//------------------------------// // Lesson Two: Emotion // Story: Wings- A Difficult Experience // by Crimson_Moon //------------------------------// It was 8 AM, and Twilight was still sleeping snugly within her teacher’s fur. This hasn’t been the first time it’s happened, but it was a surprise, nonetheless. She used to do this all the time when she was little: They would both sit and talk and study. Back then, even though Twilight Sparkle was enrolled in her school for Gifted Unicorns, Celestia still felt like the little filly was detached from society. It’s true she made a few friends, including Moon Dancer which was so similar to her faithful student that she could hardly tell the difference. The hair was the only dead giveaway. Still, instead of socializing and making more than a handful of friends, she shut herself off. Maybe that’s when Celestia noticed, mainly the changes in behavior. She was acting more like her daughter rather than her student, and the pearl Princess started becoming more motherly toward her and a few subjects as a result. It truly was a warm experience, which is why the friendship thing slid for a while. In all honesty, it reminded Celestia all too much of her sister Luna, still trapped on the moon back then. If she had not been so blind, maybe things wouldn’t have ended the way they did. Regardless, that was now in the past and she had her sister back, free from the clutches of Nightmare Moon. The purple alicorn stirred in her sleep, mumbling words unintelligible to the real world. She knew this sign all too well that her faithful student was due to wake from slumber, so she whisked away her golden magic, and prepared breakfast without disturbing the scene before her. Having mastered most arcane spells, Celestia teleported quickly and replaced herself with an exact replica, crown and all. Nopony should disturb her, not even Celestia herself. In fact, it was essential that Celestia’s double dare not move a muscle; bearing her discomfort was more painful than anything the mare could bear. I might as well get comfortable. Celestia smiled, taking off her regalia. It was a rare sight even for herself that she remove the Royal Regalia that was almost always present, breakfast or no. After floating the golden horseshoes, crest, and crown over to the couch, she gave a big stretch, waking those bones that have been stiff for most of the night. Now, Celestia’s the greatest Princess that has ever lived. She’s stopped wars from happening, took down formidable opponents threatening her peaceful country, and even raised the sun for crying out loud! But for some reason, she couldn’t understand up from down when reading the instructions on a box of pancake mix. It clearly read: Pancakes Add water to mix, and gently stir. Keep adding mix until you’ve reached desired thickness. Set aside. Turn the stove burner to Medium heat and set pan until heated. Pour batter into pan, and cook until golden-brown. But, to Celestia it read: Pancakes Throw directions in trash and wing it. No measurements? No proper degree of heat? Last time I checked, that’s how a meal should be made! Not this “desired thickness” nonsense! She thought. She turned on the burner, and things quickly plummeted from there. Twilight awoke, and cleared her blurry eyes a little towards midday, and despite waking up at noon, something else felt off. It wasn’t the weather, her horn worked fine, and everything didn’t seem out of the ordinary. That is, until she found that she was still holding her pillow… that breathed. The alicorn jumped back, suspecting the worst and that’s when she noticed that the presence was simply Celestia keeping her warm. Hold on… Celestia?! No matter what day, she felt that thought was repeating itself more recently. Shaking her head of such questions, she approached her teacher still sitting still, smiling and focusing towards the purple mare. “Celestia, I-” she reached out her hoof with her eyes closed (no doubt to look as sorry as can be) to touch the pony, to apologize for falling asleep but only met air. She tried again, this time keeping her peepers open. Her hoof just swished through the projection. Of course it’s a projection! Why didn’t I realize sooner? Twilight thought. “Good morning, Twilight!” Celestia said in the kitchen. Turning towards the voice only made the purple alicorn gasp at the sight. Batter was everywhere, multiple stoves were lit without anything over them, and worst of all was the disheveled state her teacher was in! Her mane no longer flowed aimlessly but rather stay put due to the frayed follicles and scorched areas. No regalia was shown, and upon a closer look, her hooves look slightly burned. Probably second degree if the redness was to go by. Worst of all was the smudges of charcoal or something similar all over her body! “Princess! Are you alright?” concern filled her being. The kitchen could be fixed any day of the year, but seeing Celestia like this… “I’m fine. And please, Celestia will do.” Her smile never faltered. The Princess was glad to show her faithful this side of her, the pony side. Silence passed for a few moments, until Twilight Sparkle finally spoke up. “Your hooves!” she gasped. “They’re burnt! Here, putting these over them will-” she reached for the regalia, knowing full well that it had enchantments that increased the healing factor for any who wore them, only to be stopped by a hoof latching on to her tail. Twilight turned around, obeying the Princess. “No, Twilight. Not today.” Celestia smiled differently this time; a smile she always hid behind that political shell most seemed to call “Princess Celestia”. This time, she put emotion to the gesture, true feeling. It wasn’t a shell this time, a façade. It was a real smile, and Twilight was stunned to never see it before. Before, she held pain in the smile. The smile felt forced. This time, the smile felt…natural to the purple pony. “Today, I want to be normal. Please, go fetch a first-aid kit. I haven’t felt bandages around these hooves for many millennia. It would be nice to feel them again.” What does she mean, “Be normal”? She’s a pony, like anyone else! Another look at her mentor pushed away these thoughts and she ran quick as she could to the only place she kept her first-aid kit, up in the bathroom. Celestia chuckled inward as her faithful student ran up the stairs in the library to no doubt treat the wounds as quick as possible. More and more you surprise me, my little Twilight! She rebounded her thoughts. “My little Twilight?” Huh, that’s new. A blush formed at her cheeks. It seems her feelings are still there. It’s probably why I want to go on this vacation. At first, I thought that some lessons learned privately would be enough, but now that I think on it, I want to just… relax. She looked back towards the stairs that her pupil scampered up just a few moments ago. I don’t get this chance often, to spend time with you, my faithful student. These feelings, I don’t know what they are yet, and I can’t remember the last time… her train of thought ended when her student returned, this time holding the first-aid kit in her mouth. It looked absolutely adorable, which made Celestia blush even more. *chuckles* these darn feelings sure do love seeing you so adorable! “Welcome back, Twilight! I thought you might have run off and forgot about me.” She playfully hit Twilight’s shoulder, only to recoil and receive a stinging from her hoof. “Ouch. That really smarted.” Celestia can raise the sun, this is true. However, raising the sun didn’t give her omnipotent “Immunity against all flames”. Just another old legend that ponies believe, despite how ridiculous it sounded. Twilight knew this, especially when her mentor tried doing something cool, like pretend to lift a candle with just the power of her mind (without magic) only to discover that when trying to lift a candle, it’s best to keep the burning point away from the hoof you stretch out for dramatic effect. The purple mare opened the kit, and took out a roll of bandages, medical tape, scissors, and burn ointment. Celestia smiled, and began to wrap herself up but was stopped. This time, Twilight held her hooves sympathetically. “Here, let me.” Without even arguing, the Princess let go of the bandages and let her student treat her wounds. Normally I was the one to wrap your wounds, my dear Twilight! Oh how the tables have turned! She thought amusedly. Most knew of Twilight’s affinity for Magic. She could teleport miles away in just the blink of an eye, and summon spells that no pony would ever be able to withstand. She loved to use it for everything, even wrapping up burns she got from a botched spell, but this time was different. She never used magic while treating Celestia’s burns. While wrapping the bandages, her student smiled serenely. It was the most peaceful sight ever beheld by the Princess’ eyes. “Twilight, what are you-” her sentence was interrupted. “A few months ago, Fluttershy asked me to help heal some of the animals in her sanctuary. It seemed that a forest fire had erupted in the middle of the night, destroying most of their homes and giving them severe burns.” She paused, rubbing ointment onto the other hoof yet to be bandaged. “I helped as best as I could, treating the more intense ones, but when I started to use healing magic, Fluttershy stopped me.” The ointment was done being applied, so Twilight took the bandage roll and started wrapping, still giving off that smile. “At first I wrote her off as being too cautious, but then I noticed something: For every one animal I treated with magic, Fluttershy healed several. So I stopped, and with a few pointers from Fluttershy, I started treating their burns with my own hooves. I learned a powerful lesson that day.” Intrigued, Celestia spoke up. “What was this lesson? I don’t remember you writing about it.” Her smile grew. “I learned that magic isn’t always necessary. I learned that some things needed to done without relying on the easy way.” Her smile faltered, if only for a second. "I don't want to make you hurt more than you should." Shaking her head, Twilight cut the final bandage, and taped it snugly. “There, all done!” she beamed at the pearl alicorn. “What do you think, Pr- Celestia?” She smiled, looking at the bandages that felt nostalgic on her fur. “I think they’re wonderful, Twilight.” It took all but 30 minutes to treat the burn, so there was still half a day left, and against better judgement, Celestia brought out two plates of black soot. Twilight stared at them with a horrific face. “They’re pancakes, I made them myself! Would you like to try some?” She smiled nervously. No wonder why the kitchen turned into a disaster zone! Twilight thought. “Yes, I’d like some” she smiled, but screamed on the inside.