My Role To The Princess
by The Sleepless Beholder
First published
Through long anxious nights and angry early mornings I stand at her side, giving her majesty what she desperately needs... a friend.
Through long anxious nights and angry early mornings I stand at her side, giving her majesty what she desperately needs... a friend.
Inspired by The Contingency Letter written by TCC56.
This is their second bardic inspiration, so if you haven't seen his work, you should. He has a bit of everything.
Anxiety
“Inkwell! Good to see you. Will you take the usual?” Tea Cup asks, smiling as he pokes his head out of the kitchen.
“I’ll need it to be a bit stronger than usual, today will be a long night,” I tell him while cleaning my glasses. “And add two or three slices of cake.”
“Oh, one of those nights,” Tea Cup says as he dives back into the kitchen. “I had hoped the return of her sister would end the long nights.”
“They’ll probably never stop.” I rub my eyes to keep them from staying shut. “I had hoped so too. Luckily, we still have you around. Your tea is her majesty’s favorite.”
“I do my best so she can be at peace.” He says while finishing my order.
“And she really appreciates it,” I say as my horn lights up and picks up the coffee and tea he offers me and a small tray with four slices of cake.
“You don’t want a waiter to help you?” Tea Cup offers, as always.
“I got it. Thank you.” I wave him goodbye before marching off towards Celestia’s bedroom.
The castle's very quiet at this time of night with most of, if not all, the staff except the night guard going to bed to be ready for tomorrow. Celestia and I would be some of them, but the princess wouldn’t be able to rest yet.
Not until she was sure Twilight was safe.
I knock the door to Celestia’s bedroom out of politeness before entering, and I find her right where I expected her to be; looking out the window, with the same expression she had every time she looked at the face of her sister plastered on the moon.
“I brought your tea, your majesty,” I inform her before placing the cup at her side, and silently add the plate full of cake. “Has it begun already?”
“Not yet,” Celestia answers before lifting the cup with her magic. “Why did it have to be an Ursa?”
“At least it isn’t a Major,” I tell her before sipping my coffee.
“It shouldn’t be any kind of Ursa!” Celestia protests. “What’s even the lesson here?!” She crams one of the slices of cake into her mouth and chews anxiously.
I remain as calm as I can. “I guess we’ll know when your student writes her report.” I watch as she eats another slice of cake, already reaching out for a third. “Shouldn’t the return of your sister prove that your visions are to be trusted?”
Celestia shooks her head, almost disgusted with the question itself. “A thousand things could’ve gone wrong.”
“But a thousand things went right,” I counter. “And while she still needs some time to fully recuperate, your sister's back at your side.”
“She shouldn’t have ever been gone in the first place.”
“You didn’t have visions back then.”
“How convenient!” She shouts, immediately sighing her anger away and slumping down. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry your majesty. I understand how difficult it is for you.” I assure her, offering the last slice of cake.
Celestia’s head suddenly perks up, and she moves closer to the window. “It’s starting.” I could see all her muscles tensing, and made a mental note to squeeze some hours in the private spa for her tomorrow. “Please... Twilight… everypony... be safe.”
I look out the window, but Ponyville is too far away for me to distinguish anything, so I’m forced to rely on Celestia’s reactions.
I watch as her eyes focus fiercely on the distance, threatening to pop out at any moment. The marble windowsill starts to crack under her tense grip, and her wings are but a simple cry of pain away from extending and sending her straight into Ponyville.
But she never does. She remains fixed to the ground, holding her breath, thinking a mile a minute, going through list after list of things that could go wrong, shortening her luckily long lifetime with anxiety, until finally... the danger passess.
I quickly catch her as she practically deflates from her previous tension, but it’s a good sign. “I got you.”
“Thank you, Raven,” she says before returning to her usual regal pose, albeit more dishevelled than normal. “For always being here.”
I smile, picking up the empty plate and mugs. “Thank you for letting me be here.”
She copies my smile before taking the dishes from me and teleporting them to the kitchen. “It’s one of the best decisions I’ve made.” She looks back through the window, and her smile fades. “We should send some aid for the magician.”
I sigh. “You know we can’t.”
“You can't tell me that she’s destined to be homeless and starving,” she says angrily, but not directed at me. She’s still looking out the window.
I shake my head. “We can’t interfere with what’s shown in your dreams unless it asks you to. Whatever’s giving you these visions must have a plan.”
“If their plan is to make my ponies suffer, then they can-” Celestia stops herself for a second before looking away. “You know.”
A giggle escapes my lips. “I share the sentiment. But it hasn’t betrayed us.”
“Yet,” Celestia added somberly.
“It won’t.”
“How can you be sure?” She asks, turning her head towards me.
“I’m not, but expecting everything to go wrong will kill you. As well as many things that will come in the future if Twilight isn’t ready to stop them.” I explain calmly, defusing the situation like many times before. “Your sister was just the first.”
Celestia says nothing, staring out the window for some very long minutes.
I wait right beside her.
Eventually, she lets out a long sigh, and moves towards the bed. “I hope I won’t dream tonight.”
“I’ll be here in the morning,” I say before going for the door.
“Good night, Raven,” she says as she settles into bed. “And thank you.”
“Good night, your majesty.” I close the door and move to the next room to the right, where my own bedroom resides.
When I arrived at the castle, I was told this was once Sunset Shimmer’s room. They had cleared it out for me and what little things I had brought from Ponyville. It was a clear sign that Celestia had chosen me as her assistant for a reason.
I always wonder if that reason came from a dream.
Once I’m in bed, I fiddle with my little horn till I hear it detach from my skull and set it on my end table before going to sleep.
Guilt
I wake up ten minutes before my alarm goes off, having the feeling that today would be difficult. Hopefully, it won't be related to Celestia’s visions.
I rise from my bed and grab my horn, placing it against the small indent in my skull till I feel it click in place, sending a small electric shock down my spine as the magic activates. I test it by lifting my alarm clock and setting it off before putting on my glasses and tying my hair into its usual bun.
After my morning routine, I walk out of my room and go over to Celestia’s, knocking softly despite knowing that she’s probably already up.
“Come in,” she says me with a tone of voice that already tells me she had a bad vision.
Stepping inside, I find her sitting in front of her desk, staring at a piece of parchment like if it had just insulted her sister.
“You need to send her a letter again?” I ask as I get closer, hoping that it would be something simple like the ticket incident.
“A dragon...” she answers, her hooves scratching the floor as her frown deepens. “I have to send them off to face a dragon.”
I immediately ask myself the obvious questions; Why a dragon? What kind of lesson is this about? Why them?, but it would be useless to say them outloud. Celestia's already thinking about them right now.
“Do we know specifics?”
“The dragon resides in a mountain not far from Ponyville. Its snoring is sending smoke clouds that could cover all of Equestria for years.”
“That’s… wrong. Not even the Dragon Lord can produce that much smoke,” I say with a confused frown.
“Yet that’s what I have to tell Twilight.” Celestia’s glare moves to the ink and quill beside the parchment. “Not only I can’t go myself, I have to lie to her.” Her head turns towards the bedroom window. “Why? Is feigning ignorance not enough?”
“Twilight does have Fluttershy in her group of friends, she should make this ‘mission’ fairly easy. We don’t have much to worry about,” I say, trying to pull her away from those thoughts.
“Fluttershy’s also scared of her own shadow,” Celestia remarks. “She could freeze, lose her voice, get sent back home, and then they would be defenseless against the dragon.”
“Maybe that will be the lesson they learn from this,” I offer, moving closer to her.
“Do they need to learn it by facing an adult dragon? Couldn’t it be something smaller?”
“Sadly, we don’t get to choose what teaches those lessons.”
Celestia said nothing, still looking out the window, at the mountains near Ponyville. “I could be there.”
“You can’t,” I remind her.
She didn’t seem to hear me. “I know where the cave is. I can stand near it with a spell of invisibility and watch over them.”
“No,” I say firmly. “You’ll interfere and ruin everything these visions have given you. The entire kingdom may suffer.”
Celestia turns around, glaring at me with intense fury. “I’ve kept this kingdom in harmony for a thousand years! I can deal with the consequences!”
“Like you did with Sunset?!”
Suddenly, the princess extends her wings violently, creating an air current that threw away everything in the room that wasn’t nailed to the floor, and her eyes burn with pure anger.
But I hold my ground and stare back, knowing that she would never harm me.
We remain at a standstill for a few seconds, her chest heaving with every breath, until finally, the fire in her eyes fades, and she lowers her wings along with her head.
“You’re right...” she says, her voice sad and tired. “I should know better.”
I move her mane aside so she can see me smile. “We both know this isn’t easy.”
She lifts her head till we’re at eye level, and her gaze worries me. “How’re you still here?”
I tilt my head to the side. “What do you mean?”
“Over the last thousand years, there have been at least a hundred ponies with the same task as you. All of them ended up leaving my side eventually, but you’ve remained as my assistant far longer than any of them.” I could see the hint of tears at the edges of her eyes. “How have you not grown tired of my endless complaints? Of reminding me the same things over and over again. Going out of your way for me despite the fact that I only bring you hardship.”
“I would never leave you,” I say without hesitation. “I would never, even in a thousand years, consider letting you deal with all of this on your own.”
Celestia slowly shooks her head, with a small smile on her lips. “You’re too good to be stuck here with me.”
“Also… I really like the horn,” I joke, pointing at my head, and I smile when the princess laughs.
“I should see that they add some more spells to it,” she offers me as she stands up.
“I think levitation is enough for an Earth Pony,” I tell her with a smile before looking at the mess she had made of the bedroom, spotting the little ink jar spilled on the floor. “I’ll get you some more writing supplies.”
Celestia looks at the ruined parchment on the floor with defeat. “Yes… I’ll need them.”
I close the door to her room and move to her office, taking a little detour to ask Tea Cup to prepare a special breakfast for the princess.
“You were right about Fluttershy,” I say before taking another bite off my muffin. “Yet they still succeeded.”
“He attacked them,” Celestia retorts, shoving an entire slice of cake into her mouth.
“They’re fine. Just a hard hit, nothing they couldn’t have suffered in their everyday lives.”
She remains silent for a few long seconds, and then takes me by surprise with a question. “Why did he breath smoke instead of fire?”
I struggle to find a quick answer. It was an odd occurrence. “Maybe he didn’t want to truly hurt them? Just scare them off?”
Celestia didn’t seem convinced. “Do you think whatever’s giving me these visions is also influencing the events? The two colts finding an Ursa Minor without her mother nearby. The Elements activating in the nick of time. And the dragon happens to be relatively harmless despite being angered.”
“I… I guess it’s a possibility.” I take a quick sip of my coffee. “Giving you visions would also count as influencing the events.”
Celestia looks out the window of the dining room, watching the sunset in the horizon. “So, it isn’t helping me, just keeping me from interfering in its plans.”
“Antagonizing it won’t bring anything good to us,” I say quickly to stop her from going down that path again.
“I know.” She takes a sip of her tea, the herbs in it help to calm her down. “But I don’t trust it. It’s clearly using us for something.”
“Apparently, but at least that something is beneficial for us.”
After a few seconds of silence, Celestia stands up, using her magic to send her empty plate and cup to the kitchen. “I think I'll need some early rest today. I'll see you in the morning.”
I nod. “Goodnight, your majesty.”