//------------------------------// // Filly - Homesick // Story: Comfort // by HermitKlam //------------------------------// -0-0- Twilight sniffled lightly as she huddled beneath the borrowed blankets on the borrowed bed, for even if she was now technically living in the castle these weren’t her things. No, her worn yet comfortably soft blanket was at home, in her room, on her slightly lumpy bed. Those things were out of reach for the desolate filly at the moment, however, being all the way on the other side of Canterlot with her Mommy and Daddy and B.B.B.F.F. Shiny… Twilight sniffled again and rubbed angrily at her watery eyes; only foals cried and she was a big filly now. A big filly who really wanted to go home where everything was nice and happy and warm and she could have her sadness hugged away. But she wasn’t home; she wasn’t even close. Instead of being in her family’s modest two-story home where she was loved, she was all alone in a great big castle where nopony wanted or liked her. A sudden knock on the door to her borrowed bedroom made her start slightly, her ear twitching at the noise before returning to its drooped position. She didn’t want to talk to anypony right now, so she curled into an even smaller ball and burrowed her face into her forelegs instead of answering. “Twilight Sparkle?” The Princess’s muffled voice sounded from the other side of the door, causing Twilight to frown; she knew she should answer the Princess – she was The Princess, after all – but she couldn’t find it in her to speak. Maybe if she pretended she was asleep the Princess would go away. All she felt like doing was sulking alone, but Mommy had always said that ignoring somepony when they talked to you was rude – she figured ignoring somepony important like the Princess was even ruder. “…I’m coming in.” Twilight squeezed her eyes shut beneath the darkness of her blanket as she pretended to be asleep. As the door opened and closed, she couldn’t help but slightly raise one ear and swivel it beneath the blanket to follow the slow clip-clop of the Princess’s hoofsteps as she advanced further into the bedroom. She was, despite herself, curious as to why the Princess seemingly stopped in the center of the room and couldn’t help but wonder what she was doing. Maybe the Princess couldn’t see her on the bed and was looking around; she was, after all, hidden beneath the blankets. She was kind of small, also, and the room was pretty dark… So preoccupied in her thoughts was she, that Twilight didn’t even notice that the Princess had moved until the bed beside her dipped, causing her to let out a short yelp as she attempted to keep herself from rolling sideways. Twilight’s eyes widened in childish horror as it occurred to her just who was lying next to her. “I noticed you were absent from dinner,” The Princess’s soft voice carried clearly to Twilight’s pinned ears. “Is everything alright?” Twilight whined softly; she was backed into a corner and she knew it. The Princess had found her and that meant that if she didn’t answer she’d be ignoring the Princess, and that was something she just couldn’t bring herself to do. She didn’t sound angry at her for skipping dinner though, she actually sounded kind of sad and concerned. That was just ridiculous, however; why would the Princess care that much about a nopony like her? “…I’m sorry,” Twilight finally replied in a small voice after a few long moments. Her eyes started watering again and she sniffled; she didn’t want to disappoint the Princess. Not only was the Princess always so nice but she was also her role model and the whole reason she started studying magic and received her cutie mark. “Whatever for?” The Princess asked, her voice still low and soft. It sounded like she was curious; Twilight could almost imagine her with her head tilted to the side, a quizzical look on her pretty face. “You won’t get in trouble for missing a meal, though I ask that you not make a habit of it; you need to eat regularly if you’re to grow big and strong.” “…Okay.” Twilight whispered and nodded reluctantly; she remembered her Mommy telling her that too, and if both Mommy and the Princess said so, it must be true. “Thank you, Twilight. I want for you to be healthy and happy during your tutelage here.” Twilight bowed her head and sniffled harder. The Princess wanted her to be happy but she wasn’t happy she was sad, which meant that she was making the Princess sad. She didn’t want the Princess to be sad…. She was such a- such a bad pony; she didn’t deserve to be the Princess’s personal student. “Won’t you come out from under there, Little One? Please?” Twilight chewed her lip and frowned miserably; she didn’t want to. She didn’t want to, but she also didn’t want to make the Princess even sadder. The Princess even said please, and Mommy always said that was the magic word… Twilight slowly raised the blankets off of her head. Blinking wearily, she noticed that somepony – most likely the Princess – had lit a fire in the hearth while she had been hiding. A sudden soft sensation just beneath one of her eyes interrupted her thoughts and made her squeak lightly in surprise. Turning her head, she saw the tip of one of the Princess’s large white wings hover in the air for a moment before gently returning to wipe the tears that had gathered beneath her other eye. Twilight blinked in surprised befuddlement and glanced up, her confused violet orbs connecting with the Princess’s warm magenta ones. The Princess had a soft smile on her face as she looked down at her, and Twilight didn’t know why, but that little gesture gave her a warm feeling inside. “There now, isn’t that better?” Twilight didn’t really think so; she’d much rather still be cocooned in her borrowed blanket. She didn’t think that’s what the Princess wanted to hear, though, so instead she hesitantly nodded in affirmative. The Princess’s smile brightened at her agreement, and Twilight didn’t feel so bad for lying when she saw it. “Now then,” The Princess shifted slightly and ducked her head in an attempt to catch Twilight’s averted gaze. “Whatever is the matter, Twilight? What’s making you so sad?” “…Nothing,” Twilight mumbled. She tried to avert her gaze again but the tip of a white wing gently pressed up against her chin, and Twilight reluctantly raised her head once more. “I don’t believe that,” The Princess said gently, causing Twilight’s ears to instinctively splay back at the perceived reprimand. “If you tell me, perhaps I’ll be able to help.” “It’s just…” Twilight chewed her lip in thought before continuing despondently in a whisper. Her gaze dropped down and to the side again, and this time the Princess didn’t stop her. “I miss… I miss my home.” “I see… I thought it might be something to that effect,” The Princess hummed in thought, a gentle frown replacing the smile on her face. “What, exactly, do you miss most about your home?” “I-well,” Twilight blinked at the question. Frowning in thought, she slowly started to make a list. “I miss my special blanket, and the Daring Do book Mommy bought me. I miss Smarty Pants – that’s a dolly my big brother Shiny made for me for my birthday; I forgot to bring her with me – and I miss my Mommy and Daddy and Shiny.” “Well, what if we sent your family a letter? Invite them to stay here at the castle for this coming weekend?” Twilight looked up at the Princess as she spoke, her confusion and melancholy giving way to surprised wonderment. “We could write out a list of your favorite things for them to bring so you can be more comfortable whilst staying here. Perhaps with a few familiar faces around for a few days, this castle might not seem so big and scary, hmm?” Twilight blushed at the Princess’s light teasing tone; how did she know? She didn’t mean to find the Princess’s castle spooky, but it was very big and sometimes she did hear weird noises at night. Just because she was a big filly now didn’t mean she was big enough to fight monsters by herself; that was always Shiny’s job, not hers. Still, she couldn’t help but grin at the Princess for thinking of all that; she really was able to help. “How would you like that?” The Princess’s voice softened again at her question, the teasing tone of earlier disappearing as quickly as it came. “Yes!” Twilight cheered in delight, causing the Princess to let out a warm tinkling laugh in response. Twilight grinned up at the smiling Princess beside her before a thought occurred to her, quickly making her grin falter. “What is it?” The Princess quickly caught on to the sudden turn her mood had taken, her voice sounding confused. “I just remembered that the weekend isn’t for a few more days,” Twilight’s lower lip jutted out into a pout as her ears lowered glumly. “That’s like, really far away and I’m sad right now.” “That is quite the dilemma. What…” The Princess trailed off, a thoughtful look on her face as Twilight gazed up at her pitifully. When she continued, it sounded like her words were carefully picked. “What would your mother do if you were home, right at this very moment, to make you happy once more?” “She would hug me,” Twilight spoke matter-of-factly, her wide innocent eyes gazing up into the Princess in earnest. She briefly wondered why the Princess had asked her that question; surely everypony knew the answer? “She’d hug away the sadness and tell me everything would be okay. And then I’d be happy again.” Twilight looked down at the blanket beneath her hooves as the Princess turned to stare at the fire with an odd look on her face, as if she were thinking hard about something. Twilight herself started thinking about her Mommy again, and her eyes started tearing up once more in response. Slowly, Twilight registered a light and soft sensation settling cautiously across her back. Looking up with watery eyes in confusion, Twilight sniffled as she saw that the Princess was staring back at her, a sort of hesitant and guarded look in her eyes. Sniffling again, Twilight looked at her side only to see that the thing she felt across her back was actually one of the Princess’s fluffy white wings. Twilight’s look of sadness slowly faded into one of amazement as she stared at the white feathery appendage. Turning her head to look up at the Princess again, a slow watery smile formed on her lips and, before long, she was beaming in delight once more. With a small almost shy smile, the Princess lightly squeezed Twilight with her wing, making the filly giggle. Not caring anymore that it was the Princess beside her, Twilight leaned into the warmth being offered to her and nuzzled into the soft white coat with a happy sigh. It wasn’t like her Mommy’s hugs, but that was okay; it was still warm and loving and it made her feel safe and that was all that mattered, really. It wasn’t better, or worse; it was different, but in a good way. For the first night in the past week since she’d been at the castle, Twilight could honestly say that she didn’t feel lonely. -0-0- Celestia gazed down at the small purple filly cuddled into her side beneath her wing, the sight and feeling at once infinitely strange and oddly comforting. This whole situation had been an adjustment for the both of them; Twilight was rather young to be living away from home and she- well, she had never had a student quite as young as the purple unicorn beside her. She had been quite honest when she had spoken to Twilight Sparkle on the day of the filly’s entrance exam; she had never come across another unicorn with her raw abilities, especially considering her young age. Oh, a few unicorns over the ages had come close and even surpassed what Twilight had shown, but those were fully grown and well learned individuals. Twilight’s abilities as an untrained filly were staggering, especially when one considered that they’d only grow with time. No, making Twilight her personal student hadn’t exactly been a choice; left untrained she could have unintentionally put herself and others in grave danger, and this was the reason she had accepted such a young student. Even ignoring this, however, Celestia was finding that her decision had been a good one. Twilight Sparkle was a bright and studious individual despite her young age, always eager to learn and amazed by each and every new sight and experience that she encountered. She brought a certain amount of liveliness and wonder to the old castle – and even older alicorn – and that unknowingly endeared her to her new teacher even more, and… …and it would be all too easy to become attached to the small purple unicorn. Celestia sighed lightly, a bittersweet smile touching her lips. A sudden, small sound from the young filly her mind was focused on drew her attention, thankfully pulling her from the melancholy turn her thoughts had begun to take. “Thank you, Princess.” Twilight poked her head up and gazed at her with sparkling eyes and a shy yet genuine smile. “You got rid of the sadness, just like Mommy does.” Unbeknownst to the alicorn, her face had softened into an expression she hadn’t worn in over a millennium as she gently responded. “I’m glad I could help, Little One.” A moment of silence passed before Celestia spoke again, unable – or perhaps unwilling – to stop herself. “If ever there is anything you need, or if ever there is something weighing on your mind, don’t hesitate to come to me, even for things such as this,” Celestia gestured with a tilt of her head and a flutter of her wing that she meant the embrace they were sharing. “Though, it may be prudent to wait until we are out of the public eye for such displays.” She knew with a certainty that only countless millennia of experience brought that she was setting herself up for heartbreak, and yet, at that very moment with the young filly staring up at her in unabashed joy, she found that she didn’t overly care. Perhaps for once she’d take the advice she’d given to her sister so long ago to heart; perhaps, just this once, she’d live in the moment. -0-0-