Apotheosis of the Night

by Dark0592

Chapter 1

“How goes your studies with my sister? I understand you’re her best student since Starswirl the Bearded.” Luna asked, once again breaking Twilight out of her thoughts. Twilight’s surprise at the break in silence didn’t go unnoticed, but Luna kept it to herself as they enjoyed a nice stew and salad dinner.

“Oh! Um… well, to be honest we haven’t done much in months. It’s kind’va the reason I started sitting in on your courts. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love spending time with mom and everything… it’s just the studies just become ‘let’s sit down and be lazy while we do nothing and call it studying’” Twilight replied, ending with a little giggle at the end. Luna seemed a little surprised by that answer.

“I don’t understand, she has centuries of knowledge and teachings to pass on.” The Lunar Princess said. Twilight smiled.

“Well, even before she adopted me I did a ton of my own studies into magic. The reason I’m her personal protege is because she believed I was already halfway through what her school for gifted mages would be teaching me, and I’d outstrip the rest much too quickly. Slap on ten years of advanced teachings from the Princess herself and we’ve hit a wall.” Twilight explained. Luna slowly nodded.

“Then I amend my previous statement. You are her best student period. Even Starswirl was well into his thirties by the time he hit that wall with her.” The Princess said with a little chuckle. “I suppose it makes sense. You haven’t shown much interest in my court before, boredom is a powerful motivator.” She said with a light chuckle. Twilight saw through the chuckle though, it wasn’t genuine.She saw that little pang of… something.

“Oh no, Princess! I mean, well, yes it was technically out of Boredom I asked to sit in on your courts. But if you remembered, I offered to be your advisor in the first place. While Politics aren’t exactly my favorite thing in the world, Education is one of them. It has been a wonderful week helping you learn the changes of modern times.” Twilight tried to explain as best she could. She wanted to make Luna feel like she wasn’t just there because it was the only thing to do. It was, as she said, technically true. She didn’t see it that way though.

“In fact, I wish I would have started sitting in earlier. If for any other reason than these little chats over dinner we have afterwards. You make for far more interesting conversation than anyone else in the palace.” She continued. Luna had a hand over her mouth by the end of it, not sure whether she was suppressing a laugh or something else.

“Surely your mother makes for interesting conversation?” She asked, almost probing the girl for information. Twilight rubbed her forehead.

“I mean obviously, but… I’ve been having conversations with her for more than half of my life. It gets a liiiiiittle stale after so long.” The girl said, almost in a grumble. Luna laughed at that.

“I suppose I know what you mean. While it has been interesting seeing how my sister has changed since my banishment, even after a month I grow wanting for others to speak with. I have to thank you, as you’ve helped with that recently. I’m glad I’m not just your last resort.” The Princess replied. A bit of an awkward silence formed as they both returned to their meals. It wasn’t until they had finished did they speak again.

“The night is certainly an interesting place, Twilight Sparkle. All one needs to do is simply ask and she may spill her secrets.” Twilight heard Luna say. She looked up from her empty bowl to see the princess standing at the door. Apparently she had zoned out again. Luna was watching her with careful eyes and Twilight felt that pang again. When Luna saw that she was heard she inclined her head to the girl and left the room in full.

Twilight didn’t really know how to respond to that, which made her a little thankful that the princess had left. What did that even mean? She chose to think on it. She pushed it right up next to the strange signals she was getting from the princess in terms of internal prioritization.

“You’re up awful early…” She was once again startled out of her thoughts by a familiar voice. Celestia had just walked in, though she had a bit of a worried expression. Confused, she looked around. Why was Celestia up so late was the question.

Oh… it’s morning… She really sat here all night thinking without even realizing it. Celestia’s sun nearly blinding her as she looked at the windows to prove the point.

“O-Oh… I need to stop doing that…” The girl grumbled and rubbed her face. Celestia rolled her eyes and walked over to hug her adopted daughter.

“The staff informed me that you were still in here from last night, but I got a little worried when I didn’t see your usual pillow of books. I was especially worried when I saw you were actually awake and not asleep.” The Princess explained. Twilight grumbled.

“I had a lot on my mind… and spending so many late nights with Luna I think my internal clock is going crazy.” The girl said simply, rationalizing it. Celestia hummed a maybe and made to take her seat next to Twilight as the chefs came in with breakfast.

“Well, we can talk about what was on your mind after breakfast if you’re still awake. It’s clearly troubling you, whatever it is.” The Princess said as pancakes and two large omelettes were placed in front of them. Twilight kind’ve automatically picked up her new utensils and started eating.

“Well, I don’t know if bothered is the right word for it… Have you noticed that Luna is… missing something?” Twilight asked, testing her theory on what it was that she felt in Luna. Celestia hummed in thought.

“Well I assume you don’t mean something physically, she’s always missing something there. You know she’s terrible with paperwork…” Celestia started with a giggle, but her tone fell to a more serious one. “...But I think I know what you mean. My guess is that she’s lonely. We… aren’t as close as we used to be. I wish we were, and I try to be, but there’s so much between us now. The Banishment aside there’s the millenia gap in time, my tastes and even personality changing all the way, and she herself changing from the isolation and having the nightmare ripped from her. I love her as much as I love you, Twilight, but it’s impossible for us to truly be sisters again… At least for now.” The Princess continued with a bit of melancholy. Twilight listened in silence. A thought popped into her head.

“Well… She did say she was enjoying my presence in her court. Maybe I should try spending more time with her if she’s lonely.” She said. Celestia nodded as her smile returned.

“An excellent idea! She could probably teach you a few things as well, heavens knows I’ve done all I can in that respect.” The Princess agreed happily. Twilight smiled but then grew silent again. Celestia took note and assumed it was Twilight trying to figure out how to word what she wanted to say next.

She was accurate in that assumption.

“Princess… Mom… what if I started studying under her like I did with you? Our study sessions have turned into cloud watching or going out of the palace for lunch more than actual studying. I mean, I love every second of it but…” Twilight started and couldn’t quite finish it. Celestia gave her a knowing grin though.

“You want to end your apprenticeship with me and begin anew under my sister?” She asked. Twilight nodded slowly. “Oh I suppose it’d be a good idea. I can’t think of anyone besides her that would even have much to teach you that you couldn’t find in books.” Celestia continued. Twilight looked up at her.

“While ten years is very short in comparison to other apprenticeships, I daresay you’ve learned all you can from me. I’ll make a media announcement about it rather than doing the actual ceremony. It’s horribly outdated. From now on, you are now a master in terms of the Arcane. The only step up from here would be Archmage, but I’m afraid I can’t just give that title to you. The nobility would have a fit, and ultimately that duty falls under Luna’s jurisdiction.” The Princess explained. Twilight was a little confused by that.

“Is that why there hasn’t been an Archmage since Starswirl?” Twilight asked. Celestia nodded.

“While I could have taken over that duty, I saw no need to. The Archmage is a position that is… unique. I can’t even quite explain it. You’ll have to ask Luna more when you tell her the good news. That’ll have to wait until Dusk, though. She’s long gone to sleep.” The Princess answered. Twilight hummed as she looked down at her now empty plate. She didn’t even remember finishing it.

“You should go get some sleep, Twilight.” Celestia said as she picked her fork back up. Twilight hummed and stood.

“Thanks Mom. Good… uh… day. Love you.” The girl said with a smile and quickly hugged her adopted mother. Celestia giggled at that and returned it before returning to her food. Twilight thanked the workers that had cleaned up for the morning for not disturbing her and made for her room in the Astronomy Tower.

“Fall asleep at the dinner table again?” A voice startled her out of her thoughts for the third time that day. She had just walked into find Spike standing on his tippy-talons to reach a book on the top shelf of the bookcase he was standing in front of. He had stopped in a precarious looking pose, his tail helping him keep balance, when she walked in.

“Something like that.” Twilight said, walking over to him and levitating him up a foot so he could reach easier. The purple dragon chuckled at the feeling of being lifted and slid the book out of its place.

“Well I’ve got some research to do for Rarity, I promised her I’d master control of my fire by the next time we go to Ponyville so that I can help her with a project she’s working on.” The dragon said, wriggling out of Twilight’s magical grip to land back on his hind legs. When standing up like this he was about as tall as Twilight, maybe around 5’6. He stuck the book between two spines on his back and dropped to all fours to plod over and lean up against Twilight in a hug.

“Spike you know you won’t be able to breath actual fire for another decade right?” Twilight said to him more rhetorically than anything. Spike grinned and looked up at her. He spit a bit of green fire at her, it fell short right before it hit her face. She recoil hard and almost fell over.

“I’m not a normal dragon remember? My artificial egg and magical birth, thanks to you, make me age way fast. I’m even starting to remember things from previous lives, though mostly tastes and smells. According to this book…” He started, standing up on his hind legs again to pull the book out of his spines and open it up like a human. “... I’m about fifty years into my life cycle, physically at least. Further exposure to magic may accelerate my growth further and new milestones might get hit faster. I’ve already got a tiny bit of fire, and I’m halfway there to wings according to this timeline.” The Drake continued and flipped the book over for her to see. It was a very basic timeline with milestones. The first ten marks, leading up to the 50 year mark, were mostly instinctual memories. 15 held the first signs of fire breath, while 50 marked when they were usually supposed to have the ability to create the iconic flamethrower of breath. 100 was when the wings were supposed to grow in.

“Well, it says you’re already supposed to have control over your fire so get to work!” Twilight said with a grin as she snatched the book out of his talons and used her magic to put it back where it belonged.

“Hey! I was going to read that!” The Drake pouted.

“Not when you’re practicing fire you’re not. In fact, if I ever catch you breathing fire in here again I’ll turn your tongue into ice. I will NOT have this palace burn down because of you.” Twilight scolded, taking on a tone like a mother scolding her child. Spike looked at the ground and scratched at the stone with his talons.

“I’m sorry…” He said softly.

“Good. Now…” Twilight started, her demeanor switching completely. “I need a nap something fierce. Just let me know if you leave the palace to practice. Otherwise you can go ahead and go back to your books.” She said, her smile returning as her lack of sleep really hit her.

“Alright. Want me to wake you up anytime in particular?” Spike asked as he dropped back down to all fours.

“At Dusk if I’m not already up, thanks Spike.” She said, scratching under the frill on the right side of his head. His tongue flopped out of the side of his mouth at the scratching and he grumbled in affirmative. She patted his head and made for the bedroom as the Drake plodded back over to the shelf. Twilight had put his book a shelf lower so he could actually reach it this time. He took it over to where he had already constructed his patented cushion fort from the furniture in the room and curled up inside of it to read.

Author's Note:

Sorry this took so long to get out. I don't know when I'll be updating, but I'll try to get at least one chapter out a week. It really depends on how much I work, which is currently 40 hours a week.
Hope you enjoyed.

Comments

[pahnazd]

I noticed a few times when you started a word with a capital letter when you didn't need to (boredom, politics, education, drake...).

Good save there with Twi making Luna not feel like a last resort. That could go sour fast.
So Twi will officially study under Luna now. Yayness! They'll spend some more time together! I wonder if she'll ever take Luna to meet her other friends properly. After all, Luna can't keep having only Twilight and Celestia as those close to her.
Well, she can, but it's not a good idea.

Also, fast aging acceleration for Spike due to the magical exposure? Interesting. I wonder how it'll affect his life span - while he is developing faster than any dragon, that probably also impacts how long he'll live. Ah well, not something to worry about now at least.

[Dark0592]

8106053 yeah that's a problem I know I have,but glad you enjoyed

[SeventhBrony]

patented cushion fort from the furniture in the room and curled up inside of it to read.

Are best forts

[LostArchivist]

Just how much was retconned? This does not really seem like a sequel...