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clippedwingsmuses · 5 days ago

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twilight half feels her nerve break at the shift in the queen's tone, as if she was suddenly forced back into the conversation. had she really been so out of it by the time words finished spilling from her running mouth? perhaps her sense of awareness had begun to plummet. her inability to split the difference between thought and speech was surely obvious. her jaw moves, teeth parting to open her tinted lips. they clack together and silence her before they do. half-lidded eyes seem to stare through the tablecloth, the table, the floor.

a moment of contemplation passes. her lips open, eyes shut, snout tilted toward the ceiling. she inhales. her head tilts down, parallel to the table, eyes catching the queen's. her voice carries a sense of longing when she lets her thoughts be said outloud.

" even with the council of friendship's meetings... i do miss the early days of our friendship. when all of equestria didn't know our names, " twilight muses, drawing circles with a hoof on the table. " i know i would enjoy the peace with them alone but, i feel as though it would be dishonest of me to fade into the background. to... hide. "

twilight shakes her head as she lifts it. she didn't like being recognized, but... it was as luna had said; ponies should be able to see her as a mare, not a princess or empress. a friend. more than the role she had been given, and taken on. how could she form that opinion if she only ever worked? golden clad hoof sorts through the pages in her notepad. her quill pens a title for this newest section as it had the former. it seems to write of its own accord as she speaks, following luna's recollection of memory.

" that was different. you deserved—and still do deserve—to be seen as 'luna' and not 'nightmare'. " she flinches, uncomfortable herself saying the name. she quickly continues before the topic has room to change. " i wasn't born of trauma, or, um... raw emotion, i suppose. i was just a mare, and then... "

she was born as the element of magic. she grew to be the princess of friendship. she was elected to be the equestrian empress... with the destruction of the elements the six of them had reawakened, the tree that gave them their magic... one could say they were now then the nurturers of harmony. to her own endeavors, to equestria's continued future... she and her friends were more than just friends, more than just their elements... they were everything.

" ...pinkie would be better suited as an icon of friendship, and it's for that exact reason, " twilight's ears stood upright. hooves twitched, pins and needles in her skin. " there's not a pony or creature around who she doesn't consider a friend. isn't... that what the icon of friendship is supposed to be..? "

" ...nevermind. i suppose i really am overthinking it... what if's and what could've been's don't serve to change the situation. " twilight takes a breath. another finished cup has lukewarm glass from her hooves holding it so often. " i really do need a break, don't i... i've been so busy since she's been gone, it seems the memorial is the only place i acknowledge the passage of time. "

she debates filling her glass again. the food she's left untouched has already begun to grow cold. it is unpleasant to pick up at all. it's difficult for her to finish it, but wasting it isn't a great feeling either. she decides she need not another drink if she's going to stand up soon anyways. at least she isn't working on an empty stomach. her energy will quickly replenish.

" but, luna, are you sure you could handle things if i wasn't here? " twilight's ears perk, some life returning to her coat and eyes again. " i could put together an agenda of things to do, but i'd have to get in touch with some of my associates to see what i can reasonably postpone or pass down. "

the empress looks absolutely miserable and luna hates it. was this what her sister intended for the young mare? to be sentenced to such a life because of some supposed destiny? it wasn't fair and it was unacceptable. equestria needed harmony to function - she doesn't want to find out what happens if that harmony is broken again because one of the nation's leaders can't be happy. the princess of friendship with no friends might as well be a pegasus with no wings.

that has to change. maybe once they finally put celestia to rest properly, twilight could move on and find that spark again. luna downs a carafe of coffee, effectively pushing off sleep for a few more hours. the sun warms her back, seeping into her feathers, wrapping around her in so familiar a grasp her throat tightens.

"well that just won't do," she states bluntly. no room for arguing. luna might still struggle socially after all these years, moreso with loss, but surely she could figure out some way to get twilight that space to relax. "this weekend-" ears pin and feathers fluff at horrid sound. hm. perhaps they should postpone working on celestia's memorial so the poor purple mare could get some rest. before something was broken. luna has to force her jaw to unclench before she can continue. "this weekend, you will go to ponyville. you will leave all your duties to me. invite cadance should you wish."

sea green eyes fix on the younger as if they spoke of battle plans not days off. "but you will go see your friends. i can teach you how to disguise yourself if you don't want to be noticed. or there are spells to make others look over you as though you weren't even there." celestia and her had matching personas, of course. sunny and starry skies when they wanted to go out without crowns.

her voice softens. "they miss you. i don't need to look into their dreams to see that." ponies lives were so brief so short who knew how long twilight's friends had. "my sister did not send you there so you could end up not having any friends at all. we are social creatures regardless of rank. let ponies see you as you are. they should know you up close. the more you walk among them, the more they see you as just a mare. not a princess or an empress. a friend."

she suddenly smiles and shoves three more pancakes in her mouth, cheeks stuffed until she can chew enough to swallow. "do you remember when you taught me about fun? you took off the mask of nightmare so i could be seen. ponyville forgot who i was when i showed them i was just like them. i like games and playing pranks and eating popcorn."

a poor icon she is. a bad example. dark hoof props up her chin to keep those words safe in her mouth. "maybe don't think of it as a role? you are magic. you are friendship. if you don't overthink it too much, it might come naturally." luna blinks, head tilting in confusion. clearly she was missing information on pinkie pie. "how would you follow in her hoofsteps? i'm not sure her approach really...fits you. or at least i've never seen you flit about like she does, never knowing the meaning of 'stranger.'"

#CROWMUN WRITE A THREAD RESPONSE IN UNDER 2 MONTHS CHALLENGE (IMPOSSIBLE) (MOTIVATION DIED)#:/: ic #:/: thread #:/: TWILIGHT . ɪ ᴄᴀɴ'ᴛ ᴡᴀɪᴛ ᴛᴏ ɢᴏ ʜᴏᴍᴇ #:/: int. reignoctis #:/: v.: main verse

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clippedwingsmuses · 8 days ago

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