Why Couldn’t I Beat Her?
By Gingerquill
The grand double doors leading out of the Canterlot Palace auditorium were swung open by the attending royal guards, allowing the exit of Princess Celestia, her towering, pure, elegant form flanked by her onetime student and Equestria’s youngest princess, Princess Twilight Sparkle.
“Your testimony to Starlight Glimmers reformation was greatly appreciated.” The alabaster monarch said warmly to her young companion, as they passed through the magnificent galleries of the royal palace. “No doubt there will still be some matters of disciplinary protocol to deal with, but I’m quite certain they will be little more than a formality.” She reassured.
“She’s actually a really nice pony,” the lavender princess smiled back up at her peer, “she was just misguided and angry.” The hearing regarding Starlight Glimmers misuse of magic had hardly been taxing on either princess, but it had been necessary. Many of the nobles and royal council had been disturbed to learn of her exploits, and even though Twilight had attested that the timelines had been set back to their original course, they were still afraid and required much assurance. “Honestly I’m glad I could help her.”
“With guidance and training, she will go far.” Celestia said, a little smile playing on her face as the two wandered through the grand halls, alone save for the palace guards at each junction, afternoon light pouring through stained glass. “I’m considering offering her a place as my new protégé. I’ve only ever met a handful of unicorns with so much potential.” She continued, idly giving voice to her thoughts. After a moment of silence, she became aware that she had left her friend standing several paces behind her and swung her head around to see her confusion mirrored in Twilight. “This concerns you?”
“No!” Twilight snapped far too quickly. “No, definitely not, she’s powerful, talented, and will benefit greatly from your teachings. I can’t imagine a pony who wouldn’t!” She beamed, much too broadly, her eyes writ with insincerity.
“But?...” Celestia prompted, clearly seeing she had more to say. Twilight didn’t move or speak, seemingly rooted to the spot as she tried to smile even harder. “Please Twilight, don’t be afraid to speak, I’ve always valued your thoughts.” She finished, turning round fully to face her friend.
The young princess slumped, giving up her efforts to hide her feelings, she took a deep breath before speaking.
“I remember when I received my cutie mark and you took me as your student,” she began hesitantly, feeling as unsure of herself as she did on the very first day she met her mentor, “you said you had never seen a unicorn with so much raw talent.”
“Very true,” Celestia agreed with a fond smile, remembering what proved to be a prophetic day, “and what I said remains true.”
“But when I duelled her, I fought with everything I had, heart and soul,” Twilight spoke, slowly gaining certainty in what she wanted to say, but still disturbed by the admission of what had frankly scared her, “by the end, I didn’t even have the strength left to defeat a Timber Wolf.”
“And this worries you.” Celestia made it sound halfway between a question and a statement.
“Well, yeah.” She replied, still trying to get her head around the confused feelings. “I was gifted as a unicorn, and having transformed into an Alicorn I was certain my powers had only grown.” She grew more animated as she spoke, more confused and frustrated as she faced the question that had nagged at her mind. “I’m the Element of Magic itself! I even stood before Tirek after he had consumed nearly all magic in Equestria!”
“And yet, she duelled you to a standstill.” Celestia spoke, her voice even and unhurried. Finally, Twilight focused on her, not angry, not upset, just very confused.
“Why couldn’t I beat her?”
Celestia didn’t answer at first. She simply regarded her former pupil thoughtfully, considering how best to handle her uncertainty. Gesturing her to follow, Celestia strode through an arch and out onto a balcony overlooking the great city of Canterlot. It’s elegant spires, roof tops and bustling thorough fares stretched out below them. She sat on a bench, placed to allow those seated to enjoy the view with some privacy from the hall behind, and motioned for Twilight to join her.
For long moments the two said nothing, simply sat next to each other, lost for a time in their own thoughts.
“There are many who call me the most powerful being in the world,” Celestia broke the silence, her melodic voice had taken a wistful tone, “some even whisper goddess, despite my protests. Yet when Queen Chrysalis took Cadence’s place, invaded Canterlot and nearly married your brother, I was defeated.” She looked down at her friend pointedly.
“That’s because she was fed by my brother’s love.” Twilight told her, very matter of fact, as though surprised she needed to explain the mitigating circumstances.
“And when I faced Nightmare Moon, a millennium ago, it was the Elements of Harmony that overcame her, not me.” Celestia argued back, using the same pointed tone.
“But she was your sister, you couldn’t strike at her.” Twilight was clearly shocked and further confused to learn the glorious leader of her nation, who she had admired for as long as she could remember, had ever harboured such self-depreciating thoughts. Celestia herself looked away towards the city with an amused smile.
“Making excuses for me?” She asked. Twilight quickly began to gabble a response, but Celestia politely raised a hoof to silence her. “My point is I am not so all-powerful as the stories have made me to be.” Looking back to her student, she could see her mind at work, trying to reconcile these admissions with her image of the princess and somehow piece together the lesson she was trying to teach. She decided to take a different approach. “Have you ever heard the tale of the Great King Bucephalus?” She asked conversationally.
Twilight’s brow furled as she wracked her memory to answers.
“Briefly, he was a ruler of the Roaman Ponies in ancient times wasn’t he?”
“Quite right.” Celestia raised an eye brow in pleasant surprise, never ceasing to be impressed with Twilight’s incredibly broad reading interests and powers of recollection. “Only a little history has survived the ages, but in his life time he took a disparate and violently opposed set of city states, and wielded them together to form an empire. He was gifted, powerful and brilliant.” She told her, emphasising every quality with a pointed gesture of her hoof, so Twilight might grasp her meaning. “So much so he was never defeated in battle, until the Fields of Serenity, where he met his end and his empire fragmented.”
“How was he beaten?” Twilight asked, the gears in her head continued to turn as she absorbed and processed what she was being told. Celestia locked eyes with her.
“It is his story that gives rise to the phrase, pride goes before a fall.”
“Pride?” Twilight hadn’t expected so simple an answer. Maybe some secret of magic, a tragic betrayal, but nothing so simple as pride.
Celestia nodded sagely.
“In defeating all his enemies, King Bucephalus fell victim to his own pride.” She explained. “Pride is at once a powerful force that can drive us to excel, and a terrible poison for the soul, for there is no more than a hairs breadth between pride and arrogance. In his arrogance, he believed there was no one left who could threaten him, and allowed his strength and skill, and that of his empire, to wane.” As Twilight looked away, Celestia fell silent, allowing her words to sink into the young princess, allowing her to realise the lesson she was being taught.
“He grew overconfident.” Twilight said after a moment, her head bowed.
“Exactly. And that lead him into a battle he was not prepared for. Pride cost him his strength, and ultimately his empire and his life.”
There was another uncomfortable silence.
“Do you think that’s happened to me,” Twilight asked slowly, fearful that she had fallen from grace. “I’ve become, arrogant?”
Celestia wrapped one large wing about her, remembering that she was not only a princess, but also a young lady. One who now looked up to her for comfort.
“Not arrogant, merely overconfident.” She smiled her comforting smile. “When one spends one’s time hearing everypony tell you how magnificent and powerful you are, it becomes very easy to listen, and believe them.” She finished, sounding a little sad as she did.
“I did believe them.” Twilight admitted, burning with shame at what she saw as her failure. “My victories and triumphs had everypony believing I was so powerful…” she trailed off, letting the sentence go unfinished.
“Where Starlight Glimmer had spent all the time since your first encounter training, practicing, honing her strength and skills.” Celestia finished.
Twilight finally understood, she had the answer to her question, and the knowledge brought her little comfort.
“Don’t feel bad about it, you aren’t the first pony to ever succumb to pride.” Celestia tightened her hug in what she hoped was an uplifting gesture. “It is a failure that I have likewise made, many times. Once it even cost me my sister.” She admitted sadly, the pain of her own mistake from an age past, still easily recalled. She turned the subdued princess to face her, one hoof under her chin to make her look up into her eyes. “You are a being of peace and love and friendship,” she told her with conviction born of absolute certainty, “violence does not come naturally to you. And that is to your credit.” Her smile, genuine and affectionate, was soon mirrored on Twilight, and the young princess leaned into her mentor’s warm embrace.
They sat quietly for a long while, just watching the city together from their private perch.
“You know, I think having somepony capable of pushing me will be a good thing.” Twilight broke the silence, her voice and face cheery once again as she looked up to her fellow princess. “Wouldn’t want pride getting the better of me, would I?” She joked with a broad and sincere grin.
“No you would not.” Celestia smiled back with a titter. “I can certainly arrange for the two of you to share some lessons, and if you like I can ask Luna to provide tutelage as well.”
“Luna?” Twilight was surprised.
“I may be the elder, and arguably wiser of the two of us, but she was always the more…” Celestia paused in thought as she carefully searched for an appropriate word, “assertive. When was the last time you truly had to push your limits, trained to defeat an opponent? Even against Tirek, you relied more on borrowed power and brute force than technique.”
“You mean martial arts and magics?” Twilight quickly caught the meaning.
“Think of it as a thorough work out.” Celestia said, putting a positive spin on her suggestion. “And trust me, if you accept, she will make you work.” She added with a wry grin.
Twilight thought about it for a moment, going over and over the events of her misadventure with Starlight, and todays lesson in her mind, pondering the gift of humility.
“I think, that despite everything I have learned and achieved, how much I have grown,” she said, “I still have a lot of learning and growing to do.”