When the Alicorn finally released her, Twilight stepped back and smiled shyly up at her. "Th-thank you, miss...?"
The white mare giggled, a hoof at her lips, and said, "Oh, silly me. Of course, I didn't introduce myself. My name is Celestia. I'm... sort of the caretaker of the Ruins."
"Ruins?" Her eyes almost popping, Twilight looked around excitedly. "Where?"
Celestia giggled. "Actually, this is the Ruins, child."
Twilight blinked and stared. "Really?" She bit her lip and said, more quietly, "It doesn't look like it, much..."
Now Celestia laughed, not bothering to hide it, and gently pet the little filly's head for a moment. "Oh, you are just so precious, child! Actually, it's just called that because this was the first place my people came to call home."
"Oh," Twilight giggled nervously, her cheeks tinted red. "That makes sense, I guess. I just assumed, based on some things I've read, that a place called 'the Ruins' would be more, well, ruined. But this place looks too neat to be considered ruined."
Celestia glanced around for a moment. "I will admit, it is a bit illogical when you look at it that way. Although, this room suddenly looks much more ruined than I recall. What could have...?"
The Alicorn's voice drifted off as she stared, blinking, at Twilight, who had suddenly looked very shame-faced. Both just looked at each other, neither one moving or talking, the elder looking confused and the other seeming guilty. Then, as comprehension dawned on her face, Celestia gasped.
"You can't mean," she breathed, "that this is your doing?"
Twilight looked at the holes and deep cracks in the walls and sniffled. She looked about ready to break down in tears, her eyes watering at the corners. "I-I'm so sorry," she whimpered, slowly curling up into a ball, her head bowed. "P-please don't hate me... I d-didn't mean to do it, it's... It's just that flower was going to k-k-kill me and I panicked a-and tried to use m-my magic to stop him and, and..."
To the unicorn's surprise, she found herself once again wrapped in gentle, tender white hooves and wings, her head resting against Celestia's chest as she whispered softly, "Oh, my child, shhhhh... It's alright. I don't hate you. You were just trying to defend yourself from something frightening and dangerous.
"But goodness me," she added, looking over the walls for herself again. "You must have a great deal of power for such a young little filly. You don't look to be anymore than... Seven, perhaps? Maybe eight?"
Twilight blushed and nodded, fighting a smile as her embarrassment wrestled with a slowly swelling sense of pride. "Y-yeah, I guess... I mean, I don't know much about my magic yet, but I've been studying. Well, not so much, recently..." She looked down at that, blinking hard, before she looked up again with that same near-smile. "E-everypony says I'm a natural, but I have a really hard time using any actual spells."
Celestia nuzzled her head and chuckled. "They're right, my child. If you can do something like this, you clearly have a great deal of raw power and potential. But you need to learn to control this power if you want to keep from causing this same level of damage again, and not put others at risk."
Twilight nodded again, slowly pulling out of the hug. "W-would you teach me?"
Celestia giggled and nodded slowly. "I would be happy to teach you, but first I need to know your name, my child."
Twilight blushed and scratched her head with a hoof. "It's Twilight. Twilight Sparkle."
As she rose to her hooves, Celestia had to pause and brace herself to keep from swaying, a hoof pressed to her chest. She shook her head and tried to smile, but inside was utterly stupefied. She had felt Twilight's Determination during the first hug, and even after it had washed away it had left a strong impression in her aged soul and caused a spike in her magic as a result, stronger than any Determination she had felt before. None had held so much of it in themselves since–
Recognizing this train of thought, she shook her head. The past is past, she thought. All you can do for now is hope it doesn't repeat itself... again.
Running through a brief mental exercise to center her thoughts, she smiled down at Twilight and said, "Now then, Twilight, my child, if I am going to teach you to better control your magic, you'll need to follow me to my home in the back of the Ruins. D'you feel you're ready?"
Twilight smiled, a small bit of shyness still evident in her smile and how she looked up at the Alicorn's face, and nodded. "Yes."
The simple reply made Celestia giggle lightly. "Alright, then follow me."
Twilight followed readily as Celestia led the way through the door into a well-lit chamber of purple stone, and gasped. Everything, as she'd said, was very tidy, and though the cracks in the walls every here and there and the patches of dried red leaves on the ground made the name "the Ruins" seem more fitting, she simply marveled at the idea of Celestia maintaining it by herself. She was curious exactly how big the structure really was, as this room by itself had a good deal of room to walk and move around, with a set of stairs along each wall at the opposite end providing passage up to another wide archway leading further in. She flushed as Celestia giggled at her awe-struck face, and hurried to keep up, taking the stairs two at a time where she could to keep up with the precise, almost regal gait of the elder pony.
In the next chamber, Celestia paused and turned, giving Twilight a moment to take in the next archway's sealed door, the sign to its left, and the raised tiles in the floor off to the right. Then, with a small, "ahem," to ensure she was the focus of the filly's attention, the Alicorn spoke. "My child, if you're going to stay here in the Ruins, you'll need to be aware of certain puzzles scattered throughout."
Twilight gasped. "Puzzles?!"
This, in turn, made Celestia step back in surprise, laughing. "Oh my, you're quite the excitable one, aren't you?" Regaining control of herself, she nodded. "Yes. In many chambers of the Ruins, there are puzzles that must be solved. They are a combination of door keys and diversions meant to keep out anyone who would come here with ill intent. But, they are, most of them, relatively straight forward, and those with patience will find them simple to solve, and often there are clues hidden around to provide assistance, such as the sign here." Noting the gleam still alight in Twilight's eye, she giggled and asked playfully, "Would you like to try and solve the one in this room, my child?"
Nodding eagerly, Twilight walked over to the sign and looked up at it...only to frown. "Um, a-are you sure this is writing? I... I can't figure it out..."
Celestia quirked a brow and looked at the sign for a moment, then sighed and rubbed her forehead with a hoof. "Of course, my child, forgive me; I assumed our two realms still used the same writing system. You see, we in the Underground haven't changed our written language since we first arrived here, and–"
"Wait, you mean this is–" Twilight's gasp was even more powerful than when she'd reacted to the idea of puzzles, and for a moment Celestia looked ready to backpedal from her rising concern. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! D'you mean this is an ancient writing form?! Could you teach me how to read it, please?! Please, please, please?!"
Twilight almost faltered as Celestia stared at her, utterly flabbergasted, only to break out into the heartiest guffaws of laughter she had yet endured. The poor Alicorn was shaking so much with her mirth that she was forced to fall back to her haunches as she wiped tears from her eyes. Twilight, in turn felt her cheeks flushing a bright, warm red as she bowed her head in embarrassment.
But, as Celestia finally mastered herself and her voice calmed into quiet giggles, the little filly had to smile as a gold-clad hoof carefully cupped her chin and lifted it up so she was forced to meet the warm amethyst eyes of the snowy Alicorn.
"Oh, Twilight," Celestia said, smiling, "you simply are the most adorable little filly I have ever seen before in my life. I have never seen anyone get so excited over something like that before. Usually learning something such as an ancient language makes young ponies gag, like they're eating some slimy thing they can't bear to taste. But you, you're practically begging me to teach it to you, and jumping over the sheer idea of solving puzzles. Where do you get this enthusiasm, may I ask?"
Twilight gave off of a nervous giggle, looking down to scuff the floor with an idle hoof, and murmured, "I-I just really like to learn things is all."
Celestia smiled and wrapped a wing gently around her. "Well, rest assured, my child, I will most definitely teach you to read this ancient writing when we reach my home. For the time being, however, would it suffice if I simply served as translator?" At the filly's enthusiastic, smiling nod, she looked to the sign and clearly recited, "'Only the fearless may proceed. Brave ones, foolish ones; both walk not the middle road.'"
Twilight blinked, then turned to stare at the raised tiles. She repeated the lines softly under hear breath a few times, then smiled and ran back to the entrance of the room. From there she turned, facing the tiles, and grinned. From left to right, the tiles, which she guessed to be disguised switches, formed three lines of two switches leading to the back of the room. With that in mind, she dashed forward, eagerly running along the outer two lines and leaving the middle pair of switches untouched. The moment this was done, looked up at the wall to the right of the door, noticing a lever there she hadn't before, and reached up, pulling it down and causing the door to open with a loud click.
"Excellent, Twilight," Celestia said, smiling as she reached out to gently rub the filly's head. "You certainly picked up on the clue quickly. Now, shall we proceed further?"
The filly nodded and followed, albeit with a light blush and a shy yet proud smile from the attention, as Celestia led the way into another new chamber. This one was longer than the last, stretching off to the far right, separated into three sections by a pair of water streams with bridges leading across them, an exit blocked by spikes visible in the eastern wall. At the north wall of each section, there was a single lever built into the wall, with those closest at hand bearing markings beside them similar to the writing from the sign in the previous room. Writing that, as it happened, also covered a sign just in front of the pair.
"What's this one say?" the filly asked, looking up at her companion.
Celestia gave it a glance and waved a hoof, sighing in annoyance. "This, unfortunately, is just a sign explaining how to read signs."
Twilight blinked, looking from the Alicorn to the sign and back again for a moment, then asked simply, "Seriously?"
"Yes," Celestia answered, sighing once more. "It was left here by...someone." She lightly scratched a hoof at her chin, eyes looking up at nothing in thought. "You know, I can't really remember who it was, but I feel like I should. It's as if their name is at the tip of my tongue..." She shrugged helplessly and shook her head. "In any case, it was just put here to fool anyone who would both to read it."
Twilight giggled behind her hoof and asked, "So, it's almost like a 'made you look' joke?"
Celestia blinked, then giggled herself. "You know, that's actually funny when you put it that way. Thank you, my child; that sign has been bothering me for ages since it first appeared just because I couldn't understand the point of it."
Twilight blushed, then smiled as she looked over the room again. "So, how do I solve this room's puzzle? Do I just pull the right lever?"
"Well, yes, but if you pull the wrong lever you will trigger a trap instead of opening the way forward." As she saw the filly's ears droop in fear, Celestia smiled and gently stroked her back. "Don't worry, it's not anything dangerous. Just water."
Twilight blinked, glancing at Celestia with a raised eyebrow, then shrugged, walking over to the nearest lever. "Why're two of these switches marked, then? Do I spot the difference and pull the last lever, or does it mean to pull these two?"
"The latter option. The third one triggers the trap."
Smiling, Twilight easily flicked the appropriate switches and cheered as the spikes blocking the way onward were lowered, clearing the way ahead. Then, as Celestia trotted over to her side, she glanced at the final switch, scratched her chin, and ultimately shrugged before racing up to and flipping the lever.
"Twilight, what are you–?"
The words died on Celestia's lips, however, and Twilight groaned as she noted the Alicorn's cheeks bloating up with air from suppressed laughter, as she turned to face her. She knew that where she had once been standing there was now a soaking wet filly with her mane plastered down over her face and neck, little droplets falling from her muzzle to the puddle now resting beneath her. She took a deep breath, let it out, then took another one before heaving a long, drawn out sigh.
"Curse you, curiosity. I'm not a cat."
Celestia giggled, shaking her head, and lit her horn with golden light. "No, but you're just as adorable, my child. Here, let me help you. A simple drying spell will suffice for now, but if this is any indication then you're going to need a bath when we reach my home."
Twilight huffed, unamused, as the wave of warmth washed over her body and soaked up the water from her mane and coat. But as Celestia thoughtfully levitated a comb out of a pocket hidden in her robes and quickly helped her straighten her mane back to its normal style, she couldn't help but smile. Having someone looking out for her like this simply filled her to the brim with DETERMINATION.