//------------------------------// // 2: The Ties That Bind // Story: The Student and the Sun // by Ponycletian //------------------------------//         It was nearly 5:00 when the quiet stillness of the gardens was broken by the gentle sound of approaching hoofsteps. Celestia’s ears perked up at the sound, for it most likely heralded the arrival of her faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.         She had finished her preparations nearly an hour ago, and had, since then, been contemplating exactly where her relationship with Twilight Sparkle had gone wrong. The conclusion that something had gone wrong was inescapable, the evidence overwhelming. All she had to do was consider the events of three weeks ago when Twilight had plunged all of Ponyville into chaos in a desperate effort to avoid missing a friendship report. There had been other incidents that had given her reason to worry, but until now, she had never truly had both the time and inclination to examine their relationship further.         She didn’t like to think of herself as particularly manipulative. She preferred that her subjects obeyed her of their own free will, and she had never felt the need to be particularly harsh or demanding. One of the advantages of being immortal and almost unimaginably more powerful than both her friends and enemies alike was that she had never really needed to worry about threats to her rule. She allowed free press, opened the castle to visitors and held regular public audiences, and traveled frequently around Equestria to ensure that everypony was able to reach her, no matter their personal means. She did these things, not from a desire for self-aggrandizement, but because she wanted her subjects to be happy and to live happy lives, yet what she saw when she looked at her most faithful student, her protegee and her friend, frightened her.         What she saw when she thought of Twilight Sparkle was both her greatest success, and greatest failure. She knew that there were psychological methods of manipulation that were based around making ponies feel dependent upon others, and that was what she saw in Twilight. She had, without conscious effort, tied Twilight’s happiness so thoroughly to herself that she could bring the lavender mare to tears with a disapproving glance. This had--of course--meant that Twilight had worked herself harder than anypony else, since for years, her sole source of happiness had been the Princess’ approval. The result had been that Twilight became the most powerful, intelligent, and obedient slave that Celestia had ever known. But she could not deny that her relationship with her faithful student seemed to have warped over the years into a form of emotional slavery, and this repulsed her.         She had decided that she would not allow this state of affairs to persist now that she had both realized the problem and had the time to fix it. She actually felt that it would morally reprehensible if she were to devote anything less than her full attention to fixing their relationship since she owed so much to the mare in question. The only reason that she was able to sit comfortably in the gardens contemplating the nature of their friendship was because Twilight had both freed her sister from the nightmare of Night Mare Moon, and more recently, helped to reintroduce her to her subjects. Twilight, more than anypony she could remember, deserved the chance to be happy without having to cater to Celestia’s every whim.         She rose quietly from the grassy clearing where she had been lying and went to meet Twilight. It was time for Twilight to see that not everything had to revolve around Celestia. She would be the one doing the greeting for a change.         She walked, hoofsteps muffled by the grass, over to the cobblestone trail where she found her faithful student searching for her. “Twilight, I’m so happy to see you,” she said volubly. She noticed that there was a large, finely crafted, yet unadorned, storage chest resting atop her student’s back, held in place by magic. “Please, allow me to get that for you,” she volunteered cheerily.         Twilight’s response was one of stunned inaction, which she found disappointing. Apparently the idea of the Princess coming to greet her, and offering to carry her things, was completely unanticipated, and seemed to be causing her physical discomfort. It took nearly five seconds for Twilight to react, which she eventually did by falling into a deep bow, causing the box, on which she had only had a light, now forgotten, hold, to fall. She stammered out a hasty, “Pri- Princess Celestia, I- I was just coming to find you,” even as Celestia was catching the dropping container. “I’m sorry if I disturbed you, but the guards said that you were expecting me, and that I should just come and find you.” Her voice was apologetic, and she was gradually prostrating herself even further as she continued to explain her actions. “But they didn’t know where you were in the gardens, so I just started looking, and I- oh my gosh.” She had apparently realized that the box was no longer on her back. “I’m sorry, I mean, thank you for catching it, but please let me to carry it. I promise I’ll be more careful.” Breathless from her rapid apologies and explanations, she tried to use her magic to grab the box, but seemed surprised when Celestia refused to loosen her hold.         “Twilight, please rise and calm down,” she said reassuringly. “You did not disturb me, just the opposite in fact. I have been waiting anxiously for your arrival for more than an hour, and I wanted to come and greet you.” She wrapped a hoof around the slowly recovering mare, pulling her into a hug. Allowing a hint of humor into her voice, she joked self-deprecatingly, “and while I may have needed your help with Night Mare Moon and Discord, I do believe that I can still manage to carry a wooden chest, my faithful student.”         Twilight blushed bright red at this, stammering, “o- o- of course, yo- your Highness. I didn’t mean to imply that you couldn’t carry it, it’s just that-”         “-That you were trying to subtly hint that I am out of shape and that I am therefore unable to perform such strenuous physical labor,” she interrupted jokingly.         “NOOOO!” Twilight shrieked, “I would never even think such a thing. You are the strongest, most powerful, and best looking pony I know. If anypony could carry it, then it would be you. I just didn’t want you to have to clean up my mistake, not again.” Celestia worried that she had gone too far, since Twilight was trembling with what Celestia thought was fear, and tears were welling in her violet eyes.         “Twilight... ,” she began in her most soothing voice. “Twilight, please calm down.” She lightly stroked her student’s mane like she had when Twilight was a filly. “I was joking. I know that you would never think those things, my faithful student. You are far too good a friend to act that way, and I was wrong to imply that you would.”         “No, Princess,” Twilight replied through a strangled sob. “You were joking, and I’m sorry that I couldn’t tell. I shouldn’t have-.”         “-Shhh,” Celestia interrupted calmly. “Enough of that, Twilight,” she said, lifting her other hoof to Twilight’s lips. “How about we agree that we both went a little too far and move on.”         It seemed as if Twilight would try to protest further, but eventually she nodded and began to calm down. For several minutes, They just stood there, with Celestia embracing the trembling, teary-eyed mare, and stroking her mane tenderly. It saddened her to know that she had inflicted such pain on her closest friend, but she knew that the process had to start somewhere. She could draw some small solace from the fact that Twilight had, albeit reluctantly, accepted that her Princess had made a mistake in carrying her joke too far. It wasn’t much, but it was something, and she found herself hoping that they could spend at least the rest of that night without any further unpleasantness. She knew that she needed to do something, but even this small lesson had nearly broken her heart.         “Twilight? Would you mind telling me what’s in the box?” Her tone was quiet and benign. She didn’t want to make Twilight any more uncomfortable than she already was.         Twilight barely nodded, and when she spoke, it was in a thin, quavering voice. “They’re my friendship reports. The ones you sent me when Discord got loose. I thought you might want them back, and since I was coming here... ,” her voice just trailed off.         “Thank you Twilight,” she said, touched by her student’s thoughtfulness. “I must admit that I’ve missed having your lessons to reflect upon during long days in court.” In a lighter tone, “especially since your reports bear such a striking resemblance to official court documents, I can read them during petitions without anypony becoming suspicious.” This joke drew a startled gasp from Twilight, but also helped to pull her from her depression.         Once Twilight had stopped trembling, and no longer seemed in danger of crying, Celestia pulled Twilight into a tighter embrace for a moment before ending the hug altogether. “I’m glad that you brought these with you Twilight,” she said with a nod to the chest of reports, “because they have given me an excellent idea for what we can do next.” Twilight looked at her with an adorably confused expression on her face which warmed her heart. “As I recall, there were some things about your reports that you wished to discuss with me at the Grand Galloping Gala.” Twilight’s eyes brightened, her posture straightened, and all her despair from moments before seemed forgotten. “And since we have all of tonight, and as much of tomorrow as you want, I would love to hear as much about your time in Ponyville as you want to tell me. I can only hope that this will make up for that disaster ponies call the Grand Galloping Gala.”         Twilight was positively beaming with delight as she bounced happily in pace. “Really Princess,” she asked in near disbelief. She gave an excited squeal when Celestia nodded, only to stop suddenly when Celestia cleared her throat.         “On one condition,” she said sternly, causing the unicorn to wilt visibly. “Since I am not currently performing any royal duties, and this is the closest thing to a holiday I’ve had in ages, I would like for you to stop calling me Princess for the duration of your stay.”         Twilight’s jaw fell open slightly, and Celestia struggled not to giggle at her student’s surprise. “Um... then what should I call you, your Highness.”         Celestia pouted transparently, saying, “you know what I mean, Twilight. No, ‘your Highness,’ or ‘Princess,’ or ‘your majesty.’ Call me Celestia, or, since I know that it is rather long for an informal address, ‘Tia.”         “I think I will stick with Celestia,” Twilight said after a moments hesitation. “Are we going to stay in the gardens,” she asked mildly, starting to act more like her normal, collected self.         “That depends, Twilight, on what you want to do,” Celestia said kindly. “I took the liberty of having a number of snacks sent up to my parlor, including an order of fresh made doughnuts from Pony Joe’s, made especially for you. Believe it or not, but he actually bumped the order to the front of the line when he heard it was for you.” Twilight blushed at the suggestion that she would have received such special treatment.         Now that she was calmer, it seemed that her more reasonable side was starting to assert itself. “Or, it seems more likely that he realized that an order from the castle made in preparation for the arrival of the Princess’ personal student most likely originated with said Princess. I think Joe would put two dozen and two dozen together and arrive at you, Celestia.” Twilight blushed furiously at the startled look that appeared on Celestia’s face. Celestia hadn’t expected Twilight to start making jokes. She definitely hadn’t expected Twilight to start making jokes about her weight. She may have started it, but she hadn’t expected Twilight to run with it like this. She must have taken too long to formulate a response, because the bashful smile turned into a concerned frown. “Princess,” she said hesitantly. “I’m sorry, I was just joking. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings or to imply anything.”         “Oh, I think you did, Twilight. And believe me, two can play at that game.” She grinned slyly which caused the unicorn to blanch. “And I asked you to please not call me Princess.”         Twilight nodded nervously, and Celestia, still smiling said, “now, my incredibly witty student, I believe that there are some doughnuts waiting for us inside, and I can’t wait to hear all about your time in Ponyville.” With those words, she grabbed the chest with her magic and strode purposefully into the castle.