The Letter
A rumble passed through the ground beneath Sunset, the sudden movement making her startle and stumble backwards off of her stool, landing with a grunt of surprise and pain. Alarm took over her face as she righted herself, but as suddenly as it had come, the tremor passed. Another ground-quake... From upstairs she heard a familiar cry of frustration and decided to check on her host, leaving behind the kitchen and her culinary experiment (not that she meant to tell Twilight or Spike about it--she'd already wasted half the eggs and a positively unseemly amout of flour and other assorted spices).
In her bedroom the alicorn was grumpily replacing unshelved tomes and picking up stacks of papers and scrolls simultaneously while still managing to sit on her bed and sulk as she stared out the window, apparently without effort. An overturned vial and a puddle of ink rapidly seeping into the rug on the floor explained Twilight's ire; upon further inspection there seemed to be a sizable black splotch on Twilight's forelimbs and chest. Sunset wasn't quite able to suppress a giggle, covering her mouth with her hoof.
“Trying a new look?”
“Ha. Ha ha ha.” Twilight deadpanned, finally hopping off her bed and making for the washroom while the unicorn trailed behind, a grin on her face. “Now I'm gonna have to rewrite that entire page and half of another...”
“Yeah, you can't use a cleaning spell on ink and parchment.” Sunset mused. “It's honestly too bad, it would've saved a lot of trouble when I was still taking classes.”
The alicorn excused herself to go wash up while Sunset went back downstairs to resume her food science (and it was definitely science, she told herself, not just screwing around; after all, she was writing things down). She was nearly to the double-door when a knock at the primary entrance caught her attention.
Sunset pulled open a door to find a pale violet unicorn filly with a soft yellow mane waiting for her. “Er...can I help you?”
The filly nodded and produced a letter from her saddlebag, her golden magical field replaced the cyan of Sunset as she flipped the envelope over. “Mail for Twilight...?” She blinked. “Wait a minute. Aren't you a bit young to be delivering mail, miss?”
The filly nodded. “Yes. Yes, I am.” And with that she trotted off, humming a little tune as she skipped down the the road.
Sunset briefly considered calling after her, but at this point she was inured to the strangeness of Ponyville. Most of the time, anyway. She closed the door behind her and walked to the kitchen as she examined the envelope; it had a distinct smell to it, like burnt metal. There was something inside besides a letter; an irregularly shaped object of some variety. She held it up to a window to try to see through it, but the envelope was just too thick. It was sealed with wax, but she couldn't recognize the design of the stamp; what worried her the most was that it was blank. There was no return address on the side, and the destination address was noted in an angular, efficient script as 'The Castle in Ponyville.'
The unicorn frowned. This was definitely suspicious, no matter how she looked at it. She went to break the seal on the envelope, a partially remembered containment spell around it, but hesitated at the last second. Would Twilight really be okay with her opening her mail? Especially without asking? Sure it was a sketchy package, but this was still an invasion of privacy (and also a federal offense in the human world, as she recalled). She considered for just a moment...and then she shrugged and cracked the seal, dumping the contents on the counter.
A small, smooth chunk of stone clattered on the polished surface, tumbling out over a sheaf of parchment. The amber mare fixed the stone in place with a small barrier, scrutinizing it closely. The roughly blade-shaped rock was glassy and black, its dark surface seeming to drink in light around it. If Sunset hadn't known any better, she'd guess it was some kind of obsidian. In any case, there didn't seem to be an lingering magical effects on it, so she decided to leave it be while she examined the letter that came with it.
“To Princess Twilight Sparkle,
The Royal Geological Survey has discovered a curious upwelling of what appears to be magically charged volcanic glass barely ten kilometers east of the San Palomino Desert! It displays unusual properties and reacts wildly to arcane energies, but without being able to access the mother lode, we are unable to determine its usefulness or potential for danger. It seems to have been brought upward by the recent spat of seismic activity the country has been experiencing, and thus is untapped and ripe for investigation!
The lode itself is on property owned by a one Igneous Rock, who has thus far been unresponsive to our requests for a permit to examine the stones themselves. While it pains us to use roundabout methods, we hope that, as a close friend of one of the Pie family, you might be able to speak to him on our behalf, or failing that, examine the stone yourself and provide us with a detailed account. You will of course be compensated for your time and trouble!
Looking forward to hearing from you, Surveyor Crystal Chronicle (RGS)”
Sunset put the letter down, looking back to the shard of rock on the counter. It didn't seem any kind of volatile...still, the RGS had been known for being sensible and to the point as a group during her time, so there was probably something to it.
Now she just had to figure out how to tell Twilight that she went and opened her mail without her permiss--
“Oh, did you get a letter, Sunset?”
Damnation.
“Uh...well, yes.” Sunset stated, moving the letter behind her as she hurriedly faced her lavender host, fresh from scrubbing. She noted that there still seemed to be faint discoloration on Twilight's coat, but discarded it in light of the current situation. “And no.”
“...that's not confusing at all.” Twilight stated, eyes narrowing.
They stared at each other for a few minutes, the unicorn sweating and the alicorn's scrutiny intensifying. Sunset broke first.
“Alright, I opened a letter without you.”
“You WHAT?”
The amber mare cringed at the volume, bringing the letter back around to show to Twilight while also lifting up the envelope. “It was addressed to the Castle, not you specifically!” Her face twisted into a grimace as she realized just how flimsy a defense that was. Sure enough the alicorn fixed her with a look of recrimination before skimming the letter herself. Her expression changed from castigation to interest, brow furrowing as she came to the end of the missive.
“Volcanic glass...? I wonder if Princess Celestia knows about this.”
“Why wouldn't she?” Sunset asked, raising an eyebrow. “It is the Royal Geological Society, so they get their funding from the crown. Crowns.”
“Yeah, but...I don't know. I guess I thought she would've notified us herself of something like this?” Twiligh sounded mildly put out to the unicorn, who shrugged.
“Maybe she didn't see it as something worth troubling you over. In any case, what're you gonna do? If this Igneous Rock guy isn't keen on Royal surveyors on his land, how does the RGS expect you to fare any better? You know, being actual royalty and all that?”
“Oh, that's probably not an issue. Igneous Rock is Pinkie Pie's father; I'll ask her if she can help us. I could use the extra spending money.” Twilight remarked, eye drawn to the shard of glass on the counter. “This is the sample they sent?”
Sunset nodded, “Yep. It was part of the reason I opened the letter without you....” At Twilight's irritably doubtful expression she continued, “Honest! You've got to have made some enemies in the process of doing all the good you have, and a letter with no return address is suspicious no matter how you look at it! What if it had been cursed or something?”
“So you would've just been the first victim, Sunset.” The alicorn chastised, voice less angry and more exasperated.
“I was careful! I had it in a containment field the whole time before I decided it was safe to let go. In any case better a failure than a Royal gets hit with whatever it could've been, Princess of the Realm!” Sunset finished with a dry chuckle. Her laugh died on her lips when she noticed Twilight's stricken face. “...what?”
“Just...never mind. We're gonna have to work on that.” Twilight muttered to herself, waving a hoof as she turned back to the stone. “...I guess I appreciate what you were trying to do, but I still wish you hadn't opened it without asking me. Just for that you're carrying the bags.”
“I'm doing what now?” Sunset responded, perplexed.
“You're coming with me to talk to Pinkie for a bit, and then we're gonna go see about this lode.”
The unicorn bristled. “Hold on a second! You can't just decide for me what I'm gonna--” she quieted as Twilight waved the opened envelope in front of her, face flat. “....alright, fine. But if I'm helping, we split the consultation fee fifty fifty.”
“Seventy-five to twenty-five.”
“Fifty-five fourty-five, Sparkle. Take it or leave it.” Sunset narrowed her eyes; Earth's Twilight didn't do well with quick ultimatums, and her bet that Equestria's Twilight also didn't paid off nearly immediately as the alicorn started to sweat.
“F-fine. Fifty-five fourty-five. In my favor!” She interjected at the end loudly.
“We'll see, Princess.” Sunset turned to go upstairs to pack her things, privately all a-giggle. Haggling was a private pleasure of hers. It was all about psychology and reading the other pony and if there was one thing Sunset considered herself pretty good at, it was getting a bead on other pony's dispositions. When she got to her room, she took a moment to glance at herself in the mirror and grinned.
“I still got it! Ha ha ha...” She resolved to volunteer for shopping duty on Saturday. The market wouldn't know what hit 'em.
Strangely enough, they found Pinkie Pie waiting for them outside the front door (though at this point Sunset perversely wondered if she would've been more surprised if the cotton-candy maned mare hadn't been waiting for them). Twilight had hardly opened her mouth when the baker seized them both, pressing their cheeks together in an uncomfortably tight huddle, her mouth going a mile-a-minute.
“Twilight, Shimmy! My dad wrote me a letter saying there was this weird rock growing in the quarry that he's never seen before and Maud's too busy at school to come help! My dad's seen like, every rock ever! All the rocks! All of them.” She stared hard at the other two mares, who both forgot their discomfort at being pressed together only to trade it for the unnerving, piercing blue stare of the earth pony.
“W-weh, Hinkie--” Sunset began, words distorted by her face being squished, only for Pinkie to cut her off with another line of intense chatter.
“We need to go look at the rock, Twilight! What if it's a super evil rock that's made of ornery licorice! Ornery licorice is the WORST--well, technically despair licorice is the worst kind, BUT THAT'S BESIDES THE POINT!” She paused, suddenly scrutinizing the two mares she had in an unwilling huddle. “...where're you two going, anyway?”
“Weh wer--” Sunset finally lost patience and shook herself loose from Pinkie's horribly strong grip before continuing. “We were actually coming to see you. We--I-I mean, Twilight just got a letter about that same rock, and she figures we might as well check it out since its your family and all. Right?” She glanced at the alicorn, who nodded in confirmation.
“That's correct. So, since you're already here, how fast can you be prepared to go? The sooner we make sure it's safe, the better.”
Pinkie made to leave, flexing into a comical pose as though she were mid-stride (in a manner mysteriously bipedal to Sunset's great surprise), but froze before taking off. She instead looked from unicorn to alicorn, back and forth several times before coming to a rest and stroking her chin thoughtfully, brow furrowed as she made a no-doubt very genuine 'hmmm'. Sunset and Twilight glanced at each other, brows raised in mirrored expressions of confusion.
After a deeply worrisome moment of scrutiny, Pinkie nodded with a final 'hmph!', seemingly satisfied. “...the thing is, I've got a lot of orders today! Can you two go look into this for me?”
“Pardon?” Sunset blurted, taken aback.
“Yeah, there's a TOOOON of orders for...uh, a big party.”
“For whom, Pinkie?” Twilight blinked. “Did I miss a birthday? I was pretty sure I had them all listed on my calendar; it's only the middle of July...”
“It's for...uh, a thing in Appleloosa! Yep!” Pinkie definitely didn't sound like she'd just settled on that right then, Sunset thought dryly. “You two should get going or you're gonna miss the next train! Here's a letter for Daddy so he knows what's going on! Go on, now! Go GO GOGOGO!” She began pushing and shouting, the two mares suddenly instinctually taking off at top speed for the station (even if they weren't sure why they were).
It wasn't until they were on the train, sweaty and panting, that they finally had a moment to catch their breaths.
“....wait...a...minute...” Sunset huffed out, shaking sweat from her head (and offending a nearby passenger). “Why...didn't we just...teleport?”
“I...didn't...think of it!” Twilight was perhaps more exhausted, stumbling to a seat and plopping down with a mighty sigh. Sunset clambered up into a seat opposite the alicorn and wiped her brow again, opening the window so she could get a breeze over herself. She sat quietly for a moment before she noticed the alicorn across from her fanning her wings on herself gently. The lavender mare was winded, breathing steadily, chest expanding and contracting with a slowly decreasing rhythm, muscles Sunset knew unicorns didn't have flexing over her ribs. Most interesting was her face, flushed and still a bit sweaty, framed by damp locks of mane that clung to her cheeks and covered her eyes. If Twilight noticed, she paid them no mind as she leaned on one hoof by the window, trying to absorb as much of the air flow as she could.
Sunset found a new kind of warmth in her own countenance as she hurriedly looked away. She opened her bag, rummaging through it quickly to find something to focus on and not steal glances at Twilight, who seemed to be approaching a calm, with the redness of exertion starting to fade from her face only to be replaced with a sort of satisfied serenity that one only got after a good workout--where was that book.
“Sunset?” The mare leaned up, hurriedly trying to look casual.
“Y-yeah? What's up, Twi?”
“...Are you okay?” The lavender mare inquired, all concern and sweetness. Damn that kindness! Sunset internally swore, the violet eyes of her host boring into her. “You're still very flushed. Maybe you're not as in-shape as you thought?” Twilight teased, a musical giggle on her lips.
“Y-yeah! Maybe I need to get out more, haha...”
“Come over here, let me help you cool off.” Sunset felt gravity betray her as she was lifted to the opposite bench magically, an indignant reply cut off by a refreshingly cool wave of air hitting her damp fur. It took her a moment to realize that the alicorn was using a wing to fan her, much as she'd done for herself. She blinked, looking at Twilight, who was smiling with one eye closed as she worked. Is she flirting with me? Sunset found herself utterly stunned.
Sunset went to protest, but found another voice in her mind tamping her independence down in favor of allowing this (admittedly very nice) treatment to continue, thank you very much. She meekly responded, “Th-thanks,” the wind doing nothing to still the fire in her face.
Where did Twilight pick up THIS kind of smoothness?
Back at the castle, Spike found himself taken aback at the silence of the halls after his long morning out playing with the neighborhood foals. A quick search produced neither of his housemates, but in Twilight's room he found a few letters hastily tucked into her desk. This sloppiness was concerning; she almost never did anything in a disorderly manner. He had better fix it...but what if they weren't meant to be seen? He hesitated; she wouldn't like that he was messing with her private correspondence...but curiosity got the better of him and he pulled them out, if only to neaten them.
Immediately, he recognized the gentle, wispy script of his 'sister-in-law'. He gave the letter a quick once over, his face split by a grin that culminated in a cackle as he pumped his little fist. Carefully, he put the letter back and scurried down to the kitchen; he had WORK to do.
It was only when he got to kitchen and discovered an unholy mess that his rush was killed. Pots and pans, dirtied. Sloppy, scrawled notes, a waste bin with numerous acrid-smelling concoctions, flour dust everywhere...this wasn't Twilight's neat, angular textbook writing. These were scratchy, written with speed, not cleanliness in mind. There could be only one culprit. He raised both fists to the sky and roared.
“SHIMMERRRRRRRRRRR!!!”
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Since when did Twilight and Sunset get married?
And on that grim dark day, Spike realized he would forever be left cleaning up messes for unicorns.
7267698 um... they didn't. What are you talking about?
Will the Sirens appear in this story?
7267749 think he is referring to the sister in law bit that , even though they are not married. In which we could assume spike stated it like that due to the way the two behave with each other and that sunset lives with twi that he kinda sees it going in that direction.
Did I mention I love twi/sunset ships <33
7268065 They have already!
7268075 See, now...think. Who would be 'sister-in-law' to Spike as of right now? Somebody who'd be maybe be related to Twilight explicitly through marriage...? I assure you, Sunset and Twilight are not married in this story.
Yet.
Hey, has anypony seen Perry?...
7268459 Soooo, Whatcha doin'?
Certainly not the first story about SS wandering back to Equestria to live with Twilight, but I can't think of any others offhand that handle the concept so well.
Just what I was looking for.
7279578 I'm glad you're enjoying the story! I hope you continue having fun as we go.
7284377 I had to get that on paper before I forgot, man. In the name...of
shippingcomedy.A good chapter for an awesome story.
Changelings? Something feels fishy, regardless. And somehow, I get the feeling Sunbutt is going to get pissy about this trip, too.
Regardless, Pinkie has the right of it: a licorice rock would be bad news; best take care of that.
Hmm, this black rock reminds me of the shards that were popping up with Sombra. I hope not, cause I hate Sombra.
7268075 Twi was writing to Cadence for some love advice, lol.
Fair warning: I may have gotten a bit zealous in my scrutiny this chapter. Take the wall of corrections with a grain or two of salt.
Two things. First, small error: it should read "replaced by the cyan of Sunset," as the current wording has the action in reverse. Second, the use of pronouns like "her" and "she" referring to more than one person in the same sentence reads badly and can be confusing. Just a thought.
Methinks you meant "ourselves."
*Twilight
Double spaces galore
*it's
I didn't mean to be so persnickety this chapter, I'm so sorry
You say you don't write Pinkie well, but thus far she's been pretty believable. Then again, I suppose most of her parts have been the shenanigans that ensue in her presence rather than actual conversational dialogue. Still, she seems pretty accurately (or at least believably) characterized, but I can't say I blame you for wanting to minimize her lines. She can be one tough pony to grasp.
The fluff though... The fluff, though~ I'm dead. Like... sprinting to the train and getting all flustered, Sunset getting re-flustered for a different reason (*cough*
Twilight with them sexy wing muscles*cough*), that smooth-ass wing move, I can't take it. I'm a babbling fool for this level of Sunlight.7268459
THIS GUY
Nice Star Trek ref!
All licorice is despair licorice.
Loving this story so far, even if T and S being completely oblivious to their mutual affections like this is a little painful to watch. Something Is Clearly Up with that portal, though, the way it keeps treating S. Very curious to learn more about that.
7760590
I did not realize until this moment that I love the darkly sweet taste of despair. Thank you for this epiphany.
I shall now become a dark alicorn of terrible majesty, reminiscent of Galadriel when tempted by the One Ring.
My dark reign of licoricey doom will all be thanks to you!
I am Nightmare Twizzler!
7882164
all hail nightmare Twizzler
loll
7269010
lol
7268065
this dude
i have no words
Bet that it's got something to do with the sirens