Chapter Fourteen
“So that’s what’s going on,” Twilight concluded some time later. “I… I know Moondancer and I haven’t spoken in a long time, but I can’t help but be concerned about her. I don’t know how to approach this, exactly, but I want to do something.”
Sipping her tea, Princess Celestia nodded. “I understand, Twilight.” She looked uncomfortable. “Perhaps I should speak with her while you’re away, if she really is as unhappy as you describe. She may not have been one of my personal students, like you, but I was one of her teachers at school.” She smiled faintly. “I remember seeing the two of you working together, a few of the times I was supervising a class…”
Twilight’s eyes lit up. “That would be great! And… and I think I should send her something.” Her horn lit up and a nearby blank scroll levitated over to her, along with a quill and ink. Hurriedly, she wrote out something before rolling it up and passing it over to Celestia. “Do you think you could give this to her for me?”
“Of course,” Celestia replied as she accepted the scroll. “I’ll make sure she gets it.” Tucking it aside, she looked at Twilight. “So, aside from cleaning up your tower, visiting your old classmate and receiving your friends’ invitations to the Packlands, did anything else exciting happen while you and your friends were out today?”
“That’s about it,” Twilight said. She looked down. “Plus, Rarity and I talked to Blueblood after you left us earlier, when he came to get me for the signing, about his behavior at the Gala and his family’s history with the wolves.”
“Yes…” Celestia looked contemplative. “I suppose that would be something he’d want to discuss. I had many, many words with him when I informed him of just who it was he’d been treating so poorly that night. And I will freely admit, I should have informed him of just who we were expecting. But-” and here she raised a hoof. “I didn’t know Rarity was interested in him at first either. If I had, I would have made speaking to him more of a priority.”
Twilight blushed. “I guess we all made more than a few mistakes there.” She sighed. “And I should have taken the time to tell you about what all of us wanted out of the Gala, when I was writing to you.”
Celestia smiled. “Well, you know what they say about hindsight. But you still had fun in the end.”
“I know…” Twilight smiled back before she considered. “And there’s something else from today that I need to talk to you about. Something else Ambassador Swift-Pad and all of us talked about on the ride up.”
“Oh?” Celestia suddenly looked concerned.
“Yes… he talked about how the other nations viewed Equestria, and why. I know we talked about this earlier, but there was more going on, so I didn’t get to say everything I had planned.”
Celestia bowed her head. “Just how did he describe other nations as viewing us?”
Twilight looked uncomfortable. “Well, he said they viewed us as unintentional bullies, with how we press our views and ideals on them, and… about what you could do to them if you really wanted to.”
“And just what is it they think I could do?” Celestia asked. Her tone had taken a disturbed edge.
“They think you’d be willing to withhold the sun.”
Celestia’s eyes widened at Twilight’s words, and she looked rather nonplussed and distraught. "I - I would never!" She was visibly trying to calm herself as she continued. "I am bound to the sun in a way most ponies have forgotten. For years, it was the unicorns who moved the sun and moon... but the effort of doing so led themselves to burn themselves out." She lowered her head, shaking it in dismay as she attempted to calm herself.
Twilight looked at her, wide-eyed. “They what‽”
Celestia looked up at her. "They burned themselves out, losing all their powers, beyond the little magic that maintained their Cutie Marks. One day though, Luna and I found the sun had failed to rise because the last of the unicorns moving it and the moon, even Starswirl himself, had lost their power and could not move the sun and moon anymore. So Luna and I chose to try it for ourselves, hoping that our alicorn magic, which had been different from theirs, would succeed. And when we did... we bonded with the sun and moon in a way that we never expected, attaining our Cutie Marks and allowing us to restore magic to those who had lost theirs doing this task." She paused again to compose herself, and then gazed at her student. "I know exactly how it feels to awaken and discover that the sun and moon failed to rise or set, and I would never deliberately inflict that level of fear on anyone else, pony or otherwise. That’s why I’ve always kept to a strict schedule with the sun and, when I controlled it, the moon."
Twilight looked down. “I’m sorry if I upset you, Princess.”
“Don’t be, Twilight.” Celestia let out a sigh. “You were just voicing what I’ve known for a long time to be the truth. And the other sad truth is, I can’t blame them for their fears. Despite my best efforts to spread goodwill throughout this land and others, there are old scars that run deep, and some beings just cannot bring themselves to believe that another creature, pony or otherwise, has purely altruistic motivations. They see hidden plots behind every action, and in some cases rightfully so.”
Twilight looked disturbed. “That’s one of the scariest things I’ve ever heard…”
“I agree.” Celestia looked down. “The really scary thing is, there are some who have claimed that for every personal student I take, there was some hidden and sinister motivation. Would you believe some claim I was grooming them to be part of a royal harem?”
Twilight goggled at her. “Really‽”
Celestia nodded. “It’s nonsense, of course - I’ve never had a royal harem. At any rate, raising a younger pony for that purpose would legally be considered wife husbandry, and that has been illegal for centuries.”
“Good.”
Celestia smiled at that. “The truth is, I chose them because I love teaching. My students have helped ground me, and reminded me of how important is to have bonds with other ponies… bonds of love and friendship. And while I dearly wish each of them would become as immortal as I myself was, I never once regretted those bonds we shared when they passed.” She looked at Twilight. “When you became an alicorn, it made me so very happy… knowing that I wouldn’t lose you to the ravages of old age. And I believe Luna feels the same way. But I will never think any less of those who remained mortal.” She sighed in somewhat mournful but still happy way. “In fact, I think they are even greater than us.”
“Because of their shorter lives, right?” Twilight asked.
“Exactly,” Celestia smiled wistfully. “Even though they are short sparks in our long lives, just seeing how bright they can shine is truly astounding.”
Twilight wasn’t sure how to respond to that so she simply nodded her head.
“In any case, I do think it is getting late enough.” Celestia said with a soft smile. “You should get back now and start preparing for your departure. I am sure that either Spike or our kitchen staff have prepared a dinner for you and your friends.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Twilight replied with another nod of her head. “Have a good night, princess Celestia.”
Celestia just smiled softly at that while opening the door with her magic.
By the time she had managed to reach the wing that she and her friends were staying in, there was the scent of a well-cooked meal already in the air. Twilight opened the door and joined her friends in their light meal that was more commoner-styled than what she had previously seen in the castle.
No doubt realizing what she was thinking, Spike tilted his head upwards. “The night kitchen staff have had time to adapt to what Princess Luna prefers and she prefers more current cuisine.” He chuckled. “Partly because most of the nobles wouldn’t be caught dead trying that kind of stuff, and you know how well she gets along with them.”
“So how did ya meeting go with Princess Celestia?” Applejack asked.
“Pretty well,” Twilight said. “She promised that she’d talk with Moondancer while we were away and try to help her.”
“That’s great Twilight!” Pinkie chirped happily. “If that works, I can throw a ‘we are friends again’ party!”
Twilight smiled. “I look forward to it.”
“So did Celestia tell you anything else we need to know about the Packlands?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Not really,” Twilight said. “And I think as long as we keep their laws and customs in mind, we will be okay.”
“I must ask darling,” Rarity turned to face Rainbow Dash. “Are you really going to be okay with the minimal flying you will be doing in the Packlands?”
Rainbow Dash gave her an incredulous look. “What minimal flying? It’s just weather manipulation they object to, not flying. Just means I gotta remember not to land on any clouds without asking.”
“I know that darling, but I also know you dear,” Rarity said softly. “You are an athlete as well as somepony who aspires to be a showpony and will use any chance to find your big break or entertain others.”
“I also know how serious this is, and when to ask permission,” Rainbow Dash retorted a bit angrily. “I know when to keep my ego in check. Usually.” She looked down. “You girls taught me a lesson about that a while back.”
Twilight sighed. “Not one of my better decisions, I admit,” she said. “I knew we should have thought it through a lot more before we did that, and tried harder to just talk to you… but we’d already tried, and we were all more than a little frustrated with how you just weren’t listening when we tried to tell you that saving lives was one thing, and a good thing, but letting it go to your head was quite another.” She looked Rainbow Dash straight in the eye. “We were all at fault that time.”
There was a long period of silence after that before Fluttershy coughed gently, dragging all eyes towards her. “Well, we’ve all learned from that and we haven't done anything so foolish since. We’re still friends, after all.”
“Yeah.” Rainbow Dash looked at her gratefully. “We are, aren’t we?”
They were all smiling again, with Applejack clearing her throat. “I think we’d better eat and hit the hay; we’ve got an early train ta catch, after all.”
There were several nods of assent before the seven focused on their food, finishing before they made their way towards the bedrooms set up for them.