//------------------------------//
// Candlelight 
// Story: The Letter That Was Never Sent 
// by Delta 727 
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It Was Your Willpower, Twilight Sparkle


"There's a time in everyone's lives when they realize that someone is slipping away from them, and they might let go forever. But they're not letting themselves go, they're lost in darkness, and just need a light to shine through it to guide them back." 

- Delta 727

One week after the writing of the letter that was never sent...

The letter.

The old piece of wrinkly paper, soaked from the tears of a pony in need, left alone on a bedside table of the Princess herself. But the Princess was nowhere to be seen. She had left to reveal a truth she should have revealed long ago. A truth that, left hidden, had thrown her student into a hurricane of misery and blame. It was time to tell the truth.

There was a knock on the door to Twilight's library.

"Coming!" Twilight called. "Spike, could you get the door, please?" Twilight was studying over some books in her library, while Spike had been dusting, a pink apron around his body. He put down his broom and ran to the door. A few moments later, when there was no word from Spike, she called out to him.

"Spike? Who's at the door?" Then, she gasped.

Princess Celestia entered Twilight's library, but Spike was nowhere to be seen. Her crown was gone, and the way she walked like any other formal pony, as if they simply were visiting an old friend, and not a student or subject, but her face was a twist of sorrow and pity.

"Princess Celestia," Twilight said, a hint of disdain in her voice. "W-what're you doing here?"

Princess Celestia didn't answer. Twilight knew very well why the Princess came to her library, instead of summoning her to the castle.

Princess Celestia trotted over to Twilight, and laid down on the ground with her, closing Twilight's book in her magic and levitating it back up onto the shelf.

"Twilight, I believe there's something we need to talk about."

"It was nothing, Princess," Twilight tried to reassure her, but Princess Celestia simply held up a hoof to stop her from going on.

"It's not about you, Twilight," she went on. "It's about what I've done to you." Twilight tried to begin to speak, but the Princess continued. "It's my fault. I'm the reason you had suffered for so long. The reason you held in all those emotions. You shouldn't feel guilty for what happened, Twilight. For what I did wasn't meant to help you."

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.

"I didn't send those letters in hopes to restore you, Twilight. I'd had no idea what Discord had done to you at the time. Neither did Luna, or the guards. It wasn't even on a whim. The truth is, Twilight, Discord had gotten to me too." Twilight gasped, and Princess Celestia just nodded. "He put a cloud over my thoughts. He twisted them. My memories and feelings of Luna, of Equestria," she paused. "Of you."

Twilight's face was full of pity for her mentor. "So... Discord made you send all those letters back to me?"

Princess Celestia nodded again. "I had unofficially disowned you, Twilight. I didn't care about all the things you learned, about all I taught you. It was as if I wanted nothing to do with you. I sent back all those letters to throw away every memory I had of you. Discord knew that Luna had been taken from me once already, and that the only thing that was left to take away..." She put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "... Was you."

Twilight's tears were openly flowing now, as she thought back to everything she said in that letter.

Princess Celestia continued. "What I want you to know Twilight is that your letter was wrong. It wasn't me who saved you. It was you. You took what I did and made it into your saving grace. You saved your friends, you saved Equestria, and you saved me."

Twilight sniffled, brushing away a few tears. "Why, Princess? Why would you hide this from me?"

A tear escaped Princess Celestia's eye as well. "Because I never wanted to plant the seed in your mind that I'd disowned you. I knew that after everything you went through, the last thing you needed was the thought of me turning you away. You may have felt like you had lost hope, Twilight, but you didn't realize just how much of it you lost. I am to blame for this, Twilight."

"Oh, Princess Celestia..." Twilight jumped forward and hugged her mentor, her tears and quiet sobs coming in bouts. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry I put you through this!"

Princess Celestia gently returned the hug. "It's not what you put me through, Twilight. I came to tell you what you overcame. What you don't realize is that not only did you save us all, you did it all by yourself. All you had to do... Was believe. And with that tiny spark of faith, you moved mountains that day. It was your willpower, Twilight Sparkle, that saved Equestria." Twilight had pulled back from the hug, and stared up at her mentor. "What I always want you to remember, Twilight, is that no matter what happens, not matter how hopeless or broken you are, there's always hope. No matter how broken the world around you is, it can never fully split apart if you're the one stitch still holding it together. Equestria can be exciting and wonderful, but it can also be dangerous and devastating. You need to be ready for that. And when the day comes again that Equestria is taken by darkness, it only takes a single light of a candle to cut through it. I want you to always be that candle, Twilight."

Twilight nodded. "I'll never lose hope in Equestria, Princess Celestia. It's my home, and I won't give up on it." Twilight went back into the hug, and the Princess fully embraced her student, tears freely flowing from her now too.

"I love you, my little candlelight," Princess Celestia said.

"I love you too, my shining sun," Twilight replied.


---



And so, from that day forward, Twilight became the light that Princess Celestia taught her to be. As she predicted, she was faced with devastation time and time again, but each time prevailed. She held onto her faith, her willpower, and overcame any challenged that was thrown her way. As long as Twilight Sparkle believed in herself, Equestria was never defeated. From helping ponies across the street to across dimensions, Twilight powered through each and every challenge. And it wasn't just a lesson for her, but for anypony who felt like they'd lost all hope. Twilight began to pass on her story to other ponies, and they too became candles in the darkness. And one day, those candles would come together and shine a warming light through the cold darkness, never for it to return. And thus, the letter that was never sent became the light that never faded.



Equestria would one day shine brighter than the sun, and darkness would flee once and for all.



The End