Celestia trotted up excitedly to the grandiose doors of the lone castle in Ponyville. The excitement she felt made her mouth upturn into a smile before she even realized it. Spending time with someone she hadn’t seen for a while always put her in a lighter mood. Even just having the chance to escape Canterlot and the constant nagging can make any day instantly better.
However, it was especially special now as she was going to spend time with her favourite former student. It was always a treat to see Twilight, as they both have gotten busier with their own schedules it had been harder to find the opportunity to just sit down and chat. A contrast to when they were living together in the castle back in Canterlot all those years ago.
Now, Twilight had her own castle, and Celestia was alone, missing the company of a young eager student. Though she had Luna, she still often found herself expecting a certain student to be around the corner, or waiting to be asked presumptuous questions late at night, accompanied by a tired baby dragon, who was unfortunately always dragged to her expeditions at the library.
Celestia knocked lightly at the wooden doors and took a few steps back waiting to be answered. A huge grin was plastered on her face as she predicted a long wait time. The longer it took Twilight Sparkle to answer the door always correlated to how invested and impressive her latest project was. Perhaps it’ll take two minutes today, she had told me she was working on a spell to find a connection— her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of hoof steps approaching the door. Hoof steps much too frantic, and quicker than the ones she was anticipating.
The door cracked open. It made a hollow sound that echoed throughout the castle as it did.
Celestia raised an eyebrow at the strange aroma the very act of opening the door was producing. As she recalled, it hasn’t been this suspensive the last time she visited. It made her feel a little unnerved. “Twilight?” She called out.
A different purple pony stepped out. One with a teal streak in her mane instead of a stark pink, and more surprisingly without any wings. The pony smiled and waved before remembering who she was addressing and instead hesitated into a low, respectful bow. However, she got up very quickly after seeing the princess’ confused features, “No, Starlight actually!”
Celestia masked her confusion and disappointment by managing a small smile. A perfect grin that she would default to, smile, smile, smile. It helped stopped the outrageous requests from each patron of the day court, something about seeing her so kind and amicable made them less angsty. It was years of this practice, in building the facade that prepared her for instances like these when she is thrown totally off guard.
Now, it helped Celestia not act like a complete fool not knowing who the pony in front of her was. She racked her mind briefly and then her eyes beamed when she recalled correctly; as if a light bulb very literally went off inside her head, “Ah– you must be Twilight’s new student! It is a pleasure to finally meet you.”
Starlight waved her hoof and a hue of pink scattered across her face, “No, the pleasure is all mine, really, princess!” Starlight said hastily. “Uhm– are you here to see Twilight? I’m sure you weren’t even expecting to meet me…”
“Yes I am, is she here?” Celestia asked eagerly.
Starlight slowly looked behind her and then back to meet Celestia’s impending gaze. She gave her a light chuckle but halted and ended up clearing her throat instead. “She’s not home, the map called her for a friendship mission…” Starlight said. She winced when she saw Celestia’s overcast eyes. “But! I-I’m sure she’ll be back right away! Uhm– if you’d like you can wait here for her to return!” Starlight offered.
Celestia beamed, “That sounds great.”
Starlight smiled and opened the door completely to let the Princess in, “Let’s wait for her in the map room, follow me!” Princess Celestia promptly entered the castle and closed the door behind her. Starlight stood awkwardly waiting before leading her through the castle. The tapping of her gold regalia on the crystal floors made an almost unbearable noise for Starlight. It only created more tension in the air as it emphasized that she was in such close proximity with THE Princess Celestia. She almost considered teleporting them to the destination to avoid the tension completely.
Luckily it was a short distance from the entrance way to the location of the map so she didn’t have to endure the uncomfortable atmosphere for long. Opening the doors to the room Starlight took a seat in Rarity’s chair while Celestia took hers in Twilight’s.
Starlight kept her smile, which by now was straining. The sweat which was now running down her temple was revealing her true feelings towards her company.
Celestia meanwhile was sitting perfectly upright, trying not to be bothered by Starlight’s unfocused stare and the awkward shifting of her weight in the chair. Celestia smiled, hoping that it will invoke a more welcoming aura towards the nervous unicorn. “So Starlight, what have you learned since you’ve lived in Ponyville?” She asked, honestly curious and not just in an attempt to settle the air.
Starlight jumped a little, not expecting to be addressed personally, “Lots of things! Although I haven’t been here for long, Twilight has already planned so many friendship lessons for me. Later today I’m helping Pinkie Pie with some orders at Sugarcube Corner!”
Celestia giggled, “That sounds wonderful, a day baking is a great way to spend time with your friends. But that certainly sounds like Twilight. I wouldn’t be surprised if she has already planned the next three years for you.”
“Oh um, that’s great really, great!” Starlight muttered, she laughed to conceal her underlying feelings.
Celestia gave a sympathetic look instantly understanding what was going on. She recognized it from years of teaching, the shadows of doubt and shame. “Starlight, I’m certain that you have the potential to be a wonderful pony. Twilight has expressed countless times that she can trust that you will continue to grow better. That you’re a good pony ready to do great things as long as we allow you to. That’s not something she shunned away from.”
Starlight looked up to meet Celestia’s eyes. Pensive magenta eyes looked deeply into hers. It was sincerity. She nodded slowly, taking a moment to absorb everything completely. “I didn’t know she believed in me so strongly. I didn’t know she told you.”
“It was her argument when she gave you a royal pardon. I don’t do what she said justice, seeing her debate the council, doing it so ruthless, and passionately was truly endearing,” Celestia recounted. “She defended you with everything she had, Starlight. You are in good hooves under her guidance.”
Starlight breathed taking everything in, “One of the first friendship lessons I learned was empathy and forgiveness. Before I even became her student it had been her willingness to put faith in me, and give me a chance,” she said softly.
“She had always been kind,” Celestia agreed. “It goes both ways, it was also your willingness to accept her and accept the change that led you to a brighter path.”
Starlight laughed, “I supposed, but it was really Twilight who snapped me out of it,” she explained. They lapsed into a comfortable silence, finally adjusted to each other enough to be able to simply sit without having to feel the irking awkward quietness. Until a sudden thought came over her from seeing the perfect opportunity to ask something that was on her mind for a while, “I heard that you and Twilight go way back. Before she was a princess. What was she like?”
Celestia pondered for a moment to think about her response. It was hard to explain in words who Twilight was. There were simply not enough words. On the surface, she is intelligent, diligent, and serious. Before moving to Ponyville Celestia dared say that she was unapproachable, cold, and abrasive. But to describe Twilight now would be describing a totally different pony, except one thing always remained consistent.
“An insomniac.”
Starlight stared blankly at the Princess. She waited for her to backtrack on her answer. The longer she waited the longer it was harder for Starlight to hold in her laughter before it burst out completely. “Insomniac?!” She repeated in gasping breaths. “I was expecting something like, ‘oh she was the epitome of kindness when she was born!’ not insomniac!” She snorted.
Celestia laughed as well, “Don’t get me wrong she is very kind, talented, no less than amazing, but she had always had a bad habit of staying up working hard on her projects.”
“I’m afraid that habit has stayed then,” she said wiping a tear from her eye.
Celestia smiled reminiscing back on the countless times she had found Twilight still up from the previous night just reading. So immersed every single time. “Still a black coffee every morning?”
Starlight shook her head, “No, more like one in the middle of the night. Where does she get her coffee beans? It’s so potent and strong?”
“They’re ones imported from Vanhoover,” she said immediately, it was because she orders them to be shipped to the castle every moon and they always manage to arrive promptly, just in time for the last shipment to run out.
Starlight hummed, “What’s her favourite flavour of ice cream?”
“Vanilla,” she answered as quickly.
Starlight smiled, “The book she’s currently reading?”
“It’s a re-read, The Myth of Sisyphus, though she typically reads ten books at a time.”
She nodded, “What’s her favourite flight pattern?”
“The Aristotelian Maelstrom Moonsault!” Celestia said her hooves were now on the table and she had gotten out of her seat. The trivia burned a fire in her soul and ignited her will and might to get every single one of those questions right.
With a smug smile Starlight clapped, “To be honest, I didn’t know what any of those answers were. Honestly, I was waiting for you to admit you didn't know the answer. But you didn't, I'm impressed, Princess.”
She laughed, “So do I get a prize then?”
Starlight put a hoof to her chin looking behind Celestia for a brief second before looking back at her to reply, “The title of knowing Twilight better than her own parents?”
“I’ll take that!” Celestia said happily. She clapped her hooves together at the new title. Excited that she had won something, even if the trivia game wasn’t that easy.
“Wow, Princess Celestia, I didn’t even remember I liked that once, good catch,” she heard a voice say directly behind her.
Celestia spun around, “Twilight?” She said surprised that she didn’t hear someone come into the room. The doors made such an awful noise that would tell anyone that someone was entering. Getting up from her seat she moved to meet Twilight in the doorway.
“It’s good to see you, Princess,” she smiled. Celestia wordlessly gave Twilight an affectionate nuzzle.
When they broke apart she remembered the third presence, “Thank you, Starlight. I’m glad you two had the opportunity to finally meet each other!”
Starlight waved her hoof dismissive, “It’s no problem, when the maps calls, you go. That’s just how it works,” she said motioning her arms in the air to add the whimsical effect. Twilight nodded in agreement.
“We were just talking about her position as your student,” Celestia said pulling back her calm demeanor. Starlight smiled and nodded quickly, upholding the lie.
Twilight beamed, “I was meaning to show you the friendship lessons I had planned for you, Princess!” She said eagerly, teleporting away and materializing back to the same spot, now accompanied by a stack of papers with her. She handed Celestia a stack of papers. She scanned through them quickly and giggled. “What’s so funny?”
“I did the same with you, marked with dates, and perfectly colour coded too!” She laughed harder flipping through more lessons and seeing the uncanny similarities between the ways Twilight structured Starlight's lessons and how she structured Twilight’s.
Twilight grinned, “I mean, I did learn from the best.”
Celestia laughed, rolled her eyes jokingly, and pulled her into a hug. For Celestia, initiating physical affection felt natural, only if it was towards Twilight. She had to admit if it was anyone else, she would feel foreign to the idea. For centuries she had learned to keep ponies at arms lengths. Careful to not create any personal bounds that would result in any sort of attachment. Because gaining the favour of a princess, was better than any gold or any other leverage. Why would she ever want to be subjected to all of that again?
But along came Twilight and all the walls she thought she built collapsed. And oddly enough, she was okay with that.
“So… how long have you known each other?” Starlight said, pausing her thoughts.
Twilight looked back to Celestia and smiled, “A very long time. Since I was a little filly. We met when I got my cutie-mark, and from that moment forward I became her protégé. Spent my time studying in the castle until I moved to Ponyville, that’s the gist of it at least,” she briefly summarized.
“You lived in the Canterlot castle since you were a filly until you moved to Ponyville?” Starlight questioned she looked keenly at Twilight.
She nodded slowly, glancing at Starlight to question what was wrong with that sentiment, “Yes?”
“Don’t your parents live in Canterlot?” Starlight started. “Couldn’t you have stayed with them?”
A penny dropped. The air began to tighten. A long pause overstretched the group. Celestia looked down intently at Twilight awaiting her response or lack of response to change the topic, Starlight considered backpedaling on her words.
“I didn’t see much of my parents after I got my cutie-mark," Twilight said in an even tone, that didn't show any hint of resentment or enjoyment about speaking of the topic of her parent's involvement when she was younger. She was indifferent. Completely indifferent.