Never

by shortskirtsandexplosions

VI

...reached over and brushed the leafy edge of the celery stalk against the tiny colt's mouth. The little unicorn murmured in his slumber. His nostrils flared as he sniffed the fresh, crisp vegetable. His mouth watered, and his opening jaws pulled him out of sleep. With his eyes closed, he nibbled at the celery at first, then took a few healthy bites, then grasped the entire stalk with his forelimbs before finishing the rest of it fervently.

Once it was in his belly, he rolled over in the royal bedsheets and fluttered his eyes open. After one blink, he shot up, gasping.

“Be at peace,” Celestia said. She was sitting beside the bed in the Dawnmist's cabin, a plate of vegetables floating in a stream of white magic beside her. “You are safe in my royal vessel, young one.” Her voice was soothing, but unmelodious. The tone was only soft from its whispery edge alone. She emotionlessly lifted another leafy morsel from the platter and raised it before him. “Your body may be exhausted, but your stomach betrays what you really need. Please... eat heartily. It's the best grown celery in all of Equestria.”

The colt glanced at the green offering, then at the Princess. Gratefully, he reached two trembling hooves up and grasped the stalk. He chewed on it vigorously, filling his empty stomach. For several minutes and a few more helpings, he nourished himself in the presence of Equestria's ruler, until a healthy shade of red flushed across his cheeks, and he sat up in the bed bright and alert... but still pensive.

“There is more where that came from, in case you haven't actually had your fill.” Celestia found the words coming out of her mouth as if on their own volition. It felt as though deep banks in her mind were donating the sentences to her, a programmed act of fostering. She dashed her wayward, analytical thoughts against the walls with a clearing of her throat as she placed the platter down and gazed calmly at the foal. “Do you have a name, young one?”

The tiny unicorn avoided her gaze, nervously running a hoof through his black mane.

Celestia stared at him. She gave a practiced grin. “I'll have you know, I am the Princess of Equestria. I could have you thrown into the royal dungeons if I so desired.”

He merely squinted at her. “Really?” his high-pitched voice squeaked.

Celestia blinked. It had been several decades since she last practiced humor. She suddenly remembered why. “Ahem.” She shifted where she sat on folded legs. “I wouldn't even think of it. Do forgive my awkward lack of grace, dear child. I am... quite simply flabbergasted to have found a young, talented unicorn such as yourself out in the middle of nowhere.”

“Talented?” The unicorn remarked with a scrunched face.

“Mmmmhmmm. Not even the largest, strongest, bravest stallion in Equestria is a match for a hydra. And there you were in the middle of the desert, fending him off on your lonesome, using remarkably advanced fire spells, no less.”

“Oh, right, that.” He winced and scrunched down in the bed, hiding his face behind a length of folds in the comforter. “Mmmmf... I'm sorry about that.”

“Sorry?” Celestia cocked her head to the side. She reached a hoof up and gently moved the sheet so that his face was no longer obscured. “Whatever for, young one?”

“Mmmm...” He stirred, glancing with nervous, darting eyes towards the walls of the place. “This is an airship...”

“Yes. Yes it is.”

“...and it's made out of wood?”

Celestia merely nodded.

“Yeah...” The unicorn hissed through wincing teeth. “You might wanna get me off this thing as soon as possible.”

“Hmmm...” Celestia gave a humored smile. “My young sir, I assure you, though I admit that you have remarkable spells, I swear to you that there is no single source of magic on this earth—equine or otherwise—that I would not be able to suppress in the event of an emergency.”

“Oh yeah?” He glanced up at her, his gray ears twitching. “You mean like changelings and the like?”

Celestia opened her mouth... but lingered. She wasn't quick enough to save her smile from fading.

He saw it, and his tiny ears then drooped. “Oh...” He slumped back down onto the bed. “I didn't think so.”

Celestia swallowed gently. She reached over and gently brushed the bangs of his mane. “Little one, tell me. Why are you so alone?”

His eyes clenched shut. His little body rose and fell with a sad sigh. “My parents died right after I was foaled. I barely got a chance to know them.”

“How, if I may be so bold to ask?”

“The war, of course,” he muttered, his jaw tightening. “Changelings got 'em. They got all the big ponies where I lived.”

Celestia murmured without stopping herself, “Las Pegasus...”

A tiny sound came from deep in his throat. He nodded his head, trembling, without opening his eyes.

The Princess bowed her head gravely. Her hoof rested tenderly on his shoulder. “You have no idea how it pains me to hear that. I have fought for so long to drive the changeling broods out of this kingdom. I had hoped to keep young, innocent ponies like you from sufferi—”

“The worse part was when they put me in this foster home,” he grunted. It wasn't anger at Celestia, but a different kind of frustration. Something that had been fermenting deep inside him, hotter than the desert that they had found him in. “That's when things started catching on fire around me. That's also when they started calling me names.”

“Who?”

“The other fillies and colts who I lived with. They called me 'Bad Spark,' 'Changeling Breath,' 'Ash and Stink.'”

“Those are such terrible, cruel things to call an innocent pony.”

“I'm not innocent!” He suddenly barked, his eyes flaring as he glared up at her. Vapors lifted from his horn. The flowers in a nearby vase wilted as the temperature in the room raised by about ten degrees instantly. “I make bad stuff happen! I catch things on fire!”

Celestia's face was stone-still. She stared directly at him, all the while pressing softly against his shoulder.

The unicorn hissed and heaved, but ultimately melted from her gaze and firm touch. He squatted back on the bed as the temperature in the room fell back to normal.

Celestia looked briefly at his flaming cutie mark, then back at his sad face. “Tell me, if you will, what is your real name? The one that your parents lovingly gave you, child?”

He sighed long and hard. The breath that came out of him choked a bit. “N-Nova. Nova Star.”

She smiled. “That... is a very handsome name, Nova.”

He sniffed. He gazed up at her with moist eyes. “You... You really think so?”

She felt a chuckle coming out of her breath, unbecoming of a princess, but befitting the tenderness of the moment. “Yes. Your parents were undoubtedly very loving, and I know that they had every reason to be proud of you.”

“Wh-what for?” Nova Star shuddered, sniffling again as he gazed out the darkening windows of the ship's cabin. “All I do is cause trouble. Back home, the more things I set on fire, the more the other ponies got mad at me and made fun of me. I tried to get away from them. I tried running... but then suddenly there were flames everywhere, and I was someplace else! And I still don't know why!”

“You...” Celestia's eyes narrowed. “You teleported? To the middle of the desert?”

“I dunno!” Nova whimpered, covering his little face with his hooves. “I don't know anything anymore! All I know is that I was glad to be alone, cuz I didn't have any ponies to make fun of me or worry about burning all at once! But then I was really really scared, cuz I didn't know where I was for so many days and I was hungry and... and... and...”

“Shhhh...” She brushed his hooves away and tilted his chin up so that his tear-stained face could absorb her gaze. “It takes strength to admit that one is scared, Nova. As a matter of fact, you have even more strengths. You have an amazing gift for pyrokinesis.”

“Pyro... what?” He sniffed and blinked.

“Hmmmmmm...” She crested the warm edge of a chuckle yet again. “It means 'a telepathic control over the animation of elemental flame.' I daresay, you have many talents in that department.”

“I... I do?” His tail flicked upon the exclamation.

“Very much so. But they are raw talents. Untapped. Unfiltered. What you need to do is learn how to tame these raw abilities and focus...” Her words lingered off as a painful expression wracked her face. Her pupils shrunk, as if gazing down the endless corridors of time.

Nova Star leaned his head curiously to the side. “Uhm... Your Highness?”

That address only shook Celestia even more. “Ahem. I... erm...” She shuddered and tried to compose herself. “What I mean to say is...” She looked at him. “Your powers can be tamed. And then you can live in peace again. I... We will find you a new home where you won't have to worry about causing accidents ever again, and where ponies will love you for who you are, and not for what they fear.”

Nova breathed easier upon hearing that news, but a part of his eyes lost their color, as if brought upon the brink of something spectacular, only to be dropped back into shadows.

“Well...” He gulped and smiled as his tears began drying. “That's... that's pretty swell, I guess.”

“Yes...” Celestia murmured, her voice distant. “It is... for the best...” She gazed woefully out the cabin windows of the Dawnmist. Outside, night was falling, and a pale shine was cast across the wooden panes.

Comments

[Lordmiak]

Oh Celestia, you almost fell in your own trap again...

[Lordmiak]

1363311
I don't really see how you got all this out of my "it's a trap" comment, but that's not what I was referring to (furthermore, I agree with your analyse and direct you to this story).

What I was talking about is the personal trap in which Celestia fell time and time again : taking a new young apprentice under her patronage, knowing full well that he will die of old age long before her, and the pain waiting for her.
Is the pain outweighted by the pleasure of guiding a new soul ? I don't know, for I am neither Celestia nor immortal (yet). But since she's hesitating, and she sent Twilight in Ponyville and seems to be cutting emotional ties with her, Celestia doesn't want yet another repeat of her personal history.
Also, from the discussion with her father, immortality our little ponies' destiny.

[Future Regret]

Man, that kid just got parent-blocked. Looks like Celestial is taking Luna's advice. Kid will probably burn down Canterlot someday.

[arancaytar]

Okay, so probably not future Sombra.