I watched you grow, I watched you go
Your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle.
A soft smile was etched on Princess Celestia’s face as she finished reading her beloved student’s friendship report. It was nearing the end of the night, and she was feeling somewhat tired from facing the day by dealing with issues related to the security, agriculture and the economic state of the land, though as the ruler of Equestria, this burden is to be expected. However, no matter how tired she was feeling, nothing would prevent her from indulging herself in what she considers to be her highlight of the day.
The levitated scroll is carefully stored in one of the shelves in the princess’s secret chamber, where she keeps most of her prized possessions, among them small trinkets that she had collected throughout her long life, a thick manuscript of her unfinished biography that she attempted to do a while back out of boredom, but finally abandoned it when she realized that it can never be completed and other objects that holds dear to her in some way.
While sorting the items to make room for the scroll, the princess caught a glance on one of the items on the shelf, using her magical powers; she gently levitated the item in question towards her, careful so as to not knock over her other treasures. Her smile widen at the sight of it, a framed photo of her beloved student Twilight Sparkle and her equally endearing assistant Spike standing in front of what it seems to be the main entrance of the castle with smiles as bright as the sun itself. She fondly remembered the day when this photo was taken, which marks the day that Twilight and Spike pursue their studies further in Ponyville, independent from the Princess’s constant guidance. She ran her hoof through the picture, the torrent of emotions that she felt at this moment resurfaced once again.
The Princess herself was of mixed feelings when assigning the task to them. On one end, she felt that there was no longer anything left that she could teach them, deciding that they will gain much more knowledge and experience on their own, which is somewhat true and she herself had mentioned it to them when Twilight showed some reluctance in accepting the task at first. What she didn’t tell them however was that she felt that they have reached an age where it was only right for them to experience new things in life from the adventures that they have with their friends, and most of all, she wished for them a normal life, which by living in this castle full of strict protocols, was something that she can never give them, and what she sometimes longed for.
On the other hoof, it couldn’t be denied that the feelings of sadness that engulfed her when letting them go was something she hasn’t felt in a long while. As she waved goodbye to them, how could she not be sad with letting go the two individuals that she had known since they were a filly and a dragonling. Those cherished moments that she holds dear, of all those nights when she tucked them in their beds and read bed time stories for them, the times where she personally tended to their cuts and bruises after a rough playtime in the castle gardens, brushing away their tears, holding them close while whispering words of comforts to ease their pain, of how on the first night of their absence she couldn’t sleep a wink, somewhat irrationally waiting for any message from them in case of any emergencies. Why, one may ask, that the Princess’s emotions are running rampant to such extent?
Because she loved them and considered them as her own children, as much as the ones before them.
It’s true; the life that she leads does not allow her to have a family of her own. But deep within her heart, she had wished to be in an intimate relationship and have many foals that she can call her own, alas, the fate of her nation and subjects are deemed to important for her to pursue those dreams, a fact that she accepted. Nevertheless, she found companionship from the very students that she has guided throughout these past millennia. A torrent of nostalgia filled her mind before she was interrupted by the sounds of the alarm clock hanging from the wall.
It was nearing the time where she must raise the sun for today. She placed the picture back into the shelf to make way to the castle’s large balcony where her sister must be waiting. But first, there is something she must attend to beforehoof.
The Princess went to the corner of the chamber which stood an altar that holds a large piece of stone and a few candles. The Princess, using her magical powers, lit each and every one of those candles, casting a bright light that is reflected from the stone. On it are carved hundreds of names of her students. She had known each and every one of them throughout their lives, from little fillies to the very end; she watched over them and cared for them. It only makes things harder when the time does come for her to finally let them go to the place where she can’t see them anymore. Remembering the picture of Twilight and Spike, she held her hoof close to her heart, wishing, selfishly she admitted, that if they truly had to part; that it would be a long time from now. Because the grief of losing another one of her children, would only add up to the burden she must carry throughout her life. If it ever ends.
Princess Luna stood alone on the balcony, feeling in what seems to be a quite anxious mood, judging from the way she was fidgeting. She had waited for her sister in a while now and disliked being alone, which is quite understandable. However, she was mostly worried about her sister, as she was an individual who is not known for her tardiness. Just as she was contemplating on whether to search for her sister, hooves-steps are heard behind her, of which she turned and was relieved by the sight of her sister, Princess Celestia.
Princess Celestia listened to her sister’s nagging on the importance of punctuality, which she then apologized for in a somewhat pouty face, playfully mocking her sister Luna, which is then followed by more lecturing on the seriousness of the issue. As they both stood together on the balcony, facing the night sky above, she can’t help but notice the full moon tonight, not because of how beautiful it looks, but of the resemblance it had to the night she was forced to cast her sister away there for a thousand years. It pained her to do so, even to this moment. While she had lost her students… her children… to circumstances beyond her control. It was she who banished her own sister. Even though the situation had required her to do so, it didn’t make the pain any lesser.
Out of the blue, she heard a whisper from her sister Luna; she turned her gaze towards her, and saw her eyes, brimming with tears but with a smile on her lips, whispering softly
Hold me
With those words spoken, Princess Celestia wraps her wings around Princess Luna. Tears fall freely from her eyes. In happiness, it seems. For now she clearly knows, that even though she may live throughout her life, losing those that she dearly loves, she would always have her sister by her side, and for that she is grateful. Looking at each other, they both nodded. It was time.
They both soared through the sky, chanting words as they flew on. As the lowered moon ended the night, the sun rose mightily, as a new day has just begun. As both sisters watched the sunrise, Princess Celestia spoke in her heart
It’s going to be a good day today.
We all dream for a better tomorrow, though that's not always what we get.
She was doomed
The fair pony with the purple mane whispered through her hoarse voice. She finally collapsed on the cave floor; her mind was spent while her body aches, exhaustion finally overcame her. As she lay on her back, gasping for air, she raised her hoof to wipe way her drenched face, full of tears and perspiration, but the more she wipe, the more sticky her face feels, she glanced upon her hooves for closer inspection.
It was covered in crimson red liquid.
Realizing she had just wiped her face with her own blood, she cursed under her breath. Of all the worst things that could happen, this is the worst possible thing! She frantically searched for anything that can be used to cleanse her face. At the corner of her sight, she saw a glimpse of her sling bag just within hooves length. She reached out and grabbed for it, hoping to find some sort of cloth. As she began rummaging through the bag, something within it caught her attention. Her face was without any expression, only her eyes, which stared deeply into the bag, revealed her state of shock.
Suddenly, realization finally kicked in from looking on the contents of her bag. Her lips began to form a smile which followed by a giggle, softly at first. But at each passing moment, the giggles began to intensify to an almost maddening laughter. She tossed her bag aside and laid on her back, the contents of the bag scattered on the cave floor, revealing it to be gems of a variety of colors and sizes.
She continued to laugh, even as a stream of tears began to pour from her eyes. How ironic it seems, she thought to herself. That she herself, the element of generosity, have fallen to her end from her own greed.
The road to the moon is paved with good intentions, was it? She had come across the phrase when she browsed through some random book she picked up on her visit to Twilight Sparkle at the library this morning. The phrase itself is definitely not the original quote she suspected. As ‘the moon’ was scribbled on the original word, probably out of juvenile delinquency. She didn’t quite understand the meaning behind the phrase and had wanted to ask Twilight, however decided not to, to prevent Twilight from going nuts at seeing the scribbled page. She returned the book to the shelf and picked up another random one, as she looked at the book, her jaw dropped, the title clearly reflected on her gleaming eyes.
“The long list of locations to loads of gems and other treasures”
Twilight herself at the moment was busy preparing some snacks by herself in the kitchen, as Spike was at the castle on official matters. She had just finished sorting the confectioneries onto a tray and was about to pick it up when she heard a joyous but deafening squeal that startled her. She trotted over to the next room to check up on her friend, sighing in relief when she saw her friend uncharacteristically bouncing around akin to their dear friend Pinkie Pie.
Twilight inquired on her friends’ excitement, whereby she is then shown the book. Twilight listens as her friend explains of her desire to explore one of the locations in the book, specifically the large cave located not far away from Ponyville. Twilight expresses her concern of the dangers that may occur, noting that due to the recent rainy season, the possibility of landslides occurring is quite high, adding that she should at least wait for Spike to accompany her. However, her friend was adamant in her desire that she could not wait a second longer, though she assures Twilight that she would be extra careful so as to not upset her.
As she prepares to part, levitating the book with her magic, Twilight again called upon her friend. She turned around, trying to find the words to assure Twilight of her concern, when she came face to face with a levitated scroll and a quill.
“You need to fill in this form first” Twilight said seriously.
“What’s this for?” the pony asked as she picked up the quill.
“Why you can’t borrow a book without a library card can you?” Twilight smiled
The pony giggled a bit, remembering that last statement from Twilight. It brought her comfort for a little while until the reality of the situation came knocking in her mind again. She looked at the entrance of the cave, or rather, the former entrance of the cave, as it had now been blocked by rocks which had fallen after a landslide had occurred, trapping her in the cave.
She tried everything that she could think of to escape, she tried to move the rocks with her magic to no avail, she screamed for help hoping for anypony to hear, lastly, she tried to claw her way out until her hooves bled, but alas, it didn’t get her anywhere.
As she lay on the cave floor, she notice that she began to hallucinate, probably due to hunger and exhaustion, as she envisions herself back at her home with her friends around her laughing and chatting together, the things she would be normally doing now if she had not come to this forsaken cave. Lamenting in her fate, the echoes of regret began to resurface within her. If only she had listened, if only she had not been overcome by her impulsiveness, if only she had been waiting for Spike.
The phrase from before came back into her mind again, this time in a far more haunting echo. I only wanted to find gems to make beautiful clothes for others.
“I hope you all can forgive me” she said as tears began to flow again, waiting for the inevitable darkness to engulf her.
Just then a loud rumbling was heard at the entrance of the cave, Rarity glanced to see the rocks that were blocking the entrance began to shake.
“Is it another landslide?” Rarity said, fearing the worst.
She closed her eyes, bracing for anything to happen. Suddenly the rumbling stopped… Which is then followed by a loud crushing sound. She opened her eyes just a little, to see the large pile of rocks that were blocking the entrance being reduced to a pile of rubble, and standing on top of the debris stood a figure which she knows so well.
“SPIKE!’ she shouted, tears of joy freely flowing through her cheeks. She weakly got up and tried to gallop her way to Spike, but due to her state of physical condition she stumbled after a few steps. Spike lunged ahead and managed to grab hold of Rarity before she hit the ground. She smiled weakly at him, as she buries her face on his chest, softly sobbing. Spike hugged her tight, softly whispering words of comfort to her ear.
“Don’t worry Rarity, your knight in shining armor is here” Spike said.
Taking slow and steady steps, Spike helped lead Rarity out of the cave. As they emerged outside, Rarity, through her weak voice expresses her gratitude before asking how did h knew she was trapped in the cave.
“Twilight was worried about you, so she contacted me to check up on you after I finished my duties at the castle, and to be frank, I’m surprised you didn’t tell me” Spike said in a serious tone.
Rarity apologized, admitting her mistake of being impulsive, she then hugged him tighter, stating the fact that from now on, she would always listen to others concern as well as always asking him for assistance in her future gem-scavenging hunt. Spike smiled and joked to her that she should write a friendship report to Princess Celestia from what she had learned. Rarity chuckled bit, and was about to reply, when another rumbling sound occurred. Spike looked up to see a large rock plummeting fast to him, crashing on to his face with a loud thump.
Spike’s eyes were shot wide open, filling his sight with a blinding light as well as feathers that float around him. Feeling somewhat groggy, he tried to assess the situation, trying to figure out where he is right now, when he then caught a glance of a looming, shadowy figure coming towards him, softly whispering his name over and over.
“Wh-who are you?” Spike said in trembling voice. But the figure didn’t answer, but kept coming closer, inch by inch, muttering his name over and over.
“Get away! Get away!” Spike screamed, curling himself into a fetal position as he covers his ears, trying to block away the voice that was slowly digging its way into his psyche.
Spike, Spike, Spike, SPIKE, SPIKE!
“Spike! Get your butt out of that cot right now before I smack you with that pillow again! ”.
“Huh?” Spike got up and was face to face with an irritated-looking Twilight. He looked around to see he was in his cot with a slightly torn pillow at his side.
Sighing in relief, he collapsed back into his cot. It was only dream, but it was so vivid. Twilight yelled again at him to get up, he glanced on over, wondering why Twilight was raising such a ruckus this early in the morning.
“Come on Twilight, it’s still early, what are you rushing for”
“It’s not me who should be rushing, it’s you.” Twilight said in a somewhat subdued voice than her previous alarming tone.
“What are you talking about Twilight” Spike asked innocently.
Seeing things are going nowhere, Twilight just pointed her hooves into the direction on the wall. Spike looked to see a calendar on the wall, with a bright red circle in today’s date. In that circle were written the words.
“Gem hunting with Rarity”
Uh-oh.
In an instant, Spike darted away to the bathroom while Twilight make way downstairs.
“I’m late! I’m late! I’m late!” Twilight could hear Spike muttering to himself in the shower. She let out a frustrated sigh as she herself makes way to the kitchen.
“Spike! Do you want something to eat before you go out? ” Twilight shouted from the kitchen.
“That’s okay! I’ll just grab something to eat at Sugarcube Corner! ” Spike responded.
Twilight continued to prepare breakfast for herself, all the while listening to the ruckus upstairs.
“If there’s a mess up there, late or not, you’re cleaning it” Twilight said aloud.
“Finnneeee…” Spike groaned.
Twilight smiled and continued to set up the table, as she finished her task she could her hear footsteps coming down the stairs.
“Bye Twilight, I’ll see you when I get back” Spike said hurriedly as he make way for the door. But then he was levitated of the ground by Twilight’s magic.
“Come on Twilight, what gives?!”
“And just where do you think you’re going in…that!?”
Dangling in mid air, Spike was wearing a tuxedo, two sizes too big for him, a polka- dotted fedora hat, tall platform shoes and a fake curly moustache. Twilight almost had to stifle a laughter, which Spike find somewhat annoying.
“Come on Twilight, you know I’m going out with Rarity today” Spike grumbled.
“To look for gems... in a cave” Twilight added.
“But I have to dress my best for Rarity”
“Oh, I didn’t know the midget clown look is all the rage these days” Twilight teasingly said.
“HEY!” Spike pouted.
“Aww, sorry Spike, I was just joking.” Twilight finally put Spike to the ground.
“But you know Spike” Twilight said after a moment of pause “Isn’t it better to just be yourself, especially to the ones you love” Twilight added that last statement teasingly.
It worked, Spike was blushing brightly, however he managed to stammer “B-but Twilight, I’m afraid that my appearance may not be good enough for her” Spike said shyly.
Twilight used her hoof to raised Spike’s head, their eyes locked to one another, with an assuring smile that Spike knew all too well, Twilight said.
“Then do you like Rarity only because of her looks?”
“Of course not!” Spike said flabbergasted. “I-I mean sure she’s beautiful, but its more than that ” Spike began to speak in a serious tone. “I mean most ponies that I know who’s almost as beautiful as Rarity lives in Canterlot, and we both know how selfish and egotistical that they can be ”
“But Rarity…Rarity is not only beautiful in the outside…but inside also” Spike said as he held his hand over his heart. “She’s generous, she’s thoughtful of others need”
“And although she may sometimes be vain, but she’ll surely get her hooves dirty, if it means helping a friend” Spike said, finally understanding what Twilights’ been trying to get across.
“So” Twilight began “Simply put, its not her beauty on the outside, it’s the beauty inside that you’re attracted to is it?”
Spike nodded.
“Which also means that rather than going to great lengths to look good for Rarity, how about you show your worthiness to her, through the good-looking dragon inside you“
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I’ll get out of these clothes right away” As Spike went upstairs to change, he came back down and proceeds to give Twilight a hug.
“And Twilight, Thanks for being here for me, if not for you I wouldn’t even be here”
A blushing Twilight began to stammer herself “Th-Think nothing of it Spike, we’re practically family you know” Twilight said as she returned the embrace.
After a quick change, Spike was outside the library while Twilight was at the door seeing him off.
“Oh Spike, before I forget, here you go” Twilight said as she levitated a scroll towards Spike.
“What’s this for?” Spike asked.
“Why for your friendship report silly, you learned something just now didn’t you?”
Spike smiled and put the scroll into his sling bag “Alright, but I’ll send it after I got back okay”
“You better” Twilight said “I’m visiting the princess today on some official matters and if she doesn’t get a report by the time I leave, it’ll be your scales mister” Twilight said jokingly.
Spike giggled at her faux threat and began to set forth.
At the edge of Ponyville, stood the majestic Carousel Boutique, Rarity’s shop and home, in the kitchen was Opal, Rarity’s cat, who was busy sipping on her bowl of milk, when her owner came upon the kitchen. Still wearing her robe, Rarity’s eyes were bloodshot and her mane a mess, she sat down on a chair, looked straight at a confused Opal and and said
“Oh my dear Opal! You just can’t believe what a horrible dream I had last night!”
