“Thank you for seeing me,” Sweetie Belle said as she tapped her pencil point repeatedly against her notepad. Just a dumb school report. Miss Cheerilee had asked the class to pick a subject for an interview. Rarity was famous enough that she could impress everyone by writing about her. But then she knew Princess Twilight as well—even had Twilight Time with her for years! The next link in a chain that could lead her on to Princess Celestia, because why?
To see if she could, she guessed. To outdo everypony else in her class. Which always proved more trouble than it was worth.
Rarity did a good enough job of making Sweetie Belle feel like a burden at times. Did she really have to ask favors of ponies just so Princess Celestia would feel obligated to indulge her? That was the kind of thing Diamond Tiara would do—would have done, before she’d become genuinely friendly.
Sweetie Belle was proud of her. She almost had to laugh, and Princess Celestia raised an eyebrow at her. Just a few years ago, if she’d ever considered the possibility, she would have made Scootaloo’s famous “eww” face. And now… had Sweetie Belle become the new Diamond Tiara herself? Using ponies for her own ends?
She should have just interviewed Rarity.
Princess Celestia leaned forward and opened her mouth to speak.
“And how about the future?” Sweetie Belle asked before the Princess could formulate a question of her own. “You’ve reigned for over a thousand years. What do you see for the next thousand?”
“Hm,” Princess Celestia replied with an odd squint to her eye. “I guess I hadn’t really thought about that before. At my age, you get used to things running the way they always have, so… governing Equestria, I guess.” She blinked at the student pass tucked into the edge of Sweetie Belle’s saddlebag. “Oh, and keep running the School for Gifted Unicorns, of course. Nothing is more important than preparing the next generation.”
Did students at her own school get to interview her for simple assignments?
Sweetie Belle again paused and sifted through her thoughts for another question. Now she was wasting the Princess’s time.
“But with my sister back, I would also like to do as much with her as possible,” Princess Celestia continued with an exaggerated grin.
The guards had left the door ajar. Through the gap, Sweetie Belle could see some sort of aide shuffle through a bundle of papers and hesitate to knock. She had a somewhat flustered look to her. More important than a school paper, no doubt.
“I think that’s all,” Sweetie Belle said, stashing away her notepad.
The Princess eyed the door for a second, then a wisp of her magic pushed it the rest of the way shut. She wrinkled her forehead. “Is something the matter?”
At first, Sweetie Belle began shaking her head. But when she looked up and met Princess Celestia’s eyes… Something about them. Gently probing, with a soft sweetness behind them. She’d seen that so many times before from Princess Twilight. Had she learned that from her own mentor?
“Well…” Sweetie Belle glanced down. “It’s just an interview. For a dumb school project. If I wasn’t Rarity’s sister—” She let out a sigh that seemed to weigh ten pounds, yet only left her feeling heavier. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pressure you into giving me an appointment just because of who my friends are. It’s not fair to anypony.”
The Princess eased back into her seat and wrinkled her brow. “I hope you don’t think I’m doing this as a special favor to anypony.”
“Aren’t you?” Sweetie Belle had spoken before thinking better of it. And then not even using the proper royal address either. She really had become quite the social climber, hadn’t she? “Your Highness,” she added, but the Princess waved her off.
Princess Celestia took a measured breath. “I obviously don’t have time to meet with absolutely everypony who would like it, so I don’t advertise, but I do still prefer to remain accessible beyond official business. Yes, only some ponies know that, and so they have an advantage, but none of them have abused the privilege.” Her horn glowed briefly, and a folded note floated over from her desk.
It danced in front of Sweetie Belle’s face until she took it in her own aura. A simple request on her behalf, signed by Princess Twilight. Yes, this made her feel tons better.
“That request,” Princess Celestia said, poking a hoof toward it, “didn’t show up in my urgent papers, hadn’t been slipped under my door, didn’t arrive by Spike’s dragon flame. It was in the box, outside the throne room, same as any other application for an audience with me, went through the same officials, got on the agenda the same way anypony would.” She took another breath and gave Sweetie Belle a pointed glance. “I keep two spots open a day for such requests, so ten a week. Do you know how many ponies asked for a spot this week?”
She waited briefly, but Sweetie Belle could only shrug.
“Seven. I could accept them all. You’re not getting preferential treatment. However—” the Princess leaned forward and made two false starts at speaking before finding the words. “I’d make time for you anyway. Not because of whom you know. Because from what I’ve observed of you, you are a trustworthy pony who wouldn’t ask frivolously. Because you deserve that trust, regardless of what social circles you might keep.”
Maybe. Sweetie Belle’s gaze returned to the floor.
“Many, many of my ponies have earned that trust from me. If only you could see…” A strange smirk appeared on the Princess’s face. “Actually, I know a spell for that.”
“Is there a spell for everything?” Sweetie Belle asked, not expecting an answer.
Princess Celestia only chortled. “It seems that way sometimes. Beyond all the formalized ones in spellbooks, magic does afford one a degree of flexibility. There is not a spell for everything, but many useful things, like this.” She leaned in, angling her horn down. “Share my thoughts.”
In fits and starts, Sweetie Belle mirrored the gesture, not quite getting all the way there. The Princess had a bit of a reputation as a jokester.
“Go on,” she said. “For one with the journalistic dedication to uncover my love of cake”—Sweetie Belle returned a sheepish grin—“and the integrity to own up to her mistakes, I do not mind sharing.”
Well, here went nothing…
Warm, so warm, like a blanket, wrapped tightly, but not suffocating. Free, liberating in its closeness. She’d never felt so free! Every face watching her, but every one of them a part of her as well, seeing herself through their eyes, seeing them through her own. Sweetie Belle loved her little ponies, all of them, so much it hurt. The care, the warmth, the love, the wonderful variety of them all! Her heart throbbed to… to see them fulfill their delightful, unlimited potential! So many cutie marks, some she’d seen before but expressed in new ways, some completely new to her, but everypony reveling in the special talents they loved. Just like the thrill of raising the sun, no less diminished than the first time she’d done it centuries ago. E-even today, it could… it could bring her to tears…
Sweetie Belle awoke, trembling, with a broad, fierce smile. “I can’t stop crying!” she whispered hoarsely.
“I know.” Princess Celestia hugged her.
“Can’t stop, can’t stop…”
“I know.”
Sweetie Belle returned the hug. All her plans, her notes, seemed suddenly useless. How could she convey that single feeling? Forget all the boring, predictable questions. How to do nothing more than replicate what she’d just felt and get somepony else to feel it too?
Maybe she couldn’t. But she owed it to Princess Celestia to try.