Lessons
“Once more Your Grace, from the top,” instructed Count Raven. Twilight nodded as she stood next to the stallion while taking a breath to keep her nerves cool. They stood together, side by side in the middle of what was now Twilight’s office where it was clear. Spike was in the room as well, lying on one of the chairs in front of Twilight’s desk turned towards them. The dragon had his head on its armrest and tail hanging limply over the other, a comic held lazily in his claws as he looked at the pair in the middle of the room. Last was Owlicious, sitting on a perch with his eyes fixated on his master.
It had been several days since Twilight had arrived within Thunder Valley and made temporary ruler. After being shown her living quarters Twilight, Spike, and Count Raven had spent the remainder of the night doing their best to give themselves some space. As it turned out, there was more than dress gowns and jewelry, but also plenty of self portraits of the former Princess being showered in moonlight as if she were being blessed by the moon. For some reason, none of them were hanging on the walls but instead filled up an entire room as they laid on their sides just taking up space. In another room, the trio found it full of white marble statues of her in various poses that made even Count Raven tilt his head. Slowly, they were able to clear out a bit of room for themselves to live in. It would have to be like this until Twilight found the time to decide what she was going to do with all of this junk.
Her time, however, was spent on lesson after lesson in order to help her get up to speed on the thestral way of life. History proved to be very easy for Twilight, there being plenty of texts within her office. As she read page after page, Twilight was moved by their various struggles and impressed by just how resourceful they really were. As far as she could tell, thestrals had no earth pony magic to help them with crops so they had to come up with chemicals to help improve their yields. Then they invented various ways in order to help harvest their crops at recorded speeds that impressed Twilight. And that was just for their farming technology! It seemed like everything that Equestrians did with their various magics the thestrals had to be clever enough to find a work around.
That wasn’t to say that their history was all about inventions. It saddened Twilight’s heart to read about all the uprisings and rebellions this country had had during its run. For example, a Duke by the name of Black Lightning had been assisting something called the Hoofright Company by seizing land. The book didn’t go into too much detail as to why, but it made clear that they wanted to build several large factories specifically where those homes once were. Those who had lost their homes rallied together and fought back, attacking not just the company but also the Duke and his family. When the army showed up they too were attacked leading to a massacre. That was just one of dozens within a single book.
Despite having all of these books, Twilight felt like she wasn’t being told everything. After reading an entire collection of their history, Twilight was able to pinpoint when the thestral tribe claimed it began: around the same time as when Starswirl the Bearded was teaching the two princesses! That wasn’t even two thousand years ago! How could they have developed so much in such a short amount of time? Or were they keeping something from her? Perhaps parts of their history was forgotten? The earliest parts of their history felt more religious than factual, speaking of the Three Guides who Twilight quickly realized were the three hooded figures on some of the doors and on the stained glass windows. According to what was recorded these three found the thestrals and bestowed great knowledge upon them as gifts.
What made things even more curious was the fact that, according to what she was reading, Princess Luna had never set a hoof in Thunder Valley. However, despite this, they spoke about Princess Luna as the one who had ‘saved’ them but never went into more detail on that matter. Twilight had expected there to be writings depicting Princess Celestia in some horrible light but no. They gave the sun princess a short passage saying that she was the elder sister and raiser of the sun. There was no hatred to be seen there unless she was missing something. This lead Twilight to wonder how they knew about the two sisters despite having never left their homeland one. Also, how did Princess Luna ‘save’ them? Why didn’t the princesses tell her about any of this?
Twilight wished she had time to devote to discovering the truth behind these long lost secrets, as well as several others. Like why their languages were identical. However, Twilight knew she had more pressing matters that required her attention over satisfying her curiosity. Perhaps, when everything was running more smoothly, she could send a letter to Princess Celestia asking about this. Until then she would have to focus on making Thunder Valley a more stable country.
When Twilight was not reading about her new country’s past, she was doing all she could to learn about its customs and culture. This was handled personally by the Count who had a very hooves on approach. The first night they started, he asked her to sit at her desk before placing three coins of different sizes but all shaped like gears on the surface.
“The name of our currency is called grits,” he said as his hoof moved towards the largest. “This is a steel grit.” He then moved his hoof to the middle one which was much smaller. “This is a copper grit and it is worth ten steel grits.” Once again his hoof moved, stopping over the third and smallest coin. “And this is a gold grit, worth ten copper grits or a hundred steel grits.” He paused for a moment before dumping more of the coins in a pile. It was only when the last coin had landed on the table and the clanging had stopped did he look at the purple princess. “Now Your Grace, I’d like to have you work on some simple problems with these coins. Please, do not feel offended by how basic they may seem.” From there, the Count posed question after question. Show me forty six grits. Stack up six hundred grits but only use two gold grits. Twilight quickly realized what this was, he was trying to help her associate with the coins usage as fast as he could until it became second nature for her. While she never got any of the questions wrong, it was slow going as she had to pause to remember what the values of each grits was worth. Yet with every question she moved just a bit faster earning her a nod of approval from the Count.
From there, their lessons continue to progress. The Count taught Twilight how to work the various communication devices that were around the castle. He went over various holidays and court procedures. The stallion informed her of the various upper class ponies and what their stances were on various matters. All of this was being poured into her mind at incredible pace.
Which brought them back to the present, learning how to bow the thestral way. After a signal from the Count the two ponies placed their left wings over their chests while stretching out their right ones to the floor. This was then immediately followed by the pair sinking onto their front knees in order to finish the bow. However, while they were doing this, Twilight’s left wing fidgeted a bit as it wanted to join the right one on the ground. While she was able to keep it in place, the movement was caught by the Count’s sharp eye.
“Your Grace,” he said as they rose up before turning to look at Twilight. “Please try a bit harder to keep that wing under control. If Your Grace were to bow like that before any of the nobility, they might fear there was a weapon concealed underneath it. It simply won’t do.”
“Or maybe they’ll think she has an itch or something,” suggested Spike. “You really need to lighten up a little.” At this, Twilight couldn’t help but wince slightly. Spike had been present during all of her lessons making his usual comments. While it didn’t really bother Twilight all that much since she was used to it, she could see that the Count was getting annoyed by it.
“I will not ‘lighten up’ as you put it,” replied Raven as he rolled his eyes without turning to look at the drake. “If you had been paying attention to any of the history lessons with Her Grace, you would know about all the bloody betrayals. Both in past and in our current times. The last thing Her Grace will desire is to make those around her fear that she will strike them dead. Even if it were just an itch, moving Her Grace’s wing to scratch it during the bow would be seen as massive disrespect as well as weakness. Her Grace is now a symbol of authority and strength for all the ponies she resides over. To allow herself to be seen in such a position so early in her rein would be to invite disaster.”
Spike let out a groan as he face palmed himself. “You have to be kidding me,” he grumbled before getting into a sitting position on the chair, his legs dangling off of it. “Here I thought Twilight liked to blow things out of proportion! One little mistake won’t destroy this country.” Twilight watched as the Count’s head seemed to vibrate, fangs bared as I he were losing control. Before she could do anything, the Count turned and approached Spike.
“Young dragon,” said Count Raven, slowly turning to look at him with a hardened look. Spike looked back at him while gulping loudly. “I have had quiet enough of this. You have made the claim that you are Her Grace’s Number One Assistant, yet your ignorance in matters of politics would make that impossible. If you were to remain in this position you so cherish the only thing that would happen would be bringing upon more stress and shame to Her Grace.”
Spike’s eyes widened for a moment before he jumped off the chair. “Hey, I’ve been Twilight’s Number One Assistant for a while,” barked Spike as he pointed at Count Raven. “I would never-”
“That was back when you were in Equestria, living in a small library with Her Grace,” interrupted Count Raven. Twilight’s mane bristled as he spoke, his tone now matching the same one he used when he scolded the maids when she first arrived. His eyes bore down on Spike who seemed to now be feeling the intensity behind them. “The situation, as I would hope you have come to realize, has changed. While I am not familiar with the happenings of the Equestrian Court, things are done a certain way here. Her Grace has been working hard these last several days while you lay there, watching and making comments as if you thought your uneducated opinion held any say in the-”
“Count Raven, that’s enough,” said Twilight in her firmest voice as she moved between the two. As she did this, Twilight could see the hurt in Spike’s eyes as they moistened before turning her full attention towards the Count. “You will not talk to Spike like that. Ever. Do I make myself clear?”
“Of course, Your Grace,” replied the Count in a cooler tone as he bowed before Twilight. When he rose he didn’t look at Spike nor did he offer no apology towards him. He just stood there as if to wait for Twilight to yell at him some more or order him to leave.
As Twilight was about to turn around to talk to Spike face to face, she heard a familiar gagging noise. Eyes wide and a smile on her face, she turned just in time to see Spike burp green flames as well as a scroll. Ignoring the look of confusion on the Count’s face, Twilight took the scroll with her magic and giddily moved behind her desk before opening it.
“What? How?” asked the Count as he scratched his head.
“It’s a letter from Princess Celestia,” explained Twilight as she read. “When Spike was old enough, she cast a spell on his flames so that he could send messages to her as well as receive them. Then after we moved to Ponyville, the spell was altered to allow him to send messages to other ponies.”
“Interesting,” said the Count as he approached the desk. “I take it she is checking on your well being?”
“Actually,” began Twilight, her good mood dropping slightly. “I wanted to ask her for a few favors in order to help Thunder Valley branch out a bit into the world. The Equestrian Games are coming up and I asked her to speak on our behalf to see if they would allow us to compete. It would be a good chance to have some exposure as well as engage in some friendly competition.” There were other reasons for wanting to participate in the Games. This year they would be taking place in the Crystal Empire where her brother and sister-in-law lived. If they could compete it would a great chance for her to see them again. Plus she knew Ponyville planned on joining in on the Games meaning she would also be able to see all of her friends.
Count Raven hummed at that, looking thoughtful. “I take it by Your Grace’s tone that the answer is not a favorable one?”
Twilight nodded. “The committee behind the Games was made aware of our situation by the Princess herself,” she began as she continued to read the letter while her ears drooped. “However, the deadline to simply register had already passed and they refuse to make an exception. I was sort of hoping that they would seeing as the tryouts haven’t even begun.”
“Well that sucks,” muttered Spike as he fell into a sitting position on the floor. “I was really looking forward to seeing the Crystal Empire again when it wasn’t in danger of some shadow pony destroying everything.”
“Perhaps this is for the best then,” replied the Count calmly. “Right now, getting the nation stabilized is of much greater importance than showing off in some silly sports event. Even if there were ponies who wished to join, we would need to create a committee to host our own tryouts. Not to mention we have no idea what is in these ‘Equestrian Games’ so we would be going in blind. Imagine the humiliation of our first encounter in the outside world looking like a joke! Honestly, I believe that this is for the best. We can wait until we are ready in order to put our best hoof forward.”
Twilight let out a sigh. “You do have a point,” she said as she continued to read. Then, she came across something that brought back a smile to her face. “But it looks like there is some good news. The Princess is offering to have a railroad built in order to connect Equestria with Thunder Valley! All she asks is that we look into a way to protect the train from the lightning strikes going still going on in the pass.”
“Well now,” said the Count as Twilight looked up at him. “This is a much more practical gift, I must say. The amount of grits it would have cost us…I don’t believe we could have done it ourselves for several years. Opening trade with Equestria might help us out of this economic slump we’re facing.” He then frowned. “But finding a way to protect the trains, that might be a tad trick I’m afraid. There is always a chance that lightning will strike.”
“Well, Princess Celestia says it’ll take several months for the tracks to be put down,” said Twilight as she rolled up the scroll and put it in her desk. She then stood up before making her way towards the door. “That will give our Royal Scientific Advisor plenty of time to see if it is possible. Come on Spike, lets go say hi.”
As Spike quickly made his way over to Twilight, who was almost at the door, Count Raven cleared his throat. “Your Grace, there is no need to leave. After all, it is not the place of a pony in charge to go to those that they need. Rather, they are to come to Your Grace when needed. It is what is expected.”
“But I’ve been cooped up in this office since I got here,” stated Twilight as she turned to look at the Count. “I’m either here or in my quarters. The only other ponies I get to see are the maids when they bring me my meal.”
“Still haven’t been able to figure out how they get up there,” said Spike as he crossed his arms while looking down. “Just just seem to appear out of thin air with food.”
“The point is,” continued Twilight as she looked imploringly at Count Raven, “I need to get a better lay of the castle and stretch my legs a bit. See a friendly face. Other than yours of course.”
“I certainly can understand that desire,” said the Count with a nod. “But you will be getting your chance to do that later tonight, remember? We have a meeting with the General who will be assigning Your Grace a personal bodyguard. Then, tomorrow night there will be a small party of the Automahollow elite. Remember?”
“How could I forget,” said Twilight in weary tone. “Is the party really necessary? I feel self conscious enough just getting a single bodyguard to stand next to me. Besides, wouldn’t that cause ponies to fear I’m just like Princess Alabaster? Spending grits on a party while the nation is struggling?”
Count Raven let out a hum as he approached the princess, a thoughtful look on his face. “Yes, I can see how that would look, Your Grace.” The Count nodded in a way that reminded Twilight of her father when he was proud of her. “A brand new princess appearing without Thunder Valley and her first public act is to throw a party? Yes, I do see how this could look to some. However, it is important that Your Grace gets to know the elite of Automahollow. These are ponies who have large bank accounts that, if Your Grace plays her cards right, might be willing to donate some grits to projects we desperately need. Also the size of this party will be miniscule compared to the ones that the former princess used to host. Only ten or so ponies have been invited with a single guest each.”
Twilight nodded before looking away. “Still,” was all she able to say causing the Count to sigh.
“Well, Your Grace is in charge,” he said as Twilight looked up. “I suppose given how well Your Grace has been doing in these lessons a short break wouldn’t hurt. Still, Your Grace shouldn’t make a habit of this.” If he was going to say anymore it was quickly interrupted as Twilight hugged him before speeding out the door with Spike on her back and the door slamming in her wake. For a moment, the Count stood there with a raised eyebrow. “Does Your Grace know where to go?” Slowly, the door opened again to reveal an embarrassed Twilight.
-x-
Soon enough, Twilight found herself in the lower regions of the castle with the directions to Wild Theory’s in castle apartment in front of her. The area she was in was less kept than the halls from above, barren walls on one side with a row of doors on the other. The floors were uncarpeted and made of stone had many cracks in it while the ceiling seemed to drip in various locations. To make matters worse there was a horrible odor hanging in the air that turned her stomach something awful. Thankfully it wasn’t bad enough to keep her from breathing, but she could taste whatever it was on her tongue. The princess wondered how anypony could stand to live like this before she remembered the conditions outside of the castle. It could always be worse.
“Spike, we have a lot of work we need to do,” she said as she turned another corner. “Just another box in the checklist of things to do.”
“Hmm?” came the dragon’s response, sounding far away. Twilight paused as she turned her head to look at him on her back, his chin resting in his clawed hand while his mind seemed far, far away. It took a minute or two for him to realize that they had stopped moving almost causing him to just in the air with shock. “Oh, right Twilight. We’ll get right on that, er, thing you said.”
Twilight frowned at him. “Spike, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” he said too quickly. “Everything is just fine!” He tried to smile as if he thought that it would appease Twilight. However, she did not advert her gaze from him nor did her frown lessen. Quickly, the façade Spike had put up was shattered as his shoulders slumped. “It’s about what Count Raven said earlier. I want to stay as your Number One Assistant, I really do. But the way he said it made it sound like all I would do was be a burden to you.”
Twilight blinked at that. “Spike, nothing would make me happier if you continued to help me like you always do.” She watched Spike brighten at that. “But…I think I understand where the Count is coming from. Things have changed and we’re no longer in Equestria. The ponies here might not take your comments the same way our friends did back home. Especially when they are trying to teach me about how things are done here.”
“So does that mean you-” Spike was halted in his question as Twilight gently placed a hoof over his mouth. He moved his eyes to look into hers and saw that there was a smile on her face.
“Spike, there is no other pony or dragon who could ever replace you as my Number One Assistant,” she said as she removed her hoof. “Not after everything we’ve been through together.” Twilight then smiled and her tone became lighter. “But if you’re worried about what the Count said then maybe you should try paying a bit more attention during my lessons with him. Who knows, you might find something interesting.”
While Spike rolled his eyes he couldn’t help but grin back at the purple princess. “Twilight, you and I have very different definitions on what’s interesting.”
Happy to see one crisis adverted, Twilight continued to trot down the hallway. Yet, there was something in the back of her mind that wouldn’t go away. While she didn’t like the way Count Raven had spoken to Spike he wasn’t without reason. If Spike spoke that way during Court or when she was in an important meeting with somepony things might go south really quickly. She would never trade in her relationship with Spike for a kingdom, but she wondered how losing this because of something he did or said would affect the young drake. He might beat himself up over it. Perhaps she would soon have to start scolding him more when he did something like that so that he learned it wasn’t right.
“Hey, isn’t that it,” said Spike suddenly as he pointed to a door up ahead. Twilight paused as she looked at the directions and then back at the door. The numbers matched so this had to be it. So without another word she walked over to it and knocked.
As expected, nothing happened for the first couple of seconds. After all, she knew very few ponies who would be able to answer the door after the first knock. She waited a bit and, as she was about to knock again, the door opened. Only…it wasn’t Wild Theory who opened it. It was another stallion wearing a rather bored expression on his white coated face. His equally white mane was short, parted in the middle in a very classy manner. The stallion also wore a vest the color of copper which looked rather old as well as worn with several pencils sticking out of the single pocket. Twilight also observed that he had on a band near the end of his hoof where a pocket watch was strapped to it.
“Yes?” he said in a very grumpy tone as if he had just gotten up from a very comfortable nap.
“Ah hi,” began Twilight as she smiled hoping to disarm the stallion before her. It didn’t work. “I’m looking for Wild Theory. I was told this was his place.”
“It is,” replied the stallion hotly.
“Chalky, do we have guests?” came Wild’s voice from behind the door. Twilight watched as the stallion before her flattened his ears in annoyance before turning his head to look behind him.
“It’s the purple freaks from Equestria,” he said, irritating both Twilight and Spike. “I think they’re looking for you.”
“The princess is here?!?” cried Wild’s voice. The stallion quickly zoomed to the front door, knocking Chalky away causing a crashing noise to be heard in the distance. When he saw Twilight, Dr. Theory placed both his front hooves on either side of his face which was lit with utter joy. “Well, well, well isn’t this a surprise. A delightful one at that I must admit. Please, please, please come in and make yourselves at home. My home is your home.”
With that, Wild Theory opened the door fully to allow them entrance. The inside looked like a combination living room/kitchen with no barrier between them. There were three doors, all of them closed but Twilight could make educated guesses as to what was behind them. Perhaps two were bedrooms and the third a bathroom. Looking around she saw that the room had no flourishes to give it any personality, just a couple of pipes running down the wall and into the kitchen where Chalky now stood in with his back to them. The only furniture in the room was a single table that looked like it had been fished from a dump and taped back together.
Thankfully the kitchen looked a bit more up to date. At least, Twilight assumed it was as she had yet to fully grasp the true level of thestral technology. Currently Chalky was working with something that reminded Twilight of a blender, with metal coils around its sides and pressure gages. Next to him was a large bronze looking machine with a large wheel in its middle. No other appliances were next to it due to the knobs, pressure gauges, and tubes that went from the bottom to the top. Several of the pipes running across the walls seemed to connect to this device that sported even more gauges around it. As Chalky stopped whatever it was he was doing with the blender, he took a step to the side so that he was in front of the large wheel. After placing both hooves on it and gritting his teeth, he turned it several time before it opened while making a hissing noise to reveal that it was a refrigerator
It was while the white stallion was searching through the food that Twilight noticed his cutie mark: a blackboard with a simple 2+2 equation. Turning her head back to look at her host, she saw that his cutie mark was a book titled biology with a watch nest to in several pieces. What an odd couple they were.
“Sorry about my roommate,” said Wild Theory as he moved behind Twilight to close the door. “Works part time in the accounting department as well as helping me check my math. Always good to have another pony double check that sort of thing in my profession after all. Terrible, terrible, terrible things can happen if the math isn’t perfect. Great with number but not very good talking to mares. Or stallions. Hmm, perhaps it would be simpler if I just said he wasn’t a very social pony. As far as I know, I’m the closest thing to a friend he has!”
“We’re not friends,” said Chalky as he closed the refrigerator, several odd looking fruits held in his wing. “You’re just the stallion who is letting me crash at his place. That’s all.”
“If you’re staying here then that means you’re my friend,” replied Wild causing the other stallion to groan and roll his eyes. Wild only chuckled as he turned to look at Twilight again, seeing her staring at the white stallion for a moment. When Twilight turned her attention back to Wild she saw that he was smirking at her causing the purple princess to blush in embarrassment.
“Sorry,” she said. “This is just the first time I’ve seen a white thestral in pony. It’s a little odd.”
“It is, it is, it is,” said Wild as he began to bounce like a certain pink pony Twilight knew. “I almost forgot that you didn’t know. I mean, really, how could you know? Normally a thestral has a very limited color pattern. Sometimes they’ll be born with a different color but those are rare. The rarest of all is white. At the last census, it was revealed that there were only ten thestrals in Thunder Valley who were white.” He then zoomed over to Chalky, spinning him around so that he faced Twilight. Ignoring the annoyed look his roommate was giving him, Wild continued to talk while gesturing to the fellow stallion. “This white coat and mane are so rare that there are even legends about them. That those born with them are destined for greatness!”
Chalky snorted. “Which is utter nonsense,” he growled as he turned around. “How does having a certain coat color equal greatness? It just doesn’t add up.”
Twilight watched as Wild zoomed back over to her. “It is such a mystery as to why this happens,” continued Wild with a look of excitement in his eyes. “So many theories over the years have been tossed around. Most scientists believe that its just a genetic fluke which is just so boring. Personally I have come up with at least a dozen or so of my own ideas as to why this is. Would you like to hear them?”
Twilight looked over at Chalky who was glaring daggers at the both of them. Slowly she turned back to Wild and gave him an apologetic smile. “Perhaps another time,” she said. “I actually came by to get advice from my Royal Scientific Advisor.” Hearing that made the stallion grin even more broadly. Then, as Twilight began to describe the issue she was having, his body began to shake with excitement as if he were about to explode with joy.
“Oh my, oh my, oh my,” he said when she had finished. “So many ideas are running through my head on what we could do. With the lightning strikes lessened to such an extent, we could place lightning rods on both sides of the pass. Or an insulated cover above the tracks. But that might not work seeing as we don’t know the size of an Equestrian train. Maybe…maybe I could see if somepony is making a machine that can help. So many possibilities!” Then, if it were possible, he brightened up even more. “If I can make this work, I can travel to a whole new world! A dazzling place I never knew! Think about all I could study! PRINCESS! I WON’T SLEEP A WINK UNTIL I SOLVE THIS!” And with that, before Twilight knew what was happening, Wild speed through the door leaving a thestral shaped hole in it.
“You know you’re paying for that door,” grumbled Chalky who still hadn’t turned around.
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.....Chalky is weird.
9112132
yea he is odd one,
NERDY BAT HORSE ACTIVATED
9112571
Indeed
Dude I love wild. He's great. Nerdy bat pone is best pone. I can't wait to see what he comes up with.
Also this whole concept is awesome. I blew through this super quickly. Dying for more over here. I wonder what the outcome of all of this will be? I have faith that twilight will totaly pull through though.
Long live queen Twilight Sparkle of Thunder Valley!
I already love Chalky!
The amount of the use of the rule of thirds/three is crazy
I think if Twilight leverages her friends, and the fact that anything from her new lands is unknown, she could rebuild the royal coffers, merely by using the 'junk' the previous princess left.
Uhhhhhhh...
For some odd reason Wild reminds me of the AdMech.
If Twilight could just take some responsibility and get Spike to stop making comments then the Count would not need to speak to him like that.
As if he?
Causing him to jump?