The next morning, Twilight yawned and slowly came to her senses. The first thing she felt was the heavy covers that had been carefully tucked around her body, and while her body was so warm underneath, her exposed head felt ice-cold in comparison as she brought a hoof up to rub at her eyes. She slowly opened them, looking around her.
She froze, the events of last night coming back to her as she realized that she was not in her bedroom, but Celestia’s own chambers. The chill of her head was quickly replaced by a burning sensation as she blushed, remembering how foal-like she must’ve seemed to the princess. True, she had asked for some nightly companionship once or twice from Celestia, but as a filly. Now that she was an older mare, and a princess no less, she thought she had moved past such actions, yet there she had been, disturbing Celestia because she had simply had a nightmare. Even though Celestia had invited her in, and no doubt had made sure she was comfortable, Twilight felt guilty for being so selfish.
Twilight’s ears suddenly twitched, a soft sound coming to them from her right. Looking that way, she saw that the doors leading onto the balcony were open, and that Celestia herself was sitting out there on a white cushion. Twilight listened closely and, her eyes widening in realization, she discovered that the soft sound was Celestia humming a song. Twilight noticed the golden aura surrounding her horn, and looked on in awe as Celestia worked on raising the sun in the east, all the while humming a sweet tune.
It was so sweet, in fact, that Twilight wanted to listen more closely to it. She didn’t know why, but it was just so soothing and peaceful, similar to those moments where she had once done some reading while her phonograph was playing her favorite record. Her mind set, and her feelings of shame momentarily forgotten, Twilight slowly got out of bed and, so as not to disturb her mentor, crept out onto the balcony. She had planned on staying behind Celestia, listening, but instead found herself right next to the larger alicorn. With her eyes closed, and her humming having drowned out any sound that Twilight could’ve made, Celestia gave no hint that she had noticed Twilight’s presence. Instead, her horn kept its golden glow as the bright ball of light that was the sun slowly peeked its way above the eastern horizon.
Twilight glanced between Celestia and the sun, listening all the while to her mentor’s gentle humming. The lavender alicorn had always assumed that her mentor needed all of her concentration in order to raise and lower the sun, but now she was proven wrong as Celestia seemed to do so with little effort and even able to even sing to herself a little.
Then Celestia began to softly sing:
Deep in the meadow, under the willow
A bed of grass, a soft green pillow
Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes
And when again they open, the sun will rise…
A tear came to Twilight’s eye, rolling down her cheek. Unlike the ones of sadness and anger that had consumed her the day before, this one was of joy at the sound of her teacher’s beautiful voice. She had never heard Celestia sing at all before, and it was just too beautiful, especially in that moment, when she was raising the sun, yet…
…for some reason, to Twilight, it brought a feeling to her chest that was...familiar in some way.
Here it’s safe, here it’s warm
Here the daisies guard you from every harm
Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true
Here is the place where I love you
As the song went on, Twilight suddenly began to feel her eyelids start to grow heavy once more, the softness of Celestia’s voice causing the lullaby-like song to work double its magic. She would’ve fought hard to keep her eyes open, but by the time she realized that dreamland was trying to call her back, she had already been defeated.
Deep in the meadow, hidden far away
A cloak of leaves, a moonbeam ray
Forget your woes and let your troubles lay
And when again it’s morning, they’ll wash away
Without thinking, she soon found herself leaning into Celestia’s side, her body desperate to find something warm once again. As with all the hugs they had shared in the past, Twilight’s body relaxed into the object of warmth that was better than any warm, fuzzy blanket. For a moment, however, Twilight’s eyes snapped wide open for a brief moment, wondering how Celestia would react to her leaning against her like that. She expected her to stop humming, for her to give a start, or for the Princess of the Day to mess up slightly in raising the sun, which was almost nearing its proper starting point.
To her surprise, none of these things happened. Instead, without pause, Twilight was given even more warmth and relaxation as Celestia wrapped one of her wings around her, encasing her in a feathery cocoon. Unable to hold back, Twilight released a sigh of satisfaction, a deep recess in her mind telling her that the moment of bliss would unfortunately end the second the sun reached its proper starting point in the sky.
Unbeknownst to her, however, the sun had been raised and released from Celestia’s magic for the past five minutes, yet Celestia kept humming and she kept her wing around Twilight. Also unbeknownst to Twilight, Celestia was full of joy at the second brief moment of affection she could show in the span of two days. Having attuned her senses well throughout her lifetime, she had felt Twilight’s eyes on her and had sensed the younger pony coming up next to her. She hadn’t been surprised when the lavender alicorn leaned against her, as she had expected it might happen the moment that she had begun singing. After all, this was the lullaby that her father used to sing to her as a filly and it always seemed to have magic about it- a soothing magic that could lull its listeners into the peaceful recesses of their own minds.
Here it’s safe, here it’s warm
Here the daisies guard you from every harm
Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true
Here is the place where I love you…
Celestia drew out the last line a bit, her voice fading to a whisper.
Here is the place where I love you…
There hung a silence in the air for a moment, but it was one that was comfortable. The two just sat, Twilight with her half-lidded eyes and Celestia with her nostalgic ones, gazing out at the beautiful sunrise and enjoying each other’s company. To Twilight, the sunrise seemed even more beautiful with the song accompanying it.
Finally, after a moment, Celestia looked down at Twilight with a gentle smile. The smile was replaced with a grim line, knowing that as much as she wanted to remain like that, time unfortunately was still a horrifying reality. Twilight didn’t have to worry, necessarily, but Celestia had promised to help her ‘search’ for her heritage and as the Princess of the Day’s schedule indicated, they only had a few hours after breakfast before the strenuous Day-Court was in session once more.
Still, seeing Twilight about to fall asleep again, looking so small compared to the larger alicorn, Celestia couldn’t help but smile and feel tempted to drop everything. With bitter resolve, she removed her wing from around Twilight. Twilight impulsively let out a disappointed groan, and when she caught herself, her eyes snapped wide open and she jumped back in horror.
“P-Princess!” Twilight stuttered, thinking she had invaded her mentor’s personal space once again, “I’m-“
Celestia sighed, “It’s alright, Twilight. I know you’re not usually an early-riser, so it’s understandable if you still feel tired- especially after having the start of your night be interrupted with a nightmare.”
Twilight blushed, looking away, “Y-Yeah, about that. I-I’m sorry, I don’t know what I thinking. I mean, I’m a grown mare, now, and it was selfish to disturb you, and you must’ve been sooo tired after court ended yesterday-“
“Twilight,” Celestia put a wing over her student’s mouth to quiet her, “do you not remember that I myself was having a rough night as well? Believe me, we both needed some comfort, and besides,” Celestia smiled teasingly, “it was more comforting than a pillow, if I do say so myself.”
If Twilight were a kettle, steam would’ve erupted from her ears at that remark, and for a moment Celestia could’ve sworn that she had seen some come from each ear. Even though the remark embarrassed Twilight, Celestia couldn’t help but tease her sometimes.
“I-I promise not to do it again,” Twilight stammered, “I know you need space.”
“Twilight,” Celestia rolled her eyes, “the first time I ever invited you into my chambers for a talk, you thought you were desecrating holy ground, yet you came to my door regardless as a filly and unashamedly made the same request you did last night, yet now it seems to be the other way around- perhaps even worse.” She glanced pointedly at Twilight, “Why is that?”
Twilight remained silent, her mouth agape. She obviously didn’t have an answer.
“Twilight, trust me on this,” Celestia stood and walked back inside, “you and I have known much about each other for the past few years, and we are STILL learning about one another. You can take on the Changelings and Tirek without even blinking, and yet it’s me you seem to be afraid of.”
Twilight’s eyes widened, and she was quick to follow her mentor back inside, “What? No! I mean, I’m not afraid of you, princess.”
Celestia looked back at her, a reassuring grin on her face, “Then relax, Twilight. I’m not going to force you to be courageous or assertive, but just relax around me, would you? Besides, you and I are equals now, and the only way you would force me to banish you to the moon-“
Her features hardened, “-Is if you were Nightmare Moon- Nightmare NOVA, rather.”
Twilight gulped, but still considered it. After all, Luna had been the first, and ONLY, princess to have been banished to the moon and that had just been because she had fallen to corruption and jealousy. Twilight, as both of them knew, had not fallen to the same dark magic.
She hung her head, “I’m sorry, Princess Celestia.”
“Celestia.”
“Huh?” Twilight looked up at her in shock.
“Remember, I said we were equals? So please, if you can, just call me Celestia.”
Or, we could compromise. You could call me m-NO, NO, DON’T SAY THAT!
Twilight remembered all the times that Celestia had asked her to consider her as a friend, and the young alicorn had to admit that she was trying, but her role as a student kept overriding her efforts. For the first time, though, Celestia had addressed the nervousness that Twilight had directly and was trying to convey to her the message on their current equality in status.
It’s safe to say that, surprisingly, that actually helped Twilight calm her nerves quite a bit, allowing her to smile without any need for caution, “Okay, Celestia.”
“That’s better.” The white alicorn felt relieved, if only because Twilight had managed to say her name so smoothly, without even making an accidental attempt at putting her royal title in front of it. Her former student was definitely making progress. True, Twilight could revert back to formally addressing her, but for the moment, they could act like two close friends instead of teacher and student.
“Come along, Twilight,” Celestia nodded her head towards the door, and opened it for her fellow princess, “If we are going to be searching the archives at any point before court is in session, then we’d best hurry.”
“Okay!” Twilight bounded through the door, immediately turning to run in the direction of the royal library.
“Wait!” Celestia called after her, and Twilight came to a stop, looking back at her.
Celestia gave her a grin, “I understand your eagerness for knowledge, but for heaven’s sake, can’t you have some breakfast first?”
Twilight scratched the back of her neck, nervously chuckling, “Breakfast, right. Um, lead the way.”