“A statue standing strong and tall
Amidst the ruins, standing tall
The stars above, they twinkle and glow
As a feather falls, oh so slow
Once a mighty city full of life
Now just ruins and endless strife
But the statue stands, a silent sentinel
Guarding the city, forever eternal
The feather falls, a gentle breeze
A reminder of the city's ease
Before the fall, before the strife
When the city was full of life
Now just a memory, a distant dream
But the statue stands, a silent gleam
Of a time gone by, a forgotten past
But still standing strong, until the last.”
I rested my pen on the page before me, looking at the fireplace. I was laying next to Celestia, her warmth on the opposite side of the fireplace.
“Who wrote that one?” I asked after a couple of moments, glancing up at her.
Celestia smiled, “It’s from a pegasus named Silent Mind. He lived just over two hundred years ago. What do you think about it?”
I shifted my wings in thought, pushing my notebook to the side so I could rest my head on my hooves for a couple of moments, “Read it to me again?”
Smiling, Celestia did so.
“It’s sad,” I said a minute after she finished, “Was it written in a time of strife?”
“No. It was a peaceful time.”
Nodding, I rolled onto my back, looking up at her, “It’s written about you. Or somepony like you. Or maybe the idea of a timeless pony remembering better times. Standing strong against the harshness around them, for the ponies around them.”
“Maybe. That’s one of the things about poems. They give back what you bring into them,“ Celestia said as she looked down at me.
“But it is written about you?”
Celestia shook her head, smiling a bit sadly, “As an alicorn, you will find that quite a lot of poetry is written about you.”
“I guess it could also be about Equestria itself,” I said, looking up at the ceiling in thought, “What did he mean?”
“I don’t know.”
I blinked at her, “You don’t know?”
Celestia smiled sadly, “Never met him. Never even read anything of his until a hundred years ago.”
Oh.
Shifting a bit, I tried to relieve my aching back. Something that Celestia didn’t miss.
“Are you feeling okay?”
I nodded, “I'll be fine, but Steady was right. I am going to feel it in the morning. Maybe we should take it a bit easier then?”
Sunshine nodded with a smile, “Of course we can.“
Rolling over I slid my notebook back before me before I frowned and shook my head, closing it and sliding it away.
“Not feeling like writing?”
“No,” I admitted, “Didn’t get anywhere anyway,” I said and rested my head on my forehooves, “What do you have in mind for tomorrow?”
Celestia smiled at me, “I’m considering fire magic.”
“I thought we would not blow me up tomorrow?” I said and raised my head to frown up at her, “I don’t do fire magic.”
“Which is why we will start it easy and with simple spells. I suspect a lot of it is in your mind, there is nothing about your domain of stories or imaginations that is against fire, Page,” Celestia said and brushed her wing across mine.
“...Maybe,” I admitted, “I am hesitant about it… well, being on fire sucks.”
“So I’m told,” she said a bit dryly with a small smile.
“Okay, we’ll try it.”
“Do or do not, there is no try.”
I snorted, “I never should have written that thing,” I chuckled, “I’m never rid of that,” I said before I bundled up the blanket a bit and stole one of her pillows from her bed before I settled down, rolling onto my back to look up at her again and shaking my mane back to keep it out of my eyes, “...Do you have any more poems from him?”
“A few,” she said as she smiled down at me before she picked her book back up, turning pages before she nodded, “Here’s one.”
“A cloud, losing wisps of mist
In bright sunlight's golden kiss
A happy sight to see
As the cloud is set free
It dances in the sky
A joyous, happy cloud
As the sun shines down
Its wispy tendrils proud
It twirls and spins
A playful, carefree dance
A sight to behold
In this happy, sunny glance
The cloud may fade away
But its memory will remain
A happy moment captured
In the warmth of the sun's reign.”
“Are you sure you never met him?” I asked her with a smile.
Celestia shook her head, “If I did, I never knew his name. Or he wrote under a pseudonym. I wish I had known him, I like his poetry.”
“It is nice,” I admitted and flicked one ear, “...I’m still not sure I’m the right pony for it though. I can tell that it’s good, but it’s just… a single scene. I want more.”
Celestia smiled down at me, “My sister does not have patience for poetry either.”
I shook my head, “No, that’s not it. It’s nice, I just don’t have any experience in it. And it’s so… short. It leaves you with emotions but no substance.”
“Page,” Celestia said, sounding amused, “I think you may be missing the point of poetry.”
I smiled back, “Maybe I have,” I admitted and stretched out slightly, shaking my head a bit to stop it tugging on my mane, getting comfortable as I looked up at her, “Read me some more?”
Meeting my eyes, she did.