Gore)2,438 words
485. Wonna by Foals Errand564 words

426. Brush by Palaikai

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When you lived to the age that Princess Celestia had reached, there were very few things that could surprise you; in hindsight, she figured that it wasn't all that unusual that this one student would ignore her edict, but she was still taken aback to see the tiny purple unicorn propped upright at her desk, a beatific smile set upon her face, as she made some changes to the notes she'd copied down the previous day.

There were those who merely tolerated school; there were those would go to ridiculous lengths to feign illness just to be away from the place for a day, but not Twilight Sparkle. More than once, she'd dragged herself to class despite being in the grip of a heavy cold, the pony pox, or some other debilitating affliction.

“Twilight Sparkle?” Celestia put as much authority as she could muster into her voice. “You do realise that classes were cancelled due to the weather, don't you?”

Even if the school hadn't been officially closed on her order, Celestia doubted that many of her students would've been brave enough to make the journey; an ugly storm battered against the heavy wooden shutters protecting the windows, beating out a woodwind percussion. It was not a natural phenomenon either. It had blown in from the east, birthed in the dark heart of the Everfree Forest were such conditions were considered normal. While it was bad enough here in Canterlot, the settlements that had sprung up around the periphery of the forest such as Ponyville would have it so much worse.

“I know, but ...” Twilight hesitated, as if trying to find the right words to articulate her feelings. Spending the day with her big brother wouldn't have been the worst thing in the world, especially if Mi Amore Cadenza was there, after all.

“But you felt safer here than you did at home?”

“Mm.” She nodded before letting her head sink a little, embarrassed as always at how most ponies could read her as easily she she read a book. Or maybe it was just that she'd spent so much time in the princess' company that Celestia always knew what she was thinking? “Are you … I mean, do you want me to leave?”

Even if she'd harboured any notions of sending the filly home – which she hadn't – the way in which Twilight's mulberry eyes widened to twice their normal size, to say nothing of the adorable pout of her bottom lip, would've put the kibosh on Celestia's plans, anyway. “No, of course not,” she replied, doing her best to stifle her giggle at Twilight's pleading expression. “But rather than spending the whole day stuck in the classroom copying old notes, why don't we go down to the library instead?”

The princess had been heading down there, anyway; with the students and staff gone, Celestia had figured that now was as good a time as any to give the old building a once-over.

Just as Celestia had expected she would, Twilight practically leapt out of her seat at the mention of that particular word. She flattered herself by thinking that her company was part of the appeal, but she knew that the main draw for the filly was the promise of a room full of books and no distractions. Still, if it weren't for mandatory closing hours, Twilight would probably live her entire life in the school's well-stocked library. If she ever paid a visit to the grand respository in the Castle of the Two Sisters, then her head would probably explode.

“Princess?” Twilight asked quietly, feeling as though she was intruding on something. “Are you okay?”

“Huh?” replied Celestia, blinking slowly, returning to Equestria. “Yes. Why do you ask?”

“Well, you just looked sad for a second,” said Twilight, a pensive expression on her face, fearing that this line of questioning was perhaps crossing a line that shouldn't be crossed with her mentor.

“I'm fine.” The princess favoured the filly with a small smile. She hadn't thought about the old castle in some time, and doubtless the Everfree's bizarre environment had caused it to crumble into a ruin by now. If not, it would be infested by the oddities which called the forest their home.

“My mom always says that I should talk to her or my dad, or even Shiny or the babysitter, if I'm feeling down,” said Twilight quickly, worried that, if she had to stop – even for breath – she'd lose her nerve. She cast a sideways look at Celestia. “D'you still talk to your parents when you're sad?”

“Sometimes,” Celestia replied, not at all proud of the little white lie that she was telling her student. Her relationship with her parents had been strained long before her ascension to alicorn status; she'd tried very hard to make sure the same thing didn't happen to Twilight: that, important though they were, her magical studies were still secondary to the connections she formed with other ponies. Given the way that Twilight talked about her family in glowing terms, it seemed to be working well so far.

“D'you think I'll get the chance to meet them one day?”

“They're, ah, difficult to get hold of.” Celestia's low mood sunk just that much further at the second lie. Still, there were some things that you just couldn't explain acceptably to a child, no matter how bright they were. “They live very … far away.”

Twilight accepted all this with a nod of her head. Celestia was both gratified and a little afraid of the blind trust the filly displayed in her; the kind of loyalty only the very young, the very innocent, are capable of. Before life became a series of disappointments, compromises, complications and half-measures that pleased no one. The princess shook her head, her multi-hued mane falling over her eyes, wishing that she could also shake loose the thousands of years of stray thoughts collected there-in.

When they finally reached the library, they found that the heavy oak doors were lay open already; there hadn't been time for the librarians to put everything neatly away on their respective shelves before the storm warning had come in, thus there were books, pamphlets, and many other texts strewn around the various tables. Celestia smiled at Twilight's aghast expression as she took in the disarray: very few crimes affected the filly as deeply as those perpetrated against the written word.

Still, the dim lantern light lent the large room a cosy, homely air; even the dust motes were happy, dancing as they were in the shafts of radiant orange.

“Should we tidy up first?” asked Twilight, annoyed by the disorder but also keen to bury her muzzle in a book. It was a war of competing compulsions, and Celestia had to admit that the play of emotions across the filly's face were amusing to watch.

“Let's leave that for the librarians to deal with, eh?” Celestia said with a conspiratorial wink as she led Twilight further inside the darkened room. The storm seemed very far away all of a sudden, though it could've just been the muffling effect of the roof's insulating materials. The princess disappeared into one of the aisles, searching for something that might interest the filly (something that she hadn't read a thousand times before); she was barely out of Twilight's sight for a moment when there was a loud scraping sound, followed by a thunderous crash, and then a howling wind began to whip up loose sheaves of paper.

Darting quickly back to where she had left Twilight at one of the tables – vowing that she would never forgive herself if something had happened to the filly – Celestia was shocked by what she found.

It appeared that a stray bolt of lightning had winged the roof, dislodging part of the ancient structure; the cave in would've crushed Twilight had it not been for her powers kicking in at just the right time, and now the loose brick and mortar were suspended just above her head as if dangling on an invisible strand of twine. “Twilight,” Celestia said, taking a deep breath in relief. “Are you …?”

Twilight's eyes glowed a hot, bright white; her untempered powers had been triggered by the danger, but now she couldn't shut them off. A storm, every bit as fierce as the one that continued outside, threatened to consume the library … and more besides.

“You have to focus!” Celestia said, shouting to be heard over the rising mistral. “Focus on something that calms you, something peaceful. Think about your family, Cadance, me, anything!”

“I can't do it!” Twilight replied sobbing, milk-coloured tears pouring from her eyes. The power was literally bleeding out of her the longer it went on.

Fear and adrenaline were fuelling her power, and if Celestia didn't do something soon they would continue to drain Twilight until she had nothing left to give and all that pooled energy would spill out in an enormous explosion. Forget the school, half of Canterlot could be wiped out in such a blast!

She tried to approach the scared filly, but the buffeting waves forced her back; rain flooded in through the gap in the roof, soaking Celestia's pelt, but none of it was reaching Twilight. The burning furore around her evaporated any liquid before it had the chance to touch her. Bracing herself, Celestia soldiered on. She ignored the rain, the scalding heat, the pulsing cyclone that would've knocked her off her feet and likely through one of the walls, until she reached Twilight.

Finally, when she was close enough, she pulled the filly into a tight embrace; the princess brushed her mane softly, and cooed gently in her ear. “Sh, sh. It's okay, I'm here, Twilight. Let it go, let it all go.”

It took a moment, but eventually Celestia's calming hug and soothing words had their effect, and Twilight's eyes returned to their normal state. She blinked confusedly for a second before the debris from the roof clattered to the floor, shaking her out of her reverie. “Are you all right?” asked Celestia, taking stock of the dented floorboards.

“I'm ...” Twilight choked back her tears, rapidly becoming aware of what had just transpired. Her voice filled with concern for her injured mentor. “Never mind me, are you okay? I'm so sorry. Did I hurt you?”

“I'm fine. Really ,I am.” There were a couple of scorch marks, and she was sodden to the core, but nothing permanent.

“Is that going to happen again?” the filly asked unhappily.

Celestia, still stroking Twilight's hair, decided that it was best to be honest. You couldn't properly deal with something unless you had all the facts at your command, after all. “Probably, yes, until you learn to control your powers as all unicorns and alicorns must do. Granted, you are an exceptional case, however,” she added with a slight smile. “It won't be easy, but I have no doubts that you'll succeed.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I have faith in you.”

“I don't want to hurt anypony.”

“You won't.”

After disentangling from herself, Celestia stood up with some effort. “Come. We'd best get out of here in case the storm decides to take a turn for the worse.”

Twilight nodded, but looked forlornly at the library. “But what about all the books?”

Suppressing a laugh, Celestia looked down fondly on the filly. So innocent, so brilliant, so full of potential. “They can be easily replaced, but you and I … are a different story.”

As they left together, a realisation dawned on the princess: as important as she was to Twilight, it wasn't until this moment that she'd become fully aware of just how much Twilight meant to her. She hadn't been this close to anypony since … a long time ago. She looked up ruefully at the hole in the library and caught a brief sight of the moon before it was hidden by dark clouds.

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