> Dear Princess Celestia > by An Intricate Disguise > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > It's Like Writing to Santa if Santa was the Queen > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Princess Celestia, Hi! I'm Anon. I'm seven and I love drawing and I think that you're a really cool princess! I drew a picture of you! I'm gonna send it with this letter, I hope you like it! They taught us all about you at school today. Of course, everypony grows up knowing who you are. But when I learned more about you I thought you were amazing! I really want to meet you one day and maybe have an ice cream with you and see what a real castle looks like. I heard you love ice cream but maybe that's not really true. I also heard you have a sister who helps you with the moon. I didn't know about her! I have a sister too, I love her lots and lots. Having sisters is cool! My sister doesn't help me with the moon but she helps me learn things and be good and behave for mommy and daddy. And she cooks dinner for me! She says she knows how to be a grown-up already and do everything right but she's only eleven. I think she's a better grown-up than mommy sometimes but I Sorry for scribbling on my letter. I hope it still looks nice. I have to go now, but I love you and think you're awesome and I hope you send me a letter! Our teacher said only the lucky fillies get a reply fast, but everyone does one day. I can't wait! Lots of love, Anon. > I Wonder if That Big Gold Thing is Uncomfy > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Princess Celestia, Hey! Anon again! I know it's been a while, but maybe you remember me? I'm nearly ten now, so maybe you forgot me, but that's okay! I know princesses are very busy with important stuff, so I can be patient. I asked mom when she sent the last letter and she said that, so I know it. I think it's really cool how you get the letters. Dad throws the letter into the fireplace, and it goes to you by magic?! That's so amazing. Most of my friends at school sent their letters by mail but apparently this way means you'll see it faster. I'm sorry about the picture I sent you last time, I know it probably was bad. I drew a better one this time to show you how far I've come! I think it's a lot better. I heard that you didn't see your sister for a long time once. What was that like? I haven't seen my big sis in a few weeks and it's not very nice. She moved away to stay with her dad. She's only my half sister. She didn't want to go, and she promised that she'd always be here for me, but she taught me everything before she left. I think she's still with me, really, even if I don't see her much. Now I do all of my own cooking and cleaning! I feel really mature! I even do all of the washing for mom and dad, too, and that means I can have a half hour of play before bed every day. I usually spend it drawing though. It's my favourite thing to do in the world. I'm doing well in school. I get good grades, and my teacher says I have a really high reading level, so I get given adult books to read. Sometimes I go to library and check things out. My parents don't really care what I read. I read a story the other day about a pony that spent all of her time trapped in a tower waiting for a prince to rescue her. She would write notes to him and shoot them out of the window with her unicorn magic, hoping that one day someone would come and save her. Eventually, someone came! It had a happy ending. I wonder if all stories have happy endings? I hope so. I want to play with other fillies and colts but I don't know how. Maybe you could teach me how? Growing up must have been pretty lonely for you when your sister wasn't around. I mean, I think you were still growing up because you're so old! Does that sound rude? I hope not. Sometimes it's hard to talk to other ponies when you feel really different to them. I don't know why I'm different either, or how, but not many ponies want to spend time around me for long. I always have these letters though. I've been trying to write this one for a long time but I keep screwing it up and throwing it away. I want to get it just right and not miss anything. I heard that you taught a filly how to be a princess once. That she became really powerful and then she became Princess Twilight Sparkle because you believed in her. She must've been really, really special. I don't think I'd be a very good princess. All I'm good at is drawing and cleaning. I want to go to Canterlot one day. I've heard about how it looks all old-fashioned and posh but dad says we can't afford tickets. I think that's weird because him and mom go places sometimes and leave me at home to look after myself, but they can't afford to take me with them? Maybe child tickets are expensive? I think one day I'll come to Canterlot and try to see you. I heard you come out during the Summer Sun Celebration and raise the sun in front of everypony. I wanna see if you're really covered in lots of shiny gold, and if your mane really floats and shimmers all on its own. A colt in class said that it's all exaggerated, but I believe it. I want to believe that there's really something as magical as you in this world. I have to go. Mom wants me to do the dishes and clean out the shed again. Maybe if I'm good and I do all of my chores, you'll reply to me this year? I hope so! You're still my favourite pony in the whole wide world. I love you! Thank you for listening, Anon. > What if You Were My Mom? > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Princess Celestia, It's Anon again. Please don't be mad at me, but I did something bad. I hope I can tell you, because I don't feel like I can tell anypony else and I'm scared that if I don't say anything I'll just feel worse and I hit my mom today. I know, I'm a horrible, stupid pony that never should've been born, and I'm ungrateful about everything that everyone has ever done for me and the roof that my parents put over my head. Dad already told me all of that. Mom cried too. I didn't like it when she cried, but I didn't feel sorry for her. She always hits me, and no one feels sorry for me when I cry. My sister never came back to protect me. Her dad kept her far away from this house once she left, and I think I see why now. I was so naive when I was young. I thought I had good parents, and that I was just a difficult child, and I just didn't do enough, but the more I speak to other fillies and colts my age, the more I begin to realise just how different their lives are from mine. But I still shouldn't have hit my mom. I realised a year ago that my mom and dad are bad ponies, and told myself I'd never be anything like them. Now I'm being like them. And... I don't know, am I ungrateful? It's true, they do give me somewhere to live for free, and all I have to do is whatever they ask me to, know when to shut up, and never talk back or speak unless spoken to. I heard you had your kingdom taken away once by a horrible creature called Discord, and that you weren't allowed to do anything either for a long time. But then... he became good again? Can bad ponies change and be good again, or just creatures like him? I don't have any other family, and I'm too young to move away. When I want to talk to a teacher, my parents always remind me that much worse things would happen if I was ever taken away. That I'd be placed in a nasty foster system with ponies that are a thousand times worse than them, and that I'd hate it, and that they love me really and I should stop being a rude ungrateful little bitch and be a gracious, helpful pony. They say it's character building. Sometimes I don't want to be here. I learned that if a unicorn overloads the magic in their horn too much, they can go into a coma, or even stop their own heart. I've tried it before, but I'm too scared to go through with it once it starts to really hurt. And really, I don't want to die. I don't want to go away and leave behind all of the things about this world that I really like. The colours and the trees and the music and the warmth of a soft blanket. This page is getting wet, I'm really sorry. I drew you as a pegasus. I don't know why, I think I just wanted to imagine that even an amazing, invincible pony like you could've been like me once upon a time. Could've been vulnerable and small. I thought about drawing you as a unicorn, but I couldn't imagine you without the wings. I hope you like the picture. I put lots of effort into it, because I want you to see it and open this letter. I want it to be good enough that you like me, that you want to talk to me, that maybe you could even come and help me. I'm sorry that I'm such a bad pony and that I can't fix this myself, but I feel like I need help. I don't want to be here anymore. I'm going to send this letter myself as soon as I can. I don't want there to be any way it gets lost. Part of me thinks my parents weren't really sending the letters to you before, but were burning them up so nopony would see what kind of ponies they really are. I don't know where to send it. I'll ask someone when I get a chance. I really hope you see it. I need you to see it. Thank you for always being here for me as someone to write to, and someone to look up to. You've been the best company all these years and more than I could've ever asked for. With love, Anon. > Thank You > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Princess Celestia, Gosh, it's been a long time since I've done this. Erm, I suppose I should start with an update? Everything's okay now. My sister came back for me the moment that she turned eighteen and could do what she wanted without her dad stopping her. She got her own place and moved me in, and honestly, my parents didn't do anything to stop her. They never got arrested, they never had anything happen to them for all that they did to me, but they're alone with only each other now, and my mom can't have any more kids, so I think that's enough karmic justice for the pair of them. I'm so much older now than I was. I just turned nineteen, actually. Me and my friends went up to Canterlot to celebrate, we hopped bars and we took in the sights. I go up there every month now. Somehow, it's nothing and everything like I ever imagined. Now that I'm older, I finally know everything. I finally understand just how silly I was. Fillies don't write to Celestia and get replies. It's all made up. Of course it is. What ruler would have the time to reply to a thousand fillies every day? Their parents write the replies, and make them feel like they have a protector watching over them all the time. Of course, mine never did. They couldn't be bothered. But I did have you the whole time. I still do now. I had the thought of you, the idea of you. I had the inspiration to go out and be just as amazing as you are, to persevere through everything that ever went badly for me and somehow turn it into a situation I could not just survive in, but thrive in. And I have to thank you for that. I have to thank you for being the wonderful, caring, and loving ruler that you are, for always being there to watch over your subjects for thousands of years, even if you can't be expected to do everything, if you can't be expected to be in a million places at once. I've drawn you a thank you for always being there for me. That's what I do for a living now, actually. Not 'thank yous', but art. I know you'll never read this letter, but I'm still gonna send it. It's just tradition by now. Honestly, I wouldn't feel right if I didn't write to you every once in a little while. If anything, I feel guilty that I've left it this long. I suppose for a while, I didn't feel as if I needed the crutch once my sister came back. Maybe I got tired of getting nothing back, and I realised that all of this was futile. But it's not. There's purpose in the act itself. In the thought of sharing your deepest thoughts and concerns with someone you admire immensely. Maybe it is a fantasy, and maybe it was stupid to believe that you'd ever even see any of these, but it was all worthwhile. You helped my through my foalhood, your existence, your ideals, they helped to turn me into the pony I was today. You're the best mother I ever could've asked for. And that's why I have to thank you, have to keep writing to you. It's not fair on you that I ever stopped, and I'm going to make sure that I do so once a month now. Just a quick check up, and idea of what's going on in my life. I won't bore you with long and unnecessary details, and I don't wanna write for so long that I have nothing left to say, but I'm going to put in the effort. You put in so much effort every single day of every single year that it's only fair. I'm going to keep trying to be more like you. I'd never be able to be you, but I can always continue to learn. Hell Heck, maybe you're still learning! That's a humbling thought. Anyways, I think I've said everything that I need to, so I'm going to find a mailbox to put this in. I wonder what they do with the letters? I'll bet there's some mail clerk that knows way too much about my life right now, huh? You're the best. You always have been, and I'm sure you always will be. I'm going to keep on doing this until I'm old and my magic can't hold a pen anymore. As always, I love you so much, and I hope that things over in Canterlot are treating you wonderfully. You deserve that. Forever your loving subject, Anon. > Aftermath > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Celestia studied the third page spread of a little-known Fillydelphian tabloid for the fiftieth time that day. It'd been first noticed by a maid whose sister was a subscriber to the paper, and whispers of the controversial and outright astounding artwork had travelled through the castle until only two hours later, Celestia sat with a copy in her lap. The art could've meant a million different things, surely, but it had no accompaniment. No story to go along with it, no commentary, no artist biography, and the submitter was labelled as 'Anonymous'. To Celestia, it spoke of many things. Longing, pain, respect, a transitional period in a pony's life... It labelled the fact that any pony could go through these things, even one such as Celestia, but beneath the surface, Celestia felt there was more to the choice than simply reinforcing the piece's statement. This almost felt like an ode, an accompaniment to an emotion, a thought that the artist held deeply within themselves, one that was as nebulous and fascinating as anything Celestia could imagine. The artist either had a brilliant mind, a tortured past, or both, and Celestia was determined to find out which. It wasn't long before she turned to one of her guards, who had all been pensively waiting around her for her to show any real reaction to the piece she'd been staring at all this time. Eventually, her lips curled into a smile. "Please contact the head of the newspaper company. Tell them that I should like to meet the artist soon." A nod, and a guard headed away. Celestia kept her face straight, but inside, she was oddly nervous. Whoever this pony was, it almost felt as if they could see straight through her, what with how accurately they portrayed the emotions Celestia had been so familiar with before, down to each facet, every contour. The idea of meeting this pony was intimidating. This was assuming they even wanted to meet, but she had to try. She'd feel she'd missed a wonderful opportunity if she didn't. Later that night, Celestia penned a letter to Twilight Sparkle, speaking at length about her nerves regarding the matter, asking what she might do to quell them, and posing various questions about the concept of immortality and rulership to one of the only ponies that might be able to give her a fresh perspective. Of course, she never sent it. But the act of writing it out was more than enough.