids.

Twilight Sparkle’s eyes shot open, fixed to the roof above her, studying every crack and stain. She was perfectly still, not even daring to breathe. Could she even breathe with such a heavy sensation on her chest?

A nightmare. The feeling of sadness and fear lingered in Twilight’s heart and the darkness still plagued her vision. No matter how much she tried, Twilight could not remember what the nightmare was about. The increasing temperature of the room motivated her to put the dream in the back of her mind and work on disentangling herself from her covers.

Then, she stood up from the bed and stretched, taking a deep breath only to sneeze and cough afterwards. Right, this room was old, unkempt and dusty. In the past, she had fallen asleep in a fair share of dusty libraries with little side effects, but this was a whole new level of dusty. There were layers of it and even spider webs on the old furniture. Twilight just wanted to get out of here. She had yet to decide if she only meant the room or the whole formerly abandoned castle.

She walked to the vanity, blowing away some spider webs and dust from the mirror. With her magic, she took a brush from her saddlebags and quickly combed her unkempt mane. She then stretched her sleepy wings and scrunched up her nose at how messy her feathers were. Twilight didn’t have much time for preening, but she plucked out a few interfering feathers and smoothed out others.

Judging from the horrible taste in her mouth her breath was unbecoming of a princess and more proper for a dragon, but she doubted the old decrepit place even had any water running. So as she levitated her regalia out of her saddlebags, she also took two of the many mint candies Pinkie had slipped in without her knowing and put them in her mouth.

Twilight looked at the slippers, then at her hooves, then at the crown. No. Just no. It had been months, maybe a year since her coronation, but she still felt uncomfortable with those things on her. The difference was that by now it wasn’t too much about not wanting to seem better or superior to others, but that the things were troublesome and heavy.

Maybe it was okay to just be "Twilight Sparkle", instead of Princess Twilight Sparkle, while she stayed at this castle. A mare who just read all day in her library and loved mysteries and adventure with her friends. That unicorn she used to be still lived in her heart, she just didn’t have as many opportunities to show up as much as before, and now was perfect. It had been one of the two reasons she had accepted Princess Celestia’s invitation. There was a mystery to solve, a chance for Princess Twilight to be just Twilight again.

After sprinkling some perfume over herself, she happily trotted out of the room. The halls were decent-looking despite the cracks on the old, lifeless walls and Twilight could see some dust being lifted from the dark carpet with each hoofstep. It may have looked better in its prime, beautiful, luxurious, and majestic, but now it had a different kind of beauty to it. Twilight felt this castle was a book with a story to tell.

But then Twilight felt a chill running up her spine. Her light canter became a slow walk as Twilight nervously glanced around her. She swore she heard voices, but there was nothing behind her, or no one next to her. In moments like these, she wished Spike was with her. Twilight wasn’t sure if she wanted to read this book’s story anymore.

This had been the reason for the three princess’s visit to the castle. Lord Talonhart, who according to Luna was an enormous, powerful and imposing dragon, had moved in not too long ago with his servant. He had reported some paranormal activity, angry spirits who couldn’t, and some wouldn’t willingly, pass on to the afterlife. There was very little known about ghosts or spirits in general and only alicorns had the power and knowledge to deal with them.

At first, Twilight had been skeptical and confident that there was some other, more logical explanation to these phenomena, but the princesses seemed certain and serious about these being ghosts. On top of that, just in her first night in the castle she already felt the problem in her bones. Twilight shuddered thinking of when she had to explore the rest of the castle.

A different kind of chill went up her spine when she remembered she had yet to meet Lord Talonhart and she was not appropriately dressed for the occasion. To top it off, she was already standing right in front of the grand dining hall door.

Twilight groaned and shook her head. This castle was messing with her brain. Princess Celestia was going to be so disappointed, oh that look in her eyes Twilight still dreads even as an adult, powerful alicorn princess. That look she reserved particularly for her, filled with sadness and regret…

Or Princess Luna’s coldness and anger. She was usually a surprisingly warm, though quiet, pony. A great listener, and she would give honest opinions and personal anecdotes to back it up. She was an amazing storyteller, and whenever Twilight was with her she felt… safe, as if she wouldn’t judge her, but just reflect her with those crystal clear eyes of hers. Luna was a great friend and protected Twilight from everything but the truth.

But when she a nerve… the safety was gone. She couldn’t help but feel naked and abandoned. And you could see nothing more than a pathetic pony in that pair of mirrors that were Luna’s eyes.

Twilight sighed and rubbed her temple with a hoof. There was no helping it, no delaying the inevitable. With her magic, she opened the noisy wooden doors and strode in with a face that expressed nothing but indifference.

To her surprise, she only saw Princess Luna sitting at the far side of the table with a cup of tea and two books in front of her. Her teal eyes were fixed on Twilight as she entered with a much more relaxed posture and expression.

“Good morning, Twilight.” Princess Luna warmly greeted her with a nod and a smile.

“Good morning, Luna.” Twilight sweetly smiled back, glad to have found her instead of anyone else. She sat next to her, shifting uncomfortably since the silence had settled between them once Luna returned to her books. Before Twilight could begin looking for things to say, Luna spoke up.

“How was your night?” It was an ironic question considering who it came from.

“It was… unnerving.” Twilight tried and failed to suppress a shudder as she tried to remember her nightmare, only to be met with those sickening sensations. Her eyes were glued to the table in pure horror and her brows furrowed. A freshly served cup of tea was shoved into her field vision and Twilight looked up just in time to see Luna place the teapot back on the table.

“I tried my best, but I couldn’t do much. It is best if you don’t try to remember what you dreamed.” Luna said with a serious and somewhat sad smile, her eyes never leaving the text. Something gave Twilight the impression that Luna had stayed awake for a considerable part of the night, but there was nothing physical that could prove it.

“Yes. Th-thank you.” Twilight said, knowing what Luna had meant. “So, what are you reading?”

“Some modern material about ghosts and spirits. Paranormal matters in general. You should also take a look, tonight we will begin what we came here for.” Luna levitated the second book that rested closed on the table towards Twilight. “Here. There really isn’t much recent detailed information that is not the product of some silly fantastical speculation.”

“Alright. I’ll be sure to read this carefully.” Twilight studied the cover and its title. How could they be so certain it was about ghosts? Old Twilight would've laughed at the idea, but after everything she had experienced and faced, her mind was much more accepting. She opened the book and began reading its first words. However, something kept her from focusing no matter how many times she went over the first sentence. “Where is Celestia and Lord Talonhart?”

“We won’t be seeing them until later today. Around supper. Old friends catching up.” Luna closed her book and sipped on her tea. “I was never too close to him, but we do owe him a favor.” Sensing that a story was coming, Twilight closed her book and gave Luna her full attention.
Luna rustled her wings and poured herself more tea. Twilight realized she had been neglecting hers and began to discreetly drink as much as she could.

“It happened long ago.” Luna continued. “Discord had been taken care of, the nations were going back to normal, slowly rebuilding and recuperating. Of course, we had been credited for the wellbeing of Equestria and beyond.” Levitating her cup, she stood from the table and began walking around the room. “Our troubles were far from over. Some envied our glory and power, though at the time it was more… Celestia’s glory and power.”

Twilight fidgeted nervously in her seat, watching Luna with worry. She wasn’t sure what she was listening to or witnessing, but she had to be careful and trust that Luna knew what she was saying.

“We were exhausted from our confrontation with Discord, but we had no time for rest. Taking the kingdom’s reigns was something that could not be delayed; the longer the kingdom went on without a leader, the more chances there were for another disaster to happen, like outsiders wanting to take advantage of Equestria’s potential and attacking in a moment of weakness. And… it did happen.” Luna brought the cup to her lips only to realize she had long since drank the whole thing, so she simply let it rest on the table.

“The kingdom got invaded again. Groups of individuals of various races tried to lead it to downfall by… eliminating us. Lord Talonhart was part of this group, but then he had a change of heart after meeting Celestia.”

“Did they…?” Twilight asked with cheeks flushed red. Luna paused her walking, turned to look at her with a raised brow and her eyes slightly widened in realization. Serenity returned to her posture and features and she nonchalantly poured herself more tea, looked ahead and answered.

“Maybe.” And took a sip of tea. “Anyway, he believed both me and Celestia would make great rulers. So he stopped the riots using some convincing and everything went back to normal. Or at least as normal as it could get.”

“Well… he sounds like a nice dragon.” Luna snorted and rolled her eyes.

“He is a grumpy old bastard. Only a fresh young face will pull a smile out of that scaly shell.” Her eyes scanned the landscape outside of the window. The castle was located at the outskirts of Equestria, not too far to the north or south. Beyond the trees and grass the ocean stretched infinitely, the morning sun’s reflection being distorted by the waves. “I do not blame him. Backstabbing was a hobby. Lord Talonhart considers tea a better company-“

“Watch out!” Luna turned, gasped and ducked, only to find Twilight struggling with all her might to keep the flying teapot from hitting the window behind Luna. Whatever force was pulling, or pushing, the teapot nearly surpassed that of Twilight’s telekinetic abilities, but it soon gave up.

Twilight, still gasping and sweating, slowly and carefully placed the teapot on the table and reluctantly released it. Both princesses seemed to hold their breaths, waiting for something to happen. But it didn’t, much to their relief.

“Looks like whatever ghost is in here doesn’t like tea.” Twilight said with a nervous giggle at the end. Her comment was meant to be a joke to break the ice, a bad one, but Luna seemed to be seriously pondering her statement while still sitting on the floor.

“It doesn’t have to be a single entity.” Princess Luna stood up and took the book she had been reading for the table. Before leaving the dining room she turned once more to Twilight. “You should study as much as you can before tonight. I will meet you before sunset at the gardens. Lord Talonhart’s servant will take you there.”

“Understood.” Luna closed the door behind her, leaving an echo in the room that lingered for a second or two.

That was all the time Princess Twilight Sparkle stayed in the dining room before realizing she was by herself in a possibly haunted castle and admitting she was terrified. She ran from the room before any more teapots could fly towards anypony else.

Comments

[Dragon of Shadows]

decent story so far

[lillytheomegawolf]

Interesting start.
I had spotted this story some time ago and left it thinking it was a dead one... but...
Since this has recently seen updates, I think I'll continue reading once I have a bit more time.