//------------------------------// // Training To Accelerate // Story: The Rise Of Twilight Sparkle // by StevieBond //------------------------------// Twilight was very excited the next morning as she was going to be taught under the Princess's guidance and training over at the castle, but at that point, she was not even aware of the real reasons nor would she ever expect the lengths Celestia would go to in order to have a student ready to face the return of Nightmare Moon. After the family's breakfast, Twilight was packing up her bags with what she needed, with her cuddly toy Smarty Pants among the items before she was ready to go. When she left her room, her parents were there and waiting to see her off before she left the house. "Good luck with your training Twilight." her mother said as she hugged her. "Don't forget to write, either." her father added. "I won't, bye mom and dad!" she replied happily, "I'll write whenever I can." She trotted out of the house and went onwards to the castle. When Twilight approached the castle entrance, she was escorted to the Princess by two guards to the throne room. There was Celestia who stood by the window overlooking at the horizon when she heard the doors open. "Good morning Twilight, I welcome you on being my new faithful student." Celestia greeted the filly. "Morning Princess, I am ready to train my magic." Twilight replied confidently. "That's good, but first, I must give you a quick tour of the places you'll need to be at before we start." Celestia then moved her head slightly as if to follow her so Twilight followed her out of the throne room and first off, into a huge library. This got Twilight's full attention as she saw books the size of mountains from her point of view. "This is the Canterlot castle library, only the finest and rarest of books can be found here." the Princess explained. "Wow!" she whispered gleefully. "What about those books at the top?" "They are for alicorns only as they are far too high to be picked up by unicorns." Celestia pointed to the books around the floor they were on. "Now, I trust that you will study hard with reading these books as they will help you improve your magic." "I will Princess, whatever it takes." They then left the library and walked to the magic firing range on one of the training grounds. "This is where you will learn your magic training, from skill to endurance." The filly nodded who showed interest but not as much as the books. They walked back indoors and up the stairs to the bed chambers. "And finally this is where you'll be sleeping for the duration of your training." "I get to sleep with you, Princess?" Twilight asked. "Yes, you may leave your bags here, they will be safe in this room." Twilight dropped off her bags by the bed and soon, they walked out of the bed chamber, ready to begin her first training session. "If only you knew why you are really here, I really hope you're ready for the return of Nightmare Moon." Celestia thought to herself. She then sighed which caught Twilight's attention. "Is something wrong, Princess?" she asked. "No Twilight, it's all right." Celestia replied. The first day of her magic training finally began with the improved basics which continued throughout the day. The Princess however was not feeling convinced enough that the training was going to prepare her in time and as much as it would hurt both of them, she felt that something had to be done in a time of desperation. In the weeks that followed and with the return of Nightmare Moon fast approaching, Princess Celestia began to force herself to accelerate filly Twilight's magic training beyond the capability of any pony, let alone Twilight who is still just a filly. "Twilight Sparkle, you are forbidden from returning home until your performance improves." she said sternly after thier recent training which did not go well for Twilight. Upon Twilight's first failure, Celestia decided to prohibit her from any form of distraction, taking away her Smarty Pants and forbidding Twilight from visiting her parents. From that moment on, filly Twilight's blissful days with caring Celestia effectively ended. Celestia now became harsh and cold, criticizing Twilight for the slightest error and doesn't acknowledge any success. Twilight's enduring successes only prompt Celestia to accelerate her education further until Twilight's efforts fall short. It looked like the happy days Twilight was looking forward to was going to be turned on it's head. Things did not get any better for Twilight for the rest of that year, after a day of spending hours of magical endurance training with no contact from her family or Cadance, Twilight’s magic was completely drained. But alas, Celestia was displeased with her performance before calling it a day and they returned to the castle. When they arrived at the stairs leading to the upper floors of the castle, Celestia walked upwards to the top as she and Twilight remained silent before the princess turned to Twilight who had yet to start climbing up the stairs. “Perhaps I was wrong to make you my faithful student.” Celestia said coldly as she looked down on her exhausted student in the moonlight, a grim reminder of Nightmare Moon's approaching return. Filly Twilight was looking forward to sleeping with her mentor Celestia as per usual, seemingly her last comfort since Celestia accelerated her education. But without her magic, Twilight was unable to assist herself up the high stairs leading up to Celestia’s bed chamber. Twilight was still just a filly, she struggled up each step, but her small frail body ran out of strength just short of the top. Twilight began to cry as she knew she couldn't make it on her own. Her mentor just walked away, leaving a tearful filly Twilight stranded on the cold staircase. In that moment, her heart was broken. Longing for Celestia’s approval and affection, she finally began to accept that her time as a filly was over, even if Celestia wouldn't and couldn't tell her why. Twilight was Celestia's student, she would do her royal duty and as far as she was concerned, the fate of Equestria did not rest on her making friends or her own happiness. One of the unicorn maids who worked in the castle on her night shift, spotted the heartbroken filly and felt incredibly sorry for her, she walked up the stairs and gave Twilight a comforting hug which surprised her. "You will get through your training, little one." she assured, trying to help bring hope back into Twilight's soul. "Listen to your family for guidance and you will make it to the top." The maid then placed Twilight back on the staircase, she turned and walked back downstairs. She turned her head to Twilight and smiled before she left the stairway and through one of the other doors. Things were then instantly quiet, apart from the noise of the calm wind coming from outside through the castle windows. As Twilight was left alone in the cold and dark, she suddenly heard the voices of her loved ones that began to play in her mind... Twilight my dear, don't give up... We love you, you can do it... You are my L.S.B.F.F...I will always be with you Twily... You are my favourite filly to foal-sit, never stop believing in yourself... With the words of love and support, Twilight wiped her tears away. She then got back up and began climbing the rest of the way with her new found strength and courage, before she finally made it to the top of the stairs and breathing a sigh of relief, walked quietly into the bed chamber. What she saw then surprised her, Celestia was lying down on her bed, looking at the fireplace with tears running down her face. This was the moment Twilight learnt that the harsh training was hurting Celestia emotionally as much as it was hurting her psychically. Celestia then stopped crying as she fell asleep before Twilight walked towards her and snuggled up beside her, before sleeping away. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the two years that followed, Twilight had overcame a lot through her accelerated training routine and according to the Princess, her magic was now up to par with Celestia's standards. It seemed by then that things were starting to calm down at last, but through all of it, she still didn't know why all of this was happening. Twilight was able to go back to school with the other fillies, but all was not well. After an almost complete terrible day at her school, Twilight was picked on by her classmates, jealous of her advanced magic, labelled as a show-off and a teachers pet for being the sole pony privileged to spend all her time with Celestia. One even having the gall to claim that she had it easier with the Princess. This would make Twilight very apprehensive about flaunting her magic in the future. Later that day, Twilight came to Celestia in a mess from all the things some of her classmates threw at her. This made her late for a training session with the Princess and she was given a harsh and rapid bath to make up for lost time. It was at that point Twilight decided that she couldn't take it anymore and began to show anger towards the Princess. "Princess Celestia, I have had enough, why are you doing this to me?!" she asked in an aggressive tone. Surprisingly, Celestia didn't get angry. She just smiled, Celestia still couldn't simply spell out what she was expected to do, but she would soon get an answer...or so the Princess thought as she began to walk away from the bathroom. "Is it to do with Nightmare Moon returning?" Twilight asked with a firm tone, "Is it about you wanting to see Princess Luna again as you have always loved her, but you can't do it yourself as it brings back painful memories of the banishment?" That question did it for her, Celestia stopped herself instantly and swapped her grin for sadness and began to sniff before lowering her head and letting the tears fall down her face. Celestia let out a quiet wail as she began to sit down before laying on the floor, covering her tearful eyes with her hooves. Twilight used her magic to dry herself clean before she went over to the Princess and looking worried. "Oh Twilight Sparkle!" Celestia sobbed, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..." she began sniffing, "...I never wanted to do any of this to you, I just want my sister back so we can rule Equestria as equals again." "Oh Princess..." "I had no choice...I was forced to go to extreme lengths so you can be ready for Nightmare Moon's return, but you're still a filly and I paid no attention to your feelings or your status." "Celestia...why didn't you tell me this beforehand?" "Because I was afraid that you would've been too fragile and unprepared if I had told you the real reasons then." "But don't you remember what I said years ago?" Twilight reminded her, "I said that I was ready and willing to do whatever it takes to improve my magic." Celestia stopped crying before she wept her tears away and sat back up. "You're right, my student." she replied as she got back up, "I need to be strong for my sister, and my faithful student which is you." Twilight began to show a smile. "I have no excuse for the way I had to train you during the desperate times. I wish to make it all up to you now that you've proven yourself today." "Really, you would do that, Princess?" "I do...I grant you having Smarty Pants back to you, he'll be on your bed when we call it a night." she paused for a moment, "And what's more, I will also allow you to see your parents again, you will need them for the upcoming exam." "Oh thank you, Princess! Thank you!" Twilight exclaimed as she hugged tight on Celestia's foreleg. Celestia responded by pulling Twilight gently into a comforting hug, at last, the harsh period of magic training was over, but the days before the upcoming exam were not finished yet.