Tell Me Your Secrets
“Good morning, Twilight. Are you ready for your next lesson?” The princess’ soft voice made Twilight open her eyes with a bright smile. The light of the early morning sun poured through the lone window in her room and lit up the similarly smiling face of Princess Celestia. “I’ve decided to take the entire day off so that we might really begin your education.”
Twilight wanted to squee in happiness, but contented herself with an enthusiastic, “I’m ready, Princess!”
The princess nodded. “Very good. Follow me then,” she said, materializing on the other side of the bed and walking out the door.
Twilight quickly scampered after her, stepping into a classroom with a single student bench at the center after a journey that seemed to take no time at all. She took her seat after the princess motioned at it, opening the tome she found there.
Books were always treasure troves of information, and it would have been no different for this one, if Twilight had been able to read any of it. She was sure it contained the secret to spells such as teleportation, duplication, and creating ice cream out of thin air. More than just the spells, it would describe the runological systems and mental barriers a filly like Twilight might run into if she were to try any such spell, and ways to overcome said obstacles. But much to her frustration, the text on the pages kept moving around; the letters didn’t look like any she had ever seen before and they all squirmed off of the page as though they were shy about being read.
Twilight growled softly. “Tell me your secrets, book.”
The book, and the letters contained within, didn’t deign to listen to her subvocal threat. Before she had a chance to ask the princess about it, however, the princess began her explanation. “Today, I wanted to start with some of the more advanced spells,” the alicorn said, picking up half a dozen crayons and drawing some vaguely geometrical shapes on the blackboard at the front. “Since you’ve already teleported without any major side effects, I think it would be prudent to show you how to do so safely. You should start by gathering enough power to—”
Twilight decided that not being able to read the book wasn’t super important. She could always ask the princess about it later, and it if it was really important, the princess would surely cover it in the lesson. She found it easier to understand what the princess was explaining than she would have thought, and by the time the lesson came to an end, she felt like she understood the basics of every magic there was.
“Is that clear?” the princess asked, putting a punctuation mark after a line of text that was also too blurry to read.
“Yup!” Twilight chirped, staying silent for a moment afterwards to formulate the right way to ask her question. “Princess? Why didn’t you just tell me this when I teleported the first time?”
“Because I was worried about you, Twilight,” the princess replied. “I wanted to make sure that you didn’t make the mistake of teleporting everywhere before I could explain how to do so safely.”
Twilight nodded.
“I think that we should see if raising the sun becomes any easier before anything else,” the princess continued, already making for the door. “Maybe I’ll even let you in on a few secrets that will make it easier.”
The classroom and the book were instantly forgotten and Twilight hugged one of the princess’ forelegs the moment the balcony materialised around them. “You’re the best princess ever, Princess.”
The princess lowered her head and embraced Twilight in return. “Thank you, Twilight. I don’t know what I would do without you.” The hug lasted forever, but at the same time, not nearly long enough. It felt safe being in the princess’ embrace and only when Twilight couldn’t handle the anticipation any longer did she break it, in favor of asking about what she should be doing.
“First of all,” the princess began, drawing a little diagram in the air, “you need to visualise grabbing it as you would an item in another room...”
The long explanation took no time at all, and when Twilight felt secure enough in her understanding of the theory, she threw out her magic like a lasso and tightened it around the sun before giving it a mighty pull. It didn’t have nearly the impact she had hoped it would; In fact, it didn’t have any impact at all.
The sun stubbornly remained where it had been the entire day and mockingly lit up the balcony, taunting Twilight with its unmoving splendor. Twilight nervously smiled up at the princess, only to discover that the once proud smile that had sat on the princess’ face had been replaced by a sorrowful headshaking.
“I’m sorry, Twilight,” the princess said, “I should have known you weren’t ready for this—”
“But I am!” Twilight interrupted her. She turned back to the sun and growled, strengthening her magical hold on it and giving it another yank.
And then it all went wrong.
The light of the sun faded in an instant, casting the entire world in a cold darkness before it fell from the skies, unceremoniously breaking into a thousand pieces when it hit the ground. Despite the absence of light, however, Twilight found that she could still clearly make out her surroundings, and what she made out scared her more than anything.
The princess was looking at her in disbelief, pain and betrayal filling her eyes as though Twilight had done the unspeakable. Twilight wasn’t sure that she hadn’t.
“What have you done?” the princess whispered.
“I didn’t mean to break the sun!” Twilight yelled in a panic. “I just wanted to—”
“How could you? Do you know what you’ve done?”
“I only did what you told me to do!”
Something within the princess broke and with a cry of anguish she sunk to her knees disappearing into a veil of fog in front of Twilight’s disbelieving eyes. The fog rolled and broiled for what seemed like ages, and yet it couldn’t have been more than a minute before it began to move towards Twilight.
All of the warmth and happiness she had felt, fled when the fog touched her, replaced by fear and anxiety. It was cold. Colder than anything she had ever felt, and with that cold also came a crushing sense of disappointment. Twilight galloped out the door with a shriek of fear, but like a manticore, the fog had caught her scent—or rather, her fear. She ran through the castle hallways, chased by the fog which was steadily increasing its speed, hounding her at every turn until it lapped at her fetlocks.
There was no time. As a last ditch effort, she dove into her room and curled into a ball on her bed, making herself as small as she could. She silently prayed that the fog wouldn't find her here, but it was to no avail. Even from beneath the blankets she could see it snake its way through her room engulfing anything and everything it touched in a layer of frost. Closing her eyes tightly didn't help. Though the fog hadn’t gotten to her yet, she was already shivering in fear, and she could still imagine the creature as it reared up to engulf her as well.
Everything went black.
Twilight woke up screaming. She bolted upright, scrambling to get away from her incorporeal foe until a much more corporeal one foiled any ideas she might have had. She tumbled out of bed, bedsheets and all, shaking and shivering while the cold sweat streamed from every pore of her body. Slowly, the remnants of fear and adrenaline wore off and she scanned the room with eyes and ears alike, hoping against hope that she wouldn't find the fog.
For minutes she sat there, gathering up the courage to peek over the bed to confirm to herself that it had just been a bad dream. Only when she did and found nothing except a singular white feather on the bed right next to where she had lain did she calm down. It was just a bad dream, she told herself, Of course the princess couldn’t turn into a Wendigo. Still, as she pulled the rest of her consciousness back from the veil of sleep, she couldn’t help but wonder where the princess had run off to. Celestia had definitely been there when she’d finally gone to bed; Twilight remembered snuggling up under a wing, using it as a second blanket as much as shield to keep the scary thoughts away. Not that it had helped much.
She picked up the feather in her magic, wondering if losing feathers hurt—and then wondering if it was her fault that the princess had lost a feather somehow. Even with the sun shining through the lone window in her room, and the happy songs of the birds outside, she was having a hard time shaking the cold, gloomy feeling that her bad dream had caused. Right now, her room was the last place she wanted to be.
So where is she? And what am I supposed to do now? Twilight knew one thing for sure: sitting around thinking about it wasn't going to get her anywhere. She opened her door and watched ponies hurry towards their destinations for a while, but despite seeing a softly conversing trio of guards and a maid tending to the shrubbery, there wasn't anypony she recognised, or felt comfortable talking to. Walking up to strangers wasn't something she had ever been good at.
Still, coming up with a plan for what to do next was relatively simple. I bet Mead knows where the princess is. Unfortunately, in the scant few days since her arrival, she still hadn't had a comprehensive guided tour of the castle, which meant that finding him could prove to be just as difficult as finding the princess. She glanced back at the door to her room, briefly considering simply staying in bed and reading a chapter or two of Daring Do. After just a moment she set her jaw and closed the door with a smack. Daring wouldn't sit around waiting for somepony else to do something, and I won't either. Decision made, she nodded to herself and, with one look in the direction of the sun-emblazoned doors, took off in the direction she thought held the Grand Dining Hall.
She had seen enough of the castle to know that the winding the corridors of the castle contained a lot of twists, turns, and dead ends. Unfortunately, knowing that such things existed and knowing how to navigate them were two very different things. The first right turn she made was an immediate failure, and she came face to face with a solid wall, flanked by two statues; though they might have been guards, she wouldn’t have put it past them. Twilight about faced and went the other way, looking towards the other ponies, some of whom were galloping through the somewhat crowded hallways at breakneck speeds. She wouldn’t have been able to keep up with them even if she wanted to, and instead followed the groups of ponies that seemed to know where they were going, using them to guide her.
She encountered two more dead ends, too many corners to keep track of, and after descending a truly massive set of stairs, she arrived at a place that at the very least had a lot of ponies: The Promenade.
The name was about the only thing she knew for sure thanks to the big embossed letters that hung over the archway entrance. That, and the fact that there were more creatures in that single huge room than she had ever seen together, including the Grand Dining Hall. All around her there were ponies, zebras, minotaurs and even the occasional... half lion, half bird creature; all of whom were talking about market shares, arguing about prices, or walking around admiring the many curious and interesting items that were on display.
What she couldn't explain was the fact that she appeared to have either left the castle altogether, or had reached some walled-off courtyard that she had never heard of before. Even though she had just gone down a flight of stairs, the ceiling had vanished, giving way to a view of a pleasantly warm, if overcast, sky. Twilight cautiously stepped into the room, a little overwhelmed by everything she saw, and was almost trampled by a group of creatures following an eccentric-looking unicorn mare.
"Welcome to The Promenade!” the mare shrieked in a voice that hurt Twilight’s ears, making her clamp them to her skull for a while before trying to listen in again. If anything, the mare knew where she was and perhaps even where she needed to go to get to the Dining Hall. “—rving as the literal foundation of the castle, and connected by two stairs to the main entrance, The Promenade has become the most well known trading hub in the kingdom!”
The group shuffled along and some of the creatures in it left out of nowhere, making it a little easier for Twilight to stay close. She bobbed and weaved through the sea of legs and tried to get a little closer to the mare whose neon pink hair was like a beacon, showing the way through the confusing setup of market stalls. “Originally, the nebulous space with enhanced support pillars—which, when combined, carry a weight of over one and a half million tonnes!—was used as storage and refuge in the admittedly unlikely event the castle were ever to face a siege. Over the years, as our fair Princess Celestia forged peace between most every nation on the face of Equestria, however, the nigh forgotten storage facility became home to a grey market, a trading hub for legal and illegal goods alike, hidden right under the noses of the guard. When their dealings were discovered several hundreds of years ago, the princess, in her infinite wisdom, decided that the time for fear of siege had passed, and ordered it turned into the wonderous place it is today.”
“Miss?” Twilight asked as loudly as she dared, worming her way underneath a massive stallion’s barrel. She wasn’t about to risk trying to get past the lion-bird creatures at the front, but hopefully she had gotten close enough for the mare to hear her.
“Although The Promenade is situated under twelve feet of solid rock, a pony could be forgiven for thinking they were right outside,” the mare continued obliviously, leading the group towards a slightly more open area. Unfortunately, there were so many lion-bird creatures that Twilight still didn’t see any opportunity to get closer.
“Boring, isn’t it?”
Twilight nearly jumped out of her skin when a gruff voice hollered into her ear. She looked to the side and found a mottled brown colt who she expected was about the same age she was; or perhaps a few years older than she was if his height and voice were any indication.
“You a mute?” he asked, peering her searchingly while the tour guide droned on.
Twilight quickly shook her head. “N-no. I guess it’s a little boring...” she replied. Truthfully, she found listening to, and learning about, the history the castle to be interesting, fascinating even. However, she knew from past experiences that she was probably the only filly who felt that way. Teasing and bullying had been constants in her life in elementary school, and she didn’t really want for the same thing to happen here. “If... if it’s boring, what are you doing here?” she asked tentatively, trying to divert the colt’s focus away from herself.
He shrugged. “Y’know, blending in, hiding from the folks. You?”
“S-same.” Twilight didn’t quite understand why anypony would want to be away from their parents. Although she kept busy during the day, there hadn’t yet been a night that had gone by without thoughts of what they must be doing. She didn’t even really understand why she’d replied the way she did, but the amused snort from the colt made it clear that it had, at least, had been the right move.
“First timer, huh? Don’t worry, The Prom’s plenty crowded enough. Your folks will never find you.” He glanced around and ducked when he apparently spotted his own. “Gotta run. See you around.”
Twilight limply waved and watched him disappear in the crowd, briefly scanning the ponies behind her for any indication as to whom his parents might be. She came up empty, briefly wondering what his name was before shrugging. He was gone now, which meant that he wouldn’t judge her for listening to the rest of the tour.
“—ough cooperation between the then master builders, the finest mages alive—like Starswirl the Bearded—and the clever use of specially treated illusionary crystals found in the caves below, the ceiling has an enduring enchantment that makes the ceiling mirror the sky outside and even mimics the weather!
“We have learned that the original design called for ceilings like this one throughout the entire castle, because the princess wanted to be able to enjoy the sky no matter where she was, but after first expense reports in both bits and time came in, the design was reworked.
“It has even been speculated that if the gross profit of everything that has been sold since the inception of The Promenade were to be put toward the construction of the original plan, it would still take a dozen of lifetimes for enough bits to be gathered.”
The more Twilight learned about the sometimes sordid history of the castle, the more real her fantasy of being in a Daring Do novel felt. Every adventure Daring found herself in, with the possible exception of comic books, started with some factual information about Equestrian history, and by the time the tour guide thanked everycreature for their attention, Twilight had all but thought herself an explorer. The only things missing to complete the experience were a secret passage leading to a long lost treasure chamber and a pith helmet, and she was determined to find at least one of the two.
Twilight's expectations of finding a pith helmet were lowered significantly when she remembered that she didn’t actually have any bits on her—or at all for that matter. Do the princess’ students get an allowance? She didn’t know, which meant that it went on the ever growing list of questions she wanted to ask the princess when she got the chance. But while a helmet was out of the question, that didn’t mean that finding a secret passage had to be; though after having surveyed the area, she came to the decision that The Promenade wasn’t the right place to look.
Daring Do always goes to a crowded area to find information before looking for the tomb, Twilight thought, nodding to herself. Of course, there was almost always a fight scene in which she knocked out several of the bad guy’s henchmen—and at least one cabbage cart—but given that Twilight didn’t know how to fight, nor saw anypony that looked particularly evil, she decided to forgo that part.
The next hour was spent searching. Twilight left no section of wall unchecked, going so far as to press her muzzle against it so she could see every minuscule crack. , She searched tirelessly, looking for telltale puffs of air that might indicate a break in the surface, trying to divine any magical passages she wouldn’t be able to detect without her magic. Her only reward was frustration when not a single one yielded any passages. Poking and prodding suspicious-looking stones and outcroppings in the wall met with similar lack of success, but the filly persevered. It was only after the sun had reached its zenith that Twilight finally decided to take a break.
She had been looking over every inch of one of the dead ends she had run into during her search, and a particularly creepy and dank looking one at that. It should have been perfect; secret hidden passages were statistically much more likely to be in places that ponies had forgotten about and— “Blehhh...” Twilight had held her nose and tried not to breathe too deeply while she searched—the maids had certainly forgotten about this place. Yet, for all her exhaustive exploration, she couldn’t find even a single entrance.
She sat down with a frustrated sigh, leaning against a small statue of the princess. The statue had gone just as forgotten as the rest of the dead end, but at least the area surrounding the statue didn't contain as much dust as the rest of it. The smooth stone felt cold against her cheek and Twilight sighed again, just to relieve the knot in her chest. I can’t even do ‘finding a secret passage’ right, she thought glumly. The hexagonal base of the statue pressed into her side as if to remind her that leaning against a statue wasn’t exactly helping her find anything. She shifted a little, trying to find a more comfortable position.
A moment later her face met with the marble floor tiles. It was only the briefest of meetings, but the dust on the floor left Twilight with a sneezing fit either way. As soon as it had passed she looked up at the statue, trying to figure out what had happened. The significantly smaller-than-life figurine of the princess still looked down at her like nothing had happened, but when she inspected the base, she could make out faint traces of an indentation in the floor and a small sliver of floor which looked untouched by dust.
It was all Twilight could do to suppress her squeal of excitement. This is it! This is it! Yesyesyesyesyesyes. She managed to calm herself after only three celebratory laps around the statue before inspecting it again. This time, she tried to figure out if it was safe to move it, and what kind of traps would be waiting for her; every single one of the evil geniuses and ancient evil overlords had traps on their secret passages after all.
Despite her best efforts, however, she found no pressure plates, invisible switches, or possible trap activating devices of any kind. It was baffling. What kind of a dumb evil pony wouldn't boobytrap the entrance to their secret lair? she wondered. Come to think of it, she didn't really know that many overlords, evil or otherwise.
The duchess... Blueblood! She was most definitely evil! Twilight briefly pondered on the exact evil-ness of the mare, but eventually shook her head. She's too smart. Not to mention the fact that this castle didn't even belong to her, which led the filly to a worrying conclusion: Could the princess be an evil overlord? She certainly possessed the resources to be one. Princess Celestia had her own army of soldiers; those would be the minions. A huge castle with secret doors and traps, sans the traps... And the motivation to try and take over the country from its rightful—
Oh... Twilight frowned. That possibility went out the window as well. The princess already had a country to rule, so she lacked most of the motivation that normally drove evil overlords. Unless she wants more land... but she cares about ponies, right? Twilight nodded in accordance with herself: the princess was a good pony.
So maybe this is a good guy secret doorway? The notion felt strange. Good guys didn't usually need to hide things away because they had justice on their side. Twilight looked at the statue again. Then again, there’s no reason good guys can't have secret doorways, is there? She could only come up with one good reason for good ponies to hide away important things, and the realisation made her eyes widen in awe.
“Princess Celestia is a superhero,” she whispered to nopony in particular.
Before she went any further, Twilight checked to see if anypony was looking at her. Sure it was a dead end, and dark, and dirty. Sure it was out of the way for most ponies and sure she was at least partially hidden by a statue, but that didn't mean that nopony would get curious. Right now, Twilight couldn't have curiosity by anypony other than herself; not when she was about to find out the princess' secret identity. Luckily, the pair of guards that had passed her earlier seemed to have continued their patrol, and the mares who had given her an indulgent smile were gone as well. The princess' secret would be safe if she acted quickly
After putting her head up against the base of the statue, and pouring all of the strength her little body possessed into her hind legs, she inched the statue out of the way. What she had thought to be an indentation turned out to be a neat circular hole in the floor; too small for her hooves, and too dark to see anything. Twilight refused to give up, however, and she became ever more creative in her attempts to open it.
Finally, after twenty odd failed attempts an errant thought made her take a step back and regard the hole with something that resembled patience. Maybe it's for a horn? Even in her head it sounded strange; ponies couldn't bend that far, so why would anypony make a hole for a horn in the floor?
Without any other ideas, she settled for simply trying to make it work; which proved to be rather difficult. Twilight had never been the most athletic of ponies, but even if she had been, the contortionism required was staggering. She tried lying down on her back and looking up, which failed because she couldn’t find the hole and had problems with the angle when she finally did; rolling up into a ball, which failed because she couldn’t see anything through the hair of her own tail; and finally, standing on her forehooves while carefully lowering herself— and her horn— in parallel with the hole.
With only a vague idea on how to achieve her intended goal, and with a grace that was more luck than skill, she took a few steps back, sprinted towards the statue, and skidded to a halt, letting her momentum carry her into an inverse position.
It was spectacular feat of strength and balance, even if her hind legs were resting against the statue base for stability. What she hadn't counted on was how taxing it would be. Standing on just her forelegs without them buckling and sending her crashing to the ground was so strenuous that her forelegs were shaking before she had even good and well gotten into position. Sweat poured from her forehead, neck and most anywhere that had hair follicles. It rolled down into her eyes and stung while she tried to keep herself lined up, making it that much more difficult to focus.
She couldn’t hold out for long, and well before she had even reached the focal point of her circus act, she swayed forward and her legs gave out. She tumbled over, the floor helpfully meeting her back in an uncomfortable landing. “Owww...” She lay there for a few minutes, trying to catch her breath. Frustration with her inability to open the secret passage unfortunately also brought with it the feeling of inadequacy. Stupid secret passage. Why couldn’t you have been designed by somepony who was bad at gym class? The thought brought an unbidden smile to her face. She had no doubts that the princess could do anything, but imagining her standing on her head was funny... and not very likely. Unless... She looked around the corner once more, trying to make sure that nopony was paying any attention to her and what she was doing before lighting up her horn and sending a tendril of magic down the hole, blindly grasping at whatever lay within.
It turned out that there wasn't a whole lot to grasp in the hole; nothing in fact. But before Twilight could bemoan yet another failed attempt, she heard a soft click from the wall behind her. At around eyeheight for an adult, a neat circular hole hissed, retreating into the wall and spawning a network of glowing lines, the outlines of which coalesced into princess Celestia's cutie mark before fading away. The wall disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving Twilight looking at nothing more than the few clouds of dust that tumbled out, and pitch black darkness.
Part of her was scared. Monsters that hid in the darkness were still very much real to her, and the tunnel had enough darkness to house a whole army of them. Despite herself, however, she was also excited; seeing the princess' cutie mark on the opening just proved her superhero theory, and though the voices of fear and caution wailed in the back of her mind, she stepped into the tunnel without a backwards glance.
The secret passage, as it turned out, was designed to remain so. No sooner had Twilight stepped through the entrance than the entire thing closed behind her, leaving her standing in the dark.
Bad idea. Bad idea! her mind screamed, gaining a lot more influence now that the safe security of daylight right behind her had vanished. Suddenly, she wasn't feeling so adventurous anymore. Instead of superheroes and explorers, her mind turned to the horrors that she was sure were hiding just a few paces in front of her, waiting for her to move so they could devour her.
Did something just touch her leg? She backpedaled skittishly until her rump collided with the closed-off entrance. She hitched and it only took a moment for her already paranoid mind to convince her that she would be stuck in that secret passage forever. And that was only if the unseen monsters didn't get her first. She curled up against the wall, trying not to burst out into tears; explorers didn't cry, didn't hide from danger, and they certainly weren't afraid of a little darkness.
She swallowed the fear and rubbed away the threatening tears, before getting to her hooves and stepping forward into the darkness. It could have been a heroic statement if she hadn't immediately bumped into something and retreated back into her corner with a high-pitched shriek. The second time around, the fear took a little longer to subside. Even after it had gone, Twilight did not move immediately, too busy frowning into the darkness. Why didn't I just use..?
A few seconds later a tiny light sparked in the darkness, quickly gaining in strength until the entire room was illuminated, and it was the darkness that cowered in the corners. Twilight stood, back to the wall, and smiling triumphantly while her brightly glowing horn chased away the non-existent monsters just as it had in her fear-of-the-dark-riddled past.
Unfortunately, the room wasn't exactly what she'd been hoping to find. Rather than being a super secret superhero lair—with cool gadgets, or at the least a superhero costume—it had more in common with an armory, and an abandoned one at that. The walls of the long rectangular room were lined with row upon row of rusted armor, and the weapons were suffering a similar fates in their racks in the middle. What was left of the tapestries was too faded to make out, and even the door in the back was more decomposed rubble than an actual barrier. The most common things in the room were dust and cobwebs, which seemed to cover most everything; the dust blanketed the room in such quantities that it reached up to Twilight's chest.
The only things that looked relatively untouched by the passage of time, were: a light set of white-golden armor, designed to protect the torso and underbelly but not much else; and a sword of similar alloy that was bigger than Twilight herself. Its long, slightly curved scabbard rested against the stand that held the armor, though the stand apparently hadn't been protected by the same magic that that items had been imbued with.
Twilight cautiously made her way towards it, checking every small shadow for monsters. Just because they hadn't shown themselves yet didn't mean that they weren't there. The dust swirled and clung to her coat as she moved, occasionally making her cough or sneeze, and clearly showed the path she took through the room. She wrinkled her muzzle in distaste; the air in the room was stale and smelled like old socks. There wasn't anything she could do about it, however, so she tried not to let it bother her. The life of an explorer is never easy, she thought to herself with a solemn nod.
An explorer's life did, however, contain lots of excitement and rare items. Given that she'd had quite a bit of excitement already, Twilight was looking forward to the second part of the phrase. And while it might not be the costume that would prove Princess Celestia's superhero status once and for all, the armor still counted as rare. Judging by the size, it was too big for most ponies and would look funny on anypony but the princess. She had never seen anything like it, and even as she searched every last shadow, Twilight couldn't help but wonder why it had been abandoned in a place like this.
After convincing herself that there was no other place for monsters to hide in, Twilight approached the armor. Closer inspection revealed intricate engravings that had been carved into the surface, patterns and symbols she could only identify as being elegant, but taken as a whole were obviously meant to convey something more.
“Pretty,” she breathed, wondering what the armor did. Maybe she'd been mistaken, and this was Princess Celestia’s super-suit. Which meant that it would have secret compartments for all manner of things. Like... like grappling hooks, or smoke bombs, or even lasers!
Wait... no. The princess can fly, and she can conjure blasts from her horn, too, she thought. So a super-suit was out of the question. Still, the engravings were nice to look at. I wonder if it’s one of those sizably different armors...
She went for another round of searching for traps. If the armor somehow didn’t belong to the princess, then there was still a good chance that it was booby-trapped. Ancient civilizations were always using traps to keep away tomb raiders long before the first supervillain was born, after all. Or maybe those were just traps left behind by ancient supervillains? She shook her head, trying to clear her mind. If there were any traps, it didn’t really matter who had left them there.
For the second time, she failed to find any traps, which strangely felt like a disappointment. She groused around for a few seconds, blowing strands of her unruly mane out of her face before turning back to the armor. If there were no traps, she might as well put it on the ground and take a closer look at it, mightn't she?
She had to let the Night-light spell fade; casting one spell at a time was difficult enough, and she couldn’t imagine handling more than that. A few seconds in the dark shouldn’t hurt, however; even the creepiest monsters couldn’t move that fast, and she would have relit her horn in a few seconds. She reached out with her magic and touched the armor, only realising her mistake when it was already too late.
The engravings on the armor lit up in a mesmerizing display of colors of the red spectrum, giving it a frightful, almost angry appearance. Twilight involuntarily took a step back before she felt weighed down by some unseen force. An unbelievably loud gong rang through her head, obliterating any thoughts and breaking her concentration. She clamped her hooves over her ears in an attempt to mute it, but the noise only swelled in volume. It was so loud that she was afraid the entire castle was shaking on its foundations, and would come down on top of her. The gong seemed to permeate every fiber of her being, making her lose her balance, turning her legs into jello. Had she been capable of it, she would have been glad she had skipped breakfast, because the knots forming in her stomach wouldn't have allowed any food in them, and lastly, it felt as though the sound would split her horn in two.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the sound died down, and Twilight let out a grateful sigh. Everything, from her eyes to her tail relaxed, slowly unfolding from the fetal position she had curled up in. She let out a little laugh at the blessed silence, closed her eyes, and knew no more.
When Twilight woke up hours later, the first thing she felt was fear. Everything from her toes to her teeth hurt like she had been galloping for days, and, more worryingly, she couldn’t see. With a pained groan she sat upright, trying to figure out what time it was. Her growling stomach made it clear that she had at least missed more than one meal. Memories of what had happened filtered back into her mind; finding the secret passage, inspecting the armor... After a few moments, she tested her horn against the Night-light spell; it made the headache return, but she didn't have much of a problem sustaining the spell otherwise.
"Okay, so you don't like magic," she said, turning to the armor, which hadn't moved an inch despite her attempts. "You didn't have to be a meany about it."
The armor did not respond. It simply sat there, the engravings now aglow with a silent white color. It was as though the armor was silently mocking her.
Twilight glared at the thing, drowning her fear in anger. "Fine! You're stupid, and ugly, and too big for me anyway." She huffed and walked away from it, not touching the sword for fear of having to live through that awful noise again. Exploring was turning out to be a lot less fun than her books made it seem. She spent a few minutes looking over the rest of the room, but aside from the golden armor, nothing really caught her interest.
Going back the way she’d come in wasn't an option, as there appeared to be no way to open the secret passage from the inside. At least, not as far as Twilight could see, which meant that the only way to go was forward. The smell coming from beyond the door was even more dank than that in the armory, and Twilight gagged several times while hurrying through the corridor that lay beyond.
Unlike the not-so-secret hallways, the corridors were tightly packed to the point of being a little claustrophobic. Rotten wood and metal braziers suggested that they were lit by torches in a far flung past, but the knowledge was of little use to Twilight. They were barely tall enough for the princess to pass through, and even then her horn would likely still be scraping the ceiling. Their only other defining feature was that there were a great many of them. Stairs going down, stairs going up, a multitude of cross-sections which Twilight followed at random... It was a maze, and it was only after a good half hour of walking that Twilight realised that she was well and truly lost.
As ever when she had nothing to focus on, her mind had wandered, and when she came to another T-junction, she sat down unconcerned with the cloud of dust she sent whirling through the halls. She wondered what Daring Do would do in a situation like this, and when she came up empty, she wondered how the princess would handle it. The answer was simple: the princess knew everything, and would simply walk towards the exit so she could get something to eat. But I don't... Twilight thought when her stomach growled for the umptheenth time. She tried her best to keep her worries at a distance, but at the same time couldn't deny the creeping jitters that came with being alone and lost.
Her left ear perked up and her attention followed soon after. Voices? She followed the soft murmuring that drifted in from the corridor to her left and, after cantering up two sets of stairs, finally saw a light that didn't come from her own horn. Her little legs carried her faster without prompting; she'd finally found a way out!
The voices became louder and more pronounced as she ran, and Twilight was ready to believe that she was out of the proverbial woods. Right up to the moment she ran into the ceiling with her horn, stopping her dead in her tracks. "Owww." She rubbed her horn with her hoof while looking at the path in front of her. The corridor tapered off to a point, culminating in a small opening that was about the size of her encyclopedia.
“Therefore, princess, I believe it is of utmost importance that we do something about the—”
Twilight's ears swiveled forward. The princess is there! She scrambled forward, forgetting the pain of her horn. All she had to do was get through the opening, which, unfortunately, wasn't as easy as it sounded. She could get stuck if she wasn't careful. Nevertheless, Twilight lowered herself onto her belly and shimmied forward lowering her head to avoid hurting her horn again.
It was a slow and exhausting way of moving, and when she tilted her head a little to see how far she'd gotten, the opening was still some ways off.
“Stupid secret passage,” she grumbled under her breath while lowering her head again. It took another few minutes to get to the smallest part, during which she was could listen to the goings on beyond the opening. She didn't understand most of what was being said, but it was better than listening to her own laboured breathing.
The crux of her little escape plan went well; she made it through the opening and out into the light just fine, but what she hadn't taken into account was just where she'd end up once she had.
She found herself on the main support beam, spanning the length of a big hall. Relatively speaking, the beam was massive, but that still only barely gave her enough space to walk with maybe an inch of slack on either side. Looking down, she could see the massive halls of the throne room, filled to capacity, even now. The murmurings of the crowd were too indistinct to make out, but the apparently long explanation of the mare she had heard earlier continued unabated.
“—which proves that it is vital that our traders can count on a modicum of protection while venturing beyond—”
Now all I have to do is get the princess to notice me. Then they'll get me down from here... she thought to herself, a small smile forming at the idea of eating more of Mead's delicious cooking. First, however, she needed some way to attract the princess’ attention. But how?
First, she needed to know where the princess was, and with that in mind, she leaned forward to get a better view of the room below.
The day was proving to be a long one for Princess Celestia, a title she'd heard bandied around far too much, along with the irritating ‘Your Majesty’ and the dreaded ‘Your Highness’. The former made her feel old, the latter made her feel bad. She had always held that leaders were ponies that were no different from others save for the amount of responsibility they took on; even if she couldn't argue that she was the same as other ponies for a variety of reasons.
Court had started early. Aegis had knocked on the door to Twilight's room well before dawn, informing her that there were documents to be read and supplication forms to be reviewed. The intention to wake Twilight up at a more reasonable hour had stayed with her throughout court itself, but she simply hadn't found the time to do anything of the sort. Added to her frustrations was the fact that Sunny had apparently decided that longer court hours meant that more ponies would get the answers or help that they needed, and had unilaterally amended the court hours to run much longer than it ever had before.
No wonder she was overworked. Celestia thought with an outwardly gentle smile. Perhaps I should find her some more help. The mare had all the makings of a great leader; concerned with the wellbeing of others, always willing to take on more work if there was a need, and generally seeing the best in ponies. On the flipside, Sunny tended to her work with an almost zealous devotion that wasn't always in her own best interests, and, despite her many years of service, was still overestimating her own abilities.
“Your Majesty, trading has always been the lifeblood of our economy, and I shudder to think what might happen if our traders decide to—”
Celestia sighed softly. For the last two hours, the noblemare in front of her had been talking—nay, holding verbal essays—about trade, trading, traders, and every other variation thereof. Celestia had tried to get her to wrap up her story several times, but each and every time, a new topic seemingly crawled out of the woodwork. The mare was ostensibly trying to prove that she was more committed than the council had been, and had almost convinced Celestia that firing them had been a bad idea.
Many ponies in the crowd were starting to become restless, and while Celestia was duty bound to look interested, or at the very least attentive to the words coming out of the mare’s mouth, that didn’t mean that she actually had to be either of those things. A difficult task, but with patience and practice, she had found that she could make ponies believe most anything. And so she sat on her throne, a smile on her face, and adding in a nod every now and again for authenticity, while she let her attention wander.
It made a sweep through the room, almost absently trying to find somepony to do what she hadn’t been able to. After that, her thoughts turned to Twilight. As a rough estimate, she suspected that the filly was smarter than two thirds of the ponies present combined, maybe more if she counted the monologuing mare. A big part of her would much rather be talking with the inquisitive young filly, or any decently intelligent foal for that matter.
On some level, it was distressing to realise that the cost of success in her plans for Equestria as nation had taken the form of dependence. Almost everypony with her in the throne room sought her guidance, and while that had been the initial reason for the day-court's creation, she hadn't ever thought she would be reaffirming what should have been common sense.
It was even more distressing to realise that she had been content to play along for the better part of a millenium. The reason why she had was not far behind, and for a moment she again felt the sting of betrayal. For a moment, the mask of feigned interest slipped, and the deeply pained mare underneath the wise and kind princess was put on display for all to see.
She was spared having to explain herself when a shrill shriek pierced the ambience that ponies in large groups usually provided. Celestia was jerked out of her melancholy and looked around for the source of the scream. It didn't take her more than a second to locate a purple filly who was hanging from a ledge in a precarious manner while screaming her head off.
Celestia moved without thinking. One second she was sitting on her throne thinking about the mistakes of the past; the next, there was a small crater in the dias. She passed the two pegasi who'd had the presence of mind to try and help the filly a moment later and arrived just before Twilight lost her grip.
Twilight's frightened scream was cut short when, instead of falling to her doom, she landed on Celestia's back, which was definitely softer and less deadly than the ground would have been. Celestia could feel the flailing of the deathly afraid filly on her back, and jerked to the left when Twilight grabbed one of her wing-joints, restricting movement and refusing to let go.
“Twilight, let go.”
A frantic shaking of the head and an even more frantic pulling on her wing, was all the response she got. Twilight held on for dear life, which was exactly what was at stake if she didn't let go.
“Twilight!”
“But—”
“Let go!” Celestia thundered, struggling to keep herself aloft without throwing Twilight off.
For a fraction of a second, Celestia had to contend with a pair of tear-filled eyes, and a filly that shook softly before Twilight let go and buried her face in Celestia’s coat while trying to hold on as best she could. It wasn’t enough, and she would have fallen had Celestia not kept her in place with her magic.
Once she had the use of both her wings back, it was easy. She straightened out her flight path, banking away from the wall they’d been heading towards, and gently made her way back to the dias. Their descent was perhaps not as swift as it could have been, but she wanted to make the experience as comforting as possible for her student, lest she denounce flying as well. It took a minute or two, but eventually she landed in the indentation on the dias, her head swimming with questions.
What did she do all day? Why didn't I give her something to do? How did she even get up there? She wanted to sit Twilight down and demand the filly explain herself until her curiosity was satisfied, but that would sadly have to wait a while.
Celestia turned to face an unnaturally silent throne room, filled with ponies who were a hair's breadth away from becoming a tumultuous mob and let out a soft sigh. You cannot just cancel court on a whim, Princess, a mental image of Sunny Scrolls told her. So many ponies will be disappointed, not to mention the outrage! A quick look over her shoulder to determine the state Twilight was in confirmed the worst. The filly looked like a mess, covered in dust and grime, and trying to keep her crying quiet so as not to disturb the tenuous peace that hung over the room.
She’ll have to wait. It felt harsh and uncaring, and perhaps it was, but she couldn’t simply disappoint dozens, if not hundreds of ponies for the sake of just one filly, student though she may be. She almost subconsciously hiked up her wings a little, draping them around the crying filly before clearing her throat to infuse it with a hint of magic.
“Court is hereby canceled.”
The courtroom exploded into a mess of ponies screaming at, and over, one another, and Celestia had to resist the urge to smack herself. Surprising herself was a new one and, unfortunately, would likely have some unpleasant consequences for both herself and Twilight. Had she really learned nothing about how crowds reacted to unexpected events in the last centuries? More to the point, why would she throw away a relatively stable court proceeding after a single incident that had been easily resolved?
Because Twilight is frightened and her parents trusted you to take care of her. Because you’re dying to know where she’s been. Or perhaps because you’re ashamed that you nearly lost her, and that you didn’t have anypony keeping an eye on her to prevent exactly this sort of thing. Her mind supplied helpfully.
“But Princess!” Aegis began, “Duchess Blueblood—”
“—Can wait until I make sure the filly entrusted to my care is alright,” Celestia interrupted him. Going back on her decision now would only cause more problems; moving forward was the only viable option. She stepped down from the dias and made her way towards the side exit, leaving the guards to deal with the crowd. It wasn't a great idea, but the more she thought about it, the more she managed to convince herself that it was the right one.
Aegis closed his mouth and nodded. “Yes, Your Majesty,” he replied, taking his place in front of her and keeping ponies from getting in the way.
“I’m s-sorry, P-P-Princess,” Twilight blubbered, making herself as small as possible. It left her ears in her neck and reduced her to a small purple spot on the white expanse that was the princess' back. “I didn…” She hiccuped. “I didn't mean to... I was just—”
“It doesn't matter what you were doing, Twilight,” Celestia replied sternly, almost angrily. “You need to be more careful.”
After leaving the throne room, the princess’ purposeful strides saw them to her chambers in no time at all. For Twilight, however, it felt like an eternity; an eternity of doubt, fear of what the princess might say, and worry that she had interrupted something important back in the court room. After all, the princess wouldn't do things if they weren't important, would she?
That much was immutable fact. And with the way the princess’ neck muscles pulled taut with every step she took, the half-annoyed, half-piercing gaze she wore, and her tone of voice, everything pointed to that being the case. It didn't matter that Twilight hadn't meant to fall or that it had been the only way out of the secret corridors. All that mattered was that she had screwed up everything. Again.
“Aegis. Rook,” the princess told her guards when they arrived at the door, “please make sure nopony disturbs us. Twilight Sparkle and I need to have a good long talk.”
“Not even Miss—?” Aegis promptly shut his mouth when the princess looked at him. At least, Twilight thought it was Aegis; it was hard to make out details through the tears that obstinately refused to leave her alone. “Yes, Your Majesty.” The vague shapes that represented the guards saluted and took up positions next to the door, ready to ward anyone from entering the princess' chambers.
After the doors had closed behind them, Princess Celestia made a beeline for the bathroom. Once there, she reached around, picked Twilight up by the scruff of her neck, and unceremoniously dropped her into the warm water. Being engulfed by the water felt nice. It felt warm, safe, quiet, maybe even a little comforting. Twilight briefly debated staying right there, scared of how angry the princess had been. It seemed like a good idea, until a lack of oxygen soured the prospect.
By the time she broke the water’s surface, sputtering and gulping air by the lungful, the only sights that greeted her were the many-tiered waterfall that supplied the warm water to the bath; the luxurious towels and carpet that made the floor a delight to simply walk on; the collection of shampoos and conditioners, which she knew did not contain wavy-rainbow shampoo; And surprisingly: an empty doorway. It was almost tranquil, the only sounds in the bathroom being the water that flowed from pool to pool, before finally joining the main body in the marble indentation in the floor that served as a bath, and her own breathing. If she listened closely she could make out a conversation taking place behind the door, too garbled to understand but nevertheless present.
At least the princess isn't going to be angry with me right now, Twilight thought with a major sense of relief. The tranquil nature, and the smell of fresh chamomiles— that she had read somewhere were supposed to help calm the nerves— helped greatly. Or perhaps it was simply the fact that she wouldn’t have to face an angry princess again. She probably had something more important. For the first time, Twilight welcomed the distraction.
No sooner had she finished the thought before Celestia stepped back into the room. “Feeling a little cleaner, Twilight?” she asked, walking forward and taking a seat at the edge of the bath.
Twilight was taken aback by her teacher’s sudden appearance, having convinced the herself that the princess had moved on to other things. It was spooky how perfectly timed the entry had been, and for a brief moment, she worried that one of the princesses powers might include mindreading. “Y-yeah.”
If she did possess any such powers, the princess gave no indication of actually having read her mind, which was at least somewhat reassuring. “You gave me quite the scare, you know,” she said, walking over to the edge of the tub and parking her royal behind near the water’s edge. “I’ll likely be hearing about this for some time to come.”
“Princess, I didn’t mean to—”
“I know.” Celestia interrupted her softly. “Few ponies ever really mean to put themselves and others in dangerous situations.” She let out a deep sigh and shook her head. “I should have been there, or at the very least appointed a guard. But what’s important is that nopony got hurt. We can discuss what on earth you were doing up there once we’ve had a chance to calm down.”
Twilight’s ears splayed without her even having to tell them. “Yes, Princess,” she replied, inwardly wilting. Not only had she put herself and other ponies in danger without even knowing it, she had made things more difficult for the princess. Nuisance... a tiny voice whispered. You’ve made the princess so upset that she needs time to calm down, what kind of a student does that? Twilight shook her her head. She didn’t want to listen to herself anymore. “Princess?” she asked instead, just before the princess left the bathroom.
The princess halted in the doorway and looked at Twilight over her shoulder. “Yes, Twilight?”
She sounded as gentle as she usually did, but Twilight knew that it had to be a facade. Or was it a ruse? Twilight shook her head again. She’d have to look that up in the dictionary sometime.“I’m sorry.”
The princess smiled weakly and said, “As am I, Twilight. ”
Twilight spent almost an hour in the bath, alternating between listlessly splashing around and half-heartedly trying to recreate the water orb the princess had used in their water fight. Even though it had only happened the previous day, it felt like it had happened a long time ago, and so did the feelings that had come with it. Eventually, however, the water began to make her feel itchy, and staying in the bathroom with nothing to do made her feel restless. She walked out of the bath and toweled herself off before taking a deep breath and stepping back into the princess’ room.
She didn’t have to look far to find her mentor. The princess had seated herself on the rug near the fireplace and was holding a cup of what Twilight assumed to be tea in her magic while staring into the fire. Maybe I should just go, she reasoned with herself. She’s always busy, so maybe she’ll forget all about it.
Silently getting to the other side of the room was a challenge, but several years of sneaking downstairs to retrieve the books her parents took from her when they sent her to bed had prepared her for worse. She tiptoed slowly, glancing back at the princess every now and then to see if she’d been discovered, before taking another few steps.
Fifty-seven steps saw her to a quarter of the room, and that same amount again got her to the bed, minus one or two to avoid bumping into it.
“Twilight,” the princess said. “Where are you going?”
Twilight cringed, halting mid step. She gulped silently and turned around to face the princess. The princess hadn’t moved an inch.
“N-nowhere, Princess,” she lied, trying to inject some cheer into her voice.
Even from where she was standing she could hear the princess sigh. “Come sit with me, Twilight. I had Aegis fetch you dinner. You can eat while we talk.”
The mention of food made Twilight remember just how hungry she had been before her unfortunate run in with gravity. She gave up on caution and cantered towards the princess, the prospect of eating making her legs move just a little faster while idly wondering how the princess had known that she was even there. All of her pondering was relegated to the back of her mind when she saw the extensive spread laid out on a trio of silver platters, and though her mother would have been horrified with her lack of etiquette, she grabbed the first few pieces of fruit from the plates with little more than a sideward glance.
All of her expectations about the conversation were strained to the limit when the princess remained quiet while she ate. She had thought her mentor would want answers from her as quickly as possible so she could return to the no doubt important ponies waiting for her back at court.
Yet, the princess did no such thing, or much of anything at all for that matter. She seemed lost in thought, staring into her teacup with a mostly neutral expression that bordered on sadness. It made Twilight want to hug her again. Only the fear of being rebuffed withheld her. She instead tried a smile, summoning the cheeriest smile she could find and sending it to the princess.
The princess didn’t even notice.
Then an errant thought made Twilight come to an understanding that sent shivers of fear down her spine. What if the princess is angry, and disappointed but she doesn’t want to show it because she thinks I’m still a young filly? That could mean that the princess looked sad because she had expected better from Twilight, or maybe even that she was going to be sent home because she’d endangered other ponies!
Twilight’s eyes widened in shock, a piece of pineapple coming to a hover halfway between the plate and her mouth. It showed the princess’ earlier words in a whole new light.
When she had said: ’This was my fault, I should have been there, or at the very least appointed a guard.’ The princess could very well have meant that she didn’t trust Twilight to be by herself; or perhaps that she did, but no longer could since it had lead to trouble. Maybe it had been a test, to see if Twilight could spend a day by herself without causing problems? Looking back at the days behind her, she came to the disheartening realisation that there had always been trouble in some form or another, and that she had been the cause of most of it.
‘What’s important is that nopony got hurt’ turned from being a placating reassurance that everything was okay, into an accusation; a crystal clear example of what her clumsiness could have caused; and ‘You gave me quite the scare, you know’ wasn’t the princess being worried about Twilight’s well being; it was simply an expression of disappointment. If she hadn’t gone into the secret tunnels, she wouldn’t have found the overlook, and she wouldn’t have betrayed the princess’ trust by falling.
Realising that her mouth was hanging wide open, Twilight closed it slowly and licked her lips. Her throat felt like it had dried up and she put the piece of pineapple back on the plate. Suddenly, she wasn’t all that hungry anymore.
"Had enough?" came the princess' idly posed question.
Twilight swallowed a few times, lubricating her throat for a reply. She was sure that she could have emptied the plates if given the chance, but she was also sure that she wasn't going to be able to swallow another bite. "Y-yes, Princess. I think so."
The princess nodded, finally looking up from her as yet undisturbed beverage. "We'll leave how you got up on the throne room rafters for later. First I wanted to ask if you've slept well."
An immediate and emphatic ‘No!’ was the first response that came to Twilight's mind, followed by an extensive explanation of why it was horrible. Most of the details of her dream had faded from memory, but she very clearly remembered a disappointed princess, who turned into a wendigo. She suppressed her the reaction; the princess was already disappointed in her, and she didn't want to add to it by admitting that she couldn't even sleep right.
So she pretended to think for a moment, rubbing her head with a hoof. "Uhm... I think so, Princess."
The princess smiled warmly. "I'm glad to hear that. I'm sorry I wasn't there when you woke up." She let the smile slip and sighed deeply. "Unfortunately, there are still some obligations—duties... that I cannot simply ignore."
Twilight heard the words, but in the time it took for them to travel from her ears to her mind, they were twisted into: ‘You're not important to me at all, other things come first.’ She bit the inside of her cheek. Grown up ponies didn’t usually show their emotions, and she was a grownup pony. No matter what the princess had said, she swore to herself that she wouldn’t let it get to her. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me... right? But the princess’ words did hurt; and she wasn’t done yet.
“I disliked you from the moment we met,” the princess continued with a soft smile. “There was something about you that I knew I was dangerous, but if that hadn’t been the case, I wouldn’t ever have thought of taking you in, and I can see now that it was a mistake.” Twilight went from biting her cheek to biting her lip. It was worse than she had thought it would be. Much, much worse. “Now, while I understand that you’re still a filly, I am a busy princess, and I simply do not have time to indulge your silly antics any longer.” The princess scooted over and draped a wing over Twilight’s back, which, rather than soft, warm and fluffy, felt oppressive and heavy. Twilight wanted to get out. She wanted to get away from the princess, and possibly the room. “Getting as close to me as you did was inappropriate and shouldn’t have happened at all,” the princess continued, squeezing Twilight with her wing. “—and I hereby forbid you from approaching me anywhere when it seems I am in a conversation. I don’t have the time. In fact, I wholly intend not to let this impact my schedule in any way.”
Celestia was feeling good about herself. After almost an hour of indecision, she had finally settled on the right words to use, and she was quite pleased with them. Talking to a filly, even one as young as Twilight turned out to be as easy as talking to an adult if one knew what they wanted to say. “In essence,” she concluded, “I wanted to apologise for the way in which I’ve neglected to be a teacher like I said I would, and I’ve already talked to my aides to make changes to my schedule.”
The expected response—a filly ecstatic about spending more time with her teacher—remained absent, and in its stead she heard a soft sniffing. After looking around the room to assure herself that she and Twilight were still the only ones in it, Celestia lifted her wing to find a crying Twilight. Alarmed and concerned, she lifted the filly in her magic and inspected her for any sign of physical harm. Had she somehow missed every indication that her student had been hurt? “Twilight, what’s wrong?”
“I… I...” Twilight blubbered before her crying graduated into full on wailing.
Celestia did not panic easily; she’d made too many split second and life-altering decisions for that. Nevertheless, having a crying filly and no idea how to get her to stop made Celestia admit that she would need some help. She put Twilight down and awkwardly patted her on the head. “Wait right here, Twilight. I’ll have one of the guards fetch Mead... or maybe First Steps... and we’ll figure out what the matter is.” She rose to her hooves, only to feel the strain on her wing. Twilight was clinging to it desperately, having buried her face in the plumage and quickly soaking it. Any understanding she thought she’d had, had been washed away by Twilight’s tears, and there was no feeling that was more upsetting to Celestia herself than feeling unsure. Not wishing to upset Twilight further, she sat back down. Perhaps she could figure out a way to call the guards from here...
Three hours later, Celestia finally had her rest returned to her. Three solid hours of trying to comfort Twilight without knowing exactly what the problem was, and failing each and every time. The only things she had managed to get out of the filly were some half-formed apologies, and after letting herself be used as an oversized security blanket for Twilight to cry into, the filly had finally fallen asleep. She set the sun in an unfocused haze before cautiously extracting herself from Twilight’s embrace. Hours of feeling lost and unable to help had left her more drained than she would care to admit, and she desperately wanted to get rid of the hopeless feeling that came with it.
She looked down at Twilight with no small hint of exasperation. The filly had cried herself to exhaustion and beyond, and even in now, appeared restless. Her face scrunched up intermittently and even in her sleep she was still mumbling apologies. Celestia picked Twilight up by the scruff of her neck, making her way over to the bed and depositing her precious cargo onto the sheets before wiping away the remaining tears with a hoof before making for the door.
Before giving in to any form of exhaustion, Celestia was determined to find somepony that could tell her what, and more importantly, why Twilight had burst into tears. “Rook, stand guard on the inside and bring my student to me should she wake up,” she intoned after opening the doors with enough force to cause an echo throughout the halls.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Having received no contradictory orders, it was only natural that Aegis would fall in step a few paces behind her. Similarly, Aegis’ actions normally didn’t have any bearing on her destination or mood, and yet having him follow her at that particular point in time, annoyed Celestia immensely. “Aegis, stay with your partner,” she called back over her shoulder, setting off towards the kitchens without waiting for any sort of reply.
After walking down four corridors and rounding three corners, however, she could still feel somepony behind her.
“Aegis!” she growled, turning around to make her displeasure known to her disobedient guard. “I thought I told you to—”
She came glare to uneasy smile with the one mare she was in no mood to argue with.
“Princess,” Duchess Blueblood said, managing to make a curtsey seem disrespectful while the smile on her face only served to make Celestia’s blood boil.
The strained smile that Celestia managed to put on her face was polite at best. “Duchess.” She turned back around and picked up the pace, half hoping to lose the mare before any sort of conversation could take place. Of course, only foals and the so called 'nobility' thought that any such a tactic would actually yield results; and indeed, Celestia hadn't even gone four paces before the Duchess spoke up once more.
“Frustrating problems, Princess?” Had the Duchess been privy to Celestia's gnashing of her teeth, she would probably have fled with her tail between her legs. As it stood, the mare simply smiled at Celestia, albeit a little stiffly. “I heard about the trouble in court."
"Your point?" Celestia asked testily.
"Well...” The duchess made a hopeless gesture with a hoof. “I would just like to point out that such things happen because of a lack of commitment.”
Celestia forced herself to a halt, resisting the urge to physically assault the mare. “What are you implying?”
“I’m not trying to imply anything, Princess,” Blueblood continued innocently. “I just thought you should be aware of how much of a stir the sudden cancellation of court caused among the assembled ponies. Many of them were enraged, and some even broke down in tears because the request they had been waiting to get an answer on was simply ignored.”
A deep sigh preceded Celestia’s next words. “Unforeseen problems are unavoidable, and this one took precedence.”
“But that is exactly the problem, princess! You let that filly run around unsupervised and she ruined several hours of court with her antics. Many ponies rely on you as a beacon of stability, and if you cannot serve in that capacity then—”
Celestia growled softly. “Be very careful with your next words, Duchess.”
Duchess Blueblood took a step back and bowed, somehow managing to twist what should be a show of respect into an insult. “What I am trying to say, princess... is that all of your recent problems stem from taking care of that filly. And, no offense intended, but you seem to be having a hard time actually taking care of her. Is it really in the country’s, or the filly’s—
“—Her name is Twilight.”
“Twilight then. Is it in her best interest that you continue to do something you are so obviously ill equipped for?”
Exhausted as she was, Celestia had to admit to herself that there was truth to the Duchess’ words. After all, the ponies in court deserved to have their questions and requests answered, and it wasn’t like there was much she accomplished with Twilight. All she was really doing was stacking failures upon one another.
Duchess Blueblood wasn’t finished yet however. “—hat know ponies. Acquaintances that would be able to devote their full attention to her care. That in turn would leave you free to tutor my son, as he does not require nearly as much supervision as that snotnosed little run—”
The other horse-shoe dropped, and showed Bluebloods arguments for what they really were. True or not, she wasn’t going to give up simply because things were difficult. “Blueblood, I will not go back on my promise to either Twilight or her parents. You can stop wasting your breath,” Celestia said coldly.
A disgusted scowl sat on the Duchess’ face for a fraction of a second before she masked it with a grimace and after that an insincere smile. “In that case, I would like to inquire if you have given any thought to the duel. Unlike you and your student, I want my son to have the best possible chance of success.”
“I have not made any decisions regarding the duel,” Celestia replied. “If and when I make a decision, you will be the first to know.” When the Duchess did not respond immediately, Celestia stepped around her and continued towards her original destination: Mead’s kitchens. Walking away from the Duchess—or any noble for that matter— was tantamount to a political slap in the face. Some would call it political suicide, but at this point Celestia was beyond caring.
Hurried hoof falls trailed behind her and before she could pass through the doors that lead to the main hallway, the Duchess hurtled to a halt and barred her way. “Princess!” The mare yelled indignantly, red in the face from either anger, embarrassment, or exhaustion—Celestia couldn’t really tell which. “You cannot simply walk away from me! I am an important mare here in Canterlot with a lot of important friends in high places. I demand—”
“Demand?” Celestia interrupted her once more. She lowered her neck so she could look the mare straight in the eyes. Exposure to Twilight’s prolonged sadness had already lowered the bar on her patience, and now she had reached her limit. She could feel it. The tightness in her chest that she had only become aware of after Twilight had finally fallen asleep had snapped, pushed beyond its limits by the words of the Duchess. From the corner of her eyes she could see the soft pastels of her mane warm up until they represented the reds and oranges of the dawn, and her surroundings crackled with the latent energies that escaped her.
The effect was immediate and undeniable, turning the Duchess from a strong defiant mare into a shivering foal. “Y-y-yes. I D-d-d-demand that...”
“Blueblood. You speak to your sovereign ruler. There is nothing that I cannot do,” Celestia said coolly, even if her temper was anything but. “Furthermore, filly, I have been around since long before you were born, and I will continue to be long after you and yours have turned to dust.” Seeing Blueblood’s legs shake gave her some satisfaction and peace. It was enough, for now. Celestia calmed and righted herself before nodding to the side with her head. “I have more important things to do, so kindly get out of my way.” It took the duchess a moment to get her legs to cooperate, but once they did she moved to the side hastily, granting Celestia passage.
Celestia passed the mare without another word. She needed a stiff drink.
I decided to cut off the chapter, as I believe thirteen thousand words is more than enough for one, but there's quite a bit more to Celestia's current problems. Will she find out what's wrong with Twilight? Will Blueblood ever learn that one shouldn't play with fire? Will Twilight ever overcome her self-imposed agony? Find out in the next episode of... well... this story. 
Funny but ultimately rejected ideas for this chapter included:
-Sentient armor.
-Twilight going splat on the throne room floor.
-Blueblood breaking out into song and dance.
Oh, and before I forget... Happy New Year. 
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one thing that is becoming obvious is that this can't go on like this! Celestia simply doesn't have the time to care for a little filly and if this goes on like this it will ruin both the court AND Twilight.
Celestia needs to get help with Twilight. She needs to get her a foalsitter, and I already have a good hunch which one.
Happy new year. I for one am glad that Twilight didn't go splat on the floor. Also it's hilarious to see the 'all-knowing' Celestia baffled by a crying filly. :)
Nice update!
Looking forward to more revelations into a certain filly's over imaginative view of what others think of her. I find it an interesting study of the inner mind when compared to what is actually happening. It will be interesting to see the impact, too.
Happy New Year!
Oe thing to point out
"From her teeth to her toes"
Do ponies have toes?
Who else is feeling a surrogate mother and daughter relationship… I LIKE IT!
Well, I must say, seeing Celestia read the Duchess the riot act like that at the end was wonderful.
However, Twilight's self imposed paranoia about the Princess' opinion of her is heart breaking.
5446178 Q:How many toes does a horse have? A: Horses possess a single large toe on each foot, called a hoof. Modern horse hooves evolved over time from equine feet containing three or more toes.
So Twilight found Celestias' long forgotten war armor. Now I'll hope Celestia wears the armor around the castle to get some respect.
I'd like to think I can have a morbid sense of humor at times, but how could that actually be funny instead of horrifying.
5446337 Because Twilight has a healing factor. How else could she survive a piano being dropped on her head?
My cabbages!
Well, I'm very glad to see this story alive, Twilight getting to explore the castle, and Blueblood getting shut down for being a bitch. I feel really bad about Twilight being all sad though, hopefully Celestia can prove she still cares for Twilight, before the filly decides to do something silly.
Too short. Always too short. Forever too short!
Seriously it's such a good story that I don't see time ticking by when I read it... 13k words? Felt more like 3k to me..
Whatever the Duchess may like to think, there is very little she could do in terms of political sabotage against Celestia. She is the glue (is this wrong to say since they're all ponies?) that holds Equesria together. They are the herd and she is the herd leader and there is no other pony in the entirety of the land that could contend for her place. Plus, should the unthinkable happen and is replaced I would like to see them try and raise the sun themselves. How long could they go in perpetual darkness before they have to make her princess again?
5446354
I'll take your word for it, but I honestly don't remember that happening in this story. Makes me want to possibly skim some parts of this one again.
An update! Wooh! This chapter was funny and just a little nerve racking. I luv it.
5446337
I still want to know what armor Twilight found. I'm certain it could lead to some interesting, or at least entertaining, diversion from the main plotline. Besides, some musty section of the castle that has to be almost 700 years old? What's not to love about it? Granted, a mare like Rarity would freak out if she had to go in there, the more adventurous types would gallop right on. And who wouldn't like to see Celestia all filthy with dust (after following a tiny purple Daring Do wanna-be) in a visual affirmation that she's not the perfect, untouchable alicorn ponies say she is.
(Maybe it's my like for down-to-earth ponies like Applejack that wants to see that happen. A mare not afraid of hard work and messy play. Stomping muddy puddles in the rain is fun!)
5446211 Many thanks
5446391 "It is great to be both loved and feared. If one cannot have both, it is safer to be feared than loved. But above all, instead of being feared or loved, it is much, much better and safer, to be vital."
And that, is how you stay in charge.
Well, even Celestia's patience is not limitless as Blueblood just found out the hard way. Still, you got to be at least mildly dumb or blind to reality when you think it is a good idea to start bitching at the individual that can ruin you physically, mentally and financially with laughable ease.
Lucky for the silly nobles that Celestia is such a nice pony. Imagine how Nightmare would have reacted... Or Chrysalis.
Hopefully Celestia will figure out what is bothering Twilight before either of them does something stupid.
5446762
The Vetinary job security. Make yourself indispensable; then no one would dare cross you, less you decide to do nothing.
Blueblood could still be a royal pain in the ass, however. How hard would it be for her to add more work on Celestia's already overburdened shoulders?
5446416
She didn't have a piano dropped on her head in this fic. I'm pretty sure. However, in the episode Feeling Pinkie Keen, Derpy accidentally drops a few things, including an anvil and a piano, on Twilight's head.
Best. Sentence. Ever.
Twilight has incredible, horrific insecurity issues--but we already knew that. Hearing a completely different conversation than actually occurred, however, is unexpected and worrisome. Did her mishap with the armor but some kind of mind-twisting magic on her? Did somepony do it to make Celestia stop teaching her in disgust? Has Nightmare Moon pushed at the magic binding her enough to drive terrible dreams and small, personality-appropriate compulsions into her little head? Is she just having a really, really bad breakdown?
Regardless, it worries me. Hopefully Rook handles the woken-up Twilight well... not seeing Celestia there could reinforce her delusions of Celestia hating her, although that somepony is there to take her to the princess right away might be reassuring. The question, though, is where is she going? She could get advice from Gentle Nudge and First Steps, but Twilight's behavior isn't exactly normal foal behavior. Oh, they misinterpret things a lot and leave/change a key word in sentences, but they don't revise entire conversations! Twilight's parents would probably have the best advice... and possibly a reprimand or two about the things Celestia should have done.
I do hope that Blueblood and Twilight get to have it out. We haven't met the kid yet--who knows, he might have been a sweet colt way back when--but I really want to shove something into her smug arrogant face, and her plan backfiring embarrassingly seems a good enough thing to work in this instance.
5446416 I think he means within the actual show. Feeling Pinkie Keen, if I'm not mistaken.
As a brief aside, I think it says something interesting about Celestia that her first instinct launched her into the air so quickly that the dias actually cratered from the force of the launch, rather than just catching Twilight in telekinesis.
Maybe Celestia was a pegasus before her ascension?
finally a new chapter ^_^ keep up the good work!
poor poor twilight i have been there i was just not luckly enough to have some one like celestia to help me through it.
I think the armor can think, but is not sentiment, more like a very primitive computer. than anything smart. No, not even a dog. I think more than the armor will appear years later, to defend Twilight from Nightmare Moon. As is still turned to Twilight's magic.
Also, Sunny KNOWS Celestia needs time with Twilight, yet she added MORE HOURS To Celestia's workload? What the heck?
space between "." and "I"
_________
wants
_________
Happy New Years. Cutting off at this spot made for a good cliff hanger. I can't wait for the next chapter to come out. Any idea how long that might be?
.
5447097 She added more hours to court, which if I remember correctly, Sunny was running for a bit. So, she wasn't over whelming Celestia, she was doing it to herself. She was trying to get through more petitioners.
5447245
But she should still know that Celestia would end running some of those.
-Sentient armor.
Can work, only the armor is barely Sentient, like a computer.
-Twilight going splat on the throne room floor.
Just no.
-Blueblood breaking out into song and dance.
Could be a nightmare Celestia's had. A musical nightmare.
Also, if Sunny knows Celestia needs time with Twilight, why she added more time for Celestia to work?
I think both Sunny and Celestia need classes on how to take care about foals.
With a mother like that it's no wonder Blueblood is such a prat
I really like this story so far, but I can't help but notice that Twilight barely ever thinks about her family in this. She doesn't in the show either, but I think that it would be more of a slow thing to happen, not just she goes to the palace and never thinks of them again.
I am quite enjoying this story. You've done well with the cute moments and also showing how things can snowball easily in a palace full of gossip and whispers. Reminds me a touch of Downton Abbey... in fact, I'd once considered doing a story much like that involving Canterlot Castle and I am pleased to see this fic hit on several ideas I'd have done (I tend to write that which I wish to read... so if someone beats me too it I am thrilled).
I would like to make a suggestion: why not give us, every once and a while, a chapter where we see Celestia and Twilight's day through the eyes of others. It would be interesting to see how others view the two and then, halfway through, you rewind the clock and we see how it played out for Twilight and celestia.
I see what you did there.
i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/434/263/ed7.jpg
Blueblood is going to wind up getting a cake dropped on her by the end, isn't she?
5446860
Fixed the wonky wording, thank you. In future, however, could you send me a private message instead?
5447043
In my head canon, both Celestia and Luna were born as they are. Neither of them ascended because they were born that way. Still, it would indicate something, wouldn't it?
5447203
It's going to take some time (as I really want to work on another project I've had in mothballs until this chapter was finished for a while) but rest assured, I'll be plugging away on it.
The mistakes have been been found and eliminated. Thanks a bunch for pointing them out (though I'll ask you the same thing I asked 5446860
5447938
You have to realise that, despite the seven chapters, so far only four days have passed. We haven't seen the last of them yet.
5447939
An interesting idea to be sure, but I don't know if I could pull that off
If I do decide to do something like that, however, it will probably be in a side story.
5449327
Only one cake?
5449344
Okay, I'll PM you on future chapters ^_^.
5449344
Just the one. Waste not the cake, after all. It will, however, have an anvil in it to compensate.
This is actually very common for highly intelligent children. Eventually, every child learns that adults sometimes don't say exactly what they mean. Adults try to be polite, or phrase things to make them sound better than they really are, or even try to hide things. Smart kids quickly see the connections between what is going on around them and learn to read between the lines. "I'm busy right now" quickly becomes "you're interrupting something". And when you add in some insecurity, it turns into "I don't have time for you". Sure, the words that are said and heard are the same, but what is remembered is the intent.
Now take an exceptionally intelligent filly, a rather lengthy series of mistakes, a whole lot of insecurity, and a perfectly calm princess delivering a prepared lecture. When you add thoughts like "I make her life harder", "I just made her lose something", and "I'm not important" to every sentence you end up with an entirely different conversation than what the words used entail.
I suspect the one part of the problem is that Celestia is used to dealing with politicians, and so may have been using words that have a bit of ambiguity to them. Unfortunately, this allowed Twilight to assign her own meaning to teach sentence, and this cascaded into her hearing pure rejection where there was none.
Good as ever
5446354
Yeah, it could be pretty funny if presented like Spike's belly flop in Dragon Quest, with similar crowd reaction
At least, if it's presented as a joke from the beginning, and not a situation of peril. Or maybe have Twilight land on top of Celestia, squashing her to the floor while leaving Twilight completely unharmed.
But having Celestia perform a daring rescue in front of the crowd, showing off her awesome power by punching a hole in the floor, was probably the best choice.
Actually, I'd really like to see more Celestia awesomeness with the secret armor room as well. Maybe have her put it on and give Twilight a private demonstration of what she looks like in full warrior mode (complete with fire hair and some magic and sword techniques), and tell some war stories. Sure it might scare Twilight a little, but it would also show her that powerful magic can be controlled safely, and that Celestia trusts her enough to share some personal history.
5449327
That would be so awesome. The family curse, like the Tannen family in Back to the Future always getting manure dumped on them. Though come to think of it, these are horses, so it could actually be manure instead of cake...
It's never good when you hear those words.
This is a pretty good chapter I was expecting something different when Twilight started adventuring. In addition to this I gotta to say that I like how you make Twilight so child like most people write her as a distant pony with nearly any emotion or feelings, but you have surpassed my expectations on this.
This update made my new year...completely worth its weight in stress. with hardly contained happiness i thank you for writing this chapter, It was just what I needed to read, for me to enjoy my evening. ^^
I joyfully await the next chapter, but patiently. ^^
Backlash91
What ? sentient armor is best armor, we all know since Halo (hahaha) and like half of all tentacle hentai manga
haha thats like the only good one on this list
could you imagine this song and dance as evil magic to get ponies out of your way ?
some pink party pony needs to go somewhere ? make everyone around her sing and dance, security status: breached
oh but about the chapter:
it was great and another episode of twilight without breakfast ! haha
i can't wait for the next !
5457029
might as well be the subtitle for the whole story.
If Blueblood keeps this shit up, I want to see Celestia threaten her with Foal Protective Services. The kind of attitude she's showing and dereliction of her duties as a noble as well as lack of respect for others is damaging for a child to be raised into and around. "If you want to KEEP your son you will stop trying to foist him off onto me!"
i love this story...also cant help but want blueblood to burst into flames...
OH MY GOSH THIS IS SO FUNNY!!!!!!!!!!!! Please, do go on, don't let me stop you. I NEED MORE!!!!!!! Sorry, but my stupid side has been taking over. Please, no offence, but you really need more for me to eat. Also, give Twilight a big cheer and hug for me!!
Commence read.
Seems I had forgotten to favorite, to keep an eye on the story, and to comment.
So to remedy both and read the chapter I had missed.
Interesting adventure for Twilight.
And the Duchess is playing quite a dangerous game. Don't piss of the sun.
5691884
If you are seeing it, it wasn't intentional