The Strange Cases of Twilight Sparkle

by DrakoGlyph

Case 33

Twilight awoke early in the morning as the sun shone through her window, lightening up the upstairs of Golden Oaks Library. Today was going to be an interesting day, she thought. She had just received a book the previous night from Princess Celesita, and as of yet she had not opened it. Normally she opened such packages immediately, but after the exhaustion she felt from her duties as the Princess of Friendship, she could barely make it up to her bed before she collapsed in exhaustion. In fact, her covers had only been put on top of her because Owlowiscious was hooting quietly in the corner.

She awoke with a yawn, crawling out of bed and trotting over to her mirror, levitating Spike’s blankets off of him as she walked passed. As with every other morning, he pulled them back over his head, aggravated. She gave a small chuckle as the baby dragon did so.

She unfolded her wings. It had been a month, but she was still getting used to them. She smiled as she unfolded them and levitated her brush. With a quick pass through her hair, it was set in her normal mane style.

As she went down the stairs, she got a strange feeling. It was as though she was being watched. This wasn’t exactly new to her; Princess Celestia would watch her sometimes when she was administrating things from Ponyville, but never this early in the morning, and never without a letter in advance.

No, there was somepony else watching her. She looked through the windows, all of which were closed; she hadn’t yet unlocked the library door, so they couldn’t have got in. She went over to the package at the center of the table and gave it a passing inspection.

It was wrapped in brown paper, and had been left in care of Spike while she was out doing her Princess duties for the day, which reminded her that she needed to visit Mayor Mare today to discuss a correspondence she wished to start with Princess Celesita. She went over to the desk in the corner, levitating the package the entire time, to make sure it was on the checklist she had prepared for today, and sure enough, it was marked down under ‘Open the Package.’

She turned back to the brown paper wrapping and was about to open it when she got that feeling again. She checked all the windows to see if there was anypony looking in any of them, but that search came up empty. She gave a quizzical look toward Owlowiscious, who was sleeping on his perch.

“Maybe it’s just Pinkie Pie,” she said, trying to explain away the creepy feeling that she was being inflicted with. She returned to the package when she heard the Clock tower ring seven times, stopping her in her tracks. She triple-checked her list. “Ow, horseapples! I’m running a bit behind!” She dropped the package on the table again and teleported to Town Hall.

The tall round building stood proud and tall. She entered it at a canter, wings tucked at her side. The receptionist for the Mayor looked up at her, gave her a nod, and pointed a hoof at the door at the far end. When Twilight entered the office, she got the feeling that she was being watched again.

The only window in the room was the one Mayor Mare was looking out, and there was nopony looking through the other way. This was certainly strange.

The rest of her visit with the Mayor consisted of discussing options for her writing the Princess a letter, and finally coming to an agreement that Spike would send it off next week. With a smile on both of their faces, Twilight stepped out of town hall, where the feeling she was being watched only worsened. She snapped around to look behind her, but nopony was there. She looked toward the clouds, considering the possibility that it might be a Pegasus invoking these feelings in her. That was when she found her answer.

There was one cloud moving with no Pegasus nearby. Twilight was immediately suspicious. This could be none other than one certain Pegasus.

“Rainbow, get down here,” she said, her voice bearing the discontent that Rainbow had been following her.

“Beep, beep, I’m a cloud,” Rainbow Dash’s voice said from the cloud, just before it zoomed off, leaving a rainbow trail.

With some focus and a little magic, a purple bubble of magic appeared before Twilight, and when it dissolved, there was the cloud, with a rainbow colored tail sticking out the back and two rosy eyes peering out at the Alicorn.

“Uh…” Rainbow said, “Beep, beep, I’m a cloud?”

Twilight’s frown remained where it was.

“Okay, so I had this irresistible urge to… lurk today. I don’t know why, but I did, okay?”

“An irresistible urge, Rainbow? Really?”

“Yeah, I’m serious.”

“There’s no such thing as irresistible, Rainbow. A trained mind can resist anything.” The glare hadn’t left Twilight’s face as rainbow poked her head out of the cloud. “If you just put your mind to it, you can resist anything, Dash. Seriously.”

“That’s not what you said about those candies last night,” Rainbow countered.

“I really wanted candy,” Twilight rebutted, “it’s not being irresistible, it’s a matter of me indulging once in a while.” She turned her back on the library. “I think you’ve lurked enough today, Rainbow. Now go to weather duty.”

“I already did weather duty, Twilight. Besides me, do you see a cloud in the sky?” She gave a proud expression before her head sunk back into the cloud with a soft poof sound. Twilight searched the sky, but what Rainbow said was accurate: the clouds had all been busted. It was a brilliant summer morning.

“Then go hang out with Scootaloo or something. Just don’t lurk. I’ve had enough of that.”

“Alright, Twilight,” Rainbow said with a heavy sigh before zooming off again. Twilight walked back toward Golden Oaks Library, but before she even reached the corner, she felt a pair of eyes staring at her. She quickly turned her eyes to the sky, but there was no cloud there, and no signature rainbow streak that signified when Rainbow was on the move.

She scanned the scene behind her to find what was odd about it, and that’s when she found it. A hay bale with Pinkie’s goofy glasses on the front. “Pinkie, not you too.”

“I am not Pinkie Pie,” said Pinkie’s voice from the bale. “I am Captain Haystack.” She gave a little chuckle from the confines of her disguise.

“Well, that’s funny, because you sound just like Pinkie.”

“Alright,” Pinkie said, popping her head out of the hay, “you caught me. I knew I couldn’t get anything past you!” She gave a wide smile.

“Just what were you doing behind me anyway, Pinkie?”

“I just had this feeling that I had to lurk, then my Pinkie Sense said that there was somepony who needed to be lurked nearby.”

“Oh? What’s the sign for that?” Twilight said, putting on the most understanding face she could muster with all the frustration she had over all that was going on today.

“Well, it’s a combo,” Pinkie began, “and it’s a big one. First my left eye flutters but my right eye stays put, then my left ear flinches, then my tail kinda…” Twilight stopped listening at ‘combo.’ This was something that she really didn’t care for. Sure, some of Pinkie Pie’s Pinkie Sense was useful, but how was ‘Somepony who needs to be lurked nearby?’

“I’ll stop you right there, Pinkie,” Twilight said, bringing a respite to her ears, “I just want you to stop lurking. It’s creeping me out.”

“Okie dokie lokie!” She sped off toward Sugar Cube Corner.

Twilight let out a large sigh, then continued on her way back to the sanctuary that was her library. She made a detour through the open-air market to pick up an apple for breakfast. Her stomach made an unruly sound, and she needed to sate it.

She walked up to the Apple Stand to find Big Mac covering the stand.

“Hey, Big Mac, doesn’t Applejack usually handle the stand?”

“Eeyup.” Big Mac said. He gave a look at Twilight before shuffling a bushel of apples around.

“So you don’t find anything strange about you running the stand today?”

“Nope.” His usual replies were starting to vex Twilight even more. Normally, she was fine with his short answers and head motions in a conversation, but when it came to getting more information about if him than you already had, it was a chore and a half.

“Do you know where Applejack is?”

“Nope.”

“Do you know why she’s not working the stand today?”

“Nope.”

“Can I just get a red delicious?” Twilight wasn’t getting anywhere with this conversation, so she figured she would at least complete the task she had come to perform.

“Eeyup,” Big Mac said, fetching the requested breed of apple, handing it to Twilight and taking her bits in return. “Have a good day.” It nearly surprised Twilight when she heard Big Mac say this, but she figured it was normal—he was taught manners on the farm, and no matter how shy he was, he would still use them.

“You too, Big Mac.” Out of the corner of her eye as she said this, Twilight saw the bushel of apples move beside her. She gave it a look and there was small noise from inside it.

“So, you say you don’t know where Applejack is?” Twilight said, inching almost imperceptibly toward the offending apples.

“Eeyup.”

“So, she wouldn’t happen to be anywhere in town?”

Big Mac just looked at Twilight and gave a small shrug.

“Well, it was nice talking to you, Big Mac,” she said, as she turned. The apples in the bushel moved again. “Actually, on second thought, I’ll take one of these Apples, too.” She said, hoofing over the bits and reaching into the bushel and, not really to any surprise to herself, pulling out Applejack. Twilight’s expression was a mixture of disappointment, confusion, and a hint of anger.

“Now hold on, Twi,” Applejack said, “Ah had no control over mahself.”

“That’s a common defense today,” the Princess of Friendship said, giving a sigh. “Perhaps the Element of Honesty can give me an honest answer as to why everypony seemed so interested in lurking today.”

“Honestly,” Applejack said, and Twilight felt some relief that she was going to get some answers to this madness. As the Element of Honesty, she would tell her the honest truth. Even when she was Discorded, she had a hard time lying. At least, at first. In fact, under a normal basis, Twilight couldn’t think of a single time that Applejack had successfully managed to lie without being so nervous that she almost, if not outright, gave herself away. Whatever answer this pony was going to give her would be the honest truth. “Ah don’t know.”

The smile that had appeared on Twilight’s face faded, almost making an audible deflating noise. She closed her eyes and tried the breathing techniques that Cadence had taught her, but they weren’t working. She needed some time to think rationally about this, with something that will calm her mind. She immediately thought of the book that Princess Celestia had sent her. It was sure to calm her! A new book! Of course that would work!

She started galloping until her wings provided lift enough for her to fly. She was proficient with her wings, as Rainbow had taught her at a fairly extreme level. She flew straight toward the Library when she noticed a tree there that she wasn’t used to seeing. She, in fact, had only seen this tree outside her library once before, when Cloudsdale selected the Ponyville Reservoir as the source for rainwater that year.

It was Fluttershy.

“Come on, Fluttershy, I know it’s you.” Fluttershy gasped from inside the tree. “Let me guess, you had an irresistible urge to lurk too?”

“I did, but I’ll go home now,” she said in her softest voice, almost inaudible to Twilight. “I’m ever so sorry, Twilight, I just don’t know what got into me today.” She broke out of costume, folded it up neatly, and stuffed it in a saddle bag that was behind a bush before putting it on and trotting in the general direction of her cottage.

With a sigh of relief, Twilight turned to enter the library when she ran smack into something she literally didn’t see coming. There was something right in front of her, and she reached out a hoof to touch it, when she did, she nearly shrieked as it appeared a part of her door came alive and walked around her. There was a faint sound of somepony grumbling, and Twilight knew immediately who she had bumped into. Even if she didn’t see her right away.

“Rarity?”

“I know,” she said, putting down the hood of her disguise which made her look exactly like part of the Library’s front door, “this isn’t very lady-like, but I had this urge.”

“To lurk?” Twilight said.

“Well, yes,” her cheeks were red with embarrassment.

“Just go home, Rarity.”

“Yes, I think I will do that.”

Finally alone, Twilight entered the library, walked to the table, and immediately felt eyes drilling into her from all sides. This feeling would not just go away!

“What is with everypony today!?” she exclaimed, teleporting all five of her friends from their various hiding spots: Rainbow from the cloud just outside her window, Pinkie from the bookcase in the corner, Applejack from the bushel of apples that she didn’t remember being there this morning, Fluttershy from the wall of the tree itself, and Rarity from the inside of the door. Each of them reappeared without their disguise, bashful and embarrassed.

“We don’t know, Darling,” Rarity said.

“We’re just in this mood today,” Rainbow continued.

“We just need to lurk,” Pinkie explained with a grin.

“Ah’m so sorry, Twi,” Applejack apologized, “but what I did earlier…”

“It just never seemed to be enough,” Fluttershy concluded.

With a sigh, Twilight pushed them all out of the library. “I want you all to go home and NOT LURK AROUND ME ANYMORE!” She slammed the door, grabbed the package, and ripped it open. It was titled “Strange Events Around Alicorns.” Inside the front cover was a letter from Princess Celestia herself.

Dearest Twilight Sparkle,

In the bustle of your Coronation and the following celebrations, I did not get the chance to talk to you about the strange events that happen around an alicorn in the first few months of her reign. Often, they don’t mean much, but my great-grandmother told me about them.

I would like to assign to you the task of researching these phenomena, and reporting to me. Included here is the only known guide to these events.

Sincerely,

Princess Celestia

“I think this qualifies as a strange event,” Twilight said, pulling out a quill and parchment to take notes on. “And I get the feeling this is only the beginning.”

Case 33

My friends were all obsessed with lurking today. And they never seemed to have enough of it. I suppose this is the beginning of the strange events that will befall me as a new Alicorn.

I would have called them all stalkers, but they’re actually my friends. Though, it was kinda amusing to find Applejack in a bushel of apples. She fits in with them well.

Your most faithful student,

Princess Twilight Sparkle

Comments

[DetectivePingles]

Hilarious! This story looks great, and I like where the plot is going. One upvote for you, good sir.

[HiddenBrony4]

Rule #34 is gonna get really awkward, really fast.

...This should be interesting.