//------------------------------// // Pinch me // Story: The Twilight Years // by Crimmar //------------------------------//         Princess Celestia headed for the dining room located near her own personal set of rooms. She walked surrounded by relatively few members of her court -about a dozen- who were still clamoring around her in order to settle some last few details. They were trying to accomplish this by virtue of asking their own questions right after each other and not giving her any time at all to answer a single one.         She periodically nodded or shook her head negatively. She wasn’t really paying attention to what, and during the tornado of questions swirling around her even the most attentive and alert individual would find it impossible to even guess. Not that it mattered. Truth was that her ponies were skilled enough to make their own choices to the small problems that assailed them. What prevented them from doing their work was a bout of anxiety and lack of self-confidence. Luckily, they had a millennial old Alicorn that could set them on the right path. Of course, one point they often missed was that the millennial old Alicorn delegated these tasks to them exactly because she believed they were better suited to the job. So Celestia nodded, shook her head, smiled, and frowned at random intervals. Her ponies took the cue that agreed with their own decision as the one directed at them, and slowly the crowd around her was dissolving. It was a nice trick, but the less ponies around her, the less it worked. She would have to send them off before they realized she had been thinking about dinner and bed, and not the “crises” they were yammering about. Conveniently enough, circumstances worked to her favor. As Celestia and her unwanted entourage walked down the corridor the door leading to her destination opened and the unique addition to her household stood at the threshold, his impatience for her to walk faster transparent through the furrow of his eyebrows, creating deep angry lines on his forehead. Half of the ponies following her got plainly rooted to the spot, the other half pleading to be excused and wishing her a good night, leaving only her two Solar guards following behind. Celestia flashed a smile of gratitude towards Raegdan, regretting it immediately afterwards. She didn’t want him to get the impression that she wanted him to scare her ponies away from her. At least, not without giving him a signal or something at first. “Good evening Raegdan,” she greeted him, smiling kindly. “I hope you haven’t been waiting long for me.” The sole individual in the castle that she was able to look at without bending her neck shook his head, not bothering with niceties. He sidestepped so he was out on the corridor too and closed the door. “Is there a problem?” Celestia asked. Something must have happened either to Twilight or the baby dragon. He seemed incapable to worry about much of anything else so far. “Little one… strange,” he said, speaking softly. “Want do something, can’t understand most words. Little one talk excited, fast, quick.” His lips curved sideways. “Think she has idea that is bad. Talk to her.” Celestia understood enough of what he was trying to say. Twilight had an idea, probably inspired by something she read, and started ranting to the closest available listener about it. It was easy enough to make Raegdan worry. He was still struggling with the language, and he often focused on the most worrisome words, separating them from context. “I’m certain it is nothing to worry about, but I’ll talk to her. She’ll probably give me no other choice, correct?” she joked, hoping to improve his mood. It seemed to work well enough. He did smile momentarily before opening the door for her to go through. He followed behind, while her guards took their positions outside. She saw what Raegdan worried about, and she needed a few seconds to simply take in the sight. Her young filly student sat on her usual place with a large, toothy smile directed at her teacher, and a plate that served as the foundation of the leaning tower she had constructed in front of her. Celestia noticed a small pizza served as the top floor and she wondered where she got that from. She took her own seat, still staring, and comparing the mass of the food and the filly in her mind. The filly lost. “Twilight,” she managed to say after a pointed look from Raegdan. “You seem to be sporting quite the appetite tonight. Surely, you are not planning to eat all this?” Twilight’s smile widened and her eyes sparkled, in the way they did when faced with the prospect of learning something. “I’m conducting a practical experiment on the physical body consequences of overconsumption of sustenance before a full slumbering period of eight hours, using myself as the subject.” Poor Raegdan blinked desperately as he tried, and failed, to follow the verbose explanation. “You want to see what happens if you eat too much before bed?” Celestia translated for Raegdan’s sake. Twilight nodded eagerly, showing her a long, rolled up parchment. “I already have a small list of hypotheses. By morning I will have empirical results.” She unrolled the parchment, and Celestia noticed an impressively long list, making her wonder when she found the time to write this small novel. “Is one of the hypotheses a stomach-ache?” Celestia asked. Twilight started nibbling slowly at her food as she scanned her list. It seemed she had prepared herself for this. She seemed intent to pace herself and consume as many calories as possible. “Umm… yes actually.” “Then, perhaps you should set this little experiment aside?” “I can’t do that!” the tiny filly cried out scandalized. “I’ve already sacrificed too much in preparation for this experiment. I didn’t have my dessert at lunch so I could be hungry enough tonight.” “Little one can have mine if want,” Raegdan offered, pushing his small plate of dessert towards Twilight. Twilight grabbed it before Raegdan could have a chance to change his mind, adding it to her pile. “Thank you! This will really help.” Celestia decided not to sacrifice her own cake in a lost cause. “What I am trying to say Twilight is that I really don’t see the point in this.” “Knowledge is its own reward,” the filly proudly said, trying to start working her way through her dinner by eating the piece of cake she took from Raegdan. A sharp slap on the table by the biped dissuaded her of that idea, and Twilight returned to a green salad. Celestia doubted she could gently convince Twilight from abandoning her ill-conceived project, and she didn’t want to outright tell her to do so. The filly seemed to idolize her way too much. An order like that from her could stifle her inquisitive nature if she took it to heart.         She waited until Twilight wasn’t looking at her and shrugged at Raegdan. “Make sure you take some soda with you in case she needs it,” she told him.         He nodded, looking greatly relieved that it hadn’t been anything important. Raegdan waited until Celestia started to eat before tucking into his own meal. Celestia used her magic to serve herself some salad, making sure to add an extra helping to Raegdan’s own. He still had trouble with the notion that there was as much food as he wanted to have.         Celestia had tried an experiment herself once. She had more in common with her student than she knew. She put a single slice of bread on his plate for lunch, and nothing else. He sat down, ate it, and got back up again without the slightest sign of complaint. She didn’t try it again. Once was enough.         She watched Twilight go through her plate, getting more full as she swallowed bite after bite. Celestia chuckled inwardly as she saw the young filly stare longingly at the two slices of cake waiting for her, obviously worrying that she might not have enough room for them with everything she had piled on her plate.         The Sun Princess smiled. She liked this. These kind of small problems that involved only them, having their meals together in a personal setting without worrying about boring etiquette. It gave off a sense of family that slowly grew day by day. There was only one pony missing to make this perfect for her.         “How’s Spike by the way? Did you visit him today?” Celestia asked.         “I fed him today with the bottle,” Twilight said, excitedly. “Raegdan said I did a good job.”         “She did. Little flame not cry one,” Raegdan said, nodding.         “It’s once,” Twilight corrected him. “Not cry once.”         It surprised Celestia how even the most mundane things seemed so much more interesting lately.         Something interesting was happening outside Celestia’s door during the middle of the night. She really wished it had chosen somewhere else to happen.         “I’m the one pony who has to literally get up at dawn every single day. If I’m not allowed to sleep in, can’t I at least be allowed some quiet?” she mumbled tiredly to nopony as she got up with her eyes half closed, and threw a robe over her back to protect her from the sudden chill of the room after leaving the warmth of her blankets.         That was her guards groaning out there. She could hear thumps, and she recognized these metal bangs. Boots striking against a metallic surface. Raegdan was out there, kicking either at her door or her guards. Probably the latter. She could hear him trying to speak, his anger and frustration robbing him of any hope of making himself understood. She hurried before somepony got hurt.         She opened the door, speaking before she even got outside. “I’m here Raegdan. What’s wro-”         Raegdan was not alone. He was holding a blanket, and Twilight was wrapped inside the thick fabric, her face turned against Raegdan’s chest and crying. Celestia was instantly wide awake. She took a step closer and stopped again.         There was a wide gash on Raegdan’s left arm, almost at his shoulder. Her eyes quickly jumped to the edges of her guards’ spears spotting the one with the bloody head. She was angry enough that she could swear her eyes turned pure white.         “You attacked him with a spear while he was holding a foal?” Celestia asked her guards. She wasn’t shouting, for Twilight’s sake. Her voice was utterly calm. Calm as death itself. “We- we’re sorry Princess, but-”         She cut them off. She wasn’t in the mood for any excuses. There was none. “You will go back to your barracks and surrender your arms and armor. You will tell your superior what you did. Then you will tell him that I want you kept in the dungeons until I have time to deal with you personally." Her guards gulped as one. “Y-yes Princess.”         She didn’t waste any more time with them. She would do so later and they’d regret every second. Right now she had bigger issues to worry about. She spread her doors wide open and motioned for Raegdan to go inside. The tall biped rushed in, slowly rocking the crying filly in his arms.         “What happened?” she asked when they were in the privacy of her rooms.         “Don’t know. Little one screamed. Went in, no pony inside. She cried, not talk. Brought her here. Is she hurt? Did I do something wrong?”         Celestia took Twilight from him with her wings and sat on a couch, cradling the filly to her torso. “Twilight, why are you crying? What happened sweetie?”         Twilight whimpered and weeped. She mumbled something unintelligible between her sobs. “Can you repeat that please Twilight? It’s ok, you’re with us and you’re safe. There’s nothing to be afraid of.” Twilight’s short hooves clamped around Celestia. The princess used her wings to caress the top of the small unicorn’s head, doing her best to settle her. “He- he said he was going to eat me!” Celestia didn’t mean to. If she had but a moment to think she wouldn’t have done so. It was absurd, and she would never believe that. She didn’t have a moment to think. Her eyes rose to look at Raegdan of their own volition. She didn’t mean anything by that, but the suddenly white faced male was shaking his head as if he was possessed. “Twilight,” she said soothingly, trying to make sense of what she just heard. “Are you sure you weren’t dreaming?” Twilight howled in renewed tears as she relived her experience. “It was dark, and- and we were underground, there was meat and blood on its teeth and it was going to eat me!” The basement. She must have had a nightmare about her foalnapping and… Oh no. She only managed to get a glimpse of Raegdan’s face before he turned around and out her doors. Less of a second, but it was enough. He was devastated by what he heard. She couldn’t remember the last time she had seen so much pain on a face. Not really. That was a lie. The last time had been when he was lying on a hospital bed, trying his best to explain his existence through words he only half understood, expressions, and sketches. That, or the last time she stood in front of a mirror while thinking of Luna. At least she was certain he wouldn’t go far. He’d probably stay out there, silently guarding her doors through the night, cursing himself to Tartarus all the while. She turned her attention back to Twilight. The filly had to take priority. “Twilight, you were having a bad dream. He never said anything like that.” “He did!” Twilight howled. She was crying so hard she had began to hiccup. “He stood over me and kept saying “We Love Adolescent Morsels,” and I was screaming, and he wouldn’t go away-” “Twilight, this never happened-” “-and he kept clacking his pincers and said he would pinch me in painful places!” Pincers? Oh my goodness. She put the edge of her wing under Twilight’s chin and gently forced the filly to look into her face. “Twilight, you had a nightmare because you ate too much before bed. That’s all. It was just a nightmare.” “But- but it seemed so real…” Twilight whispered. “Dreams are like that sometimes Twilight. But you are here safe and sound, and there are no crab monsters around, are there?” Celestia said softly. “I- I guess not,” Twilight admitted, wiping her nose against her hoof. Celestia grabbed a handkerchief with her magic and guided Twilight into blowing into it, using a clean one to dry out her tears. “If there was, Raegdan would scare it away, right?” “That’s right,” Celestia agreed. “Raegdan is scarier than any mean crab monsters and he won’t let them come near you.” Twilight sniffed. “Is he here?” “He’s outside, making sure no monsters even think of coming here. Do you think you are ready to go back to your bed now?” Celestia saw Twilight hesitate, and spotted the hopeful look towards her own bedroom. “Or would you rather come sleep with me?” “May I?” Twilight asked full of hope. “Of course. Let’s go, shall we? It’s really late and we both need our rest.” “I’m sorry for keeping you awake…” “It’s ok Twilight. No harm’s done.” “Raegdan is outside, right? He won’t let any monsters come through?” Twilight asked, her fears resurging. “Never. I bet on it,” Celestia assured her student. Twilight breathed out in relief. “I bet so too. I bet if a crab monster came Raegdan would end up eating it instead.” “He does like to have meat when it’s available,” Celestia agreed. She tucked Twilight under the blankets at the side of the bed that was still warm. “Give me a minute Twilight and I’ll be right with you.” Celestia lit her horn enough to see and scribbled a fast note. Twilight had a dream about a crab monster, not you. She feels safe if you’re there to guard her from monsters. She’ll sleep here tonight. A quick spell later she had teleported it outside, where hopefully he would see it and read it. She made her way under the covers, and wasn’t surprised when Twilight clamped onto her, so unlike her usual behavior. Celestia heard her door creak and Raegdan speak in a loud whisper. “Goodnight little one.” “Goodnight,” Twilight mumbled back, hopefully loud enough to be heard. Celestia’s door eased closed again. All this trouble over nothing but a nightmare. Celestia smiled in the darkness. Something so mundane, yet so important at the same time. She really liked how things were shaping up so far. It was far better than anything she could have hoped for. She laid a wing over her young student and drifted off to sleep. There was only one pony missing to make it perfect.