> Most faithful replacement > by Helia_Writes > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle, Hope you are doing well after your coronation and you are adjusting to life as an alicorn. I am sending you this letter to congratulate you on your graduation. As I said after you ascended, you are no longer my student, but now my equal. So now, officially, I graduate you. Please enjoy the rest of your day. Signed, Princess Celestia Twilight stared at the letter, reading it through multiple times. She, of course, knew this letter was coming, but she didn't expect it to be so... Cold. Whenever Princess Celestia used to send her letters it was always so warm and full of love, always asking about how her life was going. This had barely any of that. "Did... Did I do something wrong?" she whispered to herself. She put the letter down and walked over to her balcony, where she stood staring at Canterlot. For a while now she has loved her mentor more than she let on. She couldn't tell anyone, after all, she was just a unicorn librarian. She had no chance with an alicorn goddess. Now, however, she thought she might have had a chance. She too was an alicorn now. But she will still be forever millennia younger than Celestia. She sighed and basked in the sunlight, enjoying the warmth. Her wings fluttered slightly, itching to fly and feel the wind through its feathers. She should probably take Rainbow up on her flying lessons. Suddenly she had an idea. She was new to being a princess, which means she would need lessons on how to be one. She can still be Celestia's student! She just had to go ask. It was perfect! "SPIKE!" She called, hoping the little dragon was still in the library. The sound of claws on wood rushing closer to her told her that he was in fact still here. "Yeah Twilight?" Spike asked as he opened her bedroom door. "I'm going to go to Canterlot quickly for a short visit, can you keep the library going while I'm gone?" "Of course Twilight, but remember that Applejack wanted to visit this afternoon so be back by then" Twilight nodded and started casting her teleport spell. Now that she had the power to teleport straight to Canterlot, she wasn't going to waste time with a train. She appeared in the throne room, expecting to see Princess Celestia there, only to find it empty. "Weird, she usually has court at this time" She mumbled. "Maybe she just decided to end it early and relax in her chambers" She trotted out of the throne room, going through the long corridors and up the staircases, then finally passing Luna's room and approaching Celestia's room. Celestia had given her permission to just walk straight in whenever she wanted during the day to talk to her, so she opened the doors and walked in. She stopped and stared at the scene before her. After all, it was a very familiar one. One she only ever saw herself and Celestia do together until now. Sitting on cushions in the middle of the room, Celestia looked up at her after taking a sip of her tea and smiled. In front of her, sat a little unicorn who looked around 11 or 12, looking back at her with wide eyes. "Oh, what an unexpected surprise. How are you today, Twilight?" Celestia asked in her normal, motherly tone. Twilight just stared at the little unicorn who dared try to steal a tradition she had with her mentor. "Oh, how rude of me, Twilight meet my Personal Student, Nova" Celestia introduced. Twilight noted that Celestia didn't say 'new'. "H-how long... Has she been your student?" Twilight shakily asked. "Almost a whole year!" The filly declared excitedly Twilight couldn't bear to look at her old mentor anymore and closed her eyes, turning away. "Twilight? Are you OK?" Celestia asked, concern evident in her voice. "S-sorry for... Interrupting..." She quickly left and closed the door behind her before anypony could say anything else. As she slowly walked away, she bumped into Luna. "Hello Twilight, I thought you went back to Ponyville after your coronation?" Luna smiled, but her smile wilted when Twilight looked up at her. "Twilight, why are you crying?" Luna asked, concerned. "N-no reason...yeah I just... Forgot something in Celestia's room... Came to get it. I... I'll talk to you later, Princess Luna. Maybe" Twilight quickly Teleported back to Ponyville. Luna watched Twilight teleport away and looked at her sister's chamber door. Why would Twilight be so upset after seeing Celestia? She walked into her sister's room and saw a slightly confused Celestia and a smiling little unicorn. Suddenly the reason for Twilight's mood dawned on her. "Tia please tell me you didn't" Luna asked "Didn't what? You just missed Twilight by the way" Celestia said, obviously oblivious. "I'm aware, I just managed to catch her before she went back to ponyville. She wouldn't tell me why she was crying, but now I know" "She was crying? Why?" Celestia asked, concerned for Twilight. Luna sighed. Her sister still had trouble when it comes to recognizing jealousy and other emotions. "Tia... She just walked in here, after just graduating from being your student, to find out you have had another for almost a year. Think about it. Not even a month after you sent her to ponyville, you got a new student and you didn't tell her. Now she knows and I can guarantee that she is upset. She thinks she's been replaced, Tia, she thinks you have abandoned her" Luna explained, watching Celestia's eyes go wider and wider the longer she talked. "I've seen her dreams. She didn't want to be sent away by you. She was going to ask you to allow her to visit ponyville every weekend but you cut her off and decreed she lived there. Oh Tia, her dreams were so conflicted that even I couldn't help her nightmares" "What? But, I haven't replaced her! She is a princess now, my equal!" "Tia, you are so blind. This time, it is not admiration blinding you, it is ignorance! Think about it from her perspective! You know she overthinks everything, especially when it comes to you!" Celestia seemed to be deep in thought and slowly her eyes widened. Just as she was about to speak, a green wisp of flame appeared, followed by a letter dropping onto the floor. She picked up the letter and read it. Luna grew more concerned with the look on Celestia's face. "Luna we need to go to Ponyville fast" "What happened, Tia?" "Twilight has tried to rip her wings off" Luna winced. Wings were sensitive, especially when one is an alicorn. The pain of breaking a wing is rated the most painful limb to break. To actually rip a wing off, the pain would be unimaginable. "Let's go. Dismiss your student" Celestia nodded. "Nova, go back to your room for now, I will be back soon" The little unicorn left, and both sisters teleported. Appearing in Ponyville General Hospital, Celestia and Luna quickly spotted Spike and Applejack in the waiting room. As they approached, Spike noticed them. "YOU! WHAT DID YOU DO!? SHE WAS FINE BEFORE SHE LEFT TO TALK TO YOU AND THEN SHE RETURNED 10 MINUTES LATER AND TRIED RIPPING HER WING OFF WITH HER TEETH!" Spike yelled, being held back by Applejack "Woah there, Spike, we won't get any answers if you don't calm down, ya hear?" Applejack calmly said Spike hesitantly nodded and sat back down, glaring at Celestia. "Please, tell us what happened" Celestia asked Spike sighed. "Ten minutes after she left to talk to you, I heard her teleport back into her room. Applejack was visiting so we both went up to ask how it went. We found her crying, mumbling about replacement and not being good enough and about being used, while pulling on her left wing hard with her teeth. Applejack had to pin her down to stop her, but by then she already had a really bad bite mark and had torn the wing half off" The doctor walked through the doors and walked towards them. "Luckily, we don't have to amputate her wing, and it's healing nicely. She won't be able to fly for a few months, but she should start doing daily wing exercises in a week or so. That's the good news. The bad news is, as this is classed as self harm, we had to do a mental evaluation. We've classed her as possibly suicidal and we have had to put her on very strong anti-depressants. She is currently awake, but under the effects of the pills. She can have visitors'' They all nodded, and followed the doctor to one of the rooms, in the room Twilight was laying on a bed, her left wing wrapped in bandages and staring up at the ceiling. Celestia started to walk towards her, only to hear a growl from beside her. She hesitated and turned to face Spike. "Spike, please, I need to make things right. I'm sorry" Spike seemed to accept this, as he nodded slowly. Celestia walked slowly up to the side of the bed. "Twilight?" she asked. Twilight looked at her, eyes widened slightly, and started mumbling about 'Replacement' and 'tool'. Eventually she started to form actual sentences. "Why?... Do you even care about me?...Was I just a tool... To get your sister back?.. Was I just a sword you used against the enemies of Equestria ?... Was I so easy to replace that it only took a month after sending me away... Why did you send me away..." "Oh Twilight, I'm so sorry... So so sorry. You don't deserve any of this. I.." She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and shakily sighed, and without opening her eyes she continued. "I was scared... I was stupid and scared... You grew up, and my love for you changed. It was the love between a mentor and student, then after a few months, I loved you like a daughter. But then when you grew up into this amazing mare, I couldn't help it. You were just so beautiful, inside and out. The love I had for you changed once again, and I realised that... I loved you...romantically. I... I got scared. I haven't loved anyone like this since before Luna was banished. I promised myself I wouldn't fall in love with a mortal again. I couldn't bear the heartbreak of watching them wither and die. So I selfishly pushed you away. Then you went and exceeded my expectations once again, ascending to become an Alicorn. Suddenly, you were immortal and I had no more excuses. I graduated you, so I could get you to see me as an equal, so we could possibly be together. Nova... Nova was going to be our student. A student we taught together. I'm sorry I let it come to you being hurt.. I'm so sorry" Celestia was crying, she knew that she probably looked so stupid and imperfect. "Love... Me?" Twilight croaked out "Yes... Twilight I love you" "Mtired but" she yawned "love you too" "Twilight and Tia, sitting in a tree, K I S S I N G!" teased Luna. Celestia's eyes went wide and she turned to glare at Luna. "Luna! That is not appropriate!" "Oh please sister, don't be such a stick up the plot. But honestly it's about time you declared your love for each other. I was so close to just claiming Twilight as my own since you wouldn't" Luna rolled her eyes "What?!" Celestia tried to glare her sister to death, but failed. "Well she is a very beautiful and fair mare. Despite being slightly flabby from her lack of daily exercise, which can be changed. Daily rolls in the hay, if you know what I mean. Hope she can handle the weight of that big flank on her face, dear sister, for she isn't the only one in need of exercise" Luna snickered "Why would Twilight need to handle Princess Celestia's weight on her face?" Spike asked innocently "Don't you worry none, sugarcube, let's go and tell the girls about what has happened, ok?" Applejack suggested, face as red as a beetroot that Celestia has sat on. "Come visit me on your eighteenth birthday, young drake, and I shall teach you the ways of the hay rolling! I've always wanted to try dragon" Luna purred Applejack had to carry a shaking Spike out, who was asking whether Luna wanted to eat him, to which Luna followed, replying about her wanting him to eat her instead. Celestia really hoped Luna was joking, cause if she wasn't she felt sorry for her. Celestia knew not to get in the way of Twilight when her motherly instincts kicked in. Rarity, being put into a mental asylum for a few months, definitely knew not to either. She bet not even Discord could stop Twilight's motherly instinct mode now that she was an alicorn. She sat back down at Twilight's side, watching the sleeping mare slowly breathing. She knew that no matter what, she was staying by Twilight's side. She just hoped Twilight would do the same. She smiled as a thought went through her mind. If Twilight and her were to get married, they would legally be named Queens, for Equestrias law states that if a Princess married, they have to be titled Queen. "Lulu is going to be in shock in a few years hopefully. Maybe I can make her feel better by giving her the high princess title. I still remember her little tantrum when Cadance became Empress Mi Amore Cadenza'' She stared at Twilight some more. "Maybe I should Tell Twilight how much I weigh, I would really hate to hurt her cute little face" She looked back at her rump. "Nah. Alicorn endurance will help"