//------------------------------// // The Last Time… // Story: Rogue Diamond: When She Loved Me (Mother's Day) // by Phantom-Dragon //------------------------------// “...And that’s why he’s going to be staying with me, Twilight Sparkle. You think of him as an assistant and nothing else. It's beginning to worry me that a young mare of your age still doesn't have any friends, and I think you use Spike as an excuse not to make any.” It hurts just to hear that, coming from moth–Celestia. I thought Twilight and I were friends. But just hearing Celestia chew Twilight out like that made me wonder if we were ever truly friends, or if I'm just an assistant to her. Nothing special. Well, whatever the case, before Twilight left, Celestia asked her to at least try and make friends, to which Twilight finally complied. "Thank you, my student. And don't worry about Spike or I, we'll be fine." ...If only she'd knew about the future. It's mother's day. That single day of every year, when mothers and their children would spend the day, making happy memories and treasuring every moments of their love together. Or so they used to. I used to. I once had a mother. Or at least, someone who's the closest to a mother I've ever had, when I was just a lonely orphaned dragon child, in a kingdom of ponies. To every pony who see me, I’m just an abomination. But then again, it does seem to come with the territory of being a dragon, living in an all-pony community. I don't expect to get a pony girlfriend anytime soon. I mean, who even heard of a dragon boyfriend and a pony girlfriend. It's as absurd and ridiculous as a pony and a draconequus being all lovey-dovey. Though, for some reason, she was the only exception. Unlike everyone else, when she looked at me, it’s like…she sees exactly who I am. I’m just a kid. And more than that, she was like a mother to me. Before Princess Luna, and before everything was all thrown into ruination, she was my whole world. She was my home, my family, and my friend. Maybe the only friend I had back then. And in one moment, of insanity, she just…forgot about me. About us. About our times together, when…we were like mother and son. When She Loved Me I still remember like it was yesterday, though it was several years ago, give or take. After Twilight left to make some friends in Ponyville, I was left to assist and keeping Princess Celestia company with her work. Though, everyday, it was more like taking your child to work day, for her. Compared to Twilight, working with her was more than just an honor. It felt...genuine. Like she really appreciated me for my efforts to make her workload less stressful and the privilege of being by her side, every step of the way. I felt pretty good with myself. And whenever I made a mistake, now and then, say...sneezing a burst of flame, that burned a book, or a scroll, by accident. She reassured me that it was only a mistake, or an accident, and helped me to fix my mistakes. She really is a mother to me...or was. It's still hard to believe that she...Celestia...would do all this. That she would truly go out of her way to murder her own sister and flood the world. I still say this is all a bad dream and that I was just making it up in my head. That I would wake up, looking into those gentle violet eyes, with her loving arms wrapped around me, stroking her hands across the back of my head, comforting me. Just like how she used to do. But no. This is the cruel reality that I'm forced to wake up to. A tough pill to swallow. The harsh truth that the Celestia I knew may as well be gone for good. And all the good times I've held onto so dearly...are all just memories. Just memories. It hurts to think about them. But they're happy. The happiest moments I've ever felt in all my life. Every hours, we spent together, they live on within my heart. When it was just Celestia and I. Though she doesn't show, in public, she was secretly very sad and lonely without her sister, Luna. And whenever she had some moments to pour out her emotional heartbreak, I was there to dry her tears. To give her a shoulder to cry on. And a big hug that any son would give for their mother. And at the end of the days, after work, when we're not a princess and an assistant running the kingdom, we were mother and son. She'd let me ride on her back, we'd go out to the gardens, where we played hide and seek in the maze, and just fool around. Although, there was this one time when I wanted to surprise her and...I gave her quite the surprise alright. In the shower. She was really flustered back when. But she forgave me and got me back with a surprise of her own. And I knew that she loved me. I actually thought it would last for a long time. So the years went by. I stayed the same. But she began to drift away. When Princess Luna came back to Canterlot, I welcomed her. I was excited about having an aunt and a mother, together. I thought the fun and love would be doubled. But instead, it was like Princess Luna's return had flipped a switch on Celestia...she flipped the script. And without warning...they're gone. I was left alone. Still, I waited for the day when she’d say she’ll always love me. But she never did. And I was heartbroken to realize, the last time I ever spent Mother's Day with Celestia, was the last last time. Looking back, I wondered if she ever loved me at all. Sometimes, I wonder if Twilight was really my friend, or like mo—Celestia said, I’m just an assistant. An excuse. A scapegoat for Twilight to not make any friends. It’s all become a shade of gray. It wasn’t all black and white, as I thought it was, when it was young. I’m so lost, so confused, and so unsure of my place in the world, with Celestia gone. With Princess Luna gone. Everything is gone. I just want to have all those times back. I guess, deep down, I'm still hanging onto a faint glimmer of hope that my mother is still there, and that she's calling out for me to save her, somewhere in the shadows of Canterlot. Somewhere dark, where not even Daybreaker's sun can penetrate. I know the world have forgotten the wise and loving Celestia, and are now calling her "Daybreaker." I just know the Celestia I knew as a mother is still in there. And I hope it doesn't come to this. I wish I knew the answer to end all this madness. To make her come to her senses. To help her be the princess she was again. But if there isn't... I hope it doesn't come to that. Mother…wherever you are…I hope we’ll see each other again. Though I'll only see you in dreams, you'll never know just what your memory means to me. Now it's up to me to end this story, with or without you.