Finding Comfort in the Smallest Places

by Tinybit92

Comfort

“Luna!”

Celestia shouted herself awake, her wings flailing out involuntarily and sending her sheets flying. Trying to catch her breath, she looks out the window and up at the moon. The silhouette of Nightmare Moon is clearly visible on it’s surface. With a sorrowful sigh, the Princess rests her head on the bed once more. You’d think the night terrors would have eased up after the first few hundred years.

A knock at the door causes Celestia to look up again. “Enter.”

Her personal guard enters the room with his head bowed. “Your highness. Are the dreams bothering you again?”

She simply nods.

“Shall I get you some tea to help you rest?”

“Yes, Bright Scout, thank you.”

He bows again and leaves.

She's grateful for his help. Bright Scout had been her personal guard for many years, and was familiar with nights such as these. She dreaded the day when he retired and she had to find a new guard to put up with her problems. Then again, maybe such a thing wouldn't be necessary for much longer. In just a few more years, the seal on Nightmare Moon would break. If she plays her cards right at that time, it should be possible to banish the evil from Luna’s heart, and then she would have her sister back. For now though, she would have to continue to live with the guilt that plagued her dreams.

There's a knock at the door again, this one much softer than the last. Strange. It was much too soon to be Bright Scout with the tea. “Come in,” she calls curiously.

The door creaks open, and rather than the helmeted head of a guard, the Princess is greeted by the much smaller face of a little purple unicorn.

“Twilight, what are you doing awake?” Celestia had taken Twilight Sparkle on as her personal student a few months prior, and the young filly had been given a room in the castle to better facilitate her studies. But her room was a fair distance from Celestia’s tower, and she was always very mindful of bedtime.

“I'm sorry, Princess,” Twilight mutters nervously, “I know I'm supposed to be in bed, but I heard you yell and I got worried.”

Celestia smiles warmly. “That's an understandable reason to be out of bed. I’m sorry for waking you.” She vaguely wonders how many others in the castle heard her outburst.

“It's okay, I’m just glad Spike slept through it.” Twilight returns her smile, but it quickly changes to a look of concern. “Are you alright though, Princess?”

“I'm fine. Just a bad dream. But that was very sweet of you to worry about me.”

The little filly gapes up at her, looking amazed. “You have nightmares?”

Celestia chuckles. “Of course. Doesn't everypony?”

“Well, yeah. But, you’re the Princess. You're the most powerful pony in all of Equestria. What could you be afraid of?”

Ah, the innocence of a foal. “Being powerful doesn't make me immune to fears or regrets. I’m just as imperfect as anypony else.”

The young unicorn looks thoughtful at this. She stares at the floor with a frown. Then she looks up and says, “When I have a nightmare, I tell my parents and they let me sleep in their bed with them. Sometimes just having another pony there can help you feel better.”

Celestia stares in surprise for a moment. Then she laughs warmly. “That is a very good point. Unfortunately, my parents aren't around anymore. Would you like to help me out instead?”

Twilight's eyes light up. “I'd love to. But, are you sure it's alright?”

“Absolutely. Come here, my little pony.”

The little filly clambers excitedly onto the bed and snuggles up next to the alicorn Princess. Celestia retrieves her sheets with magic and drapes it gently over the both of them.

There’s another knock at the door, and Bright Scout enters with a tea tray on his back. He falters when he notices the young unicorn on the bed.

“Ah, thank you, Bright Scout.” Celestia floats her tea cup across the room to her nightstand. “Would it be too much trouble to ask you to go back to the kitchen and bring Twilight some hot chocolate?”

He blinks in mild confusion, then nods. “None at all, your highness.”

Celestia sips her tea serenely as he leaves. “I find a warm drink can be almost as comforting as the presence of a friend.”

Twilight looks immensely proud to be considered a friend to the Princess.

Proving the span of a child's thoughts, her expression changed to a bashful look only moments later. “So, is it okay if I ask what your dream was about?” She glances away, clearly worried she's overstepped her bounds.

The Princess sighs and sets her cup down as she stares out the window. “Your older brother is in training to become a palace guard someday, isn't he?”

“Yeah! Shining is really good at it too. I just know he’s going to be a great guard.”

“I'd imagine he’s rather protective of you then.”

“Of course. Once, when some other fillies were picking on me about being a bookworm, he yelled at them and scared them away. They didn't pick on me any more after that.”

“That's an important part of a big brother or sister's job. Protecting their younger siblings from anything that could hurt them. But they can't always be there, and when something bad does happen, they will almost always blame themselves. Thinking, if I could have just been there, this wouldn't have happened.”

Twilight looks up at her in confusion, trying to figure out if this relates to her question, or if it was merely a subject change. Her thoughts are interrupted when Bright Scout returns with her cocoa.

“Thank you very much,” she chirps happily.

“Of course. Will you be needing anything else, Princess?”

“That will be all, thank you, Bright Scout. You may return to your post.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He bows and backs out of the room.

When the door has closed, Celestia looks down at her young student. “How about I tell you a story?”

“Okay, I like stories.” The filly looks eagerly up at her teacher.

“Once upon a time, Equestria was ruled over peacefully by two princesses. They were sisters, who loved each other and their subjects very much. The elder raised and set the sun, and the younger did the same for the moon and stars. They worked together for many years, and shared their burdens equally. But soon, things began to change.

“The ponies of Equestria played and worked during the day, but slept during the night. They were missing the beautiful night the younger sister had created for them. She began to feel neglected, as it seemed to her that the ponies of Equestria loved her older sister more than her. The older sister was very proud of the love her subjects felt for her, and did not notice her sister’s feelings until it was too late. Her sadness and fear had been allowed to fester, and an evil magic had taken hold of her heart. She was transformed into a creature of darkness, and used her newfound power to get back at her sister and the subjects she felt had betrayed her. She prevented her sister from raising the sun, and tried to force Equestria into an eternal night.

“The older sister tried as hard as she could to talk her sister out of her plan, to apologize for not caring for her as she should have, and to prove to her that she loved her more than anything else. But the magic that had taken hold of her was too strong. Nothing the elder sister said could get through to her any more.

“With a deep sorrow, the elder sister did the only thing she could. She had to protect her subjects. She used a powerful ancient magic to banish her sister, and the monstrous power that had taken hold of her, to the moon. From then on, the older sister raised both the sun and the moon on her own, and Equestria has been largely at peace ever since. But while the ponies she ruled over were safe and happy, the elder sister would never be able to forgive herself for not being there when her sister needed her most. It is her greatest regret, even to this day.”

By the time Celestia had finished her story, both the tea and the cocoa were gone.

Twilight sat quietly with her teacher, a sad look on her face. “So, the little sister is still trapped on the moon?”

“Yes, she is.”

“But , she wasn't really herself when all of that happened. She never got to hear her big sister's apology.”

“No. I suppose not.”

“Will they ever get to see each other again?”

“Maybe someday.”

Twilight looked up at Celestia, at the sad frown on her face. With very little hesitation, she reached up hugged her as tightly as her small forelegs would allow. “I'm sure your sister still loves you. And I think she'd forgive you if she could talk to you now.”

For a few moments, Celestia is shocked by the unexpected comforting, unable to do or say anything. She chokes back sudden tears and wraps a foreleg around the little filly to return her hug. “Thank you, Twilight.”

They hold on to each other, as the Princess tries to regain some of her composure. Once she's sure her student won’t see her tears, she pulls away and nudges the unicorn back into a resting position. “Let's get some sleep now.”

“Okay. But, no more nightmares.” She says this matter-of-factly, like a statement rather than a request or a demand. It doesn't take long for the young foal to drift off after that.

Celestia can't help but find herself amazed by this tiny filly. She'd known Twilight was special from the moment she'd met her, but while she'd seen her capacity for magic first-hoof, she never expected the capacity of this little unicorn's heart. With such a combination, she knew this was a pony destined for greatness. If at such a young age, she could bring a comfort to the Princess she hadn't even known she'd needed, there was no telling what else she'd be capable of someday. With pride in her heart, Celestia is able to sleep peacefully for the rest of the night, secure in the knowledge that she has chosen a truly great student, and the hope that she can earn her sister's forgiveness.

Author's Note:

First MLP fic, but I hope it turned out okay. Constructive criticism is welcomed.

Comments

[Celestias Paladin]

Short and sweet, you did very good with this.

[Raitythunder]

I will read it Later, I can't atm but it looks Promising. And by Celestia this picture is so Sweet..hnng.

[Tatsurou]

[Random_User]

If you had not stated this was your first story, I would never have known. It has a wonderful, soft feel to it. The scenario is certainly something I can see happening with Celestia and Twilight.

[Zeyon The Green]

I'm going to protect you from nightmares Princess, even thought I am like 1/8th your size.

I like this role reversal. I always see Twilight having a night mare as a filly and then someone older comforts her.

[Alpha_VII]

If this truly is your first piece of fiction, you certainly have a talent for it. It felt natural, the characters were within expected behavioral deviations, it was simple on the surface, but told a more complex story than one would expect from just under 2000 words, and did not overstay its welcome. If I was the type who could cry, I would have when little Twilight comforted Celestia.

I eagerly look forward to reading any further works you post.

[Alpha_VII]

3273900
I do hope in the show they have a moment like this in a flashback, or at least a reference to one.

[Tinybit92]

3275127
Well, it's not the first fanfic I've ever written, just my first for MLP. I'm always a little nervous when first contributing to a fandom, because there are so many rookie mistakes you can easily make that piss people off. Sounds like I didn't though, so thank you very much for the kind comment.

The early days of my fanfic writing abilities were in the Sonic fandom, and many of them are the kind of thing I cringe at when rereading now.

[Alpha_VII]

3275150
Either way, you're quite talented.

I'm a bit of an artist myself, and looking back on my drawings from years ago... yeah. I know that feel, bro.

Still looking forward to any future content from you.

edit: I can't believe I actually forgot to hit the follow button. *facehoof*

[Knight of Cerebus]

Cuuuuuuute. Hnnnnnnnnnnnnng.

I, erm, *cough*, the present tense usage was interesting. It was sometimes off, however. If it weren't for the alt universe tag, I would caution that Twilight's foreknowledge of Luna contradicts canon, but you've got that covered. Nice catch.

Both characters are IC, you have the voice of a foal down pat and the bits about Celestia thinking on long term whilst speaking were awesome (there should have been a few more in my opinion).

The tag usage is off a bit. It isn't so much "sad" as "slice of life", since while Celestia is upset, this is swiftly alleviated by Twilight and we know in canon there's a happily ever after. This means that it feels more like a bittersweet snapshot of a moment between student and teacher than a sob story.

But these are all nitpicks. 9/10 for having just enough novelity on an old concept, done swiftly and quite well.

[dlazerous]

this was wonderful and I look forward to seeing more from you.

[Cheer]

Daw. I like.

[vazak]

Very nice fic, it was extremely sweet, despite the sadness regarding the two sisters separation, ad everyone stayed very much in character, great dialogue as well. I personally found the actions descriptions hard to get immersed in though and the scenery could have had a bit more detail. regardless a very good fic, have a like. Cute art on the cover as well. :)

[Tinybit92]

3280490
Wow, thank you for pointing that out about the scenery. I just went and looked at some other things I wrote that I haven't published yet, and I am pretty consistently deficient at describing the surroundings. Now I know how to edit those before submitting.

[vazak]

3284236
No problem thank you for the response and I'm glad I was of some use!

[Rinnaul]

What Knight of Cerebus said, plus I think you missed a word here and there, though this was the only one to really stand out to me:

Proving the span of a child's thoughts, her expression to a bashful look only moments later.

Though I don't know that I'd have bothered with the AU tag. I'd just go on the assumption that Twilight would have forgotten that late-night story in the intervening years.

Regardless, very sweet little story.

[Mares Guyver]

A very good first fanfic. You hit all the right marks in regards to pacing, characterization, content, balance of description and dialogue, and writing flow. As others have pointed out, there may be a few minor grammatical errors here and there, but nothing overly distracting. In all, this was a well-crafted, heart-felt look into the early relationship of Celestia and Twilight--you're certainly off to a great start with your writings! Great job!

[Jamu]

The elder rose and set the sun, and the younger did the same for the moon and stars.

From then on, the older sister rose both the sun and the moon on her own, and Equestria has been largely at peace ever since.

You should use "raised" insteasd of "rose". It's a small thing but it can be a bit annoying.

Rise (rise, rose, risen) has pretty much the same meaning as "get up", you can rise up from your bed. Or the sun can rise above the horizon.
Raise (raise, raised) has mostly the same meaning as "lift up", you can raise your glass or raise a ball above your head. And Celestia raises the sun.

Little nitpicking maybe, english ain't even my primary language, but when ever I see people mix up "rise" and "raise", for some reason it really annoys me. Other than that, great little story, had a lot of feeling in it. Definately thumbs up material.

[SHL]

There's only one way to express how good is this:
25.media.tumblr.com/c26b20d3523d58572c00a59fabfc6650/tumblr_mtzmeqC16Z1qcga5ro1_500.gif

[zoruatrainer66]

I was tearing up and whimpering and it was so cute and sad and twilight is so adorable and celestia is so sad,now I'm all feely you big meanie!

[Dazzleme]

Love love love! Twilight is so cute in this story
I was like dawww isn't most of it

[WS]

I always thought that this song represented the 1000 year break..

http://youtu.be/OBk3ynRbtsw

[epreeses1]

I don't know why, but whenever you used present tense words like Chirps, looks and rests, it feels wrong. Yet, I feel like it's right. Although I must tell you that you are a little inconsistent with it as you put a reached instead of reaches. This brings me to my first question. Which is right? The past tense that sounds better but isn't consistent with the verb tense, or present?
There were a few plot holes like why would Twilight question Nightmare Moon's existence when she knew it from this story.
Other than that (and I feel you took the intro to the show word for word) it was a pleasant experience.

[Tinybit92]

4577709
I typically write in past-tense, but this one was done during a time when I was experimenting with present-tense. For consistency, the correct word in those situations would be the present-tense, like reaches. I just slipped up there and then missed it in editing. Sorry for the confusion that may have caused, I know present-tense writing is fairly uncommon, I was just trying something different.

This is also one of those stories that was written at 3am when it popped into my head, so the simple answer to those plot holes is that I just didn't put enough thought into it at the time. But, if you want a better answer, Twilight is fairly young here, and she got woken up in the middle of the night. She was probably just too tired to really remember the full context of the story later.

[Blondlionezel]

Cute!

[RoyalBardofCanterlot]

Very few fics make me tear-up. This one did in a good way.

[Tranquil Serenity]

This was sweet. The way you wrote this is more simple and straightforward - presumably due partly to this being your first MLP fiction and partly because you were experimenting with a different tense. You got better later at making things feel more real and immersive, but this was still a cute read.

Twilight was adorable, and I love the idea that Celestia would let the little foal sleep with her like in a child/parent relationship. Of course the adult being the one who had the nightmare and is comforted as opposed the child is a switch when you think about it that way.

I liked this. It was nice. Thank you for sharing.

[Ghost Mike]

An oddball ghost happened across your fic and read it. Have a review!