Student of the Night

by Nadir

A Return

Author's Note:

First, I'd like to apologize for both the delay and the short length of the chapter. It simply felt like a natural cut-off point. The next is both already written and a fair bit long, though I suppose the latter part doesn't matter that much.

Second, my editor is still not fully, nor do I know if he'll ever have enough time to edit as much as we used to. So, if anyone would like to volunteer, I would adore having some help X.X

That being said, edits are still being done, so if you'd like to read this in it's 'complete' form, I'll once again post when it's been edited and update the title with an [E] to reflect it. The earlier chapters get priority in that regard, however, so it may be a bit of time.

Finally, good news! The next two chapters are written (mostly) and shouldn't have anywhere near this delay. Once again, very sorry about it!

The rest of the day blurred together for Twilight. Studying took up the lion’s share, with just a few minutes for eating dinner. She read into the current political climate as best she could, scouring newspapers, devouring press releases and scanning through court notes. She searched for any hint she could find to piece together the puzzle of the court.

What she found did not please her.

Corruption ran deep. It was never directly pointed out, only ever noted in the margins of a page or in the footnotes of a legal document, but Twilight managed to spot it out in spades. A certain Fleur de Lis showed up a lot, whether it involved getting another of her cronies into the courts, or passing yet another law against the plebiscite of the empire.

And it never seemed bad at first glance. Just looking at it at face value, the laws looked solid to Twilight. Yet, the more insidious parts of them ran deep, deep enough that many who voted on them likely didn’t even understand the full implications of what the laws would do. Or, they understood and simply didn’t care about the consequences. Regardless, the end result meant that laws that looked like they would be beneficial to the lower districts ended up simply lining the nobles’ pockets with more coin.

One stood out in Twilight’s mind in particular: two years ago, a law passed to further the funding of the schools for the lower district. Nearly anypony could get behind that, unless they wanted to look heartless. Yet, as a conditional, the bits would feed through a committee, a committee made up of just nobles. This committee decided where the money went, who it went to, and when. As a follow-up, Twilight checked the financial reports for that committee. Nearly every single bit went to ‘administrative costs’, right into the nobles’ pockets.

The pattern repeated itself through different logs and laws, each as bad as the last. It left Twilight with a headache and a pile of frustration at the end of the day.

And yet, she believed she could fix it still. She had the ear of the Queen after all, if not her, then who, if not now, then when? Better yet, Luna had told her that she would start their lessons together the very next day, giving Twilight the perfect opportunity to start talking about her ideas. Oh, and Twilight had ideas. So very many ideas, though some of them required a little fine tuning. She wasn’t foolish enough to believe every idea she had was perfect, after all. But, just to pitch them to the Queen meant they’d be going towards a good place, and Luna could suggest her own improvements to each and every one.

On the outside, Twilight may have seemed a little cold, a little distant to some. But really, she cared deeply. Twilight tried her best to show it, but didn’t always succeed. Perhaps this could be her way of paying back. Perhaps this could be her way to show Matron and the others they meant something to her.

Or at least, so her hopes remained.

Unfortunately, the plan didn’t work out perfectly. Luna returned that night bearing tidings of ill winds and looking positively exhausted. She slumped on entrance to Twilight’s room, eyes barely able to stay open. Twilight guessed that goddesses would need sleep as well. So, their time that night was dreadfully short. A few quick sentences as Luna ate and nothing more, and those few sentences would also disappoint the young mare.

Their lesson tomorrow would not begin as planned.

Twilight winced when she first heard it, but truly she understood. Being the ruler of the nation left Luna little time, and an emergency meeting for floods in Trottingham meant business indeed. Far be it for Twilight to proclaim herself more important than thousands of flood victims. She would never be that selfish. And so, she would suffer as well for it. Luna’s tomorrow would be filled with meetings and public relations addresses instead.

Her first day at the castle blurred into the second. Sunny led her around once more, Luna appointing her as Twilight’s personal guard for the time being. The second day repeated the first nearly to a T, the same events rolling throughout. A breakfast - fortunately with no much too pretty mares this time- a lunch, dinner, and only studying in between. Sunny convinced her to take a little break at least, but once more Luna did not return until late that night.

Even more frustrating, Luna spared naught but a few minutes for her that night as well. Again, she looked tired, again the only thing she truly said meant their training would be put off another day. Again, Twilight spent the day studying and eating, with next to nothing in between. She considered visiting Shining or Sunset, but she figured that both of them would be busy. The two of them had their own lives to attend too, and probably need a bit of time to get settled in.

But with nothing else to do, and a guarantee from her guards that Luna wouldn’t return until the next morning, Twilight started to devise a plan. Apparently, Trottingham needed direct intervention from the Goddess of the Night, which left Twilight with a considerable amount of time of her own. Sunny had categorically denied her request to visit the lower cities, but that wouldn’t stop Twilight.

Since when had the rules stopped Twilight from leaving at night?

Twilight would seek guidance from the place that had always treated her right. She would return to her library, return to the place that started it all. Her mentor must be dying to speak to her by now. Twilight had to believe they would finally meet now that she was the Student of the Night, but her mentor hadn’t come forward. Perhaps, Twilight needed to go to her instead. She probably needed to go and collect her reward after all these years.

Twilight did need to prepare before hand. She excused Sunny with a few words and an explanation that she wished to retire early that night. Recently, she’d been up well past midnight, but now she sent Sunny away at barely nine. The orange mare acted perfectly understanding and left her alone with a parting smile. How couldn’t she be tired after the busy days, after all?

What a nice mare.

But rather gullible. Twilight readied herself for her trip, regretting she had yet to go out and buy new clothes. Luna provided her a stipend as Student, and one quite generous at that. She wouldn’t go hungry, and likely would never want for her own objects and playthings. The Queen left her with a seal to carry around, but Twilight hadn’t taken the break yet. Nor had she added the seal to her mother’s chain - it almost felt like sacrilege in some way. She’d need to get another for it.

To actually use her stipend, Twilight only needed to show the seal to a craftsman in the castle or upper districts. Each and every one of them knew the deal and who to charge for it. The lower city held no such guarantee, and Luna discouraged Twilight extensively from doing her business there. She could still go and spend her own bits, but the stipend wouldn’t cover that. Fortunately, the state also gave her a few physical bits, but she’d rather keep those for emergencies.

All of that was rather irrelevant considering she hadn’t yet used it. Instead, Twilight donned her old outfit, the breeches and cloak good enough for now. While they did smell absolutely atrocious, Twilight could bear it for the scant few hours she’d be out. She fastened the necklace from her mother around her throat as well, not daring to leave it behind unguarded. On came her two saddlebags, a flask of water and bread in one, and a few reference guides in the other, books that she could never go to the lower city library without.

In just a few minutes, Twilight readied and equipped herself to go. As an afterthought, she tied one of her clean handkerchiefs around her muzzle, both disguising herself and keeping the night’s miasma from her lungs. She’d never worried about that before, but why not start now?

With a deep breath, she pushed open the doors towards the balcony, letting herself watch over the city. Spotting the library was easy enough, but she would never be able to teleport that far. Teleportation was her only option for escaping, as no guard would let her pass into the lower districts at this time of night.

But what she could do was teleport to the edge of the district. From there, only a mile or so would separate herself from the library itself. She could handle that sort of walk, even if her normal commute to the library was half that size. She could handle it, after all, she had the experience.

First things first, however. Twilight took another deep breath, beginning to push the magic into her horn. Over the last couple of days, she’d practiced her teleportation spell a few times. Each attempt made things progressively easier, to the point where she only needed a minute or so to prepare it rather than nearly ten. Then again, she’d also never tried something this far away, her longest teleport only stretching from the bottom to the top of the tower so far. This one would be orders of magnitude larger, but she could adjust.

Twilight’s mouth set in a grim line. She needed to trust herself now. Any self doubt would simply lessen her chances of success, and Twilight couldn’t have that. She’d just achieved her dream, to throw her life away would be pure madness. She didn’t just think she would succeed, she knew she would with utmost certainty.

More magic forced its way into her horn, the glowing brightening all the while. Her first teleport had contained too much magic, but that much might actually be needed for a distance this long. She worked at thousands of yards away, not a dozen or so feet like before. Power would actually be needed to sustain the rift - sure, she would only be in it for a moment at the most, but fractions of a millisecond vastly changed the power requirements to keep it open. Every tenth of a millisecond longer doubled the power needed to keep the portal propped open.

Her first port had taken one tenth of a millisecond. This one would take five tenths of one, the power needed nearly thirty two times the original. The trip back would be tartarus on her horn, but she could certainly do it. That, or she could just get caught by one of the guards. They’d tell Luna, but she could lie and say she was simply wandering the grounds. Perhaps lying to the Queen would come back to haunt her, but truly this was nothing but a little white lie.

With another breath, her output leveled off, her magic starting to affix the runes in the air. Enough thinking of other things, she needed the concentration. Close, ever so close and.. There! The runes were done, perfectly written as best she could tell. With a great strain, she let her magic loose, the spell firing with a sharp pop.

One..

Two..

No visions this time. Good.

Three…

Four….

And five!

Twilight re-appeared in an alleyway between two hovels with a near silent crack. Stars spun in her eyes and her hooves clearly didn’t want to be underneath her own body anymore, but beyond that she made the journey intact. She let go of the breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding, relief flooding through her at the teleportation’s success. Step one, done.

Step two might be more dangerous still, she considered. The streets were always dangerous this time of the night between the plague, the plague doctors, and petty criminals. But she experienced this before. Some things, Twilight had to rely on her instincts for. She would not be deterred by a few issues such as ‘darkness’ or ‘danger’!

Twilight took the first few hesitant steps out from the alleyway. She peeked left, peeked right, spotting no pony, and not even the hint of movement. She didn’t expect many if any at all to be out this late. Precious few chose to brave the streets during this time, though those that did were often up to nefarious deeds.

The mare crept down the cobblestone streets, the sewers oddly quiet in this part of town. Yes, even now she could hear the dull roar emanating from beneath the streets, but it remained a dull roar rather than exploding out like it had near her home. Then again, this close to the walls of the upper districts, the sewers were probably better maintained. No nobles or rich merchants would want the acidic miasma spewing out near their house.

And her hypothesis was only confirmed as she walked on. The roar became louder the further she moved from the wall itself. Mentally, she began to count in her head, like she had so many nights before.

The first jolt. The stones shook beneath her, a tremor running through the ground hard enough to throw her against the empty storefront she walked beside. The first. Now she knew the timing again. Seventy three seconds to the next, like clockwork each and every time.

Time, time, time.

Thank the goddesses that her sense of time hadn’t deteriorated over the last few days. Her steps remained confident as always, despite the new path. As long as she could see the library in front of her, she didn’t need a map. Fortunately for her, somepony had designed these streets in a straightforward manner, a simple grid layout.

Seventy three seconds passed and she braced herself against the wall. The streets rumbled, the stones rupturing and letting the miasma flow into the air. Her eyes watered as the green gloom settled out, drifting back lower. She rarely ventured out this early - most of the time, the smog settled into the air itself by the time she left.

Yet now, it almost seemed more pungent, more vicious than before. The scent lingered in her nose, making her sneeze through her mask, globbing up disgusting fluids against her fur. She wrinkled her muzzle; perhaps the mask should have been left behind. But she didn’t have time for it now, she had sixty seconds to move before the next tremor would come. She didn’t want to remain out for long during this phase of the darkness. Twilight took her chance, surging forward, the mare’s quick pace making it several blocks before her time ran out.

Once again, she braced herself against a building edge as the rumbling began. Plumes of smoke erupted from the cobblestones, the foul-scented smog causing her to cough and sputter. She hadn’t remembered it being this bad; she hadn’t travelled this early for a reason. Later in the night, while still bad, the sewers settled out and became more tame, but tonight that wasn’t meant to be.

Water erupted next to her, tainted filth spewing out, splattering her with all kinds of viscera and filth. Her cloak took the brunt of it, keeping the disgusting mess from her tail and mane, though some did manage to filter onto her handkerchief. Thank the goddesses she had actually chosen to wear that tonight.

Yet, oddly, her mind ran faster than ever, magic flowing despite the long range teleport. She felt good. Perhaps she missed her nightly trips more than she realized.

Regardless, she had but fifty seconds this time, the geyser of water interrupting her progress. With a grunt, she sprinted forward, eyes roaming back and forth.

Ahead, a shadow lurked.

With widening eyes, Twilight dipped into the safety of an alleyway. Who could be out this time of the night? Surely no pony that would wish her well. Her eyes scanned the silhouette, searching for clues as to their intent. The curved beak of a plague doctor did not appear, something that brought no small measure of relief to Twilight. Criminals, muggers, robbers, and the like were bad, but they couldn’t hope to hold a candle to the horror of a plague doctor. A plague doctor wouldn’t just take your bits, they would take your very freedom and sanity. At least, if the rumors were to be believed, that is.

Twilight didn’t really have time to lose her mind right about now. The figure lurched in the streets, leaning against a wall for support just as another gurgle came from the sewers. Luckily, this one didn’t hold nearly the same power as the last, and only a few wisps for the miasma trailed from under the ground. Much more manageable. How did the other pony know though? Did he, like her, prowl the nights? She couldn’t tell.

Twilight squinted her eyes, barely peeking around the corner and relying on dark colored clothing to keep herself hidden. The stallion - for she could recognize it as a male now - looked bulky, well built. He clearly worked physically, something like a dockhand, or a miner.

Her fur stood up end to end as the figure prowled closer, his head darting left to right. Now that he moved closer, Twilight could barely make out the words that he muttered under his breath.

“..gonna kill it. Gonna kill itttt. They hide during the day, oh yes they hide! But at night, oh at night they’re mine!” A deep laugh followed, the stallion trotting ever closer to Twilight’s hiding place.

She bit her lip, trying not to concentrate on his rantings. Slow as she could be, she melted back into the alleyway, keeping to the shadows. The stallion crept by the entrance with agonizing slowness, each sound of his hoof somehow seeming closer and closer.

At least, for a while. Mercifully, his hoofsteps started to get quieter. Twilight breathed a sigh of relief - alone once again.

“Found you!” The box she hid behind shattered against the wall as a powerful buck sent it flying. The stallion’s face moved within inches of hers before she could react, giving her a perfect view of the horror under his hood.

Something awful had befallen his face. His eyes were tinted green, the iris’s nearly devoid of their original color. His muzzle was pock marked with scars, some of the cuts still oozing blood and a disgusting, revolting smelling pus. His ears twitched nervously with each movement, the tips of each of them nearly completely cut off. His nose even dripped onto her, staining her cloak with his gunk.

With a shriek, Twilight jerked back, but he already had a hoof hold on her clothing, his strength somehow overpowering despite his decrepit appearance. “O-oh! We’re gonna have some fun!” The stallion hissed, eyes narrowing into slits. He jerked at her cloak, but Twilight held fast with all her might.

Her eyes darted around in terror, searching for anything she could use to get herself out of this. She could.. She could magic something? She knew spells, knew combat spells even but-

He growled and yanked roughly again, the fabric actually ripping and sending the two diving away from each other. The poor fabric from her cloak bought her precious few seconds, but the stallion already began to recover, drawing a dagger from within the folds of his rags.

Twilight realized with a fresh shock of terror the end of it was already stained red with blood.

She took a wobbling, hesitant step backwards, trying to draw herself precious time to think. Teleporting like this would clearly be impossible. She could try and fight, but she hadn’t never fought a real fight before. One mistake and that would be the end of the Student of the Night. She just needed to buy time…

A crate sparked violet as she surrounded it with her magic, forcing it sideways and slamming into the side of the stallion. The force of the two combined sent them hurtling towards the wall, the stallion landing against it with a sick crunch and a scream.

Twilight took the opportunity, seizing the moment and sprinting as fast as she could from the alleyway. Just as she broke back into the street, the ground rumbled again with the fierce energy of the sewers. A plume of smoke and acid erupted behind her, close enough for her to feel the acid bite into her skin, sending sharp tingles of pain up her side.

Behind her, she could hear the howl of the rabid stallion, but she didn’t dare stop for anything. She sprinted as fast as she could, heart beating as fast as she’d ever felt it before. She needed to get away from the stallion, needed to escape.

Yet somehow, Twilight felt alive for the first time.

Her magic brimmed over in her horn, ready to be cast at a moment’s time. Adrenaline pumped through her veins, her body ready and willing to fight or run at less than a moment’s notice. Her eyes stayed wide, and despite the smog in the air, could see clear as day. It was almost like she was meant to be out here, like she needed this feeling in her life.

Several blocks later, Twilight finally started to slow. Her breath came expectedly heavy, but no hoof steps sounded behind her. Somehow, she’d managed to escape. The stallion hadn’t followed her, whether from injury or fatigue she didn’t know. Nor did she particularly care at the moment. She’d gotten away, she’d done it all on her own! No Shining, no Luna, no Sunset to protect her, just her and her magic! And it had worked wondrously, yes, there was a few minutes of worry, but she’d escaped and that was all that mattered.

Oh goddesses, she could have killed him! Or worse, he could have killed her! She lowered her head, still panting hard as she thought back.The stallion wanted to kill her - or something much, much worse. A single slip, a single accident or moment of hesitation and he would have finished her. What had she been thinking with coming down here this time of night? How foolish could she be! She risked it all, and for what? A little extra time in an old library?

But she had survived. She couldn’t think of what could have happened now. It would simply be a waste of time to-

The next shock caught her off guard, sending her sprawling against the rough cobblestones. She grunted, a whiff of the miasma flaring into her nostrils. She shuddered at the scent, horn buzzing with overflowing energy, the taint almost feeling like magic itself. Twilight shivered, the feeling leaving her just as quickly as it started. Where had that come from?

Regardless, the library lay just a block away. It would be a trivial distance to cross it before the next flare, so Twilight took her sweet time about it. Her eyes roamed across its visage, taking in its worn down surface. Somehow, it still felt like home. She would miss it in her days at the castle.

Twilight pressed her way in through the great double doors. Now, to look for what she came for. She needed some indication from her mistress, some indication of what to do. Surely her teacher would know what to do in this mess of a court. She just needed the extra instruction. And Twilight had plenty of the night to look around. She may not find her clue by tonight, but she would have a good start at the very least.

Twilight started with what remained of the legal section. Often times before, her mentor had left her hints in the areas related to what Twilight needed to know. In this case, she needed to know how the laws and courts worked, so it only made sense that her mentor would leave information there.

She looked for an hour or two, exhausting most of the usual haunts. Unfortunately, she didn’t manage to find hide nor hair of any clue left behind. Strange; Twilight had become fairly good at finding those clues, to not see one after a full hour in a section usually meant they weren’t there. That would be her first guess down, but she had other hunches to work on.

If her mentor didn’t want her to deal with the nobles, then perhaps somepony further up the chain. Luna would clearly be the most important pony she dealt with, so it only made sense that part of her learning would be about Luna. So, Twilight ventured over to the section on their dear Queen and Princess, on the evolution on how they earned the title and became who they were today.

Twilight had always been fascinated by the mysteries of the alicorns. So many things remained unknown about them. No pony knew where they came from, no pony knew how they became so powerful, no pony knew why they lived so long or why they possessed so much magic. And most of all, no pony could tell you how they became the rulers of Equestria in the first place.

Twilight, among others, believed that they simply created Equestria. It made sense; they’d been around longer than any recorded history, and who better to rule than immortal goddesses? Throughout the ages, various beliefs and temples cropped up in dedicated of the two, though most of them had been stamped out in recent ages. Only the church of the sun and moon worshiped still. And really, it should be called the “Church of the Sun” now with how much they neglected Luna.

Twilight pushed the pitying thoughts for her mentor from her mind. She searched through the tomes, looking for anything that would give her an advantage in the days to come. A few of the books interested her enough to bring with her, but beyond that, she couldn’t find a single note or clue from her teacher.

Twilight started to feel a little frustrated. Mentally, she checked the time: twelve at night. Plenty of time left to visit and look around— Plenty of time to snoop. The night’s clock ticking along would calm the sewers, a sort of eye of the storm if you will. As long as she left before four in the morning, she would be okay. The sewers roared all the louder to cleanse away the night’s filth.

Once Twilight waited too long and the sewers caught her. Never again.

Twilight sighed. The section on the alicorns proved no more fruitful than the section on law. Guesses swam through her mind, but she didn’t expect a single one to pan out.

With gritted teeth, Twilight walked through the library, eyes glazing over as she scanned the shelves. Surely something would jump out to her, surely something would speak to her! She had to find something. After all her successes, her teacher wouldn’t abandon her now, right? She’d been the perfect student, always timely, always studious. No, that couldn’t be right. She couldn’t be perfect, not if her teacher abandoned her so-

No, stop. Bad Twilight. Don’t think that way. Her teacher went missing for several weeks and even a month before. She might simply be busy, or sick, or some other excuse like that. Besides, only a few days passed since the exam, her teacher may simply need more time.

Yet, as the night wore on, she started to realize more and more than this trip may have been a waste. She had nothing to show for sneaking out of the castle at night save for a ripped cloak and a near death experience. What a waste, she lamented. Somehow, that still didn’t deter her. Eventually, she would return here. She needed word from her mistress, needed direction. And besides, this, along with the orphanage, was her home.

On a whim, Twilight trotted up to her tower, the winding steps feeling smaller now. She hadn’t grown an inch, yet it almost felt as if they closed in on her as she walked. What an odd feeling.

Twilight made her way to the top quickly, taking the stairs two at a time. She squeezed through the last part, finally back in her domain. Twilight took a deep breath, the familiar scent of the room reminding her distinct of home. Carefully, she made her way to the telescope.

She guided the sights over towards the castle, fixing them onto her bedroom balcony. She could’ve never expected she would sleep in such opulent surroundings, so close to the Queen. If only she didn’t keep delaying, keep forcing their lessons farther and farther away!

Twilight bit her lip, casting her bitterness aside. Don’t be like that, she reminded herself. The Queen had to take care of the entire country, not just one unicorn mare who thought too much of herself. Besides, she still needed to pay attention to two different teachers, so perhaps Luna’s distance would help on occasion. Twilight could always return here when her Queen went on these sorts of trips. She could only assume they would happen fairly regularly --- according to the newspapers, Equestria always faced some crisis or another.

Slowly, Twilight rotated the telescope, angling it up towards the stars. Sometimes, she liked to just relax and take a good look up there. What could be waiting amongst the night’s sky? She may never be able to explore its mysteries, but she could at least appreciate its beauty… Luna had done a particularly amazing job with this one: the stars glimmered and shined amongst the dark backdrop.

If only I could stay here forever.

But she couldn’t. The night grew long and Twilight needed to return. After her scare earlier, she hardly wanted to traverse the city streets. Instead, she considered a more daring idea. What would stop her from simply trying to teleport all the way back? With her telescope, she could easily make out the balcony from here. As long as she could focus on it, there wasn’t any huge reason why she couldn’t teleport all the way. Her wellspring felt amazing, despite the earlier jump. She didn’t even know why either; perhaps the scare from earlier, or perhaps casting no spells over the last few days left her energized.

Either way, she believed in herself. She focused the telescope on the balcony once more and started to hone her magic in. Really, how much farther could it be? Half a mile? After a certain point, differences in distance really didn’t make much of a different anyways. Diminishing returns and all that. Or something .With a deep breath, Twilight fired the spell.

Twilight arrived on the balcony in a flash of light, elation flooding through her body. She smiled to herself; huge success! Her confidence grew with the completion of her teleport, the practice clearly making her better at it. Why, soon enough she would never have to walk anywhere, she could simp-

“Enjoying yourself?”

The iciness of the voice chilled Twilight to core. She recognized that voice…

Twilight’s head swiveled, eyes catching and locking on the figure on her bed. White coat, blue mane… Shining Armor waited, still clad in his guard’s armor. His eyes locked on Twilight, brow set and mouth contorted into a dangerous frown. Shining always overreacted when angry, and Twilight failed to see how this could be any better than the usual.

“S-shining? What are you doing here?” Twilight asked. She stook a hesitant step back, her rear bumping against the railing of the balcony. Twilight tucked her tail under herself, ears pinned tightly against her head.

“Well, I thought I would visit you tonight.” He stood as he spoke, stepping closer with a clearly angry gait. “But what did I see what I got here? Not you, and the whole place practically reeked from your magic. Twilight, we talked about this!”

Twilight bit her lip, looking anywhere but her brother. “Shiny... I needed to go,” she whispered, trying to end the discussion as quickly as possible.

“Go where!? Back into the lower city? We finally escaped it, why would you want to go back?” Shining gestured towards the slums, voice clearly exasperated. In a way, he was right.

“The library! You knew I went there! You knew where I went at night! I had to go back. Luna hasn’t been teaching me an—”

“Hold on. Luna? You mean the Queen?”

Twilight nodded.

“Twilight, what did you expect? Her to cater to your each and every whim?” Shining had started to build up steam, and nothing could properly stop him now. Once Shining Armor started a rant, he damn well finished it. “You can’t just run off to the library every time you feel a little neglected! Why not just come see Sunset or I? Why not just talk to the guards?” Each step brought him closer and closer, until their muzzles practically touched.

“Or why the Tartarus not try and make some friends? The lower city is dangerous, sis! I hated you doing this when we lived at the orphanage and Luna damn me if I let you do it now! And you teleported, didn’t you? Sis, you were probably half drained when you land-”

“I wasn’t,” Twilight tried to interrupt, voice slow. She raised her hoof, defiantly glaring back at him. She was her own mare, she could make her own decisions! Then again, the night itself supported her brother; that crazy stallion..

Twilight desperately held onto her convictions! Despite Shining’s doubting expression, she had a right to defend herself. “I wasn’t drained of my magic! I could totally teleport there and back right now if I wanted to!”

“Do you think that’s supposed to help? To know that you’re going to jump everywhere like that? It’s dangerous! You and I both know that! How do you think the Queen would react if she knew what was going on?” Shining snapped, foreleg gesturing wildly at the moon.

“And just what is going on here?” Both siblings froze, but only Twilight realized who the voice belonged to.

The two turned to the room, just in time to see the elevator click into place. Queen Luna waited, eyes glowing bright with cool anger.

Comments

[Biker_Dash]

BUSTED!

[Ahrazell]

I'd happly be a editor. Though I do have weird hours I can do it If you still need one

[4l3x]

Surprised the guards just allowed Shining into the room by himself even if he is Twilight's brother, as far as I'm aware he's just a guard in training right now as well as being from the lower district, not exactly a pony that has proven his trustworthiness to be allowed into Luna's chambers on his own yet.

[TheStratovarian]

Hmm, two different aspects of things, but that does raise a point on unicorn guards, how many would have noted that kind of teleport?

Still, interesting to see which particular livid luna in on about.

Dont worry so about the small chapter, it was a nice and suspenseful one.

[Nadir]

7595407

Mostly a combination of being related, Luna not being there, and being escorted for the first half. With the elevator going back down after, he couldn't move between rooms anyways without some kind of freaky athletics lol. Its mostly just the guards knowing their related. It won't ever come up and isn't important at all, but Lunas personal guards have dossiers on the ponies close to her, Twilight being one. So they know all about the pair. (Or at least, as much as they can know.)

7595857

Nearly all would have been able to tell some pony was working up a ton of magic. Fewer would have been able to describe the spell class with fewer still knowing the exact spell. Shining has an advantage here because he lived with her so long and has felt her spells before.

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Weird hours are fine. Ill message ya in a bit, thanks ^^

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Not Twilights luckiest lol

[ThisIsMyFateNow]

Oh. Snap.

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

Whoops....

[I-Am-Unimportant]

A certain Fleur de Lis showed up a lot, whether it involved getting another of her cronies into the courts, or passing yet another law against the plebiscite of the empire.
*Ah yes and how do you get those votes?One of 4 ways of course! The first is make a law that looks good like is said later on. The second is to be bribing the voters with what they want/need. The third? Threatening them! Their families, loved ones could be taken down with a simple wave of her levitation! The fourth and probably the way she uses the most, is by bribing and threatening them at the same time. Ah so many ways to get what you want when your a noble.

Perhaps this could be her way of paying back. Perhaps this could be her way to show Matron and the others they meant something to her.
*If you change to much of what ponies like Fleur have build't their entire life on, you WILL make enemies with them. And to keep things the same they will try everything in their power to stop you. Including hurting anyone you have collections to like... Matron for insistence. The corruption is their for a reason, and that's mostly because nopony has had the balls to try and stop it.

The two of them had their own lives to attend too, and probably need a bit of time to get settled in.
*They would Love to see you, what are you talking about.

She would return to her library, return to the place that started it all. Her mentor must be dying to speak to her by now.
*And doing that will only get you in loads of trouble. But hey you might spot Fleur de Lis their again.

Perhaps lying to the Queen would come back to haunt her, but truly this was nothing but a little white lie.
*And now you'll have terrible consequences for saying that. Good job Twilight. You quiet literally jinxed it.

“..gonna kill it. Gonna kill itttt. They hide during the day, oh yes they hide! But at night, oh at night they’re mine!”
*Hey that's a song! Such a nice stallion, with his light hearted song. :)

His muzzle was pock marked with scars, some of the cuts still oozing blood and a disgusting, revolting smelling pus.
*OK never mind about that last comment. He has problems.

No pony knew where they came from, no pony knew how they became so powerful, no pony knew why they lived so long or why they possessed so much magic.
*Why don't you ask Luna sometime then? You ARE her student now, so she would probably love to tell you all of your questions about her. If you don't angry her of course.

If only she didn’t keep delaying, keep forcing their lessons farther and farther away!
*Right now Twilight's being kind of... Unlikable to me. She goes from an orphan to the student. Of the. Queen. She has a l library, training grounds, when all she had was a mostly destroyed and robbed library and friends. She also still has her friends! Or most of them at least. And she is just. The sentence above explains why I don't like Twilight to much right now. hopefully she gets better in the later chapters though.

“Enjoying yourself?”
*Busted. Now I hope you learned your lesson. Don;t Jinx it ever again. You can TOTALLY sneak out if you want. But jinxing it is a no go.

“Twilight, what did you expect? Her to cater to your each and every whim?”
*And Shining voices my thoughts exactly.

Queen Luna waited, eyes glowing bright with cool anger.
*You've got some explaining to do Twilight.

[I-Am-Unimportant]

He stood as he spoke, stepping closer with a clearly angry gait. “But what did I see what I got
*The second "what" should be a "when"