Her Faithful Student Forevermore
Celestia sat on her throne, hiding her emotions behind her perfectly crafted princess mask. For the past week, she had been too busy to give Twilight the attention she needed. Celestia had been utterly devastated the day she saw what Twilight had almost done. Why had she done it? Was it her friends? Did she feel betrayed? The day that Celestia had come back, all royal events had been postponed. But now? She only had to finish day court and she would be on her way to Ponyville to see her faithful student again.
Celestia had asked for the assistance of Twilight’s friends and the local hospital to keep an eye on Twilight while Celestia was busy. She was glad that she could trust them, otherwise, Celestia wouldn’t know what to do.
“...so in summary, we need an investment from the Royal Treasury to keep our business afloat. Say… 200,000 bits?” Spoke the pony in front of Celestia.
“How about 150,000 bits, and we’ll see what happens.” Celestia casually suggests. The pony lights up and nods his thanks. Her assistant, Ms. Inkwell, had written a check for the pony’s business and sent him on his way. The guard by the throne room door peeked outside and sighed.
“There are no more subjects awaiting court.” The guard stated. Celestia visibly relaxed after the guard said that.
Celestia nodded simply and said, “Alright, that concludes Day Court. Tell any ponies to await Night Court or the morrow court.” The guard nodded and resumed his statue-like posture. Ms. Inkwell nodded to Celestia and she took the hint. In a flash of golden light, Celestia appeared in her bedroom and cast aside her regalia, and sighed. Before she teleported away, however, she took a good look at the vanity mirror. Not many ponies knew this, but her regalia has an enchantment that makes her physically look more ready for the day. But with her regalia off? She had bags under her eyes, she had slight wrinkles and her mane and tail were frayed and a mess. Taking a quick brush to her flowing mane and tail and dabbling in some makeup, Celestia was happy to see that she looked as she did with her regalia on. Without wasting another second, she lit her long horn with her solar magic and teleported away.
POV: Twilight (3rd Person [Pony?])
Twilight lay on her bed and stared at the ceiling, the same thing that she had done for years before this. What had she done? Why had she done it? Why did she have to make the princess save me? She is worthless, utterly useless, and a waste of space, so why did the princess save her? In a world of dark gray pony-shaped blobs, only me and Celestia were normal ponies. They all spoke in that same monotone voice and they all looked the same, other than size. She didn’t understand. Why did the Princess want to live in a world where gray blobs are dominant, especially why she would want to rule such a country? It didn’t make sense to Twilight, and she was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn’t notice that she felt less empty.
A knock on the door was the only warning that Twilight had to fix her mane and pull out a book and put on a pair of reading glasses.
“Come in,” Twilight called out, preparing to see who dare disturb her train of thought. Twilight was currently ‘reading’ a book that she had read at least 30 times before. The dictionary. When the door creaked open, she expected to see the same formless gray blob from before and was completely shocked when she saw who walked in. She was so familiar with that orange coat. That Stetson looked so… so familiar.
“Hey, Twi, whatcha readin’?” Spoke the familiar orange earth pony. She sounded sad, depressed almost. When she stepped into the light of the lamp, Twilight noticed her cutie mark.
“...” The orange pony had noticed Twilight’s silence and walked forward a bit more. Twilight said that she hated them, but she would always come up with something to say. And why was Twilight looking at her like that? It was almost as if…
“Hey Twi, you okay?” She stepped closer to Twilight yet again and was not prepared for what happened next.
“...Applejack…? Is that really… you?” Twilight barely mumbled.
Applejack’s ear twitched. Did she really say that? She had to hear it again. “Pardon? Sorry, mah hearing is gettin’ worse by the-” With a sudden bout of earth pony strength, Twilight shot out of her bed and tackled Applejack in a hug.
“Applejack! Applejack! Oh my… Applejack!” Twilight cried as she hugged herself against Applejack.
“...” Now Applejack was the silent one. Three years. Three whole years of whatever had happened before. And now, she was back. Twilight was finally back. “... hey Twi… been a while, huh?” Applejack said casually. But she knew she couldn’t lie. She had to be honest. “We missed ya, y’know?”
“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I’m a horrible pony!” Twilight bawled into Applejack’s mane. Applejack returned the hug with her own strength and began to comfort the purple unicorn.
“Hey, Twilight, there’s nothing to be sorry about. Ya know this. You weren’t yourself.” Applejack squeezed Twilight harder.
“I’m sorry! Please forgive me!” Twilight was practically screaming now as she bawled. Suddenly, the room was filled with a bright golden light that caused both ponies to look up. Standing in her room was Princess Celestia herself, sans regalia. Applejack was preparing to bow but remembered the distraught pony in her hooves.
POV: Celestia
Celestia’s teleportation spell brought her into Twilight’s room in an instant. Twilight always knew how to detect teleportation spells beforehoof, so she expected Twilight to be ready for her. What she saw was not at all what she had expected.
Twilight had described that every pony around her looked as meaningless as the ground and sky, only pony-shaped gray blobs of no significance. The only one that escaped this was Celestia, according to Twilight. So that meant that even her friends had been erased from her memories. But here she was, holding on to Applejack as if she was the most important pony in the world. To be honest, she probably was in Twilight’s world.
“Don’t ’cha worry, Twi, I forgive ya. And you know me, being the Element a’ Honesty and all.” Applejack tried to joke after looking away from Celestia, but she could see the sadness and joy in her eyes. Twilight was silent after she said that, only crying into Applejack’s mane. Overall, what Celestia was seeing was ten times better than what she was expecting to see. She wasn’t assuming the worst, but she was still expecting something bad. This… this was a treat to see after what happened a week ago. In her thousands of years in this world, Celestia had seen many things. She had seen the beginnings and endings of countries. The lives and deaths of important historical figures. She had wed many stallions and birthed many foals, (none of them alicorns). She had enlisted many unicorns to study under her own wing. But what she was seeing now? The start of a rebirth? It was enough for Celestia.
So Celestia sat on her rump and began to cry. For the countless deaths, for the countless lovers in her life, for the many countries wiped away, and for Twilight.
Her faithful student.
Her little pony.
Author's Note
Planning a far future sequel. Is that a good idea?
