Azure Edge

by Leaf Blade


234. Haven't You Worked Hard Enough?

Twilight breathed a long, steady sigh as she stood on the balcony outside the Canterlot castle, arms folded on the railing and looking out over the massive city from this impressive vantage point. The crisp winter air was a welcome relief from the cramped atmosphere inside the castle, and quite frankly she needed that relief because she was exhausted.

She couldn’t entirely blame Luna and her very blunt and dry way of expressing information, though that definitely didn’t help and Twilight had half a mind to give Luna a lecture on proper lecturing to show her how lecturing was done.

The truth was though, just thinking about the Crystal Empire— and especially about Shining Armor and everything that happened— it was enough to drive Twilight to drink. She didn’t really enjoy alcohol very much though, but she could definitely go for a soda. Apple soda especially; those were really starting to grow on her.

“Hey friend,” the sweet voice of Fleur de Lis resonated in Twilight’s ears and she turned to face the pale, pink-haired woman.

“Hey,” Twilight tried to muster some enthusiasm, but bleugh.

“Wow,” Fleur giggled and her horn lit up as she produced a bottle of apple soda from thin air, Twilight’s eyes lighting up like shooting stars through the night sky. “Rarity said you might need one of these?”

“Thank you,” Twilight said, taking the soda in her hands and on the verge of tears. It was a silly thing, of course it was, but sometimes it was the tiniest acts of kindness, like getting your girlfriend a soda when she really needed one, that have the biggest impact. “Tell Rarity I love her and I would die for her.”

“Uh, you can tell her yourself,” Fleur chuckled, standing next to Twilight and looking over the city as Twilight opened up her soda, all the good brain chemicals rushing in as that satisfying sound of the bottle opening and the soda fizzing flooded her ears. “Just the first part though, the second part isn’t as romantic as you think it is, trust me.”

Twilight took a sip of her soda, and it was damn near perfect. The temperature was just right, and she could feel her anxiety fading away slowly as she took a big sip, some of the soda spilling down her cheek and dripping off of her lip, and she let out a satisfied sigh as she finished.

“I wanted to apologize for Luna,” Fleur said with a soft laugh. She didn’t seem to take much of anything seriously, and Twilight wanted to be annoyed with that but mostly she found herself more jealous than anything. “I know she can be a bit, uh, a lot.”

“I appreciate it,” Twilight said, swishing her bottle back and forth, “and I appreciate her. She’s doing a lot more than I have, if I’m being honest.”

“You really don’t want to go to the Empire, huh?” Fleur said.

“I really don’t,” Twilight sighed and took a sip of her soda, and damn it was just as good as the first, especially since the taste reminded her of Applejack, and the sense of relief that washed over her reminded her of Rarity.

“You don’t have to,” Fleur said, and Twilight arched an eyebrow. “I could teach you the siren glamor, the spell that lets me evade detection even from alicorns. Not overnight, obviously, but in time. You wouldn’t have to worry about any of this Slayers versus dragons nonsense then, you could just live out an ordinary life with your girlfriend.

“Don’t you think you’ve worked hard enough already?”

Twilight took a deep breath. She looked at her soda and thought about her family; Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, and of course her son Spike. Between the seven of them, they had more than enough skills to forge out a comfortable living for themselves, especially with Rarity’s connections.

The idea that Twilight wouldn’t have to concern herself with all this stress was an intoxicating one. She wouldn’t have to worry about being discovered, or having her library burned down, and she wouldn’t have to worry about her son’s safety.

But what kind of world would she be raising him into?

If her safety, and the safety of her family, came at the cost of hundreds of others not having access to that same safety, then what the hell was it worth? If Twilight could justify turning her back on others when she had the power to help, then what kind of person was she raising her son to be?

“Thank you, Fleur,” Twilight took the last sip of her apple soda, sighing in satisfaction and licking her lips, “but no.”

“That’s fine,” Fleur shrugged and gave a carefree smile. “You sure though?”

“I am,” Twilight nodded, clenching her fingers into fists and steeling her resolve as images of Shining Armor and Sunset Shimmer raced through her mind. “I’ll go to the Empire and I’ll help out however I can, because that’s the right thing to do. I promised myself, I wouldn’t run away from this anymore.”