Chapter II - "The Calm Before the Storm"
Stars twinkled in the quiet moonlit sky above the majestic towering spirals of Canterlot City. A gentle breeze caressed Princess Celestia's face as she gazed towards the heavens and admired her sister's beautiful night. Beside the regal monarch of Equestria stood the lavender alicorn Twilight Sparkle, peering through a golden telescope on the edge of the balcony at the same starry canvas as her mentor.
"...And that's Star Swirl the Bearded!" The purple alicorn exclaimed, a large grin adorning her face. "You can tell it's him by finding his hat and making out the rest of him from there!"
Princess Celestia smiled to herself and cast a glance in her former student's direction. The moonlight glistened around the curves of the mare's face. Truly, Princess Celestia thought, like herself—Twilight Sparkle embodied the signature beauty of a princess.
"Well done. Your many years of star gazing have paid off. But tell me; can you find Princess Platinum's crown from that spot without adjusting the telescope?"
Twilight Sparkle turned to her former mentor and gave a smirk.
"Are you kidding? Last week I can beat Gallopleo's star-gazing record without batting an eye. I think I can find a simple twelve-star constellation without a problem!"
Princess Celestia chuckled in reply.
"I'm not so sure Gallopleo is known for holding any star-gazing records."
"How do you think I beat him so easily?"
The two friends shared in a heartfelt laugh. It had too long since either of them had enjoyed some friendly company. As the two alicorn's laughter began to die down, Princess Celestia composed herself and produced an affectionate smile.
"How wonderful it is to hear you laugh again, Twilight Sparkle." The Princess of the Sun mused with much fondness. "In light of our kingdoms most recent challenges, it is good to see you are in high spirits once again."
Twilight Sparkle gave a small blush.
"...Princess?" said the young alicorn after a short pause. "I just wanted to say... thank you. For all of this. I really needed something to get my mind off of everything that's happened recently. These past few months have been pretty crazy."
Princess Celestia wrapped a wing around the smaller princess and gently pulled her in for a warm embrace.
"We both did," she whispered softly. "With Princess Luna attending to her duties, there's nopony I'd rather spend an evening with star-gazing than my favorite student."
"Student?" Twilight grinned.
"Ex-student," the princess corrected herself with a smile. "How could I forget?"
Twilight Sparkle giggled and snuggled into her former mentor's chest.
"Thank you, Princess. You don't know how much this means to me."
"Think nothing of it, Twilight. You will always hold a special place in my heart."
The two friends held their embrace for a long time. When at last the two parted, Princess Celestia noticed a sad glimmer in her former-student's eyes not for the first time that night. Princess Celestia noted the look, but continued to smile. If her former-student had something to share with her, she was confident she would share it in her own time.
"Princess..." the younger alicorn said after a short pause. "This has been wonderful... but there's another reason I came to Canterlot besides to see you."
The sun-goddess lifted a brow.
"Oh?"
The purple alicorn nodded.
"But it's... hard to explain..."
Princess Celestia offered a reassuring smile.
"I had a feeling there was something more to our visit than you initially described. Please, feel free to collect your thoughts before you decide to share them."
The purple alicorn opened her mouth to reply, but was swiftly interrupted by a firm knock on the doors to Celestia's chamber.
"Um, Twilight?" came a muffled, yet distinctly familiar voice from beyond the set of doors. "Are you in there?"
Twilight Sparkle and her former mentor turned to the doors.
"That... sounded like Spike." Twilight chuckled sheepishly. "I suppose he wants to know why our "meeting" has been taking so long."
The taller alicorn nodded in agreement.
"It would not be wise to keep him waiting. I hear dragon's have quite the temperament."
Twilight rolled her eyes.
"Spike? Yeah, right. But I guess you have a point. I should probably get going. I have a meeting tomorrow morning with Mayor Mare and I need to be fully rested if I'm going to make it on time. Hopefully Starlight Glimmer and Trixie haven't burned down the castle while I was gone. Those two can be quite the hoofull at times, if you know what I mean."
Princess Celestia chuckled and began to escort the younger princess off her balcony.
"I'm certain that your pupil and her friend have conducted themselves appropriately in your absence." she said as they made their way towards her chamber doors. "Now, I believe you were in the process of telling me something?"
Her former student's eyes went wide.
"Oh. Right. It's... nothing important, on second thought."
The older alicorn lifted a brow.
"It didn't seem that way mere seconds ago."
"It's nothing, Princess, really. I'd rather not talk about it right now and ruin a perfectly good night."
Princess Celestia withheld a skeptical look for several moments, but honored the younger's request by giving a firm nod.
"Very well. But promise me that you will share your concerns with another should they continue to bother you. I am always available to hear whatever it may be that is on your mind should you need an ear to listen."
Twilight Sparkle gave a smile.
"Thank you, Princess. That means a lot to me."
"Think nothing of it. I'll always be here for you should you need me."
Twilight nodded thankfully and followed the taller alicorn to her chamber doors. As the sun princess opened them for her former student, Twilight was greeted by her faithful assistant, Spike the dragon. The young drake was flanked by a twin set of royal guards.
"Hey, Twilight! I didn't get you at a bad time, did I?" the dragon asked, thoughtfully.
The lavender alicorn shook her head.
"You were just in time. Princess Celestia was just about to retire for the night. Your timing was perfect!"
The dragon breathed a sigh of relief and gave a smile.
"Hiya, Princess!" he waved at the taller alicorn standing behind Twilight Sparkle.
The princess smiled back and gave a nod.
"Spike. And how are you this evening?"
"Ah, I can't complain. Picked up some coffee and donuts from Donut Joe's on the way over here. I'll probably be awake for a few days!”
Princess Celestia chuckled and gave the young drake a wink.
"That should make for quite the interesting dilemma when you and Twilight retire for the night. I suppose that means I should leave you to it. Goodnight, Spike." she turned to her former student and gave another smile. "Goodnight, Twilight Sparkle."
The purple alicorn smiled back.
"Goodnight, Princess."
With the pleasantries exchanged, Princess Celestia closed the doors to her chambers and left the two alone with the guards outside in the long, empty hallway.
"Let's go Spike." Twilight said as soon as the doors had closed. "It's probably best if we hit the hay sooner rather than later."
Spike waved a claw nonchalantly and began walking. The royal guards silently followed suit.
"Eh, I'm fine. Sugar rush won't wear off for a couple of hours. So how was your meeting with Princess Celestia? Did you go over important friendship lessons for the summer school program you're planning next semester?"
Twilight cleared her throat and replied; "We, uh... talked about it for a little while..."
Spike raised an eyebrow.
"Is that princess lingo for 'we got bored to death and decided to do something fun instead?'"
Twilight's eyes widened as a shade of pink adorned her cheeks.
"It wasn't like that!"
"Aw, c'mon, Twilight!" Spike said thoughtfully. "You've got nothing to be ashamed of! If there's one pony in Equestria that needed a quick vacation, it's you. You've been on non-stop princess duty since Star Swirl the bearded and his crew got back from limbo! Not to mention the fact that you opened a school only a few weeks after the Storm King invaded Equestria. Honestly, I'm more surprised it's taken you this long to schedule some free time for yourself. Well, mostly free time, anyway."
The Princess regarded her assistant with an uplifted brow.
"Mostly?"
"Yeah, well... you talked to the Princess about that thing you mentioned to me, right?"
Not for the first time that night, Twilight's eyes went comically wide.
"Oh. Well, we, uh..." The princess gave a sigh and hung her head. "Forget it. No, Spike, I didn't tell her about the dream."
Spike gave his sister a look of genuine surprise.
"Really? I thought that was the reason you came to Canterlot to see Princess Celestia in the first place."
The lavender alicorn gave another sigh.
"I know, Spike. It's just... I had this weird feeling about it, that's all. Besides, it was just a dream."
The young drake gave a frown.
"Just a dream? It's been keeping you awake for days."
"If it continues to bother me, I'll talk to Luna!" Twilight snapped in a near-growl. When the dragon blinked in surprise, the alicorn cleared her throat and said; "I'm sorry, Spike. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. I'm just tired, that's all. We should get to bed as soon as possible. We have a big day tomorrow starting with that meeting with Mayor Mare. We'll need plenty of rest if we're going to make it through the day alright."
Spike managed a nod.
"Okay, Twilight. I-if you say so."
With that, the two friends allowed themselves to be escorted by the guards to their guest chambers where they spent the rest of the night fast asleep, blissfully unaware of the turbulent events happening in space...