Boom!
Twilight looked up from her beaker. The red, lava like liquid was steaming at an impressive rate. She hurried over to an adjacent station where she tinkered with a small grey pipe. The pipe was a few inches longer than her horn, and about twice the length. Perfect for what she had in mind. She swapped between stations for what seemed like an eternity before moving forward.
"Hey Spike, could you be so kind as to fetch me some more empty test tubes?" Twilight said. Her laboratory was in a hidden room that was tucked away in the basement of her home. She had stumbled upon it a few days after moving into Ponyville, and while it was not the ideal working conditions, she had opted in for ultimate privacy over her own health. Taking a quick breathe to clear her sinuses, the Alicorn went back to work.
The room itself was less than the ideal working conditions that Twilight had longed for, and had been used to during her formative years at the castle. She hadn't really had any time to clean up the place, and as a result the once proud extravagant wooden walls sat rotting. Another more pressing matter was the ivy that swallowed the room like it were a hungry beast. Twilight had originally kept the ivy as it added some character to the room. Every time she tripped over a vine she wished to just burn the room down.
"Here you go Twi." Spike said while tripping over a vine and almost dropping the set. "Man, we really need to clear this place up one of these days. Sooner or later its going to come crashing down."
Twilight let out a small sigh. "I know Spike. I just haven't had the time in the few years that we've been here." She paused for a moment to set the tubes on a station. "Hey, I'll tell you what, we can take a weekend off from my Princess duties and have the whole gang down here! How does that sound?" Spike nodded; thanking Twilight, he sped upstairs but not before tripping on another vine. Twilight managed to squeak out a small giggle when she heard a thud.
After working for a few more hours, Twilight set the experiment down, and marveled at her creation. The red liquid was now a sinister black. The liquid was a few times thicker and did not flow nearly as well. The Alicorn placed the black serum in a holding container and trotted upstairs, careful to not trip on any of the stray vines. She saw Spike lounging around on the couch, throwing a small beach ball.
"Hey Spike, want to go out to eat tonight"
"Uhh Twi you might want to look outside. I don't think anypony is going to be out there for the rest of the evening." Spike pointed towards the windows. The amount of rain that was falling was enough to even make a sea pony sick to her stomach.
"Spike this is more like a hurricane rather than a typical rainstorm. Do you know how long it's going to last?"
The dragon shrugged. "I dunno. Last I heard on the radio the weather pony said it was going to last for a few days. And before you ask, no Rainbow Dash can't get this storm to budge. She's been trying for hours, but still no luck."
As if on cue, Rainbow Dash came hurling towards the front door. Slamming into it, the Pegasus smashed into Twilight's living room wall.
"Heh, sorry Twilight." Rainbow Dash stammered. Slowly getting up, she shook her mane causing droplets to fly like she was a sprinkler.
"Dash are you alright? That storm looks nasty out there. Want me to lend you a hand?" Twilight brushed her friends mane making it look somewhat presentable.
"Nah, you know I can handle anything. And I wouldn't want one of my best friends to seriously get hurt doing my job." Twlight let out a small laugh.
"I figured as much, though I just had to ask you know?" Rainbow Dash nodded and gave Twilight a small hug before she left.
"Spike do you mind if you come upstairs with me? I have a letter to the Princess that I need to write." Twilight turned back to her assistant, who had managed to fall soundly asleep during the brief moment one of her friends was there. Smiling, she levitated a blanket over to the dragon, before heading upstairs to write.
Dear Princess Luna
My progress has been excellent on the black magic counter you told me to come up with a few months ago. I feel like it is ninety percent ready. I just need to get a few bugs out of the system and we can be good to go for testing. I need you here as soon as possible to that I can test it the second I finish the project. Before I finish I would like to thank you for the funding of this project. I know it would not have progressed as fast as it has without your generosity.
See you soon, your fellow Princess
Twilight Sparkle
Satisfied with her letter, Twilight let the ink dry. Chills traveled down her spine when she read the words your fellow Princess. The weight of those words were unfathomable to her. Twilight Sparkle, a princess, an Alicorn. Such things seemed to only come about in those fairy tales her mom read to her when she was a foal. The fact that she was actually living this dream still had not hit her nearly a year after her coronation. She beamed with pride that the three other Princesses had chosen her worthy of picking up that mantle.
Once the ink had dried, the rolled up the parchment, and put it in her bag across from her bed. While Spike was the go to for letters, an idea ad crept into her mind that she should personally deliver this letter since it was extremely important. She had decided that in the morning, or when the storm would subside, that her and Spike would head out to Canterlot to resume testing there in much nicer conditions. Twilight blew out her bedside candle, and fell asleep.
The storm created the perfect cloak, far better than what she could have done herself. The mare tiptoed from building to building, pausing every few seconds to make sure that she was not being followed. The mare shifted thru her knapsack, and pulled out a pair of binoculars. The binoculars were custom made to tailor too her special features, and could sense anything within a several mile wide radius. She would have no trouble locating what she traveled thousands of miles to get with the tools that her boss provided for her.
"Bingo!" After a quick scan she found the item. About two miles up due north of her current location. Only problem was that it was inside, and appeared to be underground. Cursing her misfortune, the mare tucked the binoculars back in, and slowly crawled her way through the streets until she came upon a circular, wooden door. She peered into the window, and saw for the most part the room was clean, with what seemed to be silhouette of a bookshelf along the wall.
The door jiggled, but remained shut. Locked. She shrugged, and grabbed a flat piece of cardboard from her knapsack. Her boss had drilled into her the importance of being prepared, and now those lessons were becoming more valuable than ever. Thanking her boss for his wisdom she tinkered with the handle until it came loose. Slowly she peered back the door. Taking her first steps in, her face went as white as her coat when she heard the snoring.
"Cursed be the night" she mumbled under her breath. The field report had said that the baby dragon usually slept upstairs, and while he would be on guard duty every now and then, he always went back up to his room to sleep. Why did one minor error always cost her in these type of missions? She again cursed her bad luck. The best agent in the field always held back by incompetent fools who were better off dead than to serve her.
Taking a few more cautious steps, she finally managed to reach the door the led into the basement. While it was not on the far end of the room, it still took way too much time from her mission than she was happy with. The mare made a mental note to add in even more specifics next time
She mad her way half way down the stairs before being caught by something. Shirking she slid down the stairs and landed with a loud thud.
"Damn it" she said. Stroking her hoof, she struggled to get up for a few seconds. Pulling a scarf out of her bad she quickly rapped it, and looked up at the room.
Lumos she whispered. The spell lightened up the room in an instant. The first think to stick out was the amount of lab equipment scattered across the room. Sifting through the sea of test tubes she did not find the one that she was looking for. Taking out her binoculars again, they immanently locked onto a small room tucked away in the back. After checking the area for traps, she made her way over towards the door. Opening it she saw nothing but a single container where she found the prize.
"Gotcha."