Interlude: Knock-knock
Celestia hummed happily to herself as she moved about the kitchen, fetching the fixings she would need for breakfast the next day, all the while making sure to keep an eye on the timer for her oven. Though she had the recipe and timing for baking most of her favorite confections timed to an exact science, she still worked at them with care. Too often she had fouled herself up by mistakenly walking away while a pie or cake or other pastry was baking, and in so doing had caused something to burn or, once, started a fire as a result. Her natural affinity to the fire elemental made it easier to put an end to the latter issue, but it was always a tragic and disappointing waste when something like that happened. Not only was she out a pie or pastry, but the ingredients used were wasted as well.
Not that she had so many problems with that these days. Centuries worth of practice–one of many benefits of Alicorn longevity–have made it a rare occurance for anything to burn. They had also ensured she had all the time she needed to grow accustomed to the layout of her kitchen so that everything she needed for everything she made was easily accessible and able to be retrieved with the smallest amount of effort, providing more time to carefully craft every meal and treat she liked.
As the timer finally went off, Celestia smiled, using her magic to turn off the timer's alarm, open the oven, and carefully levitate the freshly baked butterscotch-cinnamon pie out onto the counter to cool. Shutting the over, she took a deep breath of the pie's aroma, loving how it delighted her senses. No matter how many times she made this particular recipe, she never quite got tired of the sight, smell and taste of a fresh butterscotch-cinnamon pie.
I only hope that Twilight will enjoy it, she thought.
Once the pie was cooled enough, she carefully brought over a knife and plate and cut out a slice onto the plate before setting the knife aside. She stepped quickly but quietly out of the kitchen into the living room of her simple little house, and form there passed through the foyer into the hallway before pausing at the first of the two doors. She considered knocking for a moment, so that the child within would be able to enjoy the slice of pie while it was fresh, but then paused before simply opening the door and peeking in.
Twilight lay still and silent with her eyes shut and her chest and barrel slowly rising and falling as she slept. Every once in a while she would mumble or snore quietly, and once her face scrunched up as if she had seen or smelt something repulsive. Yet, as Celestia entered the room properly and sat gazing upon the filly, resting the plate and its bounty on one of her hooves, the scent of the fresh pastry filled the room and seemed to draw a smile onto Twilight's muzzle. The filly shifted slightly, curling up a little tighter before relaxing so that she seemed to sink into the mattress, pillow and blankets, her face peaceful and serene in slumber.
Celestia blinked, smiling, and brushed her free hoof across her eyes to find fresh salty droplets at their corners. Setting down the plate on the floor where it wouldn't be at risk of the filly missing it or stepping on it, she gently tucked the blankets a little closer in around Twilight's body and brushed a hood lightly through her mane. Yet, after leaning in and kissing Twilight's forehead just below her horn's base, the Alicorn found her tears growing in number and had to bite back a sob that struggled to escape her chest. Immediately she turned, closing her eyes, and walked out of the room, shutting the door gently behind her so as not to wake her daughter.
"I love you, Mama."
How many times had she heard such words and let the child who'd said them into her heart? How many times had she embraced them, nuzzled them, and told them that she would do everything in her power to protect them? How many of those children had she shown love to and found love in the eyes of?
How many had she failed, utterly and completely, as both mother, protector and friend, as she watched them leave and march into the jaws of death beyond the Great Door?
Shaking her head, Celestia walked back through the hall into the foyer and down the steps, not bothering to watch where she was going. She knew the way by heart to the point blindfolds wouldn't have impeded her, and she marched with purpose as she trod the path into what qualified as being her basement. Yet she knew, just as several in the Ruins, that it was no basement, but the Ancient Hall, the final hallway between the proper Ruins and the Great Door, the entrance from the Ruins into the rest of the Underground.
It was at the Great Door where she finally stopped walking and sat on her haunches, her head bowed as shame wracked over her body. She let the sobs come now, and her entire form quaked as first one tear slid to the end of her muzzle before dripping off to the floor, then several. Within seconds she could feel streams of them cascading down to pool at her hooves, and she gasped through a particularly powerful sob as she laid out flat on her belly, hooves pressed to her eyelids, as the magic flowing through her mane and tail ceased and let them fall flat in waves of pastel pink.
Every ache in her heart was exposed them, let free to echo through the chamber, and she wept openly as she thought aloud, "I am such a great fool of a mare... Six times this has happened before, and they were not even ponies as this seventh child is... They were all older and stronger than she, yet their fates were all the same..."
Heaving another great sob, she sniffled and murmured, "No matter what blood may be upon... upon her hooves... there is as much if not more upon mine from those six poor children... I did them such terrible wrong allowing them to leave when I knew it would be to their deaths, and yet I still allowed them to go... What a great and horrible fool I am..."
She shuddered and lowered her hooves, staring up at the Great Door in a mix of fear and revulsion, before glancing at her reflection in the pool formed of her own tears. "And m-more foolish am I t-than even this, for n-now I have t-taken in a seventh child, and she is my own k-kind as well. It is l-less certain yet still l-likely that one d-day these Ruins will b-become too small for her, and s-she will desire to see the r-rest of the Underground. T-to stop her, e-even if for her own protection, would be a c-crime against her as a m-mother, but it would also be a crime to allow h-her to go and walk into d-death's embrace."
She once again buried her head in her forelegs and wept, asking, "W-what do I do...? What can I d-do...?"
She stayed there for what may have been minutes just as easily as hours, neither moving nor speaking beyond the shaking of heavy sobs and the repeated murmuring of these two questions. She didn't care that her robes were getting wet from the volume of her tears, nor that the sight of her as she was would be nothing short of pitiful. All she felt herself able to do was lay there and wallow in her heartache.
Until someone spoke.
"knock-knock."
Celestia smiled, in spite of herself as she lifted her head to gaze upon the Great Door. "W-who is there...?"
"broken pencil," the voice called, a southern female's voice with a calm smoothness and light drawl.
Celestia's smile grew a little as she pushed herself up on her forehooves. "Broken pencil who?"
"never mind, it's pointless."
Now Celestia laughed, rising to all fours, and walked to the door before leaning against it, slumping onto to her belly again and saying, "W-well d-done, but have you h-heard about the skeleton w-who would not c-cross a road?"
"nah, I can't say as I have, sugarcube. why wouldn't the little feller cross the road?"
"B-because he had n-no guts."
The voice laughed as Celestia giggled, wiping tears from her eyes, then asked, "speakin' as ya are 'bout skeletons, have ya ever heard about the one who was scared of his wife?"
"No, I do not think I have."
"he had a buddy what said to him, 'well, yer boned'."
Celestia's laughter was a touch delirious, but she let it flow regardless, knocking her hoof against the door as she shook with mirth. "Oh, you simply are too much, my friend!"
The voice chuckled, then sighed and asked, "say, are ya'll feelin' alright there, pardner? yer soundin' pretty rattled."
Celestia sighed, giggling a little, and bowed her head as a sniffle escaped her. "I... I wish I could say I was fine, my friend, but... we both value honesty too much for that."
The voice sighed again, a soft tap sounding against the door as if it were being scratched at lightly, before it said, "one of them days, huh? sounds worse than usual, too. anythin' ah can do to help ya, pard?"
Celestia sighed again and shook her head, blowing a stray pink bang out of her face. "I do not know... I f-found a child t-today."
"oh? well, ain't that a good thing?" When the Alicorn didn't respond, the voice murmured, "oh. ...ah don't suppose this new young'n... they ain't another human, are they?"
"N-no, and that is the worst part," Celestia laid her head upon her forelegs and shook it. "She is a unicorn filly, young and innocent, with no knowledge of this place or how to use her magic."
"unicorn, huh? that's new. one of them one's what descended from the ones that managed t' not get banished, right?"
"Yes, and she... she..." Celestia gasped as she struggled against a new bout of sobs and bit her lip, wincing painfully as a taste of blood met her tongue for a moment. "She is so small and sweet and innocent and I... I am scared."
"cause of what I said before, right?" Celestia flinched as the voice sighed, then blinked as its owner asked, "ya'll said ya found her, right?"
"Yes... I have also... I have promised to be her mother."
The female beyond the door laughed a little and whooped. "whoo-whee nelly, pardner, that's some big news t' be droppin'. how old's the little darlin'?"
Celestia smiled as she thought about Twilight again. "Around seven, possibly eight, I believe. But her soul resonates with so much magic and is clearly from the surface," she added, her smile drooping. "Her eyes tell the latter as much as anything. There is a glow in them, a glow you do not find in... Monsters' eyes... She is most definitely not a denizen of our realm, and that, above all else, makes me... deeply concerned."
"ah hear ya, pard'. if'n she's from the surface, then we both know what'll happen if'n she ever comes out over this a-way."
Celestia shuddered, knowing exactly what the voice was implying. Yet, as she sat and pondered it, she blinked as an idea occurred to her. It was a selfish idea, a desperate one, but if events played out anywhere close to what she was afraid they would, if Twilight truly did one day wish to explore and Celestia wasn't able to bring herself to stop her daughter from going...
"My friend, c-can... Can I ask a favor of you?" Celestia asked, voice quivering.
"well, that'd depend... on what it is, I mean."
"You are a sentry, are you not?"
"yeah, that's the job, pard. ...why ya ask?"
"Listen, please. If... If a little lavender filly–my daughter, Twilight Sparkle–ever leaves the Ruins through this door and you do not see me there with her... C-could you p-please promise to... to w-watch over her... for me?"
"watch over her?"
"Yes. I just..." Celestia hiccuped softly as her tears began to flow again. "I-I j-just c-can not stand the t-thought of losing h-her... I have only j-just met her, but I l-love her with all m-my heart and I... J-just, please, promise me th-that, if nothing else, you will w-watch over her and m-make sure that she is s-safe as l-long as you can. C-could you do that for me, p-please?"
For a moment, there was nothing but silence on the other side of the door, and Celestia bowed her head in despair. But then the voice came again, loud and clear, and said, "cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye, I'll do whatever I can to help yer little filly, pardner."
Celestia blinked, shocked, and murmured, "W-what was...?"
"that were a special kind of promise. it's sort of one of them there... 'unbreakable vows', y'see. if'n ah break it... it ain't ya'll I'm gonna be answerin' to first."
Celestia gasped in relief as she pressed her cheek against the door and called, "T-thank you... Thank you, s-so much..."
"...anytime, pardner. anytime, every time."
In her bedroom on the main floor of the house, Twilight Sparkle was unaware of any of this. She simply moaned softly as she shifted in slumber, breathing deep of the room's cool air as she settled once more beneath the warm blankets. As the smell of cooling butterscotch-cinnamon pie filled her dreams with another layer of peace and contentment, the memory of her new mother's love and tenderness made her smile in her sleep. Her mind at peace, she felt her heart filling with a fresh wave of love, joy and DETERMINATION.
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So I'm gonna guess that Pinkie is Papyrus in this story
Applejack as Sans? That's a new one. Looking forward to seeing what comes next.
9115671
If we go with that, Rainbow could be Undyne, Fluttershy Alphys, Rarity Muffet and Luna is obviously Asgore. Maybe Angel could sort of be Mettaton?
While I'm still enjoying the story, THIS
is one of my biggest pet peeves in writing. Y'all is a contraction of "you all" and is NEVER used to address a single person.
Huh. Applejack as sans... that's new.
9116099
Fitting with how AJ speaks in the show, though.
9116527
To be fair, my accent is Gulf Coast, while AJ's sounds more southwestern which I've never been to, but it still bugs me.
YO NIBBA IS THAT UNDERTALE
9122898
? This is, indeed, an Undertale crossover.