It was just another peaceful night at the Sparkle house, Cadence had been asked to watch Twilight for the weekend while her parents were away. Spike slept in Cadence’s hooves as she rocked him back in forth, Shining sat next to Cadence inching closer to her while trying to not to be noticed, Twilight lie on the floor in front of the two talking about the book she was reading. A knock suddenly came from the front door, Cadence was surprised wondering who it could be so late at night. Velvet and Nightlight weren’t supposed to be back until the morning she thought. She handed Spike to Shining and walked across the living room to the front door, she opened the door to find Celestia standing in the doorway. “Oh! Auntie, so nice to see you. Why are you here this late?” She asked,
Celestia smiled at Cadence but it was obvious something was on her mind. “Hello Cadence, may I come in?” she asked. Cadence nodded and stepped aside to let her enter, the smile on Celestia’s face slowly fading as she approached Twilight and Shining. She sat down in front of the two of them, tears slowly forming in her eyes as she said, “Twilight, Shining….I’m so sorry”
A week had passed since Celestia had told Twilight and Shining about their parents, three days since the funeral. Twilight, Shining, and Spike had no other close relatives outside their parents and so Celestia had decided to adopt the three. Twilight had been a student at her school for more than a year now and she was already close friends with their parents. Celestia also felt it would be good for Cadence as well, as now she could spend more time with them as they lived in Canterlot castle. Still Celestia knew deep down that this would be a big adjustment for Twilight and Shining.
The door to the bedroom slowly opened the magic glow around the doorknob fading as Celestia guided Twilight inside. “And here is your room Twilight, I had them bring all your things over just this morning.” she said with a smile. Twilight walked into the room nervously clutching her stuffed animal, she looked around to see all her toys, books, and her bed were all here. She looked back at Celestia and asked,
“Where’s Spike’s stuff? We used to share a room.” Celestia gave a warm smile,
“I had them put Spike and his things in my room, he’s still a baby after all and he’ll need lots of attention.” Twilight smiled and walked into her new room sitting down on the rug in the center of the room, she hugged her stuffed animal again and looked back at Celestia.
“Your brother’s room is right next to yours, and I made sure to have them put your room directly across from Cadence’s. You remember where my room is at in case you ever need anything right Twilight?” Celestia asked. Twilight nodded a small smile on her face.
“All right, sleep tight Twilight remember you have school in the...” Celestia turned to leave when she felt a small tug on the tip of her tail, she looked back to see a small pink glow around the end of her tail. Twilight’s horn glow with her magic, the smile on her face gone now.
“Can...can you stay a little longer princess?” she asked, Celestia smiled and walked back into the room lying down in front of Twilight.
“Of course, Twilight.” She smiled back at Celestia, then walked up and snuggled up to her in between her front legs. “So? What do you want to do before bed?” Celestia asked, though she already had an idea of what Twilight would say.
“I...I always like to read one of my books before I go to sleep.” she replied. Celestia giggled knowing Twilight answered exactly like she knew she would. They both looked at the bookshelf and Celestia asked,
“So which one should we read then?” Twilight looked at the bookshelf putting her hoof to her chin as she thought, after a moment she excitedly pointed out the book she wanted. Celestia’s horn lit with her magic as a yellow glow picked the book up from the shelf and brought it over to the two of them. She held the book up in front of Twilight so they could both read, .
“You know, I used to read this when I was a foal too.” Celestia said,
Twilight looked back at her a smile on her face and exclaimed,
“Really? Its one of my favorites!” The two laid on the floor for an hour or two reading the book together before Twilight eventually fell asleep. Celestia placed her book back where she had gotten it and gently lifted Twilight into her bed with magic being careful not to wake her. Celestia tucked her into bed and put Twilight’s hoof around her stuffed animal, she stood for a moment watching Twilight sleep peacefully.
For a moment she thought about how much this reminded her of taking care of her sister, as she would always have to tuck her into the blankets every night. A small trace of worry crossed Celestia’s mind as she looked at the moon shining dimly through the window, she knew the summer solstice would be a couple years away and she never expected to be in her current situation when it came. Looking back at Twilight sleeping she smiled and decided that she needed to focus on Twilight and her brothers. They needed her far more right now. Celestia turned off the light to the room and gently closed the door behind her,
“Good night, Twilight. I hope all your dreams are sweet tonight.”
The next morning Twilight woke to a gentle nudging, she rolled over to see Cadence standing beside her bed a bright smile on her face.
“Morning Twilight, its time for breakfast. Auntie made pancakes again!” she said excitedly. Twilight slowly sat up rubbing the sleep from her eyes,
“Princess Celestia makes pancakes?” she asked.
Cadence nodded, “All the time, now come on sleepy head, otherwise Spike and Shining are gonna eat them all!” she said as she rushed to the hallway.
“What!?” Twilight exclaimed, she leaped out of bed and chased after Cadence,
“They better not eat mine!” Cadence and Twilight rushed through the castle halls eventually making their way to the dining room. A long dinner table draped in a white tablecloth sat in the middle of the room, a large décor of fruit spread across the center of the table. Shining sat at the end of the table, Spike in a baby chair across from him. Celestia stood next to a small serving cart, five plates of pancakes placed on top. Twilight and Cadence quickly took their seats, Twilight sitting next to Cadence.
“Morning Auntie!”
“Morning Princess!” the two exclaimed. Celestia smiled as she lifted the plates from the carts placing one in front of each pony at the table. Twilight smiled with excitement as she looked at her plate, a small stack of three pancakes decorated with berries to resemble a silly face on top.
“It looks so good!” she shouted as she grabbed her fork and anxiously began to eat. Twilight smiled as she ate, the fluffiness, the flavor it was all perfect she thought.
“Sooo good.” she grumbled talking while she was still chewing.
Celestia smiled as she sat down in her chair and began to feed Spike,
“I’m glad you like them so much Twilight, I haven't had to make this much in a while. It certainly was fun to cook for more than just myself and Cadence for a change.” she said. The five of them sat at the table quietly eating their breakfast, Twilight finished eating and eagerly announced,
“All done!” Holding up her plate as she did.
“All right, just leave your dishes there Twilight. Now go to the washroom and get ready for school all right?” Celestia replied, Twilight set her plate down and rushed off, Cadence followed shortly after, lastly Shining walked away. Celestia finished her tea and wiped the food from Spike’s face, she started to place the dirty dishes onto the serving cart when she noticed Shining’s plate was still half full.
“Maybe...maybe, he wasn't that hungry is all.” she thought before throwing away the last of his food and adding his dishes to the pile. She turned to Spike who eagerly waited to be picked up,
“Now then Spike, lets go see what the day has in store us shall we?”
It had been a week since Twilight had been to school, she was a little nervous, but she was also eager to see her friends again as well. She made her way through the halls eventually arriving at her classroom, her teacher turned to see her and knelt down to greet her.
“Twilight so good to see you, are you doing all right sweetheart?” she asked.
Twilight smiled and nodded, “I'm ok, really I am. I’ve been staying with Princess Celestia at her castle.” she replied,
“That's good, I'm glad to see her taking such good care of you. Now take your seat, class’ll be starting soon.” Twilight walked to her desk and sat down, Moondancer was at her desk next to Twilight’s. She leaned over as Twilight set her things down,
“Hey Twilight, you’ve been gone for a while. Where’ve you been?” she asked. Twilight glanced away for a moment nervous to tell Moondancer about her parents and instead just answered with
“I was with the Princess, she had some stuff to teach me and Shining. That’s all.”
Moondancer bounced in her seat excitedly,
“You get to spend so much time with Princess Celestia, I'm sooo jealous!” she exclaimed. The morning bell for the school rang shortly after as the teacher called her students attention and began to teach the class. The day went on and Twilight was handling the day pretty well given what had happened to her.
“All right class, now open your textbooks to page 42.” the teacher announced, Moondancer leaned over to Twilight and whispered,
“I forgot my textbook Twilight, can we share again?” Twilight smiled and nodded sliding her book closer to Moondancer. Twilight flipped through the pages using her magic until she got to the page the teacher had asked for. Twilight froze as across the top of the page was a picture of a crescent moon and three stars next to it. Twilight memories suddenly began to flow back to earlier in the week, she remembered the funeral, and the thought her parents were gone. Moondancer looked up to see Twilight’s face beginning to tense up tears forming in her eyes as she looked at the book.
“Twi? Is everything ok? Your crying.” she asked, almost immediately Twilight broke, crying loud enough to interrupt the whole class.
Celestia rushed through the front doors of the school, Twilight’s teacher was there to greet her she came in.
“I got here as soon as I could.” she said, Celestia quickly glanced at her surroundings before asking,
“Where is she?”
The teacher turned to look down the hall and said,
“Shes hiding in the supply closet down the hall, she locked herself in there. I thought about getting the janitor at first, but I think its better if you could get her to come out on her own.” Celestia nodded and walked down the hallway reaching the closet, she walked up to the door and could hear Twilight on the other side crying. She gently knocked on the door,
“Twilight? Its me, Celestia. Are you ok?” she asked. A moment passed before Twilight began to talk between her sobs.
“Prin...Princess?...I’m sorry...I, I really tried not to cry...but...” Celestia smiled, she felt relieved to hear Twilight talk to her at least.
“Twilight, you dont have to be sorry about crying. Its only natural that you would after what you’ve been through.” she replied. Celestia stood outside the door for the moment before asking,
“Twilight? Can you unlock the door? I’d feel better if I could see you.” Another minute passed as Celestia waited, then she heard the click of the doors lock. She smiled and opened the door, she walked in to see the tiny pony sitting on the far side of the closet slumped over with her back to her. Celestia closed the door behind her before sitting down and waiting, Twilight slowly looked over her shoulder, her face covered in tears and a small trickle of snot coming out of her nose, her mane a mess. Celestia smiled as she held out her legs to offer Twilight a hug, she sprinted across the closet and wrapped her legs around Celestia’s stomach the best she could and began crying aloud again. The two sat there for short while, Celestia slowly brushing Twilight’s mane as she cried into her stomach. Eventually Twilight finally managed to stop crying,
“So? Are you feeling better now?” Celestia asked. Twilight nodded yes,
“Twilight can I tell something?” she asked. Twilight nodded yes again sniffing as she did.
“I lost my parents too, it was a long time ago though. And just like you I cried so much when they were gone.”
Twilight looked up at Celestia surprised, “You did? Did you ever stop crying?” she asked. Celestia nodded, looking up at the light dangling from the ceiling.
“Eventually I did, and do you want to know how I did it?” she answered looking back down at the purple filly. Twilight nodded yes again,
“I thought about all special pony’s that I still had in my life, and when I did I realized that they would be there to help me, to pick me back up whenever I cried. Do you have anyone like that Twilight? Is there any pony whose still special to you?” Celestia asked. Twilight thought for a moment, she sniffed her nose again, still crying a little.
“I...I’ve got Shiny...and Spike...Cadence cares about me.” she replied, she looked up at Celestia,
“And you care too? Right Princess?” Celestia smiled and leaned down nuzzling Twilight as she did,
“Of course, I do Twilight. And I will always be here to pick you back up no matter how many times you fall and start to cry.” Twilight finally began to smile and hugged Celestia tighter than she already had been.
“So, do you think your ready to go back to class now?” Celestia asked,
“Can I have a little more time?” Twilight answered.
Celestia chuckled and said, “Twilight you take as long as you need to.”