An Explanation to Celestia
I had returned to my castle expecting to continue that long overdue dinner I had been planning with Princess Celestia. But, thanks to the actions of that Trixie and my student, Starlight Glimmer, I had been out for such a long time that I knew that my dinner was already ruined before it would even began. When I returned, I discovered much to my horror that Celestia was already gone and only Derpy Hooves, Dj-Pon3 and Cranky Doodle Donkey remained.
"Where is Princess Celestia?" I asked worriedly as Starlight and I walked back into the dining room. "She didn't leave, did she?"
"Apparently so," grunted Cranky Doodle Donkey, who was grumpy at the fact that he had not been served any dinner all night. "I'm still hungry and my nose is still hairy! Not to mention that she never answered my question that I asked her."
"What was the question?" asked Starlight.
"That Princess Celestia sure knows how to keep her fair flowing and I just wanted to know how she did it," replied Cranky as he was getting up and leaving the dining room. "Guess now wasn't the time to do such a thing. Oh well, might as well get back before Matilda starts to worry."
I could tell that Cranky was disappointed that he was a part of this charade to begin with. He was an old donkey that supposedly had better things to do with his evening than to just come here and waste time waiting for a dinner that was not going to happen. Just as he started to leave however, he had something else of importance that he needed to say.
"Before I forget, Princess," he said, turning back towards me and Starlight as he started to walk out. "Princess Celestia told us to tell you that she wants an explanation for all this tomfoolery that you put us through. If I were you, I'd go at once before it is too late. Good night."
For a moment, my body just froze with fear. Everything that had possibly gone wrong had indeed gone wrong and now, Celestia was probably furious at me for misleading her with this important dinner.
"Should I go with you to Canterlot?" asked Starlight turning over towards me. "I mean, that I am partly to blame for what happened tonight?"
I knew that Starlight was partly to blame. Thanks to that Trixie, she had stood up the most powerful pony in Equestria and now, there was going to be consequences that needed to be faced.
But, at the same time, I was also to blame for what happened not just tonight, but also leading up to tonight. As I said to Spike after the Crystalling of my niece, Flurry Heart, I had a lot to learn about being a teacher. Perhaps maybe Celestia would just remind me of that and that would be the end of it.
"If you want to," I replied, my body being filled with anxiety over what was going to happen in Canterlot. "I suppose that Celestia may want to hear your side of the story as well. Might as well face the music."
So, with DJ-Pon3 and Derpy still sitting at the table, Starlight and I took to the air and headed over to Canterlot through the clear night sky thanks to Princess Luna. It was only a short journey, but it felt like the longest journey of my young life. I couldn't help but wonder of the consequences that I would have to face up to in the presence of the most powerful pony in Equestria.
Could she maybe strip me of my title of Princess and send me back to magic kindergarten? Even worse, could she take my wings away? Could she maybe release some kind of spell that takes away all the memories of my time as her student?
These were all the questions going through my mind as we landed in Canterlot. But, it turns out there was another pony that was also waiting for Celestia as well or so I thought.
"Trixie, what are you doing here?" I asked, walking up to her. "Celestia didn't call you."
"Well, I feel a sense of responsibility for what happened, Princess Twilight," she replied, taking off her hat in respect of me. "I ruined your dinner by letting my ego get the best of me."
I wanted to say at that moment that Trixie needed to leave, but Starlight intervened and placed a hoof on my shoulder.
"Let her stay," suggested Starlight. "She is just as guilty over what happened as I am, Twilight. I ruined your night by not showing up."
"Don't say that, Starlight," I cried. "You were just trying to be friends with Trixie, that's all and I got in the way of you doing that. I'm more to blame than both of you."
Just then, a guard opened the door and motioned for me to enter and follow him up to Celestia's private quarters. As we all followed the guard, I couldn't help but think of how Celestia was going to react to this impending meeting. She was probably angry over everything that had happened and maybe if I just told her the truth, maybe she will understand a little bit and let me off lightly.
Finally, after a walk that felt like an eternity, we walked up to Celestia's private quarters and the guard knocked on the door.
"I have Princess Twilight to see you as you requested, your highness," he said.
"Let her come in," replied Celestia on the other side and the door opened as I walked in. Starlight and Trixie tried to follow, but I saw the guard stop them from following me by crossing his spear in front of them.
Both of them just stood there in silence as I walked into Celestia's private quarters, her fireplace roaring as I saw her look into the hellish flames that I thought matched her anger and frustration over tonight. Part of me wanted to just teleport out of here and return to the safety of my castle, but Celestia wanted an explanation and she would not tolerate being kept in suspense any longer.
"Twilight, we need to talk," she said, still looking at the fireplace. "I am very disappointed in you for allowing everything to happen as they did. I want to know right now why such a night was ruined and you are not leaving until you tell me why."
The sound of Celestia's ice cold stern voice made my spine shiver and my wings pop open. I had seen Celestia angry before and it was very scary to see her look this way.
"Look, Princess Celestia," I said, walking up to the fireplace, trying to least give a decent explanation for what had happened. "I'm really sorry about tonight, but Starlight Glimmer stood us up because of Trixie."
"What about Trixie?" questioned Celestia, still looking at the fireplace. "Was Starlight doing something with her that was going to have an impact on tonight?"
"Well, Starlight chose to abandon the dinner to help Trixie with a magic trick," I explained. "Of course, I never trusted nor forgave Trixie for all she had done to me and my friends. But, I failed to understand that they wanted…"
"To become friends," finished Celestia, turning away from the fireplace towards me. I closed my eyes and braced myself for whatever punishment that she was going to give me. "Is there something that you want to tell me about Starlight Glimmer and Trixie being friends?"
All of a sudden, this conversation was not about the dinner at all and rather about the friendship between Starlight and Trixie that I had tried to break up.
"Look, Princess Celestia," I said, stuttering nervously. "I can explain about their relationship. You see, Trixie cannot be trusted, no matter what she does to try and make up for what she does."
"Perhaps maybe you are just prejudiced against Trixie because of the past," replied Celestia, her anger becoming more subtle as she spoke. "However, you must understand that I let you have the right to make your friends when I first sent you to Ponyville, Twilight. From what I understand based on your actions alone, you tried to pick and choose friends for Starlight."
Now, this was quite a surprise to me, this conversation was now becoming less and less about the dinner and more about my actions as a teacher. Of course, I was always afraid of the fact that Celestia might do something that would result in this conversation to go in a different direction. In
"And worst of all, Twilight," continued Celestia, getting up and advancing towards me. "You put a dinner that wasted my time ahead of something your student was trying to do: make her first friend. You have got to understand Twilight that Starlight has the authority to make her own decisions and you must learn to respect that."
"But, the dinner…" I started to say, only for Celestia to immediately interrupt me.
"Is not that important right now," she interrupted. "What is important is letting Starlight make her own decisions on who she wants to be friends with. You cannot judge a pony based on their actions with you, Twilight. I know from your letters as my student, that Trixie can be boastful and have an ego, but you must understand that you cannot judge a book by its cover."
Celestia was right, I needed to remember that lesson very carefully. In fact, it made me think way back to when we first met Zecora. My friendship lesson then was about judging a book by its cover and that there is much more to the pony in question than meets the eye.
"So, therefore," said Celestia, calming down slightly, but still had firmness in her voice. "I am going to let you off with just a warning, Twilight. However, if you let something like this happen again, there will indeed be consequences. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Princess, I understand," I replied and after we hugged each other briefly, I made my way out of Celestia's quarters and once again I met with Starlight and Trixie, relieved that I managed to avoid getting severely punished for putting a dinner ahead of a possible friendship between two ponies.
"Well, how did it go, Twilight?" asked Starlight, worriedly. "I heard Celestia be angry and…"
"She understands your relationship that you have for each other," I interrupted as we all left. "And that she wants me to understand of the fact that I cannot pick and choose your friends for you, Starlight. You have to make those decisions yourself and there is no better time to start than now."
So, we all left for my castle, relieved at the fact that Celestia only let me off with just a warning. But, again, I still had a lot to learn about being a teacher and who knew what challenges laid ahead for me.