This is a Deleted Scene from the original chapter 3. Back then I was going to start chapter three at the end of his first day and have a little slice of life chapter that spoke of his first official day as a consort. This was my favorite scene from that now scrapped chapter so I thought I'd post it as a treat since this story has managed to reach an incredible total of over 100 favorites! (I'm totally not stalling for time due to writers block) Remember though, this is techinically non-canon. Hope you enjoy!
That first day I sat in my room for a while just relaxing and letting thoughts run through my head. Everything up to that point had just been one rush after another. I hadn’t really had the chance to let anything that had happened to me actually sink in. As I laid there on my back staring at nothing in particular, the full weight of the past twenty four hours finally came crashing down on me.
And I wasn’t quite as accepting of it as I had been.
Don’t get sentimental on me, I didn’t break down in tears or anything like that. In fact, it felt like I didn’t have any tears to shed. On the contrary, all I really did was get rather philosophical. No memories, no horn, and all of a sudden I’m the princesses consort? Isn’t this a bit much?
I closed my eyes, letting out a small sigh as I contemplated further. What about that dream? Can I really call it a dream? If the magical knowledge I have in my head is anything to go by, then I’ve walked the dreamscape… I think. I certainly know a lot about it. Regardless I have enough knowledge to know that what I saw was no mere dream. But it couldn’t have been a memory. That was easily showing me something from well over a thousand years in the past. Is my mind compensating? It’s possible I’m having such great difficulty recalling past events that it’s just trying to give me something to relate too. If so, then my dream would be left to interpretation. It was a thousand years ago when everypony had next to nothing. Perhaps I lived in poverty? No… I didn’t FEEL poor in the dream. I didn’t feel well off, but I wasn’t ‘poor’. And I felt like things were going to change soon. Was I on my way to some big promotion with my job? What WAS my job? And who was this… Ambrosia?
I rolled over burying my face in my pillow as I let out an exasperated groan before letting my mind wander even more. Perhaps I should be more concerned about why she was so young. My eyes widened. Oh god… I’m not a foal cuddler am I?! Actually… now that I think about it, I wouldn’t be so terrified of that idea if I was… Yeah. I’m going to stick with that train of thought. Finally my mind came to the final question, the one that bothered me most. What was with the ending? The fire, the deaths, and that…
My body tensed up at so much as even thinking of the name. This… Nirvana, seemed to be the source of an unprecedented amount of rage and sorrow. My body shook violently as I instinctively began trying to build up power in my horn, ready to blow a hole in the wall out of frustration. Finally I stopped, a searing pain ripping through my skull with monumental force. Rubbing my head I muttered to myself. “Well, that’s what you get when you try to use magic with a broken horn.” I sighed.
I looked out the window of my room, Celestia’s sun having long since set and Luna’s moon having risen high into the sky. Looking at it made me smile, though I couldn’t tell you why. Perhaps it was the beauty of it, as it certainly was quite beautiful with its stars twinkling in the sky ever so casually, the constellations telling tales as old as time (and even bringing the occasional one to life), it’s moon shining down upon the world casting a gentle glow, acting as a beacon of hope for any lost wanderers shaking in fear deep in the woods as they send silent prayers to Luna, begging for salvation, and somewhere out there Luna was doing just that. Looking for ponies who had lost their way in the darkness, and not just the ones who are literally stranded in the wilderness, but those whose hearts have also lost their light.
It has always been Celestias job to shine her light brightly upon the whole world, keeping her ponies as happy as she possibly could. She was supposed to keep everypony happy no matter what the circumstances or the personal cost. But it was Luna’s job to pick up the pieces for the ponies Celestia failed. The ones who were miserable and hurting. The ones more than happy to throw their lives away just to make it stop. That’s what Luna did. She saved the ones who truly needed it.
I was torn from my musings as I heard my door being opened. Looking back I was surprised to see Willow standing in my doorway. She wore a sad yet expectant look on her face, like she was waiting for something she knew was going to come to pass and that said something was going to hurt when it did. “Hey kiddo.” she said.
“Willow? What are you doing here? Don’t you have some ponies to stick sharp pointy things into?” Willow just looked at me and chuckled as she walked into my room and sat next to my bed. Like I was a moment before, she looked out the window, her eyes gazing at the beautiful night sky.
“It’s… okay to cry you know.” she said, her voice little more than a whisper. I followed her gaze with my own eyes.
“Yeah… I know.”
“… most ponies would be breaking down in tears right about now.”
“Apparently I was an S class unicorn. I don’t think I qualify for the ‘most ponies’ category.”
She let out another chuckle before looking straight at me.
“I guess that makes sense. If you were like everypony else you’d probably be calling the guards to throw me out.” Huh. Now that I thought about it, I barely knew Willow at all. I really shouldn’t have been comfortable enough to let her into my room, especially not uninvited. Though I think for once I had a pretty good reason as to why.
“Well, believe it or not I kinda trust you Willow.” She seemed a little taken aback by that, not that I could blame her. I’d be surprised too given her situation. An amnesiac former super unicorn saying he trusts you when all you’ve done for him so far is patch him up, flirt with him, and scold him like a child would be enough to make anypony do a double take.
“W-why’s that?” she asked.
I turned my gaze back to the window. “To be honest, it’s because of the wisdom in your eyes.” Wow… did THAT ever sound corny or what? I waited for the dejecting sound of a hoof slapping a head, but it never came.
“Wise eyes,” she whispered sadly. “What makes you say that?”
“Well, no offense Willow, but that look you have makes you seem like you’ve had it pretty rough.” It wasn’t a lie either. There was a gleam in that mares eye that told you that she had seen some pretty serious stuff. I mean you could see that in the eyes of almost all of the crystal ponies since they regained their memories after Sombra was brought down, but Willow’s was… particularly strong. Anypony who could read a pony well, and apparently I fall in that category, can tell that the stuff that happened while Sombra was on the throne was just icing on the cake for her.
“So… you can see that… huh?” I nodded my head in response. “And here I thought I was putting up a decent front.” she snickered looking down and shaking her head.
“I can talk… if you want.”
“Maybe one day Rade, but not right now.” she whispered again. Silence washed over us for a moment before she spoke up again laughing. “This is hilarious. I come in here trying to make sure you’re alright and I’M the one that gets the lecture!” I couldn’t stop myself from laughing a little at that as well.
“So do you check on all of your patients like this? Or just the ones you want to diddle?” Her face shot towards me and I received a glare strong enough to make a child wet themselves.
“Who said I wanted to do anything with you?” I gulped and waved my hooves in front of my face as I stammered out a crude apology.
“S-sorry! It-it was just a j-joke! I s-swear!” And then she began laughing again.
“Because whoever said it knows me a little too well!” OH MY CELESTIA THIS MARE!
“I bucking hate you…”
“I’d say the feelings mutual, but that might ruin my chance to get in your pants. Assuming you’ve ever worn pants. Have you worn pants?”
“You don’t have that chance to begin with!” I said with a slightly raised voice and a twitch in my eye. She just snickered. “And as for the pants, I have no idea. Amnesia remember?”
“I can’t help but giggle on the inside whenever someone uses the words amnesia and remember like that in the same sentence. Oh and don’t say there’s no chance. If there’s a will there’s a way… though we may not always like the way.” Her voice lowered at the end of her sentence. And she looked back out the window, her eyes glazing over as she no doubt lost herself in memories.
“Rade…” she called.
“Hm?”
“This is going to sound weird but,” Willow my earliest memory is waking up to find princess Cadence and her guards dressed up as Santa and his reindeer. There’s nothing you can say that will sound weird to m- “You’re special to me.” Wait what?
Whoa lady chill out for a second. Now I’m not saying there’s no such thing as love at first sight, but come on. Plus I’m pretty sure you’re more than a couple of years older than me. And besides we’ve only known each other for a couple of hours…
Haven’t we?
“Willow… do you know who I am?” She shook her head, refusing to meet my eyes.
“I’m… not entirely sure. I was talking to my co-worker, Morning Star, and she felt the same way. You… remind us of somepony from long ago, a great pony that feels… lost. Whenever we tried to think of that pony or anything he did though, our minds come up blank, like they did when Sombra first returned. What I do know is that there’s NO WAY you can be that pony, because from what I CAN remember, he died a long time ago.” She looked me dead in the eye with the most serious face she could muster. “A LONG time ago. Like before the princesses.” Willow stared at me for some time just like that before finally looking away with a sigh.
“I don’t even know why I’m telling you all of this. I just… I guess I felt so compelled. Looking at you makes me feel like I’m looking at some kind of idol. I feel like a little girl meeting her favorite Wonderbolt, or getting her favorite album signed by Sapphire Shores. Even Morning Star feels the same way and we just don’t understand it.”
“Well… I can’t really speak for you and your friend but-”
“She’s not my friend.” I gave her a puzzled look and she let out another sigh. “She’s not my friend. She’s my co-worker. I… I don’t have any friends… or even any family for that matter.” Well that’s a surprise.
“Why not? Did something happen?”
She looked out the window, remaining quiet for several minutes. I didn’t want to break the silence as she seemed to really be debating on whether or not to continue this conversation. As I stared at her I noticed something that sent a ping of pain through my heart… she was crying. “Yeah. Sombra happened.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but quickly shut it when she held up her hoof. “Please… no pity party. That only makes it worse.” I nodded my head in understanding, turning my eyes back to the moon.
I turned my head as I heard her stand up and begin to walk away. I waited for her to say something, but when she began opening the door I realized that wasn’t going to happen so I decided to speak instead. “Really? You’re going to leave without even trying to bounce my bones?” I said with a smirk. She looked back at me with a sad smile.
“I have to at least get to know you a little bit. I’m not THAT loose.”
“Well then how about we continue to get to know each other.” Her eyes widened as she gave me a curious look. “What do you say Willow?” I got up and walked casually over to her. When I was standing right in front of her I sat down and held out a hoof. “Friends?”
Willow blinked a few times before reaching out and taking my hoof in her own. “Yeah, sure. Why not?” She walked back into the hallway, waving goodnight. With all of that said and done, I went back to my bead and laid my head onto my pillow and let sleep overtake me. There was too much to think about and I had actual important stuff to do the next day. For now, I was more than content to just drift into dreams.