“Remember, Minuette, don’t go ahead with any fancy ideas of yours until Princess Celestia approves it. There’s no room for error here, and one mistake could be fatal. Understand?”
“Yes, Professor Sparkle,” Minuette replied shakily. She fell silent as Twilight Sparkle addressed her again.
“And if you have anything else to contribute, please talk to Moon Dancer. She’s handling most of the research work. Don’t talk to Raven. She’s busy enough as it is, being Celestia’s secretary,”
“Yes. Thank you,” Minuette rushed out of the room without waiting for Twilight to dismiss her.
“And Minuette, I-” Twilight looked up and realised that Minuette was already gone.
“Didn’t even wait for me to say she could go. What kind of ponies am I dealing with ?” Twilight walked up to the office door and pulled it shut. Her horn ignited with a warm magenta glow as she levitated and surveyed the stack of papers on her desk. Reading it from top to bottom, she could see that it was a paper that Raven had submitted to her on exactly what Minuette had planned. Her genius idea was to fire off a signal flare near the east castle courtyard of the Canterlot Castle, situated in what was now known as Old Equestria. This would direct King Sombra’s minions to storm the place and while they were doing that Celestia’s forces could launch an attack on their base.
That was until her colleague and fillyhood friend Lemon Hearts reminded her that only Sombra’s guards and possibly only a few of them were likely to go, leaving them with more enemy warriors to battle against. Not only that, but they would give away a critical war secret: that nopony lived in Old Equestria anymore. All that was left were a few sentries on guard who would often report on the current condition of the place using walkie-talkies. Minor battles that were a frequent exchange usually happened a little way away from Old Equestria, right between the Crystal Empire and the formerly glorious pony residence. If it dawned upon Sombra that Old Equestria was a ghost town, he would be hot on their heels. There would be no mistaking the wild chase that would happen consequently. And if he should chance upon their new dwelling- well, Twilight didn’t want to think about it.
Sighing, Twilight crumpled the paper and promptly tossed it away into the waste bin. While she was well aware of Minuette’s trepidation due to her complete and thorough lecture on the matter, she could not ignore that Twinkleshine had decided to take matters into her own hooves, taking Raven’s absence of a response as a yes. Thankfully, Lemon Hearts had been alert and immediately reported this to Twilight, stopping Minuette in time.
Honestly, why did Celestia accept her into the department in the first place? She gained entry solely due to her being a unicorn, and unicorns were stereotypically supposed to be smart. But then Minuette had never taken her lessons seriously in her younger years; always hanging out and having fun, not listening to anyone or anything. And now, the Equestrian forces had to pay the price.
If only I had more ponies as reliable as Lemon Hearts...
Twilight was still lost in her own thoughts. Suddenly, a light knocking sound was heard outside.
“Come in,” Twilight replied wearily, not in the mood for energetic quips.
“Professor Sparkle! We must start work on the radiation proof vests!” Doctor Whooves frantically said.
“What? Radiation proof ? Have you even made sure that we have enough resources? Or money, for that matter?” Twilight asked, the words coming out a little too harshly than she had intended. She stared at the floor and cringed.
“Sparkle,” Doctor Whooves continued, using her nickname. “I was just thinking, now that we have bulletproof and waterproof vests, we should make them radiation proof as well. That way, we’ll be ready if Sombra decides to spring a surprise and bring radioactive elements into the scene. You know they have the resources to do it if they wanted. The Crystal Empire is located in a pretty bountiful place, anyway,’’ he ended ruefully.
“It’s okay, Doctor. Between this and Minuette’s fantastic plan, I’ve been meaning to sit alone for some time and clear my head. There have been too many ideas from Minuette lately, and I can't bear the idea of another failed plan that might send us up in smoke. Tell you what,” Twilight said. “I’m betting Moondancer’ll give you an okay for the radiation proof vests, so I want you to keep an eye on Minuette. Get somepony to help you. The girl’s been acting... off lately.”
“Roger that,” Doctor Whooves said warmly. “I hope the rest of your day goes well!” he added.
“Too late,” Twilight laughed, “but thanks anyway!”
As Doctor Whooves exited the room, Twilight leaned back in her chair. At least she could take an off day tomorrow. She could sort out her thoughts and pull herself through this.
The last thing she saw as her eyelids drooped shut was a blue streak.
Author's Note
Now, I don't know much about Minuette's characterisation, so just tell me if it seems out of character and I'll make edits. Please leave only constructive criticism and tell me exactly what you find wrong, not just "Oh, I don't like it." Please note that this is my first fanfic and I would appreciate feedback so don't be shy! Thank you all for taking time to read this!!
Twilight groaned as her eyes stretched open. Beside her, the shrill notes of a wake-up alarm could be heard. Looking down, she almost regretted the day she had decided to add an alarm feature to her watch. Stupid sound...
Turning it off, she looked around her and glimpsed at the messy office around her. The artificial light was painfully bright, and suddenly Twilight remembered that she fell asleep in the office the previous night. Which must mean I didn't switch off the light yesterday..
Twilight's OCD kicked in as her eyes continued to survey the chaotic atmosphere. The messy shelves, papers left lying around- ugh. In Twilight's mind, no respectable pony would leave their personal space looking like this- and she was definitely someone who could be looked up to.
Wait, she didn't remember it being this messy...
As soon as the thought manifested itself into the intellectually gifted pony's mind, she sat herself upon her chair again and began to wonder. Certainly she hadn't screwed it up, or she would have set to work immediately.
Doctor Whooves.
Right, that guy. He must have rifled through her files and turned the room upside down. After all, he needed her research papers on radioactivity if he wanted to squeeze a yes out of Raven, because after that incident with Minuette, she probably wasn't going to agree to anything not supported by an official document.
Twilight's magical energy gently wrapped around the fallen and strewn-about objects and guided them into their proper places. The spell brought back memories of having worked with a stallion named Sunburst. He was the one who had first come up with the spell, but a mare whom he called "his Glimmy" had finished it, transforming it into a well-thought plan and making the spell suitable to be used anytime, anywhere. Sunburst had often told Twilight how happy he was to have known her, and many a times as a colt he had mailed her and joyfully awaited her response. War had separated them like a cruel slash of a sword, and Glimmy, or whoever she was, was nowhere to be found.
"My only regret is that I have never bothered to meet her again after I got my cutie mark. The fame got into my head and I forgot all about her, and she disappeared before we could get in touch again. In my heart, I have always promised that if I meet her again, I will tell her how truly sorry I am,"
"I'm sure you will," Twilight had encouraged. She was no Princess of Friendship, but the least she could do was comfort him. That had been three weeks before the terrible accident, when Sunburst had been obliterated with the laser gun of one of Sombra's Crystal cronies. "Burst in a sun's rays, didn't he!" the pony had cackled, laughter piercing her infuriated heart. And in the spur of the moment, she had killed him back.
That was two years ago, but every time she recalled Sunburst she relived the pain of having lost a good friend. If only she could turn back the clock and save him in the nick of time. But time travel was still something that was out of their league- at least, for now. Glimmy would be devastated if she came to know of Sunburst's fate.
I hope the both of you are happy, wherever you are...
Twilight allowed herself to get lost in her own thoughts for a while. Being a high-ranked professor as she was, she had no time to eat, no time to sleep, no time for her own personal things at all. Today was like a breath of fresh air, that she could finally relax and stop to think about other thing beside books, research, inventions, books, research, invention, and books, research and invention. Although, she did like books, research, and inventions...
"Prof. Twi ?"Someone's muffled voice penetrated through the closed door.
Twilight sighed and fought the urge to tell the pony, whoever they were, to leave her alone. One day off, and I can't even enjoy it in peace. Jeez
There was the unmistakable sound of clicking and the wooden barrier swung open.
Twilight was not at all prepared for who she saw.
Author's Note
Made some edits. Probably going to make some more and polish up the chapters after I write more chapters, but for now I'm going to leave it as it is. 
A strong, gamboge pegasus pony stood at the door. His hair was sapphire blue, and so were the deep dark depths of his eyes. Twilight felt as if she could go on looking into them until the end of forever and she still wouldn't be able to stop..
Wait, what?
The muscular pony stared back at the lavender unicorn, an amused look now appearing in his eyes, the same way bubbles floated to the surface of an effervescent potion.
"Hi, Prof. Twi-something, I found this outside the door," he said, holding in one of his hooves what appeared to be a folder with Twilight's cutie mark on it.
Author's Note
Guys I'm so sorry I haven't started on the cover art yet but that's because I can't find anything relevant to what I want to put there. I'm publishing this chapter now and editing it as I go on because I'm not sure if I'll be writing again anytime soon cos my end-of-years are in 2 weeks' time.
