Time Never Dreamed
An Unpleasant Surprise

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and all associated intellectual property is owned by Hasbro.
This is a fan-made story, and it is not designed to make any profit for anyone.
Now this is a story all about how
Twi's life got flipped, turned upside down.
Now, I'd like to take a minute, just sit right there;
I'll tell you how she became the Equestrian Princesses' mare.

Celestia’s mind had been muddled, baffled by the situation staring her in the face. All the normal questions raced through her mind: How did this happen? When did it happen, and why? What had caused it? Who had caused it?

Well, there was one thing she knew: if anypony – anypony – found out about this, there would be devastating scandal. No-one would come forth to claim the child, so it would be assumed that the foal was her own. And she was sure, whatever had happened, none would believe it; she scarcely believed it herself. Questions would be raised, questions she had no answer to, and it would be difficult to maintain her reputation and influence.

As the thoughts rolled around in her head, her look of bemusement continued for a while – how long, she couldn’t tell – but she flinched a little when she saw the foal begin to stir.

With a wide yawn, Twilight rolled onto her back and stretched her legs. She rubbed at her face, opened her violet eyes and stared back at the Princess above her. Another few moments of locked gazes passed. So intense was the contest of glares, Celestia didn’t even notice that she’d moved yet closer to the tiny filly, her rear legs almost lifting off the ground behind her, and her mane hanging beside Twilight.

The foal lifted a leg up slowly and swatted lightly at the luminescent hair, her hoof running through it; it felt smooth and silky, and light as a cloud. She batted it harder and giggled in mirth. Celestia’s cheeks began to turn a little red, still staring at the child; her worries were all but gone, and the only thought in her mind now was of Twilight.

Twilight turned onto her side and attempted to stand up. Her hooves scraped at the floor a little and her balance was unsteady, but she eventually clambered to her legs. Using her newfound height, she took a clump of the mane in her mouth. Her legs gave way again and she slumped back to the floor, pulling hard on the mane still between her teeth.

The sudden pain snapped Celestia out of her trance, and she yanked her head back, tearing her mane out of the foal’s grip. Lifting herself up to her haunches, Twilight’s face scrunched up, causing tears to form in her eyes.

Unfortunately, yes: the tiny Twilight began bawling. It wasn’t ear-splitting – actually, it wasn’t very loud at all – but to Celestia, wracked with guilt for causing the problem, it sounded worse than a banshee’s wail.

Her voice was filled with panic; a calming, dignified panic, but panic all the same. “Oh no, I’m sorry! Please, don’t cry! It’s okay!”

Her words had no effect. With her magic, Celestia lifted the foal inside and placed her delicately on the bed. A knock came from the door.

“Is everything alright in there, Your Highness?” She instantly recognised the sharp voice of her head maid, Care Gretan, who had obviously heard the crying. She had to think fast; for now, she set up a spell of Silence around Twilight, hoping the maid would think she was imagining the sound.

She answered with a little more volume than she expected. “Yes, everything is fine! You have nothing to worry about!”

A small pause made her anxious; it felt like ages before the response came, even compared to the extensive life she’d lived.

“…Very well, Your Highness. If you have need of anything, please don’t hesitate to let me know.”

And with that, her hoofsteps indicated that the maid had left. And just as well; despite her name, her workers had some stories to tell of her. Apparently, she was very harsh to her staff, making them do tasks beyond them and reprimanding them heavily when they failed, all while using their efforts to improve her own standing among her superiors. No-one was willing to listen to them, and the Princesses themselves only heard the abuse for themselves one day while walking by a corridor that was being cleaned. Still, Celestia guessed that’s why she was still single; one hint of her true nature would send anypony packing.

She turned back to her bed and looked at the foal again. She’d stopped crying, but still had a sullen expression, tears still dripping down her face. Celestia removed the silence spell enshrouding the child just in time to reveal a noisy gurgle from her stomach. The expression turned to surprise, and she then giggled at the grotesque noise, her sadness already forgotten. A warm feeling rose up in Celestia again.

“…Let’s get you something to eat. But you’ve got to be really quiet, okay? Shhhh.”

She put her hoof to her lips, and the child copied her…well, she actually started sucking on her hoof (a little drool ran down her foreleg) but it was close enough.

Celestia lifted Twilight onto her back, supporting the foal with her wings. She then used a little scrying magic to locate any nearby staff: there were three figures just off the eastern corridor – guards by the look of their armour – and two more the southern, likely a poor maid being harassed by Gretan. However, the western corridor, the one leading to the kitchens, was empty. Thank Heavens it was Sunday – most palace staff would be enjoying their day off – though she was worried what she would do were this affliction to last more than a day, and the castle become much busier.

With Twilight secure, she slowly opened her bedroom door and peered through the crack between it and the frame that held it. Her magic had given her an idea of what lay beyond, but she wanted to be sure. Nopony to the left. She poked her head further out. Nopony to the right. All was clear. She tip-hoofed into the corridor, and when she couldn’t hear anypony around, she broke into a sneaky canter.

The trip to the kitchens was mostly uneventful; the only trouble arose when Twilight squealed – why, Celestia wasn’t quite sure, but it wasn’t one of the mirthful or unhappy noises she’d heard earlier – and a few guards down the hall heard it. She’d ducked into a nearby reading room to evade them.

As the kitchen door stood in front of her, Celestia renewed her scrying magic, seeing if anypony was in the room. It looked empty, so she quietly opened the door and crept in, locking it behind her.

“Right, what should I get for you? …First of all though, where is everything?”

She placed the child on one of the tables and began opening cupboards and drawers around the room. Flour…no, that’s no good…nor that…gems? Must be for when we have dragon visitors. Hmm…ah, here we are!

She pulled out a small roll of hay from the cupboard she’d just been in and levitated it over to Twilight.

The foal looked at it quizzically; she sniffed at it, and then turned up her nose. She clearly wasn’t going to eat it, and no-one was going to make her.

“Come on, Twilight”, Celestia urged, “hay is good for you, and delicious to boot!”

Twilight turned away from it, lying down in the opposite direction. The sullen look on her face was not going anywhere while that hay was still there.

“…I thought you loved hay. Perhaps it is your age. What else do we have?” She continued her search after putting the strands of hay back. The next item of interest she found was in the fridge.

She gathered a bowl and spoon that she’d found in previously searched cupboards, pouring a little milk into the former. She dipped the spoon in and held it up to Twilight. “Here you go. Not all at once, now.”

The foal sat up again, intrigued by the spoon floating in front of her. She put a tiny hoof on each side and her mouth to the edge, and then lifted it up until the milk slid down her throat. Once she’d finished the spoonful, she gave a gasp of satisfaction; looks like Celestia had struck gold with the milk. She filled another spoonful with a smile, and only smiled more as Twilight happily slurped down the next.

Once the bowl was empty, Celestia put them over to one side and lifted Twilight between her hooves at foreleg’s length.

Celestia was thrilled with her success. However, she was less than thrilled with what happened next. Yes, the milk may have gone down, but the vomit then came back up to replace it; it sprayed all over Celestia’s chest and dripped down her body. It felt horribly warm, and obviously horrible. She may have had a look of disgust on her face, but her long-ingrained demeanour would not let her cry out so.

“Well, I suppose you aren’t able to drink milk so easily,” she said, still holding Twilight up. The foal merely looked back at Celestia, more of the bile dribbling down her chin, an empty expression on her face. A disposable cloth appeared from almost nowhere with a pure white aura around it (though it took a short moment for Celestia to find the roll), and it proceeded to dab at Twilight’s mouth and wipe Celestia visibly clean before dropping itself in the bin. Despite the renewed spotlessly-regal appearance of the Princess, the smell was still rather pungent and unladylike.

Twilight gave a whole-hearted laugh as she was placed on Celestia’s back once more, and they began another stealthy trip through the castle.

Another uneventful trip later, the royal bathroom stood before them. Celestia opened the relatively modest door to a wondrous sight, one that comforted her greatly every time she saw it.

It was mostly pure white marble to match her coat, completely circular and about 15 hooves across. It stretched 20 hooves high, and every wall facing away from the castle was made of glass that looked over a beautiful private garden; almost a greenhouse, the room could get very warm in the sun, but it never felt overpowering. A luxurious deep blue carpet lined a path from the door to the edge of the bath, quickly soaking up any residue from a moist occupant. The bath itself took up most of the room, leaving only a few yards of space to stand on; it was deep and crystal clear, and a small waterfall protruding from the back wall ensured it was well-supplied with fresh, clean water.

Not such a large room as one would think a Princess would own, Celestia actually found it to be very cosy, and she enjoyed relaxing in the bath after a hard day’s work, her personal attendants making sure she looked and felt immaculate at all times. It was truly a place where she could forget her worries.

At least, she could when the main cause of her worries was not in the bath with her.

Celestia gave a small sigh and lifted Twilight off her back. She slowly brought a hoof to the water’s surface and felt for the temperature – it was exactly as she always had it, lukewarm enough to slide in without any pain, and then it gradually heated up once she’d fully lowered herself in. She pushed her hoof further in, following with the other front leg and moving forward so the rest of her body could join them. The water always sent a pleasant tingle through her every time the water reached her wings.

Once she’d sat down and rested her back against the side, Celestia quickly scrubbed away at her chest and anywhere else Twilight may have gotten dirty. She then turned around to lift the tiny pony into her forelegs. As Twilight neared the surface, her tail began flicking at the water, sending small sprays around the room; this was apparently incredibly fun, as she’d started giggling uncontrollably again.

Celestia lowered her futher, and she splashed at the water with her hooves as well. A shower hit Celestia square in the snout, and she gave a gasp of surprise; the water had heated faster than she realised. To prevent any more trouble, she pulled Twilight in and held the foal tightly to her chest.

Twilight stopped flailing and looked up at her mentor. With a small squeal of satisfaction, she rubbed her face into Celestia’s chest, wrapping her diminutive forelegs as far around the Princess as they would go. Celestia used this opportunity to lightly wash away the Twilight’s grime, and then laid her head back and closed her eyes, relaxing like she always did, only this time with the addition of an adorable baby in her embrace.

Back in her room, Celestia placed the clean foal on her bed again and closed the curtains on her windows. With the night drawing in, she lit the fire and huddled up next to Twilight. The purple one gave a wide yawn (and the white one followed suit, yawns being contagious) and her eyes struggled to remain open. Celestia moved her under the covers of her bed, the quilt enveloping the child, and the new warmth and comfort sending Twilight off into her dreams.

Today was one of the most tiring days Celestia had ever had; constant meetings and public appearances, she could handle, but this? This was something else entirely; compared to the organising of events and pleasantries to not-so-pleasant ponies, this was completely draining.

And she had yet to figure out how this had come about. It was most likely magic, but what kind of magic? A prankster’s magic? An illusion? Or was it something malicious? Was someone targeting Celestia through her student…or, Heaven forbid, was Twilight herself in immediate danger? She couldn’t bear the thought, and looked at the foal. The bed sheets rose and fell in rhythm with Twilight’s slow breathing, and Celestia decided that, for now, it wasn’t worth the worry; she’d formulate a plan tomorrow.

She laid a hoof on the Twilight’s forehead, hoping that this condition would lose effect soon…but she didn’t want it to end right away. It may not be easy to take care of her, especially for a Princess, but this form of Twilight had brought about feelings previously unknown to her, feelings she didn’t want to let go of just yet.

Perhaps this was the feeling of…motherhood. A mother…something Celestia never dreamed she’d be capable of, or even allowed to do.

Well, the deep thought could wait. For now, she simply slid under the covers – doing her best not to disturb Twilight – and prepared for her own trip to dreamland.

“Apologies for my tardiness! The financial minister seems to love prattling on about his over-worked figures and charts! Anyway, I am here to see you and Twilight Sparkle, dear sister!”

An odd silence hung about the air for a moment. It was, however, quickly pierced by crying. Celestia sat up again with a groan: she’d forgotten Luna wanted to accompany herself and her student come the evening. She reached over and lifted Twilight in her forelegs again, trying to comfort her and send her back to sleep.

Celestia almost grumbled back, “Sister, please go to sleep for tonight. I’ll explain all I know tomorrow.”

Luna slowly nodded and stepped backwards out of the room, closing the door in front of her. She took a step towards her own room.

Celestia, with a baby? What a peculiar situation. I must already be sleeping. A dream. I shall wake up on the morrow and all shall be as it was. Yes…

Time Never Dreamed

by Arcanum Symphonis

An Unpleasant Surprise