prompt: Celestia and filly Twi read a story together


> celestia sighed, shifting restlessly in her throne
> it had been five days since she'd last seen her protege, twilight sparkle
> five days can feel like an extraordinarily long amount of time when the majority is spent isolated, especially when riding on the coattails of a lively previous few weeks
> the filly's apprenticeship had thus far gone without incident, and it had been an absolute delight to encourage her fledgling magical abilities
> unfortunately, the weight of celestia's kingdom bore heavily on her withers and she could scarcely make the time to even visit the little unicorn, let alone hold another teaching session
> sometimes celestia wished equestria could simply rule itself--the thrill of imparting her centuries-old knowledge on another had been rather unprecedented and that her title took her away from their lessons irritated her to a high degree
> vaguely, celestia recalled their last meeting

---

> "Twilight, I'm afraid we may have to cut your lessons this week a bit short. My advisors have been a unexpectedly overwhelmed managing the court by themselves, which means I will likely have to step back a bit." 
> the purple filly, who had been dutifully levitating several heavy-looking books in the shape of a pyramid, lost her concentration and dropped the tomes at the revelation; celestia grimaced

"W-what? But Princess, I still haven't mastered any of the spells you've taught me! Plus, weren't we supposed to be going over the practical applications of alkahestry this week? I'm not even halfway through the journals you brought me... Although, I could probably finish them by tonight if I skipped dinner, or even stayed up the rest of the night and-" 

> celestia raised a hoof, gently silencing the sputtering unicorn
> "Please don't worry about that, Twilight. You have been progressing at a rate that not even I had expected when I first entered you into this apprenticeship and have impressed me far beyond what I ever could have imagined. Take this time to rest, or perhaps even get to know some of the other little fillies and colts in your class. I hear Minuette is having a birthday party next week; have you considered bringing her a gift?" 

> twilight shook her head, frowning
> "Princess, I don't think going to a birthday party is going to help me with my studies--unless she's having a study themed birthday party. Even if that was the case, though, I couldn't bring myself to collaborate on something specially assigned to me by the Princess. Maybe I could bring our special spellbook to class, or see if I can..."
> the filly droned on to herself, a puzzled expression growing darker on her face
> twilight plopped down onto her haunches amid the pile of forgotten books and began brainstorming various things in a journal she had set to the side
> she tended to get like this when studies were involved, and perhaps celestia should have seen this reaction coming

> despite their personal arrangement, twilight was still only a filly and celestia still expected her to attend classes at her private education institution--'Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns'
> having initially gotten the impression that twilight was a bit on the antisocial side, celestia had hoped that the school's wealth of collaborative projects, which were baked into the curriculum, would help the filly make a few friends
> sadly, that had not been the case; if anything twilight had secluded herself even further after regular attendance

> celestia watched as twilight argued with herself, voicing various ideas 
> the favoritism she received as what many perceived to be the princess's successor created an incredible distance between twilight and the rest of the children in the school
> she wasn't being bullied, thankfully, but celestia was painfully aware of the looks of pity parents gave the unicorn when they picked their children up at the end of class, leaving only twilight to continue her independent study after-hours
> it was permitted, sure, but clearly not necessary for one so talented

> the mare eventually left her thoughts, politely clearing her throat; twilight looked up from her scribbling
> "In any case, we will continue your regular lessons until the end of the week and I will adjust your schedule afterward."

> "Yay!" 
> twilight bounced in place with excitement and celestia let slip a pleasant smile
> despite her misgivings about the filly's apathetic behavior towards other ponies, she could help but melt at twilight's earnest attitude toward celestia's instruction
> truly, it had been long since celestia felt so admired, and in such a personal way



> "Er, Your Majesty?" 

> a gray-coated stallion to her right spoke up, gesturing nervously to the line of commoner-ponies awaiting her comment
> celestia blinked
> right, she had been in the middle of day court 
> the princess donned her familiar mask of aristocracy--the only face she was allowed to display before her subjects--and thanked the stallion for bringing her back to her senses

> "Goodness, it seems my mind has been elsewhere this morning. Now, where were we?" 
> her moping would apparently have to wait until after court was adjourned

---

> "Twilight, dear? Are you busy?" 
> celestia knocked twice on the door to twilight's suite
> the princess had given her one of the most prestigious rooms in the castle--typically reserved only for esteemed consuls from foreign countries--if only to ensure that she was afforded the generous accommodations she would likely need to grow her intellect and magical prowess
> while the suite was much too large for its current inhabitant by all accounts, the immediate access to a wealth of bound tomes and atlases made it the perfect place for twilight to perform all of her expected duties as student of the princess

> deciding she had waited long enough for a response, the alicorn nosed her way into the room and immediately confronted the fruit of her pupil's research
> celestia's intuition had apparently worked against her
> the room was an absolute disaster of books and loose notes scattered as though a natural disaster had blown through
> the shelves that flanked either side of the room, which had ordinarily been stocked full of valuable research journals and spell tomes lay nearly bare; their contents, at some point or another, had been spilled out onto the floor in a perfect circle around twilight herself, who was jotting something down in a diary of her own a short distance a way

> "You seem to have made quite the mess, Twilight Sparkle. Has it grown in size since last I visited, or am I simply imagining things?"
> celestia's neutral quip had no impact on the room's near-silence, so she probed from a different angle, hoping to get the filly's attention

> "I can only imagine that such a scene could be the result of meticulous study; I expected no less of you."
> celestia had hoped the generous praise would be enough to rouse the enthralled unicorn from her writing, but twilight hadn't so much as flicked an ear since celestia had entered the room

> "Mmm..."
> twilight's frizzy tail lazily drifted side to side as she apparently pondered her next few lines of scribble
> when celestia edged closer to see what the filly had been writing twilight suddenly stood, surprising the mare
> "Where... Where... Where is it?"
> as quick as her stubby little marshmallows could carry her twilight darted off to the far corner of the library
> she weaved through the rubble of many books like a dragonfly, carefully avoiding stepping on any of their splayed covers or any loose sheets of parchment, and let out a little cheer when she found the book she had seemingly been looking for
> the princess took the opportunity to approach twilight's journal, hoping to appease her growing curiosity, but frowned when twilight quickly returned and snatched the journal up before celestia could so much as read a single word
> "Ah-"

> "Sorry, I'm not quite finished yet." 
> with that terse reply twilight fell back into the throes of her journal, scribbling away with her dancing magic quill
> celestia bit her lip--she had never been ignored like this!
> the filly's apathetic, borderline callous behavior contrasted so sharply with the first few weeks of her apprenticeship in a way that made the alicorn's heart ache 
> but what could she really do?
> she supposed there was nothing wrong with self-study--celestia herself had promoted such scholarly behavior on more than one occasion
> surely there was a limit to how immersed one could become in one's research, though?

> she sighed, leaving the preoccupied filly to her books; celestia silently left twilight's room
> while the unicorn's blatant disregard for celestia's presence sat ill with her, it bothered her even more that twilight hadn't allowed the princess to check her progress
> celestia had been the one to assign her that research in the first place, had she not?
> it would have been within her right for the alicorn to have simply snapped the book up in her magic and leafed through its contents, but ultimately celestia could not bring herself to intrude on her student's privacy--even if she thought she aught to
> 'perhaps things will simply sort themselves out in time,' she told herself as she trudged back to her bedchambers prepared her nightly rituals

> day court the following day was as dull as it was every other day; at some point celestia's eyes had glazed over during a particularly grating speech from some well-to-do noblemare who was busy entreating celestia to support some frivolous financial venture 
> it was something to do with a new rail system, but celestia didn't have the patience about her to consider dipping into the royal treasury for yet another infrastructure upstart who claimed to have 'all the answers'
> she briefly considering dragging the sun from its perch high in the sky to bring about the day's premature end, but ultimately let the day run its natural course

> after another few hours, when court had finally wound to a close, celestia peeled herself off her gilded ruler's seat and wearily left the throne room
> en route to her chambers celestia passed by twilight's room, which was only a few doors down--yet another reason why she had seen fit to give twilight the space
> she still had not seen head or tail of the filly, but had mostly given up on trying to coax her out
> if twilight was content to study on her own, celestia would leave her to it
> at some point they would resume their lessons and things would likely return to normal, but the thought did little to assuage the princess's fears of further rejection
> celestia chuckled darkly to herself--was this sort of absurdly disproportionate reaction not the very thing she had come to expect from twilight sparkle?
> it wouldn't be unreasonable to say the filly had rubbed off on her in some way
> before she could leave, however, the door to twilight's study flew open--as did celestia's eyes

> "Princ- OOF!"
> twilight barreled straight into celestia's slender legs, falling flat on her rear
> the sight brought an immediate smile to the princess's muzzle, banishing the heavy cloud of melancholy that had been thundering around her

> "Good evening to you as well, Twilight Sparkle. Were you looking for me?" 
> twilight shook her head, recovering her bearings and getting to her hooves

> "You weren't looking for me?" 

> twilight quickly shook her head again, then paused in confusion before nodding vigorously
> "No, I was- er, yes--I have something to show you! I'll be right back." 

> the eager filly bolted back into her room
> celestia stole an innocent peek inside and noted that, from what she could see, twilight had significantly tidied the floors and shelves, which had seemed more like trenches on a battlefield during her last visit than mounds of knowledge 

> "Princess? You can come in now!" 

> twilight called after the older mare and celestia entered the room
> the purple unicorn was seated on a collection of cushions pressed against the massive bay window to the far side of the study, which overlooked the castle courtyard and to an extent the greater valley below canterlot
> twilight smiled broadly at celestia and the princess couldn't help but smile in return
> it seemed that twilight had managed to finish her covert studies--celestia only hoped that she might now be privy to whatever the filly had been hiding
> the same journal the filly had heretofore obscured from celestia's prying now lay at twilight's hooves
> as the princess approached, twilight shuffled to the side to make space and celestia took a seat

> "All right Princess, I've got something really special to show you!"
> twilight pushed the journal over to her mentor and celestia hesitated for a moment; seeing this, twilight nodded her approval
> "Read it and tell me what you think."

> celestia scanned the cover
> '101 Spells for Big Alicorns and Little Fillies,' it read in beautiful gold print; twilight had scrawled her signature right below
> after celestia had fully processed the title she looked to twilight, who beamed with pride

> "It's a spellbook! I know you've been busy with Day Court and haven't been able to make our lessons as often, so I took the liberty of compiling all one hundred and one spells you've taught me since I became your student! Every minute detail, from incantation to theory, was copied down in chronological order starting from our very first lesson. I've mastered all of them, and was hoping you could test me--after demonstrating first, if you want."

> sure enough, the very first spell written on the very first page was a rudimentary light-emitting orb that celestia had taught twilight to conjure months ago
> as she flipped through the pages, memories of past teachings and twilight's contagious enthusiasm flooded her consciousness and threatened to form a lump in the princess's throat
> to top it all off, every single spell page had an adorable crayon drawing of celestia's likeness performing each spell with a peaceful expression; nearby, an equally cute pastel of twilight watched in awe
> celestia could barely speak

> "Did... Did you do all of this yourself, Twilight?" 

> the purple filly nodded enthusiastically, though a worried frown formed afterward
> "Do you not like it...?" 
 
> "Quite the contrary, Twilight--this is wonderful! I have taken many students, but none have been quite as devoted or as passionate as you have been. I'm simply astounded that you managed to do all of this in only a few weeks."

> celestia affectionately nuzzled the unicorn, who returned the gesture with delight; she glanced through the first spell's incantation as her horn sprung to life, awash in a honeyed glow
> "Shall we begin with the first spell, then?" 

> the sound that came from the little filly's throat was probably the cutest thing celestia had ever heard in her many years
> twilight left the mountain of cushions and stood in front of her teacher, determined to impress

"I'm ready, Princess!"

---

> celestia wasn't sure how much time had passed since they began, but she knew that those few hours had made up for her mild deppression and then some
> twilight hadn't been exaggerating--she truly had mastered every single spell that celestia had taught her
> each page was another memory, and another spectacular performance from her student
> celestia would read the incantation, which had been written with such scholarly zeal that she scant believed the filly had written it herself; afterward, she would cast the spell
> for every golden thread celestia weaved, twilight matched it beautifully with her own lavender copy--and what a copy it was!
> all the while the two spellcasters smiled, enjoying the company of one another

> when the two had finally finished, celestia broke away to fell the moon, but not before lavishing the unicorn thoroughly with praise
> celestia couldn't have been more proud of her student and her accomplishments
> twilight followed her out to the balcony to gawk at the display, as many did when they beheld the spectacle

> "Princess, that's amazing! I didn't know you could move each individual star like that. I think that's... Canis Major?"
> the alabaster mare nodded, though she frowned inwardly in spite of her student's reverent praise
> truth be told, celestia had never managed to get the constellations quite right, having always viewed her night sky as a crude mockery of her sister's effortless tapestry; but that was neither here nor there
> before she could any more entertain that thought, celestia looked after twilight as she scurried back inside
> to the left she darted, grabbing a low book from the shelf
> celestia made her way back inside and settled back down on the cushions, which were still decidedly comfortable despite having been sat upon for hours
> when twilight returned she dropped the book in front of celestia
> she recognized the tome quite easily, for it was one that she herself had become intimately familiar with ages past

> "I know that we just got finished with all of those spells, but... I was kind of hoping you could read this to me like you used to when I first came to the castle."

> celestia fondly remembered those days
> contrary to what one might have gathered from the headstrong filly, twilight was incredibly homesick her first few days in canterlot castle despite the relative proximity to the sparkle family home
> many nights she had come to celestia's chambers, dragging with her the very tome she'd brought to the princess, and asked celestia to read it to her 
> celestia found it funny that she had often ended up reading the story several times over due to twilight's attentiveness, which made it difficult for her to actually fall asleep
> bemused, celestia levitated the tome over to her forelegs and opened it to its first page

> twilight fidgeted in place for a moment, unsure of herself, before charging into celestia's barrel
> the unexpected force had surprised the mare but quickly gave way to a pleasant smile; celestia folded her wings gently over the unicorn as she wiggled against the alicorn and found a comfortable place beneath her feathers
> before she could start, however, twilight interrupted her

> "I'm sorry I couldn't show you my spellbook before--I wanted it to be a surprise, but I guess it probably seemed like I was hiding it from you."
> twilight trailed off uncertainly, looking up to celestia for approval
> the princess honestly hadn't expected an apology, much less for the little scholar to reflect upon her inadvertently hurtful behavior
> still, celestia couldn't bring herself to fault the little unicorn for her innocent craftiness

> "It's quite all right, Twilight. We all tend to get sucked into our studies from time to time; I've occasionally forgotten my own duties in favor of personal research projects, but let's just keep that between us." 

> celestia winked at the purple filly and twilight giggled, though it seemed that twilight's fears hadn't been entirely assuaged 
> "But still, I don't want you to think I don't like our lessons, or that I don't want to be your student anymore, or that I hate you- I love you!" 
> twilight quickly covered her mouth, evidently embarrassed by her sudden outburst; she watched the princess for a moment, expecting to be reprimanded
> to the filly's utter disbelief, celestia reached down to kiss twilight's forehead, brimming with an extraordinary happiness

> "I love you too, Twilight. Now, why don't we read through this story together--it just so happens to be one of my personal favorites."
> twilight returned the alicorn's radiant smile and turned her eyes to the tale, which celestia had just opened to its first page

> although she had never entered a proper courtship, celestia had always been convinced that she would be unable to care for any children of her own as long as she ruled equestria, and as such had always believed that she would never experience that which was the love a mother has for her child
> however, as she beheld the warmth that filled her chest and nearly rivaled that of her own sun, celestia began to reconsider her hitherto acceptance of perceived fate
> was it wrong to regard the filly as her own in some way?
> perhaps
> but perhaps it was also what she had so desperately been lacking in her unremarkable few thousands years as equestria's diarch
> celestia ultimately decided that it couldn't hurt to be a little selfish once in a while and clutched her wing closer to twilight's small form
> after ensuring the filly was settled just right, celestia gently cleared her throat

> "Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria..."