Day of Meaning
Princess Celestia loved her work, her charge and most of all she loved all of her subjects.
She loved hearing their problems, suggestions, day to day lives or simply how were they doing, and help them if she could to the best of the situation. Her help and attention was always well received by all, from the lowest of peasants to the mightiest of nobles, she was many things to many ponies and members of other races living in Equestria or around it.
She was a Princess.
She was a Ruler.
She was a Friend.
She was a Tutor.
She was a Sister.
She was Justice.
She was Tolerance.
She was Mercy.
She was Light.
She was The Day.
She was Glory.
She was Beauty.
She was a Goddess.
She was all of these things and many, many more but there was one that she had failed to be, a constant reminder of something she could never have, something that, in her more than twenty thousand years of life, had eluded her, both to her and her beloved sister.
That something always came in one way or another, sometimes it would come every so often it pained her heart, other it would come after many years hitting her with grief and sadness, making her cry in the lonely nights. Something that precisely marked this very day.
Celestia was sitting on her throne room as always, waiting silently for something to happen but her schedule was completely empty for that day, for the first time in months she had nothing to do, absolutely nothing, no meetings, no petitions, no subjects seeking an audience, no pesky and greedy nobles trying to get even more bits for themselves, no disasters, no Discord trying to prank her, no reports from Twilight or from anypony else for that matter, no papers to sign, not even Blueblood trying to increase his allowance, nothing. This day was a very much deserved peaceful day, a day she could relax and enjoy some time off.
And she was utterly bored.
Celestia sighed, trying to think on something to do, failing miserably in her attempts.
“Your highness” a voice in front of her called.
“Yes, what is it?” Celestia answered, noticing now the royal guard in front of her, for moment she examined him, trying to find worry or fear or something wrong with him, but she found nothing, Celestia sighed once more.
“Are you alright, your highness?” the guard asked, his stoic expression turning a bit worrisome.
“Yes, I am fine, thanks for worrying” Celestia smiled at the guard, reassuring him “now, what news do you bring?”
“Your highness” the guard bowed in respect “master Spike is requesting an audience with you”
“Spike? What is he doing here? I didn’t received a letter informing me of his coming” Celestia thought for a moment before saying “Thank you, send him in”
The guard turned around and walked calmly towards the exit leaving Celestia to ponder many reasons as to why was Spike here. A couple of minutes later she saw the doors of her throne room open letting the little dragon walk inside, she could notice something was wrong with him, usually he would run as fast as he could to her and bow down in respect, in some others he would walk slowly, no doubt sleepy. But this time he was walking, if not slowly, not as fast as he usually walked, his steps seemed to be uncoordinated. “Almost nervously, like he is worried about something, I hope it doesn’t have to do with another mental breakdown from Twilight”.
“Good morning Spike” Celestia grinned at the the dragon the moment he stopped, a few step shy from the stairs to her throne, greeting him warmly.
“Uhm, G-good morning, princess Celestia”
“He is definitely nervous about something” Celestia thought “What brings you here to Canterlot? Is princess Twilight Sparkle with you?”
“Errrm, no, I uhhh, I kinda came on my own, I wrote Twilight a letter before coming though, don’t want her to worry about me ya know?” Spike said, never looking up to meet her face “I well, errmmm, I want to say something to you” Spike looked around, eyeing the four guards in the room “in private…. if possible that is”
“Of course” Celestia nodded “guards, leave us if you will”
“Are you…..certain your majesty?” a guard to her right said, clearly concerned “it is our duty to protect you at all times”
“I am certain, I think I can manage a couple of minutes on my own, besides” Celestia smiled at the guard “I won’t be alone, Spike will be with me and I’m sure he will protect me if anything happens” Celestia winked at the guards, they only nodded and left as fast as possible, a couple of seconds later Celestia spoke again “We are alone now, Spike, what troubles you my little dragon?”
“I have a question” Spike said, his little body trembling “it’s, uhmm, personal, very personal, if you don’t want to answer me it’s fine but………..”
“Yes?”
“But……….princess……….do you………..do you remember your mother?”
An uncomfortable silence fell between the two of them, Celestia was surprised at the question while Spike still didn’t look up to her. After what seemed like hours Celestia spoke.
“Yes Spike, I still remember her” her voice sad and strangely cold “Luna doesn’t remember her, I barely remember her, our mother…..died a year after giving birth to Luna”
“I’m…...I’m sorry I didn’t mean to” Spike’s body trembling more “ I didn’t--”
“It’s alright Spike” Celestia assured “mother died protecting us from the Windigoes, sacrificing herself to destroy them” a sad sigh escaped her lips “Why do you ask?”
“Do you miss her?”
“What’s going on?” Celestia asked herself, concerned at the sudden question and the sadness in the voice of the little dragon “Yes, I do”
“What do you miss most about her?”
“..........Her” Celestia answered “I miss all of her, Spike” another moment of silence fell between them “Why do you ask me this, Spike?”
“I hated this day”
Celestia’s eyes widened in surprise at the sincerity on his voice, before she could say something he continued.
“I hated it so much, you have no idea how much I hated it, princess” Spike’s body trembled again, this time in anger “I know…….I know I'm not the only one out there, I know every single orphan must feel like I do, some of them even knew them and lost them in some way or another……..like you” Spike lifted his head, letting Celestia see the tears falling from his eyes “but those are lucky, they can remember”
“But me?, I can…..I can remember the one I saw as a mother…...the one that…..that pushed me aside” Spike took a step closer to her, starting to climb the stairs towards her throne “I can remember her singing to me in the night, kissing me when I was afraid, her warmth when I was lonely”
“Spike….”
“I always wondered if I was……….Was I not good enough? Is it because I’m a dragon and not a pony?” Spike said, taking another step towards her.
“Please, Spike don’t---”
“I miss her, princess, I miss my mom……...I miss her so much” Spike took another step “I ask myself sometimes what I did wrong, it was so sudden, you know?, one day she was hugging me then the next she was pushing me aside, like……...like she didn’t want me near her anymore”
“It wasn’t like th---”
“For some time I even thought I hated her” Celestia turned even more speechless at that declaration “ but then I understood that her job is more important, all ponies depend on her, you know?” Spike took another step closer “Having a baby dragon at her side would only slow her down, I understand that………...but, I want to be selfish, I want to be with her again, I want my mom back”
“Spike, please it’s not like you think---” Celestia’s eyes were now filled with tears, gently falling at the sides of her face.
“I miss you, mom”
Spike said, finally reaching the end of the stairs, gently hugging her left leg.
Celestia felt something inside of her burst out, in a move faster than she thought possible for her to make she hugged the little dragon against her neck, letting his tears wet her white fur and her own tears wet his scales.
In that moment Celestia cursed herself, only seeing that she have literally abandoned the little dragon, no, HER little dragon in the hooves of Twilight and her family once he was old enough. She tried to remember all the excuses she had said to herself back then to let go of Spike, realising part of what he said was true, having to watch over him took much of her time, time she had to use on her kingdom.
“You are such an idiot, Celestia, wishing for something you already had” Celestia said to herself as she hugged her little Spike harder “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry”
“It's alright, mom, it’s alright” Spike said rubbing the side of his head against her “I already forgave you”
A moment of silence fell again, the only sounds coming from the light sobbing of the pair hugging eachother.
“Happy Mother’s day, mom”
“Thank you…….my son”
Celestia was many things, yes, and now she was finally again the thing she craved, something she had foolishly lost in the past.
She was, once more, a Mother.
And this time she was truly going to act like one towards her son.
End.
Author's Note
Especial thanks to all who read this!
This is a short one-shot I wrote due to losing a challenge, hope it's to all your liking (Yes, this is a Momlestia story, no this was not my idea, yes I am a sucker for 'Celestia is Spike's mommy'")
