Choices
The night was silent and sweet. I took a deep breath of the warm summer air, tinged with the scent of fresh roses and moonlit waters. A gentle, whispering wind danced across the darkened horizon, where the golden flecks of dusk had long ago sunk into a deep canvas of a million little stars. Crickets called cheerfully out to each other in throbs of music, and the breeze drifted over my fur with the lightest brush.
I tilted my head up at the silvery, full moon, ita surface covered by the shape of a lonely mare. It sent a cool glow to the land below—a beacon of hope. With a sigh, I managed a smile, before sweeping my gaze down. Beneath the balcony lay the sleeping town; dark with shadows, and silent in slumber.
I tucked my head over the smooth rail to peer further down, filling my heart and vision with the sight of my peaceful children. It was times like these that I cherished so dearly, when I could take a break from the hetic activities of the Day Court and admire the serene beauty of the ponies at night. Of course, it wouldn't always be like this; when I could just simply push away all my fears and doubts until sunrise, but for now... it was nice.
My lips lifted up, and I tucked my wings closer, imagining all of Canterlot asleep in their warm beds. Mothers kissing their foals goodnight before the lights were switched off, ponies young and old dreaming of wonders unknown to even Equus.
Their little houses and dimmed lights were scattered across the patchwork of dark greens and blacks—an uneven quilt sown by old, tired hooves—but it was my kingdom, and that was what made it worth it. I closed my eyes, letting my cheek slide against the cool bars of the balcony, trying to listen to what true peace sounded like.
"...rincess Celestia?"
I jerked up, my ears swiveling on their own accord. The call came again, closer than before. "Princess Celestia!" It was shrill, but quiet with uncertainty.
With a little grunt, my golden bedroom door creaked open, and a shadowed face peered in. Her dark eyes flew across the silent bed, before moonlight drew them to the balcony.
"Twilight?" I asked in surprise, watching her stumble forward with a little gasp. Twilight's horned head tipped up, and she closed the door behind her small form. As she took her steps into the dark room, she tripped over the old rug to the balcony, where I quickly wrapped her up in my wings with the beginnings of a chuckle. My student. But the laughter soon died in my throat when the silver light from the moon above illuminated her lavender face.
Twillight's deep purple eyes shone with a quivering fear, their usual innocence and laughter having disappeared. Her lips were set into a tight line, as if the filly was willing herself not to cry, and her small ears pressed flat against her head. "Princess Celestia," she mewled once again, her body hovering beside mine.
My breath left me for a moment, and I slowly brushed back her curled navy bangs from her forehead. "Twilight," I sang in a whisper, favoring her name like a mother, and drawing it out with a lilt. The filly trembled slightly, not quite meeting my gaze. I frowned, bringing my wingtip to her muzzle. "You do know you can tell me anything," I said in a hushed tone.
Twilight swallowed, making a noise in the back of her throat like she wanted desperately to say something, but couldn't find the words. I lifted her chin up ever so gently so that she could see my eyes. "You do trust me, right?" I inquired, smiling. Of course she did. Twilight was my precious student, the one I had known for almost two years. The brilliant unicorn who laughed at my snide comments about the delegates, and sat proudly in my lap to watch the morning sun rise over the mountains. She was the filly who ran to me when the students at my school grew too cold-hearted, or when a grade hadn't been perfect.
I expected Twilight to whisper out a nightmare she had; a dream that could simply be fixed with a warm hug and a cup of hot chocolate. But, when the unicorn finally looked up at me, I knew something was very wrong. Twilight took a shuddering breath and pressed her her cheek against my chest, shaking. My eyes widened, and I furrowed by brow. My fur soon became wet with tears as she sobbed, her cries coming out in little bursts.
"It—it's n... not, no... Please, I-I ju..stt thought that it can't... t-t-true!"
I pulled her closer, rocking back and forth in an effort to soothe her. "What... what's not true?"
Twilight sniffled, shaking her head half-heartedly. She sighed softly, prying herself away from my embrace and sitting beside my forelegs. The filly wiped her face in vain, turning slightly to look over at the sky that sparkled like diamonds. Her hooves rose up in the air by her soft chest, and she seemed to be muttering to herself.
"Twilight?" I prompted. I couldn't stand seeing her like this. Her pupils dilated, but she didn't say anything in response. It was only the music of the wind that carried a sound. When Twilight finally did speak, it was hardly above a whisper.
"I was reading again, Princess," she said solemnly; too solemnly. Twilight fidgeted and she bit her lip. I smiled, relieved for a moment, though doubt still gnawed at the back of my mind.
"Of course, my student," I began, "I'm not mad at you for staying up too late. Not at all. Why, as long as it wasn't too scary..." I trailed off, noticing Twilight's expression. Of course that wasn't the reason.
Twilight squeaked, bowing her head. Her horn lit up with a magenta glow, and she lifted out a book I hadn't even noticed from behind her back. Placing it in front of her caused Twilight's eyes to shimmer with new tears. "I was reading this book," she finished softly, letting dread creep into her voice.
I examined it carefully, partly for the sake of the fragile unicorn, and brought it up in my own magic. It wasn't a significant book by any means; anypony would have simply seen a dusty, old brown cover holding many yellowing pages. On the front it bore the words Equestrian History in thin, curly black letters. She must have gotten it from the Reference Section, filled with hundreds of texts on history. Knowing my Twilight, she probably chose it for its length.
"This book..." I murmmered, running my hooves over the thin pages, "is why you're upset?" Faust knows Equestria's history wasn't always perfect. I stopped suddenly as my foreleg came across a blue bookmark jutting out from the middle. I looked up at Twilight, whose lips had returned back to the firm, straight position.
I gingerly opened up to the page, wrinking my muzzle at the dust remaining. It seemed to be a chapter on the greatest accomplishments of Equestria. I skimmed the pages by the light of my horn, keenly aware of Twilight's grim silence.
No. I read it again, my heart racing.
Although there were many attempts to stop her, the Canterlot Killer suceeded time and time again to slip by, leaving every scene with the signature lily flower. It wasn't until a collection of Royal Guards managed to figure out her pattern that Princess Celestia personally excuted her with the noose, finally bringing justice to the fifty six lives the Canterlot Killer had ended. Now a controversy, death by hanging is largely—
No. I could hear my own heartbeat in my ears, as the rest of the words blurred away. Just one little sentence, a little blip in history; but it wasn't going away. And neither was anything else. I couldn't do this, she wasn't ready yet! Oh, why did Twilight have to have such a love for reading? No, that was silly. Of course—
I was snapped out out my thoughts by a stuttering sob. "I just thought that maybe...maybe it was wrong, Princess," Twilight said, her voice cracking in childish sorrow. "But...” her eyes grew wide. “It’s not, is it?"
I drew in a sharp breath, opening my mouth. Then I closed it quickly, faltering. Twilight was a smart child, anyone could see that. Could she not understand? I glanced back down at her. Could I not understand?
"It's not like that," I started hesitantly. “You should know that our history was a bit rough... somethings needed to happen, Twilight." I tried to place my hoof over her's, but she pushed it away. I could see an ocean of emotions swirling in her eyes.
"But tha-that didn't need to happen, did it? She... she was a pony, and then you—" Twilight gulped, the wind lifting up her bangs from her tear-stained face. "You hung her?"
I studied the shadows along the balcony and my throat went dry. "Yes... I did. I know now that it's a very harsh way to go..." I bit my lip. "No, no. It's not important, my student. She was just a bad pony."
Twilight stared. "Are you a bad pony?" she whispered.
The book spluttered out from my magic and thudded onto the floor. "M-me?" I asked. Her expression didn't waver. "No! I'm not a bad pony, Twilight!" So why did it sound like I was pleading?
Twilight shook her head. "I know that you're nice and... wonderful," she said, almost with a smile. "But why would you do something like that?"
I closed the book with a burst of telekinesis. "I-I... she put ponies to sleep forever. For fun, and I couldn't let someone like that be free. She was a bad pony," I explained softly.
"Why not put her in jail?" Twilight countered, shivering. She was aware of some of the horrors of the past. "She wouldn't be free then."
"It was dangerous to others. The Canterlot Killer did very bad things. Society chose her punishment as," I sighed, "death."
Twilight scrunched up her muzzle. "And you just went through with it? Nopony deserves that. Life is really special! But... you're saying if I do a bad enough thing, you'll execute me?"
My stomach twisted into knots. I bowed forward until my cheek was against the filly's. "Twilight!" I exclaimed in a hushed voice. "Do you think I would ever, ever do that?"
The lavender filly shook her head. "No... I'm just—even if you hate me?" she asked.
I clenched my jaw, willing myself not to cry. "I could never hate you, my dear Twilight. Even if you set the whole world on fire, I would love you," I said, almost laughing despite everything. "Yet, I know you wouldn't. Do you know why?"
Twilight exhaled. "Because I'm a good pony?" she asked tentivly.
I nodded. "And I like to think of myself as good. A good pony is one that is filled with kindness, and is gentle to others. Who tries not to bring harm, and stays true to themselves," I said.
Twilight finally smiled weakly. "I know that. It just... scared me," she told me.
I nuzzled her, words still trying to push up past my lips. "Some ponies make mistakes, and that's normal. Heaven knows I've made so many of those," I chuckled fondly, enjoying my student's warmth.
Twilight cocked her head, and stiffened beside me. "Only one of this kind?"
I paled. "This kind?" I breathed. Twilight's eyes widened.
"Have you kill—excuted more than one pony?" she asked, her small form trembling.
I sat up slowly, my heart thudding. "Twilight, can I show you something?" I inquired suddenly. The filly in question squeaked, but nodded. I stood up on my hooves, stretching out my forelegs as I walked to the edge of the balcony. Twilight slowly followed behind, and I levitated her up onto my back. The filly grasped tightly around my neck, snuggling her warm face into my fur. I could feel her uncertainty and fear, but underneath it all there was the familar love.
I sighed, making sure Twilight got a good view of the land below. "Do you see all of that?" I asked quietly, sweeping my white hoof through the air. Twilight remained quiet, although she didn't break her gaze. I continued, "This is my land. It's my kingdom, full of wonderful and sweet ponies like me and you. They have lives and families; they look up at me to take care of them," I said, looking up at the stars.
"Now, imagine there's something or somepony hurting them. My beautiful ponies are disappearing, being robbed, getting killed. How would you deal with that?" I took off my crown and carefully placed it on Twilight's navy head, smoothing back her hair. I lifted her up to my shoulders. The filly stood tall, though her chin quivered. "Imagine being their ruler. You have to protect them. There's no other way. Wouldn't you do anything?" Twilight closed her eyes.
I smiled softly at her. "The kingdom is larger than you can imagine. Twilight... I have done many things I regret, so many things. But I would never take them back," I said.
"Do-do you understand?"
Twilight tore her gaze away from the patchwork of land, and lowered herself into my back once again. Her tears glistened, but she rubbed them away. "I do. I'll try," she said, the glimmer of her usual joy returning. "I'm sorry that I—"
I took off the golden crown without a word, and wrapped her up in my wing as I sat. "No. Don't be sorry, my student. I'm sorry you had to learn it this way. I can't hide from my past mistakes forever."
Twilight snuggled in, using my wing as a blanket. "You're... not a bad pony," she breathed. "And I love you for that."
I watched her for a moment, before I laid my head by her own. "I love you to the moon and back," I whispered.
The book lay discarded on the floor.
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- Harmony Pie · 1.9k words · 839 12 · 12k views
- Harmony Pie · 3k words · 362 11 · 7.1k views
- Harmony Pie · 1.3k words · 404 14 · 8.3k views
- Harmony Pie · 2.9k words · 132 4 · 2.5k views
- Harmony Pie · 3.7k words · 194 5 · 4.8k views
- Azure Sandora · 3.3k words · 907 68 · 14k views
- Minds Eye · 3.2k words · 291 2 · 3.8k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.194 seconds
Total duration
819 users online
1,129,395 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Am I allowed to comment on a story I helped edit?
Too bad, I'm doing it anyway.
Very good read. I enjoyed it a lot. I've always loved stories about young Twilight and Celestia's growing relationship, and this brings up a slightly darker angle that isn't spoken of very often.
lol... sweet and endearing like your others. keep it up! if you wanted, there could be a way to create a long running story where these are snippets. lol loved it tho.
7295404 Not a bad job, but I still caught a number of errors here and there, and a few spots I would have reworded a bit. Otherwise, though, still a nice read, especially when it comes to these "Twilight's Early Years"-style stories. This is a pretty dark one, all things considered, just not that dark.
7295452 Yeah... I'm not exactly what you would call a professional editor... Just something to get better at, eh?
7295472 Yeah, I getcha. Sorry if I sounded snarky—editing is kind of a specialty of mine and I've got quite a resume here haha. I had offered help but I'm kind of recovering from brain surgery...
7295496 Oh, not at all, mate. I understand when you do something well and then you watch someone else do it badly... Maddening.
Hope you recover well, mate.
7295506 Thanks. Mostly headaches for now, given they zapped out one of my hippocampi with a laser, but they said it's to be expected. Now I'll stop taking attention away from this cute piece of fluff and say that it was a nice read that definitely could be expanded into numerous snippets, like 7295427 said.
Very well done, an excellent accompaniment to Chocolate Talk (a personal favorite). Although, I would love to see a story in which this particular issue has to be dealt with in the present. Princess Celestia is faced with a new criminal that the citizens want executed, how would Twilight feel now? Knowing and understanding what she does now. Regardless, this was a very sweet yet heavy tale
Aww, so sweet and cute!
I loved it! 
This was a Very good Fic, and I enjoyed it extremely. However, the only reason it isn't in my favs is that I felt it could have been something more.
Don't get me wrong, I defiantly felt it tugging my strings. But only do to Twilight asking that spear-pointed question.
The end, while very well done and any parent would be proud of this lesion, it didn't felt that it went as deep as the question suggested to my sadden heart it would be.
I'm glad to had read this, the feeling of betrayal is one of the worst events anyone could go though, and Twilight experienced it at such an young age, I couldn't help but feel the devastation both ponies went though. I was just disappointed that it went a shallow answer.
Just my opinion, no need to great worried that I hate it, quite the opposite in fact.
Canterlot Killer? Yikes.
This was an awesome story. Ten thumbs up out of ten thumbs up.
Celestia, as much as her subjects like to think of her, she is not perfect. She's probably had to do some horrible things, or things others would consider horrible to maintain order in her kingdom and not let it devolve into chaos. Another goodie from you Harmony!
Aw... This was cute. I loved it. It pursued a more melancholy angle of their relationship, and it dealt with it very, very well.
They are amazing.
I do hope that there's more of these coming
I really liked it. You're probably never been in such a situation, but I've had to explain such things to young children, and this is how it usually goes. I'd like to see this extended- maybe a sequel?
Also, you seem able to find the absolute cutest art.
Nightmare Moon: "If they had looked up at my stars, history would have been quite different."
Nightmare Moon: "Oh, such ironie..."
Good story.
A ruler must do, what a ruler has to do.
May had found an error:
Should be "understand", right?
Small note: You forgot to add the cover-source.
Ah, morality. Suck a fickle beast.
So were the other, fifty-six lives snuffed out by lunacy and hatred.
I despise this argument for its hypocrisy. Claiming all life is sacred, but placing more weight on the killer's life than those of his victims.
And so you imprison them until their death? How is that any better than just killing them right away? Either way you are denying them life by depriving them of the opportunity to enjoy it, one is merely more immediate. And no prison is infallible; what if that person should get out, and kill again? What do you say to the family of that victim? "Oh, we could have killed this clearly insane individual who cannot be reformed, but we wanted to indulge in false pride so we kept him alive like a zoo animal instead. So sorry, here, have a basket."
A potentially heartwarming story ruined by disingenuous idiocy. I loved the previous one, but this makes me want to punch a hole in my monitor for the attempt at emotional blackmail to push an ideal based on an illogical premise. Better luck next time.
7297165
Oh, I'm very sorry you didn't like it. It was Twilight that said life was special, and she didn't exactly understand. She thought jail would be better. Which, it kinda is, in my opinion. And the fifty-six lives were from the killer, therefore Celestia couldn't have stopped them. Twilight knew that. She was upset because her mentor killed.
I'm not quite sure what you're getting at, but again, I'm sorry you didn't enjoy the story.
7297165
Keep in mind that, for all her precocious intelligence, Twilight is still just a filly. She's going to look at this from a child's perspective, and children tend to think in absolutes. If killing is wrong, and two wrongs don't make a right, then she's going to extend that to the premise that execution is wrong, without weighing all of the more subtle pros and cons of the subject.
I don't want to derail this thread from the story, but one argument I've always found compelling is that imprisonment can end if innocence is determined later, but an execution cannot be reversed.
In the real world, that happens, but it's pretty rare. It's definitely a consideration, but it has to be weighed against the possibility of executing an innocent person, as I described above. I won't use this space to argue one way or the other, but if we want to go further with that, we should probably take it to PMs.
However, this setting makes that an unusually compelling argument for execution. If our killer is a powerful unicorn, holding her in captivity is going to be very difficult. There's a good public-safety argument for terminating her.
Is any of us a bad pony? What does it mean to be bad? What does it mean to be good? What is goodness?
derpicdn.net/img/2015/1/25/814299/medium.png
Sometimes the simplest answers are the best ones.
~Leonzilla
YOU'RE FEATURED!!
I liked this one.
On one hand, Twilight's convictions come out all twisted... But she's a child and she loves her mentor/teacher in the unashamed way younger children have and so the raw emotional pain of potential separation overwhelms any line of argument. Knowing kids, that's pretty true to life. They don't pursue their agenda in an argument with subtlety. They either try a direct assault that turns into stubbornness or they break down and get too emotional like here.
Celestia's panic I believed. Especially as this incident was awhile ago. We have no indication this happens often, either.
That was adorable.
7297438
You commented on my story! You? Darling, I am honored!
7297443
Thank you!
7297437
Why, yes I am. Thank you
7297487 surprised I didn't comment on the one before
7297435
That... is too cute!
This was adorable to read and it makes me wonder, now that Twilight is a princess, what if she finds herself recalling these talks when faced with a tough decision? I think that'd be a pretty interesting thing, for her to go back to Celestia and bring up these little talks as a way of helping her see clearly.
Hmm...
*Thinks before clapping*
Not bad, not bad at all
*cough*Principality*cough*
7297718
What does Principality mean?
I love how simple and straightforward Celestia is. This is a great example of how to write adults interacting with kids. She keeps to simple words and still manages to get across her feelings on a complex subject matter. Good job!
7297744
It's a kind of realm that is ruled by one or more princes and/or princesses. It means princedom, basically.
Sorry, it's just always fun to point that one out.
It's not bad, but somehow it seems... a bit unfocused? Like the message could have been stronger.
-Cue music-
Come with me and you'll see a world of sweet a** capital punishment! Where we execute dumb****** that decide to f**** us all over!
I'm playing this song off my memory so it's probably really off.
7297777
Yes, I agree. I tried, though. I suppose I wanted to imagine how it would actually play out with a child. Thank you for your comment!
7297785
Darling, please try to keep swearing to a minimum here. Thank you
7297796
7297968
It's not a big problem, however. I'm just a bit sensitive to it *shrugs*
7296227
"Probably" nothing. You can't rule without breaking some necks. The fact she managed to keep the kingdom in one piece for a thousand years on her own attests to that. But even moreso the progress and peace everyone seems to enjoy shows she remained benevolent and at least mostly just the whole way through. A feat no mortal was ever going to pull off even for a handful of years.
"Everything the light touches is our kingdom, Twilight."
Twilight cocked her head, and gestured to the shadowy, older districts. "What about those dark areas?"
Celestia shook her head gravely. "Those were Luna's domain. They are dead to us."
7298154
Is that from a story?
7298158 It's a Lion King reference.
7298322
Oh. I wasn't aware of that *blushes*
7298326 Eh, I miss a ton of references all the time.
D'awww, this was very sweet.
...now I wonder if the tale of the two royal pony sisters is also in that old, dusty book?
Children can ask the hardest questions sometimes, and it takes finesse to answer them. It also takes finesse to write about it. You nailed both. Well done.
7298481
Thank you very kindly, darling!
Santa Claws says Celestia is a bad pony and doesn't get gifts for Xmas. Then, like Zoidberg, he gives a present to filly Twilight who is one of only a very few ponies who qualify.