Twilight Sparkle walked into the Map Room as she worked her way down a checklist. “…Ash is at the hospital, the rest of the Order-naries have gone home, Capper’s crashing at Rarity’s until Captain Celaeno’s new ship is ready...” She glanced up at the sound of china being set down on the Map table. “Princess Celestia is- ack!” Twilight dropped her list, staring at the unexpected alicorn in the room.
“Hello, Twilight,” Celestia said casually, stirring a sugar cube into the cup of tea in front of her.
“P-prin… C-celestia!” Twilight stammered. “What a pleasant surprise! Uh, can I get you…” She trailed off as Celestia levitated and waggled her teacup with a raised eyebrow. Twilight looked at the table and saw a full tea service, including a second cup waiting for her by her chair. “Right,” Twilight said, lamely. She picked her checklist up off the ground, rolled it up as she went over to her chair, and set it down next to her teacup as she sat down. As she poured herself some tea and prepared it to her liking, she was able to get over her shock enough to relax her face and ears so that she didn’t look like a skittish foal.
Celestia waited until Twilight was settled and had taken a sip of tea before speaking again. “So, I was speaking with Queen Novo a little while ago, when the Festival was winding down,” she said. It took every ounce of Twilight’s will not to choke on her tea. “Is it true you tried to steal her transformation pearl?” Celestia asked.
“Yes,” Twilight said, staring down at her teacup.
“Twilight,” Celestia began, but the younger Alicorn cut her off.
“I don’t need a lecture, Princess,” Twilight said, looking up with a fierce expression.
“Twilight,” Celestia said, more sternly.
“Seriously,” Twilight said. “I know what I did was wrong, totally wrong. Attempted theft is bad enough, but I also betrayed my friends’ trust in the process.” Her gaze sank to the table again. “I even know why I was willing to cross that line.”
“Do tell,” Celestia said.
Twilight took a deep breath. “Because of you, Princess,” she said. “After so many close calls with Tempest, I was desperate to succeed, to accomplish the task that you… that I thought you wanted. I was so focused on saving you, pleasing you, that I lost sight of the big picture and who I was supposed to be. The same thing almost happened when the Crystal Empire and Sombra returned, you know.”
Celestia nodded slowly and drank some her tea.
Twilight eventually looked up and met Celestia’s gaze. “I…” she faltered. “I’ll try not to let that happen again.”
“Good,” Celestia said, and her expression softened as she set her cup down. “It’s good that you’ve identified one of your faults so early, Twilight,” she said. “Perhaps you’ll be less prone to mistakes than I, eventually.”
Twilight laughed ruefully. “You? Prone to mistakes?” she exclaimed. “What are you talking about? You’re Princess Celestia! The greatest, wisest, most powerful ruler in the whole world. You don’t make mistakes.”
Celestia frowned as Twilight grinned manically at her. “Twilight,” Celestia said gently, “don’t feel you have to protect my ego.” Twilight’s grin barely flickered. “You don’t honestly think I’m infallible, do you, Twilight?” Celestia asked, concerned.
“Not when it counts,” Twilight responded.
Celestia shook her head in disbelief. “You’re an incredibly smart, detail-oriented pony, Twilight Sparkle,” she said. “Surely you’ve noticed certain… trends to the major events we’ve been involved in together?” Twilight cocked her head in curiosity. “Consider Cadance and Shining Armor’s wedding,” Celestia said, “where only you we able to see through Chrysalis’s deception, and I was overpowered by her. Or when Flurry Heart broke the Crystal Heart: I left the task of solving the actual problem to you and took on the relatively simpler task of trying to fight back the storm. Or when Tirke escaped,” she added with an emphatic stomp. “You must admit, I made many unwise decisions during that crisis.”
“Yeah,” Twilight hedged, “but when Nightmare Moon, Discord, and Sombra were about to return, you had things under control.”
“True,” Celestia replied, “but don’t you see the difference between my examples and yours? In the cases you mentioned, I knew what was coming well ahead of time. I had centuries to plan, to research the ponies and artifacts involved, test theories, and find a pony capable of carrying out the plans.” She looked pointedly at Twilight with her last statement. “In the other cases,” she continued, “there was little to no forewarning, no time to make and test detailed plans. I still feel ashamed that while I prepared for Nightmare Moon’s return and Discord’s eventual escape from his stone prison, I never considered Tirek could actually escape from Tartarus. That’s my big failing, Twilight: while I can craft perfect plans for possibilities far in the future, I stumble and miscalculate against spur-of-the-moment threats.”
“I… see,” Twilight said, staring contemplatively into her tea. “Thinking back, that does all line up. How did I never notice?”
“You said it yourself,” Celestia said, gesturing with a wing, “you have a blind spot when it comes to me. You’ve idolized me since you were a filly, spent most of your school years studying under me, and even now you still have difficulty seeing past the public persona I put on for the benefit of Equestria. Do you know why I chose you to be my personal student all those years ago?”
Twilight looked up, confused. “I… had a magic surge during the entrance exam to your school, and you felt you had to take a personal interest in training that potential?” she said.
“That’s the reason I gave you at the time, yes,” Celestia said, “but it was only part of the whole reason.”
“You felt I had the potential to awaken the Elements of Harmony properly,” Twilight said, a little more confidently, “and by extension be able to form a group of friends to fill the key roles in your plans for Nightmare Moon, the Crystal Empire, and Discord.”
“Close,” Celestia said, smiling. “During the thousand years of Luna’s banishment, I came to terms with my faults and realized Equestria needed more than what I could provide. There had to be more Princesses, more alicorns. Specifically, I wanted an alicorn who could face unexpected challenges and not falter, but overcome them. Cadance might have had the potential, but her destiny proved to lie with the Crystal Empire more than with Equestria as a whole. Sunset Shimmer… I moved too quickly with her. You, however, are turning out to be everything I hoped for, Twilight. Albeit, with some bumps along the road.”
Twilight blushed. “Thank you for saying that, Celestia,” she said modestly, “but you know it’s not all my doing. I wouldn’t have been any kind of success without Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy standing beside me, teaching and learning in kind. The Order-naries have been a big help, too, whenever they’ve been around.”
“Yes,” Celestia said with some hesitancy, “although they have brought their own share of trouble to our land… I will admit, though, Ashen Blaze seems to have an admirable ability to gather the right kind of ponies to solve his problems, much like you.”
“Ash is a natural leader,” Twilight said. “He has this stubborn, infectious confidence that makes anything seem possible.”
Celestia grew thoughtful. “He’s going to be here for a good long while, until his horn heals,” she said. “I wonder what more could develop from you and him in that time…”
Twilight felt her face turning very red. “Y-you know that Ash and Rarity are already… almost official, right, Princess?”
Celestia looked momentarily confused, and then burst out laughing. “Goodness, Twilight!” she exclaimed, “I didn’t mean to imply that!” Twilight’s blush deepened even further.
Celestia got up from her seat, came over to Twilight, and embraced her with her wings. “Just keep learning, Twilight,” Celestia said. “Keep improving, and become the kind of Princess who can lead and protect Equestria in the ways I can’t.”
Twilight nodded, still blushing a little. “I will, Celestia,” she said. “I promise.”