Fourth Lesson

Well you bucked up major this time.

A blinding memory of your father suddenly plays out in your head, it was your second year at the academy, and you had given a rose and a poem to a little filly you had a crush on. She had received it and then walked away, throwing it in the trash as the other fillies and colts laughed at you.

“Stupid kid, fillies don’t want roses, they want a stallion to sweep them off their feet. You should have been a filly Quill.” Your father chides as he sits on the chair with a bottle in his magical grasp.

“You have a gentle touch! You need a true grip of steel!”

That’s when you swore never to be gentle again.

But Twilight.
Had.
Changed.
You.

You bucked up kid.

You sit on the banks of the lake and stare into the vast nothingness of the night sky. What had you done wrong? All the signs and signals were there. She had been happy to be with you, teasing, flirting, and even not caring when you ogled her flank a few dozen times.

What is wrong with you?

“Good evening Quill.” A voice like spring rain calls from above.

Buck it all to hell.

“Good evening Princess Celestia.”

Celestia descends form the sky and lands with fluid grace next to you, watching as you sigh and scratch the dirt with a free hoof the other cradling your head. She lays on the grass next to you and watches the waves, not saying a single word as you both remain in silence. It didn’t matter that Celestia was there, you felt a million different emotions right now and all of them outweighed the whole royalty shtick. Finally you feel a warm wing embrace you as Celestia looks at you with a smile.

“I was too soft.”

Celestia looks to you and remains a blank faced princess, merely listening to what you had to say.

“All these years and my father is still right. I should have just went in there from the start…”

“But is that you or your father?”

You closed your eyes and buried your head in your hooves.

“I don’t know.”

There is a pause and then Celestia sighs.

“I got your letter by the way.” She starts.

“Great. Are you gonna lecture me on teacher student relations?” you ask melodramatically.

“Quite the opposite. I think that this would be good for Twilight.”

That was the last straw. You stand and appose the easily twice as tall Alicorn and flare your nostrils. Rage, sadness, fear, it was all there but you didn’t even think about it.

“Good for her! Buck it all didn’t you see her leave? She practically couldn’t get away fast enough! And here you are being all goddess and wise trying to tell me what would be good for her when really you have no bucking clue!”

You pant and feel the tears welling up.

“Do you feel better my student?” She asks with a voice as calm as when she arrived.

“No. I just wanna soak up some Applejack Daniels and call it a night.”

Celestia gives you a soft scornful glare and shakes her head.

“Well have you ever thought she just might be scared?”

No.

“Scared? Twilight Sparkle would never be scared. She defeated a goddess, chased away an Ursa Major.”

“Minor” Celestia corrects with a smirk.

“Minor… She has saved Ponyville more times than anyone else, beat back the parasprites, proved she was the strongest magic user in the kingdom, and she successfully accomplished a Winter Wrap up in record time!”

Celestia raises an eyebrow and grins.

“And?”

It hits you like a train. Twilight did all those things… and she helped you find out what you were capable of. She had shown you a magic you never had before.

She had shown you what you were meant to be.

“The magic of friendship.” Celestia whispers as if reading your thoughts.

You choke back a tear and nod your head. Twilight really cared about you. She would never have put herself in harms way unless she did. With this newfound knowledge you puff out your chest and start running.

“Quill? Ponyville is that way.” Celestia states as she points a hoof to the opposite direction.

Derp da derp.

“Perhaps you should wait by the lake.” Celestia says as she stands in your way of Ponyville.

“Stay? Why?”

She merely smiles and nods her head.

“Ever dated a Pegasus?”

“No.”

Celestia shakes her head with a tsk. She then explains to you the concept of wing-boners (Much to your embarrassment and wonder) and then nods her head as she flies into the air. You stand there pondering what that has to do with Twilight disappearing when you hear a voice in the distant woods.

A purple light in the distance grows clearer exposing a panting unicorn as she runs towards you. Twilight smiles widely and you can see marks where tears had formed and run down her face as she ran. She stops short of you and pants loudly, kneeling so she can rest.

“Twilight? What are you doing here?” You ask purely out of logic instead of emotion.

Way to go you unfeeling dolt.

She looks at you and smiles as she wipes sweat from her face, standing tall while trying to stand upright period. With a swift motion she comes to you and wraps her hooves around your neck, breathing in your neck as she cries silently.

“I thought you left.” She whispers.

“Why would I leave? You kind of just teleported away.”

She separates and sits on her flank from exhaustion.

“I was… kind of excited and I tend to do random acts of magic when I’m excited even though I really shouldn’t have been that excited although that was my first kiss except that one time with spike but I was sleep walking and…”

“Whoa slow down! That was your first kiss?”

Twilight's train of thought crashes in a smoldering pile as the color leaves her face. Her pupils became very small and then very wide as she coughed into an invisible handkerchief.

“Well it was the first time a stallion has ever kissed me not saying a girl has but I just… Oh buck it you caught me by surprise. That was way sooner than the book said.”

“The book?”

You laugh as you witness Twilight digging her own grave. The way she stumbles over her normally calculated words and stutters is very cute.

“It said you wouldn’t kiss me till our third or fourth date, and even then I didn’t know if you liked me.” She pauses and bites her lower lip before raising her eyes under her bangs to stare at you.

“Do you like me?”

“Of course I like you Twilight.”

She stands and approaches, her face only a foot away from yours.

“I mean do you like me like me.”

Oh Celestia that’s too adorable.

You raise a hoof and hold her chin so you can move her head closer to yours.

“Yeah. You kind of grew on me in two days, not bad for a teacher.”

She smiles with a laugh and just stares before quietly sniffling.

“I like you too.”

You both sit on the grass facing each other, just staring into each others eyes as you struggle with what to do next. Even you have little clue what to do at this moment. She comes over and lays against you, laying her head on her hooves as she closes her eyes and breathes slowly. The simple gesture the very fact that she was sleeping beside you put your mind to ease. Twilight was here with you and she hadn’t run away. Things were okay.

Guess you should catch some shut-eye too lover pony.

You close your eyes and rest your head over her neck, curling around her to provide her warmth. And as the light of the stars no longer pierce your eyelids you drift off into a deep slumber.

~+~+~+~+~

“I’m very disappointed in you.” your father states as he sits in his old silk chair.

His gray mane is a disheveled mess and his bottle he held the very day you left you left is clutched tightly in his hoof.

“I thought you’d learn from me. I see your still soft as a filly.”

You feel the eyes of disappointment fall on you but a warmth at your side gives you a growing courage.

“You’re wrong dad.”

He looks at you with a snarl and places the bottle on the floor.

“What did you just say?”

You stand taller and your horn glows with a pulsing white light.

“”You’re wrong. I don’t have to be like you to be happy.”

At this point the stands and comes chest to chest with you but he looks smaller.

“I thought I heard you say I was wrong.”

You press against him and push him away as a golden light shines behind you.

“I don’t need you anymore dad. I don’t need your respect, I don’t need your pity, and I don’t need your advice holding me back anymore.”

He looks smaller and more frail each time you take a step forward. Finally he comes back to back with a wall. The graying old pony looks at you with fear in his eyes, like a cat that has no teeth and claws.

“I don’t need you dad I found someone that believes in me.” you say slowly.

He frowns and slips away into the shadows, his once booming and thunderous voice now only a whisper.

“I knew you could do it.” comes an unknown voice behind you.

You turn around and see Celestia and Luna standing next to each other, both wearing wide grins as you approach.

“Princess Luna? Celestia? What are you doing here?”

Luna smiles playfully and cocks her head to the side.

“Dreams are my domain. My sister said tonight you would break down the door that kept you inside a small cage and she wanted to witness it for herself.”

You smile at Celestia as she bows down low.

“You did it Quill.”

“I had help princess. You know more than anyone else.”

She nods her head thoughtfully and conjures a scroll and pen.

“Do you have something you want to write?”

She is insufferable.

“Am I?” She asks with a raised eyebrow.

“Give me that.”

Dear Princess Celestia,

Today I learned that sometimes you can’t plan something. You have to follow what your heart is saying. I learned that you can’t make yourself into anything more than what you were meant to be.

I also learned you are really scary. Not too mention you should probably stay out of my dreams, especially here in a few days.

Your faithful (but scared) student

Quill.

P.s. Tell Luna to stay out of my dreams too.

The scroll rolls up and disappears as well as Luna, leaving you and the princess alone in the void of your dream absent.

“Do you want to know what Twilight asked me?” The sun princess asks with a devilish grin.

You smile and shake your head, looking at a white door as it appears in behind you.

“I think I know princess. Thank you… For everything.”

She nods her head and leaves. The emptiness isn’t unsettling or even frightening. You know that once you open that door a lot of things are going to change.
But that’s alright.

You open the door and walk into the blinding light, never once looking back at what you once were.

~+~+~+~+~

As you open your eyes you notice it is still nighttime, and judging by the position of the moon you believe it to be about midnight. Twilight is looking at you with half-lidded eyes, a smile spreading across her face.

“Good dreams?” she asks.

“Very. Why do you look so happy?”

She giggles and raises a hoof to brush the side of your face.

“I was just thinking about kissing you while you slept.”

“Oh how very creepy, next you’ll tell me you make cupcakes from pony flesh and sell it to unsuspecting customers.”

She gives you disturbed look and then laughs quietly.

“No I would never use pony flesh, now ZEBRA on the other hoof.”

You lean in closer and nuzzle her.

“Do you wanna?”

She blushes and closes her eyes.

“I’m kind of nervous.”

You feel her head press against your and your lips inch closer and closer.

“Don’t be.”

You kiss her gently, feeling the silken touch of her lips against yours. She sighs and closes her eyes, rotating her head to the sides as you both stop breathing entirely as you get lost in each other. It feels right. She smiles as you separate and then grasps the side of your face bringing you in for another kiss. She laughs as she attempts to kiss you harder and you both start laughing even louder.

“That was amazing.” She finally whispers as you nuzzle each other.

It was, but not out of purely carnal reasons. that kiss symbolized a commitment, a bond, a shining beacon of hope for the future. But it also got your blood pumping.

“I know. I was there.”

She elbows you and then smiles widely as she pushes her flank back against you.

“Your poking me Quill.”

2 Am here… I really wanted to write this part before sleep so here it is…