Progress
“-and he passed!” the little filly chirped happily, trotting as fast as she could with her little legs to keep pace with the much taller pony besides her.
“Is that so?” Celestia said, smiling.
“Yep!” Twilight replied, smiling with obvious pride. “He said the sergeant said he may even make officer one day!”
“Is that so?” Celestia replied, smiling coyly. “Maybe he’ll end up as the Captain of the Guard.”
“Of course he will!” Twilight chirped as she clipped along. “He’s Shining Armor. He’s the best BBBFF ever!”
Celestia chuckled to herself. It was unlikely, but the idea that she may one day have both the Sparkle daughter as her protege and the brother as her general amused her. It had a certain charm to it. Although it occurred to her to mention Shining Armor’s name to a few particular ponies in the guard. If he was anything like his sister, she expected him to be full of surprises.
The low walls along the brick path flared out in a small open plaza surrounding a white fountain. As the two ponies walked up, the heron that had been wading through the water jerked its head towards them and then, flared its wings and took flight.
Twilight’s eyes tracked it as it flew off.
“Why’d he leave?”
“She,” Celestia corrected gently. “We’re here, by the way.”
Twilight looked around as they came to a stop in the small plaza, as if shocked and seeing it for the first time. She then sat down on her rump, her hind legs kicking out at angles, and looked back to the sky that the heron had long since vanished into. She then looked back to her teacher, who settled down upon the stone. The question was still on her face.
Celestia smiled.
“She was nervous, that’s all.”
Twilight cocked her head.
“The animals in the garden live far from their natural homes, having lost them or been lost themselves. They get brought here to be taken care of, and see little of ponies besides myself and the grounds keepers. As such, new ponies tend to make them anxious. I’m sure they’ll warm up to you soon enough though.”
Twilight looked down at the stones under her forehooves, her lips worming on her face as if she was physically chewing the idea. She then, without warning, gave a curt nod, her frown of determination melting into a smile as she looked back up at her teacher. She even laughed a little.
Celestia’s smile eased somewhat.
“So, Twilight. I know your brother wants to be a guardspony, but what do you want to do?”
“Everything!” Twilight blurted out.
Celestia laughed.
“There is so much stuff! I was reading my book on unicorn history and do you know how many books there are? And places I need to see! Did you know there is a portal to Tartarus 7 miles north of Ponyville Village? That’s only a train ride away! And that’s just the start!” Twilight stood up and began pacing as she talked. “Plus there is sooo much magic to learn. And so much history about the magic! And-AAAAUUUGGGHHH!” The filly grabbed her head. Celestia had to press the back of her hoof in her mouth to keep the laughter echoing through her gut from getting out.
“I don’t even know where to begin!” Twilight sulked, rubbing her face with her hooves.
“Alright, Twilight,” Celestia said, chuckling as she did so. “It sounds like you have quite a bit to get ready for.”
“Tell me about it!” The filly threw her hooves in the air.
“May I make make a suggestion for at least where to begin?”
The filly stared at her wide eyed, and then nodded quickly.
Celestia turned and looked to the satchel bag she had been carrying as her horn glowed with a soft golden color. The bag took on a similar glow as it seemed to come alive, undoing its straps and launching four spheres into the air, each a different size and weight and all glowing the same way. With a turn of her head, the spheres arced around Celestia and rolled to a dead stop in front of Twilight a split second before the glow faded. The little filly stared down at the spheres in wonder. Celestia silently chuckled to herself as she looked down at Twilight.
Seems I still have it.
“We’ll start with the basics, and see what you can do. It’s not quite a day trip to Tartarus, but it is important to master the little things first. Now, each of these spheres has a different size and weight…”
~*~*~
By the time Celestia walked into the bedroom, she had known Twilight for many years, and in many aspects. As such she was very often keyed into the slightest little details that would betray her beloved’s mood.
Celestia frowned.
The signs weren’t good. Her feathers were out of line, which means she had been flapping her wings without thinking of preening them after. Which meant she had been using them without flying properly. Which most likely meant agitation. She had never grown out of fluttering when she was agitated. Her hair was somewhat frazzled around the edges. There were several clumps of, guessing by the smell, Earl Grey and green tea in the waste. She was set up at a small table she used as a desk when she wanted to be away from her office, and her left hoof tapped incessantly as a cloud of magenta pages shuffled themselves before her. Her eyes were tight, and her frown pronounced. No, the signs were not good at all.
“Bad day?”
Twilight groaned.
“I see.”
The papers shuffled themselves neatly into a pile. Which contrasted nicely with the violent exhaustion with which Twilight flung her head into her forelegs. Another groan followed.
“I… I just…”
Celestia moved into the bedroom, not speaking just yet. She calmly drew several scoops of chamomile and mint into the pot before placing it in the hearth. When she turned back Twilight was rubbing her face with her hooves. The purple alicorn let out a sigh and let herself sprawl across the floor and writing desk.
“I’m… tired, Celestia.”
Celestia sat down across from her and wordlessly reached out a hoof. Twilight accepted it, grabbing it in her own. She wasn’t looking directly at Celestia, but rubbing the offered hoof idly seemed to help her collect herself before she went on.
“I just… everything is one step forward and two steps back these days. Or any time progress happens something catches fire and I have to put those out. The construction of the university hit a budget wall. Again. I can only keep shuffling numbers for so long before they can’t be stretched anymore. Class would have been nice, but right before I could get into the door Fractal Pattern stopped me in the hallway near in tears, asking for advice. She held me up for 20 minutes over her husband and I had to rush through my lecture. Because of that I forgot entirely about that meeting with Professor Thunderhead and now its another day before I can even begin that research.” Her expression darkened as she went on, her voice rising. “And if one more reporter accosts me on my own time about what that damn draconequus said at Rarity’s Charity Gala I swear to the Elements of Harmony Discord will wish I just turned him into-!”
The tea kettle whistled, causing Twilight to start. She looked at the tea kettle, and then hung her head and sighed.
“Sorry.”
Celestia stared at Twilight for a moment, concern on her face, but then gave a smile. Her horn glowed and one by one the bits of tea set came alive and gently took to the air. They arranged themselves neatly on the table between the two of them just as Twilight’s papers took on a golden hue, shuffling itself into order and then off the table to the desk at the end of the room. As the glow faded from the cups and cutlery, the tea kettle itself swept between them, and like a dancer, bowing twice without breaking its motion and depositing it’s contents perfectly in two cups before landing neatly on its own plate with a graceful spin.
Twilight watched the tea kettle land with a tired smiled.
“Seems you still have it.”
“It’s something that comes with time.”
“Explains why you’re so good.”
Celestia looked up from her tea.
“My dearest Twilight, did you just make a crack about my age?”
Twilight giggled, a little. Celestia stuck up her nose, although it really didn’t hide the smile on her lips.
“Well fine then. I see how things are between us-and I went to such great lengths to rob you from that cradle.”
Twilight gave a punctuated groan and rolled her eyes.
“Well, it’s true.”
A moment of silence hung between the two, and then simultaneously they each settled into smiles and set about preparing their tea. A minute or so passed with the sounds of sugar cubes plinking into hot tea and the ting of metal on china followed by two ponies getting more comfortable on the carpet and quiet blowing and sipping. As the sounds of tea filled the silence of the room though the smile that the round of teasing had earned slipped from Twilight’s face. Celestia’s own followed suit in response.
“It’s not just the bad day getting to you is it?”
“No,” Twilight sighed. “I... I said it already. Everything I do anymore is an uphill battle. I feel…” She bit her lip, staring to the side, looking for an answer, “I feel trapped. Trapped by paperwork and reporters and missed appointments.” Her head hung then. “There’s so much I still want to do.”
A memory stirred in Celestia’s head-a garden, and a filly to whom everything was new.
“The research I have backed up is just the beginning!” Twilight suddenly snapped. She went on, barking out each sentence. “Places I wanted to go. Things that I need to do-and I miss a lot of things! I miss adventuring with the girls. I miss when my life was bouncing between social faux-pas and saving the world from giant hippo invasions or whatever else was bothering us that week.” She threw up her hooves in exasperation. “And yet here I am, spending hours shuffling beads on an abacus so my royal notes don’t bounce because somepony ordered two hundred bags of cement instead of fifty! This is my life now! And I feel…”
Her voice hitched.
“I feel...”
Twilight suddenly began rubbing her face with her hooves, using the familiar gesture to hide tears of frustration. Twilight let out something between a sigh and a sob.
Celestia stood, a sad smile on her face. She walked over, lying down next to Twilight, pulling her into a hug. The embrace seemed to melt Twilight’s last strands of composure, and the alicorn began sniveling and snobbing in earnest. Celestia gently kissed Twilight on the crown of her head, slowly running a hoof through her hair, just letting her cry it out.
“Ever-faithful Twilight,” she said, wistfully. “I’m sorry that it came to this.”
Images flashed through her mind. Of a young unicorn seeing a sunrise she was told would never happen, the dawn bringing with it her lost princess and a reconciliation a millennia in the making. Of that unicorn laughing, having faced down the lord of strife and emerged victorious. Of a thousand other moments of tenderness, or triumph, or sadness. But-behind it all-was the image of a filly who during her first lesson discussed the idea of a field trip to Tartarus. A filly who had pulled herself out of a similar place not to long before.
An idea began forming in Celestia’s head, and, unbeknownst to Twilight, she began to smile.
“Twilight?”
“Mmm?”
“What would you do if you didn’t have to worry about any of that at all? The papers or the budgets? If you had the time to yourself, what would you do?”
Twilight shifted against her, the crying stopping for a moment as she puzzled.
“I… I guess I would work on some of the research,” she said, somewhat listlessly.
“What research?”
Twilight grunted.
“Humor me.”
Twilight sighed.
“I guess I would work on that project with Professor Thunderhead, but… you know, I’ve been considering looking into light magic. Its something rarely studied or even discussed, and light is so important to the world. Its what gives life to the plants, for instance. There’s a lot of things we could learn if we took time to study it better.”
“Mmm-hmm.” Celestia said, nodding while still holding Twilight’s head in the crook of her neck. “But-! Have you considered that sunlight and moonlight might have totally unique magical properties?”
“Well of course I have!” Twilight groused. “Only special plants can feed on moonlight.”
“Ah, but have you considered that they may illuminate different things?”
“Well, maybe but-Oh horseapples! Of course! Sunlight illuminates the physical, while moonlight the spiritual! That’s why Luna can-”
“-Dreamwalk, yes. Or that’s a theory I have, anyway. Luna is a little touchy about people playing science experiments with her art, so I don’t bring it up often.”
Twilight’s eyes went wide as her mind occupied itself with boggling.
“The possibilities are… untapped.”
“Mmm. That is a word for it, yes.” Celestia’s grin turned almost predatory. “Ah, but Twilight, is that all?”
“What do you mean ‘is that all?!’”
“Well, I mean, what about that trip to Neighpon that Spitfire and Rainbow Dash were planning to go on? See the sights? The History? Not to mention you wanted to try and study under the monks at a Toribetan temple.”
Twilight jerked out of Celestia’s hug and stared into space with shock.
“I can’t believe I forgot about that! Of course I want to go! I mean, I’m sure the practices of the Toribetan Earth Ponies are somewhat exaggerated, but just the concepts of their meditation practices could set forward magical training decades if properly-”
Celestia was laughing at this point.
“But Twilight, what about that book your mother wanted to write about you? You seemed somewhat interested in that.”
“I mean-I don’t like the idea of people writing books about me-but-I mean-my mother made a good-point-I really should-” She suddenly threw back her head and grabbed it in her forehooves “-AAAAUUUGGGHHH!”
Celestia was rolling on the floor, laughing, at this point.
“What’s so funny?” Twilight groused.
“Oh Twilight,” she said, staring at her upside down from the carpet. With a kick of her legs she rolled to her feet. “Never change.”
With that Celestia grabbed Twilight and pulled her into a kiss.
After a moment she broke the kiss and turned, walking to the windowed doors. Twilight, for her part, had reciprocated, and was now left staring at the floor, her jaw shifting back and forth, as if she was trying to physically chew an idea.
“Celestia-?” Twilight began. Celestia, with a flick of her horn, sent the doors swinging open. “What does that even-what are you doing?”
Cold air and starlight flooded into the bedroom. Celestia grinned as she stared into open night sky.
“Luna really outdid herself tonight.”
“Celestia?”
Celestia turned and grinned. Turning back she began walking out onto the balcony.
“It would be a shame to waste it!”
“Celestia! What about everything I just said?!”
Celestia looked back at Twilight.
“We’ll be around forever, and those financial problems will still be there in the morning, but this night won’t get any younger. Life is for living, Twilight.” She then gave a mischievous grin as she remembered something. “You simply must stop reading those dusty old books!” And with that, laughing, Celestia gave a running launch off of the balcony.
“Hey! Hey wait!” Twilight shouted, scrambling to her hooves and across the bedroom floor. “That-that’s not fair!” She tried to sound cross, but couldn’t keep herself from laughing. Seconds later she reached the balcony, with a leap and a whoop she launched herself into the night air, suspended between the stars of the heavens and of the city below.
“Celestia! Celestia! I’m going to get you for that!”
Laughing she flapped her wings and soared out into the night behind her oldest friend.