• Published 21st Apr 2020
  • 197 Views, 2 Comments

Learning the Magic of Friendship - rainsilent



It has been about twenty years since Dusky Rose had a particular talk about friendship with Princess Twilight. Now she has a daughter that doesn't see friendship as important.

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A Night with a Princess

The Friendship Festival was winding down, as it was getting late in the afternoon. The banquet hall had about half of the creatures still in it. Rose Blossom was one of those still around and she finally found what she was looking for: one of the princesses. Rose Blossom approached Princess Sunset Shimmer, who was wearing an elaborate dress and standing next to a dessert table. With the princess were two guards and a pony. Rose Blossom stopped a few feet away from the four of them as they turned to her.

“Umm, Princess?” Rose Blossom said as she bowed.

“Yes, my little pony, how can I help you?” Princess Sunset Shimmer said with a smile.

“Umm. I…” Rose Blossom hesitated as she rose from her bow, “I was wondering if I could see Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

“She has retired for the night to prepare for herself for royal duties,” the Princess said. Yet as disappointment became clear on Rose Blossom’s face the Princess continued, “What would you like to see Princess Twilight for?”

With a low voice, Rose Blossom replied, “I was hoping to talk to her about how she started making friends when she was young. Last night my mother showed me how she struggled with it in a similar way to how I am now. I was hoping that I could ask her for some advice.”

Princess Sunset smiled. “Well, I can grant you an audience with her,” she said as she grabbed a plate from the dessert table with her magic. “I don’t know that she will be able to give you much time,” she said as she filled the plate with several treats from the dessert table. “But I think these will buy you more time,” she said as she approached Rose Blossom with the plate in her magic. “She loves them, trust me,” she said with a wink and a big smile as she laid the plate down on Rose Blossom’s back. “Now, go to one of the guards standing at the base of the stairs and tell them that I sent you to deliver these treats to Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

Rose Blossom crept to the guard, trying to keep the plate on her back from falling off as she went. As she got closer, she could see the guard glaring at her. The guard’s piercing gaze made her look away. Yet looking away wasn’t enough as she could still feel the guard staring at her. By the time she stopped in front of the guard, she felt as if she was no bigger than a speck of dust. She took a moment to breathe before she spoke up.

“I was told to take these to Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

The guard looked over Rose Blossom for a moment before returning their intense gaze to her. “I will take you to the stairs that will take you to her room. Follow me.”

The guard led Rose Blossom through the castle at a comfortable pace. They stopped at a spiral staircase. The guard turned to Rose Blossom and gestured to the stairs, “This is your staircase miss. Be careful on your way up.”

Rose Blossom was excited as she started climbing the stairs. She was going to get to meet Princess Twilight Sparkle in person. She had to focus on keeping the plate balanced on her back as she went through, which was only slowing her down. When she finally agreed with her mother to go to the Friendship Festival last night, it was with this very goal in mind. Somehow, it worked and she got a chance to meet Princess Twilight.

She stopped at the door to Princess Twilight’s room. With great care, as to not disturb the plate on her back, lifted a hoof to knock on the ornate golden doors. Before her hoof touched the stone floor, the door opened up. The room had no light inside and was illuminated only by the light from the stairway behind her. A large bed dominated the center of the room. The end facing the door had an elaborate carving. Canterlot Castle was in the middle. The left half was an engraved night scene with Princess Twilight’s cutie mark in the top left corner. The right half was a day scene with Princess Sunset’s cutie mark in the top right.

In the shadows to the right, she could make out a dresser. Six geodes, of different colors to the one Princess Sunset was wearing, twinkled in the dim light atop the dresser. To the left of the room was a desk. On the far side of the desk was an open door that led to a balcony. On the edge of the desk were three large books stacked on top of each other.

“Come in,” she heard a call from the other side of the open door that led to the balcony.

She slinked through the dark room to the balcony door. There was enough light that she could see the cover of the top book of the stack. As she passed the desk she took a closer look at its cover. There were five symbols. Two of them she recognized as the cutie marks of Princesses Twilight and Sunset. The other three she didn’t recognize at all. They were a purple and white star with jets, a crystallized tree, and a pair of bug wings.

She continued to the open balcony door. She paused at the entrance when she saw Princess Twilight sitting there with a gentle smile, looking right at her. Her golden hoof boots, chest piece, and crown still gleamed in what light remained of the evening light. Her mane and tail waived as if blown by a wind that was not otherwise heard or felt.

“Hello, my little pony,” the princess said.

“Hi. I...” Rose Blossom stammered in hesitation before thinking about the plate on her back, “Somepony suggested I bring these up with me. They said that you would love them.”

Princess Twilight picked up the plate with her magic and set it down beside her, gasping when she saw what the treats were. Small bowls of various puddings. “Oh, I do. Thank you. Come and join me. Have a few yourself if you would like.”

With the invitation, Rose Blossom sat on the other side of the plate of Princess Twilight. She only took one of the bowls after the princess grabbed one of her own, “Thank you, Princess.”

They each enjoyed their pudding in silence. Rose Blossom observed Canterlot before her while the princess enjoyed her pudding in silence. The princess finished her bowl first and turned to look at the young pony before her. “You requested to see me?”

Finishing the bite in her mouth, Rose Blossom turned her attention from Canterlot to the princess. “Yes, Princess,” she said, “My mother wanted me to come to the festival today.”

“I take it then that you did not want to come?” Princess Twilight asked.

“Mmm muh.” Rose Blossom admitted, trying to finish the last bite of her bowl.

“Why did your mother want you to come?”

Rose Blossom gulped down the last bite as she turned to look at the constellation that her mother had pointed out the night before. With a sigh she said, “My mother says that I have been ignoring my friends too much for my studies. She wanted me to come to the festival and hear the speeches that you and Princess Sunset Shimmer give each year. She thought it would encourage me to spend more time with my friends.”

Princess Twilight followed Rose Blossom’s gaze to the stars that she created in memory of her friends. She smiled wistfully as she said, “Those speeches we gave aren’t why you wanted to see me tonight.”

“No,” Rose Blossom admitted, “Mother also told me about you. How, when you were young, you also ignored friendship for your studies. I wanted to talk about that,” Rose Blossom then looked at Princess Twilight, “If you don’t mind that is, Princess.”

Princess Twilight looked at Rose Blossom with a smile as bittersweet memories of her long passed friends ran through her mind, “I would love to. Anything in particular you would like to ask?”

“Well,” Rose Blossom paused before looking down at the plate of pudding, “How did you change so easily?”

“It was anything but an easy change,” Princess Twilight said, “Please, have more pudding and make yourself comfortable.” Princess Twilight took a thoughtful glance at those five stars. She closed her eyes, sighed and looked back to Rose Blossom, “I have a long story to tell you.”

Comments ( 2 )

Nice descriptive writing that paints a vivid picture of the scene. I felt that you did a better job in the second chapter compared to the first. Wished that there was more subtle elements in the portrayal of feelings.

10192741

Thank you. I really appreciate the feedback.

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