Authors Confession:
When I wrote the last chapter, I had this one mapped out completely differently.
Than I had an idea that worked better with a few details and suddenly everypony was doing something else.
Usually I wouldn't be bothered, but I especially mentioned that the intermission would have no effect on the plot.
It does now.
I apologize and hope you can overlook this mistake.
Please enjoy!
---
Twilight enjoyed eating.
She had never made a secret out of her love for Spike’s cooking, the pies of the apple family or the wonders of Sugarcube Corner.
She especially enjoyed the rare times when she had the chance to eat together with the princess. Not only was the food exquisite, it was always a pleasure to watch Celestia eat!
The princess had perfect table manners, an exquisite taste and the stomach size of four average ponies. Additionally, she had to perform the most important and hardest spells in Equestria. In other words: Celestia needed much fuel!
Currently she was delicately and carefully carving her way through a four hoof high pancake pile with about half a pint of syrup, not a single drop landing on her coat or the table.
The unicorn couldn’t help but beam between bites. The food was good and the princess’ obvious happiness was infectious.
Generally, Twilight was doing better than she had expected. Celestia’s presence was as soothing as ever. Instead of slowly boiling in her emotions, she felt safe and cared about.
“So, what are you going to do today?” Twilight asked, as Celestia finished and moved on to her coffee.
“Luna basically cut me off all duties...” the princess answered with a sigh and a smile “I guess I am all yours.”
*URKS*
“Twilight, the coffee is hot. Please be careful...” Celestia tried to soothe the coughing and wheezing unicorn.
“I’m ok-cough- princess. Just -cough- got it in the wrong pipe...” the lavender mare explained between coughs, trying to get the liquid out of throat, nose and lower windpipe. She was glad that the little accident would hide her blush. *NOT LIKE THAT!*
“So: What do you want to do?” Celestia asked happily.
“Erm...” Twilight said, looking upwards. *Maybe we could just get something to drink, lie down on the sofa or in bed and just talk? --- Great idea Twi, why don’t you darken the room, light scented candles and offer to give her a sensual hoof massage? Oh, Celestia and Luna, she has such beautiful legs! NO... keep focus! What do you usually do on free days?*
Twilight’s eyes opened widely and her expression grew serious.
Then horrified!
“Twilight, are you feeling fine?” Celestia asked with concern.
“I AM AN EGGHEAD!” the unicorn wailed.
“Oh, my dear... I would say that you are well read!” Celestia offered.
“I tried to think of things I do for fun! And they all include books or studies!” Twilight sighed resigned and slumped her head on the table and hid behind her hoofs “I am so pathetic!”
“No, Twilight, you are not.” Celestia stressed and gave her a supportive smile “You simply love learning and got a bit too emerged. I warned you, but it doesn’t make you pathetic.”
“But an egghead... Why don’t you choose something? Can we do something that you do to unwind?” the unicorn asked after Celestia’s revitalizing smile had sunken in.
The princess took a short breath, opened her mouth... and froze.
Twilight was shocked: She had never seen Celestia at a lack of words!
*I read Twilight’s reports. I spend time with Luna... but she is busy! I used to raise Spike... and get drunk with Spike, but that is not an option with a light weight like Twilight. My little pranks are not really her style. And I don’t want to show her my best tricks yet! Luna took over headmistress duty too, so correcting some essays falls flat... oh gosh, this vacation was 487 years overdue! I wish we could just get back to bed, talk and snuggle a little... No, that would hardly be appropriate!*
“Princess?” Twilight asked carefully.
“I’m a workhorse...” Celestia sighed.
The unicorn’s eyebrows rose.
“All I can think of are duties that are slightly less straining than the others...” the princess admitted.
“We are bad at this vacation-thing.” Twilight mumbled and let out a sigh.
Suddenly the door opened.
Both Twilight and Celestia turned, just to see Luna enter the dining hall with a huge grin on her face.
“Good morning, Twilight, Tia.” The moon princess announced happily.
“Good morning, Luna.” Celestia greeted, happy to be distracted from her complete failure at anything relaxing.
“Good morning, princess.” Twilight added as well.
“We were on our way to court and thought we’d say hello.” Luna explained happily “Can’t wait to get back on the throne. And we fetched your newspaper on the way...”
A rolled up newspaper appeared next to Celestia.
“Oh, thank you, Luna. I was already wondering why the servants hadn’t fetched one, like they usually do...” the sun princess said, her voice laced with mistrust.
“Don’t mention it.”
Celestia opened the paper and let out a sigh.
“Really, Luna?”
“We know you, Celestia!” Luna stated with a wink “It would hardly be a vacation...”
“But cutting out half of the articles?”
“Yes! You would spend all the time making plans and wondering if you should intervene!” Luna stated calmly “No politics for you!”
Celestis sighed and levitated the newspaper over to Twilight. The unicorn grabbed it with her magic and looked through it... the princess was right: half of “Equestria Daily” was cut out.
-Insert late SOPA joke here-
“We also heard that Twilight’s room remained unused tonight.” Luna added with a wink “Good that you get into the spirit of enjoying your vacation.”
Half of the newspaper incinerated as Twilight’s cheeks flushed.
“LUNA!” Celestia scolded, a hint of a blush invading her cheeks “I don’t know what you imply, but...” “No implication, sister! We just assumed that you had a nice sleepover, just like we intended.” The moon princess interrupted “Now! How did you like the moon last night?”
The sun monarch sighed.
“It was magnificent.” She admitted, taken off guard by the quick change of topic.
“Yes, really beautiful...” Twilight muttered, trying to put the newspaper out.
“Apparently, our subjects enjoyed it as well. I was thinking about creating a holiday or adding one to an existing one... like hearts and hoofs day.” Luna pondered, strutting from her sister over to Twilight “You could enjoy it together with your very special some-pon-cess...” she whispered into the unicorns ear, making Twilight spin and look into her eyes with shock.
The moon princess winked and turned to Celestia. “Well, we should be going. Court is waiting and our subjects need tending. Enjoy the day, you two!”
She gave both ponies a nod and turned to leave. As she was halfway through the door, her horn illuminated for a second and she started to gallop away.
Luckily for her, Celestia resisted her urge pursue and asphyxiate her sister with the hoofkerchief that had appeared next to the princess’ plate. She turned towards the wide-eyed unicorn. “I have to apologise for Luna’s behaviour... she has been very eager to get me to take a vacation ever since she returned and now she apparently enjoys her triumph...”
“I don’t mind it, princess.” Twilight ensured, trying violently to remove her blush. An advertisement flyer that lay between the paper remains caught her attention.
“I just worry that she has adopted my worst traits.” Celestia sighed.
“I prefer her being like this to our first encounter. Less lightning.” Twilight giggled and started reading.
NEW! NEW! NEW!
Grand opening of Pageantry Saddler’s house of fashion!
Original Canterlot Haute Couture!
Hoof-stitched saddles!
Dresses Celestia herself would wear!
The first 200 customers will be given a 50% discount!
Also doing customization of saddles and dresses!
Come, try on and get yourself a real Saddler’s today!
Twilight’s eyes went wide: Dresses--- Celestia--- try on---
“Say, Princess...” Twilight asked carefully. “I have never seen you wear anything but your regalia... or the morning gown earlier.”
“Oh, yes, they are appropriate for any event. From Summer Sun Celebration to Hearth’s Warming Eve, I never have to worry about what to wear.” Celestia nodded happily and eyed her shoes for a second “Never subject to a fashion trend.”
“So, you have no other clothes to wear in the open?”
“I am not a cartoon character, Twilight.” Celestia winked, while somewhere, in Ponyville, Pinkie Pie started giggling “But most of them were gifts or official tributes, so they don’t especially match my taste... or fit. The poor dressmakers have to make educated guesses of my measures.”
“Then let’s see if we find something you like.” Twilight offered, levitating the flyer towards the princess.
“You want to go dress shopping?” the alicorn asked in surprise.
“No, I want you to try on dresses!” the unicorn explained “We can’t go out without raising a ruckus. Just think of the guards! And they certainly have nothing in your size...” her cheeks flushed “In your height! I mean... You’re not...!”
Celestia giggled at the unicorn’s awkwardness. “So, how shall I try on dresses that have never been stitched, then?”
“Spike pestered me into helping Rarity a few months back, so I did some research and found a illusion spell that could replicate clothes almost perfectly as long as I had a picture.” The Unicorn suggested.
“Twilight Sparkle! I am the god-princess of all of ponydom! I do not play dress up with my student! Be gone!” Celestia answered in Twilight’s imagination.
“That does sound like fun...” the real princess answered.
“Great!” Twilight cheered “I’ll just go and fetch the book from Rarity... Shoot!” her shoulder slumped.
“Book?”
“Rarity designed a few dresses for you when she was in that weird zone some artists go to...” she explained a bit sour “But it’s moot anyways. Spike can’t send entire books and I would need half a day to get there and back...”
“Why don’t you just teleport there?” Celestia asked gently.
The unicorn gave the princess a confused look. “Princess... I can’t! Ponyville is way out of my reach!”
“Well, my dear, then you should use *my* reach!” the monarch suggested with a slight grin.
“And how do I do that?”
“A very old, yet simple spell: We link our magic together. You set the destination and I teleport you. Once you have the book, you simply give me a tug and I pull you back.” The princess explained.
A smile returned to Twilight’s face. Learning interesting new stuff AND getting Celestia to try on a pretty dress! “So, how does this spell work?”
“Let’s get back to my chambers first. The dining chamber is hardly a good place to learn new spells.” The alicorn suggested and prepared to leave.
Twilight gave her an eager nod and turned to finish her cup of coffee.
As her gaze grazed the torn newspaper, she wondered where she had put the flyer. The unicorn shrugged and followed the princess.
As the servants entered to clean up the dishes, one of them wondered why someone had spit coffee across the room... and who had walked through it.
Meanwhile, Twilight and the princess returned to the freshly cleaned private quarters.
On the way, the unicorn had slowly but certainly lost her composure and was now openly showing her growing excitement: NEW SPELL!
Celestia had a hard time to suppress a chuckle. Her student could be so adorable: Looking at her with those huge eyes, as if trying to absorb every bit of light in the room, her hoofs slightly shivering while desperately trying to hide a grin. Twilight was so delightfully incapable of hiding her happiness. In moments like these, the princess had a hard time to not just grab and cuddle the unicorn.
The princess suppressed the urge and began to explain: “It is quite simple. We have to cross horns and synchronize our magical flow.”
Twilight nodded. That was a rather simple procedure.
“Then you have to begin a teleportation spell, right up to the point on which you choose a target location. But I will provide the last spark.”
The lavender pony nodded again. “And how do I get back?”
“Keep your magic in the same rhythm as mine. When you want back focus on the sun. I will find you.”Celestia explained.
“The sun?”
“A security spell to make sure no unicorn tries to mess with sun or moon. One of the oldest spells in Equstrian history.” The princess answered “Should any creature try to disturb the safe passage, Luna and I would instantly know. If you sync your power with mine, I can locate and pull you in before you trigger the alarm.”
“Wait, what would happen if I didn’t synchronize my magic with yours?” Twilight asked as worry slithered into her voice.
“You’d get teleported right into the court hall... in chains... with an inhibitor stuck on your horn. Only a being as powerful as Discord could hope to escape this magic.”
Twilight felt her stomach knot up. No pressure at all...
“Shall we begin?” the princess offered while sitting down and lowering her head.
As she closed in on her friend, the unicorn swallowed uncomfortably. This was not good! Well, it was very nice, but that was the issue! Crossing horns was a very personal gesture, usually done between parent and child, when the foal was first taught magic.
While several spells used this technique, they were rarely used, except between close family members, very close friends or... when defeating the queen of all changelings through the power of love!
Beads of sweat formed on Twilight’s forehead.
*Just calm down and think of Rarity’s boutique!* she told herself *And not how close you are to the pony you almost ki... NO, we won’t even think about that! That was... brain damage! I hope! Would be easier to deal with than this!*
“Twilight?” Celestia asked carefully, wondering why her most faithful student had stopped and was looking right through her.
“Sorry, Princess... I just had a thought... nothing important!” the unicorn answered and offered her horn.
Twilight shivered slightly as she felt Celestia’s horn against hers. The appendage itself was, like all horns or antlers, completely numb, but she could feel the slight pull on her forehead, the hard ridges bumping against each other and the strange railway-feel it gave, when all her movement to one side was blocked.
The unicorn had to fight down a part in her that just wanted to ride the railway to its end. Follow bump after bump down to the warm happiness. Press her forehead against Celestia’s, close in on that...
A tickle of magic ripped her out of the dream. Twilight cursed herself for almost giving in to the fantasy and focused on Celestia’s magic.
Magic
What a small word to describe the power Twilight felt in this moment. Going in sync with a power that moved heavenly bodies was incredible. But her special talent was magic after all. She soon found the special feeling that defined her beloved mentor’s strength.
“Very good, Twilight.” The princess said gently “Now visualize the place you want to be.”
Twilight did so before thinking.
*Zap*
Celestia cocked her head slightly to the side. A hint of rose snuck onto her face.
Twilight’s cheeks were on fire. Bullets of sweat formed on her forehead.
The unicorn had teleported... right between Celestia’s forelegs. She was standing a bit tilted, her head pressed against the princess’ side.
“Twilight, if-“
“I’m sorry, Princess! I... I...” Twilight interrupted the alicorn while trying to squirm backwards and away.
A firm foreleg stopped her and the princess lowered her head into a gentle embrace.
“Twilight.” Celestia said carefully. The image of a hoofkerchief danced in the back of her head, right next to Luna’s mocking grin. “If... if you want a hug, you can always...”
*What?* the princess suddenly asked herself *Ask me? I would never say no.* Luna’s grin turned to a sympathetic smile *Not long ago you charged Queen Chrysalis horn first. When did you stop being brave, Tia?*
“You can always hug me if you want.” The princess whispered, feeling her mouth dry up. Would this make Twilight like a small filly? Was this what a mentor should say? Why was her heart pounding so nervously?
Caught in her doubts, she didn’t see the twinkle in Twilight’s eyes and so the sudden shift and the two forearms that were flung around her neck surprised her.
A hug with both forelegs was a rather personal thing. Ponies had to leave the security of four legs on the ground to embrace each other like that, so it was more common to nuzzle or brush ones neck against each other.
Not that Celestia cared much right now. A purple unicorn was clutching onto her as if gravity had reversed for her letting go would result in a drop off the planet. And the princess couldn’t help but enjoy it. Twilight was so adorable in her honest display of affection, the alicorn felt her doubts melt.
Quietly, the princess lowered herself into a sitting position, so her fashionable, purple necklace wouldn’t have to strain its hind legs too much.
Finally, Twilight broke off. Trying to avoid eye contact, she offered her horn to give the spell another try.
Celestia knew better than to inquire further and did the same.
This time, Twilight truly disappeared.
The princess remained on the floor and relaxed a little, savouring the lingering warmth around the neck. Finally, she realized one thing: she was smiling broadly.
*Twilight seems to be in need for some coat contact...* the princess mused quietly. She shifted slightly as a shiver crawled over her back, unfolding her wings slightly.
*Who am I kidding? I need some closeness! Ever since Spike left, all I have is a cuddle with Luna from time to time! And my last suitor was decades... no longer... let’s not think about my age!*
The alicorn let out a sigh and lowered her head.
*Luna is back and retaking her duties and Spike is growing up, I never had this much free time... NO, don’t! That is just what Luna wants you to think! I could never implore this on Twilight!*
The princess shook her head to banish the thought. Her wings folded and a small whiff of air made her feel a damp spot on her coat.
Celestia’s eyebrows rose and she touched ran her hoof over her neck. Twilight had shed tears!
The princess bit her lip. Were those tears last night... happiness?
She closed her eyes and let out a sigh.
After Luna’s return and the issues with Discord, let alone the Changeling invasion, she would have simply allowed herself to have a satisfying relationship.
But whenever a friendship report arrived, she couldn’t muster up the will to go for it. Well, that was not entirely true... she just knew that any suitor could never be as important as her most faithful student was to her.
And Celestia did not do things half hearted!
Not being made of stone, the sun princess had allowed herself several liaisons over her long lifetime. But none of those had ever been purely sexual or void of emotional depth. Celestia had always opened her heart completely to her paramour and remained faithful through all seasons of his or her life... until she would visit her beau on his deathbed and give him one last nuzzle before they would depart in the lands that were beyond Celestia’s reach.
As a being of the moment, the princess had taught herself how to deal with the grief. The memories of happiness outweighed the pain by far and the feeling that she could share her immortality by keeping their memory alive soothed the last stings of loneliness.
The alicorn let out a sigh and rested her head on her forelegs.
What if she combined student and suitor?
*No! Don’t think like that, Celestia! After all she has done for you, Twilight deserves a wonderful life with a family, with a future! Not an old and stagnated god princess, three sizes too huge for her.*
And then there was the last two straws.
What if she rejects?
Celestia, while not used to being rejected was not worried about herself, but rather about the wonderful relationship, she had with Twilight: She would probably lose her most faithful student, friend and foster sister to Spike.
And even worse:
What if she does not reject? What is she accepts out of duty and not love? What if Twilight doesn’t feel like this for Celestia, but still goes for it?
What could be worse than destroying a wonderful relationship and robbing the best part of Twilight’s youth without giving the unicorn anything back?
No... Celestia would not risk that much!
If the initiative came from the unicorn, on the other hoof... Celestia feared that resisting would be... difficult.
*Meanwhile in Ponyville, Carrousel Boutique*
Make up hid the slight rings beneath Rarities eyes and the sewing allowed her to focus her frustration on something. She had decided to let the door sign remain on *closed* until noon and stay upstairs, so she could think in peace for a while.
Bothered... that was the word Rarity would use to describe herself.
Yesterday evening, she had the excuse of alcohol, but now, she was much, much too sober to ignore this nagging feeling in the back of her head: She had deeply enjoyed her time with Spike!
They had talked about Rarities work, Spike’s duties in Canterlot, the crown jewels and that adorable story of a much smaller Spike, trying to dress up as a guard to sneak in and eat them.
And she had truly enjoyed the company. Then he had escorted her home, like the gentlewyrm that he was and while she watched him leave, she couldn’t help but smile and worse: She was looking forward to having him over this evening.
Him and sadly not just the wine!
She couldn’t even pin it on the wonderful wine! No, the sheer fact that Spike had selflessly shared this priceless treat with her was worth more than the old grape juice itself could ever be.
Suddenly she heard the familiar sound of a teleport coming from below.
*TWILIGHT!* the unicorn thought *Spike must have sent her a letter to show off and now she is here to scold me or worse: To keep me from seeing him!*
She turned and removed her glasses. The sheer possibility of a forbidden fruit fanned her inner drama.
*This is not your choice to make! Spike is old enough to choose his way! Your books may have snuffed out the fire in your heart, fiend, but I shall fight for my dragon! Have at thee, former friend, for now, we are adversaries OF LOVE!*
Meanwhile, Twilight happily looked around in the main business room. The teleport had felt less draining than expected and it slowly sunk in that this was probably the biggest jump she would ever do.
The sound of a hoof against the stairs made her spin, to see Rarity come her way, head lowered, horn raised.
“Good morn...!” “I DID NOT TOUCH HIM!” Twilight began her greeting, just before she had to dodge a swift kick from a shrieking Rarity.
“Rarity! What the hay?” Twiligth shouted back, as she managed to jump out of the way of snap kick. Where did Rarity learn to fight like that? She focused and engulfed her attacker in a purple glow and lifted her off the ground.
“UNHAND ME, VILE DESTROYER OF BLOSSOMING HOPES!”
“What has gotten into you?”
“NOTHING!!”
“Calm down!” Twilight yelled in her most soothing screech “Who did you not touch? What are you talking about?”
Rarities eyes went wide. “You are not here to scold me for spending the evening with Spike?”
“Why would I?” the lavender mare asked, tilting her head a little. Slowly the information in the last few statements reached her attention. “Wait! What happened between you two?”
“We just had a very nice evening...” Rarity answered nervously “Spike happened to find a bottle of incredible wine and shared it with me. And I... might have enjoyed myself a little too much.”
“How much?” Twilight asked coldly.
“Enough to invite him over tonight... for dinner...” Rarity answered carefully “Maybe with a bit of candlelight...”
“Rarity!” Twilight stated with an icy voice and a gaze that could incinerate small animals “Have you any idea what the consequences of that could be?”
Rarity swallowed.
“I will NEVER hear the end of it!”
“Excuse me?”
“I have told him that he had no chance ever since we moved to Ponyville and suddenly you... you do that! His ego will inflate so much, it will be visible from space!” Twilight moaned and dropped Rarity. “And then the disappointment when he finally realizes that it will never work out! Gosh, this will be so annoying!”
The alabaster mare landed gracefully and sighed. She needed this out of her system and she might as well tell the pony that mattered: “Darling... you do not seem to understand: I do consider giving him a chance.”
“WHAT?” Twilight yelled, her eyes going wide. “Butbutbutbutbut... how? Why?”
“Because since the day he first came to Ponyville, Spike has been nothing but a perfect gentledrake around me! He is generous, honest, caring and a delight to have around! He may be a little cheeky, but I have never seen a more noble being!”
“BUT! He is a BABY DRAGON!” Twilight stressed “I know that he is more mature than a pony his age would be, but... DRAGON!”
“Twilight Sparkle!” Rarity said in a scandalized voice “I do not intend to jumpstart a new race with him! I was talking about giving him a chance to win my heart! A fair chance!”
“But what if it won’t work out? What if things go terrible? What if you both get hurt?” Twilight asked.
“After all the effort he spent... all the things he did for me... Twilight, he deserves a chance...” Rarity answered gently. Two sad eyes looked at Twilight. “Twilight... he won. His diligence, his patience, his hard work... he deserves it to pay off. I can’t keep on watching him enslave himself to me. My heart is not as hard as the diamonds on my flank...” Rarity shook her head and forced dignity back into her features “What element of generosity could keep on taking without even considering returning?”
“But he is...” Twilight started and shook her head “He is nothing you dreamt of! He is not a handsome prince or a rich designer or anything like that! He is my assistant. As much as I love Spike, you are just way out of his league!”
“Twilight Sparkle!” Rarity scolded again “If! And only IF he manages to catch my heart, I will gladly reconsider my... aspirations! True love goes beyond such foalishness as wealth, rank and status! Love can bloom anywhere between anyone!”
*Sounds familiar, doesn't it?* a voice inside Twilight’s head spoke and the purple pony swallowed. “But he is so small...”
“The last time he gave completely into an emotion, he grew huge enough to hoard whatever his greed desired. Maybe his growth reacts to other emotions too?” the alabaster unicorn offered “Or maybe not... Maybe we just get hurt and will one day laugh about our foolishness. In any case, you can’t find love without taking a few risks!”
“Just be careful... ok?” The unicorn surrendered. Her Spike didn’t seem so little anymore.
“I would never hurt him on purpose. Any pain he goes through will be mine as well. He deserves a chance... even if it’s just a chance to hurt us both.”
“I think I understand...” Twilight answered and swallowed “Rarity!”
“Yes?”
“Good luck...”
“Thank you, darling.” Rarity answered gladly “Was there something else you need?”
“Oh, yes! That one scrapbook of yours. With the dresses for princess Celestia! I want dresses for the princess to try on.” Twilight stressed happily, earning a raised eyebrow from Rarity. “With that one illusion spell!”
“Sure you can borrow it, darling... but please don’t show her the ones with a little cross on the bottom. Those ones are hardly more than scribbles.” Rarity answered and left Twilight to go and fetch the book.
“Thank you. Oh, before I forget. Should I get you something from that new boutique in Canterlot? They have an opening sale and all. You probably know their sortiment already.” The purple mare offered, pointing at the many magazines next to the newspaper.
The fashion pony cocked her head. “A new boutique? I can’t remember reading about an opening...”
“They had a flyer in the Equestria Daily.” Twilight explained “Seemed pretty big.”
“I can’t remember a flyer.” Rarity shrugged “They probably just overplayed it, if they can’t afford flyers beyond the Canterlot borders.”
“You are probably right.” Twilight answered, grabbing the book. “Thank you... in many ways!”
The unicorn closed her eyes and focused on the sun.
Rarity's eyes would sting for another minute.
Authors note:
I know what you think:
Why did this take so long?
Answer 1:
A complete rewrite, starting at page 2 when those silly ponies decided to ignore my plans and do things this way.
Answer 2:
Celestia's mind is a nightmare to write.
Answer 3:
I had a lot of personal stuff to do.
Good news: 2 more weeks until the holidays start.