//------------------------------//
// "You Are Not Being Insensitive" 
// Story: Interview with a Heartbroken Princess 
// by twilightsparkle3562 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 4

"You Are Not Being Insensitive"

Did I just hear what I think I heard coming from the Princess of Love? Could Equestria's four princesses be more than willing to open themselves up to whatever questions I had about their ordeal with Tirek? That was what my mind was going through at that moment and it seemed more than necessary to accept what they wanted. But, I was more than concerned with Twilight, who had managed to pull herself together a little bit. Furthermore, I had to remember once again that Twilight was the one who was the most victimized.

"If you say that I am not being insensitive," I said, now being very cautious. "Then I believe what you tell me."

"It's helpful and healthy for us to air our feelings," advised Celestia. "The past few days and weeks have been very difficult for the four of us. We've dealt with betrayal, horrible mistakes and sacrifice to last us a lifetime."

"And that is only the tip of the iceberg," added Luna. "To be honest, being cast in Tartarus was difficult for me as much as anypony. In fact, being imprisoned brought me back memories of being imprisoned on the moon after I became Nightmare Moon."

I saw Luna shudder upon saying those words and for somepony who had once been treated like a common criminal, the last thing she wanted to do was to relive that same nightmare. Personally, I had to put myself into their shoes. I wanted to feel what they were feeling during this entire interview that I was conducting.

"Well, I can only imagine, Princess Luna," I sighed, writing down what she had said. "Believe me, you are truly a pony who had turned her life around for the better. Imprisoned for 1,000 years is more than enough and this was something that you yourself didn't need."

I then turned my attention back to Twilight as I handed her another tissue. She wanted to speak and I acknowledged it.

"You wish to say something, Twilight?" I asked.

"I do," answered Twilight, continuing to try and pull herself together. "I had no idea that my fellow princesses were imprisoned in Tartarus. As far as I was concerned, they were still in Canterlot waiting for the moment that I would find a way to unlock the chest and send Tirek back to where he belonged."

"We didn't want to worry you unnecessarily, Twilight," said Celestia, causing Twilight to direct her attention back to her mentor and boss. "Besides, we were without our magic, so we couldn't send out a distress signal for you to come and help us."

"I know what you are saying," Twilight said as she got up from the sofa and walked over to one of her bookshelves. "You probably didn't want me to help you because you would be a distraction. You are probably wanting me to think that you aren't important to me anymore because I am a princess now and I can fend for myself."

Myself and the rest of the princesses were shocked to hear such a statement coming from the Princess of Friendship. Part of me was even wondering if Twilight was start act more and more out of her normal character.

"That's not true, Twilight," cried Celestia as I carefully wrote down what Celestia would say to her youngest equal. "We will always be important you, Twilight. But, you need to remember this: "And yes, sometimes I have let you take care of an incident that I could have cleared away easily. But I do not do this because I am cruel, or because I want to play a joke on you... I do this because I am your teacher, and sometimes, this is how you must learn."

"Furthermore," added Luna. "Tirek was far too dangerous for us to face easily. If we had faced him with our magic, he would have not only stole our magic, but would have killed us if he had the chance to do so."

Twilight listened intently to this and slowly realized that the situation would have turned out far worse if her fellow princesses had not done what they did. Walking away from the bookshelf and back to the sofa, Twilight considered what had been said and was beginning to understand that everything that she had lost in the library was just materials…nothing more.

"But, when I had to turn over the alicorn magic to save my friends and even Discord…" Twilight started to say, only to be stopped by Celestia.

"You did what we would have done if somepony was in the same situation," said Celestia, firmly. "Alicorn Magic is powerful, but its just that, magic. What is important for you to remember is that any material is not important. What is important is the lives of those around you and that you cannot replace the lives of your friends. You can rebuild homes, you can regain magic, but you can't rebuild souls of those who are closest to you."

…

With each word that Celestia spoke, I carefully wrote down just exactly what she had just said to Twilight. Celestia was right about one thing…you cannot replace lives because they just can't be replaced. Once they were gone, they were gone.

"I understand what you are trying to tell me," cried Twilight, as she got off the sofa again and faced her fellow princesses and myself. "But, it certainly doesn't make it any easier. I lost everything I ever owned when Tirek destroyed the Golden Oak Library: our letters that we wrote to each other while I was your student containing the lessons that I had learned; the dresses that Rarity had made for me for the Grand Galloping Gala, my brother's wedding to Cadence when I was his Best Mare; all the books that I had treasured and read over and over again; all the gifts I had received from family, my friends. I can't get them back because Tirek took it all away from me and I ask myself, 'What did I ever do to him? I didn't do anything to provoke this.'"

The entire library fell silent and all we could do was just sit there in complete and utter amazement at Twilight's speech.

"I knew that someday I would get my own castle," she continued, briefly looking away for a moment. "But, I would have wanted to pass the library onto a pony who would have been just like me, a pony wanting to study the magic and perhaps one day achieve something similar to what I had done. Yes, the library's roots reside over my throne, but the pain will NEVER go away! No matter how hard I try!"

Twilight's eyes began welling up with tears again and she darted out of the library, not wanting to break down in front of her equals.

"If you want me to stop this interview," I said. "I can do that. Had I had known she was feeling this way…"

"It's not your fault, Hot Scoop," reassured Celestia, looking at me with tender eyes. "Twilight is still coming to terms with the loss of her library. But it was more than a library, it was her home: the very first home she ever lived in on her own and part of her may never recover from something of this magnitude."

I had to understand just what Celestia was saying and I looked down at my notes and a good portion of them were concerning Twilight.

"Perhaps we should go check on her," suggested Cadence and I knew that it was time for me to go back to Manehattan.

"You go do that at once," I said. "I need to get back to Manehattan at once and start work on the story based on what you all have told me."

Bowing to the princesses, I walked out of the library and as I made my way towards the doors of the Friendship Castle, I could hear the loud sobs coming from Twilight Sparkle. Part of me wanted to stay and help her, but I couldn't. This was a private matter surrounding the four princesses and I had to leave for Manehattan at that very moment…