06 - The Princess and the Stranger
Chapter 6: The Princess and the Stranger
It had been almost a week since Spike left Ponyville, and yet Twilight’s mood hadn’t improved at all. She hadn’t even had the heart to remove his bed, despite it sitting empty for all that time. It was his bed after all, when he came back he would expect it to be there. She just found herself waiting for him to come back. She knew he wouldn’t, but she couldn’t stop herself from waiting anyway. She was starting to feel like she was going crazy…
The sound of the front door opening jolted Twilight out of her thoughts, pulling her away from the basket toward the main library, where she looked down on Rarity just walking inside.
“Good morning Rarity.” Twilight forced herself to smile. “Are you looking for a book to read?”
“Actually, I’m looking for a friend I’m concerned about.” Rarity met her gaze with a return smile.
“Oh, there’s no need for concern… Spike did what he wanted to do. He’s happy now…” Twilight turned to make her way down the flight of stairs. She was unsteady on her wings when she was mentally perfect, as upset as she was there was no way she could fly. “I admit it’s taking me some time to adjust, but I’m perfectly capable of handling it.”
Rarity’s smile only became more sympathetic. “That’s good to hear, darling, but nonetheless, you’ve been cooped up in this house since he left. How about we go out for lunch? It’ll be my treat.”
Twilight thought about it for a while. It was true she’d barely left the library since Spike’s sudden departure, except to slip away and visit Zecora. It might be nice to get out and think about something else for a while. “Sure, but you don’t have to treat me, really.”
“As you wish, Princess Twilight.” Rarity smiled with a slight bow and turned to hold the door open. Twilight could only sigh inwardly as she walked past outside the library. Her friends had been acting this way ever since the coronation, and it made her uncomfortable. She was starting to get over being a princess, but she didn’t think she’d ever get over the way her friends saw her now…
“Please, Rarity. Twilight is more than good enough to address me by.” Twilight looked back as Rarity closed the door. “And you don’t have to open the door of my own house for me.”
“I’m just being polite.” Rarity pulled the door firmly closed and moved up beside Twilight.
“I know… I know that.” Twilight took a deep breath as she turned to make her way down the streets with her friend by her side. “I’d just like you to be a little less polite with me. I may be a princess, but I’m still your friend, first and foremost.”
“Of course you’re my friend, Twilight. But first and foremost? Well…”
“Excuse me?” Twilight’s hoofsteps halted as she turned her gaze on her unicorn friend. “Were you about to say something?”
“Twilight Sparkle, you’ll always be one of my very best friends, and you’ll always have a very special place in my heart… a place in all of our hearts…” Rarity hesitated for a moment. “But we simply can’t come first. Your royal duties are just too important, to all of Equestria.”
“But I…” Twilight sputtered for a moment. “Rarity, I don’t care what duties I have now, that doesn’t mean I’ll just stop being your friend, and I can’t believe you would even suggest that! Does everypony think like this?”
Rarity nodded slowly. “We all understand the reality of the situation… except for Pinkie Pie… I think she has decided you’re the princess of Ponyville rather than all of Equestria. Still, we don’t think you won’t be our friend, simply-”
Twilight cut her off sharply. “Simply nothing… our friendship is still the most important thing to me, and that’s that. Come on, we’re going to get something to eat as friends! Spike! Come o-” Twilight stopped, having reflexively whirled to order him onto her back. As she stared at the silent, empty spot on the ground just behind her, she heard hoofsteps approach from her right side.
“I know…” Rarity placed a gentle hoof on her shoulder. “I miss the little guy too… he was always so eager and happy. I didn’t even realize how much he inspired my work sometimes until he wasn’t there anymore.”
Twilight shook her head, trying to fight back tears that threatened to overwhelm her again. “Stop it, Rarity… I said I’m fine…”
“You don’t seem fine, if I may say so...”
Twilight gritted her teeth, but couldn’t hold her tongue back. “Why couldn’t you say so? Because I’m different? Because I’m a princess and things can’t be the way they were anymore?”
Rarity backed away with a hoof against her chest. “Twilight, please, I didn’t mean it that way…”
“Well it’s the truth!” Twilight squeezed her eyes shut. “I’m a princess who doesn’t have her friends or assistant anymore! If that’s the reality of the situation then fine! Goodbye!” Suddenly Twilight’s horn pulsed, cutting Rarity off mid-exclamation as the world around her faded into mist and back again in the span of a blink.
She hated this, she hated this more than anything in her life. If tearing the wings off of her back would mean everything would go back to normal, and Spike would come back, she would do it in a heartbeat…
With her breath returning to normal and her anger spent by the surge of magic, Twilight opened her eyes to find herself standing in front of Zecora’s hut once again. She hadn’t had a destination in mind when she used her spell, she could have gone anywhere, but she was kind of glad it was here. Zecora was the only friend she had left who didn’t see her as a princess… or a slave master. She was the only one who didn’t see her any differently than before.
Twilight approached the door to knock softly this time. The door opened and a pleased smile appeared on the face of her zebra friend.
“Twilight Sparkle, back so soon? What brings you here this afternoon?”
“I… I just had to get away again.” Twilight huffed. “It feels like everything’s gone wrong… nothing’s really happened and yet it’s totally different, it’s the strangest feeling… maybe I’m just losing my mind, but you’re the only one who comforts me anymore, Zecora…”
Zecora’s eyes widened slightly, but she only gave a warm smile in response. “If it’s comfort you seek, it does not make you meek. Come inside, and I’ll try to be your guide.”
Zecora stepped aside to let Twilight in, but the alicorn hesitated. Something was bothering her…
Spike could only shrug. “But we’ve all done everything we can to make her feel welcome. Maybe she’ll move into town when she’s ready.”
Twilight sighed. “Yeah, you’re right… still, maybe I should come by more often, make sure she knows how welcome she is.”
Spike smiled. “Yeah! And we can invite her to town some time too. You know, instead of going out to see her or waiting for her to come on her own.”
“Spike, that’s a wonderful idea!” Twilight smiled. “We can invite her into Ponyville for dinner soon, I bet she’ll have a wonderful time.”
They still hadn’t made Zecora feel welcome, in Ponyville or Equestria as a whole, in fact. Spike had left because he didn’t feel welcome anymore… because she was a terrible friend who only used him for his services. What if she was doing the same thing to Zecora? Using her for comfort and to help her solve riddles, but never taking the time to be her friend? But she didn’t want to go back into Ponyville right now…
“Actually, Zecora… I was thinking… you don’t get out of this forest much, do you?”
Zecora tapped a hoof against her chin. “I mostly leave for ingredients or supplies, it’s true.”
“Then how would you like me to go to Canterlot with you?” Twilight smiled. “I could show you around, and we could have a little fun.”
“That sounds wonderful, a bright day in the sun.” Zecora’s smile widened. “I’ll come with you, Twilight my friend.”
“Then let’s get going, and we’ll have fun without end.” Twilight giggled softly, already cheered up by the companionship as she turned to lead Zecora back towards the Ponyville train station.
They made it to the train station without incident, avoiding all of Twilight’s friends on the way. She just wasn’t sure she could take seeing them right now. She thought she was fine… she wanted to be fine… but objectively, she wasn’t fine. She knew she wasn’t, but she wasn’t going to let herself sit and mope. She wanted to be out doing things with her friends, and if her old friends were just going to talk about how they weren’t such good friends anymore, she would hang out with her real friend…
___
It wasn’t long until they reached Canterlot in companionable silence. By the time they stepped off the train Twilight had managed to calm herself down and had turned her mind towards what they were going to do first. Zecora had never been here, so it was up to her to show her zebra friend a good time… something she wasn’t really amazing at even when she was in a good mood. Still, she’d come this far, and Zecora looked eager to begin.
Zecora marveled at her surroundings, looking around and sniffing at the air. “My word this is a place of such beauty. The sky is so blue, and the food is so fruity.”
“Ahem… yes, I’m glad you like it,” Twilight couldn’t help a soft chuckle as the two of them headed away from the train station into the city proper. “You know Zecora, I don’t want to sound rude, but I’ve always wondered why you speak that way. I mean, don’t be offended, it sounds nice, and you’re so intelligent, but it just…”
Zecora cut her off with a soft chuckle. “Among my people, words spoken in haste are words that have gone to waste.” Zecora reached up, tapping the side of her head lightly with one hoof. “Give it a try for a while and I think you will find that speaking with care will exercise the mind.”
Twilight blinked, her eyes widening. “You do it to exercise your mind? Oh my gosh, what a fantastic idea. That never even occurred to me! No wonder you’re so intelligent and observant… you keep your mind sharp by constantly forcing yourself to think about everything you say and do! It’s genius!”
Zecora smiled wider. “It is an ancient tradition.”
“It’s a wonderful position.” Twilight smiled more genuinely than she had in the last week. “Come on; let’s go check out the market square. They have all sorts of wonderful things to see there.”
Twilight led the way further into Canterlot with a much lighter step, happy to see the zebra so eager to look around the large and beautiful mountainside city. She’d only ever left her hut to go shopping in Ponyville, Twilight hadn’t been sure she would even be interested in seeing more of Equestria. Obviously she was, and Twilight had never known simply because she never bothered to ask. If it wasn’t for Spike she probably wouldn’t have ever asked.
She shook her head to clear it of her oldest companion and turned her attention instead to the matter at hoof. “So, what would you like for lunch? Something good that we can munch?”
“To experience this place would be a treat, so I will eat what you wish to eat.”
“Heh, alright, if you wanna taste what it’s like in Canterlot, I’ll show you some of the… restaurants… I enjoy a lot.” Twilight giggled softly and led Zecora to one of her old favorite restaurants in town, the Golden Saucer.
The owner seemed surprised to see Princess Twilight Sparkle enter his restaurant, and if possible even more surprised to see the zebra walk in beside her. She could see his brain attempting to get back on track even as he approached the pair with a wide smile and a deep bow in Twilight’s direction. “Oh! P-Princess Twilight! This is such a surprise! I-I’ll show you to a table immediately!”
“Thank you very much.” Twilight managed to keep her blush light as she followed the stallion through the restaurant to one of the tables under the far window. Zecora’s eyes were darting around the room quickly, taking in every detail of the wooden tables and chairs, and the stunned expressions on the ponies seated at them, who watched the pair take their seats.
Twilight hadn’t counted on being the center of attention just for going out to lunch. Perhaps it would be better to go someplace less public.
“Are you sure you want to eat here, Zecora? We seem to be attracting a lot of attention.”
“Don’t worry my dear.” Zecora waved back to one of the gawking mares with a friendly smile. The mare blinked in surprise and flashed a furtive, blushy smile back with a wave of her hoof. “This happened in Ponyville, I expected no different here. Hopefully they too will learn that I am a friend.”
Twilight smiled more brightly. “Well that’s certainly the message you send.” Twilight finished her rhyme again with a giggle. Zecora returned her smile as a young filly from the next table over approached.
“Pwincess Twiwight? Can I eat wiff you?”
“H-hey! Where are you going?” The unicorn mare spun up from the next booth and put a hoof around the filly to pull her back. “I’m so sorry, Your Highness. She sort of got away from me…”
Twilight giggled. “It’s no trouble at all.”
“She will need her sustenance to grow strong and tall.” Zecora had a bemused smile on her lips, looking down at the curious little filly. “If you wished to eat with us I would not object.”
“A filly so adorable I would never reject.” Twilight caught a sharp glance from Zecora, but not an unpleasant one. If anything she thought she saw a soft blush on the zebra’s cheeks.
The little filly gasped in delight and flashed her mother a glittering white-toothed grin.
The mare still looked doubtful. “W-we couldn’t possibly intrude, Your Highness…”
“Please don’t be unsure, at our table there’s always room for more.” Twilight slid further back along the bench to give the eager little filly room to leap up onto the bench beside her with an excitable screech.
Their meal was more lively and significantly less intimate than Twilight had hoped, but Zecora looked absolutely delighted. Once the filly and her mother had settled in to eat with them, the rest of the restaurant seemed to ease back into a jovial mood. The talking in the other booths picked back up, with several voices cooing and giggling at the silly shenanigans of the filly who looked extremely delighted to be sharing a meal with her pwincess. Even the waiter looked more relaxed when he came back to take their order.
They spent two hours in the restaurant eating their meal and joking around with the mare, who turned out to be a local singer named Cotton Tale out for a day on the town with her daughter Sweet Tooth. Running into them had been a complete coincidence, but despite hating the attention at first, Twilight was quite enjoying the conversation with her, and some of the other patrons in the restaurant even approached to introduce themselves and talk a bit before going on their own way.
“Can you do big magic, pwincess Twiwight!?” Sweet Tooth bounced up and down with a happy grin.
Twilight giggled and made the little filly suddenly lift off from the bench to float her to her mother on the other side of the table, who caught her with a chuckle of her own.
The filly squealed in delight. “More! More!”
“Now Sweet Tooth, you can’t just demand things from ponies,” Cotton Tale admonished her daughter in a soft voice before turning back to Twilight. “Thank you so much for humoring us today, Your Highness. I’m humbled by your kindness.”
Twilight waved off the praise with one hoof. “Please, no need to be so formal, we’re just here for lunch, like you. But it is getting pretty late, and we have more of Canterlot to see before we head home.”
“Of course! Don’t let us stand in your way!” Cotton Tale slid out of the booth to let Zecora slide free, while Twilight moved out on her side.
“I’ll pay for lunch, since you were such wonderful company.” Twilight floated enough bits onto the table to cover all of their meals, and a generous tip for the waiter. “Thank you for letting us meet your wonderful daughter.”
“I-I’m humbled!” Cotton Tale bowed deeply, which was tough with her daughter still clutched in her hooves. “Thank you so much, Your Highness.”
With final farewells to the rest of the restaurant’s patrons and workers, Twilight and Zecora made their way outside to head down the sidewalk. Zecora had been thoughtfully silent for a while, but Twilight didn’t want to bother her. She was having a good time, which was really all that mattered.
“Is there anything you’d like to see next?” Twilight asked instead.
Zecora replied after a moment. “I will leave you to decide where we go. I would like to see what you wish to show.”
“How about Canterlot Castle over that way? We can see the sights on the way, what do you say?”
Zecora spoke in a soft, thoughtful tone. “Your mind is far sharper than I ever knew… let’s go, I’ll follow you.”
“Excellent, come on!” Twilight nodded and turned to lead the way down the sidewalk more quickly. “I’m glad you’re having a good time. I think I’m getting the hang of this thing with the rhyme.”
Zecora smiled wider. “You certainly are, Twilight. I think you’ll be a master by tonight.”
Twilight shook her head. “A master? Oh I’m not nearly as smart as you, Zecora. You make it sound so easy. You make everything seem… um… easy.”
Zecora only responded with a soft chuckle, and they faded into comfortable silence as they made their way through Canterlot. It was a large city, and they found themselves meandering from the straight path, but neither minded. They made their way in a serpentine path through the city, spending hours exploring the buildings and gardens in a way even Twilight had never quite done before. She was always running around Canterlot on some urgent business or other. Always running, pretty much never walking until today.
They spent so long walking that by the time they neared the castle grounds the sun was beginning to move toward the horizon, casting an orange light across the massive palace looming ahead of them. The guards stationed at the palace entrance gave the two mares quizzical looks, but they paid them no mind. They weren’t going to question Princess Twilight as she entered with her zebra friend, who turned away before entering the palace to gaze up at the light of twinkling twilight.
Zecora spoke for the first time since they left the restaurant. “Canterlot is a magical place, but it lacks a certain natural grace.”
Twilight moved up beside her. “Maybe it’s more controlled than the Everfree Forest, but I think Canterlot is as natural as can be. We’re a part of nature too, as you can plainly see.”
Zecora nodded slightly, and Twilight thought she saw another soft blush on her cheeks. “I’ve been in Equestria for many years, and away from my people I’ve shed many tears. Alone in the forest wasn’t a bad place to be, but it wasn’t the best place, not for me.”
“I’m sorry Ponyville wasn’t so welcoming at first. I’m sorry I never thought to ask if you wanted to come to town, I feel like the worst.”
“It wasn’t your fault Twilight, you were not even there for that first fright.” Zecora turned away from the sunset to look her square in the face with a broader, more assured smile. “What matters now is that you’ve invited me in… and for the first time in years I feel like I’ve truly discovered kin.”
“Kin?” Twilight cocked her head curiously to the side. “Does that mean what I think?”
“Kin are those whose minds are in sync.” Zecora reached up slowly to tap her hoof against the side of Twilight’s head, and Twilight couldn’t resist a blush on her cheeks. “Those who can discover happiness together.”
“Zecora, I never thought... I mean… I knew that you cared…”
“Of course I do, but please don’t be scared.” Zecora shook her head and pulled her hoof back away from Twilight. “Thank you for a wonderful day. It makes me happy that I decided to stay.”
Twilight shook her head clear and smiled through her continuing blush. “I’m happy you decided to stay too, Zecora…”
“Twilight?” A soft voice interrupted. Twilight and Zecora both turned to see Princess Celestia emerging from the castle with guardsponies on either side of her. “It’s good to see you. What brings you back to Canterlot?”
“I was just showing my good friend around.” Twilight quickly tried to shake off her nerves and blush. Of all the times to be interrupted. “I thought I would show her the castle, but I guess it’s getting kind of late for that.”
“Not at all, as a princess you have access to the castle at all times.” Celestia assured her. “Luna will be along momentarily to take over the throne, though, so you don’t have to stay. I was just on my way to my tower to retire for the night.”
“Then please, don’t let me keep you awake any longer.” Twilight nodded courteously.
Celestia moved to walk past them, then stopped suddenly. “Oh! By the way, I haven’t received any letters from Spike for a while, or seen him around. Is he doing alright? I know you mentioned him asking questions.”
“Yes… he did ask questions.” Twilight averted her eyes from her old mentor. “And when he didn’t get answers, he left. He’s on his way to the dragon lands right now…”
Celestia gasped and turned fully towards her. “What? No! Twilight, you must bring him back.”
Twilight looked up in shock and took a step back. “What? Bring him back? What do you mean?”
Celestia stepped forward, her voice quaking as she spoke. “Twilight Sparkle, Spike cannot reach the dragon lands. If he does, it could put all of Equestria in danger.”
To Be Continued
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Well that's not looking particularly good regarding Celestia not being guilty of something. Still hoping it doesn't go that route, however.
Of course this puts Equestria in danger. Celestia... ya dun goofed.
celestia what are keeping from us now
and those moments between zecora and spike 
:
:
I wonder why Spike can't go to the dragon lands? Maybe he is from a noble family that has been looking for him?
Equestria in danger... Goddammit
I see Princess Celestia likes to keep everyone on a need-to-know basis in which no one needs to know anything until the crap is already on a collision course with the fan. That.... That seems about right, now that I think about it. Hope they can fix things before it all goes to Tatarus.
Gee, Celestia, looks like withholding information has gotten someone into trouble - AGAIN.
No you're not.