It was a fine day at Canterlot palace like any other, with the exception of there being no Day Court that day. Celestia gave a sigh of relief, as court was being slightly more tedious by the day. The current task at hand at least gave her some down time. One of the many attendants that ran about the bowels of the palace came into the room where Celestia was waiting.
“Princess, I've brought the bag as instructed,” the attendant said as she left the bag on the table for Celestia. Celestia looked at the bag nervously, as the bag was bigger than last years.
“Well now, I suppose the only thing to do in this situation is to just take a crack at it, I suppose,” she muttered as she began reaching into the bag. Around this time every year, Ponies from across Equestria sent in poems for her to review, so as to encourage unsung writers, letting them show their skills and gain some - if not a great amount - of exposure. As this was a mandate by the crown Celestia was obligated to painstakingly go through, read, and analyze each and every piece of poetry, But it sure beats being in court all day long, Celestia thought with a smile.
As always, going through each and every piece brought a mix of responses, ranging from decent to unimaginably horrible, although she would never say so aloud so as to keep the image of her calm demeanor. While she was going through and picking the poems that would be read over again, by random happenstance she saw one at the bottom of the fairly large stack placed within a rather beautiful binding. She was certain that she had gone through the whole entire bag. After a time she finished reading the poem. She could not help herself but to read it once more as the words flashed across her eyes with joy and burning curiosity in her heart as she read.
Song for the sun
Upon sun dried golden grass does she lay like a beam of light sent from heaven
White as snow yet warm as the sands on a beach where only beauty can be found
Eyes filled with majesty and magic as they haunt only the sweetest of my dreams
Only in dreams do I ever see her trapped as I am within these shadows
hoping, wishing for these dream to be real, but alas the waking world pulls me forward
left only with a pen for comfort I scribe this song for the sun who is so far away
let my ink speak true as my heart which burn with passion
let my quill stand ever present as my soul that will never waiver
let my words be as true as what I feel deep within
Phantom
The more Celestia read the more her hands began to tremble as she could feel the emotion brimming off the page it was written on. It was short, but bursting with something she couldn't place. She found the title kind of cute in a way, but the word of Phantom at the end it almost seemed as if it were written like a letter in it's own strange way. Celestia smiled and called for one of her attendants.
She calmly greeted the pony and said, “I have made my choice on the winner of this year's poetry contest, please be ready to extend an invitation to the winner.” Celestia did everything in her power to keep the calm aura she always presented to others, as this last poem took her for a rather big loop. She could tell right away what kind of poem it was and for whom it was intended, which was why she was beginning to become flustered just by reading it. She was flattered that this ‘Phantom’, whoever they were, was a great writer and was eager to meet them.
Heart Quill stood behind the counter as he always did everyday in his father's book store. He was the only employee, after all. Today was unusually dead, as even their most constant customer - Princess Twilight Sparkle herself - hadn't come in today. This was fine by Heart Quill, as he had been waiting all day for the mailmare to arrive. Today was supposed to be the day in where the results of the contest he entered were to arrive.
He sighed and said, “ Hope it gets here soon.” He scrunched the neck of his shirt as he always did, one of his nervous habits. Heart Quill had always been the nervous sort. He was the son of a bookkeeper in Ponyville. His build was slightly average, which led him to not always see himself in the best light whether he noticed or not. His down time was spent writing as his Cutie Mark portrayed, a red heart scribed upon with a feathered quill pen against his stone gray coat. His eyes were a bright amber color as they shone in the light. Everypony around him noticed his talent from a young age. Some laughed, others didn't bother, but some always enjoyed his work.
Just a few moments later a figure stepped into the shop. It was the mailmare that Heart Quill was waiting for. “Here's yer mail!” she proclaimed with a goofy smile. Heart Quill thanked her as he stared at the mail nervously as she left. He began carefully sifting through each piece of mail until he found what he was looking for. There it was, Royal Seal and everything. He slowly and carefully opened the letter in question and began to read it.
At that moment his father came in from the backroom with a stack of books. As he set the stack of books down he came up to Heart Quill. “Hey kiddo whatcha got there?” his father asked with mild curiosity. Heart Quill just stood there not even looking at the paper with a look of shock, surprise, and terror as he let a small whisper. “I won.” After the word was whispered, his left eye twitched, his knees buckled. and with an unceremonious ‘whumfp’ he fell to the floor out cold.
Heart Quill slipped from the waking world and into the dream realm without complication. His dreams as always were chaotic and mishmashed all to uncertainty except for particular elements that bored into the walls of his subconscious. Words of solemn desire and burning passion which acted as his muse. What truly stood out in almost each and every dream was the same image. The image of a figure standing upon a mountain looking down towards him, covered within shadows as the morning sun rose behind them. The figure was - from what he could tell - female, and as always seeing her would fill him with fear so as not to speak, and a sense of wanting that he could not place even here.
As the dream spiraled into pure madness the female figure reached out to him. Heart Quill desperately reached out with all of his might, yet the closer he seemed to get, the further away she became. The more he pushed forward, the more the world around him tried to stop by putting obstacles in his path, forcing him to feel the sensation of extreme pain such as being cut with blades, but he would not give up. He refused to give up.
His hand stretched for her as she did the same, and just when the two hands were about to meet a voice called out, “It is time to wake up my little pony. She is waiting for you.”. With those words spoken, the dream crumbled around him as he awoke.
Heart Quill found himself in his room laying on his bed. Feeling dazed and confused from his dream was normal for him, but the throbbing sensation was not as his forehead protested from pain and irritation. A knock came to the door as a familiar voice spoke from behind it. “You okay in there son? We heard you moving about and your mother is worried.” His father sounded worried.
Another voice came forth, softer and more feminine. “Sweety are you okay? Your father said you collapsed right on the shop floor.”
“I'm fine mom, really,” Heart Quill claimed while clutching his head to somehow sooth his headache. He then remembered that he was a unicorn, and that he knew a spell that could soothe a headache in a mere matter of moments, which thankfully worked as well as the book had claimed. As he stepped out of his room he was greeted by the faces of his parents which were filled with worry and concern.
His mother quickly came over a gave him a firm hug and began to look him over. “Mom I'm fine, you don't need to be treating like I'm a little foal!” he whined.
She frowned and pinched both of his cheeks, giving them a slight pull that stretched his face a little bit. She gently let go of his cheeks and rubbed them softly as she said, “You'll always be my little colt”.
Heart Quill rolled his eyes out of sheer embarrassment as his father came up to him and handed him the letter that he left in the shop. “I guess congratulations are in order huh kiddo? Sorry that I looked, it's just I saw you hit the floor, and…” He shrugged, not wanting to say more. “How's your head?” he asked with a jovial yet worried tone. Heart Quill gave a thumbs up as to silently indicate that he was fine, which caused both his mother and father to give a sigh of relief. “You should get ready for your trip, your train is going to be leaving early in the morning,” his father continued, handing him a train ticket that came with the letter. With that Heart Quill nodded and headed back into his room to get ready for tomorrow.
Celestia sat on her bed after she had returned from lowering the sun. She opened a file folder that was handed to her by Pinkie Pie earlier that day. Since she knew the poem had come from Ponyville, she’d asked Pinkie to help her find the poet, and she had brought her this file. It said his name was Heart Quill. “Perhaps he knows Twilight,” she murmured to herself. She found the tidbits of information interesting in some places and rather odd in others. “ Interesting… quite a few writing awards. Oh, and afraid of...rubber baby buggy bumpers?” She couldn’t suppress a giggle. “I’ll have to make sure he won’t encounter any here.” She then turned to the next page, where she found a recent photo, time-stamped only a few days previous. At first glance he seemed to be rather timid or nervous, it was hard to tell which.
She looked over the photo again, but then sighed and placed two fingers at one of her temples. “I really should be getting to bed,” she murmured. “I'll finish reading this in the morning.” With that said, she placed the folder upon her night stand, so it would be there for her to read after she raised the sun. As Heart Quill would be there the next day, there would be a break in court which she always did enjoy, but she still needed to be well rested.
Heart Quill had gotten up rather early that morning, right before the sun had gotten up. His trip was rather uneventful, but the sheer excitement and pure nervousness of getting to go to Canterlot Palace kept him awake in those wee hours of the morn. Once he arrived, Heart Quill looked around and saw how different Canterlot was compared to Ponyville. The streets were paved with fine stone bricks and the buildings were taller than he was used to, making him feel a little bit small.
It took him some time to find the palace with the city being as big as it was. At the gate, one of the guardsponies stopped him to determine if he had official business at the palace. Heart Quill showed them his letter, and the guard nodded in confirmation. He was then shown to the audience chamber where he was expected.
And there she was, the Princess of the Sun. Celestia gave Heart Quill a soft and warm smile. “Hello there, you must be Heart Quill. I'm so happy to meet you.”
Author's Note
dadadaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!