‘Destiny’ and Other Lies Told to Foals
Alternate Ending
By Sunchaser (with thanks to M.A. Larson)
Lavender caught the corner of her eye, and she felt a familiar warmth settle down beside her, and a comforting nuzzle against her neck.
"I'm sorry, Celestia. I didn't mean to."
The sun princess was seized just then with terrible, wonderful feeling, cheeks tingling and eyes burning with threat of tears, and it took a great deal of strength for her to choke back the cresting urge to break down and cry right then and there, not least because she knew it would be forgiven.
But she fought it down, and her turbulent heart was reduced to little more than a shaky breath as she laid her head atop Twilight's own, consoling in the comfort.
"I know you didn't, Twilight" she said quietly, her voice steady and composed. But a part of her suspected that, just as she had caught her moment of pain before, the unicorn beside her knew, at least in part, the truth of her feelings just then.
They laid there together for a long moment, in company of the crackling fire and pattering midnight rain.
"...I think," Twilight eventually said, stirring from the hushed embrace, "that the real reason that dream scared me so much was that if you did just arrange my life for me..."
Twilight drew her head up and looked to Celestia, her eyes wide and tremulous.
"I mean, I don't actually know if you can, but if you did just make me an alicorn, and crown me a princess, and, well, whatever else...I don't think I would say no."
To this Celestia said nothing, but just softly smiled as she looked back at the adoring unicorn who had come to define such a great part of her life.
So rich and sparkling, those amethyst eyes. So trusting, admiring...yearning. Dear Twilight, you would do anything I asked of you.
Everything I've always hoped for you; wealth, titles, prestige; accolades, influence, distinguished position...
Twilight was starting to blush now, just a little, unused as she was to such intent attention.
Even those things I only ever so much as dreamed in my most secret moments. The confidant I've always wanted, the daughter I never had, maybe even—
And now the unicorn was burning scarlet, but still she didn't look away.
...All I have to do is ask. She would never refuse me. All I have to do is say a few words, just reach out, and...
"I almost wonder if it isn't perhaps a sign," the princess mused quietly, smiling warmly at her student. "This dream of yours, Twilight. While I would never condone that kind of...gross manipulation, I also can't say that I've never spared thought to possibility of you becoming an alicorn."
Twilight blinked, surprise plain on her face. "You...you have?"
"Your magical talent is self-evident, my student," Celestia replied, nodding. "In fact, I would say that you have already surpassed the level of power that I had going into my own ascension. And for that matter...that book you dreamed of, Twilight—Starswirl's last work, and its interplay with the Elements..."
The sun princess' horn lit in quiet gold, and a plain book with dark gray cover was drawn from a nearby shelf, and settled down before the pair, its engraved cover silently promising great and momentous potential.
"The last spellbook of Starswirl the Bearded," Twilight breathed reverently, reaching a hesitant hoof toward the volume, as to make sure it was truly real.
"Yes, my student. But contrary to your dream, it is not incomplete. Starswirl finished his last work, his ultimate study of the Elements of Harmony."
"You mean...? Twilight whispered, half eager and half terrified, and Celestia slowly nodded.
"Yes. The spell you dreamed of is quite real, Twilight Sparkle. Starswirl the Bearded's Rite of Harmonic Ascension."
Twilight was silent for a moment, her hooves fidgeting as she stared at the book before her, and all it implied.
"So it is possible. I could become an alicorn princess, like in my dream."
"It is possible, Twilight, yes, but not as you dreamed it—I would never allow such a thing to be forced upon you. This is just...one of the choices you may pursue, if you so wish."
The unicorn's eyes went wide, and her gaze turned from the book to her mentor.
"You would be alright with that? My just up and becoming an alicorn? And a princess of Equestria?"
Celestia laughed quietly.
"I think that you may not truly grasp the scale of your accomplishments, my student. You are arguably the most talented and intelligent unicorn in all Equestria; the pony who returned the Elements of Harmony to living magic. You also thus bear Magic itself, and with it have saved this land and its ponies from catastrophe, the sort that even I could not attend, no less than three times. You are a demonstrated leader, a compassionate soul, and a diligent servant of the public good. If these things do not qualify one to be an alicorn princess, then I should perhaps consider abdication."
"...Huh," Twilight said sheepishly, blushing under the praise. "I...guess there's all that. But Princess, you would really be alright with it?"
"If it is something that you want to pursue, of your own choice," Celestia said, her voice serene, "then I would guide you along the way, my faithful student."
The young unicorn took a long moment to ponder, her expression at times torn, or hopeful, or worried, but finally settling on timidly optimistic, as she raised her eyes again.
"...Would it make you happy?"
Blinking a few times as she processed the surprise query, Celestia eventually settled into a warm smile, as she gazed back into tremulous amethyst eyes.
"...Yes, Twilight. Yes it would."
~~~~~
Twilight turned to look back, smiling, shuffling her hooves a little. Her tiara was a touch off center; sitting on a head unused to crowns. Well, it would adjust.
She would adjust.
Celestia smiled in return, bright, warm, and sincere, and Twilight blushed a little, trying to hide it by quickly turning back to the adoring crowds in the castle square below. They exalted their new princess, to a pony, as Celestia had known they would.
Twilight's new wings fluttered beneath her ceremonial dress, betraying the excitement of their owner. She was hesitant, and precocious, and so adorably unsure of herself in the face of those thousands of loving subjects, but...
She was happy.
She would always be, Celestia knew. She would see to it personally. Her Twilight would always be happy.
Always.
Her Twilight.
Always.