Twilight coughed. “So where are we going to start?” The aged unicorn asked before returning into another fit. Her ears had been twitching slightly with every bit of noise heard, whether it be her own or Celestia’s, but oddly the only exception was the heart monitor. Twilight had already suppressed the machine’s annoying rhythmic beeps in preparation for the story ahead.
Celestia looked thoughtful. “Perhaps we should go in order, from the first encounter to the last.”
Twilight gave a light nod at the idea. “That would probably be best. Who did you come across first?”
Celestia leaned forward over the bed and nuzzled her student. The heart monitor spiked for an instant before it returned to its ever annoying metronome-like state. The unicorn smiled as she got her silent answer and tried to return the gesture. She awkwardly missed Celestia’s and instead aimed straight for the alicorn’s withers, but the alicorn compensated and moved accordingly.
“Let’s start with Magic,” Celestia whispered. Twilight’s ears flicked in agreement.
It was roughly eleven in the morning. The sun was already in its familiar spot high above Equestria, whose land eagerly soaked up the gracious rays of light like a sponge. Princess Celestia was also enjoying the light she provided, sitting in the Canterlot Castle gardens at the edge of a pond, deeply absorbed in a book. A multi-colored hummingbird swooped by for an instant and came precariously close to the surface of the water, but it pulled out of its dive right before things could have turned ugly. Celestia glanced upwards from her text for an instant to watch the bird’s aerodynamic feats, almost as if it was showing off.
The alicorn smiled and returned to the book that eagerly clawed for her attention. Oh, reading words was so much more pleasurable to her than writing them, especially when they had nothing to do with politics; which is something she tackled on a regular basis in the form of a literal mountain of paperwork.
Right now, she was enjoying the latest adventures of Daring Do, Daring Do and the Medallion of Shadows to be precise. What? A Princess can appreciate a good story and knows one when she sees one. The reckless and unorthodox methods the pegasus utilizes are often ones of hilarity, getting in and out of stomach-churning situations that simply couldn’t be made up. She’d have to meet this adventurer some time, perhaps at her next book signing; wherever that was. She made a mental note to find out if Canterlot was one of the places Daring intended on visiting anytime soon.
“Princess Celestia!” A gruff voice called out from afar, a voice that would normally be inaudible yet was easily heard over the tranquility of the gardens.
Celestia sighed, bookmarking her space in the novel and closing it shut. She could never escape the interruptions, could she? The gracious alicorn craned her neck around to where the commotion was coming from. What she saw was a unicorn guard trotting up the path to her with impeccable speed, a look of stark determination in his eyes and a bit of worry too. The alicorn immediately deduced that he had good reasons to interfere with her “me” time.
“Princess Celestia!” The guard said again between gasps for breath. “There’s been an incident!”
A hint of sunlight bounced off Celestia’s headpiece, flashing the guard’s eyes as he squinted away. He took the subtle hint to continue with his address. “At the School for Gifted Unicorns, entrance exams were underway and there’s been a… accident of sorts. By what I know it’s still going on as we speak.”
The Princess raised a skeptical eyebrow. “What sort of accident? Is it nothing my guardsponies can manage?”
The guard shook his head and went to reply verbally, but an ear shattering crash echoed through the complex transpired to interrupt him. The two equines stared at each other in stock confusion before they craned their necks around to the source of the noise: the School for Gifted Unicorns.
Of which happened to be sporting a rather dismal new look. However, the gaping hole in the roof provided an excellent source for the dragon to stick its head out from. Arcane bolts of raw, unabridged magic streaked haphazardly out of the blown out windows of the building, threatening to do nothing short of chaos to whatever they touched. One of the bolts happened to strike the pond in front of them, turning it into vanilla pudding.
“I see your point,” Celestia grimaced. The guard awkwardly backed away, gave a salute, and trotted off in the direction of the school to assist in any way possible. Heaving a sigh, the Princess’s horn shone a bright turquoise that teleported her book away for a later read. Her horn continued to intensify until it was flaring like a light bulb, just enough to teleport herself. And in a flash she disappeared from the gardens and remerged right outside the door of the classroom sprouting so much bedlam.
Something hit her she hadn’t felt before in a thousand years: fear. It was too early for Nightmare Moon’s return, but had Discord escaped from his stone tomb? If so she was drastically unprepared to face the draconequus, but whoever was inside was currently at his mercy. And mercy wasn’t something Discord fondly gave.
Celestia went to kick down the classroom door when it got enveloped with an aura of purple magic, turning into yesterday’s newspaper. Another pang hit her heart when she realized that could have been her if she was a second early. The alicorn however followed through with her kick, sending issues of Equestria Daily everywhere. Straight out of the cloud of paper, another bolt of magic hissed by dangerously close to her neck, turning the wall behind into a giant mural dedicated to cheese. Celestia shuddered and trotted inside to make out the situation.
The room was an utter scene of chaos. Two out of place potted plants were off to the side, the teachers that had been judging the student’s performance were hanging near the ceiling, and the dragon awkwardly stood near the center of the room mindless to the spectacle. And at the epicenter of it all was a lavender filly. Celestia was hit with a mix of emotions; relief that it wasn’t the deity of chaos, concern over the filly who was completely enveloped with magic, and halfhearted joy as seeing the filly herself was the source of the unabated energy.
The unicorn was overwhelmed with the amount of magic flowing straight out of her horn. So much that along with the random magical arcs and the masterfully difficult art of self-levitation she seemed to have no apparent problem with, her eyes flooded a vivid pure white. This had to be the sign Celestia had been waiting for; the element that would signal all the others. And it was quite convenient that it had found her, albeit troublesome considering the… current circumstances.
Celestia took a step forward, fortunately missing the floor tile to the left that had just turned into a bear trap. The alicorn thought if it would be better to fly the short distance to the convulsing filly rather than walk. However that thought never crossed her mind again as another whirl of magic cracked overhead like a whip, turning the air it sliced and the eventual picture hanging on the wall into confetti. Things were seriously getting out of hoof, so Celestia teleported again, this time right behind the filly.
The amount of magic the lavender unicorn was producing was staggering, that much already obvious, but from such a close distance away it more profound and far beyond comprehension. Even though concerned, Celestia couldn’t help but be impressed by what she was seeing. Acting fast, she lifted a hoof and glanced at its underside. A small, black gem began to form at the base and Celestia gently pushed it down on the unicorn’s withers.
The uncontrolled energy the unicorn was exerting slowly began to funnel into the gem. The filly, still floating, glanced up at Celestia’s omnipotent smile. In a flash of light the unicorn’s magic ceased, canceling out everything she had inadvertently done. The teachers fell into a heap on the floor, the dragon returned to its infant state, the newspapers reverted back into the shape of a shattered door, and the potted plants changed into two very confused unicorns; probably the filly’s parents.
The student-to-be landed on her rump with a resonating thud. Her pupils returned to her eyes before they expanded wide in shock at what she had done. Celestia chuckled softly as she studied the gem she still held in her hoof, the one that was now pulsating a beautiful magenta color. She hid it away in her mane for later and her movement stole the attention of the unicorn on the ground. The youngling gasped when she realized the Princess was standing right beside her.
Celestia could only smile. “Twilight… Sparkle?” That was her name, right?
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” she was quick to apologize. Her eyes solemnly glanced away to the floor. “I didn’t mean…”
Celestia interrupted. There was no need for the filly to feel worse than she already did. “You have a very special gift,” the alicorn complimented. Twilight stopped trying to come up with an excuse and snapped her attention back to the Princess. Celestia continued, “I don’t think I’ve ever come across a unicorn with your raw abilities.”
“Huh?” Was all Twilight could say.
“But you need learn to tame these abilities through focused study,” she added.
“Huh?!” Twilight gasped again.
Celestia giggled a bit louder than intended. There was no way she could just let the element of magic pass straight through her hooves with an opportunity like this. “Twilight Sparkle, I’d like to make you my own personal protégé here at the school.”
“HUH?!” Twilight gawked, practically unhinging her jaw.
The Princess snickered. If she was in the filly’s position, she would probably react the same way. She brought her eyes down to level with Twilight’s. “Well?”
Celestia noticed off in the far corner the teachers were eagerly pushing her forward, thankful to take the burden of teaching the potential danger off their backs. In the opposite corner, the two unicorns (definitely Twilight’s parents) feverishly urged their daughter to accept.
“YES!!” Twilight squealed in joy, leaping into the air only to punctuate the enormous grin on her face.
“And that’s the day I got my cutie mark,” Twilight added.
Celestia tilted her head. “Twilight, who’s the one telling the story?” she teased gently, a warm smile plastered across her face. The aged mare in question sheepishly grinned and turned away from her mentor, tempted to bury her face into the deepest crevices of her pillow. If it was an indication, her cheeks turned a deep red that was easily presentable through the fading shade of her purple coat.
“Oops… I didn’t mean to interrupt,” she said before succumbing to another fit of coughs.
Celestia continued to smile as she brought up a hoof again, once more sweeping it through the mare’s mane. “There’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” she whispered softly, yet it sounded so loud the entire hospital could have heard it. Save the regular interruptions of the heart monitor’s beeps, the room was so quiet even their breathing made a prominent impact on their ears. “After all, this is your story. You probably know what happens next anyway,” the Princess added.
Twilight giggled and spun around in bed again. Her foggy pupils somehow making contact with the alicorn’s upon her first attempt. “Yeah, I think I do,” she whispered back. “After teaching me for so long, you cleverly sent me to Ponyville all those years ago to discover the magic of friendship. It was the greatest gift I ever received.”
Princess Celestia thought for a second. “While we’re slightly on the topic, do you know what your cutie mark symbolizes?”
Much to the alicorn’s amusement, Twilight questionably stared at her with glass eyes. “It means my special talent is magic?”
Celestia snickered. “Well, yes it does.” She rolled her eyes. “But it means something more.”
Twilight’s flabbergasted confusion was one of the most adorable faces the deity had ever seen. Fortunately for her, she’s seen it several times over the past decades. Celestia interpreted the bemused expression to continue. “You see Twilight; your cutie mark symbolizes the Elements of Harmony themselves. The five outer stars that surround the centralized one represent the other elements, while the larger one itself is the unity between them. The magic of friendship is that bind.”
As the seconds ticked by, her words resonated in Twilight’s mind as the mental gears assembled their meaning. Twilight slowly began to understand what they meant, and grinned so wide she should have split her face in two.
“I might be exceptional at magic, but that isn’t my special talent is it?” She said in the cheeriest tone. “It’s making friends.”
“I’m a little surprised you didn’t see this revelation sooner,” Celestia said with a nod. Even though the unicorn couldn’t see the motion she easily imagined her mentor doing so.
Twilight continued to smile. “And I got my cutie mark the day I made my best friend, didn’t I?”
Somehow, those words found their way into Celestia’s heart, set up camp and refused to leave. A small tear began to form in the corner of her eye as she tried to think of something to say. She’s had countless friends over the centuries she’s lived, yet Celestia always avoided calling some of her friends “the best.” Oh how the alicorn just hated choosing between ponies. And above all else she hated lying to them.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a tight squeeze around her neck. Celestia snapped her head in surprise and glanced downwards, and the sight only brought more tears to her eyes. Somehow, Twilight Sparkle found the strength to sit up and was currently holding the Princess in a hugging embrace. Slightly trembling, she returned the favor with a hoof over the withers and nuzzled her snout against her student’s. The seconds turned to minutes as the clock moved onwards, punctuated with every tick by the heart monitor whose constant beeps now seemed like a blessing.
Slowly but surely, Celestia lowered Twilight back down into bed, resting the unicorn’s head on the soft pillow.
“Yes,” Celestia said sweetly as two equines reluctantly parted. “Yes you did.”
Twilight turned in bed so she was once more facing the alicorn. “So, who did you find next?” she asked. Princess Celestia smiled, rubbing a hoof gently against the elderly unicorn’s forehead in a playful manner. The mare giggled slightly at the sensation, but her chuckling turned into coughing within seconds. Celestia immediately retracted her hoof, patiently waiting for the fit to die down before she answered.
Celestia twiddled her hooves against the floor. “More like they found me, again,” she mused. “Admittedly, I might have been a tad overexcited after finding you, so I aimlessly wandered the surrounding area in a chariot looking for the other elements.”
Twilight gave a delicate, understanding grin. “Is that why you weren’t around the first couple of days?”
The Princess nodded, but after a few guilty seconds she remembered her friend’s condition. “Yes,” she answered solemnly. “I was actually a little zealous to find the next element when things… unfortunate things happened.” A small gasp could be heard resonating from the pillow. An irregular beep from the heart monitor only emphasized this. Celestia gave a small snicker. “Or fortunate things, depending on how you view it.”
“What happened?” Twilight asked with a bit of worry in her tone.
Celestia whispered, “Truth be told, I found the element of Honesty.”
What was she doing? This was so unlike her; to go straight in without any leads, lacking any organized pattern, and with no strategic method whatsoever. Perhaps she was getting ahead of herself. Only a few days ago did she rediscover the element of Magic, and with it came the sign that the other elements were out there just waiting to be found.
Ironically, the sun was glaring in her eyes. Celestia buried her face in her hooves for makeshift shade. There was no technique to this at all and her mind had forever been straining to devise one. So far, chances of finding a pony suitable of possessing the next element were bleak. There were still some years before Nightmare Moon returned so there was time, albeit there wasn’t much.
“Your Highness,” One of the two pegasus guards pulling the chariot looked at her over his shoulder. “Is something wrong?”
“Hmm?” Celestia brought her gaze back up. “Oh, I’m just thinking. Thank you for your concern though, Sabre Wing.”
The soldier smiled, returning his eyes forward. “Not a problem. Just let us know if you need anything.”
The Princess sighed. She threw her front hooves over the side of the chariot and leaned against it, resting her head on her forelegs. Perhaps she should call off the search. Right now her efforts were rather meaningless; an irrational decision she partook based on her emotions rather than her mind. The only thing Celestia had accomplished was wasting time. At the moment she should be with her new student.
Without warning the chariot shook as if it was broadsided by a raging manticore. Caught off guard, the Princess was thrown off her hooves and into the side railing, almost flipping the craft with her momentum. Fortunately the two pegasi pulling at the reins were seasoned, having shuttled the alicorn and other important ponies across Equestria for years. They rightfully compensated direction for the change in weight distribution; however the chariot was now dangerously listing to the right.
“Whoa there!” gasped the other pegasus in surprise. “We’re encountering some heavy crosswinds!”
“Oh really, Silver Star? You think I don’t know that?” Sabre Wing sarcastically barked at his subordinate, struggling to keep the chariot aloft on his end. “We need to lower our altitude and get out of this turbulence!”
With silent coordination the two pegasi skillfully turned into the tilt, spiraling downwards to get low enough to be out of the wind shear. Princess Celestia, although more than capable of flying out of danger or using magic to teleport to safety, was compelled to let the guards do their job. Any minor tweak to the weight of the chariot could offset their concentration and spell disaster for the pegasi. Right now she was involuntary forced to go along with the ride. Although she still prepared a spell that would save them if necessary; hopefully she wouldn’t have to use it.
The chariot continued to circle towards the ground, faster and faster. The two guards pulling long ago gave up straining their wings and instead opted for gliding, doing their best to stabilize their precious cargo. Daring a peek over the side, Celestia noticed a forest canopy below, eerily getting closer with every passing second; her horn flared in response to the primordial fear for one’s life. The party, still metaphorically falling out of the sky, began twisting in the opposite direction to force the chariot to level out.
The two pegasi harshly beat their wings against the drafts. “I think we’re out of it!” Silver Star cried in short-lived joy.
Everypony’s eyes widened in shock. “Pull up, pull up!” Sabre Wing yelled as they descended into the treetops, heaving upwards with all his strength. The chariot rocked once more as the underside scrapped along the tip of a tall coniferous, sending Celestia careening into the other end of the cabin and buckling the pegasi. Still in their violent descent the two guards twisted hard on the reins, avoiding one tree only to accidently throw themselves into the path of another. Without hesitation Princess Celestia set off her teleportation spell, transporting the three of them out of harm’s way just before the immaculate, golden craft crashed headlong into the evergreen.
In a flash of light the three equines suddenly appeared on the forest floor very much alive. However, thanks Newtrot’s laws of motion, they were still going at speed. Simultaneously they splayed their wings to lose airspeed, but in the densely packed forest obstacles were many. Sabre Wing weaved between two trees and narrowly missed another, but a low lying branch smacked him across the face and sent him tumbling into the ground. Princess Celestia was slightly more fortunate and was able to slow down fast enough that by the time she hit a tree, it felt no worse than walking into a wall. Silver Star however was not as lucky as the other two. The pegasus pulled sharply to avoid smashing into the forbidding trunk of one tree but carelessly got too close to another, clipping a wing before cartwheeling into the earth.
Celestia was the first to come to her senses, shaking off the impact. She stumbled away from her clumsy landing a bit dazed but alright. A quick scan of the surrounding area showed her two guards were missing. Suddenly her back felt a lot heavier. “Silver Star! Sabre Wing!” She called out.
“Over here!” a voice called out from the shadows, bouncing off the wall of trees and giving no indication of where it came from.
“Princess!” came another disembodied yell. Celestia twirled on the tips of her hooves, ears on end. The woodlands fell quiet as she surveyed her environment. She was so alert her muscles were on the verge of tearing from the bone. She was so still she didn’t dare bat an eyelid. The forest was so noiseless she had to hold her breath to make sure nothing was missed.
snap
Celestia immediately kicked sharply at the ground like a coiled spring and lunged in the direction of the faint noise, moving into a full-blown gallop. She effortlessly weaved between columns of trees, leaped over rocks and ducked beneath branches as she closed the distance.
“Princess!” Sabre Wing exclaimed with a sigh of relief. Celestia skidded to a stop, kicking up dirt as she twisted around to see the guard limping out of the shadows of foliage. A large, bloodied gash ran down the length of his foreleg and left an unsettling trail behind him.
“Lieutenant!” Celestia practically cried when she saw his injuries. “You’re hurt!”
The pegasus looked down at his damaged shin. “Heh, don’t worry about me,” he joked, hobbling closer to the alicorn. “It’s just a flesh wound. I’m a bit banged up but I’ll live.” He studiously examined the cut with a smile before bringing his gaze up to the Princess. His grin immediately vanished. “Princess! Are you alright?”
Celestia was taken aback in confusion. “Of course I’m alright! Why wouldn’t I…?” She raised a brow at the concerned look she was receiving. Sabre Wing brought up his injured leg and motioned to his snout. The alicorn mimicked him, bringing up her own hoof and tapped the end of her muzzle. A small spike of pain ran down its length upon contact.
“Oh…” She gulped, examining the new crimson colored splotch on her hoof. She planted it back firmly on the ground and shrugged. “It’s just a bloodied nose. At worst it’s broken,” she reassured with a cautious grin. Sabre Wing opened his mouth as if he was about to speak, but a jarring yelp echoed through the forestry interrupted his thought process.
“Silver Star!” He screamed and galloped off in the cry’s direction as fast as three legs would take him. Celestia’s heart sank and she ran faster, overtaking the guard and appearing in a small clearing not ten seconds later. She stopped running, coming to a halt in front of the body. The alicorn’s legs buckled and she went breathless.
“Silver Star!” Sabre Wing cried again as he emerged alongside Celestia. His eyes snapped at the sight that so dismayed the Princess, but unlike her he was relieved.
“Bless Star Swirl’s beard! You’re alive!” Sabre Wing brushed past the frozen alicorn to his fallen companion. Silver Star groaned, weakly stirring in the dirt. His armor had been dented in several places and his wing shattered at the joint from the impact with the tree. Now the useless limb was drooping over his side like a blanket.
“Hehehe…” The guard wheezed on the ground, coughing up minute quantities of blood. His wing might be crippled, but with the aid of his fellow soldier, he was able to stand himself on all four legs.
“Ow. Er... I’m fine. Just a wing after all,” he shrugged, stretching his neck. Covered in grass stains, he shook his legs and began jogging in place, showing that he could still walk. Just to confirm this, he trotted in a slow circle around his friend while Sabre Star stood in the center stifling a laugh.
“It’s good to see you’re all together,” Sabre Wing sighed, playfully smacking the other pegasus on the helmet.
Silver Star shrugged. “It could have been a lot worse,” he turned his gaze to Celestia. “Your Highness! Thank you for…” he stopped short upon seeing the miniscule and insignificant amount of blood trickling from the alicorn’s nostrils. “Princess! You’re injured!”
Celestia was snapped out of her trance, absentmindedly sneezing and sending tiny droplets of blood everywhere. Her eyes widened in shock and took a step back, examining the guards, each now horrified that they had at least a little amount of the alicorn’s regal blood on them.
“Oh no, I am… fine,” she stammered as the pegasi frantically wiped the blood off their armor. Her eyes nervously glanced between the two as the bewildered guardponies brought their eyes back. The alicorn could'nt help but cringe at their injuries. The fact that she was at fault made her hang head in disgrace.
“Forgive me, my little ponies,” she exhaled heavily, feeling the pressure on her back intensify. “I’m so sorry. It’s my fault that you are injured.”
The two guards gawked at her. “Sorry?” Silver Star questioned, stomping a hoof in the ground for emphasis. “Princess, you saved our lives!”
The alicorn almost choked on the air she breathed. Princess Celestia brought her head back up to the two warm smiles she was receiving.
“Yeah!” Sabre Wing shouted in agreement, wincing as a sliver of pain ran up his leg. “If it wasn’t for you we would have fared a lot worse, not to mention yourself! If anypony we should be the ones to apologize for what happened with the chariot. We failed you; don’t take it out on yourself.”
Silver Star chuckled, glancing at the bent wing that wilted at his side. He clenched his teeth and fought back the pain. “Heck, I’ll take a broken wing any day if I can live for another,” he said in half cheerful tone. He looked back to the Princess. “Thank you, your Highness. You saved our lives.”
But… it’s because of her they’re hurt! True, things could have been worse, but they could have been so much better! She could have teleported them elsewhere; a large clearing, a river, anywhere but the densely packed forest! Regardless of what they say it’s her fault things turned out the way they did.
And oddly enough, they didn’t blame her.
She sighed. They were likely just saying that because of her position as ruler of Equestria. Nopony would even consider being impolite in the Princess’s presence. Embarrassed by the ‘praise’, she turned her head away. “Of course…” Celestia mumbled under her breath, turning back around to the pegasi with the falsest of smiles. “Very well, then. I’m thankful your injuries are not too severe.”
Sabre Wing beamed. “I’m thankful yours aren’t either. Come on, I think I saw a settlement to the north.” And with that he slowly led the way through the thicket of foliage, Princess Celestia and Silver Star following close behind.
Not twenty minutes later, the three equines emerged at the forest edge. Sabre Wing’s wound had stopped bleeding, but it still hurt to put his entire weight on. The Princess was unsure if her nose was truly broken, but the bleeding stopped so that was good enough. Silver Star frowned with everything his broken wing brushed up against, but Celestia was more than eager to clear as much foliage out of his path as possible.
“Where are we?” Sabre Wing asked to nopony in particular as he emerged out of the woodland thicket. Celestia used her own wing to raise a low hanging branch for Silver Star to slide under and the two of them appeared alongside him.
By the looks of things, it wasn’t a longshot to say they plainly walked out of one forest and into another. Except with the unpredictable terrain of the jungle they came out of, this one was much cleaner and organized. Rows upon columns of trees stretched on before them, covering a significant amount of acreage. They happened to have just appeared on its outer edge, the crest of a hill nonetheless, where a wide and well-used dirt path went in either direction, presumably along the whole perimeter.
“Looks like an orchard,” Silver Star deadpanned. “An apple orchard at that,” he said looking up to one of the trees, tempting and pristine red orbs dangling from its branches. The orchard had a soothing quality about it, something that seemed like it didn’t quite belong here but she warmly accepted that it was. The air was crisp and lively, quite unlike the shady forest behind where its atmosphere was pressuring down on Celestia. And now, the burden was uplifted. Sunlight penetrated through the gap between orchard and jungle, basking her and her guards in its embracing rays.
Celestia pondered for a moment. “There’s only one apple orchard in the Canterlot area, so we must be in Ponyville," the Princess thought back. It was a little over fifty years ago when she first gave a family of pilgrims some land to settle in. Right about then, the apple industry took off and a small town formed alongside the farm. If she remembered correctly from the censuses, the town hasn’t grown much. Over the course of fifty years it grew from a just a few families to roughly four thousand ponies.
However if this was Sweet Apple Acres, which the Princess was positive of, the farm itself had grown exponentially since the pilgrims planted their first apple trees. The produce market is always a strong one, so it only makes sense that they expanded but she was a little surprised just how much it had. She hadn’t given the family that much land, so business must be good for them to now own several dozen acres.
Sabre Star spoke up, “Which way do you want go?” He motioned down one end of the dirt path.
His voice brought Celestia back to the present. The two guards were busy scrutinizing the two possible directions, deciding which way would bring them to civilization the fastest.
“Well, can’t the Princess just teleport us back to Canterlot?” Silver Star asked. The two pegasi dumbly looked at each other before bringing their heads towards Celestia.
She shook her head. “Forgive me, but Canterlot is roughly forty miles away. Even with my magical abilities, such a distance would be a strain on my mental capacity, especially if I were to transport the three of us. I might not have enough stamina to raise the moon tonight.” She glanced into the comforting shade of the apple orchard. “I would send a letter alerting the Guard of our conundrum, but I don’t have anything to write with or on. There are some miracles magic simply can’t do,” Celestia sighed, rubbing some dried blood off her sore muzzle.
Sabre Star frowned, inspecting his own wound. He knew that if the Princess could heal their injuries she would have done so already. “Drat. Well, I could fly and scout…”
“I tell ya Macky, reckon we’ll finish this here season in record time!”
“Eeyup!”
Celestia’s ears flicked at the sound of two new voices. The guards heard them too and the three craned their necks down the trail, where the steady groan of the wheels on a cart could be heard. Gradually, a pyramid of buckets filled to the brim with apples appeared on the horizon as the creaking of wood got closer and closer. As the wagon and its cargo made its way up the hill and towards the peak the ponies at the reins came into view. Much to the surprise of everypony, there were two kids hauling the massive load of apples; a red colt and an orange filly.
Sabre Wing and Silver Star, even in their obviously wounded states, quickly took up positions on either side of the Princess as customary in the presence of commoners, taking on the blank yet strong glares expected of the Guard.
Slowly the two younglings got closer to them, oblivious to their presence and deeply wrapped in conversation.
The orange one kept talking, “Hmm… shucks, I can’t remember the last time we worked this fast. And Granny Smith said we could do it too!” She said with a grin on her face. Her peach blonde mane, even though tied at the end, was getting in her eyes but with a whip-like snap of the neck later it was thrown out of the way.
“Eeyup,” plainly agreed the red colt, a grin over his face as well. His orange mane was cut short so unlike his friend it never could get in his way.
“Reckon’d we work hard enough we’d finish lickety split, and just look at…” the farmfilly’s eyes wandered in front of her, widening in disbelief as the ruler of Equestria stood before her. The red colt addressed as Macky followed her gaze to the white alicorn, himself sporting an expression not too dissimilar. They quickly tried to bow from within the restraints of the reins, more or less successful.
The kids brought their heads back up to Celestia, where she simply smiled at them. Her guards stood firm, looking the best they could with their injuries.
“Uh… why… Princess… here… ya…” Words stumbled out of the filly’s mouth as she tried to form a coherent sentence. The colt just simply gaped. “Uhm… howdy there… uh, yer Highness!” The filly finally strung a few words together. “Um… why are ya’ll in Sweet Apple Acres? Can I help ya with anythin’?”
“Yes…” out of the corner of her eyes, Celestia saw her lieutenant’s injured leg reflex, making her flinch herself. She looked back to the two kids who were visibly awestruck at her presence. “We had a… ‘mishap’ earlier and we appear to be a bit lost. My guards are also injured. Do you know the way to town, more specifically the mayor’s office?”
“Why, I’d be downright ashamed if we didn’t assist the Princess!” The farmfilly beamed. “My brother Macky here can take ya’ll to town if that’s what yer needin’!”
“Eeyup!” Macky said in eager contentment. He undid his harness but curiously kept the yoke around his neck. The colt cautiously trotted forward, largely sidestepping around the guards and behind them, waiting to fulfill his role as lead. Smiling, the orange filly grunted as she got back to work, pulling the cart along the ground slower than before.
“Mighty fine meetin’ ya, Princess! Truth be told, I never woulda expected ya to come visit!” She exclaimed towards the party before pouring all her concentration into the cart.
Something ticked in Celestia’s mind. Behind her Macky hesitantly waited for the Princess to turn around and follow, as were her guards as they stayed at her side.
Celestia turned to the two pegasi. “Silver Star, Sabre Wing?”
“Your Highness,” they answered in unison.
She contemplated her thoughts, making sure whether or not her hunch was justifiable. Actually, this was her first encounter with another pony since Twilight, so she might as well investigate. “Follow Macky into town. After you send a message to Canterlot about what happened, I want you two to go admit yourselves to the local hospital. That’s an order.”
Her guards uncomfortably fidgeted. “Your Highness? What about yourself, your injuries?” Sabre Star asked worryingly.
“I’ll be fine. I’m just going to do… some more exploring. I’ll be sure to meet up at town hall in an hour.”
The pegasi looked at her like she was mad, especially after how their previous trek went, but they had just received a direct order from the Princess herself. They had no choice but to follow through. Grumbling, the guards turned around and followed Macky down the road, the colt smiling the whole way as he happily hopped towards town. Celestia watched idly as they wandered away.
“Um… Princess? Not to intrude and stuff, but why ya’ll still here?”
Celestia brought her gaze back to the attention of the filly. The little workpony continued to pull the mighty load of apples all on her lonesome, stopping to catch her breath when she reached the crest of the hill. Droplets of sweat reflected light reflected off her coat, almost illuminating her in an aura.
“Well, I couldn’t just let you pull that heavy cart all by yourself,” Celestia said with a smile. Her horn shined a soft turquoise and a similar aura enveloped the wagon, pushing it along the ground at a much steadier pace.
The orange earth pony quickly snapped forward in her reins so she didn’t get run over. “Why, thank ya kindly, but I don’t need any help.” She smiled and trudged onwards. “After all, Granny Smith says that an honest day’s work is the best kinda work.”
Perhaps Celestia was on to something. Even with her in complete control of the cart the orange farmfilly continued to push herself. The Princess snickered at the determination yet still held the cart in her aura, trotting alongside it.
“But Miss…” she stopped herself. The filly’s eyes snapped in sudden realization.
“Consarnit! I never told ya my name, did I?” The filly hissed at herself. “My name’s Applejack, Princess. This here farm’s Sweet Apple Acres and this is our orchard.” Applejack swung a hoof out to present the immense numbers of apple trees. “Me and my brother Macky manage the trees here year ‘round.”
Celestia was a little surprised by this. Albeit she didn’t expect a large workforce, two children handling an entire farm was baffling. However they didn’t seem to have any apparent problem with it. “You and your brother run the farm all by yourselves?” she questioned.
The filly beamed. “Well, the orchard anyways,” she corrected. “Granny Smith is too old to help us, Ma sells at the marketplace and Pa tends to the other crops. My parents are usually around but they’re in town today talking to the mayor about business stuff.”
The Princess glanced at the towering load in the cart she still held with her magic. Either the filly accepted her aid or simply didn’t notice it. “Are you sure you don’t need my help?”
“Well, if ya want to I suppose ya can.” Applejack shrugged. “No way can I stop the Princess from lendin’ a hoof. But I’m tryin’ to get better at this so when we expand I won’t be so reliant on Macky or Pa all the time.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Expand? You already have several dozen acres of apple trees by what I can tell. Why would you need any more?”
“Well, it’s all about supply and demand,” she said naturally, pulling harder on the reins. “Ma says the apple market’s blooming and we need to swing accordingly. Hehehe… ‘apple market’, ‘blooming’…”
She smiled at the filly’s pun. More so, she was completely pleased by Applejack’s comfort around her. Ordinarily when in public, especially in crowds, ponies went out of their way to gratify the Princess even if it was something trivial, making so much as going into a store to buy something a very big event. But here she was being treated like anypony else, casually having a conversation without the hassle of public admiration.
“Yeah, like I was sayin’ we hope to expand soon. Preferably after this season. The farm will need me more than ever when we do.” Applejack frowned. “Heh, a few days ago actually, I left the farm life behind for the big city, if ya can believe it.”
Celestia curiously furrowed her brow in confusion. The determination the filly was putting into her work was evidence enough she loved the farm life, or how Applejack put it, her ‘honest work.’ Celestia looked at the tower of apples and smiled, releasing her magical influence on the cart. The farmfilly’s eyes widened in shock at the sudden weight added, but she giggled and kept pressing forward.
“You don’t look like a pony who would live in a city,” Celestia mused. For somepony as dedicated to the farm as Applejack was it must have been a life changing event; this she’d have to hear.
Applejack laughed. “Yeah, it took me a whole day to figure that out. Leavin’ the farm was the worst decision of my life. I was so plum tuckered that after a day in Manehattan I wasted no time runnin’ back home. Oh! And that’s also the day I got my cutie mark!”
Celestia caught a glimpse of her cutie mark: three red apples. It would seem appropriate for somepony like Applejack.
“Yeah… it represents that I’m destined to be an apple farmer. Hey, ‘apple’ is in my family’s name after all!” Applejack smiled and then frowned, thinking hard about something. The steady pace she had been pulling the cart with slowed down as the filly continued to ponder. “However, Ma says it means something deeper, but I don’t quite understand what she means by it.”
Slowing down herself to match the cart’s speed, Celestia tilted her head. “How so?”
“Well…” Applejack held her tongue, trying to recollect her memories. “I have three apples for a cutie mark, and Ma says three is the number of trust, meaning I’m a reliable, hardworkin’ pony and such. And I guess she’s right. I don’t like lying after all but I don’t think it can be somethin’ fancy like that.”
Princess Celestia smiled. “You know Miss Applejack; a cutie mark can mean more than one thing.”
The cart stopped, sending an apple tumbling out of one basket only to get caught in another beneath. The orange filly scratched a hoof against her chin. “I guess so. I can’t really see why one can’t.”
Applejack undid herself from the cart and unlike her brother she opted to leave the yoke connected. The filly wandered around to the rear of the wagon and jumped up on it, fumbling about in the portion not occupied by produce. Celestia followed, watching curiously as the farmer skillfully toppled several empty buckets off where they clattered onto the ground. Leaping back down, Applejack landed beside the containers and in a fluent motion she twisted on her front legs; rear ones coiled like a spring. In three quick motions she accurately kicked at three separate targets, sending the wooden buckets sailing off towards the nearest apple tree where they landed around its base.
“Hey Princess!” Applejack shouted, looking up the alicorn as she trotted over to the tree. Sunlight failed to penetrate the canopy of the orchard, shrouding the tree the filly was now standing under in darkness. “I really appreciate yer company and all. Not every day the Princess comes to talk with ya, and it can get pretty lonely. Wanna watch me applebuck?”
Still illuminated by light from her position however, Celestia simply smiled. The warm rays of the sun only emphasized her comforting presence. “Sure,” she said calmly.
Applejack beamed and trotted closer to the tree. Her brow furrowed and she stuck her tongue out, trying to spot the best way to attack the hardened bark. Finding the appropriate angle, the filly reeled around on her front legs, charging her hind legs for a brutal strike. In three sequential motions she kicked out, planting her back hooves in the same spot on the trunk each time. With every powerful kick the tree vibrated brutally, shaking its branches so its red treasures popped off and harmlessly fell into the awaiting containers below.
Much to her pride, not a single apple missed the buckets. And by the looks of things the tree was now completely absent of apples too.
“Impressive,” Celestia applauded. It wasn’t the best work she’s seen but for a farmfilly her age it was an extraordinary feat.
“Thank ya kindly, Princess. Coming from ya that means a lot. If I get really good, I bet I’d be able to do it in one kick.” Applejack smiled. “Here, want an apple? Freshly bucked!”
The orange filly picked up an apple in her hooves and tossed it over to Celestia. She caught it midway with her magic and levitated the shiny orb closer to her snout. “Thank you, Miss Applejack,” she said calmly. As the fruit passed out of the shade and into the light, its glossy texture became more defined and all the more tempting. Still holding onto her prestige, Celestia took a bite out of the apple.
The first thing she noticed was pain. A sudden shock of it shot down her muzzle as her jaws clamped down. However the pain was absolutely worth it as the apple juices flooded her mouth, igniting her taste buds into a pomaceous-fueled craze.
Celestia was shocked by what he just tasted. Applejack beamed with excitement at her reaction. Not even bothering to swallow the alicorn gluttonously took another bite, fighting back the pain in her snout as she relished in the fruit’s flavor.
“Mmm…” she hummed, finally moving the bits of fruit into her gullet. “This is divine! I don’t think any of the apples in Canterlot taste half this good!”
Applejack’s adorable grin should have split her face in half. “Ya for real?!” she said, hopping up and down in place. “That’s the honest truth?!”
Celestia nodded her head, taking another bite out of the apple. Let the sun be damned, this was delicious! “How do you grow them like this?” She asked, swallowing another bit of pure delight.
“Why, it’s all about the land!” Applejack said, balancing one of the buckets on her back as she went to load it into the wagon. “Granny Smith always says to give to the land and the land will give back. So we tend to our trees with as much respect as anypony deserves. That combined with the good ‘ol earth pony way of applebucking—no fancy machines and the like—and ya get the best apples this side of Equestria.”
Finishing her apple to the core, the thought crossed the alicorn’s mind if she should eat that too. However she wasn’t that ambitious, so the thought passed without a second mind.
“So anypony could just copy your methods and produce an apple like this?” Celestia mused, twirling the core around in the air.
Applejack snorted as she loaded the bucket into the cart. “Well I guess so, but not just anypony can. Ya gotta love what ya do, be honest about it and take pride in yer work. That’s why I hate lyin’.” The filly shot a sorrowful glance into the thicket of the orchard. “If I were to lie I would just be hurtin’ myself, but I’d hurt the apples too. And yer work reflects how ya live, so I’d be hurtin’ myself double if I lied.”
The regal alicorn couldn’t help but think over the farmfilly’s philosophy. It was so simple and down to earth, yet elegant and sophisticated all the same. In truth, she could relate those words to her position as Princess in countless areas. Yes… in ‘truth’…
“Excuse me, Miss Applejack?”
The orange filly was now balancing a second bucket of apples, ready to make the trek out of the shadows and back to the wagon. “Yes?”
“Could you come here for a second? I want to see something,” Celestia mused. She brought up a hoof and glanced at its underside, right where a black gemstone was slowly materializing. Even with the heavy load on her back, Applejack wasted no time trotting over to her.
“Erm, what’s that?” The farmfilly noticed the black gem in her hoof and pointed to it. Celestia simply brought it up so the filly could clearly see it.
“This is a soul gem,” she answered justly. “They let me find out which ponies are the strongest when it comes to certain things.”
Applejack had wandered over the wagon and heaved the second bucket of apples among the others. “What kinda things?” She asked quizzically, now putting all her attention onto the Princess.
Celestia approached her and smiled. “In this case, honesty.” The gem latched onto her hoof like glue as she brought it downwards and onto the farmfilly’s snout. Much to her delight, the gem slowly began to turn a bright orange color.
“Heehee! That tickles!” Applejack snorted, trying her best not to break away from whatever it was the Princess was doing. In less than ten seconds the whole ordeal was over, and when the alicorn took her hoof off her Applejack reeled over into the dirt, giggling ecstatically.
Shifting her attention from the laughing filly to the gem in her hoof, Celestia could only smile as it shone a vivid orange. She keenly stored it away in her mane for safe keeping.
“Whoo! What was that?” Applejack asked nonchalantly as she regained her composure. Princess Celestia turned back to see that the earth pony was back on her hooves, brushing dust off her coat. “That was real funny feelin’. Can we do it again?”
Suddenly the farmfilly’s eyes widened as she hit a realization. “Oh! Look at me talkin’ to the Princess like she isn’t the Princess! I musta been doing that this whole darned time.” Her mood swiftly changed from her previous comfortable tone into one of self-pity. She looked up to Celestia with large, glass eyes that tugged at her heart.
“Ya aren’t mad at me for bein’ so disrespectful, are ya Princess?” she asked solemnly. “I didn’t mean anythin’ by it.”
Much to the filly’s surprise, Celestia snickered. “Oh no, not in the slightest,” she said with a grin. “In fact, I actually like it. It’s nice for a Princess to be treated like a common pony every once in a while.”
Applejack heaved a mighty sigh of relief. “Heh, I guess work can get the best of everypony sometimes,” She said, drifting off to stare into the mass of apple trees. “But I love my work.”
Celestia smiled and lifted the remaining container out of the shade with her magic, floating it over the cart to set it among the others. “And I love mine,” she chuckled. “Even with its downsides I still love my job.”
“And you should have seen her face when I said I wanted to place an order of apples,” Celestia snickered. “It was truly an adorable sight.”
The aged unicorn smiled. “I can only imagine,” she said without the faintest hint of pain in her words. Celestia felt her heart jerk at the possible insult she accidently made, but Twilight didn’t appear to be offended by it.
“Yes…” she cleared her throat. “Ever since then, the only apples I’ve allowed in the castle kitchens come directly from Sweet Apple Acres.”
Perfectly timed, right as Princess Celestia finished her tale there was a knock at the door. The hospital room fell silent again save the regular beeps of the heart monitor. She glanced between the wooden portal and Twilight who, still smiling over the story, gave a little nod.
“It’s alright,” her student said before coughing again. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Celestia frowned at the thought of leaving the bedside even if only for a second. Twilight however continued to give her the most encouraging of smiles she could manage. Sighing in defeat, the Princess stood up.
“I’ll be gone for just a minute,” she cooed. The aged mare’s ears flicked in acknowledgment and Celestia found herself slowly trotting up to the door, careful not to make a sound with every step she took. Her horn softly flushed a smooth turquoise, twisting the handle and opening the door just enough for her to silently slip through. The door softly shut behind her with a heavy click as the alicorn found her being in the hospital’s hallway, flanked on either side by two unicorn guards.
The hall was dimly lit. What little daylight that seeped in through the window at the far end did little to illuminate the passageway. She looked down at a doctor who nervously stood before her, a clipboard hanging from his mouth. Celestia dismissed the two guards to give the two of them some privacy and with a salute, they quietly shuffled out of the hallway. The alicorn brought her gaze back to the earth pony.
“Ahem,” the stallion cleared his throat. “Princess Celestia,” he spoke without fault through the clipboard held tight between his teeth.
“Yes?”
The doctor continued, “About Twilight Sparkle’s condition… we have, um… got the first of the x-rays developed and…” He hesitantly opened his jaw as Celestia’s magical aura enveloped clipboard, levitating the document close to her face. Her head snapped backwards, eyes widening in shock.
He timidly attempted to stand still. “As you can probably see, the tumor is nestled inside the marrow of the horn, where the base connects to the rest of the skull,” the doctor said. Celestia’s pupils narrowed, focusing on every bit the piece of paper would tell her. She read the entire analysis in twenty seconds. Then she reread it to make sure she hadn’t missed anything. Then she double checked to make sure hadn’t misread what she didn’t miss.
The doctor gulped. More than anything he always hated this part of his job, and having to address the Princess of all ponies wasn’t making things any easier. He did his best to maintain eye contact, but it’s rather difficult when the receiving party is feverishly occupied elsewhere. But right now he was more than willing to let the formalities pass.
“Um, Princess,” he tried to interject yet the alicorn ignored him, eyes glued to the clipboard. He continued anyway, “Although it has dug into the skull, we do believe the tumor itself is not in contact with the gray matter of the brain.”
Celestia’s eyes shot up to stare at him, making him flinch. A bit of hope gleamed in her eyes. “Is… t-tell me there’s something you can do,” she weakly asked, almost begging.
The stallion was about to hang his head but forced himself not to back away. “There are a few things…” he began. Princess Celestia continued to stare, fighting back the impulse to whimper like a foal.
“We can attempt to remove the tumor, however there are repercussions…”
She watched his mouth move, halfheartedly urging him to carry on.
“If we are to be successful, we’ll have no choice but remove the horn entirely. She’ll lose the ability to use magic for the rest of her life. However that’s the best case scenario; several things can go wrong…”
Celestia’s eye twitched.
The doctor took in a deep breath of air. “For starters, there’s the slim possibility that the tumor is already in contact with the gray matter. If we were to remove the tumor under such circumstances, parts of the frontal lobe might come with it, potentially resulting in death or at the very least mental incapacitation and likely paralysis of some kind. We won’t know for sure until we… try it.”
The alicorn’s own horn pulsated, dropping the clipboard a few inches before she caught it again with her magic.
He hesitated to continue but pushed onwards. “Secondly, horn-removal surgery is a dangerous procedure in of itself. Because unicorns are so active with their magic, simply removing the horn can result in paralysis; regardless if there’s a tumor or not. And the more adept the unicorn is with their magical abilities, the higher the odds for something to go wrong. And being an Element of Harmony and all…”
She was just about ready to give up. The clipboard clattered to the ground and she fell backwards on her haunches, causing the doctor to raise a hoof over his eyes in reflex. The Princess landed on her rump with a dull thud, blankly staring at the opposite wall.
The stallion held his breath. “Miss Sparkle has no immediate family,” he reluctantly sustained with the most basic, jarring, and important of speeches. “And because the two of you are technically family, after her brother died you became her legal guardian. With her current state and all, the decision of whether or not to follow through with the surgery is… yours.”
The alicorn pressed her front hooves into the floor, trying to steady her being but opted for simply leaning against the wall. Her lips quivered, her legs shivered, yet the Princess refused to cry. She couldn’t just make a decision like this! One that could easily kill her friend! Her… best friend…
Celestia brought her grief-stricken eyes back to the ones of the doctor. “And… if we don’t go with the surgery?”
He bit his lip. “Erm… I can guarantee that Miss Sparkle will have another four months, but we won’t know for sure until the blood results get back. Some medications and therapies might add a few weeks, but if her condition worsens in the meantime… there’s no telling when.”
The alicorn returned her gaze to the floor.
“However!” The doctor said in a cheerful tone, quickly regaining Celestia’s attention. “If we do go through with the surgery and it’s a success, I can guarantee that Miss Sparkle will live much longer! A unicorn at her age, especially one as strong as she is, should have another happy ten years of life on her.”
Somehow, after absorbing all these grim facts, she brought herself to smile. Celestia stood back up on firm hooves, straight as the trunk of a tree and just as solid. She took a moment for some very gluttonous breaths of air, regained her composure, and looked back to the stallion.
“Thank you for this information doctor…”
“Stables, Miss. Dr. Stables,” he said with a small grin of his own.
Celestia was amused he didn’t address her as ‘Princess.’ It’s been a long while since somepony she didn’t know formally had done that. “Thank you, Dr. Stables,” she repeated. Her horn once more illuminated the clipboard on the ground and she motioned it to him to take back.
He grabbed the document in his teeth with a half-assured grin. “There are some things magic simply can’t do,” he joked. “Miracles are one of them.”
Princess Celestia smiled a bit wider. “Believe me, I know.” She turned her attention back to the simple door that separated herself from Twilight. It couldn’t be more than a few meters, yet it felt like a mile away and a distance of only a few inches at the same time. She couldn’t explain this feeling otherwise; to be so close yet so separated.
Celestia made up her mind. “I think I’ll let Twilight choose if she wants to have the surgery,” she said plainly to the doctor. After all, this wasn’t her life. She shouldn’t have a say in how it ends.
The stallion tilted his head in concern. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? Don’t you think it might be a little… much for her to handle?”
Her smile grew ever so slightly. “She’d find out one way or another and besides; Twilight is a strong pony. I would only hurt her more if I lie.”
Dr. Stables gave a warm grin himself through the object he clenched in his teeth. “Even so, it’s probably best she doesn’t try to do any magic for the time being. The strain could do something unexpected.”
“Probably…” Celestia mused. An awkward silence filled the hall as the two equines’ minds wandered.
“Very well then,” Dr. Stables said with a nod, thereby bringing an end to the conversation. “I do believe I have used up enough of your time. Have a good day Princess Celestia, and on my behalf please tell Twilight Sparkle the entire hospital wishes her the best of luck.”
Celestia nodded and watched as the stallion left, rounding the corner at the end of the hall. As the doctor slipped out of sight the two guardponies from before exposed their heads around the bend; awaiting permission to return to their posts. Celestia only smiled at them as she wordlessly slipped back through the door, gently closing it behind with a soft click. The two guards took the hint and quietly trotted over to the doorway, once more flanking either side with blank stares expressed firmly across their faces.
