Twilight wasn't sure how long the hug lasted. It may have been minutes, hours, or even days for all she knew or cared. The simple truth was she didn't care how long it lasted, only that it did. Celestia's form practically surrounded her as they remained locked in a loving embrace, the white Alicorn keeping her newly adopted daughter held tight to her chest as they hugged. She could almost feel the love of the moment saturating her body and the air around her, and she smiled still more happily as the warmth permeated her being. All she wanted right then was to stay like this, or else to ask her new mother to carry her home, wherever it may be.
In fact, she would have acted on this last notion... if her stomach hadn't grumbled right then and elicited a whimper from her lips.
"Oh," Celestia said, pulling back to look at Twilight with a gentle smile. "Are you hungry, my child?"
Twilight blushed, nodding, and sighed sadly as she was set down on her own four hooves. She watched, a curious brow raised, as Celestia's hood disappeared into her robes to retrieve something. When it was revealed, the filly's mouth watered.
Celestia, holding a frosted doughnut with her bare hoof, giggled lightly and said, "Here, Twilight; this should tide you over until we get to my home–our home–further in."
Twilight eagerly dug into the sweet treat, humming with delight as she quickly finished it off and said, "Thank you, Mama!"
Celestia's smile was, once again, tremulous as she giggled and nuzzled Twilight's head. "You are very welcome, Twilight."
Once Celestia had replaced her horseshoe and stood up, both mother and child walked together to the end of the chamber, stopping beside a tall white pillar before Celestia paused, biting her lip. "T-Twilight," she said hesitantly, "I just thought of something I would really like to do for you, a sort of surprise."
Twilight looked up with a gasp at that. "A surprise? Really? What is it, what is it, what is it, what–?!"
Celestia, pressing a hoof to the filly's smiling muzzle, gasped though her laughter, "S-something that I–haha!–am quite certain you will like, my child." Yet as she straightened up, her face became serious. "However, if I am to prepare it, it would require me to leave you unattended. That... does not sit well with me. Not in the slightest."
Twilight nodded, certain she understood completely. As a filly with little control of her magic, she was practically defenseless. Yes, she had been able to befriend and thus avoid a true FIGHT with the Froggit earlier, but that could easily be noted as being either beginner's luck or because Celestia had been right there watching. If any other Monster decided to FIGHT her, she could easily get badly hurt, or worse, especially if Celestia left her alone.
And yet, Twilight felt this was an opportunity. It was a chance to make her new mother proud of her by proving she could handle herself at least as far as staying out of trouble. If she just stayed put, that would be easy.
"Well," Twilight said, sitting and smiling up at Celestia, "What if I wait here for you to come back? That way you can get the surprise ready, and you'll know exactly where to find me to come back and show me the way."
Celestia blinked, surprised, and lowered her head to better meet her daughter's eyes. "Are you certain?"
"Uh-huh." Then, thinking about it again, Twilight bowed her head and scuffed the floor with a hoof. "But... Well, maybe that won't work... I mean, I guess you could be a while, and we'd probably worry about each other..."
Celestia, smiling, nuzzled the filly's head and giggled. "Oh my, you are a smart little filly, Twilight." She sighed, then lit her horn as, with a golden aura surrounding it, a small rectangular device levitated out of one of her pockets to settle gently on the ground before Twilight's hooves. "This is called a cell phone, Twilight. And while I still do not like the idea of leaving you all alone, this will most likely make things easier."
Twilight blinked as she picked the phone up in her hooves and looked it over. "How will it help, Mama?"
"Well, you see, this cell phone is a sort of communication device."
Taking the phone in her magic's grip, Celestia pressed a specific sequence of buttons, making sure Twilight could see which ones she'd pressed, and held it up to the filly's ear as a ringing sound filled the air. A second cell phone quickly levitated out of the Alicorn's pocket, vibrating as it went, and was up against her ear in a second as it beeped.
"As long as I have one and you keep yours close, we should be able to stay in touch," Celestia said, stifling a giggle when the same words echoing in the grille of Twilight's phone caused her to jump and press her hoof against it to hold it in place with wide eyes. "The trick will be to push the green button when it rings, that way you can answer my call."
"Wow," Twilight murmured, glancing at the phone in awe. "That's incredible."
"It is certainly convenient, I will agree," Celestia said, stifling another giggle.
"But, um, how am I going to carry it...?"
Twilight watched as Celestia blinked, glancing between the filly and the phone in her hoof. Then, with a smile, the Alicorn hung up and tucked her phone away in her robes before retrieving a needle and thread and a roll of fabric from another pocket–Twilight wondering idly how she could carry so much in said pockets as she watched–and began to craft something with them. Humming a tune, Celestia quickly used a series of deft, rapid motions to shape her creation, using her magic to tear off sections of fabric as needed and holding it all where Twilight could watch.
Finally, Celestia nodded to herself and tucked away her needle, thread and fabric roll as she placed a set of small yet sturdy saddlebags into place on Twilight's back, levitating the filly's cell phone and the two gold coins left behind by the Froggit earlier into one of the pouches. "This should be able to hold anything you need or find along the way, my child," she said. "But make sure you are careful in choosing what to take with you; you never know when you may find something you'll later regret not having picked up."
Twilight nodded, smiling as she tested the weight of her new saddlebags–her first gift from her new mother!–and nuzzled against the Alicorn's side happily. "Thank you so much, Mama."
Celestia's lip trembled as she returned the nuzzled and replied, "You are most welcome, my child. Now, are you sure you will be alright waiting here for me?"
Twilight opened her mouth to respond, then shut it and cocked her head to the side, tapping her chin with a hoof before asking with a small blush, "What should I do if I, um, need to...go to the bathroom... Or something..."
Celestia laughed, nuzzling the filly's side and eliciting a giggle from Twilight's lips, and answered, "If you feel you must leave the room for some reason, Twilight, then this should help you." She levitated a folded bit of paper from one of her pockets–How in the world does she carry so much in there? Twilight wondered–and placed it in the filly's saddlebags. "It's a map showing every chamber of the Ruins, marked with every clue to each puzzle. It even has a spell attached that should show you the clue in writing you can read."
Twilight smiled as she gave her mother's side another nuzzle. "Thank you, Mama. I think I'll be okay now."
The Alicorn smiled and nuzzled Twilight's head again, saying, "Alright. I will do my best to hurry and come back for you as soon as possible. Stay safe, my child, and be good."
"Okay, Mama," Twilight replied, her smiling brightening as Celestia turned to go. "I love you!"
Celestia froze, turned, and smiled with a tear in her eye as she gave the filly a tight squeeze. "I l-love you, too, my child," she whispered.
With that, she kissed Twilight on the forehead, right at the base of the filly's horn and set out through the doorway. Twilight, feeling warm and happy from the kiss and loving words, laid down on her belly to wait, humming the same tune Celestia had hummed during her sewing in an attempt to keep herself entertained. Yet, barely a few minutes later, her humming was interrupted by the ringing of her phone.
Digging the device out of her saddlebag, Twilight quickly accepted the call and said, "Hello?"
"Twilight," said Celestia's voice, "I am afraid I am going to be a bit delayed. It appears I am running low on what I need to prepare your surprise properly. I do not expect it to be much longer, but I must ask you to wait until I come back."
"Okay, Mama, I understand," Twilight said happily. "I'll wait as long as it takes."
"Thank you, my child. I love you, Twilight."
"I love you, too, Mama!"
As the call ended, Twilight smiled and set the phone down beside her and sat up, humming in thought. After a moment, she refocused on the phone and grinned. Shutting her eyes, she focused inward, trying to once again find that well she had discovered deep inside of herself. She knew it was there, drained but still very much within reach. After all, if she was going to be learning how to use it properly from her mother, it would be wise to learn how to at least focus her magic.
Yet, she hadn't even elicited a drop of power before the phone rang again, and she rapidly scooped it up in her hooves to answer it. "Hello?"
As she kept the phone held against her cheek, Celestia tried hard to both trot and talk at the same time. "Twilight, I fear I will be a bit longer than I hoped," she said, panting a little. "I found everything I needed, but the next thing I knew there was this little white dog that came up and snatched away my bag." stopping for a moment to catch her breath, she added in a murmur, "Do dogs even like flour or baking poweder?"
"Maybe it's just trying to say it wants to play?" Twilight suggested, giggling.
Giggling herself, Celestia shook her head as she glanced about to try and relocate her prey. "Perhaps. In any case, the result is I will be even longer getting back to you."
"That's okay, Mama! I can try practicing tapping my magic while I wait."
Celestia smiled, both at finding her bag lying on the ground and at the filly's enthusiasm. "That would be a wise idea, my child. Do you know how to do it?"
"Well," Twilight said, "the books I've read keep saying it's like opening a bottle. You have to find it, carefully loosen the cap, then channel it once the seal breaks."
Celestia winced, picturing such a reaction herself–not a difficult thing for her at all. "Um, that might not be the best way to picture it, Twilight. Normally, unicorns and other magic users do not have a great deal of magic available to them when they first attempt to tap into it. Their reserves are still very shallow, so the result of such methods do not result in anything particularly flashy. However, in your case, the matter is entirely different."
"What d'you mean?"
"Do you remember what I said about the inherent magic in your soul attracting Monsters who would attack from fear? And do you remember what happened when you tried to repel the creature that attacked you before I found you?"
She could almost hear Twilight's shuddering. "Y-yes, Mama."
Picking up her bag in her levitation, Celestia sat down for a moment and explained, "Your magic is very strong, Twilight–stronger I think than most unicorns several years older than you. If you attempt to tap into it as if it were a bottle, you will find it is no bottle of water, but one of bubbling wine or champagne. I assume you have seen the results of popping one of those open."
"Um, heh, yes, Mama."
"...Twilight?"
"...Shiny and I tried that one time. There was this big bottle in the cupboard at home, and we thought it was one of those fizzy sodas. We tried to open it, but the cork... Well, we didn't need to open a window in the kitchen after that."
She tried not to laugh, she truly did. But as she pressed a hoof to her inflating cheeks and pictured a slightly smaller lavender filly and an amorphous colt trying to open a bottle of champagne as described, she had only one reaction. It consisted of three very simple steps: lower hoof, open mouth, and release the pressure.
"...It's not that funny, Mom," Twilight moaned through the phone.
Celestia shook her head. "I am sorry, Twilight, but it truly is." Mastering herself, she giggled and added, "Anyway, it might be wiser to wait until we can begin your lessons together at home. But know that I am proud of you for thinking ahead like that."
"Th-thank you, Mama."
Celestia took another look around and began to retrace her steps. "I will be there soon, my child. I love you."
"I love you, too, Mama! Bye!"
As Celestia hung up, she sighed happily. Twilight was truly a little treasure, and every shared word was only adding fuel to the rising fire in the Alicorn's heart. Every fiber of her being suddenly felt more alive, her strength renewed with the notion that she finally had someone to take care of as her own child again. While she was nowhere near the vim and vigor of when she had taken in her first two foals, there was a definite pep to her step as she walked back towards her house.
Her mood persisted until, out of the blue and from off to the side, a little white dog–the same dog that had snatched her bag–suddenly jumped at her. Caught by surprise, she yelped and backpedaled, falling sideways to her back as both her bag and her phone fell out of her grip. She quickly scrambled to her feet, her magic aura reaching out to both of her possessions. But while she managed to pick up her bag, her phone wasn't claimed by her magic but rather by the dog as it snatched it up in its mouth before racing off, yipping as it went.
"No!" she cried out. "That phone belongs to me! Give it back!"
The dog, it seemed, either didn't understand or chose to ignore the Alicorn's words as it took off running. Celestia, shaking her head from the frustration, set off at a gallop, intent on overtaking the canine quickly. She panted from the exhertion, unused to such activity after so many years of trying to live peacefully in the Ruins, yet continued to run, calling out for the dog to stop. And stop it did, but not from Celestia's call. It stopped because of the phone in its mouth, which had apparently dialed while it was running, and a loud sound that had come from it.
Stopping long enough to glance over the dog for a moment after it had tumbled head over paws, Celestia quickly picked up the phone and said into the grille, "Hello? Twilight? My child, what is it?"
"My child? Twilight? What happened? ...Twilight?"
Twilight didn't answer, even with the phone held to her cheek. She was too busy shivering, staring down the hallway to the way she had come while walking and talking with Celestia. She had turned at the sound of a cold, high cackling coming from that way. Now, as she sat and stared at the entrance, she swore she could see something there that hadn't been there before. The laughter, one that was far too familiar and chilling to be good, seemed to be coming from a flower. A flower with golden petals, a white center...
...and glinting, grinning razor teeth.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHGG! MOMMY!"