//------------------------------// // Nightmares - 4 // Story: The Fragrance of Dark Coffee // by stillwedding //------------------------------// It was a foolish attempt. Celestia would admit that much.  When she raided the castle kitchen of all of its caffeinated drinks and told the kitchen staff to not serve a particular restless Princess she had thought her grand idea work. That the absence of the cursed austere drink would push her to actually get some rest even if it meant she would’ve passed out on the ground.  Except in the morning when she passed by the young Princess with a smug grin and a paper cup from the local coffee shop just down the street her victory was instantly dashed away. ‘They even gave me a discount! Free for royalty!’ She recalled Twilight's taunt. Celestia could particularly hear the underlying laughter weaved through.     It had started to physically hurt her to see the husk of a pony Twilight was. Zombie-like in every way, dragging her feat to the next meeting, and smiling on command. Celestia wanted more than anything else for everything to be fixed immediately.  Now it was the third day of her stay in Canterlot. That was three whole days now that Celestia has not seen Twilight sleep.  Celestia was getting so desperate.  She breathed a sigh of defeat which made Raven perk up beside her, awaiting to be addressed. “I want everything from eight p.m. to be pushed to tomorrow,” Celestia calmly stated to her aide. Raven closed her eyes holding back a criticism. Over the years she had come to understand that for Princess Celestia, although as a ruler of a prominent nation with a lot of important items to complete daily, it never truly mattered. Because nothing was more important than the well-being of her former student.  Raven’s lips thinned, creating a profound silence between the monarch and her assistant. Celestia raised her eyebrow, awaiting the certain rebuttal that never fail to come. “Are you sure, your majesty?” She said enunciating each word carefully. “You still have to meet with the senior lieutenant for an update of Canterlot’s security this month.”   “That can wait, Equestria has been pushed into the longest age of peace thanks to Princess Twilight’s multiple outstanding efforts,” she smiled, reminiscing on Twilight’s past accomplishments, pride was masking her abilities. “Tell Lieutenant Flash Wave that I will meet with her tomorrow morning, promptly at sunrise.”  “Yes, your majesty,” Raven mustered and gave her a curt, respectful nod before leaving her alone to admire the line of towering stain-glass before her.  Although she cleared her daily to-do list a new one was already forming inside her head. And the top of the list was getting Twilight to go to sleep. ☆ ☆ ☆ It was easy to find Twilight.  The spell of dark roasted coffee easily revealed her location. The castle staff or anyone in the castle would have brushed off the constant smell but it was simply too signature for Celestia to ignore. Just like a unicorn’s magical signature, or a pony’s cutie-mark, Twilight had her own secondary signature, being the fragrance of dark coffee. Celestia had learned that Twilight in particular liked her coffee with no sugar, no milk, no cream, no nothing, or anything for that matter. Oftentimes she had caught herself wondering if she just chews on the coffee grounds themselves like gum. It made the area that she was working in for the night have a distinct airy taste in the air if that was even possible. She followed the scent to an obvious location. Regardless of the added background information, it was a relatively easy guess for anyone to assume where she was. Twilight had been in the same space for the last few days, her own private study. Celestia had commissioned it herself for her beloved student when her studies began to become more taxing and exceeded the space in the castle’s archives.  It had been one of Luna’s rooms, the interior hinted at the night as it was in fairly dark spruce wood and an entrancing ebony desk. The intricate patterns in the wood reflected the reminisce of her little sister, faint constellations could be traced if one took the time to notice.  It was here within such a breathtaking room that she found Twilight scowling at some papers probably regarding litigation or their upcoming exhibition. Or perhaps it was the increasingly dark eye-bags that were forming that made her seem angrier than she really was. Celestia leaned on the doorway and admired her calculated movements for someone who was so sleep-deprived. “You know what they say, everything’s better with a well-rested mind,” she started. Twilight slowly looked up at Celestia and welcomed her with her tired eyes.  “And you know I’ve never followed that philosophy,” Twilight said with a smirk.  Celestia allowed herself to laugh remembering all the time they had found themselves in this similar situation. Where Celestia would catch her working late in the night and adamantly make her go to sleep. “I hate your determination, or should I call it stubbornness?” Twilight rolled her eyes, “I am not stubborn.” “Sure,” she carelessly agreed and smiled, arguing a fact was rather baseless. “Still I want you to get some sleep.”  Twilight gave her a sheepish smile, and with a wave, she insisted, “I will, I will later. I just need to–” her quill halted mid-sentence, she was completely blindsided that her company would interfere with her own levitation spell.  “Nope, right now,” Celestia knew ‘later’ was indefinite for Twilight. Later could’ve easily meant the next new moon. “But–” Celestia held her hoof up, “No buts!” with a firm hold on Twilight with her magic she was marching her to the direction of her room. Completely exhausted Twilight had trouble commanding her own magic, her reaction time was non-existent and it was too late to protest.  “H-hey! Put me down, Princess–!” At this point, the more Twilight frailed around in her grasp the more attention was being drawn. At some point the castle’s staff were eyeing the pair wildly; a few guards snickered at the sight of the reigning monarch levitating Princess Twilight. The scowl on her face was utterly priceless.  “Absolutely not!” Celestia laughed which could be heard down the hallway and the fading efforts of Twilight’s weak attempt to stop her. When they made it to Twilight’s untouched room she gently laid her on the bed and pulled the covers over her. Fatigue was overtaking her body, the effect of the coffee long gone, and what was left was the built-up exhaustion from the last three days.  “Goodnight, Twilight,” Celestia said, running a hoof through her mane in a comforting gesture. “This isn’t over yet Celestia–” a yawn escaped from her mouth before she even had the chance to finish her sentence.  Celestia raised an eyebrow and grinned, “Sweet dreams,” she taunted but before she could turn and leave she felt a subtle hold on her arm. Though Twilight could physically feel herself falling into the realm of the unconscious she took all her remaining energy to reach out and grab Celestia. In a last-ditch effort to ensure that she wouldn’t be alone as she embraced the torments of the night again.  ☆ ☆ ☆ She was stirring again. Celestia noticed and was thankful she had stayed by her side. Her furrowed eyes and the occasional groans that escaped made it more obvious that she was in pain no matter how hard she tried to conceal it when she was awake.  “Twilight,” Celestia began, hoping that addressing her would wake her up to no avail. “Twilight,” she said more firmly, this time with the slightest nudge. By the slightest contact, Twilight’s eyes shot wide open. She was awake and immediately sat right up. She took a few seconds to blink away the fatigue, the disorienting feeling made her breathing become increasingly uneven.  Celestia stared at her former student, concern etched on her features after seeing the violent reaction. Hesitating for a moment, she began to hold her.  “Where am I?” Twilight asked desperately with shaking in her voice. Her eyes were dilated not yet aware. Twilight felt so far away from herself until she hears Celesti’a incantation and touch. “You’re in Canterlot, in your childhood bedroom, in my arms, safe. You’re safe here, you’re safe with me,” Celestia whispered softly in her ear.  Twilight turned her face to bury it in Celestia’s chest. She rubbed circles onto her back. Eventually, after some time, her breathing returned to a reasonable pace. Celestia wasn’t new to this position, oftentimes Twilight craved physical affection of some sort after an altercation, be it after saving Equestria for the seventh time or after doing well on a test. However, now it was different. She was seeking comfort. Celestia felt a sudden pain welling up in her heat and pulled Twilight closer to stroke her mane.  They stayed like that for a while. Celestia’s comforting touch and Twilight’s rigid breathing.  Eventually, Twilight glanced up from the embrace to see Celestia’s signature smile. Light and tender, that somehow converge that message ‘your safe with me.’ How could a simple smile do this was beyond her understanding, but what Twilight did know is that only Celestia could pull it off. She looked away from her mentor and buried her face back into her chest. “Make it stop,” she pleaded softly, only quiet enough for Celestia to hear although she knew she could be as loud as she wanted as they were the only ones in the room. Celestia allowed Twilight to rest on her forearm, “Twilight what’s wrong?” she urged. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “But, I keep seeing them, constantly, every single night.” “You’ve been having nightmares?” Twilight nodded though it could’ve been missed if she hadn’t been in her arms. “I know it’s stupid, every pony else is perfectly fine but I’m still stuck, Celestia. I’m scared. So scared and it shouldn’t be like this. I know it’s dumb, I’m sorry. I’m sorry you’re seeing me like this right now. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Celestia.” When she finished, tears were freely falling down and the suppressed cries came out and her breathing quickened once more.  Celestia's heart shattered into a million pieces.  Her heart ached. It was completely different when Twilight cried. She has rarely seen the young princess upset. Twilight always seemed level-headed and knew what to do in every instance. For Celestia, she has never seen Twilight falter. Even in the face of almost certain death, her composure didn’t dare waver.  “Twilight, it’ll be okay, I promise everything will be okay,” she tried reassuring her, “It’s not your fault. It’s not your fault,” Celestia repeated.  At this point she was whimpering, Celestia now knew something she was hiding for the past few months, and the whole reality she has built around herself had shattered completely, “I’m so tired, Celestia. Of constantly seeing Tirek, or Sombra, or Chrysalis taking everything away from me time and time again.” “They’re gone now, you defeated them with your friends in a valor display of courage,” Celestia reminded her, trying to bring her back to some sense of reality. She nodded, her breathing was at a reasonable pace. But Celestia didn’t dare let her go. Worried if she would everything would begin to consume Twilight once more.  “I’m sorry, Celestia,” Twilight muttered. “You don’t need to apologize,” she said firmly.  She shook her head, “I didn’t want to be a bother–” “Twilight,” Celestia pleaded, “You are never a bother. I’m sorry you had to carry this burden for so long, you don’t have to put on a front, not with me okay? Not with me.”  Twilight hummed too exhausted to protest, she felt her subconscious slipping away again, though this time she wasn’t so scared because at least now she felt a force so strong that it was as if it was there to protect her.  “Thank you, for all of this.”  “Of course, Twilight.” Celestia naturally replied. They lapsed in silence again until an idea came to her head, “How about we make some hot coco together and we can have a sleepover together in my chambers tonight just like old times.”  “I would like that a lot actually.”