//------------------------------// // Valentines/Hearts and Hooves Day - Knight of Cerebus - March 6, 2015 // Story: The Sun and Stars: Lightning Round // by JKinsley //------------------------------// By Knight of Cerebus Twilight Sparkle was not a mare of complex tastes. Books, of course, were her ideal present, and getting her one was sure to win her instant gratitude. Her ideal location for a dinner date would have been a burger shack, and more specifically one with quasi-illegal levels of grease topping their meals. She had, Celestia mused, taken to the inability to die of heart attack quite effectively. That was another problem, of course. How could she top the gift of a disease-proofed body with heightened magical powers, wings and a title to her own kingdom by way of gifts? She mused with no small amount of amusement that Twilight would probably cherish the book more than she ever had her princess status, and not because she disliked said princessliness. So there she was, searching for books that would cover some facet of their relationship effectively. The Egghead’s Guide To Solar Cycles jumped out at her, but so did Alicorns At Court: A History and Sol Invictus: Changing Art of our Unchanging Ruler. She closed her eyes and felt the sun’s position in her head. It was already almost midday. She held back the curse trying to force its way past her lips. Celestia nullified her frustration by musing on how she had arrived at this somewhat desperate point. She decided that she had, perhaps, put this off too long. In fact, she likely would have forgotten that Twilight might even be expecting a gift or any kind of special occasion if not for Cadance’s stern reminder to both her aunt Celestia and her aunt Luna that this was a very special day to make their very special ponies (she had looked pointedly at Celestia at that) feel as special as they were. Given that this required she make a personal statement about Twilight, she had (quite understandably, she thought) only worked up the nerve to finally begin looking roughly an hour ago. She scanned the shelves again, pondering on why precisely her emotions wrested control of her behaviour away from the logic and patience she was so used in almost every scenario tying to her loved ones in some way. She stopped almost as quickly as she had started when the words “there can only be one Princess in Equestria” flashed through her head. “Twilight isn’t Luna,” she chided herself. The store clerk looked at her for a moment, but when she gave her usual calm and neutral smile he returned to waiting for other potential customers. Celestia, in the meantime, steeled herself, trying to piece together a logical and diplomatic solution to her problem. Twilight loved books, that much was clear. But Twilight also had a library stacked full of books that were amazing in every way and spectacular beyond belief. So, naturally, it followed that she had to somehow draw Twilight’s attention to this book in particular as being different from books gifted to her by Rarity, Spike, Rainbow Dash or Shining Armor, for example. Which meant she had to find a good way to grab Twilight’s attention. She held back a smirk and a blush once she hit upon the immediate answer: She herself turned Twilight’s head far more than any other object in the universe, up to and including her entire library of books or (arguably) her own friends and family. Thus, she needed a book on herself. But Twilight almost certainly had many of those (perhaps too many, if she knew her Twilight as well as she thought). Which meant, of course, she needed a book about herself that only she could give Twilight. Which meant, of course, that she had an answer. If she could not give Twilight a book about herself, she would give Twilight a book by herself. Which meant that she had quite a journey to to make, and, given she was expected during the evening, not a lot of time to make it. She spread her wings, preparing herself for long expedition she was soon to undertake. It was the perfect plan. ---／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼--- Twilight Sparkle collapsed into her chair with a sigh. Everything was set up precisely as was, she reasoned, most likely to make Celestia happy. And it was killing her a little bit inside with the panic that she had to repress every time. The thought of imperfection, or worse, dissymmetry, was driving her to distraction. And yet, this was exactly what she needed at the moment, and she knew it well. This was what Celestia wanted for Valentine’s Day, she was sure, and thought it was an undertaking of mythological scope, she had fought hard and well for this victory of mind over matter. Her room was catastrophically filthy. Books lay strewn lazily upon the floor. Her furniture was out of line. An empty tea cup long since sipped dry was present on the askew coffee table. There were charts, diagrams and notes covering the surface of her table and scattered about the floor at all areas. She viewed the room with a grim satisfaction. This was a day like no other. This was a day that she would remember well. For this was the day…she started acting casual. She only hoped it wouldn’t end in total disaster. She levitated a set of notes with prompts for her over to her side table, making sure some of the corners were folded and the papers were not aligned. Ideally Celestia would never see it, but practice and repetition were the best teachers a mare could ask for, to Twilight’s way of mind. One last touch was all she needed. With a delicate touch, she gingerly rolled a set of cowlicks out at the front and back of her hair. Not enough to look like the porcupine’s mane that signified her latest descent into madness, but enough that it would look like she was ready to feel at-ease with a mare of her equal status and not a superior to herself in every way, shape and form. It was the perfect plan. Twilight heard somepony knocking at the door. ---／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼--- Celestia looked around the room in confusion, her eyes taking in the state of dissarray that was Twilight Sparkle’s library in utter confusion. “Tia! How’re you doing...yo? I hear that you signed a treaty with our, uhm, bros the griffons, yeah? So that’s s’all good.” “Err, yes, quite.” Celestia said absently, taking in the room. “Am I interrupting something?” “Not at all. I have everything just on the low” Twilight looked up for a moment, mouthing some words to herself “-down, just the way I want it.” Her eye twitched, causing Celestia’s brow to crease in concern. “Twilight, is everything alright? You seem...not yourself.” “Nope, everything’s s’all good.” Twilight flopped down on the couch. “Just spent some time working on Tank’s helicopter with Spike...yo...and making sure the Cutie Mark Crusaders don’t get into trouble for my girl Dash.” Celestia could feel Twilight’s brain screaming against its restraints from where she was sitting. Twilight looked like she was about to press onwards, but at last looked up at Celestia’s face. “I--hmph. This isn’t, err, well, I mean, I wanted this to go a little bit different from what we’re doing now.” “Oh?” “Never mind. It’s just a little--stilted. That’s the word.” Celestia’s mind set to work analyzing what Twilight might have been attempting to do. She immediately reached a conclusion and, given the lack of danger should she end up wrong, took a gamble. “Hearts and Hooves Day jitters, I presume?” “Something like that, yeah. You see, Cadance implied none-too-subtly that this was a big deal, so I started wondering about stuff you liked that might make today special and then I thought about how you want to be just another pony and then I thought about how I might change things up today and then--” Twilight paused for air. “I decided to get a little bit too creative, I think. Anyway, umm. I’ve made a Hearts and Hooves resolution, I guess you could call it.” “As have I, as it so happens. I have had quite the epiphany regarding how I need to start thinking of you, and as a result, I had the clarity of mind to think of something I know you’ll be excited to see.” Celestia revealed the ancient scroll hidden under her wing. “Oh wow,” Twilight’s eyes went wide. The little alicorn scampered over to Celestia’s side immediately, causing the older pony’s smile to widen into that doting beam that was saved just for a happy Twilight Sparkle. “This is amazing! This must be--oh.” Twilight’s face scrunched up. The drop in Twilight’s tone was like a piano playing its lowest chord by mistake mid-concerto to Celestia’s listening ears. “It’s this.” Twilight immediately recovered, giving a grin that Celestia would best describe as generous. “It’s, err, well, I had it assigned for history class one year, and I’ve read the whole thing in the archives about seven times over. But, um, it’s nice to have an older copy.” “We have a copy of my writing in the archives?” Celestia blinked. “Right under authors “E”. Everfree, Celestia Morningstar.” Twilight recited with the certainty granted only to those who had memorized the strange arcana known as the Dewneigh Decimal System. “Anyway, it’s, you know, nice. But I’ve read an older edition, you know.” “But I--” Celestia sighed, laughing. “Do you remember what we originally had planned today?” “I think it was a talk on politics.” “Yeah.” “Do you think, perhaps, we might have more fun with that?” “I think so.” “Perhaps, then, we should cast aside sweeping revelations. I think I have a paper in mind for you, special holidays and brilliant intrigue be hanged.” “I think that sounds like a very special holiday to me.” Twilight smirked, setting aside the scroll and the notes with a flick of her magic.