Celestia's Tea

by Soaring

Rating: everyone
Tags: Sad, Princess Luna, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Princess Celestia, Slice of Life
Length: 1880

Princess Celestia reflects on her life and how the world around her has changed. If only she had a bit more tea to keep her sane...

Princess Celestia recalled her life with the company of her favorite drink: tea. She drank it whenever she needed a break from something, and recently, that has become more of a habit. Will she be able to make it to day court without worrying about her ponies?

A rewrite of an old fic I wrote back in 2015. Wrote a whole new ending that ties in with the new version of Luna's Coffee.

Published 2023-11-12 08:30:00 UTC
Last updated 2023-11-12 08:30:00 UTC

Do You Remember When The World Was For Us?

Celestia loved coffee.

It meant well, but didn't quench her thirst, nor provide her the energy she needed to raise her Sun. Instead, the sugary creamy drink made her dwindle like a stand-alone flame in a fireplace. She had a fireplace too, which sat beside her mat. The same mat she sat on to read the letters of the youth and adults of Equestria. The warmth of the fireplace gave her the sense of comfort she needed as her eyes danced over the letters she received. Her ponies spoke of their impending dooms that apparently meant more than the drink beside her. She knew their ulterior motives, their sketchy desires: they weren't for the benefit of Equestria, but for themselves. But she had to help them, despite their selfishness. Her ponies needed to be taught the benefits of her Sun…

...so she sighed and held her tea in her magic.

Celestia loves her tea.

She slowly raised the cup to her lips and took a generous helping of its green lusciousness. The tea left an incredible, fiery aftertaste that burned within her very soul. Each cup she drank of that delicious delicacy brought her Sun to its fullest potential. Her Sun.

Celestia loves her Sun.

She raised him up every morning. No matter who watched him rise, or groaned from his distinct sun-craze; her Sun spread her love. She could imagine her Sun now: smiling as he reached for every pony who watched, slept, or even danced in his glory. Proudly he admired them, but they only would admire him if he did not shine so brightly in their eyes. He heard the grumbling and groaning of those who groggily raced for their blinds or rushed under the covers. He hoped they would stop hiding from him, he was only there to bring about the day—besides, Celestia wished he would stop focusing so much on them. Her ponies were diverse in their thoughts, so why worry? There will always be ponies who believe in him, including herself.

Celestia smiled. "Don't worry, my Sun," she cooed. "They don't hate you..."

Celestia hates the truth.

It is great to be truthful, but sometimes the truth hurts. Even Celestia, who gripped her teacup tightly now in her hoof, felt this pain. Meanwhile, her hoof felt the warmth her tea provided through its wonderful, ceramic medium. She knew of its harmful or pleasurable effects. It was beautiful: two sides of that golden Equestrian coin... it wildly flipped in the air, making several revolutions, before it wobbled on the ground in a peculiar clamor and silently ended its rabid dance on either the portrait of grace and love as she soared into the sky, or the wonderful, rolling green landscape of Equestria, her polished, brown mountains with their white tops towering to the heavens above.

She knew the truth: it's only fifty to fifty, not of fifty-fifty.

Celestia hates gambling.

She wished the odds of life were at least fifty-fifty, so she wouldn’t complain every time she visited the grand casinos of Las Pegasus. Every time she pulled the hefty lever, the sounds of hateful demise shouted at her. However, she knew that fate was in her grasp. The bearer of the Sun would not lose to an inferior contraption made by ponies whose heads she had to save from getting tax increases! Besides, the treasury really needed the money right now—maybe she should tax them more. She has to make sure Luna’s Coffee addiction was well-funded!

Celestia loves her sister.

Ever since she was just a little filly, Celestia loved her sister. She watched her dance and prance while singing all about her Moon. Celestia knew Luna’s Moon was like Celestia’s Sun, but they both had that distinct connection to their bodies in the sky. They never spoke to anypony about it but themselves. It reminded her of when she was younger, just like her sister. They were exploring them together:

"Celly!" called the little blue filly, her lighter colored mane bouncing on her head. "Moonsie had asked for thy presence!"

She shouted, "I'll be right there," and dropped all of her duties. She raced out her bedroom and into the hallway to see that small indigo fluff prance right into her. The two shared a particularly pained groan, before the little one spoke, "Our bad, sister."

Celestia smiled. "It's alright, Lulu."

Luna sat and nuzzled her. "Moonsie asked of us to deliver thee a message."

"A message?" Celestia raised an eyebrow. "Of what?"

Luna took this in stride. "A message of thee to raise thy Sun promptly after Moons danced with the horizon!"

"Danced?"

Luna nodded. "Yes! Did we not tell thou of his body's wonderful display?"

Celestia blushed and shook her head, prompting Luna to blush as well.

Celestia had never let her sister down on that one.

Celestia loves to mingle.

Other than Blueblood, who distinctly loved to mingle with all of the mares but unfortunately failed every time (which she wished he would just realize his obvious flaws), Celestia wished to mingle. She loved it so, mostly because it was of a favorable kind, one not where a noble asked her for a favor, but of one where she partook in a conversation that delighted her. Mingled, with a drink in hoof.

Luna had a joy for mingling too, but her dear sister had a propensity to stand by ponies for longer than she should. Especially when Shining and Cadence were making some… endearing remarks of themselves. It was awkward to witness, but Luna paid it no heed. She was too oblivious, as her mind wandered elsewhere. Celestia hoped that she would mingle more enthusiastically, albeit removed from the threat of saying the wrong word next to... her.

Celestia hates misrepresentation.

Cadence still gave Celestia that pit in her stomach. Celestia knew she should get rid of this feeling, but it was hard as the reason for it stems from the trauma of the past, where an imposter took her place to steal away her love from Shining. It was this imposter that irked Celestia’s being, while Cadence was being herself, a pony who spoke with all the love she had, not a hint of hate in sight. It bothered Celestia so much, because she still felt something long after this had happened, something that even tea could not satiate it.

"Hello, Auntie!" Cadence proudly announced. "How are you?"

That deviant, loving smile bore through the countenance in front of her, a mirage of insurmountable energy, a claim to fame that bore a wedge of mistrust right in Celestia’s body. And she wished it would go away, but it was too late. She knew it all too well.

Love did not flow like a river. It flowed like a green-eyed, flushed bug with love problems.

Celestia hates drama.

She wished that her days as a Princess weren't so estrogenic. Estrogen was already in a hefty supply across the entire country. She (nor anypony else for that matter) did not need more of it in her whole central airspace. Instead, she got it in the form of letters from her former student. She was no longer her student, as she too wore the efforts of the crown. Princess Twilight Sparkle would move forward to carry on most of the burden. And now her estrogen carried over to others, including Celestia herself, who wished her hormones died off about nine hundred years ago. Yet she knew it could not be quelled.

Besides, she's still open to testosterone. That stuff was needed badly.

Celestia loves chemistry.

"Chemistry is an interesting term," Celestia once said to an audience of glamorous interviewers in their coats and jackets of premiere cashmere and silk. "It's related to science, sports, and all different venues of emotion." A flash emitted to her left. "Yet, we all overlook its true meaning."

A spectator in the crowd raised their hoof. "May I ask a question, Princess?"

Celestia mentally facehooved, knowing that was not how you ask a question in such a prestigious conference room. "Yes?"

The brown hoof's owner raised his head. "What is its meaning?"

Smiling on the outside yet wanting to smash his skull in with a bottle of Sunny D, Celestia responded with a smile. "Harmony."

Celestia loves harmony.

Her mind was adrift, just like the flower that gently floated onto her nose. It tickled her muzzle as the white lily laid there, still. It pointed to her Sun, which shined down on the both of them. She smiled, and took a view of Equestria as a whole. The wind gently grazed her back as she looked out into the vast expanse of the land she worked so hard to maintain. Her work was not done, of course. The meadows where these flowers come from need all the Sun they can get. And rain too.

She sighed and took another sip of her tea. She listened as the meadow spoke with the wind, which sent dandelions' fuzzy tops into the air to create nature's natural song. Its melodies provided the sweetest of tones. It warmed her heart, but not enough to quell the brisk cold air of the morning. Her Sun was not warm enough yet. She was not warm enough yet.

Another sip.

Another sip.

Another sip.

And she slurped up the last of her drink. She set the teacup aside on a small table inside her chambers. Once it was taken care of, she slipped back out her balcony door and she took in the scene once more. She stared at the houses, the rolling hills, the gentle streams, the cliff sides; she took in all of Equestria. And then her gaze fell.

Celestia took in a shaky breath.

“What’s wrong, dear sister?”

Celestia snapped to the voice that entered her room. Her heart raced at the thought of her sister seeing her like this. So, she coughed, and turned back to the expanse of which she loved. She forced a smile on that face of hers, to take in the next day strong.

Without turning, Celestia replied, "Lulu."

Luna came to her side. "Were you thinking about us?"

Celestia wished it were that simple. She nodded. "In a sense."

The clip-clopping of hooves on tile ended when her sister’s presence was more pronounced. A slight nuzzle on her neck kept her on end. "Care to share the tale?"

"Only if you promise not to get bored," Celestia replied, looking at her sister. "It's a long story."

"We have time," Luna responded with a grin, a cup of coffee in her magic. “Day court has been canceled."

Celestia's eyes widened. "Really?"

Luna cast her gaze to the sun. "The guards couldn't bear the nobles."

Celestia giggled and giggled well. And so did her sister. With day court canceled, there was only one thing left to do. Reminisce on the good times, and hope for the next day. That was all that Celestia could hope for. That was all that she ever wanted.

A world for Luna to enjoy.

Author's Note

Author's note here just to say, I hope you all enjoyed this fic. Definitely a different feel compared to the original one I wrote.