Alicorn Stories

Her hoof trembling slightly, Twilight Sparkle gingerly closed the ancient tome. She stared sightlessly out the window of her old bedroom in the palace, turning the... grim little fairy story she'd just read over and over in her mind. Her wings were puffed out slightly, like they belonged to an agitated finch. It had been in Pr--Celestia's hornwriting. But that wasn't what she'd seen in her vision. There couldn't be any truth to it. Right? Right.

...

Right...

Absently, she ran the back of one hoof across her own throat.

She swallowed, and looked back down at the book. “Alicorn Stories” was embossed on the cover, and it had her in a war with herself. Part of Twilight darkly insisted that the cover looked like real leather, and that maybe she should put the book away and never look it again. At the same time, though, it whispered to her--of unknowns just waiting to prove themselves knowable.

She frowned, and snorted softly. All of that, clearly, was ridiculous. She'd seen the fall of Discord, after all, and it hadn't been anything like this story. Celestia had just collected some old pony's tale here. And written it down herself in a sturdy book, laced with preservation spells. And stowed that book away in the restricted archives for a thousand years or more.

Twilight shifted her weight from one side to the other and back, and glared at the book.

She was interrupted by a polite knock at the open door--Celestia herself! The great white alicorn had craned her neck around the edge of the door so that she could peer into the room, like a curious cat. The playful smile fell from her lips as Twilight turned to face her. She looked down, and finally noticed the book laying on the bed before the smaller alicorn.

A pregnant pause.

“Ah”

--ever so delicately.

The larger mare let herself into the room. She crossed slowly to Twilight's bed and carefully lowered herself to the floor next to it, tidily folding and tucking her legs underneath herself, and taking perhaps a bit too long to arrange her wings. Despite Twilight's growth spurt, this still put them just about eye to eye. Then, she waited for the inevitable question which she could see on Twilight's lips, half open in hesitation. It took nearly a minute, as Twilight shifted her gaze back to the book, then back to Celestia, before, softly--

“What were their names?”

A ripple of surprise stayed off of Celestia's face, but passed down her wings. She hesitated a moment, then looked away and out the window.

“Applejack, Posey, Surprise, Firefly, Sparkler, and... Twilight.” her eyes were closed, but a faint smile graced her lips, “the traditional names must come from somewhere, after all.”

“The original Element of Magic was...?”

“Yes.”

“...wow.”

The smile twisted from gentle to wry, “I nearly choked when I found out your name, after your entrance examination.” Celestia tilted her head slightly to regard Twilight, and her face broke into gentle mischief. “You don't look a thing like her, though.”

Twilight chuckled, but then the book hove back into her view, and the laughter trailed off into a frown.

“But... I saw you and Luna defeat Discord. It didn't happen like that--” Twilight nudged her head in the direction of the book, “--at all.”

Celestia shifted her shoulders, looking just past Twilight and, apparently, into the past.

“You're right, of course,” she began, her voice low. “It didn't. We weren't as... smart, or as composed as that storyteller would like you to believe. Luna did act first, and she did grab my magic, and we did twist at the fabric of reality, but all we did was try to revive our little ponies, while Discord flitted off laughing.”

Twilight's eyes were wide. “Did it--?”

“No.” Celestia cut the smaller alicorn off, “It did not.” Her words were clipped, controlled, and precise, each one falling into place like a block of marble. She sighed, and worked her head back and forth in a bid to loose some of the tension wrapped around her shoulders.

“I apologize, Twilight. I did not mean to snap at you, but no. When we opened our eyes, an immense tree had sprouted, leafed, and bloomed instead, and the bodies were gone.” She flashed Twilight a sad smile, “I believe you can complete the story from there.”

Twilight nodded slowly, glanced at the book again, and froze. Celestia closed her eyes again, not quite wincing in anticipation. Now... here it came.

“Then... when you sent me after Discord...”

Celestia let out the breath she had been holding as the question was laid bare. She bowed her head, and her voice was very, very small.

“I was... terrified. I thought he seemed like he had come out of the stone not... quite the same. He hadn't killed anypony yet, after all. But...” her voice dipped to a whisper, “If he had, it would have only made it that much more important, and I would have sent you all the same.”

Twilight rubbed her throat again reflexively, watching Celestia silently. The older alicorn kept her neck proudly arched, but her head bowed and her eyes closed. She reminded Twilight of a potsherd she had once seen, depicting a defeated lord of ancient Unicornia. Another sherd of the same amphora had shown most of what her professor at the time had identified as Princess Platinum, hefting a broad, elaborate axe before her.

Twilight shivered.

Finally, gingerly, Twilight reached out with a hoof and, after a moment's hesitation, laid it on the side of Celestia's neck. She felt, though she could not see, Celestia flinch fractionally at her touch, and the ache it put in her heart gave her sudden resolve. She quickly looped her foreleg around the back of Celestia's neck, and pulled her friend close, burying her muzzle in the other alicorn's flowing mane.

Celestia let out a shuddering breath, and pressed herself into the hug. After a long moment, she continued in a ragged whisper.

“I'm sorry, Twilght,” she rasped, “I'm so sorry. I'm sorry to all of you. None of you signed up for any of it, and I did not have the right to ask it, but I needed you all so much...”

Celestia took a deep, harsh breath, and Twilight rocked gently forward and backward, making quiet, soothing shushing noises, trying to imitate what she'd seen other ponies do to comfort someone they cared for. Slowly, Celestia's breathing returned to normal, and the Princess gently pulled herself away.

The two alicorns looked at each other for a long moment, before Twilight solemnly hefted the book in her magic and held it out between them. Celestia shook her head and gently pushed the book back down to the bed with one hoof.

“No. Keep it. You should read the rest of it.” A real smile finally crept out across Celestia's face and warmed her eyes.

“There are dozens of pages still blank in it, my-- Twilight. Add to it. I am not the only alicorn with stories anymore.”