The Weight of a Falling Star

by PandoraBoxable

Rating: everyone
Tags: Sad, Princess Luna, Twilight Sparkle, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 5825

Twilight Sparkle is anxious about her newfound duties about being a princess and a leader of Equestria. However, something that she did not realize has been eating away at her has resurfaced, causing her to seek a relief.

Twilight can't sleep. It's not stress, or the fact that the ponies in the Equestrian Council have been horrible at passing the new budget proposal. No, it's something much deeper, something that only one pony can help her with. But she doesn't realize she needs help until it is eating away at her mind.

Published 2013-10-28 04:50:02 UTC
Last updated 2013-10-28 04:50:02 UTC

The Weight of a Falling Star

The Weight of a Falling Star

By PandoraBoxable

Princess Twilight Sparkle’s eyes roamed the dark bedroom, the usual bright whites and golds of Canterlot Castle bathed in a deep blue-black glow, as if they were enveloped by an invisible aura. Like a unicorn’s magical aura, yet all-encompassing, a beacon of energy. The curtains on the windowpanes next to her deck fluttered lightly in the midnight breeze as the cold air wafted through the open doors, settling on the princess’s body and making each hair stand on end.

Twilight rolled her head to the side, making sure not to slam her - now enlarged - horn into anything important, and looked directly out the domed skylight on the roof of her room. This skylight was shaped so the occupant of the bed could easily see what time of day it was due to the sun and moon’s rotation throughout the sky, aided by both princesses, Celestia and Luna. The moon was about at it’s zenith, reflecting its white light onto the princess’s face as she watched. Taking this newfound knowledge into account, Twilight knew that there was only a few ponies that would be awake at this time of night, and one of them was one of her fellow princesses.

Throwing the thick blankets covering her body off with her magic, she rolled to the side and off her bed, landing on her hooves. Picking up her element of magic from the bedside table, she placed it behind her ears shook her head softly, solidifying it in place. The lavender princess glanced over to a mirror next to her bed, checking her reflection. Black bags hung under the alicorn’s eyes, making her face look gaunt, saddened. But mostly tired.

Twilight hadn’t slept in multiple days since the coronation. The newfound pressures of helping to run a kingdom, especially with the budget impasse because of the horrible, self-centered ponies that populated the Equestrian Council, had contributed to her stress and insomnia. She sighed and brushed her long, flowing mane out of her eyes into something a little more presentable, and turned away from the mirror. Looking around her quarters one last time, her eyes paused at three things in particular, the window, her bedside table, and the massive granite and gold plated door leading out of her room. Quickly checking the bedside table again to see if she needed anything, yet only finding a couple tissues and a binder full of the Rules of Evidence for the court hearings caused by the Council, she turned her attention back to the door and trotted towards it, her hooves clicking lightly on the stone floor. Echoes were a welcome sound to her ears, a dramatic change in the whistling of the wind through the french doors on her balcony.

The princess pushed the door open with her aura, the radiant violet light bouncing around the room, dimly illuminating its contents. The hallway outside her room was devoid of other ponies save for the two guards stationed in front of her door. They turned around at the unsuspected disturbance, and upon seeing the princess took up a formal stance.

“Princess Twilight, is everything all right?” the one on the right said, his straight spine and forced royal posture making the princess giggle in her tired state.

“Everything is quite all right, Golden,” Twilight said, her voice warm, almost like Celestia’s, but darker and royal, like Luna’s. Her voice had been changing dramatically ever since her ascension, and it had hints of both Celestia and Luna’s upper and undertones permeating the range. Twilight coughed and rubbed her neck before continuing. “I am merely going on a midnight stroll.” She smiled and they moved to the side to let the larger unicorn pass.

“Do you require accompaniment?” Golden asked again, concern for the pony he was charged with guarding evident in his voice. On the fourth day since her coronation, this could have still been the shortest reign of any princess. He wasn’t prone to take chances, even if this wasn’t the case.

“No, but thank you,” the princess replied, looking behind her slightly.

“Whatever you say, your majesty.”

Twilight smiled and turned forward again and continued trotting away down the corridor, flicking her mane again. Her magic hadn’t grown accustomed to subconsciously holding up the princess’s mane, which now had hints of black and indigo sparkling around the usual violet and purple colors. She forced her magic open again to a bracing position around her mane and held the spell in place, lightly batting back her mental barriers as she took command of the simple spell and morphed it to do her will. To any other unicorn doing custom spells like this one was a daunting task, if not impossible. Yet for the princess of magic it was just another part of everyday life, something that had to be done and had to be done correctly in order to maintain her persona of power and the definition of magic itself.

Needless to say, her persona of the literal definition of magic being publicised as something to be worshipped and looked up to was a quite large change from her life in Ponyville, where she lived for three years. Even during her life in Canterlot, the majority of her living years, was nothing compared to this. Back then she was nobody other than Celestia’s Student, a bookworm who would shut herself in her room for hours, not speaking to anyone except her assistant, and even those conversations were mainly some to just get more books for her to stick her muzzle into.

Thinking of these memories made regret pour into the princess’s soul. She had blocked those memories from her mind for a while, yet spent many a night during her life at Golden Oaks crying herself to sleep, wishing she had tried to make friends, tried to be more outspoken, less vulnerable, able to stand by the side of the Princess of the Sun. But she had failed.

The first time she had longed to retry her life was a week after she moved to Ponyville, after the incident with Nightmare Moon, which had nearly destroyed the town if not for her and her new friends. She had felt the magic of friendship, she had felt the warmth and comforting spirit of magic reaching deep into her soul, opening her up to this new world of freedoms and happiness. But, the freedom came at a cost - the anxiety of regret, remorse, grief. She had sent a letter to Canterlot through Spike, the purple dragon that never left her side, detailing her feelings to Princess Celestia. The princess had written back quickly, saying it was nothing to be afraid of.

Twilight reached deep into her mind as she walked down the hallway of Canterlot Castle, trying to remember exactly what the letter had said. She sorted through memories pertaining to her senses, thoughts, words, actions, feelings, until she found what she was looking for. Deep in her memories, buried under walls and walls of magical mental security placed there by her subconscious defences, she found it. A tiny picture of a letter, burned into her mind by multiple reads, multiple scans of the small, careful handwriting of the princess.

Dear Twilight, my most faithful student,

It has come to my attention that you are having some anxiety troubles. You do not have to worry. This is a sign that you are growing older, more mature. There is no reason to be afraid. Just because you spent some of your life trapped in your room reading and studying for me does not mean it was for nothing. You are bigger than this, Twilight. You did this for a reason, for me. I know that you may be having second thoughts about these actions, but you have to understand that sometime in the future YOU will understand that it was not in vain.

If you would like to ask me more about this, please do not hesitate to talk to me. It is what I am here for.

Your teacher,
Princess Celestia.

Twilight brushed the memories aside after a second reading of the letter, however the words still were emblazoned in her short term memory. Back when she had received the letter she had sat in her room - a very counterintuitive thing to do after asking about just that - and mulled over her response. An hour later she had responded saying no, she didn’t need any more information, and that her teacher’s response was enough. For years she had wished she had pressured the princess more into giving out details about her condition.

Somewhere in her heart she still had regret for not asking.

Twilight shook her head to fight the saddening thoughts away and took account of her surroundings again. She was in the main hallway of the upper levels, walking towards the great balcony overlooking Equestria. For the last two nights she had come here to look over the kingdom she now had partial control over, and look at the city lights of Canterlot down below, the nightlife going strong all the way until the wee hours of the morning. For the first night, she wished she was out on the town, going to clubs, visiting with friends, doing whatever a normal pony would do at late night parties. Okay, maybe not everything, the princess did still have standards, even after not having a coltfriend in all her life.

But the second night right before she decided to go down and check out the most “happening” club in town, she caught herself thinking that she wouldn’t be welcome as a normal pony there. Every pony would be able to notice the alicorn, nearly two times the size of a normal mare, with her large lavender wings and long, sharp horn erect from her forehead. She wouldn’t be welcome there, she wouldn’t be welcome anywhere. Ponies would act like she was, bow in front of her, pour extra glasses of whiskey or vodka for her, even buy them for her. But she wouldn’t be another pony in the crowd, raving along to bassy music spun by the best DJs in Canterlot. She would be the most well-known outsider.

And so she had stepped back from the balcony, setting her wings back into position beside her body, a downcast expression on her countenance. She had returned to her watchful position, waiting until Luna lowered the moon to cast her magic to the heavens, spreading the colors of dawn across the sky, her trademark purple and lavender snaking around the horizon and casting reds and oranges from her magical touch. She was the middleman between the two celestial deities. The in-between. The forgotten.

Twilight pushed open the great marble and stained glass doors leading onto the balcony and was welcomed by an uncommon sight, the Princess of the Night herself on the balcony, gazing towards her moon. The night-blue alicorn let out a heavy sigh as she watched, her horn lightly glowing with the effort of dragging the moon across the sky. There were no bags under her eyes, yet her eyes were fluttering open and closed as if she was forcing them to stay open. Twilight allowed herself to walk forward, the sounds of her hooves on the balcony causing Princess Luna to tense and turn around to face the intruder. Twilight smiled warmly as she came to the railing, throwing her front legs over it and bracing her weight on the ornate rail.

“Good evening, Sister,” Luna addressed Twilight in the formal way for fellow princesses, her low, cold undertones making up most of her vocal range. The old alicorn smiled and gazed back at her moon with open eyes. “It is beautiful, is it not?”

“Very,” the Princess of Magic said, letting out a long sigh of relief from having her weight not falling on her front legs anymore. She sank lower into her position and closed her eyes in a very content manner, breathing in the smell of the wind, a faint, almost cold aroma. “Sister, may I ask what you are doing here this time of night?”

“I could ask you the same,” Luna replied, looking back at Twilight. “You have been coming to this place during the night. Is there something you are worried about?”

“Oh, stress, for one,” Twilight replied, still looking at the moon, the light bouncing from its surface and lightening the shadows around them. It was comforting, like most nights. “All these hearings are really getting to me.” Luna’s deadpan look saw through her fellow princess’s blatant lie.

“We know when thou are lying, Sister,” she commented. “Please, there is nothing to be afraid of.” The sudden presence of a hoof on Twilight’s back was shocking at first, yet became comforting when the princess realized who it belonged to.

“Anxiety,” was all Twilight could say while maintaining her carefree composure. The feelings she had been hiding for so long were bubbling to the surface, and she hoped that the conversation would be over soon. Looking weak in the eyes of a princess and the consequences of such an action, most of which were completely crazy, flew through Twilight’s mind as she forced herself to keep her calm.

“We are all anxious, Sister,” Luna started, massaging Twilight’s back more. “The question that remains in all of our hearts is what we are anxious about.” When the Princess of Magic didn’t answer, Luna removed her hoof from her fellow princess’s back, earning a turn of the head from Twilight. The two stared at each other for a while before Twilight stepped back from the railing.

“It is… complicated,” Twilight managed to get out. She could feel her mental defenses slipping, all the pent-up feelings and thoughts of regret. That she had failed her parents, her teacher, and mostly herself. She had wasted part of her life, and it was all her fault. Twilight’s horn lit and she reinforced her mental defenses, willing herself not to show her true emotions in the face of one of her brethren. This was her family, and even though they would understand, she was not about to show them the side of her she had kept hidden.

And so Twilight Sparkle, the Princes of Magic and all incarnate, willed herself with her own supernatural powers not to weep. But there was something blocking the way, something that had struck through her mental defenses, dashing them to pieces inside the figurative space. A black, cold aura that pushed back her own magic, forcing it out of her head, making a tear fall from her closed eye. And another. And another.

Twilight opened her eyes to find her vision was blurred. She turned her attention towards the other occupant of the balcony, and noticed that Luna’s horn was pulsing her blue/black aura outwards towards the Princess of Magic.

“We should not be afraid to show emotion, Sister,” Luna started, pulling Twilight into a tight embrace and running a hoof down her back. “Our emotions are what make us sentient. Without them, what are we?”

Twilight closed her eyes again, but made no attempt to stop the tears from falling. A stream of salty water gushed from her eyes as she wept on Luna’s shoulder, holding her close, trying to never let go. This was her moment of vulnerability, but she could feel the stress and anxiety leaving her body for the first time in nearly four years. It felt like heaven.

The two alicorns stayed in this position for a long time. But neither was keeping track. Luna’s horn still shone with the effort of pushing the moon along its intended path, and Twilight’s horn was busy using her magic to wipe away the river of emotion that had never been broken. Luna lightly patted her counterpart on the shoulder and made a move to pull backwards, which the other princess met with reluctance. The two sat on their haunches, Twilight looking at the floor of the balcony while using her front leg to wipe her crusted eyes, and Luna keeping a watchful eye on the moon as it slowly descended towards the horizon.

The Princess of the Night turned her attention towards Twilight.

“Twilight, please, we can help yo-”

“I failed myself, Sister,” Twilight burst out, still staring at the stones of the balcony. Luna’s concerned expression furthered as her fellow princess shook from heavy, dry sobs. Luna glanced back inside through one of the large glass windows to see if any guards were watching what was unfolding on the balcony. When she found the hallway devoid of all activity, she asked the question that had been on her mind ever since the conversation began;

“Why?”

“I spent more than half my life cooped up in my room with thousands of books. I made no friends until I was 19, and even then I was unaccustomed to the struggles and strains that friendship could put on a mare. I worked at the library to get away from what had to be done, it was like it was my escape plan. After an adventure or when I would want to go home to sleep, that was literally my home.” Twilight paused to take a breath and another heavy sob before turning her gaze up at Luna, who was giving her a sorrowful, empathetic look.

“Until I needed to do something with my friends I wouldn’t come out of the library, Luna. Even if I had to go buy food I would normally send Spike to do that.” A realization hit Twilight like a freight train, ramming its cold, steel body into the recesses of the princess’s mind, crushing all her temporary barriers and making her shudder and fall forwards, head in her hooves.

“Spike wasn’t my assistant, Sister, he was my… slave…”

“Do not say that, Twilight.” Luna’s voice rang out clear through the night, the unexpected change in tone making Twilight jump out of her fetal position and into a more taught stance, hind legs behind her body and her barrel on the ground. Her face contorted once more and she fought the tears again, even though she knew none would come. She had cried her reservoirs dry, but there was so much stress and anxiety left in her body that it would take many more sessions of tears to remove it all. “Spike was never your ‘slave.’ He was your friend before anypony else. Never. Forget that.”

“But I never treated him as a friend, Sister!” Twilight sprang to her hooves and trotted over to the rail to look over her kingdom. “From the very beginning he looked up to me like I was some sort of… some sort of God! I wasn’t! I was just a normal mare like everypony else, but with acute OCD, hyperactivity, antisocial tendencies…”

“That does not make us normal mares,” Luna interjected, trying to defuse the situation. However, it only escalated.

“That’s the problem, Luna! I’m not a normal mare. Not then and especially not NOW!”

The use of the Royal Canterlot Voice chilled Luna to the bone. After the windowpanes behind her stopped rattling, she trotted to Twilight’s side, who had resumed sobbing, this time bracing her body on the railing of the balcony. After crying for a long time, Twilight still managed for her overworked tear ducts to leak, the tears falling down to the fountain below, causing small ripples to spread on the surface. Luna lay a hoof across the Princess of Magic’s back again, rubbing in between her shoulderblades as her counterpart cried her emotions out.

“No, you are right, Twilight,” the Princess of the Night stated calmly, continuing to rub her fellow princess’s back. “We are not normal mares. And we never will be. All your life you were in your room with a book, ingesting great quantities of knowledge into your brain, remembering all of it, teaching it to others, making your own discoveries. We were just like you. While my sister went out to play with the other fillies and colts thousands of years ago, we would stay in my room and read, and never leave, and we think our lack of parents made it easier to not converse with them.

“My first real friend’s name was Starswirl. We would stay up and read books, make up new spells to use on the guards to make them as angry as possible, and mainly just enjoy each other’s company. He was the one who introduced us to the magic of friendship. He introduced us to his own friends, and we became acquainted with them. As time went on, we continued to spend time together, however we made friends along the way. Starswirl would chase my sister and I back and forth about his knowledge of common physics, and how our skyward deities could exist without our help, and go about their way through the sky without our magical push.

“Of course, we didn’t believe him. Not one bit, and we had - and still have - substantial proof against his statements and erratic behavior from all his knowledge. However, in the back of my mind I have always kept his statements in account, remembering them at the strangest moments, such as when I’m attempting to fall asleep during the day, or when I am raising or lowering the moon. When the Nightmare took over my body for her own purposes, my magical reserves drained much faster holding the moon and the sun in place than they did when I was moving it through the sky. Needless to say, I still had my doubts.

“But even though he set doubt of my own purpose, the whole reason I was created and placed in this world with my Sister, I know that the ponies who I watch over at night and through the day depend on Celestia and I to provide for them, and to set some sort of anchor to set their sights on as they go through their daily, eventful lives. On Starswirl’s deathbed, Celestia and I were by his side until the life drained from his body. And he said something to me that I would never forget.” Luna looked off the edge of the balcony again, her eyes gazing at the moon. A tear rolled down her cheek, moonlight reflecting off the curved surface, spreading glittering light onto Twilight's pupil. She watched Luna for a while, waiting for an answer. When none came, the princess got to her hooves, trotting over to where Luna stood. She put a leg around her fellow princess’s back, holding her tight. The Princess of the Night let out a loud sigh and shuddered as she composed herself.

“He said…” she paused to take a deep, airy breath, finding a point on the moon to stare at, to mentally anchor her feelings on. To never let go. “He told me that ‘when I looked to the stars I would see my dreams. Knowledge and the pursuit of wisdom is what our purpose is on the world. Make sure you reinforce your ideals, purposes, and feelings, and give them to the ponies who need it most.’ And with those last words he breathed his last breath.” The Princess of the Night turned her attention to the floor of the balcony, unable to look at the moon any longer. Tears that had gathered on the edge of her vision dropped the ground, splashing against the tiles silently. She took another deep breath as Twilight stroked her back. The Princess of Magic’s heart was beating rapidly, empathising with the claims that one of the greatest wizards in history had made to her own teacher. She did not want to comment, but she found it amazing how Luna had known Starswirl, but not just known him. Known him as a friend, a person who she could confide her trust in.

“It seemed as though Celestia took his passing much harder than I did. Now that I think about those first years without Starswirl, I realize that I was numbed by the loss of the friend that made my life everything I wanted it to be. I…” Luna paused, as if gathering the courage to speak again. Her adam’s apple bulged as she swallowed heavily, pushing her fears back into her stomach.

“I loved him… Twilight.”

There was a long pause as the Princess of Magic digested those four words. Thoughts flew through her head at a mile a minute, pushing her muscle control to the lowest priority on her list. Her mental processes regained control on her body and noticed that her hoof had frozen mid-stroke on Luna’s back. She hastily resumed her massaging, just as Luna had done for her, and acted like nothing had happened, plastering her smile back on her face. Luna let out a chokey giggle and exhaled.

“No need to act so surprised, Sister,” she started, “now that we have said those words two thousand years of emotion have been emptied from our body.”

“That is not what I am surprised about, Luna. I think anyone at that time period would have loved Starswirl. It’s just… when Princess Celestia sent me his “unfinished masterpiece” before my coronation and ascension, she had said that he did not understand friendship like I did, and therefore could not finish development for his spell. How could you be his lifelong friend, while he did not understand friendship to the fullest?”

“Celestia did not know him like we did, Sister. She did not know his true feelings at heart. However, while Starswirl had multiple friends, he never left Canterlot to visit other countries, or other ponies for that matter. Same with you, Twilight. You did not understand the magic of friendship until Celestia sent you to Ponyville, did you not?”

Twilight thoughtfully put a hoof under her chin, thinking of her days in Canterlot. She did not have to think very long as her emotions and anxieties came rushing back, immediately answering Luna’s claim.

“No, you are correct. It was not until we fought you that we all understood.” Luna nodded slowly.

“Ponies have always said that Starswirl was the greatest wizard to ever live. I thought it too. But you, Twilight, have something that he did not. You have a greater understanding of what it means to be a friend, what it means to harness the pure energy of this world, the magic of friendship. It is much more than just another school of magic, Sister. It is the binding force that holds this world together. That is what all of our sisters bend and stretch in order for it to meet our will, for us it is to move the sun and the moon. For Princess Cadance it is a force she uses to fix the disagreements caused by heartbreak and warfare, and for you,” Luna paused, pointing a hoof at Twilight’s stomach. The Princess of Magic looked down at the hoof and back up to Luna’s face, holding her gaze. “For you, Twilight, you use the magic of friendship to do anything.”

“Anything?” Twilight said, shocked.

“Yes, Twilight. There is a reason you are the Princess of Magic. You have the most fundamental understanding of this world’s life force, how to manipulate it. You have already done it four times, once with me, once with Discord, and once with Starswirl’s unfinished spell.”

“Well, five,” Twilight interjected, “if you count that whole mix-up a few days ago with Sunset Shimmer…” The princess stopped talking when Luna waved a hoof in her face.

“That was unreasonable, and quite frankly stupid,” Luna commented, annoyance evident in her eyes. “No, Twilight. What we are saying is that you have the power to do anything. Hold the sun and the moon in place against our wishes, turn your subjects into thoughtless zombies,”

“Those both sound quite violent and malicious,” Twilight commented, taken back.

“Yes, Twilight. they are malicious. Which is why you have ascended to alicorn status. You have no grudges against any pony in this world. You have no reason to do horrible things to your subjects. All you have in your heart is love, and the power of the magic of friendship. That way, there is no way you will be able to bring yourself to those lows.

“That is why these ponies, your loyal subjects, look up to you, Twilight. They are just like you.”

Two alicorns sat in silence on a balcony in Canterlot Castle, the moon casting shadows on their faces as it was lowered by the Princess of the Night. Two sisters sat together, enjoying each other’s company, giving each other shoulders to cry on and ears to listen to their worries.

Two friends shared time together, just as Luna and Starswirl had done on the same balcony two thousand years prior. Sharing their feelings just as they had done.

“But Sister,” Twilight broke the fragile silence with her warm, colorful voice, “I need closure. Was wasting my life in my room something that had to be done to get me to this point in my life?”

“Without the knowledge from being Celestia’s student, without everything that you had learned there about magic, without Celestia’s academy for gifted unicorns, where would you be, Twilight?” Not hearing a response, Luna continued. “You would be another snobby member of Canterlotian culture, visiting nightclubs, selling their bodies for money and plastering them with clothes.

“Twilight, you need to stop asking yourself whether your actions were something you’re proud of, and start thinking as to what they might mean in your future endeavors. You have based all of your life on your studies. Does that not mean anything to you?”

The silence returned, the two sitting in the quiet once more, the moon falling ever closer towards the horizon. The two watched the moon as it was pulled by magic down the sky, lighting the tops of the mountains in the distance as it moved behind them. Twilight’s horn flared as she prepared for her part of the morning routine, her mind reaching out to the farthest reaches of the world, pulling the energy needed for her next spell towards her body. Her horn charged and she recognised the trademark rainbow color of the activation of the elements in her mind’s eye, reminding her of what school of magic she was using for her acts.

“You are right, Luna,” Twilight spoke as she charged her horn. “It was worth it.”

And her horn ignited, spreading the colors of morning through the world, illuminating the cities and towns in its wake. Yellows, oranges, blues and purples wove through the dawn, cutting through Luna’s night like a knife. With her magical discharge, her anxieties and regret flowed out, tinging the sky a deep red, which dissipated as soon as it made contact with the rest of the magic of friendship, smothering it, never letting her feelings see the light of day again.

She was free.

“You do realize why your name is Twilight, do you?” Luna’s voice cut through the silence and shot into Twilight’s mind, causing her to open her eyes and look upon her creation. She turned her head and glanced at Luna, who had a shy, yet sincere, smile on her face. Lightly shaking her head, she turned back towards the sunrise, taking in the color, the feeling, the warmth.

“The twilight hours are when the sun is below the horizon. When it is just peeking below, or just peeking out from its slumber under the world. You, Twilight, are the dawn of the new era of the reign of the Princesses.”

Twilight turned her head back towards Luna, cocking it sideways in a questioning manner. Luna took one look and smiled wider, turning her attention back to her sister’s beautiful dawn.

“We do not live forever, Sister. Not Celestia, not us. But you will live longer than most, longer than us. You will live into a different era. You will have to take charge when we are gone.”

Twilight sighed.

“It’s a lot of pressure, is it not?” Luna commented, chuckling. “But we think that the master of the elements, the one who finished one of Starswirl the Bearded’s unfinished spells, the Princess of Magic herself, can handle it.”

“Can I?” Twilight asked.

“I know you can.”

9,184 years later.

Princess Twilight sat on the balcony, the very same balcony that her fellow princess, her friend, Luna had sat on nine thousand years earlier. Recently, her stress of having her own student had been getting the best of her. Every 100 years or so she would have another student or two, but this one was different. This one would be her last.

Every spell she cast was more difficult than the last, even the easy ones. Though it was not unbearable, in a few hundred years it would be difficult to even use a smile levitation spell, or any magical discharge of any kind. The fact that her life had been as full as possible as leader of Equestria ever since Celestia and Luna’s return to the sun and moon respectively, Princess Cadance and Twilight, as well as two more obtained along the way, was not stressful on her body. Quite the contrary, however, by letting her have something to fall back on. Something to remember as her greatest accomplishments.

The princess’s thoughts were interrupted by the clopping of hooves behind her. She turned her head lethargically to see her own student standing in the doorway to the balcony, obviously forgetting that there would have been anypony else occupying the public space.

“O-oh, Princess Twilight!” her pupil exclaimed. “I’m sorry! I thought that no o-”

“It’s quite alright, my most faithful student,” Twilight stated calmly, warmly. “Come, sit, and talk with me.” Her student sat down beside her, nuzzling up against her side. She flexed one of her wings and put it over her side, hugging her tight. “Now, why are you up this late?”

“I come here to think. When I’m sad, or anxious…”

“Why are you here this time?”

“Mainly anxious. My friends think that I’m ruining my chances of getting a scholarship by staying in the library and studying with you all the time. I’m worried that they’re right.”

Twilight thought for a moment, a smile crossing her lips.

“Well then, my student, I have a great tale for you.”

Author's Note

First one-shot!
I had the idea of a stressed out Twilight, but not Lesson Zero Twi.

I wanted her to have some sort of help through her difficult time, and kind of add the processes that Twilight would act in.
Anyway, thank you for reading this fiction! I hope you enjoy, and I love you all!

*mua*