//------------------------------// // 134 Left to Fate, Part Four // Story: Continuity Disrupted // by Doug Graves //------------------------------// December 28th, 1000 Domina Solaria “So...” Twilight Sparkle says as the clock finishes striking midnight. She watches the rippling surface of the portal to the mirror universe return to a smooth sheen, as if nothing had ever broken its silvered surface. “Why did you want me here, Princess? Surely you could have kept me in the dark about this, leaving me blissfully unaware. Now, I’m going to worry about Doug the entire time!” Princess Celestia’s soft tone echoes around the throne room, her voice that of a patient mentor. “Ignorance of the trials our friends go through makes them no safer, and us no better suited to help them.” Princess Celestia sighs. “The bliss you seek is but an illusion, Twilight. Shattered by truth and knowledge.” Twilight Sparkle sighs, turning away from the mirror. The piece of paper is still where Doug left it, dropped to the ground like an afterthought. Her voice is solemn, apologetic. “It appears I still have a lot to learn about Friendship.” “We never stop learning about Friendship, Twilight.” Princess Celestia walks up behind her student, joining her in staring at the letter, writing side down. “Even I learn more about it, every day.” Princess Celestia drops to her barrel on the cold marble floor, head the same height as Twilight as she nuzzles her student’s neck. The touch is soft, conveying affection and appreciation, but little more. “From me?” Twilight asks, a hint of hope. “Even you.” Princess Celestia’s smile cannot contain the hot exhale of breath, then the sharp inhalation through her nostrils. Her nuzzle returns, no longer the detached concern of a mentor for her student. Instead, it is harder, deeper; the loving nuzzle of a herdmate, bonded by more than circumstance and necessity. “Especially you, Twilight Sparkle.” “Princess? Am I dreaming?” Twilight barely manages to keep herself from biting her inner cheek. “Because this feels like a dream come true. The only thing missing is Doug rutting both of us senseless, here in your throne room.” “Mm, that would be a splendid ‘Welcome Home!’ present, now wouldn’t it?” Princess Celestia replies with a smirk, then a light nip to Twilight’s mane. “P-princess?” Twilight fumbles out at the light twinge of pain, her head evasively dipping lower. “I…” Princess Celestia’s eyes blacken, her pupils orange rimmed with red. Her snort, hotter this time, nearly singes Twilight’s mane, the hairs curling. Then her eyes close, a heavy, mournful sigh, a solitary tear evaporating before it can drip down. “No, you are correct, Twilight Sparkle. I am sorry.” She pulls her head away, unable to look her student in the eyes. “I allowed my own selfish desires to push you faster than you were ready.” Her voice nearly catches in her throat. “It shall not happen again.” “I…” Twilight turns, eyes tracing over her mentor and seeing her in a new light, and not just the orange afterglow of her peytral. “I didn't mean it like that, Pr… Celestia. I was just surprised, that’s all.” “You tempt me, Twilight Sparkle, in ways you don’t fully understand.” The blackness around the edges of Princess Celestia’s eyes returns, threatening to seep in again. “I will not acquiesce to your foalish feelings of guilt, or your sophomoric belief that giving in to my desires is what is best for you, or for me, or for Equestria!” Twilight gapes; this is perhaps the first time that Princess Celestia has openly insulted her, and not in a gentle, instructive way that leads to further understanding. She meekly offers, “Princess…” before clearing her throat, resolutely standing up and searching for her mentor’s eyes. “Then help me understand, Celestia. I want to know. I want to help.” Celestia shakes her head, clenching her eyes shut. “I do not wish for my burdens to become your own. I would never ask that of you.” Twilight angrily stamps a hoof on the marble floor. “What did you just tell me, Celestia? How am I supposed to help my Friend with her burden, if she will not open up to me and tell me? I’m here for you. I want to be there for you, to help shoulder your burdens, to let you know that you aren’t alone!” Clenching her eyes no longer keeps the tears from flowing, the sizzling water splashing against the warm stone. “Twilight,” Celestia ekes out, an ebullient smirk breaking out from her desolation, “perhaps you have learned more of Friendship than I imagined.” “Well, I did have a pretty awesome teacher,” Twilight says, nuzzling Celestia, her nose puckering at the hot wetness that remains with her even as she pulls away. “But don’t think that you can get out of telling me by distracting me with compliments.” Celestia’s smirk dissolves into a soft smile. “You always were very perceptive, Twilight, but I assure you that was never my intention. I merely fear some of my burdens are too great for you to bear; though with time, perhaps you will be ready for them as well.” Twilight nods patiently. When an elder wizard tells you that you aren’t ready for something, you listen. “But, Princess, if I may…” Twilight hesitantly smiles at Celestia’s nod. “It sounds to me like you are, I don’t know, grooming me to take over as, well, the ruler of Equestria.” “Is that not a position you desire?” Celestia asks, returning to a more upright position. Twilight’s breath quickens. “No! I can barely keep a library running smoothly, to say nothing of an entire country! I mean, I’m certainly not ready for that kind of responsibility! I don’t think I’ll ever be ready for it!” Celestia places a comforting hoof on Twilight’s withers. “And that is why I think you will be perfect for the job. But, as you said, perhaps not just yet.” “Okay, but, even assuming that someday we both think that I’m ready - which I’m not saying is the case, or even likely to be the case - what if something happens that I’m not ready for? What if I need help? What if the entirety of Equestria is under attack!? What if-” Celestia’s soft nuzzle is not enough to break Twilight out of her mania. Her horn lights, a paper bag appearing next to Twilight. The unicorn madly grabs at it, thrusting it to her mouth, nearly popping the bag with her rapid inflating and deflating. “You remember what happened in Cloudsdale? At the Best Young Flyers Competition?” Celestia chuckles to herself at Twilight’s grim nod. “Yes, I imagine you would have a difficult time forgetting it.” “You told me we would talk about it. That, at the time, I was blinded by my emotions.” Twilight gently sets aside the bag, having served its purpose well. “Twilight, a good ruler brings their people through times of struggle and strife. But a great ruler knows when and where they are lacking. I will be there to provide guidance, and perhaps a little extra fire power, should you ever ask. But even I will not be around forever; and it is my most fervent desire that you, and everypony around you, be able to manage things on your own.” “Oh.” Twilight pauses for a few seconds, idly brushing her tail against the marble beginning to cool. “So the reason you didn’t save Doug, or Rarity, or the Wonderbolts, was because you wanted them to manage it on their own?” She smiles briefly at Celestia’s nod, but her frown returns just as quickly. “But, what if they failed? What if they weren’t able to do it on their own?” “You strike at the root of the problem, Twilight, for there is no easy answer. Perhaps you can answer me this. What does it mean for a life to have meaning?” Twilight ponders this as she traces the stars in the moonlit sky through one of the stained glass windows; some twinkling brightly, others disappearing into the warped reflections. “That the choices one makes impact the world around them. That life would be different were they not there, or replaced by somepony else.” Celestia stares out the window, joining Twilight in her stargazing. Twilight frowns. “I guess, you could also add in fulfilling the promise of your cutie mark, and the joy that one gets from that.” Celestia continues staring outside, eyes flicking from one pinprick of light to another. When she runs out of stars visible from their vantage point she moves closer, gold shod hooves nearly scraping the cold marble as she drags her barrel across the floor. “And what would it mean for a life to not have meaning?” “Well, the opposite of that. If our decisions didn’t impact the world around us. If what we did, or did not do, had no consequences.” Twilight’s buoyant smile fades. “Oh.” “Perhaps you should explain your revelation in your own words,” Celestia lightly prods. Twilight scoots forward to rejoin Celestia. “If you were to solve everypony’s problems, their lives would be meaningless. That you purposely allow ponies to try, and fail, and that even in failure their lives find meaning. Because it is their failures, and their successes, that make them the ponies that they are meant to be.” “Much as I appreciate the sentiment, I am not able to solve everypony’s problems.” A wry smile crosses Celestia’s muzzle. “Hay, I can’t even solve onepony’s problems. If I had swooped down, and saved Rarity and the two Wonderbolts, what would that have taught them?” “Well, they’d be alive, so I guess they could still learn something,” Twilight snarks. “Yes, but what lesson would they have learned? And what of everypony else?” Celestia sits up to gaze over the Everfree Forest, answering the question on Twilight’s lips. “True. Some threats are beyond their ken. And I have made certain promises, to Equestria and beyond, that I intend to keep. I answer, when called. But I am not perfect; I cannot be everywhere at once, and save everypony from everything, up to and including themselves.” “Nopony is asking that of you,” interjects Twilight. “Yet.” Celestia sighs, flopping back down. “And they would, were I to let them. I’m sure you have heard the saying, give a mare an apple, and she eats for a day. Teach a mare to farm, and she eats for a lifetime. Would Spitfire, or Rainbow Dash, or Spring Step have flown as fast that day? Would they train as hard as they do, if they knew, in the back of their minds, that I would be there to step in should they fail? Or is it better to live a life knowing that the bit stops here, that you are the one ultimately responsible for the life and death of the ponies who have entrusted their lives to you?” Twilight shudders. “I don’t know if I would want that much responsibility.” “And yet it is no more than anypony else shoulders, the responsibility of their own actions. All we can do is instruct them as best we can, perhaps protecting them from the worst of their errors, if only to allow them the chance to learn from their mistakes. And you, Twilight Sparkle, bear a larger burden than most. Because, as one of the Elements of Harmony, the fate of Equestria may come to rest in your hooves, and those of your Friends.” “I’m lucky to have them in my life.” Twilight chances a glance up at Celestia. “Is that why…” "It is, among other things." Celestia solemnly nods, then clears her throat. “But, perhaps hardest of all, is to extend that protection - that love and forgiveness, and desire to learn and to grow - to those who do not wish us well. Who actively work to do us harm. Who would strike our cheek and spit in our faces purely for the sadistic pleasure of doing so.” “But…” Twilight stammers. “But, that’s suicide! What if Equestria is taken over, and all hope is lost?” “If you believe in the power of Friendship, then there is always hope. Not just for us, but for our enemies as well. For what is an enemy, but a Friend who hasn’t yet grasped our hoof in Friendship?” Celestia smiles as she settles down, Twilight next to her, their eyes finding the moon. The empty moon.