Teatime - A Novel Of Twilight & Celestia

by bigbear

Chapter 6 - Frantic Return

Twilight appeared in the main room of the Scholar's Tower, the one indoor location in the castle she was allowed to teleport to. She’d lived in the tower when she was Celestia’s personal student. For security reasons, the castle rules forbid indoor teleportation, and the rules were backed up by ancient and powerful warding spells. But Twilight had negotiated an exception to the rules and inserted a loophole in the spells that allowed her alone to teleport into her old quarters.

The tower was more library than apartment, one of the reasons Twilight had loved living there with Spike before the two had moved to Ponyville. There was a massive window with an amazing view of Canterlot at night and a skyway that connected the tower to the castle proper. Twilight had given a set of tower keys to her old school friend, and fellow researcher, Moon Dancer. She wasn’t around, but had tidied the place up; it was clean and orderly.

Before her magenta magic could fade, Twilight rushed out the door and galloped onto the skyway. She’d delayed long enough and needed to get to Celestia now.

The door to the rest of the castle at the end of the skyway had four white pegasi guards posted, rather than one or two as was normal at lesser castle entrances like this. Somepony had doubled the guard, probably when Celestia had come home in haste and possible distress. Twilight’s brother, Shining Armor, former leader of the Royal Guard, had always said when you’re not sure what’s going on, it never hurts to double the guard and put them on alert.

The guards squinted to recognize the pony charging them out of the darkness. They lowered their spears. “Halt, who goes there!”

Twilight put her hooves out to stop but wasn’t used to the extra traction the boots provided. She pitched forward, head down and tail up. To keep from mashing her muzzle into the skyway, Twilight flared her wings and turned the fall into an airborne forward roll and landed with a crash back on all four hooves. Thank goodness for Rainbow Dash’s aerobatics training!

The wild maneuvers and clanging of boots on stone had alerted the Night Guard flying patrols over the castle. Four of the bat-winged ponies in dark armor stooped and dived toward the commotion, cat-like eyes focused on their target, and grinning like mad-mares. Like Luna their leader, the Night Guard were nothing if not enthusiastic about their jobs.

Twilight shook her head to clear it. Things were getting out of hoof! She rose to her full height and stepped into the light. Surprisingly, her crown had remained in position; it and her boots shined.

“Princess Twilight!” A guard cried. “Spears up, men.” The pegasi raised their spears. The Night Guard broke off their flying tackles at the last moment, two each diving at full speed to either side of the skyway. The Night Guard looped back up and resumed station over the situation, alert for any further need to intervene.

The leader of the pegasi guards stepped forward. “A thousand pardons your Highness. We weren’t told to expect you from this direction tonight.”

“That’s all right officer,” Twilight replied. “I need to get into the castle and see Princess Celestia.”

“Of course, your Highness. What’s the word of the day?”

“The word of the day?” Twilight thought. “They must be worried about changeling infiltrators. Argh!” Lieutenant Steel Wing had said something about the day word when they were first getting on the chariot. Twilight had been so focused on Celestia, she hadn’t caught it.

Twilight pranced nervously. Her words came out in a rush. “Gentlecolts, I don’t remember the code word. Lieutenant Steel Wing told me, but I was focused on… something else. Then Princess Celestia left the symphony in a rush and I’m worried about her and have to get inside…”

One of the guards stepped up to the officer. “That’s Princess Twilight, sir. I recognize her prance from when she was a student here. She never could remember the day word then either.”

The officer looked skeptically at the guard, then nodded. “This way your Highness, we’ll escort you to the Princess.” They all stepped aside and opened the door to the castle.

Twilight sighed, and then stepped through the door. Two guards followed to escort her, and two stayed outside to guard the door.

Before Twilight could take another step, Luna strode out of a deep pool of shadow cast by one of the great tapestries on the wall. “Twilight Sparkle, come with me,” she commanded.

“Luna! Where is Princess Celestia?”

“Not here,” Luna ordered and set off down the corridor. Somehow her gait combined speed with majesty. Twilight hustled after her.

Luna entered the first free room they came across. As soon as Twilight was inside, Luna shut the door and sealed the room with her azure magic. “Now we speak. What has happened to my sister?” she demanded.

Twilight took in a deep breath and blew it out so she could give a calm recitation of events. “We went to the symphony. It was a piece resurrected out of an ancient text. The music affected ponies like none I ever heard. I could feel it in my wings, horn, and hooves.”

Luna regarded Twilight, unblinking. “Such music was common before my banishment. Celestia tells me she let the knowledge of such fall out of fashion and be forgotten because it had been used to fuel disharmony. But this doesn’t explain Celestia’s reaction.”

“The symphony seemed to combine two stories into one,” Twilight continued. “The first part portrayed a war, with one general on each side. After many casualties, the generals fought and one fell. While the winner rejoiced, the fallen general got back up, wounded but alive.”

Luna’s gaze was intense, but she did not interrupt.

“But here’s where the symphony mixed two stories up. The fallen general seemed to use the Elements of Harmony. I recognized the feeling of using the Elements when the music was being played. I could tell Celestia was feeling it too. When the music of the Elements ended, a gong sounded, and the other general was banished off the stage.” Twilight halted. The rest was hard to say to Luna’s face. “Just like Celestia had to banish you when you turned into Nightmare Moon.

“The performance was very dramatic. But the details were all mixed up, and that blunted some of the emotional impact for me. I saw the real battle between you and Celestia in a vision. There wasn’t a war or pony casualties. It was over in minutes.”

Luna dropped her head and stood rigid for a moment. When she raised it, her eyes were full of sadness and her voice was just above a whisper. “Twilight Sparkle, you’ve done more for me since my return than anypony, save my sister. I rejoiced when you ascended, and I hope in the fullness of the time, we may call each other sisters.

“Tonight I must place a great burden upon you. For my sister has been gravely wounded by yon performance. And because my falling to the Nightmare is a part of that wound, I cannot help assuage it. Celestia has been strong for the both of us many times. This night, can you be strong for her?

“Do not answer in haste. Long-festering wounds have been exposed. They will need to be cleansed with unpleasant truths and revelations. Neither you nor Celestia will escape from such a cleansing unchanged.”

Twilight felt the dread in Luna’s words. Responsibility settled upon her like the weight of the sun and the moon. But Twilight was no stranger to responsibility. She’d held the fate of the nation in her hooves before, and hadn’t faltered then. She wouldn’t falter now. And she would do anything for Celestia.

“I will go to her,” was all Twilight said.

Luna nodded as if she expected the answer. “She’s in her chambers. She’ll not want to see you, but you must be strong. I cannot go in with you, but I’ll do what I can from the outside to help.”

Luna stepped forward and embraced Twilight, like two soldiers before a battle. They held the embrace for a moment and then stepped apart. Luna banished the spell sealing the room, and the two walked out the door. At the base of the Solar Tower, they separated. Luna went to whatever mysterious things she could do from outside. Twilight stood before the stairs to Celestia’s chambers.

After Luna departed, Twilight’s doubts returned. As she ascended the stairs, Luna’s dark words made Twilight’s gut clinch. “Just get up the stairs,” she thought. “I can try to fix things once I get up the stairs.” She climbed first one step, and then another. “Some of my happiest memories occurred in Celestia’s chambers. Focus on them and keep putting one hoof in front of the other.”

From her time as Celestia’s personal student, Twilight was well familiar with her chambers. The front doors lead to a sitting room, a venue as eternal as Celestia herself. It looked pretty much the same now as it did when Twilight entered on her first day in the castle. The room was two stories tall, with cream walls and ceiling. Magically animated ceiling medallions traced the positions of the sun and moon as they moved across the sky. It had taken Twilight several visits before she discerned the spells that made that work. The floors were white marble, covered in crimson area rugs with gold accents. Paintings of pastoral landscapes by great masters dotted the walls. A large “hidden” door lead to a storage closet and an oaken door lead to the bedroom.

The furniture was white oak with gold accents and crimson cushions. On one side of the room was a great oaken desk with a view out the windowed double doors that lead to the Solar Balcony. Small photos of family dotted the desk, and Twilight was proud that a photo of her and Spike was among them. The photos were one of the few things that had changed in the room over time. When she started as a student, there were only two ponies represented; now there were three times as many. There were bookcases with ancient volumes, tastefully arranged, within easy reach behind the desk. Twilight knew Celestia almost never referred to them, having memorized the tomes long ago.

On the other side of the room was a large fireplace, normally unlit, with great crimson cushions on the floor and a pair of extra large chaises flanked by side tables. The fireplace logs were magical, produced no smoke, and never needed to be replaced. Twilight figured out how they worked the first time she saw them in action. Some of Twilight’s favorite memories included Celestia teaching her magic, while the two of them were curled before the fireplace.

The bedroom repeated the cream and golden theme of the sitting room, with only a few crimson accents. There was a truly massive bed that could easily fit multiple alicorns. It was covered with creamy quilts and pillows made from the finest Saddle Arabian silk and flanked by nightstands. There was a hutch with crimson pillows, one for each piece of Celestia’s regalia, a large dresser, and a small bookcase with whatever Celestia was reading for pleasure at the moment. Beside the dresser was the door to the walk-in closet. On the opposite wall was the door to the bathroom.

The walk-in closet included an alicorn sized full body mirror, several alicorn sized poniquins with formal dresses, a large chest with a variety of Celestia’s favorite royal jewelry, and racks and racks of other clothing and accessories.

A huge walk in bath, big enough to comfortably fit both royal sisters or all of Twilights’ friends (something Twilight had imagined more than once) dominated the bathroom. Water infused with magic and drawn from cold and hot springs deep within the Canterhorn fed a series of waterfalls that filled the bath. Beside the bath were cabinets with toiletries, a large number of giant towels, and a hamper. On one wall was a broad marble countertop that included large twin washbasins fed by their own small waterfalls. On the other wall was an enclosure with a large john, among the largest in Equestria.

Twilight finally got to the top of the stairs and refocused on the present. The entrance to Celestia’s chambers was a pair of two-story double doors of blond oak, with a massive representation of her blazing sun mark centered between them. Four Royal Guards, two pegasi and two unicorns, were stationed in the hall outside. The officer in charge stepped forward and saluted as Twilight approached.

“Good evening, Princess Twilight. Her majesty has requested that she not be disturbed this eve.”

Twilight stood as tall as she could. Her boots helped her assume a barrel out, power pose. “If Princess Luna wished to enter, would you stop her?”

“Princess Luna? No, of course not…” the officer replied.

“Am I not a Princess as well?” Twilight inquired.

The officer looked conflicted. He glanced at the other guards, who responded with a shrug. “This is beyond my pay grade,” he muttered. The officer motion to his men and they stepped away from the door.

“Thank you, gentlecolts,” Twilight said. “No need to announce me.” She opened the door with her magic and peered into the sitting room, but Celestia was not there. She stepped in and closed the door behind her, triggering the automatic privacy spells that kept any sounds from the chambers from drifting into the hall.

Comments

[Bloody_Tofu]

Ohh... this entire chapter was a tease here's waiting for them to talk.