//------------------------------//
// Magister [Remastered] 
// Story: Apathy 
// by Pathos14489 
//------------------------------//

"No." I stared at her without a flinch as she glared right back at me.

Celestia cleared her throat, trying to hide her annoyed glare. "You don't seem to understand–"

“I understand perfectly well.” I stared at her. “Which is why I’m saying no. Absolutely not, never in a thousand eternities, and not under any circumstances."

"Twiligh–"

"Buck you."

She huffed and stepped loudly, but hardly as hard as what I'd consider a stomp. "If something bad happens to her, then it could have serious repercussions with the binding spell." Oh Mothers… She was almost pouting. “I don’t know if it’s strong enough to resist a change that big.”

"Nothing bad will happen to her if she's with Twilight." I said as I narrowed my eyes at her.

"You can't be certain with all the changes I'm planning to make." She narrowed her eyes in return. "I won't allow that to happen to my subjects again, no matter what stakes you think we are against."

"I don't think." I shook my head, the freshly crafted iron bands hanging from my ponytail clanked against each other and my chest plate. I felt my back bones shift again rather uncomfortably and shuffled my hooves into a less painful position; my wings would be growing soon. "I know what is at stake. You're just being too foalish to admit that I'm right and you’re wrong."

She looked out over Canterlot from her personal balcony. "Don't you want to save these ponies? Are you so cruel to damn them all?" She waved a hoof towards the city below.

"I wanted to save them, yes. But I failed." I joined her in glancing over the city below. “While if I could turn back the sands of time, I would. But this isn’t fixing what happened, it’s screwing with it more.” The city had grown ever quickly since she had popped into the future to ruin the rest of my hopefully-not-eternal existence. 

"I've had a lot of time to think about this, I know the best option is to leave things on their current course. What happened has to happen to pave the way for new life to emerge" I closed my eye, "Ponies are not the most important species. We’re not the be all, end all race of the universe. In the grand scheme of things? We’re nothing, we’re not even insignificant. We merely don’t exist on such a level."

"When you become a Princess of Equestria, you pledge your allegiance to Equestria." She stormed off the balcony, stomping off into her room like a brat. "We may value life, we will fight for the betterment of other species if we can, but I would rather commit mass genocide than allow what happened to Equestria to happen again."

"I appreciate your foalish beliefs, Celestia. They’re noble in a way similar to the noble cause of a school foal destroying a bully’s life to save his classmates. Oh no, but the bully was going to be an alicorn later in life.” I turned toward her calmly, subconsciously waving a wing and feeling empty at the lack of gesture. I then awkwardly wave my hoof instead, several seconds too late. “It sounds so good to say that, doesn’t it? To look around you at all these ponies and tell them that? What if you were to come face to face with the new life that’ll one day blossom here? Would you tell them to buck off the damn planet because you were here first?”

"These are my subjects! This is my country!" She actually stomped her point into the ground. "Beyond any other form of life on or off Equuis, whether in the distant future or the ancient past or some alternate universe, my subjects come first! Even if what you think will happen happens, I will let it happen if it means by any small chance they are safe!"

"Then why did you risk them all by dragging me back here?" I whispered to her, softly trying to snuggle into the grey matter of her mind. "Why did you think that putting your subjects lives on the line—without even giving them a choice in the matter—was the best course of action?" I jabbed her chest, my hoof guard clinking against her chest plate. "Because if–No, when it happens, do you honestly think that cute little spell she put in place will prevent the cataclysm that follows?"

She gives a little shrug. "If I didn't, they'd all die one day anyway." She retorted, closing her eyes and lowering her head. She looked back up and stared at me. "And for my plan to work, I need you to cooperate."

"You need to use me like a tool." I snorted. She didn't actually care at all. In a way this upset me, but more than anything it was a relief. At least her intentions were... Okay no, her intentions were still horrible. Scratch that. This was worse than if she were a blinded, doting mother figure. "I will not help you jeopardize every life in the universe."

"Then everypony will die for nothing." She sighed. Her horn started to glow and the light waned from outside. Night was falling. “This is wrong.”

“Of course it is, why are you doing it?”

“You are responsible for all of the violence; all of the suffering.” She hissed at me, glaring at me from the corner of her eye.

“No. I’m not.” I nearly scoffed.

“Yes.”

“No.” I stared.

“You engineered the device that caused this situation, Twilight. This is your fault.” She jabbed my chest.

I glanced to her hoof then back to her face. “No it’s not, it’s your fault. You did this by bringing me back here.”

“I had to do what I did to you, Twilight.” She stared at me.

“And I have to wait until you change your mind.” I shrugged. “I have the rest of time awaiting me, Celestia. You don’t. Do you plan to sit idly by while your student stresses out and loses all the best years of her life, wasting away to keep that spell from falling apart?” I asked. “What will you do when the universe is falling apart?”

She stared at me, her emotions hidden under her princess face. “It’s not fair.”

I laughed, “Oooh. It’s not fair! I didn’t realize that.” I gaped for a moment at her, her eyes closing as she brought a hoof up to rub her temple. “I see now, it all makes sense.” I step back, trotting around the room. “Well now everything is clear, Celestia! It’s not fair!” I sit down and wave my hooves to the ceiling. “Hello universe! You need to stop falling apart; wanna know why? It’s not fair! By Celestia’s will, you shall be stable again!” I throw my gaze back to her, grinning widely. “‘Not fair’? Are you kidding me?” I drop my hooves to the floor to brace myself.

I stood there for a moment, laughing under my breath. I heard her sigh and fixed her with an indifferent stare. "Twilight, please leave me alone. We can discuss this later. "

I chuckled, trotting back over to her. "Cute. You wanted me back, now you’re annoyed that I’m not the asskissing student I used to be."

“Twilight!” She paused, sighed, and looked up at me. "Please, Twilight. I understand the situation at hoof, but I have other responsibilities. Go see Glowheart, I know you've probably missed her for quite a long time." I stared at her before smiling at her, turning and walking away. "Thank you." She breathed. "And Twilight?" She called but I didn't stop. "I don't see you as a tool, Twilight. I do love you with all my heart, please don't doubt that."

"Keep telling yourself that." I muttered under my breath. I stopped at the doorway, holding it open with my magic as I stared back at her. "I will not be her protector, nor her teacher. That is no longer my job." She didn't respond, instead watching me dumbly. “If I failed to protect her once, I’ll fail again.” I closed the door and continued on my way.


«♦»


"Who're you?" She stared up in awe at me. Glowheart; she was so tiny back… now?. "Are you my new teacher Princess Celestia told me about?" More time travel-y gobbledygook… No matter… While she wasn’t the beautiful mare I’d come to know so well yet, but still a charming young filly with a poofy, fuzzy mane.

I bent down to my knees, yet still towered a head over her on the already–taller–than–her hospital bed. I tried to smile as warmly as I could, but I could feel my heart breaking at the sight of her. "How do you feel, Glowheart?" My eyes lingered on the slight discoloration on her chest; I couldn't even scan the protective charm on her heart or I might risk setting it off. "Do you know why you are here?"

She tilted her head, "Kinda.. The royal guard came to my house and talked to my mom, then she said that I had to go to the royal hospital to see sir Gravy." She glanced around. "Have you seen him? I still haven't met him and I'm feeling really guilty about it." She pouted at me.

I chuckled, "No, no, Glowheart. Sir Gravy is not a pony. Surgery is a type of healing practice which involves cutting a pony open and fixing what's wrong inside them manually, sometimes even incorporating healing magic in cases where the spell requires a line of sight to function."

"So are you my teacher? The doctor said I had a sick day and I didn't have to go to school today, does that mean you're bringing school to me?" 

I opened my mouth for a moment, "I–I'm not–" I coughed, covering my stuttered words. Still? After all these hundreds of thousands of years I can get flustered? Interesting... Perhaps a study on alicorn psychology over the course of a few thousand years might yield interesting results. "No." I smiled slightly, a little awkwardly somepony might say even. But the results would be biased as I’m the only one I could research without risking anything.

She blinked. "Oh. Well I hope my teacher is half as nice as you are. Or at least as tall." She giggled. I smiled at her then frowned as my bones shifted again. "Miss?"

"I’m sorry, I have to go." She pouted. Ow. I think a bone popped out of place.

"What's your name?"

"Twi–" I paused, for perhaps too long. She blinked at my hesitation. I shift my eyes ever so slightly in thought. "My name is Magister." I finished, forcing a smile.

I stand up and try not to look like bones are not stabbing out from under my shoulder blades, "Oh okay. Bye Ms. Magister!" She waved excitedly as though to hammer her words in with joy.

I returned her smile before I closed my eyes.

Blink

The world crackled and fizzed before it snapped into place like an inversely breaking mirror. I was back in the room Celestia had so graciously given me to stay in temporarily. More like until she had a use of me. I sighed as I trotted up to the mirror in the far corner and regarded myself in time to see my wings bulging against the splitting inside of my upper back. 

It’s almost tragic; she just doesn’t understand. Poor Celestia. I know what is best for life to continue, even if that means letting ponies die out. That's just what it means, it's not my choice to make unfortunately. I don’t control time, I certainly don’t control life and death. That’s a job for a goddess.  


«♦»


I flexed my new wings tenderly. The joints were sore; yet they popped with a satisfying relief as I arched them. Such a long and boring process. I liked the first time way more. A flash, a bang. A pat on the head like a good little pet and boom. Princess wings. This time it was like childbirth. Just waiting for them to push out of my body and nudging them along to grow right. A little passive magic focused around the wings pushed the process along faster, but I couldn't rush it too much.

Not that I actually cared or anything, but even if the body was a throw away, not having properly developed wings was setting off my OCD just thinking about it.

The castle halls were almost devoid of even the royal guard. I suppose Celestia doesn't want the public, or worse, Twilight catching wind of the second purple alicorn roaming Canterlot castle. I hummed an old song, my tail swished in the air to the tune. I haven't banded it with iron yet, but I don't think it's risking any real magical outbursts just yet. Though with the rate my heart has been generating magic lately, it wouldn’t be long. "Oh come off thy high saddle! Thee must be cheating! Come hither and we shall give you a violent frisking worthy of the Mothers themselves!" I heard echo down the halls. I recognized that voice and tone.

I passed the guards, casting a minor silencing charm over them as they started to protest, and entered the royal quarters quietly, casting an incredibly weak shield spell over the doorway. "Watch the halls of the apartment building!" The tiny voice I barely heard yelled in the lunar Princess' ear. Luna. Even now she spent her days and nights playing mere games. "Not those halls, the other building you idiot!" And failing just as miserably as in the future.

"We would like to see you attempt such a task with the pathetic amount of information you've tried to feed us!"

"Still playing that silly old game? I thought by now that other one was out." I said, idly taking a seat off to the side, and slightly behind her.

She flinched, but her focus was admirable in a way I suppose. "Twilight Sparkle? I was not informed of your visit, nor your uninvited entrance to my personal bedchamber." Trying to put on a show with her modern dialect. Though bedchamber was still archaic, perhaps she's finally trying to butcher the two together. "But the gesture of familiarity is appreciated I suppose."

I glanced over the map and listened to the raging orders from her headset. "They're probably going to ambush you there." I focused on the point of the map, a purple dot of light appearing in front of it. "Hm…” I cast a tiny spell, listening to her headset with a bit more clarity. I listened, “Trying heading around to the far side of that building first and attack them. That'll give your teammates the upper hoof." I drew an arrow over the map.

"Are you sure, Twilight Sparkle? I do have more experience in war time efforts after all." She started to glance back for me. And yet you were still a shit strategist.

Don’t let her see me yet. "Eyes forward–Look enemy, quick!" I yelled as I saw an opportunity. She jumped and gunned the advancing player in the skull. "Around the building!" I took regard of her shock and turned it to my advantage. She followed my orders blindly, the panic of combat muddling her thoughts. She galloped around the building and peaked around the corner. Sure enough, my assumption was right. She could see the approaching ambush. That was lucky.

She muttered into her headset absently, relaying the plan to her fellows. "See that one in the middle with the red cap? Everypony seems to be following him." She aimed and popped him in the head. ...And was then immediately taken out by a rouge player.

"Buck!" She nearly tossed the controller. "See?!" She pointed a accusing hoof towards the screen.

"Watch." I whispered as I edged closer, lowering my head to hers at eye level.

We watched, waiting for her to respawn. The dots on her map moved in an impressive formation for a casual game, half splitting off and going around.  That split was her addition to the strategy. Five seconds. The dots halted, having encountered the confused enemy. We both watched as the once formidable enemy is mowed down without their leader. Two, one. 

Luna respawned and was met with great praise from her teammates through the headset. "Huzzah!" She hopped to her hooves, jumping once in place victoriously for good measure. I sat to my normal height happily. I was right of course. "Our enemy has been defeated!" She turned towards me, her eyes blinking rapidly as they adjusted to the near pitch black darkness(relative to the screen) around her.  "How did you know th–" 

She stared straight ahead at my chest plate in what my best guess is confusion, as her vision adjusted, before turning her gaze up at my face. Her mouth moved open and closed before she teleported back, her horn alighting the numerous light sources in the room. "Who are you?!" I blinked away the slightly annoying pain caused by the relatively bright lights. "What have you done with Princess Twilight Sparkle?! How did you gain her voice?!" She aimed her glowing horn at me, "Speak now or perish!"

I stared at her, quite honestly a little annoyed. "Celestia never told you? You didn't even question it when your castle was repeatedly flooded with my magic?" 

She moved her mouth, echoing my words with her brow creased. "You're ignoring my question." She narrowed her eyes. 

I leaned down so she could see my face on her level. "You're ignoring your eyes."

She stared at me strangely. I honestly don't know what's going through her head right now. What lies has Celestia fed her to keep her docile? She peeked past me to where her guards are waving their forelegs and panicking silently in the doorway, glued to the ground. She shook her head and mouthed, 'What are you idiots doing?' to them before looking back at me. "You silenced my guards."

"How else did you think I came in without the royal guard announcing it?"

She continued to aim her horn at me in silence, peaking around me again. "You're an alicorn."

"You're very observant." I soaked very in sarcasm on purpose, leaning back to my level.

She grunted angrily. "You two!" She regarded the two guards sitting on their butts looking very disappointed in themselves. They hesitated, then stood at attention, saluting with their forelegs. "Go and retrieve my sister." They nodded and galloped off with silent hoofsteps.

"This might be fun." I glanced over. “It’s the next round.”

She didn't respond as we stared each other down. And by that, I mean that she tried to stare me down but I instead glanced around her room curiously. It's not like she actually posed much of a threat anyway. She had a few dozen of the present day games, a couple actual arcade machines. Oh and her bed was big enough for around two dozen ponies if they were comfy with each other. "You're repeatedly dying in your match." I remarked. I tilted my head at the bed, maybe three dozen could fit if they were very comfy with each other.

She spared the screen a glance before staring back at me, though her eyes shot at the screen over and over again. "Tis of little concern."

I flip my ears as the tiny sound finally reaches them. "Your teammates are getting angry."

She eyed the controller half a hoof in front of her. "Tis a less important matter than one of personal security, I'm sure they would understand."

"Or they'll buck you out of the guild or clan or whatever you kids are in these days." I snorted as she cringed. 

After a moment more staring, her horn lit and sounds shut off abruptly. I smiled as she inched a tad closer, glancing over, I noticed the game on the start menu. Her horn almost poking me, I shifted my focus at her hooves, "Your stance is off."

"No it's not."

"Yes it is."

"No it's not."

"Yes it is."

She dared a glance down. "No, it really i–" I brought a hoof up and pushed her horn in the other direction. Her focus broke with a yelp of confusion and her spell misfired across the room, impacting the wall with a disappointing thud.

"You're right, but you were too close." I teleported her back another five hoofs. "Try there. And what in Tartarus was that? Are you really that out of practise?"

She glared, her horn glowing brighter. Probably a more aggressive spell. "Don't try to undermine us!" 

"I'm not trying." I stared calmly. “Has the last thousand years of being trapped on a floating hunk of space debris and then some odd decades playing games really put you off your edge that much?” I snorted. “What happened to the Lunar terror? You, the boogeymare of the enemies children.” I raised an eyebrow. “You were an amazing and terrifying mare of combat. And now look at you. Clumsy, petty and out of practise.”

Her eye twitched rapidly, I suppose I struck a fair number of nerves with that bit. "Luna!" Celestia barged into the room, "Twilight!"

"Celestia!" Luna shouted, her voice full of relief.

"Princess Fat Flanks!" I cheered in mock joy, clapping my hooves while aimed in Celestia's direction.

"Who is she?! How did she gain access to the castle, much less my bedchambers?!" She cast a hoof in my direction. I allowed the yawn this time now that Celestia was here to corral her sister in if things went south.

Celestia frowned. She ignored Luna and glared at me. "Really? You had to waltz right into Luna's ro–Of all the things you could do." She took a sharp breath.  Luna shifted from hoof to hoof confusedly. "Stand down, Luna. Let me explain the situation around our" She waved her hoof while searching for a word, "Guest here."


«♦»


Celestia was such a liar. "So you saved Twilight Sparkle's life in the far future six decades ago and brought her back her to help you save the future?" Luna recapped what her sister had taken nearly an hour to explain. Celestia nodded. Luna regarded her sister, then me. Then her sister again. Then she gave me a silly look, then her sister an even sillier one. 

"Are we finished here?" I asked, utterly bored out of my skull.

Luna looked back at me, "Yes." Before Celestia could protest, she quickly added. "And thank you for your assistance. Though one thing still troubles me… Twilight wasn’t a natural alicorn like me and our sister, while the prospect of her living some few thousand years isn’t out of the question, hundreds of thousand however... How did you accomplish that?"

I smile, blinking at her.

Blink

When my eyes opened, my vision was already finished settling. I had teleported to the hospital wing again. I passed the nurse trying to greet me without even a glance. Don't interfere. While… Technically doing this is interfering, but talking to anypony else might make it worse. 

I entered into Glowheart's room again, "Magister!" She yelled happily, trying—and failing—to lift up an incredibly large book. "After you helped me with that word, I asked the nurses to bring me a–" She paused, looking down at the cover studiously. "Dic–tion–ary. It's a big book of really super cool words!" 

Somewhere in my mind I was reeling, I've contaminated the time stream without even realizing it. Will she even ascend to being an alicorn now? If she does, will she be Princess of Super–Cool–Words now? Who the buck knows! But I let a smile grace my features, regardless of the absolute bucking terror the implications that might have. "That's wonderful, Glowheart. I'm glad to see you've taken an interest in Equestrian language. So few ponies do nowadays"

I sat beside her bed again, calling  a gasp from it's tiny inhabitant. "Whoa! I didn't notice you had wings earlier! Are you a Princess?!" She clapped her hooves together, the book nearly falling before I caught it with my magic. "Why haven't I heard of you?" She gasped again, inhaling more air than I thought a normal pony capable of holding, "Are you like... Some kinda secret Princess Magister of the Secret Teachers Club?" For the amount of air she inhaled, I’m astonished she could manage to whisper that.

I chuckled. "In a way, yes. So if you could keep this just between us..." I trailed off, giving her a wink.

She grinned widely, winking back with a giggle. "Can you teach me a ton of really cool words now?"

In the back of my mind, I heard Celestia laughing her fluffy cake flanks off. But for then, in that peaceful little moment? I couldn't say no. I could be as bitter and horrible as I liked to everypony else, but even I couldn't honestly say I haven't wanted to see Glowheart smile again. Even if she is a filly.


«♦»


Glowheart yawned loudly, we'd been studying words almost all night—in fact I could feel Celestia pulling on the sun now. "Princess Magister, I'm tired." I faked a yawn with her, so she wouldn’t feel awkward. I… Rarely needed sleep, alicorn physiology and all that.

I closed the book with my magic, levitating it to a nearby table. "Then let's take a break. Do you want to sleep?"

She nodded. "Yeah." I smiled and nodded. But just as I was going to teleport, "Can you sing me a lullaby? I know I'm a big filly, but Princesses must know really good ones, right?" I worked my mouth a little, absorbing the words. "Super secret Princesses who are really nice especially." She whispered with a giggle.

I smiled, "I think I know just the song." She squealed with glee, tucking herself under the covers as I magicked the lights off. She grinned excitedly with her head on her pillow. My horn glowed; I was casting a diluted silencing charm to keep my singing quiet. I clear my throat before humming the beginning of the song. I hummed, lifting a hoof and petting her head gently. "Birds," I called the words from memory, the words and the memory itself both incredibly old in my mind. "In the sky. Carry these words for me."

Her expression shifted from excitement to one of awe. "Life: tasted sweet. It let me live!" The silencing charm kept my yelled line quiet. "Let me breathe."

"Love: hurt so bad. But still," I pulled a quick breath, almost choking. "Saved my soul." I felt those deep and long buried emotions stir in my throat and swallowed them with an audible gulp. "Flowers of a brighter past. They bloomed so free-beneath the sun."

"Memories; I want to give them to you." A tear burned like brimstone in my eye, but I blinked it away. Glowheart was staring at me with this unreadable expression, sitting up slowly as my hoof fell away. "So you can see-" I trailed off, drawing another breath to hide a sob. "-What we left there."

I forgot. I forgot Glowheart was there, I forgot my hidden tears and swallowed sobs, I forgot the dangers to the time stream. But I remembered the song—who sang it and why. "When all hope bleeds out, what remains is doubt. Should've left it all for you–For tomorrow." 

"As your time draws near, will you live in fear?" I felt something release in my heart, like a great flood. "Could've left it all for you, but we let–Go." I trailed off, tears flowing freely.

"Princess Magister..." Glowheart sat on the hospital bed quietly, a couple tears streaking her cheeks. "Are-" She swallowed, "Are you okay?"

I nodded and hugged her with my foreleg, a hug which she returned. "Yes, my little pony. Don't worry, I'm okay." I wiped her tears with a flicker of my horn, mine too. "I'm sorry for upsetting you. Alicorns can get sad sometimes too though." I tuck her back under. "We're not perfect."

"But Princess Celestia and Princess Twilight and Princess Luna and Princess Cadence and Princess Flurry Heart all seem perfect?" The sheer number of times she used the word ‘and’ and how horrible it sounded in a sentence made me nauseous. We'd talk a lot about proper sentence structure and grammar when she woke up if I had anything to do with it.

"They're no where near perfect." I stood up. "Like, Princess Luna? She plays video games all night but she still sucks at them. Or Princess Celestia is addicted to sweets, she’s definitely the fattest Princess." I said with a small laugh. Glowheart giggled with me. "Now sleep, there's always another day."

She closed her eyes, a small snore soon following. I sighed, then too closing my eyes.

Blink

When I opened my eyes in my room, Celestia was standing by my window. "I just received a letter from Twilight." She said without looking at me. I stared at the back of her head. "Another of her friends passed away today. She's grown depressed lately, which is why I think her spell had the fault."

"What do you want me to do about it?"

She sighed. "I want you to stop being so apathetic. These are your subjects too, it's your responsibility if they all die. And if the spell creating the pocket for our time line destabilizes, everypony will die." I glared. "Glowheart will die." I growled, she's trying to toy with my emotions.

I hated her. I really hated her. "She's died before, and this time won't be my fault."

"Your fault. It wouldn’t matter if she died so long as it wasn’t your fault.” She snorted. “You're being selfish."

"Says the stuck up mare who bucked everything up in the first place." I took a deep breath, closing my eyes. I reached up with a hoof, touching my chest to figuratively grab a wave my emotions away. "This is not my mess, nor is it not my problem anymore. You made sure of that." I opened my eyes, staring her down. "Fix it yourself."

She stared at me. "You're no better than a murderer if you do that."

I laughed softly. "I am a murderer." She didn't share in my strained joy however. She merely stared at me with an unreadable expression before teleporting out of my room. I walked to where she was before she left and leaned against the wall, staring out over Canterlot. "I'm a murderer." I sighed, frowning at myself.

I remember now, tomorrow is the funeral. I think I'll go, relive some old memories.


«♦»


“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” 
― William Arthur Ward