Sunlight streamed through a sliver in the curtains. The light came to rest across the face of Twilight Sparkle as she slept. Twilight began to shift, her face contorted, as if to move the light off of her face. Finally, her eyes sprung open and she gave a disgruntled sigh, annoyed at the world for waking her up.
"Uggh, Spike! Are you awake?" Twilight called out.
The dragon remained silent for a moment before finally replying, "no."
"Make us some breakfast, Spike." Twilight retorted, groggily. Spike gave an grumpy grumble, but managed to haul himself off of where he was sleeping and begin walking to the kitchen.
Twilight remained where she was, staring at the roof. The air felt heavy and her blanket seem to want to keep her in the bed, but she knew it would do her no good to stay in bed all day; so making the, what felt like, monumental task to roll herself out of bed, she walked over to the mirror on her wall. Without warning her horn began to glow and next to her an aura surrounded her hairbrush, it floated up to her mane and got to brushing out the knots her hair had accumulated while she slept. Ever since an adventure in the Everfree forest, Twilight had a gained a paranoia about her horn; but when she parted her hair around her horn she was happy to see it hadn't gained any spots during the night.
Making her way down the stairs the smell of pancakes cooking hit her nostrils, causing Twilight to inhale deeply and exhale happily.
"Spike, you didn't have to go to so much trouble, some toast would've been fine." Twilight said walking into the kitchen.
"It's really no problem, Twilight. Besides, I was hungry for pancakes." Spike replied. Spike stood in the kitchen, wearing his favourite pink apron, and standing on his tippy-talons just to be able to see the pancakes he was cooking. In one claw he held the pan and in the other a spatula, presumably to flip the pancakes. Next to him was three plates, one of them held a stack of pancakes.
Twilight didn't dare come into the kitchen, she had proven herself very incapable of cooking, and so she felt she would invoke some taboo for walking in while someone else was cooking; so instead she chose to lean on the door frame with just her head in the kitchen, waiting for the pancakes to be ready. The kitchen itself wasn't very big but it would've held Twilight and Spike comfortably. Directly in front of her was Spike, and to her right was an old storage cupboard that held a bunch of old books; Twilight was slowly reintegrating the books in there, to the main library.
Although she would never admit it, Twilight had a guilty pleasure. Finding old science books and pointing out errors or flaws in the experiments and hypothesis' in the books. She had been putting a couple of books aside from the cupboard to read and make fun of later; and now she was almost finished clearing out the cupboard, so today was the day she was finally going to start reading the defective books. The thought of this led a smile to creep onto her face.
"Twilight? Twi? You in there? Helloooo?" The baby dragon stood there waving his hand in front of her face, trying to get her attention. She was so caught up in her thoughts she barely noticed Spike calling her name.
"Oh, sorry Spike, I must've looked a thousand miles away." Twilight responded, apologetically.
"Sure Twi, that's great, but do you think you could help me with this?" Spike said pointing out the fact he was struggling to hold onto the two plates that were stacked with pancakes. Twilight giggled at the dragons predicament, but took one of the plates into her magical grasp and led it to the counter , with Spike following close behind.
"Thanks Twilight, those pancakes are really heavy." Spike commented as he placed his own stack on the table.
"They're only heavy because you made so many." Twilight responded, rolling her eyes. Twilight didn't think the pancakes were heavy, at least not mentally. Magic requires a certain amount of focus, and the heavier something is the more focus it requires, and for someone who reads for fun, the pancakes weren't very taxing for her mind.
With the two stacks on the counter, they dug in; occasionally making light conversation concerning what the would do today. Twilight told Spike of her plans to read once the storage cupboard was cleared out.
"Wow, Twilight only you could make a day out of reading; I'll be at Sugarcube Corner all day, Pinkie said that she was trying out a new party cannon, and a new cake recipe. She says it's so tasty it'll make the air edible." Spike said in hushed tones, like Pinkie concocting a new way to party was a secret to anypony.
"That sounds like fun, Spike. Be sure to put aside some of that cake for me." Twilight replied.
"Are you sure you don't want to come? It'll be a lot of fun, I think Rainbow Dash and Rarity will be there."
"No, I'm sure. Besides wouldn't you want less people there if Rarity is coming?" Twilight asked with a smirk.
"N-No, it's not like that. I just thought maybe you'd have more fun if you went out with your friends." Spike stuttered, a heavy blush consuming his cheeks. Twilight just laughed at his reaction before going back to her pancakes.
____________________________
After finishing breakfast, Spike had set out some food for Owlowiscious, said goodbye and left the library to go to Sugarcube Corner. Twilight waved goodbye to him and when he was becoming noticeably smaller with distance, she retreated back into the library where a stack of books, about fifteen thick, rested beside a wooden desk, with an open book on top of it. Twilight was giddy with the idea of having the house all to herself, no interruptions, no noise, just her and her books.
Walking over to the desk, her eyes locked onto the top of the page, the title read: 'Atomic Models and You'. With a coy smile she turned the page over and began reading, next to her was a quill and some red ink, to highlight any mistakes she found.
Hours went by and she was about halfway through the pile, the red ink was beginning to become a little scarce, and several books were open next to her with red circles around some of the lettering. She was ruthless, pointing out any grammatical mistakes along side any scientific ones. The next book was called 'A Theory on Magical Mathematics'. She had read this book before, but she had noticed it was the 'Original and Unedited' version as the cover proudly displayed. She grinned broadly, knowing that mathematics was one of her strong suits.
"Mr. Book, prepare to be revised!" Twilight proclaimed loudly. Going at it like a madmare, Twilight flipped through the pages, carefully scanning for any mistakes. It took about an hour to reach the last page, and in that time, Twilight had circled nothing.
"Huh... I thought that would be easier." Twilight said to nopony. Turning back to the front, Twilight began to reread it carefully analysing each word to make sure nothing was amiss.
Taking about four hours longer than the first time, Twilight still came up empty handed. "This doesn't seem to be working, but there are plenty of mistakes in the revied version! I just don't get it." Twilight commented. She turned back to the front and slowly reread the title.
"A... Theo... ry... on... Magic... al... Math... mat... ics." Twilight said, slowly reading the raised letters. "It's the same! Maybe someone else wrote this." Although she didn't think that was likely, she did lower her eyes to the bottom of the cover. "See! Dr. Technic Electric! Exactly the sa-. Wait, what? Dr. Technic Electric? who in the hay is Dr. Technic Electric? The revised version says it was written by Dr. Emit Earth. Why does this one say Dr. Technic Electric?" Twilight had begun ranting to nopony but herself, trying to make sense of the situation. Turning the book over, Twilight began to read the author's notes, hoping they might shed some light on the what was going.
Uh... do you know how much of a pain it is to publish a story without the help of a printing press and still make it look typed? It's a big pain.
First, let me tell you about myself, at the moment I am twelve, and the year is 988 of Celestia's Lonely Rule. It doesn't really matter if you believe me or not but I am a child prodigy, or so I've been told, I grew up in Canterlot, after showing a lot of promise I was snatched up by the Princess and she let me live in the Canterlot castle from about six. I have no friends, but that's okay, Celestia says I have some sort developmental disorder, and so I have never really been bothered by friends. I only really know Celestia and another girl Twilight... something. Celestia says she and I have a lot in common, but I had my books to read so, I guess I never met her.
Anyway if you're reading this you are probably pretty confused. I don't want to disclose full details but if you can come to Canterlot and ask for me, that would be a big help, and try and be discreet about. There are some people who would rather I didn't come to light.
"What in the hay? This guy knew me?" Twilight was astounded by this revelation. She racked her brain for any time she had heard the name Technic Electric. She had some sparse memories of her childhood, where Celestia would say something similar to that name, but she couldn't be sure. Giving an exasperated sigh, Twilight said "Why did I have to be such a nerd growing up?!"
"You weren't that bad." Spike's voice floated in from the doorway. Twilight didn't even here the door open. "What are you doing, Twi? I thought you would've finished that pile by now. What's up? Oh, and I brought back some cake for you." Spike said nonchalantly, putting his things down.
"Quick! Spike, do you remember Celestia saying anything about somepony named Technic Electric, when we lived in Canterlot?" Twilight asked, pressing her nose up against Spike's face.
Backing away a bit, spike rubbed his face, specifically the area where Twilight had pressed up against. "Uhh, yeah I remember something like that, she wanted you to meet him because you two were similar or something. But she stopped mentioning him when you were ten or eleven."
Twilight sat quietly listening to his answer. "I see, well then, Spike go pack your bags, we're going to Canterlot in the morning." Twilight said solemnly.
"What? But why?" Spike said, somewhat distraught.
"I'll explain on the way there but right now you need to get some sleep. We've got a long trip tomorrow." Spike just gave a defeated sigh, before walking around Twilight to hopefully get ready for bed.
It might have seemed a little weird, but Twilight's mind was made up. Who was this mysterious Doctor? Why did he have to publish a book by himself? Why didn't he want to explain everything in the author's notes? And why did he need someone to discreetly ask for him at Canterlot? There were just too many questions and only one stallion with the answers.
Peering out the window, Twilight looked out at Canterlot in the distance. "You'd better deliver, Dr. Electric." Twilight whispered, hoping that it would somehow find it's way to the perplexing Doctor.
Author's Note
Hey there, first story so if you're reading this, you probably read the story, so thanks for that. Like if you liked it and favourite it if you feel brave enough. Comments would be nice, Thanks.
The next morning came slowly for Twilight, she could barely sleep so instead she spent the night in a state of half sleep and half awake. But finally dawn had arrived and Twilight was ready to go straight away, except she wouldn't, as much as she'd rather not bring them into it, she had to say goodbye to her friends. Only problem was, she wasn't really big on lying to her friends so instead, she had to come up with a something that wasn't strictly untrue, but gave very little details.
"Spike? Wakey-wakey!" Twilight walked over to the dragons bed and gently rocked him with her the bottom of her hoof.
"Mmmm." Spike wasn't happy about waking up so early but their train left in an hour and Twilight had to say goodbye to everypony.
"C'mon Spike. We have to say goodbye to our friends." Twilight said softly.
"Uhh, fine! I'm getting up!" Spike grumbled, throwing the blanket over himself as he followed Twilight down the stairs.
In the kitchen four pieces of bread floated over to the toaster, from there they proceeded to place themselves in, and the lever pulled itself down. Twilight walked into one of the corners of the room, waiting for Spike to find himself a seat. The dragon walked himself over to the counter and hoisted himself onto the seat that he normally took when he and Twilight ate.
Twilight had begun pacing back and forth, while Spike watched, barely able to keep his eyes open. "Okay, so today's itinerary, seven o'clock: wake up, seven-oh-five: eat breakfast, seven-ten to seven-forty: say goodbye to friends, seven-fifty: arrive at Ponyville train station. That leaves ten minutes to wait for the train!" Twilight said triumphantly.
"Then?" Spike questioned.
"Hmm?"
"After we catch the train to Canterlot? What do we do then?"
"Oh... Um... Well, see, I hadn't really thought of that."
"Really? Twilight 'literally organised every minute of her surprise sixteenth birthday party' Sparkle, hasn't thought of what to do in Canterlot?"
"Uh look, it's complicated, you'll understand when we're on the train"
"OK, fine."
The toaster popped as soon as Spike finished speaking, which only served to punctuate the awkward silence that had arisen; Spike was too tired to talk and Twilight was too stressed. So they ate in silence.
Outside, ponies were starting their days, foals were getting ready for school, mares and stallions were getting ready for work. It was still pretty quiet, and very few stalls were open as Twilight trotted through the marketplace, Spike was half asleep on her back. Their first stop was Sugarcube Corner, no doubt Pinkie Pie was awake, Twilight could've sworn that pink pony never slept.
The store was slowly coming into focus and the more she looked at it, the more Twilight thought that it really was made of candy as what happened whenever she came to Sugarcube Corner, but she had never been brave to take a bite and check. From the window she could see an indistinct pink blur making waving motions. Twilight smiled at her friend; Pinkie always somehow knew when her friends where going to stop by.
When Twilight finally came within talking range, she called out to her friend. "Hello Pinkie Pie."
"Hi Twilight! Hi Spike! What brings you around Sugarcube Corner?" Pinkie responded, suddenly she lowered her voice. "Did Spike tell you about... the recipe?" Pinkie suspiciously eyed the area around her, and put a hoof next her mouth, so as to stop any potential eavesdroppers.
"Uhh, yeah, I mean, no, well he told me about it but he didn't tell me the actual recipe." Twilight replied, confused as to why it was such a secret.
"I just came by to let you know that I'm going to Canterlot, and probably won't be back for a few days." Twilight explained.
"Okey Dokey Loki! Why are you going?" Pinkie asked, her smile hadn't faded for a second.
"Oh, I'm just catching up with a friend I haven't seen in a while." Twilight responded, she hoped Pinkie wouldn't ask her anything else about her 'friend'. Pinkie's eyes narrowed as if she were deciding whether or not to believe Twilight.
"All righty then! Make sure you bring them back to Ponyville sometime! Have a good trip!" Pinkie said, her usual smile returning with gusto.
Twilight gave a very half-hearted laugh. "We'll see, he might have changed a lot. Remember Gilda?"
"I'd rather you didn't remind me...wait did you say 'he'?"
"Bye Pinkie" Twilight said, turning her back, hoping she adequately dodged the question. Twilight had already began walking away, but she could almost hear the cogs in Pinkies brain.
"This is already not going well" Twilight muttered to herself.
__________________________
In other places, Carousel Boutique would have stuck out like a sore thumb, but in Ponyville it seemed to fit right in. In the front window could see two shadows, flickering back and forth through the two front windows, occasionally the outline of a ponyquin would float around between the two. Obviously, Rarity and Sweetie Belle were fighting, or playing. Twilight could feel the distinction between the two become hazier the longer she spent with the sisters.
Walking in felt like she had opened a door into a battlefield. Feathers and ponyquins were strewn all over the ground and from the looks of things two forts were set up on opposite sides of the room, Rarity and Sweetie Belle each held one. Staring daggers at one another, it took them a moment to realize somepony had stepped in on their miniature war. Rarity, always the lady, stops what she is doing to come greet Twilight.
"Oh, hello Twilight, I didn't know-." She was cut off as a pillow found it's way to the side of her face. Suddenly red flushed the otherwise pure white unicorn.
Giving a desperate smile to Twilight she turned around to confront the filly who threw the pillow. "SWEETIE BELLE! WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT FIGHTING WHEN WE HAVE GUESTS!" Rarity screamed. The filly stuck out her tongue in reply. Turning back to Twilight Rarity continued. "Sorry about that, as you can see Sweetie and I are a having a bit of a tiff."
"Really? No way." The noise had brought Spike out of his sleepy state and into a sarcastic state.
"Oh, hello Spike, I didn't see you there." Rarity said cheerily.
"Hey." Spike said, angrily.
"So Twilight, what brings you here?" Rarity asked turning back to Twilight.
"I'm just letting everyone know that I'm going to Canterlot for a bit." Twilight replied.
"Really? Why?"
"I'm meeting a friend I haven't seen in a while."
"That's nice of you. Er...While you're there do you think you could pick up some of Madame Cocoa's Chocolates, they're my favourite."
"Sure, Rarity. No problem." In the corner of her eye, she could see Sweetie's eyes light up. Giving a small smile, Twilight said her goodbyes and left for Sweet Apple Acres.
As Twilight walked out of the store, Pinkie Pie began to hop towards her.
"Hi Pinkie."
"Hey Twilight." Giving her barely a hello Pinkie continued on, into Carousel Boutique. Just as the doors were closing Twilight could hear Pinkie saying, "I have the most amazing news about Twilight!"
"Uh-Oh." Twilight said. She contemplated going back but Spike cut in and something that made the decision for her.
"Itinerary." Biting her lip, Twilight remembered she was behind schedule and so continued onto Sweet Apple Acres.
_________________________
\
Sweet Apple Acres spread on for miles, she faintly hear the sound of Big Mac bucking trees somewhere amongst the dense foliage. Luckily, Applejack was busy taking a bucket of apples back to the house, so Twilight caught her when they met at the front door.
"Well howdy, Twi'. What can I do ya' for?" Applejack asked her southern drawl coming in strong.
"Nothing really, I just came by to let you know that I'll be in Canterlot for a few days."
"Is that so? Why are ya'll doing that for?"
"I'm just catching up with a friend."
"Well, I hope ya' have fun. Seeya" Applejack said, carrying on into the house.
"Bye." Turning around, Twilight thought she might actually be able to get out of here quickly, like she planned.
"Who are ya' meeting?" Twilight looked around to see where the phantom voice had come from, looking down she found Applebloom, standing right in front of her, looking like she expected an answer.
"Just a friend." Twilight said, internally cursing herself for jinxing it.
"Yeah, but who?"
"Nopony, just a friend."
"Is it a stallion?"
"How di- I mean, no."
"So who is he?"
"A friend."
"How do ya' know him?"
"How did ya' meet?" Applebloom continued, not giving Twilight a chance to answer.
"Why are ya' meetin' him in Canterlot?"
"Are ya' going on a date?"
"Oh my! Look at the time!" Twilight said, cutting in before Applebloom could continue. "I really have to get going, so...seeya!" After awkwardly forcing a goodbye, Twilight left in a hurry, she barely saw her as Rarity passed her, silently giggling to herself.
"Hey Rarity."
"Oh, hey Twilight" This simple interaction caused Rarity, to start bubbling over with giddiness and now she was openly giggling.
Blushing red, Twilight continued on, towards Fluttershy's house.
_____________________________
Twilight loved walking up to Fluttershy's home, it always felt to serene, the trickling of water, the smell of flowers, the melodic twittering of birds. But the bright pink pony bouncing away from the cottage sort of spoilt the moment.
"Hey Pinkie."
"Hey Twilight."
By this point Twilight didn't even know why she was bothering, Fluttershy had already gotten all the info from Pinkie, even if Pinkie had added her own two bits, she didn't even want to think about what Applejack was hearing. Zebra Whispers if funny like that.
The door swung open as Twilight neared. A small voice came from inside. "Come in, Twilight."
"Hey Fluttershy, whatever Pinkie told you is not true."
"Oh, so you're not going to Canterlot? That's too bad, I wanted to get some of the pedigree pet food they have there."
"Yeah- No- Uh, I am going to Canterlot, but whatever else she told you is a lie."
"You're not going there to meet a friend?"
"Well, yes, I am going there to meet a friend."
"And he is also a stallion?"
"Well, yes." Twilight was suddenly feeling very bad for expecting her friends to spread gossip about
her.
"And he is special somepony?"
"No! He is just an old friend!" The feeling was suddenly gone. Peeking over at her clock, Twilight saw that it was 7:56.
"Uh-Oh! Um, really sorry about this Fluttershy, but my train comes in four minutes so I really gotta go."
"Okay, see you in a few days then."
Twilight had already left the cottage and was galloping as fast as she could toward the train station, as Spike held on for dear life.
________________________
The train was just pulling into the station as Twilight and Spike came running in through the grandiose archway. The train station looked very great and extravagant, but in actuality it was really a big empty box with booths on either side and a fancy coating, the platform was wooden slats nailed together, with wooden supports underneath; presumably because the designers went over budget with the intricate outside and were left with little left for the practical parts. Twilight often found it funny that somponys are so fixated on appearance that they often forget to be practical with their goals as well.
The train conductor gave out his well-known "ALL ABOARD." Just as Twilight jumped onto the train. When they were safely on the train, Spike let himself down from Twilight's back, slowly and shakily.
"Jeez, Twilight if you wanted to kill me there are easier ways." Spike said angrily, shaking his claw in her face.
"Sorry Spike, it's just this is the first train to Canterlot and the next one doesn't come for another hour."
"Well, why couldn't we wait for that one?"
"I really wanted to find out more about this author." She said, pulling 'A Theory on Magical Mathematics' from her saddlebags. "Here, read this." Twilight said, turning to the page that held the author's notes. Spike rolled his eyes, but took the book anyway. As Spike lowered his head the train began to move.
After a few minutes, Spike lifted his head.
"Well?" Twilight inquired.
"Well, what?"
"What do you think?"
"I think this is a bad idea. Remember when I said Celestia stopped mentioning this guy when you were eleven or twelve? Around the same time and age this guy writes a book and asks you to some look for him quietly, this just seems like bad news. Besides this was written fifteen years ago, maybe this guy is gone or something."
Twilight was a little taken aback, she hadn't even considered that. But her mind was made up, she decided she would find answers, besides what was the worst that could happen? Twilight instantly regretted thinking that. It was going to be a long trip.ss
