//------------------------------//
// 118. Heretic by Ambion 
// Story: The Sun and the Stars: A Twilestia Prompt Collab 
// by Fuzzyfurvert 
//------------------------------//


by ambion


***



Twilight had been making the most of her open access to Celestia’s private library since her ascension. Every page here was paramount in Twilight’s eyes, because every last one of them were only here because Celestia herself had personally chosen them.

“Ponies worshipped you?” she asked after finding an obscure historical text, one quite dated by the look of things. “As in, there was an actual religion deifying you?”

Celestia sipped her tea “I tried not to encourage them. A certain few ponies are stil quite zealous on my behalf even today.” She gave Twilight a coy smile. “One or two names come to mind.”

Twilight waggled the book under her mentor’s nose. “I do not worship you,” she said flatly, but Celestia seemed to be daydreaming.

“It was so cute when you were smaller, trailing after me everywhere I went, tiny hooves and huge eyes...”

“Hey! You did hear me, didn’t you? I said I don’t worship you!””

“Oh, what’s that? Yes yes, of course you don’t, Twilight.” Celestia sighed. “Faithful student,” she murmured through giggles.

The smaller alicorn’s wings went right up, like two stiff flagpoles. “Then I’ll just have to prove it!” she declared, diving headlong into a flurry of venerable pages. “I am an independent, free willed mare, totally not filled with a burning desire that I-Ahah!” This being some revelation on the page she’d found. “It says here that your worshippers never dare touch you. So if I just...”

Twilight put the flat of her hoof to Celestia’s chest. They both glanced at it. “Mmm, yes,” said Celestia. She took another leisurely sip of tea. “That’s very independent. Definitely free will right there.” Reaching past Twilight, she turned the page. “And if you look here, that only applied at night.”

Twilight Sparkle wilted. “Oh,” she sighed. “By the way, you’re not normally this sarcastic.”

Celestia set aside her teacup and composed herself. “You are right. Sorry. But you don’t have to prove anything to me, Twilight. You already have.”

She only sank further. “No I haven’t,” she mumbled. She was still and silent for several seconds. "Not everything."

“Twilight?”

Celestia had been drinking peppermint tea. Twilight could have easily recognized it by the scent, or by sight, or even by deduction - it was one of Celestia’s most frequented flavours.

Now she could recognize it by taste because the wetness of it was still on Celestia's lips.

It was a shock kiss, one Twilight had sprung on her like a trap. Celestia went stiff and wide eyed. It was her turn to be still and silent.

She blinked a quick succession of blinks and tried to work her mouth to make words. After a few tries, she managed a little something. “Well,” she tried. “Wow. Twilight, I...wow.”

It was as if one vivid blush was shared between the two ponies. Twilight looked so meek, yet so strong as well. She managed a nervous chuckle, and with that Celestia blinked some more and smiled.

“Well,” she began again. “That was certainly very heretical, night or not. That could get you excommunicated.”

She felt soft purple lips pressed to her own once more, and Twilight’s sighed breath a warm gust over her skin. “But you won’t let that happen” Twilight cooed through their parted lips. “because you worship me too.”

Any witty repartee Celestia might have had was tongue-tied. Very literally. There was a thump as the old book fell to the floor, forgotten.

Then there was another thump, as of two bodies eagerly figuring out their damndest best attempt at acting as one, but that is another story, for a more severely rated twilestia prompt tag collab.