Twilight paused, staring across the room. She had found her way back from the remains of Canterlot, and been through the pleasant, tent town that was the new, temporary home for the refugees of Sombra’s attack. She couldn’t talk to them, even when she saw a familiar, purple filly. No, she had come for this conversation.
The spiritual heart within her thumped within the void that she once had known in her. While that place fed on fear and want, this new part of her filled the darkness with something… sweeter. Something that turned her essence into jelly as she stared at the white alicorn standing at the balcony. It didn’t help that with the light coming in from the rising sun, Celestia looked like a goddess. “Come on Twilight, you need to do this.”
Her eyes widened as Celestia’s ears twitched, and it took every fiber of her essence not to simply run right then and there. Instead, she simply floated there, staring as Celestia turned around. She tilted her head, some of her multi-hued mane slipping before her eye as the other shined in the candle light. “Oh, Twilight…”
Twilight turned away at the same time as the princess and stared at a wall. How was she supposed to do this? Celestia was one of her closest friends, confidants, and now… “How are you supposed to ch-” She cut her tongue off and watched the bit of essence trail back into her cloak as her pupils became pins. “Ow, ow, ow!”
Celestia raised a hoof, her head snapping so fast as to almost give herself whiplash as she looked forward. The wraith had her hooves to her mouth, and her eyes shut, causing her whole form to be bundled up. “Even now, you can still be so very cute.”
Twilight turned to the words, and covered her face as she heard herself be called cute. How many times had she heard that before and thought nothing of it? Of course, they couldn’t all have been times she was being hit on, but it was a sign of how oblivious she had been. The sound of hooves brought her out of her cover, and she sheepishly smiled as Celestia looked down at her. “Um, I, just, you know, bit my tongue while trying to stop myself from thinking out loud.”
Celestia chuckled slightly as she laid down on the ground, now eye level with the floating spirit. Looking into Twilight’s shining, green eyes, it… it filled her with hope, but another set brought pain. A set she had adored looking into ever since the last time a large section of Canterlot found destruction.
She slowly raised a hoof and stroked the side of Twilight’s face. Was she ready to do what she needed to for her daughter? Celestia had given up so much before now, so giving this up should be easy. Matters of the heart were never so simple though. “So, what brings you here this morning?”
Twilight ran one hoof over the other as she looked to the side, and tried to just turn this into small talk. “Well, we all agreed that, since I wanted to fly back, check on Equestria, and see you, we would meet up here, in The Castle of the Twin Sisters. They were going to need to come here anyways, so as to be able to give you their report.”
Celestia knew she should leave it there. There was safe, platonic, and let them both keep what they wanted down. Last night it had been easy to accept their feelings for each other, but now that they were in the light, and others could creep into their minds, it was almost impossible. The beating of Celestia’s own heart rang in the ruler’s ears, demanding to be listened to for once. “Is… there anything else you wanted to talk to me about?”
Twilight shrank back slightly, her hooves disappearing into the stone as she looked away. Celestia wondered if this would be their relationship now. They didn’t get to see each other enough as is, not with Twilight having tried making Ponyville her home. The sun’s rays began to filter into the room, and Celestia turned to look at it, just for a moment.
The large, fiery ball of gas looked back, just as it had every day, every month, every century. It was always there, and she would always be there to take care of it. No matter what, she knew that the two could share such things like a sunrise together…
Celestia abruptly stood up, and walked beside Twilight, so as to not block the sun. When Twilight turned her head, Celestia forced her beloved spirit’s head forward, just as the sky turned into a sea of orange and red. “What do you think of it?”
A small gasp escaped Twilight, and she smiled, the hues and being beside Celestia sending wonderful bubbles all throughout her essence. “I-it’s beautiful.”
“It is,” Celestia said as she nodded. “It’s also the only thing I’ve ever been able to hold constant, because as years pass, trends fade, ponies… expire, and nothing is able to stay the same, because no one lives like I do. That’s part of why losing Luna hurt so much.”
Twilight furrowed her brow, before placing a hoof onto Celestia’s side. “What are you getting at?”
Celestia looked at the naive mare out of the side of her vision. Even now, she still knew so little about romance and love. Then again, she was being very cryptic and vague, so that could be a part of it. “Twilight, I’m used to change, I’m used to waiting, and right now, while I would love to have another constant like you in my life,” she swallowed hard as a tear came down her eyes, “I know you have many, many mares seeking your attention, and I honestly hope that-”
All noise stopped in the room for Celestia, replaced only by the soft beating of Twilight’s heart. Even her own had gone into shock as she felt soft, warm lips against hers that sent lightning bolts down her spine. It lasted only a second, but it ranked amongst the top experiences she had ever had. “Twilight?”
The wraith blushed hard, but now kept eye contact with Celestia as a tear ran down her face. “I… I don’t want to hurt you, because you mean so much to me. You brought me out, you let me meet all of my friends, and you have put such overwhelming trust into me keeping control that I just can’t believe. I do love you Celestia, I swear I do, and I don’t want to-” She stopped as Celestia’s hoof came against her muzzle, and a tear came down the ruler’s face.
“That… that’s what I needed.” Celestia looked up, a wide, goofy smile across her face as tears streamed down. “I love you too, Twilight, like I have so few ponies. You’re smart, goofy, and kind to a fault at times. You always want to do more, and it’s exciting to see where you’ll go with it. And that… that’s why I need you to wait with me. I want to see where you go with your friends, and lovers. Just, promise me that-”
“-I’ll come back?” Twilight smiled, unable to hold her tears back either. “I promise that I will always come back to you. You mean too much to me for me not to. Besides, I can only imagine how boring eternity would be if I didn’t have someone to share it with.”
“Trust me, if I didn’t have a kingdom, I think my hobby would be trying to test how immortal I was.”
The two both smiled, before wrapping their hooves around each other as their silhouettes became one.
Author's Note
So, how this one will be going is that the comments left below are suggestions for who should come next as far as the Twaith ships go, and of course suggestions as to where the end of their relationship should be. I would give examples, but can't, as that may be spoilery. Sorry.
Twilight sat down, staring at the grave before her. The name on it that of a lover, and the date constantly changing, depending upon the mare or stallion she had found to be with. Each one though, it ended like this. With her, silently crying as she stared at the gravestone. Some were larger, some were in the middle of a desert with merely a purple hat with stars on it, and even one that was small, but surrounded by family members.
The wraith backed away slightly, a tear coming down her face as she drifted back. A claw came against the back of her head as green markings shined along her cloak, and the shell necklace on her neck hummed with the sounds of chaos and destruction. She glanced back, and smiled towards the horror that stood above her. “I suppose this is what was to be. It just… hurts I guess.”
Cthulhu slowly came into the light cast by the bobble he had made her to look between dimensions. It had been eons ago when he first offered her his claw, and while she had waited, and forced the eldritch being to be at his best behavior for far longer than he was used to, it had all been worth it. His kitten pone was truly now his kitten pone, and she had made the aether he lived in a paradise. He spoke for a moment consoling her for the universes of others, but it was merely because time would always be a cruel mistress.
“I know, and I know you’re probably tired of me always demanding to come back here on our anniversaries. I just… I like to see what could have been.”
He nodded as a small burbling came from his great maw. As much as he protested, universe gazing was a favorite past time of his too, though he often times used it to pick how to terrorize the next one he would frequent. He let one of his claws glide along the bauble, and it sped up the key moment in each universe.
The Twilight in each of them now had her head in her hooves as she openly wept, just as she had in each of their’s funerals. In the ones with rain, she would stop, and look up as the rain stopped, while the others got a gentle stroke along the top of their heads. When she looked back, she was always greeted by the two figures, waiting for her now.
The universes began to branch again as Twilights decided to hug Celestia instead of Luna, and vice versa. These were the moments that made Twilight begin to tear up, as she remembered hugging Luna herself. Though, her royal sisters had made up with each other completely, and both been her lovers. “Can we go to our meeting?”
Cthulhu nodded, and spun the globe again. Most kept spinning, while only a handful stopped early. These showed a Cthulhu in a rather dapper suit, cane, and top hat combo. He had always been proud of the outfit, and Twilight put a hoof on his claw as the two began to dance. The globe then began to blur again, showing brief images of gentle pets, filly days when she would be tickled into nap time, and even Cthulhu giving her her own universe to play in. When they all stopped though, was when they were old, decayed, and cracked. They all came together into two orbs, either her having already courted Cthulhu, or not. He extended his hand in each, and while some jumped in eagerly, others trudged onto it. All had their Spike’s fortunately, which always made Twilight smile.
And then, nothing, as the universes of Equestria shattered into nothing.
“But no matter what,” Twilight said as she floated up to Cthulhu’s cheek, “we end up with one another, as we should.” She then leaned in, and pecked the elder god on the cheek. Just as he had for centuries, he let out a happy burble, and his tentacle maw turned ever so slightly more pink. Twilight wasn’t done with her gifts though as she laid on his shoulder. “Say, I learned a new itching spell. Do you want to see how effective it is? I bet Hastur would love to be a test subject.”
Cthulhu smiled, as the two summoned their magic.
In a matter of moments, in his own chambers of aether, sat an octopoid in a throne. He enjoyed the regal setting he had made for himself, and he overlooked his court of minions. Yes, this was where Hastur enjoyed being, and where he found solace between family reunions. “I know I could go another millennium before I see that smug brother of mine and his ‘kitten pone’, She isn’t even a-”
He was cut off by what felt like an intrusion. That was impossible though. No one would dare attack him not in his home. But still something felt off, and now his arm felt… odd. He brought over a clawed hand to his arm, and for the first time in eternity, he scratched it.
Within the hour, he would be quite familiar with the feeling, and the accompanying action, as his whole body would not stop feeling like fire ants were crawling on it. Unbeknownst to the great Hastur, a happy couple gazed from their own realm, burbling and laughing at his torment, just as they had, and would, for so many, many years.
Author's Note
Twaithulhu is love, Twaithulhu is life.
