The Fragrance of Dark Coffee

by stillwedding

Nightmares - 3

Twilight was always careful not to enter the realm of dreams.

Specifically REM sleep, which is the occasion that occurs when you enter a more profound slumber. Characterized by your arm and leg muscles becoming temporarily paralyzed, rapid eye moments, a faster pulse, and breathing; REM is almost integral to every night’s rest. Because worse of all, most of your dreaming also happens during this time.

After the tenth nightmare in a row, Twilight was cautious not to sleep more than ninety minutes at a time in an attempt to avoid REM sleep altogether. Sometimes it would work, most of the time it would not and she would wake up startled all over again. Still, with or without nightly terrors she would always wake up exhausted.

So absorbing herself in work and projects had been a regular occurrence for her. She would admit that part of it was because she found the ordeal fun but having that distraction was almost an addiction she needed to feed into.

Now back in Canterlot, she was working too quickly, she was almost done with the spell and it had only taken one short day and an even longer night. Twilight groaned checking her work once more and setting it back down. It was perfect. That was the problem. She had nothing to do for the rest of the night.

Sleeping was not an option.

Twilight shuffled the paper on her desk into a neat pile. Organizing her quills in her drawer and relit another candle. She looked over at the stack of books that needed to return and perked up. It was something to do. Picking up the top book from the pile she descended the steps from the top floor of her tower, with the glow of her horn the door opened revealing the starry sky.

Twilight breathed in the salt air of the night and smiled at how such a bustling city can be so quiet and at a perfect standstill. She found it nice that she was given the opportunity to admire the beauty alone though she had hoped it would be on different terms.

Trotting down the steps she turned into a corridor. Her hoof steps made an uncomfortable echo telling her that it was much too late for her to be up. And the wretched smell of the lavender flowers Luna puts up every night only teased her more. As they only communicated a bitter reminder that they were such the perfect remedy to treat insomnia and improve overall sleep quality. She paid them no attention.

She turned another corner and saw the characteristic statue ahead, signaling the Canterlot Archives. Her presence alerted the guard, he immediately looked in her direction and gave a polite bow.

“Princess Twilight Sparkle, are you in need of my assistance?” The guard asked in a deep voice. Twilight noticed that all the Lunar guards had the same deep voice, that masked their true intentions. His armor had a sheen produced by the little light coming through the columns that seemed to taunt her.

Twilight gave her best smile nonetheless, “I’m just here to return a book,” she explained holding up the old tome with her magic.

The guard glanced at the book before nodding, “Of course, milady,” he said before unlocking the door to the archive. “Please alert me if you need anything else.”

“Thank you,” Twilight nodded. That should’ve been the end of their conversation but he continued to stare at her, his golden eyes shone excellently in the moonlight. They communicated more than routined words did. Twilight felt unnerved at feeling like he was seeing through her, “Uhm, is something wrong?”

“No, enjoy the rest of the night, however long that may be, milady,” he finished turning back towards the hallway, and the slated, stone-hard, expression on his face returned.

Twilight shook it off and entered the room and promptly returned the book back to the designated shelf. Turning around she basked in the aroma the environment of the ancient books created and felt herself be entranced by it all. Book had much more of a calming effect than lavender, perhaps she should hang up dusty old pages around the castle instead. They would make nice decorations.

Twilight yawned, her eyelids felt heavy. Perhaps a stimulant would help.

When she exited the archives she passed the guard standing by the doorway. She could feel his pensive eyes trailing her as she made the turn in the direction of the castle kitchen. Glancing back she could see the foreign crease in his eyebrows, the face of concern, and the thinning of his lips to keep his mouth shut and not say something out of his boundaries as a mere guard.

She paused, turning around to meet his gaze, wordlessly commanding him to speak. He turned in the other direction instantly, a hue of pink dusted his features. Twilight smiled and continued on her way.

When she approached the kitchen she saw one staff in view. She hummed a simple tone as she wiped the dishes. Twilight pushed open the door and she halted her action to meet her.

“Oh, Princess! I didn’t think I would be seeing you tonight,” she said and adjusted her apron getting ready to serve her guest.

Twilight smiled, “I was just working on something for Princess Celestia, lots to do I’m afraid.” That was a lie, but she didn’t like invasive questions though they were just friendly conversational topics.

The chef nodded, “Yes-yes, lots of hard work you’re doing for us, your highness. I’m guessing you want a snack to keep you energized? I’m sure I can whip something up for you!”

“Thanks, but actually I was looking for coffee,” she replied. Twilight pulled multiple cabinet doors open to look for the beans, she frowned when she realized they were none. “I recalled them being here the last time I was here,” she said pointing to the furthest cabinet, “Do you know where I can find them?”

The chef laughed awkwardly, Twilight spared her a glare. “Princess Celestia actually took the last batch.”

“She what?” Twilight asked flatly.

She swallowed, a bead of sweat made it down her temple before she could address the angry Princess. “She- uh, Princess Celestia took the beans this evening, your highness. We are getting a new shipment next week though! From Vanhoover too! I heard you particularly like their sourced beans!” The chef said in-between briefly laughter to calm the air around the pair.

Twilight brought a hoof to her head to smooth out the sudden migraine. “Is there tea?” She asked. Tea also had caffeine in it, it would suffice.

“Uhm- no, your highness.”

Twilight mustered a smile although the twitch in her eye contradicted her friendly appearance. “What do mean no?”

“We ran out!” She squeaked.

“And you’re sure tea, something this castle is so plentiful of ran out when it hadn’t for the past fifteen years since I’ve lived here?” Twilight’s face was muzzle to muzzle to the chef's. Her eyes were wild. “Are you positive that a certain Princess hadn’t just taken it too?”

“Princess Celestia took the tea!” She yelped, jumping away from Twilight. “I-I’m sorry, your highness, but there is really nothing. I can fix something else for you instead if you like!” She offered.

Twilight exhaled. “No, that’s alright. Thank you,” she muttered and promptly left the kitchen.

Twilight was almost fuming. It was a foolish attempt to stop her. She would just wait for the sun to raise and go to Pony Joe’s first thing. Easy. However, in the meantime, it will be a very long night. And the scent of lavender wasn’t helping her desire of being awake.

Passing by the hallway to return to her room she saw him again. He was staring directly at her and this time hadn’t turned away when she locked eyes with him.

Twilight halted her movement, she raised an eyebrow to beckon him to say something. He opened his mouth before closing it again. She frowned. “Is something the matter?”

He hesitated. Before starting, “I might be overstepping my bounds as a guard under oath to serve you, milady. But if you’re tired, don’t push it. Remember to get some rest, okay?” He said with a tenderness she didn’t know anyone had it in them to process.

Twilight almost choked up on her words but managed to muster up the words that had defined her life now. She cracked her most convincing smile, that radiated contentment to mask her impending lie.

“Don’t worry, I will.”

Comments

[Alondro]

People have this weird 'attachment' thing... quite illogical.

Humans are just tools you use up for your own purposes and throw away when they've outlived their usefulness! (Alondro goes on to have a horrifyingly successful career in global banking...)