The call
“Twilight, Twilight !”
As always when he had some news to deliver, Spike was running and screaming Twilight’s name as if all of Equestria was in jeopardy. The alicorn smiled. She wouldn’t even think about lecturing him on that subject, because, in her heart, it was a proof of his dedication to her and his duties.
Even if sometimes he was dramatizing a little. Or maybe lecture him just a little...
“I’m here Spike.” she answered from under the pile of books she had begun to read.
“I thought I would never find you. I went to all of our friend, but they hadn’t seen you, so I thought I would go see Zecora, because, you might have wanted to go see her, but then I remembered I should check the library too, so I came here and I screamed your name, and… well, the princess sent you a letter.”
He was totally out of breath and pretty cute as he was trying to justify why he was late delivering the letter. A fact Twilight probably wouldn’t have even noticed if he hadn’t made such a big speech about it.
She took the letter with curiosity and a bit of pride. Receiving a letter from the princess of the sun wasn’t something any pony could brag about. And even now, as she herself had become a princess, she still had that deep admiration for her mentor and that pride to have been her student for all those years.
So she read the letter very quickly to see what it was all about this time and how she could be of help.
But when she finished, her smiled had gone. There was no bad news in that message. It was even pretty good. But the whole thing just didn’t seem to make sense.
“What is it?” asked Spike. “Should I go sound the alarm?”
“No, no need for any alarm of any kind.” replied Twilight, a little harshly as she was trying to figure out what the princess request’s point was.
She let the letter fall on the ground and Spike picked it up and read it.
“That’s great!” he said, as soon as he was finished reading it, “We are going to Canterlot!”
“Yes, we are.” replied Twilight.
“Come on, you should be more excited! We are going to stay in the royal castle, and all our friends can come too. It’s great news!” told her Spike, clearly over-excited at the idea to go back to his beloved city.
He had, and that was very natural, also in mind to go visit the donut bar as soon as possible. A guilty pleasure of his.
But Twilight still wasn’t satisfied. She understood she wouldn’t find the answer she was seeking in the letter and probably not until she would have been in Canterlot and asked the princess herself, but that was really bothering her.
Usually, Celestia would tell her why she wanted her student, or ex-student, by her side. This time, she was inviting not only her, but all of her friends, to the castle, with no explanations whatsoever.
She let Spike handle the preparation for the journey, which he happily did, and tried to focus on staying away from any crazy idea or paranoiac deduction.
Spike went and asked their friends if they would accept the invitation.
Applejack more than happily accepted, as most of the work in the farm had already been done.
Rarity gasped, grabbed Spike and hugged him so hard he could have died from too much happiness right there.
Rainbow Dash told him she wouldn’t ignore one of the princess’s requests.
Fluttershy nodded, and found the courage to ask if Philomena would be there too.
As for Pinkie Pie, she strangely had already all of her things packed and ready to go when Spike entered Sugarcubecorner and only asked where they would be going. When he explained they would stay in the Canterlot Castle, she got rid of her tent and compass, saying they probably wouldn’t need those.
It took some time for all of them to get ready, and the same amount of time to fit all of Rarity’s luggage in the train, but they finally all departed from Ponyville to Canterlot, following the princess’s invitation, not knowing why they were invited and, for most of them, guessing it had to be a surprise.
They spent the whole journey speculating, with the most ridiculous guesses, like the declaration of the “Rainbow napping Day off”, a follow-up party for Twilight’s coronation, or a request for all of them to become the minister of Equestria, as Rarity was already thinking how she would make a law forcing every pony to be fabulous, whatever she could have meant by that.
In the end, they were just having fun.
They arrived at the station in Canterlot and saw the domestics from the castle waiting to escort them to their new home for their time in Canterlot. They were surprised at first to be treated in such a pompous way, but the domestics explained it was the protocol when receiving a princess and her friends.
And after all that, Twilight and Spike found themselves in a big suite for the royal guests.
Spike noticed his alicorn friend seemed a little depressed.
“What’s going on Twilight? You’re still worrying about why the princess invited us? Seriously?”
“That’s not it.” kind of lied Twilight. “I’m worried because we still haven’t seen her yet. Why would she invite us if she doesn’t have time to welcome us? I mean…”
She stopped right there. Of course she would just have to be patient and wait for all the answers to come by themselves. And of course the princess probably had something urgent to finish before she could come and see her guests. And, once again of course, Twilight was feeling down because she was eager to see her mentor and was conscious of how egoistic it was from her to make her own wishes come before everything else.
“I’m going out to take some fresh air.” she told Spike.
And she left the dragon with the task of unpacking as she went out the door of the suite and go wander in the corridors of the castle.
She was thinking really fast. She had to think about her friends, brought here with her in the castle and how they would probably be involved too. She had to think about the princess, or maybe both princesses, and what their intention could be. She mostly had to think about herself, and how the basic wisdom was asking from her to calm down, relax and just be confident in her friends, herself and the princesses.
But she just couldn’t accept to ignore how weird the whole thing had been and mostly the fact that it would have been so easy to give them some sort of explanation or even a pretext to make them come, and not just some blind invitation.
There was definitely something going wrong and she didn’t see how to find out what.
But as her thoughts had been going faster and faster, so had her pacing and she was walking so fast that, at the bend of a corridor, she bumped into some hairy creature.
As she suddenly came back to the world of normal ponies who don’t wander in the corridors blindly while thinking, she saw several royal guards escorting a creature that made her jump in fright.
“Are you okay?” asked the creature. “I’m sorry if I’m frightening you, I can assure you you’ve got nothing to fear from me.”
But Twilight, her curiosity taking control, only asked:
“Are you a spider?”
It was a stupid question, or at least it could be considered as a stupid question. The eight legs, the multiple eyes, the big abdomen, the creature was, without any possible doubt, an arachnid, and in this case a spider. But her size made the question almost worth it. Twilight had never seen or heard of spiders bigger than a pony and that one was more than ten feet long.
The spider got no time to answer Twilight’s question as one of the guard, recognizing the alicorn in front of him, took upon himself, as protocol was asking, to introduce her:
“Her highness princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria.”
Twilight blushed as she still wasn’t used of all the deference around her.
“Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria?” repeated the spider, “I’m very glad to meet you. My name is Cassandra.”
“Excuse me ambassador.” interrupted one of the guard, “We are going to be late.”
“Of course.” replied Cassandra. “I hope I’ll be able to spend more time with you, princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria. My fair goodbye to you.”
And as the guards were really in a hurry, wanting not to disappoint whoever was waiting, Cassandra went away in the corridor, as Twilight was still trying to accept the, in her mind thrilling and impressive, fact that she had just met a giant spider and was trying to find out how to say, at the same time:
“You can call me Twilight” and “I’m sorry I asked that” and “I’ve been very happy to meet you too.”
But it was too late already. And even if she knew that her princess title was heavy enough to make that strange spider forgive any of her bad behavior, she was still ashamed of how the encounter had gone.
But at least, and that’s what she told herself as she went back to her suite, she now had an idea why she and her friends could have been invited in Canterlot.
“An ambassador?” Twilight told herself outloud, “An ambassador from where?"
A Tea party
Twilight entered her suite and immediately told Spike she would go take a bubble bath and to tell her when someone would bring news from the princess.
“Would I count as someone bringing news about the princess?” asked a well known gentle voice on her right.
“Princess Celestia!?!” shouted Twilight, mixing joy and surprise.
“Princess Twilight, I’m glad to see you too.” answered the white alicorn.
“Please, could you just call me Twilight? It’s kind of embarrassing…” replied Twilight, blushing.
“Only if you call me Celestia. Or Tia. I don’t want to be the only princess to always have to be called by her title.”
Twilight laughed and gladly accepted, even if it would be hard for her to drop the habit. Then she remembered all of her previous thoughts and finally asked the questions she wanted some answers to:
“Please, your high… Celestia.”
She took some time to consider how strange it was to call the princess by her name. Her tongue felt dirty for some reason.
“Please” continued Twilight, “We have come as you asked us to. What is it all about? Why did you want us to come here? Does it have anything to do with that spider ambassador?”
The sun princess frowned a little when hearing those last words, but quickly came back to her usual smile.
“Now Twilight, I understand your curiosity. But my only wish now that you’re all here, is to spend the afternoon together in the gardens and share a cup of tea.”
“You invited us to have a tea party in the gardens?” asked Twilight, surprised.
“You can refuse if you don’t want to. It’s only a proposition.” replied Celestia.
Twilight saw Spike looking back at her with those eyes that were saying:
“Come on Twi’, stop worrying and go enjoy some tea with everypony else”.
“Won’t you tell me what is going on?” asked Twilight. “I’ll gladly come to drink tea with you any time, but I find it hard to believe you invited us only for that purpose.”
“Then we will meet in the gardens at four, more or less.” said the sun princess, “After all, we are between us, there is no need to fix a precise time. I’m very happy to know you’ll join us too Twilight. I’ll appreciate your company more than any other.”
The sun princess gave Twilight and Spike a very gentle, kind and understanding smile, then left, probably to prepare herself for the tea party.
“You see?” said Spike, when the door shut. “You just had to wait and the answer comes to you. She just wants to enjoy some time with you. That’s all.”
“No Spike.” answered Twilight, “There is clearly something else going on there. And I intend to find out what.”
Spike sighed. There was no use trying to reason with that alicorn. Becoming a princess didn’t help one bit on that side of things. Well, at least he would enjoy some tea too, and the gardens were beautiful enough so that he would be able to appreciate the scenery too.
At ten before four o’clock, Twilight and Spike arrived in the gardens. Most of the others were already there. Rarity was yelling at Applejack for not having brought any dress with her and considering to sit on the bare ground. Fluttershy was looking at every tree and animal with envy, bringing Rainbow Dash along who didn’t seem as interested in the surroundings. A place had already been prepared for them by the domestics, with a tablecloth on the ground, some dishes, tea, a lot of food and a cake in the middle.
“I see we all hate to be late.” said, laughingly, Celestia, arriving from another path.
“I don’t see Pinkie Pie.” replied Rainbow Dash.
“Oh, she is waiting in the cake.” told her Celestia with another laugh.
“That was meant to be a surprise!” said a voice coming from inside the cake.
“Well, I think you can come out now.” said Applejack to the cake.
“I would like to, but I think I’m stuck.” replied Pinkie Pie. “Oh, nevermind, I can just chew my way out.”
“How can she fit in that cake?” asked Fluttershy, so low that almost nopony heard her. “It’s only half her size.”
Pinkie Pie eventually emerged from the sandwich bag, startling Rainbow Dash, and everypony took place to enjoy the tea party.
Twilight tried many times to speak about the ambassador spider, but Celestia found each time a way to change the subject and make the others forget about the idea of a giant spider roaming in the Castle’s corridors, or at least make it seem like it was normal enough to not be talked about.
They were discussing the next summer sun celebration, which would take place in Cloudsdale this year, and how awesome it was going to be and how they could all help making the event the best summer sun celebration ever, when a guard came and spoke into the princess’s ear.
“She couldn’t wait, of course.” replied Celestia more to herself than to the guard. “I’ll speak with her, you can go back to your duties.” she added.
The guard nodded and went away.
“I’m very sorry, but my sister wants to talk with me and I can’t just refuse. I won’t be long, please enjoy the treats while I’m gone.” Celestia told the ponies and Spike.
“Won’t she join us?” asked Rarity. “There is surely enough for her to enjoy too.”
“I fear that my sister has some other plans for today.” replied Celestia, before adding: “I can’t promise anything, but I’ll be sure to propose it to her.”
And she gave Rarity a wink, before leaving the seven friends together.
“She is such a dear. This tea, those gardens, I could just die right now!” said Rarity.
But Twilight saw an opportunity to learn a little more about what was happening and took it.
“I’ll go and talk to Luna too. I’m sure she will listen to me. At least I can try.”
“Yeah, we should all go talk to Luna and convince her to come and enjoy the tea party with us!” said Rainbow Dash, almost gone already.
“No!” suddenly responded Twilight. “I mean, she is expecting only her sister and it could be disturbing to see the seven of us coming to her. I’ll go alone. Don’t worry, I’ll do my best to convince her.”
“We are counting on you then.” said Applejack.
Twilight quickly went after the princess, but made sure to stay far enough not to attract her attention. She, of course, had no intention to go directly talk to the princesses, as it had already failed in a way of gathering information, so she had planned to hide and listen to the conversation.
She saw Luna and Celestia meeting, so she went into a bush close enough from them.
“What are you doing there?” asked Spike’s voice.
Twilight almost jumped out of the bush out of fear. But she realized it was Spike who had followed her and quickly put her hoof on his mouth and told him:
“Shhhht. I’ve got to find out what’s going on.”
The dragon nodded in agreement, understanding he wouldn’t be able to reason his alicorn friend, and began listening to the two princesses too.
“So you’re going.” said Celestia to her sister.
“Of course I am. And so is the night guard. We will be waiting for you there.” replied Luna with confidence.
“Please don’t. At least wait for my decision.” asked Celestia with a touch of sadness.
“I already know your decision. And so do you.” said Luna. “There is no point in delaying the inevitable.”
“We have the choice. I’ve got the choice, you’ve got it too.” began to implore Celestia. “Don’t try to force my hoof like that. It’s not fair.”
“You’re weak, my sister.” replied Luna. “You’ve always been. So powerful, but so weak at the same time. You know you shouldn’t take my fate into consideration, but only the well-being of our subjects. We have made a promise, haven’t we?”
“Exactly!” almost shouted Celestia. “We have promised to guide them through the darkness, to bring the light and the peace in their life and in their heart. We shouldn’t be disposing of them like pawns in our hooves.”
“Sister.” said Luna, “We are not doing what pleases us, but what has to be done. We are taking the choices they should make in their place. And you know what choice they should make in those circumstances.”
“I disagree. They could also choose not to go. They could choose to enjoy their life as they have always done.” replied Celestia with rage.
“Then, they would be just as weak as you, and that weakness would plunge them into the darkness again, possibly without any return possible.” told her Luna.
Celestia didn’t respond, and, understanding they had nothing more to discuss, Luna went away, leaving her sister alone to mourn her departure.
The sun princess took a whole minute for herself, in silence. Two tears dropped from her eyes onto her cheek and then to the ground, but she suddenly held her head high again and, calmly, went away on her own path to go back to the tea party and the ponies waiting for her.
“What was that all about?” asked Spike as the princess was going away.
“Quick! We have to come back before she does…” said Twilight.
And she grabbed the dragon and rushed through the gardens as fast as she could. They arrived before Celestia and Twilight said she couldn’t find neither Celestia nor Luna and had just given up and come back.
Celestia arrived just a little while after, with her gentle smile on her face, as if nothing had happened back there. Actually, Twilight got very impressed about the way the sun princess was able to hide her emotions to others.
“Welcome back, your highness.” said Rarity, “How did it go, is your sister going to join us at some point?”
“I’m sorry, dear Rarity.” answered Celestia, “My sister has decided to go on a journey and it is difficult to know when she is going to come back.”
“Where is she going? By the sound of it, it is not going to be just a normal journey, is it?” asked Applejack.
“Don’t worry about it.” replied Celestia, “You shouldn’t concern yourself with such things. By the way, weren’t you telling me how you were going to improve the production of your famous apple cider this year?”
As soon as the princess had said those words, the subject had changed and not only Applejack, but Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie too were trying to explain what an event the apple-cider season was and how the production was sometimes lacking in quantity. Reminded of her letter at this occasion, Applejack received the congratulations from the princess, because being able to accept your own flaws was good, but being able to accept when you’ve been right was just as good and important.
In her symbolic corner, Twilight was champing at the bit, determined to find out the princess’s secret. Her previous attempts having failed, she thought of a more direct way to force the princess to tell them, and her in particularly, everything that she wanted to know.
“You know what?” said Twilight, interrupting the discussion, “It’s such a shame that the princess Luna couldn’t join us. We have so much that we could share with another pony.”
The others agreed and Celestia nodded as well, not seeing where this was heading.
“Then, if you don’t mind her presence, I would like to ask my new friend Cassandra to join us and share a cup of tea with us.” finished Twilight, with an innocent face.
“Isn’t Cassandra the giant spider you were talking about?” asked Rainbow Dash, not sure that she wanted to spend some time with such a monster.
“That would be wonderful!” said, louder than usual, Fluttershy at the idea of meeting a new cute friendly animal.
Celestia’s face hadn’t change. In fact, her face almost froze. At this point, she had already understood that it would be difficult or even impossible to find any excuse to prevent such a meeting.
She tried anyway.
“I’m afraid miss Cassandra is an ambassador here in Canterlot and has a lot of work to do.”
“We can always ask her.” replied Twilight. “After all, we both are princesses, but we also find the time to have some tea in the middle of the afternoon.”
Celestia understood she had lost, so she changed her strategy.
“You’re right, we could always ask her.” she said to Twilight. “In fact, we could go right now. It wouldn’t take too much time. Would you mind accompany me Twilight?”
The purple alicorn suddenly wasn’t so sure anymore that she wanted to go. Until then, her only goal had been to fight that silent battle with her mentor to find out what the secret she had been keeping from her was. But now that she could feel she had won, she was only beginning to consider that there may have been a good reason for Celestia to have kept it a secret and that maybe she had made a mistake trying to force her to reveal it to her.
But she accepted anyway, because it would have been hard to justify her sudden change of mood.
Both alicorns left the others after assuring they would be back very soon, and began walking into the castle’s corridors.
They went that way in silence for some time until Twilight finally said:
“I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for what?” asked Celestia genuinely.
“I’ve been rude. I shouldn’t force you to do something you don’t want to. You’ve the right to have secrets, I shouldn’t mind.” replied Twilight with the tone of a child that has done something stupid.
“No, Twilight Sparkle. Don’t feel sorry. Maybe I’m the one that should apologize here.” said Celestia with a bitter tone. “The truth is, I want to tell you what is going on. Even if, and I swear it’s true, I only invited you and your friends to have some tea together.” she genuinely lied to herself. “I didn’t tell you what I know because I wanted to protect you and your friends. But you’re a princess now, so you’ve more than a right to know. You’ve got a duty to.”
After those explanations, Twilight was even less convinced that she should know what was going on. Her imagination was going wild, and for a moment, she thought that, maybe, the princess was dying or something, and she felt like she wouldn’t know how to react. She asked Celestia if that was it, but the sun princess, at her surprise and relief, laughed. It was a weird sad laugh, but still a laugh.
“No, I’m more than alright and I’ve got probably centuries awaiting me.” Celestia answered. “I’ll let our friend Cassandra explain to you what this is all about.”
And Twilight, her fears going away, finally came back to her senses and remembered the conversation that she had been able to listen sooner.
“Oh, right, the choice that needs to be made.” she thought out loud.
“You heard us?” deduced Celestia.
Twilight, embarrassed, nodded.
“I can’t say I’m proud of what you did, but at least it will make you understand the situation faster.”
And she said that as they were both stopping in front of the door of one of the suite of the castle. It was, obviously, Cassandra’s suite. Celestia knocked on the door and, after very little time, the door opened on the giant spider’s multiple eyes.
“Your highness?” asked, surprised, the ambassador, before noticing Twilight. “Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria?” she added.
“You can call me Twilight.” said the purple alicorn, wanting to correct her previous mistake.
“Cassandra, I need you to explain why you’re here to my friend Twilight.”
The spider made them enter her room and began her explanation:
“This is very simple, but, and I understand it very well, a very delicate matter. I’ve come here because the dragon emperor has awoken. He has sworn to destroy the forest's spiders. As we speak, my brothers and sisters are being slaughtered in the war and there is very little chance for us to win in the end.”
Cassandra let some silence take place to help Twilight understand what she had just said, then continued:
“In the past, we helped the ponies against the dragons and they helped us too. Today, we seek help, because if we receive none, we will fall, our land will be destroyed and the remaining of us who will have survived the war will be destined to flee, knowing that they won’t find any safety wherever they go.”
A new silence ensued. This time, Celestia broke it:
“We defeated the dragon emperor to ensure peace in the land thousands of years ago. He is an evil being, but probably won’t attack us, because he fears me and Luna and the power we are holding, but the spiders don’t stand a chance against his legions.
However, if we accept to help them, then all of Equestria will be at war and we will also have to face the dragon emperor's wrath.”
Twilight tried to reply something, but couldn’t find the words, so she just stayed with her mouth opened for a moment, before closing it without any sound coming out.
“This is the choice that I have to make as ruler of all of Equestria.” said Celestia. “Will I choose to lead Equestria into a war we aren’t certain to win, where countless ponies will certainly find death and despair, or will I choose to lead Equestria into an era of peace, and ignore the ones who are asking for help?”
Cassandra lowered her eyes. It was clear what answer she was awaiting, but somehow, it seemed like the spider understood the situation her request had put the princess into, and felt sorry for it.
“Come” said Celestia, “We have been away long enough, the others are going to be worried about us. I’ll let you decide if they need to know what is in the balance or not.”
The sun princess had tried to use a tone as gentle and understanding as possible, when saying those last words, but nonetheless, it was feeling like a torture for Twilight who couldn’t decide.
And all the way back to the gardens, she kept asking herself if she should, in fact, tell the others. And what good it would be. It would only make them have to ask themselves the same question Twilight was asking herself at that moment: knowing what she would do if she was the one that had to decide. War or peace? Letting others die screaming for help, or go and die to try and save them?
It wasn’t, of course, that simple. If Twilight alone had to go help them, she would go without any doubt, she was certain of that fact. In her heart, there was no way she wouldn’t help those who ask her in such danger. But going meant involving everypony into danger. Not only herself. How could she decide for others to sacrifice their lives?
She couldn’t finish thinking when she found out she and Celestia had come back into the gardens and had rejoined the group of friends.
“So, how did it go?” asked Pinkie Pie, “Will Cassandra join us?”
“I can’t wait to meet a giant spider, I’ve never seen one before.” said Fluttershy.
They had all clearly spent all the time speaking about the spider and they had even arranged a large space for her to take place, as they had heard from Twilight how big she was.
Nopony answered the ponies. Twilight heard the silence and, surprised, looked at Celestia who, actually, was looking back at her.
It was like Twilight was asking:
“Why don’t you answer to their questions like you do normally?”
And Celestia was answering:
“You’re the princess now, this is your call, you decide what should be answered.”
Twilight swallowed her saliva. She had to decide really fast if she wanted to tell them or not…
“Sorry.” she said, “But, hum… Cassandra was busy doing… stuff.”
“Stuff” asked Rainbow Dash suspiciously, “What kind of stuff?”
“Oh, you know, ambassador stuff.” replied Twilight, before quickly adding. “Is there enough tea left?”
“There should be. A domestic just brought us some more a while ago.” answered Rarity.
Twilight was sweating. She had decided not to tell them, because she thought it was useless to bother them with a question that they didn’t have to answer. And they were all way too young to go with the army anyway. If there was a war, they would, hopefully, stay away from it.
But she could feel Celestia’s look behind her back, judging her behavior and disapproving.
In fact, no. Celestia was right in front of her, accepting Twilight’s decision and drinking tea with the others.
She trembled. Whose eyes were those then? She had read something about it, but wasn’t in a state where she could remember it clearly. Only one thing was certain. Someone, or something, was watching her behavior, had judged it and was deeply disappointed by it. What she was doing was wrong, the decision she had taken was wrong. And that look in her back was making it very clear.
“Wait!” Twilight shouted so suddenly that she startled her friends a little.
“What is it?” asked Fluttershy, very concerned.
“I lied.” Twilight said.
And she looked in Celestia’s direction. The white alicorn was looking at her too, gently, with a smile that seemed to say “it’s okay, you can say it”.
“Cassandra isn’t busy with stuff.” began Twilight. “She has told me something that I wanted to keep secret from you, but you’ve got a right to know too. I’m sorry.”
She began to cry a little, and her friends came around her to try and comfort her. They just didn’t know that Twilight wasn’t sorry because she had lied to them, but because she would tell them everything that she knew.
And she began to explain. About the dragons, the spiders, the war and the call for help. She explained the choice the princess had to make the best she could.
The ponies turned their heads to the sun princess, who nodded:
“She is telling you the truth. I didn’t want to involve you with all of that, I give you my words it has never been my intention. But tomorrow morning, I’ll give the spider’s ambassador my decision.
Rainbow Dash wanted to give her opinion on the matter as she was used to, but the princess prevented her to.
“Don’t worry about it, my little ponies.” the sun princess told them, “This is a decision that I alone have to take, as it is my duty as ruler of Equestria. Try to forget about it the best you can and enjoy you stay here at the castle the best you can.”
Celestia stood up and added:
“I’m sorry, but I’ll have to leave your company, as I’ve got a big night in front of me. I’ve really appreciated to spend some time with all of you, it has helped me a lot to find the peace of mind I require for such a decision. I’ll be seeing you in the morning and I hope to share my breakfast with each and every one of you. Please be there.”
Then, the sun princess left them, not forgetting to take a piece of the cake with her.
As for the ponies, and Spike as well, they were not in the mood anymore for the tea party. Except for Pinkie Pie maybe, who was just smart enough not to share her good mood and optimism until it was the right moment where it would bring the smiles back.
“I… I think I’ll go to get some sleep.” said Applejack.
And she actually wanted to go and find some comfort under her blanket.
Rainbow Dash also said she was going back to her room, not adding she mostly wanted to take comfort Fluttershy who was fighting not to cry in front of everypony.
In the end, they all agreed they should call it a day, go back to their room and just believe in the princess to take the good decision.
A long night
Celestia was alone in her room, looking outside the window and thinking about what she would tell Cassandra in the morning. Or more precisely, how she would tell it.
But somepony knocked on the door.
“You can enter Applejack.” the princess said.
The earth pony opened the door and went in a little.
“You knew I would come?” she asked.
“That’s why I told the guard to tell anypony coming that they would be received.” answered Celestia. “I only guessed you would be the first one.”
“The first one?” asked Applejack again.
“What is it you want to tell me, dear Applejack?” asked Celestia for all answer.
Applejack came a little closer, but still kept her distance as she was clearly embarrassed and even a little afraid to be there, talking to the supreme ruler of Equestria.
“I know it’s none of my business, but…” began the earth pony.
She waited, but the princess stayed silent, obligingly waiting for her to say what she wanted to say.
“…I’m a farmer and I proud myself by being an honest pony. I’ve never refused to give a hoof when somepony needed some help. I only understand making things grow. I understand building and not destroying. I don’t think I would be able to fight in a war, or to give a helping hoof if it was necessary, and I’m afraid my brother would have to go and fight... and die.”
Celestia waited a little to make sure the pony was finished, and then replied:
“So do you think Equestria should go to war or stay away from it?”
“I’m only saying I’m very afraid that you might ask us to go to war, you highness.” Applejack replied.
“I know, dear Applejack.” replied Celestia, “I understand your fears and I share them. Stay assured I won’t ask the impossible from anypony as I will always seek to make growing and building prevail over killing and destruction.”
“Thank you, your highness.” said Applejack, quickly backing away and going out of the princess’s room as fast as possible, thinking she had disturbed her long enough as it were.
Alone, the princess thought about what the earth pony had just told her. She sighed. It didn’t change anything, as her decision had already been taken, but she had appreciated the will of the pony to give her opinion on such a difficult matter. Even if in such an indirect way.
She almost didn’t hear the knocking on the door. But she heard somepony say:
“Oh come on, that wasn’t knocking.”
And just after, somepony really knocked on the door. This one was easy, and Celestia said:
“You can enter, dear Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.”
Fluttershy entered the room, pushed or even carried by Rainbow Dash and trying to say something like:
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to knock, in fact I’m going back to my room right now, sorry I bothered you, bye…”
But her whole diatribe was said too softly to be heard.
“Sorry to bother you your highness, but Fluttershy wanted to tell you something.” said Rainbow Dash with confidence.
The yellow pegasus yiked when she heard those words, and Rainbow Dash had to add:
“I wanted to see you too, and your guards let us pass, so…”
“This is quite alright. I’ll listen to the both of you.” said Celestia.
Rainbow Dash pushed Fluttershy again and the shy pegasus saw the princess looking at her. At first, nopony said anything, but under the gentle look of the princess, Fluttershy found the courage to say what she had on her heart.
“Well… You see, I don’t like war.” began Fluttershy, “No, I hate war, I really hate it more than anything. Nopony should ever have to go to war. War means death, and killing, and more death and nopony ever win in the end. And I care for a lot of animals. They are my friends and they need somepony to watch over them. I know they would suffer too if there was a war, and so would all of the other animals in Equestria, for a war that isn’t theirs.”
“So, dear Fluttershy. Are you saying Equestria should go to war, or should avoid it?” asked Celestia.
“I’m only saying I don’t want the animals to suffer because of us…” answered Fluttershy, finishing at almost an inaudible level.
“And you, dear Rainbow Dash, what do you think?” asked Celestia.
“I’ve been thinking about the whole thing your majesty.” said the rainbow colored pegasus. “I’m a pegasus, we are fearless warriors. If you decide that we should go to war, then I’ll fight with all the others and we will make sure to crush your enemies!”
And Rainbow Dash had said that with a very confident and martial tone. But then, she added:
“But, I also thought of one thing and, I probably shouldn’t tell you that, but…”
“But…?” asked Celestia.
“But I really don’t want to die.” quickly replied Rainbow Dash, ashamed of her own words.
“It is wise to care for your own life.” told them the sun princess, “As it is good to care about the consequences of our actions onto the lives of others. Rest assured that I have the well-being of not only the strong ponies willing to fight for me as well as the well-being of the weakest creatures in Equestria at heart. Be sure that I despise war just as much as you do and know very well the price of one’s life.”
“Thank you your majesty!” said Rainbow Dash, over Fluttershy’s voice who was actually saying the exact same thing.
And just before leaving the room, the rainbow colored pegasus added:
“You know, it would be an honor dying for you.”
Celestia let the two ponies go away and sighed. She had heard those last words way too often and even if they were always those same very flattering words and the same expression of confidence than before, she just couldn’t stand to hear them anymore. The only sound they made were hurting her ears.
She waited alone for a while, asking herself which pony would come after that, but nopony came. It was a good thing in some way, it proved that at least two, without counting Twilight and Spike, of her subjects were able to sleep well with the knowledge of a potential war coming up.
And those visits would have been pointless, as she had already taken her decision.
But still, she wanted some company, in those dark hours even more than usual.It was selfish and in clear contradiction with her previous intentions that day, but she decided not to care about that anymore. So she asked the guards to enter to tell them to go bring her Rarity and Pinkie Pie. It was a clear abuse of power, but at this exact moment, it wasn’t really her primary concern.
She found some relief when she saw Rarity enter at the same time as the guards.
“You called your highness?” asked one of the guards.
“It’s alright, I was wondering when our guest would be coming in.” replied Celestia.
The guards went back outside of the room and left Rarity and the sun princess alone.
A silence ensued.
Neither of Rarity or Celestia seemed willing to say the first word. The princess didn’t want to show how impatient she was to talk, and Rarity seemed just concerned and embarrassed.
Some more time passed, as both ponies kept on looking at each other, while also trying to avoid the other’s look as much as possible.
To the princess relief, Rarity eventually said:
“I’m sorry to bother you, your majesty…” she began.
“Oh, this is quite alright.” immediately replied Celestia.
“… But to be honest, I’m not even sure why I came here.”
“Didn’t you want to talk to me about the war between the spiders and the dragons?” asked Celestia, trying to help, or, more precisely, giving up to her impatience.
“Yes, but I realized nothing I could say could help you. I’m only an artist, I make dresses, I know how to combine the colors to create something beautiful, I don’t want to have anything to do with such a barbaric thing than war.”
“So just tell me, dear Rarity. In your opinion, what do you think Equestria should do? Go to war, or seek peace?” asked Celestia very gently.
“All I know is I couldn’t watch myself in a mirror if I was to abandon somepony who needs my help. And I need to be able to watch myself in a mirror. Very badly.” answered Rarity.
“Thank you, dear Rarity. Your words are full of wisdom.” said Celestia.
“But they are only words.” replied Rarity. “I’m so sorry, your majesty.”
And Rarity fled, feeling too embarrassed to stay much longer with the princess, and under the impression that she was, her, a simple little unicorn, totally helpless in the matter.
“She was very brave.” said Celestia out loud for herself. “I wish I could have the same courage.”
“But everypony knows you’re the most bravest pony alicorn in all of Equestria silly!” said a voice coming from the ceiling.
Celestia looked up and saw Pinkie Pie hanging on a rope from the ceiling.
“How long have you been there?” asked, pretty admiring, the white alicorn.
“It depends, how long is long? Because it was a little less than that, but more than not time at all, obviously. I’m not sure, I’ve had my goggles on, so I haven’t been able to look at my watch. And I don’t have a watch anyway.” replied Pinkie Pie.
“Have you come to talk about the war?” asked Celestia.
“Nope. I didn’t intend to end here, I was only minding my own business in the castle’s corridors, trying to find the bathroom, when the guards proposed me a game of hide and seek. So I went into a pipe to hide and next thing I know I was here.” answered the pink pony happily.
Seeing that her answer wasn’t making the princess feeling better, Pinkie Pie added:
“But I’m more than willing to talk about the war, or a war, or any war. As you wish. War is a funny word after all. I always thought it was an acronym for “wants a rhug”. But then, I would ask myself what a “rhug” was, and then I found out, it’s a word made from the combination of “real” and “hug”. Or maybe it just means “W’s after R”. I don’t really know. What do you think?”
Celestia couldn’t resist but smile at the deformation of the word she despised so much. And being treated like a five years old filly, finally, didn’t bother her all that much in those circumstances.
“I imagine, you don’t have an opinion or whether Equestria should or shouldn’t go to war?” asked the white alicorn.
“Well, it’s always the same” began Pinkie Pie, “You can’t let anypony alone too long, even war or whatever her name is, because she will feel sad and then she will become bitter and she will behave badly when all she wanted was a rhug.”
“So in your opinion, we should go to war.” asked Celestia.
“No! Of course not. War is despicable, nopony should ever have to meet it. Duh.” replied Pinkie Pie.
“So what are you trying to say?” continued Celestia, trying not to give up to the randomness.
“I was just wondering what a smiling spider looks like. I would really want to see a spider smile, don’t you?” replied the pink pony.
Celestia didn’t respond. She instinctively knew there was no point persisting in her attempt. And so, she saw Pinkie Pie excusing herself and disappearing inside the chimney to go back and play her game of hide and seek with the guards.
Alone, Celestia waited for her final guest to come see her, but nopony came. Celestia felt tired, and had taken her decision anyway, but she wanted very badly to talk with Twilight about the whole thing.
Since the ponies had discovered about the choice she had had to make, she had found such a relief being able to talk about it that she couldn’t give up the feeling anymore. And Twilight was probably one of the mares which opinion counted the most for the sun princess. Or so she tried to convince herself.
So, after having made sure that her ex-student wasn’t waiting in front of the door too, Celestia took upon herself to go and see Twilight directly in her suite.
I would follow you through the fires of hell
“It might not make any sense to you, but I’m really sorry we had to come and seek your assistance to fight our battles.” said Cassandra to Twilight, “We usually try to be the one who defend others.”
The purple alicorn was astounded. She had learned so much that night that she thought her head would explode. But Cassandra was right, it made no sense to her that somepony would feel sorry asking for help when needing it.
She was about to ask a new question to the giant spider when she saw Celestia outside on the balcony, looking at the stars in the sky.
“Excuse me.” said Twilight, “But I have to go talk with the princess.”
“By all means please do.” answered Cassandra. “I’ll go back to my suite.”
Twilight saluted the spider, then quickly glanced at Spike sleeping in his basket, and finally went on the balcony and sat at the side of the princess.
Then, she too looked at the sky and the stars, glowing from afar, sparkling like so many little flames.
And she suddenly understood why Celestia was looking at the night with so much intensity.
“I’m sure Luna is doing okay.” said Twilight, “She wouldn’t go if she wasn’t certain she could come back.”
“I know…” replied Celestia. “And still...”
And a silence ensued as those words were calling for it.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked you and your friends to come to the castle. I just wanted to find some peace and enjoy some good company before I had to give my answer to the ambassador.” apologized Celestia.
“Don’t worry about it: it was a good idea to invite us. Nopony should have to take such a decision alone.” replied Twilight.
“You have to understand, Twilight Sparkle, that I’m not anypony. Taking decisions alone is what I do everyday. It is a ruler’s fate. And way too soon, it will be your fate too.”
Twilight nodded. She never thought becoming a princess would be just an easy journey in life. But she was willing to accept the responsibilities that came with the title. Just maybe not right at the instant, not for such a decision.
She was still very happy to be able to rely on Celestia to decide for her and everypony else. So she felt very surprised and confused to hear her mentor say:
“Please decide for me. I can’t choose. I know what I’ll say to Cassandra tomorrow, but I don’t want to say those words. I can’t stand the idea to tell her those words.”
Twilight looked at Celestia’s face and saw no more simple and gentle smile. Her face was sad, incredibly sad and all the thousands of years that she had lived were reflecting that sadness to transform it into a see of despair where the hope had drown long ago.
“Just decide this time and I’ll follow your decision.” said Celestia, before adding, with passion and conviction: “If you choose the war, I’ll transform Equestria in a terrible war machine, and with my sister’s help, we will defeat any foe in your name, crush the dragons and I’ll personally fight and bring down the dragon emperor!”
After that outburst, she took some time to breath, calmed down and then added:
“But if you choose peace, I’ll make sure nopony gets harmed, I’ll announce it personally to the spiders and then I can promise you to make sure the peace will last even after their war will have ended and whatever the winner of it will be. And the day the ponies will ask why we didn’t help, they will only know that I was the one to decline the help and your name won’t ever be mentioned, but to be associated with peace and prosperity.”
Celestia stopped there. She waited a moment in silence. Everypony in the castle seemed to have gone to sleep and there was no noise whatsoever to trouble the two alicorns in their thoughts.
“I know how I look and how disappointing it must be for you to see me like that.” confessed Celestia. “What an example I’m setting right now…”
Twilight wanted to say something nice, but nothing came to her mind. She do was shocked to see the alicorn she had looked up all of her life crying before her and asking for her to take a decision in her place.
“You know, Twilight Sparkle,” began Celestia, “I’m not anypony, but I sometimes feel like I am. My sister is right, I’m weak. I’ve lost so many good ponies during all those years and all those battles, I just don’t want to order any slaughter any more, whatever the reason may be. I’m sick of seeing ponies die around me as I stand back and watch. The ponies think I’m powerful, but with all my magic I still can’t save them on the battlefield.”
The princess lay down on the floor of the balcony and looked at Twilight, above her, with a face that was almost begging for some mercy.
“Please tell me what I should do and I’ll do it.” said the sun princess.
“I’m sorry, I can’t do that.” answered Twilight.
“Of course you can!” shouted Celestia, suddenly angry. “Any pony can take a decision. It’s very simple, you just have to say something and make as if it was the right thing to do. And sometimes you’re right, and some other times, you're terribly wrong. But you’ve taken a decision and nopony else would have been making a better job than you.”
Twilight had moved back a little out of fear and couldn’t find the strength to reply, so Celestia continued to speak:
“I know about the reasons for both choices. I know what it means to choose the war. I know that almost none of the ponies are warriors, I know about the destruction, the death of the innocents. And then, I know what it means to choose the peace, to lose all our ideals and everything we wanted to believe in. And I’m certain I’ve chosen the best solution out of the two possibilities. But that “best” solution is making me sick just thinking about it. I’m sick of sacrificing the lives of ponies for wars that doesn’t directly concern them, and I’m sick of refusing my help to those who would really need it. I wish I could just come back to the days when my decisions only engaged me and nopony else.”
The princess stopped talking. She was tired, exhausted almost. Twilight wasn’t certain, but she could imagine that Celestia was crushed by the weight of the decision she had taken, her concern for her sister and the shame she was probably feeling for letting her behave like she was actually behaving in front of her former student.
“I’m really deeply sorry.” said Twilight. “I’ve thought about it and I do have an opinion on what is the best option to be taken. But I can’t decide in your place, because I wouldn’t be the one who would have to tell everypony to take up arms, I wouldn’t be the one leading them into battle and I wouldn’t be the one having their blood on my hooves and hearing their cries late at night, knowing that they died because of my will and following my orders.”
Celestia didn’t respond.
As she had already begun, Twilight decided to finish what she was saying:
“You see, if I had to not only take a decision in your place, but be the one having to take responsibility for that decision, I could only choose the peace, and that even with all the compassion I have for Cassandra and her peers. Because I can’t accept the idea that I’ve got the right to dispose of others lives, even if they entrusted it to me. In fact, even more if they have entrusted them to me, because it would mean that they count on me to protect their lives and not dispose of them in a reckless war.”
Twilight stopped there, letting the silence take back possession of the discussion. She weighed what she was about to say and sighed, but then finally said:
“That’s why I can’t decide. I’m deeply sorry, but I can’t help you. All I can say, with all my heart and soul, is that I believe in you. I have every confidence that you will take the right decision and whatever that decision may be and the consequences of that decision, I’m willing to follow you through the fires of hell if necessary, and beyond maybe.”
But as Twilight understood that her words wouldn’t be enough to help the sun princess, she lay down too and covered her mentor with her wing and, after a little while, began to sing a gentle lullaby until the white alicorn would stop crying and fall asleep eventually.
Then, she transported her inside with a levitation spell and laid her on the bed. Then, she decided to just sit and watch her sleep, giving up to the idea that it would help her avoid any nightmare.
The lives of thousands at the end of your tongue
Twilight woke up under the blankets in her bed and suddenly realized it was morning already. Celestia had made the sun rise and wasn’t anywhere in the room. Remembering the night, Twilight asked herself if she had dreamed it or if it had really happened.
But then, she remembered that the princess had asked them all to come to share the breakfast with her and she hurried to not come too late.
She woke up Spike, tried to comb her hair a little and they rushed out of her suite to the dining room.
She arrived and found her five friend waiting for her in front of a giant buffet.
“Hey there Twi’” said Rainbow Dash. “Do you see all that? Just how many ponies are supposed to feast here in your opinion?”
“Please don’t ask for my opinion. On any subject whatsoever.” answered Twilight, laughing almost despite her will.
The six ponies and Spike had come way too soon for the breakfast, all worried to miss it and disappoint the princess, so they had to wait together. After some embarrassed moments, they figured out they didn’t want to talk about last night or about the whole war thing, and discussed about the castle, the protocol and how different it was from what they were used to in Ponyville.
After a while, princess Celestia entered the dining room.
She looked just magnificent. Her face had her everlasting gentle smile and her eyes were lively and deep as always. There was no trace on her face or neither doubt or sadness. She was looking like everything was fine and the whole day before had just been some strange dream far away.
“Hello everypony.” she said with her nice voice. “I hope you were able to find some sleep this night. I’ll be with you in a moment, I just have one last royal duty to attend to before breakfast. And I fear it cannot wait.”
“Of course princess.” answered Twilight, before realizing, but not before the princess was already gone, what that last royal duty was.
Princess Celestia entered the throne room, and sat on the shiny chair.
“A good day to you, Cassandra.” she told the spider.
“A good day to you too, whatever it may bring us both.” replied the ambassador.
“I am sorry I had to take so much time to think about your request. I know how urgent your needs are and how costly each lost hour can be for you.” Celestia continued.
“I’m thankful already that you took the time to think about our request. It is more than some others have done for us.” said Cassandra.
The spider looked at the alicorn, and the alicorn looked at the spider. They both knew why they were there and how useless it was to wait any longer to say what had to be said. For the better or the worst.
“I have taken my decision, which will be Equestria’s decision.” said Celestia, before adding, “I think you’ll be pretty happy to hear it.”
But to the alicorn’s surprise, the spider only replied:
“I’m sorry, but I highly doubt that.”
And from each eye of the spider, a tear fell down that would be followed by just so many others.
THE END
Author's Note
I know this story is badly written and I won't mind if you tell me in the comment. In fact, I wouldn't be against some constructive and targeted critics. But I fear I can't do much better than that (in english anyway). This is what a more "complex" story looks like under my fingers.
But I published the story because it's a guilty pleasure of mine. I like the idea behind the story and even if I haven't been able to write it the way I wanted to to, I like it the way it is.
