Author's Note
Disclaimer: I do not own “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,” or its characters. They are property of Hasbro Studios and DHX Media.
Scars of the Past
“Scars of the Past”
By TwilightSparkle3562
For the first few nights since gaining her castle, Twilight just laid in her bed staring up at the ceiling and thinking about everything that happened to her up until that point. It had not been too long ago since she had become a princess and much had indeed happened to Twilight. True, she was still getting over the loss of the library and that was going to take a little time. But, she then towards the far right hand side of her bedroom and looked over at the collection of pictures that her friends had gave her to replace the ones she had lost. Then, she looked to the far left towards her dresser and all of her recreated dresses from the gala, wedding, and birthday that Rarity and Fluttershy had made for her as well as her Starswirl the Bearded costume hanging right next to it and sighed heavily.
At that moment, she could not lie in bed anymore and rose out and walked over towards the balcony of her castle, looking over the sleeping town of Ponyville. Twilight still had mostly everything she had ever owned and yet, she still felt like she had lost something. Then, she looked up and saw Princess Luna on her night patrol and at that moment, Twilight began to think of why she was acting this way.
“I cannot help but wonder,” she thought to herself. “Lord Tirek may have destroyed the library and drained the magic of my friends and family, but there is something else that has been greatly on my mind.”
Twilight then walked back into the bedroom and looked at the pictures her friends had given her. Right in the center, next to the first picture they had ever taken was a photograph of Twilight with her friends and fellow princesses. The recent events of late had made Twilight wonder about something concerning Celestia, Luna and Cadence.
Just then, she heard the sounds of the door opening and Spike came in still in his nightcap and yawning loudly. He could apparently still hear what was going on from down the hall in his own bedroom and had started to grow concerned for Twilight.
“Twilight,” he moaned, rubbing his eyes. “It’s too early in the morning for you to be out of bed and walking around. What’s going on?”
“Nothing Spike,” replied Twilight, turning her head away from him. “It’s nothing really.”
But Spike could see that his best friend was hiding something and it wasn’t about the library at all. It had only been a few days since they moved into their new castle, but the memories of recent still weighed heavily on their minds.
“You seem like you are hiding something from me,” remarked Spike, folding his arms and tapping his foot on the floor. “And you did teach me about being open to each other?”
Twilight turned back towards Spike and realized that she was indeed right about that, that they had to be open with one another. After all, Spike was a very sensitive dragon and Twilight knew that very strongly.
“I actually did, Spike,” she sighed. “It’s just that after everything that has happened, you know, losing the library, defeating Tirek, and sending him to eternal torture in Tartarus. I’ve spent most of my time reflecting on something that has been bothering me.”
“What has been bothering you, Twi?” asked Spike, noticing Twilight’s eyes welling up with tears. “Come on, you can tell me.”
But before Twilight could unleash the waterworks, she quickly pulled herself together and sighed to herself before turning back to Spike.
“Ever since the events surrounding Lord Tirek and the Plunderseeds,” she explained, walking back towards the collection of pictures that were on her dresser. “I feel like Celestia, Luna and Cadence are putting themselves in danger more often than they should. The sight of seeing them without their magic and cutie marks has not gone away from my mind, Spike.”
Spike could see that Twilight was indeed in pain about that. After all, when Twilight had been acting strangely before they lost the library, he didn’t realize that they had transferred their magic into Twilight before Tirek could steal it from them. Of course, he was now beginning to get the full truth about what had happened. After all, he was at the tree of harmony with Discord when the princesses returned from Tartarus.
“So, that’s why you didn’t tell me about your strange magic levels,” he gasped, realizing now what had been happening. “You could have told me about it right then and there.”
“That was something I couldn’t tell you, Spike,” snapped Twilight, her eyes popping open and startling Spike for a second. She then used her calming technique and calmed herself down once again. “I’m sorry Spike, but Princess Celestia told me not to tell you that I had their powers because if I did, then Tirek would put you at great risk.”
“But Tirek did find out anyway, thanks to Discord,” replied Spike, looking down at the floor crossly. “Putting us in that cage and using us to get you to surrender the alicorn magic.”
Just then, Twilight looked over and saw that the sun was coming up and knew that Princess Celestia would be coming to visit her once again. Thinking that Celestia would eventually find out about Twilight’s feelings, she once again used her calming technique and turned back towards Spike.
“Spike, I’m going to need you to step out when Celestia comes,” she ordered. “I think she needs to find out the truth about why I am acting this way.”
Spike knew that there was much more to Twilight’s recent anxieties than met the eye and stepped out of her bedroom, but did not shut the door all the way as he wanted to listen in on what was going to be taking place between Twilight and Celestia. Celestia then landed on Twilight’s balcony and smiled down at her youngest equal as she stepped into Twilight’s bedroom.
“Good morning, Celestia,” said Twilight nervously. “I see you wanted to see me about something, isn’t it?”
But, Celestia could see how Twilight had frazzled hair and deep bags under her eyes. The princess of the sun could see that something was indeed amiss with Twilight and the smile quickly disappeared into a look of concern.
“I actually did, Princess Twilight,” replied Celestia, placing a hoof on Twilight’s chin. “I’ve been concerned about you since we sentenced Tirek to eternal torture in Tartarus. I know how much has happened to you since he terrorized Equestria.”
Twilight then walked over to her dresser and took the hairbrush she recovered from the library and began to brush her hair as Celestia watched. She realized at that moment that she had to tell Celestia the truth about what was on her mind.
“There is a good reason to why you should be concerned about me, Princess,” sighed Twilight as she finished brushing her hair and turned back towards Celestia. “It’s just that with everything that has happened, I could not help but wonder about something concerning you, Luna and Cadence.”
“What about us?” asked Celestia, starting to pick up with what was wrong with her most faithful student and youngest equal. “Don’t be afraid to tell me what it is, Princess Twilight. After all, I said that I would be here for you just as you would be here for me.”
Knowing that she had to tell Celestia the truth, Twilight used her breathing technique again and looked up towards her mentor.
“It’s just that after everything that has happened,” confessed Twilight, walking back towards her bed and sitting down on the edge. “I’ve been having these nightmares and thinking about what if you, Luna and Cadence had never returned from Tartarus and that Tirek had indeed won over me. The sight of seeing you and the others without your cutie marks or magic has not gone away from my mind as well as the feeling of our alicorn magic being sucked out of me.”
Celestia knew very well what Twilight was indeed talking about. After all, Celestia knew that the thought of giving up their magic was a plan that was only going to be temporary until Twilight found a way to open the tree of harmony chest. Still, it was a very risky plan that had it not worked, would have given Tirek control over all of Equestria.
“But it didn’t happen, Princess Twilight,” replied Celestia, shutting her eyes for a second and trying to stay positive as she joined Twilight on her bed. “Because you had made the sacrifice of giving up our magic as well as your own for the safety of your friends, you were able to find the last key to open the box that gave you and your friends the power to defeat Tirek once and for all. We knew that once we were sent to Tartarus by Tirek that we would return to Equestria eventually. It was only going to be a matter of time until we did and Cerberus kept us protected while we were imprisoned. He knew that we didn't belong in Tartarus and stayed at our side until we were released."
This was a big sigh of relief for Twilight, knowing that Cerberus put his life on the line for Celestia and the other princesses until they were freed. Still, this wasn't enough to calm her nerves down as Twilight still had all the other thoughts racing through her mind.
"We may have been greatly weakened when Tirek had obtained our magic from you," continued Celestia, drapping a wing over her youngest equal's shoulder. But it was what you needed to obtain the final key and unlock the Rainbow Power from the chest. I told Tirek that he would not prevail and he truly didn’t, because we had faith in you and we knew that you would succeed because the magic of friendship was greater than any magic in Equestria…even our own Alicorn magic.”
“It’s not just about that, Celestia,” replied Twilight, still having thoughts that she needed to get out of her mind. “I’ve also been thinking about when we had to give up the elements of harmony to save you, Luna and the Tree of Harmony. When I was trying to find a way to free you from the Plunderseeds, I drank a potion from Zecora that allowed me to see what was in the past.”
Celestia could see that Twilight was starting to get emotional once again and draped a wing over her shoulder as she had done many times in the past.
“What did you see in the past that had upset you, Twilight?” asked Celestia tenderly. “And don’t be afraid to hold anything back, Twilight.”
Twilight sighed once again as she looked back up at Celestia, who had a deep look of concern on her face. It seemed that Lord Tirek’s rampage was not the only event that had traumatized Twilight deeply.
“Well, I saw a vision of the night you banished Luna to the moon,” said Twilight, looking up at her mentor. “There was a moment where I thought she had become Nightmare Moon again and struck you down. I thought Luna had destroyed you and it wasn’t until you got back on your feet and unleashed the Elements of Harmony did I realize that I was living in the past.”
Then, Celestia knew that she had to show Twilight something that would help her understand what she saw that night 1,000 years ago.
“It seems you are not the only one who carry’s the scars of that night, Twilight,” sighed Celestia. “There is something that I need to show you.”
And Celestia removed her gold collar and Twilight gasped in horror at what she saw. A large red mark was on Celestia’s chest from that night Luna went rogue. Twilight could see that there was indeed a reason to why Celestia was so remorseful when she brought up the night of Luna’s banishment. After all, Twilight heard Celestia scream in agony when Nightmare Moon had struck her in that spot. Until Celestia rose to her feet after her fall, Twilight had thought that she was indeed deceased.
“Princess,” gasped Twilight, as Celestia put her collar back on. “I never knew that you had that scar from that night. But, what are you trying to tell me?”
“What I am trying to say to you, Princess Twilight, is that what you have been experiencing are emotional scars that are going to stay with you for a long time,” explained Celestia. “But, you must realize that they cannot control you and that you must only focus on what makes you who you truly are.”
Celestia was right; Twilight had to try to hide the scars of the past. Still, the events of recent were indeed scars that were going to stay with her for the rest of her life. Twilight had indeed been through many challenges in her young life and these two events with Lord Tirek and the Plunderseeds were the greatest challenges of them all and the most traumatizing.
“You’re right, Princess,” remarked Twilight as Celestia removed her wing from Twilight’s shoulder. “But, when will the scars go away?”
“Some scars go away with time, while others stay with you forever,” replied Celestia, getting back on her feet and walking towards the balcony. “But, remember that these two recent events that you experienced had made you into the princess that you are, Twilight. There will be many more challenges that you will face and whatever scars you obtain, remember this: you are gifted and you are strong and the crown is upon your head because you fully understand the magic of friendship.”
Twilight then followed her mentor out to the balcony and gave her a small hug before taking off into the sky and back towards Canterlot. As Celestia left, Spike reentered the room and walked over to Twilight as she came back into the bedroom following Celestia’s departure.
“How did it go?” asked the baby dragon as Twilight approached him. “Did you say what you needed to say?”
“I did, Spike,” replied Twilight, reflecting on what had just happened. “I’ve been having scars that I should not allow to ruin my role as a princess and what I am meant to do in Equestria.”
And Spike watched as Twilight walked off to the door and headed downstairs for her first summit with her friends.
