//------------------------------// // Love in all it's glory [Edited] // Story: Celestias Protégé // by Dradavar //------------------------------// Celestias protégé By Dradavar --- My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic © Hasbro --- --- I do not own the intellectual properties this fan-fiction is based on --- Chapter 2: Love in all it's glory There was only one reaction in the room: shock. "Died?" Celestia's voice was quiet and quivered in disbelief. "But that can't be true. Twilight Sparkle can't be dead. I got so many letter from her, she can't be dead" she shakes her head. "But she is." Twilight Velvet said, her voice was quiet and sad. "Explain it to me." Celestia's voice was still shaking; she just couldn't believe it. Night Light nodded and took a deep breath, looking at each pony in the room before noticing something. Something missing. "Where is Shining Armor?" he asked. Velvet took a look around, fear filling her eyes. Apparently they hadn't seen him since they fled from the invasion. Cadence took a step forward. Velvet and Night Light looked at her. "He is in the barracks. He needed to calm down after we noticed Twilights disappearance." Night Light and Velvet nodded, Velvet even let out a sigh of relief. "I'm afraid we'll have to explain it to him again later on." Night Light looked at his wife, softly holding her hoof and looking into her watery eyes. She nodded. He turned back to Celestia and the rest, his expression sad and sorrowful. "Thirteen years have passed since the day Twilight died." His voice was shaking. Velvet even sobbed as Night Light started his explanation. "Twilight was four years old and a very lively child but she also loved to read, just like the Twilight you've all met." He gulped as the memories returned. "She was outside, reading a book and playing with her doll Smarty Pants." He rubs his eyes, trying to stifle the tears. "She got ponynapped." Celestia's eyes widen, Rarity gasped, though the rest were silent, listening to the story. "All we heard were her screams as the pony took her. We called the guards and searched for her. We searched two long days for her." He stopped, his face buried in his front hooves. "I remember the case" Celestia's soft voice could be heard. "Marble Dust, the captain of the guard before Shining Armor was on the case, searching for the culprit." She looked back at Twilight. "He said that all he had found was the dead body of the culprit; his victim was never found." Twilight shrugged. Twilight Velvet's and Night Light's soft sobs were the only things that could be heard for a few, long moments. Taking a deep breath, Night Light looked up, his eyes red and puffy. "We found him. Velvet and I. We were lucky and saw him as he tried to slip away from the guards. He ran into an alley, a knife at my daughter's throat. I sent Velvet away, searching for the guards so they could help us save our daughter. I stayed there, watching the alley in case he tried to get away." Velvet nodded, more sobs escaping her mouth. "And then it happened" his voice was cold. "It took to long for the guards to come over to help us, so I went in but what I saw shocked me." His eyes wandered over to Twilight. "A changeling was in the alley, talking to the culprit. She tried to get Twilight out of his hooves, she tried to make a deal, that she would go into jail for him if he would release the filly. He smiled. The next thing I saw was how the changeling charged at the stallion, Twilight's scream and the hurt groan of the stallion." He took a deep breath, his eyes wandering back to his hooves. "As I walked closer-" his voice was even quieter now. "-I saw the changeling sitting next to my daughter's body, crying. She cried over the death of a pony she never knew. The stallion was lying behind her. His neck was twisted; she had killed him after he cut the throat of my little girl." That was his breaking point. He covered his face with his hooves, tears falling to the floor. Celestia looked shocked, as did all the others in the room. After a few minutes Celestia looked at Twilight, her expression was sad. Night Light took a deep breath and went on explaining, his voice getting stronger with every word that escaped his mouth. "After that she talked to me. She told me how sorry she was that she couldn't save her, that she had tried everything." He looked at Twilight, his eyes filled with tears but his expression friendly and warm. "She helped us bury Twilight under her favorite tree. I know we shouldn't have done that but... we were so heartbroken that everything else seemed meaningless. After we buried Twilight, I asked her who she was, what she was doing here and why she even tried to rescue Twilight." He looks at Celestia. "I will never forget what she said that day." "'She was the only pony who wasn't scared of me.'" Celestia's eyes wandered over to Twilight who had said the last sentence. What she saw shocked even her. Twilight was crying, covering her face with her hooves. "She was so innocent. She didn't even know what I am. She shared her sweets with me and played with me." She managed to giggle between her sobs. "She was so naive. But in the end she was the only pony that wouldn't hurt me." She looked up to Celestia. "She was the only pony who gave me the chance to show that I'm not a love eating beast!" She screamed at Celestia. Celestia's eyes glistered, but she managed to stifle the tears before they could escape. She turned away, looking back at Night Light and Velvet, crying in each other's legs, holding tight. "What happened then?" Celestia asked quietly, her voice sad. "Amethyst Sheen," Velvet spoke, her voice was quivering and almost incomprehensible, "had no place to go. She was the last of her hive. The rest had died after a war with another hive. She was alone and needed a place to stay. At first she took Twilight's place so Shining wouldn't find out that his sister had died, but after a few days..." she stopped, sobbing again. "We adopted her," Night Light finished the sentence. "She was just like our daughter in every way. She read books and played with Smarty Pants, she laughed the same way and tried to replace Twilight in every way." he stood up and walked over to Twilight, hugging her. "She was the daughter we had lost." This was too much, even for Celestia. Rarity and all the other were already crying; even Rainbow Dash couldn't stifle her tears forever. And now Celestia was breaking down, too, tears escaping her eyes. Velvet rushed over to hug the changeling, embracing her tightly. Celestia looked over the scene: two ponies and a changeling, tightly embraced, bound together by love. She walks over, looking down at the changeling. "Why?" she simply asked. Her voice was quivering and there were still tears streaming down her cheeks. "Why would you do this?" Twilight looked up. Her eyes were still watery but her expression was confused. "Why? You ask why?" Celestia nodded. "Why not?" She asked, Celestia raising a brow. "It wasn't fair that this filly had died and it wasn't fair that I was hunted everywhere I went. The circumstance forced me to do this, and after a few weeks..." She hugged the two ponies tighter. "...I had a family that I couldn't leave. The rest is known to all of you. I lived the life of Twilight Sparkle, the life she wanted." More tears were streaming down her cheeks. "To express my gratitude, to thank Twilight, her parents and her brother for everything they did for me." Celestia looked at the happy family before her and realizeed something: there was a changeling in her throne room- a changeling who wasn't looking for a food source, who stayed because she was grateful- grateful that a filly wasn't scared of her. And she was still showing this gratitude with every breath she took, embracing her family. She was seeing love in all it's glory- real love, love that only a daughter could show her parents. That was everything she needed to know: that they loved eachother and would always do so, that there was nothing that would destroy this connection. That's how love is supposed to be. Celestia smiled. This was her protégé. This was Twilight Sparkle. The End