A single Canterlot Castle Guard stood watch over the door to the temporary royal quarters of Princess Twilight Sparkle. It was midafternoon, and the stallion hadn’t moved from his position for an hour at least.
As the clock ticked on, he grew worried. The Princess should’ve been awake by now, but the entrance to her room remained unused. He watched the door with rising apprehension, ears perked, eyes pealed for any sign of movement behind the barrier. There was none.
A jay alighted on one of the windows lining the corridor, letting out a single chirp before flying off. The bird had not yet left its perch when the guard began to move, and it wasn’t yet out of sight when he reached the door. After that sudden trip, he stood motionless.
He made a slight shift to get a chink in his armor to stop digging into him. There was another fidget, this time to adjust his tail. A minute passed. He finally tensed, pulled in a breath, held it for slightly too long, and reached for the door as he let it out. His hoof took hold of the jeweled knob. Then it let go, hovered over it for a second, and then shifted to the handle on the other side.
The jay came back, landing on the windowsill. It watched curiously as the fully armored Earth Pony stallion very bravely… stood in front of a fancy door. It chirped again. The guard jumped and looked around in search of the piercing note’s origin – only to meet the gaze of the bird behind him. He watched it back for several seconds, hoof still on the door.
A third chirp, a quirk of the head, and the bird urged him into action again. The guard turned back to the Princess’s quarters and adjusted his grip on the handle, before pulling the door silently open.
He paused, his ear against the crack as he listened. Just as he decided breathing was safe, a sound held back his lungs. It was a voice; the Princess’s. She was awake, and talking to someone. The guard was suddenly very aware that he was eavesdropping on a Princess of Equestria. He froze in place, wary that even attempting to close the door might alert the Alicorn to his presence.
The Princess paused in her speech, which caused the guard’s heart to drop into his stomach with the thought that he had been discovered. Then Princess Twilight’s voice started back up. After a few sentences, she paused again. There was silence for a few seconds, and then a mirthful giggle echoed from beyond the door, followed by a resumption of the Princess’s voice. The guard’s brow knitted in confusion. The cadence of her words indicated a conversational partner, but he could hear no other in the room; and indeed, if somepony else had entered, he would have known about it. That was his job, after all.
He bit his tongue, caught between powerful feelings of self-preservation and curiosity. His dilemma was quieted as the sounds behind the door became clearer; the Princess had moved closer to the door, or maybe just turned in his direction. He could make out the words, now.
“…you think so? I admit I’m not in love with it myself, but Sherry Shebang seemed to really- oh, good point. How about the Prench one, then? …”
The stallion mouthed words of silent confusion as he tried to make heads or tails of the Princess’s rambling. That simply wasn’t how a sane pony talked to themselves. Who was she talking to, and why couldn’t he hear them?
“…And Dash, if you’re going to stick around for court today, I’d greatly appreciate it if you didn’t make me laugh in the middle of a speech. That’s simply unprofessional, no matter how ridiculous the noble’s mane-do might be…”
Dash? He’d heard that name before, everypony had. Princess Twilight’s original Council of Friendship had included a mare by the name of Rainbow Dash… but that was a long time ago. The Princess couldn’t possibly be talking to the same pony.
“…thought about it, but really, it wouldn’t add anything that isn’t covered by other sections. Hey AJ, what do you think? …”
He stifled a gasp with his hoof. ‘AJ’, or Applejack, had been another member of the first Council. Was the Princess talking to ghosts? Luckily his hoof was still in place to silence the reflexive laugh which threatened to burst forth at the thought. Still, he wasn’t sure what to do with this information. If the Princess really was crazy, should he tell someone? Was it really his business, if she could still function? He regretted hearing any of this, but he couldn’t just forget it now-
“Eavesdropping, are we?”
It took all of the stallion’s willpower to not jump through the ceiling. The address had not come from the Princess’s room, but rather from behind him. He turned slowly, and then looked up slowly, to reluctantly greet the piercing gaze of Princess Celestia. Her expression was neutral, which might as well have been a scowl where the notoriously serene Sun Princess was concerned. He knew he should try to explain himself, but his faculties betrayed him, and all that came out of his mouth was a prolonged “Uh…”
Princess Celestia looked past him. Her intention was clear, and the guard shuffled to the side, letting her pass, awkwardly standing against the wall as he waited for his time to be judged. The jay, still sitting on the window beside him, hopped up onto his head. He didn’t move.
“Twilight? Are you coming?” Her voice was cheerful, betraying nothing of her thoughts on what to do with the errant guard.
The voice of Princess Twilight called back through the door, “Oh! Celestia! I’m late, aren’t I?”
“Just a little bit, dear.” Princess Celestia flashed a terrifying smile.
The door opened, and a purple Alicorn stepped out to greet the white one. She wore an elegant dress, and her regalia gleamed in the afternoon light. She stood just a trifle shorter than Princess Celestia, but was equally as imposing a presence. Especially if you had just been invading her privacy.
Princess Twilight began a stream of words. “I’m so sorry, I woke up late, and then I got caught in other things, and there’s no excuse-”
Princess Celestia interrupted, reaching out a hoof to run soothingly down Twilight’s foreleg. “It’s okay, Twilight. There’s no need to make a fuss about running a little bit late from time to time. Everypony has those days.”
The words had an immediate effect on Princess Twilight, and she visibly calmed. “Thanks. All these years, and sometimes it still feels like my first day.”
A chuckle emanated from Princess Celestia’s lips. “You’ll be somewhat dismayed to hear that feeling never goes away.”
The regal mares shared a laugh. Then with some brief parting words, Princess Twilight headed off in the direction of the banquet hall, where a number of foreign dignitaries were waiting to meet with her.
With Princess Twilight gone, the ancient white mare once again fixed her gaze upon the hapless guard. He tried to swallow, but found his mouth completely dry. Then the ruler’s mouth turned up in an understanding smile.
“If, at any point, you feel the need to tell one of us something, do not be afraid, Mortar. Princess Twilight would have appreciated the reminder from you as much as she did from me, I assure you.”
That appeared to be all the reprimand he was going to get. Princess Celestia turned to follow Princess Twilight down the hall. The guard stood for a moment in astonishment, before working up the courage to call out, “Princess?”
The mare paused, looking back over her shoulder with a raised eyebrow.
“I kind of, heard something… and I’m just a little concerned about, well, Princess Twilight seemed to be… uh…” And his courage was gone. He fell silent and desperately hoped the Princess would just keep walking.
Instead, she turned around and came back to stand in front of him. “Talking to herself?” She prompted him.
He gulped at the eerily accurate statement. “Yes? Or, more kind of… talking to imaginary friends?”
The Princess looked down at him carefully before speaking. “You need not be concerned; Princess Twilight is of perfectly sound mind. And know this; there is a great difference between imaginary friends, and memories.”
Princess Celestia quirked her head to the side for a moment, as though listening to something only she could hear, before adding “Oh shush, he’s adorable like that.” This was addressed to the empty air beside her.
She gave a final wink at the baffled guard pony before heading on her way. The bird, still sitting on his head, let out another avid chirp.
Author's Note
I was somewhat conflicted on whether or not to use the Sad tag for this.