//------------------------------//
// Responsibility 
// Story: Nightmare 
// by Billblok 
//------------------------------//

	"It's... confusing, but I'm hardly ever lonely." Celestia said. Luna draped a wing around her big sister.

"That would explain why you hid yourself for so long. Had a long talk?"

"Yes, that was part of it, but I also wanted-"

"To wait till the right moment to show yourself? Everypony who has had Nightmare within them has went through the same mindset."

"...We aren't the only ones?"

Of course not, Celestia, you were only the latest in a long line. Regrettably, I made your sister rather violent in my fight for power. I can't thank you enough for giving that power to me, peacefully even.

"Luna," Celestia asked. "Why does Nightmare want power?"

Luna dropped her head in thought. "I'm not sure..." Celestia was shocked. Luna didn't know why the Nightmare wanted power, and it was about to tell her? It's gratitude for her was far greater than she initially thought. She thought it was only making a deal, stopping its senseless violence. But now it was venting its secrets to her...Suddenly, a loud crash of glass sounded in a distant hallway. Luna and Celestia stood up, running to the source. 

Glass shards lay thrown about the floor, mixed with blood. The trail lead further down the hallway, and the two alicorn sisters pursued it. Celestia noticed a hair on the floor which happened to come from Twilight's mane. She looked back at the trail. It was heading straight up the tower stairs. In Twilight's perspective, it must have been horrible to learn that her teacher was infested with the very nightmare she thought she had defeated that fateful night in Ponyville. Knowing her faithful student and her tendency to panic, she would have assumed this evil creature had taken over the entire planet, and the only reasonable thing to do so to not fall into enemy power would be-

"Oh no..." She thought. The sisters ran as fast as their legs could carry them, up the tower to the top. What amount of ground that would take most ponies a measure of minutes was covered in a matter of seconds. Celestia left the doorway of the stairwell...

...Just to see Twilight Sparkle jump off the guard rail, plummeting towards the ground. Celestia's form flash dissolved into ethereal mist, racing after her

Don't you dare, Twilight Sparkle, don't you dare die, Celestia has seen enough death!

Luna stood watching in helpless terror as her sister desperately tried to save her friend. Panic set in, knowing that Twilight would not be able to survive the fall.


...


Twilight's limp grey body was tightly wrapped up in a cocoon of orange energy. Her stop was sudden, but she did not die. The mist took all the shock of the fall."No, please," She begged. "Not you..." The mist reformed into Celest- that creature once more, and it reached a wing around her. She fought the creature's wing, kicking, biting, shoving, beating on the creature's chest, anything to stay away! Unfortunately, the creature held out longer than her, and she resigned to her fate, smothered by the wing of her former teacher. She waited. She was not squeezed. Her bones did not break. She felt the creature's fur against her's, a strange warmth flooding over her. She closed her eyes. She remembered. She remembered first being accepted as a personal student to Princess Celestia. She remembered her warm smile of approval when she showed her a spell she learned. She remembered how she shared her bed when the storms kept her awake. She remembered how she comforted her when she was sad, pulling her into a gentle embrace, wrapping her soft wings around her. Her eyes snapped open. When she looked up at the face of the creature, her teacher's eyes looked back, with that same beautiful purple she saw not a few weeks ago. Luna stood next to her, equal concern on her face. Twilight stared in disbelief "Princess...?"

"Twilight," Celestia's voice returned, breaking. "Don't ever scare me like that again." So that was the princess all along. She had been a stupid little foal again and judged the book by its cover, breaking the heart of her mentor in the process. No, more like ripping her heart into little pieces and stamping it in the dirt. She clung to the soft fur of her princess, bawling like the little foal she had been.

"I'm so sorry, Princess C-Celestia!" She sobbed. Celestia said nothing, pulling her closer, letting her coat dry the tears of the weeping unicorn. She cradled her, gently stroking her mane. She and her sister too let tears fall down their cheeks, filled with overwhelming relief that Twilight had made it alive, and accepted her teacher once more. For a time this continued, Celestia occasionally nuzzling her, then Twilight had finally spent every last one of her tears. She pulled away, wiping her eyes and smiling warmly. The sun was setting, and Luna stood up.

"I must bring out the night again, Tia. I'll see you in the morning." She soundlessly took off into the air.

Celestia looked at her student. "You have had a hard day, Would you like to stay with me over night?" Twilight nodded, and she brought them both back to her chambers with a quick teleportation spell. Twilight blushed, realizing how odd it would be to see two female adults in the same bed. Celestia simply nudged her forward, which told her not to worry about such little things. The mattress sank under her hooves as she picked a comfortable spot, sinking into the warm blanket. She never got used to how comfortable her teacher's bed was. Celestia removed her royal attire, placing it on top of a dresser. The moon shown down into the room with a pleasant gleam.

"Princess," Twilight asked as her mentor lie down beside her. "Why does the nightmare want power?"Celestia pulled her student close, unsure of the answer. It may have been self preservation, for all she knew. Her eyes grew heavy, but before she finally fell asleep, soothed by the steady breathing of her dreaming student, one word entered her head:

life