Twilight Sparkle couldn’t figure out what annoyed her most about the box before her: that it looked like it had spent time as an Ursa Minor’s chew toy or that the box should have been here four and a half years ago.

She felt the wings on her back twitch as she smoothed her white blouse and pencil skirt. It was okay. This was just annoying. It’s not like they had an actual crisis, aside from the Royal Mail being far, far more inept than usual.

“It was dropped off like this, Princess,” Guard Flash Sentry said, looking a little panicky. “I swear! Just sitting on the front steps of the castle!”

Twilight rolled her eyes at him. Six months and he was still jumpy around her. Just because an experiment had gone a little bit awry and zapped him into a rather adorable mare.

She promised herself—again—that she would push through the reassignment paperwork for the jumpy ‘Royal Guard’ right back at Cadance as soon as she had the time.

Twilight sighed. She couldn’t remember why she’d agreed to take on even a single Guard. It’s not like Royal Guards did anything. Princesses and Elements did all the heavy lifting in Equestria. Definitely not yellow-coated, blue-maned pegasi with an admittedly good physique who did actually look decent in the Castle of Friendship livery Rarity had designed…

“So that’s why you originally sent him,” Twilight muttered under her breath as she returned her attention to the battered and bruised box. “Dammit, Cadance. If you try to get me laid one more time… ugh!”

“Sorry, what was that, Princess?” Flash asked. His wings twitched.

“Thank you, Flash,” Twilight mumbled as she turned the box on the table around with a hand. “That will be all.”

“Ma’am, with… with respect?” Flash mumbled, fiddling with his uniform. “You… well, we don’t know where that came from. The return address label was destroyed by… is that dragon’s flame?”

“Seriously, one case of indigestion and nopony lets you live it down. Your tail came back just fine, Sentry,” Spike grumbled as he walked into the room with a small bowl of rubies. He stopped dead when he saw the box. “Okay, that’s not my work. My work is usually more… ashy.”

Twilight waved her assistant over and glared at the box, trying to probe it with her magic. Too many enemies had tried too many stunts over the years. Yeah, Equestria might be all nice and peaceful—sometimes—but Twilight had already learned better. The last thing she needed was some surprise by an old enemy out for revenge who decided the postal service was the best way to get back at her.

After all, that email virus from Trixie—joke or not—had been a huge pain in the ass. And she wasn’t even an enemy!

“What do you think, Spike?” Twilight asked, a hand on her hips as she nibbled on a finger.

Spike popped a ruby, knelt over the box and frowned. The drake had finally gotten taller than Twilight a few months ago and it wasn’t the only place he’d filled out. Beneath the strong, smooth scales of his chest, arms and legs lay nothing but pure muscle. Muscle he liked to show off with simple gray t-shirts and jeans. Two heavy wings were folded behind his back and even the growth in his tail hadn’t caused any problems.

Except for sometimes when Twilight’s eyes—or mind—wandered. Like right now.

“Sorry, what was that?” Twilight asked, forcing herself back into the moment.

“It looks pretty normal to me, Twi,” Spike said with a shrug. “Why you so jumpy? It’s just a box. Okay, yeah, it’s been burned, soaked, chewed on, kicked and a few other things, but… just a box.”

“I don’t know,” Twilight admitted. She scratched at her mane and her ears flattened. “I had some bad dreams Luna couldn’t get rid of last night. Stuff about old enemies. Tirek, Chrysalis, Discord, Starlight… even Trixie made an appearance.”

“Yeah,” Spike nodded and chewed another ruby. “That last one’s weird. She isn’t even in the same weight class… unless she’s got freaky magical artifacts.”

“Or interrupt her with Starlight during intimate moments in the lower library,” Flash muttered under his breath.

“Ha!” Spike barked out a laugh and pointed a finger at him. “I still think you got off lucky. If Starlight had been the one to see you, you’d be lucky to still be in Equestria.”

Flash blanched at that. “They’re… they’re still at her old village right?”

“Won’t be back for a week,” Spike waved a hand at him. “So don’t worry, guardboy. You’re fine. Until then.”

“Spike!” Twilight snapped—though it was a halfhearted snap. “Leave him be.”

“Okay, okay.” Spike popped another ruby and grinned. “Back to the box Twilight can’t open without overthinking things!”

“I’m not overthinking things. I’m being cautious. There is a faint magical signature on this thing… but I can’t place it.” Twilight waved away the comment. “I’ve felt jumpy all day, but this feels familiar.”

Twilight ran a hand through her mane and growled at herself. “Okay, enough. Everypony, take a step back. I’m going to shield the table then open it by magic.”

Spike took a few steps back, looking relatively unconcerned. Flash made it almost to the door.

Twilight steadied herself, planting both feet on the ground. She had to adjust one of her stockings—again—but after that, she managed to remove the distractions from her mind. A shield of pink magic popped into existence above the table and the box. After a few checks, she felt relatively certain it was secure. Secure enough at least.

With a nod, she used her telekinesis to slice the tape that barely kept the box together. Surprisingly, it kept its shape, leaving Twilight to open the box herself in slow, easy gestures. She peered over the top of the shield, using her wings for a bit of extra height and looked down into the contents of the very delayed package.

Inside lay another box about the size of her head, this one of an odd-looking white metal with a blue lid and little orange hatches on all four sides. There were a few symbols carved into the sides of the cube-shaped box. Twilight carefully lifted the cube out of the box and put it on the table as well.

“That’s a new one,” Spike muttered. “Never seen a box like that before.”

“It’s a containment cube,” Twilight muttered, barely hearing Spike. “In fact—”

“Twi, there’s something stuck to the side,” Spike interrupted, pointing at the side facing away from Twilight. “Looks like a note.”

Twilight spun the cube to see yes, there did appear to be some sort of note. She carefully moved the cube closer, not wanting to use any more magic than telekinesis at the moment. Containment cubes were tricky.

“Dear Princess Twilight,” Twilight read aloud. She had to squint, because the handwriting was terrible. “Inside you’ll find the latest test sample of our new magic-reactive fibers. Please, run them through as many tests as you like, though we suggest the initial tests be done solo for the fibers to properly link with your magic. We’re eager to hear back from you. Signed…”

“Who’s it signed by?” Flash asked from the doorway.

“Manehattan Institute of Technomancy,” Twilight muttered. “But there’s no department or doctor listed. I’ve heard of experiments like this, but never something this specific. It’s not exactly my area of expertise, magical constructs and materials…”

Spike snorted. “Like that’s gonna stop you from poking at it.”

Twilight couldn’t help but grin at him.

“So… not a threat?” Flash asked cautiously.

“I don’t think so. Or if it is, it’s an elaborate one… and a little silly. Only one last thing to do.”

“Open the cube?” Spike asked, popping a few more rubies into his mouth.

“Open the cube,” Twilight said with a nod. “After all, the runes seem normal… it should be the normal unlock sequence…”

Twilight stuck her tongue out—a bad habit she still couldn’t quite break—while Flash spoke up again. “So what happened to it for four and a half years?”

“Maybe it really did just get lost in the mail. Got sent a few places… maybe after we um… we moved and ended up in a storage room.” Spike shrugged. “Stranger things have happened.”

“There!”

There was a faint hiss, then Twilight felt a small surge of magic rush through her shield and over her horn. She shivers slightly as the excess magic rushed into her in a wave of blue light.

“Twilight? You okay?” Spike asked, a hint of concern in his voice.

Twilight panted a little, then took a few deep breaths. “Yeah… just the byproduct of a magical item being locked in a magic-tight box. Tends to build up a charge. Forgot about that. It’s just energy.”

“If you say so,” Spike eyed her up and down.

“I’m fine, Spike,” Twilight said, levitating the lid over to the table before checking inside the cube.

As promised, what lay inside was a semi-liquid series of lavender fibers. Twilight could feel the magical potential pouring off of them. They seemed to shiver slightly as she glanced at the underside of the lid. As expected, the alchemical and magical compositions were listed there in fine pint. Some rather intense experiments, but nothing too out of the ordinary.

They seemed perfectly serviceable. Ideas started to form in Twilight’s head, everything from mobile bandages to living clothing. The possibilities for truly enchanted individual fibers were unlimited.

Twilight dropped the shield. Flash let out a yelp and even Spike took a step back.

“Oh, it’s fine. It’s just a perfectly normal experiment that got away from somepony,” Twilight said with a sigh as she lifted a fiber in her magic.

The fiber immediately reacted, curling into a spiral pattern and shifting hues slightly to—oddly enough—match her coat color. It even started to glow as it absorbed some of her magic! She placed the fiber back in the box and smiled as the glowing colors began to spread to the rest.

“However, I think I will do the rest of this in my lab downstairs,” Twilight said as she sealed the cube. “I can’t wait to see what this stuff does. Spike, make sure everything is taken care of. No interruptions. Have Flash help you… if you need it.”

Twilight gave her assistant a wink and Spike grinned. “I’ll keep him busy.”

“I’m… still here!” Flash said from the other side of the door way.

Twilight and Spike both rolled their eyes before Twilight floated the box over to nestle in the crook of her arm.

“This is going to be so much fun. Do me a favor and send a few scrolls to track down where this has been and who might have sent it, okay?”

“No problem,” Spike replied, shooing her toward the south exit and the stairs that led to her primary laboratory. “Go play. Don’t have too much fun.”

“No promises!” Twilight called as she broke into a jog, giggling at the chance to play with a new toy.

Author's Note

Yaaaaaaay~! I've been so busy lately I haven't gotten to just write a story for me~! Needed this so badly~!

Lemme know about mistakes in PMs, cuties~! <3