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A Second Chance

by Jay David

Chapter 42: A Phoenix and a Warning

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There are many things that one would assume to find in the middle of a local bakery. Cakes. Pastries. Customers looking for something to satisfy their sweet tooth. What they wouldn't expect to finds was a pair of alicorn princesses. And yet, there they were, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, both sitting beside each other on a massive table inside Sugar Cube Corner, being attended to by the bakery's owners, the Cakes. Beside the princesses sat their closest friends here in Ponyville, most notably Twilight and her fellow Element-bearers. The young unicorn turned to her long-time mentor and smiled warmly, which was promptly returned by the elder alicorn sister. This is nice, Twilight thought to herself. No threats. No catastrophes. Just me and her...and our friends of course. As Twilight began to levitate a particularly delicious slice of cake into her mouth, her eyes glanced to the side, seeing Luna conversing happily with Rarity. A smile crossed her face as she saw this. It's good to see Luna interacting more. I can't remember seeing her so happy. And yet, here she is, everypony treating her like the princess she is. A brief laugh escaped her with that thought. Here's hoping we can avoid that unpleasantness with Nightmare Night this year.

As Twilight swallowed the cake in her mouth, she turned as Princess Celestia glanced in her direction.

"I cannot begin to tell you how much I've been looking forward to this visit, Twilight."

Twilight smiled back at her after hearing that.

"Me too, Princess. It's so good to get to talk to you when there isn’t anything crazy going on."

Celestia nodded.

"Indeed. My workload has been getting rather hectic back at the palace. I've been needing to get away for some time. And I can think of no better place to do that than Ponyville."

A small smirk crossed the princess' face after saying that.

"Did I ever tell you about my involvement with this town's founding?"

Gaining a smirk of her own, Twilight leaned in closer, keeping her voice hushed so that nopony else could hear her.

"No...but you will."

A moment or two passed as Celestia took in those words, until finally, a look of understanding crept onto her face, complete with a knowing smile.

"Ah...understood."

The two mares giggled together, sharing their private joke, which did a lot to put Twilight at ease. It's so good, having Celestia know my secret. I can't believe I was foolish enough to hide it from her for as long as I did. I know my future self had her reasons...but she forgot how important it is to have Celestia in her...my...our lives. Sighing at her thoughts, Twilight levitated a nearby glass of water to her mouth, taking a single sip before glancing to her right. There, meekly poking her own cake, was Fluttershy, who had been as quiet as a dormouse during all of this. A look of concern crossed Twilight's face as she regarded her friend. Fluttershy...today was not destined to be a good one for you, not after that bird gave you the run-around. Twilight's eyes narrowed with that thought, turning her head to look upon an ornate golden cage that lay beside Celestia. At this moment, nothing could be seen, but Twilight knew better. Go ahead, Philomena, just try and get the better of my friend, I dare you! As if the bird had actually read her mind, there was a sudden and loud spluttering from the cage, causing many a feather to fly outwards. Twilight narrowed her eyes at this, but Fluttershy looked to the cage with curiosity.

"Um...did that cage just...cough?"

Celestia turned to the timid pegasus and put on a small smile.

"Oh! How rude of me! This is my dear friend, Philomena! Come on now, introduce yourself."

On command, the bird immediately climbed up onto it's stand within the cage, looking just as ragged and half-dead as Twilight remembered. Turning, she saw that Fluttershy was looking at the bird, utterly aghast at what she was seeing. I don't blame you, Fluttershy. The first time around, I was just as unsure about the thing as you were. Now though...I know better. Twilight pondered over the matter for some time, before eventually breaking out into a wide smile, turning to Princess Celestia as she did so.

"I say, Princess? It must be interesting, having a creature as rare as a phoenix be your pet."

Celestia looked at her student, raising an eyebrow over her emphasis of her words. When she saw her face, however, she noted immediately that Twilight's grin was a forced one, and her eyes were darting from her, to Fluttershy and then back again. It took a moment, but Celestia's eyes began to widen, perhaps understanding her student's unspoken message, before putting on another smile.

"Yes, indeed. You can't find them except in very special areas of Equestria. And, of course, owning one is a tremendous responsibility, especially when they reach the end of their regular life-cycles like this."

Fluttershy, having heard that, immediately lost her previous worried look, and instead bore a curious expression as she looked to her diarch.

"Um...regular...?"

It was obvious that she didn't understand what was being said, and Celestia giggled slightly before beginning to explain herself.

"Oh, I do apologise, my dear. You see, phoenixes go through several life cycles over many years. They grow physically older and more frail, like Philomena is doing so here, before magically bursting into flames."

As expected, Fluttershy let out an "eep" after hearing that, prompting Celestia to speak in a calmer and more reassuring tone.

"But...from those ashes, the bird rises anew, fresh and healthy again, as if they'd never had a sick day in their entire lives. Why...they're practically immortal."

Fluttershy looked on in awe as Celestia explained that, turning to Philomena. The bird was still coughing and spluttering like before, but this time, Fluttershy seemed less concerned than before.

"So...Philomena will be alright?"

Celestia smiled warmly, speaking with the same kind of caring tone that a Mother would to her child.

"Of course, sweet thing. You have nothing to worry about."

Fluttershy, at first, seemed unsure about that, which was understandable, given the poor state the bird seemed to be in right now. But, one look at Celestia let the young pegasus know that truth had been spoken here, and that Philomena would indeed recover from what she was going through. Letting out a sigh of relief, Fluttershy gave a small smile of appreciation to Celestia before turning back to her own meal, which she began to eat with more enthusiasm before. Twilight, smiling at seeing her friend more perked up than before, turned to her teacher, mouthing a silent "thank you" as she did so. Seeing this, Celestia gave a brief wink before turning to her tea, magically levitating it to her mouth before taking a single sip. With the matter settled, Twilight turned to Philomena, smirking at her as she did so. Not this time, Philomena. Not this time.


"Delivery?"

The confusion in Twilight's voice was clear, much like it was in her expression. However, as she and Celestia stood together, in a room adjacent to the main festivities of the rest of Sugar Cube Corner, the diarch merely smiled warmly at her apprentice and nodded. She closed her eyes and caused her horn to glow its usual golden colour. There was a brief flash of light and, in an instant, a scroll now hovered before the princess. Twilight watched it carefully as Celestia levitated it closer to her. Nervously, the young unicorn accepted it, using her own magic to open the scroll and read it. As she did so, the princess watched with a knowing smile as Twilight's eyes covered line after line. In time, her expression became one of shock, and a slight blush appeared on her cheeks as she looked up to Celestia. She...she knows? How? Did Shining tell her? No, he wouldn't betray a confidence like that. She had to have found out some other way. Seeing the way her student's eyes were darting about, Celestia giggled slightly, speaking up in a soft and calm manner.

"You should know by now, Twilight. Very little happens in Canterlot without my knowledge. As soon as your brother dropped it off, I was made aware of it by the ones who received it."

Twilight rolled up the parchment, looking away from her mentor, partly out of embarrassment, but also out of shame for having kept her in the dark on this matter. However, the princess stepped forward, placing a hoof gently under her student's chin and guiding her up to look at her again.

"You needn't worry, Twilight. I am not angry at you. Though, I am surprised that you've decided to do this. It's a big change, after all."

Chuckling nervously, Twilight nodded.

"Yeah...Shining said the same thing. But...my decision still stands. I'm going through with it. It's been a long time coming."

Celestia nodded in response to that.

"I can understand that. So...when are you going to tell Spike?"

Twilight sighed, looking at the ground briefly.

"I...I need to wait for the right moment. But it'll be soon, I know that much."

A warm smile crept onto Celestia's face after hearing that, and she gently placed a hoof on her student's shoulder.

"Well...you should know I'm very proud of you, and I hope this decision brings you and him a great deal of happiness."

Twilight smiled at that. Thank you, Princess. That means a lot to me to hear you say that. However, as she considered that, a gnawing feeling began to form in the pit of her stomach. I...I have to tell her. It won't be long now and she needs to prepare. It won't be something she'll want to hear, but she has to. Clearing her throat, Twilight fumbled her words a couple of times before finally managing to get out what she needed to say.

"Princess...can I make a request?"

The diarch of the sun raised an eyebrow at the way her student had said that, but nevertheless nodded her head, prompting Twilight to continue.

"It's just...it might be a good idea for you and Luna to start putting a few protective wards around Canterlot. You know, I case...things happen."

The smile Celestia had worn earlier began to vanish, now replaced by a look of concern.

"I take it this is an...upcoming issue?"

Twilight nodded, leading to Celestia sighing somewhat.

"I see. Very well, I'll speak to Luna about it. Tell me, what kind of magic will we need to protect the city against?"

The words stuck in Twilight's throat, and Celestia could see that she was distressed about something. When she finally did speak, it was not what the princess had been expecting.

"Chaos."

There was a still silence in the air as the elder alicorn stared at her pupil. She looked right into Twilight's eyes, seeing nothing but truth there, and her heart sank. Celestia shook her head, very slowly, with realisation covering her face, almost to the point of being horrified, before finally speaking again, albeit in a very hushed tone.

"No...no! That...that can't be! Twilight, my dearest student! Please, in the name of everything good and right in this world, tell me that this is some kind of joke!"

But Twilight merely shook her head.

“I’m sorry...but he is returning, and soon."

Silence fell once more, and Celestia hung her head low, avoiding eye-contact with her student. Guilt overflowed in Twilight's heart as the reality of this sunk in. If there is one thing I hate above everything else, it's giving bad news to those I love. A genuinely apologetic look crossed Twilight’s face as Celestia looked up again, staring at her right in the eye. In time, the princess finally spoke again.

"...When?"

Twilight let out a sigh before answering.

"A few weeks. A month at most."

Celestia nodded at that.

"The Elements..."

But she was stopped from continuing by a raised hoof from Twilight.

"Don’t worry about the Elements. I have that under control."

Celestia saw the look of determination on Twilight's face, knowing her student had meant every word at that, and exhaled deeply. It took some time, but she slowly reached up to her full height again, taking a few breaths to calm herself.

"So...after all these centuries...he is returning."

Twilight remained silent, merely nodding in response. Celestia looked away, a slight frown appearing on her face.

"I suppose it was foolish of me to think he’d be gone forever. Very well, Twilight, I will prepare the city, though I trust you know I won't openly be announcing this."

Twilight nodded again.

"I understand. It’d just put ponies in a panic if either of us did that. We have to keep this under the radar."

Celestia nodded, looking past her student. Twilight turned, seeing the door that led to the main room of the bakery. Behind that door, everypony is still celebrating, without a care in the world. Little do they know that the catalyst for one of the darkest chapters in Equestrian history is about to break free of his prison, ready to wreak havoc just as he did in ages past. Celestia knows him well, and she knows how severe this is. If my plan fails, then either her, Luna or the Elements will be needed. Turning back to her mentor, Twilight placed a hoof up to her shoulder, gaining her attention. It took a while, but the white alicorn eventually smiled down at her.

"Thank you, Twilight...for warning me."

Twilight smiled back, just before Celestia took a deep breath and spoke up again.

"Now then...let's get back to the party. We don't want anypony sending out search parties for us."

Twilight giggled somewhat.

"Lead the way, Princess."

Celestia giggled as well, walking back to the main area of celebration, leaving Twilight behind her. With her teacher no longer looking at her, however, Twilight smile faded as she regarded her. Oh, Princess. You forget...I know a forced smile when I see one now.

Next Chapter: Three Fillies and a Drake Estimated time remaining: 13 Hours, 54 Minutes
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