The last book, Spike was relieved Twilight hadn’t spoken about her guest; she had just said to Spike to expect some company. Spike looked around he had waxed the floors, dusted everything, made a nice salad, and even changed Owlicious’ paper. That bird owed him big time. Twilight said she was going to the spa so it must be somepony important if she wanted to look her best.
“Wonder who it could be?” Spike thought aloud
“Who?”
“Twilight’s guest.”
“Who?”
“The one coming over tonight.”
“Who?”
“Sometimes I think you enjoy messing with me Owlicious.”
“Who?”
“You!” Spike huffed and stomped over to the coffee table. “I was just wondering what Twilight’s guest is going to be like” The Owl opened its beak “And don’t you say “Who?” again!” Owlicious shut his beak and glowered at Spike. He began pacing “What if it’s some really important professor or something? What if I don’t look fancy enough?” Spike began to rush up to get his tuxedo. Twilight had stored it away in the attic, because of how infrequently he would use it. It was in a big sturdy strongbox. Spike gave it a tug removing it from the pile it rested atop, and careened backwards. He thudded several times down the ladder before face planting atop the chest.
His eyes rattled around his skull for a moment and Owlicious offered a “Who?” asking if he was alright.
“I’m fine Owlicious, but if my fancy duds aren’t here I’m going to feel really stupid.” Spike lifted the lid, but it wouldn’t budge after about an inch. He adjusted his grip and pushed again. Still no movement.
“Who” Spike turned and Owlicious was holding something useful in his talons. Spike took the heavy metal crowbar and after wedging it in the narrow opening. After attempting to open it by pushing Spike wrapped his legs around the bar and attempted to use his full weight to open the crate “Owlicious a little help?” The owl landed atop the bar, and the slight change in weight was the tipping point. Spike crashed to the ground with a resounding thud as the lid opened to its full extent.
Spike rubbed the back of his skull. He seemed to have a knack for blunt head trauma tonight. The case sure enough did have his tuxedo folded and pressed, but it also had Twilight’s gala dress and shoes stored away, several of his baby fangs and old scales, ancient tests and papers Twilight was particularly proud of, and finally a photo album and a series black books labeled “Property of Twilight Sparkle” the top one though had an address he did not recognize “Comet Tower Room 1102” Spike scratched his head. He didn’t remember ever being in that tower, he was pretty sure that wing was for royalty only. Then again Twilight was the Princess’ personal pupil, so it makes sense that she might get to stay there.
“Well Owlicious looks like we’ve got a mystery on our hands fetch the detective stuff!” Spike shouted pointing his claw into the air for added emphasis. The owl returned with a magnifying glass and two deerstalker caps. Placing one on his own head and one on the owl’s Spike produced a bubble pipe from out of nowhere and began pacing.
“Well it wasn’t her room when she was living at the School for Gifted Unicorns. And it wasn’t part of any of her magical graduate studies for the Princess.”
“Who?”
“Yes my dear Owlicious, the solution is quite elementary. We must have lived in North Comet Tower before I could remember it” The owl rolled its eyes “Don’t sass me mister.”
“So this must have been when she was just a little filly.” Spike chuckled at the thought, with the exception of his one disastrous growth spurt Twilight had always been bigger than him, the thought of her as a child he found amusing. He opened the photo album, sure enough there were several photos of him at a very young age, a few of him with Twilight, and a few with her parents. He flipped through the pages, most of these photos he had seen copies of; there was one of him with his tail in his mouth which he vainly hoped Owlicious didn’t see. Spike swore that beak broke the laws of physics and twisted into a smile. Finally there were a couple of crudely drawn pictures of Twilight and Spike some initiated “TS” one even had Spike scrawled in crude handwriting, but a few were signed “BB.”
Spike opened the journal, and began reading some of the early entries. Most seemed to be about books her parents had gotten her to learn about magic. One described she was going to the school for gifted unicorns. Finally he came to an entry that wasn’t boring.
“May 17th
Today was an exciting day. First I found out there was a test to get into the school and I passed! Then I found out Princess Celestia wants me to be her personal pupil! Then I found out I got my cutie mark! It’s a big sparkly star! Then I found out I get to keep the baby dragon I hatched! I need to come up with a good name for him. I think he’d make a great Claude. It would totally fit him. I get to move in to my new room in Comet Tower tonight. I’m going to miss Mom and Dad, but this is exciting”
Spike seemed perplexed “I owe whoever talked her out of Claude big time. Can you imagine Claude the Dragon?”
“Who?”
“Me. Can you imagine if my name was Claude?”
“Who?” Spike growled in frustration.
“Never mind. One of these days I won’t fall for your tricks Owlicious. Then we’ll see who’s number one. Get it “Who’s?”” The owl rolled his eyes “Everyone’s a critic.” Spike turned the page.
“May 18th
I got to meet my new neighbors today. It seems like I get to live with the Princess’ personal staff. My neighbor is a very nice Earth pony named Dusty. Claude seems to like the guards. He makes little babblings at them, and when they are off duty the love making faces at him. Then there is my other neighbor, he seemed nice enough. But he said Claude isn’t a very Dragon-y name. He says Spike would be much better. Claude seems to like him, and he seems to like being called Spike. I like Claude though, but if Claude wants to be called Spike I guess its ok.”
Spike added a mental note to thank whoever Twilight’s neighbor was. If he had to go through life as Claude… He didn’t want to think about it. Owlicious looked at him impatiently and motioned with a talon for him to turn the page.
“May 20th
Mom and Dad came to give me a good send off before my lessons start. I introduced them to Dusty and BB. They seemed to like BB. I can’t believe Mom asked me if I thought he was cute. I mean he is, but she just embarrassed me so much. They took me and Spike to dinner. I never knew baby dragons could eat so much. He liked the harder things better. He kept munching on that whole Cantaloupe! I’m going to miss Mom and Dad. Dad said I have to be brave, but if I want to come home he’ll be here as soon as he gets the message.”
Spike was familiar with Twilight’s shorthand. She often abbreviated pony’s names with their initials. BB had to be this pony’s initials.
“May 21st
Had some of my first classes today. I really like basic transformation spells. It’s really tough, but all the spells are really interesting. Then there was the class about familiars. All the other unicorns had all sorts of different animals, but I was the only one with a dragon. Spike seemed to get along well with the other familiars, except the one unicorn’s Timberwolf pup Barky. They kept growling at each other, and it was funny because neither of them have any teeth. That unicorn seemed really nice, she said her name was Moondancer. Professor North talked about how these familiars because they were birthed by magic would be smarter than their wild counterparts. That means Spike is going to be really smart. Most dragons can talk and even understand magic! So Spike is going to be the best familiar. He’s going to help me study and learn all sorts of spells. I can’t wait!”
Spike didn’t feel smarter than the average dragon. Then again the only one he ever met lived in the Everfree forest and seemed prone to grumpiness. Spike had to make a note of that next time he was trying to sneak food out of Twilight’s picnic basket. He is smarter than the average dragon.
“June 3rd
I finally got to see the royal library today! Princess Celestia showed me so many books! I can’t wait to read them all. BB said he’s seen the library a million times. He says he has dinner with Princess Celestia everyday, and that now that I’m her student maybe I’ll get to have dinner with her as well. BB says he’d like to have another pony his age there for a change. He’s really nice and charming like one of those princes from an old pony’s tale.”
Spike really wanted to meet this BB guy. It seemed Twilight had a pretty big crush on him, and Spike was never one to pass up a chance to pull a good joke on Twilight. He laughed manically to himself, receiving a stare of mild concern afterwards from Owlicious. He cleared his throat and resumed reading the diary.
Most of the entries were about boring things, she had noted the appearance of his first fangs and the destructive nature of his burping. Apparently he had built up several library fines for Twilight by belching too close to books. She learned a fireproofing spell, Spike was grateful for that it seemed like otherwise he would have had a very rough time in Canterlot, especially when he came down with that case of hay fever.
Spike read through almost a year’s worth of entries before he came to one that was substantial.
“August 20th
I don’t like moving out of the tower. Princess Celestia has arranged for me to be a teaching assistant at the school for gifted unicorns. It should be interesting though. I’ve never tried teaching before.”
Apparently she and Moondancer would share a small apartment and assist the same professor. Spike remembered this much, and he had a few memories of Barky the Timberwolf. He remembered Moondancer, they were supposed to go to her birthday party the night of the summer sun celebration. Instead they had come to Ponyville and the rest as they say was history. Moondancer was one of Twilight’s few friends back in Canterlot. She occasionally sent her letters still. Spike read on.
“I’m going to miss BB. He has been a great friend. Mom was right, he is kind of cute. He said he would sneak out to try and see me.”
Spike was surprised not only did Twilight like this colt, but it seems he liked her as well.
“Hey Owlicious how come we’ve never heard about this BB character?”
“Who?”
“You know this BB guy …You won’t get me like that again” he muttered to himself. It struck Spike as odd that he had never met this BB guy. If Twilight liked him so much and he liked her why had they never met. Spike continued reading about clandestine meetings mostly at Pony Joe’s. Occasionally bringing Moondancer with her, Twilight met BB off and on again with some frequency. He listened to her problems tutoring and assisting young unicorns. It seemed like Spike was always left behind. He moved through another diary. He read about his sudden ability to talk, going from incoherent growling to full speech in a matter of hours. She continued meeting with this BB guy. Memories Spike could recall began appearing things like the Summer Sun Celebration and the first time he used his magical fire breath to send a message. They celebrated Spike’s third birthday, and then his fourth. The years seemed to lessen Twilight’s interest in writing down her ideas. Moondancer appeared less and less in the entries, Spike never thought about it, but Twilight became more and more reclusive before she moved to Ponyville. The one constant was BB.
“December 14th
BB invited me to the palace Hearth’s Warming Pagent. He’s letting me watch it with him from his private box! I’m so excited. I don’t what to wear or how to style my mane or anything for this. I’m going to ask Moondancer for help she always was better with the high society stuff than I was. Oh I just know I’m going to make a foal out of myself in front of him.”
This didn’t seem like Twilight at all. She seemed far more preoccupied with appearance than Spike had ever seen her. She was crushing pretty bad over this BB guy. “Boy good thing I never went crazy like that over Rarity before.” Owlicious rolled his eyes and motioned back to the journals. Spike resumed reading.
“December 20th
The pageant is tonight. I’m so excited! Moondancer helped me pick out this great dress. It’s red with these great pleats and yellow sleeves.”
Spike remembered that dress, it was the one Twilight was originally going to wear to the gala. It too was buried in the chest underneath piles of graded assignments and essays still in need of a new button.
“This is going to be so much fun. This is going to be the best night ever!” Spike had heard that before, right before the debacle at the Grand Galloping Gala. The journal stopped there. The remainder of the book was just filled with arcane lines and notes about various spells. Memory spells if Spike was interpreting the gobbley-gook correctly. Twilight’s life in Canterlot ceased to be recorded at that point. It wasn’t like Twilight not to see things out to their end. Part of her overly meticulous personality was that she hated lose ends.
“Oh well Owlicious looks like it remains a mystery out the stuff away.” Spike put the book back in the trunk as Owlicious grabbed the detective gear and put it away. Shutting the trunk and pushing it away into the corner, Spike decided to practice his piano. Twilight didn’t like all his plinking away, she often claimed he was just making noise.
Owlicious happily perched atop the piano, as Spike began playing one of those old song’s that often played in Canterlot. He tried very hard to remember the words as he played away.
“Mare needs stallion
And Colt must have his filly
That no one can deny…”
The door swung open “Stop playing that Spike.” Twilight was far more agitated at Spike’s piano playing than usual. She usually just groaned and put up with it.
“What’s wrong Twilight? Didn’t you have a good time at the spa?”
“Same as always it was fine. Moondancer won’t be able to come here though. It turns out Barky is planking, and she needs to take care of him.”
“Moondancer? The unicorn you helped teach a class with?” Twilight seemed to stop in her tracks.
“How do you remember that? You were far too little to remember those times in Canterlot.” Twilight looked at Spike with an expression that could make a cockatrice flinch. Spike began squirming realizing he shouldn’t have known that. Owlicious looked nervously to Spike.
“Well… um … you see Twilight…”
“Yes?”
“We may have…”
“Yes?” She was growing impatient
“Possibly…”
“Yes?” She stomped her hoof
“Accidently…”
“Just say it Spike!” Spike was confidant Twilight’s mane would burst into flames any second now.
“Wemayhavepossiblyaccidentlyreadyourchildhooddiary” Spike panted after saying a sentence at speed’s rivaling those of Rainbow Dash upon meeting the Wonderbolt’s for the first time.
“YOU WHAT?” Spike and Owlicious ducked inside the piano vainly hoping it would hide them from Twilight’s wrath. “I am VERY disappointed in both of you.” Owlicious and Spike peeked out of the piano pleading for forgiveness with their eyes. Twilight focused and levitated her targets out of the piano.
“What do you two have to say for yourselves?”
“We’re sorry Twilight. It’s just…”
“Who.”
“Yeah that. You never talk about what happened when you first moved in with the Princess or my early years and we were curious.” Twilight’s expression softened a little and put her charges down.
“You could have just asked. You numbskulls. It’s rude to read pony’s diaries.” Twilight stopped and put a hoof to her
chin “Come to think of it I don’t really remember keeping a diary.”
“We know sorry Twilight. So… what happened with you and BB at the Hearth’s Warming Pageant?” Twilight turned her face away. Her voice had lost almost all its strength and was little more than a whisper
“I don’t really want to talk about it.” Spike tried to walk over to look at Twilight eye to eye. He’d only ever seen her this way after she thought Discord had won. She sounded heartbroken. Spike finally got a look at Twilight’s face. She had a few tears running down her face, Spike had never seen Twilight cry. She had always been so strong, so confidant, it was really quite jarring to see her so vulnerable.
“Twilight what happened?” Spike no longer cared about sating his own curiosity, his question was now rooted in care for his adoptive mother. He didn’t want to see Twilight sad; extending his short little arms he wrapped them as best he could around Twilight hugging her tightly. Owlicious landed on Twilight and wrapped his wings around her neck.
Twilight sniffed and wiped the tears from her face “Thanks guys. You two are the best.” Spike and Owlicious released their embrace and looked to Twilight. “Well it happened a long time ago, back in Canterlot.” Spike and Owlicious lowered themselves to the ground and listened intently to Twilight’s Story.
“Well Prince Blueblood-” Twilight wasn’t able to finish her sentence before Spike interrupted
“Whoa whoa whoa… whoa. You mean to tell me the pony who changed my name from Claude and charmed you is the same guy that was a complete jerk to Rarity? How could you be charmed like guy like him?” Twilight looked down at Spike
“Do you want me to tell the story or not?” Spike crossed his arms and huffed, but Twilight took that as a signal to continue.
“And then…” Twilight put a hoof to her mouth. “I can’t remember. All the memories are fuzzy Spike hand me my diary.”
“Okay but it’s just full of magical mumbo jumbo after the last entry.” Twilight looked through the book magically flipping through the pages. Her eyes grew wider as she flipped through each page.
“What is it Twilight?”
“It’s a memory spell Spike, a really powerful one. I think I cast it on myself. I wrote down the reverse spell here though. I think I can pull it off. Step back.” Spike and Owlicious took a few steps back as a layer of light enveloped Twilight’s horn and gradually expanded. The glowing purple energy spiked to almost four feet tall before vanishing suddenly leaving a short pedestal with a silver basin filled with impossibly clear waters.
The last beam of sunlight cracked through the window. Winds began blowing through the room before a light as the water lifted out of the basin and began dancing through the air. The trio looked on in a mix of fascination and horror as the library seemed to morph into a completely different location. They were in the theater they had performed the Hearth’s Warming Eve Pageant in. Rather than on stage they were looking in on a private box towards the back of the theater. It was empty except for two young ponies, this second Twilight was fidgeting nervously in her seat constantly adjusting her dress playing with the button that was now broken. Prince Blueblood was very different from Rarity’s description of him. He was nervously tugging at his collar. He was far from the self-assured egotist Spike had pictured.
He was acting like Spike behaved around Rarity, if anything he came across as timid and frightened. The play moved at an agonizingly slow pace. Both ponies launching awkward glances at each other.
“Gee Twilight, you really were socially awkward” Spike regretted his comment as an angry hoof poked him in the side. The only thing more awkward than the awful acting was the way Twilight and Blueblood would scoot closer together, and then they would avoid looking at each other.
The show finally ended and two did their best to sing the anthem. Twilight cringed at her own singing. It had mercifully improved over the years. The pair exited the booth Blueblood holding the door open for Twilight. The trio watching this noticed the scene morph again the walls blended together once more. It shifted to a more familiar location, their favorite donut shop in all of Equestria, Pony Joe’s.
The aproned unicorn levitated chairs and stools up on top of his tables and counters. He swished a rag around another table before turning to his last pair of customers. “Anything I can get you lovebirds?” Both Twilights and Blueblood blushed at Joe’s comment “Ah c’mon guys you’re having these secret meetings all the time. Anypony who knows that can tell you two dig each other.” Blueblood looked redder than Big Mac and his Twilight seemed to be hiding under the booth, while the modern one looked like she could drop dead from embarrassment at any second. “You guys know I love messing with you.” He levitated out a box of donuts and two coffees from behind the counter. “I’m closing up for the night, but you lovebirds can hang out here as long as you like, just don’t do anything too… exciting.” He flicked on the record player and it began belting out the same song Spike was playing earlier. Old Blue-Eyes sang it much better than Spike. The effect was Blueblood and Twilight squirmed in their resteruant booth. Spike was beside himself with laughter, as Everypony seemed to want to crawl in a hole and never be seen again.
Joe exited the door laughing. The younger Twilight finally broke the awkward silence. “So… do you?” The older Twilight gulped and was confidant she had the same butterflies in her stomach that her younger self must have had.
“Do… I what?” Blueblood’s face had gone from being flushed scarlet to looking clammy and nervous, a dry sweet creeping off his brow.
“Do… you…” both Twilight’s gulped in unison “Like me?”
“Of course I do.” Blueblood blurted out with great speed.
Twilight could feel the lump welling in her throat again “I mean like like me.”
Spike saw Blueblood squirm with the nervousness that he often showed around Rarity. He fidgeted in his seat before leaning closer and closer to the younger Twilight before very softly planting a kiss on her lips. Spike had an expression of revulsion. Her was the pony who was a jerk to the most beautiful unicorn in the world kissing his foster mother. Spike ran at them to break the scene up, but passed through Blueblood having no effect on the unicorn prince. Blueblood finally broke the kiss. Past Twilight had a look of pure ecstasy on her face. The elder Twilight seemed far more contemplative.
“I don’t remember any of this” There was a melancholy tone to her voice, as if she had snippets and shards of the past, but was ignorant of the whole picture. Twilight looked around to see the features of the room blur again finally reforming in the royal throne room. The past Blueblood was telling Twilight to shut her eyes.
“I have a surprise for you, when you feel my magic open your eyes. I’m going to prove how I’d move the world for you.” Twilight nodded giggling nervously. Blueblood planted each of his hooves in a wide stance and looked out the window to the West. There on the horizon his aunt as she did everyday lowered the moon. He turned his muzzle back to the East.
Beads of sweat began running down his face as his horn began to glow. A second layer of glow and then a third appeared Blueblood seemed to be exhausting himself. The past Twilight opened her eyes as a wisp of Blueblood’s magic touched her forehead. She saw what Blueblood was doing as the first rays of golden sunshine peaked over the horizon. She reached out a purple glow enveloping her horn as they both lifted the sun as best they could.
Spike Twilight and Owlicious stood there in awe. The bright golden sphere began to peak over the horizon. It seemed like a normal sunrise. Both unicorns had strained expressions are their face. Their blue and purple weaved together into a magical braid, doing its best to hold the great sphere aloft. They weakened the mystic braid weakened a little in the air, bright colors fading. The sun wobbled it seemed to be falling from the sky. The two unicorns alone with all their power tried their best, but simply weren’t powerful enough. A gold stream of magic joined the twin colored braid almost outshining all the purple and blue magic as the sun began to return to its correct spot.
The past Twilight let out a yelp of fear as she saw Princess Celestia flying towards the East, to fix the sun. She turned and ran. Blueblood stood there a look of great sadness upon his face. The past Twilight looked back sadly over her shoulder as Blueblood shrunk into the distance. The throne room blurred as a white alicorn with a stern expression landed in her throne room.
The scene blurred once more, Twilight was sitting nervously outside Prince Blueblood’s room, Comet Tower 1103. Prince Blueblood walked up the stairs with a solemn expression. He spoke slowly and deliberately “Twilight Sparkle.” The past Twilight ran towards him but Blueblood motioned for her to stop with his hoof. “You left me. I took the blame for our failure of the sun. It was all my fault. I did it to show my…” Blueblood was choking over his words his voice wavering unsure of what he wanted to say “to show my love for you.” He was tearing up at his own words “And you abandoned me. Left me to face the consequences alone without so much as a word of support. You don’t think I would have taken the blame from my aunt? Do you trust me that little?” Blueblood’s sadness had turned to anger “Can’t you answer? You… you… You little peasant! To think I loved you. You abandoned me. You didn’t trust me!” Blueblood’s face was streaming with tears as he slammed the door to his suite.
All the past Twilight did was try to stammer a few words that sounded like “I’m sorry”. The memory whirled one last time to a crying Twilight casting a spell. She glowed with a purple intensity lifting herself up into the air. A flash later Twilight lay there sitting ignorantly on the ground as a silvery wisp stopped itself in the air caught by a unicorn’s magic. A saddened Moondancer raised a book into the air and pushed the silvery wisp into it. After several moments it morphed in the same simple black journal they had looked at the library.
Moondancer folded Twilight’s dress which she had torn a button from in her anger and set and the book inside her chest. Moondancer let a barely audible whisper escape her lips “When you’re ready my friend”
The scene blurred away and the owl, dragon, and unicorn found themselves in the library unchanged from Twilight’s spell. Twilight looked at the side of the book there at the base of the binding was a moon with a shooting star crossing it. Moondancer’s cutie mark. Even with all the neglect and skipped birthday parties, Moondancer still cared enough about Twilight to hold memories she didn’t want.
“Spike we are taking a trip to Canterlot now. Owlicious you’re in charge.”
“Who?”
“DON’T FALL FOR IT TWILIGHT! He’s trying to trick you!” Spike pointed accusingly at the owl. Who in return looked away in a fabricated innocence. Twilight rolled her eyes grabbing her saddlebags. They had ponies to see.
The rain was at best a slow drizzle. Still the entire city of Canterlot seemed subdued and lifeless. Twilight had left Spike and Owlicious at the royal library promising she would meet them there later. He insisted they bring Owlicious with them. She didn’t blame him. He probably wanted to talk about everything he had seen. How could she blame him? She would love to have someone to talk to right now. She wanted to map out what she would say, but this she had to do on her own. She had left Blueblood on his own to face the wrath of a goddess. How could she have been so selfish? She was more worried about losing her status as Celestia’s prized student than a stallion who had professed love for her. She would make amends starting with the one pony whose trust she had been so afraid of losing.
The palace was as imposing as ever standing high atop the mountain city. Twilight Sparkle was recognized by all the guards. She had lived there a good portion of her life and as the Princess’ student enjoyed access to places other ponies couldn’t go. The hallways seemed empty and devoid of all life. Twilight took a deep breath. The throne room was a grand hall, its typical occupants being the Princess and the two guards assigned to that shift.
Except the throne room seemed different than Twilight’s memories of it. The stained glass windows were still there but the light that usually permeated the room was gone. Instead it seemed as if a million tiny diamonds cast twinkles from the wall. The time hadn’t registered with Twilight, Celestia wasn’t the Princess in Court now. It was the middle of the night. This was Princess Luna’s domain.
“Twilight Sparkle. To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?” Luna’s voice still boomed, but it carried the reasonable tone of authority rather than the intimidating volume it used to be. All the courage Twilight had worked up to face her mentor disappeared. She hadn’t planned to talk to Princess Luna at all.
“Hello Princess.” Twilight bit her lower lip this was going to be awkward. “Is-uh your sister up?” Luna’s smile disappeared from the edges of her mouth turned to a frown.
“Is the Princess of the Night not adequate for your needs?” Luna’s voice grew in volume shaking the foundations of the room. Luna easily made it known she was a god and not to be trifled with. “This has always been the way. Nopony cares for me. They ignored my night” Her blue eyes faded into a brilliant white glow as the rain outside magnified into a massive thunderstorm. The guards as always seemed completely unphased.
“Um it’s kind of a personal matter Princess.” With that Luna’s eyes reverted normal and the rain returned to a mere drizzle.
“In that case she’s the second room down that hall.” Luna gestured to her left. “Tell her she overslept and forgot to raise the sun. That one always gets her.” Twilight sighed the last thing she wanted to do was prank her mentor. She nevertheless bowed her head and exited through the back of the throne room. The hallway was a thing of beauty. The walls showed the rich tapestry of the sky blue lapis and pearl clouds blended in a way that made it look almost real. Each cloud was gilded with just a bit of silver giving it an exquisite shine. Second door.
It was surprisingly simple an oak door with Celestia’s cutie mark painted on. Twilight put her hoof up to knock, but to her surprise the door was unlocked and swung open with remarkable ease. Compared to the rest of the palace this place was bare. The walls were carved out of the simple stone of the mountain, no embellishment. A few bookshelves and mirror lined the perimeter of the room and in the middle sat Princess Celestia reading on a simple bed of hay. She looked up and finally noticed Twilight staring. The princess marked her page and stood.
“My faithful student. To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?” Princess Celestia’s cheer only served to tie Twilight’s stomach into an impressive knot. The princess slowly walked from her simple hay bed over to her student. Twilight did her best to look her mentor in the eye finding it increasingly difficult to keep her head up.
“Princess Celestia. I have a confession to make.” The princess’ smile disappeared her expression now that of a stolid ruler rather than that of a mentor and friend. “All those years ago” Twilight’s voice wavered she was losing her nerve “when Prince Blueblood tried to raise the sun. I-I-”
“You were there to. You fled shattering my nephew’s heart to pieces.” Twilight stood there her mouth agape. She wasn’t sure what stunned her more. That Celestia knew about her raising the sun or that she knew about her clandestine romance that she herself didn’t know about. Celestia gave a small smirk “You don’t get to be as old as I am without picking up on a thing or two Twilight.”
“Then why didn’t you punish me along with Prince Blueblood? I was just as responsible. It’s my fault I ran away because I was afraid of disappointing you.” Twilight had regained her usual composure. She remembered Rarity talking about controlling the situation by controlling yourself, but it was all Twilight could do to keep from breaking down.
“Twilight. I didn’t punish Blueblood. I was disappointed in him. Before I assumed responsibility for the sun it took dozens of unicorns to keep cosmic order that the two of you could move it all is a feat in and of itself.” Twilight opened her mouth to speak but Celestia held a hoof in the air to stop her “I was disappointed in the both of you. You threatened the lives of everypony in Equestria.” Twilight’s spirit dropped. She had disappointed the most merciful being ever. She wasn’t going to punish them for endangering the world. She broke a stallion’s heart for absolutely nothing.
“But how could you trust me after that? How could you let such a horrible pony be your student?” Twilight lost her composure and just sobbed. Celestia’s expression softened as she wrapped a wing around her crying student. She used her hoof to tilt Twilight’s head back up and looked at her. The tears magically lifted from Twilight’s face as the Princess gave her a smile.
“Twilight. There is no such thing as a bad pony. My own sister tried to destroy the world if you remember, but remember Twilight nopony is perfect. Mistakes can happen, and even if it takes a millennia the damage can be repaired. It would have been cruel of me to punish you for something you did not even remember. Twilight I was saddened by your distrust of me.” Celestia paced the room she placed a hoof on the wall and pressing on one of the bricks it slid away. Celestia motioned for Twilight to follow her.
The royal gardens were a sight to behold. The drops of rain twinkled in the moonlight, giving each flower, each plant the illusion of sparkling. A bat or two darted overhead in the now clear night sky.
“I fear Twilight, you too feel as other ponies.” Celestia stopped and looked to the sky. “I am frightening am I not? I’ve just been better at fooling myself than Luna has been. Ponies are afraid of us, even you my faithful student.” Twilight’s heart sank.
“But Princess everypony loves you” Celestia turned to Twilight
“Do they Twilight Sparkle? They meticulously clean the town when I attempt to visit casually. The try and cater to my every whim before I even ask for it. I even hear tales of ponies telling their foals if they are not good I’ll send them to the moon” This was a side to her monarch Twilight had never seen before, she seemed… vulnerable. “That is not why I am saddened by your fear Twilight Sparkle”
“Then why tell me about being unloved Princess? Why talk about being feared by everypony?” As awful as it sounded Twilight was glad the conversation was about Celestia’s problems.
“Because Twilight at the end of all things, I know everypony actually cares deeply for one another. Including me. Look to the sky Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight looked up at the starry night sky. “You see Twilight Sparkle long ago, when I banished my sister I was left alone. It was me and my little cave in the mountain. “I despaired.” Celestia had sat down and gazed at the stars. “I was alone, I did what I had to for Equestria. Then, something remarkable happened, lights began to appear in the empty sky. I flew to investigate them, higher than any Pegasus could fly, till I could see them in great detail. They were smiling ponies, brilliant as the sun, ponies long gone. Ponies who cared for me in my loneliness and Luna in her jealousy. The stars chose to aid in Luna’s escape, they knew the time was right for her return.”
“I returned to my simple cave overjoyed that my little ponies watched over me as I watched over them. I returned to my cave and found something else just as extraordinary happening. My little ponies were building me a palace. Honestly all I need you already saw, my bed of hay and the roof that covers it. They built a magnificent city for my sake Twilight Sparkle. Everypony is loved even if it takes friends to show them that.” Princess Celestia gazed back up at the night sky, it truly was magnificent. “You see Twilight Sparkle there is magic inside everypony that even I with all my vast knowledge do not understand.” Princess Celestia smiled as the night sky “Good night my friends.” Princess Celestia returned her gaze to her student and led Twilight back into the castle sealing her secret exit behind her.
“Truth be told Twilight I am not the pony you need to be apologizing to. No damage was done by your failed attempt to raise the sun. Nopony was hurt by that, and while I was disappointed when you chose to avoid taking responsibility for your actions, one pony was hurt even more.” Twilight gulped Princess Celestia had not forgotten the cause of her visit.
“My nephew was never quite the same after that night. He developed a fear of his heart being broken again; he shunned the idea of romantic involvement. What was worse was he now considered himself superior to common ponies. He saw them as he saw you Twilight, disloyal and cowardly. No matter how untrue I know those two things to be, he will not take my word on common ponies or you. I had hoped that your friend Rarity might soften his heart at the Grand Galloping Gala, but all that came of that night was his irrational fear of flying cakes.” Both the Princess and her student giggled at the memory. “I think it would be good for the both of you, if you were to attempt to reconcile.”
“Yes Princess” Twilight responded with a saddened and somewhat fearful voice.
“Twilight. Do not think of this as a burden. Think of it as an opportunity to make an old friend again.” Celestia radiated warmth and confidence. “You’ve always been good at making friends whether you realized it or not. Your good friend Moondancer for example. I’d make sure to see her before you leave for Ponyville again.” Celestia stopped. “We’re here Twilight.”
Twilight was unsure how they made the walk to Comet Tower so quickly. It was far more imposing than she remembered, perhaps it was her guilt, perhaps it was the weight of what she set out to do, perhaps it was because she had not remembered the tower until earlier today. Celestia opened the door. Twilight gulped and nervously walked into the hall. Room 1100 Room 1101 Room 1102 Room 1103. This was it. She wanted to leave. She wanted to run as far away as possible from this. She didn’t want to be confronted with her own failures.
No. She had run away from responsibility before; she wasn’t about to do it again. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door. “Enter” A voice annoyedly responded “My dinner was supposed to be here ten minutes ago.” Twilight opened the door. “Oh it’s you. What do you want peasant?” He was infuriating. Apologizing to this spoiled stallion was going to be difficult.
“Um… Blueblood I-”
“It is customary to address me as Prince Blueblood or perhaps your highness would be more appropriate. I will not be disrespected by peasants anymore.” That Rarity put up with this for an entire evening was shocking to Twilight.
“Um alright then your highness” Twilight practically growled. “I came to apologize for-”
“Oh yes you come to apologize years later? You decide to say you’re sorry long after the fact. Honestly, why bother after all this long hmm? Do you think you could say you were sorry and for everything to go back to the way it was? Do you think me stupid enough to forgive you?” A brown earth pony carrying a tray of food entered the room “Get out of here! Can’t you see I’m busy?” Blueblood shouted. The Earth pony practically dropped the tray, immediately leaving the room. “Well? Answer me!”
Twilight cringed at the prince’s demand. He certainly wasn’t making this apology any easier. “I’m sorry your highness” She practically hissed his title “I shouldn’t have abandoned you long ago. I’m here to take responsibility for my actions. That doesn’t mean you get to be smug to everypony you meet!”
“Why not Twilight Sparkle? Why not? Isn’t that what you taught me all those years ago. That even those closest to you will abandon you for their own interests.” The earth pony peeked in the door once again. “Go away! I’m not hungry get rid of that!” The Earth pony cowered back behind the door and fled at a full gallop. Blueblood’s stomach growled a moment later “I was hungry now see what you made me do?”
“I made you do it? You are still responsible for yourself.” Twilight was certainly peeved.
“Not that. You made me send my dinner away.” Twilight groaned “Excuse me for being hungry.” The purple unicorn was doing her best to keep from setting the Prince on fire, but he was getting frustrating to deal with. Still, she had been having little success and according to her books the fastest way to get at a stallion was through his stomach. Reapplying her smile and doing her best to look sincere, Twilight spoke again.
“C’mon your highness we’re going to dinner.”
Pony Joe’s wasn’t exactly the most crowded place in Canterlot, but a prince entering it still spread through the grapevine at great speed. Pony Joe’s was packed with ponyrazzi and reporters. Pony Joe requiring them to buy something to stay resulted in him covering all his expenses for the week in a day. Pony Joe finally finished serving all the tabloids before going to Twilight and Blueblood’s booth. “Follow me to your private table” Joe led them back to the kitchen.
“Not Fair!”
“I call foul!”
“You charged me four bits for this coffee!” Joe chuckled, he always got endless entertainment out of the media, even if it cost him tips it was worth it.
“Now you two should have some relative privacy. I’m going to be in and out of here to make donuts but other than that the place is yours. Have fun little lovebirds!” Joe exited with a haughty cackle more suitable to Nightmare Moon than a confectioner. A faint glow of magic pushed a record player into the room playing cheesy romantic music from some fifty odd years ago. Twilight was famished, she hadn’t eaten since before going to the spa and to be honest, that donut smelled good. Still Blueblood was looking at his like it might attack him.
“It’s just a chocolate donut. It’s not that complex.” Twilight was worried about coming across as condescending, but it was too late.
“I know what it is Twilight Sparkle” He poked it with a hoof “but I do not eat common pony food anymore.” Twilight internally groaned it seemed like she had been having the same conversation with him all night. Putting her donut down she vowed she would have the pastry.
“Your highness, there is nothing wrong with commoners, deep down we’re all ponies from Princess Celestia down to the littlest foal. Deep down everypony cares about everypony.” Twilight was speaking from the heart and the softening of Blueblood’s expression gave her hope. He looked down at his donut.
“Come with me Twilight Sparkle” Twilight’s heart soared seeing him levitate out payment for the uneaten donuts on the table. It sank realizing she was abandoning on perfectly good jelly filled donut.
“Focus egghead.” Why did she berate herself in Rainbow Dash’s voice? Twilight’s mind was a mystery even to herself sometimes. “Maybe I should do a study of my thought process when I-”
“Focus egghead.” Twilight turned her attention back to Blueblood. He had lead them to the vast albeit empty Canterlot Central Park. Blueblood stepped without heed into the less than solid ground leading Twilight to a small lake in the center of the park.
“Does everypony care about everypony Twilight Sparkle?” Blueblood sat muddying his flanks and hindlegs, his composure was fading and his eyes appeared watery. “Do they?”
“Of course they do BB.” The Prince didn’t even care about his dropped title or the return to a childhood nickname. “Why wouldn’t everypony?”
“Because I’m useless. Because I’m just some stuck up Prince. That’s all I ever was. Some great grand-child of Princess Luna, not strong enough to move anything important. Just another pony important for no reason. Everypony either patronized me or ignored me. Nopony was my friend, until you Twilight Sparkle. You were the first pony who didn’t treat me as an annoyance or a means to an end. I was…” He paused for a long time “happy around you. I was just your neighbor. I guess… I guess … I got carried away and fell for the first girl I ever really met.” He laughed at himself “And then when you were like other ponies, I went and got myself heartbroken.” He continued laughing “I don’t know why I was surprised.” His laughter abruptly stopped “Everypony knows who the most important pony to watch out for is.”
Twilight wasn’t sure what to say. Here was Blueblood owning up to his own faults, yet now he was despairing over society. He felt lost. He was a scared unloved stallion, he came across more as a colt in a stallion’s body than a full-fledged adult. It certainly made Twilight believe his self-doubts. What do you say to a pony like this? Twilight sat down next to Blueblood ignoring the mud now enveloping her tail. She cast her head backwards desperate to come up with something to say.
“Stars”
“Pardon Twilight?”
“Princess Celestia talked to me about this. Look up at the sky BB.” The Prince looked up at the sky “Each star represents a pony long gone watching over us. They weren’t always there BB. When Princess Celestia had to banish her sister she was alone. She felt alone, like there was nopony looking out for her, then the stars came. Those ponies watch over all Equestria, including you BB.”
“It seems a bit silly, but it makes me feel a little better.” Blueblood stood up, shook the mud of his flanks. “Thank you Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight stood up. “I think I accept your apology. Still do not think it means I am interested in a relationship with you”
Twilight internally sighed in relief “I wouldn’t dream of it your highness.”
All Twilight wanted to do was sleep. She was emotionally drained and had been up all night dealing with her own mistakes. She hoped Spike and Owlicious had gotten a good night’s sleep. She didn’t want to talk about anything more. The library smelled off, it smelled of wood varnish, but it probably was just regular maintenance on the library shelves. She was ready to collapse when she saw Spike and Owlicious talking to a familiar unicorn who she owed a debt to.
“Moondancer!” Twilight ran and hugged her somewhat neglected friend. Barky the Timberwolf offered an unenthusiastic bark of welcoming before stretching out walking in a circle and taking a nap. “You really were a great friend even if I never knew it.” Twilight levitated out the diary “Thank you for doing this.”
“I didn’t enchant the book Twilight, my job was just to make sure you had it.” Twilight looked rather perplexedly at Moondancer.
“Then who enchanted the book?”
“Twilight, who do you think cared enough about you to craft a powerful memory spell to protect you from yourself? It’s beyond the skills of a teaching assistant, even when disappointed in you Celestia thought of you first. She takes care of all ponies.”
It never occurred to Twilight that Celestia could have been looking out for her this whole time as well, she wondered what kind of friendship lesson this would end up being. “You’re still a better friend than I am Moondancer. Thank you.” Twilight finally detached herself from her friend.
“Well of course I’m a better friend. Anything you can do I can do better.”
“Is that a challenge?”
“Depends are you mare enough to accept it?”
“You bet I am. Magical Trick Contest first to one hundred wins.” The two unicorns grinned, resuming a friendship long fallen to the wayside, Twilight didn’t feel so tired anymore.