Recovery

by Soufriere

Chapter One: Emergency?

The doors to the ornate, high-vaulted throne room of Canterlot Palace burst open with nearly enough force to rattle their hinges as Twilight Sparkle, recently declared Princess of Friendship, galloped in along the royal red carpet, past the myriad stained glass windows depicting important events in Equestria’s recent history, towards the raised throne at the other end of the massive hall, a pair of overburdened saddlebags jiggling furiously as if they were holding on for dear life.

On the throne – rebuilt a few moons back to incorporate a moon logo along with its sun – sat Equestria’s eternal (for all intents and purposes) ruler, Princess Celestia. The massive white Alicorn looked especially resplendent this day: her golden regalia had been given a thorough cleaning the previous week and glinted in the multicoloured shafts of sunlight streaming in. Her ethereal mane seemed to have more wave to it than normal, likely because she had switched mane-care products, although she would never admit such a gauche thing, especially not to Twilight.

To Celestia’s right sat a very sleepy Princess Luna, her expression bored as she levitated a bottle of soapy water and a tiny plastic wand with a plastic circle on one end allowing her to blow bubbles, a trick she had learned from a mailmare friend of hers. She yawned as she put down her toy, slowly turning towards the door and the rapidly approaching purple demi-princess. Some minutes earlier, shortly before the dawn, Luna had sighted Twilight flying at top speed towards the castle and felt a duty to warn her elder sister during the shift change, but figured she owed it to both of them to hang around long enough for greetings to be exchanged.

“Well, now. Good morning, Twilight,” said Princess Celestia in her usual unflappable tone.

“Fair morning to thee, Twilight Sparkle,” Princess Luna said in between yawns. “And, now that pleasantries have been extended, I shall retire to my chambers, for I much disdain the day. Come, Tiberius.”

As the Princess of the Night carefully made her way down the throne’s back stairs (built for quick escape in case of an attack), a large fat possum followed her not unlike a puppy. Twilight jumped when she saw the marsupial and remained on her guard until Luna exited through a back door followed by Tiberius and two bat-winged guards, who shut the door behind them.

Princess Celestia stared at Twilight with a serene expression. Over all the years she had been the sovereign’s personal protégée, Twilight was never able to get the hang of reading her mentor’s mood except in extraordinary circumstances. Twilight’s mind briefly flashed back to the multiple occasions where Celestia had almost boasted of the pride she took in being as mercurial as possible – kept ponies on their hooftips, she said.

“I was already informed of your sudden visit,” Celestia continued. “I am, of course, always glad to see my former student, but I must ask what in Equestria prompted you to come here with such haste? Surely there are few possible problems you could have that would require my assistance or tutelage.”

Twilight’s horn glowed its magenta aura as she magically opened her left-flank saddlebag, levitating out a large thick book bound in the finest brown leather. It had no title on the face, nor on the spine; the only indication of its contents was a large blazing sun with its core dual-coloured and twisting around itself similar to the ‘yin-yang’ symbol often seen in the faraway kingdom of Neighppon. The book was pulsating with an occasional dim glow.

Celestia’s carefully cultivated expression dropped immediately, a whirlwind of emotions seeming to cross her face all at once for about thirty seconds.

“That journal…” Celestia said tentatively.

“It’s a message from Sunset Shimmer,” Twilight stated the obvious, hoping not to see her mentor wince at the mention of that name.

“You have told me previously that you converse with my fallen former protégée on occasion,” said Celestia in a distinctly even tone. “Yet never before have you seen fit to return to me this book. Why is this morning any different?”

“Well, uh…” Twilight stammered as she blushed in embarrassment, pawing her hoof on the red velvet carpet. “I, um, c-can’t read it.”

That caused Princess Celestia to raise her eyebrows slightly, about as close to shock as Twilight had ever seen Celestia allow herself to get outside of a Changeling invasion or an irritated Draconequus popping in (literally) to harsh her buzz.

“Cannot read it?” Celestia asked as she overpowered Twilight’s own magic, levitating the journal to herself. She opened the tome to a page Twilight had marked with a piece of lavender silk, gazed at the page for about five seconds, and then stifled a chuckle.

Twilight stared at her, utterly befuddled. “What is it, Princess?”

Celestia set the journal down at her hooves and levelled a wry smile at Twilight. “You never were very proficient in Classical Equestrian, were you? One of your worst subjects, if I recall.”

Twilight looked hurt. “I can read the runes just fine! You know I had to learn them so I could decipher Starswirl The Bearded’s spells. But this?! This is complete gibberish!”

“That is because Starswirl, odd stallion he was, used an extremely esoteric form of ‘language’ for his spells. It bears only the palest resemblance to conversational Classical Equestrian. You, Twilight, were so obsessed with deciphering old spells that you forgot there was an entire world and context from which those runes came. Also, Starswirl spoke Middle Equestrian, not unlike the way my own dear sister and isolated groups like the Tarpanites continue to talk, so his grasp of the ancient tongue was far from perfect,” Celestia explained.

“Okay,” said Twilight, a hint of annoyance in her voice. “So what does the page say?”

Princess Celestia attempted a serious expression, although her eyes failed to conceal her hidden smile. “The first line says, roughly translated, ‘I write this entry expecting and hoping that Twilight will not be able to read it’.”

Twilight’s eyes went wide as her jaw dropped. A purple claw extended from her right-flank saddlebag and closed her mouth.

“B-b-but… I… don’t… why?” Twilight sputtered.

Ignoring her, Celestia looked instead to the saddlebag, her golden aura levitating a thoroughly cramped tiny purple dragon out and placing him gently on the carpet before her.

“Spike, I am glad you are here. It saves me the trouble of summoning you.”

The young dragon looked just as confused as Twilight. “Huh?” he asked the princess.

Celestia looked at both of them sternly. “Twilight, you are to depart for the Crystal Empire immediately. Upon your arrival, you shall inform Princess Cadance that I require her presence here as soon as possible. She is to come alone. No guards or retainers, not even the orange one to which you have taken a fancy. You will stay behind and assist Shining Armor until Cadance returns. Do you understand?”

“Wait. Why can’t I go?” asked Spike. “The Crystal Ponies love me!”

Princess Celestia regained her serene smile. “That as it may be, I have a special task for you, Spike.”

“It’s not cleaning out the palace latrines again, is it?” he inquired, disappointed.

“(Again?) Uh, I mean, let us confirm that that is the case,” Celestia replied as Spike’s head drooped.

“Oh well,” said Twilight in the most flippant tone she could possibly muster. “I guess I’m off to see my big brother and favourite foalsitter! Bye!”

With that, Twilight turned on her hooves and galloped out of the throne room and out of the palace toward the rail terminal on the other side of the Royal Mile, which despite its name was only about three-fifths that length. Celestia and Spike both cocked their heads at Twilight not flying.

“Force of habit?” they both asked each other and no one in unison.

Once the massive white Pegasus guards had shut the massive doors and excused themselves, Spike turned back to Equestria’s diarch.

“Are you seriously gonna make me clean crap?” Spike asked.

Celestia let out a mirthful yet soft laugh. “Of course not! Do you think I am unaware of how Twilight has been treating you these last three years? I figured you could use a respite from her that did not involve consuming large quantities of spirituous liquors with our mutual friend Meyer… and the inevitable property destruction that accompanies it.”

“Well, I guess you’ve got a point there,” said Spike, sheepish.

“Now,” Celestia said as she hurriedly scrawled out a note on one of her magic scrolls, “I need to use you as a conduit to relay a message to Princess Cadance.”

“Wait, what?” Spike asked, confused. “I thought you just asked Twilight to deliver the message.”

Celestia grinned, a mischievous glint in her eye. “I did. But there is no point in Cadance taking days out of her schedule to deal with a matter that should only take a couple of hours. However, I was specifically asked by our mutual acquaintance, Raven Inkwell, to entice Twilight to leave Ponyville for some days. In addition, her presence in Canterlot tends to destabilize my delicate détante between Nobility and Commoners, to say nothing of that Prime Minister who shall remain nameless; I fear what fallout may come the day he and Twilight meet. Anyway, we have, with your assistance, a much faster method of communication and transport.”

Spike glared at Celestia in disbelief. “Princess, I only burp up your scrolls for Twilight. You’re not seriously asking me to do that to Cadance, are you?”

“Of course not,” Celestia said. “But I do need your fire-vector power for this.”

She gestured to a spot behind Spike. He turned around, then jumped back in shock as a six-foot diameter ring of gold fire rose up out of the red carpet.

“What in the?!” asked Spike, at once shocked and confused.

“Please face the flames,” Celestia ordered in as gentle a voice as she could, enveloping Spike in her aura and forcibly turning him around.

Within ten seconds, Spike felt that familiar unpleasant feeling in his gut meaning a scroll was forthcoming. Instinctively, he tried to hold it back as best he could, but inevitably released a hearty belch of green fire. However, before the scroll could materialize as normal, his fire mingled with the gold fire, somehow turning both flames blue as they swirled counterclockwise, then lifted ten feet into the air before condensing into a rapidly spinning orb which then dissipated with a release of air forceful enough it broke the sound barrier and sent Spike tumbling toward the throne.

Though he felt no pain (thick scales) it still took him a moment for his brain to recover from the dizziness so he could stand up. Once he did, he turned to Celestia.

“What in Equestria was that?!?”

“Just a variation of a little trick I use to communicate with Cadance. Surely you did not believe Twilight was the only one with a direct line to me, did you?”

Spike scratched his head for a moment. “Actually, yeah. I kinda did. Sorry.”

Celestia shook her head. “There are four living ponies able to contact me through magical means: Twilight through you, Cadance through the blue flame, my dear sister through… multiple methods, and Sunset Shimmer through this diary.”

“Ah,” Spike said, nodding.

A sudden burst of sound and whoosh of air at Spike’s back caused him to jump forward. Turning around, he saw the hollow column of swirling blue fire rekindle from the carpet. It continued its dance, this time clockwise, quickly becoming faster and faster, a warm wind whipping around the throne room, until it suddenly dissipated without a trace or even any scorch marks. In the centre of the former whirlwind stood a pink Alicorn, somewhat smaller than Luna, with purple wingtips and an expertly coiffed tricolour mane and tail, her cutie mark a blue crystal heart surrounded by gilding.

Once she opened her eyes and found herself face to face with Spike, she immediately beelined for him and wrapped him in a near-crushing embrace, lifting him off the ground.

“Ahchg… hi… Cadance,” said Spike, barely able to breathe.

Princess Cadance put him down, blushing slightly. “Spike, I’m so happy to see you again! It feels like it’s been forever!” she gushed.

“Well. I am glad to see you two are still on good terms,” Celestia said to Cadance in her serious, businesslike tone. “But I am afraid that now you have made it here, his role is ended and he must depart, for we require absolute privacy.”

“Awww,” Cadance and Spike complained together.

“Hey,” Cadance whispered to Spike. “Head over to Joe’s doughnut shop. I’ll join you once I’m out of here. We’ll put it on her tab,” she jerked her head in Celestia’s direction.

“I can hear you,” said Celestia bluntly. “But I will allow it. Now please, Spike, I must speak with Princess Cadance alone.”

Spike shrugged his shoulders and sighed. “Fine. I guess I’ll see you all later.”

He began his long slow trudge down the long red carpet out of the throne room. The two guards opened the doors for him, shutting them the second he had crossed the threshold. They then disappeared into the shadows again.

“So, Celestia,” Cadance said, her tone simultaneously curious but grim, “What in this world is so important that you felt you needed to summon me by the blue fire transference spell? Is there another demon from Tartarus coming to depower and/or kill us all? Is my empire facing punitive tariffs for granting asylum to Ponyville's mayor? Did you and Discord finally sc—”

“No, not at all,” Celestia interrupted with a minor hint of mirth in her voice. “The reason I needed you here immediately is because of this.”

She levitated the diary, holding it so the emblazoned cover was two feet from Cadance, whose eyes lit up as she recognized it and an open-mouthed smile of joy involuntarily spread across her face.

“Sunny?!” she asked, her voice completely devoid of any regal bearing, replaced by a girlish excitement. “She finally wrote back??”

Celestia nodded.

Cadance cocked her head, giving Celestia a look of confusion. “That’s great, but it still doesn’t explain what I’m doing here.”

“Because,” Celestia said simply, “Her message is addressed neither to Twilight nor to me. It is addressed to you.”

Comments

[Ri2]

So, I guess the Twilight in this 'verse is still the awful one from those other stories?

[Mx Story Anomalax]

OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOD LUNA'S PET IS A POSSUM.

YES.

[Tethered-Angel]

Oh... I feel like Im missing some things. This Twilight seems kinda bitchy though.

[Luna Aeterna Solutae]

I'm thoroughly confused.
This might be the weakest bit of the series so far.

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

On the throne – rebuilt a few moons back to incorporate a moon logo along with its sun – sat Equestria’s eternal (for all intents and purposes) ruler, Princess Celestia. The massive white Alicorn looked especially resplendent this day: her golden regalia had been given a thorough cleaning the previous week and glinted in the multicoloured shafts of sunlight streaming in. Her ethereal mane seemed to have more wave to it than normal, likely because she had switched mane-care products, although she would never admit such a gauche thing, especially not to Twilight.

I always wonder why her hair/mane always waves/moves a lot. Same with princess Luna but it's a shame we never knew when mlp fim still aired.

As the Princess of the Night carefully made her way down the throne’s back stairs (built for quick escape in case of an attack), a large fat possum followed her not unlike a puppy. Twilight jumped when she saw the marsupial and remained on her guard until Luna exited through a back door followed by Tiberius and two bat-winged guards, who shut the door behind them.

Since when did Luna have a pet? Probably only in this story I think.

Princess Celestia attempted a serious expression, although her eyes failed to conceal her hidden smile. “The first line says, roughly translated, ‘I write this entry expecting and hoping that Twilight will not be able to read it’.”

Lol

Ignoring her, Celestia looked instead to the saddlebag, her golden aura levitating a thoroughly cramped tiny purple dragon out and placing him gently on the carpet before her.

Seems like twilight brought someone with her.

Celestia looked at both of them sternly. “Twilight, you are to depart for the Crystal Empire immediately. Upon your arrival, you shall inform Princess Cadance that I require her presence here as soon as possible. She is to come alone . No guards or retainers, not even the orange one to which you have taken a fancy. You will stay behind and assist Shining Armor until Cadance returns. Do you understand?”

Had a feeling she was gonna mention that.

“Because,” Celestia said simply, “Her message is addressed neither to Twilight nor to me. It is addressed to you .”

There's a plotwist I did not see coming!

[MatTheBook]

Princess Celestia attempted a serious expression, although her eyes failed to conceal her hidden smile. “The first line says, roughly translated, ‘I write this entry expecting and hoping that Twilight will not be able to read it’.”

(SNOOOOORT) wow