Twilight vs the Goodbye
If you like music while reading, this song should set the mood quite easily.
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The bright night sky, lit by the stars and the moon was shining down on Equestria. That did not matter. The wind was merciless and sharp, bringing freezing cold to whoever was in its way. Merely a detail lost in the cause. Ever so regal sat the princess of the sun on her terrace with a face almost void of emotion. Well, except for one small emotion, only visible to those who knew her. It was sadness. That was the only thing that mattered.
Why did everything have to go so wrong? They had the perfect life together here in the castle. Nopony had a say when they were together. Nopony else mattered. That was not completely true, friends and family did matter. But they were all so supportive. For the stuck-up Canterlot ponies, they had given up a long time ago.
But of course the perfect harmony would end, why would it not? After all, chaos was always lurking around the corner. Chaos was literally lurking just around the corner. It was all his fault. Oh so close she’d been to drive a spear straight through his god forsaken skull, but in the end her beloved had managed to stop her.
What exactly had happened? Discord broke free again. What did he do? Nothing less than ruin Twilight’s life once again. Only this time it was even worse. He did not turn his friends against her. He did not spread chaos around the harmonic land of Equestria. No, as his final act of revenge he took away the one thing Twilight cherished beyond her friends and harmony. He took away her mentor.
Celestia was not really gone, but all her memories of Twilight were. After all they had been through, Discord took away all the memories of Twilight. He simply deleted them with a snap of his fingers. Her love no longer knew who she was. No longer did she love Twilight back. Their marriage, their trials and their memories together. All lost to the Alicorn.
It had been three months since the incident. Three months since Discord had ruined her life. And three months of nothing but pain to Twilight. This was why she had decided that it was best to move on. If the princess would never get her memories back, then there was no reason to stay. Staying would only make both of them suffer, in one way or another.
Zebrica was the place Twilight had picked. What better place was there to learn about new mysterious magic? Zecora was going to escort her and make sure she got someplace to live in. After that, she would bury her past. Equestria did no longer feel like her home, but rather the home of all of her misery and pain.
She did not look forward to leaving her friends. They had been such great ponies. All the way they had supported her. They had been a source of happiness for several years and Twilight was proud to have them. But in the end the pain of being so close to Celestia had outdone the urge to be with her friends.
Once again they had been understanding. Even though they did not approve of her moving so far away, they did support her. They had made her promise at least a couple of hundred times that she would keep sending letters every week. It would take a little longer for it to reach them, however, since Spike was not coming along.
That poor baby dragon. Well, it was unfair to call him that. After all, he had grown up to become quite a proud one. All his life Twilight had been taking care of him, but now it was time for him to move on as well. Twilight did not have the heart to bring him with her to such a faraway place as Zebrica, so she had given him the library. She had made sure Rarity would go to check on him every day for the first year, just for the security.
The hardest part was just moments away, though. Saying goodbye to Celestia. Well, it had to end one day, she was just hoping it could at least last a little longer. They had been together for almost two years now, married for a five months. Yes, that’s right. Twilight had married Celestia.
It had been a beautiful day Twilight would never forget. The tears of joy, the magnificent music. All her friends had been there and everyone had brought such wonderful gifts. The smile on her parents’ face when they said their woes. The way Luna could barely sit still, filled with excitement. It had been the most perfect day ever, and that was because she shared it with Celestia.
A tear threatened to escape the lavender mare’s eye. She would have to hold it back, though. She refused to let her princess see her like that the last moment they had together. Stay strong, she told to herself. Not only for your own sake, but for Tia’s. After all, it was her who had suffered the most. It was finally time to stop dwelling on the past and face her.
Twilight took a hesitant step forward, followed by another, courage and willpower running on reserves, but she had to do it. As she got closer to the princess she noticed that her hair did not flow like it usually would, neither did her tail. She was definitely in as much pain as Twilight was. Just before the unicorn reached her destination, Celestia spoke up.
“This place, it means a lot to you?” Celestia asked in her usual calm voice.
“Yeah, it does.” Twilight let out a sigh.
“I wish I could remember. Maybe you could brighten up my memory for a little?” Even though she already knew Tia would not remember, it hurt a lot hearing it from the mare herself.
“It was at this very spot you taught me my very first lesson in magic. Confidence. You thought me that if I believe I can do it, there’s nothing stopping me.” Twilight had to suppress a sniffle at the memory. She was just a little filly, so eager to learn but lacking the confidence. Just one evening with Celestia had turned that. It was one of her dearest memories.
It was the evening after Twilight’s magic exams. The moon was shining bright, though nothing compared to what her sister could do. It felt weird, how long had it been since she had taken in a personal student? At least seven hundred years, if not more. After Luna’s banishment it felt wrong to take in a student, after all who would she compete against?
Celestia and Luna had always taken in a student each, both trying to be the better teacher. And when the student was finally done with her lessons, they would make sure the students taught other everything they knew. That way great minds were always sure to be used for their full potential.
Yes, it did sound like they used the students. But in reality they were just as into it as Celestia and Luna, that was why they had picked them in the first place. And now, there was only a single student. Celestia knew that she was special, but what she would accomplish was still beyond her.
“I couldn’t sleep,” A lavender filly came out of Celestia’s bedroom and joined her on the terrace.
“Why’s that my faithful student?” Celestia was, to be honest, happy she would get some company, it could get very lonely without her sister there.
“What if I’m not good enough to be your student? If it was not for that explosion, I wouldn’t have managed to hatch the egg at all,” Twilight muttered.
“Well then I will just have to teach you. How about we have our first lesson right now?”
“Now?” A pair of wide purple eyes stared at her.
“Yes, right now. The first thing you need to learn while studying with me is to be confident. If you don’t believe you can do anything, you can’t. If you do believe, there’s nothing that can stop you.”
“Do you really think I can do anything?” A smile was starting to form on the filly’s face.
“Yes, I believe so. Now, do you?”
“This is also the spot where I admitted my feelings to you.” She could not help it anymore, tears swelled up in her eyes. It had been one of the scariest days in her life, but also one of the best. Celestia turned to her student, tears filling her eyes as well.
“So why was it you needed to see me Twilight?” Something about Celestia made the question feel so welcoming, like she could never do anything wrong to her.
“We haven’t seen each other in a long time; I just wanted to visit you.” Twilight started.
“I do miss you too, Twilight.” Even though she never mentioned that fact, Celestia knew her student well enough to understand such. “Will you come and sit down with me, maybe we can talk about your findings on the magic of friendship?” This excited the unicorn. If there was one thing she loved talking about it was magic, especially the magic of friendship.
However, Twilight hesitated a little before settling down beside her mentor. After a short while she finally found a comfortable position and settled down. Celestia produced a blanket out of nothing but magic itself. Twilight knew this very well, when she was a little filly Celestia would produce the blanket and leave it up to her to produce some hot chocolate. Twilight did just that.
“Well, I kind of had something I wanted to tell you as well.” Twilight’s voice was reeking with nervousness.
“Go on, you know you can tell me anything.” That calmed Twilight down a little, but this was still one of the hardest things she’d ever tried.
“I-I g-guess I should just say it then. Celestia, I, Twilight Sparkle, think I’m in love with you!” There, she’d done it. Now she just had to wait to wake up on the moon, or deep within the Everfree Forest.
“You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for you to say that,” Celestia answered and pulled Twilight in for a kiss.
She motioned for Twilight to sit down beside her. The unicorn did not hesitate to obey. She sat down with a hopefully comfortable distance from the princess. She finally let the cold wind get to her and let out a shiver. The winter was coming and Twilight knew it would be so much colder without Celestia by her side.
“You’re cold,” Celestia remarked. “Come here.” She wrapped her wing around Twilight and pulled her close enough for their fur to brush against each other. It was warm and despite all the pain, it was nice. “Maybe you could tell me the story before you leave?”
“It’s an awfully long story.” Twilight’s voice was trembling.
“We’ve got all night,” Celestia replied.
“I guess.” Twilight started telling their story. From the happy memories, that emitted a laugh from both ponies to the darker answered by tears. It was a story worthy of all the emotions they had. After all, even though Celestia did not remember, it was their story.
By the time she was done the moon hung low on the horizon and Celestia was soon ready to raise the sun. The winds still blew, but it did not matter. Celestia was there to give Twilight all the warmth she needed.
“Rarity did say one thing. It’s a stupid thought, though.”
“And what would that be, dear Twilight?”
“In the fairy tales we read when we were smaller, a kiss would always solve the curse. This is no curse, though,” Twilight said, sadness embracing her eyes once more.
“It would be worth the shot.” Celestia turned her head to Twilight. She gave a small smile before leaning in. As the sun graced the horizon their lips met in the most heartwarming gesture, only witnessed by two ponies on the highest points in all of Equestria.